Belarus is often portrayed as the Bad Boy of Europe — the only European state that is not a member of the Council of Europe, thanks to its retention (and use) of the death penalty, the apparently fraudulent nature of its elections and its poor record on human rights. Opposition figures are regularly imprisoned (often for short ...
Having been in his new job for less than a day, Ed Davey, has made an immediate impact with a single phone call. The call was to the excellent Martin Lewis - the money saving expert - to talk about how collective consumer led switching of energy suppliers could work in the UK. Switching energy suppliers can save individuals around £300 - so a voluntary collective approach could bring big benefits for those who sign up. It's the sort of principled Liberal policy other Lib Dem ministers - using their executive powers - ought to be pursuing. And working with ...
Eight minutes of trolleybuses trundling around Derby accompanied by a commentary on the finer points of the town's transport history may be too much of a good thing for some readers, but here goes. They ran in Derby between 1932 and 1967, and this footage must have been shot shortly before the system closed down.
Earlier tonight, after my ward surgeries at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre, I attended the West End Sports and Heritage Association (WESHA) committee meeting at the West End Community Base in the Vine in Magdalen Yard Road. WESHA is making great progress and we are planning an Open Event later in the spring for sporting and other community groups. If you are interested in WESHA's work to improve sporting and environmental facilities in the West End, please contact us - wesha@frasermacpherson.org.uk.
Earlier today I mentioned that I have joined Forests Hands Off Our Packs campaign opposing the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco. I promised a fuller explanation of why I am opposing it . Here are my reasons The term 'plain packaging' is deliberately misleading. The Tobacco Control industry doesn't want plain packs at all. It wants cigarettes sold in ugly, standardised, uniformly coloured packets with even larger and more grotesque graphic health warnings on both sides of the packet. And this is meant to help people quit smoking? Ever larger health warnings and gross pictures haven't worked to date ...
This is very entertaining and witty account of the American literary scene in the first four decades of the nineteenth century, using Washington Irving's life and career as a thread which unites a much broader discussion of American culture and other writers - I think there were as many chapters specifically about Poe as about Irving. There were a lot of things here I hadn't thought about - how in 1800 Philadephia was at the heart of the new nation, rather than the smaller and dubiously Dutch-speaking New York; how service in the early US Navy was an intellectually broadening ...
For reasons that need not detain us now I spent part of this Saturday a la my childhood hero Mr Benn dressing up — in my case to become a gangster and have my photograph taken with my, erm, moll. I made two discoveries. First, I cannot handle even a prop gun with any degree of convincingly rugged machismo. I am without doubt an alpha-male-fail. And secondly, while I applaud the principles behind Jo Swinson's attempt to stamp out misleading airbrushed images, I would like to negotiate my very own opt-out, please. This is for why... Because believe me I ...
Look in the sidebar on the right and you'll see a number of entries for the FLOSS software which runs this blog, Chyrp. Some years ago I wrote some extensions to the base platform, known as 'modules', and released them for free use by others under a suitable licence; version 3 of the GPL. At the point I first used the base software — and forked it to add my own tweaks and improvements — Chyrp was also available under the GPL. So far, so good: I retain full copyright on my work and offer a free licence to others ...
It's a super service and one which my Lib Dem colleagues and I have always given our support too and promoted through Focus. It's pretty obvious that Stagecoach have viewed the service as a 'Jewel in the Crown' too. However this week has seen reports of as many as 7 of their 17 AC and WiFi equipped coaches in dock, replaced by more elderly units and even by a double decker! Stagecoach need to look to their laurels. Losing passengers is easy; get them back out of their cars much more difficult.
Mon 6th
20:49
Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee 6/2/2012 Part 1 Anna Klonowski report
The meeting started off cordially enough with the Chair Cllr Patricia Glasman welcoming people to a special meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee. She asked for declarations of interest. Cllr Denise Roberts said she was a member of the Members' Working Party and wanted clarification on whether it was an interest. ...
