Tom King pulls apart a blog post on the EU referendum by prominent writer and church leader David Robertson.
Earlier today I had the pleasure of visiting Heart Space Yoga and Bodyworks in Scott Street to see round the impressive facilities and meet Ian Alexander and Finlay Wilson who have, over the past five years, built up services aiming to improve quality of life by increasing physical activity levels and offering numerous services for well-being. Here's a couple of photographs from my visit : Later, I attended the latest meeting of the Jericho House support group, a regular meeting at which a number of us discuss fundraising and other projects to support this important facility in the West End ...
A short but interesting selection. It runs from Blake Hall (once part of the Central Line) to Tollesbury, where my mother's mother's family all came from. A special word for Ashdon Halt too.
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton share the stage...
Cameron makes almost 2x as many personal attacks as those aimed at him from Corbyn says @drpeterbull of @BPSOfficialhttps://t.co/kuIOevfN3H— DailySunday Politics (@daily_politics) April 27, 2016Dr Peter Bull, a psychologist from the University of York, appeared on Daily Politics today talking about his research into Jeremy Corbyn's approach to prime minister's questions. As you can see above, he found that Corbyn's tactic of sourcing questions from members of the public has reduced the confrontational nature of PMQs in that David Cameron is less likely to reply to such questions with a personal attack on him. It happens that the programme picked ...
Beating the Bounds is a traditional local activity for Rogation Sunday, walking round the boundaries of the Common so that people know what they hold as a community asset. In some places they beat the bounds of an entire parish, or ride round the boundaries of larger parishes. The Common was nearly sold off for housing some years ago, but a determined campaign by local people (many now in the Focus Team) kept it in public ownership. This gives beating the bounds of the Common a special meaning. Please bring your children to show them what a lovely area we ...
Just for reference, the tragedies are generally considered to include: Titus Andronicus Romeo and Juliet Julius Caesar Hamlet Troilus and Cressida Othello King Lear Macbeth Timon of Athens Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus The Tempest I've already written of my love for Hamlet and Macbeth as plays; but I retain a deep affection for Romeo and Juliet, considered as a tragedy, because it was the first Shakespeare I studied at school, at the age of 11, and it's stuck with me. It's a mercifully straightforward plot, not particularly deep or complex, but with a compelling story. I played Mercutio in the ...
London Liberal Democrats are making a push for funds to help them run the best possible final flourish to the campaign and get out the vote operation. A You Gov poll indicated that if we can just get one more percentage point, we could beat UKIP and get Merlene Emerson elected as our third assembly member. Caroline Pidgeon says on the London Liberal Democrats' website: Polls show that a handful of votes could separate UKIP and the Lib Dems on 5th May. Those votes will either elect Merlene Emerson to join me on the Assembly, a British-Chinese liberal, or a ...
The only poll that actually matters is the one that happens 8 days from today, but there is encouraging news from key Welsh marginals. The caveat is that it's based on extrapolations from a uniform national swing, but it is a sign that the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Kirsty are having a good impact with their campaign calling for improvements in health, education, housing and the economy, all of which are suffering under Labour rule. Wales Online looks at a number of seats including two of particular interest to Liberal Democrats: Brecon and Radnorshire The constituency was won comfortably by ...
After consulting with residents, traders and others, Keith and the Lib Dem team got the council to change the car parking charges in Cheadle village centre. Instead of a flat 20p an hour, the charges reverted to the previous fees: 30p for 0-2 hours, £1.50 for 2-3 hours and £5 for more than 3 hours. The idea is to discourage all-day parking and free up spaces in the car park for short-stay. For anyone who needs to park all day, we've offered to help them find a parking space within a few minutes walk of the village centre that's both ...
.@timfarron & @Cajardine talk delayed farm payments, centralised public services and GP shortages in Inverurie #SP16pic.twitter.com/1YZ0VnUb8k — Scot Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) April 26, 2016 Tim Farron went to Aberdeenshire East to join candidate Christine Jardine on the campaign trail yesterday. He had this to say about the SNP's record and how the Liberal Democrats would improve things: This is the first Scottish election when people are really starting to judge the SNP on their record. And the further you get from the central belt in Scotland, the more you get a sense that people don't believe the SNP cares about ...
[IMG: Suzanne Fletcher 2] Suzanne Fletcher with Guy Verhofstadt Our visit to Brussels has been one of terrific highs and awful low points. The only thing that was consistent was the pouring rain, and the lovely welcoming help from people wherever we went. I was there at the invitation of the committee of the regions for the ALDE-LeaDeR Awards. I had been taken aback by being shortlisted for the Lifetime Achievement Award for long service as a councillor, for my work on environmental issues long before everyone woke up to it ( I got the first bottle – and then ...
I stopped punching the Corbyn bag a little while back. Part of that came down to getting bored of saying the same thing in different ways; part of it was that the EU speech gave me some hope for the guy. Not much, I stress – but at least enough to give the bloke a little elbow room. He figured out a way to say something that actually affected the wider public debate on something. Now, I'm never going to be a Corbynista, but if he could keep making a difference, who knows? Then came today's PMQs. I can't type ...
The papers today are saying, almost uniformly, that we at last have justice for the 96. Some of the families are saying so as well. I disagree. We do not yet have justice. What the decision gave us yesterday was the truth. Truth is a very important part of justice, but only a part of it. This is an important issue in terms of the national debate, because this is not only about 96 people who lost their lives, and not only about the survivors and family who have had to live with the consequences. We have reached the truth ...
The term "kleptocracy" was coined to define countries, often newly developing, in which the ruling elite creamed of the nation's wealth to the detriment of the welfare of ordinary people. Something similar seems to be happening in Britain today, though the beneficiaries are not exclusively the ruling elite as normally defined. The demise of British Home Stores (BHS) is but the latest example. This staple of the high street was bought by Philip Green (later "Sir" Philip and invited to be a minor member of Mr Cameron's government) for £200m, who put ownership of it in his non-dom wife's name ...
Readers will recall that I let slip that Labour had almost lost a by-election in Maghull a few weeks ago to an independent Green Belt campaigner – they clung onto the seat by just 3 votes. This was the election that for some very odd reason the local press decided not to report the result of and that suited Labour down to the ground. However, I knew they (Labour) would be rattled and therefore it was no surprise that when a Labour election leaflet popped through my door the other day that it was attacking the Green Belt campaigners that ...
Wed 27th
12:21
Baroness Sally Hamwee writes...How Lib Dem Lords are making the horrible Immigration Bill a little b...
This is my third attempt at writing this piece. Events have been moving quickly on the Immigration Bill as the Government tries its hardest to push it through before the end of the session. Last night the House of Lords got the Bill back from the Commons who discussed it the previous night. The debate there concentrated on the amendment that would put into legislation the call for the UK to offer sanctuary to 3000 unaccompanied child refugees who have already arrived in Europe. Of course the Government does not need legislation to do this, but it seems the force ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie today said doctors and nurses must have the tools they need to keep us healthy as he set out Lib Dem plans for social prescribing schemes that could see people struggling with physical or mental ill health prescribed gym sessions or cultural activities on the NHS. Social prescribing has [...]
Over the last couple of years, Network Rail have been planning major changes to the railway junction near Werrington in order to separate slow-moving freight trains from passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line. In summer 2014 public consultation events took place at Hodgson Community Centre at which Network Rail outlined two options - [...]
[IMG: Get Connect ready for polling day!] Preparing for polling day has always taken a lot of work. Connect makes some operations easier but still requires a significant amount of preparation in the days running up to polling day. I summarise the processes here and point to some extra information. I do assume a level of knowledge, both about Connect and polling [...]
If short-term party political advantage is the aim of the game, then you can understand why the Scottish Tories have chosen to play the unionist card in the Scottish election. Ruth Davidson knows that Tory economic and social policies do not win elections (or even the runner-up spot) in Scotland. She must despair at her colleagues supposedly running the show in London who are tearing themselves apart on Europe and rapidly abandoning any claim to economic competence or social conscience. Instead, she has put the independence question at the front and centre of her party's Scottish programme. This is a ...
[IMG: Survival] The last week of any campaign can be exhausting for activists, but also a lot of fun. Here are our Development Officers top tips for keeping going until after 10pm on May 5th. Peter Barrett, Development Officer says, "Make sure to start with breakfast, keep healthy snacks and water in the car and always remember [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrats candidate for Edinburgh Northern & Leith Martin Veart will tonight (Wednesday) join a panel discussion on culture and the visual arts organised by the Scottish Artists Union (SAU). The event runs from 7-9 pm at Out of the Blue, Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG. Registration for the event can [...]
Jim Wallace, former Deputy First Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, yesterday challenged Ruth Davidson to distance herself from the inhumane decision of Conservatives in the House of Commons to vote against allowing 3000 unaccompanied refugee children to enter the UK. He called on her to urge her Scottish Tory peers [...]
Theresa May's intervention in the European referendum debate yesterday was not just astonishing but deeply damaging for her reputation as Home Secretary. For somebody in that position to argue, as she did that we could trade an international court that guarantees our rights for membership of a free trade organisation such as the EU betrays ignorance of both. The Independent sets out five important reasons why we should remain within part of the European Court of Human Rights which was set up by Winston Churchill and other Britains. The ECHR, opened in 1959 and upholds the European Convention on Human ...
It has emerged that Westminster Defence Minister Philip Dunne has recently sent a lavishly illustrated 'official government factsheet' on Trident replacement to every current MP. It suggests that the spend on Trident would be spread out over 35 years which rather contradicts their previous claims that up to £41 Billion of spending was required at [...]
Turning scientific evidence into policy exposes a gulf between how scientists think and how policymakers work. Here's what scientists need to know Last week, a major new report on The Science of Using Science: Researching the Use of Research Evidence in Decision-Making suggested that there is very limited evidence of "what works" to turn scientific evidence into policy. There are many publications out there on how to influence policy, but few are proven to work. This is because scientists think about how to produce the best possible evidence rather than how policymakers use evidence in complex policymaking systems. (The report ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats would take action to ensure that never again will politicians be able to benefit from "outrageous" rises in pay. In November 2015, Assembly Members voted in favour of the Assembly Commission's budget, which included a £10,000 payrise for Assembly Members. The Welsh Liberal Democrats were the only party to vote against these plans. Assembly Members' £54,000 pay will increase to £64,000 in May 2016. This 18% rise will cost taxpayers around £700,000 more per year. Our party will in future link rises in Assembly Members' pay to general rises in public sector pay. We would look ...
With next Monday being a Bank Holiday the bin collection rota is put back a day. If you normally have your bin emptied on a Monday, next week it will be Tuesday , and so on . Next week is a blue bin ( ie Dry Recyclable) week
There is a strong chance that the Remain camp will win the EU Referendum. I say that because, through campaigning on the streets for Britain Stronger In... Read more "We shouldn't just be the party of Remain; we should also be the party of Reform"
