...Unfortunately by turning it into a 112 year cup hoodoo. Anyway here's a picture of the utterly amazing Hibs fans before kickoff - who stayed backing their team beyond the final whistle, despite being 3-0 and out singing the self styled 'greatest fans in the world'. Today's Edinburgh Evening News has more.
Just north of Stoke Bruerne you will find Blisworth tunnel - at 3,076 yards the third longest tunnel on the British canal system. Its construction, which began in 1793, was attended with all sorts of problems - a tramway ran over the hill to connect the two sections of canal until it was opened in 1805. At first boats were legged through the tunnel; later steam tugs were introduced, but then better ventilation had to be introduced because of the deadly fumes. The building by the tunnel mouth is an old forge and store for these tugs. It is once ...
This year the Gulf state of Qatar is collaborating with the United Kingdom in an extensive programme of cultural events, the spirit of which was captured tonight in a Musical Celebration at the Cadogan Hall off London's Sloane Square. The concert provided an eclectic mix of both traditional (Handel and Elgar) and modern (David Heath) [...]
This document is Aldes's contribution to the Liberal Democrat Policy Consultation Paper 109: "Transition to a Zero Carbon Britain". The policy paper itself is to be presented to Conference in Sept 2013. We have suggested a format for the final document and have written articles about several policy areas. This is by no means a comprehensive treatment of the subject - this would require more time and resource than Aldes currently has available but it, hopefully, will contribute usefully to the final policy document. Download
Anyone who would like their faith in human nature restored should read this story. The far-right English Defence League (EDL) organised a protest today at the mosque in York. However, two wonderful things happened to ward off the threat. First, a large number of local non-Muslims showed up to express their solidarity with the Muslim community, far outnumbering the EDL protesters. And second, the mosque invited the EDL protesters in for a cup of tea and a chat. Whoever said Muslims aren't assimilating with English culture?
Almost two thirds of British species have declined in the past 50 years and one in 10 faces the risk of extinction from our shores, according to an extensive new report into the state of Britain's nature.That was the Independent reporting the publication of the State of Nature report last week - you can download the whole thing from the RSPB website. Though there are some bright points, such as the return of otters to many of our rivers, the trend is clear and depressing. Because I am convinced that enjoyment of nature is central to human well-being - see ...
I wrote 'The Problem with Gay Marriage" because I had questions that I felt need to be answered and, luckily for me, Barry Stocker has attempted to answer them. Barry makes some great points and I do appreciate that 'free love' is not everyone's cup of tea, but... Perhaps Barry is also right that it probably shouldn't be the top legislative issue for any government. However, it is relevant to the relationship between the State and consenting adults. The United Kingdom is incredibly homogenous. Not as homogenous as places like Scandinavia but a great deal more homogeneous than the United ...
When running a business, we need to get professional compliance implementation and management solutions to ensure that our business can work well. In addition, we need to have a prepaid legal services plan to make sure that our employees or workers and their families can get a protection as well. By having a prepaid legal services plan, we can avoid any costly legal problems. It can happen because we already have access to consultation and advice from a professional legal adviser. Generally speaking, we know to whom we will find help if we have legal problems. We can enhance work ...
I've rather belatedly realised there has been yet another IT catastrophe, this time at the BBC. I don't know the details, so I can't go on endlessly about how it fits into my uber-theory of IT cock-ups (basically because the systems that fail so expensively are really designed to take power away from people, not to enable them to do their job better). There is another uber-theory, of course, which is that big mega-organisations like governments and mega public service broadcasters are staggeringly bad at specifying and managing IT projects, because they always over-complicate things. Perhaps we should be grateful ...
"It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Sir W Garth Morrison, KT, CBE, RN, Vice-President of The Scout Association and former Chief Scout went home earlier today."After a brief illness, bravely borne, Sir Garth passed away in his sleep at home with his family. Garth was a truly lovely person, [...]
Following the attack on the Animals in War memorial and the Bomber Command memorial in London this weekend, the RAF Benevolent Fund has appealed to the public to support them in the maintenance of the Bomber Command Memorial for which it has responsibility. We are hugely disappointed that anyone would wish to de-face this beautiful [...]
