Just two months since I made a blog post about one sporting legend retiring it looks like I'm doing it again. It seems to be reaching that time when the sportsmen who have been around as long as I've been actively following the sport are finally hanging up their pads, clubs and cues. The most recent is probably the greatest snooker player to grace the game - Stephen Hendry. When it comes to snooker, all I follow are the events that are live on the BBC. If I had Sky then I'd follow some of the other events/tournaments but I ...
More about the bard of Leicester's Saffron Lane Estate at Joe Orton Online.
The Leeds Labour Party is being investigated by the police for over claims it has broken the law against issuing imitation poll cards. Parties and candidates are not allowed to issue leaflets which look like official poll cards, but this is what Labour has been distributing in the Otley and Yeadon ward: After the legality of the leaflets was raised with them, the Labour Party has said they stopped delivering the leaflets. The relevant part of the law is: No person shall for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of any candidate at a parliamentary election or a ...
I'm driven to write this first part by intense frustration... It seems that people are hesitant to return to voting for the Liberal Democrats due to a feeling that they will renege on any promises they make in their election manifestos, namely i light of the tuition fees saga. This reputation the Liberal democrats seem ... Read more
The Step Ladder of Fightiness; from HooHa to Rumpus, this handy device in our office is an effort to put some quantifiable figure on the state of the world.We downgraded the situation to HurlyBurly this morning and I will be posting updates on twitter whenever it changes. Better than any colour-coded madness on the DHS website, anyway.
This week's choice is Mike Rutherford from Genesis in his other guise as lead singer of Mike and The Mechanics. I probably prefer The Living Years but here's Over My Shoulder: Andrew
1. They inherited an unholy financial mess from Labour. The Council was on the verge of bankruptcy. Jenny Dawe and her team had the wisdom and the courage to take tough decisions to put things on a much more secure footing. 2. The Lib Dem led coalition has built the first Council houses in Edinburgh for a generation. 3. Since 2007, respite care has been increased by 13% and more elderly people are receiving evening care. 4. Lib Dems set up the Edinburgh Guarantee to ensure every school leaver has either a job, education or training. 5. The city has ...
Amanda standing for re-election Liberal Democrat Councillor, Amanda Taylor is standing for re-election in Queen Edith's. Amanda has been in Queen Edith's for nearly twenty years and represented the area on Cambridge City Council since 1994. She lives in Holbrook Road with her husband Ashley, and their eight-year old son, a Morley Memorial pupil. Amanda is best known for her work on transport and housing. Her biggest achievements have been Dunstan Court on Wulfstan Way, which replaced Labour's sub-standard sheltered housing accommodation; and improved bus services, following her campaign for improved reliability. 'When I first came to live here,' says ...
EastLondonLines reports: A resident of the private residential complex which the Ministry of Defense plan to use as a missile base during the Olympics is facing eviction after taking legal action against his housing management. Journalist Brian Whelan, 28, has been told by his private landlord at Bow Quarter that he will be evicted on July 27, the date of the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. Speaking to East London Lines he said: "I've put some pressure on the MoD but only because they've failed to even handle this in the most basic polite way. They failed to engage, failed ...
In this edition, slightly delayed due to the editor's accession to the European Parliament: THE LOW CARBON ROADMAP FOR EUROPE: Chris Davies reports on his surprising success in getting the main party groups in the European Parliament to line up behind a strategy to cut emissions by up to 95% by 2050. The British Conservatives, showing their true colours, opposed it! NEW LIB DEM EURO MPs: Phil Bennion and Rebecca Taylor take their seats and put jobs and trade as their top priority THE EU BUDGET: George Lyon on why EU governments can't have their cake and eat it in ...
Please help save the Sustainable Communities Act When it became law the Sustainable Communities Act was heralded with great excitement by MPs and Ministers. The Act is something different: In these days of political disenchantment and disillusionment it bucks the trend. It challenges the 'Whitehall knows best' status quo and gives people and communities power to drive government actions. The buzz continued when the Bill became an Act in 2007. People from all walks of life got involved in putting proposals for action to the Government. Unlock Democracy has been at the forefront of making the Act a success. But ...
