<< Mar 2010 A shameful episode in American history Sunday, February 28th, 2010 - 11:00 pm
During the 1950s and the Red Scare period in the States, the country began to turn in on itself and looked for conspiracies where none existed, fearing the rise of a Fifth Column it sought the Enemy Within. Into this dreadful paranoia rode the "Red Baiting" self-appointed saviour Senator Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
A film that beautifully portrays an aspect of that era, namely the blacklisting of writers, actors, and artists, is The Front, starring Woody Allen and Zero Mostel whose birthday it would have been today.
Zeo Mostel was a fantastic actor who was in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Waiting for Godot, and of course The Producers.
The Front explores the important issue of what is best for the country versus individual freedom, which is pertinent given the recent case of Binyam Mohamed.
The film has classic quotes like, "To be a spy on the side of freedom is an honour" and implies that true patriots are willing to spy on their friends.
It does have a "happy ending" though, and shows that even an amoral character can see through the vileness of groups like HUAC.
What it reminds us however is that the awful noise of ignorance can sometimes be deafening. Gordon Brown on course to win election - Sunday Times Sunday, February 28th, 2010 - 5:49 pm
I'm not one to believe Rupert Murdoch's rags but this headline in today's Sunday Times caught my eye and to quote the article, "Such an outcome would mean Brown could stay in office and deny Cameron the keys to No 10".
As the Tories digest this news, watch them move further rightwards and start using dog-whistle politics, viz Cameron today "our country is a complete mess and it is our patriotic duty to turn it around". Patriotic?
To quote the great Dr Johnson, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". Happy Birthday Paddy Saturday, February 27th, 2010 - 12:00 pm
As an executive member of Union of Liberal Students I went to Liberal Assembly in Margate hundreds of years ago.
At a fringe meeting about something or other, I heard an extremely articulate young man who was the PPC for some West Country constituency, and thought he'll go far.
His slightly militaristic bearing was a tad anomalous given the peacenik mood of everyone else present, as was his dress sense, cords and brogues.
Well gentle reader, you won't be surprised to hear that that young (!) man was none other than Jeremy John Durham Ashdown aka Paddy, whose birthday it is today.
I think that he was the right leader to lead us after the disastrous "fling" with the SDP and helped steady the ship.
So thanks Paddy and many happy returns. Pavements in Silsden Saturday, February 27th, 2010 - 11:41 am
At a meeting a fortnight ago with the Keighley and District Association for the Blind it was made clear that the current state of the pavements in parts of the District are a danger to the elderly, disabled, and those with poor sight.
Together with the Labour PPC we recognised that there is real problem with certain streets in Silsden and called on Bradford MDC to take action.
The situation is getting worse and I believe there is a special case to be made here. It'd be a major step forward if the pavements were repaired with or without adoption, by invoking powers under Section 230(7) of the Highways Act 1980. ‘Tougher than Thatcher’ Friday, February 26th, 2010 - 12:42 pm
Aaah "Compassionate Conservatism", dontcha just love the phrase?
Then you listen to the wannabe Chancellor, multi-millionaire, and scion of a noble Anglo-Irish aristocracy, indeed heir apparent to the Osborne baronetcy of Ballentaylor in the County of Waterford, who goes and says (and can't you just hear the relish in his voice?) that his cuts to public services will be worse than those of the Thatcher years.
Who says the "Nasty Party" was dead?
Respected (sic) economists, Nobel Laureates, the IMF, and the blessed Vince Cable are all urging caution, but the Tories remind me of Dr. Jaffe in Terry Gilliam's Brazil, "Just me and my little knife! Snip snip - slice slice..." Tories in the pocket of The City? Friday, February 26th, 2010 - 1:13 am
A couple of weeks back, the Financial Times reported that donations from the financial sector have "quadrupled" since DC became leader of the Tories.
The City has "donated" £16m since 2006, compared to just £3.7m under the previous three leaders combined.
This way of funding parties is not healthy for the body politic. John Arlott and The Little Master Thursday, February 25th, 2010 - 10:44 pm
Yesterday, Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to hit 200 in a One Day International yesterday, and it made me think of the great John Arlott whose birthday it would have been today.
