Find the nearest book to you, turn to page 45, and read the first sentence: this describes your sex life in 2013. "When one approaches do not panic." Marginally better than 2012. I really ought to find a more appropriate book for next year, though. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Recently sacked minister Sarah Teather has been throwing her toys out the pram the recently. The Lib Dem MP for Brent Central has consistently voted against the benefits cap, and made sure people know it. I don't particularly agree with her on this, but can understand it – she has one of the poorest constituencies ...
The Docklands & East London Advertiser reports: Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has censured five Bangladeshi television channels for carrying an advertisement amounting to a party political broadcast for Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman. The advertisement, taken out for two weeks in January 2012, was broadcast as many as 15 times a day across five channels... In a ruling published earlier this week, Ofcom said: "The purpose of the advertisement was not to inform and educate the public. "Ofcom considered that the purpose of the advertisement was to promote the Mayor in a positive light. The advertisement plainly sought to convey ...
The following is a list of things that are loved by musicians in my MP3 library: A Ukulele – Janet Klein Buddha – Damon Albarn Another Woman – Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac Hot Nights – Jonathan Richman How You Love Me — The Paris Sisters LA — Randy Newman Makin' Love To You — Evie ...
[IMG: Polling station sign] Ever since the 2010 general election saw long queues of people unable to vote at some polling stations there has been a debate about whether at future general elections people still in the queue at closing time should be able to vote. That is the rule for some elections in the UK and is an obvious reaction to the 2010 problems. On the other hand, the current cut off is clear and unambiguous. Defining the back of a queue, if there are people milling around, could be rather less so. However this evening the government finally ...
A heads up for fellow Meades fans: his The Joy of Essex is to be broadcast on BBC4 at 9 p.m.on Tuesday 29 January with a repeat in the small hours of the following morning. While you are impatiently waiting, you could read my post In which I find Jonathan Meades's Severn Heaven.
Norway goat cheese fire closes tunnel
Spotted while walking the dog in Richmond Park...
personally I'm happy to yield some UK sovereignty for a share of German sovereignty, a bit Cypriot, and some Danish. Some Austrian and some French and Swedish too. I like a bit of Greek sovereignty and Bulgarian and one simply couldn't do without a bit of Spanish. A share of sovereignty in Hungary and Ireland should not be sniffed at or indeed Malta and Estonia. It's nice to have a bit of Czech sovereignty as part of the deal and Belgian too. Dutch sovereignty is highly prized and that's nice to have, as is a bit of Polish. Of course ...
From the Leicester Mercury: The results of scientific tests performed on the Greyfriars remains, thought to be those of King Richard III, will be revealed to the world early next month. The University of Leicester has today set a date for a press conference which will brief the world on the identity of the skeleton found buried beneath a city council car park in August, last year. On Monday, February 4, the media will gather at the university to find out whether archaeologists have made one of the biggest discoveries of recent times.The University of Leicester has a good page ...
It's that time again, when Google release their Transparency Report and I take a look at the per-capita rather than raw data. The Google Transparency Report lists the number of requests via the courts or law enforcement, by country, for user data. These are often from governments but might also be in response to court orders – the only contry where this is broken down is the United States where The latest figures this time are for the second half of 2012 (2012 H2) so Google are now rather more up to date than they used to be, when they ...
Last night, Ealing's council's cabinet took a number of decisions. The first was the most crucial... Again we saw the Labour, who speak of protecting the vulnerable, do not follow through with the correct actions. Check out the list of five priorities - nothing about helping our elderly and vulnerable residents. Whether in difficult financial times or not, the Liberal Democrats have said that cuts should not be made to the vulnerable. In this opening remarks, the Leader of the Council, before closing the Learning Curve and Stirling Road day centres, he said it was: "almost impossible," [not to close ...
The campaign to save the Thameslink First Capital Connect line from Sutton to Luton via King's Cross has been won! Last September I blogged about the campaign against plans to terminate the service at Blackfriars by ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert MP Julian Huppert headed up the first session of a six-week cross-party inquiry this morning (Wednesday, January 23) designed to Get Britain Cycling. Representatives from cycling organisations, academics and journalists gave evidence to the inquiry chaired by Julian and staged by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling. Over the coming weeks the inquiry will collect a wealth of evidence from a wide range of groups and organisations to encourage a joined up approach to improving cycle strategy and safety and generating year-on-year government funding. This morning's session dealt with strategy and heard from representatives of ...
