Housing supply and the pressing need for additional investment in new housing are making significant progress up the political agenda. Today's Times carries an opinion piece by Tim Montgomerie that makes the case for more investment forcefully. It is an argument directed at Conservatives. Montgomerie calls for political focus upon aspiration for younger people rather than the NIMBYism of older people. It will be interesting to see whether the idea that Tories should style themselves a pro-aspiration party that therefore supports a substantial house building programme will gain any traction. Today also saw the publication of the RICS Housing Commission ...
Con Home (who else) has published the full list of 43 bills submitted by swivel-eyed right wing Tory MPs Peter 'Sven' Bone, Christopher Chope, Philip Hollobone and David Nuttall. Three of the bills failed to get on the order paper - but the remaining 40 form the so-called 'Alternative Queen's Speech.' And they manage to combine kneejerk reaction, right wing stereo typing, little England paranoia and downright nutiness - but all somehow strangely familiar. Then I realised why - they had clearly been drawn up using the Daily Mail random headline generator...
Reading the latest article on this appalling man, I was struck by the words "Lambert who now works as a university acadamic". He holds posts at St Andrews and Exeter, according to his Wikipedia page. Why doesn't this read "Lambert, currently suspended from his work as an academic" ? In view of the allegations, if [...]
I publish an e mail bulletin roughly once a month to keep people up to date on local news and issues. It focuses mainly on L19 and L18 although it does also cover bigger stories nearby. If you want to start getting these bulletins, you can subscribe at this link.
I am so sorry to hear of the death of Professor Mick Aston from Time Team. This video, with its lightly worn learning, shows him as we will all remember him.
There's an application in for changes to the phone mast on Brodie Avenue (the one roughly opposite number 192). Vodafone wants to make it a bit higher and add some cabinets. They seem to have managed to get the wrong postcode and contact the wrong councillors, so 0/10 for care so far from Vodafone. Details and a chance to comment (by 10 July) is at this link
The Central Somerset Gazette is hot on the heels of the Shropshire Star in the "headline of the week" stakes. In fact, it is up there with "Far-Right Extremists Chased Through London by Women Dressed as Badgers". [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
The end of another week with Rutland's most celebrated fictional peer. Sunday When the Smithson & Greaves Northern Bitter is flowing in the snug at the Bonkers' Arms, conversation often takes a philosophical turn. "Who would have thought at the last Liberal Democrat leadership election that, a few years later, one of the candidates would be deputy prime minister and the other would be in prison?" says one of my drinking companions. "But are you sure the authorities have got it the right way round?" replies another. Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10. Previously in Lord Bonkers' ...
I happened to be at home when Trenton Oldfield staged his protest at last year's Boat Race, so I was able to share Lord Bonkers' thoughts on the matter with my readers. Because so many people were googling his name that afternoon, that post rapidly became one of the most-read ones this blog has ever had. And after that no one read it because Oldfield had been deservedly forgotten. But the Home Office has not forgotten him and, after serving two months in Wormwood Scrubs, he has been ordered to leave the country. It his hard to disagree with Oldfield's ...
North Evington, a late 19th-century industrial suburb of Leicester, was developed by Arthur Wakerley - architect, mayor of Leicester and unsuccessful Liberal parliamentary candidate. Exploring it today, you notice how houses and factories were built next to one another in a way that goes against the planning philosophy of the 20th century. At the suburb's heart was the market square that Wakerley laid out. Jean Farquhar describes it in her Arthur Wakerley: 1862-1931: Wakerley built a Market Hall at the north end of the Market Square, with splendid Dutch-style gables and some art nouveau stained glass, which housed a temporary ...
Details have been revealed of government plans to sell off the student loan book, as part of the Conservative desire to privatise anything that isn't nailed down. The old chestnut that private is inherently better still holds sway (G4S, ATOS, A4E shining examples of success and probity in the workplace). But if the loan book is to be made fit for private profit making, it will have to be fattened up. (If private is so much better at running a lean ship than all these allegedly bloated and uneconomic government departments, you wonder why they can't just take it on ...
The Shropshire Star continues its winning run in our Headline of the Day Award.
