I see that Laura Wright, the soprano who plays rugby for Rosslyn Park and also the singer of the official rugby anthem, has urged whoever takes these decisions to use Jerusalem as the anthem for England in this year's rugby World Cup (for some reason the Standard story yesterday is not online). She says the English need something to compete with Flower of Scotland and Land of My Fathers for inspiration. That isn't to say that God Save the Queen isn't inspiring. The point is - and Laura wasn't so political - is that it is the anthem of the ...
The third and final part of this walk takes us from Much Wenlock to Craven Arms and is by far the most scenic. I once did much of this walk myself, coming down from the Edge short of Craven Arms and reaching the Traveller's Rest at Upper Affcott via the lanes. "I either have to spend the night here or go on to Craven Arms," I told the landlord. "Are you trying to make us feel guilty?" he replied. But he did have a room for the night, so I stayed there. I heard that the Traveller's Rest had closed, ...
Building the UK's Stonehenge in 1954 pic.twitter.com/UT2eBXzt8V — Old Pics Archive (@oldpicsarchive) March 3, 2015 Old Pics Archive wins Tweet of the Day.
A quarter of a century ago, famously, the Thatcher Government created a monster when it introduced the Beer Orders, breaking up the breweries' pub estates and in theory ushering in a new era of freedom for Britain's pubs. Well, not quite..... as Roger Protz's excellent history of the time spells out, the industry through backdoor lobbying set up various loopholes which led to a quite different story unfolding. In particular, the pubcos were created.... and, overly leveraged on debt, ended up with a model that exploited both publicans and communities. The mess created by industry lobbyists therefore created the mess ...
The 'cost' bias – Chris Dillow explains how a lot of our understanding of how much something might cost the economy is completely wrong. The robots are coming – John Lanchester in the LRB on how automation is changing everything around us. Die Another Eh: What Does It Mean Now That James Bond Is In The Public Domain In Canada? – It's almost as though copyright law has been set up to be as confusing and stifling of creativity as possible. American democracy is doomed – Slightly incendiary title for a piece that's arguing the current structure of American democracy ...
From one response to our consultation on the DUP's conscience clause: Christ commands that his followers must not treat any other human being in a way in which they would not like to be treated themselves. This attempt to legalise discrimination against LGBT people is unchristian and sinful. —Antaine O'Labhradha
[IMG: Rainbow Bus] It's a lovely bright sight on the streets of London. A bus with rainbow livery to celebrate the 10th anniversary of OUTbound, the Transport for London's LGBT staff network. It's a nice idea to have such a clear statement of solidarity with London's LGBT people. There is a cloud though, and that comes in the form of the involvement in Stagecoach's partnership in the venture. You know, the same Stagecoach whose chairman Brian Souter took such exception to the abolition of Scotland's equivalent of Section 28 that he spent a huge some of money on a campaign ...
Angry parents are demanding to know why the vital Internet services telling them whether their children had gained their chosen secondary school failed for most of Monday. It was only in the late afternoon following the intervention of Lib Dem County Councillor Chris White that the problem was spotted and the service established. Opposition Spokesperson [...]
Chase Community Solar, working alongside Cannock Chase District Council has what appears a ground-breaking initiative. They've created a Community Benefit Society to install PV solar panels on the roofs of council properties. The council tenants or leaseholders will receive £100-£200 of their electric bills for hosting PV solar panels on their roofs. This is funded by people investing a minimum of £100 with a 7% projected rate of return for 20 years from selling electricity generated by the solar panels to pay this interest and expenses. Bit better than 0.5% with any money sitting in the bank. The capital raised ...
Along with the Greenhill Road/Booker Avenue shop application (see previous post), there are a couple of others people might want to know about. There are plans to put housing on the site of the old Garston Market. The details are at this link and you can comment up to 10 March. ASDA on St Mary's Road also wants to be able to open 24 hours a day. The details are at this link and comments are on until 9 March. The bulk of the info in each case is in a bit called "Related Documents".
