Mon 2nd
22:49

In hibernation

So obviously I haven't posted on here in quite a while. There are a number of reasons for that which I'll quickly go through. One is that I think I've mellowed somewhat. I still get angry about things which I think are unjust but I find that I don't have the same drive to shout from the rooftops about them. On top of that I find that reading through some things I've posted in the past makes me feel embarrassed about how sweary I've been. While I might still think that some people are [expletive deleted]s that doesn't mean that ...

Posted by George Potter on The Potter Blogger

This morning I had the pleasure of touring the Roseangle Playpark site along with Sharon Dickie of the playpark campaign. Its still a construction site but the new playpark is taking great shape. It was good to tour it on the day the new turf was being laid, a sign that the project is moving towards completion. Here's some photographs from today's site visit :

Mon 2nd
21:32

Kay Macfarlane

It was with a great deal of sadness that I learned at the weekend of the passing of Kay Macfarlane, one of the founders of WestFest and accomplished local artist. Kay, along with Liz Broumley, was the driving force in getting WestFest started and established. Following a career in social work, Kay put her huge energies into her art and community activities. I think Kay is summed up by her own comment about herself: "I love being creative and making things. I am a fidget and cannot sit still having to do something all the time." We'll all miss Kay ...

Since taking control of Redcar and Cleveland Council, Liberal Democrat Cabinet members have asked officers for a report on the possibility of providing a traditional pier at Redcar.The Ind/Lib Dem led Council will be looking at basic structures and trying to find a realistic option that is achievable. A feasibility study is expected in the next three weeks.The Council is examining various funding possibilities but none can be addressed until the pier is included in the Council's masterplan.Lib Dem Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Leisure, Councillor Chris Abbott (Newcomen ward, pictured right) said:"Liberal Democrats in Redcar have a long ...

Posted by Chris Abbott on Chris Abbott

We've already reported back from Mark Hunter's public meeting about the Kingsway/Gatley Road junction. Residents came up with lots of good suggestions and, though we know there are no easy answers, they've been taken away by the Highways Agency, TfGM and Stockport Council to investigate. [IMG: Local MP Mark Hunter addresses the public meeting] Local MP Mark Hunter addresses the public meeting But there are some measures already planned to improve the junction. None will solve the problem but they should help. We live in a prosperous area with high employment. That's good, but it means more and more people ...

Insomnia can have its advantages. In the small hours of this morning I came across this video of a Mr Robert Henrey addressing the Greenwich Retired Men's Association. Robert Henrey turned out to be the child actor Bobby Henrey, some 66 years after he shot to fame for his performance in Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol. Listening to him today there is no hint of the gorgeous French accent he had as an eight-year-old, but his voice still sounds more English than East Coast American. The Fallen Idol is one of my favourite films, though I suspect I may have ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

The Leicester Mercury reports: Archaeologists have opened a unique and mysterious lead coffin which was discovered just metres from the grave of Richard III. The casket - the first of its kind to be unearthed in Leicester - was found at the Grey Friars dig site, in August 2013, one year after the bones of King Richard III were exhumed. It contained a set of female remains, which experts carefully removed and studied after transporting them back to the University of Leicester. They found that the occupant was an elderly woman, who could have been an early benefactor of the ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

The Telegraph reports: Nicky Morgan, Education Secretary, has ordered an investigation into the school attended by "Jihadi John" after it emerged a third Islamist fighter was taught at the same north London academy. Choukri Ellekhlifi, a contemporary of Jihadi John at Quintin Kynaston academy, was killed fighting with terrorists in Syria in 2013 after joining up with an al-Qaeda group. The disclosure comes after The Telegraph reported that another former pupil at the St John's Wood school, Mohammed Sakr, had died fighting for al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda in Somalia. Their deaths and the fact Mohammed Emwazi, the true identity ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats:

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

 

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
YouGov

Coach parking could boost economy of St Just by allowing visitors to stop instead of passing through, as they enjoy the scenic journey along the coast road. For a while now I have been talking, to whoever will listen, about the idea of making it easier for all the coaches that pass through the town of St Just to be able to stop and allow their passengers to spend money. After many conversations, the plans are coming together and I am hopeful we will have a parking bay in place during April. Lafrowda Bus terminus Plan for coach parking space. ...

