Hastings Borough council have recently closed a public consultation on a licensing scheme for private sector landlords across the Borough. Hastings & Rye Liberal Democrats wholeheartedly support the aims of the proposed licensing scheme as set out in the preamble to the consultation, however we do not believe that the scheme as proposed has any [...]
Committee changes at Cornwall Council are beginning to shake down after the reshuffle of the Cabinet. In changing the roles of portfolio holders, the Leader did not quite anticipate the implications for committees so it is changes all around! This has coincided with some constitutional changes so it feels that just as I was getting the hang of things, 2015 is going to bring a whole load of learning again. Still, it keeps the brain active! For those who like all the constitutional stuff here are the details to digest: CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES AT CORNWALL COUNCIL Basically, instead of being committees ...
The staff of Charlie Hebdo deserved to be protected from terrorism and censorship but not criticism of their cartoons. The murderous terror attack on the staff at the French satirical magazine and the police officers who tried to save them is an atrocity. As such it naturally has produced anger and an urge to defy [...]
BBC News reports: The Church of England is to carry out a review of one of its former homes in Gravesend, where it is claimed children were forcibly drugged,I blogged about Kendall House as long ago as 2009. Reading that post, I find that the Church of England took a very different view and that I was in rather a cutting mood: I have just been watching the Newsnight report on the drugging of girls at Kendall House, a children's home in Gravesend, between the 1960s and 1980s. The story was also covered on the Today programme this morning. The ...
Will David Cameron's decision to avoid having party leaders' debates during the next election campaign make him look a coward and harm him? So someone asked on Twitter the yesterday. I replied rather grandly that, unless this move fitted with a wider narrative about his being a coward, it would not. Well, that narrative may be developing. Today came news that Cameron is refusing to take part in a Leaders Live session. These live Q&A sessions with young voters are organised by Bite The Ballot and ITV News. Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage and Natalie Bennett have all taken ...
Because why not make it public?Every night this week the bus I take into Bradford from work in order to then get another bus which gets me home has disappeared off the Metro "your next bus" service about an hour before I am due to catch it. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Not catching this bus means that rather than being home half an hour before my daughter's bedtime, I get home half an hour AFTER my daughter's bed time. And it has happened every night this week. Normally it happens once or twice a week and I can deal with that, ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its web site – see link above.
You might think so if this 'exclusive' brand is anything to go by:
Labour 174 [45%; -22%] UKIP 153 [39.5%; +39.5%] Conservative 60 [15.5%; -17.6%] Turnout: 13.4% Labour Hold
Welcome to the first in an occasional series. Today: welfare. [IMG: Labour promise more welfare cuts]
In the aftermath of the terrible attack on liberty and free speech by extremists in Paris, the Manchester Council of Mosques have issued the statement below.
Say 'Vietnam' to someone from Europe or North America and the word that is almost certain to come to mind is 'war'. This lamentable tendency to focus on a narrow slice of the past ignores how important the country is likely to be in the future. Homo sapiens have lived in the land that now [...]
A powerful article in today's Telegraph passionately defending the right to free speech by Nick Clegg: Every so often we are confronted by events that force each of us to take a clear stand – and a side. The attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo was just such a moment, demanding a straight answer to a simple question: "are you Charlie?" You don't have to agree with everything, or even anything, that Charlie Hebdo published to "be Charlie" - you only have to wish to protect the freedoms and rights that define liberal societies like ours. Liberalism is a ...
Let's suppose for the purposes of this argument that either social media as we know it existed in the 1970s, or the events I'm about to describe happened now. In 1978, Larry Flynt (the publisher of Hustler magazine, amongst other things) was shot by a racist who was offended by something that Flynt had published. To be specific, it was pornographic images of a black man and a white woman together, which the racist shooter was offended by and wanted to kill Flynt because of it. Flynt's pictures were legal and depicted two consenting adults. Given that they offended a ...
Last night David Cameron, Prime Minster and Conservative Party leader, announced that he would not take part in the proposed leadership debates this year's UK General Election. Or rather, he wouldn't unless the Green Party was also invited alongside Labour, Lib Dems and Ukip. This was after Ofcom, the media regulator, suggested that the Greens were not a major party, but that Ukip and the Lib Dems were. In the petty tactical thinking that so dominates thinking amongst Westminster's political elite, it is easy to understand Mr Cameron's move. Two birds can be killed with one stone. First the Greens ...
The Consumer Electronics Show 2015 arrives at a time when global gadget sales are falling. The UK is ready to lead the way with the smart sensor tech that will take the place of smart phones and TVs Headlines from CES 2015 this week include Samsung CEO's promise of an Internet of Things (IoT) that powers our homes with smart thermostats and water meters. Almost a year ago David Cameron committed to turning the IoT "slogan into fact" in the UK. Last month, the UK Government published a strategy for how to do this. The British brand of IoT feels ...
Fri 9th
12:59
Opinion: Liberal Democrats are the only party which can be trusted to get the European question righ...
At some point during the next 2-3 years the British people will probably be faced with the most crucial decision to confront them since the end of World War II: that of whether or not to leave the European Union. The importance of this issue far transcends that of the individual policies listed in the emerging manifestos of the three main parties. The impact of these policies will be felt for, at best, the span of a single Parliament. The impact of our decision on Europe will be felt for decades. And yet not one of the eleven policy issues ...
Now, and until 8 March 2015 - Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition – returns to the Natural History Museum in Tring. Runs until 8 March 2015 – open daily, admission free. For more details, visit the website: www.nhm.ac.uk/tring or www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto Dacorum Young Talent Painting Competition 2015 – Open to artists who are between 17 and 25 years old on or before 8th February 2015 whose home address is in the Borough of Dacorum. Registration will close on 8th February 2015. Handing in day 3rd March, exhibition dates 4th-7th March, prize-giving day 7 March. 1st prize is £500, second prize ...
The Woodland Trust is again running a "cards for trees" campaign with Marks and Spencer - you can drop your Christmas cards into the recycling bins in local M&S branches. For every 1,000 cards dropped for recycling throughout January, a new tree will be planted in the UK. Last year more than 8 million cards were collected, funding more than 8,000 trees throughout the UK. Three years ago local volunteers planted 400 Woodland Trust trees at Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve
Community learning works with adults aged 19 and over who have few formal qualifications to engage local residents back into learning with the specific aim of improving their skills for personal development, to find and succeed in work and to participate in family and community life. New courses for January 2015: Functional Skills - Maths and English. Start date to be confirmed - Yate Library 20 weeks. IT for Work (TBC) Tuesday and Thursday 7-9pm. Start date to be confirmed - Yate Library 10 weeks Introduction to Office Skills, started Thursday 8th January, Thurs 7-9pm - Yate Library 10 weeks ...
Fri 9th
11:55
The Politicos Guide to the 2015 General Election, edited by Iain Dale et al: is it worth a read?
For many years and over many editions the Robert Waller and Byron Criddle Almanac of British Politics was the essential guide to Britain's constituencies. For 2015, however, Robert Waller has teamed up with Iain Dale and colleagues (who have done their own previous guides) to produce a comprehensive combined effort: The Politicos Guide to the 2015 General Election, edited by Iain Dale, Greg Callus, Daniel Hamilton and Robert Waller. [IMG: The Politicos Guide to the 2015 General Election] Its 451 pages are heavy on tables, statistics and lists collated from (and credited to) many of the best experts in British ...
The Mirror and Manchester Evening News have coverage of thieves using the camera in an iPod nano to steal money from the Barclays cash machine in Gatley – if you used it in the last few days, please check your statements and report any theft to the bank and police.
There was a bit of a discussion on Twitter yesterday about the use of the hashtag "Je suis Charlie." Some people are uncomfortable about being seen to endorse a publication whose views they did not agree with. Here are two opposing views from George Potter and Caron Lindsay: Non by George Potter Let me start by saying that the attack on Charlie Hebdo was a despicable attack on freedom of expression. However, I am deeply uncomfortable with the use of the phrase "Je suis Charlie". Charlie Hebdo was, and is, a racist, xenophobic and bigoted publication. Sometimes it attacked powerful ...
Launceston's Cornwall Councillors have called on residents to help fight proposals which could see £1 Saturday parking abolished and season tickets more than double in price this April. Local people have until January 30 to respond to Cornwall Council's consultation on parking prices which myself and my fellow councillors Adam Paynter and Jade Farrington fear could undo all the hard work which saw annual permits reduced to £100 or £200 depending on the car park and shoppers able to park all day for just £1 every Saturday. We worked closely with the Chamber of Commerce and other organisations over many ...
According to the Times, Ed Miliband's travails over policy has continued into the new year with his MPs badly split over one of his flagship policies. The paper says that an anonymous poll has shown that 2 out of 5 Labour MPs have doubts about their party's proposed Mansion Tax, with 39 per cent of Labour MPs saying that introducing additional council tax bands would be a "better way" to tax high- value homes. Only 56 per cent favoured introducing the mansion tax, which would be applied annually to properties worth more than £2 million: Mr Miliband has already been ...
The following is a prediction of who will win in twelve seats during the general election, all of them currently held by the Conservative Party, all of them by majorities of less a thousand. Meaning, of course, that they constitute what may well be the top Labour targets in terms of taking seats from the Tories at the next election, which as you may have heard, is coming up sharpish. As usual, I have used a mixture of polling, candidate profiles, historic seat performance, socio-economic make-up of the constituency, and pure gut feeling. Given past experience with this sort of ...
Ukip Councillor Rozanne Duncan 'Has A Problem With Negroes' Faces' (tags: ) New smartphone batteries could charge in two minutes (tags: ) First new antibiotic in 30 years discovered in major breakthrough (tags: ) Ched Evans issues fauxpology (tags: ) New plan to secure rail services for the north (tags: ) West Coast Main Line open-access bid rejected - I am mostly disappointed by this but not completely On the one hand more open access is awesome; OTOH, I don't think Arriva are really an upstart who are going to shake up the market (tags: ) Charlie Hebdo Attack: #JeSuisAhmed ...
Message from Herts Valleys CCG (NHS) Emergency health services across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire are experiencing major pressures this week. Accident and Emergency departments are being stretched by the number of patients arriving at their doors, as is the ambulance service. The situation is so serious that health bosses and the most senior doctors from Hertfordshire [...]
I've been pretty disappointed in the reaction of progressives to the aftermath of the Paris massacre, in particular the debate over satirical imagery of Mohammed. A fair few progressives are saying that it's wrong to publish such satire, because it's known that it will offend people, and deliberately offending people is wrong. This initially sounds like a reasonable position, but as a progressive it disappoints me for two reasons. The first reason is that just a few weeks ago, many of these same people were arguing in exactly the opposite direction: a) a mother was breastfeeding in public and was ...
Looking for something interesting to do in the New Year that will be both fun and educational. Are you interested in human connections? Then come to Film Nights with connected baby, and you'll get to see connection in action. The event takes place on Tuesday 13th January 2015 at 6.30pm at the Al-Maktoum College. Connected Baby Film Nights Series hosts screenings of little known films that offer insights into the power of human connection. This is the first film series event in Dundee, in partnership with Help For Kids. What better film to kick off with, for the 2015 series, ...
data journalism. pic.twitter.com/i6E7MGKbGv — Jaime Fuller (@j_fuller) January 5, 2015
Some while ago, a Ludlow resident asked me: "How does Shropshire Council work?" I'll add to that another question: "What do councillors do?" I've been trying to shed light on both these questions through this blog. Some of the work I have to do as a councillor is quite unexpected. Shortly after 10am yesterday, I [...]
For those of you who like a little Liverpool heritage here is a shot of the old Liverpool Exchange Station, which I recently purchased from the National Railway Museum in York. [IMG: Liverpool Exchange Station - Hull train departing 21 09 1909] There are two more historic shots of the Station on my Flickr site at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
If a large enough group of someones is willing to kill you for saying something, then it's something that almost certainly needs to be said, because otherwise the violent have veto power over liberal civilization, and when that scenario obtains it isn't really a liberal civilization any more. Quoted from Ross Douthat – New York Times. Credit to Jen Robertson for picking up on this thought provoking libertarian view.
The long-awaited reform of the criminal law on child neglect, which the Government has included as Clause 65 of the Serious Crime Bill is very welcome. This follows a five-year long campaign by Action for Children, and the introduction of my Child Maltreatment Bill in June 2013, which pushed the issue to the front of the agenda and culminated in the reform's announcement in the Queen's Speech in June 2014. My Private Member's Bill galvanised a five-year campaign by Action for Children to raise awareness of and to tackle child neglect. They have first-hand experience of too many children across ...
Had he lived, Elvis Presley would have been eighty years old today. Elvis' artistic legacy is one that still hasn't properly settled down. For the most part, to the extent that people under about the age of fifty are aware of him at all, it's as an image, not an artist — either the young [...]
