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.May I start by apologising that the Enews is a bit late this week, I was struck down by a heavy cold and not in the best of states to write for the past couple of days. 1. Broxtowe Core StrategyBroxtowe Borough Council will be meeting next Monday evening to debate the new core strategy for the borough. This is the ...
Labour Council Leader George Dunning walked out of a vital meeting with Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, yesterday. He claims he had another meeting to go to. It is inconceivable that the Leader of a Council that desperately needs to attract business and get more jobs for its people could have a more important event to attend. "Cllr Dunning needs to justify his behaviour and unwillingness to use this key opportunity to promote the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland to the Government. "The Minister has already shown that the Government is prepared to help local business to ...
On Friday I started having a pain where my ovary used to be. On Saturday my boss made me promise that if it was still hurting on Monday I would go see the doctor. Yesterday I went to see the doctor. He asked me lots of questions and poked and prodded at me and did a urine test and gave me some pills (probably made of suckrose and ackwah) and told me if it still hurt in 48 hours to come back. This morning he rang me up and said he'd been thinking and wanted me to come back in. ...
Earlier this evening, I attended the latest West End Community Council meeting at which the guest speaker was Miguel Gomez Goni who, as a Spanish citizen living in Dundee, spoke about his experiences of living in our city. During the community council meeting, I updated the audience about recent planning matters including the granting of planning approval for the Harris Academy project and the debate over the Parkview school site at the council's Development Management Committee last night. In the police update, PC Forrester mentioned the recent spate of graffiti, an issue I raised at Policy and Resources Committee last ...
Tonight saw me return to the gym for the first time in a couple months. Getting back to it, after spending my period of absence electioneering, inspired a number of tweets: [View the story "#LibDemExercise #TopTips" on Storify] Andrew
It's a while since we have had a Look at Life film, so hear is The Village Sleeps Again from 1962 on the building of bypasses. As it turns out, the film is more about towns than villages and is notable for the cavalier attitude displayed towards urban clearance, the half-timbered house in Exeter and its mouse apart. But there is some appealing footage of Markyate in Hertfordshire and Stilton in Huntingdonshire (as it then was) towards the end.
Tue 14th
21:16
Lib Dems should welcome - and call for - a referendum on Europe, not to mention the UK
The BBC's Nick Robinson has written a useful piece setting out the Tory arguments about Europe and, helpfully, he sums it up by pointing out that it is all the fault of the Lib Dems. If it wasn't for the pesky Lib Dems, the Tories would have a referendum, Britain could be saved from the clutches of foreigners and Nigel Farage could be exiled to St Helena. Utter, unalloyed cobblers. What the BBC's nice Mr Robinson is either wilfully or accidentally ignoring is the simple truth that the Tories have been fighting over Europe since the 1970s and they will ...
Harborough's own Sir Edward Garnier QC MP is trying to get Twitter to close a fake account being run in his name. The existence of such a report must be irritating and could be politically damaging, though the most striking thing about @EdwardGarnier is how very dull it is. There is some justice in the MP's suggestion, quoted in the Leicester Mercury, that the hoaxer should "get a life and go and do something useful instead". But I was disappointed by some other words of his quoted in the article: "I have never had a Twitter account and have no ...
The first Eurovision semi final takes place this evening. As one of the major contributors to the European Broadcasting Union the United Kingdom is guaranteed a place in the final, but do we miss out by not taking part it the semis? A paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society last month suggest we do, if only to a small extent. Diarmuid Verrier from Sheffield Hallam University found that taking part in the semi-final stage of the contest can result in an entrant moving up the leaderboard by one place. He pointed out all of the ...
Simon Hughes has never really been my cup of tea. This blog post of Younger (Angry) Jae got quoted in the Guardian just because of my deep seated dislike of the man. Whilst I apologise now for the harsh tone, the sentiments have very much returned today as Maria Miller, a Tory might I remind you, had to tell Hughes exactly what believing in freedom and equality actually mean: "One factual error in what you said is that there was a very clear statement by the Conservative Party around looking at same-sex marriage in our Contract for Equalities that was ...
