Here's a curiosity. Today I came across a piece on council housing that I'd originally drafted back in 2006 as a chapter for a book. Unfortunately, the book never came into being, for a variety of reasons. The piece has been sitting, neglected, on a memory stick ever since. It struck me that it would be a shame not to do something with it. No point leaving it in the cupboard even longer. The argument might be of some interest. I have lightly edited the text so that it can be read as a freestanding piece of work. There are ...
On the Telegraph blog, Bernard Brogan reports that Nick Clegg is "safe". The "leadership crisis" is over. There will no longer be "a coup at the Liberal Democrats' autumn conference". A crisis? Excuse me, but did I miss something? A post here on 16 January explained why it was unlikely there would be a leadership election anytime soon. There has been no 'crisis' in the intervening months. The arguments in January's post remain valid. But despite the lack of a coup, Clegg is increasingly deserving of one. It isn't because the Liberal Democrats joined the coalition - the party agreed ...
The latest Gatley police newsletter.
I love ghost signs. The last ones I posted - from Northampton - were hard to read: it was having three of them on the same gable end that made me want to share the photograph. This one was easier to read, and I hope a little fiddling with the brightness and contrast has made it easier still. The words "GUARANTEED ENGLISH TRAPPED RABBITS" strengthened my view that in exploring Highfields, Crown Hills and North Evington, which have both become home to a large Muslim community, I was discovering the remnants of a lost civilisation. Maybe it is snobbery or ...
Last month I blogged that a 30ft wicker man was to be burnt as part of the Sin-Easter Festival, which is held at Ralinghope in Shropshire. I cannot embed the video, but if you follow this link you will see I was right.
[IMG: Capitol Building, Austin Texas] Daily Beast has clips from Senator Wendy Davis' 11 hour speech to the Texan Senate, which, together with efforts from her Democrat colleagues and an outburst of people power from the public gallery, thwarted an attempt to pass a bill which would have reportedly closed 37 of 45 abortion clinics in Texas. This reminds me of the 2003 incident when eleven Democrat Texas senators scarpered to Albuqueque to deny the chamber a quorum, thereby holding up a redistricting proposal. photo by: rexboggs5 [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Roger Williams MP, in an article on Liberal Democrat Voice, calls for urgent action to save Britain's bees. He is right [though you may wish to add your own joke about Plan Bee here]. Jock Coats suggests market anarchism as a way forward for the Lib Dems. "Four years ago, polls suggested that about 40 percent of the American public favored gay marriage. Today, those figures are above 50 percent. According to a Pew Research Center poll conducted last month, 72 percent of Americans viewed legal recognition of same-sex marriage as 'inevitable'." Colleen Walsh writes for Harvard Gazette on the ...
Today saw the ceremony to induct Dave Gordon into office as Launceston's new mayor. Normally, this would have been a mayor making ceremony in May, but it was delayed this year because of the elections. Dave has actually been in office for a month now. All the bling and formality was still observed with visiting mayors from around East Cornwall and West Devon and the great and good of the town on parade. Dave made a passionate speech about his pride in our town and the need for many organisations (and Cornwall Council in particular) to start to treat Launceston ...
It has been a long wait for the resolution of the Prop 8 cases. It has been nearly 5 years since the voters of California decided to overrule their fellow citizens ability to marry. It has been 3 years (and I really can't believe it has been that long!) since Judge Walker overturned that vote. In that time the opinion polls have rapidly changed and even the main financial backers of the proposition have backed off from their role in the campaign. Now the US Supreme Court has decided that those fighting to keep Prop 8 in place have no ...
The proposed supermarket, hotel, housing and fast food development on Launceston's Link Road will be debated next Thursday by the council's Strategic Planning Committee. The meeting will take place in Truro but be webcast from 10am for those who cannot make it in person. This has been a proposal a long time in the making. The principle of employment use south of the Link Road is one which has been accepted for some time. But some of the details of this scheme have proved particularly controversial. These include the proposal to cut through the Millennium Avenue of oak trees in ...
My interview with Nick Clegg from the weekend has generated a good few stories in the newspapers, so I thought I'd round them up here. First off was the Mail on Sunday who featured Clegg's comments on legal aid. That ... Continue reading →
Wed 26th
18:26
"In the majority's telling, this story is black-and-white: Hate your neighbor or come along with us....
