Some people like Madonna or Kylie are known by one name, but others are known simply by their initials. Today the LGBT community in Northern Ireland lost the man who initials we all knew. There are two names that are closely associated historically with the fight for LGBT rights in Northern Ireland one of course is Jeff Dudgeon who took his test case to the European Court of Human Rights to get homosexuality legalised here, the other was known to all of us simply as PA. Picture by Phil O'Kane at 2011 Belfast Pride Ball PA Mag Lochlainn was the ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Liberal Journal

So there I was walking the towpath of the Ripon Canal when, on the far bank, I saw what looked like the remains of an industrial railway. I continued to the next bridge, crossed it and then worked my way back through some modern housing to find what I had seen. It turned out to be the Ripon & District Light Railway. As its website says: The permanent 2' gauge railway uses Hudson track and rolling stock and Lister locomotives. Its purpose is to move maintenance materials around a small development of houses and light industrial workshops - and to ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

A survey conducted as Britain approaches 40 years of European Union membership (1973-2013) has named South West Liberal Democrat MEP Sir Graham Watson amongst the 20 most influential Brits in European policy making. Sir Graham, who has been an MEP for the South West for over 18 years and is currently President of the recently-renamed pan-European Liberal Democrat party, has been named at number

Posted by Andrew on La Treizième Étoile
Wed 14th
21:17

Compton for England

An article in an unexpected place - the New York Times - on the significance Nick Compton's forthcoming England debut: After 55 years, one of the most evocative names in cricket is set to return to the highest level of the game as England begins its series of four five-day test matches against India. Nick Compton, a 29-year-old batsman, will be following in the footsteps of his late grandfather, Denis Compton. It is as if a DiMaggio or Mantle were once more to take the field for the New York Yankees.

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

The Conservative leadership has already announced that Chris Heaton-Harris will not face disciplinary action after apparently encouraging of James Delingpole to stand as an anti-wind-farm candidate in the Corby by-election. Which is odd, particularly when you learn that Heaton-Harris is the agent for the Tory candidate Christine Emmett. This failure to act looks like a reflection of David Cameron's weakness as Conservative leader. He is now openly despised by the party's right wing and dare not move against one of their favourite sons. The Guardian, incidentally, is also suggesting that the energy minister John Hayes may have had knowledge of ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

What to do on not blogging much for a few months? Follow the practice of so many worn-out artists and put together a 'greatest hits' package! So, below, you can find links to my best six (ish) articles of the last year on politics, Doctor Who and several other subjects. You can scroll straight down to that - but if you're interested in Liberal Democrat blogs, I've also followed Jonathan Calder in developing a few ideas on how to revive the Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards after this year's moribund turn. I've even, perhaps unwisely, made a pledge... ...

Posted by Alex Wilcock on Love and Liberty

I really like The Naked Scientists. It's an independently produced show that's syndicated by the BBC to the East of England region, and bits of it get put on radio Scotland and 5Live. 5Live podcast it (packaged with the execrable Dr Karl, but you can't have everything) and generally it seems to have been a happy-making show, particularly in the East of England, which contains Cambridge, where the show is produced. Cambridge has the highest concentration of scientists anywhere outside the US. The BBC have decided to axe The Naked Scientists because the content it produces "isn't local enough". Because ...

I was just settling down to read the local rag before watching The Chase and there was a bit of a kerfuffle on my twitter timeline. A Liberal Democrat candidate for the PCC in Bedfordshire has retweeted a tweet saying that someone was voting for her but that was not an endorsement of the Liberal Democrats as a party. You can see the tweet below: [IMG: Linda Jack Twitter] Innocent RT or something more...? Some people seemed up in arms as I watched the debate intensify and I just don't see what the issue is. Are we all getting our ...

Posted by neilmonnery on The Rambles of Neil Monnery

I am a Liberal in more or less all meanings of the word. I am also a profound supporter of Estonia, the country where I have made my home over the past four years. My relationship with Estonia dates back decades, to when I was still in high school in 1979 and first got involved with the fight for freedom in Eastern and Central Europe, which was also the same year that I joined the Liberal Party. One of the many great things about Estonia is that, since independence was recovered in 1991, it has been dominated by liberal ideas ...

Posted by Cicero on Cicero's Songs

In this parliament, there have so far been six parliamentary by-elections on the British mainland, contested by all the major UK parties (the seventh, in Belfast West, I've chosen to ignore as no major UK parties competed). Soon, we'll have the figures for another three in Manchester, Corby and Cardiff, but for now, what can we glean? Averaging the data from the six by-elections, we get the following vote share changes: Con: -10.0% Lab: +4.0% Lib Dem: -7.2% Obviously there are big flaws in extrapolating this, for example George Galloway's performance in Bradford is hardly something that could be expanded ...

YouGov
Wed 14th
16:59

PA MagLochlainn RIP

This afternoon, I learned that a very dear friend, mentor and colleague, PA MagLochlainn has 'gone home'. A few weeks ago I learned that he was in hospital and was very unwell, while we were celebrating 30 years of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland. Last week, the Pink Triangle Commemoration at Belfast City ...

Posted by Michael Carchrie Campbell on Gyronny Herald

The Feminist comics blog DC Women Kicking Ass runs an annual tournament for the "Most Kickass Woman in DC Comics," and is on the semifinals this week. The final four this year are Barbara Gordon, Diana of Themiscyra, Stephanie Brown, and my girl, Dinah Laurel Lance. As part of the run up to the voting on Friday, I wrote a piece for DCWKA to showcase why I personally think Dinah should win it. The hardest part of writing this piece is in finding something I haven't already written about how awesome Dinah Lance is. It's not enough to say that ...

Posted by Debi on Thagomizer.net

Nick Clegg went on Woman's Hour yesterday after announcing the Coalition's plans to allow parents to choose which of them takes leave when they have a new baby. He talked to Jane Garvey about the plans for around 20 minutes, fielding some pretty robust questions, including whether men or women actually wanted this change. He was quite firm that it wasn't for the government to say that women should take time off and men should work when a baby was born. He's clearly keen that radical changes he announced yesterday, which give couple discretion to split all but 2 weeks ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Michael Beckett has been chosen as the Lib Dem candidate to fight Rotherham in the parliamentary by-election later this month. He was chosen from a shortlist of candidates by local party members. In his professional life, Michael Beckett has helped businesses in Yorkshire grow, and has a good understanding of the problems the economic situation is having on companies in the area. Also, as a former manager for the Citizens Advice Bureau, he has many years helping the most vulnerable individuals with their problems. Michael says that his top priority will be putting residents first, unlike the previous Labour MP, ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Well isn't that splendid, Yvette took the trouble to drop me a line, so nice. We're friends, me and Yvette, she e-mails me now and again so this advice is in the spirit of constructive criticism. The e-mail is very poorly laid out and is neither broken up or highlighted in key sections. It makes it very hard to read and I suspect the disinterested of us will have hit the junk key by the time the link is read. Subjected as "Will you join the fight to keep our streets safe?" - it has a hint of vigilantism to ...

Posted by Greg Judge on The JUDGEment

Between now and Christmas, we won't hear a frontbencher from any of the major parties say something along these lines: I'm deeply disappointed with the court's ruling today. I wish it had been different. But I am also a strong believer in the rule of law. It's right that we have a legal system which is independent of politicians, with judges and juries making the decisions in court, not MPs and ministers. So the court has ruled, and I will accept its ruling, with frustration shared I know by many other people, but also with pride. Pride that our legal ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Wed 14th
14:44

Litter or comedy?

Is red tape stifling creativity. That is certainly the implication of this article in today's Telegraph. They say that comedy nights, arts festivals and local music venues are being driven out of business by councils demanding hefty fees for the right to hand out leaflets. Al Murray, the comedian, and Harvey Goldsmith, the entertainment promoter, are among more than 100 signatories to a letter in the paper campaigning for a change in the law. The paper says that about one in three councils restrict leafleting, with charges running to hundreds of pounds per day. They add that enforcement is so ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

Who had heard of Peter Herbert a month or so ago? Anyone? Ok apart from the extremely smart and well-read people. Who apart from them had heard of this man? I thought as much. Well in the past month he has become a bit of a buzz name as he is in all the newspapers and wants to change society for the better. Good on him but changing society for the better is something that needs to be done with a plan or not just a scatter-gun approach and that is where this man is going wrong. The majority of ...

Posted by neilmonnery on The Rambles of Neil Monnery

Companies currently pay corporation tax in the country where they are incorporated. A campaign is under way, in the Guardian, and the Commons Public Accounts Committee, that companies should instead pay tax where they make their sales. The proposal has populist appeal, but is impracticable. Many companies, including UK companies, make export sales without costly incorporation in each sales country. If a US coal producer sells 1m tonnes of coal to UK powerplants for £100m, and makes £5m profit, it submits accounts in the US for tax authority scrutiny, and pays US tax on the £5m. Should this profit be ...

Posted by Geoff Crocker on Liberal Democrat Voice

More adverse public reactions this week to work going on at Bedford Road/High Street after an accident occurred on Monday morning. For those who don't know or aren't aware, I have been down several times to witness. I have reported my observations from day one of the works to Bedfordshire Highways and CBC. I have been told they will revisit their plans. I'm an unpaid lay person. We should expect a professional service from the paid professionals, and those who employ them need to ask stiff questions. I took myself off to Luton yesterday. On the bus. Oh deary me. ...

Posted by A D Winter on Alan D Winter
eUKhost

Tom Chivers has a piece today in The Telegraph which argues that the BBC does not need to be balanced in the debate on climate change because the facts aren't balanced. He makes reference to a meeting that the BBC held to review its editorial policy on this subject a few years ago. In the comments below the piece, thefilthyengineer makes an excellent point regarding one of the attendees of this meeting: Well they did include: Jon Plowman, Head of Comedy. And that's not a joke. I have the full list. HEAD OF COMEDY!!!!!!??? What on EARTH was he doing ...

Posted by Mark Thompson on Mark Thompson

[IMG: Sharon Bowles] The Telegraph reports today that Sharon Bowles, who is currently the Liberal Democrat MEP for the South East of England has made it on to the shortlist for the next Governor of the Bank of England. With her first hand experience of the Eurozone Crisis as Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, she is a worthy contender for the position and, she argues, her appointment would send a powerful message of change. "Just about everything about me is different. I'm an independent. I'm not from the Bank or the City of the Financial ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice
Wed 14th
12:53

Southport Outdoor Gyms

Pictured above is my colleague Councillor Richard Hands keeping himself in shape by using one of our existing outdoor gyms in Bedford park, Birkdale. Sefton has recently agreed to complete the instalment of 30 further gyms across the borough. In December 2011, in my then capacity as Cabinet member for Leisre, Culture & Tourism, I accepted an offer of £375,000 from the Primary Care Trust for the phase 3 provision of outdoor gyms. Each outdoor gym, comprising of 5 or 6 pieces of steel fitness equipment, aims to encourage use by adults of a wide range of ages and abilities. ...

Posted by Mike Booth on kew focus

We all know that if you ask people to choose incredibly complex passwords which frequently change, they will write them down on a Post-It note*. I've recently discovered another way in which increasing perceived security reduces actual security. On one of my Android phones, I use pattern unlock. If I want access to my phone, I have to draw a squiggly gesture in order to get in. It's like a handwritten signature rather than a complex password**. It's easier for people to use subconscious tools - like muscle memory - to remember security details. The swiping gesture (even in multiple ...

Posted by Terence Eden on Terence Eden has a Blog

As the UK plans a referendum on Scottish independence, those of us watching from Spain can only look on in envy at the orderly and civilised process led by the Secretary of State for Scotland. Here in Catalonia, Northern Spain, similar demand exists for an independent state, but the two sides have chosen indignation and confrontation instead of a serious debate. The last two years have been tough for all EU governing parties and Spain has unique problems, with its sky-high unemployment levels, corruption and a rickety banking system. But this month Catalans will go to the polls in a ...

Posted by Martin Petts on Liberal Democrat Voice

I don't think we should be having PCC elections, mainly because the public is in no way informed enough as to whom the best candidate for the role is, nor do enough of them care. I read today they they are predicting a turnout of around 15%, I reckon it'll actually be higher than this, but in no way high enough for that person to truly have a mandate. I think my main problem with it though, is that I feel the police is becoming politicised. I feel that the police force should be independent from politics whilst remaining accountable. ...

Posted by Radar on iRadar

Every so often The Rambles of Neil Monnery receives a guest post. Having been reading about my dating woes I got one sent through about falling in love again after divorce. I hope you enjoy... If you have gone through a messy divorce or you are just recovering from heart-break after the end of a long-term relationship, you can feel like you will never find love again. To find lasting happiness it is important not to fall into the same traps as you did with your previous partner. Here are some tips on how to avoid making the same mistakes ...

Posted by guestblogger on The Rambles of Neil Monnery

This morning a voter in Bedfordshire has kindly informed me that the BBC has been directing those wanting to learn about their PCC candidates to this page. This is my personal blog and has nothing to do with my candidacy for PCC - apologies to anyone who has ended up here in error. I have informed the BBC of the mistake, in the mean time you can visit my PPC website here.

Posted by Linda Jack on Lindylooz Muze

You may have noticed I have a thing or two about the party's internal election rules (not to mention those of other organisations). There's a reason and it reflects my wider view of the world – administrative details can have significant knock-on effects well beyond their own apparent immediate remit. Details of how the paperwork for the Office of the Public Guardian is worded may seem a minor matter. But when unnecessary duplication and complication results in it being harder for people to take control over their own lives, the impact can be serious and even heart-rending. In other words, ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice
Wed 14th
10:45

Bacteria DNA testing

A recent outbreak of MRSA was managed using DNA sequencing. The outbreak at a Cambridge hospital started with 12 babies being affected. After treatments and deep cleaning it was thought to be resolved but then came back with another infection. They then turned to staff and found a colleague carrying the MRSA. They could tell it was all part of the same incident by squencing the bacterias genetic code. This was possible due to the collapse in the price of gene sequencing. How long before this technology will be applied to all sorts of infections – eColi would be an ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber

Every week Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore writes a column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. Here's this week's edition. Mobile phone coverage Mobile phone service 'not spots' across my constituency remain a huge frustration for local people and have a serious knock-on effect for businesses and Borderers going about their daily lives. As local MP, I have been working for many years to tackle this issue and I have welcomed the UK Government's commitment, through the Mobile Infrastructure Project, to invest £150million to improve mobile phone signal in rural areas and on key transport routes. ...

Posted by Michael Moore MP on Liberal Democrat Voice

How the mainstream media derailed addressing child abuse – Why talk about real crimes and ruined lives when you can instead obsess over what it means to you, instead? Keeping the Lights On: a look at UKIP's energy policy evidence base – Are you surprised to find it doesn't have much of one, and what it does have is misrepresented and misinterpreted? The Very Existence of Local Government Hangs in the Balance – The leader of Brighton and Hove Council explains how a government that pretends to want localism is actually removing any possibility for it. On Subjectivity: Wild Swans, ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With
Wed 14th
09:05

Some thoughts on... PCCs

In a comment on my last edition of Saturday Six, Stephen asked me for my thoughts on the Police and Crime Commissioner elections, being held tomorrow. I had intended to get this up for Monday but have been busy helping with the Bristol Mayoral campaign so here, belatedly and briefly, are some thoughts. On the role: Whilst I agree that the Police authorities that the PCCs are replacing are not the most democratically accountable bodies (being, as they are, selected from councillors representing the areas covered by the police force concerned, magistrates and nominated individuals), they do have the advantage ...

Posted by Andrew Brown on the widow's world
Wed 14th
09:03

Wordless Wednesday

 

Posted by Trisha xx on ripplestone review

Higher Education is about to get Napstered (tags: ) 10 Awful Things I Saw In The First Hour Of 007 Legends | Rock, Paper, Shotgun Hilarious review of the PC version of the game - invisible death sausage LOL (tags: ) The Liberator Collective Have a Blog Syndicated to Dreamwidth at http://liberator-feed.dreamwidth.org/ - Liberator are the grumpy old men of the Lib Dems. They can be a bit blokey, but they're generally amusing and their Liberal instincts are dead on. Definitely worth a read. (tags: ) Skeptics and scepticism Interesting semantic argument (tags: ) Can Nate Silver's example save political ...

Yesterday the Daily Telegraph ran a long piece on Lynne Featherstone, looking mostly at her previous job on equalities rather than her current International Development brief: "I think that it [having a baby] is a bit of a setback to women because it gives an opportunity – whether it's in commerce, politics or wherever you work - to men to climb the ladder faster. There is a period of a woman's life - where she may need to take a break or work at a different rate. "I have seen many mediocre men on the boards of directors...they get there ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The Liberal Democrat education policy, written before the General Election, detailed a strong strategic role for councils, including commissioning new schools and holding all schools to account whatever their status. The question now is whether this is more than just a change in the mood music, and whether the Coalition is genuinely up for endorsing local authorities who seek to hold academies to account as part of a strong 'champion for children' role. And moreover, whether they will give councils the teeth they need to do it properly. Who better to rise to this challenge and make the case persuasively ...

Posted by James Kempton on Liberal Democrat Voice

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. 44% of party members back 'No more Page 3' LDV asked: The 'No more Page 3' campaign was recently launched urging The Sun's editor to drop pictures of topless women from the newspaper. What is your view? 10% – I support the 'No more page 3' campaign and would also support government regulation (either an outright ban or restrictions on ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

Bhikhu Parekh's "The Cultural Particularity of Liberal Democracy" challenges the reader, especially perhaps one rooted in a predominantly liberal democratic western culture, to explore what seems at times awkward intellectual territory. He asks us to conceive of societies in which the most deeply held fundamental underpinnings of liberalism, of which he says the idea "that the individual is conceptually and ontologically prior to society ... lies at the heart" (Parekh, 1992: 161), is so alien to their cultural norms and understanding of their relationship between individual and society that any form of democratic political system "defined and structured within the ...

Posted by Jock on Jock's OXFr33? Blog

U52073: Finance and Development, Semester 1 2012/2013. Assignment 1 Introduction "Anti-development" author Maggie Black (Black, 2007: ch 1) traces the emergence of Development Economics to US President Truman's 1949 inauguration speech. He exhorted the world to "embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas" (Truman, 1949). The idea was taken up by the nascent United Nations which commissioned a panel to investigate "Measures for the Economic Development of Under-Developed Countries" (United Nations, 1951). Whilst some of the panel's recommendations appear naïve to ...

Posted by Jock on Jock's OXFr33? Blog

A further update on the Dundee Art Society event at the start of Christmas Fortnight:You can download a better quality version of this poster here.

In February I had an article on Comment is Free looking at the works of the charity Chess in Schools and Communities to restore the game in British state schools. On Friday the Independent had an article detailing the progress that has been made more recently: At Sacred Heart, a 180-pupil school in one of Liverpool's most deprived areas, all children have either an hour or 45 minutes timetabled chess a week except for the very youngest in their first year of compulsory schooling. There is also a chess club after school every Wednesday. The school won a Liverpool-wide schools' ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England
Wed 14th
00:22

Just Cyril being Cyril?

I first heard of the allegations against Cyril Smith when I read them in Private Eye in 1979. The Eye had picked them up from the Rochdale Alternative Press (RAP - those were the days when any self-respecting town had an 'alternative' newspaper). Northern Voices reprinted the original RAP story in 2010. My instinct has always been to assume that they were true, if only because I could not see why anyone would trouble to invent anything so tawdry - he "'told me to take my trousers down and hit me four or five times on my bare buttocks" - ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England