A press release from the Office of Rail Regulation gives the results of a survey of more than 1600 passengers from across Great Britain: Nearly three-quarters of all those interviewed were not confident what 'off-peak' times were. 5% of on-train interviewees travelling on an 'Anytime' ticket realised that they could have travelled on an 'off-peak' ticket. Over 50% of online respondents agreed that 'it is a bit of a lottery as to whether you find the best price for a rail journey or not'. 45% said that the fare system is too complicated for them to understand. 41% of online ...
Immigration and asylum are twin subjects that are guaranteed to get Daily Mail columnists' blood boiling; add the word Europe and the mix is toxic. Except that of course, in the real world, it isn't. And indeed both the EU's Council of Ministers and the European Parliament are hard at work on the construction of a common ...
A few months ago my television's integral DVD player failed, so I sent the set away to be repaired. When it came back with an unexpected bonus: I could now receive ITV3. This station is largely devoted to repeats of old situation comedies (On the Buses, Terry and June) and, in particular, old detective series. It has become something of an addiction of mine. There are the prestige dramas like Lewis, Inspector Morse and Vera. And the more workaday series like Wycliffe and Heartbeat. Though the prestige dramas are great in theory, I often find myself losing motivation halfway through, ...
It is coming up to Pride season here in the UK. But effectively in Moscow there will not be a sanctioned Pride parade until 2112. In Moscow applications for a parade have to be submitted not later than 30-45 days before the event. But there is no maximum time before the event that such an application has to be submitted. So gay rights activists submitted applications for each of the next 100 years. Only for City Hall to turn them all down. This decision has since been upheld by the district and city courts. In a country where a little ...
I pause in the account of the strange goings-on at the Odanglesex County Council Outdoor Activity Centre for a nude flash. Sorry, no, a post on monarchy, brought about by the Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II in the U.K.. My problem is that U.K. and non-U.K. visitors to this site will see this very differently. My guess is that the jubilee would have merited a brief mention on Indian or U.S. T.V. news (former colonies, after all) with a chance to watch more on some minority channel, and not that for the French, the Germans, the Japanese or ...
Following discussions at the last Parish Council meeting myself (and other Councillors) have picked up the task of looking to see what is available to improve the children's play facilities in Bar Hill. As a County Councillor for King's Hedges in the City, and the father of 3 and 1-year old children I understand the important of play areas for younger children and the many different options available to improve the facilities in Bar Hill. But rather than designing something that Hayden and Aaron would be happy with what do you want? What do you think the people of Bar ...
One does despair over the intellect of our dear Chancellor. Asked this morning on Today as to what he would advocate to cure the Euro crisis, he said he would, firstly, recapitalise the Spanish banks. Secondly, he said: Then we have the Greek election in a week's time and you would want the result of the Greek election to be one which had a series of parties committed to Greece's Euro membership and the steps necessary to stay in the Euro. I see. So he's hanging his hat on an electoral outcome which hasn't got a cat in hell's chance ...
[IMG: Celebrating the campaign success] Over the last few years many residents have complained to local councillors about the speed of traffic on Upper Tollington Park and safety at the pedestrian crossing by Florence Road. So in 2010, Lynne Featherstone, Katherine Reece, Ed Butcher and I started a campaign to get the Council to take action to slow down traffic and improve the pedestrian crossing. At first the Council said there was no need to take action and no money available. But we kept up the pressure and got residents to back our road safety petition – and now they ...
Stephen Tall wrote on Lib Dem Voice recently: What the poll does show is that there's much work to be done in re-connecting Nick with the party membership, as pioneered a few weeks ago with the 'Clegginar' conversation between the leader and members. When a third of your party starts agreeing with Lembit Opik, then it's a clear sign that all isn't well!We can all agree with the last sentence, and the Clegginar - a web-based seminar with party members - was a welcome development. But I wonder if it is right to talk of re-connecting Nick with the party ...
