Glorious footage with plenty of buses, trams and trolleybuses. The city lost its trams in 1950 and its trolleybuses in 1966.
In view of this evening's events in London it is worth pointing you to an article by John Elledge in the New Statesman. He writes about the way that, in recent years, Guy Fawkes has been adopted as a symbol by those claiming to be opposed to state power: A certain right-wing political blogger was an early adopter, back when the British left was still in the ascendancy and he could convincingly pretend he wasn't a member of the establishment. Since then the Guy Fawkes mask has become the symbol of left-wing anti-government protests far and wide, including hacktivists Anonymous ...
Just occasionally, there is a small event in politics - it seems hardly important in the great scheme of things - but you realise it means that everything has changed. It is one of those clouds no bigger than a man's hand in the sea stories which turns your expectations upside down. Then you have to work out why nobody else realises the significance. Are you wrong? Maybe the changes slipped into the Finance Bill withdrawing eligibility for Enterprise Investment Tax Relief from community energy schemes are just what everyone assumes they are - the latest twist in the premature ...
Thu 5th
22:00
Aberdeenshire UA, Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford (two seats)- 5th November 2015
UPDATED DETAILS. SNP seat. Cause: Death. LD candidate- Daniel Millican.
The Liberal philosopher T.H. Green - Thomas Hill Green - is much cited by Liberal Democrats but, I suspect, little read. In fact, as he flourished in the brief period when Idealist philosophy dominated British academia, I wonder what modern readers (Realists to a man and woman) make of him. But Tom Hulme reports giving a paper on him that was well received: The paper was about the lasting influence of ... Green (1836-1882) in the application of citizenship education, and the specifically local and urban articulation that this took. Despite the tendency for historians to view citizenship through the ...
Thu 5th
19:42
London primary school tells children to clasp their hands behind their backs when walking
Somewhere at the back of Nicky Morgan's pledge of "robust and rigorous" for seven-year-olds lies a feeling that children have had it too soft for too long. The country is in a mess and who know who is to blame. Our children. Certainly a new authoritarianism seems to be creeping into education. In April the papers were full of the goings on at a school in Huddersfield affecting much older pupils. As the Telegraph told it: Furious parents have accused a school of overkill after hundreds of children were given detention for forgetting items like rubbers and pencil sharpeners ...The ...
As the Nursing Times reported yesterday, Welsh assembly members passed the motion on the financial resolution for the Safe Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Bill. It will now move on to the next part of the legislative process, which will see ministers consider amendments to the bill. Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Kirsty Williams, who put forward the Bill at the end of 2013, said that the decision was a signal that ministers would agree for the law to be introduced. She said the bill was a "golden opportunity" to combat negative media headlines about the Welsh NHS. She added: ...
Home Secretary Theresa May outlined her intentions regarding investigatory powers last Wednesday in her statement on a draft Bill. Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams responded: "In 2012 the Tories brought forward plans to force internet service providers to keep a record of all your texts, emails and every website you visited. It was an enormous intrusion into our privacy, and a staggering attempt to grab our personal data on a scale we have never seen before."The Liberal Democrats were clear then, and are clear now, a snooper's charter has no place in Britain, so we blocked it. Theresa May's ...
Current Axis, by Robert Charles Wilson Too Much Happiness, by Alice Munro The Quantum Archangel, by Craig Hinton The Sculptor, by Scott McCloud Last books finished The Dark Tower and Other Stories, by C.S. Lewis Slan, by A.E. van Vogt Family Britain, 1951-1957, by David Kynaston The Ultimate Egoist, by Theodore Sturgeon (1940 stories only) Last week's audios Welcome to Night Vale, eps 74-75 Next books The Summer Before the Dark, by Doris Lessing Saga Volume 4. by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples To the Slaughter, by Steve Cole Books acquired in last week The Sculptor, by Scott McCloud ...
All our lives we have been suspicious of used car salespersons with a generally not to trusted attitude from Joe and Jane public towards them, rightly or wrongly. But it seems from the VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat dishonesty that we should have had a far more weather eye on those making the cars! I have had a dozen Skoda's on the trot although I bought a Seat last time because the deal was better and of course they are all VW's in reality. As an environmental campaigner as well as someone who has bought 13 of their cars I am ...
Dominating one side of the vast Zocalo square in Mexico City the Palacio Nacional has a forbidding facade, but inside there are many beautiful things to enjoy. It is open to the public during working hours and is free, though one has to show ID and pass through a security check. The main attraction for [...]
Thu 5th
17:48
Alistair Carmichael MP writes...Britain should not be rolling out the red carpet to President al-Sis...
Today, in the House of Commons our Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Tom Brake, asked an Urgent Question highlighting the appalling human rights record of the Egyptian Government - led by President al-Sisi, who has arrived in the UK for a state visit. While David Cameron was rolling out the red carpet for a human rights abuser in Downing Street, in parliament it was yet again Liberal Democrats who stood up for his victims. The Egyptian President heads a government with a poor and deteriorating human rights record. The imprisonment and torture of political prisoners and an increasing use of the death ...
