Filmed in September 1994. the final month of the branch's operation as part of the Central Line. Today, at least in part, it is a heritage railway.
Thu 6th
22:36
Dan Rogerson impresses in conversation with Judith Bunting at Elm Farm Organic Research Centre this ...
[IMG: image] A bit of a Libby Demmy treat for me tonight. I went along to enjoy Dan Rogerson MP in conversation with Judith Bunting at Elm Farm Organic Research Centre, at Hamstead Marshall. This was open to "all comers" rather than just Lib Dems, and it was very good to see a very good crowd from across West Berkshire. Dan is MP for my parents and three of my brothers and their families down in North Cornwall. About a year ago he visited my parents' house in Widemouth Bay while doing residents' surveys. They haven't stopped talking about it ...
I came across a rather good picture of my father's first car tonight – a Triumph TR2. He drove around most of Europe in it and my best guess is that this photograph dates from either 1958 or 1959 and was taken somewhere in Spondon. [IMG: Triumph TR2] By way of contrast, the image below is of my first car, pictured on the road between Leek and Macclesfield in 1981 or early 1982 when I was learning to drive. It's a Skoda S110L. [IMG: Skoda S110L] Maybe the fans of the 'S' series in the Skoda Owners' Club would disagree ...
Conservative seat. Resignation Liberal Democrat candidate- Lesley George To help contact Richard Allanach (paddox1@waitrose.com; 01788.817907)
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[IMG: Liberal Democrat badge - Some rights reserved by Paul Walter, Newbury, UK] It's over a year since we first reported that Lib Dem membership, which plummeted in the aftermath of the formation of the Coalition, had started rising again. That meant the party finished 2013 with more members than it began the year. Well, the upward trend is continuing, as an email to members tonight notes: Liberal Democrat membership has once again increased in the previous quarter, which means we've now grown continuously for the past 15 months. Membership now stands at 44,526, which means that since July 1st ...
A press release from Natural England (which can be found on the www,gov.uk) celebrates some good news on conservation from the Stiperstones. And it quotes Simon Cooter, the organisation's senior reserve manager: "We work hard on the reserve to protect and encourage the wildlife, including red grouse, whinchat, orchid and emperor moths. However the weather can affect numbers from year to year and it's great when we have seasons like this when the wildlife really does thrive. We've been out with volunteers, counting and recording throughout the summer. We use the information to help continuously improve the work we do ...
The Mindless Ones will be returning to Thought Bubble this year, but for the first year I won't have a new book to sell there — California Dreaming has turned into a much bigger book than I thought (and isn't a Thought Bubble kind of book anyway), Head Of State is still grinding its way [...]
Thu 6th
18:25
Devolution of powers to City Regions with Metro Mayors – The Manchester deal is rubbish
A powerful response to the so called devolution of powers to English cities is covered in Iain Brodie Browne's latest blog posting at:- [IMG: Iain Brodie-Browne] Communities like Southport, Formby, Maghull, Aintree, Crosby, Lydiate etc. would be run for the benefit of Liverpool City. Much of Sefton Borough's boundary is with West Lancashire and City Region deals, should one be replicated in the Liverpool City Region, will put more bricks in the wall between Sefton and West Lancs. Stop this nonsense now.
The ill considered foisting of a City regional mayor on a reluctant Manchester is not the way to reform the constitution. It is a London answer to the English question. Firstly it does not answer the Mid Lothian Question-why should MP's from constituencies with devolved administrations vote on English issues, it fact this botched proposal makes it worst- and secondly it blatantly ignores the wishes of Manchester people. We certainly DO NOT want this option foisted on us. Secondly the way to constitutional reform is from the bottom up. We, the people, will decide not the Whitehall and Westminster elite. ...
According to Teads, I'm currently the 177th most influential blog in the UK. (And at the dizzying heights of 11th amongst 'other' blogs) I say this purely to gloat about my massive power, which is as real and absolute as those massive amounts of cash that someone just emailed you about. I shall of course be leveraging this influence into a series of books about how to be one of the Big 200 Bloggers. Each book will contain exactly the same advice as the last, but will have a slightly different picture of a smug hipster at a laptop on ...
So I've largely given this week over to posts reflecting my devotion to Christopher Nolan and his films. However, the film which made him a household name was nearly directed by one of my other nerd heroes. The Buffy, Firefly and Avengers mastermind Joss Whedon was also approached to direct Batman Begins. In a 2008 interview, he reminisced thus: "Well, I actually did pitch [...]
