WC has issued a lengthy statement explaining why the abuse of Wiltshire residents shown in the Winterbourne view Panorama programme shown last May, and the follow-up shown last night, is not its fault. It blames the NHS for the failings which allowed vulnerable adults to be abused over long periods of time and in different establishments.
I was honoured to be invited to open the Bedford Poppy Shop on Saturday, which is once again located in the Harpur Centre. The volunteers do a fantastic job in staffing the store, helping to raise money for the crucial support and welfare work carried out by the Royal British Legion. I want to take this opportunity to thank Angela Parker and her team once again for all they do. They will be open throughout the Poppy Appeal period, so do pop along to the Harpur Centre, say hello to the volunteers and support the RBL in the vital work they do to support serving members of the Armed Forces, ex-Service men and women, their families and dependants all year-round.
The old Kennet District Council offices at Browfort are likely to be sold cheaply to a property developer, according to a report to the WC Capital Assets Committee. However before this can be done the council has to pretend to market the site for employment to fit in with its own planning policies.
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has called on local residents to help him make local resident John Colton Talk Talk's Digital Hero for 2012.
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has welcomed news that the government will launch a long-awaited inquiry into Sky Lanterns and their impact on livestock.
When at the Scottish Lib Dem conference in Dunfermline, we used the Monopoly board game as a prop on the stand, to explain how land monopoly creates inequalities. On seeing this our speaker, Andy Wightman the leading campaigner for Land Tax in Scotland, told me about this article in Harpers Magazine. I had been told by ALTER members that the origins of Monopoly board game were from Landlords game, but this article by Christopher Ketcham tells the full forgotten history of the board game that Henry George's ideas inspired. Its a fascinating, if rather a sad tale of how an American ideal of creating a game to teach the evils of monopoly became a victim of monopoly itself.