[IMG: The competition, apparently.] The competition, apparently. Apparently, there's a market – and someone at the Guardian reckons it's at least 18 strong – for a 'masterclass' on live blogging at a cost of £99 for three hours. I look at that and think 'who is this Stuart Heritage?' Does he have the extensive knowledge and experience of blogging that has made him the eighth most influential blogger on the subject of 'other'? He clearly does not. Has he been nominated for a Blog of the Year award only when the field from which nominees are selected has shrunk dramatically? ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

It seems now clear, after months of polling, that nothing will disengage the Scottish electorate from its preoccupation with its place in the Union. The latest TNS poll shows the SNP on 46%. Even a fall to below 40% will win the SNP most constituencies under FPTP. We have heard much about Scottish Labour's slump in the polls (from 42% in 2010 to 30% now), but the poll shows that their Lib Dem counterparts have collapsed from 19% to an appalling 3%. Lib Dems MPs look like being down from 11 to between 1 and 3. Despite such a desperate ...

Posted by Robin Bennett on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Meet Your Next MP] News of two new political websites hit my inbox today. One looks a really good example of using the internet to inspire offline activity, in this case giving a boost to public meetings at election time: MeetYourNextMP works by allowing members of the public to list husting events around the country... [We] also encourage other organisations to take the event data and reuse it – for example to encourage their own members to engage with the election more. MeetYourNextMP also provides a space for those who want to organise a husting to post and connect ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

From one response to our consultation on the DUP's conscience clause: I think if people go into a profession where they will be serving the entire community then they must accept that they cannot pick and choose who they provide for.I think the dup should reflect on Jesus' key message 'Love one another as I [...]

Posted by Andrew McFarland Campbell on Faith and Pride

Cheadle Area Committee (covering the three wards of Heald Green, Cheadle & Gatley and Cheadle Hulme North) meets at 6pm on Tuesday 10th March 2015. It's a public meeting and all are welcome to come to the Ladybridge Park Residents Club, Edenbridge Road, Cheadle Hulme. On the agenda: Application for £950 funding from St Anns Road North Allotment Association to improve road into the allotments. Planning application 57234 for the White Hart pub, Cheadle to put 6 tables and 24 chairs on the pavement i front of the pub. Officers are recommending grant and it's coming to area committee because ...

[IMG: Kirsty Williams] Kirsty Williams would '"be very happy" to see a Lib Dem Secretary of State for Wales. As she says in an interview with Wales Online, under the Coalition the party has produced three Scottish Secretaries. Having Liberal Democrats as secretaries of state gives us the best possible chance of wrestling power out of Whitehall and giving it to Wales. She reflects on the devolution of the NHS Budget to Manchester. You know, the fact that that kind of responsibility can be passed down without any referendum at all and here in Wales [at] each step of the ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

Today is secondary school admissions being announcement day – from 5pm online and letters overnight. 2,637 on time secondary scghool place applications, 42 higher than last year. Summary of preferences allocated to Southwark residents Secondary 09-15 Slight reduction in people being offered their first preference 59.6% (61.4% in 2014), first three preference 86.5% (88.5% in 2014), 93.2% first 6 preferences (94.4% in 2014), 6.8% none of their choices (5.7% 2014). So 179 children not allocated any school their parents and they wished for and 355 families didn't get one of their first three choices. If anyone needs help please get ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber » James Barber

I've written previously (here and here)about school attendance policy. Following the hand in of a 127,000 strong petition to the Department for Education (DfE) in October 2013, Craig Langman and I co-founded the independent campaign group "Parents Want A Say" (PWAS). Craig's petition called for the reversal of the term time absence regulations and has now grown organically to over 220,000. The group is chaired by John Hemming MP, obtained an extremely well attended Westminster Hall debate in February 2014 and is supported by Liberty, such is the extreme nature of some decisions being made by schools under the new ...

