My regular slot on Radio Four's Westminster Hour MP panel tonight had a sting in the tail...a discussion about whether MPs should accept a pay rise! There's probably never been a time when the press and the public think that MPs deserve a pay rise. But at the moment I would agree that the time [...]
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. 1. Motorway Improvements Strictly speaking this is just outside of Broxtowe but is very relevant to many people who live here. Amongst the new infrastructure announcements by the Government on Thursday was he very welcome news that improvements will be made to junction 25 of the M1. As anyone who has had the delights of queuing on the A52 to ...
[IMG: mo last bend] My photo shows Mo Farah in very fierce competition with Yenew Alamirew from Ethiopia on the last bend of the 5,000 metres at the Diamond league at Birmingham Alexander Stadium today. Mo went on to win. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
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Thanks to Just One More Ten Pence Piece ... for pointing us to this vintage film of Derby. If you enjoy it, you may also like this footage of the last days of the city's trolleybuses.
International Development minister Lynne Featherstone writes a monthly column for one of her local newspapers. Here is the latest one..... [IMG: Campaigning on the doorstep - Lynne Featherstone] The Liberal Democrats in Government have helped businesses create over one million jobs. Now we are working to create one million more! Work is so important to individuals and families in the UK. It pays the bills, gives us purpose and fulfilment, and provides security for our long term futures. I was so happy when I got my first job with a small design and advertising company in the West End - ...
We are having up what is happening with the yellow lines at Bloomfield Drive and Frome Road, these have been promised for a while.
Sheffield Hallam MP Nick Clegg was attacked when speaking to a local blog about the area and the run up to the 2015 election. Thankfully, the attacker was only Clegg's young son, who was eager to get his hands on some candy floss that he had been promised! [Good spot @stackee.]
One of the most interesting phenomena in music is the idea of the 'scene' — the way that good music isn't generally created by artists in a vacuum, but certain times and places seem to produce vastly more good music than they should, usually by musicians who know and work with each other. Collaboration and [...]
"You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be." – Napoleon Hill [IMG: Master of your own destiny] Master of your own destiny This week millions of Americans and Canadians will be celebrating Independence Day and Canada Day. I'm in Vancouver, Canada just now filming my new online course which will be released over the summer and all this talk of national independence has got me thinking of personal independence and freedom. If independence for countries is about self-government then independence on ...
In the reading (Luke 9.51-62) earlier this evening, Jesus is travelling to Jerusalem for the last time. Along the way, He meets three men who have heard His call in their hearts. These encounters teach us three tough lessons about what it means to follow Christ. This evening I am focussing on just one of [...]
Thanks to @solarpilchard - "He tweets about Market Harborough."
The Street Scene -soon to be back on display at The Atkinson Southport What has Clem Davies got to do with the new exhibition at The Tate and how is it related to the 1950 election in Finchley? Well I was waiting for a meeting and with a couple of hours to kill I went to see if I could get into the much publicised new retrospective of Lowry's work opening at The Tate this Tuesday. The placed was packed, but I got a ticket. Lots has been written about Lowry and I have nothing new or original to add ...
Photo: David Castor "I don't care that George Osborne had a burger on Tuesday night, or that Danny Alexander had a Dominos pizza last night. I don't care that Eric Pickles had a salad today or that Nick Clegg buys his burgers from a restaurant I've never heard of. I don't care Ed Milliband once bought a burger or Grant Shapps ate in McDonalds but Vince Cable didn't. I really don't care. I so, so don't care." Carl Minns on the day the body politic disappeared up its own rectum. Andrew Page attended yesterday's annual conference of the Scottish Social ...
Sun 30th
17:22
Does The Vatican Have A "Gay Lobby" Or Are We Looking At Another Catholic Child Abuse Story?
Ever since Pope Benedict XVI's unexpected resignation there have been rumours of a gay lobby in the Vatican. Supposedly a corrupting influence, this lobby is even more of a risk to the Pope as it fights off blackmail attempts (the different angles, and the way they have been reported, are summed up very well here). Pope Francis has acknowledged the existence of this gay lobby and seems to be making plans to purge the Vatican of it. Sounds all very "Lavender Scare" to me. But... is it really a gay lobby? Or is it just a rebranded child abuse problem? ...
As of midnight tonight the Republic of Croatia will be a member of the European Union. This is a very positive development and represents a significant move forward for the Balkan nation, which in the recent past was ravaged by war. Croatia's accession will hopefully encourage other former Yugoslavian states to join the EU, and underlines the progress both the country and the region have made since the horrors of ethnic conflict in the 1990s. Representatives of the press gather in advance of President Schulz's welcoming speech There are celebrations today in Croatia, although they are almost certain to be ...
[IMG: x2_c54b516] Yesterday's Week in Westminster on Radio 4 has generated a little bit of a spat in the Liberal Democrat blogosphere. Not so much because of what was said, but because of who said it. The BBC was looking to hear some grassroots Liberal Democrat opinion. The two contributors to the programme were Ben Ramm and Nick Thornsby. Presumably these were intended to be views from the left and the right respectively, but you never can tell. The media's repeated willingness to offer Ben Ramm opportunities to air his views on party matters is curious, given that to the ...
