I travelled on and blogged about the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway a couple of weeks ago. Then, I wrote: Originally the line ran all the way to Welshpool's mainline station, crossing the town by threading its way between buildings and crossing roads on the level. That route is now lost. This video from the 1950s, when the line was still operated by British Rail for freight, shows an enthusiasts' special using that lost route through the town and much of the rest of the line too.
In an interesting commentary on the YouGov website, one of the UK's top psephologists - Peter Kellner - postulates some 2015 election scenarios that see the Lib Dems end up with just 19 MPs. In it he states: "Until the recent elections I assumed that the Lib Dems would regain some ground as next year's election approached. Even if they remained well below the 24% they scored in 2010, most of their MPs would enjoy enough local support to minimise their losses. "Now I am not so sure. That is, I still think that the Lib Dems could claw their ...
So, this afternoon my Dad had an appointment with his GP. It wasn't scheduled, he had a flare up of a long-running chest infection, he called, and he was able to see her on the same day. Good service, eh? She told him that he needed to go to the Royal United Hospital in Bath, we got him there, they were expecting him and moved him straight through to the Observation unit, where they took blood, temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. He was seen by a doctor, whose bedside manner was incredible, who took time to explain everything and ...
I'm still not entirely at my best, so no long posts today, but I am trying to keep to a schedule of posting something worthwhile here every day, so have some links: First, I've discovered that there are two overlapping terms, "Menippean satire" and "anatomy", which cover the fiction I most enjoy reading, and are [...]
From the City Council : DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL (BLACKNESS ROAD, DUNDEE) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF WAITING) ORDER 2014 Dundee City Council propose to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating manhole inspection works. The Order is expected to be in force for one day on 20 June 2014. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic from waiting within that length of Blackness Road, Dundee, between numbers 260 and 270 and extending from a point 30 metres east from the extended east kerb line of Seymour ...
SNP Seat. Resignation
Later this afternoon, I was delighted to participate in a presentation to Dundee Floral Art Society who have received a welcome donation from Barney's Fund, to be put towards the cost of arranging a floral display as part of the Commonwealth Games. There are 56 clubs in Scotland taking part to put together a beautiful arrangement inside the Glasgow Cathedral based on the theme of roots, shoots and fruits. This will showcase the heritage and traditions of the local area by focusing on Jute, Jam and Journalism as the roots. The shoots will represent members of the local community who ...
Yesterday, I mentioned residents' concerns about the over-flow of recycling at the Roseangle mini-recycling centre and the assurances I had received from the City Council that clearing up the mess would be swiftly attended to. I am pleased to note that this has now indeed been tidied up - photo below was taken this afternoon:
Earlier today, I had the pleasure of chairing the first 2014 meeting of the West End Christmas Fortnight committee, at Blackness Library. You might say "Christmas in June!" but the events take months of planning! We had a good discussion about 2014 events and if any resident or local business is keen to help us with this year's West End Christmas Fortnight, please contact us at christmas2014@frasermacpherson.org.uk - many thanks!
The other day I posted Tony Hancock's take on Magna Carta (as written for him by Galton and Simpson, of course). Since then I have seen an awful lot of people rubbishing any thought of commemorating the 800th anniversary of its signing next year. Nothing of Magna Carta remains part of our law and the whole thing was irredeemably sexist and all sorts of other ists too. There is something deeply silly about someone who is shocked to find that the social attitudes of the 13th century were different from those of our own. And even if nothing of Magna ...
Back in 2008 I wrote a House Points column for a Liberal Democrat News special issue on the environment. Part of it ran: Years ago environmentalists decided their only hope was to scare us half to death. Peak oil and global warming are just the latest in a list of dooms. The result has been to make many people terrified of the natural world. The environment is all around us (you cannot argue with that) and it is out to get us. This fear combines easily with parental concerns about traffic and strangers, so their children's encounters with nature are ...
Despite significant funding from the coalition Government and an 'of course it'll all be fixed' message from County Hall, highways damaged by flooding over the winter have still to be repaired, and even more alarming is the decision by the Conservative administration to withhold funds to repair all the damage. The Lib Dem group have asked time and again for funds to repair all the damaged roads to be committed, a request rejected time and again by the Conservative leadership. Most recently, Lib Dems learned that despite almost £16m being redirected to pay for staff and councillor pensions, the County ...
Tue 17th
20:00
Lib Dem opposition to mandatory jail terms for second knife offences show our principles are intact
[IMG: The Court House - Warwick - Coat of Arms] The Lib Dems have sold our soul, abandoning all principle, since going into Coalition – so goes up the cry from the party's detractors, both internal and the very many beyond. That trite claim doesn't sit very comfortably with the party's actions today, voting against Labour and Conservative MPs' united support of mandatory jail terms for any adult convicted in England or Wales of a second offence involving a knife. As the BBC reports: Conservative MP Nick de Bois championed the policy, which won wide support among Conservative and Labour ...
It is now almost a month since the European Election in which all 28 Member States of the European Union elected their Members of the European Parliament for the next five years. Being a candidate in that election, it is probably fair to say that I paid more attention to what was going both here in Britain and across Europe than the average voter. But if that's true as regards the election, it is probably all the more so now with respect to the on-going shenanigans in Brussels post-election. [IMG: EU voting] So, in the interests of spreading a little ...
Mary Dejevsky is one of the most interesting columnists on the circuit. She is the only one to see the Lib Dem contribution in government clearly. She is the only one who really gives Nick Clegg his due as one of the most intelligent operators in government. She is also invariably right, and she was right again yesterday when she talked about the vital importance of competence in government. It is all very well getting the economy right, as the coalition appears to have done in the short term, but they still haven't cracked the other competence issues and they ...
[IMG: Old Telephone] Yesterday all the phones went from our desks at my workplace. When I started working in 1981 there were phones on the desks, in-trays for all communications – yes – physical in-trays containing "internal memoranda", telex machines, lots of suits and ties and no email. And a lot of people called each other "Mr" or "Mrs" or "Miss" within the company. Now all that is gone. Everything is on the laptop – Instant messaging, Email, PC Phone, PC conferencing. No ties. First names. All chilled out (of course!). Fantastic. It feels very liberating. Until your laptop blue ...
[IMG: CRA01008] Or how language has changed... As I got into the car with him to head for our family Father's Day dinner, my father-in-law, who is, bless him, 92 years of age, looked at my new cap and remarked: That's a gay bonnet There was no undercurrent of irony or double-meaning in his comment. He simply meant, in 2014 language: That's a cool hat There was some familial amusement at his remark which was not, I fear, strictly in compliance with the fine aspirations of the Preamble to the Constitution of the Liberal Democrats. I had no idea I ...
[IMG: European Flag] Debates between the political parties in the European Parliament to form the all-important political groups, on which depends importance Committee places and speaking rights, continue in Brussels this week. The Alliance of Liberals & Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group, in which the UK's Lib Dem MEP Catherine Bearder sits, is continuing negotiations with liberal-minded parties either newly elected to the European Parliament or no longer content with their existing groups. It is now unlikely that ALDE will remain the third largest group in Strasbourg-based Parliament as the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, now led by London Tory ...
Thanks to some sort of ex Spad out there, ranting, the current PM is being accused of resembling Harold Macmillan. Apparently with the Tories that's a bad thing. Macmillan must have been electoral poison. Reading Samuel Brittan's excellent "Steering the Economy", I found myself looking up Macmillan's only ever Budget speech as Chancellor. As Sir SB [...]
[IMG: clegg cameron rose garden] A lot has been written over the last few weeks about the coalition, how it has damaged our poll ratings and what we need to do to turn things around. I'd like to put the spotlight on Cabinet Collective Responsibility and how it's not only damaged our party's identity but has also helped damage the public's view of coalitions in general. Cabinet Collective Responsibility is the convention that members of the government, i.e. ministers, all have to suspend their own opinions and collectively hold the government line. If they want to publicly disagree with the ...
The very nature of coalition means that there will inevitably be disagreements between the two parties and that these will be described as splits. This happens with internal party coalitions as well but in those cases the public do not always get to see what is going on. Inevitably, as we get closer to the General Election the number and seriousness of these splits will increase. That is a good thing. It is especially good when the split is around something as fundamental as the right of a civil servant to maintain their membership of a trade union. The Independent ...
So far I have seen every minute of the World Cup bar a snooze during the first half of the Iran v Nigeria game yesterday. I also have read a lot of feedback on the presenters, pundits, commentators and co-commentators (otherwise known as summerisers to certain people who like a disparage me) so I thought I'd put my views forward for the seven people that might read this: Presenters: The BBC use a former Golden Boot winner, darling of English football, Walkers Crisps seller and all around Mr. Nice Guy. ITV use an overexcited 47 year-old Brummie. It really should ...
