From the Roads Maintenance Partnership Manager from Dundee City Council/Tayside Contracts earlier today in response to my request for information on the promised road surface quality inspection: "The works are not fully complete therefore I have not carried out a final inspection yet. I have however carried out an interim inspection of the carriageway surface. In general the surface matrix is good, well bound, appropriately chipped etc. I anticipate however that the enquiry relates to the vertical profile of the road on the westbound carriageway between the Tesco roundabout and the Tay Rail Bridge. Due to the flatness of the ...
A lengthy set of City Council committee meetings tonight at which : * At Education Committee, I welcomed a report on extending language learning in primary schools (Blackness PS is in the pilot of this) and asked questions about choice of languages. * At Environment Committee, I paid tribute to the Friends of Magdalen Green (and in particular Sharon Dickie and Alice La Rooy) for their huge efforts with the Roseangle playpark campaign, which reached fruition tonight as committee approved the go-ahead for the improvement works. I also welcomed improvements to the Ancrum Road allotments and queried progress with the ...
#2716766 / gettyimages.com If you work with the media, come across someone with a familiar name and think "I wonder if he is related to...", the answer is always yes.
Stockport Council, in conjunction with local branches of the Royal British Legion, has helped to organise commemorative services and events in the borough on Remembrance Sunday (9th November) and Armistice Day, Tuesday 11th November. On Remembrance Sunday, The Mayor of Stockport, Councillor Kevin Hogg, will lead the borough in paying respects at the Civic Service at Stockport War Memorial, by Stockport Art Gallery, in the town centre. At precisely 11.00am there will be a two-minute silence, ending with the Last Post. Following prayers and hymns, and a reflection given by The Archdeacon of Macclesfield, The Venerable Ian Bishop, wreaths will ...
[IMG: Cheadle Mosque NSPCC photo] Cheadle Mosque's 10th Annual Open Day was a huge success with many families from all corners of Cheadle coming through the doors. With so many activities including the bouncy slide, chocolate fountain, Wacky races, Rodeo Bull and Animal show there were many happy children leaving. The day wasn't just about opening the doors to the Mosque – Cheadle Mosque has dedicated £1500 raised at the Open Day to the NSPCC. The NSPCC is doing wonderful work in working to stop cruelty to children; Cheadle Mosque and the Muslim community remain committed to supporting them in ...
So very, very, very, very tired...Hopefully I'll be back to proper posts tomorrow, but I literally didn't have a second alone from Friday lunchtime through this morning... Slate Star Codex looks at the scientific evidence about Alcoholics Anonymous, and finds all of the science is bad. Let your kids discover the magic of workism! Alex [...]
I'm rather fond of my Kindle and am generally a big fan of the idea of e-readers. I like being able to carry a lot of book around with me and being able to adjust the print size. And I've been sceptical about those who claim that there's something inferior about them relative to paper [...]
Third Sector has an interview with the former Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton: In July, Ballard, 61, became chief executive of Alcohol Concern, the charity that aims to minimise the risks of alcohol by campaigning for legislative change and by educating the public about the dangers. On paper, it is something of a comedown for a woman who has led two of the country's biggest and best-known charities to take the helm at one that employs 14 people and had an income of about £1m in 2014. But Ballard does not see it that way. "My career in the voluntary ...
So, I have made it to London City Airport after a day of taxis, trains, a tram and an Embraer 190SR. It has been fun, especially the train rides and, whilst the last leg of my trip involves Abellio Greater Anglia, it has been worth the effort. The Eurostar Italia service from Rome to Milan was very efficient, even at 291km/h, with a welcome glass of prosecco, a small but perfect sweet treat and surprisingly good espresso, but the Swiss Railways EC316 was a step up in terms of sheer enjoyment. The veal schnitzel Zürich style was served with spätzel ...
