One of the more interesting episodes of Gideon's Way is The "V" Men, which deals with a right-wing political party - the Victory Party. As Archive Television Musings, a blog that shares my recent obsession with the series, writes: Although this was made some fifty years ago it could just as easily been set in 2015. The Victory Party has several aims (which appear to have been designed to alienate as many people as possible) - keep Britain white, kick out the financiers (especially the Jews) and also deal harshly with the pacifists.In my first post on Gideon's Way I ...
[IMG: David-Laws] I just happened upon the tail end of Michael Crick's Channel 4 programme about the relationship between Cameron and Boris. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it. The programme contains an interview with David Laws in which he says that Cameron and Osborne were always very sensitive to what Boris was doing. Asked if he thought Cameron was frightened of Boris, David said "Yes." He also savaged the Prime Minister for putting the country through this referendum, taking such a huge gamble with the nation's future, purely to try to deal with the age-old split in ...
The Fox Inn, Wilbarston The 67 bus route, which runs from Market Harborough to Gretton via Corby and Rockingham, is to be withdrawn this summer after the decision by Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) to remove its subsidy. Andrew Royle, the chairman of Gretton parish council, told the Harborough Mail: "NCC were surprised by Centrebus's decision to withdraw the whole of service 67 after July 23 as their understanding had been that the single vehicle operation on Monday to Friday was commercially viable, and Centrebus had given them no indication otherwise when they informed them of the likely withdrawal of their ...
The new Liberator has landed on my doormat, so it is time to spend another week in the company of Rutland's most popular fictional peer. Wednesday To London and the office of the Remain campaign. (I judge it a little on the poky side and ask if they have thought of moving.) There I find my old friends Freddie and Fiona, late of the deputy prime minister's office, ensconced. I ask how their economic liberal think tank is getting on. "It's going really well." "Did you go to our fringe meeting at the Lib Dem spring conference?" "It was all ...
Further to last night's post, one of the three men referred to in the STV News report as having been charged under the Offensive Behaviour (etc.) Act has been named as Greg Binnie. He appeared before Glasgow Sheriff Court on a charge sheet which averred that he had run onto the field of play, run towards Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham and had gesticulated in an offensive manner. There is absolutely no obvious reason from the perspective of a Procurator Fiscal's perspective why it would be preferable to prosecute that behaviour under the auspices of the Offensive Behaviour Act, rather than ...
The county council's AGM is usually a sunny affair with tributes paid to the outgoing chair and a fulsome welcome to the new chair. Today's was no exception to start with as everyone acknowledged the hard work put in by Cllr Jan Blakey and her husband, Alan, and wished the best to the incoming chair, Cllr Ed Bell. There were also warm tributes to the retiring Director of Resources, Don Mclure. Whilst I have disagreed very publicly with his recent recommendation on teaching assistants, I have a very high regard for the improvements he has made to accounting, planning and ...
Lawyers acting for the Conservative Party are trying block police investigations into their election expenses in Kent: Tory Party lawyers oppose a request from Kent Police to extend the time limit needed to investigate their election spending. The Conservatives say that all local spending has been declared correctly. [Channel 4] At least two other police forces have already secured such legal extensions, which makes the attempt to stop them in Kent all the more curious. Previously the Electoral Commission had to go to court in order to secure access to evidence from the Conservative Party. The Tories have also already ...
Wed 25th
17:40
Senior Hertfordshire Lib Dem councillors step down from leadership after 52 years of service
Two Hertfordshire Liberal Democrat council group leaders have stepped down from their leadership roles (although they remain councillors) which they have held for 30 and 22 years respectively. In Three Rivers, Ann Shaw announced that she was stepping down after three decades in the top job as Leader of the Council, telling the Watford Observer: It is 30 years since we took over the administration of Three Rivers District Council from the Conservatives, which is long enough for one person to be leader. This does not mean any reduction in my commitment to TRDC and the community. In fact I ...
[IMG: PWC projected that UK GDP could suffer by 5.5% because of Brexit.] PWC projected that UK GDP could suffer by 5.5% because of Brexit. Is that a price really worth paying so that some relatively affluent, middle class professionals like me can afford a house? Potentially putting a million people (potentially including yourself, don't forget!) out a job so that a tiny group of people can buy one bedroom flats in London? Because let's be clear, Brexit isn't going to solve the housing crisis as The Spectator's headline emphatically claims. Housing developments are not going to leapfrog the tangled ...
Tim Farron was in the west country yesterday. He went to Yeovil for a spot of EU referendum campaigning: A big thank you to @timfarron for visiting sunny Yeovil today on his #intogether tour [IMG: 👍] [IMG: 👌] [IMG: 👏] #libdemfightback pic.twitter.com/w9E4EG3nqu — Daisy Benson (@_DaisyBenson) 24 May 2016 While he was there, he visited a dairy farm whose owner is keen to remain in the EU. Tim said: Brexit is a real threat to our farming industry, and the many families that rely on exports for their livelihoods. Our free access to 500m customers is invaluable, with 73% of ...
Wednesday, 18 May 2016 The beginning of my Mayoral year Daughter Katie and grandchildren Sarah and Lily join me in the Mayor's parlour after the ceremony Last night I was installed as Mayor of Sefton at a meeting of the council held in Southport town hall. I am going to use a blog to record all my comings and goings as mayor which can be found at : http://themayoralblog.blogspot.co.uk/ and so the Birkdale FOCUS will not have any more postings from me for a while. At a reception held afterwards in The Atkinson I had the chance to thank my ...
Nick Clegg has taken prominent Leave campaigners to task over their recent pronouncements in his latest Standard column: He draws an analogy from the iconic tv programme Happy Days: As the writers of the TV show Happy Days approached their fifth season they were running out of ideas for storylines. So, in the season premiere, they sent the Fonz to Los Angeles where, in a bid to prove his bravery, he put on a pair of water skis and jumped over a shark. That moment spawned a phrase — "jumping the shark" — which is used to describe the moment ...
This video was filmed at Gateshead Council last week. Mick Henry was Labour leader of the Council but Labour councillors rejected his advice for Gateshead to be part of the North East devolution settlement. The battle against the plans was led by Deputy Leader Cllr Martin Gannon. Mick resigned in the middle of the election campaign and Martin was elected as Leader in his place last Friday.
Do you think if we listened very quietly we may just hear an apology like this being muttered from Labour HQ on Maghull's Industrial Estate? We in the Sefton Labour Party took a bit of a pounding on 5th May in some Sefton wards and to be honest we brought it all on ourselves by not being straight with voters about the Green Belt. Yes, we said we would defend the Green Belt and yes we put up posters saying this too. But we then voted to build on Borough's Green Belt on Sefton Council. Indeed, we consistently voted to ...
Embed from Getty Images The Queen's speech last week contained some cracking headlines about spaceports, drones and driverless cars as part of the 'Modern Transport Bill'. In terms of the cars, I believe the legislation is really just about providing clear regulation frameworks and insurance liability rather than any serious public investment. However no sooner was the speech completed when various 'experts' were being interviewed on TV accusing the government of wasting time on pie in the sky projects rather than focusing on the real transport issues. One such expert on Channel 5 news that evening even said that driverless ...
Artist Sarah-Jane Richards shows me the Birthday in Blooms artwork at King's Gardens This morning I cycled over to King's Gardens to open a new art installation. The project, led by Sarah-Jane Richards, used re-cycled plastic bottles to create 'birthday blooms' for the Queen. It was truly impressive and shows how art and imagination can transform something as humble as a discarded fizzy drinks bottle. The blooms were painted by all manner of folk including students from The Learning Rooms, Bridge Inn Farm , Holy FamilyRC Primary School , Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Merefield School, along with 1st Southport ...
[IMG: Toolkit web] ALDC have produced a new Campaign Toolkit which provide a one stop hub for advice and templates. This is full of advice, downloads and templates to help you get the best start to your Single Issue campaign. The whole Toolkit can be found here along with the templates. In order to properly campaign and for [...]
On Monday, Shirley Williams came out of retirement to give a speech on why Britain should remain in the EU at the National Liberal Club. The party made very good use of Facebook Live to broadcast the event – and you can watch the speech again here. It was a very good speech. It has been widely reported that she used the occasion to say that the referendum campaign was too male dominated. From the BBC: In a speech at the National Liberal Club, Baroness Williams said: "The EU debate has turned into a conversation between two white middle-aged gentlemen ...
Volunteers are being sought to help Sutton Volunteer Police Cadets run a full programme of regular meetings and activities throughout the year. Sutton Volunteer Police Cadets has expanded over recent years and now number over 100 young people aged 13-18 years. The cadets are split into two units meeting on either a Tuesday [...]
Untitled RT @PinkNews: Giant pro-EU mural features @BorisJohnson kissing Donald Trump People of no religion outnumber Christians in England and Wales - study | World news | The Guardian RT @DMcCaffreySKY: People of no religion outnumber Christians in England and Wales - study: via @Guardian. Twitter RT @BarbaraHewson: I think judges should give this chart out to juries - useful template for #StandardOfProof We Learn Nothing « The Hooded Utilitarian RT @thalestral: On the audacity of comics people pretending this isn't a shithole RT We Learn Nothing by @shallowbrigade Next UK census may ask about sexuality and gender identity ...
Two things inspired me to write this article, although the basic idea behind it has been swirling around subconsciously for a couple of weeks now. One was another of Boris' innumerable, inane, Leave orientated stunts last week. He was in a car with "Vote Leave" on the side of it; while the driver of the vehicle spun the car around and around in circles, Boris shouted "We're taking back control!" As far as unintended visual political metaphors go, this may be the best one ever in the history of the human race. Second was an article by Katie Hopkins in ...
