Copyright © Dennis Calow This imposing factory stood at the north end of Granby Street. The modern block next to it occupies the site of the yet more imposing Temperance Hall, where Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Charlie Chaplin performed. The Granby Street Conservation Area Character Appraisal says the Britannia Works were demolished in 1962, but the University of Leicester Special Collections date this photograph, taken when demolition was about to begin, to 1965. The Barley Mow, the pub on the other side of the Britannia Works, is still serving.
Davy Jones invented grunge. Even before Peter Tork left the Monkees in late 1968, the writing was on the wall for the band. The hits were drying up, the TV show was gone, and most of the band members were twitchy to get out of their contract and get on with the solo success they [...]
Goodbye Birmingham.... It seems weird to think that I won't be a student here any longer. Today I got my degree result (2.1 yay!) and tomorrow I'm heading home. It's been a long four years but I've made so many friends, have so many great memories and I've learnt loads too... Looking back, it is...
On Monday 22nd June at 11am the special flag will be raised in Trinity Square, High Street, Sutton. This is all part of the advance celebrations for Armed Forces Day on Saturday 27th June. At the flag raising as an additional tribute to the Volunteer Military Reservists and Supporting Auxiliaries there will be a presentation of a copy of Stepping [...]
There are two arguments that Keith Barrow, leader of Shropshire Council puts forward to justify transferring ever more public services to ip&e, the council's private company. The first is that it will cut costs to the council. The second is that it will make a profit for the council. Neither stacks up in my view. [...]
Nathan Goldsmith, remember that name because this guy has a bright future within the Liberal Democrats and Liberal Youth. And in my opinion is the right person for treasurer of the Liberal Youth. As an active member of the Liberal Democrats I always look out for candidates who have great communication with members, and Nathan [...]
When comparing General Elections the comparison for the result is the previous General Election. With local elections the situation is more complex as there are many possible comparisons. In order to provide a clear comparison the results should be compared against the 2011 result unless it is an all in council where the elections take [...]
It's a tricky period. One's youngster is going through all that teenage stuff and also working towards some of the most important "make or break" exams of their life. What do parents do? Well, first of all, disabuse yourself of the idea that GCSEs or A' levels are "make or break". Every child has a place in life. Trying to force them into some sort of slot will not work. Some people take three gap years and still go on to achieve success at university. Many, many happy people never went to university or dropped out of university. Praise your ...
This week there were two by elections. The first was in Christchurch DC in Dorset where there was no Lib Dem interest. This resulted in a clear win for the Conservatives in an area of strength for them. The second election was in Mole Valley where the Lib Dems won two seats. One of these [...]
So far the Labour leadership contest has failed to excite the wider public. (How unlike...) The greatest point of interest has been this - Liz Kendall's "the country comes first" reply to Andy Burnham. But, writing in the Evening Standard, Andrew Neather remembers another side of her: She's always seemed doggedly party-focused to me, devoting years of her life to pursuing safe Labour seats before landing Leicester West. Before that, in 1996-97, I worked for Labour: just after I'd started at Millbank, I slagged Tony Blair off to Kendall, who lived near me. The 24-year-old loyalist promptly grassed me up ...
Fri 19th
19:02
Two of my guilty secrets (the rest might follow if I have ever get round to my memoirs)
This is the first time for a long time that I have had the time, inclination, inspiration and sufficient alcohol/blood content to blog a bit. It's like old times. Mrs Brown's Boys. I like it. There. I've said it. I love how it is so polished and shiny. It is funny, even though it relies on "fecking" a lot. Brendan O'Carroll is a very funny man, and I love it when he thanks everyone and takes a bow at the end. The other one. Barry White songs. I love them. But particularly, "You're the first, the last my everything". It ...
LD Clare Malcomson 804 [50.2%; +24%] LD Clayton Wellman 768 Conservative 492 [30.7%; +2.1%] Conservative 458 UKIP 201 [12.5%; -19.5%] UKIP 180 Green 105 [6.6%; +/- 0.0%] Green 78 [Labour [0.0%; -6.9%]] Turnout: 32.3% LD gain from UKIP and LD hold Percentage change since 2014 2011 Result Nigel LIGHT Conservative 743 Mick LONGHURST Liberal [...]
