Her new show is loud, brash and the funniest satire out there. Fans of Jon Stewart's Daily Show and the Colbert Report have been in something of a holding pattern for the past few months. Since Stewart retired and Colbert went off to host the Late Show there's been something of a void. Trevor Noah is an able comedian and custodian [...]
John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan reminisce about the making of this 1980 film in a discussion recorded last year. If this were the Daily Mail I would be astounded that they look a lot older 35 years on.
Way back in 2008 I blogged saying that Dan Ropek was writing a biography of Chris Wood from Traffic. Thanks to someone who has found that old post and left a couple of comments, I can tell you that Tragic Magic: The Life of Traffic's Chris Wood has now been published. The book's blurb says: Traffic was the most enigmatic British band of their day. Formed in early 1967 by Chris Wood, Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason, they rejected the bright lights of London in favor of a run-down, supposedly haunted, cottage in the country - a place ...
I present to you point (c) from the Federal Executive report to the Liberal Democrat spring conference in York, courtesy of my submission to the election rules consultation: [IMG: Federal Executive report, York Liberal Democrat spring conference] Thank you, and good night. There is a more serious point to this. Two, in fact. The first is that the misplaced comma in the party's election rules had been there for years and no-one had done anything about the error before until I raised it when the rules were last consulted on. But that's not because it's such a minor matter. Similar ...
One of the Telos novellas whose quality was sometimes a bit variable, this one with the Seventh Doctor and Ace separately in a city with a timewarp and a deep hidden secret. It's had some positive reviews but pretty much bounced off me; I've liked other work by Dave Stone, but won't be recommending this other than to completists. This was the next in the sequence of unread Seventh Doctor novels and novellas on my list after Relative Dementias. Next in line is an early Past Doctor Adventure, Illegal Alien by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry
Our Headline of the Day competition sees a victory for Lincolnshire and the Gainsborough Standard. Like all the best headlines, it was nominated by a reader. Thank you.
Anders Hanson has been at it again, shedding light on what the English Liberal Democrats are up to in the name of party members. As before, it's well worth reading his report on the latest English Council Executive (ECE) in full, and so here is a taster to encourage you to click: English Strategy Review - some smaller groups are going to be set up to look at what actions can be taken in the short term that fit with the priorities outlined in this paper that was agreed by last November's English Council. Essentially, the more complicated and controversial ...
Tim Farron has been talking to the online Disclaimer magazine, saying that it's time to reclaim not just the Beveridge consensus but also the free market from the right, saying that the Tories are the champions not of a free market but one which is controlled by powerful corporations. He said: I fully count myself as a Beveridge liberal. Mostly because he believed in ambitious government that could improve the lives of its citizens. So I want us to say that we should reclaim Beveridge's ambition, his sense of mission of looking beyond what might be deemed possible towards what ...
I am down your way this weekend. I'm arriving reasonably late on Friday, and am busy for all of Saturday with libdemmy things, but Sunday is a glorious vista of freedom. I am hoping for lunch at a nice pub, and I have to be on the 22 minutes past 7 train back to Yorkshire. Other than that I am open to suggestions :) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Lydiate parish Council has updated me on the ongoing problem of dog fouling on the pavements in the vicinity of Lydiate Primary School in Lambshear Lane. Sefton Council, I am told, has received 50 complaints from parents. As a result they have put stickers up in the area around the school and also in surrounding roads. As much dog muck as possible has been cleaned up and the private company Sefton Council use, NSL, have checked early mornings and early afternoons (especially near to the school) but have had no success so far in catching anyone allowing their dog to ...
Liberal Democrat peer Jane Bonham Carter has slammed the Tories' plans to enforce age limits for pornographic websites as "a sledgehammer to crack a nut." She said: In a free, democratic society the answer is not just to ban everything. This risks being another example of the Government using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The Government are jumping on poorly thought through proposals. Popular websites could easily fall foul of new rules when it is hard to define what should be blocked and even harder to technically do it. The Tories should look at their own track record in ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across the country] LIB DEMS SLAM PUBLIC HEALTH BUDGET CUTS IN OUR AREA Figures released by the Department for Health shows the Conservative Government is planning further cuts to public health budgets in many local government areas . The budget pays to help improve people's health - and stop them getting ill in the first place – so [...]
[IMG: helensburgh snow] This week we're featuring a highly integrated regional constituency election campaign in West Scotland where Katy Gordon heads up the Scottish Liberal Democrats list with Cllr Ashay Ghai and Cllr Aileen Morton. The West Scotland region comprises 10 FPTP constituencies, and elects 7 regional MSPs. West's campaign builds on a platform of close working with [...]
I was struck by a blog in my Facebook timeline this morning. It was actually written a year ago today by Becca Plenderleith, who joined the Lib Dems in the wake of the election last year. She's already contributed so much to the Party, writing for our Scottish members' newsletter, making thoughtful and insightful contributions on mental health – and she's also written for LDV, too. We are very lucky to have her. In the post she shared this morning, she shared her experience of what passes for mental health crisis care in Scotland – and it just simply is ...
So last night both BathNES and Bristol set their Council tax increases and showed very clearly why a Leader model is better for residents over an elected Mayor. comparing tax rises in the two authorities since Bristol went Mayoral – and both authorities faced the same economic situations and government rulings:- for every £1000 of Council tax in Jan 2013 following their budget meetings:- Feb 2013 Bath NES rise – 0% Bristol 2% making the original £1000 – BathNES £1000 Bristol £1020 Feb 2014 Bath NES rise – 0% Bristol 2% making the original £1000 – BathNES £1000 Bristol £1040.4 ...
A friend of mine has a little round dish which looks like an ashtray but is in fact, as it says round the edge, "a round tuit." I believe it was given to him by his wife on the assumption that now he had got around to it, he had no further excuses for not doing all those little jobs that she felt needed attention. I have been intending to write a post on dumping in relation to Britain's steel industry for some months, but somehow never got around to it. To prevent dumping is about the only reason or ...
Budget vote will mean residents pay more and get less B&NES Councillors met this evening to discuss the Council budget for the 2016-17 financial year. The budget includes £12M of spending reductions as well as a 3.25% hike in the level of Council Tax residents will be expected to pay. This comes on top of already announced hikes in the precepts charged by the Fire Service, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Parish Councils. Finance spokesperson for the Lib Dems, Councillor Andy Furse (Kingsmead) commented: "We are unable to support this budget, which asks residents to pay more and get ...
Last night in his annual speech to the David Hume Institute, Willie Rennie set out plans for a plan to help low and middle income Scottish earners by introducing a zero rate band of tax to go beyond the raising of the tax threshold. Because he's also announced a plan to raise income tax by 1p to secure a £475 million investment in education, this new tax plan is going to be revenue neutral. Both Liberal Democrats and Labour have announced plans for a 1p rise in income tax. However, Liberal Democrats are focusing on what you would get for ...
[IMG: Election Timetables for 2014] When it comes to finding and selecting candidates it's the early bird that gets the worm. Hopefully everyone will have had 2016 target and development seat candidates for 2016 in place for sometime. For those with elections in 2017 now is time to be finding and approving target ward candidates for next year – if [...]
[IMG: John F. Kennedy (JFK), President of the United States.] The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if ...
Wed 17th
10:33
Keeping Britain in the EU: How reassuring the sceptics should mean more than talk of "sovereignty"
Over the last few months the political media has been transfixed by David Cameron's efforts to "renegotiate" Britain's relationship with the European Union. Whilst Tim Farron quite rightly describes Cameron's demands as having much more to do with keeping the Conservative Party together than fixing anything more fundamental about the EU, the reasons for making this effort are obvious: reassuring nervous eurosceptics that Britain still has influence in Europe and neutralising fears (however unjustified) that the British voice will be somehow overpowered. Nigel Farage responded by calling Cameron's deal "a slap in the face for Britain". So far, so predictable. ...
