One thing I've learnt from looking through my family history is that even when there was the so-called married for life example that David Cameron so insists on not all families fit into the model he is advocating for a tax break. Not every family is quite so clear cut as he makes out. Indeed I don't have to go all that far back to find a family that doesn't fit into the remit of one breadwinner and one stay at home parent. My paternal grandmother was widowed with children of 14 and 9, she never remarried but went out ...
I'd like to highlight three things for you to chuck money at, dear readerI'm doing the Seven Lakes Challenge This is a thing run by the local council (.pdf about it here) which involves swimming lots of lengths of the local pool. It runs between the first of October and the eighteenth of December. The staff stamp your card and tot up your lengths, and every time you hit one of the distances you get a certificate. The distances are as follows: 1, Lake Attersce (Austria) 2.5 miles (160 lengths) 2, Lake Dojran (Greece) 4.5 miles (288 lengths) 3, Lake ...
Writing about music may be like dancing about architecture, but it seems you can dance about statistics. Here is one of a number of rather wonderful videos I came across at work today. More information on the British Psychological Society website.
I reckon that I might just get away with this as it's 9 pm on a Friday night. As the new series of Strictly Come Dancing gets under way at this very moment, I think we're due a little reminder of one of our number doing a pretty acceptable Foxtrot a few years ago. Unbelievably, he was robbed of the title, by a single point, by John Barrowman. Even if Vince had time to do the full series he wouldn't be allowed because he has actual ballroom dancing medals. This wasn't even his first appearance on the show. In 2007, ...
I was astounded to hear Shropshire Council's Cecelia Motley speak on BBC Radio Shropshire yesterday morning (begins at 2:36). Her message was spot on about the way that national funds are diverted to urban areas at the expense of rural districts. She has been a strong champion of the need for a better funding deal. [...]
The implementation of the bedroom tax represents stupidity in action, as Liberal Burblings demonstrates. Co-producing Digital Mental Health looks at the lessons of the successful campaign against Asda's 'mental patient' costume. The Criminal Bar Association investigates Chris Grayling and the curious case of the anonymous barrister. "Philosophy is an inherently social activity that thrives on the collision of viewpoints and rarely emerges from unchallenged interior monologue" says Nigel Warburton on Aeon. The relentless drilling and hammering as London's super-rich expand their homes spells the end for the Notting Hill that Ed Vulliamy loved - or so he argues in the ...
Anything combining history and films is going to be a hit with me. Even given that I think that the Guardian's reel history column is wonderful. The historian Alex von Tunzelmann reviews films both for quality and historical accuracy, covering everything from biblical history to the origins of facebook. So if you want to know [...]
Well I think we can all agree that unless you actually support the party, the UKIP party get together was enjoyable to watch. As I have no idea what else was discussed apart from the behaviour of senior members I will simply post the picture as I like it (with thanks to Giles Goodall at Lib Dem Voice) I guess this means a vote for UKIP is only half as powerful as a vote for anyone else in
Lest anyone is feeling sorry for Godfrey Bloom - haven't we all wanted to hit Michael Crick at one time or another? - here is an email he sent after contacted him about proposed improvements to the European Pregnant Workers Directive in 2010. Thanks to Valuing Maternity.
This afternoon, I chaired the latest meeting of the West End Christmas Fortnight committee at Blackness Library. At the July meeting, we agreed some of the 2013 events and today we put more of the programme in place, with a further planning meeting now arranged for early October. West End Christmas Fortnight will run from 23rd November to 7th December and will have many events not to miss!
[IMG: Bedroom tax demo , all the photos taken with a iphone 5] At the Glasgow conference, the fringe meeting which had the greatest impact on me was one organised by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations . It was chaired by our old friend Archy Kirkwood. The representatives there gave harrowing details of how it is impossible to implement the bedroom tax in anything other than a very long timescale (e.g 20 years) without grave hardship to tenants. There just isn't the housing stock for tenants to move to. One very good example given was the island of Islay. ...
Stuart Holmes deserves to be lauded. He has attended political conferences for decades and protested outside them about something. It used to be cigarettes, now it's nukes. Bless him. He's a national treasure. Bless also his dog. Iain Dale is still, tantalisingly, some way off national treasure status. He has now apologised graciously about an incident in Brighton. Here is Iain's full apology. With the proviso that I feel very sorry for Stuart and his dog, here is a video of the incident: It is also very interesting to read Iain's blog post, written shortly after the incident and published ...
Last week we learnt that Labour have a £28Bn black hole in their spending plans. This doesn't surprise me given they seem to oppose every single attempt to reduce spending, whilst pledging even more money we don't have in populist polices. The black hole in their spending plans was before they even announced plans for wrap around childcare, a million new homes, and a freeze on electricity prices so god only knows what it will have grown to. In a rather telling acknowledgement that no one will believe they can deliver on all their spending commitments, they appear at last ...
In the run up to London 2012 I did a series looking back at all the previous Olympics posting it at 5pm every Friday, I've decided to do the same in the run up to Sochi 2014 with the Winter Olympic Games. You can catch up on any you missed in the Olympiads Revisited tab. The Winter Olympics like their Summer counterparts left Europe for the first time on their third edition and headed to the USA. Indeed if Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System for libraries, hadn't established the Placid Park Club in the area in 1895 ...
Liverpool City Council's Cabinet today (27th September) agreed to get rid of all the bus lanes in the City for a "trial" nine months starting at some point in October. The coverage of the decision in the Echo today has this quote from Mayor Joe Anderson "We've reviewed them (the bus lanes) over the last six months and we will compare that data with what we gather over the next nine months." The Echo had a journalist at the meeting so there's no reason to doubt the accuracy of this quote. But what on earth does it mean? It appears ...
As Joss Whedon's latest TV series – Agents of Shield – is premiering in the UK this evening, it felt like time for fact about the God of the Nerds' early career. Long before the Avengers and shortly after writing the film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Whedon was a writer with Disney. He [...]
In May 2012, local supermarket group Harry Tuffins sold its stores to the Midcounties Co-operative Society. The Competition Commission was none too happy with the deal and some stores were transferred back to Tuffins. But Ludlow's Foldgate store remains in Co-op hands. From Monday, you will be able to use your co-operative membership cards at [...]
. I am happy to say that I have not been disappointed. The first thing to say is that I think the book is structured very well. It is essentially in the form of 52 long-form blog posts. As this was clearly a format that worked well for him the decision to structure it in bite-sized chunks certainly seemed to work. I suspect there was more than a little of Dale's influence at work here, himself an experienced and successful political blogger. One result of this decision is that although the book does follow a sort of chronology there is ...
Behind this judgment is a long history which causes me considerable concern. However, as is often the case it would be contempt of court to saw what the concerns are. However, the fact that this has been prevented from being considered before the Court of Appeal even on paper does cause me further concern ... more later.
[IMG: Uttarakhand Floods] The scientific debate is over. That's the message from a network of MPs called the Climate Parliament. Now it's down to politicians and policy makers to ensure we avoid a global catastrophe. The Parliament believes that today's International Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report is the most comprehensive, detailed account of current climate science. Despite much press scepticism, scientists overwhelmingly agree: Climate change is real, and it's already happening. Across the world MPs are calling for stronger national action. Dr Jhansi Lakshmi Botcha, an MP from the coastal state of Andhra Pradesh in India says: The ...
[IMG: Booker] Most of the attention before and after Ed Miliband's speech has been on energy prices. That's no surprise. Soaring energy prices hit everyone, but most of all the poor. Today Nick Clegg has spoken out against Ed Miliband's energy price freeze. The energy companies meanwhile are floating a four year fixed price deal to lock in their profits in the event of Ed managing to grab the country's helm. But the most important contribution to the energy debate is by Tim Farron. In today's Guardian, he says: Climate change is the greatest threat to our economy and way ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Ed Miliband's 40%: The emerging Labour majority? | The Economist Superb & important analysis from @JeremyCliffe > Ed Miliband's 40%: The emerging Labour majority? | The Economist http://econ.st/1h80LwB The 12 Days of Coalition (Lib Dem Glee Club) – YouTube Ever wondered what happens at the LibDem Glee Club #ldconf sing-along? Wonder no more ("The 12 Days of Coalition") http://bit.ly/1bKXpBC Bookshop | Alex's Archives I've just downloaded @shodanalexm's 3 books (on housing, welfare/workfare and 'Coalitionland') I recommend you do too http://bit.ly/1h7XIoh Apply for Funding | The Education Endowment Foundation Educationy people who follow ...
