On the news today I heard a Conservative MP said "We should be encouraging people to marry, through the tax system". Now I don't know about anybody else but I certainly don't look across the room and see someone and think, "Wow! That person is my ticket to a tax break." But then maybe this is only an attitude for millionaires who can afford a private accountant and one day harbour hopes of safe seat in the Lords for live after a few terms as a Conservative MP. I know it is not something that any of those seeking marriage ...
A major news item today is the decision by the government not to give a tax break to married couples. Not yet, anyway. David Cameron is still promising to introduce it at some unspecified future date. Such a tax break was in the Tory manifesto. It is also in the coalition agreement, although it was agreed that Liberal Democrat MPs could abstain in any parliamentary votes on the issue. But a major question is being ignored. Why is this policy being described as "a tax break for married couples"? Would it not be just as accurate to describe it as ...
Bottom of England's football League One, Hartlepool, won their first home match of the season 2-1 v Notts County with goals from James Poole and Peter Hartley. And the game was rounded off by a quote of comedic genius from Pools (and former Hibs) manager , John Hughes who told the club website: "It was important to get that monkey off our back in terms of the home victory..."
On Wednesday 23rd January Cllr Julia Cherrett proposed a Lib Dem motion calling for the Council to encourage the trustees of the Teesside Pension Fund to look at their investments in tobacco companies. This is the fund which carries the pension investment of thousands of public sector workers and councillors - generally not big investments for each individual but a significant sum in total. As
The BBC and Comedy Central are carrying news that there will be no new tax break for married couples in this year's budget. The measure is in the coalition agreement, with Liberal Democrat MPs free to abstain. The BBC also reports significant unrest on the Conservative backbenches where many are calling for a new tax break to sugar the "pill" of equal marriage. However there are still plans to introduce a limited transferability of the personal allowance between partners this parliament. I find the idea that the government knows the best way for you to define your relationship supremely arrogant, ...
If it was the skeleton of Richard III they dug up from under the car park of Leicester's child protection team, then the fate of the Princes in the Tower will probably return to public attention. One of the key sources for the case against Richard is the work of the Tudor court historian Polydore Vergil. Originally from Italy, he settled and spent most of his life in England. According to Wikipedia, he held a number of sinecures from the Church, including the living of Church Langton in Leicestershire. Turn to the Victoria County History entry for the village and ...
This is the latest in my series of Random Thoughts posts with links, things found on the web and other stuff that has occurred to me between 28th January 2013 and 2nd February 2013. This is largely catching up on the political news in January. David Laws announced as chair of manifesto working group I don't have as much problem with Laws in this role as I know some will have — However, it does demonstrate either a cavalier attitude to party management or a deliberate provocation of parts of the Party by Nick Clegg. Neither of which are good ...
I don't listen to Radio 4's The News Quiz much these days. In its day it was something of a trailblazer, but today panel shows with comedians commenting on the week's news have gone very stale. In fact it can be hard to avoid them on the higher-numbered television channels. Besides when I do catch the programme, it has lost its charm. The reason is its host, Sandi Toksvig. I was never her greatest fan: she seemed to think that putting on a funny voice was they key to comedy. In fact she was one of those people (think Dick ...
A few months ago, I stumbled across an interesting charity that helps communities without sanitation build better loos. It has an arresting premise that you can "twin your toilet" – and I liked the concept so much I filed it away for a day when I might be able to afford to take part. That ...
If I haven't mentioned it before on here it's good to see Iain Dale blogging regularly again. With some of his recent posts he is starting to get close to the standard he maintained in his heyday. Anyway he has a post today where he is complaining about his local council and their expenses. Here are a couple of snippets: Tunbridge Wells is one of those councils whose political complexion has barely changed in 60 years. And it is unbelievably complacent. It fails to listen, its consultations are a joke and many of the councillors are fully paid up members ...
Liberal Democrats against Secret Courts has Jo Shaw's reply to Nick Clegg's latest Letter from the Leader: "The government amendments were a test of the good faith of those who support this Bill. That test has been failed. The government amendments make this Bill worse, not better." The Conservatives should stop obsessing about constituency boundaries and try to broaden their appeal, argues David Skelton on Platform 10. D.J. Taylor, the author of Orwell: The Life, talks about George Orwell's attitude to free speech and his encounters with censorship in a podcast on the Index on Censorship site. "The SWP are ...
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I doubt it's gone unnoticed, but there are rather a lot of Tories in parliament. Some 306 Tory MPs were elected in May 2010 (47% of the total on 36.1% of the vote), compared to a meagre 57 Lib Dems (only 9%, despite the party actually getting 23.0% of the vote). And so the Lib Dems in parliament have had quite a battle to achieve their successes so far in government. First Past the Post is neither a fair, nor a kind system (so let's hope it can still be changed as soon as possible!). Thus, on Tuesday of this ...
