So we've had the first real sign of jitters within the SNP ranks tonight. Up until now, they've been as tight as anything, united against everyone else as they pursue their lifelong goals. In fact, I suspect there might have ... Continue reading →
The old Stanley Park High School is being redeveloped to accommodate the Bandon Hill Primary School Wood Field Campus. Currently four Bandon Hill reception year classes are in operation on this site, with work ongoing to accommodate further year groups. There is also an Autistic department known as Oakfield. A consultation event is being held [...]
Friday Though the wheways have arrived and are eyeing the hamwees suspiciously as they select the best sites for nests, it prove necessary to cancel this afternoon's natural ramble with the Well-Behaved Orphans. Industrial fumes from the Continent and the sand blown in from deserts in the arid south of Rutland make the air unpleasant to breathe, and Matron is quite adamant on the subject. Her remarks on my own oil rigs on Rutland Water, however, and both unkind and ill-founded. Instead, I lead the little mites in a game of by-elections. In the most enjoyable of ways this entertainment ...
So we've had the first real sign of jitters within the SNP ranks tonight. Up until now, they've been as tight as anything, united against everyone else as they pursue their lifelong goals. In fact, I suspect there might have been a few times Nick Clegg has looked at the loyalty of SNP members and elected members and maybe felt a wee pang of envy. Even when two SNP MSPs resigned the whip over the party's abandoning of its anti NATO stance, it was all done more in sorrow than anger. In practice those MSPs still vote with the party ...
One of my favourite memories of New York is drinking in a bar high in a skyscraper just off Madison Avenue. It was just like being in Mad Men. Talking of which, I hear that Don Draper enters the news series to the sound of the Spencer Davis Group. It was this track that started me off on my enthusiasm for Steve Winwood. A coffee shop in Harborough used to play a 1960s compliation CD and I'm a Man was one of the tracks on it. I had always known the song, but this was the first time I had ...
On Sunday a group of travellers (6-7 caravans along with a mechanical digger, truck and other vehicles) moved onto the playing fields behind Grange Park Road, Cheadle. The entrance to the fields is blocked with logs, but with the digger they were able to move the logs and drive on. We spoke to several residents on the Sunday and ensured the Police were aware. First thing on Monday morning we spoke to the Council and initiated the process to get the travellers evicted: it's a playing field, not a caravan park! We also delivered a letter to local residents bordering ...
BBC News presenter Jon Sopel has just announced he has got one of the glamour jobs at the Beeb – North America Editor: Delighted, honoured and maybe a little daunted to be appointed BBC North America Editor — Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) April 29, 2014
To some its a nuisance, an anachronism, not a word I ever thought I'd use when staring out the window during a grey less than inspirational English lesson at Charles Dickens secondary modern back in day, or ten minutes ago sat in the back of a van after a day building railways, anyhoo I never thought you could buy any airport for a quid and six months later be considering the asset value. Things change and some believe that Manston, belongs to another age, the airport has changed over time maybe it still could, so rather than tragedy of 140 ...
Our Headline of the Day contest sees another victory for the Shropshire Star.
An encouraging report from the student newspaper York Vision: Students at the University will predominantly vote for the Lib Dems in 2015, Vision can reveal, after a poll showed that 35 per cent of students will vote for Nick Clegg's party. Despite having one of the largest Conservative societies in the UK, only 13 per cent said that they would vote for the Conservatives, and 4 per cent said that they would vote for UKIP. Left-wing parties had more votes than right-wing parties, with 14 per cent saying they would vote Green whilst 24 per cent said that they would ...
I returned home on my community bus this evening, only to notice that a Speed Indication Device, or SID for short, was placed by the roadside near the parish noticeboard. You will doubtless be pleased to hear that my speed was recorded as being 'Lo', which I think is probably a good thing. I was reminded that, whilst we were away, the Parish Council newsletter had been delivered, along with a slip of paper described as a questionnaire, asking for our views on a 20 mph speed limit for the village, and for the Police speed enforcement van to visit ...
Southwark Council has a number of leaseholders and pseudo freeholders. Many houses and flats over the last 40 years have been sold under the Right To Buy but because the road they're on has been kept as an estate road they've been sold as freehold houses or leasehold flats that pay estate charges and often much more. I think we need a small team to review all such freeholds and leaseholds with the aim of adopting the highways and severing freeholder and leaseholder liabilities for highways. Similarly for leaseholders. in many cases being the freeholder creates a painful liability and ...
If you want to vote by post in this year's local and European elections (for example if you're away on 22nd May, have mobility problems or just think you might not have the time to get down to the polling station) you've got until 5pm on 7th May to get your application form for a postal vote to the Town Hall. You can get more information and download the form from the Council website.
