70039 Sir Christopher Wrenn hauling a freight moves off northbound followed by an 8F Southbound. To the north end of the loops the double headed 'Blackburn Rails' continues the climb to Ais Gill.
[IMG: Election Strategy Briefing] Let me put this bluntly. If we as a party don't get our backsides into gear and fight the campaign of our lives over the next few months, the horror story that's been unfolding in front of our eyes at the Tory Conference could be a reality. That could be our government. I don't think any of us actually want that to happen, however annoyed we may be with various decisions taken by the Coalition Government. I certainly don't want it to take a period of majority Tory Government for folk to realise that the Liberal ...
Dangerous traffic down Churn Lane and around Brow Foot Gate Lane has been a real problem for local residents who live in the area. This area around Trimmingham contains a number of steep and narrow roads without pavements for pedestrians. Traffic rushes down these roads using them as a rat run to get onto the main road. I've nearly been run over there a couple of times myself delivering Focus leaflets! Since getting elected in 2012 I have been campaigning for the Council to take action on this. Other ward Councillors have also been campaigning on this issue. Recently I've ...
Sophie Bridger has an article on Liberal Democrat Voice about the most bizarre item in the programme for next week's Liberal Democrat Conference in Glasgow: The European Azerbaijan Society will be holding their traditional jazz evening on Sunday, yet this organisation backs the Azerbaijani government that arrests, tortures and jails political activists and human rights campaigners. In Glasgow, activists go to conference. In Azerbaijan, they go to prison.I have signed her petition saying the Lib Dems shouldn't take money from organisations backing dictatorships and human rights abusing regimes. I hope you will too. More about the Azerbaijani regime's attempt to ...
Earlier tonight, I attended the latest meeting of Community Spirit Action Group, the residents' group for the 'north' of the West End Ward, covering areas like Cleghorn, Pentland, Ancrum, Tullideph and Milnbank/Forest Park. There was an excellent and informative presentation by Jimmy McDonell and Matthew Jackson of Dundee Museum of Transport. The Museum is going from strength to strength and its no wonder, given the enthusiasm and hard work that Jimmy, Matthew and all the other Museum of Transport volunteers put into this excellent local museum. Its well worth a visit! You can read more about the museum here. Also ...
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[IMG: Letterbox] Arriving in unassuming brown envelopes on doormats around the county at the moment is an unusual posted mailing from Liberal Democrat HQ in Great George Street to all party members. Unusual both for being a posted all-member mailing (there aren't many of those these days) and even more unusual for not being a financial appeal. There is a donation slip, but it doesn't get a mention in the covering letter from Paddy Ashdown save for a single sentence buried mid-letter and a brief back page refernce in the mailing's other piece of content, a 16-page "Election Strategy Briefing". ...
It seems very strange to have watched three leaders' speeches before our own Conference has started. We normally go first in the Conference season but thanks to Mr Alex Salmond and his choice of referendum date, we are bringing this conference season to an end. For once, Nick Clegg gets the chance to have the last word. Farage, with his dodgy wireless microphone, was as full of himself as ever, even more so when he had a defecting Tory MP to brandish. This was in sharp contrast to Ed Miliband's clumsy performance. And then we had Cameron. Standing in front ...
Friday If I say it myself, I have something of a brainwave over breakfast and ring Matron at the Bonkers Home for Well-Behaved Orphans as soon as I have dealt with the eggs and b. Sure enough, the victor in yesterday's quiz is soon announced. I hand him read a few thoughts I have jotted down on the subject of school meals and then dial a number and handed him the telephone. "It's the Deputy Prime Minister, young man" I explain. "I am sure he would like to speak to you." You probably heard what ensued. After the lad's sterling ...
Wed 1st
19:30
One Member One Vote: Why Liberal Democrat Conference shouldn't just nod it through #ldconf
I won't be at Conference this year (in short: didn't know if I'd have the time, then when it looked like I did have the time, costs had gone up so much I didn't have the money) so my contribution will be the occasional blog post and the odd bit of long distance heckling via Twitter. Even if I can't be there, I can still hope to influence those of you who are there. It's that issue of who gets to have a say that's getting my attention first. On Saturday afternoon, Conference will be voting on an amendment that ...
Wed 1st
18:52
Edward McMillan-Scott writes...Postscript: The Tory Conference - more Euro-sceptic than ever
[IMG: Edward McMillan Scott] It was a poignant watching the Tory Conference at Birmingham's ICC on TV. After all, it was there at our Spring Conference in March 2010 that I became a Liberal Democrat, only to find my new party in coalition with the Tories two months later! I described that as the happiest day in my political life: 'the Lib Dems have tamed the Tory extremists' I wrote as the Coalition Agreement was published, especially on the EU and human rights. My impression is that the Conservative Party has made absolutely no progress in the direction of involvement, ...