The crux of the whole campaign is Malta. All supplies from Italy to Tripoli or Benghazi have to pass within range of the island. Even the supplies from Crete that came by ship would encounter the Submarines and long range aircraft that would fly round trips between Alexandria and Malta. Royal Opera House Valletta after an air raid Kesselring knew this on arrival, Admiral Raeder knew this post Sealion, the Italian high command were aware of it but were less than enthused by the prospect of a landing. However the Regio aeronautica did commence air raids on the small island ...
The Voice newspaper reports on a demonstration outside Birmingham town hall over the absence of African or African-Caribbean councillors in the city's ruling cabinet. That's not the half of it. None of Britain's ten biggest local authorities have any black ... Continue reading →
Thu 7th
19:45
A belief in any superior being without proof is detrimental to the progress and indeed the existence...
A belief in any superior being without proof is detrimental to the progress and indeed the existence of society. For years the institutions of religion have been bastardised and shamelessly invented as they have moved through centuries of change on the outside. Until the reformation, all Christians in the world actually thought they were drinking ... Continue reading →
I previously posted a link to the views of Mudar Zahran, a (Muslim) Palestinian-Jordanian writer who lives in the UK. A reader has posted a link to a fascinating article about Jordan by Mr Zahran in today's Jerusalem Post - definitely worth a look.
In a press release Thames Valley police open with this Euro 2012 is kicking off a summer of sporting events from 8 June.There is a widely held view that large football tournaments can lead to a rise in violence against the person offences. This doesn't appear to be the case as violence against the person crime figures have dropped by 23.9% across Thames Valley in 2012 since 2011. During the last Euro tournament in 2008, 12 local policing areas (LPAs) had a decrease in the number of violence against the person offences when compared with the same period the year ...
George Bernard Shaw used to say that political necessities sometime turn out to be political mistakes. As things stand in ongoing negotiations between the West and Iran, this seems to be the parallel for what is going to happen in yet another round of talks later this month in Russia. Let us consider the current balance of actions. Iranian Religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his recent appearance publically accused West of fabricating information about Iran's nuclear progress to cover up its own problems. In the same speech he warned that Israeli military action against his country will me bet ...
Many people get annoyed at NHS postcode lotteries, but a Conservative councillor has come up with a proposal which would essentially mean that if you drink, smoke or are obese should be told to shape up or leave the borough. See the website describing the draconian proposals. Conservative Councillor John Butcher (from Surrey) has stuck the knife into the back of the NHS in an email to Council officers, describing our health service as both "a Marxist organisation" and states that it [the NHS] is "bound to fail". He went on to call for health policies to be altered so ...
Ever since the previous owners of Cheadle's George and Dragon sold it to Dorbiere, we've been hoping that the promises of the new owners would come to pass: a redeveloped pub-hotel for that key location. Time has gone by with no progress. The Dorbiere banner promising imminent development has come down. The metal shutters over the windows have been replaced with wood. And now the freehold is up for sale – which presumably means Dorbiere have decided to sell the George and Dragon on. The George and Dragon has a great location in the heart of Cheadle Village and we ...
I'm not hugely fussed about the monarchy, I have to admit. I'm not hostile to the idea of a hereditary Head of State, especially as the job comes with precious little actual power. But it clearly means something to others, as demonstrated by Sunday's river pageant. I was lucky enough to have a really good vantage point, courtesy of friends, on the elbow of a curve of the river with views from Battersea Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge, and in front of us, hundreds of people were crammed onto a narrow strip of the Thames Path, waiting for the boats to ...
I've just returned from a break in The Lakes to find an email telling me that the chair of Merseytravel has decided to stand down at their AGM. The person who sits in this chair is Councillor Mark Dowd, brother of Councillor Peter Dowd; both Sefton councillors with Peter currently presiding as leader of the council. As Bootle labour have all 7 cabinet portfolios under their control and all chairs of other committees, I wonder if Peter will find a lucrative position for his brother by pushing someone else further down the pecking order. Click on the link below to ...
