Many local LibDem parties don’t take federal conferences very seriously, apart from selecting a few representatves to go each year. But Islington is an exception. This evening, Islington’s monthly Pizza and Politics was devoted to the agenda for the Spring Conference due to take place in Liverpool in 10 days’ time. Local activist — and [...] 
Unsurprisingly, today’s PMQs couldn’t quite match up to the excitement of yesterday’s Parliamentary proceedings - or indeed the rooftop excitements. Davd Cameron suffered from poor briefing in his questions on Parliamentary proceedings, and was left deflated by an on-form Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Nick Clegg put in one of his strongest PMQs performances to date, shrugging [...]
Heath House is one of the most amazing houses in North West London. Great location, perspective, proportions, gating, settings - all over wow. I have walked past and around on numerous occasions and thought how great it was and reflected on the shame that was the closed boarded up current state. Now there is a planning application proposal progressing that will see the house restored to residential occupancy - which can only be good (assuming that all the plans respect the great architecture and listing features). Some of us had dreamt that the house might have eneded up as the ...
The Government has revamped its first time buyers initiative which helps key workers onto the housing market through shared equity schemes. Under the new scheme, buyers will pay commercial rates on mortgages for the 50% of the home they acquire and just 1.75% on the rest. So how is the Government paying for this subsidy Are they expecting Housing Associations to offset these costs against assumed increases in house prices After all, thats what they did to massage the costs of the Olympics, by assuming unrealistic year on year increases in land values, which is now one of the reasons ...
The consensus amongst the weekends newspapers seemed to be that the dithering over Northern Rock had damaged Labour, but not fatally; that the Tories had overestimated the affair with their comparisons to Black Wednesday; and that Vince, well Vince was the only politician to tell it as was by setting out that nationalisation was inevitable from the moment the crisis broke at the end of last year. Vince cant put a foot wrong at the moment, particularly when compared to the hapless Chancellor or his Tory shadow. George Osborne has had very bad week. Reminding voters about the ERM debacle ...
Why is it every car park these days seems to have become a car valeting centre Twice recently I have gone in to a car park only to find that the advertised "20 spaces available" are all in the car valeting area, and not in the car park itself. What's wrong with a car park being a car park. When I was a kid people used to clean their own cars anyway ! Now I am starting to sound like an old fart.
At the end of a long planning meeting. We were told that we were going to be briefed on 2 issues. The man from the press was duly ejected by the officers as apparently it was no longer a meeting. We were then given a report on how Conservative controlled Forest Heath has allowed a 10 metre eyesore mast to go up on Exning Road by the Leisure Centre because they forgot to determine the application in time. The mast is sighted I believe on Conservative Controlled Suffolk County Council land. However apart from huff and puff all we can ...
After quite a debate tonight Stockton Council set its budget for the next municipal year, starting in April. There were two amendments proposed to the Cabinet recommendation. First of all, Ingleby Barwick Independents proposed using some of the reserves being kept for "pump priming" capital expenditure to add to what is already planned for spending on Romano Park. Although we sympathise with
As many will have read in the media, I have asked the Health & Safety Executive to look into the circumstances surrounding the terrible events that led to the death of a family pet last Friday. As I explained on North Tonight on STV, an independent examination of the circumstances is vital. Scottish Hydro Electric has asked to meet with me tomorrow morning and I have agreed, subject to the reassurance that they are also updating the dog's owners. There has been great concern in the community about what happened. On a different matter, last month I raised the issue ...
Tim Farron has a press release on the Liberal Democrat site saying that "the culling of badgers in TB hotspots with 'hard' boundaries would be welcome". Who says The natural supporters of the Lib Dems these days are not Lakeland farmers but town dwellers who feel rather warm towards badgers. I imagine they would find a cull very unwelcome indeed. For arguments against a cull see The Badger Trust. Tim also says that Until Bovine TB can be eradicated, the Government must pay farmers a fair level of compensation for compulsorily slaughtered cattle.Granted the state is playing a role by ...
