The mention of Virginia Woolf in Six of the Best this evening put me irresistibly in mind of this scene from Alan Bennett's Forty Years On. (He is not playing the headmaster, as the blurb on Youtube suggests, but the schoolmaster Tempest.) You can hear the whole play, with Bennett, John Gielgud and Paul Eddington, elsewhere on Youtube. Its combination of high literary pastiche and low puns is very much to my taste.
"And owing to ... what's that something of circumstances you hear people talking about? Cats enter into it, if I remember rightly."Would concatenation be the word for which you are groping?""That's it. Owing to a concatenation of circumstances...."Thank you, Jeeves. Owing to an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances, as Stephen Tall makes clear, there are to be no female Liberal Democrat cabinet ministers in this parliament now that Nick Clegg has decided not to have a reshuffle before the next election: It's an understandable decision in some ways. The best time to promote Jo [Swinson] (and there's no doubt she deserves ...
"Online voting for national elections and referendums is a bad idea; they tried it in Estonia and the system has been found insecure ... Even electronic ballot counting can be fraught with errors; it might be impossible to say who actually won the London Mayoral Election in 2008." Jazz Hands, Serious Business comes out against online voting. Killian Bourke on Liberal Democrat Voice offers a radical, Liberal and localist alternative to NHS commissioning. The academies programme has transformed England's educational landscape, argues The Economist. Inforrm's Blog on " the most bewildering judgment for many years" - a celebrity has been ...
Sat 18th
21:32
It's the 21st century. Surely a woman can walk down the stairs on her own without a man to help her....
Heaven knows I love Strictly. And my love for Claudia Winkleman, who is now co-presenting the series full time with Tess Daly, knows no bounds. She's hilarious and she has a real empathy with the dancing couples. Her delicious randomness ... Continue reading →
The other day I blogged about the new Radio Times database. One of the first things I did with it, of course, was search for my favourite places in Shropshire. This threw up some fascinating (and on doubt long wiped) regional radio broadcasts on folklore and farming from the early years of radio. And it confirmed that Down Your Way and Gardners' Question Time visited every settlement in the kingdom twice. But it also threw up something unexpected. Because in 1969 Home This Afternoon ("A family magazine introduced from the Midlands by David Stevens") included this item: Hand-in-glove at Fiddler's ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 393rd 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 (5-11 October, 2014), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed. This is very late. It's been languishing in drafts since Monday evening but the not so small matter of a bit of a health scare in m house (he's fine now he's full of rat poison) has delayed it. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox ...
[IMG: collage of photos of the industry of construction and building] The final report of the Lyons Housing Review - which may well be the last major party political publication on housing before the election - was published this week. How does it measure up? Has it delivered on the ambition to sort out the chronic problems of the UK's housing supply system. We've already seen plenty of political and professional reaction. And that reaction has been mixed. Some see the Review's 39 recommendations as adding up to a bold intervention to address the deeply-ingrained problems facing Britain's misfiring housing ...
I happened to bump into the landlord of the Ostrich pub in North Street, Peterborough, the other day. He was not a happy chappy! Basically, he was telling me about some anti social behaviour that's been occurring in the well used street, and that he is puzzled why there's no CCTV cameras set up in [...]
A switch to electronic voting has been ruled out by the government – just weeks after a Labour Party report said it backed the shake-up. Sam Gyimah, the constitution minister, told MPs that such a voting revolution was unwise because there was no way to "check an error". The verdict came as Gyimah slightly increased the proportion of voters announced as being successfully matched with existing central and local databases, ahead of the switch to individual electoral registration (IER). During question time in the House of Commons, the minister said 80% of names had been matched, edging up on the ...
A new policy review for Labour by Sir Michael Lyons has suggested that the party looks at allowing more homes to be built on the green belt if the land has little "environmental or amenity value". The Daily Telegraph has the story – see link below Another depressing report that shows how out of touch Westminster really is. Building on high grade agricultural land is madness!
I happened across my Tingha and Tucker membership pack while I was sorting through my parents' house this afternoon. Here's the signed picture it contained of Jean Morton with them and their friends. [IMG: Tingha and Tucker] The pack dates from 1967 according to the postmark on the envelope it was in. As well as the photograph and badge, it also contains a membership card – almost certainly the first one I ever had. However, I doubt that I had any say in whether I wanted to join, unlike when joining another organisation that had membership cards a few years ...
Why campaigns to stop houses being built in the 'wrong' place, often prevent houses being built anywhere. So yesterday I posted about why I'm uneasy with the propensity of local Lib Dem parties to campaign against proposed housing developments. This post wound up circulating rather further than I'd expected. It was retweeted by among others the [...]
