00:50 – Galloway claims the "path of treachery laid by Tony Blair" is the reason for his victory. 00:49 – "By the Grace of God we have won the most sensational victory in British political history." – George Galloway 00:43 – George Galloway still not yet to be seen at the count. Apparently resting his ...
Mark Pack has an article on Liberal Democrat Voice about the strange behaviour of Ian Liddell-Grainger, the Conservative MP for Bridgwater. Read it and you will learn that Mr Liddell-Grainger appears to have a cavalier attitude to data protection and to be a little confused about who is paying the cost of hosting his blog. Which makes the following a little worrying. Iain Liddell-Grainger, says his Wikipedia entry, is the great-great-great grandson of Queen Victoria and is 339th in the line of succession to the British Throne. So it would take only 338 unfortunate accidents for him to become our ...
With the superb March (should that not read July?) weather this week, it was great to see the huge public use of Magdalen Green - but that has not come without some issues. I have had lots of complaints about rubbish left on the Green - see right and below. I have asked the City Council's Environment Department to : • Install new and larger litter bins • Work with Friends of Magdalen Green to install proper further BBQ tables and consider how to stop the use of portable BBQs on the Green • Consider toilet provision on the Green ...
I just have no idea what to say. I have written this blog post in my head so many times over the past 48 hours and yet this page has been open for many hours and yet nothing has been written. I'm sitting here in the dark waiting for my phone to go with the news that my dad has passed on. He had a major stroke on Tuesday morning and the decision has been made to turn off his life support. That will be happening this evening. At the moment I'm holding on to two things but both of ...
[IMG: Posted by Picasa] At the 50th anniversary dinner with Jenny Bartlett, who was my wonderful Secretary for most of the eight years I was in the Commons.
At the end of last week, I was very disappointed that the Riverside football pitches would not, in the event, be available for last weekend's matches, following the unfortunate injuries on the pitches. I was therefore pleased to learn yesterday from the Environment Department of the City Council that: " (I ...) can confirm to you that the pitches are on for this weekend. We will continue to confirm weekly for the forseeable future due to the recent unfortunate accidents."
Last night I chaired the last Western Edinburgh Neighbourhood Partnership before the elections. It may be our last NP meeting as an incoming admionistration may decide to sweep them away. That would be a pity. The decentralised approach involving community reps and statutaory agencies has made a huge impact on the city most spectacularly in policing where we have seen a 22% drop in reported crime across the city and a 32% drop in anti social behaviour since 2007. This has been achieved by a reform of community policing including changes to shirt patters, strong information sharing protocols and very ...
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the latest meeting of the River Crescent Residents' Association. The association does great work for the local area and we discussed various issues including community facilities in the West End, the future of the association after the AGM in June, sports initiatives in the West End and the former Laurie's Nursery site. River Crescent Residents' Association is a great example of the community spirit in the West End.
Earlier this evening Leicester City Council voted through a backdated pay increase for the city's Mayor, Deputy Mayor and five Assistant Mayors. This is a crass decision at a time when so many people are facing pay freezes. Clearly, as far as the Leicester Labour Party is concerned, we are not all in this together. But there is more to this story than a few local politicians doing themselves well from the public purse. Because what this evening's events really displays are the dangers of the mayoral system in local government. I have never liked the mayoral system, and my ...
This post originally appeared on Liberal Democrat Voice here. Everyone this week has pretty much agreed that the Liberal Democrats did a good job on tempering the worst of Tory excesses in the budget this week. There is also universal agreement that we did well in getting our message out and I was particularly pleased with ...
Henry Cooper is not only a boxer, he is a Labour Councillor with 20 years service in Moston. He was always willing to have a go at me, and the other Lib Dems on the Council. Well he isn't a ... Continue reading →
Last week I blogged about some new Canadian research on the prevalence of ADHD and also linked to a 2003 article of mine about the condition from OpenMind. This animation of a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson shares my analysis of the reasons for the remarkable increase in the diagnosis of ADHD and has many wise and interesting things to say about education too. It's worth putting up with the annoying squeak at the start...
I have just received an e-mail from the Department for Communities and Local Government to say that the Secretary of State is postponing his response to the court decision on the Helioslough appeal, which we had all been expecting next week. You will recall that the Planning Inspector recommended approval of the scheme. The Secretary of State decided to over-rule him – good. Helioslough then challenged that decision by appealing to the courts. The court decided that the Secretary of State had to come up with better reasons to justify his decision – not so good. Well the Secretary of ...
Cambridge City Council gives community development and leisure grants to young people's groups, sports teams, social clubs, community associations etc. This could help with events, equipment or outings. Here is a list of the types of organization and activity that attract grant funding: Organisations that provide activities and services to people who are disadvantaged or marginalised by their social or economic circumstances Organisations that enable people to improve their own well being and participate in their communities Organisations that enable people to participate in making decisions and influence the services that affect their lives Activities which increase people's awareness of ...
Chances are your collection day for the bins changes next week. If like me you don't always read the leaflets through your door as carefully as you might (unless it's Focus of course!) you may not have noted your new bin collection day. If that's the case just go to the Durham County website and insert your address on the left hand side. It will come up with all sorts of useful information including your new bin collection day.
Now up on the Spectator books blog: why did Dig for Victory die out so fast?
You hated it. Not the first time I've made a mistake and won't be the last. I hope you like the revised, simpler template :-)
Lisa Harding has replied to my blogpost "Lisa Harding AKA Spiderplant Land is a coward". Because I don't believe in running away from a debate, I'm going to crosspost her reply here and add a few very brief comments of my own just to put it in context. Other than that I really don't want to waste any more time on this. Over the last 4 days I have been subjected to some vitriolic and nasty comments regarding my post I'm just a Christian. I defend the right to free speech but I also defend my own right to block ...
You don't need me to tell you that things are tough out there for small businesses. I know: having run several small businesses and having previously been our party's Small Business spokesperson. The UK's 4.5 million Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make a huge contribution to our economy, but today they are caught in a perfect storm between contracting markets, a failure of banks to lend, and late payments. The result of these problems is that many viable small businesses have sadly failed. There is however one sector of small business that is growing. Over the last three years we ...
Yesterday the House went into Easter recess, and we have until April 23, it seems because the Government had overlooked the fact that the Commons will be spending the week it comes back on the budget, and will therefore be unable to deal with the three major Bills sent back to them from the Lords until the following week. So there is no legislative business for us to do until they have considered our amendments. How could the business managers be so incompetent as to have overlooked this until a day or two before we were due to rise? Monday ...
The Reading Chronicle reports: LEADING Tory politician Jamie Chowdhary's feud with his own party exploded ... when he walked out of the Reading Borough Council chamber after pledging to take legal action against some of his colleagues... He told the council he plans to sue members of the local Conservative Party but did not name names, before leaving the chamber to a standing ovation from Labour and Green party members and his Peppard ward Tory colleague Mark Ralph, with the rest of the Conservatives remaining silently in their seats.
Latest Treasury figures have revealed claims made by UKIP about the costs of EU membership to be a "complete fabrication", a North West England Euro-MP has claimed. North West England Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies has accused UKIP of making up figures that suggest that EU costs are 50 times ... Continue reading →
ABC monsters from La Pompadour on Vimeo. There's only two that I couldn't identify, and I think my favourite is F. Just for the way they've done it. <3 Freddie. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
I know Osborne made the speech over a week ago now but I wanted to throw my two pence into the ring. The Chancellor started his budget speech by saying that this budget will help Britain earn its way in the world, supports working families, backs business and is on the side of aspiration. The ...
Today I deleted my twitter account. My anger about how my friend Spidey has been treated by members of the party who don't agree with her views was greater than that caused by reading articles in the Daily Mail. Let ... Continue reading →
I have not changed the layout of this blog since its inception so I thought a bit of furniture rearranging was in order. You can see more of my postings at a glance here and i feel its crisper but the downside is I don't have gadgets for a side bar :-( Instead of links looks like I'll have to find another way to promote the blogs I read! Feedback either in the comments or through other avenues will be very well received.
[IMG: Jamaica Village plan] We've recently been told that Haringey Council's plans for a 10 day music and sport festival in Finsbury Park have fallen through after the event organisers failed to raise the necessary finance. The proposed 'Jamaica Village' event during the Olympics was controversial with residents because of the unprecedented length – and concerns about noise, anti-social behaviour and litter. Ordinary park users would have been kept out of the bottom half of the Park for 4 weeks of the school summer holidays. Previous posts detail how we raised these concerns with the Council. Although the cancellation is ...
Hull 0, Scunthorpe 3 | Christopher Priest Why the Arthur C. Clarke shortlist is WRONG. (tags: sf )
libdemchild, aged 11: £20 for the Tory Party Maelo is fab, isn't she? :) (tags: libdemmery ) andrewducker | I shall keep whining about the awful way that ebooks are sold until they fix it*. *And by "fix it" I include "They all go bust/copyright ceases to exist/aliens destroy mankind", in increasing order of likelihood. (tags: books funny ) Is it OK for a job interviewer to ask for your Facebook login? - The Globe and Mail (tags: ) The Best Birth Control In The World Is For Men | Techcitement* (tags: ) The next time there is a funding ...
Back in October 2011, I submitted a response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation on behalf of the Lib Dem Parliamentary Policy Committee on DCLG issues which I co-chair with Lord Graham Tope. The response was robust, so much so that The Telegraph claimed it as a huge Lib Dem rebellion. But, I believe that the committee was right to submit its concerns in an honest and straightforward way. Our role within the coalition must be to offer constructive criticism when we feel it is necessary! And I am very glad that we did. The document which was published ...
Great news at the beginning of this week for schools in Haringey. After years of our campaign to get fairer funding, the coalition government has agreed to adjust the funding formula. For decades Haringey's schools have had to pay Inner London costs without Inner London funding – leaving local pupils short-changed. For 13 years the Labour Government did nothing about this injustice and when I launched our campaign back in 2007 I was a lone voice. But thanks to the huge support from the thousands of local Haringey residents who responded to our leaflets and emails and signed our petitions ...
A couple of weeks ago, David Laws made a speech at Parliament, organised by the Bright Blue think tank, expressing his views on the future of the coalition. You can watch the very interesting speech below, or on YouTube here. * Nick Thornsby is Thursday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs here.
Over the last 4 days I have been subjected to some vitriolic and nasty comments regarding my post I'm just a Christian. I defend the right to free speech but I also defend my own right to block people from commenting on this forum who's views I find offensive to me. I do the same on ...
All, Walking round town this week one of the regular question I'm asked is why doesn't Shipston have a market? I (and quite a few other people) think it would be a good idea – so I've put a poll up on the homepage on this site to see what you think. Click here to go to the poll. It doesn't have to be weekly (like Moreton) but could be less regularly. The day of the week is important too – with quite a lot of people thinking Sunday would be a good day. What do you think? Leave a ...
I have received notification that an application has been received by the City Council for a new Premises Licence for premises at The Spoon Inn, 364 Barlow Moor Road, Manchester, M21 8AZ. A summary of the application is as follows: Proposed trading hours for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises only: Mon to Sun 12midday to 11:00pm Proposed trading hours for the provision of regulated entertainment (live music): Mon to Thur 07:00pm to 11:00pm Fri 06:00pm to to 11:00pm Sat 02:00pm to 11:00pm Sun 02:00pm to 10:00pm Proposed trading hours for the provision of regulated entertainment (recorded ...
[IMG: Money] Announcements from three separate sources in the last week have revealed an additional £800m is to be made available for research and development in the UK. The Chancellor's budget speech was used to launch a new £100m fund to invest in 'major new university research facilities' which, it is hoped, will attract further funding for university research from external sources. In addition, the Wellcome Trust announced it was to invest £200m in a new business to support healthcare and life sciences companies. Thirdly, GlaxoSmithKline last week selected Ulverston in Cumbria as the site of a major new manufacturing ...
One of the phrases that is often used on election literature is [INSERT NAME] Delivers. Well this morning that became literal for one of the candidates in the Ulster Unionist leadership race. At 7am the wife of John McCallister went into labour a week early and the MLA for South Down ended up being talked through the procedure for delivery of his son Harry James by Ambulance Control. He certainly did deliver and showed calmness under pressure. It couldn't be more timely an event for McCallister only yesterday former UUP now Independent MLA David McClarty said: "The reason why I ...
We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more. R. Scott. Last entry. For God's sake look after our People.
Oh dear, I appear to have helped stir up a bit of controversy over young Mr Farron's letter to the Advertising Standards Authority and, by extension, provoked an ongoing row about religion. It hasn't been pretty. I consider myself as someone who believes in God, albeit rather informally. I instinctively make the sign of the Cross on entering a Catholic church, I light candles for my late grandmother (as much out of respect for her as out of any expectation that it makes any actual difference), and, most of all, I feel vaguely guilty that I am not more devout ...
Thanks to all those who have nominated their favourite south Asian restaurant for the 2012 Tiffin Cup. We have whittled the entries down to a shortlist of two, we also had to exclude a couple which had been previously nominated ... Continue reading →
While this post has only the remotest of political connections - lots of people have said nice things of this shot I took of The Moon, Jupiter and Venus over The Kremlin on Monday evening. So for your delectation and delight, here it is...
The difficulty of actually delivering on your promises even when you have a majority were brought into stark contrast yesterday with an admission by the Welsh Government that their commitment to extending GP opening hours to evenings and weekends looks further away than ever. This became clear as it emerged that less than a third are currently opening for their full contracted hours. Figures published for the first time showed that just 31% of surgeries met the "core" opening hours of 8am to 6.30pm on weekdays without closing for lunch. They show an improvement on the previous year - which ...
Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed the decision to freeze county councillors' allowances for the coming year. They claim the move was justified when taking into account Cambridgeshire County Council's budget and electorate size with similar councils across the country, something the first panel paid to do. "When you take budget and electorate size into account, we are not badly remunerated at all," said Councillor Peter Downes who presented this numeric evidence to the second Independent Review Panel set up to discuss members' allowances. The evidence showed that if the Conservative-run county council had agreed a 25 per ...
Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed the decision to freeze county councillors' allowances for the coming year. They claim the move was justified when taking into account Cambridgeshire County Council's budget and electorate size with similar councils across the country, something the first panel paid to do. "When you take budget and electorate size into account, we are not badly remunerated at all," said Councillor Peter Downes who presented this numeric evidence to the second Independent Review Panel set up to discuss members' allowances. The evidence showed that if the Conservative-run county council had agreed a 25 per ...
Pink News reports: The Progressive Christianity Network (PCN) is the latest British faith-based group to come out in favour of legal recognition of gay marriage. Reverend John Churcher, a Methodist minister and chair of the PCN, said in response to comments from Roman Catholic bishops - who have urged Christians to campaign against the government's proposal - that there are very few biblical texts that appear to condemn homosexuality, and that the interpretation of those that do is controversial... There are now a range of Christian groups on both sides of the debate. Those groups who have expressed support for ...
Yesterday (28th) there was an incident in Grantchester where a middle aged couple, believed to be involved in a scam or distraction crime, were found in a house belonging to an elderly resident. No one was hurt, and nothing is believed to have been stolen. The details surrounding the incident are unclear, naturally the victim was distressed and there is some confusion over the exact circumstances. This is an early reminder (owing to the unseasonably good weather) that our elderly neighbours can be vulnerable to walk in crime should they leave windows and doors open for ventilation. Please help us ...
Thu 29th
12:24
Why I can't defend Tim Farron, the ASA, Healing on the Streets... or the terms of this debate
Tim Farron must be wondering when he became quite such a powerful man. Becoming President of the Lib Dems was one thing, but the mere act of appending his name to a letter has, I hope briefly, let slip the dogs of war within the party. Lib Dems everywhere seemed to decide Tim had made a catastrophic Faith Heal Turn. As I am both a member of the party and an evangelical Christian, I thought I would attempt to set out why the terms of this debate, in my view, are misguided. I have great respect for Tim. I find ...