It is common to hear people moaning that the practice of using a z in words like 'civilization' and 'realize' comes from America and declaring that we should resist it. I even saw a prominent journalist doing just that on Twitter today. It may be common, but this idea is just plain wrong. My Oxford Writers' Dictionary from 1990 advocates using a z in such words. And so does my A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by H.W. Fowler from 1959. The best summary of the position I have come across comes from Mike Horne: It seems to me that ...
Earlier today I blogged about how Jenny Willott's article on LibDemVoice had got my blood up. But, in fairness to her, following the vote on Wednesday I emailed her expressing my disappointment at the vote and asking to meet with her prior to my submitting an emergency motion to Liberal Democrat Spring Conference. And today she's replied - not bad timing I suppose for someone who's just been shifted from one job to another. I won't post her email but in it she says that she'd be happy to meet me to discuss the matter and that I should contact ...
While Kinda Kinks, the Kinks' second album, is Ray Davies' least favourite, and it shows clearly the signs of having been written and recorded in a hurry, with some sloppy double-tracking and less-than-stellar compositions, it is a clear step forward in ambition from the first album. While Kinks had been pretty much a bog-standard Brit-blues ...
Dear Daniel Radcliffe, I've watched you grow up on screen. I grew up alongside you and Harry Potter. I've seen numerous articles and quotes from you that hint at your deeply liberal philosophy. When I read the article in the Guardian taking extracts from your interview with Attitude magazine out tomorrow, I was surprised as ...
South Glos Council has a number of online forms to make it quicker and easier for you to contact them about waste collection and Street Care issues. There are even interactive maps so you can pinpoint an exact location. To use the forms, go to the South Glos website and click on "Report it", "Request it" or "Apply for it" as appropriate. Revenue and benefits forms should go live later this year. The new system should save money and time, but there is one quirk. In December Claire Young asked the Cabinet Member responsible why you have to provide a ...
Last Thursday afternoon I reported fly-tipping at Testos. By Sunday morning it was gone. I don't know whether any of my readers have downloaded "Looking Local" onto their iPhone or android (don't let on if you don't know what I'm talking about) but I can only sing its praises. It lets you take a photo of the problem, pin its location, and desptach it to Neighbourhood Services in a matter of seconds. It's free to download and makes it much more likely that you'll actually report a problem than if you have to note it down and remember to do ...
In Sarah Jane Adventures audiobook The Shadow People, by Scott Handcock, Sarah Jane briefly reminisces about the events of the Big Finish Sarah Jane Smith audio play Ghost Town, by Rupert Laight. Are there any other examples of the New Who franchise (including Torchwood, SJA, books, audio books and radio plays) referencing incidents from Big Finish continuity?
Am doing a round on game shows this week, so obviously I had to have a question about the marvellous Bob Monkhouse, funnyman and horror film buff extraordinaire. When I was trying to decide what to ask, I came across a list of notable quotes (yes, all right, on wikipedia), and these are some of my favourites: "They laughed when I said I was going to be a comedian. They're not laughing now." "Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?" "I want to die peacefully in my ...
Ed Davey's choice of words when presenting a political case is always worth close attention as he is a man very interested in the details and nuances of political messaging. (He was for a while under Ming Campbell's leadership in charge of refashioning the party's messaging.) So what to make of his initial description of his role in charge at the Department of Environment and Climate Change? He said, Greening the economy isn't just good for the planet - it's good for the wallets, purses and pockets. In choosing to present issues in that way, he's very much following in ...
Ideas. We all have them. Some of them are good. Some of them are bad. Some of them are indifferent. I once had the idea that you could pay x amount a month and get unlimited access to the internet. Alas I was just 14 and had no capital. Freeserve would beat me to the punch. I had the idea about reviving the Isle of Wight music festival. Alas I was just 16 and had no capital. They are my best two ideas to my knowledge and neither would get acted upon. However some local Lib Dems have come up ...
A North West England Euro-MP is aiming to make sure that there are plenty more fish in the sea. Liberal Democrat Chris Davies has tabled more than 100 amendments in the European Parliament aimed at putting Europe's Common Fisheries Policy ... Continue reading →
Mon 6th
17:36
Daniel Radcliffe no longer loves the Lib Dems. I'm unsure if I can get out of bed and face the day.
