I have just got back from seeing Arthur Brown at the Harborough Theatre. The evening was a mixture of stories and performance theatre about his music career, all interspersed with songs. He is best known for his 1968 number one hit Fire, which was an early melding of pop and theatre. But there is more to him than that. Finding himself treated as a guru by some because of the themes of his songs, he felt a fraud and has dedicated his life since to seeking enlightenment. And tonight the way brought him to Market Harborough.
I've been following the discussions on motion F20, "Electing Diverse MPs", for a while now. It's also known as "the All-Women Shortlist" motion as that is one of its recommendations. It's certainly controversial, particularly among women, and I honestly don't know which way the vote is likely to go tomorrow morning. I am not going [...]
The show was great but is now banal and complacent. It's time for Radio 4 to ditch it. I can understand why the commissioners at Radio 4 want to keep the Now Show going. It's an institution. It began airing when Clinton was in the White House and has clocked up a remarkable 44 series [...]
Are you a Lib Dem member, but you're not sure what the party does locally? Here's your chance to find out! All members are welcome to come to the Sodbury, Yate and Dodington Liberal Democrats Executive meeting from 7.30 pm this coming Thursday at Poole Court, Yate.
[IMG: LiberalLeave] We've been asked about the Liberal Leave campaign, which is working for a "No" vote in the forthcoming EU referendum. The campaign has a Facebook page, a website and a Twitter feed. The Facebook page features a couple of pieces of literature being given out by supporters at the York conference. One of them is on the right and, together with the Liberal Leave website, tells us about some of the people supporting the campaign: Paul Keetch, former MP for Hereford Anne Cremin, student in Oxford Charles Anglin, former Parliamentary Candidate for Vauxhall Luis Lopez, student in London ...
Current Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week) Glorious Angels, by Justina Robson Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey Illegal Alien by Mike Tucker Last books finished Wings of Sorrow and of Bone, by Beth Cato Short Trips: Steel Skies, ed. John Binns Last week's audios Shield of the Jötunn, by Ian Edgington Next books Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park Another Girl, Another Planet by Martin Day Books acquired in last week Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard, by Lawrence M. Schoen The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers The ...
It's on YouTube here. Or you can click on the arrow below to see it: * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist in Newbury and West Berkshire. He is part of the Liberal Democrat Voice team and blogs at Liberal Burblings.
[IMG: Lib Dem Women leaflet supporting all-women shortlists - front] [IMG: Lib Dem Women leaflet supporting all-women shortlists - back] Keep up with news about Lib Dem conference If you'd like to be notified by email when further posts about Liberal Democrat conference appear on this blog, just sign up here. (Note: if you're already signed up for a daily email alert with all my new blog posts, then there's no need to sign up for these alerts too as the stories will also be in the full daily digest.) Email* Name* First Last What stories would you like alerts ...
Here's what Tim Farron said at the Liberal Democrat conference rally in York: When you're sat in the front row, it's impossible to miss your cue to get on stage. But for those of you who were at conference in the autumn, you may have noticed I was a little late to the stage. I was sitting very happily having a cup of tea in the green room, completely oblivious to what was happening I didn't think I was due on for at least 5 more minutes. So, in my own good time, I wandered on stage, reasonably calm and ...
I received an unexpected e-mail the other day, from our Regional Chair, Stephen Robinson. "The Region has to nominate someone to be on English Appeals Panel. You would seem like an obvious candidate and so I wondered if you would be willing to be nominated?". I thought for about a millisecond and replied, "I would be honoured - count me in!". And so, it seems, I am to be a member of the 'secret society' that is the Appeals Panel for England. Except, of course, that it is no such thing, it's just that it is legitimately low-key - how ...
This is a very odd story. On 18th February there was a by-election for the North Ward of Maghull Town Council. The result has not been published in the local paper (Aintree & Maghull Champion), neither was it on Sefton Council's web site when I checked yesterday. There's a page for it on their web site but no result was posted/filled in. [IMG: Maghull Town Hall] But what's really astounding is that the result was not even on the Town Council's own web site when I looked for it yesterday. Indeed, Maghull Town Council's site still gave the impression that ...
This is an interesting thing to look at. UK history has been relatively static particularly since 1700. However, the continent has historically been quite fluid. Not so much since 1945, but still some changes.
Grace Goodlad and Duncan Borrowman have won a whole stack of awards from CAMRA from when they ran the Orpington Liberal Club. Now they've taken on a new challenge and have bought a pub in Oswestry. The local paper, the Shropshire Star, covered The Bailey Head's opening earlier this week. They even have video of the event: Duncan is quoted as saying: He said: "We've been looking for a pub that was actually in the heart of the community that we could turn into a community pub for some time, and this is probably only the second pub in 18 ...