Nursing degrees don't quite work like normal degrees. Instead of studying for most of the year (bar a couple of weeks mid-winter) and then getting almost three months off over the summer, the academic year runs March to March (for my cohort) and I'm allotted 7 weeks annual leave per year (a generous 3 extra weeks on top of AL given to newly qualified nurses working for the NHS). So when I found out when my weeks off for the year were, I planned this trip to Oxford, having promised myself a weekend off from the rest of life when ...
Allan Heron and Norman Fraser The Scottish Social Liberal Forum held its annual conference at the Partick Burgh Hall on Saturday 29th June 2013. The agenda was reasonably adventurous and the debate, while perhaps not reaching the combative levels once played out on the sporting field across the road (Hamilton Crescent being the home of the first ever Scotland v England internationals), was certainly lively. Skivers or Strivers? Discussion commenced with a debate on the causes of poverty. Robin Tennant, representing the Poverty Alliance, gave a presentation on poverty in Scotland in which he sought to destroy some myths and ...
Most inspired political-economic idea of the week: Irish blogger Jason O'Mahony proposes updating a centuries-old idea to capture taxes from offshore corporate tax-dodgers. Governments should privatise the hard-to-land tax liabilities at auction and let the hungriest privateer capitalists harry the behemoths. Memo to Danny Alexander: it may sound like a joke, but how better to harness innovation? "Back in the day, governments used to issue letters of marque to ships, permitting them to engage in legal piracy against the vessels of other specified countries. Privatising sea war. Hence the phrase 'Privateers'. "Hoist the Jolly Roger, and set sail for Starbucks!" ...
This one looks at PROBE
[IMG: Liberal Democrat membership forms] As a candidate for next year's local elections in Rotherhithe, I and my colleagues across Southwark have some excellent targets. They take the form of a campaign grid, which helpfully channels our collective and individual energy as we work towards the finishing line now set for 22 May 2014. Pioneered in Hull, our grid targets include manageable voter contact numbers, aspirational targets for fundraising and, of course, a core aim of recruiting more members. It is the latter target that got me thinking... Why join a political party? For keen politicos such as me, the ...
Options to improve the Woodcote Green area junction by the Wallington Girls School on Woodcote Road are out to public consultation. if you have not received a copy of the consultation leaflet you can still find out more and comment by going to www.opinionsuite/sutton. A public exhibition of the proposals is being held at Wallington [...]
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Tory makes history as the first MP to come out as bisexual and gets standing ovation from activists after telling them about his male partner | Mail Online Daily Mail commenters fall over themselves to live up to their own stereotype on 'Tory MP is bisexual' story http://dailym.ai/18o8WW2 30 Things You Had No Idea You Needed Speechless > 30 Things You Had No Idea You Needed | Buzzfeed http://bit.ly/12vPG4w 'Shares for rights' flops - looks like those senior Lib Dems were right | Mark Pack 'Sharesfor rights' flops - looks like those ...
Oh and do things like fall in love: [IMG: A happy dog. Photo courtesy of Grashoofd. Some rights reserved http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dogtongue.jpg] Studies collated by the [World Happiness Database] say you tend to be happier if you: Are in a long-term relationship Are actively engaged in politics Are active in work and in your free time Go out for dinner Have close friendships (though happiness does not increase with the number of friends you have) Not involved in politics as yet? Make yourself happy here.
As with most tasks in life, there are two paths you can go by - the easy way, or the right way. Sadly, many of us choose the easy way which, in the long run, means more work for us all. Take, for example, the seemingly dull task of email unsubscription. A developer wants to make it easy for a user to unsubscribe from an email newsletter. They want to place an unsubscribe link at the bottom of an email, a user can click on it, be taken to a web page, then confirm her unsubscribe. Let us assume - ...
Sun 30th
10:50
Nick Clegg's Letter from the Leader: "Our central purpose: Getting the economy back on track"
This week was the week of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Perhaps more importantly for the Coalition's self-confidence was the erasure from the economic records of the double-dip recession. Nick's letter this week is bullish about the Lib Dems' record on the economy: "Creating jobs. Stopping the build up of Labour's unsustainable debts. Getting the economy back on track". It is also savage of Labour's record, not just in government but their last three years in opposition, too: "They don't have a credible economic plan and it's no wonder people don't trust them with their money." Combine this with Danny Alexander's ...
Many thanks to the 12,000 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Danny Alexander MP writes... Spending where it matters (52 comments) by Danny Alexander MP Nick, we're not a bunch of unrealistic hippies desperate for opposition, you know... (68) by Caron Lindsay 'Red lines' v 'a long shopping list': Clegg sets out plan for slimline 2015 manifesto (68) by Stephen Tall Interview: Nick Clegg on the economy, welfare, Cleggism and the "superb" Kung Fu Panda films (7) by Nick Thornsby Tory rebels launch their own alternative Queen's Speech as helpful reminder of ...
