Thank you, fellow Bartonians, for voting on Thursday and in particular for those 456 of you who voted for me, your local Lib Dem candidate. Sadly for me, it wasn't enough. I came in second after Ian Shingler, a former Lib Dem councillor and Bartonian, who is now your independent representative on the council. I have enjoyed my two years on Central Beds Council enormously. It gave me a good insight into and understanding of public service in general and the internal workings of this unitary authority in particular. The work to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness will continue and ...

Many younger readers will never have seen the Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros at his peak. They may well have seen Seve linked to by video link looking like an old man unable to move very much on Sports Personality of the Year from time to time. However what that man could do with a golf club was unbelievable at times, bold and outrageous but always spectacular when he was on his game. He won the Open three times 1979, 1984, 1988 and The Masters twice 1980 and 1983 (the first of which made him the youngest ever winner until Tiger ...

Enjoy.

The Cheadle Festival family fun day runs from 11am to 4.30pm on Saturday 4th June 2011 at the Together Trust on Schools Hill. Entry is £1 for adults and 50p for children, so come along and have fun for a good cause. Here's the flyer – click on it to view it full size.

What the hell happened? That's undoubtedly going to be the question on everybody lips who is a LibDem over the next few weeks. I should imagine that just about now, some of you are, sitting there at your screens going "wait ... Continue reading →

John may have sadly lost the election this week (thanks Clegg), but he has picked up a consultation prize. Apparently one of Simon Young's main Labour activists has taken a shine to him. James Heppleston describes Fredriksen as a DILF on twitter. It took me a while to click, but I get it, this is the male equivalent to a MILF. Being a Liberal I'm sure Fredriksen will see the funny side of this. Share this: [IMG: Share this page via Email] [IMG: Share this page via Stumble Upon] [IMG: Share this page via Digg this] [IMG: Share this page ...

i) births and deaths 7 May 1908: birth of Valentine Dyall, who played the Black Guardian in 1979 and 1983 and Slarn in Slipback (1985). 7 May 1964: birth of Craig Hinton, author of several Who novels and a Big Finish Who audio, and inventor of the work 'fanwank'. ii) broadcast anniversaries 7 May 1966: broadcast of "Don't Shoot the Pianist", second episode of the story we now call The Gunfighters. The Doctor is mistaken for Doc Holliday, with potentially fatal consequences for Steven. 7 May 2005: broadcast of The Long Game. The Doctor, Rose and Adam visit the far-future ...

Yesterday, as it became clear that the Referendum on the Voting System had not been a YES, Andrew and I said YES in May once more to each other in a very special way: I solemnly promise that I will protect you, N., my brother, with my utmost care, that I will honour and cherish ...

Well, that was a thoroughly depressing day! All chances of voting reform for a generation down the pan, and the Lib Dems knocked for six by the voters. That's democracy for you, I guess... Perhaps, after all, liberalism's concern to stick up for oppressed minorities is more to do with rational self-interest than enlightened altruism. To save myself from such musings of doom, I spent last night watching Pete Doherty play the Oxford O2 instead. It was a pretty surreal experience. I had expected the concert to be sold out, and it was. What I hadn't expected was the audience ...

ToryDiary: Cameron proves he's a winner David Davis in Comment: What the Coalition should do next Local Government: Cllr Richard Kemp keeps up his attack on Eric Pickles Birmingham Conservatives are drinking in the last chance saloon WATCH: Cameron -...

Welcome to the latest edition of “Top Funding Stories,” a weekly series where we summarize the big startup funding and investment stories of…

Hiring the wrong person for key company positions can cost a business thousands — or tens of thousands — of dollars and man hours.…

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your st…

Wigan travel to Aston Villa knowing they need points to help beat the drop. Watch Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic Live with GetSport.TV Aston Villa forward Emile Heskey has recovered from the knee problem that ruled him out of last weekend’s defeat by West Brom. Midfielder Jean Makoun will again miss out with the dead [...]

Bolton take on a Sunderland side who are still very much in the thick of a relegation battle. Watch Bolton v Sunderland Live with GetSport.TV Bolton are hopeful Daniel Sturridge (ankle) and Gretar Steinsson (knee) will be available, while Jussi Jaaskelainen will return in goal. But midfielder Mark Davies is unlikely to play due to [...]

Man City take on Everton at Goodison Park knowing that a win would secure a top four finish. Watch Everton v Man City Live with GetSport.TV Everton’s fitness problems continue to ease, with John Heitinga available after a two-match absence with a hamstring problem. Louis Saha and Marouane Fellaini are Everton’s only injured senior players. [...]

Newcastle United entertain Birmingham City at St James’ Park. Watch Newcastle United v Birmingham City Live with GetSport.TV Newcastle defender Mike Williamson is out for the rest of the season after breaking his arm in training. Winger Hatem Ben Arfa had hoped to feature for the first time since breaking his leg in October but [...]

West Ham take on Blackburn Rovers knowing they need to win to help their fight against relegation. Watch West Ham v Blackburn Rovers Live with GetSport.TV West Ham hope to welcome back their England midfielder Scott Parker, who has missed the last three games with an Achilles injury. The Hammers will give Parker a late [...]

Ian Holloway takes his Tangerine side to White Hart Lane. Watch Tottenham v Blackpool Live with GetSport.TV Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone and defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto will both miss the visit of Blackpool due to injury. Croatia international Vedran Corluka is unlikely to play after suffering a hamstring injury in last week’s defeat by Chelsea. Blackpool [...]

This kit is growing on us. CLICK HERE to get pre-order yours at the Official Arsenal Club Shop. Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

Stamford Bridge boss needs to win to save his job. Carlo Ancelotti must win Chelsea’s title decider with Manchester United tomorrow or be sacked. The Italian boss will pay the ultimate price for a season without silverware. And that’s despite winning the Double for the first time in the Blues’ 106-year history last term. Ancelotti [...]

Clearly it’s never wise to run on to the field of play, still seems a bit harsh to kick him though. Spotted on 101 Great Goals. Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

Man Utd want Stekelenburg to replace Van der Sar, plus other news

A tense battle for final seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly election will today decide the make-up of the next Stormont government.

Business Secretary Vince Cable this morning said that the coalition would continue in a "businesslike" fashion, despite yesterday's election and referendum results, but made clear that Liberal Democrats would not accept policies which go beyond last year's agreement with Tories - such as proposals for NHS reform.

Join Hélène Mulholland for rolling coverage of the fallout from yesterday's elections as the UK votes to maintain the first-past-the-post system

Good morning. It's the morning after the night before, when opponents to replacing first-past-the-post with the alternative vote to elect MPs to Westminster resoundingly won the day in the referendum.

Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg have said now that UK voters have had their say, it's time to "move on". Easier for some than others. The local elections returned disastrous results for the Liberal Democrats, a stronger than expected performance for the Conservatives, and a fairly disappointing one for Labour. Ed Miliband's party failed to make a breakthrough in the locals, narrowly failed to secure an overall majority after winning half the seats in the Welsh assembly and badly in the devolved Scottish elections, whereas the Scottish National Party had every reason to be on cloud nine after sweeping to power.

I'll be blogging the latest on what yesterday's results will mean for the respective political parties, as well as covering the latest results in Northern Ireland, where the count for the Stormont elections continues. Counting there (which began yesterday) has been extremely slow – election workers in Fermanagh/South Tyrone were using hairdryers on ballot papers that got rained on.

So far, we have the results for just 41 seats out of 108 in an election where the UUP faces being pushed into fourth place. The DUP currently has 18 seats, Sinn Féin 14, SDLP 3, UUP 3, and the Alliance party 3. Peter Robinson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, was elected to Stormont a year after the loss of his Westminster seat.

Little or no progress has been made on majority of environment policies analysed in Friends of the Earth report

Progress on the prime minister's pledge to make the coalition the "greenest government ever" was heavily criticised today by environmental leaders.

The former government adviser, Jonathon Porritt, said the likelihood of the government living up to the promise made almost a year ago was "vanishingly remote".

In a report commissioned by Friends of the Earth, Porritt said ministers were failing to deliver on key environmental pledges, and policies had been watered down, delayed or even abandoned.

In the wake of the report, the Friends of the Earth executive director, Andy Atkins, warned that without "real political courage", Cameron's green ambitions would be simply hot air.

From proposals to sell off public forests to a review of feed-in tariffs for small-scale renewables and the decision to scrap a £42m marine renewables development fund, the government has failed to champion green issues, the report claims.

According to the research, little or no progress has been made on three quarters of 77 environmental or sustainability policies that were analysed.

Porritt said the review of the policies showed that the "bad and the positively ugly indisputably outweighed the good", and that growth at all costs had won out over efforts to create a green economy and thousands of low-carbon jobs.

He said Cameron had not been personally visible on green issues, the Treasury had been hostile to environmental policies and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was being "trampled all over" by other Whitehall departments.

And the "big society" and the localism agenda is being driven by the ideological priority to shrink the state, rather than delivering improvements in people's local environment and lives, he claimed.

Porritt was chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, which was set up to hold the government to account on its policies on sustainability but which was scrapped last year in the "bonfire of the quangos".

In his new report he warned that in the last year, most of the "important battles" on the environment had been lost, including the Treasury's refusal to let the green investment bank borrow funds until 2015, which he said would reduce its ability to drive investment in the low-carbon economy.

But the report did flag up a number of green initiatives which it said were positive, including scrapping plans to expand airports in the south east, announcing the world's first incentives to promote renewable heating and agreeing to roll out smart meters to 30m homes by 2014.

Porritt said: "The prime minister's own credibility is at stake here – as is that of the Liberal Democrats who have clearly failed to use their influence inside the coalition to ensure a better performance on the environment and sustainable development.

"It's certainly not too late, but things are going to have to change dramatically to make up lost ground."

Atkins said: "Confidence in David Cameron's boast to run the 'greenest government ever' is fading fast.

"Rather than creating a green and safe future, his government has steadily dismantled pledges and policies that would help him achieve it.

"David Cameron could be building a prosperous low-carbon economy out of the rubble of the old, creating new jobs and industries for recession-hit Britain – but green development is continually being sacrificed in favour of growth at any cost.

"Unless the prime minister starts to show real political courage and leadership on the environment, his green ambitions will simply be more hot air."

Last month, green campaigners and business leaders attacked the government's environmental record, with one investor saying the coalition's actions threatened to "choke off the lifeblood of the green economy."

The values of the Middletons' class – hard work, respect for property and insular family life – are actually at odds with those of the aristocracy

Wake up. The honeymoon is over. Back to reality. Even princes have to go to work like normal people. And Kate, who has opted to be a full-time RAF officer's wife, can wave him off, as she is now living the dream on Anglesey. The dream means running her husband baths, watching him play polo and attending the odd charity bash with him. Apparently, she wanted this old-fashioned role, which some call wife, but I call "lovely assistant". Indeed, despite the palace's plea for privacy after the nuptial glut, it may well be impossible for Kate to "work" because of the huge amount of attention on her.

It has to be said, though, that up until now, Kate's jobs have seemed fairly token. Has this woman ever been financially independent? It seems rather she has spent her time being groomed to be a wife. That such grooming allows "a commoner" into the royals represents a triumph for the bourgeoisie. Last week's entrenching of establishment values, amid middlebrow mores and faux militarism, was lapped up by some. Many were indifferent. Few were stirred by pure republicanism, which remains abstract, but nonetheless we were repeatedly addressed as though we were all avid royalists. Royalists needed to pimp their romantic fantasy alongside their tea towels 24/7. The fantasy is that romance is always transformative. Mermaids get legs! Girls from the home counties get castles! The problem is that we know too much about the Middleton background to pretend this all happened naturally.

The Middletons were on full display; a small business compared to the firm, but there is something rather corporate and manufactured about them.

We have been invited both to sneer at them for social climbing, and to identify with them for their hard work and "ordinariness". Their back story represents almost a primer in the history of social mobility. From mining stock, Carole Middleton became an air hostess. She met her husband Michael while he was working as an air steward. They set up a family business selling party bags online. They made enough – we don't know how much, as their company is run as a partnership, so we don't see how much tax they pay – to send their three children to Marlborough College.

As is always the way, it's the woman, Carole, who is seen as socially aspirational and pushy. Her girls, Catherine and Pippa, have been called "the wisteria sisters", as they are adept in social climbing. It is a recurring motif from Austen to Osborne that women are the schemers who dream of an upwardly mobile escape.

It is Carole, too, who is said to have made the "gaffes"; saying the wrong thing to the Queen, chewing nicotine gum at Sandhurst. It is Carole's prawn-and-cottage-cheese diet we know about. It is Carole who was laughed at when she was finally invited to Balmoral. There she was, laying flat out in the damp grass with a ghillie to instruct her in deer stalking. Nothing could signal the gap between the Middletons and the aristocracy more than this. The Middletons may like the races and have shares in a horse, but they don't kill large animals for fun.

Blood sports are the province of our ruling classes, from our Queen to David Cameron. The bourgeoisie simply have to accept this is the way things are done.

The values of the Middletons' class – hard work, respect for property and insular family life – are actually at odds with those of the aristocracy, who don't work and inherit wealth. But the wedding achieved a sleight of hand in its illusion of harmony. Thus, the Middletons were the stars of the show. Carole was deemed to have dressed well enough. Pippa, upstaged by her own backside, is the new top totty. James, who until now was known mainly as a cross-dressing cake-maker who liked posting pictures of himself naked on Facebook, has been reinvented as a speechifying young blade. Indeed, the Middletons, in outfits and behaviour, were conservative enough. It was the royals who wore what they bloody well liked, with Beatrice and Eugenie cleverly suggesting Spiker and Sponge from Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.

The dress, which was said to melt the hardest of republican hearts (really?), was a McQueen effort, with any radical edge softened, and unsurprisingly retro. Nothing to frighten the horses. Kate looked suitably demure. Except for the double nipple effect that this couture provided. The pretence of virginity is part of the facade, after all.

The prince's mother, as if we could forget, was sacrificed on that altar. This wedding served to remind us, though, that the Diana moment is long gone. Since about 2002 the royals have got their PR in order. The success of their press operation is manifest in the uniform nature of the fawning coverage.

Consent was assumed: we were all, we were repeatedly told, thrilled by this occasion. Hegemony was secured as Harry grinned at Pippa. The boring bits of the service, or the shots of most of the congregation unable to sing any of the hymns, were glossed over.

The celebration of reactionary values was duly achieved, by assuming we are all bound up in them. No wonder the Labour politicians – at least those invited – looked so out of place. This was the ruling class en masse, preening itself for letting in "a commoner". Us commoners should be duly grateful.

This young woman and her family may have got what they wanted, and they may give the monarchy a sheen of modernity. But there is little modern going on. The world of this wedding is that of a regressive culture in which women express their individuality by not wearing a hat, women are still unironically "given away", a good marriage is the sum of female achievement.

As was made clear, and indeed taken for granted by those who should know better, we all think like this, except a few crazed republicans. The institutions of Christianity and patriarchy are unquestionable. Well, it's a wedding! Don't be grouchy. Yet there is another world out here where supreme indifference was not borne out of any hostility to the couple, rather a disdain for every convention on display.

The bourgeoisie always presents its way of life as the only way to live. But there are others less stultifying. The fantasy that we may escape class, one at a time, through marriage, remains. The system on display last week is as rigid as it ever was. The acceptance of the Middletons by the monarchy was not some great moment of modernisation; it is simply a deal to ensure everything carries on as it always did.

Our consent to this deal is sewn up by the continuing narrative, which assures us that every girl wants a prince. And a fairytale wedding. Whatever we say. Mindless babbling about the intricate lacework on a dress will stop us from seeing the straitjacket stitched into its structure, surely? And the conservative heart that beats within.

Tension is mounting in Northern Ireland after the count for the Assembly election was hit by long delays on Friday.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has spoken out in the wake of the 7/7 inquest, which heard that the response of the emergency services were hampered by restrictive health and safety regulations.

Paul Rose dives the Torrey Canyon shipwreck and is amazed at what he finds beneath the waves.

A man is charged with arson following a fire in a Leicester hospital ward.

So what does the future hold for the Liberal Democrats? Nothing good I'm sad to say. We will remain in coalition until 2015, we have to, we signed a deal to do so. If we break that deal, see the tuition fees example of what happens. We will be beaten to a pulp by the electorate at the next general election. This is coming, we cannot stop it, we cannot lessen the beating. We will be lucky to keep any seats after the next election. Remember to buy some lube in 2015, it will help to lessen the pain. We ...

It's at times like this that I take inspiration from Zombie Mr Grimsdyke. Unfairly blamed for the ills of the neighbourhood, and character assassinated by his rich snobby neighbour, Mr Grimsdyke ends up in a box and six feet under. Everybody thinks it's the end of him, but it's not. He rises up and seeks justice (with bad poetry). Zombie Mr Grimsdyke is up there with Batman and Dredd in my pantheon of superheroes. He didn't let a little thing like death stop him. He stood up and did what was right, and damn the grave moldering. Why yes, I ...

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By now it’s common knowledge that the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death broke on Twitter. Donald Rumsfeld’s Chief of Staff, the…

TRAVELLERS Sam Norton & Pat Lee have a royal knees-up at London's Coutts & Co

RAUNCHY female act perform saucy routine in black body-suits with fire & snakes

CUSTOMERS could get £1bn back from bailed-out bank over insurance scandal

VICTIMS' families slam bungling emergency services as coroner clears them of blame

ISLAMIC fanatics clash with right-wingers outside the American embassy in London

SUN photographer is thanked by monarch for his pictures of Wills kissing his new bride

SCOTS are promised a referendum on their independence by 2015 by newly-elected SNP

RAPPER cracked open the beers as well as energy drinks on set of Lucozade Sport ad

SUPERSTAR ends her 25th celebrations by running naked through her hotel after drinking

The UK has overwhelmingly rejected AV in a national referendum on the voting system

Nick Clegg faces turmoil and soul-searching within Liberal Democrat ranks after the party crashed to its worst local election result for nearly 20 years.

A 21-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Thorntons worker Jia Ashton.

Kate McCann was stuck in an "endless bad dream" and haunted by visions of her missing daughter Madeleine after her disappearance, she reveals in a new book.