To expect a government to end tax avoidance, or even evasion, completely is to set the bar far too high. As with many other things governments try to tackle, a perfect outcome is not expected even in the theory textbooks. Rather, the way to judge the messy reality of life is by how much better or worse things are being made, not by whether or not they have reached an unobtainable perfection. So on taxes, the continuing existence of loopholes is not a reason to scream "failure". Sensible judgement comes from how good a job the government is doing at ...
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Troubled as many of us are by the apparent waste by Cllr Paul Carter and his Tory colleagues, over seemingly fantastical payouts, in recent times to senior officers who've abruptly disappeared, I thought I'd go to the top. Keeping politics aside, I'm just interested in, what possible reason Kent Council could have had for dispensing with Katherine Kerswell, and finding it necessary to pay out £420,000, as I feel there maybe significant details missing from Cllr Paul Carter's explanation given back in December last year. So for this reason, I emailed Geoff Wild, Kent's Director of Governance and Law, assuming, ...
In the course of reading about Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance I came across this terrific BBC documentary about him. The first part is above and Youtube will kindly offer you the later parts when you have finished watching it. The programme confirms all the stories about Lane in Shropshire, though they do not come in until part 4. Still, the earlier material on the Small Faces and the Faces is fascinating too. I once blogged about Ronnie Lane in Shropshire: Charlie Hart, a member of Lane's band Slim Chance, remembers hanging out with a "lethal combination of rock and ...
Obviously, as a Vice-President of the Liberal Democrat Friends of the Conservative Party, I welcome the fuel tax freeze I gather that this is something to do with motor cars - I don't actually drive. But I do get buses and I do depend, presumably, on the overall health of the British economy, not to mention deliveries to supermarkets and any other leisure emporia that I might occasionally patronise, so I am happy to assume that this thing with the fuel tax is the right decision. As I applaud vigorously from the sidelines, my mind wonders towards beer (stop ...
Tom Brake MP is a co-sponsor of Labour MP Michael Meacher's Private Member's Bill that would outlaw any financial transaction in which the primary purpose is tax avoidance or evasion, reports Nick Hollinghurst. "While it is not yet clear why the software upgrade failed - or whether it was the fault of an offshored computer facility in India - what is certain is that the episode has given us just a tiny taste of a nightmare scenario long feared by cybersecurity experts who advise western governments: What happens if there is an extended, simultaneous attack on all of the banks?" ...
[IMG: funny cat pictures - Lolcats: Pweez to stand by...] see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!
Julian Huppert MP MP Julian Huppert has made a personal plea to Business Secretary, Vince Cable to try to save further education funding for Cambridge students. The students fear that changes to funding for adult learners studying the equivalent of A levels could put people off studying, as a combination of grant and up-front fees are replaced with loans. Yesterday (Monday, June 25) Julian took a petition signed by the students to Mr Cable urging the government, and in particular John Hayes, the Minister for Further Education, to think again about the changes, which would affect those aged 24 and ...
Excellent news today. A certain book has arrived at the publishers from the printers. Just a few more days now before it is unleashed on the world... but you can order your copy right now.
All three main political parties fought the 2010 election promising the electorate that, if elected, they would reform the House of Lords. All three promised the same in 2005, too. And 2001. Yet in 2012 only one party is staying true to that promise: the Lib Dems. The Tories and Labour, in contrast, are happily indulging in party politics to block progress in advancing legislative democracy. The Conservatives living up to their anti-reform name... The Conservative Party has fought the last three elections promising to introduce a mainly/wholly elected second chamber to replace the current House of Patronage. They signed ...
The latest 3 monthly unemployment figures came out recently. They show unemployment fell by 51,000 to 2.61m in the three months to April. Meanwhile employment rose, in the same period, by 166,000 to 29.28m. The rise in employment was driven by a rise of 205,000 in private sector jobs, which easily outweighed a 39,000 fall in public sector employment. This fits with the longer term trend, as over the past 2 years private sector employment has risen by 843,000, almost double the fall in public sector employment (424,000) over the same period. The combination of negative economic growth figures in ...
Richard Jefferies, who his best remembered as a nature essayist but, almost in passing, invented post-apocalyptic science fiction (in After London) and the children's holiday adventure (in Bevis), was the subject (or victim) of my Masters dissertation. His birthplace near Swindon now houses a museum devoted to his life and works. New readers should start with this guest post on Jefferies and Coate by Rebecca Welshman. The museum stands next to Coate Water, a reservoir constructed in 1822 to provide water for the Wilts & Berks Canal. In Bevis it features as a boyhood paradise and in After London is ...
I have just got back from a visit to the Olympic Village. I went to meet the team from Cofely Engineering (GDF Suez) that built the 17km long decentralised energy network that supplies all of the electricity, heating and cooling to the Park from two energy plants as well as the Westfield Shopping Centre and 700 apartment 'Genesis' development in Stratford. So whatever you hear to the contrary on TV, it's Cofely Engineering 'what did it' not A.N.Other energy company. During the visit I had an excellent opportunity to see how well the Park is developing and from what I ...
After in-depth discussions the East Dulwich councillors have allocated the following Community Funds for financial year 2012/13... First, big thank you to all the people who've organised bids and projects. Without such wonderful people locally the area would be the poorer. Second, good luck with the weather for whatever days you run events. We have £5,813 to allocate. For projects just covering East Dulwich alone: EDCC Open Day £600 Matham Grove £1000 – 1st ever bid Gumboots £340 Freedom after 50 £500 Pioneer Carribbeans £550 Snub £800 – 1st ever CF bid Physic Garden £700 – 1st ever bid Dulwich ...
Digital Spy has a report on the evidence Norman Lamb gave to the Leveson Inquiry today. At the time of his encounter with Fred Michel, Lamb was Nick Clegg's parliamentary private secretary: Describing Michel's approach as "brazen", Lamb said the lobbyist had wanted "things to run smoothly" with the Sky bid, but warned that "if it goes the wrong way" he was "worried about the implications". The note added: "It was brazen. VC [Vince Cable] refers bid to Ofcom, they turn nasty." Lamb claimed that the threat was offset with an enticement should Cable allow the Sky bid to proceed ...
I love that I work for a company that is this honest.
David Laws seems to have caused a bit of a kerfuffle in certain quarters for arguing that the state spending should not exceed 40% (my wording not his.) Personally I am not enamoured with targets - why 40% and not 39 or 41%? But David has clearly given some thought to this and after a cursory glance at the evidence it is clear he has not plucked the figure out of the air. In advance of this years budget the Guardian helpfully put tax and spend GDP data from 1964 online for us all to see and the statistics make ...
Last week we linked to an article by former party leader Paddy Ashdown headed "Rio+20 is a chance to secure our children's future". Over on Huffington Post he has now given his assessment of the summit. ... as the summit reached its conclusion on Friday criticism from environment groups, charities working on poverty issues and the mainstream media over the strength of the agreement was becoming louder. And yet the news coming from Rio has not been all bad. Indeed, some positive outcomes have emerged from the summit. These include both a recognition of climate change as a "cross-cutting issue" ...
Tom Brake MP It's time for Britain's wealthiest individuals and corporations to stop their shady tax avoidance schemes and pay their fair share like the rest of us, Liberal Democrat Tom Brake MP and other sponsors of new legislation in Parliament believe. Tom Brake MP is a co-sponsor of Labour MP Michael Meacher's Private Member's Bill that would outlaw any financial transaction in which the primary purpose is tax avoidance or evasion. The Bill, introduced into the House of Commons last Thursday, shifts the burden of proof: rather than HM Revenues & Customs proving that a suspected evasion was illegitimate, ...
That's pretty clear:
It was Norman Lamb's turn to appear before the Leveson Inquiry this afternoon. He dropped a bombshell in the form of handwritten notes (which you can see here) that he made of a meeting with Fred Michel of News International in 2010. The transcript is: Wed 27/10 0900 meeting Fred Michel News International. An extraordinary encounter. FM is very charming. He tells me News Int. papers will land on VC's desk in next 2 weeks. They are certain there are no grounds for referral. They realise the political pressures. He wants things to run smoothly. They have been supportive of ...
