Sad news of the death of Tom Sharpe. He wrote some outrageously funny books. After a gentle run-up, you always knew that the various strands of the plot would collide explosively and that there would be a tumultous, chaotic and glorious climax. I regard him as a great English comedic author, certainly sitting on a footstool at the feet of P.G.Wodehouse (though that's probably doing Sharpe a disservice, given his savage satirical edge – he's in a somewhat different league than the gentler Wodehouse). His books were always beautifully illustrated, and BBC2 produced a fantastically good dramatisation of his book, ...
OK, I suppose I have to get it over with... I have tried, in these essays, to be as objective as I can. Yes, some of the reviews have been harsh, but I have tried wherever possible to find something positive to say. The Beach Boys put out some material that was subpar, but never [...]
Lovely Margot James features, but we also have to put up with Matthew Oakshott and Salma Yaqoob.
Benfieldside, Blackhill, Bridgehill and Shotley Bridge Community Partnership. The partnership's meeting tonight reminded me just how good this partnership is. It's largely responsible for persuading Northumbrian Water to act on the flooding that has occurred in the Benfieldside area. I know that because I was at the first meeting that Northumbria Water attended where they were less than convincing, and where most attendees were doubtful as to whether they would act, but tonight they reported back to the very well attended partnership meeting on their plans for extensive work. It's good that the partnership has found a new new secretary ...
I was sorry to hear of the death of the comic novelist Tom Sharpe. I read him avidly when I was a student and recall that in those far-off days he was taken very seriously by the critics. As Robert McCrum says in his tribute on the Guardian Books Blog: "For a while, he was spoken of as the heir to Wodehouse and Waugh." Sharpe wrote his first two novels about South Africa and his violent comic sensibility was conditioned by the cruelty and absurdity of life there. In Britain he found his most rewarding targets in our ancient institutions, ...
Not surprisingly the plans recently unveiled by Labour run Sefton Council to grab more high grade agricultural land to build upon have gone down very badly. The Champion newspaper's East Parishes reporter Jim 'The News Hound' Sharpe calls the master plan 'bonkers'. [IMG: Dr. John Pugh Lib Dem MP for Southport] Dr. John Pugh Lib Dem MP for Southport Dr John Pugh the Lib Dem MP for Southport says the plan will create a 'hollowed out sprawl'. Maria Bennett of Formby Residents Action Group (Fragoff) says 'Sefton's plan is completely flawed' Tonight at Maghull Town Hall a large number of ...
It's been a while since we've been abroad, but later this month we're off to Dusseldorf. This will be Euro-Barney's second trip to Germany, though the nearest we got last year was a day in Osnabruck and a night at a campsite in Munster. I'm really looking forward to it. It's an interesting area for us to visit, as Nordrhein-Westfalen contains a number of the North East's twin towns – including Sunderland's twin, Essen. We're hoping to take in Dusseldorf, Essen and Wuppertal and hopefully make a jaunt to Cologne and Bonn. Anyone got any tips for me? Things to ...
Today we bring you the 1956 Annual Report of Southport Women's Liberal Association. It is notable for several features. Firstly the context; the faltering Liberal revival had begun. Deep in the wretched winter of 1954 a by election was held in Inverness-shire on December 21st. In fact so poor was the weather the result did not reach the London Press till Christmas Eve. The Liberal candidate, John Bannerman, was a 'popular Gaelic speaking Highlander, sportsman, potato developer and broadcaster; he had played Rugby for Scotland on thirty seven occasions between 1921 and 1929'. He reduced the Tory Majority from 10,000 ...
The SNP campaign in the Liberton and Gilmerton Council by-election in Edinburgh has proved that it's, as Edmund Blackadder would say, at home to Mr Cock-Up. Yes, I know it's a case of there but for the grace of god go we, but if we'd made the mistake, they'd hardly have just sat there and nodded sympathetically. From the Scotsman: SCOTTISH Nationalists were today accused of misleading voters after issuing leaflets which talk about an "SNP by-election" and tell people they are being asked to choose a "replacement SNP councillor".Voters in Liberton/Gilmerton are due to go to the polls on ...
