Votes are being counted from Israel's general election, with exit polls suggesting that the centrist Kadima party led by Tzipi Livni may just have edged ahead of Likud and Binyamin Netanyahu, though only by a whisker — and falling well short of a majority in the Knesset, which means that there could be weeks of [...]
I don't know the source that the wilted rose used but it's an interesting blog from someone fed up with Labour.
Network rail are inviting your opinions on the difficult balance between safety and history. Brunel's railway line through Sydney Gardens is one of the least protected in the UK and the Railways Inspector is now insisting that Network Rail take action against trespass. Network Rail managers have commited funding to a solution, but as many residents will know, previous plans have stopped in their tracks (run out of steam/gone off the rails/been sidelined/hit the buffers...). Network Rail will be exhibiting three posible solutions in Bath Library next week. I met with a representative this morning to discuss the plans; as ...
This is a science post... I was going to write another post about Final Crisis, but then I realised that I would have to explain a lot of what I was talking about, so this is a "I'm saying this so I can say this" post. It's a bit of a tangent really, but I hope [...]
Bugger Nigella Lawson, this is some of what I have done today: - worked a shift at work - done shopping - paid wage in to bank - done three loads of washing up, and cleaned the hob, and cleaned some of the rest of the kitchen - made toad in the hole and garlic mash and onion gravy for three - entertained Small Person and helped her when she got stuck on Lego Batman - made (with the help of mum, and her sewing machine) pale yellow table cover for trestle table for Lib Demming, with handy leaflet-holding-down bits ...
The news today that the Scottish government is considering making its law cracking down on consensual teenage sex even tougher is worrying on several levels. Firstly, there is a very strong whiff of authoritarian moralising about the whole business. It seeks to bring girls aged 13-15 on to the same legal footing as teenage boys and open them up to prosecution should they indulge in consensual sex. On one level, this is entirely fair. If boys are to be prosecuted for having under-age sex, then it does seem equitable that girls should be liable to the same penalties. But can ...
Years ago, when I worked at the Sports Council (then based directly opposite Euston station) one of my athletic colleagues used to run along to Regent's Park each lunchtime, do some circuits, and then jog back to the office in a healthy glow. That is, until he read the report that the benzene levels in [...]
It's not often I spread news of a big celebrity scandal, but this one I felt needed a bigger audience. Bertie Bassett - popular figurehead of Sheffield confectionary giants Bassetts - is in trouble for bigamy. The scandal has emerged as Bassett's announced a new lady in Bertie Bassett's life with their wedding scheduled for this [...]
A Lib Dem motion obliging all peers to be UK residents for tax purposes, has very peculiarly seen a U-turn from the Tories. The Lib Dems have had success very relecetly with polls, since the whole issue of peers, allowances and declarations was sparked off by Nick Clegg at PMQs over the last few weeks. So do the Tories want to grab the limelight, as they usually do. However i think the Tories have failed to realise that their A-List candidates, would then no longer receive financial support, as if he gets sacked from the upper house he i assume ...
Iain Dale has reported a fantastic story today about Andy Hornby (former HBOS boss) who was giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee. He is now a consultant with Lloyds TSB, paid a mere £60,000 per week - yes per week! Well done to Iain Dale for raising it. Me, I am just one of the mugs that is a Lloyds TSB customer, why should I continue - anyone from Lloyds TSB want to advise me why?
Its been a very varied kind of day. I spent most of the morning working at home catching up with e mails and writing a piece for this weeks Lib Dem News. Then into central London to have lunch with an old friend at the Royal Academy; I promised myself I'd find time for some kind of life outside politics, but its not easy. So time with an old friend and an hour browsing through the Byzantium exhibition was a real treat. Special collections are often spoiled by not being able to get anywhere near the exhibits for crowds of ...
The cabinet of the Conservative-run Leicestershire County Council has voted to object to plans for a 15,000-home eco-town at Pennbury - or Stoughton as we call it round here. The BBC reports:After the meeting, Leicestershire County Council's deputy leader Nick Rushton, said: "We are objecting to Pennbury because it is in the wrong location, we don't have all the key facts and we have major concerns about the impact on transport, regeneration and the economy."
Tue 10th
20:48
Lib Dem Councillors call for graffiti action after "woefully inadequate" Council response
Local Councillors have reacted with anger after another spate of graffiti in Prestwich, and are calling on the Council to take immediate action to clean up the mess. {DSC_0595} Cllr Vic D'Albert, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Holyrood ward and Chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership said "I am disgusted that vandals continue to bring misery to local people by daubing our streets with graffiti. And I am equally angry with the Council's woefully inadequate response. This has been going on for too long now, and it's about time action was taken. The Local Area Partnership and the Police are already ...
