[IMG: HTH.jpg] Yesterday, other Haringey Lib Dems and I were out campaigning in Crouch End, collecting signatures in support of making Hornsey Town Hall an asset of community value (ACV.)
When I blogged about the BFI's new Britain on Film project I copied some of the spiel from its own website: If you are in the United Kingdom you can search and enjoy free access to films and TV that represent the area where you live, grew up or went to school.I did not realise quite how true that would prove in my own case. Click on the still above and you will be taken to a film about the new town of Hemel Hempstead that was made in 1957. It begins with a segment about the building of Dexion's ...
Four days is a long time in politics - time enough for Labour to change their mind, and decide to support the Conservative's planned cuts to welfare, apparently...
Following Nick Clegg's interview on The Sunday Politics this morning, it was his comments on future coalitions and electoral reform that the Guardian chose to headline. However, these comments were interesting too: He also claimed the caps on election spending had been broken in the election: "One of the things that needs to happen in the kind of technical postmortem about this general election is how on earth the Conservatives spent such vast American-style sums of money across the country from a centrally directed campaign, which ran a coach and horses through the financial limits on how local candidates can ...
Scenes from Athens today, as momentous discussions take place in Brussels. Scroll down to view. Hover your mouse or finger over the photo to read the caption, and/or double-click on the image to see it in context on Getty Images. * 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.
New designs have been produced for the PizzaExpress which will very soon replace The Marches on Castle Street (15/02009/ADV). The new scheme is much improved by removal of intrusive exterior lighting and a more acceptable painting scheme that highlights the windows. To my mind, the black frontage at ground floor level is still rather dour [...]
[IMG: 414585868_2c8513d269_n] The community of housing bloggers has already offered plenty of comment on the implications of the Chancellor's "emergency" budget for housing. Comment from almost all quarters – be it Jules, Ken, Joe, Steve, Tom or Gavin – highlights, in more or less lurid terms, the challenges the budget measures are going to present the housing sector. Some of the changes announced in the budget – the reduction in the benefit cap, cuts in tax credits, and the benefit freeze – were heavily trailed. However unwelcome they might be, they didn't come as a huge surprise. Yet, the precise ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 422nd 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 (5-11 July, 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. Lib Dem Leadership hustings: "It ain't what ...
Sun 12th
18:50
Labour's craven, undemocratic ineptitude leaves vacant ground for a principled government-in-waiting
I have never been attracted to the Labour Party because all I have ever known of it has been a consistent attempt to match the Conservatives for authoritarianism. Latterly that has also developed into an attempt to match the Conservatives for "economic competence", which actually appears to be a euphemism for regressive policies designed to force [...]
Shropshire Council's private company ip&e featured on Sunday Politics this morning. The company was set up three years ago as a way of cutting costs and making money for the council. Since then, it has been dogged by controversy over its secrecy and whether it can make significant money. The Sunday Politics segment features Ludlow [...]
[IMG: Johnny Mercer MP] The Plymouth Herald reports: Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed it is looking into an allegation about former Army commando [and Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View] Johnny Mercer's campaign spending. MP Johnny Mercer says the allegations, and leaks to the media about the investigation, were part of a "prolonged and personal harassment campaign" against him by a Plymouth Labour Party activist who he confirmed he had started legal proceedings against... The revelation comes only weeks after it emerged Plymouth Labour faces High Court action after overspending by £6,000 on its election campaign in Sutton and Devonport. ...
Shortly after I made my previous post about the Lib Dem leadership election, I got invited to a lunch with Norman Lamb in Brussels last Friday. As I wrote last weekend, I knew very little about Norman Lamb, except that he had been a minister in the coalition government and that he had the backing of a number of party heavyweights - though only one of the other surviving MPs (Farron has three other MPs supporting him, with Clegg and Carmichael silent as far as I can tell). So I went along, with my ballot paper in my pocket and ...
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the 12,500 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Opinion: Britain's Liberal Youth can flourish in a Lamb-led Liberal Democrats (107 comments) by Darren Grimes Grayling: I'd rather face 56 SNP MPs than 57 Liberal Democrats (20 comments) by Caron Lindsay Senior Lib Dems react to the budget (40 comments) by Caron Lindsay Budget live blog as Osborne helps rich and casts young and poor adrift (90 comments) by The Voice Opinion: Time for a real English Party (47 comments) by George Potter Guy Verhofstadt ...