The process of designing the exciting new £6.5million North Road Primary School continues apace. Today there was a series of meeting in the Town Hall, each looking at various aspects of the design. Although originally set up for officers only, I persuaded TPTB that ward councillors should be involved in the "Extended Facilities" meeting. I think it is important that a school which is being built
This week Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton are playing three concerts at Madison Square Gardens, New York. Two of them have now taken place and there is poor-quality footage of them all over Youtube. Try this snippet of the Clapton song Forever Man. The Convictor attended the second gig last night and reviews it song by song. He also writes: The warmth and respect between the two musical virtuosos was evident from the very first note of their blues-heavy set. Winwood hasn't had a hit in years, and Clapton is probably more of an oldies act these days. Nevertheless, the ...
I notice that Stephen Tall on Lib Dem Voice has dubbed me words to the effect of the "Hello" magazine photographer of the Lib Dem blogosphere. This proved to be not quite the Tall story it could otherwise have been, after today, that is. My original planning for spring conference scheduled in two photo ops for candidates and campaigners. That got bumped up to three following a request by the
Given the nature of the recent reports of serious fraud involving MEPs, one would have hoped that the EU would have published the report, in full, so that every single citizens of the EU can find out which MEPs are committing serial fraud and embezzlement. So what did the EU do It decided to keep the report hidden and secret. Sadly, from my point of view as a Lib Dem, this is the same EU that my party seeks to defend and praise at almost every opportunity. Given that my own party wants to deny me the vote in a ...
It has taken me quite a while to pop the little button up, on the sidebar, telling visitors to my blog that I have been shortlisted by the Gender Balance Blog Awards in the category of best blog posting by a female Lib Demmer. There are two other categories, best blog by a female Lib Dem and best blog by a female non Lib Dem. You can vote for your choice for the best female Lib Dem Blogger here. In true Lib Dem style is seems to be done on STV, which is cool because it saves you having to ...
Being excluded from the blogging interview with Ed Davey MP I was left with the option of imagining the event instead. Never a good idea with my imagination: Ed Davey enters the room. He is wearing a red robe with a stiff grey wig similar to those worn by judges. A red carpet has unfolded automatically for him to walk on whilst cherubs blow trumpets above his head. They all stand and applaud. Its. Ed. Davey. Wow. C-c-c-congratulations on your most principled stance on the EU debate yesterday. Linda Jack stammers, obviously in awe. She blushes. Were you watching He ...
One of my favourite quotes from Michael Meadowcroft, the former Liberal MP who is one of the best liberal thinkers around, is that "Liberals are anarchists by inclination, but constitutionalists by necessity." Jo Anglezarke clearly doesn't agree. She doesn't approve of yesterday's walk-out from the House of Commons by Lib Dem MPs, in protest against the Speaker ruling that an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty calling for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU was out of order. She questions whether she is a member of the British Anarchist Party and tells the MPs to grow up. Now, ...
Yeah, okay, it's a bit of hyperbole, perhaps, but I simply cannot fathom why someone who is presumably deemed bright enough by her colleagues to manage law and order in this country cannot understand how drugs prohibition worsens the problem and leads to deaths, from violent street crime in the gangs that fight over patches where they sell drugs, via the dangers of adulterated or unknown strength products, to ignorance of what to do in reaction to symptoms of drugs and the inability to admit you have a problem because it marks you out as a criminal. And our lawmakers ...
I thought I'd take a break from writing posts about the internal structures of the Liberal Democrats and write something about the structure of the UK! For a Party with a proud tradition of concern for constitutional reform I find that we are surprisingly bad at thinking about structure of government issues. I am not sure why this should be so. It may be because discussions about local and
Holy Moly reports a comment from a Jersey resident asked by the BBC for his views on the child abuse scandal: "I'm sure if there had been a cover-up, we would have heard about it." 