Since taking control of Redcar & Cleveland Council with Independent partners, Liberal Democrats have found a way to offer residents a cut in Council Tax bills and made it a reality by voting it through at today's budget setting meeting of the Council.Labour regularly increased Council Tax when in control, and in 2012 gave Redcar and Cleveland residents the biggest Council Tax rise in the country.This year, local people will get a cut of just over 1%. This has been done without cutting any services. It is believed to be the first ever Council Tax reduction by the Council.In return ...
The Divine Ms Duffett, editor of Ad Lib magazine, and one of our team, is looking for help from Liberal Democrat Voice readers. She wants some light-hearted stories of canvassing camaraderie. What is your funniest or weirdest canvassing experience? Let us know in the comments. Your experience may be published in some yet to be defined communication to members so keep it reasonably clean. One of the weirdest things that happened to me on the doorstep was during the Dunfermline by-election in 2006. I had been kept on a tight leash doing casework by Ed Maxfield, co-author of 101 ways ...
I have yet another bit of social media to operate. I've set up a website for the Blaydon constituency general election campaign. You can visit it on this link. I was hoping by now that my opponents would have some interesting material out there on the internet about what they're doing in the election battle. Sadly, there ain't much there. However, my spies in the Labour camp tell me that the
Week Four Coping with negative thinking. I am often accused of looking on the negative side of situations and issues; the accusation is broadly speaking accurate. I believe the cause of this is a learned behaviour I inherited from my mother. I was born late in my parents lives: my mother was 43 my father 50; it was rare in 1960s to be born to parents of their ages. My upbringing was therefore very much informed by the standards of their childhoods. It informed on their belief in structure and class. My mother was a scullery maid for Lord Romsey, ...
The on-going saga of Dad's gall stones has taken a turn for the better. He was released from the Queen El;izabeth Hospital today. I picked him up and took him home via the Co-op in Whickham where I did his food shopping (he's not quite as self-sufficient as me). He's back at his bungalow in Whickham now. I'll be at the Sunniside History Society tonight where lots of his friends will, no doubt,
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe:
[IMG: Tim Farron Social Liberal Forum conference Jul 19 2014 Photo by Paul Walter] On Saturday, we brought you the New Statesman trail for their interview with Tim Farron. The main feature has been published today. They headline it "The Lib Dems' Leader-in-Waiting" which is probably inevitable but annoying nonetheless. Asked about potential coalitions, he set out why the Liberal Democrats would be much better performers in Coalition than any other party: Do you want, this is the real million dollar question here, do you want the party that is second in the next coalition agreement to be some separatist ...
Occasionally, when I see the latest poll showing the Lib Dems' poll rating dribbling along at 6-8%, I wonder if I was stupidly over-optimistic when I nailed my colours to the mast with my prediction in January that the party would win 12% and 32 seats in May's general election. Quite possibly so. But my house of straw/brick was at least built on some solid foundations, primarily my trust in ICM's polling credentials. ICM is rightly, in my view, regarded as the 'gold standard' pollster. Its final polls proved to be most accurate in each of the 1997, 2005 and ...
The Independent reports: Immigration to Britain has not increased unemployment or reduced wages, a major new study has concluded. Researchers at the London School of Economics looked at the levels of immigration to each of Britain's counties, and compared it to the unemployment rate in the same area across the same period. They found that there was no connection between how much immigration a county had seen between 2004 and 2012 and the area's level of unemployment. The study also looked at whether migrants coming to an area had led to a fall in wage levels and found no evidence ...
[IMG: Emergency and Urgent care]
Today's Independent carries a fascinating article about work by scientists who have been designing music that will appeal to cats. The paper says that the scientists have they found most cats respond to music which is a "little like sonic catnip" and using tempos and melodies originating from purrs and suckling: In a study published in the journal Applied Animal Behavioural Science, domestic cats did not respond when played human music, but upon hearing the specially-produced 'cat songs' became excited and started approaching the speakers and rubbing their scent glands on them. The team uploaded three snippets on its website ...