[IMG: Broadway Ham and High - overspend on school work by Haringey Council] Hat-tip: Neil Williams
On David Law's first day in office three years ago he discovered a letter left by the outgoing Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liam Byrne. It read, simply: Dear Chief Secretary, I'm afraid there is no money. Kind regards - and good luck! Liam [IMG: Liam_Byrne_infamous_memo] It is a stark reminder of why Labour can't be trusted with your money. With the spending review coming up this week, you will see once again how the Liberal Democrats are clearing up the mess Labour left us and building a stronger economy in a fairer society. Please share this image on ...
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the longest running science fiction show in the world I am taking a weekly look at some of my favourite Dr Who episodes focusing on one Doctor a month. This month it's the sixth Doctors turn. Strange things are afoot in the village of Killingworth. Miners are being gassed in the wash-house and transformed into violent brutes. When the Doctor and Peri arrive he notices one of the miners has a strange red mark on his neck.Who is behind these gassing's and to what purpose? Before last week the last time I saw this ...
Today was the third and final day of the House of Lords committee stage for the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill. First of all, some background on the current state of the bill for trans folk – overall, it's progressive because it removes the forced-divorce requirement of the current situation. Even if your spouse was 100% cooperative and happy to remain married, the lack of same-sex marriage in this country (And of opposite-sex civil partnerships, for those in civil partnerships) meant you had to divorce and get re-married/civil-partnered in order to obtain gender recognition. Beyond that, it appears to have been ...
Greater Manchester Police will be running a BIKE MARKING EVENT IN CHORLTON! 26.06.13 Between 17:30-19:00hrs. Chorlton Library on Manchester Road. Come along with your bikes!
I'm in currently in Kenya on an international ministerial visit. Here's a blog following today's visit to Marsabit County: Very little grows in the arid lands of northern Kenya and farmers, their families and livestock face a daily struggle for survival. In the searing heat of Marsabit County, drought and poverty collide often with horrific consequences - acute malnutrition rates regularly sit above the 15 per cent emergency threshold. DFID is working constantly to prevent a repeat of the severe food crises that have devastated whole regions of Africa. And on a trip to the region, I saw today how ...
Nick Clegg has said about Syria "I am very proud that, as a country, our reaction isn't just: 'Oh this is happening, it's got nothing to do with us. We want to wash our hands of it.' We struggle with what can we do. It is the wonderful thing about Britain. We don't stand by. We don't walk the other side of the street. We want to get stuck in and sort stuff out." I think there may be a way to bring about a ceasefire and political negotiations that avoids the obvious dangers of arming rebel groups. Turkey has ...
Mark Littlewood recently called for the names of benefit recipients to be made publicly available. Let's imagine what that kind of world would be like. There was a sign on his window again. Every morning when he opened his curtains, it would always be there, blocking out the light. He ripped it down every night, [...]
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system attacks the body instead of defending it, causing inflammation that often results in serious damage to bones, joints and tendons, and can also affect internal organs like the heart, eyes and lungs. Currently the disease affects an estimated 690,000 people across the UK. To coincide with the launch of the first national Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Week, NRAS has today published a major new report on public awareness of the disease called 'Breaking Down Barriers', which includes a ComRes survey of over 2000 members of the British ...
A thought that's been running around my head recently is about liberalism as a moral philosophy. Normally we see ideologies like liberalism, conservatism, labourism (I call it that because whatever the ideology of Labour is it's definitely not socialism any more) as political philosophies which make specific recommendations about governmental policies which should be implemented. But I think this is actually a rather flawed view of these ideologies. Because they're not just political philosophies but moral philosophies as well. Let's take a look at liberalism, for example. Specifically, let's look at the Liberal Democrat version of liberalism as outlined in ...
Nobody should underestimate the Labour leadership's will to win the next British General Election, which should be in May 2015. I have been away for a couple of weeks. Before I left I was wondering what Labour's response would be to the current government's public spending review for 2015/2016, which will be announced later this week. It has been clear and unequivocal: they will sign up to the deep cuts in public spending that this review is designed to produce. This is breath-taking. What does it mean for British politics? The spending review looked like a trap being set by ...
