So, it's all over bar the shouting in the David Miranda judicial review, heard in front of Lord Justice Laws (whose name I don't think I will ever stop finding amusing. Once when I was meant to be revising for the GDL I spent longer than I care to admit searching to see if I could find a case that had been heard by (the then) Mr. Justice Laws and Mr. Justice Judge. I succeeded. What does that
Former Vice President Dick Cheney's daughters have clashed over the issue of gay marriage, as one seeks election to the senate. Dick Cheney had a late conversion to gay marriage. His younger daughter Mary is openly gay, and has thus supported LGBT equality, including marriage equality. She married her partner Heather Poe in Washington DC, [...]
Will we one day mourn the loss of the buildings we are demolishing today, just as we now mourn the Victorian buildings our fathers and grandfathers pulled down? In some cases, undoubtedly. But I doubt that the Greyfriars bus station in Northampton will be one of them. That such a building does not kill its passengers seems a reasonable minimum requirement. While we ponder that question, here are some earlier scenes of demolition from the town. The sad music (Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings) tells us what we are meant to think of them.
From the Guardian website this evening: The technology used by Britain's spy agencies to conduct mass surveillance is "out of control", raising fears about the erosion of civil liberties at a time of diminished trust in the intelligence services, according to the former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown. The peer said it was time for a high-level inquiry to address fundamental questions about privacy in the 21st century, and railed against "lazy politicians" who frighten people into thinking "al-Qaida is about to jump out from behind every bush and therefore it is legitimate to forget about civil liberties". "Well it ...
Second reading was launched today with three posts to coincide with Parliament Week 2013, which has the theme Women and Democracy. In one of them, "The history and geography of women MPs since 1918 in numbers", Richard Cracknell tells us: Since 1918, women have been more likely to be MPs in towns and cities than in rural constituencies. This at least partly reflects the tendency for Labour seats to be in urban areas and the higher number of women Labour MPs, compared with other parties. But women MPs have also tended to cluster in constituencies in some of the UK's ...
We were very disappointed last week by comments made by Baroness Warsi, the Minister for Faith and Communities. She addressed a gathering of students at Churchill College, Cambridge, and stated that the UK's coalition government was one of the most 'pro-faith' in the world. She even said that previous Prime Ministers Sir Winston Churchill and Baroness Thatcher would have backed some of the Coalition's recent moves, including the rapid expansion of 'faith' schools under Michael Gove's Free Schools programme and the Government's promises to back Christian prayers being read at town hall meetings. In the course of doing this, the ...
The Prime Minister held a summit today on his continuing battle against online pornography. I don't have any problem with the principle of Google blocking search terms that can trigger child porn results and informing those that perform such searches that it is illegal, as Bing have previously done. Nor do I disagree with the [...]
Yesterday was World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims. After the events of recent weeks such a day has incredible significance this year. Just at the weekend a cyclist was killed in Bath in a hit and run accident. And now just minutes ago I have heard that yet another cyclist has died in a crash with a lorry in London. In less than two weeks the capital has seen six cyclists killed – with today's latest fatality the number of cyclists already killed matches the total figure for 2012. I desperately hope that this surge of cycle fatalities ...
Before the last election I made a list of the 48 Clause/Section 28/2a supporting MPs remaining in the House of Commons and their election prospects. 48 have become 28 and on this 10th anniversary of the repeal of that nasty piece of legislation I thought I'd take a look at them again. David Smith made a comment on Twitter which I thought I'd explore some more: @JaeKay I'm glad we are looking back in this but we do also need to allow people to change their minds. That's why we have equal marriage. — David Smith (@davidinossett) November 18, 2013Shall ...
