The close of this evening's Newsnight, featuring the world memory champion, was strangely reminiscent of this...
A likeable film about a London Underground line that was started but never completed. One thing the film does not explain is that the mighty Aldenham bus depot (actually in Elstree) was built to be the main depot for the Northern Line. It was practically complete when the war broke out in 1939 and was used as a factory to build Halifax bombers. After the war, when the Mill Hill East to Bushey Heath line project was cancelled, it became London Transport's main bus maintenance depot. It closed in 1986 and the site has since been redeveloped.
Paul McConville died unexpectedly last week aged just 47. His is not a name that I imagine many liberals will have heard of (and as I have never met him I don't even know what his politics were). He was a prolific Scottish blogger, but didn't often write about politics. His main passion was football in general and Albion Rovers in particular. But McConville's blog was arguably the most influential Scottish blog of the last few years. He used his legal training to dissect much of the spin and wishful thinking surrounding the collapse and eventual liquidation of Glasgow Rangers. ...
Being Romanian Ambassador to the Court of St James's cannot have been easy in recent months, as the dreadful Daily Mail and even viler Daily Express have whipped up anti-Romanian feeling, cheered on by Nigel Farage and his UKIP nuts, as well as some Conservatives who ought to know better. However, H.E. Ion Jinga (who [...]
It's perhaps a strange manifesto that is written not to appeal to voters - who are unlikely to ever see it - but to avoid handing ammunition to opponents, who will. That is what the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe did in London last weekend, preparing its manifesto for May's European Parliament elections, and an eye-opening process it was too. I assume that in the fullness of time the manifesto will appear here. Meantime, to convey a flavour of the process we had a fairly short manifesto draft but then 187 amendments to get through. Some were just ...
Today, along with my colleague Alison McInnes, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson and MSP for the North East, I toured the Dundee Fire Control Room. Alison and I are campaigning for the retention of the Dundee Fire Control Room that has a vital role and must be retained. I was hugely impressed with the professionalism and local knowledge of the control staff Alison and I spoke with. Alison is pictured below outside the control room and Macalpine Road Fire Station:Alison said, "There is a compelling case for retaining fire control rooms in Dundee and Aberdeen. "Fire control rooms should not ...
John Whitehouse on Liberal Democrat Voice is right to suggest that we should hear more discussion of the opportunity cost of spending £50bn on HS2. "You hear it all the time - the Government's cuts are 'ideological' (i.e. bad), the Green Party's opposition to nuclear is 'ideological' (i.e. invalid). Just as Cameron denied the charge, Greens sometimes protest that their opposition to nuclear power isn't ideological. Hang on a second, aren't they all involved in politics?" Tom Chance's Blog is also right to defend the concept of 'ideology'. Diary of a Hack puts the boot in to Owen Jones and ...
Yesterday Caron Lindsay blogged on the case of what some are describing as the "Forced Caesarian and Child Abduction" case. In her article she reached certain judgments that I think displayed a degree of unjustified faith in accuracy of newspaper reports. This is especially unwise in cases where those who are criticised can not answer back due to medical confidentiality and/or legal restrictions designed to protect the privacy of a child (and possibly the patient). I felt the quickest way to "put the other side" is to look at and respond to some of the points made by Caron in ...
Dear Tom Daley, I have been receiving texts telling me that you are bisexual ever since you made your announcement today. I am writing you an open letter to tell you how pleased I am that you have had the courage to tell the world that you are bi-sexual (I say 'bisexual' because you admit to still fancying girls). My letter will only make sense if I add context. Two weeks ago I shouted at a boy during a lesson because he was making anti-gay jokes. I normally take my lessons seriously (leaving aside the odd chat and telling off ...