Conservative 793 [63.4%; -11.5%] Conservative 775 UKIP 315 [24.2%; +25.2%] UKIP 288 Labour 143 [11.4%; -13.7%] Labour 132 This is a deferred election for two seats from 7th May. There was no Lib Dem candidate in this Conservative area. There was one Lib Dem elected in recent years however they defected to the Conservative [...]
It seems a long time since I sat in a Kendal pub and talked with a young 32 year old parliamentary candidate who had dreams of being our local MP. The Tories had been in power here for just short of 100 years and we thought that was enough. The District Council had a Tory leader and I was there to see if I could be persuaded to stand as a Liberal Democrat for my local Ward, to bring us a little nearer towards taking control. It's 13 years since that meeting, Tim's now our MP and we run the ...
Thursday: Bit of a flashback/catch-up today, but it does follow on from what I was saying yesterday about what the next Leader of the Liberal Democrats will need to do. Back on the day of the first Tory Queen Speech in almost two decades, Auntie Caron asked Liberal Democrat Voice's readers to suggest their own bills for a Liberal Queen's Speech. So, I came up with half a dozen ideas, pretty much off the top of my fluffy head. Auntie Caron was kind enough to include one of them (and several others were already covered by other cleverer fluffy toys)! ...
It's three years since the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was detained and although so far he has only received 50 of the 1,000 lashes to which he was condemned, his health is of great concern. Raif's "crime" was to suggest that it is possible to be Both Saudi and liberal — to have free thoughts [...]
[IMG: Alert! Alert! Send in the supporters.] Alert! Alert! Send in the supporters. Somehow I think the Farron and Lamb leadership campaigns may be scrambling to point their supporters towards the foot of this story on the Mirror website – where this is to be found: [IMG: Mirror Lib Dem leadership poll] Keep up with news on the Lib Dem leadership race Sign up for Liberal Democrat Newswire here, and Sign up for the Facebook event for the contest (where Norman Lamb and Tim Farron are regularly answering questions from members).
I knock out about four leaders a week. No, you cannot tell which are mine, officially, and in any case they reflect the FT View, not necessarily mine. Still worth reading though. (£), but so what. I also produce a few in my own name when so graced by the Comment section. For neatness/vanity/posterity, here Continue reading Some writing I must hold up my hand to →
It seems that our Noble Friends in the House of Lords have decided that some radical thinking is necessary. They're right, of course. And so, as part of a possibly new, expansive, and definitely liberal approach, Brian Paddick and Sally Hamwee have submitted the following amendment to the Psychoactive Substances Bill, about to have its Second Reading in the Lords; After Clause 10 Insert the following new Clause— "Control of cannabis (1) Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State shall make regulations to amend the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001— (a) to omit from ...
Fri 19th
15:50
Norman Lamb MP writes...We must renew, restructure and simplify the way our party works
I believe a priority for the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats is to renew, restructure and simplify the way our Party works. Some parts of the Party work well - others do not. Good practice should be shared and problem areas tackled. As Liberal Democrats, we rightly set high standards for ourselves on tolerance, equality, openness, accountability, and diversity. But our party often doesn't live up to them. During this campaign people have been telling me that there wasn't enough accountability within the party. People had concerns about our central message and the way we fought the election - ...
19 June 2015 is the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. [IMG: seal] Magna Carta was an attempt to find an antidote to the challenges from an over mighty king. With the ideas of freedom from the Magna Carta being signed 19 June 1215, it had been shown that not even the king was above the Common Law of the land. Over time Magna Carta became an idea which could never be uninvented, or unimagined. Thirteen copies of Magna Carta were quickly made and sent throughout the kingdom. Magna Carta had gone viral. With so many important witnesses to the events ...
[IMG: The Liberal Democrat constitution] The Federal Executive (FE) has agreed to set up a review of the Liberal Democrats governance structures and arrangements. The review will be conducted by six FE members (of whom at least two must be female and at least 1 from a BAME background), with the FE conducting an internal election to pick the six. A lot will depend on which six the FE end up electing as my dream best six and nightmare worst six would make for very, very different outcomes.