From the Council: Contractors working on behalf of United Utilities will be undertaking works to replace a service on Northenden Road, Gatley, between the junctions with West End Avenue and Greenbank Road. These works will take place between 7th May 2014 and 13th May 2014 and require the use of two-way signals, between the hours of 9.30am and 3.30pm only.
[IMG: erasmus] Yesterday the European Union increased its commitment to providing learning and development opportunities for young people right here in Britain, through the launch of the revamped Erasmus+ programme. The new revamped Erasmus+ programme has a total budget of £12 billion, with £100 million already earmarked for the UK in 2014 alone. Along with my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Brussels we pushed for a bigger Erasmus budget than the previous scheme and were successful in obtaining a 40% increase at a time when the overall EU budget was cut. Grants will now be made available for education, training, youth ...
The UKIP leader is in Swansea tomorrow and will be addressing what is being billed as a 'sell-out' rally. My focus however is on what he will not be telling us. In particular I hope that he will use his visit to clarify the position around his own expenses. Mr. Farage recently performed a major u-turn on his offer to allow an independent audit of his spending of European parliamentary allowances. He said: "I don't think the general public are that interested in whether I've strictly observed the rules" This is despite the majority of British MEPs publishing independently audited ...
[IMG: POD-Point] The Liberal Democrats have just announced a new Government initiative to encourage the use of electric cars. Drivers of electric cars already benefit from zero road tax and zero congestion charge in London, as well as the knowledge that they are helping to reduce air pollution. But they have also had to plan journeys carefully so they can find charge-points when they need them. According to the announcement, the new investment should result in many more rapid charge-points around the country – including provision at every motorway service station. Areas that gain 'ultra-low city status' will be rewarded. ...
Former Liberal leader Lord (David) Steel has responded on today's BBC Radio 4 World at One to accusations that he failed to take seriously allegations levelled in 1979 by Private Eye magazine that Cyril Smith abused boys at a Rochdale hostel. You can listen to Martha Kearney's interview with him here: Here's an excerpt from the accompanying BBC report: Lord Steel said he challenged Cyril Smith about allegations in 1979 he abused boys at a Rochdale hostel. The ex-Liberal leader told BBC Radio 4′s The World at One the claims in Private Eye dated back to Smith's time as a ...
As a new graphic from Platform London demonstrates, oil money flows through science in culture. Should we be concerned? Question: What has science got in common with opera? Answer: They are both cultural pursuits favoured by the oil industry. This comes via the NGO Platform who produced a new infographic this week, visualising their research exploring how much oil money goes into London's galleries and museums. My experiences with Shell left me firmly with the impression that they are neither stupid nor villains. On the contrary I know of no other human agency that plans as far ahead or considers ...
The Welsh Labour Government are "fudging its figures" regarding its Jobs Growth Wales scheme. Recent figures showed that hundreds of young people are going backwards in their progression following placements on the scheme. Figures collated by the Welsh Liberal Democrats show that 28% of those who completed a 6 month private sector placement on the scheme went onto an apprenticeship, further education or other training. My quesion is why these young people, who are expected to be "job ready" when they start the scheme, are no longer "job ready" when they finish. Jobs Growth Wales is talked about in near ...
[IMG: image] Last week, the SNP's first broadcast for the European Elections was broadcast. It bore a remarkable similarity to the broadcasts that they have been putting out since the end of last year which were all aimed at persuading people to vote Yes in the independence referendum. It interspersed colourful footage of children talking about how wonderful and independent Scotland with black and white starkness portraying a vision of hellish Westminster rule. George Lyon, Scotland's Liberal Democrat MEP questioned why they would put out a broadcast which, in a 420 word script, mentioned independence 4 times and Europe, er, ...
It would seem, that Grayling has no concept of rehabilitation whatsoever in prison, it is punishment and that is it! Might as well bring back the 'screw' the forms of punishment was to crank a handle attached to a large wooden box. The cranking did nothing, other than turn a counter. The prisoner had to do 10,000 turns in 8 hours, equivalent to one every 3 seconds or so. As an extra punishment a warder could tighten a screw to make turning more difficult. Warders came to be known as 'screws'. By inference, the prisoner was 'screwed' and, although 'screw' ...
If you want to get angry about the way, the UK is 'going down the drain': do not blame the disabled, the forcefully redundant; the welfare recipients (most of which are the working poor and pensioners); the immigrants who are supposedly stealing that cleaning/nursing/building/plumbing job you were never qualified for. Blame the successive governments for the way they have increased income equality and how they still have a 'them and us' attitude to paying their way. I point to this article by George Monbiot, which goes at depth a t something I wrote last week on gun licences. * Bernie ...