As reported over on LDV, a new campaign has been launched to remove lads' magazines from UK retailers. Lose the Lads' Mags, headed by UK Feminista and Object Update, claim: "Lads' mags promote sexist attitudes and behaviours. They normalise the idea that it's acceptable to treat women like sex objects. Yet despite widespread criticism over the years, high-street supermarkets and newsagents have continued to display and sell these degrading and harmful publications." The crux of their argument is displaying these magazines may contravene sections of the Equality Act of 2010. Sexist attitudes are still too prevalent in society but as ...
Yesterday, we were in the midst of saying goodbye to someone (we knew we would see them again about 30 minutes later). It was tending to be a very long drawn-out goodbye. So, in the end I broke into: Goodbye Goodbye We're leaving now, Tattybye Goodbye We wish you all goodbye Fartatata, fartatata.. My daughter thought I had just made that up and that it wasn't a real song – so, when we got home, our played her this fond memory, which is from the end of a 1973 BBC TV production of "Excerpts from the London production of Behind ...
Google's Eric Schmidt has been reported as being perplexed by the UK's debate on tax avoidance. I view that you should pay the taxes that are legally required. It's not a debate. You pay the taxes. If the British system changes the tax laws then we will comply. If the taxes go up we will pay more, if they go down we will pay less. That is a political decision for the democracy that is the United Kingdom There's a contrast here with the case of Starbucks, volunteering a little extra tax in a failed attempt to head off public ...
[IMG: south bound 08] It's well worth seeing "Australia with Simon Reeve" now showing on BBC2 and here on iPlayer. It was great to see him yesterday travelling down the Bruce Highway, which we did over two days. I didn't know there was so much sugar cane in the world. One of the things which comes out of the series (apart from the surprising fact that there are more camels in Australia than in any other country in the world, including Egypt) is the extraordinary mining activity in Australia. Simon Reeve visited Perth airport to witness the vast "fly in ...
If I am honest I am still quite bitter about the 2011 AV referendum campaign and its outcome. Let's not kids ourselves that AV would have been a panacea. It definitely wouldn't have been. But it would have been a small step in the right direction, introduced people across the country to the idea of preferential voting and helped to ensure our MPs had a moderately stronger claim to each be there with in some cases broader support than they get under first past the post. So I am disappointed about the legacy the loss of the campaign has bequeathed ...
The Beach Boys Love You marked the end of the Beach Boys as a creative force. Brian Wilson's spurt of creativity continued for a while, producing two albums which are (as of May 2013) still unreleased — New Album and Adult Child — but the tensions within the group led to the band actually breaking [...]
I have not blogged about Ludlow Town Council lately, but it seems it is just as dysfunctional as ever. The Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser reports: Ludlow Town Council is in 'meltdown' according to outgoing mayor Tony Pound who has called for it to be dissolved. And he dropped a bombshell on the beleaguered council by saying he's quitting his seat, following his failure to win another term as mayor, and warning the authority faces a financial crisis. His resignation along with his daughter Mandy Phillips, from the two Clee View seats, leaves the town council with just seven members ...
The latest public enquiry into the Gondar Gardens Reservoir proposed development (refused by Camden) was heard by the Appeal Inspector at the beginning of April over 3 days. The result was promised by the end of May - not long to go then!Flick Rea writes : "The residents, led by GARA's Chair represented themselves magnificently and, as local Councillor, I also made a statement opposing the development. The developers used the full line up of barristers and clerks and piles of papers and, I'm sure thought they'd got a walkover. But the opposition was terrific and just as competent without ...
Within Scouting there is a competition to find some real Bright Sparks this spring. Here's a video made by Putnoe Cub Scouts. If you like it – please click like on it and help them to try and win. Filed under: Blogging Tagged: Bright Sparks, Directories, Facebook, gay, Recreation, Scout
Electric vehicles Camden is busy trying to get people to use electric cars/vehicles and is currently offering free trials to businesses in the Borough. But what about residents? If you're lucky enough to have a driveway or a crossover and an off- street parking space by your house then you can charge your car on your own electricity with no trouble. But, if like lots of us in West Hampstead you live in terraced houses or big blocks of flats, you can't do that. And woe betide you if you try and run a cable across the pavement - a ...