""In the majority's telling, this story is black-and-white: Hate your neighbor or come along with us. The truth is more complicated. It is hard to admit that one's political opponents are not monsters, especially in a struggle like this one, and the challenge in the end proves more than today's Court can handle. Too bad. A reminder that disagreement over something so fundamental as marriage can still be politically legitimate would have been a fit task for what in earlier times was called the judicial temperament."" - Justice Antonin Scalia's dissenting opinion in United States v. Windsor, pg. 59 I ...
Today's spending review is a significant milestone in the work of the government and includes some important news (both positive and negative) for Cornwall. The headline for Cornwall Council is a 10% cut in government grant for 2015/16. This is the amount that we had expected and been planning for, but that does not make it any easier to deal with. This will equate to around £20 million of further cuts on top of the £19 million we are making in the 2014/15 budget. Personally, I am disappointed that Eric Pickles did not stand up stronger for local government. We ...
Wed 26th
18:21
Spending review 2013: what will it mean for science and innovation? | Kieron Flanagan and James Wils...
Our panel of science and innovation policy experts digest the details of George Osborne's spending review Vince Cable's determination to hold his ground against George Osborne fuelled a lot of speculation about science and innovation spending ahead of today's spending review. Would the Medical Research Council's budget be shifted to the Department of Health? Would there be any fresh capital investment in science? Would the UK's embryonic innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board, get a further boost as part of a more active industrial policy? Now the verdict is in. In his speech on Wednesday, Osborne emphasised three principles - ...
Danny Alexander posted an article today in Lib Dem voice and this is the comment which i left: Dear Mr Alexander, Your article infuriates me a lot. Yes, Labour made a mess and while I don't think Labour would do any better I don't think this excuses your first sentence. Your number one priority should be to make this country a better place. Why does almost every policy the Government comes up with have to be about political point scoring against Labour? You mention Labour twice in the first paragraph. Being in Government involves a serious job of making things ...
The 'minister for bees' must announce an urgent plan to save Britain's most precious pollinating insects Bees are in decline. 47 of our wild bumble and solitary bees are listed as threatened, we've lost some bee species already and according to the British Beekeepers' Association, last winter was the worst on record for the loss of honey bee colonies, with more than one-third not surviving hibernation. Their decline is worrying - especially the wild varieties that don't live in managed hives - they are one of our most valuable pollinating insects. Scientists at the University of Reading recently estimated that ...
Polling day for local elections is traditionally the first Thursday in May. For 2014 it's being moved to Thursday 22nd May so the local and European elections can be held on the same day. For anyone with children at Gatley Primary School, Thursday 22nd May is likely to be an inset day (as the school normally closes to pupils to act as a polling station). The Kingsway School hosts two polling stations, but stays open. Local elections Cheadle and Gatley ward has a population of about 14,500 and elects three councillors to Stockport Council. Each year we elect one councillor, ...
[IMG: Tim Farron] [IMG: Mark Pack] Liberal Democrats are well used to arguing for changes in how our public elections are run, because we know the rules you use for a contest have a big impact on how desirable its outcomes are. That isn't just about the voting system (important though that is!) but also a question of who gets the vote, how much influence those with money to spare can wield and so on. It is just the same with the rules for our own party elections, particularly those where we select candidates for public office. How you write ...
What's missing from the Lib Dem Million Jobs campaign – "People are not grateful to political parties. They don't vote for them because they had some clever ideas in the past. They vote for them because they believe they have the answer to the future, and have the capacity and will to make it happen." Canon and sheep shit: why we fight – "I hate the Doctor Who canon like Dawkins hates God. Like him, I'm convinced the target of my animus doesn't exist, but that doesn't stop me spending half my life writing about how dreadful it is." Academics ...
Chorlton MP John Leech has welcomed the news that High Speed Rail 2 has been given the green light. Danny Alexander MP will be outlining the infrastructure plans in the House of Commons. The Bill will have its second reading in the House of Commons today, and John Leech has confirmed he will be voting for the Bill. He said, "The Lib Dems in Government have helped to create more than a million private sector jobs, and we're working to create a million more with HS2 estimated to create 60,000 new jobs. This is not just about creating jobs, it ...
