Earlier tonight, I attended the first meeting of 2012 of Community Spirit Action Group, the residents' group covering Polepark, Pentland, Cleghorn, Ancrum, Tullideph and surrounding areas. Matters covered included : * A presentation by the City Council's Chief Architectural Services Officer on the proposed capital investment on Blackness Library. Although welcome in itself - it will provide proper disabled access to the meeting rooms on the first floor - in my view it falls short of what is really required to create a proper community resource for the West End. This would include provision of a base for community groups, ...
Since late last year I've started to get interested again in hardware hacking and the 'maker' movement, up to the point that I've been upgrading my home facilities for woodwork, metalwork, and electronics. This resulted in my deciding to add a couple of new domains to my stable. One being a cetral resource for those looking for information (which, naturally enough, includes myself!) which is starting to take life at openhax.com in the form of a wiki. Once I've developed suitable templates for each typoe of link — and created some for the stuff I've already found — I'll open ...
Just under five years ago stubborn old me didn't take time off for recovery. I struggled through my working days and often collapsed in a heap in the evenings and at the weekends. Most of those who saw me on a daily basis didn't know I was sick, let alone that when I said see you on Monday I was heading off for a course of treatment every other Friday. I could have taken a reduction in hours. I may even have qualified for Employment and Support Allowance. I didn't, but what if my reaction to the treatment were worse ...
In Matthew d'Ancona's article in today's Evening Standard (1st February) The Spectre of John Major is steering the PM's EU strategy. he argues that David Cameron's U-turn on Europe may have been in a move to placate his coalition partner Nick Clegg and that he is looking to a second term in 2015. The question is, would the Libdems want to do this again?In Brussels, Mr Cameron took the step to agree that those states that signed up to the Fiscal Compact can indeed use other European Union institutions to push their decisions onto Great Britain - unless it was ...
Richard Macmillan, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the City & London East constituency, has launched a new website for his campaign. It's at richardmacmillan.co.uk and you can also find him on Facebook.
Are you a member of the Liberal Democtrats who either supports independence or passionately believes in "Devo Max"? I know there are many members of the party who are frustrated at the Scottish party's unwillingness to support a devo-max option on the referendum ballot form. Many of us can not support the status quo and feel that the union is not something that as liberals we can defend. We want change - either for an independent Scotland or one in which there is significantly further devolution. I have been talking to a few fellow activists and we feel it might ...
Liberal Democrats in Business made good use of their Coalition clout by getting Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary at the Treasury, to speak at a meeting at the National Liberal Club this evening. It was hardly their fault (or his) that he arrived two hours after the programmed start of the event, by which time half the hundred ...
I play a lot of social cricket in the Summer (when it is meant to be warm!). Our home pitch is in North London but we play all over London and outside London to get away from the streets paved with gold. The club (Washington Cricket Club) plays to a medium standard and we often have new players who haven't played for a number of years. If you would like to play then there are no tests - you just turn up, meet the lads and have some fun. We win some, we lost some. Follow @WashCricketClub or visit our ...
"Papers won't say anything about race now because they know they'll get hammered for it. When no-one cares who's gay and who's straight any more then the papers will have to talk about other things apart from someone's sexuality. You know, like maybe they're a good footballer." A Scottish Liberal has an interview with a retired football player in his late 30s who played for a number of English lower-division and non-league clubs in the 1990s and early 2000s and is gay. Cllr Victor Chamberlain writes on Manchester Liberal Democrats' support for a 20mph speed limits on residential roads across ...
"We live the town and country life," went the song in an old television commercial for the Town and Country Building Society. That society has long since merged with the Woolwich (and thus Barclays Bank), but maybe it was on to something. I have been reading the opening chapter of The Child in the Country by my favourite modern anarchist Colin Ward. In it, Ward looks at the consensus among so many theorists that city life was unhealthy for children and that the country was the place for them to grow up: Not only public schools and preparatory schools but ...
