Tonight's Who do you think you are? was very entertaining. I couldn't help noticing the "gathering" wrinkles of his skin going into the top his ears. I just checked. I am a few years older than GL. I don't have those wrinkles. My skin is perfectly flat around my ears. But, no doubt, Gary Lineker's wrinkly gathers are the result of a fit and healthy lifestyle. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
The scaffolding has come down now, but for much of the summer the former corset factory that houses Harborough District Council's offices and Market Harborough's library looked like this.
[IMG: Spy vs Sci 564] Unusually, I find myself in full agreement with Tony Greaves on the Miranda and scrunched Macbook controversy. Under a Liberal Democrat Voice article he wrote at 7.56: Fairly pathetic attempt really by the LDV crew to stop their website being taken over by a party revolt! What we have is another display of feebleness. (1) the Miranda detention. Sorry, no-one bothered to tell us. Told Cameron and May (and got at least their tacit support. But not the DPM. Doesn't matter, doesn't need to be told. After the event - let's wait to find out ...
I've published the Lib Dems' Autumn Conference Calendar on my Google Calendar. You can subscribe to it at It's just the two consultation sessions, and the main conference agenda at the moment. I'll add some of the bigger fringe attractions later.
Just beautiful. Another quite excellent spot from @Stackee.
Wed 21st
21:46
Poland to blame for 1939 Nazi invasion and child abuse not much of a problem in Catholic Church says...
My headline pretty much sums it up: [IMG: German bomber] A senior Ukip figure has written a history book in which he says Winston Churchill admired Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, Poland "goaded" Nazi Germany into the 1939 invasion, and the recent child abuse scandal within the Catholic Church is "statistically negligible". Hugh Williams, the party's assistant treasurer, claims his self-published 350-page work frees the study of history from the shackles of political correctness. Oh and there's also this: The Catholic Church child abuse scandal was "disproportionately recorded", he claims, concluding that it coincided "with the sexual revolution and liberation ...
I'm shocked at the revelation that Southwark Council is fleasing Dulwich residents and visitors. Southwark only enforce bus lane restrictions by issuing tickets to drivers wrongly in bus lanes at restricted time at five location. One of those locations is Lordship Lane. for the last complete year of stats 2011/12 Southwark Council issued 1,176 bus lanes tickets of which 978 were for Lordship Lane alone. This cost £60,142 to residents. Why is Southwark Labour picking on Dulwich drivers? Do you also think this is outrageous? Well done Southwark News for revealing this.
Blue, green and black bins across South Cambridgeshire villages will be collected one day later than normal next week following the bank holiday weekend. As bin collections will be one day later collection crews will be working on the Saturday at the end the week to catch up on collections that would normally be made on a Friday. All collections will return to the normal scheduled day from Monday 2 September. For the latest information, and to check the day your bins will be collected, you can also follow South Cambridgeshire District Council on Twitter '@southcambs', use the bin day ...
Cambridge City Council are currently trialling a new design of high capacity cycle stand, as part of its major project to significantly increase the amount of secure cycle parking in the city centre. The new cycle racks are a revision of the existing style of high capacity rack found in some locations in the city centre. This particular stand design facilitates closer spacing, is also shorter and therefore requires less space when empty. It also provides a fixed position for securing cycles to it, therefore reducing the risk of obstructions in confined pavement areas. The trial location can be found ...
Cllr Tim Ward A City Council funded programme to upgrade bus shelter facilities across the city started last week. The £267,000 project aims to replace the ageing shelter stock and provide twelve brand new shelter locations that were prioritised by the four City Council Area Committees. Councillor Tim Ward, Executive Councillor for Planning and Climate Change said: "This project will deliver improved facilities for those using public transport, particularly for people who rely heavily on the services they provide, at the same time hopefully attracting others to take up this sustainable form of transport." The work is due to be ...
This Monday 26th August the Market Square hosts the Bank Holiday Market where not only will you find traders from the General Market, but also traders from the Sunday Arts, Crafts & Local Produce Market. So, come along to Cambridge Markets this Bank Holiday Weekend and browse amongst the fabulous array of goods on offer! As usual this bank holiday weekend we will have the General Market which takes place Monday to Saturday in the Market Square. This market is a hive of activity with around 100 stalls offering a wide selection of goods from fruit & vegetables, fresh food, ...