Saturday 26th April saw all kinds of huge earth moving equipment, diggers and tractors being displayed along Brickwall Lane in Sefton Village. For those of you whose hobby is following such vehicles it must have been quite a tractor fest! [IMG: rsz_img_0502] [IMG: rsz_img_0505] Of course, they were all part of the building of the new Brooms Cross Road from Switch Island to Thornton.
[IMG: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe] Yesterday evening I attended a European Parliamentary hustings at the University of Bristol. Five parties were represented on the platform - including three of the South West's MEPs. There were probably seven hundred people in the audience. So a discussion of European politics can attract a decent crowd down our way. It was well-organised and well-run event organised by the Law School in collaboration with PolicyBristol and the School for Sociology, Politics and International Studies. The tone of the discussion was generally civilised. There were only one or two moments in the ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg in a London school] Last week, Nick Clegg gave a speech at the launch of the Cityfathers, a network of working dads based in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf. In it, he focused in particular on changes to parental leave coming into force next year, which will allow couples to transfer a portion of their maternity leave entitlement to fathers after two weeks. While the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has argued that we should go further, creating a 'use it or lose it' block of leave for fathers, in general the Coalition's move has ...
UKIP published a series of EU "myth busters" which either don't add up, or don't bust the "myth" they refer to. It's worth noting the hyperlinks which are suspiciously missing from the UKIP "myth busting".Here we go through step by step to show, with facts, why UKIP is wrong. MYTH 1. Britain would lose out on millions of jobs if we left the EU.UKIP FACT: This is a common deceit. In fact, the EU would lose 4 millions jobs if it ceased trading with the UK, it's biggest customer. The EU sells more to us than we sell to it. ...
Mark and Kerry's story has been told in various places. They are now living in Scotland having left Fife because the local authority said Kerry did not have the capacity to marry Mark and look after their son. They now have two children.
Don't forget this Saturday (3 May 2014) is the Simister St George's Church Festival. The procession starts at 11.00am. All activities are at the Church and the Lady Wilton Hall (admission 50p, Children free). There is a fancy dress and art competition for children. Hope the days goes well!
Just an update on the site of the Former Blackley Box Factory which is between Henry Street, Bailey Street, Kings Close and Kenyon Lane – all just off Bury Old Road. A number of residents have been in touch around the unsightly nature of the plot of land which is now derelict, and fears for the safety of the former factory itself. I liaised with Council Officers who were very helpful in working with the new owners of the site to clear up a number of eyesores and rectify the most offending aspects of the derelict site. As I understand ...
Radio Cornwall has raised concerns today about the potential for people who are not entitled to vote being sent poll cards for the forthcoming European Parliament elections. It seems that a mistake was made in the individual case raised - for which the council has apologised - but we know that this was an isolated incident. Every year, the council sends out registration forms to every household in Cornwall. These request the details of every adult living in the house, as well as everyone aged 16 or 17 (with their date of birth) as these people will become eligible to ...
There has been some discussion both in my Inbox and on Twitter recently regarding the implications of the Same-Sex Marriage Act for Trans folk in England and Wales. To try to clear things up, I have written the below (With my LGBT+ Liberal Democrats hat on, so it carries some weight) to the General Register Office. Their auto-reply promises a response within five working days, but I would imagine this one may take a little longer. I am fairly confident of a positive reply in terms of all aspects of this with the exception of the wording to be used ...
UK jobseekers to have to sign on every day, or do six months unpaid work. (tags: ) Where are UKIP standing in the local elections? Handy maps by @election_data (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Two bits of news around Metrolink. Rochdale Town Centre Line Open Rochdale's new town centre Metrolink line opened to passengers on Monday 31 March. The line is an extension of the existing line through Oldham to Rochdale, which previously terminated at Rochdale railway station while the town centre extension was completed. The new town centre tram stop is directly opposite Number One Riverside - Rochdale's flagship new library, customer service centre and council offices. The line through Oldham Town Centre opened earlier in the year – so apparently the Metrolink network to 48.5 miles (78km), serving 77 stops. Mobility Scooters ...
Last week, the SNP's first broadcast for the European Elections was broadcast. It bore a remarkable similarity to the broadcasts that they have been putting out since the end of last year which were all aimed at persuading people to vote Yes ... Continue reading →
[IMG: logo_lg new Liberal Democrat logo] Five people lost their lives in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan last week. Amongst them, sadly, was 26 year old Lance Corporal Oliver Thomas from Brecon, who had worked as a researcher for Roger Williams in his Westminster office. Tributes have been paid by a number of leading Liberal Democrats. From Nick Clegg: My heartfelt sympathies go to the family, partner, friends and colleagues of Oliver Thomas. Oliver, or Oli as he was known, was taking a break from his role as a researcher in Westminster to Roger Williams. I understand from Roger that ...