There is a kerfuffle involving a royal, and not just any royal but the one who may be the nation's favourite. Prince William, speaking at an FCO awards ceremony last night said the following: "In an increasingly turbulent world, our ability to unite in common action with other nations is essential. It is the bedrock of our security and prosperity and is central to your work. Right now, the big questions with which you wrestle - in the UN, Nato, the Middle East and elsewhere - are predicated on your commitment to working in partnership with others." Some of you ...
Wed 17th
10:25
What do the academics say? The impact of all-women shortlists on the quality of candidates
[IMG: Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. CC0 Public Domain] Welcome to the latest in my occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today – Mary K. Nugent and Mona Lena Krook in Parliamentary Affairs, a peer-reviewed academic journal, on the subject of all-women shortlists. This topic is going to be debated at the Liberal Democrat spring conference in York, so what does the evidence say? In their research Nugent and Krook took a look at a range of claims made about all-women shortlists and thoroughly test them against the evidence in Britain: The data we draw on ...
[IMG: WelshHorizontal-01] The ALDC team are producing a new series of templates for Wales. This will include a series of bilingual templates - Focus template, GOTV material and calling leaflet. We will also offer a range of our general English language templates with the Welsh logo. As ALDC's Welsh Development officer I will also be producing some [...]
Doctors 3D-print 'living' body parts This social network has someone literally stalk you Almost certainly the most terrifying thing I have seen today. What if you get signed up without your knowledge? Kavya Kaushik has a lot of good points here Still, we're getting all women shortlists soon! THAT'LL sort everything out [/heavy sarcasm] Academics imagine our world 100 years from now One or more of them has clearly read Seanan McGuire's story Mermaids Lady Gaga Delivers Astonishing David Bowie Grammy Tribute Medley As House Prices Soar, Campaigners Warn Under-35s May Never Be Homeowners It's All Right To Steal It, ...
[IMG: Direct Mail image for website] Direct Mail should be a staple of every campaign. Not only is it very effective if targeted correctly it is also read much more widely than any of our usual leaflets, getting our message across to more people about why our candidates are the best choice at election time. Different people have different issues that [...]
The Government has confirmed that the Magistrates Court in Bury is to close, alongside a large number of other courts across the country. In the North West the following courts will be closing: Accrington County Court Accrington Magistrates' Court Bolton County Court and Family Court Bury Magistrates' Court and County Court Kendal Magistrates' Court and County Court Macclesfield County Court Macclesfield Magistrates' Court Oldham County Court Oldham Magistrates' Court Ormskirk Magistrates' Court and Family Court Runcorn (Halton) Magistrates' Court Tameside County Court Closing Trafford Magistrates' Court and Altrincham County Court Warrington County Court Liberal Democrats have warned the closure of ...
Wed 17th
09:18
Lancashire Enterprise Partnership – The Lancashire Strategic Transport Prospectus January 2016...
There's some interesting, encouraging and indeed worrying information (or the lack of it) in this 47 page prospectus. I will cover the various aspects in 3 separate postings because they are all worth a mention in their own right. The words Norther Powerhouse litter the document as they seem to every public sector paper from t'north these days. I assume this is to either keep or get George Osborne on side rather than the authors being enthusiastic about it? The first thing that jumped out at me was a reference to Skelmersdale on page 12 not least because of the ...
Yesterday, I attended the latest meeting of the Jericho House support group, a regular meeting at which a number of us discuss fundraising and other projects to support this important facility in the West End Ward, that assists those recovering from alcoholism. We had a further discussion on a number of matters including the April Open Day at Jericho House aimed at local organisations working in the alcohol and addiction fields, to showcase the work of Jericho House. We also had a very positive update on the work of the Jericho House Social Committee and also discussed funding for gardening ...
I have just been informed that there is a meeting TONIGHT (Wednesday) about this scheme, to be held in Leadgate Working Men's Club at 7.00 p.m. There will be a presentation by Council Officers! Sorry for the short notice but I only got the information at 10.00 last night!