Fri 19th
13:43
Creeting St Peter invites you to Parliament - we've got a site with existing planning permission...
The Palace of Westminster, Mother of Parliaments, nada, nada, nada. Yes, very nice, and don't get me wrong, it's very attractive... from the outside. The inside is nice in parts too, but only in parts. You wouldn't want your office to be there for one thing - dark, gloomy, cramped (even for senior Parliamentarians). And yes, it's convenient for the eight-minute dash to the voting lobbies - another absurdity in itself - but the offices in the surrounding Parliamentary Estate are much nicer, with windows that let in light, facilities that work reliably and space to keep all of the ...
Fri 19th
13:32Opinion: 200 years on from Waterloo: democracy not dictators, unity not barriers, peace not war.
[IMG: Waterloo] This week's 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo is a reminder of how far Europe has come. At Waterloo, 65,000 men were killed or wounded in one day. In contrast, we have now had 70 years without war in Europe. Long may peace continue. We enjoy secure peace partly because every country in Europe now has an elected government. There are no more monarchs or dictators seeking out war for vanity or power. Most importantly, we have the European Parliament where modern opportunities and problems, which cross old national borders, can be discussed by MEPs we elect ...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats:
The Lib Dem team are pressing council officers to move forward as quickly as possible in granting Cheadle Civic Society the lease to Cheadle Green. Cllr Keith Holloway said "The Civic Society have done a superb job of transforming the Green and now of maintaining it – it's a real credit to the village. The Makers' Markets have built up and the teething problems have been ironed out. The Civic Society want a long term lease on the Green and it seems quite right to us that they should get it." The legal processes can take several months to run ...
Fri 19th
11:55Jim Wallace on Charles Kennedy: We loved you, we miss you, will we ever see your like again
I was expecting last night's memorial service for Charles Kennedy at Glasgow University to be a fitting tribute to the man, to be dignified and formal. It was all of those things, but I didn't expect it to have such a strong under-current of emotion and affection. A series of heartfelt tributes were punctuated with beautiful music and poignant poetry and the whole thing was woven together perfectly by the University Chaplain, Rev Stuart MacQuarrie. At each stage, he talked very personally about the aspect of Charles' life that the next item would reflect. What was so clear was the ...
Fri 19th
10:25
Collapsing pyramids, opening doors and broken metaphors: why Farron and Lamb should use the leadersh...
[IMG: Yes, it's another camel. I wouldn't want to disappoint loyal readers.] Yes, it's another camel. I wouldn't want to disappoint loyal readers. When someone wins an election, whether to be party leader or to be Prime Minister, they not only get a new job, they also get a honeymoon-mandate combination. The very act of victory gives an opportunity to get through something that would otherwise trigger too much opposition or procedural sandbagging to get through - provided, that is, they flagged it up during their victorious contest and so can claim a mandate. Hence it was a mistake during ...
Fri 19th
10:25Opinion: Liberal Democrats should debate ways of liberating our economy from the power of the banks
"Stronger Economy Fairer Society" was the strap-line that took us into the devastating General Election of 2015. Some members wanted a fairer society that would support a stronger economy but regardless of which way we place these adjectives and nouns, it's still unachievable without liberating the UK economy from our five major banks. As long as our five big banks have the power to create money when they make loans, and lend it back to us at a profit, it is very difficult to see how our economy can achieve anything other than consolidating wealth into the hands of a ...
[IMG: Maghull Square] My posting of 15th April 2015 refers:- Well it must have been about 2 months ago that I was first asked, by a Champion newspaper reporter, whether I could corroborate rumours that were doing the rounds about the Maghull Group company selling Maghull Square Shopping Centre to another owner. I could not confirm one way or the other but I did ask a man who should have known. The answer I got was no it had not been sold, but it certainly has now. My information is that London and Cambridge Properties has bought Maghull Square ...
Waiting for a train at Maghull Station yesterday afternoon and global warming/fuel costs were not at all high on someones agenda! It was 5.45pm, the sun was shining bright and I had my sun glasses on. But all the station lights were on covering the platforms and car park! I wonder who will be paying that unnecessary bill? Oh yes we will as the taxpayers! Come on Network rail, Merseyrail or Merseytravel whichever one of you it is fix the timer please!
