Yesterday I blogged about the way that privatisation has changed the nature of our railways. Spitting Image said the same thing, far more entertainingly, long ago. britishrailways.tv
European Football. It's here. Quick hide! I am not a footie fan. I hold my hands up. And whats more I hope I don't watch or accidentally get exposed to the matches. I respect people who like it and fair doos, if you want to watch the stuff then may it give you great joy. Yet there are a whole host of issues just brewing to get debated about the whole shebang. First, take the whole footie ethos. Its a game about 11 grown men kicking a ball against another set of 11 grown men. All of which are paid ...
Don't read John Higginson's Total Politics article on China unless you have a strong stomach. Here, for instance, is Mark Hendrick, Labour MP and chairman of the all-party parliamentary China group, speaking: "Perhaps, as a democratically elected politician, I shouldn't say this.While China may be far from what we would want in the UK, they are good at getting things done."And here is Tory right-winger David Davies: "Having been to Shanghai and Beijing, it took my breath away how modern those cities are. It's absolutely extraordinary. This isn't 'First World' - it's beyond that. We travelled to and from Shanghai ...
The nominees for John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer submitted a diverse portfolio of work for voters to consider last year - five novels and five short stories between the five candidates. This year it is even more diverse and overall a little sparser: one long novel, one short novel, three short stories (twice) and one short story. It is therefore very difficult to make an objective judgement based on the material we have in front of us, and I suspect most voters won't even try. Some may of course have read other work by some of the ...
The government executes U-turns with such speed these days that Lord Bonkers' latest diary was out of date before it was published in Liberator. Think of it, then, as a romance of the days when Cornwall was under the heel of the hated Pasty Tax. "Better than a chimbley!" Where better to be in early summer than Cornwall? I have come to spend a short holiday at Trescothick Bay and am pleased to report that the Jamaica Guest House fully justifies the praise it receives in the pages of Wainwright's West Country Marginals. It has a dinner gong, which in ...
Last weekend was memorable. I say that as a Republican without particular reference to Brenda Windsor. A midnight drive down to Cornwall. The wonderful North Cornish coast. You really can't beat a cliffside walk from Widemouth to Bude with the sun shining. It doesn't get any better than that. And "The Weir" bistro at Whalesborough Farm just by the A39 at Marhamchurch. Priceless. I was particularly touched by the wonderful beacon burning. There is something deep and historic about such a thing. We stood on a hill in Marhamchurch in front of a vast bonfire. We could see a beacon ...
A really excellent short novel, part of the Hugo Voter Package as Lord is a Campbell nominee this year; a fairy-tale set in Senegal, with various spirit creatures (some of which clearly have sfnal counterparts) helping our heroine interrogate the roles that society has set for her. I can't really do it justice in a short write-up and haven't the energy right now to do a longer one, but there are a load of other positive reviews of this around the internet. I will look out for more from this writer.
A very interesting and short book on how epidemics - particularly epidemics of ideas, the kind of thing we now call memes - spread among humanity. Gladwell identifies three distinct groups of people who become instrumental in selling innovation (or indeed decay) to the rest of us: Mavens, who just love collecting knowledge and shring it; Connectors, who are the vectors for transmitting new things to other people; and Salesmen, who are the persuaders necessary for a critical mass of Connectors to take on the ideas of the Mavens. It's not a perfect typology - I think I have some ...
Again, a decent Torchwood novel - I remain impressed by the overall quality of the range - this time featuring a time-travel mystery centred around a particular Cardiff house, one which Jack himself has personal links to. Adams is a good descriptive writer and takes us much further into Jack's background over the decades in Cardiff than other authors have done, with decently creepy alien forces to boot. Another good 'un.
With sewage still being pumped from Foreness Point untreated a mile and a bit out to sea, up to yesterday afternoon it would appear that Southern Water are no time soon going to sort out the problem or indeed answer questions such as these I put to Southern Water media bods earlier today. How long before beaches are safe to use again? Will Southern Water be paying for the clean up,compensating business or thousands of local residents and visitors? Will Colin Hood Chairman or Matthew Wright of Southern Water be visiting the area to assess the damage? Why is the ...
I very much enjoyed Thomson's graphic novel Blankets, but was aware that Habibi came with substantial warnings about cultural appropriation: it's a love story of two kids trying to escape and build a life of their own in a fictional Middle Eastern country, which is half Arabian Nights fantasy and half modern oil metropolis. It's beautifully drawn and the central characters (including the wonderful Noah the Fisherman) very well portrayed; and the whole thing draws deeply from the wells of Arabic (and also Persian) lore and culture. It does have some serious problems. Nadim Damluji discusses his issues with the ...
