I once wrote in a column for the New Statesman website: When I was in the habit of reading academic works, theorists talked of "late capitalism" - as though the Revolution were bound to come soon. If I were to open such books today, I expect I should find we are living under "even later capitalism".Now Paul Mason has written a book called Postcapitalism. Well, it's good to dream, and we are short of imaginative thinking in economics, even if Mason's Twitter account these days is written from the barricades of an nonexistent revolution. But I was amused by the ...
Embed from Getty Images It is not just Jeremy Corbyn's leadership that threatens disaster for Labour at the next election. It is also the presence in a senior position of John McDonnell. If you doubt me, imagine the use the Conservatives will make of this quotation on their leaflets: "It's about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA."Those words were spoken ...
Embed from Getty Images Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim believed that nice things are nicer than nasty ones. Boris Johnson believes it too, As far as he has a political philosophy, that is it. He wants nice things. Lots and lots of nice things. Lots of nice things all for Boris. But he is not ungenerous. Providing he has far more than his share of the good things of life, he is quite happy for other people to have them too. Hence the sunny tone of his column in the Telegraph on Sunday: I cannot stress too much that Britain is ...
The Birkdale Nightingale a poem by Jean Sprackman is set in the same landscape: (Bufo calamito - the Natterjack toad) On Spring nights you can hear them two miles away, calling their mates to the breeding place, a wet slack in the dunes. Lovers hiding nearby are surprised by desperate music. One man searched all night for a crashed spaceship. For amphibians, they are terrible swimmers: where it's tricky to get ashore, they drown. By day they sleep in crevices under the boardwalk, run like lizards from cover to cover without the sense to leap when a gull snaps. Yes, ...
Mill Lane , where the car wash used to be , has now a new build development of older peoples apartment and I was invited to help open it on Monday. I was given an extensive tour of the accommodation on offer. There were one and two bed apartments and all the facilities you would expect for supported independent living. The developers McCarthy Stone have been busy in our borough and have several developments catering for different levels of dependency. Historically this is in the Parish of Birkdale as the old maps will confirm but it is so close to ...
Last Friday, there were other things on my mind after the Brexit referendum vote. I was asleep in the easy chair when the first call came in at around 10.30am in the morning. I heard the phone ring and decided that sleep was more important. After all, I had been up all night watching the... Continue reading Telephone Preference Service scammer tried to grab my bank details. Let's warn others →
Did you read the article the other day in the Peterborough Telegraph regarding the latest goings on regarding plans for two cinemas in the city centre? It seems to have become (yet another) embarrassing moment for the ruling Tory administration at the Town Hall, after the Council's Planning Committee, prior to the local elections, approved [...]
The Guardian have just published my appeal to Tim Farron, which I reproduce here. You can also see it in the original, along with the predictable rude remarks below. It was 2 September 1939, a turning point in British history and its relations with continental Europe. Nazi troops were advancing through Poland, and prime minister Neville Chamberlain was making a somewhat vacillating statement in the House of Commons, which appeared to be giving himself wriggle room to dodge his commitment to the Poles. Standing in for the opposition leader, Labour's Arthur Greenwood rose to reply when he was interrupted by ...
Second paragraph of third story ("Thinking Warrior", by Huw Wilkins): I chamber a smoke round and fire it up into the air to obscure the sniper's view, then sweep the blank-fronted tower block with the microwave radar.Another of the Big Finish collections of Doctor Who short stories, this time all set in the year 2040 (an anagram of the year of writing, 2004, though the link is also made with the Doctor's TARDIS being a Type 40). I didn't think this was one of the more successful collections, with the linking narrative between the stories (about the invasion of Earth ...
[IMG: eupetition] Canvassing during the referendum in the London borough of Merton one point came up on a surprising number of households - what was going to happen to people from the EU living here if we voted to Leave. We were only canvassing people entitled to voted in the referendum but in many cases the person who opened the door was from the EU and their partner was British. It was often said slightly jokingly with people saying they could tell us how their British partner would be voting 'or else' but with an undertone of concern. As the ...
Dear all, According to Charles Moore (in yesterday's Daily Fail) the UK would not have voted for Brexit if David Cameron had not forced through Same Sex Marriage. So of course this would not have happened if Lynne Featherstone had not raised the issue even though it was not in the coalition agreement. But Lynne wouldn't have been able to raise it in cabinet had it not been Liberal Democrat policy after it adoption at Liberal Democrat conference in Autumn 2010. However, it also might not have been Federal Policy had not the Scottish party passed it as policy at ...
