A busy day with activity across the West End included : + A meeting of the Pennycook and Sinderins Courts Residents' Association, at which we discussed a number of matters including issues around the new recycling and bins arrangements and problems needing resolved. + A meeting of the Jericho House Support Group, at which we discussed the continuing success of the house's "Drink the Musical!" (soon to be performed in Blairgowrie, with over 160 tickets already sold) and also outreach work and Jericho House's participation in Dundee Open Doors 2015 this September. + The Annual General Meeting of Friends of ...
Another talk from the TED site: In the United States, two institutions guide teenagers on the journey to adulthood: college and prison. Sociologist Alice Goffman spent six years in a troubled Philadelphia neighborhood and saw first-hand how teenagers of African-American and Latino backgrounds are funneled down the path to prison - sometimes starting with relatively minor infractions. In an impassioned talk she asks, "Why are we offering only handcuffs and jail time?"
Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn't. Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne Back in 2008 the Liberal Democrats' Party Reform Commission, chaired by Christopher Bones, filed its report. In his executive summary Bones wrote about how Liberal Democrat members saw their party: membership was defined by ...
Judging by comments elsewhere and search data, a fair number of people are struggling to find the new Liberal Democrat leadership campaign websites created by the two candidates, Norman Lamb and Tim Farron. So here they are for easy reference: Tim Farron Norman Lamb If you're a Lib Dem members and on Facebook, there's also this event just for you: I'm voting in the Liberal Democrat leadership contest 2015.
I go slightly Twitter mad when the Eurovision Song Contest is on. I always liked it, even as a child, I think at that time it was the faint air of European exoticism and it was about the only thing in a year that would make me feel Swedish (there's many more things now, but [...]
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above. I suppose we see such reports and probably skip over them with a sigh as if to say it's sad but I did not know the victim. Trouble is I did know Robert so an inquest like this brings home all kinds of thoughts about the times I was in conversation with him at Lib Dem events and fundraisers.
Metro wins our prestigious Headline of the Day Award. Lord Bonkers adds: It seems my housemaster was right after all.
Cornish Coastal Challenge Fundraising for Alzheimer's Society is a 46 mile walk from the Lizard to Lands End. My husband and daughter, Keith and Tamsyn, are taking part from 10 to 13 July and I hope very much you will support them by making a donation to a brilliant cause. We never know when we or our families or friends might need the support offered through the work of this great charity. They both have a Just Giving pages to make donation really easy. Keith's is justgiving.com/Keith-James15 and Tamsyn's is justgiving.com/Tamsyn-James Thank you in anticipation!! Just in case you are ...
Today the full judgement of in the case of Gareth Lee v Ashers Baking Co. Limited, Daniel McArthur and Karen McArthur was handed down in court. In her judgement Judge Brownlie found that the company and the McArthurs directly discriminated against Mr Lee on the grounds of religious belief and/or political opinion [paragraph 66].That Daniel...
Tue 19th
16:45
The Economist is right. Liberalism is winning. Which could be bad news for the Lib Dems in 2020
[IMG: cam clegg] "Mr Clegg lost not because liberalism is under threat but because it has become mainstream." That's the striking, counter-intuitive conclusion of this week's Economist, examining the reasons for the massacre of Lib Dems at the polls: Another explanation for the Lib Dems' terrible performance is that they are no longer necessary. In a tearful farewell speech, Mr Clegg lamented the demise of liberalism and the "fear and grievance" evident in the rise of Scottish and English nationalisms. He vowed that he would not allow "decent liberal values" to die. But they have not. The Tories ate up ...
Let's be honest, every single person who stood for the Liberal Democrats at the last election is a superstar. It would have been all to easy for people to decide to sit this one out because it was unlikely that we were ever going to make much in the way of progress outside our held seats. As it turned out, despite all the effort that wonderful teams on the ground put in, our parliamentary ranks were much depleted. Yes, we will fight back, but we are all still really feeling it. Ed's poignant piece On Being Beaten outlined the far-reaching ...
As experts gather in Atlanta to discuss the rights and wrongs of editing human genomes, four of the attendees (Charis Thompson, Ruha Benjamin, Jessica Cussins and Marcy Darnovsky) explain why it is vital to put social justice at the heart of the debate. The first day of BEINGS2015, "A Gathering of Global Thought Leaders to Reach Consensus on the Direction of Biotechnology for the 21st Century", in Atlanta, coincided with the announcement by the National Academy of Science and National Academy of Medicine of an initiative to look into "promising new treatments for disease," given that "recent experiments to attempt ...
The Advertiser reports: A local election result has been thrown into doubt after a second error came to light in a council's voting procedures. Darlington council yesterday applied to the county court to have votes recounted in the Hurworth ward, after it emerged that some votes - believed to be about 500 postal ones - may not have been tallied in last Thursday's election. An initial investigation at the council suggests that the ballot papers were verified - checked to make sure they were in order - but were not included in the final count. The error comes just days ...
