Because of its connections with Richard Jefferies (about whom I wrote my Masters dissertation), I have a soft spot for Swindon. So after yesterday's video about its unexpected tram system, here is one about the last train to leave the GWR Swindon station for Swindon Town. Swindon Town served the Old Town of Swindon, which stood on a hill above the later railway station and works of the New Town. For a good while in the 19th century these two formed separate settlements, but inevitably streets and houses sprung up to join them. You can read more about the Midland ...
I once heard Jim Wallace say that when your opponents start fighting on your chosen ground you should be pleased. It shows you are winning this debate. He is right, which is why I do not think Nick Clegg's embrace of the Conservatives' anti-immigrant rhetoric will achieve its aim of curbing the threat from UKIP. Imagine you are a UKIP voter - go on, try. If you here even the leader of the hated Liberal Democrats admitting that we are too soft on immigrants who come here to live off the state, that will confirm you in your view of ...
So tonight I managed to delivery the survey leaflet to The Spinney and Field View, this means that about 1/4 of the village has already had the opportunity to have their say on the future of Bar Hill Skate Park. At the moment 40 people have completed the survey online, with another 4 completing the paper copy and dropping it round to me at 9 Foxhollow. There have been some very nice messages included with the survey as well and I'd like to thank the people who have responded so far. The URL for the survey is; http://goo.gl/BBMKT8 The current ...
Cornwall's cabinet has voted in favour of building a 'Bigger Bodmin' office to save money for the council and bring new jobs to the town. We will now work with our partners in BT Cornwall as our first preference to fill spare capacity in the office. The premise for the decision is that the council has a large nunber of staff housed in very inefficient old offices. In mid and West Cornwall, we have moved our staff into more efficient and bigger buildings. But in East Cornwall work has yet to start. The former administration agreed a proposal to move ...
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the recommendation by the Finance Committee to accept my suggestion to move the running track from Carn Brea to Redruth School. The track must move as the land is being sold to a developer. Today's cabinet meeting agreed the deal and so work will begin to make it happen. The saga of the redevelopment of Carn Brea has been going on for some time. The previous administration threatened to merge the running track with the facility in Par. There's nothing wrong with Par (where there is already a track) but it would ...
"IR Cymru broadly welcomes this motion and the Fairness and Freedom in Higher Education Policy paper. It was a difficult decision to make given the core recommendation and our party's experience on fees. We are pleased to see this policy step away fro the commercialisation and commodification of higher education, as seen in England as...
Yesterday's news was dominated by talk of an independence White Paper, which I'm still attempting to make sense of before expressing my thoughts on its contents. Today, talk is of immigration. More specifically, it is of the government's plans to remove basic support from some individuals on the basis of their country of origin. It's not often I wish the media would spend more time exploring the merits of the Scottish independence debate, but today is one of those rare occasions. It's been a day when the Conservative and Labour parties have shown why no liberal could ever support them, ...
[IMG: nick clegg eu] Nick Clegg today emailed everyone who had signed up to the Why I am IN campaign on the eve of the ALDE congress which takes place in London over the next 3 days. He took the opportunity to explain why he'd signed the Liberal Democrats up to the benefits changes announced by David Cameron today. The tone is very different from Cameron's bombastic words today which seem to have confused agreed coalition policy with the Conservative desire to limit EU migration post 2015. Liberal Democrat members will no doubt want to make their views known on ...
Yesterday I caught up with the news that Devon and Cornwall's elected police commissioner, Tony Hogg, had accepted the resignation of his Chief Executive, Sue Howl. Officially, Ms Howl, who was formally the chief executive of the former Police Authority and exerted a measure of stability on an otherwise chaotic new office, has left to pursue new challenges. I'm concerned about that. It is only 12 months since Boss Hogg was elected and since then he has faced a number of dodgy headlines after a faltering start. So I have asked his office to clarify the reasons for the departure. ...
