LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Friday 4th April 2008

Woodhead Tunnel: Civil servants know nothing about railways

David Ottewell's blog on the Manchester Evening News site quotes a reply by transport minister Rosie Winterton to a question from Labour MP Tony Lloyd. He was asking about possible new transpennine railway lines, but she said:The need for additional passenger capacity can best be met through the provision of longer carriages and faster journey times on the Manchester to Leeds via Huddersfield route.Should additional capacity be required across the Pennines at some future date, capacity enhancements on the three existing Victorian tunnels on the Woodhead route would be considered first.Three Victorian tunnels at Woodhead Which idiot wrote that reply ...

A brilliant TFL advert

This is really a rather superb advert from TFL. I usually find the adverts patronising, iritating, and a waste of money. However, this is certainly very good. I saw this via the Coffee House, which found it on Comment Central.

Candidates

The Welsh Liberal Democrat candidates for the county borough elections on May 1st will be: Cadoxton: Frank Little Cimla: John Warman (sitting councillor) and Des Sparkes Coedffranc North: Keith Davies (sitting councillor) Pelenna: Annette Sparkes Trebanos: Sheila Waye

Clegg: Brown must pull out of Olympic ceremony

But seriously, Nick Clegg is doing a wonderful job. With the Olympic torch arriving in London this weekend, he has written to Gordon Brown urging him to pull out of the ceremony because of China's human rights record. You can find the full text of the letter on the party website.

Never mind the 30 women, what about the cacti

In all the fuss over Nick Clegg's GQ interview, has the real story been overlooked Never mind Nick's lovers, what about the poor cacti The Times has lengthy extracts from the interview: PM Why did you abuse the cactiNC I drank too much and left the party with a guy I was at school with called Tom Brown [laughs]. I shouldnt find that funny. We wandered around the garden and found two greenhouses, and decided to go inside.PM With malicious intentNC No, no, no. It was an accident. One of us had a lighter and turned it on, and this ...

Is the hyper-president really just Ted Heath reincarnated

This is the argument of Dennis MacShane in a recent article. I've always rated MacShane as one of the most intelligent, on the ball, and consistent men in Parliament and it was a great shame that he never progressed from his role as Europe minister into the Cabinet. The crux of his argument is "Heath inherited a declining Britain and thought the answer was to try and fudge his way to compromises between capital and labour. In the end, Heath alienated society while simultaneously failing to unleash new economic energy. He wanted to reform, but like Sarkozy was not willing ...

Gordon Brown thinks smoking pot is worse than raping someone

The maximum penalty for possession of cannabis is five years. Considering that dealing is a separate offence (and, I think, you get automatically upgraded to dealing if you're holding a certain amount - anyone know if this is true), that means you can do five years in jail for carrying a single person's supply of cannabis. What's that - a half The maximum sentence for rape is life imprisonment - however, the average sentence seems to be about four years. That means that, according to one person at least, holding a few spliffs' worth of pot is worse than the ...

Shrewbury International Cartoon Festival

News reaches me of this event, which will be held at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery on 18-20 April. More information can be found on the Festival website - from which this cartoon is taken.

'I knew Martin Luther King' 04-April-2008 Al Jazeera

In remembrance of MLK

'yes you can kill the dreamer but you cannot kill the dream

I am nominated

I am standing for election to my local borough council. So many leafletting opportunities, so little time...

House Points: Heathrow Terminal 5

Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. Flights of fancy At Heathrow flights were cancelled, travellers were stranded, checking in was suspended and 19,000 bags were separated from their owners. The Sunday papers reported that Department for Transport inspectors had managed to bypass security checks on nine occasions during trials of Terminal 5s new systems and that its alarm system was not working properly. At Westminster, not surprisingly, there was an urgent question on all this. But where was the transport secretary Ruth Kelly - for it is she - was far away in Durham, launching Labours campaign for ...

Nick Cleggs Message on Olympic Torch

Today I have written to the Prime Minister asking him to pull out of this weekends ceremony welcoming the Olympic torch to London in advance of the Beijing Games. When China made its bid to host the Olympics, the Deputy Mayor of Beijing said that this was an indication of Chinas wish to promote democracy and human rights. But it has done nothing of the sort. Recent events in Tibet, broken promises over media freedoms, ongoing human rights abuses and intransigence over the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur have made a mockery of Chinas commitment to progressive freedoms. As the prospective ...

