'Some might say that the current international climate is not conducive to creativity,' says Teresa Lizaranzu Perinat, Director General for Cultural Policy, Industries and the Book at Spain's Secretariat of State for Culture, who was in London today for the launch of Spain (NOW!), the fourth annual season of contemporary arts and culture from Spain. ...
That's a quote from a column in the Times Educational Supplement from 2008. The truth, or otherwise, of that comment is – or rather, should be – central to the debate over whether or not the government is right to be proposing the ending of coursework as part of its GCSE reforms. After all, if there's a feature of the way we assess children that inherently benefits the middle class at the expense of others, that's a pretty good reason for changing it, isn't it? Perhaps not a killer argument that closes down all debate, but at least a pretty ...
There is some good news here in Northern Ireland on the subject of Equal Marriage. Green Party MLA Steven Agnew, along with the Sinn Féin MLAs Bronwyn McGahan and Catríona Ruane have got a Private Member Equal Marriage motion tabled for a plenary debate before the Assembly on 1st October. The text of the motion reads: Equal Marriage "That this Assembly believes that all couples, including those of the same sex, should have the right to marry in the eyes of the State and that, while religious institutions ought to continue to have the right to define, observe and practise ...
This is a picture of the protest in Bratislava outside the British Embassy today. I have edited the photo to keep Surrey County Council happy as they have complained about my blog. I have asked them what is wrong with my blog and they have not yet told me. It remains, however, that permission to appeal was granted today. It is important to remember that the law must be the same for all
Leading first aid charity St John Ambulance will be teaching people in Bristol vital first aid skills on Saturday as part of its annual Save a Life September campaign. It is the second year the charity has run the campaign. In 2011, the scheme was hugely successful and more than 70,000 people received free first aid guides as part of the campaign. This year the charity aims to reach even more people to equip them with life saving first aid skills. St John Ambulance volunteers will be giving free demonstrations at the Galleries Shopping Centre on Saturday 22 September between ...
So last Sunday I went around Snodland reporting things like fly tipping etc, using the fix my street iPhone app. It was such a successful day I think I managed to report everything to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and Kent County Council. Here are the things I reported: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council have cleared up what they can and I'm awaiting Snodland Town council to do the same. But it could be a long wait as Snodland Town Council are looking for a new Town Clark as the the old one has now left. But staffing issues shouldn't ...
An update to my earlier post – I've now had this from the Readers' Editor team: Thank you, Mark. We've corrected that quote in the online article now and we'll also be publishing a correction in the paper.
Today I visited Delapre Abbey in Northampton and it turned out to be real gem - a Medieval nunnery converted into a great house in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the addition of a fashionable library around 1820. You can't go round the house, but the admirable Friends of Delapre Abbey sell teas in the old stables and the lovely walled garden. Bonkers Hall must be very like this. The Abbey was threatened with demolition in the 1950s and (after serving as the county record office for some years) with redevelopment of its part a few years ago. So ...
In the light of the tragic shootings in Manchester today many commentators and reactionaries are calling for the Police to carry fire arms as they do on the continent but is it really time? The armed Police record is constantly called into question such as the Barrister who was shot 3 times whilst on a rampage on his roof or the case of Mark Dugan which sparked last year's riots. Even in the case of Raol Moatt, a clearly dangerous man who was on the run has had his death analysed by many different bodies and discussions as to whom ...
Read all about it on Liberal Democrat Voice.
The under-cover video of Mitt Romney, addressing a fund-raising dinner, contains a glaring crime against basic maths. If you listen to his remarks, he elides the '47 per cent (of Americans) who will vote for Obama no matter what' with the 47 per cent who 'don't pay income tax'. He gives the impression they are one and the same 47 per cent. He deserves to be forced to eat a Venn diagram of the actual situation. Of course, some of those 47 per cent of Americans who don't pay income tax were planning (at least up until these remarks were ...
According to the Tory controlled City Council in Peterborough, there are presently 9,328 applications on the current housing register, as of 23 July 2012 and over the period of a year, an average of 7 applications a day were being added! As a result, the local authority has this week announced plans to change the "....the eligibility criteria that determine applications to join Peterborough's Housing Register ....." which apparently will ensure "...priority is given to people who need housing the most ....." – makes you wonder what on earth the system has been to date and why? The Housing Register ...