Last night whilst up late watching the New York Giants somehow beat the New England Patriots I saw a curious tweet pass through my timeline only to get retweeted by various Lib Dems. Oh Yes. In a quite dramatic development that could change the course of future elections it has come to light that Daniel Radcliffe has ended his support for the Liberal Democrats. *smash* That is the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. * squelch* That is the sound of me walking through my tear soaked carpets. *whoosh* That is the sound of me pulling over my 15-tog ...
Today is Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee highlighting 60 years of service to the United Kingdom. Her great-great grandmother Victoria is the only other monarch to have reached this great mile stone in British History. Although it is a great celebration, ... Continue reading →
One of my favourite Mitchell and Webb sketches, from That Mitchell and Webb Look, Season 3, episode 2. [YouTube Link]
Happy 65th Mr B. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Fabio Capello has defended the former England captain John Terry because the FA stripped him of the captaincy pending the outcome of his trial for racial abuse of QPR's Anton Ferdinand. There were two aspects that took my notice and neither concerned John Terry. Firstly I don't mind if a manager defends his captain as this may be the usual course of action. However, David Davies, the former FA executive director feels that he has breached his contract and the FA are taking the matter seriously. This led me to the main reason for writing the blog. If Fabio has ...
In December 2011 the Secretary of State for Health announced that a public consultation on the plain packaging of tobacco would commence Spring 2012.It will probably not come as a surprise to many of you, and a source of great pride for me, that I am announcing today that I am formally joining the FOREST campaign www.handsoffourpacks.com to fight this insane idea. As it says in in our mission statement "Liberal Vision exists to promote individual liberty, a free economy and limited government." And I have been writing about personal freedom and the nanny state for as long as I ...
The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest. Today's Campaign Corner question: Your mystery shopper survey of local parties criticises local parties for not treating possible new members better. We're a small, struggling local party and it's hard enough to run the basic operation. How can we be better without exhausting overselves? You're right to identify the difference between working harder and working smarter. Working both hard and smart is often required, but it is usually possible to do things ...
As I hope (even if fleetingly) my readers will be aware, there have been worrying developments in Syria and a failure in the UN Security Council with both Russia and China vetoing a condemnation of the violence. There are two types of bad in this world: people who do bad things, and people who let ...
I've been using Ribbit Voicemail ever since SpinVox died. Sadly, Ribbit has croaked. So, how to get my voicemails transcribed and have MP3s emailed to me? Enter Tropo! Tropo makes it simple to build phone, SMS and Instant messaging applications. You use the web technologies you already know and Tropo's powerful cloud API to bring real-time communications to your apps. Basically, you write PHP to run on Tropo's servers, which then can interact with Voice and Text. Following Tropo's great tutorials, I was able to knock up this voicemail system in a few minutes. This accepts a voice call, plays ...
I'm wading into the debate over the Welfare Reform Bill (WRB) a little late. The benefit cap, caps all benefits, a person can receive at £500 pound a week or £26,000 a year. That is an incredibly large sum of money. I don't feel comfortable with someone receiving that amount on benefits. So in principle, ...
After being criticised for supporting Syrian intervention, a mere innocent quote from the late Christopher Hitchens perfectly summarises the opposition to my position; A pre-Iraq invasion quote, about Saddam Hussein; "Some peaceniks clear their throats by saying that, of course, they oppose Saddam Hussein as much as anybody, though not enough to support doing anything ...
I've watched all the Harry Potter movies. You know, they're not bad. That said, I've always been amazed how this regurgitation of public school ritual and traditional folklore (interspersed with spells in elementary Latin) has struck such a chord with the public. It's so dated on so many levels that it makes C.S. Lewis's Narnia allegories look positively modern. Perhaps it's the safe, comfortable tone or the moral message that good always triumphs over evil that are key to understanding where Harry Potter's appeal lies - either that, or it's simply down to effective marketing. All the same, I've never ...
Local PCSOs in Werrington recently notified local LIB DEM ward councillor for South Werrington and North Guntorpe, Darren Fower that there have been an increase in shed burglaries in the Storrington Way area, adding "..not all are being reported to police which may be due to fact sheds are being left unlocked." According to the local police team, valuable items such as cycles and power tools and lawnmowers are being taken and police are urging residents to report suspicious activity to them on the non emergency number 101. Although most sheds can be secured with a padlock there are other ...
Mon 6th
15:27
5 things you shouldn't miss: the Super Bowl, free mobile phone voice and data, paying to read tweets...
Welcome to the latest of my monthly collections for the Engine Group of five links that you shouldn't miss. Super Bowl 2012 ads http://on.mash.to/vZ4i0A Apparently there was some sort of sporting event for not very fit people yesterday. You know the one I mean - where they stop for several minutes to catch their breath every 90 seconds or so and the time has to be filled in with TV adverts. How France's Free will reinvent mobile http://bit.ly/xMHvKW Read how a French mobile phone network is providing phone calls, SMS and data - all for free. How to get people ...
Only three days into the job and Ed Davey's first political challenge has arisen – a demand from the unreconstructed Tory back benches for a halt to onshore wind farm development. The Tories are taking aim at the subsidies onshore wind farm receive to enable them to compete with fossil fuel, claiming that they're unaffordable in a time of austerity – and in this, I'm sorry to say, they've been joined by two of our Welsh MPs, Roger Williams and Mark Williams. While one expects the Tories to be at their most equivocal on green issues, it's a bit worrying ...
There was one principal local council by-election held on Thursday 2nd February. The Lib Dems gained one seat from Labour. There was one parish or town council by-election result reported to ALDC, a Lib Dem gain from the Tories. [IMG: The winning Madeley team. Photo courtesy of this is Staffordshire] Madeley is a pretty, vibrant and successful village just inside Staffordshire, between Crewe and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is on the border between Staffordshire and Cheshire (and close to the Shropshire border too!) . The two member ward is in Newcastle Under Lyme. The Labour vote has historically been based in the ...
With the Welfare Reform Bill being debated in Parliament at the moment, a lot of good Liberals are once again worrying about to what extent they can carry on supporting the party. Some of the provisions in the bill are excellent (the universal credit, for example, is a policy the Lib Dems and before them ...
Andy Schleck in white (left) is now the 2010 Tour winner The guy in the middle, in the Maillot Jaune is not the winner of the 2010 Tour de France. After a long drawn out process it has been agreed that four days before this picture on the second rest day of the 2010 Tour traces of clenbuterol in Alberto Contador's sample. On 6 August while he and the rest of the peleton were resting after the tiring race he was informed of the positive result. He blamed it on a contaminated steak. But today the Court of Arbitration in ...
The covering over of the River Mersey in the 1930s has been a big problem for the town of Stockport. I can understand why people might have felt then that burying the polluted river was the best way to go, but now of course the Mersey is clean and could have been a real part of the town centre. But it was done, first with a main road "Merseyway" and later with the Merseyway shopping centre. This short video has footage of both.
Bonus payments are very much in the news lately, as senior bankers and CEOs of companies are being offered cash and/or share bonuses. Rightly, people are questioning this and thankfully the people power is taking precedence, and bonuses are being refused on social pressure alone (in the case of RBS). Bonuses are often seen as bad, but only if large amounts of money are offered. Many people in managerial or sales positions, in the private and public sector, are given bonuses every year, and this is not seen as an issue. It is. Accepting, and expecting, a bonus is part ...
The Guardian reports: Seven hospital trusts struggling with crippling private finance initiative debts are to receive £1.5bn in emergency funding from the government to help them avoid cutting patient services to pay their bills. The Department of Health is making the £1.5bn available - in grants, not loans - to the seven hospital trusts in England with some of the heaviest PFI debts through a "stability" fund. Trusts will be able to use the money to meet PFI repayments, rather than their usual budgets, as long as they meet four conditions set out by the department. The move will help ...
Yes That really is the topic I've been asked to speak to tomorrow at UCL (Main building, Gower Street, Roberts 106, 7 pm.) to their Economics and Finance Society Do come along. If only to shout 'rubbish' and are you mad? Here's a link to the details. Someone better tell Nick and Tim....