Yesterday, Caron revealed the horror of Alex Salmond's attempt a Scottish independent Eurovision entry. Tonight, instead, you can see the proper Scottish entry on BBC4 at 9pm (well, probably more like 9.25, as it's the climax of the show). And unlike Andrew Lloyd-Webber's postmodern 'Please let me win' song, Pif Paf Pof is a proper Eurovision song about shagging. The High Life was perhaps the Nineties' finest sit-com, and tonight it's Dug, one of the finest episodes - Alan Cumming shooting to stardom, Forbes Masson somehow not, Siobhan Redmond and Patrick Ryecart showing just how very funny they can be. ...
On Sunday, LDV published* Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's contribution to the Facebook meme sweeping the nation, 25 random things, in which 'tagged' Facebook users list, erm, 25 random things about themselves. Here, anonymised, are a selection of the comments that Nick's Facebook friends have posted in response: >> Brilliant stuff - good to see a politician keeping on trend with the meme surveys {:)} >> Careful Nick...you're coming across as too interesting. people might not believe you're a real politician >> #25 made me laugh! >> Wow, that's great! It's nice to see politicians who are so down to ...
The papers have been full of X Factor Judge speculation for weeks. First Dannii's out and Posh is in, then Lily and Charlotte are supposedly scrapping for a place at the judging table - the facts, ie Charlotte's blatant denial in OK magazine not even getting a look in - then suddenly Dannii's back. And they haven't even begun discussing contracts yet... It's a game of virtual musical chairs that will keep the X Factor in the headlines all the way until the show begins again in June. Now Louis Walsh has reportedly asked for a whopping pay rise, from ...
That was what Anne Atkins was talking about on Thought for the Day this morning. (As well as being a shameless attempt on my part to get a quick hits' boost). Recently, Anne Atkins hasn't wound me up much. The days when she ranted about gays and damned the whole population of Norfolk in one phrase, seem to have temporarily passed. But quite frankly, I would like them to come back. If the
Before you get too shocked/excited (delete according to taste) by the news, Jon Craig at Sky News's Boulton & Co blog gives the background: Vince revealed at a Parliamentary Press Gallery lunch that he is to stand in for Nick Clegg for "two or three weeks" when the Lib Dem leader takes paternity leave. ... Cable expects to stand in for Clegg at at least two Prime Ministers Questions next month in the run-up to Parliament's Easter recess. ... I don't suppose Gordon Brown will be relaxed about the prospect of facing a few more painful jolts from the electric ...
This evening I am writing my House Points column for Friday's Liberal Democrat News. It is about Professor David Nutt's observation about the relative dangerousness of riding horses and taking ecstasy. And Lord Bonkers' recent tweet (he is on Twitter as lordbonkers) suggesting riding may be more dangerous if the horse has been taking the drug will feature in some form. This incident has reminded me of a Steve Winwood story - I think it comes from Simon Napier Bell - that I probably won't have room for. Traffic were playing outside their cottage in Berkshire when the local hunt ...
Evidence, as if we ever needed it, that John Thurso is a legend. He's right - once a visit to the bank manager had to be taken very seriously. You wore a suit and looked as respectable as you possibly could, because this person's impression of you could affect your future life and prospects. This person would know your affairs backwards and would make informed judgements on whether to lend you money. Ok, they were sometimes more conservative than they should have been, but as we have seen this might not always have been a bad thing. In recent times, ...
Tue 10th
19:50
What Haringey Labour really thinks about the residents of Highgate, Muswell Hill, Fortis Green, Crou...
Last night's meeting of Full Council was a predictable affair. This is the annual meeting where, as a prelude to the budget being proposed, the Labour Leader gives Haringey's grand sounding 'state of the borough' address. Of course, this year there was a new leader giving the speech, following the Labour resignations over the Baby P case. But other than that nothing was different from the previous six I've heard - a strange, self-congratulatory picture of Haringey's fortunes being painted, which most people would struggle to recognise as reality. The new leader at least delivered her speech well - although ...
Only contemptible sneaks illustrate their political points using metaphor. That being said, I figured out the perfect way to explain the difference between Capitalism and Socialism. Take the game Rock Band. It works like this: Coloured blobs travel towards you and you must press the correct colour at the correct time to score a point. The blobs represent 'notes' in a song - the illusion is that by hitting the blogs you are 'playing' the song. The more blobs you hit correctly in a row, the more of a score multiplier you get, so the highest possible score would be ...