Odd goings on in Bradford over the last week or so. A small gaggle (one tent 2 caravans) are occupying a site that was destined for a massive shopping centre bankrolled by a multinational organisation. So far so usual. Except, at the moment it's a big hole in the ground with no immediate prospect of development and the occupiers are demanding the multinational get on spend their cash and build the temple of mammon. What next? Libertarians occupying ASH demanding more smoking restrictions? :-) Ok, I have to have something to amuse me on my daily commute
You may have seen an article in the Evening News about Manchester City Council's decision to dump 300,000 of Central Library's works as part of their £170m refurbishment. Last week I raised my concerns with the Head of Libraries and I am pleased Chorlton MP John Leech has joined me in slamming this decision. Manchester City Council have made the move to dispose of 300,000 works, almost a third of its collection, stating that they are no longer needed. The items will be given to an outside company which will sell, give away or pulp the works. Chorlton MP John ...
By Emma Revell Liberal Democrat education policy is good. We are giving 15 hours of free pre-school education to disadvantaged toddlers, stopping children falling behind in basic reading skills and we are committed to ending child poverty by 2020. The jewel in the crown so to speak is the Pupil Premium: money given directly to ...
Most of the worry about the world economy is being directed towards Europe, and the Eurozone in particular. I am amongst a very small group of optimists on that front – but it is easy to see why people are worried. In fact it is only through a prolonged period of crisis that Europe will find an enduring solution. But meanwhile, should we be worried about the US too? What prompted this thought was this article in Vanity Fair by the eminent economist Joseph Stiglitz (thanks to Marisha Ray for drawing my attention to this on Facebook). It's subject is ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week LDV poll: 34% of Lib Dem members say Nick Clegg should stand down before 2015 (70 comments) by Stephen Tall Opinion: Liberal Democrats should make the case for an elected head of state (93 comments) by William Summers Talking to Labour: the only news is that Labour still aren't serious (29 comments) by Mark Pack Changes to your local party boundaries are coming (17 comments) by Andy Strange Hunt out to dry? Clegg refuses to back Tory ...
Ahead of the 84th IOC Congress everyone knew that the Games of the 24th Olympiad would be going to Asia as the two candidate cities were Nagoya, Japan and Seoul, South Korea. The vote in the end went 52 to 27 in favour of the South Korean capital. This was also the first time that the Paralympics were directly linked to Olympic host city as part of the remit from the IOC. Nations 160 (+20) Competitors 8391 (+1562) Sports 27 (+6) Events 263 (+42) 17 September to 2 October 1988 hosted by Seoul, South Korea Paralympics Nations 61 (+7) Competitors ...
Shamelessly pinched from the New Statesman (do pop over there for the commentary...)
Last week Alan Milburn's report Fair Access to Professional Careers was published, with some particularly interesting points about internships. But what's important on this issue isn't that he reached the inevitable conclusion that a system – based on who you know, not what you know, and requires people to work essentially full time jobs without being paid – is a bad thing shouldn't surprise anyone, and the campaign group Intern Aware has been making these points for over a year. What's important is how the Government responds: with tepid agreement, or decisive action. The Government has shouted from the rooftops ...
It's that time of year again Liberal Youth members election time! Ballot papers are dropping on doormats as we speak, it's really important you use your vote! If you don't vote you don't get a say! If you have any questions, you can contact the returning officer, Dan Purchese Positions on the Executive, Conference, Policy ...
Innocent until proven guilty. One of the fundamental cornerstones of our legal system. Bill Walker, MSP for Dunfermline West, has been arrested and charged in connection with allegations of domestic abuse. What's important now is that the justice system should be allowed to take its course and while it does, we should all keep our traps shut. That includes Labour MP Thomas Docherty and MSP Jackie Baillie who have today called for Walker to resign. It's completely inappropriate and Docherty himself has a cheek. In 2010, when he stood in Dunfermline, he faced charges of careless driving from which he ...
Next month sees the publication of two books I've been involved with – 101 Ways To Win An Election, which I've co-written with Ed Maxfield, and also a PR book about social media: Share This. It's been put together via the auspices of the CIPR, using a stellar list of contributors from the UK PR scene. And the contributors have shown their PR mojo in putting together quite a set of endorsement quotes, including: "Social media has become an invaluable tool in my PR armoury by giving me a direct voice to speak directly to members of the media and ...
