Local Liberal Democrats, led by Cllr. Allan Knox have blasted local Conservative's for letting down Clitheroe and all of Lancashire, as figures unveiled in Parliament show, that cash to fix our roads has been slashed. Parliamentary analysis shows that in Lancashire pothole maintenance funding by Central Government has been cut by £680,000. This cut comes after the Chancellor promised an extra 'Pothole Fund'. Even with this cash, it doesn't plug the gap and Clitheroe and Lancashire will lose out. Nationally, the shortfall in cash is £25 million. Cllr. Allan Knox said: "In Clitheroe local people tell me day after day ...
As I blogged a couple of months ago: At present the Great Central Railway - Nottingham is a bit of a mystery to those of us in Leicestershire. Rather like the Eastern Roman Empire.To help dispel that mystery, here is a video shot on that line. It will be a great day when the bridge over the Midland main line is reinstated at Loughborough and the two halves of the line are joined.
Control of this place is too important to be left to gimmicks I did something just now that I have never done before! I visited Labour's web site to look for their manifesto for the local elections which are just ... Continue reading →
Vinous Ali has visited the refugee camps of Northern Greece with Tim Farron. The House of Lords by-election to replace Eric Avebury is ludicrous and should be boycotted, say John Lubbock and Seth Thévoz. "There will be no incumbents, and few of the ex-MEPs are expected to run ... So, there is every possibility that new names may emerge and end up as Liberal Democrat MEPs." Mark Valladares says the forthcoming selections for Liberal Democrat Euro candidates will be the most open yet. Kyra Hanson on guerrilla gardening and the battle against concrete paving and private development in London. "Verification ...
Watch the new fun (yet educational) video from CGP Grey:
Phew, humans still have a role as shown by this failed attempt by Microsoft to use artificial intelligence to understand what is in a photograph: [IMG: Microsoft photo recognition bot fails to recognise a pot hole]
Embed from Getty Images The boss of GCHQ has apologised for banning gay people from working for the organisation right up until the 90s. Robert Hannigan was speaking at a conference run by Stonewall, when he referred to a spy called Ian who was sacked in the 1960s for being gay. After seven years of exemplary service, with very strong prospects for the future, he was interrogated on suspicion of being homosexual, he was summarily dismissed and escorted out of the building. He got no support from anyone in authority at all, even his union, and no-one ever followed up ...
Embed from Getty Images Well, the 'official' EU referendum campaign has finally begun. Funny, it appears to have been going on for months already. I was interested to see the images of the two official campaigns juxtaposed the other day in the BBC report on my TV screen. The 'Leave' campaign was illustrated by old footage of Tories Grayling, Gove and Whittingdale etc. manning the phone lines, whereas the 'In' footage showed Tory, Labour and Lib Dem politicians, including the Prime Minister, doing the same thing. For an organisation that has tried so far to be unfailingly impartial in its ...
I just noticed I haven't posted an actual post for ages and it's all been linkspammy, probably because I've been spending most of my Expressing Myself spoons on drawing things and putting them on instagram, so I thought you'd all appreciate a little updateItem: I am standing in the council elections. Again. The last 2 years I got exactly 103 votes. I am hoping for a modest increase to 104 this year, because Alisdair will be able to vote for me, living in my ward as he does now. Item: Mental and physical health things are more-or-less under control at ...
Comment by John Hemming: "The Court of Appeal are right to strike down the injunction. They are also right, however, to give leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. This issue needs to be resolved such that it is not subject to an almost immediate challenge. People generally need to know that they do not face jail for joking and gossiping. The media need to know what they can write without
Sources who've had sight of documents for the Lib Dem working group developing welfare policy report real cause for concern to Liberator. After Tim Farron's oft-repeated comment that the party shouldn't be afraid to stand up for what it believes in, even if it makes 75% of the population hate them, as long as it makes the other 25% love them, there had been hope that policymaking would break from recent trends and seriously consider radical ideas. Alas, this appears to have been a hope too far according to our sources. With the draft policy paper due by the end ...
You may have read by now that I will be standing for election on May 5th for the newly created Gunthorpe Ward? The new ward, essentially includes around 2/3's of the old Werrington South Ward, and also includes areas south of Gunthorpe Road, like Hallfields Lane. Don't forget, that this year you have three votes [...]