Last week I reported that the recycling centre on Sutton Green is to be moved following appalling fly-tipping on the site. Myself and fellow ward councillors Ruth Dombey and Marlene Heron are now inviting responses to ...
MP Julian Huppert has welcomed the news that jobless figures in Cambridge are down 40 on the same period last year saying it brings renewed optimism for the future. The unemployment figure for December 2012 was 1,579 compared to 1,619 in the same period last year. "This is excellent news for Cambridge," said Julian. "This sustained drop in our unemployment figures generates real optimism for the future. "Confidence among employers is continuing to grow and the creation of new jobs means that trading conditions are getting stronger. This is excellent news for those in work, because it creates greater stability ...
So, we have 9 and Rose, 10 and Rose, 10.5 and Rose, Amy and Rory and Madam Vastra and Jenny. We could also include the Doctor and Idris, of course. While our Silurian private detective and her wife are just brilliant and have so much more to give us, for me, the best couple has to be Amy and Rory. We've seen their relationship develop, it's a partnership of equals, they love each other incredibly and that love has been well and truly tested. I don't think for a moment, though, that they would have actually split up. They would ...
Wed 23rd
19:45
LDVideo: Clegg - "Overwhelming priority of the British people is jobs, growth and a strong economy"
Caron Lindsay reported here earlier today Nick Clegg's initial reaction to David Camern's announcement there will be an in/out referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union. Here's what he told the BBC: And here's the transcript of his interview with Sky News: Gary Honeyford, Sky News: Deputy Prime Minister, we're in pretty straitened economic times. Is this crusade of the Prime Minister's not simply a major distraction? Nick Clegg: The biggest challenge which is facing our country is that we have a fragile economy which is taking time to recover. That's why my priority, certainly the priority of ...
I drove along the West Cumbrian coast last week and saw the wind farm which is close to Whitehaven. I was speaking to a local man who told me that each turbine cost £21 million and did not see any way that they could be efficient. I thought that this capital cost was quite high and turbines should be efficient because we have used renewable energies for centuries and our ancestors did make efficient use of the resource. If the turbines did cost £21 million each then at least the manufacturer would make a profit which would eventually work itself ...
The number of MPs backing a Commons motion to keep Mary Seacole on the schools curriculum has now risen to 30. That represents a jump of two thirds since the Early Day Motion was last ...
I was pleased today to see Alex Neil promoting that ringing NHS 24 is going to be free in a few months' time, using the NHS non emergency number 111. This makes an awful lot more sense than the Police chief who suggested charging 50p for 999 calls as a deterrent to people who use it when there's not really an emergency. Something the Health Secretary said, though, reminded me of something I've been banging on about for a long time - GP surgeries with 0844 numbers. Alex Neil said that a third of people with access only to a ...
[IMG: Mali rebel - License Some rights reserved by Magharebia] In an article in today's Times, Paddy Ashdown concedes that David Cameron is probably right that the so-called War on Terror (a term Paddy dislikes) will go on for another decade. Paddy argues that we need to recognise that the way western countries have been operating doesn't work. What is needed now is to recognise that the fight is between different factions of Islam. It should be our job to help out moderate governments where we can. He outlined why the "invasions, main battle armies and occupation" of the last ...
Here are the Labour MPs who have signed the People's Pledge calling for an in/out referendum. In other words, a list of MP's who directly oppose their leader Ed Miliband's position on this issue: Ronnie Campbell (Blythe Valley) Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) David Crausby (Bolton North) John Cruddas (Dagenham) John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) Natascha ...
Liberal Youth objects to the potential uncertainty the Prime Minister has brought the UK economy for the interests of Conservative Party electoral prospects. The European Union has attracted a level of controversy with a number of voters since its creation, not least within the United Kingdom; it has divided the Labour Party in the ...
Content Note: homophobia, social exclusion. [IMG: The cover for Life Mask by Emma Donoghue shows a woman in a Georgian style dress, back to the viewer, leaning off screen.] I picked up Life Mask because I wanted historical lesbian romance. What I actually got was historical lesbian drama, which is not quite the same thing, and the not getting what I expected threw me off for the first third or so of the book. Then I fell into the story and all was forgiven. Although - although, my expectations of a romance did change my experience of the book, because ...
