Tonight is decision night for the Ulster Unionist executive (you read it here first). A 65% majority would commit the party to fielding joint candidates with David Cameron’s Conservatives, in the European election next year and the Westminster contest beyond that. Mark Devenport reports that the only serious remaining sticking point is a name. The Conservative and Unionist Council is one option, whilst many UUP members would favour an additional Ulster. Although an official name for the unionist ‘movement’ is not a life or death issue, I would suggest that ‘Conservative and Ulster Unionist’ offers clarity and continuity which can only be beneficial to both parties. The arrangements which seem to have been reached represent a successful conclusion to negotiations. A...

A boutique run by an ex-member of The Fall, a scooter shop that doubles as a a cafe and a bargain tea-shop on Bond Street - these are just some of the secrets in London's quirkiest...

Plaid Cymru are not happy with Wales being portrayed as a vegetable:So, pity the poor Welsh on their discovering that the official emblem of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (itself a newly invented fabulous monster) undersells the principality. In the emblem, a red rose stands for England, a purple thistle for Scotland, a blue flax flower for Northern Ireland. All the Welsh get are three thin leaves as of a half-grown leek, grafted on to the rose stem. Hurt, they demand daffodils. You can see the design here.And I think I’d agree it looks pretty er...weedy, but still isn't this just the tiniest, little bit of an over-reaction?:...Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru's leader in Westminster, told The Daily Telegraph that it should be scrapped. He said: "This is yet another example of Wales...

We operate to a system of targets. That should be no great surprise. It is how ‘value’ is determined and efficiency is maintained. Social Work is, for the most part in the UK, funded from the public purse and it’s quite right that we should be subject to a checking and controlling system than ensures we give the taxpayers value for money. But (you could see the ‘but’ coming, I suspect) the types of data that we are expected to collect can provide a false sense of security in the systems. Some of this has clicked with the press over the weekend. Targets were met in Haringey. That does not mean a quality of service is maintained. tj scenes at flickr I’m not against all targets, by the way. One which I think has improved the service is the one which is...

Good man, that Andrew Rosindell (Conservative MP for Romford):Under devolution, we now have different administrative authorities, which makes it even more important that we celebrate our Britishness and do not allow the devolved Parliaments and Assemblies to downgrade the importance of being British. Representing a border constituency between Wales and England, my hon. Friend will know that it is even more important that we rekindle and focus on things that unite us and keep the British idea aliveI do not accept for a moment that the vast majority of people in Scotland want nothing to do with being British. People in Scotland are proud of being Scottish, and rightly so, as I am proud to be English. We have a dual identity. It is right that people in Scotland should celebrate being...

Standing near the head of Glen Affric as darkness falls, I listen to the creak of an old pine tree bending in the wind. There are few trees here, and those that do survive are twisted and stunted by the severity of weather conditions: it's only mid-October, but there is already plenty of snow on the ridges to add to the savage beauty of the valley. The map labels much of this area as forest, but that is simply medieval nomenclature, a time when the word indicated a deer-hunting ground rather than trees. It is certainly not what we would call a forest now: most of the ground here is tussocks of heather and sphagnum mosses. My guide Gordon Birnie, however, points to some pale green feathery sprigs dotted among the heathers. "Scots Pines. These have self-seeded."That makes it sound a random...

I’ve been reading Richard Sakwa’s book ‘Putin: Russia’s Choice’ over the past few days. The author does a fine job of explaining how the former president’s political programme, ‘sovereign democracy’, ‘managed democracy’, ‘the dictatorship of law’, call it what you will, comprised a rational and defensible, if imperfect response to unique challenges which Russia faced post-Soviet Union and post Boris Yeltsin. It is the most forensic examination of the politics of Putin’s Russia, which I have as yet read.‘Three Thousand Versts’ often wrestles with matters of identity, nationality, culture and these concepts’ interaction with more concrete notions of citizenship and state. Problems related to these areas are particularly abundant in Russia, with its huge...

The Commons has approved plans to create new regional select committees, although the chairmen will not be paid.After a bitterly fought debate in the House on Wednesday MPs backed the plan to create eight new grand committees for the English regions by 254 votes to 220.The bodies will seek to scrutinise the work of the government's regional ministers, as well as regional development agencies and strategic health authorities.But opponents have criticised the fact that they will have government majorities even in areas where the Labour Party does not have the most MPs and that in some cases members will not be from the relevant region.It’s not the only criticism:‘Gordon Brown, MP for Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is using his office to break up...

What to do on a wet day in the Lake District? Kevin Rushby takes a tour on Little Ratty - the steam engine that's been running come rain or shine since...

So why such a flaming fuss? The lad doesn't realise just how lucky he is. The same thing happened to us years ago as we sat sneezing, shivering and shaking, whilst waiting (in flipping'freezing fog) for one of many missing Merseyrail trains at our city centre's Central station. Prince Charles turns 60 waiting for throne Incidentally, hands up who knew that cheerful old 'Chazzer...

Sammy Wilson has found time, between lauding the emission of carbon and raging about the stupidity of vehicle testing, to gibber about need for ‘unionist unity’. The irony of DUP politicians calling for unionism to unite will never wear thin, but the party has fastened unto the notion since Peter Robinson’s succeeded the arch splitter, Ian Paisley, as leader. Its ardour for ‘unity’ has increased since Ulster Unionists entered talks with the Conservative party, aimed at forging a pan-UK unionist movement. Of course, what the DUP is intent upon (at least since it assumed the mantle of Northern Ireland’s biggest party), is not unionist unity at all, it is Northern Irish unionist unity. Its call is merely for a closing of community ranks. The UUP has its eyes set on a much...

Appointeeship is when someone is appointed (see, clever use of words there!) to accept receipt of government benefits and/or pension on behalf of someone else. This is something that is fairly familiar in my line of work. When someone lacks the capacity to manage their finances and has neither set up a Lasting Power of Attorney nor has any family member or friend who is to be trusted with the responsibility or desire to approach the Court of Protection, the local authority can act as the appointee and gain  receipt of pensions and benefits and in return, they will set up a separate bank account and pay out any bills and costs. Usually it is a lengthy but not necessarily complicated procedure. It might have a complicated underbelly, but I know all I need to do is send some forms to our...

I have largely avoided contributing to the comments zone developing below my post about Gerry Adams’ ethno-nationalist remarks at last Sunday’s homecoming parade. It has become something of a bun fight in which I have little inclination to either participate or intervene. However, that argument, Tom Hartley’s snub of Remembrance Day in Belfast and Eamon McCann’s fine article in the Belfast Telegraph, have motivated me to flesh out a little my thoughts as to why Sinn Féin’s adherence to the principle of consent is merely rhetorical and as to why Adams’ comment puts last week’s protest in its rightful context as such an abhorrent event. When nationalists, Sinn Féin included, signed up to the principle of consent, as enshrined in the Belfast Agreement, they were...

THE number of people in England, Wales and Scotland who see themselves as British is in decline, David Cameron has declared.Except he hasn’t. What he has "declared" was:"I believe we should be honest about the problems our union faces. It's not just that the SNP are running Scotland; it goes deeper than that. There is no doubt that the number of people who see themselves as British – ahead of Scottish, Welsh or English – is in decline." In Northern Ireland, that percentage seems to have remained pretty constant over the last decade or so, but including that fact would have diminished Dave’s point, which was..."It is in fact about identity. You see it all over Europe, all over the world. People are seeking a clear identity; often a more localised identity. Just look at the rise of...

From the Lux Pod in London to Home in Buenos Aires, here's a round-up of some of the best hotels and...

Given the damage that I believe Labour has visited upon the Union since 1997, I’d rarely be inclined to hail a victory for the party at the polls. Nevertheless, when a win is gained at the expense of Alex Salmond’s SNP, I count it as an exception. Against expectations, Labour candidate Lindsay Roy delivered a resounding 6,737 majority over his SNP counterpart Peter Grant, whom nationalists had presented as the likely winner. Grant’s party leader had visited the constituency 12 times during the campaign, enforcing his personality cult upon proceedings, and the people of Glenrothes unequivocally rejected Scots' nationalism’s ‘Il Duce’. John Harris writes at Comment is Free, explaining why he believes the result is less a popular endorsement of Labour than a rebuttal of SNP...

I had a rather instructive coffee with Owen Paterson, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and senior figures from the NI Conservatives this morning. The sense which I took away from the meeting was that Tories remain hopeful of striking a deal with the Ulster Unionists, committed to the principle of realignment and aware of the problems which still lie ahead. The Conservative argument for the benefits of an alliance is well rehearsed. Ordinary Northern Irish people want a chance to participate in national politics, they like David Cameron's Conservatives and focus groups suggest there are votes to be gleaned by striking a deal. If a new Conservative and Unionist movement does not transpire (and there is confidence that it will, whether now or later) a rejuvenated...

Nick Robinson has been interpreting British political leaders’ reactions to Barack Obama’s election victory. David Cameron and Gordon Brown in particular have been conspicuously swift in their attempts to sequester a little of the US President Elect’s gold dust for their own purposes. During Prime Minister’s questions the Conservative leader clashed with his Labour counterpart, whose conference jibe about novices has acquired unfortunate connotations following Obama’s victory. Cameron’s cadres in Northern Ireland have also been drawing inferences from the presidential election. Obama is depicted as an inspirational leader who proves that anyone with the suitable abilities can ascend to the top political post in America. Whilst the UK does not encompass close to the 50...

Now, please read some of these seriously salient meassages being sent from the wider...

John Lloyd has a long and well-crafted article (thanks once again to D. Wildgoose) in Saturday’s Financial Times which has already been covered by Chekov,the Little Man and Tom Griffin at Our Kingdom.It’s jam-packed with great little quotations ("When a people are repressed, you get Nelson Mandela. When they are irritated, you get Alex Salmond.") but its main quality for me is that it’s an article about the Union’s future and it’s positive; I'll repeat that: positive about the Union having a future and we haven’t read too many pieces following that line in the last 6 months or so.Nevertheless, there are several parts I would raise the smallest of pedantic objections to. Yes, Northern Ireland’s place within the Union is the safest its been probably since the creation of the...

Via Tom Griffin, blogging at Our Kingdom, a long article examining comparative strength of the Union in all four of its constituent parts. John Loyd writes in the Financial Times, marshalling a range of mainly unionist opinion, expressing both optimism and pessimism as to the Union’s future and differing in its analysis as to how execrable and irreversible the influence of Labour’s devolution experiment has proved. Although there are voices which view devolution as a necessary means of recognising difference and siphoning off nationalist virulence against the Union, there is little doubt, amongst these interviewees, that Labour’s piecemeal, asymmetrical approach has provided succour to nationalism. It is worth looking at a few of the views propounded by the figures whose opinion...

It was the world's first purpose-built motor racing track. Now Brooklands in Surrey is once again attracting car-lovers to its circuit and...

I’ll admit to not being much of a Grand Prix fan, but even so, it was very exciting and great to see Lewis Hamilton delivering two fingers to the Catalunyan (amongst others) racists and capturing this year’s Formula One Title at the...

Gerry Adams unwittingly summed up Sinn Féin’s protest against the homecoming parade yesterday and the deplorable motives behind it. ‘Belfast is Ireland’s second city’, the party’s president growled to a BBC camera, the implication being that therefore self-evidently it should not play host to the British army. Adams’ blood must have been up. It was a rare moment of candour from a republican leader who usually couches his hatred in obfuscating jargon alluding to ‘equality’ and ‘parity of esteem’.It would have been a timely moment to cut to an interview with a unionist politician, Michael Copeland for example. He might have observed that, certainly, Belfast is Ireland’s second city, but it is also unequivocally part of the UK. He might have explained that the...

I’m grateful to His Grace for pointing me in the direction of this interesting table.The voting patterns of the The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill – Commons vote breakdown were:Dodds, Donaldson, Mc Crea and Paisley voted "against" but where were the other 5 Dupers? (Yes I know Lady Hermon was also absent, but considering how much public importance the DUP place on such "social issues", you'd have thought it would have been a full turnout on their...

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