Graham Smith's Blog - grahamsmithadmin

Devonwall battle to resume on 12th October

grahamsmithadmin grahamsmithadmin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 18:20:59 +0000

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill is examined by a committee of the whole House of Commons on 12th October. Cornwall's six coalition MPs, who for different reasons are supporting the Bill, hope to lobby deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg before then to secure the sort of amendment that would prevent abolition of the historic political border with Devon. In its present form the Bill commands the Boundary Commission to design new constituencies every five years - something which has not gone down well with those MPs who have noticed this detail. I expect the issue to surface on the fringes, if not the floors, of the three main party conferences in the next few weeks.

"Green Cornwall" - which ending do we get?

grahamsmithadmin grahamsmithadmin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 17:36:38 +0000

When Steve Cirell left Cornwall Council at the end of his year-long secondment as director of the Green Cornwall project, all sorts of initiatives were on the launch pad - revision of planning rules to encourage more wind turbines, solar energy farms; we were even told to believe battery-powered cars could soon be whizzing up and down the A30. When Steve joined the council in July 2009 he penned this article for LocalGov.co.uk. If "Green Cornwall" were a movie, does it end up dead - or does it emerge battered, betrayed but ultimately stronger? Is it possible the "Sliding Doors" alternative endings analogy that Steve wrote about is even more pertinent than he might have imagined?

Clegg continues to hold the fort

grahamsmithadmin grahamsmithadmin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:39:56 +0000

I'm assuming David Cameron is now on paternity leave. What chance Nick Clegg will be invited to be a godfather?

Baby names, anyone?

grahamsmithadmin grahamsmithadmin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:01:15 +0000

Demelza? Tamsin? Merryn? Lowenna?