Yesterday, Richard and I celebrated our twentieth anniversary by getting married. Richard and Alex Wedding 1 It was wonderful, and we're incredibly happy. Thank you to all the many lovely people who came to celebrate with us - and many who couldn't. Richard and Alex Wedding 2 Among the huge highlights for us was a reading performed by our lovely friends Nick and Simon. Like the TARDIS, it was something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue - we wrote it ourselves, but over thirty other writers had written it first, before we assembled nearly ninety quotations from Doctor ...
November's Cheadle Area Committee is coming up. The meeting is at 6pm on Tuesday 4th November 2014 at the Ladybridge Park Residents Club, Edenbridge Road, Cheadle Hulme. All welcome, as ever. Items up for discussion include: Planning application 56489: Retention of use of woodland / agricultural land for dog care day facility including siting of portacabin and timber barn, creation of timber steps and erection of temporary fencing, 90 Manchester Road. Double yellow lines at junction of Cranston Grove and Park Road Consider resident objections to additional no-parking measures around Bolshaw School, Cross Road, Heald Green. Proposal for limited waiting ...
[IMG: old care photo] I'm at that certain age. You spend your whole life not even thinking about pensions, or paying for Universities or nursing homes. And then you get to the age when you think about little else. I am there. We've been through that very confusing shock when a 100% able-bodied and independent relative becomes, overnight, 100% dependent on care. Wading through the bewildering and worrying facts and figures about going into care homes, and facing the sudden possibility of needing Lasting Power of Attornies, a house clearance/sale and £1000 bills per week is utterly petrifying. Thank God ...
[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-10-27 at 17.45.31] Elle magazine is doing a big push for feminism at the moment. It attempted to get the three main party leaders south of the border to wear their "This is what a feminist looks like" t-shirt. Ed Miliband was happy to do it and so was Nick Clegg, who said: I support equality and choice - so yes, I'm a feminist. How on earth in this day and age can you not be? As a wiser person than me once said: "Men who actually treat women as equals are the ones with more cojones." ...
[IMG: 3d Render Of House Concept (Rent Metaphor)] Last Thursday I toddled up to London to take part in a conference entitled Next Generation Solutions: Housing Transformation, organised by HACT/Northern Housing Consortium. I followed Frances Coppola as part of the final plenary session. My talk on the day was called Social Housing 2.0. But I'm not entirely sure that captures what I said. So I've retitled it here. You can find the text to accompany my presentation below the fold. It was a very interesting event, with the various presentations cohering well around the theme (I'll exclude my presentation from ...
I saw this slogan on the back of a car a couple of months back in Bootle and then a few days ago I saw another car with one on it in Lydiate. An old mate of mine from Maghull used to practice this day in day out in that whenever another driver tried to push him along by driving up close he would slow down to teach the other driver a lesson. He was doing this 25 years ago. It would seem this type of response to the impatient and indeed dangerous drivers is catching on.
Until I'd read this Guardian story about it I'd never heard of KidZania. That was possibly a good thing, because now I'm despairing that we live in a world in which it exists. If you've never heard of it until now, here's how they describe themselves: KidZania provides children and their parents a safe, unique, and very realistic educational environment that allows kids between the ages of four to twelve to do what comes naturally to them: role-playing by mimicking traditionally adult activities. As in the real world, children perform "jobs" and are either paid for their work (as a ...
Take a look in the bottom right corner of this new graphic produced by the Liberal Democrats: Wind farms outstrip the amount of power generated by nuclear power stations http://t.co/hFYlFHJaGR pic.twitter.com/ejpCQN2bFX — Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) October 23, 2014 See that text in bold? "Opportunity for Everyone" has until very recently been the mostly forgotten third part of the party's national message. It's been there in theory since the start of Stronger Economy / Fairer Society but has been mostly missing from speeches, slogans and artwork even though Paddy Ashdown always talked about it being for him the most important part ...
