I was really pleased to read in tonight's business section of the Evening Gazette about Fiona Hall MEP's great progress on making sure that new buildings and renovations are as GREEN as possible. I won't try to condense the article, it is well written, so have a look.
I have managed to buy a copy of James Hogg's biography of James Robertson Justice. So far I have only flicked through it, but already the book has given me my Trivial Fact of the Day. A photograph shows the Beckenham 1st XV for 1924-5. In the back row stand both James Robertson Justice and Johnny Craddock, future husband of the fearsome TV cook Fanny Craddock.
Back to the good stuff! Marie Myriam won with "L'oiseau et l'enfant" (for France) in 1977; this is her singing it years later and I think it is really superb.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Clark) mentioned us in the House of Commons bus debate this week: Before responding to an Adjournment debate, I always like to ensure that I know what everyone is talking about, and when I looked at the "Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington" website... How's that for an endorsement? You can read Steve Webb's speech and the minister's reply in the Hansard report here. Be warned, it's word-for-word so there are a few pages of it. Or you can read the Evening Post report here.
Douglas Carswell, the Tory MP for Harwich and Clacton, is quickly establishing himself as one of my favourite MP's. He has a fantastic blog that I have been linked to now for a few months. He wrote a great entry the other day about the thousands of children that will be forced to accept second, third or even fourth choice schools, and some four and five year-olds who could be left without any place next September. He wrote: We are being encouraged to believe that it's all the fault of rising birth rates, economic downturn and an unexpected increase in ...
After my uploading a couple of great Eurovision winners, here's one of the, .err..., less surperb entries in my view (it got "nul points" in 1981) but in his excellent overview of Eurovision "not to be outdone by fellow Eurovisionista Cllr Fraser Macpherson of his ilk" John at http://liberalrevolution.wordpress.com tells us its one of his favourites. Each to his own, I suppose!
So now, we in Manchester are apparently going to be the first people 'allowed' to apply to pay £60 for ID cards. Lucky, lucky, lucky us. Is this like that time when we were allowed to be the first people to not have the right to speak to a duty solicitor? I know that was [...]
I have just got home after Annual Council, the occasion when we install the new Mayor. This year we welcomed Cllr Ian McDonald into the role. He had some preparation for the task when he served as Deputy Mayor some years ago, but he is going to find himself much busier this time round. I have known Ian for many years. In fact, we were both teachers in local secondary...
So Sir Alan's casualty of the boardroom this week is Philip Taylor the 29 year old Estate agent who had been getting busy with Kate Walsh according to reports and personally I agree with Sir Alan he needed to go. From the very start Philip had been a cocky tw** who had messed things up and just made out he was best candidate and clearly him and Ben are not the best candidates to win Sir Alan's Apprentice. My money is still on the Kate Walsh to win, who's your money on people? I predicted Philip would go ten minutes ...
In Scottish Questions today I challenged the Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy to reach an agreement with Alex Salmond on the funding of the replacement Forth Road Bridge. This saga has been dragging on for too long and is in danger of affecting investment and jobs. The UK Government has accepted in principle their responsibility to assist yet have not offered real, new money - only funds that were already coming to Scotland. The SNP also need to explore all methods of p aying for the crossing instead of simply blaming London. They haven't raised a single penny from their Scottish ...
As some regular citizens may know, I relocated the Republic to Manchester a couple of months ago. As one of nature's drifters peripatetics, I am having tremendous fun working out how I fit in here, what I like (the civilised scale of things, rent prices, access to countryside, food markets, trains) and what I don't [...]
Harlequins took the top prizes in last night's Guinness Premiership awards.Chris Robshaw, who has played in every league game this season, won player of the year.Jordan Turner-Hall won Discovery-of the season. Quinalso had more players than any other club in the Sky Sports team of the season in Robshaw, Mike Ross, Gonzalo Tiesi and Ugo Monye.Quins missed out on a clean sweep when Leicester's
I have to take issue with our local Tory leader's latest rant against the Sutton Life Centre. The modest £4 million investment by Lib Dem led Sutton Council in a new community facility, matched by a grant of £4 million from the Big Lottery Fund is described by Councillor Scully as "a terrible waste of taxpayers' money". [...]
A few weeks ago I wrote to Niall Bolger, the Haringey Council Director in {hpim0496} charge of parking, demanding that the Council do not renege on their promise to deal quickly with parking problems caused by the new Crouch End CPZ. As I said in my previous post the Council had emailed me to say they were dropping plans to allow roads where there was strong support amongst residents to be fast-tracked into a CPZ. Last week I got my response. Apparently, 'the Council has not broken any promises' - its just that our roads aren't a priority yet: Mr ...
All, Just as a bit of advertising for a good cause: {Wool Fair} I'll be there, hope to see as many of you as possible. Philip
As part of Salford Council's Building/Bulldozing Schools For The Future proposals it intends to replace Moorside High School and Swinton High School with one new school for 1350 pupils age 11-16 on the site of Moorside's playing fields, opening in 2012. By doing this the Council admits that "there is likely to be an estimated [...]
I bet you didn't know that baby ducks are not only incredibly cute and destined for Extreme Tastiness, but they also bounce!They don't bounce much, it's true, but they bounce far better than, eg, baby horses would. And if we were to genetically engineer ducks to be made of steel, then while they might bounce much better (especially if dropped onto a nice hard surface like concrete) they wouldn't taste as nice. I think the current Bouncy Duck design is a good compromise.The impatient might like to fast-forward to about 40 seconds into this video.
Wed 6th
20:49
More Sound bites from the last independent in Salford, the Salford Star and Mr S Kingston
HORRIFIC HAPPINESS STATS HAUNT SALFORD'S REGENERATION TEN PER CENT OF SALFORD DEPRESSED... Figures from the Primary Care Trust and Salford Council show that almost 10% of Salford's population is officially depressed. Using numbers from the Office For National Statistics, the PCT and Salford Council have calculated that just over 6000 men and just under 15000 women in [...]
Manchester has been chosen as the pilot city for the government's ID Card scheme. The trial will allow us Mancunians the chance to get our hands on the ID Cards that the government want everyone in the country to have, at quite some cost to the people (at least £30 per card) and at gigantic cost to the government (billions of pounds). It's a silly, costly and ineffective scheme, and the local Lib Dems oppose it. I think this scheme should be scrapped now. The fact that the Government are intent on pressing ahead with this discredited scheme just shows ...
As it's been a busy day at work, I have not had a eventful day, apart from getting COD4 on the Xbox 360 (dont worry I only play it post 8:30pm after door knocking!). I'd thought I'd post the Lib Dem manifesto for Cornwall the whole manifesto is here but here are the bits which I think are my favorite things; We will freeze Councillors' allowances - at a time when the economy is contracting and people are losing their jobs and savings, Councillors need to tighten their belts tooWe will make Cornwall the 'Green Peninsula', leading the way nationally ...
Is there anything nicer than a puppy (apart from any sort of kitten)? This is me with cocker spaniel Rusty, a very recent addition to fellow Highgate councillor Rachel Allison's family. I met him for the first time this morning.
After reading about this meme on Charlotte Gore's blog so I thought I would do the meme here on my blog! As I am not going to list them by their capability of being better then Brown I will just list them without any relevance to the position that the people get. Nick Clegg MP- He has what it takes to make a good Prime Minister when he becomes a little mature that isDavid Cameron MP- When he stops being a novice and gets on with actually thinking of ways to make the country betterBoris Johnson- Now this is a ...
Much comment in recent days concerns the fate of two of the main exams British youngsters face in the compulsory educational career (although that career is soon to get longer). I've posted previously that I think it would promote social justice and the efficiency of the exam administration system to replace the "core" GCSEs with a battery of standardised SAT-like tests that could be taken whenever students were ready. But what of the suggestion that we replace GCSEs with internal assessment? I believe that many of these debates concerning education confuse two very different goals of education. Further I believe ...
Watching PMQs today, you would have had to be almost comatose not to have picked up on Gordon Brown's main point of rebuttal against the Tories: that they weren't talking about the issues. Of course, it's a convenient way for him not to answer awkward questions about his own leadership, but it has to be said, the man has a point. PMQs today had what seemed like more than its fair share of throughly pathetic, Westminster-village questions. The Tory questions today included (and I paraphrase, here, but you get the idea): Cameron: You're shit, and you know you are.Bullying in ...
Wed 6th
19:22Well the BNP have put out 7.500 Leaflets in irwell riverside and the Conservatives are out in force?...
Well to be serious Labour have attacked the Libs and left the Tories alone, so i think it's a two way fight. The BNP are allways a threat but i really think we have the right man, you know that gut feeling. One thing if he fails here i would go on the streets again [...]
The leaders of all the political groups on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council have joined forces in condemning the tactics being used by a minority of protestors opposed to the Coatham Links re-development project. This follows the distribution of a leaflet and production and screening of a film by protestors. In a joint statement, Cllr George Dunning, Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Chris Abbott, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Valerie Halton, Leader of the Conservative Group, and Cllr Steve Kay, Leader of the East Cleveland Independent Group, said: "Right across the political spectrum and in the seven ...
This Googly-generated advert on LibDem blogs caught my eye:Conservative Member?Want to take a more active and engaging role in the party?www.conwayfor.org.uk/JoinToday..A rather unfortunate domain name, that. Conway for what? - I pondered momentarily. The European Parliament, perhaps?I would have thought that anything with the incriminating letters "Conway" would have been expunged from the
Wed 6th
18:15
Former US Homeland Security chief, Tom Ridge, was a registered foreign agent of the Albanian Governm...
Goodness knows why, but I am endlessly fascinated with US Politics, even though I have never been across the pond. Political Wire is my first web port of call everyday and is by now etched on the side of my left ventricle - I suspect serious psychotherapy would be needed to explain this.Anyway, Tom Ridge was debut Homeland Security Secretary in George W Bush's (who?) administration. He's the sort
For my sins, I am on BBC Radio Berkshire's list of "gobs on the phone" and in that capacity was phoned today by the highly efficient Susanne Courtenay (in her produceurial role rather than as Andrew Peach's sidekick). Was ours (i.e my nearest and dearest and mine) a office romance? she asked excitedly. Yes, indeedy. So I was on at 1.10pm to kick off the debate about said romances what with
As many will know the guy who I was backing from the start was Maj in the BBC Apprentice but since he got sacked I have since the beginning had an eye on Kate and I think she is winning material. Kate is strong, hard working and all in all a champion and I think that she could win this years Apprentice show. Also the boys who watch the show enjoy the site of Kate as she isn't just a great business candidate she can be a candidate in a lot more categories, do I need to explain more? Probably ...
Like much of Britain the Camden Green Fair has been hit by the recession. There is simply less funding available from all sources - from sponsorship, from local government, from stallholders and from grants. In 2008 the Fair became a charity. Last autumn the trustees set a fundraising target - the minimum required for the Fair to go ahead. That target was not hit. The trustees felt, understandably, that they were not prepared to take on the risk of staging the event if sufficient funding was not in place. But there will be an eco event in Regent's Park on ...
His emails break every email marketing rule around. But unlike virtually every other marketing email I get they are well written, funny and engaging. So despite my political opposition to him I can't help but smile and marvel at the quality of the writing. And of course by doing so he effectively reduces his risk of being attacked on the big issues. Here's a great example from recently.
Is it just me or do most of the people who read or write blogs gets a sort of excitement to realise that the Recess Monkey blog has been updated. Since becoming a reader of the blog I enjoy it so much that when it updates I always find a blog post that is interesting and only on a few occasions have I been let down with what I have found the blog post to be. The Monkey that is Alex Hilton is really doing a great job with the blog, I know he has work, Labour Home and John ...
There is new evidence that the public in Europe, including Britain, is in a climate trance. If so, that's bad news. If politicians perceive that the public doesn't care, they may be less inclined to take forward "costly" climate policies. And with the Copenhagen summit barely six months away, this is no time for anyone to go to sleep when it comes to the future of life on Earth. [For my January 2009 blog on the "shock and trance" syndrome, and my reasons for doubting at that time that Britain was really going into a full blown climate trance, click ...
Iain Dale carries a story about how Derek Draper is no longer the Editor of LabourList and actually the site is now to get itself a new Editor. First of all I would like to congratulate the Labour party for getting rid of this numpty who was destroying the image of their party on the Internet and getting someone else to Edit the site LabourList. Secondly I would like to wish LabourList a good and interesting future that takes the site to new heights, Draper has destroyed the image of the site I just hope they can regain a image ...
Last time I blogged about this we were waiting to hear whether Jack Allen (the company wanting to put a waste disposal facility at the docks in Garston) were going to re submit their plans or not. Well the bad news is they are. The PR company representing JA have sent out a press release so there may be some initial coverage in tomorrow's Daily Post or Echo. Obviously until the plans are in and registered and we have had a chance to see them we won't know what, if anything, has changed since the exhibitions. But its hard to ...
The Health Minister came to the Assembly this afternoon to give us an update on the position in Wales with regards to swine flu. As yet there have been no confirmed cases in Wales and those cases in England have mercifully been spared the sort of illness that has been evident in Mexico. This is not to say that we should be complacent. The World Health Organisation is still on the verge of declaring a pandemic and it is expected that more cases will emerge before the crisis is over. What it does mean is that we need to keep ...
Hazel Blears must have known what she was writing in that article. 'Lamentable' and 'You Tube if you want to' are hardly accidental insults. At PMQs, David Cameron went for Gordon - sensing a weakened and beleaguered Prime Minister - somehow he managed to mess it up and come over like a bully-boy - unpleasant and over-political. Every one of his six supplementries was attacking Brown. So whilst Brown was wooden and unable to make quips - he didn't suffer the way he ought to have given his fragile state and the week from hell just passed. He was desperately ...
Nick Clegg had another stormer at Prime Minister's Questions today.
It seems that after someone has tried to steal the flagstones from our village snicket (ancient pedestrian pathway) Bradford council officials have decided to finish the job for them and remove the rest "for safe keeping"!! They then think they'll fill in the gaps with tarmac. Not if I can help it! We want our flagstones back.
Yesterday on LDV I had a look at how the 4th June local and Euro elections might play out for Labour, predicting that though the Lib Dems could and should beat Labour in the English county and unitary council elections being held, I was sceptical that the party would come second when voters cast their votes on the subject of Europe. Today's Times looks at possible outcomes of the local elections, and reports the analysis of polling expert, Robert Hayward who reckons that: ... Labour would lose at least 150 seats, the Tories would gain more than 150 and the ...
What a load of pish, come on Cameron, you were involved in manifesto and policy production when your Conservative Party gave us Section 28, I don't recall you fighting for the Gays then. Oh, that's right you weren't trying to get into power were you, you knew you were out of touch still and were not going to win. Stonewall has always been a home for Labour, which is why I have cancelled my Membership (twice), they make all the promises that they are inclusive of all political parties but it is a load of rubbish and so is Cameron's ...
Following last week's success in council by-elections this was another week of success for the Liberal Democrats. Harlow's by-election came under unusual circumstances when a former Conservative councillor was thrown off the council due to non-attendance as a result of a six month stint on remand. The by-election campaign was centred on Lib Dem opposition to cuts by the local...
My Party leader has drawn my attention to some fine examples of Young Farmers' sense of humour on a website illustrating some of the T-shirts they designed for their annual bash in Blackpool. I quite liked this one but there is a whole selection there for your edification and delight. I don't think there is anything funny at all about swine fever or the proposed badger cull in parts of Wales but I think it is important sometimes to keep a sense of perspective.
The Home Secretary has published a list of people who she says are barred from coming to the UK because their presence here is likely to provoke violence or hatred. On that list is American radio host ('shock jock') Michael Savage. Quite how Smith and her officials singled him out to appear on a list with hate-mongering skinheads, islamist fundamentalists and so on is beyond me. I've never listened to his show, but I doubt very much that he is advocating riots in the streets or violence against any section of the community and he protests that he does not. ...
No, not a post on how our politicians need to be more tech-savvy. Been there, done that. This one is about the better solutions that might be out there, if only we'd take to the trouble to look for them; and the pitfalls in looking. Almost uniquely for me, I'm actually writing a follow-up article I said I would (but in my defence, only because Oranjepan, who's Reading List blog is worth a look, asked me about it). The iPhone was a game changer in the smartphone market, not because it did anything very new, but because it made it ...
So this is the fightback? After a desperate two weeks, Gordon Brown attempted to wrest the debate back to his 'vision' with a speech on the future of education. Unsurprisingly (since it was reputedly written by Balls), the speech rejected the Tory/Liberal approach of a more liberalised education system, accusing their approach of causing: "a whole generation failed - waiting for the market to work". But it's the Brown/Balls centralising approach that is failing. Yes, educational spending has soared under Labour, and some clear benefits have resulted - fewer rotting schools, some early increase in literacy, better-paid teachers. However, improvements ...
Manchester Lib Dem housing spokesperson, Cllr Iain Donaldson, has called for drastic action as new figures showed that over 13,000 homes in the City lie empty, and that over 7,000 of those have been empty for over six months. At the same time Housing waiting lists in the City have risen to nearly 21,000. Cllr Donaldson stated that "It is an absolute disgrace that the North West has the largest number of empty homes of any region in the country, whilst thousands of people in Manchester are waiting for housing. Everyone has the right to a decent home, and the ...
As we commemorate the tenth anniversay of the first elections to the Welsh Assembly talk has already turned to the future. This morning's Western Mail has highlighted an article in tomorrow's paper in which they say the Presiding Officer will call for a referendum to be held on utilising all the powers in the 2006 Government ofWales Act on the same day as the 2011 Assembly elections.To do so in
Kevin Maguire in the Mirror for this effort: Lib Dem support for the Gurkhas will cost them seats His rationale for this, erm, counter-intuitive view? Though crediting Nick Clegg's campaigning on behalf of the Gurkhas as "principled", Kevin then argues that his "cosying up in bed together [with David Cameron] will cost the Lib Dems seats". Hmmm. Quite apart from the idea that the Lib Dem leader could (even if he'd wanted to) refuse to stand on the same platform as his Tory counterpart as part of a non-partisan campaign, what's the evidence for Kevin's suggestion? Well, on the one ...
The main change in 1984 was the bursting out of the `Scandinavian Swing`epitomised by the winners from Sweden who sung the first song closely followed by the Danish entry while Finland entered a song that has a special place in the heart of fans to this day and has had many `Youtube` spinoffs. Thankfully Gordon Brown [...]
Rumour is that Rhodri Morgan will not be standing down as First Minister and Welsh Labour Leader until his birthday meaning that none of the prospective candidates to succeed him can declare officially or openly campaign until the autumn.This means that we will have a summer with Welsh Labour in limbo and possibly mourning too following the European elections, waiting for a new direction. It also
For many Belsize parents this week will be a "Make or Break" time of anguish to discover that the "five" choices for LEA Primary School will be turned down with a letter like the extract below taken from several actual Belsize residents today! "Reception Coordination September 2009/January 2010. I am sorry that we were unable to offer a place for childs name at any of the preferred schools listed on your application form." Parents are being offered only shorter waiting lists for schools miles away from Belsize at Brecknock in N1, Carlton in NW5, Netley in NW1 and so on. ...
For me, this impromptu and unedited shot taken during Welsh Lib Dem conference in April, sums up why, under Kirsty Williams, the Lib Dems will make massive inroads in Welsh political life over the next couple of years. Firstly, never has a political leader in Wales been so competent, so driven and so aspirational whilst remaining totally grounded and at ease with day to day, 'normal' interactions. Too often politicians are either out of touch with normal people or out of ideas, and Kirsty Williams, I'm pleased to say is neither. I made no secret of the fact that I ...
A Tory backbencher, Andrew Rosindell asked Gordon Brown about the "Please Go" petition at Prime Minister's Questions today in the House of Commons. He pointed out that the number of signatures on the list are now more than twice the number of votes he got in his constituency at the last general election (which as I have posted about previously when the signatures passed this number is his only democratic mandate at all, as an MP for Kircaldy and Cowdenbeath). Brown's response was to bat this question away by claiming that Mr Rosindell should be "ashamed" for not asking about ...
Wed 6th
12:39ID cards are on way here READ 1984 BEFORE IT'S TO LATE. The country is on it's knees and yet they st...
Don Frame & David Ottewell MEN SOURCE May 06, 2009 PEOPLE in Greater Manchester will be the first in the country to get identity cards. The region has been chosen to launch the voluntary scheme. Residents will be able to apply for a £30 card from the autumn. The controversial cards are then expected to be introduced nationwide [...]
So Gordon Brown is already planning for the aftermath of electoral bloodbath on 4th June with a 'ruthless Cabinet reshuffle'? After the events of the past few months, a June reshuffle seemed to be the least we could expect, with a June General Election still a possibility until things just got too bad for a [...]
PMQ's was as could be expected fiery. David Cameron lead the charge on Hazel Blears remarks earlier in the week calling the government 'lamentable'. Cameron undoubtedly captures the mood of the country in rightly calling for a General Election now and throughout their exchanges Brown looked distinctly uncomfortable, refusing to look directly at Cameron for much of it instead focusing his gaze on the Speaker. This said allot about the fact that Brown simply didn't want to answer Cameron's question about why Blears was still in the Cabinet. Brown's body language was hunched and deflective which summed-up his cruelly exposed ...
PMQs continues to be an enthusiastic "sausage fest," this time with nearly every single Tory question taking the piss out of Brown. Brown retaliates by condemning them for not taking 'the house' or 'the situation' seriously. Actually I don't think that's how it looks. It looks like they have no respect for him or his Government, that there's no point asking serious questions that don't get proper answers anyway, so taking the piss is the perfect and appropriate response for a Prime Minister entirely undeserving of respect and lacking in authority or credibility. Even Clegg called Brown stupid to his ...
Seen that one coming!!! If your stuck Barbara the M60 is right next to the meeting you came to. Regards What's that word god i am stuck, hang on got it Cynical...
Wed 6th
12:24Taking action on crime and anti-social behaviour. No i am not on the campiagn trail but it looks lik...
Well what's sauce for the goose. Why is it any different when as Liberal democrats you are told time and time again. The police councillor are none political and cannot show any support for political parties. Thats unless your Mrs Keeley then of course thats OK. Why what's the difference? apart from the fact she gets [...]
....Politically that is. That is the subject of my new ground-breaking (not) poll on the right. Vote early to avoid being crushed in the rush.
On the news this morning, I discovered that Manchester will be the trial city for the government's hair-brained ID Card scheme. What joy! Identity cards will cost anywhere between £30 and £60 and, according to Jacqui Smith, will 'increase protection' against crime, illegal immigrants and terrorists. The Home Office press release claims the benefits of ID Cards as: a universal and simple proof of identity that brings convenience for organisations and individuals -ending the disorganised use of photocopied bank statements, phone bills and birth certificates; control over who can see your personal details - this means no longer revealing details ...
Some real desperate farce from the House this afternoon. Brown's answers to Cameron were incredibly poor throughout - "I'm sure that sounded great in the bunker" Cameron said after one particularly otherworldly response. As a further indicator of the standard on the government side, planted questions enable the PM to mention the National Minimum Wage and football, and several involved waving the scary "before 1997" card. A sneering question comes from a Tory backbencher about bullying in the workplace (vis, Number 10) referring to reports of "a Whitehall official" throwing office equipment around. Gordon even manages to fluff the answer ...
I was almost blown sideways by this frank and honest assessment of the misery endured by long suffering Labour supporters at the hands of this Labour Government. Isn't this what people wanted from Liberal Conspiracy when they originally signed up?
Full marks and a full blown "G'day" and "Good on ya, sport" (which I am told they don't actually say - rather like the Irish don't say "Top of the morning to you") to the Australian nation for having the, dare I say it, humility (?) to award a Pom - a Hampshire lad, indeed - the "best job in the world" (which isn't really - a job, that is).
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published its latest paper on the nation's drinking habits and, if you believe the headlines, its not good. You naughty girls are all out binge drinking. You're letting society down and, frankly, you're letting yourselves down. The report is only out today, and you can find the 112 page pdf here. So let's get past the headlines and ask some simple questions. Are we drinking more now than a decade ago? No. You can look at all the data and see that pretty much everyone, men and women, all age groups, are drinking about the ...
Apparently there's only a few weeks to go before J Smith is toast. It won't come a day too soon if her action in banning a Californian Shock Jock from this country is anything to go by. The lady seems to have the judgment of a gnat.US style Carry On joke of the day:The shock jock in question is called Michael Weiner - but calls himself Michael Savage on air.
Well poo. I have been getting these out of the library of late, and most of them are really good. And now they are stopping doing them because their license to publish short story Who fiction from the BBC is going to expire. I LIKE short stories. I wish people published more of them. Anyone know how much 28 x £7.50 is? Anyone fancy spending it on books for me before it's too late? * not for the first time, wishes she was rich *
In the second in a series of looking at each of the regions (and nations) for the European Elections I today examine the Eastern region.
{Bricks used in Downing St protest} Spot the police identification numbers...
Paul Waugh gives us the news via his blog that Cameron's bike has been nicked again. In the last year the bike of the Leader of the Tory party has been stolen twice. I don't know what someone wants to do with Cameron's bike but clearly the people who are stealing his bike need a life. Cameron according to the blog post by Paul Waugh is very attached to the bike and he has had it since he became leader of the Tories. He normally gets a car to follow him into work with his documents in it, why not ...
I have suddenly had a stream of abusive comments posted on the blog. Obviously I moderate comments so they haven't appeared, but I have to say it is really unpleasant to have to read through them (and you do have to do sort out what each one is saying). Some were actually threats against me (stupidly I deleted them straight away). I suspect this is a one off, and may be even something automated because they all came in a short period of time by the looks of things. But I am going to knock off the comment feature for ...
Some time ago I blogged about the possibility of setting up a Friends Group for Garston Park. I did some letter writing and e mailing and now have a list of people who are interested. I'm coming back to the subject now because we've got a first meeting fixed and I want to make sure as many potentially interested people as possible know about it. The date is 26th May (a Tuesday) at 7pm at the Garston Leisure Centre. It would help if I knew how many people are coming so if you haven't already been in touch but do ...
Labourology seems to be the rule at the moment. This excellent piece by Alex Wilcock is particularly pointed. "They won't listen to your complaints. They won't listen to your concerns. Now they're telling you to clear off if you don't agree with everything they ever do." Their sense of frustration is palpable. 12 years of Labour! Surely everything should be all right by now?Speaking to Labour
Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating carriageway resurfacing works. The Order is expected to be in force on the following dates and time. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. 1. Sunday 17 May 2009 to Wednesday 20 May 2009 (from 7 pm to 6 am) 2. Thursday 21 May 2009 (from 9pm to 6 am) 3. Sunday 24 May 2009 to Wednesday 27 May 2009 (from 7pm to 6 am) 4. Thursday 28 May 2009 (from 9 pm ...
With Graham Watson, the current leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament, having already announced his intention to stand down from the post after June's European Parliament elections, speculation has been mounting about who might be taking over. For a while, former Belgian PM, Guy Verhofstadt was [...]
There's lots of talk of Cabinet reshuffles at the moment. To be honest, the ideas (like ID cards and surveillance) are just as bad as the people and unless some of them change, there's no point in going through the pain of sacking Ministers. With Gordon's political judgment the way it is at the moment, we could be in for some interesting changes.... As Home Secretary? Phil Woolas, the Parliament defying Home Office Minister responsible for the Gurkha legislation. As Department of Work and Pensions Secretary? Tom Harris MP to unite the Labour Party and sort out all those single ...
I have one more Dreamwidth code to give away. It will go to the first person to comment with the e-mail address they want me to send it to (in other words, if you don't leave an e-mail address, don't be surprised if the code goes to someone who commented after you.) This is a public post - if you have a friend who doesn't read this journal, but wants a code, feel free to point them here. ETA: All codes taken now - I'll post again if I get more in future.
I can't believe that Phil Woolas, the haplessly incompetent Home Office Minister who not only thought up a set of legalistic settlement criteria designed to keep as many Gurkhas out of Britain as possible, but is still harping on about this potential 100,000 people coming into Britain and the £1.5 billion he says it will cost. Nobody has come up with any justification of these figures and, to be frank, they appear to be a great big load of nonsense. It's quite clear that not only do the public favour equal settlement rights for Gurkhas, but their democratically elected representatives ...
Four years ago at this time I was just about dozing off after attending my first General Election count as candidate. Making my thanks and concession speech third at some point after the declaration at 1:45am. At a point which is now about a 5 minute walk from where I live. Just before eaving Bathgate Leisure centre there was first a cheer from the SNP for one of their gains, followed swiftly by Lib Dems ones as we saw Jo Swinson take East Dunbartonshire. Then I retired to Caron's as we nervously waiting for results like Edinburgh South to role ...
"I didn't know my RSS from my elbow" Derek Dolly Draper If he didn't know his RSS from his elbow six months ago then I don't believe he was technical enough to set up the Red Rag on his own on Wordpress.com and then register a domain for it. Maybe more people then just who came out in the media knew about the site. Who was the techie for The Red Rag website my instincts tell me its Mr 2.0 and Draper's employee at LabourList, but who is it?
Crossposted from The Wardman Wire Millions of pounds have been spent in total in recent years in the UK on testing various forms of electronic voting, in the hope that this might raise turnout in elections. The overall verdict across different technologies - such as voting by SMS or online - has been remarkably consistent: it's expensive, not very reliable, of dubious security and, above all, has almost no impact on turnout levels. It's easy to see how the idea of using modern technology has caught the eye and budget of decision makers. But with the emphasis on the high-tech, ...
{no2id.jpg} Leading local Lib Dem, Vic D'Albert, Parliamentary candidate for Bury South has called for a boycott of the proposed Manchester pilot ID card scheme. Home Secretary,Jacqui Smith has announced that Manchester has been selected as a pilot area for the voluntary ID card scheme, which will be launched in the autumn. Vic D'Albert said, "This scheme should be scrapped now. The fact that the Government are intent on pressing ahead with this discredited scheme just shows they are in complete denial about the cost, the value and the flaws of this scheme. "At a time when Government finances are ...
I am obviously pleased that the government have agreed to provide a bridging loan for Weststar to become involved with LDV. I had been pressing for this for some time.
Many people have asked me to define what a Liberal Conservative is, and here is my verdict. A Liberal Conservative is a working class or homeless person who is a member of the Conservative party because he wants to Conserve family structure so he had a child with another hobo who he hasn't seen ever since. Is that a good enough description of a Liberal Conservative? Yes its a farce to try and win more votes! *Sorry for the Sarcasm
When I first heard the news that there would be an ID card trial in Manchester, my first thought was that I hope there was an opposing campaign gearing up in Manchester ready to put the arguments against to the local population. On further reflection, I think this will be unnecessary as Costigan Quist points out, I can't really see people voluntarily rushing out to spend £30-£60 (and the time/hassle) to get a card especially one that will have no obvious benefit to them. In fact it seems doomed to failure...which makes me suspicious. What carrots/sticks will the government be ...
Iain Dale has a screen shot on his blog post of a Guardian poll that suggests that if Labour were to have a leadership election then Guardian readers would vote the following way: Harriet Harman: 91% Alan Johnson: 8% So Ms Smith has ruled out running for leadership after Brown so it must be Harriet Harman from the Blair Babes who is to take over the party? Would Harman actually do Labour any good, probably not but you never know Labour's first women Prime Minister could be Blair's babe Harriet Harman.
Chris Radley, former cartoonist for the Social Democrat (the SDP's weekly newspaper), was interviewed by myself, Duncan Brack and Sarah Taft for the summer 2003 issue of the Journal of Liberal History. How did you get involved in drawing cartoons? As a child I always wanted to write and draw and I couldn't really see a difference between the two; both were expressing ideas. I was always consciously trying to find ways of doing both at the same time. Cartoons are one way you can achieve both, particularly if you're not simply a hack sticking drawings into someone else's text. ...
Quite a few people have come to this blog trying to find details of the swine flu case in Chipping Sodbury. We don't need to go into the details, but here are some local links: Evening Post story BBC News story and video Sky News story and phone interview Chipping Sodbury School home page We hope the gentleman concerned recovers quickly, and wish him all the best.
Wed 6th
08:55Photo of BNP leader with extremist Well Well Well Nick sat with Nazi extremist. I think we all under...
Deborah Linton MEN SOURCE May 06, 2009 PHOTOS have emerged of BNP leader and north west European Parliament candidate Nick Griffin with a Klu Klux Klan leader. Griffin, who is contending the north west seat in the European Parliament elections next month, is pictured sharing a platform with American Nazi Stephen 'Don' Black, who is banned from Britain [...]
At the launch of his autobiography 'A Fortunate Life' - available at all good bookshops and Amazon - a couple of weeks ago (before Brown's You Tube gurning appearance), Paddy Ashdown said that Brown had a small chance of winning the next election as long as he adopted a "Captain Ahab" persona. For younger viewers that's the fellow played by Gregory Peck (right) in the film 'Moby Dick' based on
I am currently reading Chris Mullin's excellent political diaires "A View From the Foothills". One particular entry jumped out at me: Monday, 13 March 2000 At supper in the Tea Room the talk was of New Labour's tendency to double and triple count new public spending. We were joined by Jack Straw, who said the idea was Gordon's and he had been against it from the outset. He added, "Fancy tactics never work. They always catch up with you in the end." So why is it that what was obvious to Straw a decade ago is still not clear to ...
I see from the news that Gordon Brown and his out of touch government are pressing ahead with their expensive and unnecessary ID cards scheme starting with airport staff (compulsory) and the good people of Manchester (optional at £60) despite public opinion being against them and the fact they don't actually stop terrorists. Jacqui Smith, Gordon Brown and the Labour Party are always polling public opinion or on occasions even seeking the view of Parliament and then say, sod it, let's just do it anyway! This is one of those said occasions. And as we saw with the awful Madrid ...
The Sunday Times broke the story that the Labour peer Baroness Uddin has claimed £100,000 in parliamentary expenses on a flat in Kent that neighbours say has been unoccupied for years. Inside Housing explores a different angle. The Baroness is a tenant of Spitalfields Housing Association in Wapping, and the magazine's website reports: Omar Mapara, chief executive of Spitalfields Housing Association, said the association's legal team was investigating the case in relation to any possible breach of her tenancy agreement, but would not comment further.It also quotes the last question she asked in the Lords: "My Lords, does my noble ...
The Lib Dem sub agent for UK Ground Zero (Falkirk) of Mexican Swine flu, i.e. your good host has come down with the sniffles last night. However, I'm taking all the conflicting advise to heart. For work I haf brought in tissues, I will be single using them (even though this is environmentally unsound), I waill continue to wash my hands regularly, and bin the tissues after each use. I'm just as a risk assessor going to call facilites once they get in to enquire about some biohazzard tape to put around my desk's bin for the sake of the ...
It's ridiculous but it's true - Haringey Council has been tarmacing over manhole covers when repairing roads with the result that (1) dealing with leaks etc becomes much harder as the manhole cover is covered in tarmac! and (2) it makes for a weak road surface, with the tarmac breaking and causing potholes more quickly than would otherwise be the case. As I said - ridiculous! My colleague Martin Newton (Fortis Green councillor) spotted this one on Fortis Green Road: {Fortis Green Road manhole cover} As Martin puts it, "Residents are rightly fed up with a system that plasters over ...
On Monday I discussed a posting from Tim Worstall which pointed to the political of curbing government borrowing when the economy is booming. Now Stumbling and Mumbling has taken up the debate: I'm reminded of James O'Connor's The Fiscal Crisis of the State, written in 1973.State spending in a capitalist society, he said, must fulfil two functions: to raise profits, for example by maintaining aggregate demand; and to legitimate the system by ameliorating inequalities. But, he said, these forces for higher spending increased faster than people's willingness to pay tax. The upshot was a tendency to bigger budget deficits, even ...
Wed 6th
07:31Britons face working until 70 to help bring public debt under control will the last person left turn...
Britons will have to work until the age of 70, at least five years beyond the current retirement age, if the Government is to stand any hope of bringing public debt under control over the next decade, a report claims. How in gods name do they expect us to work till 70 you can't get jobs [...]
As pics of bluebell woods seem to be the order of the day in the newspapers, my fellow councillor Martin Newton (Fortis Green) has sent me one - it's somewhere in Hertfordshire last weekend. Lovely.
May 06, 2009 A FORMER Lord Mayor of Manchester has branded the BNP as the 'grandchildren of Hitler'. Coun Afzal Khan says the British National Party share the same ideas as the Nazi Party, who persecuted Jews and many others before and during the Second World War. He was speaking at a meeting on 'community cohesion' at [...]
Wed 6th
07:06What went wrong with Labour where did it all go wrong. Blairs dream turned into Browns NIGHTMARE.
Well as an ex Socialist i look back and think what went wrong. A party that sells out it's principles? any thing to get elected,they did. The promises of a better future they grabbed the stick with both hands and come out with the end that had the Brown stuff on sorry for the pun. Blair [...]
The Scottish Education Minister Fiona Hyslop has been accused of letting down Scotland's future. It was announced that one in five schools no longer offer German at Higher Level and one in then fail to provide students an option for higher French. 'Scotland the Brave' is failing to educate to take our place linguistically in a modern Europe. Le ministre de l'éducation écossais Fiona Hyslop a été accusé de laisser vers le bas futur d'Ecosse. On lui a annoncé qu'un dans cinq écoles n'offrent plus l'Allemand à de plus haut niveau et un dans puis ne fournissent pas des étudiants ...
Oh lucky people of Manchester. Oh joyful day. Dancing in Exchange Square will surely break out when they learn that Jacqui Smith is giving Mancunians the opportunity to apply for an ID card. Come the Autumn, for just sixty pounds, any passport-holder in Manchester will be able to own their very own, shiny ID card. I'm sure everyone will just be running to pick one up. What better way to spend sixty quid in a recession. Jacqui Smith, who along with Hazel Blears is due for the chop if the Daily Mail is to be believed, will be singing the ...
And so Ros and I are on our way home after an unexpectedly fabulous trip to Vancouver. We've been up a snow-covered mountain, crossed the water to an almost painfully cute island, drunk local beers and wine, eaten local seafood and met up with a sea otter. Vancouver and its surrounds is an amazing place, set between the coastal range and the sea, with float planes in the harbour and rich woodland everywhere. The province is a Conservative-free zone - today's opinion poll here shows the Greens in third place with 13%, and Others with just 5%. That 5% includes ...
* dreams of electric sheep * In other news, I'm looking at YOU pmoodie! If you don't stop searching for Nicola Bryant's Cleavage on google, Andrew is going to get really cross (click here and scroll down to the ETA for some really inventive swearing).
Here is the team from the weekend. Hazel and Harry. Harry is a neighbour who is a barbeque expert. He didn't tell us he was an expert, but he is! Running a small business is, in many ways, like being a councillor. You can't do it all yourself, you have to rely on a team of people. It's important to surround yourself with people of talent, like Hazel and Harry.
Back again, after spending the weekend cooking sausages at the Carlisle and Borders Spring Show in Bitts Park Carlisle. A great show and very well organised by Carlisle City Council. We were there with Made In Cumbria. Made In Cumbria is largely funded by Cumbria County Council and works with local producers of both crafts and foodstuffs. It's a very successful organisation that makes a real difference to small producers such as ourselves. If elected to Cumbria County Council, I would have to absent myself if any decisions were to be made about funding for Made In Cumbria. It's technically ...
{Taken from quazen} Graffiti tagging has recently got out of control in Reading, and this issue needs to be seriously addressed. Although the Council does a number of important jobs which are less visible to the public, it is also important for to remove graffiti and keep our streets clean - this is noticeable to our residents, on a daily basis. Allowing graffiti to remain brings down areas of our town. To be clear, tagging can in no way be linked to urban art. Spraying a name ever where possible inane and pointless - comparing this to the likes of ...
I was woken very early on Monday morning to the news that John Leech snr, former Reverend at Manchester Rd Methodist Church and father to Chorlton MP John Leech had died. On Saturday he went to the football with his son and (as far as I know) had a bad knee as the worst of his ills, so it was a great shock and my thoughts are with the family, who will be feeling it greatly. As a leader of the Methodist church in Chorlton, I think only Dr Scott was held in as high an esteem and he instilled ...
I have blogged about the BNP no 2 Simon Darby twice before, a couple of weeks ago when he received a Nazi salute, and previously about his outrageous comments about Polish workers.Well the latest from the man who London Council Tax payers pay to work as an aide to GLA member Richard Barnbrook, is his calling for the Archbishop of York to be attacked.The GLA should take action.Darby is the top BNP
{beer-festival-church.jpg} The people behind the successful Chorlton Beer Festival have launched a website to keep you informed of the upcoming event. Last year the event was so successful they ran dry. The organisers have sensibly ordered 50% more beer this time. http://chorltonbeerfestival.org.uk/ will tell you more, but essentially it is on July 10th and 11th at the usual venue of St Clements church. Usually, local breweries like Marble provide a sample of their wares but there are no details of this yet on the website. Well worth popping down to.
Today's Telegraph reports that the independent think tank, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has suggested that the next Government has three options for getting the public finances back into shape: 1. Raising the state pension age to 70 for both men and women from 2013. 2. Raising the basic rate of income tax by 15p in the pound. Taxes would have to rise by as much as 8p in the pound even if the retirement age was increased. 3. Cutting government spending by a tenth, which would hit the NHS, education and other front-line services. Even ...