[IMG: Charlie Wilson's War - a true story] A wild, wacky but true story of an outrageous character who changed the course of the world. A screenplay by The West Wing maestro Aaron Sorkin. An all-star cast which is also an all-talented cast including the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Those should be the making of an amazing film. And they nearly are. Nearly, but not quite. Charlie Wilson's War is the real life story of how an undistinguished American congressman found a purpose to his political career beyond enjoying the drink, drugs and women – helping the Afghan opposition ...
The American novelist Mark Twain was fond of saying that there are three types of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. And with both the Remain and Leave sides in Britain's EU Referendum campaign sharing sometimes completely contradictory statistics in the run-up to the vote on 23 June, it's no wonder people are confused. How [...]
Dunfermline Liberal Democrats have come up with a way of highlighting how every town has benefitted from Britain's membership of the EU. As you are out and about, keep your eyes peeled for signs that show that projects have been funded by the EU. Tweet them to @dunflibdems and whoever provides the most will get "a fantastic prize." This is the brainchild of local member Aude Boubaker and it's a great way of understanding how the EU affects our daily lives. So, get looking and snapping. Have fun.
[IMG: in badge] All over the country Liberal Democrat local parties are getting to making an excellent job of campaigning for a Remain vote. Lib Dem Image are now able to supply, badges, posters, t-shirts, stickers other items that will be useful for campaigning. It's al available to order here. * Antony Hook was #2 on the South East European list in 2014, is the English Party's representative on the Federal Executive and produces this sites EU Referendum Roundup.
Today's Western Mail reports on the conclusions of the House of Lords constitution committee, which reiterates the views of a number of similar inquiries before it. Their Lordships suggest that the future of the UK is at "threat" and the refusal to introduce a funding system which would address the needs of the poorest regions makes a "mockery" of the UK Government's duty to distribute resources fairly. They argue that successive governments have taken the union "for granted" and have demonstrated a "haphazard approach" to the constitution. No dispute there. It is the warning by the committee though that its ...
Residents in Tait's Lane have recently raised with me concerns about the state of the road surface in Tait's Lane. I raised this with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership who advised : "An inspection has been carried out and an order raised to repair a number of defects on the narrow section of Tait's Lane with a timescale for repair of one to two weeks." I have also raised residents' concerns about a minority of drivers ignoring the "Local Access Only" signage and using this very narrow street as a short cut, including some HGVs, which is inappropriate and a ...
The Council has promised to repair potholes on the road from Schools Hill into Bruntwood Park after Lib Dem councillors intervened. "There are some large potholes along the narrow road," said Cllr Keith Holloway. "We've pressed the council to get them fixed and they've promised it will be done shortly." The Lib Dem team are happy to chase up any pothole repairs – just let us know if you spot any that haven't been done.
The Lib Dem team have been chasing up the gates to the playground at Gatley Rec. "The gates were taken away for repair months ago, and we were assured they wouldn't be long," said Cllr Graham Greenhalgh. "When they didn't appear, we chased it up. We've now been assured that both gates will be back in place shortly. We'll be checking!" In the last few years the Lib Dems have had the path through the recreation ground resurfaced and a bigger double bin installed by the skateboard ramps. We regularly report graffiti on the ramps and the old toilet block ...
Cllr Iain Roberts is calling for planning rules to be changed to prevent more takeaways opening in Cheadle and Gatley. "We would like to see planning changes to put a limit on the number of takeaways that can be opened in one area. Cheadle and Gatley already have enough takeaways. At the moment it's very difficult to stop more opening. We want the Council to adopt new planning rules that make it easier to block more takeaways." The Lib Dem team have no problem with a sensible number of takeaways – people use them and it's better having a successful ...
Stockport councillors welcomed our new mayor for 2016/17. Stockport's First Citizen for the coming year is Chris Gordon. We also said farewell to Andy Verdeille, the outgoing mayor who has also stepped down as a councillor. As well as a long career as a health researcher in Manchester, Chris Gordon is a huge roller coaster fan (he's ridden the Big One at Blackpool more than a thousand times). He enjoys goth metal as well. Chris and his wife, Dr Margaret Gordon, will be the Mayor and Mayoress for the coming year .
Reports are emerging that, following the events that took place after the final whistle of Saturday's Scottish Cup final between Hibs and Rangers, Police Scotland have made a number of arrests and have charged several individuals with a variety of offences, relating to public order. I don't want to get into the he-said-she-said of which set of fans were to blame for the altercations that took place on the pitch, or indeed for the encroachment on the pitch itself. Clearly acts of violence and abuse, whether against fans, players, staff or officials, are completely inexcusable, are criminal, disgusting, and should ...
Last Friday was the annual Gateshead Council meeting. It is customary for the Leader of the Opposition to second the vote of thanks to the out going mayor. I was happy to do so as Alex Geddes has been a first class mayor. I also used the opportunity to present the new Leader of Gateshead Council, Martin Gannon, with a homemade cake with a large hole in it. It represents the North East region