Posted by Karen Wilkinson on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: paul_hodgkinson] According to the Gloucestershire Echo, Oliver Cooper was the deputy chair of the Cotswold Conservative Association, chair of the Cotswold branch of Conservative Future and a council candidate. He has given up all those rôles to join the Liberal Democrats and is backing our candidate Paul Hodgkinson (pictured) for the Cotswold seat. Oliver said: It didn't take long after the 2010 election for the intellectuals of the centre right such as Steve Hilton, Philip Blonde and Jesse Norman to be dropped from the centre stage and be replaced by the ruthless Lynton Crosby. Since then the Tories have ...

Posted by NewsHound on Liberal Democrat Voice
eUKhost

Top trolling, Mr P, having it in Lancashire. Top trolling, making sure we had to hike up a bloody great hill to get there (Mr P was very fond of a hike over moorland, especially if it had a pint at the end of it). Top trolling, stipulating the 1655 Book of Common Prayer service that the vicar was clearly unfamiliar with and kept stumbling over. And well done for picking Jerusalem, which both me and Dad could boom out in our sleep. Requiescat in pace, Alan Petford. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments

County council chiefs have been caught out on the real impact of the proposed bus cuts in one of their own policy papers. A paper submitted by council officers to the Adult Care Panel stated, "HCC's recent consultation on reducing bus services will have an impact on older people who are dependent on public [...]

Posted by chriswhite on Chris White » Chris White

ALDC and our friends at the LGA Liberal Democrats will be in Liverpool and working hard throughout Conference, here are the details: Training ALDC will be providing seven training sessions over the course of Saturday 14th March, some in conjunction with our friends at Lib Dem HQ and the LGA Lib Dem Group. 09:30 - 10:45 Making the Most of ALDC Membership Anders Hanson and John Bridges Arena and Convention Centre (ACC), Room 4A Winning in the Last 7 Days Richard Cole, with Victoria Marsom and Rachel Palma Randle (LDHQ) ACC, Room 11B 11:00 - 12:30 Door Knocking for Victory ...

Posted by Craig Whittall on Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

Over on the Huffington Post, Tim Farron talks about the election campaign from his constituency in Cumbria. People need to believe they are not just going through the motions. We are not just doing it because we hate the Tories or because we like winning elections or because it's a way of me getting a job. It's about the things you can do with power. He confesses that he would like to be a minister in a future Coalition; it was his role as Party President that precluded that, but also allowed him to emerge from this Parliament with a ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice
Mon 2nd
13:55

My kind of book

[IMG: Affluence. Austerity and Electoral Change in Britain] Available here if it's your kind of book too.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

It is billed as a leaders debate but the Greens want(ed) Caroline Lucas to appear instead of Natalie Bennett for one of the two debates. This was requested a good while ago, before Natalie Bennett's shall we say, disappointing, performance on LBC a while back but it does go to show that the Green Party has a legitimate issue, one that the Lib Dems had five years ago. Five years back the Lib Dems most well known MP was Vince Cable. He was pretty well liked and respected. Nick Clegg was an upstart that no-one really knew. He was the ...

Posted by neilmonnery on The Rambles of Neil Monnery

Independent thinking comes down to trusting your own capacity for an original, personal opinion. For me, it is worth struggling with ourselves when it comes to important subject matter. This is so that solutions have a chance to springing from a place of authenticity and purpose. For me, this is an essential part of offering a responsible perspective and is quintessential liberal. This video is of ISIS fighters destroying ancient relics. Artifacts that were housed in Iraq's Mosul Museum. My initial response would have been similar to most people I'd imagine; shock, abhorrence, alarm and repulsion. There is violence in ...

