Paul Gilbert is a giant in the world of rock guitar so I'm super-excited to announce the opening of the Rock Guitar School with Paul Gilbert on the ArtistWorks platform. Paul is the sixth guitarist to have a school with ArtistWorks, the others being Martin Taylor (fingerstyle), Bryan Sutton (flatpicking), Andy Hall (dobro), Andreas Oberg ...
is still no news. I checked today and the judgement in the Belle Vue case is still outstanding. I regularly get stopped and asked if the Judicial Review of the refusal of the Belle Vue Town or Village Green application has been decided yet, and I know that people on both sides of the argument would really like to know the result, but we're all going to have to wait. "You can't hurry love," sang the Supremes. The same goes for the law.
Testos is on the move. It's easy to mis-read this, but for the avoidance of doubt this is the former bowling alley and Bingo Hall on John Street, which after years of dereliction and decay has suddenly seen a surge of life. I had a look in with the new leaseholder, and amidst the damp and decayed paraphenalia of the bingo hall you knew you had to be dealing with an optimist. No one else would have wanted to take it on and it will be interesting to see if he can make something useful and profitable from it. He's ...
After last week's Britpop Fest, it's time for something completely different. Here is the late, great Etta James with I Just Want To Make Love To You which reached No. 5 in 1996 thanks to being used on adverts for Diet Coke. Andrew
Not very exciting, I know, but bear with me. It's been a gorgeous day here. I, sadly, have had way too much to do to be out in it. But it was fine. When Anna went to Drama at 4:30, I'd lie out in the sun and read the book my Mum recommended & I have been wanting to read for ages. That, by the way,is 'Before I go to sleep' by S J Watson. There may even be sipping of Chardonnay. So, I was just putting the finishing touches to my work when I heard a rattling in the ...
The Daily Telegraph write Leave Business Secretary Vince Cable alone - he's the moral centre of this Coalition in which they give some praise for Vince Cable which is worth reading: I believe that any serious and objective consideration of Mr Cable's record in office shows that he has been a formidable Cabinet minister, an important ally ...
I am alarmed to discover that Google has 51 hits for the phrase "chase a wild hair [sic]" but only 39 for "chase a wild hare", which, it should go without saying, is very obviously the correct spelling. Life is very strange.
We (the Liberal Democrats) are currently in the process of delivering a South Cambs Mail across the Division. The top stories of this issue are; Guided Bus Interest To Cost 10mEU Investment Helps Economic RecoveryJoin Our Campaign For A Tax On Bank TranscationsThe Apprentics - Numbers Hit Record LevelsRaise Tax Threshold Further And Faster, Say Lib DemsOpinion: Tories Can't Cut Services With One Hand And Grab Taxes With The OtherLib Dems Oppose Tories Move To Increase Pay For CouncillorsSCDC Tories Fail To Condemn Loss Of Rural Transport FundsOnly The Lib Dems Can Beat The Conservatives HereIf you are interested in ...
Peter Oborne has an article on the Telegraph website praising Vince Cable in the most generous of terms. You should read the whole thing, but here are some choice cuts: He has not just acted by the letter, but in the full spirit of this reforming Government, quietly privatising the Royal Mail, standing out against new regulation in the workplace, and becoming a powerful advocate of Oliver Letwin's "red tape challenge". Mr Cable deserves the bulk of the praise for the recent small surge of inward investment into Britain, though characteristically he has not tried to grab all the credit.Mr ...
Television celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver's fight to get the government to make sure new academies and free schools don't serve junk food to their pupils has been backed by Cambridge MP Julian Huppert. Julian raised the issue with Education Minister, Michael Gove after he received a letter from Jamie and an email from a resident both expressing their concerns. He has also signed a Commons' Early Day Motion welcoming Jamie's campaign and calling on Mr Gove to change the law to make academies and free schools serve food that meets nutritional regulations. Julian said: "It is vital that our children ...
Television celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver's fight to get the government to make sure new academies and free schools don't serve junk food to their pupils has been backed by Cambridge MP Julian Huppert. Julian raised the issue with Education Minister, Michael Gove after he received a letter from Jamie and an email from a resident both expressing their concerns. He has also signed a Commons' Early Day Motion welcoming Jamie's campaign and calling on Mr Gove to change the law to make academies and free schools serve food that meets nutritional regulations. Julian said: "It is vital that our children ...
