Independent seat. Cause: Died. No LD candidate.
Labour seat. Cause: Resignation. LD candidate- Andrew England.
SNP seat. Cause: Resignation. LD candidate- Nick Smith. To help, please contact Ruby Kirkwood (rubyk132@gmail.com)
Labour seat. Cause: Resignation. No LD candidate.
Tessa Munt, the former Liberal Democrat MP for Wells, has been selected to fight the seat once again as part of the Liberal Democrat preparations for a possible 2016 general election: I'm delighted to have been re-selected as Parliamentary Candidate for the Wells Constituency, my family home. I loved serving Somerset and I'm proud of what I achieved for our area and the country, from establishing the Inquiry into child sex abuse cover ups to voting against fracking. Being an MP is an absolute honour. It's also an unique opportunity to get things done and there's so much more I ...
Three minutes of deep joy.
Caron Lindsay can't recommend the Social Liberal Forum conference highly enough. "To say that voters should not be allowed to change their minds when they see what the withdrawal terms actually are would be deeply undemocratic." Alan Renwick considers the possibility of a second referendum on Brexit. Vaughan Bell examines why are paranoia and schizophrenia more common in cities. "I cannot help but feel that I would not have heard such comments from the strangers I spoke with had I been a young twenty-something male travelling alone on this adventure. I truly believe the comments stem from the fact that ...
Paddy Ashdown is one of the names behind a new progressive, liberal political movement which will campaign on issues close to many of our hearts. It will set out ideas on political reform, our role in the world and demand a second electoral test of any Brexit settlement. The Guardian reports: The initiative is not a political party, nor an attempt to create a new centrist one on the model of the SDP in the 1980s. But if the movement were to succeed in attracting subscribers to a website, it could intervene in politics by recommending specific candidates at the ...
Tue 19th
19:54
Ashdown teaming up with Jonathan Porritt, Caroline Criado-Perez and others in new political movement
Readers of Liberal Democrat Newswire have already had details of Paddy Ashdown's political realignment plans, but now The Guardian has more: A new cross-party movement for progressive liberalism that could endorse candidates in favour of the EU and immigration at the next election is being set up by politicians, celebrities and intellectuals. The initiative has the support of Jonathon Porritt, the environmentalist, Caroline Criado-Perez, the feminist writer and Luke Pritchard from the band Kooks, as a space for people who want a voice for openness and tolerance. It also has the backing of Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader ...
Embed from Getty Images On 10 July I blogged about the Conservative leadership: For her sake and the sake of the country, Leadsom should now stand down from the contest.The following day she did just that. Sometimes it takes a little longer. On 7 July I wrote: What would be welcome ... would be Nick Clegg taking on the Europe and foreign affairs for the Liberal Democrats, His party needs him and his country does too.This afternoon came news (so far only via Twitter) that Nick Clegg is going to take on the European portfolio for the Lib Dems. To ...
The sun beat down on our small, but perfectly formed, village, and I was a bureaucrat on a mission. Partly because I wanted words with our quintessentially useless Conservative County Councillor over his crass dismissal of concerns over our Demand Responsive Transport service - they've withdrawn the right to use the concessionary bus pass altogether - but also because, in his role as a probably equally inept District Councillor, he has been part of a Conservative Group whose failure to ensure sufficient availability of land for housing has led to speculative planning applications being approved despite rejection by the community ...
An email from Tim Farron to party members brings the news that Lib Dem peer Dick Newby is to chair the party's newly formed Manifesto Group, charged with drawing up a manifesto as part of the party's preparations for a possible early general election in 2016. Dick Newby was a key member of the SDP and subsequently Chief of Staff to then party leader Charles Kennedy. He is on Twitter at @RichardNewby3. The full membership of the 2016 Manifesto Group is: Dick Newby (Chair) Duncan Brack (Federal Policy Committee Vice Chair) Sal Brinton (Party President) Prateek Buch Isobel Davidson (Scottish ...
