LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Wednesday 2nd April 2008

Inward looking Moi

Oy, what a hectic few weeks I’ve been having. As such, I’ve only just got around to reading Lynne Featherstone’s thoughtful article on Lib Dem blogging and Andy Mayer’s excellent response. Is the Lib Dem blogosphere too inward looking Frankly, yes it is and I’m well aware of being a guilty culprit. Jennie Rigg is absolutely correct, at least in my case, to say that too many Lib Dem bloggers use LibDemBlogs as their blog roll. The best I can do by way of a defence is point out that at least we aren’t as bad as the Labour blogosphere, ...

Sometimes I am sad for the future.

Other times, things give me hope. The very existence of Imaan gives me hope, for example. YAY tolerance! Also, the very existence of {[info]} innerbrat gives me hope, because while she's around making wise and thoughtful and thought-provoking posts like this one (see here for background), the world is a better place for just having her in it. Ever been raped Know someone who has been raped Ever voiced an opinion on the topic of rape Read that post. If it were up to me it'd be put in the national curriculum. In completely non-political news, my friend Imogen has ...

Sir Percy Harris

The Parliament website has a short biography of Sir Percy Harris, who was Matthew Taylor's great-grandfather: Harris; Sir; Percy, Alfred (1876-1952); 1st baronet, politician Sir Percy Harris was educated at Harrow and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was called to the bar by the Middle Temple, but never practised. Instead, he was for some years engaged in the prosperous wholesale and manufacturing firm of Bing, Harris, which his father had founded in New Zealand. Harris first helped to look after the London office, then spent three years in New Zealand. His lifelong interest in that country found expression in his ...

Todays PMQs

My feed reader shows me the latest Iain Dale Daley Dozen in which he points to us and asks why we didn’t cover PMQs today. Although it may not have been our finest hour, the real reason is that Stephen, who usually covers that for us, is away, and none of the rest of us remembered [...]

Vince and the queen

So what century are we living in exactly OK, so Vince Cable should have known that he could not discuss the monarch but really, what sort of democracy prevents its elected representatives from mentioning the head of state in Parliament without 'prior permission' The BBC tell us that 'according to Erskine May, the guide to parliamentary practice, "the irregular use of the Queen's name to influence a decision of the House is unconstitutional in principle and inconsistent with the independence of Parliament". It adds: "Any attempt to use her name in debate to influence the judgement of Parliament is immediately ...

Blogs from Zimbabwe

Yeserday I recommended the blog This is Zimbabwe. The BBC Newsnight pages link to three more: Enough is Enough From the Frontline Global Voices

Interesting things about Brian Paddick

A few days ago, we received an email from someone who’d been watching political debate on Channel 4: Heard Peter Oborne and Jon Snow discussing the ‘political class’ and how Boris and Cameron were both old Etonians. While Oborne queried the homogeneity of ‘the political class’ due to Boris’ grandfather being an immigrant, Jon Snow made [...]

Fear Vs Fear

After writing my last post, sitting in the Premier Inn. I got to thinking about both sides of the technology debate, as an individual I have an average working knowledge of what can be acheived with modern computer technology. The thoughts arose from the conversation I had over dinner with the chap on the next table who worked for Beefeater implementing their new IT system and a conversation

Beefeater

This is a bit of a test really I am actually sitting in the Beefeater in Luton waiting for my grilled chicken and new potatoes no chips or steak as I am now on the diet, thought I would try a blog from the phone. I told you I like gadgets, I will know later whether it works. Back in the hotel editing this post, obviously works very well. So may be afew more off the cuff posts in the future, for

PMQs - verdict on Harman: make her into kindling

Okay, maybe at times I am a bit biased against LabCons but even the most devoted of Harman admirers must be sharpening their knives after her atrociously bad performance at Prime Minister's Questions today. No wonder she needs to go around with a knife proof shirt on.She was so wooden and scripted she made Brown look and sound positively glamorous. She didn't even try to hide the fact she was

Mr Mayor - Cllr John Fletcher

Today was the big day - officially the Annual Meeting of Stockton Borough Council, unofficially known as Mayor-making. This is the meeting each year when appointments to positions within the council are made, starting with the Mayor, deputy mayor (who usually becomes mayor the following year) then going through cabinet, committees and outside bodies such as the Airport consultative panel and

100 years at Maidstone Police Station

Late yesterday afternoon, all Councillors from Maidstone Borough were invited to attend a photoshoot today to recreate a photo that had been found in 1946 of the opening of Maidstone Police Station. Unfortunately, the late notice meant that only a few Councillor’s could attend, but I’m very glad to say I was one of them. {100 years at Maidstone Police Station} This is a copy of the picture taken on 27th March 1908. The subjects include the Mayor of the time, Borough Councillors and senior Police officers. (Please click on the picture to see an enlarged version). As can be ...

