Note : I've had this post written for a little while but haven't posted it. I'll explain why I have decided to post it today. When will the LibDems 'woman problem' end? 1. When it's no longer acceptable for a female candidate to be told to wear a certain kind of bra to make her bust smaller and reduce any 'distraction'. 2. When we act firmly and quickly against instances of harassment ensuring that the party can rightly be called a safe space. 3. When we stop assuming that we elect women to parliament by moulding them in the image ...
A couple of weeks' ago, when Channel 4 News was trying to goad Tim Farron to start defining what constitutes sin, Lib Dems sympathetic to our new leader (like me) were quick to draw the divide between private views and public actions. It didn't matter what Tim's own attitude to gay sex might be, so long as he continues to stick by the liberal view that the state doesn't seek to legislate against what consenting adults choose to do behind closed doors. And then Lord Sewel (or 'Lord Coke' to give him his Sun soubriquet) hit the headlines. Here was ...
I finally decided to leave UKIP in June this year. Let me first say, this has not been an easy decision. It has taken me a year of talking to fellow party members, scrutinising Lib Dem party policy and wrestling with my own personal & political convictions. In the end the right choice was for me to join the Liberal Democrats. When I look back at my time within UKIP I struggled with many of the party's policies. I would frequently tell myself that soon the party would reform it's politics and views. I was always conscious about the party's ...
Tue 28th
19:53
Thursday night - urgent public meeting on Ludlow Hospital ward closure on amid fears the hospital co...
There seems to be only one topic in Ludlow at the moment. Last Friday, Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust announced that the current Stretton Ward at Ludlow Hospital will close. Since then, there has been a whirlwind of comment online and in the media. People are scared that this move presages the closure of our [...]
The Daily Record reports: Ex-fire chief Brian McLaughlin - the first person in Scotland convicted of electoral fraud at last September's vote - had been expecting a jail sentence... But McLaughlin, of Troon, walked out of Ayr Sheriff Court with 200 hours' community service... He claimed he cast the second vote on behalf of his stepson who couldn't make it to the polling station despite it being open for 15 hours. Interested in more stories about how our elections are run? Follow my dedicated election law channels on Facebook or Twitter.
Residents will have noticed the roadworks (and traffic lights) at the junction of Heywood Road and Rectory Lane. The works are a further stage of the Cycling City Ambition Grant funded project (funded by the previous Government) to improve safety between Prestwich Metrolink station, right through to the Heaton Park gates. The roundabout, which has had some terrible safety issues in the past, is one of the main pieces of work, with a new traffic light junction at the end of Whittaker Lane to follow. This is the scheme below: [IMG: Screen Shot 2015-07-28 at 14.10.51]
One of our local charities, The Creative Living Centre has been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. A group of staff, trustees, volunteers and members from the charity, which is based at the front of the Prestwich Hospital Site near Tescos, will attend a ceremony at Gorton Monastery to receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of the Duchy of Lancaster on August 3rd. [IMG: QAVS] The Charity say: "We wish to highlight how crucial to the life of the centre our volunteers are. They include the trustees, the many tutors who provide a range of creative learning opportunities, ...
One of our local charities, The Creative Living Centre has been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. A group of staff, trustees, volunteers and members from the charity, which is based at the front of the Prestwich Hospital Site near Tescos, will attend a ceremony at Gorton Monastery to receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of the Duchy of Lancaster on August 3rd. [IMG: QAVS] The Charity say: "We wish to highlight how crucial to the life of the centre our volunteers are. They include the trustees, the many tutors who provide a range of creative learning opportunities, ...
An excellent conclusion to the second trilogy of Carey's sequence of alternate history books, in which Imriel, the narrator, and his lover Sidonie, the heiress to the throne which his mother attempted to subvert, must deal with identity-changing sorcery and foreign domination, while sorting out geopolitical conflict at the same time. There is a bit more kinky sex than in the previous two books in this trilogy, though still nothing like as much as in the first trilogy. Instead, Carey is very effective in portraying her central characters' deep relationship and the challenge it poses to the state where they ...
