The answer to that question is: no. Why? Because after the last debacle, in which Martin rose to power, the Commons decided to move into the 20th century (the 21st being too much of a leap) and adopt an exhaustive ballot system. That means that unless a candidate gets elected in the first round [...]
The Guardian has shocking footage here of two protesters being manhandled for what appears to be no good reason during the Kingsnorth protests last year. Val Swain and Emily Apple were apparently arrested for trying to identify the officers involved. What seems to spark it off is when they try to photograph an officer who has refused to identify himself. They are grabbed and bundled to the floor. Pressure is applied to their necks and Emily has her foot stood on, is bound and thrown into the back of a van. They were then held for 4 days after which ...
This weeks headline figures:2008 absolute unique visitors since 14th May6954 visitsBusiest day: ThursdayReaders' favourite browser: still Firefox, although it's down to 53.23% ( more Google Analytics statporn under here ) Exciting stats not from Google Analytics:# of unread emails: 14# of websites requiring work: 4# of blog posts I am committed to write that I haven't written yet: 10# of logos/headers to design: 2 (still one for Sarah at Same Difference, and one for next month's sponsor)# of Dreamwidth Invite Codes Available for handing out: 0# of people added to reading list this week: 1# of people removed from reading ...
A big round of applause please for the organisers of the annual Chipping Sodbury Festival, with its multitude of events - there was something for everybody. Here's a three-minute slide show of the Festival parade and street fair on Saturday - a very enjoyable event. (Photos by Paul Hulbert and Mandy Sainsbury)
Just watched this on Sky. Apart from the fascist tones of what was said some of it was hilarious. A local election candidate who really fought a strong Labour area was asked: `Do you think the war against Germany was justified` Answer: `I haven't given it very much thought!` While at a BNP stall in a town [...]
Iain Dale is someone who I regard as being the top dog of political blogging but with his blog post about the Lib Dem choice for the Norwich North by election I am a little worked up with him so here comes trouble Mr Dale. First of all lets discuss the candidate in question, Iain writes about how the candidate is someone who is a candidate in another seat and has moved here and he doesn't like that so has thrown his toy out of the pram and is blogging about it. Iain also talks about how Norfolk Blogger should ...
The Church of England has complained that the BBC treats religion like 'a freak show.' The Church is worried that the appointment of Aaqil Ahmed, from Channel 4, as head of religious programmes will lead to a new style of populist television such as 'God's got talent' or 'Abu Hamza's total wipeout'. In the meantime, the BBC has confirmed that Gordon Brown will appear in Songs of Praise next month in an attempt to 'reconnect' with churchy voters. Are these two stories connected in anyway?
Phew! After my slightly worrying previous post praising Iain Dale for not making hay with the on-going Michael Brown donation palaver and detailing a growing respect for him (eek!) he has reverted to type with this post about the recent selection of April Pond to fight the Norwich North by-election for us. Apparently selecting the already selected PPC for a new seat made out of some of Norwich North as our candidate for the current Norwich North seat fought under the old boundaries makes us "a bit dim"! He is also careful to stay on script and push the Tory ...
Stephen Tall on Lib Dem Voice asked all Lib Dem bloggers to write about their favourite political shows. OK, so that was last weekend, but life is happening in slow motion for me at the moment! Here they are then in reverse order: 5. Party Animals OK - so this wasn't perfect, but it was pretty addictive don't you agree? The affair between the Tory MP and his researcher, the angry outbursts from Labour MP Jo, the vindictive spiteful intern...the lost papers in the bathroom, how can you resist? 4. House of Cards Very sophisticated and classy - at times ...
So who should be the new Speaker? When Michael Martin became won the last contest, his election broke the unofficial compact that the Commons would alternate between Labour and Tory Speakers. The Labour front bench was happy to support Sir George Young, but there was a strong feeling on the back benches that a Labour House should have a Labour Speaker. Three Labour Speakers in a row would be too much. That is not quite the same things as saying that it the Tories turn. I think Alan Beith would do a good job; certainly, he has the right ideas ...
From the Guardian today, shocking footage of two women being arrested at Kingsnorth climate camp in Kent last year. The women had asked police officers who were not displaying their badge numbers, to identify themselves. They were arrested for "obstructing a police officer." The video, made by police surveillance officers, shows an officer holding one woman by the neck and the other woman being laid face down on the ground before having her legs bound. Emily Apple and Val Swain were held in custody for four days but all charges against the women were later dropped. They have complained to ...
