A couple of hours in the company of a driver who is knowledgeable about railway practice - and much else. Look out for Cambridge and Ely on the way,
I know nobody likes to read process posts by writers, but I feel a sense of obligation to the people who have backed my Patreon campaign to let them know about my non-blog writing, so you'll get this every so often. My plan has been, and still is, to email every one of my backers [...]
York Lib Dems recently scored an impressive victory in a local by-election. When Lib Dem Voice reported the result, as well as congratulations some commenters expressed concern about how the result had been achieved. Matt Hemsley wrote that: Obviously this result is pleasing. But it does appear - especially from the quote from the Council [...]
Back in 2009 I quoted a post from the Conservative blog Curly's Corner Shop: We had passed three "lollipop ladies", two street cleaners, four delivery men, three window cleaners, one telephone repair man, and two satellite dish installers, all dressed in the uniform of HM Prison Great Britain and glumly wearing their yellow jackets. Bloody hell, I thought, this must be what it's like in an open prison, and woe betide anyone who dares to go without, and I wondered just how many years away is the regulation that states that ALL members of the public must wear a high ...
#495245019 / gettyimages.com Back in the 1980s, one of the dividing lines between the Liberal Party and the SDP was defence. While the Liberal Party had many unilateral disarmers and was generally keen to reduce Britain's nuclear arsenal, the SDP was convinced for the need for strong nuclear defence against the Soviet threat. That debate has a period charm now, because what neither side realised was that the Soviet Union was just a few years from dissolution. The only person in Alliance circles who seemed to have grasped this was an academic called Brian May (not the rock guitarist turned ...
Your Thurrock reports: The UKIP candidate for South Basildon and East Thurrock has been de-selected. Kerry Smith is the leader of the UKIP group in Basildon District Council as well a county councillor for Essex and was seen as the architect and engine room for a number of their successes in the area. He was the UKIP candidate in the 2010 General Election and had been selected some time ago to fight against the Conservative MP, Stephen Metcalfe... YT spoke to Mr Smith on Friday morning. He appeared to be completely unaware of any de-selection process.
A few years ago Calderdale Council made a 'temporary' repair to Dark Ln in Warley Town. This repair involved removing the traditional cobbles and replacing them with Tarmac. For those of you who don't know Warley Town is a very picturesque conservation area within Warley Ward. Former Liberal Democrat Councillor Jennifer Pearson had secured a promise from the Council that this tarmac would in due course be replaced back to the original cobbles. This has never happened. So when one member of the Warley Community association read my recent story on the tarmacking of Burnley Rd (which was justified on ...
For the past eighteen months or so I've been helping a former colleague and former pupil compile a record of the Old Boys of the school we all attended who fell in the First World War. The bulk of the work has been done by the former pupil who, as an ex Chief Detective Inspector at Scotland Yard, has considerable investigative skills, so the finished compilation contains an astonishing amount of fascinating detail. As a "post script" to our efforts the former colleague and I decided to go on a Battlefields coach tour, which lasted five days and from which ...
Twitter is evil. We all knew that, right? And it can be very funny. And even evilly funny. Out of the most innocent and an assuming of gestures, it can make a Big Internet Thing. And so it was when all that Danny Alexander did was change his cover photo. He picked an image of him walking alongside Loch Morlich, near Aviemore in the heart of his Highland constituency. In the shadow of Cairngorm mountain itself, he strolled, casually dressed. And then Hannah Thompson, who you may remember is the woman whose brilliant campaign against revenge porn is about to ...
Michael Mullaney: "strains on the NHS budget cannot be resolved by treating serious illnesses with herbal remedies." It seems rather absurd that I should have to make this obvious statement. However, there appear to be those who take a different line. Conservative health committee member David Tredinnick MP has this week suggested that the NHS should treat patients with herbal remedies, astrology and homeopathy in a quest to drive down costs. He explained to Channel 4 News that "in some cultures astrology is part of healthcare because they need to have a voice and I've got up and said that...but ...
For more on the story see The Washington Post's summary of the dispute over a fan.
As we reported yesterday, the loss of a Latvian MEP, Iveta Grigule from UKIP's "Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy" group mean that is no longer eligible for group status, losing substantial budgets and (unwanted, unused) influence. Catherine Bearder writes in the New Statesman In a personal setback for Nigel Farage, the loss of group status will also mean he will no longer be able to make his long leader's speeches at the European Parliament's monthly sessions in Strasbourg, which he routinely used as a soapbox to insult European leaders and undermine Britain's image abroad. ... Ukip's marriage of convenience ...
Following my last post on the West Yorkshire Combined authority I was questioned on how the Combined Authority fits into the Leeds City Region. To understand this relatively simple question we must delve deeply into the new layers of bureaucracy our political masters have schemed up for us. I thought perhaps I would try and explain this in the same manner it was explained to the members of the combined authorities scrutiny panel. So behold the following slide, which contains a neat diagram to explain the relationship of the Combined authority and the LEP (otherwise known as Leeds City Region). ...
A meeting to discuss the expansion of Launceston Medical Centre has been scheduled for 7pm on Thursday, December 18th in the Guildhall at Launceston Town Hall. Dan Rogerson MP, a representative from NHS England, Paula Bland and Jo Beer from local Clinical Commissioning Groups, and Peter Harper from Launceston Medical Centre will all be attending. Please put it in your diary if this is an issue you are concerned about. Tweet
It appears many combined authorities are in talks with George Osborne about getting more powers devolved down to them from Whitehall. There is talk the autumn statement might well contain a major transfer of spending power down to these combined authorities and city regions. Whilst I am all in favor of decentralizing power I have real issues with this form of devolution for the following reasons: The people have not been consulted on what they want. A handful of Council leaders who make up the membership of each combined authority are carving up powers with Whitehall with little public debate, ...
[IMG: Miriam Gonzàlez Duràntez by Liberal Democrats] There's a great interview in the Standard with Miriam Gonzàlez Duràntez. It irks me slightly that Charlotte Edwardes doesn't even get 20 words into her article before she mentions what Miriam is wearing. At least she got "top corporate lawyer" in there first, so I guess that counts as progress. All the papers have picked up on what Miriam said to a group of young women – telling them that women have been faking things for years so they should fake self confidence. It's about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. She ...
I write this article on the train back from the annual dinner in the beautiful city of Bath, I was speaking at their dinner and I got an opportunity to pay a fulsome and well deserved tribute to Don Foster MP for his 22 years of unstinting service to his constituency and our party. But [...]
Ukip supporters are rampant in Essex, in Kent, in Greater Manchester, and in many other places too. They turn up in vox-pops and in blog comments. And what comes through is a vitriolic hatred of the "Westminster elite", by which they seem to mean any MP belonging to the Conservatives, Labour or the Lib Dems, plus anybody associated with them. "They aren't listening", or if the they are listening, "they aren't hearing". Any politician that does not agree that immigration is the root of the country's troubles, and should be curbed drastically, is regarded as corrupt and useless. I have ...
As reported, a High Court judge has ordered Peterborough City Council's attempt to recoup £1.3m from a solar energy installation company is to be determined by adjudication, rather than by litigation as desired by the council. The story goes.................. The legal action relates to a contract dated 7 July 2011 by which EMS (Enterprise Managed Services) [...]
I've just checked my pass for Conference and it certainly appears to be for the Liberal Democrats and not for Labour's. I'm sure if I'd been at the wrong one, my cousin a Labour PPC for next year's General Election would have put me right. But I do recall speaking in the motion on Reclaiming the People's Game. In fact I have evidence that I did here: Yeah, we were talking about the role of supporters trusts in the running of football clubs. Many of those in the debate had some experience of such trusts, myself included, being set up ...
Help shape Cheadle – come along to Cafe One, the Upper Rooms, Cheadle at 9.30am on Saturday 1st November 2014 to get involved and have your say. Cheadle in changing. As budgets become tighter, the Lib Dems have launched a programme to give local people more say over how our area looks. Cheadle is piloting the approach with the rest of Stockport following on next year. We want as many people as possible to get involved. Cheadle Village Partnership have already done a lot of the leg-work and the next step is to get practical. There are two ways you ...
Now this is a funky slice of the future: PS How to tell you're a Lib Dem activist: when you see the teapot, do you think "that'd make a neat barchart?"
[IMG: Fingers on keyboard] Here at LDV Towers we try hard to ensure that the comments threads on the site do not descend into the angry, abusive examples that are all-too prevalent around the web. As such, we have a clearly stated policy and the LDV team takes a fairly active approach to the moderation of comments. This takes up a sizeable amount of the team's time (not least because those who post comments that breach our policy are inevitably more likely to transfer their rants to emails to us!). Speaking albeit not entirely objectively, I think we do a ...
