So, the Torygraph have printed an article which is going to piss off a lot of people in the Lib Dems. There are a couple of theories as to the source: one is that the parliamentary Lib Dems haven't thought through how controversial the idea is and have leaked it themselves because they are proud of it, and/or are running it up the flagpole to see who salutes. The other theory is that the tories know it will cause the Lib Dems to fight like cats in a sack and have leaked it and are right now popping corn. Dear ...
Earlier this evening the BBC showed a fascinating documentary from 1963 about that year's exceptionally hard winter. Both Ridley Scott and Anthony Jay were credited part of the production team at the end. The programme made me realise what a very different world I was born into - I was a toddler when all this was taking place. I also wonder if today, with our dependence on supermarkets and just-in-time distribution, we would cope better or worse with such a winter. This short film shows how the railways coped in January and February 1963. According to the BFI it was ...
Counting down on every Saturday* towards the fiftieth birthday of Doctor Who with Fifty great scenes... Tonight showcases another of the series' defining features, with the scariest sequence from one of Doctor Who's scariest stories. Image of the Fendahl stars the iconic team of the man in the scarf and the woman in the leather bikini and guest-stars the fabulous Wanda Ventham in a role building on those she and others took for Hammer and Tigon Films. For this triple-cliffhanger, night has fallen, and the only light is something you don't want to see... "Apparently it only works after dark." ...
In July last year I wrote about the closure of Burnley A&E. The NHS Confederation were telling us that more closures should follow, and now we read that Lancaster's is threatened. We can't say we didn't see it coming. Shortly after writing the blog I received a phone call from a Mail on Sunday reporter who asked if I had experienced personal hardship because of an A&E closure. Well it won't be hard to find people like this if Lancaster's A&E closes. Many will have experienced problems caused by closures. Nobody wants these closures. They don't want them ...
We have had two crime reports since my last e-Cops message. Please see below: - Between 8pm on the 10th of January 2013 and 10am on the 14th of January 2013 a theft took place in The Spinney, Bar Hill. Between the times and dates stated unknown offenders have stolen a gas cooker from a rear garden of a property in the area. Between 4.50pm and 7pm on the 14th of January 2013 a theft took place in Pheasant Rise, Bar Hill. Between the times and dates stated unknown offenders have stolen two large hollow ornamental ceramic balls from a ...
From the Guardian: An interview with the actor Laura Linney referred to her latest film role as Daisy, the real-life distant cousin of Franklin D Roosevelt, and quoted her as saying that Daisy used to store the knick-knacks FDR brought back from around the world in a latrine. Not quite. That was a mishearing on the part of the interviewer. Daisy stored the knick-knacks in a vitrine - a glass display case.
The winter remained mild till early in January when the first green leaves had appeared on the woodbine. One evening Polly announced that it was going to freeze, for the cat as he sat on the hearthrug had put his paw over his ear. If he sat with his back to the fire, that was a sign of rain. If he put his paw over his ear that indicated frost. It did freeze, and hard.The wind being still, the New Sea was soon frozen over except in two places. There was a breathing-hole in Fir Tree Gulf about fifty or ...
[IMG: Haringey Action Day: the chocolate] [IMG: Berrylands Focus leaflet for Sushila Abraham] Courtesy of Haringey and Kingston, here are some key statistics from campaigning in the snow today: Number of people in when the weather is bad: lots Number of brownie points bestowed by the public for our willingness to go out in the snow: plenty Number of people won over by my enthusiasm for slip-on snow grips: numerous, including several residents (you too can see what all the fuss is about here) Number of high quality chocolate brownies eaten: one (see photo; thank you Dawn Barnes) Number of ...
I have spent a little bit of time today looking at immigration figures. As you do. We had "unfettered" immigration during Labour's time in office – we are told. That word "unfettered" being a classic Daily Mail/Daily Express word. Bollocks. A lot of first world countries have far higher immigration than us, and we are well low in terms of the percentage population coming from immigration. First of all, we should mention emigration. People leave this country. You wouldn't have thought it from the rubbishy bigotry we read most days. Also, a high percentage of immigrants are actually......wait for it........make ...