Non-fiction 11 The History of Christianity, ed. Tim Dowley Dealing with a post-BRIC Russia, by Ben Judah, Jana Kobzova and Nicu Popescu Pawns of Peace: Evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka, 1997-2009, by Gunnar Sørbø, Jonathan Goodhand, Bart Klem, Ada Elisabeth Nissen and Hilde Selbervik One Planet, by Nicholas Hulot How The States Got Their Shapes, by Mark Stein Making Ireland British 1580-1650, by Nicholas Canny The Treason and Trial of Sir John Perrot, by Roger Turvey Why Can't Elephants Jump?, ed. Mick O'Hare Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach Proust and the Squid, by Maryanne Wolf Indian ...
As a Chelsea fan I am keeping my head down on the John Terry / Anton Ferdinand affair. But the decision to cancel the handshakes before last Saturday's game has set me thinking about how much unnecessary flummery there is before matches these days. Back in the 1980s and 90s, I often spent winter Saturdays playing chess for the county. If England were playing a rugby international that afternoon I would video it and watch it when I got home. And as long as I could avoid hearing the score, it was much more enjoyable that way. In part it ...
Here are a few of my more interesting stats for January 2012:2,138,695 - total number of viewings of my videos on YouTube by the end of January47,390 - number of viewings of my videos on YouTube during January3,668 - largest number of viewings for an individual video during the month (How to pluck and gut a pheasant)!2288 - number of visits to my self-sufficiency blog1915 - number of viewings of
When you sign up to be a member of a political party you do so because you fundamentally believe in their ideology enough to want to put your money where your mouth is and make a difference. I did exactly that when i joined the Liberal Democrats from Labour a number of years ago. I make ...
You can't always believe what you read in a newspaper - even if it is the Shropshire Star. But, as the tweet above shows, this is a true story: Ms Phillips, 68, stepped in to help her 32-year-old daughter Alana who was asked for ID by a member of staff at the checkout at the Morrisons store on Barons Cross Road. But the West End dance choreographer, who lives in the area, was told she could not be sold the booze as it was her daughter who had tried initially tried to buy it.This sort of nonsense came in under ...
Today Lib Dem MPs voted in support of the government's welfare reforms. As a result, from April, thousands of seriously sick and disabled people will lose support. As a result, severely disabled children will never be able to live their lives independently and with dignity. As a result, cancer patients and other people with long term, serious and degenerative conditions, in some cases terminal, will be expected to go through stressful work capability assessments. As a result, policy made by Lib Dem conference, just last September, is no longer worth the paper it is written on and the same applies ...
We are lucky it is a leap year. It gives us an extra day to save the country. Here are two graphs, both from the Financial Times. This one shows the UK's Nominal Gross Domestic Product. It shows the development of the double dip recession we are facing. The figures are up to October 2011. The next will be published in February, but expect the trend lines to continue 'south'. Then, here's a chart of a measure of the supply of money in the economy. It is a broad measure called M4 This is a very revealing chart. First, what ...
There's a bit in the last season of the West Wing where CJ is interviewing for a new job. She is ask what she would do if she was given a blank cheque and told to go fix Africa. Now, her answer was "build roads", and as a line it works – it's intended to help a TV audience think about problems of third world countries in a different way. Solutions don't have to be purely political; lives can be changed through more earthy means. Roads mean access, which means supplies can be provided to struggling settlements and trade networks ...
Yesterday's Press Gazette highlights that the Panorama programme broadcast, entitled Secrets of the Tory Billionaire, on Monday night may help the Independent defend the libel case brought against it by Lord Ashcroft. In a development that you couldn't make up, the Independent, in its own coverage of the programme, referred to Lord Ashdown when talking about the Conservative Party's major benefactor. This prompted our own Paddy Ashdown to write to the paper with, The Voice suspects, his tongue firmly wedged in his cheek "It is one thing to misrepresent my position on the benefit cap as you did last week, ...
Above from Turner Contemporary Facebook pageI'm indebted to Cllr Clive Hart (Leader of Thanet Council) for inspiration on this blog post, having received an email reminder of what I could have enjoyed, had I been aware of, that being the projection of a poem by artist Lemn Sissay, who I assume is somewhat more accomplished in arranging words than I, anyhow it looked from photographs on Clive's Facebook page to have been a fantastic visual treat. I have to admit that I dont know enough to tell when words become poetry, however I'm sure I'd have enjoyed the visual side ...