Fri 17th
11:38
Massive swing from Labour as Liberal Democrat Andrew Waller regains Council seat in York
There's some really good news from York today. In a by-election, former Liberal Democrat Group Leader, who lost his seat in the City's Westfield ward in 2011, regained it in spectacular style, with a 24.8% swing from Labour. The result in full is: Andrew Waller – Lib Dem 1804 Labour 588 UKIP 398 Con 113 Green 87 Current Liberal Democrat Group Leader Keith Aspden said: I am delighted with tonight's result and would like to congratulate Andrew Waller on his outstanding victory while paying tribute to candidates of all parties for a spirited campaign. Tonight voters have sent a clear ...
[IMG: Julie Porksen] The issue of transport so that over 16s can get to school and college is one close to Berwick Liberal Democrat PPC Julie Pörksen's heart. She told us why earlier this Summer: In the eighties, being a rural Northumbrian kid, I used to get the school bus to Ponteland, and just stayed on it for sixth form. Those wanting to go to college had to find their own way. Raising the age of participation and encouraging parity between a sixth form and a college education can only be a positive step for the opportunities and career and ...
Leaked document shows WHO's hard line on e-cigarettes (tags: ) Revealed: how Whisper app tracks 'anonymous' users (tags: ) Whisper app rewrites terms of service and privacy policy Just goes to show: if it's on the internet, it's never truly anonymous. (tags: ) Eye-Tracking Heatmaps reveal what people actually look at in photos and web pages (tags: ) Is reheated pasta less fattening? (tags: ) Grayling gives green light for staff to use force against child inmates in new jail Time for another donation to the Howard League I think (tags: ) The Howard League for Penal Reform (tags: ) ...
Steve Webb is keen to hear YOUR feedback on the new School Meals scheme. From this term, infant age children will ALL get a free meal at lunch time in School. As well as catching many lower income children who miss out on free school meals, the evidence from places where this is already the policy is that *all* children benefit from this time together eating a nutritious meal. This is a Lib Dem initiative nationally. Steve would like to hear from parents and pupils about it - you can email him on steve@stevewebb.org.uk .
Fri 17th
09:51
Location of Newbury Question Time and tragic accident which led to three of the panellists being lat...
Some people have searched for the location of Question Time in Newbury last night. It was at St Bartholomew's school. There was a tragic, fatal accident at the Ufton Nervet railway crossing last night. This delayed three of the Question Time guests (Sir Menzies Campbell, Jeremy Hunt and Angela Eagle) for more than an hour. One report said the delay was at least 103 minutes long. Passengers were eventually taken off the train at Newbury Racecourse station. There was a report that the three delayed panelists didn't get to the set until 9.30pm, leaving it very tight to record an ...
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention this week... BBC One London – 19 March 1977 – BBC Genome BBC1 day I was born (19/3/77): Grandstand, Doctor Who, Mike Yarwood, Match of the Day. Kinda wish I'd been at home http://bit.ly/1rg4U6e Game of Losers: the numbers show David Cameron and Ed Miliband face election stalemate – Telegraph Blogs Brilliant primer from James Kirkup on the election numbers that matter. (Bit scary this stuff needs saying) http://bit.ly/1ssik2H Why I'm proud to be an extreme moderate – Comment – Voices – The Independent +1 @LauraSandysMP: "It is time that ...
[IMG: Tory UKIP] British conservatism, or modern Toryism, rests on two key principles as I see it. The first is the idea that people, once of an appropriate age, are completely responsible for themselves and the consequences of their behaviour. No outside factors should be weighed in for consideration; it's rather unfortunate if you had an abusive parent, or a substandard education, but ultimately that doesn't let you off the hook for anything. While the liberal grapples with the concept of the individual having free choice set against mitigating factors such as one's early life and particularly one's education, and ...
[IMG: rsz_autumn_colours_in_jubilee_woods_4] [IMG: And it is a little larger than expected!] The owl has landed and it is a little larger than expected! This is a good time of year to stroll around this woodland area which was created around 10 years ago. It is now very well established and a favorite of dog walkers. You will usually meet a local and have a chat about things. A good place to wind down. The carved stone owl is hidden within the trees. Check out the link below:- www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1411390 The photos above (and more) are amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/ ...
[IMG: rally paddy 01] The Guardian is hosting an exhibition called "The Languages that changed my life" at its office in London. This interests me as I was both good at and fascinated by languages at school and I now have a teenager who almost obsessively studies language, learning Swahili, French and a bit of Mandarin Chinese for fun. Paddy Ashdown has written a piece for the Guardian's exhibition about how his language learning has enhanced his life. There are a couple of quite funny anecdotes. Just be thankful he didn't make one of them at a diplomatic reception or ...
Others have written more eloquently than me on the pre-election debates, and on which leaders should attend which debates. I won't rehash that here*. I just had one thought to add. Last time round there were three debates, and each debate focused on a different topic. The first one covered domestic affairs, the next international affairs, and the last the economy. And it worked. It made no sense to jump around from topic to topic. Leaders managed to develop coherent arguments about their plans in each area. I hope this approach will continue next year - certainly, I've seen this ...
With thanks to Sheena Wellington, here's the latest update from Friends of Wighton : Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library : Cappuccino Concert: Saturday 18th October Doors open at 10.30am, concert starts 11am, tickets £5 at door, coffee and biscuits available (£1 donation suggested) Katherine Liley, Fiddle & Martin MacDonald Guitar With an upbringing steeped in Highland piping tradition, Martin started playing guitar for local ceilidh bands in his early teens. This is where he developed his unique accompaniment style. He still prefers playing a West Highland, pipe-tune based repertoire as reflected in the duos he has formed with fiddlers Carol ...
Continuing my First World War theme for 2014. [IMG: rsz_nalgo_memorial_stone_in_southport_town_hall] Folks keep pointing out war memorials to me as they realise this blog site is covering them in 2014. Here is one from the former National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO) that is in a prominent position in Southport Town Hall.
Wednesday saw all meetings in the Senedd cancelled due to strike action by some staff. The Tories were naturally perturbed by this and took to YouTube to protest that this would never happen in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Westminster. The tweet advertising the video is still there but the video itself has been taken down. Perhaps the reason lies in this e-mail sent by the Chief Executive to all Assembly Members the next day: Members are reminded that filming must not take place in the Siambr without express permission in advance from the Assembly Commission Media Relations Team. Filming that ...
Pensioners will benefit from a 2.5 per cent increase in their state pension thanks to the Liberal Democrat Triple Lock guarantee. Figures show that inflation is below target meaning that the basic stat [IMG: Senior couple] e pension will be boosted by 2.5% next year. The Triple Lock guarantee means that pensions will increase with inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest. Commenting on the inflation figures, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury,Danny Alexander said: "This below target inflation number is good news for everyone, but will help pensioners in particular as the Liberal Democrat flagship ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29650118 The BBC has the story – see link above Liverpool's newly rebuilt Everyman Theatre has won the Riba Stirling Prize for best new building of the year. The venue beat five other buildings to win the honour – the Royal Institute of British Architects' highest accolade. Riba president Stephen Hodder called the Everyman an "exceptional new building". "It is a ground-breaking example of how to build a daring bold and highly sustainable large public building in a historic city centre," he said.
Each year each Blyth Town Councillor is allocated a sum ( this year £1000 ) for small schemes , events, or Community activities in their ward. As we come towards the end of the civic year, I have some of " my" fund remaining. I was happy to give £250 of my allocation towards the kite festival earlier this year, but I haven't received any requests for funding from any other organisation, or other suggestions of what to spend the money on. If you have any ideas, requests, or suggestions please contact me. My fellow ward councillor Lesley Rickerby also ...
The extent to which UKIP, the anti-establishment, anti-politics party depends on public subsidy is laid bare by an article in yesterday's Times on the financial crisis facing them due to the collapse of their European voting bloc. The paper says that UKIP have suffered a serious blow to its finances due to the defection of a Latvian MEP which has caused the collapse of the seven-state group led by Nigel Farage's party in the European parliament. They say that the extinction of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy, the parliament's biggest anti-EU group with 48 MEPs, means UKIP and its ...
My sleep problems have been particularly bad the last couple of days, so you get links. Mark Pack has a history of Liberal and Lib Dem campaigning, which explains how and why Rennard got to the position of importance in the party he did Nicholas Whyte looks at all the refugees in Casablanca Popular has [...]