This article was first published on the IWA website yesterday: For hose of us who have been in politics for a long time, May 7 was like Dejá Vu all over again. In 1992 the country had been spooked by the thought of a coalition government and in the last few days had decided they would rather keep the devil they knew. On Thursday it seemed that the last minute rush for the safety of majority government happened in the final 24 hours and took all of us by surprise. Personally, I had thought it would be very different. That ...
When I was at secondary school in the early 1970s, my history teacher was a man with a passion for his subject who always encouraged critical discussion. So while he taught us enthusiastically about British "democracy", he was indulgent towards me when I challenged his assertion following the February 1974 election: the one where the Tories came top with 11.9 million votes (297 seats), Labour "won" with 11.6 million votes (301 seats) and the Liberals' six million votes delivered 14 members of the House of Commons. The reality is that the outcome of every election before and since 1974 has ...
With less than two weeks to go to get nominations in for the 2015 Proud of Stockport awards, local people are being urged to get involved. The awards, set-up to recognise the borough's extraordinary citizens, will showcase the people that make a difference to our community. Does someone you know, or have heard of, help make Stockport special? Is there an individual, a group, a volunteer, or perhaps a local personality, or someone else who deserves recognition for good community spirit? People can make nominations in the following categories: - Ambassador for Stockport – Rewarding someone who has helped to ...
Political corruption kills more people than war and famine combined. I addressed the United Nations on how the international community can and must act to bring kleptocrats to justice.
[IMG: Elaine Bagshaw] Elaine Bagshaw launched her campaign for Mayor of Tower Hamlets on Saturday, saying that the borough is in need of a clean-up and a resilient, bold, Liberal Democrat voice in our Tower Hall. The position of mayor is vacant following the conviction of Lutfur Rahman for breaches of election law. Elaine lives and works in the borough and is offering new ideas and a fresh vision including: Making sure that there are affordable homes for working families, by ensuring that all new developments in the borough include an allocation of social housing Delivering new local facilities such ...
We've been chasing up the poor state of the pavement outside the Gatley Green Co-op, A&I, Coffee Fix and other units – cracked paving slabs look to us to be a hazard and someone could injure themselves. If it was owned by the Council it would be easy to sort, but unfortunately, that section of pavement is privately owned – probably by the person or company who owns the building. They could be liable if someone were to injure themselves because of the poor state of the pavement there. [IMG: The purple area is maintained by the Council - the ...
The on-ice plans to reduce the House of Commons to 600 seats with a consequential redrawing of constituency boundaries would help the Conservative Party overall but also threaten the individual careers of some of their MPs. With an election win under their belt, that benefit doesn't look quite so urgent to acquire for the Conservatives and there are now more Conservative MPs who could be losers. And so this: David Cameron may renege on a Tory manifesto pledge to reduce the number of MPs to 600 following resistance from backbenchers... A Tory MP told the paper: "The whips' office said ...
From the off let's be clear, the UK has a centre left party called the Labour Party and a centre right party too; the Conservative Party. If this is the case then why are some in the Liberal Democrats talking about a move to the left and some a move to the right? I personally don't get that debate. Recent history shows that moving left is to build our party on the fickle quick sand of shifting political fashion. We tried to be a "left wing party" when Labour wasn't popular and looked what happened. People didn't come to us ...
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It wasn't a passion for human rights that attracted me to the Liberal Democrats, but animal rights. Five weeks ago, I hadn't even registered to vote. I'd given up on politics, but something about this election spoke to me and I suddenly wanted a say, rushing to get my name down just before the deadline. But who to vote for? I thought about what mattered to me. Animals mattered to me. We share the earth with them, yet often they come off worse in that deal. Their freedom's been compromised. They need protection - more than often from us. So, ...
Map from the House of Commons research briefing, General Election 2015: [IMG: ld mps] And here's the research paper's blurb on the party's performance: Liberal Democrats lost 49 of their previous 57 seats The Liberal Democrats have eight MPs in the House of Commons, 49 fewer than in 2010. The party is now joint fourth largest in the House alongside the Democratic Unionist Party. All eight Liberal Democrat MPs represent seats held by the party in 2010. 49 Liberal Democrat seats were lost to other parties compared to 2010. 27 seats represented by the Liberal Democrats in 2010 are now ...
Spotted at the Battle of Britain Bunker: [IMG: Bryant and May matches - Battle of Britain Bunker] More on those great detectives, Bryant and May, here.
Legal migrants in UK 'too scared of arrest to seek medical treatment' (tags: ) Most voters think the government should prioritise fighting inequality over economic growth (tags: ) This applies to the lib dems as much as labour IMHO (tags: ) You should be using these browser extensions to keep yourself safe online (tags: ) A question about that Game of Thrones spoiler from someone who doesn't watch the show (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Dubai has become synonymous with extravagant shopping malls and high-rise buildings, not least the current tallest edifice in the world, the Burj Khalifa. But when I have had free time in the city I have always gravitated towards the Creek, in the old city centre, which is one of the few places that hasn't changed [...]