I don't like these "least favouite" categories because they are so negative. There's so much good to celebrate about the series that concentrating on the weakest stuff isn't always productive. I guess the two companions I never quite got to grips with were Adric and Turlough. Could they never have a nice ordinary lad accompanying the Doctor? Did they really have to be so arrogant and up themselves and super intelligent? That, I guess, is why I never quite appreciated Mark Strickson and Matthew Waterhouse as much as I should. Then there was Mickey in the new series. I really ...
The time has come for a vital step in the renewal of Britain's democracy. Time to let another one and a half million people take part in voting for the people who run the country. Giving the right to vote to sixteen and seventeen year olds now has widespread support across the political spectrum. British ...
It's Saturday evening, so I'll just get straight into listing this Saturday's Six: Charles Moore in the Telegraph discusses the Operation Yewtree report into Jimmy Saville and highlights the problem with now treating all allegations as fact. There may be no doubt that Jimmy Saville was a paedophile but there will never be a chance for due process to determine this as fact. Next up is a review of Tom Daley's "Splash". I've not seen the programme but I just love this line from David Bowden's review: "diving is straight-up, 100 per cent, balls-out, why-don't-we-see-that-Mapplethorpe-exhibition homo-eroticism." H/T to @stephentall for ...
It's been a busy week! On Monday night I went to Edinburgh to interview a real live author for Liberal Democrat Voice. Then late on Tuesday night I headed south to London on the sleeper. It's the first time I've done the sleeper in that direction and I can tell you that leaving from Waverley is a much better experience than leaving from Euston. In London, if you have a standard class ticket, you can only use the horrible, freezing cold, uncomfortable Network Rail lounge with its vending machines. In Edinburgh, you get a lovely lounge with pink armchairs, the ...
Constitutionally, the local party is a key organisation in the Liberal Democrats. It is the principal route by which ordinary members can influence party policy, receive training, and meet other members. The principal route by which groups of Liberal Democrats can fundraise, campaign, select candidates, and fight and win elections. I've not had much experience ...
[IMG: Sheffield City Hall - Some rights reserved by Welcome to Sheffield] Angela Smith, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge has called on Sheffield City Council not to close Stocksbridge Leisure Centre. Stocksbridge is in the remote rural north of Sheffield and local people will not have the same access to alternatives that others in Sheffield might. So who is making the proposal to close Stocksbridge Leisure Centre? Well it turns out that the cabinet advisor for leisure on Sheffield City Council is Smith's husband, one Cllr Steve Wilson. Might this be a topic to discuss at home before troubling the ...
(a list of the questions and links to all the answers can be found on this entry ) I genuinely can't think of one. People slag off Beryl Reid in Earthshock, but I thought she was fabulous. There's a number of female characters I dislike, but they are almost exclusively played by genuinely lovely actresses. I suppose I shall have to say Catherine Tate, although I recognise that my dislike of her is mostly irrational and based on her comedy persona rather than her personally. I think the reason I'm reluctant to answer this one is because this morning I ...
Here's the text of my latest Huffington Post Blog. He can also read it on the Huffington Post website here. "The coalition government could not change the lives of millions of the poorest people around the world without working with a wide range of talented, inspirational and dedicated charities and NGOs. This week I invited representatives of 13 of those organisations (full list below) to sit down with me for the first of, what I hope, will be a series of very useful roundtables focusing on specific issues that are close to all our hearts. We started on a subject ...
News reaches Liberator of the Liberal Democrat membership figures for 2012. Membership of the federal party (i.e. the whole of the UK) was only 42,501 at the end of December 2012, down 9.2% from 46,810 at the end of December 2011 (and not 48,934 as the party's annual report for 2011 originally claimed). The renewal rate has remained at about 75-80% throughout the year. This drop is bad, but not as bad as in 2011, when membership fell by 25% over the year. That fall wiped out the gains from the 2010 election 'Cleggmania' - and then some. However, the ...
I couldn't resist this one from Southampton Drive!
As a long-term critic of the BBC licence fee, one of the arguments in its defence which has always annoyed me is when an individual programme is highlighted as 'worth the fee on its own'. That's just hyperbollox... though I guess if viewers were actually willing to pay £145 for a series of Sherlock or a new David Attenborough wildlife documentary, then the economics of broadcasting would be a lot simpler. [IMG: david_elstein300] David Elstein, chairman of openDemocracy, nails the argument well in his lecture, The licence fee is a fetter on the BBC: Of course, the BBC continues to ...
[IMG: Liberal Youth Votes at 16 banner] Stephen Williams MP has recently brought forward a motion about extending the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds: this means that the House of Commons will debate the issue on 24th January. In 2005 his motion on the topic failed by just 8 votes. As such, it's exceedingly important that as many MPs who support votes at 16 attend the debate and vote if possible. Liberal Youth Scotland has been strongly pushing for votes at 16 for all referendums and elections this year, starting with our Freshers' Week postcards. In light of ...
A major project to record our history is under way – and they're very keen to capture everyone's experience of life in the steel town that was Consett. They don't just want the stories of the steel workers – though they do want those – but steel affected us all; the womenfolk many of whom stayed at home and tried to protect their washing from turning pink; the shopkeepers who had good times when the works were in full swing, and whose shops were empty during the strikes; the children whose only ambition was to follow Mam or Dad into ...
There was a fascinating article in the Financial Times a few days ago, about the 'right kind of stupidity'. It describes the idea of 'functional stupidity', conceived by Mats Alvesson and Andrew Spicer, describing the 'bovine state' which organisations can sink into - large organisations in particular. The idea is that organisations which attract particularly clever staff, like banks and management consultancies, are particularly prone to the kind of 'functional stupidity' that overwhelmed the Soviet Union. Or as the UBS chief put it about the Libor rate fixing scandal: "A mechanistic reliance on risk processes". The insight that which the ...
Notes on Health Scrutiny meeting 17th January 2013 Emergency heart attack care In 2009 a new specialised service was set up in the region for patients who suffer certain types of heart attack. These are known as STEMI heart attacks. The treatment centres are in Basildon, Norwich and Cambridge. At these centres a Stent is inserted to reinflate the collapsed artery. Prior to that ambulance staff could administer thrombolysis, or clot-busting drugs. However these only worked in 50% of patients, whereas Stents are suitable for the vast majority and have better survival rates. From the start there were major concerns ...
An early morning stroll around Houghton Hall Park, Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, as the sun was coming up. Sadly no majestic sunrise to see, but I got a few shots all the same. First try out with my new Canon 450D. These are all greatly reduced image sizes, intended for online use. All enquiries for prints welcome. Houghton Hall Park. 07:33. 19th January 2013. Landscape Mode. Houghton Hall Park. 07:38 19th January 2013. Landscape Mode. Houghton Hall Park. 07:40 19th January 2013. Landscape Mode. Houghton Hall Park. 07:52:14 19th January 2013. Landscape Mode. Dog Walking.Houghton Hall Park. 07:53:10 19th January 2013. ...
The popular narrative at the moment is that the Coalition Government has been cutting the rates of tax for millionaires while making life harder and harder for those on low incomes. Well, Income Tax is just one part of the story, but regardless, I wanted to look at how much the richest have been paying and how much the poorest have been paying. I made this graph, showing what the top rate of Income Tax has been year on year and I also worked out what final percentage of Income Tax somebody on a £15,000 salary would end up paying ...
