The answer, it seems, is admiration for Belarus. Here is a BBC News report from 2006: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has praised Belarus, calling it "a model social state like the one we are beginning to create". During a visit to Minsk, he called for a strategic alliance with Belarus to counter "hegemonic" capitalism. Mr Chavez later met President Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing fundamental rights.And here is a Daily Telegraph report from October of last year: The Attorney General today indicated that he may block any Conservative plan to leave the European Convention on Human Rights ...
Story from Huffington Post. Picture from Fancy Dress Ball.
Here
Well the City Chambers is all a flutter as Edinburgh Council's answer to Lazarus, SNP Leader Steve Cardownie, faces his first serious leadership challenge. Steve has been in power for something like 23 out of the last 25 years (or maybe that is just how it feels) mostly as a Labour Councillor. He crossed the floor before the 2007 elections and was for a year or two the only SNP councillor in the city. Many within the SNP were unhappy with the deal he struck with Labour feeling that they did not extract enough in return for propping up their ...
In amongst the fallout from the conviction today of Vicky Pryce has been an attempt by her to ensnare other Liberal Democrats, claiming that Vince Cable previously knew about Chris Huhne having got her to take his speeding points (see, for example, the BBC's story). It's a claim that both Vince Cable and his wife (also meant to have been told) have rejected. However, what's been little mentioned, is that the published record of the emails between Vicky Pryce and Isabel Oakeshott show that Vicky Pryce herself changed her account shortly after making this claim. On 9 April 2011 she ...
The number 42 is the meaning of life if you asked anyone in the UK what that number meant to them. In the United States of America the number 42 is synonymous with just two men and one of them is about to call a day to his ring-laden career. I am getting to that age where some of my heroes that I have followed for my whole life watching a sport have called it a day. Heck very few of them are still around. You get new heroes and new loyalties but they'll always be a select few who ...
LIBRARY CAMPAIGNERS PUT FORWARD PLAN TO SAVE THREATENED LIBRARIES LIBRARY CAMPAIGNERS PUT FORWARD PLAN TO SAVE THREATENED LIBRARIES As many will know Sefton Council holds its crucial budget meeting this evening. One of the Labour-proposed cuts of most concern locally is the proposal to close Birkdale Library, together with Ainsdale and Churchtown Libraries. In fact more than half the current 13 libraries in Sefton would shut under the so-called "Option B" plan. Concerned local residents and councillors have been highly active over the past 4 months in campaigning against the closure plan. Petitions containing 12,500 signatures were submitted to Sefton ...
Thu 7th
20:59
At last, the Parliamentary party's defence of their voting on the Justice and Security Bill
...it's all Labour's fault. This is from a mailing to members this evening from Tim Gordon, Lib Dem chief executive: Justice and Security Bill The House of Commons voted on Report Stage of the Justice and Security Bill on Monday. We understand the widespread concern about this Bill in the party. But given that Labour chose not to oppose CMPs, the most that can be achieved is to improve it by negotiation internally and through amendment in Parliament. Thanks to the tireless work of Liberal Democrats in Government and on the Bill Committee this Bill is now vastly different from ...
[IMG: huhne quits] It was the number of voicemail messages on my mobile (having been holed up in meetings for my non-political day-job) that alerted me a story had broken this afternoon. A clutch of requests from news stations eager to know what the political fall-out for the Lib Dems would be from Vicky Pryce being found guilty of perverting the course of justice. My short answer? I just can't see it. Vicky Pryce is the ex-wife of an ex-MP. Yes, it's a compelling human drama, a modern morality tale of how one lie can destroy the careers of two ...
Well done to the BBC News Leicester pages: Leicester's Phoenix Square cinema to host dental school Liberal England asks: Is it safe?
South Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have arranged a supper and talk by Dr Eoghan Griffin from the Scott Polar Institute; 'Climate Change: A View from the Poles' Dr Eoghan Griffin, Scott Polar Institute Cambridge (speaking in a personal capacity). 20 March, 7PM, Foxton Village Hall. With home-made supper and dessert, bar and raffle. Tickets £12.50. If you are interested in coming along you can contact Susan Van de Ven who is organising it here.
Today Chris Huhne's former wife, Vicky Pryce, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice by accepting his speeding points ten years ago. Apart from the sentencing of both Huhne and Pryce, this verdict brings to a close a saga that is both sad and embarrassing - but also immensely personal in nature rather than political. That is not to say there have not been political ramifications - far from it. The inescapable reality is that this pitifully unnecessary situation has provided a significant stepback for our party, culminating as it did in the loss of a cabinet minister ...
Emin Milli is a blogger from Azerbaijan who was imprisoned in 2009 for two and a half years for his critical views about the government. He was conditionally released in November 2010, after serving 16 months of his sentence. In an interview with Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty he speaks about the current situation in Azerbaijan: Aliyev has always presented himself as a guarantor of stability in Azerbaijan. Now, he is becoming a guarantor of increasing instability. His father kept some space open for the opposition -- there were always five or six members of the opposition in parliament and ...
It has been announced that Skewen girl, Bonnie Tyler is to represent the UK at the Eurovision song contest. A small part of Skewen will be represented in Sweden. I have raised a Statement of Opinion at the National Assembly for Wales, so I will be urging all Assembly Members to show their support by congratulating and backing Bonnie. I am sure she will do Wales proud as well as the whole of the UK at Eurovision this year.
Over recent weeks and months, proposed changes to the way health services are delivered have dominated the political agenda. Locally, in the Hywel Dda Health Board area, the controversy around the 'reconfiguration' proposals has been particularly intense. In my role as Chair of the National Assembly's Petitions Committee, I have received petitions on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff Bay that reflect the concerns of many thousands of local residents concerning the future of our Health Service. I have been particularly impressed by the sheer grit and determination of the lead petitioners and their fellow campaigners. Central to their ...
Here is the "forward plan" for Stockport Council April-July 2013. It lists the decisions we expect to be taken over that period. Of course, not everything works according to plan and there are always new decisions that come in late and some in the list that get delayed for all sorts of reasons. Skip the first three pages and you'll see a summary list of all the decisions, followed by more detailed information on each one. If you look at the summary list on pages 4 and 5, the second column has a reference which tells you which Executive Councillor ...
[IMG: View from Los Angeles Observatory - Some rights reserved by Slices of Light] From the Los Angeles Times, seeking to explain a 16% turn-out in recent elections: One problem is that polls suggest most people get their news from local television stations, which devote far more time to covering the weather — which is exactly the same 320 days a year — than to local politics and government. At least in Blighty we can excuse our fascination with the weather due to its "four seasons in one day" proclivities. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
I am please to have signed the Emergency motion on the economy tabled for this weekends conference. Prateek Buck has drafted the motion. Prateek is author of the Social Liberal Forum's Plan C which-along with Will Hutton's foreword is available here The motion speaks of the failure of the banks to lend to businesses and people-especially RBS and Lloyds. Yesterday Lord Oakeshott tweeted: matthew oakeshott Furness Building Soc was bigger net lender to homes and biz than RBS,Lloyds or Santander"State-owned banks are stabbing biz in back That is a pretty amazing statistic. One small northern mutual Building Society is massively ...
Stephen Tall nominates some unexpected folk to be his 'Liberal hero of the week'. Robert Oakeshott is surely well qualified. A central theme of the Liberal Party was the need to reform capitalism and in particular to change Company Law to give employees a place by right on the Board and a proper share of the surplus an enterprise created. This policy of co-ownership -a lite version of which was adopted by the Lib Dems at Brighton the last time we met there-was the flagship policy of the Grimond era. One of the most prominent advocate of that policy was ...
Redcar and Cleveland Liberal Democrats have condemned the Labour Council for proposing for a 1.97% increase in Council Tax. If the rise was above 2% the Council would have to call a referendum in which the people would decide. The rise will give the Council an extra £1.1 million.Central Government has offered the Council well over half a million pounds if it freezes Council Tax this year. This is the third time Labour bosses have refused Government money to help keep Council Tax frozen.Last year Labour raised Council Tax by 3.5%, the highest in the country.Despite this the Labour council ...
Liberal Youth is conducting a Policy Consultation ahead of Federal Conference in Brighton. Here are some preliminary results presented by Policy Officer, Will Dyer. Enjoy! You can still take part in the consultation, details are below. It should firstly be stated that this policy consultation does not make the following results the official position of ...
I've been impressed recently by my friend James Shaddock's grassroots campaign - Rock the Boat - Lib Dems against Sexual Harassment. There are details on how to join the campaign at the bottom of this post. Today I've been inspired by bloggers I admire (Alex Marsh, Caron Lindsay amongst others) responding to the challenge to write a blog on what Liberal Democrat values are. I think I'm a little late for the deadline to get maximum linkage, but still wanted to do it anyway. So, in time honoured Liberal Democrat activist fashion, I'd like to look at the preamble to ...
