This film dates back to 1958 and features many Southport attractions - Pleasureland, Peter Pan's Playground, the sea bathing lake, the zoo, Lord Street and show jumping at the Flower Show. It comes with a commentary by the famous BBC announcer Alvar Liddell.
When I went to see this show, two weeks ago, I planned to write a review that night. It's taken two weeks, because I ended up a little more involved in the show than I expected... Lightning Strikes was a show I'd been looking forward to for months, since first seeing a flier for it [...]
In a time when there is so much unpleasantness on the internet, especially in the sphere of politics, it is occasionally nice to be reminded that quality tends to outlast outrage, that humour outlasts insult, and this was brought to mind recently when, in my capacity as Newsletter Editor for my Local Party, I was asked if it was possible to publish Lord Bonkers' Diary for the edification of our members. Admittedly, I wasn't entirely convinced that it would work here in Mid Suffolk, but I gave my word to ask. And it dawned on me that, if our Chair ...
This is from the front page of Ludlow North Focus, now being distributed around Ludlow North. "We love this town... but there are problems" That's what you said in response to our community survey. That's what you are telling us on the doorsteps. You say that you want affordable housing for young people and families. [...]
The high street shop I'd like to promote this week is Cards For All Occasions, Trelowarren Street. Next door to the old New Connexions church, and previously home to the JAG mobile phone shop, this business has been trading for a couple of years now, selling quality cards and giftware. In particular their Cornish gifts range always has something suitable for an emergency present! I can also recommend their wide variety of greetings cards, especially the Cornwall landscape and heritage scenes. Well worth supporting.
Sat 22nd
17:25
Alex Salmond "perpetuates cycle of privilege" by offering unpaid internship at his constituency offi...
Today's Herald reports that Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has offered what seems to me like a pretty substantial job in his constituency office as an unpaid internship. The First Minister sought a student to work for free on constituency casework at his Inverurie office near Aberdeen. But the voluntary post, advertised through Aberdeen University careers service, was condemned by political opponents and campaigners. In an embarrassing move for Mr Salmond, the pressure group Intern Aware reported the advert to the taxman, requesting an inquiry into whether the role should pay the minimum wage. The internship was advertised earlier this ...
Dear Councillor Hands, Thank you for your Freedom of Information request submitted to the Business Intelligence Unit on 13th January, regarding 'The Closed Libraries books, CD's, DVD's, Games, Computers and records'. Your request has been passed to me for response and you will find the related information supplied below. Please note that seven libraries have been closed, not five, as you outline in your letter. 1 How much money was made on the sale of books, CDs, DVDs, Games, Computers and records for each library? The library service does not offer Games, and the Computers belong to the Council's ICT ...
[IMG: Lib Dems winning here] Here's the full list of selection contests in the coming month available for Lib Dems on the approved parliamentary candidates' list, together with the closing date for applications. They include five of the seats on the party's top 50 target list: Newport East, Totnes, Bristol North West, Bristol South, and Chelmsford. The following seats have selections in progress and are currently advertising for candidates: Arundel & South Downs, 24th February Daventry, 24th February Mid Sussex, 24th February Mid Derbyshire, 28th February Newport East, 28th February Newport West, 28th February Totnes, 28th February East Devon, 7th ...
Pot holes seem to be appearing everywhere. Amongst the worst ones we discovered in Central Ave. They have all be reported. I'm pleased to say that we have a positive response to our complaints 'I thank you for your e-mail regarding the defects at the above location and would inform you that an instruction has been issued for the potholes to be repaired accordingly within the next 5 days.'
During the heavy rains we saw a number of areas in Birkdale where 'ponding' was more persistent confirming what many of already thought that there was need for remedial work. One such place was in Central Avenue. We have been lobbying to ensure these problems are fixed
Thanks to all the residents who contacted me about the graffiti on Birkdale Library. I'm pleased to say that I managed to get the Council to remove it. It is bad enough that Bootle Labour Party has closed our library leaving only one library in Southport whilst maintaining three in Bootle without the building being disfigured with graffiti.
There are still five days left on the BBC iPlayer to watch this week's moving documentary on Ian Nairn. Ian Jack, who appears in the documentary, remembers Nairn in his Guardian column today: A documentary on the BBC this week by Kate Misrahi caught his troubled personality very well - the hurt eyes, the voice that always seemed about to crack with melancholy - as it slowly drowned in a sea of beer. I knew him a little. He was kind about things I'd written, and once or twice I stopped at his table in our office local, the Blue ...
Over the years Birkdale Lib Dem Councillors have campaign to keep some of the things that give our town its character. We have sought to preserve the footpaths that are paved with the small blue tiles ( from Buckley in North Wales) that were laid by our Victorian forbears. We have also striven to maintain the civic colours on lamposts. This has been a hot topic recently as the council began removing old lamp standards and erectly ugly galvanised steel replacements. I'm pleased to say that after a lot of community pressure the cream and burgundy paint has been got ...
Last week I went along to Birkdale Primary for the opening of there new classrooms. The school started life as a Board School back in the 1885. School Boards were one of the first things that women could be elected to and the redoubtable Birkdale Liberal Kate Riley became the first women to be elected to a public body in the town when she joined the Birkdale School Board. The site is very small and the inventive architects came up with the idea of putting the playground on the roof in order to free up land for the extension.. I ...
The injury to Dan Cole - like Martin Johnson, a product of my old school here in Market Harborough - means that Robert Kitson is obliged to write in the Guardian: Remarkably, this will be the first time since March 1975 England have kicked off a championship game at Twickenham without a single Leicester player in their starting XV.I foresee trouble.
Southport is governed by Labour-run Sefton council. Every member of the councils cabinet is based in Bootle and no Southport councillor is represented on the executive.I am introducing a bill to parliament which will allow communities who feel they aren't being represented to force the boundary commission to review the electoral arrangements John has a petition running on his website, if you agree please sign up
An investigation by Birkdale Lib Dem Councillor Simon Shaw has revealed that one charity has cost Sefton Council £350,000 in lost rate income over the last four years on the two shops it operates in Southport - money that could have helped keep our lost library open. Healthy Planet is a national charity operating around 30 "Books for Free" stores around the country. In Southport they have one shop in Cambridge Walks and another in one of the large units next to Homebase at the Meols Cop Retail Park. Back in January Simon wrote to senior Council officers calling for ...
A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I had an email from the President of the St Andrew's University Debating Society inviting me to take part in their annual Parliamentary Debate on the subject "This House has no faith in Her ... Continue reading →
[IMG: St Andrew's Debate] A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I had an email from the President of the St Andrew's University Debating Society inviting me to take part in their annual Parliamentary Debate on the subject "This House has no faith in Her Majesty's Government." I was heavily encouraged by my co-editor Stephen Tall (who had taken part last year) and others to accept, despite my reservations. It had been a long time since I'd been at a university debate and I'd never spoken in one, not even from the floor. They key thing for me is ...
The always insightful David Boyle writes on his blog about why liberals should take Karl Popper seriously. Boyle explains the link between Popper's philosophy of science and his views on politics: You may not be able to prove what you believe about the world, no matter how often an observation or experiment takes place, but [...]
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 10 days: On The Level ; Nick Clegg accuses archbishop of exaggerating ; Withering Heights of Wythenshawe ; Is It Me, or... ; ...
The news that Atos Healthcare are in negotiations to withdraw from their contract with the Department of Work and Pensions to carry out fitness-for-work tests has been welcomed by many, especially those who oppose the way the current assessment regime works. Images of protestors with Socialist Worker placards - never terribly helpful to my mind - and reports of death threats against Atos staff demonstrate the passion with which groups have fought against the way things are done. But I can't help feeling that Atos are the symptom, rather than the cure, and that simply replacing them will make little ...
It was great to see Newbury Liberal/Liberal Democrats Chris Hall and Mike James receive lifetime achievement awards today at the Liberal Democrat South Central conference at Arlington Arts Centre near Newbury. My photo below shows them receiving the awards from Lorely Burt MP, who is Parliamentary Private Secretary to Danny Alexander at the Treasury. Also shown is Judith Bunting, Newbury PPC, who made a fine speech of trubute to Mike and Chris. Mike and Chris are good friends of mine. Let's just say one of them was a Newbury Borough Councillor before I was born. They have both been very ...
I wrote the other day on the logistics of the National Liberal experiment of Nick Boles with the conclusion that it was in some ways doable, but needed serious fleshing out as a concept, let alone a plan of action. Ostensibly to the public eye nothing much has happened with the scheme since it was first publicly aired many months ago. That is not to say that Mr Boles has not been beavering away (cue the cuddly animal) on a strategy to make the concept into reality. So to help him out.. or moreover the rest of us..I took Bright ...
Here follows my unedited letter to the Medway messenger regarding Councillor Jarrett's "Hitler" comment at the last Full council meeting published on 21st February 2014: Gillingham Bus station after the July 1940 air raids that rocked the town It has been several weeks since Councillor Jarrett made his ill-judged comments about the last Labour government's handling of the financial crisis as comparable to Hitler's efforts to bring the country to its knees and many people like me are still offended. Although he retracted the comment at full council, the damage was already done. I was no fan of the ...
[IMG: Alistair Carmichael speech Jan 2014] Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael was on last night's Any Questions from Tiverton in Devon, just about as far away as you can get from his Orkney home. He told the Tory Nadim Zahawi off for raising the idea of capping child benefit at the second child, dismissing it as "not one of your better ideas." It was inevitable that there would be a question on food banks and I think that he tackled it quite well and thoughtfully. He said that the key to tackling poverty was to get more people ...
Sat 22nd
10:55By-election update: ALDC report, including sensational Lib Dem victory in Leicestershire
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] There were two principal by-elections yesterday, reports the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC). In Birstall Wanlip ward of Charnwood Borough Council, Simon Sansome won a sensational victory for the Liberal Democrats coming from third place. On his second attempt Simon took 15% of the defending Conservative's vote and achieved a 7% majority. The Labour vote remained stable at 27%. The local team, pictured, put their victory down to running a campaign focused on local issues. They knocked on 2000 doors and put out 15,000 pieces of literature (including a very effective handwritten letter) ...
Works to improve access to Honor Oak Park station continue apace. The contractors confirm that they will be complete in 'a couple of months' but the new lifts should be complete sooner.
As a Councillor for nearly 30 years now I share the concerns expressed in this article regarding some of the proposals by the Welsh Government to overhaul the planning system. The Western Mail reports that under the changes, the vast majority of planning applications will be dealt with by council officers with no involvement by elected members. All infrastructure projects will be handled by the National Assembly, with no input by local councillors to the decision. There is of course a case for major infrastructure projects to be dealt with on a Wales-wide basis but handing more power to unelected ...
It will come as no surprise to anyone that the House of Lords is dominated, at least in terms of membership numbers, by London and the South East - it's been a generally held assumption for years. And now, thanks to a recently issued Library Note, the House of Lords has provided some data to demonstrate it, data which does show some interesting news for Liberal Democrats in the rest of England. Of the Peers who declare the location of their main residence, 492 reside in England. Based on the 2011 census, a proportional split by English Region would be;East ...
Watch the new video from Amnesty International UK: You can also watch this on YouTube.
Last week I questioned the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty as to why one fifth of the monies set aside by the Welsh Government to assist Credit Unions in their work with financially excluded individuals is being spent on administration and consultancy work. Speaking in the chamber, I highlighted the fact that of the £4.7 million allocated to phase two of a four year Credit Union project, of which £1.8 million came from the European Union, £998,543.20 has been paid to The Social Investment Business (SIB), which is a trading subsidiary of the charity, the Adventure Capital Fund. SIB ...
There is one meeting at Blyth Town Council next week Thursday 27th February, 6:30 at Arms EverTyne House Because of the nature of the topics discussed, this is likely to be wholly under "Part II " ( ie a closed meeting) The meeting of the Events Committee scheduled for 25th February has been cancelled / postponed - despite the fact that it still appears on the Council Calendar of meetings on the website
[IMG: nick clegg eu] From the Independent: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will veto any attempt by the Conservatives to appoint a Eurosceptic candidate to become Britain's next EU Commissioner, The Independent has learnt. As Prime Minister, David Cameron has to nominate a successor to replace Baroness Ashton, who will step down as Britain's representative on the European Commission later this year. But the Liberal Democrat leader has made it clear that many of the candidates favoured by the right wing of the Conservative Party who want to see "one of their own" in Brussels would be unacceptable to him ...
[IMG: Benedict Cumberbatch captures "vulnerability, genius and arrogance" of Alan Turing, says producer] It is now 102 years since he was born, or nearly, but this really appears to be Alan Turing's moment. Not only was the government moved to give him a pardon, rather belatedly, for his conviction for homosexual acts back in 1952, but the stills have been released to great excitement for Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of the man in the film The Imitation Game. It is even being talked about as an Oscar contender for 2015. Now even the hotels of Manchester, where he lived and died, ...
Budget row puts Calderdale Council in "uncharted territory" - Yorkshire Post (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The NHS could be forced to hand over part of the Dulwich Hospital site for a new secondary school after a local councillor formally referred the matter to Government Ministers. A decision on its future will now be made by a panel comprising of Treasury Ministers and the Cabinet Office after I invoked new 'Right to Contest' powers to push the NHS, which owns the land, into selling it on. Despite the site being 27,000m² - the size of around four football pitches - currently less than a tenth of the space is being used. I submitted the application earlier ...