One of the many new businesses in Holyrood Ward is Barbarian, on Bury Old Road near to the Motorway. Barbeerian is a specialist bottle shop with its own tap room upstairs. The venue currently have a 'Kickstarter' campaign to help raise funds to take the business further which anyone can get involved in. [IMG: photo-original] They say: "We want to be able to open up 2 extra seating areas, one located at shop level and the other on the first floor. This will not only allow more people to be able to come and enjoy themselves, but it will also ...
There is a Six Town Housing 'Health and Wealth Roadshow' visiting Prestwich on Tuesday 4 August 2015 with advice about anything from budgeting, energy, debt or health. More information getinvolved@sixtownhousing.org [IMG: Screenshot 2015-07-28 17.03.52]
How not to tweet, courtesy of the European Commission. #socialmedia pic.twitter.com/4CHSMfuruj — Clear Europe (@clear_europe) July 27, 2015
Tim Farron has written to party leaders and cross-bench peers calling for Lords reform in the wake of the Lord Sewel scandal. Tim argues that this is not just about one bad apple, but rather it is about a system which is rotten to the core and allows unelected, unaccountable people to think they are above the law. It is yet another sorry reflection of an undemocratic system, and more than ever highlights the Liberal Democrat case for reform. He calls for a wide-ranging constitutional convention including members of the public. The case for reform of the House of Lords ...
I'm a Muslim woman, Mr Cameron: here's what your radicalisation speech means to me Heartfelt. (tags: ukpolitics islam ) True Cost of 'Skopje 2014' Revealed A lot. (tags: macedonia ) Colin Baker and Doctor Who Magazine A statement from the editor. (tags: doctorwho ) How to keep Greece in @COdendahl of @CER_London recommends more investment. (tags: eu greece ) Why Is the Iraq War Never Mentioned in Debates About the Iran Deal? Good question. (tags: iran iraq uspolitics ) The Empty Chair Bill Cosby's victims, in their own words. (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality rape ) It Only Takes One Text To Hack ...
[IMG: 220px-PaddyAshdownCampaigning] One interesting side-effect of my dissertation research has been looking at some of the responses to the 1992 general election. Any parallels to then are obviously inexact – Labour had a leadership contest then that didn't threaten to split the party, for instance – but some of the reaction to the Tories' fourth election victory in succession was to claim that everyone was doomed and John Major and Norman Lamont were now masters of all they surveyed in the political landscape. It's interesting how much our conventional narrative of 'Tories win election, then Black Wednesday happens' elides the ...
Because of the very wet weather, grass cutting in Blyth has been suspended. ( This isn't because of the staff getting wet in the rain, but because of the likely damage caused due to cutting wet grass) On the plus side, it will give the workforce the opportunity to concentrate on weed killing in the areas that still need it . I am told that the South Beach area should be done this week, or early next.
Simon Titley was a member of the Liberator Collective from 1985 until his death, aged 57, on 31 August 2014. He became well known for both the quality and quantity of his contributions to the magazine and for the wit, insight and erudition he displayed. A selection of 40 of his best articles, at least from among those of which we have electronic copies, is now available free on the Liberator website at the 'writing by Simon Titley' drop down. Simon's articles range over everything from Liberal Democrat strategy to the decline of the middle-class dinner party, from liberals' difficulty ...
[IMG: 11760263_10153550469379189_4608190444898067211_n] This is powerful but very clear message. You will notice which Labour Party leadership contender is missing from their line up i.e Jeremy Corbyn as he voted, like our local MP's John Pugh (Lib Dem) and Peter Dowd (Lab), against the Conservative's Welfare Bill.
A commentary on Sefton Council's bizarre Local Plan process from Malcolm and Joan Gore of Maghull:- I read with interest this weeks article [Champion newspaper of 22nd July] on the Local Plan and Councillor Maher's [Council Leader] comments but feel there should be a few points of clarification. Firstly the new figures are from the D.C.L.G. a government department and would be the same irrespective of which party is in power. Secondly, what the Council decided was to submit the plan as it stands but to immediately review it in light of the new statistics. To this end they are ...