An exquisite spectacle. Four senior bankers, wearing their best brown trousers with Beanos stuffed down the back, taking what was coming to them from the Treasury Select Committee. Fulsome and humble apologies. But explanation came there none. Why did RBS feel they had to takeover ABN Amro? Why did HBoS become too dependent on wholesale finance markets and lend too much? Why didn't they see fit
At least he tried to alert people to what was going on and got the sack for his pains. When are we going to start listening to people before it's too late? LibDig This!
The Tories nearly plunged the City in mayhem after bringing a vote of no confidence motion to Council today. It is extremely self-indulgent to think that a dozen members from the third party can dictate who will run the City. Our group abstained. We believe residents should decide in a few months' time who will run the City. Let the ballot box hold the key!
Oh dear, and in Norwich too. At least this bank error does not require billions of pounds in government bail out funds.
Families Need Fathers meets the Liberal Democrats this afternoon. I am pretty sympathetic to some of the arguments - particularly the issues around engagement of fathers in their children's schools and the dreadful time the Child Support Agency gives to the 'good' dads who try and pay their way only to find that the most incompetent agency in the world lands them with retrospective charges which can be horrendous.
Lord Ashcroft a man who doesn't come clean on where he pays his taxes might be under serious danger of losing his seat in the Upper House because of a new bill that will be passed through Parliament. The bill was suggested by the Lib Dems and was warmly welcomed by the Tories but will they stick to their word when it is voted on or will they not kick Lord Ashcroft out. If the Tories were to support the Lib Dem it would mean that Lord Ashcroft would either give up his seat or pay taxes, both ways he ...
I do actually like to praise things from time to time. Sadly, the Government does not often give me the opportunity. Credit where it's due though. On Saturday afternoon, I ordered next year's tax disc for my car online. It arrived today. Did better than what it said on the tin. LibDig This!
Earlier today Sir Tom McKillop, former chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland was amongst those apologising to the Treasury Select Committee at Westminster. This afternoon news came from Alan Dickinson, chief executive of RBS UK that the company plans to shed 2,300 jobs. He said: "We recognise that any news of this nature is unwelcome at any time. It is essential, however, that we consistently review our business to ensure that we are able to operate as efficiently as possible, especially in the current economic circumstances. "We will be consulting with our recognised trade union, Unite, and our employees ...
Another week, another story that adds grist to the mill for those in the media who enjoy highlighting divisions. We read that a Sheffield headteacher was 'forced out', and resigned after she tried to scrap separate assemblies for children who were Muslim and non-Muslim, wanting one assembly for all children. She apparently denies being forced to resign over this. I am totally against separate assemblies, or segregation of children. In fact the 1944 Education Act that requires all schools to have 'a daily act of worship' needs to be scrapped. It does vary across the country according to what is ...
Is it okay to hug someone then kick them in the balls? Let's find out. Can Costigan Quist and his Himmelgarten Cafe Blog please stop being so good? It doesn't matter that I don't agree with everything you say, you're interfering with my plans to win Lib Dem Blog of the Year. All the subliminal suggestion and underhanded bribes will be for nothing if you go and win it on merit, you complete cad! But Clegg and Cable aren't right about Banker's bonuses, Mr Quist. They've been sucked onto the anti-banker bandwagon out of political expediency and put us on ...
My good friend Richard Dixon today asked his mother to bang the supersized gong to officially open his bright and airy new offices by Pitreavie Castle in Dunfermline. With Richard at the helm Vetsnow, which provides out of hours emergency vets services throughout the UK, has grown to a turnover of £12.5m since it launched in 2001. The Vetsnow performance shows that businesses are not one big homogeneous mass of decline. With drive, fighting spirit and the right values companies can do well - even in the current economic climate.
Commenting on reports that only a handful of the thousands of illegal immigrants granted clearance to work as security guards have been deported, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "This is just another instance of the Government's abject failure to get a grip of illegal immigration." "Ministers have not grasped that policy must be about...
South Glos Council says:"Because of the severe weather some waste and recycling collections have been missed. Please can residents put their containers out as normal and these will be collected as soon as possible. SITA will be undertaking collections on Saturday 14 February and Saturday 21 February to help clear the backlog. We apologise for any inconvenience and thank residents for their patience"
Commenting on today's [Tuesday] BBC Trust review of children's services and content, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "The BBC plays a hugely important role in providing original, high-quality British content for children and must continue to do so in the digital age." "There is much to be proud of in this review, but there...
Liberal Democrat MP, Norman Baker has written to the Speaker of the House of Commons asking for the rules governing claims for MPs' second homes to be reconsidered. In the letter, Norman Baker said: "To most people, the place where you and your family lives and perhaps did so before your election, where you return to when you are not working, and which...
