Gene Clark always hated to fly. The Byrds' first UK tour had been a disaster, from the moment they stepped off the plane, when they were served a writ by the British band The Birds, who felt that their name was too similar to avoid confusion. The band had been hated by British audiences for [...]

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!
Tue 26th
21:30

Beat School (1961)

We should all be grateful to Sam Holler for tweeting this video. As he says: "Everything about this 1960s alternative school is delightful and hilarious. Best clip ever." One mystery is where the school was. The commentary on the video says Burgess Hill in Hertfordshire, but I can find no such settlement. There is a Burgess Hill in West Sussex, of course, and also an area of Hampstead with that name. Maybe it was in one of those? - someone may recognise the building. As Dangerous Minds says: Like the best of the British Pathe clips, this short clip on ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Tue 26th
21:08

Six of the Best 460

Viktor Orban "Descriptions matter, I'm not saying they don't - but when the politics of language pushes the rest aside, it seems to me that what it does most of all is remind us of our own powerlessness." David Boyle discusses the absence of big issues from today's politics. Ian Ridley on why he still wants to see a change of Liberal Democrat leader. "To be black and interact with the police is a scary thing. The fear doesn't have to come from any kind of historical antagonism, which, trust me, would be enough; it can also come from many ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

A couple of days ago I posted a photograph of a cat sitting on the stones at the mouth of the River Jordan. This is a photo of the same spot after two days of rain. (It also shows the larger River Welland and the railway bridge over it.) The guardian of the Jordan would have got his paws wet if he had tried it today. Still, I am pleased to have met the Jordan's genius loci.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Today, local member Wayne Chadburn posted on the libdemvoice website arguing for more devolution for the regions. You can read the post and the comments posted in response here. This is the post in full... The British economy and hence the politics of Britain are London-centric. Of this there is no doubt. Gross value added [...]

Posted by penistonelibdems on Penistone Liberal Democrats

Quite a few conspiracy theories surround HIV/AIDS. Most destructively there is the notion tragically adhered to by former South African president Thabo Mbeki that AIDS is not actually caused by HIV. There are also significant numbers who believe that it was created deliberately: According to a 2005 survey of African Americans living in the US, almost [...]

Posted by Mark Mills on Matter Of Facts

During the first few weeks of 2011 I was glued to Al Jazeera's English-language TV channel as the revolution in Egypt unfurled and President Hosni Mubarak eventually stood down from power. But this proved to be a hollow victory for the predominantly liberal and often secular young demonstrators who had been so visible in Cairo's [...]

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer

The Liberal Democrat Press Release Issued Today. If Redrow think they are going to have an easy ride then they should think again!! As the City Council announces a preferred developer for the Meadows at Park Avenue, Councillor Richard ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

[IMG: Yorkshire Dales] The British economy and hence the politics of Britain are London-centric. Of this there is no doubt. Gross Value Added figures, which show the value of goods and services produced by the different regions of the UK highlight this perfectly. The Gross Value Added figure for London is in excess of £37,000 per head of the population. The only other region which gets above £20,000 is the South East. The gap between London, the South East and the other regions of the UK in terms of economic power and hence influence, is widening by the day. Government ...

Posted by Wayne Chadburn on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Golden Dragon. Public Domain CC0] The recent list of unusual Freedom of Information requests made me wonder which Liberal Democrat would be most likely to have submitted which. Number four is the one for me, and number five is Lembit of course. As for the others... What plans are in place to protect the town from a dragon attack? (Wigan Council) Please list all the types of animals you have frozen since March 2012, including the type and quantity of each animal. (Cambridge City Council) How many times has the council paid for the services of an exorcist, psychic ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
YouGov

I must confess feeling a moment's sympathy for Austin Mitchell, the retiring Labour MP for Grimsby, wriggling on the hook of his BBC interview for saying the unsayable: distinguishing between the different contributions of men and women MPs. I can't say I agree with him (he says quickly). But this issue about Big Issues versus domestic issues does need a bit of unpacking, because I do think something is going on. I don't believe it has anything to do with the influx of women MPs. I think it has to do with the demise of socialism as a coherent intellectual ...