Pink News reports that UKIP supporters burnt a picture of Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick in Soho this afternoon. How did they find out? Because UKIP press officer Gawain Towler tweeted the picture. If you look at his Twitter feed, Towler's attitude undergoes a significant shift. From justifiying the photo at 3:46 pm to saying it was all a big mistake and he hadn't seen the lighter just 43 minutes later. That might just be plausible if he hadn't captioned the original photograph "Campaign on fire in Soho." When I put that to him, his reply was "Yes, thinking ...
A large tree-work order spanning the whole city has just been published for comments. Let me know if you have anything you would like to add, the consultation closes on the 9th May. The full document is available here (via Google Docs). The consultation has been extended to allow Councillors to consider the schemes after tomorrows election. The following streets are included in the work order for King's Hedges;Caledon WayRamsden Square
Pink News reports that UKIP supporters burnt a picture of Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick in Soho this afternoon. How did they find out? Because UKIP press officer Gawain Towler tweeted the picture. If you look at his Twitter feed, Towler's attitude undergoes a significant shift. From justifiying the photo at 3:46 pm to saying it was all a big mistake and he hadn't seen the lighter just 43 minutes later. That might just be plausible if he hadn't captioned the original photograph "Campaign on fire in Soho." When I put that to him, his reply was "Yes, thinking ...
Ken McLaughlin has an interesting article on Spiked in which he argues that the ubiquitous concept of 'empowerment' has undergone a shift in meaning in recent decades: During the 1970s, when there was strong working-class affiliation in the UK, radical activists had a commitment to the 'self-activity' of the working class. In such a climate of collective action, the notion of social workers 'empowering' people did not hold much resonance. The belief was that the working class, which, as today, formed the majority of social services' clientele, was capable of organising itself, of gaining power from below by virtue of ...
In the Standard's interesting eve-of-poll interview with the Prime Minister Sarah Sands asks David Cameron if he could imagine a Coalition Government including the Conservatives and UKIP, to which Mr Cameron responds: "If you are clairvoyant...I don't think that is what is going to happen. When it comes to the next election, do you want a Conservative-led government, or to go backwards with Labour or waste your votes on one of these other parties, that is the key question." Not "a Conservative Government", but a "Conservative-led" one, which is what we have at the moment, with the current coalition. ...
Thursday May the 3rd is the date of the local, GLA and London mayoral elections. Polling stations will be open from 7am-10pm. Your polling station will be listed on your polling card. This Thursday, vote for Unity in the Community. Vote for a new voice in Hackney. Vote for someone who cares about real people. Vote for Pauline Pearce. Liberal Democrats came in second place in Hackney Central in the 2010 local elections - voting Green or Conservative here won't help to bring a new voice to Hackney Council. To vote for Pauline in the Hackney Central by election, just ...
Wed 2nd
18:45
LibLink: Stephen Tall - The Coalition's mid-term blues: a problem shared (is still a problem)
Over at the Politics.co.uk website, LibDemVoice Co-Editor Stephen Tall looks at the party's prospects in Thursday's elections. Here's an excerpt: With the Lib Dems' national poll ratings flat-lining at around 10-12%, the party faces the uncomfortable prospect of a classic pincer-movement: losing to Labour our hard-won gains in the urban north, and losing to the Tories the no-less-hard-won gains in the suburban south. How the party fares against Labour in Sheffield, Manchester and Cambridge - where there are sitting Lib Dem MPs, including Nick Clegg - and against the Tories in Eastleigh, Three Rivers and Cheltenham will be a crucial ...
The first of the series of regular Big Finish releases featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela, in a script by Big Finish head honcho and Dalek voice Nicholas Briggs. I was re-listening to this at the same time as finishing Leviathan Wakes, a novel with a body-horror-in-space concept similarly at the core of the plot, and given the difference in medium, Destination: Nerva pulls this off well, helped by the always excellent Raquel Cassidy (Matt Smith's boss in Party Animals and also the leader of both the Almost People and their human counterparts in ...
Pauline profiled on East London Lines (with audio)
Pauline talks about the difference she would make if elected on Thursday.