Wed 21st
21:10Far too late and quietly the party sort of says the right thing about David Miranda and Schedule 7
If this had been said directly, on camera, by Nick Clegg two days ago it would have been a pretty decent comment. Too late and in the name of 'party spokesperson', it's not: [IMG: Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister] Nick Clegg did not approve or have prior knowledge of the police operation to detain David Miranda. Liberal Democrats have long stood up for the civil liberties of British citizens and, as you know, the Coalition Government inherited a number of over-broad and draconian terrorism powers from Labour. In Government we led a review of these powers. Some have already been ...
In the last politics blog I told you that David Morris, the MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale was reporting back with an expensive booklet. He was also rich enough to have it delivered to his constituency and leave extra copies in local shops. The phrase money to burn comes to mind. Well blogs cost nothing so I am happy to delve deeper into David's reports. There are plenty of snippets of information. Did you know that 'David has helped shape Government policy to ensure WIND FARMS ARE NOT BUILT ON SHORE'? I really don't know what this means. I had ...
I went down to my local shop today and bought the local newspaper, The (Morecambe) Visitor and I also picked up a free booklet with the title 'David Morris Reporting Back, Autumn 2012'. I appreciate it when an MP lets you know what they are doing, particularly in their holidays but I think he meant 2013 and if he can get the year wrong then what else is possible? The front page of his booklet told me that it was 'delivered free at no cost to the taxpayer'. This seemed a little strange as it hadn't been delivered. I had ...
I was not initially planning to get particularly involved on the David Miranda Schedule 7 issue except as a concerned, nay horrified, spectator. After all, I'm an MEP not an MP nor (at present) able to be active as a peer, and I have plenty on my plate in Brussels. But from early Monday morning, as I read the admirably vigorous response from the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation David Anderson QC – and the immediate if deeply hypocritical reaction from Yvette Cooper – I did start to wonder who from the party was going to be vocal. So I ...
Wed 21st
19:28
Why we should consider the detention of David Miranda and destruction of the Guardian's data as dist...
The conflation of the detention of David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, and the story of the Guardian having destroyed the computers on which a version of the data released by Edward Snowden was stored was perhaps inevitable, and has certainly been encouraged by the Guardian. But we should avoid considering the issues as a single whole, for there are separate arguments at play in each in relation to the actions of the state and others, particularly when it comes to the actions of Liberal Democrats in government. I have relatively few concerns about the state's actions ...
Wed 21st
18:16Some more information on the reasoning behind Nick Clegg's approval of the destruction of the Guardi...
I think it's been quite clear, both in the comments to our earlier post giving Nick's views on the Miranda/Guardian case that people were still unhappy and many felt, including me, that they didn't really understand why he decided to approve the request to the Guardian to destroy the data that they held. Elsewhere in the Liberal Democrat blogosphere, people like Neil Monnery and Andrew Brown have expressed their concern about Nick's actions. This has not gone unnoticed by the party's spokespeople. They've noticed that people have been wondering why they had a quiet word with the Guardian rather than ...
The BBC reports that a clinic selling separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines has been told to remove "misleading" claims from its website implying a link between the MMR jab and autism. They say that the ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority came after complaints were made about the Cheshire-based Children's Immunisation Centre during the measles outbreak centred on Swansea. The ASA decided that the clinic's language "could have caused fear and distress": The Children's Immunisation Centre offered single vaccines to parents, running a clinic in Swansea and others in England. In its response to the ASA, the centre said ...
Wed 21st
17:27
Building evacuated after burlesque dancer sets off fire alarm with burning nipple tassels
Metro wins our Headline of the Day Award. Well done, Metro.
The threat to local post offices The Post Office has plans to close the Crown Post Office in the St Nicholas Centre in Sutton, and wants to franchise out the Wallington Crown Post Office branch. This is part of the Post Office's wider plans to make savings across all its operations, however the rationale for [...]
The ballot for the elections to the governing Council of the Electoral Reform Society is currently underway and I have been deciding who to vote for. These elections take place every two years, using STV obviously, to elect a council of 15 members with responsibility for the governance and administration of the Society. The ballot closes on the 30 August. Last time these elections took place, in 2011, there was an unusual level of controversy and interest in them. There was an amount of active campaigning from some candidates and the elections generated a number of blog posts of which ...