Real Time Information is the technical term for the lighted panels at bus stops that tell you how long your bus will take to arrive. Quite handy when you are trying to work out whether to get the bus that doesn't take you quite where you want to go, or wait for the next direct one; or even to decide whether or not you'd be quicker just walking. We've been asked for views on which of the following stops benefit, or would benefit most from RTI displays. If you use buses from these stops, please give us your views: Mowbray ...
Wed 1st
15:51
If tuition fees work, but keep us out of government for 80 years, is that a price worth paying?
Here's what I'm pondering. The application figures for Universitiesare out and you can make the tuition fee 'effect' argument either way. You can say that applications are downoverall 8 %, nearly 9% in England. In contrast, in Scotland where there are notuition fees, applications are down just 1.7%. Applications from mature students are down even more - and ofcourse, students applying for an 'equivalent' degree to one they already ownhave to pay up front under the new regime. So the trebling of tuition fees has clearlyput people off. Or you can make the opposite argument. Youcan say that comparing applications ...
After a period of relative silence the idea of "globalisation" is re-entering political commentary. But almost none of the commentators seem have seem to have grasped its dynamics – and that its pressure on developed economies is easing rapidly to both good and bad effect. Maybe it's Davos. But globalisation has been coming up a lot lately. It is the subject of this week's Bagehot Column in the Economist, which claims that its effect lie behind a lot of the political debate in Britain. An FT article drew attention to recent speeches by President Obama and French Presidential hopeful Francois ...
The Social Liberal Forum welcomes confirmation in the Independent on Sunday that there will be no new fixed coalition agreement for the second half of this parliament. There is a lot more work to do on several bills currently passing ... Continue reading →
What follows is all, I admit, very self-indulgent. It is just that when I was delivering leaflets the other day - from one of our councillors protesting against the potential closure of local rail stations - my thoughts went back to my first time out on the stump. This was well over fifty years ago and for a council election in Esher, Surrey. To my shame, I cannot remember who was standing or the result (perhaps someone out there will be able to tell me?). I have a suspicion we took the seat - if so, that was no mean ...
"I'm not concerned with the very poor." Combined with this lot and this... well, Obama must be rubbing his hands with glee.
Last night the main Council meeting took place. It started off with a number of announcements by the Mayor relating to people who had passed away over the Christmas period. Council held a one minutes silence. The main item of the meeting was to discuss two motions (one put forward by the Liberal Democrat group and another by the Conservatives) about High Speed 2. My party are in favour of High Speed 2 rail as our transport system needs improving to reduce congestion, increase reliability as well as speeding up the time to get from London to Birmingham and further ...
The thing about having Becca as a roommate is sometimes her dedication to booklogging and reviewing every book she reads is a good influence. It's inspired me at least to keep reocrd of what I read, even if I never get round to the reviews. The first novel set in Greg Rucka's Queen and Country universe opens with a detailed description of a three-pronged terrorist attack on the London Underground by Wahabists,, targeting specific lines at specific places with the planned intention of causing maximum disruption to the tube network. The description was so clear and so close to home ...
£50,000: that's what Southwark Council has wasted by failing to keep its salt stocks safe and dry. Cllr James Barber has the details: Southwark Council proudly announced they've 1,400 tonnes of salt and grit in stock for this Winter. We've not had snow so they've not needed to use that grit or salt. At £30-40 per tonne that should be good news for Southwark tax payers... So can they keep this grit and salt to use next winter making a windfall saving of around £50,000? Well they could have if they'd kept it in good condition and way from any ...
In the week of the publication of university application figures, LibDemVoice co-editors Mark Pack and Stephen Tall debate what it means for the Lib Dems' future policy... Stephen Tall: The publication of the University application figures for 2012 — the first year of the new £9k maximum fees regime — has something for everyone. Those who have always claimed the prospect of huge debt would deter potential students can point to the headline 8.7% decline in applications. Those who say the new fees repayments system is the best affordable deal can highlight that this year marks the second highest ever ...