I do an e mail bulletin once a month, with extra editions when there is urgent need It mainly covers local news in L18 and L19. If you don't already get this but want to, you can subscribe using this link
People living on or near the Booker Avenue/Greenhill Road junction were told last year that a planning application would be in in December for building on the bit of land opposite the pub (not the former garage - the other bit). It was a tad frustrating when that didn't happen so we've chased up what's going on. The land itself has a fence round it now and that naturally sparked lot of questions. The latest news from South Liverpool Housing, which is the lead organisation for the plan for homes on the site, is that a planning application should be ...
Hours after he made it, the Prime Minister's speech on Europe is trending on Twitter. You can keep up with the online conversation below:
This is my contribution to the committee meeting today which looked further at the issue of the Department of Education answering questions.
UK does not need like for like Trident replacement I agree with Danny Alexander!
I have e mailed every Lib Dem MP bar three to ask them where they are , restanding wise, for 2015 (the 3 exceptions being Duncan Hames, Julian Huppert and Nick Clegg - who I knew had all already said they were standing again). The answers are coming back and I will blog on this shortly... But.... I used as my source for the task the Lib Dem website, which has a handy list of all our MPs and their contact details. And guess what. 3 MPS have incorrect email addresses on the site (you get a bounce back) - ...
Well, if Liberal Democrat activists were feeling a bit lethargic and demotivated, David Cameron gave them lots to fight for today. We have got to do everything we possibly can to stop him getting an overall majority. If you're not in UKIP or the Eurosceptic wing of the Tory party, Cameron had very little to say to offer today. Here's his plan. He's going to go to the EU if he gets a majority next time and throw his weight about a bit. He'll tell them that unless we get to opt out of things like the Social Chapter and ...
It's sad, but not a surprise, that Cornwall Council's cabinet today reiterated their decision to recommend the ending of the current council tax benefit scheme and the imposition of a £250 or more tax rise on 26,000 of the poorest families in Cornwall. In advance of the meeting they put out a list of the cuts that they said would have to be made if they did not follow the path they have. As I have argued before, this is scare-mongering of the worst sort. The list was produced by officers acting on behalf of the cabinet and if they ...
Not sallying forth to Amsterdam, but in the more functional surroundings of Bloomberg Europe in London, David Cameron has finally given forth his vision for the future of the UK's relationship with the EU. Despite the context of the speech as a necessary manoeuvre to shore up support for Cameron from his hardline eurosceptic backbenchers and head off a UKIP challenge, the prime minister clearly made a great effort to ensure he sounded reasonable and moderate. Who could disagree with a vision of a more efficient, effective and accountable EU? In this, Cameron made an astute address, in terms of ...
[IMG: Spotify logo] It has become my habit that at the end of each year I usually put together a "best of" playlist of the music that I have been listening to, or has meant something, that year. This has sometimes generated a post here. This is what I wrote for 2011 and again for 2010. So I have been working on my playlist for the best of 2012. Unlike the list for 2011 I've not left it to the September of the following year to put it together! 2012 was the year my music listening habits changed because of ...
[IMG: Millenium Quest Christmas Light Letter] A number of Sandgate residents will have noticed over the Christmas period that the streetlight decorations were having more than their fair share of "issues". After the first day of lighting, there was rarely a day they were all on, and on a number of days, very few were lit at all. The lights are paid for and arranged by Sandgate Parish Council, who were chasing the lighting contractors throughout the Christmas period to get repairs done, but it seemed that no sooner were some lights fixed than others broke. A complaint was made ...
Last year, the Haringey Lib Dems and I were appalled to hear that Labour-run Haringey Council hurriedly filed their accounts just hours before the legal deadline. Unsurprisingly, the accounts were in a total mess. The auditors will have to charge the Council an extra £32,000 (!) in fees for the additional work required to correct all the mistakes. The issue is so severe that the new Chief Executive of Haringey Council has now ordered an independent inquiry into the Council's finances - in a move which will be a huge embarrassment for the Labour finance chief Cllr Joe Goldberg, who ...
I am not sure about everybody else, but I was left massively deflated by Cameron's speech on Europe this morning. That is because, despite the hype, he said nothing new or immediate about the issue and gave the strong impression that he is trying to face several ways at once. The Guardian sums it up well with an article that seeks to analyse who the Prime Minister was sending his message to. The list they come up includes Eurosceptics, hardliners demanding an immediate referendum, pro-Europeans, European leaders and Washington. What is more they believe that he wanted all of these ...
