Been a little quiet on the blog this week - just the usual sort of excuses.
Monday was an abortive attempt to carry out my civic duty - left work early to get to a scrutiny review looking at animal welfare in Haringey, but neither the councillor chairing the review or the officer scheduled to present evidence were able to attend. So, aside from a useful chat with the Director of Enforcement who was there waiting too, a wasted trip.
For Tuesday night's meeting of Audit Committee the Chair did turn up. We had a longer than usual meeting of that committee, and the discussion ranged from dogging to Alexandra Park and Palace - with a few things inbetween, fortunately. But is it any wonder that the Ally Pally fiasco has continued as it has, when you see the audit which shows they had no formal risk management or contract management?
Wednesday night I was, of course, at the football, but that got its own post last night... and yesterday was my mate Daniel's 30th birthday, so there were a couple of celebratory drinks after work.
Talking of work, today is my last day before heading to the Lakes in the morning. Blogging likely to be suspended for the week, as will mostly not even be in phone range, let alone near a computer.
And Happy Halloween to you all - as well as Happy 38th Anniversary to my Mum and Dad!
Friday, 31 October 2008
Monopoly money
A gem from the letters page of the current Private Eye. Christopher Boomer from Belfast suggests that the Government's recent economic strategy is based on the rules for Monopoly - in particular this extract:
Q. What happens if the Bank runs out of money?
A. The Bank never goes bankrupt. To continue playing, use slips of paper to keep track of each player's banking transactions - until the bank has enough paper money to operate again.
Kentish Town (Camden) by-election result
Yesterday was polling day in the Kentish Town by-election. I know the Camden Lib Dem team worked really hard, so pleased to hear this by-election result from the Lib Dem PPC for Hampstead and Kilburn Ed Fordham:
Lib Dem Nick Russell 939
Labour 863
Green 518
Conservative 171
BNP 62
UKIP 21
Congratulations to Nick and everyone in Camden.
Lib Dem Nick Russell 939
Labour 863
Green 518
Conservative 171
BNP 62
UKIP 21
Congratulations to Nick and everyone in Camden.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Labour move to stifle political criticism
Lynne has the full story on her blog.
UPDATE: Etiquette seems to suggest I should have linked to the Liberal England blog post (link below) rather than to Lynne's.
UPDATE: Etiquette seems to suggest I should have linked to the Liberal England blog post (link below) rather than to Lynne's.
It ain't over til it's over
What a 90 minutes - well, 94 minutes.Posting some photos here from last night's 4-4 draw in the North London derby at the Emirates - one of us defending (or, more accurately, pretending to defend) a corner and a couple of the Spurs lads celebrating after the final whistle.
My throat is sore from singing and chanting last night, I don't really know where to start.
David Bentley from the halfway line - just superb. And a great 25 minutes of excitement following that until we conceded. With another sloppy goal conceded straight after halftime, it looked like our fun was over.
We stayed in good voice though, even when at 3-1 they seemed to have us on the ropes. Then the hope the Darren Bent goal brought us was extinguished pretty quickly as we went two goals down again at 4-2.
In the last ten minutes there were a fair few fans from both sides who left. I have never left a Spurs game before the final whistle - I know there are times that people might need to get away early, but the number of fans who slope off before the end of the match on a regular basis still amazes me.
Well, the ones that missed the final two goals last night - a beauty from Jermaine Jenas and a cool finish from Aaron Lennon after a cracking Luka Modric shot - might not be so eager to beat the crowd home next time. Though maybe some of the Emirates home crowd who stayed do now wish they had joined the others leaving early instead.
So, 4 points from 6 for Harry Redknapp so far - with league leaders Liverpool the next challenge, on Saturday. In two games under Harry we have collected twice as many points as in the previous eight games put together. Tho admittedly that's not saying much.
Harry does seem to have revitalised the team, squad and fans - and I'm hoping he will prove to be our best signing of the year. Most of the team played well last night, the promise is there that the team could click soon and make steady progress up the table.
But for now, I'll settle for the tremendous attitude the Spurs lads showed last night - at 4-2 down in the 89th minute they hadn't given up and showed all the passion of Tottenham Hotspur's history in winning that point.
It was my second trip to the Emirates and it is still a very good looking stadium from the outside. Actually from the seat I had last night I thought the stadium looked much more impressive than I felt last time. Although they needn't have bothered with padded seats in the away section - it was standing all the way through.
New stadium for Spurs - but no move out of Tottenham!
Spurs have announced the news that we've all been waiting for - what they are planning to do about a new stadium.
Of course, there has been lots of concern and speculation about the future of White Hart Lane. Most fans recognise we could do with a bigger capacity stadium to help the club grow, but most fans (including me) are very keen for the club to stay in Tottenham.
So I'm very excited about the new plans that the club have announced, called the Northumberland Development Project. The plans will be going out to public consultation and I will certainly be taking a very close look at them, but essentially we are looking at a 60,000 seater stadium on roughly the same site as White Hart Lane. As well as staying in Tottenham it means getting a new stadium without having to groundshare or suffer reduced capacity during a redevelopment.
Crucially, for me, it should mean significant investment in and redevelopment of the local area and a world class stadium which will let Spurs grow - both in terms of finance and fans going to games. Here's what the club themselves pick as the key points:
With our first win of the season, a new manager, the stunning 4-4 draw last night and now this news, it's been quite a week of happenings - even by our standards.
Of course, there has been lots of concern and speculation about the future of White Hart Lane. Most fans recognise we could do with a bigger capacity stadium to help the club grow, but most fans (including me) are very keen for the club to stay in Tottenham.
So I'm very excited about the new plans that the club have announced, called the Northumberland Development Project. The plans will be going out to public consultation and I will certainly be taking a very close look at them, but essentially we are looking at a 60,000 seater stadium on roughly the same site as White Hart Lane. As well as staying in Tottenham it means getting a new stadium without having to groundshare or suffer reduced capacity during a redevelopment.
Crucially, for me, it should mean significant investment in and redevelopment of the local area and a world class stadium which will let Spurs grow - both in terms of finance and fans going to games. Here's what the club themselves pick as the key points:
- A world-class scheme incorporating a new stadium with a capacity of 60,000, a Club museum, new shops, new homes, a new base for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and important new public space
- Delivered on the current site and adjacent land, ending concerns about a move out of the Borough
- No need for a temporary move during construction
- Significant local benefits and a huge boost to the area
- Potential catalyst for wider regeneration and further investment
With our first win of the season, a new manager, the stunning 4-4 draw last night and now this news, it's been quite a week of happenings - even by our standards.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Not all marathons are the same
One thing that annoyed me over the weekend was the ridiculous news coverage of the Original Mountain Marathon, up in the Lakes.
You might have seen the original doom and gloom reports that thousands of people were missing. They made it sound as if we were talking about a bunch of kids on a fun run, dressed just in shorts and t-shirts and wearing trainers. What we were talking about was a bunch of experienced walkers and runners, well-used to bad weather conditions and difficult terrain.
You only have to look at the website of the Original Mountain Marathon to see that these are people who take the event seriously. In a ‘normal’ marathon, you do get people like me who are unfit/don’t train/aren’t properly prepared – but no one would take on the OMM light-heartedly.
For the media to stir this up into some sort of impending disaster of catastrophic proportions was irresponsible, as well as unfair to the organisers. Over the course of a few hours they did start to backtrack as the numbers of “missing” fell rapidly – and fortunately everyone was accounted for.
Anyway, I’m hoping for slightly better weather when I got to the Lakes for a week on Saturday. I’ll just be doing some walking though, no fell running for me – although my mate Paul who I’m going with has been known to do the Keswick to Barrow run a couple of times.
I’ll just stick to running on the flat and limiting myself to just a little over 26 miles – which reminds me, please help me raise money for Refuge by sponsoring me for the London marathon now!
You might have seen the original doom and gloom reports that thousands of people were missing. They made it sound as if we were talking about a bunch of kids on a fun run, dressed just in shorts and t-shirts and wearing trainers. What we were talking about was a bunch of experienced walkers and runners, well-used to bad weather conditions and difficult terrain.
You only have to look at the website of the Original Mountain Marathon to see that these are people who take the event seriously. In a ‘normal’ marathon, you do get people like me who are unfit/don’t train/aren’t properly prepared – but no one would take on the OMM light-heartedly.
For the media to stir this up into some sort of impending disaster of catastrophic proportions was irresponsible, as well as unfair to the organisers. Over the course of a few hours they did start to backtrack as the numbers of “missing” fell rapidly – and fortunately everyone was accounted for.
Anyway, I’m hoping for slightly better weather when I got to the Lakes for a week on Saturday. I’ll just be doing some walking though, no fell running for me – although my mate Paul who I’m going with has been known to do the Keswick to Barrow run a couple of times.
I’ll just stick to running on the flat and limiting myself to just a little over 26 miles – which reminds me, please help me raise money for Refuge by sponsoring me for the London marathon now!
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Spurs 2 Bolton 0 - Sunday 26 October 2008
A win. A win! Okay, it's taken until nearly November, but...
The champagne Mum & Dad gave us for our engagement can finally come off ice (Owen would want me to point out here that he has no interest in football at all - though his attempts to be supportive are appreciated).
It helped that Bolton were hapless today - but we did play well too. Pavlyuchenko finally looked like he has the potential to become a class striker for us one day (hopefully soon). But with a number of pretty good perfomances on display I might actually go for an "old hand" as my man of the match - Benoit Assou-Ekottu.
One downside (if I have to look for one) is that Aaron Lennon didn't have a good game when he came on as a sub. After one particularly lame attempt at goal, a cheeky wag behind me suggested "have a shot next time".
But with the penalty award we had a little luck too - on a slight tangent, reminds me of a famous golf quote (not so famous that I can remember who said it): The more I practice, the luckier I get.
Anyway, the team looked like they had more of a purpose than of late and the atmosphere was more pumped. The arrival of' 'Arry 'as already 'ad an impact, even if he hasn't had time to do much yet.
Next match is an away game at the Emirates on Wednesday which I'll be at - in fact, three away games in a row for me coming up (Emirates, City of Manchester and Craven Cottage).
Now, our opponents on Wednesday may be a few places higher than us in the league - but they can't claim to be the best side in North London any more... on current form, that has to go to Hull City.
The champagne Mum & Dad gave us for our engagement can finally come off ice (Owen would want me to point out here that he has no interest in football at all - though his attempts to be supportive are appreciated).
It helped that Bolton were hapless today - but we did play well too. Pavlyuchenko finally looked like he has the potential to become a class striker for us one day (hopefully soon). But with a number of pretty good perfomances on display I might actually go for an "old hand" as my man of the match - Benoit Assou-Ekottu.
One downside (if I have to look for one) is that Aaron Lennon didn't have a good game when he came on as a sub. After one particularly lame attempt at goal, a cheeky wag behind me suggested "have a shot next time".
But with the penalty award we had a little luck too - on a slight tangent, reminds me of a famous golf quote (not so famous that I can remember who said it): The more I practice, the luckier I get.
Anyway, the team looked like they had more of a purpose than of late and the atmosphere was more pumped. The arrival of' 'Arry 'as already 'ad an impact, even if he hasn't had time to do much yet.
Next match is an away game at the Emirates on Wednesday which I'll be at - in fact, three away games in a row for me coming up (Emirates, City of Manchester and Craven Cottage).
Now, our opponents on Wednesday may be a few places higher than us in the league - but they can't claim to be the best side in North London any more... on current form, that has to go to Hull City.
Harry coming to White Hart Lane
When I had a quick look at BBC Sport before going to bed last night, I wondered at first if I'd got my annual events mixed up - that it wasn't the night for the clocks to go back, but perhaps April Fool's Day.
Harry Redknapp is set to take over as the new manager of Spurs. I'm not sure if the news that Juande Ramos and the rest of the coaching staff have been sacked, with Harry nicked from Portsmouth, should really have surprised me - the only surprising thing really is that anything still surprises me about this season.
Ramos probably had to go. Taking into account the bad run of results - which pretty much started in February after winning the Carling Cup final - the (fairly valid) argument that he was screwed over by the sale of our complete first choice strikeforce can only go so far. The man that is held responsible for the less than satisfactory transfer dealings over the summer, Damien Comolli, has also finally been shown the door.
Sad to see Gus Poyet leave with Ramos. I think all Spurs fans are very fond of Gus and it's a shame that his return to the club has ended like this. I'm sure he'll have better times as a coach - and maybe one day he'll even be back at Tottenham.
It is all done now, let's see if Harry can work any magic - and that's what he might just need, at least until the January transfer window opens. Starting with our home match against Bolton in the rain this afternoon... that's followed by a trip to the Emirates on Wednesday night then Liverpool at home next Saturday. Easy!
Meanwhile, Andy Murray continues to make the tennis a better option.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Clegg's call for action on the credit crunch
One of the party's policy emails dropped into my inbox today - this one looking at the credit crunch and how it's affecting people on what Obama and McCain would call "Main Street, not Wall Street".
It sets out four actions to help people out:
It sets out four actions to help people out:
1. Cutting taxes for struggling families so you've got more money in your pocket. The Liberal Democrats will cut taxes for people on low and middle incomes, raising them for the richest so the tax cuts are affordable.You can read more details at www.libdems.org.uk/recoveryplan
2. Lowering energy bills so you can afford to keep warm this winter. As wholesale fuel prices fall - they have dropped 28% since August - utility companies must lower people's bills too.
3. Keeping people in their homes, so you don't need to fear unfair repossessions. We must ensure that banks only ever repossess people's homes as a last resort.
4. Lower mortgage payments and cheaper business loans through big interest rate cuts. People and businesses need help paying off their mortgages and loans, so we need substantially lower interest rates.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Refuge - please give generously!
Having run the London Marathon in 2003 for the Terrence Higgins Trust and in 2006 for Amnesty International, it seems the right time to have another go.
I am delighted to be part of the Refuge team for April's marathon and am aiming to raise £2,500 for them - so you can help me out by going to www.justgiving.com/matt4refuge and giving as generously as you can.
