I had a short break from beekeeping and vegetable planting today to go to Winlaton Mill Community Centre Fayre. And as soon as I arrived, I saw the table selling plants. An opportunity to stock up on lettuces for transplanting cannot be ignored. Two trays of plants later, and a check around the other stalls and I was ready to go back home - I had news of another bee swarm I had to collect so
When I first went to work in Leicester, we used to go out to a country pub for our Christmas lunch. I suggested the Sun Inn at Marston Trussell near Market Harborough, and we went there a couple of times.That was long ago, and the Sun has been closed for some years now - though not before hosting the first British Big Cats Conference. It now seems unlikely that it will reopen. But that has not stopped Marston Trussell holding a beer festival this weekend in the village hall - a mid 19th century building that was originally a school. ...
From the Nottingham Post this evening: The Nottingham City branch of the Liberal Democrats has said the national party should hold a leadership election. Members of the party met at the The Vine Community Centre, Bobbers Mill Road, on Saturday morning to discuss the future of Nick Clegg. The vote came after widespread discussion of the future of Mr Clegg following local and European election results. The call for a leadership election was supported by 75 per cent of those attending.
The company, Belectric, who is behind a proposed new Solar farm at Childerley Farm in Dry Drayton are keen to meet members of the public to discuss the project. The company will be at Dry Drayton Village Hall on Tuesday 17th June from 3pm to 8pm. If you're not able to make the meeting then you can always email them on cambridgesolarfarm@arup.com or call 01895 452 640. For more information the company you can view their website at www.belectric.co.uk Here's a scan of the document they circulated; The document is available view Google Drive here.
Good news reaches me from the Open University. After a gap of several years, the foreseeable future has arrived and there are now plans to offer three different masters qualifications in psychology from 2016. Details are fairly sketchy at the moment, but it appears that they will be offered as two-year, part-time qualifications consisting of a 30 credit foundation module, 90 credits of taught content and a 60 credit dissertation. The degrees are planned to be offered in Contemporary Psychological Studies, Forensic Psychological Studies and Criminological Studies. There are no plans to have the qualifications accredited by the British Psychological ...
Following on from my previous comments on the corrosive and dangerous impact of sugar on our health, I was interested to read this piece in today's Telegraph where they report on a new initiative being taken by Public Health England to reduce sugar in food and drink. Amongst the options they have advanced in a new report are a tax on fizzy drinks, government targets to reduce sugar and advertising restrictions on processed foods: The Telegraph say that the paper, which was discussed at a meeting between the quango and industry representatives this month, warns that coronary heart disease, strokes ...
[IMG: Lib Dem manifesto cover] The secrecy rules which cover meetings of the Liberal Democrat Federal Policy Committee are rather more sensible for our detailed discussions of the party's next general election manifesto than they are on some other occasions, so you'll understand why I skip over the details of today's long meeting to go through the current state of the plans. Overall however it was a very positive meeting with a lot of agreement from across the different viewpoints in the party represented on FPC, both on the big picture questions of overall message and financial policy and on ...
We're less than 11 months away from the May 2015 election so here's my latest running check on how candidate selection is going in our held and key target seats... [IMG: Lib Dems winning here] I published a first draft of this list at the start of October, and asked readers to help me update it. Many thanks to those of you who have helped me keep it updated, including the party's Candidates Services Office. Here's the latest version of the list of (re-)selections in our held seats and the top 50 targets for the party. It's a snapshot of ...
Robert Bridgstock's book is in part a memoir of his religious life and in part a polemic against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bridgstock's anger, and far be it from me to suggest it isn't justified, is a running thread throughout the narrative as he attempts to explain how he came to believe the LDS church was a fraud and how it came to find it completely unforgiving of any sort of independent thought. The parts where he delves into the problems with church history and theology will be no surprise to any seasoned watchers of the ...
With construction of the new lifts at Acocks Green Station on a seeming go slow, I've been in touch with Centro to find out what is going on. They confirm that Network Rail, who are managing the project and Murphys, their contractor, are running behind schedule and completion is not now expected until the autumn. Until recently we were told they would be finished towards the end of the summer. Centro say the main reason for this is problems in Murphys gaining enough access overnight (when no trains are running) to carry out the piling works and delays in the ...
So England are playing Italy today in the World Cup. If that fact leaves you feeling indifferent you might recognise this feeling: And quite understand this: And nod along in agreement with this: Firstly, imagine every time within a day that football is mentioned by someone else. Secondly, replace it with something that you don't [...]
Sat 14th
14:30
Should the identity of sex crime suspects be kept secret before charges are laid? 73% of Lib Dem mem...
