The EBRD has run a stimulating cultural programme over the last few days, but this evening there was a real novelty, in cooperation with One World Media: a panel discussion on the reality for journalists and NGO workers operating in conflict zones. Things have changed dramatically since I was a cub reporter in the Vietnam [...]
To St John's Smith Square for a memorable LBS concert, dedicated to the memory of their late and much-loved cellist Jennifer Ward Clarke, who died in May. Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (O God, what manifold distress) BWV 58, was followed by Suite No 2 in B minor BWV 1067 with Rachel Beckett on the flute. After the interval we had Ich habe genug (My cup is full) BWV 82 with Peter Harvey (bass). Listen to him singing the aria Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen (Fall asleep, weary eyes), one of my all-time favourites: And finally, Ich geh' und ...
Conservative seat. Cause: Resignation. LD candidate- John Freeman. To help, please email chatteris@fenlandlibdems.org.uk.
Plaid Cymru seat. Cause: Resignation. No LD Candidate.
Independent seat. Cause: Resignation. No LD Candidate.
Further to my recent update about a possible new group to run evening classes and adult learning at Harris Academy after the school returns to its Perth Road campus next August, tonight I attended an informal meeting at Blackness Library to discuss the way forward. It was a very positive meeting and we are looking to meet again early in the New Year after we have the results of a residents' survey now being undertaken across the West End to get views on adult learning at Harris. Please participate by completing the short survey here - many thanks.
If you were wondering what former Special Adviser Phil Reilly had been up to lately, he reveals all today on his blog, Blimey O'Reilly He's been helping Nick Clegg write a book about the febrile nature of today's politics. It'll be published next year: For the last few months I have had the privilege of helping Nick Clegg to prepare his upcoming book (hence the sporadic nature of these blogs), which has been formally announced by the publisher today. Politics: The Art of the Possible in an Age of Unreason will be published next year on The Bodley Head, an ...
Just a few links today. Alan Moore gave a friend £10,000 to help him get round our country's despicable immigration rules. Lovecraft was always a terrible choice for the World Fantasy Awards Charity parachute jumps cost the NHS far more in treating injuries than they raise for charity Nick Barlow's answer to "what does it [...]
Thu 12th
20:38
Lib Dem President: "I was disappointed that Chris [Rennard] put himself forward for election"
Caron Lindsay has blogged the message Lib Dem President Sal Brinton has sent to members of the Federal Executive (FE) following the decision by Liberal Democrat peers to elect Chris Rennard as their rep on the FE: Personally I am disappointed that Chris put himself forward for election (and was elected) as I know that there are still extremely strong feelings about the case amongst the members of the party. It won't surprise you to know that I did not vote for him. She went on to solicit the views of party members on the issue: Many members of the ...
Hi Guys, Sorry for the lack of updates on my blog recently. I have just been so busy with my current studies. However I would still love to continue to write articles for this blog however they may not be as frequent than they use to be. As my studies is my number one priority. I [...]
Peter Ramrayka for London Regional Chair for Continuity and Expertise - Grounded and Rounded 1. The ASKS of the Region As we start the fight back The priorities of the Region must include: Looking at different ways to maximize campaigning; identifying fundraising streams to support our activities; working on maximizing the involvement of new members and in the process developing a distinctive London voice; supporting local parties and energetically working on diversity in all forms so that we truly reflect London's demographics. A significant additional feature for the Regional Executive is to have a balance between old and new members- ...
In 1949, a year after the novel was published, NBC University Theater broadcast a radio adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. It's star, rather improbably, was David Niven. You can listen to it on Open Culture.
Party President Sal Brinton has written to members of the Liberal Democrats' Federal Executive to express her "disappointment that Chris has put himself forward for election." She goes on to say that "It won't surprise you to know that I ... Continue reading →
Current Sleepyhead, by Mark Billingham The Ill-Made Knight, by T.H. White Somewhere! / هُناك , by Ibraheem Abbas Oblivion, by Dave Stone Last books finished - a long list, augmented by the fact that I had nearly finished several on Thursday, had a long journey Friday, and many of these are short books anyway The Quantum Archangel, by Craig Hinton Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories vol 2, eds. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg The Sculptor, by Scott McCloud Axis, by Robert Charles Wilson Too Much Happiness, by Alice Munro Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry Tree, by Ernest ...