The post office outlets in Taunton Deane most likely to close have been named as; Shuttern, West Monkton, Bradford-on-Tone, West Buckland and Kingston St Mary. In addition to these closures its also been announced that the branches at Churchinford and Lydeard St Lawrence will now only open for 13 and 6 hours. There has been widespread condemnation from many of Taunton Deane's civic leaders; Taunton MP Jeremy Browne said: "Smaller post offices provide a social lifeline for many vulnerable or disadvantaged people. "Thousands of post offices have already been closed over recent decades - the latest closures are cutting the ...
I only spotted this Tony McNulty quote in the comparison I saw pointed out on this blog article.
Wednesday is Select Committee day for me, and the long running enquiry into media ownership and the news. One of today's witnesses was David Puttnam, a colleague from the Lords, who was instrumental in influencing government thinking on the 2003 Communications Act. David is still best remembered as a film director, but is also on the Board of Channel 4, and for 20 years was on the Board of Anglia Television, where I succeeded him as a non executive director. We spent a lot of time reflecting on the nature of "public interest", and the fact that until Parliament took ...
So senior Police Officers have called for a national DNA Database. Here are 10 reasons why I won't be found on it. 10. I'm a law abiding citizen and have had no reason to give a sample to police. 9. Should the database contain every citizen, wouldn't that just slow up the process of using it rather than just known criminals. Thus contradicting its usefulness. 8. Our bobbies would merely be
So far I haven't written a post on the mass walkout yesterday afternoon, but I have been sounding off in the comments thread of Lib Dem Voice. Strange, how a bunch of MPs, who probably wouldn't support any other group of workers walking out on an unoffical impromptu strike, seem to think it perfectly fine to express their disquiet in this fashion. Parliament has rules and procedures for a reason and there is a speaker presiding over debate for this reason too...to keep order. Am I a member of the British Anarchy Party I should hope not. I support Ed's ...
Some days you hear something and, rather than just rolling your eyes and then having to go off to 'ventblog', you can smile and whoop for joy about progress. It doesn't happen very often, as if I thought the world was just going swimmingly and I could leave the people in charge to get on with it, I wouldn't actually be involved in politics at all. The last time I felt such optimism was when I heard about the sensible effort of Ram FM in Israel; but now it is Turkey and it's efforts to produce a progressive Islam by ...
This is a street begger in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe each Z$200,000 is worth 1US cent on the black market (the most accurate way of testing currency.) Inflation in Zimbabwe is now 100,000%, international observers were amazed when it hit 1,000% over a year ago. President Mugabe has destroyed the economy, in a country with what was one of the best literacy rates in Africa and was called the bread basket of Africa. 80% are unemployed. Farms are left barren, that were seized but haven't been cultivated. Opposition live in fear from government secret police who use torture. Remember the ...
The Liberal Democrats have stood up against the commons in their attempt to gag them. I congratualate Edward Davey in his strong opposition. The Liberal Democrats are making sure they aren't silenced. The truth is people don't actually fully understand the Lisbon Treaty and the Eurosceptics want to use a referendum to stall the process. A treaty on continued EU membership is clearer for voters and a chance for us to fight for Europe and the good it does. I applaud Nick Cleggs strong leadership in the commons today for critizing the authorities, in the way the commons tried to ...
A decision by the Speaker of the House of Commons to refuse to have a debate and vote on a Liberal Democrat amendment calling for a referendum on whether to be in or out of Europe has met with an angry response from Liberal Democrats in Wolverhampton.
Gnat list MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife Christopher Harvie hadn't made it onto the radar before now. He has successfully attracted the attention of the media with his comments about Lockerbie and the dress sense of Scottish teenagers. I'll simply let the pillock speak for himself: "On getting to Lockerbie, I discovered that the place is a dump - it was Tescotown. It should really have a certain attraction of a rather sombre kind as a place where something terrible happened; there are, after all, places on the western front and that sort of thing that have such an ...
Somer Housing has submitted a planning application to build 24 houses and 6 flats on the piece of land, although it does not currently own it. The Councillors have requested that the scheme should be considered by the Council's planning committee should planning officers recommend approval of the application. Local residents in Twerton are outraged at the proposal to develop a small...
