Just a quick note to say I am now away for two days...some secheduled posts will be forthcoming (not all political) but I will be back soon enough to return the blog to the usual politics/news fare...though I might make some non-political stuff a more regular event...possibly...take care all :) see you in two days.... 
Today's vote in the House of Commons on the 42-day detention proposal showed Parliament at its worst. Having decided to go down the route of sacrificing civil liberties in an absurd test of strength to try and prove they were being tough on terrorism, the Labour government then set about winning the vote by buying off potential rebels with what can best be described as a series of bribes and inducements. According to Nick Robinson's report on the BBC's 10 O'clock News, one Labour MP was offered more support for a miners' welfare scheme, while another was promised that economic ...
Not exactly on our patch, but we couldn't resist this story from the Bristol Evening Post: Council workers called out to deal with a complaint of fly-tipping found a 12ft speedboat dumped at the roadside. The boat was reported to the authority by residents living in Perrinpit Road, in Winterbourne. A South Gloucestershire Council spokeswoman said: 'This was a first for us. It has been removed and taken to a council amenity site.'
We have been picking up concerns from residents over the past couple of weeks in connection an application by the Kings Tavern on Kings Road, for a licence variation. This premises has applied for an extended licence as follows:- Late Night Refreshment - Indoor Thursday until 0130hrs Friday & Saturday until 0330hrs Sale of Alcohol by Retail - On Premises Thursday until 0100hrs Friday & Saturday until 0300hrs We would like to encourage local residents who live in the vicinity of the Kings Tavern with comments or concerns about this application to contact Reading Borough Council's Licensing Department or email ...
Tonight's vote, won by the Government on the back of the support of Anne Widdicombe and the DUP, is another much more important travesty. It was rightly described by SDLP MP Mark Burdan as a humiliating victory. I have to say, though, that Nick Clegg's overtures to the DUP, on the grounds of their supposed commitment to civil liberties, stuck in my throat just a wee bit - has he met Iris Robinson, DUP MP, who, last week, while being questioned about a homophobic attack in Northern Ireland, suggested that homosexuals could be turned around with psychotherapy? 
I enjoyed the England v Barbarians match. The Sky commentators may have slagged off England's performance, but I thought it showed some really exciting prospects for building the team. The commentators seemed to want the grumpy old men to be out there winning World Cup style, bt the job now is to build the team. And don't forget they were short of Wasps and Leicester players. I had two criticisms
To choose a mediocre man over a brilliant woman once was bad enough, as Simon Ambrose won over Kristina Grimes last year, but two years in a row smacks of vile misogyny. Claire Young seems to have missed out tonight simply because she speaks her mind. She was by far the best candidate - she has listened, taken and acted upon difficult feedback throughout the 12 weeks and carried Lee through the last task. It was a travesty of justice that she did not win tonight.
From the Guardian: 'John Howell, the Conservative candidate in the Henley-on-Thames byelection, is campaigning to keep the green belt while acting as a lobbyist for a planning company that advises housebuilders on contentious land and property deals.' Tories being hypocritical? Never!
So. 42 days. 6 weeks. 9 votes. 1 party. The DUP. What do they want from Gordon Brown to lick political arse so much? Isn't this a stark illustration of how politics is the worst way to enforce democracy? You can bend over backwards, but at the end of the day someone somewhere will have done a deal and all your efforts will be dashed. Cynical? No, surely not. I had to endure the image of Ian Paisley on the news earlier. Bought up to boo and hiss and throw hairbrushes at the telly whenever he makes an appearance I ...
The BBC report on Labour's latest assault on civil liberties -- one of the bedrocks, my friends, of social justice -- provided a notable juxtaposition of views. A latterday outspoken rebel (they allow one amongst their ranks), the ubiquitous John McDonnell, is quoted as saying: 'There will be widespread consternation among our supporters in the country seeing a Labour government prepared to use every tactic available in its determination to crush essential civil liberties, which have been won by the labour movement over generations.' In early versions of the story, it was immediately followed by a quotation from an outspoken ...
From the Guardian website: The Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is to become Chelsea manager following the conclusion of Euro 2008.The Brazilian was one of the favourites for the job, but was not expected to make a decision about his future until after the tournament.'He was the outstanding choice,' said Chelsea in a statement. 'Felipe has great qualities. He is one of the world's top coaches with a record of success at country and club level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his ambitions and expectations match ours.''Out of respect for his current role ...
So Brown and his cronies have done it - 6 weeks without charge, just for being suspected of terrorist involvement. 40 Labour MPs can hold their heads high tonight, but not the member for Stockton South. Ms Taylor showed again that she meekly follows wherever her leader goes. It's been proved over long bloody conflicts that interment doesn't work. In my lifetime Northern Ireland proved the
Last month local London Assembly member James Cleverly said this: 'The Londoner, the Pyongyang-style free sheet is soon to be no more. Rather than spending millions of pounds of taxpayers' money telling them that the Mayor is solely responsible for making the sun rise each morning, Boris is going to plant more trees.' I totally agree James. Propaganda should not be paid for by Council Tax payers.
That Labour scraped home by just 9 votes in today's 42 days detention without trial vote is thanks to the votes of the Democratic Unionist Party. The DUP leader Peter Robinson claims their stance was about principle, and nothing to do with any deals they may have been offered by the Government. Well, maybe... though [...]
The other day I endorsed the suggestion that we should be terribly nice about David Cameron while pointing out that, sadly, he does not speak for the bulk of the Conservative Party. A good example of this is an editorial posted on the ConservativeHome website this morning - the site known to its detractors as 'The Continuity IDS': We know this isn't going to be popular among a great many ConservativeHome readers and 92% of adopted Tory candidates but we ought to publicly nail our colours to the mast and stand up with Ann Widdecombe, Norman Tebbit, Matthew d'Ancona, Melanie ... 
Writing on the Guardian website, Michael White draws a parallel that has been occurring to me all day: what the past few days has reminded me of was Jim Callaghan's rearguard action in the turbulent late 1970s, no majority at all and often dependent on what could be squeezed from the then-dominant Ulster Unionists to get his legislation through.And the suggestion that the government will pay to compensation to anyone detained past 28 days but not subsequently charged puts me in of a scene from the 1980 British gangster film The Long Good Friday. Bob Hoskins is trying to find ...
I have finally got round to my new year resolution and hit the gym. Two sessions down... more to go.
So the Government have won the Commons' vote on whether to extend the time allowed for detention without charge beyond 28 days to 42 days. The ayes won the vote by nine votes. The DUP voted with the Government for reasons which I predicted some time ago. Coincidentally there are nine DUP MPs in Parliament. I watched the debate. It was an incredible display of the intellectual chasm between the ayes and the noes on this monumental vote which concerned the central liberty granted by Magna Carta. There is nothing I may argue that can match the eloquent power of ...
Very unhappy about the vote today on 42 days detention without trial! Gordon Brown got it through - just - with the DUP bailing him out at the very last. Talk of all sorts of deals - rumoured and actual - flying around - but this sort of issue shouldn't be up for bargaining. It should be about principles, not horse-trading. Sat through pretty much all the seven hour debate in Parliament - and the case for locking people up for a month and a half without any trial just wasn't made. Protecting our liberties should be at the core ...
As I write, I haven't yet seen the Commons roll-call of votes to find out how many (or indeed if any) Tory MPs joined Ann Widdecombe in voting with Labour on 42 days detention without charge. We do know, though, that the proposal enjoys the support of ConservativeHome.com, the provisional wing of the authentic Tory [...]
Leaving aside the issue of the Conservative candidate for Henley working as a lobbyist for developers while claiming to protect the green belt, (hat tip to Alex and LibDem Voice) and leaving aside the smoke screen that the Tory party is trying to put around the issue (apparently it's dirty tricks to tell the truth about their candidate), they do seem to be unable to get their apostrophes in the right place. Check out the wording on the back of the Tories' 'Protect the green belt (with our developer lobbyist chum)' leaflet, helpfully reproduced here by the Guardian. 'We, the ...
Guardian Politics is currently leading with a story about the Conservative candidate in Henley - who works with a planning consultancy specialising in with a firm that builds on the greenbelt. This is rather unfortunate for a campaign where greenbelt development is particularly controversial. Henley byelection: Tory candidate lobbying for planning firm while backing green belt John [...]
When I was a student in France, I mis-heard on a very crackly radio, that Parliament had voted to reintroduce capital punishment (they hadn't). At a time when France had just abolished la guillotine, I seriously considered whether I should stay abroad; Britain suddenly felt less like home. I feel a bit that way again [...]
Never got chance to blog some accurate analysis of the GLA results locally. There was some highly misleading (at best) 'analysis' on a local Tory blog... but that largely seems to have been dealt with in the comments section of that post. In very brief summary, across Hornsey & Wood Green parliamentary constituency: we won the constituency vote (my old flatmate Cllr Monica Whyte performing very strongly) with the Tories last, the mayoral contest was won by Ken Livingstone (with the Lib Dem candidate trailing the Boris/Ken pantomime) and the London wide list vote was narrowly won by Labour, with ...
Last week, the Cinderella at the Prime Minister's Questions' ball was the Government's plan to extend to 42 days the length of time citizens can be held without being told what terrorist offence they are alleged to have committed. Not this week. Both Nick Clegg and David Cameron led on today's Labour bid to shred [...]
Someone asked me if I had really not been at all disgruntled in the last six months, when I have written no new posts. Well, yes I was - with Windows Vista, the Halifax, the standard of driving in Chard and all those common disgruntlements of life, but none deserving of your precious attention until now. I have just watched the lamentable scene of the House of Commons extending detention
Sitting at my computer, the breaking news of the Government's win on the 42 day detention vote comes through to me via Twitter. joswinson: angry that the Government have just won the 42 day vote with a majority of just 9, only winning due to the support of the DUP
The BBC is running a quite extraordinary story. It is saying that top-secret documents containing the latest government intelligence assessment on al-Qaeda have been left on a train in London. It was given the documents by a passenger on the train from Waterloo to Surrey who spotted the orange cardboard envelope lying abandoned on a seat. Documents included a 'damming' assesment of Iraq's security services and were so sensitive they were all numbered and marked 'UK Top Secret'and 'for UK/US/Canadian and Australian eyes only'. Bear in mind this is the government that 315 MP's have just entrusted with the power ...
Slightly more intelligible than Pink Dog's take on things... The Tory candidate in Henley is in hot water after the Guardian revealed his links to a firm of planning consultants who lobby on behalf of housebuilders in contentious planning and property deals. The Tories have just issued a leaflet promising to campaign to preserve the green belt but it would appear that John Howell's work contradicts this claim. Many of the firms that Mr Howell's company works for are involved in controversial planning applications around the country. They include Amec Developments, Barratt Homes, Bellway Homes, Countryside Properties, Linden Homes, and ...
Woof woof Guardian woof woof snarl woof woof. Exciting isn't it?
The Commons have backed an extension of pre-charge detention by 9 votes. Its a sad moment for the House. I hope that it is possible that the legislation can pass through Parliamentary ping-pong with the Lords until such time as it has to be reintroduced next session, to fall at election time. More soon...
As people's minds focus in on holding people without charge for a whopping 42 days (doesn't it make you proud?) and actually as I coincidentally head over to Parliament for a couple of drinks, I have just seen a different justice story. That story reminded me of my own wasted time waiting for jury service and a similar case being reported back then. I hope that, as I type, MPs of all parties are joining forces to throw out the 42 day proposal. It might be getting a bit late to preserve our country's reputation as fair and free - ...
Well, it's been very nearly a month since I last found the time to write on my blog - it's been a busy time. There have been a few times where I've thought 'that'd make a good blog post' or even wanted to chip in with my opinions on elections, opinion polls and other news. But I have somehow managed to live without it. Not sure if I'm going to be able to keep this blog up properly going forward, but let's give it another shot for a while and see how it goes. Too much to cover from the ...
I visited Avignon and the surrounding area over the weekend. On Sunday morning I went and found John Stuart Mill's tomb in the cemetery. He is buried there with his wife, whom had died 15 years previous. {S1034055} {S1034048} {S1034051} {S1034054} Although the sides of the tomb bear his name, the marble top contains the eulogy written by Mill to his wife, Harriet. It reads: To the beloved memory of HARRIET MILL the dearly loved of deeply regretted wife of JOHN STUART MILL. Her great and loving heart, her noble soul, her clear, powerful, original and comprehensive intellect, made ...
