This is all first-draft stuff. I'm getting the story out in these blog posts. Prose style can come later. "Don't be daft. The Nastons could easily beat the Vejorans! The Vejorans don't even have arms, just those tentacle things!" "Yeah, well, the Vejorans have their anti-networking shields, which would stop the Nastons connecting to their [...]
It is not that difficult to know the difference between a Scout badge and a Guide badge, or so I thought. ITV have made a rather glaring error when they have illustrated their story about the new Girl Guide Promise in the UK with a photograph of a Scout uniform! Whoops! Filed under: Blogging [...]
This evening I attended the regular Kilburn Safer Neighbourhood police team (SNT) meeting with the local community. As usual, the police officers who were ring-fenced to policing our ward reported to residents on their work to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in the area. Local people from the estates and streets in Kilburn asked questions and shared [...]
"People will never feel nostalgic about diesels they way they do about steam locomotives," my elders used to say. In fact, railway enthusiasm continued to thrive through the 1970s and only became terminally unfashionable - even to be taken as a symptom of learning disability - after that. I would suggest that the high point of this enthusiasm was the last run of the Deltics on the East Coast main line. By the time I was a student at York these wonderful throaty diesels had been displaced from the Scottish expresses and were in charge of the stopping trains to ...
After a bruising week Kingston Lib Dem councillors have chosen a new leader - Cllr Liz Green - following the resignation of Derek Osbourne after his arrest on child porn charges. But if they are hoping that their choice of his long term deputy will draw a line under this event they may be sadly mistaken. Green has been a key member of the administration - which last year was rocked by a scandal over a failure to properly protect children in its care and an earlier cover up by social workers in the murder of Charito Cruz. Green was ...
OK, I knew that Before Watchmen was terrible — I wrote about it myself, and then there's the Hooded Utilitarian's two-part evisceration, but until I read this by Calamity Jon Morris, I didn't realise just how utterly appalling it was. I mean, as Jon points out, the whole "terrible superhero auditions" thing is a cliché [...]
Tuesday Did you see that the Cleggs went skiing in Switzerland at Easter? I have been telling them for years that if this is Their Sort Of Thing then they should consider a stay in the north of Rutland. There, where the snowy peaks rise to meet the Lincolnshire Wolds, sport can be had that is the equal of any the Swiss can offer; moreover, our cheese does not have holes in it and you will not find yourself obliged to drink the dreadful gassy Dahrendorf lager in the evenings. You will no doubt have read that the Cleggs like ...
Oh Bracknell, Harrods has finally closed and all the charity shops have closed and those made up shop fronts have gone. No tea today in your tea rooms. Its back to Costa for you all. I will miss you but lets face it, the soul had gone and its been decades in the planning, Marks and Sparks here we come. Let hope this will breath some much needed life into this old new town.
Stephen Twigg made an effort to move on Labour's policy on free schools in his speech this week, but he is not there yet. Take his complaint that: Under Michael Gove's policy, millions have been spent opening schools in areas with a surplus of places, while children elsewhere face a shortage of places.I pointed out the flaw in this argument when Labour was still in power: Surplus capacity will tend to exist in areas where the schools are bad, because parents there are more likely to pay to send their children to independent schools or to make more effort to ...
UPDATE 10:39pm: The police helicopter appears to have left us. UPDATE 10:30pm: The police helicopter began circling again around 20 minutes ago and is still circling. UPDATE 9.42pm: BBC confirm fatal stabbing: A man has died following a "serious assault" in Berkshire, police say. He was found seriously injured at The Nightingales, Newbury and was later pronounced dead at the scene on Wednesday evening. Thames Valley Police launched a murder investigation and said it believed the assault was "an isolated incident". Det Ch Insp Ian Hunter said a search of the area was under way. Anyone with information is urged ...
For now at least (book three will come early next year), I can start on the next project. I'm going to try to write, and serialise, a "young adult" book on here over the next few weeks. As with all my projects, it may fizzle out, or it may be great. While the first chapter [...]
From The Guardian: The ability of big business to deploy armies of lawyers to prevent regulators from introducing consumer-friendly measures will be curbed under proposals published by the government on Wednesday. The Business minister, Jo Swinson, is proposing a streamlined appeals system for challenging decisions by the UK's economic regulators, which include Ofcom, the Competition Commission, Ofwat and the Office of the Rail Regulator. Over the last five years there have been more than 50 appeals of regulatory and competition decisions.Legal challenges have caused delays to the 4G telecoms auction, tied up Welsh utility Albion Water in five years of ...
