Last updated Tuesday 23rd April 2024 23:00 BST
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There's news of a further hold up in the attempt to find a Liberal Democrat candidate for the eminently winnable seat of Sutton and Cheam. Early yesterday John Sweeney tweeted:🟠SUTTON & CHEAM: one source says the hustings have been postponed because two comp laints were received, and the source suggests John Sweeney and Trish Fivey may now have been added to the shortlist. Can anyone confirm or deny any or all of this? https://t.co/CVJdQbVwZK — @Tomorrow'sMPs (@tomorrowsmps) April 21, 2024 According to Inside Croydon, the original shortlist for the meeting had only two names on it: former London mayoral ...
The Green Party in Gateshead have added Bridges ward to their list of hopefuls in the local elections on 2nd May. The hopeful list is rather short however - the only other seat they are targeting is Crawcrook and Greenside. (But it is better than the Tories who have no target seats here) I was sent the Greens' Bridges ward leaflet recently. Presentationally, it is an improvement on other
The Peter Tatchell Foundation, a registered charity, is running a campaign called "#ApologiseNow" which has this petition statement: Demand all UK police services apologise for their past persecution of the LGBT+ community: raiding bars, clubs, saunas and even private birthday parties. Plus, officers arrested same-sex couples for mere kissing, cuddling and holding hands, and they abused LGBTs as 'poofs' & 'queers'. Police forces in the US, Australia and Europe have apologised. UK Police should do the same. Northumbria's Chief Constable, Vanessa Jardine, has recently made a formal apology to the LGBT+ community and is urging all Chief Constables to do ...
Thanks to the energies of Anabelle de Gersigny and the generosity of Robin Farmer, Brighter Ludlow has installed its first shop window display. Everyone was sad when Farmers, a long standing business that sold fruit and vegetables on the market and from its Mill Street shop closed after Robin retired. The shop didn't look too good with brown paper screening its windows. Farmers before Brighter Ludlow stepped in. Yesterday the windows were brightened with screen prints, many of which were created at the Brighter Ludlow event on Events Square on Easter Saturday. Easter Saturday workshop The result is a brighter ...
Depressing news this morning as the House of Lords finally capitulated and allowed the Government's Rwanda Bill to pass into law. The Council of Europe's human rights watchdog has stepped in immediately to condemn Rishi Sunak's Rwanda scheme, saying it raises "major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law". The Guardian reports that the body's human rights commissioner, Michael O'Flaherty, said the bill was a grave concern and should not be used to remove asylum seekers or infringe on judges' independence: "I am concerned that the Rwanda bill enables the implementation of a policy ...
If you have been reading reviews of Liz Truss's self-justifying new book, you'll know that she was defeated as Prime Minister by the sinister forces of the bureaucratic deep state. Michael Gove has for years called the same phenomenon 'the blob'. Others on the populist and irrational right call this 'the liberal conspiracy.' In the House of Lords some weeks ago, Peter Lilley began to attack the 'liberal conspiracy' that was preventing honest Conservatives from following 'the will of the people', and became almost incoherent when our benches began to laugh. He clearly believes that these conspiratorial forces are real, ...
I enjoy publishing guest posts on Liberal England. So drop me a line if you've got an idea for something you could write for this blog. As you can see from the list below, I accept posts on subjects far beyond the Liberal Democrats and British politics. I'm happy to entertain a wide variety of views, but I'd hate you to spend your time writing something I wouldn't want to publish. So do please get in touch first. These are the last ten guest posts on Liberal England:Councillor defections: emergency update - Augustus CarpLook out for lobbying in the Listed ...
Rishi Sunak (Photo: Yahoo News) The Safety of Rwanda bill was finally passed last night when the House of Lords meekly surrendered, meaning that summary deportation will shortly become law. It is difficult to see any advantages to this scheme, other than perhaps saving Rishi Sunak's political skin. Even that seems temporary. The inefficient, immoral and frankly eye-wateringly expensive plan is not designed to "stop the boats" - it is too impractical to address the actual problem. Instead it is just another gimmick aimed at appeasing right-wingers. In short, this is one of the most shameful episodes in British political ...
Fraser's weekly ward surgeries take place later today and every Tuesday during school term time. They are as follows : Tuesdays at 5pm prompt - Blackness Library Tuesdays at 5.45pm prompt - Ancrum Road Primary School All residents welcome - no appointment necessary.
Jillian Ambrose for the Guardian about the plans to close Britain's last coal-fired power station, Ratrcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire: When Ratcliffe was opened in 1968 by the Central Electricity Generating Board, the very first series of Dad's Army was about to be broadcast, the Beatles were topping the charts and coal power was in its heyday. Coal-fired stations mushroomed through Britain's mining heartlands in the late 1960s and 1970s to provide baseload power for Britain's electricity network. The 2,000-megawatt Ratcliffe broke up the skyline for drivers on the new M1 motorway, and provided power to heat and light 2m homes. It ...
Embed from Getty ImagesYou'll love this Trivial Fact of the Day, particularly if you remember county cricket from more than 50 years ago and TV talent shows from the early years of this century. Here's Cricinfo: Roger Davis was the fielder who nearly caught Garry Sobers during Glamorgan`s Championship match with Nottinghmashire at Swansea in 1968 when the great West Indian all-rounder became the first man in cricket history to hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket. Davis was fielding on the long-off boundary and off the fifth ball of Malcolm Nash`s historic over, Davis caught one of ...
"In their very different ways, these stories centre on the same key ideas: a rejection of any idea of natural places and spaces being off limits, and the joyous democracy of gathering together to experience something more nourishing than concrete and tarmac." John Harris senses the spread of a new, radical British politics rooted in nature. Brian Klaas argues that we need objectivity, not 'balance', from the media: "If someone says the sky is green and another person says it's blue, you shouldn't have a blue/green panel on the Sunday shows. But when it comes to election denialism, the media ...
In the latest of the Green Book podcasts we've looked at health, not from the usual angle of the NHS itself but at the health of the UK population. If you missed it last month, you can still catch up. Why is it that we have one of the unhealthiest populations amongst developed countries? What might that mean in terms of demand and costs in the NHS, apart from all the wider social and economic consequences? It's not as if this is news, as it has been covered in detail by people like Sir Michael Marmot, with his reports going ...
Liberal Democrat Newswire #183 takes a look at both lessons from the 1920s for the Liberal Democrats, and what a successful general election looks like for the party.
Fancy pants graphics on the SSE Energy website but appalling service behind the scenes. I am writing this whilst waiting for SSE Energy Solutions to respond to my phone call. As I start the blog I after 22 minutes I ... Continue reading →
New research from More in Common includes this question about what people are interested in seeing people running for Parliament mention in their leaflets.
There is no better sign that a ship is sinking than if all the rats start deserting it. The only question is how long Rishi Sunak can stay on the bridge before facing up to reality and going to the electorate in search of a refit. The Observer reports that a cohort of Conservative MPs standing down before the next election have netted jobs worth millions of pounds and have taken dozens of all-expenses-paid trips funded by foreign governments and lobbyists. The paper says that sixty-four serving Tory MPs and four independent MPs who lost the Tory whip have announced ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 22 APRIL 2024 Blinshall Street (Douglas Street to 50 metres south) - closed until 27 May 2024 for road safety concerns. Douglas Street (Blinshall Street to Brown Street) - temporary traffic lights until June 2024 for construction works. Brown Street (south of Douglas Street) - closed until December 2024 for construction works. Seafield Road, Dundee - closed from its westmost end (in cul-de-sac) extending for a distance of no more than 20 metres in an easterly direction to facilitate a site access for ...
