This week's tune is from the new "Global Creative Director" of Blackberry, Alicia Keys... ...however, that is coincidental to her appearance here with the massive hit "No One": Andrew
You would think that Cornwall Council would understand the proud nature of Cornish identity. You'd think they would also understand the, shall we say, sensitivities that Cornish people sometimes feel about their identity. Just this week a councillor stormed out of prayers at a council meeting because the priest leading them referred too often to the 'county' of Cornwall. Whatever your view (and I am proud to be in the Cornish camp), you'd think that the council would have more nous than to design a form with an 'ethnic origin' box that lists: "Gypsy/Traveller/Cornish". But Cornwall Council has done so ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert has welcomed the decision to include Computer Science in the new English Baccalaureate qualification for schools. He said the decision will give youngsters a wide range of skills, equipping them effectively for the digital age and giving them vast opportunities in further education and the workplace. And for the economy as a whole, it would mean the next generation would not only be adept at using information technology but would also have a sound knowledge of system design, programming and graphics. "This is excellent news," said Julian. "This will make the new EBacc qualification very relevant ...
The ONS published this part of the 2011 census today. People who have been following Cambridge City Councillor Colin Rosenstiel on Twitter will already have heard a lot of these details as he has taken the figures and calculated percentages based on those people who actually travel to work (ONS figures include everyone). In Cambridge City the percentage of people who travel to work who use a bicycle has risen from 28.3% in 2001 to 31.9% in 2011 - an increase of about 12% which is good news. Sadly this, very impressive, figure was beaten by the number who were ...
Those who follow my geeky blog will know that I've recently been attempting to read all those Kindle books I've been stockpiling. Becoming somewhat agitated at the poor quality of some of the fiction books I foolishly purchased because of their price (damn you self-publishers!), I felt now was the time to give "What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense" by Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson and Robert P George a go. It is a, very valiant, attempt to argue in favour of a limited definition of marriage in a non-religious and logical fallacy free way without denigrating or ...
The news that Cumbria County Council has vetoed a further search for a deep nuclear waste storage site is definitely a setback to reviving nuclear energy in the UK. The fears that people might imagine the Lake District and immediately think of radioactive waste - rather than Wordsworth or Ruskin, for example - was enough to put the dampeners on things. It isn't the final nail in the nuclear energy coffin. The authorities have proceeded so far without a solution to long-term waste storage, so I expect they will carry on. But there is an iron law which will provide ...
An off the cuff, thought, standards, standards just what standards do we expect of our council, I see our friend Moores is once again in the frame, deservedly so or not, for what, behaviour unbecoming a Thanet coucillor! (to be honest I couldn't be bothered to read the detail) Please do us a favour, yes a handful of councillors in Thanet exude dignity and respect for, we muppets who go to work, pay taxes, so they can play politics. And before I go further, I should declare an interest, having myself used local authority standards proceedures to redress offensive language. ...
I was somewhat disappointed to see one of Suffolk's County Councillors criticise the Suffolk Links service recently. As a regular user, dependent on it to get me to and from the station, I have grown to appreciate the service, and have campaigned locally to encourage usage. And strangely, contrary to the belief of some, it is a remarkably reliable service, very rarely late - often due to the failure of a preceding passenger to turn up on time - reasonably priced, and far more flexible than the fixed bus service that my village hasn't had in recent memory. When I ...
One of my more recherché favourite blogs is The Downstairs Lounge, which celebrates British comedy records. A new post there looks at Dora Bryan and her 1964 album Dora. On the one hand: Dora Bryan has a singing voice that is far from subtle. It is hard to know how precisely to describe it for the uninitiated. It's sort of... part someone trying to grind diamonds in a domestic food blender, part someone else attempting to cut through Italian marble with an blunt electric kitchen knife.But on the other: Dora is a record of a star of stage, screen, cinema ...
Keynesian Liberal thinks he knows what Leeds needs - and it is not HS2. Professor Louis Appleby, the National Director of Mental Health and Criminal Justice, has written a guest post for the excellent MentalHealthCop blog: "any police officers I have met are clear that dealing with mental illness is a natural part of their modern role. Others believe the opposite, that it gets in the way of "real" policing. But that cannot be right. Mental illness is common, as is substance misuse and personality disorder. Society is finally facing up to how common mental ill-health is. People whose work ...
At this morning's Full Council meeting I asked Cllr Rosa Battle (Exec member for Culture and Leisure): "If the Council's draft budget proposals are accepted what are the implications of the disbanding of the Mersey Valley Countryside Warden Service for the future of the Mersey Valley? In particular how does the Council intend to maintain sites such as Chorlton Ees, Ivy Green and Chorlton Water Park and to protect Wildlife?" Sadly the response was very disappointing and did not elaborate on the Council's long term plans for the Mersey Valley. Cllr Battle did not go into any detail other than ...
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone at Whittington Hospital] A news release brings the news: Haringey Liberal Democrats and Lynne Featherstone MP have launched a petition calling on Whittington chiefs to ensure that no hospital services are lost – and no land sold off – without equal or better local replacement services being put in place. The plans to sell off land and relocate six hospital buildings were confirmed at a meeting of the hospital's Board and announced shortly after. The MP and Haringey Lib Dems immediately raised their concerns about the plans. Lynne Featherstone MP made an urgent phone call with Chief ...
Chorlton History Group - Chorlton's World War 2 VeteransThurs Feb 7th 2013 1.30pm At Chorlton Good Neighbours, Wilbraham St Ninian's Church , Egerton Rd South, Chorlton £1.50 charge for tea & biscuits All welcome A tribute to some of Chorlton Good Neighbours members, all now in their 90's who served their country so well in World War 2: • Bob Cowan, for whom we mounted a successful campaign for an Arctic Convoy medal to be awarded to veterans such as himself • John Mackay , also an Arctic Convoy veteran who lives in Chorlton • Alan Wood, fighter pilot, who ...
The Agenda for this year's Scottish Conference will be sent to members tomorrow but I've had a bit of a sneak peek. I'd better not give you the full list of timings and the like because Scottish Conference Convener Sheila Thomson would spank me if I did, but I can tell you that there is plenty of scope for controversy and debate. There are more policy debates than for some considerable time - 9 in total with 6 coming from local parties or members. Scottish Conference will get the chance to have its say on the controversial secret courts legislation. ...
The Agenda for this year's Scottish Conference will be sent to members tomorrow but I've had a bit of a sneak peek. I'd better not give you the full list of timings and the like because Scottish Conference Convener Sheila Thomson would spank me if I did, but I can tell you that there is plenty of scope for controversy and debate. There are more policy debates than for some considerable time – 9 in total with 6 coming from local parties or members. Scottish Conference will get the chance to have its say on the controversial secret courts legislation. ...
Try this for size.
Today has been one of those rare, mild but breezy, blue sky days and it gave me a chance to head out into the garden in search of spring. After such a horrible wet, cold and snowy start to this year it was great to be able to catch up on some of the autumn chores that I never finished at the end of last year. Clearing away dead foliage from summer and autumn flowers, now turned to mush by a couple of weeks of snow and sub-zero temperatures, it is a delight to find the half ripe buds of ...
The campaign to keep Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano on the schools curriculum continued to gather steam with two articles in today's newspapers. The Independent reports that education secretary Michael Gove and Lib Dem leader Nick ...
Here is a passage from the OFT press release into competition in the petrol market The OFT found that, pre-tax, the UK has some of the cheapest road fuel prices in Europe. In the 10 years between 2003 and 2012 pump prices increased from 76 pence per litre (ppl) to 136ppl for petrol, and from 78ppl to 142ppl for diesel, caused largely by an increase of nearly 24ppl in tax and duty and 33ppl in the cost of crude oil. Now here is your starter for ten. Given the information above what would be the fastest way to reduce fuel ...
Liberal Youth welcomes the news that UCAS is reporting an increase in university applications, and especially welcomes the continuing trend of young people from poorer background going to university more. With people from disadvantaged backgrounds being 80% more likely to attend a higher education institution this is a major step in creating a fairer and ...
Holocaust Day in Southport saw a packed Hall at a town centre Church. Michael Braham- the 'go to man' when you need a Master of Ceremonies in the town-presided.. Lessons were read, prayers were said and impressively intoned. The prophet Micha from the Hebrew Bible proclaimed his vision of a better world where the Lord: ..... shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall ...
I'm really concerned about some new cancer research by UCL and Kings College, London. People in Britain may be needlessly dying of cancer because they don't want to talk about it. Researchers believe Brits, and especially British men, are more ... Continue reading →
For those of us who are Euro pragmatists and who have despaired at the way that Tory sceptices and UKIP have been allowed to corner the debate on our future, I am pleased to discover a new website/campaign designed to respond to misinformation and to correct this imbalance. British Influence say that it is wrong that one extreme of the debate think they own the Union Jack in their belief that the only future is out. They add that it is also wrong that the other extreme think that they own the European flag in their belief that the only ...
[IMG: Broken magic crystal ball and finance arrow] The way in which economic agents form expectations about the future is one of the most important issues in economics. All economic theory has to take a position on the matter, whether it is discussed explicitly or the treatment is left implicit. For three decades now the rational expectations hypothesis has dominated, despite a persistent strand of criticism. The more tenacious and optimistic advocates of the REH might take the view that it has something meaningful to say about how people actually make decisions. A more common position is to adopt an ...
I've been woeful at this while I've been ill. Sorry about that. This post will bring me up to date. (a list of the questions and links to all the answers can be found on this entry) Favourite Writer Robert Holmes. Witty, political, able to work in shedloads of Hammer Horror references, and one of only two writers prior to Big Finish who was able to write Leela properly. Favourite Couple Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and Benton, whose love remains true and constant right from The Invasion, through Benton's transition into Doris, and happy old age. It's just a shame ...
Should Scotland be an independent nation? Yes or No Yes the phrasing that the SNP wanted "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?" was ruled by the electoral commission as possibly leading and not neutral. So the shorter more neutral question above is now the one that Nicola Sturgeon has agreed that she will recommend is adopted for the referendum. Scottish Electoral Commissioner John McCormick commenting on the issue of the all important question said he wanted voters to have confidence in the result of the referendum. Adding: "We have rigorously tested the proposed question, speaking to ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert News that Cambridge can bid for a share of a £30 million government fund to improve its streets for cyclists has been welcomed by the city's MP, Julian Huppert. The announcement came from Liberal Democrat Transport Minister, Norman Baker and Cambridge is one of the cities allowed to bid for the funding. "This is excellent news," said Julian. "With this investment we could build on the safety measures already in place on our city streets making it safer for cyclists and encouraging more people to travel by bike. "Our commitment to cycling is starting to achieve ...
The Electoral Commission has published its advice on both the question for next year's referendum on whether Scotland should leave the UK and spending limits. Both sides of the debate have been quick to accept the recommendations, which means that most of the issues on process should now be resolved. This means that Scots will be asked next Autumn to answer: Should Scotland be an independent country? Yes/No This is different from the SNP Government's proposed question: Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country? And also from the rather cumbersome question drawn up by a panel set ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... BBC News – The Bank of England, the chancellor, and the target The Bank of England, the chancellor, and the target http://buff.ly/115fRk9 « why inflation not nominal GDP targeting still preferred Grammar school myths | FT data Grammar school myths http://buff.ly/X6a6KV « poorer kids do worse (via @XtopherCook) There was more to George Galloway's triumph in the Bradford West by-election than celebrity politics | British Politics and Policy at LSE Lewis Baston argues 'There was more to Galloway's triumph in Bradford West than celeb politics' http://buff.ly/115dcXR Galloway = catalyst Green Deal: Energy-saving ...
[IMG: imagesCABUFU1B] For some time we've had a serious shortage of nursery school places in East Dulwich and more widely across Southwark. Fortunately some relief was announced yesterday. An application 12-AP-3844 to convert the St.Thomas More on Lordship Lane into a ground floor nursery and 1st floor community space was granted planning permission. This should lead to 40-70 nursery places depending on the age and exact final configuration. A second planning application 12-AP-1767 to convert the former Dulwich area council housing office into a ground floor nursery – Crown House, 41-43 East Dulwich Road – was submitted. The council rejected ...
Bozier accuses Mensch of "covering her back" after his arrest bit.ly/14uMmHr "She pushed me over the edge of a cliff" — Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) January 30, 2013
Like all County Councillors Nick has a budget of £10,000 to allocate each year to help local organisations. These are just a few of the grants he has been able to make available this year and in earlier years. [IMG: WiggSlide 002] Wigginton PC – new Childrens Slide Chiltern Canoe Club – new canoe Aldbury Memorial Hall – chimney work Tring Community Centre – windows Herts Police – speed gun for Tring Long Marston Hall – work to roof Tring Bowls Club – help to buy land Wilstone & LM Scouts – equipment Tring ATC – equipment for minibus Tring ...
The Libertine has interviewed the new members of the Liberal Youth exec on a range of topics, in order to keep you in the loop. Here is the next in the series, an interview with our new Membership Development Officer, Josh Dixon. 1) What is the first thing you will do in office? I think ...
I cannot work up much enthusiasm for the HS2 project, and that's not just because I'm unlikely to be still alive by the time it reaches here. Recalling that the original estimate of the cost of the Olympics was £2.9 billions but they eventually cost over £9bn (and they then had the cheek to claim that they had come in "under budget" because the budget had been revised - Orwell thou should'st be living at this hour) I don't put much faith in the estimated cost of £30bn. Even if the target completion date some 20 years hence is met, ...
I am not from the educational establishment and, having seen two daughters through state schools, I have plenty of zeal for major reform. But that reform does not encompass sending a copy of the King James Bible to every school nor yet banishing the Arts from the nation's principal academic qualification. In so many ways Michael Gove uses the same techniques as his colleague Eric Pickles: pander to the right wing press, eschew evidence based thinking, make a splash. The AS level announcement this week is just one more example. I didn't have the option of AS levels. I sat ...
"Libor Lies Revealed in Rigging of $300 Trillion Benchmark" is the startling headline in Bloomberg News, exposing what it calls: ...the biggest and longest-running scandal in banking history. Even in an era of financial deception -- of firms peddling bad mortgages, hedge-fund managers trading on inside information and banks laundering money for drug cartels and terrorists -- the manipulation of Libor stands out for its breadth and audacity.In case anyone is in any doubt, financial scandals don't get any bigger than this: "We will never know the amounts of money involved, but it has to be the biggest financial fraud ...
Wed 30th
12:05
University application rates in England at highest ever for disadvantaged groups, even post-£9...
UCAS has just released the latest university application figures as at January 2013. The good news is that they show an overall increase of 3.5% across the UK compared to 2012. The government will breathe a particular sigh of relief that the figure for England only is also positive: a 3.0% increase in applicants in the second year of up-to-£9k tuition fees operating. Here you can see the application rate trend over the past 10 years by country: [IMG: figure_1] At least as importantly, there is no sign of disadvantaged young people being put off applying to university by fees ...
In my New Year review of the party's position, I emphasised the need to get the basics right; political competence before all else. I touched on the party's messaging only perfunctorily, because my view was (and to an extent still is) that there are more pressing concerns than the message itself (we can have the best message in the world, but if we are failing when it comes to the basics of political strategy and tactics it is next to useless). Here's is what I did say, in my concluding remarks: There's already been talk over the Christmas break of ...
[IMG: Scottish flag. Some rights reserved. Courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/584559] In one of the least surprising – but most important – pieces of news this week, the independent Electoral Commission has rejected the SNP's proposed independence referendum wording and instead is recommending that the question be: Should Scotland be an independent country? Yes/No Alex Salmond and the SNP had been pushing hard for: Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country? However, the Electoral Commission concluded that: The [SNP's] formulation 'Do you agree...' was commonly felt by research participants to be biased towards a 'yes' outcome and potentially leading ...
I explained why Birmingham was wrong to do this in parliament yesterday. The video of my speech is here. The text of the debate is here There is always a challenge understanding the arguments when different people quote different figures. I will, therefore put up the two arguments about costs. These figures look only at the effect on the city council. That is about 88% of the total council
Experts in local and family history from Cambridgeshire County Council will be sharing their knowledge and research skills at a series of workshops over the coming months. The family history workshops will focus on how to make the best use of online and archive resources, including parish registers, the national census and crime and prison records. The first workshop will be held at Cambridge Central Library on Saturday 2 February and will be led by Huntingdonshire Community Librarian Caroline Clifford, Fenland Community Librarian Alison England, and Archives and Local Studies Manager Alan Akeroyd. Cambridgeshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Learning, ...
Last year, I remember seeing somewhere that Paddy Ashdown was learning how to work Twitter. Sadly, nothing happened after that. However, yesterday, our favourite ex leader and new Chair of the General Election campaign actually sent his first tweet. [IMG: Paddy's first tweet] Needless to say, he immediately received lots of replies asking what he did have for breakfast – including one from Ladbrokes which started offering odds on Paddy's morning repast. [IMG: Paddy's breakfast betting] I have no doubt that some enterprising Liberal Democrat will tweet a photo of Paddy's breakfast if they come across him at Spring Conference ...
It's been ten years since I decided to add a blog to my website, and I don't think then that I expected to still be blogging ten years later. Yet here I still am still plugging away and still with a loyal band of readers who hang on my every word can't be bothered to go through with the faff of deleting me from their feeds. However, while I'm still blogging, the look back I've taken over the last couple of weeks has shown me that what we mean by 'blogging' has changed a lot over that time. For those ...
Europe is haunted by the myth of the lazy mob | Ha-Joon Chang | Comment is free | The Guardian (tags: ) Coalition set to clash over removal of 'greatest black Briton' Mary Seacole from National Curriculum - UK Politics - UK - The Independent On this, at least, I agree with Nick. (tags: ) Revenge Porn and The Women-Humiliation Industry « (tags: ) On our squeamishness about workfare (tags: ) Yorkshire Beard Day 2013 | TBBC Northern Beard Meet Up 2013 (tags: ) Geek Convention Boycott Over Sexual Abuse Charges | The Mary Sue (tags: ) [IMG: comment count ...
[IMG: Willie Rennie - Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats] Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie sent an email to members yesterday outlining what he is trying to do as regards building a consensus around further powers for the Scottish Parliament in the event of no vote in next year's independence referendum. If I had been him, given the proximity of Scottish Conference and how fabulously awesome it is going to be, with lots of controversy and debate, I would have put a link at the bottom enticing people to go and register.But seeing as he didn't – you can ...
China Is Burning Almost As Much Coal As the Rest of the World Combined And no sign of slowing down. (tags: Climate change ) War, Death and Hubris Afghanistan, Britain and Ireland in the 19th century. (tags: history War Ireland Afghanistan ) First Evidence of Life in Antarctic Subglacial Lake Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li! (tags: Biology ) A name that's particular Oxford colleges' domain names. (tags: Internet ) Cambridge college domain names In case you needed to know. (tags: Internet )
Pupils from across Cambridgeshire will get the opportunity to take part in one of two theatre productions to teach youngsters about road safety. Cambridgeshire County Council Road Safety Education Team is sponsoring a two week tour by two theatre companies which will be performed at schools between February 18 and March 22. Courtroom, performed by the Tiny Giants Theatre Company, is an interactive play targeting key stage 2 pupils (7-11 years) and takes the entire audience into a hugely entertaining, larger than life courtroom. Using the audience as jury members, the judge and lawyers go over events leading up to ...
See what I did there? That headline is a bit of a leading question. It certainly isn't, in my view at least, neutral. It invites the reader to answer "Yes." Had I said "Should the SNP do what the Electoral Commission says?" that would be a little more neutral. We'll find out later what the Electoral Commission thinks about that when it rules on the SNP's chosen question for the Independence Referendum. They want to ask "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?" The Electoral Commission view is actually the only one that matters. If the Referendum ...
My best friend's little sister keeps photo-shopping photos of my cat. I think they're the best thing ever. As is my cat. After I announced to the world that he had officially been dubbed Count Rucifee von Kittenpants. It's the monocle that slays me every time. In my head, he's a superhero. In Sarah's, he's a supervillan. Now he's a superhero! Kittenpants, Kittenpants, wherefore art thou Kittenpants? I'm wondering when I should tell her about my two other favorite songs: "He's a Kittenpants and he's ok: he sleeps all night and he sleeps all day" and "He's a Yankee Doodle ...
Riverside Drive at rail bridge A West End constituent recently contacted me regarding his concerns about safety in respect of vehicles coming down Riverside Approach onto Riverside Drive then using the slip lane to cross the carriageway to head west along Riverside Drive. He wrote: "Has consideration ever been given to closing the crossover under the Tay Rail Bridge? I consider it a junction waiting for an accident to happen, especially with vehicles crossing the eastbound carriageway of Riverside Drive from Riverside Approach and hoping to squeeze into a limited space. For instance I was driving east on the offside ...
Yesterday I called on the Welsh Labour Government to rethink its approach to public engagement and consultation in Wales following unrest by local communities to planned changes to NHS services. Despite the raft of legislation that exists on how local health boards and community health councils in Wales are to engage with the public over proposed changes to health services, it seems clear from the reaction to the plans unveiled so far that the public engagement and consultation process has been flawed. Betsi Cadwaladr and Hywel Dda health boards have been criticised for failing to properly consult with local people ...
The defeat of the bill to equalise the electorates of constituencies for the 2015 general election on the back of Lib Dem MPs votes appears to have been supported pretty much across the Lib Dem blogosphere. But I'm not so sure. It appears to be both a strategic and tactical mistake. It's strategic because equal representation is a long held liberal aim. In fact it's been an historic goal of the Labour movement - starting almost 175 years ago with the People's Charter of 1838: The Chartist's six demands- 1. Universal male franchise 2. Secret ballots 3. Electoral districts of ...
I read tonight that City of Westminster officials are up in arms over the lack of any progress to date on the spoil heap otherwise known as Chelsea Barracks. Aside from being used to store barricades during the 2012 games, there is no sign of anything happening on yhis site. Aside from being a visual ...
