This morning I was up early to go and open the 98th Annual Conference of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union at the Floral Hall in Southport. I was delighted to see a full hall so early in the morning especially after a night out on the town. I had been told that I was going to be presented with a cake and I had suggested that I would take it along to Holy Trinity where they were celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday. The General Secretary showed me the cake and we had our photograph taken before he told ...
Friday night was music night. I was at Lord St West church for a concert given by Southport's Lyric Singers in aid of the Alzheimer's Society. We had a full and varied programme including a poem and a monologue -now there is an art form that needs to be revived. The choir was formed in 1954 and they traditionally begin there Summer Concert with a rendition of June is Burstin' followed by Life is Nothing without Music. The choir introduced me to a song composed by Julian Slade, Terhou from a musical I did know existed. Old favourites were mixed ...
I am proud to be a graduate of the University of Leicester (a part-time Masters in Victorian Studies many years ago, since you ask), but I think it has made a profoundly wrong move. As the Leicester Mercury reported a few days ago: Education bosses at the University of Leicester are proposing to close the Vaughan Centre for Lifelong Learning. It's believed the closure will result in the loss of several teaching and administration jobs.Around 30 staff were issued with redundancy notices on Monday and a 90 day consultation period is now underway. Some 348 students currently study there.There is ...
Today I'm struggling to find the words to come to terms with what has happened in Orlando. Fifty people have been slaughtered solely for being who they are. Every terrorist attack is both an outrage and a multitude of personal tragedies but for all LGBTQ people this attack at the heart of our community is particularly terrifying. Throughout our history as a community LGBTQ people have faced violence and terror but there was a prevailing attitude that to be LGBTQ in Western Europe or North America was becoming safer, more accepted. This horrendous attack is a reminder that for some ...
[IMG: UK-Politics-And-the-EU] The quick version The short, doorstep comment is that the EU matters because of the peace and the stability, the opportunities and possibilities it brings. The longer version... The European Union matters enormously. It has been the context of British political and economic life for decades. It's tended to under-state its contribution, so people are often not aware of how many development projects or pieces of investment begin in the EU. The contribution has been so great that we can take it for granted — and sometimes rail against its supposed shortcomings without bothering to look at the ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 460thth weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (5-11 June, 2016), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Excellent Lib Dem win in Southwark by ...
Second frame of chapter three: At the not terribly impressive Brussels Comic Con, I thought I might try classic manga again, having bounced off the first volume of Tezuka's Buddha when I tried it ten years ago. Mistakenly, I thought that this was the first of Tezuka's Adolf series; in fact it's the second, which may explain why the plot goes around in circles without really getting anywhere. At the beginning of the book, the central character, journalist Sohei Toge has returned from the 1936 Olympics with evidence that Adolf Hitler is in fact of Jewish descent. On this not ...
Yes, it's a shame that NONE of the 7 Members of the European Parliament who get paid to represent Peterborough, actually live in the city or the Greater Peterborough area. Yes, it's a shame that despite over a 100,000 people voting Lib Dem in 2014, we no longer have a Liberal Democrat MEP for our [...]
The EU referendum debate is as horrendous as it is important. The psychodrama of blue-on-blue attacks makes for good television. But the absence of other voices and other perspectives on the debate is glaring. And it could be decisive. Those who are sick of the sight of Cameron, Johnson, Gove, IDS and Farage would benefit from hearing a Labour critique of a post-Brexit Britain in which rights are eroded and individuals are increasingly left to fend for themselves. Talk of escaping Brussels 'red tape' is, after all, shorthand for the deregulated dream the Tory Brexiteers are seeking to realize. Some ...
We stand on the brink of a Brexit and the real possibility of Right Wing Coup. Ultra Conservatives like Boris Johnson, Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Gove , Liam Fox and others are preparing to strike down the Prime Minister and form the kind of Blukip Coalition we were warning about in May 2015. Those seeking to Leave the European Union have failed to put forward the kind of 650 page prospectus offered by the SNP in 2014. They have lost the economic arguments in a tidal wave of economist, banker and business hostility. Boris Johnson has claimed that EU Membership ...
[IMG: 7 best] Many thanks to the 10,500 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Liberal Democrats in the Queen's Birthday Honours List (7 comments) by The Voice It's time to come clean about immigration (26 comments) by Mark Argent Supporting the sugar tax was a mistake (33 comments) by Jack Watson Cameron should make way for someone capable of making the positive case for Remain (30 comments) by Caron Lindsay Tim Farron: We can't allow Boris, Gove and Farage to get away with peddling lies (40 comments) by The Voice EU Referendum; ...
On Friday, Olly Grender introduced her Private Members' Bill aimed at giving tenants in the private rented sector greater protections, particularly from the extortionate fees charged by letting agents. She gave some examples in her proposing speech which is copied below: My Lords, the natural consequence of the chronic lack of social housing and the prohibitive cost of buying a home means that we now have a growing number of people who live in the private rented sector. Sometimes it would appear that this ever-growing customer base—almost one in five of the population, one-third of them families with children—have more ...
For the second time in less than 12 months one of Redcar's new seaside shelters has been wrecked by an arsonist last night. The incident happened at around 10.30pm following England's first match in the European Championships in Marseille. Violence occurred before and after the match in which England failed to beat Russia. Was the arson attack on one of Redcar's seafront shelters an overreaction to events in Marseille? The damage, much worse than the previous arson attack on a neighbouring shelter in July last year, will cost thousands of pounds to repair. As Deputy Mayor of Redcar and Cleveland ...
Shirley Williams has been out and about campaigning for us to stay in the EU in the same way as she campaigned for Scotland to see in the UK. She took part in a question and answer session in Wales based around the question "What has the EU done for us?" Shirley's answer was clear. She talked about how the EU had secured the peace in Europe: The main motivation behind the EU was to end wars in Europe after the horror of two world wars and for 71 years we have not had any wars in the territory covered ...
Episode 16: Up To Scratch First shown: 19 December 1970 (US), 30 April 1971 (UK) Director: Harry Booth Writer: Glyn Jones Appearing apart from the Double Deckers: Timothy Bateson as Mr. Furber Ann Lancaster as the Landlady Plot Billie is looking after a dog called Scratch. Brains is trying to communicate with Mars. Mr Furber arrives with his flea circus, and the gang manage to reinstate him into his previous lodgings after finding his landlady's dog.. Soundtrack While setting up their pet sanctuary, the gang (except Brains) sing "Old MacDonald Had A Farm": Glorious Moments This is quite a charming ...
Scientists Avoid Studying Women's Bodies Because They Get Periods | ThinkProgress *headdesk headdesk headdesk* Twitter RT @roemcdermott: Women & Republicans: A Dialogue. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
This coming week, we'll find out the outcome of the case brought by Doug Paulley against First Bus. He is seeking a ruling that gives priority to wheelchair users over children's pushchairs for wheelchair spaces on buses. Our Sal Brinton has been a great supporter of Paulley and this week, during a debate on the Bus Services Bill, told how she had had the same problem. As she says, there was room for both of her and the man with the buggy if he had just made way for her. She also outlined some other issues that she has had ...
Embed from Getty Images It's hidden behind the Sunday Times paywall and buried in the article, but Tim Shipman's profile of Boris Johnson contains this bombshell: I think back to the photoshoot, when Boris runs his hand through that bird's nest of platinum hair. "This is the real thing," says Boris. "It's all natural." But you do die it, don't you Boris? I say. "Yes," he admits. Real but enhanced, a little like the public personality.I had hoped we would learn one day that it is a wig, but I will settle for this as a reminder of how carefully ...
That poll in the Independent which showed Leave with a 10 point lead should concentrate our minds. We have a lot of work to do over the next 11 days and, frankly, it's time to drop everything that isn't absolutely vital and get ourselves out there making the case for Remain, even more than we have done already. I know Liberal Democrats probably more than any other group of people have thrown their backs into it, particularly south of the border, but whatever we are doing, we need to do more and ask very unreasonable things of ourselves over the ...
Two nonagenarians who continue to serve their Country Yesterday the organisers of our local street party being held today to commemorate the 90th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II came to see me. It is one of only 3 ... Continue reading →
Yesterday, I went to Glasgow to take part in Radio Scotland's Big Debate as part of the Remain contingent. As they did during the election, the BBC invited a delicately balanced audience. I almost combusted on the spot when I saw that there was to be an all-male panel. Then I looked at the Leave contingent, all but one of whom were men and only men spoke. The Remain contingent, however, were almost perfectly balanced and it was the women who actually spoke the most during the hour. It still feels strange to hear Ming Campbell introduced as Lord Campbell ...
I have to confess something off the top: it's been some time since I watched an England football match. It's partly that as I get older, I like cricket more and football less. Another part of it is that something broke in me when I watched that mind crushingly awful England v Algeria 0-0 draw in the 2010 World Cup that is still rightly derided as one of the worst football matches ever played anywhere, at any level, ever to this day. So I did not come to last night's match having watched this particular England side a great deal. ...
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : ART IN RELIEFAn exhibition of woodcut and linocut prints from the University collectionsTower Foyer Gallery, University of DundeeNow open and showing until 25th JuneMonday to Friday (9.30am to 7pm) Saturday (1pm to 5pm) Relief printing is a traditional form of printmaking in which the raised areas of the print surface are inked and printed. Its two most common forms are woodcut and linocut prints, each of which gives a very distinctive and bold graphic appearance, allowing for some truly striking imagery. This new exhibition features a selection of ...
This is one of those political subjects that truly gets my goat as there has been so much hypocrisy and so many lies told about tuition fees. When the Labour government introduced them the opposition rightly, in my view, labelled it a tax on learning and they pledged to scrap them. And that was the Tories too, not just Nick Clegg's Party. See the recent revelations concerning George Osborne's views on scrapping tuition fees when he was in opposition via the link below:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-36323823 Now it looks like they are likely to increase year on year so another row is ...
I was a lucky man on Friday. I got invited out to Afternoon Tea with four delightful ladies. We met in the Wayfarers Arcade to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday. A magnificent spread was set before us -sandwiches, scones and cakes-courtesy of the Dolce Vita Cafe. The four ladies were Mrs Joyce Ord, Mrs Joyce Ryding, Mrs Veronica (Vera) Turner and Mrs Jacqui Wolsey. Mrs Ord lives in Lydiate opposite my friend Tony Robertson. She tells me that she takes the bus three times a week to come to Southport. Vera, who went to night school to study baking after ...
The cast of South Pacific backstage after the show..... South Pacific is a show full of hits. I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair, Some enchanted evening, Younger than Springtime, Happy Talk are among the Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers many people who have never seen South Pacific may know. On Wednesday night I was lucky enough to invited by the Maghull Musical Theatre Co to their production at The Little Theatre in Southport. First I should say what a friendly company the Maghull folk are and they put on a really enjoyable show with some great individual ...
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