Thursday: What do you WANT in London? A single policy of an unaffordable fare-cut bribe OR a shiny new million-pound bus? Wouldn't you rather have a DELIVERABLE low fares policy AND a plan to turn all of London's buses and taxis ELECTRIC for greener, cleaner air! Do you want a BRAGGING war over who can put more police on the street? Wouldn't you rather have an EXPERIENCED leader who PIONEERED techniques rebuilding TRUST between public and police AND who pledges to CUT OUT the HARASSMENT of stop-and-search and END the scandal of the POLICE being WASTED on trivial cannabis arrests! ...
The Times have published a letter I wrote to them about Expert Witnesses and family court proceedings today. It is behind the paywall so I will copy it here: Sir, Andrew Christie is right in seeing the low quality of expert evidence as being a problem. However, the experts are already appointed by the parties jointly to a case. This results in them acting as the hired guns of the local
Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland writes a regular column for newspapers in his constituency. Here's this week's edition. Scotland Bill Last week the Scotland Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons and received Royal Assent today (1st May). As a Liberal Democrat I have always supported devolution and Home Rule and as Secretary of State for Scotland I am proud to have piloted this Bill through Westminster to deepen devolution even further. Despite their initial opposition, I am pleased that the SNP have also come round to supporting the Bill which will bring about the biggest ...
Local residents in Albert Street have contacted us about plans to reintroduce parking for retailers through the backdoor. The Labour run council have recently proposed changing all parking bays in area CA-F to Permit Holders Only, in so doing they will abolish Resident Only bays via the backdoor. This would allow local businesses along Parkway ...
Those lovely people at Politics.co.uk — the folk who rated this website 10/10, and said it was "one of the top political blogs going" (I point this out merely for the purpose of full disclosure, you understand) — asked me for my thoughts on the Lib Dems' chances in the upcoming local elections. Here's what I wrote... A year ago, 5th May 2011, was the grimmest of days for the Liberal Democrats. The party lost some 700 councillors, and, more cruelly still, a once-in-a-generation chance of electoral reform at Westminster with the rejection of the AV referendum. The question hovering ...
UKIP have been having a bit of a surge of late in both the polls and in defections to them. They are confident, fresh and a real contender for breaking out of the pack of minor parties at the polls tomorrow. UKIP also aren't evil monsters, and most of them I deal with are not only polite but intelligent too. I don't buy the "UKIP are the BNP/EDL in suits" argument. There are real policies in that party, some of which even I find appealing. However they don't like to put their best foot forward. When UKIP's Twitter RT'd a ...
This - in today's Telegraph. They even manage to link it to Nick. For goodness sake I guess a taste of the campaign to come...
A photo is currently circulating on twitter of UKIP activists burning the 2012 London Mayor campaign literature of Brian Paddick. Clearly this is a very immature and disrespectful move and if it is a reflection of how UKIP would behave if they ... Continue reading →
As we settle down for our afternoon cup of tea, I thought it would be good to share an uplifting tale from the campaign trail. The other day, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury was canvassing in the Wimbledon Park by-election for candidate Dave Busby. While he was there, he came across a woman who found herself locked in her flat. She was able to escape after she passed the keys to Danny through the letterbox so he could unlock the door for her. I hope she's voting for Dave tomorrow. * Caron Lindsay is Wednesday editor at Lib ...
Yes you read it right, UKIP being the lovely sort of people they are today decided it would be appropriate to burn pictures of Brian Paddick, an openly gay man, in Soho, London today. UKIP are already no stranger to gay controversies, but to come out and burn a picture of an openly gay man in an area synonymous with the gay scene is beyond disgraceful. It sends an awful awful message. It's somewhat more shocking when you consider how fast gay hate crimes are rising in London, it certainly does not send a message of peace or tolerance, or ...
Calling all councillors elected on 3rd May! We have two great discounts for ALDC membership. 1. New Councillors' Discount All Lib Dem Councillors elected this year will be able to join ALDC in their first year for HALF PRICE! As all of us know their first months as a Councillor are important. We want to make sure as many of our Councillors benefit from the advice and support that ALDC offer from Day 1. This makes ALDC membership only 78p a week! The new offer is only available until the end of July 2012 - after that it's back up ...
