David Cameron has promised to come up with a strategy for bombing in Syria. This is a peculiar idea in itself: a strategy for defeating IS makes sense - so does a strategy to bring peace to the Middle East - but a strategy to explain the importance of bombing sounds like putting the cart before the horse. There may, after all, be an overwhelming argument for bombing in Syria, but there are three reasons (at least) why it makes sense to stay sceptical. My test of the present effectiveness of the House of Commons as an institution is about ...
Normally, I would attempt to come up with some kind of pun linked to the country the event takes place in. Sadly, there is little humorous about the politics of Hungary, where European liberals gather this weekend. Indeed, the purpose of holding the ALDE Party Congress there is to provide some support to the liberal forces that remain there. Once upon a time, Hungary had a lot of liberals, with the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) holding ninety-three of the 386 seats in the first post-communist Parliament, and FIDESZ holding another twenty-one. But, alas, FIDESZ discovered that conservative nationalism was ...
The Zombies' album Odessey and Oracle was released in 1968 to critical indifference. When Time of the Season became a sleeper hit in America 18 months later, it was too late: the band had already split up. Today it is regarded as one of the great albums of the Sixties and modern musicians queue up to pay tribute to it. And then something wonderful happened. As Wikipedia tells it: In March 2008, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album's release, the four surviving members performed Odessey and Oracle in its entirety for three shows at the Shepherds Bush Empire ...
Liberal Democracy has been good to me personally. I've met fascinating people, done interesting and, occasionally, useful things, I hope. I met Ros, who has made my life better in a whole bunch of ways. The past week has been deeply dispiriting though. It would be foolhardy to describe those aspects, on either side of the argument, which have depressed me most and, to be fair, there have been participants on both sides who have led me to wonder whether or not I am the right sort of liberal to be at home here, or perhaps, an acceptable enough liberal. ...
A by-election will take place in Market Harborough Logan ward on Thursday 10 December. If follows the recent death of the Liberal Democrat councillor Pete Callis. The Lib Dem candidate in the by-election will be Barbara Johnson, a former councillor with a long history of campaigning in the community. We are keen to hold this seat, and it also forms part of a marginal county council ward which we just lost last time round. If you can give an hour or two to deliver or canvass in Logan ward your help will be well used. Please ring Barbara on 07854 ...
From the National Secular Society website: Labour MP Keith Vaz has expressed his support for the reintroduction of UK blasphemy laws - provided they "apply equally to everybody." His comments were reportedly made at an event organised by the Muslim Council of Britain to explore responses to terrorism and extremism, held in London on 12 November.The report goes on to say: Vaz went on to give contradictory answers about his views, saying that there should not be blasphemy laws in the UK, before adding, "If somebody brings it forward in parliament I'll vote for it... Obviously it depends what's in ...
Tim Farron issued a very good statement today. It completed a great act of leadership. Chris Rennard issued a very good, dignified response. I also commend Sal Brinton's great role in the last few days. I'm proud of our party as a result of this latest episode. I'm proud that 200+ members can carry out a democratic exercise to voice the pain of many members over what happened. I'm proud of Tim Farron, Chris Rennard and Sal Brinton that they resolved the issue with such dignity and mutual respect. Share
[IMG: Tim Farron & Jane Brophy Oldham] This party has given me so much. I joined as a 16 year old and it has given me lifelong friends and an extended family. Today I am asking a favour from you. I hope you know me well enough to know that I only do that when it matters. I am asking for your help to support my good friend Jane Brophy and our Oldham West & Royton campaign. I was there a couple of weeks ago to launch the campaign and to be honest you will struggle to keep me away! ...
Nice to see that the electricity powers that be have finally tidied up the sub-station on the Maghull/Lydiate boundary on Southport Road which had been a right old eyesore for far too long. So credit were it's due (wherever that might be within the electricity company) on a job well done. Here's a photo of the job done, I did have a before one but it is lost somewhere on my PC. [IMG: Electricy Sub-Station - Southport Rd Lydiate 10 15]
Magination
I did not get on well with the only other Doris Lessing book I have read, The Grass is Singing, but I thought this was excellent - a short novel about a woman in her mid-40s who suddenly gets an opportunity to break away from her family and friends, and grabs it with both hands. I found the geographical and character descriptions excellent, and Kate's journey to freedom rather exhilarating. Recommended. (Yes, I know that icon is Agatha Christie. Sorry.)