ESA appeals more than double - and decisions in the claimant's favour are increasing | Vox Political (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Today's Independent has a disturbing report on the scale of the payday loan problem in this country and the misery it is causing for a million families across the United Kingdom. The paper refers to a poll for Which?, the consumer organisation, which shows that nearly 400,000 families use the high-cost loans to pay for essentials such as food and fuel, while 240,000 need the money to pay off existing credit. They add that half th people who take out payday loans find they can't cover the cost of repayments, which can attract interest rates of more than 5,000 per ...
Yesterday, I wandered around Derby city centre with my camera, inspired by the "This is Derby" film made in the mid-1960s by Norman Fitchett and Pear Tree Junior School and released by the MACE screen archive a few days ago. As I said in my brief review of the film, parts of Derby are still very recognizable today almost 50 years on. However, I hadn't really expected the Laurie House multi-storey car park sign to be (almost) unchanged from 1966. [IMG: Laurie House MSCP 1966] Sign above the Laurie House Multi-Storey Car Park in 1966 [IMG: Laurie House MSCP 2013] ...
Cropredy in Oxfordshire was the site of a battle in the English Civil War, which can claim to be the last fought on English soil under the command of the monarch. It took place 369 years ago yesterday. These days the village is better known as the site of the festival staged each year by the folk-rock band Fairport Convention. Fairport's glory days were back in the sixties when they had two geniuses (genii? genarooties?) in the shape of Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson. This song, written by Ralph McTell, tells the story of the battle and is one of ...
Done with panache: [IMG: Scotsman correction. Photo from
Sun 30th
08:48
Tory Police Commissioner's £650 per month rent paid for by taxpayers (even though he could sta...
It seems that the Conservative Police Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall has decided to help himself to £650 per month of taxpayer money as a housing allowance. Tony Hogg says he needs the cash to be able to stay near Police HQ in Exeter (he comes from Helston). The full story is in the Mail on Sunday. The trouble is that not only is this yet another drain on police resources, but it is totally unnecessary. The police HQ has ensuite visitor accommodation designed for overnight stays and which was used by members of the old police authority. However Mr ...
Whipped: From the desk of the Junior Whip I have mentioned the Chief Whip's favourite DVDs before. These days he does not watch "House of Cards" often. It's "To Play the King", where Francis Urquhart takes on and defeats the monarch, that is his favourite. So I think the Queen should be worried the Chief Whip takes such an interest in the State Opening of Parliament. There are two traditions honoured that day. The first is that, when Black Rod arrives in the Commons, Dennis Skinner makes a joke no one finds funny. The second is that a hostage is ...
Ah yes, the Crystal Palace Festival. It has been taking place this weekend, and it helped me see the place a little more clearly, even though I've lived there since 1986. It has crept up on my how much the place has changed. It is now packed full of the kind of cultural entrepreneurial people I say in my book Broke are going to save the middle classes - and everyone else. Poets, breadmakers, writers, local publishers, local food distributors, a Transition Towns branch, Green & Browns at Crystal Palace Station, musicians, artists, designers, even a baby sling library, for ...
[IMG: Old London Road Area] A summary of the proposals is set out below. Please let us have your comments. Click on map thumbnail for a larger version. Vernon Close A new permit zone is to be created covering period Monday to Saturday 8.30am to 8.00pm. There was mixed support from residents whether this should be a separate zone. As Vernon Close is small and is unlikely to have adequate capacity as a standalone zone it is proposed to create a new O2 zone, but allow holders of Zone O2 permits to park in the nex O3 Zone (see comments ...
From the City Council: THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of gas connection works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Session Street, Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Monday 1 July 2013 for 5 working days. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for vehicles are available via Guthrie Street / Horsewater Wynd / Hawkhill. For further information contact (01382) 433168. Mike P GallowayDirector of City DevelopmentDundee City Council
It was with much sadness that I, and my Dundee Liberal Democrat friends and colleagues, learned that one of our very long-standing members, Miss Sheila Tennant, passed away on Thursday. Sheila was a stalwart of the Liberal cause and was a a much valued and hard-working member of the Liberal Party and, later, the Liberal Democrats, over many years. I first met Sheila in 1980 when she was a lecturer in history at the then Dundee College of Commerce and, in addition to her professional and personal interest in history, she was a long-standing member of Dundee West Church and ...
Another Hawkhill photograph:This section of the Hawkhill (which led westwards from West Port to Perth Road) shows the archway into Isles Lane. To the west (and left) of the arch is Charles Laing's fruit shop. The building to the right has an advertisement for Woodward's "fish suppers"; John Woodward sold fish at No. 110a Hawkhill. At No. 115 Hawkhill (to the right of the photograph) is one of the City of Dundee Co-operative Society's five general stores.
Figures released this week have shown that the proportion of patients with suspected cancer starting treatment within two months of diagnosis has hit its lowest ever rate. The Welsh Labour Government has a target for 95% of urgent patients to be seen by a specialist within 62 days, but statistics published this morning show that for April, only 80.5% of these cases had started definitive treatment within this time period. This is the lowest the figure has ever been. Not one of the six Local Health Boards (LHBs) met the target that at least 95% of patients newly diagnosed with ...
