Well, maybe not the real one – but we thought you might like a late night treat. LGBT+ Chair was inspired by this on Pinterest. Like many Liberal Democrat activists he's an admirer of Julian Huppert for the way he's been such a strong supporter of equal rights for all and the way he's spoken up for transgender people as well as being a strong, credible expert on matters relating to science. So he decided to adapt the Pinterst picture as a tribute to the Huppertmeister. Post by Dave Page We think there should be badges of this at Conference ...
[IMG: Vince Cable Social Liberal Forum conference Jul 19 2014 Photo by Paul Walter] We know that during the passage of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act, Liberal Democrat peers Sal Brinton and Margaret Sharp tried to amend the bill to strengthen the duty on universities to preserve freedom of speech. Senior Tories couldn't see why that was so important, sadly. The Observer reports that Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers, especially Vince Cable, disagree about the planned guidance to be issued to universities about what they can and can't allow on campus. In the Sunday Times, the home secretary, Theresa ...
A little Edwardian transport porn for a Sunday evening. I know what you like. Wikipedia explains: The Wantage Tramway Company was a two mile tramway that carried passengers and freight between the Oxfordshire town of Wantage and Wantage Road Station on the Great Western Main Line. Formed in 1873 to link Wantage Road station with its terminus at Mill Street, Wantage the line was cheaply built parallel to what was then the Besselsleigh Turnpike, and now the A338. The tramway closed to passengers in 1925 and to goods traffic in 1945.Better still, the photo shows the tram approaching Grove Bridge ...
Eclection were a short-lived Sixties band, perhaps most notable for the fact that Joni Mitchell suggested its name and for what its members went on to do. Trevor Lucas and Gerry Conway formed Fotheringay with Lucas' girlfriend (and later wife) Sandy Denny. Perhaps more unexpectedly, Georg Hultgreen was later known as Georg Kajanus, and enjoyed chart success in the mid-1970s with the much poppier Sailor - a sort of very poor man's Roxy Music. As to Eclection themselves, Rob Young in his Electric Eden describes them as "a fairly pedestrian beat group with shades of Jefferson Airplane or The Byrds". ...
Some considerable time ago Lib Dems in Southwark ensured that the Southwark Plan encouraged developers to include green roofs and green walls into their plans. They're even mentioned on the checklist for major developments but pigeon holed into Landscaping. [IMG: Paris green wall] Green walls and roofs can be amazing. Green walls for example can reduce daily temperature fluctuations of external walls by 50%by shading walls and insulating them. With ever hotter temperatures this is booming really significant reducing the need for air conditioning and where needed the amount of energy they consume. If deciduous climbers are chosen then they ...
The one thing we Liberal Democrats would prefer not to have mentioned on the doorstep, or anywhere else for that matter, is "tuition fees." That is probably why Ed Miliband has introduced his own policy, to reduce the maximum payable. from £9 000 to £6 000. So far Miliband's policy, announced last Friday, has been a great success. Every news bulletin that I've heard or seen since then has, in reporting Labour's new policy, mentioned that the Liberal Democrats promised - no, pledged - in the 2010 election to vote against any rise, and then didn't. Only one bulletin I ...
"Nemtsov spoke for the Western Russia, as opposed to the Scythian one of Stalin and Putin. He believed in rule of law and rule of the people and he held in contempt those who have subverted and stolen Russia for their own personal greed." Cicero's Songs on the murder of Boris Nemtsov. Nick Barlow is rightly unconvinced when told he should "shut up and deliver leaflets". "I wonder what in 100 years from now it will be, London. The city that privatised itself to death. Abandoned to nature, maybe, the whole place a massive, feral version of that mimsy garden ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our413th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (22-28 February 2015), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Why Nick Clegg will hold on to Sheffield ...
I am very proud of my Lib Dem colleagues here in BANES! While the Tories were running the Council from 2007-2011, council tax increased by nearly 10%. The Lib Dem record is a 0% increase in the last four years and this will continue into next year. Tories claim that this could only be achieved [...]
After my article on Ukraine was published in February's Liberator 370, Liberal colleague Geoff Woodcock asked what I made of a review of a book in the Guardianon the Ukraine crisis. 'Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands by Richard Sakwa review - an unrivalled account' Jonathan Steele, 19 February 2015. The review appears to show a lot of the ideological and political assumptions behind it - for me it is typical of the more thought out excuses given by 'left wing' and 'right wing' commentators to make excuses for the Russian state's war in South East Ukraine. I think ...
Inspired by a link Jennie Rigg posted, I'm going to try something for the next week or two. I'm going to see if using clickbait headlines — while changing nothing else about the posts — causes my blog traffic to go up, down, or stay the same. I suspect that if anything, the traffic will [...]
