When writing about Ian Nairn the other day I mentioned Jonathan Meades' recent book Museum Without Walls. Here he is on Loose Ends last year talking about it.
I noted that the current council proposals are now much like my proposals of 2003. I voted against Metro in 1992. I thought that we should stick to heavy rail and bus/trolley bus. The image is my proposal from 2003 for Birmingham which is pretty well the current council proposal. I have a personal minority view historically otherwise I would have prioritised buses in the city centre rather
A democracy, according to Oxford Dictionaries is 'a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives', and adds 'control of an organization or group by the majority of its members'. Well in 2010 the Tories did very well and achieved a great increase in their percentage vote which went to 36.1%. With 23.0% voting for the Liberal Democrats this means that 59.1% of voters managed to give their support to this Government. Have a look here and you will see that in all the general elections since 1945 this ...
The Neighbourhood Return service was highlighted in the BBC news this morning by Jenny Hill. You can see the coverage by clicking here. The Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network has also issued a press statement which highlights some of the findings from the pilot over the last year. You can view this by clicking here. More information on the project is available here.
Facing the prospect of defeat the government has hit pause on the controversial gagging bill!, The pressure from people like you, supporters of campaigning groups and charities up and down the country, meant that the government had no choice but to respond to the ever growing concerns surrounding the bill. This rushed bill, that could seriously damage grassroots campaigning, will now face some much needed scrutiny. Sadly they have only conceded to pausing the bill for 5 weeks, much less than the 3 months required! Whilst we should take a brief moment to celebrate that the government is finally listening, ...
Vince Cable and Julian Huppert MP's Business Secretary, Vince Cable has raised the fight to save Cambridge's Arts Picturehouse with the new organisation launched to take over from the Competition Commission. Dr Cable took the issue to the chairman and chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority after Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert called for his help in a bid to prevent the cinema being sold. He told Julian in a letter that during the meeting he had "underlined the strong feeling in Cambridge" and the chairman and chief executive would update him on any new developments. The Competition and ...
An auction at a sheltered housing scheme in Stapleford has raised over £400 for a Cambridge sight charity. Around 35 staff, residents and local people gathered at the communal room at Cox's End for the auction with all the money raised being donated to Cam Sight, who support people who are visually impaired. The event was the second year running South Cambridgeshire District Council's sheltered housing officers had arranged the event at the sheltered housing scheme which saw donated items such as china, books and bric-a-brac sold. At the event last year the money raised also topped £400. Dorothy Bird, ...
Here is Robert McCartney QC defending grammar schools against the finding of a Sutton Trust report that they are four times more likely to admit private school children than those on free school meals: "Many, many parents from deprived areas, including what is generally called the dependency classes, are essentially not particularly interested in any form of academic education. Their interests are directed towards pop culture, sports."Three quick points... The case always made by those who support grammar schools is that they provide a way of bright children from poor families to make the most of their talents - something ...
Consider the amount of work that Liberal Democrats have actually done in areas of LGBT equality. Being the first party to back a lifting of the life time blood ban on MSM donors, being the first national party to have actually voted to adopt equal marriage as policy and before that fully supporting introduction of civil partnerships, backing allowing same-sex couple to adopt. You'd think that somewhere along the way as these milestones were achieved that we might have picked up the odd Stonewall award for our politicians. However, having checked the list I'm rather disappointed. Politician of the Year: ...
Yesterday, Matt Schiavenza, a writer for The Atlantic tweeted a link to a story of a Chinese man who had successfully sued his wife for having had plastic surgery and later given birth to an 'ugly baby'. This was a story that had appeared in my Facebook feed before, and at the time I smelt a Kentucky Fried Rat. 5 minutes of googling at the time produced a Reddit thread that cast doubt on the
With reports that Saudi Arabia have procured Pakistani nuclear weaponry, nuclear proliferation is back on the agenda. So here's Tom Lehrer - whose first album is 60 years old this year and is still going strong at 85 - with 'Who's next?'.
A few days ago, we sent out a special invitation for the free webinar I'm running with Taylor Swift's former manager Rick Barker. Turns out the demand for the information we're sharing is HUGE. We weren't trying to keep anyone out - SORRY if you tried to join when we ran out of places. Well here's some GREAT news: we just opened another 400 spots! So here's your chance to join us.... Over the last 30 years, Rick and I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in launching new albums by our artists. We're doing a live webinar on ...