... is in less than a month. So I have updated her wishlist. I'm planning on buying some of it myself, but I thought it'd be useful to have it available for others too. So here it is: https://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/5Z04BUPH41RM there's a LOT of Lego on there... [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
MP Julian Huppert has received assurances from train operator Greater Anglia that £4 million worth of improvement work is planned at Cambridge railway station's booking hall after he received a complaint. The number of entry gates is to be increased to improve the flow of customers to platforms and the ticket hall will be opened up to create more space for additional ticket machines. Julian was given news of the planned improvements after a complaint about the length of queues as customers waited to use ticket machines. He was told that on one occasion the queue stretched out of the ...
MP Julian Huppert has received assurances from train operator Greater Anglia that £4 million worth of improvement work is planned at Cambridge railway station's booking hall after he received a complaint. The number of entry gates is to be increased to improve the flow of customers to platforms and the ticket hall will be opened up to create more space for additional ticket machines. Julian was given news of the planned improvements after a complaint about the length of queues as customers waited to use ticket machines. He was told that on one occasion the queue stretched out of the ...
Cllr Nigel Bell (LD, Ely North And East) Savings should be made from the fire service's senior management costs so that the county's front-line can be protected, claim Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats. They will remind Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority tomorrow (Thursday, May 24) that the safety of the public and staff is their primary responsibility as they meet to discuss cuts of over £5 million. "Support services and fire-fighters have faced the brunt of the cuts agreed so far but senior management have so far seemed immune from this austerity," said Nigel Bell, Lib Dem leader on the fire authority. ...
Cllr Nigel Bell (LD, Ely North And East) Savings should be made from the fire service's senior management costs so that the county's front-line can be protected, claim Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats. They will remind Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority tomorrow (Thursday, May 24) that the safety of the public and staff is their primary responsibility as they meet to discuss cuts of over £5 million. "Support services and fire-fighters have faced the brunt of the cuts agreed so far but senior management have so far seemed immune from this austerity," said Nigel Bell, Lib Dem leader on the fire authority. ...
There has been a definite change in the Social approach to Austerity and personal finance over the last century. Really Chris in a whole century? Through changing times of War and prosperity as well as vast social upheaval and change? Well yes, obviously things have changed but if you scratch away at the surface the same pressures that threatened our Great-great Grandparents are the same as today yet approaches have changed. A level of greed and a "Something for nothing" culture have developed as more people believe that they the state will, and should, help them out. An acceptance of ...
MP Julian Huppert is to find out more about how he could save up to 30 per cent on his household energy bills when he meets representatives from a new company on Friday (May 25). Collective Power UK promises to aim to lower gas and electricity prices by collective buying for customers across the Eastern region. By collecting together the details of a large pool of consumers, the company, based in Haslingfield Road, Harston, will negotiate with the energy companies to cut bills. The service is free to customers and could save between 10 and 30 per cent on household ...
MP Julian Huppert is to find out more about how he could save up to 30 per cent on his household energy bills when he meets representatives from a new company on Friday (May 25). Collective Power UK promises to aim to lower gas and electricity prices by collective buying for customers across the Eastern region. By collecting together the details of a large pool of consumers, the company, based in Haslingfield Road, Harston, will negotiate with the energy companies to cut bills. The service is free to customers and could save between 10 and 30 per cent on household ...
Last Saturday evening, as Elvis Costello was thundering towards the climax of his performance at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, I remembered what it was like to be 17 again. Just for a few moments during the final couple of songs I really believed that the last 30 or so years hadn't happened yet. A quick glance around convinced me of reality though. Probably the most notable feature of the evening, aside from the privilege of watching a great performer was that the vast majority of the audience were most definitely not 17. They were nearly all my age – ...
