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Stross, Macleod and Wilson : perspective

Climate Change Part 4 - Guest Post : SUBROSA

Climate Change IV - A THUMB (OR TWO) IN THE SCALES?

I was sent away to learn the corn trade to a firm called Lamprey & Son in Banbury. The old office and shop building still stands next to the town hall and looks much the same today although it has long been converted to other uses.

One day the boss showed me a really beautifully made, brass, Victorian pocket balance that fitted into a polished wooden case which would slip into your pocket. On one end of the beam was a small pot about as big as a good-sized egg cup. The other side of the beam was milled with serations and graduated with a sliding weight which moved along it. If you filled the pot up with a sample of grain and struck it off level, you could slide the weight along until it balanced with the contents of the pot and read off the bushel weight of the grain from the scale.

Bushel weight is a good indicator of quality. Plump, full grains weigh heavier than thin ones. A bushel of reasonable quality barley would weigh 4 stones (56 lb or half a hundredweight) and a bushel of good wheat 5 stones (70lb). So the little pot contained a very small part of a bushel. The sample might represent a parcel of grain which could be anything from 5 or 6 tonnes up to over 100.

The boss let me try this out and in two or three goes I was getting a very consistent reading. He then did the same with the same sample and got a considerably heavier bushel weight. Eventually he showed me the trick. The strike or straight edge, which was used to level off the contents of the pot, had two sides. One was like a ruler and the other had a piece of dowel along it. If you used the dowel side, it pressed a few more corns into the pot than the straight edge. With the effect of scale, this made the sample look considerably heavier and better quality. Even with a correctly drawn sample, a small change in procedure or instrumentation could significantly bias the result. "That's how they did it in the old days days, boy" he said with a wink "buying or selling, you see, boy". I should add that this was shown to me as an antique curiosity and was not any part of the trading practices of the firm in my day!

The kit which is used to "sample" the temperature of the climate is remarkably unchanged and about the same vintage as that rather splendid little balance. It is called a Stevenson Screen and was actually designed by the father of Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of "Treasure Island". It is a standard sized wooden box with louvred sides to allow free circulation of the air around the instruments and keep them out of direct sunlight. Hence the expression "in the shade" when referring to temperature. The thermometer might be a traditional mercury maximum/minimum type or more modern sensors. Stevenson Screens were traditionally painted with whitewash.

It is doubtful whether a character like ANTHONY WATTS could exist in state-controlled Britain. He is an American meteorologist and weather forecaster for commercial TV and radio stations. For his living he depends upon his customers' satisfaction with the accuracy of his forecasts. He also supplies custom-built weather stations, TV graphics systems and video equipment to broadcasters all over the world. So he is an expert who makes his living from weather but is neither a civil servant (who can be made to toe an official line) nor dependent on tax-funded grants (which require applicants to be politically correct). So he has a certain independence of mind and demonstrates that rugged individualism and tenacity of purpose which used to be the stuff of all-American heroes in many films of my youth.

He noticed that the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS - roughly equivalent to the UK Meteorological Office) had made a small change to its Stevenson Screens. He wondered whether this change would affect the temperatures recorded. Back in 1979 the NWS had stopped using whitewash and started painting the Stevenson Screens with white, semi gloss, latex paint. Whitewash essentially gave a coating of calcium carbonate whilst latex paint used the pigment titanium dioxide which has significantly different infra-red properties.

In 2007, having a little time on his hands, he set up a trial to see what the differences might be. He used three Stevenson Screens - one unpainted, one painted with the latex semi gloss used by the NWS and one painted with historically correct whitewash. He also used a modern stacked plate aspirated thermometer as an additional control. His results showed that the latex paint raised the maximum recorded temperature within the screen by 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit and the minimum recorded temperature by 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit when compared with the whitewashed Stevenson Screen. So that is an average upward bias of 0.55 degrees Fahrenheit. Not very much, you might think but the whole scare about global warming is based on a claimed, observed temperature rise of only 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit in a century.

Anthony Watts then decided to have a look at the NWS's Stevenson Screens in his locality to see if they were being painted to the official specification. What he found was disquieting. In one case, heat-generating radio equipment had been installed inside the screen, near to the temperature sensors. In other cases the weather stations were near to the outlet vents of air conditioning systems or close to other heat sources - all of which would tend to bias the recorded temperatures upwards.

So he conducted further investigations, eventually recruiting a team of volunteers to observe and photograph as many of the 1221 weather stations as possible all over the United States. 865 of them were visited. NEARLY NINE OUT OF TEN WEATHER STATIONS PROVED TO BE OUTSIDE THE SPECIFICATIONS LAID DOWN BY THE U.S. AUTHORTIES THEMSELVES.

They were near to artificial heat sources, on top of concrete or tarmac surfaces, close to buildings, in the steamy warmth of sewage farms and so on. ALL OF THE OBSERVED FAULTS WOULD TEND TO RAISE THE RECORDED TEMPERATURES. It is a fascinating story of one man's determination to get at the truth and can be read in full at SurfaceStations.org . Anthony Watts also has a regularly updated blog wattsupwiththat.com which is one of the most widely read, independent sources of climate information. I particularly like the fact that contrary views are welcomed. Whilst they are vigorously debated, they are treated with respect and normal courtesy - unlike some blogs pushing the official line.

To return to my analogy of that corn merchant's balance - the few cubic feet of air inside a Stevenson Screen stand proxy for a huge amount of the earth's atmosphere. Weather stations are often hundreds of miles apart. So th

Alex Chilton : Inveresk Street Ingrate

Cliched I know but what else are you going to listen to on hearing the news that Alex Chilton has died at the criminally young age of 59?

One of the most beautiful songs ever written.

Nice post in the Guardian from Michael Hann, remembering Chilton and his impact on modern music.

FMQs 18 March 2010 : SUBROSA

Apologies for the lateness this week. It was one of those mornings and I'm still catching up.

The economy and jobs were the main feature today along with the announcement Scotland is to have a Bank Holiday on 5 June 2014 to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Iain Gray (Labour) concentrated on erm... lots really. Apprenticeships, unemployment, Garl were included in his questions. The FM was delighted Mr Gray welcomed the 19,991 modern apprenticeships this financial years and also asked the parliament to note that the new apprenticeship grant scheme for 4,000 young people, opened on 11 January with £4 million, was fully subscribed by 4 February.

Although Mr Salmond was asked to take responsibility for the rise in unemployment figures he refused and reeled off statistics: As per ILO figures unemployment in Scotland is 7.6%, the EU 9%, the UK 7.8% and the US 10%. The FM laid the lack of recovery firmly at the door of Alistair Darling because he refuses to consider a fiscal stimulus package and he's cutting Scotland's budget by £500m (well he did have to get that in didn't he?)

Annabelle Goldie's question centred on the proposed civil service union strike planned for next Wednesday. She tried hard to pin down the FM with regard to ordering MSPs to attend parliament for a normal business day. The FM said the matter had to be handled sensitively and he would do everything to ensure the government operated as usual and further issues were outwith his remit. Very carefully worded by the FM that answer.

Tavish Scott also went along with the economy and reiterated that the whole of the UK was doing worse than all of Europe other than Greece. Tavish was in campaign mode or at least practicing his campaigning. One point of interest which arose from the FM's reply was that for the first time there was a reduction in the claimant count in February. Could it be that many jobseekers are just giving up looking for a job when all they're offered is a few weeks' training in something which holds no interest for them? Who am I to say.

Here are the links for this week's half hour: HolyroodLive and the BBC iPlayer.

RADIATION - HORMESIS OR L.N.T. - EXPERIMENTAL ANIMAL & PLANT EVIDENCE : A Place to Stand

The supporters of the LNT theory, that radiation, even at low doses, is dangerous admit there is no evidence for it but that they might as well go for it anyway because there is no evidence, or at least not enough evidence to convince them that the opposite theory, hormesis, is true.

If one takes a very high standard of counter evidence, stronger than the level of evidence needed to convince that smoking killed, then that may be true - for human beings. After all mass experimentation on human beings to see if they die is not well thought of so all evidence on humans is going to be merely statistical measurement.

However if hormesis hasn't been absolutely proven on humans it has been on animals & plants.

One of the first studies in radiobiology (1898) found that X-irradiated algae grew faster than unirradiated control groups. Stimulated growth was noted in trees (1908) and increased life span in invertebrates (1918) and insects (1919). X-Rays stimulated seedlings (1927), plant growth (1937), along with guinea pigs, rabbits and mice (1940's). Increased life span was the rule in low dose irradiated rats, dogs, and even house flies (1950's). In a 1981 monograph (CRC Press), T. Luckey revived the term "hormesis," but this time with ionizing radiation and backed it up with a review of over 1250 articles from 85 years of experimental biology.

These are all classic & repeatable experiments & nobody seems to dispute that they have repeatedly proven true.

This leaves the LNTers saying that, though there is no evidence they are interested in either way human beings must be completely different from all other animal, vegetable & microbial life in suffering from low level radioactivity.

This could just about be defended if the mechanism supposed to be causing this effect did so in a unique or almost unique way with human beings. Psychology is not controlled, though it is affected, by animal experiments because only human being s have human sized brains & that is what psychology is about. However for alleged radiation damage the process claimed to cause it is radiation particles (or gamma rays which are completely different) hitting ordinary living cells. The living cells of a human being, a monkey, an elephant or a mouse are, at the molecular level, constructed the same. Even the cells of plants & algae aren't much different.

To claim that humans react entirely differently from the rest of lifekind is similar to a creationist saying, as some do, that evolution may have created the algae, insects, dinosaurs, mice, anchovies, orangutans & chimpanzees but God uniquely created humans. If anything the creationist case is much more credible because the visible differences between us & chimpanzees is greater than the difference between our meat cells.

For a theory to be accepted as scientific it has to be testable. I have previously said that I think most "untestable" theories aren't actually untestable it is just that their proponents refuse to look at contrary evidence. Nothing could prove this more completely than the LNT/hormesis theory since hormesis researchers have repeatedly done such research & it has indeed proven, to them, that the theory is sound. The LNTers simply refuse to accept it while proposing no evidence of their own. One is the method of science - the other of quackery.

The undisputed animal evidence makes it worse. If there were no evidence it would be impossible to claim either theory correct & more research would have to be done. Where there is evidence that hormesis applies in closely related fields Occam's Razor or the Principle of Parsimony absolutely requires that the default position of anybody doing science must be that hormesis applies to human cells as it does to animal ones.

We can therefore say without any question that anybody claiming that the LNT theory is in any way valid is not a scientist & any politician who, in opposing nuclear plants, claims as fact that low level radiation is dangerous is wholly & completely corrupt & dishonest.

Occam's Razor applied to them says we can't trust them if they give their word they aren't lairs, thieves & murdering, parasitic, child raping, Nazi war criminals too (though it is possible further evidence might, at least partially exonerate some Green activists of being child rapists).

Army Tank Contract May Go to US Firm : SUBROSA

Warrior

The Westminster are proposing to annouce that the army's new light tanks will not be built in the UK.

The government had been told the 30 year old Scimitar tanks presently in service needed to be replaced and had recommended that the CV90 armoured reconnaissance tank be built by BAE Systems in Newcastle and Telford.

Our 'listening' Prime Minister seems to have dismissed the army's preferences and gave the £1 billion contract to the US arms manufacturer General Dynamics.

Initial BAE plans to cut 500 jobs in Britain and for the manufacture in Sweden of most of the parts for a sophisticated vehicle offering greater firepower than the current generation of Scouts in Afghanistan, have been quickly ditched. BAE is now promising to create or sustain 800 jobs in Britain, 500 of them in Newcastle, the home of Britain's last tank-making facility.

The Scout order is part of a bigger armoured vehicle replacement programme that also involves the Warrior. The Warrior upgrade has been delayed because of spending constraints and uncertainty about its firepower but ministers say there is no intention of cancelling the contract for a frontline armoured vehicle.

Our country is at war. Why can't decisions be taken swiftly? There are plenty extremely knowledgeable people in the Army who know the detail of tank requirements. Get the tanks built and out to our troops. It's appalling they're operating with 30-year-old equipment. Dare I suggest the money is taken out of the climate change propaganda fund.

source

Is Hague's position approaching untenability? : SNP Tactical Voting

The Lord Ashcroft affair is rumbling on (what do you mean quite nicely?) as the election date draws nearer.

It strikes me that both the Tories and Labour have a funding-related crisis on their hands with Unite for the former and the non-dom Lord for the latter.

For Labour, it is largely an internal party issue. There is nothing illegal about being funded by unions after all. However, the public can't help but be affected by the increasingly possible scenario that many members of the Unite union do not want their own party to win the next election and are staffing up the safe seats with many of their own in time for a lurch to the left in Opposition. A price worth paying to get rid of Gordon Brown perhaps.

For the Tories, the questions over Ashcroft drag on and currently dominate the BBC News website with William Hague under the spotlight. We already know that Hague was aware of Ashcroft's non-dom tax status months before this whole issue broke a few weeks ago but there is now a suggestion that the Shadow Foreign Secretary knew more than he is currently letting on far earlier. Per The Guardian:

The papers published today suggest that Hague - at that time Tory leader - was kept informed about the negotiations in 2000 over Ashcroft's tax status, though he insisted today that he had not been asked about the tax element "as far as anyone involved can recollect".

If William Hague knew that Lord Ashcroft was a non-dom after having brokered, or even while brokering, the deal that clearly stated that Ashcroft must be a full UK resident in exchange for entry into the House of Lords, and has kept that knowledge with him the whole time, then he should resign. It doesn't matter how genial the man is or how effective he would be as a Cabinet Minister, this is a question of integrity that, if found wanting, is too fundamental to sweep under the carpet.

Hague has tried to divert attention away from the key question by apologising for the non-issue of his saying that Ashcroft would pay tens of millions because the amount may only be millions. It's not the size of the tax receipts that are in question but the timing of them.

Hague to go? It'd be a sad sight to see but if this issue unfolds as I reckon it will, Hague's position will be untenable.

Stoned (2005) : Inveresk Street Ingrate

Polygamy on the Increase : SUBROSA

Over a year ago I posted about polygamy within the UK's Muslim community. Having listened to this piece from the Today programme, it seems it's on the increase, especially among young Muslims.

Is it time to enforce British law to protect women in such situations?

With thanks to ScunnertNation

Some of us manage without a car at all : Holyrood Chronicles

Live and let fly : SNP Tactical Voting

With chants of 'Sean Connery, Sean Connery' childishly, parochially and bizarrely ringing in his ears, Angus Robertson rose at PMQs yesterday to ask his question. The query of whether one of Downing St's staffers "took part in a conference call in July 2008 to discuss the suitability of Steven Purcell?" was met with a reply of 'I'll look into it from the PM'.

Now the really big question - Does anyone really care?

If some Labour colleagues knew of Purcell's woes back then, is it a cover up or merely a show of support that they didn't act on it? Is that even the angle Angus is aiming for?

Maybe it's my short attention span, maybe it's my strong compassionate streak or maybe I'm old-fashioned and just like elections to be about policies, but my level of interest in this red thread is all but extinguished and just think Steven Purcell should be allowed to bow out as gracefully as he can on a personal level.

So I would kindly suggest that the SNP group heed Tom Harris' warning and really soul-search to decide if they are "exploiting a tragic case" as the Glasgow South MP put it in The Herald. I don't think they are, but they'd pay a painful price if the public decided otherwise.

At a council level, the calls from John Mason for an investigation is firmer territory. Yousuf suggested recently that we shouldn't have an investigation because we don't know what the answers are yet. That's not generally the order in which these things happen. Answers follow investigations, not precede them.

There are enough allegations to justify some sort of review at least but until the authorities or auditors pick up the ball that the SNP is clearly desperate to hand off, the risks of this story continually being in the press sit more with the SNP than with Labour.

Westminster Ignores Scotland Once Again : SUBROSA

Video courtesy of Moridura

During the rabble called PMQs yesterday, Angus Robertson the SNP MP, asked a question about Stephen Purcell.

"...Will he confirm that a Downing Street staffer took part in a conference call in 2008 which discussed the suitability of Stephen Purcell?"

Watch the video and see how the BBC commentator over-talks the PM's response which was exceptionally brief but inaudible.

The Speaker allowed this juvenile behaviour yet when the PM was talking he enjoyed the sound of his own voice shouting, "Order, order."

Once again reaffirmation that Westminster cares not a jot for Scotland.

Oh, MekQuarrie and myself think it was the libdems doing the 'Sean Connery' heckling. What's your opinion?

Sonia - You'll Never Stop Me Loving You : Cllr Fraser Macpherson - LibDem Councillor for Dundee's West End - www.dundeewestend.com

Got bored of the telly tonight and reduced to 'Magic' on Sky - but good to hear this 1989 hit by Sonia! Happy days!

Jeff's Crystal Ball Not all Wonky : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

No Jeff has been worried that his crystal ball has been a bit wonky of late. Well I thin that on this St Patrick's night this Irishman will be able to partly put his mind to rest.

Almost 18 months ago, conveniently on my birthday so I could remember the date, he blogged:

"Stephen Glenn is expected to stand in Linlithgow and Falkirk East for the Liberal Democrats. A very tough contest indeed for the genial Ulsterman."

My response to him at the time was:

"But I'm expected to stand then am I? You know the result of the selection process before I do, do you? ;)"

Because until tonight the good Liberal Democrat party in West Lothian hadn't selected their candidates for the General Election. However, they did prove Jeff right in deciding that there wasn't "a Lib Dem better credentialed than [my] good self" in given me another turn as the candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk. Jeff wasn't alone both Michael Connarty and Tam Smith have asked me am I the candidate, I've had to say only that my name would be in the hat before tonight.

The West Lothian have also kept up the continuity from 2005 by selection Fauldhouse's own Charles Dundas once again as the candidate for Livingston.

You may notice one or two changes around the blog to indicate this event, one of which much as a regret doing is putting comments unto pre-moderation. The main reason for this is that I cannot be always available to check comments that go up. In light of recent events on other blogs this an action I feel I have no alternative with my current position but to face. I apologise for the inconvenience.

Friends of Wighton : Tich Frier : Cllr Fraser Macpherson - LibDem Councillor for Dundee's West End - www.dundeewestend.com

With thanks to Sheena Wellington, here's the latest update from Friends of Wighton :

On Saturday 20th March, the Friends of Wighton are presenting a Cappuccino Concert in Dundee, performed by the well-known entertainer Tich Frier, from Edinburgh.

Held in the atmospheric Wighton Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library, the event starts at 10.30am with coffee and newspapers. The music will be start at 11 am and run for about an hour. Admission is Â£5.

Tich has been singing folk songs for over 40 years, and has shared stages with some of the greats of folk music and taken his passion for folksong half way round the world and back.

Known for his great voice, driving guitar and uncontrollable sense of humour, his repertoire is taken from the tradition as well as from some of the finest writers around, and is continually nourished by new songs from his own pen and often from sources not obviously "folkie".

His performances also feature his unique brand of frequently surreal tall stories.

His most recent CD, "Shanghaied", was released in 2007.

For more information please visit www.tichfrier.co.uk or www.friendsofwighton.com.

Admission Â£5, includes coffee and newspapers served from 10.30am.

Tickets available on the door, or in advance from Rainbow Music, 35 Cowgate, Dundee - 01382 698397.

Latest updates : Cllr Fraser Macpherson - LibDem Councillor for Dundee's West End - www.dundeewestend.com

I recently mentioned that Stagecoach Strathtay was giving consideration to my request, on behalf of residents, to extend the 69 bus service to cover Richmond Terrace and Richmond Court (see above).

This morning, I took part in a site visit with the bus company and a City Council officer to ascertain if the bus can safely turn to allow it to cover the area. Conclusion - no problem - it can.

The next step is to see how the additional 4 minutes needed in the timetable can be achieved. Stagecoach Strathtay will investigate this and I will update residents when I hear further.

I also participated in today's City Council Scrutiny Committee, at which Care Commission and HMIE inspection reports on educational establishments in the city were discussed.

This evening, I attended the latest meeting of the West End anti-graffiti group, where we progressed our graffiti removal initiative, planned for the last weekend of May. A really positive and productive meeting.

Lastly, it was with great sadness that I learned earlier today of the death of Ann Caird of Thomson Street. A former community councillor and active member of the West End community, Ann will be sadly missed.

Another Scalp for the Righteous : SUBROSA

One thing I've discovered in very recent years is that the Righteous don't have a sense of humour. Their lives are spend finding fault with those of us who support the 'live and let live' adage.

A fine example of the Righteous at work is this:

A charge nurse, 33, who had four years' unblemished service, said "It's months since I have been in this position," as she straddled a patient while helping her colleagues control him. She was dismissed for gross misconduct from her £25,000-a-year post at London's Central Middlesex Hospital.

Laura Bowater was on her way home from a shift in July 2006 when she stopped to help staff restrain the 'extremely strong' 31 year old patient whose trousers had been removed so doctors could inject his buttock. She sat on his ankles to control his flailing legs, but the patient span onto his back, exposing himself and kicking her forward. It was then she made the 'humorous' comment which senior staff investigated six weeks later.

An employment tribunal initially agreed she had been unfairly dismissed but the decision was overturned on appeal because, although the comment was heard only by other medics, it was made in a public A & E department.

The NHS has lost an efficient member of staff. The Righteous have gained another scalp.

I really don't want to live in a country which is fast becoming a place where common sense no longer prevails do you?

source

PMQs: Summary : SUBROSA

Jowell, Byrne, Hain and Harman look on as Cameron takes another swing at Brown

Overall, it was fairly boring this week. Only two Conservative backbenchers stood out: Redwood and Howarth, and the Brown/Cameron exchange and the Brown/Clegg exchange are worth watching in the vids. Gwyn Prosser, Labour MP for Dover asked again about the forced sale of the Port of Dover.

Brown was flanked by Harman and Hain, who's face was a picture of sunny adoration as he gazed up at our own Dear DH. All in all it began rather subdued and resembled a Still Life tableau. Not for long though.

Brown paid tribute to Ashok Kumar, the Labour MP who died suddenly this week and to the three soldiers kia in Afghanistan though I wasn't clear whether he accounted for the two soldiers reported killed this morning. "1st Battalion Royal Angligan [sic]Regiment attached to the Household Cavalry Regiment battlegroup..."

Baldry, (Con, Banbury) asked re Chilcot and discrepancies between accounts in defence expenditure. "Will the PM now set the record straight and will he write to Chilcot to ensure their record is also corrected?"
Brown: "Yes Mr Speaker and I am already writing to Lord Sir John Chilcock [sic] about this issue... Defence spending rose from £21bn to this year around £40bn from 1997 to this day... " This was not greeted well by Cons b/benchers. "..but I do accept that in some years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms." Amazing, that must be a first for Brown to actually admit something.

Plaskitt (Lab, Warwick & Leamington) was on his feet next asking a question about Surestart and no one was taking any bets that Brown would use it to accuse the Conservatives of wanting to cut it. True to form he bemoaned the lack of "all party consensus" and attacked the Cons for a policy which they do not actually hold. The Conservatives, however, didn't take it lying down, which amused Jack Straw no end. I wish someone would move the microphone further away from Brown's stabbing fingers - bang, bang, bang on the dispatch box.

After acknowledging and associating himself with the tributes paid Cameron went on to thank Brown for answering Baldry's question about defence expenditure: "In three years of asking the PM questions I don't think I've ever heard him make a correction or a retraction ... there have been years when there have been real terms cuts and at last the PM has admitted it." Cue Brown smirk.

Cameron moved on to the BA strike. Brown's thoughts are"with the customers of BA and my thoughts also are with those who depend for their jobs on the success of BA... I don't think an industrial relations dispute should be brought into the House of Commons in this way." Called for a consensual resol-yewshun.

Cameron accused him of being weak. Would Brown join him in"urging Unite members to join them by crossing the picket line, going to work and getting the business moving."

Brown accused him of being partisan. Cameron said it was back to the 1970s. Hand-wringing from a weak PM while companies go down. Brown read from an old Daily Telegraph article and said the Cons were opportunistic. Cameron said the response was 'pathetic' (which Brown seemed to like judging by the smile on his face) .. and the question was batted back and forth. Brown didn't answer, preferring instead to practice his electioneering soundbites and accuse Cameron of not calling for management and unions to sit down and talk. Cameron accused Brown of acting in the union interest, not the national interest - he's also picked up Brown's nasty habit of stabbing the despatch box. Good performance from Cameron this week.

Clegg was also good again this week. He asked about CharlieWhelan and Lord Ashcroft - both exactly the same - "one is the Baron of the Unions and the other is the Baron of Belize..."

Brown replied that Labour and the LibDems had agreed changes to political party funding a year ago but the Conservatives rejected the deal. Clegg corrected Brown and accused him of re-writing history - a short but strong exchange worth watching. Ashcroft pays UK taxes on UK income so Brown's statement that he doesn't pay tax in Britain is very misleading - as it's designed to be.

Of the backbenchers Redwood had a short and sweet question about Royal Bank of Scotland: "Taxpayer-owned RBS has £700bn less today in loans and other assets than a year ago. Where has the £700bn gone?" I couldn't detect anything that could be construed as an answer from Brown.

Prosser ( Lab, Dover) "Does my Rt Hon Friend agree with me that to sell the Port of Dover would be the wrong thing. (I don't expect he'll agree with that)..."
Brown: "There'll be no forced privatisation under Labour ...but we must look for new options...and necessary investment for Dover's regeneration..."

Howarth (Con, Aldershot) raised the matter of "Charlie Whelan who was copied into all the smeargate emails and was, apparently, part of the 'forces of hell' of which the Chancellor spoke. Can the PM explain why he's now back in No.10 advising the PM or has his moral compass suffered the same fate as the telephone and other items beaten up in the bunker?"
Brown gave almost exactly the same answer he gave to a Conservative b/bencher last week. "He has a chance to ask a question about his constituency. He has a chance to speak up for the people of Britain. Once again the Conservatives are trying to turn an industrial relations dispute into a political football; they should be ashamed of themselves."

Winterton, ( Con, Macclesfield) asked about manufacturing in the area and the impact of regulation, particularly from Europe, which it needed "like a hole in the head."
Twigg (Lab, Halton) - public sector investment.
Robertson (SNP Westminster Leader) asked a question about Stephen Purcell which could barely be heard against the backdrop of Labour thugees disgracefully chanting, "Sean Connery". Doesn't it make you proud? Brown said he knew nothing about it - par for the course.
Gilroy (Lab, Plymouth Sutton) - marine renewables and low-carbon jobs for the future.
Steen (Con, Totness) (he of the very large house that resembles Balmoral) asked a long rambling question about a human trafficking campaign which made me lose the will to live.
Hoyle (Lab, Chorley) Jessica campaign to stop scamming of 'vulnerable people'.
Hughes (LibDem, Southwark N & Bermondsey) re index-linked pensions
Ruane (Lab, Vale of Clwd) - another angry display by an ignorant b@st@rd - interest rates.
Swinson (LibDem, Dunbartonshire East) re Tesco - too much power over communities?
Clapham (Lab, Barnsley) - asbestos-related diseases.

And that's about it for this week. I'm going for a well-deserved cup of tea and then I'll be back to post the videos.

The videos of the half hour can be seen at Calling England who kindly cross-posts this every week.

Newsnight - Sangin tour takes its toll on Green Howards and families : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Watch the full film on how the Green Howards and their families are coping with a challenging tour in the most dangerous part of Afghanistan on Newsnight on Wednesday 17 March at 10.30pm on BBC Two, then afterwards on the BBC iPlayer and Newsnight website. via BBC News – Newsnight – Sangin tour takes its toll [...] Related posts:

Happy St Patrick's Day : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

As an Irishman you'd expect me to be celebrating St. Patrick's day this evening. Well I may have a dram of Whiskey (note the spelling) later to celebrate but there is a local party meeting this evening first.

