There was a lively gathering at the Universal Peace Federation's building in Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, this evening, when the political and social theorist Professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh spoke on 'Muslims in Europe', on the occasion of the launch of his new book, 'A New Politics of Identity' (Palgrave Macmillan, £19.99). An academic expert on multiculturalism [...] 
I only ask because I want to know.
Jeremy Clarkson, the little one and the other one are not boys. They are men. This matters. Thank you. I feel better for that.
Quite a day around members allowances. It started off at some unearthly hour (I don't do mornings!) with first the Tory and then Labour leaders on the local radio putting their cases. A number of people were phoning in, and that coupled with what the radio presenters were saying did worry me as to how much people do not understand about Councillors. What we do, why we do it, how much it...
When New Labour first came to power they were very keen on the idea of curfews for children and teenagers. A pilot scheme was run in Hamilton and I recall commissioning an article from Stuart Waiton on the subject for Liberator. Things went rather quiet after that, but now the idea has re-emerged in Cornwall. The Times reports developments in Redruth: Officers in the town ... hope to clear everyone under the age of 16 off the streets by 9pm. Those aged under 10 will be expected at home by 8pm.Letters have been sent to 700 families living on large ...
Barely had David Cameron completely a press conference today outlining his plans to crack down on expenses abuse by Conservative MEPs, when the BBC got hold of a memo from one of those MEPs slating his proposals. Sky has the full text of the memo, which is well worth a read.
OMG that is the funniest thing I have seen in AGES!!! I will totally be watching next week. What do you mean it's not meant to be a comedy?
John Mason is the SNP candidate in the Glasgow East by-election, and Mr Eugenides flags up a telling episode from his political career. Two years ago England were playing in the football World Cup. Sadly, Scotland were not. And the following report appeared on the 24dash.com site: A Scottish school was condemned today for flying too many England flags in a World Cup display. Hillhead High in Glasgow was 'unwise' to use a large majority of England flags in a corridor decoration, according to senior Scottish National Party councillor John Mason. The SNP's group leader on Glasgow City Council spoke ...
As revealed by Mark Oaten over at the Indy's Open House blog: We haven't always been the best of friends: he once threatened to punch my nose in, and I've described him as disgusting. The reason: When I came close to wobbling on 90 days he held firm. (That's also when he informed me that if I did [...]
I was very disappointed this morning to read in the Western Morning News (and to have seen on tonight's BBC News at 10) that we are to see a curfew in part of Redruth over the summer months. It will apply to under 16s who will not be allowed on the streets after 9pm. What makes this news even more annoying is that the Western Morning News report and the subsequent BBC News Online coverage reports Lib Dem MP Julia Goldsworthy as being in favour of the scheme. I believe that it is totally wrong to deprive innocent people of ...
I left the office at 8.30pm and headed back to the flat. But to wind down after a day of politicing, we are sitting in the local, in a pub quiz. The last time we did this quiz, we came last. Today, we are joint leaders at the half way point! Well this is exciting!Meanwhile I can report that the gooseberry pie did not last long today in Cowley St!---Sent via BlackBerry
Welcome to the 72nd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (29th June - 5th July), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. Let's get straight down to it, in descending order of popularity: 1. The much anticipated Dr. [...]
James Graham appears to show a staggering naivety when realising David Davis is going to spout anti-Labour and anti-Lib Dem opinion during the by-election campaign. [They're not really out to get us are they mummy?] Disappointed and most of all deeply confused at the reaction of most Lib Dems when they not only supported the party view of not putting a candidate up against him, but went one step further and actually supported his campaign, I am gobsmacked by his innocence. As I said at the time he announced his decision, I think there is no slicker trick in politics ...
To scrap or not to scrap that is the question ..........whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous activists, or to take arms against a rebellious party and by opposing......hmmmm who knows? That frankly was the dilemma facing FPC last night. To go to conference with a proposal to change our popular no tuition fees policy, or to delay the potential bun fight until the Spring. The almost overwhelming decision was to defer until Spring, when of course we are also anticipating another bun fight when we debate our schools policy. Well, let's ...
Commenting on the growing Labour rebellion over the Climate Change Bill, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Steve Webb said: 'Climate change is bigger than any one political party, so support for the Liberal Democrat campaign for an 80% cut by 2050 is welcomed wherever it comes from. 'The Government has got the emissions target wrong and once again it looks like its own backbench MPs will have to rebel to get ministers to do the right thing. 'Both Gordon Brown and David Cameron must come off the fence on this issue. By allowing his Tories to constantly abstain David Cameron ...
Forget press releases, press officers and media communication teams, just pick a good issue, put down a motion, and it gets in the national press. Today's Daily Mirror reports on my 999 text campaign....
Don't forget, if you're a party member you can register for the Lib Dem Voice members' forum - in which case you get to read and post on a rich variety of topics which don't always make it into the public blog. Here's a selection of the currently active threads to whet your appetites: * MPs [...]
The missile tests from Iran, are without a doubt worrying. It means they can hit US military bases in Iraq, Israel and Cyprus (where we have a military base). Although if Iran has any common sense they would never attack any of those places. President Ahmadinejad has dismissed the idea of attacking Israel or the USA as a 'Joke'. That wouldn't be surprising as Israel and the USA happen to have better military than Iran. Although invading Iran should of course be something the US knows would not be a good idea, not least stretching their forces but would continue ...
Thousands of Somali's make one of the most dangerous boat journey's in the world to get to safety in Yemen. The number is increasing, reflecting the horrific violence that is taking place. The BBC has pictures showing the troubles the people face. One women described what happened to her in Somalia: 'One day I was out walking and some Ethiopian soldiers started to beat me with their guns, and then they raped me right there in the street, I ran away but later, that same night, they found my house and came to repeat their actions.' She says, 'I don't ...
7 members of the UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur have been killed and many more injured in a deadly ambush. Still only 9,000 of the 26,000 planned troops have arrived. In the invasion of Iraq coalition forces were quickly able to deploy 263,000 troops! So how can it possibly take so long to deploy 26,000. African nations are now going to be more uncomfortable about sending their troops after this attack. If we can waste money like we did in Iraq, why can't we equip African peacekeeping forces in Darfur to stop a Genocide!
James Graham and LDV have beaten me to it, but I felt incensed that David Davis has accused the Lib Dems of 'funking' the by-election in Haltemprice and Howden and so had to blog. Mr Davis was claiming that he was doing the honourable thing in resigning to fight a by-election on a matter of such principle that he felt it worth riskuing his political career. Although it clearly wasn't our preferred method of campaigning, the Lib Dems clearly felt sufficiently sympathetic to Mr Davis on this issue that we agreed in advance not to fight against him so long ...
Economic downturn, credit crunch - pick your jargon there's a lot of discussion about it on the news etc. I am particularly interested in this issue from local and housing perspectives. Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable warned today of a "deep crisis in the housing market" during PMQs and it certainly is an issue which concerns me both as a ward councillor, and as the Lib Dem housing spokesperson in Reading. At last week's meeting of the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel (which I now Chair), I asked the Director of Housing and Community Care to give ...
It is about time that someone put some pressure on Ryanair to start showing some honesty in their advertising, so for once a well done to the EU for THIS today. Airlines like Ryanair flagrantly take the piss by advertising flight for £10, but omitting from anything other than the very small print that this does not include airport taxes, landing duties, baggage fees and any other number of ad ons that Ryanair seem to excel at. This comes one day after the local BBC news reported on Ryanair's complete unwillingness to help a disabled lady board a plane when ...
I spotted this quote from David Davis this morning but LDV beat me to it: "I'm sorry that Labour and the Liberal Democrats funked it, but we're still having a good argument and getting the issue raised." Both personally and professionally I've spent quite a lot of time defending Davis' actions, at least up to a point. I'm still not convinced this was necessarily the best strategy but on the basis that the real problem is locking the Tory party into opposing the extension of pre-charge detention and that I can see how this by-election might have achieved that, I'm ...
I think I'm in love with yoga. Who else among my readers practises it, or used to and is still interested enough to feel like telling me about it? What style, and what does/did your practice look like? Me, I'm practising Sivananda yoga, and at the moment my practice looks like this: *Simple sets of morning and evening stretches *Some arm-strengthening exercises after the morning stretches *Some stretches to do at my desk inbetween tasks *Phase 1 of the Sivananda Beginners' Course on days when I'm at home in the late afternoon/early evening, which last week was about three times ...
It was all-change at Prime Minister's Questions this week, as Gordon Brown was detained at the G8 summit - which meant a turn in the spotlight for the party leaders' deputies, Harriet Harman, William Hague and Vince Cable. Vince led on the crisis in the housing industry, demanding to know of Ms Harman if Labour will [...]
Sir Alan Beith, the longest-serving Liberal Democrat MP, is to launch his autobiography Alan Beith: A View from the North at this autumn's party conference in Bournemouth. We're promised that the book will include the Lib-Lab pact of the late 1970s, Paddy Ashdown's years at the head of the party, and Sir Alan's work overseeing the [...]
Sometimes, being a Councillor is handy for networking knowledge. This morning I met staff from Better Together. They do family intervention and youth work in Lockleaze. We explored a few local issues, bounced ideas and shared contacts. Same goes for this afternoon. I met with someone from St Werburghs farm. They outlined some plans they were working on. It was useful as I gave them a few contacts for working with schools and the youth service. They told me more about the conservation work they do and the valuable work they also do with hard to reach young people. Someimtes ...
{BathNES Council Chamber} Contrary to popular belief, BathNES council is not run by inummerable committees with endless meetings. Most policy decisions are now taken directly by the Conservative cabinet, which are occasionally reviewed by Scutiny panels. However, there are some remnants of the old committee structure left where legally required. These are the judicial and regulatory committees which are run non-politically for legal matters. I have sat on two of these this week, Regulatory & Access and Planning. Yesterday's Regs committee in Keynsham town hall created 44 new footpaths in the city centre within a matter of minutes. This is ...
The Government's 42 day detention proposals have been firmly rejected by voters, according to a new poll commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. The ICM poll found just 36% support detention of terrorist suspects for up to six weeks, with the majority, 60%, favouring 28 days or fewer. The findings come just a day before [...] 
In today's Gruaniad David Davis makes a massive faux pas. Talking about the upcopming by election he perpetrated in Haltemprice and Howden he said about his stance of civil liberties: 'It's going to cost us some votes, but it's what I said I'd do. We're not here to score another easy 'Crewe and Nantwich'. I'm sorry that Labour and the Liberal Democrats funked it, but we're still having a good
After reading this i am and nearly all true Liberal Democrats are with Nick Clegg on the matter that Cameron needs to apologise. Who does Cameron think he is saying what he said to the people of Glasgow East. He has been elected to help the people not criticize them! This just shows how incompetent the Conservatives and stuck up David Cameron is. So make the right choice and don't waste your vote on the conservatives and Vote a Party that Cares about its people the Liberal Democrats
I was talking to a Nelson Town Councillor Sajid Ali about the Nelson Town Council and he made some unbelievable comments about it. He said that the town council only had a meeting once a month and it only lasted for one hour. That is nothing these Town Councillor's probably don't get settled and the meeting is already over they should at least be 2 to 3 meetings a month not only one. Then he said that they at this moment in time do not know what they have power over and what they don't. well if the Chairman Labour ...
In the Nelson Town Council Election the person who got the most amount of votes is from the Ward i am a resident of Councillor Abu Bakar Anwar was elected with 1092 Votes which is the record in the whole of the Town Council.The Chairman George Adams a Labour Party Member and Councillor only got 642 Votes.Abu Bakar Anwar is the best man for the Town Council job from Whitefield and he will hopefully benefit his constituents the Residents of Whitefield.
I am really proud as a Twerton Ward Councillor that St Michaels Junior School is one of seven Schools achieving the Bath & North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark this year. Bath & North East Somerset Council awards the Quality Mark to reward schools for inclusive practice. This means that these schools have demonstrated that everyone within their school is included, that diversity... 
Oh dear, this is a direct quote from Michael Cashman MEP's personal website: 'Our Labour Government created Advantage West Midlands (AWM), the Regional Development Agency to tackle these challenges. each year AWM spends £...m on projects around the region. Over the next ten years that will be some £...bn. How they spend it, where they spend it and when they spend it matters to everyone and especially Labour's local representatives - MPs, MEPs and Councillors.' I would have thought the amount they spend would also matter. Then again considering the state of the public finances perhaps they'd rather not look. ...
The experts reckon that around £27 million pounds worth of food is wasted in Reading every year. Some scary facts: for very tonne of food waste is the equivalent of 4.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere each year. Overall, food waste is responsible for 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted each year. Today we read that the Labour Lead Member for Environment, Paul Gittings, is "pretty shocked" by these figures. Hard to know what to make of that response when many individuals and environmental pressure groups were aware of this issue long before the ...
David Davis has had many warm words written about him by Lib Dems - myself included - since he took his decision to quit Parliament to fight for his beliefs in civil liberties, and most notably Labour's obscene push to detain without charge for up to 42 days. True, there have also been some harsh [...]
I'm not sure what to think of Davey C's denunciation Fatypuffs (remember them?). I think Clegg's call for an apology to the people of Glasgow is slightly overblown, but that's by-election politics for you. Opinion I'm sure the honest thing to say is 'Yes if you are fat you will be more unhealthy and unhappy, and moreover it must have a variable effect on you socially depending on your self esteem, and yes its alright to say that because you can choose whether you're fat or thin'. However... politicians should only talk about their opinions in policy announcements if they ...
Boni Sones is a real trooper. She has campaigned, cajoled, recorded and encouraged womens' political voyage. Today, Women's Parliamentary Radio - which is really her baby - held a lunch with GCap - a huge commercial radio company (who themselves are being bought out by Global - that's the way the radio cookie crumbles). GCap are partnering Women's Parliamentary Radio and hopefully this will be good for both parties - giving them a niche market and a pathway on a load of issues. You go girl!
David Cameron certainly captured the imaginations of the newspaper scribblers with his speech on Monday launching the Conservative campaign for the Glasgow East by-election.The speech can be read in full from the Conservative's website. A concise summary of it is offered in The Times - and the headline captures a reasonable caricature of what he said - 'David Cameron tells the fat and the poor: take responsibility' There are the usual suspects that love the message (see the Leader column in The Daily Mail, Simon Heffer in The Telegraph) and other more surprising supporters (see the Leader in The Independent). ...
Spoke yesterday to the National Council of Voluntary Youth Services. Strikes me that the Government's shift to making the voluntary sector deliver services is full of all sorts of dangers. Too much to go into here - but from those in the room it is clear that there are huge concerns about funding; the nature of the hoops that volunteers have to go through - even if they are still relatively small organisations where people only give a couple of hours; the media's incessant attacks on young people; the bias against funding for faith based organisations by local authorities - ...
Without fanfare, the blasphemy law finally expired in 'England-and-Wales' on 8 July when section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 came into force. I forgot all about this and had to be reminded by a New Zealander. Now can someone update - is Blasphemy still on the books in Scotland? I would be amazed if it isn't still around in Northern Ireland...
Four months after the Conservative Leader of B&NES Council promised an 'urgent feasibility report' on support for Post Offices a decision paper has been published proposing that 'a feasibility study' should be carried out. My colleague Liberal Democrat Councillor Caroline Roberts is criticising the Leader and Cabinet for failing to give the issue the prominence it...
Lancashire Telegraph link Pendle MP Gordon Prentice lost thousands of Pound from his Bank account because of credit Card Fraud. The MP has now started a campaign on the issue and i am backing the MP with the issue that he is raising in the link above.
Mohammed Jamil Munir a ex Councillor for the Bradley Ward has joined the Labour Party. After seeing Mr Munir at a Liberal Democrats event in April he was very happy to be a Lib Dem at the time and in the May Election he was a supporting his Liberal Democrat Team and now he has joined the Labour Party.I am disheartened to see a Liberal Dem Join the Labour and Lord Greaves and fellow Lib Dem's from Pendle would feel the same. Mr Munir has made a big mistake joining the Labour Party but he will learn as time ...
Is the media influential to the life's of the youth? A question that is something that is not asked by politicians. I think it is when the youth of our country watch movies they get influenced by that movie. These movies that include knife and gun crime influence the youth to go down the path of carrying a knife is 'cool' that is what the youth think because of the media that has influenced them to think like that. When the youth listen to rap this rap influences them and the influencing is in a negative way and that can ...
Food-deprived lardarse Gordon Brown has a bit of a problem when it comes to the 42 days detention vote in the House of Lords: he can't offer them a peerage and the overwhelming majority of lords aren't too keen on the idea. So look out for the following constitutional reforms from our dynamic, overladen Prime [...]
The decision by the Lib Dem leadership to allow David Davis to resign in the comfortable knowledge that no Liberal Democrat would oppose him was a strange one. Without Lib Dem acquiescence, the by-election almost certainly would not have taken place. As it is, it seems unlikely to me to do much to fracture the [...]
Yesterday the three Cressington Councillors - that's me, Peter Millea and Richard Oglethorpe met at Allerton police station for a discussion about policing and related issues in the Garston area. We have had a few incidents recently that may have caused alarm, including a shooting which, while it was nothing to do with people in the area, happened to take place here. A lot of what we discussed was confidential (for now at any rate) so I can't go into details. But suffice it to say quite a bit of progress is going to be apparent over the summer.
Congratulations to Anita Fazakerly, one of our two media department administrators here at Edge Hill. It's results day today and Anita has gained her BA degree in English and what's more she has been awarded a first! Anita has studied for the degree part time while holding down a job and bringing up her son. She really deserved her champagne celebration!
Nick Clegg has laid into David Cameron for his speech earlier this week when he (Cameron) told the 'poor and fat' to take responsibility for their lives. Speaking in Glasgow East, Clegg said: David Cameron claimed here on Monday that you were the example of everything that is wrong with this country and that your problems are all your own fault. He should apologise for that disgraceful slur on
SkyNews.com, the Sky News round up of the top stories on the net has gone 5 days a week; this week they asked me to come and go through the top five stories of yesterday with the very lovelty Martin Stanford (who manages to surf the web and present the news at the same time). You can see it here!! My favourite story is the San Francisco Sewage Plant that local people want to rename the George W. Bush Sewage Plant; I first heard about this a couple weeks ago when I was in the states on MSNBC. It's really ...
Saturday, July 19 to Sunday, July 27 will see a number events take place in the Lincolnshire region to celebrate National Fishing Week (NFW). Whether residents have never picked up a rod, or simply have not fished for many years, organisers of the event and qualified coaches are giving up their time to welcome and teach newcomers to the sport. The two main aims of NFW are to improve the lifestyle of youngsters and the retired, men and women and able bodied and disabled people by introducing them into the sport of angling and also to increase awareness and appreciation ...
Mister Stephen is getting over the lack of Wimbledon on television this week by settling down to his month long trip round the roads and mountains of la belle France. He is very much hoping it is a clean race however from what I've seen those cyclists sweat a lot and must need a shower ever day. Anyhoo, yesterday a German man named Schumacher (no not Michael or Ralf) won the first time trial of
With a vote of 481 to 203, MEP's have voted to increase the membership numbers needed for a political grouping in the European Parliament to be formed. At present a political group has to comprise of 20 MEP's, representing at least 6 Member States. The new rules will change this so that 30 MEP's are needed representing 7 Member States. Following the next European Parliament election in 2009, certain groups may suddenly disappear and their former members will have to either join new groupings or sit as unaffiliated. How can the MEP's who voted for this claim that they are ...
The House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus approved as 20th EU member state the Lisbon Treaty on Thursday 3 July. Cyprus is the first EU country to ratify the Treaty following Ireland's rejection of it.
Went to the Globe last night to see The Frontline - first time I'd been there to watch a non-Shakespeare play. You can see from the photo (taken before anyone was on stage) that there's an interesting clash between the Globe's design and the set for The Frontline. We were standing in the yard, both for the best view and because it's always just a fiver. There was a raised walkway stretching away from the stage in all directions, so oportunity for even more people than usual to get up close to the action like us. So close in fact ...
Don't forget the Prestwich Local Area Partnership meeting, which takes place tomorrow (Thursday) night at St Monica's school on Bury Old Road. God knows I can't... Amongst other things on the agenda, there'll be an update on the URBED Prestwich Town Centre regeneration project, and the ceremonial unveiling of the Prestwich Plan 2008-11, on which I've been beavering away nicely for quite some time, and of which more tomorrow. It's an open meeting, and everyone's always welcome to come along and hear the updates on what's been going on in Prestwich recently. There will be representatives from the Council, Police, ...
An extraordinary story... Although a friend born and bred in Norfolk tells me this sort of thing 'happens all the time'.
Harriet Harman stood in for Gordon Brown at PMQs today amid speculation about her plans to oust him. To be honest, I don't think he is in much danger (at least from her). But the Tory plans seemed slightly double edged. They clearly see Brown and his troubles as an asset to them but, if he has to be replaced, they would love it to be Harriet rather than someone more competent. So Hague offered help to the Government on legislation securing depositors funds in the event of a bank collapse. And Harriet replied by slamming the Tory record on ...
The Yorkshire Ridings' Society recently requested the U K Flag Institute to enter the Yorkshire Flag in the U K register of flags which is maintained by the Institute. Members of the society were very surprised that the well known flag was not already included in the register, so made the request. Since a change in regulations, last year, relating to the flying of flags, registered county flags have been included, alongside national flags, the European Community flag, and certain saints flags, as 'exempt flags' which means that they are exempt the planning requirements to which other flags are subject. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7494799.stm The Ex MI5 Chief is against the increase of the terror detaining law to 42 Days. This women knows what she is talking about so please Mr Brown accept it that this piece of legislation is against a person liberties and just scrap the whole legislation. If the Prime Minister was only to just listen to high Profile MI5 Chief's he would have realised it wasn't the best Legislation to try to pass. He might have sneaked it through the Commons but the Lord's will most likely throw it out. The Government are going from Bad to worse they ...
Reading the Times newspaper today I was pleased to see Jodrell Bank's future was looking safe but concerned to see other new technological advances being heralded as the way forward. Namely, electic/battery cars. I don't think open -cast nickel mining is necessarily good for the environment in the short term, or dotting the planet with nuclear power stations to provide power for millions and millions of new of cars is great in the long term either. (What's the cost of clean up at Sellafield now? One billion?) In looking at future transport needs, surely removing the density of cars on ...
Stuart Weir has a post on LC about the real public view on 42 Days. Amused Cynicism gives the lie to the idea of Britain as a broken society. Dr Beren has rewritten the end of the most recent series of Who. Can someone get her a job as showrunner, please? She's WASTED on Brain Doctorin'. Feminism is good for men too, and they ought to remember that. The man in my icon certainly knew it :D
A very sensible article by Esther Rantzen about how we are failing to respond proportionately to the maltreatment of children and are in fact harming children as a consequence.
Tier 4 Personality Disorders Joint Health Scrutiny Committee This committee was formed as a result of the proposed closure of the Henderson Hospital, which offers a tier 4 residential service for people with severe personality disorders. The Henderson Hospital is a specialist service provider with commissioning arrangements with 62 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). A number of local [...]
This morning's Daily Post reports that the multi-million-pound Capital of Culture celebrations are not bringing the benefits to North Wales which were mooted when Liverpool beat off rival bidders, including Cardiff. The claim is made by North Wales Plaid Cymru AM, Janet Ryder, who says that there was no sign of the Capital of Culture event 2004 at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod yesterday, even though a formal tie-in was suggested by the Liverpool bid's leader in 2004: Ms Ryder said: "North Wales has been wooed and then dumped with no ceremony. "To be blunt, we've been conned. It's deeply ...
'All hell broke loose': Oxford graduate held at gunpoint by police | UK news | The Guardian An innocent traveller who was detained by police at gunpoint in a case of mistaken identity has described how he 'stepped off the train and into a really bad dream'. Nzube Udezue, a 21-year-old recent graduate from Oxford University, was ordered to the ground, handcuffed and arrested by a team of armed police officers at Bournemouth station on Saturday, in front of dozens of fellow travellers. I suppose being black and under retirement age might be seen as unusual in Bournemouth, but just ...
...but bats in your bra? The rest of the office has just realized my tears are of laughter... BBC NEWS | England | Norfolk | Teenager finds bat asleep in bra Teenager finds bat asleep in bra A teenager who thought movement in her underwear was caused by her vibrating mobile phone found a bat curled up asleep in her bra. Abbie Hawkins, 19, of Norwich, had been wearing the bra for five hours when she plucked up the courage to investigate. When she did, she found a baby bat in padding in her 34FF bra. The hotel receptionist said ...
I think this is a strong strategy for McCain. Watch the video and let me know what you think.
Prime Minister Harriet Monday's Daily Mail reported that Harriet Harman was discreetly enquiring of colleagues as to whether she had any chance of a sympathetic reception as a potential replacement for Brown. And yesterday Iain Dale's tickertape machine alerted us to a Commons dining room confab between our Hattie and Jack Straw. With Brown in Japan, this modus operandi is a bit like that of
After reading this link at the BBC website i felt sick and disheartened that the Labour MP believed in that way. At the time that took place i was made aware of it but i thought i would never come across that link ever in the future until if found it through a link on the BBC website. It is a article in which Jack Straw MP says that when he talks to Muslim Women who are behind the Veil he feels uncomfortable. Well Mr Straw these women are following their religion and it doesn't make a difference to ...