The man's mellifulous tones were the sound of summer when I was growing up. He had a wonderfully poetic phraseology and had marvellous gift for evoking magical moments in cricket.
The pleasure of watching Test Match cricket, with the sound turned off and the radio on was inestimable.
In the 1940s, he went to South Africa and condemned the apartheid policy. When filling in an immigration form, which required him to declare his race, he wrote "human".
He was a humanitarian and great Liberal standing as a parliamentary candidate for Epping in 1955 and 1959. UKIP - are they real? Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 - 9:53 pm
Godfrey Bloom UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber recently wrote, "politicians... are both stupid and deceitful... I am an ex-investment banker turned politician".
Whilst congratulating him for his bravery, is he really owning up to being a dim-witted liar?
If so, he should do the one decent thing he can and resign his seat.
I am sure that the unreformed banking sector will welcome him with open arms. 23-F - El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido! Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 - 7:25 am
Thirty years ago today, I was glued to the TV watching the Nine O'clock News on the Beeb reporting the attempted coup in Spain.
Later, on Newsnight, Peter Snow described the earlier events when a group of armed Guardia Civil stormed the Cortes, their leader, Antonio Tejero, waving a pistol about and telling 350 MPs to sit down.
One of three MPs to openly defy the gun-wielding goons, Santiago Carrillo (leader of the Communists) just sat in his chair smoking a cigarette.
The whole event was over by dawn the following morning when the plotters realised they had no support, after King Juan Carlos had gone on air to denounce the coup and urging the maintenance of law and the continuance of the democratically elected government.
But it showed how fragile a bloom democracy was, and how with the help of other Western European countries (later, through the European Union) it could be nurtured and strengthened.
Oh and Tejero? He got 15 years.
El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido! The people united will never be defeated! Britain heading for hung parliament Monday, February 22nd, 2010 - 11:00 pm
The latest poll shows the parties standing at Tories 37%, Labour 30%, and we Lib Dems at 20%. If replicated at the general elections this would translate into 295: 266: 57 which would have the Tories 30 seats short of an overall majority.
Now, given that we Lib Dems tend to go up 2%-3% during a general election campaign this is a healthy place to be, though obviously I'd like us to be doing much better.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, we've got the policies, we've got the people, and by heck we've got the passion. "History against Cameron’s hopes of securing an overall majority", Heseltine Sunday, February 21st, 2010 - 2:37 pm
Astonishing but welcome words from the ex-Deputy Prime Minister and grandee Michael Heseltine who said he would "put money" on a hung parliament.
The only chance for breaking the old stale and discredited duopoly of Labour and the Tories is to vote Lib Dem.
We are the only principled party committed to a fairer freer Britain, with the track record of policies and the people to execute them once in office. sorry about not posting yesterday Sunday, February 21st, 2010 - 11:14 am
The internet was down and I couldn't post about what a wonderful regional conference we had in Harrogate.
Absolutely wonderful speeches from Michael Meadowcroft, always thought-provoking and bang on about core liberal values, Phil Willis, the man is a living legend, and of course the Beloved Leader who was rousing and clearly articulated the Four Fairnesses which will be at the heart of our General election campaign. Tories just don't get it Friday, February 19th, 2010 - 1:00 pm
On Tuesday I wrote about how out of touch the Tories are, and as if by magic up pops one to prove me right.
Nicholas (Tory MP for Macclesfield) Winterton's comment that people in second-class train carriages were "totally different type of people" just goes to prove my point.
I travel regularly by train, and sometimes have to work on the old laptop, and do you know what I do? I book into the quiet coach. So do thousands of other normal people.
Do you know what Nick old boy? Those "totally different type of people" are the very folk who vote for you. They'll know better than to trust a Tory next time. The Government must not pander to homophobia and ignorance Friday, February 19th, 2010 - 12:12 pm
The Government’s decision to allow faith schools to teach sex education "in a way that reflects the school’s religious character", is an unwelcome and undesirable turn of events.
Labour has already given an opt-out from sex and relationship education up to age 15. This move will further dilute the information that all young people should be entitled to, before they reach the age of consent.
