Are you still up? Well, stop what you're doing, and turn over to BBC4 at 12.25 for tonight's episode of The New Avengers, To Catch A Rat. While its sexual attitudes aren't as wholesome as your everyday Internet porn, it's still interesting for all sorts of reasons. On Wednesday, The Avengers was 48 years old - in this one, you'll see the return of Ian Hendry, the show's original lead actor (that's right; in 1961, Patrick Macnee was the co-star). It's a Cold War thriller in which the story makes little sense but the main characters are rather beautifully drawn. ...
When Tony Blair was appointed the Madrid Quartet's Middle East Envoy 18 months ago, there was a certain amount of incredulity in the Muslim world. Here was the man who had swallowed the mendacious US line on Iraq and taken British troops into a war that was opposed by huge swaths of the British [...]
Just mentioned on Newsnight Review... The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What it Means by Vince Cable will be published shortly. According to Amazon UK: In this brilliantly incisive short book, Vince Cable, the most universally respected parliamentarian on the current world economic crisis, explains how we got here and where we're going.There are some eerie similarities between the booming, increasingly integrated, global economy of the early twentieth century, at the end of that long era of peace, and the booming, increasingly integrated, global economy of recent years. Then, a golden age of rising prosperity was destroyed by war, ...
There's the first of Gareth Roberts' signature Douglas Adams-style Tom, Romana and K9 novels, then a darker Tom in the twisted Managra. Sylv's Doctor has the funny, postmodern, disturbing Head Games and, from Andy Lane's Original Sin, future police companions blond, heroic Chris Cwej and grumpy Xhosa aristocrat Roz Forrester. And it's a fantastic year for Paul Cornell, with stand-out novel Human Nature, sublime short story The Trials of Tara and Cornelltoppingday's refreshing The Discontinuity Guide. But Ben Aaronovitch still pips him... Doctor Who: The New Adventures - The Also People "When is a lightning bolt not a lightning bolt?" ...
Newsnight just showed footage of a transit station, where the Israeli army screen goods due to be imported to the Gaza strip - humanitarian aid. A soldier showed us "contraband" that they'd discovered in the aid shipment. What was it? Camouflage trousers. "Waterproof uniforms", apparently. Two pairs of trousers in amongst several tons of what could simply be second hand clothing. Not impressed!
In the various bits of coverage I've seen of yesterday's Liberal Democrat reshuffle there is one particular element that hasn't received much comment. The press didn't really talk about this appointment, although the handy round up from Liberal Democrat Voice shows just how confused the press was about the whole thing, and the various comments from members focused on other issues. Which suggests
... did not involve me or anyone I know. The only effect it has had on me personally has been an exasperation at having to explain to people where Whinney Hill Park is lots and lots today. I don't have any juicy gossip, sorry. I'm in full agreement with June Moorhouse, who is quoted on the BBC website, though. Whinney Hill Park is as rough as arseholes. It's just a shame that, given the way the London-based media are reporting things (it was Whinney Park for a lot of the day) that most of the country thinks the whole of ...
BBC World have broadcast the first episode of The Oracle, a strange and funny hybrid of financial analysis and humor. It's produced by my friends Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert who Resonance FM listeners may know as the hosts of the weekly radio show Karmabanuqe. it's fantastic, funny stuff and represents a real break from the reportage of statistics and stock-picks that passes for financial news on the "business" channels.
Congratulations to Bruce Crowther and Sophi Tranchell, both awarded MBEs in the New Year Honour. Sophi is Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, the Fairtrade chocolate company while Bruce pioneered the idea of the Fairtrade Town and still supports people up and down the country trying to bring Fairtrade to the forefront of the public consciousness. Well done and well deserved congratulations to
An artist and photographer was arrested last week in London as he was taking photos of Elephant and Castle. He was deemed an "unnacceptable security risk". Reuben Powell was taking a photo of a site at Elephant and Castle when three policemen stopped him. He was handcuffed and held at the nearby police station for almost five hours. According to reports, he was released only after a call from MP Simon Hughes, who had been alerted by residents. Powell has been documenting the evolution of Elephant and Castle for an exhibition in the shopping centre. "Reuben Powell is an unlikely ...