This is just the best You Tube video ever. I particularly like the fact that it is, by the look of it, a "selfie". What a guy! [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Manchester needs a huge boost to promote small businesses ahead of Christmas and stop the decline of our high streets. Manchester Liberal Democrats are calling on the City Council to get behind the first ever Small Business Saturday campaign on 7 December. Small Business Saturday has been massively successful in America where it has encouraged people to shop and eat local on the busiest shopping day of the year. On Wednesday Manchester Liberal Democrats are putting forward a Council Motion asking the Council to back and promote the campaign, support local businesses and learn lessons from the day. The motion ...
I know, I know. Tom Daley's announcement that he's in a relationship with a man will fill enough column inches this week to reach to the Moon and back (twice). "Isn't he brave?" "Isn't it about time we stopped caring?" etc. etc. And there will be article after article about the difference between homosexuality and bisexuality. Plus, of course, you'll have the homophobes on social media (or "trolls" as the media will erroneously call them) who will I'm sure get a column or two devoted just to them. Just look at them go already. So before tomorrow's papers are published ...
A Labour councillor in Brent has defected to the Liberal Democrats. Cllr. Dhiraj Kataria, announced his decision to join the Lib Dems, citing the "top-down way in which [the Brent Labour Group] has been led." Kataria said that decisions taken by the Labour, who run the council, "such as closing half our libraries and cutting [...]
Though cheered by Nick Clegg's letter on Liberal principles, I balked at being "slap, bang in the liberal centre". Though not his intention, "centre" always suggests equidistance between left and right. It implies reasonableness. And everyone knows politics is a contest for the centre ground. We live there. We win. Except this conflates two unhelpful metaphors. When Labour and Conservatives contest the centre ground it doesn't make them Liberals. Rather they're engaging with popular (often illiberal) sentiment, metaphorically located somewhere between them, in order to succeed electorally. If strong, they cajole that sentiment towards a programme. If weak, they appease ...
East Midlands Euro candidate Issan Ghazni spoke to activists in Mid Derbyshire urging them not to be discouraged by Euro-scepticism in the media. Addressing the Annual General Meeting in Allestree, north of Derby, Ghazni said that negative myths can be overcome ... Continue reading →
As always, all are welcome to Cheadle Area Committee at Bolshaw Primary, Cross Road, Heald Green starting at 6pm on 10th December 2013.
Response to statement from Judiciary: "I welcome the transfer of the case from Chelmsford County Court to the High Court in front of the president of the family division. The appointment of the president of the family division was a very positive step and I am certain that any applications to him will be heard justly." "I remain concerned that many decisions taken by the family courts are taken
East Midlands Euro candidate Issan Ghazni joined forces with party members in Derby North recently. He hit the doorsteps with Lucy Care, our general election candidate, for a day of leafleting and bundling. Ghazni relished getting out on the streets ... Continue reading →
Today's publication by the Liberal think tank Centre Forum, "Build the infrastructure: bin the wish list", ought to make every Liberal Democrat stop and think again about the wisdom of spending £50 billion on HS2. The report concludes that "projects must be prioritised with full consideration of opportunity costs", saying: The debate on major infrastructure projects needs to take account of opportunity costs as well as individual project benefit-cost ratios. Opportunity cost measures the difference in benefit-cost between chosen investments and others that are given up as a consequence. Thus, deciding to invest in one set of projects which consume ...
The trip up from Southwark to Birmingham for the ALDC Kickstart event last Friday didn't go quite as planned. We must have looked a sorry bunch when our mentor Charles Glover first met us, having gone without dinner thanks to a delayed train from London. Perhaps that is what prompted him to cause mild panic [...]
So Tom Daley has admitted that he is dating a man. He has also said that he still fancies girls. However, as a gay sportsman I cannot believe some of the comments I have seen online since Tom courageously told us this very personal news. So some of the negative comments that are out there. How will this affect him in the locker room? Hardly at all, there is already an openly gay man in international diving the 2008 Olympic Champion, Matthew Mitcham, so in his sport at the top level the rest of the guys already have no issue. ...
