The Liberal Democrats' Autumn Conference starting in a few hours is going to be dominated, in the eyes of the media, by the leadership. As normal at Party Conferences, the eyes of the public and those of the people actually at Conference will be heading in different directions. This evening's Guardian interview with Danny Alexander, however, suggests a new key item for discussion: the next Comprehensive Spending Review. In the interview he appears to cross what – for many – is a red line far too big to cross: spending decisions taken by the current Government that will last beyond ...
This is an extraordinary photo. Flickr user Rosalind Gardner put the photo on Flickr which was "taken On March 19 2004". It was taken with a Sony DSC-T1 camera. It could do with a bit of red eye treatment. You can see, it's Grant Schapps, smiling his best smile. He's at a conference in Las Vegas. But now look at his name badge. It says "Michael Green". The Guardian has the full story. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
As at 9pm tonight, Nick Clegg's debut single "Nick Clegg says I'm sorry (the Autotune remix)" has gone live on iTunes. It will go live on Amazon and other outlets in the next 24 hours. The Poke has the full story of their success with this brilliant adaptation of the DPM's apology by Alex Ross. You can download the single at iTunes here. All proceeds from the sale of the single will go the Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, at the request of Nick Clegg, via Twitter. * Paul Walter is Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, a LibDem activist ...
As at 9pm tonight, Nick Clegg's debut single "Nick Clegg says I'm sorry (the Autotune remix)" has gone live on iTunes. It will go live on Amazon and other outlets in the next 24 hours. The Poke has the full story of their success with this brilliant musicifying of the DPM's apology. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
High on the wish list of the US GOP's right-wing is the abolition of welfare. Today some of that argument spilled over to this side of the Atlantic when the Radio 4′s World at One staged a brief debate between Tom Palmer, who is over here to promote his new book 'After the Welfare State', and Graeme Cooke of ...
Britain's Liberal Democrats start gathering for their autumn conference in Brighton tomorrow in what could prove to be a far livelier — in both the good and bad senses of that word — gathering than the somewhat pedestrian official agenda suggests. It is hardly good news to go into a conference with the latest opinion ...
There are people supporting every party and none who can make convincing arguments for a point of view, and who it's worth reading whether you agree with them or not. But I find they are increasingly outnumbered by people who it's simply not worth reading. And there is a simple way of telling who they ...
I have just finished a book called chavs. I say finish - I got about half way through and found the rest a little repetative so I just skimmed the rest. The author certainly has a good bash at trying to understand how the term chav has materialised. He also describes how many in society see working class as something shameful. How through the Thatcher years social mobility and materialism was a pre-occupation. Then how Tony Blair carried on the middle class navel gaving - to the extent that class became the elephant in the room. Everyone knows that class ...
Well I think I've seen it all now. Nick Clegg's sorry political video statement has been remixed on youtube. I'm not entirely sure if I think its great or not. Clearly Nick had something to say. Judge whether you will whether that was right or wrong. What I do agree with is that if there is fun to be had - then at least there will be a donation to a childrens charity in his home town with the proceeds. Lets hope that some good can come out of this. So here we are - in all its technocolour glory: ...
With the European competition commissioner's green light for the take over of EMI there really is no alternative (as it were)...
The end of our latest visit to the world of Lord Bonkers. He appears in each issue of Liberator magazine. When visiting Corby... I trust I shall meet many of my readers at the Corby by-election over the coming weeks. I cannot in all honesty recommend that you stay in Corby itself, but why not come to Rutland? It is true that the rooms at the Bonkers' Arms soon get booked up, but there is plenty of room in the Stables here at the Hall. I would not dream of charging my fellow Liberal Democrats for a bed for the ...
Wow! Has there been a bigger heralding of conference time than an apology from the leader of the party to the nation? 'Sorry' is going to be the dominant word of this conference. I think it is fair to say that this conference will be a fractious one but perhaps it is time to have that difficult talk. The recent conferences that we have had since May 2010 have been far too complacent. We listened to Nick telling us that there was no other choice but to go into coalition with the Tories ( I still think that this is ...
The definition of poverty, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, is those earning under 60% of the median household earnings. In the latest figures, the median figure is £414 per week, or £21, 528 per year. That means that ... Continue reading →
"In politics of recent times there has been only one miracle — that is the survival of the Liberal Party." Roger Fulford, The Liberal Case (1959) [IMG: image]
How about this to get us in the mood for the Lib Dem conference in Brighton beginning tomorrow: Liberal Democrats shouldn't be afraid ... to announce their belief that Conservative economics has failed and that it is time for Liberal Democrats in the Government to give their unapologetic support to Liberal Democrat policies ... not ...