Embed from Getty Images I have become increasingly frustrated that so many people, including journalists and UK politicians, do not seem to know how the EU actually works and who is responsible for making the decisions on legislation. Over and over again I hear that unelected bureaucrats are in charge and people endlessly talk about the democratic deficit. The reason they do that is that they have been fed this misinformation by the majority of the press and media for years. I thought it was about time to try and put the record straight. Having been both an MP and ...
Embed from Getty Images In the Spring every Liberal Democrat activist goes out delivering and canvassing. To pass the time, and increase the interest, many of us play mind games about the political tendencies of the streets and houses we are approaching, trying to anticipate what we may expect. In Bradford we have to anticipate first of all whether the front door and letter box will be at the front or the back – well, we hardly ever open our own front door in Saltaire, though the letter box is there. In generations past, front doors in West Yorkshire were ...
I have always admired the modern gateway arch to a part of this community known as Bootle Village which was erected at the turn of the last century, indeed I assume it was a year 2000 centenary project. Constructed in metal it is pleasing on the eye and can't be missed if you are on Stanley Road between the Leeds Liverpool Canal Bridge and Bootle Library. [IMG: Bootle Village Gateway r] Sadly and literally only a few yards away to left of this shot is the view below:- [IMG: Junk Canal Bootle 03 16 r] Click on the photos to ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie today said that Richard Lochhead and Nicola Sturgeon owe every farmer in Scotland an apology over the Common Agricultural Payment (CAP) shambles. Mr Rennie was speaking as he toured a farm near Cupar in Fife. Figures provided by the NFUS have revealed that more than 80% of farmers eligible [...]
[IMG: 20160417_144724] Yesterday, I did the Pier to Pier Walk for St Helena Hospice to raise money in memory of my friend Martin Hunt who died last year. They run it every year, challenging people to walk the seven miles from Walton Pier to Clacton Pier (or vice versa), or if you're really wanting a good long walk you can do it both ways for a total of fourteen miles. I did the latter, starting and finishing at Walton Pier. It's an almost completely flat walk as it uses the two main promenades (Walton & Frinton, and Holland & Clacton) ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] We thought it would be helpful to update you on the campaign opposing forced conversion to academies. Observer letter : Letter to the Observer from all 4 party group leaders at the LGA can be found here. The Liberal Democrat Education Association have released a statement on the proposals along with background information on why [...]
The extraordinary result in the Wadebridge West by-election seems to have dragged me out of my blogging retirement – at least for the time being. With that in mind I thought I'd reproduce here the text of an article I've just written for the Cornish Guardian (which will be reproduced in the West Briton and [...]
I have just received the campaign leaflet from my local Conservative councillor, who is seeking re-election to our council, currently Labour led. The leaflet has a large headline, in blue, in which he claims to be "PROTECTING [us] FROM LABOUR CUTS" In his personal message to us he again refers to "Labour's cuts." Surely there cannot be a single elector able to read and write who is not aware that the cuts are imposed on local government by the Conservative national government. Even some Conservative councillors, (including the prime minister's mother) are protesting. This distortion of the truth in our ...
Why I'm Taking a Stand Against My School's 'Dress Code' RT @roemcdermott: INCREDIBLE post by 16yo student re:her principal's assertion that "modest is hottest." Get your Free Trump Score (TM) This is amazing, I just got my FreeTrumpScore report: 420 out of 850. #whatsyourtrumpscore? - I'm NEARLY as awful as Malala! *proud face* Instagram "Are you getting out of the bath yet mummy? Are you?" This is the view I have the entire time I... CERN Officially Distances Itself From Satan RT @coreyspowell: Europe's center for particle physics officially refutes any link to Satan or Armageddon. Liberal Bureaucracy: European Selections: ...
Mon 18th
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LibLink: Miriam Gonzáles says free trade has won: adapt or die is the only option left to us
Embed from Getty Images Writing on the Tata steel crisis in the Guardian, Miriam Gonzáles, who is a partner at the global specialist law firm, Dechert LLP, specialising in international trade, writes: The Tata Steel sale has revived the battle between protectionists and free traders, a debate that became particularly acute in the run-up to the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995, which marked the success of "free traders" all around the world. In the protectionist camp, there is now a wide range of political parties from the extreme left to the extreme right: from Syriza to Ukip, ...