Take your pick from Durham's Health statistics. In too many areas Durham's health issues are worse than for Britain as a whole. Here they are: Deprivation Proportion of children in poverty Smoking in pregnancy Breast Feeding initiation Obese children in year 6 (age 10-11) Alcohol-specific hospital stays (under 18) Teenage pregnancy (under 18) Healthy eating adults Obese adults Hospital stays for self-harm Hospital stays for alcohol related harm People diagnosed with diabetes Hip fractures in over 65s Life expectancy (men & women) Smoking related deaths Early deaths: heart disease and strokes Early deaths: cancer Areas where out health is better ...
Part one of our discussion of League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 2009 is now up. Tagged: comics, me elsewhere
I doubted he would do it, but I was wrong: Labour to impose three line whip on Labour MPs to support Lords reform — norman smith (@BBCNormanS) June 26, 2012 Now, let's hope he doesn't find some other vote to play silly buggers with the Bill... Significant too was the confirmation today by the Prime Minister's spokesperson that the government would use the Parliament Act if necessary.
Tue 26th
16:53
Tom Brake MP writes... Labour has a lot to apologise for on immigration - it should start with child...
On the subject of immigration, Ed Miliband was in apologetic mood this week. And not before time. Labour has a lot to apologise for on immigration - not just the dog whistle 'British Jobs for British Workers' rhetoric and an attitude to the views of ordinary people that resulted in Gordon Brown's 'bigoted woman' slur. Miliband could apologise for not reintroducing the exit checks abolished by the Tories and allowing our border controls to descend into farce. He could apologise for wildly underestimating the number of migrants from Eastern Europe when new countries joined the EU. But if there is ...
I've been finding it a bit weird when I've been trying to find people's email addresses on Facebook over the past few days that they've had a special @facebook.com address. Turns out that it's happened to all of us without us knowing. In order to direct more traffic to the site and therefore generate more advertising revenue, they've allocated us new emails and displayed them on our timelines. All without so much as a tiny bit of warning. I'm sorry, Facebook, but that's just bloody rude. If you'd sent me a message asking if I'd mind and explaining to me ...
With the Tour de France only days away Radioshack-Nissan should have been preparing the only other previous winner for the Tour. But 2010 winner (upon removal of Alberto Contador) Andy Schleck suffered a fall in the Critérium Dauphiné that fractured his pelvis which means he will be going for a fourth podium in a row. However, the team is still strong having another podium finisher from last year in the team who just happens to share the same name. Fränk Schleck in recent years the Tour has seen the Schleck brothers often riding in tandem through the high Mountain passed. ...
Liberal Democrats in the Borough of Redcar & Cleveland have hit out at Labour Council bosses who have needlessly cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands by their mismanagement of the old Town Hall at Eston.Five years ago it was clear that the Town Hall and neighbouring James Finegan Hall, both on Fabian Road, had had their day. The Lib Dem led coalition which then led the Council was realistic about what needed to happen and proposed demolition. The site needed £4 million spending on back-log maintenance.But opportunistic Labour Councillors vowed to fight to keep the buildings saying: "Our position is ...
Many residents in Ealing suffered from a rubbish non-collection fiasco in April, since when Lib Dem councillor Gary Malcolm has been beavering away at the issue, pushing for proper accountability for the mistakes and for lessons to be learnt rather than swept under the carpet. During the process he's consistently used his blog to keep residents informed, as with his latest post: The discussion started at about 8.30pm and I spoke up about the reasons why my party, the Liberal Democrats, got the item added to the agenda: 1. There are many questions that still need to be answered 2. ...
A better understanding of Jo Grimond's life is always a healthy corrective to some of the cartoon caricatures about right-wing lurches and Thatcherite policies that sometimes get thrown around over the views of contemporary Liberal Democrats. Grimond was, after all, a man who talked of himself as being on the centre-left and who pushed for a progressive realignment of politics that would see a new centre-left party supplant Labour. Off and on feelers went out to those in Labour ranks during his career. And yet, he was often sceptical of central government spending, keen to see taxes cut and hostile ...
Thanks to Lib Dem Voice for alerting me to this speech from the other day by UK Defence Minister Nick Harvey, at this conference on "Threats to Shipping in the Middle East". Very interesting re:- a possible British and international response to any possible Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with Mr Harvey (who is a Liberal Democrat) saying: "Threats or attempts to block the Strait of Hormuz show a contempt for international law as it is seen by the majority of the states in the region, if not the world...Any attempt by Iran to do this ...
An invitiation from Roger Gough, Kent County Council's Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance & Health Reform: "Kent County Council aims to establish an interim Shadow Local Healthwatch Board in September 2012 to run for 6-8 months - until the formal Local Healthwatch organisation establishes its own governance structure. "The Shadow Local Healthwatch will test and begin to embed the emerging model, for effective handover to the formal Local Healthwatch, as it becomes established in April 2013. The Shadow Local Healthwatch Board will work closely with the Kent Local Involvement Network during the transition period to build on the Kent ...
A press release from the Highways Agency issued today about "improved safety measures" at the Datford Crossing reaches me. It starts: "Road users are set to benefit from improved safety measures on both the north and southbound approaches to the Dartford River Crossing. "From tomorrow (27 June) drivers will see signs reminding them that the speed limit on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge clockwise carriageway between the A282/M25 junction 31 and the plaza, and on the anti-clockwise carriageway between the M25 junction 2 and junction 1a, is both mandatory and enforceable." There are, and always have been speed limits on ...
Have a listen to this brilliant interview from the World at One, where Lord Trefgarne - while trying to do the opposite - does what Andrew Sparrow calls 'the best propaganda for an elected Lords that I've heard for ages' listen to 'Becky Milligan speaks to Lord Trefgarne and Lord Redesdale about House of Lords Reform - The World at One, BBC Radio 4' on Audioboo To quote Lord Trefgarne... "The Almighty decided that I was to have a certain duty imposed upon me" Oh dear...
By Morgan Griffith-David In a perfect world, Bashar al-Assad, murderous President of Syria, would not be slaughtering his own citizens. In a perfect world, hundreds of innocents in Houla, al-Qubeir, and dozens of other towns not worthy of Western media, would not have been massacred. In a perfect world, the Avengers would swoop into Damascus. ...
Yesterday, Willie Rennie gave the final speech at the Better Together launch. I love this photo as it shows the lovely view in the background. It was taken, by the way, by Graeme Littlejohn and is reproduced with his permission. Willie's speech was typically genuine, heartfelt and, equally typically, delivered a kick up the backside at the end, where he challenged people to do something every day to campaign for Scotland to remain within the UK. Here's the speech in full: I want to thank each and every person who spoke up here today and in that film - spoke ...
With the Tour de France starting in Liege on Saturday it is time to look at the teams for this year's race. So let's look at the team that will be looking to retain the title for Cadel Evans. Team BMC's sole objective is to get Evans a second win. Cadel Evans finally won the Tour after two seconds in 2007 and 2008 followed by two rather disappointing years. He won the Critérium International earlier in. But only managed third in the Critérium Dauphiné behind Sky's Bradley Wiggins and fellow Aussie but Wiggins team mate Michael Rogers earlier this month. ...
Tue 26th
13:56
Cycling blackspots: government announces funding for improvements to jeopardous junctions
Personal injury lawyers Levenes published a Top Ten Cycling Blackspots for Cambridge earlier this year. Two are in Queen Ediths - see their interactive map. The Queen Edith's Way/Fendon Road junction near Addenbrooke's has the second worst accident record in the city - 34 crashes between 2005 and 2010; the Hills/Cherry Hinton Road junction had 23. Work has been done on the Hills Road bridge, but the Cherry Hinton Road turn into Hills Road is still the most unnerving manoeuvre of my daily commute. Addenbrooke's is generally difficult on a bike - or, for that matter, on foot. In Queen ...
Predictably, David Cameron's statement yesterday in which he suggested capping benefits on a regional basis made headline news in Wales with Welsh Labour spokespeople at the forefront of the critics. This is not coalition policy of course, it is kite-flying for the 2015 Tory manifesto. Liberal Democrats have made it clear that they will fight any regionalisation of benefits. Labour, however do not have such a good track record. On Wednesday, 1st February, Liam Byrne, the Shadow Work and Pemsions Secretary told the House of Commons: "We have indeed had discussions with our colleagues in the Welsh Government, who accept ...
