The reason for the quotes in my headline should be readily apparent given how the details of the plan extended much more widely when it comes to improving diversity: Criticised for a lack of diversity in the House of Commons, the Lib Dems will also impose all-women shortlists on seats currently held by their eight MPs should they choose to step down in 2020. The party has no women MPs after its disastrous election result, but even in the last Parliament only seven out of 57 were female. Leader Tim Farron has drawn up a motion that will be taken ...
And so to the third and final programme in this series, where the interviewer is Anthony Quinton. Like the other programmes, this one is split across two videos. Watch part 1 Watch part 2 Watch part 3 Watch part 4
Conference opened on a high note with a speech by Eluned Parrott AM. There were further rousing speeches by federal leader Tim Farron MP and by our leader in Wales, Kirsty Williams AM. Further reports are on Liberal Democrat Voice and our Facebook page. Conference closes tomorrow.
We aren't giving young people in Shropshire the best chance in life, according to new data published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. We are about to launch a resilient communities project in Ludlow to tackle this. Let's have a look at the data first. The commission's social mobility index looks at the... Continue reading Young people growing up in Shropshire don't get the life chances they might get elsewhere - we are going to tackle this in Ludlow →
Despite apparently being ahead in the polls, the campaign to leave the European Union remains as dysfunctional as ever. The Guardian reports that an acrimonious feud among the leading groups could result in none of them being designated as the official campaign: Arron Banks, co-founder of Leave.EU, said that the prospect of non-designation had become "a huge worry" and that potentially this could leave the campaign at a disadvantage. The Electoral Commission is expected to nominate a lead organisation on each side of the run-up to the EU referendum which David Cameron has indicated could take place on Thursday 23 ...
Slightly recovered my sleep patterns by having a nap for about two hours in the morning. This evening I had a whole bath, not just a pretendy wipe down. The careers would no doubt have been horrified if they had seen me get out of the bath by myself with the usual technique of grabbing the bar with my left hand and levering myself up to the rim of the bath and sliding over to the board. I felt totally clean for the first time in weeks. Tomorrow is the big day when Bhante circumnavigated the M25 and comes off ...
Regular readers will know that, for some time, Ros has been working to raise awareness of food waste, following the publication of a seminal report by the Select Committee that she chairs. This week, she returned to the subject by means of a Short Debate, seeking to keep up the pressure on the Government... Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD): My Lords, it is almost two years since the EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee for energy and the environment, which I chair, published its report into food waste. At the time, it was enormously gratifying for the committee to produce ...
Another superb book of short stories by the Canadian Nobel Prize winner. The two that particularly grabbed me were the very first, "The Love of a Good Woman", about the mysterious death of an optician, and "Before the Change", about the daughter of a small-town abortionist. But they are all pretty good.
Today is the day for officially celebrating libraries, but in truth we should celebrate them every day of the year. When I was a child, growing up in a house where few books were read, let alone discussed, the public library in Eccles was both a refuge and a literary wonderland. For many years, after [...]
Congratulations to Judith Woodman on her selection to fight the Police and Crime Commissioner election in South Wales, joining a growing list of other Liberal Democrat candidates for the PCC contests. Her speech on winning the selection also powerfully makes the case as to why Lib Dems should contest these elections seriously. I stand before you today as the Welsh Liberal Democrats' Prospective Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate for the South Wales Police Authority. I've done a few jobs in my time, but none of them with a title as long as that!... Mark my words, Welsh Lib Dems will ...
After months of speculation Twitter has confirmed that it will, despite much protest from users, stop displaying Tweets in chronological order and instead use an algorithm to determine what to display. The change is being sold as optional, at least initially, but make no mistake this is just the latest step in Twitter's strategy to turn itself into Facebook. It's also the day Twitter, as a company, killed its own product. Here's why. Twitter's strategy is based on simple logic. Facebook has more users than Twitter, therefore more people like Facebook than Twitter, therefore the way to get more users ...
Last night's Conference rally was one of the highlights so far. As party members gathered in a hotel suite, four fantastic Welsh Lib Dem women, two current AMs, two target seat candidates helped set out the Liberal Democrat vision and values ahead of May's election. Eluned Parrott proved to be a very funny chair of the event, with a little anecdote about each of the speakers. Veronica German used to work as a tester for Cadbury's. Nice work if you can get it. Her great Uncle was an ice cream pioneer as the original Mr Whippy. Liz Evans is known ...