[IMG: Eurostar] Although the English Regional organisations have been greatly reduced, the East of England Region continues informally as a convenient structure for local authorities to co-ordinate matters of common interest. Two such obvious and important issues are Transport and Infrastructure Development. The region also remains as the main unit for receiving European funding for local projects. Hertfordshire County Councillor Nick Hollinghurst is seen here setting off earlier this month on a privately arranged visit to the East of England Regional Office in Brussels. He met Jonathan Millins and staff who are working to ensure that our Region gets its ...
Claims by the Secretary of State for Wales that the current devolution settlement does not need major changes are misguided and could help to entrench an unsatisfactory system in place where the courts become the final arbiter of laws rather than the electorate. The different treatment given to Scotland and Wales by successive Westminster governments has led to uncertainty and practical and legal difficulties that has prevented Assembly Members properly fulfilling their democratic mandate. Whatever system of devolution that is in place will create grey areas, however there is no doubt in my mind that the Scottish system is more ...
Those pesky bloggers, what did they know about publishing law? Quite a lot when, like Iain Dale, they've been a leading book publisher for 15 years. In a diary column, Iain made some criticisms of the Bow Group and its leader, a man called Ben Harris-Quinney, which ConHome Editor Paul Goodman got legalled. Paul even offered a ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... The 2013 spending review: the Lib Dem problem is at least as big as Labour's The 2013 spending review: the Lib Dem problem is at least as big as Labour's http://bit.ly/14X4jil (Me 2 months ago: it still applies) Britain is leading the world on banking reform – FT.com John Kay in the FT: Britain is leading the world on banking reform http://on.ft.com/14WUJMr BBC News – Sir Mervyn King's final outing Stephanie Flanders marks the end of MK's 22 years at the BoE "Sir Mervyn King's final outing" http://bit.ly/17Au8IK David Cameron: I can ...
Our number one priority in Government has been to fix the economic mess we inherited from Labour. Today, we set out a Spending Round that delivers Liberal Democrat priorities on investment and improving our public services while making responsible choices to deal with the financial problems Labour left us. It demonstrates that the Liberal Democrats will remain firm in our commitment to tackling the deficit, but fair in the way we go about it. When we entered Government in May 2010, we inherited from Labour an economy that was on the brink. We set out a plan to get our ...
Our Headline of the Day Award comes home to Leicestershire and the Melton Times.
Gateshead Council Cabinet's agenda yesterday was extensive but one of the key items for me was the lease for Bill Quay Community Farm. I am the volunteer beekeeper and I also buy Tamworth pigs from the farm. Previously the farm was run by Gateshead Council but, as with community centres, budgets have been cut and the institutions are being transferred under leases to voluntary groups. The farm is
The Victoria & Albert Museum has come to Durham – alongside some youngsters from Consett. The Recording Britain collection, owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum, is an exhibition of drawings and watercolours commissioned to record the landscape of Britain at the outbreak of the Second World War, and is in the DLI Museum Art Gallery just until June 30th. I bought a year long ticket to the Museum for just under £4, and thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition. Alongside it, in a side room, is a video-installation created by youngsters from Consett called "Viewpoint" and that's also on until June ...
[IMG: Peanuts] It is reported today that, in a further attempt to control spending, George Osborne is proposing further changes to public sector pay and conditions. Before he does though, perhaps he ought to make time for a little light reading... Last week, the National Audit Office (NAO) published the extravagantly titled "Building capability in the Senior Civil Service to meet today's challenges", which sounds, on the face of it, to be a white knuckle, edge of your seat kind of read. And yet, if you're keen to change the way that we are governed, it contains a warning that ...
A Westminster Hall debate yesterday on Royal Mail privatisation has just caught my attention. As one of the people very closely involved with the Lib Dem policy of reforming the postal services industry and part privatising the Royal Mail, I am obviously pleased that our plans are being put into action. It made all those late nights slaving over a hot laptop and phone calls at midnight from
Unexpectedly slide-free, but still a useful summary of my thoughts on why some technologies make a big difference to political campaigning and some don't, this talk is from this year's Contested Spaces conference. It's all about there being too many voters and not enough time, as I explain... Also on YouTube here. For more on how to crack the problem of scale in political campaigning, see 101 Ways To Win An Election.