[IMG: HS2 Brick Wall] Today's publication (pdf) by the Liberal think tank Centre Forum, "Build the infrastructure: bin the wish list", ought to make every Liberal Democrat stop and think again about the wisdom of spending £50 billion on HS2. The report concludes that "projects must be prioritised with full consideration of opportunity costs", saying: The debate on major infrastructure projects needs to take account of opportunity costs as well as individual project benefit-cost ratios. Opportunity cost measures the difference in benefit-cost between chosen investments and others that are given up as a consequence. Thus, deciding to invest in one ...
ASDA, on St Mary's Road in Garston, has put in an application to change its opening hours. It wants to turn into a 24 hour supermarket (apart from on Sundays) You can see the application, and comment, at this link. The deadline is 19th December.
On this Mega Monday, here are two Christmas present suggestions from our own Nick Thornsby. [IMG: letters of arthur schlesinger] The letters of Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Edited by his two sons, this collection of Arthur Schlesinger's letters gives a fascinating insight into many of the key events in 20th century American history. And unlike most historians, Schlesinger often found himself mixed up in those events, particularly where they involved the Democratic party. He famously spent time working as an adviser in the JFK White House, so there is interesting material from before, during and after his time there. But there ...
The Lib Dem group in Manchester are proposing this motion next week. It's got good press and follows Leeds lead. A good one for areas with transient populations and high crime rates. Leeds City Council provide a guide to their policy, downloadable here which is useful back up if you chose to use this in [...]
Bad boy artist of the Italian Baroque, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-64), was featured in a BBC4 documentary last week. They highlighted the exhibition currently being run by the Royal Collection. Would really like to see this. I was impressed by the examples of drawings and monotype prints they showed on the programme and there was something about the style that really appealed. The exhibition runs until the 16th March so perhaps I will try and go in the new year.
Thank you to everyone who came along to talk about What If Money Grew on Trees with Andrew Simms and I. There is obviously an appetite to talk about other possibilities - and their strange side-effects, and we both had a brilliant time. The Hay Winter Festival is not quite the same as Hay-on-Wye in the vast tents in the summer, but it is rather wonderful nonetheless. In fact, I found Hay particularly life-enhancing last weekend, with its little Christmas lights, its beautiful bookshops and its dark, dark nights. I was particularly pleased to visit Richard Booth's new bookshop and ...
As regular readers will know, I'm a big fan of the way Deborah Mattinson uses focus groups* to see politics from the perspective of the voter, not the Londoner politico. Her latest piece with Zoe Tyndall once again is packed full of insights: [IMG: An election count - ballot papers being counted] How do these voters see politics? The short answer is that politics does not really fit into their lives at all. When thinking about the big issues they tend not to look to politicians to help... Many voters do not understand how politics works. Some find the constant ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Leader ratings 18 months before an election No oppostion leader has won election from as far behind as Miliband is » Leader ratings 18 months before an election http://bit.ly/185VQ0F John Kay – Scottish independence matters less than you think John Kay to the point, as usual > "Scottish independence matters less than you think" http://bit.ly/185VCqm The Green Deal is failing but there's a way to solve the problem > Article :: IPPR "The Green Deal is failing but there's a way to solve the problem" A lot ...
A family party down south meant I missed (for the first time) the Cappuccino Christmas Party - almost 100 club members yee-haaing it all night at the Crown Hotel Harrogate and afterwards at the Viper Rooms. It was a shame I couldn't be there. But it did made me reflect on the year and in particular the people with whom I rode. The bald stats I achieved this year as quoted by our esteemed Director Sportif James Lovell was (as of 29/11/13) YTD - 4,370 miles and climbed 374,131ft July - 1,052 miles and climbed 102,415ft Big Rides: La Marmotte, ...
