The European Commission has suspended €500 million in funds destined for Bulgaria because of concerns over persistent corruption and organised crime. Both issues were highlighted in the the lead up to Bulgaria's joining the EU in January last year, during which Sofia promised to tackle the twin problems, but as the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Sergei Stanishev, admits, [...] 
I've just got back from Development Control Committee, where I had to discipline myself to sit silently in the public gallery. I'm pleased to report that the Committee agreed with South of the Borough Neighbourhood on three significant planning applications. 1. The Lidl application for 62-74 Leatherhead Road was refused planning permission - for lots of reasons....
There are a great many phrases that one is unlikely to hear. 'Thank you for being early, Mr Hughes', or 'I, Gordon Brown, am resigning as Prime Minister to take up ballet dancing.', are just two such. So here's a third... I'm off to Glasgow in the morning to help out in the by-election. Ros was intending to go, but now can't, so I thought that I might use the train tickets and hotel booking.
The Conservatives are worried about the government's proposals on tackling forced marriages. Dominic Grieve Conservative Shadow home secretary has said, 'Whilst we welcome the fact the government has adopted 80% of our policies, we are concerned about their proposal to 'ask' people to enter into an 'agreement' to learn English.' So the Conservatives are being all nice and cuddly- what we have in the past (or still) been thought of as. Although I'm not totally convinced in whether the Government are doing exactly all the right things to tackle to problem I wouldn't be quick to criticise them. Learning English ...
As the Evening Standard reports: David Cameron is being accused of rewarding Tory donors with free publicity. The charge came after he went to the training centre for trucking firm Scania to publicise an announcement on new apprenticeships. Scania's UK distributor is businessman Chris Kelly, the deputy chairman of a donors group called the Midlands Industrial Council, which [...]
MPs may manage to force equal abortion rights upon Northern Ireland. With stiff opposition from all sides in Northern Ireland politics, some may question whether it's right to enforce this opon them. I think it is. When you have an issue as big and important as this, you can't just be nice about it and say to one place it's okay if they keep out. On this kind of issue it has to be equal rights for all in the UK.
India is of course going through political instability. The government just survived a vote of confidence, with allegations of vote buying widespread. This was because the Communist party took their support away from the Congress Party's government, over the Nuclear deal with the USA, which they claim will lead to greater US control over India. The Congress believe its an important opportunity to take hold off. Now the Communists have made an Alliance with other left winged parties that formally backed the Congress Party. They are campaigning to withdraw from the US deal and are campaigning about tackling increasing prices. ...
The EU is to allow bent cucumbers, so news reports say, and this is seen as the EU cutting through red tape. This is a good proposal (especially in these times of growing food prices), but let's not forget the EU is not to blame for the bent bananas stories all these years. Euro sceptics like to use the regulation on bent cucumbers as a means of bashing the EU. the truth is though that the EU (or EEC as it was) had no policy on cucumber shapes and sizes and instead adopted the British system that we already had ...
Wallington Community Coffee Morning for Take Part Take Pride Week Cllr. Richard Bailey & I spent the first hour putting up gazebos in front of the Old Town Hall whilst staff from Scola humped out chairs and tables for us. Richard's wife Susan was enormously helpful too: she had brought along biscuits she had made, and [...]
That odd mix describes today's meeting round. First up was a planning session for the Fairtrade Wine tasting which is being planned for October 17th - put the date in your diary now if you're within reach of Stockton on that evening. There'll be lovely Fairtrade wines to taste, some nibbles to snack on and fun all round. This afternoon the planning committee had to decide on a number of
I have received 6 emails with the heading MINKA News Flash! in the last few days. Well actually it is 3 emails to 2 addresses. I can't reply directly from the addresses they are sent to, as they are actually diverted to me. Over the past year I have received endless emails headed MINKA News Flash! and have on endless occasions emailed back to ask for me to be removed from their list. But my
St Neots is a small market town. And, although it's getting larger it still retains the features common to most English market towns. The usual bunch of local worthies who think they run the place (when they obviously don't). A ragtag mix of long-term residents and commuters. A lot of young people who simply cannot find somewhere to live and will probably leave us in the near future. Its the young people that I want to reflect on today. Matthew Taylor has delivered his thoughts to Gordon on the problems of rural housing. The problems in our market towns are ...
