One of the most astounding things about the incredible arrest of Damian Green MP, is that it was handled by the terror - sorry, anti-terror- police. It reminded me that Gordon Brown used anti-terror legislation to freeze the assets of the Icelandic Bank. Has Stalin Brown finally replaced the less dangerous Mr. Bean version?
Amazing. In its mission to improve and provide facilities for young people in the city, Bristol City Council wants to cut funding from what should be the jewel in its crown, the nationally acclaimed Bristol Broad Plain Boys Club and Riverside Youth Project. Why? Because they don't like the name, and say it doesn't do enough to bring in girls. Despite the club's inclusion of girls in its activities. It's almost as if the City Council is allergic to excellence... Read my Guardian blog about it HERE
The tough stance taken on the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross BBC Radio 2 Broadcast is an important stand against bullying and for the forgotten value of empathy.
by the time the child is clutching a knife, ready to stab, they have already been drilled to know that if they do something bad, there will be no real consequences, apart from some desperate hand-wringing from society and a few emotional videos to tell them not to do it again.
But while the ministers devise ever more targets to meet the success rate that they want for their headlines, and to fix their statistics which they can fire out in PMQs, the purpose of the NHS is deviating away from making patients get better, and towards making ministers feel better.
The story that got squeezed out of the national headlines is that even with Labour leaking votes at an astounding rate, in the southern seats they set their sights on so hard, the Liberal Democrats are getting squeezed - not only out of the headlines, but increasingly out of the ballot box.
They cost each household in the UK over £2,500. They employ almost 700,000 people. They cost the nation £64bn. But the government refuses to publish a list of them, and refuses to provide a breakdown of where this money is going.
But research by the Taxpayers' Alliance) has revealed that since New Labour came to power, the cost of this unseen branch of government has risen by 50%. They are the quangos.
The Irish "no" vote should be a death knell to the Lisbon treaty. But moreover, Gordon Brown's determined defiance to support it is a sign that the Government has forgotten its remit, and its mandate. It is time for it to retire.
You know the feeling. You're staring at the notice board for the platform to come up for your train. When instead of a platform announcement - the departure time flickers on the screen from 08.45 to 08.48. Your heart sinks.
Why? Not because you suspect you are going to be three minutes late, but because you suspect that someone, somewhere, knows you are going to be an hour and a half late, but just hasn't got the guts to tell you yet.
That's how we felt when budget growth forecasts began to inch downwards. From Gordon Brown's last budget, to Alistair Darling's debut budget - and then on and on ever since.
