I have been somewhat quiet this week because the power cable to my laptop failed in the earlt hours of Monday morning. A smartphone is only good for so much. Plus I'm not feeling great these last few days so have spent much of it in bed. However, this just needs sharing
Proper blog post tomorrow, but I just wanted to rant: One of the most annoying things in the world is the way the fantasies spread by Carol Kaye are destroying music business history. For years people claimed — because of Kaye and a few others — that the Beach Boys never played on any of ...
When I was a teenager - I would guess this was in 1977 - my mother and I went to visit her cousin and aunt who lived close to one another in Bexleyheath. Also present at the lunch was a neighbour of theirs called Bill Nettlefold. He turned out to have been a poet as a young man and to have moved in London literary circles. After serving in World War II he had taken up a respectable career in the civil service. He had recently retired from that and, as I recall, had lost his wife too. We got ...
With tickets going on sale for the Simple Minds 2013 tour today, here's a reminder of how good they were before they discovered stadium rock...
On 17th October the licensing sub-committee over-ruled the ward councillors' objections to the Wallington Pricebusters street trading licence on the basis that in the absence of a borough wide policy it could not apply a disability access policy to individual areas. After the boost given to disability issues by the enormous success of the recent ...
With the nights getting colder, the gritters will be out in Stockport tonight (Friday) and throughout the winter when the weather conditions require them. The gritters focus first on the priority routes: the main roads and bus routes. After those, minor roads are gritted. You can find full details of where Stockport grits (and why) on the Council website.
Wokingham Conservatives have decided NOT to proceed with outsourcing the running of the libraries to the private sector. They first announced they were going to do it in May 2011. We collected signatures for a massive Lib Dem petition against it, which led to a debate in November 2011. And now finally they have accepted that it wasn't the right thing to do either financially or for the service. Which was what we said at the start...... David Lee, Conservative Leader of the Council, described the Lib Dem campaign to save the libraries as "laughable" in the Reading Chronicle last ...
We were in London so I didn't get the chance to watch Strictly live last Saturday. In fact, I even managed not to find out who had gone out until I had watched the results show on Wednesday. For once I liked Tess's dress - this week a long clinging, silvery, glittery affair which befitted a Hollywood special. A highlight for me was that Dani had a little Toto dog run on at the end - which you saw actually dancing on the Len's Lens bit on the results show. My biggest disappointment is that Michael Vaughn, bless him, isn't ...
I've been away for a few days but emails have kept me in touch with the debate that has been going on about Osborne's proposal to sully Employee Ownership. It will have escaped few readers notice that Martin Horwood MP has signed the open letter published on LibDem Voice which was very critical of the idea that employees should swap their rights for minimal ownership options. I am confident that Martin is not the only Lib Dem parliamentarian to oppose this nonsense. I posted yesterday that there would be a parliamentary vote on this matter and I thought it worthwhile ...
121741: Listed building application for internal alterations, Lexden Road. 121859: Enclosure of courtyard for guest seating area, North Hill. 121860: Listed building consent for 121859. 121902: Enlarged and refurbished store including part demolition and rebuild, remodelling of external elevations and internal alterations, High Street. 121905: Conservation Area approval for 121902 Please note that I am a member of the Council's Planning Committee for this 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 comments in favour or against planning applications as I may then ...
The Get Toasty campaign offers free cavity wall insulation and loft insulation across Greater Manchester, but time's running out. You only have until the end of November to claim your free insulation. Call 0800 009 3363 free to book your no obligation survey or visit the Get Me Toasty website for more information. We're putting posters up on local noticeboards to remind people to apply – this is a genuinely free deal!
Brian Logan reviews John Bishop's new show in the Guardian:If 1970s-style comedy with additional James Corden anecdotes floats your boat, the night will fly by.
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 Opinion: Where now on Electoral Reform? (France!) (67 comments) by Mark Wright Why the Lib Dems are standing for barely half the elected police commissioner posts (19 comments) by Stephen Tall Opinion: A Really Popular Lib Dem Policy Proposal - Free Anti-Viral Software! (62 comments) by Geoff Crocker A confession: I'm a Lib Dem and I support elected police commissioners (53 comments) by Stephen Tall Kiron Reid resigns from Lib Dems to run as independent police commissioner ...