There's a dangerous tendency among most of my fellow politicians to assume that what's worked for them can work for everyone else. With hands on the ministerial levers there is a tempting opportunity to impose your life experience on the rest of society. In no area of policy is this more true than education. Successive ...
I love the Lib Dem conference, which starts next Saturday in Brighton. But sometimes I tire of the antics of those getting up to make speeches in the conference hall. There are several sources of my irritation. One is speakers who take part only to talk about some hobbyhorse issue, taking no other interest in the issue at hand. Another is speakers who seem to genuinely think they are radical, challenging politicians, but who in fact oppose anything controversial. And then there are the self-congratulatory, who simply can't see how the party and its deliberations look from the outside. So ...
Tue 18th
17:51
"Support for Traditional Marriage Is Collapsing" (Based On Anti-Equality Activists Polling)
Today we have a new Angus Reid poll out on the topic of marriage equality. The overall results are, in my opinion, pretty positive for the marriage equality cause. 46% (+3 since January) think same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry; 33% would allow same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but not marry; 14% believe same-sex couples should not have any kind of legal recognition A simple majority supporting marriage equality and a very impressive overall majority supporting legal partnership rights for same sex couples. Which only serves to throw extra light upon the deceptive questions used in the ...
Three months ago I penned my debut submission to LibDemVoice - There is much for the Lib Dems to support in Gove's embryonic exam proposals - in the wake of the early leaks of Gove's plans for the replacement of GCSEs. In that, I set out how Michael Gove's policies matched up with Liberal Democrat Party Policy, and came to some conclusions on how Gove's proposals would need to be altered to be in line with our policies; The four criteria were: Oppose Mr Gove's plans for an official two-tier examination structure. Success. As noted by Stephen Tall, "the idea ...
Here is the third article about the work of party committees, written by current members. Each provides insight into how a specific committee functions. We hope these articles will encourage party members to consider putting themselves forward for election. Why did more people put themselves forward for election to the Federal Policy Committee than any other federal committee in 2010? Because with Liberal Democrats now in Government our policies matter more than ever before - as this new booklet makes clear. So what exactly does the Federal Policy Committee do? While the party Constitution enshrines Conference as the Liberal Democrats' ...
Like most people watching recent events on television from the comfort of home, or reading about developments in the newspapers, I've been distressed to see easily-offended hatemongers turning to large-scale violence and, in the case of the Libyan rioting, its tragic consequences. What has further disappointed me is the tendency of many to dismiss this as yet another example of the inevitable product of religion in politically unstable environments. While I do not fully dismiss the role that religious struggles and pressures have played in these events, it is simplistic and naive to suggest that religion itself is to blame. ...
Dan Hodges: Ed Miliband's grand theme for conference: the 'Relationship Society': If this doesn't get you shaking in your boots with excitement, then damnit nothing will.
The heady waft of future and assured pupil disengagement is already pungent only one day after the announcement of the new exam system. The wrong-headedness of the "reform" is enough to actually make you gasp. Don't get me wrong, I really do hate the personal anecdote–beloved of many politicians and responsible in my view for so much political damage (and used to the usual effect yesterday in that disturbing article in the Evening Standard). But here's one. My elder son recently gained 11 A stars in his GSCEs. He is a very academic child, as I was. But as he ...
[IMG: Broken fence and handrail] Broken fence and handrail in Sandgate - fix in place thanks to Gary Fuller and PBI Builders! A local resident called by today to report that a handrail by steps leading from Meadowbrook in Sandgate to Chichester Road had collapsed, making it difficult to get up the steps from Meadowbrook. Sandgate Parish Councillors Tim Prater and Gary Fuller went to have a look at the problem. A post had collapsed - a simple job to fix, but less so finding out whose responsibility the fix was! The ownership of the steps was in question: it ...
Tue 18th
15:04
The Independent View: Fair access to the professions - where the legal profession leads, others must...
[IMG: Old Bailey: the scales of justice] Shortly after becoming Deputy Prime Minister in 2010, Nick Clegg made an important speech in which he said that the Government's agenda would be to create "a more prosperous economy and a fairer... more socially mobile society". The legal profession is making a vital contribution to this mission. A more socially mobile society The legal services sector is at the forefront of efforts to increase social mobility. The Law Society is adamant that the solicitors' profession must have access to the best talent, irrespective of background. Indeed, that is why we and our ...
[IMG: Chris Rennard] Liberal Democrat News has just published extracts from an interview with Lord (Chris) Rennard, former Lib Dem Chief Executive, and Director of Campaigns and Elections. The interview appears in full below. Journalist York Membery is a regular contributor to the nationals. He is also a contributing editor to the Journal of Liberal History. Chris is credited with masterminding a string of past by-election victories as well as the target seat strategy that increased our number of MPs from 19 to 63. He tells York Membery that we should look to the future with hope not fear... What's ...
As the headline says, the guide to winning elections which I've penned with Ed Maxfield is now available in a Kobo-format ebook to go with the paperback and Kindle versions. [IMG: 101 Ways To Win An Election - book cover] "Packed full of useful tips and insights ... It covers all aspects of campaigning: people, money, messaging, meetings, and both online and offline" - Phil Cowley "Jolly but serious" - The Parliamentary Bookshop "It's not just the structure that helps the book whip along, it's also its jaunty irreverent tone" - Stephen Tall "A rattling good read" - Tribune P.S. ...
Rats sold in a Hackney market! An undercover BBC investigation yesterday must have had London heaving over their evening supper. There were only two problems. Were they actually selling rats, and why was the underlining assumption ...
Every day, they set off from their police stations to patrol their neighbourhoods, dedicated to helping their fellow citizens, resolving disputes, dispensing friendly advice, dealing with law-breakers, and wearing a distinctive uniform in order to remind all who see them that the rule of law shall prevail. . They are ill-equipped to defend themselves from those who are prepared to use deadly force. They accept that they are expected to place themselves in harm's way and that evil people must be confronted, but their faith in the support and overwhelming goodness of the community they serve drives them to take ...
You know the feeling. You've just come in from work, you're rushing around trying to feed the cat, empty the bin, deal with your post, make the dinner and listen to the evening news. The phone rings. You have no way of knowing whether it's your partner wanting a lift from the station, your mum ringing for a chat, a work call or your friend ringing to bitch about the latest internal Liberal Democrat shenanigans. Not that the last would ever happen of course... So, you turn down the cooker, drop the cat or its food and go and pick ...
Two years ago theWest Midlands Region embarked on a project which we called "Beyond the Ebacc." We chose the title because we recognised then that the Coalition government was intent on embedding the Ebacc as the gold standard qualification at 16 and wanted our party, the Liberal Democrats, to emerge from coalition with our own radical policies in this critical area. We were able to draw on a wide range of experience, including that of overseeing education in large municipal authorities. Our concern was the stark evidence that our school system is failing many young people. Every government that has ...
The Digital Durham programme has taken another step forward. It has now been given approval by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) to move into actually procuring the stuff it needs, and to do that it needs to find a commercial partner to work with in improving broadband across the county. The good news is that BDUK have set up a process to check that the council has done what it needs to at each key stage before it is allowed to move onto the next, so this approval means that they think County Durham is on track to start making superfast ...
Chris Davies has written a pamphlet 'Our Right To Die – Lessons for Britain from the European experience. You can find the web version here or email jackie@chrisdaviesmep.org.uk for a printed copy.
Dear Readers' Editor, A couple of factual errors seem to have slipped into Polly Toynbee's article yesterday. She writes of: The reality of welfare cuts the Institute for Fiscal Studies calls "without historical and international precedent" However, when The Guardian previously reported that quote from the IFS it was different into two key respects. First, it was "almost without", not "without". A small but significant change, as "almost without" of course means 'there have been some precedents', whilst "without" on its own means 'there have been none'. What's more that previous report cited the quote as being about the government's ...
Tue 18th
12:45LibLink: Michael Gove and Nick Clegg - A new exam will get the best out of all our children
The Evening Standard has published a joint statement by Michael Gove and Nick Clegg on the new Ebacc proposals. It begins: We both grew up in different circumstances and chose distinctive paths. Spending your first few months in care, before being brought up by a Labour-voting mother in a Labour-voting Scottish city isn't a natural preparation for Tory politics. Likewise, working for a former Tory Cabinet minister in Brussels and rejecting his invitation to follow in his footsteps and ending up standing as a Liberal Democrat in Sheffield instead isn't exactly an orthodox political path either. But while we both ...