Tim Farron has spoken at the final hustings of the leadership election. He spoke passionately about his desire to see the party revive its fortunes. He explained that it was necessary to build our support base nationally to the level where local parties could pick a ward and win it. He also talked of his [...]
[IMG: Liberal Democrat Newswire logo] Liberal Democrat Newswire #68 came out last week, with a pamphlet from David Howarth and myself on how to rebuild the Liberal Democrats. You can also read it below, but if you'd like the convenience of getting it direct by email in future, just sign up here. It's free! As an added incentive: sign up today (Sunday) and you'll get tomorrow's special edition with the results of an exclusive survey of party members on the leadership election. Welcome to the 68th edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire, a special edition with a new pamphlet from former ...
Norman Lamb has give the final speech of the leadership election campaign which outlined his views on the key issues. Norman spoke passionately about mental health and his experiences in politics. He put forward the view that we are living in a liberal era and stressed the importance of looking after all in society.
Sun 12th
12:40
On 'meeting' and listening to Tim Farron but also thinking about leadership as a whole...
I put meeting in inverted commas because we didn't actually meet or speak but I got to see him and listen to what he had to say. Tim did tweet me and say that it was lovely to meet me, which I laughed at on the train home when I saw it. I'll put it down to the amount of people that he has had to meet and greet in the past few weeks but if he can tell me who I was then I'll be impressed. I'll give a hint at the end of this blog post. So yesterday ...
The English are the last on this sceptred isle to realise that Britain is dead. It's hard to remember that the nation-state is a modern invention: the Treaty of Westphalia gave birth to the conception of crown and country. Britain herself was an elaboration on 18th Century statecraft. Each of our constitutional nations brought their talents to bear on Britain's great endeavour: the British Empire. A merchant empire defended with regiments of Welsh and Scots infantry and English seamen; managed by a ruling class composed of feudal aristocrats and nouveaux riche industrialists and merchants. That project is over: we are ...
One of the more unlikely musical collaborations of the 1990s was that between Tim Booth and Angelo Badalamenti. Booth from the bad James (via Shrewsbury School and the drama department at Manchester University) was part of the Madchester scene: Badalamenti was a composer best known for his work on David Lynch's films. A James fansite tells the story of their collaboration: Prior to 1990. Booth and Badalamenti had never heard of each other. That year, Booth fell in love with Julee Cruise's remarkable album of dream-songs, Floating Into the Night (music by Badalamenti and lyrics by Lynch) and was delighted ...
Something that stays with me from Monday's East Midlands leadership hustings was Tim Farron saying that under him, our arms would ache with the quantity of leaflets we have delivered, while Norman Lamb pointed out that our pounding at the polls was not through any lack of leaflets, and that he wanted us to do more to stimulate liberal ideas, as the party had done in Jo Grimond's time. I shouldn't over-do the contrast: more activists deliver leaflets than write articles, so maybe Tim was right to focus there at a hustings for party members. But if we are to ...
Stats Lib Dem Future stats for the week 4-10th July were as follows Unique visitors: 428 Views: 778 The blog was established after the 2015 election and exists to allow all Lib Dem members easy access to conglomerated blogging. Apology Lib Dem Future would like to apologise to anyone offended by our failure to remove [...]
[IMG: Ammonite] Ammonite by Nicola Griffith My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really loved this book. The lyrical, evocative language and the beautiful simple structure. It made me want to hug my loved ones and tell them how loved they are. So if you'll excuse me... View all my reviews ((this "review" was written at 1.20 this morning when I finished the book, which I hadn't been able to put down all day. I wouldn't normally crosspost one so short and content-light, but I really think this is an excellent book and deserves my recommendation. I am going to ...
Following on from my questions to the Lib Dem leadership candidates about the economy, housing and Chris Rennard, today it's time to look at a key part of the electorate which has been usually missing from the hustings and at books – influential books, that is. [IMG: Person holding a walking stick] During leadership hustings, young people have often been mentioned, but pensioners often pass without a mention – despite being much more likely to vote at election time. Why have you not put greater emphasis on how the party can appeal to older people? Norman Lamb: I don't dismiss ...
