ITV News tonight had a very disturbing story about former Liberal MP Clement Freud, who died in 2009. Two women have gone on the record to say that he sexually abused them, when they were teenagers, two decades apart. From ITV News: One of the women, Sylvia Woosley, spoke in public for the first time to ITV Exposure about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Freud, who died in 2009. She said Sir Clement, who was a close family friend and 14 years older than her, initially started to groom her and touch her inappropriately when he lived ...
Given some of the depressing opinion polls about the EU Referendum over the past few days it was uplifting to be in a hall packed with Cypriots in north London this evening cheering on the campaign for Britain to Remain in the EU. There was a first rate line-up of politicians, including MPs Nicky Morgan [...]
Embed from Getty Images A shocking story has appeared on the Telegraph site this evening: Sir Clement Freud, the former broadcaster and politician, was exposed last night as a paedophile who sexually abused girls as young as 10 for decades. Freud, who died in 2009, spent years abusing a girl who he brought up as a daughter, and violently raped a teenager while he was an MP. His widow, Lady Freud, has apologised to his victims, saying she is "shocked, deeply saddened and profoundly sorry" for what her husband of 58 years did to them.It goes on to say: Freud ...
David Boyle gets to grips with Southern Railways. "Children in the United States from the very earliest days of the Republic ... were raised with practices conceived in direct opposition to Old World notions of authoritarian power and natural hierarchy." Judith Warner reviews a history of American parenting from life on the frontier to the 'managed child'. David Crystal says reports of the death of the full stop are exaggerated Wilko Johnson discusses death, depression, cancer and Canvey Island with Every record tells a story. "The interiors of Leighton House Museum in Holland Park are not only some of the ...
[IMG: Cartoon from ] Cartoon from Daily Mail There's palpable anger at politicians among at least some of those wanting to vote for Brexit. I've heard personalised reasons "I'm voting out because David Cameron wants us to vote in" or "because I don't want George Osborne to be Prime Minister". I've heard general things like "to teach them a lesson" or "to make the EU change". I've heard grander arguments like "stand up to globalisation" or "take our place in the world". I can understand each of those reactions. Before the last General Election I went to a party where ...
[IMG: Renters Rights Bill] The Liberal Democrats are pressing the Government to ban letting agency fees and clamp down on rogue landlords in a Private Members Bill that is currently going through the House of Lords. Baroness Olly Grender, Liberal Democrat peer and a former senior figure at Shelter, introduced the Renters' Rights Bill to protect the growing number [...]
Second paragraph of third chapter: From the window of his study he had a panoramic view of the city's various districts - residential, commercial, industrial, administrative - as they sifted down to the Borann river and on the far bank gave way to the parklands surrounding the five palaces. The families headed by the Lord Philosopher had been granted a cluster of dwellings and other buildings on this choice site many centuries earlier, during the reign of Bytran IV, when their work was held in much higher regard. This is one of Shaw's best known books, second in LibraryThing and ...
Embed from Getty Images I thought I had finished with the old village green at Boughton. But Getty Images has this picture of an open-air service held amid the ruins of St John's some time in the 1930s. No doubt there are ghosts looking on if you study it closely.
[IMG: Terraced housing] 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. The bill proposes to: Ban letting fees for renters Give renters access to an open register of rogue landlords Bring in compulsory electrical safety checks in [...]
Until now the economic argument in this EU referendum has been whether you believe the experts – whose reputations depend on the quality of their prognostications – or whether you believe that an 'expert' is someone who automatically has less expertise than everybody else. Just to summarise, thanks to Sky News: International Monetary Fund – Britain could cause "severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships", should it vote to leave the EU. "Negotiations on post exit arrangements would likely be protracted, resulting in an extended period of heightened uncertainty that could weigh heavily on confidence and investment, ...
Dear Tracey, Hi, how are you? It's been a while since we've spoken over social media but I saw your post on Facebook and wanted to respond at length and felt a blogpost was a better format than a comment.My regular readers, if there are any left, and yourself will know that I am a supporter of yours across party lines. I've always admired your hard work in the constituency and that all of your decisions have been well thought out. At the heart of all of your decisions is your heart, conscience and your constituency even if it goes ...