I am not in the habit of defending the English Health Minister but there are times when the Welsh Labour Government go looking for a fight even when they are in the wrong. Walesonline reports that Andrew Lansley wrote to the Welsh Government to complain he only found out about its policy of removing and replacing faulty PIP breast implants through the media. They say that he asked to be notified in future if the government in Wales takes a "contradictory" approach to England: He wrote: "I would like to take this opportunity to seek your assurance that in the ...
In September 2010, I was horrified to see conference voting against academies and free schools. Free schools create competition in order for failing schools to improve standards, after all, parents want to send their children to successful schools; no one wants to send a child to a bad school. I was shocked to discover that ...
While Scottish Liberal Democrats are playing a full part in the debates about the country's constitutional future, they should not forget problems facing other less fortunate small lands. The plight of Somaliland is a case in point and is exercising the Scottish branch of Liberal International. The first problem Somaliland confronts on the world stage is that people confuse it with lawless Somalia. It is an immediate neighbour and shares Somali culture but is largely peaceful and enjoys a recent record of solid democratic progress. So are its achievements in the troubled Horn of Africa lauded? Not a bit of ...
Road safety campaigner have joined in celebration with Manchester Liberal Democrats after their motion to reduce the default speed limit on Manchester roads to 20mph became Council policy today. The motion has received high level backing with Lib Dem Transport Minister Norman Baker MP giving it his full approval, "I will be very happy to meet Councillors next time I am in Manchester, and look forward to the Council taking forward the increase in the use of 20mph limits which I have made possible." I propposed the motion at this morning's Manchester City Council meeting and was passed unanimously (a ...
Yesterday, the European Council on Foreign Relations, the first Pan-European think-tank, released details of it's European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2012. Bloggers and Journalists were offered an advance copy, but under embargo. It offers an overview of how EU member states dealt with Foreign Policy issues in 2011, and tells us who the leaders and slackers ...
This morning I met with one of Cornwall Council's planning officers for our area and a representative of the Police Authority's property section to discuss the application to build two four bedroom houses on Moorland Road on the land currently used as a car park by the Police Station. I've had a large number of local residents get in touch with me very concerned about this proposal - particularly about the impact on the local streets if 15 police station car park spaces are lost. The application claims that lots of police jobs have moved recently to Bodmin or been ...
Norwich South MP Simon Wright is supporting the launch of an online tool that gives young people in Norwich the 'Chance to be Chancellor'. The website calls on 14-18 year olds to set out the decisions that they would make if setting this year's Budget. Mr Wright is challenging local schools and young people to make the tough choices about raising and spending public money. Mr Wright said: "The website helps young people to make informed decisions about this year's Budget. Should the government raise more or less tax, and how? What should the government's spending priorities be? It's a ...
Gone are the days of long, obscure audit reports stretching to hundreds of pages. These days the auditor provides something short, punchy and almost understandable for us mere mortals. This is the audit report for the year 2010/11 for Stockport Council, which the auditor published just a few days ago. I'm going to pick out a few positive quotes – which I think are representative of the report as a whole, but please take a look for yourself. Financial governance at the Council is good. The Executive clearly understands the significant and rapidly changing financial management challenges and risks facing ...
Here is my seventeenth monthly round-up of blog figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog. These stats for the month of January come courtesy of google analytics. A Calm Month In one way, January was a busy month, in another, it was not. My output for the month of 15 blog posts was my lowest ever and indeed was less than half of the 33 written in December. Despite this, my January total viewing figures were nevertheless actually up on the previous month. In January, I had a total of 3,019 absolute unique visitors ...
I am currently putting together a new book for ALDC which has at its heart ways that councillors and local campaigners can make use of the new legal powers heading their way under the Localism Act and other devolving legislation. Many of the powers are very effective for getting local issues sorted and local communities improved, but will sit on the shelf achieving nothing if active campaigners do not pick them up and put them to use. It is good to see that Haringey Liberal Democrats are already well ahead of me putting into practice two of the ideas which ...