I saw this Tweet earlier, following the Daniel Radcliffe interview in the Independent... ....and it struck me that when voting in the Welfare Reform Bill, too many of our MPs appeared to do the complete opposite. Which is a shame.
Labour have tried to sneak in a particularly nasty attempt to hit homeless people in Manchester, without referring it to the Council. They want to start charging homeless families for storing their goods while they are waiting to be rehoused. Now most families who become homeless tend not to be in the best financial shape, as often homelessness is a consequence of a downturn in that family's fortunes, so this charge is particularly unpleasant, forcing desperate people to choose between keeping some of their possessions safe for their future homes but at a price, against losing literally everything. It isn't ...
BT have announced that they are looking for 1,000 blocks of flats around the UK to trial super fast broadband into such properties. They would initially offer 100Mbit/s as part of this pilot scheme but by around April increase this to 300Mbit/s if any of the guinea pig flats wanted this during the pilot. DVD quality is 2Mit/s so 100Mbit/s is amazingly fast let alone 300MBit/s. High broadband speeds make working from home easier and more feasible. People who work from home spend more money locally and help make the area safer through passive surveillance – keeping an eye out ...
Today is the 60th anniversary of Accession Day. On February 6th 1952, a young Princess aged 25 learnt whilst in Kenya, that her father had passed away in his sleep. Her father was King George VI and she would now become Queen Elizabeth II. A year ago I wrote here about my interest in the Royal Family and of her many accomplishments amassed during the past 59 years. She is now, as I also blogged here back in May, the second-longest reigning monarch after her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria. Here is an account of those days of accession. For those ...
For those of you with nothing else to do on Tuesday 14th February, why not come along to Cheadle Area Committee in the Upper Rooms above Tesco, Cheadle. Business includes Consultation on the Council's proposed Obstructions policy, to reduce the problems of A-boards and similar obstructions on the pavements Proposals for improvements to Gatley Green (previously covered in some detail on this website) Approval of the second part of safety improvements on Schools Hill Cheadle Area Committee 14th Feb 2012
An interesting development, after the grotesque appeasement of Russia and China at the UNSC... Western and Arab states voiced outrage yesterday (5 February) after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power. French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed creating a "Friends ...
Another day, another article by Jenny Willott MP on LDV attempting to justify the government's cuts to disability benefits. A lot of the arguments she's made are so transparent that I'm surprised she even bothered. For example, when she says: "6 out of 10 people will continue to receive some or all of their ESA after the end of their year on contributory benefit"What that actually means is that 4 in 10 (which is about 280,000 sick and disabled people) won't get anything at the end of the year and will lose ESA entirely. Given that there's no other support ...
There have been some high profile (if not high level) Blairite defections to the Tories. While there are some similarities between the Blair legacy and our coalition partners, the defectees seem to have overlooked or discarded one idea - joining the Liberal Democrats. As Jonathan Powell says in his book, The New Machiavelli, and as was evident during his time in office, Tony Blair was strongly pro-Europe. He understood, as we do, that a) the largest common market in the world is something that we should be actively engaging with and leading, and b) there are threats and issues facing ...
"The longer you can look back, the further you can look forward". So said Winston Churchill, explaining the practical application of history to forecasting. That is why those seeking to understand the causes as well as possible implications of the Arab Spring and Egyptian revolution of 2011 can learn much from the previous Egyptian revolution - that of 1919. Technology played a key inspirational and mobilising role in both. In 2011 it was rolling TV, especially Al Jazeera, and the internet. In 1919 it was the telegram, distributing widely around the world US President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points speech which ...
I have joined a number of my Liberal Democrats colleagues and "called in" controversial plans by Labour's Town Hall bosses to raise £55,000 from charging people made homeless to store their furniture and belongings. There is currently no charge for the service, but officers estimate that it costs £25.44 per week to store 3 boxes, £149.11 to move furniture, and £26.97 to access stored furniture. They plan to remove any subsidy and charge people who have just been made homeless the full amount for these costs. A family made homeless and put in temporary accomodation for three months would incur ...