Vince Cable was right to dismiss Adrian Beecroft's proposals to make it easier to sack people, argues Issan Ghazni. Guy Rundle in the Melbourne newspaper The Age looks at surveillance and the London Olympics: "Two years ago, the London Olympic Committee to smiles all round, unveiled the 2012 Games official mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville - cartoonish aliens, each with one eye in the middle of the head. The committee couldn't have been more chuffed, but pride turned to dismay once the public had a chance to react, pointing out en masse that the duo did indeed symbolise London, but only ...
I have to say I'd forgotten about the Margate Mayor making malarkey, until what I believe to have been one of those chauffeur driven civic cars (it had one of those coat arms type thingies could have been the queen I suppose) failing to indicate yesterday and cutting across my path at a roundabout up by the hospital. Anyhoo I've always thought that the idea of a mayor is an anachronism, which should be left back in the middle ages where it belongs, particularly of the ceremonial type, admittedly such posts exist in general to give elderly past it dinosaurs, ...
The Harborough Mail has more information about the Roman remains found at Windy Ridge - the site of a controversial new housing development: Roman remains discovered at the controversial Windy Ridge site in Harborough include pieces of pottery and the remains of a small farm or settlement, archaeologists have revealed. A team working at Windy Ridge off Glebe Road have found ditches containing Roman pottery on the site of what they believe was once a farm or small settlement occupied between the first and fourth centuries... he archaeologists, who began their work in March, will now submit a report to ...
So that was my sixth Annual Council Meeting, and the last one before the Mayan apocalypse strikes us all. I expect the next one will involve the survivors of Colchester kneeling before our new alien lizard overlords and declaring them Mayor. I'm sure the mighty Chronic will have the full rundown of what transpired, but suffice to say that it was a remarkably pleasant full Council meeting for once – as the annual meeting usually is – and we got through all the business relatively quickly. This means I'm now a member of the Planning Committee for the next municipal ...
There aren't very many people I know who don't have a Kindle or some other e-Reader. I have the Kindle App on my iPad but don't tend to use it very often because it's not really that comfortable. My main reason for avoiding getting my books in electronic form is because I worry about the effects on bookshops. I could spend a whole day quite happily browsing, picking up various books, admiring the covers, having a sneaky read. There is no greater therapy. What happens to them if we all download our books in the same format? It's not great ...
Last week, the lovely Caron Lindsay came up with a meme - what were we blogging on about this date for each of the last five years? I've still had my horrible ear infection and not been blogging much but, having managed a monster Doctor Who review this morning, I've been nudged by Millennium to take a look through the back catalogue. It turns out I've never blogged on May 23rd before, but aiming for mid-May has reminded me of an exciting variety of old posts: Doctor Who; politics; politics; and Doctor Who (few of them short). Who'd have thought? ...
The Mayor of London has failed to defend his claims to be creating 200,000 new jobs over the next four years when challenged at City Hall today by the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Stephen Knight. Boris Johnson was elected on a 9 point plan, with his third pledge to Londoners, being the creation of 200,000 new jobs over the next four years. At the first Mayor's Question Time session since his re-election Boris Johnson was unable to defend or explain how the pledge to deliver the promised new jobs would be delivered. Stephen Knight spoke about the issue after ...
Wed 23rd
16:17
Vince Cable quite rightly dismisses Beecroft proposals to make it easier to fire workers
What a crass statement to make by Adrian Beecroft, the Conservative donor and venture capitalist who advised No 10 on changes to Britain's employments law, when he said that Vince Cable is a "Socialist who found a home in the ... Continue reading →
There aren't very many people I know who don't have a Kindle or some other e-Reader. I have the Kindle App on my iPad but don't tend to use it very often because it's not really that comfortable. My main reason for avoiding getting my books in electronic form is because I worry about the effects on bookshops. I could spend a whole day quite happily browsing, picking up various books, admiring the covers, having a sneaky read. There is no greater therapy. What happens to them if we all download our books in the same format? It's not great ...
Concerned as I always am for the health of the local brewing industry (a major employer that contributes much in taxation), I paid another of my occasional visits to a public house on Saturday. These places (known for short as 'pubs') are amazing, serving as they do whole pints of beer and sometimes also food. I might start going more often. Anyway, I was in a great pub on Saturday called the Gate, on Barnet's genuinely pretty rural fringe, and I was with my friend and one-time election agent, a former Barnet councillor who is now under cover on a ...