Kent County Council are consulting on a proposal to transfer the management and running of Sandgate Library to Sandgate parish Council from this summer. Sandgate Parish Council have been working with Kent County Council on the proposals, which would give the Parish Council more flexibility on the services that can be offered from the Library, and allow for a greater use of volunteers to support Library users. More details on the proposal and an online consultation form is now online at Leaflets with more information are also available in Sandgate Library, and Kent County Council will be hosting a ...
After 'the speech' today you might think both the Tory and Labour party would have made their position clear on Europe. They failed. Tories If the Conservatives win an outright majority at the 2015 election they will bring forward an in/out referendum. If they don't win and end up in coalition there will still be a referndum - 'if I am PM' - according to Cameron. But of course, if they fail to win a majority, he probably wont be PM. Which brings the whole thing into question. But let's say he does win a majority. He will then negotiate ...
Now you might think this tweet from Labour's Cabinet member for finance at Haringey Council, Joe Goldberg, makes clear that there hasn't been a problem with the auditor over the council's annual accounts: @richardjswilson There is no mess with the auditor Richard. Please I beg of you. Stop telling lies. You might think that, and you'd be wrong. Because here's what Haringey Council's Chief Executive has just announced, as reported by the Haringey Independent: An independent review will be carried out into accounting errors made by Haringey Borough Council which cost the authority more than £30,000. At a meeting of ...
Wed 23rd
13:55Danny Alexander tells Guardian: Like for like Trident replacement "not financially realistic"
[IMG: HMS Ambush, Astute class - Some rights reserved by Royal Navy Media Archive ] In an interview with the Guardian, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has said that it's neither financially possible nor strategically necessary to replace the Trident nuclear missile system with a similar set up. He added that any new deterrent would have to be paid for out of the existing Ministry of Defence budget as there was no "magic pot of money" in the treasury to pay for it. He questioned whether the current set up met Britain's needs in a world ...
Cabinet Member for Community Safety Lance Kennedy has added his thoughts to the debate over Cornwall Council using lie detector technology in phone interviews with people claiming single person council tax discount: "It's not water-boarding" Tweet
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Murder at the British Library » Spectator Blogs Ooh, sounds like a fab exhibition » Murder at the British Library http://buff.ly/143ZS3v BBC News – More red ink for Chancellor George Osborne Govt borrowing likely to increase this year after all (even after 1-off transfers) » 'More red ink for George Osborne' http://buff.ly/140UOOn UK Polling Report Latest YouGov poll confirms narrowing on in/out Euro referendum http://buff.ly/140SYNq Careers | Teaching Leaders Interested in working for education charity @TeachingLeaders? 4 roles available here: http://buff.ly/WFDadz
Sophie Howard - the post'll get more views if there is a picture of her on it, which will hopefully lead to more signatures! I see a lot of petitions flying around Twitter, I do end up signing about half of them - at least the ones I believe are good causes! Anyway, on the weekend, the former model posted a link to a petition that I duly read and signed and I think it is something that you should do too - after all it is a very worthy cause. The basics are SADS - not the winter miseries ...
Wed 23rd
13:00
Lib Dem race equality report is not going away despite conference motion being rejected
The fallout following the Liberal Democrats throwing out a conference motion on race equality has been picked up by the Guardian diary today. The article follows a blog in the Liberator by Gary Titley which highlighted ...
While the mainstream media (MSM) debates on whether Ed Miliband is being daft and what Farage will do next, I was struck by who will be able to vote in this potential referendum on In or Out of the EU? If it's aligned with the local election register, than EU citizens will be able to vote. However, if it's done on the Parliamentary election register, then only British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens will be able to vote. Expatriates presumably can't vote at all - though can they vote on EU elections, in their new countries. If, as an EU citizen, ...
When I joined the Liberal Democrats, I knew I had joined a movement that, from 1678 onwards, has always been the first to fight for progressive change. We opposed the Corn Laws. We passed the People's Budget. We proposed the Beveridge Report. We supported gay rights. We understood climate change. We voted against Blair's butchery ...
Ed Miliband was always going to be on a loser today. Eurosceptic Tory MPs (ie, pretty much all of them) are cock-a-hoop at their Tory leader finally giving into their demands, and giving them what they've always wanted and he's previously resisted: the excuse to bang on and on about Europe for the next four years. So I had some sympathy for the Labour leader approaching today's Prime Minister's Questions. He had two options open to him: EITHER: "We think a referendum's a distraction from focusing on the economy, but the battle to stay in Europe is a battle for ...
