Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe. 1. Childrens Home The Conservative administration on Broxtowe Borough Council have rejected the advice of their own officers and decided to refuse planning permission for the development of a new childrens home for looked after children in Nuthall. The plan was to have a home for 5 children but according to the Tories this would cause unacceptable parking problems. I've heard some feeble excuses for the sort of prejudice that children in care have to face but this ...
We had another action day today in Gateshead, this time in Dunston Hill and Lobley Hill, though a team also got sent into Whickham to deliver our latest Focus. I went door-knocking in both Lobley Hill and Dunston Hill. Quite a positive response from most people. Only one person was rude. Another said he didn't support us but was terribly nice about it. One person said we must be rubbing our
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 434th 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 (4-10 October, 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. Alex Folkes quits politics by Mark Pack ...
On the BBC Radio Player here you can hear me introduce "Tiger Feet" by Mud as it went onto "Johnnie's Jukebox" this afternoon – on "Sounds of the Seventies" with Johnnie Walker on Radio 2. Move the slider to 26:12 to hear the excerpt (lasts for the next month).
[IMG: Testing Times - Peter Brookes] As with his previous collection, Sign of the Times, this new volume of cartoons from the award-winning Times cartoonist Peter Brookes is full of great satire and brutally effective caricatures. Testing Times is, thankfully, given the high quality production treatment that is often missing from books which contain a few photographs or cartoons in them. These are all in full colour, reproduced at a good size on high quality paper. The one slight disappointment is the foreword from Brookes himself, which manages to cram in a remarkably large selection of pessimistic political cliches into ...
The outside of the Sagrada Familia, approaching its Nativity Façade, [IMG: IMG_3083] was extraordinary but somehow familiar. It has become Barcelona's most famous landmark. But I was not ready for the inside. The soaring columns; the vaults like a giant forest canopy; the different coloured light coming in through the stained glass windows. This basilica seems little more than half-finished but it completely overshadows the city's fine and (mainly) medieval cathedral. And that is evident from the numbers who go and see it. That sums up Barcelona very nicely. Last week was my first visit to the city. What struck ...
Here is the latest FOCUS newsletter from Meols Ward Liberal Democrats, which was recently delivered to residents of Churchtown, Crossens and Marshside.
OK, so I've had a week off after completing California Dreaming — the paper formatting will take another week or so, but the book itself is done and all backers should have an ebook copy at the moment — and so I'm planning to get back to blogging every (or at least most) day(s). Proper [...]
[IMG: Israeli children visit Palestinian village of Tuwani and participate in bilingual activities together - Some rights reserved by delayed gratfication] As reported by the human ticker-tape machine, Mark Pack, Tim Farron has appointed two Middle East advisers, in the shape of Lord Monroe Palmer and John McHugo. I think this an extremely wise move by Tim. Monroe Palmer, a Local Liberal Hero, is a former chairman of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel and has a long and distinguished career as a councillor and speaker on matters of concern to the UK Jewish community. John McHugo is chair of ...
The Film the Riot Club portrayed the life of the out of touch rich and wealthy that grew up to be Tory Ministers! I've been following with interest the discussions about housing and in particular the discussions about Right to ... Continue reading →
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the 12,900 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... +++Breaking: Lib Dem Jean Davis in stunning by-election win from the SNP (19 comments) by Caron Lindsay Tim Farron on Question Time open thread (37 comments) by Caron Lindsay Jeremy Corbyn and the Emperor's New Clothes (55 comments) by Paul Walter A trio of embarrassments for the SNP (15 comments) by Caron Lindsay Reaction to Theresa May speech (19 comments) by Joe Otten David Cameron's speech open thread (49 comments) by Caron Lindsay LibLink: Tim Farron: ...
F and I went to see The Martian last night. I had read the book for the Clarke Award, and enjoyed it very much (though obviously not quite as much as the ones we shortlisted); it was by far the most widely owned of all the books submitted on both LibraryThing and Goodreads. The film did what I hoped it would do, and included almost all of the set piece scenes from the book, making them at least as good as they had been in my head. I'm not going to claim that it's Great Art, but I do think ...
This excerpt is from Tim Farron's main speech to the Bournemouth conference: Since May, the Government has threatened the human rights act, demonised refugees, penalised working families, abandoned green energy. You know, if ever you doubted the effectiveness of the Liberal Democrats in Government just look at what's happening without us. In the words of Joni Mitchell "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til its gone " Except for one thing – we are not gone. We may not be able to change our country from the top down, just for now, but ...
Patience and Prudence are virtues. But they were also a successful singing act for a short while. Ear Candy magazine tells the story: Patience & Prudence were actually sisters and the daughters of orchestra leader Mack McIntyre. Patience (11 years old) and Prudence (14 years old) McIntyre were encouraged by their father, who was already a well know piano player and songwriter (who also co-wrote the B-sides of their two hits). Mack McIntyre brought his daughters into the Liberty Records recording studios in Los Angeles in the summer of 1956. One of the songs from their audition tape was a ...
I've recently been contacted by residents living in and around Ripon Close, Werrington, who have reported seeing a rat or two in their local vicinity. I myself have seen rats on many an occasion, running around near to certain food outlets and along footpaths, where waste and rubbish has started to collect. But what can you [...]
From the Leicester Mercury: A hologram of Richard III's body will be projected at the subterranean religious ruins where he was publicly display following his death at Bosworth. Students at De Montfort University have been asked to come up with designs for the three-dimension projection, which will feature in what is left of the Church of the Annunciation. The remains of the medieval building - two arches - stand in the cellar of DMU's Hawthorn Building, in the Newarke, Leicester. More than 500-years-ago, Richard's remains were placed there to show he had been defeated by Henry Tudor - a vital ...
More educative entertainment from Tom Scott:
My naked run down Whitehall to raise funds for Médecins Sans Frontières (UK) is scheduled to take place this week. Many thanks to all those who've so far sponsored me – the current pledge total stands at £6,700, 95% of the way towards my £7k target. You can add your contribution here (and THANK YOU to those who already have). As I contemplate my streak, this 40 second video is a handy reminder why I'm doing it:
One of the more compelling arguments made against Jeremy Corbyn by his opponents in the Labour leadership contest was that a serial rebel such as himself could not expect the Parliamentary Party to fall into line behind him on crucial, but controversial votes. Essentially, the discipline expected of an opposition party would dissipate and give Cameron and the Tories a free reign in the House of Commons. And so it is proving. Today's Observer reports that at least 50 Labour MPs are prepared to defy Jeremy Corbyn by backing military action to protect civilians in Syria: In a clear challenge ...
We've had huge success getting new Free Schools to fix the lack of school places at both primary and secondary school levels. I've been involved in making five happen so far. Often despite downright opposition from Southwark Labour until we get huge numbers f parents signed up. We clearly have work to get these schools fully up and running but largely supporting projects through to implimentation. Another big issue that affects everyone is our local GP service. GP practices are private businesses. Most are run with real care and dedication from the partners. But not all. The service feels patchy ...
I went to see a speech by Gordon Brown on the future of Scotland on Thursday evening. Given the current state of Scottish politics I might well have expected an impassioned attack on the SNP and a confident denunciation of independence. Instead he was remarkably conciliatory on nationalism, given the past positions of the Labour party. He came out as a third-questioner – the never-offered option that has consistently found majority support. He called for a constitutional convention to address what he sees as the big issue in British politics – the ability of England to dominate politics due to ...
Now that the school Autumn holidays are underway, my usual weekly ward surgeries do not take place, but I can still be contacted on any local issues or concerns through my e-surgery - just e-mail esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk. I can also be contacted at home at any time on 459378 and also during office hours at my Dundee City Council office on 434985. Surgeries commence again on Monday 26th October - full details of surgery days and times here.
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above. [IMG: nhs-logo] Here we go again with parts of the NHS being privatised this time unsurprisingly under a Tory Government. This process started in earnest under the last Labour Government and if memory serves Andy Burnham had a hand in it back then did he not? Do politicians not understand that we don't want our NHS in private hands for private profit!
Sun 11th
08:15
Labour at the moment remind me a bit of the Lib Dems five years ago - but without the government bit
If you trawl this very website, you will be able to see various strains of extremely wishful thinking regarding the Liberal Democrats' electoral prospects come May 7th, 2015, all written prior to that day, obviously. Like when I thought the party would get 17% of the vote. Or speculated on the possibility of 45 seats. Over the past few weeks, I've read many articles from Labour people that remind me a lot of what I and many other Lib Dems sounded like five years ago. I thought about citing examples, but I don't want to pick anyone out, it's unfair ...
Astronomy Community Mounts Stronger Response In Sexual Harassment Case Than UC Berkeley Vested interests v community. (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality astronomy ) Patrick Moore's legacy Brian May explains. (tags: astronomy ) Why Free Markets Make Fools of Us by Cass R. Sunstein Great (though long) review of what sounds like an excellent book. (tags: psychology economics ) The Exemplary Narcissism of Snoopy What Schulz was really trying to say. (tags: comics )
James Baker corrects the lies the Daily Express has printed about Calderdale Lib Dems (& Labour) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Dennis Healey, Pope Francis and scrapping borders. A fighting life (The Economist) [Denis Healey's] relations with the hard left had never been sweet. He detested those "Toytown Trots", and as early as 1959 had warned the Labour Party not to "teach Socialist Sunday school" but to engage with the problems of the average worker—like the man [...]