[IMG: Britain's intelligence chiefs give their first ever public testimony at parliament in London] Photo from the Guardian. With acknowledgements to Steve Bell. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Many fashion blogs have been reporting on Debenham's introduction of size 16 mannequins in-store. Generally, it has been regarded as a good idea, as it reflects the diversity of body-shapes inherent within society. I was surprised (and pleased) to hear that Jo Swinson helped to launch the mannequins; it's great to see a Lib Dem promoting a range of body-shapes amongst women. Lib Dem Voice also reported upon the event. However, I did not agree with News Moggie's view that the mannequins should not be referred to as "plus-size". Yes, a lot of "real women" are size 16, and obviously ...
Now what could this, from Business Weekly, possibly be about? [IMG: Huppert the rocket man] And he actually had to do some work: The competition saw MPs assemble and launch air powered rockets with the assistance of the apprentices in their team. The aim was to achieve the greatest horizontal distance. Apprentices from Airbus, Astrium, Axis Electronics, Cobham, GE Aviation, GKN, Marshall Aerospace and Defence in Cambridge, MEP, Raytheon UK, RLC Engineering, Selex ES and UTC Aerospace Systems were on hand on the day to support their MP team leader in the successful launch of the rocket. I suspect it's ...
I don't feel I owe Nigel Farage anything (does anyone?) but he proved useful this week when his appearance on Question Time (which was otherwise less than scintillating) dished up the news nugget that the Ministry of Defence had given supply ship construction contracts to Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering's yards in Korea in a £452m contract for four tankers in early 2012. Quite rightly one can feel that this was an event that goes quite a way towards explaining this week's "rationalisation" of the Portsmouth naval shipyard. This sent me scurrying for the back story and indeed it was ...
Sky News are exclusively revealing that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt may been in for a windfall payment. City Editor Mark Kleinman reports: Sky News can exclusively reveal that Hotcourses, an education listings service set up by Mr Hunt 17 years ago, is in detailed negotiations about being sold to Inflexion Private Equity, an investment firm, [...]
[IMG: Liberal Democrat Political Sauce] In today's Telegraph, Isobel Hardman says that Nick Clegg is targeting the green, metropolitan middle-class "who fret about whether they are doing the recycling properly." Work is being done on the "repeal" sections of the party's manifesto, explaining how the Lib Dems will reverse certain Coalition reforms, including the unpopular employee shares-for-rights scheme. But, Hardman says some party figures want more distinctive Lib Dem thinking: To avoid being seen as a Lea & Perrins party - one that is capable of improving any government, but shouldn't be taken alone. Nick Clegg, according to Hardman, is ...
Having Nigel Farage on Question Time again was more than enough to make my blood boil last night. Sadly, even my Facebook timeline had little to soothe. I saw an 18 month old story being recycled again to give MPs another kicking. In May last year the Telegraph had a go at some MPs who claimed mileage to attend Remembrance Day services, including a couple of Liberal Democrats. Why on earth should that particular engagement be any different than any other that they attend in the course of their official duties? How many people would meet work expenses out of ...
There is just one meeting at Blyth Town Council next week Thursday 14th November, 6:30 at Arms Evertyne House, Full Council and Public Question Time
Driverless cars appear to be on the Horizon. The economist predicts that "by the 2020s some cars that drive themselves most or all of the time could well be in volume production." Lib Dem blogger Mark Pack argues this will have big consequences for public policy the speed with which driverless cars are advancing means [...]
[IMG: Caron It's Time] While Scotland was first to get moving on equal marriage, England beat us to passing legislation. I really enjoyed writing this post celebrating all the Liberal Democrats, from LGBT+ Liberal Democrats all the way to Nick Clegg and Lynne Featherstone, who had championed that particular cause. Now the Scottish Bill is finally expected to have it's first debate before the end of this month. Today, the Parliamentary Committee considering it published its report in favour of the Bill. I was quite amused to see that whoever posted the list of those who'd submitted written evidence doesn't ...
A quick search of the BBC website reveals that the cost of paying out compensation where maternity cases go wrong is £300 million a year. This is considerably less than the insurance premium of £482 million last year. You would have thought NHS managers might have worked out the obvious solution...