Is the Standards Board just a new form of intimidation

I raise the question, because even here in polite Cambridgeshire, it's increasingly obvious that some members and officers of local councils have hit on a new wheeze. If a Councillor asks too many awkward questions (sometimes even one will do), they are told they are being discourteous and threatened with being reported to the Standards Board. Frankly, in my not so humble opinion, the Standards Board has gone from being an attempt to strengthen ethical standards in local government to being nothing more than a tool for censorship. Its procedures appear to owe more to the Star Chamber than to ...

Yoo Torture if You Want To

The New York Times reports that the infamous CIA torture memo (narrowly redefining torture to the point of almost irrelevance) was mirrored in the advice tendered to the US military which probably applied until 2005. The Times: “The memorandum gave the military broad latitude to use harsh interrogation methods. It reasoned that federal laws prohibiting assault [...]

Great Northern Terrace - Very well done!

One of the things I noticed about Lincoln compared to Hemel Hempstead is the way in which the tip is organised. In Hemel (Herts County Council) you had big skips with metal stairs. The staff were always unfriendly and looked aghast as you started filling their bins in case you might actually give them some work to do. Where as Lincoln (Lincolnshire County Council) it’s in one big loop. You can pull over, drop off, drive forward a bit, empty some more and as it’s ramped there are no stairs. They have collections for Glass, Plastic, Paper, Clothes, Cardboard, Tetrapak, ...

Spring Cleaning

Apologies for the lack of posting in the last week. Mexico was extremely hectic and I got a virus off some dodgy wifi. I'm back now and normal service will resume from tomorrow (its my brother's birthday today and it takes priority). I've got a few posts and I'll clear out my reading list, write a couple of reviews and bring it up to date. March was the blog's most successful month yet, even if I posted less than in the previous two months. My technorati rating has improved, google gave me my first payment for ads, and more importantly ...

Did the BNP withdraw their candidate because they disapproved of what he said or because they were worried about him losing them votes

The BNP have removed their London Assembly candidate Nicholas Eriksen (now there's a good old British name for you !) from their list as a GLA candidate after load of press furore and it even being brought up in Prime Minister's Questions today. The question is, why did it take the press and PMQ's to get the BNP to act Did they diagree with what he said yesterday If so they seemed very quiet about it or has the negative press coverage and the fact that it would destroy their female vote (yes, women can be racist too) make them ...

One in six schools breaking admissions rules

The government named and shamed the 96 schools who were, in the three areas randomly sampled by the government, breaking admissions rules. Extrapolated across the country it would mean that in in six schools are breaking the rules. The fact that some schools were asking for £50 cheques with admissions forms, some were asking for a regular monthly direct debit of more than £30 and in one case they asked for nearly £3000 a year, highlights that some schools care little about diving everyone a good education and care more about how much money the parents have. The problem is, ...

Daily Mail Fishing for Fake Stories

Anyone want to guess which national newspaper this advert is referring to: A national newspaper wants your story and will pay hundreds of pounds to the right person. Write a few lines about how computer games turned you to crime and if its something we like, well call you straight back. Payment details: paid role Created: 27 March 2008Applications [...]

Irresponsible clothes designers

Walking through the centre of town in the early evening April sun all was well apart from two striking images which shocked me. The first one was a girl of about 10 or 11 wobbling in stilettos in a school uniform. She didnt have any other shoes on her so she must have been wearing them to school. She was practically holding her little sister of about 7 or 8 years old up to help her to walk in her high heels. I kept trying to stop myself from becoming all maternal and wanting to tell them to put sensible ...

Has Robert Mugabe suddenly become sane

It would seem possible. The official Zimbabwean parliamentary election results show the MDC with a majority. The Presidential vote is on a knife edge as to whether a second ballot is needed. One presumes and hopes that Mugabe will be fatally damaged by the need for a run-off. A senior ZANU (PF) official has told a BBC correspondent in Zimbabwe that he believes Mr Mugabe has been fatally damaged:

Questions of equality

Bit surprised to read this on the Guardian website saying that a survey of gay people found most considered themselves discriminated against. There was a bit of a ray of sunshine when it proved that people thought the Lib Dems less likely to be homophobic than the other main parties, but still nearly half of those surveyed thought that their homosexuality would be a barrier to standing for parliament, for example. That’s definitely not the case in the Lib Dems. One paragraph stuck out from the report: One in four think they will be treated less fairly by police if ...

BNP candidate withdraws, but the BNP tough it out.

So the BNP rape apologist ahs withdrawn from the election. But this is what the BNP have to say on their website "It was felt that no matter how much Nick Eriksons blog comments, written back in 2005, had been distorted and taken out of the context" So is the fact it was said "back in 2005" meant to be mitigation And "taken out of context". Yes right, I am sure women everywhere will feel

Gay-friendliest party

A recent Stonewall survey of gay, lesbian and bisexual people found that their respondents expected to find less prejudice from the Lib Dems than from either of the other two main parties, should they wish to stand for parliament. The Guardian reports: The poll also suggested prejudice is endemic in political life, with most lesbian and gay [...]

Government Launches 'Clean-Up Campaign' For Hospitals

Hygiene levels in hospitals have become so bad that a clever government minister sitting in a government office has decided to tell the press about a 'clean-up campaign' that will magically see all the hospitals become cleaned-up, like. Health Minister Rémi Allah Kouadio said to a bunch of assembled hacks: "We hope to eliminate from our hospitals [bad] practices that add risks to patients' health" This is in the Ivory Coast, by the way. More here. The story in no way rings any bells. There are no bells. Run along now.

He made me do it, your honour!

Having decided on this blog to refer to our esteemed leader as Nickers I now find that real life has caught up with me as the Lib Dem Lothario's reputation enters the stratosphere. If I combine my proposed nickname, our Dear Leaders burgeoning reputation for wooing the laydeez and his partial Russian heritage, it strikes me that I should now refer to him as Nickersoff. Have I been blacklisted yet

Weekly Surgeries

Just a reminder that my weekly surgeries (on Thursdays at Mitchell Street Centre 5pm, Harris Academy 5.30pm and Blackness Primary School 6.15pm) do not run during the school holidays. They'll be back on Thursday 17th April. Meantime, any issues/problems can be e-mailed to me at esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk - many thanks!

Should we be more careful about Russian relations

George Bush is pushing to expand Nato eastwards and get Ukraine and Georgia to join. Georgia wants to join basically to annoy the Russians. The Ukraine government is interested but half its population would be against this, only a quarter for (rest undecided). So I can't see their government who only just have a majority actually risking joining. Especially with Russia threatening to cut the gas at Ukraine's every move. Well the Russian Foreign minister has responded like this, "But we will respond pragmatically, not like small boys in school who sulk at those who bully them, run out of ...

Green Gordon I Don't Think So.

Gordon Brown needs to do two things if he is really to help householders go green. First he needs to provide substantial sums in energy efficiency grants for homeowners, tenants and landlords so that they have an incentive to replace inefficient boilers, install double glazing and fit insulation. The £100m he promised yesterday via the Energy Saving Trust amounts to about £4 per household in the UK. By contrast, maintaining Trident costs £280m a year, the UKs annual road building programme is just over £1bn, and Terminal Five at Heathrow has cost £4bn. The second thing he needs to do ...

The immigration debate continues

It's clear that some people consider the recent report from the House of Lords on the net effects of immigration as the last word on the subject. Regular CentreForum contributor, Philippe Legrain doesn't agree. His piece for CommentisFree challenges the Lords report on no less than nine grounds. He is also not taking any prisoners in tone of the article - for instance, his summary of the membership reads: "the committee is chaired by Tory has-been John Wakeham and also includes two Conservative ex-chancellors, Black Wednesday Lamont and boom-and-bust Lawson." Its headline isn't much more conciliatory - "Clueless in the ...

Hurrah! Zanu-PF lose majority in Zimbabwe's Parliament

The BBC new has just published news that the Zimbabwe Election Commission has announced that Zanu-PF have "won" 94 seats with the opposition parties winning 105 and 1 Independent being elected. There are 207 seats in total in the Parliament. The true scale of the Zanu-PF defeat may have been greater if there were no irregularities in the counting process. Now all we need is the true results of the Presidential election to be declared although the way things are looking at the moment it seems to be heading for a run-off between Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC. ...

Double racism row hits the Conservatives

First we have Boris Johnson apologising for articles he published whilst editor of The Spectator, and then we have this: The Conservatives were today hit by a “racism” row after two black party members claimed they were “stopped and searched” when trying to attend a local association meeting. The men said they were “traumatised” by their treatment [...]

Hook Road and Bridge Road roundabout

Just before Easter many of you will remember that there was another nasty accident on the Hook Road, this time north of the Bridge Road roundabout. A car travelling towards Hook hit the central reservation and turned over into the path of a car going in the opposite direction. Three people were injured and the air ambulance was called. Ian called a meeting yesterday at the site, and we...

Cayman Went*

The story in yesterday's Guardian about a bloke walking into an aquarium in Norway and walking out with a cayman alligator had me hooting with laughter at the thought of someone nonchalantly strolling out with a bloody big 'gator tucked underneath his arm and nobody noticing. It also gives me the opportunity to repeat the "Modern Urban Myth" about the old style North Lanarkshire Labour Councillor who said in full council: "Folk have been making allegations about how we run this council and I ken who the alligators are." Also gives the chance to make the alligator sandwich joke............ *This ...

No Convincing Case for a Continued British Presence in Basra

Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey MP comments on yesterday’s announcement about Iraq force levels. We should pay tribute to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and I send my condolences to the family and friends of those we have lost. In yesterday’s statement we heard that there will be no drawdown of British Forces in Basra. I feel that this begs the question - has something fundamental changed since the Prime Minister’s announcement in October on the intended reduction in the number of troops (more…)

That GQ interview again.

Piers Morgan: Well, you're a man of the world, squire. Clegg: Yes... Morgan: I mean, you've been around a bit, you know, like, you've, uh... You've 'done it'... Clegg: What do you mean Morgan: Well, I mean like,... you've SLEPT, with a lady... Clegg: Yes... Morgan: What's it like (With apologies to Monty Python).

PMQs: Parliament shows how out of date it is - again

Well, well - so Vince Cable tried to ask a question at Prime Minister's Questions today - and it was ruled out of order. His heinous offence Mentioning the Queen in his question: It is reported that Her Majesty the Queen cancelled her Diamond wedding party because it would be inappropriate to indulge in extravagance when the country faces recession and economic gloom. Is this another good example of Her Majestys unerring instinct for the national mood; or does the Government think she is simply overreactingWell excuse me - but what sort of out of date organisation is it that ...

Foul BNP rape appeaser sacked

Disgusting scum Nick Eriksen who is the BNP's Chief London organiser has been sacked from being a London Assembly candidate for foul comments on his blog about rape. I'm not going to give this creature's rantings any further publicity by repeating them as they can be found elsewhere online but sacking him as a candidate is the least that should happen to this individual. Apparently he claims to have made his awful comments "in order to stimulate debate."

The baleful legacy of Labour in Wales

Simon Jenkins puts his finger on something very important in Welsh politics in this Guardian book review. A mild leftwing bias renders some entries (in the encyclopaedia) far too gentle. No mention is made of the role of the British Labour party or British trade unionism in stamping on emergent Welsh nationalism in the 20th century. I am not convinced that the 1979 referendum vote against devolution was against "a national future". It rather reflected the enervation of Welsh politics by generations of Labour leaders, who until 1964 refused Wales even its own secretary of state. This enervation continues in ...

No question about it - this is just childish

Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons is never the most edifying spectacle in the world, but today's seems to have been particularly bad, judging by this exchange. For William Hague to ask whether Harriet Harman wears a clown suit to Cabinet was just puerile stuff of the worst sort, and the sort of thing which gives politics a bad name. Harman's reply was equally lame. There are all sorts of ways that Hague could have used the stab vest incident, by for instance asking whether Harman thinks there are too many knives on the streets of London. But ...

Cable silenced at PMQs

It was Harriet Harmon's first time at PMQs (Brown at Nato summit) and William Hague pointed out it was the first time a labour woman led PMQs. She then turned this round and through it back in his face, quite well I thought. Vince Cable (Clegg away somewhere), made a question about the economy referring to how the queen decided against an expensive diamond wedding celebration. Unfortunately Cable should have thought through it so Mr. Speaker had to make him change his question (because it was about the queen-OH NO!) and then didn't allow him for another one saying he'd ...

World Autism Awareness Day and 'postcode lottery' for early years setting

It is still shocking that early years provision, especially for children with special educational needs is still largely determined by the vagaries of whichever authority your postcode falls under. This is without doubt a most arbitary and cruel way to determine how we, as a society, provide for the most vulnerable in our society. There is no doubt in my mind that early years provision and support for children with special needs, particularly autism, ASD and Aspergers has huge benefits for not only the children, in helping to give them a solid foundation from which to cope with the challenges ...

Ahern quitting as Irish Premier

Bertie Ahern is stepping down as Irish Taoiseach next month it has been announced. He has been Leader of his Fianna Fail party since 1994 and has been Taoiseach since 1997, winning a third term in the 2007 elections. The news comes a day after he commenced court proceedings to limit the scope of a Public Inquiry into planning corruption in the 1990s whilst Ahern was Minister for Finance. His finances are being probed by the inquiry. Ahern said:" While I will be the first to admit that I've made mistakes in my life and in my career, one mistake ...

Friday 28th March a Busy little Bee

I hosted a reception for our Bath Sea Cadets It was lovely to see them in the Parlour. Our own Young Citizen of the year is also a Sea Cadet who is a lovely person and should be proud of himself. They have had some refurbishment done to their premises helped with some sponsorship. They also had a talk of the history in the Parlour which I hope they enjoyed. They are always looking for more...

Debt, unemployment and violence: top fears of young people

CSV (Community Service Volunteers) have a really interesting study published today - the Youth Future Fears UK study. As they say: Young people aged 16 25 across Britain were asked to rank their biggest fears for the future ... The survey reveals: Nearly half (48%) see debt as one of their biggest future fears 40% are worried about unemployment Violent crime is a top concern for 38% of young people One in three (30%) are fearful for the challenge presented by global warming One in five (20%) are worried about increasing drug use whilst 17% fear an increase in racial ...

Speaker Martin makes arse of today's PMQs

Having just listened to PMQs in the House of Commons all I can say is that Gorbals Mick made a complete and total arse of things today. He is also showing considerable bias towards Labour. Cock up one - refused to allow Vince Cable to refer to the queen in a question. Cock up two - Then refused Vince a second question thus allowing Hattie Harman to evade answering. Cock up three - Called a Labour MP who wasn't expecting to be called and hadn't a properly prepared question. Cock up four - Decided that the MP his mistakenly called ...

How many 53 year olds do you know who have just given birth

I am at home feeling sorry for myself as I have a bit of a chest infection. Being as I am feeling so sorry for myself I am just not up to the 20 minute walk to the doctors, so for the first time, I decided to try NHS direct. Yet another agency collecting and collating data on anyone who dares to cross their path, it was nearly as bad as ringing the passport office! But, I duly obliged, gave number rank name and date of birth. Then they asked if I had given birth in the last 4 weeks.......... ...

Who says neighbourly behaviour is dead

Just received a knock at the door. Always get a bit nervous when someone rings the bell, thinking they may well be friends and I will be inclined to asked them in and more often than not my place is a mess. So I went to answer the door and there was man, who I had never seen before, with his dog. Thinking now he must be a neighbour. He knocked on my door to see whether I knew my outside tap was

Civic Reception from Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust

Thursday 27th March I hosted a Civic Reception for Primary Care Trust it was the Child Welfare part they had a visit from previous Mayors before but had never been into the Parlour so I decided it was about time they were invited in to see the Parlour as so many people haven't been in. and they always enjoy their talk about the Parlour, which they did. I'm so glad they went away happy...

Shock as Labour MPs wake up

After a year’s light snoozing, the Labour party has belatedly realised that the last budget delivered by their Iron Chancellor-as-was will have the incidental effect of making poor people worse off in 2008/09. The scrapping of the 10p band, as reported heretofore, will make everyone on an income of below about £18,000 worse off before inflation from 6th April next [...]

Gorbals Mick in yet another expenses row

The Westminster Parliament's standards commissioner, John Lyon, yesterday launched an inquiry into the expense claims of Commons Speaker Michael Martin who is nicknamed Gorbals Mick. It relates to expense claims of over £4000 by the Speaker's wife for taking taxis during shopping trips. The commissioner said in response to the complaint: "In essence the part of your complaint I have accepted is that Mrs Martin's expenditure on taxis may not have been in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament and its associated rules." He added: "I am inviting Mr Speaker to let me have his comments ...

The Art of the Possible

A new favourite blog of mine - aimed at seeking common ground between US liberals and libertarians - rather like Rothbard’s alliance with the New Left. Certainly there’s ground to start with - libertarians tend to be against ventures like the Iraq War, as do many on the left. Both are often concerned with freedom and [...]

A clown and DI Gene Hunt ran past

me on London Bridge this morning, as I was walking across in to the City. Or at least Im sure about the clown and there were two guys chasing him and the last one looked like DI Hunt from Ashes to Ashes but it was all very fast and I couldnt tell you if they were wearing attire from the early 1980s or not! The thing is this being London and London Bridge in particular no one actually batted an eyelid, double took or faltered in their march across the bridge. I hate walking across the bridge at rush ...

Wheres Boris

The Guardian is looking but can’t find him. Our Brian, on the other hand, is about to answer some pretty rabid commenters’ questions for the Torygraph.

Drip, Drip, Drip From Zimbabwe

Okay the long drip, drip, drip of results from Zimbabwe's elections is indicating a different result than expected following the intial postings of results outside counting stations at the weekend. This is looking like some sort of Zanu PF attempt at manipulating as close to a statistical tie as they can manage. Now after Movement for Democratic Change claims that Morgan Tsvangirai had run 60%

Smannell Parish Highways Audit

Just some of the pictures included in our street audit. Hampshire County Council have been for the last 6 weeks promising to get things done in Smannell. County County Councillor Robin Hughes has forced the Tory led administration to admit that their service in roads and highways maintenance is not good enough.Whilst Highays engineers will be at the Parish Council AGM we feel it is time to step up our campaign.Yesterday Smannell Lib Dems undertook an audit to see just what action had happened. Well to be honest "naff all" so hence here is our report to Councillor Robin Hughes. ...

Rate My Cop

The UK Government has launched a new online service for us to be able to find our local community policing teams. This reminded me of a site I found the other day that takes the ‘RateMy…’ model into a surprising area. Yes, folks, it’s RateMyCop.com. The team used freedom of information requests to get the names of police officers in local forces across the US. And those who receive ’services’ from said officers are now invited to give feedback on their experiences. There are a lot of very positive comments such as this: Well spoken and well behaved durring entire ...

Nick Clegg's 30 lovers

Or at least "no more than 30...it's a lot less than that" in answer to the question, in relation to the number of women he slept with before he got married: How many are we talking: 10, 20, 30" I thought it was an April Fool prank. Amanda Platell writes: Oh to have been a fly on the wall at Nick Clegg's family home in South London yesterday morning! You can just picture the scene as the

Clinton slipping in Pennsylvania

Up until now, Pennsylvania has been held out as the great hope for Hillary Clinton. A last minute surge here would sort everything out for her, we are told. Well, now there have been two polls in quick succession saying that her previously strong lead in Pennsylvania is slipping away. Rasmussen has the lead down to just five points: For Clinton, that five-point edge is down from a ten-point

Smiling faces angry dogs

The campaign for the Local Elections on May 1st is now getting into full swing, and last night was another enjoyable evening of canvassing on behalf of the St Mary’s ward Lib Dem candidate Mary D’Albert. Because theres quite a few of us, and because lots of people are out (or just see us coming and dont answer the door), I only reckon I get to speak to someone every dozen houses or so. But its nice on occasion to meet someone who Ive spoken to on the phone or helped with casework over email in the last year. ...

Perth Road - Scotland Gas Networks mains replacement

The advertisement in today's Courier from Scotland Gas Networks (also to appear in tonight's Evening Telegraph - click on the headline above to view) advising that part of Perth Road will be closed for many weeks, will be of concern to many residents and businesses. I recently met with Scotland Gas Networks and City Council officials in my capacity as City Council Planning & Transport Convener to discuss the proposed closure, to look for ways of ensuring works are carried out as quickly as possible and also to ensure the continuing running of all public transport. As I indicated in ...

Greening Oliver's Battery Website Launched!

The Greening Oliver's Battery campaign has now launched a website. The other big news for the campaign is that a date and venue have been fixed for the first public meeting: 3 pm on Saturday 10th May at Oliver's Battery Primary School. If you're in the area come along and hear all about the Greening Campaign and how you can help make a difference.