Following tests conducted across the country, at800, the organisation responsible for protecting Freeview when 4G at 800 MHz is rolled out across the UK, has provided a new estimate of the likely scale of the impact. If national rollout reflects the results seen during its tests, at800 expects no more than 90,000 households, with Freeview as their primary TV service, to experience disruption caused by 4G at 800 MHz. This figure also corresponds to less than 1% of households with Freeview as their primary TV service, according to the latest viewer figures from Whatever the level of disruption, at800 ...
[IMG: call clegg] So, if you haven't got time to sit through the half hour of Call Clegg, here are my highlights of today's session. On his Opening Doors initiative But to be honest I think what this is about is what about those kids who aren't lucky enough to have, I don't know, families or parents who can help or can try and help them, who just don't have the contacts, who don't have the support they need to live out their dreams.... ...I actually do think there are so many young children today who are bright, who've got ...
It's been a bit of a pandatastic week. The Edinburgh Zoo pandas have been here for 18 months and have so far managed to avoid the First Minister. Until the other day. The way he pronounced on Tian Tian's medical condition like he knew it all was quite scary. If I were her, I'd have felt he was a bit impertinent, to be honest. Then Willie Rennie reminded us all how Salmond had pandaed to China on human rights last year saying on Facebook: The First Minister's cuddle with the pandas reminds us that last year he was warned off ...
I have written an urgent email to the Chief Executive of Homes for Haringey today calling for answers over the halting of a scheme to bring local council homes up to standard. The Decent Homes scheme, meant to improve council homes across the Borough, has been suspended by the Labour-run Council, affecting a number of Hornsey and Wood Green residents. Homes for Haringey say this relates to a failure by the council to secure an appropriate contractor for the 2013/2014 Decent Homes programme. I wonder why they failed to secure an appropriate contractor? Could it be that they messed up ...
YouGov have done a survey asking people their opinions about Doctor Who and what characteristics they want to see in the next Doctor. As politics and Doctor Who are two of this blog's continuing obsessions, I couldn't resist writing about it – and this post becomes even more 'my entire blogging history in one post' if I tell you I'm doing it while I wait for the highlights of the Criterium du Dauphine cycling to come on TV. (Insert your standard disclaimer here about polling not necessarily being accurate, margins of error, just a bit of fun etc) It's perhaps ...
Another day, another UKIP councillor story, this time about Cllr Matthew Smith: A UKIP county councillor has denied claims he offered confidential Conservative Party data to Labour councillors - as a formal complaint was lodged... In his letter to the ICO, Councillor Reynolds alleged: "In early 2011 a Mr Matthew Smith... a former employee of the Great Yarmouth Conservative Association, downloaded without permission all the data information held by the Great Yarmouth Conservative Association and then approached the Great Yarmouth Labour Party to offer them this information which they quite rightly refused to accept." In recent years Mr Smith has ...
It's due to views such as this: (Also on YouTube here.) And of course to find out more about how to employ such attitudes in your own election campaign, take a look at 101 Ways To Win An Election.
Opposition to a two-storey drive-through McDonalds in Wallington has spurred local residents to start a campaign against the planning application. Leaflets are being distributed and posters are appearing around the area saying 'No to McDonalds'. On Saturday 8th June they will be in Wallington High Street collecting signatures for their petition against the development proposals [...]
We, as a country, have decided to make tackling climate change much more expensive. This is the logical consequence of today's news that onshore wind, the cheapest form of low carbon power, is to suffer much heavier restrictions on where it can be built. Given that the need to tackle climate change has not gone [...]
Just to remind everyone, the Winnersh Fete will be on Saturday 15th June, starting at 1 pm at Bearwood Rec on Mole Road. The fete is a real community event, organised by the parish council, and entry is free. You should get a flyer through your door – the parish councillors (including me) have been out and about distributing them. Hope to see you there.
I was very pleased this week to become Chair of the Parliamentary Liberal Democrat Party. I was elected unopposed, and took my place as Chair at the Parliamentary Party meeting, in what many would consider a slight baptism of fire, having only had my new role confirmed hours before! I am delighted to be embarking on this new role. The job is an extremely important one and I am really excited to be taking it on. As I am retiring at the end of this Parliamentary term, I feel that while many of my colleagues will need to be focusing ...
