The University of Northampton has been given the go ahead to build a new campus to the south of the town centre. So naturally I hurried to see what will be lost when it is built. If the River Nene to the west of Bridge Street is dominated by the Carlsberg brewery, to the east it is dominated, a little improbably, by the European headquarters of Avon. It stand beside Nunn Mills Road on the south bank of a backwater of the Nene - a short artificial channel was cut in 1761 to bring the navigation into the town. But ...
On 1st of August just after mid night, there was a report of two suspicions men seeing on Scotland Road, Dry Drayton. These men were hanging around one of the farm lorry. When spoken to by members of farm staff, both men run off. There was evidence of hand prints on the lorry. Scenes of crime will attend to take prints in case a crime has taken place. On 1st of August approx. 14:30hrs, a crime took place at Tesco Bar Hill. Perpetrator(s) have taken a carrier bag from a person shopping in Tesco. The bag had three jumpers and ...
Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called for the government to end its "acrimonious" relationship with teachers. In an interview with TES, Nick expressed concerns with the rising workloads facing teachers and called for the government to tackle the issue: "I think we now need to reset the relationship. Not, I should stress, by summarily abandoning all government policy or reforms, but first and foremost by ensuring that, where there is debate and discussion between the teaching profession and government, it is conducted in a spirit and tone of mutual respect. And that we seek out ...
Today Nick Clegg has written for the Guardian about the situation in Gaza: The daily images of human torment in Gaza have been harrowing and heartbreaking. More than 1,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. Were it not for international aid rations, half the population would be without food. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are seeking shelter in UN schools - over recent days we have seen that even those places offer little safety from the conflict. As I said over two weeks ago, it is difficult to deny that Israeli military action appears disproportionate and, combined with ...
Liberal Democrat Councillors on South Cambridgeshire District Council have been asking where the Conservative Leader of the Council is as South Cambridgeshire faces one of the biggest threats to date to the character and distinctiveness of our villages following the Planning Inspector's recent decisions regarding Waterbeach. Sebastian Kindersley, PPC for South Cambridgeshire said: "At a time when 105 South Cambs parishes face speculative unplanned development as a result of the Council's failure to demonstrate a five year land supply they are entitled to expect strong, visible and effective leadership. Instead Cllr Manning has sacked his Portfolio-holder and disappeared without trace ...
I was very sorry indeed to hear of the passing of broadcaster and helicopter pilot Mike Smith. I express my sincere sympathies to his family and friends at this very sad time. I first listened to Mike Smith when he was on Capital Radio. As always, he was a flawless broadcaster, funny and interesting, but also "Mr Clean". He rightly enjoyed great success on Radio 1 and it was something of a surprise when he switched off his microphone. But he obviously had great success with his helicopter company supplying aerial pictures to TV programmes. He started a blog in ...
This is a reminder to anyone who wants to send in a comment on the application from the Co op to sell alcohol from their new store (if they get planning permission for a stop there) on Booker Avenue (at the Greenhill road junction) The deadline for comments is a bit later this month (August). You can find brief details of the application, plus a handy form for comments, at this link.
Good to see this has now been repaired.
Sat 2nd
18:40
Social Liberal Conference: Farron on the Radical challenge now the Regan/Thatcher/ Blair consensus i...
On the day Tim Farron's Beveridge lecture was a triumph. The 40 minutes speech was punctuated by warm and spontaneous applause and at the end the delegates rose to their feet without prompting to give him an extended ovation. The speech made folk feel better about themselves and their politics. It has been a rough time for those who come out of the radical tradition. Here, at last, was someone who was speaking about their dreams and hopes. The speech's great virtue was that it was forward looking. It was not picking over the bones of the coalition corpse. It ...
I've really been enjoying the Commonwealth Games over the last few days, even though my view of them has been from my armchair at home, supplemented by a few quick, surreptitious glances at the BBC website while I've been at work, rather than from the venues in Glasgow. However, an event in Glasgow that I'm currently considering whether to attend is the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology annual conference in early January 2015. While the full (non-residential) cost of the conference for BPS members is £317 (rising to £357 for registrations received after 20th October) for a non-residential ...
[IMG: Lib Dems winning here] Here's the full list of selection contests in the coming month available for Lib Dems on the approved parliamentary candidates' list, together with the closing date for applications. They include Watford, on paper the 6th most winnable Tory seat for the Lib Dems, needing a swing of just 1.29%; and also Ludlow, a Lib Dem seat from 2001-05, held by Matthew Green. The following seats have selections in progress and are currently advertising for candidates: Hove, 5th August Dundee East, 8th August Dundee West, 8th August Copeland, 11th August Bassetlaw, 15th August Birmingham Edgbaston, 15th ...
Tim Farron, Paul Burstow and Norman Lamb: three Lib Dem MPs for whom I have renewed respect for. I have bombarded all with tweets, emails and letters about mental health provision ad integration. With Tim Farron's new report focussing on young people; Paul Burstow's excellent report for CentreForum and Norman Lamb fighting hard in office for more funding: we are the party that will deliver better treatment for those who suffer mental health issues. Here, is the comment I made on Lib Dem Voice I have far from been silent on this issue. As anyone who has seen my twitter ...
[IMG: Craig Martin headshot] Congratulations to Craig Martin, selected on Thursday night by Durham Lib Dems to contest the seat, one of the most marginal in the North East, at the May 2015 general election. The City of Durham is 27th on the unofficial list of top 50 targets, with a Labour majority of 3,067. Craig, a 25-year-old teacher from County Durham, had this to say following his selection: "Liberal Democrats in government have delivered for Durham: an £800 tax cut for 33,000 low and middle earners, £7.8m more in school funding for the poorest local children, 3,000 more local ...
Writing for the Huffington Post, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron has spoken of his commitment to tackling mental health issues: Mental health services are absolutely vital but tragically find themselves swept under the carpet all too often. This silence must end. It costs lives, divides our society and harms our young people. We must have the courage to open our eyes to the truth about mental health and act. But I write this piece as a local MP, not as president of the Liberal Democrats. At my surgeries on a Friday or Saturday morning, I meet lots of constituents who ...
[IMG: Keep Calm and Comment Politely] Comments below-the-line are an integral part of LibDemVoice — it's why our volunteer editors spend quite so much of their time actively moderating threads to encourage a debate that's lively but respectful. However, readers may well have their own pet peeves: commenters who simply rub them up the wrong way, either with the content or tone of their replies. Well, one reader has developed his own way of improving his enjoyment of the site, triggered by two recurring categories of comments which crop up regularly in discussions here which he finds monotonous. To find ...
[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: Is this Legal? Or Moral? or just Politics?; UK arming of Israel; What will happen to the ...
Labour have launched into a tirade against the Conservatives, Independent and Lib Dems on Calderdale Council. After losing control control of Calderdale Council for failing to listen to residents or full Council on key issues. 1. Labour now admit plan was hatched in advance In the meeting Labour claimed Lib Dems had wanted to do this for ages and that the deal had nothing to do parking or Hipperholme crossroads, they push that line again in press releases "the two issues which Cllrs Battye and Baines pretended this was all about". Thankfully they have now admitted it was actually a ...
[IMG: salo_7_pas_2] X Factor auditions are now underway across Britain, so get on down there all you hopefuls! A Metro article this week very helpfully outlined what potential X Factor contestants should do to ensure their place on the programme. All one needs to do apparently is acquire talent, good looks, great hair and "chemistry"; the last item the Metro doesn't adequately explain, so I'm sorry I'm unable to elaborate. The problem with the list given by the daily that may jump out at you immediately is that most of things are actually not acquirable, particularly in a short time ...
Hertfordshire County Council's plans to cut bus services on 39 routes after 6.30pm each evening and on Sundays has now been exposed to also include Bank Holidays.Liberal Democrat Group Leader County Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst has found this out by questioning officers."Yet again we have had to drag out of the ruling Conservatives what they are really planning: first they say the cuts will save £700,000, then after Lib Dem questioning it's found it is a £887,000 cut! They told us it would 'only' affect 200,000 passenger trips; then we exposed it was 887,000 passenger trips. Now we are told that ...
Filed under: Uncategorized
Making Lib Dem Voice More Useful - a beautiful little Greasemonkey Script :) (tags: ) Why every day should be Yorkshire Day (tags: ) Cleaning up politics is about more than money (tags: ) The Liberal Democrat manifesto: first out of the blocks for nature? (tags: ) The list of shame: Court tells DWP to reveal workfare users (tags: ) Best meme answers EVER by @DHLinton (tags: ) 17 Terrifying Photos Of Men Walking Around London In Tiny Suit Shorts The last one is particularly bothersome to me, the woman's body language... *shudder* But yeah, boys in shorts is good, ...
