Politics isn't just fluid, it's runny. A couple of weeks ago, I almost took the time and trouble to write a 'Boris v Theresa' piece – just as well I didn't, as it also would've ended up spiked by Michael Gove's knife. I think what I thought then, though to be honest it's hard to keep track, is that, for completeness' sake, it should be Boris on the "you break it, you own it" principle; but, for the nation's sake, it had to be Theresa, the only plausible candidate you'd actually trust not to entirely flunk negotiations and accidentally give ...
Thanks to Mike's Movie Projector for finding this video.
Mon 11th
22:33
A Brief Explanation of What's Been Happening in UK Politics For Those Who Don't Understand
This is primarily aimed at my North American friends, many of whom want to know why every single person in the UK has been screaming about political stuff for several weeks. The first thing you need to understand is that ... Continue reading →
Embed from Getty Images The comedian Reg Varney was born 100 years ago today. Normally one would celebrate such an anniversary, but I cannot forget an old post on Stumbling and Mumbling. This demonstrated conclusively that Varney (who died in 2008) was single-handedly responsible for Britain's woes. If you doubt me, read this: His portrayal of Stan Butler did much to perpetuate the image of the 1970s worker as a bone-idle work-dodger; we forget today just how enormously popular On the Buses was. And this in turn might subconsciously have contributed to the popularity of Thatcherism. How many of those ...
Let's be honest: the East Midlands regional section is not always the most interesting part of Sunday Politics. But it was certainly worth watching yesterday. Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, was defending Andrea Leadsom and her bid to lead the party. When the interviewer Marie Ashby put him to him that, according to the Sunday Times, some East Midlands Tory MPs were threatening to leave the party if Leadsom won the contest Bridgen replied: "If Theresa May ends up leading the party I think you'll have as many people falling off the other side of the ...
Embed from Getty Images Whilst UK politics is in barely-controlled chaos, the Liberal Democrat policy-making process rumbles quietly on – with Federal Conference Committee (FCC) meeting in London on Saturday to select motions for Autumn Conference. I have described the decision-making process in previous posts so I will not go on at length, except to repeat my usual caveat that non-selection of a motion does not mean FCC does not think the topic is suitable for debate. Many motions are dropped in round one because of drafting problems, constitutional issues, timing in the electoral/policy making cycle or because the issue ...
Embed from Getty Images Well, well, well. Yet another stunning day in British politics. There we were expecting two months of two candidates touring constituency Conservative parties. And then suddenly we hear that we'll have a new Prime Minister on Wednesday evening. Our Prime Minister exits the stage humming a bar of the West Wing ending theme tune. It is fascinating that, in the referendum, many people voted to take back control, so that their leaders were not unelected. And we now seem to have had our Prime Minister chosen by Rachel Sylvester, Times journalist. How mad can you get? ...
Embed from Getty Images In the lead up to the EU Referendum young people were seen as the demographic that could decide whether the United Kingdom leaves or remains in the EU. There were all sorts of ideas to get young people to register, David Cameron was on tinder, "Register to vote" geo-filters were on Snapchat and even Facebook was notifying people of the registration deadline. On paper it seems like this would work, as a young person, I use all of those apps on my Smartphone. I was reminded of it constantly and I expect frequent users of either ...
It's really striking that two years ago, it was impossible to find enough comics from 1938 to populate the Retro Hugo category - we gave a Special Committee Award to Superman instead - but this year there is a wealth of 1940 material to choose from. Having said that, there's not in fact a lot of variety; with one exception, the 1941 Retro Hugo finalists are origin stories of costumed crime-fighters. This at least reduces the problem of comparing apples with oranges, but it does mean that we are essentially voting on the same story told differently four times. I ...
I suspect that I am hardly the only person who has watched in utter disbelief the folding farce of British 'democracy' in action over recent weeks. It's the kind of democracy where the leaders of the Brexit campaign all bugger off almost all at once after they have got what they campaigned for. You could say the leaders have all left the room. It's a democracy where we get a new prime minister, in effect, imposed on us. Yes I know it has happened before (Gordon Brown comes to mind) but that does not make repeating the stunt right. It's ...
Conservative seat. Cause: Resignation. LD candidate- Thomas Sheriff. To help, please contact Thomas (07875336815, thomas.sheriff@hotmail.co.uk)
Returning to an old chestnut here, Neighbourhood Plans and in this case the one Lydiate Parish Council is presently trying to put together. [IMG: Lydiate] As I have sad many times before, I am not opposed to them but neither am I at all convinced that they serve much of a purpose either. I suspect that Lydiate residents must be of a similar view as only 96 (3,6% of the households in Lydiate) had responded to the first round of consultation when the Parish Council met to review progress with its Neighbourhood Plan on Tuesday 28th June. But to be ...
