For many many years cyclists killed and seriously injured on our roads have been systematically been denied justice. The Police appear to consider cycling a dangerous activity and assume somehow they're guilty of any crash rather than motor vehicles around them having a duty of care to more vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians. The Police have failed and keep failing cyclists and their families. Whereas for animal welfare the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) separately investigate crimes against animals. They decide whether to prosecute and frankly do a far better job than ...
I could never work out whether Christopher Lasch was a left-wing thinker who sounded right wing, or a right-wing thinker who sounded left wing. But he was certainly a social critic. In the 19th century social criticism was a recognised literary form and writing it was close to a profession - think Ruskin, Carlyle and Matthew Arnold. Today the concept hardly exists. The right believes the market can do no wrong and the left is terrified of being elitist. The result is that whatever exists is held to be good. Lasch has been largely forgotten since his death in 1994, ...
Mon 2nd
21:23
Julian Huppert: Nick Clegg failed to extol the positive virtues of the Liberal Democrats
Julian Huppert, the former Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, is now teaching at the city's university, He has been interviewed by its newspaper Varsity: "The Tories outgunned us at the last election," he tells me, agreeing that Cameron's party took credit for all the good policies. "It was Lib Dem pressure on the Tories that caused inequality to fall during our time in government," he asserts with conviction. Throughout the interview it's clear that Huppert is deeply passionate about helping people and his party, at one point reciting verbatim the start of the Liberal Democrat constitution. Clegg, for him, had ...
Good news from the Leicester Mercury: The Liberal Democrats have confirmed they will stand a candidate in next year's Leicestershire police and crime commissioner election despite initial concerns over risking the £5,000 deposit. The party has established a co-ordinating committee to choose somebody to fight the campaign in the run-up to May's poll. The Lib Dems did not contest the first Leicestershire PCC elections in 2012 because they thought directly-elected commissioners would politicise policing.The paper quotes a "senior Liberal Democrat source" as saying there were concerns over the £5000 deposit: "However there is a view that the we are on ...
I was going to post a review of 2001 (yes, the Kubrick one. Yes, I have a reason) today, but my open tabs have reached a critical mass, so I'm going to dump them on you all and do the proper post tomorrow. The "set point" hypothesis of weight has long been put forward by [...]
[IMG: jane_brophy] The Lib Dems have selected Jane Brophy as their candidate in the by-election in Oldham West and Royton, caused by the death of Michael Meacher MP. Polling day will be 3rd December. Although Meacher held the seat in May with a majority of nearly 15,000, the Liberal Democrats ran the council until 2011. Elections in Oldham tend to be Labour/Lib Dem battles and are often close, so we will be fighting hard in the by-election. Jane is an experienced campaigner and has been a councillor for over 15 years. She works for the NHS in Greater Manchester. Jane ...
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 TODAY. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to voice@libdemvoice.org.uk. Or tomorrow, for this must be about lasting values. Above all, to be a Liberal Democrat is to serve liberty. Some are satisfied liberty is won if the state does not interfere in their lives, no matter how much overmighty corporations or bullying conformity may direct them. For some ...
The next Cheadle Area Committee meeting starts at 6pm on Tuesday 10th November at the Ladybridge Park Residents Club, Edenbridge Road, Cheadle Hulme. As ever, it's a public meeting and all are welcome. On the agenda for this meeting: Application for funding from 5th Cheadle Hulme Scouts, who are applying for funding towards the £8,000 cost of improving toilets in the scout hut. Application for £1,000 to replace and improve the pea-lights in the trees on Walter Stansby Memorial Park in Gatley. Planning application 59483 – detailed application for 153 new houses to be build off Europa Way. Brookfield Shiers ...
Thursday, 5 November 2015 is Bonfire Night – below is some information for local residents. Heaton Park Display Heaton Park's Bonfire Event will be held on Thursday, 5th November 2015, from 5pm - 9.30pm. The Bonfire will be lit at 7.30pm, followed by fireworks. The event will comprise of Bonfire, Fireworks Display, catering concessions, bar, funfair and fire performers. The event takes place on the Papal field. Which is being fenced off and entry onto the site will be through 3 main entry marquees which are inside the park (1 near the Heaton Park Metrolink entry, 2 nearer the lake). ...
This is one of those Who novels that culd have made a good TV episode - indeed, it possibly did, with the central theme of children's nightmares becoming reality used twice that I can remember in New Who (Fear Her and Night Terrors). There's also a zombie character from the seventeenth century. It's solid stuff, well-written, giving the Doctor, companions Fitz and Trix, and the various incidental characters plenty to do and doing it interestingly.
