Some things I've been in to this week: A TV programme (and a book and an app and a place): I've been fascinated by Hatton Garden in London ever since I used to go to the area every couple of months for a meeting that was held in a church hall there, and so this [...]
Imagine... A Stonewall head of education working for an anti-marriage equality Tory Minister.Who'd of thought it? Everyone? Oh. But Jae, I hear you say. The debate is over. We've got equal marriage. Let's move on and work together. It is about helping end bullying (well if its homophobic anyway, otherwise the kids are on their own). Blah blah blah. Won't somebody think of the children? Etc. Well it isn't over. And it isn't right. We still have plenty of work to go before we achieve actual marriage equality. And the idea that Luke Tryl, who probably had a fair bit ...
From Gatley Village Partnership: There are 17 names on the Gatley War Memorial - Gatley men who gave their lives in the first World War, 100 years ago. Gatley Village Partnership (GVP) wants these men to be remembered and for everyone to know about them. With the help of with local historian John Hartley we have placed 17 posters - one for every man who died - on Gatley Green. Each tells the story of one of the men. John will be telling more about them in his talk at St. James' Church Hall on Sunday 3rd August, 3pm. GVP ...
[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: David Ward again; Coalition – no names, no pack drill; Do not Go Gentle into that Good ...
In view of Ed Miliband's speech yesterday in which he half apologised for the way he looks and the way he speaks, it is worth remiembering how he was sold to the Labour Party as a possible leader. Here is Mehdi Hasan, who was soon to become his biographer, writing about the Ed Miliband and the party's leadership contest in August 2010: I remember the first time I realised Ed Miliband could be the next Labour leader. Standing in a packed room at the TUC's Congress House headquarters in January, at Ken Livingstone's Progressive London conference, I watched as the ...
Last Wednesday I missed the meeting of Stockton Borough Council. This is not something I do frequently or lightly but because I'd been laid low by a bug of some sort Wednesday was one of those occasions. The agenda consisted of approving the decisions made by Cabinet the week before (officially known as recommendations but the inbuilt majority of the Labour/IBIS coalition means they're
1. My creative swearing has been compared to that of the Pythons': an accolade I think! 2. Monty Python are still funny. Full Stop! 3. The courts rule that the PIP (Personal Independence Payments) are lawful: they do however state that there is clear intent by the DWP to make people worse off. "...... In developing the PIP assessment we were aware that the vast majority of recipients of DLA were individuals with genuine health conditions and disabilities and genuine need, and that removing or reducing that benefit may affect their daily lives. However, we believe that these impacts ...
[IMG: Ed Miliband] I've quite a lot of time for Ed Miliband. Politics needs intelligent, thoughtful folk with their hearts in the right place. I respect, for example, that he held out last year against the superficially attractive urge to call for an in/out EU referendum advocated by more opportunistic Labour colleagues who relished the idea of stirring Tory discontent with Cameron. Miliband, rightly, decided to put national interest ahead of narrow party interest. But there are evident troubles with his leadership, crystallised by his speech yesterday in which he acknowledged his own image problems: "I am not trying to ...
Hat-tip: BuzzfeedFiled under: Uncategorized
[IMG: russellliberalism] (If you've missed the previous posts in the series, they're here: Index, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and the original post.) After nine posts and a lot of words, we've come to the end of my odyssey through An Intelligent Person's Guide To Liberalism, and I hope it's been of some interest. It's been an interesting exercise for me, as it's a good framework for examining liberalism, and the way Russell frames his vision of it allowed me to take a step back from current discussions and conceptions of liberalism to take a wider view. Progressing ...
[IMG: jo stephenson] Jo Stephenson, Deputy Leader of Cumbria County Council and Lib Dem group leader, has died. The Westmoreland Gazette reports: A LEADING Lake District politician who fell 30ft out of a window three weeks ago died in hospital last night, Cumbria County Council said today. Liberal Democrat Coun Jo Stephenson suffered serious injuries including a broken pelvis, punctured lung and chest injuries following the incident in Windermere on July 4. A statement released by Cumbria County Council this morning confirmed Coun Stephenson, who was the deputy leader of the authority, died in Royal Preston Hospital last night. "He ...
With plane crashes and wars, the world over the last couple of weeks has been a bit too awful to process. So as a bit of light weekend relief, I present to you a dog that was so happy to be reunited with it's owner after two years that it passed out with joy. ITV have the full story.
Note received from county council An inspection was carried out on Friday 18/7/14 and found Affinity Water had an emmergency road closure in place and works already in progress to repair a water leak, the road closure being required due to the position on the excavation being in the centre of the carriageway. Affinity Water was contacted by phone to highlight the site and request that the reinstatement and reopening of the street was given priority, as other streets in the vicinity already had closures in place. It was also highlighted that heavy scarring of the carriageway caused during the ...
A bit of an oldie now but, given the increasing rise in profiles of extremists of all ilks, "Them" provides a really interesting insight into the odd mentality of holders of some of the weirder political outlooks in the Western world. From Omar Bakri to Alex Jones we see the odd dissonance (something I see in most "believers") between living ordinary lives with ordinary problems whilst holding onto beliefs that seem to oppose the very concept of living ordinary lives. If I truly believed in the New World Order I'd either try and keep my head down or give up ...
The Times reports that David Cameron has added to his membership of a growing list of politicians who have commited geographically based gaffes whilst being interviewed on local radio. The paper says that after praising the thriving economy on Tyneside, the prime minister was corrected on his regional geography by BBC Radio Tees presenter Lisa McCormick, who asked if he was neglecting Teeside, 40 miles south: Mr Cameron told listeners: "I was up on the Tyne recently and there are oil rigs being fabricated on the Tyne again, which is a great sign of manufacturing in our country; you see ...