To try and raise funds to pay for the final works on the Floodlights and for additional work around the ground, Redcar Athletic's Wearside League team has organised a series of events starting with - Saturday 3rd November Halloween Party at the club Tickets £2 Fancy Dress with prizes Raffle Saturday 17th Nov 2012Ladies only Pamper Night at the clubA Special night for ladies onlyEyebrows Tinting/ Waxing/ Shaping Lashes etcAlso Party Lite candles for saleFree entry, RaffleDrinks available Saturday Dec 1st 2012Race Nite1st Race 8pm£2 a ticketHorse owners required £2 a horseRace sponsors required £20 Saturday December 22nd 2012Redcar Athletic ...
Fri 26th
16:25
Childcare, Home Rule and Hardest Hit - my most anticipated events at Scottish Liberal Democrat confe...
Tomorrow we Scottish Liberal Democrats hold our Autumn Conference. We're going back to the Vine Venue in Dunfermline and have a really busy agenda. For me, the debate I'm most looking forward to is the one on affordable childcare, calling on the SNP Government to do more to invest in nursery education for 2 year olds. They accept that it makes a difference for vulnerable 2 year olds, but only provide places for 1% of our toddlers as compared to 40% in England - a move championed by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. I particularly want to talk about ...
Our party's energy policy is totally inadequate, consisting only of motherhood and apple pie statements in favour of efficiency and green policies. We went into the last election on the populist platform of no new nuclear power generation and no new coal power without carbon sequestration. Like the student fee policy, this has also proved predictably unsustainable. It was seriously irresponsible. Hence the familiar u-turn. Knee-jerk reactions like the recent renewed dash for gas, or underwriting private sector nuclear development costs, are less than the strategy we have a right to expect from government. The objectives of an energy policy ...
The Liberal Democrats require a dynamic, highly organised and effective Chief Steward to organise and oversee the volunteer Stewards Team for Federal Conference. This all-year round volunteer post is of two years duration. As a volunteer post, it is not remunerated, but reasonable and agreed expenses are paid. Working with the Conferences and Events Manager who is based at Headquarters, the Chief Steward will be responsible for the effective recruitment, involvement and development of volunteer stewards to help improve the experience and reputation of our democratic conferences for our members and other attendees. The successful applicant will be expected to ...
There are those who suggest that what this country needs is less legislation and more management and proper scrutiny. Perhaps the House of Lords is taking this to heart, as the diary for the week is reflective of such a wish... Monday sees the beginning of the Committee Stage of the Election Registration and Administration Bill, with Chris Rennard and Paul Tyler leading for the Liberal Democrats, and William Wallace responding on behalf of the Government. Liberal Democrats will be looking to ensure that voter registration remains mandatory, as well as enabling variations in the day on which polling takes ...
Not that the Guardian are obssessed with this story in anyway but... A greater sin to harbour phone hacker or serial child rapist, Times columnists asks. Depends if you employed them to commit these sins. — Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) October ... Continue reading →
Transcript of all news programmes – Love and Garbage saves you from having to watch them. But they'll no doubt have a special report to examine why you're not watching them. Bloody Nasty People by Daniel Trilling – review – David Edgar reviews what sounds like a fascinating book about the far-right in Britain, but the review itself makes some very good points. Third draft struggles – Author Benjamin Rosenbaum talks about how swapping the gender of the characters in his novel gave him a whole new perspective. Given the interest this post has provoked, I think there's a market ...
You may have seen news reports concerning budget cuts at the London Fire Brigade including proposals for closures of fire stations and reductions in the numbers of fire engines. Cllr Brooks Outside Downham Fire Station Some working papers have now been released pre-empting these discussions and suggesting 17 fire station closures and maybe 30 fire engines taken off the streets. The reality is that this is the scale of cutbacks we face if the Mayor of London's cuts go ahead. We do not yet know for certain what the outcome will be, but we need to make sure that our ...
Another Lib Dem Conference, another set of exceptional debates on policing and justice. We agreed on greater accountability through an empowered IPCC; minimum standards for private contractors; and community sentences and restorative justice in place of ineffective, short-term prison sentences. Our Party has the most distinct strategy for crime reduction of any major Party. It's based on clear, liberal principles and, crucially, it's based on the evidence staring us right in the face. At every Conference I've been to we raise the level of debate, and provide liberal solutions for policing and justice. Rarely do these debates, and these policies, ...
I want to clear up a small misunderstanding Yesterday, I Tweeted: #piconf12 some crazy MP wants people to have a driving licence to register a domain name. Because that will stop cyber bullying.WAT? [IMG: Tom Scott Parliament] So, to conclude. Expressing fairly good Internet security advice will get you castigated by MPs who don't understand the digital age. Incidentally, the password for the WiFi in Portcullis House was "123456789012".
(Actually, it's worse than that, for in addition Ed Balls's claim that it's only with hindsight that it's clear there was a structural deficit doesn't really stand up to scrutiny either.) * Mark Pack has written 101 Ways To Win An Election and produces a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats.
Paragraph the quick brown dog jumps over the lazy fox. nother paragarah and another
There was an interesting story on the BBC regional news this morning. Lib Dem run South Lakeland Council has recently run the first "community switch" program. I signed an EDM supporting the scheme earlier this week. They got 1700 ... Continue reading →
Many (including Rory Bremner) have commented on Henry Blofeld's style of cricket commentary with its frequent references to buses going past the ground. I have just found out from Wikipedia why he might be so concerned about the proximity of buses to cricket grounds. "Selected as Eton captain in his final year at school in 1957, Blofeld suffered a serious accident, being hit by a bus while
Together with my colleague Sasha Gillard-Loft and local Lib Dem campaigner Jade Farrington, I have written to Cornwall Council's new cabinet member for highways and transportation calling for urgent action on parking issues in the town. We have asked Councillor Bert Biscoe to continue the £200 season ticket trial price which is due to run out at the end of October and to extend the deal to other areas of the town where Cornwall Council still charges £470 per year. The cheaper £200 season ticket deal we secured back in July has been a huge success with more than 100 ...
So, here's an interesting fact: The DWP paid the private company A4Ee a total of £41 million between June 2011 and June 2012. This money was for the DWP's work programme where various organisations are paid to find jobs for unemployed people. But, as reported by Channel 4 FactCheck, out of the 93,000 people A4e was paid to find work for, only 3,400 of them actually found sustained work. That means the taxpayer is paying out something to the tune of £12,000 for every unemployed person got into work. Now, I'm pretty sure that that is most definitely not what ...
The front page of today's Cornish Guardian carries the announcement that Camelford Leisure Centre has been saved from closure by the local community after Cornwall Council decided to close it. This is fantastic news for the people of Camelford, led by Mayor Rob Rotchell and the leisure centre users. It's been a long fight. Two years ago the Council declared that they would be abandoning the leisure centre (we have never found out why they chose Camelford) and closure was certain unless the local community stepped in. After a lot of hard work (and precious little help at times from ...
At least one Conservative MP is prepared to break ranks with the Prime Minister and express his opposition to the proposed boundary changes. Geoffrey Cox is MP for Torridge and West Devon and would see part of his current seat amalgamated with North East Cornwall to form the Devonwall seat. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Cox says that he would vote against the proposals. Although Tory Party Chairman Grant Shapps has claimed that some sort of deal could still be done to offer the Lib Dems party funding reform in return for the new boundaries, Nick Clegg has ...
For many years, the Liberal Democrats have been calling for more consistent food labelling, most recently with our Autumn conference motion, 'Good Food Shouldn't Cost the Earth'. That's why I welcome the announcement that a new consistent system of 'front of pack' labelling will be up and running by summer 2013. It is a cautious welcome because the new system will be voluntary and the biggest challenge - getting all the food industry fully on board - still lies ahead. But, it is encouraging to see action at long last - and action by the Coalition Government when the previous ...
This week the the Despatch Box, the new weekly political e-magzine from digitalpolitico.net, is back and includes coverage of George Entwistle at the Culture Media and Sport select committee amongst other things so sign up and don't miss out.
Following Parliamentary approval, in September 2011 the Police and Social Responsibility Bill received Royal Assent and became an Act. Police authorities in England and Wales will be abolished and replaced by elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). This will create a new style of police governance which has been designed with the intention of strengthening the relationship between the police and the communities they serve. On 15 November 2012 an election will be held to elect a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) who will be accountable for how crime is tackled across Kent. What is a Police and Crime Commissioner? ...
In the current "debate" over Europe, "loss of sovereignty", and "power grabbing by the Commission" are the central themes... what an irony on the 20th anniversary of the single market – the key achievement of the EU which was spear-headed by a British Conservative European Commissioner, and cemented by a Conservative Government in 1992 under the Maastricht treaty. Commissioner Arthur Cockfield in 1985 published a list of 300 recommendations needed to eliminate the barriers to real free trade within Europe, to make the (then) European Community more competitive and profitable for Member States. Since 1992 the focus has been to ...
A reason to be glad Donald Trump's American (tags: ) Benjamin Rosenbaum: Third Draft Struggles In which an SF author describes how changing the gender of characters, even in a world with "different" genders (yay SF!) radically alters the perceptions of their actions. (tags: ) BBC News - Should children be taught that porn is not real? (tags: ) Apple is a modern religion, anthropologist confirms - Nothing to do with product, it is all about faith | TechEye This explains why I, as an atheist, despise them. (tags: ) The Savile scandal is about children, not overpaid TV executives ...
