Since Google Reader lost half the functionality that made it worthwhile, I'd switched to Goodbits, which had the functionality that Google Reader still had, and didn't belong to Google, and which was planning to implement the other functionality. Unfortunately, Goodbits is shutting down in a week's time. Can anyone recommend a good web-based feed reader? ...
A 19 year old has been jailed for drunkenly posting some sick jokes on the internet about April Jones. Matthew Woods is currently serving three months at her majesty's pleasure for being stupid, insensitive and crass - convicted for sending 'grossly offensive public electronic communication' under some bizarre clause of New Labour's Communications Act 2003. My problem with this sort of law beloved by the Daily Mail and authoritarian Labour Home Secretaries is that it relies on generalised terms such as 'grossly offensive' which are purely subjective - one person's offence is another person's humour. In a liberal democracy the ...
[IMG: Outside Hornsey Delivery Office] In one weekend over 800 people have signed up to our petition to stop a Royal Mail depot closure which will leave many N8 residents having to travel to Hornsey Road in Holloway to collect undelivered parcels. Royal Mail is planning to close the Hornsey Delivery Office on Tottenham Lane opposite the train station in March next year – moving operations to Hornsey Road. The current location is pretty convenient and there are often queues of people collecting items. Not everyone has friendly neighbours who are in all day, or can be at home for ...
I'm glad George Osborne said in his speech to the Conservative conference that we are still "all in it together." But did he really mean it? How in the same speech could he rule out a mansion tax, paid by the very richest, yet push for a £10 billion cut in the nation's welfare bill? ...
I must stop beating up my younger self, but I passed the sign for this extraordinary building every time I walked from the university campus into York and never thought to look in. Read more about The Merchant Adventurers' Hall.
After David Cameron floated the idea of ending housing benefit for people aged under 25 this summer, an article on the Guardian website left it more full of holes than a good Swiss cheese. That article is worth quoting at length: David Cameron has announced that he wants to abolish housing benefit for 380,000 people under 25. The prime minister's view is simple: if you can't afford the rent, you must live with your parents. The only exception will be for children who are victims of domestic abuse. Let us stop and think about this for a moment. An obligation ...
Report to Mid Samford parishes October 2012: from Sue Carpendale and Kathy Pollard, Babergh district councillors Opening of new community facility in Hadleigh On 6th October the new Hadleigh leisure complex officially opens its doors to the public. The existing swimming pool facilities are joined by a state of the art gym, fitness studio, coffee shop and large and small community rooms. The facility will offer around 20 classes per week plus a beauty therapy treatment clinic. The new centre, which cost £2.4m, has been provided by Babergh District council, with support from Hadleigh Town council. It provides a great ...
I've added a new page to the site bringing together the latest research output from more than 20 of the best think-tanks around. And with an originality that will leave you gasping I've given the page the title, Think-tanks. Here's the list of those featured (in almost-alphabetical order: CentreForum comes first, obvs): CentreForum, Adam Smith Institute, British Future, Centre for European Reform, Centre for Policy Studies, Compass, Civitas, Democratic Audit, Demos, Fabian Society, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Institute for Government, IPPR, IEA, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Policy Exchange, Progress, Resolution Foundation, Social Market Foundation, Sutton Trust and The Work Foundation. And ...
You may recall that Dr Evan Harris, the former Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, recently took part in the Channel Four programme Drugs Live: The Ecstasy Trial. As part of the programme he took ecstasy in what was presented as a piece of research into the drug's effects. In today's Daily Telegraph there was a letter from the psychologist Professor Andy Parrott saying that he had taken part in the programme with the proviso that he would be given time to summarise the scientific evidence on the damaging effects of the drug on the human brain. In ...
Speaking about the announcement on council tax freeze deals, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats at the Local Government Association said, "This freeze deal might look good as a headline but it's a sop that'd force services to be closed or cut and stores up more problems for the future. "It's more of the same sort of headline grabbing, short-term, nonsensical financing that we got from Labour that got Britain into this mess to start with. "A little scratching under the surface reveals what a poor deal for communities this is. Councils want to be able to protect ...