State-funded schools must not put their own spin on sex and relationship education.
The Government must not pander to homophobia or to those who want young people kept in ignorance. A Strange, Lonely, and Troubling Paper-Proud home of homophobes and xenophobes Thursday, February 18th, 2010 - 12:00 pm
So now we read that the Press Complaints Commission has found the Daily "Hate" Mail "just failed to cross the line" with their bile-filled article on the untimely death of singer Stephen Gatley.
Although the article was described as "in many areas extremely distasteful", it does make you wonder what the second best-selling daily paper has to do to get even a mild ticking off. MPs must not profit from second homes Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 - 5:32 pm
The chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Sir Ian Kennedy, has said that gains from rises in the value of second homes “should not be retained” by MPs.
Back in May last year Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, called for MPs to be banned from making a profit from selling second homes bought using their Commons allowances.
A call he renewed today, as well as pledging to support any legislation needed to make payback of sale profits from the taxpayer-funded second homes of MPs possible.
The public will expect Gordon Brown and David Cameron to make a similar commitment.
We Lib Dems remain committed to returning the highest standards of probity to public life. Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 - 1:55 pm
My friend Christiane introduced me to the poetry of Heinrich Heine at university, and one of my favourite quotes of his from Almansor which roughly translates as, "Where they burn books, in the end they will also burn people". Il faut manger pour vivre, et non pas vivre pour manger Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 - 9:52 am
As Valere says in Moliere's The Miser "One must eat to live, and not live to eat".
More than a month on from the Haiti earthquake, I still find it inspirational and life-affirming that despite the desperate plight of the hundreds of thousands of survivors, the level of violence was sporadic and minimal.
Haiti has endured much and will survive even this catastrophe, but international aid and reconstruction must not stop. Heliocentrism vs. Geocentrism Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 - 7:38 am
Nowadays, when we hear of religious intolerance, most folk tend to think of Islam, forgetting that Christianity and Judaism among others have not had a terribly glorious past (or present) in their acceptance of heterodoxy.
On this day in 1600, the astronomer Giordano Bruno, was burned at the stake by the Inquisition after being found guilty of heresy.
Inspired by Copernicus, he argued for an infinite universe, with our sun as merely one of an infinite number of independent heavenly bodies. Something that we now take for granted.
Science offers us as much awe and wonderment as any religion ever can, as the espousal of the heliocentric cosmology shows.
It is the lot of humankind to forever be seeking answers to “unknowable” questions, which is why immutable dogma and superstition will always lose out to science and enlightenment. Tories out of touch with the real world Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 - 7:00 pm
The Tories have recently claimed that more than half of all girls in deprived areas fall pregnant before their 18th birthday.
The claim is at best inept and at worst, totally bonkers.
The Tories are so out of touch with family life in Britain that they believe over half of teenage girls in the poorest areas fall pregnant, our town and cities are more like The Wire, and that folk will get married for a few extra quid.
If they really believe Britain is like this, it’s amazing that Tory MPs can pluck up the courage to leave their mansions.
"They should lower their drawbridges, spend less time tending their moats and duck houses, and join the rest of us in the real world", so said Danny Alexander, and I totally agree with him. Gong Hei Fat Choi Monday, February 15th, 2010 - 12:15 am
Happy Chinese New Year, year of the Metal Tiger. We're off to Chinatown in Manchester for lunch later today for some dim sum. Yum Yum!
Another thing to commemorate today is the formal use of the term The Labour Party on this day in 1906 by MPs of the Labour Representation Committee.
An interesting footnote was the election of Keir Hardie, as Chairman of the PLP, by one vote over David Shackleton, "The Lancashire Giant". More than half of voters have doubts about 'slick' Cameron Sunday, February 14th, 2010 - 5:30 pm
The headline from today's Independent on Sunday shows, in the words of the great Pete Townshend and The Who, we won't get fooled again!
Good grief, we've had Thatcher, then Thatcher Lite or Blair as we like to call him, and now we're being offered Blair Lite in the form of Cameron.
No thanks!