The Guardian has a new poll out today, which reveals a collapse in popularity for Labour leader Ed Miliband. It shows that only 22% think he is doing a good job, compared with 61% who think he is doing a bad job, giving an overall rating of -39. Nick Clegg has also seen a sharp drop, down 16, to -37 but still remains ahead of the nosediving Labour leader. Prime Minister David Cameron is also in negative figures, at -5. Chancellor George Osborne is the only senior politician with a positive rating, coming in with an approval rating of 6. ...
[IMG: STVaction] May's elections changed the political landscape to a four-party one and, if the old two-party First Past The Post (Winner takes All) voting system looked wobbly in a three-party system, it now looks totally discredited in a four-party system. The recent election results gave credibility to the prediction of the recent New Statesman article that the result of the 2015 general election will be similar to that of February 1974 – most votes for the Conservative Party but most MPs for the Labour Party. The crucial difference between 1974 and 2015 is that Labour will probably not even ...
[IMG: New Classroom] "We are, and always will, be the party of education". So Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said in his speech at Bloomberg last Monday. This is indeed what the Liberal Democrats stand for, and it's not just an empty sound bite. The policies we pledge to adopt will be to ensure that school pupils will have the right to be taught by qualified teachers and taught a core curriculum – a truly national curriculum. The recent 'Trojan Horse' controversy has shocked the national conscience. It highlighted that some schools ran a risk of depriving children of ...
These proposals, shown below, are at the request of business owners and managers in the area who hope they would bring a higher turnover of customers to their shops. Some of the business oweners owners (Maddison's, Booze Buster and Mackays) have said that their loading is done before 10am and that a time limited waiting bay for the rest of the day would be more beneficial to their stores. These proposals are subject to change, depending on the outcome of the consultation. You have until July 4th to give your views. [IMG: Front Street Parking Proposals] Obviously definition is not ...
Owners and non owners pay! That's the very reasonable position of the Charity Dog Walk being organised by the Fire and Rescue Service in Consett which will be hosting a Charity Dog Walk at Consett Fire Station on Sunday 29th June at 10am. The event aims to raise funds for a number of charities including Stray Action for Dogs and Durham Retired Police Dogs Benevolent Fund. Everyone is welcome to attend (with or without a dog!) and free refreshments will be available. Entry fee is £3 or £7 for a family of four.
I was trying to have a day off a day hard at work lying on a sun lounger reading Paddy's new book so I can review it for Liberal Democrat Voice. Stupidly, I checked my phone and saw a tweet ... Continue reading →
[IMG: iraq] It is truly saddening to read of recent events in Iraq. Seeing the horrific images that have been all over the media for the last few days, it is impossible for your heart not to go out to the millions of people in the region who have suffered for many years at the hands of oppressive governments, violent rebels and misguided Western intervention. It is therefore maddening to see politicians in both the US and the UK suggesting that we should assist them with military aid including both troops on the ground and weaponry. Ironically the ISIS rebels ...
Last Friday, in the Liberal Democrat Voice comments beneath an article about Nick Clegg controversially holding the Sub, I wrote: At the moment even if (Nick Clegg) vaguely expresses an occasional liking for lukewarm blancmange he is damned to being burnt alive in an hysterical firestorm of reaction..... But I am completely distraught. Today Nick Clegg has brutally dashed my blancmange preference hopes!: As we're talking about food in schools, what was/is your favourite school meal? Mine was apple crumble and thick custard. — Nick Clegg (@nick_clegg) June 17, 2014 [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
The Cancer Research shop in Wallington town centre needs more of your donated items. The shop is one of three quality charity shops in Wallington town centre but tends to miss out on donations because it is furthest away from the library car park. Because of its location at the Ross Parade end most donations [...]
[IMG: LD bird BLOG] Nick Clegg has outlined the process by which Liberal Democrats will unveil their 2015 General Election manifesto and the key values that will inform the policies in it. In his speech Nick called it "an independent, liberal manifesto from an independent, liberal party" and said it "will not be written with an eye to what Labour or the Conservatives think or might sign up to." Put simply, the Liberal Democrat manifesto will be: "written as an answer to one, simple question: how can we build opportunity for all?"
There is just over one week to go to this year's Lib Dem Local Government Conference, taking place on 27-28 June in Milton Keynes. Places are fast filling up, please book now to ensure your place! Bookings are now open for June's Local Government Conference and our two Kickstart training weekends - taking place in [...]
