[IMG: two workers ] Much of the media reporting of today's IPPR briefing note on the economic recovery focused on the alarm it sounds about the rapid increase in household debt - in particular the risk that Help to Buy II will further increase house prices. The economy may give the appearance of rapid recovery, but it is not occurring on a basis that is sustainable for any economy, and particularly not for one in which households are already heavily indebted. But to focus upon the issue of debt is to rather miss the bigger point the report is trying ...
In exactly 168 hours time (that is this time next week for those too lazy to work it out) at the time of publishing, the Take Me Out theme tune will be playing on ITV1 and ITV1HD announcing the start of season six of the dating show. Paddy will say 'Bring on the girls' and thirty women will descend those twelve stairs hoping to ascend them with a hot guy and a date on the Isle of Fernando's. This season has a new twist though, if a guy has one or two girls left in the final round then he'll ...
Some pictures from my trip to Kettering today - it was easier to reach the bus stop across the road than walk into town.
I am now 36. For various reasons a number of things that have been percolating for a long time all decided to come to fruition at once yesterday, PLUS lots of new and exciting problems all decided to crop up at once too. In terms of personal, political, and mental health issues it was Not A Good Day to put things very mildly indeed. Most of the things that went wrong were at least partly my fault* and as is usual when I'm having a bad brain day this all got magnified in my head till I was fully convinced ...
Remember the Northampton Clown? Under an "Exclusive"label, the Northampton Chronicle & Echo reports: Tony Eldridge, secretary of Clowns International which represents the entertainers in Britain, has said the Northampton Clown is "doing clowning no favours" ...Mr Eldridge, whose clown name is Bluebottle, said...Older reader's voice: "Was it 'You dirty rotten swine! You deaded me'?" Liberal England replies patiently: No he said: "The people behind it might see it as a bit of a laugh, but for the victims it can be a horrible experience. "The fear of clowns - coulrophobia - is a real thing and some people will react ...
If Lord Bonkers can look back on 2013 so can I. This is the first of four posts looking back at how this blog saw 2013. January The year began with Jeremy Browne telling us that being in government had been "a growing-up process for the Lib Dems". And in a post that was later picked up by Wired, I discussed how changing your vocabulary can convert your opponents. I was still recollecting the previous summer's visit to Shropshire. The magnificent Wistanstow Village Hall turned out to be a palace built on chamber pots, while the photo above shows a ...
So this rather amusing post from Buzzfeed. P.S. a lot of interns are still – like the minions – unpaid. If you think that's unfair then you might want to check out Intern Aware.Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Cinema, Despicable Me, Intern Aware, Interns, Minions
This is turning out to be rather an M.R. James Christmas. So let me recommend A Podcast to the Curious: Each episode your humble hosts Will Ross and Mike Taylor will be tackling a different M.R James story, providing a commentary on the story and discussing its themes and form interlaced with readings from the story. Along the way we hope to include discussion on stage, screen and radio adaptations of James' stories, information on James' life and interests as well as on the legions of authors who were inspired by him.In fact their latest podcast looks at Mark Gatiss's ...
Earlier today, I was delighted to attend a reception at Discovery Point to commemorate today's unveiling of the memorials to the victims of the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster in 1879, 134 years to the day of the disaster in which 59 known victims lost their lives. Thereafter I attended the Dundee memorial unveiling at Riverside at which a large crowd of people attended. I was a trustee of the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster Memorial Trust in its early days and it was wonderful to see the Trust's work towards memorials in both Fife and Dundee to the victims coming to ...
Last Sunday Vince Cable appeared on the Andrew Marr (TV political discussion) Show and made a few mildly critical comments on some of the directions the Conservatives are taking in the coalition. The Guardian headlined its report as Cable hits out. . . and reported bitter personal poison in relationships within the coalition, though in my view the remarks seemed reasonable, obvious and put without apparent animosity.. Perhaps not surprisingly the newspaper has chosen not to print my letter admonishing them, so here it is instead. 24th December 2013 Letters to the Editor, The Guardian. Dear Editor, Twice this week ...
The Independent reports Sir Menzies Campbell's comments on the decision by the Coalition Government not to join other countries in allowing 10,000 refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict where, let's not forget, chemical weapons have been used. Sir Menzies was not complimentary, that's for sure: It's unfortunate, to put it as mildly as I possibly can, that we have closed our minds to that possibility when other countries in Europe have taken a much more generous position. The Independent's view is that Sir Menzies represents the Liberal Democrat view: Mr Campbell's view represents that of many of his colleagues in the ...
Over the holiday season, the BBC has been being good to geeks. Alongside the lavish feasts of a Dr Who Christmas special and Sherlock at last returning, they also gave us last night's Front Row as a little treat. For me there were two highlights: Head recounting how Giles, Spike and the other British characters [...]
David Laws is about as far away as you can get from me in economic terms in this party, and for a long time I was very wary of him. Then, way back in 2008, he did something that made me actually squeal with joy when I read it. He was education spokesman at the time and he and Annette Brooke came out in favour of a ban on smacking children. Since then, I've had a much more rounded view of him. On the economy, we're still a million miles apart, but I do respect him as a liberal and ...
We have our Liberal Voice of the Year award, but that's for people outside the party. We also thought it might also be a good idea as we reach the end of the year to celebrate people in the party who we thought had made an outstanding contribution in 2013. When I say we, I'm including you in this. Some of the team will be making their own suggestions and we invite you to either submit your own posts by emailing voice@libdemvoice.org or just put your suggestions in the comments to the various posts that will be appearing over the ...
This one always make me smile: [IMG: HMRC tax avoidance question]
The Western Mail reports that concerns have been raised about a "postcode lottery" of access to evening and weekend GP appointments after figures revealed that almost half of health boards in Wales do not offer extended hour visits: Figures obtained by the Western Mail show that just four out of seven health boards across the country have practices that offer appointments beyond standard opening hours, despite a pledge by the Welsh Government to improve GP access. According to the figures, no GP practices run by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board or Powys Teaching Health ...
The New Year bank holiday means changes to bin collection date as follows:- Normal day Monday 30th or Tuesday 31st - No change Wednesday 1st changed to Thursday 2nd Thursday 2nd to Friday 3rd This week is a blue bin ( ie dry recycling ) week The week beginning 6th January should see things return to "normal"
Sat 28th
10:30
Energy: What Lib Dem members think about the price freeze and new nuclear power station deal
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 750 party members responded – thank you – and we're publishing the full results. Would you support or oppose the following policies...? 64% oppose energy price freeze ... Freezing energy prices for 20 months from May 2015, while reviewing the regulation of energy companies 7% – Strongly Support 16% – Support Total support = 23% 34% – Oppose 30% – Strongly Oppose Total oppose = 64% 12% – Neither support nor ...
Anybody who thought that Labour had moved on from its more authoritarian tendencies need only to look at this article in the Independent to find otherwise. The paper reports that former Home Secretary, David Blunkett has said that satirical shows such as Have I Got News For You which mock politicians should be reclassified as "current affairs" and face tougher scrutiny from libel lawyers: The former Home Secretary warned that the line between comedy and politically-motivated abuse was increasingly being crossed on programmes such as the BBC series Mock The Week, which may require tighter regulation as a consequence. Mr ...
On Christmas Day at 1pm, LBC broadcast a 2 hour Call Clegg Christmas Special which had been recorded at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He spent time visiting patients and then took questions from staff and patients in the hospital's education centre. I had it on in the background while I was cooking, so my coverage was a little bit patchy. I love Twitter, but even I can't manage to tweet while basting the turkey and getting the roast potatoes sorted. It had absolutely the right tone for a Christmas Day episode. Nick was his usual, relaxed, normal self. There were ...
End-of-year review: The Liberal Democrats How did the Lib Dems do in 2013? http://t.co/6QQ5PKwppu (tags: (from twitter) ) Businesses slam EU pull out threat @ http://t.co/xqfjsHDOkA (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 27-12-2013 http://t.co/XmAfuLyZ0X on #dreamwidth (tags: dreamwidth (from twitter) ) Cameron's internet filter a disaster - Placed children at risk | TechEye: http://t.co/INgaxDI60n via @thetecheye (tags: (from twitter) ) My Life is Pointless Most terrifying pictorial reaction to the Who Christmas special yet http://t.co/sZOt0D5VDg (tags: (from twitter) ) Fury with MPs is main reason for not voting - poll Me too. RT ...
I am somewhere that, clearly, lots of people want to be. President Obama is eating dinner down the street, the streets are full of tourists in loud shirts, there is a lot of happiness out there. I hate it. Waikiki, on the island of Oahu, is a magnet for tourists, yet is entirely artificial, with every hint of native Hawaiian beaten out of it. It is as though the gods of the Hawaiian people have decided upon a revenge for the sufferings of their people, the loss of sovereignty and freedom, by inflicting such a place upon Americans. That's a ...
There are no meetings at Blyth Town Council next week The next meeting is :- Finance Committee , 9th January 2014, Arms Evertyne House , 6:30 pm
I have received concerns that there is no "No Through Road" signage at the top end of Blinshall Street (the south end that does not meet Hawkhill) which results in vehicles having to u-turn in the street. Having raised this with the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership, I have been informed by them that: "Transportation has ... agreed that erecting dead end "T" signs may be beneficial. Their budget is fully committed at moment so there isn't any scope to fund the erection of new signs by them. Replacement of the existing street name plates to incorporate the dead end ...
Had an interesting work trip to Leicester earlier in the week, and was rather disappointed not to bump in to the estimable Lord Bonkers. But anyway its really just an excuse to feature Leicester's finest, Kasabian...
Note from the county council Temporary closing and temporary waiting restrictions in A1057 Hatfield Road, St Albans NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using that length of A1057 Hatfield Road, St Albans from its junction with Upper Marlborough Road south eastwards, north eastwards and south eastwards to its junction with Beaconsfield Road, a distance of approximately 400 metres. ADDITIONALLY all vehicles are prohibited from waiting at any time on both sides of this length of road whilst works ...
