The Leaders of the 4 local authorities that used to comprise Avon have signed with Government a devolution deal. The agrement can be read here :- At present it comes with a new Metro Mayor. Devolution YES PLEASE – return to Avon with a single politician in charge NO THANKYOU. The agreement needs lots or revising before it will be accpetable. Just on Sunday when out talking with residents on Police issues two people came up to me and were pretty angry that having just rejected an elected Mayor for the Council by 8 to 2 the Government was ...
Mon 4th
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Race row candidate survives despite mass resignation threat by other Welsh UKIP candidates
UKIP's Gareth Bennett has survived attempts to remove him as his party's lead candidate for the South Wales Central region in the forthcoming elections for the National Assembly for Wales. Linking refuse problems on Cardiff's City Road with Eastern European immigrants, Bennett incurred the displeasure of no less a figure than Farage himself. BBC Wales also reports that 16 of his fellow Welsh UKIP candidates wrote to their Wales Chair claiming that Bennett "undermined the party and our own ability to campaign through his offensive comments about immigrants to Wales". Having threatened to step down as candidates in the event ...
Billesdon's Woodland Pool nature reserve can be found just outside the village on Gaulby Lane. With woodland and a pool it is a pleasant spot, but it has a surprising history. Because the reserve occupies the site of a wartime prisoner of war camp that held first Italian and then German prisoners. The remains are labelled and, according to Derelict Places, there is a hut still standing (which I failed to find). Another is said to have gone to Thurnby to be used by a youth club. And the pool was dug out on the site of the camp's football ...
Mark Pack blogs on the polling industry's inquiry into what went wrong with the polls conducted during the 2015 British general election campaign. "Gould had long carved out an alternative viewpoint to that of Kinnock and Smith, putting forward arguments that were to look much wiser in retrospect than many were prepared to credit at the time." Alwyn Turner on Bryan Gould, who contested the Labour leadership with John Smith in 1992. Niall Meehan on Morris Fraser, child abuse, corruption and collusion in Britain and Northern Ireland. Toni Airaksinen says you shouldn't report your professors' microaggressions. The Hwicce of Rutland? ...
Lord Janner 'misled inquiry' over link with abuser Frank BeckSo runs the headline on a story on BBC News. I suppose it is a polite way of saying he lied to the Kirkwood Inquiry, which we already knew. What is more remarkable, as revealed by documents from inquiry the BBC has obtained via a Freedom of Information request, is that Janner was permitted to lie about the inquiry: The 1992 documents released to the BBC also reveal that, following his questioning by the inquiry, Lord Janner asked chairman Andrew Kirkwood if he could tell the media waiting outside that he ...
I had to be in the office early the next morning but I was still awake. News articles refreshed on my computer screen as the events from Brussels unfolded. The ... Continue reading →
[IMG: The MyCouncillor redesign brings all of our sites up to the very latest in web standards] With the regulated election period upon is, MyCllr users who are candidates in May's elections should add their own customised imprints to the standard imprint on our sites. How to change your imprint 1. Log into your MyCouncillor site 2. From the options on the left-hand side of your admin screen select 'Settings', and 'General' [...]
Second paragraph of third chapter of the second book of the third trilogy: For the most part, it was a lonely time. I though I was accustomed to solitude. I'd grown up in the Alban wilderness with only my mother's companionship. But she had been a constant in my life; and later, there had been Cillian, my lost first love, killed in a foolish cattle-raid. I generally enjoy Carey's big huge fantasy bonkbusters, but this one left me with a slightly sour taste in my mouth. Like the previous seven books of the series, it is set in an alternate ...
Dear Nigel, Whilst this will no doubt come as a shock to you, I feel obliged to point out that the British Empire no longer exists. In fact, Britain has been in a state of steady decline since the end of World War Two, only managing to punch above its weight internationally by cooperating and trading with other middle order European Nations in the same position. Through the European Union we have access to the all important single market. It provides vital opportunities for indigenous British businesses, offers a route into that market for international companies that choose to have ...
Embed from Getty Images There are some interesting nuggets of information in CentreForum's Annual Report on Education which was published today. Amongst other things, it identifies a north/south divide in attainment at secondary school and notes that there is still a significant gap between the achievements of disadvantaged pupils and their peers. I am particularly pleased to see how well London pupils are doing. It wasn't that long ago that London secondary schools were seen as failures. The London Challenge was an ambitious programme set up in 2003 to combat this and as a result some inner London local authorities ...
Please note that Eric Avebury's telephone number (0207 274 4617) has now been disconnected. Anyone wishing to contact the family can ring his wife Lindsay on 0207 640 2306.
K-campaigns If you read this blog you probably know I have a frankly unhealthy interest in elections. So I've been curious to see some of the campaigning for Korea's upcoming parliamentary elections. Before I make any observations, I should note that I am basing them on a what I have happened to see in one place. There may [...]
A visit to Southport a few days ago found me in the rather excellent Atkinson Centre on Lord Street as the rain hammered down. The museum part of the Atkinson is one that covers all of Sefton Borough and there is a large section of it all about the products of Frank Hornby, Maghull's most famous resident who lived in the town most of his adult life. Indeed, as I stood there looking at the Meccano exhibits I heard a chap nearby say exactly that 'he's Maghull's most famous resident'. I was particularly taken with the Meccano built model of ...
This canvassing script is taken from Gavin Barwell's How to win a marginal seat and was used in Croydon Central as a simplified version of the official Conservative target seat script: [IMG: Conservative Party canvassing script for Croydon Central 2015 general election] Note the emphasis on gathering email addresses – ahead even of voter ID data – along with asking a follow up to the voter ID question in order to be able to better target (potential) swing voters. As with good practice in the Liberal Democrats, you'll also see the aversion to leaving the doorstep having simply described someone ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie today said his party will take bolder action to exceed Scotland's climate change targets. On a visit to Glentress Forest in the Scottish Borders today, party leader Willie Rennie committed the party to action in four areas - warm homes, renewable heat, low-carbon transport and renewable electricity generation. Mr [...]
Important Local elections take place on 5 May 2016, so now is s good time to make sure you are registered to vote. Poll cards have been sent to all those who are currently on the electoral register. If you have not received a poll card, please contact 0161 253 5252 or email electionservices@bury.gov.uk. Polling stations are open on Thursday 5 May from 7am to 10pm. [IMG: ballot] You have until 18 April to register to vote if they haven't already done so. The quickest and easiest way to do this is by going online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. Voters will need ...
Members attend regional conference to debate policy, receive training, question the decision makers in the party, and, of course, to socialise with old friends over a cup of tea or an excellent lunch. On Saturday, following the opening of North West Liberal Democrats Conference by the Deputy Leader of Stockport Council, we heard an upbeat presentation from Sir Vince Cable about the work the Liberal Democrats did in Government, and where we go from here. This was followed by a presentation by former North West MEP Chris Davies on the progress of the #intogether campaign to keep Britain in the ...
[IMG: Lib Dem phonebank] Here at ALDC we make hundreds of calls into local by-elections each week. Connect allows you to create a script, identify a target pool, and launch the phone bank to the web so supporters can call through the targets and record responses from wherever they are. At election time, you should be thinking about a [...]
Instagram No, really, dogs are awesome Bat Conservation Trust - The Official Clothing Store RT @_BCT_: Great comic inspired #lovebat us help #bats #wildlife #nature Fact check: Did the 2015-16 Women's Big Bash League attract more viewers than the men's A-League? - Fact Check - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) FAO @bbctms lots of people are interested in women's cricket in its own right, not as a subsidiary of the men's game And here we see the church of England vicar in his natural, glittery & fabulous, habitat On your concern for your fat friend's health. — Medium Dead of ...
[IMG: Poll piechart] The latest quarterly update to my spreadsheet of opinion poll data since 1943 is now up at: http://www.markpack.org.uk/opinion-polls/ You can also sign up on that page to get email notifications about future updates. Aside from another three months of data, this update includes: Extra fieldwork dates for late campaign polls in 1950, 1959, 1966, 1970 and 1974. An extra Forensic Statistics poll from 1959, an extra NOP poll from 1987 and an extra ASL poll from 1992. Several internal Conservative Party polls from 1983, conducted by Harris and Gallup. Various extra details about the MORI polls in ...
I wrote yesterday that Tim Farron might be the longest serving party leader by the Autumn. He is certain to lead us into General Election 2020. Cameron and Corbyn have looser grips on their parties. Liberal Democrats should use this internal stability to answer fundamental external questions. It seems to me that chiefly among these are: What is our electoral objective for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years? This is essential for answering further questions like whether our candidates should adopt 1 or 2 General Election plans. Do we have non-electoral, legislative, objectives? UKIP and the SNP have legislative goals ...
For those hoping the run-in to the EU referendum on June 23rd would contain some arguments of intellectual substance, I think this latest piece of news puts that idea to bed for good: both sides of the EU debate have decided to bring up the NHS as a possible bargaining chip in the fight for what happens to Britain's EU membership. To be fair to Remain, this seems to be a fight picked by Leave and so a lot of what they're doing is rebuttal; still, what is being put forth by either side is pretty grim reading. Let's start ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat Northern Isles candidates Tavish Scott and Liam McArthur today slammed the SNP's record on support for Orkney and Shetland as Nicola Sturgeon arrived on a campaign swing. Mr Scott and Mr McArthur called on the First Minister to match ferry fare cuts that have been provided to Scotland's west coast and sort [...]
Tonight (Monday) Willie Rennie will be joined by two other Scottish party leaders (Labour's Kezia Dugdale and the Greens Patrick Harvie) when he takes part in Speak Out: People's Politics – a major public hustings organised by The Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland. The panel line-up is completed by the SNP's [...]
Now that the school Spring holidays are underway, my usual weekly ward surgeries do not take place, but I can still be contacted on any local issues or concerns through my e-surgery - just e-mail esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk. I can also be contacted at home at any time on 459378 and also during office hours at my Dundee City Council office on 434985. Surgeries commence again on Monday 18th April - full details of surgery days and times here.
Dangerous Days in Karabakh This is very bad news. (tags: armenia azerbaijan nagornokarabakh ) Why everything about the way we report on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is wrong A timely warning. (tags: armenia azerbaijan nagornokarabakh ) Have you been threatened with legal action by "Scientists for Britain"? Brexiters trying to chill scientific discourse. (tags: eu ukpolitics science law )
Yesterday's Observer carried an interestiing analysis by Will Hutton on the failure of 40 years of laissez-faire economic policy in the UK that has led directly to the current crisis in the UK steel industry. Hutton describes Business secretary Sajid Javid as the most ideologically driven and least practical politician to hold this key post since the war. He says that Britain, with a systemically overvalued exchange rate, porous market, high energy costs and ideological refusal to join others in the EU to deter imports dumped below cost with higher tariffs, is uniquely exposed to the threat posed by China's ...
