You may not have been able to get to Eastbourne on Saturday. Thousands marched for our hospitals in East Sussex - it was a terrific turnout. But there is still something you can do to help the campaign. We need as many people as possible to write to the new Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt MP, ...
[IMG: Posted by Picasa] Packed meeting to commemorate the life of Dr Sadegh Sarafkandi, Leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, assassinated with his comrades by agents of the Iranian régime on September 17, 1992 at the Mykonos restaurant, Berlin. The principal speaker was Abdallah Hassanzadeh, current Leader of the KDPI. Other main speakers were Roya Hakakian, writer and journalist; Parviz Dastmalchi, leading Iranian intellectual and writer, survivor of the Mykonos massacre; Jeremy Corbyn MP, vice-chair of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group; Dr Alireza Nourizadeh, Iranian scholar and contemporary historian, and Golaleh Shrafkandi, member of the leading committee of ...
Or as Monty Python put it: Presenter: ... Last Tuesday a reign of terror was ended when the notorious Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale, after one of the most extraordinary trials in British legal history, were sentenced to 400 years imprisonment for crimes of violence. We examined the rise to power of the Piranhas, the methods they used to subjugate rival gangs and their subsequent tracking down and capture by the brilliant Superintendent Harry 'Snapper' Organs of Q Division. Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were born, on probation, in a small house in Kipling Road, Southwark, the eldest sons in a ...
At the 21st annual celebration of the Buddha Grove at Springhill Prison. This was probably the largest attendance we have ever had, with no less than 15 monks, and 400 people sitting down to a splendid meal provided by the Thai community in the prison canteen. This was the first and most splendid Buddha Grove of the many that now grace the prison system, built by the prisoners themselves under the leadership of the inimitable Sam Cutler, then doing nine years. The governor Tim Newall had the imagination to encourage the project and his successors have welcomed many distinguished guests ...
This morning the Social Market Foundation launched their report Sink or Swim? which highlights some of the likely problems to follow if the Government pursues Universal Credit in its current form. Jules Birch blogged today over at Inside Housing on some of the many problems that have already been identified with Universal Credit (UC). There is much more to say on the issue. UC has all the makings of a multidimensional policy fiasco. One area of concern is the plan under UC to change the mechanics of benefit delivery. In particular, the plan is to move to paying benefits monthly ...
The Coalition has today announced our plan to replace GCSEs with new, reformed qualifications. Our proposals will restore rigour to the exam system, allow us to compete on the international stage, and end years of grade inflation under Labour. When some Conservatives suggested that we could bring back the 1950s O-Level, Nick Clegg immediately made it clear that Liberal Democrats would not tolerate such a move. Liberal Democrats will never accept a return to an unfair, two-tier system that divides children into winners and losers at a young age. That's why Nick negotiated with the Conservatives over the summer to ...
Having taken what is historically the Liberals' last bastion, Glyn Davies (the Conservative MP for Montgomery) must have something going for him. Ah, you will say, all he had to do was stand there while Lembit Opik imploded. But that might be to underestimate him. Because Davies has just written a blog post that shows a rare degree of good sense about the Coalition: Sometimes my Conservative colleagues cause me despair. Never more than when they attack our coalition partners, the Lib Dems. I wonder what planet they're on whenever I hear references to "The tail wagging the dog". Some ...
We were proud the welcome the Deputy Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg to a members Q&A session and a dinner in his honour following. This gallery is a selection of pictures from the event.
Reader(s) of this blog won't have missed tortured punning headlines such as the one above this piece, in the many days since last I blogged. Anyway, to business. Two-tier exams. I was in the last year that sat O-levels and CSEs (one of my exams was interrupted by a wireless broadcast in which Mr Chamberlain announced that this country was now at war with Germany). CSEs (of which I sat a few) were a complete fiasco. Although they may have been intended to be an exciting vocational alternative to O-levels for those less academic kids who were of a more ...