Our latest visit to Bonkers Hall ends with an outing to Oakham Zoo. An alternative chameleon A sombre day: the moving television brings news of the deaths of both Pierre Boulez and Christy O'Connor Jnr. I am confident that they will go down in the annals of the game as one of the great Ryder Cup pairings. To cheer myself up, I take a party of particularly Well-Behaved Orphans to Oakham Zoo. The consensus on the charabanc is that we want to see the chameleons. As is the way with such creatures, they rather blend into the background. I am ...
Friday: In this week's the Evening Standard, Mr Matthew "Gideon's Voice on Earth" Anaconda wrote that the EU referendum could: "turn Mr Balloon from a good PM to one of the greats". This is utter bunkum. For starters, he ain't no bleedin' good to begin with! And, for seconders, at best this wretched referendum will decide between whether Mr Balloon has wasted all our time (and money!) to keep the Status Quo or if he's going to be the first Prime Monster since Mr Pitt to have to explain to a reigning monarch how they managed to LOSE A CONTINENT! ...
So writes Lynne Featherstone on the UN International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM: Today is the United Nations International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation and depressingly we still have to fight to end this barbaric practice... It is absolutely unacceptable that we leave our girls at risk of FGM by failing to make sure they are taught the dangers in school... The NSPCC estimates that 23,000 girls under the age of 15 are FGM are at risk of FGM in England and Wales... As a Liberal Democrat minister in the Coalition Government I spearheaded the FGM ...
[IMG: Liz Evans] Way back in 2011, Mark Cole wrote for this site about his wonderful local candidate for Ceredigion, Elizabeth Evans: So she knows her stuff does our Elizabeth and she's taking her passion for her home county out onto the doorsteps. Her concerns for our local health service are chiming with the fears and worries of local residents - it being the biggest concern the length and breath of the county. The packed public meeting held in Aberystwyth only last week regarding the future of healthcare provision in Bronglais Hospital proved testament to that. Elizabeth has a particular ...
Can meditation make you more creative? Is there a link between creativity and mindfulness? I was talking to creativity expert Austin Hill Shaw and mindfulness teacher Aaron Kahlow recently and we discussed creativity and mindfulness. In this episode of The Creative Life I describe a very simple mindfulness exercise that you can use to increase your flexibility of mind. It's called the 'raisin exercise' and only takes five minutes. Give it a try. Listen to the Audio Watch the Video Please leave a comment below and tell me what you think. Sponsors Lynda.com Audible.com Transcript: Coming soon... The post Creativity ...
Shropshire Council is being rather quiet about National Libraries Day. It issued a low profile press release two weeks ago and there are just four events running. It is perhaps not surprising that the council seems to be keeping its head below the parapet. Shropshire Council is predicting that library budgets will be reduced by... Continue reading Today is National Libraries Day - ten days ago Shropshire Council agreed finance plans that could wreck the county library service →
This is being posted much later due to lack of wifi, but I hope this gives you a flavour of the debate. Aled Roberts' speech Aled Roberts was introduced by chair Mark Cole in Welsh and delivered his speech in Welsh. He highlighted education: Let's not forget that the Lib Dems secured the Pupil Premium while not even in Government and have had it virtually trebled in the past 5 years as well as extending it to early years. Imagine what we could achieve if we were actually in Government? Class sizes in Wales under Labour are among the highest ...
Kirsty will be making her keynote speech in an hour or so. She always speaks with such warmth and passion and sensitivity so I'm really looking forward to it. Last night at the opening Conference rally, she was in great form. Here's her speech from that event in full: Before we begin, I just wanted to point something out to you. Every single one of the people who've spoken tonight are women. In fact, all the candidates in our most gainable seats are female Eluned Parrott in Cardiff Central Elizabeth Evans in Ceredigion Veronica German leading the regional list in ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrats In Together - European referendum campaign Twitter account] As the headline says: Join the fastest growing grassroots and community led campaign fighting to keep the UK a thriving and leading member of Europe. Join the fight now INtogether The account is @LDINtogether. And here are some of its recent (re)tweets: Manchester is #INtogether! Fantastic turnout, great energy and definitely ready for the fight! pic.twitter.com/zHQd72PVe2 — Catherine Bearder (@catherinemep) January 24, 2016 Picking up the theme I wrote about before, note the prevalence of Union Jacks* in the imagery on the Twitter timeline for @LDInTogether, by the way. ...
