As expected. Martin Schulz of the Socialist Group (S&D) was elected by MEPs to be the new President of the European Parliament today, taking over from former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek of the centre-right Christian Democrats (EPP). But his majority was not a landslide, despite the traditional stitch-up between the two main political groups in ...
A £2.3m modernisation of Acocks Green Police Station is being proposed by a report going to the West Midlands Police Authority (WMPA) on Thursday (19th January). The report which led to headlines in today's Birmingham Mail (focussing mainly on the possible closure of Steelhouse Lane Police Station in the city centre), which alarmingly seemed to imply that Acocks Green Police Station may close. As a result Councillor Bowen and myself made some quick checks with the Police Authority to get to the bottom of what is being proposed. It quickly became clear that closure is an option. Instead a variety ...
I've got a meeting at Arriva on Monday next to follow up on the Better Bus petition re the 80 and 80a services. I'll be meeting managers at the depot at Speke. Obviously the main reason for the meeting is to try to get improvements on those two services but if you have points about other Arriva buses in South Liverpool let me have them and I will try to push those points too. Personally I am still pursuing the whole issue about the drivers never having any change. You can either post comments here or e mail me directly ...
The failings, uncovered by Caroline Pidgeon, who is the Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, include: A widespread failure in the allocation of the bikes across the docking stations, making it difficult for people to either hire a bike, or return a bike at the end of a ride. Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that in November 2011 there was on average 27 docking stations in London that had no bikes available for hire for between 6 to 8 hours each day. At the same time there were 31 docking stations that had no spare spaces ...
The result was as expected, but it was not the walkover that many (myself included) had expected. German MEP Martin Schulz (S&D) was indeed elected by the members of the European Parliament today in Strasbourg to serve as its new president with 387 votes in favour out of 670 cast (58%). Replacing Polish Jerzy Buzek (EPP), he will hold the post for two and half years until the beginning of the
REDCAR ATHLETIC FC FLOODLIGHT APPEAL RACE NIGHT At New Marske Institute Sat 21st Jan 2012 7.30pm Tickets £4 including Buffet Redcar Athletic FC Senior Section has organised a Race Night to raise funds for the installation of the club's floodlights. The Club have horses left to own. If your horse wins its race you win a cash prize. Your name is entered in the Race Night programme as the owner of a horse. Cost is £5.00. Sponsor a race and receive 4 VIP Tickets, reserved seating with a bottle of wine, the Race named after your business/company an advert in ...
Competition. Prize a pint of beer at the next Birkdale Beer and Bangers Evening Ok this is 1961, but the recent death of Eric Howard former Chair of Southport YL's has brought into the hands of our resident historian a mass of press cuttings. Eric was not only Chair of the YL's he was a wizard agent masterminding the Party's electoral success in Craven Ward. But more of that in a future posting. In the meantime can anyone identify anyone in the photo. I think most Southport Liberal should be able to identify at least a couple and there is ...
Last year Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin took away collective bargaining rights from state employees. Now, he's about to be recalled for an election, due to over one million signatures being collected against him. This is extraordinary, given that only 540,208 signatures were needed. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Well, they've gone and done it again It's rather depressing that I feel so unsurprised by the fact that, once again, by a margin of 65 to 2, our peers have decided to back yet another government proposal which will take support away from deserving sick and disabled people who can't survive without it. Apparently 500,000 vulnerable people losing support wasn't enough for them to bother to defy the whip. Of course, this might be partly related to the fact that so fucking few of them even bothered to turn up to the debate and listen to the arguments about ...
I scraped the ice off my window screen this morning wrapped up in a warm overcoat and a heavy tweed suit I still felt I was ill prepared for the weather. At lunch time I entered the Mayor's Parlour to attend the unveiling of a Blue Plaque (possibly the only one in Southport) to commemorate F J Hooper -Percy to his friends. Percy was the Town Hall Keeper from 1922-1955 only breaking his service to serve in the armed forces. He joined joined Scott's expedition to the South Pole as a steward but soon became part of the Shore Party. ...
Oh dear. He wouldn't make a great PM would he? And according to @mshapland, he even gets the share of funding Labour receives from the Unions wrong. Crumbs This doesn't sound like it went too well either...
