Just when you thought you were safe from French Connection UK (known for some years now as fcuk), there is a trend identified by the New York Times of using swearwords in brand names - Eggslut restaurant, Holy Crap cereal, Fat Bastard wine, you know the kind of thing. It seems to me that this may be the beginning of the end of the great branding phenomenon, which so excited the marketing world in the 1990s. We were told we would all love our brands, when the truth is we usually find them infuriating. This is what I think is ...
Thursday I was unable to stay for last night's debate, having already agreed to give the after-dinner speech at a fundraiser for the Home for Distressed Canvassers in Herne Bay. When I finally catch up with the proceedings on the electric internet, I am somewhat disappointed. It is not just that my orchard doughty is nowhere to be seen: it is the way Clegg puts over one of my best lines. Yesterday afternoon the 12-year-old PPE graduates were desperate for jokes, so I told them the one about Roy Jenkins and the lavatory brush that won me a standing ovation ...
Inspired by Saturday's St George's Festival in Leicester and to celebrate BBC2's 50th birthday, here is my favourite station ident.
Blog Categories: Economics Political Comment Vote: 0 votes + Vote up! - Vote down! Just a quickie, as the bisho... I often hear people claim, in arguing against Land Value Tax, something along the lines of "Britain has a long history of not taxing something that doesn't involve a transaction" or also "Britain has never taxed personal property that has already been paid for by taxed income" and so on. Well I call bullshit on those claims. Setting aside the claim by Richard Cobden (in 1945 during debates on the Corn Laws) that... "For a period of one hundred fifty ...
Earlier tonight, I attended the latest committee meeting of the Friends of Blackness (FoB), the group that now covers both Parent Council and Parent Teacher Association activities at Blackness Primary School. It was a well-attended and very positive meeting at which a number of school activities were discussed, as well as the recent competition to choose a favourite FoB banner that will be displayed outside the school to promote FoB meetings and events. The banner pictures were drawn by pupils and the winner was the picture with the most 'likes' on the FoB Facebook page by Easter Monday and will ...
The Evening Standard wins Headline of the Day - and it has a photo too!
All Saints Margaret Street Cyril Smith would have been a loathsome human being even if he hadn't abused children, argues Matter of Facts. Mark Pack has an extraordinary story from Labour Wigan. The police were called to evict an independent councillor from a meeting because he was tweeting it. "The wonderfully named Excalibur Estate in South East London was one of many prefab estates built in 1945-6 after the Second World War by German and Italian prisoners of war to help provide homes for returning servicemen and their families. These were only intended to last ten years or so but ...
We've been out campaigning today with Graham Watson MEP for the European Parliament election on 22 May. We've had some very positive reactions, except for the weather. Graham Watson MEP (right) with Dodington Parish Councillor Paul Hulbert
Simple pleasures, like taking a stroll around town, on a Sunday, doesn't seem as popular as it once was, I notice parks are generally thinly populated, it's probably a sign of the times why stroll when you can shop at Westwood even the seafront at Margate appeared lonely and unloved.I suppose it is still April but in the sun it seemed warm enough, strolling around looking for somewhere to eat is not one of my best skills, and Sundays is always a difficult with me, since many eateries choose to do roast dinners, which in my opinion are always best ...
Can you help Consett and Blackhill Scouts over the finishing line? After a ten year journey they have a new scout headquarters built but still need to raise the final 10% of the funding they sought in order to move in and build on their brilliant past. Please come to their coffee morning, have a look round the new premises if you want to, and give them another helping hand on their way. [IMG: Scouts - final push]
Wigan Today reports: A TOWN hall meeting descended into chaos last night as a councillor was thrown out for tweeting. Standish independent, Coun Gareth Fairhurst, was escorted out of the chamber by two police officers. A handful of fellow opposition councillors staged a walkout in support. Members had been earlier warned by Mayor Billy Rotherham that the use of social media was banned. But after 40 minutes, the often outspoken Coun Fairhurst was ordered to leave after his live tweets had been spotted by council officers. He wrote on his own blog that, When I tweeted that the Labour Leader ...
I have commented on this gigantic piece of public artwork before but have now taken some better photo's of it. It really is a work of art; just look at the detail in the Liverpool Overhead Railway poster depiction:- [IMG: rsz_seaforth_mural] [IMG: rsz_seaforth_mural_detail] [IMG: rsz_seaforth_mural_poster] Click to enlarge any of the photos which are amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
[IMG: Alex Salmond - License Some rights reserved by Ewan McIntosh] You would think that politicians would have more sense than to express any sort of admiration for Vladimir Putin. Alex Salmond has followed in the footsteps of Nigel Farage. He told Alistair Campbell for GQ: Obviously, I don't approve of a range of Russian actions, but I think Putin's more effective than the press he gets, I would have thought, and you can see why he carries support in Russia. He's restored a substantial part of Russian pride and that must be a good thing. There are aspects of ...
[IMG: house of lords] In a week when the Prime Minister has been stung, twice - once by a malevolent jellyfish and then by public reaction to his observation "Britain is a Christian country," there has been much analysis of polling and census data in support or denunciation of his statement. Cameron supporters point to the 2011 census, where 59% ticked the box to describe themselves as 'Christian,' while his detractors preferred a YouGov poll where the question, "are you religious?" saw only 29% of respondents answer in the affirmative. As the debate continues over whether the term Christian in ...
A second round of kerbside electrical collection has been agreed for the 12th June 2014. If you have any old electrical items and would like them removed and recycled please put them out on this day. They will collect anything with the logo on the right from unused McDonalds kids toys to old TV's and computers. Just leave it on the kerbside clearly visible from the road and it will be picked up.
The season started with my local sportive in Nidderdale and this year neither this nor Lakeland Loop were cancelled due to snow! This was quickly followed in mid April by the Paris Roubaix Challenge - Hell of the North - the Queen of the Classics. Six of us (above) set out to see what all the fuss was about. It's only 170 odd km, almost no climbing and about 50km of 28 sections of pavé - cobbles to you and me. Can't be that hard can it? All I shall say that we all came back with renewed respect to ...
Mon 28th
14:00
Drugs and e-cigarettes: criminalise, legalise, regulate? Here's what Lib Dem members think...
[IMG: drugs] 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. More than 830 party members responded – thank you – and we're publishing the full results. Two-thirds of Lib Dems back legalisation of 'soft' drugs... With regard to "soft" drugs such as cannabis, which of these statements comes closest to your own view? 9% – The sale and possession of such drugs should remain a criminal offence as now 22% – The sale and possession of such drugs should remain ...
Terry Wilkins, the Conservative Councillor for Illogan, has today resigned from the authority. Mr Wilkins had attracted a lot of attention after allegations were levelled about his claim to have been awarded an MBE - something he said was part of an 'elaborate prank' by former police colleagues. It later emerged that he also did not hold an Open University degree as he had claimed at various times. Mr Wilkins said that this was part of a 'joke' with an un-named person. Tweet
Trans involvement in mainstream politics has been on the rise in recent years, and 22nd May 2014 appears to be setting a record for the number of out, full-time trans folk standing for election at borough council level or above – there will be six people appearing on the ballot next month. The list of names I know of is as follows: Sarah Brown – Liberal Democrat Cambridge City Councillor, Petersfield Ward, restanding, also a simultaneous by-election. Jess Key – Liberal Democrat Candidate, Lincoln City Council, Hartsholme Ward (Existing Conservative councillor not restanding) Zoe Kirk-Robinson – Conservative Candidate, Bolton Council, ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg speaking York InEurope Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats] In an interview with Anne McEvoy in yesterday's Sunday Times (£), Nick Clegg makes it clear that he has no interest in the Liberal Democrats keeping a minority government in office with out a full coalition after the next election: For the first time, Clegg is explicitly ruling out any kind of loose-pact arrangement, like the short-lived Lib-Lab one in the 1970s or variants on "confidence and supply" arrangements, a political anoraks' phrase, whereby a smaller party provides support in parliamentary votes for one of the main parties, ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert will today (Monday, April 28) push the case for extra funding for the county's schools by handing in a petition of around 2,000 signatures calling on the government to implement proposals to give Cambridgeshire an extra £20 million. He will hand the petition to the Lib Dem Schools Minister David Laws, who announced the provisional extra funding. Signatures were collected online, through schools and by postcards for the petition which calls on the Government to provide the money to Cambridgeshire schools as quickly as possible. It says: 'For too long, our schools have been starved of ...
Mon 28th
12:14
Even if he hadn't abused children, Cyril Smith would still have been a loathsome human being
The former Rochdale MP not only abused vulnerable boys but also a corrupt reactionary. So why did Nick Clegg pay tribute to him? Tim Farron in his capacity as Liberal Democrat Party President has today warned that Lib Dems and Labour need to "answer serious questions as to who knew what and when" regarding [...]
Two or three years ago, I was contacted by a recruiter from Google. They wanted to know if I'd be interested in working for the advertising giant. We played the usual game of dancing around salary and schedules, when he dropped the bombshell - they were looking for people to work on Google+. I asked the recruiter if he'd seen my G+ profile. At the time, it had this childish scrawl all over it. [IMG: Google Plus UI Crap] We mutually decided not to pursue the opportunity any further. It's a decision I've often thought about. I've been involved in ...
Fab:
[IMG: image] On his recent column on the ALDC Members' website, Tim Farron has made the case for the Pupil Premium to be extended to young carers: One of the biggest Lib Dem wins of this Coalition Government has been the Pupil Premium. The Pupil Premium was designed as extra support for kids in our schools who need a little extra help to get the best start in life. I don't need to tell you about it; you've supported it from an idea in our manifesto to its implementation. I'm preaching to the converted. It's not just a great idea—it ...
[IMG: torylibdemcoalition] A former SpAd to Michael Gove in the Department of Education gave some scathing remarks to the Sunday Times, later picked up by the Daily Telegraph, about Nick Clegg yesterday. "He won't do the hard work to get policy right - all he cares about is his image. He is a revolting character. And I say that after spending 15 years in Westminster." Now Mr Cummings is entitled to his opinion about the leader of the Liberal Democrats and also entitled to pass those opinions onto any publication he wishes. The line, however, that interests me is the ...
Two new reports commissioned by independent financial services membership body, TheCityUK show that leaving the European Union poses significant risks to Britain's future. This latest research suggests that exiting the EU would undermine Britain's economic well-being and the ability of business to grow and compete in world markets. The reports also found that the EU has a positive impact on driving UK trade, high productivity and growth. Read more here.
In a recent interview Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat number two in the Treasury, claimed: "The plan that we're putting in place to sort out the economy bears as much my stamp as it does George Osborne's." Official coalition perception management has it that the economy is bouncing back, employment is at its highest level ever and unemployment is falling. I think even Daily Mail readers must take this Panglossian interpretation with a pinch of salt. According to figures produced by UNISON (Kirklees Bulletin 1 - 4th April, 2014) 80% of new jobs created in Britain last year wee on zero-hours ...
Mon 28th
10:22Liberal Democrats support mixed-sex civil partnerships - and Tories don't. There's a surprise.
[IMG: image] From yesterday's Sunday Times (£): DAVID CAMERON is to veto proposals to give heterosexual couples the same right as gays to enter into civil partnerships, provoking a coalition split with the Liberal Democrats. Cameron believes that allowing civil partnerships for heterosexuals would undermine the sanctity of marriage and alienate many traditional Tory voters. It has put him at loggerheads with Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, who wants Britain to follow Holland and New Zealand and give heterosexual couples the choice between a traditional marriage ceremony or a civil partnership. The row follows the coalition's move to legalise ...
John Venn weighs up his life choices (tags: ) Ukip Accidentally Used The "First World Problems" Woman On Its Website (tags: ) Parent calls cops on teen for giving books away at a book giveaway (tags: ) Study of Pot Smokers' Brains Shows That MRIs Cause Bad Science Reporting (tags: ) w00t! Made the Golden Dozen on clicks this week :) I'd like to thank my fans, the academy, all the little people... ;) (tags: ) Andrew may have a point on UKIP here (tags: ) 2048: Liberal Democrat Edition Edition by @theweeyin96 The Internet just ate itself. (tags: ) ...
[IMG: Danny-Alexander] Today, The City UK publishes two reports which, they say, "show that leaving the EU poses very significant risks to the UK's future, undermining economic well-being and the ability of business to grow and compete in world markets." All in all, "A Legal Assessment of the UK's relationship with the EU - a financial services perspective" and "Analysing the case for EU membership - How does the economic evidence stack up? predict a quadruple whammy of higher prices and unemployment, lower growth and wages should Britain leave the EU. That's before you get to the reduction in British ...
I have been asked by Bath members to give my views on national issues like winning back the student vote, inequalities, priorities for the NHS and benefit cuts vs tax increases. I have published my thoughts under Bath FAQs. on the top right hand side of this website. Have a look and discuss with me [...]
The new and long awaited link road is taking shape. This shot was taken from Long Lane in Thornton Civil Parish on 24th April and shows the works with the built up part of Thornton in the background. [IMG: rsz_link_rd_from_long_lane_thornton_24_04_14]
Over the past few years, on behalf of residents, I have raised concerns about the condition of the former McCheyne Memorial Church on Perth Road - both relative to the grounds and to the building itself. I recently asked the City Council's Director of City Development for an update about the church and have been advised:With regard to Planning, the owners of the property previously advised that the Vestry within the Church, which was previously in residential use, was being painted and that they intended to stay there when they visited the area. I am not aware of any other ...
Mon 28th
08:00Ukip examined: who they are, what they stand for, and what it all means for British politics
[IMG: revolt on the right ukip] I've just finished reading Revolt on the Right, Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin's fascinating book analysing the rise of Ukip and what makes the party and its voters tick. Mark Pack has already written a very good review for LibDemVoice here. Here's my take on some of its key insights. Who votes for Ukip? The 'left behind' For a start, it debunks the myth that Ukip is a party of disaffected, well-to-do, shire-Tories obsessed by Europe and upset by David Cameron's mild social liberalism on same-sex marriage. Yes, there are some Ukip voters like ...
I have recently written to the Council for Mortgage Lenders to ask them to review their policy on lending money on properties blighted by Japanese knotweed. I wrote my letter after being contacted by a constituent who might lose a potential buyer due to them being refused a mortgage because there is Japanese Knotweed in a field at the rear of his home. In this particular instance the weed has been present since before he bought the property 10 years ago. It has not moved closer to his property and is not spreading. An assessor has adjudged it as level ...
This is an interesting article from 2008 about Ed Miliband's new strategist David Axelrod and his company, ASK Public Strategies. Given Labour's policy of freezing energy prices I was especially taken by this passage: One TV commercial, penned by ASK, warned of a ComEd bankruptcy and blackouts without a rate hike: "A few years ago, California politicians seized control of electric rates. They held rates down, but the true cost of energy kept rising. Soon the electric company went bust; the lights went out. Consumers had to pay for the mess." High energy prices are a major problem but the ...
Dead Man's Curve was possibly Jan and Dean's most prescient song. Jan and Dean were always ones to follow the trends, especially trends that the Beach Boys started, so when the Beach Boys put out the album Little Deuce Coupe, which was a near-concept album themed around car songs, with the single exception of the [...]