Gatley Carrs is getting a new boardwalk over the pond – with a special low rail to make it easier and safer for kids to lean over and get closer to the pondlife. A team from The Conservation Volunteers (formerly BTCV) are doing a fantastic job on construction and hope to be finished by the end of next week. So why not drop by Gatley's very own nature reserve and take a look. View Cheadle and Gatley in a larger map
Cook (Blue) v Muhammad (Red) at German Open 2012 British Taekwondo have for a third time selected Lutola Muhammad ranked 59th in the world at the -80kg class over Aaron Cook the World number one. While the British Olympic Assocation's (BOA) Qualification Standards Panel (QSP) are meeting to consider whether to ratify the decision which they have already rejected, the World Taekwondo Federation have stepped into the fray saying: "The manner of the selection is bringing our sport into disrepute." Last year cook removed himself from British Taewondo's programme after a disappointing showing in the world championships. He set up ...
Thu 7th
15:49
Evening Gazette reveals Labour Council chiefs accepted unpopularity of Redcar's "Vertical Pier"
Shocking that this report was hidden even from Councillors and members of the Cabinet were always denying there was any opposition.
Lords reform looks set to be one of the more contentious issues in the current Parliament. Pressure for progress from the Liberal Democrat leadership looks likely to meet opposition from a combination of elements from the Conservative and Labour parties. This, despite all parties expressing manifesto support for reform of some kind. Given that, a compromise seems desirable, so I humbly offer one here. In short, I propose that the reformed chamber should be directly elected, but that abstentions should count as 'votes' for an Appointments Commission list of candidates. The Commission would only be charged with producing a list ...
Thu 7th
15:02
The shifting sands at Southport, action of prozac on shrimps and the wreck off Mad Warf
Southport's shifting sands and what they have to reveal are amongst the themes of this week's Radio 4 Book of the Week written and read by local multi award winning poet Jean Sprackland. All is available on iplayer for seven days. Monday began with the skeletal remains of of ship wreck: Every so often the sands shift enough to reveal great mysteries: the Star of Hope, wrecked on Mad Wharf in 1883 and usually just visible as a few wooden stumps, is suddenly raised one day, up from the depths - an entire wreck, black and barnacled, and on either ...
So the members of Lib Dem Voice have spoken and the write up today on the websites says that they want either Vince Cable or Tim Farron to be the next leader once Nick Clegg stands aside whenever that may be. I don't get this. I really don't. Vince Cable would be a fantastic leader but he is also 69 and whilst that shouldn't be an issue does anyone remember what the public thought of – to give him his full name – Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell when he took up the leadership and he was only 64 at ...
The issue as to the UK's relationship with the other countries in Europe is being discussed publicly again. It is worth displaying the following image again: This is the current structure for the various European Bodies. It is now recognised that the Eurozone requires a banking union. I think it is also clear that the UK will not be part of this. It may be that the Eurozone moves further,
Nick Clegg has revealed in an interview his "shockingly bad" attempts at penning a novel on his early twenties. But, as the Independent reports, despite this early setback the deputy prime minister is still keen to try again, spurred on by his passion for fiction: In an interview with Easy Living magazine, he said he would still like to write one in the "simple, sparse" style of the double Booker Prize winning JM Coetzee. The Deputy Prime Minister said he reads "religiously, every night before I go to sleep". He added: "I cannot think of a time when I have ...
That is a question that the Liberal Democrats have to answer. Lib Dem Voice reported yesterday that, in response to former MP Lembit Opik's call for Clegg to step down as leader before the end of the year - but, curiously, continuing to serve as Deputy Prime Minister until 2015 - LDV have surveyed party members' views on the issue. The outcome of the poll makes fascinating reading. 59% of Lib Dem members wish for Nick Clegg to lead the party into the 2015 General Election. 34 % however want him to be replaced, while 8% have no opinion. (I ...
