I could not make the public meeting on the new Focsa depot in Great Bowden. According to the Harborough Mail, I was not the only one who was missing: More than 120 people attended a meeting at Great Bowden Church Hall on Tuesday night to discuss the issue but representatives from Focsa and the council declined to attend. The hall echoed with groans as meeting chairman, Harborough Lib Dem group chief Phil Knowles, revealed the council's deputy chief executive Kamal Mehta would not be attending. The council said afterwards this was because the meeting was organised by a political party ...
Had a long and fun day at Lib Dem Regional conference in York today, elected Deputy Chair of the region, many thanks everyone who voted. Very disappointed that Keighley Branch's motion on helping people with disabilities in the jobs market was defeated by ONE vote. This evening was at St martin's Church in Brighouse for a wonderful gig by the Yorkshire Youth Choir. They were tremendous. Should really comment on the fact that today is the anniversary of the glorious Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya (October Revolution). I'll come back to that at a later date, I really must go to bed.
I assume this has been erected to draw drivers' attention to the wonder or improbability of our very existence.
Wasn't Danyl Johnson superb on X Factor tonight! I suspect Lloyd Daniels is on his way out, but it should probably be Jedward ...
Ignore Iain Dale: this is better. Here is Louis Walsh quoted in last Sunday's Observer talking about Boyzone's first single: They had never been in a recording studio before. And the truth is, most of them were never in a recording studio again.
Parliamentary by-elections tend to result in a few stunts, but none so embarrassing as the purile stunt by SNP candidate, the rather arrogant David Kerr, in flinging a £2 coin towards the Labour candidate on Thursday night's "Politics Now" on STV. I was away Thursday evening so only saw the programme this afternoon. Whilst the other main party candidates acquitted themselves well in their own and different ways, the SNP candidate's brash and arrogant approach made the toes curl. The Daily Record from 21st July 2009 : "Kerr, the SNP candidate in Glasgow North-East, rubbished Glasgow Caledonian University and Paisley ...
Iain Dale blogged earlier revealing his 11 ideal guests at his ideal political dinner party. After a bit of a think, here are mine (most all of whom are significantly older than me and are people I don't know, though frankly it would just be good fun to watch these lot!): David Davies Ed Miliband Danny Finkelstein Polly Toynbee Chris Huhne Jeremy ...
A big shock today to hear that a 40 year old woman has been found unconscious in the area of Prudhoe I represent opposite Carnaby Close on Friday night and that she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Details have not yet been released but my heart goes out to her family and friends. The Police are appealing for anyone who was in the area between 10.50pm and 11.15pm on Friday to contact Northumbria Police on 03456 043 043 ext 69191 or to or ring the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan is the Tory candidate who will challenge Lib Dem MP for Berwick upon Tweed, Sir Alan Beith, at the general election. Lib Dems form the administration on Northumberland County Council though they do not have a majority of seats on the authority. The introduction of personal budgets in social services in Northumberland (a government requirement) has forced the County to close a
The Manager at Dundee Airport has advised me last night that the Dundee Airport Board has now firmly decided to introduce car parking charges at the airport from the end of this month. The possibility of such charges was raised at the recent Airport Consultative Committee I attended and although I made clear that I have no objection to the principle of introducing some charging to ensure no abuse of the parking facilities by non-airport users (particularly since the 8X bus service started stopping at the airport), I also said that that such charges should not act as a disincentive ...
With Remembrance Sunday tomorrow and with the price paid by our troops in Blood in Afghanistan rising by the day, it seemed an apt moment to talk to local residents about the Liberal Democrats campaign to get soldiers a living wage. Soldiers are paid a scandalously low wage considering the risks they take. The military predominately recruits from poorer communities, often from the North. As a result communities like Blaydon pay a higher price. The least they deserve is to be paid a decent wage. We went to Crawcrook and Ryton high streets to collect signatures for our petition. A ...
Often during a by-election campaign you can see a party which runs a council, or the government put extra resources into an area especially if it is the same party who is defending the vacant seat and the more cynical amongst us then accuse them of trying to buy the election. We have seen accusations thrown at the SNP for holding one of their national conversations pieces in Glasgow North East for example. However, it is rare, and some may even say stupid when you see a party defending a seat take the opposite action. Imagine if you will an ...