You should know by now that I'll always give credit when I think it's due. The SNP did a good thing the other day. At their party council meeting in Aberdeen, they passed policy on incorprating the World Health Organisation's International Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes into Scottish law. This is something that could really make a difference, in conjunction with many other measures, in increasing the poor breastfeeding rates in Scotland. Last year I wrote about a UNICEF report which talked about how increasing breastfeeding could save the NHS a small fortune and tackle inequality too. I ...
Thu 6th
14:15
Are employment levels one of the "better stories" of the Coalition, as Fraser Nelson claims? Not rea...
The Spectator's editor Fraser Nelson is — rightly — very hot on politicians being accurate in their use of stats. For instance, he's — rightly — called out both Nick Clegg and David Cameron for confusing (whether accidentally or deliberately) the terms 'debt' and 'deficit', claiming the former is falling when they mean the latter. However, Fraser is sometimes a bit casual with facts himself — for instance, wrongly claiming that an old report for the Department for Education 'proved' the pupil premium was flawed when it did no such thing. And today he makes a point of highlighting what ...
There have been many Liberal Democrat successes in this coalition government - for example, the £10k tax threshold, the pupil premium, fixed term parliaments - but these and others can be overturned or altered by subsequent governments. However, we are near a success on an issue which will be a permanent step - a genuine positive reform that the coalition government will always be remembered for. I talk, of course, of same sex marriage, or gay marriage, which, at the time of writing, has passed the second reading in the Lords. Still some distance to go but it looks hopeful. ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Billy Bragg may not like it, but the Conservatives are the new workers' party » Spectator Blogs Interesting stuff from @frasernelson on Billy Bragg & high marg tax rates http://bit.ly/16MmHhk Tom Papworth: Fiscal consolidation has been implemented poorly - here's how to fix it Think Tanks Lots of good sense from @TomPapworth > Fiscal consolidation has been implemented poorly - here's how to fix it http://bit.ly/16Mmk6m Send to Kindle
Cast your mind back to last year when the Lords Reform bill was working its way through parliament. Like many Lib Dems I was delighted that finally, after so many years we were going to get a largely elected upper chamber. Then the murmurings started. Tory backbenchers were going to kill the bill and they did indeed eventually vote against it in sufficient numbers to prevent it from being implemented. The consequence of this is that we still have a bizarre and anachronistic unelected upper chamber with no prospect of change any time soon. The primary defence of the Tories ...
I should point out before I begin that, yes I have bought Lad's mags in the past, especially in my teenage years but I also am no sexist - far from it. I am inspired by strong women, one of my heroes as a youth was a strong female lead (albeit fictional) and I've always had a strong leading woman in my life - I even married one! For me equality and society free of degradation is essential. Lads mags have always been a contentious issue since their inception in the 1990s. They portray a lifestyle of booze, sport, boobs ...
The Forth Replacement Crossing is due to open in 2016 and the public are getting a chance to vote for its name. Voting has been open for a while now, but closes tomorrow - so if you want to have your say, you'd better get on with it. I finally got around to casting my vote yesterday. I have to say that I'm not in any way impressed with the shortlist, although I'm not sure one Twitter correspondent's suggestion of Unnecessary Bridge should have made it, funny though it was. The list of five names is too samey and incredibly ...
It is one of the biggest yet most under-appreciated ironies of British politics that the policy that unites the Liberal Democrat party membership in its most fervent rapture — the introduction of proportional voting to Westminster elections — is also, probably, the thing most likely, if implemented, to lead to the end of the party is we know it. That is not to say that PR would necessarily lead to the break up of the party, but it is undeniable that majoritarian electoral systems force together the relatively broad coalitions that are the pre-requisite to winning elections. The way in ...
At the end of April, I chaired the Public Services Show at the Business Design Centre, and found myself introducing the government's new Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Kelly. This was a little unnerving because I don't really understand what a COO does in government, and his hand-shake was worryingly mid-Atlantic. But he told the story about his government computer taking seven minutes to turn on - aware that Tesco's computers turn on within seconds and cost a fraction of the vast sums the government is spending. It was a phenomenon I had noticed when I had a government laptop during ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg] Nick Clegg has long championed improving life chances for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. As he said on this morning's Call Clegg: My dad helped me. I was very lucky. But is shouldn't be all about luck. That's what we need to address. He said that bright kids from poorer backgrounds were being overtaken at school by less bright children from more affluent backgrounds by the time they were 7 and the problem continues as they decide on their careers. If you're from a poorer background, you don't have the connections to land you the best opportunties. Remedying ...
