Mon 7th
22:48

Browne study

Reshuffle day is for politics nerds as transfer deadline day is for football supporters. You hope for some big name signings and some surprise moves between big clubs, but most of the activity takes place in the lower divisions. What was the most interesting component of today's activity? For some it is no doubt Ed Miliband's so-called culling of the Blairites. The right wing press have already interpreted this as incontrovertible proof of a lurch to the left and a sign that Len McCluskey is the power behind the throne. On the other hand, most commentators seem to see the ...

Posted by admin on Alex's Archives

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. 1. Moving to the City SurveyThank you for all the responses to the new survey on our website about whether residents would support the south of Broxtowe moving into an enlarged city council area. We have never had such a large response or such a swift response to any survey that we have run. We had nearly 100 responses in ...

Posted by David Watts on Cllr David Watts

Broadcast in the region earlier this evening. Later. For the next week you can watch the whole programme on BBC iPlayer. There are also items on Brian Clough's departure from Derby County and on photographic memories of the St Ann's area of Nottingham.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Episode 79 of the House of Comments podcast "The Debt Ceiling Gambit" is out. Myself and Emma discuss Ed vs The Daily Mail and the fallout from this with journalist and author Toby Young and the US shut down with Deputy General Secretary of The Fabian Society Marcus Roberts. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here. Other podcasting software e.g. for Android can be pointed here to subscribe. You can download the mp3 for the latest episode directly from here. Or you can listen to the embedded episode below here: listen to 'Episode 79 - The Debt Ceiling ...

Posted by Mark Thompson on Mark Thompson

One of the political arts is to be all things to all people. John Major made it all the way to Prime Minister because the moderate Conservatives were convinced he was one of them and the Thatcherites were equally convinced that the opposite was true. What John Major's career also shows is that people who have mastered this art may find their luck running out one day. Which brings me to Jeremy Browne. Because a lot of people are upset at his demise today. Benedict Brogan, blogging for the Daily Telegraph, is distraught: Mr Browne was one of the successes ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Michael Moore is unlucky to lose his Cabinet position today, even if he was lucky to gain it in the first place - Danny Alexander was the Coalition's first Scottish Secretary and moved to the Treasury only after David Laws' resignation. By all accounts he did a good job and his courtesy and reasonableness did much to calm the debate over independence. But I cannot be anything other than pleased to see the more combative Alistair Carmichael take his place for the referendum campaign. Alistair is one of my favourite Liberal Democrat MPs and I have done my best to ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Peterborough People have been kept in the Dark about the effect the proposed A14 Toll Road will have on local businesses and residents, despite paying £50millions towards the £1,500millions project, claims Council Group Leader Nick Sandford. Despite 1/3 of all traffic on the A14 originating from the Peterborough direction, and that their current direct 70mph link to the A14 through Huntingdon will be cut once the proposed 'upgrade' is complete, no-one in Peterborough has been informed or consulted as part of the current 'Route Choice' consultation in the Huntingdon, St. Ives and Cambridge areas which ends this week. To add ...

Posted by Andy Pellew on Focus on Bar Hill

It's a 55 inch tablet, and enormous news wall. via Fox

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

It's unclear where race equality fits in today's reshuffle. The 'race equality' minister, Don Foster, is seeing out the remainder his parliamentary term as the party's chief whip after moving from the DCML. His replacement, [...]

Posted by Lester Holloway on

My interest in history started with Ancient Egyptians. I didn't really get along too well with school for my first couple of years. Then I started a year where our main topics were ancient history: the Romans, the Greeks and first of all the Egyptians. History was a revelation: a subject at school I was [...]

