They Blog For You

THERE’S been much excitement and banter over on Twitter and elsewhere about the government’s plans to repace NHS Direct in England with a new 111-service. “Cuts!” cry Labour supporters. “But you would have done it anyway!” comes the retort from government supporters. “Yeah, but-…” is the response from Labour. Ah. Now, I joined [...]

I thought I would give a mention to a local organisation which is helping at the heart of the areas hit by the recent flooding. Newhaven based Edinburgh Direct Aid happen to have a direct involvement in some of in one the most affected areas, in Kashmir. They've launched an [...]

More than half the issues which constituents bring to me are matters decided by the local Council, not by Parliament. In recent years there has been an escalation in representations. People are more likely to write to the Prime Minister about something to be settled [...]

The sad news came in an e-mail this morning. Hugh Richards died yesterday. A message from his wife Mag read. 'He died  at home. However, it was a peaceful death in his own bed listening to music. I know you will be upset as we all 'go back a long [...]

Sky should invest more in homegrown TV programmes, preaches BBC chief, Mark Thompson.I'm sure they would if we gave them over £2 billion of public money through the license fee each year."It's time Sky pulled their weight" he declares. Sky would love to pull more weight, if only they - [...]

So David Miliband would pose the greatest threat to the Tories?   How convenient for DM that this alleged private remark of David Cameron’s has hit the headlines, via an unidentified ‘well-placed source’,  just 4 days before voting starts for the Labour leadership.   It is of course the oldest trick in [...]

The UK in the era of comprehensive state education has had very different views on school size depending on the age of children. A typical local authority provides small schools for 5-11 year olds. This means [...]

David Miliband is likeable, intelligent, articulate, but the wrong person to lead Britain.    New Labour to the core, he is the heir to the Blairite inheritance which is now so profoundly unpopular with the Labour Movement that it lost the party 5 million votes by the time of its [...]

William Hague went to Afghanistan. A fortnight later so did David Cameron. On separate days they reported back to the House so that we backbench MPs could question them. Hague reported: ‘Optimism. Brave soldiers. Taliban on the run. More optimism. Afghan Army and Police getting ready. Shame about the casualties. But above all else optimism.’ Cameron breezily reported: ‘Optimism. Brave soldiers. [...]

A WHILE back I instituted a rather more rigorous comments policy than had previously existed. I took to removing any that were way off-topic, as well as those that were plain nasty. On the whole, you’ve accepted and respected this new regime. So, to say thank you, and because [...]

I recently learnt from the single parent charity Gingerbread that there is a 'debt mountain' of over £5 million owed to children in Edmonton in child maintenance arrears. It's a figure that truly shocked me. What surprised me even more is that out of the 647 parliamentary constituencies, Edmonton's £5 [...]

For years, MPs have been creating quangos to take difficult decisions and let them off the hook. So much so, that entire swathes of public policy are made by unaccountable officials, rather than anyone you voted for. But what happens when those officials at the CSA or FSA [...]

Today's post has been written by a local student who we've had with us on work experience all week. Thelma is just about to go into her final year of A-levels at Edmonton County School and, after that, has hopes to study psychology at university. During her time with us [...]

According to punk Keynsians a large public deficit stimulates an economy, whilst public spending restraint or cuts pushes it back into recession. In the UK Mr Ed Balls has warned that there [...]

Quit handing out so many visas would be a good start. It's five years since Parliamentary questions first revealed the extent to which student visas were facilitating large scale immigration into Britain.But because immigration officials and the Home Office are not properly accountable to those we elect, little seems [...]

How invigorating it is to welcome back the ghosts of Tory sleaze. Mates, Asil Nadir and Parkinson flittered across our televison screens today churning up revuslsion at Tory blushes of the past. How long do we have to wait for Mellor and Archer to stage comebacks? This is not to say [...]

THIS post was sparked by an exchange today with James Burdett on Twitter, after he drew his followers’ attention to this story: An England footballer has won a continuation of a High Court gagging order preventing the “misuse” of private information about him. For most people with an internet connection, the [...]

Three weeks in and the London bike hire scheme is being hailed as a success. Cyclists, from the proficient to the not so proficient, can be seen everywhere gliding (or wobbling) about town on the distinctive blue bikes. But, there is a group of individuals who have shunned the so-called [...]

I've just added my name to a petition that political pressure group, Compass, is currently running in an attempt to end legal loan sharking. Yes, that's right, this practice, where irresponsible lenders charge whatever rates they want, is actually legal and is repeatedly tipping customers into inescapable cycles of [...]

The media got the story wrong.   They reported today that BP had been forced to withdraw from new oil drilling in the Arctic.   They miss the point.   The real news is that drilling is being permitted in the Arctic region at all.   It shouldn’t be.   The lesson of the Gulf [...]