A hometown decision? The winner is the Harborough Mail: Kevin is the new 'face of potatoes' for the region
Cheadle Planning for Change: Public Realm Works and Accessibility Improvements Monday 1st October 2012; 6pm until 8pm; Cheadle Village Hall. Stockport Council wishes to promote the development and improvement of the Cheadle District Centre street scene through the provision of a number of landscaping/accessibility enhancements. Although no designs have yet been developed the Council aims to: Improve the public realm Improve pedestrian crossing facilities Improve access and safety for all highway users Improve cycle facilities Enhance public transport reliability Improve parking facilities We need you to help the Council identify what our priorities should be when developing the improvements, so ...
I took this photograph a few years ago, around dawn on a December morning in Aberdeen. It was taken near to the city's art gallery. The city is undoubtedly handsome and I admire the atmosphere of solid purpose that civic architecture of this scale and design can convey, while also retaining a sense of the ...
Cllr Ian Manning (LD, East Chesterton) Cambridgeshire County Council has been attacked for its fiasco over primary school places in Cambridge which left residents forced to choose between two "unpalatable and deeply flawed" solutions for a former school site. The attack comes from Councillor, Ian Manning, who represents Cambridge's East Chesterton on the county council, as the decision was taken to build a new school on the site of the old Shirley Community Primary School. The school moved to a new purpose built site which has now proved too small to accommodate the growing need for primary school places in ...
Two Cambridgeshire councillors have chosen a novel way to travel to their party conference. Susan van de Ven and Tim Stone are weighing anchor and setting sail from Suffolk for the journey to the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton which takes place between September 22 and 26. The pair will skippered by Susan's husband, Hans, in his 35-year-old boat, Andax, on a journey which could take up to three days depending on the weather. Their 120 mile trip will start from the River Orwell near Ipswich, Suffolk and head for Dover where they hope to drop anchor for the first ...
I was unaware that "in full consultation with" meant "we'll tell you how far we're prepared to go and if that's not good enough for you, tough shit", but apparently that IS what it means... I am not going to conference because of accreditation. I know a reasonable (not small) number of other people who are not going to conference because of accreditation. The party leadership are trying to paint us as a small number of malcontents who are being utterly unreasonable when all they want to do is make us hand over our entire life history to the rozzers. ...
Quite properly much has been made of the Hillsborough Report. Our MP John Pugh- a devoted Liverpool fan - has played his part in supporting those who have campaigned on this issue. Pride of place amongst politicians must go to the work of Steve Rotheram .Last night the Liverpool Echo published this poem by Carol Ann Duffy. the full article is here [IMG: Tributes at the Hillsborough memorial 620] Tributes at the Hillsborough memorial Carol Ann Duffy is Poet Laureate - a coveted title awarded to a handful of poetry's most celebrated and talented names. A graduate of Liverpool University, ...
"Our starting point, the reason I became a Liberal Democrat, and the reason many people joined the Liberal Democrats, is because they want people to be free and empowered and are suspicious of the state taking on excessive authority." Mark Pack welcomes Jeremy Brown's first interview as a Home Office minister. (That's Jeremy speaking, not Mark - though I am sure Mark agrees with him.) Neil Monnery takes apart a particularly silly argument against the reform of school examinations. "Saudi Arabia these days is all too reminiscent of the dying decade of the Soviet Union, during which one decrepit leader ...
Julian attends the UK Sepsis Trust's Westminster reception MP Julian Huppert has backed a campaign to tackle a relatively unknown illness which kills more people each year than common cancers. Julian gave his support for early recognition and treatment of Sepsis at a House of Commons reception organised by the UK Sepsis Trust. And he signed an Early Day Motion calling on the government to improve standards in the detection and treatment of the disease. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition which occurs when the body's response to an infection damages its own tissues and organs. It can lead to shock, ...
Almost everyday there is talk of how much more flexible our labour market needs to be to accommodate growth in jobs. I have been thinking about this and something seems wrong. Mind you, I am no economist but the sums do not add up. There is less money to spend because salaries are being frozen, people are having to take pay cuts, people are losing their jobs and the expenditure of people on benefits is being slashed. Where is the consumer spending money going to come from if labour markets are being squeezed, bent and twisted? We can't end up ...