I grew up with the reality of the IRA bombing campaigns in London. Seven Islington residents died in the 7 July 2005 bombings. So I know terrorism is not an abstract issue. But Parliament was right to reject increasing the detention limit beyond 28 days in 2005, and any such increase is still unjustified today. [...]
I always wonder how Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland views cope with National News when their regions are barely mentioned. Of course there are only 10 million people in those regions and 50 million in England. Also you could argue stuff is covered in regional news. But I think some of the things effect us in England and should be covered. Not just the big worrying stuff, like refineres in Scotland. Well a report on the BBC reveals these problems. Have a look and see what you think.
Dianne Abbott is giving the speech of her life on 42 days. Rushed off my feet can't write more now. I'll post later on this monumental issue. Watch the debate HERE now.
One of my favourite press views each year is the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London. A a biographer, I am fascinated by real people, warts and all, and the BP award always attracts some amazing faces and characters as sitters. There were 1,727 entries this year, nearly a third of [...]
As George Bush does a tour of Europe, he arrives by private aeroplanes and helicopters. It's the usual way to get a US President somewhere. But how much does this cost? He could of course travel on commercial flights, which are of course regular. Getting the President around must cost a fortune. While his people face deep economic troubles and fuel prices go up. There are no signs of leading by an example. Our PM travels by commercial planes. (There was a report in the guardian a while ago about a private plane that escorts conservatives across the World, donated ...
When Nick Clegg or other front bench MPs go to Henley to campaign we can trust they will be safe. In Kenya two ministers died in a plane crash on their way. There are several elections to take place and there is the risk of the balance of power collapsing. In Kenya there are low-turnouts in by-elections, if the Orange Democratic Movement loose the seats PM Raila Odinga's position could be in doubt. There's also fear of how tension could resurface. In other Africa related stuff, a Tanzanian Priest came to my school today. We found out lots of interesting ...
So, the government won the 42-day vote by a whisker. 9 votes was the government majority, in other words it won victory with the purchased votes of the DUP. It has done so with widespread public support and it may well be rewarded with a slight poll bounce. The support the measure received within the wider public shows that the reactive politics of fear trump reasoned argument and should send a warning to those people who wish to defend our civil liberties. It shows that, to put it bluntly, we need to make our case and be more forceful in ...
Reuters reports that a junior minister in Australia's new Labor government has been ordered to seek anger management therapy. Belinda Neal told pregnant Liberal Party politician Sophie Mirabella that her baby could be 'born a demon'. Neal has also been suspended from a football team for kicking a fallen opponent, and there are allegations she threatened and abused staff at a restaurant north of Sydney Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said; 'I've said to her that there appears to be a pattern of unacceptable behaviour.' Neal meanwhile seems to acknowledge she might have a slight problem, she said; 'I think frankly ...
The Abdullah Quilliam Society have a range of events this month which should be well worth going to. I went to one of their recent lectures and it was really informative and very thought provoking. I always feel that I ought to know more about Islam and its history in the City, and this is one way of doing that. Anyway, there is an exhibition until 22 June at the Picton Library, which is upstairs in the Central Library on William Brown Street. There are also a couple more lectures - both at 6 39 at the John Foster Building ...
Meeting to Discuss an Area Action Plan for Wallington Colin, Richard & I met with Lyn Gleeson, Executive Member for Planning, Economic Development and Regeneration; Darren Richards, Executive Head of Planning, Transport and Highways and Jeff Wilson, Head of Planning, to put the case for drawing up an Area Action Plan for Wallington. Along with our [...]
My attempt to get powers for the Assembly to determine the electoral arrangements for local Councils in Wales failed by just three votes. Four Plaid Cymru members and one Welsh Liberal Democrat were missing for entirely legitimate reasons but the main reason we failed was that a number of Labour AMs, who are normally in favour of electoral reform voted against, even though they had a free vote. Voting was 18 for, 8 abstentions and 21 against. My speech is here. Update: Congratulations to First Minister, Rhodri Morgan and Education Minister, Jane Hutt who both voted for the LCO. The ...
Jenny Willott, LibDem MP for Cardiff Central, is today introducing a Private Member's Bill to wind back some of the encroachments on civil liberty of recent years.
Just watched PMQs, where all three party leaders did pretty well, I think (Dale continues to push the line that Nick is no good at PMQs, but frankly just looks a bit silly doing so). What I want to talk about, however, is the point that both Nick Clegg and Michael Howard raised, asking very focussed questions about this parliamentary vote within 7 days business. The Government has suggested
Speech by Nick Clegg MP to the King's Fund, Tuesday 10th June 2008
A petition has been set up at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/HMSWolverhampton/ to try and get a ship named HMS Wolverhampton - Wolverhampton is the largest city never to have had this honour (and only one of 5 cities in the UK not to have had the honour).
....Well sort of. Google should be very flattered. Their marketing department may, as we speak, be putting out an advert to take advantage of this comment from John McCain, quoted on Hotline: John McCain stumping and raising cash today in Richmond joked about his method for vetting prospective veep candidates. Per pool press ... 'We're going through a process where you get a whole bunch of
Another 'Beauties for Britain' candidate? Amanda Harrington, a former Miss Liverpool winner, appears to have been nominated to stand in the Henley by-election. More information (and photos) here, and here. Her candidate biography might read something like this: Amanda is an professional model from liverpool. She has been modelling now for about three years. Amanda Harrington born on 3 November 1980 in San Mateo, California, USA. She won Miss Liverpool at age 16 and it all started there since then she went on to win the sexiest new model Zoo Magazine Australia mag.She was also selected in 20 hottest girls ...
It's terrible isn't it? One wonders how all those Conservative 'activists' can drag themselves to Henley.... The poor things. It's just not exciting enough for them.
Yesterday, 35 Articles of impeachment against George Bush, was read out in the US House of Representatives, the body charged with initiating impeachment proceedings against the President and Vice President (the Senate then tries the case). For five hours, Dennis Kucinich a Democrat Congressman from Ohio read out the articles, explaining why the President should be impeached. Nancy Pelosi, when previously questioned about the possibility of impeaching President Bush stated that she knew of no criminal wrongdoing and if anyone did they should "let her know". Yesterday Representative Kucinich did just that. He had previously introduced articles of impeachment for ...
Hammersmith and Fulham Councillor Lucy Ivimy, in an official email, wrote with regard to a litter problem on a local estate: 'I think we need to a) sort out some regular cleaning up of the garden and b) conduct an educational exercise to tell people not to throw stuff out of the window - particularly foreign born residents. 'I know that in India, throwing rubbish out of a window and total
Well the statement is pretty unvarnished. In their Guardian comment article on 'The Toxic Texans foreign policy doctrine will endure' authors Thomas Lynch and Robert Singh say about a putative President Barack Obama: "Before sitting down to tea in Tehran, at least one precondition Obama might consider making is establishing whether the mullahs believe that apostate Muslims, such as himself... should be killed". I was moved to send one of the authors this e-mail Dear Robert Singh Thank you for your interesting analysis (with Thomas Lynch) published in the 'Guardian' comment column on 10 June. Could you perhaps give a ...
The Times have succintly reported the judgment of the court of appeal in that a trial is not necessary for a mother to have her child put up for adoption. It ends up as tyranny disguised as paternalism. The mother concerned did an IQ test last week. For a short time the results will remain 'under wraps'.
xkcd does it again: this one has the classic alt text on the other hand, physics is to maths as sex is to masturbation {[info]} professoryaffle Daily Kos has some handy cut-out-and-keep pledges for any Americans thinking of voting for McCain. {[info]} raven_oreilly, hope you weren't drinking anything when you read this... ;) Hat tip: my homey Douglas at LC. When anti-abortion campaigners go for an abortion... Some of the cognitive dissonance in this made my brain want to explode. If you're going to be anti-abortion, at least have the courage of your convictions, you know? FFS. Hat tip: my ...
After this panicky front page today, it would seem possible....