General Sir Nicholas Houghton's appearance on the Andrew Marr Show last Sunday has caused controversy, particularly for these remarks: ANDREW MARR: ...Of course we now have the leader of the opposition who says quite openly he would never press the nuclear button. Does that worry you? GENERAL SIR NICHOLAS HOUGHTON: Well it ... it would worry me if that, er, thought was translated into power as it were because ... ANDREW MARR: So if he wins, he's a problem? GENERAL SIR NICHOLAS HOUGHTON: Well there's a couple of hurdles to cross before we get to that. ANDREW MARR: Of course. ...
The immediate reaction of some Liberal Democrat activists angered at the decision by Lib Dem peers to elect Chris Rennard as their representative on the Federal Executive has been to say 'we should abolish peer reps on these committees'. The anger is unsurprising. As I told the International Business Times: Chris Rennard's election to a party post by any group in the party would be controversial, but all the more so given that it has come from a group of people - the party's peers - who are appointed for life and so all the usual lines of accountability to ...
For some accountable reason I had long had the ambition to visit Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire. I finally got there in 2009 on the day England won back the Ashes. The most impressive structure in the town was the Crosskeys Bridge, but after that it was the Bridge Hotel. It was standing empty in 2009 and today I came across a Spalding Guardian report suggesting it was demolished this summer: Demolition work has begun on a former Sutton Bridge hotel. Workmen were spotted on the Bridge Hotel site on Sunday clearing copper piping from inside and they were on the ...
[IMG: The Nusseree Battalion later known as the 1st Gurkha Rifles circa 1857] The Nusseree Battalion later known as the 1st Gurkha Rifles circa 1857 The Shorncliffe Lectures: Saturday 14th November 2015 Gurkha, Canadian and Belgian Military Connections - 200 years of history. 10.00 am Start - 5.00 pm Finish. £18.00, concessions £15.00. Dr Stephen Summerfield of Loughborough University "The Netherlands and the Defence of Kent" Author who written over 40 books in military history, science and education. Specialising in the 18th and early 19th uniforms, equipment and weapons. Editor of the Shorncliffe Lecture Series and historical advisor to the ...
As a follow up to my last post, here is my email on the subject to Tim Farron (Leader of the Liberal Democrats) and Baroness Sal Brinton (Party President): Dear Tim and Sal, I'm deeply concerned about the reputational damage to the party caused by the election of Lord Rennard to represent our Lords' group on Federal Executive. Whatever one's views of the allegations against him, the resultant internal processes, the lack of police action or the Morrissey report and subsequent statements by Helena Morrissey, his name has become a byword for sleaze and harassment within the party - and ...
[IMG: Map of Shorncliffe Camp 1801 (] ...some time agoto be honest, but I've just come across the link. Shorncliffe Redoubt is a large earthwork and fort, used by Sir John Moore and dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, located right by the present Shorncliffe Camp and Military Cemetery above Sandgate. Although little remains obviously visible now, if you know where to look you can still see the huge earth banks that formed the walls. Channel 4's "Time Team" visited Shorncliffe Redoubt in episode 5 of their 14th series. You can watch the Shorncliffe Reboubt episode on demand at ...
First things first. I'm a Liberal and I believe in exercising due process. I believe the rule of law and, within the party, the fair application of the rules. I believe in innocence until proven guilty and restorative justice. And I believe in rehabilitation. I'm also a Liberal Democrat. I want to see the party succeed. Indeed, I want to see the party rebuilt, re-energised - resurrected, even, if I can use such language. And I want to see all parts of the party play their role in that. New members, old members, activists, Councillors, MPs, and Lords. It's no ...
The Independent reports: Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera, former chair of the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats (EMLD), was told his membership had been terminated with immediate effect last week, after an internal disciplinary panel upheld allegations of harassment and intimidation against him. However, senior figures in the EMLD, which champions diversity in the party, have reacted with outrage, refusing to accept the decision, and plan to write to the party's president and its leader, Tim Farron, demanding Mr Uduwerage-Perera be reinstated. Speaking to The Independent, Mr Uduwerage-Perera accused the party of not doing enough to stamp out "institutional racism". Mr Uduwerage-Perera, a former ...
[IMG: House_of_Lords_chamber_-_toward_throne] There are some words you don't want to see coming up on your Twitter feed because you know they're invariably associated with bad news. When you're a member of and follow a number of Liberal Democrats, "Rennard" is one of those words, as it normally means that everyone's least-favourite former chief executive has done something silly again. This time, it wasn't just him being silly. Assisted by the votes of thirty-nine other members of the Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords, he's been elected as their representative on the party's Federal Executive. I'm not sure what ...
The Agenda 2020 essays that I have read through on Lib Dem Voice have really been superb and it's great to see ideas about our principles and philosophy articulated in such a concise way. If we are going to rebuild our party and move forward to become stronger than we have been in a century then we need to have open, frank, even explosive, debates on what we must do to become one of leading political parties in the country again. Armed with the drive and enthusiasm of old and new members alike we can really do something amazing, hence ...
The decision by the Tory UK Government to delay imposing a cap on care costs, which was secured by former Liberal Democrats Care Minister Norman Lamb, has also hit pensioners this side of Offa's dyke. One consequence of that announcement has been a statement of the Welsh Government that no decision can now be made about reform of arrangements for paying for social care and support in Wales. The cap on liability for care costs, to be set at £72,000 for those in England of state pension age or over, was led by Norman Lamb MP and scheduled to be ...
Here are a couple of shots of these two stations back some 40 odd years ago. The old former Merseyrail Class 502 EMU's were still running the services back then and until their withdrawal after 1977. Waterloo Station looks in need of some loving care back then and it is very different now. [IMG: Freshfield - 1970's] Freshfield – 1970's [IMG: Waterloo Station - 1970's] Waterloo Station – 1970's Click on the photos to enlarge them I purchased the prints (and then scanned them) from the Friends of the 502 Group recently. The photos are amongst the shots on my ...
My previous posting on this matter is available via the link below:- There seems to be a feeling amongst those protesting against the School closing that they have been all but ignored by Sefton Council and the Catholic Archdiocese. And now an update from a Sefton Focus reporter:- Questions – Was there a failure of the Council and Archdiocese to address the issues facing the School from when the first warning signals became clear i.e. falling numbers of children, insufficient finance to cover outgoings etc.? Could more positive and decisive action at an early stage have led to a ...
Nick Clegg's book will be published by Bodley Head next year under the title: 'Politics: The Art of the Possible in an Age of Unreason." The Bookseller reports: In Politics Clegg will examine the current state of politics, which the publisher said had seen "old certainties disappear, outsider figures become mainstream, and nationalism, populism and identity politics rise up at home and abroad." The former deputy PM will draw on his personal experience of modern politics during the coalition government of 2010-15 to offer an "objective glimpse behind the curtains revealing how power in Britain really works." The Bodley Head's ...
Los Angeles needed water, and lots of it. It still does. And that water comes from the LA Aqueduct, masterplanned by William Mulholland. The end of his career, though, wasn't such a triumph:
The second 'Lib Dem Pint' took place in The Canon's Gait in Edinburgh on the Royal Mile last night and was well attended by just under 50 members and friends. This new phenomenon seems to be sweeping the party at present and it is a great vehicle for introducing new members in particular to the... More Lib Dem Pint Finds Cole-Hamilton In Good Cheer
This is what I said:You're probably drowning under a tsunami of emails about this, so I'll keep it short. I'm not going to trawl through the ins and outs and the rights and wrongs because that's been done ad nauseam, and is probably being done elsewhere in the tsunami. However, I am going to point out a political reality: somebody needs to tell Lord Rennard that if he loves the party as much as he professes to do he needs to stop trying his damnedest to destroy it, and the tiny amount of remaining credibility it has. I think that ...
Inside the EU we have better access to the European marketplace than we could ever have outside. And the clout of such a massive bloc means we strike better trade deals now than we ever could on our own. For years anti-Europeans have churned out stories about Brussels banning schoolchildren from eating yoghurt and the Queen from appearing on our passports. More recently they latched onto immigration, with Brexiteers offering up conflicting numbers of how many millions of foreigners are on their way. With the referendum approaching however the time has come for them to stop complaining and start explaining. ...
For the last few months I have had the privilege of helping Nick Clegg to prepare his upcoming book (hence the sporadic nature of these blogs), which has been formally announced by the publisher today. Politics: The Art of the Possible in an Age of Unreason will be published next year on The Bodley Head, [...]
Labour seat. Cause: Resignation. LD Candidate- Graham Winter.
Labour seat. Cause: Resignation. LD Candidate- Beverley Baker.
Dennis Wrigley, who died earlier this week, was an inspirational pioneer in the rejuvenation of the Young Liberals and the Liberal Party in the Manchester region and the North West during the 1950s and 1960s. Dennis came to national prominence in the High Peak by-election in 1961, in the year before Orpington. A combination of the rising national Liberal vote, a lot of outside help including Manchester students and YLs, and Dennis's personal charisma and campaigning energy produced a Liberal vote of 30.5%, narrowly third but up by more than 10% from the General election in 1959. He contested the ...