Conservative county councillor John Butcher (Surrey) has lashed out at the NHS in an email to fellow councillors and council officers, describing it as "a Marxist organisation" and "bound to fail". He went on to call for health policies to be changed so as to bring about polarisation between those who live healthier and less healthy lifestyles, hoping that those who live healthier lifestyles will be increasingly attracted to areas such as Surrey and those who live less healthy lives will be driven to live in other parts of the country: Eventually the self-inflicted patients would end up living in ...
I have already written to the Mayor of London about the Colonial Drive development that Ealing Council recently accepted. The Mayor of London should stick a spanning in the works. Fellow ward Councillor Harvey Rose has certainly come up with a pearl of a letter to Boris: "I write as one of the three councillors representing Southfield ward, which is situated in the southeast of the London Borough of Ealing, on the border with the London Borough of Hounslow. Southfield ward is an area of high density. Many of the roads are tree-lined. Nearly all the properties are residential. Very ...
Over the years, I've worked with or met many politicians and activists who claim to have a great political message but express deep frustration that the public still hasn't embraced it. A recent post by Anecdote's Shawn Callahan provides some explanation: There are many reasons why we remember stories much better than other types of information. [If] the story engages our emotions we will tend to remember it. We remember what we feel. We will remember a story if it's particularly visual. John Medina points out in Brain Rules that seeing is our strongest sense. Because stories have a combination ...
Everyone needs to go and see The Wire: The Musical, even if it doesn't appear to feature a one-word duet between Bunk and McNulty: The Wire: The Musical with Michael Kenneth Williams from Michael Kenneth Williams You should also, of course, make sure you're fully familiar with the 19th century work that it's based on.
Last night I went to see Anna's drama group's annual performance for parents and friends. The play was one the kids had entirely produced themselves. I may be a little biased here, but I honestly think it could hold its own on the Edinburgh Fringe. It combined satire, comedy, drama and tension almost seamlessly as it explored issues around drugs. The most powerful scene in the whole play was when drug dealers, who'd picked up a vulnerable young girl from the street, threatened her and her family unless she acted as their mule. It as a tense scene, exceptionally well ...
A couple of years back I posted about the "low earner Liberal Democrats" who have been a major part of the party's progress, especially in squeezing Labour votes in more rural seats and in making progress in urban areas against Labour. Events in the interim have if anything made this group even more important to the party. In some ways, with in particular the emphasis on the £10,000 or more income tax allowance, support for a (modified) benefits cap and the Pupil Premium, the party's policy outlook now addresses all the more their main concerns. However, in other ways, it ...
The evening of Monday 4th June saw the Parish Church of St Peter and Paul in Tring full to capacity as people from all the religious congregations in the town (and some from none) gathered for a Jubilee Service in honour of Her Majesty the Queen. Prayers were led by the Rev Jo Wetherall, the choir performed splendidly and Zadok got us all off to a rousing start and each hymn was given a rousing rendition. The Introductory Reading was read by the Tring Town Mayor, with further readings both spiritual and secular given by visiting clergy and members of ...
BBC News - LinkedIn passwords 'leaked by hackers' Change your password - now! (tags: internet socialmedia ) Ray Bradbury: Inspiration for "The Fire Balloons" Brilliant piece. (tags: writing sf ) Neil Gaiman's Journal: Ray Bradbury A warm and heartfelt tribute. (tags: sf )
Why not join hundreds of other Lib Dem Voice readers in getting our latest headlines by email? Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there's new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with a note of how many comments each post has got and convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want ...
China investment in Europe triples - FT.com www.ft.com Chinese direct investment into Europe tripled in 2011 to $10bn, according to a new study that estimates Chinese companies are in the early stages of a global shopping spree that could see them spend as much as $500bn a year in the region by 2020.