Andrew Duff MEP Lib Dem MEP for the East of England has backed calls from his colleague Sarah Ludford, the ALDE group shadow rapporteur on the update of EU data protection law, is demanding that an 'anti-FISA' clause be reintroduced in the text of the proposed new Regulation. They want to ensure that EU customers are shielded from US National Security Agency data-mining authorised by the Patriot Act and the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court, such as the recently revealed 'PRISM' programme. Andrew Duff said: "MEPs have been pushing the European Commission for years about how the EU can ...
From the Shropshire Star: The lake at Walcot Hall in Lydbury North, near Bishop's Castle, will be the venue for the unusual tournament on June 30 and about 100 competitors are expected to try their hands. Spectators are welcome but the action will not just be confined to the skimmers, with other events planned for the day, all with a stoney theme.Should you wish to watch or take part, contact details can be found here.
This morning ward councillors and Stockton Council officers met on site in Preston Park to look at the development of the skate facility. Although the initial drawings show the whole site being more or less filled it's more likely that only about two thirds of the available land will be taken up with the jumps etc. The rest will be available for some landscaping and for what I've described as
Wed 19th
19:26
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert In Final Of Internet Hero Award For Snooper's Charter Fight
MP Julian Huppert has made it into the final of a national competition to find the Internet Hero of the Year for his stand against the controversial "Snooper's Charter". Julian has been recognised "publicly leading the political opposition to the Communications Data Bill" after he served on the Joint Committee examining the proposals. They concluded that the proposals were not appropriate, and this led to the Bill being killed off by Nick Clegg. The competition is run by the Internet Service Providers Association, made up of internet providers large and small, which has called on members of the public for ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert MP Julian Huppert has succeeded in his call for a Parliamentary debate into a report on how to make cycling safer across Britain. The report contains 18 recommendations from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling inquiry led by Julian. Julian's call for a discussion on the Get Britain Cycling report has been supported by Parliament's Backbench Business Committee and he hopes MPs will turn out in large numbers to support the debate. "This is very good news," he said. "This report contains the evidence from experts from all fields about how we can improve cycling ...
South Cambridgeshire District Council's new Chairman has chosen a third charity to fundraise for over his two-year tenure after asking council staff for suggestions on who they would like to support. The Sick Children's Trust received the most nominations from South Cambridgeshire District Council staff, and has been added to Cllr David Bard's charitable causes alongside the East Anglian Air Ambulance and Help for Heroes. The Sick Children's Trust is the longest-serving charity providing 'Home from Home' accommodation in the UK. It currently runs eight houses offering free accommodation where families can stay close to their sick child's bedside, just ...
Thanks to the European 'Bike Friendly Cities' project, Cambridgeshire County Council has published a new map of Cambridge for pedal powered tourists, which will be launched today (June 19) during Bikeweek. The map, based on the existing city cycle map, includes French and Spanish translations, and provides information on cycle hire and tours, as well as recommending a cycle tour of the city centre and routes out to Grantchester and Ely. Having consulted with staff at the Tourist Information centre and local cycle hire and tour companies, it was felt that Spanish and French were the most suitable languages to ...
Along with local residents, I went along to Cheadle and Marple College (Cheadle campus) to see the plans to build 41 new houses and a commercial football facility on their fields. The money raised would be used to rebuild the older college buildings on the site, giving much needed investment. The 41 new houses (including 12 "affordable" homes) would be built at the north end of the field, adjacent to The Spinney. Six houses on the Spinney which have always backed on the field would, under this plan, back onto some of these new properties. In the middle of the ...
[IMG: Portrait of Lord Gus O'Donnell] Former Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell is spending some time as a visiting professor at the department of political science of University College London. This video is of his inaugural lecture in that post. Anyone interested the direction of public policy and the way that decisions are made in government will find it useful watching. In it he looks at what he sees as being the barriers to effective public policy and argues that to overcome them policy makers should; Be clearer about what the outcomes are that they want a particular policy to achieve ...
When I gave up my job in 2009 at Lib Dem HQ, I headed back to my house in the North East of England to grow my own food and become self-sufficient. Each month I produce a video about how we are getting on. This is the latest video, covering May, slightly late due to being on holiday last week. Lots about beekeeping, our hens and ducks, odd weather and crop planting.