This week has seen a lot of heated debate about the party's governance and how well we're implementing (or not) the recommendations from the Morrisey report. Personally, there are three other things about the election last week that should concern us, and that as a party we need to work together to address. The first is our diversity problem. Or should we start calling it a tragedy? Our peer group is one of the more (if not the most) diverse official groupings within the party. Yet when it came to people putting themselves forward as their rep on Federal Executive, ...
[IMG: Local Business for website] Small Businesses are the life blood of many of our high streets and this pack is designed to help you engage with businesses in your area, finding out the issues they face and also supporting them on Small Business Saturday. We have produced some materials for you to use Focus drop ins Facebook News Releases [...]
Tue 17th
16:47
Liverpool City Region devolution – The deal is rubbish and should be rejected out of hand.
My two most recent postings on this subject are available via the links below:- The Liverpool City Region settlement announced today falls far behind the one negotiated for Greater Manchester. The Liverpool City Region has been given far fewer powers than was Greater Manchester. Manchester will have control over the Police and over the Health Service Liverpool will not! These are two huge areas where Manchester will be able to better coordinate at a sub-regional level the work of the public sector across their huge conurbation. Crime and the NHS are probably our greatest local challenges so what's ...
As sure as night follows day, online disputes follow a mass-shooting or terrorist attack. They almost invariably follow a very predictable pattern of action and reaction, or statement and counter-statement that ends up focusing almost as much on assessments (or condemnations) of how social media have responded to the event in question, as it does looking at the event itself. The aftermath of the horrible events that enveloped Paris on an initially unremarkable Friday evening has not been broken this pattern. One of the main focal points of this discussion was Facebook's decision to proactively offer a French flag filter ...
[IMG: chaos walking] It's been a while since I've found a fictional series that's grabbed me so well I've sped through the entirety of it in a short time, but Chaos Walking reawakened that desire in me. I've got that feeling where I want to find everyone I know who's already read it so I can demand to know why they didn't urge me to read it earlier, while also thrusting copies of it on everyone who hasn't. I read each of the three books (The Knife of Never Letting Go , The Ask and the Answer , and Monsters ...
[IMG: Oldham] The campaign for Oldham West and Royton has already seen over 200 volunteers through the doors and many more making calls through the phone bank. The main issue we are leading on in this campaign is the Tax Credit cuts. Tax credit cuts will cost 8,000 working families in Oldham an average of £1300 a [...]
Get real, tomorrow is not going to happen. By Dan Hodges – "Because this is the Real World. Where Real Things Happen. In barely formulated tabloid-ish sentences that have somehow made their way into a broadsheet where they masquerade as incisive realism. With their no-nonsense tone. And their full-stops." The Okinawa missiles of October – Did the US nearly launch nuclear cruise missiles at the Soviet Union and other countries during the Cuban Missile Crisis? An interactive guide to ambiguous grammar – Make sure you read it right to the end. After the Paris Attacks: Live News Should Challenge Narratives, ...
Rock the Boat – Liberal Democrats Against Sexual Harassment – today welcomed the statements from Tim Farron and Lord Rennard this morning regarding the House of Lords' representative on the Federal Executive. Grace Goodlad, steering group member, said: We are saddened that it took the triggering of a Special Conference and a public plea from our Party Leader to get there, but we are pleased that good sense has now prevailed. The petition for a Special Conference has now been withdrawn. We will instead work as broadly as possible across the Party and with the leadership on the important issues ...
Hopefully the Liver Bird with be the emblem of our new 'Devolved' Authority So the Liverpool City Region deal has finely blown in to town. Not a full blooded gale like the one that is currently taking place outside my ... Continue reading →
It was with initial disbelief and then horror as I watched the events in Paris last night unfold Our thoughts are of course with the families and communities who have been affected by this tragedy. But we mustn't forget that the whole point of terrorism is to intimidate and terrify And the horrors of last night were indeed terrifying But it's how we respond that matters And we can't let the terrorists win Never must we allow their actions to change our way of life Never must we allow them to turn people against one other Never must we allow ...
