Ever since the Severn Valley Railway established itself as one of the country's major preserved railways, there has been talk of expanding it northwards into the Ironbridge Gorge. This is the first of two videos which explores the remains of the line back from Shrewsbury towards Bridgnorth to see how realistic this scheme looks on the ground.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

#3309439 / gettyimages.com Here is the young John Major in his second general election campaign. He fought the safe Labour seat of St Pancras North in both the 1974 general elections. In the second campaign at least, he agent was Sue Winter, who claimed to be the youngest agent in the country. (She was 20.) The victorious Labour candidate in both elections was Jock Stallard, who was eased out and given a peerage when there were boundary changes before the 1983 general election. And the Liberal candidate both times was Paul Medlicott, who ran the party's media operation in the ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

It's just been announced that Cheadle MP Mark Hunter has stepped down as the Liberal Democrats' Deputy Chief Whip. He told Nick Clegg in his resignation letter that he had never intended to stay in post for the whole duration of the Parliament and that the end of the Conference season was the time to move on: Dear Nick, It is after much thought that I write to tender my resignation as your Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons with immediate effect. It has been a privilege to serve for four and a half years as a member ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

In case you missed it when it aired on TV last week, here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats:

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: nhs sign lrg] Last week at Liberal Democrat Conference in Glasgow the party amicably and democratically settled one of its longest-running disagreements, about the way in which NHS services should be commissioned. This is a subject Liberal Democrats need no introduction to. It has been a thorn in our side ever since Andrew Lansley first published his White Paper, "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS" (2010), and culminated in Conference's refusal to endorse the policy in Gateshead in 2012, instead neutering the so-called "Shirley Williams amendment". Outwardly that argument may have subsided, but it never really went away, and, ...

Posted by Kilian Bourke on Liberal Democrat Voice

You just know that Church View Farm will put on a show for pretty much any reason and with Halloween on the way they are already into the swing of it. Here are a few shots I have taken of their considerable efforts. Amazing what you can do with a modern hay bail. [IMG: rsz_halloween_-_church_view_farm_10_14] Click on the photos to enlarge them. There are more shots on my Flickr page at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Something odd has been going on for a while now because I keep getting responses to some of my blog postings from an IP address that seems to be a part of the Ford Motor Company. The comments usually follow me saying something that the Labour Party would rather I had not said. Each comment is from a differing name and e-mail address, it will usually be uncomplimentary towards me or the Lib Dems but it always seems to come from a Ford.com. IP address. How come someone at Fords has my blog site in their sights?

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Last year the Economist ran a fascinating article on "The strange rebirth of Liberal England" on how young people have attitudes in many areas which are very liberal, though as we know this does not necessarily equate with voting for the Lib Dems. Liberal Reform explored this further at a fringe meeting in Glasgow which included some polling on Generation Y. Our three panellists, Kavya Kaushik, Jeremy Browne and Paul Marshall, with Chair Miranda Green talked about the polling and what Lib Dems could do to attract Generation Y to vote for us. The polling is very clear on personal ...

Posted by Simon McGrath on Liberal Democrat Voice
Mon 13th
17:00

Racism

I quite liked this simple yet compelling message – see link above.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

[IMG: Sutton 1972 Focus leaflet - front] The Journal of Liberal History's special edition marking the 25th anniversary of the Liberal Democrats includes a piece from myself on the party's campaigning history. My motivation for writing it – other than a willingness to help a 100%-volunteer Journal that Duncan Brack in particular does so much to make such a success – was two-fold. First, to put on the record various details, some important and some less so, which every account of the party's history I've seen misses. As an historian by training, I cringe every time I see what could ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
YouGov
Mon 13th
16:03

The UKIP revolution

The media is awash with new analysis about of the Clacton and Heywood & Middleton by-elections. I disagree with a lot of it; especially the idea that we are in the midst of a 'revolution'. For me there was nothing unexpected about the result last Thursday. The appeal of UKIP and formerly the BNP in [...]

Posted by Wera Hobhouse on Wera's Blog

[IMG: adi-logo_2] There was a time when the UK led the world on animal welfare issues. We were one of the first to ban the use of animals in cosmetic product and tobacco tests, and end fur farming. Sadly though, we have lost our global leadership on other animal issues, most spectacularly on animal circuses. A total of 27 countries have now introduced measures prohibiting such acts, leaving the UK lagging way behind. Amendments to ban the use of animals in circuses were tabled during the passage of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, but were resisted on the grounds that ...

Posted by Jan Creamer on Liberal Democrat Voice

Further to my update on 29th September about the Riverside Drive works, I have just received the following update from Tayside Contracts : "Due to issues with weather at the beginning of last week and some other operational issues. It will be the end of the week before all traffic management will be removed from the works. Riverside Approach is now open to traffic, the only restriction is the right turn manoeuvre to Riverside Approach in the westbound direction."

Some time ago it became clear that there was a demand for bringing back part of the Garston Carnival. Obviously we already have the Garston Fun Day in June, but we don't have the parade/procession element. A small group of us have been looking at what needs to be done if this is to come back. There is lots of tedious organisational stuff, and money also needs to be raised. But most importantly at this stage, we need to know if there are enough people out there who are not just prepared to say they want it, but to take ...

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner
Mon 13th
14:45

Thank you, Glasgow

As well as making us welcome for the conference itself, Glasgow again provided a fine place to stroll and explore. Here are a few snapshots of this wonderful city, snatched in between LibDem meetings. Scroll down to view. [IMG: york street_tm crop] (Above) Mural in York Street [IMG: hydro tm2] Hydro, SECC [IMG: SKYPARK] Skypark [IMG: corner_tonemapped] Corner building near the M8 [IMG: cloisters tm] Glasgow University Cloisters [IMG: bbc through foyer window_tonemapped] The BBC from the Crowne Plaza foyer [IMG: whyte and mackay] Whyte and Mackay building, St Vincent street [IMG: mitchell library_tonemapped] The Mitchell Library [IMG: cranes] Cranes ...

Posted by Paul Walter on Liberal Democrat Voice

Both the SNP and UKIP are poised to target the same seats in Scotland's central belt for the 2015 General Election. UKIP's David Coburn has confirmed his party intends to challenge for "rust belt" seats in Scotland - traditional Labour heartlands where once-industrial towns are no longer home to industry, and where many of the most disaffected and disenfranchised members of society live. Coburn is considering standing himself against Tom Clarke in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill where he hopes to overturn a Labour majority of over 20,000. He believes he can be successful, and has stated that areas such as ...

Posted by Andrew on A Scottish Liberal

One: So he can disenfranchise all the people on holiday in [shudder] EuropeTwo: So he can cut off any campaigning period in which people might ask questions and get themselves informed rather than just voting with years of newspaper prejudicesThree: So he can promise to prop up a Tory Government of the far right... Then drop it after two months and run away laughing while Mr Cameron implodesFour: So he can exploit what he assumes'll be the public mood at the highest high water-mark of his populist Party's popularity before the inevitable consequences of failure to deliver or (worse) compromise ...

Posted by Alex Wilcock on Love and Liberty

[IMG: electiondebate] The general election debate dance used to be simple. The leader of whichever of the Conservative or Labour partes was trailing in the polls demanded one, then the one who was in the lead hemmed, hawed and put so many conditions in the way of having one that they could never be accused of turning it down, but guaranteed that it would never happen. The leaders of the third and other parties presumably had opinions on this, but as the debates were never a serious proposition, they didn't get aired, unless their inclusion or not was one of ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

Manchester section of Styal Road to be resurfaced as part of the works. The Lib Dems have secured the resurfacing of the sections of Styal Road in Gatley, with local MP Mark Hunter pressing for the work to be done. We had thought that as most of Styal Road was resurfaced, the part in Manchester (from Hollyhedge Road down to near South Drive) would be left undone, though we had always asked that agreement should be reached if possible. We're very glad that an agreement has now been reached with Manchester so Stockport's contractors will do their section with Manchester ...

Posted by Iain Roberts on Keith Holloway, Iain Roberts & Pam King

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. This afternoon the House of Commons debates the issue of Israel and Palestine: a backbench motion calling on the British government to recognise the state of Palestine. This follows the summer's latest outbreak in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, with seven weeks of Israeli bombardment, Palestinian rocket attacks, and ground fighting killed more than 2,200 people, the vast ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice
eUKhost
Mon 13th
13:50

Cancellation of strike

Pay dispute update - Cancellation of strike Please see the link below for more background information on the cancellation of this week's strike. Claire Hudson, LGA Lib Dem Resources Lead: "It is great news that the unions have been persuaded to call off this week's strike and talk to their members about the recent pay proposals. [...]

Mon 13th
13:41

G8 2015

G8 is a grants programme, administered by ALDC, to provide resources to help Liberal Democrats win local elections. G8 is made up of funds kindly provided by the English, Scottish, Welsh and Federal Parties of the Liberal Democrats. G8 has always tried to target, encourage and reward winning best practice. In the past that might [...]

[IMG: cf fringe] Ouch ! Don't we sometimes cringe when we hear political or bureaucratic jargon during conference debates and fringe meetings? Here are some of my favourite high-cringe-factor beauties...just a bit of fun.... 1. Engaging with the public Paints a picture of the general public and a political elite going out to meet 'ordinary people' (see below). Why not say 'conduct research', 'find out what people want', or just 'meet people'. In war, people 'engage' the enemy. 2. It's all about ...XYZ... If someone hasn't done the work to devise problem-solving proposals, instead they can say 'it's all about...and ...

Posted by Paul Reynolds on Liberal Democrat Voice

Here is an interesting photo from Facebook. At first glance it makes sense that Ebola should not be helped to spread around the world. Let's think about it a bit more. Closing borders for any reason means border checks. We can't check for Ebola in other countries so the checks have to be done here and then we have to make sure it isn't cholera or malaria or lots of other diseases. We have to be prepared to fly patients back to where they came from so we would have to protect the airplane staff. We have seen the extensive ...

Posted by Michael Gradwell on Politics for Novices

As set out in my Report into 'Processes and Culture' within the Party, I would now like to assess progress made against my recommendations. Taken together, the recommendations formed a suggested – but by no means exhaustive – blueprint for change over both the medium and long term. Less than 18 months has passed since my initial Review, so it was never my expectation that all would be resolved by now, rather that the direction of travel be firmly established. A number of people attended a 'surgery' I hosted with the Pastoral Care Officer, Jeanne Tarrant, during Conference last week. ...

Posted by Helena Morrissey on Liberal Democrat Voice

Some years ago, when I worked in London, I used to write a blog post on the train to London each Monday morning, hence the unimaginative title I used of "The Monday Morning Blog". It was a title that warned that I was about to blow off about something political. It's now five years since I wrote a "Monday Morning Blog" but I thought I'd reintroduce it. I won't of course, be sitting on a train

Posted by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace

[IMG: Nick Clegg in TV leaders debate, 2010] The BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4 have announced their preferred plans to hold three debates during the 2015 general election campaign. The BBC reports: One would involve a head-to-head debate between just the Conservative and Labour leaders, and another would include the Liberal Democrat leader. The other debate would involve all three leaders plus Mr Farage. The broadcasters said the proposed formats reflected "changes in the political landscape" since the three prime ministerial debates during the 2010 general election, which featured Conservative Mr Cameron, Labour's Gordon Brown and Lib Dem Mr ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

#52689468 / gettyimages.com Continuing her series of guest posts for this site, Party President candidate Linda Jack today sets out her plans for the party's campaign organisation. Linda Jack: Restore, Renew, Respect - Developing the party It doesn't matter how wonderful our message is, it's getting our message across that matters. Much of that is to do with understanding the electorate and what motivates them, but it is also about how we deploy our resources and ensure we are effective at a local level. It is absolutely right for the party to continue to focus its efforts on key constituencies ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: economist cover] Some people hate The Economist; to them it is a proselytiser of that despised creed "neoliberalism" or just plain capitalism. Not me. I have been reading the Economist weekly since 1974 (from between the two British General Elections of that year), when I was just 16 and still at school. I loved its cosmopolitanism and that that it did not lets its opinions obscure the reporting of facts. It was opinionated, yes, but not prejudiced. Much of my writing in this blog has been inspired by my 40 years of readership. No other journal has come close ...

Posted by Matthew on thinking liberal

[IMG: UKIP-cookbook] We live in baffling times. Who, for example, can explain why Boris Johnson is still a thing? And why has no one told Ed Miliband that continually addressing a large number of strangers in a room as "friends" is just the sort of weirdness that someone whose weirdometer needle is already hovering over the danger zone should really avoid doing. And then there's Michael Gove.​ Just baffling. But nothing is quite as baffling as the appeal of UKIP. That a bunch of fear-peddling, isolationist, blame-everyone merchants seem attractive to a large minority of the British public is not ...

Posted by Marc Blakewill and James Harris on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Tory UKIP] Over the last few days, in reaction to Carswell winning UKIP's first democratically earned seat in parliament, the Tories have been going slightly apeshit, falling over themselves to seem more electable to the very people they described as loonies and fruitcakes not all that long ago. Those being people who are seriously considering voting UKIP at the next general election. David Cameron promised tougher welfare restrictions on EU migrants; Jacob Rees-Mogg and Brian Binley talked to whomever would listen about how the Tories need an electoral pact with UKIP (presenting Farage with a fantastic sound bite opportunity, ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

When people who find something disturbing about current levels of immigration express their anxiety, they often act as if in doing so they are breaking a taboo. Take for example the article written by the Labour MP Simon Danczuk in the Daily Mail entitled: "My party's too scared to talk about migration." As Jeremy Cliffe – British [...]

Posted by Mark Mills on Matter Of Facts

I joined the Liberal Democrats in 2004. They were great days to be a party member: under the leadership of Charles Kennedy we reached our largest ever number of MPs in the Westminster parliament. Since then I've heard mixed things about Charles' leadership, but, say what you like, I do not know of a big issue he got wrong. He stood firm against Labour on the Iraq War, tuition fees and 90 day detention without trial. I was a young teenager in 2004. I knew I was opposed to the Labour government - I was disgusted by their unthinking, casual ...

Posted by AVSL on A Very Social Liberal

A local care provider has decided to give away its first ever Community Grant - a sum of money that could benefit any local group in South Gloucestershire working with older people. Bluebird Care opened its office in Chipping Sodbury a year ago, and ever since has been working hard to support other organisations in the community. Jack Whitfield, Managing Director, said: "As well as providing care & companionship services to people living in their own homes, Bluebird Care is passionate about supporting community projects and initiatives. So many neighbourhoods thrive because of volunteers who work tirelessly to run community ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

[IMG: libdemwritein] Are our internal party elections really democratic enough? We should ask this question because we want our party to maximise the talents of the wider membership and broaden the pool of candidates standing for party bodies. We clearly value democracy and democratic process on all internal party matters. But when we look at our internal party elections, can we truly say that we are offering the maximum possible choice to our members? And, indeed, are members encouraged to stand, or even provided with enough information as to how to do so? After discussing the matter with many conference-goers ...

Posted by Lib Dem Write In on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Signing paperwork. Image courtesy of http://www.freeimages.com/photo/251732? - some rights reserved] With four would-be candidates in the field to replace Tim Farron as Liberal Democrat President, each requiring the signatures of 200 different* conference reps and around 2,500 conference reps officially recorded in the party's records** that means nearly 1-in-3 reps have to nominate a candidate for all four to stand. That 1-in-3 proportion is a high one, so no surprise that there is chatter aplenty that some of the field are struggling to get their full set of signatures. No surprise too that there is some concern amongst Liberal ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Chris Blackhurst has argued in the Independent newspaper recently that empty UK shops should be given over to residential developers to address the housing shortage. He claims the benefits of this would be that "we would have a more realistic approach to future retail requirements; and people, at last, would have somewhere to live". This is an approach that Sefton Lib Dems have taken with regard to the Sefton Local Plan although whether anyone is listening to the numerous submissions made to the Council I don't know – I fear they will simply have been put to one side whilst ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

I have moved house, as I have probably mentioned before. This has taught me a great deal, but I also think I've learned something about the national mood. Let me explain. Without a telephone, I spent the first three weeks after moving in call centre hell, on a mobile phone. Not one of the utility services have been able to handle the simple matter of somebody moving in or moving out. Let's start with the phones. BT (my new supplier) have been fine. Reliable even, when they eventually acted. But I am still wrestling with my previous phone company, ACN, ...

Posted by David Boyle on The Real Blog

A constituent recently contacted me regarding an HGVs issue in Farington Street as follows: "For some years now we have had problems with larger HGVs using Farington Street to get from Perth Road to Blackness Road. Drivers unfamiliar with the area do not realise that, after the street rounds the corner to the right, it then joins Westgrove Avenue which is considerably narrower and on a very tight corner. The problem seems to have been exacerbated recently by the use of sat navs which are directing HGV drivers up Farington Street, these devices not taking into account the physical layout ...

The World Is Squared – Episode 3: The Greek Calends – If you've not been following Daniel Davies' round-the-world dispatches for Crooked Timber, you should be. This is the latest one. Why I HATE Malala Yousafzai – No, it's not the predictable contrarian backlash, but a much more interesting set of points. You Just Can't Pander Enough – "the only time that we're ever lectured about how we must all indulge the "concerns" of parts of the electorate, is when chunks of it are all het-up with cretinous right-wing dickishness." Labour and immigration: Whatever the truth – Line by line ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

The Welsh Liberal Democrats Heritage Spokesperson, Peter Black has joined in the celebration of the first ever Welsh Museums Festival by visiting Bridgend's only museum situated in the old Police Station in Porthcawl. Welsh Museums have worked closely with CyMAL to plan the Welsh Museums Festival to coincide with the Museums Association (MA) Conference & Exhibition which is taking place at the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC), Cardiff yesterday and today. Porthcawl Museum is currently running an exhibition explaining how the town invited and welcomed 56 Belgian Refugees into their life for the duration of the First World War. Mr. Black ...

Posted by Freedom Central on Freedom Central

The Independent reports that teachers have been posting a series of parody oaths online in response to shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt's suggestion of a "Hippocratic oath" for those in the profession. The Labour MP believes that a public oath for teachers would emphasise the "moral calling and the noble profession of teaching". However, a number of parody oaths have now started to appear on Twitter under the hashtag #teacheroath, many mocking the suggestion. Some of the examples are: #teacheroath I swear to follow education policies thought up by people with no relevant experience apart from the fact they went ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

St Albans City and District Council is carrying out a public consultation on a draft Strategic Local Plan for the District of St Albans. The six week consultation begins on Friday 10 October. It ends on Sunday 23 November. A Strategic Local Plan, when adopted, provides overarching policies and principles for what can be built and where. [...]

Posted by chriswhite on Chris White