Every time you go into a supermarket or newsagent to buy a magazine, you are likely to be confronted with the following: A women's section, which contains magazines on, mainly, celebrity froth, sewing, cooking and child-rearing; Everything remotely interesting,like current affairs, photography, fishing, sport, computers and science fiction being displayed elsewhere; Magazines with pictures of half naked women prominently displayed in a way that you can't miss. What does this tell children about the world in which they are growing up? The message seems to be that women are there to keep everyone else fed (while keeping themselves unrealistically thin, ...
I was inspired by Matthew Petroff's Kindle Weather Display to do something similar with my old Nook Simple Touch Reader. I had planned to use a salvaged eInk screen - but the Nook STR (or NSTR from now on) is only £29 due to a massive price drop. The Glow version is a mere £69 - so I bought that and have set my old NSTR to work as a "Family Display Screen". The idea is that this will stay by the front door, show today's weather, mine and my wife's calendar, as well as other useful bits of information. ...
The fate of lad mags must surely be the one thing on this planet that I really shouldn't be concerned about. 1) I'm gay, so most of the content (i.e. barely clothed women) is of little interest to me, 2) I regard cars, football and exercise with the disdain they all very much deserve and 3) I'm nearly 30! If Loaded, FHM, Nuts, Zoo and pretty much any other magazine aimed at the majority of young men were to suddenly disappear, would I really feel that bad? Probably not, I would have thought. In fact, if you had told me ...
Few things press Liberal Democrat buttons like the promise of free (or freer) trade. So, London MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford's recent post for LDV noting that the European Parliament has just given the go-ahead for negotiations towards the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP, a.k.a. TAFTA), a free trade treaty that will be the biggest in history, was generally welcomed in comments. But what exactly is proposed? Tariffs on both sides of the Atlantic are already low - averaging only about 4% – so the possible gains from further reductions are modest. A quick root around the European Commission's website ...
The Sun's Political Editor has become the latest person to complain about the Daily Mail's approach to photographs and copyright: Sad to see the Daily Mail's respect for copyright is as low as ever. Stole a Sun pic for their p1 today in 1st and 2nd editions. Pure theft. — Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) May 25, 2013 Of course, some people might say that if you are going to accuse another newspaper of "pure theft" and regular low standards, perhaps you should then conclude that the person in charge of a newspaper that behaves in such a way shouldn't be ...
This morning, following concerns raised about falling masonry at Pleasance Court, I visited the scene (see right) and have been in discussion with site factors, Ross and Liddell, about the situation. A significant amount of masonry fell from the south side of the building into the car park area and it was extremely lucky that no-one was close to the site when the stonework fell. There was also no damage to vehicles and three Fire and Rescue vehicles attended to ensure the building is safe and, along with police colleagues, an exclusion zone has been established round part of the ...
There has been a lot of talk over the last few weeks about Britain's place in Europe, but there's one thing that I hope we can all agree. We need the EU to help prevent climate change. We are an island nation, a trading nation, dependent on the global market for prosperity – for food, for energy, for many of the products we rely on in. It is unsurprising that the UK was one of the first countries to recognise that significant climate change will directly affect our way of life. And we were the first country to bind ourselves ...
The front page of today's Daily Mirror is simply absurd. Above the headline ("IS IT REALLY TIME TO CHILLAX?") is a strapline across the top of the page: Our country is in the middle of a terrorism crisis, Prime Minister. And you've decided to go on holiday to Ibiza.The Mirror is not alone. All of this morning's tabloids have had a go at David Cameron for taking a week's holiday. So let's get things in proportion. Our country is not "in the middle of a terrorism crisis". There has been one murder committed by freelance Islamist nutters. It was a ...
I just sent an email to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport calling on them to reject the press barons' Royal Charter. It only took a minute using a model letter – please take the time to do the same. All you have to do is visit http://act.hackinginquiry.org/lobby/16 and put in your postcode – easy as that.
Fire damage to Grimsby mosque (taken by Gerard Tubb) The death of Drummer Lee Rigby on Wednesday was a great tragedy and my heart, and those of the nation goes out to his grieving family and the tragic loss of a partner, father and son. I cannot imagine the pain and grief that has rocked them and the void that cannot be filled. The nation has greeted the news with shock and anger and in some cases violence. Twenty five minutes after the news broke the Gillingham Mosque was broken into, property damaged and a copy of the Qur'an defiled ...
