The lights at the Showcase roundabout have partially failed repeatedly this week. There have been several accidents, but it is not clear whether there is a connection to the lights failing. The decision has been taken – wisely, I think, as I suggested it was a good idea yesterday! – to turn off the lights completely and shut the middle of the roundabout until work starts in earnest on Monday to finish the work on the traffic lights that was started before Christmas. This is safest for cars – but means no pedestrian crossing facilities at the roundabout, so please ...
Read part 1 and part 2. July Suddenly I was an authority on New Zealand footpaths and John Buchan. What is more, I found a video of Cyril Smith and Geoffrey Dickens dancing to Bananarama. By changing buses at East Midlands Airport I was able to visit St Mary and St Bardulph's at Breedon on the Hill. Down in London, I interviewed Tim Farron and Ed Davey at the Social Liberal Forum conference. I also looked at the scandal of Sir Peter Morrison, August I explored what will soon be the new campus of Northampton University but is currently a ...
Every moment in life is precious in some respect, but for many, myself included, 2014 has taken on an added importance. In addition to the day-to-day challenges we all face, in Scotland, at least, we were also confronted with an existential question: one which energised, agonised and antagonised almost in equal measure. For me personally it has been one of the more difficult, but rewarding years of my life, and one which I can say at least has ended in a better place than it began. I have a number of reasons to be grateful for the past year. After ...
As 2014 draws to a close may I wish everyone a happy new year. [IMG: index]
Wed 31st
20:22
Nationalisation – RMT Union pushes for it to happen to the collapsed City Link Company
As a liberal I am genuinely open minded as to the best ways of running companies, enterprises, public services etc. As a trade unionist I am also well aware that the leaders of the UK trade union movement think that most if not all enterprises should be run by the state or by local councils. As socialists these trade union Barons oppose the capitalist system and believe everything should be in common ownership. Trouble is that trade union members, and I suspect this is by a considerable majority, do not support their leader's common ownership aspirations. Such has always been ...
Please be aware that we will continue to monitor comments on social media & any offensive comments will be investigated. — Police Scotland (@policescotland) December 30, 2014 The tweet is depressing. Did the Twitter joke trial never happen? The very existence of Police Scotland is depressing. It is a reminder that the SNP believes in centralisation not devolution. But most depressing of all are the replies to the tweet, a good number of which ask Police Scotland to arrest Katie Hopkins. I am not surprised that the police have picked up on the modern fashion for claiming offence. They know ...
The two series Sherlock and Doctor Who are rapidly converging, not least because they share a strong belief in their own cleverness. But then Sherlock Holmes and the Doctor have long had much common. To prove it, here is Peter Capaldi as Sherlock...
I noticed that I have not posted this case to my blog. In this case it was put to the court that having an expert on a retainer to one of the parties stopped the expert being independent. The court disagreed. I disagree with the court. I think most people would disagree with the court.
View image | gettyimages.com The recent withdrawal of The Interview from general theatrical release (later followed by online publication and limited release at selected theatres), following threats from what is currently believed to be a North Korean hacking group, has generated an international debate on corporate censorship in western societies. As liberals who believe in free expression and a free society, it is vital that we take part in this conversation. It would be incorrect and unfair to place all the blame for this fiasco on Sony, the parent company of the film's distributors, Columbia Pictures. Their initial decision to ...
The Court had the sense to allow Mrs Danby to purge her contempt today and be released. G4S, however, decided that the court order was not enough and they needed permission from the prison service. In the mean time her handbag had been left in Derbyshire and her suitcase left in a hotel in Liverpool. Her tickets had run out to return to Orkney yesterday and she was dumped by the system in
[IMG: The Unservile State] The announcement that the Cambridge academic George Watson had left the Liberal Democrats £950,000 in his will was one of the most surprising political stories of 2014. George Watson was a distinguished literary scholar and a lifelong Liberal. After working for the European Commission as a translator and interpreter during the 1950s he became a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, in 1961 and remained there until he retired in 1990. As a scholar, he was known for serious bibliographical work, spirited polemics, and a traditional approach to literary criticism. He also made two forays into ...
The voice of young people has been massively important in 2014 and as the year draws to a close it is important to reflect on the issues that have shaped this year and the role that young people have played in them. Scottish referendum The Scottish referendum was a monumental issue and not only because of the decision that Scotland had to make but also because 16 year olds were permitted to vote in the referendum. Many feared that this would reduce voter turnout and that teenagers would be disinterested in the cause. However, this was not the case as ...
Throughout the 12 days of Christmas, we're bringing you the 12 most-read posts on this site of 2014. Here's today's offering... Ukip examined: who they are, what they stand for, and what it all means for British politics – Stephen Tall | Mon 28th April 2014 There is one off-note in Revolt on the Right. Ford and Goodwin dismiss the 1980s' insurgence of the 'radical centre' when the SDP, albeit briefly, looked poised to win the popular vote: "in the end the SDP fell flat, barely denting the mould on the party system they had set out to break". Except, ...