Having worked in education, and about to start my teacher training, I find the row about the rollout of Free School Meals incredibly frustrating. Whether it's Nick Harvey who seems (perhaps rightly) put out that he wasn't given fair warning of the change, or Labour calling out LibDem hypocrisy in Southwark one thing is clear to me - they're all missing one very clear point. A study was carried out, and it found that young people in modern Britain are falling behind because they can't rely on a warm meal every day. That's shocking, and I for one am glad ...
This was a motion submitted by the Tory Leader to our last Council Meeting. Please note 3.1. It cheerfully tips up Magna Carta (SECTION XXIX to be precise) suggesting that folk merely accused of an ill defined offence should suffer punishment without the benefit of a fair trail. Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor JonesTo consider the following Motion submitted by Councillor Jones: "That the Council: 1. recognises the devastating effect the disgraceful and cowardly act of trolling can have on individuals or their close relatives; 2. notes the concerns of the public expressed in recent research conducted by Kantar ...
I have always believed that government needs challenge and discussion rather than deference or conformism. Sadly the ruling Bootle Labour Party in Sefton seem to disagree. The know it all. Cabinet meetings last a few minutes, the Health and Well Being Board is stuffed with Labour councillors-no opposition allowed. We have to use Freedom of Information requests to acquire information that should be in the public domain. Undue secrecy pervades their actions. As a result they 'mess up'. What follows is a tale of one such event: It has been a good year for the Public Health aspect of Mental ...
It is worth following my MP, David Morris on Twitter if you are writing a political comedy (or tragedy depending on your point of view). I can't find much on his postings with which I can agree and I often write about them on this blog. So it was no surprise to find that I found new motivation to write a blog today because of his post. You may just think that David is being polite in thanking his Tory colleague for opening a 'walk-in' centre in Morecambe. Unfortunately the Speaker didn't agree. David was trying to make political capital ...
[IMG: Tim and Jeanne] One of the key recommendations set out in the Morrissey report was that the Party should seek to appoint a Pastoral Care Officer. I am delighted to announce that Jeanne Tarrant has been appointed to take on this role. Jeanne will start work with us on 2nd January. Jeanne's career has progressed through nursing, midwifery and into the trade union movement. She has been a practising Midwife since 1994, and at the Royal College of Midwives she was responsible for managing employment relations with Hospital trusts around England. Jeanne has also been a Trade Union officer, ...
Wed 27th
16:55
Lord Roger Roberts writes...Please try to prevent the imminent death of a seeker of sanctuary
Yesterday I met Mr Isa Muaza who, until last night, was due to be forced on to a plane to Nigeria this evening. Though his removal directions have been moved – and set – for 29 November he remains at death's door. Isa is a failed asylum seeker who has been held in detention at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre. The case is one of enforced removal, although very little real force will be necessary in his case. He has been on hunger strike and has lost 40% of his body mass. He is close to death. Isa was not well ...
Wed 27th
16:44
In full: Willie Rennie's speech in Holyrood independence referendum debate - Scotland is unique and ...
Willie Rennie and the recently ennobled Jeremy Purvis wer ein fine form today. Jeremy whipped Pete Wishart's backside on Politics Scotland this afternoon, pointing out that it isn't that long since the SNP were talking about banishing all vestiges of the British state. Of course, in order not to scare too many horses, they are pledging to keep the pound and the Queen now. Purvis added that the only differences between the National Conversation document produced a few years ago and the White Paper is where the SNP disagrees with its previous position, for example on membership of NATO. He ...
Truly times are a'changing. And we are getting full value for money from Norman Baker. "The new Liberal Democrat minister responsible for drugs policy, Norman Baker, has refused to rule out a policy of legalising cannabis but said that it is not his prime objective in the job. ""I think it needs to be considered along with everything else. It is not my prime objective and I am not advocating it at the moment. We should be prepared to follow the evidence and see where it takes us," he said." It goes on to say, "He is currently completing a ...
