Just wanted to share with my readers; Oliver Ian James Sams was born today at 14:33 after only 30 minutes of his mother being in hospital (and something like 10 hours of contractions!!!). He and Sam are doing very well and both should return home tomorrow lunchtime to proud dad and doting older sister.
It was with great sadness tonight that I heard of the death of Geoffrey Hughes from prostrate cancer aged just 68. Known throughout the decades as a comedic stalwart on our TV screens, Geoffrey was for a generation best known as Coronation Street's Eddie Yates. He was a regular on the cobbles between 1974-1983 as a part of the comedic triumvirate with Stan and Hilda Ogden. He returned briefly in 1987 for Hilda's farewell. Whilst I'm a big Coronation Street fan, I'm a few years too young to remember this halycon era. Instead, I remember him as do many of ...
The anti-racism campaigning group Hope not Hate asked me just now to do a short questionnaire about the Olympic Opening Ceremony and what it meant to me. This was my answer — It meant a positive, confident, optimistic, inclusive and welcoming Britain – not afraid of its past nor afraid for the future! It showed we value history, tradition, achievement, caring and cooperation, youth, progress, diversity, art, literature, technology, tolerance, liberty and HOPE. Oh, and since French was used last night, let's add in joie de vivre!
Photo: Matt Lancashire Whatever its qualities, last night's Olympic opening ceremony had two people to than for its popularity. The first was Mitt Romney. As Jonathan Freedland said in the Guardian this morning: We're quite happy to whinge endlessly about security, transport and ticketing failures - but we'll be damned if we're going to hear it from some perfect-toothed American. Now we'll get behind the Games just to spite him.And the second was Aidan Burley - or "'Nazi stag party' MP Aidan Burley", as the Daily Telegraph calls him - whose crass views will have united all but the unpatriotic ...
I'm very excited to announce that top quality car firm Uber are offering 20% your first ride for Dispatch Box readers during August, the perfect way to escape Olympic congestion on the Tube!! So sign up to the Dispatch for ... Continue reading →
As I wrote from York at the start of my holiday, I found myself becoming increasingly interested in the Walmgate area of the city. So much so that I asked in a bookshop if anything had been published on the history of the area. I was told that a book had been published, but was now out of print. However, it has sold so well that there were plans for a reprint and, if I left my name and address with the shop, I could be contacted as soon as the new edition was available. Once I would have jumped ...
Mitt Romney's gaffs in the UK have made a big impression across the pond and already the Democrats are using them against him.
It is traditional that, if I am involved in a European Parliamentary candidate selection, that there will be a complication. Most of the time, it has involved being somewhere a long way away when a key part of the process was scheduled. In 1997, I missed all of the hustings, as I had booked a holiday before even being appointed as Returning Officer. In 2002, I had to approve the manifestos via a somewhat unreliable internet connection from a hotel in Buenos Aires. In 2007, I did something different. I met Ros, and by the time we reached the shortlisting ...
I had never read a single one of these books before, and swiped this off my sister-in-law's bookcase in a moment of experimentation. While it was probably not a great idea to start with the last of the series, I found it wholesome stuff about building character and learning to get along with other people, in the all-female environment of Malory Towers boarding school, the tough life lessons - and there are several - leavened by the fun of bullying the French teacher by removing her hair pins magnetically (but she is not English so it doesn't matter). I understand ...
Huge crowds waiting outside Kingston Gate Massive cheers for this chap. Is he leading? The actual leaders - riding like the clappers The eventual winner, in turquoise and yellow - Kazakhstan's Alexandr Vinokourov Here come the plucky Brits!
Yesterday Nick Clegg had a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. He said: Secretary General Ban and I discussed the encouraging progress that has been made in talks in New York towards agreeing an Arms Trade Treaty. The UK has led the way in arguing for a treaty to raise standards across the world and to reduce the impact the illicit arms industry has on countless millions of people. Global rules govern the sale of everything from bananas to endangered species to weapons of mass destruction, but not guns or grenades. This anomaly causes untold suffering in conflicts ...
Holbrook Road has a small park with a children's playground and football area, a few doors away from Homerton Children's Centre. It has a range of play equipment: a slide, wooden climbing frame/ obstacle course, swings, a few springy things, football goalposts and a picnic table. The wooden equipment came about as a result of a petition by local youngsters in 1996 and the picnic table was also something requested by local residents, so there is a tradition of the community having an input. When I heard that the City Council was planning to spruce the park up and instal ...