At the moment (Tuesday 14 June 1.30 pm) Shire Way is completely closed at the junction with Rodford Way while tarmac is renewed and the cycle lane is being marked out. Rodford Way is closed westbound from Scott Way to Sundridge Park. The roadworks should be clear again by 5 pm tonight, but due to the weather there will be more works at the junction tomorrow (Wednesday) There will a few final tweaks to be done a few days later.
In a little over a week we're being asked to vote on the future of the UK in the EU. It's basically too close to know what way the result could go, with polls giving Leave the edge at this point, so I thought I'd give a bit of my personal, rather than political, take on the whole thing so far
Scottish Liberal Democrats today called for urgent action on socially rented housing as new figures revealed that the SNP missed their 2011 manifesto target by 7,500 homes. Highlighting increases in the number of families forced to seek temporary accommodation, Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Caron Lindsay warned that increasing homes for purchase would not help [...]
[IMG: Tim Farron] Tim Farron writes for the Yorkshire Post today, looking behind the Blue on Blue punch up to see what is at stake for the region. The leave campaign wants you to forget that voting to leave will endanger our access to the world's most valuable single market. Over 250,000 jobs in Yorkshire, or almost one in 10, are linked to trade with the EU. I would never suggest these jobs would all vanish if we left, but the fact is Yorkshire remains hugely dependent on trade with EU countries. A massive £8.4bn of goods were exported from ...
Burton Ernie, Pollster and Social Researcher, speaks.
It was another volunteer day with Maghull in Bloom today. This time at Maghull Square Shopping Centre where we were unloading a truck with plants to place in the barrier baskets along Westway. It was chucking it down to start with but the intrepid volunteers kept at it and the job was done. The large circular planters and the barrier baskets are looking great. Here are a few photos of today's activities:- [IMG: WP_20160614_10_05_31_Pro] [IMG: WP_20160614_10_07_07_Pro] [IMG: WP_20160614_10_08_28_Pro]
Fact-Check: James Dyson's Claims About Brexit — I'm Trying To Fact-Check Brexit — Medium Tl;Dr Dyson is talking bollocks hollymath | Want to be featured in my book? Anybody who is an immigrant to the UK want to help @hollyamory with her book? We Cry Real Tears: As LGBT people, we're still fighting for our safe havens Orlando shooting: Gunman Omar Mateen's father says 'God will punish homosexuals' RT @IBTimesUK: Father of Orlando gunman #OmarMateen says 'God will punish homosexuals' 6 Convoluted Ways Of Thinking About The Orlando S... | ClickHole EU referendum: Sterling falls after Independent poll puts Brexit ...
Last week was the regular meeting of Bury Council's 'Cabinet'. This meeting brings together the ruling Labour Group's Cabinet Members, and the thetwo opposition group leaders are now back on the Cabinet, after being thrown off two years ago.... Lib Dem Leader Cllr Tim Pickstone reports: Review of Libraries The Council is beginning a major review of Library Services across the Borough. The background to this is that continuing need for Council's to save money over the coming years. As a starting point the Council's leadership is saying that it is "fully committed to retaining a high quality Library Service" ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP said yesterday that Vote Leave chief Michael Gove is delusional if he thinks Scots will listen to anything he has to say on immigration. Mr Rennie was speaking after Mr Gove told the BBC Good Morning Scotland programme that moves to deport an Australian family from the Highlands [...]
[IMG: phone picture zoomed in] Local party Connect managers can create "phone bank only" Connect accounts for anyone who wants to help win a Remain vote by making calls through our system. They can be anywhere in the world and it does not matter if they normally support another party. All they need is a phone, a computer and a genuine wish to help Remain win. Accounts for this purpose can be set to expire on 24 June. Don't worry about "giving away secrets". The way Connect / VAN works is well documented online as it is used by centre-left ...
Scottish Liberal Democrats today increased the pressure over reports that Police Scotland operate a secret operation accessing communications data gathered by UK intelligence services. Reports included in the documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that a policing body called the Scottish Recording Centre was given access to communication data including phone activity, internet histories and [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesman Tavish Scott MSP yesterday called for the reversal of college cuts as a new report warned Scotland's skills system does not adequately focus on employers' needs. The report from IPPR Scotland recommended major reform of the country's skills system as part of a drive to increase productivity and tackle in-work [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton today said that calls for extra support for primary care have fallen on deaf ears as new figures showed a fall in the number of GPs working in Scotland. The Primary Care Workforce Survey Scotland 2015 revealed that almost 100 GPs were lost from the workforce between 2013 [...]