Here's a blog from my recent visit to Somalia. I went in my capacity as Minister for International Development, and UK Ministerial Champion for tackling violence against women and girls abroad. When you think of Somalia, you probably think of Black Hawk Down, Al Shabaab terrorism and piracy. But if you're born a girl in Somalia, you face so many other risks, both severe and everyday. Decades of war and humanitarian crises have given Somalia a reputation as one of the worst places to be woman or a child in the world. Girls and women suffer disproportionately from violence and ...
[IMG: Ed Davey Social Liberal Forum conference Jul 19 2014 Photo by Paul Walter] Interviewed in the Sunday Telgraph, Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, said that he had asked the energy regulators for extra contingency measures to cut consumption in event of a cold winter or more power station failures. Emergency plans will be announced tomorrow in which hotels will be paid to turn down refrigerators and factories paid to make staff work overnight to cut energy consumption and prevent blackouts this winter. Ed Davey said: We have demand-side contingencies. We have had them for a long time, but they ...
I've never felt much kinship with Lidl. The bare, rather unfriendly aisles, the functional and inadequate space for paying, never gives me much comfort to be there. It feels somewhat alien, even now. But I warmed to them when I saw their advert giving Morrisons a good kicking. You can read it here. It explains the palaver of getting a Morrisons loyalty card, fiddling around with passwords, remembering what food items qualify for the system of loyalty points. As they say at the end: 'Or you could just go to Lidl'. It must have enraged Morrisons, and so it should ...
West Cornwall Badger Vaccination Project arrives at Higher Carnyorth Farm [IMG: Badger Health check] Badger Health check Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting those involved in the project researching the part vaccinating badgers can play in reducing TB in cattle. We have agreed to be part of the scheme, advocated by our MP Andrew George, and run by the Zoological Society of London. We have a large bank between our smallholding and the neighbouring field and from what I've seen and been told this weekend, it is home to a healthy looking bunch of badgers! [IMG: Badger weigh ...
Q: The Triple what?? I hear some of you saying! Basically, it's just a term for system introduced thanks to the Liberal Democrats. It's full name is the Triple Lock guarantee. It provides a guarantee that pensions WILL increase with inflation, earnings OR 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest. So as recent figures showed below [...]
Here are three more photographs from my father's collection of slides, taken during the late 1950s. The first shows the departure area for Channel Air Bridge, which specialised in flying cars and their passengers from Southend airport to Rotterdam, Calais or as in my father's case, Ostend. [IMG: Southend Airport, late 1950s. Channel Air Bridge Departures] The second is a photograph of the Bristol 170 Superfreighter 32, G-AOUV, that flew the Southend to Ostend route at this time. The cars were loaded on and off through the nose of the aircraft. [IMG: Aircraft G-AOUV] The final photograph is of my ...
A quick update on three stories that local campaigners might find useful: Public Health The LGA has been working with the King's Fund to come up with some useful infographics to show how much investing in public health initiatives can save in terms of more expensive clinical intervention later on. Following Lib Dems making sure [...]
Mon 27th
14:31
LibLink: What Nick Clegg wrote on Mumsnet about shared parental leave - and he didn't mince his word...
[IMG: Nick Clegg Glasgow 2014 by Liberal Democrats] Let's bankrupt Britain's businesses and, once we're done, burn the buildings to the ground. This is what you might have thought I'd said last week, if you saw some of the reaction to my plans to increase fathers' rights when it comes to shared parental leave. Nick Clegg was writing on Mumsnet at the weekend, dealing with some of the misleading and downright misogynistic claims made in the media about the scheme. As he made clear: From now on the Civil Service will pay the same to fathers who take parental leave ...
So let me get this straight. Our economy is deemed to be doing better than we thought because the inclusion of the sex and drugs market has boosted it by about £10 billion a year. But that's not the important point when it comes to the EU. We have been presented with a bill because the improvement in our economy is bigger than the improvement in other economies, which are all now being measured by the same rules. So, clearly, we're spending more on sex and drugs than other people do. Why would that be? I can think of several ...
