Plenty of politicians in Europe are waking up to the power of the internet one way or another. Ségolène Royal has led the way, putting the website Désirs d’Avenir at the centre of her campaign. Margot Wallström has been blogging for some time. The SPD tried out its Rote Blogs....
I went to a concert of the band Guillemots at the Brixton Academy on Friday. The concert itself was a bit strange – Guillemots are very professional, but they are hard to relate to as a live band. The main man – Fyfe Dangerfield – hides himself behind 2 enormous...
We were promised the heaviest snowfalls for years. The Met Office issued a severe weather warning. Colleagues in work were discussing yesterday how they are going to get to the office today. So what did we get? A bit of slushy snow – nothing much at all! As I write...
Have a look at the notice pictured above (click image to view it at full size). This pictures are from Danygraig cemetery in Risca. This is Caerphilly unitary authority’s approach to dealing with the issue of church headstones falling over – you can read their press statement here. Every gravestone...
Have no fear. I’ve not turned into a ranting car driver, complaining that the bumps in the road spoil my journey. It’s more serious than that. I’ve come close to being thrown off my bike in recent weeks thanks to inadvertently hitting potholes. The damaged road surface pictured – on...
Pressure group in the Labour Party – Compass – has today announced that it is polling all its members about which candidate for the Labour Party deputy leadership the organisation should support. While this strikes me as a bit odd in itself (it’s a poll about a candidate for a...
An interesting debate is brewing over at Bloggers4Labour about a Guardian column by Bill Rammell and Liam Byrne, and a response to that column by Jon Cruddas. The essence of the debate is that Byrne and Rammell state that Labour must continue a relentless pursuit of gaining the support of...
I’ve written before about the useless housing association – Pathmeads – that is my landlord here in Walworth. It has taken until today for them to ‘repair’ the problem of damp in the corner of the bedroom due to a leaking washing machine in the kitchen. So what have they...
It’s a new year, and it’s time for another EUROPA-Soirée in the LME-LSE series (details here). This month we are talking about what Labour can learn from Ségolène Royal and her bid to become French President. Beyond that, the PS has managed a massive recruitment drive, and is at the...
Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, has today released a statement calling for a national debate about the level of Chief Executives’ pay – read the full statement here, and a news summary from The Scotsman here. (Worth noting that top public sector workers in the UK seem to...
Politicians have the reputation of being boring and grey, and also predominantly male. So how does the UK cabinet shape up? And what might there be on the horizon? If you read until the end of this entry you’ll find the table of stats but – in short – the...
I’m an honest person. I pay my taxes. Well, I do when I can. Or when I’m asked. It however seems that Southwark Borough Council does not really want any money from me. As soon as I moved to Villa Street (8th September) I sent them a letter telling them...