I'll have this week's podcasts done tomorrow, along with a Batpost, but tonight I'm working on the Where Are They Now? bit of California Dreaming, so you get links. First, on that Tim Farron interview, I don't think it's my place to talk, but to boost the voices of LGBT people. Here's what a few [...]
The Pentabus tent in Carding Mill Valley This afternoon the first performance of Alice Bush's play The Lone Pine Club was performed in Carding Mill Valley, Church Stretton, by the Pentabus Rural Theatre Company. Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine stories were my favourite books as a child and I am delighted to see them living on in this form. But I am a little surprised too. Alice Bush, for instance, looks far too young to have read the books as a child - the first Lone Pine story appeared in 1943 and the twentieth and last in 1978. So I asked ...
Barney Ronay reminds us that Ben Stokes is not 'the next Freddie Flintoff': In February Paul Collingwood likened not batting Stokes in the top six in his early England career to playing Cristiano Ronaldo at right-back. And this summer, as his Test batting average has climbed from 28 to 39, Stokes has in a sense become the player he always was in the first place, the high-class middle-order batsman obscured at times by his ability to bowl slightly callow spells of genuine fast bowling. Aged 19, Stokes was batting No4 for Durham, becoming in the process the only Englishman besides ...
So, I went looking for the Register of MPs' Interests earlier today. My intent was not particularly noble. My heart was bleeding to such an extent over Tobias Ellwood's penury that I just wanted to check if there was anything in there that might help help him out. Bless him, he only had the £3.5k for being in the Territorial Army to help supplement his £90k ministerial salary. His wife is only a corporate lawyer, too. I really don't know how they manage. And, of course, Tobias is so full of empathy for his fellow poor people that he's more ...
Walking around in West Hampstead and Fortune Green today in the wonderful sunshine, it occurred to me how many things there are to celebrate in our area and, curiously, how many of these only arrived comparatively recently. Some- if not all- changes are definitely good! I was delighted to attend the first anniversary celebration today of the Sherriff Centre - our local church with a post office (and much more!) and to record my heartiest congratulation to Fr Andrew Cain for his vision and tenacity in making it happen! Then I visited the Farmers Market which seems to have gone ...
Sat 18th
21:24
[Lib Dem Future] By-election report 16th July 2015 - a major shift in results this week
The results for 16th July were a remarkable change from previous weeks. Two seats were won (Rother and Wrexham) and another was held with a large swing. The result in Greystoke in Cumbria was also very strong with a large swing. In the weeks following the General Election the party has held its ground. The [...]
July 16, 2015 Conservative 635 [55.1%; +2.2%] LD Judith Derbyshire 518 [44.9%; +22.1%] [UKIP [0.0%; -24.2%]] Majority: 117 Conservative Hold Percentage change from 2013 Cumbria is a Labour council with the the Conservatives in second place and the Lib Dems having a substantial base of the 16 councillors to the Conservatives 26. This seat was [...]
Sat 18th
20:55Lib Dems take Llay ward from a standing start with 52% of vote: Wrexham UA, Llay- 16th July 2015
July 16, 2015 LD Rob Walsh 700 [52.2%; +52.2%] Labour 353 [26.3%; -34.6%] Independent 124 [9.2%; +9.2%] Conservative 64 [4.8%; +4.8%] UKIP 60 [4.5%; +4.5%] Independent 41 [3.1%; +3.1%] [Previous Independent [0.0%; -39.1%] Majority: 347 LD gain from Labour Percentage change from 2012 This result was an extraordinary one on a night of strong results [...]
Sat 18th
20:54Independent switches to Lib Dem and wins Massive Victory in Kingston - Kingston Upon Thames LB, Grov...
July 16, 2015 LD Jon Tolley 1,577 [59.9%; +26.3%] Conservative 688 [26.1%; -4.8%] Labour 223 [8.5%; -14.1%] Green 88 [3.3%; -9.7%] UKIP 58 [2.2%; +2.2%] Majority: 889 LD Hold Percentage change since 2014 Kingston Council was run by the Lib Dems up until 2014, however was lost to the Conservatives. Recently, however the results have [...]
Conservative 528 [50.9%; +17.3%] Labour 373 [36%; +12.6%] Independent 76 [7.3%; +7.3%] Plaid Cymru 60 [5.8%; +5.8%] [Green [0.0%; -3.2%] [Previous Indepedents [0.0%; -39.8%]] Majority: 155 Conservative Hold Percentage change since 2012
July 16, 2015 UKIP 338 [38.5%; -9.9%] Conservative 290 [33.1%; +3%] Labour 213 [24.3%; +2.8%] Independent 36 [4.1%; +4.1%] UKIP Hold Percentage change since 2015 Tendring is a district council in Essex. UKIP held this seat and despite a reduction in support were able to hold off the Conservatives. UKIP might have been expected to [...]
