There was a very convivial meeting of Liberal Democrats in Communications this evening, hosted by Rob Blackie in the basement of a welcoming upmarket pub in Pimlico. Apart from networking the idea was to hear from two speakers: Richard Morris, a successful advertising executive and author of the popular A View from Ham Common blog, [...]
Just to say that I've started getting the podcast versions done of the August posts. They'll all be downloadable from the podcast site by the end of tonight. I will only be doing substantive posts, not the "I'm too sick to post" ones.
Another fine crop, some of them close to Market Harborough. Earlier posts in this series: Devon, Bedfordshire, North Lincolnshire, East Sussex, Leicestershire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, Cumbria, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Cornwall, Rutland. Northumberland, Shropshire, Suffolk, East Riding of Yorkshire, Norfolk, Wiltshire and Hertfordshire.
It's clearly more complicated than you might think, as Premier Inn has special signs to announce that this is what's happening. Who knew?!
Campaigners condemn bank closures A campaign by two Lib Dem councillors to save a Southport bank has been strongly backed by local residents. A petition organised by Councillors Pat Keith and John Dodd against the proposed closure of Nat West's Churchtown branch has attracted hundreds of signatures and messages of support from residents and businesses. Local Solicitors, Cockshott, Peck and Lewis have pledged their support and Wendy Tyson, resident Solicitor at their Churchtown Office said: " We visit this branch on a daily basis to bank cheques, it's always busy and regularly used by businesses and local families. There's free ...
Cheadle's Conservative MP has claimed that closing courts will "provide better access to justice". Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Mary Robinson said After these changes, over 95 per cent of people will still be able to reach their required court within an hour by car and those people living in Cheadle and Stockport can reach Manchester in 15 minutes by train and 45 minutes by bus. We can only provide better access to justice if we take difficult decisions to reduce the cost of courts and reinvest the savings in a modernised service. We don't know whether she realises ...
It's that time of year again – Federal Liberal Youth and the Welsh organisation IR Cymru are electing the teams which will lead them through the next year. The new executives will take office on 1st November. I am Returning Officer for the third year. Any member of the party who is under 26 or is in full-time education is eligible to vote. Everyone the party thinks fits those categories should have had an email on Sunday evening. If you haven't, please check your Spam folder. If it's not there, get in touch with membership department here and ask them ...
[IMG: George-orwell-BBC] Over on the (unaffiliated) Journeyman blog there is a review of George Orwell's collection of essays called Why I write, which was originally published in 1946. The review quotes a couple of passages where Orwell makes observations about England. (I apologise that these opinions are very specifically given about England only, rather than the country as a whole). The first passage is about the artistic and intellectual characteristics of the English: Here are a couple of generalizations about England that would be accepted by almost all observers. One is that the English are not gifted artistically...the English are ...
It feels like a lifetime ago since Ed Miliband threw in the towel that kicked off the race for the new Labour leader and it is still over a week ... Continue reading →
"Do you agree that the UK should leave the EU and trade with the world?" That's the question on the front page of the UKIP website, and presumably how they want to start framing the referendum debate once they launch their own No campaign later this week. "Out, and into the world," as it was put in the 1970s. But that's a false choice. We don't have to choose between Europe and the world. We can have both. Let's start by emphasising just how important the European marketplace is to British business. Last year, according to figures from the Office ...
Tim Farron was widely quoted on Monday, for perhaps the first time since his election as leader. The good news is that he was correct in his point. He was responding to a resurfaced quote from Labour leadership favourite, Jeremy Corbyn, who has said to Iranian TV that Bin Laden's death was "a tragedy", as it was unlawful and he should have been put on trial instead. That the killing of Bin Laden was illegal has been a favourite proposition of the Galloway-ite hard left, so it isn't a surprise to see them jump up and defend Corbyn. But I ...
[IMG: referendum2] From the BBC The elections watchdog has recommended a change to the question to be put to voters in a future EU referendum. The Electoral Commission said the wording proposed by ministers – "should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?" – could be perceived as biased to the status quo. It has proposed adding the words "or leave the European Union?" It has been reported that Downing St has accepted this advice. On the face of it, this seems quite reasonable. There does appear to be an advantage in being "Yes", and therefore a ...
