Young I drank beer & vomited green bile Older drank wine vomited blood red Now I vomit air
On Wednesday there was an opposition debate. The motion can be found here and it said:That this House notes that the number of people using foodbanks provided by the Trussell Trust alone has increased from 41,000 in 2010 to more than 500,000 since April this year, of whom one third were children; further notes that over the last three years prices have risen faster than wages; further notes the
[IMG: Trixi mirror] Cycle Safety Mirrors (also called Trixi mirrors) have been installed at the Kingsway/Gatley Road junction, and are being put in at 50 junctions across Greater Manchester – funding by the Department for Transport. The mirrors help drivers of large vehicles like lorries or buses see cycles alongside them. Those sorts of vehicles have a very large blind spot and one of the most common ways for cyclists to be killed or seriously injured is being trapped to the left of a large vehicle turning left at a junction.
Seasonal update with useful information View this email in your browser Dear resident, I want to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a healthy and successful New Year. I am immensely proud and honoured to represent our area and I thoroughly enjoy working on behalf of all local residents. Whether it's visiting local schools and businesses, attending charity events or supporting our many voluntary groups - or at my regular surgeries – it is always good to meet with local people, talking with those who spare so much time and energy putting something back into our area. So let me ...
Despite a small blip when a Liberal Democrats spokeperson got above themselves, the party's response to Howard Davies' report on airport expansion has been fairly solidly dismissive of any plan to expand Heathrow. In the Telegraph, Vince Cable sums up the views of many and party policy when he says that Heathrow cannot be expanded as it will allow London to become a "giant suction machine" draining the life out of the rest of the country. He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that politicians had to make it "very clear" they would not make the "serious issue" of aircraft ...
I've never gone into a polling booth wondering how I'd vote. Even that time in 90s Edwinstowe when my choices were Labour and the Tories. There was no way I could ever vote Tory so I crossed my fingers behind my back, clicked my heels three times and ticked the red box. I had to have a shower afterwards but I'd had my say. Even in party leadership elections, when I've wanted them to be scrabbling for my votes, I make my mind up far too soon then throw myself into the campaign of my chosen one. But tonight, I ...
A Local Authority v C 2013 is a case where a mother has not been told anything about the case, but essentially the police are authorised to remove the child at birth. The key about this is that there is no-one arguing the mother's side of the argument. The allegations made by the state are essentially something that are allowed to stand without any challenge. If, as is asserted in this case,
The fight for LGBT freedom globally is one that is far from won. Just this week Nigeria and Uganda have tightened up their anti-gay laws, and Russia has highlighted how even relatively advanced nations are enacting some deeply worrying legislation. But this year one part of the LGBT movement has had levels of success that have astounded even the optimists among us; marriage equality has been one success story of which we can be proud. Here in the UK, the fight for marriage equality turned out to be a lot easier than we were expecting. Throughout 2012 the right-wing press ...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 750 party members responded – thank you – and we're publishing the full results. News of this week's mini-reshuffle – Simon Hughes's elevation to government in place of Lord (Tom) McNally – came too late to be included in our latest survey. But we did ask about the previous reshuffle in October, when Nick Clegg made a number of changes to the Lib Dem ministerial ranks, including his first sacking of ...
Is free speech just about the law or does it also need to protect people from social pressure? Until this week I was – along with just about everybody else in the UK – blissfully unaware of the existence of Duck Dynasty. It's a reality TV show about a clan that made its millions selling [...]
The food bank debate was one of the most shocking and horrific things that I have witnessed, it was worse than being in the school playground with a bunch of rowdy school children. I wasn't surprised at the Tory MPs cold hearted and neoliberal response to the debate but I was shocked at the continuous downward spiral of Lib Dem ethics. Here is a link to the names of the MPs who voted against investigating the rise in use of food banks. In the Liberal Democrat constitution it is stated that, "The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safe guard ...
LibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you're reading now. The second is our private members' forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access. If you're a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that's on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you'll be included in our regular surveys' of party members' views. Here's some of the most active discussions this past 7 days: Clegg attacks May's 'illegal' plan for cap on EU Immigration; Was the Party stitched up by the Coalition Agreement?; More porn ...
The queues to get in and out of the Lidl car park in Norbury this morning are disturbing to behold, and the news that half the UK population visited Aldi or Lidl - the discount supermarkets - in the last 12 weeks does concentrate the mind wonderfully. It does so because, among others, Tesco has always been the Great Satan as far as I'm concerned, the very symbol of a corporate that has been allowed to get too powerful, and which corrodes the UK food industry as a result. It is a glimpse of the emerging world of semi-monopoly. Only ...
We met recently with our local Police Safer Neighbourhood Team Sergeant Suzannah James who updated us on the work they are undertaking to deter and detect crime over the Christmas period. We also received some helpful advice to pass on to our residents. As in previous years the local teams will be focussing on Operation [...]
Tim Farron, who's chair of the European election campaign as well as party president, has been writing all over the place on all sorts of EU issues at the moment. The other day it was fish, and now he's taking a look at why many in the Ukraine are protesting in the streets for closer ties with the EU. It is easy to get lost in the hysterical UK debate and lose perspective on the EU but we must remember that Europe remains a beacon for hope for millions of people in countries like the Ukraine and in autocratic Belarus. ...
In which I interview Phil Sandifer about his books on Doctor Who, Wonder Woman, They Might Be Giants, and Grant Morrison and Alan Moore.
Here below from YouTube is an excellent report from Tom Clarke, Science correspondence of Channel Four News, which includes views of Widemouth Bay, GCHQ at Cleave Camp and Morwenstow. There is one fascinating little interview with a resident of one of the houses right next door to the GCHQ satellite dish location. Also, they have a chat with some of the locals in the local pub, The Bush Inn, which is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. There is an article by Tom Clarke about his Cornish visit here on the Channel Four News ...
I'm a grumpy old so and so. One thing that is making me particularly grumpy at the moment is the unhealthy obsession many in the media and politics have with "Brand Nigella". There are plenty of rights and wrongs in the whole tawdry saga and goodness knows, we all "fall short of the glory of God" as Paul writing in his letter to the Romans so eloquently puts it. I know I do. Even if you have no faith or a different faith to Paul, you can't help but notice what a lot of ne'er do wells and downright evil ...
Lib Dem Voice have been being very very naughty. It all started with James Shaddock's Opinion: As Liberals, we must stand up For sex workers. Not to be outdone, my lovely candidate Alisdair* went for the seemingly innocuous Opinion: Teresa May's Right Hand doesn't know what her Hard Right hand is doing - which is, of course, the Porn Star Teresa May, not the Home Secretary Theresa May, with bonus mention of hardness. And then, bless him, he's such a trier, he had another go with Porn blocking comes in... and blocks the LGBT+LD website as porn. Which clearly encouraged ...
Note from the the district council A new guide to recycling and a 2014 waste and recycling calendar are being delivered to homes around St Albans District before Christmas. St Albans City and District Council will be providing information to households in flats in the New Year. The guide provides lots of information about what residents can recycle now that the new scheme is in place, including a much wider range of plastics. If you have not yet received your guide, you can download it at http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/recyclingguide or call us after Christmas for a copy on 01727 819285. This is ...
Although it did not get much press attention when Britain's National Infrastructure Plan was launched earlier in the month, one section of the plan sets out an ambitious approach to driverless cars. As the BBC reports: [IMG: Cats in a car. Photo courtesy of Krappweis. Some rights reserved http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1408246] The government has announced that it wants to make the UK a world centre for the development of driverless cars. It said it would conduct a review next year to ensure that the legislative and regulatory framework is in place for such vehicles to be incorporated on Britain's roads. It will ...
Some of my favourite articles, posts and videos from the past week The Holes in "Homeland" by Richard A. Falkenrath The terrorists in Homeland are a lethal bunch. Their ringleader, Abu Nazir, has tentacles that span the globe. He has long-term sleeper agents and bomb-makers inside the United States. He can simultaneously brainwash two marines [...]
http://ind.pn/19UEKhu Dear new mums, Pope Francis wants you to breast feed in public: http://t.co/W18YxIXyKG (tags: (from twitter) ) The Something Must Be Done Act 2014 by @JackofKent via @Aremay (tags: ) http://specc.ie/1bUOXO6 .@charlotteahenry looks at the runners and riders for deputy leader of the Lib Dems http://t.co/rz6S6bliCZ (tags: (from twitter) ) http://miss-s-b.dreamwidth.org/1098605.html Flicking through old blog posts for research for a new one, came across this: http://t.co/aw1fpAU1V3 Ouch. Poor @MarkPack. I was MEAN. (tags: (from twitter) ) Guh. PURPLE GIN. WANT. RT @MasterOfMalt: Good lord. Would you look at the colour of that? http://t.co/JqJhE8Sl1L @HernoGin (tags: (from twitter) ) ...
Finding the source of the River Nile was an obsession for Victorian explorers. David Livingstone perished while frankly looking in the wrong place; John Hanning Speke had already correctly identified the outlet from Lake Victoria that fell over what he named Ripon Falls as the beginning of Africa's greatest river. That is the White Nile, [...]
Many thanks go to Greggs, bakers in Perth Road, for their very generous donation of 100 Christmas Pies - as part of the West End Christmas Fortnight events - that I collected yesterday and handed in to the folk at Magdalen House in Roseangle. Here's a couple of photos! The lovely staff at Greggs on Perth Road! With the folk at Magdalen House!
Yesterday at Blackness Library, representatives from the Harris Education and Recreation Association, Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden and I were delighted to present Blackness Primary School pupil William Monk, aged 11, with his prizes for winning this year's West End Christmas Fortnight Window Spotting Competition. Well done William and many thanks to Harris Education and Recreation Association and Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden for sponsoring the prizes!
[IMG: image] Yes. I know that annoys some people. I was at a concert last night and a man bridled when the singer said "Happy holidays" but unbridled when she followed it quickly with "Happy Christmas". Why don't I say "Happy Christmas"? Well, I happen to believe that a vital part of Britishness, and indeed Christianity, is tolerance and simple politeness. It is polite to recognise, when greeting many people widely, that many of them are not Christians who celebrate Christmas on 25th December. Russian Christians celebrate it on 7th January. Then there is Hanukkah. Kwanzaa. Pancha Ganapati. Yule. Dongzhi. ...
Only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted to anchor Britain in the centre ground by building a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling every person to get on in life. That's why in Government we have: Fixed the mess left by Labour. We have: reduced the deficit by a thirdkept interest rates downhelped business create over a million jobs Eased the squeeze on household budgets by: cutting income tax by £700 for 24m peoplegiving every 5, 6 and 7 year old a free school meal dailygiving 15 hours free child care to all 3 and 4 year olds and ...
Despite claims by the Health Minister that cancer waiting time targets would be met in October figures released this week, have shown that the targets have once again been missed. In a Committee session in July the Health Minister said to me, that "There are plans, in the case of each health board, which will result in the NHS across Wales meeting its 31-day and 62-day targets by October of this year." However, figures released today show that only 92.4 per cent of patients newly diagnosed with cancer via the Urgent Suspected Cancer route started definitive treatment within the target ...