Sayed Jameel Kadhim, president of Al Wefaq's consultative board, has been released after fully serving a 6 month sentence for expressing political opinions. Sheikh Hussain Aldaihi, Al Wefaq's Deputy Secretary General, says the Bahraini regime must stop targeting dissidents and begin a reconciliation with its people, but this can only happen if there is far stronger pressure by the international community for human and political rights. Al Wefaq was the only opposition political party that had a very confined space in which to operate, but since late 2014 their leaders have been targeted in a wave of spurious criminal charges. ...
Inspector Neil Cook Monday night saw a well-attended community meeting about crime, with local councillors and residents joined by Inspector Neil Cook from the Stockport West police. The meeting was organised by the Lib Dem team and hosted by Cheadle Muslim Association, who even laid on tea and biscuits. It followed concerns being raised, particularly on the local Facebook groups, about crime levels. Three years ago someone could have been trying car doors at the end of my street and I'd probably never have known about it, but now if it happens on the other side of Cheadle I know ...
Whatever the outcome of the election for the leadership of the Labour Party, one thing is certain: whoever wins, the press will waste no time in vilifying him or her, just as they did with Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock, and Ed Miliband. So, since it's going to happen anyway, they might just as well elect Jeremy Corbyn: he does at least seem to believe in something. The current Labour Party's problem is that they are no longer sure what they believe in: perhaps they haven't since the 1950s. It has been said of the major parties in the US that ...
Recently I've been interviewing Israeli and Palestinian scholars and activists about the prospects of alternative voices in the peace process: namely the BRICS countries and whether they might make a difference. The general impression seems to be no. Last year's failed talks by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and the re-election of an intransigent Netanyahu government have meant little change. Although the BRICS countries (and the EU) have called for a different, more multilateral response, this is unlikely to happen. Much of this is down to BRICS' self-promotion and separation of political rhetoric from their prioritisation of economic relations ...
As I wrote when reviewing Free Radical: Vince Cable's memoirs do much to explain both the praise and the criticism he has received. At one point he writes how "I am often asked why I am not party leader...". Conceit or modesty? You can read that comment either way and it is easy to see why he produces such different views. Views differ too over quite where on the political spectrum Vince Cable should be placed. As left-wing former Labour councillor with a line in anti-City rhetoric? Or a keen believer in free markets who wanted to abolish the Department ...
The application to continue caravan storage at Beech Hill Farm is to be considered by the South Glos planning committee later this summer. Officers have recommended refusal on Green Belt grounds. A site visit is expected to take place on Friday 28th August.
I'll get this out of the way first: all of the Lib Dem London activists, candidates and assorted leafletters can calm down. The facts are on my side. In the 2015 general election, the party got 8% in London; same as it did nationwide. In 2010, the party did slightly worse in the capital than the country as a whole. The problem with this is that Britain's one specifically liberal party should surely do better in what is arguably the most liberal city in the world. I remember being in New York with a group of American friends and having ...
A comforting delusion appears to have afflicted some of those supporting Jeremy Corbyn's bid to be Labour leader: maybe his far left ideology isn't electoral liability at all, maybe it's even as asset. The empirical basis for this are opinion polls indicating broad support for his positions on issues like tuition fees, rent controls and renationalising the [...]
Today's Guardian covers the report of the Welsh Assembly's Public Accounts Committee on the impact of welfare changes on social housing tenants in Wales. It is the third successive report to criticise Labour Ministers for their failure to stand up for the country's poorest and most vulnerable people. As the paper says last month the Welsh government was strongly attacked by an assembly committee for its lack of progress in tackling poverty, claiming women, children and refugees had been particularly badly affected. Whilst earlier this month another committee highlighted the striking number of Welsh people over 50 who are struggling ...