The local council election on Thursday May 3rd is about choosing the best person to fight for our local area. John Dodd is an experienced, hard-working campaigner who gets things done. Our local Liberal Democrat team has a long record of action. They are a team that works together, a team that listens to residents, and a team that keeps in touch. Many local residents say that they appreciate getting the Lib Dem FOCUS newsletters, which are delivered regularly throughout the area. In fact, the Meols Focus has been going for over 25 years, proving that Liberal Democrats don't just ...
June 5, 2012 5:00 PM Office of Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Sandgate, Folkestone CT20 3BY Folkestone West and Sandgate County Councillor Tim Prater offers regular drop-in advice surgeries open to any local resident on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from 5-6pm. If you have any issue with the County Council or their services to you that you feel Tim could help with, simply turn up for a chat - no appointment required. Free tea / coffee. Alternatively, contact Tim Prater by email at tim@prater.org.uk, call 07956 276118, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/timprater. ...
The best message to win Liberal Democrat votes varies from contest to contest tomorrow as the issues at the top of voters' minds in one place are not all the same as in another, especially when it comes to local council elections. But with the Liberal Democrats in government, national issues cannot be ignored and there are many good messages to get over about what we're achieving in government, from fairer taxes to banking reform, and from green investment to civil liberties improvements. You can help get that message out by sharing with people you know the infographic I published ...
Every Council seat in Scotland is up for grabs tomorrow. There are currently 152 Liberal Democrat councillors in 23 of the 32 local authorities, from the Highlands to Dumfries and Galloway. Liberal Democrats are participants in 13 coalition administrations. Five years ago, there was some trepidation about how these coalitions would work. It was predicted that they would fall apart in months, but most have lasted the course. The naysayers were mainly from the Labour party, who had lost many of their traditional fiefdoms thanks to the introduction of STV, brought in at the insistence of the Liberal Democrats following ...
I have received lots of comments on my blog posts Lose weight by sitting down? and I have complained to the Advertising Standards Agency about Sit and Slim. Muriji promote the use of their chairs - at considerable expense - in five locations, one of which is in New Malden, and a number of local people feel they have been misled and ripped off by this company. Today I feel entirely vindicated - which is definitely a good feeling. Three other people (encouraged by my blog) also complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the adverts by Miruji for Sit ...
On 7th March 2012 Officers Sarah Wallace and Mark Ball attended an address in Radnor Park Crescent in relation to report of a Burglary in progress. Upon arriving on scene the suspect had made off from the area. Whilst conducting enquiries the offender was spotted, and stopped by the officers. PCSO's Mark Ball and Sarah Wallace attended a report of criminal damage. From conducting appropriate level of enquiries the officers were able to identify a group of 4 young persons as well as the name of the main offender. Whilst on routine patrol in Folkestone PCSO Mark Ball and SC ...
Since the previous Parish Council Meeting there have been 4 crimes recorded in the ward: theft of scrap metal from Ross Way, lead roofing from Sandgate High Street, criminal damage to an outbuilding at Folkestone School for Girls and theft of waste bins at The Riviera. There have been 8 calls concerning anti-social behaviour: one incident of vehicle obstruction in Enbrook Valley, two calls concerning noise, one incident of nuisance youths at the Golden Valley shops, two calls concerning suspicious persons in Radnor Cliff and Ross Way, one call concerning a suspicious vehicle in Enbrook Valley and one call concerning ...
A couple of weeks back I wrote a piece entitled Westborough Ward Hustings - That'll cost you £2 about my stance towards the public having to pay to enter the Westborough Ward hustings that I would be taking part in a few days later. This morning I spoke with the chair of the Westborough Community Association who put on the hustings and she was speaking for several of the members and board in not being exactly enthused by my stance on the issue. I think we had a good conversation and I think we understood each other but I thought ...
