Click on the image above to view this film in the Britain on Film collection on the British Film Institute website. The blurb there says: This extraordinary and unexpected snapshot of rural life in wartime - unseen for years due to the fragility of the materials - documents most ancient of English traditions: the selection and crowning of the Queen of the May. But what is so surprising is that 60 years ago the village of Stanion in Northamptonshire chose to honour a young black girl - apparently the daughter of an African merchant seaman who had been evacuated there ...
Dept of Cardiology, King's College Hospital, 14 October 2015 This 87-year-old gentleman was reviewed today in Professor McCarthy's clinic with a remote history of bypass grafting in 1995 (LIMA to LAD, RIMA to OM, SVG to diagonal and RCA). There was an angiogram in 2014 prior to undergoing vascular intervention which showed that all of his grafts are patent. He underwent left leg angioplasty a few months ago for critical ischaemia of the limb and has previously had an EVAR in 2010. His main ongoing problem at the moment seems to be related to myeloproliferative disease with anaemia and increasing ...
We reported back in July that the Seashell Trust wants to expand and redevelop large parts of the school, and believes they need to build houses on fields they own near the site to fund the move. The Seashell Trust have now put out a public consultation document and are inviting people's views on the plans. Make sure you have your say!
I was very proud to see the Liberal Democrat peers, including Dave Goddard – who's also an Offerton councillor – vote to scrap the Conservative Tax Credit cuts tonight. The Conservative plans would see millions of poorer working people lose out. 13,500 families will lose out in Stockport alone, losing an average of £750 each. Sadly, Labour chose not to support the Lib Dems in opposing tax credits – just as they abstained on the welfare bill in the summer, they abstained again tonight. However, the Lib Dems want to get the best result we can for working people so ...
Commenting on the votes in the House of Lords tonight which resulted in two Government defeats on tax credits, Tim Farron said: The Government has been forced into an embarrassing climb down. George Osborne must now go back to the drawing board and come back with plans to balance the books that don't simply attack working families who are already struggling to get by. We have sent a clear signal to the Tories that the British people will not accept this scale of attack on the vital support they need. Tonight's vote gives people hope, but the threat still looms ...
Tim Hall on Labour's new director of strategy and communications I'm no Labour supporter but I was willing to give Jeremy Corbyn a chance to revitalise the British left and shake up the establishment consensus. I'd hoped he's galvanise a broad-based movement rather than retreat into sectarian zealotry. Unfortunately his appointment of Seumas Milne to the powerful post of communications director does not bode well. Milne is an unreconstructed and unrepentant Stalinist who often seemed as though he was only employed as a columnist for the Guardian to make some of their other leftist writers look like voices of reason ...
Editor's Note: The party is currently running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme "What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today." The deadline for contributions is 2nd November. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to voice@libdemvoice.org.uk. I am a Liberal Democrat because I have a sense of justice. Justice means everybody getting a fair chance without the playing field being tilted against them throughout their lives. Justice does not mean everyone being treated the same all the time. Equality before the law is a ...
Bridgnorth: Please keep off the grass Our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Shropshire Star.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34631156 The BBC has the result of Labour's shame-faced House of Lords vote – see link above Would you credit it, Labour refused to back a Lib Dem proposal in the House of Lords tonight to kill off the Tories evil Tax Credit cuts. When Labour had the chance (again!) to back the poor, they backed the Tories instead! Remember they sat on their hands for the Tory's Welfare Reform Bill a few weeks ago and tonight they are failing to support the poor again. The best that Labour can seemingly bring themselves to vote for is a weak proposal ...
[IMG: actionday] It's that time of the year when you first notice that your breath becomes visible in the cold air and you feel the need for that extra layer. Unfortunately refugees living in the camps across Europe have also noticed their breath in the cold air but may not have the extra layers that they need. As Lib Dems, I think it is fair to say, we have been appalled by the government's (lack of) response to the current refugee crisis. We have been appalled that the government has turned its back on those in desperate need and has ...
Mostly I am looking forward to tomorrow. The whole day is allocated for a public inquiry into plans for 215 houses above the river Corve between Bromfield Road and the A49. But, unusually for me, there is a touch of nervousness too. The reason I am looking forward to the event is that it will [...]