The URC has come to Southport for its General Assembly and as Mayor I was delighted to be asked to welcome the members. It was a gloriously sunny day and Southport looked at its best, people I spoke to were very impressed with our town and the weather.(Regrettably I knew the weather forecast for the rest of their stay was wind and rain) I stayed in the Floral Hall whilst International and Ecumenical guests were introduced. There was an impressive list of visitors including representatives of a churches in Pakistan and from the Coptic churches -two communities experiencing discrimination and ...
Saturday saw Whickham play host to the Village's Community Festival, organised by Lighting Up Whickham, of which I am a member. As usual, I brought along some of my animal - in this case a duckling and 5 chicks. I was thinking of bringing one of my goats but the paperwork required to move her off the site where we keep her is significant and time consuming (and time was something in short
Embed from Getty Images In May 2016, the legislative abomination spawned by Home Secretary Theresa May, the Psychoactive Substances Act, finally came into effect. The Act was supposedly created to combat the rise of "legal highs". Laboratories design and manufacture new substances, intended for use in research, which can often have similar effects to existing drugs: 1P-LSD, for example, has similar hallucinogenic effects to the Class A drug LSD. However, since it is a different substance, it was legal to be produce, sell, and possess. Theresa May's solution was to introduce this new legislation, making the production, sale, import or ...
So, Theresa May is to be the new Prime Minister. Having just got home from an advisory group meeting at Gateshead Civic Centre, and a meeting with Council Leader Martin Gannon, I switched on the news and saw it unfolding in front of me. It swept into oblivion the launch of the Angela Eagle campaign to cement Jeremy Corbyn into his role as Labour "leader". From what I understand, the Labour
Out on 25 August is Prime Minister Corbyn and other things that never happened, Duncan Brack and Iain Dale's latest assembly of political what-ifs.
Embed from Getty Images The EU referendum debacle has shown clearly which group of voters we ought to target most: the creative sector. According to the Creative Industries Federation, 96 per cent of its members voted Remain. It's one of many political battlegrounds where Lib Dems and creatives are on the same side. Creatives habitually call for freedom of expression, freedom of movement, free markets, greater diversity and more support for the self-employed. The Liberal Democrats is the only party to consistently call for those things too, as evidenced by our opposition to the Snoopers' Charter and support for immigration. ...
I have been away on holiday for the past two weeks, hence no posts. However, as the holiday was in this country, largely stimulating walking with Anglo-French Walks in the Surrey Hills, I've managed to keep track of events, and so herewith a few reflections It is surely bizarre that the most gormless self-inflicted political mess of the post war era, caused entirely by the Tories, should result in a crisis in the Labour Party. True, David Cameron has resigned (in disgrace, thought his appears to have passed unnoticed) but both the Tory Party and their supporting media machine have ...
Mon 11th
13:19
+++Tim Farron calls for general election as Theresa May is set to become Prime Minister
Embed from Getty Images Yet another dramatic turn of events. Theresa May is a drive up the Mall away from being Prime Minister as Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the Tory leadership race. Tim Farron commented: Just 13 months after the last election the Conservatives have plunged the UK into chaos. It is simply inconceivable that Theresa May should be crowned prime minister without even having won an election in her own party, let alone the country. There must be an election. The Conservatives must not be allowed to ignore the electorate, their mandate is shattered and lies in ruins. Britain ...
[IMG: inequality street 4] The Social Liberal Forum conference on Inequality takes place on Saturday in Holloway, central London and readers of LDV are very welcome to come along and participate. We have added a morning session on Brexit to give everyone an early opportunity to debate the implications for the party. Please register in advance via the Social Liberal Forum website. Guest speakers include Vince Cable, Norman Lamb, Sal Brinton, Shiv Malik, Neil Lawson from Compass and Karin Robinson from Democrats Abroad. So why are we focussing on inequality? The EU referendum result came as a terrible shock. Just ...
We"ll fight on the UK's behalf even if the Brexiteers have buggered off! So that's it then. First Farage quits; then Johnson; then Gove gets eliminated; then Leadsom caves in; then Nuttall says he won't stand. Cameron, whose weakness led ... Continue reading →
Victor Gruen is, according to history, the man who invented the shopping mall... but that wasn't quite what he was aiming for.
Embed from Getty Images In just over two weeks pro-EU people have gone from despondency to incredulity as we have seen a succession of Conservative MPs topple each other over Europe, seemingly unconcerned about the damage that has been done to the country by the Leave vote. The Labour Party too are in disarray over this issue and only the Lib Dems are going forward on a pro-EU footing – even though it looks like the country is now heading for the exit door. But Europe has actually been a divisive issue for political leaders since we first joined the ...
Instagram It's taken ages but I finally got a photo of zombie-face Spike. The flash from the camera woke... Instagram Ooop no he's dropped off again. Do other people's doggies do this or is it just my little... Twitter RT @tomgauld: Occult Symbols of the English Countryside - [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: Terraced housing] This is a Government Bill that began in the House of Commons on 13 October 2015 and received Royal Assent on 12 May 2016. The Act aims to boost home ownership by extending the Right to Buy to Housing Associations and introduces 'starter homes' for first-time buyers. It introduces 'Pay to Stay', ends lifetime council [...]
Mon 11th
09:49The EFTA/EEA Norway model provides some scope to lessen the pain of Brexit, while increasing control...
Embed from Getty Images One of the legacies of the Leave's irresponsible, hotch-botched campaign is that, in the public mind, leaving the EU has become inextricably intertwined with leaving the single market and eschewing free movement of goods, services, capital and people. We need to move beyond this binary thinking, which is bordering on the moronic. Though we should, once options have been analysed by our politicians, have an early general election, I don't think that is likely this side of hell freezing over. The Tory party is not that keen on self-destruction. So, we're left with our system of ...
[IMG: Tabloid] LDHQ have produced two post-Brexit tabloids for use in Remain and Leave areas. It contains articles on Tim's pledge post Referendum as well as articles on the Chilcott report and Junior Doctors. Templates Remain Tabloid Outside – PagePlus and PDF Remain Tabloid Inside- PagePlus and PDF Leave Tabloid Outside – PagePlus and PDF Leave Tabloid Inside – PagePlus and [...]
Mon 11th
09:36
Now that Angela Eagle has challenged Corbyn, we may see just how ugly the far-left can get
So finally, it's on. Corbyn wouldn't submit to parliamentary pressure and so Angela Eagle was forced to formally challenge him. Jeremy himself went on Marr to talk about it over the weekend where he displayed no discomfort whatsoever. It seems clear that whatever happens he is going to win by his own measure. Either the NEC lets him onto the ballot and he wins, or he gets on and somehow Eagle wins (at which point Momentum becomes a new party), or he doesn't get on and he sues the party – I think he figures he wins either way. So ...
With Labour in the middle of an existential crisis the last thing they need is an opportunity for a further public argument and split. And yet that is what the David Cameron has dumped at their doorstep with his intention to finally hold the vote on renewing Trident on 18th July. This is Cameron's last throw of the dice, an attempt to leave behind some sort of legacy. Whether committing the UK to a £20 billion nuclear missile system, which we don't need and cant afford, at a time of austerity and non-proliferation is questionable. However, in the Conservatives arming ...
Embed from Getty Images In a way the recent focus on the EU has been a distraction from the things we ought to be talking about and campaigning on. There are many good reasons to want to be inside rather than outside, but there are also many good things to work for whether in or out. Our political and economic elites are almost entirely neoliberal in heart and doctrine, determined to reduce the power of the state and increase that of corporations, despite the world, with the end of the Soviet empire a generation ago, having moved beyond the phase ...
The City Council has recently updated me regarding Local Flood Risk Management Plan as follows : "As you will be aware the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 required the relevant responsible authorities to work together to produce a Flood Risk Management Plan for their respective Local Plan Districts with the aim of reducing overall risk of flooding from whatever source. Dundee is contained within the Tay Estuary and Montrose Basin Local Plan District and, as the appointed lead local authority, Angus Council was responsible for publishing our Plan. The finalised Local Flood Risk Management Plan has now been published ...
2016 Hugo Finalist Review Roundup I've done this in past years, but very glad that JJ has done it this year. (tags: sf hugos ) An essay I bought online was so bad I want a refund - but the firm won't pay up Serves you right. #fb (tags: academe ) After 'Brexit' Vote, Immigrants Feel a Town Turn Against Them Life in Boston, Lincs. "It was a mistake to come here." #fb (tags: eu ukpolitics migration ) How It Feels To Be Trolled By 40,000 Brexiters On Facebook I should be interested to know if anyone was similarly troubled ...
The Blaydon Food Festival was held on Saturday 2nd July. It is run by Transition Towns in Western Gateshead and I have various self-sufficiency links with members of the organisation. I was invited to have a table to sell my eggs and preserves and promote my local food swapping network. Despite the best efforts of the rain, the day went well.
