Wed 28th
21:24
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Kent Online reports that Emily Fermor is the new Liberal Democrat PPC for Maidstone and the Weald. That was the seat at which the party threw a lot of money last time round, perhaps because the candidate, Jasper Gerard, had written an admiring book about Nick Clegg. Emily Fermor was the campaign organiser then and takes over from Gerard, who is now the party's head of press. She told Kent Online: "I am incredibly proud to have been selected as the candidate in my home town. It would be a huge honour to represent the people of Maidstone. "I am ...
With a slight air of "oh lumme, I thought I had another five minutes before I was speaking", this is what I said at the closing event of Bolton's second LGBT Pride, on the steps of Bolton Town Hall. I figured that on a cold windy evening they wanted something short and sweet, so I reflected on how different from many other Prides the weekend had been. B throughout, T throughout, and with more of a mix of ages and skin hues than just about any other Pride I've been to. "Hello and thank you for inviting me along. "This ...
Embed from Getty Images Phil Aisthorpe writes on Liberal Democrat Voice: The EU referendum was decided by the baby boomers, the generation to which I belong and a generation that has spent a lifetime romanticising about a conflict in which it had little or no involvement. I spent my boyhood immersed in the glory of World War II.'Baby boomer" is now used too widely and I am not sure I see cause and effect here. But it is true that in the 1960s I spent many primary school playtimes refighting Word War II. Whenever we played war we knew the ...
Tomorrow night at 7pm, we are expecting a huge crowd at Ludlow School for a public meeting on the future of health and council services in Ludlow and Shropshire. The headline act is Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow and Health Minister in Theresa May's government. Philip is due to speak first, after which he will... Continue reading The big Ludlow health and services debate is tomorrow at 7 o'clock - please join us →
Embed from Getty Images Here is Tim Farron's response to Jeremy Corbyn's speech at the Liverpool Labour conference today: Corbyn's speech shows Labour's problem, the last time I saw ovations like that was Iain Duncan Smith's Blackpool conference speech. Here was a quiet man turning down the volume, especially on Europe. He barely mentioned Brexit and said nothing on the importance of the Single Market. It is clear that the Liberal Democrats are the only pro-European party now. Labour are now two parties, one that wants to win but is being suffocated by Corbyn and his clique who just want ...
Most of us locally have long since realised that protecting the environment and Tories really do not go hand in hand. Even when they try to do something good, like solar panels, they end up choosing the wrong locations or fluffing up the whole process! So it's, sadly, no surprise to read that the Conservative government [...]
The United States Presidential debates seem to have confirmed two things. The first is that Donald Trump is totally unsuitable to be the President of the United States. I mean, not just inappropriate for the job, but most likely utterly catastrophic. His contempt for the niceties of the US constitution was just the cherry on a particular odorous cup cake of crap. His demeanor- petulant, childish, and his opinions- ignorant and boorish, suggest that as President he would respond to the slightest provocation with over reactions that could lead to breakdown domestically and war internationally. The second thing the debate ...
Wed 28th
15:25
Women in high places: senior female role models are essential in business and politics
[IMG: emma-walmsley-ccl-some-rights-reserved-by-gsk] Emma Walmsley – photo by GSK This week Britain took a huge leap towards greater gender equality on management boards. It was announced that Emma Walmsley is to become the most powerful woman in the FTSE 100 as CEO of GSK next year, making her Britain's most powerful business woman. In an interview featured in BBC Radio 4's profile of Walmsley, she appeared quick to play down the gravity of this moment: "I've never primarily defined myself by my gender... I think of myself as a business person". I balked at this. For some women defined by their ...
As witnessed in Liverpool over the weekend, Labour moderates are floundering in the face of Corbyn's even bigger win amongst the membership, not ready to split but not sure what the other options really entail. They are trying a few things out, experimenting. One trend we're seeing a bit of now is trying to re-pitch the Labour right as doubtful about the benefits of immigration. Rachel Reeves is in the headlines for this approach today. Her actual comments aren't quite as bad in context as the "tinderbox", Enoch Powell-esque headlines suggest, and the "Red UKIP" jibes are over the top ...
Embed from Getty Images The EU referendum was decided by the baby boomers, the generation to which I belong and a generation that has spent a lifetime romanticising about a conflict in which it had little or no involvement. I spent my boyhood immersed in the glory of World War II. I knew the names of German generals, built Airfix models of Spitfires and ME109s and listened to family war stories. And I believe there are far more people in the UK than is healthy, who like me can name every capital ship in the German fleet! Little wonder then ...
[IMG: Our thanks to everyone who made Conference such a success] As a result of some of the key policy discussions took place at Conference, ALDC have written a few drop in articles for you to use in your next Focus leaflet. These includes Norman Lamb's announcement about the party's clear vision for securing the future of health and social care services as well as the discussions [...]
Today's Western Mail contains the startling claim that Plaid Cymru received a donation of £25,000 from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 1976. This allegation has emerged from the autobiography of Dr Carl Clowes, a distinguished party activist and a public health consultant who co-founded the UK's first community co-operative at Llanaelhaearn in Gwynedd, as well as the Nant Gwrtheyrn Welsh language centre near Pwllheli. The donation allegedly came after a four-man delegation from Plaid Cymru visited Libya. In his book Super Furries, Prins Seeiso, Miss Siberia - a fi, to be published on October 1, Dr Clowes tells how ...
Wed 28th
13:15LDVideo: Liz Leffman: Come and help my campaign to save Oxfordshire's NHS & bus services
I spent Monday and Tuesday in Witney helping Liz Leffman's campaign. If it is at all possible for you to go there between now and the by-election on 20th October, please do so. You will be worked hard – 10,000 steps a day before lunch, I found – but it is so rewarding. We are already out-campaigning both Conservative and Labour parties on the ground and there will be no let up in our activity. We really need to keep ahead of them both. Liz is an amazing candidate. She combines a passion for the area, an anger against the ...
Embed from Getty Images If you want to read a short summary of the last 350 years of Liberal politics in Britain, the Liberal Democrat History Group has just the thing for you - a new edition of our booklet Liberal History: A Concise History of the Liberal Party, SDP and Liberal Democrats. This is designed as a comprehensive but relatively short (about 10,000 words) summary of Liberal, SDP and Liberal Democrat history for readers wanting more detail than they can find on the party website, but less than a full book. We produced the booklet originally in 2005, and ...
Last Wednesday at County Hall a journalist asked me if I would like to comment on a decision, as she put it, to privatise a part of the local council's social care provision. I couldn't. I didn't know whether it was true, or what had happened behind closed doors at a meeting of the county council's cabinet a week earlier. Press and Public had been excluded from the meeting, and the report excluded from the public domain with two legal reasons given: possible effect on industrial relations, and legal opinion being quoted. You can read the journalist's story here. As ...
Embed from Getty Images There is a story on the Guardian website today about the way Portpatrick harbour has been saved by the people of the village: In Portpatrick, a local seaside village, tiers of pastel houses stretch down to a small harbour where boats are moored. The place is so picture-postcard pretty, it's hard to imagine that the harbour was almost left to rot - and with it, the future of the village - until local residents raised enough money a year ago to buy it. As the closest port to Northern Ireland, Portpatrick was once the main crossing ...
[IMG: Lydiate] I attended a meeting of Lydiate Parish Council last night and was pleased to see Nick Pope there who organises Lydiate's volunteer litter pickers. We agreed as a Parish Council to put £250 to one side to assist the volunteer litter pickers with the items they need to purchase to continue their great work in the community. Below is a report of the last litter picking day from Nick:- It went very well thank you, with more to come. So this time we collected 11 bin bags of rubbish, covering the areas of; Southport Road Lambshear Lane Part ...
Embed from Getty Images The latest episode in the slide in Shami Charkrabarti's reputation came on Newsnight yesterday evening when Michael Crick put it to her that she had tried to get her son into Eton. Her non-denial denial - she just said Crick had "spent too long reading the internet" or something like that - suggests the charge is true. The story turns out to come from Heat Street a month ago: A source has told us: "I took my son to Eton to sit the entrance exam a couple of summers ago and was very surprised to soo ...
Wed 28th
11:13
My column in Midweek Visiter featuring Elderberries, badmintonathon, Four Season and The Game
Since I last wrote this column I have visited the Elderberries who are surely the borough's friendliest gardening club. There was a great turnout for their Tomato and Chilli Festival at St John's church hall where, under the watchful eye of their chair Derek Lewis Lavender, I was down to judge the produce. The Elderberries had their own categories for judging including 'ugliest tomato' and I added another one; cutest tomato. I was ably assisted by Mary seen in the picture who presented me with a bouquet. This is a thriving and happy club that meets one a month. So ...
Man who battered wife allowed to keep his job manning domestic violence abuse line - Mirror Online CW for graphic description of a beating Boris Johnson criticised by human rights groups after blocking inquiry into war crimes in Yemen | The Independent RT @WritersofColour: Boris Johnson condemned by human rights groups after blocking inquiry into Saudi war crimes This study reveals why the gender wage gap explodes when women hit their 30s - Vox National Black Dog Day October 1st: Adopt A Black Dog - Dogtime I wonder which nation this applies to? Instagram Spike has managed to obtain The ...
[IMG: (C) Manny Begum Yasadein Photography] Lib Dem Voice has run some cracking fringe meetings at Federal Conferences in the past, including the Blogger of the Year awards – the BOTYs. Even Tim Farron won one. The awards seem to have run into the ground, mainly because there are now so many forms of social media and it is difficult to capture good practice in all of them. But we do want to reboot our presence on the fringe, and we are looking for someone to join the LDV team in order to take on the job of organising fringe ...
The judges had no hesitation in awarding Headline of the Day to the Evening Standard.
Embed from Getty Images One of the noticeable features of last night's US Presidential debate (see full transcript here) was how Donald Trump was goaded into saying things to damage his chances with key constituencies. His "stop and frisk" proposal will not, I suspect, go down well with African American communities. Mention of his criticism of Alicia Machado, a hispanic former Miss Universe, probably met with displeasure from women and Hispanics. There was the airing of the "birther" controversy and a whole series of Trump favourites, as he was very successfully goaded by Hillary Clinton. This was, in microcosm, the ...
[IMG: facebook-gain] It has been an incredible few weeks for the Lib Dems when it comes to by-elections in local Councils. All around the country we are fielding more candidates and increasing our vote share. There have been some truly stonking wins and I have spoken to two teams about their recent success. 15 September 2016. Tupton. [...]
[IMG: Coffee Morning] We attach a draft press release below for your local area on Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee Morning, showing your support for a local event. If you are unsure what events are happening in your area, please visit Macmillan's website here. Cllr NAME joins the World's biggest coffee morning Councillor Name was delighted to join local [...]
A further opportunity for local residents to view the new Harris Academy building :
This week a global summit will take stock of the impact of evidence and expertise on government policy. But it's already clear that there's still a long way to go Tomorrow, six hundred policymakers, practitioners and researchers from seventy-two countries will assemble in Brussels for a meeting of the International Network for Government Science Advice. All this week, hundreds more have been participating in the What Works Global Summit in London. If conferences are anything to go by, these are boom times for evidence and expertise in policymaking. But the mood of many participants will be sober rather than celebratory. ...
Brexit Britain: The poor man of Western Europe? Pesky facts. (tags: ukpolitics economics brexit eu )
The following is my uncensored account of the Liberal Democrats Autumn Conference 2016. The Night Before – Lib Dem Pint After four hours and three trains I stepped out onto the ... Continue reading →
Loads of industrial steam goodness to enjoy. Read about The Foxfield Railway on its website. I first came across this line by accident in 1988.
Alwyn Turner paints a portrait of Tom Watson - "an overfed Che Guevara". "I started out drawing clear lines linking schoolmates to flatmates, Bullingdon buddies and policy wonks, but pretty soon exactly the same people started popping up in new guises — as fellow MPs, cabinet colleagues, party donors — and the lines started to veer into ever more deranged spirals as everyone turned out to be linked, several times over, to everyone else." Emily Hill on the rise and full of the Cameron chumocracy. Ferdinand Mount reviews a new biography of Karl Marx: "By the end of his life, ...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats, an extract from Tim Farron's conference speech in which he called on more Labour supporters to leave their party.
Today's steps were easily achieved as this evening I went out leafleting on behalf of the excellent Liberal Democrat by-election candidate for Allestree, Deena Smith. For those of you that don't follow Derby politics closely, the vacancy was caused by the Conservative councillor elected in May being jailed for two months for providing a false address. I think the people ... The post 10,000 steps a day – day 27 – Allestree by-election appeared first on ten pence piece.
Deputy Chairman of UKIP Peterborough, who was recently reported in the Peterborough Telegraph after being suspended for "speaking out against elements of racism, cronyism, corruption and hypocrisy in our party" – has now published a hard hitting letter in response and published it on Facebook. In the letter he has claimed: UKIP is in a [...]
[IMG: Model Standing Orders] All Liberal Democrat council groups need a set of standing orders that set the rules for that group. They should be reviewed regularly but this is an unglamorous job that is easily neglected. The standing orders lay out how the group is run, how its officers are elected and how problems should be dealt with. While we [...]
Embed from Getty Images Nick Clegg is to guest host Have I Got News for You, reports the Radio Times. He will be in the chair when the show returns for a new season on Friday 7 October. The Chortle website adds: Last year, Clegg appeared on The Last Leg with Josh Widdicombe, Adam Hills and Alex Brooker and held his own, despite some embarrassing questioning. And he is also due to appear in Dave's new political show Unspun with Matt Forde.I don't know if this is a shot at political redemption or being done with an eye to a ...
I've given blood off and on for years, but have become a bit more regular in doing so over the last couple of years. It's always been a worthy thing to do, but part of the reason for now doing so more often is that I can now find and book appointments online (at www.blood.co.uk) which fits the way I work. As a part of that you can sign up to receive text message reminders of appointments and so on, but esentially the service is as it has been for years: turn up for your appointment, donate, wait a few ...
Platform for Design, Hugh Pearman's book about the design work that is going into the stations and trains for Crossrail to ensure the stations are efficient, pleasant and long-lasting, is at times a frustrating mix of the fascinating detail and boilerplate design brochure speak.
I attended Merseytravel's consultation event in Maghull yesterday held in their rather fetching and unmissable tent at Central Square. [IMG: WP_20160926_13_51_41_Pro] I raised concerns about the lack of a bus to Ormskirk from Lydiate since the 311 was withdrawn. I also asked for a 231 circular bus to meet the last train from Liverpool each night rather than the service ceasing with the last but one train. I do hope that these issues can be addressed as part of the review of bus routes across Sefton Borough.
Depressing. That is how I describe modern day politics all over the world. Can it be just eight years since a black man was first elected as the leader of the free world? That win was born out due to both hope and disappointment in the other choice. A landslide victory in a two-horse race doesn't solely come down to people liking you, but in people liking the alternative less. We are seeing the same thing happen in the States now but instead of two politicians going at it, an angry man is fanning the flames of hate in an ...
I never cease to be amazed by what my close fried 95 year old Charles Walker has to tell me about his world prior to WW11 living in Egremont and Wallasey and his times spent across the water (River Mersey) in Liverpool. Recently he told me about his visiting a zoo in Liverpool with his mother that he recalled was in the Mossley Hill area of the City. A little Googling and the link above popped up with a fascinating history of the zoo with additional references to Liverpool's other zoos. Charles (known to his friends as Uncle Albert) ...
Holy Trinity church in Southport certainly has a 'wow' factor especially when , as on Sunday, the impressive architecture is combined with excellent music, a well ordered service and a thought provoking sermon. Rod Garner and his team gave substance to the psalmist plea to 'worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness'. The church was packed and we ran out of service sheets. It was good to see so many people attend from the groups that I have visited since I became Mayor in May. In addition to civic colleagues (including the High Sheriff) I was particularly delighted to ...
I was pleased to see that the Liberal Democrats have become the first political party to launch a national consultation exercise on the impact of Brexit on local communities. Lib Dems will be contacting businesses, health and educational institutions and civil society organisations in their constituencies to discuss their Brexit concerns. This Tory Brexit Government are [...]
[IMG: avril-coelho-conference] As a disabled commuter who is unable to drive for medical reasons, I rely as thousands of other people to on public transport to get to the shops, to get to work and back and to get to medical appointments. Whilst I have a disabled person's freedom pass, drivers don't always notice that I need a priority seat. Certainly as my disabilities are hidden, other passengers don't see my epilepsy or the three worn vertebrae in my spine. I need to sit where it's not too hard to get up again and where the driver can see if ...
Whickham Golf Club, which is in my ward, received a grant to develop new facilities and to reach out to local schools to encourage children to take up golf as a sport. Since I am keen on mass participation in sport and healthy lifestyles, I supported the application when it went to Sports England. On Sunday, the facilities were officially opened by Gateshead Mayor Cllr Allison Thompson. I
Macham Investments Ltd have published plans to redevelop the ugly One Stop site at 9 Tower Street (16/04032/FUL). This site needs developing, though I am concerned that the company could be trying to cram too much onto the site. The plan is for a retail unit or café on the ground floor with 10 apartments... Continue reading Plans submitted for redevelopment of One Stop on Tower Street →
I write this blog about all manner of things, and especially - this is rather the purpose of it - about my books. But there is no doubt, it just electrifies when I write about Southern Railways. I try and move on but I'm drawn inexorably back - as I was yesterday. But then two things happened yesterday, both related to the ongoing crisis at Southern, which speak directly to the themes of this blog - the appointment of a new chief operating officer at Govia Thameslink, Southern's operators, and the focus of attention on the beleaguered Seaford line. The ...
Prior to previous set of strikes, there was an emphasis on patient safety. The contract was unsafe, argued doctors, and Jeremy Hunt's plans were unrealistic. Chair of the Junior Doctors' Committee (JDC), Johann Malawanna and a number of other doctors in the BMA did a superb job of appearing reasonable, measured and yet passionate. Junior doctors looked like professionals being harried and hampered by government from trying to help patients. Embed from Getty Images At relatively short notice, a ballot with a turnout of 72% gained 98% support for strikes. This is unheard of. The strikes were announced well in ...
Concentrix: 'Suicidal calls' made to tax credits firm - BBC News The Vlad the Impaler method of eradicating poverty seems to be going well for this government... 18 Things Feminism Has Destroyed Austerity may be officially 'over' but its faulty logic lingers on Rod Liddle said, "do the math". So I did. | polarizingthevacuum Something to cheer you all up: Mathematician expertly takes down racist misogynist Rod Liddle using his own terms: Ofcom to Investigate Christopher Biggins Biphobic Big Brother Comments | Biscuit RT @Biscuitmag: Christopher Biggins Biphobic Comments to be investigated by @Ofcom http:// Punt drafts a letter for ...
As I sat in a reception last night, the endless affairs one goes to at any political conference, I thought: so this is how the Left dies; not with a bang but a whimper. Like before last year's Labour conference in Brighton we heard all about how the party's divisions were going to be on violent display; there would be fights in the bar and the like. Yet in the end, it was much like last year in Brighton replayed: the Corbynites had won by so great a margin there was no need to gloat; the moderates weren't prepared to ...
Welcome to the latest in my occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today – another report on campaign field experiments carried out by academic Florian Foos in cooperation with the Labour party in Southampton. The results were presented to the recent EPOP 2016 academic conference, the slides for which are reproduced below. They are somewhat technical in places, so here are the two key findings: Canvassing data came out as accurate when compared to an independent telephone survey – suggesting that it can be used meaningfully to track the impact of campaign tactics, and Handwritten letters to voters ...
[IMG: refugees-welcome] The President of France proposes that the Refugee camps at Calais and Dunkirk are to be demolished by October 31st. There are more than a thousand young unaccompanied refugees in these camps. The Immigration Act 2016 (Dubs amendment) gives HM Government an obligation to admit unaccompanied child refugees – but at most, only 30 have [...]
The new leader of UKIP came to Wales yesterday determined to unite the seven UKIP AMs and resolve all feuding. By the time she left she had acknowledged that Neil Hamilton was actually the leader of UKIP's Welsh branch rather than their sole MEP and elected leader, Nathan Gill. Oh, and the UKIP group in the Welsh Assembly still stands at six, with Nathan Gill sitting as an independent AM. The Western Mail reports that Diane James described Mr Hamilton as the leader of Ukip in Wales, apparently accepting Mr Hamilton's interpretation that Mr Gill had lost the role when ...
Embed from Getty Images There were nine by-elections in total on Thursday. Seven were spread out across England with one each in Scotland and Wales so after celebrating our two gains I decided that they represented a big enough cross section to do some analysis. Across the seats we contested the average increase in our vote was 12.3% and our total vote share was an impressive 24.7%. However, we only contested six of the by-elections. 1/3rd of the elections went ahead without any Liberal Democrat on the ballot. Unfortunately when you add in these three 0% figures our vote increase ...
On Wednesday, Focus Team Cllr Claire Young (also our Parliamentary Candidate) attended a heritage briefing in Yate. There were presentations from a whole host of local heritage projects of all sizes, including the £90 million Aerospace Bristol and ones even closer to home like Winterbourne Medieval Barn, Yate Heritage Centre and the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group. They are always keen to have new people involved so if you have an interest in local history, do get in touch with them. The Know Your Place mapping project is currently asking for your help in two ways. Firstly, they'd like you ...
As expected, Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected as leader of Britain's Labour Party over the weekend. Thus ended the attempt by the bulk of Labour's parliamentary party to remove him. There is much comment in the usual places that this will be a disaster for the party, and by and large I agree. But we are ... Continue reading Corbyn's victory shows that Westminster politicians are losing their grip →
It is common for developers to revise their plans after submitting them to Shropshire Council for approval. This allows the developer to take on board early comments, especially from experts within the council. This application though, has been revised more than most. This is the third set of plans for the Lower Galdeford site; the... Continue reading Third set of plans published for new retail unit on Buftons site, Lower Galdeford →
Klopt de uitleg van Bart De Wever? Not entirely. (tags: Belgium )
Embed from Getty Images Well, at last we saw Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton facing each other this morning. You can watch the debate in full via CBS and YouTube below. My first impression was that Hilary Clinton certainly put the "health" and "stamina" issues to bed. Donald Trump started to get a little frayed as the debate wore on. Clinton carried on confidently and was as fresh as a daisy at the end. She certainly looked "presidential". Towards the end, Trump was getting very tied up in complex explanations. For example, his description of whether he was for or ...