Rumours and whisperings are like fire. They've almost taken on a life of their own and spread over the right type of ground and catch hold. Often half of them are rubbish but that doesn't mean anything as who cares for truth over a good story? Whisperings and rumours have passed by me over the last few weeks that sections of the Medway Conservatives are trying to link the Medway Libdems with Dai Liyanage. Is this a bad thing? Certainly not. Mr Liyanage was once a high ranking member of the local Libdem group, a former treasurer, Mayor of Medway ...
Sky News wins with: Hang-Glider Death: 'Man Eats Key Evidence'
Many of you will know that I have been campaigning on park home issues for many years. Working with Sonia McColl, a constituent and founder of the Park Home Owners Justice Campaign, I have been trying to raise awareness and press the Government to take action over the issue of unscrupulous park owners. The campaign to end injustices for park home owners and close loopholes in the 1983 Mobile Homes Act has been long running. These loopholes allow some park owners to interfere with the selling of homes and abuse their position by using interviews to put off and intimidate ...
The Electoral Commission has produced a short cartoon to explain how to vote in the Scottish Local Elections which, of course, thanks to the Liberal Democrats, are held by STV. I, typically, am fed up that the star of their cartoon is a bloke in a jersey called Victor. Why couldn't we have had Vicky? However, it shows that the process is as simple as 1,2,3. Enjoy. And don't forget to vote between 7am and 10pm tomorrow.
This outstanding school, located adjacent to the Bricklayer's Arms roundabout, has sports grounds in East Dulwich – just of off Greendale north of the East Dulwich railway line. What a long way to come to play sports. It also means their grounds are not available to other local schools or as open green space to residents. I'm sure the school would rather not have the extra expense of a remote playing fields and the dislocation and expense of busing pupils all that way – it must really eat into the school timetable. How to fix this. The Bricklayers Arm Roundabout ...
Tomorrow those of you in London have the chance to make your voice heard by voting in the mayoral and assembly elections. It is vital that you do. We have an opportunity to do something to bring real change to London. Throughout the campaign it has been clear that huge numbers of Londoners are undecided and unenthusiastic about voting for either Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone. And the more they have seen and heard Brian Paddick the more they like him and believe he will bring real change. It is only now that election day is upon us that most ...
Tomorrow, activists up and down the country will be setting their alarms for 5am to deliver 'Good Morning' leaflets to residents up and down the country. Many of them will continue with little rest until polling stations close; and finally ... Continue reading →
Think-tanks: The 'grey zone' between journalism and policy-makers My mate Hugo explains what he does all day. (Gosh, I was at that reception last Wednesday too, though I don't appear in shot.) (tags: ireland ukpolitics eu ) The bleak future of the Irish university Tom Garvin on the death of UCD. (tags: education ireland ) Supermoon Saturday: the biggest, brightest moon of 2012 Perigee and the full moon coincide! (tags: astronomy ) A Pregnant Widow: The Arthur C Clarke Award 2012 Partial defence of the shortlist (winner announced tonight). (tags: sf ) Pop by Lat and Pop by Long Did ...
Tomorrow Mancunians will go to the polls to elect one third of the City Council; but they will also have the opportunity for the first time to vote in a referendum on whether they want a Mayor to lead the city that they can elect and influence or the option of sticking with the status quo where the Leader of the Council is selected by a handful of Councillors. Manchester's Liberal Democrat councillors are supporting a vote for an elected mayor in the referendum because a mayor would be good for democracy, accountability, investment and jobs. Manchester runs the risk ...
Cllr Kevin Wilkins (LD, West Chesterton) Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have called for tough guidance on letting space at Alconbury's new Enterprise Zone to prevent companies "boundary hopping" for tax advantages. They want to give priority to new and existing businesses that will bring new investment and jobs to the area. And they want manufacturing and production businesses to be encouraged to complement the Cambridgeshire research companies. Under the Tory Thatcher and Major governments, the creation of enterprise zones often led to "boundary hopping" - the relocation of businesses to take advantage of the benefit of reduced business rates - claim ...
