Journalist Carl Honoré believes the Western world's emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. But there's a backlash brewing, as everyday people start putting the brakes on their all-too-modern lives.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Iain Duncan-Smith is intending to accelerate the rollout of Universal Credit to thwart Rachel Reeves and her intention to pause its implementation. This is odd, because Ms Reeves said that in June, after the Major Projects Authority and the Public Accounts Committee has noted their concerns with the project. They were probably right to, if the concern was simply over the cost of the project and the likelihood of the IT infrastructure working. However, it isn't clear to me whether or not a pause would lead to scrapping the project or not. Universal Credit, not ...
[IMG: Southport FC] www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30608765 Oh so close to F A Cup glory but then in the last minute of normal time a penalty is given away and Southport's brave defence is finally breached by Derby County. It's at times like this that you feel for those supporters who back their team week in week out and in Southport's case some of them are my friends. They will get over it however and they have had their day out at a big club. Maybe next time.................
As regular readers will know, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) now manage the Kingsway/Gatley Road junction. The Lib Dem team have long campaigned for improvements to the junction and we've had a number of successes from the Gatley left-filter lane a few years ago to the lane realignment and most recently the moving of the right-turn white lines than are allowing more cars to turn right from Cheadle and Gatley with each change of the lights. We recognise that there is no easy solution to properly sort out the junction, though, and we know that any change that makes things ...
View image | gettyimages.com In the Conference bar on the Monday of the Glasgow Conference last October, a smiling party press officer told me that Louise Brealey, Sherlock actor and writer, had been following Miriam Gonzalez Durantez around all day in order to write a profile for Red magazine. I've been looking out for it ever since and it's now appeared. It's a delight to read, so sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit and enjoy it. The two women seem to have developed quite a rapport during the day, and that comes across in the article. ...
View image | gettyimages.com He's been getting up the noses of some Tories. Apparently he's their "Yellow B**tard of the Year" over at Conservative Home. It's pretty overwhelming: Vince Cable has dominated the stakes this year to be voted the Yellow B**tard of the Year, with a stonking 56 per cent of the vote. That's a staggering rise on last year, when he seized the crown from Nick Clegg with 31 per cent. The Lib Dem leader may be disappointed to learn that his share of the vote among Conservative party members fell to a mere 18 per cent. Meanwhile, ...
These are to facilitate highways maintenance. Details here: TRO7880notice1
Sat 3rd
16:25
Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box: 50 things you need to know about British elections, edited by Philip C...
View image | gettyimages.com The idea behind Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box: 50 things you need to know about British elections, edited by Philip Cowley and Robert Ford, is a neat one. Collect 48 practical insights from academic research, write them up in sharp, clear and short pieces, throw in a 49th chapter about cats, spice it up with a 50th chapter based on headline-seeking research into sex, add in a bonus chapter also about sex for good measure and publish a book. The execution is pretty good too. [IMG: Sex Lies and the Ballot Box - book cover] ...
Letter published in Cornishman, for Christmas day, was a bit of a surprise as I had written it several weeks ago, if not a month. I expect they were a little low on letters! If you were doing other things at Christmas and did not get to read it then here it is!! "Mr Chadwick says he is from Penzance but there were so many factual errors in his letter last week that I wonder whether he is following a different Council to the one I serve on? (It was in fact the end of November and he seemed to ...
View image | gettyimages.com For the first time, courtesy of Alex Salmond's timing of the independence referendum, it was the Liberal Democrats who brought the political conference season to a close. But before we all travelled to Glasgow, we had to sit through Ed Miliband forgetting the deficit which was fairly tame in comparison to the Tories salivating over removing people's human rights. Ahead of the Conference, the party sent out a briefing to members on election strategy which I took a look at. Let me put this bluntly. If we as a party don't get our backsides into gear ...
Sat 3rd
15:09
HMRC still not that good at answering the telephone, politician comes up with soundbite...
Shabana Mahmood, Labour's shadow Exchequer Secretary Yesterday, I touched upon Ed Balls and his proposals to cut the deficit to nil by the end of the next Parliament. He is, he claims, counting on his colleagues to come up with savings and reforms to make this possible. At the same time, his colleagues are putting their best foot forward. Here's Shabana Mahmood, Labour's shadow Exchequer Secretary, responding to the news that HM Revenue & Customs have published disappointing data on waiting time for callers to its helplines; At a time when people are paying more in tax and have seen ...