Lydiate Village Centre (run by Lydiate Parish Council) has a large number of solar panels on its roof which generate electricity. Here is a read out of what has been generated so far in 3+ years. The top read out is on nil as it was dark outside when the shot was taken. [IMG: rsz_photo0968] Click on the photo to enlarge it. Lydiate is a Lib Dem-run Parish Council.
[IMG: DMR #20 - interview with Mark Pack] That was one of the themes in the interview I gave to Digital Marketing Radio, extracts from which are up on the DMR website. Given how much I write, one question was about whether the written word is my favourite medium: The written word, in many ways, is the toughest communications medium; so quite often, if you're busy, if you're stressed, if you got too many things to do, I wouldn't necessarily say always feels like my favorite but there's no doubt the written word is still immensely powerful. And in fact, ...
Sorry folks but they are at it again. Did you see the Echo earlier this week? Well it had Joe Anderson (Liverpool Labour) in the heavyweight corner having ago at Phil Davies (Labour Wirral) in the light weight corner. By ... Continue reading →
The announcement at the Conservative Party Conference by Iain Duncan Smith that he is planning to initiate a pilot scheme whereby prepaid cards are given to benefit claimants instead of money is one of those slightly uncomfortable proposals that make me think, "On one hand...". The idea that the prepaid cards could only be used for a restricted range of purchases is superficially appealing, especially if you are the sort of person who believes that people should be appropriately grateful for what they receive. Such a person, and there are many of them out there, would claim that the purpose ...
The Scottish referendum was an important debate for the people in Scotland to have as it affected the future of Scotland and the UK as a whole. It got the whole country involved - which isn't always the case with politics. However I don't think I was alone in feeling like I had heard enough of the seemingly endless campaigning. People always talk about what women voters want, and the referendum was no different, but it sometimes seems like while the politicians talk about what we are interested in they haven't really bothered to ask us. Politicians don't do enough ...
I was pleased to be invited by the University of Dundee to attend today's official opening of Dundee's new £26m Discovery Centre in Life Sciences in the university campus. The Discovery Centre - for Translational and Interdisciplinary Research - will further enhance Dundee's internationally renowned life sciences capacity, including in drug discovery - an area in which the University of Dundee is the leading university in the UK and one of the foremost academia-based centres in the world. There was a fascinating tour of the building and it was great to hear about the cutting-edge life sciences research that is ...
Stockport Council has a new website, designed to make it as easy as possible for people to interact with the council online. [IMG: SMBC Website] At the top of the front page are options to Report It, Pay, Apply For and Get Involved, with the most popular links underneath and others just a click away. The forms are more user-friendly and, wherever possible, the information goes directly to the part of the Council that needs them. For example, when you report a faulty streetlight it doesn't go to the Contact Centre, but straight to the street lighting team to be ...
This weekend thousands of Liberal Democrat activists will arrive in Glasgow for the Federal Conference. They'll debate the major political issues of the day; hold the government to account for its failings and attend the odd fringe meeting. After all, free political discussion and association is a vital element of any modern democracy. But one exhibitor at conference doesn't agree. The European Azerbaijan Society will be holding their traditional jazz evening on Sunday, yet this organisation backs the Azerbaijani government that arrests, tortures and jails political activists and human rights campaigners. In Glasgow, activists go to conference. In Azerbaijan, they ...
One reviewer complained about the film Pride that it was not gritty enough and should have had more sex scenes. Personally, I thought the story of gay activists raising money to help families during the 1984 miners' strike struck just the right balance. It was entertaining, but told the story in a realistic and balanced way. This has had little impact in the USA though where, as the South Wales Evening Post reports, it has fallen foul of American film censors: The Motion Picture Association of America has ruled the film was unfit for 16-year-olds unless they were in the ...
[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-10-01 at 10.38.29] I've spent a bit of time this mornn playing with the Conference App this morning. Apple took its time to approve it, but it's now downloadable from the App store and from wherever it is you get Android bits and pieces. (Update: As Jenny reminded me in the comments below, I should tell you where to look: Lib Dem Conf should do it.) It works better than previous incarnations have. It allows you to create your own Conference schedule, adding in your own meetings. Mine already looks quite scary. My slight grips is that ...