Good content produced at the right time is at the heart of any successful blog. Good content often needs a helping hand courtesy of sensible promotion too. All of which is to say that fiddling with the technical details can be a tempting distraction from main business at hand, but it can make a difference even if it isn't the main factor in success or failure. One of the reasons I'm sure a fan of WordPress (as used by Lib Dem Voice, on my own blog and for my news aggregator) is that there is a wide-range of free or ...
The most popular post on this blog is Civil Partnerships and Marriage: What's The Difference?. It's now two years since I wrote that post, and I thought it was time to freshen it up in order to counter the lazy, and untrue, argument that the LGBT community already has equality via Civil Partnerships. I like to call that argument "doing a Ben Bradshaw". So here are the differences! Gender The most obvious difference in law is gender. A marriage is a partnership between a man and a woman. A civil partnership is one between two people of the same gender. ...
Yesterday the IMF released one of its regular reviews ("Article IV consultations") on the UK economy. Both government and opposition seized on it to reinforce their narratives. But for observers trying to make sense of these claims by reading what the IMF's summary actually says (here) there is a problem: it's written in economics jargon and not English. For example, in the passage central to the controversy passage: Under these circumstances, gains from delaying fiscal consolidation could be larger as multipliers are estimated to move inversely with growth and the effectiveness of monetary policy. To preserve credibility, reconsidering the path ...
Party President Tim Farron has been talking to the Huffington Post about everything from the local election results, the presentation errors in the Budget, his leadership ambitions, potential coalition deal breakers and exit strategies. He is adamant that Lords Reform will be delivered within this Parliament: "The coalition agreement is not something that you can pick and choose from," he says. "If people believe that Lords reform is something that can be dispensed with, for instance, or that it's tolerable for the Tory whips to not deliver a majority or a diluted Bill, it does bring into a question of ...
As the Secretary of State for Wales comes to the Senedd to try and sell the Queen's speech to AMs, today's Guardian reports that Nick Clegg has signalled that the coalition has plans for a "massive" increase in state-backed infrastructure investment. They say that the deputy prime minister has said that instructions have been issued to the Treasury setting out the government's plan to use its balance sheet to inject credit into the economy, with a "massive" increase in housing and infrastructure and schemes to reduce youth unemployment in a new emphasis on growth: In an interview with the Financial ...
Last night I am ambling along the seafront between Thorpe Bay and Shoeburyness minding my own business relatively happy. I was walking home because my stomach has decided food was needed and I went to cross over the road. My iPod was in and on and I'm waiting to cross the road and a car cruises past me. I know once this car passes I'm going to start the arduous journey across the two yards to the traffic island. So I am preparing to cross the road (I am really padding out this tale aren't I?) and as this car ...
Well I got yesterday's stage all wrong. The peleton decided to extend their rest day another 24 hours and let a group get over 12 minutes ahead of them when it was too late to haul that back. So in the end the 10 of them made their move on the final climb. Today though is a day for the GC contenders. It starts with a small hump, it might have been categorised in Denmark but not today. At the bottom of that descent is the first of today's two category 2 climbs, which takes up above 2000m at a ...
Just putting on record somewhere that can be proved - I suspect growth in Q3 & Q4. Nothing earth-shattering but expect around 1%-2% Mostly down to personal experience and business information, but also the Olympics and the fact household assets are UP not Down. Britain is well placed to achieve growth and with talent, ambition, hardwork and capacity, we can do it. But the BBC would have you believe anything but.
Remember the olden days under new Labour when many amateur photographers found themselves being stopped and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act just for, well, taking photographs. Liberal Democrats stood up against that then and in Government these searches were stopped. Chris Huhne, then Home Affairs Spokesman, was robust at the time in saying that photographers and trainspotters should be left alone to pursue their perfectly legitimate hobbies without interference. We thought we'd seen the last of these authoritarian attacks on innocent pastimes until the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport announced plans to ban photography completely on the subway, ...