Posted by thefactcollector on Matter Of Facts
YouGov

Four quick thoughts from me on what today's Lib Dem reshuffle means.. 1. Nick feels secure enough to be ruthless. Sacking both Michael Moore and Jeremy Browne is not something Nick would have been able to contemplate a year ago. Then – with the economy still mired in recession, his apology video still fresh in the memory, and Vince reminding everyone he stood ready, willing and able should the need arise – Nick was vulnerable, in need of allies. Now – with the economy recovering, Eastleigh defended and all key conference votes won – Nick feels able to asset himself. ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Norman Baker] First, with Norman Baker replacing Jeremy Browne at the Home Office, it's a good move for civil liberties as Norman is much stronger on those issues than Jeremy. Given how much flack the outgoing Home Office minister has got over his claimed work rate in the job, the motivation for the change may not have been primarily about civil liberties, but it is a beneficial side-effect (and one that some at least of Nick Clegg's advisers will value highly). Second, this combined with the move of Alistair Carmichael to the Scottish Office shows Nick Clegg willing to ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Mon 7th
17:40

Local Authors Night

 

Three South Cambridgeshire community groups are celebrating after sharing grant funding of almost £2,000 to support their projects. South Cambridgeshire District Council's Community Chest scheme awarded Fulbourn Forum £345 towards the cost of an apple press. The voluntary organisation actively promotes sustainability and holds an annual Apple Day to raise funds for a community orchard. With its own apple press, the organisation hopes to team up with other village groups to run more events that encourage community engagement and raise funds for a local orchard. Teversham Terriers Football Club received £1,000 for a storage container to keep the Club's equipment ...

Posted by Andy Pellew on Focus on Bar Hill

When I moved to Chorlton in 2006, I immediately knew I had made the right decision. I came here on the last day of June, the day before Beech Road Festival, and Chorlton looked beautiful in the sunshine of that incredible summer. But then I saw the precinct and I can remember thinking how stange it was that a suburb with a reputation like Chorlton had such a run down shopping centre. It didn't make any sense to me. I couldn't understand how it had been left in an almost half finished state, complete with peeling paintwork and empty units. ...

Mon 7th
16:44

How not to criticise

I am not Michael Gove's biggest fan. In fact I am not a fan at all and his lowness on my list of priorities is the only thing that has prevented me from writing blogs recently to explain why. I will get around to something critical in the near future, but in the meantime ... Yesterday I saw a Facebook comment that criticised Michael and I found myself in the strange position of defending our Secretary of State for Education. A Facebook friend had shared a link about him which originated from the campaigning organisation 38 degrees. They wrote 'Dear ...

Posted by Michael Gradwell on Politics for Novices

Anna Soubry has just left meeting the Prime Minister, after becoming the first every female MP to take a role in the Defence Department. Soubry left Downing Street looking very happy with a huge smile on her face, chatting on the phone. She then crossed over to 79 Whitehall, to clear her desk at her [...]

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

Congratulations to my MP Dan Rogerson who has become a minister in today's reshuffle. Dan becomes Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (ie a junior minister) at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Dan has spent a number of years on the Defra select committee and has a lot of expertise in the area - not surprising given that he has one of the most rural constituencies in the country. We'll see in the next couple of days exactly what his ministerial brief will entail. Also joining the ministerial ranks today is Cornish Tory MP George Eustice who also ...

Posted by Alex Folkes on A Lanson Boy

With the reshuffle still on going, Chief Whip Sir George Young has come to Downing Street. Presumably he is safe in his job, nobody I've spoken to expects him to go, and it's just a co-ordintion meeting with the PM and his team. Sir George passed the downing street gates without altercation with the [...]

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

Yes it's that time of year again.... The nights are drawing in, the first frost is on the grass in the morning, and you might have started to buy your Christmas presents too!!! But don't forget to pick up some free grit from the council. You can pick the grit up over the next three weekends from various locations around the borough. Enlarge the flyer on the left of this page for details.

Posted by Colin Hall on Colin Hall's Blogspot
eUKhost

Gavin Barwell, Conservative MP for Croydon Central, just walked into Downing Street, looking very happy with himself. He is currently Michael Gove's PPS. Likely then that he will be receiving a government job.

