Iain Dale's Diary (Free subscription) | yesterday
Last evening I spent a very enjoyable evening speaking to Erith & Thamesmead Conservatives at a fundraiser for their very energetic PPC Colin Bloom. It took place in an excellent Tandoori in Belvedere. I'm more of a meat and two veg man, but I have to say it was the best Indian food I have ever tasted. It was a challenging environment in which to make a speech as there was a lot of background noise...
Hagley Road To Ladywood (Free subscription) | 24/11/2009
The government turned down the application to turn John Madin's library into a listed building. After a long deliberation, Culture and Tourism Minister Margaret Hodge decided against granting Birmingham Central Library listed status. This means that the demolition squad are one step away from being given the go-ahead, paving the way for the £600m redevelopment of Paradise Circus, which so far...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 23/11/2009
It's about more than just the beer. Coors' decision to reopen a brewing museum shows the power of local action An important part of Britain's brewing heritage has been saved, with the news that the former Bass Museum in Burton-on-Trent will reopen in 2010 , possibly as early as Easter. It's a victory not only for historians but also for grassroots democracy, after a vigorous campaign in the east Midlands...
Spaghetti Gazetti (Free subscription) | 23/11/2009
Good news for Birmingham – reaction to today’s announcement that Birmingham Central Library has been granted immunity from listing. Margaret Hodge MP's letter to Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council. Birmingham Central Library Cllr Whitby commented: “We are delighted that Government has granted our application for ‘immunity from listing’ for the Central Library,...
The British Nationalist (Free subscription) | 23/11/2009
Lady Margaret Hodge will attempt to hold on to her Barking seat at the next general election, she will be up against one of the most well-known politicians of this century. Love or hate Nick ...
BBC News (Free subscription) | 23/11/2009
Culture and Tourism Minister Margaret Hodge announces that Birmingham's central library will not be given listed status.
Latest News (Free subscription) | 23/11/2009
Architecture minister Margaret Hodge has rejected the advice of English Heritage and an appeal in BD by architect John Madin to list his 1970s Birmingham Central Library.
Lancaster Unity (Free subscription) | 23/11/2009
East London borough Barking became the centre of a political battle when it was announced that British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin is to stand against Labour MP Margaret Hodge at the next general election. Voice reporters Janelle Oswald, Jack Wellby and Wendy Tuffour took to the streets of Barking to find out how locals feel about the area, the far-right BNP, and whether Griffin could...
Graham Pointer's Blog (Free subscription) | 21/11/2009
For those who follow Northern Ireland politics, there is one thing which happens from time-to-time, when the Democratic Unionist Party runs a candidate in a seat which is held by the Ulster Unionist Party (or which has recently been held by the UUP), and the unionist vote splits, leading to a nationalist, from the Social Democratic & Labour Party or Sinn Fein, either winning or coming close to...
Net News Publisher (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
U.K. Culture Minister, Margaret Hodge, has placed a temporary export bar on a painting by William Dyce, Welsh landscape with two women knitting. The Minister’s ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The Committee [...]
Islington Newmania (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Inflicting Margaret Hodge on Barking was the ultimate New Labour arrogance . It was she who lost Islington for Labour . With 50% in social housing ,70% of whom are on benefits , that ought to have been impossible, but with her busts of Lenin, lunatic squander and blind eye for the collapse of child services, she did it . She is a walking insult to the core Labour vote , the “Taken for granteds”....
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Labour party activists in Barking are not taking the threat of the BNP lightly The evening rush outside the Vicarage Fields shopping centre in Barking has the skin tones of many of our major cities. A white English woman in a shiny black raincoat hurries to a cash machine. Another woman of Chinese extraction walks by, her neck protected by a fake-fur lining. Two Asian men in jogging gear chat behind...
Jon's union blog (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
As I race to catch up with the fun and games over recent days I find myself having to return to Tuesday morning and a meeting of our UNISON Regional Committee. This was not perhaps the most exciting meeting I have attended in the recent past. We discussed the reasonable positive recruitment data (concerning which I pointed out that the various figures in the reports before us did not tally) and a range...
The Appalling Strangeness (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Good news! Some railway stations are going to be improved. But take a look at this list and see whether you can clock the link: Manchester Victoria – Tony Lloyd LAB Clapham Junction – Martin Linton LAB Barking – Margaret Hodge LAB Warrington Bank Quay – Helen Southworth LAB Preston – Mark Hendrick LAB Wigan North Western – Neil Turner LAB Luton - Margaret Moran LAB...
Simon Darby (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
With mobs of Labour supporters currently looking to disrupt the election campaign launch today of the chap most likely to unseat the unpopular Labour MP Margaret Hodge, it is probably a good time to bring you up to date with the latest from the Metropolitan Police. You will remember of course the criminal attack by a riotous mob of over one hundred IslamoMarxists in College Green, Westminster in which...
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