LAST week I had the delight, honour and privilege to open the second day of the debate on the Queen's Speech in the Lords -at four days long, practically the debating equivalent of test cricket. As I told the House, I have never hidden the reality that, in the present economic climate, the Coalition Government has had to make hard decisions and tough choices to achieve an economic recovery underpinned by fairness. But I believe that in our first three years we have made the tough decisions necessary. A new parliamentary year is beginning, however, and a new raft of ...
Traditionally, outside commentators (whether from the media or other parties) have often been quite sniffy about the Liberal Democrat internal democratic procedures and things like having party conference vote to decide party policy. The latest convulsions in the Conservative Party over Europe compare to the overall pretty disciplined 'we made a deal, so we will stick to the deal' approach the Liberal Democrats have taken to coalition government (especially when you remember that most of the main controversies in the party have been over things that weren't in the deal). It makes them another reminder about the value of internal ...
Tue 14th
18:05
Lib Dem attitudes to poverty and welfare: 3 interesting findings from today's Joseph Rowntree Founda...
Three interesting findings from today's report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) — Public attitudes to poverty and welfare 1983-2011 — carried out by NatCen Social Research, exploring public attitudes to poverty and welfare over the past three decades. 1) Interestingly... Lib Dem supporters are less likely than Labour supporters to believe that people live in need because of laziness or a lack of willpower. [IMG: nat cen jrf laziness] ... the individualistic viewpoint, that people live in need because of laziness or a lack of willpower, gained favour among supporters of all three main political parties between 1994 and ...
This is the column I wrote for the Manchester Evening News about Fracking which was published last week: Do you think Manchester would be better with contaminated tap water, earthquakes and explosions? Sadly your Council thinks it is worth that risk to help big gas companies. Last week Greater Manchester Councils agreed a 'Joint Minerals Strategy' allowing these companies to use the controversial process of gas extraction called fracking. Fracking involves pumping water and chemicals into coal beds (like those under Manchester, Salford and Wigan) to release gas. It has caused uproar in America where communities have evidence it has ...
An interesting post has appeared on the LSE media project blog. It seems that the Privy Council has launched a consultation on a Royal Charter for press self-regulation. The consultation, however, is not based on the version agreed by Parliament but the one agreed by the publishers last month. The Blog then makes the following interesting comments. This caused some confusion in the House of Lords yesterday and Baronness Jones of Whitchurch posed the question. "Why is not the Privy Council also considering the one put forward on an all-party basis?" The answer she received was that maybe the Privy ...
It takes quite a lot to amaze me in Cornwall Council nowadays, but the decision by councillor Mike Eathorne-Gibbons to switch from Conservative to Independent less than a fortnight after the election is genuinely amazing. I also think it is incredibly arrogant and contemptuous to voters. It would be naive not to accept that people sometimes switch sides. But this is usually on a point of principle - they cannot agree with the direction that their party is taking on a particular issue or on a series of issues and they feel that their only recourse is to leave their ...
Tue 14th
16:44
It's not the EU we should be banging on about. It's flogging the country to foreigners
On 13th April 2012 the Daily Mail published an article [extracted from Britain For Sale: British Companies In Foreign Hands by Alex Brummer, published by Random House Business Books ].It pointed out that we've lost our taste for ownership of our own economy and public services — from once-great manufacturers such as ICI to most of the companies that deliver our electricity, water and gas. The Government is even happy to consider letting a Russian firm, the one behind the Chernobyl accident, run some of Britain's next generation of nuclear power stations. In fact, to date, we've sold off more ...
[IMG: karenchilvers] Brentwood Liberal Democrat Councillor Karen Chilvers appeared on ITV quiz show The Chase last night. She took on The Barrister, Sean Wallace in a showdown that was much more tense than I had expected. I had never watched the show before and I found it quite compelling. The idea of the game is that each contestant answers as many questions as possible in a minute to earn £1000 per correct answer. At the end of the minute, they gamble that amount of money in a play off against The Chaser, any one of four mean characters who appear ...