I'm interviewing Ed Davey this evening at Portcullis House. Does anybody have any burning questions for him
In less than 20 minutes this afternoon the street signs of Little London have been cleaned by Smannell Lib Dems. Before one asks there was a health and safety risk assessment undertaken before we commenced work! The spruced up sign pictured , sand bin, road sign in Yew Tree Cottage and the Cango bus sign which was in a disgusting state were all spruced up. But what is the background 10 days ago Tory controlled Hampshire County Council Highways promised Lib Dem Councillor Robin Hughes that the signs in Smannell included the broken one in Smannell would get these cleaned ...
Self-serving politicians have an amazing capacity to endure, yet they occasionally cross the line and shoot themselves in the foot. Such, I suspect, is the case with the current MEPs expenses scandal where the European Parliament's already shoddy reputation in national capitals has been further tarnished by its refusal to publish the report. Following emergency discussions in the Conference of Presidents and the Parliamentary Bureau, the Budget Control committee voted yesterday not to make their findings public - a move supported by President Hans-Gert Pottering. Everyone is hoping the story can be brushed under the carpet if they simply keep ...
At about 6pm in the evening on election day in 2005 I got a text from a Cowley Street staffer who gave upbeat reports about a number of key seats. It was promising and all the specific seats turned out to be spot on. But I made the terrible mistake of extrapolating this into an [...] 
The Scottish Liberal Democrats meet in Aviemore, which is in Danny Alexander's constituency, on Friday for our 3 day spring conference and muggins is Convener* of Conference Committee and thus he who takes it in the neck if anything goes wrong. I'm just a tad nervous that all goes well and that the 600-700 people who are attending, a record turn-out for the record, have a fine old time. If truth be told Suzette our Conference and Events Manager does all the really hard work and I get to swan around with my walkie talkie making sure everything is hunky ...
Lib Dem shadow foreign secretary Ed Davey has penned an article for The Independent’s Open House blog explaining why he ended up being sent out of the Commons, and why the rest of the parliamentary party followed him. You can read it in full here, but here’s an excerpt: At the last election, all three parties [...]
If you were watching The Daily Politics on BBC2 today you would have noticed that there were protests today at Westminster. One on the roof about airport expansion and a march for a referendum on the European Treaty. One way to reduce carbon emmissions is to travel less. Planes release lots of CO2 (amongst other gases and stuff)high up in the atmosphere, pretty much where you least want greenhouse gases to be. To fill a plane up with people you have to get them from their house to the plane and, while the notion of everyone walking or cycling round ...
Stuart Syvret. the Jersey senator at the centre of the revelation of the island's child abuse scandal, has his own blog. Thanks to John Hemming.
Figures released by the Electoral Reform Society show that the Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party, the Greens, BNP and UKIP all suffered from the electoral system in last year's local elections in the West Midlands.
So the Lisbon Treaty which the Prime Minister has done he best to avoid shedding too much publicity on, remember he turned up late to sign it, alone, reached an almighty row yesterday. After years of denying us a referendum on an EU constitution before it failed miserably to votes elsewhere, the Labour Double B Government has moved on to the Lisbon Treaty. Which again does not look like it will
I have linked to the web log of Stuart Syvret who has managed to kick off an investigation in Jersey against the cover up of child abuse that went on for many years. He identifies effectively how cover-ups operate and how people in power aim to conceal things as a first response. We get exactly the same in England. The power of the Courts is used to stop people speaking out. I have tabled
In this weeks Somerset County Gazette, Jeremy Browne MP has paid tribute to the Taunton-based Royal Marine who was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan. Jeremy said; Last week we heard the terrible news that the first Royal Marine from 40 Commando had been killed in Afghanistan. Although his death came as a shock, it is remarkable that 40 Commando has not suffered fatalities before now, considering the extreme danger of their mission. There are close links between the residents of Taunton Deane and 40 Commando. Norton Manor camp is in our community and many Royal Marines decide to settle ...