Saturday: We are sad because Matt Smith has announced that he will be handing on the mantle of The Doctor. It feels too soon. It shouldn't. By the time he goes, he'll have appeared in thirty-nine stories over forty-four episodes, which is either slightly more or slightly fewer than David Tennant (who did thirty-four in forty-seven), and his three seasons will have covered four years, much as David's three-years-plus-specials did. But perhaps it's the way the split seasons felt like cheating, maybe it's that the Ponds stuck around so long, but something about the eleventh Doctor feels like unfulfilled potential. ...
[IMG: Lib Dem achievements preview] Out this week is a heavily updated, and now conveniently A3-sized, version of my 'Liberal Democrat achievements in government' infographic which first came out last year. That version was a great hit and generated lots of suggestions for updates and improvements, including a request for a version that is easier to use offline. Hence the switch this time round to an A3 format so you can, for example, much more easily print off a version to stick on the wall in the local Liberal Democrat office or above the desk at which you tap away ...
Southwark Council has through planned inaction decided to have Council Tax Single Persons Discount amnesty. Officers have advised they can;t back date chasing people who've wrongfully claimed SPD by 12 months. So delaying by 6+ months considering doing this represents an amnesty costing £1.5m+.... 30 April Audit & Governance committee Page 88 section 21 states: "Single Person Discount Exercise - back dating request. Following initial discussions with the Assistant Director (Revenues, Benefits, FTSS), he wants to make further consideration of the scope for this, particularly in light of other key projects currently being undertake within his division. As such ...
Should the Manchester science museum close to save London's, or the other way around? After the recent outcry over the Royal Institution, it looks as if more of the UK's scientific heritage may be at risk: the Science Museum Group (SMG), in particular the Rail Museum in York, Bradford's Media Museum and the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). Like the fuss over the RI, this raises questions about how we value science as part of British culture and gives some unusual insight into the sometimes complex political economies of science communication. The Mirror broke the rumour on Monday, ...
There is a lot of activity in the media at the moment, with opposition parties seeking to claim the credit for the Welsh Government's u-turn yesterday on Chief Executive's pay, but if truth be told it was a joint effort in which all three played a part. And about time too. Faced with the possibility of losing their Local Democracy Bill altogether the Welsh Government had little choice but to agree to put provisions in that will improve transparency and accountability in the way that the salaries of council chief executives are set. For once Labour had to face up ...
posted The Blood is The Life 05-06-2013 http://t.co/K2dCHWK0wB on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) Rescuing drowning children: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water. - Slate Magazine really useful article (tags: ) William Lloyd Garrison on privilege-checking | An und für sich (tags: ) Stephen Fry: I tried to kill myself last year : News 2013 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide "If there was reason for it, you could reason someone out of it." - S Fry on why people attempt suicide. (tags: ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586730864/ How to report a murder - a ...
This is the Police Report for Consett Town Centre Beat, May 2013 [IMG: PACT Logo] Number of calls for area:-250 Number of community related calls:-64 Dwelling Burglaries:- 01 Location:- Temple Gardens.1 male was arrested for this offence. Enquiries still on-going Anti- social Behaviour and motorcycle incidents:-7 Personal and 26 Nuisance ASB incidents reported over this period. Common areas/locations:- There are no repeat locations for this period however Police and agencies are taking a problem solving approach regarding an address on Roseberry Terrace. Criminal Damage 18 reported incidents Common areas/Locations:-3 incidents relate to damaged windows at pubs on in the town ...
Thu 6th
09:45Clegg says no to childcare ratio changes. My question is: why's it the Government's job to dictate t...
[IMG: teather_clegg] Nick Clegg's statement is categorical — the Coalition is abandoning plans to allow nurseries and childminders in England to look after more children. Revealed in January by Conservative children's minister Liz Truss, the idea that the ratio for under 2s, for example, could increase from 1:4 to 1:6 was always going to be controversial. Here's Nick: "One of my absolute top priorities in government is to deliver better quality, more affordable childcare for parents up and down the country. I will relentlessly champion and pursue policies that deliver that - like 15 hours a week of free childcare ...