I have just returned from a week's walking holiday in the Isle of Anglesey (well worth a visit) so was too busy yesterday trying to tidy my garden to take much notice of the news. However, my friend John Cole caught an interview with Ming Campbell which prompted him to write the following letter. Dear Sir Ming, I have just heard you being interviewed on the "World at One" Sunday 26th May. The topic was the possible responses to the murder of the Drummer in Woolwich and whether "the snoopers' charter" should be pulled from the long grass and enacted. ...
Political parties the world over are often accused of 're-fighting the last election' when they develop their manifestos. This is by way of a plea to all UK LibDems to be mindful of the need to avoid this tendency. In practical terms this means thinking about the 'record in government' we wish hypothetically to be able to put together at the end of 2019, ready for presentation to the electorate in the run up to a 2020 election. But hold on a minute – that means predicting issues in 2019 and the preceding 4/5 years. Exactly. I will suggest a ...
I was about to say you couldn't make it up. Then I saw that the MP quoted in this Leicester Mercury report is David Tredinnick. So it's pretty much what you would expect.
A UKIP councillor has been found to breach Ealing Council's rules following a controversial blog post that made a series of unfounded accusations about widespread illegal activity and anti-social behaviour by local Asians: EALING'S first UKIP councillor has been found guilty of writing a blog that opponents say 'smeared' people in Southall... Cllr Dennehy posted a blog post on March 13 2012 over the "beds in sheds" issue in Southall. For its perceived offensive nature, he was expelled from the Conservative Party. The ruling was by Ealing Council's standards committee, as Cllr Gary Malcolm (Lib Dem) explains: [IMG: Gary Malcolm] ...
it was only a matter of time till the tories and labour joined forces on something authoritarian (tags: ) http://vincentleonardprice.tumblr.com/image/51385679181 Happy birthday The Cush http://t.co/K9HRxfUePY (tags: (from twitter) ) http://www.shouldireadthedailymail.com/ @miss_s_b Should you read the Daily Mail? An in-depth analysis: http://t.co/bwKWPTQwpD (tags: (from twitter) ) Holly plotting http://t.co/Hx4TbJI8Nk (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586681348/ dr. river song brings it http://t.co/U0bgC0lAt6 (tags: (from twitter) ) Yay lots of Colin pics http://t.co/VPCH22tOVt (tags: (from twitter) ) Best response to stereotypes is to prove them wrong with pictures http://t.co/bGOJcNFStv (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 26-05-2013 ...
I know that councillors all over the Country get a massive satisfaction from their role and from serving their community. Me too! But I don't really think I would ever have wanted to be a councillor anywhere else than Liverpool. ... Continue reading →
An interesting analysis of Europol's data on terrorist attacks: [IMG: Gunman. Photo courtesy of tomskydive. Some rights reserved http://www.sxc.hu/photo/104467] Once again, a minuscule percentage of terrorist attacks in Europe were committed by Muslims. In 2009 and 2010, there were a grand total of 543 terrorist attacks, of which only 4 were committed by Muslims. This means that only 0.7% of terrorist attacks-again, less than 1%-were committed by Muslims. Meanwhile, in that same time frame, separatist groups in Europe committed 397 terrorist attacks, or 73% of terrorist attacks overall. In other words, separatist groups committed 99.2 times (almost 100 times) more ...
This is one of the best ads on telly at the moment. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
[IMG: ibiza2_1908515b] Photo from the Telegraph. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Liberal Democrats believe in democracy. Indeed 'Democrats' is in our title. We believe in representative democracy, from parish councils to (though we're still fighting for it) the House of Lords. We believe those who make the laws of our land should be voted for by the people of our land. Government of, for and by the people. We believe this should be extended to those occupying the highest positions in British Government. If we believe, as we rightly do, that no peer of the realm should be able to be a legislator just because of who they were born to ...