I know this story is way old but I've only just come across it and my blood as they say is boiling... This lunchtime I was watching Prime Ministers Questions. Nothing new or exciting in that. The Prime Minister was getting a battering from Ed Miliband which shows just how poor the PM's performance was. However this isn't was drew my ire. When Paul Maynard, MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys stood up and asked a question I looked and listened to him and I straight away thought to myself that he suffered from cerebral palsy and I smiled that ...
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg slammed Manchester Labour yesterday over their vote to scrap the pupil premium. Speaking in Deputy Prime Minister Questions in the House of Commons yesterday he said, "Last year, on a per pupil basis, the pupil premium was worth about £480. It is now worth £600 and will go on to increase. Given those statistics, it is remarkable that Labour in Manchester voted to scrap the pupil premium altogether. How on earth is that going to help social mobility?" Chorlton MP John Leech said, "The pupil premium is currently worth £1.25 billion, and that will double ...
"Together" for the national interest? Maybe the Northern Ireland Secretary, Owen Paterson, has spent too much time in the presence of First Minister Peter Robinson and his DUP cohorts. Or maybe he was one of those very conservative Conservatives that David Cameron could foist upon Northern Ireland without upsetting the apple cart too much. Whatever the reason Mr. Paterson has become the first cabinet minister to speak out against the cabinet commitment to equal marriage. In a letter to a constituent in his North Shropshire seat he wrote: "Having considered this matter carefully, I am afraid I have come to ...
More news from the sick world of the British media: Apparently Clegg is a "Communist", and Cable is a "Socialist". Ha ha ha! Meanwhile, in other news: The Daily Mail is a formerly fascist supporting right wing rag which is obsessed with cancer, house prices and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It is mostly committed to gossipy stories about Z list celebs. News Value= 0 The Daily Telegraph editorial staff mostly consists of UKIP nutters, and various other sociophobes committed to an agenda far more right wing and out of date even than the modern Conservative party. It too ...
Cross posted from LGBT+ Lib Dems Northern Ireland Maybe the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, has spent too much time in the presence of First Minister Peter Robinson and his DUP cohorts. Or maybe he was one of those very conservative Conservatives that David Cameron could foist upon Northern Ireland without upsetting the ...
MPs are always queuing up in droves to ask a question of the Deputy Prime Minister. He is what the Speaker describes as "box office". The subjects at this monthly session can, however, be a bit repetitive. House of Lords reform, electoral registration and lobbying all tend to pop up every time. Helen Grant (Con) was anxious to get the Royal Sucession changes on the statute books pdq. But Nick Clegg reassured her that, should the Duchess of Cambridge undergo successful confinement resulting in a female happy event, then the new rule would apply de facto, despite not being de ...
Rather flatteringly my piece yesterday for the New Statesman was most read on their website (perhaps not surprisingly given its subject matter) and has attracted plenty of less than flattering comment (do pop over there to see them in all their glory!) Meantime, here it is... "Lickspittle". It's a great word to use as an insult, rolling deliciously off the tongue in all its onomatopoeic glory. The sort of thing New Statesman readers write about me in the comments section on a weekly basis. And I'm sure it reflects how many Labour supporters genuinely feel about the Lib Dems, collaborators ...
The Deadly Assassin Andrew Hickey gives his views. (tags: doctorwho ) Angela's Choice. "Support for European unity runs far deeper in the political structures of most continental countries than we grasp. British eurosceptics constantly remark that the euro was a political project, as if that is a killer argument. It was. It was supposed to be..." (tags: euro eu ) 10 things about British Politics as observed by an Irish political anorak. Jason speaks. (tags: ukpolitics ) Harry Potter and the 800 lb Gorilla How the Rowling / Warner machine treats translators. (tags: languages sf )
Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore MP writes a weekly column for his local newspapers. Here is this week's edition. Independence Referendum As discussions continue surrounding the process and timing of the Scottish Government's independence referendum, the UK Government published the results of their consultation on the referendum last week. With nearly 3000 responses, the results demonstrated strong support from all quarters in Scotland for a referendum which is legal, fair and decisive. Since our consultation was launched in January we have already made a good deal of progress with the Scottish Government - both agreeing that ...
Wed 23rd
10:01
The non-existent Lib Dem message: What people will remember and forget about the Lib Dems in governm...
