A tricky day for a Press Team, I'd suggest. After all, all the attention is directed towards who might, or might not, resign, and whether or not a leadership contest will be called. Who'd be a press officer under such circumstances?... Cable: The Conservative Government is in meltdown Cable: PM's incompetence leaves UK unprepared for all options Brexit chaos hitting UK businesses hard Cable: 'No Brexit' clearly on the table Cable: PM in Brexit denial Cable: The Conservative Government is in meltdown Responding to the resignation of Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Vince Cable said: The ...
When I started visiting Shropshire more than 30 years ago there were three pubs in Minsterley. You can see them all in this aerial photograph from 1947. The pub that is still open today is the Crown & Sceptre, which is in the bottom left-hand corner. In the top left corner is the pub I knew as the Bridge Hotel, but may still have been known as The Miners' Arms when the photo was taken - they were lead miners in this part of the world. The building is still there, but it is now a private house. And in ...
Well, it's been quite a day. I don't work Thursdays, so under normal circumstances, I would have been glued to the telly and social media bringing you a blow by blow account of everything as it happened. As luck would have it, I was at a housing conference. It was excellent, I learned loads, I met lovely people and I wouldn't have missed it for any political drama, even without the excellent scones, jam and cream at the afternoon tea break. I will admit to the occasional glance at Twitter to see the drama unfold. Looks like my crystal ball ...
[IMG: Interventions made by Lib Dem MPs during the Brexit debate] Great The post Interventions made by Lib Dem MPs during the Brexit debate appeared first on FeministMama.
The new issue of the radical Liberal magazine Liberator is with subscribers. In it you find the usual mix of articles, reviews and inside information on what is going on in the Liberal Democrats. Two of the articles are free to download as pdfs from the Liberator website: Sarah Green says the party can't go on being diverted from its political tasks by internal reforms and financial squallsRichard Kemp says it is wrong and pointless to be moderate about deprivation when the Lib Dems have the policies need - if only they knew it.Lord Bonkers interjects: Aren't you going to ...
I would like to recommend this establishment to HM Government
Second paragraph of third chapter:The second time Rose MacNeill heard that Gregor Demarkian was coming to Bellerton, she was standing in Charlie Hare's feed store, buying a packet of seed for the basil she liked to grow in pots on the ledge over her kitchen sink&emdash;and then it struck her. By then it was all over, theoretically. The plywood had come off the windows of the stores on Main Street. Maggie Kelleher had even put out a little display stand full of paperback books, horror novels with cutout covers and silver foil letters and pictures of the Devil glaring through ...
Brexit has always been about the Tory Party trying to grapple with its opposing factions and the referendum was called to help heal Tory splits. But of course, it has widened those splits whilst bizarrely dragging in some Labour folk who should know a lot better than to have joined in. It really is time for Labour to come off the fence and be very clear that they will fight Brexit in all its forms. It's no use Labour leaders calling for a Brexit on their terms as it will be just as bad as the Tory Brexit. Only staying ...
The events of the today with the Government in meltdown has become an embarrassment as hour upon hour rolls on. Last night after a day of talking to her Cabinet Ministers one by one the Prime Minister presented her agreement for an Exit from the EU to the Cabinet as a whole. This morning resignations...
An email has just gone around announcing a rally tonight in London from 6 pm to demand a Final Say on the proposed Brexit deal. More info here. There have also been a flurry of press briefings and reactions to May's proposals going out, here are some highlights. Brexit chaos hitting UK businesses hard Responding to reports that UK- focused firms have been hit hard by the PM's proposed Brexit deal, with RBS, Lloyds, Barclays, Marks and Spencer, Barratt, Berkeley and EasyJet all seeing falls in their share prices, Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake said: Ministerial resignations and Brexit ...
Two recent press releases have caught my eye. As PPC for North Devon, a rural economy where, on average, schools get £300 less per pupil than in the rest of England, I am keen on education reform. Key to that is ensuring good teaching and supporting our teachers. So I was pleased to see that Welsh Lib Dem Education Secretary Kirsty Williams has announced the single biggest investment in Wales' teachers since devolution. This is through a groundbreaking £24m package to help teachers deliver Wales' new curriculum. Kirsty says, This major investment shows how highly we value teachers' professional learning. ...