Posted by David Boyle on The Real Blog

It's getting towards the time of year when thoughts turn to re-election, and as my second term as a member of the Liberal Democrat delegation to the Council of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) comes to an end on 31 December, I should be giving some thought towards a manifesto. There are some new complications this year, in that gender balance will be more strictly enforced, which given that more men than women generally run, makes my prospects somewhat less rosy - c'est la vie, I guess. I am, it is true, somewhat more low profile ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on The view from Creeting St Peter

Anthony Asquith, son of Liberal Prime Minister H.H. Asquith, stunt double in Boadicea and respected film director, never quite fulfilled the promise of his talent. Graham Greene said of him, "Mr. Anthony Asquith was once a promising director, though he was always more tricky than imaginative", but he was always in plenty of demand as a director, keeping him busy throughout his career. That heavy involvement in the film industry helps explain his appearance in a Labour election leaflet in 1945, urging people to back the Labour candidate in Kingston, George Elvin. Elvin was a trade unionist in the cinema ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, is urging people to report possible legal loopholes in zero-hours contracts – ones that could be used by rogue employers in the future to exploit people on zero-hours contracts. According to the ONS in April, about 1.4 million jobs are offered on zero hours contracts in the UK. Zero hours [...]

Posted by penistonelibdems on Penistone Liberal Democrats

[IMG: Rt. Hon. H.H. Asquith (LOC)] 1910 was a momentous year for Liberals in UK government, with a long-desired end to bitter struggles with the Conservatives over House of Lords reform arriving at a triumphant conclusion. Now a House of Lords of whatever persuasion would no longer be able to resist indefinitely progress for the vast majority of democratically drawn-up Parliamentary bills, and Asquith, Lloyd George & co could take much credit for this. Only four years later, however, the country slipped into a war, the wastage of human life caused by which remains unrivalled in the history of western ...

Posted by Neil Hughes on Liberal Democrat Voice

This morning I unveiled a memorial stone to Captain Douglas Reynolds, on the hundredth anniversary of the action that led to him being awarded Britain's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross. In this centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War there will be many events around Britain and the rest of Europe. [...]

Posted by stephenwilliamsmp on Stephen Williams' Blog

[IMG: three_women_standing_together] As the dust begins to settle from the Rennard affair we must now reflect on how our party can stand up to liberal values when it comes to gender equality. It is welcome that, following a review of the procedures of the case, the party now no longer needs a criminal burden of proof in internal disputes of this kind. We can, and should, be proud of the fact that we have changed protocol in light of the failures that have occurred; not every party is so open and willing to change when things go wrong. However more ...

Posted by Alasdair Hill on Liberal Democrat Voice

A few short months after being moved to volunteer as the London Borough of Sutton's mental health champion, and what has been happening? Quite a lot as you will see, and I would urge all councils to appoint a mental health champion - it is a stimulating, rewarding and worthwhile role! Sutton has unanimously passed [...]

Posted by Craig Whittall on Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

[IMG: Not Mark Valladares. Photo courtesy of - some rights reserved] Mark Valladares has a typically thoughtful post about the withdrawal of Pauline Pearce from the contest to succeed Tim Farron as Liberal Democrat President: I don't know Pauline at all, although I knew a little from some of the coverage she had received. But it was never entirely clear to me why she was running for the Party Presidency, or what she hoped to achieve both through her campaign and if she were to be elected. And, whilst the other candidates were beginning to campaign or, at least, ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Scientific and political leaders need to focus more attention on the integrity of advisory processes, rather than taking sides in the political battles of the day Complaints about the state of scientific advice to governments are commonplace. Yet, willingly or unwillingly, science advisors often find themselves participating in the unhealthy politicisation of advice. If the practice of science advice is to improve, scientific leaders in and outside government will have to show a deeper commitment to strengthening institutions of scientific advice. This means that some scientific leaders should step back from the political battles of the day. For instance, Ann ...

Posted by Roger Pielke Jr on Political science | The Guardian
eUKhost
Tue 26th
13:40

Rubber ducks cause chaos

Story of the day comes from the South Wales Evening Post who report that some 100 rubber ducks wrought havoc on the roads yesterday morning, when the boat trailer they were travelling in opened while on the move. The ducks were scattered across a 0.25 mile stretch of the A4042 at Llanellen. They had been on their way to the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenney Canal Trust's annual duck race in Llangyndir: 69-year-old Tony Pugh was part of the team that rescued the ducks: "I can laugh now but earlier I had to run down the road kicking the ducks to ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

Blog Categories: Personal Vote: 2 votes + Vote up! - Vote down! I'm having one of those moments when "customer service" takes on a whole new and sinister meaning. A service I have been signed up to since, in internet terms at least, "time immemorial", been paying for regularly for at least six years, though admittedly have used little, has frozen me out of my account just as I started to need to use it more. Skype has gone through, I think, three owners, since I signed up with them. As best I can fathom from what emails I have ...

