We have the ridiculous situation where our graveyards don't have sinking funds to pay for their upkeep. So we have to have new burials to fund their maintenance. But new burials – and Southwark Labour are planning for 4,500 new burial plots – mean that what have become nature enclaves for residents to seek refuge from frenetic lives have to have that atmosphere destroyed. Bad for these 100 acres of woodland and residents. An alternative would be to buy commercial burial plots for Southwark residents just 5 miles away. Kemnal Park is a no brainer. Also to make cremation cheaper ...
The Victoria County History entry for Pitsford is intriguing: On different sides of the road leading out of the Market Harborough road into the village are two small earth-works, known as Layman's Hill and Barrow Dyke. In Morton's time, the former was about 10 yards wide and of an oblong shape, but it has since been planted. Barrow Dyke is described by Morton as a square figure, with 'two of the sides still remaining; one of them above 80 yards in length', but by 1820 nearly all trace of the original form had been destroyed by repeated ploughing. Barrow Dyke ...
Rafael Behr, winning our Opening Sentence of the Day Award in passing, says something we Liberal Democrats should bear in mind as we choose our new leader: If knocking on doors and shoving pamphlets through letterboxes were efficient ways to change minds, Britain would have a lot more Jehovah's Witnesses and a Labour governmentI do not doubt that an awful lot of Focuses will have to be delivered if we are to see the revival we all want. But that we will not be enough. As David Howarth emphasised in the immediate aftermath of 7 May, we need to have ...
Malcolm Bruce has written, for Politics Home, a tribute to Charles Kennedy that gives quite an insight into their friendship and his parliamentary career as well as his life outside politics. There are bits that will make you cry with sadness and bits that will make you absolutely howl with laughter. The accounts of their double dating exploits probably fits best in the latter category. You will want to click on the link to find out what "Frocks at Eight" means. Here's an extract: From the start Charles had two contrasting lifestyles. In London he was at the centre of ...
[IMG: farronforleader] I thought it would be useful to bring together all the blog posts written in support of Tim Farron's leadership campaign into a single post. I've gathered these from Tim's site, the Lib Dem Blogs aggregator and others I've seen links to. If you've written a post supporting Tim and it's not linked here then please let me know about it, either in the comments or on Twitter, and I'll add you to the list. One of the earliest blogs to back Tim was Jack Davies. In his post, Why it's #time4tim to be the Liberal Democrats' next ...
This year Arpil'15-Mar'16 we have £30,000, + some underspend from last year, of revenue to spend in East Dulwich ward – Neighbourhood Fund. We allocated the following – if you'd like to understand more about these projects please get in touch. If you have any great idea for how to improve East Dulwich please let us know we still have £31,365 to spend on local projects. Name of Group: Name of Project: Funding awarded £]: Bangladeshi Welfare Association Asian Elders Lunch Club £4,000 Crystal Palace Road Big Lunch 2015 Crystal Place Road Big Lunch £500 Dulwich Helpline and Southwark Churches ...
Charles Kennedy appeared on Question Time on 42 occasions, the first of them in 1983. This selection of clips from those appearances has been posted on Youtube by BBC Scotland.
When we woke up this morning, we saw that Alex Salmond had used some choice words in the House of Commons yesterday during a debate. A marvellous orator he may be, but he also appears to be fond of sexist language. Salmond told Junior Minister Anna Soubry that she was 'demented' and to 'behave yourself, woman.' This type of language is unacceptable, and without excuse. Yet many of his supporters are attempting to excuse his behaviour on Twitter, with the main theme being that what he said is not real sexism and that I should perhaps save my 'outrage' for ...
'Santayana once said that those who won't learn their history are condemned to repeat it. The Lib Dem History Group exists to make sure that we can so we don't.' (Paddy Ashdown) Our party, the Liberal Democrats, is 27 years old. It came into being in March 1988, the product of a merger between the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The SDP was itself only seven years old, being formed in 1981 mostly by former Labour politicians, but bringing into politics many people who had never been involved in any party. The Liberal Party, by contrast, was ...
Thu 4th
16:53
Quietly, quietly, Suffolk is going to become just a little bit more influential. That's bad news for...
Be afraid, be very afraid... The newspaper headline at the station newsagent this morning reminds me that, whilst the population of the United Kingdom is growing, it is growing fastest in some unexpected places. My quiet corner of the English countryside is one of them, and that means that the county has to manage that growth despite planning policies that rule out additional housing in the many small villages that dot the landscape, such as Creeting St Peter. Instead, towns such as Stowmarket, Sudbury and Haverhill come under pressure to absorb the new residents. And, to complicate matters further, it ...
A new community website for Gatley has launched – we wish it every success. Please take a look, and sign up for the newsletter. [IMG: The new Gatley village community website] The new Gatley village community website
30 years on: What really happened at the Battle of the Beanfield? – A fascinating account of policy brutality against a group of travellers in the 1980s. Charles Kennedy - a lovely man, a talented politician, a great friend with a shared enemy – A very touching reminiscence on his friend's death from Alistair Campbell. Taking the Power in the Northern Powerhouse – Loz Kaye on the massive democratic deficits in the government's devolution proposals. On Fantasy Island: British politics, English judges and the European Convention on Human Rights – Excellet long piece from Conor Gearty on 'the fantasies that ...
Charles Kennedy and I were elected to Parliament on the same day, 9 June 1983. I was one of six new Liberal MPs. Charles was the one SDP gain. So for 32 years we have shared our parliamentary lives and a personal friendship. [IMG: index] Although I had heard of Charles, we had not met before the election. I knew he was in America on a scholarship and returned prematurely to secure the SDP nomination for Ross, Cromarty and Skye - a seat where the Liberals had come fourth in the previous election which was then held by Tory minister ...
Together with Liberal Democrat family and wider world of politics and beyond, my brothers and sisters and I within the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats (EMLD) am deeply saddened by the untimely death of Charles Kennedy, and wish to send our heartfelt condolences to his family and many friends. His brave stance on Iraq has rightly been the subject of much eulogising, and for many members of the EMLD this was the motivation to join our Party in the first place. It may not have been planned but the impact of Iraq has had a profound effect on Black, Asian and ...
We brought you the new list of Lib Dem spokespeople in the House of Lords on Monday, in which we reported that Brian Paddick would be the party's Principal Spokesperson on Home Affairs in the House. Brian gave his first speech in that role on Tuesday, beginning with a tribute to Charles Kennedy: My Lords, before I start my speech today, I want to say a few words about Charles Kennedy. Many on these Benches knew Charles very well and his loss is being felt acutely by Liberal Democrats across the country. Our thoughts are with his family at this ...
Thu 4th
13:03
New Rail Figures Reveal Massive Demand for Commuter Buses. Tring Councillor condemns "Tory Bus Blund...
[IMG: 387 004 blog] Reading the Hemel Gazette this week, I was interested to note their article on Tring Station parking difficulties. Apparently, Rail bosses have blamed an 'incredible' rise in passenger numbers for the fact commuters cannot get parked at Tring railway station after 9am on weekdays. Parking in the car park which has 520 spaces, has become increasingly difficult after the number of passenger journeys steadily increased over the last seven years. London Midland started running trains in 2008. Since then, the number of passenger journeys has grown by almost one third and unfortunately most of this growth ...
Good news from Wales – Kirsty Williams' Bill which would stipulate minimum staffing levels for nurses has cleared its first parliamentary stage. Nursing Times has the story: If passed into law, the Safe Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Bill would see Wales become the first country in the UK with a legal duty on safe nurse staffing levels in acute settings. Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Democrats, who originally submitted the proposals for safe nurse staffing levels in hospitals, said she was "pleased" the idea had gained support from all parties. The vote today in the Welsh Assembly represents the ...
Have fun trying to identify the HQ staffers in this TV news report from 1983, reposted by Channel 4 in memory of Charles Kennedy:
Thu 4th
11:58
Cllr Jill Shortland pays tribute to Charles Kennedy at the European Committee of the Regions
Liberal Democrat Councillor Jill Shortland, from Somerset, is Deputy Coordinator for Citizenship, Governance and External Relations in the ALDE Group of the European Committee of the Regions. Yesterday, she paid tribute to Charles Kennedy at a meeting of the Committee in Brussels. She said: As a Liberal Democrat from the United Kingdom, I wish to use my 2 minute intervention to pay tribute to a former leader of my party who sadly and unexpectedly died yesterday. Charles Kennedy had been a Member of Parliament for 32 years, and he was also President of the European Movement in the UK since ...