Talking about sex can lead to internet filters having a bit of a hissy fit. A very sensible IR Cymru motion on sex education has meant that the Welsh Lib Dem website, where it appears on the Conference agenda. The Daily Post has the details: Just hours before the rally to kick start their annual conference the party's website has been barred by the bulding's public wi-fi. It has been placed in the same category of proscribed sites along with hard core porn sites. But it has emerged the reason for the block is that the conference programme mentions the ...
Embed from Getty Images In Evelyn Waugh's "Handful of Dust", the fortunate owner of a fantastic Gothic English country pile, Tony Last, has an idyllic life which is gradually brought crashing down by a series of unfortunate events including betrayal by his wife. He ends the book trapped as a prisoner in the Brazilian jungle – the plaything of an insane tribal chief – having to continually read Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit" to the inhabitants. I thought of this in connection with Julian Assange. He was born in the wonderful town of Townsville in Queensland, Australia (above), a place of ...
Embed from Getty Images I couldn't believe the UKIP Party Political Broadcast (PPB) earlier this week. It really is a new low for a PPB to comprehensively denigrate an entire country and its people. Turkey first applied to join the EU 29 years ago. They are going through a process, which is subject to ebb and flow, to become an EU member country. Of 35 "chapters" which are needed to be prepared for entry to the EU, Turkey are currently red on four and amber on a large number. There are concerns over Cyprus and human rights, particularly in relation ...
"EU referendum: David Cameron wins Theresa May's backing" – reads the Guardian headline this morning. Hello? Theresa May is the Home Secretary! It is incredible that her backing for Cameron on this is presented as some sort of surprise. What the Prime Minister does should automatically have the backing of the whole cabinet. Are we saying that there are cabinet ministers who do not support the Prime Minister on his referendum stance? The cabinet's support for the PM on a crucial national matter appears to be in question. This is quite an extraordinary state of affairs. And it is also ...
No screenshots this time, I'm afraid - my picture quality for this episode is rather poor. Episode 5: Happy Haunting First shown: 10 October 1970 (US), 28 January 1971 (UK) Director: Harry Booth Writers: Harry Booth and Glyn Jones Appearing apart from the Double Deckers: Melvyn Hayes as Albert the Street Cleaner Clive Dunn as Hodge Pat Coombs as Doris Frederick Peisley as The Duke Ruth Kettlewell as The Duchess Plot Albert takes the gang on a trip to a stately home, but Billie and Tiger get locked in; the others' rescue attempts cause chaos to the castle's aristocratic owners ...
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron is expanding his team with a Research Officer and Parliamentary Assistant: This is a key position, with two distinct sets of responsibilities, which would suit someone who is capable of clear prioritisation and who is interested in politics at every level - from the constituency to the national arena. The successful candidate will demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills, an ability to work under pressure and a clear grasp of the issues of the day and their political implications. They will understand the need to ensure Tim's constituency profile is maintained in Parliament and ...
Embed from Getty Images In Evelyn Waugh's "Handful of Dust", the fortunate owner of a fantastic Gothic English country pile, Tony Last, has an idyllic life which is gradually brought crashing down by a series of unfortunate events including betrayal by his wife. He ends the book trapped as a prisoner in the Brazilian jungle – the plaything of an insane tribal chief – having to continually read Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit" to the inhabitants. I thought of this in connection with Julian Assange. He was born in the wonderful town of Townsville in Queensland, Australia (above), a place of ...
I shall just start by saying that I love this auditorium. It's a lecture theatre so I am sitting up the back with my laptop on an actual desk, not precariously balanced on my lap. I should also mention that this is a Conference which has smashed all its budget projections. There are a healthy complement of stalls from external exhibitors, 6 fringe meetings today and a healthy attendance of over 250 members. And this is why conferences in lecture theatres are such a good idea. #wldconf pic.twitter.com/KrvLOizbMV — Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) February 6, 2016 Eluned Parrott AM opened Conference ...
The left of British politics has always been factionalised with numerous socialist parties coming and going, the Labour Party often engaged in vicious internal warfare (as they are at present) and the Lib Dems, in recent years, having been pulled towards economic rather than social liberalism. Of course looking back a while the SDP also failed to 'break the mould' as it became split by the 'Owen' factor amongst other things. The lack of unity on the left has always been a problem and our warped first past the post electoral system has also helped to put many Tory Governments ...
A new planning applications has been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 59681 Registration Date: 26/01/2016 Location: 27 St Margarets Close, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2LY Proposal: Two storey extension at side Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with these. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
Comics&Cola: Rounding up hourly comics day 2016 Den of Geek show how to run a comments section. National Media Museum considers rebranding as Science Museum North - for fuck's sake. Because MOSI isn't in the north at all? How Get Huge on Twitter: Ignore Copyright and Creative Credit Man being arbitrarily detained at Argos, rules UN Spread of bee disease 'largely manmade' Black tarantula named after Johnny Cash - FAO @hiwearespiders Why I strive for transparency and sharing in writing about myself [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The Independent newspaper has the story and poll result – see link above If we can't look after those less fortunate, what kind of a society are we creating? With Thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting
I don't want to pick on Owen Jones again, but I'm forced to. Yesterday he penned an article entitled "First Corbyn, now Sanders: how young voters' despair is fuelling movements on the left" which pretty much did what it says on the tin. The basic idea is that the rise of Corbyn and Sanders can be taken as part of the same phenomenon, namely that young people feel turned off by the "establishment" and are looking for fresh new voices (the fact that both of these "fresh new voices" are over 60 is not dealt with in Owen's article). I ...
Back in 2014, at my request on behalf of constituents, the City Council provided a central refuge island on Glamis Road just north of the roundabout with Blackness Road/Glamis Drive to assist pedestrian safety. Given the width of Glamis Road, I have since had requests for similar safety measures south of the roundabout and also towards the south end of the road, near its junction with Perth Road (see latter - right). I raised this with the City Council and have been advised as follows : "Glamis Road / Perth Road junction and Glamis Road / Blackness Road roundabout has ...
A Tory councillor tried to persuade party colleagues to join him in a smear campaign against local domestic violence services and women's rights campaigners, a leaked email shows. [The Guardian] Bungling Conservative councillor Scott Harris speculated about playing dirty and smearing a resident who had raised questions about Porstmouth Council's expenditure on the America's Cup, and then emailed his discussions about the smear to the very same resident by mistake. In the email the Portsmouth councillor wrote how it, "might be a good idea to play dirty this time" and "I do not want to go down the road of ...
Here's a rundown on what's happening today at Welsh Spring Conference. The highlights are obviously keynote speeches from Tim and Kirsty and a debate on the manifesto. The Debates 09:10 Opening of Conference: Eluned Parrott AM, Assembly Member for South Wales Central 09:30 Policy Motion PM1: Policing in Wales 10:15 Speech: Aled Roberts AM, Assembly Member for North Wales 10:35 Policy Motion: PM2: A Manifesto for 2016 11:55 Speech: Tim Farron MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 13:30 Speech: Kirsty Williams CBE AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats 13.55 Policy Motion: PM3: Mitigating the Impact of Flooding in Wales ...
Embed from Getty Images Congratulations to Mark Widdop, whose Midtable Obscurity (1,382 points) certainly aren't living up to their name, as they're leading the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 24, with 1,382 points. It's tight, though – just 54 points separate the top 10. But let's also hear it for three other players. Our January managers of the month were: Kaveh Lahooti's FC Tabard (238), Mark Finney's Aston Villarreal (220), and Christopher Blackburn's Sand Grow Nuns (216). [IMG: ldv ffl 24] There are 219 players in total and you can still join the league by clicking here. * Stephen ...
Not quite sure where this came from, but it's an interesting list of books to aim to read this year. The 2016 Read Harder Challenge List (annotated where I've read books in the relevant category in January 2016)Read a horror bookRead a nonfiction book about scienceRead a collection of essays Baptism of Fire: The Birth of the Modern British Fantastic in World War I, ed. Janet Brennan Croft Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien, eds. Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. DonovanRead a book aloud to someone elseRead a middle grade novel ...
This Labour Government is tired and bankrupt of ideas. It's lost touch with what people need and want. People don't expect much from a government, yet Labour has failed to even get the basics right and is failing to provide decent public services. In the forthcoming election, the Welsh Liberal Democrats will show that we have listened to people's concerns. Our vision for a future Welsh parliament is one that finally gives people what they want - good schools, good hospitals and a vibrant economy. We will be relentlessly focussed on getting public services right. People want NHS staff to ...
