'The Escape Artist' is a new legal drama but surprisingly it is more horror than soap-like. Good, psychological kind of horror. We see some blood but the frightening bit is in anticipation, you just know something awful is going to happen when Ashley Jensen puts her head down in a bath. Events unfold in such [...]
My 12th Whipped column for Ad Lib magazine. It was when I heard the Chief Whip was giving up hard drink for a month that I sensed change was in the air. "It's called 'Go Sober for October'," he told me. "People sponsor you to give up alcohol for a month and the proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Support." "But what if you have to give a backbencher a bol... you know, tell them off?" "That's easy. I'll sit them down, tell them a few home truths and then offer them a stiff orange juice." ****** Two days later I ...
This evening I was at the Turkish Embassy in London for the 90th Independence Day celebrations. In brief but pertinent remarks the Ambassador, Unal Cevikoz — one of the most assiduous and popular members of the London diplomatic corps — noted that this year is not only the 90th anniversary of the birth of the [...]
"So what?" asks Herbert Eppel in a comment on my recent Headline of the Day winner "Wind turbine brought down in high winds in Devon". The point is that it's funny. Or at least it's funny the first time you read it. Most of these headlines aren't funny at all once you have thought about them for a moment. Ask the man on the toilet or the girl in the chicken costume. But, more importantly, Herbert has put me on to a much more serious story about the storm and energy supply in that comment. Over to Energy Business Review: ...
This has to be one of the wackiest hustings panels ever. It's from St Paul Minnesota, USA, where candidates running for mayor were answering questions. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Have you ever tried to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority that you've moved and have a new address? Reckon you'll be able to do it online or fill in a simple form? Nah. Here's the 1½ side of A4 standard reply – almost 500 words – that you'll get. It probably helps to have a Masters degree in Unhelpful Officialdom if you want to understand exactly what it is you're supposed to do next. From: DVLA Email <donotreply.contactcentre@dvla.gsi.gov.uk> Date: 18 October 2013 08:59:54 BST To: <xxxxxxxx@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Email DVLA – Vehicles Form 106 Dear xxxxxxxxxxxx, Thank you ...
Did you know that some bands are making over $3million a year just from playing corporate and wedding gigs? These are artists you've never heard of, they don't appear at big festivals, yet they get to travel the world playing music. A number of them are represented by Douglas Gillespie of the UK's 'Entertainers Agency' and in this fascinating interview he talks about what it takes to make it as a musician in the corporate and wedding world. You can watch the short version here or sign up to Gigs Academy to watch the whole hour long interview. Video Highlights: ...
Earlier today, along with the council's Housing Officer for the area, representatives from Community Spirit Action Group, the City Development Department and the Environment Department, I took part in a walkabout around Pentland, to look at local issues, similar to the walkabouts last week at Logie and Blackness. We looked at many issues - poor conditioned steps, dumped rubbish, grass maintenance - to name just three - and action will be taken to address all the issues we looked at.
You can download a high quality PDF version of this poster here.
If there is a lesson to be learned from today's news that Sharon Shoesmith, former head of Haringey children's services is to be compensated for unfair dismissal, it is simply that we should never let over-confident politicians run roughshod over the law. It is obvious that a number of council departments (not just social services) and other public services (the NHS, Ofsted and the police all have questions to answer) didn't do as well as anyone would have wanted them to do in the appalling and tragic case of Peter Connelly. However, I also believe that had due process been ...
Today's proposals by the Coalition Government that the maximum sentences for those found guilty of using their dogs to kill or injure a person or assistance dog should be increased is very welcome. Under current law, the maximum sentence for a dog being dangerously out of control and a dog killing or injuring a person or an assistance dog is two years imprisonment. After undertaking a public consultation, the Coalition Government has brought proposals forward to increase sentences which are proportionate to the offence and bring them in line with similar offences committed without the use of a dog, bringing ...
[IMG: image] I'm now back from a very enjoyable long weekend in Venice. We seem to have conveniently side-stepped some sort of storm. While in Venetia, this headline caught my eye: Stesso palazzo in frezzeria. Nuovo incendio il sospetto della vendetta Googly translated this means: Frezzeria in the same building. New fire on suspicion of revenge. The news billboard included a photo of firefighters approaching a water taxi. Sounds like a very good case for Inspector Montalbano...although slightly out of his patch. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Great news about the Save Lewisham Hospital and Lewisham Council challenge in the high Court against the government about closing the A&E and maternity departments at Lewisham Hopsital. If the closures had proceeded it risked placing intolerable pressures on Kings College Hospital affecting services for Southwark and Lambeth residents. It does make you wonder why the Conservative Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt didn't accept the Judicial Review and avoid the public expense of appealing. We now need Jeremy Hunt to advise how these departments will be funded going forward.
