Tim Farron was a visitor to Newcastle University tonight. I was invited to do the photos. I was a postgraduate student there at the same time Tim was an undergraduate and then Union President. I guess for both of us, it was the first time in the Students' Union building in over 20 years. It's changed quite a bit. The meeting itself was packed, as you can see from the photo above. The daftest
The Commonwealth is a rather odd club, made up of 53 states of wildly different size, most (but not all) of which once formed part of the British Empire. They therefore share an interest in the English language, as well as maintaining ties with the old country and among themselves. There is a Secretariat in [...]
[IMG: Dinesh Dhamija - image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons] Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron has today announced the appointment of businessman Dinesh Dhamija as his advisor on enterprise... [He] said: "It is a matter of great credit to the party that someone with Dinesh's outstanding commercial record is willing to give his time to advise the Liberal Democrats. "A nation's wealth is in the jobs it creates. Supporting and encouraging entrepreneurship is one of my top priorities. "His appointment is evidence of our ability to offer a credible, business-friendly opposition to the government, which is in stark contrast to Labour's ...
As this video shows, British Rail introduced their new High Speed Trains on the Great Western mainline in October 1976. They were a powerful symbol of modernity and I remember being regarded with envy when I travelled from Paddington to Swansea and back on them early the following year. Now I commute on HSTs every day. I like them better than the other stock used on the Midland mainline as they are more spacious. Time moves on, however. This morning I got on an HST and walked the length of the carriage looking for a suitable seat. At the end ...
Embed from Getty Images From Rochdale Online: Rochdale Lib Dems have officially complained to Parliamentary Watchdog IPSA and Greater Manchester Police about the expenses claims of Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk. They have alleged a 'misuse of public funds' and called for a full investigation into Mr Danczuk claiming thousands of pounds under the Parliamentary living allowance scheme. Mr Danczuk claimed for four 'dependants', despite not seeing his two eldest children for years. Lib Dems have claimed this is an abuse of the system and asked Greater Manchester Police to investigate.The website has the full text of the complaint.
"Originally it was a literary genre. But it has become something far broader. Go to a steampunk festival and you'll see people who have taken the aesthetic and applied it to fashion, model making, tabletop gaming, visual arts, music, stage performance and more." The Leicester novelist Rod Duncan is talking about steampunk, and he is an enthusiast for it. "Lincoln's Weekend at the Asylum festival describes itself as the biggest steampunk gathering in Europe. It is hard to describe, but joyful to witness. Thousands of people turn up, dressed in extraordinary costumes. It is definitely worth a visit." Which surprises ...
[IMG: Scandal] Now that, one by one, European countries are shifting the law for allow for same-sex marriage - the spotlight now turns on Italy where mass demonstrations have taken place in support of the idea - it is worth thinking about why homosexuality was criminalised in the first place. We have spent so much time celebrating the decision in 1967 to repeal laws which did so, that we have perhaps forgotten to look a little further back to see how they came onto the statute book in the first place (sodomy had been a crime for some centuries before). ...
The Lib Dems have launched a campaign to reverse cuts to Universal Credit, that the Conservative Government were trying to sneak through this week.
I greatly enjoyed last year's The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Harry August has an unusual experience of consciousness: every time he dies, he is reborn again and has the chance to re-live his life from the beginning. It really blew me away, with its alternate histories intersecting with some harsh questions of how much difference one person could make to the development of science and society in the twentieth century, and whether that would be a good thing. I thought it very well handled, and told with a strong emotional voice. I didn't blog about it here when ...
As posted on Twitter, by several people who were there: #TeamBristol caught up with the cast of the Double Deckers at @wshed for the @SlapstickFest for #Clueless pic.twitter.com/PZPdc9vMGd — BBC Radio Bristol (@bbcrb) January 24, 2016 @SlapstickFest @DrMatthewSweet A quite fabulous morning spent in the company of the Double Deckers Reunited pic.twitter.com/f7H0G5Xz4q — r berrow (@bobberrow) January 24, 2016 What a great morning reuniting with the Double Deckers. Gillian Bailey aka Billie. Great Slapstick 2016 event. pic.twitter.com/DF6rOO3p6w — Andrew Stocker. (@TimeLordDrew61) January 24, 2016 Double Deckers Gillian and Michael aka Billie and Brains at Slapstick Watershed Bristol. pic.twitter.com/xXAbx6WsPI — Andrew ...
Just sometimes, that cliched over-exuberant headline style beloved of clickbait sites is actually justified by the story. This is one such occasion. So sit back, click through and enjoy the true story of Dave Holmes and the scam phone call. [
[IMG: Wednesday 27th January 2016 is Holocaust Memorial Day] Our friends at Lib Dem HQ have sent out a reminder about this Wednesday's Holocaust Memorial Day, which this year has chosen for its theme "Don't Stand By". As some of you will be aware, Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27th January 2016. This is a commemoration day in the United Kingdom dedicated to [...]
[IMG: 290715 1] We must not let the Tories define our legacy, as they did for Labour when that government fell. We were a force for good in the Coalition government, ensuring fairer and better policies for all. But we are not being given the credit for it by the public. Our standing in the polls is still less than 10%, and in Oldham West we didn't save our deposit. Despite the valiant efforts of Tim and his team, eight months after the General Election we are not getting heard. Political discussion and comment in the media mostly ignores us. ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above This reminded me of issues surrounding ambulance response times in Lydiate and Maghull from August 2014 – see links below:- I can't say that I got fulsome response to the concerns I submitted to the Ambulance Trust in the summer of 2014, indeed I think I only got one response, so what lessons were learned from these incidents I don't know. However, since then I have not had further complaints pushed my way so that may indicate that things have improved? Whatever the case the latest ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above This unfortunate situation seems in some ways similar to the case not so long ago where a Merseyrail guard was prosecuted in circumstances that I was most uncomfortable about. As a reminder here is a link to that previous case:- I am not suggesting that drink was a factor in this most recent case but based on what we know the would be passenger seemingly put themselves at risk yet the train guard looks to be taking the blame. I really worry about guards being held responsible in ...
Mon 25th
14:52
Why I am against All Women Shortlists (again) - a brief post tossed off on my lunch break
Look, I've gone over this lots of times before. The post from 2013 I link there lists seven pretty strong reasons to be against AWS; both principle (they're objectively wrong) and practical (they make the situation they purport to cure worse) reasons. If the party adopts AWS, I will be leaving. Yes, something must be done about sexism. Yes, it's embarrassing that all our MPs are white men. That's because we've only got 8 of them. We had lots of women in "winnable" seats; the electorate didn't vote for them. We're really good at selecting women (or BAME or LGBT ...
Embed from Getty Images Whenever a progressive party proposes a better education system, a better NHS, better public transport or whatever, the killer question is always "How are you going to pay for it?" The implication is that someone will have to pay by way of an increased tax bill or the money will have to be withheld from some other worthy project to compensate. Our parents' and grandparents' generation had a similar, but much harder, problem to solve when it came to the question of how to pay for the war against Nazi Germany in 1939. If the principles ...
Over 45 employers and training providers are lined up to talk to young people about their career ambitions at the annual LB Sutton Careers Fair. If you are between 15 and 24 feel free to drop into the Pulse Centre at Carshalton College anytime between 1.30pm and 5.30pm on 3rd February to get advice and [...]
It is six months now since my book How to Be English was published, and I have seen it around on bookshop tables more than my books are usually seen. This is, of course, a thoroughly good thing. But it has also made me wonder a little about the opposite. The book is full of those memes - a hundred of them - that might allow you to knit another English person from scratch. It hardly needs saying that I love and revere Englishness. I say that even though I now live in the middle of Middle England, and every ...
[IMG: 2016-01-20 13.51.09] 35 years on from the Limehouse Declaration and the launch of the SDP it's easy to see the similarities. We have a Labour Party with a very left wing leader pushing ideologically driven policies and zero prospect of winning the next election. And we have a Conservative Party which is pursuing harsh economic policies at home and is split down the middle over the UK's relationship with the EU. But if there are similarities with 1981 there are even more differences. Britain is now a very different place socially and economically. It is much more ethnically diverse, ...
Remember the millions of innocents murdered in holocausts This Wednesday marks World Holocaust Day. Originally designed to remember the 6,000,000 Jews who were slaughtered in the Nazi Death Camps it has been expanded to remember all holocausts including those that ... Continue reading →
[IMG: Preamble to the Liberal Democrat constitution] The shortlist has been published for the Liberal Democrat essay competition – part of the party's Agenda 2020 consultation – on what it means to be a Liberal Democrat today: As part of our discussion of Liberal Democrat beliefs, values, and approach, we have received a huge number of entrants for our essay competition on 'What does it mean to be a Liberal Democrat today?'. We've managed to narrow these submissions down to a final nine - and now we need your help to find our winner. Take a little time to read ...
For more details see here: Victoria Street St Albans WIB (2016)-2
Embed from Getty Images Generous party members have already contributed nearly £5000 to the Conference Access Fund – and I'm proud to say that included a donation from Lib Dem Voice. The bulk of the fund has now been allocated to around 20 members to help them with the costs of attending conference and to pay for the BSL interpreter. Last month I wrote about How you can help to send someone to party conference. I had been asked by Federal Conference Committee to convene a working group to look at Financial Inclusion. Conference already managed an Access Fund to ...
A new report on why Labour supposedly lost the election, authored by Margaret Beckett, has two main claims. One, that it's thorough. Two, that Ed Miliband being leader had nothing to do with it. I think these two assertions are mutually exclusive. Even more exciting (for someone like me who gets excited by such things), another report on why Labour lost the election has been written, attempted to be buried and then – I love this bit – leaked to the press. And not the Guardian or even the Indy but the bleeding Daily Mail. Someone who was less than ...
Michael Crick has been looked at Conservative Party election expenses, and in particular the vexed question of whether costs related to staff should count against the local constituency expense limit or the much more generous national limit instead: What stood out for me [in the Conservative national expense returns for the 2015 election] was a series of four bills claimed by the Conservatives for the Royal Harbour Hotel in Ramsgate last spring, in the constituency Nigel Farage was hoping to win, and which saw a fiercely-contested campaign. The hotel bills total £14,213.18 for the five weeks of the short campaign, ...
North end of the path Residents have raised with me the fact that the pathway running down from Perth Road to Riverside Avenue (runs behind the west side of River Crescent and the east side of Riverside Place) is overgrown. The path is well-used - a main route on foot from Perth Road to Riverside Nature Park. I contacted the Environment Department of Dundee City Council regarding this and have been advised as follows: " ... the Network Team has recently upgraded this path. During this time we were unable to gain access. Now that this section is complete, we ...
Affiches d'un autre Âge Posters for and against Swiss women getting the vote. (tags: switzerland sexandgenderandsexuality elections ) Toxic Workers Great paper by @MichaelHousman and Dylan Minor on the cost of hiring assholes. (tags: work ) Don't call this Government pro-European A Moldovan speaks out. (tags: moldova ) Depiction of Germans in US and British media A glorious taxonomy. (tags: ukpolitics germany ) Three of the Double Deckers reunite From 24 Jan panel in Bristol. (tags: doubledeckers ) The Iron Harvest A century has passed and the First World War still has the power to kill. (tags: war france Belgium ...
Is mindfulness making us ill? - this was very interesting Maria Miller says only hostility to transgender report came from women 'purporting to be feminists' I just... I don't know what to say about this. David Bowie prepared a number of records to be released after his death Desert Island Discs Revisited: Charles Kennedy. Grab a box of tissues for this one, my fellow lib dems. I was going to write a blog post about the Who/Chinballs news, but LondonKDS did it for me Eurgh. Gatekeepy sexist men ruin everything, part eleventy billion How income affects your trust in the ...
I have committed many a typographical error on this blog and will no doubt do so at all. However, my errors do not carry the sort of consequences that face immigrants if they cannot master the English language. And indeed the Government has now announced that spouses who came to the UK on a visa to live with their partner will have their English tested after two and a half years. If they fail the test there is "no guarantee" they will not be deported. The Prime Minister has also confirmed that mothers with British citizen children could lose the ...
Crime has fallen 7.7% in Acocks Green, when comparing the period April 2015 to this January with the same period a year ago. This fall represents 120 fewer crimes. In terms of some of the different types of crime the figures are: Criminal Damage: Down 12% (31 fewer crimes) Robbery: Down 7.1% (3 fewer crimes) Vehicle Crime: Down 2.3% (5 fewer crimes) Burglary Dwelling: Down 16.4% (19 fewer crimes) With the anti social riding of bikes (motor bikes and quad bikes) on Fox Hollies Park and other areas being a continuing concern it was good to hear that a bike ...
