Dogs are better than cats I'm Phil Locke. I write and take photos.phil@phillocke.co.uk
Self Inflicted Disease
Aren’t we forgetful in this country? I mean, we do it without trying. I say that without lying – we certainly don’t try. I could have sworn that just a week ago The NHS was so important We wouldn’t let a good story like that go. Yet is it in the news this week? Nope, [...]
NHS Bill Candlelit Vigil at Birmingham Childrens Hospital
For some reason the thumbnails for these are a bit messed up – click for better quality.
Sophie Scholl – The Final Days
A beautiful film in both message and execution, Sophie Scholl – The Final Days is about so much more than the story it tells. Not only is it a historical tale, but an extremely powerful moral one too – one that unashamedly wears its morality on its sleeve. It is as much artistic as it [...]
A Day of Division – EDL and UAF demonstrations in Birmingham
The potential for chaos was high. For one day, the streets of Central Birmingham were tense on a level not felt since the riots. Separated from each other by police lines, the monolithic Central Library, and the Hall of Memory, both the EDL and Unity/Unite Against Fascism came out to protest. Two fundamentally opposed groups [...]
Occupy Birmingham
The Occupy movement , now active in over 80 countries, has begun tentatively in Birmingham. Since Saturday 15th October, a small group has been camped in Victoria Square. The group is small, with fewer than ten people permanently present, but it appears to be slowly growing. Last night’s general assembly attracted somewhere in the region [...]
My summary of Ed Miliband’s conference speech
Ed Miliband has undeniably gained a lot of support this year, and his confidence is growing. Not that one could be elected leader of a political party without a certain amount of fortitude, of course – but to many, Ed has long been a bland non-entity. I don’t mean this as a harsh personal criticism, [...]
My Summary of Nick Clegg’s Conference Speech
I don’t think it’s too much of an attack on Nick Clegg to say that there were very few surprises in his speech. I don’t want to sound like the sort of person who dismisses the words of every politician out of hand, but I think it’s fair to say that any speech of this [...]
Live Blog: Nick Clegg’s Speech (Liberal Democrat Party Conference)
Refresh the page for updates – sadly, I don’t have any fancy autorefresh stuff on my site! 14:59 – Just waiting for BBC Parliament to begin coverage of Nick Clegg’s speech. Stream is here. 15:05 – Chop chop, BBC – enough of the Scottish Parliament for now! 15:08 – OK, here we go! Scottish Parliament [...]
Political Top Trumps
As part of their ongoing campaign to cheapen political debate, Sky News have produced possibly the ultimate accompaniment to the political conference – an actual, real life Top Trumps deck. Forget the Mullet deck, this is the single greatest edition of Top Trumps ever. And frankly, I’m not actually being ironic. The great guys and [...]
The Yellows Have Made My City Grey
This is my first time at a Party conference, and I must say that it’s bloody strange to be around so many – what’s the polite word, wonks? I certainly wasn’t prepared for the spectator sport that this event is. Follow my lead – wear a cheap suit from Burton and walk around with a [...]