The House of Lords

Lord Burns Becomes New Channel 4 Chairman

Sky News (Free subscription) | 8 hours ago

Lord Burns, a former chief economic adviser and permanent secretary to the Treasury, has been appointed as the next chairman of Channel 4.

Lord Burns named new C4 chairman

BBC News (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago

Lord Burns, a former chief economic adviser, will succeed Luke Johnson as the next chairman of Channel 4.

Finally by digby The House of Lords...

Hullabaloo (Free subscription) | 22 hours ago

Finally by digby The House of Lords finally decided to give the rubes a break. They passed the unemployment extension. Huzzah. That 700,000 people who lost their benefits at the end of September and all those since, sure could use a check about now. .

Lord Burns named Channel 4 chairman

Digital Spy (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago

Ofcom confirms that Lord Terry Burns will replace Luke Johnson as the new chairman of Channel 4.

Armed forces personnel to get priority in Commons public gallery

The Guardian (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago

Six places to be reserved for serving members of the armed forces during prime minister's questions or any other parliamentary debate Serving members of the armed forces will be given priority when the Commons allocates places in the public gallery for prime minister's questions, John Bercow said today. The Speaker told MPs that up to six places in the public gallery would be reserved for armed forces...

Religious stock and the belief crunch | Mark Vernon

The Guardian (Free subscription) | 8 hours ago

Buy Buddhism, sell Anglicanism? Be careful, because, just as in financial markets, shocks and bubbles can test your faith Faith markets are perhaps like financial markets. After all, religions have become global: opinions and beliefs are traded every day in the world's cosmopolitan cities, much like stocks and shares. Faith markets might even have their own kind of securities, as people hedge against...

Falling birth rate is killing Europe, says chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks

The Guardian (Free subscription) | 2 hours ago

• People accused of being too selfish to be parents • Sacks says non-believers lack family values Europe is "dying" because its citizens are too selfish to have children, the chief rabbi has said, blaming a dwindling birthrate on a culture of "consumerism and instant gratification". Sir Jonathan Sacks accused people of caring more about shopping than spirituality and...

Attempt to weaken sex trade proposal dismissed by Lords

Anglican Mainstream (Free subscription) | 12 hours ago

`The Christian Institute’ The House of Lords last night rejected a final attempt to weaken the Government’s proposed new law to tackle sex trafficking. The Government wants to criminalise anyone paying for sex with a prostitute who is being exploited by someone else, whether or not he knows about her situation. It hopes the proposal, Clause 14 of [...]

The Commons is a waste of space - literally

TalkCarswell.com (Free subscription) | 11 hours ago

Despite all the £ millions spent running the Parliamentary estate, and the £235 million thrown on Portcullis House, today there are 3,500 square meters of empty office space. All prime real estate at the heart of our capital city. Why is it that Parliament is as bad at managing office space as it has been at running its expense system? Because in a world of “safe seats” and...

SWEDEN: Anglicans snub Swedish lesbian bishop

VirtueOnline (Free subscription) | 6 hours ago

SWEDEN: Anglicans snub Swedish lesbian bishop http://www.thelocal.se/23074/20091104/ November 4, 2009 Anglican bishops from England and Northern Ireland have rebuffed invitations to attend the ordination of the openly gay Eva Brunne to be the next Bishop of Stockholm. Five bishops from various levels within the Anglican Church, including Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, have decided not to...

• Anglicans to boycott ordination of lesbian Swedish bishop - The Local
• Anglicans snub Swedish lesbian bishop - Anglican Mainstream
• See the 4 articles on the same subject

SNP Candidate David Kerr introduces Birthplace Flipping

The Wardman Wire (Free subscription) | 12 hours ago

There is a byelection going on in the Glasgow North East Constituency which used to be occupied by Michael Martin, the thoroughly discredited former Speaker of the House of Commons ( and what the hell is Martin doing in the House of Lords? ), and the SNP Candidate David Kerr is making heavy weather of it. Traditionally candidates bend over backwards, forwards and sideways to appear local, but Mr Kerr...

Government to simulate "total collapse" of UK phone network

Computing.co.uk (Free subscription) | 11 hours ago

Nicola Brittain, Computing , Thursday 5 November 2009 at 11:00:00 Cyber security exercise next week will examine response if communications disappear In the first exercise of its kind in the UK, the government will simulate a "total collapse" of the national phone network next week, as part of the National Strategy for Cyber Security launched by Gordon Brown in June. The move was announced...

More backing for Anglican Covenant

Anglican Mainstream (Free subscription) | 5 hours ago

By George Conger, Religious Intelligence The Dioceses of Western Louisiana and South Carolina have endorsed the Ridley-Cambridge draft of the Anglican Covenant, joining Central Florida as the third American diocese to formally back the Archbishop of Canterbury’s plan for creating a structure to manage the divisions over doctrine and discipline dividing the Anglican Communion. On Oct [...]

Academies sponsor ULT ordered to halt expansion

The Guardian (Free subscription) | 4 hours ago

Trust urged to improve standards at existing 17 schools and two due to open in 2010 The government has banned the largest sponsor of academies from taking on new schools until it dramatically improve the ones it already runs, the Guardian has learned. The United Learning Trust (ULT) was called into the office of the schools secretary, Ed Balls, last week and told it could not sponsor any more schools...

BIS organises talks on the future of UK science

http://www.iwr.co.uk/ (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago

IWR News Desk, Information World Review , Thursday 5 November 2009 at 13:00:00 The department for business innovation and skills (BIS) has organised a debate on the future of UK science - Blue skies ahead? The prospects for UK science – in association with the Wellcome Trust and Times Higher Education The discussion, to be held on November 30, follows the report from BIS in October that UK science...

Lord Desai only half right about Labour.

news rage uk | 18/04/2008

Lord Desai came out today and said what we are all probably thinking about unelected PM Gordon Brown. That he is indecisive and weak. However he got the next bit wrong because he claimed that Gordon was put on earth to remind us how good Blair was and this is where I started to get angry. I want to make it perfectly clear from here that I think and have always thought that the whole New Labour exercise...

• Threats, insults, and more bad polls: Brown's crisis continues to worsen - The Independent
• Labour peer Lord Desai piles pressure on 'weak' Gordon Brown - The Telegraph
• See the 13 articles on the same subject