Danny Boyle's history lesson in British history had some glaring omissions at the London Olympic ceremony last night. Granted, it would be impossible to include everything but considering that profits from the slave 'trade' fuelled the industrial revolution it was ... Continue reading →
[IMG: European Parliament building] European Parliament building Almost no-one in the UK would these days dispute the fact that the country's banking sector needs a serious overhaul to correct the runaway behaviour which helped nudge Britain (and others) into the financial crisis. The Liberal Democrats have rightly been most persistent in demanding reforms, in particular a break-up of retail and casino banking, as recommended by the independent Vickers Inquiry. The latest scandal about fixing the benchmark Libor interest rate plumbs new depths - even by the standards of Britain's banks. Here were a set of individuals who knowingly distorted the ...
There is an interesting postscript to this post in Rhodri Morgan's Western Mail column this morning. He writes: John Penrose, Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare and UK Minister for Tourism put his Mitt Romney style-foot right in it, a week ago, in asserting that God Save the Queen was the 'only' National Anthem in the UK. The others were only 'national songs'. Well I can tell Mr. Penrose that whatever he thinks about the issue, the Queen definitely thinks Hen Wlad fy Nhadau is the Welsh National Anthem. I know this because one of those officiating at the special service at ...
The deadline has now gone for objections or comments on whether or not the petrol filling station at Garston Way (the bit where St Mary's Road starts going into Garston village) should be able to sell alcohol late at night and in the early hours of the morning. Richard Oglethorpe and I have sent in objections and a large number of residents have sent in objections and comments too. We don't know yet when the licensing committee is likely to make a decision on this but I will post updates when I have more news. Meanwhile, thanks to the people ...
A quite extraordinary opening extravaganza last night. They managed to squeeze everything in there without erring into kitsch. Wacky, yes – kitsch – no. It was good that the whole thing had a theatrical basis, rather than the military basis of Beijing. The highlights for me were Mike Oldfield (I am old after all), Tim Berners Lee and Jacques Rogge. In his speech, the Olympic big wig said: In a sense, the Olympic Games are coming home tonight. This great, sports-loving country is widely recognized as the birthplace of modern sport. It was here that the concepts of sportsmanship and ...
Is it really possible to compare a politician unfavourably to Sarah Palin? It's not often that I link to the Daily Mail but this headline nailed it: 'What a car crash... worse than Sarah Palin': British politicians' fury at Romney's blunder-filled visit to London ahead of Olympics The Democrats have gleefully issued this video. Enjoy. * Mary Reid is one of the Day Editors on Lib Dem Voice.
carnelianheart: God Save the Queen. Break from serious politics to bring you this interlude from last night's marvellous Olympics opening ceremony in London. Well done to all involved!
It was perhaps perverse for someone like myself who lives so near to the London Olympics stadium to go right across town to the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames to watch last night's opening ceremony, but I'm glad I did. Kingston Liberal Democrats had decided to combine a celebration of their recent win in a local council ...
This was by far the stand-out moment of last night's Olympics opening ceremony.
Not an exceptional list if found on, say, the Harrods website, but not quite as comradely as you might expect given its actual home – the Labour Party conference website.
Here's a little home town related science fiction oddity. Like many I have fond memories of scifi TV from my childhood. Those series from the 70's and 80's that I grew up watching have helped form a cultural backdrop and set of reference points that I have carried with me into adult life. Not least because so many of my friends are involved in Who or other fandom at one level or another. I loved Doctor Who, Hitchhiker's Guide, Blake's 7 and of course Star Trek. But one series I couldn't get into was Space: 1999. It might have been ...
Self-help after Yorkshire's deluge | UK news | guardian.co.uk (tags: ) How to survive the London Olympics as a tourist "Most Londoners view the Games in the same way they did World War II: they didn't ask for it and it'll make their lives hell for a while, but they'll be excited when their side wins anything." (tags: ) Academies to be allowed to employ teachers without formal training » Spectator Blogs This is disquieting. What's the bets that most of the people without QTS will be some sort of religious minister? (tags: ) Twitter joke trial man Paul Chambers ...
I started this blog over 2 years ago now and in that time it has done better than I thought it would. The time has come for me to close the blog as I have other priorities that need to take precedence. But before I close I just wanted to say thank you to all ...
Stephen Tall, co-editor of Lib Dem Voice, has been blogging away at Huffington Post. Lots of politicians have 20:20 hindsight. Foresight, however, is generally in shorter supply, which explains why Vince Cable is being acclaimed once again, tipped at the age of 69 both as a potential successor to either the 40-something George Osborne as Chancellor and/or the 40-something Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader. The 'Septuagenarian Sage of Twickenham' is enjoying a Second Coming-of-age. Age does not weary him, nor the years condemn. What's his secret? Principally, it's Vince's tendency to be validated by subsequent events. For years he ...