Full marks to (Lord) Matthew Taylor for his interview on Radio 4 this morning on the problems of second homes in Cornwall. Among other things, Matthew advocated a cap on the proportion of second homes in some areas and called for change of use planning permission to be required when a primary residence was converted to become a second home. Cornwall has a very high number of second homes and areas have suffered as a result. Many coastal communities have become so over-run with second homes that their viability as functioning villages has gone. The village post office, pub and ...
There is always a certain amount of snobbery, inverted and otherwise, about suburban semi-detached homes - especially those built between the wars, with their generous gardens, their little garden gates and garages and their twee stained glass front doors. They were designed without the aid of architects - their major sin as far as the architectural press is concerned - but they have been probably the most successful house design in our history. There are other people who don't believe anyone should have a garden. There are more perverse types who say, like Marie Antoinette, 'let them live in flats'. ...
Yesterday, MEPs and national ministers in Brussels agreed on the new EU research and innovation programme "Horizon 2020". Horizon 2020 is structured around three 'pillars'; 'Excellence in the science base' – aims to strengthen the EU's world-class excellence in science, particularly through a significant strengthening of the European Research Council, which mainly focuses on frontier research 'Creating industrial leadership and competitive frameworks' – aims to support business research and innovation. Actions will cover: increasing investment in enabling industrial technologies and support for innovation in SMEs with high growth potential 'Tackling societal challenges' – aims to respond directly to challenges identified ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrats Logo] My report of the June 2013 meeting of the Liberal Democrat's English Council was posted on Liberal Democrat Voice this morning. This is a somewhat delayed report. I'd intended to write it up soon after the meeting but I was away visiting relatives the following Sunday and last week I was busy with work and other things. Still if you've been waiting impatiently to find out what happened in all its exciting detail you can read it here (although not sure why the post has ended up with a rather odd URL — many things were ...
John Kerry, and the US government in general, seem to be confused. When someone is covertly passing State Secrets (details of defense systems, high value business transactions, etc) to another government or company, that's spying. The information flow is very simple - it goes from one secret HQ to another, and the target isn't supposed to know, at least initially. The information may then be announced to the world to embarrass the target, usually by the foreign government or company, or they may attack the target militarily using the information to their advantage; either way, the initial part of it, ...
posted The Blood is The Life 25-06-2013 http://t.co/mUs3M6XPOj on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) Ex-Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova: 'Gay men still feel oppressed on court' - PinkNews.co.uk (tags: ) Tinfoil Hats Anyone? (tags: ) Undercover cop says Special Branch saw me as subversive. Proud. http://t.co/2hkecD9wyt (tags: (from twitter) ) Telegraph reels from shock discovery that working women sometimes get pregnant. Whatever next?! http://t.co/GfQonmz8Br (tags: (from twitter) ) Nigel Farage accuses Nigel Farage of 'desperate smear campaign' against Nigel Farage (tags: ) "This Misterie of F**king": A Sex Manual from 1680 - Blog - The Appendix NSFW ...
This is a report of the meeting of the Liberal Democrats English Council, held on Saturday at University College London. The English Council is the governing body of the Liberal Democrats in England and meets twice a year to consider matters of importance to the English Party. Speech from Nick Clegg [IMG: Nick Clegg at English Council - 15 June 2013] The day started with a speech from the Deputy Prime Minister. Before heading off to chair meetings at the G8, Nick Clegg had stopped into University College London to give a message of optimism to party members. While he ...
[IMG: page 3 news in briefs] PoliticsHome's Paul Waugh reports the Tory distress at the axing of one of their favourite parts of The Sun: the long-running News In Briefs section of Page 3 of the Sun (it's been going since 2003) is, I can report, no more. The section was missing from today's paper, now under a new editor, and I understand there are no plans to resurrect it. Several Tory MPs are already in mourning. The party's popular 'Breakfast Club' of MPs (which numbers ministers as well as backbenchers) has a tradition whereby the newest member of the ...
Sites like Klout and Kred are perfect examples of social media frippery. A vaguely plausible "score" that you can use to justify your "investment" in tweeting all day long. When they're used as a silly little badge, or an informal competition with friends, they're a (mostly) harmless way of gamification. Of continual annoyance is the complete lack of transparency these services show. How is your score calculated? Is anyone manipulating it? What can you do to improve it? Still, it doesn't matter, it's only a silly number, eh? No one takes it seriously, right? Wrong. Yammer, the internal social network ...
A Campaign Against the Arms Trade hackday was maybe more about discussing the data than doing much with it At a 2011 Amnesty event in Trafalgar Square, the crowd were asked to show solidarity with the people of Egypt by holding up their phones clasped in a two-fingered peace gesture. It felt a little like a T-Mobile advert, but it also reflects the ways in which war has become more "social" in recent years. That's the "social" of social media. War has always been social, as has the media. And they're both anti-social too. But, from Sallam Pax to the ...
In a farewell email. Peter Facey has announced that he is moving to Australia. His current deputy, Alexandra Runswick will be taking over.
[IMG: Mark Valladares and the lemur] And they say that you shouldn't go back... But relax, gentle reader, it's only as a locum day editor due to a clash of commitments and some deranged word processing software which keeps Caron busy elsewhere. Don't worry, she'll be back before you know it, and I can spend more time with my lemur friend. So, what do we have for you today? Well, at the time of writing, not as much as I'd like, I'm afraid. However, that will doubtless change as the day goes on, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. First ...
A fascinating film of Derby in the mid-1960s – created by Norman Fitchett and Pear Tree Junior School. As the trolley buses are still operating and one of the shots shows the (now derelict) Full Street police station, I believe it dates it to sometime in 1966 or 1967. This is Derby from MACE Archive on Vimeo. There's a lot that's still recognisable today, as well as much that has disappeared. The scenes from a very well attended cricket match at the County Ground and football at the old Baseball Ground are particularly enjoyable. I was also left wondering what ...
My goodness, I've just had the nerdiest day possible AND I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. The morning started off, of course, with a healthy dose of SCOTUSblog. I'm going to have serious withdrawal symptoms after tomorrow morning, until next summer. What? You don't spend your morning bus ride SCOTUSblogging? Ugh to the Voting Rights Act decision. Much love to RBG. #lawnerd for life Later, some colleagues and I went up to the Ninth Circuit, who are sitting en banc in Seattle this week. (Usually, when the Circuit, which is the Court just below the U.S. Supreme Court, hears cases, ...
On behalf of constituents, I recently objected to the off-licence applications at 17/19 Tullideph Road and 124 City Road on grounds of over-provision. I am able to raise objections as I am not a member of the Licensing Board. I am pleased to say that both applications were rejected on these grounds and it is clear from speaking with residents that this decision has strong support in the local community.
The use of an Emergency Bill to legislate on Agricultural wages is opportunistic and completely undermines the democratic process. The Welsh Labour Government is purely using this drastic measure in order to take avantage of the fact that it has a temporary majority in the National Assembly. This majority should not be used as an excuse to ram through any piece of legislation it likes without any proper democratic scrutiny. It is wrong for the Welsh Labour Government to be using an Emergency Bill to bypass the important Committee stage. An Emergency Bill has never been used in the National ...
Over the past couple of days, there has been an online debate between Mark Littlewood and Sam Bowman of the IEA and Adam Smith Institute respectively following an article by the former in the Daily Mail encouraging the government to publish the names, addresses and amounts of welfare received of everyone who receives state benefits: whether JSA, pensions, housing benefit, or any other. Mark argues that having such information publicly available will encourage everyone to scrutinise how much people actually receiving benefit get, and since the taxpayer is footing the bill it is only right that we should know how ...
A week or so ago, new Warlingham Rugby Club Coach Ben Stobart gave an empowering and encouraging talk to a packed club house bar full of players about the vision he has for the club. Basically, if we want a one of those legendary seasons that people talk about for years to come, we (the players) all need to plan for it and make it happen. So I thought I'd sketch out what for me would be the perfect season, and see if I can help to make some of it happen this year. Pre-Season I'd like to start the ...
