LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Tuesday 15th April 2008

Doctor Who stuff

Many people seem to think I always hated Rose Tyler. I didn't. I really liked her in the Eccleston season. Identified with her, even. And then something went wrong. Everyone who has ever wanted to know why the sight of her in the very first episode of this series made me so cross that I decided (for the first time in 30 years) to actively avoid watching Doctor Who, read this post. It explains everything about how I feel about Rose (and also why Four - Tom Baker's Doctor - has the biggest cock).

Observations from America

Ive spent the last couple of weeks in the states; so no blog submissions for a while. I suppose I could have spent some of my vacation sat in an internet café, but hey, I have better things to do when Im on holiday (and I doubt Mrs Cobden would have been too impressed either.) Having been on the west coast, it was also impossible to find a British newspaper. The only one I saw was a Daily Mail, which I refuse to buy on principle. So the only British news Ive picked up was a Fox News report that ...

Did the Lib Dem 4Rs Commision ever issue a report

Back in June of 2006 I wrote a rather uncharitable post about the announcement of the Liberal Democrats' 4Rs Commission. The relevant page of the party's website says that the Commission was due to produce: a final report in Spring 2007 that will summarize its findings and outline the ideas they believe should be taken forward.I have searched, but I cannot find any sign of that report on the party website or anywhere else. Does anyone know if it ever appeared Or was the Commission quietly disbanded when Ming became leader

Resident participation - on a small, but nonetheless useful, scale

Tonight I had a couple of meetings to chair as part of my scrutiny review into 'neighbourhood management' at the Council. That probably won't mean a lot to most people - but this is the department that runs Area Assemblies, dishes out the Making the Difference money to local communities and is meant to ensure that Things Get Done, in terms of residents' key concerns on a very local basis. Tonight's meetings were very useful and we even had a resident come along, from White Hart Lane ward. Now, it might seem a sad indictment that I am happy that ...

Matters of Life and Death

After spending the day with casework, a select committee looking at the Voluntary Sector, and a ward surgery all looking at "life" issues, and how people get the best quality of life, it was a change of emphasis at Café Scientifique. We meet at Arc for these talks and discussions around issues that really make us think. The Café meets at Arc and is run by the John Snow Senior Common Room of...

Stumbling and Mumbling is moving to Rutland

My next post will, insha'Allah, be from Oakhamwrites one of my favourite bloggers. And with such profound thoughts as these, he should fit in well: One of the mistakes vulgar libertarians make is to believe that it's only the state that restricts freedom, when in fact we can be enchained by our own past deeds and character.And: This is not a question of improving the "work-life balance". The very phrase captures one of the evils of capitalism - that work and life are opposites.

Poor diddums

The hacks travelling to the USA with Gordon Brown are bewailing the loss of dignity of having to travel via a Titan Airways charter jet. Both Sam Coates of the Times and Andrew Porter of the Telegraph have complained online that neither BA nor Virgin had a plane available and so they have to travel in a charter jet. And Sam Coates complains that this is costing £2,200 a seat. Well just have a look at the Titan website to see what suffering the poor dears are having to put up with: 96-100 sumptuous leather seats Extensive leg room Reclining ...

I lost!

I've been named as a deputy head (which there are three of!). I did very well in the panel interviews, and did a good full school speech. But I didn't do well enough in the Student Vote, which they said they said made their mind up. Well the next Head Girl can't take anything serously, I don't know if they realised that. I luckily get on with the Head Boy. I spoke a lot about the School Council and he says he wants to work with me there. You just have to move on and make the best on the ...

Terriers snatch win as Leeds lack fire at the Galpharm

Leeds United's first ever league game at the Galpharm Stadium started at rapid pace on a damp pitch. The only change in the starting line-up from Saturday was Tresor Kandol replacing the injured Jermaine Beckford. Huddersfield matched Leeds for possession and there were few chances for the Whites in the first half. United were put on the back foot when Jonathan Douglas received his marching orders for a second yellow card in the 38th minute. This woke the Terriers fans up and Town pressed their advantage in the hope of a goal before the break. Then a goal mouth incident ...

Mariah Carey newsflash

"Mariah Carey has claimed it broke her heart to give up eating macaroni cheese." Well, there you go.

Football and Netball Comes to Yarborough Ward

Football and netball sessions are coming to the Yarborough Ward every Thursday evening at Yarborough Primary School from 6.00 - 8.00pm. Sessions for 6 - 12 year olds will be from 6.00 - 7.00pm, and 12 - 19 year olds will have their turn from 7.00pm - 8.00pm. There will be a chance to form teams and take part in the monthly Fair Play Football League and the new Fair Play Netball League. Any adult who is interested in helping will also be welcome. The sessions are brought to you by Sport Lincs, Shoreline HP and your Ward Councillors.

What planet is Gordon Brown living on

Every day Gordon Brown comes up with some phony statement about how the economy is fine and how we will ride out the current problems. Increasingly it looks like he has lost the plot. My circumstances are that our three year fixed rate mortgage comes up in the Autumn and it will mean an increase of around £100 per month to out mortgage repayments. Yet if you look at my pay rise for the last three years added together I am now earning just about exactly £100 a month more after tax than I was three years ago. Meaning I ...

Ham: Are You High

Readers may recall me mocking the Ham and High a couple of years ago for condemning the Labour party’s “flying pigs” advert on the grounds of anti-semitism. Words therefore fail to learn that the same paper has allowed the BNP to take out paid advertising on their pages. The paper appears to have confused the two concepts of “freedom of speech” and “suckee suckee - one dollar!” - to be fair, many people who lack a moral compass do. But does anyone seriously believe that if this advert had been anti-jewish as opposed to anti-muslim they would seriously go ahead ...

No metamorphosis here

I have discovered a new me! I am, apparently, some kind of conspirator against the leader of the Liberal Democrats! Most people who know me will be highly amused to hear this. But some guy from Somerset has become somewhat exercised about yesterdays carefully worded posting. I have tried to post a reply but it has not appeared on his blog. As important issues of principle are involved and some of his language is unfortunate (to put it mildly), here is my response: Calm down Bob and consider a third option that its a sincere attempt to provide some informed ...

ANC criticises Mugabe

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has issued a statement saying it would be "undemocratic and unprecedented" for Zimbabwe to hold a run-off presidential vote without first announcing election results.

The BNP flip flop

Following this article in the London Evening Standard regarding the selection of their candidates, I am unsure what this means. Could it be: a) the BNP are becoming a more inclusive party b) the BNP are two faced c) the BNP are desperate to find candidates d) the BNP have started to change their views

Jacqui Smith: An apology

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to both my readers and to the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith. On Sunday, I gave the impression that the terrorist threat is not "severe" nor "growing", but is in fact static. I cited as evidence the fact that the "2,000 individuals, 200 networks and 30 active [...]

Voting, the nutritional way

If I had a hat, I'd take it off to this man (and then bite his ankles for disrespecting democracy).

Perth Road roadworks again...

The Courier today (click on headline above to view) covered on-going roadworks issues, and at lunchtime today I met again with Scotland Gas Networks and their contractors Turriff about the Perth Road closure, due to commence next Monday (April 21st). I issued a news release following this, which I paste below: Dundee City Council Planning & Transport Convener, Cllr Fraser Macpherson, today met with senior representatives of both Scotland Gas Networks and Turriff Contractors in relation to continuing constituent concerns about the impending road closure in Perth Road, due to commence next Monday (21st April). Cllr Macpherson, who is also ...

Following Gordon Brown

I have signed up to Twitter to see how this is being used by PM Gordon Brown. Having found DowningStreet and asked to ‘follow’ it, I received this response: DowningStreet is now following you on Twitter! Hi, ricallan. DowningStreet (DowningStreet) is now following your updates on Twitter. Check out DowningStreet’s profile here: http://twitter.com/DowningStreet Best, Twitter – Turn off these emails at: http://twitter.com/account/notifications I hadn’t quite anticipated the following being two-way. I’m sure that Downing Street will not actively read my every move, or those of the other 1300 odd people following them, but it makes you think…. The Twitter updates ...

Voting Confessional

In light of this revelation I feel I must confess I haven't always given my first preference vote to the Liberal Democrats. On numerous occasions I have put my one and X twice here and on one occasion it even sucessfully went here closely followed by my previous indiscretion. I would like to point out that in every other election, bar some student ones where I did not have the option, my X or

Support Brian Paddick Then vote for Brian Paddick

I am not surprised at the number of people who say they prefer Brian Paddick out of the mayoral candidates but will vote for Livingston/Johnson because they are the only one that can beat Johnson/Livingstone. But they overlook the voting system. If they vote for Brian and he is in the top two, there is a strong chance he will become mayor. If he isn't in the top two, and they give their second

Student politics

I confess, I used to vote for this lot when I was a student.

Assembly Quiz Part Five

The next 20 questions from the quiz put together by John Jenkins from the BMA. We are past the halfway stage now and on the home straight. Part Four is here. Answers will be put in the comments later. 81. Who said: I read I was toast while I was eating my toast 82. Which AM was welcomed by First Minister Rhodri Morgan as the new member of Parliament for 83. To whom was First Minister Rhodri Morgan referring when he said: You live even closer to me, coming from Michelston le Pit; you have sown barley next to my ...

Why Ken might be right after all

(Please note: content not quite as scary as the title!) Over at Political Betting, Mike Smithson is questioning why Ken Livingstone is putting so much emphasis on the environment when only 4% of voters nationally rate it as the most important issue and just 10% rate it as an important issue at all. There are a number of factors here. Many of the issues that voters rate as more important are not those that could possibly be winners for Livingstone. The number one issue - immigration - is one of those dog whistle issues. You only have to hear the ...

E-Government

I had the privilege this morning of launching some very important initiatives being taken by the Assembly Commission to open up our decision-making processes through new technoloogy. The two flag ships of this programme are the e-petition site which is now live and can be found on the Assembly website and Senedd.tv which is currently being beta-tested and will be available more widely in May. If you want to help beta-test this site then contact the Assembly Commission here and ask for the relevant password. You will then be able to watch our proceedings live on your computer in equivalent ...

New products in-store

Check out the new range of products in my online store! Many new products coming soon so keep checking! And remember, Lib dems receive a 15% discount on ALL purchases (except where otherwise marked), and all other non-profit organisations get 10% off.

Hear Hear Jeremy

Commenting on Fiona Hyslop's visit to China, Scottish Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Spokesperson Jeremy Purvis MSP said: No-one would deny the need for there to be close links on education policy between Scotland and China, but Fiona Hyslops visit is wholly inappropriate given the international concerns expressed over the current situation in Tibet. It jars that a Scottish minister seems to be content with ignoring international concern and only making glib comments on human rights issue for the benefit of the Scottish press, whilst at the same time leaders such as President Sarkozy have a much clearer stance. We called ...

First memories of the LibDems and political journeys.

I was just thinking about my time at Uni and how I first voted LibDem which prompted me to think about when I first heard about the LibDems. The first thing ever was an election leaflet in 1992. It was a leaflet for the Liberal Party (continuing) which was attacking the Liberal Democrats. It had a [...]

Dooh Nibor

The Tale of Dooh Nibor*, First Lord of the Treasury, (AKA J. G. Brown of Wesminster, SW1A 2AJ, House Number 10) Dooh Nibor, Dooh Nibor, Riding out of Number 10, Dooh Nibor, Dooh Nibor, With his band of men, Loved by the rich, feared by the poor, Dooh Nibor! Dooh Nibor! Dooh Nibor! He called the greatest financers To a meeting just this morn, Ge said there was no crisis for the people

Was Nick Clegg a student Tory

That’s the vital question zinging across the political blogosphere today, following the shocking revelation by Tory MP Greg Hands on ConservativeHome this morning that the Lib Dem leader may have been a member of the Cambridge University Conservative Association in his first year at Robinson College, 1986-87. Nick’s spokesman has categorically denied it: Nick is [...]

Simply chilling

News in the media today that 60% of us are not paying into a private pension which is the highest figure since records began and amounts to somewhere around 22 million working adults in the UK. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that the figures have gone from 43% of women and 54% of men in 1996/7 to 37% of women and 43% of men in 2005/6. Less than a third of final salary schemes are open to new workers whereas in 2002 the figure was 83%. I'm fortunate that I'm in a job where my employer pays ...