So, just imagine it. You're a Palestinian family, in your home, such as it is, probably without electricity and running water. You're absolutely terrified of it being destroyed by the Israelis in one of their vicious air assaults. Then an Israeli soldier comes to call - tells you to get out for your own safety and leads you to another building. With a sinking feeling you know that you'll lose everything that you own as your house will be destroyed, but at least you'll all be safe. Then, within a day, Israeli shells start pummelling the so called place of ...
The sole purpose of this post is to see if I've been successful in creating a Twitter feed for this blog so that all posts appear on Twitter. It took me ages to figure out, but I think I've done it. Had to kiss a lot of frogs along the way - what a palaver! We shall soon know if it works if this post updates. LibDig This!
The Times has this photo of David Cameron pictured with the Maddie "sick joker", Matt Lewis (left foreground), at the recent Crewe and Nantwich by-election. As I write, this is on the official Staffordshire Conservative Future website which still lists Matt Lewis as its "Area Chairman" (see snapshot below). They ought to contact the website webmaster to correct that. The webmaster is...er...
I am not surprised, but am delighted nonetheless, that my friend and Aberdeenshire Councillor Paul Johnston has been cleared by the Standards Commission of any breach of the Councillor's Code of Conduct in connection with remarks he made in opposition to Donald Trump's controversial planning application. Paul took the very brave step of reporting himself to the Commission rather than wait for Aberdeenshire Council to do it. I don't know all the ins and outs of the dynamics of the Aberdeenshire Council Lib Dem administration, but I have known Paul, Debra Storr and Martin Ford for a very long time ...
Jeremy Browne MP writes a column every week for the Somerset County Gazette. In this week's column he writes about the gradual deepening of the recession in Taunton: "I went into Taunton's Woolworths store on their last day on Tuesday. I found the experience quite unnerving with the store gutted of content and wires hanging out of bare-bricked walls. Taunton's Zavvi store also had a similarly bleak atmosphere with heavily discounted stock and empty shelves." Jeremy's right - it is unnerving to see images of severe retail collapse - I've only ever seen images of real disruption such as this ...
ConservativeHome has the story of how a Conservative activist went to a fancy dress party as Madeleine McCann.
Of all the various voices that provide announcements on Britain's railway stations, my favourite is Phil Sayer's, as heard at Birmingham New Street. And right now, I have one of his announcements swirling round my head; "The next train to arrive at platform 4b is the gravy train from Privatisation. This train will terminate here. All change please, all change." I have no doubt that today's news
...for on this day in 1799, income tax was introduced by Pitt the Younger.
The Scottish Parliament yesterday backed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and recognised the work of charities and NGOs trying to help improve the plight of the Palestinians. The text of the motion was S3M-3179 Nicola Sturgeon: The Humanitarian Disaster in Gaza—That the Parliament expresses its concern over the loss of all lives in the conflict in Gaza; joins the international community in calling for a ceasefire; acknowledges the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza; recognises and welcomes the role being played by those in Scotland involved in the humanitarian response, and supports the work of all charities and NGOs in ...
At last, at last, I am heading home. Having been away since Xmas Eve, it will be good to get back to Gateshead. I am on the train just leaving Kings Cross now. No National Express screw ups tonight. And unusually, I am on the early train.I am hoping to spend the weekend sorting photos and video and tidying my office at home, though I suspect we will need to do some work on the allotment as well.
The fastest ever Facebook group I ever set up can be found here; I am delighted at the overwhelming response from fellow Liberal Democrats to joining this group. Even more impressive when you consider that both the Labour and Tory parties would not dare suggest we stop selling arms to Israel. Yet this is a matter of regret rather than triumph. The USA has made Israel the most powerful country militarily in the Middle East. In comparison to the Palestinians, most Israelis live comfortably. They have no reason to seriously negotiate with the Palestinians, they have the power to ...
I have set up a support blog for Lembit Opik MP and you can view it by following the link. The whole point of this blog is to add pieces of news and commentary that are in support of the MP on the Internet, which will make a change to what is mainly currently available. I have signed up for Google Alerts so all news that is available about the MP will be commented on!
Craig Murray, the author of Murder in Samarkand, has decided to self-publish his new book after threats of legal action scared off commercial publishers. He will be making The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and Other Conflicts I Have Known available free online from 12 January as a PDF hosted on over 100 different websites, in almost 30 different jurisdictions. He has also had books printed for those who would prefer to read it in that format. Craig hopes to get copies into bookshops soon, but it is proving difficult. So if you want a hard copy of The Catholic Orangemen ...