A key issue with electricity is matching supply and demand. If we began charging more for electricity when demand was high and less when demand was low or plenty of intermittent renewable electricity was available, we could shift demand and reduce bills. This briefing note, written by Stewart Reddaway, edited by Richard Balmer, explains how it could be done in practice ALDElectricityRTTs215
I was sorting through some more of my late father's things today and came across this leaflet, dated March 1955. It details the foreign exchange restrictions that were in force at the time. These were of relevance to my father as he made what I believe to be his first trip abroad in 1956. £25 ... Continue reading »
There are two major problems with the DUP's proposed conscience clause. It may harm those who are less well-off It doesn't actually help situations where a Christian's conscience may tell them to refuse work The first problem was addressed in yesterday's article. The second is addressed in this article. The stimulus for this proposed legislation was [...]
Interesting article in the Sunday Times about Labour's proposals to make it easier for the Speaker to keep order in the House of Commons. They say that the party proposes to issue yellow cards to MPs who shout, heckle or make crude gestures. The plan is that a first warning will see an MP banned for an hour with a second leading to exclusion for up to three sessions: The proposal for a "sin bin" follows complaints by MPs, and research showing the public are turned off by boorish behaviour. The Labour MP Sarah Champion complained recently of a sexist ...
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Pauline Pearce seeks Liberal Democrat nomination in Hitchin (0 comments) by The Voice Willie Rennie MSP writes...You wouldn't put UKIP in charge of the EU, so you wouldn't put the SNP in charge of the UK (22 comments) by The Voice Opinion: Liberal Democrats should support abolishing the monarchy and it's the right time to do so (59 comments) by David Faggiani Money saving expert Martin Lewis on Labour's fees policy: "Poorer students will subsidise city investment ...
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15:53
Independent on Sunday praises Nick Clegg and Ed Davey for "keeping the low carbon show on the road"
[IMG: Davey Windmills - Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats] An Independent on Sunday editorial today acknowledges the contribution made by the Liberal Democrats to furthering the green agenda while in government. They give Nick Clegg and Ed Davey the credit for driving it forward in the face of opposition from our coalition partners, who come in for some criticism: The IoS has been disappointed with the Conservatives' record on the environment. We were prepared to give David Cameron the benefit of the doubt when he put a windmill on his roof and when he proclaimed his intention that the ...
Here are the latest national voting intention figures from each of the main pollsters. To put the numbers into longer context, take a look at my database of polling figures going back to 1945, which is updated quarterly. Polling company Con Lab LibDem UKIP Green Con lead Fieldwork Method ComRes 32% 34% 7% 16% 4% -2% 11-12/2 Online ComRes 34% 32% 8% 13% 6% 2% 22-23/2 Phone ICM 36% 32% 10% 9% 7% 4% 13-15/2 Phone Ashcroft 32% 36% 7% 11% 8% -4% 20-22/2 Phone MORI 34% 36% 6% 9% 7% -2% 8-10/2 Phone Opinium 34% 35% 6% 14% 6% ...
[IMG: It's the mockbuster version of this, basically.] It's the mockbuster version of this, basically. The Pitch: So, there's this blogger, yeah? He's been doing it for a while and still getting ideas for things to write about, but he refuses to learn lessons from his past. So, despite his recurrent failure to keep themed series of posts going, he decides to create a new one, telling himself it'll be different this time, that he's sure to be able to get inspiration, and it's only one post once a week. Surely he can manage that? Inevitably, things go wrong, and ...
We tend to think of the Second World War as a battle between good and evil. For Finland (and even for Finnish Jews) things weren't that simple. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Simo Häyhä AKA 'the White Death', a Finnish sniper who killed more than 500 Soviet soldiers during the Winter [...]
Work is now starting on the long awaited rebuilding of Whickham Front Street Primary School. The site, on North View, behind the Gibside Arms, has now been fenced off by the builders. Building equipment is about to arrive. The school recently celebrated its centenary but has been in need of replacement for many years. The school site is split and buildings are getting old. The new building
Steve Webb, pensions minister, is interviewed in the Observer in the run-up to the big pensions change: Plans to give millions of people powers to get access to their pensions savings from 6 April are a calculated risk, the minister in charge of the biggest pensions shakeup in decades has admitted. On what is being called "pension freedom day", millions of people will be able to do whatever they want with their pension pot, instead of having to buy an annuity. This liberalisation is being widely hailed as the biggest shakeup of the UK pensions system since the old-age pension ...