Today's announcement by England's education secretary, Michael Gove, of a new qualification to replace the GCSE has all the hallmarks of a hastily cobbled together compromise designed to try and overcome two diametrically opposed views about what the exam system should be about. At the one end there is the Govian view of an elitist system designed around the brightest kids. At the other there is the producer interest - strongly represented in Lib Dem ranks - backing a one size fits all system designed give those the bottom end academically something to show for their years of compulsory schooling. ...
I read in today's Newsletter that both the Catholic and Presbyterian Church have formed an unusual alliance to oppose equal marriage, whether a civil marriage or a religious grouping that wishes to do so, in joining the attack on the Scottish Parliament. I do have one issue with Dr Donald Watts the Convener of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland's General Board. The Newsletter says that when he wrote to the Westminster Government in March that: "Dr Watts said he was writing on behalf of the most representative body of the church, the general board" Sadly for Dr Watts this is ...
Here's the text of the email from Lib Dem education minister David Laws to party members today setting out the Coalition's proposed reforms of the GCSE exam system: The Coalition has today announced our plan to replace GCSEs with new, reformed qualifications. Our proposals will restore rigour to the exam system, allow us to compete on the international stage, and end years of grade inflation under Labour. When some Conservatives suggested that we could bring back the 1950s O-Level, Nick Clegg immediately made it clear that Liberal Democrats would not tolerate such a move. Liberal Democrats will never accept a ...
I think a lot of activists have had the experienceof being shouted at on the doorstep and I'm among them. There is an awful lot of rejection in politics.It's part of the strange nature of a job that you may do very well, but bethrown out of through issues outside your control. As I look around my friends andacquaintances in this party and others, I see a number of politicos are driven.Driven to change and make things better and/or driven to look good and receivevalidation from others. As is often said (mostly by my mother!), a psychologistwould have a field ...
[IMG: David Laws] From an email to party members: The Coalition has today announced our plan to replace GCSEs with new, reformed qualifications. Our proposals will restore rigour to the exam system, allow us to compete on the international stage, and end years of grade inflation under Labour. When some Conservatives suggested that we could bring back the 1950s O-Level, Nick Clegg immediately made it clear that Liberal Democrats would not tolerate such a move. Liberal Democrats will never accept a return to an unfair, two-tier system that divides children into winners and losers at a young age. That's why ...
Here in England autumn is in the air. The air is a little colder, each day is slightly shorter than the one before and in the countryside if you pause, you can sense that slight sweet rotting smell. For birds it's a time of change. It reminds me how different our perceptions of time and change can be depending on the latitude we live at. For temperate parts south of the equator, of course, you just reverse the times so Christmas will be in summer and May Day will come towards the end of autumn's slide into winter. The experience ...
Thankfully not an issue I've had to worry about, yet it's one that is often of concern as people struggle to find the money to give a loved one an appropriate send off. What I'd not really appreciated until seeing the analysis from Sun Life (a client at work) is quite how quickly the costs can add up:
Below are recently submitted Planning Applications in the Chorlton area. You can find out more information about any of the proposals on the City Council's Planning Portal at http://tinyurl.com/yv6lex or by contacting the South Area Planning Group Manager - Roger Hall; Tel: (0161) 234 4536; email: r.hall@manchester.gov.uk . You can also make a Planning representation (in support or opposition) to Mr Hall or the designated planning officer for each application. Please feel free to contact me on (07947383740; cllr.v.chamberlain@manchester.gov.uk) if you wish to discuss any application and please also send me a copy of any representation you make. 100368/TCA/2012/S1 63 ...
