You may have noticed news reports last weekend about the steady fall in crime in the UK. I say "may" because the news achieved nothing like the prominence it would have if the crime rate had increased. There is no shortage of explanations for why the level of crime is decreasing. The likeliest answer is that there is no single or dominant cause but that, in any case, nobody really knows. The explanation for the muted news coverage is simpler. Not only do the British media not like good news, the Tory press in particular does not like news that ...
It matters who represents you. Take it into your own hands.
Carl Minns says we should blame the politicians not the voters if there is a low turnout in tomorrow's elections. He's right, you know. The commonly used yardsticks of how well the national parties are doing in local elections can be confusing or deliberately misleading, and there is likely to be a lot of 'spin' after the elections of Thursday 2 May. Lewis Baston argues on British Politics and Policy at LSE that studying the votes cast in marginal parliamentary constituencies, particularly in areas where there have been other local elections since 2010, is a better guide to electoral trends ...
Tonight, I attended the 2013 AGM of Community Spirit Action Group, the residents' group for the 'north' of the West End Ward, covering areas like Cleghorn, Pentland, Ancrum, Tullideph and Milnbank/Forest Park. The speaker tonight was Stewart Murdoch, the City Council's Director of Leisure and Communities, who spoke to the group about the city's bid for UK City of Culture 2017. I asked Stewart at short notice if he could be this month's speaker for Community Spirit and I am very grateful to him for agreeing to speak, particularly as his presentation was really informative and entertaining. Huge effort and ...
This afternoon, staff from Barclays Bank volunteered to join with members of the Western Cemetery Association and Dundee City Council Officers to plant the area along the west wall backing on to the new urn field - see photos right and below: Dr Ann Prescott of Western Cemetery Association said, "We were delighted that staff from Barclays Bank volunteered to help us with planting in the cemetery. There has been good progress towards the provision of the new urn field, which will allow for the future burial of cremated remains in the cemetery."
A rising death toll, exploited workers and a lucrative garment industry. What are the limits of capitalism? How many more lives will have to be taken before workers are not treated as machines who need barely any food, money or sleep to survive on? As a teenager I know many people, including myself, who shop at 'Primark'. The reality of global capitalism was brought home to me, literally, when I realised that my shopping could have impacted on the mistreatment of a worker in Bangladesh. When workers are forced to produce a certain amount of clothing for a company it ...
"The referendum isn't about party politics" "Don't want one of your bastard English pounds!" A common refrain from both campaign teams in the independence referendum. Usually as soon as it's inconvenient for Better Together to get tarred by the record in government and policies of the three main Westminster parties, and by Yes Scotland whenever they're tarred by the SNP's record at Holyrood or their policies. Of course, it's not illegitimate for them to do this for the most part. A good referendum which debates this issue properly would try to dissociate it as much as possible from party-politics, albeit ...
Dear Neighbour I am sure you have had a lot through your door about the elections, but I wanted to send one final email to thank everyone for the warm welcome and support I have received while out canvassing. Elections are about local people and local issues. It has been good to meet so many friends and neighbours again as I and my team have been calling round over the last few weeks. The campaign has gone really well, many people across Andover North have told us they want a councillor who backs their community and puts local people first. ...
[IMG: 5603012896_b279d82048_b] There are not many things that rile me more than hearing Nigel Farage repeating endlessly that we are "opening our doors" to two hundred zillion Romanians and Bulgarians who are going to rape and pillage all over the British landscape, razing all human habitation to the ground leaving only an even vaster national debt in their wake. I sit next to a Bulgarian at work. She is a very hard-working and talented lady who has settled here with her family. The laugh is that there is a case to say that Bulgarians are already getting better benefits than ...
Nick Clegg was interviewed while on the campaign trail in Lewes today for Channel 4 News by Gary Gibbon — here's a 6-minute excerpt in which Nick explains the steps the Coalition has taken to rescue the economy since 2010: (You can watch it on the Channel 4 News website here.)
