Last night's meeting of Stockton Council's cabinet approved the cuts in Library services that we've been expecting. For the next 12 months or so Egglescliffe will be guaranteed at least 17 hours a week of opening. That's a reduction of 50% on our present opening hours, but at least there's still a library. It's a sign of changing times that many people prefer to read from electronic gadgets
The narrow-gauge Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened in May 1898. It was taken over by the Southern Railway in 1922 and closed in 1935. This video shows Lyd, a replica of one of the locomotives that worked the line, running on the small stretch of the line that has been opened near Woody Bay. There are plans to reopen the line from there to Lynton and eventually to Barnstaple as well. You can read about them on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway website.
IBB,(Group Leader) Ronnie and Joyce Fearn I posted recently about Ronnie reaching 50 years service as a Liberal/LD councillor Last night we held a celebration at Auberge Brasserie in Southport The picture shows Ronnie and Joyce having received a cut glass rose bowl in recognition of his service. Ronnie joined the Southport County Bourough Council at a time when there were 23 Liberals out of 45 members. He went on to serve as Leader of the Group, MP and is now in the House of Lords. By any measure he is the most successful Southport politician of his generation. ...
I know this blog is chiefly concerned with Shropshire and railways and photographs of churches, but if you look hard enough there are some quite prophetic political posts here too. Back in February I pointed out that UKIP's policy platform consist of a ragbag of issues designed to reflect the worldview of angry white men of a certain age. I then went on to say: But there is another issue that appeals to this demographic. Unionism used to be the Conservatives' trump card. It won them a majority of Scottish MPs in the 1950s, which is something that it is ...
Yesterday Nigel Farage took refuge in an Edinburgh pub having been barracked by some malingering trots from Edinburgh University. The Beeb reports that in response to accusations from Student Association vice president, Max Crema, that UKIP was a racist party, Farage replied wonderfully: "If you believe that then you are less intelligent than you look, dear boy." That the woosterish Farage is clearly happy to take on all comers in places that are traditionally resistant to such characters is a sign of his confidence that UKIP isn't going to go away. And why should it? The attractions of both Labour ...
I was away this weekend joining in the celebrations of friends birthday. We were staying in Chipping Camden. Around lunchtime wandering around the town we came upon the village parish church of St James and, as is my habit, I went inside to look around. It is one of the finest wool churches in the country. The church was the venue of the Chipping Camden Music Festival and was laid out ready for a concert with a Steinway Grand Piano alone on the stage in front of the chancel. I sat down for a moment and a young lady came ...
Over the past two weeks, I have been working with people from all the other groups on the new Cornwall Council to seek to form a new administration. I blogged last week about the Liberal Democrat desire to bring all the parties together and create a true 'rainbow alliance'. Now it looks like things are moving forward. The shame is that it appears that the Conservatives will not be part of the new arrangements. The even bigger shame is that I think a deal could have been done with them if their group leader had engaged better with the process. ...
If Nick Clegg and other Liberal Democrat ministers want to salvage any credibility for their repeated claim that they are creating a "fairer society", they should act over the scandal of Atos Healthcare, which has been accused of using unfair methods in assessing people for disability benefits. The BBC has interviewed Greg Wood, a former Royal Navy doctor, who resigned from Atos earlier this month after working as an assessor for two-and-a-half years: Dr Wood says he believes Atos assessors are not free to make truly independent recommendations. He said he felt compelled to speak out because it was "embarrassing ...
130725: Advertisement consent for signage, St Runwald Street. 130921: Proposed rear extension, St Augustine Mews. 130980: Proposed single storey extension, Wells Road. You can make a statement in favour or against any of these applications on the Council website, or if you want to discuss it further with one of your councillors then please contact me or my ward colleagues Bill Frame and Jo Hayes. I'm not going to be a member of the Planning Committee next year, so I am now free to comment on applications. Related PostsCastle Ward planning applications, up to 15th March Castle Ward planning applications, ...
