Last updated Saturday 31st July 2021 20:30 BST
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Cable... Earlier this week, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable appeared on a GB News segment with Nigel Farage. In relation to China's treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjang, he said this: "The use of the word genocide is not right here. There is terrible human rights abuse in many countries ofContinue reading "More thinking, less judging: Cable, Duffield and the mob"
In my look at the lessons from Chesham and Amersham for Liberal Democrat Newswire, I highlighted Bobby Dean's Twitter thread explaining that Blue Wall photo stunt: So I know some people felt the Blue Wall stunt was a bit cringe. But here are three reasons why it's important. THREAD [IMG: 🧵] 1/5 pic.twitter.com/8XFlYXq9Jb — Bobby Dean [IMG: 🔶] (@Bobby_Dean) June 20, 2021 Email* Enter Email Confirm Email Name* First Last What would you like to receive?* Liberal Democrat Newswire: monthly newsletter Polling UnPacked (political opinion polling news): max 1 email per day Mark Pack blog posts and council by-election results: ...
This post first appeared on the Radix UK blog. It was fascinating to see the interview in the Observer with David Brown last weekend, about the Go-Ahead group where he has been CEO for the past ten years - including the GTR railway that I have been writing about in various places for the past five years. It was also a little strange that no mention was made of the court case against his company for unlawfully restricting travel, in contradiction of the legal fare-setting regulations. Who is taking them to court? Well actually it is a little complicated, but ...
Non-fiction 2 (YTD 24) Too Innocent Abroad: Letters Home from Europe 1949, by Joan Hibbard Fleming The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, Commonly Called Mother Ross on Campaign with the Duke of Marlborough (incorrectly attributed to Daniel Defoe) Non-genre 4 (YTD 17) Middlemarch, by George Eliot Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, by Zora Neale Hurston Martin Lukes: Who Moved My Blackberry, by Lucy Kellaway The History of Mr Polly, by H.G. Wells SF 11 (YTD 74) Raybearer, by Jordan Ifueko Riding the Unicorn, by Paul Kearney Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse The Separation, by Christopher ...
40 covid updates to my community since March'20, on regulations that change constantly. In my last I got a date wrong and sent out a correcting email as soon as it was pointed out. Yesterday, Scotland led the world in drug mortality (again) and yet my typo is your lead story? https://t.co/fmFdcbaQTy — Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP [IMG: 🔶] (@agcolehamilton) July 31, 2021 Alex Cole-Hamilton has done a brilliant job of keeping his constituents informed about the constantly changing Covid restrictions over the past 17 months. As soon as things change, he sends out an email to his constituents to let ...
Over at the Guardian they report that Labour has called for Boris Johnson to explain the existence of a secretive "advisory board" for wealthy Conservative donors who have received regular access to the prime minister and Rishi Sunak. The paper explains party chair Ben Elliot, charged with beefing up Tory fundraising efforts, had created the club for some of the party's most generous donors, some giving £250,000 a year or more. They quote Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds saying: "This appears to be less of an advisory board than a means for a select group of elite donors to gain ...
Fri, 18:10: Friday reading https://t.co/VISAIQGKvC Fri, 18:53: 500 days of plague https://t.co/LRPSZou1NH
With Lib Dems competing in four of the five principal authority by-elections on Thursday, this really was one to watch. Two fantastic principal authority gains in Harrogate and Norfolk, and some great town council performances with a win in Knaresborough and near miss in Woodley meant a good night for Lib Dems. In Knaresborough Scriven Park in Harrogate, we saw two seats up for grabs triggered by the resignation of a Conservative district and town councillor. In 2018 we missed out on the district seat by just 16 votes, and so was prime material for some Lib Dem by-election magic. ...
The Shropshire Star, inevitably, wins our Headline of the Day Award. Well done everybody.
China is building underground silos capable of housing nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles. In doing so, they are potentially quadrupling their nuclear arsenal overnight; abandoning an established strategic policy of minimum deterrence and threatening to start a domino-like arms race. The Chinese have had nuclear weapons since 1964. Exactly how many warheads they have is a state secret, but analysts estimate that the number has been stuck at 250 for a number of years. They wanted just enough to deter an attack but not enough to seriously threaten and thus invite a first strike attack from either the US or Russia. ...