It is easy at the moment to look on in dismay at the international community and its ability to cooperate. The Eurozone squabbles about its finances, Rio+20 talks stalling and in Syria the international community draws repeated lines in the sand, ... Continue reading →
I have, in the past, commented on the weakness of Conservative Party policy making. Putting aside for the moment their tendency to deal in gut reaction responses to often quite difficult problems, the suggestion that, were they to be in government alone, they would be minded to remove the right to housing benefit for those under the age of twenty-five, is a sign that their instincts remain suspect.It often appears with Conservative policy that it is made by, and for, the upper classes, and the notion that people don't live orderly lives out of Conservative Party central casting appears beyond ...
A North West MEP is claiming that an independent North West would do just as well as an independent Scotland. Chris Davies says the region's 7 million population is larger than that of Scotland, and it has clear geographical boundaries. ... Continue reading →
I don't know. Maybe its a bluff, in order to try and bounce a third runway at Heathrow onto the plates of the good folk of Ham Common and the rest of South West London. But the Secretary of State for Transport - and MP for Putney don't forget - Justine Greening yesterday intimated she's happy to consider proposals for a FOURTH runway at Heathrow. Click on the link above the full story but here are a few 'highlights' from the Standard. Miss Greening told the Standard that a fourth runway may be needed and called on Heathrow's operators to ...
I'm sure every Lib Dem has heard it - the accusation that we just sit on the fence, that we don't have opinions of our own. I'm sure, too, that they've heard about how we pander to the left of right depending on who we're challenging - or depending on the political persuasion of the source of the accusation, of course! Such is the way of British politics, ingrained in the old notions of left and right; of Socialism against Capitalism, of Public and State versus Private Enterprise, of Collective Redistribution versus Individual Accumulation. Even as the differences between the ...
So David Cameron has made a speech laying out some welfare ideas for his party's manifesto in 2015. Some parts of the media portray the ideas as government policy - they aren't! I was very surprised to see Shelter's press release saying this was Government policy as well. It isn't! Party leaders in a coalition will always want to outline their plans for the next general election. It's part of being an independent and separate party, and as believers in an electoral system which produces coalitions we should not get anxious about it either. I want Nick Clegg to be ...
I just want to bring to the attention of a wider audience the fact that Callum Leslie, Council campaign manager, parliamentary candidate and voice of the student airwaves in Edinburgh, is doing a special fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation in memory of our friend Andrew Reeves. This doesn't involve any actual sweat, but it's a whole month of Callum depriving himself of things he really loves. That's actually quite a long time in this day and age. Callum is not shy at expressing his opinions. So, on Monday 2nd July, he has pledged not to utter a single word ...
Apparently Woo hoo! Also heard Parliamantary Labour Party is meeting at 2 pm to discuss whether to support. HERE WE GO UPDATE This is also interesting. Apparently across Cabinet support for Lords Reform.
Yesterday, I held my weekly Monday surgeries at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre. With the school holidays about to take place, these were the last of my surgeries until the schools return in August but I can be contacted at any time via my e-surgery (e-mail esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk or phone 459378). Later yesterday, I attended the final council committees prior to the summer recess, at which: * At Education Committee, I queried the process of reviewing the quality of education provision for young people being educated at home, questioned how soon the City Council may be able to upgrade ...
It is that time of year once again that the 21 teams in the Tour de France will be naming their nine man squads for the Tour de France which starts on Saturday. So lets start with the team that will be hoping to see the world champions rainbow jersey replaced by the maillot vert (green jersey) as well as hoping to see the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) in their midst on the Champs-Élysées. But there is an home Olympics ahead for the British Team's big stars and one Geraint Thomas will be doing laps of a velodrome instead of ...
I was watching Crimewatch Roadshow this morning and they had the case of Robert Kerr – a man who seemingly defrauded many people who has prayed upon many members of the clergy to use their good nature to get money. However he hasn't just gone after members of the church and has defrauded many a person so it seems. He always asks for/demands money claiming that there is an emergency that he has to get to but can't afford it. If this man (photo below) has tried to get money from you then please get in touch with the police ...
Alan Turing (1912 - 1954) in Slate at Bletchley Park Cambridge MP Julian Huppert will call for national recognition for mathematical genius and wartime codebreaker, Alan Turing during a Parliamentary debate on Wednesday (June 27). Julian will tell MPs that, despite numerous tributes commemorating Turing, there is still a "disturbing lack of national recognition for one of the greatest Britons who has ever lived". "I hope that the Government will recognise that, in the centenary of his birth, we have the opportunity to celebrate a person whose contribution to our society, to our world, has gone unrecognised," he will say ...
Last week saw outrage as a parent discovered a letter from their son talking about his impending death. A horrifying thing for any child to have to write. This, I suspect, is not the only letter of this kind to be assigned as a writing task. About 6 months ago my middle child came home from school quite distressed as she had to write about my death and how she would feel about it. Apparently this style of assignment brings out the best in creative writing according to the teacher I spoke to. Teenagers can totally identify with that fear ...
Yesterday afternoon, I attended the latest meeting of the West End Schools' Project Board, the group overseeing the project to build the new St Joseph's Primary School, Park Place Primary School and Park Place Nursery School. Construction progress is on schedule with a targeted completion time of mid-September. This will allow for the pupils and staff to move to their new schools on the former Logie Secondary School site after the October holiday. The Park Place schools will have new names (as they will no longer be sited in Park Place) - these will be Balgay Hill Nursery School and ...
"Aung San Suu Kyi - the only woman to have addressed both houses of Parliament apart from the Queen #Burma #WestminsterHall #bbcnews" I had tweeted at 3.44pm on June 21st. "@merleneemerson The only woman to do so internationally, the only person from Asia and the only non head of state. She's a record breaker!!" came a reply within seconds from one @gregjudge. We weren't the only ones excited by the recent visit by Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the Opposition in Burma to London. Celebrated in Norway where she finally accepted her Nobel Peace prize 21 years after ...
Insufficiently Boring An insider's take on "the worst IT disaster in British banking history", the RBS crash. (tags: banks internet ) 'Fascinating' (raises eyebrow) The Asimov / Roddenberry letters. (tags: sf )
The Olympic train timetable on SouthEastern trains starts on Friday 27th July, and will disrupt services to London from Folkestone. HS1 will terminate at Ashford, and then require a change to "classic" services from Ashford to Folkestone and Folkestone West. Full details of the South Eastern Olympic timetable are available on their website. Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, CT20 3BYPrinted (hosted) by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY
From Actor To Activist, Geena Davis' Story Of Discovery (tags: ) New Statesman - Cameron is repeating the housing benefit myth (tags: ) Google expert offers free statistics course to 160,000 | Full Fact Particularly recommended to journalists (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The dust has now settled on last week's Rio+20 summit and I'm keen to look back at my initial goals and to let you know what we achieved in terms of meeting them. Of course the final text was not all we would have wanted had we been able to write it ourselves; however I am pleased to be able to report that all three of my priorities have been included in the final text of the document that was agreed last week. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We agreed to launch a process to develop these, to ensure that countries ...
I know I'm behind the times but I've only just watched last week's 8 out of 10 Cats... If you go to someone for advice and they look at your situation and ask you if you want to pay less tax, what would you do? Okay, yeah, that's all the defence I have as it is a massive error in judgement - particularly as he has spent the last few years really laying in to bankers and Government austerity. At the start of my accountancy career I worked in tax for over 2 years and I'd see it all the ...
[IMG: Roadworks sign] Kent Highways are making carriageway repairs in Canterbury Road, Folkestone today and tomorrow near the Salvation Army hall. Traffic will be controlled by stop / go boards, and delays are likely. If you can, it is recommended to avoid using that route, especially at busy times. Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, CT20 3BYPrinted (hosted) by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY
The Better Together campaign launched yesterday. If you have zero interest in politics this is the no to independence campaign ahead of the referendum in 2014 although according to the Times, it might now be 2015. Depending how you read it, you either think Alex Salmond is running scared or Salmond wants to disrupt the ...
Nick Clegg's summer tour has one major aim: to reassure, to charm and to motivate Liberal Democrat members and supporters. The risk is that it is done on the basis that all he needs do is meet people, face their questions head on and question by question provide good answers. The ability to win over people one question at a time has served Nick Clegg well in his ascent up the political ladder, as the key election contests for him have not been winning a council seat from nowhere or a close-fought marginal seat contest at a general election. Rather ...