[IMG: Publish Identity] 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. Over 830 party members responded – thank you – and we're publishing the full results. Following recent high-profile arrests as part of the Yewtree investigation, we asked whether anonymity should be extended to those arrested on suspicion of sexual assault but not charged... Do you think the identity of people who have been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, but have NOT yet been charged with any crime, should ...
Notice from the county council NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using that length of Drovers Way, St Albans from its junction with A4147 Catherine Street south westwards to its junction with Russell Avenue, a distance of approximately 140 metres, except for access. The purpose of the Order is to enable housing and highway development works to take place. The section of road will be closed for approximately 6 weeks during the period 29 June 2014 and 11 ...
So [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgb and I were listening to Radio 4 over breakfast, as we do in this household, and some Tory politician said something, and Mat got this look on his face that was somewhere between wounded and confused and said "when did the Tories get so incompetent?" I shrugged, intending to express the thought that as far as I was concerned they always had been, but he elaborated:No, seriously, you used to know where you were! Lefties were well-meaning but incompetent; right-wingers were evil but capable*. Now both of them are evil AND incompetent! How are ...
Sat 14th
13:53
With Benny Tsedaka of the Samaritans and Felicity Devonshire, who organise his UK visits
A while back I posted a rather more inventive example of a cat video from YouTube: Bane Cat. As a huge Dark Knight fan I naturally loved it. But now I have found something even better: more Bane Cat! I think the best part is that a cat which fancies itself to be a supervillain [...]
The annoying thing about this category is that it's the perfect storm of all the controversies surrounding the Hugo awards. It's the category in which three of the five nominees are only represented in the Hugo Packet by 70-page extracts rather than the full novel (though in this case I've found those extracts enough to [...]
I was quite taken aback by the junk, clothes, school bags, success certificates and general rubbish and litter spread around Maghull's KGV Park this morning. [IMG: A chat with others in the park led me to understand it was all a consequence of youngsters from Maghull High School celebrating the end of their exams yesterday afternoon. I can only assume none of them did very well in environmental studies but they may well have scored highly in the 'trashing your community' module. Sadly their partying has to be cleaned up by others and I wonder why the School should ...
[IMG: members forum wordle] 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: Our new policy on academies and free schools; Down to 6%; Our shiny new fiscal policy; Under ...
Our new bandstand was officially opened in the library gardens today by Sutton's new Mayor, Cllr Arthur Hookway. Hundreds of people attending the monthly Farmer's Market enjoyed live music from The Bards - and a special cake - as the bandstand was put straight to work. The bandstand was the brainchild of local resident, Colin Wadeson who worked tirelessly to get it built. Our thanks go to CoIin for his vision and determination to see the project through .The bandstand has been paid for with support from the Beddington & Wallington Local Committee. Photo(L-R): Cllr Jayne McCoy, Colin Wadeson, The ...
Chris Dillow highlights the flipside of the excellent employment figures: alongside still disappointing levels of GDP, they indicate a sudden loss of productivity. After touring through some popular explanations -an absence of bank credit, technological slowdown, a delayed return of entrepreneurial vim – I enjoy how he settles on a Mazzucato-like observation about exactly when productivity [...]
Unemployment fell significantly in Acocks Green last month. The May unadjusted claimant count fell by 55 (making a two months fall of 92) to 875, the lowest for over 5 years. There was a particularly big fall in youth claimants – down 23 to 201 in the month (making a very welcome two month fall of 38), though the numbers of long term unemployed edged back up by 5 to 336 (leaving them just 2 down on two months ago). While the long term numbers are an area of concern, overall these are excellent figures and continue a trend which ...
[IMG: mother and baby] Liberal Democrat Minister for Women and Equalities, Jenny Willott urged new mothers to focus on the joys of parenthood, not losing weight. Jenny welcomed a report by Susie Orbach and Holli Rubin which explores the health and psychological impact that body image can have on pregnant women and new mothers. The report, Two for the Price of One: The impact of body image during pregnancy and after birth shows how preoccupation with body image problems can be unconsciously transmitted down to their children. Discussing the research at the Royal Free Hospital, Jenny said "There is a ...
New from the Deputy Prime Minister's office: You can also watch this on YouTube.
[IMG: Calculating Taxes Up And Down] Stephen Tall writes that "in terms of policies, there wasn't much that was new" in Nick Clegg's Bloomberg speech. Giles Wilkes and others have suggested that, on the contrary, Nick's fiscal targets are a welcome change from the excessive deficit reduction the Coalition has pencilled in for the next parliament. These commentators think that Nick's deficit target (below) is a continuation of Labour and current Coalition policy - to balance the budget excluding capital spending. My understanding, however, is that what Nick said was entirely new and would mean far more cuts and tax ...
Those of you upset by the lack of tits in your free copy of The Sun might wish to click here. (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: Kim Philby - by Tim Milne] Tim Milne's account of his life as a secret intelligence officer, including a colleague of Kim Philby, is perhaps best described as an interesting footnote. For anyone completely new to the story of Kim Philby's MI6 career and treachery, Milne's account does not fully cover the ground of the main events. But if you already know the main features of the case, then Milne's account is an enjoyable way of filling in new details and getting an extra perspective, including the regular uncertainty which many people had over exactly what the truth was ...
Sat 14th
09:41
World Cup Review 1 - Wrong calls, the Dutch destroyers, and why I'm not sure I can stay up late to w...
[IMG: cameroonmexico16-e1402683996337] The story for me, so far in this very young World Cup, is the amount of officiating howlers we have had already. The Brazil penalty was bad enough. But in the first fifteen minutes of the Mexico v Cameroon match, two clear and fair goals were denied by erroneous officiating. What was worse is that they were both at one end. Also the second error, a header from a corner, was one of the worst football officiating mistakes I have ever seen, ever. I have watched a grand total of two football matches all year coming into this ...
[IMG: Red Arrow Fly-Past 3] Our congratulations to six Lib Dems who feature in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours List. And please forgive us for starting with Mary Reid, one of this site's volunteer editors. Mary was a Lib Dem councillor from 1997-2010 in Kingston upon Thames, serving on its executive board and as Mayor. She is named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "For political service, particularly in Kingston upon Thames (London)". Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) Robert Humphreys: Director, Open University Wales. For services to Education and voluntary public service ...
Plans for around 215 homes will be considered by the South Planning Committee on 24 June, with a recommendation for approval. I know a lot of people are unhappy with this scheme which, if approved, will add more than 200 homes to our quota over and above the housing proposed in SAMDev. However, because Shropshire [...]
[IMG: preamble] There's no question that my party - the Liberal Democrats - took a battering in last month's local and EU elections. Even my own prospective constituency, London's Hampstead and Kilburn, was left shaken. The Liberals Democrats are currently fair game across all sectors of society. But it is important for the public, and for party members, to know that it will not always be like this. Liberalism not only can, but must survive this. It must survive because nobody wants a return to the pendulum years of Thatcher for three terms and Blair for three terms. It can ...
Earlier this month, I highlighted the poor road surfaces in both Richmond Terrace and Fort Street (see right) and reported these to the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership (RMP). I have now received a response from RMP as follows: "An order has been raised by the Road Maintenance Partnership inspector to repair a number of potholes in Fort Street/Richmond Terrace with a timescale for completion of twenty eight days or sooner."
During the lunch interval on the second day of the first test between Sri Lanka and England (yesterday) the Test Match Special Team reminisced about the man, who along with Brian Johnston, ranks as the greatest cricket commentators. I am of course talking about the late great John Arlott. [IMG: images] The discussion also touched on his Liberalism and him standing as a Parliamentary candidate for the old Liberal Party. The link above takes you to a fellow Lib Dem's web site where there is a 1955 10 minute video of a Liberal Party political broadcast which Arlott participates ...
This is a Queen's Speech that represents the Liberal Democrat approach in government: putting Britain securely on the road to the economic recovery, and doing so in a way that is fair. It is a Queen's Speech that is pro-work, pro-business and pro-aspiration and builds on the strong foundations that the Coalition has laid over the past four years. Across the UK, the deficit is down by a third, unemployment is at its lowest in five years, average earnings have grown, and our economy is one of the fastest growing in the developed world. Cutting income tax for working people ...
Just a quick reminder that from 3pm today (until 8pm tonight) the company, Belectric, who is behind a proposed new Solar farm at Childerley Farm in Dry Drayton are keen to meet members of the public to discuss the project. The company will be at Dry Drayton Village Hall. If you're not able to make the meeting then you can always email them on cambridgesolarfarm@arup.com or call 01895 452 640. For more information the company you can view their website at www.belectric.co.uk Here's a scan of the document they circulated; The document is available view Google Drive here.
This is to remind you that the A14 consultation closes on 15 June 2014. The Highways Agency is keen for all those who use the A14 and who live or work nearby to have their say on the scheme before the consultation closes. To find out more please visit the schemes web chat page. To find out more about this scheme and comment on the consultation please visit the project homepage. Please note that roadwork information it is not updated in real time. Please check Traffic England for the latest information and current traffic conditions.
Gateshead's annual council meeting was held this afternoon. I had previously reported on the diminished fortunes of Paul Foy-The-Flop and Gary Haley, both responsible for the car crash style Labour campaigns in the local elections in Whickham. We had been reliably informed by sources within Labour's ranks that both had met with a big thumbs down when internal elections were held for positions
