I once likened it to finding a Derby winner pulling a milk float, but it is always good to see a Deltic in commercial service. Here 55 003 'Meld' is seen passing Gain Road, just south of Cumbernauld, hauling empty sleeper stock. Just listen to those engines.
Sun 5th
22:35
Youth behaviour problems in the area between West Dyke Road and Roseberry Shopping Centre at Redcar
In response to numerous complaints from residents in the area between West Dyke Road and Roseberry Shopping Centre at Redcar. my daughter Kelly Seaman and Prospective Lib Dem MP for Redcar Josh Mason have been keeping local people informed of actions being takento deal with nuisance problems and damage being couased by local youths. We have also reported issues raised with us. and we have also sought to talk to the local youths and advise them about the various youth facilities that are available in the area. A couple of examples of incidents reported involved youths taking short cuts through ...
Last November, Shropshire planning officers rejected outline plans for 20 retirement dwellings on the goods yard at Elm Lodge, Fishmore Road (14/00884/OUT). Now, the unchanged plans have been resubmitted with the applicants hoping for approval this time (15/01027/OUT). The scheme This is an outline application so we don't know the full details of the development. [...]
The full text is under the cut: As one of the most significant Christian festivals, Easter is a time of reflection and renewal. What it celebrates is the moving and powerful story of Jesus's sacrifice and resurrection. As the poet Spenser wrote, "Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught. And the values that Jesus lived his life by – compassion, humility and forgiveness - resonate with people of all faiths and none. It's why so many people, both Christian and not, use the weeks before Easter - the forty days of Lent - to take stock of what ...
This is not a free speech area. This is my website and comments are at my sufferance. I say this because yesterday's post has attracted the attention of a *lot* of people who are sealioning about Gamergate and the "Sad Puppies". So just to make my opinions perfectly clear: Those people have declared themselves the [...]
Our esteemed former co-editor Stephen Tall has a piece on the Independent Voices site looking into tactical voting. Why might you, he asks: For all the complexity of political debates about the economy, public services, the environment and immigration, the choice each of us faces when handed our ballot paper is simple: which candidate should receive our solitary "X"? Suppose you're a Conservative supporter living in Nick Clegg's seat of Sheffield Hallam; should you stick by your party, even if that means handing the seat to Labour? Or lend your vote to the Lib Dem leader this time? Or perhaps ...
Pretty much a day off for everyone on the campaign trail today. Though I'm sure there were many people out there eagerly delivering leaflets, there was no large scale campaigning and with even Andrew Marr allowed to take Easter Sunday off, there weren't even the rounds of the Sunday political talk shows to keep politicians busy and away from their families. Make the most of it, as barring any major disasters or high-ranking deaths in the next few weeks, it's likely the only break from the campaign we'll get until May. So, there's very little to speculate on, but I ...
As well as sessions for particular local organisations, Yate's Dementia Friendly Town initiative is running three public sessions at Poole Court, Poole Court Drive, Yate BS37 5PP. There are still a few spaces left on the first session, which takes place this Tuesday: Tuesday April 7th 10.30-11.30 Monday May 11th 10.30-11.30 Monday June 8th 10.30-11.30 For more information or to book your place please contact Debbie on 01454 866512 or debbiewoolley@southernbrooks.org.uk (You'll probably be OK if you just turn up this Tuesday, but please book for sessions if you can)
Tim Farron was interviewed on Sky News today from beautiful Kendal and did a fantastic job of talking up the party's chances, saying Britain needed "moderate, sensible, compassionate" Liberal Democrats in government, deflected the leadership speculation stuff and showed excellent judgement when confronted with Paddy's rather intemperate interview of a couple of weeks ago. He also talked about the difference Liberal Democrats can make in power, citing the example of his local Lib Dem councillors building 1000 council houses, making a massive difference for 1000 families despite the opposition of the Tories. Enjoy: * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal ...