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

There's just one week left to have your say during a final round of consultation on plans for 22,000 new jobs and 5,000 additional new homes in South Cambridgeshire up until 2031. The draft Local Plan which would see a new town built north of Waterbeach, a new village at Bourn Airfield and a major extension to Cambourne to support new jobs being created has been put forward after over 300 possible sites for development were assessed. To help people find out more and have their say South Cambridgeshire District Council has held 17 events in communities around the district ...

Posted by Andy Pellew on Focus on Bar Hill

I'm back on the subject of the Northern Ireland Health Minister, Edwin Poots, so soon after my previous comments. But then if he will say: "It is not a human right to adopt a child for either a mixed-sex couple or a same-sex couple." While this is not enshrined in any version of human rights anywhere the United Nations have a Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 3 (Best interests of the Child) states: With regard to decisions that affect a child, his/her best interests should be taken into consideration. This provision extends to legal and administrative decisions. ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Liberal Journal

Last year Chorlton High School held a very successful Winter Fayre. All the proceeds that the school raised were donated to their linked school in Chisila, Africa. They raised over £1,500 which the small community school in zambia used to train local volunteers, and buy much needed resources for pupils. Chorlton High School are holding another Winter Fayre this year on Saturday 14th December 2013, 11am-1pm. The cost of a stall is £10 for two tables (tables are provided). Last year they had a vast array of stalls such as cakes, jams, honey, homemade wrapping paper, toys, sweets, gifts, jewellery, ...

In a quite stunning and surprising development the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, has been cast aside in favour of Alistair Carmichael, MP for Orkney and Shetland. Magnanimous as ever, Moore stated that it had been a privilege to serve as Scottish Secretary "at a hugely important time" for Scottish politics and expressed gratitude for being able to articulate the case for Scotland remaining part of the Union. Moore has had his critics, but many misunderstand the significant contribution he has made to the debate on Scotland's constitutional future. Always a rational, reasoned voice, Moore's balanced and measured ...

Posted by Andrew on A Scottish Liberal

No sooner do we report Norman Baker's promotion to the home office than the Prime Minister tweets out the news of his replacement: Baroness (Susan) Kramer, the first Lib Dem candidate for the London mayoralty and later MP for Richmond Park — in which role she helped lead opposition to Labour's proposals for a third runway at Heathrow. More recently she served as a Lib Dem peer on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards. Baroness Kramer has been appointed as Minister of State at @transportgovuk #reshuffle — UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) October 7, 2013 * Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

It's very simple really: Top reshuffle prediction tip: for any job, tip a man for the role. In the long run, you'll be massively right. — Mark Pack (@markpack) October 7, 2013 [IMG: Crystal ball. Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/319199 - some rights reserved] Which also shows how predicting 'more of the same' is a pretty sure way of both (1) being right most of the time, but also (2) of missing all the really interesting stories. It's also a good example of why judging people simply by the number of predictions they get right can be very misleading – especially ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Former MP for Richmond Park, and now Baroness, Susan Kramer has been promoted to become a Minister in the Transport Department. Kramer has been a consistent campaigner against a third runway to Heathrow, which could be interesting given the issues that has raised already in a Transport department.

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

That's not a headline I'd have predicted writing... Jeremy Browne has always been a bit of a marmite character within the party: an Orange Booker economically, but not a social libertarian. He was regarded as having had a successful stint in his first government post at the Foreign Office (although unless you accidentally start a war I'm not sure what the criteria for a bad stint are). His move to the home office, replacing Lynne Featherstone, was intended to reduce the number of clashes with Home Secretary Theresa May. However, it's not been a happy match. Despite an early success ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice
Mon 7th
14:12

Reshuffle & redundancy

Big news day - reshuffle, which will probably be analysed a lot over the next few days - what it means for the coalition, what it means for the referendum, what it means for women and obviously for the ministers themselves. I've seen a couple of comments about how tough it is on advisors, and that's a good point - as ministers often bring in their own Special Advisors, they may leave with the ministers, in fact are likely to. Imagine losing your job because your boss had lost theirs - perhaps you (and they!) had been doing a great ...