And so the inevitable has happened. The ex-RBS chief executive, formerly known as Sir Fred Goodwin, is now plain Mr Goodwin. His honour was withdrawn yesterday following a dramatic turn of events that have seen him almost singularly blamed for creating the worst economic crisis for decades. Goodwin's being stripped of his knighthood was not entirely unexpected. It's been in the offing for some time. It was discussed on Question Time a couple of weeks ago, with majority support for the annulment. And, while I don't wish to comment at any length about it, I was broadly supportive. Anyone who ...
From Stockport Council: Stockport Council is supporting National Libraries Day by hosting a special event at Cheadle Library featuring North West based writers. Residents are invited to come along and meet award winning North West writers Michael Stewart, Helen Walsh and M.J. Hyland at Cheadle Library on Saturday 4th February from 4.30pm to 6.00pm. The free event will give attendees the chance to take part in discussions about the book prize culture. The event at Cheadle Library is part of a series of sessions being held at libraries across the region co-ordinated by Time To Read, the North West libraries ...
From Stockport Council: Stockport has achieved the highest number of new 16-18 Advanced and Higher Apprenticeships in Greater Manchester in a 12 month period in 2010/2011. A total of a 307 16-18 year olds started an Advanced (L3/A Level standard) Apprenticeship in the borough from July 2010 to July 2011 – a 77% increase on the previous 12 month period. The figure is the highest in Greater Manchester, and Stockport's increase is higher than both the North West (23.9%) and national average (23.3%) over the same period. Stockport's success is due to a number of factors including: • New Council ...
23 January 2012 - I am delighted to note that the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisation (GAVI) has announced plans to provide life saving rotavirus vaccines for children in the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya. The Dadaab complex is the world's largest refugee camp and plays host to approximately 500,000 inhabitants, a population centre roughly the same size as Manchester. The camp was established in 1991 as a temporary measure to shelter refugees fleeing violence in areas of Somalia but it has grown dramatically since and now ranks as the third largest population centre in Kenya, behind the ...
...and why everyone's sabre rattling about The Falklands. This has happened.
English local authorities are to be allowed to use Tax Increment Financing to build infrastructure projects vital for regeneration. This is where a local authority borrows money and then pays it back from the increase in business rates generated from the development. This could really boost big capital projects to improve areas significantly. Two options local authorities will be allowed to follow: Option 1. Use business rate growth from across their areas to repay the borrowing but only from new physical development – not existing buildings that already pay business rates even if those rates go up. Little bit risky ...
Liberal Democrat Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne in the Guardian about the Coalition's strategy to prevent torture throughout the World and about the independent enquiry which will investigate whether Britain was implicated in torture after 9/11: We know that we face a long and difficult road ahead. But our vision is for people to be treated fairly and able to speak freely in every country. We should never be comfortable with a world where journalists, lawyers and activists endure ill treatment for criticising their governments. This is a core part of what this coalition stands for, and we will continue ...
Wed 1st
10:57
The last book I read in 100 words: The House of Silk: The New Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horow...
The House of Silk: The New Sherlock Holmes Novel, Anthony Horowitz I hadn't realised quite what a fan of Anthony Horowitz I am until I came to look at his back catalogue: he created Foyle's War, perhaps the best of all original TV detective series, adapted many of the David Suchet Poirots, and co-wrote the darkly comic Murder Most Horrid. For all of which I can forgive him the comfort-wallpaper of hoary old Midsomer Murders. The House of Silk is pitch-perfect homage, as close to Conan Doyle as you might wish to tread without straying into pastiche: there are Irish ...
I co-sponsered and was one of only 20 MP's to sign the Early Day Motion below (EDM 2624) calling for Fred Goonwin to be stripped of his knighthood, so I strongly support the decision made today. http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2624 Nothing highlights the ... Continue reading →
I have absolutely no sympathy for Fred Goodwin but I am also totally unimpressed with the pure window dressing associated with stripping him of his knighthood just weeks after an individual with a criminal record was awarded one. Hypocrisy rules OK. What about the luminaries on Fred's Board who either backed him, in which case they are just as guilty, or didn't realise what was going on, in which case they are the kind of incompetents that we can well do without. And what about the likes of Geoffrey Archer still hanging onto his peerage and so on and so ...