This is where the president of the family division puts his view on the secret court system. As usual he is focussed on the question of media access. This ignores the fact that there are a number of constraints on accountability that include the constraints on the media being involved. There is the question of professional standards. As it currently stands the Health Professions Council
The Daily Telegraph reports: Islington Council in north London has published personal information, including the sexuality, of almost 2,500 residents online. The latest mix-up happened as they responded to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request on the website What Do They Know? Town hall officers managed to leak the names, addresses, relationship status, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual preferences of 2,400 people re-housed by the council. The highly-sensitive dossier of supremely private information was freely accessible to the public for a full 19 days... It comes just days after the Names and addresses of 51 residents were given to suspected ...
On Wednesday night I travelled back home from the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony in a bit of a daze. You all now know why! And that was without Bradley Wiggins, Mr Bean, Tim Berners Lee, the cauldron and the wonderful James Bond sequence which they kept secret from us. The clouds appear And the animals Rural life The industrial revolution Hospital beds
I'm not a great fan of sports, especially athletics, but the Olympic opening ceremony was fun. It is also an amazing sight to see the parade of athletes from over 200 countries all looking so happy - a better image of the globe than the parade of commercial sponsors. Not sure why we had a quick flash of David Niven in "A Matter of Life and Death", one of my favourite films, unless it was to
The two proposed wind turbines at Berry Edge Farm are certainly stirring up a real debate. I and others have knocked on 250 doors on Fairways and The Links Estate and got back a heavy crop of responses, giving me a very clear view of what the residents most affected feel. There are around 4 residents opposed to the proposal for every 1 in favour. Those against the wind turbines are most concerned about the visual impact, with concerns about noise as the second biggest factor. Other concerns are about TV reception, damage to wildlife and real doubts as to ...
Nothing political – just a lot of fun. * Mary Reid is one of the Day Editors on Lib Dem Voice.
According to reports the Tory controlled Peterborough City Council are amongst a group of councils that will carry out government-funded study in a bid to win a £24 million 'future city' prize. Peterborough will receive an initial £50,000 to complete feasibility studies showing how "...they could integrate their transport, communications and other infrastructure to improve the local economy, increase quality of life and reduce impact on the environment." Commenting, local Lib Dem ward councillor Darren Fower said: "Obviously the Tories will have their own ideas, from from the offset I would urge them to look at improving the infrastructure for ...
When you see me out and about on Wednesday, I'll be wearing at least one of my Scout neckers. It'll probably be my FLAGS unit necker in the rainbow colours in honour of Belfast Pride Festival which is currently in full swing. But why will I be doing this? Well, it's because of "World Scout ...
So last night seven young athletes, nominated by seven Olympic champions did thet honour of lighting the cauldron. Cameron MacRitchie a 19-year-old rower (chosen by Sir Steve Redgrave), Callum Airlie 17 sailor (Shirley Robertson), Jordon Duckitt 18 who chaired London 2012 Young Ambassador Group (Duncan Goodhew), Desiree Henry 16 athlete (Daley Thompson), Katie Kirk 18 athlete (Dame Mary Peters), Aiden Reynolds 18 athlete javelin (Lynn Davies) and Adelle Tracey 19 athlete (Dame Kelly Holmes). Don't get too comfortable if you are a GB spectator our first great gold medal hope sets off from St. James's Park, heads out past some ...
I thought I had read only one Lovejoy book, and that it wasn't this one; but there was an incident with an undercover policewoman here which I definitely remembered reading before, though almost none of the rest of the plot had stayed in my mind. The plot, for what it's worth, involves Lovejoy getting embroiled in annd then helping to bust a ring of international criminals by travelling to Paris and Switzerland from his native East Anglia; his supernatural ability to tell real antiques from fakes is a key element of the conspiracy (and makes me wonder if I should ...
Following a Freedom of Information request made recently by an MSP regarding the speed with which local authorities pay invoices due, the Scottish Daily Express reported that Dundee City Council failed to provide the information requested. I queried this with the City Council's Head of Democratic and Legal Services, and was advised: "The Scottish Daily Express report was inaccurate. We submitted a reply on 12 June to Margaret Mitchell MSP's Researcher." You can download the response from the City Council by going to http://tinyurl.com/dccfoisa. I consider it important that the City Council pays invoices promptly - and particularly local suppliers. ...
Last week, I highlighted vandalism to the bus shelter in Apollo Way in the Technology Park that I had asked the City Council to attend to. I am most grateful to the City Council for its swift response - see repaired shelter below:
