I thought I had missed my chance of seeing Pentabus's play The Lone Pine Club because I was in Canterbury when it opened in Church Stretton. Then I worked out that I could get to Sheringham Park and back in a day fromhome by taking four trains and a bus each way. Once I had worked that out, I simply had to do it. I shall write a proper review of the play in a day or two, but it was well worth the effort and I even got a lift back into Sheringham.
[IMG: postcapitalism] Paul Mason's new book Postcapitalism: a guide to our future is a serious book with an ambitious agenda. But you wouldn't necessarily have picked that up from some of the early reviews. Political commentators from the centre and right were pretty quick to the pages of the Times or the Spectator to offer their dismissal. Even some reviews from the centre-left have been a bit tepid. The book should, we're told, be viewed as some form of regression by Mason to the driveling Marxism of his youth. The book indicates bankruptcy of the intellectual left. Mason's argument that ...
And so another week at Bonkers Hall draws to a close. Saturday A fellow with a bone through his nose presents himself at the Hall. "Don't tell me," I cry, "you have brought me the Reverend Hughes' shrunken head." "Au contraire," he replies, "the Holy Man has sent me here to pick up supplies of Shuttleworths and Cow Gum. He has converted us all to Liberalism and told us that we must start campaigning for next May's election." Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West, 1906-10. Previously in Lord Bonkers' Diary... Armed to the teeth with duck-handled umbrellas ...
The bright morning sun woke me unreasonably early this morning, so rather than lie-in complaining about the pain in my shoulder I decided to pay an early visit to the allotment. Nobody else was about when I arrived but during the next couple of hours -before most people's breakfast- two more plot holders cycled by. Having lifted the potatoes already ( salad variety Nicola and a poor crop of Shetland Black) the second two beds are empty except for some leeks that the sharp eyed observers will have noted. The front bed with the fine meshed insect barrier around it ...
I'm not usually one to get too involved in the internal workings of other political parties, and especially don't often offer advice - there's little enough reason why they should listen anyway. However, sometimes, the health of our body politic is a bit more important than that, and given that the place of Scotland in the United Kingdom has a direct impact on how the country as a whole is run, I make an exception here. In Kezia Dugdale, Labour have elected a leader who has an opportunity to start a new chapter in Scottish politics. Not because she has ...
We had a mini-holiday on Monday and Tuesday, staying overnight at Shelley's in Lewes where we attended Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Tim Ashley , The Guardian June 14, 2015 said it was 'Mesmerising, sensitive, at times troublingly erotic, the whole thing forces us to rethink a remarkable work. Outstanding.' We also thought it was a uniformly superb performance. Had a very brief chat with our friend Chi-chi Nwanoku who plays the double bass in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the end' Then on Tuesday our Eritrean friend Mebrak who lives in Lewes picked us up and ...
The divide between Britain's two major parties appears to be getting wider by the day, as David Cameron's Conservatives drop all pretence at being One Nation Tories and instead adopt their default position of being the party of business and the rich. Labour, meanwhile, is in love with Jeremy Corbyn, or at least the bulk [...]
Sat 15th
17:40
David Laws peerage "blocked" - plus new Liberal Democrat House of Lords members speculation
[IMG: David Laws speaking at Lib Dem Spring conference, Liverpool 2008] The Times (£) reports that former Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has nominated former Yeovil MP, David Laws, for elevation to the House of Lords. However, it adds: His nomination for a peerage was blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, chaired by an independent peer, Lord Kakkar. The Times says that this comes "after his involvement in the expenses scandal" without specifically nailing the expenses saga as the reason for the blocking. However, the Mail goes further saying: The seven-strong commission, chaired by the Independent peer Lord ...
[IMG: Stop executions in Iran protest Trafalgar square by helen.2006 or helen61 CCL on Flickr] Writing on PoliticsHome, Alex (Lord) Carlile calls on the British government to condemn the situation in Iran, where there have been just short of 700 executions this year: The International Community must strongly condemn the Iranian authorities' use of capital punishment as a political tool, designed to create an atmosphere of fear. UK can play a vital role in this regard and HM Government should join the international community in condemning and demanding a halt to the planned executions of Salar Shadizadi and Mohammad Ali ...
Mavarine Du-Marie 15th Aug '15 – 1:31pm Lord William Wallace | Sat 15th August 2015 - 11:45 am -"looked out at our back garden, and remarked 'It's far too neat for an active Liberal'." Belonging to the Libdems as a member and also beimg an active member and the Librarian for the Lambeth Horticultural Society... More Gardening and Politics
[IMG: Well Done image (Aug 14 - website)] The Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC) has been a fundamental engine of Liberal Democrat growth. Now, more than ever, they have a crucial role to play in helping to lead the Liberal Democrat fightback. And they have recently stepped up to the plate in spectacular style with their By-election HQ. This is a newly launched service which is a one-stop go-to website for all of us to find out information about council by-elections across the country. These are an essential way for the party to grow back. The By-election HQ gives ...
I'm still ill (and probably will be for the forseeable future, sadly), but today for the first time in weeks I'm relatively clear-headed. I'm going to try to write enough tomorrow, and possibly tonight, that I'll be able to get a few posts up this week even if I have more really bad days. Even [...]
Comments from our esteemed editor: Really pleased for @kdugdalemsp on her election as Scottish Labour leader. She has warmth as well as practical commitment to social justice. — Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) August 15, 2015 I was impressed when @kdugdalemsp took time to send my teenager a handwritten note of encouragement after reading equal marriage essay. — Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) August 15, 2015 I am also cheered by @kdugdalemsp's long commitment to feminism. She will help drive improvement of gender balance at Holyrood. — Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) August 15, 2015 Let's not forget that @kdugdalemsp has a hell of a job ...