[IMG: ldeg-logo] The next 5 years will be amongst the most important for the Liberal Democrats, for Britain and for the European Union. Liberal Democrats face three important European challenges, to: Elect, or re-elect, Liberal Democrat MPs to ensure, as far as we can, that the UK government is constructive about the European Union as a means to advance the UK public's interests. Win any referendum on Europe. Return a large group of Liberal Democrat MEPs in 2019 to fight for the interests of our constituents and a more liberal and democratic Europe. These challenges are all important. All the ...
Mon 27th
12:58
The Fallon "swamped" comments and subsequent climb down show how the politicians are running scared ...
[IMG: _78539627_fallon] The Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, used some very strong language in an interview given to BBC Radio 5 Live over the weekend, suggesting that English towns were being "swamped" by immigrants and in fact were "under siege". After a confusing series of statements from Number 10, Fallon has today apologised. "I misspoke yesterday; I used words I wouldn't normally have used. I was a little careless in the words I used yesterday. I accept that," he told the BBC. His climb down, and indeed the muddled Tory reaction to the EU and immigration debate over ...
Mon 27th
12:55
Bad news for political scientists, journalists and pundits: economic data is just too inaccurate
Economic data: it fuels political debate, fills acres of news print and gets fed into regression equations attempting to explain and predict political party support. There's just one problem. It gets massively revised years afterwards. Just take a look at this graph recently issued by the Office for Budget Responsibility: [IMG: Rewriting the 1990s rececession] What we thought had happened to the economy in 1993 and what we now think is very different, especially when you factor in the general election of 1992 taking place in April, just after the end of the first quarter of 1992. Back then, it ...
A Freedom Of Information response reveals that the Welsh Government paid London-based engineering consultancy Arup more than £6.3m from 2010-2011 to advise on the controversial project to divert the M4 round Newport through a SSSI. Eluned Parrott, the Welsh Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman said the "billion pound mistake" would see Welsh finances "tied up for a generation". "It looks increasingly likely that these plans are doomed, so it's time for the Welsh Government to stop wasting public money on it," she said. "It's particularly insulting for taxpayers that not only has £6m already been spent drawing up plans for this ...
[IMG: House of Commons at Night] We all know that electoral reform to both houses is important to us a party, quite rightly so. The current system is appalling, First Past The Post for the Commons does not bring fair votes for the electorate and at best only around 40% of voters voted for any government of the day (meaning of course 60% didn't). The House of Lords is even worse, un-democratic and reeking of an old boys' network. However, that's not to say that we shouldn't have a two house system – of course we should. The scrutiny of ...
[IMG: spruce-image (4)] There is some welcome good news today as a High Speed rail project to link Manchester and Leeds takes a step closer to becoming a reality. Improving Trans Pennine transport links will make it easier for freight and passengers to travel between the great Northern cities, unlocking economic growth that will bring benefits to Calderdale too. It will also help to reduce overcrowding on the Calder Valley line as more passengers from Leeds or Manchester will be able to choose to travel on this new faster line. Electrification and improvements to the Calder Valley line are also ...
Are you a Candidate in the federal elections? Do you know somebody who is a candidate in there federal elections? The list of validly nominated ppl is here (members only) if you need to check. PLEASE MAKE SURE I HAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IF YOU ARE A CANDIDATE. Otherwise I won't be able to email you your questionnaire :) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: Remote house. Photo courtesy of http://imgur.com/gallery/yOXm1]
After the trouncing we gave Labour in Gateshead in the local elections in May, Gateshead Lib Dems have now won an award from the North East regional party. Labour had assumed they would win all but one of our seats on the council. Their campaign was a flop. They gained none of our seats and came close to losing one of theirs to us. The award was announced on Saturday at the regional conference
[IMG: House of Commons. Crown Copyright applies to this photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/4642915654/] Scandals such as those around MP's expenses led to calls for legislation to allow MPs who had behaved badly to be recalled, so that their electorate could have a prompt chance to give a verdict on the wrongdoing. To this end, we promised in our manifesto to allow for recalls for MPs who had committed 'serious misconduct'. The Tories promised the same, and Labour offered recall for 'financial misconduct'. I believe that that is the right thing to do, and is the reasoning for the Recall of MPs ...
