[IMG: Newbury public meeting] Newbury, Berkshire, is a relatively prosperous place which tends to mind its own business. "O little town of Newbury, how still your ruins lie", goes the song in the Liberator song book. Occasionally the town has been at the heart of protests, such as those at Greenham Common and against the Newbury by-pass. There is nothing more British than the public meeting. It is a great expression of our democracy. If three people and a dog turn up, it is clear that people care more about "Emmerdale" than they do about the item under discussion. But, ...
#106498476 / gettyimages.com From Lauren Bacall's New York Times obituary: With an insinuating pose and a seductive, throaty voice — her simplest remark sounded like a jungle mating call, one critic said — Ms. Bacall shot to fame in 1944 with her first movie, Howard Hawks's adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel "To Have and Have Not," playing opposite Humphrey Bogart, who became her lover on the set and later her husband. It was a smashing debut sealed with a handful of lines now engraved in Hollywood history."You know you don't have to act with me, Steve," her character says ...
Stephen's Liberal Journal lists the surprising number of MPs who lost their lives on active service during the First World War. Valentine Fleming (Conservative MP for Henley when he was killed on the Western Front in May 1917) was the father of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. Some commentators and Labour activists are convinced that Nick Clegg will lose Sheffield Hallam at the next general election. A Brief History of Liberty shows them why this is extremely unlikely. On Conservative Home, Joe Armitage claims slavish politicians are robbing his generation to appease older voters. "Even some of his ...
Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulation 2014 [IMG: rsz_img_0001] Click to enlarge the letter. Eric Pickles is hardly a popular politician (if there is such a thing) but this new regulation issued by his Department hits the right note. I find it incredible that Councils and other public authorities have tried to stop members of the public from taking photos or recording meetings. I was amazed when I became aware that they could do such a thing.
The local newspaper reports: [IMG: Lincolnshire ebola tests] Phew. Next up: No-one from Lincolnshire standing in Brazilian Presidential election.
Blog Categories: Economics Education Personal Vote: -1 vote + Vote up! - Vote down! Some of you will know that I recently (aged 47) completed my first degree - I decided when I left school that if Oxford wouldn't have me I'd not bother with university and went into the city so only just got round to it after 15 years working here at my university! Anyway, I got a first class honours (and, though comparisons are not exact, about a 3.8 GPA according to the way we are calculating it here), and I'm thinking of trying to enrol for ...
Today saw the publication by the Electoral Commission, the independent party funding watchdog, of the donations received by the UK's political parties in the second quarter of 2014 (1 April to 30 June). Here are the figures: [IMG: lib dems donations - Q2 2014] And here's how the BBC reported it: UKIP have reported more in political donations than the Lib Dems in a quarter for the first time, according to the Electoral Commission. UKIP reported donations of £1.4m from April to June this year – £170,000 more than reported by the Lib Dems. ... The Conservatives reported £7.2m of ...
Wed 13th
19:06
Thanks @Nick_Clegg for costing me another local member - this one is as close to home as it gets
This one being my partner, [IMG: [personal profile] ] magister, who used to work in immigration and was so incensed by Nick's speech last week that he resigned from the party. He posted about his reasons for doing so here, and he has just texted me to tell me that he has received confirmation of cancellation. After Shirley Williams on the NHS, after Julian Huppert drank the home office kool aid on DRIP, after secret courts, after this, I really am genuinely wondering if Clegg is systematically going for properly pissing off what remaining pockets of support we have left ...
The Yorkshire Post reports: The Liberal Democrats have said they will take no further action against a Yorkshire MP who suggested he would have fired rockets into Israel. Bradford East MP David Ward faced the prospect of party disciplinary measures after he took to social media site Twitter to support Palestinians in the Gaza conflict. Mr Ward had said: "The big question is - if I lived in Gaza would I fire a rocket? -probably yes." Now Lib Dem chief whip Don Foster has said no further action will be taken after Mr Ward apologised for any offense (sic).I am ...
Wed 13th
18:15
Lib Dem Chief Whip on David Ward: "I do not intend to take further action in relation to the tweet"
[IMG: David Ward] Three weeks ago, Lib Dem MP for Bradford East David Ward tweeted: "The big question is - if I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? - probably yes". The following day he issued an apology, saying: I utterly condemn the violence on both sides in Israel and Gaza. I condemn the actions of Hamas, and my comments were not in support of firing rockets into Israel. If they gave the opposite impression, I apologise. That wasn't quite the end of the matter, though. The Lib Dem disciplinary process required a meeting between the party's Chief ...
Lib Dem chief whip Don Foster has declared that David Ward did not bring the party into disrepute, when he tweeted that if he were a Palestinian he would probably fire a rocket into Israel. It really is hard to understand the decision, and the Lib Dems general response to Ward's outrageous comments. Given that he was saying that terrorism is acceptable, and was therefore condoning civilian deaths, it makes you wonder what exactly would bring the party into disrepute. Sympathising with Hannibal? Saying Atilla the Hun's policies had some merit? I'm being facetious, but that is only because the ...