Manchester Airport Community Outreach will be coming to Cheadle Library on Friday 28th September 2012 from 9am to 4pm. Drop by to find out more about flightpaths and procedures, the airport education website, the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund, or to ask any other questions you might have. For more information, call 08000 967 967 or visit manchesterairport.co.uk/keepingintouch
Do you know, I feel a bit like Cilla Black? You can hardly have failed to know, courtesy of the big box in the sidebar, that I'm supporting a new grassroots campaign which aims to get the editor of the Sun to pull the Page 3 feature. As I was writing this round up post yesterday, 2000 signatures were added. That made 6,000 in 24 hours and there have been more since. We're now just over 2000 away from 20,000. Anyway, yesterday afternoon, I sent a tweet to the excellent Scotland Tonight (which whips the backside of Newsnight Scotland by ...
The latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.355 - September 2012) has just landed on subscribers' doormats. Whether or not you are a subscriber, if you're at party conference in Brighton, do visit the Liberator stall, where you can buy or renew your subscription and also acquire the new edition of the ever-popular Liberator Songbook! Meanwhile, here's a summary of the new magazine's contents: The editorial column Commentary says that the recent ministerial reshuffle marks a rightward shift by the Conservatives, but that this could offer the Liberal Democrats the opportunity for 'differentiation' they've been looking for. The insider gossip ...
I did an interview last night on Key 103 on new laws coming in next month to stop rogue clampers. I am very pleased about these new laws, which I lobbied for as both a member of the Transport ... Continue reading →
Saturday: Jokes we wish we'd thought of a fortnight ago: a PARLIAMENT of the Daleks could also be a DIET of the Daleks, and THAT is why those New Paradigm bottoms have gotten smaller! Oh, never mind. Here's Daddy Richard's review of Doctor Woo and the Gunfighter. Note: Singular. There will be spoilers. If you'd stopped me halfway through watching this episode and asked me what I thought of it... I'd have refused to answer. But what I'd have been thinking was that it was good. Really good. Sadly, for me, the ending rather let it down with pat cliché. ...
There had been some speculation around the interwebs for a while as to who would BT bring in to be the face of their new sport channel ever since they grabbed live EPL games from the start of next season. The general thought was that Gary Lineker was the man for the job as his contract was up with the BBC and his contract is rather large so the Beeb would probably want it off their books but BT have gone in another direction and caught most of us off guard with today's announcement. BT today announced that Jake Humphrey ...
I'm sorry. I have tried. Really I have. But they oppose absolutely everything the government does. Everything. Even the things that were in their own manifesto. Or if they can't find a way to directly oppose it (because they agree with it) it's "the wrong time" or "it's too fast" or "too slow". In some ways it reminds me of a jaded spouse who constantly niggles away trying to undermine their partner, scoring petty points for slights either real or imagined that have long since been forgotten by everyone except them. This matters. It matters because this is the sort ...
The Cressington Community First Panel has a new website which includes a link to the application form. Cressington Community First is a fund which gets its money from the Government. We have more than £30,000 to spend on grants for local activities. We awarded the first lot earlier this year and are looking forward to more applications. The link to the new website is here
Last week at Bury's Council I asked two questions to Bury's Transport Committee reps about Heaton Park Metrolink. First was about the apauling state of the paintwork after all the improvement works that have taken place there. Workmen seemed to have spent all year improving the station and I was hoping that this paintwork wasn't going to be what we were going to have to put up with for the next 20 years! Apparently crews WILL be returning to improve the paintwork – we we will have to wait and see. My second question was about the new cycle storage ...
This November we are having elections for the Elected Police and Crime Commissioner. These are new roles and there'll be one of these elected in Merseyside to replace the Police Authority. I have been selected as the Liberal Democrat Candidate in this election. I'll be blogging about police and crime related issues here as well as about the other campaigns I'm involved in and about developments in South Liverpool. But for those who only want to read Police and Crime Commissioner material, I'll be posting that on my linked blog which is at www.paula4merseyside.blogspot.com
Mrs Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady, Kate Summerscale I loved Kate Summerscale's previous book The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, an absorbingly detailed re-creation of a child murder which shocked (and titillated) Victorian society. And on the face of it, Mrs Robinson's Disgrace contains many of the same ingredients: history, hypocrisy and an unsolved mystery. But I'm afraid I found it very disappointing. Though there are a number of interesting nuggets about the iniquities of mid-C.19th divorce laws, for example the lower burden of proof required for husbands to prove adultery than for wives, there's nothing that ...
Tue 18th
10:25MP conference fringe league table 2012: Norman Baker is the new Simon Hughes, but he's no Vince Cabl...
Back for its fourth year (see 2009, 2010 and 2011) is my conference fringe meeting league table, showing how many fringes each MP will be speaking at. As ever, this is based on the information from the official fringe listings in the printed conference directory. With the reshuffle, I expect a fair number of fringe organisers are reshuffling their panels too; the table is still however a good indicator of the combination of demand for certain MPs and their enthusiasm for working the fringe. Trends to note include that Cable topped the table the first two times, then slipped to ...
I moved to Yorkshire in late 2011. Since that time, I've found much to admire: the area's diversity, its many examples of beautiful 19th century architecture, the fine local ales and the friendliness of the people all do much to recommend it. In July, I went to Dublin and while there I attended a whiskey ...
Thank you to residents in Bowlee who have made enquires to (Rochdale) council regarding what appeared to be work happening at Collop Gate Farm (off Manchester R0ad). Here is the outcome from the Rochdale Council Officer: "I visited Collop Gate Farm this afternoon - the site is secured with high palisade fencing & locked gate but I managed to gain access through a gap in the boundary hedge. No construction work has been carried out but there are a couple of digging machines on site and some ground working / levelling appears to have been carried out at the rear ...
Last week, in the Home Affairs Select Committee, Dr Julian Huppert quizzed the Metropolitan Police commissioner on what he might spend £1.8bn of cash on. Those familiar with the draft Communications Data Bill will probably recognise that number: It's the Home Office estimate of the total cost of implementing the Bill. Q403 Dr Huppert: Commissioner, if for all of policing, including counter-terrorism and all the other things that you do, you found you had an extra £1.8 billion over the next 10 years, what would be your number one priority for how you choose to spend that money? One would ...
Last year, Nick Clegg defied Tory wishes and insisted that benefits were raised in line with inflation, as Nick Thornsby wrote at the time. Living on benefits is no joke. If you're getting £71 a week Job Seekers' Allowance and things cost 2.4% more this year than they did last year, that's £1.70 per week that just disappears. The poorest are the last people who can afford to lose any amount of money. That's why it's important that the meagre amount they get at least keeps pace with the way prices are going up. Food prices are predicted to go ...
Tue 18th
09:13Jenny Willott MP writes...Get behind Bablin Molik, Cardiff South and Penarth by-election candidate
In the aftermath of the Cabinet re-shuffle, a lot has been made of the shortage of female representatives within government. This is a particularly painful allegation for us as Liberal Democrats. It is of course good news that some of the great women in our party have been promoted: Jo Swinson MP is now Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, Baroness Jenny Randerson is taking up a role in the Wales Office, Lynne Featherstone MP has moved to the Department for International Development and Lorely Burt has become Parliamentary Private Secretary to Danny Alexander MP. [IMG: Dr Bablin Molik ...
The UK Government was left a bit isolated yesterday when the man whose report they have misinterpreted to justify the English badger cull, made it clear that their policy was complete nonsense. Today's Independent quotes Lord Krebs as saying that the plan to cull badgers is "crazy". The Government is proposing to shoot 70 per cent of badgers in large cull area because they believe that the Krebs report has identified this figure as the optimum number to produce a 16 per cent drop in TB in cattle. The study says that killing any fewer could actually increase infection rates. ...
Here's the video footage of US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney addressing a private fundraising event: And here's the killer quotes: "There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this ...
Giving up the captaincy In Westminster, I come across our own Nick Clegg. I ask him if he has seen Andrew Strauss's resignation as captain of the England cricket team. I emphasise how Strauss had won everyone's respect because of his dignified bearing and the happy timing of his decision. Warming to my theme, I say: "You don't want to be like Michael Vaughan. He stayed at his post for too long and then burst into tears. Look at Colin Cowdrey: they had to drag him bodily from the Long Room and he tried to hold on to the furniture ...
Last week Lib Dems in Bury asked a question to the Police Authority about rumours about a black tie dinner at the FIVE STAR Lowry Hotel in Manchester. This was being organised, at taxpayers expense, to mark the end of Greater Manchester Police Authority this November (it is being replaced by the elected Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner). We asked the simple question how much is the dinner costing? Other Liberal Democrats in Greater Manchester were asking the same questions. In Oldham, the same question was being answered at their full Council meeting the same night. Here was our ...
It won't be long before some nationalist comes along and accuses me of smearing the SNP. That's what tends to happen when you disagree with them or point out that they may be guilty of saying one thing and doing another. This week, they are blowing our hard earned taxes on fighting a ruling by Scotland's Information Commissioner. Labour MEP Catherine Stihler asked them if they had taken any legal advice on an independent Scotland's membership of the EU. The SNP argue that Scotland would have the same rights, the same opt outs on the Euro, and would automatically be ...
Tue 18th
08:00
Are they really going to tell anyone who passes all the core subjects in the Baccalaureate that they...
Taking on random Tory policy not included in the coalition agreement, negotiating and amending it, and then presenting the new policy to the world as a joint enterprise, has generally ended in tears for the Lib Dems (tuition fees, NHS reforms etc etc). And we seem to have gone down the same road on 'Gove' Levels. But on this occasion, I have to say I don't find the results all that unpalatable (though I'm bound to say this isn't a universally held view in the party). They're not perfect either - I'll come to that in a moment - but ...
Come along to the World's Biggest Coffee Morning at Cheadle Library, in support of Macmillan Cancer Support, and meet the Manchester Airport Community Relations Team too. The coffee morning is at Cheadle Library between 9.30am and 11.30am on Friday 28th September 2012. Have a coffee and a cake, raise some money for Macmillan and meet the Manchester Airport team.
[IMG: European Parliament building] 17 September Deadline for shortlists to be notified to applicants and to the Senior Returning Officer. 17 September – 3 October Period to resolve any appeals. Candidates shortlisted in more than two Regions to choose two. 3 October Shortlists finalised. 12 October Selection campaign formally starts. Email sent to all party members with details of shortlist in their region and hustings meetings (now called "Members' meetings"). 9 November Target date for ballot papers to arrive with members. Postal system vagaries mean in reality ballot paper arrivals will be spread out over several days. 26 November Last ...
From Retro Dundee - a superb photograph of the Sinderins corner on Perth Road from 1982. Looks rather better in 2012 and I have recently had Community Payback agree to my request to have the benches at the seating area here repainted:
I was delighted to have recently been invited by Glenda Young, editor of the fabulous Coronation Street Blog (http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.co.uk) to do a guest entry! Now live on the Coronation Street Blog - you can read it by following this link - http://tinyurl.com/fraser-corrieblog. I'd also like to thank Glenda for the donation to the charity of my choice, the MS Society.
Following complaints from a number of residents we have been able to secure repairs to a number of potholes in the Polefield area. However, local residents were (understandably!) not happy when this was the state of the repairs. After investigations, it appears that these repairs were TEMPORARY, and that a full and proper repair was to follow. (This may well have happened by now, or if not it is is on its way!). With thanks to local residents for the picture.
I am now likely to be heading to Brighton for a couple of days work during the party's conference. I have reluctantly accepted that I need to be vetted by the police if I wish to gain access to the 'inner sanctum' as it were. However, in addition to the general opening of the party's books to Sussex Police, the party will not now allow an individual party member to attend as a day visitor for more than a single day. I phoned the party's conference office to explain that I was happy to pay 2x £35 for two days ...
After the May local council elections the Liberal Democrats spoke out against the Bootle takeover of the Council. We said: "Following Labour's success in the local elections in winning seats in Sefton Central and Bootle, although none in Southport, Sefton Labour Leader Cllr Peter Dowd has announced his new Cabinet - and every Cabinet member is a Bootle Labour councillor." A further look at things shows that the grip of Bootle Labour is even stronger than we thought. Out of the 66 councillors on Sefton Council, 14 are in a position of power, all of them are Labour and 12 ...
This is a follow on from Erica's brilliant piece on trans-exclusive radical feminists, "Doing the Patriarchy's Work and Calling it Feminism", which I highly suggest people read before reading this. It's a brilliant post and should only take you a few minutes. Finished it? Okay. In a discussion between me, Erica, and Natalie, among others, last night, we touched upon the ideas of biological essentialism within the transphobic feminist movement as a way to always exclude trans women, no matter who else gets included or excluded. The general feeling was that it would still be horrible, but at least honest, ...
This is less of an essay, more a stream of consciousness braindump that I'm going to type until I fall asleep on the keyboard. I'm too tired today to write my Mindless Ones piece, and certainly too tired to work on the other projects I'm working on, so I'm going to dump a lot of ...