After I highlighted Louise Mensch's ill judged dismissal of every female leader in the world bar lady Thatcher, the New Statesman has helpfully today published a full list of the 18 current female world leaders. I trust Louise finds it a useful and informative read...
Hurry over to the Harborough Mail website for the footage: One of them plays with a beer bottle in the video, shot near the Northampton Road bridge in Harborough at about 5.30pm on Tuesday night (January 17).
My piece from the New Statesman yesterday (click on the link to see the comments, which seem strangely obsessed with Ed Balls degree...) Here's the piece: It's seldom a good idea to underestimate your opponent, so when I'd stopped hugging myself at what Twitter was telling me Ed Balls was saying over the weekend, I reasoned he isn't a fool and so there must be method to his apparent madness. Which of course, there is.And so picture if you will the shadow chancellor luxuriating in a large armchair and stroking a white cat as I take you through his dastardly ...
There will be an article in tomorrow's Guardian by the paper's home affairs editor Alan Travis that quotes the editorial of the January issue of Liberator. That editorial is highly critical of the Liberal Democrats' decision not to contest the new police commissioner elections in November - as was this blog. Travis writes: The January edition of Liberator, the long-established voice of the party's radical activists, has attacked the decision in virulent terms, calling it "an act of political lunacy". Its editorial accuses the party leadership of political cowardice and goes on to ask: "Is this really the party that ...
The local police safer neighbourhood team were out on my commute home tonight warning cyclists about breaking the law on Victoria Park Road. They seemed to accept, though, that Hackney Council's failure to provide safe lanes on an important cycling route was causing scores of cyclists to either put themselves in danger or conflict with ...
The building at the bottom of St Mary's Road, that was a restaurant but then closed, is shortly to open again as an Indian restaurant. The Spice Brasserie is applying for a licence from 12 noon to just after midnight Monday to Sunday. It'll be great to see that building in use again and for someone like me very keen on Indian food, to have an indian restaurant in the village.
From the Cambridge News: Theft victim who caught up with crook 'concerned about youth fitness' A long-distance runner has donated cash to promote youth fitness after catching a thief who snatched his laptop. Peter Stevens was in his car outside his home in Beche Road, Abbey, Cambridge, when the hooded thief opened the rear door and grabbed the computer. The 34-year-old runner and IT expert chased him and was surprised when he caught up with the thief after just 225 metres. Realising the game was up, the puffed-out criminal dropped the laptop, allowing Mr Stevens to pick it up. Mr ...
On 14th December last year Salford, Worsley & Eccles Liberal Democrats called a public debate over the issue of an elected mayor for our city. Leader of Salford Liberal Democrats, Councillor Owen, invited Councillor Merry (leader of the council and member of the "NO" campaign) and referendum organisors Geoffrey Berg & Stephen Morris (English Democrats) of the "YES" campaign to debate the pros and cons. On the issue of an elected mayor for Salford, locally the Liberal Democrats are firmly in the "NO" camp and have aligned ourselves with Salford Labour and support their campaign for a "NO" vote. However, ...
The Tories have a problem. They have made leaps and bounds in the last few years on the LGBT rights front. Here we have a Coalition consisting primarily of Tories liberalising the blood ban and supporting marriage equality. We need to give them some props for that. Excellent work. But fundamentally, at the very heart of the party in Parliament, there are still the hardcore right-wingers. A coalition of evangelicals, Catholics and grumpy old people, these right-wingers have not gone away and their hatred of LGBT freedom is clear to see even when they are so desperate to hide it, ...
Les Rowley, Westminster's cabinet member for parking, is facing calls to resign over his support for the ill fated 'nightlife tax'. Having been jeered down in one meeting, after stating that Westminster was not using parking charges to '...raise revenue', he lacks any credibility with in his own Tory ranks. Facing calls from Michel Roux ...