A couple of weeks ago, Ruth Bright wrote of her admiration for Jenny Willott after seeing her and her family on the Inside the Commons series. I can only echo her sentiments after finally catching up with the programme late last night. What I saw was a happy family eating together, making a difficult work/life balance situation work in a way that suited them. Of course, I did wonder why Parliament couldn't schedule its votes in a more family friendly manner and, why, in the 21st century, casting a vote requires running across your workplace then standing in a lobby ...
[IMG: Immigration detention] Looking back over the Coalition Government, one of our great successes is putting an end to the routine detention of children for immigration purposes. In 2009, 1,119 children were locked up in immigration centres, nearly 500 of them were under five years of age. Not only have we ended this practice, but in the Immigration Act we made sure that if any future government wants to undo our reforms, they'll have to do it the hard way by passing an Act of Parliament. But the issue of immigration detention doesn't and shouldn't stop there. The UK is ...
[IMG: Scenes like this will not be seen in the House of Commons.] Scenes like this will not be seen in the House of Commons. The news that Frank Lampard has apparently turned down the chance to be Conservative candidate for Kensington is perhaps unsurprising given that I've never heard of him expressing a political view before, and City Football Group will pay him much more to not play for somebody than he'll ever earn as an MP. (One does wonder if he was only mentioned because he has so much in common with the seat, as both have cut ...
Tue 3rd
10:33
Joan Walmsley writes ... Disadvantaged children should be prioritised in the Early Years, says House...
[IMG: Childcare Centre] Liberal Democrats have done a great deal in Government to provide more and better early education and childcare. From increasing the free entitlement for three and four year olds and extending it to disadvantaged two year olds to introducing the Early Years Pupil Premium and helping parents with the costs through tax relief, this government has been on the side of young children and their families. Two things have happened relating to childcare in the last two weeks. Nick Clegg has made some commitments about what Liberal Democrats would fight for in the next Parliament and the ...
[IMG: A road. Possibly foreign. Hopefully to the future.] Imagine what would happen if, due to an unfortunate editing error, the transport and housing policy speeches of a centre-left, environmentally friendly politician – who could be a Lib Dem, Green, Labour, Ukip, Plaid, SNP, SDLP or even a wet Tory – got mixed up. Speech one: It's absolutely absurd to think we can fix the housing crisis by concreting over beautiful fields and building more houses. More houses will just increase demand and perpetuate the crisis. Speech two: With our population growing every year we have to build more roads ...
Our latest tabloid is now being delivered in the Whickham area. We've produced two editions - one for the three Whickham wards and one for Lobley Hill and Dunston and Teams. The large pile in the photo above belongs to Whickham South and Sunniside and a forthcoming job for me is to bundle them up into their delivery patches. I'll get the patch where I live in Sunniside delivered first. I also
Help Avon Fire and Rescue Service prevent devastating home fires by encouraging social groups to sign up free Home Fire Safety Visits. Gain experience, training and references, and provide a valuable life-saving service in your community. Help make a difference. Contact the Volunteering Team at The Care Forum - you can phone them on 0117 9589308 or email them at volunteering@thecareforum.org.uk
The most recent issue of Liberator, the anti-establishment Liberal magazine, has more than its usual quota of groans about how the Lib Dems have failed to define clearly what they stand for. There is particular venom reserved for the idea that the party should be of the political centre, which implies a sort of rootlessness, allowing itself to be defined by others. Much of this comes from seasoned campaigners, and there is much wisdom in what they say. But I also sense a rather wilful failure to address how politics really works. For example, in his article, the veteran Kingston ...
Liverpool's planning committee meets next week (Tuesday 10th) to decide on the application for a shop (and houses) on the plot of land at the junction of Greenhill Road and Booker Avenue (this is the bit that was a petrol station quite some time ago). The council report to the meeting is at this link. I sent in comments which were around the need for traffic measures at that junction as it can already be hard for vehicles to use it and for people to cross safely. This is potentially more of a problem because of the new housing on ...
You may not be at all aware of it, but within the confines of the Conservative Party there exists a concerted effort to hold onto David Cameron as leader of the party. The severity of the loyalty to the current leader ranges: from a sort of, he must be kept in situ if there's a hung parliament and the Tories are the biggest party; to holding onto Dave even if the party really loses. This has all leaked from a Whips' dinner, or so the Guardian tells us. I'm inclined to believe it. Because whatever your average Tory backbencher thinks ...