The other two thirds are the media, and the public (which includes me). The media like to act as if they are the arbiters of morals and decency every day they print. In some cases, they are - expenses, phone hacking, corruption etc - we need that to long continue. In other matters, they bash politicians when they claim they are interviewing them. Whilst print media is guilty of incorrectly paraphrasing, or using misleading headlines, the TV and Radio is another good example. The likes of John Humphries, Andrew Neil and Jeremy Paxman are all extreme versions of the problem. ...
Tim Farron has got into trouble with the LibDems for signing a badly worded letter (which he admits was badly worded) to ASA on ASA's decision to ban a leaflet that claims "God Can Heal". There have been many blogposts on this won't cite them all but I will add my two pence. For clarity, ...
Southwark has 1,282 illuminated bollards. They cost £27 each per year in electricity alone or £34,614 in total. To replace them all with non illuminated or solar powered bollards would cost around £540,000 giving a rate of return 6.3%. I'm hopeful that the illuminated bollards in the Dulwich area replacement will start in the new financial year. But with time non illuminated bollards will be used which are even cheaper than solar powered one. These two initiatives over time will help reduce Southwark's carbon footprint, clearly save money and hopefully make our street look less industrial.
As a result of the latest North East Urban Neighbourhood Panel Meeting at The Voyager School, residents who attended, police and elected members decided to keep the existing priorities with a few additional issues. The decision was made due to it only being 2 months since the last meeting! The priories are: 1) ASB in Paston ; to include ASB at Paston Church; graffiti, youths drinking & smoking. 2) ASB in Werrington Centre; This will still include the skate park & in addition ;youths getting into boarded up shops/ broken windows etc & youths hanging around the bus shelter, possible ...
The pressure group Unlock Democracy is generally pretty good at understanding that having a healthy democracy is more than simply about the narrow confines of casting and counting votes. Healthy democracy involves meaningful debate and choice between a range of views. That makes the latest mailing I have received from them all the most disappointing. Good news – supporters are being asked to submit nominations for its governing council. Bad news – the highly restrictive campaigning rules that make even the old Liberal Democrat internal election rules seem rather generous: Candidates may not produce any further promotional materials [in addition ...
[IMG: 20120329-095847.jpg] All, Shipston resident and retired IT consultant Martin Ferrier is the winner of the (possibly) magnificent bottle of wine that I will pull from my 'cellar' (ok – cupboard under the stairs) shortly. The photo above is of competition winner, Martin Ferrier, before he saw the bottle, so hopefully it won't wipe the smile of his face! He found a turnout of 1.27% in Bury St. Edmunds in 2006 – you can read the full story here. No more prizes, but anyone who can find lower will also get their picture published and a plug on this website. ...
Camilla Cavendish and Sue Reid.
Well, that was a surprise. Just before going to bed last night I checked Lisa Harding's blogpost, I'm just a Christian, to see if she had allowed my latest comment through moderation. Instead of getting to her blog, however, I was greeted with this: "This blog bans users who have posted offensive content." A quick bit of experimentation allowed me to work out that my IP adress had been banned from viewing her blog. But the system her blog uses wasn't very sophisticated so I found away round it and confirmed that her blog was still up and it was ...
The website for Ian Liddell-Grainger, Conservative MP for Bridgwater, is probably the only website for a British Parliamentary to be blessed with a prominent animated cat on its front page. It invites you to click on a link to read Mogg-the-Blog, where a rather darker set of content awaits than the amateurish layout and intensive wall of block capitals on the website's front page. In the blog, or rather to give it the full title Mogg-the-Blog, is a series of posts documenting the falling out between Ian Liddell-Grainger and a member of the public. An MP and a member of ...