The answer is of course in my updated archive of all the official Liberal Democrat party policy papers, but see if you can guess the answer before taking a peek to find out...
Former Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable will deliver the William Beveridge Memorial Lecture at this Summer's Social Liberal Forum Conference in London on Saturday July 16th, the details of which have just been released. The theme of the conference is 'Inequality Street' and other confirmed speakers include Neal Lawson of Compass, Baroness Lindsay Northover, [...]
Chris White has followed up on comments made last week on BBC Radio with a firm pledge to oppose any attempts to merge the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service with the Police Service. Chris said: 'It is high time we had evidence-based politics in this country – not centrally imposed dogma. The Fire Service is [...]
What is it that the man who came second to David Cameron last time there was a leadership contest within the Conservative Party has said that I question? First of all to preface, he mentioned that if the country votes to Leave on June 23rd, David Cameron should remain as prime minister. So far, so uncontroversial. But this is the bit I have wonder about: "If we vote for Brexit then it's clear that David Cameron can't lead that bit of his government's activities, the renegotiation. He would have to appoint somebody who the public had faith in, who his ...
Embed from Getty Images Every day as I read the news and listen to the radio I dread the erosion of Liberal principles across the globe and there seems to be an increase in extremism and antagonistic attitudes toward the most seemingly inoffensive issues. Due to the growth of fascism both in the UK and particularly across Europe it feels as if Liberal ideology is utterly at threat. The LibDem fight back is about more than a party but an ideal. We need to convince people that we can moderate as well as keep the door ajar to our left ...
The disadvantage of my increasing distance from the Party's central bureaucracy is that I don't really know what they're up to. This may be a good thing in some ways, but advances in administration do happen without me and unless you may an effort to stay 'in the loop', there is a danger that you act on the basis of obsolete guidance. Accordingly, I've asked the Senior Returning Officer for the European selection (he co-ordinates stuff and deals with issues that transcend individual Regions, amongst other things) whether or not the Rules have changed from 2012. I'm led to believe ...
To mark Climate Day Scotland the pressure group Stop Climate Change Scotland is organising a major online hustings debate this evening from 7pm-8.30pm. Ettie Spencer will be taking part for the Scottish Liberal Democrats and she will be joined on the panel by the Greens environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell, Sarah Boyack for Labour, Ben MacPherson [...]
Dundee City Council has an obligation to undertake mutual repairs (things like stairwell paintwork, guttering repairs and roof repairs) to maintain its own stock - and owners in blocks where there are a mix of tenants and owners are obliged to pay a share of the mutual element of this work. There are often queries from both owners and tenants when this sort of work (known as External Cyclical Maintenance) is undertaken - last year, for example, I had a number of queries from residents in the Corso Street/Abbotsford area and also Fyffe Street/Benvie Road/Mitchell Street area. The council has ...
As Scotland marks Climate Day, Scottish Liberal Democrat energy spokesman Liam McArthur has said his party will beat Scotland's climate change targets with bold and positive plans to make Scotland greener over the next five years. The Scottish Liberal Democrats' manifesto sets out detailed proposals for how the party would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in [...]
March 2016 was the hottest March on record. The sixth record-breaking month in a row... (tags: climatechange ) A train ride with Millwall fans - and the hope it gave me for the EU debate @campbellclaret listens to voters beyond the bubble. (tags: ukpolitics eu ) A tangled plan ensnared McCrory in HB2 How North Carolina entrenched discrimination. (tags: uspolitics sexandgenderandsexuality ) Alabama Governor Embroiled in Sex Scandal Had Wallet Delivered by Police Chopper Somehow I missed this story. (tags: uspolitics ) What caused Haiti's cholera epidemic? The CDC's museum knows but won't say. A really shocking conclusion. (tags: health ...
A very peculiar row has broken out within the Labour Party over an apparent snub to fast food giant, McDonalds. The Independent reports that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been branded a "snob" by one of his own backbenchers after it was claimed the burger chain was banned from the party's autumn conference. They say that McDonalds wanted to pay £30,000 to have a display stand promoting British farm produce at this year's conference in Liverpool, but was turned down. McDonalds have already been approved to display the "interactive experience" at the Conservative and the SNP conferences this September. This ...