Of course that doesn't stop my blog from celebrating without me.

As a Northern Irishman it is over to the Muppets to sing the song of our country.

As a Rugby fan I'm still on a high from the events around the time of the last St. Patrick's day. Ok there was a bit of disappointment on St. Valentine's day but our hearts were soon put back after being broken at Twickenham.

Mind you to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of one of Ireland's most famous exports this was the advert.

SlÃ¡inte mhaith.

Is Labour Control of Information to Blame? : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

This morning in the Independent we learnt that the the Youth Justice Board are not publishing their figures on youth crime as scheduled but in 6 months time. An official at the government agency has said that the reason for this is official "purdah" period. The former Civil Servant in me is screaming Gordon hasn't gone to the Palace yet he can't be suppressing reports under the election "purdah" period, that is unless the politico in me has missed the actually calling of the General Election (and I know that hasn't happened).

We also have Helen Goodman Labour MP for Bishop Auckland crying out:

"The police have talked to me about [methedrone] and have really made the case for a legal ban on it.

She said it should for two reasons: "One is that it would send out a clear message to young people about how very dangerous it is.

"Secondly, it would mean that the police have more powers for dealing with it.

"The police have told me that there are people standing outside the primary school in one of the villages in my constituency trying to push that to people under the age of 12.

"We need to educate young people in the dangers and risks of taking drugs, but I also think we need to have a proper legal framework.

"Ideally, as well as looking at this one particular drug we'd have a new legal framework that would ensure you couldn't just go away, tweak it, and come back and sell something that's incredibly close."

On point one tobacco can be dangerous, alcohol can dangerous, indeed any alien item in the human body can be dangerous. Heck tasers can be dangerous, on people with minor heart conditions could be fatal.....oh hang on the police want to use them not ban them. I don't hear Labour MPs crying out for a complete ban on any of these to send out a clear message to young people, and the police, how very dangerous these are.

Also this is the same police force that have called out for ID cards, random stop and search, rights to detain for 90 days without charge, rights for fully exposing search at airports all of which, and more, have been pandered to by authoritarian Labour, without consideration of civil liberty considerations.

But then it all comes back to information, or more to the point Labour's control of information should I say. Just like we have a Youth Justice Board providing information to the Government about youth crime (even though the rest of us won't get that info for six months) how about a similar body for drug usage. Let's see let us call it the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), that'll work says exactly what is says on the tin. Lets appoint some experts in that field to that panel and let them look into things such as new drugs on the scene, just like methedrone. They could advise government based on scientific evidence just how dangerous the various drugs in our culture are.

Guess what? The ACMD does exist.

Guess what? The ACMD had a sub-committee looking into legal highs.

Guess what? Labour didn't like what the Chief expert Dr David Nutt had to say about cannabis in October so the Home Secretary sacked him.Other members of the panel also resigned.

As a result of losing the six experts Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said he would not pre-judge decisions on drug classification ahead of the committee issuing advice. However, we have Labour and Conservative members of the house now wishing to jump just such a gun before scientific opinions are made.

As Chris Huhne Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary points out

"If the Home Secretary hadn't meddled in the work of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs we would already have had their advice and the Government would be able to act," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary.

"The failure to classify methedrone is a direct consequence of the Government's interference in the independent advice of its scientific advisers.

"If the Home Secretary hadn't meddled in the work of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs we would already have had their advice and the Government would be able to act."

So it is all very well Mandelson saying a review into methedrone should be "speedily, carefully" carried out. Thing is that process was stalled by Labour own stubbornness to accept scientific fact. They'll happily accept scientific 'fact' when it suits them, weapons on mass destruction in Iraq springs readily to mind, but not when it goes against what they have already said.

This post has been sent via email therefore spacing and fonts may not appear at my usual standard. Also there may be links to other relevant blog entries or other content added later today along with adding the correct tagging.

Dejavu? : SUBROSA

The Future Under Trade Union Dominance?

As the trade union misogynists scream of their longed for war against what may be a democratically elected Conservative Government, ergo, the Nation and democracy, we can only imagine how their attitude to non-members would play out. When you consider the brutishness of ill educated, chip on the shoulder socialists and their union pay masters then you can see how easily their retribution can become a replica of the scene above. Make no mistake, this is how dreadful such people are. Whelan, Peter Pederast even that son of the snotty manse himself, regard the ends justify the means as a viable way to hold power. 59 Labour PPCs from Unite, more from the GmBH. Dromey handed a seat on a platter by his bloody awful wife. One thing is for certain, none of them care one jot about you and I or even their compliant and equally stupid members. God help us all under a trade union dictatorship. The cat is well and truly out of the bag. 1970s will seem utopia in comparison.

Instead of seven pints of Murphys : Inveresk Street Ingrate

Weekly Bulletin of The Socialist Party of Great Britain 142

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 142nd of our weekly bulletins to keep you informed of changes at Socialist Party of Great Britain @ MySpace.

We now have 1564 friends!

Recent blogs:

Tony Blair and the Chilcot inquiry
What is Real Democracy and How Do We Get It?
What's Wrong with Using Parliament?

Quote for the week:

"Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people." Oscar Wilde (attributed)

Continuing luck with your MySpace adventures!

Robert and Piers

Socialist Party of Great Britain

The Boondock Saints (1999) : Inveresk Street Ingrate

Some Light Reading for Brown and Darling : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

When Brown and Darling are preparng their budget, they should pay heed to this document and note well what it says. Some choice advice and quotes for them to ponder. For the rest of us read it and weep at the state these utter f*ckwits have manged to get our country into. First a quick review [...] Related posts:

Brown P*wned by FactCheck Blog : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Ha Ha. Do I need to say more: Gordon Brown has been forced to admit he misled the House of Commons over defence spending, after an investigation by Channel 4 News FactCheck. Continues on their blog. The FactCheck Blog – Brown admits he got his defence sums wrong. Related posts:Brown is Fiscally Illiterate – Fact Checked Another Brownie at [...] Related posts:

HIGH SPEED MONEY DRAIN : A Place to Stand

With the election coming up the government has said that they are going to build a high speed train from London to Scotland. Well actually they have said that starting in 2016 they, well actually the government after next, will start on the bit between London & Birmingham.

Although Scottish big statist politicos are keen to inform us that "the economic & environmental benefits speak for themselves" this is complete nonsense.

Network Rail (who support it, at least as long as they aren't asked to raise the capital to get them build it) based its decision on a 12-month study involving 20,000 hours of work and more than 1,500 pages of analysis.

The firm said that the line would account for 43.7 million journeys per year by 2030, which would result in 3.8 million fewer vehicle journeys and fewer carbon dioxide emissions.

"If, as research suggests, up to three times as many passengers will be travelling on our railways by 2020, then it is important that we move quickly in planning today for the rail network of tomorrow," said Scotland's Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson. ctd

So at a cost of Â£34 bn (maybe) with a 10% return on investment & say an extra 50% for actually running the trains we get [34bn X 10% x 1.5 / 43.7 million } Â£117 per singkle ticket> Â£234 return. That is best possible in all cases. Nobody really believes the price won't go up, the carriage of 120,000 a day, 5,000 an hour, each & every hour, looks optimistic to say the least. Yet it still comes out far more expensive than the plane. Of course if you price it that high people use the alternatives & the price has to go up higher for the remaining passengers - or else we just keep subsidising till doomsday.

John Redwood has blogged on why it was far easier to go to Manchester by plane than train (basically the train depends on making a whole range of connections, any of which can be late & lots of inconvenient waiting. I commented:

This exactly explains why a fully automated rail service would work. With driverless single carriage units leaving main stations every few minutes rather than 6 carriage units every half hour, waiting time is drastically cut & the risk of missing a link removed.

We could have tickets printed out at the monorail stop (like a bus stop but overhead so no congestion) for your destination in Manchester - the monorail takes you to your the Underground; hence to Euston: a carriage takes you to Manchester; a monorail takes you to within 1 bus stop of your destination. None of this is complicated compared to the computer systems that run a Wii. It is just that (A) we have so many in government able to stop anything being done & (B) rail drivers unions (I am convinced B is much less powerful).

A High Speed Train may take a short time of the actual travel time but it is the waiting for connections that wastes it. An automated system, because there are carriages leaving every couple of minutes ends that waste (& the worry about missing a connection). By going for a faster conventional train rather than an updated process we are making the same mistake government made over Concorde, when the future was in the cheap mass transit 747. Going for the fastest/biggest conventional process rather than real process innovation is one of the regular failings of government since it is politically more defensible to be certainly wrong in a conventional way than possibly not fully right in an unconventional one.

Afghanistan : SUBROSA

Two more British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.

They belonged to the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group and were killed yesterday, Tuesday 16 March.

The soldiers were killed as a result of an explosion which occurred in an area approximately 20km north of Musa Qal'ah district dcentre, Helmand province, yesterday afternoon.

Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield said :

"It is with deep sadness I must inform you that a single IED explosion yesterday afternoon killed two British soldiers, both from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, serving as part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group."

More deaths from IEDs and may have been caused by a lack of equipment. We have now lost 275 of our military in this war.

My sympathy to the family and friends of the fallen.

Brown P*wned by Unite : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

They even have a minder in his office to ensure that he toes their line. The Standard has this: One of Gordon Brown's senior officials at No 10 is entirely paid by the Unite trade union, the Standard reveals today. Clare Moody, a national officer for the trade union behind the BA cabin crew strike [...] Related posts:

Wow! That Didn't Take Long - The Dark Lord Speaketh : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

At 9:58 I blogged:

"However, just like that and the Digital Economy Bill I'm expected a knee-jerk, ill-conceived, poorly thought out Labour reaction any minute now."

The connection with the DE Bill was uncanny at 10:21 the BBC are reporting that Lord Voldemort of Foy and Hartlepool is saying the government would take "any action that is justified to deal with this" and that it will be examined "very speedily,very carefully". I'm sorry but as the Government are currently proving with Lord Voldemort's Digital Economy Bill speedily and carefully do not sit well side by side with this parliament.

2 soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment killed in Helmand : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Early morning sad news from Afghanistan, the MOD has this: It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that two soldiers from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group, were killed in Afghanistan yesterday, Tuesday 16 March 2010. The soldiers were killed as [...] Related posts:

DECC wastes money on Nursery Rhyme Adverts : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Sky reports that two adverts from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, to raise awareness of climate change have been banned for overstating the risks. Ed Miliband is of course the man in charge at DECC. Sky reports that the adverts were based on the children's poems Jack and Jill and Rub-A-Dub-Dub. But the [...] Related posts:

For My Irish Friends : SUBROSA

The 17th March was my Dad's birthday - an easy one to remember. I still miss him every day even after 22 years.

Quote of the Day on mephedrone : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

"Just because [mephedrone] is legal to possess it does not mean that this is at all safe."

That is a balanced view from Kay Aisthorpe of police community initiative Safer Neighbourhoods. There are a lot of things in our live that are not entirely safe if used in the wrong way

household bleach
kitchen knives
motor cars

Just because something is not "at all safe" through one use does not mean that all the rest should be banned. Same goes for our net usage. However, just like that and the Digital Economy Bill I'm expected a knee-jerk, ill-conceived, poorly thought out Labour reaction any minute now.

Although it does take me back to my time at the end of one school term working as the chemistry department lab technician in my old school. One of the younger teachers was trying to replicate one of the old time experiments for his sixth form class as an end of term treat. He'd written his required chemicals in the request book. I had to tell him that I was unable to provide the As2O3 he'd requested. Why asked why I had to inform him that no compounds of arsenic were allowed on school premises.

Poem of the day : Holyrood Chronicles

Hollowed out : Holyrood Chronicles

A heavy crossing to bear : SNP Tactical Voting

That the billion pounds project to build the additional Forth crossing will involve years of disruption probably doesn't constitute 'news' in many people's minds, certainly not surprising news, but the prospect of traffic being disrupted for over three years due to a single junction should at least make Ministers reconsider their options. Patrick Harvie leads that very charge in the Scotsman today.

I do appreciate that Scotland can't afford to get this decision wrong, that to be without a direct road link between Edinburgh, Fife and beyond is not an option, but the repairing or replacing of the existing cables in the existing bridge is, for me, by far the more attractive solution. Until there is a clear list of reasons as to why this option cannot be adopted I will remain implacably opposed to spending billions on something we may not need, a plan B even.

Murdo Fraser for the Tories says that the congestion for this junction will be lighter than the congestion in the event of the existing Forth Road bridge being closed for repairs. This suggests the wrong option is being selected over the right one in deference to how many drivers may be inconvenienced in a relatively short space of time. Not good enough if you ask me.

One final thought before I step down from this well worn soapbox and no doubt get sent off to join the Greens from commenters again. There is a real risk that these 3 bridges standing so close together could become something of a national embarrassment. Scotland has a proud engineering pedigree but if asked by a visitor why we need two road bridges over one short space of water, the answer of 'we couldn't fix the first one' would sound a bit daft to me.

Top 'o The Morning : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

It is St. Patrick's Day so I'm going to round up some Irish news stories this morning.

First up and some sad news for Cardiff Blogger, Jedward have been dropped by Sony after just one single. John and Edward Grimes who were Louis Walsh's last remaining act on the show released their cover of Under Pressure mashed up with Ice, Ice Baby but it was kept off the top slot by Owl City and then dropped like a stone the following week.

Walsh said:

"I'm completely committed to Jedward and I know they still have a great career ahead of them.
"I am in talks with a major record label about a new deal for them."

The Metro is telling me that tomorrow's hangover will cost the UK economy Â£560 million. Almost a quarter of all workers will be nursing a hangover tomorrow. Now I know us Irish are renowned for breeding like rabbits but seriously 11.5 million adult Brits claiming to be Irish, I'll await next years census results with interest.

Chris Sorek of Drinkaware urges caution:

"If you are heading out after work, have a big, late lunch. It's also a good idea to pace yourself with non-alcoholic drinks and plenty of water and opt out of rounds."

Back home in Northern Ireland it is the big day for school sport. Belfast Royal Academy face Ballymena Academy in the Northern Bank School's Cup final for rugby at Ulster's Ravenhill ground. St. Malachy's college will face De La Salle in the Maxol Direct Senior Cup for football at Lisburn Distillery's New Grosvenor Stadium. While in Gaelic Football Omagh Christian Brothers School faces St Colman's, Newry for the MacRory Cup at Casement Park.

And finally The Irish Times tells us that we may have been celebrating the Irish Saint's day over 6 weeks ago on 1 February if Patrick hadn't outdone Brigid of Kildare in the nations affections for patronage.

"WHILE ST PATRICK has had the edge in terms of recognition as Ireland's patron since the dawn of recorded history, St Patrick's Day has only been a national holiday in Ireland since 1903, when the British Parliament passed the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act. St Patrick's Day parades have a somewhat longer pedigree, with the earliest recorded taking place in 1762 in Manhattan, when the participants were Irish-born British soldiers. Parading for St Patrick's Day does not seem to date back any further than the 19th century in Ireland."

I won't tell the Cheltenham Festival, Guinness, New York or Boston etc if you don't.

Anyway that is it for this morning. SlÃ¡inte mhaith.

BA and Unite - The Story Extends Abroad : SUBROSA

This worries me. What are Unite up to? This is becoming far more than an employer/employee dispute if Unite are involving international unions.

Perhaps it's just that Charlie Whelan is determined to destroy British Airways. Maybe I'm becoming paranoid but it seems sinister this move.

Union supporters will say this is normal. I disagree. This dispute is between the workers of a British company and their British employer.

Talk on Plant Conservation : Cllr Fraser Macpherson - LibDem Councillor for Dundee's West End - www.dundeewestend.com

Tomorrow (Wednesday 17th March) between 7 and 9pm, Dr Deborah Long, Plantlife Scotland's Conservation Officer, based at the University of Stirling, will give a talk on Plant Conservation.

Taking place at the Botanic Garden, entrance is free.

Festival Theatre to expand : Southside & Newington Newsblog

No Defence for Liberals or the SNP : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

During the Defence in the World debate yesterday in Parliament we saw the usual mixture of MP's attending the debate, a reasonable amount of Conservatives who made a number of speeches, a few Labour MP's who have big items due up in the Defence Budget , but when we get to the minor parties what [...] Related posts:

Business Owner Prefers Paedophiles to Ex-Soldiers as Employees : SUBROSA

Picture from Mail

Karl Winn of Taunton, 60, is the boss of a net design company named Webeurope and he employs 16 people. He was contacted by Forces Recruitment Services who asked if he would consider taking on ex-soldiers. His response was:

Personally, I'd rather recruit ex-drug dealers, convicts and even child molesters rather than consider anybody who has been in the pay of the British Government.'

'Anybody who has been in the pay of such a military force, and by their silence and complicity has condoned such illegal and immoral actions while accepting a monthly bloodstained pay-packet , certainly won't be considered for employment by us.'

'The reality for the families of their victims is that there will never be any justice, and there never will be any closure, for the loss of a son, a husband, a child, or a family member who has fallen victim to British Military personnel who are going beyond 'just doing their job'.

'Please remove us from your email list. Regards, Karl.'

When another newspaper contacted him he initially said a disgruntled ex-worker had hacked into his emails and the above email wasn't written by him but he later admitted he was the author.

He admitted they may have been 'a bit over the top' but then said: 'I don't regret saying it at all.'

'Even if it costs me money I'll still stand up for what I believe in,' he said.

The very people who defend his right to stand up for what he believes in are the people he refers to as lower in our social structure than ex-drug dealers, convicts and child molesters.

FRS managing director Graham Brown said he was 'staggered' by Mr Winn's attitude and asked him, by email, if the Royal Marine detachment based in Taunton would share his belief.

I'm not surprised Mr Winn's staff were later seen removing corporate signs from outside his office. They can't be feeling too good knowing the kind of individual their boss is prepared to employ rather than ex-military personnel.

If I worked for the man I'd be looking for another job immediately. In fact now that this has hit the MSM I should think there are a few of Mr Winn's clients who will be thinking long and hard about giving their business to such a despicable character.

You can read more here and from an Australian newspaper. Webeurope has issued a press release here. Tractor Stats has posted a brief comment which you can read here.

Charlie Whelan's new militant tendency : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Michael Gove gavee a tremendous speech today exposing the corruption that is now at the heart of Brown's Labour Party. I'll just highlight a couple of pieces and leave you to read the rest. First Gove on what has become of Brown's Labour party: Under Gordon Brown, Labour has retreated into its traditional comfort zones, ditching [...] Related posts:

Getting Ready With The Sunscreen : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

I'm following the example of Jeff and shamefully borrowing one of his phrases in return, in about 24 hours I fully expect to be 'applying the sunscreen' and start to pre-moderate comments on this blog. Watch this space to find out the reason why.

This will only be the second time in the almost five years I've been blogging that I have pre-moderated comments on this blog. The last time ran from 26th to 30th September 2005 (I'll let you google for yourself what might possibly have been going on then). It is not a decision that I am taking lightly but in light of Jeff's situation over the weekend I feel that in the next day it will be wisest choice for me at least in the short term.

I fully believe in free speech and will probably continue to allow most comments through the filter. However, I do realise that over the next couple of months I will not be online as much as I would like to be to keep an eye on what is being posted and may not be an situation to allow comments as quickly as some of my readers may hope.

As I said the recent events that overtook Jeff while he was enjoying the Spanish Sun (lucky sod) are just the latest reason why I am considering this action. Jeff is one of the most gracious and understanding of the Nat bloggers out there. He is most certainly not someone for whom the derogatory Cyber-Nat moniker should ever be applied. He engages with the opposition and is willing to let any PPC have a guest post on his blog (sadly no non-SNP PPC has 'yet' taken up his offer). He like me has always, until recently, allowed a free flowing comments policy. Indeed it was no surprise to read the comments of support for him from across the political divide in the bogosphere. It was though to see a journalist apparently refuse to accept his apology in the full sense in which it was offered.

Unlike the Main Stream Media bloggers tend to be a solitary experience. As someone who used to help moderate part of the BBC website I know that the press has teams of people looking out for comments that may offend, some ISPs are flagged up as potentially hazardous, some just turn up and get flagged by other readers. When you write an article for a paper or for the BBC you really do put it to bed. It goes online and you do not have to keep up to date with the comments that are going on under it in its online state.

When you are a blogger however, you want to interact with those that take an interest. That isn't always instantaneous in our online world. You have to do things, like work, sleep or even just turn off your computer and do something else instead.

So while a media outlet can take instantaneous action against a derogatory comment a blogger may not be able to do so. However, if it is pointed out to them that something has happened and they take the quickest action that they can an apologise for doing so that should be accepted. It is after all only good netiquette. There are times that maybe a blogger should be proactive and realise that they are not going to be available to check several times a day what is going on and set up pre-moderation, but that can sometimes ruin the blog for their loyal readers. Also to be honest I had to call work from Bournemouth last September and get somebody to turn on my out of office on my work email. We forget things sometimes.

But before the media jump down the blogger's throats let them not forget that they have occasion scoured the blogs and from my personal experience:

Quoted half a sentence out of context (a post about Charles Kennedy during the Dunfermline and West Fife by election)
Stolen an idea for a diary section (Angela Constance letter on behalf of Jim Devine sending up Nicola Sturgeon's letter)
Taken only the end of an interview (my Tavish Scott piece from conference again out of the context it was meant)

In all but the first I wasn't even credited for the idea, and all of the above where not in a tabloid, but the one paper Scotland on Sunday.

Yesterday I happened to log on the the BBC just as the news of Ashok Kumar's death hit the breaking news, in the end I had a tribute up and online before the BBC or the Guardian. It's not a competition I doubt the several hundred hits I got in the first couple of hours of that news breaking are anything like the traffic they and other mainstream sites got. Although I did have over 10 hits from the Houses of Parliament before there was any other source except the local paper carrying the news.

That was pure fate, as sometimes unfortunately is what somebody decides to post in your comments section. Sometimes it is off topic, sometimes it is defamatory and sometimes it all happens when you are enjoying some off line time. That is the risk that sometimes us bloggers who wish to defend free speech take. It is one I'm not likely to be taken at least until May 7th.

I apologise in advance for the inconvenience.

Digital Economy Bill - YourCountryNeedsYou.com : Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

I have to say that Jennie puts the urgency of action well while everyone's favourite Elephant sums up the Lib Dem debate from Sunday (plus other stuff) well. I just want to emphasise the need for you to write to your MP about this, the danger is that the already authoritarian Labour party are going to attempt to rush this draconian bill through the House without proper scrutiny, consultation or debate.

If the internet literate in the Liberal Democrats had to call their own representatives to task over their illiberialism in trying to cut the illiberial nature of this bill how much less can we trust Labour or the Tories to see the light unless you tell them, no not tell them shout at them.

You can if you wise use this 38 degrees webform or if you are local to me write a personal email or visit them at their surgeries. Here are some helpful links to get in touch with the West Lothian and Falkirk representatives.

Linlithgow and East Falkirk: Michael Connarty email connartym@parliament.uk

5 Kerse Road
Grangemouth FK3 8HQ
Telephone: (01324) 474832
Fax: (01324) 666811

Or

62 Hopetoun Street
Bathgate
EH48 4PD
Telephone: (01506) 676711
Fax: (01506) 676722

Falkirk: Eric Joyce email joycee@parliament.uk Twitter id @ericjoyce

The Studio, Burnfoot Lane

Falkirk FK1 5BH

01324 679449

37 Church Walk

Denny FK6 6DF

01324 823200

Livingston: Jim Devine email devinej@parliament.uk

4 Newyearfield Farm,

Livingston

01506 497961

Next surgeries:

Michael Connarty
Friday 19th Newton Community Centre 17:00-18:00
Saturday 20th Bathgate Constituency Office 10:30-11:30

Any details of Eric or Jim please let me know in the comments.

More Lies from Labour - Sure Start Fact Checked : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Yet more lies from the dishonest and corrupt Labour party are exposed by Cathy Newman. The claim "The Tories have said they would cut £200m each year from the Sure Start budget - which could see one in five children's centres being forced to close." Labour Party press release, 16 March 2010 Cathy Newman checks it out In [...] Related posts:

The next chancellor? : Holyrood Chronicles

THE MOHOLE SCANDAL - WHY X-PRIZES WORK & AREN'T TRIED : A Place to Stand

The Mohole was an early 1960s government project to, purely for scientific purposes, drill to the Moho layer deep under the Earth where crust turns to magma. A mention of it & the scandal attached on WattsUpWithThat caused me to check it out & find this article. It shows both genuine scientific enthusiasm being overwhelmed by political cronyism:

"In the fall of 1958, which was already a year of scientific wonders, plans were announced in the technical and popular press for what promised to be an amazing undertaking. A group of American geophysicists were going to drill a hole several miles beneath the sea floor all the way to the remote interior of the planetâthe vast nucleus of dense, compacted rock known as the mantle...

an article in Life by John Steinbeck, who had been an amateur oceanographer as well as a prominent novelist. His perfervid accounts of the first exploratory drillings did much to increase public support for the scheme, which reached its peak in 1962, when Congress voted to back it with an appropriation of more than $40 million. And then, abruptly, there was silence...

History is full of examples of technological accomplishments that looked impossible when they were started. The 1940s and 1950s abounded with such triumphs, and by 1958 it was reasonable to think that no problem existed that couldn't be solved if enough smart people put their minds to it. However, most of the great advances of that era were made possible by inventions that had not been around a decade or two before: radar, controlled atomic fission, jet engines, lasers, computers. Mohole, by contrast, would have to make do with incremental improvements in existing technology...

The basic equipment devised for the experiment surpassed all expectations, and the expedition returned in triumph to be feted by scientific organizations all over the globe...

Preliminary grants and corporate donations had paid for CUSS I, but a ship capable of actually drilling the Mohole would require an entirely different level of funding. Estimates of the cost kept going up, but even in the earliest stages it was clear that it would be at least $15 million. By 1962 the price tag had passed $40 million, and when the project was finally abandoned, in 1966, it was more than $110 million. Government financing would obviously be needed.

Many Mohole advocates, mindful of the importance of public support, wanted to go right ahead and drill to the mantle, with no more exploratory missions to eat up funds. Others, including Bascom, privately wondered if the available technology was equal to the task. Bascom suggested that the project proceed in stages, like the lunarlanding program.

The ostensible reason was to let participants get used to the novel equipment and perhaps improve it, but in fact Bascom doubted that the Mohole would ever be completed and may have wanted to do as much geological research as possible before the money ran out. In a recent interview Bascom said that the entire Mohole venture was misguided and technically unfeasible and that a better goal would have been to drill many shallow holes in the ocean floor and examine the sediment they yieldedâwhich was in fact done several years later...

Whatever Bascom's motives at the time, his plea for a phased approach failed, and his own bid for a government contract was rejected (and in characteristically reckless Bascomian fashion, he had mortgaged his home to set up a deep-sea drilling company). Instead, in March of 1962 the NSF signed a preliminary contract with Brown & Root, a giant Texas construction firm. From that point on, none of AMSOC's original Mohole committee âEwing, Hess, Munk, and Bascomâplayed any significant role in the project except to complain about how everybody else was screwing it up.

Brown & Root had very little experience in the construction of oil platforms and none whatever in the field of floating derricks, but it did meet one very important qualification for government funding: It had bankrolled Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson throughout his political career...

By 1964 the project had become so bogged down in internecine disputes that it dropped from public attention. Early in 1965 the NSF announced plans to revive Mohole at a new site off the Hawaiian Islands, but as costs kept rising with nothing to show, the public grew weary of tossing money into the ocean. In January 1966 a House subcommittee recommended cutting off funds for Mohole. That spring LBJ, now President and ever loyal to his friends, urged Congress to restore the money. But then it came out that the family of one of Brown & Root's principals had just given $25,000 to Johnson's campaign fund. The ensuing row damaged the President's credibility, and in August Congress voted against any further appropriation. Mohole was dead...

In contemplating the high hopes and failed aspirations of the Moholers, one is tempted to ask, What if? What if the $60 million swallowed up by Brown & Root had gone into basic research on deep drilling? Could the Moho have been reached?

###############################

And that shows both what is wrong with direct government funding of "preferred bidders" compared to putting up general prizes & why it is done. It is incredibly wasteful & often does not achieve to official purpose but, on the other hand, it does increase the power & money available to the politically powerful.

The purpose of government spending to to pay government employees & their friends. The nominal purpose comes, at best, second.

It is quite likely that the Mohole Project was, at the time, technically impossible. However had an X-Prize of $40 million been put up one of 2 things would have happened. Either somebody would have achieved it, at the $40 million cost or they wouldn't. If the latter either the amount would have been revised in line with inflation & growth) (nearly $1 bn now) & it would have been achieved or if niot updated it probably now wouldn't have been achieved. Alternately prizes might have been dolled out for the incremental achievements Bascom suggested & something would have been achieved at a far lower cost.

But LBJ (& other politicians of that ilk wouldn't have got their cash.

I think that fully explains why X-Prizes aren't pushed despite, or rather because of, the fact they either work or cost nothing.

Speak Up and Say Enough is Enough : SUBROSA

Have a look at the latest video from the Drinkers Alliance. It certainly sums up my feeling on the subject. Rather than punish everyone for the anti-social behaviour of the few, wouldn't it be better to make laws which punish those who do offend? Oh, I forgot, we already have such laws.

Lock up drunks instead of taking them to A & E. If there aren't enough cells then sort that out. Fine them heavily - so it really hurts - and if they are on benefits then deduct the fine from their benefits.

Until we tackle the causes of the problem it will still be there. Increasing the price of alcohol will do little, if anything, to resolve Scotland's relationship with drink. If someone wants to drink they'll find the extra money.

Our political representatives should stop the pussy-footing around, be firm with those who offend - deal with them - and leave the rest of us in peace to make our own choices in life.

GE2010 - Scotland's Top 5 Local Issues : SNP Tactical Voting

Regular readers will know that I like few things more than to take a recent Scottish poll, apply the national swing to each constituency and 'predict' the results that come out the other side. There are of course numerous problems with this approach with the chief one being the unpredictable variable of 'local factors', an Achilles heel that I have no doubt cursed more often than Beckham will have cursed his own these past few days. (Too soon? For the record, I'm devastated Becks is out the World Cup)
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Anyway, rather than skirt around these elephants in the Electoral Calculus room, I thought I would consider what the top five local factors in Scotland actually are as I start to warm up for the General Election campaign proper.
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It was difficult to pull out only five so I won't try to rank them and will instead list them arbitrarily but feel free to add your own and/or rubbish any of mine:
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Borders Rail Link - As someone who in a past life had to regularly commute to Galashiels from the North side of Edinburgh I would politely suggest that this project has been long overdue. I don't know if it was the Labour/Lib Dem coalition that got the ball rolling on this one or if it was the current SNP Government but I would imagine that an appreciative Borders community would reward whoever deserved it with an upswing in votes.
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The train will eventually snake through the Labour and Lib Dem constituencies of David Hamilton's Midlothian and Michael Moore's Roxburgh, Berwickshire and Selkirk. With the latter, an area that is largely Tory vs Lib Dem, tactial voting considerations may well outweigh any polling impact as a result of a train line which, to be fair, is already in the bag and consequently may not be uppermost in the minds of those going to the polls.
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CalMac Ferries - The question of whether the ferry operator should operate crossings on a Sunday around the islands on the West coast has been a huge issue for the more religious communities in Angus MacNeil's SNP constituency of Western Isles and Alan Reid's Lib Dem constituency of Argyll & Bute.
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I fancy both men to enjoy a significant incumbency factor to be honest and be returned to Westminster but there is no doubt what the number one issue will be in this part of Scotland.
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The East Lothian Question (a tremendous pun, shamelessly 'borrowed' from Stephen Glenn) - Anne Moffat's many woes have meant that Labour go into this contest in clear disarray. Some crises are imagined by the opposition, some are bona fide. This one ticks the latter box. With 7 weeks to go we are still unsure whether Anne will be the candidate or not and that alone, despite a considerable majority to defend, is enough to tentatively suggest that one of the other parties will prise this seat from Labour's grasp.
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Trams - I had lost track (pardon the pun) of the flailing tram project until I read a startling article in the Scotsman explaining that even the most ardent of supporters of the transport project could be losing faith in it (I know one person who won't, come what may). I understood from it that after years of disruption and some businesses even closing down on the street, the route may not even extend to Leith Walk initially due to a lack of money.
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The question of who will bear the brunt of any impact in the election itself is a fascinating one. The Greens, Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems were all in favour of the project but it was the SNP and Lib Dem council who were tasked with delivering it. That's a double-whammy of bad news for the yellow camp but if I was a disgruntled voter who wished to protest about the trams, I wouldn't know where to cast my vote. (For the record, I've come full circle. I regret the ballooning expense but I'm a tram convert and think they'll be great in the end)
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Edinburgh North & Leith is a seat that will clearly be impacted by this and it is little wonder that SNP PPC Calum Cashley has been continuing his anti-tram stance so resolutely. In a seat where all four (or even five) main parties will have good reason to be confident of a good result, the ramifications of 'trams' as an issue could well be crucial.
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Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route - A project that apparently makes the Edinburgh trams look like plain sailing. First announced in 2003, the construction has not yet begun with approval given (again) in late 2009. Those who live along the route have voiced some fierce criticism of it and Aberdeen North's Frank Doran, Aberdeen South's Anne Begg and Aberdeenshire West's Robert Brown could potentially face electoral trouble as a result of the heavy delays stretching back into the last administration, albeit in Holyrood and not at Westminster. Anne Begg, with a majority of only 1,348 is the most vulnerable from unexpected voting behaviour though at the same time of course may ultimately be the beneficiary.
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So, that's my five cents worth and with cuts vs spending and Cameron vs Brown as the overriding national narratives, it's probably well worth keeping the above local factors (and no doubt more beside) in mind as May 6th approaches.

Gordon Brown knows best and Ignores his own Advice : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Benedict Brogan exposes how is the matter of economics Brown of course knows best, even to the extent of ignoring his own advice. As he reports: The Prime Minister has for years been a fan of international early warning systems. In a speech to the Washington Press Club in 2001 for example, the then Chancellor [...] Related posts:

Soldier dies of wounds at Selly Oak : Fitaloon at MicroShaft

The MOD reports the sad death of a Soldier at Selly Oak hospital. It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce the death of a soldier from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, serving as part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group, on Monday 15 March 2010 from wounds [...] Related posts:

McLeish Beats the Federalist Drum : Toque

Henry McLeish has called for a federal United Kingdom on at least a couple of occasions in the past (one here), and here he is doing it again in the Holyrood Magazine:

The constitutional question will not go away! Labour and the other parties need to embrace the politics of identity, diversity and nationality (not nationalism) and evolve an intelligible and coherent alternative to independence.

This has to be a form of federalism. We need a solution for Scotland and not for any particular party; one that will secure all the practical benefits of independence while remaining within a UK union; will stop well short of independence as a political or constitutional reality; and offers the prospect of a radical reform of both Scotland and the Union.

Devo-max represents an option which provides the maximum powers, some form of full fiscal responsibility and retains Scotland within the UK. Independence, in sharp contrast, transfers all powers to Scotland, with full fiscal autonomy and breaks completely the historic, constitutional and political link with the UK. There is now an opportunity for Westminster to join this new debate around a serious alternative. Federalism is the powerful alternative which will allow us to address the "England question" as well as the Barnett formula, the West Lothian Question and the unresolved reform of the House of Lords.

I don't argue with the vision, it's the likelihood of it happening that's the problem. It really is a shame that the Calman Commission was tasked only with looking at - and securing - Scotland's place in Union, when what really needed to be looked at was the Union's place in the governance of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As usual we take a piecemeal approach and preferentially pander to whichever separatists make the most noise, failing completely to address the British Question or understand the nationalist equilibrium, particularly in regard to England's place in the Union.

Sleep Lessons : SUBROSA

School children are to be taught how to sleep. Sleep Scotland, a charity started in 1998 with money from the National Lottery, is to run sessions in Glasgow schools to teach pupils tips such as the importance of a bed-time routine and avoiding late-night television.

The advice for pupils is that they should be sleeping for more than nine hours a night.

I'm sure Sleep Scotland does sterling work with children who require additional help with severe sleep problems, but isn't this new 'idea' further reducing the role of parents? Surely it is the responsibility of parents to ensure their children have adequate sleep. Remove TVs and computers from bedrooms, that would be a start. Ensure their children don't go to bed hungry and go to bed at a sensible time for their age. It's not difficult. Of course there will be problems initially if they have been allowed television and computers in their rooms overnight, but a good parent will realise they only have themselves to blame.

Speaking of Sleep Scotland I wondered where their current funding is sourced as it seems the NLCB stopped funding it in 2002 and their income in 2009 was £427,597.00. I'm always wary of 'charities' which do not provide funding sources on their websites. Is this now another quango?

For those who may be considered insomniacs - did you know insomnia shrinks your brain?

If you do have trouble sleeping perhaps you can join the classes in the selected Glasgow schools.

SNP - cause to nurse its wrath : Holyrood Chronicles

Military Training Cuts : SUBROSA

"They got the money for everything they asked for" - Gordon Brown, Chilcot Inquiry.

As we know Gordon Brown was talking about our armed forces in the above statement. What he didn't say is that he approved for a cut in military training exercises to save money.

A record 80 training exercises were cancelled last year while the number of British troops in Afghanistan rose to 10,000.

Last week, the Wiltshire coroner castigated the MoD over 'inadequate' mine detection training following the death of Cpl Sarah Bryant, the first British woman killed in Afghanistan and there SAS soldiers.

It is reported units training to deploy to Afghanistan within the next two years have had their training cut. One battalion commander said: "We are attempting to train essentially with one hand tied behind our back."

Figures show that the number of exercises conducted in the past three years fell by almost 30%, dropping from 646 in 2008 to 462 last year. Meanwhile the number of cancellations rose from 58 in 2006 to a high of 80 last year.

These cuts are expected to save the MoD around £20 million and were part of a £97 million saving forced on the Army along with a recruitment freeze. MoD officials admitted that cuts had been made as part of "in-year saving measures."

Training is an essential part of military work; particularly when we are at war. Reduced training puts more lives at risk. It's a well recorded fact.

I wonder of the MoD medal presentation celebrations and Christmas parties will be cut this year.

Gordon Brown says he supports our troops. By reducing training he's ensuring there will be more needless losses when we've lost enough of our young through inadequate training and equipment. It frustrates me that some people just can't see Gordon Brown's lack of commitment to our military. He has no interest. He treats this war as an 'out of sight out of mind' event. The worst Prime Minister in modern history will be noted for reducing military training while this country was at war - along with many other misplaced decisions.

Do have a read of George Foulkes' letter to the Guardian in which he expresses his anger at his fellow peers criticism of his pal Gordon. His voluntary appointments noted in the Register of Members Interests for the House of Lords alone is worth reading.

source

Labour's Wafer-Thin Manifesto for Scotland : Toque

For a long time it's really annoyed me that the Labour Party have campaigned in Scotland at the General Election on devolved issues, encouraging voters in Scotland to vote on issues that should be voted on at elections to the Scottish Parliament rather than the UK Parliament. I blogged about it here and on numerous occasions on the old CEP blog.

Now, thanks to this article in the Times, I learn how Labour justified this tactic:

Scottish Labour has ditched guarantees to voters on health and education being made in the rest of the UK and will fight the general election instead on key pledges on knife crime and apprenticeships, The Times has learnt.

Voters will miss out on legally binding guarantees, including personal tuition for pupils falling behind at school and a legal right to private health care if you have not been treated on the NHS within 18 weeks.

The decision comes as Labour fights for the first time a UK general election as the main opposition party in Scotland. Senior strategists ruled out making promises on devolved areas such as health and education ahead of the 2011 Holyrood election because it would give opponents too much time to attack Labour's plans.

Previously Labour sought to persuade the Scots to vote for them in a general election on the strength of manifesto pledges concerning devolved or English domestic policy, and they did this on the basis of the fact that they governed both England and Scotland and could theoretically seek to implement the same policy in both nations, or could make general election promises to Scotland that they could implement as the Government of Scotland. The fact that Scotland now has a nationalist government means that Labour can no longer do that, so it is thanks to the SNP that we may for the first time see a general election campaign that recognises the fact of devolution.

A senior Labour source said: "Not being in government in Scotland has given us a problem in that we can't promise health and education policies but ... we will be replacing reserved policies with ideas we know have a resonance with the public and strong attack lines on the SNP."

Ed Miliband is working on Labour's UK manifesto. Given that the UK manifesto will be substantially different from the Scottish manifesto, both in terms of scope and policy, it will be fascinating to see how it is worded. Will it mention England or will it still pretend the be a 'UK manifesto'?

I find it absolutely hilarious that Labour will be fighting the General Election in Scotland on the issues of knife crime and apprenticeships, for fear of divulging future Scottish Labour policy to the SNP. Alex Salmond must be praying that the Times article is true.

Civic Nationalism is not "stupid" : Toque

The English Independence Party is an ethnic nationalist party set up after, or possibly during, the fall of the civic nationalist Free England Party. It joins the growing ranks* of other ethno-nationalist groups ranging from the England First Party, white nationalists; The BNP, British but in favour of an English 'Volk parliament'; United England Patriots and English Shieldwall, Anglo-Saxon revivalists, and; Steadfast and the English Lobby, both supporters of majority rights for the ethnic English.

There is overlap between these groups but ideologically speaking they are a somewhat disparate collection of ethno-nationalists. Some might be more correctly termed white-nationalists and others cultural nationalists, but even the more culturally orientated delve into areas of race. The English Lobby, for example, has recently launched a petition to "preserve the White English ethnic group identity".

The other common link that these ethnic nationalists share is a dislike, or lack of trust, for civic nationalists. So it's perhaps no surprise that new English Independence Party launched into an attack on English civic nationalism with one of the first posts to the English Independence Party blog (originally publically available but now hidden from view).

There's little point fisking this, it doesn't need it. But as a civic nationalist I do feel the need to reply and hopefully inject a bit of reason. I have some insight into ethnic nationalist insecurities through discussions with them on this blog when they have come to inform me that I am an idiot and to tell me that only the ethnic English can be English. Ethnic nationalists understand 'civic nationalism' to be code for multiculturalism, and they feel that a civic, plural and inclusive English national identity will render Englishness as meaningless as they feel British identity has become. I don't share that insecurity. I want people from other races, religions and cultures that make England their home to feel a sense of belonging, to feel English. In my speech to the Convention on Modern Liberty I asked the audience to ask themselves three questions:

What is my ethnic identity?
What is my national identity?
What is my state identity, my citizenship?

Given England's constitutional status it is perfectly possible, and very probable, that second, third or fourth generation immigrants will not answer "English" to any of those three questions. That's bad for England. My civic nationalism is about allowing people who are not ethnically English to feel English by national identity, which I hope will help instill a sense of pride in England's cultural heritage and collective national identity, despite the fact - or even because of the fact - that they are not ethnically English. I want to bring us together as a nation, not by being prescriptive, but by providing a gateway into Englishness. By railing against English civic nationalism as "stupid" the ethnic nationalists are not only a reaction to the multiculturalism they despise, they are an integral part of it. We have arrived at the position whereby each and every ethnic group competes for their 'rights', the logical endpoint of multiculturalism as described by Paul Kingsnorth:

Britain now is a 'cosmopolitan' society in which no one cultural identity has pre-eminence, and in which Englishness, Polishness and Bangladeshiness must compete on equal terms. The nation's many 'minorities' are not to be integrated into mainstream society ('integrated' is such a problematic word; and anyway, what is the mainstream?) but fenced off, theoretically if not physically: defined as 'BMEs', afforded 'protection', treated as victims, spoken for. Descended from Pakistani immigrants but born in England? Sorry, you're still 'Pakistani', or 'Asian' or' 'minority ethnic'. You can be British, if you like, because Britishness has been stripped of meaning and is therefore 'inclusive' - but you can never be English (or, presumably, Scottish or Welsh, though this gets less attention) because Englishness is 'racially coded'. Attempts to define it are thus potentially racist; it's best if the English just shut up about it and get on with 'celebrating diversity' instead.

Is a more inclusive English national identity a threat to the cultural identity of the ethnic English? I don't think so. It may undermine the racial coding of Englishness, but that would be no bad thing, and those ethnic nationalists who are more interested in protecting the cultural inheritance of England should think about the positive benefits of an immigrant population who respect - respect not tolerate - the ethnic English on the basis on a mutual respect and a shared national identity.

* To the starting list you might also add The English Defence League, but their ideology is somewhat unclear.

Crossing Blackness Avenue : Cllr Fraser Macpherson - LibDem Councillor for Dundee's West End - www.dundeewestend.com

Following concerns I have received about the "green man" time for pedestrians crossing Blackness Avenue from the library to Hawkhill, I have again raised the matter with the City Council.

I have received the following feedback from the City Development Department :

"The lights at Blackness Library have been modernised and are now of the 'Puffin' type.

The flashing green man appears for 4 seconds with buzzer sounding. It may appear to the pedestrian that it has stopped but traffic will not move until the far footway is reached and that sensor triggered. The inter-green period ie the period when vehicles are stopped is designed to be long enough to allow pedestrian to complete the crossing safely.

The new design of the green man showing on the nearside or demand side of the crossing is part of a design which prohibits the impatient driver from 'jumping' the red light as he cannot see the green man/red man signal."

Nick Clegg: Speech to Liberal Democrat Spring Conference 2010 : Cllr Fraser Macpherson - LibDem Councillor for Dundee's West End - www.dundeewestend.com

Parents: primary and secondary intake : Southside & Newington Newsblog