Almost as exciting as Shumi being on Top Gear was the selection of local businesswoman April Pond as Liberal Democrat candidate for the Norwich North by-election. It was clear from the start that April would be a fantastic MP given her strong record of campaigning in the area, helping small businesses and to working to save the local hospital, however it's always an added bonus if the opposition is wound up. Tory blogger Iain Dale had a bit of a go at April on his site within hours of her being selected. I've tried to link to the exact story ...
In Shropshire last week I kept seeing posters for a gig by Eddie and the Hot Rods. Looking at the band's website, it must have been for the one in Worthen back in May. Worthen is a village to the west of the Stiperstones, right on the border with Wales. It is obviously a good place for music: I know someone who put on a concert by Peter Green, the founder of Fleetwood Mac, there a few years ago. Anyway, this from 1977 is Eddie and the Hot Rods' finest hour. They manage to squeeze an awful lot of melody ...
With less than 24 hours to go before we discover who the new Speaker of the House of Commons will be, the New Statesman is reporting that Labour whips have been ringing round MPs and actively instructing them to vote for Margaret Beckett to fill the role. They say that this amounts to the abandonment by Labour of its unofficial support for the Tory rebel John Bercow: Sources say the whips' message is: "It doesn't matter about not having another Labour Speaker - we need someone who will serve the party's interests". This contradicts the message being given out publicly ...
There is a bizarre post on Iain Dale's Diary at the moment. In it, Iain reports the decision of Norwich North Liberal Democrats to adopt April Pond, currently PPC for the Broadlands constituency, as candidate for the forthcoming by-election. He writes: I always thought the LibDems could be a bit dim, but they've really gone and done it now. April Pond is their candidate for the new Norfolk seat of Broadland. Or she was. Today Norwich North LibDems have selected her as their candidate for the Norwich North by-election.Let's make an assumption that she loses - after all, the LibDems ...
This weekend I attended the first-ever NUS conference for postgraduates. It was really about time that postgraduates, both taught and research, got the attention they deserve from NUS. I know many students' unions will be looking to the new postgraduate committee for leadership on engaging postgraduate students in their unions in all their work – academic representation, societies, events and more. I am delighted to be the first ever representative of taught postgraduate students on NUS' national executive council, and I'll be using this blog (among other ways) of keeping postgraduate students updated on the work of the postgraduate committee ...
How much excitement can a girl take in one day? The last British Grand Prix at Silverstone - although it might not be so I didn't actually cry. The Stig on Top Gear being revealed to be Michael Schumacher. Well, obviously it's not, but it was a nice ruse to start the series with. Great footage of him driving his Ferrari FXX. I always wondered why Ferrari missed the last 2 x's of the name of that car. I mean, who the fxxx is going to hand over a cool £1.3 million for a car that Ferrari don't even let ...
As promised in my earlier post, here I am at Montmartre, Paris, having dinner. I have to confess I am horrified at the costs here. £10 for a pint for example. Over £10 for an omlette. Paris has gone up so much in price since I was last here in 2002. But at least the Metro is cheaper than the Tube! We've done Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triomphe, Pyramid at the Louvre, Notre Dame and now Montmarte.
Excellent session at Marlborough School. First time I have been there in decades and I had forgotten what a pleasant environment it is in terms of the way the buildings are presented and laid out. I was speaking to Year 12s though a few final year pupils also sneaked in. Given that the greedy antics of a few MPs have made voters really sick and thus have diminished the stock of politics, I told them how to make MPs sick. Take one lavish lunch in Brussels, then put them in an ancient propeller driven aircraft to fly back across the ...
You would perhaps think that after the so-called 'Expensaggedon' that the expense claims of the MPs when officially released would be released in their entirety but to no avail. All of the Westminster MPs expenses were recently publicised as a consequence of the Freedom of Information Act in 2000 but there was one snag: most of the information to be found in these pages were in fact censored so as not to ruin the requisite MP's name or reputation. I find this to be incredibly shameful on behalf of the Government and this half-hearted token gesture is no true gesture ...
Iain Dale has got rather shirty about the Lib Dems selecting April Pond who was the the PPC for Broadlands as the PPC for the by election in Norwich North. Now there is one thing about by elections that differs from General Elections. Any party that doesn't scour for the best candidate available is stupid. And if there is a good local candidate selected for a more winnable seat already selected they may well be the best person to take the extra pressure of national attention that most General Election candidates do not encounter. But the irony is that the ...