Last week I had occasion to send the following letter to our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) in a nearby constituency 20th October, 2014Dear Liberal Democrat PPC, A friend of mine, a confirmed Labour Party supporter, attended one of your meetings recently - I believe it was a meeting of your MP and all the PPCs - and has told me he was very impressed by you, but that you pushed the usual line of the Coalition's "clearing up the economic mess left by Labour." I know this is the line currently adopted by our leaders and particularly Danny Alexander, but ...
The Conservative run County Council has decided to cut £500,000 per annum in the funding of vital public transport for young people, including those with special educational needs. This followed a consultation with pupils, parents and schools where only 279 responses were received, of which, shockingly, just 15 were young people. Respondents were not allowed to askfor the continuation of the [...]
Immigration is now the top issue in British politics, though laughably some nativists still claim that politicians refuse to talk about it. Polls show that it has been one of the biggest issues of public concern for many years – indeed, some suggest that the level of concern is independent of actual levels of immigration. Now that the economy is dropping as a political issue, in spite of Labour's attempt to stoke up anxiety, immigration is challenged only by the NHS in public concern. But to what extent is the public worry about immigration a fantasy, a displacement of anxiety ...
[IMG: Stay Well At Home Service, Evesham, Britain] Firstly, I must admit that I have an interest in this subject; not only as Lead Member for Adult Social Care, and as Chair of our local Health & Wellbeing Board, but as a registered, practising social worker. This week NHS England set out an ambitious vision for the NHS over the coming five years. A vision which breaks down the barriers between GP's and hospital care, which moves more healthcare back into the communities which desperately need it and places public health front and centre in a bid to create a ...
Countdowns... As night approaches, the last dog pauses and sniffs the cooling air. There is a carcass lying near to the edge of the road he is travelling on. The New Forest pony is little more than a pile of bleached bones and stretched hide, picked clean long ago by crows but something to chew is better than nothing to chew and the dog pulls a section of the carcass free. He trots off to a nearby thatch of scrubby gorse to gnaw the night away. At sunrise he'd continue on the trail, it's a strong trail, with little else ...
She tweeted against the Mexican drug cartels. They tweeted her murder. – A horrifying tale of what happened when a website took on the cartels. Very quietly, the coalition tries to dismantle judicial review – And here's your 'oh, FFS' moment for today. Review: Dog Eat Dog – I haven't played RPGs for years but this review of a rather unsettling game based around colonisation almost makes me want to again. The death of the banana republic – John Band on the end of the United Fruit Company. Revealed: the guest list that proves that Guido Fawkes is a certified ...
Flying is all very well - efficient, direct for the most part, functional - but, in truth, short haul air travel is about as exciting and glamorous as an average morning commute. And so, given half a chance, I will seek more inspiring ways home. Today, I am on my way from Rome to mid-Suffolk so, naturally, I should be on my way to Fiumicino for my flight. Instead, I am on the Frecciarossa to Milan... It's very nice here. The welcome glass of prosecco is a plus and there's some pretty scenery outside - hilltop towns, fields full of ...
Falling wages are still spoiling Osborne's boasts on growth (tags: ) Six behaviours that are lethal to any online community (tags: ) 'HS3' rail link for north of England backed by Sir David Higgins and at just over half the price of crossrail is call it a bargain (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Mon 27th
08:57
"The planning committee ate for five hours" - introducing my email newsletter, typos included
I like to boast that my fortnightly newsletter and blog gives a lot of information about policies and actions that affect Ludlow, especially my patch, Ludlow North. I try also to give a bit of background information. In last night's newsletter, I provided a bit of background information that has tickled people pink. Thanks to [...]