Tue 19th
17:30
The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage, by Cliff Stoll
Second paragraph of third chapter: Today, these accelerators are obsolete—their mega-electron volt energies long surpassed by giga-electron volt particle colliders. They're no longer winning Nobel prizes, but physicists and graduate students still wait six months for time on an accelerator beamline. After all, our accelerators are fine for studying exotic nuclear particles and searching out new forms of matter, with esoteric names like quark-gluon plasmas or pion condensates. And when the physicists aren't using them, the beams are used for biomedical research, including cancer therapy.The 1980s were more innocent times than ours. This is the first-person account of how Stoll, ...
From an early recruitment leaflet for the SDP issued in 1981...
Embed from Getty Images Although relatively unheard of in the UK political system, bipartisanship is the idea of two opposing sides finding common ground and compromising in key areas. This form of politics was commonly found in the US political system which featured the Republicans and Democrats working together on political and social reforms to benefit the country, before there was such polarisation in American politics. The prime example of bipartisanship in the UK was the 2010 coalition government. This coalition was the illustration of two parties being able to work collaboratively on policy agreements. Essentially it could be argued ...
[IMG: ALDC Phonebank] I am a brand new member to the Liberal Democrats, having joined after the disappointing Referendum result in June. I was definitely impassioned by the Referendum result and wanted to get involved with the party right away. I thought the ALDC by-election phone bank seemed a good place to start. Using the phone bank is really easy. It takes ten minutes of training to get started. If you've used a phone and a computer before, you'll be an expert in no time. Making the phone calls is a really positive experience. We ring around wards throughout the ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat peer and former Olympic athlete Lord Campbell of Pittenweem today said urgent action is required to protect the integrity of the Olympic Games as the International Olympic Committee met to consider a report which found systematic doping by Russian athletes. Lord Campbell, who competed in the 200m and 4 x 100m at [...]
It's been a tough few weeks for all of us who believe in the European ideals of cooperation, openness and trade between nations. But as if the referendum result was not bad enough, the aftermath has left the UK the laughing stock of the world. First there was the resignation and disappearance of many of those who led the Leave campaign and the shameless disowning of key pledges on the NHS and immigration. Then last week a number of leading Tory Brexiteers were elevated by Theresa May to the highest offices of the state. We have seen Brexit Minister David ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] Robert Vint, Devon's only Green county councillor, has joined the Liberal Democrats. Cllr Vint, who represents the Totnes area on Devon County Council, said he had left the Greens to join the Liberal Democrats because he shared their aims and aspirations for the future of Totnes, South Hams and Devon. South Hams Liberal Democrat chairman [...]
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe as they take a look at Brexit.
After the Brexit vote I needed a vacation. Thanks to the generosity of my family, I got a week away somewhere hot. A week wasn't long enough. Leave the country to it's own devices for a week and everything goes to hell. There is a completely new, unelected government. It may have been constitutionally legal but make no mistake: this is not the government voted for by people in 2015. Owing to the first-past-the-post voting system for Westminster, both the Conservative and Labour parties cover too much of the political spectrum. With a more representative voting system, each would split ...
[IMG: 02957fabd7131964342ab104a9ac1583] So I went, yesterday in fact, and had a grand day out at the cricket. Lancashire County Cricket Club have been on their annual visit to Birkdale Cricket Ground and it is always a delight to be there even though I support Nottinghamshire CCC. I went to watch the 3rd day's play in the 4 day 1st Division County Championship match against Durham and took these photos:- [IMG: Sunny Southport's Cricket Match] Sunny Southport's Cricket Match [IMG: Marking out the hallowed turf] Marking out the hallowed turf [IMG: Waiting for a slip up!] Waiting for a slip up! ...