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys is a scary Islamist warlord with a peculiar ginger beard. He was leader of the UIC, which previously controlled much of south and central Somalia, for a few months of stability. That's not to credit him for bringing stability, he also brought a lack of human rights and harsh sharia law. Since the Ethiopians intervened to put the Transitional Federal Government in 'control', there has been nothing but insurgency and bloodshed. And the west watches on while Somalia implodes- again. They were of course worried it would explode as they suspected Aweys was connected to Al ...
This isn't perhaps the right attitude for me to take: But Zimbabwean Zanu-PF War Veterans may have received a taste of their own medicine.
China is to allow protests around the games to take place. This is quite radical and perhaps could be a welcomed move. Of course protesters will have to apply from the city's government and police, but it looks like a few protests may end up taking place. However there is the possibility there could be a negative effect from protests. The Chinese people that see the protests may keep further away from listening or even accepting western criticisms. They will probably see the need to celebrate the games not do damage. When the west was making a big (and justified) ...
A very young politician from the BNP party was found hanging according to the Lancashire Telegraph. Well i am shocked to find out that such a young man with a long life ahead of him was found hanging in Burnley. It is believed that because of him having to resign from his seat as councillor i was all down hill from their for the young man and lead to his death. Well i just hope that young people who read this post and story on the lancashire telegraph don't stop getting involved into Politics. If this young man couldn't ...
North East Lincolnshire Council is urging elderly residents across the borough to be aware of doorstep callers posing as officials after concerns that there has been a recent increase in the area.There are concerns that there have been a number of recent cases of callers posing as council workers asking to check people's energy bills and take the home occupiers' bank details.And trading standards officers have reiterated warnings asking people to check callers' identification details and to call police or Consumer Direct if they have any concerns.Andy Foster, trading standards manager at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "If people have ...
A friend mentioned to me today that there is currently a petition to the Prime Minister on the 10 Downing Street website. The petition calls on the Prime Minister to "give all Ex Gurkha soldiers and their families who have served our country British citizenship on leaving the service." If you feel strongly about the treatment given to these loyal members of our armed forces, then you might like to add your name to the petition on: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Gurkha-soldiers/ For the record my personal opinion is that anyone that has served loyally and honourably in our armed forces should be offered ...
North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson has arranged a series of meetings over the next two days for local people to question the Post Office and Post Watch about plans to close 22 post office services in North Cornwall including 11 in and around Launceston. The meeting was well attended given the short notice and the difficult timing (the Post Office people wanted it at 5.30). This was particularly the case with people from the village of Altarnun who had previously been subjected to a mobile service so awful that a new service was provided in the village hall with a ...
If you are a parent, there are always going to be moments when your children move you to tears. Hopefully they won't be tears of frustration, but rather more like mine: Today my daughter (who will be five on Friday) has come to me and said she needed to ask me something. I've rarely seen such a serious expression on her face so I quietly asked her what was the matter, expecting maybe some concern about a troublesome member of her class who has been invited to her birthday party. She blew me away. 'Mum, do you know, Mrs Nicholas ...
I have today written to Post Office Limited asking that it promptly advises of the outcome of its consultation exercise with regard to Dundee Post Offices. Residents in the areas that the Nethergate and Lochee Road Post Offices serve have contacted me asking when Post Office Limited will make a decision about the future of the Post Offices that they have said are under threat. People are naturally concerned at the possible loss of their local post office and anxious to learn the outcome of the recent consultation process by Post Office Limited. The consultation ended on 8th July and ...