Across the UK there's a shortage of housing, and without any huge developments, we see new properties being built – and sold or rented – across Cheadle and Gatley. One such development has been a long time coming, but we can now welcome the new residents of Cheadle Mill to the village. Planning permission was granted for forty two properties on the old works site at the end of Mill Lane back in 2005 (planning application 17470). But only recently have the first few properties been completed and residents moved in. The Cheadle Mill development is at the far end ...
Review: History for Girls - Lucy Worsley's Harlots Heroines & Housewives | Bad Reputation Hodge has reviewed HH&H; so I don't have to. (tags: ) The questions that must be answered over the unpaid stewards Look, government, we have a minimum wage for a reason, and people on Workfare should be paid it. No ifs, no buts, no excuses. (tags: ) BBC News - Exercise 'no help for depression', research suggests Headline somewhat misleading. (tags: ) Improbable Research on Dead Jeremy Bentham Day (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The Easybeats and Friday on my mind [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
At long last, the bunting is coming down. As I walked through the darkened Accounts department of my company this morning, I saw that the last vestiges of visible patriotic fervour were to be found in the scant remains of a chocolate bar whose wrapper was emblazoned with a Union Flag. The Queen has retreated ...
A couple of weeks ago, Spineless Liberal had a post about the LiquidFeedback system, asking whether it's something the Liberal Democrats should be adopting for internal policy debates. (If you don't know what LiquidFeedback is or are unsure about the concept of liquid democracy, take a look at the various links in that post) My main question would be to ask why the party's not doing something like this already. We like to make big noises about how we're a party run by our members, how they determine everything and all that pabulum, but then make it quite hard for ...
you can now see "I Love Shoe" in Berwick or Skipton rather than heading all the way to Shetland to see the film by young people from Consett. It will show at Berwick in The Maltings Theatre & Cinema on June 24th at 2.30 p.m. and in Skipton on June 28th at 7.30 in the The Mart Theatre. Both are great places to visit, and the 90 minute screening of a series of short films is free. Full details are available here.
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 560 party members responded, and we're publishing the full results. 28% choose Vince, 21% tip Tim: how you voted Yesterday we reported the finding that 34% of Lib Dem members surveyed thought Nick Clegg should step down as party leader before the 2015 general election compared to 59% who thought he should stay to fight it. Today we report the hypothetical question we then posed: who should take up the reins ...
Today's Independent reports on the result of an opinion poll that shows that only three in 10 people in England and Wales want to see Scotland break away from the United Kingdom. They add that north of the border, according to a "poll of polls" by John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, who has analysed surveys taken since January, voters oppose independence by 60 per cent to 40. The real poll of course is what matters, but it cannot be denied that if Scotland does decide to go it alone then there will be a profound impact on ...
Labour's PFI and PPP schemes turned out badly in so many ways, it is easy to forget quite why they were so popular to begin with, both with politicians very much of the central government public spending school (e.g. John Prescott) and also with senior public sector managers wanting to get funding for their areas (e.g. at Transport for London). The off-balance sheet part of them meant the government, within its then economic approach, was willing to spend more on infrastructure investment than it otherwise would have. Moreover, by involving long-term legally binding contracts they provided a degree of security ...
Last week, I was "minute-taker" at the latest committee meeting of the Friends of Magdalen Green at which we discussed the Friends' stall at WestFest's Big Sunday. We are teaming up with the other groups (mainly sporting - such as football, bowling, taekwondo and boxing) that are members of the West End Sports and Heritage Association to have a WESHA stand, covering the activities of WESHA and its partner organisations. In addition to information about the activities of Friends of Magdalen Green, the Friends will also have details of healthy walks around the West End that Dundee City Council has ...
I have, over the years, made no secret of my support for the people of Palestine. I am therefore pleased to have been invited to address an event in support of the Palestinian cause, taking place in the City Square on Saturday. The Justice for Palestine Festival takes place between 12 noon and 4pm and is part of a Scotland-wide series of events - see below:
