Still, the pictures are quite nice.11.57am: Tickets for the Guardian's Open Weekend in London next month are selling out. But passes are still available for Sunday. You can find full details here, and the politics programme here. 12.08pm: Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson will appear at a Q&A together next Tuesday, my colleague Hélène Mulholland reports on Twitter. It will be the first time they have have been on a platform together since 2008.12.12pm: The Ministry of Justice has floated the idea of charging people for Freedom of Infomation requests. In a submission to the Commons justice committee, the MoJ has also also said that FoI has failed to increase understanding of government, may have reduced trust and has done little to improve decision-making in Westminster.
Whittingdale said he really would hold a hearing with three empty chairs. If the witnesses did not appear, the committee would report that to the Commons as a whole as a contempt of parliament.But at that point it was not clear what would happen, Whittingdale said. The last time this happened was 50 years ago, when John Junor, the Sunday Express editor, was summoned to parliament. Junor obeyed. To find a precedent where someone refused to obey a summons, you have to go back much further. "We are almost into unchartered water," Whittingdale said.(My understanding is that, in theory, the Commons could order the serjeant-at-arms to go off and arrest the Murdochs or Brooks for a contempt of parliament.
You can read more details about the recall of MPs draft bill here.The Labour MP Fabian Hamilton starts the questioning.Q: Why are you bothering with recall? The powers are very limited.Clegg says recall was never meant to be an unqualified power. It was always supposed to be used only in certain circumstances.Q: But what if people use the recall power to target an MP because they disagree with him or her on an issue like abortion?Clegg says the bill would not allow this.Q: But what is there in the bill to stop this?Clegg says recall would only be allowed if the Commons had decided that serious wrongdoing had occured. Q: So you are confident these procedures could not be abused?Yes, says Clegg.
This week's poem "Autumn Twilight, Dwelling Among Mountains" is typical in its combined economy and density, while unusual in the hints of end-rhyme. By some translator's alchemy, Hinton almost succeeds in giving English words the visual impact of written Chinese. The nouns in this poem (and many others) create separate miniature pictures,
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ytcgzx, even merely listed in order of appearance, together compose a whole landscape: twilight, mountains, sky-ch'i, rains, autumn, moon, pines, stream, rocks, bamboo, washerwomen, lotuses, boat, recluse. This landscape, though, is not simply visual but infused with autumnal atmosphere – the freshness after the "new rains", the sharp chilliness of the "bright moon incandescent in the pines".
Timber!Labour's poll breakthrough? Don't count on itA nice chap and a decent one, Ed Miliband. I hope the Labour leader savours the 15% lead over the divided and demoralised Tories – it's 12%, according to YouGov in the Sun - which today's Times/Populus poll reports that his party now commands. All I would otherwise advise him to do is not believe a word of it. More than is usually the case, no one can be confident of winning the next election. As in 2010 they may all lose.These are tough times for major party leaders, reflecting voter dismay that goes beyond the travails of protracted recession to general disappointment with politics and politicians. That can be seen in the 15% share of voter preferences going to that underrated party, "others" - which can include everyone from the BNP and Greens to Ukip, SNP and the Probably Will Not Vote party.
After a long run of classics and novels from long dead writers, the hat has selected a book that is fresh and contemporary, even if it's set more than 3,000 years ago. We're going to be reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, published just one year ago in the UK - and the winner of last year's,
marc by marc jacobs tote, last ever Orange prize.Londonsquirrel says this book is "a wonderful, age-old story, told beautifully. A book to make your heart sing, and break."I hope my ticker can take the strain! Plenty of other people will agree with this positive assessment. Reviewing it in the Observer, Natalie Haynes wrote: "This is a deeply affecting version of the Achilles story: a fully three-dimensional man – a son, a father, husband and lover – now exists where a superhero previously stood and fought.
Cameron wants the Electoral Commission to approve the question on the ballot paper to make sure it is not skewed to encourage people to vote for independence. Salmond has not yet publicly agreed to this.3. Just one question?Cameron also wants just one question on the ballot paper, believing a stark choice to "stay or go" would be less likely to break up the union. Salmond wants to offer a second, less drastic option - devo-max - whereby Scotland would be independent for all domestic policy and the economy, but share the pound and the UK's defence.4. Who can vote?Salmond wants the vote extended to 16 and 17-year-olds. Cameron wants to retain the current franchise at 18 and over. Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce in court today.
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