[IMG: Norman Lamb is running for Leader] After much thought, I'm backing Norman Lamb to replace Nick Clegg as leader of the Lib Dems; here's why: He gives me confidence that he's willing to have the difficult conversations with the party you have to have as leader. Sometimes leaders have to lead and make a judgement call and stick with it. I think that Norman is the right man to do that for us. He's shown in government how to make tough decisions and act as a true liberal – working with our political opponents to win them round, for ...
So many fond memories of Charles, but one in particular stands out. It was 2004 and we were travelling together to the Welsh Lib Dem conference where he was due to give the set-piece address – he'd been given a 15 minute slot and his speech was to be broadcast live on Welsh TV. Anna Werrin, his formidable adviser, who has also sadly since passed away, charged me with the task of writing some speaker notes with Charles on the train journey there since a speech had yet to be drafted. I cannot think why that was, but my abiding ...
When it was announced that the Davies Commission will report its findings after the recent General Election it sounded like an excuse to allow a new government to implement change without much legitimacy. As it currently stands, of the main parties, only the Liberal Democrats are against expanding Heathrow. This is at a local, a regional and a national level. We believe that an expanded Heathow would bring an unacceptable level of noise and air pollution to Ealing. Myself seven years ago at Downing Street The Liberal Democrats in government have been pioneers of investing in increasing more sustainable methods ...
I noticed the other night that there were tweets from people out in the Birkdale Dunes keeping watch over the Natterjack toads and sand lizards. It put me in mind of a posting on this blog from April 2008 from the award winning poetry book by Jean Sprackland. On Spring nights you can hear them two miles away, calling their mates to the breeding place, a wet slack in the dunes. Lovers hiding nearby are surprised by desperate music. One man searched all night for a crashed spaceship. For amphibians, they are terrible swimmers: where it's tricky to get ashore, ...
From more that half a century ago comes news of membership surge. I know the world was different then. These were the days before lettraset and spray glue, well before DTP and yes it was an age when all the political parties had much greater memberships. The factors which caused that surge can be analysed and adapted to meet today's world. There was community campaigning but in addition there was an excitement over political ideas. Page 4 of this newsletter laid out the key Liberal messages. How often do we bemoan the lack of clear political identity that our party ...
This is a deferred by-election from the 7th May. All three seats to be contested (2 Conservative and 1 Labour). No LD candidates.
Thu 4th
10:00LDVideo: Commons tributes to Charles Kennedy from Cameron, Clegg, Farron, Lamb and others
It is usual, after the conclusion of Prime Minister's Questions, for the chamber of the House of Commons to quickly, and noisily, empty. Yesterday, however, the House remained full, in sombre, reflective quiet to hear tributes from members to Charles Kennedy. The Speaker, John Bercow, shared his reflections first, followed by David Cameron, Harriet Harman and Nick Clegg. You can see the full one hour and thirteen minutes in the video below, or via this link, and below the video are the times at which you will find various speeches from a selection of MPs. David Cameron: 2.00 HarrietHarman: 07.30 ...
UKIP seat, Cause:Resignation. LD Prospective Candidate- Josephine Ratcliffe Contact Details- 07808 829619, info@fenlandlibdems.org.uk
I make no comment about whether any of the names listed below are a negative rather than a positive for the person they're backing... Supporting Tim Farron Alan Beith (1973-2015) Alex Carlile (1983-1997) Brian Cotter (1997-2005) Duncan Hames (2010-15) Martin Horwood (2005-15) David Howarth (2005-15) Simon Hughes (1983-2015) Paul Keetch (1997-2010) John Leech (2005-15) Diana Maddock (1993-97) Greg Mulholland MP (2005-) John Pugh MP (2001-) David Steel (1965-97) Jo Swinson (2005-15) Matthew Taylor (1987-2010) Sarah Teather (2003-15) Mark Williams MP (2005-) Supporting Norman Lamb Norman Baker (1997-2015) Tom Brake MP (1997-) Julia Church (Goldsworthy) (2005-10) Ed Davey (1997-2015) Lynne Featherstone ...
