A former school friend takes some lovely pictures in a fb group we're in. Have a lovely Easter.
A couple of years I visited Laughton, a village a few miles to the west of Market Harborough: A large house across the road turns out to have been a Wesleyan chapel for a couple of decades in the 19th century. And I am pleased that my guess that the initials "T.T.P." in the brickwork meant that it had once belonged to Thomas Tertius Paget, Liberal MP for South Leicestershire (1867-8, 1880-5) and Harborough (1885-6), turned out to be correct.Sadly, it turns out that I did not photograph the old chapel - just the initials. I found two more instances ...
Thanks to Spotlight on Abuse for reproducing this letter from Social Work Today (10 May 1977).
Nick Clegg has called for the publication of the Chilcot report into the Iraq war, which identifies exactly what happened in the run-up to the conflict in Iraq. The Chilcot report includes about 200 cabinet-level discussions, 25 notes from Tony Blair to George W Bush and more than 130 records of conversations between the former US president and Tony Blair. The progress of the report began in 2009 and has cost millions of pounds so far. However, it is not clear why there is a delay in the process and Nick believes that some of those in line for scrutiny ...
Between April the 13th at 1830 and April the 14th at 0700 hours, a breaking to a garage took place in Robin Close, Bar Hill. Perpetrator(s) has forced the garage door to open and has removed a child motor cross bike. If you saw the happen, Please get in touch. Thank you PCSO 7009 B Mani
Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert is to take a blindfolded bus ride across the city on Friday, April 25 to push the case for "talking buses". Julian will be led by a guide dog for the 10 minute journey from the railway station into the city centre and then guided round the bus station to try to identify bus stops. The trip has been organised by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association to highlight its campaign for audio visual (AV) technology to be fitted to all buses and every driver to be given visual awareness training. Julian has called for ...
Figures showing that unemployment continues to fall in Cambridge and the number of those out of work nationally has dropped below seven per cent have been welcomed by the city's MP Julian Huppert. The number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance in the city fell to 1,103 in March, 497 lower than in the same period last year and 46 fewer than in February 2014. The figures mean that just two per cent of the working population aged between 16 and 64 are without jobs. National figures released today have seen unemployment fall to a five year low and earnings, which ...
This title is held by Roger Helmer - try his views on rape and the age of consent if you doubt me. But a powerful challenger has emerged in the shape of one of his fellow candidates on the UKIP list for the East Midlands at next month's Euro elections, Step forward Nigel Wickens...Disruption to gas supplies and apparently 40,000 Russian troops on the Ukranian border. Another fine mess the EU has "got us in to". — Nigel Wickens (@NigelWickens) April 10, 2014 That's right: he believes that Putin's attempt to reassemble Russia's crumbling empire is somehow the EU's fault. ...
[IMG: Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma (Kindle Single)] This is rather a late acknowledgement of the government's recognition of the great computer pioneer Alan Turing in the budget. In short, they have set aside £42m for a university unit to study big data, and they are going to call it the Turing Institute. The announcement came just three months after Turing was given a royal pardon, rather belatedly, for his conviction for homosexuality in 1952 - which started the chain of events which led to his suicide two years later. And, yes, it was suicide. It also comes just a ...
1. The Daily Mail's own obit for Cyril Smith mentions no allegations against him nor has any of the standard tabloid speak for giving a knowing nod and wink without actually saying something up front. 2. It's not really about the Lib Dems or Cyril Smith. It's about press regulation. As the last line in the latest Daily Mail editorial says, "With people like these to contend with, could there be any more powerful argument for keeping politicians' grubby hands off the freedom of the Press?"
South Glos Council has announced that the first phase of works to replace the road bridge on Church Road, Frampton Cotterell, is to continue for a further week. The delay has been caused by unforeseen underground obstructions which have hampered work to divert utility apparatus (that's cables and pipes to you and me) from the existing bridge deck onto the adjacent temporary bridge. Teams worked last weekend and will continue this Bank Holiday weekend to progress the works. It is anticipated that the bridge will reopen on Friday 25 April at 5pm and traffic diversions will remain in place until ...
Wed 16th
16:55
New LDV members' survey now live: your views on Scotland, drugs, Nick v Nigel, the economy, the Coal...