I used to be a physiotherapist and worked in the NHS but I also worked for football, rugby and American Football teams. There were other medical professionals to call on but I was the first contact for injured players. Some would be standing and ready to play again before I reached them. On some occasions the game stopped and an ambulance had to take the player to hospital. It was usually fairly obvious when players had to go to hospital and if there was any doubt then I would send them. On one occasion an American Football player broke his ...
I regularly get asked variations on a theme of So, this poly thing, how does it work, then...? by people with prurient-yet-hopeful expressions on their faces. I suppose that because it's not (yet) a mainstream way of arranging things people are naturally curious. People are always curious about unusual things, as most minority groups find out to their frustration. I suspect it's also because most people can see the positives* but haven't really considered the negatives. The assumption from many people appears to be that because I'm both bi and poly, that means I will do anything to anyone with ...
From Monday's Scotsman: MOTHERS often feel "shoved aside" in the workplace because they have had children, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has warned. He said the problem was "far too common" and was not only unfair but also bad for the economy. The Liberal Democrat leader said there was a need to dramatically change working practices to adapt to the realities of modern family life. Mr Clegg's comments came as a survey showed three quarters of women who returned to work after having a child thought it made it harder to progress in their career. He went on to say: ...
Those of us who thought that divisions within the UK Coalition on green taxes was between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, will have taken heart this morning from this article in the Times. The paper says that David Cameron has been given a private warning by more than 25 Tory MPs that he risks splitting the Conservatives if he ditches green policies as a sop to the Right. Normally loyal backbenchers and ministers called the Prime Minister to a showdown in his Commons office on Friday in what one present said was a deliberate attempt to "flex our muscles". ...
At the beginning of November we talked about getting your messages right. About thinking them through with colleagues and recording them on a messaging grid. Step 2 was then to make sure that you then repeated those messages in all your communications with the electorate between now and polling day. A useful exercise to go [...]
This article is written by The International HIV/AIDS Alliance in support of their new campaign Link Up. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I did, when I was sent it. It makes for inspiring reading. As we all know, HIV does affects all countries across the globe, would that we all...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... The Period, Our Simplest Punctuation Mark, Has Become a Sign of Anger | New Republic Love this > The Period, Our Simplest Punctuation Mark, Has Become a Sign of Anger http://on.tnr.com/1icg8tY (via someone on my timeline!!) Tory backbenchers warn Cameron he risks split | The Times For those Tories wondering why Nick Clegg continues to stress import of renewables... Con/LD waverers agree with him http://thetim.es/IqO6Km Cameron must reclaim his party from the rationalists – FT.com Ouch. "Modernisers should ask whether the entity known as the Tory party is salvageable" http://on.ft.com/1iceY1l
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and David Rimmer, together with FOCUS Editor Jo Barton, are holding their next advice centre in Churchtown. We will be at Cafe Moo Moo on Cambridge Road (by the junction with Preston New Road, next to Boots) from 10:30 to 11:30 am on Thursday 28th November. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Crossens, at St John's School, Rufford Road, Crossens every month (except August) on the second Saturday ...
Last week's PMQs was pretty horrendous. This week it actually managed to get worse. The low point was a diabolical joke from Cameron. He said that he previously thought Miliband was a Marxist, but having listened to him pick Robbie Williams on Desert Island Discs, he realised "he's loving Engels instead." The mother of all parliaments. [...]
Last Friday, James Gurling asked for party members' views on the future of Spring Conference. These have to be submitted by Friday 29th November, so this is a reminder to make sure you have your say before then. Janes' article is reproduced in full below: As part of the budget setting process, earlier this year, the Federal Executive were asked to look at how the Party runs its Spring Conference and the costs it incurs. With pressures on Party finances as they are, the challenge was therefore to look at how to make spring conference, at worst, a 'break-even' event. ...
