Rather generously calling him "a senior Conservative MP," the Telegraph quotes Andrew Bridgen from North West Leicestershire: "David Cameron has placed himself front and centre of a disingenuous Remain campaign, setting himself at odds with half of the Parliamentary Party and 70 per cent of our members and activists on the most important issue facing our Country in a generation, "Whatever the result, I believe his position will be untenable."A reminder that, since 1990, civil war has been the Conservative Party's natural state. David Cameron's early years as leader now look like a glorious exception.
Current Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week) The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas The Unicorn Hunt, by Dorothy Dunnett Selected Stories, by Alice Munro Last books finished Quantico by Greg Bear The Last Man, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Chroniques de Fin de Siècle 3: Chooz, by Santi-Bucquoy Not the Chilcot Report, by Peter Oborne Next books Peter & Max, by Bill Willingham The Hidden War, by Michael Armstrong Short Trips: 2040, ed. John Binns Books acquired in last week Bételgeuse v5: L'Autre, by Leo Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson There Will Be War vol X, ed. ...
The earliest Hugos for which I have been able to find full voting numbers are the 1980 Hugo awards given at Noreascon Two. The details were release in December 1980, some months after the convention was over, and are available in a seven-page PDF here (the last two pages of the scan are in the wrong order). 563 nomination votes were received, which was a record at the time but was exceeded four times in the rest of the 1980s. (See George Flynn's records.) Nominations seem to have then dipped again until the recent rise. The 1788 votes for the ...
Yesterday the papers were full of the news that the World Health Organization had been sent an open letter signed by 150 health experts calling for this summer's Olympics to be moved from Rio de Janeiro or postponed. The experts fear the virus could spread more rapidly around the world because of the influx of Olympic visitors to the Brazilian city, which has a high incidence of the disease Zika. Today, as I expected, the great and good are telling us not to worry our little heads. BBC News reports: Senior WHO official Bruce Aylward told the BBC that risk ...
Saturday Each year the winning crew in the Boat Race is invited - "lured" might be a more honest way of putting it - to Rutland Water to challenge the eight from our own University of Rutland at Belvoir. With its jagged rocks, submerged wrecks and wartime mines, the course offers a challenge all its own. As is customary, Rutland wins. When the surviving Cambridge oarsmen attempt to introduce one of their customs to the event, I tell them shortly to "Take your hands off our cox." You see, the Rutland crew is traditionally coxed by a Well-Behaved Orphan - ...
Great to speak earlier at @StrongerIn event on importance of young people voting in the #EUref Use your voice! pic.twitter.com/SqjYKhPvTx — Elaine Bagshaw (@esbagshaw) May 28, 2016 The young Liberal Democrat who has led such a strong effort in East London, Elaine Bagshaw, today urged young people to register to vote so that they could make sure Britain stays in the European Union. Speaking at a Stronger In event in London, she said: We have nothing to gain from leaving Europe. We have everything to lose. We'll have a privilege that we have enjoyed and benefitted from taken away from ...
"This is not a migrant crisis" is the headline of a double-page spread in the latest magazine of Global Justice Now, formerly the World Development Movement, of which I've been a member and supporter since its inception some forty years ago). The front cover of the magazine has a picture of the white cliffs of Dover with the slogan "# REFUGEES WELCOME" projected on them. The double page spread explains that the genuine crises are: of war, of resource exploitation, of inequality, and of climate change. Leaving the European Union will not solve any of these. Indeed it is doubtful ...
Watch the latest video from the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign: Alan Sugar, top UK businessman, thinks it's crucial we stay in Europe – to help businesses grow and create jobs. If you'd like to know more about the wider topic, see my other European referendum posts, and in particular Nick Clegg's demolition of the anti-EU case.
Sheila and I decided that as our Lydiate back garden is right onto the Leeds Liverpool Canal that we would join in the celebrations of its Bi-Centenary. After some thought a representation of a canal narrow boat was decided on and our Brother-in-Law Ian McLean was commissioned to produce it. And a great job he has done too. Here's the end result which is now on display to all users of the canal through Lydiate:- [IMG: The Narrow Boat] Click on the photo to enlarge it The photo is also amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
Women's voices have been sadly lacking in the EU referendum debate so far. Even the BBC debate on Thursday night had but one female panellist. What's particularly annoying about that is that Diane James' comment that she didn't know if we'd need visas to go to France is being much lampooned and Liam Fox's that he didn't really know what would happen to the economy if we left the EU (but he's willing to give it a go anyway) is being largely ignored. Anyway, Thursday's debate was perfectly gender balanced and was conducted with the theme of #disagreewell. This is ...
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] Three principal council by-elections were held this week. In East Staffordshire (DC), Labour made a gain from UKIP in Stapenhill ward. They polled 44.3% and increased their vote share by 12.5% to take the seat and move their representation on the Council up to 13 Councillors. Hugh Warner polled 1.5% for the Liberal Democrats with the party not having a stood a candidate last year. Elsewhere, there were two confortable holds for the Conservatives in Hambleton (DC) and North Yorkshire (CC). The Tories polled 48% and 48.3% in Northallerton South ward and Northallerton division ...
[IMG: bude film] There is a wonderful film on the Love Bude Facebook site. It was produced by the Bude Hotels' and Caterers' Association in the early 1960s (judging by the cars in the film) and narrated by Michael Aspel. It last nearly 12 minutes and covers the whole gamut of things Bude. You can view it here. Share
How an Ad Campaign Made Lesbians Fall in Love with Subaru Rebecca Burgess' Comic explains the Autism Spectrum Everybody who has anything to do with anybody on the spectrum needs to read this. How 'robo recruiters' could affect your job prospects - BBC News Number of metal bands per capita in Europe Grave concern following the seizure of Calderdale Conservatives Accounts by the Police and the resignation of the chair of the Conservative Association In which I get quoted as Chair and Brighouse candidate with my v srs face on. Neoliberalism is increasing inequality and stunting economic growth, IMF says ...
This week the Psychoactive Substances Act became law. Over at Politics.co.uk, editor Ian Dunt wrote a scathing review of the official Home Office guidance to retailers. As he says, the guidance seems to be a melting pot of every prejudice you could imagine against young people: The Home Office clearly envisions a youthful sub-class of drug fiends, unable to stay off the stuff even immediately ahead of purchasing it. Laughing gas has a mild effect which lasts for about a minute, so it's unlikely the user would be intoxicated on it literally while purchasing more. Perhaps the Home Office doesn't ...
We have just received this note from the County Council's contractor: It is with great regret that I have to inform you that the following sites have been postponed; Lower Paxton Road, St Albans Paxton Road, St Albans Edward Close, St Albans This is unfortunately due to the continued delays with Machine malfunctions. We are [...]
Marco Pannella, politician, was born on May 2, 1930. He died on May 19, 2016, aged 86 I met Pannella sometime in the mid 70's at an EFLRY seminar.(for younger readers this was some time before LYMEC was formed). He talked about Gueseppe Mazzini and the unification of Italy, his successful campaign for divorce law reform and the upcoming campaign for abortion . He had joined the Italian Liberal Party in his youth and was a student leader. In 1956 the broke with the party -then led by Giovanni Malagodi a man prominent in Liberal International and often quoted by ...
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 ...
Sat 28th
10:25
Do you think these people's lives would be better if they had a local Lib Dem Focus team on the case...
Finnish artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen collected the pet peeves and angst-ridden pleas of people in Helsinki and then composed this choral work around the list of complaints. And a bonus Birmingham complaints choir: The Complaints Choir invites people to complain as much as they want and to sing their complaints out loud together with fellow complainers. The first choir was organised in Birmingham followed by the Complaints Choir of Helsinki and Hamburg.
A wonderful new Liberal Democrat council candidate asked me the other week for some advice. I thought that the most important thing she could do would be to join ALDC. The Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners has a veritable treasure trove of resources to help your campaign. I've known many a councillor over the years who did what they said and won. Winning is not guaranteed, of course, but following their ideas makes it more likely. It's also worth going to their training events, particularly their Kickstart weekend when you will get individualised support for your team and ...
Sat 28th
09:07
Tuition free university leads to fewer poor students attending - which only makes sense
The Sutton Trust, Britain's foremost education think tank, released a paper at the end of this week exploring what effect free tuition has had on Scottish universities and their socioeconomic profile. Given free tuition is a shibboleth of the Left, the findings make for interesting reading. Kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in England are 2.4 times less likely to attend university than their middle class peers. In Wales, the number is three time. In Scotland, it is four times. On the surface of it, free university tuition has actually made it less likely that poorer students go to university – at ...
Embed from Getty Images This post started life with a list of the 12 police forces at the time seeking a legal extension to the time limits under election law for investigating Conservative election expenses from the 2015 general election. It has been updated as the list has grown to 17 police forces either seeking such an extension or having secured one. The forces who now have or have sought time limit extensions to investigate Conservative Party election expenses are........ — Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) May 27, 2016 Interested in more stories about how our elections are run? Follow my dedicated ...
Giddygate Lane has been a 'gated road', that is only meant to be accessed by residents and land owners with a key from the M58 'Ashworth' roundabout end ever since the M58 was constructed in the early 1980's. It's gated to stop other vehicles using it as a short cut as it is narrow and little more than a tarmaced track. Nipping down there in a vehicle when the gate is open is liable to get you a fine if you don't have legitimate access rights. If memory serves around 25 people have such rights and the keys have always ...
Another little blow for openness and member involvement: at the last meeting of the Liberal Democrat Federal Policy Committee (FPC) I got the committee to agree that in future when we're appointing policy working group chairs we should first publicly advertise the roles. Previously the FPC has relied on informal, private headhunting for such roles. That makes some sense given the specialist skills and knowledge required. But it is also an approach which risks insularity with the committee missing out good people who do not immediately come to mind, and especially the risk of over relying on people who are ...
Most of the economic arguments around next month's referendum have centred around the impact on trade if we leave the European Union. That is understandable, after all we are part of the biggest free trade area in the world and benefit tremendously from that. Leaving will put us on the wrong side of some significant tariff barriers and as a result our economy (and public finances) will take a big hit. Of course we can negotiate new trade deals, but what the Brexiteers do not tend to dwell on is how long it will take us to do that, nor ...
X-Men: Apocalypse is not a terrible film but it's a terrible waste of the talents of its director and cast. There's a variation of a particular line that always suggests to me that the writer of a sci-fi blockbuster isn't over-endowed with the ability to craft original dialogue. In Terminator: Genysis (sic) the skynet hijacked [...]