I wrote my article earlier this week on the Daily Mail's bonkers line about a sinister EU plot to ban traditional lightbulbs primarily to point out quite how many non-facts were in the story. I should have remembered the golden rule - nonsense begets nonsense. Because the next thing I knew I was getting ticked off, not for making any factual errors, but for advancing the cause for banning things (yes Jennie, I am talking about you). There is a certain degree of irony in this, having pontificated about the perils of banning things myself from time to time. When ...
Nasty man. Well done to the Tory party for swiftly kicking him out. Perhaps not quite such a nasty party, just some nasty individuals.
Yesterday, I wrote to Network Rail over their insensitive siting of a railway communications mast on Riverside Drive, near to the Tay Rail Bridge. See photo above. I am disappointed that Network Rail has not taken heed of the advice of the City Council's Director of Planning and Transportation to minimise the visual impact of the mast, which has been sited next to the Riverside Drive ambassador route, a principal entry point to the City Centre. I have written a letter of complaint to Network Rail's Town Planning Department and I have already received an assurance from the company's Public ...
Ryan blogged about this last January, so now seems a good time to publish the information again: You may have noticed that next to some people's comments is a small picture of themselves, such as: If you want a picture to appear next to your comments you need to do two things. Visit Gravatar.com, create an account and upload a picture. Post a comment, ensuring that your email address that you've used on Gravatar is the same one that you've put in the comment field. Feel free to post test comments below.
A young Conservative has been kicked out of the Tory party after he made a sick and stupid comment about Madeleine McCann and you can read more about this issue following the link. The young Tory is shown in a photo with David Cameron the Tory leader but the media have awfully made this story into something it isn't. The young boy made a mistake on Facebook by talking to a friend whilst drunk, he fu**ed up badly with his comments and they have lead to him being kicked out of the Tories. Personally I think the young man is ...
Enfield LBC, Bush Hill Park Con 1320 (63.4; +25.4) Lab 413 (19.8; +6.7) LD Paul Smith 129 (6.2; -3.0) UKIP 123 (5.9; +0.9) Green 97 (4.7; -5.5) [Save Chase Farm (0.0; -24.4)] Majority 907 Turnout 20.5% Con hold Percentage change is since May 2006. Hull City UA, Drypool LD Linda Chambers 1306 (52.3; -11.6) Lab 891 (35.7; +7.9) National Front 184 (7.4; +7.4) Con 117 (4.7; -3.7) Majority 415
Pendle Today have updated their site with the report from the Nelson protest that was organised by Stop the War Pendle and another Pendle based local group. To read the article by the Pendle newspaper follow the link. In the report it says: "speakers included representatives from the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties." Because Peter from the newspaper mentioned the people who made speeches from their political parties I thought I will list the speakers. For the Labour party Councillor Mohammed Iqbal spoke in support of the call from Gordon Prentice MP to stop the slaughter and tried to ...
The news is out that a member of conservative future has attended a party dressed as Maddy McCann attired (in his own words on facebook for all to see) in "pink pyjamas, a teddy bear and a vial of fake blood." (BBC) On a positive note, this must be the first scandal that involved neither incriminating photos or ugly racism! You may remember the Tory researcher who in 2007 burnt a cork and 'blacked up' at a party, before being snapped and tagged on facebook. (Guardian) You may also remember in 2008 the Tory councillor who attended a party dressed ...
A recent article in the Times newspaper revealed another one of Labour's wasteful management of our public transport system. It revealed the fact that every Tuesday morning, at 9:45am, an executive coach leaves Ealing Broadway station for a 70 minuet ride to Wandsworth Road, South London. It then makes the return trip a couple of hours later. On the face of it there's nothing wrong here. That is until learning that the coach costs £500 per trip and, here's the crux of the matter, there's no one using it. This coach is apparently a replacement bus service for part of ...
The BBC have reported on Marvel's promotional Spiderman comic, in which the web-slinging wonder saves the comic-collecting Presidential Elect from a nefarious inauguration day plot. Meanwhile, vendors also offer Obama trading cards and the man himself touts a new range of fashion accessories. Those looking for some Nick Clegg mugs and other merchandise should scour Lib Dem Image.
Parliament launches online tours on YouTube and then immediately restricts access? You couldn't make it up, could you? Hat tip: Will.