Mon 18th
19:01
Day 4705 BONUS: Millennium's Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Top Trunks #31: LADY ELLAINYA
Still technically Monday: Age: Plaything of Sutekh for over 300 years Stories: 2 Awesomeness: takes on deities (admittedly, with predictable results) Cuddles: her dark god, Upuat (Dame Julian Glover) AKA: Merytra of the Caanan Mal'akh, Lady Isabella (The King's Demons); Francis Urquhart's comeuppance (The Final Cut); Mrs Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; not-coincidentally, Mrs Dame Julian Glover; the divinely lovely Ms Isla Blair
Late-ish Monday: Age: He lived about seven thousand years Stories: 7 Awesomeness: Kneel before Sutekh! Cuddles: Would rather be alone AKA: The Beast, was Neil before Sutekh, the divinely sinister Gabriel Woolf
It turns out Siri is a Ron Paul supporter! Wonder who set that up...
Mon 18th
18:03
Lordy. Nick's still not super popular....though it seems TfL has now had a change of heart
(h/t @number10cat) UPDATE I think someone's had a word...
In my launch piece on Royal Navy policy I threw out a comment on building a new Britannia that I left danging for future elaboration. In some ways me tossing a new royal yacht into a Royal Navy policy is not entirely accurate for whomever in British industry or diplomacy that has ever been involved with the vessel in its glory days knows the Britannia was much more that a floating hotel suite to keep the royals out of the grotty local hostelries. It was in fact a veritable one-vessel marketing armada that burst through more trade barriers than any ...
Rather than simply demanding more open science, we should remember closure is a quite normal part of science, and instead look in detail at what's closing, when, why and to whom? Alice Bell
A couple of weeks ago I attended a lecture by Hugo Radice, writer and recently retired lecturer on international political economy at Leeds University. The lecture discussed the nature and soundness of the present economic recovery in the UK and examined who will be the most likely major beneficiaries if it continues: not the majority of us, I'm afraid. What was not mentioned in the lecture but was raised in discussion afterwards was that, whilst politicians are increasingly lowering their vision to the boundaries of their nation states, big business is increasingly thinking globally and stitching up the global market ...
So the problem with coming off the happy pills and managing my various eccentricities with diet and exercise is that if I have a week of megabusy like I had last week, the care regime tends to go out of the window. Don't get me wrong, I'd do everything I did last week again in a heartbeat, but possibly I need to remind myself that self care reaps it's own rewards. As it is, this morning I woke up 2 kilos lighter from not eating properly, with achy muscles from not eating properly OR exercising properly, and with clanging depression ...
I remember exactly where I was the morning after loyalist paramilitaries declared a ceasefire in October 1994. I was at a conference for sixth-formers from across the island of Ireland held at Campbell College in East Belfast. The conference was entitled, "Ireland: the next hundred years". When it was being planned no-one could have known...
Nick Clegg has this week called for a further increase in the basic tax threshold of £500, which would cost around £1bn and put an extra £10 a week into peoples pockets. It is a good call but it's not the best call. National Insurance is in theory is a tax that is hypothecated to pay for our pensions, our unemployment benefits and other aspects of social security, but in reality all of our social benefits are subsidised out of general taxation. What it does however do economically is constrain the poorest paid in our society in a trap that ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... IFS verdict: Labour's 10p tax idea "has no plausible economic justification" "Focus next on National Insurance Contributions (NICs) - NOT the income tax threshold" http://bit.ly/182McMs << Me last February. Help to Buy is immoral because it encourages ordinary people to risk ruin | Conservative Home Excellent from @AndrewGimson > Help to Buy is immoral because it encourages ordinary people to risk ruin http://bit.ly/Ia0Nt0
The Lib Dem Group on Hertfordshire County Council has forced a special debate on the state of the highways in the County. Hertfordshire liberal Democrats have demanded that the report on Highways contractors performance is discussed by the Full Council of November 26th, not just the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Liberal Democrat group is concerned about a whole series of problems with the new arrangements, including: Failure to deal with faults reported on the web and faults being reported as "closed" when no action whatsoever has been take Failure of the call centre to give accurate and correct information ...