Yesterday we had our final Blaydon constituency action day of February, suitably on the last day of the month. 3500 letters were delivered, as were 1800 tabloids and 2000 Focuses. There were also clerical jobs in abundance to be done. It was Whickham North's turn to host the event so most of the deliveries took place there. This was what I delivered in the morning. I was sent to do my old
Our Liberal Democrat campaigners have been out and about knocking on doors. The selection of tweets that follow represents a tiny snapshot of the work going on across the country. The Liberal Democrats are bright, bold and determined in the run up to May 7th. @NthNfkLibDems @normanlamb busy day door knocking! Good response & delivery done in Lessingham! #busycampaign pic.twitter.com/6xXSyMXPPM — Dave thomas (@dthomas83uk) February 28, 2015
The light-hearted technology caper movie Sneakers came with an all-start cast including Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Ben Kingsley and many more. [IMG: Sneakers DVD cover] But most importantly this 1992 movie came with a great script that relies on smarts and wit rather than over-dramatic action. Although technology has moved on, its core ideas (especially the question of quite what the NSA is getting up to with its snooping) are still very relevant. As one of the computer hackers says: It's not about who has the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear. How ...
We are now a little over two months from polling day. At this point, comparing the two main parties' election campaigns is like reading about a Netherlands-San Marino World Cup qualifying football match - so one-sided as to make you feel sorry for the bunch getting walloped. For while the Tories have run an extremely disciplined, well-structured campaign that plays to their strengths, Labour have been unbelievably bad. The pink van; the old guard emerging every once in a while to hint they think things aren't going so well; the infighting about tuition fees as the precursor to an ultra-lame ...
Arriva are looking at a network review in Southport. These changes have now been registered and will come in to operation 29th March. Arriva are holding a public information day on Saturday 14th March in front of the Atkinson Centre, Southport to explain the service changes and the reasoning behind them.
The strange new world of evidence-free government (tags: ) If I were Prime Minister: I would create a government that actually reflects its people (tags: ) Tributes to @TheRealNimoy from some of his costars. Zach Quinto still making me cry (tags: ) Best. Sewing project. EVER. (tags: ) Leonard Nimoy's Advice To A Biracial Girl In 1968 - <3 (tags: ) ASAN leader's speech on 2015 disability day of mourning (tags: ) There but for the grace of God - in which Andrew spends a night sleeping rough to raise money (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The big news on devolution this week has been the twin announcements of more devolved powers for Wales and that Greater Manchester will be devolved control over the £6 billion health budget for the region. It's interesting to see what lessons can be taken from this. One is that 'Devomanc' really does appear to have substance, despite initial scepticism from various people (myself included) and another is that talk of English Votes on English Laws is even more redundant now that we face the prospect of Mancunian MPs voting on matters affecting the rest of England which don't affect Greater ...
Last Thursday, 26 February 2015, Shropshire Council discussed the future of Ludlow Museum Resource Centre. We also discussed the issue at that evening's Local Joint Committee. After participating in those debates, I don't think we yet have the right model for running Ludlow Museum Resource Centre and the county museum services. We might have had [...]
[IMG: St Thomas Shool, Lydiate] Click on the photo to enlarge it With thanks to the excellent Lydiate World web site. Here is a photo of the former St. Thomas C of E Primary School which once was on the site of the present Sheilings Nursing Home in Southport Road. www.lydiateworld.com/ The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
The Liverpool Echo carries details the activities of Jimmy Savile at Maghull's Moss Side Hospital. How did he get away with it for so long?
Constituents have rightly complained to me about the mess of mobile phone company boxes (six plus a mobile phone mast!) on City Road near the Saggar Street junction. Hardly sightly - and so I contacted the planning team at the council to find out the position in relation to planning approvals. Here is the initial response from the City Council : "Planning application ref: 03/00441/FUL was granted permission for the erection of a monopole with shrouded antennas and 2 no equipment cabinets. It would appear that at some stage the monopole has been replaced and an additional 4 cabinets installed ...
Calculations of local station passenger numbers show that East Dulwich and West Norwood are each handling over 2 million people using them each year. East Dulwich station in just one year has seen growth of 5% in passenger numbers and West Norwood 2% : Station Name District or Unitary Authority Station Facility Owner 1314 Entries & Exits 1213 Entries & Exits Brixton Lambeth Southeastern 942,548 896,848 Denmark Hill Southwark Southeastern 5,166,040 3,935,776 East Dulwich Southwark Southern 2,119,018 2,104,766 Gipsy Hill Lambeth Southern 1,992,136 1,943,522 Herne Hill Lambeth Southeastern 3,308,970 2,918,610 Loughborough Junction Lambeth First Capital Connect 1,386,290 1,182,914 North Dulwich ...
Last night I took part in a sponsored sleep-out for a local homelessness charity, Crisis Centre Ministries, organised under the auspices of the Bristol Churches Action Network. Here's how it all went down. Preperation Unlike many who find themselves in position of sleeping out for real, those taking part - and there was 100-200 of us - were able to prepare in advance. In this I was grateful for the help of friends who had done the sleep-out in the past and knew what to expect. Participants came equipped with cardboard, blankets and survival bags - not to mention lots ...