[IMG: sun-ra-heliocentric-worlds-vol-2] Jazz musicians have a reputation for being weird, outré, strange. Thelonious Monk's middle name was Sphere; Miles Davis was so infamously difficult to interview because of his tendency to ramble that journos dubbed him the Prince of Darkness. But in the deviation from the norm sweepstakes, the grand prize must go to Sun Ra. Born Herman Blount in Birmingham, Alabama sometime between 1910 and 1914 (birth records for black people in the south at the time are, as you would imagine, not great), he was nicknamed Sonny. Little is known about his early life, as he would later ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

[IMG: Vince Cable at Social Liberal Forum conference 19th July 2014 - photo by Paul Walter] Yesterday was a public holiday (except in Scotland, where they have more important things to think about), but it seems the party never takes a holiday. It chose a wet and windy Bank Holiday Monday to announce that Vince Cable was crowd-sourcing loopholes in zero hours contracts. He is specifically concerned about those that require an employee to work exclusively for the one employer, even though no work is guaranteed. Vince is launching a consultation and inviting employers, unions and individuals to point out ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 26th
12:46

The Problems with Clegg

Following the awful European and Local Election results in May, the Liberal Democrats have paused for thought but, in the end, decided to keep Nick Clegg as leader. From St Austell and Newquay to Edinburgh West, local parties have discussed whether to use the constitution to call a Leadership Election. Mark Pack is keeping track of who has decided what. A minimum of 75 local parties are needed to pass the Leadership Election resolution and at the time writing 4 have. It is unlikely the current attempt to unseat Clegg will work. The reason for this is not because most ...

Good food in West Cornwall is in plentiful supply but there are a few cafes, pubs, restaurants and take-aways that do not strive hard enough to reach the high, safe standards we would all hope for. Last week I went out with the officer responsible for food safety checks locally. Although he has been in the job for many years, I was surprised to learn he had never had a Councillor join him before. We went around Penzance. I was aware of the star ratings at eating places but these visits brought the meaning home to me. There is no ...

I watched the Independence debate for Scotland last night. It was basically what I had expected. Passion from Salmond - facts from Darling. How the Scottish electorate vote is not a matter of great concern for us in the rest ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

This week, scientists, policymakers and experts from more than forty-five countries assemble in Auckland, for the largest-ever summit on scientific advice. Sir Peter Gluckman, chief science advisor of New Zealand and convenor of the meeting, previews the topics that will be discussed. No one doubts that the challenges citizens and their governments face require decisions to be informed by objective knowledge. Public and media attention tends to focus on grand challenges, such as climate change and food security, or on urgent issues such as pandemics or natural disasters. But in everyday policymaking, on matters ranging from transport to social welfare, ...

Posted by Sir Peter Gluckman on Political science | The Guardian

[IMG: Ballot box] As a 17 year old Lib Dem, who has campaigned with two local parties and experienced my first election campaign last May, lowering the voting age is obviously of real importance to me. The party's long term support of this policy (as well as its unique opportunities for young people) were key factors in my choosing to join the party, aged just 16, last year. The issue is about to see a bump in publicity via the Scottish Referendum next month, and with the general election approaching there's the real potential that any government involving Labour or ...

Posted by Guy Russo on Liberal Democrat Voice

As a sort of sequel to the fake PSA I shared last week about the travails of character actors, here's one explaining how to binge watch safely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfmTcT2cfC8Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Humour, TV, video

Posted by Mark Mills on Matter Of Facts

Southwark Council is about to embark on the journey towards a new Southwark Plan. We have three local problems around the planning designation we need to resolve to ensure proper state school provision in the Dulwich area. I have formally requested the councillor Cabinet member for Regeneration who is responsible for this mark.williams@southwark.gov.uk please let him know if you agree with me and copy me. Without these changes we will not have enough primary or secondary places in the right cirumstances and places: 1. Dulwich Hospital. After new health care provision that the remainder of the site, circa 18,000-20,000m2, be ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber

[IMG: Smartphone bar.] Facebook has just been served with its first revenge porn lawsuit. I can't comment on the particulars of the case in question but it does appear that revenge porn is an issue the law has yet to catch up with. In my opinion, the law should be changed to allow those convicted of distributing revenge porn to be put on the Sex Offenders Register. This requires further clarification of the distinction between legal and illegal pornography. Once explicit material is published it becomes pornography. If the individuals in the films or photographs do not consent to having ...