Just a quick post - on Monday this week my Lib Dem colleague Cllr Monica Whyte, who is our candidate for the GLA seat of Enfield & Haringey, was out campaigning in Enfield with Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick. The photo shows Monica with Brian and other local campaigners at Southgate police station. You can read more on the campaign on Monica's website here.
Well, it's nice to be able to use that headline. It was a nervy last 15 minutes of extra-time when Chelsea finally decided to have a go at attacking, but the lads came through and it was altogether a more fun day out than the last Carling Cup final I went to. Ledley and Jonathan Woodgate were outstanding in defence, though I felt sorry for Michael Dawson missing out. That's why I wore my Dawson shirt for the day, as you can see from the (not very good) photo. The other two photos are of Wembley pretty much straight after ...
Nickers raised the issue of the Prime Minister defending 'clapped out 19th century procedures' when he spoke in Parliament today. Instantly a stocking-clad old man in ancient robes clambered to his feet from his throne at the head of the King's Chapel and warned Nickers to be careful. The sergeant at arms roused his men and they all grabbed their swords, ready to respond at a moment's notice if any difficulty arose. Apparently the Top Hat which is needed to clear the Chamber of members of the public was slightly disturbed during these unporecedented scenes of chaos. You would half ...
I was extremely pleased to see the fuss that Lib Dem MPs, led by Ed, deliberately made yesterday about their call for a referendum on Britain’s future membership of the EU. It was an excellent way of drawing attention to this Lib Dem call (which I have strongly supported here). The Lisbon Treaty is obviously the particular document under discussion at the moment but the referendum that people really want, is on the key question of whether Britain should remain part of the EU or not not about details such as exactly how many Members of the European Parliament there ...
Being in London yesterday gave me the chance to watch the mighty AFC Wimbledon in action. My friend Paul was away and so I was doing photos of the match against play-off chasing Margate. The Dons managed to hold out for the first ten minutes during which Margate missed two open goals and had a third shot bravely saved by keeper James Pullen. All the scoring came in the second half with Wimbledon scoring through the excellent Romone Rose and a winner from captain Jason Goodliffe who complained that he missed seeing the ball crossing the line as he was ...
It's depressing really. When the price of basic foods are shooting up in the shops, Gas and Electricity Bills are becoming a really burden for more than a third of the country, David Cameron shows his party once again to be a one trick pony! Yet again, his questions to the PM this lunchtime are about a referendum on the latest European Treaty. When is he going to learn that the people who really care about this are going to vote for him anyway. Hopefully, never.
All go yesterday as Brian Paddick made a series of visits in Islington. One of the big campaigns there relates to the proposal by the Government to close several local Post Offices. Among them the Essex Road Crown Post Office which seems to be very weel used by local people. The logic behind some of the proposed closures completely defeats me. Brian also met up with local police officers for a chat. The Met seem to be interpreting the rules about photos differently in different areas. Yesterday they sent along a press officer to make sure that I wasn't taking ...
I could not resist borrowing this from Kerron Cross. What do you do if you suspect or discover fraud Fortunately, the HM Revenue and Customs Excise website has the answer here.
A European invasion is coming.... to set up speciality Continental markets in Guisborough and Redcar next week. Thirty traders from Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Turkey and Spain will be selling their wares along Westgate, Guisborough on Thursday, March 6 and in front of Redcar's Town Clock from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 9. Redcar and Cleveland Council is welcoming the chance to promote the market. The markets, which will be trading from 10am until 6pm Thursday to Saturday and from 10am until 4pm on Sunday, feature a wide range of food and drinks, including parma ham, specialist ...
In a story about two British men trying to get their DNA removed from the national database, the BBC has reiterated one of Home Officer minister Tony McNulty’s arguments against having a mandatory DNA database of the whole population: “How to maintain the security of a database with 4.5m people on it is one thing. Doing that for 60m people is another,” he added. Excellent point, Tony. And guess what - it applies exactly as much to ID cards as it does to DNA.
Children are in more danger from adults in the home than from any one outside - according to figures cited in eSkeptic: 13/02/2008 The article examines 'when news isn't news but scaremongering is' and how journalists are stoking public fears, by making all those "one in a million" occurrences sound as if they could be happening "in your street any time soon". Admittedly, the American media tend
Martin Eaglestone draws our attention to the new unofficial Plaid Cymru web site, also known as Cangen Bontnewydd. If this passage is anything to go by then battle lines are being well and truely drawn up in Gwynedd: This campaign will be a tough one. One of the reasons is the creation of Llais y Bobl, but even though they are taking pride in the threat they are posing to the one party able to build an independent Wales, a much bigger threat is that Plaid Cymru have run Gwynedd for quite a few years and it is unavoidable that ...
The Daily Post reports that Health minister Edwina Hart is today expected to announce the findings of a crucial review into the future of Llandudno hospital which will confirm the loss of acute services for coronary care patients. In return she is expected to reveal plans for a range of other enhanced or expanded services for Llandudno hospital, including a response to calls for more rehabilitation and diagnostic facilities. Is this going to be another one of those watershed moments when Plaid Cymru realise that a stance they took in opposition does not translate into government action We will have ...
Figures published yesterday for Secondary School admissions in 2007 show that Darlington last year was one of the poorest performers in the whole country at providing parents and pupils with their first choice of secondary school. While in nearby Stockton every single child went to their first choice school, Hartlepool managed 98% and Durham 97%, in Darlington only 66% got their first choice.
As is my norm in the morning I tune my radio to Radio England, sorry I meant Five Live, only to hear Nicky Campbell ( Scottish by birth but gone native presenter of the breakfast programme) wittering on about the great English earthquake. Little damage and almost no-one injured! If Scotland had an earthquake where hundreds died and millions of pounds of damage had happened the news would barely register on the English Broadcasting Corporation's radar. OK, perhaps that's a tad OTT, but the basic principle is sound. Parts of the BBC are becoming the EBC. Five Live and News ...
OK, other than the fact that it is rather crap, the biggest problem I have with Golden Balls is the Share or Steal at the end. Whilst I never studied Game theory, this is pretty much a Prisoner’s dilemma. However the payoff matrix is weighted in an odd format. Assume that you have a 6th sense, you are sat in the chair and the amount is £50,000. If you knew that your opponent who you will never see again is going to share what would you do If you share it’s 50/50, and you walk away with £25,000, but if ...
Harriet "I'll do anything to be liked and still tragically fail" Harman's praising of Fidel Castro as a hero of the left, which I posted about monday, is superbly critiqued and assaulted by Danny Finkelstein in today's Times. Do read it. Her only excuse is that she said he is a "hero of the left". Either she is not of the left or what she said is reprehensible. As Da Fink points out, a Tory who said Enoch was right was swiftly removed. Harriet "feminism is showing solidarity with your fellow women" Harperson sits pretty as Deputy Leader of the ...
This economic downturn feels qualitatively different from ones that I remember. Instead of talking about cyclical changes, the breakdown of the securitised credit market is described increasingly as a systemic, secular challenge. The liquidity of the credit market may well have been irreversibly changed as banks are now forced to take on more risk directly, and as they consequently insist on tighter restrictions on borrowers. The long term impact of these changes may well be profound. After an age of excess, we now enter an age of restraint, and it seems to me that the effects may be not just ...
Well what a night! Just before 1 am I was woken by the earthquake. I had felt one before (Iwas near Dudley for the one that happened there in 2002) but this one was more powerful by far. Both my parnets had woken up and most of our street seemed to head out to find out what was going on. I headed downstairs to see if there was any information on the News - Sky had reports coming in from about 1.05am - but BBC News 24 didn't show any news of it until nearly 1.30. After finding out the ...
I was woken up by the earthquake last night, as were many people in the area, I’m sure. Unfortunately Tam slept through the entire thing, thus robbing me of what will probably be the one and only chance I get in life to ask “did the earth move for you” with genuine interest. A number of things struck me about the overnight tremors. First, my brain must have sensed that something was going on in the Earth’s crust, since it woke me up about 30 seconds before the action started. If only I could somehow isolate that part of my ...