Posted by Louise Shaw on From one of the Jilted Generation...

I spent Friday night at the boss' Annual Dinner at the beautiful Trenython Manor near Fowey. It was an amazing evening, so I thought that I would share a few of my favourite moments from the night. The (now former) Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael also came along to give a talk, and answer any questions. He discussed issues as important as his views on female representation, market town regeneration, and whether he prefers cats, or dogs. Photo Source: Public tweet from Mr Carmichael Firstly, as a cat lover, I was excited to hear that Mr Carmichael has 3 cats, and ...

Posted by Rebecca Louise Tidy on Polichic...

Reshuffle day is always a nervous one for the junior ranks. In Portcullis House Lib Dems MPs are walking around looking a bit tense. Duncan Hames, who currently serves as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Clegg, could be seen walking around in a rather concerned manner. He is likely to get a job, but has [...]

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Three Lib Dems quit front bench over Lisbon Treaty referendum Of 3 LibDem MPs who quit in '08 bc they supported referendum on Lisbon Treaty: 1=cab min, 1=govt min, 1=party presidt http://bit.ly/1gjhL5C Lib Dem chief whip Alistair Carmichael wins Tweet of the Day | Stephen Tall Tho this is my pesonal fave tweet from @acarmichaelmp > http://bit.ly/1cmPlaN Things only a Lib Dem Chief Whip would say... | Stephen Tall Btw, in case you were wondering what new LibDem Sect/State for Scotland @acarmichaelmp's fave song is... http://bit.ly/1e3yNCs LDV's Sunday Best: our 7 most-read ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall

Edwin Poots, the Northern Irish Health Minister, must think of King Canute as something of a personal hero. There he is going through every layer of court that the land and Europe has to offer to try and stem the tide of change on whatever issue of LGBT equality he is trying to stop. Well there is a little chink in his armour, a small wave has beaten through his defenses and there is a gay couple in Northern Ireland who have adopted two little boys. Their social worker helped them out, saying that while they wanted to adopt from ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Liberal Journal

In January, I wrote for Liberal Democrat Voice just as British Influence, the cross-party umbrella campaign to keep Britain in Europe, was starting and Prime Minister David Cameron was about to fire the starting gun for an in/out referendum on our EU membership. Tomorrow in London, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will throw his weight back into the debate with an important speech setting out our party's stall on the pro-European agenda, including our own commitment to an in/out referendum. Lib Dems will fight the European Parliament elections next year on a patriotic message that Britain should lead in the ...

Posted by Adam Nathan on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Broke - Who Killed the Middle Classes - by David Boyle] For a long time David Boyle has long been one of the smartest Liberal Democrat policy thinkers and one who isn't easy to categorise on a simple left/right spectrum. He also – rarely for someone who revels in policy – has a fine turn of word, able to make complicated issues into highly readable books, as he has done again with his Broke: Who Killed the Middle Classes? Pinning down quite who the 'middle classes' are is tricky and can disappear into long debates over methodological points. Boyle ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Don Foster has become the Lib Dem's Chief Whip, and Deputy Chief Whip of the Government. Don Foster has been MP for Bath since 1992, when he defeated the then Conservative Party Chairman Chris Patten in a shock result. It's not yet known whether he will fight the seat again in 2015. Until today he [...]

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

Don't forget, you can read my sci-fi short story, 'Simultaneity (a sort of stereo dreaming)' and participate by adding your own dream stories in the notebooks provided as part of the 'Other Worlds, Other Voices' Exhibition, at the Rochester Community Hub Library all this week. I'm hoping to end up with an 'X-files' of local stories. This story is only available to read at the library in full but here's an excerpt to tempt you ~ 'So, here goes. I am going to write out some of my dreams, the ones where I am convinced that somewhere, someone, simultaneously is ...

Posted by Trisha xx on ripplestone review

Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by EBuzzing (Wikio as was). Nick Thornsby firmly takes the hokey-cokey crown from Stephen Tall. These days Stephen is a regular high up the list, and Nick's the one going in, going out and coming back in. This month he is on an in. Nic Prigg and Liberal Vision also drop out, but the Haringey Lib Dem blog returns. 1 (3) Liberal Democrat Voice Up 1 2 (14) Mark Pack Down 4 3 (31) Stephen Tall Down 2 4 (45) Jennie Rigg Down 7 5 (53) ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: michael-moore-mp-secretary-of-state-for-scotland] When I was about 10, I had a bit of an obsession with football. I quickly grew out of it, I hasten to add. I had my favourite players, most notably Sandy Jardine, Alan Rough and, above all, Kenny Dalglish. These three could do no wrong in my young opinion. Even then I knew playing for Partick Thistle was a good thing. I used to get very irked whenever one of them was substituted, especially when they were playing well. I just couldn't see why you would take off a proven performer who was doing well, even if ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

This doesn't look like a very well-thought through intervention, on a number of levels. First, the main reason there is a high degree of contact between the 'big six' and Government is there has been an Energy Bill every other year for the last decade, not to mention all the secondary legislation spinning off each one. The latest 'Energy Market Reform' is one of the most complex in history, and its success in no small part depends on the likes of EDF etc. following-up with real investment. If they weren't speaking about this, a lot, they would be foolish. Second, ...

Posted by Sara Scarlett on Liberal Vision

At the Liberal Democrat Conference a few weeks ago in Glasgow there were many important debates on taxation, the environment, nuclear weapons and most notably of all, on the economy. The Social Liberal Forum in particular argued passionately to...Read more ›

Posted by Paul Hindley on Social Liberal Forum

So the first change announced in the Government reshuffle was not replacing the Tories who resigned yesterday, but did involve another change in the Whips Office. It saw Michael Moore replaced by Alistair Carmichael as Secretary of State for Scotland. With less that a year to go before the referendum the return of Alistair's voice to the debates in Westminster and to the front bench is to be welcomed. His speeches in this Parliament have been confined to moving the writ for the Eastleigh by election as he has been restricted by his whips duties. To have him addressing Scottish ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Liberal Journal

I saw this headline today, on the shelves of WH Smith, I don't usually get offended that easily, but the language in this headline, is very blunt and extremely shocking. I suffer a sever mental health illness, yet I have no desire to kill anyone, except on occasions (last week) myself. I pose no danger to others except the occasional tongue lashing. Irresponsible headlines such as this do little to alleviate the social stigma of mental health issues. I have not read the article, it may actually go on to say that there is little in the way of care ...

Posted by Reg Yeates on ...and one more thing!

As we reported earlier, Michael Moore is to leave Government and will be replaced as Scottish Secretary by Alistair Carmichael. When a Minister leaves office, there is always an exchange of letters between them and their party leader. Here is the exchange between Mike and Nick Clegg: Nick Clegg's letter to Mike Moore: Dear Mike I want to thank you for the vital role you have played as Secretary of State for Scotland over the past three years. You became Scottish Secretary in 2010 at a critical time in Scotland's relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom and you ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Lib Dem logo] That is what will be in the next edition of my monthly email newsletter, Liberal Democrat Newswire, going out later this week. Sign up for it here and make sure you don't miss out.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The replacement of Michael Moore as Scottish Secretary with Alasdair Carmichael is being promoted by the party as a toughening of the party's stance against Alex Salmond. If this is indeed the case then it is a mistake. Taking a tougher line against the most popular politician north of the border is self defeating and futile. As I have written previously, Moore's and the party's constitutional conservatism on independence has marginalised the party in Scotland and given it nothing distinctive to say on the major issue in Scottish politics. I hope Carmichael uses the opportunity before him to take a ...

Posted by Dan Falchikov on Living on words alone

Michael Moore has been replaced by Alistair Carmichal as Secretary of State for Scotland. Moore has served in the Cabinet almost from the beginning, replacing Danny Alexander after he was moved to the Treasury following the departure of David Laws. Carmichal has been the Liberal Democrats Chief Whip since coming into government. Moore has been [...]

Posted by Charlotte Henry on Digital Politico

Every party claims, in some way, to be on the side of small business, but none has really given new and potential businesses much time or attention. Firms that do not yet exist are much less easy to champion and harder still to help than existing small businesses, but they are no less important. It may be no wonder, then, that not one of the three main party leaders mentioned entrepreneurs in their Autumn conference speeches. That's why today we at the Adam Smith Institute are helping to launch The Entrepreneurs Network, a new think tank dedicated to giving entrepreneurs ...

Posted by Sam Bowman on Liberal Democrat Voice

From the BBC: Michael Moore has been sacked as Secretary of State for Scotland and replaced by Alistair Carmichael, another senior Liberal Democrat. The move comes as a reshuffle of Conservative and Lib Dem ministers in the coalition government is under way. Mr Moore was a leading figure in the No campaign ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence next September. Moore had been Secretary of State since he replaced Danny Alexander at the end of May 2010. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie praised Mike Moore's achievements and welcomed Alistair Carmichael's appointment. He said: Mike Moore is leaving on ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

I showed my face at two of the party conferences this year, and I won't say which one I was at on this occasion. But I heard an MP refer to what he called "the curse of 38 Degrees". For the uninitiated, 38 Degrees is a powerful campaigning platform, on the American model, that allows people to sign up for campaigns and to send emails to recalcitrant MPs or anyone else. It claims to have achieved some amazing things, including the provision of free school meals. Extraordinary - and all this time, I was under the naive impression that Nick ...

Posted by David Boyle on The Real Blog

It's time science and engineering got over their persecution complex Remember the fuss over the "mental patient" Halloween costume? Turns out Tesco has a "mad scientist" one too. The Royal Society of Chemistry was quick to issue a press release, indignantly calling for retailers to withdraw such "violence-based" costumes. Then its Twitter account, inspired by the activism of mental health groups, invited scientists to tweet photos of themselves to squash the stereotype. There are several things wrong with the Royal Society of Chemistry's approach. Here are three. First, it's just crass to attempt to compare the two costumes. Caricatures of ...

video about the furore over Gamespot "only" giving GTAV 9/10 Via Andrew Ducker (tags: ) Prism and Tempora: the cabinet was told nothing of the surveillance state's excesses | Chris Huhne | Comment is free | The Guardian "Huhne questions whether the Home Office deliberately misled parliament about the need for the communications data bill when GCHQ, the government's eavesdropping headquarters, already had remarkable and extensive snooping capabilities." (tags: ) Liam Fox claims 3p for 100-metre car trip - UK Politics - UK - The Independent "Mr Fox also had another 15 claims of under £1 for car travel approved ...

Residents are being put in the budget setting driving seat by Cambridgeshire County Council. 'You Choose' is a county-wide survey, recently launched to ask residents to put themselves in the seat of councillors in making decisions where to invest and save money. Cambridgeshire County Council is expected to make further savings over the next year of around £39 million. This is following savings of £42 million last year, and a further £32 million this current financial year. These savings have to be made whilst supporting and investing in services such as adult social care, protecting children, boosting the economy and ...

Posted by Andy Pellew on Focus on Bar Hill

The Department for Transport launched its new guidance on 'Setting Local Speed Limits' in January 2013. In light of this the County Council has reviewed its Speed Management Strategy. The review has been carried out by officers from Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire Constabulary and the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioners Office. Members of the County Councillor 's Highways and Waste Panel have endorsed the commencement of a public consultation on the draft document. A number of changes have been made to the draft document compared to the existing strategy. This includes revised criteria to: - Make it easier for 20mph ...

Posted by chriswhite on Chris White

Save £40 on the Kindle Fire HD from Amazon. With a stunning 7 HD display, Kindle Fire HD is ideal for video, apps, games, reading and more.

Posted by Alan Winter on Alan D Winter ~ life blog

[IMG: Orpington Liberal Club] It is tempting to headline this as the top Social Liberal Forum! But Orpington Liberal Club, under the stewardship of well-known long-time Liberal Democrat activists [husband and wife] Duncan Borrowman and Grace Goodlad has done far more in winning the accolade of CAMRA's London Club of the Year 2013. Wearing my dual hat, I'm not aware of any Liberal Club that has won such an award, ever. (Please feel free to challenge that in the comments) Two years ago, Orpington's Liberal Democrats were struggling to make the club a success and wondering if it would see ...

Posted by Gareth Epps on Liberal Democrat Voice

Next week, UK ministers George Osborne and David Willetts head to Beijing for long-awaited talks with their Chinese counterparts. In the run-up to their trip, we begin a series on the prospects for Chinese science and innovation. Deep inside China's National University of Defence Technology, on the outskirts of Changsha, a computer is whirring. But this is no ordinary machine. With 3.1 million Intel Core processors, 1.4 petabytes of RAM and the capacity to perform 33,860 trillion calculations per second, it is the fastest supercomputer on the planet. In June 2013, China surprised observers by seizing the number one spot ...

I have today launched my October 2013 Update to West End Community Council. The Update covers the following issues: • Road safety - Sinderins junction • West End Christmas Fortnight 2013 • Call for review of council's HMO policies • West End Heritage Walk • Review of bus transport for Harris Academy • Bus timetable information - Perth Road and Nethergate You can download the Update here. The Community Council meets tomorrow night at 7pm at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall in Shaftesbury Terrace. All residents welcome to attend.

Mon 7th
05:44

Sticking to the task

On Thursday I had the great pleasure of joining our new candidate for Hazel Grove, Lisa Smart, on the campaign trail, visiting a children's centre to talk about childcare and our new plans for free school meals. She's one of a growing number of great candidates who've been selected and are now gearing up to take our message to the voters in 2015. Lisa will have big shoes to fill when, as we hope, she replaces Andrew Stunell as the MP for this beautiful part of Stockport. Andrew has been a close colleague since I was elected in 2005, was ...

Posted by Nick Clegg on Freedom Central

The Independent on Sunday reports on a highly significant speech to be given by the Deputy Prime Minister next week in which he will commit the Liberal Democrats to a referendum on membership of the European Union and a strong campaign to keep Britain an active member. He will say that it is no longer a question of if but when we have a vote. He will also warn Tory Eurosceptics that leaving the EU would be "economic suicide". The paper points out that Clegg's announcement leaves Labour as the only party to not back an in-out referendum, with Ed ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

Residents are being asked to have their say on the recently submitted planning application for the Ely Southern Bypass. The plans are for a 1.7km (just over a mile) single carriageway road between a new roundabout near the sewage works on Angel Drove and a new roundabout near the allotments on Stuntney Causeway. It will cross the railway by means of a 104m long two-span bridge and the River Great Ouse and floodplain by a 300m six span viaduct. On completion of the by pass the level crossing on Station Road will be closed to road traffic and the existing ...

Posted by Andy Pellew on Focus on Bar Hill

I remember reading my copy of Gay Times about the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard. At the time I ended up in tears, and this evening re-reading about the murder, looking at photographs of those responsible as well as of that infamous fence in the State of Wyoming and the well known family photo of Matthew. ......

Posted by Michael Carchrie Campbell on HIV Blogger: living positively

There have been endless thoughts, musings and judgements over the summer over right and wrong - they're unquestionably linked with this piece, but it isn't really the same question I'm asking. Little did they believe her when she said 'I'll be doing this a lot from now on...' :-P Is it right for Miley Cyrus to dance doggy-style in front of a largely teenage audience? Is Robin Thicke right to want to 'domesticate' a woman? None of these questions are for me to answer. Firstly, because, I'm not in a position to tell anybody what to do. But also, because, ...

Posted by Sam Phripp on So Sam said...