[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] 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 ...
The organisers of London Pride have banned UKIP's LGBT organisation from joining in the event on 27th June. Liberal Democrat Peer Brian Paddick has said that this is the wrong decision. Pink News has the story: Speaking to PinkNews, newly-appointed Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Lord Paddick said he supported the right of the UK Independence Party members to march. The out politician, who ran for Mayor of London in 2008 and 2012, told PinkNews: "After years of campaigning to be acknowledged and accepted by society, the last thing LGBTI people should be doing is excluding a group gays and ...
[IMG: Campaigning in Tower Hamlets with Elaine Bagshaw and Will Dyer] Fun time earlier today out canvassing in the Tower Hamlets by-elections with Elaine Bagshaw (Mayor candidate) and Will Dyer (council candidate). Luckily the voter who told me they know Will also said that made them more likely to vote for the party... and more discussions about the voting system (the supplementary vote) than usual. Polling day is Thursday. Details of how to help Elaine Bagshaw and Will Dyer are here.
Following on from a very difficult general election result, the leadership election is on to see who will take the Lib Dems through this tough time. Despite only having eight Members of Parliament, the Liberal Democrats have fielded two fantastic leadership candidates, Tim Farron and Norman Lamb. Both of these candidates are miles ahead of anything on offer in the Labour leadership election. During our party's time in Coalition with the Conservatives we were undoubtedly a moderating influence on the Tory right. From raising the tax threshold, to the pupil premium, to restoring our civil liberties, to ensuring same-sex marriage, ...
Sir Menzies Campbell has written an article for the Sunday Times in which he argues that the House of Commons should be reformed to reflect Charles Kennedy's style of politics. It is hard to match the extraordinary and justified tributes made this week on the too-early death of Charles Kennedy. But perhaps the most fitting thing to do now would be to see what can be learnt from his style of politics in order to create a more appreciative understanding between politicians and the people they represent. He talked about Charles' ability to communicate, his sense of humour which was ...
Sun 7th
19:55
Tourism team axed as Shropshire Council turns its back on one of our biggest industries
There is a more than a little bit of Orwellian doublespeak in last week's press statement from Shropshire Council: Shropshire Council to continue to invest in the tourism sector. By 'continue to invest' it means that it is halving the number of tourism posts from two to one. Shropshire Council is turning its back on [...]
"Liberalism is a broad and messy philosophy, in which often there is no absolute right answer. A 'true liberal' appears to work on the premise that this isn't the case. I've learned to deeply distrust 'true liberals'." James Graham observes the Liberal Democrat leadership election from outside the party. Malcolm Bruce pays tribute to Charles Kennedy. Building more houses brings prices down, right? Wrong, says Kate Allen, who has seen a pilot study by the London School of Economics that looks at eight developments of nearly 300 homes each, built in the Midlands and the South of England by the ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 418th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (31 May – 6 June 2015), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. On some of the ...
Caledonian Road circa 1905 "The secret history of our streets" on BBC4 is a great TV series. They take a street in London, look at Charles Booth's 1886 survey of the street, based on the poverty/prosperity of the residents, then roll forward to the present day. Portland Road, Notting Hill, had a particularly fascinating history. I particularly like when they interview current and past residents. But the real beaut which I really enjoyed was the one about the Caledonian Road. A really fantastic TV programme. You can see the past programmes currently on BBC iPlayer: Caledonian Road Portland road Reverdy ...
Wallington High School for Girls and Nonsuch High School for Girls have announced their intentions to form a "multi-academy trust" and are entering a five-week consultation period with staff and parents. The two schools have said their governing bodies have been "evaluating the possibilities and potential advantages" of merging for some time and that they [...]
The chief hazard of walking in my favourite part of Shropshire is tumbling down an old shaft left over from the 19th-century lead mining industry, but there are others. I was once bitten by a Jack Russell in White Grit. When I complained about this to Lembit Opik (the village is just over the border in the Montgomeryshire constituency) he was not helpful. Now, reports the Shropshire Star, two walkers and a dalmatian from White Grit have found an unexploded mortar bomb dating from before the Second World War on nearby common land: Constable David Harte, of West Mercia Police, ...
Its a great turnout today at WestFest's Big Sunday - and a lovely Sunday afternoon as well! Congratulations and thanks must go to all the organisers and Paola and Alan in particular for what has become a 'not to be missed' community event in the West End. Here's a few photos and a short video of today's superb event : In the stocks - to raise money for the Bandstand restoration fund! Mary Devlin of Friends of Magdalen Green about to do her worst ...! Part of the WestFest Big Sunday!