As if they have done enough damage to the health service in alienating many junior doctors, the Conservative Government has added to recruitment problems with new visa rules that will leave overseas doctors "last in line" for specialist jobs. The Independent reports on the BMA's concerns that reforms aimed at making it harder for businesses to recruit from overseas, overlooking British workers, could have "a series of unintended and harmful" consequences for the health service. They have written to the immigration minister James Brokenshire, to tell him that changes, recommended by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), could have a "devastating ...
A new planning applications has been received, it is not in Holyrood Ward but we are being consulted because it is in a neighbouring Borough (Rochdale) and close to the border with Holyrood Ward. May or may not be of interest to residents in Simister and Bowlee and beyond. Application Number: 59738 Registration Date: 09/02/2016 Location: Land at Hares Hill Farm, Hareshill Road, Heywood. OL10 2TB Proposal: Article 18 Consultation from Rochdale Council – Variation of conditon 2 of planning permission 14/00779/VRCON in order to allow a two year extension (until 11 February 2018) to the period for the deposit of materials and restoration ...
A new planning applications has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 59727 Registration Date: 05/02/2016 Location: 5 Penrhyn Drive, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1LW Proposal: Part single/part two storey extension to side and rear and front dormer (Resubmission 59227) Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with these. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
A new planning applications has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 59713 Location: Land at rear of 62 Peveril Close, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 6NR Proposal: Erection of 2 no. semi-detached dwellings (resubmission) Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with these. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
Bury's 'Healthwatch' is organising a public meeting on Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Devolution. Date: Thursday 25th February 2016, 2.00pm – 4.00pm Venue: Bury Unitarian Church, 1 Bank Lane, Bury, BL9 0DN Light refreshments will be provided. They are interested in hearing your thoughts and comments about Devolution in Greater Manchester. In partnership with Bury Third Sector Development Agency (B3SDA) we are together planning a series of engagement events during February and March to hold 'conversations' with targeted groups. There is also a quick health snapshot survey which will be sent out. The key messages are: Start well, live ...
Next week is 'Be Online Week', which aims to help people who are less confident about using online services make the most of the internet in their daily life. The session at Prestwich Library is on Wednesday 24 February 2015 10am-12noon. More information and help online at this great website.
Wed 17th
07:40EU Ref Round-up: A jury advocate's view of the debate strategy, travel industry backs IN, 1000 HSBC ...
Cameron's rating and a jury advocate's view on winning this case. David Cameron's personal ratings have slumped in the wake of his re-negotiation, which was greeted negatively by the Conservative press, reports the Independent. It is my view that the Prime Minister cannot win the referendum if his rhetoric is "I have made the EU less bad". He needs to make the case "the EU is a good thing." In my day job as a barrister I would not expect to secure a client's acquittal by saying to the jury "my client is guilty of the offence but not as ...
Stockport's ruling Lib Dem group have agreed to the 3.75% increase in council tax Chancellor George Osborne has asked councils to impose. "Despite facing the biggest cuts in the history of Stockport - more than £21 million - our original plan was to freeze council tax, as we have done for four of the last five years." said Stockport Council Leader Sue Derbyshire. "Then the Government revealed they were taking away over £2 million more than we'd been told and they wanted us to raise council tax to make up the difference. We've looked at the alternatives and believe this ...
My Friend Dave Great long piece about the cartoonist David Berg of MAD Magazine. (tags: comics ) Social services cuts could be 'largest factor' in rise in deaths UK Govt winning war against old, sick and poor. (tags: ukpolitics disability ) What I Want Out of Twitter @Scalzi on de-trolling your feed. (tags: twitter )
Patients would be guaranteed prompt appointments with their GP under Welsh Liberal Democrats' plans. We will introduce a fully funded Access to GPs scheme which will guarantee prompt appointments and extend opening hours where needed. Under the Welsh Liberal Democrats' plans, GP practices would be able to bid for funding to improve access however they feel best. The party would initially allocate £10 million in support of the fund. The bidding process would be overseen by NHS Wales, who would assess applications. The party would ensure that schemes which offer the most innovative services and which can be best replicated ...