This from The Independent rather surprised me: [IMG: BME selections - Labour party]
Will we all be friends after the General Election? So, that was the year that was. The year of the independence referendum, the Commonwealth Games, countless by-election defeats and a growing media obsession with UKIP. It was also a year in which Belgium legalised euthanasia for terminally-ill people, a year of civil unrest in Ukraine, the year that saw the beginning of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and a year in which the world watched on as tensions escalated in Israel-Palestine. More positively, it was the year in which the myth of Brazilian invincibility was destroyed in a few ...
It was some time ago that I blogged here about my long-overdue intention to preserve my Dad's photographic collection from the 1960s and 1970s. Potato Harvesting in south Pembrokeshire in 1962 Almost 1,000 slides depicting family and social life in south Pembrokeshire had remained in boxes for the best part of 20 years. These were photos which he had developed himself in his own dark room back at our Hungerford Farm and we are now 50 years on. The job of transferring them to modern media was only finally completed by myself, after initial help from Scolton Manor, last year ...
The Green Party leader thinks being poor in India isn't as bad as being on benefits in the UK "because at least everyone else there is poor too." This suggests Ms Bennett has a strange view of India. A House in Mumbai The house of Mukesh Ambani is a rather remarkable property. Forbes magazine [...]
Wed 31st
13:55
How the first Liberal was elected to Eastleigh Council - and how politics didn't have a golden age
[IMG: Liberals in Hampshire by Martin Kyrle] The second in Martin Kyrle's planned trilogy on the history of the Liberals and then Liberal Democrats in Hampshire, Eastleigh 1965-72 concentrates, as the title implies, on elections in Eastleigh Borough itself, with after many attempts his wife becoming the first Liberal councillor to be elected to that council. Such coalface histories of local politics in that era are all too rare, but those that do exist (such as the excellent Sutton local history) share a common message. Although the post-war boom decades were a heyday of electoral turnout and political party membership, ...
View image | gettyimages.com Over on the Guardian's Comment is Free, former editor of Liberal Democrat News and Liberal Democrat blogger of the year, David Boyle, argues that technological change is slowing and we are increasingly re-embracing old "real" ways: ...we cling to the real world ever more tightly as the virtual world presses its claims, a phenomenon predicted by the American philosopher Robert Nozick. A growing minority of us may not shun tablets or ebooks (I write them, for goodness sake). We might even drink instant coffee sometimes. But we are determined that the unspun, unmanipulated and unmarketed shall ...
The post The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau [Book Review] appeared first on James Taylor.
It is that time of year once again to dust of my crystal ball and try and work out that is going to happen over the next twelve months. 1. An Olympic medalist will make a statement/protest about LGBT rights live on the Olympic Broadcaster. This will be the reason why we were right to let the athletes attend the Games at least one of them will make a protest and it will be the LGBT communities 1968 Black Power moment. No medalist did make a statement or protest but Dutch slopestyle snow boarder Cheryl Maas did raise her gloves ...
Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats wish all our readers a happy and prosperous 2015. As the national membership increases and we continue to make progress in council by-elections, we as a party can look forward to a better outcome in the big elections to come than the BBC and some elements of the print media are predicting.
Wed 31st
10:55Imagine successfully running a coalition with both John Redwood and Tony Greaves in the Cabinet
Imagine not only putting together a Cabinet containing the equivalents of both John Redwood and Tony Greaves, but also steering through major, controversial and path-breaking legislation with this very Cabinet. That was but one of the impressive achievements of the person I picked as a 'Forgotten Liberal Hero' when talking at the National Liberal Club a couple of years ago. He's still someone both mostly forgotten by the party and yet whose career is still full of lessons for the current party: You can read more about the person I selected here.
[IMG: jeremy thorpe book cover] The publication of this book was reportedly delayed until after the death of its subject. Some might have expected, therefore, a 'hatchet job'. (In fact, the delay was at the insistence of Jeremy Thorpe, who co-operated with the author to the extent of meeting him around twenty times to discuss his life). Instead, it seems a balanced, comprehensive, fair, even (in its concluding chapter) affectionate, portrait of its subject. Nevertheless, the book pulls no punches in relating the events before, during and after the famous Old Bailey trial at which Thorpe and his fellow defendants ...
As the current year comes to an end I have looked forward to the promise that 2015 brings. Sadly I fear that life for many people in Ealing will not fulfill that promise and indeed could be worse than it has been. The reason for this, are the range of cuts that Labour run Ealing Council have recently announced including the closure of many day centres and the introduction of fortnightly collections of waste. By announcing fortnightly refuse and recycling collection when they were adamant during the May local election campaign that there would not be such a change, Labour ...
I can hear the Clegg haters on Twitter responding to the title I've given this article already: with any luck, dead and buried. But as I've already highlighted the central importance the Liberal Democrats, through the magic that is the First Past the Post voting system, will probably have on who governs post-May 2015, as 2014 recedes into permanent memory I thought now might be an opportune time to discuss scenarios. There are three essential ones, in my view. Within each one, of course, there exists a range of micro-possibilities. But it is the big picture that concerns me here ...
