What's this Liberal Democrat opposed to democracy?!?! No wonder their a dead party! Siding with the Tories again? *pah* You've been sucked into the Tory Spin Machine! By siding with them you are condemning us to having the airport... Right that's got that out the way and none of them are true by the way, I'm sure more criticisms from labour will come my way but I'm allowed to have my opinion and I agree with a lot of what Councillor Mike O'Brien has said about Labour's proposed referendum. In a recent Council Cabinet Labour proposed a motion for a ...
Speaking at tonight's Islington Liberal Democrats pizza and politics, Lib Dem peer Judith Jolly took members through the health bill in impressive detail, outlining the main areas of contention and of Liberal Democrat pressure. One issue that inevitably came up was the question of competition in the NHS. As I've written previously: Health experts at the University of Bristol have been looking into the impact of the competition introduced into the NHS by the last Labour government: Hospitals rated as better by the health quality regulator before the policy reform attracted more patients and from further away post reform. This ...
Homer Simpson gives Bart three pieces of advice that will get him through life. "Cover for me, good idea boss and it was like that when I got here" and it is the good idea boss that inspires this blog. It applies to everyone in work. All employees need to be diplomatic around their employer and it is not unknown for employees to butter up their managers. However this is not always the case and there are many reasons why some employees can't do this. Not everyone gets on with their manager. Some people don't even take jobs because they ...
William Mayne was one of Britain's very best children's writers from the 1950s until his death a couple of years ago. And in 2004 for he was gaoled for two-and-a-half years for offences against children. Now a post on Freaky Trigger by someone who calls himself pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør (as is his right in a free country) returns to this troubling case: It seems to me challengingly important, because so challengingly dreadful, to propose that a genuinely lovely writer, a writer deeply worth reading, by children and adults, can at the same time be an abusive man who ...
Thanks to top Harborough tweeter @solarpilchard for alerting us to this film from 1959 on the Media Archive for Central England website: Jenny Martin begins the report with a piece to camera explaining that Jack Watling is squatting up a pole in Market Harborough to publicise a film. She then calls upon the services of fireman Tom Alcock to carry her up a ladder to Mr Watling's hut at the top of the scaffolding structure. She then interviews Watling about his experiences of spending five days and nights in his hut.Which film was he publicising? The Harborough Mail has gone ...
Wed 25th
20:16
Cabinet (Wirral Council) 12th January 2012 Any Other Business - Urgent Business Approved by the Chai...
Jim Wilkie, Chief Executive said he would make some very brief comments and did about the Anna Klonowski report and the other summaries attached. Cllr Steve Foulkes said it was a "damning report". He hoped the members of the public could understand why there had been an elongation of the Right to Reply to allow ...
Late last year, Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie appointed North East Fife MP and former leader Sir Menzies Campbell to chair a Commission on Home and Community Rule to set out exactly how a liberal Scotland would divide up government power. Uniquely, our party looks at ways of devolving power from as well as to Holyrood. Sir Menzies today e-mailed Scottish members to let them know he wants their views and outlining plans for a consultative session at the Party's Inverness conference in March. (Should you wish to attend, please note that the deadline to register at the cheaper ...
Much as though I don't want my blog to become a commentary on the world of Social Media I could not let the compulsory change of all Facebook Walls to Timeline pass without muttering some words. I actually changed over to Timeline before Christmas and I have to say I actually quite like it. I have had a chance to look back on holidays easily, relive events in my life and smile at different occasions I have enjoyed over the last 5 years - yes, it really is 5 years since I joined Facebook. I must admit there were painful ...
It is with great sadness that I learned yesterday of the death of Kathleen Smith, Honorary President of Dundee Liberal Democrat Association. Kathleen was 89 and passed away just a few weeks after the death of her husband of 63 years, Jack. Kathleen and Jack were both leading members of Dundee West Liberal Association and thereafter Dundee Liberal Democrats over many years. They helped keep the Liberal cause going in the difficult days of the 1950s and 1960s and, as a young election agent in 1984, I remember Kathleen's kindness in giving a generous donation towards the election of Dundee's ...
The BBC reports: The UK's statistics watchdog has rebuked a minister over his handling of controversial figures on benefits claimed by immigrants. Sir Michael Scholar, head of the UK Statistics Authority, has written to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, questioning the way he released the figures almost week ago. He highlighted that the figures were presented to the public as if they were official figures but in fact had not been through the rigorous and impartial process for publishing such numbers: Sir Michael said: "Many users have treated them as official statistics, and have assumed that they should ...