The cycle path has been constructed from Coxgrove Hill (at the northern end of the existing Bristol to Bath railway path link) as far north as Westerleigh Road. On this section, between the M4 motorway and Westerleigh Road, there are further works to complete which include the installation of a footbridge at Folly Brook and minor works at the level crossing and the Network Rail car park. Officers are intending to install the bridge at Folly Brook next month, which will take about one week to complete. The works at the level crossing and Network Rail car park are subject ...
Delia Smith is quite right to criticise TV cookery shows such as MasterChef for intimidating aspiring cooks, and to claim that Britain has lost its grip on home cooking. Never have there been more food programmes on television. Never have more cookery books been sold. Never have people spent more on fitted kitchens and kitchen gadgets. Yet fewer people than ever can actually cook. Cooking skills are no longer handed down from generation to generation. Most of those who do 'cook' lack the basic skills but can only follow recipes. They can turn out a passable imitation of a TV ...
John Hemming will join the Conservative rebels in voting to support their EU motion. The Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley is currently the only Lib Dem to vote for the motion, which is going against the Queen's Speech.
The ruling Bootle Labour cabal at Sefton council are keen to pile on to Southport residents extra taxes. We will soon have the Green Wheelie Bin Tax- a flat tax of £46, then we have the massive hike in car parking charges aimed at bring in £500,000 which will hit Southport's economy hard-85% of all parking charges are paid in Southport. John Pugh and IBB outside the Town Hall So here are a few ways the could save some money. Southport Town Hall has been practically empty for months. I have raised this several times. I am repeated told ...
I was away this weekend joining in the celebrations of friends birthday. We were staying in Chipping Camden. Around lunchtime wandering around the town we came upon the village parish church of St James and, as is my habit, I went inside to look around. It is one of the finest wool churches in the country. The church was the venue of the Chipping Camden Music Festival and was laid out ready for a concert with a Steinway Grand Piano alone on the stage in front of the chancel. I sat down for a moment and a young lady came ...
I thought it might be a good idea to introduce a new feature for the start of the shiny new parliamentary session - a regular look at the Early Day Motions tabled by MPs. These are basically House of Commons petition and are used to raise awareness of an issue. One of the biggest elements of an MP's postbag or inbox is a pile of requests from supporters of a particular organisation or charity to sign a particular EDM. As a rule, ministers don't sign EDMs. You would think, wouldn't you, that MPs could just sign them with a click ...
Lib Dem transport spokesperson Cllr Jim Jenks comments on the Crossrail 2 proposals: "We fully support the Crossrail 2 regional option which would see Alexandra Palace and Tottenham getting far better transport links. This is the best option for the borough as it would relieve pressure on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines, making the daily commute for local residents much easier. "The new train links would also make Alexandra Palace more accessible to people across London and improve transport links between Tottenham and the centre of London. "This is a great opportunity to improve transport in the borough and assist ...
Tue 14th
14:47Clegg on UK and EU relationship with Africa: "more trade, fairer tax and greater business transparen...
Nick Clegg gave a speech at the Africa Jubilee Business Forum which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Organisation for African Unity. Here are the highlights: Political rights must go in tandem with economic growth Everybody, of course, wants growth - the key decision is how you achieve it. More and more African countries face a choice between the economic models of authoritarian capitalism, on the one hand, and liberal democracy, on the other. In countries like China, authoritarian capitalism argues the case for economic growth ahead of political freedoms. And it's a seductive argument in view ...
The Tory rebellion over Europe took yet another unusual twist today with the Prime Minister effectively embracing it by announcing his intention to introduce a draft Bill to guarantee that an in/out referendum on Europe will be held by 2017. According to the Independent the draft Bill, which is to be unveiled by the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, will be seen as a way to strengthen Mr Cameron's promise of a referendum if his party wins the 2015 general election. They continue: It is unlikely to be introduced as a government measure because the Liberal Democrats oppose the idea. But ...
'Individuality in people is what makes them beautiful' Words of a very special young man, oh wait, no, scratch that, I said those words this morning. You see I was speaking (well typing) in response to the petition surrounding the 'glammed up' version of Merida by Disney as they have made her look more 'beautiful' as they prepare her for the US market. They clearly think that by making her look more sexual then they'll sell more products but isn't this yet again an attempt by a big money corporation to follow the dollar instead of standing up for what ...
