Today Grace and I took my mother, who is here from Australia for 6 weeks, and my 13 year old daughter Philippa to Brands Hatch for Philippa's birthday present - a Young Drive session in a Renault Clio with a driving instructor on the GP circuit section of the course, while Road Racing Bike's and Bike's with sidecars screamed round the Indy section of the circuit. It was Pip's first time behind 
Did you know that there is an abandoned island in the middle of New York Nor did I until an article in The Architect's Newsletter. It deals with Christopher Payne's explorations of the North Brother Island in the East River and its abandoned institutional buildings: While photographing sites for the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, Payne rst saw the island from afar. I felt like I had found a lost city in a jungle, and yet here I was in New York City, Payne said. His boat, he realized, was too big to get close to the islands ruined dock. Here was ...
"Electing even a few Libertarians to a governing board, is akin to having a designated driver in a roomful of drunks." Doug Klippel. Don't have a clue who Doug Klippel is. Although Libertarianism, isn't exactly Liberalism, I'm using the quote to make a point. It's certainly relevant in Worcester. The Liberal Democrats are rattling the cage of a tory stronghold called St. Stephens Ward. Someone who was a fake independent and lost his seat to labour last year has joined the tories to take over the 'safe' seat. I went out canvasing with the candidate today (my first ever canvasing!) ...
A day of sorting, tidying, filing and catching up. I decided that with the advent of Housing Allowance I could now throw out all my old Housing Benefit Casework, except for a few recent one's. All 102 of them, there haven't been many in recent years because it has worked well. However Government knows best again. I heard of a case last week where someone in a 2 bed social house had 2...
I found this on the Wrath of the Barclay, a discussion board site dedicated to Norwich City (the Barclay being the noisiest stand in Carrow Road). Given my views on Konnie Huq from last week, I thought this was vaguely topical. There was a 'celeb' called HuqWho got into a bit of a ruqFor carrying the flamesAnd supporting the GamesBut for Tibet she gave not a fuq
According to the Zimbabwean Dictator Robert Mugabe, Gordon Brown is a "dot on the world". Better that I say than an nasty pussy boil that needs lancing, which is exactly what Robert Mugabe is. If anyone didn't see the excellent "Headcases" on ITV last week, I've included the "Bob Mugabe" sketch that was so spot on in taking the piss out of Mugabe.
Made in 1943, Millions Like Us shows life on the home front during World War II and the contribution made by women to industrial production in particular. The action is centred on an aircraft factory where women from a wide variety of backgrounds learn the ropes under the steely eye of the foreman Eric Portman. Patricia Roc marries an impossibly youthful Gordon Jackson, while there is a blossoming romance across the class barriers (tentative, because no one then knew what Britain would be like after the war) between Portman and Anne Crawford. Add to this several appearances by Charters and ...
The crisis in Darfur presents a defining moral challenge to the world. On a day when the crisis in Darfur is highlighted to the world, please help. Click on the headline above to view more.
Smannell Lib Dems led by Parish Councillor Nigel Gooding, Test Valley Councillor Len Gates, backed by County Councillor Robin Hughes has launched a "20 mph is plenty" campaign for the current 30 mph zones in Smannell Parish to made mandatory 20 mph zones within the parish. The campaign would enhance the half baked advisory Tory County Council Scheme which only applied to areas near school, was not mandatory and made the schools pay for the signs. The Tory scheme meant that areas such as Upper Enham, Finkley and Little London would be left out. Lauching the campaign today Nigel Gooding ...
Doesn't time fly The uro - arguably the greatest source of angst in UK politics in the last quarter century will (in its immaterial form) be ten at the end of this year. With the pound currently at record lows against it, it is likely to look in fairly good shape. But are we going to see any resurgence in enthusiasm for joining the urozone I doubt it. In the most Europhile reaches of the Liberal Democrats you will find a few people who are aching to join. But for most of the party it is a non-issue, I guess. ... 
I don't know much about poetry, and less about the noble Japanese concept, but here goes anyway... Train A duo of baronesses Leaflets and rain The sting of hail Kindly old lady and her view Fiona and her car Alnwick More rain Canvass cards slightly damp Alan Beith Sunshine on the Castle Seagulls
Another Saturday, another action day. With just under 3 weeks to go, the campaign is hotting up. The weather is less sure: we have sunshine and sleet in the space of a few minutes. With a team of 16, ranging from students to veteran councillors, we got all our deliveries out in record time. [...]
Gordon Brown wants to have more CCFs in state schools. Predominantly, CCF thats Combined Cadet Force where public school boys learn how to short one another, is concentrated in independent schools. Brown thinks (well, his ex-Tory researcher) that this will improve the public image of the armed forces. I know most pacifists would be against the militarization of childhood. When I first started teaching I was very much against my schools CCF, which is compulsory for one of the year groups. One boy pointed out in a history lesson that compulsory CCF wasnt too far removed from the sorts of ...
There hasn't been much good stuff to blog about Spurs in the last couple of weeks - and having just been to White Hart Lane to see us draw 1-1 with Boro, nothing has really changed in that respect. So going to stick up a photo from a match I never got around to blogging about at the time - our 2-0 win against Portsmouth a few weeks back. But I do now have a digital camera, at last, so when I get properly set up I'll start posting some better quality photos. Got the camera just in time to ...
I blogged at the time about the Newsnight London Mayor debate, but now you can watch on YouTube the highlight of the debate - the part where Paxman asks Johnson how much his bus policy will cost:
{Beijing 2008 countdown clock. Photo credit: Flickr user http2007} My latest newspaper column (for the Ham & High) is about the Olympics and China's behaviour: I cant help but observe the contrast between how Britain and China deals with protestors. In Britain the polices response to protests during the passage of the Olympic Torch through London was to pop the torch on a bus for a bit. How very English! And then in China we have the dark side of the contrast the violence, gunshots and even deaths that are the frequent response to protests. Standing in Bloomsbury Square last ...
The Conservatives say they are changing. Well, in a way they are. The party of law and order, now doesn't seem to be the party of law. They'd rather give the government powers to weasel out of any inconvenient legal proceedings, using national security as an excuse. There's a lot more here and here.
A week or two ago, I saw this pretty depressing article about where our plastic bags end up. Reminded me of Haringey Labour's recent failure to support local initatives to reduce plastic bag use in the Council.
A great bit of propaganda here about the need for more UK children’s TV, ably assisted by Donna’s granddad. A sceptic of the existing license fee arrangements, I have to say that children’s television is on my shortlist for what public money should be paying for to go on TV (as opposed to, say, twelve week long advertorials to subsidise Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals). Of course that ought to apply to all channels, not just the BBC. Share This
I’m still trying to be on my best behaviour by not commenting here on the London elections, but I can’t let this comment by Lib Dem Voice’s resident troll Laurence Boyce go unchallenged: Please allow me to provide my own advice for London voters. First preference: State your first preference for Mayor of London. Second preference: State your second preference for Mayor of London. Because it really is as simple as that. I didn’t comment on Laurence’s previous advice on electoral politics as he was clearly on a massive wind up. After noon on 1 April, it ought to have ...
This weeks High Court ruling that the Government acted unlawfully in dropping the probe into corruption allegations around the Al Yamamah arms deal was deeply embarrassing for this supposedly purer than pure Labour Government. As the judges ruled: We fear for the reputation of the administration of justice if it can be perverted by a threat [...]
As I write there are only three performances left of 'The Ragged Child' at the Rose Theatre - if you possibly can, try to see this exhilarating production. It's on today and tomorrow at 2.30pm and also this evening at 7.30pm. I would have written about this earlier about this but I missed my chance because of the server downtime. I had seen previous productions of 'The Ragged Child',...
I've not been blogging much the last couple of days and won't be able to for another couple. I'm moving house and spending endless hours packing and moving boxes. It is dull and imponderably bothersome. So, you can't read me but I can point you in the direction of a really good article. I wrote a short post last month about Kasparov setting up a 2nd Parliament for Russia's diverse and fractious opposition. Well Judah is in Russia, has stalked the opposition's meetings and interviewed several of the players. His account is well worth reading.
Cast your minds back three months… there was some party disquiet when Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland first proposed that pubs and restaurants should be forced to start selling smaller glasses of wine again. There were suggestions it sounded a little bit illiberal and nanny-state. The point was soon made that Greg was seeking to [...]
It’s over in today’s Daily Telegraph here… find out why he hates peanut butter, what was the last film he watched, and his fantasy other jobs. 
It's that time of year, when for me and I am sure for you, the one comment that will completely get me off my 30 secs on the doorstep "Voter Identification" mission is - "You're all the same". Hmmm, there have been times when my fellow canvassers have had to send out a search party when I am met with this comment. "We're all the same, do you think I'd be out here, in the pouring rain, feeling like death warmed up when I could be indoors, in the warm, watching telly if I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL THE SAME!!!!!!!" ...
The Conservatives are standing with the Government in giving powers to the attorney general to stop an investigation into the Saudi arms deal. Labour and the Tories stand together in so many things today, the colours of red and blue in parliament are now just an ugly blur. Only the Liberal Democrats are standing out, by knowing corruption is a crime.
... in protest at the lack of investment in British children's TV programmes. Watch their "Bad Ass Wombles of Central Park" video at http://www.britishkidstv.com/ and sign the petition.Background information from the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT) and BBC Wombles news item
National pay scales kill - FACT.
I remember when I read about the first cars. A rule was imposed that required a person waving a red lag walking in front of the noisy stinking Automobile. Ridicules isnt it Stop and think, what is the number one killer nowadays Its road accidents. So they had a point. But being conservative, sticking to only what you know leads to absurdities and stagnation. Was the industrial revolution good or bad Should have Britain embrace it or reject it Should all slaves be freed Should women get the vote We take for granted change that previous generations foght tooth and ...
How utterly disappointing the Tories have shown themselves to be in the last 24 hours. Whilst not entirely unpredictable, the Tories have made the astonishing decision to back Gordon Brown and the government's wish to prevent courts from challenging government decisions to stop criminal investigations. The courts on Thursday were clear in their condemnation of the government's decision to abandon the Serious Fraud Office investigation in to bribes and corruption involving the Saudi government and BAE. Yet despite this, the Tories appear to be backing those who believe that bribery and corruption are legitimate parts of a democratic system of ...
I have just seen a copy of this letter, sent a couple of days ago by church leaders in Jerusalem to Major General Mishlev. Whatever the arguments for and against the wall, the settlements, the right to return, surely this continuing tolerance of the disgraceful treatment at checkpoints (treatment I have, like many others, witnessed) is totally counter productive in the quest for peace. Or maybe that is the intention PATRIARCHS AND HEADS OF LOCAL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM April 10, 2008 Major General Yosef Mishlev The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Civil administration Judea& Samaria Beit El ...
I encourage Twerton residents to go along to the second meeting of the better Bath Forum on 15th April 2008 The meeting is organised by Henry Brown and I feel that he needs our thanks for making this Forum available to us, please go along and make sure that our voice from this side of the city is heard. The Forum will discuss traffic and pollution - what do we want for...
Returning from Swansea on Thursday, I stopped in London long enough to pick up clean clothes and my fiance before heading north to Newcastle. After a pleasant journey on GNER complete with a vast breakfast and free wifi, we arrived on Tyneside and were taken straight to Fenham to look at the newly refurbished library. It's another example of a much loved community facility which had been neglected by the old Labour council and restored by the incoming Lib Dem administration. Judging by the number of people in the library, including lots of young people using the computers, the refurbishment ...
As many residents of Eaglescliffe know John, Alan and I send out e-updates of news between our Focus leaflet deliveries. I've worked on the council's computer system up to now because that meant that I could forward any queries that arise from them to council officers and keep track of the responses more easily. Late last year my original council laptop finally had to be replaced and ever since
I have just sent off the following email to Garden Organic: Hi there, I received a letter in the post this morning reminding me that my membership is expiring. I became a member specifically because of the beautiful gardens at Yalding that I visited all to infrequently with my family. I was disappointed to learn, through the press, rather than through yourselves of the closure of this area. Whilst I understand your ever increasing costs, and the difficulty you must be faced with, I think the manner in which this was handled was totally unacceptable. Again, reported ...
One of the features of the Lib Dem communication system is a weekly email with forward planning diary dates. If you’re on the party’s extranet, you can sign up. You’re eligible if you represent the party on any council, are a member of any local party executive, work for the party in any capacity, or [...]
I’ve just finished reading the book “The Undercover Economist”, by Tim Harford. Definitely an informative book and well worth reading carefully and critically. It rightly makes the point that those of us who are “capitalists” do not defend “big business” (which want limits on competition) but instead defend open and free markets (which ensure competition). It also serves as a reminder that many of the problems countries in sub-Saharan Africa and other lesser economically developed regions face is not “free trade” but instead protectionism inside developed countries (such as the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy) and corruption which stifles entrepreneurial spirit. ...
My recent blog about hot potatoes has reminded me that this year is the Year of the Potato. I think the European potato crop for 2007 was 8% higher than 2006 and, considering the world food crisis over wheat and rice, we should be easing pressure in demand for wheat and rice in Europe by eating more of our fantastic potato crops. I'm off in search for websites with potato recipes, meanwhile this is all about the year of the spud. www.potato2008.org/en/index.html
I meant to comment on this yesterday but the demands of the local election campaign on top of my normal duties has severely restricted my time. As it is I have 1,600 leaflets to deliver before Doctor Who starts tonight so I cannot linger here long. Plaid Cymru's wait to bolster their presence in the House of Lords looks like it may carry on for quite some time. The Western Mail speculated on the reason yesterday morning but one could not help coming away from the piece thinking that it was a bit presumptuous of the Nationalists to elect three ...
My daily digest of texts, tweets and status updates. 13:23 is # 19:56 leaving to go to a decent pub. Then on out to a club. In Bradford. Send help! # 23:20 sat in the Gasworks and feeling at home. Laughing at Jennie's status... # 23:55 impressed by the bands ability to carry off so many styles and still make it sound right. Also Double Jamesons is always nice... # Microblogging by SMS, using LoudTwitter and Twitter.
Since Liberal International British Group (LIBG) submitteed a resolution on world food prices, to be debated at the Liberal International Congress in Belfast next month, the issue has shot up the global agenda. LIBG Executive member (and farmer) Phil Bennion, who drafted the text, rightly foresaw that we are not just heading for a crisis; [...]
Thursday: Corruption: noun, lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain Once upon a time there was a Prince who had a problem. The police were asking all sorts of bothersome and impertinent questions about where he got all of his lovely presents (and free aeroplane) from. So the Prince asked Lord Blairimort (who was Prime Monster), and Lord Blairimort asked Lord Goldfinger (who was Attorney General), and Lord Goldfinger asked the police and all the questions went away. And they all lived happily ever after. Or possibly not. But, ... | < | April 2008 | > | ||||
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