My anointing of Michael Gove as CentreForum's 'Liberal Hero of the Week' triggered a few responses, a handful of them positive. One of the most interesting responses was posted by LonWon on his Hoping for more than Slogans blog, in which he (not unreasonably) took me to task for my statement 'the reality is that [GCSEs] are easier than a generation ago'. I stand by the comment, but it deserves to be explained more fully than I did in that post. So here goes... The "GCSEs are getting easier" statement covers a range of issues folk have with them: 1) ...
The City Council's environment cabinet member has admitted the weedspraying programme so far has been less than good. Well in some parts of the City we are yet again seeing waist high or higher weeds that have either been missed or ignored. Richard and I are keen to flag up areas where the spraying either hasn't worked or hasn't happened. Do let us know if your street needs some attention. You can e mail me at paulakeaveney@yahoo.co.uk or Richard at richard.oglethorpe@liverpool.gov.uk. The picture shows weeds in the Long Lane area of Garston.
Apologies for the delay again, I was on holiday last week. 120969: Replacement of windows and creation of new parking area, Cowdray Avenue. 121073: Change of use from shop to children's party venue, High Street. 121090: Conversion of outbuilding into cellar and bar, including internal works, Crouch Street. 121091: Listed building consent for 121090 121129: Change of use from hotel/guesthouse to student residential hostel, Osborne Street. 121130: Listed building consent for 121129. 121109: Extensions and alterations to townhouse, Abbeygate Street. 121145: Listed building consent for 121109 Please note that I am a member of the Council's Planning Committee for the ...
I've been meaning to post this for a while but am a bit worried about the population explosion that could potentially result from Gay Men the world over being turned straight. Thankfully, the video is just as likely to turn Straight Woman gay, so equilibrium should be restored. Still, if you're a gay man who doesn't want cured, do look away now... Andrew
As I have previously indicated, the sheltered tenants of Sinderins Court and Pennycook Court have, over past months, been working to improve a seating area in Pennycook Lane that had fallen into disrepair and was very unsightly. Their efforts came to fruition yesterday with the unveiling of the new seating area, complete with planters and an array of flowers, greatly brightening up the area and turning an eyesore into a pleasant area to sit at and admire the flowers. The project would not have succeeded had it not been for the generosity of local charities, the Scottish Community Foundation, Al ...
From Monday to Friday (2nd to 6th July) each morning (10am-12noon) in the halls of Logie and St John's (Cross) Church (Shaftesbury Terrace), the "On Your Marks" Holiday Club is being run for P1 to S1 children on an Olympics/sporting theme. Pre-registration is recommended - especially on the first day. Information will be going out to the various church clubs, but you can download a registration form here. It is part of events week at the church and features a BBQ,film night and afternoon tea.
The Expendables 2 is coming out soon, and James and I have been looking forward to it as a guilty pleasure. We're both fans of cheesy over the top action movies, and they don't come much cheesier than The Expendables. And yes, I know it's cliched and sexist and racially stereotyped and problematic in many other ways... But I still really enjoyed it. We were talking about the names of the characters, and they are (hopefully intentionally) cheesy too. I mean, Jean Claude Van Damnation is playing "Jean Vilain" - John the Villain. And the others are stuff like Toll ...
I was considering blogging in detail about David Cameron's speech yesterday on welfare. But I decided against it. There are already several very good critiques of the substance of the speech. Plenty of people, including IPPR's Nick Pearce, have pointed out that the speech was primarily about politics rather than policy. It was about "throwing some red meat" to the pack of feral dogs that apparently prowl the Tory backbenches. Tim Leunig of CentreForum has pointed out that the proposals pertaining to the removal of housing benefit for the under 25s are - how should we put it? - a ...
An article by William Hobhouse on Liberal Democrat Voice, The Lib Dems should be the party of manufacturing, reminded me that I've been meaning to write a post on this subject for ages. Because he's right: we should Hobhouse writes: "Liberal Democrats are excellently placed as a party to champion the rebalancing of the British ...