There's a fair amount of controversy over how much fraud there really is in British elections. Hence this from Eric Pickles who is in the 'there's lots of it' camp: Eric Pickles, the Government's Anti-Corruption Champion, is to review electoral fraud and make recommendations on what more could be done to tackle it... John Penrose, Minister for Constitutional Reform, said: "Most people feel British elections can be trusted to deliver whatever people have voted for. But, in a changing world, we can't rest on our laurels. We must spot new or growing weaknesses in our election system, and fix them ...
[IMG: Garden by Emma Nagle (etcher) Flickr CCL] Politics and gardening don't mix. You need to pay most attention to flowers and vegetables in March and April, when campaigning for the May elections fills your evenings. In June and July you should be watering your vegetables more evenings than not, instead of going out to parish council meetings or encouraging new members. Only in August, when it's too late to do much more than harvest what came up nevertheless, can the activist give the garden or allotment the attention it needs. Helen and I got our first garden, in Manchester, ...
OK, so that's a deliberately provocative title for a post which I know some will find controversial - stick with me, and hopefully you'll see why I chose it. Firstly, a little bit of context. I was prompted to write this today be a couple of things. Initially it was related to articles like this: about the lack of a Union Flag on the new GB athletics kit. Now personally I think this is a bit of a non-story, since the whole thing is pretty conclusively union flag coloured anyway, but I can, of course, understand the sentiment. There ...
TTIP stands for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It doesn't yet exist but negotiations, between the European Commission and the United States, are taking place now to create it. The aim is to turn these two huge economic areas into one great a free trade zone. Well, I'm a Liberal and very much disposed towards free trade. However, there are several very serious problems related to TTIP. The main ones, to my mind, are: 1. As with any free trade area, what is permissible in one economy is permissible in the other. But the US's regulations to maintain high food ...
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] There was a brilliant gain for the Lib Dems in Powys (CC) on Thursday night with candidate James Gibson-Watt polling 44.4% of the vote to secure victory in Glasbury division, with the defending Tories vote share dropping by 10.9% from three years ago. The seat had been vacated by new Conservative Brecon & Radnorshire MP Christopher Davies and the result is even more impressive when considering the party had failed to even stand a candidate in the ward's two previous elections. The win makes the Lib Dems the second largest party on Powys County ...
Keith Holloway has welcomed the announcement in July that Stepping Hill Hospital will be one of four Greater Manchester centres providing specialist 24/7 services, especially for urgent abdominal surgery, and that Wythenshawe will not lose any of its current specialist services. "Along with the confirmation of Stepping Hill earlier this year as the third major stroke centre, I believe Stepping Hill will now develop as a major specialist centre for Stockport, Tameside and surrounding areas in High Peak and Cheshire East." Keith said. Patients from Cheadle, Gatley and Heald Green going to Wythenshawe are unaffected. All existing emergency departments remain ...
A reminder of our post from last week: Have you run a great campaign? If so ALDC want to hear from you! The ALDC Campaigner Award winners highlight the best ideas and practice of Liberal Democrat activists across the Country and we are still looking for entries to this year's Campaigner Awards. We have already had some great examples from Focus teams at ALDC HQ and will be sharing these more widely after Conference but we still want to hear from you. The awards include prizes for the Best Ward Campaign, for engaging with your local members, the best literature ...
Courtesy of Cocoa Motors comes this handy leafleting aid: For the full revolutionary effect, combine this invention with this novel leaflet design.
Once Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader of the Labour Party (let's just stop saying "if", shall we?), he's going to face the problem that confronts all socialist leaders at some point: it's all going to go horribly pear-shaped as reality sets in. His party won't listen to the serial rebel, and a strange bond in the House of Commons could be quickly formed by the frontbenches of the Conservative Party and the backbenches of the Labour Party in a bid to run the country somewhat sensibly in the midst of what I'll call the Corbyn-Redwood axis of madness. Those same Labour ...
The Dundee Food Train is going from strength to strength and you can read more about the service locally here. The Food Train is a Scottish charity providing a vital grocery delivery service to older people. This service is run by volunteers and is always looking for new volunteers to come forward to help across Dundee. The charity recently celebrated its 20th anniversary nationally and you can read its latest newsletter covering this milestone here.
A new planning applications has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 58991 Registration Date: 21/07/2015 Location: 359 Heywood Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2RW Proposal: Certificate of lawfulness for proposed single storey rear extension Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
A new planning applications has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 59026 Registration Date: 29/07/2015 Location: 8 Gilmore Drive, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1NB Proposal: Single storey extension at side Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
The Covert World of People Trying to Edit Wikipedia for Pay Of course, they don't just try, they often succeed! (tags: wikipedia ) Search for Missing Woman from 1946 Photograph of the Warsaw Ghetto *shiver* (tags: photos poland wwii ) Azerbaijan makes a mockery of justice as couple sentenced in political show trial My friends Leila and Arif jailed on trumped-up charges. (tags: azerbaijan humanrights )
After Just 100 Days, The Penny Is Well and Truly Dropping on How Hard Lib Dems Fought in Government In which Torgeson admits that scifi has ALWAYS been political. CAUTION: contains idiocy. Also USian definitions of "Conservative" and "Liberal" [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
It's been some time since I was last in New York, and the city is ever changing. The effective completion of the memorial for the victims of the September 11th attack by Al Qaeda meant that we could go and see how they have decided to reflect upon an incident that most of us thought unimaginable. In order to ensure that you can walk into the museum, it is best to book in advance online - you can print off the ticket - so that you can fit your visit in efficiently. And it is very efficient, with admission organised ...
