So I'm there showering and thinking of witty lines to use on the air this evening (I couldn't think of any) and by the time I got back to the PC to check e-mail and twitter before I left everything exploded. Nick Clegg had apologised. What had he apologised for exactly? Well he had apologised for signing the pledge that said the Lib Dems would not back any rise in tuition fees. He didn't apologise for being in government and raising the tuition fees upper-limit. Is this significant? Yes. Did he apologise for the right thing? Undoubtedly. Last year I ...
Nick Clegg's former director of strategy Richard Reeves has written an interesting article for the New Statesman, The case for a truly liberal party. There's nothing particularly surprising in it, but it's none the worse for that. His argument is essentially that the Lib Dems have the chance to occupy the space at the centre ground of British politics as radical liberals: after all, no other party is occupying it, or seemingly wanting to. Most people are sceptical of the claims of both left and right. In fact, on a left-right scale, most people locate themselves in the same place ...
Conference Extra is out, including not only a larger than usual list of last minute changes to fringe meetings (blame the reshuffle for that), but also amendments and emergency motions. The amendment to F23 (on the economy) looks like it'll be an interesting hot spot for debate over the government's economic policy. Conference Extra – Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference 2012
PCC Candidate Rupert Moss-Eccardt After an all-member ballot, Rupert Moss-Eccardt has been chosen as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election in November. Mr Moss-Eccardt said: "I am pleased and honoured to be chosen to represent the very many Liberal Democrats in the Force area. We want to make policing effective, trusted and professional." "We should not try to measure crime-fighting success by the number of people arrested, we need to measure how many crimes are committed and get that number down, so we can enable people to live without the fear ...
A couple of week ago I was discussing Liberal plans for the redistribution of wealth-in particular inheritance taxes. The vision of society that Liberals have promoted is one in which assets for fairly spread and that the unjustified accumulations of wealth in a few hands are dispersed. This one of the reasons Liberals championed Wealth taxes, and inheritance taxes. there were two other overlapping elements of this programme-employee ownership and land taxes. It should be noted that these are not seen as short term measures for a crisis but part of a long term redistribution. We have dealt at length ...
Observing the reaction on Twitter* it seems that many have responded with 'oooo...ok...brave' to Nick Clegg's video apology. The ordinary party members I follow think this it might be a good idea. The party staff think totally was a good idea, naturally. The journos are split. I'm with the journos for now. He was right ...
Spotted in Leicester Road, Market Harborough, earlier today.
Following a request, I've made the data in FlockTogether for upcoming events and by-elections available in json format. You can access it at http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/showJson.php No exciting tags or switches currently. Let me know if there's any particular information you'd like.
Grant Shapps' Conservative colleagues must look back fondly on Baroness Warsi as a safe pair of hands. I blogged the other day about his many, er, misfortunes involving the internet - an area in which he likes to think of himself as something of an expert. Today came news of what look likes a major blunder he made while still a housing minister. Over to Architects Journal: In late 2011 former housing minister Grant Shapps slammed the contentious Pathfinder housing market renewal initiative - a £2.2 billion programme which once complete would have seen around 400,000 mainly Victorian homes and ...
Wed 19th
20:55
Tales from the Webinar: Lynne Featherstone on equalities and international development
When Lynne Featherstone first agreed to do an online webinar for party members, she was Equalities Minister. Then the reshuffle happened and now she is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of International Development. Last night she took questions for three quarters of an hour on both roles in an informative and lively session. "Most of us never question our gender" Lynne spoke with great passion about her work as Equalities Minister. She said we now had the best equalities law in the world. Her last act, at about 4:30pm on the afternoon of the reshuffle was to ...
First off: The video and the transcript. Then a few thoughts... I'd like to take this opportunity to put a few things straight. When I meet people around the country, it's obvious that many of you have strong - and pretty mixed - reactions to some of the things Liberal Democrats have done in government. Many of you tell me you're glad that at a time of real economic uncertainty, we put aside our political differences to provide our country with stable leadership. BUT, I also meet people who are disappointed and angry that we couldn't keep all our promises ...
Lord Steel of Aikwood: "A Poor Show" Lord Steel of Aikwood's supporters will say that he was once a great radical, supporting abortion reform and the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Well, I recall that period myself - it occupied several weeks in... 1967, I think it was. I am obliged to record, however, that I have since then found him Increasingly Hard Work. There was that damned 'Alliance' he was so keen on: I tried to convince him, with the aid of a boxful of matches emptied out on the table, that we could not possibly win a ...
Nick Clegg has recorded this video - you can read a full transcript of his words on the party's website. It was released to journalists this evening (as well as being made freely available on Youtube) and will be shown as the Liberal Democrats' conference broadcast on Monday. My reading of the video is that Nick is apologising, not for the party's policy at the last election, but for the pledge that he and (so Wikipedia suggests) every successful Liberal Democrat candidate signed before the last election: "I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament ...
I welcome Nick Clegg's apology for the tuition fees pledges. He is to be applauded on this. And I think it will "clear the air" and allow us to make something of a fresh start. It is a tad late, though, and I think Nick has got himself into such a pickle that he had no alternative but to make this apology. I take exception to Nick's use of the word "we". We made a pledge and we didn't stick to it - he says in the broadcast. He is conflating two groups there, and in the video as a ...
Hot off the (email) presses: Hmmmmm.
#IStillAgreeWithNick
Two things from the last few days: And, courtesy of Mark Pack What Have the Lib Dems Done? The heartfelt apology I've wanted to hear from Nick for a very long time. He needed to say it and, as apologies go, it was one of the best I've ever heard. I'm really, really proud of him. And the book that shows why we're in this Government game, even when it's bloody hard, agonising and heartbreaking. We are doing good stuff.
This month Palestinians are commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, in which many hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians — many of them women and children — were slaughtered in those two refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut by Lebanese Christian Phalangist militiamen, who were granted entry by the Israeli army (IDF) that ...
Wed 19th
18:45
Nick Clegg says sorry over broken tuition fees pledge - the clearest sign yet he wants to fight the ...
Here's the next Lib Dem party political broadcast — and before you run away at the thought of a PPB this one is more interesting than most because Nick Clegg says sorry for breaking the Lib Dems' manifesto commitment to scrap tuition fees. Here you go: My first impressions are: 1) I think Nick gets the tone right. This isn't one of those political apologies ("I'm sorry if you're so sensitive you might possible have been offended by my common-sense statement") — it's a full-blown apology. 2) The apology works I think, because it actually levels with the audience. Nick ...
In short: We made a promise before the election that we would vote against any rise in fees under any circumstances. But that was a mistake. It was a pledge made with the best of intentions – but we shouldn't have made a promise we weren't absolutely sure we could deliver. I shouldn't have committed to a policy that was so expensive when there was no money around. Not least when the most likely way we'd end up in Government was in coalition with Labour or the Conservatives, who were both committed to put fees up... I am sorry. This ...
Nick Clegg has just emailed Liberal Democrat party members: I've been travelling the country talking to party members over the summer. I've heard a lot of you say you think it's important for the party and me personally to address, head on, the many concerns raised about the decisions I took in recent years about higher education funding and tuition fees. I agree. Where we get it wrong we must hold our hands up, but when we get it right, we can hold our heads up too. That is why I've made this video which will be our next Party ...
I have become aware of a new bogus caller scam that has been taking place in Northern Ireland. As we are about to be changing over from analogue to digital television later in the autumn here, some criminals have been taking advantage of this in trying to gain access to premises. According to the ...
Very few of you, I hope, noticed a piece on Liberal Democrat Voice last week, encouraging people to stand for places on the Party's delegation to ELDR Council. I wrote it because I was asked nicely, and because there are people out there who might be good for the role. Unfortunately, it's a role that I want to keep, partly because I enjoy it, partly because it seems that I might be quite good at it. And, by encouraging competitors, it makes it less likely that I'll be re-elected. This would be bad, right? Yet, I think that it's the ...
Launceston's driving test centre will shortly be on the move, but the signs are that it won't be going too far. A week or so ago, the Driving Standards Agency sent out letters saying that they were being kicked out of their current base on Western Road at the end of January. This is because the main tenant there - The Department of Work and Pensions - has served them notice. I don't yet know what plans they have for the site, but we are asking. The DSA said that it was looking for an alternative site and I learned ...
The Party is currently running a consultation on our climate change policy, which you can find here. As you would expect, it touches on almost every aspect of our lives, and so I've decided to respond and to make that response public. I warn you, this is a pretty long post as there's a great ...
I have been pondering for some time about how councillors should relate to and where possible work with local journalists. My musings have been brought to a head by the news that the Council, through LDL, has registered a website ... Continue reading →
Wed 19th
17:28New LDV members' survey now live: your views on education reforms, Heathrow, the reshuffle & the...
The new LDV members' survey is now live. So if you are one of the c.1,300 registered members of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum — and any paid-up party member is welcome to join — then you now have the opportunity to make your views known. Questions we're asking this month include: what you think of free schools and academies; what you make of reforms to GCSEs in England; what you think about a new runway at Heathrow; whether you agree with means-testing benefits for wealthier pensioners; your views on Nick Clegg's leadership and the forthcoming reshuffle; how satisfied you ...
(If you prefer Liberal Democrat conference: the paperwork, see here.)
Everyone knows that if you want to get really good at anything then you need a mentor or coach. Phil Mickelson has Butch Harmon, Venus and Serena have their dad Richard and the Karate Kid had Mr Miyagi. If you are a flute player then there is probably no greater coach alive today than Jeffrey ...
PC Advisor has the story: The tech-savvy Taliban is creating fake Facebook profiles using pictures of attractive women. They're then using these fake profiles to befriend Australian soldiers, and are gathering information based on those soldiers' Facebook updates. A big problem, of course, is Facebook's geo-tagging function, which logs the location from which posts or photos are uploaded. If a soldier posts something to Facebook while they're in the field, this pretty much gives away their location... "Few consider the possibilities of data mining and how patterns of behavior can be identified over time," the review states. The review surveyed ...
Welcome to the latest in our occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today it's the electoral appeal of physical appeal: The work by the University of Exeter and the University Iowa found that the "halo effect" of attractiveness was most prominent in hotly contested constituencies. Researchers found in those seats 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 ...
Get Me Toasty is a scheme from the local councils in Greater Manchester, and has recently improved its offer, and is now offering loft and cavity wall insulation completely FREE* to more residents than ever before. Loft and cavity wall insulation is just like wrapping up your home in a big woolly blanket. And because of the extra warmth you're keeping in the house, you can turn your heating down and save money on your bills. If you own or privately rent your home, you are entitled to free loft and cavity wall insulation*. More information here. *Terms and conditions ...
The Department for Transport has made a decision on London Midland's request to cut the opening hours of railway station ticket office opening hours – first reported here on 9th March 2011. At the time there was a broadly based campaign against the proposals (my post on 9th March 2011 highlights the reasons). There is some good news in that the London Midland proposals have not been accepted in full, and the cuts in opening hours have been scaled back, however the scale of the reductions remains very disappointing. Across the West Midlands the plans to close 9 stations's ticket ...
A petition calling on the editor of the Sun to withdraw the Page 3 feature has gained more than 13,000 signatures in the last 2 days. I'm supporting this campaign because I strongly believe that a national newspaper showing half clothed women is a significant background note in the cultural melody which stops women from being treated as equal citizens. How am I supposed to convince my daughter that she's an equal member of society when she sees women portrayed as little more than window dressing for the express entertainment of men? Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West Mike Crockart ...
Local catch ups In my work as Borders MP I have regular catch ups with local public services such as NHS Borders, Lothian and Borders police and Scottish Borders Council. These are valuable meetings during which I am updated on key local issues and I am able bring my constituents' concerns to their attention. Last week, as part of these regular catch ups, I met with Chief Superintendent John Hawkins in Hawick to discuss the work of local police and the crime and policing issues. Referendum Ever since the Scottish Government announced their plan to hold a referendum on Scottish ...
With Conference season about to get underway, the Welsh Liberal Democrats are taking advantage of teh opportunity to move Liberal Democrats policy decisively against the introduction of regional pay. As I will be back in the Assembly for meetings by the time this debate takes place, my colleague Eluned Parrott will be moving the motion which will hopefully set the tone for the second part of coalition government. This is once more about Liberal Democrats blocking the worst excesses of the UK Tories. Eluned has written on the motion over at Freedom Central. She makes it clear that moves towards ...
For a while now I have been running the weekly Dispatch Box newsletter – it seeks to bring together some in depth analysis, exclusive stories and gossip. If you haven't signed up already you've missed out on finding out about the mess ... Continue reading →
In the wake of the murders of police officers Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes in Manchester yesterday, the issue of whether police should be armed is being raised by journalists. The Scotsman reports Nick Clegg's comments when asked about this today. He was quick to say that arming Police Officers was not the answer.I don't think this is the time to rush to instant judgments, this really is a time for mourning and support, of course, for the family and friends of the two women who have been killed.We have a long tradition in this country, which is a great ...
In the wake of the murders of police officers Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes in Manchester yesterday, the issue of whether police should be armed is being raised by journalists. The Scotsman reports Nick Clegg's comments when asked about this today. He was quick to say that arming Police Officers was not the answer. I don't think this is the time to rush to instant judgments, this really is a time for mourning and support, of course, for the family and friends of the two women who have been killed. We have a long tradition in this country, which is ...
Read about Carshalton Athletic winning the FA's community club of the year on my local ward blog here.
[IMG: 101 Ways To Win An Election - book cover] Saturday 22nd September, 3:15pm onwards, ALDC stand, Liberal Democrat conference: come and see what the most implausible dedication is that you can persuade Ed Maxfield and myself to write in the front of 101 Ways To Win An Election at our book signing session. Bonus points if you can work in a reference to the Peruvian ambassador. Not going to conference? Then you can buy your copy online here. Going to conference? Here are the other times you can catch me at fringes and the like.
Wind turbine syndrome: a classic 'communicated' disease – I'm shocked – shocked, I tell you – to discover that something James Delingpole and other contrarian trolls believe in has no evidence to back it up. 10 myths of the UK's far right – Daniel Trilling in the Guardian outlines some widely-repeated opinions about the BNP and their ilk that don't stand up to much scrutiny. Facebook friends network 'quadruples voting behaviour' – Interesting study in the US about different online prompts and how they increase the likelihood of someone voting – the original paper it's based on is here. English ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrats HQ, Cowley Street] Photo credit: Loz Flowers on Flickr. The Liberal Democrats used to call it home. Now 4 Cowley Street (vacated by the party in summer 2011) is up for sale as a 6-bedroom house for £11 million. Estate agents Hathaways describe "Cowley House" as: ...an architecturally astounding property. Hidden in the heart of Old Westminster the property was purpose-built as offices in the early 20th century, but the layout is such that it will make a particularly grand and spacious London home. Designed in the elaborate style of the Baroque 17th century, imitating the era ...
[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] Back in July I got an email from Jim Hancock that read: Jessica and Katy Bingham have asked me contact you to ensure that you know that there will be a memorial celebration of the life of their father Viv Bingham (President of the Liberal Party 1981-82) on WED SEPT 12th at 6pm in the Lloyd George Room of the National Liberal Club. .. and so it was a goodly crowd of Liberals assembled at the NLC to remember Viv's life. It was the sort of event Viv would have loved to attend. The ...
Back in 2010, a survey by the Programme for International Student Assessment found that UK schoolchildren ranked 16th in Science and 28th in Maths among 65 OECD countries. Since then, little has changed. For a country which has led the world in scientific discovery, and profited from those developments, this is deeply worrying. We in the Lib Dems have a proud record of arguing in favour of science and research, and promoting it from the classroom to the lab. People such as Dr Evan Harris and now-Lord Phil Willis have made sure that we are seen as a pro-science party; ...
Cornwall Council is consulting on two new pedestrian crossings of the A388 in Launceston. As local residents will know, the first of these was scheduled for the last financial year and so is more than 6 months behind already. The second was meant to be in place this financial year. But it's better late than never! The first crossing will be a controlled 'puffin' style crossing on Western Road just up from the junction with Westgate Street. The second will be an informal 'pedestrian refuge' type crossing near the junction with Station Road. As part of these works, the pavement ...
I'm sorry to report that there are problems yet again with the amount of rubbish building up at the communal waste areas on the Ridgegrove Estate. The pictures here were taken last night. It's the day before the collection is due, but the amount of rubbish spilling into the pathways is unacceptable and a blight for residents. I assume that the last collection was made on time and so it seems that two collections per week is simply not enough. I have asked the council to look urgently at introducing a third collection. One of the problems with overflowing bins ...
South Lakeland council have come up with a great idea to reduce energy prices for its residents. Instead of residents approaching power companies singularly South Lakeland are providing bulk energy purchasing – both electricity and gas. So far over a 1,000 households have signed up for this extra council service. Each household still have individual contracts but under the umbrella of a great centrally done deal using the much bigger buying power of a council. This type of simple measure can really help lift people out of fuel poverty. A tiny commission is being made which is being ring fenced ...
Here's the result of a survey of the public about their awareness of different blogs:
(first printed on LDV - pop over there to see the comments)(blimey) It's tricky, this coalition business, isn't it? 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 ...
The Lib Dem conference guide is my political-geek equivalent of the Christmas Radio Times, thumbing through it in anticipation, circling the must-watch events, worrying about all the clashes of things I want to see. But just as PVRs and Sky+ mean I no longer fret about missing my fave programmes so have our advertising partners MessageSpace developed an online guide – FringeList – which contains every event taking place: when, where, who's speaking, and who's attending. You can search for particular speakers (including who's speaking most often), find out which are the most popular events, and create your own personalised ...
We all know the agonies the party has gone through on Conference accreditation. And they are real agonies. Next week when we gather in Brighton, our family will not be complete, because some people aren't going because they object to the Police checks. For others it's more than an objection in principle. They fear errors being made in the process which might accidentally reveal a former identity, which could be a different gender, for example, to people who have no business knowing it. While there is an opt-out process, those using it have to effectively out themselves which rather defeats ...
Over the last few days there has been a bit of an online debate raging within the Lib Dems over whether we should be encouraging The Sun to get rid of the boobs on Page 3. To be fair to ... Continue reading →
Taken on Gillingham High street last week In his article for Party People last week Councillor Geoff Juby, leader of the Medway Liberal Democrat Council group has rightly indicated that those who run the economy are not seeing the whole picture. The situation at the bottom is indeed dire. The Medway towns are indeed suffering, in fact the three poorest wards of Chatham central, Gillingham South and Gillingham North have been granted improvement funds to be administered by the CAB due to their poverty. Across the towns we have empty buildings, both commercial and residential and with people's outgoings far ...
The chair of the Federal Finance and Administration Committee, Duncan Greenland has written an article in the Conference edition of Liberator on the highly controversial issue of Conference accreditation. A Liberal Democrat Voice poll in June, consistent with every other test of party opinion on the issue, showed that a majority of respondents opposed the system, which requires conference attendees to undergo police checks. Mr Greenland felt that the Liberator coverage on the issue had been "misleading" and wanted to put the record straight about the process by which accreditation was approved. He stated that FFAC had become involved after ...
Over the last week the global financial crisis, as it affects Europe, has changed direction. Several of the critical uncertainties that were dogging the Euro have now been resolved. The German constitutional court has ruled that German participation in the current rescue plan is legal, and that future plans are a matter for votes in Bundestag. The Dutch electorate have sung solidly behind pro-EU parties, and the European Central Bank has begun to deploy substantial firepower directly in the markets. The countries that have advocated greater Eurozone integration seem to be winning the argument, and the focus of debate has ...
Way back in May, four months ago, I submitted a Freedom of Information request to Sussex Police. It is not anything unusual and requests information I have asked other police forces, such as what equalities impact assessments they carried out into party conference accreditation. They duly acknowledged it. But after 20 working days, no response. This isn't that unusual in FoI requests, despite 20 working days being the legal limit, so I politely chase them. No response. So I request an internal review. Again, no response. Not even an acknowledgement. Next, I write to the Information Commissioner. They take their ...
Click here for the video of the speech.
Back in the 1990s, the idea of theming different days of party conference around particular themes was a fairly controversial issue, even playing a role in contested elections for membership of Federal Conference Committee and then elections from within its membership for Chair and Vice-Chair.* Since then the idea has become well-established, if sometimes more in theory than in practice. Looking through not just the agenda for the 2012 autumn conference in Brighton but also associated conference publications and planning, it looks like we'll be seeing one of the most intensive efforts at organised theming for some time. Four main ...
The Roar of the Butterflies, Reginald Hill My summer holiday reading this year contained a gaping hole: for the first time in a decade, since I discovered Reginald Hill, I had no new Dalziel and Pascoe book to catch up on. I've read them all, and Hill's death this year put a definitive end to my favourite British detective series. In their stead I tried his other detective protagonist, that most unlikely of private investigators, Luton-based ex-lathe operator Joe Sixsmith. It's intentionally lighter, frothier — this book in particular appears almost an homage to PG Wodehouse with it's 'Royal Hoo' ...
I've blogged before about why I'm cautious about writing off Maria Miller in her new equalities role before we've had a chance to see how she actually performs in post. On the first big test for her in post, things look promising: [IMG: Wedding rings] The Conservative cabinet minister who was handed responsibility for gay marriage legislation in the reshuffle today dashes the hopes of religious groups and the Tory right that the Government is preparing to delay or shelve its proposals. Writing about her views on the subject for the first time on Independent Voices the Culture Secretary Maria ...
Wed 19th
10:04
Alleged Tony Blair scribble on Hillsborough Inquiry briefing note asks 'What is the point'
I was sent this extraordinary note on Twitter this morning. If indeed the handwritten 'What's the point' is from Tony Blair, it's quite amazing how little this issue was understood at the heart of government, albeit a very new one at the time. Here are the hat tips
As a youth worker one of the organisations I have had a long term relationship with is the National Youth Agency, always an important resource and advocate for youth work and young people. They will be hosting two challenging youth work focused fringes at conference, so I took the opportunity to interview Fiona Blacke, their dynamic and outspoken CEO. Q: How have the cuts impacted on youth work across the country? A: Young people need access to youth workers and high quality youth work, and that offer continues to be made, whether via professionals, part timers or volunteers. With the ...
To help people keep track of what the council's doing – and give people as much chance as possible to find out about issues that interest them and have their say, the council publishes a "forward plan" of upcoming decisions. It isn't perfect – some issues will also pop up that need an urgent decision taking and so haven't previously appeared on the plan – but it does capture most of the items. Stockport's forward plan for October and November 2012 can be seen here. Decisions being taken include the Manchester Airport strategic review (where the Manchester Airport Group is ...
The European Parliament were selling magazines featuring the Duchess of Cambridge topless but the shop has now sold out. — Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) September 19, 2012
I suspect there are precious few people out there who are not aware that Michael Gove wasn't entirely happy with the current state of the GCSE system. You're probably also aware that when he first suggested he wasn't happy with the current system, Nick Clegg, Joan Walmsley and I wasted no time in telling him that Liberal Democrats, a party who believe in social mobility, would not tolerate a return to a two tier education system. What you may not be aware of is just how the two parties have been working since then to find a compromise that combines ...
The leadership of the Green Party is unlike any other party with a presence in our Parliament. Not only is it changed every two years, it is also one of the few opportunities for the Party to get their leadership into the public eye. I must confess before this leadership election I was only aware ...
Jeremy Browne said many excellent things in his interview in the Independent last weekend about how we would be vetoing anything like the snooping bill Theresa May originally ventured. Admittedly he didn't say 'unless there's a rolling back of current intrusive laws, May can do one', that would be hoping for too much and he probably went as far as it's possible to go. And for a Minister who one side of the party eyes with wary caution in case he's hiding a blue rossette under his jacket, and the other side view as the shoe in to replace Nick ...
This is a report of the Slovakian case in court yesterday. There are many English grandparents squeezed out of their childrens lives by the obsession with adoption. Hopefully this case will improve the situation for English grandparents.
And so we reach the half-century of NOW! albums... ... and this week, a band I used to love and, indeed, saw live once. The sublime Travis with "Sing": Andrew
A splendid programme on BBC2 giving a very rounded account of Keynes, his life and policies. A must. About the only disquieting comments are from David Laws. Watchable for about a week on
Last of the Retro Dundee posts with a photo of the former Polepark Tram Shelter on Lochee Road - from 1989, just before its removal. It was a shame this was removed as it was real Dundee landmark. Technically the site is on the Coldside Ward side of Lochee Road but the West End Ward is just across the road to the south:
Whilst one set of royals pursue their own court case in France, a far more interesting case has just come to a conclusion in which an appeal court has just ruled that correspondence between Prince Charles and government ministers, which is believed to detail attempts by the heir to the throne to influence government policy, must be published. Yesterday's Independent reports that judges have decided that releasing the Prince's letters, the first time such an order has been made, was in the public interest. They have said that there should be openness over any sway the Prince seeks to hold ...
Rangers made a shock exit in the Ramsdens Cup say the beeb. The last time I looked Queen of the South were top of division 2 and Rangers were 4th in division 3 - a mere 14 places below.
At tonight's Cabinet meeting in Ealing Town Hall, the main items that was was on the agenda was undoubtedly about the possible downgrades of many local hospitals in West London. See a previous post I wrote about the rally that took place at the weekend. You can see photos of the day as well as a You Tube clip of my speech to the large crowd. Campaigners against hospital downgrades At the meeting tonight Tim Rideout, who is writing Ealing Council's consultation response to the proposals by NHS North West London to downgrade four local hospitals, gave his initial views ...
Excited to announce that anyone interested in learning classical music online can now do so for a fraction of the cost of attending one of the big music schools. ArtistWorks just launched four online classical music schools in one day! It's now possible to get flute lessons from Jeffrey Khaner, trumpet lessons from David Bilger, ...