Tue 17th
17:54
Costa Concordia disaster - Noël Coward/Winston Churchill* speak (*delete as applicable)
*Some say it was Winston Churchill – others (including Former First Sea Lord, Lord West) say it was Noel Coward. There are three things I like about being on an Italian cruise ship. First, their cuisine is unsurpassed. Second, their service is superb. And then, in time of emergency, there is none of this nonsense about women and children first. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
As you know, I blog here in a personal capacity and not on behalf of any organisation, but you might be interested to know that Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel have issued the following press release:LDFI WELCOMES CLEGG TALKS WITH ABBAS Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel (LDFI) have welcomed UK Deputy Prime Minister (and Liberal Democrat Leader) Nick Clegg's talks in London today with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in a week when Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon is also due for talks in London. At a press conference alongside President Abbas, Mr Clegg said: "I'd like to be ...
It has become abundantly clear since the Christmas break that most of the Parliamentary excitement, apart from that curiosity known as Prime Minister's Questions, is going to come from the Lords until Easter, and the coming fortnight will be no exception. Days 5 and 6 of the Report Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill will take place on January 23rd and 25th, with the Third Reading scheduled, perhaps optimistically for 31st January. It's always dangerous to guess exactly how much progress will be made on Day 4, taking place today, but with the Government having sustained four defeats already, and ...
I wrote a piece the other day on How Do You Solve a Problem Like Ed? Now Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite has come after Ed. He claims that Ed Balls embrace of austerity leaves us with a 1931 consensus. Actually everyone already believed in austerity, after all Labour promised more austerity than the ...
Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member, Peter Black has raised concerns that convicted drink drivers will have to go to England for Drink Drive Rehabilitation courses unless Ministers introduce legislation in the Welsh Assembly within the next few months. Mr. Black has written to the Minister for Local Government, Transport and Communities asking him to commit to legislation for a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Scheme in Wales. Courses provide offenders with important insight into their behaviour and strategies to avoid drink driving in future and are often included as part of sentencing in the courts. Responsibility for such schemes will be passed ...
There's a great article in today's Times [£] praising the Liberal Democrats and fancying the party's prospects between now and 2015. Rachel Sylvester writes that although the received wisdom says coalition government has ruined the Lib Dems' chances, it's too early to write them off: The Liberal Democrats could end up doing a lot better than most people currently think. She cites encouraging signs in the polls: A huge number of people still have no idea how they are going to vote and although only 12 per cent say that they would support Mr Clegg's party if there were an ...
Speaking at a meeting of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Zetland Ward CouncilIor Ron Harrison hit out at claims by a Maverick Labour Councillor that "Lib Dem Councillors laughed at the disabled." "I would like to correct a misunderstanding which appears to have occurred during the full council meeting in November. "Cllr T. Learoyd has written extensively in the press and in leaflets which have been distributed to thousands of homes in Redcar that Liberal Democrat members were laughing at disabled people during the meeting. "I clearly and categorically wish to state that this was not the case and I ...
Aldes has spent considerable time investigating the details of the Thameslink contract awarded to Siemens. We previously published a statement on the issue by our chair Steve Coltman. Aldes are now releasing a longer report on the issue by Steve Coltman, available to download at the link below "Treason!" The word was uttered by an ordinary family man out for the day with his wife and two kids. He is an employee of Bombardier's train-making plant in Derby, and the occasion was a big demonstration through Derby city centre protesting about the award of a £1.4bn contract to Bombardier's rival ...
Many happy returns to Mohammed Ali who celebrates his 70th birthday today. I'm not a boxing fan but I recognise a great athlete, and a great poltical activist, when I see one. Ali campaigned against war in Vietnam before it became fashionable at great personal and professional expense. His epic fights against George Foreman and Joe Frazier in the 70's rank amoung the best ever. Was he the "Greatest"? Hard to argue against it!
David Cameron is a liberal conservative. As Prime Minister, he believes in limiting immigration into the United Kingdom; in fact, a cap has been arbitrarily placed on those travelling from outside the European Union. In 2008, his colleague and Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, called for an amnesty for illegal immigrants into the United ...
Storm clouds are gathering over whether Iran should be invaded as a pre-emptive strike to prevent its manufacture of nuclear weapons. Already, Israel seems to be moving pro-actively, while the subject would have been discussed by Cameron during his trip to Saudi Arabia. The US has initiated the tightening of economic sanctions against Iran and has raised its naval profile in the Persian Gulf, though it would clearly prefer to postpone any military action until after the US Presidential election in November. Meanwhile, are the various diplomatic manoeuvres around Syria a rehearsal for future action against Iran? Very great caution ...
I'm really not one for watching Conservative Party Conferences. But there is one thing I remember from David Cameron's speech to his party's faithful last year - and that was his wife, Samantha, offering evidently heartfelt applause when he insisted that "backing gay marriage is a very Conservative thing to do". Perhaps, I imagined naively, a corner has been turned; maybe the historic Tory hostility towards LGBT rights has finally been put to sleep. It seems, however, that some of Cameron's MPs are significantly less enthusiastic than his wife on such matters. With the government championing an end the ban ...
Rhys Morgan hit the headlines a few weeks ago due to his work in publicising Stanislaw Burzynski's fradulent alternative medicine practices. I hold him in some high regard as, at his age, I wasn't too heavily involved in skepticism (although a friend of mine was, and was partially the reason why I later became active in the atheist movement). Also in the news was a dispute between University College London and their atheist society, after an image from the webcomic Jesus and Mo was used to promote one of their facebook event. Obviously, this caused Muslims on campus to complain ...
This week there is one planning application on the weekly list an application for a single storey rear extension to 398 Milton Road. Reference number 12/0019/FUL, and you can get more details from the online monitoring system.In the interests of openness the applicant is well known to several of the King's Hedges team.As always if you have any difficulties getting more information please do get in touch with us.
I want them to say, "she usually said it seemed like a good idea at the time..." Well, I may not be a perfect kind of person, And I may not do what mum and dad had dreamed, But on the day I die, I'll say at least I fucking tried, And that's the only eulogy I need. That's the only eulogy I need. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Last week Brian Paddick and I launched a fairer fares package ahead of this year's London Mayoral and Assembly elections. Boris Johnson has been Mayor of London since 2008. In just four years he has increased the cheapest bus fare from 90p to £1.35 - and he had planned to raise fares even further until the Coalition Government stepped in and helped limit the rise. As well as bus fares, the cost of travelling on the Tube, the Docklands Light Railway, the Croydon Tramlink and the London Overground have all soared under Mr Johnson's mayoralty. Of course there is the ...
The Scottish SNP government's pursuit of a referendum on independence has created a constitutional crisis for the UK. But the real problem is England, not Scotland. I don't walk the corridors of power in Westminster, or mix with the great and the good who take in hand the the country's affairs as an oblivious public goes about its daily life. But I imagine that something close to panic is taking hold there. Scotland is moving inexorably towards independence from the UK, while compromise proposals seem to raise more awkward questions than they answer. The humiliation that beckons for these people ...
Jan Palach was a Czech student who on 16/01/69 committed suicide in protest against the USSR occupation of his country. This happened on my birthday and as a teenager made a great impact on me. Since the Velvet Revolution he has been honoured in his home country.
He may have pipped his brother to the leadership due to the support of the Trade Unions but that does not appear to have saved Ed Miliband from some savage comments by former allies today. According to the Guardian the Labour leader is facing a growing trade union rebellion after the GMB and Public Commercial Services unions joined the condemnation of the party's support for a public sector pay squeeze: Len McCluskey, the leader of Britain's largest union, led the outbreak of union disquiet on Monday in a Guardian article in which he warned that Miliband was setting Labour on ...
In the old days it was simple, you had two political parties, representing two different views and classes, at two ends of the political spectrum - a clear choice to make. The Conservative party were the party of the wealthy, the privileged, the gentry, the business leaders, the chief executives and the managers. They believed in small government, low taxation, low public spending, the free market, sink-or-swim, privatisation and, above all, nothing should ever change. Meanwhile the Labour party were the party of the poor, the workers, the pensioners, the unions, the sick. They believed in big government, high taxation, ...
Chris White has again condemned First Capital Connect after the major collapse in service last night. Chris said: 'The initial problem stemmed, it seems, from the incompetence of Network Rail. Not for the first time their weekend engineering works were botched meaning that Monday saw a breakdown. 'But as ever FCC made a bad situation worse: - passengers were not provided with accurate and up to date information: staff disappeared so that questions could not be answered - FCC wrongly told people that trains terminated and started at West Hampstead. Hundreds of people were diverted to West Hampstead only to ...
There is little than can be said of Muhammad Ali that has not been said already. So to celebrate his 70th birthday today, I felt it apt to publish a handful of clips from his life that gave us an all-round view of this man - the boxer, the entertainer the man, the humanitarian, the Olympian. The Boxer We begin with what he did best. I could've chosen one of any number of videos to demonstrate just why he was a phenomenal sportsman in the ring but for me, one stands out. Is this the greatest punch ever thrown in ...
Here in the LDV office, we've received another postcard from Baroness Ros Scott. Typically, she's arrived long before the postcard did... The failure of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament is a good example of just how difficult Parliamentary business can be in India. The Lok Sabha is directly elected on a constituency basis, but with regional loyalties such a strong determinant of voting, thirty-four political parties are represented, as well as nine independents. If you think that two party coalition is tough, consider for a moment the job of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose ruling Congress Party governs as ...
Tue 17th
13:34
Economy and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee 16/1/2011 Part 1 Peel presentation on Wirra...
Present: Cllr Tony Cox Cllr stuart Kelly Cllr Gerry Ellis Cllr Mark Johnston Cllr Andrew Hodson Cllr Denise Realey Cllr Steve Niblock Cllr Pat Hackett Cllr Stuart Wittingham Cllr Mark Johnston wished people a happy New Year. He asked for any declarations of interest. Cllr Steve Niblock declared a personal and prejudicial interest in item ...
Cornwall Council has again rejected a proposal to increase pay for three Conservative cabinet support members. The rejection was made by 57 votes to 45 at today's full council meeting. The debate was meant to be about setting in train the process for agreeing allowances for the new councillors elected in 2013. The authority has consistently agreed by large majorities that they don't want to consider an increase mid-term and Lib Dems stood on a manifesto commitment of not raising allowances during this council. But it is right that the process of agreeing allowances for the four years from 2013 ...
North West England Lib Dem Euro-MP Chris Davies has received a personal assurance from the European Commission that countries which do not comply with new welfare rules for laying hens will be closely investigated and, if appropriate, taken to court. ... Continue reading →
Watching all the ballyhoo just recently focussed on the movie "Iron Lady" I cannot help feeling that Hollywood is ignoring the most influential right wing British prime minister of recent time Tony Blair. This is my personal view, both Thatcher and Blair are seen to have had a significant impact on the nation, in the case of Thatcher her motives were honestly set out, it was clear that big business particularly the financial sector were to be the main beneficiaries of Thatcherism and societies week and feeble would be the casualties. At no time did Margeret Thatcher ever give the ...
It is said that getting involved in Liberal Democrat Voice is a certain route to blogging damnation. With the 'curse of the BOTYs', whereby all winners have almost entirely stopped blogging thereafter, and the workload involved in being an editor, you can kind of see why that might be so. And, alas, I seem to be sliding into the same trap. Blogging here has been a bit light of late, partly caused by my being on holiday, partly because my other responsibilities are keeping me from the blog. Ironically, most of what I write for Lib Dem Voice is not ...
Good news from the Department for Education, where the rules on funding free schools are being changed: Under the new agreement, funding will be withdrawn for any free school that teaches what it claims are "evidence-based views or theories" that run "contrary to established scientific and/or historical evidence and explanations"... [Richard] Dawkins ... welcomed confirmation that creationists would not receive funding to run free schools if they sought to portray their views as science. "I welcome all moves to ensure that creationism is not taught as fact in schools," he said. "Government rules on this are extremely welcome, but they ...
After 40 years of increasing disquiet over depleted uranium (DU), the UK's last operational DU tank munition - CHARM3 - is nearing the end of its shelf-life. DU weapons are chemically toxic and radioactive. Their use (especially in Iraq) generates a hazardous legacy that states recovering from conflict struggle to monitor and mitigate. CHARM3's propellant charge expires in 2013 and the decision to renew or reject DU munitions may provide an opportunity for us in government. Unlike the US and France, the UK has not upgraded its anti-tank ammunition in over a decade. This is due to the technical limitations ...
The Scottish Lib Dems yesterday issued a press release in which Willie Rennie argued that the SNP must "clear up the two question confusion". Rennie suggests that "SNP plans for a multi-option referendum have been dominated by cluttered thinking and flawed logic. Their method for running a referendum with two questions has serious flaws." He goes on to make the case that a two-question referendum would result in an outcome other than the one the voters want: "if 70% of people support Devo-Max and 51% support Independence then Independence wins even though Devo-max is more popular. And now I can ...
A North West England Euro-MP has been warned that publishing inaccurate information about EU policies could discourage people from starting their own businesses. Claims made by UKIP's Paul Nuttall last month that EU laws would require small businesses to hand ... Continue reading →
Today, the leader of the Unite union Len McCluskey argues that Ed Milliband is leading Labour downwards to both electoral defeat in 2015 and a general destruction of the Labour party. If Unite withdraw their financial support (which they won't) then Labour would be in trouble. Taking our all union funding, Labour receive about the same amount of donations as the Liberal Democrats do - which would massively cut their election-fighting war chest. If Unite did (which they won't) then other unions could follow and severely cripple Labour. Why won't they? Well, because they are a vested interest, and need ...
In the debate on so-called crony capitalism two things are clear. First there is genuine and widespread anger at corporate greed and irresponsible capitalism. Second, politicians from the left have been groping around, without much success, trying to come up with convincing responses. Ed Miliband drew a distinction between producers and predators. But he failed to offer any answers. We see power and wealth concentrated in the hands of the few – the benefits of success going to those at the top rather than being fairly shared between all those who generated that wealth. Even worse, company bosses too often ...
The European Liberal Democrats have announced the venues for their Council meetings and annual Congress for 2012. The first Council meeting will take place in Yerevan, Armenia and is expected to take place on 11-12 May, just five days after scheduled Parliamentary elections. This might be seen as a bold decision, given that following the 2007 elections, opposition parties alleged widespread fraud and called for mass demonstrations, although European observers felt that the vote largely met international standards. The Liberal Democrat delegation of fifteen, led by Robert Woodthorpe-Browne, will be discussing such issues as a common corporate tax base for ...
Personally I'm immensely relieved that Lib Dems in the coalition Government have ensured rules for 'free schools' have been changed to prevent "the teaching, as an evidence-based view or theory, of any view or theory that is contrary to established scientific and/or historical evidence and explanations." Effectively this bans creationism and so-called 'intelligent design' 'theories' from being taught in Free Schools, and prevents creationist groups from opening free schools. This follows a campaign from Lib Dems, the British Humanist Association and leading scientists and science educators including Sir David Attenborough, Professor Richard Dawkins and Professor Michael Reiss. Phew. A good ...
Last November, I was lucky enough to attend 'A Conversation with David Laws' at the Institute of Economic Affairs, where the senior Liberal Democrat and former Chief Sectary to the Treasury was interviewed by the ex-Liberal Democrat, Downing Street advisor and libertarian director of the the IEA, Mark Littlewood. During the fifty minute interview, I was one of three guests to have their question put to Mr Laws. So does the free marketeer and the man behind the economically liberal 'Orange Book' think the Lib Dems' alliance of liberals and social democrats could survive a policy move to liberalise competition ...
Look through the grand sweep of history and times of severe economic turmoil have often been accompanied by times of ideological ferment. That ferment has often thrown up the extreme and the nasty – think fascism or Communist dictatorship – which makes the absence of an equivalent post-financial crash ferment not wholly a bad thing. Yet so far there is very little sign of the sort of ideologically coherent new approach to economics that we have seen in similar previous periods. The Occupy moment symbolises that absence wonderfully – for it too does not offer solutions, it offers a process ...
Labour MP Tom Harris forced to resign as Twitter tsar - WARNING! Contains Torygraph Oh dear. Labour MP foundered by using passe joke shocker... (tags: epicfail labour ) Heresy Corner: No end in sight to unfair extradition rules More on the extradition of the British student for crimes commited on British soil to the US... (tags: ) "People think Guantanamo is closed" See, Obama said he would close it, and politicians ALWAYS do what they say they'll do, don't they? * headdesk headdesk headdesk * (tags: usa ) The Walking Dead season 3 extended, new poster released YAY! :D (tags: ...
Many of my Scottish nationalist friends attack the so-called "Unionist" opposition to separatism because it seems so negative. "Overcome your fears" they say "and embrace a positive and constructive agenda for a separate Scotland". Yet for me, it is separatism that is negative and narrow. The SNP thesis is that the Union has failed and can not be repaired. In my view there is very much a positive message in the idea of preserving the common state. The political union that was created in 1707 was a platform that not only created the worlds most successful global economy for a ...
Concertinas, melodeons, accordions and all kinds of free reed instruments will be displayed and demonstrated this Saturday morning in Dundee's Wighton Centre, upstairs in the Central Library. See right! The event is one of the Friends of Wighton's popular cappuccino concerts. With complimentary coffee and newspapers served from 10.30am, the music lasts from 11am to 12 noon. Admission is £5. Traditional musicians John Bagnall & Paul Blackburn have been playing traditional music together for over 15 years, and in this concert their expertise will be put to good use in explaining and demonstrating the various different kinds of squeezeboxes and ...
TweetThe ipaper leads today with the archaic and outdated Tories allegedly planning a rebellion against a bill on gay marriage. Rather like their behaviour over the EU referendum, the Conservative party are demonstrating that they can show a soft-left-side at a push (hug a hoodie) but they won't allow that sort of behaviour to become ...
"It's become a Leicester legend: the night a railway engine and tender derailed and fell into Tommy Wadsworth's backyard in Northgate street. It's still talked about to this day."
It was inevitable.......
Nick Clegg yesterday called on more British companies to offer shares to their employees, arguing it will improve productivity and unlock growth: "We don't believe our problem is too much capitalism - we think it's that too few people have capital." (Also available on the BBC website here.) * You can read Nick's speech in full at the Deputy Prime Minister's website here; * Centre Forum's Tom Frostick's welcome of Nick's approach here; * And our original report with initial LibDemVoice readers' comments here.
A 1km stretch of road in Bury is to lose its last off-peak bus service, as Rossendale Buses withdraws the off-peak 167 bus. The service will end on 28 January 2012. This was a commercially operated route (i.e. not one subsidised by public funds), so obviously bus companies withdraw from routes if they cannot run them on a commercial basis. One side of Heywood Old Road, which runs up through Bowlee, is part of Bury MBC and part of Holyrood Ward. If you're familiar with the road you'll know that it has continuous housing on the 'Bury side' AND what ...
Willie and me at Dundee College yesterday Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie MSP was in Dundee yesterday to visit Dundee College with me, touring the new Gardyne Campus and also discussing college funding cuts with Principal Christina Potter, Depute Principal Grant Ritchie and Assistant Principal Leslie Dick. Speaking after the meeting, Willie said: "It was great to visit Dundee College today with local Liberal Democrat Councillor Fraser Macpherson. "Dundee College helps people from a range of backgrounds to get up and on in the world with new skills and knowledge. Improving the life chances of thousands of ...
So the Queen wants a yacht! Or rather Michael Gove thinks we should as a grateful nation give her one as a 60 years long service award for her current job. I'm thinking the £60m that it would cost might go some way to giving some of us without jobs greater assistance in finding one, rather than as an award for one that one was merely born into. Most of us who are unemployed don't have the luxury of a family 'firm' to fall back on. However, if as Michael Gove says he is worried that the Diamond Jubilee celebrations ...
Crematoria are not generally much of a topic of conversation. They are associated with death and sadness. But no-one would question the important role they fulfil, and that if well managed and run they can ease a difficult time for their users. That's one reason why I value my position on the joint committee of Durham and Gateshead councillors which runs our local, jointly owned, crematorium at Mountsett. The staff take a real pride in their job, having taken over grass cutting from an external contractor, and in doing so they have created a very attractive facility which is to ...
