Today the well-respected political commentator John Kampfner launched the pamphlet, Lost labours, with Nick Clegg.He comments, "As somebody who has a long involvement with the Labour party, including editing the New Statesman magazine, I have been able to give a frank and honest appraisal of a decade and a half of New Labour. And in it I explain why I can no longer support them, and am instead turning to the Liberal Democrats. You can read a more condensed version in an article I wrote for the Guardian here."Alongside one million other voters, I deserted Labour in 2005 in protest at Iraq in favour of the Liberal Democrats, the only party to oppose the war. My decision to back the Lib Dems in 2010 is based in a more fundamental appraisal of Labour’s record together with a positive...

If you thought this year’s Oscars was just a place for movie awards and celebrities touting their posh frocks down the red carpet, then think again. This time it was tech giants, Apple, that were stealing some of the limelight … [visit site to read more] Gadget Gift Ideas If you like what you’re reading then learn more about joining our FREE newsletter here. Lucky readers will win some fantastic gadget prizes! Also, check out our recession busting gadgety money saving ideas. Get paid for your old phones – Top 5 mobile recycling sites compared Free phone calls to exclusive discounts at restaurants from phone networks – Free Sim cards from various networks and there benefits. Apple iPad Steals the Limelight at the Oscars is a post from: UK Gadget and...

Initially, Google Street View was fairly controversial with many people complaining about invasion of privacy and such issues. However, those concerns have not stopped Google from expanding the service, because as of tomorrow (11th March 2010), you lucky (or unlucky depending on which side of the fence you’re sat) people in the UK will have access to a total 96% of all roads, streets and avenues across the isles. The infamous camera cars have been out and about over the last year busily snapping up everything from busy city streets to little lanes in the middle of God knows where, there’s even been some Google Path View images captured using specially equipped trikes. In some parts, such as the village of Broughton, the journey of the car has been somewhat treacherous with...

There are several things I try to do with this blog. In bringing you a diet of posts each day, one of my aims is to avoid being derivative. My preference is to bring genuine, new or little-known information to the table, or to add fresh thinking or analysis to current topics.Despite that, there is value in repeating existing material, and spreading the word – and it is done exceedingly well by a large number of blogs. But, in many areas where there is a narrative up and running, it is either wrong or heavily distorted, either by act or omission. In this case, mere repetition or commentary which takes the baseline facts as read simply perpetuates the errors and the distortions, helping to lock in the narrative to the point where it achieves the aura of truth, irrespective of the...

It took the blogosphere just four days to raisethe near £10 000 to secure the release of Nick Hogan, imprisoned forsix months for flouting the smoking ban in his own premises and failingto act as the States unofficial Policeman.It took a further five days to convince Paypalthat the money collected was not part of some International MoneyLaundering, Drugs and Sex trafficking Ring, and for the cash to bereleased by a High Street Bank under the Money Laundering'Regulations', during which time Nick continued to languish in Jail.This in an age when Billions can be rocketed from London to Tokyo inseconds by our trusted and well beloved Banking industry.This was always a Libertarian issue, a civil rights issue rather than aPublic Health issue. The hypocrisy of taxing tobacco and punishing...

The FA Cup quarterfinals and Manchester United and Arsenal’s continued assault on the Premiership’s lead highlight this weekend review edition of the EPL Talk podcast. Laurence McKenna and Richard Farley take you through the four FA Cup matches, the England national team’s mid-week performance, the four weekend matches in the Premier League, and the prospects for Arsenal and Manchester United in mid-week Champions League matches. Don’t forget that the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview and analysis podcast available for free. In the past few weeks, we’ve interviewed legends of the game such as Dwight Yorke, Andrew Cole, Steve McManaman, Gary O’Reilly and Robbie Earle as well as experts such as Declan Hill, Simon Kuper, Misha Sher, Andy...

The next meeting of the Selly Oak Ward Committee is at 7pm on Wednesday 17 March 2010 at the 1at Ariel Scout HQ, Gibbins Road (next to Harborne Lane), Selly Oak.Items on the agenda include:an update on work on the Selly Oak New Road (a representative of the Council's contractor, Birse Civil, has been invited);a discussion about Selly Oak Park (a representative from the Friends of Selly Oak...

The Roman Catholic church is being plunged into a renewed crisis over how it has dealt with the sexual abuse of children by its clergy after it emerged that the brother of former Hitler Youth and Nazi anti-aircraft gunner Pope Benedict XVI, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger (pair pictured above), ran a renowned choir at the centre of child abuse claims.  Reports of systematic historical abuse by paedophile Roman Catholic clergy have surfaced at 3 schools in the Regensburg diocese in Bavaria. One of them is the much-heralded Regensburger Domspatzen, a 1000 year-old male choir and boarding school, whose choral master for 30 years was the Pope’s older brother, Georg Ratzinger. Monsignor Ratzinger has agreed to testify in any eventual prosecutions – but says that he knew of no abuse. The...