Numerous residents have highlighted the poor state of the seating area at the corner of Ryehill Lane and Perth Road. This is owned by JCDecaux the billboard advertising company and I contacted the about this. I have since received a positive response : 'I have asked the regional team to get the land tidied and cleared of weeds and rubbish.' I had hoped that a substantive improvement could have been achieved here through the district shopping areas aspect of the 'Spaces for People' projects funding but this came to nought - a real disappointment. I will continue to pursue a ...
In adding a note about his slip fielding to my post marking the passing of Mike Hendrick, I exploded one of my favourite pieces of cricket trivia. You see. in the summer of 1977 two English batsmen - Geoff Boycott and John Edrich - scored their 100th first-class centuries. And I used to believe that the same batsmen was at the other end when they did so. Certainly, Graham Roope was batting with Boycott when he reached 100 in the Ashes test at Headingley. You can see him in the clip above, jumping over the ball as Sir Geoffrey on ...
The best decades I have lived through are the 1960s and the 1990s. One thing they have in common is that the Union Jack did not belong to the far right or the establishment. It belonged to everyone and was often used playfully. Can it happen again? Well, here are five reasons the Conservatives and the wider right can be ridiculed for their lack of patriotism. On Tuesday Boris Johnson used the unveiling of a memorial to police officers who died on duty as the occasion for a comic turn with an umbrellaJohnson and Priti Patel have made it clear ...
The people who will benefit most from safe cycling infrastructure are those who, at present, do not feel safe cycling and, therefore, don't cycle. Perhaps, if we are concerned about misuse of resources and land we should build social housing on golf courses.
My Liberal Democrat Colleagues and I have branded Liverpool Council as being 'totally incompetent' over their decision to remove the West Derby Road Cycle Lane which has resulted in the Government halting funding for future cycling developments in the City. ... Continue reading →
So, back when I started these ten-day updates in March last year, I had no idea I'd still be at it half a thousand days later. (I did skip the updates between 100 and 220 days in; that was the lull of summer last year.) I will keep at it for now; we're not exactly back to normal yet. We're a lot closer than we were. Today, for the first time in a month, the weekly average of new infections in BElgium was less than the previous reported day - and since that's a seven-day average of the period from ...
Current Fish Tails, by Sheri S. Tepper Strange Bedfellows: An Anthology of Political Science Fiction, ed. Hayden Trenholm Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, Commonly Called Mother Ross on Campaign with the Duke of Marlborough by Daniel Defoe Last books finished Le dernier Atlas, tome 2, by Fabien Vehlmann, Gwen De Bonneval and Fred Blanchard The History of Mr Polly, by H.G. Wells The Dragon Republic, by R.F. Kuang Next books The Place of the Lion, by Charles Williams The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
New jobs, new homes and the climate emergency are at the forefront of all our minds as we recover from the Covid pandemic. As Liberal Democrat leaders in local government, we need to address all these. I was proud to lead the media briefing in Cheltenham announcing our internationally significant development that covers all three of those topics. The Golden Valley development will bring up to 12,000 new jobs, 3,700 homes and two million square feet of commercial space, centred on the UK's first cyber security focused campus: Cyber Central. And we will achieve some of the highest levels of ...
The popular Prestwich Clough Day is back, this year in August. The event normally takes place in May to mark the anniversary of the parkland which was gifted to the people of Prestwich 115 years ago. Because of current restrictions some things will have to be slightly different, but the team are keen to tell everyone that there will still be plenty of things to see and do and you will all have a wonderful afternoon. The event is on Sunday 22 August 2021, St Mary's Flower Garden on Bury New Road (opposite the St Mary's Road junction.
Earlier this week was the regular meeting of Bury's Full Council and as ever your local Councillors were busy asking questions of the Council Leadership on issues from bins, traffic flow or the Prestwich Memorial Wall. Prestwich Memorial Wall Councillor Michael Powell asked about the Prestwich Memorial Wall, which lists honours by name the local people who gave their lives in both world wars. Because of the (now permanent) closure of the Longfield Suite the wall is not available for public viewing which we believe is wrong. Question: Can the leader guarantee that a Prestwich home will be found for ...
As more and more people are travelling again to work and study, we're all being urged to think about who we can undertake more journey with 'active travel' (walking and cycling). Cycle September is a global bike challenge. People can bike anywhere any time throughout September to take part – it's not about how fit you are or how far you ride. Even a 10-minute ride around the park counts! If you haven't been on a bike in years, it is the ideal opportunity to rediscover the joy of riding a bike. Already riding? Then together let's get your friends, ...
See below some of the most significant roadworks for August. All major roadworks this month seem to fall on Bury New Road............ The full list can be searched here. Bury New Road (junction with Kings Road) – multi-way signals 7-8 August 2021 (United Utilities) Bury New Road (near the junction with what was Warwick Street) – multi-way signals 6-10 August 2021 (Virgin Media) Bury New Road and Fairfax Road – multi-way signals 3-9 August 2021 (Virgin Media) Bury New Road (outside Stanhope Court opposite Tesco) – lane closure 4-6 August 2021 (Virgin Media)
When I joined the Liberal Democrats in 2015, immediately following the General Election, I was working in military resettlement, supporting service leavers into employment. If you had told me that within 5 years, I would be a Member of Parliament for the party, I would have laughed very loudly. When I decided to enter the selection for North East Fife in 2018 (at that time the most marginal seat in the UK with only 2 votes separating the SNP from the Liberal Democrats) it was clear that I needed to take some of my own job-seeking advice on board. If ...
Another reminder that most people don't pay that much attention to politics and so what's obvious to those in politics can be baffling to those outside it.
Five principal authority council by-elections this week, with four Liberal Democrat candidates. That's one up on the last time these wards were contested. Pitsea North West (Basildon), council by-election result: CON: 56.5% (+14.8) LAB: 30.6% (-16.0) BCRP: 5.8% (-3.2) LDEM: 4.1% (+1.4) REFUK: 1.6% (+1.6) FBM: 1.4% (+1.4) Conservative GAIN from Labour. BCRP: Community Residents Party — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 29, 2021
Thu, 12:56: The Lord of the Rings (film) Almost Killed Off One of the Hobbits https://t.co/70LK20ISeo But Peter Jackson stood up for the original plot. Thu, 16:02: RT @bbcdoctorwho: BREAKING: Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall to leave Doctor Who in a trio of Specials, culminating in an epic blockbuste... Thu, 16:05: 'My brother died of ovarian cancer': Why Deputy Lords Speaker Ian Duncan is campaigning for trans health https://t.co/4488OjZxu9 Long but very moving. Thu, 18:14: June 2012 books https://t.co/pDoihOKof0 Fri, 10:45: RT @joewellscomic: I love the idea that migrants shouldn't be rescued because they've made bad decisions as if the ...
After some nightclubs in England began requiring an NHS Covid pass for entry, Alistair Carmichael, Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson, yesterday accused the government of introducing vaccination passports by the back door. The government has just committed to vaccine passports by stealth. This deceitful move is deeply shameful. Carmichael also called for parliament to be recalled to discuss the matter. More than 20 nightclubs and venues in England have said they would be requiring customers to show their NHS app passport. Alistair Carmichael criticised the move: We now have a new ID card snuck onto our phones without even as ...
The City Council's Neighbourhood Services Committee recently approved welcome access improvements for Lochee Park. The Service Manager - Environment has updated me with details as follows : "I can confirm that the intention is to improve the access for wheelchairs from inside the park so they can more easily move between the park area and the Fruit Bowl facility. Where the current service/ vehicle access gates are located, we plan is to improve the surface around the gated area by levelling the area and installing grass Crete tyles, which are heavy duty non slip rubber mats which allow grass to ...
The Guardian reports that Dominic Cummings personally called a former colleague on the Vote Leave Brexit campaign and asked if his company would work for the government on its response to the Covid pandemic, leading to the award of a £580,000 Cabinet Office contract with no competitive process. They say inman email on 20 March 2020, Boris Johnson's former chief adviser asked the most senior civil servant responsible for contracts to sign off the budget immediately, and that if "anybody in CABOFF [the Cabinet Office] whines", to tell them Cummings had "ordered it" from the prime minister: The company, Hanbury ...