"Boys won't watch action movies with female leads" my arse. Also Vasquez FTW - via @Nyctibiidae (tags: ) Boy, 11, told by school not to wear ponytail because style is 'linked with drug-taking' (tags: ) Boris Johnson Has No Idea How To Play A Guitar - bless his little blonde overprivileged socks (tags: ) Comedian Shappi Khorsandi to host Index on Censorship awards (tags: ) Channel 4 report shows true brutality of detention centres (tags: ) Autistic Adults Do Not Look Like Autistic Children by Judy Endow, MSW (tags: ) The only training course at #ldconf I might possibly look ...
The Kilburn Times has the curious story: Brent Labour Party has been accused of carrying out a smear campaign against a rival after they distributed defamatory leaflets about the Tory candidate in the Kenton by-election... The handouts, which Mr Maurice claims was sent out at the same time as postal votes, said: "Even the Conservative candidate for the Kenton by-election has said he will not be voting conservative." It included a scanned feedback form claimed to be completed by Mr Maurice where he attacks his party for failing to control immigration. After being alerted to the leaflets, Mr Maurice employed ...
[IMG: Azure card] Last November I wrote that we must abolish the Azure Card and secured a debate in the House of Lords to that effect. For those who may be unaware, The Azure Card is a prepayment card provided destitute asylum seekers who require support because they are temporarily unable to leave the United Kingdom. It is a discriminatory and wholly inadequate system of support which the Red Cross – as well as many other refugee organisations have called to be abolished. Azure card Features - £35 per week - Can only be used in 14 shops - No ...
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the latest Friends of Blackness meeting at Blackness Primary School. Friends of Blackness undertakes both the Parent Council and Parent Teacher Association roles at the school and, last night, there was an extremely positive meeting with a Head Teacher's Report, discussion about school meals, feedback on the highly successful Christmas Fair and using funds for school improvements. Gordon Ferrier, Blackness Primary's excellent Head Teacher, will be on secondment between April and the start of the 2015/16 session at another primary school, but Blackness Primary will remain in safe hands with Depute Head ...
Barbara Dymock From Sheena Wellington : Lunchtime Recital - Wednesday 4th March at 1.15pm Wighton Heritage Centre at the Central Library Barbara Dymock and Chris Marra One of Scotland's finest singers, Barbara Dymock and Chris Marra, a brilliant instrumentalist, who also sings, combine to make a truly wonderful sound! Admission free, donations welcome.
When Lord Mackie of Benshie died last month, I asked who the oldest living former Liberal MPs are. With some help from readers, I came up with this list: James Davidson (b. 10 January 1927)Elizabeth Shields (b. 27 February 1928)Eric Avebury (b. 29 September 1928) Then, the other day, Joshua Down emailed me: Your recent blog post about the oldest surviving Liberal MPs prompted me to think about the equivalent people in the House of Lords. As far as I know there isn't a single source of birth dates as there is for former MPs, which makes it a bit ...
This is question I get asked now and again and here is an answer. As at 31 March 2014, Sefton held £67.7 million in revenue reserves, of which £17.8 million was schools reserves and £49.9 million was non-ringfenced reserves. Of the non-ringfenced reserves, £39.7 million were earmarked reserves, and £10.2 million were unallocated reserves. The school reserves can be deducted as to misquote Father Ted the money is simply resting in Sefton's account. In other words Sefton has no control over that money what so ever. There seems to be no shortage of money for a rainy day.
On Saturday evening we held our first community pub at Marley Hill Community Centre. The aim was to get young families in from about 6pm to about 8.30pm, and then people without kids in the later hours. It was a tremendous success with the families. They were there 10 minutes before we officially opened until about 9pm. Dozens of kids running round the main hall where we had set up the play
OK, no, I'm not really going to keep the clickbait headlines up. No proper post tonight, because I've spent my writing time working on a thing Simon Bucher-Jones asked me to do. That will hopefully be up in a little while, once I've finished it (if he likes it. It's... grown a bit from the [...]