Between 28th September at 16:00 and 1st October at 08:30, a theft from a motor vehicle has taken place from Automated Systems Group Plc, UNIT 10, Viking Way, Bar Hill. A van was parked and secured at the front of the Industrial Estate, unknown offender/s have stolen the catalytic converter. On 29th September between 10:30 and 21:10 a burglary in a dwelling took place in Cottons Field, Dry Drayton. Between stated times unknown suspects have gained entry to the location by forcing open a rear, ground floor UPVC window using an unknown implement. Once inside an untidy search has been ...
Attempt burglars sentenced TWO MEN who tried to break into a shop wearing balaclavas have been sentenced. James Sexton, 34 and Mark Haldon, 23 were chased by a member of the public after he saw them trying to break into the Co-op in Cottenham in the early hours of Wednesday, June 20. Sexton, of Walton Avenue, Blyth, and Haldon, of Maple Street, Ashington, Northumberland, had thrown a paving slab at the window of the shop but it did not break. They then tried to force the window open with a spade before being chased off by the man who had ...
A shocking new report confirms that discrimination within the UK labour market, particularly in the best paid professions remains a major problem. First published: 16th June 2010, Operation Black Vote Racism in the labour market ...
Cllr Jean Swanson (LD, Queen Ediths) Some Cambridge residents are still struggling to get to grips with the "paperwork" when it comes to the city's blue recycling bin. The city council discovered that residents are throwing away paper and cardboard in the black bin by mistake. If only half of it were captured in the blue bin instead the city's recycling rate could increase by 3.5 per cent. Overall, 13 per cent of residual waste placed in the black bins could have gone into the blue recycling containers. Along with paper and card, textiles made up a further six per ...
In recent days I have come across a couple of free public psychology events that may be of interest to a wider audience. 26 October 2012 (1-2 p.m.) - The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1 Spooks and spoofs: psychologists and psychical research in the inter-war years Professor Elizabeth Valentine Several physicist fellows of the Royal Society were interested in psychical research in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Between the wars, William McDougall FRS and other senior academic psychologists became involved with amateur psychical researcher and author Harry Price. They attended séances at his laboratory and ...
Black jobseekers are Anglicising their names in order to get interviews during the recession, according to a new report. First published: 4th December 2009, Operation Black Vote The New York Times carried a feature showing ...
The Observer report about the Department for Work (DWP) and Pensions investigation into discrimination in recruitment has reinforced the view that not enough attention is being paid to the differentials in employment and pay, based ...
Yesterday, someone called "Big Eck" left this song as a comment on an old post. I thought it deserved a wider audience...
Today's seen George Osborne give his speech to the Conservative Party Conference. As you might expect, there are many things in it that concern me, but I want to highlight two of them. First we have the heavily trailed announcement that he wants to cut another £10bn off welfare costs by introducing more cuts and restrictions on who can claim various benefits. This, of course, is before we've even seen the impact the first wave of cuts in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit will have, but then when did sense ever apply to an Osborne proposal? This proposal has ...
New unemployment figures reveal a larger than average rise in the numbers of Black jobless, according to the governments' chief employment race advisor. First published: 14th September 2009, Operation Black Vote Iqbal Wahhab (pictured), chair ...
One of the country's most senior Black civil servants has warned that Britain's ability to compete with our economic rivals will be seriously hampered if a generation of Black youth fall victim to the recession. ...
Labour (their web site) are upset by the cuts in expenditure drawing on "Table 1.9 NHS Total Departmental Expenditure Limits in real terms" (pdf file) 2010-11 £104,353m 2011-12 £104,333m But what they don't point out (presumably because of their bias) is "Table 1.5 NHS Administration Costs" 2010-11 £5,471m 2011-12 £3,551m Surely the drop in admin costs is something to be applauded, not ridiculed? (Finally, here's a thought for poster makers: make them Facebook Page Picture Size: 850 X 315px)
Some rather useful research, via Tom Baker: Working with Engaging Networks, PETA France demonstrated that advocacy is an effective way to engage lapsed donors. They sent out various emails on the issue of seal clubbing to a total of 22,000 supporters. As well as finding a correlation between level of activism and response rate, the more active the campaigner, the better the response rate. They also found that lapsed donors were significantly more likely to donate if asked to take action first then donate. That's a tactic also applicable to re-recruiting lapsed members, which should be an important part of ...
I thought I would post this to give readers an idea of the quality of opposition we Liberal Democrats face here in Market Harborough. Many thanks to @solarpilchard, whom anyone with an interest in the town should follow on Twitter at once.
We're not the world's most successful Liberal Democrat Association, evidenced perhaps by our lack of an MP, or our failure to dominate Mid Suffolk District Council. But we do have a really good events organiser, Sheila Norris, and she got as close to centre stage as she is ever likely to want to be on Saturday, as her organisation of our Annual Dinner reached its apogee with the event itself, held at Nowton Court, just outside Bury St Edmunds. Our guest speaker was the 'Voice of Colchester' himself, Bob Russell, who had come up to do his fourth event of ...
The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago is not too shabby. It can't be if it costs more than £1100 a night to stay in its deluxe suite. It recently hosted Alex Salmond and his wife when they were over for the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately, while Salmond is more than happy to gad about on the world stage, he's less forthcoming when it comes to telling us how much his little jaunts cost. One of his Special Advisers refused point blank to tell the Sunday Mail how much you and I, the humble taxpayers, had paid for his accommodation. They were told ...
I said earlier that I wanted senior Liberal Democrats to come out and reassure us that we were having nothing to do with these ridiculous welfare cuts that the Tories would dearly love to impose on young people and families. Two things have happened since then. Mark Pack posted a link to this blog post of his on my Facebook wall saying "It's almost as if Nick Clegg read your blogpost and decided to do something." It's a transcript of a news interview Nick gave in which he says: Nothing in detail has been agreed on further cuts or savings ...
"The Artist's Model" - an exhibition of figurative paintings by leading local artist John Stoa is in full swing at the Botanic Garden on Riverside Drive from 11am to 4.30pm - open each day until Thursday of this week - 11th October - and is well worth a visit. My sister in law (and former council colleague) Helen Dick, who has taken up painting following her retiral from the City Council, attends John's excellent painting classes and she recently visited this interesting exhibition - here's some photographs from the exhibition - below: Above photograph shows Helen (centre) at the exhibition ...
In the Tory hothouse of Birmingham, this has to be the most delicate flower which has bloomed so far. Politicshome.com reports: Employees could be able to buy shares in the companies they work for if they give up their employment rights, George Osborne has said. In a speech to the Conservative party conference the Chancellor announced a consultation on the plan, which could also see the shares being immune to capital gains tax. "Workers: replace your old rights of unfair dismissal and redundancy with new rights of ownership.And what will the Government do? We'll charge no capital gains tax at ...
Georgie Porgie, wealthy & sly Looked at welfare & it made him cry The welfare system had become too slack Action was needed to cut it back So much easier to clobber the needy Than do something serious to restrain the greedy.
[IMG: Broadband problems] Following extensive testing I am now confident that the broadband signals in zones 1 and 2 are working well. If you have registered with CommunityUK in the past or wish to register for free broadband now could you do so? As a reminder: You need to look for a WiFi signal beginning "CUK" from your WiFi devices and connect to it. In some areas, you may see more than one. In these circumstances, simply connect to the strongest signal that you see. Once your WiFi connection is established, you should open your Internet browser and attempt to ...
It was only a matter of time before journalists, in the wake of Jeremy Hunt's comments on abortion (that he favours a reduction in the time limit to 12 weeks), asked Alex Neil, the new Scottish health secretary, for his views on the subject. Scotland on Sunday got there first. There headline was "Health Secretary Alex Neil signals abortion law "change after independence"". This infuriated some nationalists on Twitter who complained bitterly that his words were being twisted and that he hadn't really said that. Well, if you read the article, he was the one who seems to have brought ...
[IMG: Poll piechart] The latest quarterly update to my spreadsheet of opinion poll data from 1943 is now up at: http://www.markpack.org.uk/opinion-polls/ You can also sign up on that page to get email notifications about future updates. This time there is just another three months of data, without any extra older data having been added.
tl;drBuy fresh wasabi in the UK. It's amazing Fresh Wasabi? In The UKWhen I was at university, I moved into a shared student home with Liz (*spoiler* she became my wife several years later!). Liz was, and still is, quite the cook. However, her range of culinary equipment dumbfounded our house-mates. I once came in to the kitchen and witnessed a blazing row between her and someone who had the temerity to grate cheese in a nutmeg grater. I didn't even know nutmeg graters existed! I now know that, not only do they exist, they are especially poor at grating ...
It's not clear exactly how was this ever meant to end well for the Conservative Party Chairman. Where is Olly Reeder when you need him?
Mon 8th
14:24
Opinion: The making of a manifesto - why this time it's about gut instinct, not policies
The days of being the 'nice party' - the all-things-to-all-people party – are well and truly over. Sharing in government has seen to that. Thankfully, contributors at the Lib Dem Voice fringe meeting in Brighton, about the next manifesto, were commendably realistic. Discussion focused on suggestions for new signature policies, like a penny on tax for education of yesteryear or (say it softly) tuition fees last time. But, bluntly, this shopping-list approach to manifesto-making totally fails to address the profound predicament we are in: loss of trust in politicians and in Liberal Democrats in particular; broken promises; confusion about where ...
My first ever Liberal Democrat Conference taught me that we are all social liberals. No, I'm not talking about the supposed great divide between social liberals and classical liberals and God knows what else. I'm talking about the fact that a party member can turn up at Conference, not really knowing anyone, and by the ...
Reacting to the claims from George Osborne's team in the media this morning that the Liberal Democrats have agreed to £10bn of welfare cut, Nick Clegg has taken to the TV news channels to rebut the story: Reporter: Well Deputy Prime Minister the Chancellor is saying that yourself and senior Lib Dems are supporting ten billion cuts in Welfare cuts, is that correct? Nick Clegg: Nothing in detail has been agreed on further cuts or savings to, to welfare. The Conservatives, of course, entirely entitled to set out their stall about what we do as a country is we have ...
The Presidential Debate was shockingly bad. Obama was bad, but so was Romney, he just didn't show it. He presented himself as a moderate and wooed the middle classes, but showed total lack of understanding for the economic system. We all agree that the middle classes have had a rough time. This has been going on for over 30 years, neither Romney nor Obama have taken the blame for both of their
The SNP government have had a reasonable eighteen months in which it has done many things that it, the country and in fact liberals can be proud of. That said, there are times when its decisions really do need to be challenged. It is at times like these that it becomes blatantly obvious that the SNP need quality opposition; the kind of opposition that might be expected from a Scottish Labour Party looking to forge a new identity and reconnect with voters. Not that Labour are likely to be critical of the SNP's centralising instincts, but I would have imagined ...
The Abortion Act 1967 Act was passed when I was nine months old. Women of my generation have grown up believing our rights were safe and our bodies were our own. Even those who had never heard of a backbench MP named David Steel had reason to be grateful to him for ensuring that women could not be forced by the state to continue with pregnancies they did not want. Women of my generation and others now have to wake up and realise that the settlement, we thought was so safe, is no longer. Thanks to the Coalition, the Health ...
David Cameron started his own Twitter account this weekend – not a civil service run No. 10 one, but an personal/Conservative leader account. Here then, are the first four people he followed: Rather an indication of who he thinks he ... Continue reading →
Two weeks ago, some of Nikki Thomson's friends gathered in the bar at Conference to remember her. There were tears and smiles and hugs from a bunch of people who miss her so much. On Saturday night I was walking past her flat, on one of the prettiest streets in Newington. When I watched Strictly, there were a few pangs of sadness as I knew I'd have to do it without either Nikki or Andrew Reeves. Last night, her friend Paul posted this tribute to her which had been written in the Evening News way back in July. It seems ...
Nominations have closed for the ALDC Management Committee 2014. The following persons have been returned un-opposed: OFFICERS President - Veronica German (Torfaen) Chair - Cllr Claire Hudson (Mendip) Vice-Chair (2 vacancies) Cllr Isobel McCall (Milton Keynes) Cllr Kath Pinnock (Kirklees) Treasurer - Cllr Sarah Boad (Warwickshire) No nomination was received for the post of Secretary. MEMBERS English Representative - Steve Hitchins (Islington) Scottish Representative - Derek Barrie (Fife) No nomination was received for the post of Welsh Representative. There at 15 candidates for 10 Ordinary Members of the Committee. An election will take place, by electronic ballot. Ballot emails will ...
Yesterday I went to the Rochester Lit fest's blogger forum. I had to battle to get the day off work and make some devil's bargains but I sincerely hoped and thought it would be worth it and fascinating; it was. Firstly I had the privilege of meeting Alan Collins and John Ward, Goliath's of the Medway political scene and all around nice guys and also the fabulous Jaye Nolan. It is easy to sit in your room, or on the train, or at work (on your lunch break) and see people as avatars, or tweeters, or blogs and not see ...
Writing for the European Council on Foreign Relations, YouGov's Peter Kellner highlights an important polling finding: In July this year, YouGov asked this question: 'Imagine the British government under David Cameron renegotiated our relationship with Europe and said that Britain's interests were now protected, and David Cameron recommended that Britain remain a member of the European Union on the new terms. How would you then vote in a referendum on the issue?'... 42% say they would vote to stay in, while 34% would vote to leave. Tory voters swing right round, from 58-29% for leaving the EU when we ask ...
The City Council licensing committe this morning gave permission for alcohol to be sold 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at the petrol station by ASDA (the one where the road starts going down into he village) I am very disappointed to have to report this. However I am more disappointed in the way this was done. Having "called" Richard and I for 11 am for our part of the meeting, the committee then decided on the day to change the order and deal with St Mary's Road first. This is despite the Council's error in calling us ...
Here's the article I wrote for the last ever edition of the Hornsey Journal: It is with great sadness that I write this article for the last ever printed version of the Hornsey Journal. For many years, the Journal has set the bar for local journalism. It has always offered a balanced mix of well-informed news stories, lively opinion and debate between readers. Over the years, I've been particularly grateful for the way the Journal has so consistently and coherently reported on my local work. Without it, news of my local campaigns would not have reached as many people. For ...
I would be interested in hearing from local residents who have had problems with the the 'Ring and Ride' service provided by GMATL (Greater Manchester Accessible Transport Ltd). Services for Bury residents were switched to a central 'call centre' in Manchester earlier this year, and a number of local residents have been frustrated about the service since. I would be interested in hearing from people with experience before making the case to GMATL. Thanks. Tim
The Government is giving all Local Councils the power to think about their policy regarding tenancies in social rented housing ('council houses'), and is requiring all councils to have adopted a Tenancy Policy by January. The main change is that councils COULD decide to do away with what has been the practice to date of having a LIFETIME TENANCY in a social rented property. Bury's Labour council isn't proposing to do this, and is proposing in its draft Tenancy Policy to continue to give life-time tenancies in general council housing (an exception is proposed for specially adapted houses where the ...
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about problems I had been having with my phone as a result (it seems) of upgrading to the latest operating system. I'm happy to say that I have got as new handset from Apple (which works) and just had a call from Orange to apologise that I was given the wrong information by their helpdesk. They have also agreed to compensate me for the time I was cut off. Tweet
Last night saw the third and final event to commemorate the various players in London 2012, held at Endeavour House, headquarters of Suffolk County Council. The Olympians and Paralympians had had their achievements celebrated, and now it was the turn of the volunteers, those unsung heroes whose spirit and enthusiasm did so much to make the Games such a hugely enjoyable event. Almost 100 Games Makers, most of them in their uniforms, had gathered from around the county to meet and exchange stories, as part of a legacy project to build on their experiences as volunteers, attempting to enhance volunteering ...