Mon 18th
12:42
Opinion: California Governor's success is a promising sign for Nick Clegg's political approach
Jerry Brown, American pioneer of small-donor funded, technologically innovative, grassroots Presidential campaigns (see 1992 and his use of freephone numbers), three times failed Presidential candidate and former Governor of California, has had a remarkably successful last few years - thanks to be re-elected as Governor nearly thirty years after he last left the post. On a range of progressive issues, such as climate change and immigration reform, Brown has been using his power as the Governor of a state whose economy would be the 12th largest in the world if it were an independent country. Progress on them may be ...
ALDC is pleased to announce that next year's Local Government Conference will be taking place on Saturday 28th June 2014 at the Jury's Inn in Milton Keynes. On Friday 27th, there will be the traditional Group Leaders' and Researchers' satellite events, and the the 2014 Local Government Dinner. The Conference proper will take place throughout Saturday, [...]
The QRpedia project I helped found has gone from strength to strength. It's now in more museums, towns, and art galleries than ever before. It's helping open up exhibits to people in hundreds of languages. That said, I've not been able to devote as much time as I would like to - nor have other project members. We'd like to see it blossom and grow but, sadly, our resources are too limited to be able to make much impact. So, it with great pride that we're happy to announce that QRpedia has been acquired by Wikimedia! As much as I'd ...
Remember when Labour decided 5 more years of kids growing up under section 28 was worth it for a slightly easier ride from the Daily Mail? It's not the story Labour-leaning groups are giving us on the tenth anniversary of the abolition of Section 28, but the infamous clause has at its inception and abolition two of the moments that kept me from being a member of the Labour party even at the height of Labour popularity in the mid to late 90s. Section 28 made homosexuality a thought crime, a terrible but brilliant move that it would be nice ...
The Friends of Garston Library have another literary evening this week. And the theme is poetry. We'll be joined by members of the Dead Good Poets Society as well as local people who have sent their own poems in. If you want to join us, please do. The event is free. It starts at 6pm at the library with a drink and takes place on Thursday 21st November. This evening is the third in a series which has also seen talks on local history and crime writing. Next year the plans are to feature books on Liverpool's maritime heritage and ...
[IMG: Conundrum by Richard Bacon and Christopher Hope - book cover] Written by a Conservative MP and a Daily Telegraph political journalist, Conundrum: Why every government gets things wrong – and what we can do about it is – as the last part of the title suggests – rather more friendly to public services than you might expect from that author combination. It is a book about how to make public services better, not about how to replace public services with private provision – and private providers to the public sector often get short shrift for dismal performance. No reader ...
There are worries that the theft of a dog from outside a shop in Hunts Cross could be linked to dog fighting. The police have released a picture and are asking for help. Here's a link to the picture and Twitter feed from the police.
Just over a week ago, Labour's London Housing Spokesman Tom Copley argued that the previous Labour government's record on social housing construction was poor and should be apologised for. In addition to being true, the quote itself is useful for Liberal Democrat campaigners facing attacks on our housing record, despite already committing to building more [...]
The latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.362 - November 2013) was delivered to subscribers last week. Here's a summary of the new magazine's contents: The editorial column Commentary applauds the Liberal Democrats' decision to run an unashamedly pro-EU campaign for next year's European elections. There is also an examination of how the party's new policy on free school meals has opened up the question of universal benefits. The insider gossip column Radical Bulletin begins with an investigation of the briefing of the media against Vince Cable at September's party conference. 'How to be a Liberal minister' - Felix Dodds ...
The Welsh Government is publishing its housing bill today and all the signs are that it is going to be a hefty and ambitious document. There is nothing wrong with that. Indeed I welcome its chief aims of tackling homelessness, improving conditions in private rented homes and providing more housing. However, there are inevitably going to be some caveats to that. The proposal to allow local councils to discharge their homelessness duty into private accomodation for example is a welcome flexibility, but the removal of a statutory duty to rehouse ex-prisioners is a serious misstep in my view. That proposal ...