The latest edition of my monthly newsletter will be going out tomorrow. It will feature news on my trip to Pakistan, the pasty tax campaign as well as what is going on in Launceston and Cornwall Council. Signing up couldn't be easier - just click here. Tweet
Now, it's completely unscientific, atypical and you can draw no firm conclusions from it. but here's a screen grab from the House of Twits poll on 'Who do you want for London Mayor'? Now, Boris clearly in the lead. But essentially Paddick and Livingstone neck and neck. Now, given its a STV election: Just supposing - with his support plummeting currently - Livingstone comes third, and its a stand off between Brian and Boris. Who will Labour supporters have put second? I would suggest it's far more likely to be Brian. Which means they could (not on the figures above, ...
[IMG: 20120329-081251.jpg] All, I launched a competition on twitter yesterday to see if anyone could find a Parish Poll turnout lower than the one called by Mike Ashley on the Police Station purchase. So far, no-one has been able to. If you can find a Parish Poll turnout lower than Shipston's 1.81% I'll give you a bottle of wine. The only rules are that it must have been in the past 25 years and must have been in the UK. Mr. Ashley called the Poll to ask the Town Council to have a public meeting on the Town Council's purchase ...
Next week, I dive back in to the world of Information Technology. It's a great job I've got, and anyone who has seen me bouncing around recently knows I'm very happy about it all. One thing that I'm not particularly looking forward to, though, is the casual and unthinking misogyny that abounds in the tech sector. It is waaay too prevalent for a field that should rely on brain power rather than testosterone. Usually I think it's not really that bad, and maybe it's no worse than exists elsewhere. Sometimes though it really leaps out at me. Here's a good ...
There is something in the air in Belfast at the moment two new sculptures have been unveiled this week. You'd think we were in the build up to some titanic anniversary or something. Well the first was unveiled on Tuesday with a religious blessing, even if her nakedness did cause the Rev. Chris Bennett one of the Chaplins for the Titanic Quarter a bit of an embarrassing moment on BBC Newsline. He did however, eventually find the right words to describe her as in "all her glory". The second was unveiled yesterday by First Minister Peter Robinson, who is one ...
The Guardian's front page on Saturday carried an investigation by the BHA and Education For Choice into the activities and behaviour of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). SPUC is an anti-choice group which, through its 'Safe at School' campaign, delivers talks to parents and schoolchildren about the supposed harms of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE), and the dangers of abortion. Last year, SPUC courted controversy after holding an event for parents in Tower Hamlets. Following on from this, the BHA saw similar events take place in Milton Keynes, Wakefield and Bournemouth, and decided in each case ...
The release of the latest revision to GDP growth in the UK makes grim reading. The British economy slowed by more than expected, and the outlook for recovery is flickering at best. Incomes have not kept pace with inflation, and the increase in taxes and cuts in government services has helped to cause a sharp contraction in the general British standard of living. Even for those on well above average incomes, costs such as insurance, university tuition fees and now energy prices are really hurting the middle class. For those below median income it is house rents and petrol prices ...
I have to confess that I find the row over the imposition of pasties funny. And if you don't want to pay extra for a Cornish delicacy, why not enjoy a Leicestershire one instead? Let's hear it for the Melton Mowbray pork pie. But I begin to wonder if something I posted four years ago may not turn out to be prophetic: David Cameron's ... problem is that he is, er, David Cameron. The only time he threatened to engage public interest today was when he talked of the price of bread, milk and eggs. Yet if ever someone gave ...
Having already read Walter Isaccson's biography of Steve Jobs and enjoying Isaccson's ability to combine detail with a strong over arching narrative I was keen to read his take on the life of Benjamin Franklin. As an immigrant to America I am still getting to grips with its history, culture and major political figures and ...
Marie Antoinette is famously reported to have said to starving French Peasants; "Let them eat cake" (although as an Austrian she probably said a word that is not very nice in German that sounds like cake.) Now the Coalition are saying - let them eat Pasties... but be prepared to pay the VAT man. In this years budget a rise in VAT on hot baked goods has become the rallying point for dissenters and Labour, who, by the way, didn't turn up in Parliament to vote for the removal of the 50p income tax rate for high earners (as the ...