That gap between what the SNP says and what the SNP does gets wider all the time. Remember how they've spent years slagging successive Westminster Governments for doing business with ATOS and G4S? Well, now they've awarded G4S £13 million for managing electronic tagging and given £3 million towards ATOS offices in Moray. What they sayThey can't have been listening to what Moray's next door neighbour MP Eilidh Whiteford has been saying about both companies. It is astonishing that the UK Government have awarded ATOS Healthcare these contracts given the widespread concerns around the operation of the work capability assessments ...
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, has issued a statement on the Tom Daily, homophobic Twitter storm. There is nothing to say on that that hasn't already been said but Mr. Starmer finishes with a flourish The fact that offensive remarks may not warrant a full criminal prosecution does not necessarily mean that no action should be taken. In my view, the time has come for an informed debate about theboundaries of free speech in an age of social media." We could try article 19 of the Universal declaration of human rights "Everyone has the right to freedom of ...
Slovak TV on Demonstration RTI Radio
You ever heard me criticise the paper? You must be mistaken. It's an unimpeachable source of political wisdom. PS This from Michael White in The Guardian yesterday: Lib Dem MP in Haringey, Lynne Featherstone, is popular.
As far as I am aware there are 2 meetings at Blyth Town Council next week. Tuesday 25th September, Events Committee Thursday 27th September, Planning & Development Committee Both meetings are at Ebor House,Blyth and start at 6:30 pm
It is high time Britain left the ailing EU and its burdensome regulations and embraced trade with fast-growing emerging economies. That was the argument put forward by Nigel Farage at his keynote speech this morning at the Ukip conference. ... Continue reading →
Lib Dem President Tim Farron believes party should avoid coalition deal in 2015 So screamed a headline in today's Scotsman. But if you read what Tim actually said, it doesn't quite stack up to the headline. I always thought 'confidence and supply' was, for this Parliament at least, not a good option because you have none of the power and all the blame. I think in the future 'confidence and supply' might be an option."Post-2015, because we have now got fixed-term parliaments and in a calmer economic 
period, having a minority administration would be possible, entirely possible.It wasn't last time ...
It's time to cast your votes (by STV) in the category for Best non-Lib Dem politics blog in the Lib Dem Voice Blog of the Year Awards 2012. Simply use the app below and vote by 5:30 tomorrow. The results will be announced at the BOTYs ceremony at Conference tomorrow night (10pm, Pavilion Room at the Grand Hotel, Brighton) and will appear online shortly afterwards. Follow the ceremony on Twitter using the hashtag #LDBOTY. Poll for LibDemVoice Blog of the Year Awards brought to you by OpaVote. Vote in the poll We'll be publishing the shortlists for the other categories ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Nick Clegg: "We made a pledge. We didn't stick to it - and for that I'm sorry" (113 comments) by Helen Duffett What the Liberal Democrats have done: new party booklet (30 comments) by Mark Pack What on earth is the Mail up to? (25 comments, including this one from Nick Harvey MP) by Paul Walter Opinion: The Sun has clearly boobed on this issue of free speech (25 comments) by Andreas Christodoulou David Laws: "An exam ...
OK I admit it. It was me on Radio 4′s PM last night. Yes the "disaffected Lib Dem" as Stephen Tall described me was finishing off any political ambitions in the Liberal Democrats he may have had before they had begun! The BBC have been reading my blog and my comments on Lib Dem Voice apparently and ...
While Labour and the Tories debate how to reinvigorate their annual party conference programme, the Liberal Democrats democratic policymaking structure means that debates at their conference remain engaging and relevant. And with the party now in Government, the journey from the Conference floor to the statute book is rather more direct than has previously been the case. This means that over the next few weeks, the Lib Dem gathering in Brighton is the most likely place for progressive yet plausible policy ideas to get a hearing. The Social Liberal Forum's motion 106 on employee ownership, to be debated on Monday ...
Fri 21st
16:11
For heaven's sake, this is about violence against women and children, not breakfast foods, BBC!