At yesterday's Council meeting we had a mixture of anger, dissembling and just misleading statements from the Mayor of Liverpool but eventually he revealed that he agreed with the Lib Dems on two crucial issues Where should I start with ... Continue reading →
Theresa May has been compared to Elizabeth the First. Early in her tenure, Jacob Rees-Mogg lauded her as Gloriana – astride the domestic political scene, dominating the polls, scattering Citizens of Nowhere and Enemies of the People to the desert of irrelevance. No doubt Rees-Mogg regrets his early adulation. The reality of May's subsequent general [...] The post Theresa May gets her Armada moment appeared first on Radix.
Soho in the 1950s and 1960s was a magnet for young people tired of post-War England's grey atmosphere and grey food — a place where you could find a good, cheap French or Italian meal or sit for hours over a beer in the Coach and Horses or a coffee at the 2i's, and where [...]
Last night I started to write a post arguing that the Tories would fall in behind the withdrawal agreement that Rabb and May had negotiated. I became too tired to finish it and didn't hit publish. This morning, looking at the utter chaos the strong and stable May government is in, I'm rather glad that [...] The post Brexit withdrawal agreement: I called it wrong appeared first on ten pence piece.
Wed, 12:56: Et si les Etats-Unis n'étaient pas entrés en guerre en 1917 https://t.co/FoRKXsgqHd Interesting alternate timeline.... https://t.co/4c7pgB3sdX Wed, 15:22: RT @DaveClark_AFP: If you're watching the thrilling live stream of the closed Number 10 door, check out this gripping screen grab of no-one... Wed, 16:05: Where the Bodies Are Buried https://t.co/PCsntQVFAd Long @NewYorker article about Northern Ireland - from 2015 so a... https://t.co/AJo23H27xm Wed, 18:06: RT @davidallengreen: With a Brexit text seemingly agreed in principle, what now? By me, at @FT https://t.co/NBRnSDZ823 https://t.co/YXgD... Wed, 18:39: Hybrid, by Shaun Hutson https://t.co/gmLmNQ22Yh Wed, 20:48: I never expected to be in the index ...
Through the feeds of politics-internet I haven't been able to escape the BMG research on the UK's political clans (find out yours here). If you've managed to escape the discussion there's more information in The Independent (and a more in depth report here), but basically it splits people into ten values and identity groups and then analyses how each vote, essentially highlighting how fractured the current alignments are and how little the current party system reflects these clans. For liberals of all stripes, the initial findings can be disheartening. People with explicitly authoritarian beliefs make up the largest part of ...
The block over which the government are now stumbling is called 'dispute resolution'. There is substantial disagreement between the negotiators of the United Kingdom and of the European Union. On the one hand, the EU has proposed that the European Court of Justice should be the final arbiter in the construction of the withdrawal agreement and any future problems, because it says that the agreement will embody many provisions of EU law: the CJEU has declared itself to be the only binding interpretative authority of EU law. On the other hand, the United Kingdom has argued that it is unacceptable ...
After many years of decline, it looks like work has now started to rebuild Maghull Station's Station Masters House as part of the redevelopment and house building project behind the Liverpool bound platform. Here's a photo I took on Remembrance Day on my way into Liverpool:- It's said (by no lesser person than Les French Chairman of the Maghull based Frank Hornby Trust) that the railway buildings of Maghull Station were a probable inspiration for Maghull's world-famous toy maker Frank Hornby who lived just yards away from the station and who caught the train to work there regularly. On that ...
The most important consequence of Theresa May's Brexit deal has nothing to do with her future as Prime Minister nor even that of the Tory Party, it is the consequences for the UK. We find ourselves in the worst possible situation, effectively in the EU without a voice. It was an entirely predictable outcome and one that many of us warned about before the referendum and since. Quite simply it is impossible to disentangle the UK's economy from that of our European neighbours without significant and quite possibly disastrous consequences. Any politician who says differently is either misleading us or ...
From Sheena Wellington : Saturday 17th November at 11am (doors open 10.30am) at the Wighton Heritage Centre in the Central Library brings us the wonderful songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alan Reid. Founder member and mainstay of the internationally renowned Battlefield Band for more than 40 years, Alan was the first to use keyboards as an integral part of a traditional folk band. The depth of his melodic playing and punctuated rhythms have so defined Celtic music that his influence can be heard in many of today's younger generation of Celtic musicians. Alan is also a prolific and fluid songwriter, his compositions ...
It's been a long day today, with the last press release issued after 10 p.m.... Tories "unacceptably risky" on impact of Brexit food shortages Number Ten bows to pressure on FOBT stakes Failures on women's health becoming the norm DUP "punishment beating" comments unacceptable and dangerous 'No Brexit' still a very real possibility Country still none the wiser on PM's blindfold Brexit Brexit will rob UK of crucial cross-border crime-fighting tools Tories "unacceptably risky" on impact of Brexit food shortages Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has warned the Tories are being "unacceptably risky" as a House of Commons committee finds ...
A 70th birthday tribute.
Wed 14th
22:01
Petition to bring back Market Harborough's Church Street Christmas lights gains over 1000 signatures...
There is a petition on change.org calling on Harborough District Council to get its act together and see that the usual Christmas lights go up in Church Street, Market Harborough. (I blogged about this controversy yesterday.) Already it has gained more than a thousand signatures - mine is one of them. As the explanation that accompanies the petition says: Church Street is a lovely small street in Harborough that's full of independent businesses who work hard all year round in the town. The Christmas Lights have been a beautiful feature in Church Street for many years, with lots of customers ...
Theresa May's statement in Downing Street tonight seems to have motivated a bunch of people to do something to stop Brexit. They've joined the Lib Dems. More than 200 people have joined @LibDems since Theresa May's statement. That's more than 1 a minute. Join them – and help us fight to keep Britain in the EU: https://t.co/9vAl1xiTxU — Greg Foster (@LibFozzy) November 14, 2018 And it must be pretty remarkable if the BBC notices: So, if you have signed up tonight, welcome. Have a look at my Lib Dem Lowdown post from last year to get some idea about the ...
As I blogged last week, an emergency Liberal Democrat board meeting took place last night to discuss the state of the party's finances. PoliticsHome reports that the board will meet again tomorrow, as the meeting broke up at 10.15 without getting through the agenda. As to what happened there: At the meeting last night, board members discussed party spending priorities and budgets for the next three years, during an exchange that overran by some two hours. "It was very lengthy, it was tense and it was heated at points - but there is some positive stuff coming out of it ...
I predicted on Facebook this morning that there would be few if any resignations in the wake of the Brexit deal and it looks like, thus far at least, I've been proven right. The thing is, Tories love power. They feel entitled to power. When they have it, even if they are trashing the place, they are not going to give it up. So they grit their teeth and put up with a deal we know that they hate. The deal is by its very nature worse than the deal we have at the moment. For sure, the EU needs ...
New parking charges come into force in Ludlow next Monday, 19 November 2018. Shropshire Council says this will be better for Ludlow. In the town centre, it will cost £1.80 an hour to park from 8am until 6pm, seven days. Pop and shop will be reduced from 15 minutes to five minutes. Castle Street car park charges will rise to £1 an hour and stay will be unlimited, working out at £8 a day. Around the town centre, on-street charges rise as does the maximum stay. Costs in Smithfield and Upper Galdeford car parks will go both up and down. ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:He crossed to the sink, filled the kettle then plugged it in and waited for it to boil.This had been on my eventually-getting-round-to list for ages, on the basis that it came up as a possible addition to the list of sff novels set in Ireland. To be honest it barely qualifies. There are two plotlines, set several years apart; in one, a writer in 2002 finds that he is writing a novel without any memory of actually writing it, in what feel to him like alcoholic blackouts; the other plotline is the story of the ...
Read the manifestos from Lorraine Zuleta and Ben Sims, the two Liberal Democrats bidding to be chair of London Region.
At long last, the "deal" has landed, bringing with it opprobrium from both Leavers and Remainers. Speculation today has mostly been centred on which cabinet members will resign shortly (so far, none have) and whether May has any hope of getting this "deal" through parliament. Thinking ahead, however, a much more interesting question emerges, this one surrounding Labour and their response to the "deal" once it goes to parliament, and with that what the fallout might be for Jeremy Corbyn. Assuming for the moment May's "deal" falls at the first hurdle and then the substantive motions regarding what to do ...
No deal was ever going to better than the deal we have as EU members and this is a very bad deal for the United Kingdom. We are left rule takers not rule makers. The Liberal Democrats won't stand idly by and watch a Tory Brexit destroy our businesses, service sector, and our economy. Far from creating a 'Global Britain', this deal will leave the UK as an insignificant vassal state, tied loosely to Europe but with no influence, and shunned by the rest of the world. Rather than wasting time, money and effort on delivering a Brexit deal which ...
miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 13-11-2018 I posted The Blood is the Life for 13-11-2018 to my dreamwidth blog Women Politely Ending Conversations With Men In Art - The Toast If you like what you see here (or even if you don't) please consider dropping me a tip: [IMG: Paypal Donate Button] [IMG: Buy Me an uncaffeinated beverage (because I'm allergic to coffee) at ko-fi.com] [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Tue, 12:56: What Do Our Oldest Books Say About Us? https://t.co/olZNfJUq9w Another London exhibition for my list. Tue, 14:22: RT @JenniferMerode: I am standing by 7-10 days for EU processes to approve any Brexit deal, after conversations with two more sources. Mee... Tue, 15:23: Another great thread from @PMDFoster. https://t.co/Ow1k9Dxb8M Tue, 16:05: The Trump Administration's Fantasy World | The American Conservative https://t.co/mq1sLWBRY0 "the Trump administrat... https://t.co/p995bc4Ohs Tue, 17:15: RT @tconnellyRTE: BREAKING: EU and UK negotiators have agreed a text on how to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, which will for... Tue, 17:15: RT @Telegraph: The Telegraph ...
After last Sunday's win in the Brazilian presidential election, supporters of Jair Bolsonaro took to the streets clad in the yellow and green colours of the Brazilian flag. That people and parties with more liberal and open political platforms have everywhere allowed the extreme right wing to appropriate the national flag and the power of [...] The post How liberals handed over our national flags to the far right appeared first on Radix.
The Liberal Democrats have today announced they will back a cross-party amendment to the Finance Bill to ensure the maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals are introduced within six months. Speaking ahead of the vote next week, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said: "A few months ago I was approached by a mother who was distraught after her son had committed suicide as a result of distress caused by debts that had accrued from compulsive gambling. "There is now a network of grieving relatives who have been brought together by the same dreadful experience. Like them, I want the NHS ...
After an inspection report revealed Border Force staff shortages at British seaports, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey has called on the Government to recruit more officers to secure our borders. The report by David Bolt, the Government's Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, details concerns among Border Force officers that the agency is "resourced to fail" and that, due to staff shortages, "the border is not secured by any stretch of the imagination". Home Office accounts show that funding for the Border Force has been cut by 8% in real terms since 2015 and the number of ...
Responding to documents published by the European Commission which show that British visitors to EU countries will require visas if their stay exceeds 90 days in a 180 day period, Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:"Now we are beginning to realise why the Brexiters wanted everyone to get new, blue passports; to collect all the visa stamps they will need to travel as freely as they do now. "This will come as a real shock to those who spend their winter months in Spain or Portugal and will now see additional costs and potential queues providing extra baggage. "Theresa May and ...
Following the passing of a motion in the House of Commons yesterday calling on the Conservative Government to publish the legal advice it has received on Brexit, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said: "Tory Ministers must now be honest and upfront with the public and make available the final legal advice they have received on Brexit and the Northern Ireland backstop. "But frankly, Labour too have a problem with legal advice. Does their legal advice confirm whether Brexit is stoppable or whether their six tests are legally compatible? The public are entitled to know. "Both parties need to be ...
Brexit deadlines come and go. Agreements are nearly achieved, but 95 per cent ready is 0 per cent agreed, as both sides are keen to remind us. However, it does now seem that as we approach Christmas and an apparent timeline cut-off point for some sort of Brexit political agreement (the trade agreement will take [...] The post Is this the last chance saloon for the Brexit hard right? appeared first on Radix.
A pilot Metrolink offer launched on Monday. These 'Early Bird' products are aiming to reduce congestion by encouraging travel at times where there is less overcrowding. The reduced prices are available every weekday until Christmas Eve but only on the 'Get Me There' smartphone app and must be purchased before 7am. There are two options: Early Bird – £1: Unlimited travel on all Metrolink tram services from start of service until 7.30am. Early Bird Plus – £3: Unlimited travel on all Metrolink tram services from start of service until 7.30am PLUS unlimited travel between 1pm and 3.30pm and unlimited travel ...
Fracking is on our doorstep but how many folks really appreciate that and indeed the troubles that it could well cause in mid-Sefton and West Lancashire? The process is advancing in Great Altcar, West Lancashire and at some point, subject to further permissions etc. a green light could be given to start fracking under our communities. Lydiate, Formby, Ince Blundell, Little Crosby, Hightown, Crosby, Little Altcar, Great Altcar, Maghull, Downholland are all within range for the process to take place below them. But, have a look at this Channel 4 News video which details what has happened in Holland and ...
Panorama this week revealed large numbers of social housing tenants on Universal Credit owe more than double in rent arrears on average than benefit claimants on the legacy Housing Benefit scheme. The new benefits scheme is sending many council tenant's rent arrears spiralling. Research conducted by the show revealed that across much of the UK, Universal Credit (UC) claimants owe local authorities an average of £662.56, compared with £262 .50 on the Housing Benefit scheme... Universal Credit was rolled out in Flintshire, North Wales in April 2017. UC claimants there owe the council an average of £1,424, six times the ...
Pictures of the old Bury library that Victoria Wood visited as a child are now on display - alongside her letter 'admitting' book theft. Victoria was a regular visitor to the Junior Library when she was a Bury Grammar School pupil, and these images of the Junior Library and the Reference Library show how the buildings would have looked at the time she visited. Next to the old photos is the original letter that Victoria sent to library staff in 1999, which says: "Dear Sir/Madam, I've just looked at the label inside this book, and I have a feeling I ...
This week (12-16 November 2018) is the 25th National School Meals Week, a week to celebrate the important role school means provide in keeping children healthy, well nourished and well educated. The event website features a resource page for parents with lots of great ideas around cooking with children. According to a national survey in the run-up to the week, the nationals favourite school lunch is Curry with the clear winner for dessert Chocolate Sponge and Custard......
I have stopped watching Question Time on the BBC, I have too much respect for the safety of my television. Last night as Brexiteers lined up to condemn Theresa May's deal as a sell-out, the red mist descended again. I hadn't felt that way since I last dived for the remote control as David Dimbleby introduced Nigel Farage for the nine thousandth time. Brexiteers like Boris Johnson who had made promise after promise about taking control just under two and a half years ago, who had offered us £350 million a week for the NHS and trade deals galore, and ...
St Margaret's Church Christmas Fair takes place this Saturday, 17th November 10am to 2pm, St Margaret's Road M25 2QB There will be a variety of stalls; a well stocked cafe; Father Christmas in his grotto. Admission 50p. accompanied children free. Please let us know if you have a community event that you would like us to include in these emails.
On hearing that a technical deal had been done for Brexit Jacob Rees-Mogg said that "it is a failure of the government's negotiation position, it is a failure to deliver on Brexit..." The news is that the technical deal has been done and the document is over 200 pages long. It is reported that there will be a meeting on Wednesday (14th March 2018) at 2:00 pm with the Cabinet to discuss the proposed technical deal and at the same time ambassadors of the 27 EU countries will also get copies of the deal. It is being speculated that the ...
Register your free place online at almcollege.org.uk or search Al-Maktoum College Symposium 2018 on Eventbrite. For more information, please email events@almcollege.org.uk