Scotland Bucking House Price Trend

As if the removal of 100% mortgages wasn't bad enough news for first time buyers in Scotland today's news that house prices North of the Border are the only part of the country where they are continuing to rise, thus the Scottish bucking of this trend only makes matters worse. So not only is it becoming harder for those of us not yet on the housing ladder to gain financing to do so the amount

So what if Clegg was a Tory

Firstly, being a member of another party does not preclude you from later joining another party, or even becoming leader. Its well documented that Vince Cable was once a member of the Labour Party, we don’t complain about that. His actions have shown him to be a liberal. Famously Gladstone was a Tory, a high Tory [...]

Slimey goings-on on Woodward Road

So, my birthday is over. Theres only one thing more depressing than contemplating a birthday and seeing another year fly by. And that is contemplating the day after a birthday, and realising that its a whole year until the next time anyone gives you cake with candles in it and lots of presents. That is essentially where I am today. However, I am keeping the howling wolves of Times unstoppable force from my door by dabbling in some case work. Now that were out canvassing, it means that rather than ring me up to ask for things to be sorted, ...

Is Nick Clegg a Former Tory

According to Greg Hands, the answer is yes. He’s posted the membership records of the Conservative Association at Robinson College, Cambridge, which seem to show that Mr Clegg was a member for one year as a fresher and did not renew his membership. However, a spokesperson for Clegg has said: “Nick is one hundred per cent [...]

Clegg was a member of CUCA

So Guido thinks he's onto something pretty scandalous, with suggestions that Nick Clegg paid a year's subs to Cambridge University Conservative Association. Now, I don't know if he was or not, but as a current Cambridge student, I would just like to point out that CUCA has a reputation as an oddly non-political organisation that is worth being a member of even if you're not an awful Tory because

And Lib Con goes on a bit longer

CentreForum's recent publication on Liberal Democrat-Conservative relationships continues to get press coverage - this time in an article by John Rentoul on Tory preparations for a potential hung parliament...Read the article here, and find the publication here.

Mario Kart Wii

{Mario-Kart} Are you a LibDemBlogger Do you have Mario Kart Wii Are you online Fancy sharing your friends codes in the comments so we can have a battle royale If so leave your Mario Kart Wii Friend Code in the comments. Don’t worry both sides need to add each other before they become friends, so make sure that you add everyone you want to be friends with. My code is: 4425 1593 1549

Another Worst ScotSnail rip-off

Thankfully my daily commuting days are nearly behind me as I prepare to move to the country as Worst ScotSnail are raising train fares in the Strathclyde area by around 5%. This means that a peak time return from Irvine to Glasgow will rise from £9.00 to £9.45 which means that in the event of the trains running to schedule my return commute will cost me 13.5p per minute. In comparison my future twice weekly return journey from Perth to Glasgow will work out at 10.85p per minute. Question to Worst ScotSnail - why are you ripping off commuters on ...

Opinion: Why have the Greens fallen out love with of Brown Ken

Is Siân Berry, perhaps, having second thoughts Two weeks ago, Siân and Ken exchanged vows. There was not a dry eye in the house. The honeymoon however lasted less than 24 hours with Ken declaring his true love for Gordon Brown on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war (so much for his anti-war credentials). Since then, [...]

Britblog Roundup

This week the Britblog Roundup is hosted by Matt Wardman, who has very kindly linked to last week’s tasteless Politalks. If he thinks that’s bad, wait until this week’s is posted (hopefully later today).

42 days: the story continues

This weekend saw a PR blitz by Jacqui Smith as she continued to push the 42-day detention bill through parliament despite a distinct lack of evidence to support yet another smash and grab on our civil liberties.In support of the proposal, Smith has drawn on a speech that the MI5 chief Jonathan Evans made back in November. In this speech Evans made clear the severity of the terrorist threat and explained the changing nature of terrorist organisations. Smith has taken this intelligence on the terrorist threat and presented it as proof of the need for 42 day detention. This is ...

Why do Lib Dems love shooting themselves in the foot

There are two ways to view Neil Stockleys post Nick Clegg - Lib Dem asset or liability One is to decry it simply as populist panic following news that the party is trailing desperately in the opinion polls. The other, is to see it, as I have, as an attempt to destabilise Nick Clegg. Whatever your point of view, isnt it a bit early to start talking about pressing the panic button Rather than making repeated references to poor opinion polls and Nick Cleggs supposed weaknesses as a performer, shouldnt we be concentrating more on re-energising the party and promoting ...

Higher Stakes

In the FT today Bill Rammell says that he can "see no reason" why there should not be more two-year degrees. The higher education minister says "compressed" courses should be the "business of every university". University is an important cultural institution. Spending time in higher education helps students to mature intellectually as well as decide whether academia is for them. Why make universities more like conveyor-belt crammer schools The government have also lately withdrawn funding from postgraduate study which will inevitably make academia a more inaccessible and unattractive prospect. This should be set against a backdrop of rising fees and ...

60,000 homes at high risk of repossession

Up to 60,000 families are at a high risk of repossession - double the number who had their homes repossessed last year - Liberal Democrat analysis of official figures has revealed. The figures show that the families affected are spending over 75% of their disposal income each month on mortgage payments alone. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: There are 60,000 families teetering on the edge of losing their homes, weighed down by massive debts. As living costs rise, and the credit crunch starts to bite, families are forced to cut back on essentials ...

The Cost Of Voting

From personal finance website The Motley Fool. It's really about the financial pros and cons of being on the electoral roll. Voting is still free, at point of use, anyway!

Here's to You Mr. Robinson

So the DEmocratic Unionist Party have named Peter Robinson as the sucessor to the Rev. Ian Paisley as party leader. So for those not too familiar with Northern Ireland politics who is the man who has stood in the shadow of Dr No for so long. Robinson was born in 1948 and was educated at Annadale Grammer School and Castlereagh College of Further Education both of which reside in his Belfast East

What I've been up to by Text today

My daily digest of texts, tweets and status updates.11:16 is still not back at work, damn developers. Ah well, more personal projects, the joys of self employment... # 14:28 deciding that if we do buy a car, Jennie's not choosing the name. At all. Ever. UlriKA... # 20:35 has just answered his phone to find it was his fiancée, ringing from the living room to ask me to bring something down... # 02:09 is thinking Blackadder is a poor choice for insomnia viewing. Wide awake now. Still, very cool... #Microblogging by SMS, using LoudTwitter and Twitter.

Italian Turkeys Vote for Christmas

The opinion polls predicted it, but the result still takes some swallowing: Silvio Berlusconi is once again set to be Italy’s Prime Minister, after a convincing win against the centre-left bloc led by former Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, in the general election. You’d think that Italians would have had enough of Berlusconi, after two [...]

Young offenders

I was recently asked my opinion about young offenders in my town. My response was: “Whilst I agree that more needs to be done to tackle youth crime I think this has more to do with the decline in society and boredom. The problem is, how do we engage with these young people when most of them (act like they) don’t want to be engaged with Most of these kids aren’t bad (in my experience), but to them, this behaviour is normal, and the way of thinking behind it, ingrained into them. Somehow the cycle needs to be broken but ...

Two local examples of why land (and planning) reform is needed

Quite by chance, as if on order to make the local elections more exciting in my ward, two local planning issues have suddenly popped up (not entirely unexpectedly it has to be said) that are likely to cause a deal of controversy when they get to decision-making time. I don't want to talk about their planning merits or otherwise on here. But I do want to use them because they are very good examples of why I am so passionate about land reform. The first, in the ward in which I am standing is an application for new student residences ...

Day 2659: DOCTOR WHO: The Fires of Pompeii

Saturday: This week Dr Who was up a volcano. Well, been there and done that! Look: here is a piece of MOUNT VESUVIUS to PROVE it! Elephant Rock {Posted by Picasa} Don't panic though I haven't pulled the VITAL PLUG that is holding the magma in check; Daddy collected it years ago when, like Mr Dr David, he went to visit the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum! Mr Dr David said it was quite LIFE AFFIRMING to be up on top of a live volcano. But that is because he is a MANIAC who likes to do his own stunts. ...

Those cringe-inducing nu labour accents

Is it me or am I not the only one who is sick of those awful accents nu labour put on. There’s the over-emphasised estuary accents of minor Labour ministers - there’s also the `let’s emphasise my northerness` Hazel Blairs with her `cuntry` (no offence meant!).

Tuesday 15th April 2008

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