#2659822 / gettyimages.com Anne Scott-James was a pioneering woman journalist and appeared as a panelist on the Radio 4 quiz My Word! throughout my childhood. She was the mother of Max Hastings. This striking photograph of her appeared in Picture Post in 1941.
Two Batman posts will be up tomorrow for Patreons, and the introduction will be up on Mindless Ones, but I have too much of a headache today to get them up, so you get links. The open-plan office trap On the lack of cultural estrangement in SF Nick Barlow is looking for Lib Dems who [...]
"Citizen's Income (also known as Basic Income and many other names) was Liberal Democrat policy for a while, until it got dropped in 1994. Despite some people wondering if it might make a return under a previous leader, it's remained in the Home for Former Policies ever since." Nick Barlow wants to set that policy free. Head of Legal has a video of Dominic Grieve speaking on human rights: "There are 'plenty' of Conservative supporters of human rights, he claimed, and he said they will win the internal debate - but 'must not stay silent'." Andy Boddington writes on homelessness ...
I am in tears and really very angry after an abusive attack in the churchyard of St Laurence's, Ludlow this lunchtime. I was talking to N. He's the rather eccentric homeless gentleman you'll see about town, especially in the churchyard. We were chatting about the medieval character of the town. Ludlow's fairly new to him [...]
Blyth Spartans continued their FA Cup run on Friday, and earned their place in the 3rd round thanks to the 2-1 win at Hartlepool United I'll not go over the match ( you can read it elsewhere on the web ) and we had a bit of luck, and our keeper pulled off a couple of great saves , but suffice it to say we did Blyth and non-league football proud !! Haway Blyth !!
The new issue of Liberator has arrived, so it is high time we spent a few days with Rutland's most popular fictional peer. Monday To Oakham Studios. I expect some of my readers will be surprised to learn that the old place is still operating. After all, the glory days of the Oakham Comedies are far behind us. I expect you have seen 'Passport to Pickworth,' in which a village declares its independence from Rutland - with hilarious consequences! (There is also one about a poor relation of an aristocratic family who murders his way to a title - I ...
Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I see a report coming through of the way that the council spends its money. Or rather how the council spends YOUR money! Just weeks after we heard from the Echo how the ... Continue reading →
[IMG: crazy-photos-of-nuns-part2-10] Valerie had called around many nunneries, hoping to find one that would accept her. Unfortunately, many of them either did not take guests who hadn't said their vows or came right out and said that they did not sympathise with her position once it had been explained. But she got lucky; one day she drove up to a nunnery close to where she was staying at the time. She was told right at the door by a very kind looking nun that Valerie could stay for as long as she liked. A few days later, as Valerie drove ...
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] Thursday saw three principal council by-elections contested, with an additional election fought on Friday. There was a gain for Labour from the Mansfield Independent Forum in Netherfield on Mansfield DC. The MIF didn't field a candidate as Labour increased their share of the vote by 12.1% to win by 122 votes ahead of UKIP. Elsewhere UKIP held their seat in the Thurrock BC ward of Aveley & Uplands after a hard fought campaign with the Conservatives who finished second. The UKIP candidate polled 41% to win with a majority of 227 votes. There was ...
[IMG: Is Nigel Farage poor?] Note: data taken from various dates in 2014.
Sat 6th
15:26
Scottish Liberal Democrats announce their list selections - and for the second time in a row manage ...
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been holding their regional list selections for 2016 Scottish Parliament elections and yesterday announced the top 3 in each region* . Willie Rennie said on the team announced: We are first off the mark with our candidate selection and this is a clear statement of intent. We have a team of passionate, dedicated campaigners who are up for the fight and will be working hard for their regions every day between now and the next Holyrood elections. Our list candidates offer a mix of youth and experience that gives people right across Scotland the opportunity ...
This morning's West End P6 football competition was a great success and congratulations go to Ancrum 'B' who won the final over St Joseph's. Ancrum 'A' came third and Blackness 'A' fourth. Congratulations also to Leon Spowart of Ancrum Road Primary School - winner of the "Best Player" trophy. Many thanks go to Matt Miller who refereed the matches, Murray McDowall of Life Changing Choices who sponsored the trophies and staff at Victoria Park, Blackness, St Joseph's and Ancrum Road Primary Schools for their help and co-operation : Here's a short video from the final and also some photographs : ...
The notion of a humanoid robot assassin looks dated before it's even possible. So the trailer for Terminator: 'Genisys' has arrived. It looks potentially entertaining and Emilia Clarke seems like a perfect replacement for Linda Hamilton. However, it doesn't really address the fundamental question regarding this semi-reboot: what exactly it is supposed to be adding to the [...]
This post is not native advertising for the Slovenian tourist board (honest). Slovenia is a minnow of a nation. It is nestled between Italy, Croatia and Hungary and has a population of just two million. Its very existence is a novelty. Despite having a distinct language and culture, it's generally been a province rather than [...]
Sat 6th
12:34Michael Moore 1 Tory Game Players 0 - International Aid bill clears the Commons despite Tory shenani...
It all got a bit nail-biting yesterday. The House of Commons was going to shut at 2:30 no matter what and a few determined Tories were planning on making sure that Michael Moore's Bill to shrine the 0.7% of GDP international aid target into law died a death just like Sarah Teather's on revenge evictions did last week. In the end, a couple of enterprising Tories tried to talk it out but there were more than enough MPs who supported the Bill to put an end to their parliamentary games and the Bill passed the last of its Commons stages. ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Teads (previously Ebuzzing / Wikio). Two drop out this month, Haringey Liberal Democrats and The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant, whilst there's a return after a very long absence for Alix Mortimer, woop. 1 (4) Liberal Democrat Voice Up 1 2 (11) Mark Pack Up 4 3 (23) Stephen Tall No change 4 (25) Jennie Rigg Up 10 5 (42) Alex Marsh No change 6 (43) Nick Tyrone Up 30 7 (44) Lynne Featherstone MP Up 12 8 (56) Mark Valladares (Liberal Bureaucracy) ...
Sat 6th
11:11Mittens and Cartoons: how political parties are trying to mobilise their supporters this Winter
[IMG: liberal mittens] I have been loving some of the stuff that our sister party in Canada has been sending out to supporters. Their Winter fundraising push involves them sending this fetching pair of mittens to anyone who donates over $100 over a two day period. It's caused such a stir that those cheeky little mitts have their own parody Twitter account. I bet their supporters team, led by the equivalent of our Austin Rathe, had fun coming up with the accompanying email: The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to keeping Canadians' hands warm, and snug this winter That's ...
"East is East, and West is West, and never shall the twain meet," Rudyard Kipling notoriously wrote in the Ballad of East and West. I say notoriously, because even if it may not have been Kipling's true intention, the phrase was adopted by jingoistic Brits in an attempt to justify their separateness from and "superiority" [...]
[IMG: key_Michael_Moore(1)] Yesterday, a bill guaranteeing that 0.7% of national income will be spent on foreign aid in perpetuity cleared the Lower House. It remains to be seen if it makes it through the Lords in one piece, but considering it was a Private Members' Bill, albeit one that had the full backing of one of the parties of government and tacit approval from the other governing party's top brass, it has done well to survive all that was thrown at it. Several backbench Tory troublemakers tried to filibuster the final hurdle on Friday, hoping the bill would run out ...
Thursday saw three principal council by-elections contested, with an additional election fought on Friday. There was a gain for Labour from the Mansfield Independent Forum in Netherfield on Mansfield DC. The MIF didn't field a candidate as Labour increased their share of the vote by 12.1% to win by 122 votes ahead of UKIP. Elsewhere [...]
#3142939 / gettyimages.com There are a host of fantastic photographs of Jeremy Thorpe in the archives. He had a real sense of showmanship to which photographers responded. Here are a few images which reflect his life. Scroll down to view them. Hover your mouse, cursor or finger over the image to see the caption. All these pictures come from the remarkable Getty Images library, which you can access here. #3312583 / gettyimages.com #464474647 / gettyimages.com #2660714 / gettyimages.com #519465079 / gettyimages.com #3307950 / gettyimages.com #3307865 / gettyimages.com #497025225 / gettyimages.com #115706640 / gettyimages.com #3142128 / gettyimages.com #3140661 / gettyimages.com #3167562 ...
The sad death of Jeremy Thorpe at the age of 85 has provoked many people to reflect on their connections with him and already the interweb is full of various anecdotes and stories. I never met him, though I first got involved with the Liberal Party in 1974 when he was leader. knocking on doors on behalf of the party during the second 1974 General Election. But as befits any leader of the Liberal Party did have Welsh connections, though not necessarily ones we would want to boast about. As this obituary recounts, Jeremy Thorpe's parents were staunch Conservatives. His ...
Here's an email going out to party members today with the latest HQ idea to continue the growth in the party's membership. I'm tremendously proud to see that our Party has increased its membership by more than 10% over the past 18 months and in the most difficult of circumstances. The party's membership now stands at 44,526. This could not have been achieved without members going out and asking other people to join. So, thank you! But we can't stop now. We need to end the year on a high. So, for a limited time only (from today until December ...
Calderdale Labour councillors in a Mess (tags: ) Robot Hugs - Risky Date (quite long but very worth reading) (tags: ) Breathtaking stained-glass-style The Hobbit and LotR illustrations. (tags: ) Best response to the UKIP breastfeeding farago here (tags: ) Osborne is attacking the BBC for accurately reporting what he has said (tags: ) Cleggy wins the battle of the Christmas cards again this year IMHO. (tags: ) Gender Recognition Panel now engaging in human rights abuses (tags: ) Who said it? Philosophers vs Doctor Who I got 9/10 - dammit. (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Sat 6th
08:32
Snow – Remember December of 2010? – Some in the press say it could happen again from tom...
Britain braced for snow [IMG: Liverpool Road North, Maghull - December 2010] Liverpool Road North, Maghull – December 2010 Forecasters have warned that Britain could be hit with eight inches of snow that could bring travel chaos for motorists on Monday morning. The Met Office said that a bitter Arctic blast will sweep in from northern Europe late on Sunday with the potential to bring huge parts of the country to a standstill. Scotland, upland areas of northern England and the Welsh mountains will bear the brunt of the weather, which could last well into next week. Councils across Britain ...
Two bus shelter queries! Firstly, a constituent contacted me as follows : "The new bus shelter at Elliot Road. Why does it not have sides as the majority of others do along Blackness Road. It is actually very drafty." The City Council's Sustainable Transport Team Leader advised by response : "The pavement width at this location was too narrow to accommodate anything other than a minimal cantilever shelter. 'Sides' would have blocked the passage of people along the pavement. Lack of space on the pavement is possibly the most common reason why we cannot relocate shelters more readily. This one ...
We've had every massive corporation trying to tempt us with bargains over the last few days, from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Today small independent traders hit back with Small Business Saturday. Nick Clegg has put out a message to mark the occasion. He said: Forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This Small Business Saturday, we get to celebrate and show our support for Britain's 5.2 million small and medium-sized businesses. Make sure you get involved. Whether it's a local manufacturer, builder, florist, jeweller or bookshop, all of these companies keep our local communities going: creating jobs, driving growth and ...