Another tardy edition of Saturday Six, so let's jump straight in! I'm not normally a fan of lists of "Influential Gays" or even "Influential gay people" but I quite liked this series of portraits from The Guardian. The link is to one of Omar Sharif Jr (whom I had never heard of) but I like most of the pictures in the series. Last Sunday saw Andy Murray take on Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open. Sadly my prediction that he would lose in four was right. Two days previously, he had taken on Federer in the Semis ...
Dear Mayor Anderson, Thank you for your somewhat intemperate e-mail to which I now respond. I have no need to shift the blame for leaks to the Labour Group because that is where they originate. Since the private and confidential ... Continue reading →
Early Day Motion 919 is calling for the revised history curriculum to retain material on the Crimean war heroine, nurse Mary Seacole. You know, like Florence Nightingale, but better, braver and blacker. If you haven't heard of Mary Seacole, Horrible Histories, as usual, will tell you everything you need to know. Was Mary Seacole long ignored by history because of her race? There is a backlash from some quarters suggesting that she is now being over-promoted as an exercise in multiculturalism. But you don't have to read very much to see how important a story hers is, and the racial ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Liberal England: HS2: The man in Whitehall knows best again Very good post from @lordbonkers > HS2: The man in Whitehall knows best again http://buff.ly/11szpcV
Dear Nick, Thank you for your letter today about childcare. I welcome your work in this vital area. I have noted from your letter your concern for new policy areas regarding civil liberties. You may recall I wrote to you in December on the subject of civil liberties when your letter referred to the equal marriage legislation and the Communications Data Bill, but not to the Justice and Security Bill. You are aware of the strength of feeling in the party about this Bill. Our party voted democratically and overwhelmingly against the Bill's extension of secret courts to any civil ...
The media is full of conspiracy theories this week as discontented Tory MPs brief journalists on the need for somebody else to do David Cameron's job. The Telegraph leads the way with a think piece speculating as to how serious the threat is. They say that far from being a name plucked from a hat Adam Afriyie has been plotting for some time. A self-made millionaire who founded his own IT business, he has reportedly been cataloguing signs of Tory discontent: Friends say he has a database of MPs prepared to defy Mr Cameron and possibly put their names to ...
I've wanted to blog for a while as it's been a turbulent week, but all of the thoughts I would want to write about are forgotten by the morning. I will therefore summarise what I think has happened to me, in terms of my mental health, then describe several events in the past week and
Tories are blinded by rage against Lib Dems, while Labour's cold fury is thawing - Excellent analysis from @RafaelBehr New university data shows everyone was wrong about tuition fees The Conservatives' defeat on constituency boundaries is entirely their own fault Obama's Drug Problem American insurers charge reckless rich drivers less than safe poor drivers BHA: The Dangers Of Homeopathy (Guest Post) Middle-aged men playing tag Tory MP who voted against Lords reform now whinging about the loss of the boundary reforms: David Cameron may have finished off the Tories - but he had no choice - Telegraph The Unbearable Self-Pity ...
I thought I would break the mold of my usual posts on politics and put in some music. One of my all time favourite songs is by the American band Garbage (I've heard all the jokes) called The Trick is to keep breathing from the album Version 2.0. If you get the chance do listen to the whole album - it is phenomenally good and definitely their high point as a creative band with more punch and bounce than G and rockier and more substance than Absolute Garbage. I fell in love with this song then and have never stopped ...
Sir Albert Bore, the Labour leader of Birmingham City Council has announced that Community Chest, the £100,000 budget allocated by each of the wards in Birmingham is to be cut to £50,000 next year. This is a real blow to local community organisations across the City which have been able to apply to Community Chest for local projects. In Acocks Green money has gone to a wide variety of local organisations, funding projects ranging from crime reduction initiatives to services for young people and much much more. I think this savage cut is a mistake. We all know there are ...
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 focusing on one Doctor a month. This month it's the second Doctors turn. As we move into the Troughton era it is worth pausing for a moment to lament the fact that much of the Troughton era is lost in time. This is largely thanks to the BBC's archiving policies (or lack of) but thankfully some episodes survive along with many audio soundtracks to episodes. It is with a heavy heart ...
One of my most embarrassing moments when writing words of campaigning advice happened nearly a decade ago when a colleague and I realised we had managed to write pages and pages about the importance of having a good voluntary team, how to organise volunteers, what you need to get them to do and so on – all without once mentioning anything about saying 'thank you'. Variations on 'and remember to say thank you' were then hurriedly scattered across the pages in atonement. So when Ed Maxfield and I sat down to plan out 101 Ways To Win An Election, one ...