Thu 4th
08:43
If Scotland gets dragged out of the EU unwillingly, a second independence referendum is fair enough
As many long time readers will know, I am not a fan of either the Scottish National Party or indeed, of nationalism altogether. But I had sympathy reading Nicola Sturgeon's words about a Brexit leading to a second Indy ref yesterday. "Bluntly, I believe the groundswell of anger among ordinary people in Scotland in these circumstances could produce a clamour for another independence referendum which may well be unstoppable." Usually, I would be chastising the SNP leader for yet another round of her inimitable hyperbole at this point. But taking a leaf out of Sturgeon's book and being blunt myself, ...
This new project is being introduced in this month. It aims to assist elderly residents in the community that have no support in place or just have a community alarm. The residents may be socially isolated and might be interested in joining some of the activities at sheltered complexes near to where they live. There may be a small charge to pay for activities depending what it is but that's only where the sheltered tenants would have a charge too. There is however no cost for the support service. It is a partnership between the following Housing Associations - Caledonia, ...
What a charmer: Alex Salmond told a female Conservative minister to "behave yourself, woman" during a House of Commons debate on Wednesday evening... During the debate, Salmond appeared distracted by small business minister Anna Soubry. He told her across the chamber: "The Treasury bench should behave better in these debates, she should be setting an example to your new members not cavorting about like some demented junior minister – behave yourself, woman." [Huffington Post]
As I may have mentioned before, I moved recently to Sussex after spending most of my adult life in London. This has been a good decision and I'm pleased about practically everything. Except one unexpected element. It means that I am now dependent on one of the least effective railway companies, Southern. As the weeks go by and practically every train I travel by is late - and the latest figures suggest that they only manage about half of their trains on time across their whole area - I have grown to dislike them cordially. The other things are niggles ...
[IMG: Bridgnorth - A funicular thing happened to me in Bridgnorth r] Click on the photo to enlarge it Bridgnorth's famous cliff railway (Funicular) down in deepest Shropshire. Definitely worth a visit if near to Bridgnorth. It's a short hop up or down the cliff but well worth it, with an excellent cafe at the top in the winding house. The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
Parents to be stripped of power to challenge academies Scientists Discover Gigantic Magma Reservoir beneath Yellowstone Supervolcano Tim Farron has double the backers he needs as nominations close for Lib Dem party leader I'm one of the 400 in National Cheese Week, the i100 lists Britain's top ten cheeses Godzilla finally gets citizenship in Japan - ♡♡♡ Fabulous article by Loz Kaye on the fatuous city regions More tributes to Charles Kennedy: watch the second video down [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Sorting through some old books recently my eye was caught by a 1984 Festival Guide. The Festival was now some 31 years ago. [IMG: IMG] The site went through all kinds of agonies after the closure of the Festival but it was a great success to help kick-start the regeneration of Liverpool. Here's a link to a history of the site:- www.festivalgardens.com/the-site/history/ and another more recent commentary from the Liverpool Echo:- Here are a couple of scans of the layout of the Festival site:- [IMG: IMG_0001r] [IMG: IMG_0002r] Click on the plans to enlarge them But what really struck ...
Swedish scientists have found what appears a link before road and jet noise and obesity. Apparently living near a busy noisy road or under a noisy flight path can cause obesity. The mechanism isn't clear yet but this could partly explain why poorer people suffer from obesity – they generally can't afford to live on quieter streets. One suggested mechanism for this is that noise exposure could be an important physiological stressor increasing cortisol production. High levels of cortisol have a role in depositing fat around the middle of the body. Apparently all noise production – whether motor vehicles trains ...
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board must be placed in Special Measures following systemic failings found within the health board. This follows a series of damning reports into huge failings of health care in North Wales, including the recent report into the treatment of patients of Tawel Fan ward. It is now time for commissioners to be brought in to control the health board. Enough is enough: this failing health board needs intervention and must be put into Special Measures now. This is a health board in need of help and support. The Welsh Labour Government sought to assure us in ...
If the Taxpayers Alliance latest mutterings from the sidelines do not finally destroy their credibility then nothing will. We have already see how in 2009, it was revealed that one of their directors lives in a farmhouse in the Loire and has not paid British tax for years. Despite this they have been telling us how to spend our money for years. This is not to say that some of the stuff they have unearthed is not useful. Some of it is helpful scrutiny that enables further questions to be asked. However, their basic premise appears to be that the ...
