Not even my best friends would suggest that exercise and I have an ongoing relationship. I am mostly deskbound in the workplace, and whilst I have occasionally taken to gyms at moments of wild enthusiasm, such activity is usually short-lived, sporadic or both. However, needs must, and as I aspire to travelling the world in my eighties, drinking the occasional gin and tonic in exotic, faraway places, it has gradually dawned on me that, in my early-fifties, it might be wise to improve the odds that I will make it that far in a state that allows me to get ...
[IMG: Vince Cable. Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/bisgovuk/4668788281/ - some rights reserved] The Liberal Democrats and Labour MPs opposed to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership will have to "work together" to create an "effective opposition" to the Government, Sir Vince Cable has said. In some of the strongest indicators yet that a form of 'Lib-Lab pact' could be achieved, the former Liberal Democrat Business Secretary said he was already "happily engaged" with people in the Labour party "trying to create common ground"... He said that "practical cooperation" with elements of the Labour party was possible and that the issue would come to the ...
Just before Christmas, following the death of Greville Janner, I wrote: Trying a dead man is surely an absurdity out of the Middle Ages.Yet things are seldom that clear cut in the law. A trial of facts for an MP who was unfit to plead sounded a fanciful idea, but it turned out that one had taken place as recently as 2012. Now I have found that in 2002 a dead child abuser from Leicester appealed against his conviction. The abuser was Father Michael Ingram from Holy Cross Priory, which is shown in the photo above. Spotlight on Abuse says ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 444th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (26 December 2015 – 2 January, 2016), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Simon Danczuk: A ...
I came across this plaque on a house near Nottingham Castle which is now home to the Word Service restaurant. Marshal Tallart was the commander of the French forces at Blenheim. He was captured during the battle and afterwards was sent to live at Newdigate House in Nottingham under parole. Nottinghamshire History tells us: Being a sensible man, lie settled down to live a happy and useful life amid his erstwhile enemies. His courtesy and innate goodness soon made him popular, and to him our forefathers owed many novel and useful innovations. He taught their wives how to make white ...
The BSFA has announced the opening of Round 2 of this year's BSFA Awards. This time round, nominations were accepted in all categories to the end of December; we now have January to winnow down the candidates to a final four in each case. As usual, the list of Best Novel options gives me grist for my statistical mill: here they are, listed in descending order of aggregate popularity on Goodreads and LibraryThing (the number in each case is the number of users who own each book). Goodreads Librarything Naomi Novik, Uprooted 85515 625 Kate Atkinson, A God in Ruins ...
Regular readers will know that Brian Aldiss is one of my favourite writers, and the Helliconia trilogy is one of his core works: three novels set centuries apart on Helliconia, a planet whose orbit brings it from freezing winter to hot summer over the centuries, and whose two major races (humans and horned furry Pharos) are under constant observation from Earth. Aldiss himself promoted it at the time as a major breakthrough, and I think it was - for him, as it was his first really long fiction, and for the genre, in that he caught the wave of Gaia-style ...
Watch the new fun (yet educational) video from CGP Grey: Note: the Norway territorial claim shown in the video is slightly wrong.
Embed from Getty Images Thanks to Will Barter and James King for alerting us to an interview Lembit Opik gave to Radio 4's Saturday Live, broadcast yesterday, where he talked about the huge effect his 2010 election defeat had had on him. He had been worried about losing, but his confidence had been boosted by the data they had locally and when he was defeated, he was totally shocked. He said he's "assumed he was going to win" and defeat hit him in 4 stages, taking him 3.5 years to turn his life around. He described the initial disbelief and ...
In the next 8 weeks, Liberal Democrat Spring conferences will be held. First up is the Welsh Conference on the weekend of 5-7 February in Cardiff. I suspect the motions deadline has already passed, but we will keep you up to date when the agenda is published. Lynne Featherstone will be a keynote speaker and the event will be an opportunity to showcase Welsh Lib Dems' achievements and plans ahead of the Assembly elections in May. The Scottish Liberal Democrats meet in Edinburgh from 26-27 February, half a day shorter than usual. There is still plenty time to submit a ...
While going through a box of my grandfather's photographs, I came across this picture of Spondon Caravan Centre that I believe is from the early 1950s – possibly taken at around the same time as these pictures of Spondon Garage. I don't have the negative, so the image was taken directly from the print using my Epson V550 scanner. The ...
There are too many councillors in Liverpool with too little to do It has become quite clear to me that we now have too many councillors in Liverpool. I am not the first to suggest this. The Green Party mentioned ... Continue reading →
Calexico, says the band's website is no stranger to negotiating borders. For the better part of two decades, eight albums, and countless trips around the globe, Joey Burns and John Convertino have crossed musical barriers with their band, embracing a multitude of diverse styles, variety in instrumentation, and well-cultivated signature sounds. Under fences it digs and over mountains it climbs, sometimes into untrodden terrain, sometimes towards a more familiar landscape, and sometimes simply walking that fine line to soak up sustenance from all sides.Splitter is a track from their 2012 album Algiers.
We wanted to honour those Liberal Democrats that our readers felt were true stars of 2015, which has been one of the toughest years in our party's history. Over the past few days, we have sought out nominations and now have a rather impressive list that we'll be publishing in instalments during this week. Here is the sixth part. Their names come with the comments made about the contribution they have made. Some are parliamentarians, some are councillors, most are grassroots activists. Let's celebrate them and the many others who are fighting fto keep that Liberal Democrat flame alive. These ...
The Western Mail reports that the UK Government has been accused of presiding over a "broken" system of rail pricing with commuters facing another increase in fares: The rise of 1.1% is the smallest annual hike since 2010 but campaigners claimed some passengers would be "amazed there are any fare rises at all" because of the quality of the service. There are also fears that if RPI inflation increases family budgets could be stripped of hundreds of pounds unless the system used to set fares is changed. The price of a 12-month season ticket from Cardiff Central to Bristol has ...
I confess that I have not read War and Peace. Nor have I ever had any desire to do so. I am though looking forward to the TV adaptation of it tonight and may, as a result search out the novel and read it. I have never read any Harry Potter either. In this case I have had no inclination to search out the books because I fear that they might sour my appreciation of the films. The Telegraph (and other papers) seem to think that it is a big deal that members of the cast of tonight's production of ...
As in my two previous posts, I've read through the short fiction output of Tor.com, Clarkesworld, Asimov's and Strange Horizons for the third quarter of this year, plus one novella from Subterranean Press and four novellas from Tor.com (but see my doubts on that score below), following my methodology. I had hoped to finish this at the beginning of September, but got sidetracked by investigating the Retro Hugo eligible fiction of 1940, a satisfying but lengthy process. My conclusions are as follows: I bought and read all four of the books marketed as "Tor.com novellas". It was more difficulty than ...
Tim Farron went on Sky News yesterday to describe the execution of 47 people in Saudi Arabia as both "morally wrong and politically foolish" and to criticise the UK Government for being too soft on the Saudis and not calling them out for their appalling human rights record. I remember being very proud when one of the first big things Vince Cable did as acting leader back in 2007 was to boycott the state visit of the Saudi King. I was not so chuffed last year when there was a chorus of silence from Liberal Democrats when flags were flown ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its web site – see link above What have you seen in the sky?
On 1 January the Netherlands took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, with pledges to facilitate Europe's economic growth and competitiveness, to enhance the EU's role in the world, to promote forward-looking energy and climate policies, to improve cooperation on security as well as migration and asylum, and last but by no [...]
Conservatives nerves are back again over the Parliamentary boundary review, which overall will help the party but threatens the careers of individual MPs: David Cameron has told every Conservative MP that they will be guaranteed a seat to fight at the 2020 election following growing anger in the party over his plans to change the constituency boundaries. Downing Street has made clear to every sitting Tory MP that "no colleague will be left behind" following threats of a major rebellion over the boundary reforms. The move will be seen as an olive branch to Eurosceptic Tory MPs preparing to campaign ...
Whilst the West is obsessed with the 'Syria problem' and the rise of Islamic State (or whatever we're calling it this week), elsewhere an equally appalling slaughter of innocents is taking place. Yemen has been a cauldron for decades, sometimes simmering relatively gently, then bubbling fiercely, but mostly beyond the gaze of outsiders unless its a slow news day, or a particularly noticeable atrocity is carried out. Marxists versus the rest when it was North and South Yemen, tribe against tribe, Yemen offers a kaleidoscope of opportunities for those seeking to forment uprisings against the administration of the day. As ...
The article below is from the pages of Rail User Express [IMG: Site for the new Maghull North Railway Station. Photo taken looking north from School Lane road bridge. The former Moss Side Hospital site is to the right and Mersey Avenue to the left.] Site for the new Maghull North Railway Station. Photo taken looking north from School Lane road bridge. The former Moss Side Hospital site is to the right and Mersey Avenue to the left. 2017 OPENING PLANNED FOR MAGHULL NORTH STATION Merseytravel has begun a public consultation on plans for a new railway station at Maghull ...
Support rather than stigma is what will help people lose weight. This is a time of year when lots of people are thinking harder than usual about managing the weight. There's no shortage of advice on this subject but most of it is aimed at the person's whose trying lose or avoid gaining weight. But [...]
After 2015 produced unpredictability on an epic scale, making guesses at what will happen this year has become tricky sport. So instead I have decided to look at a few possible 2016 events and gauge their likelihood. Wish me luck: 1. Corbyn ending this year on the backbenches There has been bold crystal ball gazing around this already, many saying that Jeremy can't stay in post if he demotes Hilary Benn, or if his poll ratings aren't above 35% by May or June or the end of the summer or Labour conference, or if the round of elections in May ...
Find out more about the latest plans to encourage Lib Dem-Labour-Green co-operation, see what the details of the election results really say about the impact of the Tory marginal seats campaign, read what the Lib Dems need to do in 2016 and more in the next edition of my monthly email newsletter, Liberal Democrat Newswire, going out this coming week. Sign up for it here and make sure you don't miss out: Email* Name First Last What would you like to receive?* Liberal Democrat Newswire: monthly newsletter Official Lib Dem news stories from party's website (including Scotland and Wales): max ...
I'm suggesting five New Year's resolutions that Liberal Democrats should make for 2016. Here's the third. Sort our fundraising out Any professional fundraiser knows that it takes years to establish a successful fundraising operation. In politics, that's much more difficult to do because of the electoral cycle and general political climate. Professional fundraisers might baulk at the way in which we as a party ask people for money so frequently and by our increased use of digital fundraising. In some ways they may be right, but they also need to understand more about the rapidly changing environment in which we ...
Cllr Michael Jones, standing down as Conservative leader of Cheshire East Council One of the biggest issues facing our area in the next few years is how we will cope with the additional traffic from the 4,000+ homes that Cheshire East Council plan to build near the Stockport border – many of them around Handforth Dean. We have been asking Cheshire East to work with us and find ways to stop the extra traffic bringing our roads to a halt, but for more than two years little has happened. Now the Conservative Leader of Cheshire East Council, Michael Jones, has ...
Constituents have raised with me concerns about graffiti vandalism in the Peddie Street area - at the pathway between the street and Tait's Lane and on some of the nearby industrial estate buildings - see examples below : I raised this concern with the City Council's Rapid Response Team who promptly removed graffiti on publicly-owned sites and have sought owners' permission to remove graffiti at these locations.
Rokt Climbing gym have a crowdfunding shoal for repairing flood damage Some amazing signed books in the fundraiser for the Bookcase in Hebden Bridge How to Remove Link.is From Your Tweets - if you're using linkis PLEASE do this. Awesome fake 1970s ads for MP3 player etc UK flooding: How a town in Yorkshire worked with nature to stay dry - FAO @Calderdale [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
