#141675848 / gettyimages.com This is the great American blues guitarist T-Bone Walker playing at the Victoria Hotel in Leicester on 11 October 1965. The Victoria Hotel, a Leicester Mercury article reveals, was in Granby Street and was known in more recent times as the Wyvern pub. Today it is a Sainsbury's Local supermarket.
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Some have questioned the appointment of Baroness Butler-Sloss because she is too much part of the establishment or (this from Keith Vaz) because she is a member of the House of Lords. However, there is a more fundamental reason why she should not have been appointed. She is the sister of the former Attorney General (and briefly Lord Chancellor) Sir Michael Havers MP. As Havers was in office during the 1980s, the period that is likely to come under scrutiny in the inquiry, it is hard to see how she is not compromised by this family relationship. There are, of ...
Here are the latest details of the House of Play and Education's play schemes – lots going on this summer! [IMG: Special_Needs__Playscheme] [IMG: Summer_Activities_Poster]
Yesterday Derek Pringle gave us an insight into the captaincy of the schoolboy Alastair Cook: In 2003, Cook captained Bedford School in a match against an Oakham team that contained Stuart Broad. Cook made an unbeaten double hundred, a score almost unheard of in schools cricket. But in reaching that milestone he essentially sacrificed the game, leaving Oakham fewer overs to make the 300 plus runs needed for victory than he and his team had taken in getting them. In his two years as captain of Bedford, Cook made 2,014 runs in 29 innings. Despite his dominance Bedford drew 16 ...
[IMG: Kirsty Williams] Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, has condemned Labour's environment minister Alun Davies – sacked today by First Minister Carwyn Jones – for mounting a smear campaign. Mr Davies had asked for details of farm subsidies paid to five opposition AMs: Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies and Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams, Conservative AM Antoinette Sandbach, Liberal Democrat William Powell and Plaid Cymru's Llyr Gruffydd. Here's Kirsty Williams' response: The actions of Alun Davies as a Minister are atrocious and completely unacceptable for anyone serving in public office. The fact that Alun Davies ...
[IMG: cf report] Over the past 12 months I have been working with mental health experts and the think-tank CentreForum, grappling with the challenge of how we can improve mental health care. Today sees the publication of our final report, The pursuit of happiness: a new ambition for our mental health. It reflects the expertise of many, makes a number of recommendations to transform not just health services, but the mental health of the nation, and it has one overarching call - that the pursuit of happiness should be a priority for government. Costing the economy over £105 billion, 1-in-6 ...
My Voice, My Vote is a programme for National Citizenship Service graduates who want to develop their passion for social action, democratic processes and digital campaigning. Participants must be 18 by the time of the general election, and so must be born before 7 May 1997. Through the My Voice, My Vote programme, participants will: learn about democratic processes in their areaunderstand how to campaign to improve lives in the communityexpand their networksdesign and deliver effective social action campaignsprepare to vote in their first general election in May 2015The programme is running in Birmingham, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Bedfordshire & Luton, and ...
Taken a while to put this list together, as you might be able to tell from the differing ages of the links... Axelrod & matches – Chris Dillow uses Labour's appointment of David Axelrod to point out that most successful management is strongly context-specific and not necessarily transferable. Metropolitan bureaucrats ate our counties – Flip Chart Fairy Tales on just how bizarre the DCLG's latest pronouncements on 'historic borders' are. The campaign for the restoration of Winchecombeshire starts...somewhere else. The Manic Street Preachers: "I'll always hate the Tory party. But now I hate Labour, too" – Interview with the band ...
Synthetic biology is attracting attention from both scientists and regulators. But there is little agreement on what it is. Can we find a road out of synthetic biologys definitional quagmire? He was looking quite lost. An eminent scientist and UN delegate was stumbling over the meaning of a term that has been the subject of recent international debates: synthetic biology. Often called extreme genetic engineering, synthetic biology usually refers to new genetic engineering approaches that give technicians exacting control over an organisms genome. But its not quite that easy. For several years Ive been discussing and promoting the importance of ...
Janan Ganesh has the latest in a long line of columns reminding readers how deficit reduction has been nothing like as unpopular for the Coalition as foretold.* Anyone looking at Thatcher austerity and extrapolating public sentiment from that era would be hugely surprised. And so, gradually there has grown a compelling story that bluff has been called. The [...]
[IMG: BBC One logo (Reproduced under licence from bbc.co.uk - © 2014 BBC)] A new BBC television series is looking for sociable people who want to try out a 4-day home swap experience in a great British location. Do you live in a lovely home or in a terrific location? Would you like to swap your property to have a memorable experience in a fantastic part of Britain? If you'd like to taste superb local cuisine and take part in fabulous activities that go beyond the guide book, then the BBC want to hear from you! For an application form ...
Miliband plans to reverse century of centralisation Ed Miliband has said a Labour government would begin to reverse a "century of centralisation", with legislation to return powers and billions of pounds of funding to councils in England. He said he would chart a course away from the "old top-down command model" towards what he called an era of "people-powered public services". In an article in the Guardian, Mr Miliband says he also wants to introduce a proper examination of council spending. He explains he wants each local authority to "have its own Margaret Hodge", a reference to the chair of ...
Tom Watson MP has been a passionate campaigner in exposing the truth about allegations of a child abuse ring in Westminster. He may well then be disappointed that a member of his staff decided it was ok to retweet the image below. "@ptw238 @Jamin2g FFS" pic.twitter.com/twPXyJsIh5 — Shirley (@shirleykay11) July 8, 2014 [IMG: Screen Shot 2014-07-08 at 16.42.23] While you can't libel the dead, at the very least this is throughly inflammatory, and unhelpful in getting closer to the facts that this intern's boss is trying to uncover. Update Having left the Home Affairs Select Committee I have contacted Mr. ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by EBuzzing. Farewell, temporarily I hope, this month to Richard Morris (A View from Ham Common) (though Richard has been busy with his new company). 1 (4) Liberal Democrat Voice No change 2 (26) Mark Pack Down 3 3 (29) Stephen Tall Down 7 4 (36) Jennie Rigg Down 1 5 (49) Lynne Featherstone MP Down 12 6 (61) Alex Marsh Up 2 7 (63) Zoe O'Connell (Complicity) Down 1 8 (67) Paul Walter (Liberal Burblings) Down 17 9 (68) Mark Valladares (Liberal Bureaucracy) Up 2 ...
[IMG: image] "As Ukip is to the Tories, so can the Green party be to the Lib Dems." That's a sentence I wrote here, almost seven years ago, on 3rd November, 2007. In The Times, Sam Coates has looked at how the quiet rise of the Greens in recent months – the party polled just ahead of the Lib Dems in May's European elections – might hurt the Lib Dems at the May 2015 general election. An analysis of the European election results shows the Green vote strengthening and consolidating in the southwest and parts of Scotland while Lib Dem ...
It has just been announced to the Home Office select committee that Richard Whittam, QC will join NSPCC Chief Executive Peter Wanless in reviewing the handling of child abuse allegations by public figures by the Home Office. Whittam is a member of the Queens Council, runs a defence practice, but is also employed by the Government in his role as first senior Treasury counsel for crime.
Not a lot of people know this but..... If you are travelling around Wokingham Borough and you spot a drain at the side of the road that seems to be blocked, you can report it by emailing flooding@wokingham.gov.uk making sure you give a good description of where the drain is. The drainage team will action your request and get the drain cleared. Usually this is done within 48 hours. If there is general flooding etc it will take longer. The flooding@wokingham.gov.uk email address should NOT be used to report flooding, as it is not constantly monitored. You can find some ...
Eight crimes reported to the Police in Gatley during June 2014.
[IMG: Tim Farron] Edition #49 of Liberal Democrat Newswire came out last week, including an exclusive Q+A with candidates to succeed Tim Farron as Liberal Democrat President (and thanks to everyone who contributed ideas for the questions to ask). It's now also available online to read here. If you would like to receive the next edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire direct to your own inbox as soon as it is published, just sign up here. It's free! You can unsubscribe whenever you want using the link on the bottom of all the emails, and I won't pass your email address ...
This is my article on local government reorganisation published yesterday on the Institute of Welsh Affairs website The Welsh Government is on a mission: they have commited themselves to reshuffling the local council pack as painlessly as possible and they want to enlist our support to do it. Their determination to implement the Williams Commission report will come to a head on Tuesday when they announce their response to it but that will just be the start of the story. Welsh Ministers have saddled themselves with a handicap. The commission they established to look at this did not have the ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg in a London school] There are a couple of reports today of an interview Nick Clegg has given to the Radio Times. The publication itself, in its teaser, has him saying that, being a protective parent, he doesn't want to see his children following him into politics because of its tough and hostile environment. I'm like any parent. The first, most visceral instinct you have as a parent is you want to protect your children, and politics is a very rough business you know. It's absolutely not for the faint-hearted or the thin-skinned, so I wouldn't likely ...
I can't remember when I first met Richard Rockefeller. I know I had heard about him for years before and his pioneering work developing the idea of time banks in a health setting. I remember also that it was a slightly daunting prospect, as it always is, to meet a Rockefeller. You're never quite sure what to expect. But the truth is that both Richard and his sister Neva have played a critical role in the development of a new kind of economics in theory and in practice. They have both been good friends of the New Economics Foundation and, ...
Thursday: This time it's Tom Clarke writing in the Gruaniad to assert: "How the Tories chose to hit the poor" (and just look at all those buzzwords in that URL!) "George Osborne claims to have cut inequality," adds the sub-editor. "But look behind the figures and it's clear the Conservatives can't take any credit." To summarize: the existing data points do not agree with his thesis so he says that they don't count and makes up what next year's figures will say instead. It seems Iain Drunken Swerve isn't the only one for whom denial is a preferred tactic. ...
[IMG: old school] The dissolution of OFSTED is a policy we as Liberal Democrats need to support and implement to ensure our young students are being offered the best education possible. I am not saying that schools shouldn't be inspected and checked.The public needs to have confidence in the school system. Parents have the right to be informed about teachers abilities and performance. Most of all we must be able to ensure that teaching meets the needs of our children. OFSTED for too long has been nothing but a political football. School inspections should be about the students, not the ...
Elena Carter, project archivist at the Wellcome Library, unveils five treasures from the Medact archive which tell the story of medical anti-nuclear activism during the Cold War In pictures: the history of anti-nuclear medical campaigning and protest At the height of the Cold War, a group of medical professionals swapped stethoscopes for placards in a bid to highlight the threat posed by nuclear weapons. The Medact archive has just been catalogued at the Wellcome Library, and tells the story of a group of doctors, nurses and other specialist medical practitioners, who joined together to protest against nuclear weapons, using their ...
[IMG: key_FGM] Liberal Democrats welcome a report published by the Home Affairs Select Committee calling for a national action plan to end this abhorrent form of abuse. The report calls for greater anonymity for victims and protection orders to safeguard girls from being taken abroad. Liberal Democrat Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker said: "Female Genital Mutilation is a criminal offence, and it is child abuse. The coalition government is already driving a step change to end this extremely harmful and misguided practice, which has a lifelong impact on survivors' physical and mental health. "Earlier this year, Ministers from across government ...
The Medact archive - just catalogued by the Wellcome Library - tells the story of a group of doctors, nurses and other specialist medical practitioners, who joined together to protest against nuclear weapons. Continue reading...
[IMG: City Hall] Who'd have thought Nick Clegg would write for the Daily Mail? Well, actually, not THAT one, but the Hull Daily Mail about the Government's £104 million investment in local infrastructure which will be spent on transport links, housing and flood defences. It's a Liberal Democrat initiative to have local councils and communities decide where money is best spent – good old fashioned liberal decentralisation. He talked about how he has put his vision into practice: I wanted to see every part of Britain given more freedom than at the start of this parliament, so the people who ...
[IMG: FGM] Liberal Democrats have welcomed a report by the Home Affairs Select Committee calling for a national action plan to end this abhorrent form of abuse. The report calls for greater anonymity for victims and protection orders to safeguard girls from being taken abroad. Liberal Democrat Crime Prevention Minister, Norman Baker said: "Female Genital Mutilation is a criminal offence, and it is child abuse. The coalition government is already driving a step change to end this extremely harmful and misguided practice, which has a lifelong impact on survivors' physical and mental health. "Earlier this year, Ministers from across government ...
Piers Morgan brands David Cameron 'a self-serving, soulless weasel' in palindromic headline shock (tags: ) Defence Minister Philip Dunne pays a flying visit to Cardington Sheds & stands under giant arse (tags: ) Stop Trying to Make Cassettes Happen - is this really a thing? I NEVER got tapes. I went straight from vinyl to CD. Because tapes were clearly and obviously shit even in the late eighties/early nineties. and how are tapes STILL cheaper to produce than CDs? That can't be right. (tags: ) Tour de France - Northern Rail say thanks. You're welcome ;) (tags: ) US: Trans ...
Officers from South Gloucestershire Council's road safety team and Avon and Somerset Police are offering free child car seat safety checks at Yate Fire Station on Wednesday 9 July. Between 8.30am and 4pm, police officers will stop vehicles carrying young people to allow the road safety team to check if child car seats are fitted correctly. They are offering these free checks to give reassurance to parents that their children are safe and secure when travelling by car. Young passengers will also be measured to ensure they are the correct height to safely use seatbelts. The legal requirement is 135cm ...