Many thanks to Paul Walter's Liberal Burblings blog for drawing my attention to this story in The Sun that links remarkably well to a post I made yesterday. Matthew Lewis, who the Sun calls a "top Tory Activist" (hmmm) is a student in his early twenties and former Chair of his local Conservative Future branch. He made a sick joke about Madeleine McCann, which has led to him featuring in The Sun and being swiftly expelled from the Tories. Here's the thing. People make sick jokes. Always have, always will. Most of the time they wouldn't dream of making the ...
Well sort of. Schmap is an on-line travel guide. They have a page on Newcastle and asked if they could use one of my photos of the City's St Nicholas Cathedral which is on my Flickr site. If you have nothing better to do, follow the link:
Hopefully this meeting has already had loads of publicity, but in case you don't know - there is a public meeting on 20th January at the Garston reading room on Wellington Street. Its about the plans for Garston Hospital (Sir Alfred Jones Memorial) and more specifically about the plans for the building rather than what might go on inside it. Quite a few of us are worried that the PCT wants to demolish the whole thing and build again. It's one of those Garston landmarks that just about everyone recognises and it would be a shame to see it go. ...
Yoink! These nine wishes for 2009 were meant to be done and dusted by 31 December. Nevertheless, I shall plough on... I'm a geek, to paraphrase Nick Clegg, by temperament, by instinct and by upbringing (the latter is all too true - my dad made me watch Alien when I was 8 FFS! He would also blare out War of the Worlds at 11pm. My earliest memories were reading science fiction and horror mags on my parents' bed and the excitement surrounding Star Wars and Close Encounters - really was there any hope for me?). So it comes as no ...
Absolutely hilarious... Apple MacBook Wheel Hat tip: The Guardian
Thought that you could stop the waste of money known as the identity cards scheme simply by voting Labour out when Gordon gets round to giving us the opportunity? Well we might be able to dump the cards, but not a large amount of the costs. Why? Because Labour has set up the deals with prospective [...]
I've not been too well (for a change), but a story from the last week or so's caught my eye. With all the attention on Mr Cameron's switch from his early "Let sunshine win the day" to his old-fashioned Daily Mail-friendly 'Modern life is horrible' social attitudes, people haven't been saying much about that older Tory tension between hard-faced British nationalism and starry-eyed worship of their version of the free market - perhaps they're fighting shy of the economy, with Mr Osborne so clueless. So what's London Mayor Boris Johnson's answer? Britain's most powerful elected Tory has gone for nationalisation. ...
The Sun reports on yet another victim of Facebook, or perhaps, more correctly, a victim of crass stupidity and offensiveness fullstop: A TOP young Tory activist was expelled from the party today for boasting about dressing up as Madeleine McCann at a New Year bash. Conservative Future member Matthew Lewis wrote on his Facebook site that his costume would include a blonde wig, "pink pyjamas, a
{Ming Campbell} Commenting on the current conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Sir Menzies Campbell MP said: "This latest situation in Gaza and the West Bank is extremely alarming yet not entirely surprising. The aggression between the two sides has been raging for the past 60 years and there is no clear end in sight. "The lack of decisive action from Governments and International Organisations such as the UN has only acted to compound the issue and America's uncritical attitude towards Israel's actions has not helped. "Israel's overwhelming use of force which results in the tragic loss of civilian ...
When I first started political blogging I had my own domain, my own webspace and my own install of Wordpress, and that was great for a while, but then the host's service got worse and worse until nothing worked. So I moved onto Google Blogger which is where I remain today. But... it's not enough. I've been wanting to go back to using a DIY blog for some time now. I've been reluctant simply because a lot of the work is reinventing the wheel, and Blogger and Wordpress are, mostly, perfectly adequate for traditional blogging. However, I'm convinced blogs can ...
Much to the disgust of some members of my extended family, I didn't go to church on Christmas day preferring to spend the time sleeping more and having a leisurely breakfast! My wife, however, did go but was fuming when she got back. Apparently, it was a good service and sermon up until the point the minister asked the congregation to pray for Jonathan Aitken! Now I wish I had been there to see this for myself (lazy me!). Accordingly I can't produce any accurate quotes but according the the wife, the minister eulogised Aitken as some kind of later-day ...