The academy will start on Sunday 15th December and run every Sunday 1.30-3pm at Chorlton Leisure Centre Manchester Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 9PQ. This is a programme designed for beginners in football with an aim to improve football techniques including passing, shooting, dribbling as well as to improve personal and social skills such as communication, confidence, teamwork and leadership. All sessions are FREE but please note places are limited and it will be based on a first come first play basis.
Some very useful national statistics are now being produced by Lib Dem HQ for use by local campaigners across the country. ALDC Development Officer Mike Bell looks at ways of using them in your local campaigns. As local campaigners it is always useful to have clear examples of how Liberal Democrat initiatives in Government have [...]
The horror of the quantified audience The cinema is on the deserted outskirts of Pinewood Studios. It's a wet and windy day — not unusual for England in late summer — and I'm here to take a look at the future of audience test screenings. My friend, Ross, has asked me to take a test drive of his company's newest way of <strike>destroying artistic integrity</strike> helping movie studios connect better with their audiences. Thursday mornings aren't my preferred time to sit on a cheap polyester chair and tip my head back in wonder at a 200 inch screen but, hey, it's a showing of ...
Lord Leverhulme famously said this about advertising: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the problem is I do not know which half". If that was true of advertising, then how much more true of it in public relations. You would be lucky just to waste half your money, certainly if you add up the retainer, the vast amount of wasted stuff pushed into envelopes, the sheer irritation of PR as conventionally delivered. I speak as someone who has been too often on the wrong end of PR. I remember, in the days when I was editor ...
I signed up to the 'European project' a decade before I joined the Liberals. It was an instinctive reaction to working on refugee resettlement schemes in Germany and Austria. Even in the early '60s there were still a million "displaced persons" living in camps in western Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War. That should remain a stark reminder to complacent euro-sceptics that spending time grizzling about straight bananas risks a lot more than a million or two British jobs and our country's shrinkage to a world micro power. That's what makes being the Party of "In" a ...
[IMG: Liberator Magazine cover] Edition #41 of Liberal Democrat Newswire came out last week, looking at how Nick Clegg is taking an improbable leaf out of Liberator's book. (Not its songbook; it is Nick Clegg and not Lembit Opik we're talking about after all.) Also featured are the debates in the party over what the word "weekend" means and a special offer for readers from Biteback Publishing. If you missed it, it's now available online to read here. If you would like to receive the next edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire direct to your own inbox as soon as it ...
Today Vince Cable, our very own Liberal Democrat economics guru and Secretary of State for Business, is to appear before a parliamentary committee to account for his handling of the privatisation of our Royal Mail. Here are some of the things he needs to explain. First and most obvious, why were the shares of this publicly owned asset, first nationalised by Oliver Cromwell I believe, flogged off to private owners at a 30% discount? They were priced at £3.30 and promptly rose to £5.50 when placed on the market, thus robbing the public treasury of £2.2bn. Dr Cable initially dismissed ...
It is that time in the political cycle when the various European political groupings come together to decide upon a platform for the approaching European Parliamentary elections. And, this time, the Liberal manifesto is being debated, amended and, hopefully, agreed in London - this weekend, to be precise. As an elected member of ALDE's Council, I will be there, naturally, although my role will probably not be entirely policy-focused, given the size of our delegation. Indeed, given the number of delegates we will be sending, I'm unlikely to get a word in edgeways. So, what am I hoping for from ...
After all the preparations by the Lighting Up Whickham group, of which I am a member, the Christmas lights were switched on yesterday. I was there as usual as the official photographer (that's me above with Cllr Peter Craig who chairs the group). We began with switching on the lights at Rose Villa School and then a procession headed to Church Green where the Christmas tree lights were switched
Another day, another bout of "the UK's about to be invaded by 29 million Bulgarians and Romanians" hysteria. But today it's not Nigel Farage splattering mis-shapen statistics into the debate: it's the Prime Minister, David Cameron – increasingly resembling Mr Farage's mini-me – who's showing leadership by following the tabloid press. Here's how the BBC lists the new proposals: New migrants will not get out-of-work benefits for the first three months Payments will be stopped after six months unless the claimant has a "genuine" chance of a job The "habitual residency test" to determine eligibility for benefits will be tightened ...