Today's Independent editorial highlights the way that the tax debate in Britain has shifted as a result of the Liberal Democrats being in government. They point out that when the coalition took office three years ago, Britons started paying income tax at a level of only £6,474. Next March, the benchmark will have risen to £10,000 and Nick Clegg is now calling for us to go a stage further by nudging it up to £10,500: Raising the tax bar is a thoroughly good idea. It validates work, offering some reward to people on modest incomes who might otherwise be tempted ...
I've just spent the weekend doing Ports-mouth, and not just because it is a Lib Dem city, but because of the museums, Mary Rose (fabulous), Victory, Warrior and so on. So just allow me three broad comments about the experience. 1. The Nelson Touch: we were told the familiar story about Nelson's penultimate words: "Kiss me, Hardy!" The Victorians, as I've always understood, felt uncomfortable about it and put it about that he had actually said 'kismet' (fate). I have always wondered about this. Imagine that Nelson did say "Kismet" after all, and then was surprised when his captain kissed ...
Photo from Coriander facebook site I have received notification that an application has been received by the City Council for a new Premises Licence at: Name TBC, 485-487 Barlow Moor Road, Manchester, M21 8AG. This is the premesis that Coriander's Chorlton Central Branch now occupies and was formally the New Mai Wah. A summary of the application is as follows: Proposed trading hours for the provision of regulated entertainment (recorded music): Mon to Sun 0000 to 2400 Proposed trading hours for the provision of late night refreshment: Mon to Sat 2300 to 2330 Proposed trading hours for the supply of ...
Notice from the county council TEMPORARY CLOSING OF Various roads in St Albans during the St Albans Christmas Market Launch NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Sections 16(A), 16(B) and 16(C) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using the following lengths of roads:- that length of Market Place, St Albans from its junction with A5183 High Street north eastwards to its junction with Spencer Street, a distance of approximately 168 metres. that length of Spencer Street, St Albans from its junction with Market Place north westwards ...
posted The Blood is The Life 17-11-2013 http://t.co/b4TUBkj3NV on #dreamwidth (tags: dreamwidth (from twitter) ) Do you want a £100 Tax Cut? (tags: ) Hard-working? If you pay me, I'll do a good job. That's the deal Yes this (tags: ) The women who mapped the Universe and still couldn?t get any recognition or respect #space http://t.co/EY0YUM20U3 (tags: space (from twitter) ) posted So. Party last night. There was much alcohol. http://t.co/NqeoJPSe02 on #dreamwidth (tags: dreamwidth (from twitter) ) http://ldv.org.uk/37222 Really important that people come forward. "@libdemvoice: Call for evidence: Lord Rennard http://t.co/FBxB0SwdOU" (tags: (from twitter) ) ...
Mental Health is finally getting the focus it has long deserved. With stigma slowly dropping and support services being increasingly scrutinised for quality, we need to ensure that provision is improved in both quality and quantity to meet the growing need for support. I'm pleased to announce the launch of a new group today, called the LibDem Mental Health Association (LMDHA). You can visit the website and sign up to offer your support, guidance and, where able, your commitment to help grow the group to help form policy in our party and government. You can join at www.ldmha.co.uk/join Commenting on ...
We (belatedly) finish Conservative Week with a look at Margaret Thatcher's favourite economist and philosopher: Friedrich Hayek. The Austrian economist FA Hayek has long been a staple of free market thinking. Margaret Thatcher read him as an undergraduate and cited him as a major influence on her premiership. And in 2010, professional right-wing scaremonger Glenn [...]
Mon 18th
07:55
Nick Clegg copies Liberator, closing the Lib Dem tax gap, Christmas present ideas for politicos and ...
[IMG: Liberator Magazine cover] That's just a sample of what will be in Liberal Democrat Newswire #41, hitting people's email inboxes later this week. As an added bonus, this edition also includes some special book offers from Biteback for my readers, including on the new Shirley Williams biography. Thousands of others already receive what the Daily Telegraph earlier this year called a "must read from senior Lib Dems and politicos alike". Sign up for it here and make sure you don't miss out. In the meantime, you can browse the previous editions online.
The West End timebank, Time2Give, has a new poster: You can download a higher definition PDF of this poster here.