Over at the Mirror's Kevin Maguire & Friends blog, Jason Beattie asks if the Tories are on the point of reversing their U-turn, and supporting a Lib Dem motion obliging anyone who sits in the House of Lords to be a UK resident for tax purposes: This may seem like an obscure requirement but it could mean Lord Laidlaw (a Tory) Lord Paul (Labour) and possibly Lord Ashcroft (a Tory who has never come clean about where he pays his taxes) face being kicked out of the Upper House. When this bill was first introduced by the Lib Dem Lord ...
One of the spin offs of Britain no longer having an opt out from the EU's working time directive is that it could directly affect fire services across the UK as many retained firemen will already have worked their full allowance of hours in their normal jobs and it could mean they may not be able to attend to emergencies for fear of sanctions under EU rules. Many rural areas are reliant on the volunteers who serve as retained firemen. I know from my brother in law who is a retained foreman that recruitment is difficult enough at the moment ...
Can you go blind from too much banking? I wonder. Anyway, today four 'bankers', including my buddy Andy Hornby, former CEO of the bank formerly known as HBOS were grilled by MPs and collectively they expressed remorse, regret and grovelling apologies. Hornby even admitted that HBOS had misread the mortgage market. Well I could have told them that. I remember reading their assessment of the Housing Market at the beginning of 2008 which said that because demand was still not being met that House Prices would continue to rise during the year, to which I responded complete bollocks. Yet the ...
Chuffed to bits today. One of the first clients for Gauge Opinion Ltd was a group of local councillors in North London. They asked me to facilitate an awayday for them, and fortunately, as local government still has a few quid kicking around in spite of the credit crunch, there was a modest fee involved. I always really enjoy facilitating awaydays. There can be a real buzz in the room when you get people out of their normal environment and they realise that they actually quite like working with each other. The only problem is that there is always a ...
Boris followed Ken's example, and put up London bus and tube fares by an average of 6% this year. Some parts of the Mayor's festive fare rise saw trip costs up by 11%. For example, single bus trips went up from 90p to £1 a time. All this, when inflation is at 4% and interest [...]
Potholes get a lot of press: they're not glamorous but they are a nuisance. And they get worse in bad weather. There was an interesting film on BBC London news last night: One of the people interviewed was Malcolm Simms of the Asphalt Industry Alliance who said, "If you've got an existing defect, cracks in the surface, water will get in, penetrate, as it freezes it expands and blows the existing materials apart." The report also said that there were 258,000 potholes across London last year, which averages 7,800 per council, at a cost of £72 per hole. They cause ...
A couple of weeks ago I emailed Nick Clegg's office to ask them to consider bringing Lembit Opik back into the shadow cabinet because I think he needs to be given a chance and Nick should give him the support so he can shine as the politician he is, and now I have a reply. Personally I am not satisfied with the reply which can be read over at Blogging4Lembit and I hope Nick does consider a position for Lembit in the shadow cabinet. Over the next couple of weeks and months I shall campaign hard about this issue and ...
There's a meme doing the rounds of blogging Lib Dems and we've all been tagged. The idea is that we each list 25 random facts about ourselves. Nick Clegg has done his here. 1. My first job was at C&A in Oxford Street. I worked in 'Better Dresses' but the buttons still fell off everything. 2. I haven't ridden a bike since I was a student. I fell off one day, hurt my knee,...
Via a refugee law e-mail list, I see that the Home Office has agreed to pay £150,000 to settle the claim of a family from the Democratic Republic of Congo who were taken into immigration detention in a dawn raid by large numbers of uniformed police. They had committed no offence, and no-one was being returned to the DRC due to the unstable political situation there, so detaining them was pointless. Their eight-year-old kid developed PTSD as a result of the raid, and their baby of one developed an adjustment disorder. I know people with PTSD from childhood trauma, and ...
I couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow at the Telegraph's recent front page splash, in which David Cameron unveiled his education plan for the future: "a new generation of comprehensive schools." Say what? Has he at last morphed into Tony Blair, grin and all? Well, no. The truth behind the headline (as usual with the Tories) is more sinister - and a glimpse of this truth could be found in the Telegraph's leader on the story. It says: Charities, private companies and parents' groups will also be allowed to set up schools - competing with existing primaries and secondaries ...
Local Councillors have reacted with anger after another spate of graffiti in Prestwich, and are calling on the Council to take immediate action to clean up the mess. {DSC_0595} Cllr Vic D'Albert, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Holyrood ward and Chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership said "I am disgusted that vandals continue to bring misery to local people by daubing our streets with graffiti. And I am equally angry with the Council's woefully inadequate response. This has been going on for too long now, and it's about time action was taken. The Local Area Partnership and the Police are already ...
Another 24 hours and our weather is still unpredictable and is getting worse. I was in the centre of Bath earlier today and watched the river Avon rise 2 feet in about half and hour at around 11.am. It was only 3 hours later that I cycled back to Twerton along the riverside cycle path then the river was about 4 feet below the path at 10am was about to flood over...
City MP Don Foster has signed a petition which calls on the Prime Minister to scrap the centrally imposed RSS targets and allow local Councils to decide what is best for their area. Don has campaigned locally against the 'barking mad' targets which will see Bath and North East Somerset Council have to build over 21,000 new homes in under 20 years, at well over the current ...
Chris Hall, who lives in the Maryfield Ward in Baffin Street, is standing to become one of Maryfield's local councillors. There will be a council by-election in the area on Thursday 12th March. Chris came originally to Dundee to study for a BSc (Hons) in Civil Engineering and has made Dundee his home. Chris is an active member of Dundee Liberal Democrats, and, away from politics, Chris's interests include rugby, hill-walking, history and 80s music. Chris said, "The last two council by-elections in Dundee were Tay Bridges, a Liberal Democrat gain, and Lochee, where the LibDem vote share increased by ...
Tavish Scott MSP, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, was in Dundee today, campaigning with Chris Hall, LibDem candidate in the Maryfield Ward by-election. Here's Tavish and Chris in Albert Street (see above) - you can read more about Chris's campaign by clicking on the headline above.
City MP Don Foster has signed a petition which calls on the Prime Minister to scrap the centrally imposed RSS targets and allow local Councils to decide what is best for their area. Don has campaigned locally against the 'barking mad' targets which will see Bath and North East Somerset Council have to build over 21,000 new homes in under 20 years, at well over the current ...
Senior Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell will be visiting Bath on Friday February 20th to give a talk on his autobiography. "As intelligent and decent a politician as you'll find in the Commons" says the Guardian of Sir Menzies Campbell. Olympic athlete, legal advocate and then Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ming Campbell has risen to the top of three...
The future of the threatened Post Office network could now be decided by a national consultation launched last month by MPs. I am urging all local residents to offer their ideas for developing Post Office businesses so they are secure for the future. The Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee's Post Office Consultation can provide a blueprint to save the entire Post Office network, and it is vital that local people get involved in putting ideas forward. Their online forum gives them a chance to hear from as wide a cross-section of public opinion as possible. The parliamentary inquiry started ...
Banks offer bonuses to their staff. The more senior the person the bigger the bonus, which also reflects both their personal performance and the overall success of the company. In good times, banks find they've got lots of money to spare and a big chunk goes on bonuses. Different banks, looking to attract the best and brightest financial stars, compete to offer bigger bonuses. And it probably doesn't hurt that the senior executives fixing the size of the bonus are the ones who stand to benefit the most. The result is a bidding war with bonuses getting bigger and bigger, ...
It isn't that there aren't Islamic extremists who want to bring down the west. It's just that most of them appear to be complete idiots who couldn't plan a shopping trip, let alone a successful terrorist attack, as this picture shows. {fail owned pwned pictures}
On the back of big Phil's removal from Stamford Bridge and while the former heads of the RBS and HBoS were making their apologies Alex has welded his sgian dubh, I would have said Claymore if any of the Cabinet had been effected. Indeed Scottish Tory deputy leader Murdo Fraser did say that Salmond should have taken an axe to his cabinet, rather than 'knifing a few junior ministers'. Culture minister Linda Fabiani, schools minister Maureen Watt and housing and sports minister Stewart Maxwell all lost their junior ministerial roles in Salmond's first reshuffle. The sport portfolio has been added ...
So, the SNP have done their first reshuffle. Not entirely sure why they have bothered apart from the demotion of Mike Russell from his Environment post, which is excellent news given his disgraceful proposal to privatise 25% of Scotland's forests by the back door. The Scottish Lib Dems have worked hard on this campaign and it is great to see a result. The BBC news website headline is great "Ministers sacked in SNP reshuffle". The sad part of all this is the fact there is obviously no talent on the backbenches to enable Alex Salmond to sack some of the ...
What more fun job could there be currently than to brief an agog media on the latest eminently quotable words of wisdom from the Lib Dems' deputy leader and shadow chancellor, Vince Cable? If your answer to that is, 'No job could be more fun', then why not consider applying for the vacant post of Lib Dem Deputy Head of Media / Press Officer for Shadow Chancellor: This senior position strengthens our 24-hour media operation, supervises staff and their work rotas, promotes the Liberal Democrats as part of the duty rota cover team including acting as Press Officer for Shadow ...