It seems only a few days since the semi-finals kicked off in Malmö, probably because it was. But now it's time to look ahead to the Big One. No, not the rollercoaster. Not a long-forgotten Sandi Toksvig/Mike McShane sitcom, references to which will be lost on almost everyone, resulting in a convoluted sentence that adds nothing. No. I'm talking the Eurovision final 2013! 26 songs, 12 hours of voting and the chance for one country to take away the coveted joint prize of the Eurovision title and the financial millstone of hosting 2014′s competition. Let's meet the teams. France – ...
UK Uncut have been a thorn in the side of the Coalition since their emergence from anti-Vodafone demonstrations in October 2010, with their message that spending cuts were unnecessary and evil. And whilst one might agree with that, even if I don't for the most part, their argument has gone beyond politics and into sterile partisanship.This is demonstrated by their response to the failure of their application for a judicial review on grounds concerning the governance and tax liabilities involved in an HMRC settlement with Goldman Sachs in 2010.Anna Walker, campaigns director of UK Uncut Legal Action, said: "Obviously, while ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Vince Cable: we will force a referendum vote in Parliament (30 comments) by Vince Cable MP Clegg leadership plot: Gove's 'crazy grenade' detonates, briefly, before Tories revert to arguing about Europe (31 comments) by Stephen Tall Ukip surge to 18% in latest ICM poll: Lib Dems at 11% (38 comments) by Stephen Tall 4. Where Ukip won (or almost won) on 2nd May 2013(14 comments) by Stephen Tall 5. Liberal Democrat MPs to be given free vote ...
The European Union has a good story to tell; you don't win the Nobel Peace Prize without one. But alas all too often the story gets lost in a mist of jargon and worthiness. Having covered the European project since Britain joined the then European Community in 1973 I am only too aware of the [...]
South East region Euro candidate Giles Goodall has written an article for Pink News for the International Day against homophobia and transphobia looking at LGBT rights across Europe. He makes the point that 7 EU countries already have equal marriage with 3 more likely plus Britain to do so. However, he makes the point that without the Liberal Democrats in the Coalition, it would be unlikely to happen here. He then points out that the reality of life for LGBT people is not always as rosy as the law would imply: A major new survey by the EU's Fundamental Rights ...
It's two years today since Willie Rennie was elected Scottish Liberal Democrat leader. It's sunny today, as it was then. I remarked at the time that 17th May was the first day it hadn't rained since the SNP had won their overall majority. Here are some of the highlights of his first two years in the job: The first interview - I was there in North Queensferry when he kicked off his leadership in the sunshine. At that point it had rained every day since the Nationalists had won their overall majority. He was soon calling out Alex Salmond for ...
This month marks an amazing milestone in Southport's political history. In May 1963 a young Ronnie Fearn was first elected as a councillor on what was then the Southport County Borough Council. In those days the Liberals ran the council. Ronnie Fearn has served Southport continuously as a councillor ever since. He has been Leader of the Group, Member of Parliament (twice), and he is now a member of the House of Lords. Iain Brodie Browne, Ronnie Fearn and Joyce Fearn Southport Liberal Democrats held a celebration at the Auberge Brasserie in Southport. The picture shows Ronnie and Joyce having ...
[IMG: running] A very close family member of mine is fighting cancer of the oesophagus at the moment. It has been extremely comforting to her and her husband to have the support of the Macmillan Cancer Support people. In this very traumatic and, sometimes, frightening period, it has been great for them to have experienced and caring people to explain the scenarios and just be a listening ear over a cup of coffee at the local hospital. All this has spurred me to get off my bottom and to go on my first ever sponsored run! I'm running for "Team ...
Fri 17th
15:20
LibLink.. Edward McMillan-Scott MEP: The EU and US must promote human rights worldwide - that includ...
Yorkshire and Humber Liberal Democrat MEP Edward McMillan-Scott has co-written a Guardian article with Chinese human rights activist Chen Guancheng arguing that just because China is becoming a superpower, it must still be challenged on its appalling human rights record: China, the world's rising superpower, continues to systematically engage in the political repression and torture of its citizens, with an estimated 7 to 8 million Chinese currently being held in prison or labour camps. From Cameroon to Cuba, Belarus to Bahrain, governments go on torturing and imprisoning those who dare to question their authority. For too many people around the ...