Right wing journalism doesn't annoy me half as much, as a centrist, as it does some of my left wing friends. However, some trends and buzzwords have developed recently and I'm not sure people are really thinking them through. Safe spaces seem to have evolved into a put down by people who consider that folk are "insulating themselves from argument" when some people declare an area for discussion as a "safe space". But it isn't - most of the communities we circulate in are free and areas where free speech is tolerated and arguments engaged in. Twitter is one such ...
Chris Rennard has made the following statement announcing that he has withdrawn from the Federal Executive: A week ago, I was elected by the votes of the Liberal Democrat members of the House of Lords to be their representative on the party's Federal Executive. Any Lib Dem peer could have stood, all of them could vote, and I was elected by 44 votes to 25. Since then a number of party members have objected to that outcome and sought to effectively overturn it by removing the right of the Lib Dem peers to have a representative on it. I was ...
The age of anonymous briefings after Labour Party meetings has apparently returned if this article in the Independent is any measure. The paper reports that one of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow ministers has branded their leader a "f***ing disgrace" after an acrimonious meeting between his new Leader and Labour MPs. They say that some politicians at the private Monday evening meeting were reportedly angry that Mr Corbyn had questioned police having a "shoot to kill" policy for terror suspects on British soil. They add that there was also said to be dissent over the Labour leader's statement earlier in the day ...
Here's Tim Farron's statement on the election of Chris Rennard to the Lib Dem Federal Executive (FE) by the party's peers: As you know, Chris Rennard's election to the Federal Executive has prompted party members to call for a Special Conference. I have not spoken out until now as I have been giving Chris time to reflect on the party's reaction to his election. I have decided it is time to make clear publicly that I do not believe it is in the interests of the party for Chris to take up his position on the FE. Chris was entitled ...
Tue 17th
10:41
+++Breaking: Tim Farron calls on Chris Rennard to step down from the Federal Executive
Tim Farron has issued the following statement calling on Chris Rennard to step down from the Federal Executive position to which he was elected by Liberal Democrat Lords last week: As you know, Chris Rennard's election to the Federal Executive has prompted party members to call for a Special Conference. I have not spoken out until now as I have been giving Chris time to reflect on the party's reaction to his election. I have decided it is time to make clear publicly that I do not believe it is in the interests of the party for Chris to take ...
LibDemHame is delighted to learn that the first group of Syrian refugees will be arriving in Scotland today. We would like to extend a very warm welcome to each and every one of you and to say how pleased we are that you have chosen to make Scotland your new home. We can only imagine... More LibDemHAME says 'Welcome' To Syrian Refugees
As a mark of solidarity with France and the victims of this weekend's atrocities in Paris the French flag was flown at half-mast outside the town hall on Monday, alongside the Union flag, as the borough shows its support for our near neighbours. (c) Bury Council The Leader of Bury Council said: "Our hearts go out to the people of France following these attacks, and our deepest sympathies go to the families and friends of those who died. We've had close links with France for decades with twin towns in Angouleme and Tulle, and I will be sending a message ...
As you may be aware Bury Council has just started a six week consultation on proposals to make significant changes to Bury New Road as it passes through Prestwich Village. Consultation ends on 23 December 2015. Some (Labour) councillors have been developing the plans for the couple of years, but this is the first time that the plans have been made public in any way and the first consultation with members of the public. The proposals are for either: – single lane traffic, together with bus lay-bys, parking bays, cycle lanes and improved wider pavements – single lane traffic, a ...