Yesterday we returned from almost a week in The Lakes. Pictured above is our antique tiny caravan with dogs on a brilliant sire near Keswick. We were ideally placed on a field near a river with the village of Hesket Newmarket 2 miles up the road. The close proximity of the village was ideal for several reasons: our friends were renting a cottage there, the pub served excellent food and beer and the village was to hold a Jubilee celebration over the weekend (photos below). My private thoughts about my lack of fitness were confirmed as we finished our third ...
"Everything the SNP does is a stepping stone towards independence". These were the words of the former leader of the SNP's councillors in Glasgow, Allison Hunter, during the disastrous election campaign which saw her group fail to form the administration. I sighed a bit when I heard yesterday that John Swinney had announced the creation of a new Scottish revenue quango to collect a new landfill tax. What was wrong with giving it to local councils I have no idea, even if HMRC were going to be more expensive. I'd like to see more about that, some more detailed costings. ...
Simon Hughes has a letter in the Guardian today responding to Polly Toynbee's article "Now is the perfect time for Liberal Democrats to wield the knife". Simon writes: Polly Toynbee's argument, like some arguments she has made before, is based on a false and misleading premise - that this government is embarking on some ideological dismantling of the state. This does everyone a disservice. Here are three reasons why: first, by the end of this parliament the government will be spending about £730bn a year, a full 42% of GDP and roughly the same as we did in 2008. Hardly ...
My friend and fellow Lib Dem blogger Charlotte Henry alerted me to the piece in today's Guardian by Ismail Haniyeh, who heads the Hamas administration in Gaza (an administration which, incidentally, came to power not in an election, but in a violent coup in 2007). Writing in a personal capacity, I have just submitted the following comment on Mr Haniyeh's piece on the Guardian's website: Nobody would be more pleased than would I if Hamas regenerated into a body that wants Palestinians to live in peace with Israelis. It sadly has yet to do so. A wise person once said ...
Here are my (somewhat Doctor Who heavy this week) recommendations for stuff on t'internet you should check out:Solo Blogger - Nanila - A scientist working on (amongst other things) the Cassini space stuff and other things of awesome, Nanila is also a genuinely engaging writer and a cool person. Group Blog - Doctor Her (syndicated to DW as [IMG: [syndicated profile] ] doctor_her_feed) - Feminist Who discussions. Very indepth and intellectual, and utterly absorbing. Twitterer - Colin Baker - the best Doctor on twitter. Also, it's his birthday today, so send him felicitations. Pinterest Board - Dirty WHOers by Terry ...
Sometimes photos are begging for a tagline. The important thing to know about the photo below is that off to the left stands Dave. I feel the expressions on Chez and my face need an explanatory caption. Just what is Dave up to? [IMG: Caption Competition] .. insert caption here ..
By Howard of Lib Dem News * Mary Reid is one of the Day Editors on Lib Dem Voice.
Fri 8th
12:58
Why I defected from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats to be in the right side of government...
By Michael Shaw who normally blogs at Michaelshawlyni.wordpress.com I recently a received a very warm welcome from Liberal Democrats when I defected, particularly from Liberal Reform and Party President, Tim Farron. Fellow Liberal Youth Member Kavya Kaushik was instrumental in my defection when I became disillusioned with the continuous securicrat approaches from Theresa May and tax ...
Lancashire County Council have announced that West Bradford Bridge will be closed from tmonday June 11th to June 23rd. This is an emergency closure, due to a recent collision with the bridge structure. County engineers have also announced that the official diversion goes via Grindleton Bridge.
Then give them the full three courses :-)
Members of Liberal Youth have a group blog over at The Libertine. In this video Harry Matthews reminds us why Liberal Democrats support equal marriage. He writes: ARE YOU OUT FOR MARRIAGE? I certainly am. Equal Marriage has been a main campaign for Liberal Youth for a few years now and it is fantastic to see Lynne Featherstone and Liberal Democrats in Government delivering this. ... there are a few things you can do to help: Complete the Home Office Consultation (it closes on 14th June) Sign the Coalition for Equal Marriage's petition Write to your MP to ask for ...
Good grief!!!