My husband reaches state retirement age in 2017, so he will be eligible for the single-tier pension. But, he recently got a pension forecast and discovered that the years he spent in contracted out employment would reduce the single tier pension by nearly half. If somebody was entitled to a higher pension under the old [...]
[IMG: Eugene Burdick] A best-selling author shifting millions of books in the post-war decades, a renowned public intellectual, a friend of celebrities such as Marlon Brando, a highly respected political scientist and famous enough to feature in an advert for Ballantine Ale, Eugene Burdick's career was tragically cut short when he died of a heart attack in 1965, aged just 46. He's now an almost completely forgotten figure, so obscure that the majority of his books do not even merit their own Wikipedia pages and the only people I encounter who know of him are those I've already shared the ...
Win the votes of party members, the unions, and elected representatives and Jim Murphy will be Scottish Labour leader. Simple. Continue reading →
Can't sleep without closing my eyes Can't catch this moment right now As I try to catch it, it dies The memory is all it will allow Do I always live in the past? Before I catch 'now', it is dead And when I slept at long last How many 'nows' died and bled? What [...]
My past experiences of the NHS A&E service were not very positive. In 1978 I went over the handlebars of my bike and smashed up my left arm; I had a shattered elbow, fractured wrist and mild concussion. I was found by a man who took me to hospital in his car — an exquisitely [...]
Aldes — the Association of Liberal Democrat Engineers and Scientists — have put together a shortlist of Liberal Democrat MPs and parliamentary candidates who they think can play in important role in the Commons thanks to their background and/or interest in science. As Aldes explain: The Team Science campaign thinks that candidates with a background in science, engineering, technology and medicine have a great deal to contribute to politics and are currently underrepresented in Parliament. For this reason we are championing support for the following team of Lib Dem candidates in the 2015 general election. And here is 'Team Science': ...
I wanted to pass on a thank you to you. Yes, you. And I also want to ask you to pass it on to your own army of volunteers - all the people you know who've ever stuffed a letter, knocked on a door, helped you win and kept you going when you don't. Because [...]
As residents of Chorlton will know only too well, the glorious Hough End Hall has fallen on hard times and is under threat. Currently owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, [...]
#3097134 / gettyimages.com I'm quite a fan of well-used market research in politics (as long as you remember to avoid the lying cross-tabs). But this? Oh dear: At last night's NEC, Labour's ruling body "discussed the meaning of ordinary", according to a source who was present — Sam Coates Times (@SamCoatesTimes) November 5, 2014 I don't think this is quite what the inventor of political opinion polling Doctor Gallup (pictured) quite had in mind...
[IMG: Celebrating Veolia's failed planning appeal for New Barnfield earlier this year] Celebrating Veolia's failed planning appeal for New Barnfield earlier this year On Tuesday, Hertfordshire County Council's Highways, Waste and Management Panel discussed its next steps in long-term planning for the disposal of household waste. The Conservative administration decided to leave the door open for the Veolia plan for New Barnfield, despite the Planning Inspector and the Government both turning down the proposal. Liberal Democrat councillors attempted to amend this policy and end once and for all an arrangement that has already cost local taxpayers millions while delivering nothing. ...
[IMG: Focus] In a House of Lords debate on drones this week, Liberal Democrat peer, Lord Lee of Trafford said: It may even be possible to develop a delivery system that delivers Focus leaflets which I would have thought would be very much appreciated by these benches. That could eventually provide material for a Glee song... * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist in Newbury and West Berkshire. He is Wednesday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Liberal Burblings.
Despite over twelve thousand Herts residents petitioning for bus services to be protected the Conservatives in County Hall are still determined to slash bus services across the County. At yesterday's County Council Highways and Transport Panel Tories voted down proposals from the Liberal Democrats that would have protected bus services and saved £753,000. Instead they chose to ignore their [...]
Today Fr Tim Bartlett, who to be fair is to be praised for engaging with Belfast Pride's Hymn and Us debate, issued a statement that doesn't 100% make sense. "I will be writing today to those groups from the gay community, with whom I have had a very constructive and ongoing engagement in recent years, to say that I am withdrawing my engagement until the right of all people, in this case Christians, to freedom of conscience is vindicated and respected by the Equality Commission and the gay community. "I also want to know why the chief commissioner of the ...
Thu 6th
11:48
Nick and Miriam join Lorraine to talk about inspiring women and school meals - and grate cheese
Nick Clegg got cheesy yesterday morning on ITV's Lorraine show. He was helping their chef make ragu for going on bonfire baked potatoes and was entrusted with chopping onion, carrot and celery and grating cheese which he seemed to carry out with reasonable competence. My mind boggled a bit when he asked which bit of the grater he should use. It was for going on top of a baked potato. It didm't really matter. Anyway, he took the opportunity to talk about the successful introduction of his school meals policy. This was not a serious political interview. It was never ...
[IMG: Nick on the back row holding up the Tring petition] Nick on the back row holding up the Tring petition On Tuesday morning Nick Hollinghurst, County Councillor Tring & the Villages, presented a petition on behalf of Tring residents and with the support of the Tring Bus Users Group for the 387 service to Tring Station to be extended to 8.15 pm instead of – as the Conservatives propose – being terminated at 6.30 pm. The 387 route serving Tring Station is one of the most heavily subsidised routes in the county but is recognised as having "high social ...
It is both exhilarating and disturbing to find that the great edifice of government is moving in the directions you have urged. Not that I am in any way influential on these - the Treasury's inquiry into digital currencies and the new Competition and Markets Authority investigation into the banking market. But it is still disturbing. Why are they doing it now? Will they actually make things worse? It isn't clear to me, for example, that the Treasury has the authority it needs to regulate digital currencies, and I am always nervous when government departments start thinking about regulating areas ...
In addition to remembering my family members who died in the Great War, as this is a political blog I shall also be looking at the men who while still Members of Parliament signed up for the war and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Arthur Edward Bruce O'Neill was part of the Irish nobility part of the Chichester family who were the Marquess of Donegall. He grandfather was the younger brother of Arthur, 2nd Earl of Donegall when he inherited the O'Neill estates through his wife's connections and changed his family name. Arthur O'Neill in his Lifeguard's Uniform Arthur O'Neill was ...
[IMG: colonel-gaddafi-pic-reuters-618043997] I don't know what it is about UKIP, but for a party that sees itself as being defenders of all things free and British they really do have a thing for despotic autocrats. Take Mark Reckless, the soon to be the Indie Party's second Member of Parliament, and his recent contribution to the immigration debate in Britain: "Whatever people say about Gaddafi, one thing is he didn't allow those boats to come across." Farage backed his boy up, saying "of course" he agreed, with at least a caveat thrown in that Gaddafi was indeed an "Arab nationalist dictator". ...
King George V 6th Form College has just had a truly shocking OFSTED report. They have fallen from Outstanding in 2010 to Inadequate this year. Sadly too few parents and students were that surprised. The evidence has been mounting for some time. It is no secret that John Pugh MP received some detailed complaints which he put to the Governors. They rejected the concerns and made it clear that they thought that they were doing well in the present climate. They were wrong. It appears that their staggering level of complacency has continued since the OFSTED report was published. This ...
Mental health is so often in the news for the wrong reasons its good to finally have a few things to cheer about. Last month, though little noticed, Nick Clegg announced the start of a genuinely preventative programme in mental health with the launch of a series of front line mental health support pilots for blue light workers. People working in the emergency services experience some of the highest levels of work related stress, so it is absolutely the right place to start. And with poor mental health costing UK businesses £26 billion a year, taking mental health seriously in ...
I hate to comment on the politics of other countries. I know more than most British about the US political scene, but I'm no expert. Still, wider lessons about the process of politics can be seen from the US. And they are rather worrying. As a liberal I root for the Democrats in the US elections – though their record on some issues, such as business regulation and education is not good. So the scale of their defeat in this year's mid-terms was a shock: not just in the Senate, but in state gubernatorial contests too. I had subscribed to ...
Labour seat, resignation Liberal Democrat candidate- Christopher Maynard
Yate Children's Centre, Cranleigh Court Road, is holding weekly surgeries for parents who would like to find out more about this Government funded scheme. A maximum of 15 hours per week per child can be claimed for 38 weeks per year if your child is entitled to a free place. Eligibility Criteria: The family meet the eligibility criteria also used for Free School Meals The family receive Working Tax Credits and have an annual gross earnings of no more than £16,190The family receive Universal Credit and have an annual gross earnings of no more than £16,190The child has a current ...
Why people in the public eye coming out is still important (tags: ) Yorks&Humber Lib Dems policy on Devolution - FAO @nick_clegg, who seems confused about it (tags: ) Work Programme adviser: 'Almost every day one of my clients mentioned feeling suicidal' (tags: ) Women Are Choosing To be Paid Less? (tags: ) Comment: Stop laughing at the hard right and start challenging their politics (tags: ) Some English People Are About To Burn An Effigy Of Alex Salmond Jesus Christ, the Merkel-doing-a-nazi-salute one from a couple of years ago. And the burning crosses! That's just terrifying... (tags: ) 14 ...
[IMG: #TeamScience] A great campaigning initiative from the Association of Lib Dem Engineers and Scientists (ALDES): There have been a number of non-party political campaigns seeking to ensure the voices of scientists and engineers are better heard in the current parliament: against the threat of austerity measures, the Science is Vital campaign lobbied hard against cuts to research budgets, organising a rally outside the treasury, with the effect that research spending was ringfenced. In 2012, a pledge campaign saw copies of Mark Henderson's book The Geek Manifesto sent to every UK MP - many pledgers also taking the opportunity to ...
I have received residents' concerns about the area of ground in Glenagnes Road to the immediate north of the West End Schools' Campus site - see right. It has lain empty for years but during the campus construction, the site was used for storage of materials. To access it, the fence that runs down the pavement side was largely removed and it has not been reinstated. I have asked the City Council to have the area tidied and the fence replaced. The Education Department has responded helpfully as follows : "This piece of ground (a bit of no-man's land) now ...
So many people out on a cold but clear night to see Maghull's annual fireworks display. My guess is this is the largest number of folks turning out for it ever. [IMG: rsz_img_2878] 5,000 last year and it had to way above that this year. Indeed, there were so may people they could not all get onto Whinneybrook playing field. [IMG: And the Moon crept into this shot.] And the Moon crept into this shot. There are couple of shots I took of the display in this posting. You have to be a far better photo taker than I am ...
Turley and Richborough Estates have submitted an outline planning application for 137 dwellings, demolition of existing agricultural buildings and creation of vehicular access from the A49 Ludlow Bypass (14/04608/OUT). The development is in Ludford parish. The development will have 117 market dwellings; 12 two bedroomed houses and bungalows, 41 three bedroomed houses, 28 four bedroomed [...]
Councillors on Hetton Town Council in Sunderland have been criticised after they walked out of a meeting - because a member of the public was filming the proceedings on her iPad. Kay Rowham started recording the meeting after a new law stipulates that anyone can record, film, or tweet at public meetings of local government. A council watchdog said: "Democracy can't live behind closed doors." The council has now agreed to adopt the new law. Open and transparent local government comes as a shock to some it seems.
The Independent reports that the charity Animal Aid has launched a website resource that enables voters to check the record of their MP on animal welfare issues, The paper says that the site, which is launched today, contains information on politicians' voting records and views on such topics as the installation of CCTV cameras in slaughterhouses to prevent cruelty, and circus animals: Animal Aid hopes that VoteForAnimals.org.uk will put pressure on MPs and parliamentary candidates to show their support for animal welfare ahead of the general election in May. Data on whether MPs have signed motions relating to animal issues ...
Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board's 'Escalation and Intervention' arrangements have now been raised to only one position below being in special measures, the Assembly's Public Accounts Committee was informed on Tuesday. In a letter to the committee, Dr Andrew Goodall, Chief Executive of NHS Wales, said that the health board needed support to ensure it was able to address the challenges it faces. It has stated that its escalation status should be raised to the category of 'Targeted Intervention' which is one step away from being placed into special measures. Following all the troubles and scandals surrounding health services in north ...
At Alex and Richard's wedding a little over a week ago, I got into a discussion about devolution, inspired by the recent decision of the North-West Liberal Democrats to declare independence from the English party. This was entirely as moderate and reasoned as you would expect a debate on such an abstruse procedural matter among [...]
Note from the district council If you are planning a Christmas meal with work colleagues, friends or family in St Albans District check the food hygiene ratings for restaurants before you book. St Albans City and District Council inspects local food businesses to check they comply with food safety and hygiene regulations and gives them a score. [...]
( answers under the cut ) All answers are presented unedited, as entered by the candidate (mainly due to time). You can find links to other candidates' entries here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
( answers under the cut ) All answers are presented unedited, as entered by the candidate (mainly due to time). You can find links to other candidates' entries here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
( answers under the cut ) All answers are presented unedited, as entered by the candidate (mainly due to time). You can find links to other candidates' entries here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