[IMG: Jane Brophy] A party press release brings the news of Jane Brophy's selection: Only the Liberal Democrats will defend families in Oldham West and Royton from the scourge of tax credit cuts, by-election candidate Jane Brophy said today. The party said it would fight the by-election with a firm message: Labour is in disarray and only the Lib Dems will stand up for local people in the face of brutal Tory cuts. Jane said: "The people of Oldham West and Royton need someone to stand up for them and the Liberal Democrats are the only party that will do ...
[IMG: Lambeth riot] On Saturday night – Hallowe'en – the riot police were called to a massive illegal rave in Lambeth. Some rather ugly scenes developed and a petrol bomb was thrown. Simon Hughes' former Head of Office, George Turner, lives opposite the site where the rave was held and gives a firsthand account of the incident in his blog, under the headline Nightmare on Whitgift Street. How did this happen? Questions will need to be asked how this could be allowed to happen in the first place. Last night was not the first time the building has been used ...
Iain Roberts has challenged Cheadle MP Mary Robinson and Hazel Grove MP William Wragg to explain why they both voted to keep the "luxury" tax on women's sanitary products - the so-called "tampon-tax". "The motion didn't call for the tax to be scrapped, but for the Government to come up with a strategy to negotiate with the EU to scrap it." Iain said. "In 2015 it's baffling that tampons and other women's sanitary products should be considered a luxury when men's razors and children's nappies are zero rated. I am asking Mary Robinson, Cheadle's Conservative MP, and William Wragg for ...
Today, Norman Lamb launched a cross-party campaign for improved funding for mental health services. He was joined by Alistair Campbell and Andrew Mitchell MP, as well as a very impressive list of other politicians, professionals, celebrities, mental health charities and community leaders. Ruby Wax said: It's unbelievable that it's 2015 and there isn't parity between mental and physical health. They [the government] don't comprehend that mental illness is a physical problem - it just happens to be your brain which is another organ. The Equality for Mental Health campaign has a lengthy petition which reads: We, the undersigned, have joined ...
On Friday members of the Transport for Greater Manchester Authority will be meeting to consider the issue of dogs on trams. At present only assistant dogs are allowed (hearing and sight dogs). Please sign our petition to Transport for Greater Manchester to allow the carriage of dogs on trams. Councillors considered the issue earlier in the year after a consultation with the public and Metrolink Users found that 71% of people were in favour of allowing dogs on trams, some of whom felt that there should be some sort of restrictions (e.g. child ticket, off peak). Now the recommendation of ...
It is fourteen years now since my book on the phenomenon of too many numbers was published. The Tyranny of Numbers was an attempt to flag up the corrosive gap between official or corporate numbers and reality. Or anything important, which by definition can't be expressed directly as a number. The problem is that numbers look hard-headed and objective, but they are chained to definitions, and these are endlessly malleable. The result has been the slow undermining of most official numbers - whether they are the relative value of currencies or the emissions from Volkswagens. I wish I could say ...
[IMG: Belgrade-Pride-1] [IMG: International Office_with text] I have been working with the LDP (Liberal Democrat Party of Serbia) for a few years now through the International Office and we have been concentrating on human rights and LGBT issues for the last 18 months. The first stage of the work the International Office and I have been doing, focusing on building LGBT competency within the wider LDP and supporting them to create their own LGBT specific committee in the Human Rights Council, culminated last month when I joined the Human Rights Council and LDP leadership at Belgrade Pride. In addition to ...
[IMG: FOI website] In addition to ensuring open and transparent government the Freedom of Information Act has been an vital tool used by Liberal Democrats up and down the country to hold public bodies to account. Right now the Freedom of Information Act is under threat. A Freedom of Information Commission has been established with a hand-picked panel [...]
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 TODAY. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to voice@libdemvoice.org.uk. To be a Liberal Democrat today is to feel a little lonely! But whilst the British people may have temporarily forgotten it, our values are still the basis of the British way of life. Tolerance, meaning live and let live, because without tolerance I am not free to live ...
A cross party campaign calling on the Government to address inequalities in mental healthcare has been launched by Lib Dem Health Spokesperson Norman Lamb. It comes shortly after a really hard-hitting panorama episode, which focused on the stretched mental health services in Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. It was clear from the programme that, despite the best efforts of dedicated and talented NHS staff, people with mental health conditions are regularly let down by the lack of resources available to treat them.
Pretty much everyone seems to have an opinion about the railways, even those who don't travel by train. I've worked in the railway for quite a long time now, spanning the nationalised British Rail and the current privatised structure. The current structure often frustrates me, but there have been some good things in recent years as well. The growth in passenger numbers over the last 15 years couldn't have been dreamed of when I started work, for example. However, what frustrates me most is that no-one, as far as I know, has ever evaluated whether the benefits of the current ...
Councillor Iain Roberts, Lib Dem leader on Transport for Greater Manchester, has welcomed proposals for a trial permitting dogs to travel on trams. The Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for dogs to be allowed on trams as they are on buses and trains and on nearly every other tram system across the UK. Until now, TfGM has always refused even to conduct a trial. This Friday (6th November) councillors will discuss proposals for a trial of dogs on trams. "I am very pleased that the Lib Dem campaign is making progress and I'd like to thank everyone across Greater Manchester ...
For details see here: ARP15261 – North Orbital Road WIB FINAL
The government produces an annual statistical report of the numbers of children that are looked after by local authorities as at the end of March. This comes from the SSDA903 return produced by local authorities. They compare this number to the number of children adopted from care each year. That, of course, is a statistical error as they are comparing numbers of children to numbers per year.
Nominations are now closed for the 2016 Scottish Liberal Democrat internal elections for office bearers, executive and committee members. The ballot is now being organised. The Scottish Party constitution allows people to choose to vote electronically. Choosing that option is ... Continue reading →
English Party moves to axe most successful Liberal Democrat membership initiative If you don't count 'get massacred in an election' as a membership initiative, then the most successful initiative in the history of the party to get Liberal Democrat membership growing has been the recent financial incentive scheme. The combination of clear thresholds and simple funding rules (get your membership up and you get a chunk of money, don't and you don't) meant that even though it was launched at a tough time for growing party membership, it helped turn around a long-term decline in local party membership activity. Not ...
[IMG: FOI website] Data Protection Statement: If you return this form the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors may use the information you've given to contact you. Some contacts may be automated. By providing your data to us, you are consenting to the data holders making contact with you in the future by telephone, text or other means, even [...]
[IMG: The Equality for Mental Health campaign was launched by Norman Lamb on Monday 2nd November] A message from Lib Dem HQ, with template materials for engaging with Norman Lamb's Mental Health Equality Campaign, which was launched today. Note: The materials also include a template council motion that can be used for local campaigning. LDHQ Message Hi everyone, Today sees the launch of Norman Lamb's Equality for Mental Health Campaign. Below [...]
October 2015 brought just six opinion polls with national voting intentions, compared to 44 in October 2014 and even 31 in October 2010, the last October after a general election. Is this nosedive down to just six good news? Do share your reasons in the comment thread.
This question comes up a lot on social media and I always have a very simple answer to it: no. However, the question does deserve a longer answer, explaining why exactly that is. Consider this as the sort of foreword to a longer piece that would explain everything in detail; this is my macro view of why it wouldn't fly, in other words. First let's take the wealthier countries within the Commonwealth, the ones who have economies whose size are at a commensurate level with Great Britain's. So Canada, Australia, New Zealand. All I've ever heard from anyone connected to ...
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 TODAY. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to voice@libdemvoice.org.uk. For me, it means what it meant in 1986/87 when, in the early years of Secondary School, I was taught about different electoral systems. The Modern Studies teacher explained the ins and outs of First Past the Post and alternative forms of Proportional Representation. I pointed at PR: "I ...
Are any foods safe to eat anymore? Some are, some aren't. (tags: health ) The Popular Over-The-Counter Cold Medicine That Doesn't Work Phenylephedrine useless? (tags: health ) Juncker's kisses Greetings from the President of the European Commission! (tags: eu ) Azeri ruling party wins majority in parliamentary election In case you were wondering. (tags: azerbaijan )
From Monday 9th November 2015, Stagecoach Strathtay will be introducing a new, regular, daily bus service, linking their depot in Wester Gourdie, then Asda Dundee West, Charleston, South Road, Lochee By-Pass, City Road, Pentland Avenue, Balgay Road, Blackness Road, Hawkhill, West Port, Dundee City Centre, and the Bus Station. This is a new helpful service which will benefit parts of the West End Ward and given the concerns I have received about changes to the Xplore Dundee 17 and 9/10 service changes in the Tullideph and Pentland areas. an additional service from Stagecoach is welcome. Many thanks to to Suzy ...
Join the campaign to put mental health on the same level as physical health – sign up now. This cross-party, cross-society campaign, led by Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb, seeks to bring the reality of mental health treatment into line with the law – which was changed by the Lib Dems in Coalition to give mental health parity with physical health in the NHS. As ministers make final decisions on the Spending Review, we urge them to treat mental health equally with physical health. We ask for the same right to timely access to evidence based treatment as those with ...
The commitment of the UK Tory Government to tackling climate change is already being questioned following a number of changes in policy, particularly with regards to the feed-in tariffs for renewable energy schemes. However, a report in the Independent indicates that their failure to take the agenda seriously does not just apply in the domestic market. The paper says that Britain's overseas aid for energy projects has given twice as much to fossil fuel ventures as renewables, undermining attempts to tackle climate change. They say that the UK has invested £5bn for energy in developing countries such as Ethiopia, Bangladesh, ...
Best Text from the TARDIS ever Six million workers paid 'less than the living wage' How the company with a $70,000 minimum wage is doing half a year later [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