The Lib Dem GLA team have submitted their amendments to Boris's budget. Lots of useful suggestions to save lots of money from what appears wasteful or overly generous staff perks – such as free housing for senior Police officers to free travel for TfL friends and family. This budget would see £10 less taken from every London family every year while providing the following extras: Reinstate the 150 sergeants -I'd hope we'd get our East Dulwich sergeant back again. One PCSO within each Safer Neighbourhood Team to work with young people. Fund more Safer London Foundation to boroughs with the ...
Wed 25th
18:01
Protect frontline policing and give Londoners back a tenner: a better budget for London
Today Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly published their alternative budget for London, protecting frontline public services whilst also detailing cuts to waste and perks that will cut bills for ordinary Londoners. The budget includes: A better and fairer fares package, including a One Hour Bus Ticket, the introduction of part-weekly Travelcards, the reintroduction of a one-day Zone 2 – 6 Travelcard and a lower 'early bird' fare for tube, DLR and TfL rail; The reinstatement of 150 police sergeant posts that have been removed from Safer Neighbourhood Teams across London; and Action to start switching all of London's bus ...
On Saturday 21 January, a dozen or so members of the Scottish arm of the Social Liberal Forum, including former parliamentarians Robert Brown and Elspeth Attwooll, braved a bright but raw Scottish morning to meet in Partick Burgh Hall in the heart of Glasgow's West End. This steering committee's job was to plan the advance of the Forum's work in Scotland in the coming year and beyond. Two hours of lively discussion ensued. Discontent with some aspects of coalition policy was taken as a given. A number of speakers gave examples from across the country of the loss of members ...
After a lengthy twitter debate with Hull East MP Karl Turner over government health reforms I feel I have to ask the question.Does East Hull Labour Party have a memory wiping device? I ask, because both this MP, and his predecessor John Prescott seem to have forgotten previous Labour government policy. For JP it was the reforms to NHS direct that he seemed to forget were A) in the Labour manifesto and b) the cuts he was campaigning against we're in the last Labour budgets. For Karl, I'll give a bit of leeway as he wasn't a Labour MP at ...
Work will start on the Rufford Road and Bankfield Lane traffic calming scheme on Monday the 30th January. The work is expected to last for five weeks. The speed management scheme involves speed cushions, improvedroad markings and signage, vehicle activated speed signs, and improvements tothe zebra crossing on Rufford Road. There was an exceptionally high response to the consultationwith local residents on this scheme, with many very positive comments made. Thetraffic measures are being introduced following 22 accidents that have occurredalong Bankfield Lane and Rufford Road, including the tragic death of a youngmotorcyclist on Bankfield Lane. Buses and emergency vehicles ...
The BBC reports that the Welsh national anthem has won out in an academic study which looks to measure "sing-ability" of patriotic songs. They say that a musicologist has found that people are more willing to join in with a chorus from Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau than the UK's official anthem, God Save the Queen, and USA's Star-Spangled Banner: The French anthem La Marseillaise topped a list produced by experts at the universities of York and London. It was rated with a "sing-along-ability" score of 50.98% with Wales second on 41.81%. This compares with Australia (36.03%), Germany (31.71%), Canada (31.53%), ...
Are you considering a street party to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics this summer? Cambridge City Council is waiving its usual road closure fees for parties in Cambridgeshire marking the Diamond Jubilee or the Olympic Games. The application process has been simplified too, to make it easier for people to mark the two big events. Anyone who would like to hold a party can contact the City Council on 507176, or visit the Council's website on this topic. People putting on the party as part of a group might also want to consider applying for a grant ...
Cornwall Council's Cabinet met today to discuss a number of important issues (not least their handbrake turn on the buses) but the story that will probably make tomorrow's papers will be the Leader's extraordinary outburst about the use of Twitter. Those with reasonable medium-term memories will recall a brief storm over Councillors using the social ...
I swore blind that I would not get drawn into what promises to be a long running battle over Scottish independence but Simon Hughes' call for an English Parliament to answer the West Lothian Question has prompted me to pen this piece. Scottish Nationalists wrongly claim that there is an easy solution to the West Lothian Question - independence for Scotland. They fail to remember that we still have devolution in Northern Ireland, Wales and the London Assembly. Independence for we Scots doesn't make the issue go away for others. We still refer to it as the West Lothian Question ...