Alan Johnson and Hilary Benn have produced a report which proposes that all dogs in this country should be micro-chipped and that dog-owners should have compulsory third-party insurance. Story Dog owners face a new pet “tax” in a government initiative to tackle the menace of dangerous dogs. Compulsory microchipping of every dog — which would cost owners an average £30 — is included in a consultation report published today. It also suggests that the six million dog owners in Britain should be covered by third-party insurance to cover injuries to victims of dog attacks. In an attempt to give greater protection from “weapon” or status dogs, owners of unruly dogs would be subject to new antisocial behaviour orders, already dubbed “Dogbos”. These dog control orders...

Party's revised constitution would require all applicants to submit to a two-hour home visit, court is toldThe British National party plans to send officials to vet all would-be members in their homes, a court heard today.A clause in the far right group's revised constitution would require all applicants to submit to a two-hour home visit by two party officials, Central London county court was told.That could operate as a form of indirect discrimination against non-whites, said Robin Allen QC, representing the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is challenging the party's membership rules. "One way the provisions could operate would be to intimidate someone who wanted to join the party," he said, adding: "Of course, it could simply be a greeting."BNP members last month...

Labour peer was investigated over claims that she was paid expenses on a flat in Kent that had been unoccupied for yearsLady Uddin, the Labour peer accused of claiming more than £100,000 in expenses for a flat she did not live in, will not face any criminal charges, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed today.The Labour peer was investigated over claims that she was paid expenses on a flat in Kent that had been unoccupied for years. Uddin has a second home in the East End of London, just four miles away from parliament.The inquiry has been suspended with no charges made because there was "insufficient evidence" to bring a prosecution alleging that Uddin did not occupy the home in Kent.Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said: "The allegation against Baroness Uddin was...

Jo Nova makes a good point in her recent piece about the hideously complex task of tracing funds spent on climate change research. It's a PhD size project, she writes, and there are no grants available to fund this kind of PhD.Actually, as I've hinted before, I'm not sure it's even doable. The tortuous flows of money, the multiple agencies involved, the extremely slack accounting in some instances, and the lack of any clear definition of "climate change", all conspire to make any calculations extremely tenuous.There may even be an element of exaggeration – not only for the reasons Jo suggests, that some agencies and governments want to be seen as "green" but also, many projects are deliberately falsely categorised, just to get the money. Knowing which way the wind is blowing, many...

Prison guards apparently twigged because of the special attention Jon Venables has receivedBy Tim EdwardsLAST UPDATED 7:50 AM, MARCH 5, 2010It was claimed today that Jon Venables, the murderer of James Bulger, has had his new identity revealed after being returned to prison for breaching the terms of his release.The Sun quotes anonymous sources in the unnamed prison where Venables is being held as saying: "The level of protection he has is incredible. It's like he is some kind of celebrity. He is being held under his new name, which has been kept from all but the most senior prison personnel."Venables was released in 2001 after serving eight years for his part in the murder of two-year-old Bulger, which he carried out with Robert Thompson. Both were given new identities as a precaution...

• Kathryn Bigelow is first woman to win best director Oscar• Avatar gets only three out of nine nominations• Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique win acting honoursFor once, the Oscars were a genuine nail-biter. Right through to the final reel, it was too close to call between the David and Goliath of this year's contenders: Avatar, James Cameron's 3D space opera, and The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's low-budget drama about a squad of US bomb disposal experts working in Iraq. That Bigelow and Cameron were once married merely heightened the drama – quietly exploited by the ceremony producers who sat them directly behind each other – as did the huge disparity in their box-office takes (with over $2.6bn, Avatar is the biggest film of all time; The Hurt Locker...

Thousands using gas flares will illuminate the whole course of Britain's biggest historic monumentInteractive: Lighting up Hadrian's wallAn army that would have astonished the emperor Hadrian is set to take over his Roman wall tomorrow night, lighting a chain of beacons from the Tyne to the Solway Firth.Thousands of people have been recruited for what will be an 84-mile variation on Antony Gormley's invitation to the people of the UK to occupy the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square – a brief but spectacular moment of public art.Designed to highlight Britain's biggest ancient monument and bring an early spring to the northern tourist economy, the event will feature scenes that would have earned an instant court martial in Hadrian's day.Durham university student Maxine Granger is inviting...