[IMG: An election count - ballot papers being counted] You've probably noticed I quite often write about how British elections are run, how election law is changing and controversies that have kicked off. However, not all the stories appear on this blog or in my main Facebook/Twitter accounts. For a fuller range of stories (or if you just are interested in them and want to skip the pieces about toilet signage in Pizza Express and what Nick Clegg has got up to), take a look at my UK Election Law news Facebook page or follow @UKElectionLaw on Twitter. If you ...
I've only just come across Every Frame a Painting, a wonderful selection of YouTube videos looking at film making. I was particularly taken with this one about how Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright sets himself apart by making more visual comedies than we normally see: P.S. also a must see [...]
Tue 8th
09:47
Liberal Democrat Conference to return to Bournemouth in 2015 - share your memories of the town
[IMG: Bournemouth West Beach 3 Nikon D3100. DSC_0259] Yesterday, it was announced that next year's Liberal Democrat Autumn conference would be returning to Bourmemouth for the first time since 2008. This'll be a big first for me as I have never managed to get to a Conference there. So, I'm relying on you all to tell me what the place is like and to share some of your memories of Conferences there. The Conference will be taking place from 19-23 September, returning to our usual slot after this year's move to early October because of the Referendum. This, of course, ...
Post by Liberal Democrats for Civil Liberties.
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 ...
Vote for your favourite shortlisted café, food shop, bar, restaurant and food producer in the St Albans and Harpenden Food and Drink Awards 2014. The competition winners will be unveiled during the St Albans and Harpenden Food and Drink Festival which runs from Wednesday 24 September to Monday 6 October. The awards are organised by St Albans City and District Council with the support of a steering group of advisors. This year there are nine awards' categories with shortlisted businesses and producers, including three new categories for 'Best Independent Food/Drink Shop', 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Takeaway'. Please vote for who ...
I was recently contacted by Darren Eyers who has established the Tombs of the Dundee Howff website. As Darren advises:I am currently working to update the site having just finished a photographic survey of the Howff with somewhere in the region of 2700 or so pictures of the memorials being sorted for upload at the moment. The website covers mainly the Howff and its history with sections also covering the some of the other old cemeteries in Dundee. I am looking to have my Howff section completed before the 450th anniversary in September this year. This is an excellent initiative ...
Universal Credit is being started in Bury this week. At this stage this applies only to 'single claimants': no pensioners and no families. It is due to be rolled out to couples (again, no children) from August/September. Universal Credit is replacing: Jobseeker's Allowance Housing Benefit Working Tax Credit Child Tax Credit Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Bury Council staff will be doing their best to support people who need helppersonal budgeting and also support in helping customers make on-line applications. There is more information on Universal Credit and where to get more help and information here.
A selection of dates over the next few months, and a few early dates for later in the year/next year. Please let me know if there are things that you would like including in this list. 10 July, 7.30pm Prestwich Comedy : The Church Inn 12 July, 10am-2pm Guided walk Philips Park to Clifton Park circular : The Barn Countryside Centre, Philips Park Join the Ranger for a walk through Prestwich Forest Park. There are stiles and uneven surfaces. Bring a packed lunch and wear stout footwear and suitable clothing. Phone 07780 588330. 12 July, 3pm Live Music Open Day ...
The new Village Greens Community Co-op grocery opens this Friday: Friday 11th July at 10am [IMG: unnamed] Village Greens say: Invite friends, family and colleagues too and help us spread the word about our opening. Not a member yet? Then it's not too late to become a co-owner by investing – just come and see us in-store to find out more. Contact us: info@village-greens-coop.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-28182062 The recent story (see link above) about Paul McCartney re-starting his USA tour, on the BBC web site, reminded me of when Jen and I went to see him perform at Liverpool's Anfield Football Ground as part of the 2008 European Capital of Culture celebrations in the City. I took this photo during the concert:- [IMG: rsz_mccartney_concert_08] Those were great days indeed for the City of Liverpool. Gaining the European Capital of Culture award for 2008 marked a big turn around in its fortunes after years of decline as a major UK port. So much has changed since then, ...
In the last fortnight, the people of Great Britain (or at least the little bit of it around London, because of course nowhere else matters to international touring bands) have been visited by two different bands, both featuring half the surviving members of the classic Beach Boys line-up. The band currently touring as "the Beach [...]