Tue 28th
09:04
Why I went from being Rugby Green Party's general election candidate to a revived Liberal Democrat a...
[IMG: Terry-White] I have defected to the Liberal Democrats following differences with myself and the national Green Party. I have rejoined a party I left at the start of the previous government as a result of the direction I felt the party was heading in, but I am confident in the fight back of the party following the election of Tim Farron as party leader and the spirit of the modern party. I have therefore stepped down from my role as co-ordinator of Rugby Green Party as well as the role of chair of the under 30's branch of the ...
My time for Labour MP Graham Stringer's conspiracy theory about the Labour leadership rather expired when he said there were Lib Dems joining his party to prevent Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader. In my experience, most Lib Dems I know find Corbyn's campaign rather a refreshing change. I realise that contradicts the world view of many of the stodgy Labour Party types who are some miles from understanding their Liberal opponents. But so it is. Corbyn is offering an alternative, and it is about time somebody did. But is it a forward-looking alternative or a backward-looking one? Well, spurred on by ...
Jonathan Freedland has an excellent piece for The Guardian on why Jeremy Corbyn is doing so well in the Labour leadership race: Listening to some of his young backers this week, it became ever clearer that they are not supporting him because, having made a calm assessment of the four candidates, they believe he has the best chance of returning Labour to power. On the contrary, that has nothing to do with it. This week's YouGov poll of Labour supporters - and we should remember our post 7 May vow never to listen to another poll again - found that, ...
Meeting in Canterbury, the judges awarded the Independent Headline of the Day.
Note from the County Council NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using that length of Drovers Way, St Albans from its junction with Russell Avenue north eastwards for a distance of approximately [...]
Residents will recall that in recent months, my LibDem colleague Cllr Willie Wilson of Perth and Kinross Council and I have highlighted the problems the X7 hospital link bus service causes many constituents who are elderly or who have mobility difficulties, given the style of bus used. I advised last month that Willie had written to Sir Brian Souter, Chairman of the Stagecoach Group, requesting that he intervenes in this matter. Willie has now received a rather disappointing reply from Stagecoach that you can read here. Willie has now issued the following news release about the situation - reported in ...
How much for this dress?!? (or what I wish I could tell people) Newsthump so sharp it's going to cut itself. Possibly the last sentence is the most depressingly funny-cos-it's-true A Spot of Mild Excitement for JC on the journey back to Bonkers Hall. "We terrified and impoverished a generation and now they won't spend money waaaah!" [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Please sign the petition to reverse the decision to close the Stretton Ward at Ludlow Hospital and share it with friends. The shock decision to close one of two remaining wards at Ludlow hospital is reverberating around Ludlow and South Shropshire. People are angry that Stretton Ward is being closed at just one weeks' notice [...]
Official figures show that the number of motorcyclists killed or injured on the roads in Wales has risen for the fourth year in a row and is at a seven-year high. The figures have revealed that 28 people died in 2014, up from 17 in 2013. Powys had the joint highest number of casualties of all local authorities in Wales. Motorcycle deaths made up 22% of those killed or seriously hurt in Wales. I'm very disappointed, but unfortunately not surprised, about the news that the number of motorcyclists killed or injured on roads in Wales has risen for the fourth ...
A while back, I put up a post, which has now become an essay in the California Dreaming book, about how the white musicians in the book had built their careers because of an infrastructure that was there because of black musicians — they were, even if not racist themselves (and most weren't) the beneficiaries [...]
I find it hard not to feel a little sorry for Labour. It is being offered plenty of advice, much of it conflicting. Move left to recapture ground lost to the SNP in Scotland. Move right to combat the threat from UKIP in white working-class areas in England. Offer a radical vision of hope sufficient to stir the dispossessed and disenfranchised to engage with the political process. Position a millimetre to the left of the Conservatives to demonstrate fiscal rectitude and appeal to the few thousand fickle voters that constitute the political 'centre', who are conventionally seen as the key ...