[View the story "How the U.S. presidential inauguration was Storified" on Storify]
[IMG: Rainbow - Some rights reserved by @Doug88888] Equality Impact Assessments are carried out by local councils to judge how their decisions will affect some of the most marginal communities in their area. But there are calls now to scrap the process as part of the Tory mantra on scrapping red tape. I know that some authorities have turned EIAs into the worst extremes of political correctness gone mad. But the truth is that councils (and the Government too please) should be considering how their decisions will impact on all within their area. That's not to say that a negative ...
Oh look, Labour are targeting Leeds North West for the next General Election. They must be dominating in the area right now, right? Well, not really. Leeds has Local Elections most years. Leeds North West consists of four Leeds City Council wards - in 2011 and 2012, two elected a Liberal Democrat councillor, one a Conservative councillor and one a Labour councillor. In both 2011 and 2012 the Liberal Democrats won the most votes in the four wards overall. In 2012, the four wards comprising the constituency voted like this: Of course, people don't always vote in Local Elections like ...
The snow has closed schools this week and I was listening to a phone-in on the radio in which it was felt that teachers should walk to their nearest school in order to keep them open. For me this is an excellent idea if the closure is purely because teachers can't get to school. If health and safety issues are involved then it may not be such a good idea. There is always the thought that some pupils and staff may use bad weather as an excuse for a day off. However one argument put forward was that teachers use ...
My schooling of English history covered the 1066 invasion, then jumped to the Tudors, a smattering of the industrial revolution, a bit of the First World War, then a heavy focus on the Second World War whereupon, it seemed, history stopped. As far as I can recall, we learned nothing about the English Dissenters - the radical sects which flourished after the English Civil War. Then As I've continued my informal education, two groups in particular stand out - the Levellers and the Diggers. To grossly oversimplify, the Levellers wanted democracy and religious freedom. To quote Wikipedia, they wanted... ...extension ...
[IMG: Twitter logo] Yesterday the government chief scientist issued a thoughtful Foresight report on social media and social identity. It has important implications for political campaigning. For those in a hurry, here is the main message in a tweet: @andybodders No online identity? You will fade out of existence #beveryafraid The report uses rather more eloquent words to express this: As people have become accustomed to switching seamlessly between the internet and the physical world, they have begun to use social media to pursue friendships, continue conversations, and make arrangements in a way which dissolves the divide between online and ...
This morning the British Prime Minister David Cameron gave his long awaited speech on the European Union. I didn't listen to it, or read it, so you won't get any light on the nuances of his argument here. I'm interested in the political dynamics, which, as usual, do not depend on exactly what he said. From the BBC report his speech was fairly much as the last two weeks' briefing had suggested. We wants to "renegotiate" Britain's terms of membership, and then offer the British public an in/out referendum, after the next General Election, by the end of 2017. Mr ...
The BBC reports Nick Clegg's reaction to David Cameron's speech on the EU. The Liberal Democrat leader made it clear that he thought it was not in the national interest to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership. He said that the biggest challenge facing Britain was a fragile economy and that the Liberal Democrat priority was to build a strong economy in fair society. Yes, that phrase again. Something tells me we'd better get used to hearing it. He added that it was up to David Cameron what went in the Tory manifesto, but that his priorities were reforming ...
Good news for Stockport as the number of people in Stockport claiming Jobseekers Allowance continued to fall, and much faster than the Greater Manchester, North West and UK averages. The fall was even bigger (7.5%) for 18-14 year olds and we also saw falls in all our priority areas (which remain a challenge). Stockport JSA Headlines o The number of people in Stockport claiming Jobseekers allowance decreased by 3.4% month-on-month, representing a net decrease of 203 claimants o At December 2012, Stockport had a JSA claimant rate of 3.2% o Stockport experienced a month-on-month decrease (3.4%) which was larger than ...
Prime Minister David Cameron this morning gave his long-awaited speech on Europe and the UK's position in the EU. In essence, he said that he would seek to renegotiate the EU's constitution and offer the British people a referendum based on the outcome. He said that if he gets his way then he will be campaigning for the UK to stay in the EU but the public would be offered the option of leaving. He laid out a number of ideas about how the EU would change. But he also said that, whilst members of the Euro-zone might want to ...