Collecting signatures on a petition to support a cause has been a mainstay of campaigning for decades. By collecting signatures on a piece of paper, or increasingly online, we can build support for our cause and engage people in our campaigning. A petition in itself is unlikely to win your campaign, but used effectively, running [...]
Hat tip: I fucking love science Further informationFiled under: Uncategorized
Wed 13th
15:24
It was great to meet up with my youngest niece Zoenjamie Hayward for the first time in almost 10 yea...
via Facebook
Wed 13th
14:55Steve Webb: Lib Dems will introduce "fair warning" for job-seekers who break benefit rules before sa...
[IMG: webb 01] The Lib Dems are taking advantage of the quiet weeks in August to drip-feed a number of new policies likely to make it into the party's general election manifesto. Alongside reforms to police stop-and-search and fairer funding for Wales, Lib Dem work and pensions minister Steve Webb has outline plans to introduce a 'fair warning' before benefits sanctions are imposed against job-seekers who break the rules. The Guardian reports: The Liberal Democrats will pledge in their general election manifesto to introduce a new "yellow card" system to give job seekers who break benefit rules a final warning ...
Here's the new film from the Electoral Commission: You can also watch this on YouTube.
[IMG: IMG_6686] After reporting further faulty lights in and around the city, local Lib Dem councillor, Darren Fower, says he thinks it's time the Council looked at incentivising local citizens to report such matters, by using more contemporary forms than providing a telephone number to call? Commenting, Darren said: "We've got apps and smart phones almost everywhere we look these days, so why not make use of them? "Reporting a faulty street light, not only helps the contractors save time and therefore money, it also prevents the wasting of electricity, which is always a good thing. "I cannot see any ...
[IMG: OsbourneWayFlooding blog] This picture of Osborne Way is on a good day! On a bad day the water covers both pavements completely and is deep enough to reach the second row of bricks on garden walls. This is quite clearly an obstruction of the highway and it is the responsibility of the Transport Authority – no less a body than our own dear county council – to sort it out. However I am pleased to say that I have some hard news at last. It is of course a longstanding problem about which both HCC and their contractors, Ringway, ...
A new play explores one of the most intriguing friendships in the history of science and politics: Margaret Thatcher and Dorothy Hodgkin. Alice Bell spoke to playwright Adam Ganz Adam Ganzs new play The Chemistry Between Them, to be broadcast on Radio 4 this month explores one of the most intriguing friendships in the history of science and politics: Margaret Thatcher and Dorothy Hodgkin. As well as winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her pioneering scientific work on the structures of proteins, Hodgkin was a left-wing peace campaigner who was awarded the Soviet equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, ...
[IMG: con home cartoon] Here's my latest The Other Side column for ConservativeHome, published here on Tuesday. I'm talking Boris and what motivates folk to want to stand for Parliament – or in my case, why I didn't. My thanks as ever to the site's editors, Paul Goodman and Mark Wallace, for giving a Lib Dem space to provoke – constructively, I hope. Boris Johnson's dance of the seven veils is over: he will, to no-one's surprise, stand for an as yet unnamed seat at the next election. The titillation has pre-occupied Westminster journalists for months, as each seat hoves ...
[IMG: Helvetica font examples. Image courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helvetica.svg - some rights reserved] [IMG: Helvetica - DVD cover] An 80 minute film about a font may not at first sound like everyone's up of tea, but Gary Hustwit's documentary Helvetica is a great watch. As well as being a history of the font, it is also a gentle amble through the history of design in the twentieth-century, largely free of jargon but still giving a good flavour of the conflicting thoughts and schools. In particular, the question of whether a font should be neutral, allowing the words and other design features ...
[IMG: Officials count ballot papers in Witney] Writing on the LSE's British Politics and Policy blog, Steven Ayres looks at where UKIP's vote came from in the 2014 local elections, and what this might mean in next year's general election. It's an interesting piece, but it brings me back a thought I've had recently with regard to UKIP's chances next years and whether analysis is factoring in the effects of differential turnout and the motivation to vote of UKIP voters. One assumption that we tend to make in projecting local election results forward to a general election is that the ...
Why a UKIP MEP is sending me a Press Release I'll never know. Maybe so I'll write about it on this very blog and in that case her devious plan has worked. Although a) I doubt it was devious and b) I doubt she has any idea who I am but still here we are. So yes, using the 50 year anniversary of the last execution in the UK, Louise Bours has decided now is the time to get the national debate going about the death penalty. She fired out the following e-mail to many people seemingly: "The public are ...
Civil servants and local government officers are not supposed to be partisan at any time but they need to take extra care to avoid any appearance of partisanship during elections. The period when rules apply is from when an election is announced until after the election is held and is known as 'purdah'. Its most [...]
So what's the future of Coder Road? The biodigester is shut down. The recycling centre is closed. And at the beginning of October, the highways depot shuts when the Ringway team moves to Craven Arms. Shropshire Star 5 August 2014 But, as reported recently in the press, there is hope that this sector of Ludlow [...]
Is it just me or does the Welsh Conservative's solution for improved transparency and accountability for the First Minister seem just a bit odd? According to the BBC, the Welsh Conservative Leader wants to move the weekly First Minster's Question Time session to later in the afternoon so as to boost TV and web audiences. Yet it is already later in the day than Prime Minister's Questions, it is available on the web at any time of day and night and highlights (when there are some) are shown on TV anyway. And let us face it, having the session later ...
Recent experience of getting HIV meds prescribed in Gibraltar. I have found it to be relatively easy to navigate the system.
In recent months a number of Lib Dem Voice readers have suggested that there should be a dialogue, if not a merger, between the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine and the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel. This week one person highlighted the objectives of each organisation as shown on their websites as follows: Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel: "We exist to support and promote policies which lead to peace and security for Israel in the context of a comprehensive and lasting Middle East peace settlement". Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine: "[We] exist to fight for the rights of the Palestinian ...
It will be sunny one day - with thanks & love to those who help me find my mental umbrella (tags: ) I'm selling some Games Workshop stuff on eBay If you know anyone who might be interested, do let them know. None of it is new, but it's all pristine. (tags: ) Robin Williams's death: a reminder that suicide and depression are not selfish (tags: ) Review of the board game Jumanji (tags: ) 'Atrocity porn', and the online campaigners who use dead children to push political points (tags: ) May Robin Williams' tragic end herald the start of ...
From the Guardian website this morning: The Liberal Democrats will pledge in their general election manifesto to introduce a new "yellow card" system to give job seekers who break benefit rules a final warning before sanctions are imposed. Amid Lib Dem concerns at a dramatic increase in sanctions in recent years, the party will say that benefit recipients should be given "fair warning" before they forfeit their benefits. In another sign of their determination to differentiate themselves from their Tory coalition partners, the Lib Dems will say the system needs to be reformed after a trebling in sanctions. Under the ...
If developers wrote commit messages like bloggers write link bait titles ... #devchat pic.twitter.com/n2F8fd2xbd — Kate Ho (@kateho) August 9, 2014
[IMG: Newbury public meeting] Newbury, Berkshire, is a relatively prosperous place which tends to mind its own business. "O little town of Newbury, how still your ruins lie", goes the song in the Liberator song book. Occasionally the town has been at the heart of protests, such as those at Greenham Common and against the Newbury by-pass. There is nothing more British than the public meeting. It is a great expression of our democracy. If three people and a dog turn up, it is clear that people care more about "Emmerdale" than they do about the item under discussion. But, ...
[IMG: LD bird BLOG] Lib Dems have today announced manifesto proposals to overhaul 'stop and search'. These plans outlined in our pre-manifesto are designed to change community relationships and increase the public's trust in police. Under the proposals, laws on 'stop and search' would be tightened and some police officers would be required to wear body cameras when stopping someone. Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister, Norman Baker, is bringing forward the plans in the pre-manifesto which will be published in September. Under the plans announced, a Liberal Democrat government would introduce rules making the wearing of body cameras by officers ...
Wed 13th
08:46
Alexander's stance on currency union applies as much to the Euro as it would the pound
Yesterday's Scottish independence referendum debate in Inverness saw Danny Alexander oppose currency union with the UK in the event of independence. In doing so, has he also outed himself as being anti-Euro? For once, I cannot fault the logic of his argument on this one. He points to the restrictions it would place on a post-independence Scottish economy, namely: restrictions on tax and spending; a currency that doesn't move with with your economy; and less economic freedom. He even goes as far as drawing parallels with the situation faced by Eurozone countries and points to countries having their hands tied ...
Currently running at Verdant Works, this exhibition is an exciting chance to view a selection of fascinating objects from Dundee Heritage Trust's collection, which aims to show how the jute mills of Dundee were frequently centres of celebration. Far from being simply places of work, this exhibition will reveal how the mills had tightly-knit communities, which were keen to celebrate the qualities and achievements of their co-workers and also to recognise important events such as weddings, coronations and anniversaries. This is also a unique opportunity to see some previously unseen items which have only recently been acquired by the Verdant ...
Labour grass roots have accused a selection of Ed Miliband's flagship policies of being "catastrophic, pathetic and wishy-washy", reports the Times. Policies attacked include those on the economy, housing, welfare reform and education. No surprise here, Miliband is another poor political leader and you don't have to chat with a Labour Party members for long for this issue to pop out.
I am both a car driver and a cyclist so I can see both points of view. The reality is that there are poor car drivers and poor cyclists. A week last Sunday I cycled over the Hall Lane canal swing bridge in Maghull east to west and just as I left the bridge another cyclist came onto the bridge travelling west to east. The next I knew (behind me) was the other cyclist shouting at a car driver who had followed me onto the bridge and all but knocked the cyclist off his bike by trying to squeeze past ...
Doomtown Reloaded is launched at Gencon this coming weekend, with a worldwide release date set for September 8th. Writing the official pre-launch FAQ for a card game from scratch is even less fun than I thought it was going to be. Doing it just from PDFs of the cards and rulebook? Yeah... My brain hurts. Still, one of the AEG forum mods made this rather nifty set of Doomtown Avatars including ones scaled for DW/LJ size, so you get Deputy Wendy Cheng pointing a rifle at you for now. [IMG: [community profile] ] doomtown, but haven't a clue what to ...