Full details of the agenda for Autumn Conference will be released in due course, but reports on social media say that a motion calling for Trident not to be renewed at all will be debated. If passed, this would mean an end to a succession of fudges on the issue in recent, and not so recent, years. Way back in 1986, the Liberal Assembly angered David Steel by supporting an amendment which did not commit the party to supporting the renewal of nuclear weapons. The Journal of Liberal History has Simon Hughes' speech to that debate: Fellow Liberals, we could ...
I love Greece. Erica and I, sometimes accompanied by assorted kids, have had a number of lovely holidays there. No-one can doubt the fact that at one time Greece was at the very epicentre of the 'civilised' world. I ... Continue reading →
Sun 12th
10:04
Why the campaign to win the Republican nomination for President has just got interesting
As somebody who is rooting for Hillary Clinton to become the first female President of the United States, the current disarray amongst the Republicans is a welcome sight. As the Independent reports the fact that Donald Trump is running for president again has the Republican Party to which (for now at least) he belongs, scared out of its wits. As the paper says we been here before: In 2000, Trump was a candidate of the Reform Party founded by Ross Perot. In three other elections he's floated the idea of competing in the Republican primaries, most recently in 2012, when ...
Sun 12th
09:52
Welcome news as Ludlow developer agrees to keep popular footpath open during building works
Plans have been resubmitted for a development of ten houses off Cold Weston Drive, between Ludlow Junior School and the bypass. Discussions with planners and the developer are underway to ensure that an informal footpath across the site is retained. Planning permission for the development was originally agreed in 2005, and renewed in 2010. That [...]
Standing at a North London bus stop the evening after Britain went to the polls, I overheard a man give his take, on David Cameron's surprising majority, to a friend: You see people that don't live in cities just don't understand...they'll always vote right-wing. As someone from the countryside who has now voted for a hat-trick of different parties, I took offence in a quietly British way to his throwaway analysis of the left's failure to make gains outside of London. And yet of course he had a point, too. In 2010 my friends and I voted for the first ...
The Telegraph has run a story this morning concerning one Jim Mellon, a wealthy man who plans to back the No to the EU campaign. If you're thinking it's a bit much for the Telegraph to write an article every time some rich person donates to the Get Out campaign, get used to it: we've got 15 more months of this at the very least. The headline was interesting – it told us that the Get Out campaign plans to be an "anti-politics" one. Reading this was a good way to start my morning. Having worked on an "anti-politics" campaign ...
This old film of Liverpool is well worth a look at if you have not come across it before. It's on the British Film Institute's web site – see link below player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-day-in-liverpool-1929/ Introductory text from web site – Merseyside's metropolis is cast as a modernist masterpiece in this portrait documentary from 1929. Rather than focussing on any of its inhabitants, the film is a day in the life of the city itself – though capturing all the innovative perspectives and breath-taking views must have taken many weeks and much careful planning.
Having received complaints from residents about a bad pothole on the roadway of Tullideph Street, I reported this to the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership. I have received a response promising prompt repair, I am pleased to say.
[IMG: mail.google.com] Click on the Champion newspaper article to enlarge it [IMG: John Pugh MP for Southport] Well said John, this is of course a vital part of giving Southport a healthy economic future. Without a quality rail connection to the east (to Wigan & Manchester) and indeed the north of the Town (to Preston) to match the one to the south Southport can't develop to its true potential.
Giant smelly plant in Cambridge set to bloom for first time in a decade Hooray! (tags: biology cambridge )
EVERY SINGLE WORD spoken by a person of colour in [insert mainstream film title here] How the budget affects each income bracket I do like James O'brien though Google's algorithm shows prestigious job ads to men, but not to women. What the 2015 budget means for me, and why it's vile - a slightly better off person responds 15 pictures of George Osborne looking like he's hatching an evil plan - only 15? Javid under pressure over Yorkshire rail electrification How Climate Scientists Feel About Climate Change Deniers Comic-Con: Women tired of groping geeks and credibility checks - BBC News ...