The BBC should be ashamed of itself: Headline 1: Perth man in court for alarming tomato sauce incident Headline 2: Perth man in court over thrown black pudding incident You would think, wouldn't you, that the Fair City has somehow been caught up in some massive food fight. No. Go and read the two stories. One involves a 10 year old girl being kicked and a really alarming display of violence. The other involves repeated domestic abuse of a woman. Yet the BBC trivialises shocking incidents of violence against women and children by making it seem all about breakfast food. ...
As Greenwich dismantles it's Olympic fabric it's worth a having quick look back at the fantastic Paralympics. Following the Olympics, such a success in our borough, the stage was set for a great games. I was lucky enough to also get to the local venues and the word "inspiration" summed it up for me. It is one ...
From Stockport Council: Stockport Council has won a much sought after award from the National Apprenticeship Service for being an exemplar employer of apprentices. The Council has shown its commitment to developing young people's skills through nearly 200 apprenticeships and has won the Regional Apprenticeship Award for Macro Employer of the Year. The Council will now progress to the Apprenticeship Awards National Judging Panel for the final stage of the competition. The winners will be announced in November. The Leader of Stockport Council, Councillor Sue Derbyshire, said: "The Council is delighted to have won this much sought after award. Winning ...
In September 2010, Lib Dem Voice ran a revealing poll of its members to gauge opinion on Trident. With results strikingly similar to YouGov polls of Lib Dem members nationally, it found that 57% were opposed to replacing Trident and nuclear weapons altogether, while 90% were opposed to replacing Trident with a 'like-for-like' system. It was commendable that the Liberal Democrats carried this sentiment into their 2010 election manifesto: standing apart from the Conservative and Labour consensus of ploughing £100bn into nuclear weapons amidst the worst economic crisis of recent times. Opponents of Trident outside the party were also inspired ...
A bit before time, another reposted Odanglesex adventure, this time the Chief Executive's Christmas message. ED's JOB: The blog of Chief Executive Edelbertha Spengler Wow, only two days to the REALLY BIG DAY - Christmas! At home we've been hyperactively getting everything ready, the presents, the wrapping paper, the cellotape (desperate last-minute trip for that), the turkey, the pudding, the tree, the car window de-icer, the battle plan for refuse and recycling arrangements. Just remember to check out what the changed timetable is for collections in your area. My ten-year-old is a bit hooked on glace cherries, so I'm having ...
...according to ex MP Lembit Opik. Patent nonsense, of course, but I just had that conversation on BBC Radio Wales with him. It looks like this is the narrative that the media are trying to build over Lib Dem Conference. ... Continue reading →
There is nothing worse than watching someone you love suffer, knowing that there is not a single thing you can do to alleviate their pain. If you know that their pain or distress is part of the process of dying, it can take a long time after they've gone before you forget the trauma of their final days, weeks or, heaven forbid, months. Actually, there is something worse. I've been there. It's when someone you love is so wracked with pain, in so much despair, that they ask you to put them out of their misery. I can't describe to ...
At the dinner for Kashmir International Relief Fund, Walthamstow Town Hall, September 20. Over £50,000 was raised in cash and promises for the KIRF's health, education, water and other humanitarian projects. [IMG: Posted by Picasa]
The level crossing on Bridge Street, south of Northampton town centre, was something of a landmark in the 1970s. Though I cannot recall being held up by a train there, it was clearly still in use and I always looked for it - for instance, when taking the National Express coach from Market Harborough to Cheltenham. (That service ended long ago, but in those days coaches converged on Cheltenham from all over the country.) Northampton Bridge Street station used to stand to the west of the road here. It was on the line to Peterborough. That line closed to passengers ...
As the coalition approaches the halfway point of the Parliament, Liberal Democrats are in search of policies that demonstrate their distinctive contribution to government - especially on the crucial issue of growth. Pre-conference briefing suggests that leading party figures see affordable house building as a leading option. They are right to do so. It would boost demand, create jobs, and meet a pressing social need. The Tories are focused on reforming the planning system, but evidence suggests this is a tough political sell. Efforts to finance house building through clever Treasury wheezes that try to circumvent borrowing constraints have so ...
This has been a busy week for Liberal Youth. With Freshers Branches (such as Manchester) getting a great reaction on the front-line of recruitment, and Nick Clegg's auto-tuned apology going viral, we're going into Liberal Democrat Autumn 2012 Conference in Brighton on a high. While you're there, Liberal Youth can be your guides. Our wonderful ...
Apologies it's been so long since the last update, but there have been very few applications in the last few weeks. 121520: Creation of parking spaces, East Bay. 121594: Two story extension, Cowdray Avenue. 121633: Advertisement consent for new signage, High Street. 121660: Change of use from office to restaurant, North Hill. 121630: Alteration of car park layout, Castle Road. Please note that I am a member of the Council's Planning Committee for the next municipal year. This means that I'm required to act in a 'quasi-judicial' manner with regard to applications before the Committee and as such, can't make ...
By Howard of Lib Dem News * Mary Reid is one of the Day Editors on Lib Dem Voice.
Members from across the East Midlands were treated to a delightful evening with the Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Nick Clegg MP. The historic Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in Nottingham was the venue for a successful ... Continue reading →
Liberal Youth have submitted an Emergency Motion on the worsening situation in Belarus. It has been rejected as an Emergency Motion by the body responsible, the Federal Conference Committee. The Federal Conference Committee receives many decent and worthwhile motions, certainly more than we have time for, but I feel that this needed to be written. It underpins ...
That's the title of a new Kindle e-book by fellow Liberal Democrat and all round good egg Chris Lucas, now available from Amazon. Chris asked me to write a brief foreword for it, which I was very happy to do as it's an excellent introduction to how politicians and would-be politicians can – and should – make much better use of social media in order to build teams, communicate messages and win campaigns. A bargain at £2.99.
By the time this is published, I shall be embarking on my journey to Brighton and the Liberal Democrat party conference. It's my first, and I'm really looking forward to it - the debates, the fringes, the people. It's going to be non-stop but I'm determined to enjoy and soak up every last bit of the experience. It's also my first time in Brighton, but am unlikely to see much of it! Although, I am hoping to got to Fishy Fishy tomorrow evening. An advertised fact which drew a thank-you from the proprietor, a certain Mr Dermot O'Leary: So Dermot ...
On Wednesday, Labour's Town Hall bosses brought forward their latest plans for the regeneration of St Peter's Square. The Liberal Democrats in Manchester have grave concerns about some of these plans, particularly the plans for an inappropriate Peterloo Memorial on Library ... Continue reading →
Compass chair Neal Lawson has a must-read letter to the Lib Dems in this week's New Statesman. In it, he argues that the centre left bungled a governmental opportunity in 2010 due to unpreparedness. He encourages us to start the ground work now for a potential centre left progressive coalition in 2015, rather than leaving it to the likes of David Laws and Michael Gove to "stitch it up again". That's why we have to build relationships now - through policy, ideas debates and campaigns. We might find we have more in common than we think. Everything good about liberalism ...
Over to the Mayor of London: "If people swear at the police, they must expect to be arrested. Not just because it's wrong to expect officers to endure profanities, but it's also because of the experience of the culprits. "If people feel there are no comebacks, no boundaries and no retribution for the small stuff, then I'm afraid they will go on to commit worse crimes."In fact, this was Johnson speaking at last year's Conservative Conference, but the principle must still hold. The Guardian report of that speech helpfully goes on to say: Although no specific offence of swearing at ...
Whether you shrug your shoulders and just accept the "It's an unfair world", or mutter the cliché that "There's one law for the rich and another for the poor;" there are various items currently in the news which defy rational explanation to the vast majority of us: perhaps not quite the 99%, but close. the Murdoch empire commits the most appalling, not to mention illegal, invasions of privacy and is found to be a "fit and proper person" to hold a broadcasting licence.G4s fail to fulfil their contract to provide security guards for the Olympics, yet still claim their £57m ...
Real time information — the lit-up displays at bus stops that tell you when the buses are on their way — are good examples of bus companies and councils working together, and they are very useful if you're trying to decide which bus to take, or whether it's quicker to walk. I know that because when (occasionally) a display is out of order, people tell me! Atent, this is the case with the diy at the stop on Hills Road opposite Marshall Road. It started off simply giving the times for thay before but is now completely blank. Although it's ...
This was something that first surfaced at the beginning of the year. From memory it was at full Council and was voted down by the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the Independent group by a sound majority. If that had been anything else it would have been dropped right? Well... no. It's still going on and Councillor Osborne (Lab and PPC for Chatham & Aylesford) is still leading the charge on his proposals though support is gaining. During my Leave I reaffirmed my opposition to the the referendum. Unfortunately at the time I had not slept properly in weeks, was restricted ...
Those of you who have worked your way through the conference agenda and Conference Extra will by now have reached the emergency motions (page 28, since you ask) and will notice that there are four in the ballot: banks are awful, Julian Assange is awful, teacher qualifications are under threat and 'what have you done with our planning system?' I paraphrase unfairly, of course. All tastes are clearly catered for and you can make your own mind up about which to vote for if you are at conference. The planning one (which I have something to do with) is a ...
In my various capacities, people occasionally want to talk to me. Mostly, it's about things that are internal to the Party - people wanting advice, or support in terms of candidate stuff - as I don't have what I would describe as significant influence. So, when I received an e-mail asking if I would be available to meet the Vice-Chairman of the National Association of Local Councils, as well as its Senior Policy Officer, for a briefing on what they are doing, I was naturally intrigued. Some research had clearly been done, as I was noted as being a Parish ...
Broadband speeds are increasing. Fibre To The Home is being rolled out across the western world. But traditional telecoms network is always on consuming power constantly. But with rapidly increasing bandwidth demands and despite evolving more efficient kit that could still mean rapidly increasing power demand. Thankfully a power game changer has arrived. Bit-Interleaved Passive Optical Network kit. Effectively it's only one when required and only on by the amount of data to be shifted up to it maximum. Already systems supporting up to 10Gigabits are available with immienently 40G. Traditional 10G bandwidth even in sleep mode would consume 2.5W ...
Bradford Odeon saved from demolition as New Victoria Place development scrapped (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus) I actually filled up with tears of joy on reading this. Hope! Hope for the cinema I grew up in! (tags: ) A rather enterprising way to raise money for the Lib Dems *cackle* (tags: ) Doctor Who: Peter Jackson wants to direct an episode | Den of Geek (tags: ) Our debate on welfare reform is a dismal scandal - Spectator Blogs Interesting comments too, particularly the one from the excellently-named spammo twatbury (tags: ) Quaequam Blog! » Clegg and coalition six months ...
Fri 21st
09:56
Jenny Willott MP writes... Young people and policing: the opportunity of Crime Commissioner election...
With the November elections for Police and Crime Commissioners rapidly approaching, candidates across the country are starting to outline how they intend to improve public safety in the areas they want to represent. Successful candidates will have to set out a five year police and crime plan to determine local policing priorities. One issue I think is vital for candidates to address is how to engage properly with young people. Back in 2006, when I was our Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, young people often spoke to me about their lack of confidence in the police. Today, I still have ...
Political, journalistic, public and party views span the full range from "brilliant" to "dreadful" on Nick Clegg's apology this week over the tuition fees pledge. No surprise that Harriet Harman is not a fan of the Liberal Democrats (a view largely reciprocated, of course.) What matters more is the views of those 5-10% of the electorate that would take the party's ratings from the middling 14-15% on ICM (typical of the run-up to the 1997 and 2001 elections) to the 20%+ figure that would have most people in the party rejoicing. I've been struck by the number of political commentators ...
As I said in a recent blog 'Common sense and a DNA for fairness' are what the Liberal Democrats bring to the Coalition table. Never more true than in our commitment to fairer taxes. Not only have we taken the lowest earners out of tax all together but we have put back £500 in normal tax payers pockets. And you can read how we are going further with our mission to make tax fairer here.
And so, on Wednesday, Nick Clegg finally apologised for the tuition fees fiasco that so badly damaged our party in the eyes of the public. I've watched it several times. And I still don't know what to make of it. In fairness, it's probably done him, and the Liberal Democrats some good. That probably has more to do with the hilarious spoof, and Nick's noble gesture to allow the song to be sold in aid of a local charity, than it does with his original apology. For those of you who haven't yet seen Nick's original statement (and there can't ...
This year, the Liberal Democrat autumn conference has one day per theme, covering jobs, education, environment and tax. Monday is jobs, with policy motions on creating jobs and policy papers on both sustainable prosperity and also on mutuals, employee ownership and workplace democracy. The first of these (F23) may generate some lively debate around an amendment that would delete the reference to keeping to the government's "fiscal mandate". Then there is Vince Cable's keynote speech. Watch out for whether he continues to push for further banking reform and whether he expands on the growing calls from Liberal Democrat MPs for ...
Today's Independent has a good round-up of what various Liberal Democrats are saying in response to that apology, including: Crucially for Mr Clegg, the MP Greg Mulholland, one of the most fierce Liberal Democrat critics of the fees about-turn, welcomed his apology. He said: "This took courage and I hope people give him credit for saying that publicly."... Jo Swinson, East Dunbartonshire MP: "The problem with this particular pledge for the Liberal Democrats, and what made it different, was it committed us to vote in a particular way regardless of what happened with the election result. That's what we should ...
A special meeting of Cornwall Council has been called to debate a motion of no confidence in Cllr Alec Robertson as Leader of the Council on 16th October. The Leader is the only elected person on the Council who can be sacked in this way. Cabinet members are appointed directly by the Leader and their removal is his or her prerogative. The special council meeting comes as a result of a petition by at least 41 councillors - one third of the council. I was one of those who signed it because I am concerned about the anti-democratic nature of ...
I know. It's sickeningly tribal But I'm a bit fed up with my twitter feed being full of other parties, but especially Labour, listing a ton of other stuff they would like apologies for. So I'm inviting them to apologise for stuff. Like promising not to introduce tuition fees in the first place - and then doing it Or banging on about 'privatising the NHS' (when we're not) - after introducing PFI funding into the Heath Service. Or Iraq. You get the picture Do join in but please use the hashtag #yourturnnow. Thanks all
* Newshound sets the agenda, as you would expect from a Red Setter
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Last year was the first time I'd been to a Federal Conference in 13 years. I thoroughly enjoyed every exhausting moment. Conference is the best fun you will ever have, but if you're new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I spent the first day wandering round like a child in a toy shop. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd throw together a fairly random list of tips and hints for getting the best out of the annual cornucopia of Liberal Democracy.1. Plan your daysThe ...
David Laws said yesterday that ' "All Lib Dems have 'collective responsibility' " for breaking the tuition fee promise. I'm sorry David, but I don't agree. Especially as Nick has been very clear that the apology was for signing the pledge, not for the policy itself. Let's remind ourselves what the pledge said first: "I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative." And the following list of Lib Dem MPs did just that, voting against the rise in fees and putting huge pressure on the ...
What do you do if a regulator has failed? Leave them unreformed and instead give them greater powers? That is the line Home Office Minister James Brokenshire is arguing. The regulator in question is the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the powers relate to online monitoring. For the Draft Communications Data Bill would not only give the government far more scope to monitor what we do online, but Brokenshire also argues we should be reassured that a large part of these new powers would be monitored by that Commissioner. However, take a look at the record and what you see ...
The BBC London pages excel themselves with: Gangster Charlie Richardson was 'no angel'
This is cool too and what is more if you download it from iTunes any proceeds will go to Nick Clegg's charity, the Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust.
The programme for the 2012 Dundee Literary Festival is now available at www.literarydundee.co.uk. It takes place between 24th and 28th October at the Bonar Hall. Whether you're a political junkie who wants to hear behind the scenes tales from Nick Robinson of the BBC or Jeremy Bowen of ITV, a literature fan who wants to hear Liz Lochhead and Bernard MacLaverty, James Meek, Alan Warner. There's non-fiction from Max Benitez, Mark Beaumont, Andy Coogan and Doug Allan. There's loads for the kids too - Sally Magnusson, Joan Lennon and Lari Don. Don't miss it!
Speaking as a huge fan of the West Wing this video endorsing a candidate for the Michigan State Supreme Court is really cool. It is full of in-jokes of course, including a self-endorsement by one of the actresses. The video came about because Bridget McCormack's sister, Mary McCormack, was on The West Wing from 2004-2006. Thus when the characters ask, "Who is Mary McCormack?" McCormack walks in the door and says, "No clue but something tells me she's delightful! And whip smart! And possibly hot!" I wonder if the cast are available for other party political broadcasts.
Question: Why did I feel the need to advertise that this post was Not Safe For Work when every day, up and down the country, millions of men and woman read The Sun at their places of employment and every one of them will see a comparable image? Every single one of those readers will see page three. Every weekday, a different topless woman will be smiling out at the reader. Every one of them will be reduced to a first name, an age and a location. Kayleigh, 23, Rotherham. Jo, 19, Maidenhead. Helen, 21, Weston-super-Mare. Page 3 is a ...
Sadly can't embed but here's a link. It's a treat....