Last week I watched BBC Question Time. Not something I do often, and not something I would care to repeat. It's what happens when news is treated as entertainment. Three politician panellists put forth their careful platitudes, but at least showed some grounding in reality (none of them were in the Donald Trump school of politics). No doubt to spice things up the BBC added two journalists to the panel. They proceeded to spout a lot of provocative rubbish, in the way that you can when you are unaccountable for what you say. The audience chipped in with their own ...
I was on the Jon Gaunt programme a few mornings ago, discussing why I thought Britain should be in the EU. As you can imagine, Jon and I were on very different sides of the argument. There was one moment where he looked to catch me out, maybe get me mumbling, when he asked if I thought immigration to Britain was a positive thing. I replied: "yes". I could be wrong, but I don't think that's what he expected. No one thinks immigration is good anymore, do they? That's so 1990s; so Tony Blair. But I was being honest on ...
There has as yet been no official confirmation, but it is being widely reported that the Lib Dem group in the House of Lords has elected Chris Rennard as its representative on the party's Federal Executive. First, here is a reminder from the party website (where you can see the other current members) of the FE's role: The Federal Executive (FE) is the governing body of the Federal Party. It is responsible for directing, co-ordinating, and implementing the work of the Federal Party. The FE is Chaired by the Party President, and has representatives of the members (15 members elected ...
Imagine the scene. It is wartime, and the stakes are high in the Atlantic and the North Sea. At the British fleet anchorage in the Orkneys, known to history as Scapa Flow, the signal lamps flash messages across the dank mist, unaware that they possess the most extraordinary weapon, utterly secret and also unprecedented in modern naval warfare. Unlike the wartime sailors of other previous generations, they can listen in to the hour-by-hour thoughts and orders of the other side and act accordingly. Not in the ships, perhaps, battling against the salt spray in the moment of battle, but via ...
Home Start's Charity Night14th November 2015 at 7.30pmStarlight Showroom,Guthrie Street, Dundee Tickets- £10/ £6 - for tickets contact the office on 202040 or email admin@homestart-dundee.org.uk Come along for a fantastic evening of entertainment from Arbroath RBLS Pipe Band, Christine Low Dancers, Downfield Musical Society, Gleadhraich and lots more. There is also a grand raffle with some fantastic prizes, including Tickets for TV Psychic Sally Morgan, The Proclaimers and more, with a special raffle for your chance to win 2 x T in The Park 2016 Tickets.
Do fish fart? In case you were wondering. (tags: biology ) A Milestone Not a Turning Point Theo Moore @ChairmanYaffle on Cameron's EU demands. (tags: eu ukpolitics ) Chemical element symbols that are also ISO 3166 country code abbreviations Because you needed to know. (tags: chemistry internet ) The Misuse of Interpol's Database Getting other countries to pursue your dissidents. (tags: humanrights ) John Bossy obituary Lovely write-up in the @guardian. (tags: death ) The Hidden Message of Saga, or, Why We Can't Help But Love It Amen. (tags: sf comics )
David Cameron hasn't the faintest idea how deep his cuts go - see exchange of letters here I'm scared to be an older person with autism The world in 2065: what do social scientists think the future holds? Christ these are terrifying Theresa May's proposed spying law is 'worse than scary' United Nations says When do you reckon the tories are going to turn to each other and say "wait... are we the bad guys?" like Mitchell & Webb's nazis? I'm not holding my breath David Cameron believes his own spin One shouldn't laugh, but.... [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments ...
A new planning applications has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 59407 Registration Date: 28/10/2015 Location: Prestwich Arts College, Heys Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1JZ Proposal: Prior approval for proposed installation of new Solar PV system (20kW) Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
The Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords has, to widespread surprise, elected former Chief Executive Chris Rennard to represent it on the party's Federal Executive. In a contested election, he beat Tim Razzall by a significant margin: 44-25 with 3 spoilt/blank. Party President Sal Brinton was one of those who voted against Chris Rennard. With 72 people taking part, turnout was up towards three-quarters of the Lords Parliamentary Party.* Getting the reaction to Chris Rennard's FE election wrongThe immediate reaction of some Liberal Democrat activists angered at the decision by Lib Dem peers to elect Chris Rennard as ...