July 16, 2015 Labour 749 [51.8%; +7.2%] Conservative 279 [19.3%; +8.7%] Green 209 [14.4%; -6.8%] UKIP 148 [10.2%; -9.2%] LD Tom Dymoke 62 [4.3%; +0.1%] Majority: 470 Labour Hold Percentage change since 2013
July 16, 2015 Conservative 876 [42.7%; +15.3%] Labour 773 [37.7%; +1.8%] UKIP 285 [13.9%; -22.8%] LD Tony Harris 66 [3.2%; +3.2%] Green 51 [2.5%; +2.5%] Majority: 103 Conservative gain from UKIP Percentage change from 2013 This seat was a battle between UKIP and the Conservatives, which result in defeat for UKIP. The party was [...]
11 years have come and gone so quickly. Yet those happy days supporting Peter Carroll for Folkestone and Hythe and getting excited about a visit from Charles Kennedy seem like a lifetime ago. My membership came up for renewal a couple of weeks back. I put off renewing until after payday for entirely practical reasons. I had been on a bit of a "Lib Dem high" of late with the Lib Dem fightback rhetoric and the prospect of a new leader. I even decided to defend my choice for leader, Tim Farron, from some attacks on his record on same-sex ...
Yesterday, I went on the Stephen Jardine show on Radio Scotland to spill all Tim Farron's secrets and discuss his prospects with Stephen and John Crace from the Guardian. Sadly, I didn't quite get through all of them, but that at least means I have them for another time. You can listen to it all here from about 1 hour 18 minutes in. Do feel free to laugh at me criticising the party's election messages for use of too many body parts and then using two myself in fairly quick succession. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice ...
Local authorities are in a very difficult situation. They are being starved of resources by the swivel-eyed Scrooges in Whitehall, who still seem convinced they can cut back to the bone without affecting public services. Camden Council, faced with similar problems to other London Councils, is better placed than some, but will have suffered virtually halving its budget by 2017. Many services are statutory (care for the elderly and waste collection to name two services where costs are rising) but other services don't have the same level of protection. Sadly, the Labour cabinet has worked out it needs to save ...
Since I haven't blogged about Tim at all yet, I should probably begin (just to be clear where I'm coming from) by saying that I voted for Tim, and I was thrilled that he won the leadership contest. I think Tim will be a fantastic asset to the party during his tenure as leader. Anyhoo, [...]
[IMG: image] I bow to Roy Greenslade when he says that The Sun were right to publish apparent home movie footage of the Queen, then aged seven and known as Princess Elizabeth, giving a Nazi salute. It was 1933. The Nazis had just consolidated power in Germany through the Enabling Act. I notice that her mother, then known as the Duchess of York, and later Queen Elizabeth, is enthusiastically joining in. Interesting historical stuff. You can see in the screenshot that the Prince of Wales (at the time – later Edward VIII) is putting them up to it for the ...
Since she joined the party in May, Joanne Ferguson from Hamilton has thrown herself into Lib Dem life. She's stood for election in Liberal Youth, she's been to hustings meetings, policy roadshows and worked like a demon for Tim Farron's leadership campaign. She's also written twice for us. I wanted to put a full transcript of Tim's speech from the rally. The one on the party website is good enough, but I decided to go for the one Joanne did on her blog because of her commentary and because of the effort she put in to doing it. So, enjoy. ...
July 16, 2015 LD Kevin Dixon 751 [57.8%; +10.8%] Conservative 342 [26.3%; -11.8%] UKIP 107 [8.2%; +8.2%] Labour 100 [7.7%; -7.2%] Majority: 409 LD gain from Conservative Percentage change since 2015 Rother ward was won off the Conservatives in this by election. The party is the second party in this district, with five council [...]
The Liberal Democrat team would like to wish Eid Mubarak to all our muslim friends coming together to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr. We hope you have wonderful celebration.
Sat 18th
16:40
LibLink: David Steel: Tim Farron is a man of conviction and a risk taker - that's why he got my vote
David Steel has written in the Guardian about why he backed Tim Farron and what he thinks he'll bring to the party: That level of deep commitment which Farron obviously has, combined with his organisational skills and northern public persona, has all the ingredients of a successful leadership. I speak as one who sat in a gloomy Commons party of six after the 1970 election debacle, three of us clinging to majorities under 1000. It took time, but we turned that round, and went on both to increase our numbers and form the significant Alliance with the SDP and eventually ...