It is a very long time since I have felt this good on a Monday morning. I am full of happiness, joy and smiles. Why? Believe it or not, it's all down to 3 minutes and 28 seconds of feelgood video from Scotland's bright and positive Equal Marriage campaign. Set to the song Pride by Amy MacDonald, it takes in Broadway, the Coronation Street set, Lorraine Kelly's dressing room and, most importantly, real places and real couples across Scotland. All Scottish political party leaders feature too. There is a slight irony in that the slogan "It's Time" was used by ...
What's that Neil? You as a liberal are going to update us on this move by the No More Page 3 campaign to get the House of Commons involved and an Early Day Motion about stopping this publication being stocked at any of the parliamentary estate locations? No doubt you'll be as sympathetic as ever to this campaign and not just chortle to yourself... Oh brain. You slay me. Anyway here we are. Boobs are still on Page 3 and The Sun don't seem to be changing their attitude anytime soon. However they have changed their editor so maybe that ...
I've blogged before about the Cressington Community First fund. Well there is also a Speke/Garston Community First fund which covers part of L19 and most of L24. If your organisation is in Garston, or you work to help people in Garston, you may well be covered by this fund. The deadline for the next lot of applications is very close though. It's actually this Friday (28th). You can get information by e mailing spekegarston.liverpool@hotmail.co.uk
Cllr Stamp's changed colours again Recently taken a bit of a hiatus from politics and been concentrating on other more important things in mylife, namely my wife, kids, my history and fiction works and more importantly my beloved sleep.However I am not shocked by the news in last week's paper that Independent group leader Councillor Andy stamp and Ward partner Pat Cooper have defected to Labour handing Gillingham North ward and Andy's "extensive" network of deliverers and supporters over to Vince Maple's resurgent Labour party taking them to 17 seats. As the only Medway Liberal Democrat blogger and tweeter I ...
Mon 24th
13:02
Interview: Nick Clegg on the economy, welfare, Cleggism and the "superb" Kung Fu Panda films
[IMG: Clegg] We brought you a taste of the Voice's exclusive interview with the deputy prime minister yesterday. Here is the full interview, covering the economy, welfare reform, pensions, Cleggism, our approach to the manifesto, Kung Fu Panda and Clegg's cooking. Nick Thornsby: What's your take on where the economy is now, three and a bit years into the coalition? Nick Clegg: My overall assessment is that it is healing. There are signs of confidence slowly seeping back into the sinews of the economy. Some of the latest data on consumer confidence are better than they were. Bank lending is ...
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson's report on PE in schools, which recommends that physical education be made a core subject in Welsh schools, with all teachers required to demonstrate proficiency in PE as part of their training is certainly intriguing. That is especially so as it seems to be the only recommendation. However, I can immediately see some problems, not least that such a regime only partly addresses the record childhood obesity levels in Wales. We need to educate parents and children on healthy eating as well and I am astonished that there are no recommendations along those lines. But here are ...
It came up as an International call and was obviously from a call centre in India (which the caller later confirmed). The caller introduced herself as Ruby and told me that she wasn't selling anything but was carrying out a survey. The survey would not include any personal information. I was intrigued, as I usually am, so allowed her to start asking me the questions. The first one was "Are you a home owner?". I told her that I considered it a personal question, and did not reply. Whilst this was going on I was googling 'Consumer Advice Bureau'. It ...
Last year, I was approached by Alice, the enthusiastic and hard working Chair of our Parochial Church Council, about the problems caused by kestrels nesting in the tower of our Grade 1 listed mediaeval church. Unfortunately, whilst we encourage wildlife here in mid-Suffolk, the cost of cleaning and of making good the damage is a burden best avoided. And so, it was resolved that a nesting box suitable for kestrels be purchased, and I asked one of our residents, whose father makes such things, to build something appropriate, writing a personal cheque to speed up the process. In due course, ...
In 1995 our immigration law was amended so that asylum applicants from countries that were designated as 'safe' no longer had a right to appeal against refusal unless their case was 'certified' by the Secretary of State. With a Border Agency prone to error, a risk arose that people with good cases might be unjustly be detained, speeded through a truncated process and deported. Even the Home Office recognised that in some designated countries, there was endemic persecution of women. In 2005 an Order was made adding some countries to the list of those deemed safe, but for men only. ...