Posted by Sara Scarlett on Liberal Democrat Voice

Long, but interesting, piece on two schools of atheism (tags: ) I did not realise that in Australia human ladies could marry sheep... (tags: ) Ten things they don't tell you about life with chronic physical and mental illnesses (tags: ) Men dramatically more likely to support RAF missile strikes against Isis extremists (tags: ) Guaranteeing sex education in state schools - Liberal Democrats the wording of the LD press release is slightly worrying - no mention of consent, for starters, which is THE most important thing AFAIC - but not as worrying as the story on the BBC, which ...

[IMG: tob_2014_overview1-map blog] After the recent buzz of the Tour de France visiting British roads, Dacorum is preparing for its turn to play host to a major cycling event this September. The prestigious Friends Life Tour of Britain will be coming through Dacorum on Friday, 12 September and a range of activities to get the whole community involved are planned. In the coming weeks leading up to the race more details of what will be happening on race day will be available on the official Tour website www.tourofbritain.co.uk as well as www.dacorum.gov.uk/tourofbritain To help promote the event and create a ...

Posted by nickhollinghurst on Nick Hollinghurst

 

Posted by Mark Valladares on The view from Creeting St Peter

[IMG: London Stock Exchange photo by Jam_90s] In the rest of the world hostile takeovers are uncommon or even unknown. Britain is alone in its belief in the benefit of hostile takeovers, a belief which is not supported by the evidence of its large current account and fiscal deficits. Vince Cable on 13th July wrote on this website that changes are needed to Britain's takeover laws. However, the problem is that Britain, unlike for instance Germany and the USA, doesn't really have any takeover laws. The most damaging effect of hostile takeovers is that they cause short-termism. The constant threat ...

Posted by John Hann on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 26th
09:07

Reculver Beach

The rough leather of a dog fish skinSpiry and age-spotted into dry seaweedScratching on the soles of our shoesAnd a perfect crab shell, legs and allHollowed out by the tideSoft parts long since departedNow weeping scales of salt onto our palmsBleached shells and smooth pebblesPicked from a beach pocked with horned poppyAs we walk beyond the reach of the sea And all along the Viking Way they cycleFlat out, fast and freeBillowing their hair with a windy brineFrom Wigmore and whereverIn serious pursuit of leisure Here now, the old flint wallsFlinching under a blue skyAs starlings form a chorus lineHigh ...

Posted by Trisha xx on ripplestone review

[IMG: School classroom] Today it's an issue which has been the cause of much disagreement within the Coalition Government, and hence the party press release has a couple of more direct jibes at the Conservatives than is usual in official statements featuring David Laws: Children in state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, will be guaranteed age appropriate sex and relationship education, as well as financial literacy and citizenship lessons, under manifesto plans announced by the Liberal Democrats. This 'Curriculum for Life' would mean that Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) is compulsory in all state-funded schools to help ensure ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Balgay Bowling Club is having its annual Gala Day on Saturday coming - 30th August - all welcome! Details below :

On 24th June I was invited to see Handel's opera - Rinaldo. Robert Carsen's production was set in a school, inside the imagination of a school boy Rinaldo, played by Ieston Davies, who was (I can't wait to write it) – absolutely fantastic. A nasty teacher (Karina Gauvin) made him write an essay about the [...]

Posted by olgaivannikova on Olga Ivannikova's Blog

Maghull Station, on Merseyrail's Northern Line, is now a modern and very well used facility. Indeed, it is so busy that the addition of a new Maghull North Station (to be built between the School Lane and Park Lane railway bridges) is now almost a certainty since the Coalition Government put up £6.2m towards the presently estimated cost of £7m. Yes, I know, I also heard that Maghull Labour councillors were celebrating the massive grant from the Coalition; money the last Labour Government did not come even close to stumping up! Funny old world is it not. Reminds me of ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Arthur Lee and Johnny Echols seemed to be fated to make music together. They'd lived only a couple of streets away from each other, and gone to school together, in Memphis, but had been separated when Arthur's mother had divorced his father, a musician who had played with Jimmie Lunceford's band, and moved to Los [...]

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!