[IMG: David Cameron - License Some rights reserved by Statsministerens kontor ] David Cameron delivered his long, long-awaited speech on Europe this morning (text here). Caron's rounding up the reactions from Lib Dems here – but here are my five initial thoughts... This is the speech Cameron didn't want ever to have to give. Let's be clear, David Cameron is making this speech now to try and keep the Conservatives together. The threat from Ukip and the party's right has proved too powerful to withstand. Offering a referendum was no longer an option open to him: it was an inevitability ...
Liberal Democrat MEPs have been responding to David Cameron's speech promising an in/out referendum on Europe once he has renegotiated the terms of the UK's membership. This is, of course, incumbent on the Conservatives winning a majority at the next election. That sounds like a pretty powerful motivator to Liberal Democrat activists to ensure the Tory leader does not have control of the Commons. I will update this post during the day with further comments. First off the marks were Sir Graham Watson and Sarah Ludford. I was quite surprised to see the words "looks good, sounds good" in Sir ...
Courtesy of the latest ONS statistics comes this graph. What struck me is that for all the talk of the UK needing a US-style economic boost, the US's unemployment record has been significantly worse than the UK's, and even in the last year has been no better. [IMG: Unemployment graph from ONS]
Wed 23rd
09:49Jeremy Browne MP writes...Liberal Democrats change the law to promote freedom of speech
We all know that insulting people is bad manners, but what many people did not realise is that until last week, insulting people was actually a crime. Under Section 5 of the Public Order Act "insulting words or behaviour" were outlawed, with no clear definition of what qualified as an insult. People have been arrested for a slew of peculiar "crimes". Telling a police officer his horse was gay. Holding a banner describing Scientology as a dangerous cult. Growling and barking at two passing dogs. Playing a DVD with quotations from the Bible. Some of these "crimes" were people making ...
Very quietly, and with a great deal of getting up early in the morning to catch trains, I have been carrying out an independent review for the Treasury and Cabinet Office on 'barriers to choice'. The review emerged out of the debate inside government about whether there should be a legal right to choose, between schools, hospitals, social care providers and so on - and the realisation that there was very little information about whether people were actually using the choices they had been given. Especially disadvantaged people. Well, the report is now ready and will be published tomorrow. The ...
Blackness Road shopping area Last night, along with representatives from Tayside Police, NHS Tayside and the City Council (including Community Safety Wardens) I attended and chaired a meeting of traders from the Blackness Road area, where we discussed a number of local issues including concerns about drugs-related behaviour and local parking. I am grateful to everyone who attended for their positive input and we agreed to meet again informally to discuss local issues later in the spring.
Yesterday, I attended the latest meeting of the residents' association for the sheltered housing at Pennycook and Sinderins Courts that took place in Pennycook Court - see right. There were a number of issues discussed including garden maintenance, cleaning and the excellent financial outcome from the coffee morning held in November. I also updated the committee on action to tackle two areas of overgrown foliage the group had highlighted. Marion Adams, the Association Chair, reported the sad news that Grace Haskett, a long-standing committee member has sadly passed away. Grace was a lovely, cheerful lady and will be sadly missed. ...
2008 marked a milestone. Not that I'd spent five years blogging, but that it includes the first completely empty, devoid-of-posts month in my blogging career (earlier missing months did have stuff in them before server crashes took them out). There was blogging in all the other months, but fallow months will become more common in the retrospective from now on. The lack of things I had to blog about is probably reflected in this post, where my blog came back from a couple of days away to a cry of 'find something to write about.' Most of the things I ...
Why do Mary Beard's Twitter abusers hate intelligent women? - Telegraph (tags: ) A Don's Life: Internet fury: or having your anatomy dissected online Mary Beard does not deserve this shit. (tags: ) Is benefit fraud at a "record high"? | Full Fact In cash terms yes, in percentage terms, no, it's fallen. (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: Close up of a payslip. (c) iStockphoto] The Resolution Foundation/IPPR new report into the living wage does an impressive job of addressing many of the basic questions which often come up about the concept. Here are some of those, in my words, along with extracts from the report which answer them. You can read the report on the living wage in full at the end of this post. What's the difference between the living wage and the national minimum wage? "Living wages ... by explicitly focusing on living standards, they look beyond the minimum wage, which focuses on what ...
[IMG: Snow near St Abbs - Some rights reserved by Effervescing Elephant] Every week, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition. State pension In my column last week I touched upon the Government's plans, announced by Lib Dem Pensions Minister Steve Webb, to introduce a single tier State Pension of £144 in 2017. The new pension will mean that the self-employed and those with caring responsibilities no longer miss out on support in retirement and those who have saved will no longer be ...
As I type David Cameron is delivering a speech on Europe in which he will promise an in/out referendum on Europe after the next election following a renegotiation of terms of membership for the UK. There are lots of comments from across the political spectrum both for and against the PM's move. Many on the left are attacking him as "weak", the argument being he has capitulated to his backbenchers and is running scared of UKIP. There may be some truth in that but politically being on the side of "the voters" and giving them "the choice" is pretty damn ...
The Secret Mansion (with images, tweets) Baron Hill on Ynys Môn, abandoned since WW2. (tags: photos ) Obama, Marshmallow Cannon Creator Joey Hudy Pose For Science Fair Pictures Fantastic videos of airguns in the White House. (tags: ) Dear brilliant students: Why you should not do a Ph D. (tags: Life ) The best (and worst) media errors and corrections of 2012 Some of these are hilarious. (tags: Funny media ) BBC News - Norway goat cheese fire closes tunnel "This news item contains the words 'Norway', 'goat', 'cheese', and 'fire'." - Dominic Green (tags: cheese Norway ) Up-Goer 5: ...
You can now follow Liberator on Twitter: @Liberator_mag You'll receive regular updates of Liberator's blog posts plus other news about the magazine. There is also a Liberator group on Facebook (log-in required). But nothing can beat subscribing to the actual magazine (you know the sort of thing, printed on paper with staples in the middle).
So, I'm completely insane, but I've gone and registered for the Dumbo Double Dare, running the new Disneyland 10K and the Disneyland Half Marathon on consecutive days. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm planning to do actual, specific, planned training for the half this time - it's time to put my 2:15 to bed. And, given that I did an 8K and a Half this fall, I'm not so worried about finishing the distances - I don't think this is anywhere as big a challenge (for me) as the Goofy would be (Disney World Half & Full on ...
This isn't going to be popular (well certainly amongst certain quarters) but I don't care. My blog, my rules. This week's post is Leona Lewis with Bleeding Love. It's a cheesefest which reminds me of a great week spent in Padstow with two very dear friends - this song seemed to follow us round! This is for them: Andrew
I have welcomed news that the City Council's Street Lighting Partnership will review street lighting at Abbotsford Place, following concerns raised by me on behalf of sheltered housing constituents that the lighting in this street is significantly lower than on nearby Blackness Avenue. A number of sheltered tenants in the Abbotsford Place have pointed out to me that the street lighting is at a lower brightness level than in nearby Blackness Avenue and the lighting Abbotsford Place appears quite dim in places. Given that this is an area of sheltered housing with a large number of elderly people, I was ...
The Welsh Labour government must review the salary of the top official at the Welsh Ambulance Trust after it was revealed that the chair is the highest paid of all the 13 ambulance trusts in Britain but the trust delivers the poorest response rates to category A emergency calls. Salaries and performance rates complied by the Welsh Liberal Democrats show that the salary of the chair of the Welsh Ambulance Trust is in the highest salary band of all Ambulance Trusts in England, Scotland and Wales despite having the worst response rate to category A emergency calls within eight minutes. ...
I don't work at the moment, but I can write about the last job I did, and the job I accepted the day before today. My last job was to do fun things with children who were away from home for a few days with other children and maybe their teachers or some other grown-up they know. The fun things they did with me were things like firing guns, working out hard problems and climbing up walls. I watched the children do the fun things and helped to keep them safe. In my next job, I will work in a ...
I am having a spate of leaving things in places, because sometimes my brain does that. (Yeah, yeah, it's a flare up of ADD, and that's indicative of stress/depression and I should probably be doing stuff about that. But still.) Like yesterday, when I left my Nook in the museum gallery I was working in, because I could not stop reading my book until the very last second before opening. I didn't realize I'd left it until I got on the subway and felt about for the boo. With any other book, although the break in reading the book is ...
[IMG: 6153069332_4811921915_m] There is little doubt that the so-called "plebgate" affair leading to Andrew Mitchell's resignation was decidedly peculiar. It had momentum in the media because it pandered to preconceptions of the Tory Cabinet as a bunch of out of touch, condescending and rather unpleasant upper class twits. In the run up to Christmas Channel 4 broadcast a programme raising suspicions over the police "evidence" regarding the incident and its apparent corroboration by a member of the public claiming to have been an eye witness. Central to those suspicions was the observation that the "member of the public" appeared to ...