After coming back from a protest against the slaughter that Israel is doing in Gaza I am a little worked up so here comes a rant. I have come back to check a post over at Guido's blog of Israeli soldiers eating pizza. The whole speculation of sponsoring meals for the IDF with pizza's was started by Guido. Now I have nothing against the Israeli's eating warm meals but I ask what about the Palestinians. The people of Gaza are suffering because of the Israel's and western countries. As a Stop the War protester said "Hamas is only a terrorist ...
Vince Cable: The danger now is of deepening recession mutating into deflation This article first appeared in The Independent, 8th January 2009. Four months ago, in September, the Bank of England was debating whether to increase interest rates beyond 5 per cent to counter mounting inflation. There were people who thought that crude oil, then $140 a [...]
{Redlands Focus Team - Blenheim Rd bins} Improving the environment around us is one of our main priorities as set out in our manifesto. Reducing Readings waste disposal by landfill and increasing recycling is an obvious way to achieve this.You may have seen reports in the Daily Telegraph, on Saturday 20 December, alleged that Reading sat alongside Medway and Peterborough councils in sending more than 10 % of its waste collected for recycling is sent to landfill or incineration.You can see the report here.However, this 10 % turned out to be 'contamination' which had got into the red bins. This ...
Just to let you know that my wife Holly has started her own blog, Helium Flash, which will probably be good even though she links to Ben Goldacre in the sidebar... Sorry for my own lack of posting - between trying to fix Holly's laptop, being ill, working, leafletting for a council by-election, and rewriting a [...]
{funny pictures} moar funny pictures Okay, panic over. It turns out that rumours of Martian tripods returning to earth and confusing our!women! with wind turbines have been exaggerated. It transpires that it was, in fact, a combination of metal fatigue and what sounds like a rather unspectacular fireworks display put on the family of Guardian journalist Emily Bell. Fair enough. Mystery solved. But what the hell is the guy going on about in the first paragraph? "It was huge," John Harrison, a farmer from Saltfleetby, said yesterday of the light display he saw in the Lincolnshire sky on Saturday night. ...
Another major Lib Dem priority is ASB and crime, Cllr Daisy Benson, Lib Dem safer communities spokesperson has been working hard to overturn years of Labour neglect and tackle these issues head on. You may remember our last update on the proposed introduce the three further street drinking restriction areas within the Borough - which covers part of Redlands ward {Alcohol_restriction_area} There were no formal public objections raised during the consultation period and so RBC officers are arranging for the order to be implemented on Friday 30 January. You will see signs, similar to the one to the right, being ...
New Era Combination H is a homoeopathic remedy for Hay Fever. Each tub contains 450 tiny sugar pills infused with homoeopathic potencies (ie the merest, virtually undetectable trace) of various different minerals. So, why have I sold out of all my stock twice this week - in January!? Well, it seems the latest craze among teenagers in Darlington is to crush the pills and snort the powder.
Unfortunately I have no further information from the Council today over the expensive and embarrassing cock-up over dismissal letters recalled earlier this week. The Tories "running" the Council are merrily destroying staff morale, and won't even do the decent thing and answer the simple questions I posed to them when I found out. Off the back of the new edition of the "Team Talk" staff newsletter, I asked for clarity over the reason for the consultation, since Team Talk makes it clear that it isn't about the pay line, points, appeals or the Executive's decision. also asked about the dealy ...
I see with regret that Stephen Green of Christian Voice has fallen right into the trap laid out by the Agnostic* bus campaign. He is snared in a heffalump trap of his own making. Some of my fellow Lib Dems will be smiling with glee but I just struck my forehead firmly to my hand. The advert's wording is: There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy yourself. It is being displayed on buses up and down the country. But Mr Green is one of 57 complainants to the Advertising Standard Commission. Now I'm happy for him to decide ...
I am fed up with the 'Atheiest' Bus campaign because it is clear not Atheist if it was it wouldn't say there is probably no God it would say there is no god. It's Agnostic that's all.
The Liberal Democrats last night won in Drypool, gaining a seat from the Conservatives (or rather regaining it, as the retiring Conservative councillor had originally been elected as a Liberal Democrat): Lib Dem candidate Linda Chambers polled 1,306 votes to secure the seat vacated by Conservative Andy Sloan who resigned before Christmas because of work commitments. Labour's Gary Wareing finished second with 891 votes while the National Front's Mike Cooper came third on 184 votes. Conservative Andrew Allison polled 117 votes. The turnout was 26.7 per cent. The result increases the overall Lib Dem majority at the Guildhall to 15. ...