Chorlton Lib Dem MP, and Transport Select Committee member John Leech today argued that Railtrack's Chief Executive Sir David Higgins should not receive a £336,000 bonus. "I accept that Sir David has improved the company. However, he gets a basic salary of £560,000 and I think that is reward enough for the job he does." John also criticised the last Labour Government for not dealing with the bonus culture when they were in power. "Labour set up the system that allowed a bonus like this to be paid. They never voted against a bonus or wrote to Railtrack flagging up ...
As you will appreciate from the graphic above, finding that the National Rail Enquiries couldn't answer a straight questions yesterday (see earlier post), about train services without giving the wrong answer, least not those posed by my family, or it seems anyone else, I thought I'd try again, having heard some real "porkies" yesterday. National Rail Enquiries invites you and I to ask Lisa and from her photograph she looks helpful enough, so I thought I'd start by asking her Why can't you give honest reliable information about Southeastern trains?, as you'll see, above, she swerved the first question, answering ...
Kent Highways are planning to take up the existing concrete slabs and resurface the footway along Bouverie Road West, creating a smooth even surface. The works are programmed to start on the 6th February 2011 for a period of approximately 2 weeks. The works will take place on the southern side of Bouverie Road West between No1 Bouverie Road West and Manor Road to improve the footpath. To carry out these essential works, it will be necessary for the footway to be closed for the duration. The bus stop and taxi rank will have to be temporarily suspended and passengers ...
Another day, another bonus! I know Network Rail boss Sir David Higgins has made some improvements to Network Rail- but why does that mean he should get a bonus of 60% of his salary? There are thousands of workers who do ... Continue reading →
More information can be found about council services in the snow on this part of the Camden website. In particular - readers of this blog might be interested in the offer from the council to local groups to give out shovels to help clear paths which can be found at the Snow Shovels for Community Groups section. (It is, of course, effectively an urban myth that you can be successfully sued for clearing snow from the pavement - see http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_191868) Local grit bins can be found across our area around the north of Fordwych Road, the south of Fordwych Road, ...
Forgive me for being grumpy, but could they not have left the old one up while the new one is being prepared? Then they could have taken down the old one, and replaced it with the new one. Saying: "NB Friday 3rd February> This resource library is in the process of being updated. A new document will be uploaded within the next few days" is not very helpful. Unless the document actually IS there, and I just can't see it on my Blackberry...It's a (publicly available) list of contact details for ministers' private offices and is very useful.
In a recent post, I discussed Richard Layard's ideas around measuring happiness. One reason to do this, he argues, is because GDP doesn't tell the whole story. Here is a critical analysis of GDP that also says that it fails to tell us what is good for people. I suspect though, that the speaker wouldn't support Layard's happiness measure. Hat tip to UK Libertarian.
Here I was blaming most of the corrosion of public services on management consultants McKinsey, and their fatal assembly line - and impoverished data-driven approach to human systems - what what should I find but this. Well, actually, of course, I didn't find it. Simon Titley sent it to me (thank you, Simon). "Many companies lose sight of what makes human beings tick," says the article - 'The human factor in service design' - by three McKinsey apparachiks. It is all a strange reflection of my book The Human Element which says that they do indeed lose sight of the ...
This February marks the final United Nations (UN) Preparatory Committee session before the deciding negotiations in July 2012 for a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). As this critical moment approaches, we need to call on our Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to support the strongest possible Treaty. The historic decision made in 2009 to negotiate a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) by the UN was predicated on calls from more than a million people across the world. They argued for the arms trade to be brought under control and for governments to take their responsibility ...
Paddy Ashdown has an opinion piece on Afghanistan in The Times today (£) in which he says: We have repeatedly deluded ourselves about "successes" that never existed and thus took so long recognising that a victor's peace was beyond our reach that we wasted the best opportunities for a negotiated one. We failed to understand that in these wars it is politics, not weapons, that counts most. Even if you win on the battlefield, you lose if you lose politically; which we have, painfully * Paul Walter is Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Liberal Burblings
The Independent have been giving Chris Huhne some praise since he resigned which can be seen here: In The end of the road? Even Huhne's rivals aren't writing him off: Mr Huhne was regarded as an effective minister. Politicians and officials admired his "nerves of steel", ability to "compartmentalise" and carry on as normal when the ...