I've done some more delving into the fiction eligible for the 1940 Hugos, helped in the first place again by Meredith and in the second by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. On the basis that the most memorable stories of 1940 are likely to be those which have been most frequently picked up for anthologies and collections (and therefore also most likely to have been read by subsequent generations of fans), I did a naked-eye scan of the listings to pick up those which have been republished more than once (novellas) or more than twice (novelettes and short stories) since ...
I've always been a feminist. I just never realised it 'til I started working in politics. I was brought up with an older brother and sister, by gender/label blind parents. I'm proud of our working class roots (Fife, Bannockburn, mining). It gave us our unfaltering work ethic. A work ethic that keeps my brother in full time employment despite a rare condition that will eventually mean a liver transplant. A work ethic that keeps my sister in full time employment as a single mother of three. A work ethic that stops my parents surrendering to electric armchairs in retirement. Point ...
Blyth Town Council is scheduled to meet as follows. Unless stated otherwise meetings are at Arms Evertyne House, and start at 6:30 pm Thursday 5th , Finance Committee Tuesday 10th November ; Planning and Development Committee This meeting is subject to possible cancellation, please contact me, or BTC if you intend attending Thursday 19th November , 6:00 pm Extra-ordinary meeting of the Town Council. This is to be followed by Thursday 19th November , Full Meeting of the Town Council and Public Question Time Tuesday 24th November , Events Committee
[IMG: Liz Barker gets award from Tim Farron] Last week Pink News bestowed on me the honour of Peer of the Year. I am really chuffed to be nominated along with colleagues Brian Paddick and Paul Scriven because Pink News upholds high standards of journalism and is itself a brilliant campaigner for LGBT equality. I am delighted to have won because this is recognition for all the effort that Liberal Democrats have made for equality from parish councils to the European Parliament. No political party has worked longer and stronger for LGBT rights than the Liberal Democrats. The award was ...
Conservative Councillors on the County's education committee (Education, Enterprise and Skills Cabinet Panel) have refused to support the action of the Chairman of the County's headteachers' committee (Schools Forum). The Schools Forum Chair has written to the Education Minister at the Department for Education expressing deep concern about the funding crisis facing Hertfordshire Secondary Schools. [...]
Peterborough City Council has just started consulting on it's fourth Local Transport Plan. Why? Well, it's a statutory requirement that all local transport authorities outside of London produce a Local Transport Plan under the Transport Act 2000, as amended by the Local Transport Act 2008. The theory is that, the ask the people of Peterborough and other interested organisations [...]
Since 1st September I have been the Lib Dem spokesperson for Health and Social Care at the Local Government Assaociation. I took the job because I believe that this is one of the most crucial areas of concern both for ... Continue reading →
Last week Roger Roberts spoke in the Lords debate on the Universal Declaration on Human Rights: Article 18. This is his speech: I remember that when I was a child, we used to say in school, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me". The truth of course is that names can hurt and can lead to abusive and destructive actions. We should take great care what we say in our speeches—not only the content but the tone of our voices. I suggest that even Home Secretaries, sometimes, could think about what they are saying ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across the country] HOW TO SAVE YOUR LOCAL The Campaign for Real Ale and the LGA Lib Dem Group are working on a special event on how to protect pubs through the planning system. The event will focus on how to nominate your local pub as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) and how local planning policies can [...]
[IMG: Against the Grain by Norman Baker - book cover] Norman Baker has been quick off the mark in the ex-Lib-Dem-MPs-write-books stakes, and his Against the Grain has the virtue not only of speed but also of interest and humour. It is really two books. The first is a tale of politics as it used to be, now already sounding a very distant world, where councils closed their offices at lunchtime, the government kept a 1771 map of the River Dee an official secret, a cinema licensing committee existed for an area without any cinemas, and hard local campaigning could ...
I've written about this on the Lib Dem Voice before so I apologise if I'm repeating myself but once again we're discussing the idea that we need to get more women into politics as parliamentarians. Once again I'll repeat myself in saying that this is not something I disagree with. But to have Willie Rennie say "I know many in the party instinctively do not favour positive action but I need to be frank with you. Nothing else has worked." is actually incredibly concerning for me. I may only be 22 but for years I've fought against those who would ...
Mon 26th
13:35
Liverpool Airport – Is this really a good investment for cash-strapped Liverpool City Council?
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above We all want Liverpool Airport to do well but the reality is that it has been a money looser for many years. So when we hear that Liverpool City Council, which say it does not have a Penny to bless itself with, is about to put money into the potentially continuing black hole it makes you wonder. What's more it's not so long ago (just 6 months actually) that KPMG the auditors for John Lennon Airport said, for want of better words, that it was then a struggling concern. ...
One thought that occurred to me after writing yesterday's post – and clarified by a discussion about it on Facebook – was how depoliticizing something connects to structures of power. I ended up circling around the issue rather than addressing it directly, and I think it's important to highlight it as we often avoid talking directly about power when we discuss politics. As I discussed yesterday, 'taking the politics out' of a discussion or decision is to pretend it can be removed from the wider context it takes place in. Effectively, it's saying that we need to accept the status ...
[IMG: Scottish Parliament 23 May 06 061] Just imagine. You are canvassing for the Holyrood election in May 2016 and are mindful of what Willie Rennie said in his speech at the 2015 Scottish Autumn Conference. We are the party for you... if you support independence but are disappointed by the SNP in Government. Some voters are probably beyond redemption, such as the man who told me on the doorstep before the Westminster election that he had vote Liberal/Lib Dem for 40 years but had now joined the SNP. In such cases, you may mutter "we are fed up talking ...
Mon 26th
12:12Former Maghull Library Site – Labour's internal squabble was quite odd to say the least.
Firstly, a refresh, have a read of my previous posting on this rather bizarre matter of a few days ago:- A report from a Sefton Focus Special Correspondent who witnessed Labour Councillors have a dig at their bosses on Sefton Council. [IMG: The former Stafford Moreton Youth Centre and old Maghull Library stand ripe for redevelopment in the heart of Maghull.] The former Stafford Moreton Youth Centre and old Maghull Library stand ripe for redevelopment in the heart of Maghull. 6 Labour councillors turned up to seemingly have a pop at their Labour bosses at the specially convened Sefton ...
[IMG: Welsh kickstart Swansea 15th Novemeber] Lets Kickstart the Welsh Council Election and Welsh Assembly campaign together With Welsh Assembly elections in 2016 and local elections in 2017, now is the time to Kickstart your election campaign. Getting started early on our campaigns will ensure that we have the best chance of success in these elections. ALDC is hosting a Welsh [...]
Today is going to be one of those incredibly interesting ones in politics - possibly even a historic one - as the Lords square up for an almighty row about the Government's planned changes to tax credits. In a hugely controversial step, the Lib Dem Lords have tabled a fatal motion to stop the Government plans in their tracks.
Today's vote in the House of Lords on tax credits has rightly attracted much media attention, but tomorrow a further vote on the subject of electoral registration also deserves serious attention. In an act of immense arrogance the Government is planning to ignore the clear advice of the independent Electoral Commission and remove hundreds of thousands of people from the electoral register by the end of the year, a full year earlier than originally set out in the current legislation. Young people and people living in private rented accommodation will be disproportionately affected by the Government's proposals. While individual registration ...
[IMG: Scottish Kickstart 2015] Kickstart the Scottish Council Election Campaign With Scottish Parliament Elections in 2016 and local elections in 2017, now is the time to Kickstart your election campaign. Getting started early on our campaigns will ensure that we have the best chance of success in these elections. ASLDC is hosting a Scottish Kickstart event in Perth on [...]
Mon 26th
10:25
Tom Watson, Andy Burnham, Patrick McLoughlin and the embarrassing vote on MPs' expenses
Until reading Norman Baker's new book I'd forgotten who some of the opponents of opening up MPs expenses to freedom of information requests had been: [IMG: How Tom Watson and Andy Burnham tried to cover up MPs' expenses] From Norman Baker's very readable new political memoirs, Against the Grain which I'll be reviewing in the near future. To make sure you don't miss the review, sign up for my blog digests by email: Email* Name First Last What would you like to receive? Liberal Democrat Newswire: monthly newsletter Official Lib Dem news stories from party's website Blog posts (all topics): ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across the country] Tax Credits in the House of Lords today (Monday 26th) The Lib Dem peers will be tabling a fatal motion today to stop the government's tax credit cuts in their tracks. It is expected that Labour peers will not be supporting this although they will be tabling one calling for a review and some transitional [...]
[IMG: agenda2020a] The new Agenda 2020 consultation on Liberal Democrat Philosophy appears on a special page of the Libdems website which provides the consultation paper and a box for members to submit comments. However, these would then seem to disappear without trace, so that only the privileged will see what anyone else has said. Not a very liberal start. LDV provides a better forum for open discussion, so - here's my shot. The consultation paper says: All political philosophies are based on a view of human nature. ... We believe in the essential goodness and improvability of humankind. Deep breath. ...
Individual electoral registration has been a long time coming. It's a sensible reform to our antiquated electoral registration system and is one which Labour, along with the other political parties, signed up to support back when Tony Blair was Prime Minister – but Labour then moved remarkably slowly in enacting the idea. (Which, as an aside, is an ironic backdrop to Labour complaints since 2010 about how individual electoral registration is being implemented. Had Labour not be so laggardly in power, it could have been Labour mostly deciding on the details.) The moves so far to switch to individual electoral ...
I have launched a small crowdfunding campaign to write a book. I've never done anything like this before, so before I explain Before Enigma. perhaps the first thing I should do is to explain why I want to write it. Three reasons, and you can see me explaining it in my very first crowdfunding video here. But I can go into a little more detail here: #1. To put Turing in context. I first got interested in Alan Turing when I was writing about authenticity, because the Turing Test - a way of verifying whether computers are human or not ...
As part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Blether Tay-Gither are welcoming Marion Kenny. Marion is a charismatic live performer, one of Scotland's leading storytellers and a highly regarded multi instrumentalist who has spent time in Morocco and will share some Moroccan tales with us. All are welcome! For booking contact: sheila@blethertaygither.org.uk or 01334 474836.
Mon 26th
08:04
Okay, the Cameron pig thing is getting old, and the Left would do itself a favour by halting its obs...
I was at Lib Dem conference when the whole Cameron/pig/college ritual story that we don't need to go into detail about here since you all know what I am talking about broke. It was predictably the talk of Bournemouth. Myself, I had actually heard the whole story for the first time years and years ago, and have had it "revealed" to me by many a Tory lobbyist ever since. I was mostly surprised by the manner in which it ended up seeing the light of day, i.e. via Lord Ashcroft. That was almost a month a half ago, and already ...
British Left and Right are wrong on Portugal What's really happening. (tags: ukpolitics eu portugal ) Was it like this for the Irish?: The War on British Muslims Good question - from 2008! (tags: ukpolitics waronterror ) Lessons of Past Disasters Helped Mexico Sidestep the Brunt of a Hurricane Whew. (tags: mexico ) EU failed to heed emissions warnings in 2013 @janezpotocnik22 saw VW scandal coming; others failed to act. (tags: climatechange ) Crusader Chic Fashion and medieval geopolitics. (tags: fashion history )
Way back in the 1960s we Liberals campaigned for what we then called Negative Income Tax. - if your income was high you paid tax to the state, if it was low then the state paid you. It seemed a good idea. Calling it Working Tax Credit Gordon Brown introduced it in the early 2000s. The chaos of the initial introduction is amply described in Chapter 10 of King and Crewe's " The Blunders of our Governments," but most of the initial teething troubles have now been sorted out. However, what we now realise is that, rather than being a ...
With the recent news that the UK Conservative Government's draft legislation which would see an end to the Human Rights Act, the British Bill of Rights, is to be fast-tracked through the House of Commons, I am calling on the Welsh Government to put pressure on Westminster to oppose the new Bill. The Bill of Rights is set to go straight to the House of Commons without either a Green or White Paper, as would normally be the case before new legislation is introduced. In June, the Welsh Liberal Democrats put forward a motion which stated that the National Assembly ...
The Telegraph reports that George Osborne is facing a Cabinet backlash over his plan to cut state benefits for millions of families, with particular a anxiety amongst Tory MPs that letters announcing the cuts are due to be sent out before Christmas. The Chancellor's reform to tax credits will see 3.3 million families lose an average of £1,300 next year. The paper says that three Cabinet ministers, another senior minister and a number of Conservative advisers have privately expressed grave concerns over the Chancellor's handling of the reforms. They have warned that Osborne's policy is being seen as "penalising" the ...