Come 2015 the question will not be what have the Lib Dems achieved in government, it will be what will people have remembered they did in government and will this be enough to make people vote for the party? The party fight an unfair battle with no media mouthpiece on their side and one response ...
New Statesman - Labour's unending spite towards the Lib Dems is self-defeating (tags: ) FactCheck: Is regulation to blame for unemployment? | The FactCheck Blog You go, factcheck :) (tags: ) Born poor, stay poor: the scandal of social immobility (tags: ) The sky's the limit: an extraordinary group of sky diving servicemen Inspiring! (tags: ) The Potter Blogger: The corruption at the heart of our political system This is a wonderful, wonderful post and you should all read it. And then get very very angry. (tags: ) Social Mobility, Public Schools and Oxbridge « Jazz Hands, Serious Business Like ...
Would you like to stop the spread of an invasive weed called Himalayan balsam? Himalayan balsam is a non-native plant which is found along our rivers and streams and its seeds can quickly spread, smothering other native flowers and vegetation as it goes. The balsam can take over so much that the river banks are left completely bare during the winter months which can lead to increased erosion. To help stop the spread, South Glos are launching a conservation campaign called the Big Pull and are looking for community groups and large businesses to get involved. They are running free ...
The Doctor Who UNIT Files DVD Box Set features two stories, Invasion of the Dinosaurs and The Android Invasion. One starring Jon Pertwee, the other Tom Baker, and both Elisabeth Sladen, each makes unexpected use of the Doctor's soldier friends for an intriguing, introspective (and infamous) adventure in which the Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves back in England. But all is far from well. There is a frightening stillness everywhere... Then, in one, the least convincing dinosaurs known to humanity, behind which is deep politics. And for both, I have exclusive, ambitious (and absurd) photos at the original locations. ...
Over the next few weeks, I'm taking part in a handful of training sessions about learning the lessons from May's elections. There's much to learn from May and from being in government, but I've also noticed that many of the old favourite, long-running lessons are very much still with us. So here's my selection of the top five of those Golden Oldies. Disliking the use of "fair" Some Liberal Democrats love to hate the use of "fair" or "fairness", decrying it as being meaningless, what everyone says and pointless. But it is also one of the values that the public ...
Living in the latest country to adopt the Euro, it is clear that, to say the least, the British media has a "different" perspective on the single currency. If you believe the British press, the Euro not only will collapse, but it should collapse. The propaganda spread by such "newspapers" as the Daily Mail and the Express, is unrelentingly hostile, not merely to the Euro, but even to continuing British membership of the European Union itself. Continuing campaigns against the Union, which is consistently portrayed in the most negative light possible, have undoubtedly contributed to a sharp decline in British ...
Formerly the only question of the tax-gatherer was, "How much have you got?" We ask that question still, and there is a general feeling, recognised as just by all parties, that the rate of taxation should be greater for large incomes than for small. As to how much greater, parties are no doubt in dispute. But now a new question has arisen. We do not only ask to-day, "How much have you got?" we also ask, "How did you get it? Did you earn it by yourself, or has it just been left you by others? Was it gained by ...
BBC interviewers like nothing better than displaying how clever they are by asking the question which they know a politician cannot answer. Last night on Newsnight Emily Maitlis tried to get Chloe Smith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, to admit that the government has a Plan B in case Plan A doesn't work, as the IMF report may suggest. This is the forward-looking version of "Have you
Also agreed on Monday were the following changes because Jim Wilkie (Chief Executive) is still ill and absent from work. Ian Coleman is Deputy Chief Executive/Acting Chief Executive in Jim's absence/Director of Finance. David Taylor-Smith is Acting Chief Finance Officer while Ian Coleman is Acting Chief Executive. Tom Sault is Acting Deputy Chief Finance Officer ...
Lib Dem energy and climate change secretary Edward Davey was asked this week by Andrew Neil why people were being asked to pay more for their power while many were struggling. He said it was "right to pursue climate change policies" and told Andrew Neil that prices of onshore, offshore and solar renewable sources were "coming down fast". You can watch the interview here: * Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.