There were seven contests on September 13th, with eight seats up for grabs due to a double-vacancy. Three of the eight were Parish councils, of which more later. Starting out in the principal authorities, our best result came from Shropshire where Robert Douglas Welch and the local Lib Dem team came within 250 votes of the defending Tories in Church Stretton and Craven Arms. We also managed a second-place in Burnley, where Stephanie Forrest led the local Focus team to taking a quarter of the vote in Trinity ward, marginally down on May's best-ever result for the Lib Dems. In ...
Consider a vocational subject – dentistry. It leads to a job and requires hand-eye coordination and knowledge of tools and materials. To be good at it, you must prove your interpersonal skills. A major study is the physiology of certain human systems. Now consider an academic subject – engineering. This needs an understanding of physics, chemistry, mechanics, maths, cutting edge optics, electronics, materials science... not every one in every case but your subset will require detailed reading, theoretical work and experimentation. I'm making a crude point. The opposition of "vocational" and "academic" is artificial and demeaning. Dentistry is high status, ...
Today's Telegraph contains details of a fascinating study that may influence candidate selection panels up and down the country. They say that work by the University of Exeter and the University Iowa has found that in hotly contested constituencies the most attractive candidate wins nearly three quarters of the time: Dr Caitlin Milazzo, a lecturer in politics at Exeter, said choosing attractive candidates could give a party the "edge". "While our findings certainly do not indicate that unattractive candidates are unelectable, they do suggest that an attractiveness "advantage" may come into play. "As a result, parties should be mindful of ...
Last week when I wrote about why I support the No More Page 3 campaign, the petition started by Lucy Holmes only had around 1700 signatures. Now there's not far off 12,000, with 2,000 of them being added in the last 16 hours. The campaign is taking off now. Lucy Holmes has featured in the Guardian, was on Radio Leicester this morning and will, hopefully, as a result, attract more national coverage. I hope that there will be efforts to get more signatures at all of the Party Conferences coming up. It's not a party political campaign, but there are ...
I've had news of a couple of extra sets of road works in Launceston which may affect residents, visitors and businesses: During the daytime (8am to 4.15pm) on October 29th, Upper Chapel will be closed for road patching works (it to repair potholes and other defects in the road surface). The affected area is between the top of Moorland Road and Meadowside.During the daytime (7.30am to 6pm) on October 19th, St Stephens Hill will be closed for works on overhead cables. The affected area is between Mayne Close and Underhayes Lane.From 15th-19th October (24 hours a day), the road between ...
Next week is social media week - designed to encourage people to take a step to becoming more engaged online. As part of the week, Cornwall Council will be holding four drop-in surgeries including one in Launceston next Tuesday. There is also to be a 'tweetathon' next Thursday. What is a social media surgery? It's a chance for you to come along to learn more on a one-to-one basis about the different forms of social media. The fact that you're reading this blogpost probably means that you already have something of a handle on online communication. But if you would ...
An online guide to help Hertfordshire residents adapt their homes to save energy and water has been launched by the county's local authorities. The Hertfordshire Building Futures Partnership, which is comprised of Hertfordshire County Council plus the ten district and borough authorities, has unveiled the new 'Retrofit Resource', which provides a wealth of information to help save energy and water. Retrofitting not only means making homes more efficient through technology, it also involves using sustainable materials; for example, insulation made from recycled materials; and also preparing for climate change; for example, making adaptations to deal with extreme temperatures and severe ...
Try and be too Liberal and our coalition partners do all they can to put a spanner in the works. They surely feel much the same about us. Try and find a happy compromise and you end up with everyone hating you. And the danger is you sink into a sea of obfuscation and intransigence and get absolutely nowhere. Or worse, you go native - or at least let the world think that you have. Then you end up hating yourself. Is this ringing any bells? Which is why we probably need more people inside the party who have experience ...
