Plenty more of these videos on this blog's Disused Stations label.
[IMG: Boris shaking hands] In today's Times Matthew Parris launched a coruscating and vicious attack on Boris Johnson. He calls for the Tories to end their love affair with Boris: "charm can make us forget the dishonesty and recklessness that would be ruthlessly exposed if he became leader". Parris has some very harsh things to say about Boris's character and behaviour. The Parris column circulated rapidly and widely on social media. His name was trending on Twitter for while. There was enough rapid reaction to his commentary for the Indy100 to produce one of its signature metacommentaries. The Times column ...
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 Witches of Lychford, by Paul Cornell Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor Last week's audios You Are the Doctor, by John Dorney Come Die With Me, by Jamie Anderson The Grand Betelgeuse Hotel, by Christopher Cooper Dead to the World, by Matthew Elliott The Waters of Amsterdam, by Jonathan Morris Aquitaine, by Simon Barnard & Paul Morris Next books Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park Another Girl, Another ...
Embed from Getty Images "I only went in for a stamp."
Embed from Getty ImagesI fear his evisceration of Johnson won't matter. Men like him thrive because they know that hardly anyone cares about the detail enough to go to the Treasury select committee website and watch its members expose him. Johnson understands that in the 21st century a pat joke and a cheap stunt can take you a long way, maybe all the way to Downing Street. Lies take time to unpick, and by the time your accusers have finished unpicking them, the bored audience has clicked on to another screen.Nick Cohen writes in tomorrow's Observer about Boris Johnson's encounter ...
These women are showing us how to take the power back - their struggle is an inspiration for anyone who wants a fairer society The Guardian has the story on its web site – see link above With thanks to my spotter Roy Connell
I am a "Newbie-Oldbie" and joined the Party after the 2015 elections. With a lifelong interest in international relations and career with much overseas work, I particularly wanted to find out where the Party stood on Middle Eastern affairs. I decided to attend the York conference which had interesting fringe meetings dealing with both Israel/Palestine and Syria. What really struck was the contrast between the two cases. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a relatively straightforward clash between a settler-colonial movement and indigenous people, but that of Syria is really complicated, with many moving parts: Regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, ...
Richard Hands meeting the Birkdale Irrigation Allotment team, Dave (chair), Linda, (Secretary) and Tony (Treasurer) Having clocked up over 100 years on the present site the Birkdale Irrigation Allotment Society is launching a new imitative. When we visited the site on Good Friday ( the traditional day for plot holders to plant their potatoes) we learnt that the waiting list for a plot was now 4 years. The scheme that the group have come up with seeks to involve those on the waiting list in allotment activities whilst they wait. As you enter the site there has long been a ...
Getting hold of an up-to-date Liberal Democrat printed membership form can be surprisingly hard, so here's a pdf of the March 2016 version of the form. Remember of course that people can join, renew and donate online and there's always the option to send some pennies the way of Liberal Democrat Newswire. Liberal Democrat membership form Download this document
The latest quarterly data for complaints from customers is out for utility companies, and once again it shows The Co-operative Energy treats its customers in a most un-cooperative way: 1st quarter 2015: 4th most complained about utility company 2nd quarter 2015: 2nd most complained about utility company 3rd quarter 2015: 1st most complained about utility company 4th quarter 2015: 2nd most complained about utility company Co-operative Energy - why you shouldn't be a customerEven if you're looking for a mutual energy supplier, there's one very clear and strong conclusion: stay clear of Co-operative Energy with its security and customer service ...
The American publisher, Gary Pulsifer, who died yesterday from cancer chose to spend most of his professional life in England, where he became a much-loved feature of London's literary scene. Quite small and slight, he was a bundle of energy, with a waspish tongue that relished mocking the pretentious without being viscious. I met him [...]
Social democrats know that to fight poverty you need a vibrant economy. It is the goose that lays the golden egg, and it flourishes with freedom, but it stagnates in a factory farm.Social democrats don't just do poverty reduction as a minor act of charity, it is central to what drives them. But a true social [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has said it's time for Nicola Sturgeon to come clean and finally say no to fracking. Mr Rennie's comments come as chemical giant Ineos says it expects fracking to begin in Scotland next year after assurances given by the SNP government. The Scottish Liberal Democrats' manifesto will support an [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat Aberdeenshire East Candidate Christine Jardine has called for an immediate explanation and apology from SNP candidate Gillian Martin over offensive blog posts. A report in the Daily Mail this morning revealed that Ms Martin had posted blogs online which described the EU as a 'tranny trove', the royal family as 'dysfunctional' and [...]
Actually that headline sounds worse than it was intended. Speaking figuratively, it refers to a piece in the Independent about the problems that the Tories have got themselves in now that the Liberal Democrats are not there to keep them in check. The key passage in this article is here: Some Tory ministers admit privately that they miss their former Coalition partners. Why? Because the need to square the Lib Dems meant there was a form of Cabinet government. Since the election, they say, most key decisions are handed down by Downing Street and the Treasury, and that no one ...
My spoiler free review of Batman v Superman. I tried to go into Batman v Superman without having seen any reviews. I already knew I was going to see it, so there seemed little point in doing so with someone else's preconceptions in my head. That proved to be impossible. The avalanche of critical disdain was [...]
[IMG: Folkestone St Martins Primary School] On 16 March, a few hours after the budget, I sent my resignation as Governor (and thus Chair of Governors) at Folkestone St Martin's to Headteacher Kate Love. I have enjoyed being a Governor at St Martin's for the last nine years and working with all Governors, staff and pupils. The school should be rightfully proud of their achievements over the last few years: not only is it an outstanding school in the way it looks after children, but OfSted in their most recent inspection, the Church in their most recent three "SIAMS" inspections ...
One of the biggest frustrations of Liberal Democrats in the 2015 General Election was the manner in which the Conservative Party tried to claim credit for tax cuts they opposed in 2010. The Lib Dems had a policy of increasing the "personal allowance", which is the amount an individual is allowed to earn free from income tax before they have to start to pay the basic rate. The Coalition delivered on this promise, raising the personal allowance from £6475 in 2010-11 to £10600 for the tax year 2015-16. This wasn't a cheap policy. It cut-into the tax-base of the UK ...
Following my request to the Council the flag was lowered to half mast. The tragedy of the Brussels bombing and attacks elsewhere in Europe are an attack on us. We need to stand together with the citizens in the rest of Europe by expressing our solidarity No man is an island,Entire of itself,Every man is a piece of the continent,A part of the main.If a clod be washed away by the sea,Europe is the less.As well as if a promontory were.As well as if a manor of thy friend'sOr of thine own were:Any man's death diminishes me,Because I am involved ...
Here's my regular report from the English Lib Dem Executive (ECE), this time from the one held last Saturday. I wrote a post before the meeting and so this is adding to that report. First, a short clarification from that report. The membership figure I gave was just for England rather than the total party [...]
One of the obligatory truths of being a university student is that you become nocturnal. Staying awake until the small hours of the morning and rising just in time to get to your next lecture, even if that lecture is in the afternoon. It was on one of these nocturnal sessions that led me to watch 'The Battle for Christianity', written and presented by Professor Robert Beckford currently Professor in theology at Canterbury Christ Church University. This documentary took a look at where the heartbeat of Christianity is today, debunking the myth that church is still uniformly done to the ...
Sat 26th
11:45
Lord William Wallace writes... Fighting both the local elections and the EU referendum
Whether we like it or not, the European Referendum campaign is already under way, threading in and out of the May elections. UKIP is hoping to make gains in the Welsh Assembly, and will be standing candidates in many local elections across England. Competing Leave campaigns fill the pages of the Mail and the Telegraph every day; leaflets are beginning to drop through letter boxes. LibDem activists who protest at the 'distraction' that the referendum campaign presents to local campaigning between now and May forget that voters don't think about local and national politics in sharply-differentiated compartments. They also ignore ...
I'm at Eastercon this weekend, so no episode review - next week I'll get to Invaders from Mars, one of the most sfnal episodes, by Glyn Jones. But for those of you who have been wondering what the fuss is about, bohemiancoast located several entire episodes, dubbed in French (except the songs), available online. (The show was very popular also in French speaking countries under the title "Autobus à imperiale"). So we have: Tigrette au volant, the very first episode, Tiger Takes Off (also here) (my write-up here) Chasseurs d'Autographes, Starstruck (my write-up here) Les Espiegles Rient, The Pop Singer ...
You remember Rockstar Dinosaur Pirate Princess's tea metaphor for consent, right? A nice lady animator and gentleman cinematographer have made it into a video. This video should be shown in all schools, and probably to most judges and lawyers too. Thames Valley Police have done a version with a British accent, if you'd prefer that And actually, I really like that they're both male voices. Because men don't listen when women talk about consent. (Yes yes, #notallmen) Reasons why Facebook is awful part 18462925375958 There's this twitter account called Concerned Dalek... ... and I follow them because, always just when ...
Last year, while standing for Westminster elections, I recieved many emails asking my views on a wide range of matters. I posted as many of my replies as I old on my blog, so my views would be a matter of public record. Here is my first reply for the Scottish campaign for 2016. Thank you for your email on walking and cycling.I have a confession to make. I don't use my bicycle as much as I should. In my last job, I regularly commuted to work on my bike as the road exposure was less than a kilometre in ...
Embed from Getty Images Eric Reginald Lubbock, Fourth Baron Avebury, died last month aged 87. The House of Lords held a memorial meeting for Lord Avebury last Tuesday, 22nd March. Here are some recollections of the meeting, and a personal note, from Keith Porteous Wood, who was Lord Avebury's honorary researcher the last 15 years. For his role over the abolition of the blasphemy law, Eric was co-awarded Secularist of the Year by the National Secular Society of which he was an Honorary Associate, and of which Keith Porteous Wood is Executive Director. Relatives, parliamentarians, friends and other admirers of ...
Local rail passengers face disruption in the autumn, as the Severn Tunnel will be closed for electrification work. The tunnel will be closed from 12 September until 21 October. Rail services between South Wales, Bristol Parkway and London and also between South Wales, Patchway and Bristol Temple Meads and beyond will be diverted or curtailed for the duration. There is more information on GWR's website.
Lord Ronnie Fearn, who has been a councillor in Southport since before Sefton Council was even created back in 1974, and his sister-in law Maureen Fearn are both to retire as Sefton councillors this May. Both have been tireless workers for their community and indeed for Southport and the Borough of Sefton generally. I have known them both for many years and it was Ronnie, together with Anthony Hill, who pushed me into standing for Sefton Council. Ronnie was once the Leader of the Lib Dem Group on Sefton and he was also a member of the short lived Merseyside ...
[IMG: The West Wing Weekly presenters] Just what the politico needs to listen to when out delivering: THE WEST WING WEEKLY is an episode-by-episode discussion of one of television's most beloved shows, co-hosted by one of its stars, Joshua Malina, along with Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder. JOSHUA MALINA: Upon graduation from Yale University with a B.A. degree in Theatre, Josh made his professional acting debut in the Broadway production of A Few Good Men, written by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. Josh went on to star as Jeremy Goodwin in Sorkin's critically-acclaimed television series Sports Night. He worked with ...
From Blether Tay-Gither : Our March meeting will take place on Tuesday 29th March in Madigan's Tea Emporium in Castle Street Dundee from 7.00pm - 9.00pm The theme this month is "hats". All welcome!
How Long is Chile? Very long. (tags: maps chile ) National Hero Maria Farrell on her great-grandfather, Eoin MacNeill, and the Easter Rising. (tags: ireland )
