We have, thanks to a drone, seen the remains of the lead mining industry at Snailbeach in Shropshire. This film by the same cameraman takes us on a motorbike ride from the village to, if not the Devil's Chair, then at least the car park under the Stiperstones ridge from which you can climb up to see it. Along the way we pass the chimney at the old Tankerville mine [2:06], the Stiperstones Inn [4:01] and Stiperstones primary school [4:15] and The Bog Centre [9:42]. Can anyone tell me what the music is?
Today the sun shone on Belfast...at least I assume it did from the pictures I have seen and the fact that it shone in Bangor where I was. "Why is this significant?" you may ask. Well seeing as today thousands took part in a march for equality, seeking to bring about marriage equality in the only part of the United Kingdom, and indeed now the only small part of the island of Ireland that does not recognise same-sex marriages. So the fact that it stayed dry meant that some politicians meteorology skills are little off, despite some of them claiming ...
Crashes involving people being injured are up. They're up 13% on last year. Killed and serious injuries are down for all categories except motorcyclists. But overall casualties are up due to slight injuries which have been rising since 2007. One line of inquiry for TfL is that the rising London population and resulting journeys is to cause this. So effectively the rate of crashes involving injuries would be down. I hope they reach a conclusion soon. Those slight injuries could preclude a rapid rise in more serious injuries.
I want to try writing standing up, because I'm having serious RSI and back problems at the moment. I want to find something that will raise my laptop to roughly eye height, but will *also* raise the USB keyboard to roughly waist height (I can't use my laptop keyboard — using it is what started [...]
From this morning's Irish Examiner: Labour's confidence suffered a severe jolt with the near wipe-out of the Lib Dems, in the British general election last month. A formerly progressive party was so tainted by partnering with austerity-junkie Tories and quickly reneging on key policy commitments — such as tuition fees and benefit cuts (ring any bells Labour?) — that the Lib Dems saw their share of the vote collapse from 23% to 8% and their MPs down from 56 to 8. The fact that deeply unpopular leader, Nick Clegg, said this was because the party put the national interest ahead ...
Sat 13th
19:46
David Laws joins CentreForum as Executive Chairman; Nick Tyrone becomes Executive Director
News reaches the Voice from CentreForum, the liberal think tank: [IMG: David Laws speaking at Lib Dem Spring conference, Liverpool 2008] CentreForum are pleased to announce that David Laws, former Minister of State for the Cabinet Office as well as Minister of State for Schools, is joining the liberal think tank as Executive Chairman, overseeing a new body of work on education policy. This is part of a move by CentreForum to refocus on the core work of the think tank, which will be education and children's mental health going forward, although projects will continue to be undertaken in other ...
ITV reports: An SNP official who sent more than 130 abusive Twitter messages to the late Charles Kennedy in the run-up to the general election has resigned. Brian Smith, who was convener of the SNP Skye and Lochalsh branch, described the former Liberal Democrat leader as "quisling" and a "drunken slob" in the messages.
Two-factor authentication is, in principle, a good thing. It means that when accessing an online account, one has to have both an object and a password. "A thing you know, and a thing you own". This is great — for those who want it. Having it as a requirement, rather than an option, can cause [...]
In general I don't really favour titles and honours, but I can't help but feel pleased by the award of a knighthood to Simon Hughes. It's a tribute to the way he served the people of Bermondsey and the surrounding area for 32 years. I well remember an evening meeting of the old Liberal Party's [...]
Tim Farron gave a major interview to Pink News a few weeks ago and now it's the turn of Norman Lamb to lay out his views on LGBT issues. He wrote for the site this week, starting off by reminding us that when he came into parliament, it was legal to discriminate against LGBT adoptive parents, section 28 was still in force, homophobic bullying was rife in school and LGBT couples were not allowed to get married (or even have a civil partnership). It has been a privilege throughout that time to have had the chance to be part of ...
[IMG: Sam Delaney - Mad Men and Bad Men] Mad Men & Bad Men: What happened with British politics met advertising by Sam Delaney contains a cracking set of anecdotes as the author managed to speak to just about every important person involved in doing or commissioning advertising for Labour or the Conservatives over the last few decades. Other parties are notable by their absence, though to be fair the most famous political adverts are all for Labour or the Tories and it's a great sweep through political history. There is a touch of the after-dinner speech anecdotes about some ...
On the weekend when it was announced that Van the Man is becoming Sir Van, it's only appropriate that this week's Song for Saturday choice is one of his best cuts. "Caravan" was originally to be found on my favourite Van Morrison album, Moondance. On that studio version, it's contemplative, even louche; it sounds like [...]
Next Wednesday, MPs will choose who chairs their influential select committees. These are important, high profile positions as the Committees are there to carefully scrutinise the Government's work. The more effectively they do their work, the better it is for our democracy. An effective chair will be able to work well with all their committee members from all parties and will be able to show capacity for tenacity and forensic attention to detail. Sadly, though, it looks as though the committees will not reflect diversity either in the Commons or society as a whole. You can find the whole list ...
Three sets of principal council by-elections were held this week. In Sutton (LB), the Lib Dems successfully held one of their three seats in Wallington South ward in Tom Brake's Carshalton and Wallington constituency. In a closely fought contest, the party fended off the Conservative challenge by taking victory with 44.1%, alongside majority of 315 votes. LD candidate Steve Cook also recorded an increased vote share from 2014 of 6.9%. Elsewhere, the Stepney Green council by-election in Tower Hamlets (LB) resulted in a Labour gain from Tower Hamlets First. The Labour candidate polled 42.1% to secure a narrow majority of ...
[IMG: Dilbert - Dick from the internet] Oh, and if you're writing for Lib Dem Voice, remember refusing to be edited is a sign of your brilliance, because what can any other dullard possibly say that would improve your words? It's only second-rate illiterate losers like Ernest Hemingway who talk about having to write 91 pages of dross for every 1 page of brilliance.
[IMG: bagshselfie] As you'll be aware from various posts on Liberal Democrat Voice over the past few weeks, Elaine Bagshaw has been fighting the Tower Hamlets Mayoral Election caused by the disqualification of the previous Mayor, Lutfur Rahman. Elaine has fought a busy and energetic campaign, helped by new members taking part in their first election. She made progress in number of votes, percentage of the vote and went up a place from 6th to 5th. That 's a result that she can be pleased with. The result, from the Tower Hamlets website, was as follows: [IMG: Tower Hamlets results] ...
The Welsh Government's commitment to ensuring local authorities meet their statutory obligations and comply with the guidance relating to the implementation of Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (WESPs) is questionable. The WESPs are intended to be a means of assessing and meeting demand for Welsh-medium education. They were made statutory under the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 and are meant to be a key element of the Welsh Labour Government's Education Strategy. It is clear from the Minister's answers to my questions on Wednesday that the Welsh Government has very little idea of what is or isn't being ...
It is a busy day but not too busy to reflect on the most important news of the week - Gareth Bale's goal that has set the Welsh football team firmly on the road to the European Championships in France. Enjoy!
There has been some talk of late of the need for the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats to merge. Such talk is not unexpected. We are in a period of great political uncertainty. Two unions (the United Kingdom itself and its union with the EU) are now at risk of falling apart. Both Labour and the Lib Dems have suffered significant defeats. Nationalists now form the main party in Scotland (SNP) and the third party in England (UKIP). Both Labour and the Lib Dems need to contemplate their next steps carefully. So a discussion of a merger should not ...
[IMG: Seen at Merseyside's International Sleaveery Museum] Click on the photo to enlarge it The Human Rights Act helps guarantee all our freedoms, yes even for those people we don't like or respect at all, because if we are not all free and have the same rights none of us are free. The photo above comes from a large plaque in Merseyside's International Slavery Museum and it sums up what freedom and human rights are all about. Once you try to start to define sections of society who will have rights and freedoms you have to decide who will not ...
At one of his early Labour conference speeches as leader, Ed Miliband announced to the gathered: "I'm not Tony Blair." He then was clearly stunned by the rapturous applause which followed. His obvious statement of fact that he was not, indeed, the last leader of the party but one was meant simply to be the start of a list of people he was not, Gordon Brown being amongst them. But the faithful heard an anti-Blair message and ate it up immediately. In spite of his plan to distance himself from New Labour as much as possible, you could see that ...
The late Jim Petrie From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : Lamb Gallery, Tower Building, University of Dundee This is a special exhibition celebrating the work of artist Jim Petrie, who died last year. A former student of Dundee College of Art (now Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design) and Dundee Training College (now the University's School of Education, Social Work & Community Education), Jim later became a popular art teacher at Kirkton High School but is best known as the man who drew the "world's wildest tomboy" Minnie the Minx for 40 ...
#DistractinglySexy: Female scientists take to Twitter to mock Sir Tim Hunt's sexist remarks Majid Ali: Glasgow student deported to Pakistan may have been 'sent to his death' On Android? You can buy Christopher Lee's version of My Way here Via @A_C_McGregor: Christopher Lee's Badass of the Week entry tells you exactly how awesome the man was. These are the 10 most popular passwords - and also proof that lots of people are STUPID ARSES The dehumanization of asylum seekers - an excellent article by @Mayagoodfellow @Mayagoodfellow [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Many congratulations to the Liberal Democrats honoured into today's birthday honours list. We've already mentioned Simon Hughes, who is knighted. Duwayne Brooks (pictured) receives an OBE for public and political service. Duwayne was our very prominent and energetic candidate for Mayor of Lewisham in 2014. He has been a councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham, serving as the lead member for the Liberal Democrats on the Safer Communities Board at the Local Government group, where he has also been Community Cohesion and PREVENT Champion. He has run a charity supporting victims of crime. Duwayne is a great example of ...
Sefton council is going ahead with controversial plans to start charging visitors to use Churchtown's Botanic Gardens free car park at the Balmoral Drive entrance. Liberal Democrat councillor for Churchtown and Crossens John Dodd said: "Introducing pay and display is just another unfair tax on families and less able people who enjoy the simple pleasure of a visit to the park. My ward colleagues and I are challenging the Labour council's decision all the way. He added: " When the newspaper advertisement public notices go out for consultation shortly, I urge everyone to write to Sefton Council stating their objections. ...
Assembly Member Peter Black will be holding an advice surgery in Neath Library next Friday. Details are at http://www.peter-black.net/advice_surgery_190615_neath
Simon Hughes is one of a thousand people recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list today, receiving a knighthood. Many congratulations to Simon on an award which is very well deserved after a lifetime of skilful and devoted public service. Simon first joined the Liberal Party in 1972, when he signed up to Cambridge University Liberal Club as a student. He was MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (and its predecessors) from 1983, when he won it in a by-election, until 2015. He has been party President and was deputy leader from 2010 to 2014. He is a Christian and ...
You can never have too many interviews with Jonathan Meades. Hear him talk to Robert Bound, Monocle's culture editor on reviewing restaurants, appraising architecture and assessing what the audience really wants.