As a child of the 1950s and 1960s, I was raised on The Lone Ranger (black and white TV version) and other Westerns, in which the noble white cowboys and sheriffs fought against the dastardly redskins, as the wagon trains carried settlers across the Mid-West, in the name of civilization and Christianity. One just took [...]
Nick Clegg's office has released a statement regarding the recent detention of David Miranda, which you can find on Lib Dem Voice. Whatever, this post was pre-planned and the statement doesn't go anyway near far enough as to cover the point I planned to make. I have changed the title though, so here is the piece as conceived: It Doesn't Matter It doesn't matter that the Terrorism Act 2000 was introduced by Labour (the clue is in the year). It doesn't matter that Liberal Democrats did not support the bill, opposed it being pushed through parliament at speed and supported ...
There was rather fluffy piece about a polyamorous relationship on the BBC news site this week. It was extremely superficial and barely touched upon interesting and important questions about the practicalities, morality or the individual emotions involved with such an undertaking. It ended on a very "upbeat" throwaway remark ""But we don't have a choice. We're in love with each other," This has led Jennie Pollock to ask some good questions over whether we really do have a choice over who we love or not. I agree with her that we do have a choice. I've, in the past, found ...
Or so the Guardian says. Read the guest post that The Badger Protection League wrote for me last year to see why this is a bad idea.
Today saw the publication of the National Reading and Numeracy Test Results for Wales. As this is the first time these results have been published, it is difficult to put them in any kind of context. The raw data mostly reveals information that we already know, such as girls out performing boys and that most students are recording higher scores in reading than in numeracy. The important thing now is for the Welsh Labour Government to explain how it intends to use these tests as a tool to drive up standards in Welsh schools.
New figures published this week show that private sector employment is now higher than at any time since records began. Since 2010, Lib Dems in Government have helped businesses create over 1 million private sector jobs. Now we're working to create a million more.
Alex challenged me back in March(!) to write what I felt the Lib Dems stood for, it took a while primarily because on such a subject finding the right words to express what you feel is often difficult. Thankfully, it has been done before in a Lib Dem Policy Paper (Number 50*) 'It's About Freedom' ... Continue reading »
The Liberal Democrats at county hall have condemned the false notifications sent to councillors and members of the public about the completing of highways faults. Chris White, county councillor for St Albans Central, is the latest victim of a 'tell councillors anything to get them off your back mentality'. He said: 'I flagged a blocked drain on behalf of a resident in Albert Street. I was told a short while later by Ringway that it had been fixed. It was clearly assumed I would be stupid enough to believe them. 'When I checked the site it was clear that nothing ...
Some people go to Liberal Democrat Conference and never get anywhere near the debating hall, because the fringe, exhibition and training programme provide such a cornucopia of interesting and enriching entertainment. Others mix and match between debates and fringes. This year's training programme, which you can view in full here, is intense. There are three and a half full days of sessions on a huge variety of subjects. During the day, there can be as many as nine sessions going on at once. The Party's training guide has suggestions for courses to attend if you're a local or parliamentary candidate, ...
This article comes in two versions: in depth here, and the supercompressed version published as part of Lib Dem Voice's Lessons From Coalition series. All governments depend on events - some, like the LiberaTory Coalition, coming in when events were especially bleak. No lesson can predict all political outcomes. But whatever the economic and political weather, some lessons are plain. The two biggest problems for any future coalition will be the breakdown of trust between the voters and the coalition parties, and the breakdown of trust between the coalition parties themselves. The Liberal Democrats have learned that all too well. ...
About ten years ago I did a programme for one of the national BBC radio programmes about the problems of being a young councillor. Clearly, I was not at the time a young councillor. Although I like to think of ... Continue reading →
FACT: Indian anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, who has campaigned for a law to ban black magic in the state of Maharashtra was gunned down in Pune yesterday. The word awful has a duel meaning. The definition we are most familiar with relates to something being terrible and it is a definition that can easily be [...]
Manchester's Southern Cemetery is the largest municipal cemetery in the UK, and the 2nd largest in Europe. Established in 1879, the cemetery is split into two sections, and has over [...]
This case is an interesting one on Bailii from Scotland. Basically the Local Authority COmmittee refused permission, but the letter written to the applicant said that permission had been granted. It is a long judgment that is worth reading and is relevant to English Law to some extent not least as to legal principles. The LA issued a notice in error saying permission had been granted. Then
[IMG: ldv coalition lessons] LibDemVoice is running a daily feature, 'Lessons of Coalition', to assess the major do's and don'ts learned from our experience of the first 3 years in government. Reader contributions are welcome, either as comments or posts. The word limit is no more than 450 words, and please focus on just one lesson you think the party needs to learn. Simply email your submission to voice@libdemvoice.org. Today Alex Wilcock shares his thoughts. The two biggest problems for any future coalition will be the breakdown of trust between the voters and the coalition parties, and the breakdown of ...
I have to confess that I have drifted away from traditional Liberal issues in the search for non-traditional ones, like the new Liberal economy that we Liberals never quite articulated. But reading Alan Rusbridger's editorial in the Guardian has reminded me how little you can trust a state with too much power, and how important this is. This is what he wrote: "The state that is building such a formidable apparatus of surveillance will do its best to prevent journalists from reporting on it. Most journalists can see that. But I wonder how many have truly understood the absolute threat ...
A spokesman for Nick Clegg has released the following statement to the media this morning regarding David Miranda, The Guardian and National Security issues. This statement was reported by multiple outlets but I saw it first on LibDemVoice We understand the concerns about recent events, particularly around issues of freedom of the press and civil liberties. The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation is already looking into the circumstances around the detention of David Miranda and we will wait to see his findings. On the specific issue of records held by the Guardian, the Deputy Prime Minister thought it was reasonable ...
Remember when you were a kid, and you found a snail, and as you went to lick it one of your (nicer) brothers might've shouted: "Don't do that! It'll make you sick!" And so you put it down and carried ... Continue reading →
In Britain - and many other countries - the police can legally force you to divulge your passwords. Whether it's to an encrypted file, a social network, or your email account, the state can legally rifle through your most intimate thoughts and (potentially) pose as you online. As we've recently seen, this can be done under the threat of prison - even if you've not been charged with any crime: "They got me to tell them the passwords for my computer and mobile phone," Miranda said. "They said I was obliged to answer all their questions and used the words ...
My love for the BBC, and thus my support for the licence fee, has always been one of those "faith" things I have. Like my love for the monarchy, I acknowledge that this belief is completely out of step with the rest of my political beliefs. Based solely on the fact that I enjoy so much of the BBC's output, I've usually ignored arguments against the fee. Given these arguments are usually made by the sort of right-wing nutcases I've made it a mission to avoid, this has been too difficult. But today's City AM article has forced me to ...
In this video I'm going to talk to you about the five classic steps, or stages, of creativity. In subsequent videos I'm going to go in depth into each of these and show you how you can improve your creativity in each of these different steps or stages. So the first thing I would say with this, is that these steps or stages, are iterative (they are not necessarily in a linear fashion). So sometimes you'll go back and forth between each of these different stages. So having said that let's go into the first part. 1. PREPARATION The first ...
[IMG: nick clegg by paul walter] A spokesperson for Nick Clegg has released the following statement to the press: We understand the concerns about recent events, particularly around issues of freedom of the press and civil liberties. The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation is already looking into the circumstances around the detention of David Miranda and we will wait to see his findings. On the specific issue of records held by the Guardian, the Deputy Prime Minister thought it was reasonable for the Cabinet Secretary to request that the Guardian destroyed data that would represent a serious threat to national ...
Wed 21st
10:54
Guest blog: Councillor Simon Wheale's article in the MEN 'Licence landlords to protect communities'
Recently, a concerned Withington couple showed me pieces of crumbling masonry, from chimney stacks on the house next door, that had fallen dangerously onto their driveway damaging a car. The [...]
For a number of years where it was felt that taking a case into court may result in information being divulged that could harm national security successive British Governments have settled out of court. This Coalition Government decided that this approach was too costly and so resolved to introduce closed material procedures, or secret courts, for civil cases brought by citizens against the intelligence services. In these secret courts the citizen will lay their case before a Judge, who will then sit in private with the intelligence services present but the Citizen not, and consider evidence that may never have ...
Wed 21st
10:25Muckraker: The Scandalous Life and Times of W. T. Stead, Britain's first investigative journalist
[IMG: Muckraker by W Sydney Robinson] William Thomas Stead was not only Britain's first investigative journalist, he also epitomised the profession's strengths and dark side within his own career. He was at times brilliant, unearthing horrors and using the power of publicity to secure reform, and at times appalling, bending the truth and ruining people's lives as he abandoned accuracy for melodramatic fiction. Central to this mixed record was his 'purchase' in 1885 of a 13-year-old child, Eliza Armstrong, and transportation of her to a brothel, supposedly to expose child prostitution. He took the stunt far further than necessary, forcibly, ...
That's global warming for you. Hat tip: Mark Pack Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Global warming, science
Britain in 2013 is not East Germany, but... (tags: ) http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20130818120421175 Groklaw shuts down:"There is now no shield from forced exposure" by the US. http://t.co/ecbnm9eyUJ I started crying, reading PJ's last post. (tags: (from twitter) ) http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/08/laurie-penny/men-sexism Of course all men don't hate women. But all men must know they benefit from sexism http://t.co/RmDxbWUgTY (tags: (from twitter) ) Disgusting behaviour by police revealed http://t.co/RpdUvZ4t5M (tags: (from twitter) ) New dog laws in the wake of the death of Jade Anderson | UK Criminal Law Blog (tags: ) Section 28 fears: Schools tear up controversial homophobic policies - UK Politics ...
As the silly season is with us in the press I thought I would follow suit and post a few recent images to "grrr", or laugh, at...whatever! First another run out for this postcard I bought in Italy last year – the perfect "wish you were" here for UKIP supporters everywhere. You can just see [...]
As everyone will no doubt be aware by now, especially through the Independent's front page on Tuesday, 45 schools stood accused of reintroducing the homophobic Section 28 through their sex and relationship education policies. Whether it's through deliberate malice or lazy copy-and-pasting of outdated advice — and I'm strongly inclined to believe it's the latter in most cases — it couldn't come at a more opportune time, especially when eyes are on Russia for their similar (but much more enforced) law on "homosexual propaganda" and in the wake of a protracted marriage equality debate where several reactionaries were claiming, above ...
The Silly Season continues with yet more speculation on what happens after the 2015 election. Monday's Independent carried the loaded headline: Lib Dem Supporters spell it out: we won't be fooled by Nick Clegg again over support for a coalition That Liberal Democrats will be wary about any future coalition, with anybody, should come as no surprise. The deductive reasoning powers of the average goldfish could have worked that out. The article quotes people like Martin Tod, Gareth Epps and Cllr Richard Kemp, all of whom are saying quite reasonable things, none of them suggesting that Nick Clegg fooled us ...
Apologies again for not having posted these weekly recently, but here are the latest applications: 131379: New fire exit and internal works, High Street. 131380: Listed building consent for 131379. 131385: Demolition of existing building, construction of three new houses, Williams Walk. 131386: Conservation area consent for 131385. 131542: Change of use from hairdressing salon to flats, Bank Passage. 131560: Advertisement consent for new sign and banners, Mercury Theatre. 131572: Removal and replacement of boundary wall, Nunns Road. 131573: Conservation area consent for 131572. 131581: Removal and replacement of sign, Long Wyre Street. 131607: Advertisement consent for signage, Trinity Square. ...
One of the constant themes that Alan Rusbridger keeps coming back to is "This couldn't happen in America." He even told the security services that he could just go and print material The Guardian has access to over the pond. He's right on both counts. What this whole destroying the database episode clearly shows is that despite the proponents of Leveson saying we have too much press freedom we actually have too little. It's a shame it's come to this clear evidence of state overreach before the Guardian realises it. For neigh on two years now journalists have been arrested ...
In the Roseangle area, there are two homes for adults with learning disabilities. I have received concerns about the speed of some vehicles in the street from one of the homes: "Our residents ... are really concerned about the speed of some cars on Roseangle as are ourselves. As you know many of our residents are elderly and are slower at getting around. To go to their daytime activities they have to cross Roseangle to get the bus. They also like to go out for walks,to the shops etc. They are very anxious about crossing as some cars speed. I ...
I sent off my nominations for the Lib Dem Voice Awards today. I am sad that they are no longer the Blog Of The Year awards because I used to like calling them the Botties. But other innovations are more welcome, and I am genuinely excited about getting to actually VOTE for a few of the botties this year! If you haven't nominated yet, perhaps seeing who I have nommed might give you a few ideas. Or might make you realy angry and make you want to nominate someone else. Whatever; I'm sure Caron will be happy to recieve your ...
