Route One, the bus and coach industry magazine, gave out its annual awards at a gala dinner in Birmingham on 5 November. The entertainment was provided by the comedian Tim Vine and by the former transport Norman Baker and his band The Reform Club. Hurry over to the Route One website to hear them sing their single Piccadilly Circus. Thanks to a reader for the link.
I know, I know. But this BBC profile from 2004 has some nice interviews - with Muff Winwood and Van Morrison among others - that I have not heard before.
A new campaign by local MP Steve Webb and the local Liberal Democrats to scrap the tolls on the two Severn Bridges has got off to a strong start. The 'no more tolls' campaign is calling for the toll to be scrapped on the two bridges once the construction costs of the bridges have been paid off in a couple of years' time. At that point the bridges will return into public ownership and Steve Webb is arguing for remaining maintenance costs to be transferred to the Highways Agency budget so that the tolls can be completely scrapped. An online ...
Although the Government Whips had a last-minute wobble, it does after all look like tomorrow, Tuesday will be the crucial House of Commons vote for the Market Rent Only [MRO] option that would finally give 15,000 British tied publicans the chance to end the Great British Pubco Scam. Indeed, with more and more Coalition MPs backing the cross-party New Clause 2 backed by the Fair Deal for your Local coalition, it may indeed be good news for pubs, jobs and consumers – and last orders for the scam. And, lo and behold, like two drunks on an all-day bad lager ...
From Sue Carpendale and Kathy Pollard, Babergh District Councillors In this edition: Relocation of post office services in Capel St Mary New recycling service coming to Suffolk Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Renewable energy workshop Changes to English Heritage Community heroes MyGo – youth employment centre Relocation of post office services in Capel St Mary We were recently alerted to a six-week consultation period on moving the Capel Post Office branch to the Co-operative Food Store in the shopping precinct. The consultation closes on 4th December, so we have made every effort to promote the news to residents. The move has ...
Labour leaflets in the Maghull & Lydiate area in recent times have been little more than bizarre with oft repeated stories that are utterly ridiculous and untrue. Maghull Town Hall Roof repairs/refurbishment – It cost £500,000 say Labour – In the words of the independent Clerk to Maghull Town Council 'The actual cost was £206,816.79′. Labour also say they had to take out a loan to pay for the work. No they did not, they had the option to take out a loan and they chose to do that. Closure of Deyes Lane Post Office – Labour say it closed ...
[IMG: Wales] For 45% of Scots and for many in the NW, the SW and in Wales (which I refer to as the devolving regions), the UK doesn't work, and this should matter to a Unionist Party. As a Welshman who was forced, as were my parents, to spend decades working in England the reasons are only too clear. In England we are quite often subject to xenophobia. And while our local colleagues go for exotic weekend breaks, we have to struggle back home to tend to ailing relatives via a crazy London-centred transport network that means that the quickest ...
#3143071 / gettyimages.com Do you support or oppose positive discrimination to make sure women are equally represented across all levels of companies and institutions? Men: 44% support, 42% oppose – net +2 Women: 61% support, 22% oppose – net +39 Source: YouGov, 10-11 November 2014
Mon 17th
16:29
Opinion: There is a reason banks aren't lending enough to small businesses - the regulator is to bla...
[IMG: Lloyds Bank, Leighton Buzzard - Some rights reserved by dlanor smada] Since the banks were 'bailed out' with taxpayers money, a regular refrain from across the political divide has been that the banks are doing decisive harm to the country by refusing to lend to small businesses. If this refrain were accurate, banks would be denying capital to the businesses that create the jobs to engender a sustainable recovery, instead choosing to deploy the capital in complicated financial instruments that create little value, or pumping up housing markets, or in paying enormous bonuses to bank employees. This latter is ...
I've sent the following email about the NUT strikes in Haringey to local residents. Any residents who want to let me know their opinions on the strike can do so here. Strikes at our local schools are the last thing we want. Our local children miss out on learning opportunities, and parents have to arrange urgent childcare or take time off work. This is exactly what is happening in Haringey at the moment. The strikes follow the suspension of Julie Davies - Haringey's National Union of Teachers (NUT) representative. Ms Davies was suspended months ago by the local authority, Labour-run ...
Mon 17th
15:00Dee Doocey writes ... Protecting children should be at the centre of the fight against slavery
[IMG: Disappointment] According to the US State Department at a global level people trafficking ranks as the third largest source of income for organised crime, coming after only drugs and the arms trade. So as someone who has campaigned over many years to highlight the significance of human trafficking, especially of children, it is obviously welcome that we finally have a Bill recognising the shocking reality of modern day slavery going through Parliament. Today is the Second Reading of the Modern Slavery Bill in the House of Lords, with the Bill having already passed most of its stages in the ...