Further bad news today for anyone hoping to redeem their Tesco Reward vouchers towards the cost of a module at the OU. Just over a year ago, the OU announced that the scheme would in future only apply to level 1 study; today they have announced it will end completely on 31st July 2012. From the message published on StudentHome: The six months' notice period means students will be able to register for OU modules using Tesco Reward vouchers up until close of business on 31 July. Students will be able to sign up for modules that begin after this ...
Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore MP writes a regular column for local newspapers in his constituency. Here's this week's edition. Jobs Economic recovery and jobs remain the most important issues for people here in the Borders and last week was tough in terms of unemployment news. There has sadly been an increase in unemployment since the summer and these figures are a reflection of problems in the Eurozone and the tough economic climate here at home and in the wider global economy. Finding work for the unemployed is therefore top of the Government's agenda, and we ...
Hilarious compilation from BuzzFeed - hat-tip Political Wire: [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Chris has condemned Veolia's inaction over a potentially lethal water leak on London Road. Chris said: 'It has been like this for days. It has created an ice rink on the pavement – sooner or later a pedestrian or a cyclist will skid and seriously injure themselves. 'Herts Highways have not responded to my earlier plea so they, with Veolia, will be liable to damages should anyone be injured. I am more than happy to appear as witness in any case against them.' [IMG: IMG_0899] [IMG: IMG_0898]
With news that the Coalition 2.0 is dead i.e. a new agreement outlining the Coalition Government's agenda for the next few years because they have realized that "running the country is harder than they had thought", now is a good time to look at what our response should be for the next few years. Solution ...
The January transfer window tends to be an anti-climax with more sound and fury than actual transfer activity. But not this year for my club - Hibs - who no doubt due to their perillous position have signed almost and entire new team of eight players. The most interesting aspect is the signing of Honduran international midfielder Jorge Claros. Claros had a trial with Rangers, impressed their manager and all that was left was the dotting of the 'Is' and crossing of the 'ts' - except it didn't happen as Rangers couldn't find the finances to pay for it. Rangers ...
The £10K tax threshold could be one of those policies that sticks It'd be nice if rather than a set figure it was "what a person on full time minimum wage earns" because #10k is worth progressively less as time goes on, but I'm picking nits... (tags: ) Dina Goldstein's Fallen Princesses Some of these are funny, some of them tragic. I think I like JAsmine best. (tags: photos ) Question Time, QI and Mock the Week criticised by BBC diversity report | Media | guardian.co.uk Good Cthulhu the comments are depressing on this. (tags: gender ) E. chromi Designer ...
Readers may be interested in an e-petition on the HM Government website which calls on the Government to implement the tax cuts for the people on low and middle incomes which Nick Clegg called for last week. It says: Please sign this to persuade George Osborne to fast track the Lib Dem policy to increase the income tax threshold to £10,000 in the next budget, and hence take thousands more people out of tax and put £700 back in people's pockets. There are measures that can be taken to pay for this including the clamp down on tax avoidance and ...
Have a listen to Mitt Romney's victory speech from Florida – at about 1'20" he has his soundbite: A competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us and we will win. What I find interesting is that he delivered that line in the most clipped, brisk, unemphatic way. He's talking like a North-East professor. There's no real punch, no real fire. This is not tub-thumping, fire-in-the-belly stuff. It's a nit-picky, bureaucratic, anally-retentive cadence. Er? Wasn't that meant to be Obama? Compare Romney's rather clipped, buttock-clenched delivery with Obama's recent State of the Union address. I thought that was quite ...
Dundee Women's Festival, celebrating women with events, film, arts, drama and workshops - takes place from 28th February until 17th March. As in past years, there will be a great programme of activities. You can download full details at http://tinyurl.com/dundeewomensfestival.
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