The Immigration Bill is now nearing the end of its' swift journey through parliament and will become law before the European elections in May, just months after being unveiled. The reason for this breakneck speed [...]
At the UN Security Council in New York Russia has vetoed a resolution denouncing tomorrow's planned referendum in Crimea. China abstained. But the clear majority view within the international community is that the referendum is illegitimate and that moreover Russia's increasingly belligerent stand-off with Ukraine is the most serious threat to European security since the [...]
The BBC's Horizon recently broadcast a wonderful programme called: "How you really make decisions". The BBC's website has a detailed write-up of the programme's themes: With every decision you take, every judgement you make, there is a battle in your mind – a battle between intuition and logic. And the intuitive part of your mind is a lot more powerful than you may think. [IMG: License Some rights reserved by evansville] Most of us like to think that we are capable of making rational decisions. We may at times rely on our gut instinct, but if necessary we can call ...
[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 Bath, where Don Foster is standing down after 23 years, a seat which the party will be keen to defend. So far, of the six held Lib Dem seats where MPs are retiring, five have chosen women and one a man from an ethnic community (details here). What will happen in Bath? The following seats have selections in progress and are currently advertising for candidates: ...
In today's Times, Mattew Parris tells us that we shouldn't laud the departed Bob Crow and Tony Benn. Why though can't we be respectful, while also fighting their regressive politics?
The Eastern Daily Press wins Headline of the Day.
I have just visited Geevor to meet with officers from Cornwall Council and Trustees from Pendeen Community Heritage Trust (PCH). I felt it was a constructive meeting with all sides putting their cards on the table. Although I have no history of involvement with Geevor, other than visiting like any other member of the public, I felt it was a partnership coming of age! I attended a little fearful that there would be money pressures difficult for both sides to agree on but came away quite excited for the future. People will have mixed views about Cornwall Council being involved ...
This is the question that Slate is asking. This thesis hinges on the idea that a large civilian aircraft flew across either Indian or Chinese airspace without either of the militaries noticing. It would also depend on the aircraft flying close to the Indian-Chinese border, above Tibet, which is a tense and tightly guarded frontier. Let's just say I am very skeptical.
Following on the success of the Little Stoke Park Run, another has now started in Chipping Sodbury. You can find out more on their website.
Nibley Lane, between Badminton Road and Westerleigh Road, is expected to be closed for cleaning from 9.30am until 2.30pm on Tuesday 18th March.
The Yate Safer Stronger Community Group, which includes Dodington Parish, meets on Monday 17th March at 7pm in Shireway Community Centre. The agenda is available online.
There is a new sensation sweeping the nation thanks to Jon Stewart at The Daily Show, and the slightly surprising figure of Senate Minority Leader and Senator for the great state of Kentucky, Mitch McConnell. McConnell is up for re-election in the fall, and his team last week released a 2.5 minute long campaign video, featuring Mitch doing things that people in campaign videos do: walking with students; sitting with his wife; making a speech; meeting workers. And the message that went with it? Well, there wasn't one. There were no words at all in the video, just a weird ...
I wrote a long post on the controversy over the reburial of Richard III last September. As the hearing took place this week and the question is being discussed again, I thought I would report the most important part of it. That part is a quotation from a letter to the Leicester Mercury written by Helena Edwards of Birstall: There are lots of arguments to be had about Richard III's reinterment, but I find two compelling. Firstly, if a court over-rules the Ministry of Justice's licence to exhume and then rebury in Leicester cathedral, it will destroy the authority of ...
We found @fivethirtyeight's hiring cheat sheet mentioned in ti.me/1nhAqRM via @jackdickey http://t.co/3qCugXHd2x— Micah Cohen (@micahcohen) March 06, 2014 Data nerds of the world rejoice: FiveThirtyEight is coming back. And in an interview in the New York magazine, Nate Silver has some strong comments about its rivals in the traditional media: Can you explain the mythology [...]
Sat 15th
14:00
A longer read for the weekend: "The Law's the Law, for A' That" - Legal Reflections on the Scottish ...
[IMG: Piper outside Court of Judiciary Some rights reserved by @ B E L ™] We're grateful to the Lib Dem Lawyers' Association for sending through to us the recent lecture given by Lord Wallace of Tankerness QC, Advocate General for Scotland and Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. He gave this year's '80 Club' Lecture, posted below... When I was appointed Advocate General for Scotland, following the formation of the Coalition Government in May 2010, a reporter from the Annandale Observer, the local newspaper which covers my native town of Annan, phoned to ask if ...
Watch the new video from Amnesty International UK: You can also watch this on YouTube.
The huge potholes to the side of the Tatton have been repaired by the Council. Because the road is unadopted, the Council wouldn't normally maintain it but because the potholes were so bad, the road well used and no-one obvious to fund the repairs, the Lib Dems persuaded the Council to step in and take action. The road in front of the Tatton is private, owned by Dickens Property Group who own the Tatton site. They've told us that they'll repair the potholes on their section by the end of March, so we'll be chasing them up if that date ...
Sat 15th
11:07A longer listen for the weekend: Can liberalism be better advanced by Lib Dems or Tories?
That was the topic up for debate at a fringe event a week ago at Spring Conference, hosted jointly by the Electoral Reform Society and Liberal Reform. Lisa Smart, PPC for Hazel Grove, chaired the discussion, with Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne, Conservative and Director of Bright Blue Ryan Shorthouse, and the ERS's Nick Tyrone completing the panel. As Jeremy indicates at the beginning of his remarks, he can answer the question shortly: the Lib Dems are the proper home for liberals. But fortunately for the audience he elaborated a little, including some challenges that he thinks the party has ...
"We're interviewing Bus Pass Elvis – the guy who beat the Lib Dems in a council by-election last week – and wondered if you'd be free to come on and talk about whether it means the writing's on the wall." That was the enticing invitation from the BBC's Daily Politics show – how could I refuse? You can see how I got on below. It was a brief segment, so there were two points I didn't get to make which I think are important and relevant. First, what Bus Pass Elvis's defeat of the Lib Dems in North Clifton ward ...
Imagine if we passed a law 20 odd years ago that from 1997 the standard format for external storage for PCs would be a 3 inch floppy disk? Or a law saying the definitive method of home entertainment was the VHS video tape! After all, look at all the waste we went through with Betamax. The rationale for this was that people were sick of changing format and there was a lot of waste. After all, back in 1997 just about everyone used three inch floppy disks and VHS so it would only be inconvenient to bring out different bits ...
As a sort of tribute to Tomy Benn, here he is taking on and prevailing against Ali G:
While there was brief flurry of excitement last week at the speculation, it strike me that actually there is going to be a bit of a shift around in the not too distant future, as we will need a full 'Shadow Cabinet' going into the next election, and it's not immediately clear who will be in what post. And it's not straightforward, especially with so many MPs retiring. Also I think you have to ignore members of the Lords for this, as it's the GE team. So people like Susan Kramer, who would make an excellent SoS for Transport, ...
[IMG: steve gilbert] Our MPs get up to all sorts of exploits to raise money for charities in their constituencies, ranging from the eccentric to the utterly crackers. We'll leave you to judge for yourself where on that spectrum St Austell's Stephen Gilbert is on. Jumping out of an aeroplane, voluntarily, is not for the faint-hearted. Two weeks tomorrow, at Perranporth Airport, he'll make a parachute jump to raise money for the Merlin MS Centre at Hewas Water, having been impressed by the support that they offer to local people on a recent visit. He said: Following a recent visit ...
The independent Green Belt Review for St Albans District has now been completed and the final report published by St Albans City and District Council. The final version of part two of the Green Belt Review was reported to the Council's Planning Policy Committee on 4 March and is available at: http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/planning/Planningpolicy/. The document provides an assessment of the eight sites in the Green Belt which had been identified for further investigation in part one of the review.
Both the First Minister and Education Minister categorically failed to provide sufficient details on how they supported schools with regards to the introduction of the new English Language GCSE exams, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have argued. This follows an investigation launched by the Welsh Labour government over "unexpectedly low" grades for new GCSE English language exams sat in January. Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, challenged the First Minister on why had his government seemingly not properly prepared schools for the significant changes. Whilst the party's Shadow Education Minister, Aled Roberts, is calling on the Welsh government's review ...
Cambridge MP Dr. Julian Huppert sums up the case for a Digital Bill of Rights at Lib Dem Spring conference.
This evening I had a notification through Facebook that someone had shared one of my photos. Here is how it was shared. As you can see I have done the service of blocking out the name of the reposter and the one person who by the time I had seen it liked their attitudes. They did not do me the same keeping the person whose picture they were posting in the link (it can easily be removed). There is potential there for the poster to open somebody that they do not know up to abuse from others who have read ...