There is a lot of hot debate going on at the moment about the decision of Pride London to reject LGBT* in UKIP application to march as a group this month in the parade. The Board of Pride London are citing "secuirty issues" as the reason for this rejection, something Peter Tatchell calls a "cop-out" which seems somewhat ironic as the same man had called for UKIP's exclusion mere days earlier. Tatchell himself is appearing confused in his stance to LGBT* in Ukip's participation and I suspect that London Prides talk of direct action against the parade if they allowed ...
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the 31,400 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Charles Kennedy writes...The Night of the Long Sgian Dubhs (76 comments) by Charles Kennedy Charles Kennedy 1959-2015 (82 comments) by Caron Lindsay Daily Mail on how Charles Kennedy was "hounded" by the SNP in the run-up to the election (60 comments) by Caron Lindsay Tributes to Charles Kennedy (27 comments) by Caron Lindsay Opinion: Profiting from not selling out. Let's start (up) (115 comments) by Alain Desmier Charles Kennedy – a life in pictures (9 comments) ...
Shetland MSP, who started out his career, like Danny Alexander, as a party's press officer back in the 80s. That involved working with a young Charles Kennedy and he writes about that experience in a tribute written for the Yorkshire Post: On one such occasion the MPs joined a demonstration with students at Inverness College. Charles spoke and debated with the students and had them eating out of his hand. They laughed at his jokes and nodded at his serious observations. We then drove to Portree. The next day, on the three-hour drive back to the Highland capital, Charles gave ...
With the changes to London Underground services – operating through out Friday and Saturday night – plans are afoot to change London buses running at night. The consultation is open until the 1 July. TfL have no plans to improve the night buses that serve Each Dulwich or the wider area. Please do take part and tell TfL that we want improve nigh bus provision locally. This is the response I gave: I don't understand why the night buses to East Dulwich/Forest Hill 12 & 176 and West Norwood N68 aren't being proposed. These areas don't have tube lines so ...
The BBC's Desert Island Discs has a wonderful archive of most of their past programmes. Charles Kennedy appeared on the show on Sunday 26th October 2003, in conversation with Sue Lawley. It's a fascinating dialogue, with some very searching questions from Ms Lawley and excellent answers from Charles. You can listen to the programme on the BBC's Radio Player here. And here's what the BBC said about the programme: Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the leader of the Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy. Born in Inverness, Charles grew up on a croft near Fort William spending his early life learning ...
I'm beginning a new series of weekend music posts to sit alongside the already well-established and highly-respected "Song for Saturday" tag. Each week on a Sunday I'll publish a ten-song Spotify playlist around a specific theme, whether that's to do with geography, style, band members, instrumentation or whatever else takes my fancy. Today we start with [...]
A memorial miner's statue was unveiled in St Just last night as part of a fundraising concert. This project was ambitious when thought of around a decade ago and costs have always made it not quite in reach. If you want to read my previous blog on the project visit Miners Statue for St Just. So, the project is reaching the final stages. The 7 foot miner is made. Arrangements are in place for it to be cited where local people preferred, the entrance to Geevor Mine. It will give a huge lift to the rather shabby entrance and if ...
[IMG: White House Press Corps after being told of attack on Pearl Harbour. Photo via Run, run, run! We must be first to get the news wrong. Having repeatedly criticised one Guardian front page from the general election, now's time to praise this week's great front page - Patrick Wintour's highly readable piece on what went wrong with Labour's election campaign. What's notable about the difference between the two - the bad and the good - is that the bad was based on rushed reporting of polls, trying to be so up to date with the news as to ...
Sheila and I had not been to the Red Squirrel Reserve for ages and our recollection was that you rarely saw a red squirrel close to. Well we went and we saw very close to. Here are some shots from our visit on 30th May. [IMG: Nuts for tea again] [IMG: Red Squirrel 1] [IMG: Red Squirrel 2] [IMG: Red Squirrel] The first and last photos are amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
The House Magazine has produced a Westminster Survival Guide for New MPs. One of the first articles is by former Liberal Democrat Chief Whip who gives some humorous, we think, advice on how to deal with your whips. It's an article that seeks to take no prisoners from the start: How to deal with the whips? You don't have to. The whips deal with you. He talks about how the job of being a whip has changed over the years. Gone are the days when a whip could hold something in your private life over you. Also, the whips' powers ...
[IMG: Road Sign] Hemel's Two Waters Way is due to be closed for resurfacing later this month. Works will take place on June 18-20 from 8pm-5am, between the A414/A4146 Plough Roundabout and the junction of the A4251 London Road, there will be a full road closure. It is expected to be completed over two nights, though the work is weather-dependent. A signed alternative route will be in place. Access to properties during the working hours may be disrupted. Any changes to the work will be announced on the information boards on site. www.hertsdirect.org/roadworks
Fantoft Stave Church It was raining again in Bergen on the Saturday morning. Admittedly, that isn't unusual in Bergen, set as it is on the eastern edge of a vast expanse of ocean. And, having spent a bit of time in Bergen already, we didn't have an awful lot left to do. However, Ros's friend, Svein, was keen to show us one of Norway's finest contributions in the sphere of church architecture, the Fantoft Stave Church. The original was first erected in 1150, before being moved to its current location in 1883, as it was no longer needed. There is ...
A new report: 'Round and Round : Tethered horses in Swansea' has called on Swansea Council to take action to implement its recommendation of a more proactive approach to managing the problem. Produced by Friends of Swansea Horses, the report documents the significant harm to the welfare of horses tethered on public spaces across Swansea. It also highlights the harm tethered horses cause to local communities, their amenity spaces and the risk to traffic. The report has been circulated to all Councillors, requesting that a cross-party working group is set up to develop effective policy on horse tethering, horse management ...
I do not have a good record in my choice of candidates in Liberal Democrats leadership elections. Since I joined in 1978 I have only backed the winner once. That was Nick Clegg. Tim Farron, you have been warned. To be honest, I have been torn in deciding who to vote for this time. I can see merits in both candidates. Norman Lamb is a substantial politician with a good record of achievement as a Minister behind him. His ability to comfortably hold his seat in North Norfolk in very challenging times shows that he is an effective campaigner who ...
Bless the BBC. They've put together this fantastic selection of clips from Charles Kennedy's incredible 42 – yes 42 – appearances on Question Time. It's well worth a watch. * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist in Newbury and West Berkshire. He is part of the Liberal Democrat Voice team and blogs at Liberal Burblings.
To someone whose idea of folk rock is Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull, a lot of modern bands given that label can sound tame. But I like Bear's Den and this track in particular. Think of England comes from their first album Islands, which was released last autumn. After admiring their hipster facial hair in the video, you can read an interview with Bear's Den.
Sun 7th
09:04
Given what we saw post-Indy referendum in Scotland, what could the EU referendum do to British polit...
Andy Burnham wants there to be a separate EU Labour Yes campaign, one very much walled off from any possible connection with the Tories. The reason for this is simple. Better Together was seen as a disaster for Labour, particularly given what happened several months later (the whole losing every seat in Scotland bar one, you may recall). They don't want to repeat the same mistake by being seen to be colluding with the Conservative Party on something again. The thing is, separate campaign or no separate campaign, Labour will ultimately be arguing on the same side as the Tories ...
Sun 7th
09:00
Jo Anderson – Mayor of Liverpool – Do you think Joe could be part of the problem rather ...
As a watcher of politics and indeed a participant in it I do worry about the leadership of Liverpool. Joe Anderson comes over to me as someone so tribal that he can't surely be the person to take Liverpool forward. I saw this the other day on Moorfields in Liverpool:- [IMG: Photo1286] Click on the photo to enlarge it And I thought the present elected Mayor of Liverpool is, in my view, a part of Liverpool's problem and is unlikely to be a part of the solution to it.
Patrick Wintour has written a long analysis of Labour's General Election campaign. It outlines strategic misjudgements, disagreements and errors by Ed Miliband and makes a very interesting read. Before anyone says it for me, a similar account for the Liberal Democrats would also be enlightening. Most of us could write it ourselves and I suspect that there would be remarkable unanimity about the ineffectiveness of our national messaging, our positioning as a "none of the above" party and the very odd "stability, unity and decency" message of the last few days. Two things particularly strike me about Wintour's article. The ...
City Church Family Fun Day in Tullideph Road next Saturday :
Tim Farron's recent pronouncements on tackling the 'pale and male' dominance of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party capture in an almost perfect case study both why he's the frontrunner to be the party's next leader - and also how if both he and the party are to succeed with him as leader, some tough questions need asking beyond the cheer-inducing headlines. As is classic Tim at his best, he's identified an important issue, set out a challenging-sounding target and enthused supporters about the need to hit it. It's what he's done on housing and on membership, and now is doing ...
Turks are going to the polls today in what are probably the most important parliamentary elections the country has seen in a generation. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while not a candidate himself, is hoping his AKParty will obtain a two- thirds majority, which would enable a constitutional change bringing in a powerful executive presidency, in [...]
Cycling in London has dramatically increased for London residents commuting into central London. In 2011 London 8.3% of such commuters cycle - it feels much higher now. Apart from safer routes to encourage more people to cycle, and they appear to be on the way now, people cycling have to have somewhere to park their bicycles - at both ends. Without such parking the Cycling Revolution will stall. We need a step increase in cycling to improve public heath helping the NHS cope with its financial pressures, longevity, better mental health, fitter citizens, less social exclusion. Cycling has a strategic ...