Cllr Kevin Wilkins (LD, West Chesterton) Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have called for tough guidance on letting space at Alconbury's new Enterprise Zone to prevent companies "boundary hopping" for tax advantages. They want to give priority to new and existing businesses that will bring new investment and jobs to the area. And they want manufacturing and production businesses to be encouraged to complement the Cambridgeshire research companies. Under the Tory Thatcher and Major governments, the creation of enterprise zones often led to "boundary hopping" - the relocation of businesses to take advantage of the benefit of reduced business rates - claim ...
As an avid book buyer and reader, I've also sold a few unwanted books on Amazon over the years. Sometimes, with very pleasing results. Many professional sellers buy pallets of books to sell on, sometimes from libraries discarded stock. Most councils are careful to check what they sell on, but Brent seem not to be. Either that, or it's embarrassing for them to admit that books get taken away from us all. For example: a book bought for 25 pence from Brent's stock a year or two back, called Gloriana, by Roy Strong. I listed it on Amazon last week, ...
There was recently furore in Reading surrounding allegations of racist 'dog-whistle' politics. A leaflet which mentioned a Labour Candidate as 'born and bred in Reading' and being 'one of us' was distributed in a ward where the opposing Conservative candidate for the election is of Pakistani origin. The leaflet is reproduced below, (courtesy of Lib Dem Voice) so the reader can make up their own mind. Personally, I'd say it's a hard judgement call to make. It can at best be said that this is a very poor choice of words for a leaflet in that particular ward. But some ...
The idea of Progress is quite new. Most people through history have operated on the working assumption that things would stay pretty much the same. Even while great civilisations and empires were developing, people harked back to an imaginary "golden age" which may have owed more to a fantasy of returning to the womb than to any memories of past societies. It was also common for people to think in terms of cyclical change: culture, like plants or daylight, grew, reached maturity, declined, died and rose again. Even in the Middle Ages of Western and central Europe, though, when change ...
University of Michigan News Service | My fair physicist? Feminine math, science role models do not motivate girls Of course, it's entirely possible that even at this early age girls who are good at STEM subjects have been singled out and ridiculed for being unfeminine by their peers, and THAT's why the "feminine" STEM role models are off-putting... (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
During yesterday's Radio 4 interview with Nick Clegg there was a feisty exchange over why so much time in the interview was being taken up with the details of when and to who Jeremy Hunt should next answer questions to about his conduct, rather than issues such as the state of the economy. Certainly the media loves investigatory process stories. Not only the Clegg interview but the subsequent coverage of it neglected the economy, even though Clegg had some choice words to say about former minister Liam Fox: Martha Kearney: Liam Fox recently accused the Liberal Democrats of being a ...
Regular readers will know that this blog is a huge fan of former Liberal Democrat MSP Robert Brown. In fact, there's few people I'm bigger fans of. Matt Smith, maybe and Paul McCartney and Michael Schumacher and Shirley Wiliams, but not many more. I've known him since I came back to Scotland in 2000 and worked with him as a party office bearer between 2005 and 2007. He was Policy Convener while I was Campaigns and Candidates Convener. There are few wiser, or fairer people on the planet than Robert Brown. He was the one who stood up against the ...
Last Friday, the Business Secretary Vince Cable MP, took time out to join the team in Primrose Hill to go on a tour around the area. Chris and Chris are proud to represent and campaign in an area which has such a strong community. As local residents will know the Lib Dems have a commitment ...
Mark Pack highlights one of the successes of the Liberal Democrats in Government with the coming into law yesterday of the Freedoms Bill. He quotes Liberal Democrat MP, Tom Brake, who said this: "brings to fruition proposals which were first drawn up by Nick Clegg four years ago, and demonstrates our commitment to rolling back unnecessary and intrusive laws introduced by Labour". Key provisions of the Bill include the enactment of some previously announced decisions alongside some new, additional proposals: ■an end to the routine monitoring of 9.3 million people under the radically reformed vetting and barring scheme ■millions of ...
A reminder that I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. So far 26 (count 'em) have appeared: In praise of slow government - Simon BeardChildren and the surveillance state: Will the Coalition keep its word? - Terri DowtyStandards matter in higher education, not just participation rates - AnonymousA Woking class hero is something to be - Lisa HardingThe campaign for a Robin Hood Tax - Ian SullivanThe limits of the Big Society - Martin VeartCan hyperlocal news sites be the future of journalism? - Niall SullivanHow Edward Stourton misunderstood The Orange Book - Simon TitleyWhy I caged my son: The ...
