www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-28604050 The BBC has the story. Who can forget the murder of Anthony Walker but Michael Causer's death did not hit home in the media to same extent. What is clear is that both these young man were the victims of hate-crime and such a terrible crime should have no place in a civilised society.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 384th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (27th July – 2nd August, 2014), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. A note about my ...
I have singularly failed so far to find my copy of the staff photograph from 1986, taken on the lawn at Strelley Hall to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the company. I'll keep looking, but in the meantime, these are the photographs of the hall taken in 1990 by Derek Barley, who also provided the pictures of the Stapleford office for my earlier post. The first picture is of the stables, with one of the PAFEC vans parked outside. I spent the first 18 months or so of my working life after university in the stables and I remember it ...
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe: You can also watch this on YouTube.
[IMG: Julian Huppert, Lib Dem PPC for Cambridge] Lib Dem MP for Cambridge Julian Huppert has wirtten an article at Politics.co.uk explaining why he's supportive of a new law to make revenge porn illegal. First, he sets out why the it's a problem that needs tackling: These images were typically taken with consent, or by the victim themselves - but there was no consent for them to be broadcast to everyone, but rather an expectation that they would be kept secret. This causes immense harm to the victims - the shame and humiliation of having their naked or sexually explicit ...
Sun 3rd
16:12
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 ...
We have reported the loose cover to the council. Not very good workmanship.
For Christians the crucifixion is the central moment of history, the point where Jesus' sacrifice redeems humanity. So how would this worldview change if intelligent life other than humans was discovered? Mark Strauss at io9 ponders these questions of 'exotheology': many Christians have thought about it and have rejected the idea that alien intelligence is irreconcilable [...]
Work going well on Odd Down playing fields. The 3G pitch will open in September
Sun 3rd
14:54
BAN cycles from Bridge Street on a Sunday? There's no "...sense in it?!" @SustransPBoro
[IMG: 7bcdd9d9-4679-4054-880d-eca667919989] The Conservative controlled City Council in Peterborough have recently announced they are looking to extend the cycling ban along Bridge Street, in Peterborough City Centre. In their media release the Council talks about protecting pedestrians, with the Cabinet member for City Centre Management, stated that cyclists should ".....dismount and push their bikes along Bridge Street......." In response, Liberal Democrat, Darren Fower has launched a campaign opposing the idea! [IMG: ca2b0899-a5f4-4e3a-8244-bc4ee4508e55] Commenting, Liberal Democrat city councillor, Darren Fower, said: "I launched the campaign after being contacted by several local people, who said they could not see any sense in ...
1) Been a pretty bad black dog week really, compounded by the fact the Tories are still in an all out war against 'shirkers' with mental health issues: especially those of us with anxiety and depression issues. A senior Tory in mid July stated the following: "Depression and anxiety are treatable conditions Cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) work and they get people stable again, but you can't mandate people to take that treatment. But there are loads of people who claim ESA who undergo no treatment whatsoever. It is bizarre. This is a real problem because we want people to get ...
Tom Morton of the Shropshire Star reports very good news on De Grey's. Tasty, the company currently refurbishing the building, has told the newspaper it intends to keep not only the De Grey's name, but also the traditional tearoom and bakery. The report says that Tasty will probably trade as "Wildwood at De Grey's." Jonathan [...]
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the 14,400 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Actually, this having the World Cup in England might be a good idea (179 comments) by Caron Lindsay Lib Dems publish latest accounts: £439k surplus and membership up to 43,451 (30) by Stephen Tall The Lib Dem retreat to seat-by-seat campaigns. The right tactic, but not a long-term strategy (28) by Stephen Tall Lord Rennard: Lib Dems continue investigation into peer while party official apologises for lapse (29) by The Voice RIP Cllr Jo Stephenson, Lib ...
You may find this video a little gory - you can listen to the music without the visuals here. The genius of Blow-Up is that, though the mystery remains unsolved, you feel that if you watch the film just once more you will crack it. The Draughtsman's Contract has the same quality. Dario Argento may not have seen it that way, because he made a film in which David Hemmings has to solve a murder from visual clues - and succeeded in doing so. Or as Stationary Nomad puts it: I read Deep Red as an homage to Blow-Up, a ...
Here's Matthew d'Ancona's concluding paragraph in his Telegraph column today: It is not that hard to deduce what the generation of voters still reeling from the global financial crisis might be seeking from those who would govern them. Fiscal credibility matched by fairness; public-service reform equalled by a respect for public service; a culture of aspiration that includes the aspiration to protect the vulnerable. The voters want social solidarity without socialism; decency without the punishment of success; capitalism (what else?) tempered by the recognition that markets exist within a structure of laws and a social order. It's what I'd call ...
It seems obvious in Lib Dem circles that in the run-up to the next General Election we're going to have to significantly concentrate our strength in our held seats, and the small smattering of (mostly Tory) constituencies where it looks like we can take them from our opponents. This is the subject of a recent [...]
Nick and Mia meets for the first time. They know nothing about each other and seem to know everything about everyone else. But sometimes the less you know, the better... Numbers from Robert Hloz on Vimeo. Hat-tip: Nathan Yau.
Sun 3rd
10:55
Julian Huppert's Tory opponent in Cambridge next May will be... an ex-Lib Dem London mayoral hopeful
[IMG: chamali fernando] The Cambridge News reports that Chamali Fernando has been chosen by the Conservatives to contest Julian Huppert's Cambridge constituency: A barrister and Liberal Democrat defector has been named as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cambridge. Chamali Fernando, 35, was adopted by party members to fight the 2015 poll at a special general meeting. She joined the Tories in 2009, two years after she unsuccessfully sought the Liberal Democrat nomination for the London mayoral poll. And it's a case of second time lucky in Cambridge for Ms Fernando, who missed out on the nomination to run for MP ...
A response to some of the labour spin in Calderdale (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention in the past couple of days... What chance of a Liberal Democrat gain in 2015? | Politics | PhD Be surprised if there weren't one: "What chance of a LibDem gain in 2015?" @cjnu1 > http://bit.ly/1krXMqG (Save the snark btw: impervious.) Is it worth campaigning in the summer? | Progress | News and debate from the progressive community "Is it worth campaigning in the summer?" asks @lewis_baston http://bit.ly/1oev0ZY (I say yes but mostly in your constituency) Brighton council's cycle shed crackdown highlights car-centric officialdom | Peter Walker | Environment | ...
[IMG: British passports. Photo courtesy of http://www.freeimages.com/photo/245333 - some rights reserved] The Independent reports: Nick Clegg will attempt to strike free from the Conservatives on immigration this week by declaring that the Liberal Democrats are Britain's "only real internationalist party" - the only one that does not "meet every visitor with automatic suspicion". In a pointed response to David Cameron's fresh crackdown on immigrants through the benefits system last week, the Deputy Prime Minister will say in a speech that his party has fought to end the "barbaric" practice of child detention, by enshrining the ban in the Immigration Act, ...
Progress on Broomscross Road, as it is to be called, is really moving on apace probably because of the excellent summer weather we have had. It is to be called Broomscross Road after an historic cross that stood just to the east of Thornton where those carrying coffins to Sefton Church would rest on their sad journeys in times past. The new road passes close to the site of the cross. I decided to have a look at progress of the road from a rarely seen location – Chapel Lane in Netherton (part of the Trans-Pennine Trail). This is a ...
[IMG: Blood in a laboratory. Photo courtesy of http://www.freeimages.com/photo/652136 - some rights reserved] Via the BBC: The minister in charge of regulating animal experiments in the UK has said he wants to see an end to all testing. Lib Dem MP Norman Baker – a longstanding anti-vivisection campaigner – said a ban on animal testing "would not happen tomorrow". But he claimed the government was moving in the right direction... "I am firmly of the belief it is not simply a moral issue but that we as a nation can get a strategic advantage from this – something that will ...
The Lib Dems published the party's 2013 accounts this week. The report included the latest membership figures, which showed for the first time since 2010 an increase on the previous year's: up 2% to 43,451. Here are the Lib Dem membership figures since the modern party's formation as the successor to the Liberal Party and SDP in 1988: [IMG: lib dem membership figs since 1988 - as at july 2014] For interest's sake, here's the increase/decrease in party membership under each leader: Paddy Ashdown (11 years) +3% Charles Kennedy (7 years) -13% Ming Campbell (2 years) -10% Nick Clegg (6 ...
Over the past few weeks, I have chaired a number of meetings across the West End at various sheltered housing complexes. Quite a few residents make use of the Friendly Bus shopping service, but some residents were not aware of the service, so I have since arranged for copies of the timetable to be handed into the sheltered lounges concerned. I still have some copies - so if any resident would like a copy, just call me on 459378. Alternatively the timetable can be downloaded here.
I have only just had chance to write this odd story up from the Sefton Council meeting of 24th July. Independent Councillor Maria Bennett, from Formby, wanted to put a motion before the Council to push all construction companies working within the Borough to adopt and sign up to this scheme which is intended to ensure that builders etc. operate to a clear and decent set of guidelines. [IMG: This Considerate Constructors sign is presently displayed at Switch Island as part of the new Broomscross Road building project.] This Considerate Constructors sign is presently displayed at Switch Island as part ...
Walesonline reports that Opposition parties have accused the Labour-run council in Cardiff of breaking its manifesto promise by suggesting a 5% council tax hike over the next three years. The accusation comes after the council's head of corporate services, Graham Hinchey, told a Council meeting: "Council tax may need to rise by up to 5% in each of the next three years. For our residents to understand this, this will equate to approximately 80p per week rise for the average Band D property." Judith Woodman leader of the Liberal Democrat group said: "The Labour administration put in their manifesto in ...
(Ob. disclaimer before I start — I know Philip Purser-Hallard, he's an internet friend, and he's commissioned me to write for an anthology he's editing. However, I got to know him because he's a favourite writer of mine, not the other way round, so I don't think my judgement of his work is biased.) Don't [...]