There is an old adage to the effect that the Franco-German relationship exists to both hide France's weakness and obscure German strength. Post-reunification, Germany has had an uneasy relationship with its own power. It remains a reluctant military power, much to the frustration of its allies in Washington, London and NATO; and in the EU it has preferred to wield it's clout quietly, allowing France's Nicholas Sarkozy to take the lead on promoting a "Merkozy" agenda while keeping its own arm-twisting activities behind closed doors. The one area in which Germany has been contend to exert itself has been economic. ...
I don't know what pushed Cornwall Council Leader Alec Robertson over the edge today, but he turned what should have been a good news day into one where he will get no end of bad press. The reason was his attempt to institute a twitter ban during the Cabinet meeting. After being absent for the first part of the meeting, Cllr Robertson arrived and proceeded to read some of the tweets that had been posted by Cllr Jeremy Rowe and myself. He then claimed that the council's new broadcast policy meant that he had the power to ban the use ...
As with the UK Government's Consultation, I have responded to the Scottish Government's Consultation on the Independence Referendum and suggest you do the same: To whom it concerns, I enclose my response to the questions raised in the Scottish Government's Consultation Paper on the Independence Referendum. I draw particular attention to my recommendations in respect of the franchise and the need for a public and legally clear second question so as best to make clear independence takes primacy in the event of a double-Yes vote, Regards Graeme Cowie Q1: What are your views on the referendum question and the design ...
Vince Cable has made announcements this week on Coalition Government proposals to help rein in excessive levels of pay for company directors and senior staff. It's an issue that I have raised on many occasions so I'm pleased to see action at last. As I pointed out in a debate on bankers' bonuses on Monday, ...
Post Offices in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend have been saved by Liberal Democrat Business Minister, Ed Davey. After ending Labour's shameful Post Office closure programme, which saw more than 7100 Post Offices disappear in their 13 years in office, Ed Davey has announced that a ten-year deal between the Post Office and the Royal Mail has been reached. The deal gives additional certainty to subpostmasters across the UK and covers the full range of Royal Mail products available at post offices such as first and second class post, parcels, air mail, recorded and special deliveries. It adds to ...
Child maintenance is a life-line for many single parent families, whose children are twice as likely to live in poverty as those of couple families. The Government's proposals to attach charges to access the Child Support Agency will see vulnerable families with no option but to seek state help to gain maintenance pushed further into financial distress - with their children ultimately footing the bill. After a week of turmoil in the House of Lords where crossbench alliances have proven crucial, this evening attention will turn to the Government's child maintenance proposals - and the possibility of another government defeat ...
Veg box came today, and we had some leftover stuff from last week too, so I have been busy in the kitchen. I have a HUGE pan of French Onion Soup, two cottage pies, a pan of bolognese sauce, some cheesy jacket potatoes, some fresh squeezed juice, and ten two-person portions of mixed veg all prepped and ready to just throw in the steamer. This afternoon I shall be making crumbles and pies and bananananana bread. I feel I have acheived something. Anyone want some french onion soup? [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The best way to look at the emphasis of what Alex Salmond said as he launched his bid for a referendum on Scottish independence is through this Wordle. In all that is 2312 words during which he said some of the keys ones this many times: Scotland 39referendum 32people 25Parliament 16government 15 (of which UK 5, Scottish 4)Scottish 13independence 12country 12question 10consultation 9UK 7Burns 6fair 5Electoral CommissionUnion 3 (One the 1707 Union, one European Union and one a new social union)legal challenge 1mandate 1One of those words above I highlighted was question. In his speech he has outlined what he ...
Wed 25th
14:42Cabinet 12th January 2012 Declarations of Interest, Minutes (8/12/11) & objections (12/12/11), A...
Bearing in mind the previous interests I have mentioned in this matter I will try to write this up in as fair a way as possible! Present: All Cabinet Members Cllr Steve Foulkes started the meeting by saying "What a day!" He wished people present a good evening and said he was changing the agenda ...
This is a piece I wrote for the new Liberal Youth Online Blogging Platform Libertine. It was first published 24/01/12. "The current crop of 18-25 year olds is the most politically apathetic in American history. In 1972 half of that age group voted. Last election, it was 32%. Your generation is less likely than any previously ...
People living in the Holmefield Road/Aigburth Hall Avenue area will know about the new Tesco that is going to open where the Spar used to be on Holmefield Road. Today the licensing committee was making the decision about the alcohol license - the issues being whether to grant one and whether to make any changes to what Tesco was asking for. I went along to speak on behalf of some local residents on Aigburth Hall Avenue who were worried that the return of alcohol sales at that location would mean the return of the drink related asb they had endured ...