Here's a selection of quotes from pages 66 and 67 of Jeremy Paaxman's anecdotal account of "Great Britain's Great War". The 1911 census showed there were 53 324 Germans living in Britain. . . At the outbreak of the war perhaps half the bakers in London were German. . . There were some 3 000 German waiters, nearly 4 000 German domestic servants and 2 000 German hairdressers.. when the fighting broke out these people were terrified . . . Suddenly there were German spies everywhere. The MP for West Essex . . .demanded to know what was to be ...
Commenting on the news that Herts CC Cabinet looks set to give in to Helioslough, Cllr Anthony Rowlands, leader of the Liberal Democrats on SADC, said: 'This is bitterly disappointing news. For the past six years the District Council has fought tooth and nail to defeat this devastating proposal. In that time, the Council has spent £1.4 million of public money on external consultants, counsel fees, court order costs, public enquiry costs and other court fees. This has been incurred on two appeals by Heliolough, including representations to the Secretary of State and three High Court orders. This would have ...
The British Council of Shopping Centres have published a report on the future of town and city centres in the UK. 'Beyond Retail' examines the impact of changing consumer behaviour and looks at the potential for towns and city centres to drive local and regional economies through shared public spaces with an emphasis on leisure, [...]
Mon 2nd
12:44
Ed Davey writes... Lower energy bills - with good deal for the fuel poor, green energy and the green...
[IMG: Energy-bills-006] Energy bills are a hot political topic. Since 2005, energy bills have almost doubled at a time when many people's incomes have barely risen. The cause of these rises has been almost entirely rising wholesale gas prices on international markets. Yet despite that and even though the cost of government policies only represents 9% on the average bill, it is right the Government has closely scrutinised our policy costs, and found a way to reduce them, to deliver an average saving of £50. The fact we have done so whilst protecting the fuel poor and maintaining our support ...
[IMG: Android Virus] Just the look of those permissions is enough to break me out in a cold sweat! According to Lookout - the leading security solution for Android - it's a payware scam. No doubt ready to send a barrage of Premium SMS to drain my phone's credit. It's quite upsetting that a company like Yahoo would allow adverts like this on its networks. I understand that they have to look at millions of adverts - and some advertisers will change their sites after the advertising campaign goes live - but there needs to be a better way of ...
I was in a cafe in London with a bunch of people recently, chatting about something unrelated to politics. The majority of people round the table were young people, in their early 20′s. We chatted animatedly about stuff and then the conversation turned to some of the things I have done in my rather eclectic life. All was [...]
Good news this morning as FlyBe have announced that the air route from Newquay to Gatwick will continue - at least until the end of the Summer 2014 season. Back in May, the airline announced that the route would cease from the end of March. Whilst Cornwall still has the link to Southend (and even faster way of getting to the city of London), the Gatwick link has been seen as important for the visitor trade and for many businesses. Cornwall Council has been working hard to get the Government to agree that 'public service obligation' status may be appropriate ...
[IMG: Mobile phone] A Kent resident has received a call from a man claiming to be calling on behalf of Kent Social Services. The person said his name was William and asked the resident if they would be prepared to take part in a survey. He then asked if they are the homeowner and for details about their household income. When the Kent resident asked why they wanted this information they hung up. This is a scam: KCC's Social Services did not make this call. They are not carrying out surveys at this time. If KCC's Social Services decided to ...
The following is a statement by Bipolar UK: Bipolar UK response to media reporting on forced caesarean and continued separation of mother and child The forced caesarean and continued separation of mother and child is, we believe, unprecedented. It is sometimes the case that if someone is very ill they are unable to consent to a medical procedure which those caring for them consider is
Within the confines of our islands, during the protracted debates over Britain's relationship with the EU, it is perfectly easy to forget what is patently obvious to the majority of continental Europe - European unity matters. As Ian Traynor at the Guardian has pointed out, the mass demonstrations in Ukraine show that the EU still offers hope to many on the peripheries of the continent. Indeed, it is probably extremely difficult for Nigel Farage or indeed any British Eurosceptic to understand the waving of the EU flag as an act promoting national self-determination and prosperity or the association between Brussels ...
Having Nick Clegg come out the best of the main party leaders in polls of the general public is rather a rarity these days. (Polls of the voters the party is targeting – those who will vote Lib Dem or are prepared to seriously consider it, a group large enough to give the party a good general election result – are another matter. Clegg comes out well in those.) Interesting then to see the latest from YouGov on the environment. Usual caveats about margin of error apply, but it's worth noting both that unusually (within the margin of error) Nick ...
[IMG: greener christmas]
There is no doubt in my view that at some stage we will have to address the issue of whether there are enough Assembly Members to properly run a legislature. This is not about the workload of individual AMs. It is about whether there is enough time in the working week for all the committees and Plenary to do justice to the policy, scrutiny and law-making job they have been given. To do it properly there needs to be more Plenary meetings and more committee meetings, but unless we have more Assembly Members then these bodies cannot be populated, simply ...
I am being told that I need to pace myself as I have become chained to various computers and am answering local concerns, on the phone, 7 days a week. I am therefore scheduling myself some 'time out' between now and Christmas. Don't worry, I am still representing you and was there, for the great budget debate at full council on Tuesday (see news). This seemed a great weekend to start having some time to myself! Film Club at the Methodist Chapel in St Just I have to confess to being a first time attender to this on Friday eve. ...
5 benefit changes the government don't want you to know about (tags: ) http://open.spotify.com/track/4vb5W8R6XHysd5oKSNUx8j Random play is trying to buoy me up for the long day ahead: http://t.co/LSvJZHfhZu "I'm moving on up now, heading out of the darkness..." (tags: (from twitter) ) http://open.spotify.com/track/1inLlcSgozgKFEFBBE4daF Couldn't think of any lyrics; no I didn't write no lyrics; so I'll just sing any old lyrics... http://t.co/AQMYm3u2Vz (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 01-12-2013 http://t.co/YgdadrDi4j on #dreamwidth (tags: dreamwidth (from twitter) ) How Iron Maiden are helping the UK's economic recovery (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The Western Mail reports on the views of leading public health expert that Wales' drinking culture is costing the public purse £900 for every household: Professor Mark Bellis, Public Health Wales' director of policy and research, said that the impact of drinking, including costs to the NHS, the criminal justice system and loss of productivity in the workplace, added up to around £900 for every household. He said that there needed to be a crack down on bars that served people who were already drunk and that, although he advocated putting in measures to make sure people were safe in ...
Mon 2nd
08:27Liblink: Lynne Featherstone on breaking the link between violence against women and HIV
The UK is supporting HIV intervention in Malawi and others must help to break this tragic cycle, say Lynne Featherstone and Annie Lennox in the Guardian. Tears may dry in seconds. Bruises may disappear in days - and scars might eventually fade. But of all the devastating consequences of violence against women and girls, there is one lasting impact that cannot be hidden underneath clothing or concealed behind a forced smile. In sub-Saharan Africa, every minute of every day a woman becomes infected with HIV, adding to the tragic and persistent spread of the HIV/Aids epidemic. The brutal fact is ...
With the results of the PISA tests due out this week I thought now would be a good time to look at schools. These tests produce what is essentially a league table of education systems. The OECD tests half a million 15 year olds across 65 mostly rich countries to see how much progress they [...]
CRAFTY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Creative people urgently required for daily craft workshops in the Wellgate Shopping Centre. Activities include: Christmas decorations, origami, decoupage, printing wrapping paper, card making, fabric badges and much more. Experience of craft activities is required and a willingness to learn and teach new techniques to members of the public. If you are able to give up 2 hours or more per week up until Christmas, contact Skill Share Dundee on: 07450 252039skillsharedundee@gmail.comtwitter @skillsharedndfacebook.com/skillshare.dundee