The new LDV members' survey is now live. So if you are one of the c.1,500 registered members of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum — and any paid-up party member is welcome to join — then you now have the opportunity to make your views known. Questions we're asking this month include: do you support or oppose Scotland becoming independent? should we decriminalise/legalise 'soft' and 'hard' drugs? hot-topics such as Heathrow expansion, opt-in organ donation, e-cigarettes, 50p top-rate of tax, pension annuities, and Nick v Nigel your views on Nick Clegg's leadership and of leading figures within the Lib Dems; ...
We've had quite a few people comment that there's less graffiti in Cheadle & Gatley recently. Not none, but less and it's a lot better than many other areas (over the border in Sharston, for example!). We've followed a deliberate zero-tolerance policy for graffiti – if we see it, we report it. Where the graffiti's on private property there can be complications, but generally it gets cleaned off or painted over pretty quickly. [IMG: photo] Today I used the "My Council" app on my smartphone to report two pieces of graffiti by the railway bridge at the end of Foxland ...
Although not 100% complete, we do now have a good off-road/residential road cycle route from Cheadle and Gatley to Parrs Wood. This route goes up Kingsway – the one along Manchester Road will be coming in the next year. Quite a few routes are currently half-finished (none of the new ones are signed yet, for example) and it will take time to build them up. For example, the work on Warren Avenue is completed, but the lights over Gatley Road aren't yet functioning and the route isn't signed so we're still waiting for that one to be done. However, even ...
Having represented Lunt Village for a number of years now I am fully aware of the activities of those who choose to dump rubbish rather than dispose of it properly. Lunt Village has long been a fly-tipping area in its back lanes that, until recently, connected it with Thornton. The new Switch Island to Thornton Link Road servers the linking single track road that once connected these two communities. The road has been shut for a couple of months now. [IMG: Household junk] Household junk Shut it may be but the dumping continues much to the frustration of Lunt's residents ...
Wed 16th
15:01LibLink: Tim Farron - In 2010, we promised to deliver the Pupil Premium. In 2015, I want us to promi...
[IMG: Tim Farron speaking - Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats] Lib Dem party president Tim Farron has given his personal backing to the Lib Dems promising a Student Premium – modelled on the well-received Pupil Premium – at the next election. First proposed by his colleague Stephen Williams, Tim writes the Student Premium "could potentially change the game in terms of student uptake, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds". Here's an excerpt of his article for the April issue of the magazine, Politics First: The Pupil Premium is being delivered only because the Liberal Democrats are in government - and it ...
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With 5 weeks we have a long Easter weekend The four-day weekend is perfect to get your final pre- expenses literature out. But don't forget to take so some time with the family/friends - it's going to be a tough five weeks. Depending on your religious convictions, Good Friday is perhaps a day for doing [...]
[IMG: Mark Hunter MP with councillors Pam King, Keith Holloway and Iain Roberts.] Mark Hunter MP with councillors Pam King, Keith Holloway and Iain Roberts. With local and European elections on 22nd May, Iain launched his re-election campaign this week. We've not heard anything from the other parties locally for nearly two years. On May 22nd the choice for voters will be between Iain, who's worked hard to fight for Cheadle & Gatley, and other parties who will find a name to go on the ballot paper but have done nothing for our local area over the last two years. ...
[IMG: Pro-Russian activists clash with Maidan supporters in Kharkiv on 1 March 2014] The reason given by Putin for his stationing of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine is his deep, abiding concern for the Russian people, in whatever nation they live in. At least according to him. This ethos has even been given a name, the very obvious "Putin doctrine". One of Putin's spokespeople, Dmitri Peskov, said on Russian state television last month that: "Putin is probably the main guarantor of the safety of the Russian world." I'd like to call Putin's bluff on this one. Because I ...
[IMG: Unemployment falls once again] I've brought together "claimant count" statistics for Folkestone & Hythe and Dover constituencies for 2014, 2013 & 2012 in the chart below. [Update 20 March 2014] To the end of 2013, I'd used the BBC website economy tracker at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117 but that source now seems to have disappeared. I have therefore changed to using the raw statistics from the ONS website monthly "Regional Labour Market: JSA01 - Claimant Count for Local and Unitary Authorities" releases. There were some marginal differences in figures (mainly percentage claimant counts rather than the number) between that and the BBC ...