Matthew Parris on the Daily Politics : "You don't need a commentator to be here to discuss what has happened to the Conservatives, you need a psychiatrist."
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Hexham Lib Dem's defection means politician is having to sell number plate – Today's News – News – JournalLive LibDem's defection to Lab = putting his personalised reg > LI6 DEM < up for sale http://bit.ly/10vBl32 < So sad. In *every* possible way. Dan Brown's Inferno: a tall writer offers his historic review | Books | The Guardian Secret of Dan Brown's success: "...the seductive urgency of a good-looking someone telling you a brainy secret" http://bit.ly/16wvCCA Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition set to run Cumbria County Council (From The Westmorland Gazette) Birth ...
Tue 14th
13:10Battle of the Andrews over 5 Days in May: Lib Dem Stunell lambasts Labour's Adonis for "spurious rub...
[IMG: adonis stunell] Lord (Andrew) Adonis, a former SDP councillor and the very model of a modern Blairite New Labourite, has a new book out offering his assessment of those five heady days in May when the alternative Lib-Con and Lib-Lab coalition options were discussed. In the main it confirms what was already known: that Labour had not given any thought to the fact they might have to work with the Lib Dems in the event of a hung parliament. But his Lordship, having conceded how ill-prepared Labour was, is nonetheless mustard-keen to lay much of the blame for the ...
Tue 14th
12:59
Joe Farman: the ozone layer and the occasionally silly progress of science | Alice Bell
Alice Bell recalls an interview with Joe Farman, who helped discover the hole in the ozone layer and died this weekend Joe Farman died this weekend. Obituaries appeared on the BBC and Telegraph on Monday night. As one of the scientists who helped find the "hole" in the ozone layer, Farman was part of what was arguably one of the most important scientific discoveries of the 20th century, even if it took a slightly different hue from earlier discoveries, a little less triumphant perhaps, being more a matter of humans incrementally learning what we had done to the Earth rather ...
I have always been a Country boy. Despite being born in Medway I grew up in Marden on the cusp of the Weald. During my A'levels I specialised in biology (mainly ecology and Marine biology) and have always had a love of wide open green spaces and nature as a whole. I'm also a realist though and understand that the human race needs to strike a balance with nature. New housing has to be built for families and for the economy. I also realise that there is limited space for this in the Medway towns which is why the council ...
The increasing use of expert bioethicists has profound anti-democratic implications In a secular age it might seem that the time for moral authorities has passed. However, research in the life sciences and biomedicine has produced a range of moral concerns and prompted the emergence of bioethics; an area of study that specialises in the ethical analysis of these issues. The result has been the emergence of what we might call expert bioethicists, a cadre of professionals who, while logical and friendly, have, nevertheless, been ordained as secular priests. This suggestion - that there are expert bioethicists - might appear to ...
Exclusive: leaked document from David Cameron's policy-making unit reveals intricate decision process
Tory Eurosceptics have been dominating the discussion about Britain's relationship with the European Union, riding on the wave of populist sentiment engendered by UKIP. But it is wise to remember that they are a minority — albeit a sizeable one — within the parliamentary party. It's a pity that David Cameron is unable or unwilling [...]
I thought it might be a good idea to introduce a new feature for the start of the shiny new parliamentary session – a regular look at the Early Day Motions tabled by MPs. These are basically House of Commons petition and are used to raise awareness of an issue. One of the biggest elements of an MP's postbag or inbox is a pile of requests from supporters of a particular organisation or charity to sign a particular EDM. As a rule, ministers don't sign EDMs. You would think, wouldn't you, that MPs could just sign them with a click ...
Tue 14th
11:49
Signal Boost: House of Comments Podcast, Featuring @MarkReckons and @ScarletStand and me
In between Doctors' appointments the last few days I managed to spend an hour or so on Skype to take part in the House of Comments podcast for this week. I tried very hard to be polite and not interrupt, even to the extent of not ribbing Emma about her obsession with bar charts on focus leaflets, so those of you hoping for Fireworks might well be disappointed. Topics covered include Ian Duncan Smith's interesting approach to the use of statistics, the long ramifications of legislation in comparison to the short attention span of the Westminster Village, and European fish ...