It appears Stephen Green, of Christian Voice, has complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the Atheist Bus Campaign adverts running on buses across the country on grounds of 'truthfulness' and 'substantiation', suggesting that there is not 'a shred of supporting evidence' that there is probably no god. Whilst the British Humanist Association are enjoying the joke, I do find myself
Thanks to Mrs Quist who's designed a lovely new banner for my blog. We'll probably make a few more changes to the blog design over the next few days. Edited to add: I've realised that I' ve jumped the gun a bit with a nice banner but a poor design concept (the concept is all mine, the graphics work down to Mrs Quist). Therefore we're going to be reviewing the whole design before launching it. I'll be playing with different ideas over at my test blog created for the purpose. You're welcome to take a look and give me feedback, ...
The 2007/08 council ice rink attracted 7500 visitors. This year the council decided up the size of their rink in order to attract more visitors and so spent an extra £35,280 on getting a larger rink. The council also said they'd use some of the money saved from leaving a marketing post unfilled to offset [...]
I spent a lot of last year banging on about issues of internal party organisation within the Liberal Democrats on this blog and elsewhere. So much so that I decided that I ought to put my money where my mouth was and stand for election to the Federal Executive. So I did. In the ballot of conference representatives I managed to secure 23 first preferences and receive some transfers of other
The article in this morning's Independent, which reported that taxpayers face paying tens of millions of pounds in compensation to private companies involved in the national identity card scheme if their contracts are torn up on a change of government, reminds me a bit of a Spitting Image sketch. It is the morning after the 1992 General Election and John Major and his Cabinet are waking up in Number Ten with the most awful hangovers. They have trashed the place, thinking that they were going to lose but somehow pulled another four years in Government out of the bag. These ...
I have just received the Forest of Avon quarterly review for the last quarter of 2008. I found this report to be very interesting reading about what is going on around us so I have attached the report so that you are also able to read it. I am pleased that some one is looking out for all our futures. Oct-_Dec_2008_QR__2_.doc ...
This morning's Times speculates that Michael Martin will step down as Speaker of the House of Commons within a matter of months and that Sir Menzies Campbell is in prime position to take his place. The paper says that Labour realises that it will not be possible to get a third Labour speaker past the House of Commons and is looking for a compromise candidate to prevent the Tories taking the position. Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice reported last October that the last Liberal MP to be Speaker was the Coalition Liberal John Henry Whitley (1921-28). It will not ...
The danger now is of deepening recession mutating into deflation Four months ago, in September, the Bank of England was debating whether to increase interest rates beyond 5 per cent to counter mounting inflation. There were people who thought that crude oil, then $140 a barrel, would soon fetch $200 or even $250. That world now seems light years away. As it became clear that we faced a serious recession we Liberal Democrats broke the taboo of the political and economic Establishment by calling on the Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rates by 2 per cent initially. Our call ...
In Twerton we have three very good Nurseries all of them until now have received funding from Bath & North East Somerset Council and as a local councillor I feel that should continue to be the Case. However Our Conservative Controlled Council has started a debate as to which Nursery should be funded by moving money from one of our non school based Nurseries to another. I have...
It would be very easy to suggest that Plaid Cymru's three nominees for the House of Lords were being more than a little precious in demanding an explanation as to why they have been left out in the cold by the UK Government for so long. It certainly appears that it was their own naivety that got them into this position in the first place. It cannot be denied that they the nationalists have been taken for a ride by key Labour figures who clearly made promises that could not be delivered and, in the first flush of getting into ...
It was good to be able to get out and about in Twerton calling on local residents this morning all thought the Temperature was about minus 2 degrees the feedback from residents was warm. It is always good to go out with a team and the five of us enjoyed the meeting the residents and finding out what problems they are finding that the team has agreed to go out again next week....
Those of us who campaign in student-heavy seats can breathe a sigh of relief; the party is keeping its commitment to scrap tuition fees. This will spare us the challenge of having to explain a new and in all probability less snappy policy to students. I am, however, still concerned. I have heard too many activists talking as if tuition fees are a panacea for winning the student vote. That is far from being the case. Students are a key part of the Liberal Democrat coalition. Their votes have helped us to win seats like Cambridge, Leeds North West and ...
Two days before Christmas I heard the dreadful news that my friend Vicki Harris had died. There are tributes from bloggers Caron and Stephen online. It was so unexpected and so distressing that I didn't write about it at the time. In fact at first it seemed unreal. Vicki was just 41 when she died, [...]
Next week sees the first 2009 plenary session of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, but ALDE (Liberal) Group leader Graham Watson is already hard at work, launching his bid to become the Parliament's next President. It's an audacious move, which will raise eyebrows in some quarters. But ever since I first met Graham when [...]
Ah, Gordon Brown is (as he keeps telling us) getting on with the important job of running the country. Personally, I find that whole bloody phrase a bit redundant. Hasn't anyone told him he's the Prime Minister? If he wasn't getting on with the important job of running the country I'd be a bit miffed. What does he actually expect us to do? Go, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Prime Minister is actually running the country? Good God! How in the name of anything could this happen? He is an angel! A saint! He is the best Prime Minister we've ...
You'll think me an awkward cuss, no doubt, but I can't help wondering what came of that infamous cold-calling exercise. As you will (try not to) recall, Clegg announced in his leader's speech at Bournemouth that "we" would be calling 250,000 people that very evening (18 September) to "hear their views on the challenges facing [...]
I'm spending the last two days of the Parliamentary recess at home in Suffolk where it's colder than I can ever remember. I've been feeding the birds, with the RSPB approved stuff of course, and I'm being rewarded by a greater array of garden birds than I've ever had before. Watching them whilst I'm e mailing, dealing with post and making phone calls is a bit of a bonus. It is becoming clear that there will quite a lot of of admin type tasks involved in the job, and that a certain amount of time will be taken up with ...
Parliament inched its way back to work this week in the slowest and quietest January re-start I can recall. With European elections this year, all MEPs seeking re-election will spend a lot more time than normal in their constituencies; and very few were in evidence this week. I was in Brussels ready and waiting on Sunday night, however, to mark the start of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation with a piece of my own: the launch of the first ever public campaign for the Presidency of the European Parliament. In the thirty years since the first direct elections ...
In my capacity as Returning Officer to Liberal Youth, I am required to attend those meetings where elections take place. So far, so logical... However, their Spring Conference has been called for the weekend of St Valentine's Day at the University if Warwick, and I find myself wondering whether they had realised that when they picked the dates. Is romance a dead letter amongst the young?
The rate cut doesn't seem to help on bank loan rates, overdraft facilities, credit card debt, savings and pensions, fuel prices, food... all the areas that people trying desperately hard not be reliant on the state are being hit by the 'credit crunch'. The only area it seems to help is people who have bought/switched to a tracker mortgage in the last few years.
Nick Clegg has "demoted" Steve Webb (The Independent) although he also "promoted" him (Daily Mail). Meanwhile, Chris Huhne was "stripped of some front-bench duties" (Daily Telegraph), although in fact giving those duties to David Howarth was actually just "rubber-stamping" the existing position (Daily Mail). For bonus points, whilst Lynne Featherstone is still Youth and Equalities spokesperson, that's not the Daily Telegraph world where she has been "moved". Promoted, demoted; stripped, not stripped; moved, not moved. It's all the same isn't it?
Today's "Dixon of Dock Green" award for services to old-style policing goes to police in Sutton who nabbed a couple of alleged personages after following their footprints in the snow for more than an hour - from the crime scene to their home. The personages get today's "D'oh!" award. Evenin' all! A pair of suspected teenage burglars were caught by police after leaving a trail of footprints in
A version of one of my tracks of the year in my 2008 Mixtape Top Ten, Little Boots' "Stuck on Repeat", is this week's free song on iTunes. Go download it now.
This is what happens when you combine a delivery round with a satnav that sounds like Darth Vader.
As I anticipated, the Conservatives were heavily beaten in yesteday's by-election in Drypool in Hull. In fact in a seat they held they were beaten into 4th place behind the National Front candidate as Linda Chambers for the Liberal Democrats stormed to victory. It shows two things to me: one, that the people of Hull [...]