Here's an email I sent to my constituents yesterday. If you live in Hornsey and Wood Green – please do fill in the survey! It's almost twenty years since I first got involved in local politics here in Haringey. I joined a residents' group and we protested against an unpopular parking scheme being imposed on us by the Council. We were successful - and it showed how a small group of determined people could make changes, benefitting a huge number of residents. After this, I became a local councillor and then MP for our area. I believe in a fairer ...
Throughout the 12 days of Christmas, we're bringing you the 12 most-read posts on this site of 2014. Here's today's offering... The Economist's political map of the UK: the north/south divide revealed – Stephen Tall | Sun 21st April 2013 Four points: The Economist map only shows results under first-past-the-post: it therefore exaggerates the extent of support for both Labour and the Conservatives. The map nonetheless highlights the retreat of the Tories from the north and Labour from the south. This is dangerous for both parties, as there is a likely spiral effect, with each becoming more remote from the ...
The Secretary of State for Scotland, Alistair Carmichael, is reported in The Herald as stating that the Liberal Democrats will keep all eleven of their Scottish seats at the General Election in May. He also said that the party will retain Gordon, thus preventing Alex Salmond from regaining a Westminster seat. Mr Carmichael said: "On the doorstep, I think that Alex Salmond is now a much more divisive character than he ever was in the past. The referendum forced him to be on the wrong side of public opinion in the northeast and we've got a very good candidate in ...
The appeal by the applicant has been allowed by the Planning Inspectorate. The full decision can be found here: Decision-3
Last night I saw 'Un Ballo in Maschera' in the Royal Opera House. I've been waiting for this opera for ages as it was my chance to see Dmitri Hvorostovsky, a Russian baritone who I absolutely adore. My whole family in Russia pretty much worship him and there is a real cult of his personality [...]
In November, Cornwall County Councillor Alex Folkes had to suffer the ignominy of the Council's Chief Executive writing to local youth organisations and schools saying that he was a "serious and enduring" risk to children. As Alex explained at the time this had its origins in his 2006 arrest after a cloned bank card of his had been used by criminals to access indecent images of children online. In 2006 (and before I became a councillor) I was one of many people who was arrested when credit or debit card details were found which linked the cardholders to a site ...
View image | gettyimages.com There won't be an SNP candidate in Berwick after all: MSP Christine Grahame, who represents Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale for Nicola Sturgeon's party, was hopeful she could stand for election in Berwick-upon-Tweed at the General Election in May... "I am disappointed but not surprised that the SNP's governing body has rejected my offer," she said. "...to stand in Berwick to promote devolution for the North East and to lay to rest the scare stories about Scotland cutting itself off from England in the event of independence (I am English born) I required approval from my ...
Only two days ago, I rather rashly ruled out a Conservative/Labour coalition as almost too absurd to take seriously. And yet, Ian Birrell, writing in the Guardian yesterday, is suggesting that it might be a credible possibility. He, of course, is paid for his opinion, whereas I am not, so one ought to do him the courtesy of giving him a hearing, even if the 'below the line' comment is almost entirely negative, often offensively so (plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...). He suggests that, rather than yield to a constitutional crisis, the two big parties could come ...
The many reasons given by Welsh Ministers as to why they have been using taxpayers money to subsidise each of the 65,073 passengers on the government's air service between Cardiff and Anglesey between 2007 and 2013 to the tune of £86 a head have finally run out of steam. This subsidy is wasteful and encourages pollution. According to aviation expert Clive Sedgebeer however, even the strategic reasons do not stand up to scrutiny. He told the Western Mail that the claim by the former Economic Minister and Plaid Cymru leader, Ieuan Wyn Jones that there "isn't a single European country" ...
Sat 3rd
09:45
Ed Balls essentially concedes the general election in a Guardian article: what it reveals about Labo...