[This post originally appeared at The Conversation under a different (longer) title, 27/11/13] London's population is increasing rapidly and forecasts say this growth is set to continue over the next decade and more. However, the last time the capital had enough new houses to match this rate of population growth was the 1930s. Homes are becoming less affordable; needs and aspirations are going unfulfilled. London has a housing problem of serious dimensions. This week, Boris Johnson gave us an indication of what he is proposing to do about the situation, with the publication of another draft housing strategy for consultation. ...
The truth about women and sex : They start younger and have more partners - and those are not necessarily men REPORTED sexual activity RT @Independent: How sexual activity has changed in the past 20 years http://t.co/HkNAImMbrH http://t.co/MfvB1ONm6s (tags: (from twitter) ) New Blog Post: Politician of the Year results http://t.co/WbtyjupudA (Congratulations, @julianhuppert) (tags: (from twitter) ) Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies (tags: ) 5 Time management tricks I learned from years of hating Tim Ferriss | Penelope Trunk Blog (tags: ) Helpful Advice Advice that is often doled out to people with mental health issues, shown up ...
For the first time in five years, the UK has seen a 4% rise in unsecured borrowing – the figure now amasses to an eye-watering £216bn. A report by Price Waterhouse Coopers revealed that this £8.5bn rise was almost entirely due to the rise in student borrowing. Students starting University, on average, are set to be straddled with debt that of £40 – 50,000. As a graduate, already worrying about clearing my debt, the Government has given me more cause for worry. This week, the sale of the mortgage-style student loans taken out between 1990 and 1998 took place. Despite ...
BBC News reports Norman Baker's appearance before the Commons Home Affairs Committee. It quotes him as saying of his new role at the Home Office: "It's less friendly because of its sheer size... It's less homely than the Department for Transport. But it's a key government department and I'm happy to be there."And: "Like the Generation Game, you can see these events coming past you and you have to work out what to do."But Norman told MPs he was "happy". Didn't he do well?
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Cinema, Dystopia, Hunger Games, Sesame Street, TV
Cambridge Footlights, 1994. I know a couple of them did rather well - the Vice President and the Treasurer for example But whatever happened to that Secretary? The name seems familiar - but I just can't place him.... Hat tip @chrisdeerin
As part of West End Christmas Fortnight, we are running a Children's Window Spotting Competition - with grateful thanks to the Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden, who have provided one of the prizes. The competition forms have been given to all pupils in our four local primary schools - Ancrum Road, Blackness, St Joseph's and Victoria Park Primaries. A copy of the competition form can also be downloaded here.
The Welsh Labour Government need to do more to tackle fuel poverty after figures have shown that there were 640 more 'excess winter deaths' last year compared to the previous year. Statistics show that there were 1,900 excess winter deaths in 2012-2013, up from 1,260 in 2011-2012. This means that there were 1,900 more deaths in Wales in the winter period than there were in the non-winter period. The figures also revealed each region's 'Excess Winter Mortality Index' figure. This figure is gathered so that comparisons can be made between sex, age and region. Newport not only had the worst ...
LibDem county councillor Sandy Walkington was astonished at the answer he received from Conservative Councillor Richard Thake when he asked "what information on emergency preparations by the county council was posted on the website and/or sent to local media and to this council's members." Richard Thake's response was over one page long, and discussed what was done immediately following the storm. But after reading the nearly 500 words of waffle, it is totally clear that nothing was sent out prior to the storm about the council's preparations - in marked contrast to Hertfordshire district councils and transport operators. "They have ...