This Saturday sees Garston Fun Day take place on Garston Park. Running from 11 am to 2pm it's a great event with stuff for children and adults and plenty of stalls run by local organisations. I'll be there with the Friends of Garston Library - we're a pretty new group so it's a chance for us to tell people what we are about and get them involved in competition. But at the risk of missing someone off, I want to specifically name check Friends of Garston Park who always run a great stall (which I'll won't be able to resist ...
We've had complaints from several L19 residents about the apparent lack of weed spraying down our way. We're told the programme is running a couple of weeks behind which means the weeds in L19 and part of L18 were sprayed on or around 8th June. So they should be dying back now... clearly not. This picture is one of a set showing a group of streets which look as if they've been ignored. These weeds aren't high (they are not that sort) but they are clearly very obvious and need to be dealt with if the pavement's not to look ...
There is one scheduled meeting at Blyth Town Council next week Thursday 27th June, 6:30 Staff Committee , at Arms Evertyne House, Blyth Given the nature of the items on the agenda, this is likely to be largely, if not totally, in "Part II"
[IMG: Mike Moore BBC webcast] Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore has done a special half hour webcast to make the case for Scotland staying in the UK. He was asked, among other things, about why the UK Government weren't pre-negotiating the terms of independence: I don't want to see independence so I'm not in the best frame of mind for sitting down and working out what independence would look like. I understand that people want to have a flavour of the issues that are at stake and that is being answered by our papers in the Scotland Analysis ...
Over the weekend, I was delivering my share of booklets for next weeks Didsbury Arts Festival. After working up a sweat, I spent half an hour picking out my [...]
The BBC carries one of those pieces today on excuses that always gives one cause to pause. They have listed some of the more entertaining reasons given by homeowners as to why they do not have a TV licence, leading one to question how these offenders thought anybody would accept their excuse: Excuses for non-payment given last year included: "Apparently my dog, which is a corgi, was related to the Queen's dog so I didn't think I needed a TV licence" "Why would I need a TV licence for a TV I stole? Nobody knows I've got it" "Only my ...
Wed 19th
14:00
Conservative councillor says she's moved out of London - then attacks people who say she's moved out...
Conservative Twickenham councillor Sam Salvoni recently posted on Facebook that she and her family had moved to Cornwall full time. She herself said, "Dear all. Now that we have moved full time into our Truro home..." and also "The siren of the surf was too great, and we abandoned London all together." Not surprisingly, comments about abandoning London didn't go down too well with her ward's residents back in London, some of whom complained. Her response? "I'm slightly confused to why people are saying this. This is not why I wanted to join politics, I hate all these malicious lies." ...
The Lib Dem team called on every house in Frances Street, Cheadle last Tuesday and spoke to lots of Frances Street residents. Several people told us of a rumour that Jubilee Park was to be sold off to a private developer for a pitch-and-putt or something along those lines. Understandably, they were worried! The rumour is completely untrue. Diamond Jubilee Park is a great local park. Over the last couple of years we've worked with residents, the Council and the Police to improve it. Anti-social behaviour has been tackled, landscaping improved, bulbs planted. In just the last couple of months ...
With apologies to anyone affected, whoever/whatever added whatever it was that set off warning messages about stuff that shouldn't have been here, being here, has now been seen off. Meanwhile if anyone would like to produce a non-technical explanation of the allegedly non-technical but incomprehensible information I've been sent, there should be a job awaiting you at Google! Just remember to pay your tax. socialise this: [IMG: add 'Normal Service Resumed' a Del.icio.us] [IMG: add 'Normal Service Resumed' a digg] [IMG: add 'Normal Service Resumed' a Stumble Upon] [IMG: add 'Normal Service Resumed' a FaceBook] [IMG: add 'Normal Service Resumed' ...
Wed 19th
13:42
Would MPs back a law that sees them go to jail for running the country in a 'reckless manner?'