An encouraging story yesterday was the news that the Environment Agency is planning to restore many stretches of London's lost rivers. According to the Guardian: Under the plan 92 projects will be announced covering 14 different waterways in London, at least seven of which have been buried by history, including the Effra, which rises in Crystal Palace and flows north to the Thames at Vauxhall, the Ravensbourne in south-east London, the Wandle in Croydon, and two tributaries of the Lee near the 2012 Olympic site in east London. The Environment Agency, which will lead the work, hopes to uncover at ...
I notice that Iain Dale Tory vers 1.0 is whizzing around the Lib Dem Blogosphere saying to any of us with an opinion on the subject of Gaza/Israel that we're not seeing it from a Israeli perspective. Well being up for that sort of challenge here goes. The Israeli state since its inception has bee back against the wall, or should that be the Mediterranean, with Lebanon to the North, Syria to the North East and Egypt to the South West, plus the threats of Iraq and Iran as well they are on a constant state of military readiness. To ...
Available on the FT website here. It's actually Tony Blair, but it might as well be Palin. Blair doesn't know anything about finance. The contrast between Blair on finance and Blair on the Middle East (about which he knows a lot) is clear. Why the FT thought that asking Blair about finance was a worthwhile idea is less clear.
It is Kate Middleton's birthday today, and again the press are speculating that there will shortly be a royal engagement announcement. If so, we could have a future Queen with Islington roots. A team of genealogists, (led by William Addams Reitwiesner and Michael J. Wood) has traced Kate's family history, and it makes fascinating reading. Kate's [...]
Only in America: A Long Island doctor is demanding that his estranged wife give him back the kidney he donated to her seven years ago. Dr Richard Batista's lawyer Dominic Barbara says his client would also be satisfied with the value of the kidney: $1.5 million. Newsday reports that Batista married wife Dawnell in 1990 and that he donated the kidney in 2001. According to Batista, their marriage was on the rocks then, but "My first priority was to save her life. The second bonus was to turn the marriage around." Dawnell Batista filed for divorce in 2005.In Britain it ...
Lynne Featherstone writes: I am so excited about fronting the new Technology Board for the Party. Clever move by Nick Clegg I think as I think / hope this will be a good match between me and the need for a non-geek, non-nerdy human being to lead the way (vital and lovable though geeks and nerds are!).Malcolm Redfellow commenting on Iain Dale's blog seems to take exception to this, writing: How
You have to applaud Patrick Harvie and Robin Harper for getting their £1bn deal (over 10 years) free insulation deal for Scottish Homes into the SNP budget. It is a very good move and something that a Labour led coalition would never have acceded to, so they have grasped their opportunity well is getting this through. The Nats of course are worried that without a precedent to abstain if you don't like the budget, as we've had in Westminster since the days of Lloyd George, they could have faced defeat if they could only have garnered the support of the ...
That's the headline in todays Times.There are indications, apparently that the current Speaker, Michael Martin is to stand down within months and rather than have a Tory Speaker it appears Labour want a Lib Dem one (as they really dare not nominate a Labour one).Hurrah for the Lib Dems.Well, I've certainly never rated Michael Martin, he just doesn't have that presence that previous speakers have had and when he shouts "Order" no one listens.When he walks into a room, no one notices, and then there's the Damian Green incident where he acted appallingly.So, who next?Alan Beith is another contender, but ...
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The resolution is also looking for unimpeded humanitarian access and intense diplomatic efforts for peace. The UN Aid agency Unwra has already had to withdraw its aid to the Palestinians during the 13 day conflict because although the Israeli army know of the locations of their operations and co-ordinates with their movements Unwra installations have been hit. One of their workers was killed yesterday and two injured yesterday when their fork lift truck was fired on by an Israeli ...
Liberal Youth have a wonderfully ornate set of rules pertinent to the co-option process. They read well although the phrase, "The Executive Committee shall be able to co-opt X number of members to carry out designated roles" has generally sufficed elsewhere. And so I am running a co-option 'election' to fill a temporary vacancy on their Executive Committee. The poll shall be open for seven days
I had taken some offence at Iain Dale's accusation that we might be becoming an 'anti-Israel' Party, and effectively 'called out' Iain to defend himself. In typical style, his response was rapid (how does he do it?) and fairly forceful. I did draft what I thought was a pretty good riposte but, one technological glitch later, it was lost forever. However, I'll have another stab here... Iain, you
The Convention on Modern Liberty will be a one day gathering at Institute of Education in London on Saturday 28th February 2009.