Posted by Guy Gunaratne on Liberal Democrat Voice

The news is currently dominated by reports of hateful actions, terrorism and conflict. Radicalisation and the rise of far right movements - these are happening in our society and it is terrifying. And the emerging 'dialogue of division' from some media outlets and parties like UKIP is not helping - it's pushing communities apart and will make the situation worse. Please do watch this video, to see what Paddy Ashdown and counter-extremist Maajid Nawaz have to say about the situation: As Paddy says, the Lib Dems are uncompromising when it comes to standing up to UKIP and the dialogue of ...

Posted by Lynne Featherstone on Lynne Featherstone » Blog

In Ealing, things are improving as we see that crime is down, there are more people in employment and millions of residents have been taken on apprenticeships across the country. Those running Ealing Town Hall, like to take the credit for the improvements to our education system, however they forget to mention that the majority of money comes directly from the coalition Government. So when our primary and secondary schools are maintained, expanded and improved, large chunks of money comes from the government. Gary Malcolm Liberal Democrats believe in giving every child a fair start in life. That's why we ...

Posted by Gary Malcolm on Councillor Gary Malcolm

[IMG: roadworks] The following roads are scheduled to be repaired and renewed some time between the beginning of April and the end of October this year. Residents will be given a warning to move their cars nearer the time. GRANGE ROAD, Wilstone CHAPEL END LANE, Wilstone PARK ROAD, Tring KINGSLEY WALK, Tring FAVERSHAM CLOSE, Tring FANTAIL LANE, Tring GOLDFIELD ROAD, Tring

Posted by Nick Hollinghurst on Tring Liberal Democrats

I have received this update today from Anna Graham of the Highways Agency about progress of the resurfacing works on the A12 and installation of permanent speed cameras between the Essex border and East Bergholt B1071 junction. I am writing to provide an update on our progress and make you aware of what is happening in the near future. As you may be aware, poor weather and low temperatures have slowed progress on both the A12 J11 to 12near Brentwood and J33 Copdock to 31 East Bergholt schemes. In addition to this, in spite of our survey work prior to ...

Posted by kathypollard on Kathy Pollard » Kathy Pollard

It's one of those headings where the speech marks are essential ... Nick says he wants to "lift the lid on what it is like for the one in four people in the UK who suffer with mental illness". He will be hosting a programme this evening on LBC in which he will interview people with mental health problems and those who support them, followed by a Q&A. You can watch the programme live at 7pm today.

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

Crossens 14th March, St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens, between 11am and 12 noon. Churchtown 26th March, at Cafe Moo Moo on Cambridge Road (by the junction with Preston New Road, next to Boots) Churchtown, between 10:30 am and 11:30 am.

Posted by John Dodd on Meols Lib Dems

The first General Election I can remember was in 1979, when as a fifteen year old I was starting to really get interested in politics. In my village and constituency (Henley) the Tories were well entrenched, but the Liberals had a level of support too. The Liberal candidate was a chap called Steven Atack and I still remember seeing a poster advertising him as a speaker at a public meeting in the village hall. I thought they had spelt his name wrong! My parents who were Liberal voters didn't go to the meeting, which I suspect was poorly attended and ...

Posted by David Warren on Liberal Democrat Voice

The new parking charges for Cornwall Council car parks in Launceston are a good deal for the town, but the different charges can be confusing. In order to work out what is the best option for you - whether you are an occasional visitor or a regular user - we have produced this factsheet. For a one-off visit: Up to 1 hour - 60p in the town council's multi-storey car park 1-2 hours - £1 in the Walk House or Upper Cattle Market long stay car parks All day Monday to Friday - £2 in the Upper Cattle Market long ...