My Zurker I don't know if this is any use... (tags: socialmedia ) Leeds Roman Terminalia walk Beating the bounds of the city. (tags: maps ) marnanel: Exeter Book An Anglo-Saxon riddle (tags: jokes ) The dark flip side of European technocracy The problems of German political culture. (tags: eu ) A little bird tells me... The new panopticon, as illustrated by Melissa Stetten and Brian Presley. (tags: internet socialmedia ) Some free advice for ASUS What does your corporate tweeting reveal about your corporate values? (tags: internet sexandgenderandsexuality )
The Lib Dem team have been out and about putting up posters and stickers reminding people that dog poo must be disposed of correctly. As the Keep Britain Tidy campaign says "any bin will do". It doesn't need to be a dog bin: bagged dog mess can go in any litter bin or in your black bin at home, but the one thing you can't do is leave it. The majority of dog owners are responsible and clean up after their pets, but there's still a minority who refuse to, and put the health of others at risk as a ...
Lindsey Mead Russell: 10 Things I Want My Daughter To Know Before She Turns 10 (tags: ) What You Can Get Away With (Nick Barlow's blog) » Blog Archive » Democracy in a liquidiser We'd have to be careful about those who are less technologically minded still being engaged, though. (tags: ) Dating site eHarmony loses 1.5 million passwords to Russian LinkedIn hacker | The Wall Blog (tags: ) Jubilicious: thoughts on sixty glorious years Lady Mark's views on the monarchy pretty much mirror my own (tags: ) Is the Met spending more on phone hacking than child abuse? | ...
Amidst all the Jubilee hullabaloo in the UK, the second- and ultimately more significant- story remains the ongoing crisis in the Eurozone and the continued instability in the markets. The signs of a slowdown in the Chinese and the American real economies have put further pressure on the Eurozone economies that are still struggling to return to growth. The ongoing restructuring of the Spanish banking system has alerted the markets to the fact that their remains a significant capital requirement, even after the forced mergers of the Cajas. However, despite the more hysterical of the comments from UK commentators and ...
Fri 8th
09:25
LDV poll: 80% of Lib Dem members continue to back current Coalition & 63% open to another Coalit...
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. Lib Dem members back Coalition by 80% to 16% LDV asked: Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives? 80% – Support 16% – Oppose 4% – Don't know / No opinion For all the current difficulties the Lib Dems find ourselves in, it's actually pretty extraordinary how high support for the party ...
That seemed to be the sentiment of Miliband's speech yesterday on Scottish Independence, Future of UK and Englishness all rolled into one. I complained on twitter to Andrew Page over at Scottish Liberal that Clegg's speech on Social Mobility like a "public school boy formulaic speech" using that analogy, Miliband's speech was like listening to ...
Teresa is probably, almost certainly, right Such is the equivocation of coalition....In the USA they call this "giving yourself a bit of wiggle room". [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Want to meet someone and get hitched? Head to the Midlands. That's the most interesting finding of a survey ComRes have conducted for the 'Catholic Voices' website into attitudes to same-sex marriage. Their own presentation of the findings plucks out the anti-equality messages and spins them as best as it can against the tide of history - heavens! 26% of gays think civil partnerships are as good as marriage! we don't need to do anything then, and they just hope that no-one mentions the implied inverse figure of 74% having seen through 'separate and lesser is equal' in our stretched ...
@lordbonkers Agreed – one of the main points in my blog-post [IMG: :)] in reply to lordbonkers # @lordbonkers I'm just *so* NSFW. in reply to lordbonkers # RT @betarish: Word of the day is 'cunctator'. Yes, you read that correctly. < Actually, I didn't, I read it wrong. # The Telegraph has 'A Banned Words List for our commenters' http://t.co/4rvqwcVA – should @libdemvoice follow suit? (h/t @alexvtunzelmann) # .@cllriainroberts Crowd-sourcing to achieve meta-ignorance – I'm so glad it's caught on. in reply to CllrIainRoberts # Double congrats to @MartinSLewis on sale of Money Saving Experts AND £10m charitable donation ...
One consistently highlighted problem with Lib Dem campaigning is the lack of a consistent narrative, or 'story' to tell about what we stand for. To put it bluntly, people find it hard to remember lists of policies and successes and failures and generally vote based on their perceptions of a party. And the perceptions that people have of political parties is generally shaped by the stories that parties tell about themselves and the stories that other people tell about them. For example, the tories tell a story about themselves where they're economically responsible,tough on crime and immigration and on scroungers ...