Wed 16th
13:50Steve Webb on working with IDS: "When it comes to pensions I think he trusts my judgment."
[IMG: steve webb] Pensions minister Steve Webb is one Lib Dem minister who has emerged from Coalition with his reputation enhanced, praised even by such diverse admirers as The Sun, The Guardian and Quentin Letts. Today's Daily Mail features a warm profile of him talking about his passion: pensions. Here are a couple of excerpts that give a flavour... On working with Iain Duncan Smith Today, he and Work & Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith have become Westminster's odd couple. IDS is renowned for his Right-wing stance on benefits and welfare, and Mr Webb is a liberal Lib Dem — ...
Today, as it has been for centuries, the Miserere will be performed as part of the Holy Wednesday Tenebrae service at the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. Gregorio Allegri's eerily beautiful a cappella choral work is now one of the most recognisable pieces of classical music. However, for more than a century after its composition it would [...]
Wed 16th
12:00Danny Alexander: More people in work than ever before, earnings now rising in line with prices
[IMG: speech danny alexander 6] Two pieces of good economic news today, as the BBC reports: UK unemployment falls to five-year low of 2.2m The number of people out of work in the UK has fallen by 77,000 to a five-year low of 2.24m in the three months to February, official figures indicate. The unemployment rate now stands at 6.9% of the adult working population, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. After six years, wages finally overtake inflation After nearly six years of falling real wages, weekly earnings have finally edged above inflation. Weekly wages, including bonuses, rose by ...
Wed 16th
11:31
Herts CC Put Up Their Own Funding for Adverse Weather Recovery - "But Is It Enough?" Ask Lib Dems
[IMG: FloodWarning] Liberal Democrats at County Hall were heartened to discover that the Conservative administration had listened to the recent Lib Dem budget suggestion and decided to commit extra funds for repairing our roads and pavements after the recent flooding and atrocious weather. Unfortunately, the Conservatives at County Hall were clearly not listening properly, because they decided they could fix all the damage with just £1m (£270 for every mile of road in Hertfordshire) rather than the £2m the Liberal Democrats proposed in their alternative budget. The £1m, from a special reserve, was agreed by HCC at a Policy, Resources ...
Figures published today show that unemployment in Wales fell by 6,000 in the 3 months to February 2014. Liberal Democrats in the UK Government are building a stronger economy and today we can see what that means for people in Wales. The Liberal Democrats' overarching goal when forming the Coalition Government was to get our economy back on track. These figures are further proof that the measures taken by the Coalition Government are working. While the fall in unemployment is promising, there can be no room for complacency. There is a still a long way to go as many people ...
[IMG: lessons from quran, dras] In the UK we benefit from a truly diverse and multi-cultural society, yet we continue to be bombarded with distorted images of nationality, customs, faith and belief in the mainstream media and the internet. Sadly some of these myths and stereotypes have become embedded in the national psyche, making it harder for our young people to make important 'informed' decisions around faith and belief and distorting perceptions of some minority groups. So it's ironic that, at a time when the Government should be doing everything possible to promote better communities, the subject that can support ...
You should be planning your polling day and GOTV strategy now. First - consider the strategy across your authority It's pointless running a polling day of military precision stacking up votes in a safe ward. Talk to your strategy committee (or supremo) about what help you can expect to get from others or that you [...]
I'm currently on a 4 year plan for cheaper energy with EDF. They promised to notify me whenever another company comes up with a scheme that might save me more money. But I seem to be getting a notification at least once a week. What is it costing to sending all these notices out? I'm beginning to feel like Vernon Dursley fending off Harry Potter's owl posts!
There has been a slight improvement in the number of children in Cornwall who have been allocated a reception place at their first choice school. Letters to parents of reception age children across Cornwall will receive details of which school their child is due to attend in September today or tomorrow. The Council received 5225 applications for new reception school places for pupils in Cornwall to start school in September 2014. Of those 4910 (94%) have been offered a place at their first preference school, with 315 pupils being allocated a place at either their second (169 pupils), or third ...