What distinguishes a political party from a pressure group? Is it the breadth of their agenda? Not really, look at some of the new campaigning outfits, like the irritating 38 Degrees. Is it that they are standing for elections? Not really, pressure groups can and do so. Is it that they have to be registered as a political party? Please don't bore me with legal definitions... No, what makes a political party a political party is that they aspire to run the country, which means that their programme has to cover all the essentials that a government might need. They ...
Final details of the Stage 4 of the tour of Britain next week ( Wednesday 9th September ) are available The route enters Blyth along the road from Seaton Sluice, goes along Rotary Way, Broadway and Renwick Road and then down Waterloo Rd with the finish at the Market Place Because of this, there will be road closures along the route. Along the route the roads will be closed from 1 pm until 4 pm ( with a little "wriggle room" possible if the race timing is very fast, or very slow ) There will also be parking restrictions along ...
Maghull resident Mal Gore wrote this and it is reproduced with his permission:- It was election time in Fairyland, Voting fever should have been in the air. But the three candidates were so boring, Nobody seemed to care. The king of the fairies had been banished, No one believed a word he would say. It was time to shake up the constitution, A president was the call of the day. Then just for a laugh one old fairy wag, Persuaded old Morning Star he should stand. His ideas were weird and when tried before, Had bankrupted the gnomes in Gnomeland. ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33254803 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above [IMG: images] This thoughtful piece is worth a read because it does look like we were conned about the 'benefits' of diesel cars. I for one was taken in and had a couple of diesel powered cars, maybe you were too?
If you've actually read this blog rather than relating to the title only, then I'll just say now I do think there is a point to intersectionality - it's just an absolutely terrible word! Although this does make me sound like the kind of men who disagree with the word feminism though not the concept, I do think the word intersectionalism (or intersectionality) is terrible, it sounds technical and off-putting. What's much better is what Nicki Minaj has been saying recently. Suzanne Moore summed up what I think in an article at the weekend - (tho I'm rather disappointed the ...
The official brochure for this fun fortnight-long event is now available for those wanting a preview of the action. St Albans and Harpenden Food and Drink Festival runs from Tuesday 22 September to Monday 5 October with appetising events and activities for adults and children to enjoy. Among the activities are tastings, workshops and competitions [...]
Liberal Democrats need to clarify where we stand on how large a public sector we support, the balance of public spending and administration between state, national/regional and local levels, and the appropriate division between private and public provision in our economy and society. We are now faced with a Labour Party which is likely, under its new leader, to reassert large-scale state-level spending, and a Conservative Party that wants to shrink and weaken both the central state and local government. The Conservative Government contains a number of convinced libertarians, with an almost anarchist streak in their antagonism to state action, ...
An enjoyable (and possibly even improving) part of my holiday was spent as a participant in the Cranleigh Choral Week, where we practised chamber music during the day, and the "major work(s)" for public performance at Dorking Halls at the end of the week, each evening. Sharing the facilities of the boarding school where we were housed and fed was the Tonga National Rugby Team, here to train for the Rugby World Cup. Before I discovered that they played the "other" code, I was eager to prime them with the information that I lived near Huddersfield, where the Rugby League ...
A welcome result of the rewilding of the Welland through Market Harborough has been the return of wood nymphs to its banks. The last one recorded before this spring was hunted and killed by the Fernie in 1952.
THE latest policing statistics published by the UK government have shown that the number of police community support officers (PCSOs) in Wales has been declining since September 2013, the Welsh Lib Dems said.Commenting on the figures, Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West Peter Black said: "I applaud the Welsh Government for their initiative in funding these extra PCSOs. They have certainly made a difference in many communities around Wales. However, we need to be realistic about what was actually funded and note that the pledge to put 500 extra PCSOs on the beat was not achieved, albeit ...
Or the new Liberal Democrat blogger, as there was only one blog added to the LibDemBlogs aggregator in August and that has been running for some time. Roaming Ryan writes on the refugee camp at Calais: What about the people who actually live in these circumstances and Calais' largest settlement, 'The Jungle'? They come from unimaginable circumstances, from war stricken countries and from hopeless despair. With no opportunities they come to Britain for a better life. Some have crossed the unforgiving desert, the perils of the Mediterranean Sea and through the forests of Eastern Europe.It's a good blog - as ...
In the run-up to Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, we'll be looking ahead to examine the highlights in the debating hall, the fringe and training rooms. You can find the papers here. You can find all the posts in the series here. One of the motions at conference is for reducing VAT on tourism as far as possible. Here's why that's a bad idea. The idea is to reduce VAT on hotels and selected attractions from the standard rate of 20% to 5% - the minimum allowed by the EU. This is something the British Hospitality Association has been lobbying the ...
As the left chatters away about the Labour leadership contest, and the economic and diplomatic implications of a Jeremy Corbyn leadership, the real stuff of politics in Britain goes on. And there is no doubting the top issue: immigration. Immigration has, as in many developed countries, become a lightning-rod issue for general discontent. Grumpy conservatives, especially those of lower middle class and working class standing and white origin, have decided that it is at the seat of most ills. They see a world changing around them, with middle ranking jobs disappearing, house prices and rents escalating beyond reach, public services ...
So Corbyn becomes leader of the Labour Party – will there be another split a la 1981 as a result? There are many factors working against that happening any time soon. For or a start, 1981 itself. As you may recall, that didn't go so well. The "prepare for government" quip looked foolish in light of 23 seats. Also, many on the right of Labour are hoping (and betting, really) on the Corbyn thing being temporary, a minor glitch in the system. Only thing is, Jeremy was supposed to be a very minor thing indeed, as in come fourth in ...
Wes Craven, US horror filmmaker, dies aged 76 - so long, creator of Freddy Man trying to paint his daughter's bedroom texts the wrong number and finds the perfect friend. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Last month, I raised residents' concerns with the City Council that, after just weeks of operation, the lift at the new Seabraes Bridge had broken down. In advance of this week's official opening of the bridge, I paste below the reassurances about the (now repaired) lift - from the City Engineer : "The lift was brought back into operation that same week that you raised it with the lift manufacturer carrying out a full service and inspection of the lift and all its components. The lift will be serviced by the manufacturer every month during the defects period, when teething ...
Photopolis is a major photographic resource in Dundee City Council's ownership that I have, with the permission of the Communities Division of the council, featured photographs from in the past. It consists of a significant selection of quality photographs from various collections in the Central Library and the City Archives that can be accessed via the City Council's website, allowing easy access to large numbers of historical photographs. By popular request, during this month, I'll again feature some of the superb West End photos on Photopolis. As a start, pictured below is Grosvenor Terrace - 307-313 Perth Road - and ...
One the of the more distinctive policy offerings in the Liberal Democrats Federal manifesto during this year's General Election was the complete abolition of the Severn Bridge tolls. We calculated that this would save the average motorist commuting each day over £1560 per year. These tolls are a huge barrier to business, costing the South Wales economy around £107 million a year. Now UKIP have adopted our policy with Nigel Farage writing in the Western Mail this morning that these tolls penalise those coming into the country on one of the most direct routes from England. You would think that ...
One the of the more distinctive policy offerings in the Liberal Democrats Federal manifesto during this year's General Election was the complete abolition of the Severn Bridge tolls. We calculated that this would save the average motorist commuting each day over £1560 per year. These tolls are a huge barrier to business, costing the South Wales economy around £107 million a year. Now UKIP have adopted our policy with Nigel Farage writing in the Western Mail this morning that these tolls penalise those coming into the country on one of the most direct routes from England. You would think that ...
The latest #softpower rankings and key UK soft power assets A bit rose-tinted in my view... (tags: ukpolitics politics ) How My First Boss Taught Me How to "Work Happy" Lean in, relax, have fun. (tags: lifehacking ) New nuclear fuel bank a welcome development My former boss writes. (tags: nuclear uspolitics ) Fan Is A Tool-Using Animal Maciej Cegłowski of Pinboard reflects on fandom. (tags: sf internet ) John Bruton : Will China be able to manage necessary economic changes? Pithy analysis from former Taoiseach. (tags: China ) Pluto in Enhanced Color Wow! (tags: astronomy )
