Readers may recall that I was a passenger on a train that was derailed near Chilham in Kent last summer. I tweeted a photograph from the train and blogged about the experience the next morning, with the result that my name was briefly all over the media. This Daily Mail article is a good example, though how they discovered my age I do not know. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch report on the derailment has now been published. It says the accident took place at Godmersham, which it did, but for some reason all the reports at the time talked ...
It's election time, which means that the Conservatives are putting out a leaflet – having done absolutely nothing since the General Election. And, of course, they want to tell us that they can solve the problem of the Kingsway junction. And to be honest that frustrates me – for three reasons. 1. The Lib Dems have been working hard on finding ways to improve the junction, and have not only made some improvements but have managed to get a proper study kicked off which will look not just at the junction but traffic around the whole area. 2. Mark Hunter, ...
A year ago I blogged about Shropshire Council's plans to move Church Stretton Library to a less central location. After that local residents sought judicial review of the council's decision. Today, at 12:40 on its Shropshire Live page, BBC News reported that: Campaigners fighting plans to move Church Stretton's library say they have won their legal battle against Shropshire Council. They say the authority conceded the case moments before it was due to be heard by a court in Birmingham.The report in the Shropshire Star is more guarded, and I suspect that is wise, but at least I have a ...
Her start-up announcement from Sunday, February 1st 1981 – with apologies for the dodgy quality: Share
This clip is only 43 seconds long and the quality is a bit dodgy, but you can clearly see here why Kenneth Macleod was such a great broadcaster. His serious introduction to the "tremors in West Cornwall" is remarkably skilfull. What a TV man! Share
Second paragraph of third chapter: Rosemary imagined the lengthy letter of complaint her mother might write after such a trip. She tried to imagine the circumstances in which her mother would travel by deepod at all. She couldn't even picture her mother setting foot within a public spaceport. Rosemary had been surprised to find herself in such a place. The dingy waiting area, the twitching pixel posters, the stale smells of algae gunk and cleaning fluid. Despite the exoskeletons and tentacles milling around her, she had felt like the alien there. A great new style space opera, with our heroine ...
The destruction of a Park in Woolton where St Julie's School leadership don't seem to know the hymn "All things bright and beautiful" The picture above says it all. On Sunday this piece of brown, tortured earth was a park. ... Continue reading →
Wed 6th
17:01
On growing older, the wisdom of youth and how it applies to my feelings towards politics...
Oh hello there blog. It has been a while. What have I been up to that has kept me from writing copious amounts of words being pious on whatever the topic of the day is I hear you not ask. Well the truth of the matter is I just haven't felt the need nor more importantly want to actually sit here and write. It isn't like I've had a zillion e-mails wondering where I've gone either but I'm writing now, but what is the topic that has dragged me back? Being young, knowing everything and the futility of treading water. ...
[IMG: How to win a marginal seat by Gavin Barwell - book cover] In the 2010 general election Conservative Gavin Barwell won the constituency of Croydon Central by 2,969 votes over Labour. How to win a marginal seat: my year fighting for my political life is the story of how he held on in 2015 by just 165 votes. Or rather, as the subtitle reveals, mostly the story of the final year. Being a conscientious MP of any party in a non-safe seat can become all consuming. As Barwell says with only a slight exaggeration, "The real divide among MPs ...
A new TNS poll released today shows a two per cent increase in Liberal Democrat support in both the constituency and the list vote for the forthcoming 2016 Holyrood elections. The fieldwork was carried out over the period 2-22 March 2016 and the face-to-face method employed by the pollster has usually proved to be more [...]
The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society. For our party, a strong education system, freely available to all, is the key to building the society we strive towards. This year, David Cameron's government has announced an extensive programme of reform to the British school system, including the much publicised forced conversion of all schools to academy status, the resulting abolition of the Local Education Authorities, the removal of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), the end of parent governors and the extension of the school day. Currently any opposition to the education reforms are being ...
Residents and groups across South Gloucestershire are once again preparing to spring into action to clean up their neighbourhood and open spaces, helping to make South Gloucestershire a great place to live and work. Everyone is welcome to join in. Friends, families, neighbours, parish and town councils, community and voluntary groups, church groups, schools, students, youth clubs, scouts, cadets, brownies, guides, and businesses are all invited to take action against litter in the South Gloucestershire Big Spring Clean 2016. The Big Spring Clean is the perfect opportunity to venture down to your local open space, woodland, river, park or public ...
The Panama Papers have caused quite a stir over the last few days. Before I continue, I'm going to reassure you I'm not going to try and explain what they are, what they mean or why they are important. There are actual economists who will do that. I also don't really understand alot of it. I'm here to talk about the mess Downing Street are in in terms of dealing with the story. The last 24 hours have seen Number 10 in a bit of a tailspin trying to explain how the Prime Minister is implicated, or not, in the ...
Mike Smithson had no doubt about the winner of last night's ITV London/LBC mayoral debate. Tonight' ITV London Mayoral debate. My verdict pic.twitter.com/ORTSkucDPo — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) April 5, 2016 And he wasn't alone. Caroline's strong performance attracted praise from unexpected quarters. The two women in the London debate are totally eclipsing the three men. #londondebate. And not for the first time. pic.twitter.com/hxBg3yCKff — Iain Dale (@IainDale) April 5, 2016 You can watch the whole thing here:
[IMG: Good Morning Wales] Last month we released the first set of bi-lingual templates for use in Wales (https://www.aldc.org/ideas/welsh-templates-released/). Today we are releasing the second set, which is 'Get Out The Vote' material. The templates include a general good morning leaflet – PDF and PagePlus, as well as two different knock up: Knock Up a – PDF and PagePlus and [...]
Wow, what a month March was for Liberal Democrat drug policy. First, the Lib Dem-commissioned independent panel report on cannabis regulation was published, advocating a framework for a fully legal regulated market for cannabis. Secondly, Norman Lamb proposed a motion to adopt the framework of the panel report as official party policy, which was subsequently voted in near-unanimously at conference. Finally, Norman presented a 10 Minute Rule Bill to the Commons, presenting our newly adopted policy to the rest of the House with an impassioned speech. The motion was voted through without contest and will now receive its second hearing ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesman Tavish Scott has slammed the SNP for plans to charge farmers interest on loans designed to tide them over while they await long-delayed Common Agricultural Policy payments. The Scottish Government's emergency loan scheme launched in February was supposed to ease cash flow issues for farmers. But today the Scottish [...]
Having hugely enjoyed The Folding Star, it occurred to me that I didn't know much about the one major award that it won, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Looking at the list of winners (there have been 100 awards, to 102 books), I realised I had read more than I knew. How many have you read? (You can sign into the poll using Facebook or Twitter IDs, maybe even Google for all I know.) View Poll: The James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction I've read CLAVDIVS, Men at Arms, The New Men, The Masters, Doctor Copernicus, Midnight's Children, ...
Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate Caroline Pidgeon will be answering questions on Twitter this afternoon: I'll be @TwitterUK later today answering questions. Tweet with #AskCaroline and I'll be responding this afternoon https://t.co/72sEXfkB3a — Caroline Pidgeon (@CarolinePidgeon) April 6, 2016 This comes the day after her manifesto launch and a successful mayoral debate last night where her performance attracted widespread praise. Yesterday, she launched her manifesto, which you can read here. .@CarolinePidgeon launching positive @LondonLibDems manifesto www.@londonlibdems.org.uk pic.twitter.com/o0vZB0E46D — Rob Blackie (@robblackie) April 5, 2016 In her foreword to the manifesto, Caroline says: London is a great global city. We must ...
Online university courses will be extended so that they can be used by schools, heralding a digital revolution in the way children learn, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie announced today. The move will ensure that every school pupil has the opportunity to study a course which inspires them. Mr Rennie set out his plans [...]
Commenting on the publication of the latest GDP figures for Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: "The figures do not reflect what the SNP are telling us about Scotland's economy. They show that Scotland is lagging behind growth in other parts of the UK on the SNP's watch. "This demonstrates why it is [...]
11 jokes only smart people will understand *smugly got all of them without googling* I suspect most of my readers will too Rise of Ad Blocking Is the Ad Industry's Fault, Says Outgoing FTC Commissioner Exercise as a treatment for depression: A meta-analysis adjusting for publication bias "Exercise has a large and significant antidepressant effect in people with depression" - I can vouch for this with anecdata. The problem is the crash you get if, for some reason, you can't do your usual level of exercise. The ladies of Star Trek Some really nice fanart here One spock two spock ...
You really could not make it up. Farmers have been struggling for months because of delays in getting their CAP payments to them. For months the failures of an £178 million IT system have stopped farmers being paid, causing them serious cash flow issues. The SNP Government, after too long, issued them with emergency cash advances. If those advances turn out to be more than the payment they were due, it has now emerged that farmers will have just 7 days to repay the difference or be charged a whopping rate of interest. Given that they are in the mess ...
[IMG: girl posting letter] With just over four weeks to go until Polling Day, things are really hotting up on the campaign trail for our teams across the country. On my travels to visit teams who are working hard for a great result, I have found myself talking about postal votes with fanatical type zeal. And I really mean [...]
The Gallup team polling Britons during the Second World War: [IMG: Gallup pollsters in wartime] Taken from Behind the Gallup Poll by Henry Durant, 1951.
Now that the immediate fuss over the recent Budget has died down a little it is perhaps time for some more considered reflection on the nature of any criticism on the failure of the government, and George Osborne in particular, to make anywhere near the progress promised on the question of cutting the budget deficit. Maybe we can get it right for the next time it hits the headlines. The deficit problem is not going to be solved any time soon. Naturally, the duty of an opposition is to constructively oppose, and so if the government's deficit does not fall ...
In 1970, Bob Dylan released an album entitled "Self Portrait". Previously the darling of the international rock press, Dylan was instantly pilloried for what was seen by many as an intentionally awful record. Greil Marcus famously wrote a four word review of the album – "What is this shit?" – and it caused others to question what they ever saw in the singer/songwriter: "Were we really that impressionable back in '65, '66? Was it that the stuff really wasn't that good, that this is just as good? Was it some sort of accident in time that made those other records ...
Scottish Liberal Democrats Linlithgow and Lothians List candidate Dan Farthing-Sykes will be the party's representative at the HIV Scotland Hustings event taking place next Thursday, April 14th, between 6-8pm. The venue is the City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX and free tickets can be booked here:- Farthing-Sykes will be joined [...]
merseysidenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2016_03_01_archive.html Here's some great environmental/green news for Maghull – see link above I covered this story a while back – here's the link back to that article:- [IMG: A shot I took a couple of years ago of the access path off Sefton Drive to the Cheshire Lines Path and the dumped rubbish that the area suffers from.] A shot I took a couple of years ago of the access path off Sefton Drive to the Cheshire Lines Path and the dumped rubbish that the area suffers from. So congratulations are due to the intrepid Merseyside North Sustrans volunteers ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said yesterday that Lib Dem plans to raise half a billion pounds a year through the income tax system are the only way to guarantee investment in Scotland's education system following reports that Tory plans for a £6000 graduate contribution will raise almost no money over the next parliament. [...]
Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher yesterday published their now traditional pre-local elections set of projections. Based on performances in council by-elections, they are projecting the Liberal Democrat vote share in May to be 16% – the same as in their earlier prediction which I covered in Liberal Democrat Newswire #75. Is that good, bad or indifferent? Here's the context which tells you the answer to that... First, what that 16% means. Each year the round of seats up for election varies, which means simply comparing vote shares from one year to another is not comparing like with like. If one ...
So far up to 16 boats have signed up to participating in the celebration Flotilla along the Leeds Liverpool Canal from Aintree to Lydiate on 19th June 2016. [IMG: Canal BiCentenary] If you have a narrow boat, barge or cruiser on the canal along this stretch of the Cut why not join in the celebrations. Contact Ron Hutchinson via Mersey Motor Boat Club (Pilling Lane, Lydiate) to get involved.
On behalf of residents, I raised with the City Council the need for better dropped kerbing in Tullideph Street. I am pleased to advise I have received a positive response as follows : "A site inspection has been carried out in Tullideph Street and the adjacent carriageways. From the inspections it was observed that there are lowered kerbs at either end of Tullideph Street. The lowered kerb are slightly higher than the new upstand standard for drop kerbs but do provide a lowered kerb. For any future footway maintenance programme in this location I will arrange for these kerbs to ...
Nominations close tomorrow, the Welsh Assembly has now dissolved and there are no longer any AMs, but campaigning has been on-going for weeks if not months. The stakes are high, but no more so that for Jeremy Corbyn, who faces his first test as a party leader. For one Labour MP and former frontbencher that is a moot point as accuses his party of getting their excuses in early. According to the Guardian, Jon Trickett, who is the MP in charge of Labour's local election campaign has claimed that any progress on the party's performance in 2015 should be seen ...
Wed 6th
08:02
EURef Roundup: Airbus, Insurers, Stanley Johnson, Service sector back IN, lazy Corbyn attacked, ex- ...
Airbus, which employs 15,000 people and the UK and supports another 100,000 UK jobs through its supply chain is backing Remain, reports the Guardian. The same article reports a survey that found 70% insurance professionals believe that leaving the EU would harm their industry. Stanley Johnson (father of Boris) says that staying in important for the environment. He was supported by former Tory Cabinet Minister John Gummer who said: The people who believe in Brexit do not accept a world in which you no longer have the sort of national power that we had in 1945 or 1900. You now ...
Belgium is No Failed State Sir Michael Leigh with a breath of sanity. (tags: Belgium waronterror ) Gun lobby stirs to life in Europe Jeepers. (tags: guns eu ) Britain Can't Afford to Leave the EU @profalanriley1 thinks the numbers don't add up. (tags: eu ukpolitics ) What Brexit would mean for the NHS It would be bad news. (tags: eu ukpolitics )
ITV and LBC are to be congratulated for staging an hour-long live debate this evening (Tuesday) between the five principle candidates in next month's London Mayoral election: Sian Berry (Green), Zac Goldsmith (Conservative), Sadiq Khan (Labour), Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat) and Peter Whittle (UKIP). The show's two hosts were robust enough in their questioning to [...]
This weekend, Liberal Youth will meet in Edinburgh for their Spring Conference. For those of you who will be making the trip, or for those who will not be going but wish to be kept abreast of the motions being voted on, The Libertine has put together this short guide to the big policy motions [...]