That's the message of RBC's annual electoral audit which is due to finish in two weeks time on 22 November. In plain english this is the process by which the Council checks that the electoral register is as accurate as possible. It's a message that has particular resonance in Redlands where votes were stolen in 2005. There is a high level of 'churn' in Reading - much like that found in many big cities and London boroughs. In Redlands the turnover of our electorate is around 50% each year. This is poses particular challenges for political parties and the Council. This, along with ...
At our local station, there is a poster up informing the long-suffering passengers that there will be no trains tomorrow (Sunday) at all on the First Capital Connect Great Northern route (London to Stevenage, Hertford, Cambridge etc.) due to a shortage of drivers! This doesn't help Mrs. LibCync who is staying over in London tonight and will need to try and make her way back home tomorrow. Seeking an alternative way home is made even harder by the fact that half the tube isn't working. Anyway, this appears to be the result of an unofficial ban on rest day working ...
Laurence Binyen 1869-1943"For The Fallen"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them
As part of the development of Birmingham City Council's new website, a new geographical information service has been rolled out. My Local Information allows you to find your nearest Council facilities such as libraries, schools, your rubbish collection day and local administrative information. The plan is to add further details over time and that residents will be able to use the service to report problems such as potholes or faulty streetlights. In the meantime you can of course report such issues direct to me via the 'Report a Problem' link on this website.
There was more success for the Stockfield U14 football team over half term. They won all six of their games in the Birmingham Star City Goals tournament to win the competition trophy. This means that the team are through to the Midlands regional finals, which will be held at Derby City FC's Soccer Dome at Pride Park on Saturday 14th November. Success at this tournament would mean a trip to Manchester for the National finals, so lets keep our fingers crossed that they can keep their winning streak going!
I made myself as popular as ever at the Council meeting last thursday. The Conservative administration were trying to sneek a fundemental change to the way local democracy works in Hillingdon without any one knowing about it. An eagle eyed resident spotted it and double quick the Council undertook a sham of a consultation to see whether we want and elected Mayor or a "new style" Leader and cabinet. The new style means the leader elected at the 1st Council meeting will be the leader for all 4 years. If thats the case then personally my vote goes for an ...
Allotments are great. They help people get out into the fresh air, get their hands dirty, get active, and grow their own fresh vegetables. What's not to love? I want to see more allotments here in Plymouth. So do lots of other people - the waiting list for an allotment plot here in the city is now over 1,150. In some parts the estimated waiting time is anything up to five years! Last year, in their manifesto for the last set of city council elections, the Conservatives promised to create many more allotments across the city. I checked in August, ...
When it comes to spotting surface water problems, you can't beat getting out after heavy rain. Sometimes the place you thought was a major problem turns out not to be so serious and one you hadn't spotted becomes obvious. Few people would suggest we could or should get rid of all puddles, but where pools of water are causing serious problems for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists they should be prioritised. So what did I find? Gatley Green Several issues around Gatley Green (which may be connected if there's a serious problem under the road). Outside Bethany Community Church: [IMG: Bethany ...
A little known hereditary peer, Lord Mereworth, has written to Peter Mandelson, in his role as Lord President of the Privy Council, to ask whether his disbarment, and that of other hereditary peers, was in fact legal. Lord Mereworth, who was denied his seat in the upper house as a consequence of the House of Lords Act in 1999, ...
By inclination, I am much more interested in modern history than in antiquity, yet each time I come to Leptis Magna, on the outskirts of Al Khoms in Libya, I am moved by the place. The setting alone, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, gives the site a certain romance. Not only is it the largest Roman ...
The headline recommendations from Sir Christopher Kelley's review of MPs' expenses have been widely covered. Despite this coverage, there is a series of detailed proposals which have been largely overlooked – including one which may yet put the leaders of political parties on the spot over cases involving their own MPs which they thought they had dealt with. You can read the full report here, but these are the details I have in mind: Travel: "MPs should expect to be treated in the same way as their constituents in this regard, unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary. That ...
All of us have experienced the frustration of waiting in for a repair man to call and then the way it makes you feel when they fail to show up all together. Imagine how you might feel if this had been going on for a period of months and the body responsible was your landlord: Reading Borough Council. I got a message yesterday to call a constituent who was in despair about the service she had received from Labour-controlled RBC. I called her immedietly to see what I could do to help. As with all these types of things I ...
I am pleased to see that the BBC has caught up with the rest of us in speculating whether the One Wales Agreement will survive the Labour leadership contest due to the three candidates' reluctance to commit to a referendum. Both Carwyn Jones and Edwina Hart seem convinced that we cannot proceed without full consultation within the Wales Labour Party, whilst Huw Lewis wants to defeat the Tories first. Meanwhile the world moves on. What they all need to understand is that this is not a decision for Labour alone. Yes it would help if we can have a unified ...
[IMG: ming-25] One in five people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in North East Fife are doing so for up to a year according to figures released to local MP Sir Menzies Campbell. Just under 10% of those on jobseekers allowance are claiming the benefit for up to 2 years. Commenting on the figures, Sir Menzies Campbell said: "The good news is that the vast majority - nearly three quarters - of people who sign on for jobseekers allowance in North East Fife manage to find a job in less than 6 months, with the average claim being less than three months. ...
The Daily Mail has a story about Viscount Falkland and overnight subsistence claims.
[IMG: Ming Campbell] Commenting on the Government's announcement that the London-Edinburgh East Coast Main Line will come into public ownership next week, North East Fife's MP Sir Menzies Campbell said: "This line is a vital artery for Scotland and is well used by people in North East Fife. The Government's mismanagement of the East Coast line - through a franchise system which allows companies to put short-term profits before passengers - has put this in jeopardy. "Indications that services will only remain in public hands until 2011 do not go far enough. The East Coast Main Line should remain in ...
[IMG: campbell-ne-fife-flooding1] Sir Menzies Campbell MP has called for "substantive measures" to be implemented in order to deal with the reoccurring risk of floods in North East Fife. The latest bout of flooding in North East Fife caused widespread disruption. Sir Menzies said: "Time and time again we are being caught short by nature and it is going to take a substantive range of measures to properly address this problem. "We must be proactive with flood defence as opposed to continually reacting to its damage. "Work needs to be done to identify properly the problem areas and to determine what ...
Some things just stick in your mind and months later you find yourself pondering why they happened. A year or so ago there was a planning application in for a development by the entrance to Southport's pier. (We have the 2nd longest pier in the country) The application upset many local folk. The officer's report firmly advised rejection. The minutes say: Minutes: The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director recommending that the above application for the erection of a single storey extension to the north east side and rear of the premises and external refurbishment ...
Thanks to those of you who have contacted me with information about the arrested Tories and the shenanigans in the local party. I am now clear who to watch and also clear about the role of the foreign 'sugar daddy'. As always; follow the money.....
Sat 7th
13:54
Alec Salmond's £434,000 St. Andrew's Day celebrations have nothing to do with an Independence ...
SNP plans for the most expensive St. Andrew's Day celebrations in Scotland, on 30th November, have nothing to do with the planned announcement of the independence referendum, according to party sources. In a time of austerity Scotland's Culture Minister claimed, there was no "sinister agenda" behind the SNP government's plans for Scotland's biggest ever St Andrew's ...
Confirmation, not that more is required, that the nasty rightwing moraliser who loves to go on about decent standards is not such an upright toff as he would have folk believe. Todays Independent carries the story: Natural slap *Years ago, when the Tory MP Eleanor Laing was speaking in the Commons in favour of lowering the age of consent for gays, she was interrupted by that grand old cauldron of moral indignation, Sir Nicholas Winterton, who demanded that she explain how anyone could justify the "unnatural" things gay men do "in terms of Christian morality". Sir Nicholas, now 71, and ...
Conservative Home has a frankly amazing story on Julie Kirkbride (MP for Bromsgrove) who is Andrew Mackay Bracknell MP's wife here. Julie Kirkbride has told the Bromsgrove Conservatives she wishes to be their candidate at the general election after already stating that she would stand down. The rumour is that 'David Cameron promised to try and save Julie Kirkbride's career at the time he forced her husband Andrew MacKay to step down'. I had wondered why there had been no Open Primary/Caucus like here in Bracknell where Phillip Lee won the right to be the Conservative PPC. Conservative Home states ...
I had a very productive meeting to explore the establishment of an all party parliamentary group on miscarriages of justice. Paddy Hill, Gerry Conlon, Vincent McGuire and John McManus joined MPs to discuss the setting up of the group and the creation of a retreat to provide medical, social and financial support and advice for miscarriage of justice victims on release from prison. I have been working with MOJO (Miscarriage of Justice Organisation) on this issue for some time and am in discussion with the Justice Department on the development of a business plan for the retreat.
The breathtaking incompetence of Tory Mayor of London Boris Johnson is in evidence again this weekend, with no fewer than SIX tube lines shut or partially shut Chris White comments: 'When the economy is on its knees because of Boris's friends in the City, the last thing we need is for tourists to be given a hard time on the tube.'
Just when I thought common sense, via Sir Christopher Kelly, had come to pass over the expenses mess, now we get another Sir (Ian Kennedy) wading in: But the Telegraph said on Saturday that Sir Ian was unhappy with some of (the Kelly proposals), including the move to compel MPs to return any capital gains made from the sale of second homes to the taxpayer. He was also reportedly concerned about the proposal to ban MPs from employing relatives on their payroll. So that's the whole Kelly report trashed then – those were the two main "radical" proposals which just ...
As one commenter to my blog wrote "Yesterday's headlines were "Liz Truss Comes out Fighting" (Iain Dale) and "Liz Truss Wins Over local paper" (Con Home). They should have waited a day for Saturday's EDP ! I think this finally does for Liz. Even Iain Dale cannot spin this one." What the Tory spinners failed to notice (from only looking at the online editions of the EDP) was that there was also a column in yesterdays EDP which absolutely castigated Liz Truss and those who from on high in the Tory Party, and outside of Norfolk, were dictating what they ...
After this morning's channel rescan I decided to phone up the Digital Switchover helpline. The nice young man who is paid to receive our calls was at first baffled by the fact that I'm having to retune every day but went away and got an answer. So thank you to him. The answer seems to be that at the moment they're transmitting at well below their final intensity, especially overnight. That tallies with reports which some people have mentioned to me about their signals getting blocky. Apparently full intensity will be restored after 2nd December (I'll wait and see before ...
It was a good experiment - holding an advice surgery in Budgens in Crouch End - to see if putting myself where people are enabled those who normally might not get round to making an actual appointment to see me as their MP - bring their worries to my attention. First thanks to Budgens - who placed me in the vegetable and fruit department (warm thank goodness - unlike the cold cabinets) [IMG: Lynne Featherstone's advice surgery in Budgens, Crouch End] - right by the entrance so highly visible. Excellent position. We had chosen Budgens because Andrew Thornton and the ...
Fresh Squeezings From the veins of the InternetAlan Johnson's Nutt Sack is still causing ructions. Nature has a particularly scathing article on it, in which they say that Britain's politicians can't cope with intelligent debate. Ben Goldacre's post today is also illuminating. I choose to take some hope from the fact that Lord Drayson has broken cover on this, though. How you react to problems with gadgets may be partly determined by gender. I'm posting this simply because it's one of those rare things where I fall down on the female side rather than the male. If something goes wrong ...
Christmas shoppers can benefit from free parking after 3pm on Thursdays in December in the run up to Christmas. The measure was moved as an amendment by the Council's Cabinet at its meeting last night, 5th November, as part of its consideration of a report into car parking. Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Transport, Councillor ...
Some interesting findings are contained in the Department for Work and Pensions's recent research into public attitudes and experiences in the UK ("Attitudes to age in Britain 2004-08", based on five national surveys). On age discrimination: Over a quarter (26 per cent) of respondents had experienced ageism. Among respondents of all ages, ageism was experienced more commonly than any other form of prejudice. Younger respondents reported experiencing more discrimination of all types, including ageism. Age discrimination was more likely to be experienced by respondents who were retired or not working, and by respondents who were not married/not living as married. ...
Although Julian Dobson finds his graph of level of retail development in our town centres a cause for pessimism, I actually find it grounds for quiet optimism. As his graph shows, the volume of such development fell steadily for around 25 years - as out of town developments took off - but then started rising modestly in the next ten years. Although he's right to highlight how that trend is likely to have been knocked off course by the recession, I am quietly optimistic for three reasons. First, turning round a 25 year story of decline is in itself a ...
[IMG: Me by the wall last time it was knocked down] Its not very often that residents contact you asking for the Council not to repair something, but that is what happened this week with the smashed wall at the end of Ridge Road. The wall is outside Chettle Court, at the entrance to the little row of houses called Highbank Way. The wall is regularly knocked down by cars reversing and turning, and residents are fed up with seeing money wasted endlessly repairing it. This picture is of me by the wall in August last time it was damaged. ...
The obvious answer to this question from most people is surprisingly knee-jerk libertarian. For a nation that loves banning things though, we would be loathe to give up our yearly dose of gunpowder. "How dare the political correctness brigade try to infringe our British culture", might be the cry from the Littlejohn pages, despite it ...
Last night, along with colleagues from Friends of Magdalen Green, I attended the Dundee Partnership Awards at the City Chambers. The Friends have won the Environment category of the Partnership Awards 2009 and we are pictured above accepting the award from the Dundee Partnership Chair and leader of the City Council. It was a very pleasant evening and, in addition to our own success in the awards, it was good to see the great work undertaken by the other groups across Dundee who won the other award categories.
Thankfully my travails with Vodafone customer service seem to be coming to an end. The helpful Web Relations Team seem to be sorting things out and the service is now much more reliable. It's still a concern that approaching a dozen Vodafone staff have at one point or another got something wrong, including failing to follow their own procedures and wrongly taking money from me. I've either been phenomenally unlucky or they've got some very deep and widespread problems. But we'll see how things go from here. One ironic footnote I noticed today in the news. You may recall how: ...
I was just watching BBC Breakfast as they demonstrated how, if you try to buy something on Next's website, they helpfully set up a store account for you, with a £300 credit limit, and presumably a whacking great interest rate. Of course £300 of unwanted store card, or even a few £000 of automatically increased credit card limit, is irritating, and for some people dangerous. However, I have good reason to think this is a problem that is in decline. When I was a student, I had an account (rather than a store card) with Heffers bookshop. Sometime around 2000, ...
The last few days have been a cause for remembering different things with grateful thanks to different people. First of all my mother reached the grand age of 92 having flirted with death several times in the last 12 months but now in the words of her grand-daughter seeing the birthday photos "she looks as well as she did 10 years ago". Many thanks to the staff at her care home for the TLC they
A government adviser has resigned in protest at the sacking of a colleague from the MOD advisory group which is deciding how to dispose of the UK's decommissioned nuclear submarines. Peter Lanyon says his position is no longer tenable as his views and those of his sacked colleague were not being considered. Dr Jane Hunt, a specialist in Environmental Projects at Lancaster University was sacked from the advisory group of the Submarine Dismantling Project and has now resigned from its steering group. In a letter to the project Dr Hunt said that the MoD is adopting a "decide, announce, defend" ...
I had to chuckle on reading that not only did BNP Leader, and MEP, Nick Griffin claim to have been racially abused and that a Court had found the accused not guilty.
Last night I was out on the streets of Darlington, in a police van most of the time, looking for underage drinkers. Three teams were out around town last night: one covering the town centre area, one covering the east and one the north and west. I went out with two constables and six pcso's, including our North Road team.After what can only be described as a heart attack inducing fuel stop for
Welcome to part five of our "Introduction to blogging" guide for Liberal Democrat bloggers or would-be bloggers. It's appearing each Saturday between now and Christmas, with all the posts available via this page. The series will then be revised and collated into an e-book, so please do post up your comments as the series progresses. Today it's the turn of Paul Walter, who looks at the question of how to handle comments which appear on your blog. There are a number of approaches on handling comments. It's a question of finding a method which you are comfortable with. It's probably ...
Thanks to John Hemming for pointing us to a news report on channelonline.tv: A Jersey accountant jailed in 2007 for six years for money laundering has had his conviction quashed. His defence council took his case to the Jersey Court Of Appeal but it was rejected. They then took it to the Privy Council - the highest court islanders can appeal to - where it was finally quashed. The judge, Commissioner Sir Geoffrey Nice was branded 'sarcastic, mocking and patronising.' He interrupted Mr Michel 273 times as he was giving evidence. It's now expected to cost the Jersey tax payer ...
I reckon Kilburn is one of the first communities of England... Watling Street was built in AD 44 as the route motorway into Britain and eventually into wales. It was the principle route north and weas the thorough fare for all travel north. Any Roman Emperor in Britain came through Kilburn along Watling Street... Here are some - are there others? I've ended the cycle of ancients with Alfred the Great and his coin of the conquest of London after the Watling Street treaty of AD 878. Hence Danelaw = Camden and Wessex = Brent
I buy my red poppy because the money raised by the British Legion goes towards improving the lives of those in the services who have been injured - and relatives who have been bereaved. It's totally inadequate, but thank you to all who have served our country in the armed forces. [IMG: British Legion Poppy] It doesn't matter how a poppy is worn and I wouldn't dream of being a "poppy fascist", but just incase anyone wants to know I have found out from a British Legion ex-serviceman the correct way to wear one: A woman's poppy should be worn ...
The Scottish Liberal Democrats candidate for the Glasgow North East by-election candidate, Eileen Baxendale has had a busy week with visits in Glasgow North East with Leader Tavish Scott, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael and yesterday former UK Leader, Charles Kennedy MP. Eileen Baxendale hasn't taken a day off since she was selected to fight the seat made vacant over 120 days ago when Michael Martin stood down. Former UK Liberal Democrats Leader, Charles Kennedy MP joined Eileen Baxendale on the campaign trail yesterday doing a walkabout on Alexandra Parade in Glasgow North East talking to shoppers ...
One we mised from earlier in the week. This video relates to First Minister's Questions on Tuesday 3rd November.
Coming up to Rememberance Sunday, I'd just like to draw my readers' attention to the Royal British Legion's 'Time to Do Your Bit' campaign, which calls on members of the public and politicians to do their bit to help deliver a fair deal to ...
Commenting on the news that organisers of the 2012 Olympics are putting £700m of contracts out to tender, Liberal Democrat Shadow Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "Increasing opportunities for businesses from across the UK is a key part of the Government's Olympic Legacy plan. "The information released today shows that so far a disproportionate number of contracts have been awarded to businesses based in London and the South East. "It is great that so many contracts are still up for grabs but officials need to make sure that more is done so that all areas of the country benefit."
Commenting on Government figures showing that £3bn in benefit expenditure last year was overpaid because of fraud and error, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb said: "The Government's failure to get to grips with the over-complex benefits system is appalling, especially when so much is down to official error. "It is staggeringly unfair that the taxpayer is forced to stump up billions of pounds just because officials are unable to administer a system of their own creation. "The benefits system is crucial to help people in a recession. It cannot afford to lose money because of poor ...
This is the first of a column which will appear weekly from now on. It is simply a list of broken promises - cases where Herts Highways (the highways bit of the Tory controlled county council) have promised something to elected members or to the public and then have gone back on their word. I suspect the list will be added to. I hope, however, that it will be reduced to nothing and I am meeting the Chief Executive on Monday to try and arrange just that. BROKEN PROMISE 1: Lemsford Road: resurfacing was repeatedly promised and I even checked ...
For local readers of this blog, http://www.whickham.mobi is worth checking out. It is a commercially run site which provides information about businesses in the Whickham area. It also has a news section. The site is designed to be accessible through your mobile.The interesting point for me is that I write most of the news that the site carries. The people behind the site approached myself and my
[IMG: Dustcart] According to today's Journal the North East trails the rest of the country in its recycling rates. The best are right up there, like Castle Morpeth in Northumberland, but most of County Durham trails far behind the national average of 37.6%. Interestingly the former Derwentside area was one of the best in the County Durham at 33.56%. I've always had a lot of respect for the team at Morrison Busty and hoped that the county would adopt their approach, but unfortunately it sometimes seems that anything done by Derwentside is automatically disrespected at County Hall. Now the cavalry ...
Drayson was one of the smarter pigs on Manor Farm he was an Oxford Sandy and Black by breed. After Mr Nutt the Pharmacist was driven away from Manor farm by Johnson the Eastern Yorkshire, Brown the Scottish Saddleback charged Drayson with creating some rules by which all the animals could settle their grievances. After a few days of thought he came to Brown and said he was ready. All the animals assembled from both barns met down by by the river and listened to Brown as he read out what Drayson had previously written up on the side of ...
Occasionally you see photos of politicians with their families. It sets the scene as the prospective MP as a family member. It may tell you something about their values but it probably just tells you that they have a family. They must think that being a family member wins votes. The problem with this is that if family members are useful as political propaganda then they are also useful for political criticism and the MPs don't have a defence if family members make the news. A similar line could be taken when MPs mention their religion. They hope that their ...