The papers for the Highways Joint Member Panel, the body which debates highways issues in St Albans have been published. They can be found here.
Labour's policy review This is the first *potential* sketch feature, which has been discussed for over a year now. Alas for the poor quality, still waiting on my HD camera to arrive and, thus, resorting to Playbook (could be worse). Also, should have a functioning player plug-in by the next episode; currently cannot embed Blip.tv ...
For some reason The Guardian won't let you embed their highlights of the State of the Union but you can link to it here. I have three observations. 1. The moment Obama meets Gifford's is genuinely moving. 2. The claiming of the removal of Gadaffi and the strong threat to Iran is genuinely chilling. 3. What is a suntanned Liam Fox doing sitting right behind Obama's left shoulder (our right) :-)
It is now over a week since Nick Clegg held his joint press conference with President Abbas of Palestine in which he referred to Israeli settlement construction as "vandalism". Before his comments fade out of the news altogether, it is worth thinking through the implications of what he said - and thanking him for his courage in making them. Could they have come from the mouth of a Conservative minister? By calling the settlement building "an act of deliberate vandalism to the basic premise on which negotiations have taken place for years and years and years", Nick hit two important ...
Wed 25th
13:54Cabinet 12th January 2012 AOB - Urgent Business Approved by the Chair (Part 1) - Independent Review ...
Before I write this up, I need to (to be ethical) state a raft of conflicts of interest as I have been overcharged by Wirral Council's Social Services in the past in the time period around 2004-2005. However the money has since been refunded to me. There are further many conflicts of interest I now ...
Tomorrow (Thursday 26th) marks three years since the launch of BloggingPortal - a website ran by volunteers that now aggregates more than 900 blogs written in an array of European languages and each discussing European affairs and political activity.As many will testify, a week is a long time in politics (all the more so in current times of European crises) but over the last three years, blogging
Two parties working together at a time of economic crisis? An arrangement meeting scorn and abuse from the media? A new Prime Minister accused of dominating his junior partner? One party attempting and failing to achieve electoral reform? Yes, this is not 2010 - it is 1977, the year of the Lib-Lab Pact. In 1976, the country was in economic and political crisis. Inflation ran at 25%, the country was in huge deficit, unemployment continued to creep upwards, and spending cuts were installed as a condition of a loan from the IMF. The Labour government had lost its' majority in ...
Here's the opening sentence of the Telegraph story on the proposed bonus for Stephen Hester, CEO of state owned, loss making RBS Gobsmacking. I also don't quite understand how MP's have such a huge problem giving themselves any sort of payrise on the grounds that it looks bad, yet seem powerless to stop all this. I know the arguments - it's an independent pay committee who decide blah blah blah. I just happen to think, it's nonsense.
To expect a rebound is unrealistic. But Britain is benefitting from not being part of the euro. The outlook for the euro is truly dismal. The EU is undemocratic to the point where the electorate is disaffected and ungovernable.
Nick Clegg's Mansion House speech on "a more responsible capitalism" gathered publicity, particularly for his widely-reported call for employees to be given the right to ask for shares in the company they work for. I am still puzzling over how people can be given a right they already have. Anyone can ask for shares at present, of course, but with no guarantee of an answer. It would be meant something if Nick had called for employees to have the right to be given shares in their companies when they asked. It would have meant even more if he could have ...
Helena Kennedy had a killer fact on Today this morning. Just eight – eight – count them – 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 – UK cases were adjudicated upon by the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights last year. Their main concern is helping to improve human rights by judging on cases from Russia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine – surely a cause we'd all support in this country... Eight cases. So what on earth is all the fuss about? [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
This is a lunchtime blogpost. Last week, in the aftermath of what I consider to be more shameful, and utterly illiberal voting by Lib Dem peers on the Welfare Reform Bill, I wrote this blogpost about my determination to make sure that there was some sort of fightback against what I can only describe as a shameful and deeply worrying dismissal of the democratic will of the party by our parliamentarians. Fortunately it turns out that there were plenty of others who felt the same way I did. The same evening I was contacted by Gareth Epps, key member of ...
Below is a commentary of last night's cabinet meeting that took place in Ealing Town Hall. I was joined by fellow Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Steed. Cabinet is a strange type of meeting which involves all the important decisions that Ealing Council has to make but there is no discussion allowed! The three main topics raised were: 1. Council Budget for the next three years - The council is to upgrade street lighting to an LED system which is apparently 40% cheaper to run. This means the Council will spend money on the upgrade and then in future years will ...