My stomach is churning already and the Tory Conference has barely started. It makes me feel sick to my core to hear the way that the Prime Minister of this country is scapegoating benefit claimants. The focus of the attack at the moment, according to the Daily Fail, is those out of work people who have large families and under 25s who claim housing benefit. After all the furore over abortion this weekend, we have to remember that Work and Pensions secretary voted in favour of a reduction of the time limit for terminations to 12 weeks. I'm fairly sure ...
The Holyrood Ward 'PACT' meeting took place last week ('Police and Communities Together') with our local Holyrood Ward PSCOs. Two main points to report: - although most types of crime have fallen in the southern part of Holyrood Ward (the area nearer to Heaton Park) - the number 1 issue remains anti-social behaviour. This is particularly an issue around Heaton Park Metrolink station. The Police have agreed that this will be one of their 3 priorities for Holyrood Ward over the next month. - Vehicle Crime – please do be careful about leaving valuables visible in cars, and the Police ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by EBuzzing (Wikio as was). Only one person dropped out this month, Andrew George (just, he's down to 102) with four 'new' people entering the list. I use apostrophes as all are long-standing bloggers. Two (Mark Valladares and Alex Marsh) are both returnees, having dropped out last month. The other two (David Allen Green, Neil Monnery) seem to have suffered from a technical hitch at EBuzzing's end in previous months which excluded them from the top 100. (In my experience of contacting EBuzzing about blogs which ...
The Holyrood Ward 'PACT' meeting took place last week ('Police and Communities Together') with our local Holyrood Ward PSCOs. Three main points to report: - action has been taken around a number of commercial thefts in the Bury Old Road area, and on some speeding traffic issues on Heywood Road/Oldfield Road, which has included a number of arrests. - although most types of crime have fallen in both the Simister and Kirkhams/Polefield areas since the same period last year – the biggest type of crime is Vehicle Crime. Please do be careful about leaving valuables visible in cars, and the ...
Beginner's Guide to Police Harassment | Police Association I just wish this accounted for ALL cases of police harrassment - as opposed to the cases I am familiar with, such as "having long hair and being in possession of a vehicle" or "driving while black" or "being outdoors while female" (tags: ) The Twitter Joke Trial: The Punch Line. | shadowofthenoose (tags: ) Fend Off Trolls, Bots and Jerks With 'Empathy' Test (tags: ) Nothing to hide - Milena Popova (tags: ) The Blog That Peter Wrote: New Statesman and "Gay Cures" (tags: ) On "that's so gay!" (tags: ) ...
The fiasco over the West Coast Mainline contract has exposed a long-running sore at the heart of government: the problem of public/private contracting. Rail and Information Technology are merely prime examples of the troubled and costly contractual relationships that often exist between the public and private sector. The Liberal Democrats have a policy review of public services under way - but will it tackle the real issues? For if contracting at national government level is hard, the challenges in a Liberal Democrat world of devolved, localised government are even bigger. For instance we'd been hoping to get some regional devolution ...
Plenty of political announcements made at this time of year are little more than conference fodder. They grab a headline and a round of applause and that's the last we hear of them. But George Osborne's proposals to cut another £10bn from welfare don't fall into that category. They were buried in the detail of previous policy statements and it was only a matter of time before they bubbled to the surface. Conference season is the ideal time because it allows some posturing against the modern folk devil – the feckless scrounger. We only have media reports of Osborne's speech ...
"This is not a u-turn, I'm just listening. There's no point the cabinet pushing through a policy that the majority of the council are against. That's doomed to fail."That was the Leader of the Council speaking on Radio Cornwall this morning to announce that he was, after all, prepared to accept the outcome of a vote of Cornwall's full council when it comes to deciding whether or not to press ahead with the privatisation of key services. And, as well as not being a U-turn, it is also nothing to do with next week's vote of no confidence in his ...
Today's Independent carries an important article about the ability to distinguish between TB in cattle and a vaccine administered to prevent infection. They say that British scientists have made a breakthrough which may enable cattle to be vaccinated against TB, doing away with the need to cull the badgers believed to be infecting them. They say that vaccinating cattle against bovine tuberculosis is currently banned throughout Europe, because there is no way of distinguishing in existing diagnostic tests between an animal that has merely been vaccinated, and an animal that has actually contracted the disease. Vaccinated but healthy cattle would ...
Peers are back at work today: that is, the House returns from its Summer Recess, but (of course) many of us have been busy on public business of various sorts. I spent a very thought-provoking afternoon at a Sixth Form last week, being put on the spot by very bright students in a Question and Answer session, and the weeks have been put to good use with catch-up reading and writing. Oh, and I had to report back to my Liberal Democrat colleagues, at our Brighton Conference, on the failure of the Commons to make progress after they gave the ...
I've been having real fun recently out campaigning for the Manchester Central by-election. Even last week in the torrential rain, on my own, soaked to the skin, in the pitch dark, leaflets rapidly turning into papier mache. Obviously today was much better – a sunny and bright October day, cool but not cold, with friends, ...
Liberal Democrats in Hertfordshire have named Christopher Townsend as their Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate for the forthcoming election on 15th November. Christopher is a Councillor on Dacorum Borough Council, and has experience of working with the police as well as scrutinising their work to make Police services meet the needs of local communities. Christopher said "I have 3 priorities for Policing in Hertfordshire. Number one is keeping crime rates low; people living Hertfordshire want to feel safe, and their homes to be safe, and as Police and Crime Commissioner that would be my overall goal. Secondly I will manage ...
I have often been critical of Guardian journalists for seeking to impose a sterotypical view of Wales from their cosy desks in London, without having any real knowledge or understanding of the country. Well I have had my attention drawn to yet another example through Twitter. Writing on Thursday, columnist Simon Jenkins discusses with apparent authority, the decline of English dialects and the position of minority languages. However, the sweeping generalisations he deploys casts doubt on the depth of his understanding: Welsh has a vitality of its own, largely thanks to being suppressed for centuries by the English. Now "official", ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 294th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (30 September - 7 October, 2012), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. When ...
My, is it really two years since the last set of internal elections in the Liberal Democrats? Obviously yes, because the Lib Dem Twitterverse and blogosphere is at about it, but this time we may get more discussion of them because the rules have finally been relaxed to allow it. Given that the deadline has passed, it's probably too late to point candidates towards my suggestions for what to say and not say in their manifestos from last time, but I would say that they're important things to remember when campaigning in these elections. They are important, and the ...
Last week I blogged about a lawsuit being brought on behalf of eight teenage boys who say they were sexually abused in India. It is being brought following the conviction of Peter Slade for offences against boys in England. The claims are against the charity Help a Poor Child, Abdul Osman (the Lord Mayor of Leicester) and Derek Sawyer (the former leader of Islington Borough Council). In that post I quoted a statement by Help a Poor Child, as quoted by the East Anglian Daily Times: "The charity has never had any involvement in the ownership or running of Anglo-Kutchi ...
I recently highlighted the concerns of local residents and their children over the missing roundabout in the Roseangle playpark - see right. Now the children's roundabout in Victoria Park has also disappeared and residents have contacted me seeking assurances that the disappearing roundabouts will be restored or replaced soon. I took up the issue on behalf of constituents whose children are most disappointed that, perhaps the favourite pieces of play equipment at the local parks, had disappeared. Having contacted the City Council's Environment Department about this, I am advised that the roundabouts have been removed following safety concerns about the ...
Towards the end of last month, I updated residents on the plans for this year's West End Christmas Fortnight. On Thursday, the next Christmas Fortnight group meeting takes place and a leaflet about this and the plans for the forthcoming events (17th November to 1st December) has been delivered to local businesses - see below: You can download a higher-quality PDF of this leaflet by clicking here. The Christmas Fortnight group meeting takes place at the Vine, 43 Magdalen Yard Road at 3.30pm on Thursday (11th October) and all are welcome to attend.