[IMG: Vince in Chongqing] Chinese Premier Li Keqiang left on Monday this week on a 5 day visit to Britain and Greece. With him, according to the press, is a 200 strong business delegation, expected to sign up some £18 billion worth of deals. Just over 2 weeks ago, I was part of Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable's business delegation to China, taking in 5 cities in 6 days. Vince was scheduled to be in Beijing to attend UK-China Joint Economic & Trade Committee (JETC) talks with his opposite number, Mr Gao HuCheng, the Minister of Commerce. He took advantage ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg Q&A 12] Yesterday we commented on Nick Clegg's press conference in which he launched the first phase of the manifesto. We did not then cover the comments he subsequently made about the visit by the Chinese Premier to the UK. Nick is quoted: We can't ignore the large-scale and systematic human rights abuses which still continue in China to this day [and] the very widespread use of the death penalty. We have seen economic transformation on a scale possibly unheard of in the modern world where millions of people have become economically emancipated but where they are ...
If almost everyone in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden speaks English could they join the UK, Ireland and Malta in using it as a national language? The map above uses dates from Eurobarometer to look at English language fluency across the EU. Frankly it puts us generally monoglot Anglo-Saxons and Celts to shame. Even the [...]
Cornwall Council has received a planning application to allow the change of use of the Eagle House Hotel to a private residential dwelling. The Eagle House Hotel is a much loved institution in the town, both as a hotel which serves the business and visitor industry and as a venue for functions ranging from weddings to awards events to birthday parties. Many people have been in touch with me to express their concern that it might be lost to the town as a hotel. This is particularly the case for those who have booked to hold functions there in the ...
[IMG: Onzo Smart Energy Meter Kit Display] Energy policy continues to be central to the political agenda and on consumers' minds, with the average energy bill now topping £1300 and more than 2 million homes living in fuel poverty. Research published this week by the Smart Meter Central Delivery Body shows the extent of current dissatisfaction with the way we buy energy. More than half of the 10,000 respondents to our independent survey said they do not trust any energy supplier, while 41% think they are paying for more energy that they consume. Worryingly, those in low income and vulnerable ...
Today the good news on CPI inflation kept coming. For now we are stuck with the inflation remit, which means that this is the most important news of the month. Nominal demand is overwhelmingly the most important variable for our economy. Most of what you care about is badly affected by it. The Bank of England [...]
The following first appeared in yesterday's London Liberal Democrats' weekly email bulletin: The result of the recent Euro-elections was deeply dispiriting, not least because for the first time ever the Liberal Democrats pinned our pro-European colours to the mast — the only major party to do so. Yet we lost all but one of our [...]
Samsung Wireless Audio Multi-Room Speakers: the first multi-room speakers with Spotify Connect (tags: ) Star Trek The Original Series by dusty-abell on deviantART (tags: ) The strange death of the Conservative working vote (tags: ) British public wrongly believe rich pay most in tax, new research shows (tags: ) On ridiculous statistics in newspapers (tags: ) MS-Word is {Not} a document exchange format Sad that this is still necessary to share... (tags: ) Andrea Dworkin On Transgender - interesting stuff (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The Highways Agency have produced an updated information leaflet regarding their M60 Junction 8 to M62 Junction 20 Smart Motorways scheme. More details about the project are available on the HA website at In particular, the leaflet gives details of four exhibitions they are holding to give more information about the scheme. Locally, this includes one at Sedgley Park Rugby Club on 20 and 21 June. [IMG: Screenshot 2014-06-17 09.43.47] There are a number of issues around the proposals that I feel we need more information as local residents – please do not hesitate to let me know if ...
At Planning Committee on 24 June 2014, there are two important applications for new houses – both previously reported on here. On Kingswood Road for 6 detatched and 18 Semi-Detached houses. It is application 57464 - the recommendation to the Committee from Officers is: 'Minded to Approve'. On land off Bailey Street / Henry Street for 6 houses (a semi and a 4x terrace) App No. 57379 - again the recommendation is: "Minded to Approve" Full details are on the Council's website here. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or require help or ...
Tue 17th
09:32
World Cup Review 2: England v Italy review, why Rooney should be dropped, England v Uruguay preview,...
[IMG: Pepe and Mazic] So England lost to Italy. This was not wholly unexpected, at least to those of us who live within the boundaries of reality. There was a lot of talk afterwards about how England weren't that bad, actually, that there was a lot to build on. I suppose I see their point. It wasn't the mauling some of us feared. Still, watching Pirlo bestride the pitch like the Rhodes of Colossus come to life, dominating midfield throughout, was worrying. England don't have anyone like that at the moment, although if Gerrard ups his game perhaps there's some ...