Edited by Trixy at Is there more to life than shoes?
Bracknell Forest Council's has released its housing strategy for 2009-2014. It states 'The overriding priority of this strategy is to enable the provision of the right homes for the communities of Bracknell Forest, in the right place and of the right quality to allow more choice for the residents of the Borough.' But does it really mean the council are providing for the right number of homes at the right time. The Council intends to utilise the funds it receives from the transfer of its housing stock to Bracknell Forest Homes, however these funds were not high enough as they ...
Congratulations to April Pond on her selection today as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Norwich North by-election. Local campaigner and successful businesswoman April Pond said, "I'm delighted to be selected for Norwich North and have the opportunity to follow the work of Ian Gibson. "Talking to Norwich people, it is clear that they are angry and disillusioned with the way things are at the moment. People are concerned about jobs losses and practical worries and see this Government as failing miserably when they should be working hard to put things right. MPs' expenses and an inability to put in ...
I have to admit to being a little disappointed in the contest for the Speakership of the House of Commons. Nobody has really grabbed me (metaphorically) by the scruff of the neck and convinced me they are going to be the great reformer the Commons needs. The report of the hustings to me suggested that none of [...]
Pakistan have done it again, they have shown that cricket is the only sport accept for maybe hockey they are good at by beating the Sri Lankan team by 8 wickets. Pakistan need some good news especially with the current situation in the country so its always good to hear some good news which will try and combat the mountain of bad the country has been seeing in recent months!
Last the Southport WLD group held their annual salmon and strawberries fundraiser. This year it was held at St Luke's Church Hall. Pat and David Sumner were in charge of the kitchen and everything went well. Cllr Carmel Preston is the new chair and did a first class job in getting new folk interested. The Southport group was one of the very first in the country sometime back around 1885. They were fierce for female sufferage and for temperance. We are coming up to the centenary of the 1910 election when the women did not support the Lib candidated because ...
The Guardian - Gordon Brown: I could walk away from this tomorrow Mail on Sunday - Brown 'plans to quit before next election to avoid humiliating defeat' Washington Post - Media stayed silent on kidnapping New York Times - Twitter on the Barricades: Six Lessons Learned ComRes - latest poll for the Independent on Sunday
Conservatives are known for sticking their nose into where its not wanted and that's exactly what a Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood did that lead him to take a beating from a group of young people. From reports by The Sun the MP started taking pictures of them playing with a ball and they beat him up and I think both groups are in the wrong especially the MP. The MP shouldn't have stuck his nose into their business and they wouldn't have beat him up but he did so if you ask me I think he deserves what he gets. ...
There's been a lot of knocking Max Mosley over the past couple of years, and it seems to be coming to a head in the current argument between the Formula One Teams Association and the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile of which he is, it should be noted, the elected president. As a motor car driver, this body represents, at an international level, the interests of all the national drivers' associations, and so, ultimately represents me. But in all the criticism of Mosley, little has been said about his own history and interests in motoring and in motorsport. And this history ...
Yesterday, I was at ALDC's local government conference in the very heart of Sheffield, in a very contemporary new hotel right next door to the Town Hall. It was a smashing day with many useful lessons to learn, and just the event to spur Lib Dem campaigners onto greater heights when we return home. The day included an interesting variety of main speakers, and simultaneous fringe meetings, so as a service both those who were there and couldn't be in two places at once, and to those who couldn't make it all, I will be podcasting sound recordings of all ...
I am not going to spend time reading Hansard but the issue that bloggers should be allowed into the lobby is one that needs to be taken seriously and debated. Bloggers have a massive affects on the going ons in politics as they are setting the political debate online and they should be allowed to go where old media hacks are allowed. The UK Lobby Association needs to start allowing bloggers the chance to apply for the Lobby so they can go to the Lobby and do what they are good at which is report/comment on and spread rumour from ...
Stepping in at the last minute I officially opened Torryburn Primary School's multi sports court on Saturday. I joined Jim Tolson for a game of short tennis. The school has grown in strength in recent years. It's great to see them doing so well.
Conservative Home has a very frank post about what is going on within the Parliamentary Conservative Party. It seems that things are not exactly hunky dory there and that David Cameron has upset quite a few of his fellow MPs: The Parliamentary Conservative Party is very unhappy. The anoymous letter earlier this week was one sign of discontent. David Cameron got another taste of his MPs' anger when he addressed them all on Wednesday. In terms of electoral politics this discontent may not matter much for now. Cameron will continue to command public support for the most draconian action against ...
The brilliant Ms Rigg has started novel way of doing a blog round up feature. Jennie is one of my favourite bloggers - I recently described her as "brimming with imagination, irreverence, the right amount of darkness and a tiny little sprinkling of evil in its purest form." I wonder if she'll consider that a quote Part of her new "The Blood is the Life" feature incorporates a meme, with a self-tagging mechanism which I will repeat here. If you wish to take part, comment to this, include the words "Peter Cushing lives in Whitstable" in your comment and I ...
No this is not a post about fuel, fuel efficiency or anything else that you would associate me with from a title like that. But all week I've been seeing a growing number of the people I follow politically on Twitter slowly turning their profile pics green. Green is the party colours of Mir Hossein Moussavi and following the outrageous result announced last weekend I've noticed the political twitterverse turning green in solidarity. However, having spent most of the weekend following the #iranelection hashtag today I've just spent a few hours following the #f1 one for the British Grand Prix. ...
About time someone had some sense and bin this expensive cat litter liner. Comment from me... by Tom Rodgers As part of its Digital Britain report, the government is to launch an investigation into free council newsletters including John Merry's baby, Life in Salford, to discover the effect they are having on the local press. [...]
When I heard the unwelcome news on the morning radio that Police are AGAIN looking into that Micheal Brown donation...sigh... my first thought was "Iain Dale's going to have a field day". Pleasantly confounding my expectations, both Dale and Guido haven't taken the opportunity to rehash the whole thing and spread the usual innuendo. Maybe they can see that this particular aspect of the story is a bit silly. I am not a lawyer but how can there have been money laundering if the fraudster didn't get his newly cleaned money channeled back to him? Unless they was some clever ...
Gordon Brown, speaking to the Guardian, launched into a nice bit of Web 2.0 utopianism last week. He may be trying to score points over Blair who, famously, barely knew what a computer was. (That could go some way to explaining how IT snake-oil salesmen managed to persuade him that every problem from the NHS to terrorism, collecting taxes to educating children, could be miraculously solved by spending a few billion quid on a super-duper new computer system from Capita, EDS or some similar bunch of cowboys). "People have now got the ability to speak to each other across continents, ...
Sun 21st
16:07
What a shambles watching John Cullen Cringe while speaking to the press over the decision by Labour ...
Few protesters stayed until the end, but those that did were vocal and clearly angry at not being taken seriously. One produced a Kit Kat, which Ms Blears famously claimed for on her expenses. Mr Cullen was whisked away in a waiting car, and Ms Blears never emerged. She will now get trial by media. [...]
Met this week with Brighter Futures - a group of young asylum seekers fighting for the right to be able to work and/or continue their education when their initial leave to stay runs out - and whilst they wait for the Home Office to process their applications. Our bloody Home Office can take years and years and years. And imagine - you have come here from a war torn hell - to safety, to school - and then nothing. You are in limbo - not allowed to work or go to college while you wait on the Home Office's pleasure. ...
You can keep up to date with Freedom Central by subscribing to receive any new post to your inbox. We know some people prefer to use twitter to do that now, so posts will now also be appearing via our brand new twitter account. (it will take approx 30 mins to come through from being posted on the site.) There is also an rss feed on this site. the quickest and best way to get a response to posts is to comment on here. Talking of Twitter Kirsty, who was/is the first party leader on twitter is asking for suggestions ...
As I reported last night I heard that Jim Devine MP for Livingston had been reported to the police for investigation. It appears that the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics has raised the issue of Devine's expenses claims. We have the issue firstly of the £2157 for rewiring his London flat , the one he acquired from fellow West Lothian MP Michael Connarty in 2006. For a start the invoice had an invalid VAT receipt. Devine when pressed further claimed that it was a friend of a friend. Later still he said it was somebody recommended to him in a ...
We've been contacted by the Council regarding a small amount of double yellow-lining they wish to install at the junction of Southbrook and Wantage Roads. The proposal is to install 10 metres of double yellow lining in either direction round the junction of the two roads. Double yellow lines prohibit waiting at any time, and officers consider that this will: ease access routes for emergency services and refuse vehicles; improve road safety at by ensuring that drivers' sight-lines are not blocked by parked vehicles; improve crossing for pedestrians. Letter have been sent to residents in the surrounding area, and notices ...
With all the genuine expenses targets available, you'd have through the Taxpayers' Alliance would have found a better target than attacking a Plaid MP, Adam Price, for using part of his Parliamentary expenses to pay for his staff to go on training courses. MPs, rightly, get to employ staff via the expenses schemes. (How else, for example, would an MP deal with the hundreds of letters and emails that many get each day?) If people are being employed to work for MPs, then in return MPs should be good bosses. Part of that involves identifying training needs for their staff ...
I had an interesting phone call from an old friend this week. He isn't really very interested in politics but he is university educated and follows the news. He has been following my blog and he suggested something that would really help educate people like him about electoral reform. He asked why there hasn't been something like a half hour or hour long programme on the BBC or Channel 4 in prime time (e.g. Panaroma or Dispatches) which examines in detail the different possible electoral systems. He said that he listens to Radio 4 every day for an hour and ...
There is an interesting synthesis today between this article by Andew Rawnsley in the Observer and reports of further Cabinet splits in the Sunday Times. Rawnsley discusses the Tories' dilemma as to how specific they should be on where their cuts in public spending should come and what the consequences for them and the country will be. He points out that only Kenneth Clarke amongst the Shadow Cabinet has any real experience of how bad it will get but he also points out that this is not just a problem for the Conservatives: The deficit is now soaring towards £1 ...
A great example of just how much knowledge and expertise is available via the internet occurred recently on a local discussion forum, StroudGreen.org. I posted up a very brief comment with a link to some news footage from the 1940s of the area, showing bomb damage caused by the Second World War. Over the next couple of days people filled in huge amounts of information, including someone who matched up the 1940s footage with Google Streetview to identify the building, bomb damage maps, links through to specialist information available elsewhere and even a first hand account of growing in the ...
If there is one thing that has not been properly debated during the on-going row over MPs' allowances, it is what it is proper to use that money for and what it is not. This will of course be the chief subject of the review that is currently on-going both in Westminister and Cardiff Bay but I think we can set down some important principles. Firstly, it is the case that the role of an MP is not really directly comparable with any other job. They are expected (simultaneously in many cases) to be in two or more places at ...
I am encountering a number of cases where it seems to be that things are getting nastier in this country.Those are cases where things are done to people which don't seem to have any merit at all and seem excessively harsh.We managed to prevent Eugene Sands from being deported on Friday with moments to go. He is a 77 year old ex police officer from New York who brought his wife's ashes back to
So, Tony Blair pressured Gordon Brown to keep the Iraq inquiry secret. Hardly surprising I would submit given the high level of personal investment he put into the Iraq war and that he is apparently eyeing the post of European President. I think it is no accident Blair chose a role in the Middle East Peace Process [...]
Last month, as I'm sure everyone remembers, there was a bit of a carry-on regarding Revd. Scott Rennie and his future in the Church of Scotland. Some conservative elements of the Kirk (and a whole lot more conservative churches outside it) decided that because he was gay, Revd. Rennie was unable to continue in the [...]
This message has arrived from my Lib Dem colleague Mike Tuffrey, who leads the Lib Dem trio at the GLA: I have been fighting for two years to get people on jobseekers' allowance half-price bus and tram travel. So I was delighted when the Mayor of London finally took up my plan. But I've discovered that [...]
http://mashable.com/2009/06/20/iran-youtube/
Like many other cricket lovers I shall be sitting down and watching my second home country Pakistan take on Sri Lanka. In cricket I support Pakistan so I do hope that Pakistan do win like many others I shall be watching in excitement. Many reading this will be loving to get something like this and start with the silly comments and childish games like "oooooh he is English and why is he supporting Pakistan" but the simple reason is I have always supported my second home team in Cricket and have always supported Brazil in the Football World Cup its ...
Exams are over, the Euros have come and gone (congrats, George!) and I'm now at home in sunny Argyll. I have no more excuses for not blogging, particularly as my friend Stephen has been convincing/badgering me to do so. And now, as is always the way, I've got all keyed up and I can't [...]
The BBC has a report about the Arabic blogosphere and just because I love to add my comment to everything here is my comment on the Arabic blogosphere. Blogs are growing across the world and I see that as a positive thing not because I am a blogger but because bloggers can add something positive to the Internet which is something that gets any geek happy. Blogs have a massive affect on politics and other debate on the Internet what ever blogosphere you look into that is why its great to see that blogs are growing and making an affect ...