Every year, the European Union Select Committee in the Lords reports back on its activities. And oddly, given the huge fuss made about the influence of the European Union on our day to day lives, very little attention is given to its work, and that of its six sub-committees - even by members of the House of Lords. As Chair of one of those sub-committees, responsible for agriculture, fisheries, environment and energy, Ros was keen to tell of the work of her colleagues and staff... Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD): My Lords, I wish to focus my remarks on ...
Google think up yet another worrying thing for privacy campaigners I don't know about you, but I'm MILDLY uncomfortable with the idea of my DNA being searchable. But then, I freak out about google glass too. (tags: ) Amazon.co.uk Customer Reviews: David Cameron Lifesize Cardboard Cutout Standee (tags: ) Cats that like to be spanked - can't stop laughing about this (tags: ) Eastwood Recycling site in Todmorden looks to have been wrecked by employee of contractor :( (tags: ) LOL signs outside a church (tags: ) Young women face gender-specific challenges that limit their political participation : Democratic Audit ...
There is a broad consensus among politicians, analysts and commentators that Britain needs to build more housing. You can encounter dissent from that view, but it tends to be on the fringes - in deep UKIP anti-migrant territory or the paramilitary wing of the rural lobby. The debate opens up when we start to examine why Britain is plagued with a relatively unresponsive housing supply system. On the political right and among many economists the problem is seen to lie with the planning system. Full stop. Economists with a more subtle understanding of the issues will argue it is the ...
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe: You can also watch this on YouTube.
Four months after being charged with electoral fraud involving nomination papers for local elections, UKIP's general election candidate for Yarmouth has resigned. Stepping down, Matthew Smith said: I will continue to fight this case knowing that I am innocent of all charges and it is a sad indictment that this case has taken such an unusually long time to progress. However I believe that I owe it to the people of Great Yarmouth to have a UKIP candidate, democratically selected by the local branch members in due course, who is free from such distractions and can give the people of ...
[IMG: Social Liberal Forum conference Jul 19 2014 closing panel Photo by Paul Walter] This time last week, I had just arrived at a very crowded Euston Station in London for the Social Liberal Forum's Annual Conference. It was more than worth the 800 mile round trip, even if I've been ill ever since. Our own Mary Reid had a major hand in the organisation of the event, which was attended by over 200 people. She did a fantastic job. Everything ran smoothly and the food and drink on offer all day was really good. There were actually four members ...
Sat 26th
08:45
Lord Rennard: Lib Dems continue investigation into peer while party official apologises for lapse
[IMG: Chris Rennard] The Guardian reports today on the latest developments in the Lord Rennard case, specifically: A senior Lib Dem official has personally apologised to Lord Rennard "over the fact the party told the media an appeal against his suspension had been rejected before the peer himself was informed of the ruling." (See LDV's brief report, 'Lord Rennard remains suspended' (15th July).) The party has abandoned its investigation into Lord Rennard for not apologising to the four women, who maintain he touched them inappropriately, as recommended by Alistair Webster QC's inquiry, which concluded in January. It was his initial ...
Eadweard Muybridge From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : On Tuesday 29th July the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum is taking part in a city-wide evening of cultural events to celebrate the Commonwealth Games. Join us at 6pm for an evening exploring animal locomotion and the extraordinary work of Victorian photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Curator Matthew Jarron will describe Muybridge's ground-breaking work, which became a key precursor of cinema, and will discuss Muybridge's visit to Dundee in 1890 to give one of the Armitstead Lectures. Dr David Booth of the College of Life Sciences will then describe ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28391275 The BBC has the story – see link above. A train firm has banned alcohol on trains leaving Liverpool on Friday and Saturday nights. London Midland said the ban will come into force at 21:00 on all its trains leaving Liverpool Lime Street station. Boarding controls will be in operation, supported by the British Transport Police, the company said. Passengers who have had too much to drink will be prevented from travelling, a spokesman for the operator said. [IMG: Picture credit Wikepedia] A London Midland Train – Picture credit Wikepedia Can't say I am surprised as booze on trains ...
The Explosive, Inside Story of How John Kerry Built an Israel-Palestine Peace Plan—and Watched It Crumble – A detailed account of how he came close to getting a deal, then watched it all fall apart. Rationalist theories of international relations hold that war occurs when the sides in a conflict have informational problems and commitment problems – this is a case study in both. The tech utopia nobody wants: why the world nerds are creating will be awful – We're in a world where someone is making, actively marketing and recommending for the poor a food substitute called Soylent. Science ...
Blogging will be light
David Cornock reports on the debate in the House of Lords on the Wales Bill in which Liberal Democrats Minister, Jenny Randerson told peers that the UK government could reconsider its plans to give the Welsh government income tax powers if Scotland gets more control over income tax there: Lady Randerson, speaking during a debate on the Wales Bill which transfers more powers to Cardiff, acknowledged there was opposition to the so-called lockstep that would prevent the Welsh government from being able to vary income tax rates separately. Under the coalition's plans, any rise or cut in the top rate ...
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its latest update to the World Economic Outlook report today, showing good news for Britain's economy. The IMF project that the UK will be the fastest growing major advanced economy in 2014, expecting the UK to grow by 3.2% this year and 2.7% in 2015. The new figures predicted by IMF for 2014 are double the amount predicted last year, confirming that Britain is powering ahead faster than expected. Commenting on the review, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander MP said: "The IMF projection that Britain will be the fastest growing ...
BBC Four are doing a remarkable job in re-running TOTP from the 70s without featuring some of their now unsavoury presenters. Anyway here's the Stranglers from tonight's edition...