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone in Uganda] More than one billion people worldwide - that's 1 in 7 people - live with a disability. And last year's Paralympics reminded us that people with disabilities can achieve incredible feats. But for every disabled person celebrated for their achievements, there are millions more in the developing world who are treated as sub-human, hidden from view and forgotten. They are the great neglect in international development and I am determined to right this wrong. Last week, UK Paralympic wheelchair basketball star Ade Adepitan travelled with me to Uganda with to see how that country is ...
The cost of living is a hot political topic at the moment. If you want to see the evidence to that backs this up then take a look at this poll from the resolution foundation which was covered by the New Statesman. We have plenty of strong messages that explain how polices we are enacting [...]
Apologies for the lack of attention to this blog of late but work and personal commitments have well and truly taken over. Primarily of course was the big day last month when Alyson and I wed at Cardigan's Guildhall. It was a beautiful day and the fine weather was only bettered by the wonderful company of family and close friends as Alyson and I made the marital leap after nearly 4 years together. The Guildhall was a magnificent venue and gave us ample room for 120 guests. The order of ceremony was I would like to think, unique! As a ...
The Cheadle neighbourhood police newsleteter for November.
Reblogged from The Dish: From the WSJ dealing with an op-ed they commissioned from - no, I'm not kidding - Suzanne Somers: An earlier version of this post contained a quotation attributed to Lenin ("Socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the socialist state") that has been widely disputed. And it included a [...]
The short stretch of Western Road that runs between the Conservative Club and the zebra crossing at Broad Street will be closed for two days from 25th to 27th November. The map on the left shows this stretch of road - which is not the main road running down to Newport. Drivers will be signposted via Dockey, Madford Lane, Southgate Street and Briad Street to avoid the road works, but hopefully local drivers will know the best way to get where they need to. Tweet
By few simple clicks, you can now put yourself in the Doctor Who opening titles! You can then send them to all your friends to remind them to #savetheday Not only is it enormous fun (if you are as obsessed as me, or familiar at all with the show), this is the perfect , most [...]
Only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted to anchor Britain in the centre ground by building a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling every person to get on in life. That's why in government we have: Fixed the mess left by LabourReduced the deficit by a thirdKept interest rates downHelped business create over a million jobsEased the squeeze on household budgetsCutting income tax by £700 for 24 million peopleGiving every 5, 6 and 7 year old a free school meal dailyGiving 15 hours free child care to all 3 and 4 year olds and 40% of 2 year oldsFreezing ...
Last night's Federal Executive meeting was a little strange. It must have been even stranger for Tim Farron who had to chair a meeting of 30 or so people when some were in the room, some were on the phone and a few more were on the internet, their webcams being projected onto the screen in Liberal Democrat HQ. Which was fine until I put my iPad down for a minute and it slipped down the back of the sofa amid, no doubt, all sorts of rubbish. I hope nobody was watching too closely. Last night's agenda was busy. We ...
Last Saturday a brand new Poundland opened up on Allerton Road, the main shopping area in my Church Ward. Some people were very sniffy about a Poundland opening. I suggest that they go and have a look at this bright ... Continue reading →
The day after the "St Jude's day Storm": it was a rough night, but let's face it, we've had worse- well anyway, enough of Estonia. In the UK the predicted zombie apocalypse seems not to have happened, although the press-inspired panic was by turns absurd and sinister- like most things in the British press. In fact it is still pretty wet and windy in Tallinn, but we just get on with it- after all a year ago we were fighting the first blizzard of the year, at the beginning of a very long winter, and for sure there will be ...
Back in the 1940s, the great American theorist of 'total quality, W. Edwards Deming warned that assembly lines, in themselves, were not efficient at all. We ought to listen to that, given that our public services are being re-designed by people who think that assembly lines are the apotheosis of efficiency. Deming's story is rather peculiar, because he found that his fellow Americans were not quite ready for this message, so he took his ideas to Japan after the Second World War, and was enormously influential. Efficiency is all about getting things right first time, he said, because then you ...
Today (Tues 29th) is the second reading of the Anti-Social Crime and Behaviour Bill in the House of Lords. The LGA have prepared a briefing on the topic to assist policy-makers and those with an interest in the issue. It covers existing local authority powers to tackle anti-social behaviour and broadly welcomes the additional flexibility [...]
Tue 29th
14:00
November AD LIB Review: Burt on manufacturing, Paddick on social justice, new Shirley biography and ...