Invited to attend with CBC councillors Jones and Mrs Goodchild, two local residents, a CBC officer, a chap from the quarry owners (St Francis Group), and two guys from Stevenage Signs, this morning. Met top of Millers Way, waited an hour for the Signage guys to get there (!) ... eventually we sorted out some locations for the warning signs, and left the sign guys to put them up. I suppose the main point to make is that the pathway is not adopted, so is not the responsibility of Central Beds Council. The CBC officer was merely there to facilitate ...
Any budding playwrights or screenwriters out there? You could do worse than sharpening your keyboard to attempt a script based on the Huhne/Pryce scenario. It's got the lot: -A woman scorned -A woman of Greek descent scorned, nonetheless, cue the bouzoukis and "Zorba's Dance" as the plot unfolds -Stanstead Airport (don't knock it) -A fast car with a personalised numberplate -High politics -High civil servantry and economic wonkery -Personal failings on a classical scale -Revenge -Revenge gone wrong -Inexplicable daftness -Trying to wriggle off the hook -Trying to implicate others at the last moment -The Great British Jury -The not-so-Great ...
I was pleased this afternoon to join with a group of University of Dundee students as part of the Enough Food for everyone IF campaign. As part of a week-long series of events highlighting the issues around food poverty in the world, a well-attended poverty banquet took place this afternoon at the students' association. Here's a photo of us at DUSA this afternoon:
It is rather telling of the age we are that something as epic as Rand Paul's 12 hour filibuster gets condensed into 120 seconds of soundbites, but worth watching. via Mashable
[IMG: Lib Dem Conference app screenshot] We are delighted to announce that our Spring Conference App is now available for download. The Conference App is an electronic version of the Agenda and Directory which has a built in diary which you can add which fringe events, auditorium sessions and training sessions that you are attending and create a conference schedule. To download it, search 'Lib Dem Conf' in the App Store (Iphone/Ipad) or Google Play (Android). For Blackberry and Windows Phone we have a web app which can be viewed on your phone's internet browser by visiting www.libdemconference.org.uk The App ...
Thu 7th
15:37
LibLink... Sharon Bowles MEP: Calls for restraint have been ignored for too long - this bonus cultur...
Sharon Bowles MEP writes about bankers' bonuses in the Independent. She tackles the arguments against EU proposals to limit bonuses to a years's salary. Will banks relocate overseas? Sharon says not: Firstly, the threat of bankers relocating to avoid the cap has been grossly exaggerated. The cap will only apply to a small number of so-called high-risk traders, around 5000 out of the estimated 750,000 people employed in London's financial sector. Moreover, the bonus cap will also cover all key staff who work for European banks across the world, no matter whether they operate in London or Singapore. And with ...
The BBC reports: The former wife of ex-cabinet minister Chris Huhne has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice by taking speeding points on his behalf. Vicky Pryce, 60, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of committing the offence over a speeding incident on the M11 in Essex in 2003. She had denied the charge, saying Huhne had forced her to take the points. Pryce has been bailed pending a sentencing hearing. * Nick Thornsby is Thursday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs here.
Thu 7th
15:00
The Liberal Democrat What Do We Stand For Challenge 2013.3 - Eight Answers (so far) #LibDemValues
Ready for Liberal Democrat Conference this weekend? To challenge and inspire you, here are eight more people's rallying cries on What the Lib Dems Stand For to add to mine. How are they all for you? Can you do better, if you want to contribute to the meme too? They're not all the same, and several of them offer greater insight as they discuss our philosophy on their own blogs - though a recurring theme is that the Liberal Democrats stand for Freedom, and many start with the Preamble to the Lib Dem Constitution. Read, think, and please join in. ...
Liberal Democrats gather in Brighton this weekend, with Mike Thornton's victory still fresh in our minds as evidence of our enduring tenacity as a campaigning force. But what will the people of Eastleigh, and places like it up and down the country, want to see a party of government discussing at this critical juncture? With the main conference agenda looking bland, the issues that matter most to voters are likely to feature on the fringe and in the guise of emergency motions - the state of the economy more so than any. Figures published recently demonstrate that the health of ...
Also available on the Huffington Post I want to end female genital mutilation (or cutting), I want to see it happen within a generation. I've just been with hundreds of people who share this ambition, including the first lady of Burkina Faso and the women's minister of Niger. The annual meeting of the UN Commission of the Status of Women in New York has brought us together today. Female genital cutting (FGC) has been neglected by the international community – and international development – for too long. Too little has been invested in stopping this practice – too little money, ...
Landbeach Road and A10 (courtesy OpenStreetMap) Preliminary work starts this week to construct a new £240,000 dual use path for cyclists and pedestrians between the villages of Milton and Landbeach. The new two metre wide path will help people get to the Cambridge Research Park on the A10 in one direction. While in the other direction it will helps journeys for commuters to the Science Park area whilst providing a link to the wider cycle network. Initial works will consist of cutting back shrubs and trees in preparation for the start of construction work on 2 April. Construction will then ...
By Linda Jack, SLF Council member We expect one of the highlights of the weekend to be our Friday evening fringe with Vince Cable "How we get growing again - the road to 2015". It will be in Hall 4 after ... Continue reading →
Eastleigh proved that the Lib Dems know how to run a devastating ground war, and Liberal Youth were key to that, but should they contribute to the fight for MPs who voted against equal marriage? I got thinking about this after reading Emma Burnell's brilliant take on Labour Student's decision not to formally organise ...
Vince Cable has been in the news this morning for an article he has written in the New Statesman. The article is important because it advocates the financing of more capital investment by borrowing, although it does so in measured tones, weighing up a "balance of risks". It is also a lengthy and somewhat technical article on economic policy, making it too difficult for anyone with a short attention span. For this reason, it has been subject to dramatic interpretations by the media. BBC News is an honourable exception (see also Stephanie Flanders's blog). But the Guardian described the article ...
The Cressington Community First fund is money given by the Government to be spent on projects in the Cressington ward in Liverpool. We've got a panel of local representatives who make decisions and we've funded quite a few projects to date. Now we are renewing our plan for the next two years so that we make sure we have the right priorities for the area. As part of this we'd like to hear from people living, working or studying in the ward as well as from organisations based here. I've designed a short survey so if you have a Cressington ...
The sudden flurry of activity on the question of payday lenders is, I suspect, long overdue. The fact that borrowers can borrow from a range of such lenders with minimal, if any, cross referencing, means that such individuals can get into trouble very quickly. Indeed, Ros raised concerns about payday loans as long ago as June 2010, amidst a wave of adverts for such services. I acknowledge that APRs are not a very effective tool for judging the impact of such loans, but the interest rates are significant. And the problem is that the people most likely to get into ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... EU cap on bankers' bonuses is not going to fit | Business | The Guardian Quite. Headline-grabbing over serious reform > "EU cap on bankers' bonuses is not going to fit" by @NilsPratley > http://bit.ly/ZbWwdK Nick Clegg could block Tory plans to claw back EU justice powers – Telegraph 'Nick Clegg could block Tory plans to claw back EU justice powers' – Telegraph http://bit.ly/ZbW2UR Everyone Knows Print Is Dead. Which Is Why NSFWCORP Is Launching A Print Edition | PandoDaily Great article > Everyone Knows Print Is Dead. Which Is Why NSFWCORP ...
Personally I love Lib Dem conferences. They're great fun, I get to meet up with loads of friends and there's always more interesting things to do than I have time for. They are, without a doubt, the highlights of my year and are fixed in my diary as soon as the dates are announced with as much certainty as if they were carved into stone. So don't get me wrong on my opinion on conference. But nevertheless, I'm coming to the conclusion that we should just scrap it all together. Let me tell you why. You see, the thing is ...
You will have woken this morning to news that Vince Cable has launched a Plan C or Plan Cable featuring a 'Keynesian' stimulus centred around borrowing (at the current low rates that the Government can borrow) to fund infrastructure projects. But as usual the media is doing the country a grave disservice. It is an historic day filled with possibility, but to understand the full pregnancy of the position you will need to go beyond the crude headlines of crude Keynsianism and read Cable's full article When the Facts Change, Should I Change My Mind. But you will also need ...
Counting down towards the fiftieth birthday of Doctor Who with Fifty great scenes... This one's from 2008 and 79AD, one of Doctor Who's most visually stunning stories, set around a terrible disaster and a terrible choice. My favourite part has Phil Davis (back when he was merely serving the gods of the Underworld rather than the Devil himself) duelling with words and prophecies against a rival Soothsayer across a fantastic few minutes that transform from sit-com to mystery to impossible revelations, all directed like a breathless action scene. "This is the gift of Pompeii: every single oracle tells the truth." ...
The Lib Dem Spring Conference will debate the motion: Creating a strong manufacturing sector in a stronger economy. Part 3 of the motion calls for: 'Government to continue its commitment to apprenticeships, and, additionally, to promote science education in schools and science and engineering degrees at universities - these are essential for building the skills sets necessary to support a strong manufacturing sector.' Science and engineering education is an issue close to my heart as I actually graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from Manchester University. My science based degree opened up many doors to me, leading to a ...
Dear BBC Question time I see you have Diane James on the BBC QT panel this evening. Nothing wrong with this - she was generally acknowledged as a strong candidate in the Eastleigh by election. But it's the second week in a row you've had a member of UKIP on. Last week it was Neil Hamilton. Yet tonights panel fails to feature any Lib Dem. You'll argue that Diane James is 'current' after UKIP's second place last week; an excellent result for them, no argument there. But we did actually win. A slightly better result. You'll argue that we're in ...
Someone has been out and sprayed obscene graffiti on a number of garages and fences along Ridgegrove Lane. This has been reported to the Police and to the council. The council will clean up anything on the road surface and on council housing or street furniture. Sadly, the normal responsibility for cleaning up graffiti on private property falls to the householder. In this case, because the graffiti is obscene and is visible from the road, I have asked the council to consider cleaning it themselves if the householder is unable to do so. (I've pixellated some of the words in ...
Last night I was interviewed on Channel 4 news regarding FGM, and the Coalition Government's pledge of £35 million towards eradicating FGM within a generation. You can watch the full interview below, or on the Channel 4 news site.
For as long as I can remember I have struggled to get clothes that fit. For years, previously, I could walk into a shop, pick up an article labelled as "small" and usually it would fit perfectly. Something has changed in recent years. I have not put weight on, I haven't grown and my measurements remain the same. However, I now find that clothes labelled as "small" bury me. That is if I can find any such labels. Shops such as Marks & Spencer's no monger have my sizes on display - I have to order them. This may be ...
Apparently the government has listened to public opinion and decided not, after all, to force "Clinical Commissioning Groups" to put all medical services out to tender and thus open the door for further privatisation of the NHS: "further" because the process was actually started under Labour. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are said to be claiming credit for this, and Labour talks of a "humiliating U-turn" and a government "climbdown." (Guardian 06/03/13). If it is true that the privatisation process has been halted that is good news. There is no evidence that the private sector is any more efficient, ...
There I was encouraging mainstream political parties to be a little more populist in order to beat the joke parties, from the Tea Party to UKIP and Beppe Grillo - to stop being so forgiving to big corporations and big bureaucracies just because their role ought to be important. To see behind the management speak and corporate slosh. I'm not quite so naive that I expect George Osborne to glance at my blog before taking major decisions. But of all the reasons to storm off to Brussels, cheered along by Boris Johnson, defending the right of banks to pay whatever ...
At some point in the next couple of weeks, my new nephew, Baby Ethan, will be born. We already have a little idea what he looks like from one of these full colour 4D scans. He is the spitting image of his Daddy which, according to my friend, is one of those primal biological arrangements to ensure said Daddy recognises him as his own and doesn't eat him. Anna was my husband's double when she was born, so there may be something in that. This is the first time we've known either the sex of the baby or their name ...
(Warning: All the news stories linked in here are highly transphobic, with references to acquired genders being a "pretence" or "fake") It looks like we have another case of someone trans being prosecuted for "obtaining sex by deception". I am always wary of mainstream press coverage of cases involving trans people, because the facts can so easily be distorted either through ignorance or, in the case of The Sun's article on this incident which I'm not going to link to, maliciously. However, what has been widely reported seems to indicate that in this case, the person being prosecuted was definitely ...
All the Borough Council IT appears to be working ok now, after last week's problems. I have asked for a report to come to the next meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee on 20th March so that everybody can find out what did happen and why. BUT what you do need to be aware of is that if you sent an email to Wokingham Borough Council between Tuesday 26th February and Sunday 3rd March it could well have been lost. This is because the council recovered its systems to a backup taken on Tuesday but had no way ...
The budget on March 20th is likely to concentrate on growth, on avoiding an 'omnishambles', and on fighting the notion that Osborne has taken the country from triple A to triple dip. But it's also the time to take stock of who's bearing the brunt of (attempted) deficit reduction. This graph shows the combined effect of all the coalition's tax and welfare changes, as modelled by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It doesn't look good. Impact of modelled tax and benefit reforms since Jan 2010, by income decile group (Copyright of the IFS*) The blue line shows just those changes ...
Vince Cable seeks more capital input into the economy, Bonnie Tyler chosen for Eurovision. Coincidence? I'm not sure... Turn around Every now and then I get a little bit nervous and you're never coming round [to my view of the economy] Turn around Every now and thenI get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears [as you refuse to listen to my views on the generating additional wealth through investment] Turn around Every now and thenI get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by[It should have been me ...
Being a woman in a man's world can be a lonely existence. As an engineer, working on a manufacturing site in the 1980s, for the majority of the time I was the only woman in the whole of the engineering function – apart from the boss's secretary. Engineers, technicians, tradesmen and labourers were all men, apart from me. Technically and professionally this wasn't a problem. I was at least as competent as the next engineer and respected for this. But socially there definitely were differences. In my year in industry and at university I socialised with my fellow student engineers, ...
the scary people on the fringes of politics I actually think beer baccy and crumpet guy doesn't fit the mentalist quotient for this group. (tags: ) Why modern Sherlock writers always get Irene Adler wrong (tags: ) The Indy's geek in chief Neela Debnath interviews Peter Davison (tags: ) Company apologises for 'Keep Calm And Rape' T-shirts - ITV News (tags: ) Six Paradoxes Women Leaders Face in 2013 - Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt - Harvard Business Review (tags: ) you'll never live like common people (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
In May 2012 as part of the Lib Dem team for the London elections I campaigned on a platform of 'making fares fairer' with three key pledges: the introduction of a one hour 'hop on, hop off' bus ticket part-time travelcards to give the same discount to part-time workers, often on the lowest wages, as ... Continue reading »
A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood Ward as detailed below:- Application number: 56066 Type of application: Full Date Registered: 05/03/2013 Location: 71 Peveril Close, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 6NS Proposal: Raised decking areas and fencing at rear (retrospective) Plans will be available to view on the Council's website here (use the planning application number to search). Any questions or if I can help please just get in touch. Tim
How we made the Rocky Horror Picture Show Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley reminisce. (tags: films ) The tragic story you may have never heard of Christiane Amanpour on #WesternSahara (tags: westernsahara ) Morocco bars four MEPs ...because they intended to travel to the Western Sahara. (tags: westernsahara )
If you're a budding entrepreneur, why not take up the opportunity to trade for free on Stockport's Historic Market for up to five days during the national Love your Local Market event in May. If it works, you can then have a market stall for the next 12 months at a discounted rent. The closing date for applications is 15th March so get in quickly. Full details of the scheme, supported by Stockport Market, Stockport Council and the National Federation of Market Traders can be found here.
Last week at this time I would have been 3 hours into my polling day, this week I'll most likely still be under the covers waiting for my alarm to go off. But it is polling day and this time it is in Mid Ulster the seat vacated by Martin McGuinness. Unlike last week's 14 candidates there are just 4, which in itself is small for a Northern Irish seat. It has long been suspected and known since December last year that Sinn Féin would be standing Francie Molloy. He has been one of the MLAs for the area since ...
A couple of years ago, at the request of residents in Hyndford Street, I requested that the north end pavements in the street be included in the Unadopted Footways List for future upgrading and adoption by Dundee City Council. The City Engineer kindly agreed to do so and its now good to see that these pavements are now being upgraded - see right - and will thereafter be adopted by the local authority.
As money gets tighter, Stockport council is faced with tougher decisions on spending. But those are decisions we have to take. The Labour Government told us in 2009 these cuts were coming and the Coalition confirmed that – we'd like to be living in happier times, but we have to deal with the world as it is. Over the next few months the latest round of budget proposals are up for consultation – you can see and comment on them here. The consultation will run over the next few months, with an aim to implement these in the summer. There ...
Let me take a moment to whine/whinge about tonight's run - a 10 miler, with 8 miles at marathon goal pace. There wasn't a whole lot about it that went well. My right quad is giving me trouble and it was like running with a limp until things got warmed up. My legs felt like they had lead weights attached to them for the first few miles and never felt super fresh. It was pouring rain (I KNOW I live in Seattle, but there's a huge difference between real rain and our usual mist. That's two weeks in a row ...
HOUNSLOW BOROUGH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS Quiz evening Saturday 23rd March 2013 St Paul's Church Hall, St Paul's Road, Brentford TW8 0PN 6:45 p.m. to 9.15 p.m. Guest speaker: Jonathan Fryer Come and join us for a fun March evening; bring your family, friends and neighbours too. Jonathan Fryer will start the ...