One is at work, at bloody 7.12pm, and one would rather be at home, or in the pub or park or anywhere, maybe not anywhere, no, not the Helmand Province, nor Luton*, but anywhere pleasant and certainly not at work. Thus I'm going to make this quick, very quick. Always good to get that warning in first. Right, my top ten blogs on UK politics are, in order.... politicalbetting.comFugitive InkThe People's Republic of (Alix) Mortimer(James) Schneider HomeLiberty Alone (Tristan Mills)Jock's PlaceCicero's SongsRegno Del Fines474 to Win (Ed Fordham)Do What You're Told: Don't Vote Lib Dem (Charlotte Gore) To those who ...
Ever since the formation of a political union in Europe, the Continent has battled between liberalism and socialism (or left vs right) - the argument was mainly based around economic reform. This problem still persists today, with France resisting the free market approach and Germany unwilling to restrict trade union power. France and Germany, [...]
It isn't that somehow making sure doctors are competent, and stay that way, is a bad idea. The problem is the way these things get measured in our miserably utilitarian Labour government. Try reading an Ofsted report these days. You wonder why you have read through the whole thing without learning anything. It's because inspectors use a computer programme which involves assigning numerical grades for various aspects, and the programme then translates these into approved sentences. Similar programmes are being used to write equally mushy and meaningless school reports. Try asking a health visitor for advice. They will simply test ...
Extensive coverage today of Chris Huhne's revelations - via some pointed Parliamentary questions - showing that "none of the people caught selling knives to young people in the last five years were sent to prison and only one was given a community sentence". The BBC is among those reporting the Lib Dems' findings that: • Only [...]
When considering how much power ought to be afforded to the police, it's worth remembering that 'the police' is not one big faceless organisation, it's a sample of people who wanted to be police officers. People with prejudices and flaws as varied if not more so than any sample of the population at large. The more legislation is introduced to tighten security, the less rights we have as completely innocent citizens at the hands of the police (and often the evils the laws are introduced to deal with in the first place are at best not remotely dealt with by ...
Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful Nick Perry has bitten back following MP Michael Foster's defence of his vote to block the reform of MPs expenses. See this link for today's story in the Hastings & St Leonard's Observer. In response, Nick has quoted The Times' 4 July article on the subject: 'Plans for rigorous external audits, a reduction of the threshold [...]
Here we have a 76 year old ex-US police officer who is living in the UK on his US pension (not on benefits) who made the mistake of not getting a proper visa when he came to the UK to bury his ex-wife and overstayed on his visa. He is now told that he will be deported and is not allowed to remain to tend his wife's grave.
It's been a year, I think, since the consultation regarding Walnut Tree Meadow and low & behold two wide entrances are in place. A few Parish Council meetings ago, Councillor Worth mentioned his dream to bring the meadow under the wings of the Parish. I think it is a great idea and I hope he will see it through as he has done so successfully with other pet projects of his - such as the Wild Flower Meadow and the London Rd. site kindly donated by the Lord of the Manor. I wonder how many people in Wendover are aware ...
This is the launch to my weekly open debate on this blog and i urge people to leave their comments and thoughts in this debate to make it as successful as possible. What do you think of ID Cards? Please leave your comments and debate this issue with myself and other people who visit this blog. I hope to have an interesting Debate this week. Please DO NOT use foul language or leave comments that are insulting to anyone or else it will be removed! 
Well i was surprised to get an email from www.politicalwire.tk inviting me to me a contributor to his blog. Well please visit the blog as it is a very interesting blog and you will enjoy reading it because i definitely did and unlike Iain Dales Blog you will hopefully not fall asleep reading this blog as it is more interesting and broadened with posts from Me, Political Wire and Pendle Truth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7521408.stm The Home sectary has today highlighted plans to change rules to prevent forced marriages. Jackie smith says that forced marriage has no place in society. The phrase used their that was made by Jacqui smith is something that i believe in a lot as i believe that people should not be forced into marriage as this can lead people to commit suicide and it increases the number of divorces as it doesn't work out in the end. Foreign marriages are going to be restricted with the new rules and is something that i am very truly passionate about. If ...
The conservative Party Candidate in Pendle has sent out loads of Leaflets with Pictures of him meeting people of Pendle. I don't think them photos are actually taken with constituents as i have never seen the conservative round my area in Whitefield. And the picture above and a lot of the pictures on his site dont have pictures of Whitefield residents do they? Why haven't i and many other residents of Whitefield never seen the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate and Gordon Prentice MP in Whitefield hardly yet we get to see a lot of Afzal Anwar. I think the conservative uses ...
You may notice a new little feature on the right hand side of your screen. This is my book carousel. It displays either what I am reading, or have recently read and recommend. Take a look. If you're interested enough to buy one (from Amazon), would you mind doing it by clicking via me. It all helps with the running costs.
Nick Clegg, upon his election as Lib Dem leader, said that he wanted to break what he called the "cosy consensus" between Labour and the Tories that has impoverished Britain's political discourse. With Labour now nicking policies on welfare from the Tories, and both vying to be "tough on the work-shy", now is surely the time to offer a radical alternative. It is not just their approach to benefits that is backwards in vision, but the whole assumption that "full employment" is the thing we should be aiming for. Such a policy actually highlights even more starkly the difference between ... 
The Evening Standard reports that there appears to be a remarkable co-relation between David Cameron's visits to factories and donors to the Conservative party: David Cameron is being accused of rewarding Tory donors with free publicity. The charge came after he went to the training centre for trucking firm Scania to publicise an announcement on new apprenticeships. Scania's UK distributor is
When any vehicle passes a speed camera in the UK its license plate is digitally recorded regardless of whether the car is speeding or not. Creepy. This snoopy State keeps going far too far. Would somebody care to defend it?
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:#333333;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> Trees form a vital part of our urban environment, and can even help dissipate falling rainwater thus {10310839_223d51a300} preventing flooding. You may have noticed all the stumps around Redlands - myself and Daisy have been campaigning to get these replaced for a long while. Last Thursday I had a meeting with Steve Radford ( RBC ...
... Is over at Total Politics' Daily Politico Q&A here. Whether you want to know about his favourite dish, his unusual hobbies or his political hate figure - all that and much, much more is revealed.
Welcome to the 74th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (13-19th July), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. Let's get straight down to it, in traditional descending order: 1. Forthcoming Excitement From the FPC on Alex Wilcock's [...]
Thank to The Last Ditch (found via Tim Worstall) for finding this, Radovan Karadzic's website: Dr. Dragan 'David' Dabic was born some six decades ago in a small Serbian village of Kovaci, near Kraljevo. As a young boy he liked to explore nearby forests and mountains, spending a lot of time on Kopaonik mountain where he tended to pick the omnipresent, natural and potent medicinal herbs that grew at those green pastures. As a young man he moved to Belgrade, and then on to Moscow where he graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree (spec. in Psychiatry) at the Moscow ...
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p {margin-right:0cm; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.ececec933401008-26062008 {mso-style-name:ec_ec_ec_933401008-26062008;} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> I have recently spoken to officers with regards to the state of the life belts along the Kennet and Thames. Apparently this issue was raised several years ago by councillors and the {Lifebuoy} Environment Agency/British waterways in conjunction with officers found that as long as there are ladders, escape chains, and/or railings ...
Well, there's one blog that's not mentioned http://www.totalpolitics.com/politico.php?id=26. I'll give you a clue. The missing one is Pink. And you're reading it. Pah! I'm off to bite some ankles.
Jonathan Wallace has highlighted what must be one of the poorest attacks ever in a political leaflet which highlights the problems the Labour Party face at the moment. In Jonathan's ward in Gateshead there is a by-election taking place, and the Labour Party have taken it upon themselves to attack the Tories for failing to support the NHS 60 years ago ! 'Whilst I am a proponent of using an opponent's record against them, suggesting people should not vote for a political party for something that party did 60 years ago does seem to be scraping the bottom of the ...
Co-chair of the Pakistan People's Party, Benazir Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is a student at Christ Church, Oxford. He's mildly involved in politics. Not in a heavy debating, policy sense - I'm sure he has too much of that at home - but in a more social manner. Now you may imagine that as the party he co-chairs, the party that was handed to him like a family house, is a socialist party, he may be involved with the Labour Club. His party's slogan after all is 'Islam is our religion; democracy is our politics; socialism is our economy; ...
The one thing the commentators agree on in reacting to James Purnell's proposals to shake up the welfare system is that few people are being honest. Polly Toynbee writing yesterday ('Labour's sin-eater and now neutralised welfare reform') doesn't like James Purnell's Janus-faced pitch:They were headlines to die for, everything that James Purnell had planned. 'Labour blitz on dole scroungers' said the Sun, with 'Get clean or lose your benefits, junkies told' from the Daily Mail. His prominent article in the Mail on Sunday was headlined: 'There is nothing leftwing about expecting everyone else to pay for people who simply don't ...
Iain Dale raises a story brought up by David Ruffley MP asking why the Labour Party conference costs £2million more to police than the Tory conference. Let's put it another way and see if David Ruffley can work it out. Why does it cost £2million more to police the conference of the governing party ? Why does it cost more to protect cabinet ministers ? Why are there more protesters, marches and campaigners at a the governing party's conference ? Come on Mr Ruffley. Do you really need help doing the maths ? I mentioned yesterday that David Cameron appears ...
(via Amused Cynicism) Five Chinese Crackers have carefully deconstructed the way the Fail report matters, and revealed a nasty undercurrent of racism backed up by blatant lies. The Enemies of Reason have a related deconstruction with similar conclusions. The Daily (Maybe) has photographic evidence that the Currant Bun is much less subtle than the Fail. UK Liberty reports on the government banning a teenager from studying sciences because they are a suspected terrorist. Not a convicted terrorist, mind you, but a suspected one. If you've done nothing wrong you've nothing to fear? As long as you're white indigenous British, maybe. ...
Fascinating journal article about the politics of beef-eating in India, where one reason used to justify discrimination against Dalits is their consumption of beef. I have relatively little knowledge of the economy and cultures of India and was surprised to learn that beef is in fact the most commonly produced and consumed meat in India (not including fish). The article raises (but does not attempt to resolve) interesting questions about the interpretation of the Hindu principle of ahimsa (non-violence) in the context of food. I think I'd be interested in reading some more about this - I may try and ...
On the question of whether cycling is a 'right wing' activity, another dificult question comes to mind which must be addressed before this original proposition can be suitably demolished. That is whether it is reasonable on a blog which aims for a lighthearted yet sensible approach to issues of the day - both important and less so - to refer to the comments of a Parliamentarian as 'utter bollocks' or is this a step too far. I cannot decide so I leave you, dear reader, to read between the lines of this post to establish how I would respond to ...
A worrisome trend has started with the rise of social networking sites for you to be asked for your email login details. The 'offer' from many sites such as LinkedIn and FaceBook is that they will find your friends in their systems by searching your webmail account contact lists. In order for them to do this you are invited to submit your account login name and password. As soon as you have handed these details over there is of course nothing to stop a site using the details to extract anything from your webmail account. You have been told that ...
'The government consultation on a third runway ignores the potential impact of new railway lines on passenger demand, presumes that air fares will continue to fall and is based on questionable forecasts that oil will cost $53 a barrel in 2030 - less than half the current price - said the Stockholm Environment Institute.' - The Guardian It seems my previous PREDICTIONS on this matter are sadly bearing fruit. The Government's complete failure to predict within a million miles of the ballpark of future oil prices will have huge ramifications for a frightening array of current policies.
Press release just received from the Home Office: For security reasons, the Home Department for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wishes to advise its citizens the following activities are banned under the Suspicious Brown People and Their Evil Offspring Regulations 2008 (passed under the Terrorism Act 2006): Studying chemistry and human biology Taking your [...]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7520628.stm The Government are planning to commit illegal acts if they go ahead with plans to make Eco-friendly towns that will be unlawful. Now can any one clarify this fact for me if a Government is committing unlawful acts yet can this Government keep blaming Prisons for being to over crowded? Again their plans are heading straight into a brick wall and let me say the Prime Minister is going to get his face hurt the way he is going! So now you decide is this government who isn't listening to the people who know best the local authorities a ...
North East Lincolnshire Council will soon be offering a fortnightly garden waste collection service to all residents of the borough.The provision is part of the council's planned expansion of services and will be phased in between now and spring 2009. It is being offered on an 'opt in' basis only. In order for North East Lincolnshire Council to deliver an economic and efficient service, a minimum of 30 percent of households in each street are required to register for this service for it to come to fruition. If less than 30 percent of households register then the council may not ...
As part of a critical research study, local people and businesses are being encouraged to email through their stories of how the Humber Bridge and its tolls impact on their lives. Does it make it easier to visit family and friends on the other side of the water or does the cost of the tolls mean you don't visit them as often as you would like? How do the bridge and the present level of tolls affect where you live, work, shop, go to college, and go out for an evening? Has the toll prevented you from taking up a ...
How often to those involved in British politics hear the words 'you're all the same- just in it for yourselves'? The contempt for politics and politicians- never far away even under normal circumstances- seems to have become a mania of hatred- and is irrespective of political party. I can understand a certain scepticism about what politicians can actually achieve, in fact I think it is healthy, but the hatred of all things political is extremely corrosive and could undermine the very basis of our free society and way of life. What politicians might do to change perceptions is to inject ...
THIS student prank from a so called 'green activist' highlights for me how any publicity is not always good publicity. If you are going to win people over to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle then harassing the Prime Minister, a man who despite his faults, is actually one of the most environmentally friendly leaders in the world, is not he way to do it. It speaks volumes of the 'green' ethos when it comes to changing people's minds. They are all about telling people, not about persuading.
The morbid interest in the short-comings of Gordon Brown continues. Andrew Gimson in the Telegraph writes: No one was unkind enough to remind Mr Brown of the picture of him on his latest trip to Iraq appearing to grin while manning a gun on a helicopter, but that too epitomises the poor man's ability to get things wrong on his public appearances. When Mr Brown is forced to mingle with his
There's all sorts of official information coming out of the woodwork at the moment. At last we have found out the full cost of Tony Blair's farewell tour: £724,686 Remember that this included his visit to the Pope with family and friends. Blair joined the Catholic Church a few months afterwards. Is it right that the British taxpayer funded what appears to be, overwhelmingly, a private visit to
44) Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation (London: Faber and Faber, 2002, ISBN 0571212174). The history of the USA in the last decade of the eighteenth century and the first two of the nineteenth, told through a series of vignettes from the lives of the leaders of the Revolution (including the redoubtable Abigail Adams, despite the gendered title). It makes for a very engaging format and an enjoyable read. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is that you see a version of democratic politics without party structures and thus very different from our own (although ...
Your local Liberal Democrat Focus group believe in keeping you informed about what is happening in your area but even more so consulting you on what issues you think are important. In the past we have consulted you through Focus newsletters and surveys and door to door visits. We are very conscious of the need to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce the amount of paper we push through your letter boxes so we are now investigating the use of email and web blogs to keep in touch with you. In addition to this and other blogs we have, for ...
It looks as though the Government is planning to abolish Incapacity Benefit and Income Support in order to streamline the benefits system. I have long thought that the Benefits (and Tax) system was overly complicated and often penalised those it was designed to help at one end and gave disincentives to work at the other end.
The Welsh Conservatives returned to form yesterday blaming the Welsh Assembly Government for a 154% increase in the bonuses paid to top civil servants over the last five years, even though it is not a devolved matter and despite the fact that the bonus system was introduced by a Tory Government in 1996. It may well be of course that these particular bonuses are difficult to defend given the state of Welsh public services in comparison to England however for some reason the Tories failed to draw the obvious conclusion. If we want the salaries of Welsh civil servants to ...