Many of you will have seen last week the headlines following comments by David Prior, the Chairman of the CQC, about the unsustainable pressure on Accident and Emergency wards in the UK. The truth is that patients are getting excellent care in A&E departments up and down the country. The NHS is coping well with the increase in demand. But there is no denying that there has been a big increase in demand on our emergency services. There is no easy fix to this situation, especially at a time when the NHS needs to make limited resources go further. But ...
Martha Lane Fox made her maiden speech in the House of Lords yesterday. The lastminute.com founder spoke of the need to encourage development of great skills, and gave moving insights into how the internet had helped her when severely injured, having been thrown from a car whilst abroad.
Back in 2009, Dick Puddlecote highlighted a particularly odious piece of behaviour from a member of the "caring" profession who had long before decided that he could make a greater contribution to our collective wellbeing and his bank balance by practicing politics rather than medicine. Chris Spencer-Jones attempt to close the legally exempt smoking room in a hospice on ideological grounds were of course ignored by the mainstream media presumably because it views people who hold medical degrees as saints who can never be shown to do anything other than good works for the rest of humanity. Fortunately the Birmingham ...
Michael Gove's approach to evidence-based policy-making Quite terrifying. (tags: ) Not just a girl..... » Jaime Moore photography Amazing five year old girl in historical women cosplay. The Amelia Earheart costume is my favourite :) (tags: ) Farewell to blogging « Labour Uncut "Political parties demand loyalty and I understand that this is important. But loyalty is not blind; in fact blind loyalty is not desirable. The public see straight through the politician trying to hold a line in the face of a hostile interview and it adds to their sense that politicians lie. " - YES! THIS! (tags: ) ...
As the Tories get themselves stuck into their favourite row about Europe, Labour are also doing their best to take the scabs of old wounds. Last night David Cameron caved in to Peter Bone and Nadine Dorries and published a darft EU referendum bill, but it's not just his Conservative's that are stuck in past ...
No words needed London in 1927 from Tim Sparke on Vimeo. H/T News Statesman
This weekend again sees the Blyth Battery run "Blyth Battery goes to war" Free entry to a series of World War II themed events. Full details are at http://blythbattery.org.uk/blyth-battery-goes-to-war-2013 Poster used without permission, and copyright acknowledged
The Guardian today reveals that even Labour supporters have bought into the Osbornite vision of the undeserving poor. "Labour party supporters increasingly believe that welfare recipients are undeserving and that the welfare state encourages dependence, with a noticeable share saying that poverty is caused by a personal failing rather than a problem with society." This is the conclusion of
As a blogger, I would like to claim that I am immensely prescient. The truth is usually otherwise, unfortunately. But there is one exception, which I can't help mentioning. This is what I said in my first Lib Dem conference speech in 2001 (actually, it was my second, but we draw a veil over the first): "There is a fundamental problem at the heart of the euro that makes me fear for the future of Europe. And it's this: single currencies tend to favour the rich and impoverish the poor. They do so because changing the value of your currency, ...
The following information has been provided by the Heaton Park management to local residents who live near to Heaton Park concerning the Parklife event on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June 2013. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if there are issues that you wish me to raise with the park management. There are details of an information event on the advert below. Thanks, Tim. [IMG: Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 19.11.36] PARKLIFE – INFORMATION FOR LOCAL RESIDETNS The capacity for each day will be 45,000. Access to the event will be between 11:00 and 17:00 on ...
Why not join hundreds of other Lib Dem Voice readers in getting our latest headlines by email? Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there's new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with a note of how many comments each post has got and convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want ...
From the Local in Prestwich group: Residents of Prestwich have no doubt noticed that the area is lacking some sparkle in certain places at present, especially as the Spring sun begins to shine. In light of this Local In Prestwich Business Group are spearheading The Big Spring Clean , working with local residents, community groups, schools and Councillors in a team effort to pretty up Prestwich. The clean is designed to make the district a cleaner and safer place to live and work. The group hope to attract many volunteers on Sunday 19th May to contribute to the effort which ...
