LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Thursday 3rd April 2008

Steph History

When I started this blog, many weeks ago, I tried to explain how I got into the whole politics thing. I've just come across something I wrote on the very earliest Looking at the piece with fresh eyes and hindsight, I feel quite emotional about just how far I have come in the last year-and-a-bit. I want to share it: NB: SWAT = Save Withybush Action Team, and FYI, I have my driving theory test next Tuesday after work and should be doing the practical one within a couple of months, all being well. Got the weather I'd ...

SuperStud Clegg

So, watching Question Time I am struck by the terrible thought that all of the panel and most of the audience seemed to think that "not more than thirty" was a HUGE number of sexual partners for a man who is forty years old to have had... Is it just me or is that a bit... Odd I mean, I know lots of people have religious reasons for not having (much) sex before marriage, but surely those of us who don't share those convictions aren't still bound by such Victorian ideals I thought thirty was a bit of a low ...

This candidate is lush, but honestly not a lush!

Today was nice. Lots of other days in the last two weeks have been not so nice - like finding out that one of the people I thought might support me on my ward has decided to stand herself, making it a tougher fight; or like having one of my nominators write their name in lower-case letters when the form asks for block capitals so I had to go out and get all ten signatures again at the eleventh hour. I'm not going to dwell on those days though, because now my name is going to be on the ballot ...

Immigration

It's an uncomfortable issue for Liberal Democrats. It's the first issue on tonight's Question Time. Time and again it's the first issue of concern in Opinion Polls. True, with many people it's just another way of expressing prejudices which are no longer socially acceptable or even legal. But that just makes it more difficult to discuss; it doesn't mean we should ignore it. The fact is that here in Cambridgeshire, we have had a strong influx from Eastern Europe and Portugal over the last few years. I'd have to say the results are mixed. It may have benefited 'the economy' ...

The Daily Mail has it in for Lembit Opik

Later. As Auberius points out in his comment below, this story comes from December 2006 but has mysteriously reappeared on the Mail's website with today's date. No wonder it seemed familiar. There is nothing new about that. And probably nothing new about its story that the Lib Dem MP for Montgomery has lobbied for Gabriela and Monica Irimia (aka The Cheeky Girls) to be allowed to remain in Britain. As the paper itself admits, his intervention "did not break any rules since he made clear his personal interest in the case". Still, a period of silence on Mr Opik's part ...

Are you Ken Livingstone's love child

Increasing numbers of people are discovering that they were fathered by the Mayor of London. If you: have a dry sense of humour;employ members of obscure Trotskyite groupuscules in responsible positions;are fascinated by newts;you may have been too. If you suspect you are Ken Livingstone's love child, you should seek immediate professional help.Boris Johnson is 43.

European Selections: And you thought that we had problems!

I had a moment or two to spare, so I thought that I might see what our Conservative friends are up to. And fascinating it was too... ConservativeHome is running a piece on the way Conservative Central Office has "stitched up" their selection process for the European Parliament, then withheld the results data from members. There are suggestions that ballot papers didn't go out to all members,

Come and discover your French "twin"

Sodbury and District Twinning Association is looking for people who would like to take part in their visit to twin town Cesson, France between May 23rd and 27th. Cesson is twinned with Sodbury and Dodington, but people living in Yate or nearby areas are also welcome to take part. You can find out more by coming along to the Twinning AGM at 7.30pm next Wednesday, 9th April, at the Ridgewood Centre, Yate. If you're interested but can't make that evening, contact us using the form in the right hand column of this web page and we'll get the Twinning Association ...

Bad news for Stoughton

From this evening's Leicester Mercury:A controversial plan to build an eco-town on the outskirts of Leicester has been shortlisted by the Government.Villagers protesting against the scheme say they will fight on to ensure the project, which will see up to 15,000 new homes being built between Stoughton and Great Glen, will not go ahead.The announcement of 15 preferred towns from a list of 57 was made this morning. Housing minister Caroline Flint would only say which schemes had been chosen, not why they had been chosen.The area's MP Edward Garnier said: 'She came across as a minister who has no ...

Zimbabwe prediction comes true

I spent some of the happiest, and most exhausting, days of my life working in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, in the summer of ‘98. It was between the end of school and the start of university. I had spent the previous 18 months preparing for the trip rather than doing any work for my A-levels. It was in the [...]

Don Studmuffin

I in lot of trouble with the Don this week. While I being entertained by Don Clegg's henchmen last November, we talk about stuff on occasion. With Signor Grant for example we chat about problem with Capo Clegg image. "The thing is Liberali, I'm a little concerned." "Why that Gavin" "Well Capo Clegg is more 'new' Family than 'old', some people even say he appeals to women." "What point of that" "I know... I know... but ever since Signora Pankhurst and her (shudder) progressive ilk secured full access to the Family it's been seen as quite an asset in a ...

Money Well Spent

I’m always worried that the £5,000 in tuition fees I’ve paid to King’s College London this year might have gone to waste. But then I read that they’ve developed a programme simulating a London Tube journey and my mind is laid to rest - they are definitely wasting every single penny of my money.

I knew Id seen that hand gesture somewhere before

Compare and contrast these video clips: If that’s got you in the mood, you can watch the full “campfire” trailer here, the cinematic trailer here, and a preview clip from the first episode of the new series of <DOCTOR.WHO>, Partners in Crime, here. The fourth series begins on Saturday at the earlier time of 6.20pm.

Some people are gay - get over it!

Yesterday I was confronted by this story in the paper: PARENTS are refusing to let their children swim in Levenshulme baths - because it’s being hired for naked male swimming sessions. (MEN) Apparently these parents think that having some homosexuals use the same pool (and not at the same time its a private session) as their [...]

Blair wants faith role in world affairs

Messianic figure of the left* and recent Catholic convert Tony Blair** will tonight urge faith to play a greater role in tackling the world’s problems. Because that’s worked so well in Israel and Palestine, Northern Ireland, Somalia, Uganda and Nazi Germany. Just throwing it out there, and please feel free to shoot me down on this [...]

Who needs Ashes to Ashes

In the 1980's we used to have a lot of family days out in Great Yarmouth, but upon going there today I could be forgiven for thinking I had gone in to some sort of time warp and that I was back in the 1980's like in the series Ashes to Ashes. The photo shows that on one of the piers they have Jim Davidson and Freddie Starr, but further along the poster it also showed that they have Cannon and Ball and Roy "Chubby" Brown. Now I'm no snob, indeed I have seen all these acts live back in ...

Paddick on dope

There’s been rather a lot of nonsense spoken about dope in the last day or so as some no-mark Labour MP calls on the PM to reclassify cannabis from Class C to Class B to “send the right signal” Paddick gave a very brief answer on this subject in his Telegraph interview, but expands a bit [...]

It's just like being ten again...

It's getting worse by the hour...

Poverty gap has not narrowed under Labour | Politics | The Guardian

Higher national taxes under Labour; higher local taxes under the Conservatives (up 5% in Chelmsford) and today we learn that the Poverty gap has not narrowed under Labour. A number of lower-paid people will be WORSE off next week, when the 10% starting rate of tax is abolished. Apparently some Labour MPs are surprised about this (according to the reports in The Guardian). If only they had

A day for debunking myths

I do love it when scientists prove wrong myths, particularly myths that support particular assertions that people like to lecture others on, and today three well know myths were debunked. Firstly, there is no medical reason why drinking 6 to 8 drinks a day is of any value to you, indeed so long as you are not dehydrated, there is no medical reason at all and certainly no benefit in drinking this amount of fluid. The only thing that will happen is that you will go to the toilet more, flush the toilet more, and pay more for your water ...

Neighbourhood Watch- Bad parking !

There I was just 10 minutes ago working in the car when I noted a car, the one in the picture stop outside my house the individual park in the middle of the road and take a picture of my lovely sign at Little London. The parking was a little silly, to stop ones car in the middle of the public highway, engine running, and lean out whilst taking a picture is a bit risky. I quickly snapped the car for neighbourhood watch reasons, with recent things going on you can never be sure. The sign she was taking a ...

Nick Cleggs 30 Lovers Revealed

Nibley Lane closed tomorrow - Friday 4th

Nibley Lane will be closed tomorrow - Friday 4th - from 9.30 am to 4 pm for highway work. This is the popular cut-through section from Westerleigh Rd to Badminton Rd.

Were They Counting On Their Fingers

What do the following highly numerate and on-the-ball people have in common William Hague, at yesterdays Prime Ministers Question Time Labour MPs suddenly complaining, signing motions and claiming Mr Brown is living on another planet According to this mornings Today Programme, an unnamed but leading thinktank (may not contain actual thoughts) All of them have suddenly worked out that Gordon Browns final Budget as (named) Chancellor clobbered the poor to pay for middle-rate tax cuts. This was impossible to know until this week unless you were Ming Campbell, Vince Cable or several Lib Dem bloggers, a whole 379 days ago. ...

Newsletter competition

Our newsletter competition has come to a conclusion, and the envelope with the winner is before me. Opening it, I can see our mug prize is winging its way to Southport Lib Dems and their newsletter editor Nigel Ashton. Congrats, Nigel - send us a picture of the mug in use!

Micheldever Station Eco Town Success

{2384725777_825417a6c2_o} One piece of good news today. The Government has made it clear that Micheldever Station is not going to be one of its new eco-towns. I’m really pleased. This was an eco-town proposal that wasn’t eco. It was going to have an appalling effect on traffic congestion and emissions. It was going to concrete over the countryside - rather than using brown field land as per the original specification. In essence, it was a half-baked greenwash of a bad idea that had previously been repeatedly rejected. Most of the credit for this belongs with the Dever Society and particularly ...

Labour MPs dismayed at the effects of Labour tax policy

The Guardian reports on the growing rebellion among Labour MPs as the full impact of the removal of the 10% tax band in last year’s budget becomes clear: In what were described as tense exchanges, the prime minister was challenged over the issues when he addressed backbenchers in private at the regular meeting of the parliamentary Labour party [...]

Clegg interviewed

Over at the Spectator Coffee House blog.

Nick Clegg launches Lib Dem local election campaign across the country

The Lib Dems have claimed to be the “practical” party of local government at the launch of their campaign for council elections in England and Wales. Leader Nick Clegg said the party’s record was a “success story - quality services, and value for money”. Speaking at the campaign launch in Sheffield, he accused Labour of failing on crime and the Tories of having “no stomach” for addressing green issues. The party currently controls 29 local authorities across Britain, and is defending 700 Council seats on May 1st, including Sedgley here in Bury. We also hope to make other gains ...

Lib Dems question financial transparency

Posted by Chris: At Redcar & Cleveland Council today I asked why Council Tax payers now have to pay over £25 million for Other Services this year. In a letter sent out with Council Tax bills to explain where the money goes, Other Services now accounts for £25 million, up from £13 million last year. This makes it the second highest category of expenditure, with only Social Services higher (£36 million). We need to know why the cost of these mysterious other services have rocketed so much. The whole thing looks to be out of control. Even if Labour can ...

Blogger in agreement with Labour Minister shock!

Well there must be pigs flying past a blue moon as I find myself in agreement with Gordy Broon's Licensing Minister Gerry Sutcliffe! He has broken with his Ministerial colleague and said that publicans were "right to be upset" with the tax hikes imposed by Chancellor Alistair Darling in his recent budget. The budget put 4p on a pint of beer, 3p on a pint of cider, 14p on a bottle of wine and a whopping 55p on a bottle of spirits. Gavin Hewitt, Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: "Scottish distillers are astonished by the Chancellors announcement. ...

Obama takes lead in Pennsylvania

Things are looking increasingly bleak for Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race. Paul Walter highlighted the other day that Clinton was slipping in the polls in Pennsylvania. And there's even worse news for Clinton with this poll which puts Barack Obama ahead by 45-43. Although there's still three weeks to go before Pennsylvania goes to the polls, Obama often tends to gain last-minute support, so I think he could well pull off a significant victory which would finally end any lingering hopes which Hillary might have of gaining the Democratic nomination.

Jimmy Carter backs Obama - heavy hint

All eyes have been on Al Gore to do a bit of senior statesmanship with regard to the Democratic presidential nomination. But now that real old Democrat senior statesman, Jimmy Carter, has dropped a very heavy hint that he is supporting Obama. He didn't say as much, but his interview with a Nigerian newspaper leaves no real room for doubt: Former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter has

Election Fever Here again or is it

I notice the increase in blog writing over the past few weeks by those with elections taking place this year and one wonders why. I watched Nick Clegg on Sky lunch time give a very powerful launch to the Liberal Democrat campaign and I wish all my fellow Lib Dem Candidates well in their forthcoming fight. My residents are taking interest and the questions will again come...

"Wall of Sound" to drown out Blair - when will the anti-free-speech left ever learn

Tony Blair, recently converted to Catholicism, is giving a lecture at Westminster Cathedral this evening. His talk, at 7pm, is entitled Faith and Globalisation. He'll be arguing that we risk driving religious groups to the margins, and even into extremism, unless we're prepared to engage with them in the mainstream of public life. Unfortunately for Mr Blair, Stop the War Coalition are planning to come along to the lecture as well. They're holding a demonstration outside the Cathedral, and are planning to create a "wall of sound" to drown out the ex-Prime Minister's speech. They've asked supporters to bring along ...

Transition City Leeds

A quick plug of the Transition City Leeds one day seminar. Saturday 19th April 2008 10am till 5pm Centenary House, North Street , email transitioncityleeds@hotmail.co.uk http://transition-city-leeds.wikispaces.com This is part of the transition towns movement and something which IMHO opinion over laps nicely with a localist approach to economics/politics.

Three more years of Worst SnotRail

Ah the Gnat Government, don't ya love 'em NOT! It's been announced that First Scotrail have had their franchise extended by another three years and without any prior consultation with anyone. It seems that First (sic) will be handing £70 million back to the "Government" as part of the stitch up, sorry, deal. The STUC have been critical of the move saying that it was "hugely disappointing". First Scotrail were fined £473 519 last year for failing to meet standards. At least I'll not be commuting on a daily basis by rail when I move to Kinross-shire and for that ...

Ze Prime Minister has trouble with is Early Day Motion

Yes, much like the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I persist in finding Early Day Motions inherently amusing (by way of, possibly, mitigation I have just been watching ‘Allo ‘Allo clips on youtube.) Douze points to Bob Russell for being the first Liberal Democrat MP to sign Greg Pope’s EDM calling for Darling, darling! (hahaha. Ehehe. Hm. [...]

More Trump arrogance

It's been reported today that in an interview with 'Vanity Fair' magazine (how apt!) Donald Trump has said of his planning application for Menie estate in Aberdeenshire "between you an me, I'm going to get it." This is despite the application having been called in by the Scottish Government and a Public Inquiry taking place. He added: "If Jack Nicklaus had tried to do this, he'd have zero chance, but they like what I have done, and because I am who I am and my mother is Scottish. Between you and me, I'm going to get it." Councillor Martin Ford, ...

Connarty Joins Ranks to Call Nats Bluff, Or Were Nats Fooled

Must be something to do with West Lothian, after all we are known for asking the difficult questions regarding Scotland. That heritage stretching back to Tam Dalyell asking the question regarding powers of Scottish MPs on devolved issues being off course the unanswered enigma that bears the countys names. Well his successor in the Linlithgow/Bathgate/Whitburn portion of West Lothian Michael

Stonehenge Dig...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/stonehenge http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.18770 A couple of links should you be interested...

Commings and Goings

While I have been away there have been two earth tremors in Leeds 6 politics. Firstly my collegue Linda Rhodes-Clayton ( Lib Dem, Hyde Park and Woodhouse ) was aquitted of the charges against her at her court hearing and has automatically resummed the Lib Dem whip. The resultant press coverage was unfair and unpleasent but I always thought this would be the end result knowing a bit about the case. My other Collegue Kabeer Hussain (Independent, Hyde Park and Woodhouse) was lected as a Lib Dem in May 2007 and then defected to Labour in October 2007. He has ...

Another complaint fired off to the BBC

I could have fired off more Julia Goldsworthy could have been asked.

Save our Back Gardens to go to Council

Yesterday evening there was a second item on the Development Control Committee about my 'Save our Back Gardens' petition. The outcome was very good! As before, there was cross-party agreement that in our local planning policies there should be a presumption against building on gardens (and this should include front and side gardens, not just ones at the back - point taken!). The...

New Refuse Collections - But for some Rubbish Piling up in the Street.

The controversial new refuse collection started this week in Warwick District. Most residents will get new Grey and Green wheelie bins to put their household refuse and garden waste. Collections will be alternate weekly, with one week collecting garden waste and recycling (from the red box) and the other week collecting household waste. Residents in terraced streets have been able to request a supply of bags if they are unable to store a wheelie bin. Roads in Chase Meadow left off the list and refuse is piling up in the streets. A council blunder has left roads in the Chase ...

Council Motion on Plastic Bags

I'm introducing a Council motion at next Wednesday's meeting abour reducing Leeds use of single use plastic bags. I'm hoping it will have all party support and is being seconded by Coun Ann Blackburn (Green, Farnley and Wortley ). They do say that a camel is a Horse designed by committee and so the text is not all it could be. In Leeds we have a "Not for Debate" device which allows motions to be submited and voted on without any discussion. While this is not very democratic it allows uncontroversial stuff to get through which would otherwise have been ...

Texts and twitters

13:35 yay! BNP drop the rape appeaser: tinyurl.com/yts5s4 # 00:00 Excellent post on rape by a friend of mine, inspired by the BNP arsehole: innerbrat.livejournal.com/510409.html #Microblogging by SMS, using LoudTwitter and Twitter.

Lib Con goes on

It's always interesting to see how a story develops as it is passed from commentator to commentator. This game, a kind of journalistic Chinese whispers, is even more interesting to follow when you have a hand in the initial story.The CentreForum pamphlet, Lib Con was published last week and is one of the sources for Fraser Nelson's piece in this week's Spectator - 'Watch the Tories sidling up to the Lib Dems: the foundations for a post-election pact'Mr Nelson has clearly been gauging reaction from the Conservative side to the ideas set out in Lib Con. They make interesting reading ...

Hospital Radio opened my eyes to the joys of volunteering

Theres more canvassing and leafleting tonight, as the campaign continues. I can only hope that the warm reception weve been getting continues tonight. Its been great so far, and Id like to thank everyone weve met who has been so kind and supportive. After canvassing tonight, I am attending the annual open evening of Northern Air, the hospital radio station of North Manchester General Hospital, of which I have been involved for the last ten years. I was an active member of Northern Air for about four years in total, over two spells, and have been in touch with ...

The Real Choice

Julian Glover reports in the Guardian today that the London Mayoral elections are now just a two-horse race. Their Guardian/ICM poll shows Boris nudging it with 51% of the vote (collating both first and second choices) with Ken on 49%. It has Brain back with the rest of the pack with just 10% of the vote. I have no idea as to the veracity of this claim as I am not particularly interested in psepology phespology psheology the study of elections. (Update: psephology, it’s psephology. Thank you Fraser Nelson) But if it is true, and Londoners will choose not to ...

Tesco building quite impressive - shock!

The artistic design of Tesco here in Willesden Lane is quite a revelation - a modern Tesco in the right setting CAN look good. I certainly sense that this building could feel quite iconic. It was build quite quickly and I was there the other day and with a short burst of sunshire was really struck at how good it looked. It leaves a few questions - why don't we have more buildings like this How come new development is so often lacking flair and design and on the negative will the structure be of the quality that will last ...

Leeds International Olaf Palme Memorial Peace Lecture

Just a quick plug for this years event organised by Leeds City Council and the Leeds Metropolitan University Praxis Centre. This years lecture is by Senator George Mitchell former US Senate Leader and chair of the N Ireland All-Party Peace Talks. the Title is "Do Peace Processes Work " Its at Leeds Civic Hall banqueting suite. 7pm Light Refreshments 7.30pm Lecture. You need a ticket available from 247 4341 or peace@leeds.gov.uk

New Money

New coins for the UK. As is traditional on these sorts of occasions there is a load of whinging hot air- in this case complaints that the Coat of Arms has no place for Wales- yes, true, so Or that the coat of arms is the version used in England- also true, so I was thinking the other day how stodgy much of our national iconography now looks: comparing the British passport: with the Swedish I just think the cleaner Swedish design looks better. So despite the whinging and demands that the (to my mind rather paltry) fee of 35,000 ...

The other London election

With all the attention on the election for London Mayor, the media are rather ignoring the other election that is going on in London. The London Assembly has 25 members and we will be electing them as well on 1st May. Of these Assembly members, 14 represent constituencies, and down here we will be electing the member for South West London, which covers the boroughs of Kingston,...

The party of law and ordure strikes again

In this little corner of the world our small but noisy opposition is led by a woman of substance and forthright views who speaks up against injustice and supports the officers in anything they say. She often rails against the scurrilous administration at Council meetings and elsewhere and is not afraid to tailor her comments to suit the audience any audience. Unfortunately, she is a nicotine addict and this has been the cause of red faces of late, for the upstanding opposition leader, in a rare failure of her impeccable character, was seen discarding the remnants of her latest fix ...

Ken Livingstone's proudest moment was 'grinding New Labour into the dust'

I've been out and about campaigning over the last week, and not had time to blog, so I'm a bit late with this news. Ken Livingstone, when asked about his proudest moment , boasted that it was 'taking on and smashing the New Labour machine', and 'grinding New Labour into the dust', when they blocked his bid in 2000 to be the Labour candidate for mayor, choosing Frank Dobson instead. Tessa Jowell, brought in to manage his campaign, tried to wave it off as a joke- an April fool Can't help feeling he spoke frankly and meant it. Whats funny ...

Buses update

There are some significant changes to local bus services in the Dundee area about to take place which come into effect on Sunday 6th April and Monday 7th April. If you click on the headline above you can read the details including a press release from Jim Lee, Managing Director of Travel Dundee, which explains the changes. The City Council has advised me that the www.dundeetravelinfo.com information is now updated to take account of the changes, and the "real time" signs and timetable posters at the bus stops will be updated over the next couple of days. Stagecoach is making ...

Glamis Drive

Back in February a proposed one day closure of the road in Glamis Drive (click on headline to view) did not end up taking place due to a problem for the company undertaking the works (BT - it is duct repairs works that are being proposed). This work will now take place on Monday (7th April) and traffic between the junction with Hillside Road and the junction with Hazel Drive will be prohibited for one day only. Pedestrian thoroughfare is unaffected. Anyone requiring further information can contact the City Council on Dundee 433168.

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire

If you are in need of a good laugh this morning pop over to DK here where the great and good of the UK poliblogosphere, i.e. Tim Ireland, Iain Dale and Paul DeLaire Staines are acting like four-year-olds and continually calling each other liar. Iain has even used the f-word. Ummm, I’m telling. As you can imagine there are lots of references to “Mine’s bigger than yours”, “go on then, get yours out” and “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours”. Honestly guys, get a room, a nice bottle of champagne between the three of you and snuggle ...

Gnats go to bottom of class

The Herald reports this morning that schools across Scotland are having to cut their budgets as a result of the council tax freeze brought in by the Gnat administration. I have blogged about this before, but it is worth noting the scale of the cuts involved. In The Herald report, they say that the cuts amount to an average of £70,000 per secondary school. Despite what the Cosla spokesperson says, there is no way that such cuts can be passed off as 'efficiency savings'. It is the equivalent of at least two teaching posts per school and the effects will ...

Vince not pleased with Queen rebuff

Vince is not chuffed with the handling he got from Speaker Martin at yesterday’s PMQs: Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable has attacked “ridiculous” Commons procedures after he was banned from asking a question about the Queen. Mr Cable mentioned the Monarch in a question on the economy to Harriet Harman, who was standing in for Gordon [...]

Darlo get go-ahead for expansion

Despite the best efforts of some unambitious, unimaginative Conservative councillors, Darlington Football Club was given planning permission yesterday for a major expansion of facilities around the Darlington Arena. And quite right too! The new sporting, leisure and hotel facilities will benefit the town. We should also enjoy having a successful football club and hopefully this scheme will

Facebook frenzy

1,2,3….Go! I have recently had a Facebook frenzy updating my woefully out-of-date profile and answering all the messages, notifications, friend additions and all the other various crap with which Facebook is now filled. How does this relate to you lovely people. Well the lucky ones amongst you may by now received an electronic magic friendship request from someone purporting to be “Andrew Tate”. If so, then it is I. Or of course it is a completely separate Andrew Tate - that would be pretty weird though! If you haven’t received said request then either I missed you out by mistake, ...

Church in Wales reject women bishops

The Western Mail reports that senior clerics with the Church in Wales have rejected a controversial Bill which would have allowed women to be ordained as bishops. The 140-strong Governing Body narrowly rejected the Bill which would have seen the creation of female bishops in the principality for the first time. A vote saw the Bill defeated by just three after a day of heated debate on the subject. As I was saying only yesterday, which century are we living in again

Zimbabwes opposition MDC takes parliament

Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has taken control of the parliament - the first time since 1980. MDC’s leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is also claimed to have won the presidential election, but the official result is not out yet. For Zimbabwe, a once prosperous nation, this news has to be good news. If the [...]

Knife and Gun Crime

When I told Brazilian friends about Brian Paddick’s campaign to get knives and guns off London’s streets, they expressed surprise that young hoodlums and even some schoolchildren in the British capital walk around with knives. I was able to say that I have had experience of that myself; a couple of years ago, I was [...]

Cats for Obama

Oh dear. Wonder if there’s a Dogs for Clinton

Cleggs numbers

Nottingham’s “Mr Sex” adds more light than heat to the Clegg Shag Numbers debate.

I've never been so insulted !

I am very grateful to Iain Dale who e-mailed me directly this evening to alert me to the "great slur" that had been done to me on a blog. I thought at first it my be Devil's Kitchen again launching some tirade of four letter abuse my way or even one of the few Labour bloggers around who refer to me in less than polite tones, but no, it's much worse than that. Apparently The Elusive Pimpernel thinks I am a Labour Party supporter ! How very dare you !

on the London mayoral election

Over 400,000 people gave the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor their second preference votes in 2000 and 2004, almost the same amount as the Tory and Labour second preference votes combined. The question is who do Liberal Democrat supporters give their second vote to Chances are, until last week it was the Green party. The Green party were never going to win the Mayoral election, you simply have to look at their party structure to know that they are averse to leadership, such a vote would have been one of solidarity with their cause. The closest they could have come, ...

Thursday 3rd April 2008

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