Perhaps the first management consultant was James Oscar McKinsey, a US army logistics officer who became a professor of accounting at Chicago University after the First World War. A lone and exhausting copy of his text book on accountancy is still available in the British Library. McKinsey thought that rigorous measurement could help companies find new strategies. But he had great charisma and huge confidence, and he took the risk of launching himself on his own to apply his ideas to other companies. He set up McKinsey and Co in Chicago in 1926, coming a cropper in his contract with ...
After a bit of introspection on the sorry state of Britain's Liberal Democrats, I am moving on to consider the not quite so sorry state of the Labour Party. The party was all but wiped out by the SNP in Scotland, experiencing some of the most spectacular swings ever seen in British politics. In England and Wales the party completed the Conservative demolition of the Lib Dems, picked up George Galloway's Respect seat, but made little headway against the Conservatives, even losing some seats. And that from a historic low point in 2010. It was its worst result in seats ...
As with many books that are much talked about, the Orange Book by David Laws and others has been read by rather fewer people than those who talk about it and its contents often do not match up the claims made about it. The problem with seeing the party through the prism of Orange Bookers vs the rest is best illustrated by Vince Cable. Supporter of deficits, haranguer of the banks, favourite of social liberals and... a contributor to the Orange Book. (For a more detailed explanation of the problems with this way of looking at things, see my review ...
When I joined the Liberal Democrats, I told my family that I didn't join for a job or for a career; sadly for too many that was the reality on 8th May. We should thank, above all else, colleagues in HQ and around the country who campaigned tirelessly and with such dedication. They deserved much better and we owe them so much. Charles Kennedy was straight off the mark with his thanks and in return I would like to thank him. Thank him for his service, for inspiring a generation of activists including myself, and for giving me the opportunity ...
One of the stories of the general election was how wrong all of the polls were during the run in. The day of the election itself had both the Tories and Labour tied; none of them predicted the Tory landslide on the way. Or at least what looked like a landslide after what the polls had been telling us to expect. Usually by this stage, almost two weeks post-election, we would have had a clutch of national voting attention polls. It keeps the data fresh, and is also incredibly fascinating to geeks like me. I just love to see how ...
Last week, both the Courier and Evening Telegraph highlighted my concerns after the recent case of a young boy finding a dirty needle in a stairwell in the Blackness area. I made the point (and reinforced it at the City Council's Policy & Resources Committee) that there was a need to publicise to residents the steps to take if a needle or needles are found. To simplify the safe collection of needles there is a single point of contact phone number. This can be used 24 hours a day for a rapid response to remove the danger and the contact ...
[IMG: Disused r] Behind the Ormskirk bound platform of Aintree Station on Merseyrail's Northern Line. The tracks were probably last used for a freight connection with the Metal Box Company whose factory was nearby. Prior to that they would have been used, together with two additional platforms, for Grand National trains etc. This once great station is now sadly a concrete and steel one that could pop up anywhere on the rail network. The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
Tue 19th
08:05
Thornton Parish Council – Probably one of the most successful Parish Councils in Sefton Boroug...
My connection with Thornton Parish Council goes back a number years to when they and the good people of Thornton decided enough was enough and they were going to re-launch the campaign to get a relief road built around their traffic congested community. thorntonpc.org.uk/ The previous campaign (which eventually became known as the Blue Route) had stuttered to a halt because of environmental issues mainly and I think it fair to say that mainstream politicians were hardly keen to dip their toes in that water again! But Thornton Parish Council thought differently and they knew their community still needed a ...
The Independent has the story – see link above.
My Liberal friends, It is time for us to move on. Whatever any of us thought about Nick Clegg's leadership, it has ended. Some of us may have been proven right, but there is no joy for me in being able to tell others, "I told you so". To keep revisiting that fact to gloat, as some continue to do, is to waste valuable energy that needs to be channeled into saving our party from extinction. I do not use the word extinction for dramatic emphasis; I sincerely believe that our party faces an existential threat. Having been reduced to ...
Come to the Gatley Carrs bat walk on the evening of Tuesday 26th May. [IMG: gatley carrs bat walk]
... or, indeed, read the books. Trigger warnings for much of what is under the cut. ( Spoilery McSpoilerpants ) I'm genuinely interested in why this particular instance has been the straw that broke the camel's back for so many, including geek girl website the Mary Sue. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The Conservatives plans to tamper with and possibly abolish the BBC licence fee poses serious threats to the funding of S4C. Numerous high profile Conservative MPs, such as Boris Johnson, have argued the BBC licence fee should be completely scrapped. John Whittingdale MP, who has been appointed as Culture Secretary, has also said the fee should be scrapped and that it is "worse than a poll tax". The Conservatives are also reported to be looking to push ahead with the decriminalisation of the licence fee, which was blocked in the last Parliament in the House of Lords. This would cost ...