The Dalai Lama is doing a world tour and is stopping off in Manchester to speak to the 14 - 25 year old youth of the city on Saturday 16th June 2012. The idea is to fill the MEN area with 12,500 young people in a show of unity across the city and promote culture of non-violence and dialogue. Entry to this event is now free for young people and transport in a number of cases is also being supported. If you can bring a 'bus-load' of young people, get in touch and we'll pass on your details. Or if ...
Wed 23rd
08:25
We must be doing something right - Mail rails at 'Commie Clegg', Telegraph blasts 'Socialist Vince'
There's a measure in marketing known as Advertising Value Equivalents (AVE) — it's used to assess the impact of coverage in the media. Glancing at today's right-wing press, the Lib Dems have won headlines money can't buy... Nick Clegg's push for increased social mobility, to equalise opportunities for the poorest in society, has earned him the tag 'Commie Clegg' in today's Mail. This is of course the same paper that only two years ago splashed on the bizarre headline 'Clegg's Nazi slur on Britain'. Meanwhile Vince Cable's jettisoning of the controversial 'fire at will' proposals commissioned from Tory donor Adrian ...
Today's Financial Times reports: [IMG: Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister] The ruling UK coalition is preparing a "massive" increase in state-backed investment in housing and infrastructure, as Nick Clegg signalled a shift from lurid warnings by ministers about the debt crisis to a fresh emphasis on growth... The Treasury could now use its balance sheet to underwrite housing and infrastructure schemes and to tackle youth unemployment. He said some were "neurotic" about using the state balance sheet to assume additional risks on housing, transport and other projects and hinted that officials in the Treasury were hesitant. "From the top of ...
Fine. I admit it. I'm a member of the liberal elite and the only thing I care about is taking your hard earned money and giving it to an unemployed family of 90 illegal immigrants who live in Buckingham Palace on the dole and get a multiplex cinema in their garden at the taxpayer's expense. Yes, we liberal elite are waging a war against christmas in order to replace it with mandatory marxist Al Quaeda terrorist training camps. We also want all the gays in the world be be married and then hold an orgy on top of the Archbishop ...
Last night, along with a ward colleague, I attended the latest meeting of the Blackness Primary School Parent Council. There was a very useful Head Teacher update on a number of matters including pupil activities, school refurbishment and the School Improvement Plan. The school's Jubilee Summer fete is on Saturday 9th June from 10am to 12 noon. Entry is £1 for adults 50p for children and includes refreshments. The children are making paper bunting to decorate the school grounds There will be a number of stalls - including home produce, plants, etc - plus craft activities eg decorate a crown; ...
The BBC reports: The European Court of Human Rights has said individual governments can decide how to implement a ban on convicted prisoners voting. The judgement means the UK will be able to decide for itself how to resolve the long-standing row over votes for prisoners. But the court says the UK only has six months to outline its proposed reforms... In a summary of its judgement, the court said it "accepted the [UK] Government's argument that each State has a wide discretion as to how it regulates the ban, both as regards the types of offence that should result ...
Local authorities are responsible for enforcing food hygiene legislation and the obligation to comply rests with the food business operator. For schools that's the Head Teacher but if that school is run by the local authority, ultimately, the Cabinet member would be responsible. So in Southwark that's Labour Councillor Catherine Macdonald. She has been clear for that she will provide "free healthy school meals". Food safety enforcement officers are meant to carry out routine hygiene inspections of school kitchens. The frequency of inspections is based on the risk rating given at the time of the last inspection. Most schools have ...
On Monday night I attended the Southfield Safer Neighbourhood Police Panel meeting which is a chance for residents and the police to discuss current and recent local crimes trends. Myself and fellow ward Councillor Andrew Steed attended. I updated the meeting with the recent confirmation that Southfield Rec will get lighting for two of the commonly used pathways. The lighting will be scheduled to be on for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening so that people can get to and from work more safely. It was announced that during the Olympics the ward would ...
Why has Simon Moores taken to renaming blogs in the sidebar of his blog, myself becoming miserable of Margate or something similar. I'm almost inclined to repay the compliment but lack the energy etcetera, although "Tit" sprang to mind not for the first time, still let's be mature we are adults after all.