Last year 174 people were killed or seriously injured on Manchester's roads and there were nearly 2000 road casualties. These shocking statistics help explain why Manchester has the North West's second highest rate of overall pedestrian casualties; and the UK ... Continue reading →
Main blood parameters from September 10 test. Platelets are within normal range and so are neutrophils. Haemoglobin is low as usual and so are White Blood Cells, but these are not a worry. [IMG: Posted by Picasa]
Cycling to the NLC for Viv Bingham's memorial event I detoured into Green Park to look at the new memorial to Bomber Command. I have no doubt that Viv would have opposed the 'carpet bombing ' campaign undertaken under the leadership of 'Bomber Harris' the political cover came from the Minister for Air, Leader of the Liberal Party, Archibald Sinclair. His biography makes no mention of the campaign waged by Vera Britten and Bishop Bell against the indiscriminate bombing of residential areas in Germany.It is of easy to judge such actions from the comfort of a Britain not involved in ...
Before I really get into this, I do think it's important to acknowledge that had the Tories been governing alone, they would have cheerfully implemented the Beecroft Report which basically gives employers the right to hire and fire at will. How keeping employees in constant fear of their jobs actually contributes to good long-term performance is beyond me. Liberal Democrats may only be 20% of the Government, but we've stopped some really nasty Tory policies happening. However, it was with a heavy heart that I saw Vince Cable defend plans to restrict employees' compensation and encourage settlement agreements to end ...
I'm fuming. Just fuming. I love the blogosphere as it gives people a chance to air their opinions and even though many are vastly different to mine I often find them very interesting. I like seeing other points of view and debating them. I've even been known to change my PoV based on these debates. It is one of the reasons that the blogosphere is just fantastic. However I today read a paragraph in a blog post on the new exams for 15/16 year-olds that made me just go mental. Stretching the length of an exam to 3 hours also ...
The National Landlords Association (NLA) is a membership organisation representing over 20,000 individuals and companies, letting privately rented residential property. The NLA provides advice to help landlords run their businesses for themselves and their tenants. Like anyone else, landlords like satisfied customers and repeat business. The private-rented sector has grown from a low point of eight per cent of households in 1990 to over 17 per cent today, matching the social housing sector. This growth has accelerated in recent years, due to the combined effects of reduced availability of social housing and the inability of many people to obtain a ...
One of the more intriguing items on the fringe of next week's Liberal Democrat Federal Conference is entitled, simply: 'What is Cleggism?'. A Google of the term is unenlightening for those really wanting to know what makes Nick Clegg tick; which is either a conscious attempt to rehabilitate the term or an unfortunate coincidence. According to the warm-up blurb, Clegg's former strategy advisor Richard Reeves 'will argue that the Clegg creed is animated by a vision of powerful individuals with the capabilities and opportunities to lead good lives of their own design. When power, wealth, opportunity or knowledge are hoarded, ...
I had to drive to Hexham last week to stock up on chicken feed and decided to listen to Radio Newcastle on the way. As I started listening, I was left with the impression I had tuned in to a comedy show. It was actually the morning show and guests were in the studio to talk about issues of topical interest. I didn't catch any of their names but one of them was a senior official from Unison and
Coming to Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton and wondering how to fill up your diary? Here are the open-to-all fringe events I'll be at. Whether or not you come to any, I hope to see many of my regular readers in Brighton. Do wave and say hello as we pass in opposite directions in the corridor! Saturday Book signing – Ed Maxfield and I will be signing copies of 101 Ways to Win An Election at the ALDC exhibition stand, from 3:15pm. Blog of the Year Awards – Lib Dem Voice's annual awards ceremony. From 10pm in the Pavilion Room, ...
The phasing out of the additional personal allowance was decried as a 'granny tax' but that move did not go far enough. A new CentreForum report looks at two unjustified and deeply regressive age-related tax breaks: the tax-free lump sum and the exemption from National Insurance. There are many lonely, vulnerable and poor pensioners who need support. But it's insulting to suggest that everyone over 60 or 65 can be lumped into the category of frail granny (to say nothing of grandpas!). There is a huge range of incomes amongst pensioners. At the very top, the average annual pension of ...