Snow go tomorrow

Today weatherwise has been pleasant. Warm temperatures and the odd bit of enjoyable sun. Tomorrow however it is all expected to change. Snow is on the way. I'm doing photos tomorrow morning. Hopefully the snow will hold off for that. Tomorrow afternoon, I am helping to deliver the leaflet for which we are taking the photos tomorrow morning. Snow and leafletting do not mix well. The annoying thing

Standing up for Melbourne Grove Post Office

This week I joinedlocal GLA candidate Caroline Pidgeon and Simon Hughes MP to present our petition to save Southwark Post Offices at the Post Office HQ. Its a vital service for so many and has a very important role as part of the local cluster of shops on Melbourne Grove and Grove Vale. The Lordship Lane alternative [...]

Sorry Norman.......I just couldn't resist!

I am a big fan of Norman Lamb. We had a slight difference of opinion over the post office motion a couple of years ago, but since he ultimately won the point and I am just naturally magnanimous (!) since then we have got along just fine. He passed me a couple of months ago at Portcullis and I shouted after him that I would be speaking on the same platform as him at a conference in Norwich, his response "On the same side" .........of course! So, despite our slight difference of opinion on issues to do with public services, ...

Council leader backs East Dulwich Police Station

At Wednesday’s full council meeting I questioned the Leader of the Council about the Council’s position on Labour’s plans to close East Dulwich Police Station. Unsurprisingly, he thinks we should retain a local police presence in our area - just like the thousands of local people who have signed our petition. We have suggested that if the building really is [...]

The hypocrisy of the Daily Scum

My parents get the Daily Scum, and I was shocked when going round their house today to see the hypocrisy that the paper employs when reporting on certain issues. On the basis of what seemed to me to be a defence of Max Moseley, the Formula One chief embroiled in some sort of sex scandal, they decided to follow up his argument pointing the finger at BMW and Mercedes for their use of slave labour and support of the Nazi's during World War Two. Of course what The Daily Mail failed to mention was that The daily mail itself was ...

What would you do if

You’re an MP, You want to be Mayor of London, and There’s a big debate in Parliament about a major London issue If your answer is “don’t turn up”, then congratulations: you are admirably qualified to be the Conservative candidate. (Yup, that’s right - Boris didn’t turn up to this week’s debate on Heathrow’s expansion.)

A great case for school choice

Watch this video about the choice agenda. It is produced by the Stockholm Network and it examines the success of the voucher system used in Sweden. Please have a look. Back to School by gregoryjude

Sport and Politics - when they mix and when they don't

Nick Clegg is absolutely right to call on the Prime Minister to boycott the Olympics. But it is still right for British athletes to go. Why the difference Well, the Olympics are the pinnacle of athletic achievement. They are only every four years and the athletes themselves have no choice over where the event takes place. I wish that it wasn't in Beijing, but that decision is gone and so an athlete boycott would deprive many comnpetitors of their only chance to participate in a Games. But what of the politicians The Olympics isn't an event for them. They attendance ...

Livingstone's 'secret children' -do we care

Well I don't. I knew that Ken had at least two other children back in 2000, when he was in the process of 'grinding New Labour into the ground', as an Independent candidate for Mayor of London. I was then working with someone who was a close friend of the mother of one of his other children, and was told that there was concern that New Labour were about to get dirty, and reveal stuff about his private life. Uncharacteristically for New Labour, they didn't, probably thinking it would backfire. I really don't care how many children Livingstone has sired, ...

Talk to the hand, cause the Council aint listening

For months now, Ive been asking Redbridge Council to start listening to residents concerns about the way our Borough is developing. I have spoken with Councillors and Officers about giving Redbridge residents a genuine say. In particular, I am interested in the ideas behind Participatory Budgeting, hugely successful in Brazil, and also trialled in the London Borough of Harrow. Here in Redbridge, some unpopular ideas appeared in the recent Capital Programme. These, coupled with a hasty scheme of Land Sales, led to the following scenes last year: Council officers and councillors were summoned to Redbridge allotments to meet outraged plotholders ...

Labour in Islington split over post offices closures

At last nights Full Council meeting we debated the threat to the Essex Road Crown post office, together with the Caledonian Road, and Blackstock Road post offices. You have to feel sorry for the Labour councillors. They had clearly decided that the best way to put a brave face on their governments disastrous policy, was to go on the attack, and blame the Liberal Democrats in Islington (yes, you read that correctly!) Islington's two MPs voted in opposing ways on post office closures. Islington North MP, Jeremy Corbyn, was congratulated by the Council for voting against closures, and backing campaigners. ...

In the credit crunch where is it safe to invest

One industry which continues to go from strength to strenght is orginised crime. The "shadow economy", as it is called, apparantly accounts for 15 to 20% of the world's GDP. This is the IMF's estimate and is a terrifying proportion. Clearly there are a multiplicity of problems stemming from this and orginised crime must be dealt with. The question is how Greater policing That's never really worked. ID cards Do me a favour. The answer lies in territory which will upset Harperson, and the Puritanical Brown. Most orginised crime appears to be related to drugs and prostitution. It appears the ...

Olympics: Clegg urges boycott / Lib Dems to join Sunday protest

The pressure on Gordon Brown to match words with deeds when it comes to human rights is growing: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has urged Gordon Brown to boycott this summer’s Olympic opening ceremony in protest at China’s human rights record. He said the prime minister could not attend the event in Beijing “in good conscience”, [...]

Its 3am

Am I the only person who both feels patronised and bored by the red phone/ 3am ads. Well Clinton has just released another, attacking big Mac, who has his own response (watch them both below). Come on guys, grow up. HRC, your mortgage plan is utterly absurd, BHO doesn't really appear to have one, and how does McCain intend to "grow jobs, grow the economy" Its all such vacuous shit. If we are willing to accept this level of discourse as sufficient debate for us to choose who the next leader of the free world is then we deserve whatever ...

Elections a go-go

Whilst we’ve been campaigning for some time in key areas, the nominations for this year’s local elections have now been published so the elections have officially started. Yesterday, whilst waiting in the elections office for forms to be sorted out I got that same feeling I used to have when as a swimmer I on [...]

Making sure you know the right address for your message

A large part of public relations is about getting a message out. The really good practitioners not only know what the right message is but where to target it. Alain Desmier is spot on in his amusing and insightful post. There is no point in sending a national message that has no meaning to the local area.

Whitewash fears over BAE investigation

thisismoney.co.uk reports: The ethics review into scandal-hit BAE Systems could be delayed for up to three months amid suspicions it will present a whitewash report into the activities of the controversial defence firm. The probe into BAE’s business ethics by the independent committee, chaired by former chief justice Lord Woolf, is already almost a month overdue.And it appears Woolf - who has pocketed an estimated £500,000 in fees so far, all paid for by BAE - is in no hurry to get it finished. Sources have suggested his findings might not emerge until June.

Are you LinkedIn

I’ve kept up a bit of running commentary on this blog about the purpose and development of Facebook, and online social networking more generally - and Facebook does indeed still seem to be the place to be, especially for keeping up with distant old friends or contacts. There have been some intimations of its mortality, however: although it’s been said for some time that there are more Londoners on FB than there are of any other city, this number apparently recently suffered its first monthly fall. And my teenager-with-her-finger-on-the-pulse friend recently declared that she thought Facebook was past its peak. ...

£4000 grub bill for John "Two bellies" Prescott

The Commons authorities have released details of 6 MP's expenses due to a freedom of information request by the BBC in 2005. The highlight of the disclosures so far is that John Prescott claimed £4000 in one year for food. Why on earth should we taxpayers be subsidising MP's food More information to come as the details trickle out but meanwhile the BBC News has further information.

I'm looking for a new website

I've decided it's time to overhaul my blog and website (not before time you might think!): both have done sterling work for years now but are showing their age a bit. I'm looking for one integrated system to drive both, with strong preference for an open source based solution - I don't really want to be tied into one firm's proprietary systems. If you're in the website design/provision business and might be interested - do just get in touch.

Nick Clegg launches local election campaign - pictures

I was in Sheffield yesterday as Nick Clegg launched the party's local election campaign. Nick spoke at an event at Sheffield Hallam University for student volunteers before travelling to the Gleadless Valley Estate in central Sheffield. Afterwards he spoke to asian community leaders in the city before a rally for local party activists . Pics: Nick speaking to student volunteers at Hallam University; Nick launching the party's campaign; Nick on the doorsteps and in Gleadless Valley estate; Nick drops by a hairdresser's shop; Nick with local asian community leaders; Nick speaks to activists

How well are the Conservatives doing online

If you’re a keen reader of political blogs you’ve probably noticed the latest bun fight over traffic levels to sites such Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes. One bright spot in amongst the postings and comments of, err…, varying quality on this topic is this one from Ministry for Truth, which casts its eye more widely [...]

Do-or-die in Zimbabwe

"In Zimbabwe, people really do believe this is a general election - because the generals decide who gets elected." -Comrade Fatso, Harare Zim is facing an end game of sorts- whatever the 84 year old dictator Robert Gabriel Mugabe may try to do to avoid it. It has been clear for at least a decade that the population of the once prosperous land between the Zambezi and the Limpopo were tiring of their incompetent, corrupt and brutal ruler. The massacre of the Ndebele in the mid-1980's which may have killed 10,000 people and which certainly ended the idea of Zimbabwe ...

Chooky Embra no well

The Beeb are reporting that 86 year old Phil the Greek has been taken to hospital suffering from a chest infection. Bet you that this will be the main story on all BBC bulletins for the rest of the day and real stories will be kicked down the schedules. Pah!

Reverse gear of fear

Gerry Sutcliffe spoke for government ministers everywhere today, saying "my comments do not accurately reflect my views". The views Mr. Sutcliffe retracted inlcuded gems such as "We, and I speak as a champion of the pub trade, want the chancellor to change his mind".

Graham's blog Friday 4 April 2008

Another wall dividing a city has been torn down by the EU's 'soft power' without a drop of blood being spilt. This week the barriers separating northern from southern Nicosia in Ledra Street were formally removed by President Christofias (Republic of Cyprus) and Prime Minister Talat (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), allowing trade and normal shopping to resume. Those barriers had been in place longer than the Berlin Wall, though in reality Berlin was divided for a little longer than Nicosia. By pure happenstance, the person proposed as Cyprus' new EU Commissioner also underwent cross-examination by MEPs this week in ...

Electoral Commission starts elections consultation

The Electoral Commission has launched a consultation into the way elections are run across the UK. It follows their December 2007 paper which found that in a number of areas the electoral administration was stretched to "breaking point" Andy ONeill, the head of the Electoral Commission in Scotland, said: While our independent review of the Scottish elections in 2007 by Ron Gould has already prompted debate were keen to move the discussion forward and identify the functions and principles of effective electoral administration that will deliver a first class service to electors and candidates. This is the first step were ...

Harriet Harman lied to Parliament about Kingston

Now our MP Edward Davey cannot use that word in Parliament - he refers to it instead as a 'major error' - but I can. At Prime Minister's Question Time this week, Harriet Harman was standing in for Gordon Brown, and she had this exchange with our MP: Mr. Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD): Can the Leader of the House explain to council tenants in my constituency why...

Small victory cheers me

A small victory against journalistic misrepresentation had put a smile on my face today. The BBC in a story on the Highland & Islands section of their news website had alleged that a march in Inverness by the Apprentice Boys of Derry would be able to go ahead as "European Laws prevented the council from banning it". I therefore got on the phone to their online news section and queried what European Law they referred to. They said that they'd check it out and get back to me. The text in question disappeared a few seconds later!

on Peter Hain

Peter Hain, another of those opportunists whose quest for the easy life saw him switch from the Liberal party to the Labour party in the 70s, yesterday spoke out against what he describes as rigid and insensitive application of the law. The case in question is the Hyland family who recently lost John. John and his wife Sonia ran the Dyffryn Arms in Neath but John was the license holder. With his death the family, bereaved, forgot to have the license transferred to another family member his daughter Victoria. According to the Licensing Act 2003 Clause 50 (Reinstatement of licence ...

Ethnocentricnationalism isn't dead and should be confronted head on

This is the argument of Jerry Z. Muller in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs. He argues that WWII has not the end of ethnonationalism in Europe. He points towards the huge population transfers at the close of the war and the disintergration of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the USSR down to their constituent ethnicly based nation states. Indeed, Muller argues that there is something inherent in the process of modernisation which leads to ethnic conflagration. As an historical argument this is all well and good. Whether or not you think that europe is entering a postnational age, or is useing ...

Results: Thursday 3rd April 2008.

East Devon DC, Dunkeswell Con 349 (68.3; +5.2), LD John Gleed 162 (31.7; -5.2). Majority 187. Turnout 31.4%. Con hold. (Percentage change since May 2007). Fenland DC, Parsons Drove and Wisbech St Mary Con 646 (61.8), Lab 191 (18.3), Ind 119 (11.4), UKIP 55 (5.3), LD Christopher Howes 35 (3.3). Majority 455. Turnout not available. Con hold. (Con unopposed in May 2007).

Result!

Some of my time is spent dealing with the great issues of the day - human rights, climate change, global terrorism - but occasionally you get a 'result' on something a bit closer to home! In my local area there are three main league football teams who are followed by local residents - Bristol City, Bristol Rovers and Yeovil Town. In the past the custom of BBC Radio Bristol has been to cover the away matches of each of these teams for fans who could not travel to the matches. Where two of the teams were away together the station ...

Is 28 Days Enough

This week eight men have gone on trial in Woolwich Crown Court for conspiracy to destroy at least seven transatlantic airplanes mid-flight in a plot of terrifying complexity and sophistication, a charge they deny. If the prosecution are to be believed, more than 1,500 passengers and crew would have been killed on flights taking off [...]

So the clock strikes 12... will cinders go to the ball

Today's the day! The first of many days in the run up to May 1st. All nomination forms should be in by 12 o'clock noon. I have just handed my forms in, which were accepted and I am now the official Liberal Democrat candidate for Loughton Alderton ward for both the district and town council elections. Be interesting to see who the other candidates are, but we will have to wait and see until next

CANGO rail interchange update

We have heard back from Tory led Hants CC that its too hard to change timetables, that to put an additional 2 minutes into the the CANGO bus service that runs from Enham and Smannell to Andover currently avoiding the station by 200 yards would cause mayhem to the bus timetables. Not so! However, knowing a few things about diagramming transport I was suprised by this comment. In fact it is an attempt to fob off the campaign. We have requested the bus diagrams and the loadings so that we can show how we can get a daytime link to ...

A couple of further updates ...

* BALGAY HILL : Following residents' concernas about the speed of some vehicles along the narrow roadways at the Hill and leading up to the Mills Observatory (right), I asked the Leisure & Communities Department of the City Council if it would consider some speed humps in appropriate places to emphasise the low speed limit at Balgay Hill. The Department has agreed to look at this in terms of cost and viability. * STV "NORTH TONIGHT" : Although I wasn't a fan of the dropping of the "Grampian TV" brand, which had served the north of Scotland well for over ...

Record mince, Courier mince, Press and Journal mince

Three papers and three sets of lazy or lying journalists, take your pick. As previously posted on this blog, there is NO THREAT TO MINCE PRODUCED BY INDEPENDENT BUTCHERS. The truth of the matter can be found on the website of my employer Elspeth Attwooll MEP

Tree team's big challenge

Redcar and Cleveland Council's Tree Team is ready for a mercy mission - to end the misery of a 75-foot sycamore in Kirkleatham Village, suffering from a serious fungal disease which is threatening its stability. The Council's four-man team begin the two day operation on felling the tree, which is probably 100 years old, at 8.30am on Monday, 7th April. The tree is situated next to Kirkleatham Museum, and staff at both the Museum and its neighbour, The Owl Centre, have been alerted to the work programme. The felled tree will still have a use after-life, with its timber recycled ...

Worst Criminal in the World

Look at the bottom right of this picture at the purse theif. {Worlds worst criminal}

Friends of Magdalen Green update

Latest news from Friends of Magdalen Green (http://magdalengreen.blogspot.com) The Friends are holding a photograph competition to select 12 photographs of the Green and its immediate surroundings in order to create a Magdalen Green Calendar for 2009. The competition is open to all Friends of Magdalen Green and people living within the West End Ward, including schoolchildren. The competition will be judged by a professional photographer. The closing date for entries is Monday 12th May and you can read more details by clicking on the headline above. Application forms are also available at Blackness Library (where entries should be submitted). The ...

I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not

For fear of doing a non-political entry (and, indeed, for fear of tilting at windmills), I find myself ensconced in a little saga I call, "Why I'm A Researcher And You're Not"... With FA Cup semi-final weekend upcoming, everybody here in Cardiff is trying to get a piece of the "first time in 81 years" buzz. So it was entirely unsurprising to see the National Library of Wales joining in, with

lies, damn lies and statistics

A slight diversion today, to bring news of an interesting website: gapminder. Those with an interest in development issues will find much of interest in the 'gapminder world 2006' database.Plotting life expectancy against fertility and playing it over time is particularly interesting - giving a view of China's astonishing development and the impact of the AIDS pandemic in Africa (the blue countries). Tracking individual countries such as Laos, Cambodia, and Rwanda gives a dramatic visual representation of their recent histories.Those with an interest in sword swallowing swedish statisticians (admittedly a niche market) will also find much of interest in watching Hans Rosling ...

US Secret Service unprecedented workload - and they're not even protecting McCain

CQ politics has a very interesting article on the Secret Service protection for the US Presidential candidates. The Service has an unprecedented workload just protecting Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. As of now, they aren't even protecting John McCain yet - which seems very surprising.

Defending the indefensible, or why the press should leave liar livingstone alone

I hate Ken Livingstone. I think hes a lying, devious scumbag who will say and do anything to keep his position and he represents the worst of 1980s old Labour politics synthesised with a new Labour spin machine that has somehow managed to keep alive the lie that he knows what he is doing. What I dont have any interest in at all is how many kids he has, whether he sends them birthday cards, whether he still visits his mother or anything to do with his family. It doesn't matter and it is not relevant to his job as ...

A rite of passage in the North West

It's been a few days since I last posted - I've been up in the North West, doing some local election campaigning with my old friend, Councillor John Commons from Manchester. I spent Wednesday evening in Oldham, starting with a canvassing session in one of our target wards with a fairly large group of local activists. It's a great feeling when there's a bunch of people out and you slice through the canvass cards. After a walkabout in one of the neighbourhoods on the other side of Oldham, I had meetings with groups of women, mostly Asian Muslims, ranging in ...

Cobblers about Cleggover

Steve Richards on the Independent's Open House says Nick Clegg should be worried because three journalists think Nick Clegg was naive to give an interview to Piers Morgan about his private life: For Nick Clegg there was univeral scathing disdain, largely for his naivety over giving an interview to Piers Morgan in GQ and then answering questions about his sex life. In a short time Clegg has had

Glengall and Pessell anyone

A brief stroll down Glengall Road, Kilburn/Queen's Park and I found this - clearly marked Glengall Chambers a smallish (I guess three or four flats) residential building - you can see the name plaque visible over the main entrance. But in the tiling at the entrance is Pessell Chambers. It raised three things with me... Glengall Pessell but also to what extent were these late victorian residential expansions actually for commuters or for people who worked locally It seemed quite possible to me that at one point this was in fact a chambers for a company (law firm) or an ...

Zimbatics

Fridays serving of blog is up on the New Statesmans website. This week: Harriet Harman, Zimbabwe and wrestlers

Government to insist that sex offenders give them email addresses - WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rarely is there such an example of crass government stupidity caused by complete incompetence. This morning, Vernon Coaker, Government minister in the Home Office is boasting on the media of this new government rule. They will insist that sex offenders give the government their email addresses. The government in turn will give these addresses to social web sites so that the sex offenders' use of

How to fix an election, Conservative Party style

Full credit to ConservativeHome for reporting in depth on the gory details of how the Conservative Party’s powers-that-be fixed their selections so as to protect their MEPs from their members (the latter generally being much more Euro-sceptic than the former, which could have resulted in widespread deselections). Highlights include: 1. Conservative members were banned from voting sitting MEPs [...]

Crime's down but problems are up!

Last night Borough and Parish councillors from the south of the Borough (Thornaby, Ingleby Barwick, Yarm & Eaglescliffe) met with police for an update on neighbourhood policing and a general chat about problems in their area. The numbers of recorded crimes are down in almost every area, though generally people think they're worse! A real effort at communication needed there. For some reason

I think its safe to say this will be one of the political quotes of the year

Labour minister Gerry Sutcliffe: My comments do not accurately reflect my views. This roughly translates as “oh bugger, people in the Labour Party are really cross with the comments I made”.

Taking water with it

Is this the swiftest u-turn ever Probably not. Yesterday, licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe told an industry magazine that licensees were "right to be upset" by Alistair Darling's announcement that he will raise the duty by the rate of inflation plus 2% every year until 2012. He then proceeded to encourage landlords to galvanise themselves into a coherent force and focus on how other lobby groups have forced his government to back down on controversial tax rises. Today, he was telling the media that "My comments do not accurately reflect my views." C'est la vie. However, Mr. Sutcliffe's intervention does underline ...

In the Name of Love: 40 Years On

Early evening, April 4 Shot rings out in the Memphis sky Free at last, they took your life They could not take your pride from U2's Pride (In the Name of Love) That April 4 was forty years ago today so what exactly has changed since Martin Luther King was shot by James Earl Ray on the balcony of Lorraine Motel. Well Kings protoge Jesse Jackson tried to gain the Democratic nomination on a

Joint Consultative Committee

Last night was a meeting of Bury Council’s Joint Consultative Committee with its staff trades unions. This is an important meeting that brings together representatives of the various Trade Unions which Bury’s employees are members of, with elected Councillors. There were a number of issues to report. Equality and Diversity The Council is doing well having achieved Level 3 of the National Equality Standard as an employer of staff. Work is being done to ensure that this high standard is maintained and perhaps improved on (you can go to level 4). Alternative Service Models It was reported to the meeting ...

Twittering Question Time and This Week

Sat in front of the TV with Twitter open watching Question Time, so there were a lot of Tweets. So I'll put the daily digest behind a cut for once: 12:05 clearing up dog diarrhoea. That the mother-in-law managed to walk over the whole carpet. Lovely. # 12:32 still busy, worth writing about later, TubeWhore's photo project gets hit by stop and search. tubewhore.livejournal.com/42140.html # 22:36 sitting down to watch Question Time # 22:47 Rod Little talking bollocks again. Claire Short making good points about speed and asylum seekers. # 22:55 ye gods this debate is dull, can we move ...

Commonwealth Change-over

For the first time in its history, the Commonwealth has an Asian Secretary General: Kamalesh Sharma, who until recently was Indian High Commissioner to the Court of St. James’s, so he has only had to move his office a few hundred metres from Aldwych to Pall Mall. This ‘first’ is rather odd, when one considers [...]

Lib Dem Post Office Survey for North Somerset - Results Revealed

Over the past three months the Liberal Democrats in North Somerset, spear headed by local campaigner and Parliamentary Candidate Dr Brian Mathew, have been undertaking a survey of the use of the Post Offices in an effort to prove how important they are to village and town life in the constituency. With two post offices threatened with imminent closure at Barrow Gurney and Nailsea Kingshill it is hoped that this information may help to prove to the bosses of the Post Office in London that the Post Offices are needed in North Somerset. In all 10,000 households were contacted ...

Lego history

Iconic photographs recreated in Lego Can't really describe it better than that. Just go look. The Tiananmen pic is just...

This Week

YAY SPECIAL SURPRISE VINCE! *fangirlish squee* Also, lack of Quentin Twat much appreciated. That is all.

Stuck on a flight with Naomi

More bad news for BA - it seems they had to resort to handcuffs to restrain that Miss Madam Naomi Campbell from going nuts on the flight when there was a problem with, aherm, baggage. A previous conviction for assaulting her maid by throwing a mobile phone at the back of her head has also been repeated by the Guardian. Maybe because she didn't make the right carpet patterns when hoovering You must have been pretty nasty in a previous life to come back as Campbell's maid. Hang on...didn't a model get murdered the other week in Paris Funny that...must ...

Friday 4th April 2008

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