No one was jailed for selling a knife to a child in England and Wales in the five years up to 2006, it has emerged. Most of the 71 people convicted of selling knives to under 16-year-olds were fined, but mostly less than £500, despite the maximum fine being £5,000. Only one person was given a community sentence, despite the maximum sentence being six months in prison. The figures, up to the
I'm always furious when commentators say that England are about to win a sporting event. You know that defeat will inevitably be snatched from the jaws of victory a few seconds after their pronouncement. Michael Grunwald's article in Time about Obama v McCain falls into that category. He's basically saying that Obama is going to win, stupid. Saying it invites fate to rain down. But it's fun to
Lawyers for the Local Government Association are casting legal doubts over the governments proposals to deliver up to 10 new eco-towns. Now no matter what the LGA may think the threat of climate change is something that should be support at all levels rather than fighting a territorial battle over who has the right to govern over planning. Surely a properly thought out carbon-neutral town would
One reason why people don't always share Flock Together a bit more is that it's URLs can get a bit fugly. So I've upgraded it. From now on links like can be replaced by URLs like http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/winchester can now be replaced by http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/event/3666 or even http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/3666 http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/showUser.php?User=mpntod can be replaced by http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/user/mpntod Not earth-shattering, but it should make linking into the site much easier from leaflets or other websites!
Just back home to find that Labour's by-election leaflet has arrived. And it's full of attacks on the Lib Dems! Lots of demands to know why the (Labour) council have not done certain things in the ward. For most of these we as the ward councillors have been demanding solutions for some time. Seems as though Labour's campaign however is based on an approach of stopping the area getting problems
A quick note to say please get your comments in by 5pm on Thursday 24 July on the University of Reading's Whiteknights Campus Halls Redevelopment plans. You can submit your comments using the online form. I attended the exhibiton and discussed the plans with RUSU a few weeks ago. I have stressed the need for the accomodation to be student-centred and inclusive (i.e. not rabbit-hutch like), for hall rents to be kept affordable (particularly with the arrival of private halls providers such as Unite in Reading), and for warden/student ratio to be maintained. I have also pressed the University to ...
If a councillor almost anywhere in England at least made the sort of statements Iris Robinson's been coming out with about homosexuality, I would have thought that a complaint to the Standards Board would at least be entertained and investigated. Even her "retraction" is disgusting and compounds her guilt: MP backtracks on gay comment | Politics | The Guardian Democratic Unionist MP Iris Robinson issued a statement yesterday denying that she thought gay sex was worse than paedophilia. She was reacting to a Hansard report of her comments in the Commons when she said during a debate on managing sex ...
My history is pretty good so I'm confident that this post in South End Green is not from George IV's time (1820-1830) ... Can anyone else advise? I did wonder if it is the fourth year of King George VI... but even then it doesn't feel quite right. I have a half memory that there was an article in Time Out (London) the other month that talked about street bollards and in th picture was one just like this so it's clearly not unique. But how this one came to South End Green... who knows...?
So why has David Marshall been airbrushed from the Labour campaign in Glasgow East? Is it because he is resting because of his illness, or could it be this story in the Glasgow Herald?
Hat tip to the Telegraph blog for this story about Derek Conway's daughter (use my link not the Telegraph's, as their one is bust). The classic line is: Experiencing American politics as a British citizen has been inspiring. It is very different this is a lot bigger, said Conway, remarking that Boozmans office includes more than 10 aides while her fathers London office only has him and Conways
Would someone give me a job developing ideas for the future. Here's another one I prepared earlier: Saharan sun could power European supergrid | Environment | guardian.co.uk Vast farms of solar panels in the Sahara desert could provide clean electricity for the whole of Europe, according to EU scientists working on a plan to pool the region's renewable energy. It seems that the transmission loss problem is a little less daunting using High Voltage Direct Current - I work out that southern Morocco to London would involve about a 7% transmission loss in a more or less straight line over ... | < | July 2008 | > | ||||
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