P.S. The poll shows us Lib Dems up 2 percentage points at 21%. The BNP the long slide to oblivion Sunday, February 14th, 2010 - 1:14 pm
In his early stand-up routines Woody Allen had a skit which went something along the lines of, "We were married by a Reform rabbi in Long Island. A VERY Reform rabbi. A Nazi".
Which brings me to the BNP and their constitution on which they are voting today. Apparently it is to vote to lift the ban on membership on "non-indigenous Caucasians".
They have lined up a sadly-deluded Sikh "Uncle Tom" by the name of Rajinder Singh "the honour of becoming the first ethnic minority member".
Of course, there is the entryist option as practiced by the Militant tendency and the Labour party in the 1970s and early 1980s, namely that thousands of people from various ethnic minorities apply to join en masse and then take over the BNP from within.
Better yet, for that same thousands to apply for jobs with the BNP here and especially in Brussels and when refused to take them to employment and industrial tribunals.
A bit of mischief-making in politics can only help show how odious and ultimately ridiculous the British Nazi Party is. Tories clear winners in most fanciable MPs table - I don't think so! Saturday, February 13th, 2010 - 8:43 am
Especially as in the top ten, we Lib Dems have Lynne Featherstone at No 1, Julia Goldsworthy at No 5, and Nick Clegg at No 6.
So we are now officially the party of brains, brawn, and beauty! Greece, Liberty, and Democracy Saturday, February 13th, 2010 - 12:13 am
One of my favourite films is "Z" directed by Costa Gavras, starring Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Irene Papas based on the book of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos.
It tells the story of the toppling of the democratic government in Greece. A liberal politician (Montand) is murdered at an anti-nuclear demo, the right- wing military and the police try to cover up the murder and their complicity in it.
It is powerful, tense, and riveting... beautifully acted, deftly directed, with a haunting soundtrack by Mikis Theodorakis.
Which brings me to the problems in Greece today and the EU's response.
Whilst many commentators are gloating over the situation and have recommended leaving Greece to sink. I'd like to remind folk who may have forgotten that it was not that long ago when Greece was under the yoke of a military dictatorship.
It was joining the European Union (then EEC) that helped to nurture, nourish, and nurse that fragile flower, democracy, in the land that gave us the word and indeed the concept.
So when Europhobes say they want us to withdraw from the EU complaining that they were duped and only wanted to join an economic market, I say that only shows the paucity of their imagination.
In fact the idea of an ever-closer union is not only exciting and attractive but vital to our national and international interests and the greater cause of freedom in an ever-globalised world.
To finish with a quote from the film, "The military banned long hair; mini-skirts; Sophocles; Tolstoy; Euripedes; smashing glasses after drinking toasts; strikes; Aristophanes; Ionesco; Sartre; The Beatles; Albee; Pinter; freedom of the press; sociology; Beckett; Dostoyevsky; Gorky; modern music; popular music; the new mathematics; and the letter "Z", which in ancient Greek means 'He is alive!'". A bit of fun for the week-end Friday, February 12th, 2010 - 8:10 pm
You wouldn't have thought this lot were in marketing would you?
Thanks once again to mydavidcameron.com for showing us how duplicitous the Tories are being, but having fun with it at the same time.
Enjoy! Tories’ policies recalled as economic model proves un-roadworthy Friday, February 12th, 2010 - 6:00 pm
My friend Stephen Tall, published the following story earlier this week on his blog about the uselessness of Tory policies in general and their economic policies in particular.
The quote that summed it all up for me was that "Cameron and Osborne just hoped nobody would ask any tough questions... and no-one has seriously addressed them. They just hoped better marketing would con the public."
I repeat, they are a bunch of chancers, shysters, and charlatans and the more they are scrutinised then the more people will realise that they are unfit to govern, and the only vote worth casting is for we Lib Dems. Red Hand Day Friday, February 12th, 2010 - 12:12 am
Today is Red Hand Day, which seeks to draw attention to the fates of child soldiers, children who are forced to serve as soldiers in wars and armed conflicts.
The aim is to call for action against this vile practice, and to support children who suffer from this awful child abuse.
Children have been used as soldiers in armed conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, SE Asia, and Latin America.
Some quarter of a million children are being brutalised in this fashion across the globe.
The main focus of the work done by more than a hundred organisations inluding UNICEF, MSF, AI, the Red Cross & Red Crescent is to disarm, demobilise, and re-integrate these often-traumatised children.
More power to their elbow. Auntie and Mandela Thursday, February 11th, 2010 - 7:47 am
There's an "ad" running at present on the Beeb showing a series of vignettes with various people glued to their telly/radio watching/listening transfixed as the relevant commentary intones things like, President Kennedy being shot, Man on the moon, etc., the tagline being, “where were you when you heard the news”.
Well twenty years ago today I was in Manchester watching the box, waiting for the release of Nelson Mandela, it was running about an hour late.
When it did happen, it still seemed very surreal, but utterly awe-inspiring.
After nearly three decades in prison, the man whom most people acknowledge (we hope) as the Father of the Nation was freed at last, and armed guards escorted him to a crowd of many thousands.
It was a great day, and great coverage from Auntie!
I for one do not see any benefit to be gained from the (virtually) daily outpouring of bile against the Beeb from the right-wing press, for were the BBC to go, we would stand to lose so much more! Indian democracy Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 - 6:52 pm
Back in 1952, India held its first general elections thus instantly transforming herself into the world's largest democracy.
More than 175m were eligible to vote, although only 15% could read or write. Symbols were used on ballot papers for each of the parties (as they are today), so that those who could not read knew whom to vote for.
Fears that extremist groups would use the opportunity to whip up inter-ethnic tensions, proved to be unfounded.
The lessons of Indian experience showed that parliamentary democracy can work anywhere in the world. And that although we have the privilege of being home to the "Mother of Parliaments" we should not take our responsibilities lightly. Hold your Hour Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 - 10:30 am
Today is the anniversary of the birth of one of my favourite authors Brendan Behan.
I first came across his work when at university, a friend gave me a copy of Borstal Boy, and a few weeks later I went to see a student production of The Hostage.
Both works are incredibly individual and I would urge anyone reading this to read both and if you get a chance to see the latter or indeed his other play The Quare Fellow.
The Hostage was written in Gaelic and Behan himself translated it into English. It shows the detention, in a teeming Dublin house of ill repute, of a craftless cockney British conscript seized by the IRA as a hostage pending the scheduled execution in Belfast of an unseen IRA volunteer.
The hostage falls in love with the maid who promises not to forget him.
In the end, the hostage dies accidentally during a bungled Gardai raid, shot by the police.
The main themes of the play are innocence and power, the arbitrary nature of authority, and the human cost of war. £63bn PFI bill for the NHS Monday, February 8th, 2010 - 6:26 am
The NHS is facing a £63bn bill for PFI hospitals which are only worth a fraction of that.
The NHS still owes £58bn on more than a hundred PFI contracts over the next three decades, and will have to pay back more than £7bn in PFI payments over the next Parliament alone (2010-2015).
This is the disastrous reality of Labour’s managemant of the NHS. We’re in one of the most difficult financial periods in the NHS’s history and this Government’s legacy will be a mountain of debt.
Despite the huge sums of money we owe for these hospitals, many will never end up in public hands.
Hospitals all over the country are mortgaged to the hilt and there are serious concerns that these repayments will lead to cuts in vital services.
We need a new approach to public services in this country. By setting up an infrastructure bank we Lib Dems will ensure that key projects get access to the funding they need to revitalise our economy.
We Lib Dems will change how the NHS works so that patients come first and money goes further. Conservatives dim and dimmer Sunday, February 7th, 2010 - 6:00 pm
I've just had an e-mail asking why I was calling the US conservatives dim?
Well if you look closely at the woman in the picture's jacket she has the web address of their campaign.
All well and good you say, but the poor sap has misspelt it.
If you can't get something so minor right, how can folk have any faith on anything else you claim to stand for?
My opposition to our own Tories, as well as being fundamental and philosophical, is evidence based. On every major decision, the economy, the war on Iraq, the family, taxation, students and education (the list is endless) they've called it wrong. US Conservatives just as dim as their Brit counterparts Saturday, February 6th, 2010 - 6:50 pm
Last week hundreds of reactionaries met in Nashville to show their displeasure at the "socialist" [sic] Obama administration the "cult of multi-culturalism", "Islamification", and large numbers of immigrants who did not want to be Americans.
The solution is "Education, Education, Education".
Just look at the back of that woman's jacket. We're as angry as hell and we just can't spell! Britain not "broken" - Tories wrong again Saturday, February 6th, 2010 - 4:40 pm
They go on to conclude that, "Britain has a crunched economy, an out-of-control deficit and plenty of social problems; but it is not 'broken'."
Lib Dems like me concur wholeheartedly. BoJo - More Rigoletto than Feste Friday, February 5th, 2010 - 9:56 am
In my previous post, I said that Boris Johnson was acting the Court Jester at the Court of King Cameron.
I should clarify and say that I had in mind Rigoletto (although I am no way suggesting that he is capable of hiring an assassin to murder his master), rather than Feste in Twelfth Night, a jester "wise enough to play the fool".
Of course my favourite court jester was the film of the same name starring Danny Kaye: The chalice from the palace have the pellet with the poison? No, the pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle. Tories: Soft on Crime - Soft in the head Friday, February 5th, 2010 - 9:49 am
As a sitting magistrate, I generally do not like to comment on "Crime and Punishment" issues. I do not want in anyway to compromise (or give the impression) my impartiality and independence.
However, figures put out by the Tory Shadow Home Secretary alleging that violent crime had risen sharply under Labour, and their subsequent rebuttal by Sir Michael Scholar (chair of the UK Statistics Authority), I feel, needs a comment.
I don't mind when politicians get it wrong, we all do, but by giving an exaggerated picture of the "growth" of violent crime up and down the country, they are playing fast and loose with the public's feeling of security and safety, and indeed wrongly worsening their perception of "broken Britain", for party political gain.
Which brings me to a story about BoJo (Mayor of London, Court Jester to the Court of King Cameron) wanting to cut the number of police officers by 500-ish in the capital, despite him campaigning for election on making crime-fighting his top priority.
This would be the first major cut in police numbers in London since policing was devolved a decade ago.
You simply cannot have the wannabe Tory Home Secretary stoking up people's fears about violent crime on the one hand, and the most powerful elected Tory reducing police numbers on the other.
They are a shambles, and should not be allowed to to ru(i)n the country after the next general election. David Cameron not "tough enough" to be PM Friday, February 5th, 2010 - 12:00 am
Just watched David Mellor describe DC as that happy, clappy, chappy.
There are some things that money can't buy! Nancy's a National Treasure Thursday, February 4th, 2010 - 7:40 pm
Today, the Guardian dedicated much of its G2 section celebrating 40 years of Nancy Banks-Smith's contribution to the paper.
The woman is a delight and can reasonably said to add to the sum of human joy whenever she puts pen to paper.
She was the first thing I used to turn to when reading my "Grauniad", as it is I still try to find her contribution (she contributes intermittently). Her writing, is warm, witty, and wonderful. She ALWAYS makes me smile.
I shall have a glass of Ruby (40 years, geddit?) port and raise a cheer to celebrate this amazing woman.
Thank you Nancy.
x Spending cuts should be based on economic indicators, not Tory dogma Thursday, February 4th, 2010 - 7:58 am
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has produced a report today saying that there is still massive uncertainty over the outlook for the British economy.
It is critical that the Government has a plan to tackle the public finances which is flexible enough to adapt to the changing economic situation.
The IFS rightly points out that cutting spending further this year would be extremely dangerous given the weakness of the economy.
Not surprisingly, the Tories are now desperately trying to play down their desire to do just that.
When, and by how much, public spending needs to be cut must be based on economic indicators, not Tory political dogma. Não se muda já como soía Thursday, February 4th, 2010 - 7:35 am
And if there had been more of the world, They would have reached it.
So wrote Luís de Camões in the 16th century in the Lusiads, an epic poem celebrating the voyages of Vasco de Gama in Homeric fashion.
The Lusiads are Portugal's national epic, much in the way as Virgil's Aeneid, Ferdowi's Shahnameh, or indeed Homer's Odyssey Blowin' in the wind... Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 - 6:48 pm
It is fifty years now since PM Harold Macmillan, at a speech in Cape Town, said, “The wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact”.
This speech at the time, and since, has always been used as an example of the pragmatic attitude of the "modern" Conservative party.
For me however, the key phrase is "Whether we like it or not", of course, we like it!
Amandla! Groundhog Day Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 - 10:00 pm
today is Groundhog Day, back in 1993 the film of the same day was released with Bill Murray in the lead role.
It's a lovely little film in which condemned to live the same day over and over again until he learns his lesson and he begins to re-examine his life and priorities.
Aaaah! "I know that we are taking a political gamble..." - George Osborne Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 - 9:06 pm
Er... No thanks George, you gamble with your own money (you've got more than enough) let serious politicians, like Vince Cable, run the economy. The Hills Report on Equality in Britain - 2 Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 - 3:40 pm
I really am at a loss as to explain how the Tories are going to fix this "Broken Britain" they keep banging on about.
But then again, I'm not alone, it seems that they don't either. They vacillate between Senna the Soothsayer in Up Pompeii ("Woe, Woe, and thrice Woe")
and Private Frazer in Dad's Army ("We're doomed") to merrily chanting "Here we go gathering cuts in May, On a cold and frosty morning".
As we know when you have cuts in the public sector, unless done sensitively, and not swingeingly, it is those at the bottom end of society who disproportionately suffer most.
The Hills report "An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK" shows that the richest 10% are more than 100 times as wealthy as the poorest 10%.
Are the Tories going to set this right? Are they heck as like. They started the trend with Mrs Thatcher.
Lib Dem policies of raising the tax threshold to £10k, and the "mansion tax" on properties over £2m will benefit four million poorer people and pensioners.
What do the Tories propose? A tax cut for the RICHEST 3,000. Get your priorities right, eh? Question Time-style meeting in Keighley Monday, February 1st, 2010 - 10:22 pm
Just back from a Question Time-style meeting at the Keighley Bangladesh Community Association, well-organised by a charming young man called Fulzar Ahmed, and ably-chaired by The Revd Sam Randall.
It was a lively meeting and the questions wide-ranging from traffic congestion in Keighley to banning the burqa, through withdrawal from the EU and the state of our schools.
Firstly thanks to Fulzar for organising and the BCA for hosting, also thanks to all three other candidates for contributing.
I believe I was robust in putting forth the Lib Dem position on issues, local, regional, and national, and indeed a gentleman came up at the end to say that he had changed his mind and that he would be voting for me at the general elections!
One down, twenty thousand to go. Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Monday, February 1st, 2010 - 11:00 am
Today marks the day when slavery was officially abolished in the United States.
President Lincoln was concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation would be seen as a temporary war measure and so the amendment was a means of guaranteeing the permanent abolition of slavery.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
The US has been, is, and can be capable of achieving great things in the name of freedom, but when it gets it wrong...
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but need help from someone who has a real sight disability to give us feedback
about practical use with a screen-reader - especially about problems. If you
can help, we'd be very glad to hear from you.
The REAL alternative
"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a free, fair
and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental
values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one
shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity." Preamble to the Liberal Democrat Federal Constitution, first sentence.
"Hope not hate"
This Website is hosted ("printed") by Roger Beaumont, 174 Skipton Road,
Keighley.
It is published and promoted by Judith Brooksbank on behalf of the Liberal Democrats,
198 Thwaites Brow Road, Keighley, BD21 4SW
All information and opinions on this site are provided in good faith, but we are
fallible - no liability is accepted except that required by British Electoral Law.
To finish with a quote from the film, "The military banned long hair; mini-skirts; Sophocles; Tolstoy; Euripedes; smashing glasses after drinking toasts; strikes; Aristophanes; Ionesco; Sartre; The Beatles; Albee; Pinter; freedom of the press; sociology; Beckett; Dostoyevsky; Gorky; modern music; popular music; the new mathematics; and the letter "Z", which in ancient Greek means 'He is alive!'".
You wouldn't have thought this lot were in marketing would you?
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