For those who don't follow the hive-mind on Twitter, there has been a run in with Scientology trying to stifle free speech. Or, as I think, not. Here are the brief facts of the case. A local councillor (John Dixon) has a Twitter account "CllrJohnDixon" Last year, he tweeted: "I didn't know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off." Someone in Scientology didn't like this and raised an official complaint. The Public …
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There have been howls of protest from Labour voters at the prospect of a Lib/Con coalition. The main complaint is that anyone daft enough to vote for Clegg has caused a Tory government. But is it true? Using data from The Guardian, we can see if the Lib Dems cost Labour a majority. In how many seats did a Labour candidate lose to a Conservative? 137. But this doesn't tell the whole story. In Clacton, even if all the 5,577 Lib Dem votes had gone to Labour, the 16,376 is still well short of…
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I'm a natural Labour voter. As I explained several months ago, I went in to this election thinking I may vote Labour. It's now become clear that my vote will be going to the Liberal Democrats. More than that, I will be joining them. I want to explain why - without resorting to attacking the other parties. Voting Reform As I've said, I was raised in a Labour household. I went to university expecting to vote Labour. Yet in ever constituency I've ever lived, the Labour Party haven't fiel…
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Weeks before Britons go to the polls, there's still no comprehensive list of candidates. Four citizens' initiatives have joined forces to tackle the problem. They've been gathering basic information about thousands of candidates and making the data public. "It may seem surprising but there simply is no single listing for all prospective parliamentary candidates. We want people to make an informed choice and that's difficult because so many new people are standing this time - and a record…
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As you may know, I'm a supporter of the Open Rights Group. They're the campaigning group dedicated to protecting our online civil liberties. I pay them £5 per month, I think you should join them too. I'm not just putting my money where my mouth is. I'm also standing for the Board of Directors. I was nominated by the wise and talented duo of Suw Charman-Anderson & Basheera Khan. As part of the election, I have to produce a 400 word statement. I want to make ORG more member lead - and …
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Dear Sir, This is my response to your consultation "Consultation on Legislation to Address Illicit P2P File-Sharing". I believe that the paper "GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON THE PROPOSED P2P FILE-SHARING LEGISLATION" is dangerously flawed. In this response, I shall outline four general areas of concern. Practical, Philosophical, Technical and Cultural. I also will provide a series of solutions which I believe will have a positive impact for the creative industries of the UK. Practical There…
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Like many people, I'm upset with the direction the Government has taken with regard to "ilicit P2P file sharing". They've released a document entitled GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON THE PROPOSED P2P FILE-SHARING LEGISLATION. It's only 5 pages long, I really suggest you read it. Being part of a democracy means you're allowed to talk to the decision makers, so I called the number at the end of the document and had a very interesting call with Adrian Brazier. These notes are taken off the hoof - I …
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During the recent furore over MPs attempting to hide their expenses, I wrote to my MP using the wonderful services of http://www.writetothem.com/ Dear Humfrey Malins, I understand that MPs plan to grant themselves the privilege of exempting themselves from Freedom of Information requests concerning their expenses. Whenever I have a business expense, my employer asks for every receipt, no matter how small. How else is it to correctly pay its tax and protect itself against fraud? I would…
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Terry Eden (Connect) speaking in support of Composite Motion 10. I want to focus on public procurement and the role it can play in driving forward social and environmental goals and, in particular, raising labour standards. The money public authorities spend on buying goods and services amounts to £108 billion every year from major capital projects to buying office stationery. Our public money supports private business. It is right that our public money should be used to encourage the private …
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