On New Year's Day, the Guardian printed an article authored by Ed Balls. It's quite the read. The essential argument that Balls wants us to take away from it seems to be that Labour represents the centre ground, while George Osborne and the Tories represent an extreme. Now, many other people have already written about how this is a remarkable shift, for Labour to be vocally trying to recapture the centre ground after spending a lot of the parliament attempting to portray themselves as the radical alternative, so I won't bore you with all that. Except to remind you of ...
Having realised that the long weekend after New Year is a very boring time for much of its target audience, the Guardian has decided to liven things up. All news websites now use clickbait headlines and articles to drag in readers looking to be offended by something wilfully controversial, and the Guardian is no different. Sure, it likes to pretend to be above that, and it doesn't employ any of the Jan Moirs, Richard Littlejohns or Jeremy Clarksons who are masters of the clickbait article, but this piece by Ian Birrell is clearly intended as pure clickbait. (And from the ...
View image | gettyimages.com The beginning of September saw squeaky bum time in the Referendum went ahead in one poll. What, I wondered, could the pro UK do to pull it back? There is very little chance of this vote now being decisive enough to put the issue of independence to bed for a generation. If the UK doesn't deliver on not just more powers but greater social justice as well, then Scots will insist on another referendum. Nicola Sturgeon has already talked about doing it all again in 5 years if we vote no. We need to get those ...
Designing The Best Board Game On The Planet (tags: ) Would you like to read sth from a smug NLP-believing twat that'll make you want to punch him? (tags: ) The best article I've seen on Leelah Alcorn. Unsurprisingly it's by @auntysarah (tags: ) Neill Blomkamp Reveals The ALIEN Movie He Would Have Made | Badass Digest (tags: ) Ryanair apologise for 'technical difficulties' with 'sarcasm detector' after staff duped by comedian (tags: ) Leelah Alcorn's blog removed from tumblr (tags: ) A grand coalition may be only option after 7 May - this dude may regret patronising the Queen. ...
Sat 3rd
08:55Newly published evidence substantiates Alex Folkes's statements over allegations against him by Corn...
[IMG: Alex Folkes] In November I blogged about the remarkable attempt by Cornwall Council's Chief Executive Andrew Kerr to force Alex Folkes to resign as a councillor because of events in which Alex was the victim of a crime. Alex's version of events, which Cornwall Council has not contradicted, is that one of his cards was cloned several years ago and the stolen card information was then used to access a child pornography site. The police investigated at the time and, being given this defence and evidence of the illegal cloning, didn't press charges. Andrew Kerr and Cornwall Council, however, ...
[IMG: Click to enlarge] Click to enlarge A constant theme over many of my years as a councillor representing Maghull, Lydiate and Sefton Village has been the work of this local Homewatch group. These communities have long been blessed with an very active group who produce regular newsletters, the latest of which popped through my letterbox a few days ago. The front page is above. You will note that they have been going now for 24 years – quite a record – my congratulations on their longevity, they are an excellent community group.
Residents have expressed concern to me at some recent graffiti vandalism in parts of the West End. The graffiti has a distinctive 'tag' as evidenced by an example in Fyffe Street - see right. It is disappointing to see the recurrence of graffiti as there has been relatively little in recent months and I would urge any resident who has seen anything suspicious to contact Police Scotland on 101. I have been in touch with the City Council's Rapid Response Team about the matter.
View image | gettyimages.com We're half-way through the season... Congratulations to George Murray, whose 'Marauding Fullbacks' continue to lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 20, with an impressive 1,178 points. Not far behind are a hat-trick of contenders (Mark Widdop, Sam Bowman and Jon Featonby), separated by just seven points. George wasn't in fact the winner of either quarter of the season so far. Quarter 1 was won by Jon Featonby, and Quarter 2 by Edward Douglas; but George has been consistent across the season. So far: it can of course all change in the five months to ...
View image | gettyimages.com We went to see The Theory of Everything last night. As I wrote on my Rotten Tomatoes review: Fantastic film. Just brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! I would add that if you get the chance to see it, go, go, go! The metamorphosis of Eddie Redmayne in front of your eyes is astonishing. Felicity Jones as Jane Hawking is mind blowing, Harry Lloyd as Brian is superb, Charlie Cox as Jonathan Hellyer Jones is wonderful, and I love Simon McBurney as Stephen Hawkings' dad. The period setting is just exquisite. It's all so English! All those wood-lined Cambridge ...