Last chance to attend training before 2015 With more than half of our remaining Lib Dem councillors up for election next May, in addition to the demands of the general election, it is more important than ever that local campaigning teams come to Kickstart. From the 28th-30th of November ALDC are running the final Kickstart training weekend [...]
Living near the borders of the Rochester & Strood constituency, so near that we've had a few errant phone canvassers ringing us up, it has been interesting to watch the by-election unfold. It is clear that the old two party politics of a centralised government system is no longer appropriate for local issues. Difficult and expensive road infrastructure making it hard to reach a hospital in special measures, delays in regeneration of the waterfront, the threat of airport expansion and loss of green spaces, concerns over primary education and special needs provision, a constituency split by a river and hemmed ...
[IMG: Christmas present] Looking for a gift for someone interested in politics (or looking to treat yourself over Christmas)? Here are some recommendations, culled from the many books, films and sundry other items I've read, watched or otherwise used recently: War With The Newts by Karel Capek – brilliant political satire by the person who invented the word robot: "Nominally it is a piece of science fiction from 1936 ... However this is not a book of Death Stars and phasers. It is set in (then) contemporary times and is a satire on politics, society and humanity in general. Colonialism, ...
[IMG: edward mcmillan-scott] Former Liberal Democrat MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber has written about John Major's intervention on Europe last week. But Sir John's intervention shows how desperate David Cameron is to shore up his dwindling store of continental goodwill, to appease the 100-or-so Tory MPs who want out of Europe and are holding their tongues until after the Rochester and Strood By-election this coming Thursday. Although the headlines have focused on Ed Miliband's leadership crisis, both he and Mr Cameron are now on notice. And bang on cue Nigel Farage - on target to win the by-election handsomely ...
or pursue a career that they're good at or that could bring them rewards. Rather, the revulsion is that this particular man should be invited back to to such a high profile and rewarding job as a premier league footballer. The first reason that his reinstatement at Sheffield United is unthinkable is his own attitude to his crime. He is a convicted rapist, that is a fact. However, he is convinced that someone as drunk as his victim was when he raped her is able to give informed consent. The law says otherwise, indeed the judge in sentencing him said ...
Message from the district council The public are being asked for their views on a plan for what can be built and where in the District based on work done by independent consultants. Responses to this consultation on St Albans City and District Council's draft Strategic Local Plan need to be submitted by Sunday 23 November. The consultation began [...]
[IMG: drugs] It's 1977.... a hot summer evening in Chicago (no - this is not the start of a Raymond Chandler novel). I'm getting a lift back from an outer suburb to the city which takes around an hour on the freeway. It's late. The driver is going illegally fast. He's desperate to get home he tells me – so he can smoke some dope. I am desperate to get back in one piece. I suppose the only thing that might have made his driving worse is if he had actually already smoked the stuff. But that's what addiction does ...
A story lost? I may have mentioned in previous posts that this year is the Centenary of the start of World War One. This was a conflict that changed the world in many ways politically and socially but most of all it was responsible for the deaths of millions of young men across Europe. The Imperial War Museum was established to tell the story of those who were sacrificed on the alter of Nationalism and in a fight against a perceived evil. This was done with exhibits and collecting a library of books, documents, photographs and sound recordings which have ...
The Week's front page cartoons are not nearly as famous as Private Eye's covers, but often they're just as good: [IMG: Ed Miliband surrounded by sharks - The Week]
I have mentioned this a couple of times on twitter*, but I guess several of you don't know: last Thursday I had what in olden times might have been termed a nervous breakfdown. I am under various Doctor's Orders, one of which is to do NOTHING at all stressful until a week today. This includes all Lib Demmery - she specified that. Last night I was a bit naughty and posted a couple more sets of answers to fed party election questions because I figured it would stress me out not doing them more than it would doing them, especially ...
Lib Dem Voice has been asked to share this invitation with our readers: Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats invite all Lib Dem members, activists and supporters to a hustings for candidates for party president on Monday 17th November in London. Doors open 7pm, hustings starts at 7.30pm at Draper Hall, 1 Howell Walk, Elephant and Castle, Newington Butts, London SE1 6TL. The hall is close to the junction of Newington Butts (the A3) and Hampton Street. The location is well connected by tube (Elephant and Castle), bus (numerous bus routes) and other public transport.
So, here's all you need to know. How do I vote? Voting papers were distributed by email to all those federal voting representatives for whom the party had an email address on the morning of Monday 3 November. It came from Electoral Reform Services and has a two part security code and a link to enable you to vote. Those for whom the party did not have an email address were sent a letter advising them how to vote online and if they weren't able to do that, to contact LDHQ for advice. If you haven't had either of these ...