President George W Bush has admitted that his bellicose rhetoric about Iraq encouraged the world to form a mistaken impression of him as a warmonger. Embarking on his final visit to Europe as president, Mr Bush said his gun-slinging talk leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq made the world think he was a 'guy really anxious for war' against Saddam Hussein. Claiming he had been misunderstood
The era of the Bushism novelty calendar is coming to an end, but the lame-hawk is still dropping gems. 'Phrases such as 'bring them on' or 'dead or alive [...] indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace'.
More than 500 soldiers from The Yorkshire Regiment 2 Yorks (Green Howards) will mark their return from Afghanistan by marching through Redcar next week to receive Redcar and Cleveland Council's Freedom of the Borough. The Regiment Band will lead the soldiers, all with bayonets fixed, as they set off from Majuba Road on Wednesday, June 18 at 2.30pm to formally receive the Borough's highest civic honour. They will take a route through the town before stopping on the Esplanade, with the Council's Mayor, Councillor Mike Findley, taking the salute at 3pm, inspecting the troops and presenting a Freedom scroll to ...
Oh dear, remember us going to war in Iraq because of sex up dossiers? Well it looks like Labour have not learnt from that lesson. Well one of the key reasons Labour have been telling us that they need to detain terror suspects for up to 42 days without charge, an additional 2 week on what is already available, was because the police almost ran out of time to investigate two suspects over the
Yes, I'm still alive... Been reading Ken Macleod's The Execution Channel this week and found it amusing that there's a section of it set in Heptonstall in Yorkshire. Why? Because that's where I met him, on an Arvon Foundation course at Lumb Bank in 2001. The reason it links in with the subject matter of The Execution Channel is that the course finished on a Saturday, and the day after saw the first waves of NATO bombing in Afghanistan. Of course, I've no idea how intentional that linkage is on his part, but it struck me as interesting. Second, following ...
I was rather bemused yesterday to hear Rhodri Morgan finally capitulate to Plaid Cymru's ridiculous demand for a Welsh seat in the United Nations by agreeing to to see if there were any precedents that might allow Wales to have its own ambassador at the General Assembly. However, Plaid Cymru's success in winning over Labour to the idea of an international role for the Welsh Assembly was shortlived as the unity of their own members dissolved in the face of a controversial invitation. South Wales East Plaid Cymru AM, Mohammed Ashgar circulated an e-mail to all members asking them to ...
Kingsgate Park Music Festival is taking place this Saturday, June 14 from 1 pm to 9 pm. The event, which is completely free, will showcase the best of local musical talent, including young bands Sox and Area 51, cover band Tundra performing hits from the Police, Status Quo, Dire Straits and Elvis and headliners Beach Boys tribute band Good Vibrations. There will also be a bouncy castle, face painting and Punch and Judy.The Kingswood Bus Project will also be in the park with a BMX display and interactive activities for teenagers. The new treetop play area will no doubt be ...
Good lord, sometimes I think the microsofties who do the website for cornwall council really are a complete and total bunch of muppets. The online job application has never worked in anything apart from MS Inept Exploder, because some complete to... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
I was sent a link to this really interesting site. It's all about saving paper and you can pledge to cut your paper usage. Have a look and see what you think. www.shrinkpaper.org
Tory Central Office tried to deflect the heat on their own MEPs in the ongoing expenses row yesterday by getting sympathetic journalists on the Mail, the Times and the Telegraph amongst others to start digging stuff up against other parties including the Liberal Democrats. In what was a rather weedy effort in the end their [...]
Is there really no ideological difference between the Tories and Labour? Cllr Les Byrom, former leader of the Sefton Conservatives, a previous Conservative Parliamentary Prospective Candidate and a nominee to contest the Southport and Wirral South seat at the next election for the Conservatives, has today defected to Labour. He cites his removal from Merseyside Fire Authority by the Conservatives as his reason for defection, after initially stating it was David Cameron's opposition to 42 days which had caused him to defect. "Having been a Conservative for 35 years, this is a truly momentous decision that I have been forced ...
First Bus has announced the results of their public consultation on bus service changes. In the Yate / Chipping Sodbury / Dodington area, the headlines are: Two 'X' express services will now remain and run down the M32 South Yate will get two express services per hour instead of oneCotswold Road keeps its bus serviceHOWEVER...Cranleigh Court will lose its bus servicesNorth Yate will only have one bus per hour to Bristol and Yate Shopping CentreChipping Sodbury will lose its direct First Bus service to Frenchay HospitalBut don't forget that the Cotswold Edge 200 service will still run from Chipping Sodbury ...
For those of us that (just about) remember the early 1970s, the headlines over the past few months are acquiring a dismally familiar look. Although much has changed in nearly forty years, the fact is that despite the two oil shocks of the 1970s, the industrialised world did not take the opportunity to wean itself from unsustainable dependence on oil. All through the 1970s there was much discussion concerning energy efficiency and conservation. In the end though, as the oil price began to fall, not only were conservation measures blunted, there was even a return to extravagance and profligacy- how ...
There are a number of processes that are pressing towards change in Public Family Law in the UK. Firstly, we have amendments to the Children and Young People Bill. The second reading of this Bill is on Monday and some new clauses with All Party support will be tabled. Secondly, we have a number of cases in various courts, Court of Appeal, House of Lords and European Court. Thirdly, there is
Monday night was a meeting of the Democratic Arrangements Forum, this is the group that brings together representatives of the three parties on the Council, together with the independent Chair of the Standards Committee. As the majority ruling group on the Council, the Conservatives have a majority on this (and all other) Committees. The meeting was to discuss the issues of questions at Council meetings from members of the Public and Councillors. A number of changes are proposed: Questions by Members of the Public at Full Council Meetings The Conservative Group are proposing that questions at full council from members ...
The European Parliament Culture and Education Committee has published a Draft Report on concentration and pluralism in the media in the European Union. Amongst others, it contains this statement - whereas the European Union has confirmed its commitment to the defence and the promotion of media pluralism, as an essential pillar of the right to information and freedom of expression enshrined in Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which remain fundamental principles in preserving democracy, and this one - whereas weblogs are an increasingly common medium for self-expression by media professionals as well as private persons, the status ...
In the wake of the announcement that dozens of post offices in and around Greater Manchester, 11 across the Stockport Borough, are scheduled for closure, Liberal Democrats from across the area have launched a petition to 'Save our Post Offices'. Cheadle Constituency Mark Hunter MP, Hazel Grove Constituency MP Andrew Stunell, Manchester Withington MP John Leech and Rochdale MP Paul Rowen, along with Lib Dem Councillors and activists launched the petition today in central Manchester by holding a demonstration to oppose the plans and asking local residents to sign up in support of the protest. Speaking after the launch Mr ...
Firstly, the lift problem at Sinderins Court. I received this from the Director Service Delivery at Home Scotland yesterday. I am pleased to learn that a proper solution to replace the existing lift mechanism (that has broken down on numerous occasions) is now in sight : 'Just to update you, tenders have now been accepted and works commence on 21st July. The lead time for the specialist equipment is 12 weeks so the contractor has managed to accelerate this substantially. The residents' meeting was held this morning, attended by the contractor and our lift specialist and residents are very positive ...
We have won the argument against extending the period in which suspects can be detained without charge. The only question now is whether we win today's vote. My guess is that it will be close, but that we will win thanks to some courageous Labour rebel MPs who are resisting the 21st century equivalent of [...]
It may appear that this week I'm deliberately out to get at the DUP, but I can assure readers that they just are the ones that are featuring in the stories that are sparking my blogging juices. Way back in 1987 for the last month of my Lower Sixth year I had a supply teacher for my Economics A'Level course. In the recent reshuffle by the new Northern Irish First Minister Peter Robinson appointed
It's a difficult situation and it's ongoing but it's Hampstead Police Station again. But is it possible that this picture of the number 26 house on Rosslyn Hill is in fact the entrance to what will be Hampstead Police Station? In all of the discussions and debates the police have all been slightly coy about the reality of what is being looked at and explored. I am worried, and others are too, that the Police Estates Team intend to sell the current police station for a large capital reciept and decant into the house next door. The fundamental problem is ...
Last evening I was at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster for the Khilafat centenary celebrations of the 70-million strong Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, at which the fifth Khalifa (Caliph), Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, spoke, condemning the terrorist ideology which masks the true faith of Islam. Before the speeches and the following dinner, the [...] | < | June 2008 | > | ||||
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