Approval for building of 112 new flats in Beitar Illit comes despite partial curbs on settlement construction announced by Israeli governmentThe Israeli defence ministry today authorised further construction in a Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank.The decision came prior to the arrival in Israel of the US vice-president, Joe Biden, who is expected to announce a new round of indirect peace talks.Approval for 112 new flats in Beitar Illit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement near Bethlehem, was given despite a 10-month partial curb on settlement construction announced by the Israeli government under heavy US pressure in November.The decision to approve the building work appeared to be an attempt to appease members of Israel's rightwing coalition government, but was greeted with dismay by...

In his speech today, William Hague said:“Our ability to undertake economic modernisation will be critical to Britain’s future influence. When capital, labour and technology are increasingly mobile we cannot stand still. That is why James Dyson’s report about how we can give more weight to science and technology in our economy is so welcome. That is why our proposals on business taxation are oriented towards attracting and maintaining investment, why our programme of education reform explicitly draws from best practice across the globe, from Alberta to Sweden to Singapore, to ensure we make the most of every young person’s talent in the future.“But the change, the modernisation, our economy needs is not guaranteed. If our opponents’ mistaken arguments and mistaken principles...

Harry Cohen MP Tomorrow three Labour MPs will appear in court charged with offences under the Theft Act due to their Parliamentary expenses claims. Elliott Morley, Jim Devine and David Chaytor will appear in Westminster Magistrates Court. They are the first MPs to be charged with offences resulting from last year’s expenses revelations. The fourth MP under investigation is believed to be Eric Ilsley but tonight the Daily Telegraph is reporting that Harry Cohen has become the fifth Labour MP to be the subject of a criminal investigation. Cohen’s offence was reported as “particularly serious” by the House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee. He was found to have claimed around £70,000 from his second home allowance whilst renting out the home that he...

• BA accepts partial repeal of staff cuts on flights• Union mulls counter-offer as 5pm deadline for talks loomsBritish Airways has tabled an 11th-hour counter-offer as peace talks over a looming cabin crew strike go to the wire.The airline has responded to the offer of a 2.6% pay-cut by the Unite trade union with its own demands. Unite is considering the proposals but sources close to the talks said the union and representatives from its cabin crew branch, Bassa, harboured serious concerns about the counter-move.It is understood that BA has accepted a partial repeal of cuts to staffing levels on flights but it wants fewer crew back onboard than Unite has proposed.The TUC, which is hosting the peace talks, has set a deadline of 5pm to achieve a deal but both sides have shown...

Mon, 8th Mar In this article we’ll take a look at some of the key technology news stories and headlines, from around the world, for Monday, 8th March 2010. Today’s Hot Topic: Counterfeit drug pushes are targeting UK based University websites, according to the BBC. The headlines in technology news today are gathered from internet based news sources including BBC Technology News, CNN Technology, Sky News, BusinessWeek, Computing, Computer Weekly, BBC dot.life, IT Pro, Register, Wired, CNET News, The Wall Street Journal, Silicon.com, Engadget, Financial Times, PC World, Times Online, Reuters, Telegraph, AppleInsider, The Gadget Show, New Scientist, Gates Notes, Huffington Post and The Guardian. BBC Technology News: Mobile phones learn to lip read CNN Tech: Google vs. Apple:...

Social networking site fears reputation permanently damaged by false claim that it let older men pressure teenage girls for sexFacebook has threatened to sue the Daily Mail for damages after the paper wrongly claimed in a piece published on Wednesday that 14-year-old girls who create a profile on the social networking site could be approached "within seconds" by older men who "wanted to perform a sex act" in front of them.The paper apologised in print today and online yesterday for the error, which the author of the piece, Mark Williams-Thomas, insisted had been introduced by editors at the paper despite being told it was wrong. In fact, Williams-Thomas – a retired policeman who now works as a criminologist – had been using another, unspecified social network.But the giant social...

Foreign Office officials believe elements of Taliban ready to talk but fears grow of long Afghan conflict, and growing casualtiesBritain will today urge the Afghan government to put more effort into the pursuit of peace talks amid fears that the war could be prolonged – and more British lives lost – as a result of incompetence and lack of political will in Kabul.A speech to be delivered in the US by the foreign secretary, David Miliband, will reflect growing anxiety in London that President Hamid Karzai's professed desire for a political solution has not been backed up by any serious planning or concrete proposals.Unless more pressure is put on the Afghan government, some British officials predict that Karzai's proposed loya jirga, or grand peace council, due at the end of next month,...

Melting sea ice in the Arctic will kill thousands of bears in coming years, the US says, and continued commercial trade must not be allowed to make the situation worseIt is a familiar story in the climate change debate. The US government is at odds with the rest of the world and, despite criticism, wants other countries to change their minds and fall in line behind Uncle Sam.This time, the tale comes with an unexpected twist. This weekend, the US will warn that the threat from climate change to the future survival of the polar bear is so great that the world must grant the animal the highest possible protection.At the annual meeting of the international body that regulates trade in animals, the US will push for a total ban on the sale and movement of polar bear products that are used for...

