Yes, it's been six weeks since I started my (kind of) health regime of ten thousand steps and 1.9 litres of water a day, and I've managed both every day thus far. It feels, I must say, pretty good. Today, by way of a change, Ros and I took our morning constitutional on the seafront at Felixstowe, which isn't so far from the Creetings, but is somewhat different, especially on a sunny, but windy day. Put it this way, walking northwards was wind-assisted, and the return journey somewhat tougher. Felixstowe is, unlike some seaside resorts locally, in relatively good shape, ...
There are lots more of these videos on this blog. Find them on the Disused Stations label.
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. 1. Fracking List According to a report in the Nottingham Post this week Nottinghamshire County Council has produced a list of potential fracking sites in the county which claims that there are "large resources" of shale gas under towns such as Stapleford and Beeston. I am deeply worried about this and do not believe that we should be permitting fracking. Surely it makes ...
It's funny really. Once upon a time, I was a Young Liberal on the minority non-radical wing of the Party. Yes, radicals were all well and good, but somebody had to keep the organisational show on the road. Sensible, less emotional people like myself, for example. And yes, I tended to be sceptical about some of the more 'out there' proposals (a surprising number of which went on to become mainstream truths), but disagreement, or even outright dissent, was seemingly tolerated to a greater extent. As I've grown older, I've developed a greater appreciation for honest dissent, courteously and intelligently ...
The Drum and Monkey today I have just listened to the BBC Radio Shropshire programme on Ronnie Lane and Eric Clapton that I blogged about on Monday. (It was broadcast today at lunchtime.) Far from exploding the myth that you could once hear rock and roll aristocracy playing at remote Shropshire pubs it proved the stories were true. It also includes a rare interview with Ronnie Lane's widow Kate. Well done, Johnty O'Donnell. You can listen to the programme it for the next month on the BBC website. It occupies the second hour of Paul Shuttleworth's show. There are also ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 449th 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 (31st January – 7th February, 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 @markpack 's 20% strategy ...
[IMG: 7 best] Many thanks to the visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... So what's the evidence? by Ian Swales (72 comments) Sal Brinton on Question Time tonight - will she confront Farage over UKIP's awful broadcast? by Caron Lindsay (24 comments) Migrants' benefits debate is a proxy channel for xenophobia in some quarters by Paul Walter (134 comments) Making the boat go faster by Adam Hanrahan (46 comments) Why the polls really got it wrong by David Allen (48 comments) Putting in a good word for Turkey and the Turks by ...
It was a rather breezy day to be out in Chowdene in Gateshead. With a gale blowing, I still managed to get round by leaflet patch. The Focus being delivered is joint with Low Fell, the neighbouring ward which we are also defending. Yesterday. Low Fell was delivered. Today was the turn of Chowdene. I had a superb view from one street across the Team Valley to Ravensworth, the country estate
Many of us have family members or friends abroad. British citizens who emigrate, whether permanently or temporarily, retain their right to vote for 15 years. They need to register like all voters. There is a lot at stake for British people abroad in the EU referendum. For the 2.2m British citizens living, working or studying in other EU states there is the obvious point that if we leave the EU they lose their rights to be there. They would be exposed to risks such as having to leave, not being able to work, having to apply for a visa, having ...
One from the archives: Roy Jenkins speaking in favour of the SDP merging with the Liberal Party in 1988, with a jibe at Danny Finkelstein along the way. Behind Jenkins is what was usual in those days, but is now extremely rare: a platform behind not containing a minimalist presence, but rather a mass of different people taking up the "important" seats: The video is from Gwynoro Jones, whose own speech follows that of Roy Jenkins. For more on the history of the SDP and the merger with the Liberal Party, see Drawing for Social Democracy: an interview with the ...
A classic of nineteenth century sf, where the story is told by an inhabitant of a two-dimensional universe who has become aware that a third dimension exists. As a teenager I had read Martin Gardner's extended review of this book and similar writings, and to be honest it was better than the original source material, which is laden with assumptions about what the reader would find funny which rather grate on today's sensitivities particularly with regard to gender but also class and race; it has not aged well. But at the same time the core message, challenging the reader to ...