Why must the media call the current Israel/Gaza war "the Middle East crisis"? The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a huge region, of which Israel/Palestine is, what, less than 2% - and the Middle East has many crises, not just one. We did not use to call Northern Ireland "the Western Europe crisis"; can we not call the Israel/Palestine crisis precisely what it is - "the Israel/Palestine crisis"? It is indeed a crisis, and so (for example) is the situation in Libya (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28616843) - is Libya not in the Middle East too? The implication that "the Middle East" ...
This letter from the Western Mail was tweeted by Nick Clark.
Tim Farron writes on Huffington Post: t my surgeries on a Friday or Saturday morning, I meet lots of constituents who talk to me about a variety of different problems. Those that stick with me are young people with mental health issues who have no idea where else to turn or how to get the support that they need. There are then events that have a particularly profound and lasting effect on me - the deaths of young people who have struggled with mental health conditions. These tragic events and the circumstances surrounding them have brought to light serious flaws ...
[IMG: ST_everton] My co-editor Caron Lindsay isn't, it turns out, a big fan of football. But I am — that's me there, aged about 8 — and there are a few other Lib Dems who are too. The new season properly kicks off in a fortnight's time, 16th August. So if you fancy pitting your skills selecting the most successful team of players from the English Premier League against the skills of fellow party supporters here's what you need to do: 1. Click here: http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ 2. Register your details 3. Select your team – use your budget of £100m to ...
I have welcomed news of a substantial refurbishment by Post Office Limited of the Perth Road Post Office that will result in a new, ultra modern design and further welcomed news that the refurbished Post Office in Perth Road will open on Saturday afternoons in future, in addition to its current opening days and times. I am very pleased at the investment in Perth Road Post Office which confirms its great performance and service to the community. The additional opening hours on Saturday are also a welcome improvement, particularly for working families who can struggle to get to the Post ...
I was asked about the size of the crowds at this 4 day event in the Capital of Culture (2008) held over last weekend. Well they were massive and I found a couple of shots that nicely illustrate the numbers of folk who streamed into Liverpool on the Saturday. It was wall to wall humanity:- [IMG: rsz_img_1706] [IMG: rsz_img_1731] Both photos are amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
I recommend a read of the article on Iain's blog site that the link above takes you to. I particularly liked this:- The job of a leader is not to do everything himself or herself but to bring together a team who make our message new in this generation. S/he should not confine themselves to party members but draw on the best people who want a fair and free society. People who can say with us (and the authors of the Yellow Book) that they 'believe with a passionate faith that the end of all political and economic action ...
[IMG: Clegg Speech 40] Writing for today's Guardian Nick Clegg has this to say about the ongoing conflict in Gaza: The daily images of human torment in Gaza have been harrowing and heartbreaking. More than 1,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. Were it not for international aid rations, half the population would be without food. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are seeking shelter in UN schools - and even these offer little safety. It is difficult to deny that Israel's military action appears disproportionate and, combined with the Gaza blockade, is resulting in the collective suffering of ...
Cambridgeshire County Council is part of The Great War, Between the Lines project and we are holding a free commemorative event on 3 August 2014, 1-5pm in Hinchingbrooke House, Huntingdon. The event aims to raise awareness of this hugely important milestone in world history, It will have activities to engage families as well as inform and educate. 'The Last Day of Peace' will include activities of interest to all ages. The event will be attended by the deputy Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. The event will include: Re-enactors - in costume - to help bring the alive the spirit of the ...
This week The Electoral Commission published the 2013 accounts for all the major political parties. These reveal the party's finances but also other interesting things like membership and staffing numbers. This is exactly the sort of thing that, frankly, only political geeks get excited about, so obviously the team was downloading them the moment that they were published. The story they tell is really interesting, and there are just a few things I wanted to highlight. We're growing faster than the Labour partyOur membership increased by just over 1000 in 2013, having dropped almost every non-General Election year for the ...
This isn't my normal kind of post, but I've seen a lot of people terrified about this over the last couple of days — people seriously worried that they are going to catch, and die from, ebola, because of the news coverage of it. People are worried about "pandemics", "apocalyptic plagues" and the like. So [...]
Some things I've been in to this week: A TED talk: Chip Kidd is one of the world's most significant book cover designers and this talk looks at his work and how he comes up with covers that suit the book. I found this talk a bit difficult to get in to thanks to Kidd's [...]