Wed 25th
11:55
Lynne Featherstone MP writes... We do not just elect individuals, we elect people to be members of a...
Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone writes a monthly column for one of her local newspapers. Here is the latest edition, looking at Parliamentary representation. Our Parliament has come a long way in recent years. In fact, watching 'The Iron Lady' with Margaret Thatcher sticking out like a blue female sore thumb amongst the total male greyness of the then chamber - it reminded me of how recently in history this establishment was nearly all male. However, despite real progress, it is still nowhere near reflecting the percentage of women in the country – and that is without even starting to ...
Cornwall Council's cabinet today confirmed that no bus routes would be cut for the next two years but also voted to ask the Government to be allowed to pilot a flat rate 50p charge for 'free' bus pass holders. The first decision is, of course, very welcome as I blogged yesterday. But there is a high degree of concern that we will be going through the process again in just two years and routes may be under threat again then. The instinct of other authorities has been to cut. As Cllr Hicks (an avid reader of this blog) pointed out, ...
Bulgarian media desperately seek expert on Scotland.
Soldiers of Salamis (Soldados de Salamina), Javier Cercas The first book I read by Cercas (his most recent) was The Anatomy of a Moment, a factual work of historical interpretation. Soldiers of Salamis is a fictional work of historical imagination. The novel is authored by a fictional 'Javier Cercas', an alter ego who tells the story of the real Rafael Sánchez Mazas, a "good, not great" writer and nationalist leader of the Falange, Spain's Fascist movement, who fled a firing squad and only evaded re-capture and certain death thanks to "an anonymous defeated soldier", a republican 'forest friend'. Divided into ...
You might remember that, when Labour were in power, the Lib Dems run several "Save our post office" campaigns – sadly with limited success as Labour closed many post offices across the area. The Labour government were determined to close large chunks of the Post Office network. Now the Lib Dems in Government are sticking up for Post Offices. Post Offices across Stockport have been saved by Liberal Democrat Business Minister, Ed Davey. After ending Labour's shameful Post Office closure programme, which saw more than 7,100 Post Offices disappear in their 13 years in office, Ed Davey has announce a ...
Dog poo is a big issue in Southwark. During the last year 3,482 REPORTED dog poo incidents were made to Southwark Council. On an average month 50 complaints about specific dogs fouling made by residents. In the last residents survey dog poo was in the top three problems for their area. To try and help with this the council is going to increase Fixed Penalty Notices from the current £50 to £75. Only 85 such dog poo FPN's were issued last year so it wont be a huge money spinner but it might just help a little bit to encourage ...
I was away on holiday last week. A holiday that was booked to avoid a Cabinet meeting. The date of the meeting was then delayed and, unfortunately I missed the meeting. There were 2 items on the agenda that kept me texting my colleagues for updates, the provision of toilet facilities at meals Park (more of this in a future posting) and the proposal to mothball the Cultural Centre. The proposal to mothball the building has, quite rightly, resulted in public outrage. I can also assure you that my fellow Liberal Democrat Councillors shared this view. However, all possible savings ...
The latest edition of the Journal of Liberal History caries this account from me of the conference meeting which launched the new history of the party, Peace, Reform and Liberation. You can watch the meeting in full here. It would be a brave person who walked up to Paddy Ashdown or Shirley Williams and told them to their face that they are history, or even old, but they are two of the most charismatic, interesting and thoughtful members of the living history class - people who have been around in politics long enough to be able to talk at first ...
Britain has seen an odd shift in discussion. Whilst debate still exists at its core explanation - a discussion of disagreement - the art of conciliation and being open to other ideas, perhaps which alter your own ideas, seems to be slowly dying. Our country seems to be locked in a paralysing state of polarisation - the "left" idea, and the "right" idea, and there is very few of us happy to occupy the infinite amount of greys that exist between those black and white concepts. Immigration is a classic example. The far-right view is that foreigners are damaging our ...
Say Educational Maintenance Allowance to most Liberal Youth members and you tend to receive a rant about how pointless the scheme was. These members, on the whole, have never truly experienced the widespread difference EMA made to hundreds of thousands of students. Some haven't set foot in Further Education for years and only take their ...
The Lib Dem team have reported a water leak at the Kingsway junction to United Utilities, so it should be seen to soon. The water is bubbling up by the central reservation on the Gatley side of the junction and, without all the other rain around, it quite obvious this morning if you pass by. If you see a water leak, you can report it to United Utilities by calling 0800 33 00 33 or filling in the online form.
Technogran's Tittle Tattle: What's in a name? The G+ question. Technogran is pone of those very cool people I would never have come across without G+ (tags: social ) Google+ New Naming Policy: Too Little, Too Late (tags: social ) RIAA Accounting: Why Even Major Label Musicians Rarely Make Money From Album Sales (tags: music ) Exercising and Exorcising: on Fitness and Fatness (tags: exercise ) Star Trek meets Monty Python. [VIDEO] This video is far too silly. (tags: silly python trek ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
There is a crisis in our social care system and it needs addressing as a matter of urgency. I made a public call for cross party talks on social care following an interview on BBC Radio Berkshire last Autumn. The interview came about because I started a campaign, 'Crusading for Carers', aimed at highlighting the plight of carers. During that interview I was asked what I'd like politicians to do about the growing crisis in our social care system. I was aware of the Dilnot Report and of the cross party talks that took place prior to the General Election ...
The last Labour government, to put it kindly, did not have the greatest record on post offices with over 7000 of them (38%) closing on their watch. Anyhoo the press association reports. "The Government has secured the future of the Post Office under a 10-year deal giving certainty to postmasters, ministers have announced." Announcing the deal. Lib Dem post office Minister said "Concerns people had about the Post Office becoming independent from Royal Mail were always misplaced as that separation is part of our cure, but the 10-year deal struck between Royal Mail and the Post Office will give sub-postmasters ...
Those who say that there is no art to answering Parliamentary Questions have clearly not seen this one on the subject of Christmas from Bob Neill: Communities and Local Government Christmas Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on (a) Christmas trees and (b) other Christmas decorations in 2011; and if he will make a statement. [91094] Robert Neill: In 2011 the (a) Christmas tree and (b) other Christmas decorations were supplied at no cost to the Department. I also refer the hon. Member to my answer of 20 ...
Another 34,000 Cambridgeshire homes and businesses will have access to faster broadband by summer 2012. Histon, Kimbolton, Woolley, Wansford, Bottisham, Crafts Hill, Sawston, Soham, Madingley, Melbourn and Somersham are among 51 East of England communities included in the latest roll-out plans for BT's next generation broadband service delivered over copper lines. The BT investment makes available broadband speeds of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps) more than double the maximum speeds previously available to most homes and businesses. It is in addition to the roll-out of superfast fibre-based broadband, which is expected to bring even faster speeds to two-thirds ...
A new modern sound system costing £200,000 is to be installed in Cambridge's Corn Exchange to attract a wider range of performers and improve the venue's profitability. The Liberal Democrat-led Cambridge City Council has included the investment in its budget for the coming year. The new system, which will improve the quality of the venue's acoustics for audiences, will replace the present system which is over 20 years old. Cllr Rod Cantrill Executive Councillor for Arts, Sports and Public Places said: "The Corn Exchange misses out on hosting a number of performers because our current sound system is out of ...
After cheating (slightly) last week, there's only going to be one track this week. It was a close run thing between Tears for Fears with "Sowing the Seeds of Love" and my eventual choice. Featuring the fabulous Ms. Marcella Detroit, here's Shakespear's Sister with You're History: Andrew
Yesterday, Frances Tait, Chair of the Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden, and I had the pleasure of presenting prizes to Blackness Primary School pupil Gary Scott, age 10, winner of the West End Christmas Week children's window spotting competition. Gary correctly spotted where the letters of C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S were located in Perth Road shops and wins a year's Family Membership of the Botanic Garden and a book token.
I was on the Wave 102 news yesterday speaking about my concerns over a likely hike in street lighting costs - click 'play' to listen:
Content taken from Matt Gallagher's Blog : I am sure that there are many people who wonder what it might be like to travel into the future. What looks cool now that will eventually appear dated and inefficient? How will we deal with the most pressing problems of the age? What will change, and what might stay the same? There are no such things as time machines...yet! However, there is a hidden corner of Chorlton where it is possible to make a journey of sorts into a world that is yet to come. This Sunday Victor Chamberlain and I had ...
Post Offices in Chorlton and Manchester have been saved by Liberal Democrat Business Minister, Ed Davey. After ending Labour's shameful Post Office closure programme, which saw more than 7100 Post Offices disappear in their 13 years in office (like the one we used to have on Beech Road), Ed Davey MP has announced a ten-year deal between the Post Office and the Royal Mail has been reached. The deal gives additional certainty to subpostmasters across the UK and covers the full range of Royal Mail products available at post offices such as first and second class post, parcels, air mail, ...
