I'm exhausted and confused after a very hard day, so today you only get links and I'm getting an early night, but I'll try to post a real post tomorrow morning (I've got one on Windy by the Association mostly done, so if I sleep now I can finish it before work), and that'll be [...]
Reader's voice: The Somerset coalfield? Liberal England replies: Yes, the Somerset coalfield. There is also some footage from Wales.
As I write, the House of Commons is debating the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Well, sort of. In fact, the Speaker, John Bercow, has already pointed out that "there will not today be a vote on the specific matter of membership of the European arrest warrant". But Home Secretary Theresa May and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling say there will. In the Tories' Alice in Wonderland world, when they use the word vote it means just what they choose it to mean, neither more nor less. As with any debate involving Europe, there is a danger of it being used as ...
In my many years blogging and writing for the much-missed Liberal Democrat News, I have formulated four laws of politics. They were: If all parties are united in support of a measure, it will turn out to be a disaster.The more power the state takes to itself, the more arbitrarily that power will be exercised.When politicians do something which they think is very clever, it will eventually turn out to have been very stupid.The more extreme a person's views, the more certain he or she will be that the majority of voters share them.Today's performance by both frontbenches in the ...
The author and broadcaster Matthew Sweet will be giving the Centre for Victorian Studies Annual Lecture at the University of Leicester on Wednesday 19 November. I did my Masters in Victorian Studies at Leicester many years ago and will try to go along. Matthew will be speaking on 'The Victorian World: Prison to Playground.' And this also gives me another chance to recommend his book Inventing the Victorians.
Nick Clegg might not be having much luck with the Conservatives on drugs reform, but he's trying to build an international consensus. He's agreed a joint approach with Colombian leader Juan Manuel Santos according to the Observer: Nick Clegg wants the UK to take a lead role in forging an alliance between European and Latin American countries aiming to reform global drugs laws focused on prohibition. The deputy prime minister believes that the UN special session on drugs in 2016 offers a "unique opportunity" to push for alternatives to the current system. "We need to seize it," Clegg said. "The ...
That yesterday's news bulletins first recorded that the Queen had laid a wreath to commemorate the sacrifices of those of Britain and the Commonwealth who had fought to end wars and then went on to tell us that the US had successfully bombed a convoy and perhaps killed a senior Islamic State leader is a sad reminder that, like the Bourbons, we have forgotten nothing and learned nothing. One after another the commentators tell us that, because this is the hundredth anniversary of the start of the Great War, this year's ceremonies (and presumably the next four) have a special ...
[IMG: Picture] It is peculiar the way most of the organisations we deal with now want to prolong the agony by asking us to rate the 'experience' of dealing with them. This does betray, I suppose, a kind of interest in what we think, but there is also something profoundly irritating about it - especially if it involves formal ratings. It is very rare to get this from organisations which actually provide good customer service - questions, yes (like the NHS Friends and Family Test), but ratings, never. A friend of mine was telling me last week about a particularly ...
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe:
[IMG: healthreport] Imagine for a minute you are a teenager, perhaps working hard for your A-level exams, struggling with relationships and all the social and academic pressures of school. And on top of this, you might be among the 1 in 10 of your peers suffering from depression, an eating disorder, or another mental health problem. But if mental health services are the "Cinderella service" of our NHS, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are the Cinderella Service of Cinderella Services. Effective support for a young person experiencing a mental health problem can have a transformative effect on the ...
[IMG: bee] Liberal Democrats welcome the news that the government is taking forward a National Pollinator Strategy. Between March and May this year, the government ran a consultation on its proposed strategy to protect pollinating insects. The National Pollinator Strategy aims to cover around 1500 insects species that have a pollinating role in England. These include many types of bees, flies, butterflies, beetles and moths. As well as protecting these vital species, the pollinator strategy also includes an aim to boost awareness of the threats to pollinators and what people can do to reduce the environmental threats facing these species. ...
"Caring for our neighbours and those that need our help is a priority for us" says Abid Khan, the deputy Imam of Cheadle Mosque. "It is for this reason that we have established a Food Bank at the Mosque for those whom are struggling financially." [IMG: Cheadle Mosque food bank] Cheadle Mosque food bank Cheadle Mosque based in Heald Green has been established since 2003, it has for a number of months been a Food Bank collection point; attendees have regularly been dropping off food for distribution in other Food Banks, but now the Mosque will distribute food directly to ...
Thank you to the community of the Yeshurun Synagogue for offering their traditional warm welcome to all parts of the community in their Remembrance service on Saturday 8th November. The annual service saw representatives from Christian churches, Islam, the Police, civic and community leaders come to the synagogue, and the Yeshurun is also one of the faith groups who took part in the Cheadle Remembrance Sunday service.
Here are a few of the statements made by churches in Northern Ireland in relation to the Equality Commission decision of action over Ashers Bakery. First the Presbyterian Church in Ireland: The Convener of the Church and Society Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Very Rev. Dr. Norman Hamilton, has issued the following statement: "I want to express deep concern on behalf of our Church at the apparent decision of the Equality Commission to take further steps towards legal action against the owners of Ashers Baking Company. "In a situation where a business has clearly stated that it ...
[IMG: Euro by Alf Melin] Over the last couple of days I have been disappointed that the Lib Dem leadership has seemed to go along with the Osborne/Cameron version of events with respect to the 'reduction' in the £1.7 billion owed to the EU. On Friday, Osborne claimed that through his tough negotiations the UK would only be paying £850 billion. However reports later on explained that the only deal done was over the timing of the payment, and that the reduction was simply due to the UK's EU budget rebate being applied. Over the weekend, various members of the ...
All three party leaders have been speaking to the CBI Conference today, setting out their election stalls. Nick was keen to emphasise the contribution the Liberal Democrats have made to the Government. It was the right message for an audience of businesspeople. What we have achieved - together - over the last four and a half years has been nothing less than extraordinary. In the space of one parliament Britain has gone from being - in the eyes of the rest of the world - one of the worst offenders for fiscal recklessness to the fastest growing economy in the ...
Long before Oman struck oil, providing the wherewithal for the modernisation of the country and its infrastructure after Sultan Qaboos came to power in 1970, this South Eastern corner of Arabia acquired a significant part of its wealth from the trade in frankincense, the aromatic resin of a long-living tree found notably in the Dhofar [...]
[IMG: LabourPlans] Using the Freedom of Information Act I have today exposed that the previous Labour administration on Calderdale Council had plans for a wholesale sell-off of council-owned properties - plans marked as 'restricted' that were to remain under wraps until after next year's elections. I only got to find out about these plans by using the Freedom of Information Act but I can now reveal that that Labour councillors have discussed selling off over 95 properties including at least seven community centres and 15 public toilets. They were not planning to make any of this public until after next ...
Note from district council We have a power outage at Telford Court which is also affecting the lifts which are not working. UK Power and our Contractors are on site trying to restore electricity but are having difficulty re-instating the supply. A red cross vehicle is on route to Telford Court to provide teas and [...]
Please note that there will be a public meeting on Friday 21 November in the council chamber at 7 pm to talk about this application. In the meantime the long-awaited questions and answers have now arrived. Please let us have your reaction: St Claires QA
The ballot papers will be arriving shortly for the English Party Elections, and as I'm standing for election to the English Liberal Democrat Executive Committee (ECE) I thought I should explain in a bit more detail why I'm standing. If you want to know what the ECE does then I've written a summary here. Firstly, [...]
#486437049 / gettyimages.com What should the Liberal Democrats do to regain popularity? Here's what I told Radio 4's The Westminster Hour at the weekend: Given what I said about lists of facts, it's not a surprise that Ed Maxfield and I chose this quote to start chapter 6 of 101 Ways To Win An Election: Facts tell, but stories sell ... If you're not communicating in stories, you're not communicating – James Carville and Paul Begala To find out more about effective storytelling in politics, grab a copy of the book for yourself.
Mon 10th
12:49
Recycling champion Cwm Harry makes exciting bid for Zero Waste Enterprise & Education Zone in Lu...
There is exciting news just in about Coder Road from Adam Kennerley of environment charity Cwm Harry. Adam has been coordinating plans for a Zero Waste Enterprise and Education Zone on the former highways depot site. Alongside the former biodigester and former recycling centre, both of which are currently managed by Cwm Harry, this will [...]
This is the continuation of an article posted previously on Lib Dem Voice. New readers should read the earlier post before this one. ...Do you remember...... changing the mind of pretenders?... 'September', Earth, Wind and Fire As September 2014 began, even the most complacent Westminster journalistic eyes were swiftly turned away from Douglas Carswell's Liberal insurgency, and towards events North of the border. The Scottish Independence Referendum was approaching within a fortnight, and Salmond and his remarkable growing coalition of voters were coming up fast/ A shock Panelbase poll published on 2nd September put the 'Yes' camp ahead by 1 ...
#80690509 / gettyimages.com 'Disappointing' isn't a word I've ever used about Dave Gorman before, but his book Too Much Information, Or: Can Everyone Just Shut Up For A Moment, Some Of Us Are Trying To Think is, well, disappointing. [IMG: Dave Gorman - Too Much Information] It attempts to be a humourous takedown of the advertising and digital worlds and is often quite funny. Yet it is neither as consistently side-splitting as Dave Gorman is at his best, nor is it that informative for a book published in 2014. The Daily Mail doing draft things? Questionable marketing tactics being used ...
The big guns in Labour have been wheeled out to try and bolster end Miliband, but it's not always having the desired effect. Andy Burnham and Caroline Flint among senior ministers giving public support for Ed Miliband Awkward slip for the Chuka Ummuna Negativity around Miliband leadership continues After a weekend of disastrous coverage for [...]
As an avid fan of this blog (because why would you be here otherwise?!), I'm sure you'd love to read the series of articles that I'm writing about the challenges and opportunities for lifelong learners, commissioned exclusively for the Post40Bloggers website. The first is available here: Lifelong learning: where are we now? ... and even if that topic doesn't interest you, there are loads of other excellent articles that my fellow Post40Bloggers have spent hours crafting just for you. I hope to see you there!
The Mansion House where the Reader Organisation is encouraging thousands to read and use the written word Like a giant mammoth pricked by the 20,000 arrows of the petitioners of Liverpool Joe Anderson has finally stumbled to what might be ... Continue reading →
A uniquely Boris answer to a question during a Twitter question and answer session. walrus – they not only lie on rocks and belch but make amazing migratory journeys #askboris @CommanderDaisy — Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon) November 10, 2014 Goo goo goo joob.
[IMG: Parliament square by Paul Walter] We have seen the application of the women's Leadership Program. This became necessary due to historical disadvantages. If we could have trusted the political system, there would be no need to introduce such measures to achieve better representation for women. I suggest we can achieve similar Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic representation, by learning from experiences and voting progressively. Allow me to share... I had a fantastic time running for Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PCC). I crammed national policy into five days and along with dedicated enthusiasts, undertook the assessment day. I passed with the recommendation ...
Mon 10th
10:38
The Labour Party either needs to get rid of Miliband or stop talking about the leadership crisis
[IMG: Labour isn't working] Lord Kinnock is the latest Labour grandee to leap to the current leader of the party's defence; all this latest intervention achieves, really, is to keep the "Ed Miliband leadership challenge" story in the news for yet another day. The ex-leader did have a revealing moment when he said the plotters seemed to have a "tendency towards political suicide". Quite. It is a hard and fast rule of politics that if you are going to try and defenestrate your party's leader, and this only gets more vital the closer a general election looms, then you have ...
[IMG: Nutrition Labels] Last week I took part in an enjoyable discussion on nudge policy as part of Thinking Futures, the annual festival of social sciences. Through a slightly mysterious process I ended up speaking in favour of nudge-type policies, while Fiona Spotswood from UWE made the case against relying on behaviour change initiatives. Fiona made a robust case. I have to say mine was a little less than compelling, in part because in reality I have quite a lot of sympathy with the critics. I find debating from a position you don't entirely agree with more successful on some ...
Conservative seat, death Liberal Democrat candidate- Ann Bell
[IMG: Outside Penzance Police station, closed to public] Cllr Sue James joining demonstrators at Penzance Police Station after decision to close the front desk to the public Calling for a debate on future of Police & Crime Commissioner role might now seem unnecessary, with the General Election not far away and Labour and the LibDems committed to getting rid of the posts. The trouble is, what if those 2 parties don't form the next Government? Some say that the Conservative announcement to replace the Police and Crime Commissioner role in Greater Manchester, with an elected Mayor, the role is toast! ...
Note from the county council Temporary Closing of Etna Road, St Albans NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using that length of Etna Road, St Albans from its junction with Worley Road north [...]
First bus fares changed a couple of months ago. As regular bus users will already know, apart from a few exceptions like Park and Ride, there are no longer any return fares. Instead you can buy a Day Ticket for the zone involved, or buy a 10 Journey ticket for ten journeys. Week, month and year tickets are also available if you're going to be travelling regularly. The latest change will be of interest to people who travel from Yate or Chipping Sodbury to the Bath area. Yate and Chipping Sodbury are now within the Bath Outer Zone, as well ...
Mon 10th
09:15
Brian Paddick on Homelessness, Domestic Violence and Social Exclusion: "We need a change of attitude...
[IMG: brian-paddick] Brian Paddick — former Deputy Assistant Commissioner in London's Metropolitan Police Service, twice Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London and now a Lib Dem peer — spoke in this week's House of Lords debate, 'Women: Homelessness, Domestic Violence and Social Exclusion'. Here's what he said... Lord Paddick (LD): ... As the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester has already said, the issues of homelessness, domestic violence and social exclusion of women are linked. In particular, it is male violence against women that lies behind many of these problems. For example, as my noble friend Lady Tyler ...
The Do's And Don'ts Of Being There For A Loved One With Depression (tags: ) The economics of anxiety - I'd like to know this too (tags: ) Former Britain First Member, Matthew Lester, Denounces Group And Visits Mosque To Apologise (tags: ) A Reminder: the mother of wifi was a film star. (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
#77454673 / gettyimages.com Whilst digging out a spare computer cable from my basement recently, I found the paperwork from the consultation London Region Liberal Democrats ran a decade and a half ago, literally in the last century (yikes), on what the rules should be for gender balance for the party's London Assembly list candidates. Back last century, I was a member of the Regional Exec and heavily involved in getting through what was then still a novel idea of having gender balance for list elections; in this case of the form that at least one of the top three must ...
Well done to the mighty Blyth Spartans whose FA Cup run continues. Following yesterday's 4-1 win against Altrincham, Spartans go into tonight's 2nd round draw ( which will be shown on BBC2 at 7pm) The Blyth team yesterday were magnificent, and the two goals each for Robbie Dale and Dan "Nippa" Maguire were outstanding. Robbie has scored in every cup round on this run, which in itself is a great achievement. Who do I want us to draw in the next round? Wrexham, at home. There is some unfinished business to take care of ..... HOWAY BLYTH !!!!
When even the woman brought in to revive Labour's election campaign concedes that Ed Miliband is struggling to convince the public that he can lead the country or even his own party then Labour must know that they have a problem. The Times reports that Lucy Powell, who was promoted to vice-chairwoman of the operation last week, said that constant sniping from within the party about Mr Miliband's leadership was fuelling "a wider concern" among voters. They add that in an attempt to flush out MPs plotting to replace him, she called on them to "decide what their plan is ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29953611 The BBC has the story although it reads a bit rose tinted spectacles to me. Of course it ended up with both Militant and indeed the Labour Party losing control of Liverpool City Council to the Lib Dems for many years as Liverpool folk realised that this Militant era had done a huge amount of damage to the image and economy of Liverpool. Indeed, just the mention of Militant and most people across the UK and possibly beyond will sadly still think of Liverpool for all the wrong reasons. It seems a long time ago now, but it is ...
My regular reader (Mrs Trellis of North Wales) will know that I have a fascination with the various different interpretations of quantum physics. My own preferred take on the matter is, of course, the many-worlds interpretation, along with the game-theoretic derivation of the Born rule as outlined by David Deutsch and others. In the many-worlds [...]
Remembrance Day and as usual, I attended the parade in Whickham. I also laid the wreath on behalf of residents of my ward, Whickham South and Sunniside. This year I was also able to get to Swalwell for the wreath laying service. I have a full set of photos on this link.