Pskov is one of the very oldest cities in Russia. It is 1110 years since the putative foundation of the city in 903 and it still possesses its ancient citadel - the Krom- and much of the city walls- dating from the time of the Pskov Republic, which like Great Novgorod, tells of an alternate, non-Czarist Russian tradition. Unlike many Russian cities, Pskov lies close to the border of Russia- only 20 kilometres from the Estonian border. It has a history of trade and contacts all over Europe. Sometimes Pskov has been at the very centre of Russian events: Czar ...
You will probably have read about Bill De Blasio's stunning ascent to the New York mayoralty, and seen some of the comparisons made between his platform and that of Ed Miliband. The similarities between De Blasio's soak-the-rich redistributive tax policies and Miliband's are hard to ignore, and no doubt the Labour leader and his team [...]
Friday keeps coming: Age: 21st Century Stories: 23 Awesomeness: Kroton Brain Machine Cuddles: the TARDIS console during explosions. Much prettier than a computer (yuck barf). AKA: brilliant Wendy Padbury
Fri 8th
13:01
Day 4695 BONUS: Millennium's Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Top Trunks #14: MISS VICTORIA WATERFIELD
Friday again: Age: Very Late Victorian Stories: 17 Awesomeness: Scream Queen Supreme Cuddles: We Will Now Change the Subject. AKA: ageless Debbie Watling
Fri 8th
13:00Day 4695: Millennium's Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Top Trunks #13: JAMES ROBERT McCRIMMON
Friday: Age: Messed with by the Time Lords Stories: 58 Awesomeness: World Shaper. Yes, that is a big one! Creag an tuire! Cuddles: Samantha Briggs, Victoria, Zoe, the Doctor mostly... AKA: Joe Sugdon, our hero Frazer Hines
In March last year I called for a ban on smoking in children's play areas. The result of this ban was a 12% drop in cases of childhood asthma in [...]
I'd like to propose that web designers around the world spend one day this year browsing the web with JavaScript disabled. I'm tentatively calling this "International No Javascript UseR Experience Day" or INJURED for short. A few weeks ago, a reader of my blog complained that all they saw was a blank screen. As Liz Conlan pointed out, my CSS was making the whole page invisible. My WordPress theme has a feature which renders the page blank until all the extra fonts etc have properly loaded - then it makes the page visible. That's a neat little hack to stop ...
On the 1st April 2013 something remarkable didn't happen! The end of the World didn't happen for the NHS. Remember the fears? The American corporations were going to sweep over the horizon and take lucrative contracts from the NHS who ... Continue reading →
Yesterday Twitter launched itself onto the financial markets by offering a small proportion of its share for sale. The company sold them for $26 each. By the close of the day they were being sold for $44; during the day they had been even higher. Last week The Economist carried out a sober assessment of what they thought the shares were worth. They thought that investors should not pay more than $18. So what is going on? No new information was revealed last week that might raise the share valuations. Instead we get a lot candyfloss arguments about why investors ...
[IMG: Hand on keyboard] If you want to make me wince and aren't into physical violence nor have an alligator to hand, ask me about cases I've come across of political campaigns or parties losing key data about voters. The sort of losses I've come across so painfully regularly aren't the ones that get media headlines with USB drives left on trains or personal data about voters emailed to a radio station rather than a mailing house by mistake (though the latter did once happen to an unfortunate Conservative). Rather they are the story of losses that are all the ...
Now, and I'm not making this up, this is quite brilliant from Matt in the Telegraph this morning.
Regular readers will know that I have recently spent six weeks going round Cornwall talking to as many people as possible about Cornwall Council's draft budget proposals. The authority needs to save £23.9 million next year and as much as £196 million over the next five years. Faced with this challenge, we wanted to understand the views of local people. Now we have published our updated budget proposals for next year and we have taken account of much of what people have been saying to us. We said all along that what we published on September 2nd was a first ...
Fri 8th
09:49
SNP Councillor calls Alistair Carmichael a "supposed Scot" as furious debate over shipyards continue...
It's been a fairly depressing couple of days for anyone watching the independence referendum campaign north of the border. Both sides would do well to remember that people are losing their jobs in Portsmouth, Glasgow and Rosyth after the BAE Systems announcement yesterday. It would have been appropriate, I think, for the main focus to have been on support for the people who were going to be out of work, but, no. Sadly and predictably, there's been a big row about what would happen if Scotland votes for independence next year. It stands to reason that if Scotland votes to ...
I can't remember which by-election this was, but it was more than a decade ago, but I had a sort of revelation about the Russell Brand position in politics - which is basically, don't vote; it only encourages them. I had gone canvassing into a new estate, relatively prosperous, leafy and off a main road. There were 12 houses in a cul-de-sac. Every front door opened when I knocked, and everyone said exactly the same: the weren't voting, 'on principle'. This was not apathy. Of course it would have been easy for me to snobbishly dismiss the beer-bellies I had ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg LBC] They are a way of dealing with a "dilemma". That's Nick Clegg's view of TPIMs after the escape of Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed. He was being challenged on his weekly Call Clegg phone-in on LBC 97.3. He went on to blast Paxman as a taxpayer funded broadcaster who "sneers at politics." Clegg defended the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures as essential where people can't be prosecuted or deported: What do you do about people who you can't get on a plane to deport them but you want to keep an eye on them? There is this dilemma. ...
Sweden introduces official bechdel test for all movies I'm sad that a bare pass of the bechdel test will get you an A rating, given that it's supposed to be a bare minimum, but this is a start for informed consumer choice. (tags: ) posted The Blood is The Life 07-11-2013 http://t.co/nACtuHFCq1 on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) Emma Thompson's diaries from Sense & Sensibility are great. Give yourself five minutes and a cup of tea and read these. Warning: may result in tea snort. This has done nothing to reduce my massive crush on Emma Thompson. (tags: ...
Here's one instance of ad-libbing that's so perfect in terms of quick-thinking that surely nobody would ever suspect on face value that it actually was. As The Joker (Heath Ledger) starts exploding Gotham General Hospital, he emerges out front in full-on nurse garb, walking towards the camera. The intention was for the explosion to start [...]
[IMG: Pay day loans] To download the entire leaflet click here: Payday loan leaflet HCC
Later this month (November) the City Council's Cabinet will take a decision in the next steps in their plan to sell off some of the childcare services based at Children's Centres in the City. In this case they are talking about the services in Garston and Tuebrook. For legal reasons the Council has to publish a bit of advance information ahead of the Cabinet meeting (22 November). You can link to the info here. The Garston service is based in Speke Garston ward and it is interesting, although frankly not surprising given lack of action on other items, that the ...
In an article last week Polly Toynbee listed some of the items which the living wage is designed to support: a man should have a pair of shoes and a pair of trainersa child should have four outings a year (eg to a zoo, farm or Christmas pantomime)for each child parents should be able to afford a £50 birthday present plus £50 for a party. The male footwear allowance seems a bit on the stingy side, and the children's birthday allocation wildly lavish. However, to bring the latter into perceptive I apply my "divide by 40" rule. This is based ...
For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, the story of a whale found dead in Washington state with a relatively large amount of human trash in its stomach (1-2% of the total contents of its stomach and no indication that it contributed to the animal's death) has been flying around the world in the past few days. Perhaps it will prove to be one of those events that, while meaningless in
[IMG: CS Sovereign landing cable] Steven Heaton has an excellent web site called "UK submarine cable landings & cable stations". He documents and illustrates all the places in the UK where submarine cables come ashore and where their landing stations (the buildings which house the junction points) are. Coming from Bude, I was obviously very interested to see Steven's various posts about such cables around the Bude area, which you can see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. There's a brilliant Google earth style map here which shows many of the submarine cable routes. photo ...
You can download the full programme as a PDF here.
The battle to protect the environment is one we cannot afford to lose. I'm green because I want to make sure that my generation leaves our children a true green legacy – a natural world that's flourishing and a sustainable future where we tackle dangerous climate change. If you agree with me, tell me why you're green now. I'm proud that we've been able to take our commitment to the environment and put it at the heart of the Coalition Government's work. That commitment will never waver. Join me today and tell me why you're green. With your support, we ...
The Independent carries an article portraying a rather apocalyptic vision of the World after all the ice melts. They say that maps in the National Geographic magazine predicts that a huge swathe of eastern England, most of Denmark, the entire eastern seaboard of the United States, Bangladesh and a huge chunk of China would be lost beneath the sea. They say that the maps show the Black Sea joining up with the Caspian Sea in Europe, while a vast lake is created in the middle of Australia. Africa fares better than the other continents, but Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt ...
