As the strains of Elgar's Nimrod drifted across a rain soaked beach 5,821 local school children stood in perfect silence to remember 'the fallen' from World War 1. This afternoon they had broken the world record for forming a 'human poppy' The world record breaking human poppy All morning the pupils had been assembled on the beach taking part various WW1 activities; singing the old songs, marching up and down following the Duke of Lancaster's regiment and doing a military style work outWhen we assembled at 11.00am it wasn't raining, it was blustery and to the south there were threatening ...
The letter below was published in The Courier on Friday, 4th July, which you can find online by clicking here. Dear Sir, I was very disappointed to hear your report about the behaviour of Kathy Wiles, Labour's candidate for Angus for the General Election next year. Comparing the children of Yes Scotland campaigners to Hitler Youth and calling for Jeremy Clarkson to be shot are unacceptable. It is welcome that she has resigned as candidate and apologised for her comments. Angus Labour and the Scottish Labour Party need to be open about how Kathy Wiles was selected as their Westminster ...
Captain James Cook will read the Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity at Redcar on Yorkshire Day. The Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity is a statement of allegiance to Yorkshire. It is read at each of the three Bars (gates) of York, to represent the Three Ridings of Yorkshire and once within the City of York. The ceremony has been held around the walls of York every Yorkshire Day since 1975. The Declaration has been read at Redcar each year since 1997. Chris Foote-Wood, brother of Comedienne, Victoria Wood, who last year led the proceedings as Charles Dickens, will this year appear as ...
#78964526 / gettyimages.com Tyson's fast bowling was the key to England's retention of the Ashes on that tour. As Lord Kitchener put it: Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten, Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten, We began quietly, but we came back with victory, Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.Even in slow motion, Tyson looks dangerously fast.
Radio Shropshire held a fascinating debate on flooding at the Shrewsbury Conference centre yesterday evening. It was certainly worth giving up a Friday night to listen and take part. On the panel were: Alistair Moseley, Civil Engineer, Honorary Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Water Management Anthony Perry, Environment Agency Flood Risk Manager for [...]
No time for a full post today — I'm on my way down to see Brian Wilson & Al Jardine, on the same bill as Squeeze at a festival. I should be just suffering my way through the last of James Blunt's set when this goes live. Today is the last day of my mad [...]
Our Headline of the Day Award goes to the North Devon Journal.
Earlier this week I was at Mosaic Rooms in Kensington, interviewing the writer and Arabist John McHugo about his new book on Syria. The topicality of the subject was doubtless one reason that the place was packed — and both John and his publishers, Saqi Books, deserve praise for turning the book round so quickly [...]
What You Can Get Away With has been reading Conrad Russell's An Intelligent Person's Guide To Liberalism. As you should. "So the choice, for the foreseeable future, seems clear: do we want independent schools to continue as they are, largely closed to those who can't find the substantial fees; or do we want them to be open on merit, not money, so that a wider group of children can benefit?" On the Sutton Trust blog, James Turner asks some radical questions about private schools. A fifth of all websites blocked in the UK, says Krystal Vermes on Venture Beat. Carl ...
I am royally vexed - Well no, I'm pretty Pissed off actually. To set the scene, my next door neighbour is attempting to sell her house and there are several aesthetic things that we can help with. As she has no back gate to her property she asked if some workmen who were going to clear her garden could go through our back gate and over her wall. She also asked if we would go halves on repairing the wall between our two properties. Both of which we agreed to. A couple of years ago a small tree began growing ...
Shropshire Council is consulting on future polling stations, but it has already made the decision to move the Ludlow North polling station out of the town library. The problem is that Shropshire Council has moved staff from Stone House into the former exhibition space at the Library. A decision was made in February that the [...]
Sat 5th
17:47
Download and borrow ebooks for free from Cornwall libraries and be in with the chance of winning an ...
Cornwall Libraries has introduced an exciting new free service for library members who will be able to download up to five e-books to a computer, tablet or smartphone. Cornwall library members have access to more than 1500 e-books which, once downloaded, customers can read at any time, even when not connected to the internet. To launch the scheme, Bolinda Digital who are working with Cornwall Libraries, are offering library members the opportunity to win an Apple ipad mini. To be in with a chance of winning, library members need to register and download a title from Bolinda's BorrowBox before 31 ...
[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: UK Polling; Autumn 2015; Next EU Commission President & Lib Dem position; Policy Motion: Next-Generation Internet Protocol; ...
Two weeks ago I blogged about an application by Costa Coffee seeking change of use permission to open a coffee shop in Launceston Town Square in the currently empty shop at 24 Broad Street. Costa have now made a further submission for pre-application advice to site chairs and tables outside the shop in the square. Pre-application advice is a mechanism whereby someone can ask (and pay for) Cornwall Council planning officers to give their expert opinion on a proposal. It is not a proposal or application in itself and the council's final decision on any subsequent planning application is not ...
