... has been mostly spent knocking on people's doors and talking to them, or shoving leaflets through people's doors, all in the name of Lib Demmery. I shall be singing Letterboxes with more than the usual amount of fervour at the next Glee Club, especially given my injuries*. Today I alone I have knocked on doors in five different wards, and travelled through a further three on my way between the various canvass sessions. This chairing lark is not all just signing stuff and telling people to shut up in meetings, you know. And the thing I love most about ...
Photographed in Olney churchyard on Saturday.
I recently came across a short excerpt of Tim Farron's article on extending the Pupil Premium to HE students. The Pupil a Premium, a Liberal Democrat flagship policy, currently gives schools new, additional money to provide additional support for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds (pupils receiving Free School Meals). In England the Pupil Premium in 2013/14 [...]
Mark Pack has made a great find among the British Pathé videos newly available on Youtube: a campaign report on the 1969 Islington North by-election. Jesse Norman MP writes about the Conservative philosopher Michael Oakeshott for the New Statesman. "If there was an age of human autonomy, it seems to me that it probably is behind us. It is certainly not ahead of us, or not for a very long time; not unless we change course, which we show no sign of wanting to do." Dark thoughts from Paul Kingsnorth in Orion Magazine. Ken Early on Slate asks if David ...
Paula Dolphin has been selected to fight Torridge and West Devon for the Liberal Democrats at the next general election. The North Devon Gazette quotes the chair of the Lib Dem constituency branch Trevor Johns: "We are delighted to have selected Paula Dolphin as our candidate. "She has a record of delivery in her area and will make an excellent MP for this area. We all look forward to campaigning with her."The seat was held by the Liberal Democrats between 1995 (when Emma Nicholson changed parties) and 2005.
This report details tasks and actions dealt with by Neighbourhood Wardens in the Consett Area during March 2014. NEIGHBOURHOOD WARDENS Dog fouling Wardens have investigated 13 reports of dog fouling. They have also removed 32 stray dogs. Littering Wardens have not investigated any reports of littering and issued 9 fixed penalty notices for littering this month. Fly-tipping 84 incidents of fly-tipping were reported this month. Wardens carried out 22 investigations into these incidents in order to find any evidence to link the fly-tipping to those who dumped it. Untidy yards and gardens Wardens have issued 22 advisory letters and 5 ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 372nd weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (13-19 April, 2014), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Two things to ...
At the weekend, the former Labour MP Barbara Roche declared in a newspaper column, "I agree with Nick!", referring to the two debates the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg held with his UKIP counterpart, Nigel Farage, over IN or OUT re Britain and the EU. Of course, I agree with Nick, too, but in trying [...]
You may have guessed that I'm not exactly a great fan of the way Haringey Labour runs the council, but this is pretty jaw dropping even by Haringey's standards: [IMG: Scales of Justice - some rights reserved by Citizensheep] A High Court judge has hit out at the council responsible for the Baby P scandal for preventing seven abused siblings from seeing each other after their parents were sent to prison. Mr Justice Holman said he felt a "sense of the utmost despair" after it emerged social workers at Haringey council organised a "goodbye meeting" last year. In doing so ...
Mon 21st
17:04
The Farage-Le Pen spat is a great example of the fundamental weakness of the far right
[IMG: Le Pen] For a brief moment, it looked like UKIP could be wooed by Marine Le Pen into joining the National Front in a new, explicitly anti-EU far right grouping in the European Parliament. Currently, both UKIP and the National Front sit in the Non-Inscrits "group". I put that in quotations as it is not a grouping as such; it is technically a place for any party that finds itself in the EP and doesn't find any natural allies. But it has become a reservoir of far right parties. But this collaboration isn't going to happen. It was only ...
Not sure it's wholly wise of a Conservative Party agent to reveal this of one of their candidates: [IMG: Conservative Party logo] Candidate Two managed to ask a Thai lady, who is not even a UK citizen, let alone a registered voter, to sign her paper. Strangely, however, despite not being registered she had a roll number alongside her name (although the number didn't exist). When I asked where the roll number came from, the candidate replied, "Oh I couldn't find her, so I added her to the end of the list and made-up a number for her." As the ...
Mon 21st
16:02
Indiscriminate and insensitive overuse of benefit sanctions needs to be tackled by Liberal Democrat ...
[IMG: Benefits-welfare] I came across this article about some of the circumstances which had led to sanctions being imposed on benefit claimants. Everything in the article is sourced, but I also take it seriously because it resonates with real life examples that I have heard about. The coalition has dramatically increased the scale of withdrawal of benefit for infringing rules. A claimant can be sanctioned for not apparently looking hard enough for work, for not attending job centre interviews or for turning down job offers. The minimum period you can lose your benefit for is 4 weeks. You get nothing ...
"Bom, bom-bom, BAP" When Brian Wilson first heard Hal Blaine's drumbeat coming out of his car radio, he was so awestruck that he had to pull over and listen. That drum part was apparently an accident — Blaine told an interviewer for the Wall Street Journal in 2011 "I was supposed to play more of [...]
Plans have been submitted for a petrol station on the junction of Bromfield Road and Coronation Avenue. It will have a convenience store and a coffee shop. I am opposing this development (14/00563/FUL) on the grounds of flood risk and increased traffic in area used by large numbers of schoolchildren. The environmental consequences of a [...]
I have been a fan of Gillingham Football club for as long as I remember. It wasn't until I was a student that I paid any real attention to their results and squad though and I took more of an interest in football in general. I even started attending games when I could get up from Winchester to see them and visit my Granddad who lived nearby. I even travelled to Plymouth to watch Argyle beat us 2-1 in a stand full of Plymouth fans. I've seen us win and lose, even going to Wembley for the Second Division playoff ...
[IMG: welsh liberals] Published this month: The Welsh Liberals: The History of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat parties in Wales. Despite being Wales' oldest political party this is the first published history of the Welsh Liberal Party or its successor, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Party. The Welsh Liberals: The History of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat parties in Wales charts the highs and lows of an extraordinary party. This comprehensive study includes over 40 interviews with senior figures from within the Welsh Liberal Party, the Welsh SDP and Welsh Liberal Democrat Party. You can order it from Welsh Academic Press's ...
Years, of news and comment, time flies when your having a good moan up. Blogging, why do it, I often forget how long this blog has been a part of my life, I never forget why. But still the urge is weak these days, due to the endless disappointment of useless incompetent politicians tends drain the life out of me. If you look at local media, newspapers and broadcasters, news output is rarely comprehensive, it's too easy for journalists to accept being spoon fed, that's why in recent weeks national broadcast news has endlessly reported the missing Malaysian airliner, and ...
[IMG: Stethoscope] A clinical commissioning group in South Warwickshire was heavily criticised last week for suggesting that it might charge patients for use of mobility aids like crutches, walking sticks and neck braces. A rather hyperbolic Guardian column screamed that this was the "first painful step towards the dismantling of the NHS" which seems a bit strange given that they've been telling us for the past two years that the NHS had been all but privatised anyway. The furore over this idea made me think, though. While you don't and never should have to pay to see a doctor, there ...
Some things are rather different about elections in North Islington now compared with 1969, but as this report from the 1969 Islington North by-election shows – not everything. Note in particular the early reference to immigration and housing. Despite the less than flattering portrayal of levels of support for the Conservative candidate, he secured a 9.2% swing as Labour held the seat by just 1,534. Very different from modern Westminster contests in Islington, of course. The independent candidate, who gets a very favourable cut of the coverage, polled just 245 votes.
20 lies parents tell their children - cruel but funny (tags: ) Proving and Quantifying Sexism. (tags: ) Food banks see donations surge after being criticised by Mail on Sunday (tags: ) Because everyone needs an animated flying sixth doctor ♡ (tags: ) Who should play a female Doctor Who? (tags: ) Councils sit on £67m in emergency help for poor (tags: ) Interesting letters page in the Torygraph today... (tags: ) Charlotte Brontë celebrated with a birthday Google Doodle (warning: contains spoilers for Jane Eyre) (tags: ) The telescope big enough to spot signs of alien life on other ...
More woes for Ed Miliband in yesterday's Independent on Sunday with a statement by former Labour minister, Barbara Roche that he needs to find the "courage" to take on the threat from Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party directly, or risk a setback for his party at next month's European elections. Ms. Roche, who is chair of the Migration Matters Trust and a minister in Tony Blair's government, writes that Mr Farage has become "Labour's Voldemort - he whose name cannot be mentioned" because Mr Miliband doesn't want to tackle Ukip on immigration: She believes it is a "tragedy" for Labour ...
[IMG: License Some rights reserved by eyewashdesign: A. Golden] Vince Cable has rogue directors in his sights, announcing plans to stop people who are convicted of commercial crime overseas from being directors of British companies. The BBC reports: The business secretary said dishonest directors could cause "huge" harm. UK criminals can already be banned as directors, and Mr Cable wants the same for those committed overseas. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said the measures are due to be tabled in the Parliamentary session which ends in spring 2015. They would mean "stronger deterrents" and "more robust sanctions" ...
The Western Mail reports that research has found that 81% would be in favour of legislation to ban people from lighting up in cars carrying under 18s while just 13% were opposed to it. Support for a ban in cars carrying adult passengers was slightly lower at 59%, while just 39% said they supported a ban in all private vehicles: The poll also found that opinion was split on whether to ban e-cigarettes in public places, with 40% in favour and 45% against. It follows the a public health bill white paper which included a proposal for Wales to become ...
Air pollution is a big issue. Latest figures suggest close to 1 in every 8 deaths air pollution was a significant factor. One method of mitigating air and noise pollution and reducing the heat island effect is via trees. They're also historic. East Dulwich has lots and lots of its streets called Groves as originally they were tree lined. For many years we had a gradual increase in street trees. Sadly Labour led Southwark Council has been chopping down many more trees than it plants. Last year 97 more tree were chopped down than planted. But we need to not ...
A constituent recently pointed out that the litter bin at Victoria Park (see right), although functional, lacks the aesthetic look of the rather nicer "heritage" style bins in other parks - for example at Roseangle. I asked the Environment Department about improvements and have been advised : "... we are putting in a couple of new benches at Lochee Park; there will also be a bin going in too. As for Victoria Park there will be a new bin replacing the old basket."
Repairs works to the bridge and canal are going well with the canal being open once again. However, on 17th April the road over the bridge was still closed pending completion of the works. These two photos show recent activity. The first one is of the canal empty of water on 31st March with a digger where water would normally be. The second was taken on 17th April as work progressed. [IMG: rsz_pilling_ln_2_31_03_14] [IMG: rsz_pilling_lane_bridge_18_04_2014] This last shot shows the new pedestrian steps taking shape. Almost there after months of campaigning for the work to be done. These photos are ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27099700 The BBC has the story
[IMG: Trewellard Sunday School] Trewellard Sunday School Wearing 2 hats (yes I know that sounds silly) as local Cornwall Councillor and Chair of Lands End Peninsula Community Land Trust, I was asked to attend a site meeting at Trewellard Sunday School with an officer from the affordable housing team and a representative of the local Methodist circuit. For those unaware, the Chapel and Sunday school fell into disuse in 2005. Whilst the Chapel was sold, legal complications have prevented the sale of the Sunday school and field next to it. I have watched it fall into disrepair – very sad! ...
[IMG: Christ Church cathedral, Oxford - Some rights reserved by Paul Stevenson] I did cringe when David Cameron started talking about the UK being a Christian country. I tend to agree with the assorted people in today's Telegraph who disagree with him. 8 million people go to church once a month in this country. But 33 million people describe themselves as Christian. So what are the 25 million people in the gap between those two numbers doing to justify their self-description as Christian? Lots of bible reading and praying, I hope. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Much has been written about the recent OFSTED investigations into the 'Trojan Horse' incidents in Birmingham schools and I am not going to repeat the whole chain of events that have been widely reported on. What I want to comment on was the fact that statements on this wholly bizarre and depressing set of events have been doing the rounds which do not add to anything of interest. In fact they have simply blurred what may be the truth. Whether or not there was a strategic plan to promote what the papers have got 'the Islamicization' of schools will not ...