Rush to Big Finish, makers of Doctor Who and other quality audio dramas! Today only, they're doing 10% off everything, and some of it's very good indeed. My personal top recommendation is Rob Shearman's Jubilee, the best bit of Doctor Who in the show's Fortieth Anniversary and a big influence on the 2005 TV series. Also from 2003, I've been listening again to Jonathan Clements' brilliant Sympathy For the Devil, starring David Warner as a grumpy alternative Doctor, David Tennant, Nicholas Courtney and Sam Kisgart. Order it today, and don't read anything about it first (here's the trailer). Spoilers follow... ...
[IMG: lib dem libby] I've just been phoning voters on behalf of someone I have known and respected for twenty years who is a candidate in the elections tomorrow. I will not mention the candidate's name or their area, because that will require me to jump through all sort of legal electoral hoops. I enjoyed the experience of talking to voters. I appreciate that bombardment by paper and phone can be frustrating for the electorate. I think most people would understand that making contact with voters through their letterbox and phone is a vital part of democracy. When it is ...
Officially, councillors stay in office for a few days after the election. But I wanted to say a few thank you's on the last 'real' day of my term of office. Hopefully I will still have a job after tomorrow, but that is up to the voters. I could go on longer than Gwyneth Paltrow at an Oscar ceremony, but I will keep it short and sweet. Thank you to Mark O'Brien and Rosemary Stone who have run the Launceston Community Network. They have been invaluable in arranging meetings, organising events and liaising with (sometimes recalcitrant) officers. Without them, the ...
We will start with the bizzare slogan. Any one who has been involved in leaflet design will know how much though goes into finding that magical sentence or slogan that captures what you want the electorate to remember. Experience has taught us that a large number of leaflets we deliver will go from the doormat to the bin in about 7 seconds, that's how long it has to get your message across or
With a hat-tip to Ed Stradling, here's a reminder of what David Cameron told Nick Clegg about raising the income tax threshold in the first leaders' debate: Cameron 2010: "I would love to take everyone out of their first £10,000 of income tax, Nick...We cannot afford it" youtube.com/watch?v=rk5HvJ... — Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) May 1, 2013 (Watch it on YouTube here.) I think it's fair to say the Tories have since had a change of heart. Apparently it was their idea all the time: [IMG: tory tax poster] And yes, before the inevitable below-the-line comments start: tuition fees, tuition ...
"Do we really, seriously, want a Home Secretary to be able do this? Pick people out of the newspaper and have them flown out of the country, whatever the pesky courts say? I think I would rather live in a country where we put a politician who did that in jail, having charged them with kidnap.... Britain is a liberal democracy built on law. When we forget that, we are not much better than Abu Qatada. We try legal cases in court and they decide upon the evidence. To do that they use case law as well as statute and ...
[IMG: a-bat-in-the-hand.JPG] Back in 2010, we went to a Bat Talk at Gatley Hill House. The room was packed and everyone enjoyed it. The Bat Talk is back, and this time bat expert Steve Parker will be taking groups around Gatley Carrs on Thursday, 16 May at 8.45 pm. Steve will talk for approximately 30 – 45 minutes and then we will probably divide into a couple of groups and go round the carrs listening for bats. Steve has said that he thinks that a group of 40 would be the most with which they could cope so it could ...
If we want innovation to be more responsible, does it make sense to separate the people who think about innovation from those that think about responsibility? "We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behaviour. The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles." - Hans Monderman People spilling out of the Science Museum or Imperial College London may have noticed over the last couple of years how much easier it has become to get run over. Exhibition Road, a grand thoroughfare of Victorian Kensington, has been transformed into a 'shared space'. The idea, following the ...
ON Monday at lunchtime Labour's leader Ed Miliband was subjected to a fierce interview by Martha Kearney on the BBC Radio 4′s World at One. The main subject of contention was Labour's economic policy, and in particular whether the party's plan for a temporary cut in Value Added Tax would increase government borrowing. Mr Miliband did not want to say this, only that, because it would stimulate growth, it would help bring down government debt in the medium term. This was not an assured performance by Mr Miliband, but beyond that it seemed to me, perhaps unfairly, that he only ...
Thanks to Labour List.
Here's a list of Tory leaders. Spot the odd one out David Cameron Michael Howard Ian Duncan Smith William Hague John Major Margaret Thatcher Ted Heath Sir Alec Douglas-Home Harold Macmillan Can you spot the odd one out? It's Harold Macmillan. He's the only privately educated one that actually won a General Election. Of course Major, Thatcher and Heath all won majorities - but were all State educated. Which kind of begs the question - why on earth do the Tories think a privately educated leader will win a general election for them? Of course, Hague, Howard and IDS were ...
Wed 1st
16:26
Open Rights Group launch digital surveillance report - the fight for web freedom continues
The group assembled in Methodist Central Hall in Westminster on Monday probably thought that they would be coming together to rage against the growing snooper state. Then last week deputy prime minister Nick Clegg told LBC that the Communications Data Bill was not going to happen, and the world looks like lot brighter for the ...
Whipped: From the desk of the Junior Whip I don't remember Margaret Thatcher. My mother used to threaten me with her when I wouldn't go to sleep. Even at that age, I was reading local authority by-election results under the covers with a torch. So the scenes at Westminster, with Conservative MPs weeping on one another's shoulders and Labour MPs more cheerful than I have ever seen them, were a puzzle to me. And then there are the Labour activists... The ones saying bitter things about the closure of coal mines are exactly the same ones who lecture people about ...
Here's my most recent Ham and High Column on Policing in Haringey Policing in Haringey is undergoing major changes. This all started last year, when the Conservative Mayor of London announced that changes would be made to policing in Haringey and across the city. In the current economic climate, changes have to be made to make policing more efficient and cost effective. But from day one, the Lib Dems were clear that any changes should not have a negative impact on public access to the police. Police front counters, for instance, are vital local services - allowing victims to go ...
Last year, against the odds, Michael Moore successfully piloted the Scotland Act through Parliament. This gives the Scottish Government, from 2015, some pretty major new powers, including more accountability for setting its own revenue. They will also have borrowing powers. The powers include: a Scottish rate of income tax borrowing powers for Scottish ministers the power to create new devolved taxes enabling the replacement of UK Stamp Duty land tax and UK landfill tax with new Scottish equivalents The Scotland Office recently published its first annual report detailing the progress in implementing these powers. It gives quite a good insight ...
Yesterday was pay day for millions of people across Britain, which means they will receive their first pay slip since the Income Tax personal allowance was raised from £8,105 to £9,440. When Liberal Democrats joined government in 2010 this allowance was a mere £6,475. Raising the tax-free allowance is the Liberal Democrats' flagship policy and has so far seen Income Tax bills slashed by £600 a year for millions of low and middle income workers compared to what they were paying under Labour. As a result, more than 2 million people on low pay have been lifted out of paying ...
Huw Lewis' official title is Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, which effectively means that he is in charge of shouting at the UK Government and blaming them for all the world's ills. He does that part of the job rather well. This is evident in today's Independent who describe Huw as Britain's only poverty minister and say that he is demanding strong action to curb payday lenders who prey on vulnerable people. He is quite right to do so, even though he conveniently forgets his own party's woeful lack of action on this issue and also gets a bit ...
The Labour Government eagerly joined President George W. Bush to invade Iraq. An illegal war. The main 'justification' for invading Iraq was a series of lies to Parliament sexed up by the Labour Government. The Labour Party has the blood of hundreds of thousands of people on their hands. Ten years ago in March, Labour joined President Bush in invading. Ten years ago today, President Bush announced it was "Mission accomplished". That was another lie. The Labour Party stayed the main cheerleader for the hundreds of thousands of deaths and tortures that followed. So much for Labour's "ethical foreign policy". ...