This years autumn London Lib Dem conference in Croydon was a lively affair. It was great to meet up with so many people from all over the capital, to get out and campaign in Croydon for Marisha, but mainly (from a personal point of view) to answer questions to the Euro candidates! Unfortunately due to ...
Propublica reports: Across the country, companies are using cookies to tailor the political ads you see online. One of the firms is CampaignGrid, which boasted in a recent slideshow, "Internet Users are No Longer Anonymous." The slideshow includes an image of the famous New Yorker cartoon from 1993: "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." Next to it, CampaignGrid lists what it can now know about an Internet user: "Lives in Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District, 19002 zip code, Registered primary voting Republican, High net worth household, Age 50-54, Teenagers in the home, Technology professional, Interested in politics, Shopping for ...
Of all the weeks for Willie Rennie not to have a question at FMQs, this was probably the worst. While Johann Lamont and, particularly, Ruth Davidson gave Salmond just enough wiggle room over the bizarre EU legal advice issue, Willie had displayed a much more forensic approach on Tuesday. Here's the latter part of the exchange. This is a very serious matter, Presiding Officer, because the First Minister has not cleared up the issue. He said,"Everything that we have said is consistent with the legal advice we have received."He said "received", and the context was that he was talking about ...
A couple of weeks ago, Mail editor Paul Dacre called for the Leveson inquiry to reopen in order to examine the BBC's role in the Jimmy Savile allegations of child abuse. This is a rather bizarre request given that it would mean Leveson stepping well outside his original remit. But to be fair to Mr Dacre, he is, in his own way trying to ensure that that aspect of the Savile scandal is investigated thoroughly. It is highly unlikely that Leveson will be reopened though and there are already separate inquiries into what happened at the BBC in terms of ...
Do you eat cakes, chocolate bars, ready meals or chips from a take-away? Who doesn't eat some occasionally? All those foods I mentioned and many others may contain high levels of compounds called trans-fats or trans-fatty acids. The reason that trans-fats are important is because they cause much higher levels of heart disease – and yet we rarely hear about them. Trans-fats are an unnatural product of food processing. Vegetable oils are sometimes chemically treated by "hydrogenation" to give them a thicker consistency or they are purified at a high temperature. Food manufacturers do this to increase storage life of ...
As part of my realisation that it's been nearly ten years since I started blogging (along with the whole 'Has it really been that long? God, I'm getting old...' thoughts) it occurs to me that I don't follow as many British political blogs as I used to. Part of this is for the very good reason that most British political blogs aren't very good and are merely about point-scoring and emphasising repeatedly how wonderful your party is while reminding us how evil everyone who doesn't agree with you is. But, I'm sure there have to be other blogs out there ...
The 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto explicitly ruled out military action against Iran, saying that Liberal Democrats "oppose military action against Iran and believe those calling for such action undermine the growing reform movement in Iran". That this policy made it into the manifesto illustrates the strong feeling on the issue, with memories of Iraq prominent in people's minds. Hence the importance of today's news: Britain rejects US request to use UK bases in nuclear standoff with Iran... Britain has rebuffed US pleas to use military bases in the UK to support the build-up of forces in the Gulf, citing secret ...
Congratulations to Sky News.
Last night, after my weekly ward surgery at Blackness Primary School, I attended the first committee meeting of the Friends of Riverside Nature Park following the recent inaugural Annual General Meeting. It was a very positive and productive meeting at which office bearers were appointed including Ian Ford, elected as the Friends' first Chair. We discussed a possible gardening project for the Friends at the Nature Park, moving forward with an Action Planning Session at a future committee meeting, taking part in the Community Fayre at the West End Christmas Fortnight Community Fayre on 17th November and the forthcoming consultation ...
I have previously mentioned the Food Train project that assists elderly local residents with a quality shopping service. The Food Train has a new poster to encourage new volunteers - see below: You can download a better quality copy of this poster here.
Climate change is speeding up, exceeding the worst predictions of the IPCC. The arctic could be ice-free in summer within five years. Without ice, the sea warms up more quickly, melting the undersea tundra, and releasing huge quantities of methane into the atmosphere. Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon-dioxide. We may ...
A dozen or so of us gathered in the Guest Room at the House of Lords this evening, courtesy of Lord (Chris) Rennard, to celebrate the memory of Mike Harskin, former editor of Liberal Democrat News, who died at a tragically young age 20 years ago. My contact with him was that between editor and contributor, ...