Changes from 5 January Service 312: Service will operate between Thornbury and UWE Frenchay Campus only - Severnside The section of route between Downend and UWE Frenchay is withdrawn. Timetable amended to run at peak times only, service is now running commercially Monday to Friday, Saturday service is withdrawn. Service 622: Thornbury to Tetbury - Severnside Service now running to Tetbury via Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Didmarton and Westonbirt Arboretum. The section between Thornbury and Cribbs Causeway has now been withdrawn due to another commercial operator running this part of the route. Service will run every 120 minutes during the day. ...
[IMG: Convicted conman Garry Lyon] Convicted conman Garry Lyon A number of residents have reported a conman working in Gatley. He has been approaching people and asking for money, often on the pretext of visiting a sick relative. One resident has positively identified the man as Garry Lyon, a Sharston resident who was convicted of similar behaviour in Didsbury back in June. A number of reports have been made to the Police and the Lib Dem team have asked the local Policing team to take all the necessary action. Please watch out – if you are approached by this man ...
View image | gettyimages.com We've already mentioned Paddy Ashdown's great honour in the New Year list: ORDER OF THE COMPANIONS OF HONOUR (CH) The Rt Hon Jeremy John Durham Baron Ashdown Of Norton-Sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE. For public and political service. Sincere congratulations go to: CBE – Councillor Erica Kemp. Lord Mayor of Liverpool. For public and political service. (Liverpool, Merseyside) Erica Kemp (pictured above), this year's Lord Mayor of Liverpool, has been a city councillor for 21 years. She represents Church Ward. Cllr Kemp attended Woolton Hall Preparatory School and Woolton Hall High School before training to be a teacher ...
Excellent article on the beer tie & why @GregMulholland1's law offers SOME hope but no panacea (tags: ) a persuasive argument for cricket to return to free-to-air telly. OfC it doesn't have to be MEN'S cricket (tags: ) Seems to me that Paddington is the most political kid's film since A Matter of Loaf & Death (tags: ) On Claudette Colvin, who did what Rosa Parks did before Rosa Parks did it (tags: ) I love the 30 year rule (tags: ) If Someone Secretly Controlled What You Say, Would Anyone Notice? (tags: ) 11 things women were told not ...
For the first time ever, I have a favorite economics paper. https://t.co/9zfmdGZrss pic.twitter.com/MR2DQNIVzj — John Overholt (@john_overholt) December 30, 2014
Further to my article yesterday about council housing lighting repair concerns, I was interviewed yesterday on Wave 102 News about the issue. You can hear the interview by clicking 'play' below :
It's the time of year when it's traditional to make predictions about the year ahead. So here's one from me: the upcoming General Election will leave Britain's electoral system looking decidedly inadequate. Its supporters will tell you that First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) gives voters a clear choice between two parties that are then able to form stable [...]
The Times reports that Tony Blair has intervened in the long-standing row over Ed Miliband's leadership by expressing his fear that the Conservatives will win next year's election because the Labour leader is too left-wing for the British public. They add that he has warned to Mr Miliband that he needs to stop alienating the business community: Mr Blair suggested that under Mr Miliband Labour had returned to the days of the 1980s when it swung to the left and became unelectable. The former prime minister repeated his warning, made in an interview in October, that the election could be ...
View image | gettyimages.com At just after midnight last night, the first same-sex marriages took place in Scotland. The photograph above shows Joe Schofield (blue kilt) and Malcolm Brown (red kilt) from Tullibody, Clackmannanshire at their marriage at the Trades Hall shortly after midnight in front of friends and family. In a separate ceremony, Susan and Gerrie Douglas-Scott were married with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Green party MSP Patrick Harvie acting as witnesses, Same-sex couples have been able to enter into 'civil partnerships' since 2005, however following a change in the law in March 2014 gay couples are ...
Only pizzas are delivered is sound advice contained in a jargon busting document issued by the coalition government in the summer of 2013. It's advice those around Clegg should have taken when launching the party's summer campaign earlier this year which I criticised in similar terms at the time. And it wasn't just the jargon strewn language of the summer campaign that was a problem - it was its poverty of ambition. Sadly, this poverty of ambition (along with some more Whitehall speak) is apparent in the party's pre manifesto - which is a collection of timid technocratic proposals - ...
Pickles: Flog people who leave bins in the street [IMG: epd_wheelie_bins_group] Eric Pickles has said that householders who leave bins in the street should be "flogged". The local government secretary was asked by MP's if families should be punished for leaving their bins in the street after they are emptied. Mr Pickles said: "They should be flogged, flogging is too good for them." He added: "If you are parking the damn thing in the middle of the road, it is not exactly good neighbourly behaviour is it?" The Daily Telegraph covered this story Apart from a Minister saying such a ...
[IMG: Buckingham Palace] Spotted so far: Andrew De Freitas (North East Lincolnshire) Congratulations to Cllr Andrew DeFreitas on his MBE for services to local government #Grimsby #NorthEastLincs – much deserved — Rob Walsh (@CXNELC) December 30, 2014 Oh, and some bloke called Paddy Ashdown again. Which is a good excuse to reprise:
