Autumn time is when most political parties hold their main conference to debate what their views are on some of the major areas that effect of our lives. Housing and education made a lot of coverage during the week, as did Tim Farron - in his new role as Leader of the Liberal Democrats. This comes as the new government is about to make further cuts to many of the services we need. An example of this which will affect many in Ealing is where the Conservatives look likely to cut free meals for infant school pupils. This policy was ...
Robert Fisk is the first journalist, as far as I'm aware, to label Saudi Arabia for its scandalous destruction of Islamic world heritage sites, and to highlight the contrast between the West's criticism of the Daesh for destroying Palmyra, and their total silence as Saudi Arabia demolishes sites associated with the Prophet and his family http://ind.pn/1jkTyln. This is a matter of concern to the whole of humankind, and we should demand that UNESCO take it up with the so-called 'Caretaker of the Two Noble Sanctuaries.
Thanks to Flashbak for pointing us to this 1969 television commercial for the Lyons Maid ice lolly Luv. It was shot by Ridley Scott and features a young David Bowie as one of the band.
No one can deny that the Tories ran a stunning campaign to get back into power in May. It wasn't a nice campaign. It wasn't the kind of campaign that we would ever want to run, based – as it was – on the politics of fear and division. But, my God, it worked. We must learn from it. Not to repeat similar messages, but to replicate the style and method. What absolutely clinched it was that the messages had a hard edge, were simple, and were delivered multiple times on a variety of platforms. You would have had to ...
This project we started as East Dulwich Lib Dems in 2012 is really coming to life. Last week the first two areas of Dulwich Hospital land were transferred to the Education finance Agency. Areas 1 & 2 with combined 2 acres or 0.80 hectares. This represents 9.6% of the whole sitesl and – so still a long way to go and Area 3 is planned to be handed over in 2019. Please see this map: Dulwich Disposal site map This letter confirms this happening – I almost need to pinch myself: Dulwich Hospital trasfer letter FINAL We now all need ...
The stealthy, Eric Schmidt-backed startup that's working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House An under-the-radar startup funded by billionaire Eric Schmidt has become a major technology vendor for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign... The Groundwork is one of the Clinton campaign's biggest vendors, billing it for more than $177,000 in the second quarter of 2015, according to federal filings. Yet many political operatives know little about it... Democratic political operatives and technologists said that the Groundwork's focus is on building a platform that can perform the critical functions of modern campaigning. These sources tell Quartz that the Groundwork has ...
Welsh Labour ministers run their departments like barons and the First Minister lacks the muscle to get them to work collectively in the interests of Wales. This was the headline message that I took away from today's Public Policy Institute for Wales' (PPIW) lecture on policy making in small countries. It was fascinating, not as a result of the lecture itself, but as a result of the discussion afterwards. Ex special advisers and former civil servants did not hold back in their views on how the Welsh Government works. Now 'off the leash', they painted a picture of a civil ...
Despite the brilliant performance against Uruguay, England is out of the World Rugby Cup. I watched the matches, I urged them on, I wished for victory. It did not help. England is out with the rest of the home counties in: [IMG: Ireland Scotland Wales IN Rugby Cup England OUT 7Oct15] How sad it is to see England out. How frustrated I was ... and I started thinking about England and her position in the rugby world and her position in the world at large. From which my mind jumped to what a map of British Isles map could look ...
We saw the wrong way to talk about immigration last week – Theresa May's "awful, ugly, misleading, cynical and irresponsible speech to the Conservative Party conference " (© Daily Telegraph). But what's the liberal / LibDem way? One answer is, as Tim Farron has put it, to "be un-nuanced in our positivity about immigration". This reflects much of the thinking on the pro-migration liberal-left that the way to counter the mix of legitimate concerns and xenophobic fears is to challenge myths and fact-bust the distorted claims perpetrated by right-wing newspapers. The problem is that such an approach rarely persuades and ...
The Times speculates that Jeremy Corbyn may be planning a purge of moderate MPs, following a challenge by senior Labour figures who want him to come clean about the role of a new hard-left organisation aligned to the party: Mary Creagh, a shadow cabinet member until last month, and the former home secretary Lord Blunkett, raised questions about Momentum. The organisation, which describes itself as a "successor" to Mr Corbyn's leadership campaign this summer, was launched last week with his backing and that of the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. It announced its goals to "organise in every town, city and ...
[IMG: aldc-logo] We've just heard the excellent news that the Association of Liberal Democrats Campaigners and Councillors (ALDC) has been awarded £480,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd (JRRT) . The funding will be over five years and will expand ALDC's team of Development Officers. They are the people who travel around the country to help local parties. We've received comments from two Tims. First Cllr Tim Pickstone, Chief Exec of ALDC: This is really good news. ALDC's only priority is for us to win more local elections, and this funding will mean that we are able to work ...
Mon 12th
13:42
'Britain is stronger in Europe, and Hastings, St Leonards and Rye are better off because of it'
Today the campaign for the UK to stay in the European Union is formally launched with the message that leaving is "not worth the risk". On the morning of the launch Nick Perry on behalf of the Hastings & Rye Association said, 'The Liberal Democrats are the only party wholeheartedly committed to fighting to remain [...]
[IMG: strongerin] Britain Stronger In Europe (formerly known as The In Campaign) officially launched itself today, ready for the referendum on Europe whose date we still don't know. The fifteen members of the campaign's board were also announced and I have to admit that the names they've released don't fill me with too much confidence. I'm not saying that they're unimpressive names, as they all have a strong record of achievement in their respective fields, and they'd make a very impressive board for a national charity. The problem is that this isn't a charity, or a networking event for the ...
Mon 12th
13:11
Proposed creation of a small Car Park at Sandgate Recreation Ground and Re-shaping of the Dog Run
[IMG: Sandgate Parish Council logo / arms] Sandgate Parish Council wishes to create a car park for up to 10 / 12 cars so as to create a safer environment for users of the recreation ground. Whilst it is hoped that the majority of users of the park will walk to it, there are occasions when people will drive there and, by creating a car park, it is hoped to lessen the cars being parked on Military Road. The car park proposals include the re-shaping of the dog run but there will be no significant reduction in its overall size. ...
I visited the Calais Jungle a week ago, where around 4,000 people live in terribly squalid conditions. My trip was organised by staff from Lib Dem HQ, who had collected donations so we were able to distribute water, food and sanitary products. It was a shocking experience to see the dreadful conditions people are living in. The Jungle is worse than a shanty town, with very few facilities. There was no sign of water being provided and the people we met clutched gratefully the bottles we had transported. Shoes, clothes and dry foods were also in demand. Portable toilets are ...
[IMG: Europe-campaign] LDHQ have launched some materials for the Liberal Democrat, Britain Stronger In Europe campaign It includes some initial resources to win the forthcoming referendum on Britain's continued membership of the European Union. Resources currently available are: Leaflets – two leaflets – a postcard to get people involved and hand out at street stalls and an A4 [...]
We need to talk about twitter etiquette. Right about now. Can people PLEASE stop sneering at the number of followers people have* a la people piling on to June Sarpong this morning? You don't think she's cool, you think you're cool, we get it. But if you, say have 25,000 followers because you're a journalist and your twitter profile is at the top of each of your articles, and the person you are criticising only has 3,000, you look rubbish. You do. It looks cheap and nasty, because it is. It's rude. Don't do it. Would you openly go around ...
This is a subject that must be in the top 3 that I have posted about in recent times; it is certainly quite a saga of false dawns. But hey maybe this time the project really is a runner; we can only hope so. From this:- [IMG: The present Merseyrail rolling stock Class 507/8 EMU's) at Southport Station.] The present Merseyrail rolling stock Class 507/8 EMU's) at Southport Station. To this?:- [IMG: Could the new rolling stock look like this?] Could the new rolling stock look like this? The following is from a presentation to Merseytravel Committee members on 1st ...
There was one hold, one gain, one loss and two near misses for the Liberal Democrats in last week's exciting set of principal council by-elections. Jean Davis polled 33.5% of first preference votes in Aird & Loch Ness division in the Highlands (UA) to secure an impressive gain for the Liberal Democrats from the SNP. Victory was [...]
[IMG: Leeds yellow book] New liberal ideas for our city and region: that is what is offered in The Leeds Yellow Book 2015: Essays on a Liberal Future for Leeds. The Leeds Yellow Book 2015 is a collection of essays by Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrat supporters offering fresh thinking and ideas for our city on how to ensure that everyone in Leeds and the Leeds City Region, no matter how they started out can make life better for themselves, their family and their community. The essays are focussed on Leeds but can be applied to any city or region. ...
[IMG: Date and Time settings screen] Having spent a slightly frustrating few hours over the weekend trying to resolve some issues with my Tesco Hudl2, I thought I'd post my experience and feedback from Tesco here in case it saves anyone else a few minutes angst... I got my tablet around 6 months ago on the basis of a recommendation (from @garymarkfuller) that they were at the time the best value tablet on the market. I've been delighted with it since: quick, smooth, nicely configured, decent price (now £99): as customer reviews go, mark me down as really content with ...
In itself, the New York Senate getting a new website may sound a rather niche story, even for New Yorkers.* However its original functionality for allowing the public to track legislation and let their elected representatives know what they think of what they're up to is very interesting – and there's no reason it should be restricted to the New York Senate: [IMG: New York Senate website screenshot] From the user dashboard, residents can follow issues, look up bills, and write to their senator. Any feedback given—petitions signed or bills supported with an "aye" or opposed with a "nay"—is sent, ...
[IMG: Embedded image permalink] I've spent much of the past fifteen years being misunderstood about what I was saying about the corrosive effect of numbers in policy. I remember the blank look a member of Tony Blair's cabinet gave me when I told him about the contents of my book The Tyranny of Numbers. By then the the corrosion had really taken hold. It wasn't so much a problem with counting itself; it was the corrosion of effectiveness when we start muddling up the numbers with the real thing. It was, and is, extremely hard to convince policy people that ...
Nick Clegg made a big announcement on Thursday 1st October that has as yet gone unreported on LDV – he's going on a jolly around Europe. Well no, not quite. He's actually going on a tour of the EU to try to convince its leaders to stand together on the subject of international drug policy reform. Nothing like a challenge, eh Nick? But this is a serious issue, and at an absolutely crucial time. In April next year, the UN General Assembly will be holding a Special Session (UNGASS) to debate how to approach global drug policy over the next ...
[IMG: ALDC supports Liberal Democrat candidates and campaigners across the country] The team at ALDC, Liberal Democrat Campaigners and Councillors, is delighted to announce that Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd (JRRT) has agreed to fund a major piece of ALDC work over the next five years (2016-2020). The funding of £480,000 over five years is to support the organisation's team of Development Officers, who are based [...]
Several residents have recently expressed concern about the speed of a minority of drivers in the Logie area, particularly running through the main street - Logie Avenue. There are concerns that some drivers from outwith the area are using Logie Avenue as a short cut and I asked the council's Head of Transportation for a speed/safety survey to be carried out, which he has kindly agreed to. Given the large number of elderly people in the area, particularly in the sheltered housing part of Logie, it is important that vehicle speeds are kept to a minimum.
The Out campaign launched last Friday (well, one of the Out campaigns anyhow); today, it is the In campaign's turn. It goes without saying that I wish them all the success and luck in the world. Britain since 2010 has gone from being a country that almost never had referenda to one going through an era of the things. First up was the AV referendum, in May 2011. As a veteran of the much maligned (much of the opprobrium deserved) Yes campaign, I have an insight into how these things go – and go wrong. It is easy for a ...
Enda Kenny: I will hold the election in Spring 2016 Ignore rumours to the contrary. (tags: ireland ) New Pluto Images from NASA's New Horizons: It's Complicated Wow. (tags: astronomy Pluto ) In Berlin, it's better to have a Belgian bank account than a German one Wahnsinn! (tags: eu belgium germany )
8 tips for managing anxiety that actually work for some people some of the time - HALT a big one for me It could take 700 years for female characters to get on screen equality Famous Berkeley Astronomer Violated Sexual Harassment Policies Over Many Years [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Originally posted by and this from the step between the memorials, looking back. Presumably the artificial hillface was where the actual targets were set up. And this is from the lower level, looking back up at the middle level. Most memorials are marked with crosses, though there are a few stars of David. You can't see it here, but the crosses two rows back are marke 'Inconnu - Onbekend'. The slab on the left is a memorial erected by survivors of Nazi camps in the second world war. All those who rest here were killed during the Second World War. ...
Mon 12th
07:00
Lib Dems set up expert panel on cannabis decriminalisation featuring police, scientists and others
[IMG: A cannabis plant. CC0 Public Domain] The Liberal Democrats are to set up an expert panel to establish how a legal market for cannabis could work in Britain, paving the way for them to become the first major political party in the UK to back its legalisation. The move is backed the party's health spokesman, Norman Lamb, and by a former deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Brian Paddick... The review panel members will include Prof David Nutt, the founder of DrugScience and a former chairman of the government's advisory committee on the misuse of drugs, Tom Lloyd ...
New figures show that 28,654 patients have been waiting more than 36 weeks for the start of their NHS treatment. The Welsh Government's target is for not a single person to be waiting over that time. The Welsh Government also has a target for 95% of patients to be waiting less than 26 weeks. Figures show that, at the end of August, this target was also significantly missed with only 84.3% of patients being seen within that time. An increasingly number of people are being forced to wait over eight months for their treatment. That is an absolute disgrace and ...