At the General Election, in Mole Valley, the Liberal Democrat vote fell by 14% while the Conservatives and UKIP shares increased. There's good news this morning though as the Liberal Democrats pulled off a convincing double by-election win for Holmwoods ward on the District Council. Congratulations to new Councillors Claire Malcolmson and Clayton Wellman. The local team is particularly pleased with the majority over the Tories. Here's the result in full: LD (Claire) 804 LD (Clayton) 768 Con 492 Con 458 UKIP 201 UKIP 180 Green 105 Green 78 Total votes 1594 (including 3 spoilt) This constitutes a Liberal Democrat ...
[IMG: midnight-walk-2015-logo-with-added-date] Bigger and brighter than ever! The Hospice of St Francis Midnight Walk is now in its 9th year, and has raised over £1m to care for their patients and their families. This year's event has been given a glowing makeover and is taking place on Saturday 27th June at 9pm. A glowing opportunity to support your local Hospice by glowing in the dark and partying along a brand new route. NEW 5 or 10 Mile Neon Route and Crazy Electric Warm Up: The Ravefit crew will be bringing you the crazy energy rush of the new RAVEFIT glow ...
The sad death of Liberal Democrat Councillor Mick Longhurst on 2nd May led to the postponement of the Mole Valley Council election that had been scheduled to take place on 7th May. This election took place on Thursday 18th June. The election to replace the UKIP Councillor who resigned a couple of months ago would [...]
You can read all the articles that have caught my attention this week here: https://delicious.com/stephentall Below are a selection... Polling industry must be more tightly regulated, say Labour peers | Politics | The Guardian Awful idea from Labour peer: a state-backed regulator of polling. They'll be suggesting it for the press next http://bit.ly/1Ldw4ts Only 15 per cent of Conservative party members would vote to leave the EU – Telegraph Only 15% of Con party members would vote to leave the EU notes @ProfTimBale: http://bit.ly/1GJFutG Login Philip Collins: "all hail the Labour 34" – the MPs who voted for David Miliband ...
In the election campaign I was touched, but not surprised, to see Sal Brinton post a link on facebook to an interview with Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett where he spoke of his experiences growing up gay, and self-identifying as an HIV+ parliamentary candidate. My suspicion was that many would encourage someone in Adrian's position to "be discreet": but seeing him being so open and the party President support him so clearly made me proud to be a liberal democrat. From a gay perspective, it's been encouraging in the present leadership election to see doubts over Tim's support for LGBT people raised as ...
A footnote to my posts earlier in the year on The myth about 1 million people being wiped off electoral register, Electoral register totals: the myth is still a myth even after the "new" figures and Oh look, latest figures show electoral register has gone up, not down. The final data for the size of the electoral register at the election is in: [IMG: Electoral register size] Up, not down. Of course all those media outlets which ran banner headlines about the electoral register shrinking will any moment now be running equally sized stories about how events actually turned out ...
One of the home truths about the Labour Party that is actually true is the one about how Labour really doesn't do regicide all that well. You only need to look at all of the bungled coups to dethrone both Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband to understand this fully. There is a tendency to wait until the electorate crucifies the leader, and then everyone posthumously pounces. In the wake of the last disastrous confrontation with the voting public, which took place only a few weeks ago, Ed gave us all a terrible resignation speech to savour (weirdly, if you had ...
Update from the Community Garden on 19th June : Many apologies, but the first session (22/6/15) has had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The first session will now run on Monday 29th June at the same time.
I Read The New "Fifty Shades" Book, And It Is... Not Safe For Work. Or Sane Persons. Chilcot inquiry delay: MPs tell Sir John to publish findings into Iraq War now or quit Cricket should stop treating women as second-class citizens [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Just when you thought that UKIP could not splinter anymore the Guardian reports that their most prominent female politician Suzanne Evans has been sacked as a media spokesman after she gave a television interview saying Nigel Farage was seen by voters as a "very divisive character": Evans, who was formerly an ally of Farage and was at one point anointed by him as acting leader, incurred the displeasure of her boss after she made the comments on the BBC's Daily Politics. "I think Nigel is a very divisive character in terms of the way he is perceived," she said. "He's ...
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