Sat 5th
17:07
UPDATED: South Suffolk Liberal Democrats select Grace Weaver as their prospective candidate for 2015
And so to Hadleigh, on a day somewhat confused as to the time of year. Ros drove me through her old County division through heavy rain and bright sunshine to the County Library, where members were gathering to anoint a new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate. As a Returning Officer, I take a relatively relaxed view as to process, especially when I know the Local Party involved and can be confident that, even if things don't run entirely as planned, applicants won't be disadvantaged. So, the speech phase safely negotiated, when the question and answer session turned into more of a group ...
Oakington singers just started in the arena, Star Radio have arrived, and everything going really well (including the weather!). Evening entertainment starts at 6pm and goes on till midnight.
First World War Centenary Lights Out Event is a National idea to encourage people to reflect and remember. I hope that the people of Cornwall will take to this simple idea of everyone turning their lights off between 10 and 11 p.m. on 4 August, just leaving a single candle or small lamp on in each home. For more information and ways that local communities can get involved, follow the link LIGHTS OUT I have tried to get the street lights turned off but I am told there are safety issues and that this is not being promoted as part ...
Sat 5th
14:30
Stephen Williams on Quentin Letts: "I'm gay, Welsh, bald, slightly disabled - he's been a s**t, a b*...
[IMG: Stephen Williams MP] It's safe to say Quentin Letts is not on Bristol West MP Stephen Williams' Christmas card list. Speaking to Total Politics, he talks candidly about his experiences on the campaign trail and the hurt of being ridiculed by the Daily Mail's Quentin Letts about the effects of his neurological disability. Here's an excerpt – and below you can see Stephen debate on last night's Channel 4 News how far journalists should go in mocking politicians... Sitting in the sun with a coffee, we talk about Williams's election in 2005, when he made history on two counts ...
Sometimes you have to wonder about people. They do surprisingly silly, horrific and weird things every single day. And then sometimes you just have to admit to yourself that, given past examples, you really shouldn't be wondering about the little oddities of humanity anymore when we have plenty of examples of humans doing truly evil things with a depressing regularity. I'm back on the book wagon and in the last few weeks I've devoured my way through two horrific accounts of human brutality and suffering. One Bloody Afternoon tells the story of the Hungerford massacre. Michael Ryan, after a failed ...
Whether you're after cash to pay for services or worried about inequalities, the sheer scale of wealth compared to income means you can't sensibly ignore it: [IMG: ONS wealth and income graph]
'PROOF THAT THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ARE A PARTY OF NINNIES' bellows the headline of a recent Spectator article by Alex Massie. Not an auspicious beginning, but I couldn't resist the clickbaity title and so went on to read why exactly ... Continue reading →
I'm off in a minute to Ed and Russell's wedding breakfast – and it's a bit of a do! So I just want to publicly wish them both all the happiness in the world. Ed has been and is an amazing campaigner for LGBT rights – and so for me to be at their wedding is super special. May they live happily ever after!
This week's Call Clegg saw Nick being questioned on everything from Rolf Harris to Iraq and Israel to PMQs. Twice he talked about wanting to reform Westmisnter from top to toe. He also said that he didn't mind Prince Charles speaking his mind on policy issues, saying that politicians shouldn't feel pressured to do what he says. He also had warm words about Susan Gaszczak, who resigned from the party the other day. Here's the video of the whole thing, also available here on You Tube) If you don't have the whole half hour to spare, you can read my ...
I am mightily unimpressed by the consensus on Northern devolution that is emerging in London. We will face new challenges post the Scottish referendum whether it results in 'Independence' or Devo Max. None of the 'lite' proposals emanating from the SE-whether from Heseltine, Osborne, Clegg or the Labour Party -adequately take account of the new challenges we face. Let us compare and contrast the proposals. The Scottish Challenge The Scottish Parliament already has significant powers and now even the Tories are proposing to give them more. Win or loose the referendum the Hollywood Parliament is going to have tax raising ...
[IMG: aid-newspaper-clippings] The Conservatives look set to back the Lib Dems' proposal to commit Britain to spend 0.7% of its national income on international aid after a private members' bill was unveiled by Michael Moore, Lib Dem MP for for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk. Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservatives all included a commitment to the legislation in their 2010 manifestos. But since the election, the Prime Minister appeared to have dismissed the idea, however it has been reported that Tory leadership has caved to Lib Dem pressure and will back the bill in a commons vote.
Sat 5th
10:30Lord Dick Newby writes...Action on employee ownership shows Liberal Democrat values in action
[IMG: Westfield Stratford City - John Lewis] I've just returned from the second of two events marking Employee Ownership Day. Employee ownership is one of those worthy but rather dull sounding policy ideas which has been in our Manifestos from time immemorial, but like motherhood and apple pie, has a comforting rather than inspiring air. What this Government has done about employee ownership however, deserves rather more attention. In 2012 Norman Lamb appointed Graeme Nuttall, the leading legal adviser in the field, to produce a report on what need to be done to promote employee ownership (EO). His report contained ...
Stall holders have begun to arrive, children's entertainment is beginning to be setup looking set to be a fantastic day - look forward to seeing you there! PS. Did I mention the Beer Festival?
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone on the doorstep] Want to know how to win election campaigns? You can learn from the very best of international experience with a free 10-week email course from myself and Ed Maxfield. Sign up at www.CampaignMasterclass.com and each week you'll receive one lesson by email, helping you become a top election winning campaigner or candidate yourself. It's a great way to make sure you don't fall foul of mistakes such as Five of the most common mistakes that Lib Dem campaigners make. We've helped, advised and run election campaigns across Europe and even further afield - and ...
Women's Poetry of World War 1 via @wmarybeard (tags: ) Nick Clegg launches Northern Futures Project (tags: ) Private rail firms to face franchise fight with state under Labour plan - oh dear Regional monopoly rather than national monopoly is still monopoly. MOAR open access operators, please. (tags: ) Halo effect not just bias but based in fact? (tags: ) What I Said About Nick Clegg at my Local Party's SGM by @auntysarah (tags: ) How To Have Sex According To Stock Photographs "Make sure you have a photographic record of your genitals beforehand so you can check for differences ...
Do you live in Yate, Sodbury or Dodington? If so, you may be interested in the next Frome Vale Area Forum, which will be held at 7pm on Thursday 10th July in Shireway Community Association, Yate. This is your chance to go along and influence local decision making. As well as the usual open session where you can put your questions on local issues to councillors and officers, there will be a presentation about the current consultation on community composting sites, applications for community grants and Positive Activities funding for your people, updates on the New Homes Bonus scheme and ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-28158831 [IMG: Credit for this photo to otsnews Southport] Credit for this photo to otsnews Southport A great idea but why do the BBC refer to it as a 'stunt'? Sadly that word, as it is used these days, is more likely to be seen in a negative context. It was a happy commemorative event not a stunt!
Campaigners claim that public debt is rising by almost £4,000 a second, while £120bn of taxpayers' money is being wasted every year. Launching its War on Waste roadshow, the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) said "every tick of the clock" was equivalent to putting £3,965 on the nation's credit card. From tomorrow until Sunday, July 13, the TPA's staff will join local activists to call on public sector officials to strip out waste from pay, pensions and inefficient spending as they tour across England and Wales. The TPA will claim that local authorities have wasted money by imposing high council tax and ...
Mike Booth may not be prolific blogger but when he posts something it is worth taking note of. In the link above he reminds us of the wise words of Yasmin Alibhai Brown in the i. Wise comment indeed.
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of Scottish Water repair works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Kirsty Semple Way (between Tom MacDonald Avenue and James Arnott Drive), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Sunday 6 July 2014 for one day. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. For further information contact (01382) 433082. Director of City Development Dundee City Council
The Council is conduction what's called an "options appraisal" on the future of Stockport Homes, the organisation that manages the council's social housing stock (and does a lot more besides). The main options are to keep the housing stock managed by Stockport Homes or to bring it back "in house" to be run internally by the Council as used to be the case in years gone by. If you are a Stockport Homes tenant, you should have your say. You can join the Facebook group to discuss the options. Take a look at the Stockport ITA website. For Cheadle Stockport ...
[IMG: web snoopers charter] We know that Tim Farron is an early adopter of new technologies. Just look at him on Twitter. He's written for the Huffington Post about how important it is that policy makers keep up with technological changes. He also outed himself as doing something we'd not really expect of him: So while catching up with the Margaret Thatcher Conference on Liberty, my ears pricked up during a talk by Joanna Shields, Digital Advisor to the Prime Minister. We live in a world where a three year old can be more comfortable with an iPad than a ...
Tomorrow's band concert on Magdalen Green features the Tayport Instrumental Band. It starts at 2pm at the bandstand. Further details available here.
Perhaps he's planning a new integrated land-sea-air public transport service? Cam asks how many buses you could fit on the new QE carrier. Is he planning to deploy double deckers, pending arrival of F35s?? — George Parker (@GeorgeWParker) July 4, 2014
[IMG: Paddy Ashdown talks on "The global power shift" in Brussels March 1st 2012 - Some rights reserved by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE ] That's the rather striking quote from Paddy Ashdown in an interview with Iain Dale on LBC radio. Here's how the Herald reported it: Speaking to LBC radio's Iain Dale, Lord Ashdown insisted the party's dismal poll ratings would recover as the "true Nick Clegg" was revealed to voters. "The right-wing press in this country detest the coalition – detest it," he said. "If they want to destroy the coalition, what they do is they attack what they consider to ...
This is my short debate on the administration of the blue badges scheme by local councils and the Welsh Government from earlier tis week:
I am getting more and more annoyed at self-publishers. Before anyone gets confused, I self-publish myself. While the next book of mine to come out is likely to be through a traditional publisher (depending on Obverse Books' publication schedules), I've published something like nine books myself, and plan to put out a couple more this [...]
So Calderdale was one of the local parties who scheduled an EGM to discuss Clegg's leadership under §10.2(f) of the party constitution, in which an election for the leader can be triggered if 75 local parties call for one. If you're looking for the result: sorry, but I'm not going to divulge it myself. This post should be read in conjunction with Sarah Brown's post about her local party EGM in Cambridge, and is published in conjunction with it. So here's the speech I wrote for the EGM: I got called for time near the very end, but I was ...