Ah councillors, bless 'em: Labour Councillor Suspended From Party For 'Shirt Lifting Gender Bender' Attack – Mike Harrison, Thanet, who has been suspended from a month (which, assuming he's then let back into the Labour group, is rather different from being suspended from the party permanently). Thanet Tory councillor suspended for Aids answerphone message – Ken Gregory, also Thanet. Must be something in the water there. His suspension is pending further investigation. Tory councillor faces calls to quit over 'n***** in woodpile' comment – Gerry Forsbrey, Spelthorne. Conservative councillor derides NHS as "Marxist" – John Butcher, Surrrey, with a nasty ...
[IMG: Full Band Shot] The Shinfield Parish Jubilee Bash It's not easy, getting a decent photo as a band, if all you're doing is having fun in your spare time. A pro would be a bit of an indulgence, but getting the right shot takes too much time to do casually. So it was good when guitarist Dave turns out to know photographer Mike Croshaw. Mike's only just getting started with photography, and is still at the dedicated amateur stage. Which means we get to be a test exercise for him. That gets us some nice cheap shots! I'm rather ...
Sheena Wellington In the Steps Theatre on Saturday 16th June at 2pm, Simon Chadwick, Barbara Dymock, Helen Forbes & Lou Lewis, Karen Hannah, Kyle Howie, Wilma Kennedy and Sheena Wellington will reprise the sell-out concert they did at Glasgow's Celtic Connections! The concert will feature the music and song of Dundee's famous Wighton Collection presented with musical verve, wide knowledge and great humour. Tickets £5, from secretary@friendsofwighton.com, call 221242 or buy at the door - proceeds to Friends of Wighton Education project. Simon Chadwick is a specialist in the historic harp traditions of Scotland and Ireland. Simon lives in St ...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting with a representative of Balgay Parish Church and - later - the Minister of St Peter's Free Church, to discuss church and community issues. Thereafter, I chaired the latest meeting of the West End Christmas Week committee (yes, Christmas Week planning in June! It takes a bit of planning to organise the West End Christmas events!) The big news is that the 12th West End Christmas Week will be the first West End Christmas Fortnight - starting on 17th November and ending on 1st December. I also met with residents in Thomson Street ...
With the European Championships due to start today, it is beginning to look as if the football will be overshadowed by the many controversies surrounding the host country. There is already apprehension about the racist reputation of some of the Ukrainian and Polish fans, now it seems that a number of Governments will be boycotting the event altogether because of Ukraine's human rights record. The Telegraph says no UK ministers will be attending group stage matches in Ukraine because of the treatment of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. Other European countries including Germany and France are following suit: Tymoshenko was ...
I was watching a fascinating programme (for the BBC - well, it is actually an Open University programme - it's available for a month from about now) tonight called "The Secret History of our Streets". If you have an hour to kill it's well worth it (but wear a blood pressure monitor as it really made me angry to watch): This first episode concentrates on the "redevelopment" of Deptford, the wholesale destruction of a community by "planners" who thought they knew better than the people who lived in, and even owned, their own houses. It's like the "facts" behind that ...
The Liberal Democrats have chosen a local teacher, Nitesh Dave, to stand in the by-election in Dacorum Borough's Woodhall Farm Ward. Nitesh has taught science at Astley Cooper School and lives in nearby Highfield. Nitesh says, "I want to challenge the negative perceptions that some people have of the area and of our young people. I want to encourage the development of a community where people want to get to know their neighbours and in which they feel safe." Nitesh believes that it is important that residents are involved in the making of decisions that affect their area and will ...
Barnet Blogger Roger Tichborne has now (below) tweeted the Pizza Hut takeaway menu next to my name and that of Tory Cllr Robert Rams. I am completely mystified - not offended, just intrigued as to what this could possibly mean? Does anybody know?------------------From: Twitter Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2012 22:18:49 +0000To: <matthew.harris@hotmail.co.uk>ReplyTo: noreply@postmaster.twitter.com Subject: Rog T (@Barneteye) mentioned you on Twitter! [IMG: Twitter] Rog T @Barneteye mentioned you: Barneteye Rog T @CllrRobertRams @MatthewFHarris delivery.pizzahut.co.uk/menu.aspx?m=1 Heh Heh !!!! Jun 07, 3:18 PM via web Reply to @Barneteye Want to receive mobile notifications? Download Twitter for your phone » If you'd ...