[IMG: payday] Millions of people across Britain should now be noticing changes to their pay slip. Since the Liberal Democrats came into government, the Income Tax Personal Allowance has risen to £9,440 - compared to just £6,475 under Labour. This was at the heart of our 2010 Manifesto. Raising the tax-free allowance is the Liberal Democrats' flagship policy and has so far seen Income Tax bills slashed by £600 a year for millions of low and middle income workers compared to what they were paying under Labour. This also means that more than 2m people on low pay have been ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Britain is hurtling along the road to a European exit – FT.com Britain is hurtling along the road to a European exit says Philip Stephens http://on.ft.com/17Dj2BK (S) Cameron's EU tactics backfire Cameron's EU tactics backfire says Peter Kellner http://bit.ly/15S91Rp Not sure he's proven his case tho: what's to say that voters.. (1/2) For Cameron and Clegg the cost of compromise is high Excellent post by @ProfTimBale > "biggest effect of LibDems holding their nerve has been to help Tories lose theirs" http://bit.ly/15S7LxR Politics Weekly podcast - Tory EU referendum question: in hand ...
If we don't recognise the politics of science, we will just get played by those who do At the BSA Science Communication conference this week, I was invited to speak about science policy, under the title "All hail to the chief". Except, I think science involves way too much hailing already. I'm not about to start bowing to Sir Mark Walport, just because he's the government chief scientific adviser. Neither do I think we should be worshiping Science Media Centre CEO, Fiona Fox as a "high priestess" (Roger Highfield's rather telling nickname for her). Science today, and the way we ...
[IMG: willie news cuttings] It's two years today since Willie Rennie was elected Scottish Liberal Democrat leader. Here are some of the highlights of his first two years in the job: The first interview – I was there in North Queensferry when he kicked off his leadership in the sunshine. At that point it had rained every day since the Nationalists had won their overall majority. He was soon calling out Alex Salmond for attacking a senior Supreme Court judge. And being praised by journalists. Then he spent 24 hours with carer Clare Lally – and he still keeps in ...
Up at the crack of dawn* fighting for Alarm Clock Britain? Battling from letterbox to letterbox to anchor the government in the centre ground? Then this surely is what you need: [IMG: Anchor Alarm Clock] On a more serious note, I really do wonder about the wisdom of the new Liberal Democrat catchphrase about anchoring the government in the centre ground. The sentiment over avoiding the extremes of the other parties is a good one. But anchoring in the centre ground? It's not the sort of language real people use. If you've been canvassing yourself, I doubt very much you've ...
Still no further forward I am sorry to say with regard to the charity's fund raising stall in Maghull Square but I hear that a shop had volunteered the space outside its premises on a Saturday for the charity to pitch its fund raising stall. However, I am also told that the managing agents, presumably acting on behalf of the property owners, put a stop to the offer. Assuming all this is correct, and I stand to be corrected if it is not, it would indicate to me that the shop keepers who are sympathetic to the cause of the ...
An application has been submitted for 100 new homes off Upper Chapel in Launceston. This is the scheme that was advertised at a public consultation session in the town hall a few months ago. You can view the details of the proposal on the council's online planning register here (use the code PA13/04056 if needed.) Although I cannot give a definitive view until I have seen and studied all the application documents, I am hugely concerned about this proposal. The local community looked at the potential for development in all areas surrounding the town as part of the Town Framework ...
Well, I learned something I didn't know about parliamentary procedure yesterday. I had always assumed that the Private Members' Bill Ballot was an actual ballot, where MPs voted for themselves or their colleagues. How naive was I? The secret is now out, and available on You Tube. It's actually a big raffle as you can see here: 440 MPs' names went into the box and just 20 were drawn out. Among them were 4 Liberal Democrats. We had Sir Robert Smith in 9th place, Mike Crockart in 11th, Mark Williams in 13th and Sir Malcolm Bruce in 14th. I asked ...
I'm a man. I'm in crisis. At least, this is the contention of Diane Abbott and Laurie Penny, who claim I'm currently being oppressed by outdated gender stereotypes about my role in society, and that I feel under constant pressure to get out there and win some bread. Obviously, they're not referring to me personally, [...]
Catch up with what is growing now in the garden over at flickr site or follow me on twitter.
Fri 17th
10:45
Me on the Guardian Politics Weekly podcast (health warning: contains Tories and Europe)
I've long been a fan of the Guardian Politics Weekly podcast hosted by Tom Clark. (If, like me, you spend up to four hours a day commuting then podcasts aren't just a nice-to-have.) So I was genuinely delighted to join the panel yesterday — alongside Melissa Kite and Randeep Ramesh — to discuss the Tories' latest hara kiri on Europe, and Theresa May's latest attempt to woo the right and antagonise liberals by extending Labour's 'life means life' prison tariffs. You can listen to the programme in full here. Send to Kindle
I reference this article in the Daily Telegraph as a public service, because I for one an fed up with phone trees. The paper reports that some multi-national companies have almost 80 menu options when you try to call them. If you are able to find a shortcut then it is believed that this could save a person up to eight minutes per call. The paper say that a Lloyds TSB home insurance customer who wishes to report a water leak would normally have to wade through 78 menu options over seven levels to get through to the correct department. ...
Fri 17th
10:25Stephen Tall guests on Guardian Politics Weekly podcast - Tory EU referendum question: in hand or ou...
[IMG: guardian politics] LibDemVoice co-editor Stephen Tall joined the panel for this week's Guardian Politics Weekly podcast, hosted by Tom Clark and also featuring political columnist Melissa Kite and Guardian social affairs editor Randeep Ramesh. They discuss the Tories' latest implosion over when to hold an in/out EU referendum and Theresa May's proposal that life should mean life in prison for anyone convicted of murdering a police officer. You can listen to it here online, or download it as an MP3 here.
Lucy liu is made of awesome (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Today is an important day in the calendar of LGBT communities all over the globe, it is IDAHO. The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) got started officially in 2005 after a year-long campaign [...]
Ed West in Telegraph Blogs "Of course we're pessimists, we're conservatives - that's the whole point. Some see a glass half-full, some see a glass half-empty, we see the downfall of Western civilisation and the country going to the dogs."
Next year sees the hundedth anniversary of the start of "The Great War" The Heritage Lottery Fund has grants available for projects to remember that war. I will be mentioning this at the next meeting of the Blyth Town Council events committee, but in the meantime suggest:- Work on the various war memorials in /Blyth A project to remember the people of Blyth who died in the war , with perhaps an internet site dedicated to Blyth in World War 1 A project to remind people of the home front , fighting the war in the home, in mines etc ...
...how could you not love it? Wee Edinburgh from Mo Thomson on Vimeo. Andrew
Some years ago the Lib Dems created Community Funds for each of Southwark's 21 political wards to spend locally, £100-£1000 on local groups running local projects and events. It turns out we were onto something bigger and more meaningful than we ever imagined. Various research projects of traumatic events have discovered that communities with more robust social networks coped much better with earthquakes, heat waves, etc than those without. Even the day to day issues and problems are ameliorated by strong social networks. Importantly stornger social networks have a large impact on things like child health, school grades, teen births, ...
The day the hapless Google head of northern Europe was battered by Margaret Hodge for their "devious and unethical" approach to paying tax in the UK - or not doing so, in this case - my Google blog (which you are now reading) ran into trouble. Thousands of hits are being recorded by their counting machine from the Far East, routed via a porn site called 'topblogstories'. The same thing is happening via a slimming website in the USA. Much as I would like it to, my blog has never generated hits in the thousands per day bracket before, and ...
[IMG: rsz_photo0223] Please cut and paste the above link to read the story that the Liverpool Daily Post has. One wonders where this will end and who will be carrying the can for such huge losses of public money. The Labour Party have a lot of questions to answer me thinks.
The European Union is currently committed to ensuring that 10% of each Member State's transport energy will come from biofuels by 2020. This originated as a well-intentioned attempt to combat climate change, but time has shown that using food for fuel can have devastating impacts on hunger and the environment. I've come to accept that it is time for a re-think. In addition to concerns over their green credentials, biofuels are now recognised to be a key cause of hunger, affecting millions of people in developing countries. The World Bank, OECD, WTO, IFPRI, IMF, and five other UN agencies recommended ...
Scientists, funders and journal editors have thrown their weight behind the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment Campaigners against the use of journal impact factors as a proxy for research excellence received a shot in the arm last night with the launch of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). With an impressive line-up of founding signatories, including individual scientists, research funders and journal editors, DORA states in no uncertain terms that journal impact factors (which rank journals by the average number of citations their articles receive over a given period) should not be used "as a surrogate measure ...
I am urging communities across Dundee to apply for the new £6m First World War: then and now fund, that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has just launched. HLF is making at least £1m available per year until 2019 to provide grants of between £3,000 and £10,000. The money will enable groups across the UK to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict. Communities can apply for grants for a variety of different projects, which could include: • Researching, identifying and recording local heritage• Creating a community archive ...
A friend who has spent much of his life campaigning for the Labour Party, and then what he believes to be truer socialism, has now given up in despair and dismisses as pointless every attempt at progressive political initiatives. He is the Private Fraser of the proletariat:: "We're all doomed." Before I pluck up the courage to challenge him to think of at least three things to be pleased about, I thought I should first of all try to think of at least ten of my own. Here they are: I live in a country to which people want to ...
[IMG: dawn 17th may 2013] Taken at 05:55 [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Last night, I participated in a very positive West End Local Community Planning Partnership meeting. There was a very interesting report on alcohol over-provision from a representative of the Dundee Alcohol and Drug Partnership and from the City Council's Health Improvement Officer. The meeting also discussed a number of West End issues with useful updates from various representatives including Fire and Rescue, the Police, the third sector, the NHS and Dundee City Council. I was very pleased to be assured that funding is now in place to provide a pedestrian crossing on Riverside Drive near the playing fields/pavilion, something I ...
I have criticised a leading company for placing advertisements on their utility boxes, without necessary permission. Advertisements for BT Broadband from British Telecom Openreach have sprung up in the city, stuck to BT telecom utility boxes. I have had complaints about these from constituents in Cleghorn Street and Glamis Road- the constituents wondering if the adverts are authorised. See photo from Cleghorn Street - right. Advertising of this kind requires advertising consent from the City Council and having asked the council, I was advised that BT Openreach has failed to apply for such consent. From time to time, I get ...
Fri 17th
05:15
Jobs Growth Wales must provide more proof over value for money after stats show only 43.5% of jobs l...
Earlier this week the Welsh Government made a statement on Jobs Growth Wales and claimed that 66.5% of the 6000 jobs created for young people have been filled. I congratulate the government on creating over 6,000 job opportunities and filling two thirds of them; that alone is a substantial task and deserves credit. However the success of a job creation scheme should be judged not just on the opportunities created, but more importantly on how many people take part and then go on to find meaningful employment as a result. Figures that I have obtained show that only two thirds ...
"Japan needs to be taught a lesson" Thus opened a conversation with a significant figure in China. A successful businessman with global interests and an international outlook, yet such sentiments are now a commonplace in modern China. With some justification, the Chinese point to their history as a non colonial power to suggest that their country is not aggressive, yet that is increasingly not the way that China's neighbours see it. The country, whether the People's Republic or simply the Republic of China (Taiwan), has disputes with more or less all of its neighbours. Whether it is territorial claims in ...
Now, I'm not a mud-slinging blogger. I'm not one to start fights about silly things. But Eurovision, my friend, is a very serious matter indeed. In the post on Liberal England a few days ago, Jonathan put forward a few ideas, which I thought it would be fun to try and debunk. So, along with a couple of others, here's a Eurovision 101 in time for Saturday night! 1. Appearing in semi-finals means it's more likely you'll do well. FALSEThis is an interesting one, and an idea that came from a study by an academic from Sheffield Hallam Uni. The ...
Former Tory MP Jerry Hayes is usually worth reading and his verdict on those Tories backing the Queen's Speech amendment is no exception: The amendment to the Queen's Speech could be the beginning of the end of the Conservatives in office. It is an act of venal self indulgence which will horrify those sentient members of the electorate who actually think and care and will antagonise those who fear for their jobs and families.What is it meant to achieve? No parliament can bind another. But this amendment doesn't even try to. It is just an expression of regret that the ...