Yesterday the House of Commons voted 472-177 in favour of the like for like replacement of Trident. While much coverage has focussed on the split in the Labour Party, which voted 141-48 against its leader, to renew, Liberal Democrats, who are also reviewing policy on nuclear weapons, voted 7-0 not to renew like for like. I just voted against like for like replacement of Trident. @libdems are multilateralist & this is our chance to step down the nuclear ladder — Tim Farron (@timfarron) July 18, 2016 The 177 includes unilateral disarmers, and multilateralists who want to take a step away ...
The Scottish Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP today warned that local concerns over the impact of court closures on access to justice cannot be brushed under the carpet. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) last week published a report on the impact of the closure of 17 Sheriffs and Justice of the [...]
miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 18-07-2016 posted The Blood is the Life for 18-07-2016 on #dreamwidth [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: Helen Belcher 2] I joined the Liberal Democrats a couple of weeks after the 2015 General Election. David Cameron's awful statement on human rights was the final straw. For a peacetime Prime Minister to threaten innocent people by saying "for too long we have been a permissively tolerant society, saying to our citizens that, as long as you stay within the law, we will leave you alone" – well, quite frankly, that was extraordinary. It made me realise that it was no longer enough to passively support liberal values, but that it was time to fight to protect them. ...
Tue 19th
09:31
Publication of Proposal Notice for the inclusion of Sandgate Esplanade and North Close into the Shep...
[IMG: Sandgate Esplanade road and pavement flooding (Claire Hudson (www.twitter.com/clairehudson73))] Sandgate Esplanade: proposed location for new HGV Lorry Parking Ban The Kent County Council (The District of Shepway) (Prohibition of LGV Overnight Parking) (AMENDMENT 1) Order 2016 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Notice is hereby given that KENT COUNTY COUNCIL intend to make the above Order under sections 1(1), 2(1) to (3), 3(2), 4(1) and (2), 122 and 124 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, and of all other enabling powers, and after consultation with the chief officer of police in accordance with Part III of Schedule 9 to ...
As they have done previous years, the harkive project are collecting information about how people listen to music over the course of the day, so like *I* have done previous years, I'm going to liveblog the music I'm listening to ... Continue reading →
The anger directed at those politicians who campaigned for us to leave the EU in some sections of society is palpable. People say that both sides lied but the reality is that all the big porky pies were on the Brexit side and, having won the day, they are backtracking on their commitments as if there is no tomorrow. Given that the Brexit vote has left all our tomorrows very uncertain, and certainly poorer than before the referendum, should there not be some comeback on those politicians who promised the earth and then fled when they were asked to deliver? ...
Residents have contacted me about some minor repairs required to the roadway of Harrow Street. I contacted the Roads Maintenance Partnership about this and have been advised as follows : "The Roads Maintenance Partnership inspector for the area has advised that he has raised an order for a small thermal patch repair at the junction with Blackness Road and also at number 3 Harrow Street. There is no timescale available for these works at present but they will be done as soon as resources are available and earlier priorities have been dealt with."
Thanks to the reader who nominated it, the Retford Times wins our Headline of the Day Award.
The 2016 Hugo Awards: Two Weeks Out Abigail reminds us to vote. (tags: sf hugos ) A brief analysis of Labour's NEC Candidates Duncan counts the words. #fb (tags: ukpolitics ) How the UK halved its teenage pregnancy rate Fascinating and encouraging. #fb (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality ukpolitics ) How technology disrupted the truth A long but important piece about post-fact discourse. #fb (tags: socialmedia media internet ) Britain's limited options More on the difficulty of post-Brexit trade agreements. (tags: ukpolitics eu ) Night Moves All about darkness. (tags: astronomy )
The Commons voted for Trident renewal by a majority of 355. It was always going to be this way given it is the official policy of both of the two largest parties. But the debate held during the lead up to the vote was instructive in demonstrating Britain has no actual opposition at present. The SNP like to present themselves as the real opposition and during the Labour infighting still ongoing petitioned the Speaker to recognise them as such. But yesterday, they were deeply opposed to something the Tories wanted to do and were completely crushed. At 56 seats, they ...