Being at the table during deliberations on war, peace, and the fate of nations was an extraordinary experience. I remember seeing the Berlin Wall fall, and hoping that the age of global warfare might be over. That moment now feels far away. We are clearly facing terrible risks, and it will take great statesmanship to avoid the abyss. I advised the alliance on its strategy in Ukraine and Afghanistan.
One of my favourite extracts from the minutes of a Liberal Democrat or predecessor party meeting is this gem from a 1983 branch meeting: Campaign Strategy: After a long discussion, it was agreed that we organise ourselves, and have a separate meeting for this subject. For more up-to-date advice, I can of course recommend this.
The Heron Eccles Playing Fields which could be commercialised I have been forced to write to Football Association Chair, Greg Dyke to try and find what the council and FA are proposing to do in my ward. Let em explain, ... Continue reading →
[IMG: Flytipping fines Nov 2015] Few tears will be shed for the fly-tippers recently caught on camera dumping their rubbish in a lay-by and subsequently fined £1,500. This example of fly-tipping was not in our area, but since Cllr. Alex Watson and I allocated money from our neighbourhood budget towards a camera similar to one that captured this act we'd be only too happy for you to tip us off with regard to any area locally that suffers particularly from fly-tipping. Since the county council upped the ante on fly-tipping it has decreased by 31%. The sooner that reaches 100% ...
The draft bill has been published, the generic "I have not read this yet but I must say something" statements have been made by politicians, and now it's time to read what the bill actually says. First impressions: It's not a bill I could come close to supporting without major changes, but it's an improvement on previous attempts. It's also long. At 299 pages, very long indeed. The 35 page extended press release at the start, titled a "guide to powers and safeguards" is interesting, but of course doesn't actually have any legal force. Many of the initial comments about ...
Chris White's article "Speaking for England" rightly invited people to share their views with the Federal Executive's review of party governance but wrongly made a number of express or implied criticisms of the English Liberal Democrats that are incorrect and unjust. Chris writes "most members think they... can vote for the committees which look after campaigning". Indeed, they can. Local parties are chiefly responsible for local campaigning. National party strategy is constitutionally the responsibility of the Federal Executive, of which both Chris and I are members. The FE has not directed party campaigning and certainly did not in the 2015 ...
Wars, family experience and deafness helped me be a Liberal. For me, to be a Liberal Democrat today means making sure we don't go back to the world that scarred my parents generation. We do have reasons for hope. We need to gather all our strengths to give life to that hope. My parents lives gave me a lot to think about. They had to deal with terrible events, as best they could. To make a positive difference however small and futile it may seem. My mother was Lithuanian. She experienced life under both Stalin and Hitler. Active in the ...
The government published a Draft Investigatory Powers Bill yesterday. Of course, they didn't really get the format right. For example, they published it in a PDF with chaotic layout. It didn't include a useful Table of Contents (you know, that you can click to navigate, for example). However, they did publish it using the Open Government License, which allows you and me to modify and
It's coming to the time of year when there is a myriad of Social Media posts about how we should all be wearing our poppy 'with pride'. Some of that, of course, is being driven by shady (and more blatant) far-right extremist groups, trying to piggy-back onto the whole thing in order to increase their social media reach and lay the foundations for more overt extreme nationalist sentiments. Britain First (and their various alternatively-titled manifestations) are the most obvious example of a group who have been doing this successfully for a few years now, but they are not the only ...
In a recent bog post David Boyle, whom I regard as a fellow campaigner for a new economic paradigm, describes the phenomenon of the "empty corporation". He mentioned this after trying to deal with two large British companies: Barclays Bank and TalkTalk, the telecoms company. These companies offer their customers no human contact, and are unable to solve more than very simple problems without causing their customers a lot of work. And yet these businesses conform to our idea of high productivity, which is the holy grail of economic development. Examining how these companies work gives us clues about how ...
Thu 5th
11:23LibLink: Norman Lamb MP - My son's struggle with OCD showed me the unfairness people with mental ill...
Norman Lamb has been much in the news this week, having launched a cross-party campaign for mental health to be treated equally with physical health across the health service. Norman has written a piece for the Guardian drawing on themes that will be familiar to party members from his excellent conference speech earlier this year. Here's an excerpt: When our oldest son, Archie, was 16, he was clearly very unhappy. He eventually told us just how distressed and troubled he had become. We got a referral to our local children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and a diagnosis of ...
When I moved to Bath in 1985 the argument about a Park and Ride on the East of Bath was already several years old. We are now in 2015 and it will be debated again at Full Council next week. Our two Conservative MPs are at odds over it and the Conservative administration is in turmoil over it. Their recent consultation has been a sham with the party even soliciting favourable comments from its membership as their solutions were so unpopular. The Conservative solution is to tarmac over the meadows. At least they are consistant in this. In May 2011 ...
Ambitious plans to settle the red planet may conflict with international law. Sara Bruhns and Jacob Haqq-Misra suggest an alternative approach. NASA has released a report containing detailed plans for a human mission to Mars. This has been a long-standing goal for NASA and their report outlines the challenges of Mars exploration in three stages. The first, 'Earth Reliant', stage focuses on research aboard the International Space Station. The 'Proving Ground' stage puts humans deeper into space for research, while remaining a few days from Earth. The 'Earth Independent' stage completes the plan by getting humans to the surface of ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat Newswire logo] Liberal Democrat Newswire #73 came out last week, featuring what seven focus groups reveal about why the Liberal Democrats did so badly in May, lessons from Canada for the Liberal Democrats and more. You can also read it below, but if you'd like the convenience of getting it direct by email in future, just sign up here. It's free! Dear Friend, Welcome to the 73rd edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire which returns to the usual format after last time's D66 special edition. This time the focus is on lessons for the Liberal Democrats from the ...
The House of Lords (HOL) has been the centre of focus like never before these past few weeks. Fatal Motions, the Salisbury Convention and Jacob Rees-Mogg's exceptional knowledge of political history and precedents have all been pored over by the readers of the quality press and the political websites. Although the government's Tax Credits legislation survived... More Does Scotland Need A Second Chamber?
LD seat. Cause: Death LD Candidate- Adrian Sanders. To help please contact David Browne (01803 842246) or Adrian (07712 633476, adrian@adriansanders.org). VPB 90E251I-8161
I was very proud, at our party's Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, to move a motion calling for revitalised and refunded youth services (things such as youth clubs, outdoor education, youth advice/information and so on) and supported the amendment to the motion which called for the funding of these services to be placed onto a statutory footing. I was very proud of our party when the motion (as amended) was given unanimous support by Conference. This helped to reinforce previous party youth policy which, in large part, is thanks to the work of my friend and colleague Linda Jack who has ...
Nigel Farage has told the world how he would be delighted if Theresa May were to lead to the campaign for Britain to leave to EU (it's unclear which specific campaign for Britain to leave the EU Nigel means, but let's leave that for a moment). While I can imagine he thinks it would be a huge boost to the leavers, it's worth pointing out that it would also have some downsides for them as well. Let's start with the upsides for the leavers if May came on board to lead the way. Obviously having such a visible Tory arguing ...
[IMG: Paul Burstow at Sutton festival] The former Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam, Paul Burstow, has announced that he won't be standing again for Parliament. He issued this statement yesterday: Paul Burstow, who served as Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam for 18 years, has told his local party he has decided not to contest the next General Election. In a letter to John Drage, the Chair of Sutton Lib Dems, Paul said he believed the local party now needed to recruit a new candidate to mobilise the membership, work with the councillors to retain ...
A busy evening yesterday, starting with a very well-attended meeting of the Community Spirit Action group, the community group for the "north" part of West End Ward, covering Pentland, Tullideph, Ancrum and the Cleghorn area. The meeting took place at the Morven Terrace sheltered housing lounge and the guest speakers were from the council's Environment Department, who discussed the changes to bin and recycling collections for the area that commence next Monday, 9th November. A number of concerns were raised by residents, mainly around areas where there will be communal bin/recycling collections, and reassurances were given in particular to residents ...
Bloodwise report on their blog (to which direct links generate a 403 error, so you'll have to navigate their site to find it) that two of the drugs originally scheduled for delisting from the CDF have been relisted. One of them happens to be Ibrutinib for relapsed/refractory MCL, which is a relief. However, the future of the other delisted drugs ...
Antifrank on the GE2020 prospects for Tim Farron's Lib Dems - depressing but plausible The best part on the generational divide in free speech activism I have yet seen. LEGO Doctor Who Credits OMG OMG OMG SO COOL. Can it be Friday yet? I wants it NOW. LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who Level Pack - LEGO DAVROS OMG OMG !!! Here Are The Spying Powers UK Authorities Will Have If Theresa May's New Law Passes [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
After Listening To Women, Longtime Anti-Abortion Congressman Becomes Pro-Choice Smell the coffee! (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality ) Salvador Dalí Illustrates Alice in Wonderland A perfect match, in some ways. (tags: art )
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have launched a package of radical policies to revitalise Wales' struggling high streets. In government, the party would establish 'High Street Wales' to empower people to drive the regeneration of their local communities and tackle dereliction and decay. Based on the 'Main Street' movement in America, it would offer education, hands-on-training, online resources, facilitating connections and conferences to share best practice and build strong communities. The Welsh Liberal Democrats will also give more powers to communities by introducing a 'Community Right to Bid' so people can work together to protect key local services such as libraries, ...
Over at the Guardian website Simon Jenkins has an interesting perspective on the Tory Government's surveillance bill. He says that the fact that the bill seeks to "widen the access of police and security services" to personal electronic data is odd since, as Snowden revealed, they have enjoyed such access for years. However, as he says the issue, which the security lobby never addresses, is where should be the boundaries of such intrusion and who should "monitor the monitors": Individuals in a free society have a right to assume their privacy means something, and that government and the law will ...