Three points I note from politicalbetting.com of late: Lib Dem vote share is suddenly increasing.Labour vote share has collapsed, again."...the signs are that the election will result in a party with a working majority in the House of Commons being replaced by another party similarly well placed - something that has happened only once since 1906"So why might this not result in a Tory working majority? Firstly, the historical reference is portentous. Is 2010 (assuming the GE is then) really going to be an historical year, an exceptional result? I doubt it, and I doubt there's much appetite out there ...
Welsh Liberal Democrats have welcomed plans announced this week by Nick Clegg that will provide a massive injection of cash for the poorest pupils whilst cutting class sizes in England and would lead to a net gain of £4.6 billion to the English education budget. Welsh Liberal Democrat have calculated that these plans will lead to a £230 million boost through the Barnett formula to the Welsh
Many people I speak to mention that the 2.5% cut in the rate of VAT will not matter much; that we won't notice it the scheme of things. I counter that if we spend about £1,000 in a month on "stuff generally", even in the supermarket, getting on for half will carry VAT, so at the end of the month, we will have something like £15 left to spend on more things or, just leave in the bank. In any
It seems that the Zimbabwe government has even less understanding of the word 'restraint' than Western bankers. Reports today of the celebrations being planned for Robert Mugabe's 85th birthday are enough to sicken even those used to his obscene ways. Mugabe's henchmen have been soliciting 'donations' for the party of the year - OK probably the [...]
The two Councillors who resigned their seats will not be replaced by having a by election which would have been the best and democratic way to do it, instead candidates will put their names forward and current Councillors will vote on who they want to enter the chamber. Personally I think a by election would have been the best way to deal with this situation but I think the cost implications are being kept into mind when making the decision. I am against the decision of Councillors choosing who they want to be brought into the Chamber because the Labour ...
Well, the communist revolution finally happened. In the Sir Alwyn Williams Building, at least. Some Stop the War people have decided that Glasgow University must immediately cease talking to anyone who's ever looked at Israel on a map and failed to throw up, and as such they've "taken over" the building. In other words, 5 [...]
Letting the train take the strain has taken on a new dimension with the revelation that First Great Western, who operate the Swansea to Paddington mainline service are not that clear as to where the border between England and Wales is. This is puzzling as from their perspective once they have entered and emerged from the occasionally flooded Severn tunnel they have crossed the devolution rubicon. Nevertheless, the latest edition of First Great Western's on-board magazine for rail passengers contains a full page picture of Cardiff Castle as part of a feature advertising walks in England: Beneath a colour picture ...
The above video is an excellent video in the form of a rap that puts Derek Draper straight, recently I have been getting a little bored with him because of his childish games using twitter and his accusations that I think are just childish. So Raplog has made a video that you can see above and to see more from Raplog follow the link
I have been following the campaign that has been launched by John Prescott and crew about not giving the bankers a bonus because they have failed to not cost us any more money after we bailed them out first time around. And secondly because they have shown to the tax payer that the banking sector is full of incompetent people who think they could run the world if they were given the chance. The campaign has started a petition that you can sign by following the link, personally I have signed the petition because I think the bankers are clowns ...
My report on Nick Clegg's visit to New North Community School has been picked up in the New Statesman's roundup of political blogs. In which I get to be alongside rapper DeLon and Will Young. Not something that happens every day
Recently the blogosphere has been chatting away about Jacqui Smith and her claiming of money for a second home which belonged to her family and this has raised some questions. Why is it that this case is not as publicly known as it should be? Why have the BBC stayed fairly quiet about? All these factors only point towards one thing which is that she will get away with it. After reading a blog post over at Guido's blog I am question if Jacqui Smith should resign her position as Home Secretary, but will she? Jacqui should do the right ...
A little while ago there was a flurry of interest in sexing your blog. Not sexing-up you understand, but decoding its gender. I initially came out as male, apparently because I use the I word a lot (hard not to on a first-person blog). Women tend to be less obviously self-centred than men, is the theory. [...]
Why is it not good enough for the bankers that fouled up? Sack them and start again.
Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire: With reform of the House of Lords back in the news following the latest scandals over who is in it and how they behave, now seems a good time to provide some background on its political make-up. Since political parties first emerged in British politics, the then wholly hereditary House of Lords consistently had a very large Conservative majority. For example, in 1900 there were 354 Conservative peers out of the 574 adult peers, giving a "majority" of 134. By 1938 it had grown to 761 adult peers, and of these 519 were Conservative, giving ...
Really good campaign from the NHS about awareness about Strokes. I would really encourage people to look at this - some simple signs we can all be aware of that could save lives. {stroke} The NHS Website is here
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Hornby Particularly: In September 2008 he led HBOS to near-bankruptcy and the bank agreed to be taken over by rival Lloyds TSB. In October 2008 he was forced by the government to resign his position after the merger, however he would stay on as a consultant to the Lloyds Banking Group for a fee of £60,000 [...]
Ah, Ed Balls, the schools secretary. Never short of good material for satirists, even if just for his surname, has managed to surpass himself today and admit that the country was completely and utterly buggered, although in fairness I should point out that the exact phrasing is mine.
I'd pick out a choice quote from his evisceration of Hazel Blears, but frankly? The whole thing is BEAUTIFUL and you ought to read every word, and then cheer loudly. You go, George.
Sometimes you just have stop for a few hours and take stock of things. Today will be very long but it's a day for running through all my paperwork and double checking that my to do list hasn't missed anything I've been contacted about and that my diary is up to date . I also hope to trawl through my ever expanding Inbox and deal with the emails that are just a quick read before deleting and action those that really require it. And - time willing - I also hope to update my website which others have kindly been ...
One thing you absolutely cannot accuse the Lib Dem leadership of - going soft on the pay bonuses for executives at those banks which have been re-capitalised by the government. Here's Vince Cable, Lib Dem deputy leader: The Government must freeze all bonus payments for employees of semi-nationalised banks and ensure that the pay details of those earning over £100,000 a year are published." And Nick Clegg has also strongly criticised Labour for not taking a tough line, instead suggesting bankers 'ask themselves whether accepting these payments is the right thing to do', and setting up a review: You don't ...
We've all said that Vince was a lone, prescient voice of reason during the boom years. Now, our leader has joined the Divination class, it seems. October 22nd, 2008, PMQs: "...this winter four out of five single pensioners will be living in pensioner poverty, and the measures that he outlined in answer to the earlier question will be too late for them. What will he do now for them, this winter?" And: "Will he commit today to reversing that unfair system-turning it on its head so that those who use less energy pay lower prices? It makes environmental sense, it ...
So where do I start with Peter Hain's complaint in this morning's Western Mail that the Electoral Commission is 'incompetent'? He told MPs yesterday that he thinks the Electoral Commission needs to be much more accountable and needs different leadership: "I must say, and I won't go into detail, I found it to be incompetent, dysfunctional and unworldly, politically." He added: "I just could not believe some of the things that I experienced... there are countless examples I could quote about my own unhappy experience which just prove to me that the commission has very little idea about the political ...
The Department for International Development, has produced this report of its work to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. {13123 palestinian newsletter 3rd-1} {13123 palestinian newsletter 3rd-22}
I know this is slightly old news now but there is a new article online about the writer's reaction. Personally, I'm gutted by this moronic decision by ITV. Wire in the Blood was one of the very few things that was actually appointment TV for me on ITV (apart from Corrie although that is more routine so maybe doesn't count). They seem to have been showing some good dramas recently (like Unforgiven) but maybe now they are going to head downhill again. I don't suppose there's any chance someone else, like C4, would pick it up?
Having recently been unlucky enough to catch the same train as most of the away fans coming to watch Lincoln City's match with Chester, I noticed how many of the visiting supporters (and some home supporters coming from nearby Newark) were drink alcohol on the train. I personally have no problem with it as long as it does not lead to trouble on the train or at the ground, but I am surprised that drinking alcohol on public transport is still allowed, especially after the move of Boris Johnson banning it on the London Underground and bus networks, and many ...
Nick Clegg's spending package yesterday sounded very attractive. One point, however. He's now repeating the sort of mantra about the VAT cut that Cameron has been chanting. Clegg said that the VAT cut has wasted £12.5 Billion "which hasn't done anyone any good". This is nonsense. If we accept Clegg's logic, then may I ask: Where has the £12.5 billion gone? Into a hole in the ground? Of course
Another useful free web tool, Lovely Charts helps you design, er, lovely charts. Although it's a US site, the icons come from Birmingham-based (West Midlands not Alabama) developer Mark James. I tried the site out after getting the tip from the estimable Stephen Abrams, and found it really easy to use. The terrible temptation now will [...]