A new planning application has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 57619 Registration Date: 05/06/2014 Location: 11 Brooklawn Drive, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2GS Proposal: Two storey side extension Full details are on the Council's website here. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or require help or information. Tim
A new planning application has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application NumApplication Number: 57646 Registration Date: 09/06/2014 Location: 293 Heywood Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2RQ Proposal: First floor extension at side with front juliet balcony Full details are on the Council's website here. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or require help or information. Tim
Free performances are taking place around Bury Town Centre this Saturday. [IMG: Screenshot 2014-06-15 06.54.01] Bloco Ashe Bury Community Samba Group 11am-1pm Mill Gate (outside Katsouris) Middleton Youth Band 12 -1.45pm East Lancashire Railway Station Derby High School Band 1pm - 1.30pm The Rock near Barista Cafe Greater Manchester Police Band & Bury Catholic Preparatory School Choir 1pm - 3pm Kay Gardens Tottington Public Band 1pm - 3pm The Rock, St. John's Square (near M&S) Hazlehurst Primary School Brass Band 1.15pm - 2pm Mill Gate (outside Katsouris) Derby High School Band 2pm - 2.30pm The Rock near Barista Cafe Bury ...
Consultation opened yesterday Yesterday, the Scottish Government released a Draft version of the Interim Constitution for an Independent Scotland. The idea seems to be that it will take the form of a piece of legislation, passed by the Scottish Parliament, serving as a holding arrangement to facilitate the continued operation of governmental matters until a more comprehensive constitution can be drafted by a Constitutional Convention and, one presumes, ratified by a plebiscite. I won't beat about the bush; this document is a bit of a mess in places and sorely needs rewritten. It is poorly drafted, filled with ambiguities, potential ...
[IMG: Lib Dem website] Created originally for my own use, I thought others might find this useful too: a daily email which contains the latest stories from the Liberal Democrat (federal) website. You can sign up for this daily email of Liberal Democrat news here (tick the second box). There will be no more than one email a day – and no email if there hasn't been a news story added in previous day. Hopefully you'll find it a nice supplement to my monthly analysis of what's going on in the party, Liberal Democrat Newswire, which you can sign up ...
[IMG: eu_flag] UKIP claim that we pay £55 million per day to be a member of the EU. My UKIP neighbours ask what we get back for that money. What should I tell them? First off, it seems we get about £22 million a day back in cash, in the form of grants and subsidies. But even UKIP neighbours can do simple arithmetic. That leaves a net cost of about £33 million per day, or about 50p per day on average for every man, woman, and child in the UK. What do we get in return? Some say: "Simple – ...
Residents have contacted me regarding the very poor-conditioned pavement on the south side of Beechwood Terrace - see photo right. This pavement did not appear to be on the Unadopted Footways List for future adoption, so I can contacted the City Engineer about it. He has replied as follows: "I have checked the list and it not listed. I will therefore arrange to have it inspected, priority scored and added to the Unadopted Footways Priority List for 2015/16."
My original posting on this Station was on 3rd March 2014 – see link below:- I recently purchased another photo of the Station it its earlier days:- [IMG: rsz_liverpool_liverside_station_p] The photo above is amongst my Flickr photo's at www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/ Compare that photo with the one below which shows the present use of the former Station site:- [IMG: rsz_liverpool_riverside_station_is_no_more]
The following notice has been published in relation to the A14 (Girton) improvement works. Basically on Tuesday 17th June the westbound carriage will be closed from 9pm to 6am. Here's the notice in full; Costain is pleased to be working with the Highways Agency on the delivery of planned road improvements on the A14 in Cambridge between J31 at Girton and J32 at Histon. The improvements are part of the targeted improvement and pinch point programme and are by their very nature intended to improve traffic movements through this very busy section of road. The improvements include adding an additional ...
[IMG: mistakes in setting goals] Chris Dillow draws our attention to the issue of policy implementation. He rightly argues that implementation is vitally important, but does not play well in the media. Unless, that is, something goes spectacularly wrong. The media tends to be more interested in the political "soap opera" or in new policy initiatives. Chris argues that there are reasons for thinking that implementation will be sub-optimal. These include that: There's a fetish of "leadership" and "boldness" which encourages a neglect of the unglamorous gruntwork of proper management: tracking progress, achieving small partial targets and overcoming problems. This ...