The contest to replace Tim Farron as Party President has been quite underwhelming so far, with the flawed but fascinating campaign of Pauline Pearce the only real standout. In Pauline's place come four white, middle-class candidates whose campaigns to date display varying degrees of blandness. All of them have questions they need to answer not only if they are to attract my first preference (I am genuinely undecided at this stage) but if they are to play a convincing role in the turnaround and detoxification of the Liberal Democrat bland that will be the top priority of the next Presidency. ...
Blood test this morning: Hb 105 PLT 347 Neutrophils 1.30 WBC 3.11 The consultant was 'a little bit worried' by the trend of the neutrophil count, which has declined over the last three tests and is below the normal range of 2.2 - 6.3 10^9?L. Neutropenia, the condition of reduced neutrophils, means a greaster susceptibility to infection, Dr M recommended cutting the hydroxycarbamide to five days a week, and arranged the next appointment for October 29.
It's been an exciting first two months of the season for supporters of our local Ryman League Division 1 North football team, Needham Market FC. Taking advantage of some decent conditions for the sort of flowing football they like to play, they had won ten out of twelve in the league, and won three FA Cup ties into the bargain, coming into last night's home game with league newcomers Brightlingsea Regent, and only being kept out of first place on goal difference by Harlow Town. The form line was slightly tricky, in that the visitors had been knocked out of ...
The Lib Dem team have been working on getting Keep Clear boxes painted at the junction of Church Road and Gatley Road/Northenden Road in Gatley. It's not been quite as easy as we'd hoped due to regulations from the Department for Transport that need to be complied with, but we've now got a proposal we'll be pushing for. The Keep Clear boxes aren't quite a large as we'd like – regulations mean that they can't overlap with the zig-zags approaching the pedestrian crossing – but we're sure they'll help traffic merge from Church Road. [IMG: War memorial keep clear]
Would you like to see a Caribbean restaurant in Gatley? There was a Caribbean food vendor at Gatley festival – we got chatting and he suggested he might be interested in opening a restaurant in the village. He'd like to know whether residents would support such a venture so I said I'd ask and feed back the comments. Leon says: "I will be selling traditional Jamaican food such as ackee and saltfish, curried goat, jerk chicken and jerk pork. All of which will be accompanied with rice and peas, plain rice or ground food (which will need to be ordered). ...
You might have seen posters advertising 'Sober October' MacMillan Cancer Research's attempt to replicate Dry January. Now I'm a teetotaller so I need a more meaningful challenge. I am, therefore, going to try and avoid indulging my sweet tooth. So I will be avoiding cakes, pastries, sweets, desserts or adding sugar to anything. As well [...]
[IMG: "Our spaghetti system of processes fails our members, and fails the party" - Daisy Cooper] "Our spaghetti system of processes fails our members, and fails the party" – Daisy Cooper Continuing my series of guests posts from candidates for Liberal Democrat President, today it's Daisy Cooper talking about one of her priorities. Daisy Cooper: Accountability - the missing ingredient of our internal democracy To put our own house in order, we must recognise that accountability is the missing ingredient of our internal democracy. In a number of different contexts our processes have been found wanting: it has left processes ...
The slogan 'Stronger Economy, Fairer Society' is only as strong as the policies that support it. We, at the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE), are pleased that the Liberal Democrats, in partnership with the Conservatives, have introduced a series of measures to put meat on the bones of this catchphrase. Vince Cable's Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) department has been busy beavering away on initiatives that help small businesses, including young entrepreneur start-ups. Young people like Arnold du Toit, who is worth £8 million in his mid-twenties after inventing a motorised golf trolley, and Jamal Edwards, whose ...
Let's call it the Westminster Paradox, shall we? I can't believe it has always been true, but it is definitely true now. It is this. Westminster politicians constrain themselves in a whole range of ways in their understanding of what they can change - they are constrained by international trade treaties and treaty obligations, by a creaking economic belief in 'trickle down', and the overwhelming need to carry on with the economic consensus of the 1990s. It sometimes seems as if they dare change very little. On the other hand, get them on a conference platform, get them talking about ...
Apparently from today we no longer need to display a colourful tax disc on our car windscreens to demonstrate that we've paid our road tax. The excuse is that it will save money (possibly enough to buy a few more Cruise missiles) and the police have mysterious ways of knowing whether or not the tax has been paid. This happens, presumably, only when the car is stopped by them for some other reason. I believe the government is still advertising on television to persuade us to dobb in our neighbours if we think they're cheating on benefits. This, I fee,l ...
One of the benefits of being a student again is getting access to academic journals, which means I can see some of the latest research in political science before it gets chopped up, filtered and misrepresented by the press – if it's ever covered at all. Instead, I get to read it, then chop it up, filter and misrepresent it to you here. One new article published in Political Studies is 'Not as Bad as We Feared or Even Worse Than We Imagined? Assessing and Explaining Conservative Party Members' Views on Coalition' by Tim Bale and Paul Webb. The main ...
The Lib Dem £100 million investment to fix all our bad roads and pavements is underway, with hundreds of roads in line to be repaired the first two years. Covering the whole borough is a massive task and it can't all be done at once. The Council's starting with the areas where the roads are in the poorest condition, but everywhere will be covered as the project progresses. Here are the footways in our area being repaired in the first phase (up to April 2016): Unless otherwise noted, the full length of the footway is being repaired. Sandringham Road Norwood ...
[IMG: Satsuma pic] I've always hated New Year's Eve. That's not correct, actually; I've only truly hated the last evening of the year since 1990. That was the first in what was to become a long string of moribund nights out that I have had to endure come December 31st. On that occasion, shortly following my eighteenth birthday, I got drunk with some friends whom I was already starting to fall out with. High school graduation was around the corner and our usefulness to each other as the only group of people in our class who could read words that ...
The long awaited direct train service between our county town and the capital launches on 13 December. But Ludlow residents will have to drive to Shrewsbury to catch it. Shropshire Star, 1 October 2014 In today's Shropshire Star, Tom Morton reports that Arriva is refusing to bring the first train forward to enable a connection [...]
The Liberal Democrat pre-manifesto sets out our ambitions to take power from 'the stifling hand of Whitehall' and return it to citizens and communities: but does the state have the power it once did? Can we rely on having a strong state to implement our plans? After the Second World War, the new architecture of the international order was based on bodies like the United Nations, the World Bank and the European Union. These have all developed upon states agreeing to share sovereignty, to trade individual power for the achievement of shared objectives. In more recent decades, states have devolved, ...
Having spent rather more time that I've wanted to with the medical profession over the last couple of months, I've noticed the way that they use language is sometimes just a little different to the way the rest of us do. Take the word 'uncomfortable'. Recently we've replaced our mattress because, as it was several years old, it had become somewhat uncomfortable to sleep on. It wasn't painful to sleep on the mattress, but it certainly wasn't as cosy as it used to be. So I thought I had a pretty good handle on what 'uncomfortable' meant. For example, this ...
The Lib Dem team have been working to get the flooding issue at the top end of Church Road, Gatley (near Styal Road) sorted. The problem wasn't blocked grids, but tree roots growing through the sewer pipes, and that was always going to be a bigger piece of work. We're very pleased to see workmen on site to sort out the tree roots – hopefully the problem will be sorted before Autumn really sets in.
Get ready for hotter summers and more flooding in the UK, say scientists (tags: ) The Azure card report - a life without cash for asylum seekers This is what the tories are proposing for benefit recipients - 65% of whom are in work, let's remember. (tags: ) Conference on Calderdale's digital future (tags: ) The letter the Daily Express didn't want you to see (tags: ) Most kippers probably know that they won't get what they want. But some people just want to watch the world burn. (tags: ) Totnes: the Hebden Bridge of Devon (tags: ) [IMG: comment ...
[IMG: House of Lords - Some rights reserved by UK Parliament] Dave Goddard was made a peer in August this year, and writes here about his aspirations: When I was offered my peerage the first thing that went through my mind was, what I could offer the House of Lords? After all I was just a Stockport lad born and raised, who happened to end up the leader of the council. On reflection however I believe I would bring exactly the same attributes that have served me well for almost thirty years in local politics. Honesty, strait talking, passion and ...
[IMG: Election Law Handbook 4th edition - cover] Thanks to the help of many people, but above all the Herculean efforts of John Bridges at ALDC, a new edition of the ALDC Election Law guide is going to be on sale from the ALDC stand at the Liberal Democrat conference next week in Glasgow. If you can't make it to Glasgow, party members will also be able to buy it from ALDC afterwards. Purchasing details are over on the ALDC site. It turned out to be a much bigger update than I was expecting when I agreed to do it ...
Local councillors have been contacted by the Post Office to inform us of a proposal to move the St Margaret's Post Office on Bury Old Road from its present location at 426 Bury Old Road, to the 'Best One-Akntars Lts' shop at 466 Bury Old Road. This is the shop on the 'Polefield' parade of shops. The proposal is part of the current Government proposals to improve local Post Office services with over 8,000 branches being modernised in the current programme. [IMG: Screenshot 2014-10-01 08.34.05] As we understand it: - Post Office services will be offered from two tills on ...
A very quick update on the (extremely ongoing) issue of the derelict empty properties on Heys Road (131 and 133). A number of residents have been in touch as there have been sitings of surveys being undertaken. My understanding is that this has been the Council undertaking preliminary work with a view to taking on the properties. I will be able to give more details hopefully in the coming weeks. Tim
Event are planned to mark World Mental Health Day at Prestwich' Creative Living Centre. The events take place on 10 October 2014, and include activities int he afternoon and an evening 'of song and music' from 6.00pm. More details below and at www.creativelivingcentre.org.uk [IMG: image001]
A new planning application has been received within Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 57888 Registration Date: 19/09/2014 Location: Brook Farm, Simister Lane, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2SB Proposal: Demolition of former farm buildings currently used for oil recycling business and erection of 2 no. dwelling houses and conversion and extension of existing barn to form dwelling house Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
The news that the utterly uncharming individual who used Twitter to make anonymous rape threats against Stella Creasy and Caroline Criado-Perez has been sentenced to eighteen weeks in prison is a positive development in the effort to police the internet against the sort of abuse that, in any other medium, would be stamped out forcefully. Don't get me wrong, I'm not keen on censorship online, but where behaviour that has been legislated against on grounds that are generally accepted as reasonable, it should be punished wherever it appears, and the internet cannot, and should not be, an exception. And, if ...
With dangerous dogs seeming more and more around our streets attacking people who would be a postwoman/man. It must be dangerous business. This poster was seen in the Royal Mail Parcel Collection Point in Maghull's Sorting Office. 3,000 post people bitten in one year! Click on the picture below to enlarge it. [IMG: rsz_who_would_be_a_postman] I really do hope that the Royal Mail takes action whenever possible to prosecute irresponsible dog owners. Postmen and women should not have to put up with being attacked or being in continual fear of being bitten. I was attacked by a dog in a street ...
United Utilities have set up a FREE bus service for patients of Blackford House Medical Centre, this is during the works which have meant the complete closure of Croft Lane in the Unsworth area. The bus will run for three half days on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Please refer to the surgery's website or alternatively ring reception on 0161 766 6622 for up to date details of this bus service. http://www.blackfordhousemedicalcentre.co.uk/Latest_News.php The stops will be as follows: 1.30pm Pick up - Outside Heaton Park Junior School on Cuckoo Lane 1.35pm Pick up - 1st Bus Stop on Oak Lane near ...
More than 7,000 people from across the European Union have already signed the petition ... Will you join them? Catherine Bearder MEP met recently with members of the European Freelancers' Movement, who handed over supporters' signatures and delivered a Manifesto raising a strong voice in support of independent and self-employed workers. Almost 7,000 freelancers in 29 European countries joined the online campaign calling for improvements in EU policies affecting independent workers. "Freelancers and self-employed workers are a large and growing part of the European workforce, but we are ignored and isolated," said Joel Dullroy, campaign manager of the European Freelancers' ...
Wed 1st
07:55Right to be forgotten: 47% of Lib Dems say deleting results individuals do not like amounts to censo...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 735 party members responded – thank you – and we're publishing the full results. Should internet search engine results be removed on request by individuals? The 'right to be forgotten' hit the headlines this summer following controversy over a European Court of Justice ruling that search engines are responsible for the content they point to, and that therefore search engines like Google are required to comply with EU data privacy laws. ...
Having seen some other people do it, I was curious about what the most popular posts of the last few months (since I started blogging regularly again) were. Thanks to Google Analytics, I can find them out quite quickly, and it turns out that they are: 5) Presidential questions response: Daisy Cooper – The first response to my challenge to the Liberal Democrat Presidential candidates. 4) Something Must Be Done About Boris – When Boris proposed that we should get rid of pesky obstructions to justice like the presumption of innocence. 3) My Presidential manifesto – In which I promised ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have secured a £223m two year budget deal that prioritises the futures of our children and young people, and helps to ensure opportunity for all from cradle to college. In exchange for allowing the Welsh Government's budget to pass, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have secured: • An increase in the Pupil Deprivation Grant: in 2015/16 each school will receive £1,050 for every pupil eligible to receive free schools meals, increasing to £1,150 for 2016/17; • the Pupil Deprivation Grant will be extended to under 5s, worth £300 per pupil on free school meals; • a 'Youth Travellers Concessionary Fare ...
With a focus on supporting children and young people and early intervention, the Welsh Government and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have today reached a ground-breaking multi-million pound two-year agreement to ensure stability for the people of Wales in these challenging financial times. Central to the agreement is an extra £44m in 2015-16 increasing to £51.2m in 2016-17, to boost the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG). This builds on the existing programme which is an important response to the commitment to break the link between poverty and educational attainment. The additional investment will uplift the current PDG from £918 per pupil to ...