The aggregate vote share from all 198 of the local council by-elections in 2012 points to a continuation in Liberal Democrat recovery of electoral support. Conservative Vote Share 33.7% Won 87 Net Change -12 Labour 29.2% 60 +12 Liberal Democrat 19.2% 32 + 4 UKIP 6.1% 0 – 2 Independents 4.0% 8 – 2 Green 3.5% 3 +/- The figures certainly highlight the weakness of UKIP and the Greens
Sturdee's take-aways; a thing of the past? The debate over take-aways and schools within the Medway towns has reignited after a years silence. The first whispers began in November with a report by the BBC stating the Council will be taking over from the NHS with responsibility over public health. Cllr David Brake (con) is quoted in Dan Bloom's article Kebab-loving Tory: Let fast food firms sell near schools as saying; I'm in favour (banning take-aways from opening near schools) it's taking away the temptation away for youngsters to nip out of school and up at the local chippy However ...
Going through my recap of old posts, I've recently found the one where I announced that I'd joined Twitter. Almost four years on from that, I now have an additional Twitter account – @CllrNickBarlow – that I'll use solely for 'official' stuff. It'll mainly be about things I'm doing as a councillor, information about meetings and events and will hopefully work as a point of contact for people who want to contact me about Council business, rather than getting that and everything else confused. Don't worry, my main account will still be continuing as normal, though the two will have ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Feminism shouldn't be about telling trans women they're not female enough | Deborah Orr | Comment is free | The Guardian Well worth reading by @DeborahJaneOrr > Feminism shouldn't be about telling trans women they're not female enough http://buff.ly/VQp8sd Why Labour won't win in 2015 – Comment – Voices – The Independent .@MarkReckons on 'Why Labour won't win in 2015′ http://buff.ly/WeoL85 Julie Burchill and the Observer | Stephen Pritchard | Comment is free | The Observer Erm: rubbish > "freedom of expression means nothing if gratuitous insults mask the very message that ...
Sat 19th
13:00
LibLink: Lynne Featherstone working to transform the lives of women and girls around the world
Lynne Featherstone, Minister for International Development, writes at the Huffington Post, on the opportunities 2013 brings to transform the lives of women and girls around the world. This year is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a lasting difference to the lives of women and girls everywhere in the world. Between the Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York in March, the work on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals and the UK Presidency of the G8, the international community has the potential to help bring equality and safety where there is currently exclusion and fear. But this is ...
GARETH EDWARDS, BARBARIANS V ALL BLACKS 1973 When the Baa-Baas lined up at Cardiff Arms Park against an All Black side that had been touring for three months, the feeling in the traditionally under-prepared, celebrity-packed invitation side was one of nervous anticipation. 'We went on the field determined to try to win the game but petrified that we might get run over,' said Wales and British Lions fly half Gareth Edwards. After just a few minutes of frantic kicking and a series of unpunished high tackles, Phil Bennett caught a New Zealand kick a few yards from his own try ...
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the longest running science fiction show in the world I am taking a weekly look at some of my favourite Dr Who episodes focussing on one Doctor a month. This month it's the first Doctors turn. The nation's favourite pepper pots are back - and this time they mean business! The TARDIS materialises in a dirty, run down, abandoned and ruined London. The streets are patrolled by the Daleks and their Robomen - who are mind controlled humans. Our hero's quickly hook up with the resistance and make their way to the massive Dalek ...
South Glos Council has announced: "Due to the snow and icy conditions on Friday 18 January, there were no household collections of waste or recycling in South Gloucestershire. Residents are asked to take their containers back onto their property and present them on their next scheduled collection day. For food waste this is the following week and for other materials the following fortnight. Reasonable amounts of side waste (waste that won't fit in the bin/box) will be collected" Meanwhile the Sort-It Centres are closed today (Saturday 19 January) and decisions on opening will be taken on a daily basis.
[IMG: David Cameron - License Some rights reserved by Statsministerens kontor ] While David Cameron's much hyped speech on Europe has been postponed, it is not clear that this makes much difference. The key points were briefed to the press in advance so we can see the point. Full marks for not wasting good copy already written go to the Economist which draws four conclusions, including this one: The prime minister is trying to Europeanise Euroscepticism. The British often assume they are the only people in Europe who have a problem with the EU. Mr Cameron wants to remind them ...
As far as I am aware , there is only one meeting scheduled at Blyth Town Council next week Tuesday 22nd January, 6:30 pm at Ebor House, Blyth, Events Committee
Via Jennie, Michael Crick on how many new peers need to be appointed to make the House of Lords representative of the votes cast at the last election. It's an absurd number, but then it's part of an absurd system where people get appointed to jobs for life on the whim of the Prime Minister of the day to serve in half of the legislature of a country that's ostensibly democratic. One thing from it stood out for me though, from David Cameron's interview in the House Magazine: I think it's important to keep refreshing the talent in the House ...
Mobile operator 3 are censoring political satire as if it was porn. Hands up anyone who is surprised? (tags: ) The Lab powered by O2 » How do you manage? Managing geeks is the same as managing other people - value their skills and don't treat them like menial robots. (tags: ) How a Fourth of the Cow Genome Came from Snakes Very cool and not intuitive at all. (tags: ) Nick Barlow on the pointlessness of pre-trailed political speeches. (tags: ) UK: Smartphones automatically block Pink News and other LGBT news sites More on mobile ISP censorship. (tags: ) ...
For several years the car club cars in Southwark have been run by Zipcars. So far 90 car club cars have been deployed into Southwark. We've really tried supporting this in East Dulwich by finding extra funding to ensure 10 of those 90 are in East Dulwich. We've even taken the extraordinary step of asking Zipcars for 5,500 Zipcar leaflets and delivered them to all the homes in East Dulwich ward. Why? For every car club car around 25 private cars are taken of off the road. Great way of trying to cope with car parking pressures in the area. ...
It was at 21:33:13.25 I am not sure how to embed it at a particular time. If you wish to go directly to the right time please click here. The reason the speech was given quite quickly was that the time of the debate had been reduced and I wished to get it all on the record. The record is here.
Niger ambassador to Belgium, wife found dead Jeepers. I met him last April, we had a great conversation about Mali. (tags: Death ) It's all about the lies Re Armstrong: "When he says he's sorry now, how do we know he's not still lying?" (tags: Dopingscandal ) Eastercon now has a code of conduct. ...or, How to Make Sure Everyone Has A Good Time. (tags: Behaviour )
Actually this is a great disapointment to me. I was rather looking forward to seeing film of 124 reassembled Spitfires flying in formation. However, the Telegraph tells us that archaeologists digging for a squadron of Spitfires in Burma have hit a blank and do not believe there are any planes to be found. The paper says that Lincolnshire farmer Mr Cundall has campaigned for 17 years to launch his quest to find the buried treasure: He claimed to have gathered testimony from eight eye witnesses, including British and American service men and locals people, who said that the planes were ...
The winter scene to the north of Blackness Road With the snowfall yesterday and likely to be continuing over the weekend, it is important that roads and footpaths across the West End and right across Dundee are kept safe. Yesterday, I was contacted by elderly residents in a number of parts of the West End, including Corso/Abbotsford and Pentland. In the latter case, I received a very prompt reply from the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership as follows: "I have been advised that a mini plough was sent to Pentland Avenue and Housing internal footpaths this morning to deal with ...
Professor Ken Reid led a report into attendance and behaviour for the Welsh Government in 2008. The report was warmly welcomed by Ministers, but so far it has failed to implement his recommendations. Despite clear recommendations from Professor Reid arguing against truancy fines, the Welsh Labour Government has recently announced its intention to fine parents £120 if their children play truant. There has been nowhere near enough progress by the Welsh Labour Government with regards to truancy rates. Professor Reid presented to the Welsh Government an excellent report that, I believe, the Welsh Government should be taking more seriously. The ...
A couple of days ago, while looking at Wistanstow Village Hall, I quoted from 'Reminiscences of Wistanstow' by Michael Coles. Here is another extract from that book: In 1936 the Italians invaded Abyssinia and the Emperor Haile Selassie had to flee, He was given refuge by this country and one day whilst I was at Craven Arms railway station he arrived with his entourage to stay at Walcot Hall on the way to Lydbury North, which was a mansion owned by the Stephenson Ink people.In stature, he was a small man, very swarthy and black-bearded, with striking features. His helmet ...