Look I know everyone hates bankers. Thanks to a delightful mixture of media and political scapegoating bankers are now as beloved as Joe Kinnear in the North East. However at some point surely some common sense has to breakout and we as a nation actually stand up and say 'No, no Mr Politician and Mr Media Mogul. This is enough of the lambasting of the banking industry and can you please move on to actually dealing with the issues of the day in a grown-up manner.' I suspect though that I'm pissing into the wind on this. As I always ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Moral Markets and Other People's Money – Guy Fawkes' blog Paul Staines channels Ferdinand Mount's 'The New Few' in good review of Michael Lewis's 'The Big Short' http://bit.ly/16ITtMR Labour is headed for trouble in next week's spending review « Labour Uncut During stuff from @atul at LabUncut » "the same old Labour headed for the same old result at the next election" http://bit.ly/11XE7mB The economic case for sacking bad teachers » Spectator Blogs Fraser Nelson 's ability to stretch data to snapping point is uncanny » "The economic case for sacking bad ...
Labour's attempt to force a vote on a financial transaction tax, outlined in yesterday's Guardian, appears to be more of a ruse to embarrass the Liberal Democrats than a serious attempt to develop a consensus on the issue. The SNP used to habitually put forward motions in the Scottish Parliament aimed at splitting the Labour/Liberal Democrat Government. It's just something that happens. The reality is that things change on this over time, by painstaking negotiation, not by a mischief making motion in Parliament. We know that the idea of such a tax sits well with Liberal Democrats. Vince Cable has ...
I'm not sure this is published anywhere else so I thought I'd publish here the structure of the Liberal Democrat shadow cabinet following the County Council elections in May and elections within the group to the Shadow Cabinet itself. The current shadow cabinet consists of eight people of which three, Amanda, Maurice, and Ed are newly elected to the County group. The positions are (the links should open in your email client with their public email address highlighted); Cllr Maurice Leeke (LD Group Leader) Group Leader: Maurice Leeke (Waterbeach) Division/ Personal Website: http://mauriceleeke.mycouncillor.org.uk/ Deputy + Health and Adult Care: Lucy ...
Steve Webb has come under a bit of fire for comments that his triple lock, which guarantees a state pension rise by the higher of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. Let's look at what he actually said to the Financial Times.My view is it should be triple lock; to be absolutely clear, I would want to see that continue. But we, as a party, will have to thrash that one out.He made clear that this would be something that all parties would have go deal with.This is pretty much a statement of the obvious. Every policy of a previous government is ...
Steve Webb has come under a bit of fire for comments that his triple lock, which guarantees a state pension rise by the higher of earnings, inflation or 2.5% can't be guaranteed after the election. Let's look at what he actually said to the Financial Times. My view is it should be triple lock; to be absolutely clear, I would want to see that continue. But we, as a party, will have to thrash that one out. He made clear that this would be something that all parties would have go deal with. This is pretty much a statement of ...
Attempts to 'discipline' Liberal Democrat MP David Ward, over remarks he made on his blog in January about Jewish people, appear to have foundered. Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine reports in its newsletter today: Baroness Neuberger and Lord Carlile, who were due to hold a meeting with MP David Ward, in order to 're-educate' him in 'sensitivity and language training' apparently no longer wish to do so. No explanation has been given.The Jewish Chronicle (30 May) reported that this meeting was arranged after a previous meeting had been aborted: Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, deputy leader Simon Hughes and chief ...
Most of this article appeared in yesterday's Manchester Evening News. Some of the political bits were cut. Here is Victor's complete article so you can make your own [...]
We take 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. At the time of writing, 108 new motions had appeared since EDMWatch #2, bringing the total to 263. Most popular Greg Mulholland's EDM 57 on a fair deal for your local pub has gone from ...
Our Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED, or OFSTAPO as it is known by at least one of my ex-teacher friends) has just produced a report which claims that our non-selective state secondary schools are failing their brightest pupils because 60% of them who did well in primary school, defined as achieving the top grades in their English and mathematics STATS (Standard Attainment Tests) at Stage 2 (the primary leaving year), fail to achieve the top grades five years later when hey take their GCSEs at 16+. OFSTED was established over 20 years ago, in 1992, by the Major government, ...
posted The Blood is The Life 18-06-2013 http://t.co/eNM48K2wNI on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) Let's play chase! http://t.co/EQT3scEWt9 (tags: (from twitter) ) Removing Elizabeth Fry from the five pound note isn't a small fry issue I do like Stella Creasy (tags: ) Jack Monroe: 'Breadline Britain,' I Live in the Seventh Richest Country in the World The comments are terrifying, as usual. I think the scariest one is the one about Hitler having had some good ideas, just overreaching himself by invading Poland. (tags: ) UK Taxpayers Will Face a 2nd Bank Bailout if Planned Student Loans ...