There's an article on the BBC website called How to Get Into Cricket and I can't help but think they've missed a trick. How a lot of people I know have got into cricket goes like this:Do something which requires you to have the radio on while you're doing it. Cooking, perhaps, or filling in forms.Despair of the shoutiness of 90% of radio these days, and the regrettable tendency of radio 4 to have things like Claire In The Community and The Archers on it.Think "It was always nice and restful when I was a kid and my [insert relative ...
Party President Sal Brinton issued the following message for Eid-ul-Fitr. As the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end, I would like to wish Muslims in the United Kingdom and all over the world a happy Eid-ul-Fitr. Eid is a joyful occasion and a time for family, friends and neighbours to come together and celebrate the common values that unite us in our humanity. But even during this festive time, the attitude of Muslims to remember those in parts of the world less fortunate than us is exemplary. Throughout Ramadan, Muslim communities collect and distribute Zakat-ul-fitr so that all ...
Cllr Jon Tolley writes about his campaign on his blog.
Excellent news from the academic publishing community, and news which reminds me how back in the last century the British Library blanched when I wanted to submit a 3.5′ floppy disk containing data files along with a copy of my PhD on 19th century elections. Thankfully the world has moved and is further moving on from that: A Joint Statement by Political Science Journal Editors In this joint statement, leading journals commit to greater data access and research transparency, and to implement policies requiring authors to make as accessible as possible the empirical foundation and logic of inquiry of evidence-based ...
The last few days showed the EU as a very resilient organisation: the Bundestag had just approved the Greek bailout, after Finland, France and Austria. But it also showed EU stretched to the breaking point: there is no Grexit but there is no Greece either. Let us step back and look at the recent past from the future perspective through the prism of the UK. 100 years hence the history of the UK could read like this: At the beginning of the 21st century the UK was the only state able to offer an alternative to the Franco-German concept of ...
Who could ever have seen this coming? *rolls eyes* This was always going to be Tim's biggest problem, which is to be honest is crazy if you look at it from outside the political bubble. Tim's fundamental Christian beliefs should not be the most posed question that he faces from the media but whoever said life was fair? Everyone knew he'd face these questions and the fact he didn't have a good answer for it is a big cross against the work from his inner-circle. The questions were going to come and they were going to come thick and fast ...
Sat 18th
12:32
The post where I try to explain Farron's religious dilemma, by comparing it to how I became a Libera...
Some years ago I attended a memorial service for a friend of mine. At it, one of the people giving a eulogy said something along the lines of "As someone who goes through the same conflicting emotions, I know how hard it was for him trying to reconcile his sexuality with his Christianity." It was a very [...]
Forgive me for having better things to do on a Friday evening, especially in a week I have spent many hours playing competitive bowls, that to watch Channel 4 News and your interview of my new party leader Tim Farron. But I finally got around to it this morning and have some comments to make. Firstly, Tim Farron's views on abortion are ones that a number of us can take. I've known a number of single women who became accidentally pregnant at inopportune times in the their lives and with men who were inappropriate or unable to become the father ...
[IMG: Day 28 - West Midlands Police Helicopter - Air Ops - Alpha Oscar One] I have a confession to make. I am a bit of an anorak when it comes to police helicopters and tweets, as a search of this blog will show. For many years, I was infuriated by the presence of police helicopters, whirring incessantly over my town, without knowing what the heck they were up to. After considerable persistence via the Freedom of Information Act, I managed to secure a year's worth of information about the reasons police helicopters were hovering over my town of Newbury. ...
We're now at the halfway point between my previous survey of bloggers' voting intentions for the Hugo fiction categories, and the actual deadline for votes on 31 July. Quite a lot more prople have come forward to say how they plan to vote, and it shifts the balance in a couple of cases. Apologies to anyone who I have missed; at this rate, I expect that I will do a final roundup in two weeks, though I can't promise that it will be before the voting deadline has passed. Again, I want to emphasise that this is a small self-selecting ...
Sat 18th
11:09Opinion: High Court rules DRIP legislation introduced by Liberal Democrats in government is unlawful
Last year there was widespread criticism from Liberal Democrat members towards the parliamentary party's support (with the honourable exception of the four Lib Dem MPs) for emergency DRIP surveillance powers. A fair number of us warned our parliamentarians that the legislation seemingly did not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. In addition to the warnings that came from those of us within the party there was an open letter from leading UK internet law academic experts and widespread criticism from civil liberties groups. Norman Baker who was then a minister of state at the Home Office minster took ...
On Thursday night, Tim Farron gave a barnstorming, passionate, electrifying first speech as leader of the Liberal Democrats. It was him at his best. And it no doubt terrified opponents in the Labour Party. Here was someone with energy and ... Continue reading →
This article in yesterday's Telegraph highlights the importance of access to information in holding our politicians to account. If the wrong people are allowed to regulate the flow of knowledge then our whole democratic system can be undermined. The paper says that former politicians who have been embarrassed by Freedom of Information laws are part of a new Whitehall panel appointed by the Government to review its powers. Jack Straw, the former Labour home secretary and former Tory leader Lord Howard of Lymphne, are on the five-strong group conducting a review after 10 years of the FOI Act: Mr Straw ...
Seen on the pavement of Vermont Way in Bootle:- [IMG: We know you can hear us Earthmen] We know you can hear us Earth men.......
Until the early 1990's Maghull Station car park was nothing more than rough ground that had been cleared of the old railway sidings with not much else done. In wet weather it was all puddles and water filled ruts:- [IMG: IMG_0004] Click on the photo to enlarge it Of course since then the car park has been properly surfaced and extended and it is still too small to cope with demand! But the Station and interchange area is now awash with colour since Maghull Station Volunteers took it over a few years ago. [IMG: From ruts and puddles to this ...
Tim Farron had a grilling yesterday on Channel 4 news from Cathy Newman on his personal position on some moral issues. There's been some criticism of Tim for sounding a little bit evasive on this, and indeed suggestions have been coming into Voice for better answers that he might have given. Now I don't know exactly where Tim personally stands on this, but I have no reason to doubt that he is basically a liberal dealing with the sensitivities of the "traditional Christian" view rather than the converse. My apologies for use of these terms, no doubt there were and ...
Cue young girl seeing a train for the first time: http://i.imgur.com/hlrvyFg.webm Hat-tip: Axeeel It's even better with sound:
The latest 2015 Sunday Bandstand Concert on the Magdalen Green Bandstand takes place tomorrow, Sunday, at 2pm. The Dundee Instrumental Band will be playing - more details here.
Last night, Tim Farron gave an interview to Channel 4 news. Cathy Newman, the interviewer, asked the new Lib Dem leader if, as a Christian, he thought that homosexuality was a sin. Tim dodged the question, refusing to say yes or no, in what became a sort of Paxman-esque set up, as Newman asked him again and again for a straight answer. Farron retorted with biblical quotes or bon mots. Some Lib Dems have taken to social media to partly defend Tim, saying it wasn't all that bad. Let's get this straight: it was a memorably poor moment for Farron. ...
Perfectly Timed Photos That Make Dogs Look Like Giants New technology could replace needles, meaning people will never need to be injected again The top tricks supermarkets use to confuse customers [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Estonia 100 square kilometers larger than thought Where's my country? Oh, there it is. (tags: estonia maps )
I've just watched the clip of Tim Farron on Channel 4 News last night. I think Tim gives a very good response indeed – especially the last bit where he says that being a liberal means that you do not force your views in others. "Do not judge or you too will be judged" – is central to the Christian faith. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" is another. Both these are written by the gospel writers reporting the words of Jesus. The bit of the bible that Cathy Newman quoted is from the old testament ...
Tonight on Channel 4 News, Cathy Newman laid into our new leader with questions over whether he considered homosexuality a sin. The answer to this question is... not relevant. As an evangelical Christian, his private position is almost certainly that the act is sinful, not the inclination. Christ hates the sin, but loves the sinner. I know this, as it used to be what I believed. But whatever, he can't say that - it sounds trite and patronising. And it's not relevant. Tim Farron's personal views on sin are - and should remain - his own. Sin is not a ...
The observant among you will have noticed that the California Dreaming series of essays is nearing its conclusion: the book's subtitle is "The LA Pop Music Scene Of The 60s", and the most recent essay dealt with a track released in December 1969. I'll actually be covering 1970 in the book, but that still only [...]
Hallsands was a village on the South Devon coast that was swept away by the sea after its shingle beach was taken away to help build the dockyard at Devonport. The Kingsbridge Gazette headline after its demise in January 1918 was: The beach went to Devonport and the cottages went to the seaThe video is a scene from the 1964 Michael Winner film The System featuring Oliver Reed and Jane Merrow. Reel and Rock says of it: The real production star is Nicolas Roeg. His photography during Tinker and Nicola's romantic idyll on a remote cliff-backed beach is one of ...
