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Thank Goodness Brighton's "Godless"!

Thank Goodness Brighton’s “Godless”!

Rejoice! The church has sent another missionary to save us godless Brightonians! Our new saviour comes in the shape of the ever so trendy Reverend Archie Coates. He knows what we need: more god. He’s so wrong. When it comes to beliefs and religions we’ve got plenty. It’s just not ... Read more »
eBay Advice for Brighton & Hove Council

eBay Advice for Brighton & Hove Council

I’m pleased to see that Brighton and Hove City Council are flogging some old street signs on eBay. It’s not a first (several other councils are already accomplished eBayers) but it is a good way to raise some cash for the coffers and also recycle and reuse things that they don’t need any ... Read more »
The Quiet Moments of Politics

The Quiet Moments of Politics

There’s a great scene in season 6 of The West Wing when Josh Lyman introduces Matt Santos to the unglamorous reality of kicking off a presidential campaign from scratch with the New Hampshire primary. The candidate helps voters unload their trash at the town dump. The scene reinforces the ... Read more »
Still work to do on Adult Literacy...

Still work to do on Adult Literacy…

Spotted in Brighton. Rather ... Read more »
SCIP Digital Inclusion Event at Labour Conference

SCIP Digital Inclusion Event at Labour Conference

Sometimes the mark of a good meeting or debate is that you emerge with more uncertainty than when you arrived. SCIP Digital Inclusion event hosted by NixonMcInnes and WiredSussex last evening on the Labour Conference fringe certainly left me with more questions than answers. There was a clear ... Read more »
Some Local gems for Labour Conference Comrades

Some Local gems for Labour Conference Comrades

A couple of delegates at Labour Conference have asked for some food, drink and fun suggestions for when they’re down in our great city-by-the-sea. And as a special service to them, here are some places that I really like and can honestly recommend. Places that you might not naturally stumble on ... Read more »
Positive Points for Open Primaries

Positive Points for Open Primaries

The Conservative Totnes experiment with open primaries is an interesting one. The Tories opened the selection of their candidate to all local electors. They could choose from a shortlist chosen by local party members. It’s an idea that’s fraught with risks and problems and, possibly most ... Read more »
Goldsmid By-election Reflections

Goldsmid By-election Reflections

It’s a lot of fuss over a single seat on a city council. But the Green victory in Goldsmid offers a lens on the politics of this City-by-the-Sea. A Labour gain in Goldsmid was always a big ask in the current climate but then again a Tory hold was hardly a dead cert (the previous Tory Councillor ... Read more »
A Letter to the Daily Mail

A Letter to the Daily Mail

Don't ask me why I was reading the Daily Mail yesterday, but I was. There was a letter from one reader in response to a recruitment drive by police forces to recruit more officers from gipsy groups. My jaw dropped. I'm slightly surprised that this is ... Read more »
Politics and Torchwood: Children of Earth

Politics and Torchwood: Children of Earth

I enjoy a good polemic and I also appreciate didactic drama. But I’m not so serious that I don't adore well crafted pap. Often people ask why a seemingly otherwise balanced and normal man watches Doctor Who and, by extension, Torchwood. I don’t have kids after all and I’m not an obsessed ... Read more »
Darwin Day vs. Christ

Darwin Day vs. Christ

Spotted in Hove at the ... Read more »
The Guardian and MPs' Expenses: Loving the Crowd

The Guardian and MPs’ Expenses: Loving the Crowd

I’ve been doing my bit for transparency and democracy in the last day or so, using the Guardian's crowdsourcing tool to scour the thousands of documents related to MP expenses. I’ve reviewed just over 300 pages. It's taken me a fair few hours. Here are a few reflections. Great ... Read more »
Denis Healey and Me

Denis Healey and Me

In the days before blogging, we bloggers had to fulfil our blogging urges somehow. That’s why in spring 1994, with GCSEs looming that summer, I was a keen writer for my school newspaper. Desperate to report more than school fairs where a splendid time was inevitably had by all, I decided to ... Read more »
What no Polling Card?

What no Polling Card?

I didn’t receive my polling card for last week’s European Elections (we don’t have a county council in Brighton). This is obviously not the end of the world. Anyone who’s on the electoral register can just turn up to the correct polling station and cast their ballot. But, frankly, this ... Read more »