I am concerned about many of the issues that people have been discussing on Lib Dem Voice and the media over the past few days. The big issues being: The referendum was actually about issues other than the EU and indeed immigration–in particular: gross inequality in our country; how austerity has created winners and losers when it comes to many cities and regions; and the opportunity this represented for people to punish the political elites. The Leave campaign seem to have pedaled out a lot of untruths—especially the inability to be able to stem immigration in the post-Brexit world and ...
You all know I think that voting out in the EU referendum was a mistake. Economically, it was a mistake. But, you know, maybe the optimist Leavers are right, maybe this is a blip and our economy will recover. Maybe we're not financially doomed. Maybe. But even if all that is true, I'm still terrified. I'm terrified because, while it's true that not all Leave voters are racists, all the racists voted leave, and they now think that 52% of the population agrees with them and they can attack and abuse people with impunity. I'm scared for all my BAME ...
The UK has voted to leave the European Union. I disagree with that decision, of course, but I am a democrat, and my democratic principles mean that I do not think that we should seek to overturn the result by any kind of undemocratic means. Quite the opposite - we should now engage in a democratic process to decide where we go from here. The UK is currently in a difficult position, and is also putting the EU in a difficult position. It is quite clear that there was never any kind of agreed coherent Brexit plan on the table ...
Back in the days whilst David Cameron had the chance not to lurch the UK into a huge Brexit crisis this exchange may have taken place following months of advice about him resisting being too 'brave':- Sir Humphrey – Can I present you with a box Prime Minster, it's one we put before Ministers prior to them taking momentous decisions. Bring in the OSBOT box please Bernard. Cameron – What's this all about then Humphrey? Sir Humphrey – Well Prime Minister it's the job of Cabinet Office to spell out to a Minister or Prime Minister all the potential pit-falls ...
Amongst the 7,000 plus new Lib Dem members since last Thursday, there are a multitude of different stories. But two new members in particular are worth highlighting as a positive sign of the sorts of people the party is now able to reach out (or perhaps that should be, once again able to reach out to): Siobhan Benita Former independent Mayor of London candidate The only true pro-remain party. https://t.co/zBP5aWDMFg Good for @timfarron and the reason I have joined @LibDems — Siobhan Benita (@SiobhanBenita) June 26, 2016 You too can join them here.
Hear 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' played on old floppy disk drives.
Embed from Getty Images The average age of the House of Lords is about 70 years old. Yet it has been left up to us to scrutinise, amend and improve the highly technical and technological Investigatory Powers Bill after its easy ride through the House of Commons. Today, in the Bill's Second Reading, I urged peers from all sides to not shy away from the technical nature of the Bill and to tackle the issues it raises head on and with gusto. Fundamentally this Bill will govern what powers our security services and law enforcement agencies have, under what circumstances ...
Monday: Over the weekend, the Vote Leave campaign have revealed that they genuinely have no plan for what to do now they've torn everything down. And Labour have chosen absolutely the worst moment to hit the self-destruct button. The first observation is that if the vote were to be held this week, after the last 72 hours of the most vigorous rowing backwards, it seems unlikely that the Leave Campaign could win a referendum on the sun coming up tomorrow, so shot is their credibility. All the promises of the Leave Campaign have been thoroughly trashed... by the Leave Campaign. ...
The pound's dramatic decline is the biggest impact of Brexit so far - The Washington Post RT @lynneguist: "They had a role in Europe as...a beachhead for...US companies...And that's frankly going to go away" Beyond Cameron and Corbyn: what makes a good leader? RT @garwboy: Wrote more about Farage but got edited out because "it's just personal abuse". That bit is on twitter instead: Brexit: Vote Leave wipes NHS £350m claim and rest of its website after EU referendum | Home News | News | The Independent RT @Independent: Vote Leave wipes website where they repeatedly promised to spend ...
[IMG: 2016 Post Referendum - facebook ad (500x375)] Here are a few Good Practice Examples from Stockport, Sutton and Islington including Emails to members & Web Site Postings Web Post from Cllr Iain Roberts, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Group Stockport Council "EU referendum: Lib Dems needed more than ever in fight for Britain's future" The people have spoken and the UK will now start the process [...]
[IMG: David Rendel at Anti-Iraq war demo 15th Feb 2003 Some rights reserved by Paul Walter] The life and legacy of David Rendel, Liberal Democrat MP for Newbury 1993-2005, will be remembered by his family, friends and colleagues at Newbury's Corn Exchange on Monday 4th July 2016. All are welcome at the event which will begin at 1.00pm. Donations in David's memory may be made to Voluntary Service Overseas or Médecins Sans Frontières (UK); there is a Just Giving page for this.