[IMG: Atlee] In 1945, Labour won their first ever parliamentary majority under the leadership of Clement Atlee. Given the fact that Churchill, the then Tory leader, had just saved Britain in the Second World War, this was no mean feat. It was all down to their offer: that those who had sacrificed during the war would be rewarded, mostly notably with a National Health Service, free at the point of delivery for all Britons. The Conservatives tried to counter that it was all bluff, that Labour couldn't deliver. It was Labour who were believed in the end. In 1964, Harold ...
EMPLOYERS AND UNIONS REACH AGREEMENT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT PAY OFFER An agreement has been reached between local government employers and trade unions on a pay increase for council workers. The agreement, which covers the period January 1 2015 to 31 March 2016, means staff will receive a pay increase of 2.2 per cent from January [...]
Green Party to be excluded from 2015 election (tags: ) How various characteristics affect a candidate's electability. I found the gender result most interesting (tags: ) Interesting comparison of British & Mainland European politics - esp last paragraph (tags: ) Oh Yay! Another Internet thing that pegs me as a bloke. SOD OFF WITH YOUR GENDER BINARY, Internet. Also I really really WISH I, or anybody i know who isn't retired, had that kind of money to spare. (tags: ) Govt overspending on welfare by £25bn - Labour promising to be tougher on welfare than tories I bet people will ...
#492857699 / gettyimages.com I've been blogging for many years now about the merits of piloting weekend voting in Britain as a way to raise turnout. It could work for two reasons – first, more voters finding it easier to get the time to go and vote and, second, political parties having more volunteers to carry out their get out the vote activities on the day. It's true that the one pilot carried out in the UK (in Watford, back at the start of the century) was not a success, but there are good reasons for not relying on just the ...
[IMG: nigel farage] In this week's New Statesman, when confronted with the fact that most in London do not share his "uneasy" feelings towards immigrants speaking in their mother tongue, Nigel Farage launches another attack on the capital's so-called "commentariat" who are "caught in the whirlpool of London thinking". It's his typical accusatory anti-liberal, anti-elitist, anti-London rhetoric, and so you'd think it would register just as a minor tremor on the UKIP-irritation seismometer. But it wasn't. This was a good 7, at least, on the personal Richter Scale. It's simply because I find his premise aggravating. In suggesting that the ...
[IMG: A Northern Rail 150 Diesel unit on a Liverpool bound service under electrification wires being installed earlier this year. This is on the Liverpool - Wigan line at Prescot.] A Northern Rail 150 DMU on a Liverpool bound service under electrification wires being installed earlier this year. This is on the Liverpool – Wigan line at Prescot. The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above. My previous posting on this subject is at:-
The Liverpool Echo has the story. Seems Labour-run Liverpool City Council is not short of a few bob after all!
The Western Mail has a heartening story today in which they report that the pupil deprivation fund, insisted upon by the Welsh Liberal Democrats as part of budget negotiations, and designed to support Wales' poorest pupils, is having a "positive impact" and "plays an important role" in helping to break the link between poverty and low attainment: An evaluation of the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG) found its introduction had led to "a significant amount of new activity" aimed at supporting pupils identified as being disadvantaged. Independent researchers Ipsos MORI and the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and ...
It's rather later than I would have hoped, but temporary repairs to the collapsed town walls are due to start this week. Some work has already begun. The main work of repairing the "temporary" builders' bag buttress is due this week, with work potentially beginning today. (Mind you, looking at the weather, we might not [...]
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : The Art of Ancient Life - D'Arcy Thompson Zoology MuseumTuesday 18th November at 6pm Perth-based artist Jon Hoad is currently showing some of his striking images of prehistoric life in Gallery Q as part of Dundee Science Festival. Next Tuesday he will give a free talk about his work in the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum. Commencing his career as an Archaeological Illustrator, Jon's artistic journey has always been concerned with faithfully representing the past and for twenty years he has worked exclusively in the field of palaeontological reconstruction, ...
Bernie Ecclestone's fixation with TV is Formula 1's undoing – Duncan Stephen explains why F1 is failing to adapt to the modern world. 6 point guide to spotting a potential defector – Dr Alan Wyburn-Powell's research has found six characteristics present in MPs who switch parties. Oil at 80 dollars – Jim Bliss puts forward the theory that lower oil prices are Saudi Arabia's way of launching economic war with Iran. An Open Letter to Ched Evans about your 'Supporters' -Brilliant stuff on how a young woman's life is being ruined again by idiots claiming to be looking for justice. ...
No, I told you before, you can't invade the Earth until you're seventeen. I don't care if all your friends are doing it. If all your friends were getting their third eyes removed, would you do that too? No, I didn't know that all your friends were getting their third eyes removed. No, you can't [...]
For months I looked forward to the Imitation Game, with the great Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing but it was a disappointment. After the initial three (no less !) company idents, the film begins with a caption warning "Based on a true story" which of course means a lot of what follows is NOT [...]