Two contrasting videos from the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign this week. The first for International Women's Day – positive, strong, vibrant and a joy to watch: And then a rather more boring one, with 6 facts. Yes, all of them are right, but look at the images that go with them. Who is doing the shopping and looking after the children? Tweaking is needed. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
After an at times heated debate, Conference has just voted to ban fracking in England. An amendment proposed by former Energy and climate change secretary Sir Edward Davey which called for the regulation of the current exploratory stage and for an independent review of the evidence into the role that shale gas can play. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Episode 10: The Go-Karters First shown: 14 November 1970 (US), 19 February 1971 (UK) Director: Charles Crichton Writer: Peter Miller Appearing apart from the Double Deckers: Melvyn Hayes as Albert David Hutcheson as the Magistrate Jimmy Gardner as the court Clerk Robin Askwith as Nigel Parks Plot We start with Spring in a go-kart which veers off track and onto the open road, causing chaos. He is charged with various driving offences, and in the course of the magistrate's court hearing we flash back to the story of how the gang built themselves a go-kart, with special fuel injection system ...
Congratulations to Edward Douglas, whose Use Your Ed (1,650 points) lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 29, just ahead of the two Marks, Finney (1,636) and Widdop (1,625). Oh, and as it may not happen again, ever, I'm going to lead a round of applause for the 10th placed team this week. That's, erm, me, just sneaking on to the leaders' board. [IMG: ldv 29] There are 219 players in total. * Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from May 2007 to Jan 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.
A few residents have been in touch since the changes to the Simister – Prestwich bus service that were introduced towards the end of January. As bus users will know, the service is now 'broadly' every 40 minutes Simister to Tesco via Heywood Road, with some variations at peak times and some services terminating at Prestwich Metrolink. Obviously it is important that the service is a success and well used, so if there are particular issues with timing or other small improvements that could be made please let us know and we will feed all of these into T4GM at ...
The world's biggest fundraising swimming event is coming to Bury, with local swimmers being encouraged to take part in the Swimathon challenge at Castle Leisure Centre to raise funds for Sport Relief.Swimathon 2016 will take place between Friday 18 and Sunday 20 March and thousands of people across the UK are expected to take the plunge and swim themselves proud. All levels of abilities and ages are accounted for as individuals can choose from 1.5k, 2.5k or 5k distance challenges, whereas those who prefer a group challenge can form a relay team with family, friends and colleagues to take on ...
Opposition councillors have called in the decision to go with the Council's 'Option 1' for Bury New Road through Prestwich Village. The call-in means that the decision will need to be considered by the Counci's Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 22 March 2016 (7.00pm, Bury Town Hall) the meeting is open to the public to ask questions. Previously the Council's 'Cabinet', which is made up of just seven Labour councillors, took just minutes to unanimously approve the scheme, despite the majority of people clearly not supporting the key proposals in its own public consultation. The Scrutiny Committee will either make ...
Another day, another embarrassment for the UKIP leadership. This time in my own patch as the person selected as number four on the South Wales West Assembly regional list turns out to have been a member of another party that called for the end of coloured immigration. The Western Mail says that Malcolm Biggs, who was due to be the number four candidate for Ukip on the South Wales West regional list,Mr Biggs stood in the Hertfordshire European constituency for the New Britain Party in 1994. The paper says that New Britain campaigned for the return of capital punishment, and ...
Instagram Bye bye Brighouse. Off to York & #ldconf we go @ Brighouse railway station Instagram Top tip for train travel in the UK: a thermos of boiling water, teabags & your own mug means you... Instagram You guys! You guys! Our hotel room has plug sockets by the bed! BOTH SIDES! AND an enormous sash... Twitter My first terrible joke of #ldconf Twitter RT @SunApology: Genuinely hilarious background to Tom Newton Dunn's latest "exclusive" for The Sun (via @jpublik) Twitter RT @mrbiffo: This would appear to be a wurst case scenario. Instagram FE member in Stealing My Agent Carter ...
More educative entertainment from Tom Scott: In the south-east of Estonia, there's 800m of road where you can drive through Russia without a visa.
Readers will remember the essay competition run by the Federal Policy Committee as part of our Agenda 2020 exercise; Liberal Democrat Voice was good enough to publish several of the entries. We asked participants to write no more than 1,000 words on what it means to be a Liberal Democrat today. We received a total of sixty entries, cut them down - after much debate! - to a shortlist of nine, and invited party members to vote for the winner. Today we can announce the winner: Edwin Burrows, a member from Monmouth. He only joined the party in May after ...
Leading British scientists have called Brexit a potential disaster for UK science. Following Julian Huppert's argument on this blog, his successor as MP for Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner, explains the importance of Europe for our leading Universities. Why do I care about our future in Europe? Because it's in my blood. In my mind, I see my grandfather sitting on the wall a century ago opposite the familiar scene of King's College, Cambridge, reading. An agricultural labourer from a working-class family in Shepreth, self-taught, like so many of his generation. Hungry for learning - but shut out from great institutions like ...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35633304 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above Sir Michael Wilshaw is a blunt and undiplomatic chap to me whose ideas I often question but he has a point here because our education system in deprived urban areas has been letting children down for years and years and it is simply not good enough. Take Knowsley for an example. It has been rooted to the bottom of the education attainment leagues for generations despite its high schools being reorganised and rebuilt every 10 years or so. Maghull High School (in neighbouring Sefton Borough) is ...
Five years after the Liberal Democrats comprehensively messed up on electoral reform, the ludicrously disproportional 2015 general election result has put it back on the agenda. There will be two related fringes at York, organised by Pro-PR (1-2 p.m. Saturday, Hilton) on the idea of an electoral pact for 2020, and by the Electoral Reform Society (6.15-7.15 p.m. Saturday, Novotel) on the idea of a Constitutional Convention. Electoral reform is about more than fairness (avoiding disproportionality, safe seats and the need for tactical voting). As Ed Straw sets out in his recent Treaty for Government, our present voting system of ...
Visiting Jagalchi fish market When I was eight or so, I insisted on my parents decorating my bedroom with fish wallpaper. They agreed to this, presumably in part because they loved me but I suspect mainly because it was an easier request to comply with than getting me a pet shark - which I was [...]
For a while I have been saying that the EU Leavers have no clear vision of what Out looks like. But finally, Boris has shown me what Brexit will mean. If we vote to leave on June 23rd, Britain will be more like.....Canada. "What I think we should do is strike a new free trade deal along the lines of what Canada has just achieved. They have taken out the vast majority of the tariffs and have virtually unencumbered trade. We want a relationship based on trade and cooperation. The idea of being subject to the single judicial system is ...
Rev Erik Cramb of the group welcoming everyone Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being part of a celebration at the Pacamara coffee shop and restaurant in Perth Road to record and celebrate the success of the Dundee Access Group in handing over the first portable ramp as part of the "Hannah's Highway" project - aimed at improving accessibility to local streets, shops and cafés locally for all with mobility difficulties. "Hannah's Highway" - named after local resident Hannah Craig - has now managed to purchase an initial three ramps and the first was handed across yesterday morning at the ...
Federal Conference Committee (FCC) met late yesterday afternoon to discuss the Amendments and Emergency Motions for York – the full text of accepted amendments will appear in Conference Daily. The usual caveat regarding descriptions of amendments applies. Amendments don't have titles with them, so these are my own entirely unofficial summaries which may not be entirely accurate or complete. The list of accepted/rejected amendments is also based on my own notes as Spring conference is very intense and moves quickly – so I apologise in advance for any errors. There are a few more options open to FCC compared to ...
Over on Lib Dem Voice, Jo Swinson – who was one of the leading opponents of all-women shortlists the last time the Lib Dems debated the issue at conference – has written a powerful piece about why she now supports them. As with others commenting on the motion being debated on Sunday morning, Jo talks about her support for the whole package of measures in it, almost all of which are about improving diversity across the full range of diversity strands. But as all-women shortlists are the controversial part of the motion, her comments concentrate on that: My vision in ...
As part of the Committee for the fabulous WOW Festival at the Southbank Centre, I find myself in London this weekend, which means I'll miss the diversity motion in York. Passions run high on this issue, and I hope the debate will unfold with respect and kindness on both sides. Whichever side of the debate we are on, we should acknowledge that our aim is the same - a party where every individual can feel supported and welcome, with many more elected representatives at all levels, reflecting the diversity of our society in all ways, and making a positive impact ...
Two new planning applications have been received in Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 59726 Registration Date: 08/03/2016 Location: 16 Langley Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1NF Proposal: Single storey extension at rear Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
Former UUP leader James Molyneaux's 'close companion' tells of 30-year relationship No big surprise. (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality northernireland ) Disability benefit is broken. Now even Iain Duncan Smith's advisers say it Is the war on the disabled actually working? #fb (tags: ukpolitics disability ) I'm wielding my electoral power of 40 Texas Republicans to vote for a man I hate The world is very strange. #fb (tags: uspolitics ) How did Obama and Cameron fall out? Tories kill the special relationship! (tags: uspolitics