New data released by the Scottish government shows that over 100,ooo people had to travel for treatment outside their local health board area during the past year. Of that total over 25% were from the NHS Lanarkshire region alone. There have been year-on-year increases in the numbers referred outside of their local areas since the... More 100,000 Forced To Travel For Treatment In Scotland
We wanted to update residents about the play are on Bailey Street (Heaton Street). As you may be aware the Council has identified a limited amount of money to upgrade some of the children's play areas in the Borough, and Bailey Street is one of those to be updated. Together with Councillor Mary D'Albert, I met with the appropriate Council Officer at the play area to discuss the refurbishment and any issues that local people and/or users of the play area might have. [IMG: IMG_0083] As we understand some of the equipment is in good condition and does not need ...
A meeting took place on Wednesday 11th November at Wilton Hall in Simister, which Mary D'Albert attended on our behalf. The meeting was called by the local horse riders/owners. The meeting was attended by a large number of local residents (the village has a very good community spirit and all events in and around the village are always well supported). The aim of the meeting was to discuss the plan to allow horses to be ridden on the wetlands, which is something they cannot do at the moment. This is a complex subject, with many different and valued opinions. The ...
In the shadow of events in Paris, the Liberal Democrats held their London conference last Saturday. For a party that most people think has ceased to exist, party members are in a surprising upbeat mood. Held a university building in Brentford, well out of the centre, the conference was nevertheless well-attended, cheerful and lively. Even as I delivered the Treasurer's report just after lunch, the dullest piece of business in the whole day, there were dozens in the audience. I survived unscathed, and live on to be Treasurer of the regional party for another year. And yet detached outsiders would ...
This issue's free sample online content is the Commentary on how the party might react to the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, and why the campaign to stay in the European Union should not allow itself to be dominated by business leaders with little popular appeal. Also as a free sample, former Devon North MP Nick Harvey exposes how Liberal Democrat polling during the general election showed the party losing almost every seat and that its messages were unpopular, yet those in charge of the campaign refused to change their plans. Elsewhere the issue has news and gossip ...
Tue 17th
08:48
Although it pains me to say it, the Obama administration's foreign policy has been pretty bad overal...
I was one of those people who shed a little tear when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States of America on November 4th, 2008. There were a lot of reasons the election of the man gave me hope: partly it was that the notion that "anyone" could become president had finally been genuinely realised (if a black guy named Barack Obama could do it, then anyone really could); partly it was that we had at last seen the end of the W Bush period, one in which cowboy foreign policy had reigned supreme. I had great hopes ...
Residents have contacted me about the extent to which flooding has recently affected the east side of the bridge over the rail line on Riverside Drive (just south of the Botanic Garden) - see below :I took up the matter with the City Engineer whose office has responded as follows : "This particular gully is ... at the low point of Riverside Drive and this is where leaves are prone to accumulate, blocking the gully. Roads Maintenance will attend and clear."
My short short story, Ten Things You'll Only Get If You're A 50s Kid is currently on the front page of DailyScienceFiction.com , and in the inboxes of its email subscribers. If you're reading this from tomorrow onwards, it's archived here. No, I'm not doing an Iain M Banks with the middle name thing — [...]
Belgium's Terrorism Problem The interior minister explains. (tags: belgium waronterror ) Why is English so weirdly different from other languages McWhorter on form as usual! (tags: linguistics english ) Teach peace How to fight terror, by @IrinaBokova. (tags: waronterror education ) Free Collection of Stories Eligible for #RetroHugos1941 Hooray! First volume of (hopefully) three. (tags: sf )
The Onion, March 2003. The "Carlile Doctrine" | Jack of Kent blog If subtweeting is a thing, is subblogging? On defamation The only weapon IS fear is tolerance 15 badass women of World War II you didn't learn about in history class. Two Yorkshiremen sit in pub garden to finish their pints despite being waist-deep in floodwater I've never been prouder to be Yorkshire - "the river with its watery nonsense" LOL FREEZE PEACH PIE by Skiriki on DeviantArt 29 Of The Most Ridiculous Ways People Injured Themselves As Kids - no 26 had me crying with laughter Paul Lewis ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised the Tory UK Government for delaying a cap on care costs secured by former Lib Dem Care Minister Norman Lamb, following an announcement by the Welsh Government that no decision can 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 introduced next April under the Care Act 2014. However, immediately after the election the Conservatives effectively ...