I'll be blogging about whatever attempts at training I do (I'm going for a swim tonight, for the first time in ages) and repeatedly asking for money between now and then - but why not get in early??
A big thank you from me and from Refuge for any money you are able to donate!
I am delighted to be part of the Refuge team for April's marathon and am aiming to raise £2,500 for them - so you can help me out by going to www.justgiving.com/matt4refuge and giving as generously as you can.
I'll be blogging about whatever attempts at training I do (I'm going for a swim tonight, for the first time in ages) and repeatedly asking for money between now and then - but why not get in early??
A big thank you from me and from Refuge for any money you are able to donate!
Lembit for President
As most of the Lib Dem members reading this will know - and as hardly anyone else will know - the ballot papers are currently out for the election of our Party President.
I have posted off my ballot paper, with my first choice being Lembit. As his campaign website says, "I pick Opik" (yes, that slogan was almost enough to make me change my mind).
I voted for Lembit because I know he has the ability to inspire and motivate members at a local level and has already done much to promote the party. Some of the negativity coming from other activists really disappoints me - and I don't think it is reflected in the wider membership.
He may not be the bookies' favourite to win, but he's my choice because I don't care if sometimes the media coverage Lembit gets isn't either political or tremendously helpful. The net effect of the politics against the celebrity is still positive for us - as a party who struggle in the national media to remind people we even exist (fortunately not a problem when it comes to sticking leaflets through letterboxes on a local level).
For people - within the party - to dismiss him because of some of the, shall we say, more light-hearted coverage he generates does a disservice to the hard work he has put in for the party over the years. Not to mention all he has to offer for the future.
I have posted off my ballot paper, with my first choice being Lembit. As his campaign website says, "I pick Opik" (yes, that slogan was almost enough to make me change my mind).
I voted for Lembit because I know he has the ability to inspire and motivate members at a local level and has already done much to promote the party. Some of the negativity coming from other activists really disappoints me - and I don't think it is reflected in the wider membership.
He may not be the bookies' favourite to win, but he's my choice because I don't care if sometimes the media coverage Lembit gets isn't either political or tremendously helpful. The net effect of the politics against the celebrity is still positive for us - as a party who struggle in the national media to remind people we even exist (fortunately not a problem when it comes to sticking leaflets through letterboxes on a local level).
For people - within the party - to dismiss him because of some of the, shall we say, more light-hearted coverage he generates does a disservice to the hard work he has put in for the party over the years. Not to mention all he has to offer for the future.
New blog of note
Always keen to help people find blogs more interesting than this one to read, I am happy to point you all in this direction.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Football vs tennis
There still isn't anything good to write about Spurs at the moment - I can't even raise a smile from the almost comedic nature of the last defeat. With the UEFA Cup match away at Udinese tomorrow - which will be very tough - the next chance to get some Premiership points will be Sunday, at home to Bolton.
And the next two matches, within four days of each other, are away at the Emirates and at home to Liverpool. So the turnaround will have to be immense, if we are not still to be rooted to the bottom of the table in 10 days time.
The only glimmer of hope I've seen this week is the interest David Ginola has shown in helping the club out... never mind backroom, get him on the pitch now...
Happier sporting news has been Andy Murray's fine form though. This week defeating Federer and taking a second Masters title, already comfortably qualified for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, sitting nicely in 4th on the ATP rankings and of course, earlier in the year, reaching the US Open Final - it's been a superb season for him. Despite what he says, he is clearly our most promising and successful player for years - decades.
Also, the UK's Wimbledon champion (at junior level) Laura Robson has had her first taste of the senior tour. She put up a good fight against the world No.42 and still seems to be showing strong promise for the future.
So, is it time to abandon football completely in favour of my other sporting love, tennis? Well, no - painful as it is at times, I am a Spurs fan and always will be. If that were to mean watching Championship football next season and trips to Plymouth and Swansea rather than Man United and Liverpool, that would be what I would do. But, yes, I would prefer the Premiership though, thank you.
And the next two matches, within four days of each other, are away at the Emirates and at home to Liverpool. So the turnaround will have to be immense, if we are not still to be rooted to the bottom of the table in 10 days time.
The only glimmer of hope I've seen this week is the interest David Ginola has shown in helping the club out... never mind backroom, get him on the pitch now...
Happier sporting news has been Andy Murray's fine form though. This week defeating Federer and taking a second Masters title, already comfortably qualified for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, sitting nicely in 4th on the ATP rankings and of course, earlier in the year, reaching the US Open Final - it's been a superb season for him. Despite what he says, he is clearly our most promising and successful player for years - decades.
Also, the UK's Wimbledon champion (at junior level) Laura Robson has had her first taste of the senior tour. She put up a good fight against the world No.42 and still seems to be showing strong promise for the future.
So, is it time to abandon football completely in favour of my other sporting love, tennis? Well, no - painful as it is at times, I am a Spurs fan and always will be. If that were to mean watching Championship football next season and trips to Plymouth and Swansea rather than Man United and Liverpool, that would be what I would do. But, yes, I would prefer the Premiership though, thank you.
Go and see Sh*t-M*x now!
Went to the Trafalgar Studios last night to see Sh*t-M*x. By far and away the best thing I have seen at the theatre for ages – which is good, after the disappointments of Fat Pig (so awful we left at the interval) and Under The Blue Sky (which not even Catherine Tate could save from mediocrity).
Just checked and Sh*t-M*x is only on until this Saturday – so book some tickets now. It was hilarious but also took an unexpectedly dark twist and just brilliantly put together and acted.
I really can’t recommend it highly enough. If you haven’t been before, Studio 2 of the Trafalgar Studios is worth a visit in itself anyway, so if you can possibly make it this week to see a gem like Sh*t-M*x, then do!
Home Non-Delivery Network
As I mentioned, I was off work yesterday waiting for a delivery. It never came. That is because the company given the responsibility of delivering it was Home Delivery Network.
For a company whose sole business is delivering parcels, Home Delivery Network really aren’t very good at it. This isn’t the first time I’ve had problems with them (at different addresses over the years – all where I have had no problems with parcels from any other delivery company).
They repeatedly say they have attempted deliveries without putting cards through the door. In this case, I telephoned on Friday and booked in a delivery for Monday – taking a day off work to wait for it. When it got to about 3pm I thought I would call Home Delivery Network and see if they could give me an indication of when it would arrive.
At this stage they told me it was at the depot, the redelivery request had not been processed (despite the chap telling me very clearly on Friday that the parcels would be coming on Monday). They asked when would be convenient to redeliver… well, as they do not deliver on Saturdays and I had already taken a day off work for them, the answer was clearly “never”. I told them to return the parcel (worth around £80) to the supplier – I’ll be getting a refund from them and taking my money elsewhere.
Having first had problems with Home Delivery Network the Christmas before last – and knowing full well that delivery is not something they are very good at, see just this one other blog for plenty of examples – I deliberately avoid buying things from companies that use them for delivery. This one slipped through the net as I couldn’t tell they were going to be used, but I won’t be making that mistake again.
On a happier note, I did get a personalised t-shirt made up for my niece Catrin’s birthday – and am very happy to recommend Reinspire if you need a t-shirt printing and want a quick, professional and reasonably priced service. They took my order, emailed me over a picture of what the t-shirt would look like then got it printed and sent out in record time (they obviously don’t use Home Delivery Network).
They were really quick, the t-shirt looks really good and they were just a pleasure to deal with. No, I’m not on commission – but I’ll definitely be using Reinspire again if I need any t-shirts printed for anything!
For a company whose sole business is delivering parcels, Home Delivery Network really aren’t very good at it. This isn’t the first time I’ve had problems with them (at different addresses over the years – all where I have had no problems with parcels from any other delivery company).
They repeatedly say they have attempted deliveries without putting cards through the door. In this case, I telephoned on Friday and booked in a delivery for Monday – taking a day off work to wait for it. When it got to about 3pm I thought I would call Home Delivery Network and see if they could give me an indication of when it would arrive.
At this stage they told me it was at the depot, the redelivery request had not been processed (despite the chap telling me very clearly on Friday that the parcels would be coming on Monday). They asked when would be convenient to redeliver… well, as they do not deliver on Saturdays and I had already taken a day off work for them, the answer was clearly “never”. I told them to return the parcel (worth around £80) to the supplier – I’ll be getting a refund from them and taking my money elsewhere.
Having first had problems with Home Delivery Network the Christmas before last – and knowing full well that delivery is not something they are very good at, see just this one other blog for plenty of examples – I deliberately avoid buying things from companies that use them for delivery. This one slipped through the net as I couldn’t tell they were going to be used, but I won’t be making that mistake again.
On a happier note, I did get a personalised t-shirt made up for my niece Catrin’s birthday – and am very happy to recommend Reinspire if you need a t-shirt printing and want a quick, professional and reasonably priced service. They took my order, emailed me over a picture of what the t-shirt would look like then got it printed and sent out in record time (they obviously don’t use Home Delivery Network).
They were really quick, the t-shirt looks really good and they were just a pleasure to deal with. No, I’m not on commission – but I’ll definitely be using Reinspire again if I need any t-shirts printed for anything!
Monday, 20 October 2008
Catrin, Ciaran, Bert and Ernie
Came to the end of a very busy six weeks at work on Thursday - which was also my birthday - and then headed to Leeds for the weekend for a double family event: my niece Catrin's 3rd birthday and her little brother Ciaran's christening.So today am having a day off work just to relax and do nothing much more than a little bit of council casework and sorting out things at home. Have a theatre visit to look forward to this evening - going to see this at the Trafalgar Studios, which is a great theatre.
Might also pop to Wood Green to buy some crickets for feeding to Bert and Ernie - they're on mealworms at the moment, which they seem to be enjoying, but everyone likes a bit of variety.
That reminds me, I don't think I have posted any pictures of Bert and Ernie yet, who got their first mention here. So have this one - haven't taken any really good close ups yet.
The weekend was great, a lot of family there, including my Auntie Joan over from Spain and assorted cousins, aunties and uncles, plus Grandma.
Owen and I went up to my mate Paul's in Derby on Friday night, then on up to Leeds in the morning in time for Catrin's birthday at Gingerbread Cottage. She had a great time - but she is always smiling lots anyway, just look at the top photo.
On the Sunday it was Ciaran's christening, which all passed off very well too. Owen has been a firm favourite with all my nieces for a while now - and Ciaran seems to be just as enthralled with him, as you can see from the photo below!
The benefit of now-sight
Saw this Independent article last week, which reminded me I missed out something when I blogged about the Icelandic banking problems - the fact that Haringey Council continued to put new money into Icelandic banks after the first one had gone under.
Actually, Lynne Featherstone covered the proceedings from Full Council better than me on her blog.
People might argue that the benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it seems the Council had a few clues in the present (not the future) that perhaps should have stopped them making those extra deposits.
Friday, 17 October 2008
How being a councillor ages you
From the Hornsey & Crouch End Journal website (thanks to eagle-eyed colleague Ed Butcher for spotting it), comes this story about another of my Stroud Green Lib Dem colleagues Cllr Richard Wilson.
I took a screen shot to save for posterity, as I'm sure Richard would not have wanted to lose this record of how the Journal think he will look in 50 years time. Yes, the caption for the slightly startled looking gentleman does say "Councillor Richard Wilson outside the electricity sub-station". For those that don't know, he looks rather more like this.
UPDATE: My colleague Neil Williams has both a better shot of the Journal webpage and a better photo of Richard on his blog here.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
42 day detention dead in the water
Full Council was a noisy affair last night, with Labour on the ropes over the Icelandic bank deposits, Ally Pally (again), the Woodside House fiasco (again), recycling (again) - to name but a few.
Cllr Ed Butcher and my ward colleague Cllr Martin Newton made excellent speeches on the environment and the charge on the £37 million in Iceland was led by leader Cllr Robert Gorrie, deputy leader Cllr Richard Wilson and past leader Cllr Neil Williams. As always, if you want to watch the full proceedings you can see the webcast on the council website.
One good piece of news from yesterday was the defeat of the 42 day detention plans. It wasn't the democratically elected members of the House of Commons who stopped these undemocratic plans - and it certainly wasn't a costly political stunt that did it. It was the undemocratically appointed House of Lords, with a crushing defeat for the Government. Still doesn't change the need for Lords reform though - I may like their decision but I don't like how they got the power to decide.
Incidentally, seeing David Davis interviewed on television last night with the caption "Former Shadow Home Secretary" I wondered if he regretted his decision. Now he might be forever captioned as "Used to Nearly Be Someone".
Cllr Ed Butcher and my ward colleague Cllr Martin Newton made excellent speeches on the environment and the charge on the £37 million in Iceland was led by leader Cllr Robert Gorrie, deputy leader Cllr Richard Wilson and past leader Cllr Neil Williams. As always, if you want to watch the full proceedings you can see the webcast on the council website.
One good piece of news from yesterday was the defeat of the 42 day detention plans. It wasn't the democratically elected members of the House of Commons who stopped these undemocratic plans - and it certainly wasn't a costly political stunt that did it. It was the undemocratically appointed House of Lords, with a crushing defeat for the Government. Still doesn't change the need for Lords reform though - I may like their decision but I don't like how they got the power to decide.
Incidentally, seeing David Davis interviewed on television last night with the caption "Former Shadow Home Secretary" I wondered if he regretted his decision. Now he might be forever captioned as "Used to Nearly Be Someone".
Monday, 13 October 2008
Haringey's £37 million Icelandic deposits
As my Lib Dem colleague Cllr Neil Williams has already blogged, Haringey Council has (or had) £37 million invested in failed Icelandic banks - a fact they managed to keep out of the media fairly successfully, leaving most residents to believe that Haringey hadn't been affected.
We found out today that there is one good thing to come of the financial crisis. I have already blogged here, here and here about Haringey Labour's £12 million plans to move the civic centre - well, here's the Labour Leader of the Council in a statement this afternoon:
The phrase "at this time" does suggest that George doesn't think we should always be focussing on essential services - but, anyway, the splurge of cash for a new civic centre at Woodside House has been put on hold for now. Hopefully that means the current inhabitants can continue to provide community services there - and with luck the plans will now be scrapped for good.
Going back to the Icelandic banking collapse, a local resident in my ward has sent me this article from Money Week, which shows that some people at least were ringing the alarm bells six months ago:
We found out today that there is one good thing to come of the financial crisis. I have already blogged here, here and here about Haringey Labour's £12 million plans to move the civic centre - well, here's the Labour Leader of the Council in a statement this afternoon:
Council Leader Cllr George Meehan said: "With the current financial situation now having a real impact on local councils, it's right that we review our programmes to make sure that everything is fully focused at this time on essential services for our residents."
The phrase "at this time" does suggest that George doesn't think we should always be focussing on essential services - but, anyway, the splurge of cash for a new civic centre at Woodside House has been put on hold for now. Hopefully that means the current inhabitants can continue to provide community services there - and with luck the plans will now be scrapped for good.
Going back to the Icelandic banking collapse, a local resident in my ward has sent me this article from Money Week, which shows that some people at least were ringing the alarm bells six months ago:
Credit default swaps: how to spot the riskiest banks
By James Ferguson Mar 19, 2008
The whole point about the 'credit crunch' - is that it means banks won’t or can’t lend as easily or as cheaply as they once did.
The reason for this is that they are under-capitalised, either because losses have eroded their capital base or because they have had to take off-balance sheet loans back onto their books (in reality, much the same thing). This is a glorified way of saying that some banks are (at least technically) bankrupt.
Now, the system doesn’t like to admit such things - for obvious reasons - so we can expect the banks along with the central banks, such as the Bank of England and the regulators such as the FSA to try to keep it under wraps.
As such, it is highly unlikely that any bank will be allowed to fail (witness Northern Rock, which isn’t even a real bank) but that doesn’t stop the markets having a view as to who they are least comfortable lending to and which banks therefore need to pay more to get their hands on the cash they need to keep operating. We can get a view on this by looking at the interest rates the banks offer to us on their savings accounts - the higher the rate clearly the more desperate they are for cash.
However another way to gauge the risk of your bank account it is to look at the credit default swap market. Credit default swap (CDS) spreads measure the premium to the risk-free interest rate that a bank can expect to pay in the market for 5-year loans. The higher the CDS for any given bank, the riskier the market thinks that particular bank’s debt is.
So what is the market telling us now? Riskiest of all the major banks is HBOS, with a senior 5-year debt premium of 236 basis points (2.36% above the 5-year gilt yield of 3.8%, i.e. 6.2%). 6.2% is therefore what they have to pay the market for funds. (If they’re paying you much less that’s not a good risk/reward). RBS, Santander (Abbey National) and Barclays aren’t much better but HSBC and Lloyds are considered by the market to be the safest. If you can get a good rate from either of these banks, then given the risks the market thinks you’re taking, that’s a good deal and you should be able to sleep well at night.
Then, there are the foreign banks who are offering us internet savings accounts. The basic rule of thumb here is: if they’re ING, they’re no worse a risk than a UK high Street bank. If they’re Irish, they’re likely to be over leveraged and a bit more of a worry (especially Anglo Irish Bank).But if they’re Icelandic, then be afraid; these banks are starting to be priced for bankruptcy risk.
Kaupthing is now having to pay almost 8.5% more than 5-year government bond yields (i.e. 12.3%) to raise funds. Kaupthing’s savings account pays just 6.5% AER, which doesn’t even come close to compensating us for the risk I’d say. The markets seem to be telling us that there is a very real default risk here.Glitnir Bank is not much better and even Landsbanki (owner of the popular Icesave internet banking business) has to pay the credit markets 6.0% more than risk-free rates and 4.2% more than ING does, for funds.
Given that Icesave pays 6.05% on their easy access internet savings account and ING pays 6.0%, perhaps shopping around for the highest savings rate right now is not actually the best thing to do. Perhaps, just perhaps, we should pay more attention to the risk side of the equation too.
Saturday, 11 October 2008
Post-mock-turtle
Shamelessly nicked from this blog post on Lib Dem Voice, but thought this was worth a repeat airing.
From today's Times, apparently:
Word of the week: post-turtle
A 75-year-old Texas rancher recently explained this term to a country doctor. The conversation turned to the US election, and Sarah Palin’s vice-presidential candidacy, and the old rancher observed: “Well, ya know, Palin is a post-turtle.” The bemused doctor asked what a post-turtle was, and the old man replied: “When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a post-turtle.” The rancher continued: “You know she didn’t get up there by herself, she doesn’t belong up there, she doesn’t know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.”
Nobody mention the football
As I said in my 'comeback' post yesterday, it has been a busy month for me. Still very busy at work and not making any promises about returning to daily blogging, but going to give it a try.
So, what's been keeping me busy?
Well, September is a busy month anyway, with party conferences. Aside from our own, which was in Bournemouth, I also go to the other two with work as well - so add in trips to Birmingham and Manchester.
I was best man at my friend Alastair's wedding to Fiona - so that meant a stag weekend in Cardiff and the wedding itself over in Cookstown. Both excellent.
There has been theatre and gigs - tonight a combination of both, with Juliana Hatfield reading and singing - and football too... But with Spurs' current form I haven't fancied blogging about the games anyway.
There has, of course, been council business too, and plenty of casework as usual. I wasn't able to help out with Nigel's great by-election win as much as I would have hoped, but that all came good.
The big news this month though is that I got engaged to Owen, on our anniversary trip to Venice. Which of course I'm very happy about... and also means wedding plans will start to take up plenty of time soon too!
Oh, one other bit of big news, as my anniversary present we are now the proud owners of two fire bellied toads - Bert and Ernie.
So, what's been keeping me busy?
Well, September is a busy month anyway, with party conferences. Aside from our own, which was in Bournemouth, I also go to the other two with work as well - so add in trips to Birmingham and Manchester.
I was best man at my friend Alastair's wedding to Fiona - so that meant a stag weekend in Cardiff and the wedding itself over in Cookstown. Both excellent.
There has been theatre and gigs - tonight a combination of both, with Juliana Hatfield reading and singing - and football too... But with Spurs' current form I haven't fancied blogging about the games anyway.
There has, of course, been council business too, and plenty of casework as usual. I wasn't able to help out with Nigel's great by-election win as much as I would have hoped, but that all came good.
The big news this month though is that I got engaged to Owen, on our anniversary trip to Venice. Which of course I'm very happy about... and also means wedding plans will start to take up plenty of time soon too!
Oh, one other bit of big news, as my anniversary present we are now the proud owners of two fire bellied toads - Bert and Ernie.
Friday, 10 October 2008
Lib Dem victory in Alexandra
Congratulations to Nigel Scott, our new Lib Dem councillor for Alexandra ward.
Full by-election result 09.10.08:
Nigel Scott 1460
Labour 772
Conservative 443
Green 221
BNP 27
Nigel has already been working hard for the community for many years and will make an excellent councillor.
Full by-election result 09.10.08:
Nigel Scott 1460
Labour 772
Conservative 443
Green 221
BNP 27
Nigel has already been working hard for the community for many years and will make an excellent councillor.
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Polling day: Nigel Scott for Alexandra
I was up at 4.30 this morning, which can mean only one thing - yes, it's polling day.
Polling day this time much closer to home than other by-elections I've blogged about in the past. Alexandra ward is electing a new councillor today - to replace my Lib Dem colleague Wayne Hoban, who had to stand down after 6 years on the council as he's moved away for work.
Fortunately for residents in the ward they already have two other excellent representatives - Cllr Susan Oatway and Cllr David Beacham. Hopefully when polls close at 10pm tonight they will have a third hard-working Lib Dem, Nigel Scott, to combat the incompetence of Haringey Labour.
Out delivering this morning we did spot a few people delivering early morning leaflets for Labour too - which is unusual around here. No sign of the Conservatives though, perhaps they have given up already. Alexandra is another no-hope ward for them in Haringey - well, in that respect it's not much different to any other ward, the Tories have absolutely no councillors in Haringey (Hornsey & Wood Green or Tottenham).
Anyway, a busy day ahead for Nigel and the big team of Lib Dem helpers. For me, it's a very busy period at work so I'm on my way into the office. If you live in Alexandra ward, please do take a couple of minutes to go and vote today.
Away from the by-election, September was an incredibly busy - and exciting - month for me, which is why there has been no blogging. I'll try and do a round-up to fill you all in before too long.
Polling day this time much closer to home than other by-elections I've blogged about in the past. Alexandra ward is electing a new councillor today - to replace my Lib Dem colleague Wayne Hoban, who had to stand down after 6 years on the council as he's moved away for work.
Fortunately for residents in the ward they already have two other excellent representatives - Cllr Susan Oatway and Cllr David Beacham. Hopefully when polls close at 10pm tonight they will have a third hard-working Lib Dem, Nigel Scott, to combat the incompetence of Haringey Labour.
Out delivering this morning we did spot a few people delivering early morning leaflets for Labour too - which is unusual around here. No sign of the Conservatives though, perhaps they have given up already. Alexandra is another no-hope ward for them in Haringey - well, in that respect it's not much different to any other ward, the Tories have absolutely no councillors in Haringey (Hornsey & Wood Green or Tottenham).
Anyway, a busy day ahead for Nigel and the big team of Lib Dem helpers. For me, it's a very busy period at work so I'm on my way into the office. If you live in Alexandra ward, please do take a couple of minutes to go and vote today.
Away from the by-election, September was an incredibly busy - and exciting - month for me, which is why there has been no blogging. I'll try and do a round-up to fill you all in before too long.
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