Posted by Alex Folkes on A Lanson Boy

An interesting phenomenon within fiscal conservatism in the West is the treatment of defence spending. The theme goes like this: everything the government does should have its budget shrunk - except for defence, which should essentially be limitless in terms of what can be given over by the taxpayer. This reaches its sickening apex in America, a country with no health system and little social democracy besides that has the largest national debt in the history of the universe, all down to spending enormous amounts on defence. This is relevant in the UK again, as former minister of defence Liam ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

After a massive battle Launceston has come out with a set of parking tariffs which will help support shoppers, workers and businesses - including the new shops which are now opening their doors. Cornwall Council had proposed to scrap our £1 all day Saturday parking and £1 for 2-hour parking, and put up season ticket prices to more than £300. We'd all fought very hard to get cheap prices introduced in the first place so we know what a disaster this would have been for low-paid workers and for the shops and businesses which are fighting back and starting to ...

Posted by Alex Folkes on A Lanson Boy

The next Frome Vale Area Forum meeting is this Thursday 5th March at 7pm in Shireway Community Centre, Yate. There will be a presentation from Avon Fire and Rescue raising awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning - very necessary, as shown by the recent tragedy in Cherington (Gazette report here - Yate couple killed by toxic gas boiler leak). Other items on the agenda include decisions on community and New Homes Bonus (NHB) grants and consideration of youth funding. The Forum will also be deciding which highway schemes are a priority. The next round of meetings will take place in July. ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

Before the recent Scottish independence referendum, promises squeezed out of the 'Westminster establishment' over more decentralisation of power to Scotland. The independence referendum was a close run thing. Now those in favour of full independence for Scotland are in a majority, and it seems that this will be reflected in the coming UK General Election. The UK government has also conceded to a small increase in the powers of the Welsh Government. On independence and devolution, Scotland has form, of course. But there are more modern reasons for the recent rise of pro-independence sentiment. The long march to the UK's ...

Posted by Paul Reynolds on Liberal Democrat Voice

ENGLAND FOOTBALL TEAM FACES DECADES MORE IN INTERNATIONAL WILDERNESS WITHOUT MORE GRASSROOTS SPENDING - LIB DEM COUNCILLORS England's national football team faces decades more in the international wilderness unless a bigger slice of booming TV profits is invested back in the grassroots game, councils warn. The Liberal Democrats passed a motion at their autumn conference in Glasgow calling for a five percent tithe on English and Scottish Premier League TV revenues to fund the strengthening of the game's grass roots and lower leagues, and to ensure greater democracy and equality within the game. The LGA, which speaks for 400 local ...

Liberal England: England's cricketers are not the problem: it's the people who run the game (tags: ) FAO fellow pognophiles (esp @SarahBrown1984) (tags: ) One shouldn't laugh, really... (tags: ) An appropriate cosplay for #HappyBirthdayRogerDelgado (tags: ) Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes, may now face death penalty (tags: ) Cameron is right — nothing keeps you in touch with the common person like being paid £5k a day (tags: ) Stuck for inspiration for a blog post? This could be just what you need (via Count Packula) (tags: ) 4 charts that prove immigrants aren't ...

[IMG: "Wrong way" signs] Three mistakes for Liberal Democrats to avoid when campaigning over Labour's (deeply flawed) policy on tuition fees: Quoting Liberal Democrats: when arguing over a policy you need to quote people who have instant credibility in the eyes of persuadable voters. On tuition fees, that means not quoting Liberal Democrats, whoever they are. (Just as for many issues with Labour, it means not quoting Ed Balls, for example.) Leading with detailed statistics: yes, the numbers behind what you say need to add up but a persuasive argument doesn't start with "let me give you 5 minutes of ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The personal finance expert Martin Lewis has come out against Labour's plan to cut student fees to £6,000 a year. He says it is is subsidy to future bankers, as he explains: "The only people who would gain from it are those who would clear their entire loan for tuition fees plus any loans for living costs, plus the interest, within the 30 years. To do this you'd need to be a high earner. "To see the exact amount, go to my student finance calculator and play about with different scenarios - watching the impact of reducing tuition fees. It ...