This was a first for me. Low Fell Fayre is an annual event and the three councillors for the ward - Susan Craig, Ron Beadle and Frank Hindle - are heavily involved in running the event. I was asked if I wanted a table in the marquee at the fayre on Saturday 22nd. I agreed to have one and found myself positioned between the Gateshead Food Bank and the lady selling hand painted ornaments. I used
Regular readers of this blog (if there are any) will be astonished that I haven't mentioned the middle classes, ooh , for weeks... Let me put that right immediately. Because Mark Pack has pointed out the results of a new YouGov poll for Prospect about class in the UK and it confirms to some extent what I've been saying. Interestingly, 44 per cent of the poll identified themselves as middle class and 44 per cent said they were working class. A dead heat. The rest didn't know, except for one per cent who said they were upper class - though ...
The last minute cancellation of the Whickham May Fayre resulted in boxes of burgers needing a home. I ended up with one which I put straight into the freezer after helping organisers to take down the marquee and other tents. It was the first time the May Fayre has been cancelled in 20 years but the rain had left the ground in Chase Park, venue for the Fayre, waterlogged. It was very much luck of
Liberal Democrats in St Albans have returned to the offensive over the Conservative Administration's budget proposals debated at last week's cabinet meeting, which considered a raft of cuts, most of which were unsupported by any thinking about the effects on services to the public. Lib Dem lead on the budget Chris White said: 'Cabinet members were anxious to assure us that staffing levels would largely be unaltered but provided no such assurance to residents about the actual provision of key services. 'As they stand, these cuts will see reductions in public toilets (£20,000), reductions in public transport (£71,000), a massive ...
SAVE WALLINGTON CROWN POST OFFICE PUBLIC MEETING Monday, 24th June 2013, 7pm HOLY TRINITY CHURCH Wallington, Maldon Road, Wallington, Surrey SM6 8BL Speakers (others to be confirmed): Tom Brake MP Ian Ward, Communication Workers Union A representative from The Post Office has been invited to attend
posted The Blood is The Life 23-06-2013 http://t.co/ixBEjVvS8D on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586811635/ Christopher Lee. With a beard. I'll be in my bunk. http://t.co/NEITeCdBGS (tags: (from twitter) ) I would watch the hell out of this http://t.co/l7hDTpOri2 (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586811585/ They're taking the hovis to Isengard! http://t.co/dKFkDeQT9L (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586811554/ Beautiful actors, beautiful photo ♡♡ http://t.co/TafwbYnWh9 (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586811522/ One of the best things about tumblr is how people tag things. A random sample on the Christopher lee http://t.co/laaIlsyvf6 (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667586811508/ Yes I'm going through the ...
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Nick Clegg's speech to the ALDC Conference in Manchester this weekend was trailed – these things rarely happen by accident - as 'taking on his internal party critics'. In it, Clegg seems to set out a choice: 'to become a...Read more ›
Two weeks ago, fresh from presenting at the hate rally that was RadFem 2013, Cathy "Bug" Brennan made a trip with some fellow transphobes to a bar in London to watch some gay cabaret, at which point she was ejected for being a lesbian, as she claims. This in indicative of lesbophobia in British culture run amok, with the trans cabal of heterosexual men running the LGBT show. Except, you know, that's the opposite of what happened. In the video she uploaded to Facebook (which, in case you get any ideas in your head, Cathy, fair use applies), she screams ...
Just a short post to let people know that Colchester Liberal Democrats now have our own page on Facebook, which should have plenty of updates and discussion from our council group. If you want to like it and get updates from us, then click here and don't forget there are also pages for Sir Bob Russell and a certain Cllr Nick Barlow. Related PostsFifteen albums General Election 2010: Colchester result 2010 General Election Diary Day 17: It's all #nickcleggsfault Is Bob Russell Britain's best MP? So...how do you feel about anything that isn't an English Parliament?
After comments from local councillors, South Glos has decided to keep the lights on all night on these roads. Shire Way will not be converted to part night street lighting because of the pedestrian crossing and traffic calming features - it would be dangerous. The whole of Heron Way will be kept lit overnight to avoid confusing motorists by lighting going on-off. The subways will also be lit throughout the night.