I am totally OK with DC going on holiday. "UK Crisis" is a ridiculous way to describe the aftermath of a tragic murder. If the PM waited for the funeral of deceased armed services members before he went on holiday, he'd never go on holiday. But what intrigues me is the unbelievable "in your face" Cecil B. DeMille production job given to provide the press with photo-ops of his holiday. David Cameron is a former PR man. He knows what impact such photos have in a sensitive period. He could have quietly slipped away with no photos. I believe Nick ...
Don't forget Faith, Pride, and Chat, our informal social evening, is taking place on Friday, 31 May at 7 p.m in St George's Church on High Street. More detail.... Facebook event page
[IMG: Dr. John Pugh Lib Dem MP for Southport] Dr. John Pugh Lib Dem MP for Southport John Pugh (Southport): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will investigate the recent financial management of Merseyside Passenger Authority. This follows on from recent Liverpool Daily Post story which I posted about. [IMG: IBB] Cllr. Iain Brodie-Browe (pictured above), Lib Dem opposition leader on Sefton Council, has also written to Cllr. Liam Robinson the new chair of Mersytravel, asking him to publish the auditor's report and to name all other companies set up by Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority (ITA) ...
Sara Scarlett recently put up the the post The Problem with Gay Marriage, the main point of course being to question the involvement of the state in marriage rather than to reject marriage rights for gay. I'm not in total agreement with Sara, but she raises some points which are important, and which should be discussed. We may end up one day, with no state sanctioned marriage, but that day is some way off, and I do not think it is absolutely necessary to liberty and equality. The manner in which 'marriage equality' has been established in Britain is flawed. ...
Last month, I welcomed proposed bus service improvements that assist service provision in parts of the West End and are due to be implemented on 30th June. These will see improved links for areas such as Pentland, Scott Street and Glenagnes Road with Lochee and Perth Road, daytime off peak Monday to Saturday, but will also give back an evening and a Sunday service to Pentland, City Road and surrounding areas. With grateful thanks to Suzy Scott who provides hugely useful route and timetable information on her website www.dundeebuses.info, the following downloads will be of use to residents: Summary of ...
Residents have reported to me that the litter bin at the corner of Sycamore Place and Balgay Road has been ripped off its post See right. I have reported this to the City Council and asked for a repair.
In yesterday's Observer Henry Porter makes some very sensible points regarding the communications data bill and last week's tragic events in Woolwich. Like me he notes the intervention of two former Labour home secretaries, a security minister and a former "independent" reviewer of terror laws all of whom have called for the swift review of the communications data bill, following the Woolwich killing: Give our guys the tools to fight terror on the streets, they say; "the proportionate tools", eagerly adds the former reviewer of terror laws, Lord Carlile. But not one of them bothered to produce the smallest evidence ...
This was a week that put things in perspective. I know I speak for all Liberal Democrats when I say that our thoughts are with the family and friends of Drummer Lee Rigby - the British soldier attacked and killed in Woolwich on Wednesday. And I've made it clear, on the party's behalf, that we are immensely grateful to our police, security services and armed forces, who do an extraordinarily important job. That last few days have reminded me, and probably many of you, of a simple but important truth: when your values are under attack, you have to hold ...
In which I talk about The Happiness Patrol. With luck I'll have my Pacific Ocean Blue post up here tomorrow.
I've written on transphobic radical feminism before, and I've talked about it outside this blog too. Over the past few years, there has been a renewed focus on examining the sort of radical feminism espoused these days, where criticism is often laid on it for being transphobic, whorephobic, or otherwise prejudiced, as opposed to the prima facie more exclusive intersectional feminism. And it should come to no surprise that I identify more with intersectionialism, given personal circumstances; arguably, it should follow, lived experience would lead to a similar conclusion. And while today's radical feminists claim lineage from those of old, ...
There's an interesting debate going on over at Cato-Unbound.org regarding 'fusionism.' Or rather – both the tactical alliance of Libertarians and Conservatives and the suggestion that for libertarian politics to work, you need institutions and structures in place in civil society, and similarly, for traditional institutions and values to once again achieve prominence, you need a libertarian political framework. It makes for a good read and I am definitely on the 'Death of Fusionism' side of this debate. My own reasons are thusly - First and foremost – uniting with Conservatives has not furthered the aims of Libertarians whatsoever. Conservatives ...
