The controversy surrounding Caerphilly's Local Development Plan put Labour to the sword at Plaid Cymru's expense in this week's Town Council by-election. It was tough on the Labour candidate, someone who I know well through work and whom I voted for in the absence of a local Welsh Liberal Democrat. It was a hard fought campaign with more leaflets that I can remember for previous Town Council election campaigns which, until recently, often went uncontested. Plaid Cymru took full advantage of the rampant nimbyism that has afflicted the local population as a result of proposals to build housing on Caerphilly ...
I've taken a bit of a sabbatical from the usual reading this week. 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 The Road to Ruin: how Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin destroyed their own government, by Niki Savva The Sandman: Overture, by Neil Gaiman House Party, by Rachael Smith Last week's audios Welcome to Night Vale, episodes 81-83 Next books Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park Another Girl, Another Planet by Martin Day Books ...
Sat 19th
19:48
The Spirit of Liberty Inspires the People of Leicester to Resist the Further Incursion of Student Ac...
Mind you, that tower wasn't there the last time I photographed her.
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above It's hard to tell from this Echo report whether either incident on Friday 18th March is a cause for wider concern or not. However, I suspect that both events, related or otherwise, have the potential to be a worry for families with students at Maricourt High School or indeed at other local schools but who use Maghull Station.
The line-up of Scottish Constituency candidates for the forthcoming Holyrood elections is almost complete. Here is a list of the Liberal Democrat candidates chosen so far: Aberdeen Central – Ken McLeod Aberdeen Donside – Isobel Davidson Aberdeen South & North Kincardine – John Waddell Aberdeenshire East – Christine Jardine Aberdeenshire West – Mike Rumbles Airdrie [...]
Embed from Getty Images One of the advantages of reading older elections books, such as Britain at the Polls 1983 edited by Austin Ranney, is that by virtue of coming out a year or two after the election they have the advantage of the election result being known yet are also written before political history has become settled into certain cliches. In the case of election books written about either the 1979 and 1983 general elections, but before the Miners' Strike and mass privatisations, words from this brief period of time really bring home how much of what is now ...
Following the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith over proposed cuts to Personal Independence Payments, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has been challenged to justify her support for George Osborne's budget this week. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP has challenged the Scottish Conservative Leader to intervene in the debate and back Duncan Smith's stand [...]
In amongst the details of the 2016 Budget was the creation of another round of directly elected Mayors. Not only directly elected, but also for large geographic areas. These are contests unlikely to get Liberal Democrats excited as it's a very different sort of devolution from the one the party believes in. It's also the case that elections over wider geographic areas tend to be more of a struggle for the party and generate less enthusiasm for grassroots activity. The risk, therefore, is that there is an increasing number of elected posts - with power and budgets – knocking around ...
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] Three principal council by-elections took place this week with a superb gain from the Conservatives and vote share increase in each ward. In Broadland (DC), there was an excellent gain for the Liberals in Aylsham ward. The campaign which focused on Steve Riley's previous experience and record of working hard as a former councillor, was won with 48.1% of the vote, an increase of 17.1% since the seat was last contested in May 2015. The team fought a hard campaign focusing on Steve Riley's previous experience and record on action on the District Council. ...
If I'd ever thought about it beforehand, I would have assumed that I would greet the news of Iain Duncan Smith's resignation with a prolonged bout of helplessly gleeful cackling. But, after a few hours to digest the news properly, I feel only a sense of hollow relief. I feel mostly sadness for the hundreds of thousands on whom he has inflicted his arbitrary misery, and indeed those whose lives have prematurely come to an end because of his policies and practices. (Other people's responses have been a bit more, shall we say, robust.) Speculation remains as to why he ...
Episode 11: A Helping Hound First shown: 21 November 1970 (US), 19 March 1971 (UK) Director: Jeremy Summers Writer: Jan Butlin Appearing apart from the Double Deckers: Melvyn Hayes as Albert Graham Stark as Mr. Brimble the Landlord Nora Nicholson as Mrs. Vickers Nicholas Phipps as the Garden Owner Jennifer Daniel as Snowflake's Owner (Snowflake doesn't seem to get credited) Plot The gang's friend Mrs Vickers risks eviction by her landlord because of the condition of her house. The gang try to fix it up, but screw up; they try to earn money to fix it up, but screw up; ...
Little video of an affectionate raven OMG this is adorable ♡♡♡♡♡ Instagram of my lunch before I even cooked it. Yes, I am THAT clichéd now. Look what was waiting for ME at the office! Time for cheeeeeeeeeeeese Instagram of my lunch arranged artfully onna plate The finished product: I'm eating it as I type and GOOD GOD it's delicious. Needed a bit of extra... Cheltenham 2016: Why women at Ladies Day should be able to flash their nipples without shame Hell to the yes to THIS one Domino's is trialling an autonomous pizza delivery robot Sugar tax: What is ...
Since David Cameron said during the election campaign he'd resign before 2020 I've been asked by several of my semi-political friends who I think his replacement will be. I always declined to answer due to the seemingly-inherent difficulty in predicting Tory leadership elections. Hence my rather noncommittal "could" in the title. After the summer budget [...]
Well, that was a surprise last night. I was lying in my bed feeling ill, as I have been for days, when the news came through that Iain Duncan Smith had resigned. My instinctive reaction was to worry. IDS was probably about as good as it gets when it comes to the Tories and social security. His replacement is likely to have even less of a social conscience. I totally accept that the bar is not very high here. I do wonder how somebody can happily cut £30 a week off sickness benefits just weeks ago, introduce the benefit cap, ...
Now that Nina Allan's essay is available in electronic form (for a price), I feel able to rank the BSFA Non-Fiction shortlist. (I am still thinking about Best Short Fiction, and still finishing one of the novels.) 5) "Time Pieces: Doctor Change or Doctor Die", by Nina Allan. I don't particularly mind one way or the other if a future incarnation of the Doctor is female, though clearly other feel much more strongly than I do - the first person to suggest it, as far as I know, was Tom Baker in his valedictory press conference in 1980. But I ...
More educative entertainment from Tom Scott: Let's talk about an interesting quirk of psychology, and a TV "Year of Promise" telethon that didn't stick around too long.
On Friday, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport gave scheduled monument consent to repairs to Ludford Bridge, which was hit by a reversing tarmac truck on 21 February. This is an important step forward as it clears the way for repairs to begin. Historic England has waived the usual four week notice... Continue reading Update on Ludford Bridge closure - government gives go ahead for repair work →
I am sure I was not alone in having my Friday night TV viewing disrupted by an explosion of astonishment on Twitter at the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith. According to the Telegraph, the former Works and Pension Minister quit in protest at George Osborne's plan to cut the benefits paid to the disabled by more than £1 billion, which he said were a "compromise too far" arguing that welfare for pensioners should be cut instead. Mr. Duncan Smith's resignation letter argued that these cuts are "not defensible" when announced alongside a budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers. He also ...
The cost and availability of childcare is one of the most important things affecting working parents these days. This week, Liberal Democrats in London and Wales have launched plans to improve affordability and choices. In London, Caroline Pidgeon has said it's time to "end the brain drain of talented young women from London's workforce." Her plan includes: The GLA and other organisations in the wider GLA Group (TfL, Metropolitan Police Service and London Fire Service) should offer interest free loans for employees to meet the initial costs of childcare registration at a nursery which can cost up to £1500. The ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I think St. Helens Council has a point here. In effect a taxi is offering a service to the public just like a train or a bus so yes I do think those who provide the service should be well turned out. Maybe the other Merseyside Council's should follow St. Helen's lead and introduce a dress code.
It is a really weird time in British politics. There are strange currents going this way and that, breaking down traditional right-left thought patterns. Europe is the classic issue in this regard. Most Labour MPs want the UK to remain a member of the EU. However, the success of this partly rests on a Tory prime minister and his chancellor remaining popular enough with their section of the electorate to make this possible. Talk about divided loyalties. It seems to have been decided that this was not a successful budget for Osborne. What is interesting about this collective verdict is ...
Some rather bizarre news has come to my attention and it's with regard to who the Labour Candidate is to be in Sefton Council's Sudell Ward in May's local elections. The ward covers the eastern side of Maghull. It's none other than the present Labour Councillor for Sefton's Harrington Ward in Formby, Nina Killen. The following is from the web site of Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson 'Nina Killen is Harington Ward's Labour Councillor. Cllr Killen is a Formby mum and a national newspaper journalist. She is a member of Formby's Holy Trinity Church.' and 'she works with her ...
Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet, and is organised by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). Engaging a massive mainstream community on a broad range of environmental issues, Earth Hour was famously started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then it has grown to engage more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide. Earth Hour 2016 will be held today - Saturday 19th March between 8.30pm and 9.30pm in our local time zone. The event is held worldwide towards the end of March annually, encouraging individuals, communities households and ...
There's no change at the top as we enter the final quarter of the season, with Edward Douglas's Use Your Ed and Mark Finney's Aston Villarreal continuing to lead the pack, both having topped 1,700 points. But still fewer than 50 points separate the top 10 so it's anyone's league. (To be clear, by the way, my name is highlighted below only because it's a screengrab from my laptop. I'm not in any way trying to draw attention to the fact I'm in the top 5. Perish the thought...) [IMG: ldv 30] There are 219 players in total. * Stephen ...
After Bernie Sanders surprising victory over Clinton in the Michigan Primary, the New York Times reported: No Democratic presidential candidate had campaigned in Traverse City, Mich., in decades until Senator Bernie Sanders pulled up to the concert hall near the Sears store on Friday. Some 2,000 people mobbed him when he arrived, roaring in approval [...]
4 Antwerp policemen facing serious charges This is appalling. (tags: Belgium ) The Journalist and the Troll: Benjamin Wey Spent Two Years Trying to Destroy Me Online A shocking story of harassment. (tags: internet ) My Dad and Donald Trump In a moving piece, a right-winger expresses doubt. (tags: uspolitics )