Message to not-for-profit groups with buildings in Cornwall regarding a proposal in the budget papers. I just want to draw local community groups attention to page 139 of the budget papers currently out for consultation. The proposal is to remove the discretionary business rates relief scheme that many not-for-profit and charitable organisations, with buildings currently benefit from. This will have no impact on the mandatory relief scheme and if this proposal goes ahead it will not come in until 2017/18. The purpose of this is to bring it to the attention of organisations as I know many in St Just ...
Sat 18th
15:25
Conference Speeches: Lynne Featherstone: I have been able to do über-Liberal things in Governme...
[IMG: Lynne FEatherstone 2007 Brighton conference by Liberal Democrats] Conference may have been a week or so ago but we still have some keynote speeches to post. Lynne Featherstone spoke about the work she had done to help the most vulnerable people across the world with great humility. She said she had been able to introduce über-liberal policies but was also keen to pay tribute to Danny Alexander and Nick Clegg for getting the economy on track. She spoke powerfully about what she's dong to protect women and girls around the globe and talked with great humility, saying that whenever ...
James Alison will be addressing how best we engage with those who are opposed to the full inclusion of LGBT people in Church life. The event is running in Belfast South Methodist Church, Lisburn Road, Belfast at 8pm on Wednesday 12 November. The Church is near the junction with Adelaide Park: look out for the "Agape Centre" sign outside. Coffee [...]
In the highly unlikely event you want to comment here, I'm afraid you can't. I have *either* been subject to an ongoing eighteen-month harassment campaign by one Mr Joe Simpson Walker, publisher of erotic fiction and Magic Band fan, *or* for some reason I am incredibly unpopular just among users of TalkTalk's dynamic ADSL internet [...]
For idealists like me the last 4 and half years have been deeply unpleasant. Compromise at every turn. Disappointment on so many fronts. Proportional representation deep in the long grass, House of Lords reform stalled, removal of tuition fees scrapped. The list of things I thought (and still think!) are important which failed to come to be is long (and covered in unhappy smileys). Of course very well-meaning (and mostly correct) Lib Dem loyalists with tell you how the Lib Dems didn't win the 2010 election, had to compromise in Government, made tuition fees less onerous and did lots of ...
[IMG: members forum wordle] LibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you're reading now. The second is our private members' forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access. If you're a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that's on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you'll be included in our regular surveys' of party members' views. Here's some of the most active discussions this past 7 days: Lord Freud – was what he said so wrong?; Jeremy Browne Resigns; TV election debates: Farage invited; ...
#90998855 / gettyimages.com Back in June I wrote that Nick Clegg would be making a mistake if he appointed Danny Alexander as our economic spokesman for 2015. He has now made that mistake. Let me cut and paste what I wrote in June: I do hope that Nick will not appoint Danny as our economic spokesman at the next election. I have not seen a single media or parliamentary performance from Danny that has involved him doing more than shuffle a limited number of prefabricated sentences. It is hard to imagine him doing well in the televised chancellors' debate, for ...
Sat 18th
12:25Voters give Liberal Democrats credit for tax threshold rise according to IPSOS-MORI poll
We all heard David Cameron and George Osborne take credit as often as they can for the raising of the tax threshold during this Parliament but a poll from IPSOS-MORI with fieldwork done after our Conference shows that the public just aren't buying the Tory claims. 41% give the Liberal Democrats the credit for the policy compared to just 26% for the Conservatives as this graphic shows. [IMG: ISPOS-MORI tax threshold poll] The commentary says: The Liberal Democrats have retained most of the credit for the rise in personal allowances in the current Parliament - though an increased number are ...
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe, featuring a great quote from Winston Churchill:
Surprise, surprise (not) it's now been confirmed that, what was supposed to be "Europe's largest solar energy park" on 900 acres of local farmland has finally been pulled by the Conservative controlled City Council in Peterborough! We've also now discovered that at the same time of cutting services and closing care centres, the Tories at [...]
[IMG: Penn Beaver] Many years ago, my Chicago Connection rolled into London from wherever he'd last been. Kenya? Malaysia? Guatemala? He had with him a VHS tape (remember those? They were archaic even back then) that he said contained a film entitled "The Beaver Trilogy" that I just had to see immediately. I looked at him semi-sceptically until he described it to me. Having heard his mini-synopsis, I decided that yes, I did indeed need to see the film immediately. It runs about 90 minutes in total and, as the title would suggest, is split into three distinct portions. The ...
Sat 18th
10:55Economic liberals or social liberals? Pragmatists or ideologues? How Lib Dem members describe their ...
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. Almost 600 party members responded to this set of questions - thank you - in a supplementary poll ran just before the party conference. How do Lib Dem members think of their own political identity? I asked this question in April 2011, when the Coalition was less than a year old. With less than a year of the Coalition left, I thought it was time to revisit it. 60% social liberals, 29% ...