Wed 1st
14:20
UKIP believes 29 million Romanians and Bulgarians are headed for rural Northamptonshire
However many people come over from Romania and Bulgaria, few of them will be able to afford to live in the lush ironstone villages around Corby. And remember that UKIP thought Margot Parker was up to being a parliamentary by-election candidate last year. What can the rest of its membership be like?
This year, Parliament is hosting the 'Kids Count Inspiration Awards.' MPs have been asked to nominate an inspirational young person or community group that deserve to be recognised for their contribution to our communities. We have some amazing groups and individuals in Haringey, and it will be difficult to pick which one to nominate! I have some ideas in mind, but I would like your views too. Please don't hesitate to email me on lynne@lynnefeatherstone.org if you would like to suggest someone to nominate. The awards will take place on the 24th June in Parliament. Nominations close of 15th May ...
Wed 1st
13:57
I'd love to play you Ed Davey's speech from last Saturdays Mega rally against Heathrow expansion...
...but it does indeed seem beyond the wit of man to get blogger to load it; so instead here are some pictures of the event which featured Ed (Lib Dem), Boris, Zac Goldsmith, Justine Greening (Tories), John McDonnal and Andy Slaughter (Labour), Jean Lambert MEP (Green), John Stewart (HACAN) amongst others. If you'd like to express an opinion on the issue, do follow this link to the Richmond Council referendum Best line was when Giles Brandreth introduced Ed - noting that he was following Zac and Boris, and being closely associated with either is not necessarily a brilliant career move. ...
The Labour Party has revealed its list of candidates to contest the 2014 European elections in the South West and the surprise inclusion amongst the six is that of Glyn Ford, who has already been an MEP for 25 years (served the South West from 1999-2009) but who was unseated at the last election in 2009. Born in Gloucester, Glyn Ford (left) was first elected to the European Parliament in 1984
It is quite a picture this, isn't it?
Wed 1st
13:30
Nick Clegg and Paddy Ashdown say that Afghan interpreters should have the right to live in the UK
Almost exactly four years ago, Nick Clegg, as an opposition party leader, led a debate in Parliament in which the Labour Government was defeated on its plans to restrict the rights of Gurkhas to settle in the UK. David Cameron was keen to get himself into the photos with Joanna Lumley at the time. Four years on, and Clegg and Cameron have opposing views on whether Afghan interpreters who helped our soldiers in that country should be allowed to settle here. Today's Times (£) reports that the Prime Minister, along with Theresa May and Philip Hammond are against allowing these ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Ukip's manifesto offers the world. Let's take a closer look | James Ball | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk James Ball takes a closer look at Ukip's manifesto: lower taxes and higher spending #squarethatcircle > http://bit.ly/ZmdPGx Government statistics: Fixing the figures | The Economist I'm coming at this late but good post by @DLKnowles on misuse of statistics by IDS (& failure of journos to question) http://econ.st/10UMx0q How did Ben Elton's "The Wright Way" get it so wrong? Ben Elton's The Wright Way has found its justification: this brilliantly scathing review from ...
Wed 1st
13:29Northamptonshire Tories forced to pull illegal Facebook posting on eve of county elections
From the Northampton Chronicle & Echo website: The Conservatives were today being ordered to take down an illegal posting which breached election law on the eve of tomorrow's Northamptonshire County Council poll. The authority confirmed the party would be told to remove a picture which showed a ballot paper for the Moulton ward with a big X marked next to the Conservative candidate, a breach of Section 66 of the Representation of the People Act 1983. The photo was posted on the social media site Facebook as long as 10 days ago and was also on the official website of ...
When I joined the Liberal Party, encouraging employee-owned enterprises was one of its key policies. In the Alliance years that weakened to the argument that people would work harder if they had a share in the company who employed. And today it has been grotesquely deformed into George Osborne's pet idea that people should be given shares in return for giving up their employment rights. So it was good to see Nick Clegg making a speech - the Robert Oakeshott Memorial Lecture - on the subject last month: Employee ownership helps to create a stronger economy because it structures businesses ...
I have mentioned in the past that I still receive press releases from Sarah Ludford, London's Liberal Democrat MEP, which I read not merely as a courtesy, but as someone interested on what our Parliamentarians are doing in Brussels and, regrettably, Strasbourg (Single Seat, anybody?). Today, Sarah has commented on the declaration of the UK Supreme Court in a case brought by environmental campaign group Client Earth that the UK government has breached European air pollution rules. The Court decided to refer the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for further clarification. She notes;The Supreme Court declaration that ...
[IMG: Cycling] This report comes from the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group is an association of members of the Houses of Commons and Lords, representing all the main parties. Some interesting facts from it are: * Drivers and cyclsits are more alike than you think. With 80% of cyclists holding a driving licence, and 1 in 5 drivers cycling at least once a month, they're often the same people. * Cycling in Cambridge is not dominated by fit young men, or even university students, but has an almost equal gender balance, covering a wide spread of ages. * According to ...
This is a reference post listing the UK parliamentary constituencies that cover the area of England known as 'The Chilterns' with details of the current MP and their party. A while ago I noted this post which pointed out the correlation between which political parties people vote for and the geology of an area. So if you live where there is chalk you are likely to have a Conservative MP. It turns out that this is largely true. This got me thinking about the nature of the political representation of the chalk hills that surround where I live — the ...
Hobsbawm said that with the democratisation of politics, power increasingly became theatre. We've taken him at his word When we announced that our new initiative to re-think UK agri-food research policy would use drama as a core design feature, several of my colleagues in the science policy community responded with a mixture of humour and horror. A friend at a prominent environmental NGO said he feared his director would find such an approach "cringe-worthy". A professor of social science told me that all this touchy-feely stuff had been tried in the 1960s and hadn't worked. More sympathetically, a policy officer ...
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. In April I've been looking at the fourth Doctor April. Why does it have to be the fourth month? Or why was Tom Baker the fourth Doctor? Either way, four postings is too short a time to go through the huge range of Tom Baker's back catalogue. Those episodes that narrowly missed out included Horror of fang rock, Pyramids of Mars and Invasion of time. ...
Watching the recent episode of 'Dispatches' on Channel 4 entitled 'Inside Immigration', got me thinking a bit about attitudes towards 'foreign criminals' in the UK. The idea of the programme was that undercover reporters worked as temps in the UK Border Agency's processing offices and gave the inside story on the chaos and disorganisation there. Halfway through, during a 'pause for thought' about the real consequences of maladministration, the narrator piped up: 'Gabriella's story as a shocking example of what the human cost can be when things go wrong' at the UKBA'. But the story was somehow not what I ...
As the Western Mail notes Public Health Wales says that there has now been 1,011 cases of measles since the outbreak, centred in the ABMU, Powys and Hywel Dda health board areas, began in November. It is worth reflecting on why the epidemic has been so centred on Swansea. The media and others have already speculated that the campaign run by the South Wales Evening Post ten years or more ago was a major factor in the decision of many parents not to give their child the MMR jab. Indeed the scare started by Dr. Wakefield still resonates today, with ...
As a relative observer in this round of elections - ill health and professional study commitments have limited my availability - I have watched with a degree of bemusement as UKIP have emerged as the key theme. I am bemused because, apart from a desire to blame Europe for most things and claim that common sense is their driver, it is very hard to tell what UKIP would do if they were running Suffolk County Council. And yet if today's ComRes opinion poll is to be believed, better than one in five of those intending to vote will support them. ...
As I draw to the end of my 20 year term of office on Suffolk County Council I thank all those who have voted for, and supported me, over that time. I have enjoyed working with my parish councils in Belstead Brook. They have been a great bunch of people. I have also enjoyed working with campaign groups, including "Bury not Blight", who want to stop new electricity pylons, and recently "SIT", who are campaigning against two giant 430 foot wind turbines on land between Belstead, Wherstead and Pinewood. Both groups are trying to stop further unsightly clutter in our ...
Cllr Andy Pellew with Lib Dem President Tim Farron Tomorrow is polling day and Local Parish Councillor Andy Pellew will be seeking your vote for the County Council elections on Thursday 2nd May. Andy Pellew said; "It's vital that we have someone on Cambridgeshire County Council who is willing to speak up for our villages, someone with a track record of action, independence and transparency." "The decisions made in Shirehall will dramatically affect our lives; whether it's cutting local bus services, funding the legal fees for the Guided Busway, refusing to sell Shirehall which costs over a million a year ...
Chris White has slammed Herts County Council contractor Ringway over their cavalier attitude to local residents over night time roadworks that took place late last week and over the weekend. Neither councillors nor residents were notified and Chris was told by an official working for Ringway, contracted to the County Council, that this was because they were an emergency: if anyone had been told about them they would be 'planned' works - no doubt from a different budget. The official in question was unable to tell him the nature of the emergency. But he has written with a fuller 'explanation', ...
Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition. Better Together Last week the UK Government published its second Scotland Analysis paper, this time analysing the currency options for an independent Scotland. It set out four main currency choices: firstly, negotiating a formal sterling currency union with the continuing UK; secondly, adopting the pound without the formal consent of the continuing UK; thirdly, joining the euro area; or fourthly introducing an independent Scottish currency. The paper sets out that all of these options would ...
[IMG: UKIP logo] Much excitement this morning at an unusual event: a poll looking specifically at this Thursday's local elections. And more than that, a poll showing Ukip on 22%! The full figures are: Conservatives 31% Labour on 24% UKIP 22% Lib Dems 12% Important point: this poll was conducted only in the areas which will actually vote this week. That's why the Tories are ahead and Labour's behind. The equivalent vote shares compared to the last time these same seats were fought in 2009 is as follows (via the ever-excellent Anthony Wells): Conservatives 44% Labour 13% UKIP 5% Lib ...
[IMG: UKIP logo] Much excitement this morning at an unusual event: a poll looking specifically at this Thursday's local elections. And more than that, a poll showing Ukip on 22%! The full figures are: Conservatives 31% Labour on 24% UKIP 22% Lib Dems 12% Important point: this poll was conducted only in the areas which will actually vote this week. That's why the Tories are ahead and Labour's behind. The equivalent vote shares compared to the last time these same seats were fought in 2009 is as follows (via the ever-excellent Anthony Wells): Conservatives 44% Labour 13% UKIP 5% Lib ...
Why Facebook is blue: The science of colors in marketing - The Buffer Blog A lot of this doesn't work on me because I have two boxes for colours (like and don't like) and very poor brand awareness, so I don't tend to associate colours with brands. But I'm noting the point that EVERYBODY hates brown and orange (not just me). (tags: ) Jobseekers made to carry out bogus psychometric tests | Society | guardian.co.uk (tags: ) Ukip's manifesto offers the world. Let's take a closer look | James Ball | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk (tags: ) I Went ...
It is rather strange, but the present crisis at the doomed Japanese nuclear plant at Fukushima seems to have gone unreported in the UK press. Groundwater is seeming into the stricken reactors at the rate of 75 gallons a minute, where it gets seriously contaminated and has to be stored in great vats on site. It is pouring in at such a rate that the reactor operators are in the process of felling the next door forest to make more space for storing contaminated water. When nuclear power plants go wrong, they really do go wrong. Which gives me the ...
A May Day event inspired by LSE research invites us to think about the licensing of academic impact. This evening at 6pm, the Space Hijackers will be launching an Emergent Service Workers Party. You might remember the Space Hijackers as the "Official Protestors" of the Olympics, their midnight City cricket games or the time they took a tank to an arms fair. I have no idea what they're planning, just that they promise "A political party in the truest sense of the word!" Whatever happens, I wonder - and this is where the science policy comes in - if the ...
The last three years have been difficult ones for Lib Dems. We have taken the rap for things that would have had to be done whoever formed the Government; we have had to put up with some rubbish from the ... Continue reading →
Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, is the keynote speaker at one of the most important race equality events this party has held in recent years. Organised jointly by the Social Liberal Forum and Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats, it takes place from noon on Saturday 1st June at Amnesty International's Human Rights Action Centre, 25 New Inn Yard London EC2A 3EA. The conference will be of immense help to all those who realise that, particularly in London, the ethnic minority vote will be key to whether we sink or swim in the next elections. Race equality ...
Friends of Garston Park will be running a stall again this year at the Garston Fun Day. We are looking for unwanted books or DVDs to sell or put into a tombola on our stall. If you have anything to give away we'd be really grateful. You can drop things off at 80 Long Lane or e mail me and I will make sure we arrange to get the stuff from you. I am at paulakeaveney@yahoo.co.uk The fun day is 22 June so obviously we'd need things before then!
I have been liaising with one particular resident for quite some time now following concerns about cars destroying the verges very close to the School's Gainsborough Avenue entrance. Finally, we have been able to get Sefton Council do a small amount of work (installing posts and shrubs) to protect the worst affected verges bearing in mind the small budget available. Frankly I would like to have extended the work further but accept that there is no more money available at present - maybe more can be done at later date should wider problems persist. Here is a photo of the ...
Wed 1st
07:30A site house-keeping notice: just because we're neutral does not mean we're unopinionated!
[IMG: ldv-text] A brief site house-keeping notice follows... Our regular reader may have noticed that those of us who edit LibDemVoice — as well as contributing general news updates, editing and uploading others' submissions, and requesting guest pieces — sometimes express our own views. Sometimes trenchantly.* And sometimes to the displeasure of at least some of those who drop by here, whether signed-up Lib Dems or not. A couple of people have asked, not unreasonably, how we can square this with our stated intention to be a neutral site for the benefit of all Lib Dem supporters. Well, the thing ...
The Council's decided to turn down the annexe planning application from the West Farm hotel on Greenhill Road (near the junction with Heath Road) You can see the details at this link. The key information will be in the related documents section.
Whilst rummaging amongst my Malaŵian memorabilia for the previous post I came across the following. Hastings Banda was the dictator at the time. Ministry Circular 8/22 of 27/7/72. Following His Excellency the Life President's direction that the progressive and modern methods of teaching and practice should cease forthwith in all sxchools and colleges it has become necessaty to give guidance . . . .in order to ensure that all teaching and learning is done in the traditional manner. . . . . . His Excellency the Life President expressed dissatisfaction with the modern approach to teaching. Much concern was felt ...
Episode 56 of the House of Comments podcast "A Pretty Straight Sort of Guy" was recorded on Sunday and was out yesterday. This week myself and Emma Burnell analyse Tony Blair's latest comments about the UK political scene with respect to Labour in particular, Iain Duncan-Smith's suggestion that wealthy pensioners should hand back their universal benefits and we look ahead to the upcoming local elections. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here (note - this is a new feed so if you used to subscribe to the old feed a couple of years ago you'll need to do ...
Further to my article last month about the water leaks in Pentland Avenue along the wall that runs alongside the pavement towards the Balgay Road end, I asked the City Council for an update on the findings from the monitoring exercise the council agreed to at my request. The Team Leader (Infrastructure) in the City Development Department has advised that : "We carried out dye testing of the drain in the footway to Pentland Avenue on Monday 15th April. This was witnessed by a Pentland Avenue resident.The dye did not appear in the seepage from the embankment even after a ...
I was on Wave 102 News yesterday about the proposed polling station change in the West End given the proposed rebuilding of Harris Academy. You can hear the interview by clicking 'play' below:
