All good things must come to a temporary hiatus, and I'm afraid it is the same with this blog - for a little while. I'm working at the Guardian, in the Comment team, which is fascinating - and temporary - but I find I can't both blog and come up with ideas for everyone else at the same time. I'm not going away completely. I'm already itching to write about a whole range of things, just from my last train journey past Battersea Park - and I will do. But I won't be appearing here quite so often. But I'll ...
I was interested to read the report in the Medway Messenger about former minister and Liberal Democrat Jeremy Browne has stated that Boris island is a good idea for the economy and that the nation should take a risk and will ultimately benefited. This however is not the view of the National party, who voted in conference not to support the move, and the local party who have always stood in opposition to the Airport in the Estuary and indeed on the Hoo peninsula and Cliffe. Liberal Democrat Council group leader Geoff Juby stated in the paper that; It is ...
Thank you to everyone for your patience in putting up with the one-way closure of Cheadle High Street over last two weeks which saw diversions in place, including bus delays. We're very pleased to see that United Utilities have repaired the sewer ahead of schedule, the High Street is back to normal and the bollards at the end of Ashfield Crescent have been replaced. Good progress was also made on the new pavement outside St Mary's Church: it's pretty much done on the Church side and well underway on the Massie Street side. We were keen that this work be ...
Now that the house-moving stuff and the health stuff have settled down, and I've nearly finished the formatting-someone-else's-ebook stuff, I'm planning to use much of the long weekend to build up a backlog of posts for here for the next few weeks. While you're waiting for that, have some links: Yahoo's core business — Yahoo.com, [...]
Taken at Laughton last May.
Austin Mitchell has announced that he will retire as MP for Great Grimsby at next year's general election. The BBC describes him as a "veteran" MP, but I remember when he was first elected to parliament. It was April 1977 and Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives were carrying all before them. On the same day, 28 April, they won a by-election in Ashfield, a seat which Labour had won with a majority of 22,915 at the previous election. But Austin Mitchell managed to retain Grimsby for Labour, though the majority he was defending only 6,982. One reason for this was the different ...
There are a number of people who believe (on the balance of probabilities) that it is likely the Trojan Horse document is fabricated. I am one of them. At least today's arrests will give some opportunity of working out whether it is or isn't. My own view is that it has been fabricated for a particular purpose, but discussion of that purpose is potentially sub judice so I won't comment. It
There is only one meeting at Blyth Town Council next week Thursday 24th April, 6:30 at Arms Evertyne House, Planning & Development Committee The Events Committee that was originally scheduled for Tuesday (22nd ) has been cancelled, as it was held on this Tuesday .... I only found out about it at short notice and the diary of meetings on the council's website did not, at the time of my last weeks post, include the meeting
[IMG: scotlands future] It is the duty of the government of any state to safeguard national security and to protect its people, territory, economy and interests from internal and external threats. If Scotland votes to leave the United Kingdom in September, there is no doubt that there would be major challenges for the national security of both Scotland and the rest of the UK. The size and scale of our armed forces means the UK is considered a partner of choice by many countries around the world, delivering a geopolitical influence that few states of similar size to ours can ...
In my last planning meeting last week we were considering a reserved matters application for a development on the Greenfield Corridor for which, after a long hard battle against the development, Outline Planning Permission had been granted on appeal in 2013. The group of objector, who had fought the application from the beginning, was back [...]
I was talking during the week with a chap in Blyth about the proposals to bring railways back to this area by starting passenger services along the former Blyth and Tyne line. I really don't think that his suggestion of bringing the Metro to Blyth is a starter, as the overhead lines would need to be installed. But, the use of the line for light DMUs is a distinct possibilty. He had to reminded that this would not bring the railway back to Blyth, which was served by a short branch now lost, but to Newsham and / or Bebside ...
Peering out of the plane window as we descended into Sarajevo I could see the large detached houses with low pitched roofs that are a feature of the Bosnian countryside. Images flashed back into my mind of houses like these on fire. My vivid memory was from twenty two years ago, when the full horror [...]
Alas, quite why the hippo was in Haringey is not explained:
Sir John Simon speaks to the Nation. "Let us give to the Prime Minister a firm mandate in the name of the whole nation" (1931) General Election Aka Pathe Election Forum: "It was to make Britons free that the Liberal Party came into being" (Sir Archibald Sinclair, 1945) Election Address – Liberal Party: "The people want a party that serves all classes" (Sir Archibald Sinclair, 1946) The Liberal Message: "As long as there is breath in my body I will fight for freedom and for liberalism" (Clement Davies, 1951) Liberal Leader Jo Grimond Votes AKA Jo Grimond Votes (MUTE, 1964) ...
Better Together, the cross-party campaign for retaining the United Kingdom, must have been listening to LDV's co-editor, Caron Lindsay (always a sensible precaution, we find...). Just a few weeks ago she cautioned against the deluge of negativity that seemed to be the No campaign's main message: Charles Kennedy was bang on last week when he said that the pro-UK campaign needed to be more positive. He could do with being a bit more explicit about what he thinks they should be saying. And then he needs to sit Alistairs Darling and Carmichael, Danny, Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader and ...
Cameron, God - Bread & Circuses So, David Cameron has declared from on high (horse) that we should be more proud and evangelical about Britain's Christianity. He states that many atheists and agnostics refuse to see the benefits that religion gives to morality and a 'prod in the right direction'. This comes not long after Eric Pickles aggressively told non-believers 'to get over it' and to stop 'imposing politically correct intolerance' on others'. Where does one begin to unpick this sudden resurgence of God and Politics? Firstly, the 'politically correct' imposition onto a Christian nation, many of these impositions revolve ...
The Western Mail reports that a critical report published today, by the Auditor General for Wales, Huw Vaughan Thomas has identified serious weaknesses in the funding process of a rural tourist attraction. They say that the Cywain Centre at Bala opened in April 2008 but soon ran into difficulties and finally closed in September 2011. The total estimated cost to the public sector was £2.2 million. However, by the time the Centre closed in 2011 the cost to the public sector had £3.4 million. In his report the Auditor General for Wales said: "The project was always likely to fail ...
Ah, American political advertising:
On a webpage for HR people entitled "Listen With Your Eyes: Tips for Understanding Nonverbal Communication" there is the following claim: "One study at UCLA indicated that up to 93 percent of communication effectiveness is determined by nonverbal cues. Another study indicated that the impact of a performance was determined 7 percent by the words [...]
New figures show the rate of unemployment has fallen below 7% for the first time since the recession. The number of people out of work dropped by 77,000 in the last three months, while total employment has seen the biggest annual jump in a generation. There are now more people in work than ever before, with nearly 0.7 million more people in employment since this time last year, showing that the Lib Dem plan to create a million jobs is working. There's also good news on salaries, with wages rising an average of 1.7% since last year, while inflation has ...
Cambridge manufacturing companies are being encouraged by the city's MP Julian Huppert to enter a national competition which recognises and celebrates innovation in industry. The Manufacturer of the Year awards are open to all businesses regardless of size and are divided into 13 categories including Young Manufacturer of the Year and Apprentice of the Year. Julian said: "We have some outstanding businesses in Cambridge and this is a chance for them to get the national recognition they deserve. "I am delighted to see the awards include categories designed to mark the achievements of young people and others learning through the ...
[IMG: Ballot paper] Britain is suffering from a crisis of alienation. Despite a wave of democratic reforms since 1997, including the rebirth of localism in 2010, the UK remains one of the most centralised European States. Even after devolution to Scotland and Wales, the majority of power is still concentrated in London and held by a narrow class of professional politicians most of whose lives seem increasingly detached from the people they represent. Local councils struggle to make an impact on their communities, and in vast swathes of the country voter turnout continues to sink as the electorate loses faith ...
Thu 17th
10:43
All Lib Dem Majority Controlled Local Authorities have Frozen or Cut Council Tax: As Published Figur...
[IMG: council tax] Council tax figures for all local authorities have been published. The figures show that 100% of Lib Dem 'majority controlled' councils are cutting or freezing Council Tax, compared to just 73% of Tories and just over half of Labour. Cambridge, with a Liberal Democrat administration without an overall majority, has agreed an increase of just under 2% in the face of particular local financial pressures. But even with the inclusion of Cambridge it is clear that Liberal Democrats are the only party to be cutting Council Tax on average, while maintaining services. LA Control Freeze Rise Cut ...
A Handy How-to Guide on dealing with harassment at cons (tags: ) What's Missing from Journalists' Tactic of Snagging Stories from Twitter? Respect. (tags: ) Why are People Perennially Surprised By Internet Misogyny? (tags: ) Peter Black has a nice summary of the problems the kippers are facing at the moment (tags: ) Don't feed chocolate to your dog - or rhubarb to your rabbit (tags: ) Fabulous politics news snippet from The Times (.jpg, so you don't have to pay ;)) (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-03-09 at 08.06.08 Liberal Democrats Libby] The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that's fine, we're grateful for people taking the time to read the site. You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are four simple ways: 1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there's something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you're an expert in a particular area and ...
The City Engineer has advised me that the following pavement and roads surfacing programmes are planned for the West End in 2014/15 :The part of Perth Road's pavements being improved is rather difficult to make out from the above map, so the one below clarifies :It is good to see a number of long-standing poorly conditioned roads and pavements being tackled, although there is much still to be done and the requirement for enhanced capital budgetary provision for roads, as I recently highlighted.
[IMG: martin horwood] Over at the Lib Dems' website, Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has welcomed today's announcement that Vince Cable has put out a call for evidence on a new register of arms brokers, introducing tougher regulations on the arms trade. Here's an excerpt: Arms brokers act as intermediaries in many arms deals by bringing together potential buyers and sellers in return for a cut of the transaction. Currently UK companies require a license before they can export military goods, but brokers are somewhat of an unknown entity. Under the proposals all brokers will have to appear on a public ...
The next meeting of the Friends of Balgay will be held on Saturday 26th April 2014 from 12.15pm - 2pm in the Mills Observatory. This is the Friends' 'Sandwiches and a Blether' meeting which is always popular and well attended. Please come and feel free to bring a friend. Entrance is free for members and £1 for visitors. Please note the timing is slightly different from previous years.
Via Andrew Kennedy comes this warning from a Returning Officer: [IMG: Nomination papers error] Oops. UPDATE: Or rather, not quite oops. Here's the official response from the Electoral Commission. There is no requirement in law for the consent to include a date alongside the witness signature. The form is prescribed in law and the form provided in the election rules does not include an option for the witness to date their signature. However, the prescribed form, just like the form we have produced, clearly asks the witness to state that the candidate has signed the form in their presence. This ...
In his capacity as Chair of Dundee Youth Council, Daniel Coleman produces a regular newsletter - "Calling Coleman". In the latest edition that you can download here, Daniel kindly promotes the petition to Save the Perth Road Branch of Royal Bank of Scotland. You can sign this here - nearly 80 local residents have already done so. Also in this edition, Daniel also kindly wishes me a speedy recovery from my recent illness. I am pleased to say that I am now sufficiently recovered that I will be able to return to council committee meetings and other activities after the ...
Regions would get their own minister The Labour party has announced that nine English regions would get their own Government minister if the party were to win next year's election. The network of "regional ministers" would form part of Ed Miliband's drive to devolve power and bridge the north-south divide. They would champion their areas and supervise plans to transfer £20bn to "city regions" over five years to be spent on job-creation, housing and transport. Ministers would be appointed for London; the South-east; South-west; West Midlands; North-east; North-west; Yorkshire and Humber; East Midlands and the Eastern region. Meanwhile, an editorial ...
Last Sunday, I spoke on Tay AM's "Scotland's Talk In" about the City Council's proposals to change Dundee's bin collections, that would see the end of the universal weekly residual waste collections. You can hear the programme here (13th April edition; my contribution starts just after 1 hour 18 minutes). I have since also spoken on Radio Tay News about the issue. Yesterday, I met with the council's Environment Director to discuss the report on this issue, going to council committee next Monday. Whilst this was a useful and productive meeting and we both agree on the need to improve ...
For several years I've been working on how to bring a tram route initially and then network to Southwark. When Ken Livingstone was Mayor of London he said he supported them but only gave enough money to keep a project team employed who never got to build anything. When Boris Johnson became London Mayor he canned that team and the pretence of TfL tram in southwark was over. So how to make this happen privately? Talking to investment banks one key requirement is certainty that their investment would have a chance to produce a secure return. The greater the security ...
Last month I blogged about why the EU would be wrong to mandate a common phone charger ending with this prediction In ten years time the EU could have the most efficient mini USB port chargers in the world. But at the same time the rest of the world will be using a charger so far removed from this thanks to a teenage genius and her invention that produces twice the charge at half the cost of production. But hay, at least my draw won't have a redundant mini USB charger in it! Well, one always likes predictions that come ...
After 4½ sterling years of service, LibDig is no more. Here on FlockTogether, we supported LibDig from the beginning and we're sorry to see it go! I've updated the LibDig WordPress plug-in to tell people about the change and suggest they deactivate it!
UKIP is learning pretty quickly that improved poll numbers leads to imcreased scrutiny and the pressure is starting to show. The Times reports claims that Ukip members were silenced, ignored or forced out of the party after questioning its use of EU allowances and donations. They say that whistleblowers have alleged that Nigel Farage and other senior UKIP officials traduced colleagues who raised concerns about how the party handled millions of pounds in funds: Mr Farage called a senior female Ukip official a "stupid woman" and told her to "shut up" when she asked for an independent audit into party ...
Friend: So, what are you doing next year? Going on to PhD? Me: No, actually, I decided against continuing to do a doctorate. Friend: What?! But I always imagined you as an academic... Me: ...that's nice... Friend: So why the ... Continue reading →