Well, there’s got to be some explanation for her shocking blitheness on the subject of seizing the property of innocent people on the Today programme this morning. The context is a “crack-down” on drug dealers (no pun intended, presumably) but it goes beyond Jacqui’s other recent “crack-downs”, which normally just give the authorities responsible for cracking down the power [...]
Nick Clegg used his "Political Slot" short film on Channel 4 last week to talk about why he's against ID cards and the national identity database. If you missed the programme, you can watch it now on YouTube at http://uk.youtube.com/watchv=LONA3Acc5js
I'm interviewing him this evening for this blog, so look out for that. In the mean time watch the Shadow Foreign Secretary being ordered to leave the house by the Deputy Speaker. More info here.
Before anyone decides to apply for that new job, or speak to their boss about getting that well deserved and long overdue promotion, may I suggest that they read this story first. It seems that no matter how qualified or experienced a person is, they could be wasting their time if they use Facebook!
I generally like David Aaronovich, but he took leave of his senses yesterday arguing for a national DNA database with almost everybody's records on. I was going to write a piece explaining why I find the whole thing a terrible idea. But Netsmith (Adam Smith's online alter ego) has done it for me. So read it here.
Well, that's it. The final straw. I can't believe in God. I just love standing. Watch the video. It'll tickle you, make you shake your head, giggle, then feel smug about your level of intelligence. Hat tip: Dan Savage
With all the fuss over Speaker Martin's various claims, and talk of improper use of public monies, we are in danger of falling into the trap of confusing moral impropriety with its legal counterpart. I had the dubious pleasure of listening to an exchange between Martin Bell, the former Independent MP for Tatton, and elected as a direct response to the allegations, mostly accurate, against Neil
Read the excellent Mehdi Khalaji on how to negotiate with Iran. Well worth a read.
An expert calling the BBC from America has just said that our earthquake was 4.7 on the Richter scale and that the epicentre was 30 miles south of Hull, which places it somewhere in Lincolnshire. Now they are interviewing David Rendell for some reason.
1am in the Midlands and I'm pretty sure we just had a small earthquake (earth tremor).
Well it certainly felt like one here in Market Harborough.
In last Thursdays’ Guardian there was a brilliant quote from Simon Hoggart which should be on the wall of every Liberal Democrat campaign office: Both main parties fear and loathe the Lib Dems because, like boozy bottom-pinchers at the office party, they can sneak up and grab your seat when you least expect it. Well it made [...]
As I have never been keen on the idea of a referendum on British membership, I find it hard to get too excited by yesterday's events. Peter Riddell, writing in this morning's Times, gets it about right: we need a proper debate on how and when referendums should be held so that they are not just matters of short-term political convenienceThat debate could being within the Liberal Democrats. The idea of a referendum on EU membership had hardly occurred to us before Ming Cambell announced that it was party policy. Now it is such a point of principle that our ...
Wednesday: Now, in order to do some CATCHING UP with my diary, I have made Daddy Richard make like the good BBC3 folk and bring you an EXTRA episode of Torchwood, straight after the last one! The thing to say about Martha in Torchwood is how odd it seemed to be for a while until I realised that Freema Agyeman, marvellous in season three of Doctor Who, was still doing "Doctor Who acting". That isn't bad acting, it's just a bit larger than life, a bit left of reality, and a bit different to how they're playing it in Torchwood. ...
Wednesday: Torchwood has been doing PRETTY WELL* this year, proving that it deserves the "Heroes" slot on BBC2. Here is Daddy Richard's latest review: This was a Valentine's Day episode to really mess with your head. Very much the hallmark of the excellent Catherine Tregana, writer of most of the actually good episodes of Torchwood season one. The "stranger who everyone thinks has been part of the team all along" is an old old cliché in science fiction. What was good here was the way that that was used playfully to toy with the emerging Torchwood and Doctor Who mythologies. ... | < | February 2008 | > | ||||
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