Last month at Bury's Annual Council award the 2016 'Made in Bury Community Awards' to individuals and community groups who had made a special difference in our communities. Bury's Lib Dem Leader, Cllr Tim Pickstone, presented the 'Volunteer of the Year' awards to: Peter James-Robinson, Geeta Sarin, Gary Dawson and Elaine Valle-Jones. One of our very own Prestwich 'lollypop' ladies, Gwendoline Robinson, was the winner of the 'good neighbour awards. Special awards were given to teams who had such a difference in Ramsbottom and Radcliffe in the Boxing Day floods last year. A full list of award winners is here. ...
The next Yate and Chipping Sodbury Community Engagement Forum - formerly known as the Safer Stronger Community Group - will be held on Monday 4th July at 7pm in the St Nicholas Family Centre, Chargrove, Yate BS37 4LG. Please come along and meet local councillors and council staff, the police, Avon Fire and Rescue and others to discuss local matters of concern and to try to come up with solutions. Before the meeting - from 6pm - there will be a "Have a Safer Summer" event with advice from such agencies as the Police, Fire Brigade and Crime Prevention.
I travelled extensively across America when I was younger, taking in a total of 35 different states. It is an odd place in many respects, and there are things about it I really like and things about the place I'm not so fond of. One of the more alarming elements of American culture is the anti-science, "did you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than in your brain?" motif. During the EU referendum campaign, that came out in British public life in a way I have never seen previously. Within English culture, there has always been a ...
That's the conclusion of a detailed study of how the media covered the European referendum, carried out by the Loughborough University Centre for Research in Communication and Culture.
New tests are being introduced from 1 July 2016 for future taxi drivers in Bury in order to drive up standards and ensure passenger safety. The Council's Licensing Committee has agreed that people who want to drive a Hackney ('black') cab or private hire vehicle will have to show that their driving ability and communication skills are up to the mark. Firstly, they will have to provide evidence that they have had a Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency driving assessment. Secondly, if they cannot produce evidence that they have a GCSE or equivalent in English and maths, they must take ...
Last week Britain voted, by 52% to 48%, to leave the European Union. We are lucky enough to live in a democracy, and it is important to respect everyone's votes, whichever way they were cast. Naturally we respect the result of the referendum, but this does not mean that Liberal Democrats will stop believing in a future for Britain at the heart of Europe. Leaving the EU will hit livelihoods, homes and jobs. Sadly, we are already seeing that many of the things that were predicted by experts are coming true: the value of our currency has collapsed, the value ...
From Ombudsman Services : A customer service clinic is being held at the Overgate Shopping Centre on Thursday 30th June and Friday 1st July from 9am - 5pm to assist people unhappy with service they have received from a company or service. Advisors from Ombudsman Services, the largest multi-sector ombudsman in the UK, will be on hand to hear complaints about products or services which are felt not to have been adequately handled by the company. Ombudsman Services are a not-for-profit organisation who operate at no cost to the public purse or to consumers, the companies who have agreed to ...
Residents are invited to meet representatives of HealthWatch Bury on Tuesday 5 July at Prestwich Library. Between 10am and 1pm, visitors can pick up information leaflets and share their experiences of using the local health and social care services.
Pauline Latham, my MP in Mid Derbyshire, wrote an article for the Derby Telegraph just a few hours before the EU referendum. In it she finally came out for Leave, stating that she'd carefully studied the pros and cons of membership. However, it would appear that even a professional was seduced by Leave's propaganda, which if nothing else shows why ... The post Pauline Latham MP was seduced by Leave's propaganda appeared first on ten pence piece.
The UK and the EEA Francis Davey on how the UK could stay in the EEA when leaving the EU - if, of course, it wants to. (tags: eu ukpolitics ) The EU referendum: An attempt to analyse the in-play betting Fascinating. (tags: gambling eu ukpolitics ) Five Lessons We Urgently Need To Learn From The Remain Campaign's Failure "move the focus from factsplaining to building a European culture based on shared values." Very provocative and probably wise. (tags: ukpolitics eu ) Britons swamp Ireland with passport applications I wonder why? (tags: ukpolitics ireland eu ) W Is for Why ...
The Independent reports that the official Leave campaign has wiped almost its entire website from the internet. They say that the site, which previously included the suggestion that the EU budget would be sent back to the NHS and included promises about trade deals, now just has a message thanking supporters: The promises of Leave campaigners have come under scrutiny since the UK voted on Thursday, with leading politicians walking back promises over immigration control, NHS spending and the speed that Brexit will be undertaken. Now all of those promises have been removed from the official site. The site now ...