According to this mornings papers, Ministers are 'trying to negotiate' a cap on RBS bonuses of £25,000. This is 'a bid to silence the public outcry over the City's culture of huge rewards and dangerous risk-taking'. What planet are the Government on? We OWN 68% of RBS. Ministers shouldn't be negotiating, they should be telling RBS to take a running jump, preferably from a very high floor. The fact that RBS are even suggesting bonuses in the current situation shows that they still have not got the first clue about their culpability for the financial crisis nor any idea of ...
I used to work for HBOS, which makes me a 'recovering banker'. I wasn't a banker, but I still got an annual bonus, typically between 10% and 13% of my salary. I used to use this bonus to catch up with various arrears that had built up over the previous year, get new clothes and generally get whatever it was I'd been needing over the previous year. In short, I needed it because my basic salary did not cover my living costs properly. In fact, in my last year with HBOS I changed my tactics and started transfering a 12th ...
Here in the UK we all to often fall into line and copy what happens in the USA - whether it's trends in fashion, music and movies, or whether it's untrammelled use of risky financial instruments and wading into a war with no end - we like nothing less than to ape the Americans, for better or worse it seems. So why not take on board some lessons for the better? The Guardian today reports on
Since the sacking on Phil Scolari was announced yesterday afternoon, there has been a steady stream of people arriving at this blog after searching for phrases like "Mourinho Chelsea return". It's a lovely idea, but I can't see it happening. It is the football equivalent of shouting "Come back, Shane!"
I have just found a blog devoted to this great British female singer, best known from Fairport Convention, who died in 1978 at the age of 31. It is not updated very often, but it is all good stuff.
In the recent snow it was a pleasure to be able to use the new footpath in Gorlands Road rather than tramping along the grass verge. Previously there was no footpath on Gorlands Road except on a short section near the middle, despite the two groups of sheltered housing Whitefields and Batten Court. Anybody living in the Gorlands Road area had to brave the parked cars and the rough verge in order to walk into the High Street or Hatters Lane. The footpath was provided after a sustained campaign by Lib Dem Focus councillors Ann Hulme and Linda Boon, and ...
One of the dominant features of West Hampstead today is the social networks that percolate down West End Lane. It feels like a veritable fortress of successful thiry-somethings (and fourty-plus things!) who like life and add a great youthful vigour to proceedings in this part of town. One of the consequences, however, is that the night-time economy moves and almost literally changes very quickly. Here on the corner of Inglewood Road (?) we have the forthcoming attraction of The West Hampstead Alice House Bar... It's become quite a fashionable haunt being brilliantly located on West End Lane and close to ...
A lifeline for Jackson's Lane - Haringey has agreed to cough up an extra £50,000 in core funding - this puts the ball back in the court of the Arts Council, which has an imminent funding decision to make. Haringey's handling of this development has been odd. They have persistently refused to up Jacksons' funding over the past year and a half, but appear to have made a major u-turn in a letter to the Arts Council last Friday. However, they didn't tell us ward councillors, and despite the enormous trail that shows otherwise, the Cabinet Member responsible is trying ...
No-one could fail to see the parallels between Chelsea FC and the Liberal Democrats*. Both have received millions in funding from dodgy businessmen. Both have done well in their chosen competitions but not quite met the high expectations set for them. Both have jettisoned leaders and held out the hope that the next boss will be the one to keep the primadonnas in the team in check and make that final breakthrough. Whilst Man Utd stuck with their leader in the disappointing early days of Ferguson's reign, Chelsea, under the weight of sky-high expectations, have been ruthless in kicking out ...
Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for the Environment and Sustainability, Mick Bates, is calling for an end to the rhetoric on climate change. He is urging the Assembly Government to bring back schemes such as the Powys CO2i domestic energy efficiency and renewable energy project. Mick Bates was speaking in light of the latest official figures, which show that Wales now ranks 13th in an
I can't help but feel that this statement reveals all too much about the mental state of our beloved Home Secretary: Speaking during Home Office questions in the House of Commons, Ms Smith said: "I've spoken to him this morning about his comments. I've told him that I was surprised and profoundly disappointed by the article reported." She added: "I'm sure most people would simply not accept the link that he makes up in his article between horse riding and illegal drug taking. "For me that makes light of a serious problem, trivialises the dangers of drugs, shows insensitivity to ...
I haven't been able to avoid this story in the way that I would have wished. One thing that I've been wondering about this whole debacle is: why didn't the BBC insist on Thatcher doing race sensitivity training? It's a serious question. It is now clear that she was referring to a black man and not Andy Murray and that being the case, there is no question whatsoever that it was a racist and unacceptable remark. That is not the same thing however as saying that Thatcher herself is racist. Meral Ece, herself justifiably rather intolerant of the special pleading ...
