A bumper selection, but if you want more there's Devon, Bedfordshire, North Lincolnshire, East Sussex, Leicestershire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, Cumbria, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Cornwall, Rutland. Northumberland, Shropshire, Suffolk, East Riding of Yorkshire, Norfolk, Wiltshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Durham, Glasgow, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Edinburgh, Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire.
Conservative seat. Cause: Resignation. LD candidate- Roger Boon.
Congratulations Anton Georgiou: Honoured to have been selected as the GLA candidate for the Brent and Harrow constituency. #LibDemFightback pic.twitter.com/M33On5BSXy — Anton Georgiou (@anton_georgiou) December 16, 2015 Anton Georgiou, 20, from Ellesmere Road, has told his own family's story of arriving in the UK after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. His grandparents, mother and two aunts were forced to abandon their home and all their worldly possessions in Famagusta, Cyprus after soldiers invaded their town. The Liberal Democrat activist, who is hoping the community will welcome Syrian refugees as victims of a humanitarian crisis, said: "This issue is ...
I thought I was going to give up on the sf novels of 1940, but I'm glad I didn't - this is a very competent retelling of the Greek legends of Theseus, with some parts of other legends thrown in, that rises to a cracking good conclusion. I don't think it will (or necessarily even should) win a Retro Hugo but I'll certainly give it one of my nomination slots.
Introducing Doctor Who - Rose... The first new Doctor Who story starts with an ordinary person who follows someone extraordinary to a blue box that's larger on the inside than the outside and travels in time and space. Again. Fast, funny and fantastic, Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston burst onto our screens and deadly dummies burst through shop windows in the perfect Doctor Who relaunch, choosing strangeness over normality, running towards adventure and reinventing British television. And it all looks glorious. It's nearly Christmas, but it was at Easter 2005 that Doctor Who - Rose. "Right. Where d'you wanna start?" ...
Blood tests: last 8 results 16 9 7 25 18 21 5 18 Dec Dec Dec Nov Nov Oct Oct Sep Normal Hb 103 108 79 86 87 107 95 106 130-180 WBC 2.16 1.6 1.3 1.47 1.76 1.8 1.95 2.53 4.5-10.0 N'phils 0.56 0.47 0.44 0.48 0.46 0.57 0.87 1.05 2.0-7 Plt 60 95 107 187 221 202 225 2.41 150-450 Nb Creatinin was 297 compared with normal range 45-120indicating dehydration, so I'm drinking a lot & will have anotherblood test tomorrow. Platelets continue to fall but neutrophils are above the level of 0.5 µmol/L described as 'severe neutropenia', ...
[IMG: Have_I_Got_News_For_You_titlescreen] Have I Got News For You recently finished it's landmark 50th series, and I've updated my spreadsheet on the gender balance of guests to include it. The good news is that the show has continued with the BBC's policy of having at least one woman as a guest on all panel shows, the bad news is that's continued to be seen as both a maximum and a minimum with only one show in this run managing to feature two female guests (Sue Perkins and Roisin Conaty in episode 3). The show also managed to match the record of ...
I'm reviving this blog temporarily to use for my campaign to be Liberal Youth England (LYE) Chair. You can find my campaign facebook page here and below is how I announced my candidacy: These would be the goals I aim to achieve as LYE Chair:To hold at least one annual conference Liberal Youth EnglandReform the regional chairs system to make it more effective in supporting branchesWork towards having large county/city branches to cover areas of England where no branches exist at presentBuild a dedicated support team to provide specific types of support to branches and members - in areas such ...
Tim Farron has reacted to the Commons vote which enabled tracking under national parks in England. His constituency has two national parks. He said: The Government today relaxed the rules on fracking around and under National Parks and other protected sites. The Government used a parliamentary wheeze to pass the change with no parliamentary debate. Last week the Government signed up to a landmark climate change deal and is now abandoning those pledges to create a market for another fossil fuel. Our National Parks and areas of Scientific Interest are now at risk and the Government should hang its head ...
Overview: The Scotland Act 2012 changed the nature of the tax raising powers enjoyed by Holyrood. When the Parliament was first created, it had the power to vary the basic rate of income tax by up to 3 percentage points either side of any rate that the Chancellor of the Exchequer set for the UK as a whole. If Holyrood cut the basic rate, it would receive a smaller block grant, and if it raised the basic rate, it would receive a larger block grant. One of the main criticisms of this power was that it did not allow the ...
I'm reviving this blog temporarily to use for my campaign to be Liberal Youth England (LYE) Chair. You can find my campaign facebook page here and below is how I announced my candidacy: [TONGUE IN CHEEK KLAXON]As we're on the eve of Liberal Youth England elections I thought I'd put on my Six Years Membership of LY(TM) Hat and explain a bit about it.Who is LYE? What is LYE? How did it come to be there?Well hush children and Clopin will tell you. For this is a tale of a youth wing... and a monster. If you don't get the ...
Before (1969) and after (2015) photos of the shops opposite the Coach & Horses Pub. The first photo is actually a scan of a photo printed in the Maghull & Aintree Advertiser on 29th May 1969. [IMG: Maghull & Aintree Advertiser 29th May 1969 (p)] [IMG: Liverpool Road North shops 11 15 (2)] An even older photo of these shops was included in my recent posting about The Forge and a link to that posting is available below:- My thanks to Hazel Metcalfe (nee Barnes) for the first photo. The interesting Advertiser article to go with the 1969 picture ...
Courtesy of Awkward Yeti: I'm off to see the Force Awakens tomorrow and I imagine my review will emerge not long afterwards.Filed under: Uncategorized
[IMG: The Elections Centre website] The newly launched website for Plymouth University's Elections Centre (home to Michael Thrasher and Colin Rallings) contains a treasure trove of electoral data about British local elections. This included detailed results for individual local authorities from the 1970s onwards, and summary data for each election year since 1973 including vote share and number of seats won. The team is planning to add further data to the site as time and resources permit. Email suggestions to electionscentre@gmail.com. For more election data... In the meantime, for more election data geekery, take a look at my database of ...
Collection days for recycling and rubbish will change over the festive period. Ealing Council also runs a free Christmas tree recycling service. Refuse and recycling collections will change from Christmas Day and return to normal service on Monday 11th January. Usual collection day Revised collection day Monday 21 December Tuesday 22 December Wednesday 23 December Thursday 24 December Friday 25 December Monday 28 December Tuesday 29 December Wednesday 30 December Thursday 31 December Friday 1 January Monday 4 January Tuesday 5 January Wednesday 6 January Thursday 7 January Friday 8 January Monday 11 January Monday 21 December Tuesday 22 December ...
[IMG: Cllrs Peter Barrett and Abi Bell have joined ALDC/ASLDC as our newest Development Officers] New Members of the ALDC and ASLDC Team ALDC is delighted to announce that two new members will be joining our staff team from the start of 2016. Councillor Abi Bell will be joining the team as Development Officer in England and Wales. Councillor Peter Barrett will be joining the team as Development Officer in Scotland. Abi is our former [...]
Wed 16th
16:04
Lords' maiden speeches: Malcolm Bruce: the importance of tackling conflict and building stability ov...
We're publishing our new Lords' maiden speeches. Here's Malcolm Bruce's in a debate on the defence and security review recently. His main interest is in international development and he wanted to make the point that we need to focus on resolving conflict and building stability overseas. Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD) (Maiden Speech): My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, a very distinguished former First Minister of Scotland. I agreed with much of what he said. When I stood in the October 1974 election, came fourth and lost my deposit, I never dreamed that I ...
Daniel Duggan, who organises our campaigns in Low Fell and Chowdene wards in Gateshead, asked me if I would deliver one of the Focus patches left over from the action day a couple of weekends ago. I agreed to do one patch. At our next meeting, Daniel arrived with a large bundle of leaflets. 207 to be precise, to be delivered in Calderwood Crescent and surrounding streets. I did the whole patch
The press have been commenting on the various leaders' and parties' Christmas cards. The Independent was pretty scathing about all of them apart from Tim Farron's, with a headline "All of the political leaders' Christmas cards are rubbish (apart from Tim Farron's). " His card is this one, designed by 11 year old Ami Woodburn from a school in Tim's constituency. [IMG: Tim Farron's sleigh Christmas card 2015] This is where the mystery really begins, though, because the Guardian shows a different card for Tim: [IMG: Tim Farron's penguin christmas card 2015] This was designed by 5 year old Elsie ...
Edinburgh West Holyrood candidate Alex Cole-Hamilton joined forces with Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie MSP today to meet businesses in South Queensferry who have been badly hit by the Forth Road Bridge closure. Rennie has said the proposed inquiry by the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee does not go far enough in scrutinising the... More Cole-Hamilton & Rennie Slam 'Baby Steps' on Forth Bridge Enquiry
Did you know that by recycling 6 foil mince pie cases you could save enough energy to watch the Christmas episode of Downton Abbey? It's a startling statistic but demonstrates the importance of recycling. During the busy festive season we are all likely to create more waste and Bath & North East Somerset Council is urging residents to make the most of their recycling collections and recycle as much as possible. A wide variety of items can go into your recycling from plastic to food and drink packaging, glass bottles, cardboard boxes and wrapping paper. Under my Leadership, as a ...
[IMG: mphbasic] Mark Pack has written about his thoughts on whether Basic Income (or Citizen's Income, as it was called when it was party policy in the 90s) should be Liberal Democrat policy again. He's going off the idea of it, because he thinks you can achieve the same aims in welfare terms with modifications to Universal Credit, but I think he's missing the wider implications of basic income and why I, and others, think it is the best option for creating a liberal society. The principal problem with Mark's approach is that he's looking at basic income mainly as ...
The Courier reports today that the Police are investigating a death threat sent to Alistair Carmichael that is believed to be related to his vote in favour of airstrikes on Syria. The threat was received at his constituency office last Thursday. The "abhorrent" threat is believed to relate to Mr Carmichael's backing for air strikes in Syria and officers have deemed it serious enough to offer safety advice to the former Scottish Secretary. A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: "Officers in Kirkwall are making inquiries following correspondence received at the constituency office of Alistair Carmichael. Safety advice has been given." ...
[IMG: Merry Christmas from ALDC!] The Christmas holidays are a good opportunity to find the time to do a number of important tasks: 1. Say thank you to deliverers, supporters and members As organisations, political parties have a lot to learn from the charity sector on how to treat our volunteers. Saying thanking and make sure they understand the [...]
Two weeks into the closure of the Forth Road Bridge, Willie Rennie has told the Scottish Transport Minister that more needs to be done to support commuters who are facing delays of up to two hours each way in their daily commute. He quoted some of the problems people are facing: I drive from Dalgety Bay to Bo'ness and have found myself getting frustrated by being forced into huge queues over Clackmannan bridge then joining light traffic coming over Kincardine. My mileage has also been trebled which is an issue financially. Surely it would make sense to allow cars to ...
Wed 16th
10:25
If the Americans did polls like the Brits, the headlines would be about Trump's unpopularity
[IMG: Donald Trump. CC BY 2.0 courtesy of Ninian Reid] Reassuring that most of the news about Donald Trump's poll ratings. He might love attacking Muslims, but Donald Trump is less popular than Muslims with his fellow Americans: Americans like Muslims more than they like Donald Trump https://t.co/vCbqYcDbb6 pic.twitter.com/IlFtCrnkuj — Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) December 10, 2015 Donald Trump: unpopular populist It's also worth noting from those figures how very different the public perception of Donald Trump is thanks to the American way of reporting poll findings. If the British style of regularly reporting overall leadership ratings amongst the whole electorate ...
One noted the care taken in the choice of words from the government spokesman when he talked about "horizontal shale layers". This was in reference to the government vote today on whether to allow fracking underneath environmentally sensitive sites. The spokesman went on to mention that the limit on measured hydraulically-induced fractures (or fracks, as I shall call them for the rest of the piece) is 600m, so that a safety limit of double that difference, 1200m, will be safe enough. The aforementioned horizontal shale layers imagine the geology of the UK as some kind of layer cake, with one ...
[IMG: PV image for website] Postal votes have become a key part of any election campaign, with between fifteen and twenty per cent of eligible voters now voting by post. With increasing numbers taking up postal votes, and with the huge differential in likely turnout, the postal vote is an opportunity that campaigners and councillors cannot afford to miss. In this [...]
Put aside for a moment what you think of the prime minister politically. Obviously if you are anywhere on the Left, Cameron is the champion of austerity, Thatcher times ten. If you are a Daily Mail reader, Dave is a lily-livered liberal somewhere to the left of Trotsky. No, what I'm after today is trying to figure out if Cameron is operating under an intensely thought out game plan – or if he's just stumbling around randomly hoping everything works out. Take Europe. The papers have been awash with stories of how Cameron is going to have to perform a ...
[IMG: Gatley lights - one of the busiest junctions in Greater Manchester] Gatley lights – one of the busiest junctions in Greater Manchester Traffic has always been pretty bad around Cheadle and Gatley, but there's no doubt it's got even worse in the years I've been living here. Longer queues, and at more times of the day too – it's not just in rush hour any more. I'll often come through Gatley around noon to find it completely solid. So what's going on – and what can we do about it? The traffic is a symptom of our area being ...
Wed 16th
09:32Farron calls for flood protection for small businesses and much more in Commons speech
Tim Farron has rightly been preoccupied with helping his constituents with the aftermath of the terrible flooding which has hit his Cumbria constituency. His most recent initiative is to ask the Government to extend the Flood Re scheme, which will give insurance protection to home-owners in areas at risk from flooding, to small businesses from April next year. He cites 125,000 businesses which have either been refused cover completely or quoted an unaffordable price for insurance. Tim said: As devastating as the floods have been for home owners here in Cumbria, it has been equally catastrophic for the small businesses ...
I am writing this on a train in my way to Morocco via London Gatwick where I am going to a meeting to initiate a major training programme for local government across Africa. One of the benefits of working in ... Continue reading →
British MPs will today have the chance of voting for a change in the country's electoral system, from First Past the Post (where the candidate with the most votes in a given constituency wins the seat, irrespective of the percentage he or she gets) to a more proportional system. This debate has come about because [...]
Today the Deputy First Minister of Scotland John Swinney will deliver his budget and for the first time we will know what the new Scottish rate of income tax is going to be from April next year. It is, you would have thought, a situation the SNP would have long dreamt of. Finally they have... More Scottish Income Tax – Another Missed Opportunity For The SNP
There was festive cheer at West End care home Magdalen House yesterday when bakery chain Greggs kindly donated 80 Christmas Pies to the residents to wish them all a very Happy Christmas. The festive gift was part of Greggs' sponsorship of the recent West End Christmas Fortnight events. We are very grateful to Greggs for this generous gesture for the folk at Magdalen House. Here's a photo below :
Scottish Liberal Democrats MSP and Energy Spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today warned that hot air in the form of 'warm words' from Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will not be enough to heat peoples homes this winter. New figures released show that hundreds of thousands cannot afford to turn on the heating and McArthur... More McArthur Warns Sturgeon To 'Turn Up The Heat'
I have written here many times on the principled objections to the Tory Government's Snooper's Charter, however only a small amount of attention has been paid to the technical feasibility of this proposal. The investigatory powers bill includes not only the expected snooper's charter, enabling the tracking of everyone's web and social media use, but also moves to strengthen the security services' warranted powers for the bulk interception of the content of communications. This is the sort of mass surveillance that the Liberal Democrats spent five years fighting against. It will undermine the rights of every citizen in the UK ...
Dog DNA study reveals the incredible journey of man's best friend (tags: biology ) The Weird, Sketchy History of Internet Cafes How we have changed. (tags: internet history ) The Call of the Sad Whelkfins: The Continued Relevance of How To Suppress Women's Writing @leeflower and @eilatan on the reception of Ancillary Justice (tags: sadpuppies sf )
This page is taken from advanced material for the Liberal Democrat 2016 spring conference, in this case material sent out to commercial exhibitors, advertisers and similar: [IMG: Lib Dem York conference policies and slogan panel] The slogans used in party conferences paperwork usually come and go even more quickly than a chocolate bar left in the same room as me, so the precise wording shouldn't be given too much attention – especially as this wording is a conference marketing decision rather than a wider messaging decision. The overall direction, however, is more telling and comes at the same time as ...
The earliest samekh A new-found ancient inscription. (Read the comments!) (tags: alphabets ) Putin's popularity, explained A sobering read. (tags: russia ) On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit (PDF) Canadian research. (tags: psychology ) 'Blink' Might Be Even More Timey-Wimey Than You Think Interesting thought! (tags: doctorwho )
FLASHBACK: The first ever Briton in space - Sheffield's Helen Sharman "It's not that girls don't want to go into STEM—it's that when they get there, they are treated like crap" Astronauts and other British people in space - in which @po8crg explains who was the first #britinspace Best Doughnuts ever. Made in Yorkshire, naturally Criminal barristers are paid £2.40 an hour but I still see why people want to do their job I'm so so glad I didn't succeed in my Rumpole-inspired dreams. Struggling to survive is no fun. This. This. A thousand times this. Famous Poems Rewritten as ...
Astronomers Skeptical about "Planet X" Claims Harshing exoplanetary squee! (tags: astronomy ) EU Referendum: a humiliating retreat from journalism @telegraph (and @independent) rubbish as usual. (tags: eu ukpolitics ) DNA links 5,500 year old remains of aboriginal woman in Canada with living relative Linking now with the past. (tags: genealogy biology ) Andrew Duff writes to David Cameron to help out on Brexit Getting technical. (tags: ukpolitics eu ) 15 Autism Myths People Affected by It Want to See Busted Good thoughts. (tags: autism ) The Divorce Colony Sioux Falls' role in feminist history. (tags: uspolitics history sexandgenderandsexuality ) I ...
