Can the Ukip news get any stranger? I thought the Ukip MEP defecting to the Tories and being reported by his own party to the police at the same time would win the contest for at least today's most bizarre Ukip story. But that gets knocked into second place by: My Story: SUNDAY TIMES: We speak for bigots says UKIP PR chief – by @ShippersUnbound #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/6n4gO3wemU" — Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) January 24, 2015 Especially as the story goes on to report this quote too: "The biggest waste of money in the United Kingdom of course is the NHS ... ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Winston Churchill died 50 years ago today. His funeral is one of my earliest memories: I thought that there was a funeral on television every time someone died. This video shows his funeral train leaving London Waterloo en route for Hanborough in Oxfordshire. That is the station for Blenheim Palace and for the village of Bladon where he was to be buried. The natural station from which to leave London for Bladon is Paddington. This apparent anomaly has given rise to the pleasing story that Churchill, who played an enthusiastic part in the arrangements for his own funeral, chose a ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

I like these buildings in a yard off St Mary's Road, though I think I liked them better before the walls were painted. Was this a practical solution to provide better clearance for traffic below, or was it a little piece of fantasy on the part of the builder?

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

[IMG: image] Today was a truly glorious and inspiring day. With friends Sue and Steph, I went down to Somerton and Frome constituency to help out old friend David Rendel and his team. It was a glorious sunny day with a clear blue sky. The beautiful "Tamara Drewe-esque" villages of Holcombe and Coleford were breathtaking. It was great to be amongst young and young at heart enthusiastic volunteers and to receive a very friendly welcome from residents.

Posted by Paul on Liberal Burblings

The Daily Mail alights on a Government Equalities Report commissioned by our Jo Swinson and, of course, hones in on the one paragraph in 12 pages that mentions sex. But just doing the dishes can really spice up a marriage. That, at least, is the advice from a report backed by Liberal Democrat equalities minister Jo Swinson. It calls on men to do more to support gender equality campaigns - and isn't coy when it comes to spelling out the potential perks of hoovering. It claims that everyone in a family becomes 'happier and healthier' if men participate 'fairly in ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

In the autumn of 2009, while Nick Clegg was taking paternity leave, there was a state visit to Britain by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The acting Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable,* showed the right attitude to the Saudi regime. As BBC News reported it at the time: Liberal Democrat acting leader Vince Cable is boycotting the state visit to Britain of Saudi King Abdullah. Mr Cable says he will not attend any of the planned ceremonial events - as would be normal for the leader of one of the main opposition parties. Mr Cable told the BBC's Today programme ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Here's the new film from the Electoral Commission:

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Louise Bours MEP, UKIP's health spokesperson, made a startling admission to the Independent in an interview published today. She said: One thing that irritates me more than anything, and you see so much of it the higher up the political hierarchy you go, that's it's full of a load off... people who aren't particularly honest, let's put it that way," says Louise Bours, Ukip MEP for the North-west and the party's official health spokesperson. I like people to be straight with me, I don't like all this...shenanigans in the background, I'd rather people be honest and up-front and I always ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Firstly, the Conservative Party's problems with election databases: The party had been trying to get rid of its frail database Merlin, which keeps breaking during by-elections and at other crucial moments, in time for the General Election. But it hasn't quite managed it yet, and is instead running Merlin alongside a new, but not fully-tested, database called VoteSource. Candidates in target seats say VoteSource is currently working for them, but that it is lacking some of the functions it was supposed to have by this point and they do not know how it will cope with big changes in data. ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: Nick Clegg's men's health q and a] On Thursday, Nick Clegg took part in a question and answer session on the Men's Health UK Facebook page. The magazine has published some of the session here. He talked quite movingly about the need to tackle the stigma attached to mental health to make it easier for particularly men to talk about their illness: One of the keys to changing this is to ensure that mental health trusts work with families and friends of patients just as much as with the patients themselves. When I visited the superb Mersey Care trust ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov

Liberal Democrats face their challenges in Scotland, there's no doubt about that, but what about the party that that for so long dominated Scottish politics? The Evening News reported this week that the Labour Party has had to cancel a fundraiser due to lack of interest in one of their key seats in Edinburgh: Deputy Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, local MP Sheila Gilmore and a shadow minister from Westminster were among the speakers lined up for the Edinburgh Eastern fundraising event on Saturday. But after poor ticket sales, the local party executive decided to cancel the supper, promising refunds ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: rsz_maghull_station_volunteers] I have posted many times before about the work this great band of volunteers have done to improve Maghull Station. Here is another example of how they have, with the help of Margaret Walton – a local painter, brought colour to another former window in the Station buildings. [IMG: rsz_emus_in_the_windows_-_maghull_station] This photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus » Sefton Focus

Watch the new video from Amnesty International UK:

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

You can probably guess that my answer to this question is a resounding "No." When I saw yesterday that Westminster Abbey of all places was flying the flag at half mast to mark the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, I was horrified. The vomit-inducing tone of the tributes portraying him as some sort of reformer added to my irritation. If he was a reformer, Brian from the Magic Roundabout is a world champion sprinter to rival Usain Bolt. I guess what intensified my overall sense of injustice was the chorus of silence from Liberal Democrats. Surely at least ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Last year it was reported that a "..... shortage of social workers [was] putting some of the most vulnerable children at greater risk of harm...", after an investigation found that a quarter of posts in Peterborough were vacant. Evidence shows a real problem with social workers leaving the profession after just a few years. The reasons [...]

Posted by Cllr Darren Fower on Cllr Darren Fower

Over at PoliticsHome, Tim Farron has been showing up the Tories, who voted in favour of loosening controls on air pollution. Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder opposed the plans: Yet Conservative MEPs refused to stand up for these vital measures to improve air quality, voting against key amendments to prevent them being delayed and calling for them to be watered down to "reduce administrative burdens." It seems that for the Tories, laws that protect the environment and improve people's quality of life are just more red tape to be slashed. They fail to see that moving towards a cleaner, greener ...

Posted by NewsHound on Liberal Democrat Voice

I just wonder what sort of consultation (The local plan) Thanet council are running since they appear to offer most opportunity to the unemployed, unemployable and retired, given that their drop in consultations are mainly held during working hours suited for societies drop outs. The location for these consultations or "Drop in" sessions which number is six in total have two in Margate and two in Broadstairs, Ramsgate is given parity with Birchington, Thanet's retirement home having just one session and those in Minster, forget about it. Personally I am not a great believer in public consultation since I imagine ...

Posted by tony flaig on BIGNEWS MARGATE

Any questions. @AcademicsSay courtesy @OsloDavis. pic.twitter.com/pLHzugcbpm — Anna Clark (@DrAnnaClark) January 6, 2015

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

I've been stressing about just how likely a Tory majority is come May. I realise they have a large hill to climb in terms of getting additional seats having been in government for the last five years, particularly as it feels like all of the constituencies they could possibly grab they got last time out. However, I'm worried that Labour seem on course to crash and burn enough to allow even this impediment to a Conservative outright victory to be removed. One reason this result has freaked me out when I've thought about it in the past is the possible ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com
Sat 24th
09:41

Chiltern Society Events

Check out the Chiltern Society for ideas of things to do and to book yourself onto any of the events, members get a discounted price. Meanwhile here are a few events to whet your appetite: [IMG: Wildlife] The Changing Wildlife of The Chilterns – A Talk by John Tyler Tuesday 27th January – Whitehill Centre, Chesham. Bar open at 8pm. Talk 8.30pm-9.30pm. From warm seas, through Ice Ages, tundra and forest to the farmland and beechwoods of today, we travel through a hundred million years to follow the story of the Chiltern landscape and its wildlife. A fascinating and entertaining ...

Posted by Nick Hollinghurst on Tring Liberal Democrats
eUKhost

[IMG: madeuthink] The Pitch: This Black Mirror episode is told through the story of four friends, all of them eager modern types who are regular users of social media, obviously. One of them discovers a mysterious and anonymous account that is sending messages to celebrities, revealing supposed secrets and telling them to 'repent for their sins'. Surprise turns to shock when it's revealed that the secrets are all true and celebrities all over the world start confessing their secrets. Soon, more and more of these accounts appear, all revealing deeply held, personal and private things that no one but the ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

The Daily Politics has been running a series of interviews with political figures in their A Life in Politics series. This week it was Shirley Williams talking about her varied career and personal life. Look back not he formation of the SDP, her passion for education reform and the prospects for the Liberal Democrats in the election, saying "we're bound to be a main factor in another coalition." Oh, and don't call her indecisive. We reckoned it was perfect to listen to over breakfast before heading out for a day's campaigning. Enjoy.

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

The Liverpool Echo has this story on its web site – see link above. Should this proposed move be a concern for Maghull and Melling residents? What are the risks to those communities? How did the Scott Clinic fit in with the Rainhill community? Have risk assessments associated with the Maghull and Melling communities been done? What do Maghull Neighbourhood Police think? Has Sefton Council been consulted, if so how did it respond? Have Melling Parish Council and Maghull Town Council been contacted by the NHS? What are the residents living close to the Ashworth site going to be ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus » Sefton Focus

Lord Oakeshott has often made himself unpopular with the Liberal Democrat leadership, not least for the way that he has criticised Nick Clegg's handling of the Coalition with the Conservatives. While I think Matthew's views are sometimes put across with an unhelpful stridency, I nonetheless feel he is sometimes right — as he is in [...]

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer
Sat 24th
08:42

Chocolate wars

America, the supposed land of capitalism and freedom, is once more proving that its image is pure window dressing as the US chocolate giant Hershey has used the courts to block the import of its British rivals. The Telegraph reports that the company declared legal war on the imports of British-made chocolate such as Cadbury Creme Eggs, Maltesers, Kit Kats and Yorkie bars, claiming that they either infringe the company's US licences or "confuse" customers with similar wrappings and names: Nicky Perry, the owner of Tea and Sympathy, a Manhattan institution, broke the devastating news to customers in a posting ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

I got a shock at the last Health Committee Meeting at Durham. There was a report about breast cancer clinics which seemed to be saying that for "first contact" breast cancer clinics – the first meeting with a consultant for people who had been referred and urgently need to be seen within a two week period – the hospitals would be making permanent their recent policy centralising on just two hospitals; Durham and Darlington (formerly Bishop Auckland). I'm always very protective of services at Shotley Bridge, but was just about willing to go along with the proposal since these appointments ...

Posted by Owen Temple on Owen Temple & Margaret Nealis
Sat 24th
08:30

Bonnie Dundee 2015 AGM

The Bonnie Dundee Annual General Meeting will take place at the Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee, on Tuesday 24th February 2015, starting at 6pm. There will be a talk on "Pollinators on Blooms" by Dr Christopher Connolly and the AGM will also include an update on Dundee's entry into Britain In Bloom, as a UK Finalist in the City Category. All welcome.

I was very ready not to like The Theory of Everything. For all the world it looked like a very polite biopic designed to impress Oscar voters and the Best Exotic/King's Speech crowd. This turned out to be correct. However, it's also a seriously impressive piece of work. The appeal of a story about a [...]

Posted by Mark Mills on Matter Of Facts