Burn the chocolate calories. Make room for the next chocolate calories. [IMG: Delivering leaflets in Hornsey & Wood Green with Lib Dem Chief Executive Tim Gordon] With Liberal Democrat Chief Executive Tim Gordon.
[IMG: 4432788423_187ca72566_n] Last week I took a trip up to Sheffield for the Political Studies Association Annual Conference. I presented a paper in a panel organised by the British Liberals and Liberalism Specialist Group. The paper looks at the Liberal Democrats' strategy in coalition government and how it interacts with the party's unstable identity to pose challenges for the party's future survival. I'm not particularly planning to do anything further with the paper. So rather than leave it languishing on my hard drive, I thought I'd make a version of the paper available on Scribd in case anyone was interest. ...
The Guardian recently ran a piece an anonymous local councillor under the heading 'What I'm really thinking': When I knock on your door, you tell me you never hear from me, despite the fact that I go to all your local meetings, send you regular letters and have knocked on your door several times before. You [...]
Sun 5th
17:26
Swinson and Willott hail start of shared parental leave - but this isn't the end of the work to be d...
I've always said that shared parental leave is one of those policies that ticks all the stronger economy, fairer society and opportunity for everyone b boxes. It's an entirely liberal thing to give people the choice as to what is right for them and their family rather than have the state dictate it for you. Today is the day that this policy, first passed at Liberal Democrat conference in 2009, becomes a reality. Jo Swinson, the Minister who took the legislation through Parliament, had this to say: This is a momentous step forward for families and for parents in work. ...
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and Jo Barton are holding their next advice centre on Saturday 11th April, from 11 am to 12 noon at St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We hold our advice centre at St John's School, Rufford Road, Crossens every month (except August) on the second Saturday of the month. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Churchtown, at Cafe Moo Moo on Cambridge Road (by the junction with ...
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 17
We Liberals have said again that people count. We believe in change. We cannot say it too often and we reiterate it at this Assembly. It follows that these changes must be brought about by the common will of the nation. But we shall only generate that common will if we can generate some passion behind the projects of our policy. Mr Gladstone said that little is accomplished in politics without passion and it is true. The reforms we propose are not very complicated. They are widely agreed to be necessary, but this country is inert and will only be ...
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the whopping 23,400 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Candid, competent Clegg puts in good performance in debate that fails to break the poll deadlock (127 comments) by Caron Lindsay Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats can be very proud of themselves (164 comments) by Paul Walter 38 Degrees get it badly wrong on Lib Dem funding for NHS but don't do nearly enough to put it right (44 comments) by Caron Lindsay Wow! Labour really are pandering to UKIP, aren't they? (104 comments) ...
I think it useful to make state my current views on this scheme, which have changed as the proposal itself has change (14/00563/FUL). Two days after I wrote a post saying "the petrol station is the right idea in a perilous place", a letter from the Environment Agency was published withdrawing its objections. It said [...]
Getting hold of an up-to-date Liberal Democrat printed membership form can be surprisingly hard, so here's a pdf of the 2015 version of the form. Remember of course that people can join, renew and donate online and there's always the option to send some pennies my way. Download this document
Sun 5th
14:55LibLink: Jo Swinson: Across much of Scotland, Lib Dems are the only party who can beat the SNP
Jo Swinson has written for Scotland on Sunday's Election Essays series. First of all she outlines the Liberal Democrat contributions to the Government: The last five years have demonstrated beyond doubt that the Liberal Democrats made the right decision and are a force for good in government. We've taken tough decisions to get growth up and the deficit down, while also protecting the public services on which we all rely. We have been able to deliver vital Liberal Democrat policies, while preventing the Conservatives from dancing to the right-wing tune of their Eurosceptic backbenchers and the populism of Nigel Farage's ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above Anyone would think that I am a railway enthusiast because today two people have sent me a link to the above Liverpool Echo article. So thanks Keith Page and Andrew Brown you have me banged to rights it seems. [IMG: A Merseyrail electric unit at Bootle New Strand Station] A Merseyrail electric unit at Bootle New Strand Station Seriously, this forward thinking by Kayla Bibby is worthy of significant consideration as Merseyside's rail network desperately needs to grow so that it encompasses the whole of the travel to work ...
[IMG: sundaypaps] Here is a smattering of the many articles I've found informative or infuriating in this week's Sunday papers. Firstly, a leader in the Independent argues that Coalition has improved the quality of government by ensuring more than one party's ideas are heard: Granted, the old bipartisan system has its advantages - it gives clarity and stability to government - but one thing the experience of coalition has done is to remind us that government is sometimes improved by having to take into account more than one view. We may have to get used to these compromises which are, ...
It's spring and that means our incubator comes back into use. The first eggs to go in are from our quails. We started incubating them in Good Friday. They are due to hatch 2 weeks today, in time for photos of cute chicks before polling day! Meanwhile, a friend of mine hatched some of my hen eggs last week. So here is the exclusive, never-before published photo of the cute chicks taken on my
Decided to resurrect my blog on an apt day. Easter Sunday marks 9 days until I go under the knife to get my hip sorted out.. Hopefully once and for all! I have been suffering with pain in my groin for nearly three years. It has meant that I have had to give up the gym, limit my walks and live on pain killers. There is no real root cause, possibly something in my childhood, possibly too much gym but no real full explanation. What I am hoping to do is log my recovery from the hip arthroscopy to help ...
[IMG: Electoral registration form] Part of my reasoning in The myth about 1 million people being wiped off electoral register: it's not true was that with the change to individual electoral registration (IER) simply looking at the number of entries on the electoral register is of limited value as the move to IER is designed, in part, to flush out more of the dodgy or dated entries. So it would be foolish to assume that a change in the number of entries means a change in the number of individuals on the register. Clearing out defunct entries reduces the number ...
A bit (OK, a lot) of silliness yesterday, as it was pointed that Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Ed Miliband were all wearing similar clothes. Buzzfeed even ran an entire article on it even though the "news" had already been discussed extensively on Twitter. Dan Hodges even tweeted this earlier today: I was talking to a friend [...]
The scheme put forward by Highways officers at Gateshead Council for a 20 mph blanket zone in Whickham has now been officially advertised by the placing of legal notices. People are asking us how they can make their comments, either to object to the scheme or to support it. We recently wrote in our Focus newsletter that these need to be made in writing to Mike Barker, Legal and
An appropriate song for Easter Sunday, in that Simon took this melody from Bach's St Matthew Passion. Bach had borrowed it from earlier sources himself. Performed here on Parkinson in 1975, American Tune has become something of a liberal anthem in the States. It was sung at a pre-inaugural concert for Jimmy Carter and used in a campaign commercial for Barack Obama.
All parliamentary candidates are being deluged by emails from organisations and constituents on a huge range of subjects. One particular missive comes from Vote Cruelty Free which encourages candidates to sign up to the following six pledges: 1) Ban experiments on cats and dogs. 2) End the secrecy surrounding animal experiments. 3) Stop importing monkeys for use in laboratories. 4) End non-medical experiments. 5) Stop genetically modifying animals. 6) Stop suffering in the most extreme experiments. Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon has written an article for the Our Kingdom website in which she looks at ...
Looks like there was a bug that stopped the 'share this' buttons at the bottom of the posts from working – basically, two plugins were clashing – but it appears to be fixed now, so you can share my posts to your heart's content. That was all that was stopping you from doing it, right? (Thanks to Nissemus for alerting me to it)
Today many Christians are celebrating Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus, whether you view him as historical figure, prophet or messiah, used many images in his teaching. One was water. John 4:13-14 talks of Jesus' encounter with the woman of Samaria at the well, and Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But anyone who drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty. In fact, the water I give them will become a spring of water in them. It will flow up into eternal life." Water is a ...
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 and remember the warning about individual polls. Meanwhile in leadership polling: Both YouGov and Opinium show Clegg's ratings up sharply after TV debate (best since 9/2011 in both cases) #leadersdebates — Mark Pack (@markpack) April 5, 2015 Polling company Con Lab LibDem UKIP Green Con lead Fieldwork Method ComRes 33% 35% 7% 16% 4% -2% 11-13/3 Online ComRes 36% 32% 9% 12% ...
[IMG: Lib Dem website screenshot] Want to read the latest news stories and blog posts from the Liberal Democrat federal website but want the stories to come to you rather than have to remember to go and check the website regularly for new content? Then my free email service is just what you need. Just sign up for this daily email of Liberal Democrat news here (tick the second box under "What would you like to receive?"). There will be no more than one email a day - and no email if there hasn't been a new story added in ...
This article in today's Sunday Times suggests that measures put in place by the Coalition Government to tackle tax avoidance by big multi-national companies are starting to have an impact. The paper says that global food giant Kellogg has warned that its profits could be slashed by the international drive to clamp down on tax avoidance. Apparently, they believe that efforts by the UK Government and others to close loopholes could lead to a "material" rise in its tax bill: The revelation comes days after the so-called "Google tax" came into force in Britain. It is designed to prevent companies ...
Sun 5th
09:07
The real crisis in the political system is everyone constantly going on about a crisis in the politi...
Jonathan Jones, the Guardian's art critic, dipped his toe into politics this past week with an article entitled, "The Joey Essex and Nick Clegg 'selfie' portrays a political system in crisis" Now I like Jonathan's articles on the art world and it feels slightly mean to have a go at his foray into political writing, but the problem is the piece is very representative of a type of political article that has done the rounds since the 2009 expenses scandal (at least, I've pinpointed that as being the incident that birthed this sort of thing): the "our political system is ...
Sun 5th
08:55Mathew Hulbert: "The vast majority of the good things done in this government were as a result of Li...
Barwell Councillor Mathew Hulbert has not always been the biggest fan of the coalition, it's fair to say. However, he was incredibly fair about it in a recent debate for young people in Leicestershire. You can see his one minute pitch here:
Stena Lagan seen from Bootle. The scrap yard dock in the foreground makes for a gritty shot but it is reality (an unwelcome one for those living near the docks) in industrial Bootle. In the background is the Wirral and behind that the hills of North Wales. [IMG: Stenna steaming into Liverpool r] The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
Now that the school Easter holidays are underway, my usual weekly ward surgeries do not take place, but I can still be contacted on any local issues or concerns through my e-surgery - just e-mail esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk. I can also be contacted at home at any time on 459378 and also during office hours at my Dundee City Council office on 434985. Surgeries commence again on Monday 20th April - full details of surgery days and times here.
New from the Deputy Prime Minister's office:
Sun 5th
08:23
Merseyrail – Nice to see that our local railway can respond to one off events – Grand Na...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above Since privatisation of the railways one big problem has been the lack of spare rolling stock to deal with special events, spikes in the number of passengers at a particular time or even the gradual but ever increasing number of people using rail to travel around the UK or to go to/from work. [IMG: Aintree Sefton Arms Station - April 1913] Aintree Sefton Arms Station – April 1913 Merseyrail is no exception; take the number of 3 car formed trains at rush hour on the Ormskirk Line which lead ...
What with it being Easter and all, I thought now was the time for a Resurrection themed post. There is one figure in the Bible (besides Jesus obviously) who gives me more comfort in being a Christian than any other. He's the Apostle Thomas. He's the one of the twelve men Jesus chose as his disciples [...]
On 4th April 1968 Martin Luther King was shot dead. It was an age before twitter, social media or even rolling news. Robert Kennedy announced the news from a back of a flat bed truck in Indianapollis... With thanks to an old university mate (and Lib Dem Cllr for Clitheroe), Alan Knox, for the tip off.