The two largest teaching unions, the NUT and the NASUWT, have confirmed that a rolling program of regional strikes is planned to take place across the country in the autumn over national disputes around pay, pensions and working conditions. Unless agreement is reached, strike action will take place in the Eastern, Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside regions on Tuesday 1 October. This is highly likely to cause disruption in schools across Hertfordshire. Justin Donovan, Director of Education, said: "The best way for parents to find out about closures is by contacting their children's schools directly. While we will publicise the dates ...
This morning's publication of the IPCC's summary for policymakers tells a familiar and gloomy story of the science of climate change. The big surprise is the decision to mention the controversial idea of geoengineering Today marked an important punctuation mark in the story of humanity's attempts to get to grips with climate change as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its summary for policymakers (pdf here). Climate sceptic journalists and interest groups will be making the most of the tiniest surprises and variations in the climate scientists' new representation of the state of their art. But the evidence ...
A few months ago, I noted how Cuba has opened up its economy to capitalism in an unusual way, starting from the bottom by allowing individuals to operate effectively as sole traders. France 24 reports that another step has been taken on that road this week, allowing individuals to sell agricultural produce, act as telecommunications salespeople or sell real estate (property, it seems, is not necessarily theft...), amongst eighteen professions now made legal for individuals to take up. Raul Castro - bringing capitalism for the masses? One of the things that I noted on my trip to Cuba in February ...
In a bizarre twist in the saga of Hearts bankruptcy, Labour peer, George Foulkes, has criticised Edinburgh Council for selling former school buildings which Hearts had been using part of as a car park. The site had been costing the council £80,000 a year to maintain and Hearts paid a nominal sum for its use on matchdays. Foulkes told the Edinburgh Evening News "It really is very strange the council should take this attitude. Fans will be disappointed and annoyed" and called on the council to "bend over backwards"to help the club - presumably by continuing to subsidise the club, ...
[IMG: Ravilous Labour New Towns] Something big needs saying about housing. I guess Ed Miliband thinks he has achieved it. Maybe, but when I read his speech it struck me as bluster and a recipe for chaos, peppered with some rather cute ideas. We need new homes. We also need good planning. The success or failure of new towns, urban extensions and housing estates depends on location, fortune, ambition and leadership. But above all those towns that work are a triumph of planning. For every housing scheme that has been an outstanding success, another has failed. For every booming new ...
Last week I was proud to be able to host the launch of the Wear It Pink Breast Cancer campaign in Parliament. Wear it Pink takes place on Friday 25th [...]
Asda "mental patient" costume - lets not be TOO self congratulatory, shall we? (tags: ) Toby Young has edited his own Wikipedia page 200 times in six years | Political Scrapbook (tags: ) Robin Ince on politics. Every politician should read this. EVERY one. And then work out how we are going to combat this, because I see no light at the end of this tunnel. (tags: ) The Curious Collection of Lib Dem Music Videos | Stackee Vince Charming is the best - toe-curlingly bad yet awesome at the same time. (tags: ) A Scottish Liberal: "Conference People": Lib ...
What a difference a speech makes. The reaction to Ed Miliband's speech on Tuesday has been remarkable. The initial press reaction was hysterical. Miliband went from an ineffectual leader who was frittering away Labour's poll lead through inactivity to a clear and present danger to capitalist society in a matter of minutes. The "Red Ed" epithet was rapidly resurrected. Many on the right and, rather more disappointingly, in the self-proclaimed centre cried "socialism". And that is never intended as a compliment. Yet it was quite obvious that if people were willing to label Miliband's proposals as socialism then they either ...
Over at Open Democracy, Nicholas Shaxson from the Tax Justice Network argues provocatively that: Countries rich in minerals are often poverty-stricken, corrupt and violent. A relatively small rent-seeking elite captures vast wealth while the dominant sector crowds out the rest of the economy. The parallels with countries 'blessed' with large and powerful financial sectors are [...]
Everyone knows that, if you're a blogger, journalist, lawyer, judge, politician, it isn't really enough to be completely open-minded - you really have to be seen to be. But for some reason, that same injunction doesn't seem to apply to some academics. When you are passing authoritative judgement on GM crops, for example, it helps your credibility if you are not being funded by Monsanto, as the John Innes Research Centre discovered. Demos is a think-tank, rather than an academic research centre, but even so there have been a few eyebrows raised about their new research about bank lending to ...
In many ways the decision by Persimmon Homes not to build any more houses in the Welsh Valleys north of a line based on Pontypridd is unfortunate, but unsurprisng. House prices in these areas have long been lower than those in more prosperous parts of Wales and consequentially profit margins have also been tight. Add in extra costs, as the Welsh Government has done, and the venture becomes uneconomic. The Welsh Labour Government was at it again yesterday, this time piling additional costs onto hard-pressed homeowners who want to improve their homes. The Housing Minister has announced that he intends ...
[IMG: ECHR and Clegg] No to weakening the protections in the Equalities Act That's what Nick Clegg said in his conference speech last week. This is not the same as saying no to weakening the effectiveness of the Equalities Act 2006. Back in April we nearly lost Section 3, which gives the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) its purpose. Without Section 3 a future government would have less difficulty further dismantling the EHRC. Lib Dems in government raised no objections at the time. But for a strong showing in the Lords, some back-bone on the back benches and an ...
[IMG: Lib Reform book] Two weeks ago, Liberal Reform launched their new publication, Coalition and Beyond: Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead, at the Lib Dems' Glasgow conference. It was edited by me, with a foreword by Nick Clegg (yes, the front cover name-checked us that way round – not my doing, I hasten to add). The launch itself went very well – here's me speaking at the very well-attended fringe meeting at which half a dozen of the authors gave two-minute teasers of their arguments... [IMG: stephen tall lib reform - sept 2013] If you missed the meeting and ...
Sir Alan Beith arrives with an old lamp. "It was this quest of yours," he explains. "I wasn't sure where to go, so I ended up in an antique shop in Alnwick. I found this. It's rather battered and the wick needs trimming, but for some reason the flame never goes out." "Good heavens man! You've found the spirit of Liberalism. I shall have it cleaned and polished at once." "I expect you will give it to Clegg when you have done that." I consider Beith for a moment and then reply: "No, old fellow. I think you had better ...
The All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group have produced a report titled Get Britain Cycling. I'm chuffed to say that thE Liberal Democrats have adopted all 18 of the recommendaitons. The key components being: - government providing funding of £10 per person each year for cycling. That this amount rise to £20. - cross -departmental cycling action plan be produced - appoint a national cycling champion - raise the target proporiton of all trips by bike from 2% in 2010 to 10% by 2025. These actions owuld produce a heatlhier, happier and richer country.
Yesterday, I had a very productive meeting with Grant Simmons, Manager of the Dundee Food Train, that provides an excellent shopping service for older people across the city. Dundee Food Train is going from strength to strength, with record numbers of customers and volunteers. If you are aged over 65 and would like to know more about the service, or if you would like to be a volunteer, please contact the Food Train office:
There is only one meeting at Blyth Town Council next week that I am aware of Thursday 3rd September, 6:30, Staff Committee , Ebor House Given the nature of this meeting it will probably mostly be discussed under "Part 2" There will be at least one working group next week, but details are yet to be finalised
Post by Mark Pack.
Figures released on Wednesday show that the all-Wales Welsh Ambulance response time target has not been met since May 2012. The Welsh Government's target is for 65% of ambulances to respond to Category A (immediately life-threatening) calls within 8 minutes, yet figures for August show that only 61.8% of ambulances arrived within that time. In England and Scotland the target for the same priority call is 75%. It is incredibly sad that 15 months after this unambitious target was last met the people of Wales are still not getting the Ambulance service they deserve, despite the best efforts of the ...
I have been known to write about dates, I was about to type both good and bad but that is a lie but you know what I mean. Still I at least keep names out of it and give at best vague descriptions of people I have had dates with but a young lady living in Washington DC doesn't think that is enough. She thinks that people who decide not to date further after two dates deserve to be named and shamed but I think it is probably fair to say that it has backfired and this young lady has ...
Today would have been my dad's 62nd birthday. In his honour, I have just gone live with the latest iteration of my photography portfolio, and as I was writing a blog post about the significance of today, it had me thinking. I'm not a religious person. I'm agnostic at best; as a teenager I was pretty militantly agnostic - insisting that nobody has concrete evidence of a god, gods, or the lack of, and until such evidence could be provided I would be firmly on the fence (albeit cynical about all things theistic). These days, I tend to think "apathetically ...
