#89538257 / gettyimages.com This photo was originally published in Picture Post as part of a feature entitled "Is it true what they say about Leicester?" That feature set out to investigate the claim that Leicester was home to the prettiest girls in England.
Tue 14th
22:56
Two South Shropshire solar farms rejected while new disabled riding school hangs in balance
It's been a very long day. Shropshire Council's South Planning Committee met at 2pm this afternoon and finished deliberations just before 7pm this evening. With two solar farms, a riding school for the disabled and clutch of controversial housing schemes up for decision, it was always going to be a long meeting. Around 150 people [...]
The plans for the reinterment of Richard III in Leicester Cathedral next year have been announced. And you cannot accuse the city of stinting on the occasion. On Sunday 22 March a hearse containing his remains will leave the University of Leicester and visit the site of his death, Fenn Lane Farm near Stoke Golding. It will also visit the nearby villages of Sutton Cheney and Dadlngton, where some of the dead from the Battle of Bosworth are buried. The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, will then lead a short ceremony at the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre ...
I've had a report that the footpath that leads from Warley St John's up to Highroad Well is in a dangerous state of repair. I haven't had a chance to inspect this path myself, but I have passed this report onto Council officers to investigate, and hopefully carry our repair work if required.
I was contacted by a resident concerned about paving slabs being removed and replaced with tarmac along Burnley road opposite Collin's tyres. I've got in touch with the Highways Department that have provided the following explanation of the work: I refer to your recent enquiry regarding the above and can confirm that these are essential works. The Authority is fully committed to heritage materials and endeavour to maintain them wherever possible. Unfortunately stone materials are now at a premium and becoming increasingly difficult to source. This footway was defective and the Council have a legal duty to ensure that stone ...
The basic state pension will rise by at least £2.85 a week thanks to the Liberal Democrat triple lock. It means 119,763 pensioners in East Sussex will benefit from an increase in their pension. This rise will bring the level of the state pension to at least £115.95 and will benefit millions of pensioners across [...]
Startling news in the Harborough Mail: For Christmas shoppers in Market Harborough this year, here's a surprising fact. As you walk across The Square in town in December, six metres below your feet will be a drilling machine - and the man operating it. He will be digging a tunnel for a pipe 1.2m in diameter as the first part of Anglian Water's £1.5m flood alleviation scheme for the Coventry Road area of town. Anglian Water contract manager Rod Young said: "You won't be able to see anything, and you probably won't hear or feel anything either. "But there'll be ...
[IMG: downs] I've been re-reading Anthony Downs' An Economic Theory of Democracy again for part of my MA course, and it reminded me that I need to write a long post explaining some of his ideas in there as they are pretty fundamental to how a lot of modern party politics is conceived and reported. But I don't have time for that today, so instead I'm going to share with you an interesting couple of paragraphs from it: According to our hypothesis, party officials are interested only in maximizing votes, never in producing any social state per se. But voters ...
#455249648 / gettyimages.com Continuing her series of guest posts, Party President candidate Linda Jack today sets out to reinvigorate Community Politics. Linda Jack: Restore, Renew, Respect - Community Politics for 21st century Over the past few years I have had the privilege of being a trustee for Action to Re:generate Trust, founded by Stephen Kearney and Julia Olsen and delivering their unique community development approach 'Listening Matters'. Their expertise has been recognised across the country, in particular through their involvement in training community organisers for the government community development scheme. They have now developed a new approach that builds on ...
Nick Clegg has been writing for the Times Educational Supplement on the need to make sure teachers' workloads were more manageable. He recognised that most teachers put in much more effort than they get credit for: There's an outdated preconception, which hasn't quite died out, that a teacher's working day starts at 9am and finishes at 3pm, with 12 weeks off a year to recuperate. Yet, ask anyone who actually spends their days trying to inspire and educate a classroom of children and they'll tell you a very different story. They'll talk about 50 hour working weeks, the unnecessary bureaucracy ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-29613305 The BBC has the story – see link above – and I was struck by these words from Mayor Joe Anderson:- A particular difficulty would have been creating a secure passage for passengers between the terminal and the embarking point. From first hearing of this plan that particular problem was to my mind the one that was most difficult to solve and clearly to solve it would have cost many £M's . Could it be that the original purchase of the Cunard Building was done in haste?
The Lib Dems in the Welsh Assembly have agreed budget deal that includes some great things to use in our local campaigns in Wales: • Extra money for local schools • More apprenticeship places • Discounted bus travel for 16-18 year olds • A variety of local infrastructure projects Campaigning on the extra money for [...]
This week's announcement of broadcasters' provisional plans for the 2015 General Election Debates predictably drew complaints and threats of legal action. The plan is undoubtedly odd in some respects. Glen Oglaza, who has been a senior political broadcast journalist for as long as I can remember, tweeted that the idea of excluding a party in government (the Liberal Democrats) from one debate was "bizarre." Broadcasters will have to review their plans nearer to the election period, taking into account what the polling situation may be at that time, the number of candidates each party is set to field and other ...
Scottish Director of Campaigns works very hard. He has had a referendum and a European election to deal with this year so he's been putting in many hours. You can tell how much of a slog it's been for him by what he chooses to do on one of his rare days off. On Sunday, Adam and his partner Gemma will be abseiling down the 165 feet of the Forth Rail Bridge to raise money for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I never knew he had a head for heights. He doesn't need to have ...
So the Green Party is threatening legal action after broadcasters declined to invite them into TV debates: Sky, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 set out a joint proposal that Nigel Farage should join Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and David Cameron for one debate. In addition there would be one debate involving Clegg, Miliband and [...]
[IMG: herts-county-council] Have Your Say: 29 Sept – 7 December 2014 Complete a questionnaire on-line Attend one of the drop-in sessions taking place in libraries around the County As part of the 'Inspiring Libraries' strategy, Hertfordshire Library Service is planning the following service developments. You can read, in full, the new strategy and the proposed changes here: Improving library buildings: Recent investment in library buildings has demonstrated the potential of 'state of the art' library facilities at libraries such as Welwyn Garden City, Harpenden and Borehamwood. Our ambition is for all Hertfordshire library buildings to be bright, attractive, welcoming, flexible, ...
Stop whatever you are doing and watch this NOW:Filed under: Uncategorized
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone at Pride] On 6th November, Stonewall's annual awards ceremony takes place in London. Many Liberal Democrats have had their issues with Stonewall in the past, but I'd say that they are definitely improving. For example, it's good to see Stonewall Scotland's "Some people are Trans, get over it" t-shirts. They may have come late to the equal marriage party, but they got there eventually. On top of that, their resources for schools are excellent. Stonewall Chief Executive, Ruth Hunt, who is doing some great work in making the organisation more inclusive, spoke at our Conference in Glasgow. ...
Tue 14th
12:55
Watch and laugh: Clarke and Dawe - The War in Iraq. Not the Previous One. The Current One.
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe:
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO),has reduced the number paralysed by polio from 350,000 in 1988 to 405 in 2013, and the number of countries where the disease is endemic has been cut from 125 to just 3 -Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. But progress has come to a grinding halt, with Pakistan reporting 174 new cases so far this year out of 193 worldwide. The WHO says there is a high risk that this highly infectious disease will spread to other parts of the world, paralysing many of its victims. Three quarters of ...
Last night the British House of Commons voted by 274 to 12 in favour of a motion to recognise the state of Palestine. Though the vote has no binding implication for the UK Government (whose Ministers abstained, as is usual in such circumstances), its moral force should not be underestimated. Coming soon after Sweden's announcement [...]
Thursday 16th October 1-3 p.m. in Leadgate Community Centre. Durham Deafened Support, a charity supporting deafened adults (funded by the NHS), is holding an event where they will have information and equipment to support hearing loss.
I have been to Northern Ireland once that I can remember – my parents also briefly worked there when I was a baby – and that was with a group of church friends to visit one of our number who lived in the seaside village of Portstewart. Our trip coincided with England playing Germany in the World [...]
[IMG: Bloom] My favourite Godfrey Bloom moment of all time, before today's announcement that he has stepped down as UKIP's was an appearance he made on BBC's Have I Got News For You. A sort of "Godfrey's greatest hits" reel was playing as part of a bit, you know all the classics: Bongo Bongo Land, the "sluts" comment, hitting Michael Crick with a rolled up copy of UKIP's manifesto. After it played, the camera cut back to Godfrey who looked almost supernaturally pleased with himself. He wore on his face the exact same look a toddler has while being ...
Eight St Albans communities are being given £5,000 each to spend on council-owned assets in their area by St Albans City and District Council's City Neighbourhoods Committee. At a meeting on Thursday 25 September, the City Neighbourhoods Committee agreed to devolve £40,000 from its unallocated budget to the eight wards in its area which do not have a [...]
