Michael Ignatieff, a kinsman of Nick Clegg, is in the unusual position of having seen both philosophy and politics from the inside. He had a career as an academic and as a writer and presenter (in British arts broadcasting) before entering politics and going on to become leader of Canada's opposition. He lost heavily in the 2011 Prime Ministerial election. In a Philosophy Bites podcast interview with Nigel Warburton he discusses the relationship between theory and practice in politics, the moral ambiguities, and the necessity of having dirty hands to be effective.
Pine Tree Avenue in Humberstone, a village that has become a suburb of Leicester, is not lined with pines. It is lined with sequoia gigantea - giant redwoods. Some are currently under threat of smaller species by the city council because of the damage they are said to be causing to houses and drives. Some residents welcome the plan and some do not. You can read about the controversy in the Leicester Mercury. This remarkable avenue exists because Pine Tree Avenue used to be the drives to Humberstone Hall. The estate was sold as housing land by the Paget family ...
Blue and Red will get dented by UKIP No - I haven't defected, nor have I banged my head and gained one of those epic life changing concussions where one loses all grasp of sanity. For once in my life there is an iota of reason in something I think... The Medway Tories have held the Medway towns in their iron grasp for too long. They have an arrogant outlook that means they are right at all times and surely anyone who is against them is against the whole towns!?! (see my posts on Medway Knockers) Indeed when the Liberal ...
I hope you managed to get along to either of the two local stands at the start of the A14 consultation. the purpose of this post is to share with you the discussions the Parish Council had with the contractors when the came out to meet us on the 3rd April. If you've managed to pick up the brochure you'll have noticed that the Bar Hill junction resembles this; The contractors brought a slightly updated map to our meeting and I managed to take a copy (excuse the annotations, some are ours and some where there's); As you'll notice from ...
In this centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War many minds have been turning to the issues of war and peace, and when I make speeches at hustings or rallies in the current European election campaign I always make the point that the founding fathers of what is now the European Union [...]
[IMG: Spitfire Kentish Ale] I haven't done this before, but here goes. The mood has taken me here. Sainsburys have a great deal on for Shepherd Neame's Spitfire ale at £1 a bottle. Worth taking advantage of. I should declare an interest for the next one, as I am related to an employee of said firm. Hotel Chocolat have surpassed themselves with their Easter choccy designs ths year, if you really want to spoil some special people or yourself. Their "Splat" chocolate eggs really are an inspired work of art. photo by: CesarCardoso [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post ...
In response to a request from Liberal Democrats likely to be affected by fracking operations, Aldes members have written a position paper on the subject. It looks at the subject from the viewpoint of residents affected by the operations, as well as that of the government, and it attempts a global viewpoint as well. There is a clear conflict between the government's need to maintain adequate energy supplies and the global need to minimise carbon dioxide emissions. There is also a conflict between the needs of the many who will benefit economically, with the interests of the relatively few who ...
Hope the title got your attention This afternoon, Jo Barton(a Meols Ward Lib Dem) organised a much needed litter-pick at Kew's main roundabout by Tesco. Over a dozen volunteers turned up and, after battling with thorn bushes and dodging the traffic, we removed a large amount of litter, including several road cones and a fire extinguisher! Below are several shots taken during the afternoon. Hopefully we will return to finish the job soon, as a set of ladders will be needed to remove the bags from the trees- unless Tesco/McDonalds/B & Q are interested? Special thanks go out to Jo ...
The fortunes of the Borough's leading football club seem to be on the up after a number of good results recently. [IMG: untitled] Not so long ago Southport were staring relegation from the Football Conference in the face and some of their long-suffering supporters feared the worst. Today's 2 – 0 win against Tamworth makes their tenure in the league look certain.
[IMG: Lib Dems winning here] Here's the full list of selection contests in the coming month available for Lib Dems on the approved parliamentary candidates' list, together with the closing date for applications. They include Bristol North West, on paper the 26th most winnable seat for the Lib Dems, needing a swing of 3% from the Tories. The following seats have selections in progress and are currently advertising for candidates: Croydon East, 17th April Croydon North, 17th April Croydon South, 17th April Bristol North West, 18th April North West Hampshire, 25th April Bexhill and Battle, 2nd May Further information, including ...
Via Conservative Party agent Andrew Kennedy's blog comes this advertisement for phonebanking for Conservatives: [IMG: Conservative Phone Bank advert] That works out at £2.88 per actual contact. A handy benchmark to remember if you're ever involved in arranging paid-for phone work.
[IMG: religion-politics] After a long absence, the Lord of all has suddenly re-entered the political stage in this country. Quite why I'm not really sure, but let's start with the relevant examples. We start at the top, with the Prime Minister of the nation. At the Downing Street Easter reception last week, Cameron declared: "Jesus invented the Big Society - I'm just continuing God's work". He also made a claim that is dubious at best: Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, apparently. I can think of some instant counter claims to that argument, but let's park ...
The future of Cheadle's George and Dragon is still uncertain, but there's room for a good deal more optimism than we've had recently with the submission of two planning applications by Amber Taverns Ltd. The plans for the George and Dragon look to keep it as a pub with a full internal refurbishment, new beer garden and covered area to the rear, employing 6 full time and 8 part time people. There are two planning applications covering the changes (I think that's for technical planning reasons): 55177 and 55179. You can comment on the applications in the normal way. At ...
[IMG: At a workshop on child rights at French Cultural Centre, Kabul, Afghanistan] Sir Robert Smith, Lib Dem MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Co-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afghanistan, has written this week about the need for Britain, as our direct military involvement comes to an end, to ensure we keep our promise to maintain support for a developing Afghanistan. ... the attacks of September the 11th brought home the fact that what happened in that far away country made a difference back here. Even then if the Taliban had handed over Al-Qaeda we would have ...
Kirsty Williams was absolutely right in her speech to the Welsh Liberal Democrats Conference last week to express her fury at the way that the First Minister is hiding behind the Welsh people over critcism of his government. She told the Conference: Our health service struggles like never before, our schools remain underfunded and underperforming, our economy lags behind the rest of the UK. I am furious that we as nation are being portrayed in this manner. Last week Carwyn Jones said these criticisms weren't a war on Welsh Labour, or the Welsh Government, but a war on Wales as ...
"The Adventures of Lego Danny Alexander" may only be a few days old but I love it already. It exploits to full comedic effect the notion of watching a man who has looked out of his depth ever since he stopped being press officer for Cairngorms National Park trying to do one of the most [...]
[IMG: FCO Minister Jeremy Browne visits Olympics site] I first became aware of Jeremy Browne when he looked after the media relations for the party in the 1990s. I don't know how it happened, but for some reason I found myself in the party's press relations control room on the Saturday afternoon of a conference. I noticed Jeremy Browne because he was loudly demonstrating his great concern about.....wait for it....finding the remote control for the TV so that he could hear the commentary for the rugby. I remember thinking at the time how admirable this was. Someone deep in the ...
... spend a Saturday morning cleaning the inside of my car (for appearances sake, you understand) and then taking photographs of its controls and displays for an assignment I'm writing. I hadn't noticed this button before (I've had the car for about two years, but it is tucked away on the roof) and I have no idea what it does. [IMG: Mystery Control] I'm now reading the handbook in an attempt to understand if it's important. I really hope that it isn't. If you don't want to know the answer before you've had a chance to guess for yourself, stop ...
Note from the County Council (extracts) 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 the following lengths of roads and to prohibit all vehicles from waiting at any time on both sides of these lengths of roads whilst works are in progress:- 3. that length of Vanda Crescent, St Albans from its junction with Camp Road south westwards to its junction with Flora Grove, a distance of approximately 196 metres. 4. that length of B691 Victoria Street/B691 Grimston Road, ...
[IMG: Clegg-apprenticesBlog] The Liberal Democrats have delivered a huge boost to apprenticeships, with at least 100,000 new apprentices being created over the next two years. As the party of opportunity for young people, the Lib Dems have fought in Government to give more young people the chance to get on in life. Thanks to this, the newly announced budget includes two schemes to support apprentices: £85m in both 2014-15 and 2015-16 to extend the Apprenticeship Grants for Employers scheme, giving businesses incentive payments to take on apprentices £20m to support apprenticeships up to postgraduate level (i.e. degree and masters level ...
[IMG: Password Must Contain] We're all changing our passwords in the light of Heartbleed, right? Good! If you are a developer or designer, I want to explain to you exactly how not to create a password dialogue box for your users. We're all used to seeing this: Input password: Change Password This is incorrect! Why? Because it leads to this? Input password: Change Password ERROR! Your password must be longer than 7 characters! Ok! Ok! I'll enter in a longer password. Input password: Change Password ERROR! Your password must be between 8 - 16 characters! Grrrrrr.... ok.... how about this? ...
Three weeks ago, Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne joined Twitter. He's been putting it to use this morning to refute The Times's front page headline that claims he said the Lib Dems are 'pointless': Read The Times interview, which is what I think, rather than The Times headline, which I didn't say and don't believe. — Jeremy Browne (@JeremyBrowneMP) April 11, 2014
When the French clock off at 6pm, they really mean it I don't think I could do this. My work/political/social/home lives are SO tangled and intermingled I don't think I could put any or all of them in seperate boxes. As I was saying to one of my partners, who is also an active Lib Dem, when we discussed this story only this morning... -_-" (tags: ) UKIP Chairman defends 'abnormal gays are ramming it down my throat' candidate You shouldn't laugh, really, but... abnormal gays ramming it down his throat? He should be so lucky. (tags: ) "I can ...
Watch the new fun (yet educational) video from CGP Grey: You can also watch this on YouTube.
[IMG: daily mail cyril smith] Today's Daily Mail begins the serialisation of a new book, Smile for the Camera: the Double Life of Cyril Smith, co-authored by Rochdale's Labour MP, Simon Danczuk, who went public with allegations of sexual abuse by his Liberal predecessor in 2012: The book, co-written by Matthew Baker, reveals that as far back as the 1950s, Rochdale police had their suspicions about the politician. Smith, MP for Rochdale between 1972 and 1992, was governor of almost 30 schools. In the 1960s, he helped to open Cambridge House children's home, where he abused boys, often subjecting them ...
Probably the best known and historically most prominent Conservation Area in the Borough of Sefton is the one that the Borough is indeed named after. St Helen's Church is a delight with parts of it being well over 800 years old. If you get the chance to visit it please don't miss out. [IMG: St. Helen's Church, Sefton] St. Helen's Church, Sefton I recall back in 1994 a team of handbell ringers from Arizona playing there and they were quite staggered with age of the church and its history. Their visit was as part of a tour involving Maghull's accomplished ...
Back in January, I reported that I had approached the management of Poundstretcher about the poor state of their car park at their store in Lochee Road. The company responded positively, stating that resurfacing would take place. It is therefore good to see that the resurfacing work started recently: Car Park before the works Resurfaced car park
Two new planning applications have been received which are within just outside of Holyrood Ward which I've included as they might be of interest to local residents: Application Number: 57434 Registration Date: 01/04/2014 Location: St Hildas C of E Primary School, Whittaker Lane, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1HA Proposal: Two no. single storey side extensions Application Number: 57435 Registration Date: 01/04/2014 Location: Tesco Stores Ltd, Valley Park Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 3TG Proposal: Extension of existing home shopping operation facility and relocation of existing plant Plans are available on the Council's Website here. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if I can be of any help or ...
Let me tell you a quick story about A father and his son. The father, a Pakistani immigrant, arrived at Heathrow airport with £1 in his pocket, moved to Rochdale where he worked on the busses and in the mills before opening a market stall and eventually moving to Bristol to open a shop. This in of itself is a remarkable story of opportunity and social mobility but the real story is about his son. His son attended the local comprehensive, Filton technical college and the University of Exeter. Straight from university he bagged a job at Chase Manhattan bank ...
[IMG: the times browne pointless] Lib Dems 'are pointless' – that's today's Times front page lead, reporting an interview it carries with Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne. You might imagine, therefore, that Jeremy Browne had at some point in his interview said the Lib Dems "are pointless". But if you read the article you'll be disappointed. He doesn't say it. That a newspaper with the reputation of The Times should put in quotation marks made-up quotes is quite something. However, the headline isn't based on nothing, even if one of the words attributed to Jeremy Browne is an invention. So ...
Sat 12th
07:00
Mental Health and Dementia Research Event, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is hosting a free public event to enable people to find out more about the pioneering research that is happening in our region. The event coincides with International Clinical Trials Day, which celebrates the day that Scottish physician James Lind began the first systematic trial on sailors suffering with scurvy in 1747. The event is free of charge and everyone is welcome to come along! There will be short talks from researchers, poster displays and you will have the opportunity to network and ask questions. The event will take place on Tuesday 20th May ...
The latest report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is another damning indictment of Welsh Labour's fifteen-year failure to get to grips with education in Wales. The messages contained in the report follow an already well-established pattern, and once again we find school leadership, teacher training, assessment, and the lack of a long-term vision highlighted as concerns. There are simply too many new initiatives being deployed, and before those reforms have time to "bed in" they are being replaced with something new. Welsh Government must stop trying to come up with a variety of quick fixes and have ...
... and it's one of those nightmares that's quite funny when you're not in it, so I'm going to blog about it because that will help me calm down from the panic/frustration I felt on waking. So I was having an argument with someone I know well in the nightmare. I'm not going to name names because that would be unfair. And after some time of argument I could tell we weren't going to get anywhere, so I asked the person to leave... Me: ok, I need you to go now Them: *nod, smile, stay exactly where they are* Me: ...
In December we had a permanent Christmas tree planted at the front of Marley Hill Community Centre. And then the storms came and partly blew the tree over. So this afternoon, my ward colleague, Cllr John McClurey, and I reset the tree. I brought up a couple of 2 metre high posts which I hadn't got round to using to fence in my livestock. With the help of a pile driver I borrowed from a friend,