Bath Christmas Market gets Licence

I chaired the licensing committee yesterday that gave the Bath Christmas Market the go ahead for another year and over all we found that the market had been adequately run last year and had attracted many visitors with very few problems. We spent well over an hour listening to the applicant and to objectors to the Market before we came to our decision to grant the Licence that will...

Where've you been Boris

So - Boris Johnson is now complaining that Ken Livingstone keeps on nicking his policy ideas. Well - though of us who have actually been involved in London over the last decade have been well used to Ken doing his magpie act year after year. This complaint says more to me about how sudden and new Boris's interest is in London than anything else!

Excavations at Smannell Road

Many local residents have contacted me regarding the appearance of a wire fence across Smannell Road play area and trenches dug in the field. The single wire fence was thought to be dangerous and no notification had been given to residents about the works. The work is being carried out by Southern Water laying new sewers for the East Anton housing development. Test Valley were not advised or consulted about the works. I visited the site this morning and have arranged for reflective tapes to be strung along the wires so they can be seen after dark. I will also be requesting ...

Freebies

An initiative to offer free health checks to the over-40s in England will not be replicated in Wales, we have been told, because according to the Welsh Assembly Government screening is already provided for people at high risk of chronic diseases. Really I am not aware of any publicity for such a scheme or even how it might be accessed. I suspect that I am not alone in that ignorance. Perhaps the Welsh Government can explain how widespread this provision is, where it is advertised and who is eligible to use it. Maybe they can also explain how one secures ...

Get in my son

Who’s the white LibDem leader That’s a sex machine to all the chicks (Clegg!) You’re damn right

Day 2646: DOCTOR WHO: Max Warp

Sunday: When the most ADVANCED spaceship that Planet Earth can manage is a remote-controlled Ocado van, what FUN to look forwards to the time when they will be SLEEK and STYLISH lifestyle accessories like modern CARS are today. Come on: I will drape myself decoratively over this electrum-plated gravity-impulse-stabiliser fin and you can try out the genuine leatherette-effect acceleration couches while we listen to the next thrilling adventure from the Big Fish people when Mr Dr Paul reaches "Max Warp". Here are Daddy's thoughts Let's get the obvious out of the way first: it's "Top Gear" in space. Of course ...

Two Labour members in trouble, three Labour councillors happy, one piece of election law looking controversial

The Speaker, Labour MP Michael Martin, is being investigated over the use of Parliamentary expenses to pay for taxi trips for his wife. Labour councillor Rob Dix (of South Tyneside council) has been suspended by the Labour Party after being arrested on suspicion of ‘racially aggravated disorder’ after an incident last week whilst he was driving [...]

Debating policy at federal conference: give us your views!

Liberal Democrats are rightly proud of the fact that we remain the only major party to be internally democratic. Party policy can only be decided by the vote of the representatives of the party membership, after debate at the party conference. Despite this, however, the number of policy motions submitted to conference has steadily fallen over [...]

I know they are busy

The speaker is being investigated. Derek Conway is being investigated (again). I would guess there are probably some others. So why has this page gone so quiet

Water, Water, Everywhere!

Having got drenched earlier today for about the tenth time this week, I found that old saying going round and round in my head, ‘Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink!’ Usually that conjures up images of someone stuck in a rowing boat in the middle of the ocean, about to die of [...]

Double Dactyls II

Following on from my writing about double dactyls, two family members have come up with some suggestions: My Mum, writing about my Dad, who is a chiropodist: Clippety snippety Christopher Fosterfer Cutting the nails on our Fingers and toes Sorting verrucas out Hard skin and other stuff Chiropodially Curing our woes And P, who surfed a certain website and found a certain euphony in “Liberal Democrat / Mayoral Candidate” suggested: Bibbety bobbety Brian L Paddick an Ex-Police Officer Currently is Incontrovertibly Liberal Democrat Mayoral Candidate Let’s hope he wins

Guidance for candidates and agents

The Electoral Commission have produced Guidance for people who may be candidates or agents at the local government elections in England on 1st May 2008.

Day 2645: A Tsvangirai Tsunami or a Mugabe Mugging

Saturday: Zimbabwe. And President Mugabe denies there is any evidence of vote-rigging. "This result of one million-billion-willion percent for me is no more than a sign of the STRENGTH of my people's LOVE!" "Now launch the sharks and lasers at Mr Tsvangirai. And prepare my getaway sub! And dont tell me Zimbabwe is land-locked, you defeatist imperialist puppets!"

Wednesday 2nd April 2008

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