Between April 25th at 1200hrs and April 28th at 1300hrs, a shed burglary took place in Thruffle Way, Bar Hill. Perpetrator(s) has gained entry to the shed via the rear garden and has taken a high valued lawn mower. If you have any information regarding the above crime report, please call 101 and quote crime reference number: CF0154870414 Kind Regards PCSO 7009 Bujar MANI
Elections take place on Thursday 22 May 2014 for both local elections and European Parliament elections. These elections are later than normal (so that they are at the same time as the rest of the European Union), and I know this is moving into more of a 'holiday period' for some people. Any resident can apply to have a postal vote, but the deadline for applications this year is Wednesday 7 May 2014 (next week). You do not have to be on holiday to have a postal vote, you might just find this easier. Postal votes are secure, each vote ...
A new planning application has been received – not in Holyrood Ward but might well be of interest to people: Application Number: 57464 Registration Date: 09/04/2014 Location: Land off Kingswood Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 3BP Proposal: Demolition of existing buildings for residential development of 6 detached and 18 semi-detached houses with associated external works. Details are on the Council's website here. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need any further information. Tim
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 ... Continue reading →
A new planning application has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 57478 Registration Date: 16/04/2014 Location: 66 Simister Lane, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2RZ Proposal: Partial rebuild and two storey extension at side/front Details are on the Council's website here. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need any further information. Tim
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A new planning application has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 57468 Registration Date: 10/04/2014 Location: 54 Tamworth Avenue, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 6UA Proposal: Single storey rear extension. Details are on the Council's website here. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need any further information. Tim
Further to my article last Friday about planned improvements to Riverside Drive west of Tesco, I have received residents' complaints about the unkempt look of the road east of Tesco towards the rail station. Areas are not properly grassed over and there's a fair bit of litter lying about. I contacted the council's Director of City Development regarding this and he has advised: "The City Engineer's Division ... recently asked the Environment Department to provide a quotation to tidy up the area at the West end of the Bus lay-by. It is also intended to plant grass and refresh the ...
[IMG: Polling station sign. Photo credit: nilexuk on Flickr] Lib Dems in England will need no reminding that 22nd May isn't just European election polling day: it's also local election day across all 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 74 second-tier district authorities, 20 unitary authorities and five directly-elected mayoral posts. There are 4,216 seats up for grabs. No party is contesting them all, though as you can see both Labour and Conservatives are fielding candidates in more than 90% of them, while the Lib Dems are contesting 65%. Ukip will be standing in just under 50% of seats ...
Many times this topic has come up on my News Desk. Is the problem of nuisance bikers in the town getting worse, or has it levelled off? And how would you tackle them? A councillor in Caddington had a go at off road bikers at the weekend and ended up having his foot run over by one of them. Police can set up a team (occasionally) at great expense and serve section 59 notices. Riding motorbikes on footpaths is illegal; riding without insurance is illegal; riding without a helmet is illegal. Last year I witnessed a rider doing a wheelie ...
Traders losing their businesses in Hemel Hempstead High Street. Time to compensate the traders! My Dad lost his supermarket business in Norfolk when the water board closed and dug up the road in front of his shop for 3 months.
If you live in Maghull you have probably heard the Labour Party claim that Maghull Town Hall roof cost £500,000. They seem to have worked on the basis that if they repeat it often enough in their leaflets and in the Aintree & Maghull Champion folks will believe it. Like all the other members of Maghull Town Council I have known since at least October 2012 that the real cost of the roof refurbishment was £206,816.79, considerably less than half the cost that Labour have claimed. 'The actual cost was £206,816.79′ in the words of Maghull's independent Town Clerk Angela ...
Council leader Liz Green among a group of campaigners and candidates launch the party's 2014 manifesto which contains a commitment to build four new primary schools and another new secondary. At of course the Willoughby Arms...
National pride "must be a good thing" I find it utterly bizarre that Alex Salmond thought it true, let alone prudent to say, that Putin having "restored Russian pride" "must be a good thing", least of all in the middle of March, just after Russian troops had violated Ukrainian sovereignty and seized control over barracks in Sevastopol. The double standards that come from calling the NATO intervention in Kosovo "an unpardonable folly" or characterising the US/UK invasion of Iraq as an illegal war amounting to western imperialism, but waving away Russian violations of human rights and international law as "aspects ...
