Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. 1. Alderman Tom Martin I'm beginning with some sad news. Unfortunately Alderman Tom Martin, the former Labour councillor for Stapleford and mayor of Broxtowe, died last weekend after a short illness. We had a full council meeting on Wednesday and, as is customary when someone dies, we stood for a minutes silence. Regrettably, because the mayor called for a minutes ...
In which I discuss last week's Doctor Who in terms of an overly-reductive false dichotomy from fandom infighting of the mid-90s.
When Conservatives at Suffolk County Council started on the process of abolishing Middle Schools 7 years ago, we warned that there would be major problems ahead. We knew that at some point the then Labour government would run out of money for new school buildings and that the council would be left to foot the bill. We were also extremely suspicious that the figures they produced, comparing results from 3 tier with 2 tier schooling, did not take deprivation into account. We were concerned that the focus on re-organisation would take resources away from 2 tier areas. The position of ...
Joe Jackson has had a long career encompassing many styles of music - his new-wave period It's Different for Girls, a brilliant song, was an early choice of mine here. Jackson's 1994 Album "Night Music" was not well received, and I did not greatly care for the songs on it myself, but I did like the classically influenced instrumental pieces. I used to listen to this one in particular late at night when I could not sleep.
I suppose I have a disadvantage when considering legislation relating to the internet. Perhaps I know too much about how things work. There are still traces on the internet of work I did on https in 1995. Although the allocation of the port 465 for an SSL implementation of SMTP was provided by IANA at my request as you can see from This page this was made defunct later by the introduction of
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 322nd weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (14-20 April, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. My Lib Dem ...
"It's like buses: you wait all your life for this kind of coverage for a book you've written and then, suddenly, two of them come along and you can't link to them to spread the word." David Boyle on the joys and frustrations of getting extensive coverage of his new book behind The Times and Sunday Times paywall. Jonathan Fryer on the decline of the Green Party. Over the past 11 years, according to Defence for Children International, some 7,500 children have been detained in Israeli prisons and detention facilities. +972 Magazine has interviews with some of them. On 18 ...
The Birkdale blog has covered the contribution made to Southport Liberalism before by David Bentliff. Today we bring you the front page of the Southport Guardian that reported his death. He died on this day 21st April 1953. It was his unfortune luck to come on the scene at a time when the party was still in electoral decline. He fought the 1951 General Election along with only 109 other Liberals. Most of them lost their deposit. Bentliff did not he polling 8,000 votes. His by election vote in 1952 was the lowest by a Liberal candidate since 1886. Nevertheless ...
I remember listening to Brian Matthew in the 60s when he used to do shows like Album Club. He's been broadcasting for well over 50 years now and is now 84 years old. It's worth listening to his Sounds of Sixties on Radio Two on Saturday mornings. His producer Phil Swern comes up with some fascinating gems both in terms of records and facts. The show is available on iPlayer here. And Brian Matthew ends each show with the words: And this is your old mate, Brian Matthew saying that's the lot for this week, see you next week! Then ...
Sun 21st
17:20
Nick Clegg's Letter from the Leader: "I absolutely love being out on the campaign trail"
With local elections taking place across much of England (and, lets not forget, the Isle of Angelsey in Wales) on Thursday 2nd May, Nick Clegg's letter this week focuses on the drive to get out the Lib Dem vote... [IMG: libdem letter from nick clegg] With less than two weeks to go until this year's local elections, the campaigning has really stepped up a notch. I'll be spending the next week criss-crossing the country, knocking on doors, delivering leaflets and hearing about local Lib Dem success stories from jobs we've created to libraries we're keeping open. It isn't just about ...
Two hundred years ago, the foundation stone of the new Parish Church of St George on the site of the old Corporation Church beside the River Farset in Belfast was laid. Three years later, it was duly dedicated and opened. Two hundred years of witness to the city have passed with an emphasis through most ...
Obviously the Liberal Democrats have been taking electoral hits lately, struggling in local elections in many areas, not having too much of an impact in PCC or Mayoral elections. But there may be a cause for optimism for the 2014 Euro elections, which may or may not be held on the same day as the local elections. For starters, here are the national vote percentages from 2009: Con: 27.7% Lab: 15.7% Lib: 13.7% UKIP: 16.5% Grn: 8.1% BNP: 6.2% And here is the most recent ICM voting intention poll: Con: 32% Lab: 38% Lib: 15% UKIP: 9% These are Westminster ...
Sun 21st
16:15
McMaster Street terraces transformed: 'Quality Streets: Retrofitting Traditional Terraces'
We all know the traditional red brick terraced houses found in Belfast. Many have been demolished in recent years, but there are ways to retain them and make the fit for twenty-first century living. The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society has created a short film which demonstrates how our undervalued stock of traditional terraced houses can be retrofitted ...
Royal Mail this week announced the launch of its latest set of special stamps, 'Great Britons', a set of 1st Class stamps celebrating the achievements of 10 distinguished individuals from the realms of sport, journalism, music, politics and the arts. [IMG: lloyd george stamp] David Lloyd George, the last Liberal Prime Minister, is the chosen politician. Here's how Wikipedia describes him: Lloyd George is best known as the highly energetic Prime Minister (1916-22) who guided the Empire through the First World War to victory over Germany and its allies. He was a major player at the Paris Peace Conference of ...
I attended the New Statesman Centenary debate on Thursday, where the motion was "This House believes the left won the 20th Century" It was a stellar list of speakers. Mehdi Hasan, Simon Heffer and Helen Lewis spoke for the motion, Tim Montgomerie, Owen Jones and Ruth Porter were against. And the speeches were great - perhaps the only bum note being when North Korea was named as a fairly typical example of a left wing state. But anyway, I digress. Two things struck me. The first was that the three speakers in favour of the motion studiously avoided the use ...
This is all very complicated but let's not worry the fine details. The issue is very simple. The UK government has imposed (all by itself - no input from the EU) a new carbon floor price, which came into effect on 1st April 2013. Firms will be charged £16 per tonne of CO2 for fuels used for power generation this year. Europe's emissions trading system (ETS) is the largest in the world and can claim to be driving down CO2 emissions from power stations by 1.74% each year. The European Commission wanted to make adjustments to the ETS. This was ...
In the latest UK opinion poll, by YouGov for the Sunday Times, the Greens are put at just two per cent, confirming their slump in recent months. If they polled anything like that in next year's Euro-elections they would lose both their MEPs — and all the associated funding. Their main asset remains Caroline Lucas, ...
My thoughts on the demise of Margaret Thatcher have attracted a comment from a fellow Suffolk blogger, one I had not come across before - Small Town Man. Normally, anyone who uses a comment to link to their own blog fills me with suspicion, but I'm glad that I put that to one side on this occasion. Wit, irony, and Suffolk, what more could one ask for? So, onto the blogroll you go, Mr Small Town Man, and good luck!
Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has been leading the development of the Government's industrial strategy which is aimed at placing the whole of government behind support for British business giving it the confidence to invest, hire staff & grow. Speaking recently Vince said that there are worryingly high disparities between economic performance and employment prospects in different parts of the UK. Even after the major crisis and contraction in London'sbanking sector, the south-east maintains a more buoyant economy than most other parts of the country. He said: "Sustainable private sector growth is not going to occur spontaneously but will ...
[IMG: UKIP logo] YouGov has repeated an illuminating piece of research carried out in the US, asking people if they think a fictitious piece of legislation (the Public Affairs Act of 1975) should be repealed and also seeing how people's views vary if the repeal is associated with different parties. Overall, the British public come out ok: Some people say the Public Affairs Act 1975 should be repealed. Do you agree or disagree? Agree: 9% Disagree: 9% Neither: 82% (Overall, Brits seem less likely to have a view on imaginary legislation than Americans. Yay, go us.) Unsurprisingly, the numbers budge ...
[IMG: Fifties-style middle-class family on a walk] I don't know what I think about paywalls for online news papers, but - despite what I might have said in the past about making the universe free-to-view - paywalls can be pretty damn irritating. Like today. Today, I want to link to the lengthy extract from my new book about the death of the middle classes on the front of the Review section of the Sunday Times but, although I can link to it, I know that people will have to pay a subscription or come up with some kind of password ...
Here's the traditional political map of the UK, each constituency colour-coded to the winning party: [IMG: UK-Political-Map1 (1)] It's a map which flatters to deceive. The Tories appear to be the dominant force across pretty much the whole of England. The Lib Dems' strength through the celtic fringe appears to put us pretty much on a par with Labour. The Economist has this week done something very simple: create a political map which equalises the size of constituencies and colour codes according to the turn-out for the winning party... [IMG: economist 2 nations map] The result is stark: the two-party ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Local elections: it's not just the Tories who should beware Ukip | Andrew Rawnsley | Comment is free | The Observer These are the Ukip wildcard local elections: Andrew Rawnsley on how no party is safe (potentially) http://bit.ly/11r7HQ2 We know you want power, Ed. Now tell us how you'd use it | Comment is free | The Observer THIS > "if voters sense Miliband is asking for power without knowing what to do with it, they won't give it to him." http://bit.ly/11r7DA0 Index on Censorship Student Blogging Competition | Index on Censorship ...
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 fourth Doctors turn. Not long after Steven Moffat was out of short trousers we had an epic Doctor Who season long arc compiled of 6 stories containing 26 episodes and shown over half a year to collect the key to time, help the White Guardian restore balance to the universe and to ensure the Black Guardian does not unleash chaos upon ...
Conservatives are claiming credit in some of their local council literature for the rise in Tax thresholds which is putting some £600 into the pockets of the lowest earners. Labour has suddenly developed an enthusiasm for the mansion tax. Both are Liberal Democrat ideas or policies but we don't mind. We are used to it. The important thing is to get it right. What would be good is if the Conservative part of the coalition thought a bit harder before rushing off to do , usually, the wrong thing. Think of the so called 'bedroom tax' & the nonsense of ...
[IMG: nick clegg kirsty williams - 1] It's the Welsh Lib Dems' conference this weekend and Kirsty Williams will take the opportunity to argue that a "crucial turning point" has been reached, reports BBC News: At the conference in Cardiff, Ms Williams will claim the fact the Lib Dems retained third place in the Cardiff South and Penarth by-election last November, albeit with a much reduced share of the vote, was a "sign post that things were changing" for the party. "Eastleigh was a turning point," she will say. "Yes, the criticisms of our opponents have been relentless, strong and ...
Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats are lobbying the House of Lords ahead of a vote on an important part of Britain's equalities laws which the government want to scrap. Last month the Lords voted to keep ...
[IMG: Tree down just south of Bells Lane swing bridge, Lydiate] Tree down just south of Bells Lane swing bridge, Lydiate The high winds of a few days ago brought down a tree along the Leeds Liverpool Canal through Lydiate. This was the scene yesterday last when walkers were having to turn back or scramble through the downed tree. I have asked the Canal and River Trust to do what they can to get it removed ASAP.
Many of these people look like fully paid-up Liberal Democrats to me. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Due to some serendipity on Amazon's website, I came across an inexpensive little booklet called Lloyd George's Favourite Recipes, which arrived in the post yesterday. The title is misleading, since it contains only three pages of Lloyd George's favourite recipes (five recipes at the beginning of the booklet plus a further five missing from earlier editions and restored in an appendix). The booklet is no less interesting for that. It would doubtless have sold less well if it had been titled more accurately. It is nevertheless one of those fascinating locally-published Women's Institute collections of family recipes. The edition I ...
Like many people, I've collected a fair number of CDs over the years. As hard-drives and MicroSD cards have got larger and cheaper, I've gradually been ripping them to FLAC. Most CD rippers automatically tag the music files with the correct metadata and, nowadays, they will also download and embed album artwork as well. (As an aside, it always boggled my mind that CDs don't come with metadata burned onto the disc. Even a single spare megabyte would be enough to hold detailed track listing, artwork, etc.) Back when I started, there was no way to get album artwork. Most ...
CHiPS was a 70s/80s TV series about the eponymous California Highway Patrol. It was tacky, easy on the brain, predictable and had more machismo than a very machismo thing (as Baldrick would say). But we used to love it. If memory serves, it was aired on Sunday afternoons on ITV. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Dear Jeremy I doubt that in amongst all the ludicrously large number of issues that pass across the desk of a minister, and a Home Office one no less, you will have noticed a small victory I scored over the Home Office recently. But I hope you'll give a pause for thought to the implications of the ruling the Information Commissioner made in my favour over the Home Office (decision notice reference FS50469527). Partly it's because of what it says about the never-quite-dead proposals for a huge expansion of monitoring of our online activity. Partly it's because of what the ...
Should we (and everyone in Davos) worry about extreme wealth? New Oxfam briefing (tags: ) FAKE DWP 'test' reveals sinister govt 'psy-war' | The SKWAWKBOX Blog (tags: ) 'Why three in a bed isn't a crowd' - the polyamorous trio | Life and style | The Guardian Lovely article about three of the loveliest people I know. (tags: ) The Problem When Sexism Just Sounds So Darn Friendly... | PsySociety, Scientific American Blog Network "benevolent sexism was a significant predictor of nationwide gender inequality, independent of the effects of hostile sexism. In countries where the men were more likely to ...
Back in May 2012, the Liberal Democrat team in Arboretum ward, Derby complained of dodgy-looking activity on polling day. It's now finally come to court: FOUR women and a man have appeared in court as part of an investigation into allegations of fraud during elections in Derby last year... Tameena Ali and Samra Ali, both of St Chad's Road, have been charged with personation, and Akhtar, of Rosehill Street, with misconduct in a public office. Maqsood, of Holcombe Street, was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and Akbar, of Rosehill Street, with perverting the course of justice... ...
Yesterday I and my campaign team spent the afternoon talking to residents in Roman Way, Caesar Close, Tiberius Road, Agricola Walk and Augustus Walk. I hope to call on other parts of Roman Way over the coming week. Thank you to everyone for the warm and supportive response we received. I was particularly pleased to see how well town councillor Barbara Carpenter is regarded. She is a great example of how local councillors can and should represent their communities. One issue which came up time and again was the high handed attitude of Synergy Housing towards those residents who now ...
The Army kindly invited me to a presentation and evening. Sadly I can't attend but it did lead to a dialogue about how Southwark Council and other local businesses and non profit organisations can support our armed forced. It seems clear that Southwark should commit and sign up to the Armed Force Covenant – where the council commits tangible support to the armed forces But that it should also encourage employees to join the territorial and reserve forces. Apart from supporting our nations defence it can help employees develop their skills more quickly than just through regular day time job ...
The planning application for the Barnes Hospital site is in, with the developers saying they've taken on board the concerns we've raised, including the exit from the site onto Kingsway. The application, number 52220, is currently in the system and can be seen here. Meanwhile, we're told that the owners of the former Tatton Cinema site are in discussion with Stockport planners and working to get to the point of having a new application for the Tatton. The details aren't yet decided, but we understand that this will not be a retail-led development, though it may include a smaller retail ...
The Independent reports that there is a distinct possibility that Britain may be forced to lift its ban on political advertising when the European Court of Human Rights rules on its lawfulness tomorrow. They say that the issue came to court after the campaign group Animal Defenders International (ADI) was told it could not run adverts highlighting the plight of caged primates. Because the organisation was not a charity, it was treated as a political group. ADI are arguing that this is a breach of its right to freedom of expression and appealed against the decision. The paper adds that ...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a "sandwiches and a blether" lunch event, held by Friends of Balgay at the Mills Observatory. It was good to see the excellent turnout on such a lovely Saturday. Here's a photo taken from outside the observatory yesterday:
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales, William Powell was joined by football legends Ian Rush and Sir Geoff Hurst in the National Assembly for Wales to launch the '10 Years of Teamwork: McDonald's national grassroots football partnerships 2002-2012' report by Loughborough University's Institute of Youth Sport. He said: "It's a great pleasure to be involved in the Welsh launch of this important report. "Welsh football has gone from strength to strength in recent years calumniating in Swansea City's victory of the Football League Cup, their resultant place in Europe next season, and Cardiff City's guarantied ...
So Scotland, which way shall we go? Straight ahead carrying on much as we are now, or off one way to independence or another to constitutional change but within the UK? Its been argued that this is the political choice, but whatever happens a social union exists amongst the people of these islands and that will not change. I wanted to write my thoughts on the idea of social union and how I believe Independence is in fact a process of separation that would change everything - including our ideas of social union. Scottish nationalists will often argue that they ...