Quick link to the Daily Mirror who have got a story about a Conservative MP criticising plans for flexi-working to help parents:A Tory MP provoked fury yesterday by claiming that parents will use flexi-time working as an excuse to shirk.Brian Binley was responding to hints from Gordon Brown that Labour could offer more flexible working rights to parents of children up to the age of 16.[Lynne Featherstone said] 'Without flexible working it's impossible to be a mother.'Most parents are responsible, and flexible working allows them to bring their skills and energy to work.You can read the full story here.
The link is to Camilla Cavendish's article today about the problems with the psychobabble in the Family Courts. One of the worst things I see is something saying 'mum needs therapy ... but the therapy will take too long (1 year+) and so baby has to be adopted'. It is a massive struggle swimming against this sort of nonsensicle treacle. That is why my considered advice to people is to consider
On Monday Vince Cable gave the 2008 Institute for Fiscal Studies Annual Lecture. (The Telegraph, among others, has highlighted his speech). This lecture is the sort of thing that Chancellors and members of the monetary policy get to give, not opposition politicians. It says something of the respect with which Vince is held by serious [...]
Every now and again, you see an article in your local newspaper that you know is going to make headlines in the nationals. My local newspaper, The Surrey Comet, has one today: Firefighters had to cut a man out of a titanium chastity belt intended for sex games last week. Crews from Kingston fire station were called to the red-faced man's home in Ham at about 11pm on June 27 after he had spent all day trying to free himself from the device. It took about 45 minutes for firefighters to release the man, believed to be in his 40s, ...
Don Foster MP for Bath sends out a monthly e-news letter to see the July one follow this Link. Don Foster e-news
Nowhere in life is nepotism more common than in politics. If you ever find yourself talking to a rubbish parliamentary candidate and just can't understand why they're in that position, look around in the party for a prominent mother or father, and the fog of bemusement will clear. These shortfalls will have been heartily overlooked by friends of Jonny's Father, who may have sat on the selection panel, probably in return for a favour from Jonny's Father. Whole council groups seem to be married incestuously to each other and do favours for each other's children. Friends from school and university ...
From tv and internet (and William Hill), there seem to be a lot of people talking up the SNP's chances of winning the Glasgow East by-election - though it is hard to see why. The result from Glasgow East last time shows the SNP a long, long way behind and indeed shows that their share of the vote fell last time - it was was the Lib Dems (and the Tories on a very miniscule level) who actually increased their vote, with the SNP declining slightly.The announcement on Monday night of Labour finally selecting their by-election candidate, Margaret Curran, was ...
This is the first leadership campaign during which I've had a facebook presence, so I'm quite intrigued that this time instead of my email it is my facebook inbox that is getting the requests to support various candidates. Ironically this is despite me already pinning my colours firmly to the mast of another candidate and joining his Facebook group. Obviously my Facebook Scottish Liberal
I'm at loss just where Labour stand over the whole issue of where Labour stand on the matter of a referendum over independence for Scotland. Ever since Wendy Alexander's 'bring it on' televised statement there has been some uncertainty. First the party in Scotland backing her, only for the Prime Minister to basically leave her in the cold. Which saw the MSPs use more guarded language, to the
Last night's Cabinet meeting saw millions of pounds of expenditure approved on the nod, while a proposal from the Conservatives that £25,000 be allocated to rescuing the one remaining post office from the five recently earmarked for closure produced heated discussion complete with heckling from the cheap seats. Now, to make life easier, most people categorise the Conservatives as the party of
There has been a bit of a spat at the Euro-parl about whether some amendments to the "Telecoms Packet" (how romantic, is that like the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Packet Company's packet?) that I encouraged readers to respond to a couple of days ago. One of the movers of one of the offending amendments has, according to the BBC, said... BBC NEWS | Technology | MEPs back contested telecoms plan But Mr Harbour claimed the legislation has entirely more innocent intentions. "It is about new provisions so that users can find out about new services. It will make price comparison ...
You may remember back in April, I highlighted the problems here faced by residents trying to report crime via the Thames Valley Police anti-social behaviour/non-emergency telephone number. I have publicly pressed for improvements to this service since 2006 and I continue to receive complaints about the way calls are handled/mishandled by the out of town call centre. This needs to be sorted so people think it's worthwhile reporting crimes to the Police and to ensure that our neighbourhoods get the Police attention they deserve. Residents in North Whitley who I have been encouraging to phone in issues relating to mini-motos ... | < | July 2008 | > | ||||
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