Since I'm talking about maybe doing an audio version of this blog if my Patreon gets enough people, I thought I'd try with this post, so you can hear me reading this here "Jack Nitzsche was the Yoko Ono of the Buffalo Springfield", according to Nitzsche's friend Denny Bruce. As with the Beatles' breakup, there [...]
This post is reserved for new and infrequent commenters. "Infrequent" is defined as having posted less than five comments in the last month. On Saturday, we linked to an interview with Nick Harvey, who speculated about what might happen after the election on May 7th. In it, he pondered a possible Lib Dem match-up with Labour, saying that we would be "older, wiser and uglier" and ready on shaft-avoidance mode. He mentioned that a reduced Liberal Democrat representation in the Commons would be no block to forming a coalition government, pointing to our one hundred-odd peers who could be the ...
Last week the government started a consultation, flowing from the Care Act 2014, on the draft regulations and guidance to implement the "care cap" and policy proposals for a new appeals system for care and support. You can read the consultation document here. That may sound as dry as toast, but, trust me, these things are really important. I happen to believe that the Care Act 2014 is one of the most significant pieces of legislation we've seen for many years. It goes a very significant way towards easing the human trauma of self-funding care home provision. The devil is ...
Wed 11th
22:30
Questioning newsagents about Charlie Hebdo sales - the police need to sort themselves out
The Guardian reports that police from several UK forces have questioned newsagents about sales of the Charlie Hebdo post-massacre issue. It's a patchy phenomenum. Police in Wiltshire have apologised for doing it. There was a phone call from a Cheshire police person. And in Dyfed-Powys a newsagent reports being questioned for half an hour by police in her shop. A police spokesman there said: Following the recent terrorism incidents, Dyfed Powys police have been undertaking an assessment of community tensions across the force area. Visits were made to newsagents who were maybe distributing the Charlie Hebdo magazine to encourage the ...
[IMG: David Pickett photo Scooby Doo gang PEsky LIbDems lego] "Those pesky Lib Dems" comes up with quite a few usages on a Google search, mostly in connection with stopping the Conservatives from going what they really want to do. Liberal Democrat Voice carried a headline at the weekend with such a reference. For the uninitiated, this goes back to the Scooby Doo cartoons, as related by the Urban Dictionary: The catch phrase used by every single villain in a Scooby Doo episode. Some Scooby Doo cast member pulls off the mask of the monster and some random person that ...
I had fully intended to keep tabs on Jo Swinson and four women from the other parties taking part in Marie Claire magazine's election debate. However, life had other ideas and I spent the morning at A & E instead. Handily, Marie Claire have put everything together in a Storify thingy which you can read below to catch up on the events. It seemed remarkably civilised with quite a lot of agreement. There does seem to be a reasonable consensus among women across politics about what needs to change in society. Issues such as the gender pay gap, women's career ...
Because Shrewsbury station has changed so little in 50 years, there is something ghostly about this footage of steam locomotives there.
The day after Sheffield City Council approved an application for another 89 properties on the old Richardson's site between Alma Street and Russell Street seems apt for a meeting of Kelham Island residents organised by our local councillors. But when our councillors met up with the 50 or so local residents, organisations and business owners [...]
"I'm not going to claim that previous Lib Dem general election campaigns were examples of unalloyed genius in political campaigning, but they at least gave people something positive to latch on to as a promise of better days to come. Now, there's no one doing that, and instead the election is threatening to turn into a series of dull people reading out PowerPoint slides comprised entirely of the dullest buzzwords possible, then wondering why all the audience has slipped out to go to the pub." Where is the hope? asks Nick Barlow. Catherine Bearder shows that Ukip's position on halal ...
I've decided to set a new goal for my Patreon. If it hits $100 per month, I will record spoken versions of anything I post on my own main blog (not stuff I post to the Patreon itself or Mindless Ones, or things like Tumblr), other than linkblogs, and post it as a free podcast. [...]
The city of York has announced its plans to mark the reinterment of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March. As the Yorkshire Post reports: A Solemn Choral Evensong will be held at York Minster, starting at 5.15pm, at which are all are welcome. Following the service at 6.20pm, a procession led by the civic party and senior clergy will walk from the Minster's South Door, across the Piazza, along Stonegate to St Helen's Square and which will end outside the Mansion House. The public is invited to line the route to pay their respects to the king. The ...
© Colin Smith There are reports that several newsagents selling copies of Charlie Hebdo have been approached by police. One of the places where this has taken place is Presteigne in Powys - not a town noted for its inter-faith tensions. Fashion may have moved on, but a few years ago it was where the cool kids who had decided to settle on the Welsh border went to live. According to the Guardian: Paul Merrett, 57, the owner of a newsagent in Presteigne, Wales, said a detective and a police community support officer from Dyfed-Powys police spent half an hour ...
Wed 11th
20:05
Quarter of postal votes in one Tower Hamlets ward may have been completed by same person
Some very striking allegations are coming out during the legal inquiry into how Lutfur Rahman was re-elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets. The Times [£] reports: A quarter of the postal votes in a single Tower Hamlets ward may have been completed by the same hand, according to evidence prepared for the vote rigging trial involving Lutfur Rahman, the borough mayor. A scientist who has spent nearly four decades examining ballot papers said that he had never seen such a high proportion of similar Xs.
Last week I was the guest speaker at the Whickham and District 41 Club, an organisation for ex-Round Tablers over the age of 40 (which means I easily qualify!) I was recruited to speak by a Whickham resident who had bought some of my free range eggs and was keen that I share the story of how I became (nearly) self-sufficient. So I headed down to the Gibside Arms in Whickham for a dinner and then
Prime Minister's Questions was even worse than usual today. Both Cameron and Miliband jumped into the gutter from the start and neither of them emerged. It was bizarre watching these people who had blocked every single attempt to reform party funding argue about each other's paymasters. It was a matter of some considerable annoyance that Cameron kept saying how his government had done more to make sure people paid their taxes than the last one. Does anyone seriously think the Tories, left to their own devices, would have done that? Errr, no. That's all been down to our man in ...
So, despite early opinion polls showing that the BJP, who rule at national level, were going to win, the Aam Aadmi Party's focus on the issues that mattered to ordinary voters in Delhi seems to have been overwhelmingly effective. For the first time in the history of the State, a political party gained more than 50% of the vote and with that 67 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi legislature. There are about twenty million voters in Delhi, and 67% of them took part, so this is no mere protest vote borne on a low turnout but a ...
Anti-Business – Chris Dillow on why being 'anti-business' isn't a bad thing, and the difference between business and markets. Universal Basic Income as the Social Vaccine of the 21st Century – An interesting new way of thinking about the idea of basic income. The narrow politics of slogans and symptoms – Alex Marsh follows on from one of my posts and looks at the lack of content behind the slogans. The tyranny of the short-term: why democracy struggles with issues like climate change – Not sure how much of this I agree with, but an interesting look at some of ...
The best of ALDC content from the last week, including: Team 2015 Manchester Phone Bank New LDHQ Bulk Buy Deal (A4 Tabloid) National Policy Response Resources School Buildings Announcement MyCouncillor website FAQs in Ask ALDC Facebook Update ALDC Blog Team 2015 Phone Bank Opening Tomorrow is the grand opening of the Team 2015 Manchester Phone Bank. [...]
Since the summer we have been releasing ALDC's new "Campaign Essentials" artwork templates. This week, we are happy to add the second in a series of three election artwork template batches. To see the January batch on click here In this batch we have: ALDC Team A3 ALDC A3 Flying Start Leaflet An A4 Calling or [...]
Ruff Wood is to the east of Ormskirk just behind Edge Hill University. Its an ancient wood and former quarry much favoured by people taking dogs for a walk or just to enjoy it as pleasant woodland. I have posted about previously:- Sheila and I go up there every so often and here are a few photos that I took of some great wood carvings that have been completed there since our last visit:- [IMG: Carved Badger Head] Carved Badger Head [IMG: Carved Owl] Carved Owl [IMG: Carved head of Owl] Carved head of Owl The photos are amongst ...
At one minute past midnight tonight, the Liberal Democrats will publish the front page of their 2015 election manifesto, outlining their main priorities for governing the UK. This is a great move by the party, capturing the voter's attention with our main focus areas, up-front in the campaign. We'll carry the full details here on Liberal Democrat Voice from one minute past midnight tonight.
Wed 11th
17:07
Merseyside – Guns on our streets – Are those in power locally doing all they can to rid ...
See link above to the Liverpool Echo web site There's every possibility that I am boring people by continually raising this matter but I really don't want us to slip into an American-type gun culture by accepting guns as an everyday thing that we are expected to get used to and can't do anything about. But what are the powers that be on Merseyside doing about our ongoing gun culture problems? Are they willing to reassure us that they really are taking effective action?
My formative political influences seem to retiring on mass at the moment. Andrew Sullivan gave up blogging last week and now Jon Stewart has announced he's leaving the Daily Show. To give you an idea of how big a deal the Daily Show was for me, I actually used a quote from him to introduce [...]
[IMG: County Durham Foundation] Funding of up to £5,000 may be available for Voluntary and Community Groups in the area. If you would like to talk to CDCF about funding available both for groups and individuals, and the application process involved, there will be a drop-in funding session at GLENROYD HOUSE, CONSETT on THURSDAY 12th MARCH 2015 between 10:00am - 2.00pm. For more information e-mail jackie@cdcf.org.uk or ring 0191 378 6340. If you are unable attend you can still apply for a grant by visiting CDCF's website www.cdcf.org.uk and completing the online application form for groups.
[IMG: nlgn] Yesterday I represented Lib Dem Voice on a panel with Conservative Home and LabourList. It was at the end of a conference organised by the New Local Government Network on the overall theme of localism and devolution to local government. I was surprised and pleased that so many local government officers resisted the urge to slope off after the teabreak and stayed to hear the bloggers. I had the huge advantage over my fellow bloggers of being a former councillor. By contrast, the other two had the luxury of being employed full-time as blog managers – although I ...
[IMG: spark stockport] [IMG: spark stockport2]
If you haven't got your photo bank for the election sorted out, with plenty of high quality photos in it, now is the time to get it done. Mobile phones etc give us the opportunity to grab instant photos at almost any opportunity. This is great - and allow us to get stories up on [...]
The Western Mail reports that the famous and historic Alice in Wonderland statue of a white rabbit is to be restored to Llandudno's West Shore. The Grade II listed statue was removed in 2012 after vandals repeatedly targeted it, including ripping off its ears. The restored statue is now to be watched over by security cameras in an attempt to protect it from further attacks. It will not however, be going back to the original location. Instead the rabbit will be positioned within the Llandudno conservation area, near a tram shelter, which is also Grade II listed, on West Shore. ...
[IMG: Mansion] Talk of a "high value property levy" collected via the council tax system has led some to wonder what's happened to the Liberal Democrat policy of introducing a mansion tax. The answer is simple: the principle is the same but the details are being filled out. At heart, what is a mansion tax? It's a tax on the value of the richest properties. Details such as whether the tax is levied on the exact value of the property or whether properties are put in bands and a tax applied to each band don't vary the principle. They make ...
Just as public health experts develop strategies to tackle binge drinking, smoking and obesity, do we need to develop a more comprehensive approach to preventing mental ill health? With youth depression, alone, having doubled in the last 20 years, maybe it's time to look again at ways to prevent mental health problems from taking their toll at different stages in our lives. It's complicated, but here are just some thoughts on what might help. Infancy Post-natal depression is, unfortunately, relatively common, affecting up to 15% of mothers after childbirth, and infants and children affected as a result of their mothers' ...
Since December 1st 2012, plain packaging of cigarettes has been an ever-present feature of the Australian landscape. Given the wealth of data available from Australia on the impact of the experiment, you would think that Tobacco Control would be focusing all efforts on interpreting the results from there right now. After all, the "problem" identified by UK Public Health in the past 3 or 4 years has been that there is "no real life data" to use. So, they argue, they have had to rely on artificial scenarios and often quite ludicrous experiments to make their case. Why then, one ...
The editor of the Economist is leaving to take up a position to assist the rise and rise of Bloomberg, and has written a signed, valedictory editorial about the future of liberalism (thank you, Joe, for drawing my attention to it!). It is worth reading. It is also one of those rare things these days, a powerful and hopeful critique of the present. But the Economist's interpretation of liberalism is not quite the same as Liberalism, and develops with the speed of a glacier. Yet, John Micklethawit (for it was he) was surely right that liberalism now has to wrestle ...
[IMG: David Pickett photo Scooby Doo gang PEsky LIbDems lego] "Those pesky Lib Dems" comes up with quite a few usages on a Google search, mostly in connection with stopping the Conservatives from going what they really want to do. We carried a headline at the weekend with such a reference. For the uninitiated, this goes back to the Scooby Doo cartoons, as related by the Urban Dictionary: The catch phrase used by every single villain in a Scooby Doo episode. Some Scooby Doo cast member pulls off the mask of the monster and some random person that appeared in ...
Wed 11th
12:10
Questioning newsagents about Charlie Hebdo sales - the police need to sort themselves out
The Guardian reports that police from several UK forces have questioned newsagents about sales of the Charlie Hebdo post-massacre issue. It's a patchy phenomenum. Police in Wiltshire have apologised for doing it. There was a phone call from a Cheshire police person. And in Dyfed-Powys a newsagent reports being questioned for half an hour by police in her shop. A police spokesman there said: Following the recent terrorism incidents, Dyfed Powys police have been undertaking an assessment of community tensions across the force area. Visits were made to newsagents who were maybe distributing the Charlie Hebdo magazine to encourage the ...
[IMG: 387 004 blog] Despite the public still being 'consulted' until 10 April on proposed changes to county-funded bus services that could see 39 bus routes cut and all services after 7,30pm abolished, the ruling Conservatives at County Hall have decided to include the proposed savings in their budget for this year. The bus cuts will save the County Council £800,000 this year, as the cuts will not be made until September, and £1.5m in future years. This is on top of savings of £1m made due to efficiencies in bus services contract that do not affect any routes.Liberal Democrat ...
[IMG: This is a unicorn. It is as real as the '1 million voters wiped off electoral registers' figure.] This is a unicorn. It is as real as the '1 million voters wiped off electoral registers' figure. One thing I'm sure about about the 1 million figure is that stories about 1 million voters being lost / wiped out / obliterated / exterminated (pick your word of choice depending on editorial leanings and tabloid nature of publication) are false. And the truth? Nobody knows. Rather, the one million statistic is another of those cases that shows the stultifying conformity and ...
On the radio this morning the new SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon pointed out what is patently obvious to almost everyone except the leaders of the other parties: that "austerity has failed." Yet all the others can offer is "more austerity." Sturgeon advocates that, rather than further cuts, there should be a "modest " increase in public spending of 0.5% which, she claims, will free up an additional £180bn for "investment in the infrastructure, innovation and growing the economy." Hurray! I'm gad the penny has dropped for at least one leading British politician. I could almost wish there were SNP candidates ...
At the time of writing, Christopher Nolan's 2008 film, "The Dark Knight", sits as the number four greatest film of all time on IMDB's top 250 list, only bested by "The Shawshank Redemption" and the first two "Godfather" films. It is one point ahead of "Pulp Fiction". When everyone went crazy for the film upon its release, I figured a lot of the hype was built on Heath Ledger's untimely death during the making of; a sort of necromancy written large. But here we are, almost seven years later, and the film is still regarded as one of the all ...
Last week the government started a consultation, flowing from the Care Act 2014, on the draft regulations and guidance to implement the "care cap" and policy proposals for a new appeals system for care and support. You can read the consultation document here. That may sound as dry as toast, but, trust me, these things are really important. I happen to believe that the Care Act 2014 is one of the most significant pieces of legislation we've seen for many years. It goes a very significant way towards easing the human trauma of self-funding care home provision. The devil is ...
Last week was 'Time to Talk' week run by Mind and Rethink as part of their campaign to end mental health stigma. The Time to Talk campaign encouraged everyone to take 5 minutes to have a conversation about mental health. Ordinary people are the drivers for change - and telling people how you feel, or listening to someone, can make a huge difference. Mental health is too important to fall off the agenda. One in four will have a mental health condition at some point in our lives - so all of us will know someone affected. The most recent ...
BBC Breakfast were talking about the NHS this morning. It was fascinating to hear the talk of the lack of protection for whistle-blowers and the need for "accountability". Well I don't give two figs about accountability, I want results. In fact, I hate the whole concept of accountability. For me accountability is the root cause of the problems in almost every industry, even banking. For me accountability is synonymous with blame, and blame is only useful to victims. "Whoa, that's a bit uncaring" I hear you cry. And on the face of it, yes it is. After all, the victims ...
The Armadillo Cafe will be open at 9.30 am for the Senior Coffee Morning every Thursday - serving all the hot & cold drinks, cakes/biscuits and lots of other goodies! As part of the Senior Coffee morning they will be showing a FREE film at 10.30 am for anyone interested in watching a film. You can join the Armadillo Events Club group on Facebook to find out the films that will be on each week. If you would like to reserve a seat, please call the office on 01454 869441
With another general election coming round, this post from the run-up to 2010 may well turn out to be pertinent once more. So here it is, slightly updated, ready for you to keep ahead of the game: Ahead of the 2010 general election there was a flurry of discussion, mainly on Twitter, following PR Week's report highlighting the possible problem for MPs who have "MP" in their Twitter name. That's because Parliament's rules say you can't call yourself an MP if you're not one and all MPs stop being ones when Parliament is dissolved for a general election. There are ...
This post is reserved for new and infrequent commenters. "Infrequent" is defined as having posted less than five comments in the last month. On Saturday, we linked to an interview with Nick Harvey, who speculated about what might happen after the election on May 7th. In it, he pondered a possible Lib Dem match-up with Labour, saying that we would be "older, wiser and uglier" and ready on shaft-avoidance mode. He mentioned that a reduced Liberal Democrat representation in the Commons would be no block to forming a coalition government, pointing to our one hundred-odd peers who could be the ...
Wed 11th
09:29
British Chambers of Commerce comments show how muddled thinking around an EU referendum has become
John Longworth, the director general of the Chambers of Commerce, has decided to weigh in on the European debate. Good, you might think - about time the business community spoke up about an issue they tend to remain silent on. Unfortunately, but probably rather predictably, the comments offered were not in any way helpful. "We need to bring the referendum date forward because two and a half years of uncertainty isn't good for growth and investment," he told the BBC. "It should be no more than twelve months after the general election." Let's break down the logic of this statement. ...
Happy hump day and Happy Birthday to Denis Skinner MP, who is 83 years old today. Mr Skinner has been MP for Bolsover for 45 years and has reportedly attended every session of the House of Commons since then. His Wikipedia entry says: He often tells of turning up for work at his colliery after he had been elected as an MP, refusing to see it as his new occupation. This is the reason Skinner gives for refusing to miss any sitting in the House of Commons, saying that "if you missed a shift at the pit, you would get ...
BBC Comedy of the Week podcast this week is @mrmarksteel's In Town - Huddersfield I've not laughed so much in weeks. Mark Steel has just grasped the West Yorkshire mindset so well ♡ (tags: ) I like @Peston's article on being objectified. Nicely balanced (tags: ) 8 One-Minute Anxiety Relief Tools for Kids Big and Small There is a reason why I have lots of pictures of my daughter, partners and doggies on my phone. (tags: ) Contribute to the 'I am an Immigrant' Poster Campaign here I think this is a really worthwhile thing. (tags: ) Pay us to ...
Further to my update about the Community Council meeting last night, here's the detail of what is being proposed in relation to new waste & recycling collections in part of Blackness Road. Over a long period, I have highlighted to the City Council residents' complaints about wheelie bins sitting permanently on the pavement, which not only causes difficulty for pedestrians particularly those using wheelchairs, motorised scooters or with prams, but has potentially serious safety issues as we saw in 2010 in Peddie Street. With the roll-out of new bin and recycling arrangements now taking place in a large part of ...
Two important pieces of news around cycling in the Prestwich area Prestwich to Heaton Park Cycle Route Work is starting this month to improve cycling facilities in Prestwich with an improved route for cycling between Heaton Park and Prestwich Metrolink. The work is part of the Government Funded Cycle City Ambition Grant which has been given to Greater Manchester with £97,500 being allocated for this piece of work in Prestwich. The route goes from the Heaton Park gates, up Whittaker Lane, the up Rectory Lane towards the Longfield and Prestwich Metrolink. As well as new cycle lanes, there is specific ...
The RSPCA Bury and Oldham Branch will be providing a low cost health check, vaccinations, worm/flea treatments and microchipping service on: Wednesday 4 March 2015 8.30am – 1.30pm Longfield Shopping Centre [IMG: 21552] Healthcheck (including microchipping) £10 Vaccination/booster £18 This is a drop in clinic – no appointment necessary, but to qualify you must be on means tested benefits or low income. More information from 0161 624 4725 or from www.rspca-buryoldham.org.uk
Information from the NHS: Worried about your memory – Free Memory Screening available at PRESTWICH PHARMACY, Longfield Centre, Prestwich If you are 50 and over, worried about your memory or of a loved one and it's affecting everyday life then drop in or book an appointment on 0161 798 2778 [IMG: memory-screening-pic] Tuesday 17 February, 10am – 2pm Tuesday 24 February, 10am – 2pm Tuesday 3 March, 1pm – 3pm There may be many reasons for memory problems but it can also be a sign of a medical condition such as Dementia. Early detection and diagnosis of dementia can help ...
I have opposed the savage cuts to local bus services put in place by the last Tory administration and will work with Stagecoach in Bar Hill to investigate extending the hours for the Citi 5 - adding later and earlier busses to allow residents better options, whether for work or leisure. Equally, I would work hard to ensure that the Citi 6 service to Girton is maintained and improved if possible. Finally, I would work with the new Whippet owners to see how village services could be improved. Another key component to our transport network, particularly for isolated and vulnerable ...
How a Finnish farmer became the legendary 'White Death' who killed more than 500 Soviet soldiers. Clint Eastwood's new film American Sniper centres on a Navy SEAL named Chris Kyle who killed a 160 people during four tours in Iraq. That made him the most lethal sniper in the history of the US military. Since [...]
Southwark Council have changed it's planning rules around car and bicycle parking for new developments. The overall aim is to ensure better provision for cyclists and more sensible car parking levels. All the speel within the documentation talks about more cycle parking and sensible car parking levels. But then when you look at the details it clearly is worse in a number of places – while still saying it's better. Not newspeak and parkingspeak Come on Southwark correct these whoppers: B1 offices cycle parking – described as "Double the number of spaces compared to FALP and increased provision compared to ...