The September issue of Liberator has just arrived on my doormat with a satisfying thump, which means it is time to spend some more time with Rutland's most popular fictional peer. Incidentally, we used to hand out this issue from the magazine's stall at Conference, but the level of security at the event now makes that impossible. O tempora! O mores! David Boyle's wonderful opening ceremony Wasn't the Olympic opening ceremony fun? Such events are not usually my cup of tea (I seem to recall that the ceremony for the 1936 Berlin Games was devised by Albert Speer, who decided ...
The Manifesto Club has launched a Google map, titled Banned in London, which reveals the 435 special zones that now cover half the area of the British capital. Writing on Spiked, Josie Appleton says: In these areas, people can be fined or prosecuted for activities that would otherwise be perfectly legal - including leafleting, protesting, dog walking, gathering in groups, or drinking. Similar zones have been enacted by local authorities across the UK. In London and most other UK urban areas, there are four different kinds of zone: no-dog zones; no-leafleting zones; alcohol-confiscation zones; and dispersal zones. London also has ...
Why should you visit Smarter Business Development on 26th September? As the government has removed the 1-2-1 advisors from Business Link, Sutton Chamber has arranged the Smarter Business Development advice day for all South London businesses. It takes place on Wednesday 26th September at the Holiday Inn, Sutton, Surrey. Details of the 20 Specialist Business ...
Norway introduced a law that publicly listed companies had to have 40% board members. This appears to have shattered the glass ceiling. The cosy cliques of male board members have been disrupted. On purely equality grounds this policy makes sense. But they're reporting that these companies are now making more money. The change in board compositions has brought new thinking. The all male group think has been broken and improved upon. Bring it on. This is exactly the type of game changer we need to help revitalise our economy. If anything such a proposal should be extended further to all ...
Mon 17th
11:00
Former MP John Barrett's daughter Sarah to run 10k to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support
Everyone will be delighted that popular former Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West John Barrett is well on the road to recovery after suffering from Cancer last year. After surgery and 6 gruelling months of chemotherapy, he was in fine form as he chaired the Vince Cable Q and A in Edinburgh in July. John's daughter Sarah Atsa is doing a 10k run next month to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support. who have been great in the way they've supported John. Many of us will know how brilliant they are at giving superb information and support to the whole ...
Sign seen on a tatooists' shop, Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
WordPress' anti-spam plugin seems to be playing up at the moment, and I've had to manually mark at least thirty comments as spam in the last two hours. For that reason, if you're a new commenter (approved commenters get allowed through automatically) your comment may be held up in moderation for longer than normal, or ...
Robert Rogers, the Clerk of the House of Commons, is the latest in a long line of distinguished authors to have produced a miscellany of Parliamentary history, information and quirks. His volume Order! Order! A Parliamentary Miscellany is a worthy addition to that sequence. Originally published in 2009 it has just been republished with little changed other than a new Foreword. As a result, although it is not quite as up to date as its 2012 publication date might suggest, it is still pretty fresh. Given Rogers's background, it is also no surprise that this is primarily a miscellany of ...
Pure, Andrew Miller Historical fiction is back and it's big. Brought up on Jean Plaidy, I couldn't be happier. Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall slay the Booker two years ago and Andrew Miller took the Costa last year for this novel, as engineer Jean-Baptiste Baratte reluctantly undertakes to clear the fetid Parisian cemetery of Les Innocents. Set against the backdrop of pre-Revolutionary France, Pure sees our hero make new friends (steadfast and flamboyant) and enemies (unpredictable and dangerous) as he disturbs both the quick and the dead. Though there is drama, the book itself never seeks to be dramatic and sometimes ...
It seems that some people consider the removal of a waste bin an example of some sort of achievement......? Thanks to a heads-up-tweet from WerringtonBlogger – local LIB DEM ward councillor, Darren Fower says he has now reported the issue of a missing bin from Cuckoos Hollow to Peterborough City Council. Commenting, Darren said: "Hardly something to be proud of is it? Damaging an inane item like a waste bin, makes you wonder just how drunk or intoxicated the person or persons were, to make them think this was a challenge worth undertaking? "Thankfully, the Werrington area has more mindful ...
Nick Clegg and Michael Gove will today present a carefully joined up front as they present proposals to overhaul GCSEs. In June, the two clashed after the education secretary let slip his desire to return to O-levels, swiftly dubbed 'Gove-levels'. The Lib Dem leader immediately dismissing any notion of a return to a two-tier system exam system which would have likely resulted in high numbers of poorer children in the most disadvantaged areas sitting the CSE exams which would close off their opportunities for later progress into higher education and many professional careers. Their row may also have contributed to ...
Cross posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Handing out Union Jacks is "inappropriate behaviour"Even when it happens at a rally to honour our Olympic athletes. So said Glasgow SNP Councillor Mhairi Hunter to me in a tweet on Saturday. I was a bit fearful as I clicked on the link, worried that it was going to be a sorry tale of some anti independence idiots beating up a nationalist. No, it was to this Facebook page from the No to Scottish Independence and Protect the Union where they said they handed out 1000 union jacks to people who went to the ...
Defence Minister: Clegg axed me because I won't support attack on Iran – was the headline of a Mail story yesterday, which began: A Liberal Democrat Defence Minister has claimed he was sacked to avoid a damaging Coalition split over a pre-emptive strike on Iran. Former Armed Forces Minister Sir Nick Harvey told friends that he was fired in the reshuffle to allow Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to sign Britain up to an Israeli-US preventive strike to take out Iran's nuclear installations. However, readers with long attention spans (about 15 seconds) will have read down a few paragraphs and ...
In his first interview since becoming a Home Office Minister, Liberal Democrat MP Jeremy Browne has had some promising things to say about his attitude towards the Draft Communications Data Bill (aka snoopers' charter): Mr Browne said: "People can rest assured we will be very vigilant defenders of civil liberties. "Our starting point, the reason I became a Liberal Democrat, and the reason many people joined the Liberal Democrats, is because they want people to be free and empowered and are suspicious of the state taking on excessive authority." He insisted the internet-surveillance plan, which is now being examined by ...
Since going into Coalition the Liberal Democrats are always getting it in the neck. The right hate us for inhibiting an untrammelled right wing agenda and Labour who might claim the left (but not really sure on what basis) hate us for being in Coalition with the Conservatives. The need for stability at the time of the last election forgotten – only the need for a whipping boy. But you know – sticks and stones.... Nothing is more terrifying than a lurch to the right or the left right now. Common sense and a DNA for fairness are what is ...
I've made a few comments in recent weeks about the decision to give up our Ministerial posts in the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. Seemed a bit devil-may-care to me regarding foreign interventions. Almost universally the response from fellow Lib Dems has been 'don't worry, if anything SERIOUS is going to happen, Nick will be consulted'. Well, while I think this Telegraph piece is possibly exaggerating for effect, and this Huffington Post piece from Mehdi Hasan is rather stirring the pot, it seems something IS likely to happen between Israel and Iran in the near future. Hopefully a lot ...
Residents of East Chesterton in Cambridge are being asked for their views on plans to bring back into use the former Shirley Lower School site in Green End Road. The proposals by Cambridgeshire County Council are designed to tackle the need for more school places in the East Chesterton area. The authority has faced significant pressure on primary school places in Cambridge since 2008, as a result of a rise in the birth rate. The greatest difference between the provision currently available and the projected number of 4-year-olds is in the catchment area of Shirley Primary School in Nuffield Road. ...
These photos from the Retro Dundee blog are of the City Road/Blyth Street/Baxter Street area from the mid 1980s. Unlike the photo yesterday from the Hawkhill area, the area around City Road remains basically the same today, albeit that some of the buildings are no longer there: Baxter Street Baxter Street Blyth Street Blyth Street
I'll have a proper post tomorrow, but I'm just doing a quick linkblog tonight. One brief not-a-full-post-worthy question though — why do political cliches keep getting repeated despite having no relation to reality? Most recently, in the current political decapitation-mania, where if you believe the press it looks like the leaders of all three major ...