BBC Genome is a great website, but has some amusing typos (tags: ) The polling's not all good for UKIP: See this worrying data for Farage's party from YouGov and Ipsos-MORI (tags: ) Brain baloney has no place in the classroom - on teachers believing total myths about the brain & learning (tags: ) Tory MP David Tredinnick: "perhaps the worst example of scientific illiteracy in government." But is he also a liar? (tags: ) The 10 most deliciously ironic news stories of all time (tags: ) A quango Combined authority? I'd rather an elected Yorkshire Parliament! (tags: ) Exploring ...
There is no other way to describe the decision to make Danny Alexander the economic spokesperson for the Lib Dems at the General Election. That is all. socialise this: [IMG: add 'Unbelievably Stupid' a Del.icio.us] [IMG: add 'Unbelievably Stupid' a digg] [IMG: add 'Unbelievably Stupid' a Stumble Upon] [IMG: add 'Unbelievably Stupid' a FaceBook] [IMG: add 'Unbelievably Stupid' a Twitter]
The National Union of Students is questioning candidates across the country via the medium of Twitter as part of its build up to next year's General Election. The idea is that they will take one marginal seat at a time and ask each of its candidates a series of ten questions. The candidates will then tweet their replies. The first such event took place last Wednesday involving the candidates from Derby North, including our own Lucy Care. Tackling the subject of tuition fees in 140 characters and doing it justice was quite a challenge but Lucy managed it. There were ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see the link above. Not surprised by this story as I have often wondered why Council documents in general and budget papers in particular are so complicated. I realise that they are built upon ever changing rules and guidance laid down by Governments but what hope do Joe and Jane Public really have of being able to hold their local authority to account? Jargon, 'Council speak' and language only understandable to accountants and solicitors often dominates such documents and I know as a councillor that in depth reviews of such paperwork needs ...
I have not mentioned the Frank Hornby Trust or the efforts of local campaigners to get some branding on Maghull's present station (not to be confused with the new second one to be built soon) for a while but a Steering Group meeting of Maghull in Bloom the other day brought the issues to life again. The objective is to get a story board erected at Maghull Station which includes a brief reminder of Frank Hornby's connections with the Town and a map with a walking tour so that visitors who arrive by train can visit them. [IMG: This is ...
New from the Deputy Prime Minister's office:
On Thursday, I took part in a walkabout with council officers round the Pentland area, similar to the one last Tuesday in Blackness, at which we identified and take action on local issues. In Pentland, the following were taken up - amongst other issues : Repairs to steps at various locations in Pentland are being undertaken Overgrown bushes in Pentand Avenue are to be trimmed and trees requiring trimming also reported I have reported paint vandalism to a utility box at Colinton Street/Saggar Street to British Telecom Later on Thursday, I chaired the latest meeting of the West End Christmas ...
Today's Times reports that Labour MPs are worried that the dysfunctional nature of their leader's office will leave the party exposed and out for the count at the General Election. The paper says that unforced errors and an apparent unwillingness to expand and explain Labour's more controversial plans is angering the rest of the party. The problem is made worse by Ed Miliband's tendency to duck big, often binary decisions even when he has been given plenty of notice: There is a growing belief that while he can be smart when forced to choose between a right-wing and a left-wing ...
Congratulations to George Murray and Jon Featonby, who lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 7, with 421 and 419 points respectively. They've opened a bit of a gap at the top — but just 18 points separate the next 8 places. [IMG: LDV FANTASY FOOTBALL_7] There are 149 players in total and you can still join the league by clicking here. * Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and editor of the 2013 publication, The Coalition and Beyond: Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead. He is also a Research Associate for the liberal think-tank CentreForum and ...
Last year we formally launched our campaign for a new local secondary school. We've been so successful that over 750 families have signed up to give there support and two school providers have applied to open it – Haberdashers' and Charter. But the same thorny issue could potentially scupper the brilliant school we all want – a site. The obvious site is the Dulwich Hospital site where more extensive replacement health facilities only need around a third of the site. The remaining two-thirds would be ideal for our secondary school. But we've hit two snags. By far the largest is ...
....you see this video of a mothereffing shark feeding frenzy: HT: I fucking love scienceFiled under: Uncategorized
Sat 18th
00:45Danny Alexander, not Vince Cable, designated Lib Dem shadow chancellor (oh, and no Lib Dem reshuffle...
[IMG: speech danny alexander 6] The Guardian's Nick Watt reports today the long-trailed announcement that Danny Alexander, Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury, will take on the role of the party's shadow chancellor at the 2015 election: Nick Clegg has decided that Alexander, his closest ally in the cabinet, will be the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman during the campaign and will face George Osborne and Ed Balls in any television debates on the economy. ... The Lib Dems insisted that the election roles for Alexander and Cable were consistent with their cabinet roles. A Lib Dem spokesman said: "We ...