Wed 16th
10:30
Victory for LibDems as European Parliament approves life-saving changes to lorry design
on the special council meeting regarding #calderdale A&E, by @jamesdbaker1 (tags: ) Oh dear. Brian Binley has foot-in-mouth moment. (tags: ) Saturn's New Moon: Number 63 Is on the Way (tags: ) The Cowpox of Doubt - a great post on rationality (tags: ) Hilarious takedown of Runner's World's advice for women speaking as someone who has done a reasonable amount of running, I would suggest the only running advice women need is this: get good running shoes that suit your pronation style (a proper sports shoe shop should test your running style before letting you buy shoes) and download ...
New from the Deputy Prime Minister's office: You can also watch this on YouTube.
[IMG: mail cyril smith lib dems] 'Squirming of the Lib Dems' is the Daily Mail's front page splash today. It's the second successive day the paper has tried, a bit desperately, to pin blame on Nick Clegg for the extensive abuse allegedly committed by former Liberal MP Sir Cyril Smith in the 1960s and '70s. The basis for the paper's accusations is that Nick Clegg issued a tribute on his 80th birthday and when Cyril Smith died. As Nick has pointed out, "I would never have dreamed of saying the things that I said about Cyril Smith on his 80th ...
Just a fairly quick update on the output from the Skate Park consultation day on the 29th March - apologies for the time this has taken to write! The day started off fairly well with myself, Cllr Sue Jenkins (Bar Hill PC Vice Chair), and Cllr Anna Saunders setting up the room with the examples from the four Skate Park companies that had provided us something to present; Canvas, Clever Curves, Rampmental, and Wheelscape. We have PDF's from each of the companies, if you are interested in more detail drop me an email. The day started off quite, the displays ...
The new Dundee City Council adult learning newsletter is now available and you can download it here. The following courses are available in the West End :
The recent frightening experience of Logie resident Kathleen Killett from a bogus caller at her front door was helpfully highlighted in the local media, including the The Courier. It is important to spread the message, particularly to elderly residents not to let cold callers into your home and that Kathleen did the right thing by requesting ID from the person who called at her door. The concerns about bogus callers has been discussed at meetings of West End Community Council in the past. Police Scotland, on its website, has useful advice to beat bogus callers.
Rediscovered penguin From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : The D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum at the University of Dundee will be re-opening for Easter, but instead of the Easter bunny we'll be showing off our Easter penguin! This special attraction is a newly discovered, long-lost specimen from D'Arcy Thompson's original museum. Photos of the museum taken around 1900 show a splendid emperor penguin on display. The penguin (probably brought back from the pioneering Dundee Antarctic Expedition of 1892-3) is known to have survived the demolition of the old museum in the 1950s, and by the ...
[IMG: 25807.jpg] I was sad to see this Liverpool Echo headline and really do hope that Labour members in the Bootle Constituency are not trying to deselect Joe Benton MP. I have commented before about Joe who is one of those politicians whom those of us in other political parties can honestly say is a good and decent man doing a good job for his constituents. I do hope that Joe's retirement will be a matter that he decides and that he does not become a victim of the ambitions of others.
I am still shocked (but sadly not surprised) at some of the abusive idiots who came out of the woodwork yesterday. Anyone who went to football in those days will know exactly how common such dangerous situations were. The police, politicians, football authorities, press and many in society regarded ALL fans as scum and acted accordingly. Thousands of people herded into pens topped with deadly spikes. The utter contempt shown by the police who treat all fans, including children, as threats and worse than animals. Any measures to police us were acceptable and any curtailment of civil liberties and human ...
An apparent show of unity at the recent Welsh Conservative conference centred around leader, Andrew R.T. Davies' call for a 'coalition of ideas' to end Labour's rule of Wales, may not have been a sign that things were moving on within the Welsh Conservative group after all. A column in today's South Wales Argus by leadership rival, Nick Ramsey shows that wounds are still raw as the Monmouthshire AM takes a side swipe at his group leader: It seems the political silly season has started earlier than usual this year with the re-emergence of old calls to rebrand the Assembly ...
[IMG: 74625956_smith_53064c] 'In the little world in which children have their existence', according to Pip in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, 'there is nothing so finely perceived and finely felt, as injustice.' None but the most hard-hearted among us could fail to be moved by the accounts that have recently been published concerning the conduct of Cyril Smith, a politician for many years, who is now deceased. The allegations are that Smith abused children in care in Rochdale, where he was a councillor and later a Member of Parliament, and that he escaped justice while he was alive. Why he was ...