There's a good reason why time and again people who produce really successful campaigning literature talk about the importance of having good photos. It's because communicating a message visually can be extremely effective. Yet when it comes to what the party is achieving in government, the answer used to be produce slabs of text or highly inconsistent leaflets. That's why last year I produced an infographic instead (and kudos to the party, and the policy team in particular, for starting to use infographics themselves more widely since, partly inspired by mine). Now there's a 2013 version, put into an A3 ...
I am currently investigating several reports of Criminal Damage to parked vehicles in Surrenden Road and Harcourt Road, which occurred on Friday 21st June at approx. 11:05 pm. A group of approx. 30 young persons aged between 14-18 years old where seen by local residents kicking wing mirrors off and climbing over vehicles. This has resulted in hundreds of pounds worth of damage. It would appear that the group came from the direction of the polo ground and after causing several counts of criminal damage may have proceeded towards Cheriton Recreation Ground, then on towards the area near to the ...
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I have posted before about the problems the trade union movement is having in trying to respond to the austerity we are all facing. The BBC says that – Trade union leaders have promised co-ordinated action against Government spending cuts. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said anti-union laws should not get in the way of strikes against austerity. Yes, I know, we have heard all this before and as a long tem trade unionist it looks more like whistling in the wind to me. But the big problems for those in the trade union movement who really have been lapping ...
From the BBC: Consumers are becoming more willing to pay for online news, although most still choose not to, a study suggests. The percentage of UK-based web users who read paid-for content had more than doubled to 9% during the past 10 months, it said. [IMG: Reuters Institute graph on paying for news]
In his splendid chapter on advertising in "Cancel the Apocalypse" Andrew Simms reminds us that the modern public relations industry was born "out of wartime public information campaigns, or 'propaganda.' "* So , when we see PR we should think "Dr Goebbels." Simms also points out that the US Department of Defense now unashamedly speaks of "perception management."** My friend John Cole has detailed two recent examples here in the UK. Probity in the Matter of Public Information "My dictionary defines "probity" as "adherence to the highest principles and ideals; honesty or integrity". I would like to think that government ...
The Independent have done some investigation into the decisions taken by the court of protection. I have also written an article. As with much that happens in family court proceedings there is little transparency about what is actually happening. I remain concerned that a single social worker's words are sufficient to imprison someone for years. I have seen a number of cases where it appears
Chris Davies MEP writes: The hard bit is yet to come Last week agreement was reached to open negotiations with the aim of securing an EU - USA trade deal. Commanding one third of the world's entire trade it could bring important job-creating benefits to both sides of the pond. But the difficulty will be in agreeing common standards. For example: Having introduced tough vehicle emissions standards for every car sold in the EU, will we now have to relax these to allow the import of US-made cars that don't meet them? Will we have to accept the import of ...
I'm working on tracking down photos from the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half (AWESOME). Short version: pacing was the best thing ever and I absolutely loved it. Until then, by all means, please enjoy this video from the "ice show" my adult ice dance class was in...I'm the lead dancer in the group that starts to the right of the camera - that my roommate managed to follow most of the time. I'm rather pleased at how well it turned out - it looks a lot more like it did in my head than I ever expected!
You can download a high quality PDF version of this poster here.
I was on Wave 102 News yesterday regarding the good news that the Blackness Road school crossing patroller (at the Kelso Steps) will continue for the benefit of Blackness Primary School pupils, after Harris Academy is decanted to the Rockwell site in August. You can hear the interview by clicking 'play' below:
There are still people who talk about the Liberal Democrats being in power as if it is a new and unusual phenomenon. That's remarkable enough when you think that we have been in Government in Westminster for three years, but it's even odder when you remember how Liberal Democrats have been in charge in Scotland, Wales and councils throughout the country long before 2010. On Saturday I spoke at the Liberal Democrat Local Government Conference in Manchester where I highlighted the great work of people like Keith House in Eastleigh, Ruth Dombey in Sutton and Gerald Vernon Jackson in Portsmouth. ...