Not denying the shared responsibility all political parties have and having been goaded by a new Labour sycophant of the highest order on OUTeverywhere (LGBT social networking site) who won't understand facts I feel that Labour share most of the blame for the rise of the far right. We have some explaining to do regarding the [...]
The Prime Minister has said that he will lead Labour into the next general election and has sent a message out to the plotters telling them that they should stop but I think this is a little amusing for many including myself. The Prime Minister expects too much from the general public. The public are against Mr Brown, the Labour party are against Mr Brown and its only a matter of time up till when Mr Brown will realise he needs to go. I have said in the past and will say it again Labour will ditch the Prime Minister ...
I spent yesterday evening in the company of John Lee and his wife, Monique, attending a fundraising dinner for the North West Region of the Party at Chorlton-cum-Hardy Golf Club. I've met John from time to time, but had never met Monique and, as a political spouse myself, I always enjoy meeting my opposite numbers. Monique was no disappointment, and I admit to being somewhat smitten. She's feisty and opinionated but absolutely charming, and we enjoyed a lovely evening of conversation, whilst all around us, the personae dramatis of North West liberal democracy spoke and mingled. I had the opportunity ...
What could be more pleasant than a gentle stroll down memory lane on a Sunday morning (and Father's Day, the longest day of the year and the official start of summer, no less). Yes, our wonderful MPs have voted to replace the tired, discredited First Past the Post system for general elections with the very-slightly-less-bad Alternative Vote (AV). They haven't just done it once, the buggers did it twice. First in 1918 (when we came within a whisker of having the Single Transferable Vote - STV) and then again in 1931. Sadly, the Lords kicked it into touch (yes, I ...
To Sheffield for the joint LGA/ALDC Conference. Yes, I know, I'm not a councillor and never have been, but I do enjoy a good conference. However, there was a difference - the venue. The rather puritan sense that we shouldn't enjoy ourselves too much has been replaced by an understanding that our councillors now actually run things and are a professional corps of people delivering real services and spending real money. That means running professional conferences at proper venues, and the Mercure St Paul Hotel in the middle of Sheffield certainly met the requirement. Spending time in the blogosphere as ...
It is just a few weeks since the BNP saw two MEPs elected - in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West. I have been meaning to write about this for the last three weeks but not had the chance.
Will Vince Cable's reputation for economic foresight ever recover from today's shocking Express revelation that the Lib Dem shadow chancellor: ... received 19 reminders and warnings from utility firms and office equipment suppliers during 2005-6. His electricity and gas suppliers both threatened to cut off his constituency office over non-payment of bills. Disconnection usually only takes place in cases of persistent non-payment. The following year he received a further total of 13 reminders and warnings. The office supply firm GE Capital Equipment claimed a total of £190 for overdue payments and "defaults". These extra costs all appear to have been ...
There's an in-depth feature on Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in today's Mail – well worth reading in full, but here's some selected highlights: On leadership: His deputy and Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable is acknowledged to have been the wisest head in last year's economic storm, but it's a tribute to Clegg's growing gravitas that people have mostly stopped saying the party chose the wrong man. He was strong during the expenses scandal, calling for a total reform of the system and positioning the Lib Dems as the party for people fed up with politicians. On MPs' expenses: Clegg has ...
{ Judith is asking for this broken handrail to be mended } Judith is asking the Woodland Department at Bradford Council to mend this broken handrail.
Happy...Birthday to {[info - personal]} amazing_hollyFathers' Day to all the Daddies reading thisSolsticeNew series of Top Gear day!Am feeling much better this morning, although I have some residual fatigue and aa headache. Will pop a couple of pills, and see you lot after work for some Statporn.... This blog is proudly sponsored by
I know from experience how hard it is building readers for a blog and how hard it can be to maintain them readers by giving them what they want every day or they will just find somewhere else to go and will abandon the blog so when I was reading a blog post on Tech Crunch about a blog that has been around in the USA for about 2 months and has a massive readership I was shocked. PoliticsDaily is a new politics blog by AOL the giant and is on the Internet to give political commentary (a bit like ...
There have been a number of occasions recently when I have heard cabinet ministers on TV and/or radio making complete idiots of themselves. The reason seems to me largely because of Gordon Brown's incompetence or ridiculous political posturing. Here is an example: On Radio 4's "Any Questions" this week there was a question about the Iraq Enquiry and Tessa Jowell tied herself up in knots. When questioned about why the government couldn't have taken the decision to hold it in public she insisted that it is not the place of a Minister to decide this and it must be for ...