Nobody ever goes near a court without there being severe stress involved. Whether it's for a criminal matter, because you're in debt or going through a horrendous family situation, being able to access the justice system easily is critical. The SNP Government in Scotland seeks to centralise court proceedings, meaning long journeys and increased pressure on already over capacity city courts. Last week a Holyrood committee, with a majority of SNP MSPs, backed the Government's approach. What was striking was that they all spoke up for their own local facilities before voting to close them. Tavish Scott used his Scotsman ...
It is always rather a dangerous business appealing to the Luddites. They got a bad press two centuries ago and they get a bad press now. They remain the byword for people who, as we used to say in the 1970s, "stand in the way of progress" - who cling to stage coaches in an age of rockets. But the legendary liberal economist Paul Krugman appeals to them bravely and rightly in a column for the New York Times (and thank you Amanda @briesias for pointing it out or I would have missed it). And I was glad he did, ...
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The fire at the Somali Bravanese Centre on Coppetts Road two weeks ago has been shocking for the whole community. It has now been confirmed as an act of arson by the Police and it is hard to comprehend what goes through the mind of someone prepared to risk the lives of others in an act like this. Last Friday I met with members of the Somali Bravanese community following the fire so that I could express my sadness but, more so, to offer my help. It was an opportunity for me to listen to their concerns and find out ...
[IMG: Jackie Porter] From the Winchester Liberal Democrats website: Winchester Liberal Democrats have elected popular Hampshire County Councillor Jackie Porter to be their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) to fight the next General Election. Jackie was re-elected to the County Council in May when she received more than half the votes cast in her seat. Jackie Porter said: "I am delighted to have this opportunity. I've lived in Winchester, Kings Worthy and then Itchen Abbas for more than 30 years. My children were born and went to school here. I've been very grateful for the chance I've had to serve my ...
Last night, I had the pleasure of being guest speaker at the Annual General Meeting of Starter Packs Dundee, which took place at Meadowside St Paul's Church in the Nethergate. It was a well-attended meeting and I was grateful for the warm welcome! Supported by local churches, Starter Packs seeks donations of good unwanted basic household goods, bed linen and curtains that are recycled and made up into 'starter packs' by a team of 20 volunteers working on a rota basis. The packs are of huge need to many families,couples and single people who obtain a tenancy but lack basic ...
I have had complaints from several West End residents about the operation of the temporary traffic lights just south of Tayside House where Riverside Drive currently meets South Marketgait - see right. Drivers coming from the West End from the Riverside Drive side (coming east and joining South Marketgait at this junction to continue east) are complaining that it is almost impossible in busy traffic to get turned right at the lights because of the tail back of traffic from South Marketgait users who have come down from the Nethergate junction and are continuing east. Even when the "Riverside" part ...
The Health Minister needs to take immediate steps to tackle the bed blocking crisis in the NHS after figures released yesterday showed that the number of patients experiencing a delayed transfer of care increased by 6.8% Bed blocking occurs when a patient is waiting to be moved to different part of the NHS but it forced to wait due to the lack of beds being available for them to be transferred. The total number of patients experiencing a delayed transfer of care in May was 471, an increased of 6.8% when compared to the previous month. 278 patients experiences delay ...
Liberal Democrat County Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst has uncovered yet more problems with the County Council which is failing to deal with street light problems. After deciding to switch off many street lights at midnight it has come to light that certain street lights are never being switched off at all, and local taxpayers are paying to keep the lights on all day long. Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, who leads the official opposition and is the Lib Dem highways spokesperson has complained to the County Council which concedes that there is a problem with "day-burners" , namely lights staying on the main ...
The British author and film-maker Tony Palmer has had a lifelong passion for music, though unusually he straddles both pop and classical and has made a whole series of remarkable films covering both genres. Tonight, in the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Kensington he attended a screening of his 1995 masterwork about Henry Purcell, England My [...]
Yesterday I scooted over to Newport to the Office of National Statistics to give a presentation as part of a lunchtime seminar on Universal Credit. The text accompanying my presentation is available on my page at Scribd.com. You can access it below the fold. Universal Credit: some observations on policy and politics [IMG: Share]