[IMG: Mark Pack] Congratulations to my Co-Editor at Lib Dem Voice, Mark Pack, on his appointment as associate director at Blue Rubicon, 'a consultancy that leads strategic thinking in corporate, financial, brand and behaviour change communications'. He departs MHP Communications, where he's been since leaving the Lib Dems in 2009, at the beginning of March. In addition, he has recently been appointed a Visiting Lecturer at City University in the Journalism Department. Add these professional activities to his extensive political campaigning — did you know he's written a book on the subject, by the way? — and Mark's made the ...
Not much shocks me after so many years in politics. But the revelation at a Board meeting that the Whittington intended to sell off a third of its site, reduce wards and staff was a bolt from the blue. Given that we all - the local MPs from Islington and Haringey - meet with the CEO regularly and nothing of this sell off had ever been mentioned - what on earth was the Whittington thinking? Look at the recent past. It's only three years since we took to the streets to march, petition and fight the proposed Labour closure of ...
If your website's full of assholes, it's your fault - Anil Dash "if your website is full of assholes, it's your fault. And if you have the power to fix it and don't do something about it, you're one of them." (tags: ) If you can't manage comments well, don't offer comments at all "Notice that I've written nothing about anonymous comments. Or whether comments should be held for review before publication. That's not because I don't care about those issues, or don't have an opinion. I do. But I've also found that an individual publication's stand on those issues ...
The BBC report that Health boards in Wales are breaching the law by not providing accessible services for the deaf and hard of hearing. They say that the seven health boards should have published policies about improving access to services in December but none of them have done so. As a result the director of Action on Hearing Loss Cymru said they were not meeting legal obligations from the Equality Act. But the health boards said they are striving to improve access for the deaf and hard of hearing: Meanwhile, a separate report shows that 90% of GPs in Wales ...
Why isn't there more controversy in the party about Liberal Democrat Friends of China (LDFC)? It's one thing to seek to improve understanding of China or provide a rallying point for members of the party from the UK Chinese community. It's quite another to support the Chinese occupation of Tibet and say that, if the Tibetans don't like it, they have plenty of other Asian countries they can go and live in. Worse, when any party members criticise this occupation or the denial of human rights, LDFC condemns them as 'Sinophobes', runs a campaign of personal vilification, and tries to ...
In 1994 St.Clement's School moved from Archdale Road in East Dulwich to Ady's Road in The Lane ward. Nineteen years ago. The old school has been turned into 6 amazingly different apartments and homes. [IMG: Before Archdale] [IMG: After Archdale] But the guard railings were left and left and left. Eventually I spotted them and after 19 years they were removed. So how long does it take to remove guard railings... 19 years!
Mercator Puzzle! Fantastic - there was one country at the end that took me a while to get! (tags: maps ) My Big Study Francis tells us about his PhD, in Up-Goer Five. (tags: Philosophy )
Today I received the following from Catherine Bearder MEP perfectly summing up the Prime Minister's failure to provide clear leadership of this country's role in Europe. "Britain's place in the European Union has been debated at great length over the last few weeks. The Prime Minister's long-awaited speech meant I was asked to speak about the issue quite a lot on various local radio stations and newspaper articles." "Mr Cameron has doffed his cap to the right wing nationalists in the Tory party, whose real agenda is an immediate exit, and simultaneously put British growth, jobs and investment at risk. ...
I have spoken with a number of constituents over the past few days, following three fires in a week at the now-vacant Fyffe Street Motors site (see right), which is immediately adjacent to housing in Lawrence Street and Easson's Angle. Although minor in nature and clearly amateur, it is important that the building is fully secured to avoid any repetition and that there is regular patrolling in the area by the police and community wardens. I have been in touch with our local community police officer for the area who advises that he is giving the area very regular attention ...
According to Twitter, I'm one of 250,000 users who have possibly had their account hacked. According to TechCrunch, this makes me cool! After reading around, in addition to changing my password (natch), I've followed the advice in this Slate article and switched off java in my browser as well. Dear Twitter User: As a precautionary security measure, we have reset your Twitter account password. Check your inbox for a separate email from Twitter with instructions on how to reset your password. If you don't see an email, you can go to this page in our Help Center to request a ...
The final to choose the Finnish song is nearly upon us. Last year's entry was charming yet inoffensive and from the start (despite what others thought) unwinnable – the delegation were flying home to Helsinki before the big night. Yet how Finland has stirred they seem to be the hungriest and most deadly since 2006 ...
The next Bar Hill Community Market takes place today from 10:30am to 2pm in the Octagon next to the Church (a map, courtesy of OpenStreetView.org, is below). Stalls include Fruit and vegetables, Homemade cakes, Jewellery, Cards, Confectionery, Jams, Knitted items, Patchwork, Bags, Wooden crafts, Beauty products as well as stalls raising funds for local projects. There will also be refreshments and, weather permitting, a BBQ. If you wish to be part of this, or future, markets please contact us. Karen Austen 01954 781085 or Sue Gadsby 01954 200875 Please come and support your local community! PS. Future dates for 2013 ...