Following the resignation of Chris Huhne The Guardian and The Observer have had a number of positive things to say about Mr Huhne and have identified a number of his strengths that the Lib Dems will miss. Here are the highlighted sections: The Guardian - Chris Huhne: most greens 'think he has done well': Huhne has ...
Chris Huhne's resignation last week not only deprives the Government of a strong voice for Liberalism, but also this country and the international community of a voice for the common good, in the fight against climate change. We are treading the weary road of a political resignation got over ahead of time, to save even more trouble later. Such 'pre-emptive resignations' are a slur on the legal system. They render its actions useless, by defying the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty'. This principle can be abused by criminals anxious to escape justice, but it is a cornerstone of the ...
Me? A mansplainer? Let me mansplain. I love the Dante's internet picture on this (tags: ) Brian Blessed's Photo | Lockerz Is there anyone left on the planet who doubts Brian Blessed's awesome? (tags: awesome brianblessed ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
In case you missed it, Tim Farron's interview on yesterday's Andrew Marr Show is here in full on BBC iPlayer (starting at 35:43) or here in a shorter clip. Standing, well wrapped up, in snowy Cumbria, Tim is in typically robust form. He pays tribute to Chris Huhne and says he "wants and expects" him to be back in government soon. He says that the LibDems are concentrating on being "collegiate not destructive" in coalition by 'behaving like grown-ups'. He pays warm tribute to Ed Davey's environmentalist credentials and covers a wide range of policy issues. * Paul Walter is ...
Parents anxious about whether their child's school is open today after the weekend's snow will find no help from the county council: the website is not responding. Chris commented: 'In many cases schools have update their own websites very clearly. But this is not universal and those parents who cannot find out from the school will discover that the county council's own site is often failing to load. When it does load it tells parents to contact schools. 'It is sadly typical for the County Council to fail to provide adequate information on snow days or strike days.'
Alex Salmond is not a man to stand on dignity. Despite rumours that he would restore the title of "High Excellency" to the sovereign's first minister in Scotland, it would be unfair to accuse our corpulent chief of taking himself too seriously. So surely there must be more to the story that he accused a BBC producer of being a "gauleiter" when he refused to allow our dear leader to participate in a debate between Rugby pundits. Personally I wasn't aware that the first minister had so much interest in the game that he could comment on the technical bravura ...
"Who the hell do Camden Council think they are?" asks Big Smoke. With good reason, if you watch his video. Thanks to Liberal Conspiracy. Later. According to the Daily Telegraph, Camden says that the voice was activated by mistake and will be turned off.
As residents are aware, I have long campaigned for improvements in the parking situation at Ninewells Hospital, including campaigning against parking charges at the hospital (that Scottish Government, despite SNP election promises, has failed to abolish), difficulties getting parked in the Vinci Park-operated car parks in the hospital grounds, and the overspill of cars that impact upon residential streets in the West End Ward to the east and south of the hospital area. Following a spate of further complaints from staff and visitors (both out-patients and friends and relatives visiting in-patients) about difficulties finding a parking space at the hospital, ...
I have been asked to meet the Welsh Minister responsible for equalities later today, presumably to receive a briefing on progress on the Government inquiry into race equality charity AWEMA. As is outlined on this blog some very serious accusations have been made about this organisation. A report commissioned by the charity's trustees recommended its Chief Executive be suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. Instead, he received a written warning. The report alleges that Mr. Naz Malik, who has been in that role since 2001, used "Awema funds in an inappropriate way", including paying off credit card debts worth £9,340. There ...
The local food-bank, Food4U, has had another very busy month, helping a lot of people but also placing a strain on its resources. I know some people think that such a resource should not be necessary – but it is. So if you can spare an item or two, or buy them specially next time you're at the supermarket, please do. The foodstuffs most needed at present are: meat products, meat pastes, jam, tinned spaghetti, peas, carrots, tomatoes, tinned fruit, smash and breakfast cereal. They are also getting low on pasta, rice and snack items. I heard a story today ...