The Council wants to change the rules about events on Sefton Park. It's suggesting that the number of people who can be at any event is raised to just under 40,000 and that alcohol can be sold between 10 am and 10 pm there seven days a week. The meeting to make the decision is on 26th June. Licensing committees are usually in a small room in one of the Council buildings. This time it'll be in the Town Hall so that more members of the public can be there. Quite a few objections have come in, as has a ...
With the general election less than two years away, it is increasingly important for the Lib Dems to pursue 'differentiation' from our coalition partners. This includes advancing clear and specific Lib Dem proposals that we will seek to deliver this side of the election. But we should also start highlighting priorities which will form the basis of our pitch to the electorate in 2015. The emerging agenda includes support for wealth taxes, defence of EU membership and the protection of civil liberties. These issues are as important as ever, but at this stage our platform seems light on 'social liberalism' ...
[IMG: rsz_no_shooting] Thanks to Keith Page for this shot of a warning sign in one of the forestry areas to the west of Maghull. You just know that a sign saying no shooting is going to be shot at but taking into account Maghull and district's gun crime wave of March this year and the fact that the sign was photographed well before then clearly it was not just the sign that was being shot at! By the way I hear that we have a problem with birds being shot in an around the canal area through Sefton. Is there ...
The front page of this morning's Daily Express is beyond parody: (Look in the top left-hand corner, where the red button proclaims: "Cheaper than the Daily Mail". Yes, I think it probably is.)
The Daily Telegraph reports: The Labour Party has helped its biggest financial backer avoid tax worth up to £1.5 million on its largest donation so far this year. John Mills gave the party shares in his shopping channel company, JML, valued at £1.65 million in January. In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Mills said that the donation was made in shares rather than cash so the tax on the deal would be significantly reduced. Describing the donation as "tax efficient", he said the form of the donation was agreed with figures in Labour's fund-raising team. Mr Mills said that if he ...
Picture a school, somewhere in the UK. A classroom full of teenagers is asked by their teacher to discuss in groups what they thought the world would be like in 30 years' time. An all female group were talking about things like terrorism, liberalism, tolerance, the poverty gap and international co-operation. The teacher came over to their table and asked them if they were talking about futuristic fashion. This happened. It shouldn't have. Girls should not be pigeon-holed in this way. That teacher probably doesn't have the first clue that he was being sexist. He probably didn't mean to cause ...
The latest newsletter from the local police.
How will UKIP handle this counter-intuitive news? The translators at the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg have come to the defence of proper English. They have just published A Brief List of Misused English Terms in EU Publications (pdf). This list is actually not that 'brief' - it runs to 58 pages. But it is fluent and succinct, and arranged in a user-friendly format. The introduction to the document explains why it has been written: Over the years, the European institutions have developed a vocabulary that differs from that of any recognised form of English. It includes words that ...
I have tried below (Ten Reasons to be pleased) to indicate some of the features of Britain's democracy which have been maintained or improved by the presence of Liberal Democrats in the government. Of these the most significant, though fragile, is the fixed term parliament. We have failed miserably to achieve those twin pillars Liberalism, electoral reform and the creation of a democratic second chamber. A third pillar of of Liberalism is, or used to be, the extension of democracy to the workplace. When I first campaigned as a Liberal in the 1960s and 70s we had detailed schemes for ...
The Welsh Labour Government's Minister for Poverty, Huw Lewis AM, must clarify whether he supports Ed Balls' intention to introduce a regional benefits system which would penalise people in Wales. In a speech this week, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls MP said that Labour wants a system that "takes account of housing costs in different parts of the country - with an independent body, like the Low Pay Commission, advising on whether the cap should be higher in high-cost housing areas like London, but potentially lower in other parts of the country. Ed Balls' speech has once again shown how little ...
Riverside Drive at the rail bridge Back in January, I mentioned that a West End constituent had contacted me regarding his concerns about safety in respect of vehicles coming down Riverside Approach onto Riverside Drive then using the slip lane to cross the carriageway to head west along Riverside Drive. Having since had further constituent concerns about the operation of this area of roadway, I wrote to the City Council's Head of Transportation about the matter and he has now advised: "The vicinity does not stand out within the incidents reported through Police and insurance records that informs the Accident ...
We have sold our house here in Canada, and are buying a house in South-West England with a south facing roof — a prime property for solar panels. It is a bit early to be considering the question, since we haven't exchanged contracts yet, and we won't be moving back to the UK until next [...]