The Autumn PPB film crews spent time following the Cleggster around. It's not bad, and you can really see what makes him tick:
[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-10-13 at 21.17.56] Coverage of our fringe in the Chinese-language news title Sing Tao: "Chinese Lib Dems host forum on challenges and opportunities for Sino-British Research" The start of October saw the party convene in Glasgow for the last Autumn conference before the general election, and there were a number of debates and fringe events of interest to our members. On Sunday we were involved in two lunchtime fringes: our Vice Chair Dr Jenny Woods represented Aldes on the panel of the Green Liberal Democrats' Big Green Fringe, speaking on how science and engineering can help in ...
#90737773 / gettyimages.com Fascinating: For a brief time in the 1850s the telegraph companies of England and the United States thought that they could (and should) preserve every message that passed through their wires. Millions of telegrams—in fireproof safes. Imagine the possibilities for history! And for the police. "Fancy some future Macaulay rummaging among such a store, and painting therefrom the salient features of the social and commercial life of England in the nineteenth century," wrote Andrew Wynter in 1854. (Wynter was what we would now call a popular-science writer; in his day job he practiced medicine, specializing in "lunatics.") ...
[IMG: gatley carrs bat walk]
This post is probably the most On Message I will get. I certainly don't intend to do it In Volume, Over Time. But I wanted to say this stuff - it's important - early on. I still remember meeting a journalist at a party a year ago. Sara was a cool, intelligent, and liberal twenty-something. We got chatting and we got on. And then, five minutes into the conversation, it came out that I was a Lib Dem (I think my girlfriend, standing next to me, was the one to bring it up). And I remember the contortions that crossed ...
A nasty scam, this one... Age UK South Gloucestershire have been made aware of an incident where a bogus caller, claiming to be one of our representatives, cold called an older person offering to undertake some home decorating and repairs. The rogue caller then asked for money to buy materials. Age UK South Gloucestershire want to remind older people across the area that we never make unsolicited cold calls to people's homes. Their representatives help many older people, either our volunteers who offer a befriending service or our Information and Advice workers who help with benefits advice and form completion. ...
Next Wednesday, 22nd October, the House of Lords will debate the following amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill which, if passed, would make revenge porn a criminal offence. It follows : After Clause 28 insert the following new clause - Publication of private sexual images (1) It shall be an offence for a person to publish a private sexual image of another identifiable person without their consent where this disclosure causes distress to the person who is the subject of the image. (2) A person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1) if he or she: (a) reasonably ...
I had such an interesting response yesterday about dysfunctional customer service systems fuelling widespread, and rather unfocussed rage. It may also have been significant that more people read what I wrote than any one day hit-rate I've had this year. It also focused my own attention on the huge change in the stated purposes of privatisation. Not that I have difficulties with the idea in theory - there is bound to be private investment in services and there should be. It is the practice that has changed so much, and apparently without anyone noticing. First let's go back a bit. ...
For the last two weeks 550 councillors and council officers have been supporting the Bury 'Ask me about Fostering' campaign. This is a campaign to ask caring families and individuals if they can make a real difference to a child's life by becoming a foster carer. [IMG: photo] The number of children needing foster carers in Bury is rising, at the memento there are 54 local children unable to be cared for by a local Bury foster carer. The support offered by Bury to foster carers includes a 24/7 telephone advice line; regular supervision; good financial remuneration; and specialist support ...
At its last meeting the Council's Cabinet agreed plans to go ahead with developing a 'separate organisation' to run large parts of adult social care services across Bury. A new organisation – perhaps a local authority trading company – will be developed to deliver these services which provide support to people with disabilities, older people and carers. The next stage is to develop a detailed business plan of how the new organisation would operate. This will have to be agreed by councillors before a final decision is made. We have been told that customers, carers and staff will receive regular ...
As we trailed here, last night saw the House of Commons debate a backbench motion (which is therefore not binding on the government): 'That this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.' By my count, 28 Lib Dem MPs backed the motion – their names are below – with just one against (Sir Alan Beith). As the BBC notes: "It is convention that ministers abstain when voting takes place on a backbench MP's motion and those of both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties did so. It is, however, Lib Dem ...
A Home Watch Conference will take place for the whole of the Bury MBC area. This is on: Thursday 23 October 2014 Elizabethan Suite, Bury Town Hall (Doors open 6.30, Conference start 7.15pm) The meeting is an opportunity to meet up with local neighbourhood police teams, and guest speakers will include Police Cadets, Counter Terrorism officers and other Senior Police staff. [IMG: unnamed]
#162898884 / gettyimages.com In Liberal Democrat Newswire #52 I covered the results of the constituency polls carried out by Conservative peer (and nearly a Lib Dem donor) Lord Ashcroft in a series of seats held by the Liberal Democrats. You can read the topline results here but today I want to take a look at the answers to the question about whether people had been contacted in the previous few weeks (by leaflet, letter, email, phone or doorstep) by each of the parties. Although the overall polling results in Lib Dem – Tory fights show a lot of tough battles, ...
Last week I was representing the local Lib Dems at our national Party Conference in Glasgow – here's a few highlights of what was announced and discussed: Personal Allowance Liberal Democrats believe in opportunity for everyone not just a few at the top and letting people keep more of their own money is central to that. We have already raised the income tax threshold to £10,500 and in Glasgow we announced that we will raise the income tax personal allowance threshold to £11,000 in the first year of the next Parliament - a further tax cut of £100 for 29m ...
The Liverpool Echo has a fascinating story – see link above. Stanley Dock used to be the Liverpool end of the Leeds Liverpool Canal until 'The Link' was built, by the former British Waterways (now the canal & River Trust) a few years ago, to enable narrow boats and barges to access the Albert Dock area. The northern part of the City is desperately in need of regeneration so let's hope this plan works out. Below is a link to a great photo of Stanley Dock by Lydiate photographer Keith Page:- www.flickr.com/photos/keith_page/12382631834/in/photostream/
The BBC is carrying this today – Sheena Ramsey, the CEO of Knowsley Council, has revealed she will step down as part of a move to find £26m in savings over the next two years. The council will also cut 200 jobs over the same time frame. Is this the whole story? The Liverpool Echo has joined in – see link below – but........ Mm, is the whole story then?
Yesterday, I participated in a very useful meeting with Dundee Museum of Transport, who are kindly undertaking a vintage car cavalcade in the West End as part of the opening events of West End Christmas Fortnight on Saturday 22nd November. The photo - right - was taken at the museum yesterday - it is well worth a visit! Last night, I also participated a productive meeting at Dundee Contemporary Arts at which the excellent Discovery Walk proposal was discussed in detail. The project is making good progress and will be an excellent addition to the city's waterfront.
[IMG: Mark Hunter MP] Cheadle MP Mark Hunter has stepped down as Lib Dem Deputy Chief Whip after four and a half years to spend more time on his constituency work. In his resignation letter, Mark said It has been a privilege to serve for four and a half years as a member of the coalition government and I remain proud of our achievements over that period. We have faced many difficult decisions as a party but I believe it was the right choice, in the circumstances, to form the coalition and provide the political stability necessary for economic recovery ...
It is a bit late but this article by Owen Jones in Sunday's Observer is well worth reading in full. It is the most damning indictment of our broken political system I have read for some time. It says to me that if UKIP are the answer then we are asking the wrong question. But then none of the other answers look at all convincing either: Satire is left redundant by the audacity of Ukip. Just look at the leading lights of this "anti-establishment" insurgency. Their leader is that rare breed in British politics, a privately educated ex-City broker. Their ...
It had to happen and thank goodness it has. After all the fuss over MPs' expenses and concern about the opacity of those claimed by MEPs, somebody has produced an easy to use website so that we can track what our European representatives are getting. EU Integrity Watch has been put together by the pressure group Transparency International who have collated information made available by the parliament, and put it all together on a user-friendly website. The BBC reveal some of the headlines: Nearly half of all MEPs have declared no outside financial interests at all. But 398 MEPs cumulatively ...
(What follows is me trying an idea out. I am not at all sure it's not a horrible idea, hence the question mark in the title. PLEASE criticise it — but also be aware when doing so that while discussion of *immigration* in my comments is fine, abuse of *immigrants* will get you banned.) Like [...]
Liz Lynne has replied to my questions to candidates, and her answers are reprinted in full below. With some speculation over who will be validly nominated, I will pause a little before giving my views on all four answers. The reason I want to be President is that I want the Party to get back to its grassroots and I believe that I am the person who can help to achieve that. There has become such a disconnect between the Party in the country and the Party nationally, if we are not careful we will see more people just giving ...