[IMG: Ad Lib November 2013] November's AD LIB magazine hit inboxes and doorsteps this morning. I read it online almost all the time now, mainly because I can zoom in and make the text bigger. That's what middle age is all about. It is good to have the choice, though. This is the twelfth issue of the successor to Liberal Democrat News. In its first year, it's produced some illuminating articles. There have been some issues with variety of photos and it sometimes looks a bit too male, but it's generally been a good read, with some superb interviews and ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Tired? Troubled love life? Try banning the gadgets from the bedroom | Amy Fleming | Comment is free | theguardian.com This is all very well, but it ignores the real problem of your love life getting in the way of technology http://bit.ly/1aE0fGy It's time to close the Government's sinister 'Nudge Unit' and let the free market take over - Telegraph Blogs Hmm, here's Martha Gill misunderstanding the Nudge Unit (govt belatedly catching up with std priv sector practise) http://bit.ly/1aQjfOT
[IMG: if-mayors-ruled-the-world-198x300] How should a world characterised by increasingly complex interdependence be governed? If most of the major challenges we face have no respect for the artificial borders marking out nation states, how can we identify and deliver effective solutions? The answer Benjamin Barber offered in his stimulating presentation at the Bristol Festival of Ideas on Monday night is that we need to look to cities. More specifically, we need to look to mayors. His case is in part rooted in the fact of an increasingly urban future. But it is also based upon the characteristics he identifies as distinctive ...
Tue 29th
12:33
Girl dressed as a chicken punched in the face by boy outside Northampton discount store
The Northampton Chronicle & Echo wins our Headline of the Day Award.
The above premises proposes to be open until midnight 45 on weekdays and 0145 at weekends. Please let us have your views. [IMG: Licence variation]
In the ancient world, Macedonia was a small Greek speaking kingdom around modern day Thessaloniki. Then Alexander the Great converted it into a mighty empire. This piece of ancient history underlines one of the most bizarre disputes in European politics. In 1991, the Yugoslav province of Macedonia declared its independence. This created tension with its [...]
There have been quite a few pieces written about why Blogging is not dead in response to Stephen's article at Lib Dem Voice One of them is from... Stephen Tall; and it's a very fair assessment of what's been written. And you have to admire Stephen's use of the Paul Dacre defence :-) Others include... Why you have to love blogging by @flipchartRick. Loved this The demise of LibCon and the future of political blogging by Alex Marsh. A Place for Amateurs by Chris Dillow All reaffirm my faith in the power of blogging The demise of LibCon and the ...
On The Eleventh Hour and Steven Moffat
Earlier this year an application to make some changes to the phone mast opposite 192 Brodie Avenue failed because of the lack of a plan about how the nearby trees were going to be protected. The applicants have put another plan in, with what looks like the missing information. The form is incredibly difficult to read but it looks as if the mast will be replaced with one a bit higher and there'll be a new cabinet too. You can now comment on line and there's a deadline in mid November. Info is at this link. The vast bulk of ...
We have been following the often humorous progress of party legend Sheila Ritchie and Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael as they take part in Macmillan Cancer Support's Go Sober for October challenge. At the time of writing, Sheila is the top fundraiser in the UK and Alistair is fifth. They have raised, between them, over £6,000. When we predicted that they might get to £5,000, we thought were being wildly optimistic. We've noticed that when we write about their quest on here, it leads to an upsurge in donations for them both. In order to encourage you to ...
I was enjoying a long weekend's walking on Hadrian's Wall when the news of the UK's 0.8% economic growth rate for the past quarter was released, so missed the instant comments. However, I am reliably informed that, when Labour's Ed Balls, after welcoming the growth, regretted the output lost, and unemployment caused, during the past three plus years by the government's ill-advised policies which brought a halt to the 1.1% per quarter growth rate it inherited, Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander's riposte was that he take could take no lessons from "one of the people who helped crash the economy in ...
Former Liberal Democrat Leader of Kingston Council, Derek Osbourne, was today given a two year prison sentence in Southwark Crown Court. He had earlier pleaded guilty to 17 counts of possessing and distributing indecent images of children.
[IMG: Focus] I've been thinking about this for a while, and am convinced that I am the only Liberal Democrat to feel this way. Nonetheless, I have to share my feelings with a group of people that will understand, perhaps in the declining, yet desperate hope that I will find someone else who feels this way. Therefore, I must ask exactly what is with the Liberal Democrat love affair with leaflets? I haven't always hated the things. I remember happily putting yellow leaflets through doors as a 4 year old with my parents, but since growing up I've developed an ...
This is the poem that was written by Mike Axworthy for the Friends of Garston Park art project . You can see it on the boards around the sports pitches. Mike also read the poem at a recent Friends of Garston library event. I thought blog readers might like to see it. GARSTON HAS CHANGED From Salt works to satellite dishesGarston has changedFrom rural idyll to industrial giantGarston has changed Like the river it stands on it flows and growsGarston is changingFrom Ireland Scotland Wales the world they cameGarston is changing A special place to live work and playGarston has ...
Last week Nick Clegg was a guest speaker at the inaugural PinkNews Awards, which were held in Parliament. In his speech he referred to the fact that the deputy editor of PinkNews had just proposed to his partner during the ceremony. You can watch Nick here (if only to find out why Stephen Gilbert was so well placed to rescue a woman from the Thames): * Mary Reid is the Tuesday Editor on Lib Dem Voice.
At the Mayor's Question Time last week, he refused to further consider the merits of a travelcard for part-time workers. This would allow many workers to have more flexibility in their jobs and for many to take up part time work when currently this is not possible due to Boris's high fare increases. Following questioning from Caroline Pidgeon, the Mayor, who is also the chair of Transport for London, gave a clear cut reply that he had ruled out any further consideration of the proposal. His stance led to criticisms even from Conservative Assembly Members. The Mayor's statement that he ...
posted The Blood is The Life 28-10-2013 http://t.co/i5us4hBrWZ on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) Rt @aden_76: The paywall fade out line of this article on Open Data in The Times is perfect http://t.co/dHy1Heix21 > so it is! Marvellous. (tags: (from twitter) ) DfE confirms: the schools Gove said he visited don't exist (tags: ) A new statesman subscriber considers what would have happened if the speccie had done a similar thing (tags: ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667587494688/ I'm really rather glad I found the Beard Addicts tumblr... http://t.co/fUAZVoMIgt (tags: (from twitter) ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667587494687/ Idris Elba. Rawr. http://t.co/AjM99gmnzD (tags: (from twitter) ...
I have known for quite a while that my great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Dodd , nee Andrews, was born in Kent, but I hadn't done much research on her or her family. So, wanting to look into this branch of the tee, I set off to see what I could find electronically. Using the subscription genealogy site, FindmyPast, and the LDS (Mormons) site, I have opened lots of doors. I keep a record of my family tree on www.Genesreunited.co.uk just in case of failure of my computers at home, and was contacted by a lady in the village of Elham, Kent, where ...
Living in Scotland means you get use to living through cold, dark winters and at this time of year you can almost feel the whole country going into hybernation mode. So the idea of travelling to warmer climes just now is very tempting. It was with this in mind and following a recommendation from Tim Ferris that I picked up the book 'Vagabonding' by Rolf Potts recently. Firstly it is helpful to define what Vagabonding is: The act of leaving behind the orderly world to travel independently for an extended period of time. A privately meaningful manner of travel that ...
In recent months, I have had a number of constituents raise the issue of safe pedestrian crossing at Glamis Road at its south end. As one constituent highlighted recently: 'My wife and I are regular pedestrians along Perth Road from our house to town. My wife walks to and from her work in town every day. It has always been a problem, but as we get older, crossing Glamis Road at its junction with Perth Road is getting more dangerous. It is a very wide junction, and although you can check there are no cars planning to turn into Glamis ...
Enterprise South Liverpool Academy recently played host to two weeks of community radio. Working with Liverpool Community Radio,other local schools and community organisations andn members, there were a series of programmes on a whole range of topics. I went in to take part in a programme about young people and politics. The whole set up was really impressive and I get the impression that ESLA is keen to do it all over again. I do hope so!
As we transform our Armed Forces to face future threats, it is vital that we protect our networks from cyber espionage or attack. The Joint Cyber Reserve Unit will ensure we can draw on the latest specialist expertise from industry and civilian life. We are using a flexible approach to recruitment for the cyber reserves, with more flexible eligibility criteria in relation to age, medical and fitness in order to attract the most skilled and talented personnel. When addressing the issue of criminal convictions, all applications to the Armed Forces, whether they are regular or reserve forces, are looked at ...
Some of us managed to sleep through the severe storm in the early hours of Monday morning, but on waking up, it seemed there was more damage than we'd thought - Fortune Green was covered with leaves and branches and a tree had been uprooted from the bed by the Sager building in front of the phone boxes blocking access to the bus stop. Cllr Keith Moffitt inspecting the damage There was also damage to trees in the cemetery, and by Emmanuel Church and the pavement was blocked by the police station. However, after we (and probably lots of ...
