Well, well. Only three by-elections tonight and we've won two of them One was a solid hold in Taunton Deane, where we lost the parliamentary seat last May. Taunton Halcon (Taunton Deane) vote result: LDEM: 389 CON: 222 LAB: 133 UKIP: 118 GRN: 42 — Britain Elects (@britainelects) April 14, 2016 Taunton Halcon (Taunton Deane) result: LDEM: 43.0% (+2.7) CON: 24.6% (-11.0) LAB: 14.7% (+14.7) UKIP: 13.1% (+13.1) GRN: 4.6% (-19.5) — Britain Elects (@britainelects) April 14, 2016 Our vote went up despite the presence of a Labour candidate, The Greens have really fallen out of favour. But better news ...
Whitefield's local police team are really excellent at keeping local residents updated on crime in our immediate area. There have been three recent twitter updates from GMP Whitefield which specifically mention crimes reported in Unsworth, in particular two of the tweets mention that local residents vehicles have been targeted. #Crime Tue 12-Apr-2016 04:20 Van stolen, Brookdene road #Unsworth — GMP Whitefield (@GMPWhitefield) April 14, 2016 and #Crime Wed 13-Apr-2016 01:00 Mercedes Van Chadderton Drive opened and rooted through, nothing taken- Crimed as Vehicle interference — GMP Whitefield (@GMPWhitefield) April 14, 2016 Could I ask that Unsworth residents follow the advice ...
It was upsetting to read in the Bury Times that an 83 year old cyclist from Ramsbottom has died after he hit a pothole on Bury New Road in the town. In 2014 I blogged here about the millions of pounds that the Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition government gave to Bury Council to start to tackle the pothole problem across the borough. But have they spent it? If not, where has the money gone? I see today in the Bury Times that another £105,000 has been given to Bury Council from the current government's Pothole Action Fund. This will fund around ...
Just starting to arrive in the letterboxes of 5,634,331 voters across London is the booklet containing the manifestos for the London Mayor candidates. Here is Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon's election address: [IMG: Caroline Pidgeon 2016 London Mayor election address] For more on what Caroline Pidgeon and the Liberal Democrats want to do, see the party's 2016 London manifesto. The existence of this mailing in London Mayor elections, by the way, is largely down to the work of the late Liberal Democrat peer Conrad Russell (whose son John is in the running for the current bizarre Lords hereditary by-election using the ...
I've been in touch with United Utilities over the last 2 days regarding separate water leaks on Randale Drive and Chadderton Drive. First, a further update on Randale Drive (see picture). [IMG: image] It's been over a month since I last blogged about the surface water that has been on Randale Drive at the junction of Rhodes Drive for quite a long time and the situation has not improved. United Utilities tell me they responded to my report and their night team inspected the site twice; they tested the surface water for chlorine (a tell-tale sign that the water had ...
At a Penarth health centre, Kirsty Williams launched the Welsh Liberal Democrats' manifesto: We're at Stanwell GP surgery in #Penarth launching our manifesto: a vision of a Wales that works for you #Wales2016 pic.twitter.com/1qmZHX9Z9V — Welsh Lib Dems (@WelshLibDems) April 14, 2016 The main ideas are extending the protections of Kirsty Williams' more nurses bill and reducing class sizes. They also plan to reduce Council Tax by £100 per year for people who increase the energy efficiency of their property by two bands – something that benefits both people and planet.
UPDATED DETAILS. LD seat. Cause: Resignation. LD candidate- Chris Booth.
Conservative seat. Cause: Death. LD candidate- Charles Boney. To help, please contact Charles Boney (07792 538442).
UPDATED DETAILS. Conservative seat. Cause: Resignation. LD candidate- Karen McHugh. To help, please contact North Cornwall Liberal Democrats (01566 772734, contact@northcornwalllibdems.co.uk) or John S Lamb (07435 975875, johnslamb@hotmail.com).
Time for another one of these videos, I feel. Enjoy.
"I knew him when we were 18 or 19, and his views have not changed. We are talking about the thick end of 50 years ago."So said one of Jeremy Corbyn's old friends when interviewed by the Shropshire Star last year. That planting a red flag on top of the Wrekin is the most endearing thing I have read about Corbyn, but his friend's comment did play into the fear that his politics do not represent an engagement with the world around him. So it was good to hear him today accepting political reality and arguing Britain should remain in ...
Malik Jalal on what it is like to find yourself living on a drone kill list. Eight Labour candidates are standing for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Stephen Glenn asks if it is time for the Liberal Democrats to fight those elections too. Anthony Painter explains his conversion to support for Universal Basic Income. "At the time of its Berliner re-launch, the Guardian had a daily sale of nearly 400,000. Ten-and-a-half years later this has slipped to 165,000." Stephen Glover speculates on the future of what is, for all its faults, my favourite newspaper. Chris Heather uncovers a sad tale of ...
I've had another update from Mouchel, Shropshire Council's consulting engineers. All being well, the bridge is set to reopen on 29 April. I'm still hoping a day or so can be shaved off this timetable. This would mean that the bridge is open for the Mayfair, which begins on 28 April. To date, there have... Continue reading Repair of Ludford Bridge remains on schedule for end April reopening →
Second paragraph of third chapter: "Really." I'm afraid that I gave up on this not quite half way through; it seemed to me a fairly standard portal fantasy, similar to say the Fionnavar Tapestry, with the difference that where I thought Kay took the established Arthurian mythos and did vaguely interesting things with it, Park didn't really do much with Romanian lore and if anything veered very close to stereotype territory in the portrayal of a lot of the characters. I've read many better examples of this sort of story, and so I moved on. This had bubbled to the ...
The Labour Rose is wilting in Liverpool as the comrades fall out Sometimes I wonder why I bother. With Labour imploding before our eyes and many Labour members never mind voters jumping ship and voting for me on May 5th ... Continue reading →
There's some overlap between this and the fun book One in the Eye for Harold: Why everything you thought you knew about history is wrong. That book is well worth a look if you like this sort of thing.
The Welsh Lib Dems are trying to encourage Labour voters to cast their regional vote for them in order to stop UKIP. They've adapted a popular meme to go out on leaflets to try to explain why it makes sense to do so. It's certainly one of the more effective ways that I've seen of communicating this message. Trying to explain to someone that, even if Labour tops the list vote in most areas, they won't win a list seat is not easy. Unless you are a political anorak, you won't know too much about the D'hondt electoral system. We ...
[IMG: Postal vote Scottish Lib Dems] As postal votes start hitting doorsteps in our elections, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have compiled a list of things people should know. Here are 6 of them: We're the only party with a plan to invest half a billion in schools, colleges & nurseries (find out more here: scotlibdems.org.uk/education). We'll get serious about mental health (find out more here: scotlibdems.org.uk/health). We're the only party with a credible plan to tackle the GP crisis (find out more here: scotlibdems.org.uk/health). We'll take real action to make sure Scotland finally meets its climate change targets (find out ...
You can almost knock me over with a feather as for the first time in history one of the two main unionist parties in Northern Ireland has launched a manifesto that has a very strong section on LGBT+ issues. This is an extract from the UUP manifesto: LGB&T We want to build a Northern Ireland that is inclusive and safe for all our people, and that includes the LGB&T community. Our society should have no cold spots for anyone because of their sexual or gender identity. In the next mandate we want to see zero tolerance of hate-crime, tackle the ...
When it comes to the big debates on education, invariably the focus is on schools and universities. It's all about academic success, exam league tables and access to higher education. On the rare occasions that the focus isn't on institutions, it's on apprenticeships. The attention governments of all hues have paid to these flagship policies have obscured one very important fact: the majority of young people—53%—do not follow the 'traditional' academic route into work. Not so the Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility which has just published its report "Overlooked and left behind: improving the transition from school to work ...
[IMG: Thank You Poster] Firstly thank you. Giving more people the chance to vote Liberal Democrat is really important for the party's recovery, so your willingness to stand in these elections is hugely appreciated. It may well be that you are also busy helping us win in target wards or fully committed outside politics. In which case, please accept [...]
We're very pleased and quite excited to be able to announce that Stockport Council has bought the Merseyway shopping centre, and plans to spend nearly £40m upgrading it to a modern centre that the town can be proud of. It's a plan the Lib Dem Executive have been working on for some time, and to see the deal goes through we've had to keep it under wraps. The purchase – including the improvements – is an investment for the people of Stockport. The numbers have been crunched and we're confident it will provide a good return. It will make money ...
One of my favourite things about the Liberal Democrats is members don't just get stuck into debates - they go looking for the evidence to back up what they've got to say. That's why this week's furore around what David Cameron did or didn't do has been so frustrating. The Panama Papers are fascinating to me, as a lawyer and a would-be tax specialist. It looks likely that when the dust has settled there will be evidence of money laundering, of tax evasion, of tax avoidance and of regulatory failings. But so far most journalists and commentators are throwing around ...
Five years after it was axed by Shropshire Council, kerbside cardboard collections are to return to Shropshire, with the service for South Shropshire beginning in December. North Shropshire and Shrewsbury get the new collections earlier.[1] Residents will be provided with a new blue bag for paper and cardboard. At the same time, plastics, cans and... Continue reading Back to the future as cardboard recycling returns to Ludlow in December 2016 →
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above And on the very same day the Echo web site ran this Litherland shooting story:- You know our gun problems here on Merseyside, or at least the reporting of them, seem to be getting worse. Now don't I recall a recent Echo article based on Merseyside Police saying they were winning the gun war, or words to that effect? It's only a question of time until another innocent person gets caught up in the revenge gun violence amongst the criminal fraternity, is it not?
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today said each of the Scottish political parties must guarantee to stop dishing out government support to corporations if they are embroiled in tax avoidance and if they do not pay their workers the Living Wage. In recent years over £5 million of government funding was paid to [...]
Thu 14th
11:30
Watch: Christine Jardine in BBC Health debate "Let medical professionals do their job"
On Tuesday night, Aberdeenshire East candidate Christine Jardine took part in a BBC Scotland debate on health. This is one area in which the SNP has consistently failed. We are going to be 700 GPs short by the end of the decade, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to get a GP appointment, there are no mental health beds for children north of Dundee, and there's a LOT of Scotland north of Dundee and mental health care is even worse than it is south of the border. In addition to all of that, health professionals often find that top-down targets get ...
[IMG: Election Law Advice] On printed material such as leaflets and posters, you must include the name and address of: The printer The promoter If the promoter is acting on behalf of a group or organisation, you must also include the group or organisation's name and address. The promoter is the person who has authorised the material to be [...]
A Guide to Being A Dog by Seamus Wheaton Autographed by The Creators | eBay RT @wilw: A few hours left to bid on A Guide To Being A Dog, signed by me, Anne, Seamus, and @Lartist. 100% to charity. Another Sexual Assault in Service of the Drug War Jesus christ this is horrific Dangerous Treasures - Lovecraft / Cthulhu Geek Action - Horror - Comedy - YouTube This is hilarious! A list of some of the terrifying racism in the USA (quite a lot of which will apply in the UK too) Sometimes you got to feel sorry for ...
As you well know, I am no Jeremy Corbyn fan. But his speech at Senate House (which Corbyn himself pointed out was what Orwell had based the Ministry of Truth in "1984" upon) this morning left me with little to quibble with. How about this for an opening: "The Labour party is overwhelmingly for staying in – because we believe the European Union has brought investment, jobs and protection for workers, consumers and the environment, and offers the best chance of meeting the challenges we face in the 21st century. Labour is convinced that a vote to remain is in ...
Travelling the South of England, speaking for Remain at debates and public meetings it has been fascinating to hear the arguments of speakers for Leave. Phrases I have heard include "remember the English civil war" and "Enoch Powell was right" from speakers from the right of politics and "we owe the Red Army our security" and "we don't want any free trade" from more left wing Leave speakers. These points are entertainment and have no real traction or credibility with undecided voters. Another suggestion sometimes heard from Leave speakers, and from Leave-inclined attendees at debates, is that the European Union ...
Vince Cable, who was involved in negotiations over the proposed EU-US trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, in his role as business secretary, has been writing about the issue, and that of free trade more generally. Vince first summarises the rationale for TTIP: The European Commission has prioritised a bilateral agreement with the USA: TTIP, which is proving a source of unexpected controversy, although negotiations are still at an early stage. The underlying objective is to apply, on a transatlantic basis, the same approach that helped to create the EU Single Market. Since, as within the EU, tariffs ...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of again visiting Rose Lodge, in Seafield Road, which provides high-quality housing and support for adults with learning difficulties. We were there to celebrate Rose Lodge's involvement in the Charter for Involvement, an initiative by the National Involvement Network that is a series of 12 new statements that show how people who use support services want to be involved in the services they get, in the organisations that provide their services and in the wider community. Alison Hogg and her team at Rose Lodge do a great job for all in their care and it ...
Well, I thought I'd seen the worst party leader interview in my lifetime when Natalie Bennett took on LBC during the last General Election. It turns out that I only needed to live for another 11 months to witness an even worse one. David Coburn, the Leader of Scottish UKIP, took on STV's Bernard Ponsonby [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrats candidate for the marginal seat of Edinburgh Western, Alex Cole-Hamilton, recently took part in an interview for the CommonSpace, conducted by David Thomson, alongside his SNP rival Toni Giugliano. You can listen to the interview by following the link:- Today (Thursday) is a big day for the campaign as the postal [...]
The Welsh Liberal Democrats would protect spending on higher education. We would establish a Student Living Support Grant, which would be worth £2,500 per full-time student per year. This would apply for all Welsh domiciled students, no matter where in the UK they study. The policy would be funded by the withdrawal of the Tuition Fee Grant. This policy would result in at least £80 million additional funding for universities, including funding for improving accessibility and high-quality research. Unlike other parties, the Welsh Liberal Democrats are clear that we would protect spending on higher education. Access to higher education should ...
Near open warfare broke out amongst lead UKIP candidates yesterday after their Welsh leader, Nathan Gill told a BBC 'Ask the Leader' event that he would probably not have chosen Neil Hamilton and fellow ex-Tory MP Mark Reckless as UKIP candidates in Wales. His remarks provoked a response from Christine Hamilton, the wife of the party's number one candidate in Mid and West Wales, who accused Gill of acting like a "third-rate general". She tweeted: "Only a 3rd rate General would diss his crack troops on the eve of battle." The use of the phrase 'crack troops' is most probably ...