#155694548 / gettyimages.com Welcome to the latest in my occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today – how social media, rather than as some people fear simply acting as an echo chamber where you only hear views you already agree with, actually opens up people to differing viewpoints: The paper ... by New York University researcher Pablo Barberá finds that many people are getting diverse voices in their Twitter newsfeeds - not just an "echo chamber" of their own ideologies. These diverse voices, he writes, "provide evidence that social media usage reduces mass political polarization." His findings run ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-29746214 Take a look at the story on the BBC web site – see link above. It's a sobering thought that this could have ended in tragedy.
The Autumn 2014 City Council Adult Learning Newsletter has been published, highlighting adult learning opportunities across the city. You can download the full newsletter here. Courses include "Just the Job", a course starting at the Mitchell Street Centre on 30th October.
Dylan Thomas was born 100 years ago today. Though my own personal 1930s poet W.T. Nettlefold told me Thomas never bought his round, I am happy to celebrate his centenary with his reading of Fern Hill: This poem reminds me of the last lines of Wood Magic by Richard Jefferies: Bevis gathered the harebell, and ran with the flower in his hand down the hill, and as he ran the wild thyme kissed his feet and said: "Come again, Bevis, come again". At the bottom of the hill the waggon was loaded now; so they lifted him up, and he ...
Transport for London (TfL) and London Councils including Southwark Council are reviewing their consultation on the Safer Lorries Scheme based on the TfL report Safer Lorry Scheme The Way Forward. This would see a ban on most lorries over 3.5 tonnes that do not have safety equipment to protect cyclists and pedestrians from the capital's streets. The exemptions are wrong – lorries carrying containers for example – and hopefully the final scheme will remove such daft exemptions. A close friend Brigitte Robinson was dragged under a lorries back wheel and died in this way some years ago. It left many ...
Mm, the link above to the Ormskirk Advertiser, says it was in West Lancs but Lydiate is firmly in Merseyside, however, the story makes for some good background to what has happened and why over the past weekend. [IMG: rsz_scarecrow_1] Edie Pope, a Lydiate Parish Councillor and well known local farm shop proprietor, certainly put on a show with many people, groups and schools bringing their own scarecrows for display with a Halloween theme. And it drew massive crowds throughout the weekend with cars having to be parked in the field next door to the display. [IMG: rsz_scarecrow_5] It ...
The following Remembrance services have been arranged for Blyth With 2014 being the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War, these services have special significance Sunday 2nd November Submariners' Service at the Submariners memorial adjacent to St Mary's church Saturday 8th November Newsham and New Delaval Service, at the "Welfare" Sunday 9th November Ridley Park at the Blyth memorials Cowpen memorial , Cowpen Road In addition I understand that there will be the usual service at the Blyth Academy ( formerly Blyth High School ) on Tuesday 11th . I usually receive an invitation to this, but haven't ...
The picture above is part of an installation outside the Canadian National Parliament in Ottawa. It commemorates an historic legal ruling in 1929 which enabled women to be appointed to the Canadian Senate. But it was much more wider ranging than that as the Canadian Broadcasting Company archives make clear: On Oct. 18, 1929, women are finally declared "persons" under Canadian law. The historic legal victory is due to the persistence of five Alberta women -- Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards. The battle started in 1916. From Murphy's very first day as a ...
I have written to the UK Government Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, following comments he made in Parliament last week about cross border care. Mr Hunt said that Welsh patients create "huge pressure" on English hospitals. I have never been afraid to criticise the Welsh Labour Government for its handling of our NHS. However, the words Mr Hunt used were inflammatory, incorrect and dangerous. For many of my constituents their nearest District General hospital will be in England so it is only fair and right that they go there for treatment. I am very concerned that the ministers ...
On Tuesday, a great American hero passed away. Ben Bradlee was the Executive Editor of the Washington Post from 1968 to 1991, but he is best known for his newspaper's dogged pursuit of the Watergate scandal and its publication, with ... Continue reading →