For reasons best known to themselves, certain sections of the entertainment industries seem to believe that bolting the stable door shutting down The Pirate Bay will stop all piracy. It's as though they think that people won't be able to use a proxy, circumvent the Cleanfeed block, or simply use a search engine to find another torrent site. Build Your Own Pirate Bay?Proxying is a very simple concept. Alice is forbidden from speaking to Bob.Alice can speak to Eve.Eve can speak to Bob.Alice, therefore, can use Eve to communicate with Bob.So, a user who wishes to access The Pirate Bay ...
Way back in May 2010, I made it clear rolling back Labour's draconian laws and attacks on our civil liberties was my red line. The completion of this roll-back would, in my mind, make all the coming pain worth it. Well that time has now arrived. The Protection of Freedoms Act has rolled back several of the worst attacks on civil liberties. A landmark move to roll back Labour's surveillance state has today become law. The Protection of Freedoms Act will: stop councils snooping end the storage of DNA of innocent people reduce the bureaucracy of CRB checks end 28-day ...
Stagecoach Bus on Guided Busway Cambridgeshire's Tory run county council has been accused of ignoring the public's fears over safety on the Cambridge stretch of the guided busway. The accusation comes from Liberal Democrats after a county council transport appeals panel failed to act on the guided bus safety record despite numerous accidents on the track. They claim the Cambridge stretch of the busway has not been assessed properly and that the fears of parents, schools and parish councils have not been addressed. Cllr Sue Gymer, who represents Cottenham, Histon and Impington on Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "I am appalled ...
Collapsed in a heap over a pint on the Peninsula yesterday evening with local Lib Dems, after another crazed day of campaigning, someone actually mentioned voting. What? Oh yes we actually vote as well, of course, and don't just continuously try to persuade others to vote Lib Dem, something about which we are ridiculously optimistic, natch. (Our ...
Another in my series of little snapshots of my friends who are standing for election this week. Next up is Tony Martin, who's standing for the Dunfermline South ward in Fife. I first got to know Tony in the run up to Willie Rennie's 2006 famous by-election victory. It was thanks to him and his four colleagues on Fife Council that we had a strong local government base to build on which enabled us to win the by-election. His hard work and the respect he'd won from local people since 1992 when he was first elected was really important. He's ...
May day is a day of ancient pagan revelry that traditionally marks the beginning of summer. In the Celtic world it is Beltane, in the Nordic countries it is Spring day. For the last century or so, it has also been the international workers day. This Mayday in London, the usual demonstrations were held in Trafalgar Square. To my disgust, I noticed that one of the largest flags draped around Nelson's Column was the flag of the defunct Soviet Union- the Hammer and Sickle. This was the flag of a system that killed and enslaved more people than Hitler- and ...
Residents have expressed concern to me about the state of the Roseangle Car Park Recycling Centre - overflowing and needing a tidy up - see right. I have taken up the matter with the City Council's Environment Director and requested more frequent tidying.
On Wednesday 2nd May we are holding a couple of last minute briefings on the arguments for and against a Directly Elected Mayor for Bristol. For the purposes of the debate I am giving arguments against the move to a Mayor. For the avoidance of doubt, that doesn't mean that I am personally against the idea of a Mayor. But someone had to put the arguments against! Here is the text accompanying what I am planning to say - or at least I'll say as much of this as I can fit in to the time available! One of the ...
At long last Chorlton Labour has finally responded to the Liberal Democrat charges that they are letting Chorlton down...and letting it down badly. Relying on the standard Labour response that legitimate criticism to their policies must be lies they have been running around Chorlton this evening putting out a leaflet which, I must be frank, is a pretty weak response. Labour claim that they did not reject the £19 million Pupil Premium for schools. Well, I'm sorry, but I was in the meeting. Not only was I in the meeting, but a film crew recorded it. Perhaps, one day, the ...