Posted by David Boyle on The Real Blog

As the saga of whether or not Merseyrail is going to be getting new trains in the future drags on and on (there are numerous previous posts mentioning this subject) a chance visit to a section of Merseyrail's Northern Line in Southport brought this strange machine into sight:- [IMG: Merseyrail's new train!r] Click on the photo to enlarge it. At first glance it looks like it is on the tracks but it is actually at the side of them. So probably not a prototype new mini-loco being tested. In fact it is a mobile wood chipper as the trees along ...

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

A couple of years ago, the Community Spirit Action Group in the north of the West End Ward organised a graffiti clean up of the Blackness industrial area that I participated in. At the time, we removed lots of long-standing graffiti mess. Over time, more graffiti has appeared particularly in Ash Street and Park Street - see below: I have therefore asked the City Council's Rapid Response Team to clean off this mess.

Mon 2nd
07:55

Reduce The Strength

[IMG: Reducing-the-strength2-650x280] Some UK councils led by Ipswich and then Portsmouth have introduced Reduce The Strength campaigns to reduce alcohol misuse. In Portsmouth alone they've calculated alcohol abuse costs £74m annually across the NHS, Police, criminal justice system and council alone. In Ipswich they report a 31% drop in crime. The idea of Reducing The Strength is to ask off-licences to volunteer to NOT sell beer or cider over 6.5% proof. Shops supporting the scheme are given a sticker to show how responsible they're being for their local community. One shop owner said "when we stopped selling high-strength lager there ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber » James Barber

[IMG: By adding this picture, this post is now 32.9% more patriotic than it was before.] By adding this picture, this post is now 32.9% more patriotic than it was before. Your starter for 10: Look at the following proposal. Publicly-funded infrastructure projects - including roads, flood defences and broadband cabinets - will be branded with a Union Jack plaque. Is this: A) Something a UKIP MEP pledged to their conference when he lost his notes and had to make up a policy on the spot? B) Actual Government policy, cooked up by Danny Alexander and Francis Maude, to ensure ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

Stockport Council's annual budget, like that of every local authority, includes many different parts. I've written about the biggest two from our point of view – the council's day-to-day spending (revenue) and our one-off investments (capital) – in other articles. Here I'm going to cover the other elements that go to make up the budget as a whole: our investments and borrowing, the money we get from social housing rents, money we pass onto schools and our reserves. Investment and borrowing Stockport Council has borrowed substantial amounts of money and plans to borrow more, mostly to fund our investment projects. ...

The Western Mail reports on comments by Cardiff Central Welsh Liberal Democrats MP. Jenny Willett to Welsh Conference yesterday in which she said that she had been 'vilified' on social media for "daring to be a woman who wants to both work and have children" after appearing in a documentary about the House of Commons. Jenny told representatives that she had been told that her children should be taken into the care of social services and was accused of letting down her constituents: The Liberal Democrat MP jokingly described herself to party activists as "the one with the child who ...

Posted by Freedom Central on Freedom Central

The Times reports that questions have been raised over Ukip's use of EU funding for general election campaign materials, after Labour accused the party of encouraging its candidates to break the rules. They say that UKIP advised candidates in one of its confidential bi-weekly emails this month to "access materials" paid for by Brussels that argue that the EU is "damaging" to the UK's national interests: Such leaflets are published with funding granted to Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), the bloc of national parties that Ukip belongs to in the European parliament. Use of the money is governed ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

I can already see this clickbait-headings thing was a terrible, terrible idea. Still, I said I'd give it a week... This week's Batposts are on two fairly awful stories. Over on Patreon, for those lovely lovely people who like giving me money, my look at False-Face's only appearance, while on Mindless Ones, for the poor, [...]

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!