Little Dougie Henderson, Labour MP for Newcastle North, could see his Parliamentary salary reduced if Gordon Brown gets his own way. Chairman Brown, no doubt supported by First Secretary Comrade Mandelson, is looking at paying MPs less when they have significant earnings from outside Parliament. Little Big McHenderson is earning a whopping £25 grand a year for "advice" from the capitalist giant
The BBC reports: Bloggers are having a real impact on opinions inside many Arabic nations, finds a broad look at the blogosphere in the Middle East. The study has given web researchers insight into the issues and forces that are shaping online conversation in the Middle East and beyond... "'Blogger,'" Mr. Ibrahim said, "has become almost a revered term in Egypt. Groups that are otherwise completely disenfranchised, the only outlet for them is online." "We found that the Arabic blogosphere is organised primarily around countries," Mr. Kelly said, noting that Egypt formed the largest cluster on the Arabic blogging map. ...
The BNP, bless their little cotton socks, have shown an ability to win the occasional local council seat under the First Past the Post electoral system. A couple of weeks ago, they also won two seats in the European Parliament for the first time. According to a story on the epolitix site, this has been enough for an ill-informed and foolish comment from Rotherham Labour MP Denis MacShane. Denis is keen to find a way to fix the system to exclude extremists - to brush them under the carpet and deny them representation so we can all happily pretend they ...
In case anyone has been wondering, I haven't disappeared from the face of the earth, I merely stopped blogging because I was immersed in the County Council Elections in Rayleigh North. To cut a long story short, I finished a cheerful second out of six candidates, closing the gap on the Conservative incumbent to about 6 percent:Stephen Charles Castle The Conservative Party Candidate 2095Chris
I'm on Eurostar travelling to Paris, having just left St Pancras. I'll be in France only for a one night stay. It's my first Eurostar trip since the international terminal was moved from Waterloo and having now seen St Pancras, it thoroughly deserves all the accolades it has received. Not everything this weekend has gone to plan. I had intended sorting my rather neglected garden in London
Welcome to the Sunday outing for The Voice's Daily View series. As it's a Sunday, today it comes with a special Obama in tights extravaganza. 2 Big Stories Iranian protests continue despite crackdown The BBC reports: Iranian police have used water cannon, batons, tear gas and live rounds to break up protests over the presidential election, witnesses in Tehran say. A BBC reporter said he saw one man shot and others injured amid running fights Defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi repeated calls for the election to be annulled on the grounds it was rigged. Their round-up page for the latest ...
I'm speaking on e-petitions soon at a conference in Edinburgh. That's a variant on coals-to-Newcastle, since the first government in the world to introduce online petitions was the Scottish Parliament. The system was developed for them by the International Teledemocracy Centre at Napier University, in Edinburgh. (Its name indicates that the ITC was founded before the term...
It's not every Sunday morning I get up at 3.30am, but that's exactly what I did this morning, in the name of the 4am Project! The brainchild of Karen Strunks, the 4am Project aims to gather a collection of photos from around the world at the magical time of 4am. I missed the first shoot back on 4th April (4/4) so with this re-run being held on the Summer Solstice in the Jewellery Quarter, I had no excuse. So armed with a flask of coffee and some spare batteries, I wandered down to St. Paul's Square. It was a pleasure ...
One of the customers brought me some cake in to work today. He knows I can't have chocolate, so he got caramel cake. I ate a bit of it before discovering that it had chocolate in. I then had a nice, embarrassing, sweaty meltdown at work. Mat had to come and get me, Liz was not happy, and I am losing out on 6 hours' pay. Luckily I only had a little bit... Still, a nice feverfew tablet, several hours in a nice dark bedroom, lots of water to drink and lots of snuggles, and I am feeling more human. ...
The Sunday papers don't have the greatest lead stories this morning, but this is the best. The Observer reports: Tony Blair urged Gordon Brown to hold the independent inquiry into the Iraq war in secret because he feared that he would be subjected to a "show trial" if it were opened to the public, the Observer can reveal. The revelation that the former prime minister, who led the country to war in March 2003, had intervened will fuel the anger of MPs, peers, military leaders and former civil servants, who were appalled by Brown's decision last week to order the ...