JOS, Nigeria (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Washington led calls for restraint on Monday after the slaughter of more than 500 Christians in Nigeria, as survivors told how the killers chopped down their victims.Funerals took place for victims of the three-hour orgy of violence on Sunday in three Christian villages close to the northern city of Jos, blamed on members of the mainly Muslim Fulani ethnic group.While troops were deployed to the villages to prevent new attacks, security forces detained 95 suspects but faced bitter criticism over how the killers were able to go on the rampage at a time when a curfew was meant to be in force.Media reported that Muslim residents of the villages in Plateau state had been warned by phone text message, two days prior to the attack, so they could...

In the UK yesterday 3 New Labour MP’s and an opposition Conservative member of the House of Lords insisted that they should not be tried in the courts when they appeared before a judge on charges of expenses fraud. Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield said the allegations against them should be considered by parliamentary authorities instead of a jury. They said they were protected from criminal prosecution by the right of parliamentary privilege, dating back to the Bill of Rights of 1689. The MPs also asked to be spared the humiliation of being forced to stand in the dock at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Their request was denied and they then pleaded not guilty. Now regardless of their guilt or innocence, which doubtless will be...

So we are to have a budget in two weeks time, or at least we are to have Alistair Darling on TV in two weeks time telling us how he is going to spent yet more borrowed cash on swing voters in order to buy Labour another election. Here is some of what Gordon Brown said today:"We are weathering the storm; now is no time to turn back."We will hold to our course. And we will complete this mission. We have got through this storm together but there are still substantial risks ahead. "There will be bumps in the road. And I believe the only way to overcome them is by displaying the same strength and resolve as we did during the crisis." He then (with a straight face) declared that he had the “character” to lead Britain to economic recovery and attacked the Tories for planning to cut spending...

It has been open season on the BBC of late. We all have our reasons for criticism: the incompetent decision to close 6 Music, the failure to manage budgets, the excessive salaries of performers and especially of senior managers create a climate of anger which serves only to underline the perhaps more important failures to deliver quality public service broadcasting. I have long been a critic of the ‘Today’ programme, which is overlong, too pleased with itself and too inclined to slide into its comfort zone of two party politics. Andrew Neil’s political vehicle ‘This Week’, a weekly genuflection before the altar of bipartisanship, is a disgrace to the Charter. Meanwhile quality is astonishingly variable, especially in comedy. ‘We are Klang’ on BBC3 was jaw-droppingly awful...

Martin Chulov in BaghdadThe Guardian, Sunday 7 March 2010 13.24 GMT A barrage of early-morning rockets that killed at least 25 people across Baghdad has failed to deter voters from turning out in solid numbers in Iraq's pivotal general election.Up to 50 mortars and rockets were fired in the 90 minutes before polls opened with at least a dozen more peppering the city before noon.Despite the violence, voter turnout seemed to be within an anticipated range of 40-60% of the 19 million people registered to vote across the country. Voting also appeared to be steady in Sunni areas that boycotted the 2005 poll and then led an insurgent revolt in the face of lost political ground."Today I feel much hope for my country," said 70-year-old Qadimeyah Hussein, as she sat outside a polling station in...

Rollers left cheesed off as event stopped due to overcrowding, but organisers are trying to find a solutionIt has long been regarded as one of the most curious – and hazardous – of English springtime pastimes. Competitors chase a large round of cheese down a steep hill in Gloucestershire, risking ridicule and broken limbs.But it emerged today that the annual cheese-rolling event at Cooper's Hill above Brockworth has become the latest victim of health and safety concerns.This year's event has been cancelled, not because organisers fear that those taking part will hurt themselves, but because the competition has become too popular and is attracting unmanageable crowds.The organisers said: "The attendance at the event has far outgrown the location where it has traditionally been held for...

As huffing and puffing seems to be what lefties are best at, in the eyes of the Right-blogosphere at least, we at Though Cowards Flinch thought it might be fun to try some. It has come to our attention that the magazine ‘Total Politics’ is planning to publish an interview with Nick Griffin, the racist leader of the British National Party. Before we forget, therefore, we thought we should announce that, in the event of the publication of this interview, TCF will withdraw from the annual voting process to rank the popularity of UK blogs, run by Total Politics magazine, which once we welcomed and which made itself relevant to the internet through the annual UK blogging guide (pictured). Our withdrawal will of course be laughed off as inconsequential, and ‘exactly what...