Having announced last month that the Tory Government plans to put £140m into redeveloping nearly a hundred of the 'UK's worst sink estates', the Prime Minister and his Chancellor are at it again with a scheme that will leave many families struggling to afford a roof over their heads whilst signalling a wholesale retreat from social housing in England. The 'sink estates' scheme of course, is just a cover for the redevelopment of social housing in favour of more expensive private homes. The whole plan has many questions hanging over it, not least what will happen to the tenants of ...
Southport Lib Dems, alarmed by flooding in parts of the town, have met Sefton Council officers to discuss resident's concerns and to draw up plans to avoid a repeat next winter. Also on the agenda was the scheduled closure of five pumping stations at Banks Marsh, Boundary Brook, Clay Brow, Kew and Rufford Causeway but Cambridge ward Councillor Pat Keith said: "Although these five stations will close we have been assured by the Environment Agency that their role has been to drain agricultural land and that their closure will not put at risk residential properties. "These closure do not include ...
A Town Hall of which Kim Jong-Un would be proud! Readers of my blog may recall that last November I complained to the Information Commissioner that Liverpool Council was, by its own admission failing by a wide margin to return ... Continue reading →
You look to your local authorities to help put your local area on the map - to invest in your area, to help make it a desirable place to live and visit. Well, Haringey certainly is getting a lot of coverage at the moment - but once again, for all the wrong reasons.
@timfarron "Our Liberal values are more important for tackling the problems we are facing more than ever" #WLDConf pic.twitter.com/03nSfwY784 — Welsh Lib Dems (@WelshLibDems) February 6, 2016 Tim had already been in Cardiff once last week, campaigning with AM Eluned Parrott in Cardiff, and he was back yesterday. After he left, he went to East Dunbartonshire before returning home to Cumbria. You can't accuse him of not putting the work in. He's certainly setting a good example. Here is his speech in full. He encompassed many of the themes around community and public services that had been much mentioned, but ...
May have just been the mood I was in at the time, but this failed to grab me; I didn't understand the setting, or what the characters were trying to do. I love the way de Bodard writes in general, so for me this was a rare miss.
The results are in from the latest biennial independent survey of residents in Sutton and they're an impressive vote of confidence in the Lib Dem run council and its leader, Ruth Dombey (profile here): [IMG: Sutton Council residents research - residents feel safe] [IMG: Sutton Council residents research - residents well informed about council tax] [IMG: Sutton Council residents research - residents satisfied with Lib Dem run council] [IMG: Sutton Council residents research - like place to live]
A little bit of Continental sophistication from 1977 which reached no. 31 in the British charts. Some sources claim it was banned by the BBC, but as this video comes from an episode of Top of the Pops that seems unlikely. Noosha Fox was originally the singer with the band Fox. They had three top 20 hits, but she was less successful as a solo artist. She is also the mother of the doctor and science journalist Ben Goldacre. Sadly, she was to busy with her music career to teach him to comb his hair.
Welcome to the final open thread of this year's Welsh Conference. The motion is printed in full at the end of this article. Cadan ab Tomos proposes the motion, telling the story of why the 18 references to sex caused the Assembly's porn filters to have a hissy fit. .@CadanapTomos makes case for better sex ed to reduce unwanted pregnancy, STIs & homophobic bullying. #WLDConf pic.twitter.com/REPpyQVRAH — Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) February 7, 2016 He concluded: Whether it's someone who can't get an STI test because their clinic isn't open outside working hours. Whether it's a young gay man who thinks ...
One of the most shocking events of the 2015 General Election night was the loss of our top held and target seats with women and BAME candidates, which resulted in an entirely pale and male parliamentary party. Members were rightly upset by this, and there has been much discussion about what steps the party needs to take to ensure that in 2020 and beyond our party looks like the countries and communities we represent. Top seats are already beginning the process of selecting Westminster candidates for 2020. We can't afford to delay any arrangement, hence the motion coming to York ...
Summating, @ElunedParrottAM says we all need to tell why we love the EU. #wldconf pic.twitter.com/wmxhvEpo15 — Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) February 7, 2016 Former MEP Peter Price kicks off the Europe debate saying "Stonger In" is an understatement. We can't be anywhere other than where geography and history has placed us. Go home and start digging, he says – not the conventional way to open a debate – but see what continent you are in. Then he talked about how we've spent 20 centuries being interested in what goes on in Europe, so why would we opt out now? The EU, ...
Sun 7th
09:45
Kirsty Williams' speech to Welsh Conference: Community, better public services and a new initiative ...
Below is Kirsty Williams' keynote speech to Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference. It's a good read, Dream Conference: 'I had a dream' Okay... you may have heard that one before, but as we head into our 5th set of elections since the start of the Assembly, I think back to the time it was first established I was excited. Enthusiastic. Full of hope. We had a dream. Liberals had been fighting for Home Rule for over a hundred years. This was our chance. You know, I made my first media appearance during the run up to the '97 referendum. I had ...
Sun 7th
09:01
As May 2015 showed, UKIP is not the obvious home for disgruntled Tories - the EU referendum won't ch...
A man many of you will have never heard of by the name of John Strafford has reacted rather badly to David Cameron's "assault on constituency associations" this week, when the prime minister said that Tory MPs should basically not listen to their Eurosceptic members and instead hop on the Remain coach with the vast majority of his frontbench (this was picked up in the Telegraph yesterday). Mr Strafford has warned the prime minister that this will create disgruntled Conservatives and that the "obvious home for disgruntled Conservatives will be UKIP". Now, I happen to know who John Strafford is ...
Sun 7th
08:45Kirsty's #AskWales2016 initiative: If you were First Minister, what would be the first thing you'd c...
Kirsty Williams announced a new initiative in her speech yesterday. She's always listened to people, but now she wants their voices to be heard and she needs the help of Welsh Liberal Democrat activists to reach as many as possible. The idea is that people ask people they know what their first priority would be if they were First Minister. They film them responding (obviously with their permission) and post to social media. Here's the first video. #AskWales1 What would be your priority if you were First Minister? #AskWales #AskWales2016 Posted by Welsh Liberal Democrats on Saturday, 6 February 2016 ...
A selection of scenes from Merseyrail's Liverpool – Ormskirk line:- Please click on the photos to enlarge them [IMG: Merseyrail's Kirkdale Motive Power Depot with Kirkdale Station in the background.] Merseyrail's Kirkdale Motive Power Depot with Kirkdale Station in the background. [IMG: Aintree Station at night] Aintree Station at night [IMG: Maghull Station] Maghull Station [IMG: The award winning work of the Maghull Station Volunteers literally on display at Maghull Station.] The award winning work of the Maghull Station Volunteers literally on display at Maghull Station. [IMG: Pedestrian and road bridges where Poverty Lane crosses the line north of Maghull ...
The City Council agreed to two road safety improvements in the West End some months ago - at the Blackness Road/Blackness Avenue junction and at the Perth Road/Riverside Drive junction. I recently asked for an update on what was being proposed and the City Development has advised as follows : "Blackness Road/Blackness Avenue Junction : Existing give way lines at Blackness Avenue to be removed and replaced further north towards Blackness Road. This will improve sightlines with any parked cars along Blackness Road. A requisition has been submitted for pricing to Tayside Contracts and we are currently awaiting the cost ...
A "key member" of Jeremy Corbyn's campaign team and national leader of Momentum, the controversial Corbyn supporters' group, has a criminal conviction for election fraud. Marsha-Jane Thompson, Momentum's social media co-ordinator, was sentenced to 100 hours' community punishment after registering more than 100 fake voters in the east London borough of Newham. Appearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 29 March 2006, Ms Thompson admitted filling out and submitting multiple voter registration forms herself, including forging signatures... Ms Thompson, who worked full time on Mr Corbyn's leadership campaign, is described as a "key member of Corbyn's campaign team" by the hard-Left ...
Here's a rundown on what's happening today at Welsh Spring Conference with debates on Europe, and a motion on sex education by IR Cymru. The Debates 10:00 Policy Motion PM5: Winning in Europe 10:40 Speech: Peter Black AM, Assembly Member for South Wales West 11.00 2016 Election Briefing Closed, Member-Only Session 12:00 Policy Motion PM6: Let's Talk about Sex * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
MPs hold summit with National Media Museum boss to demand U-turns on controversial changes [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