A group of over 60 people met in Ince Blundell on 9th May due to big concerns in that small rural community that I used to represent some 10 or more years ago when I was first a Molyneux Ward Councillor and Ince Blundell Parish was then in that ward of Sefton. The wind farm will, should it gain planning permission, be on land that is a part of West Lancashire, not Sefton, because of the somewhat odd drawing of local government boundaries in 1974 when Sefton Borough was created. I have already made clear my own views which are ...
Wondering where Ukip won (or almost won – see below) in the local elections on Thursday, 2nd May? Then here's a handy graphic and breakdown by constituency... [IMG: ukip vote may 2013] My thanks to Lib Dem Ben Mathis (@binny_uk) for crunching the Ukip numbers, as below. We'll update the list with any more found... LINCOLNSHIRE Boston & Skegness Con ~8000 UKIP ~10,000 Labour ~4000 Independents ~3000 There were no Lib Dem candidates. In one division partly in the seat, Ukip did not stand. South Holland & The Deepings Con ~8050 UKIP ~7050 Lab ~2550 Ind ~4300 One and a ...
Residents in Eskdale Close have again raised their concerns relating to the standard of the road and footpath in their cul-de-sac. As a result Cllr Darren Fower popped down for a site visit to capture the evidence on video, which can then be shown to the relevant Council department!
As reported in last night's "Evening Telegraph", a group of travellers have re-occupied the former GA call centre site, following the previous occupation. As I indicated in last night's paper, I am anxious to see a swift resolution to the situation and hope the travelling community will henceforth use the official site at Balmuir Wood. The council's Housing Department advised me yesterday: "There is a new illegal encampment of 4 caravans at the old GA call centre on Explorer Road. We visited the site this afternoon with the Police to speak to them and take their details. The wife of ...
Artist's impression of the new Harris Academy Further to my update last night about City Council meetings, I have welcomed the unanimous approval of the new Harris Academy plans that took place at the City Council's Development Management Committee. The new Harris Academy building is striking and innovative in design and will provide high quality 21st century facilities for the school community and for the wider West End community who will be able to make use of the school facilities - for example for leisure and night classes - when the new school opens in August 2016. At last night's ...
I have today launched my May 2013 Update to West End Community Council. Subjects covered include : · Recycling issues· Litter pick in the West End. You can download my Update here. The Community Council meets tonight at 7pm at the Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall in Shaftesbury Terrace. All residents welcome.
A Coalition Government announcement in the Queen's Speech will help 2,600 businesses across Bury by cutting National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The National Insurance Contributions Bill announced by the Queen will introduce a National Insurance employment allowance of £2,000, reducing the cost of employment and supporting small businesses aspiring to grow and want to hire their first employee or expand their workforce. Building a stronger economy in a fairer society is my priority and the Liberal Democrats have ensured the Queen's Speech has measures that will help deliver that.In these difficult times, it's vital we help small businesses who want to ...
"Education, education, education" was Tony Blair's famous mantra as he campaigned to bring schools to the top of the political agenda before the 1997 General Election. And on that issue I would agree. There are many excellent schools in Wales with hard-working teachers and students but, overall, most measures of education standards show Wales in decline when compared to the rest of the UK. Labour Ministers must take responsibility for this decline but I am not going to play the party political game and spend most of my time attacking the current Labour Government in Cardiff Bay. We need to ...
After I ran the Eugene Half, one of my friends on FB commented: "blog post or it didn't happen." For her sake, I apologize for the fact that this isn't that recap, but I'll get to that soon. I suppose, instead, it's everything else that's happened lately and since the last time I bothered writing about my running! The good news is that for the first time since April 1, I was cleared to start running again for reals (and not just because I refused not to run races for which I had registered before the injury). I'm only supposed ...
[IMG: Learn Guitar with David Brent] Online guitar lessons have grown massively in recent years as people give up instruction books and in-person lessons in favour of learning online from the comfort of their living rooms. Now it's been announced that Ricky Gervais, who plays David Brent in hit UK TV show The Office, is getting in on the game with a 'David Brent Guitar Lessons' series on YouTube. The series will see his character trying to teach people how to play the guitar, and will feature full versions of songs first introduced in the hit BBC series The Office. ...