Bury Bandemonium is on Saturday 18th June 2016. Local brass and concert bands will be performing in various open spaces throughout Bury town centre. Bring your deck chairs to Kay Gardens! The following bands will be performing as follows: – 10am – 11am – Bury Catholic Preparatory School Choir – 11am – 1pm in Kay Gardens – Bloco Ashe Bury Samba Band – 1pm – 3pm in Kay Gardens – Greater Manchester Police Band – 10.30am – 11.30am at the East Lancashire Railway – Middleton Youth Band – 11am – 1pm in St John's Square, The Rock – Farnworth and ...
It would have been difficult to notice the Parklife Weekend taking place last weekend in Heaton Park. We are currently collating feedback form local residents about the event, to feed back to the event organisers and the Heaton Park management team. As your local councillors we have a meeting in a couple of weeks time, and we would like as much feedback from residents as possible – good and bad! Please let us know your views / experiences either by commenting on this post or you can email me directly – tim@burylibdems.net. [IMG: Screenshot 2016-06-14 09.38.44]
Prestwich Carnival is in 11 days time on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26. Local residents are being asked to offer their services as parade marshals, route marshals and programme sellers. [IMG: imgID69483373.jpg.gallery] Entertainment will begin at 11am on Saturday and finish at 5pm, with a dog show, craft stalls, mock battles of the Norman conquest of England, dance displays and fairground rides at St Mary's Park. All the fun kicks off in St Mary's Park at noon on Sunday as the carnival procession sets off at 1pm from Rectory Lane. Organisers say: "For the last few years we've ...
London Gay Men's Chorus singing Like A Bridge. #LoveWins #LoveIsLove #SohoVigil #Orlando pic.twitter.com/hGkDKb1fwq — Jacob (@OhHeyJacob) June 13, 2016 If it didn't exist would you create it? Well based on last night, the answer for the London Gay Men's Chorus was a resounding Yes. As thousands of members of the LGBT community poured into Soho, supported by friends, family and a host of straight allies – everyone was very uncertain. The nervousness was palpable with no-one clear what was going to happen. There were a few attempts to get a political chant going, but the crowd was more contemplative. As ...
The Germans are saying no access to the single market if the UK votes for Brexit, and Cameron has said he'll take a Brexit vote as a signal to pull us out of the single market as well. Although both sides could backtrack on this, it would be difficult after all this has been said. So a Norway deal is out. Even a Swiss style thing is impossible. So what would Brexit look like then? I think I've finally figured it out. I once thought that building a Eurosceptic view from the left was easier than from the right. This ...
A moving appeal from a child to be reunited with their mother who had been detained by the government.
Following the recent road resurfacing of Perth Road (West Park Road to Sinderins), residents have pointed out that the junction markings at the Sinderins junction have been repainted wrongly - the right filter lane to allow traffic heading east into the Perth Road shopping area (from Perth Road west of the library) is now missing - see right : I took this up on behalf of residents with the contractor (Tayside Contracts) and their Road Maintenance Partnership Manager advises : "The road marking has been reviewed and compared with the original layout. The lining will require to be altered here ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ3SxCwCcIQ With thanks to old friend Colin Wells for spotting this video on You Tube – see link above. Some old memories of steam around Liverpool, Southport, Ormskirk, Burscough etc.
Loss of Piccadilly/ Airport Services under the New Franchise – [IMG: Departure board at Southport Station.] Departure board at Southport Station. Arriva Rail North took over the Northern franchise from 1st April 2016 with a plan to divert our Piccadilly and airport services to Manchester Victoria from December 2017. Since the last newsletter, OPSTA has been running the Make Your Voice Heard campaign in collaboration with the Southport Rail Transport Forum (SRFT), North West Manchester Stations Alliance (NWMSA) and station and community groups around Wigan. While we felt the evidence of numbers we provided had made an impression, it would ...
Why I am not signing written declarations Kaja Kallas has had enough. (tags: eu ) Middle England's immigration referendum Ben Judah reports. (tags: ukpolitics eu )
