This was posted on the Independent Police Complaints Commission website on Thursday: The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has served criminal and gross misconduct notices on 11 individuals as it continues to investigate Leicestershire Police's handling of child sexual abuse allegations made against the late Greville Janner. The IPCC has decided not to name any subjects to ensure that the ongoing criminal investigation is not compromised.
In one of the least surprising pieces of news about the Liberal Democrat candidate selections for a possible early general election, the party's newly appointed EU spokesperson, Nick Clegg, has been reselected in Sheffield Hallam: I am really proud to have been selected again to run as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Sheffield Hallam. Nationally the country is in crisis. Both the Conservatives and Labour are focused entirely on in-fighting while the economy worsens, threatening jobs, public services and our efforts to build the houses Britain so badly needs. The Liberal Democrats are the only party committed to protecting Britain's ...
Erm, a couple of long flights and sleepless nights here. Current Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week) Last books finished Lethbridge-Stewart: Beast of Fang Rock, by Andy Frankham-Allan Gráinne, by Keith Roberts Corona, by Greg Bear Islands in the Sky, by Arthur C. Clarke Between structure and No-thing: An annotated reader in Social and Cultural Anthropology, ed. Patrick J. Devlieger The Sands of Mars, by Arthur C. Clarke Bétélgeuse v.5: L'Autre, by Leo Earthlight, by Arthur C Clarke Galileo's Dream, by Kim Stanley Robinson A Delicate Truth, by John le Carré Last week's audios Torchwood: Ghost Mission, ...
Want to visit a ruined church? There is one next to Market Harborough station. St Mary in Arden, says the Victoria County History, was first mentioned in 1220, when it was a chapel of the nearby village of Great Bowden. That gave it the same status at St Dionysius in the centre of Harborough, and St Mary in Arden was built on the same scale and seems to have been rather more important. In the book of his television series The Story of England, Michael Wood depicts St Mary in Arden as a place of pilgrimage: Below the church the ...
At the Shropshire Council meeting yesterday, councillors debated a motion that would have required Shropshire Council's officers to research the willingness of people in Shropshire for a referendum on a council tax rise above 1.99%. The motion was put forward by myself and seconded by follow Lib Dem Hannah Fraser, who represents Abbey ward in... Continue reading Shropshire Council rejects plea to explore views on a council tax referendum →
Ladies and gentlemen: Thanks to BBC News, we have our Headline of the Day.
The new Liberator arrived this morning, so I am able to give you a snippet from the well-informed Radical Bulletin section. Looking at the fast-track selections the Liberal Democrats have used in some seats in case there is an early general election, it says: In addition to most seats held until 2015, or in some cases 2010, there were some deeply puzzling choices. These included: Leyton & Wanstead (5th place with 5.7% of the vote), Poplar & Limehouse (5th 4.2%), Esher & Walton (4th, 9.4%), Birmingham Edgbaston (5th, 9.2%) and Canterbury (4th, 11.6%). The list did not include Maidstone, at ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: 'Not our usual line, is it, sir?' said Ramsey. 'Hoaxes and all that.' His tone was curious rather than dismissive. Next in the internal sequence of Seventh Doctor novels outside the New Adventures (only four left after this, actually). Lloyd Rose is a particularly good Who writer, who has published no other written fiction as far as I can tell (she has a non-fiction piece in a 2013 Sherlock Holmes anthology, and a couple of TV scripts). This is the last of her works that I have come to, having already greatly enjoyed The City ...
You may have seen the badly worded news about the "Council buying Cramlington's Shopping Centre" and the attendant protests about it. If all were as per the BBC's report I might be tempted to agree, but Jeff Reid , leader of the Lib Dem group on Northumberland County Council has written... "You may have seen an item in the News Post Leader and on tonight's 'Look North' about the purchase of Manor Walks, by the council's Development arm, ARCH. I thought you may be wondering what on earth is going on, especially as a number of the members of the ...
Many immigrant communities in Britain are worried about the possible consequences of Brexit, including the hundreds of thousands who belong to what is sometimes referred to as the "silent community" of several hundred thousand Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian, Latin American and Lusophone Africans in the UK. This morning, along with Simon Hughes (former UK Minister of [...]
The County Council has announced its works for 2017-2018. These are separate from works selected by Chris, which form only 15% of the highways spending in St Albans Central Division. We are pleased to see Vernon Close and Royal Road are now included since both roads are in an increasingly poor state: a great deal [...]
I campaigned for a Remain vote — both as a LibDem and in Cambridge for Europe. Remaining in the EU is profoundly important for all of us. I very much agree with Tim Farron's comment that we should campaign to reverse Brexit in the next election, though quite what that means will depend on whether the formal process of leaving under article 50 of the Lisbon treaty has been triggered. This year I've knocked on just over 2100 doors. Each time I have asked the Europe question. What strikes me is how many of those who said they'd vote Leave ...
The Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners is this party's foremost authority on local campaigning. They know how to win council seats and run councils like nobody else. A chance to work for them is a brilliant opportunity. They run an internship scheme and are currently advertising for a campaigns and communications intern to work for them for a year from 1st September. Details are as follows: This is a full-time role, paid at the UK National Minimum/Living Wage (currently £7.20 per hour for 25 year olds and over, and the applicable rate for under 25s) based at our ...
A number of reputable news organisations are reporting that Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, is proposing banning motorbikes from its city centre. I'm hesitant to venture an opinion because a) these reports are not especially detailed and b) while I did live in Hanoi for a while it's a complicated and rapidly changing city [...]
Sat 23rd
14:49
LibLink: Alistair Carmichael: We put an end to child detention. Now the Tories have backtracked
Alistair Carmichael writes for STV News about the Tories sneaking out the announcement about the closure of the Cedars facility: It is the oldest trick in the parliamentary book. Slip out all the bad news on the last day when MPs are already looking out the Ambre Solaire and the flip flops. By the time the Commons returns in September the moment for protest will have passed and the pressure will be off. Thursday's clutch brought the usual mix of the good, the bad and the indifferent. And one more — the shameful. Buried in amongst announcements about schools funding, ...
Sat 23rd
14:36
Hate crimes: "we totally condemn any form of racism, intolerance, bigotry or xenophobia"
It's now been a month since the EU referendum took place. Financial indicators are being reported, rhetoric has started etc. but the most worrying outcome is the 'hate crime' that a minority appear to feel has been legitimised, due to the result, which of course it hasn't and has no place in our society. The Western Gazette reported an incident in St Michaels Avenue, Yeovil, which was rightly condemned by Cllr Tony L [IMG: assault st mikes (2)] ock in a subsequent WG article: "A town councillor has spoken out against hate crime following a 'racially aggravated' attack in Yeovil. ...
Selections for a potential snap general election continue. Amna Ahmad has been selected to fight Sutton and Cheam, the seat held until the 2015 general election by former health and social care minister Paul Burstow. She announced the news in a tweet: Delighted to have been selected as the Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Sutton & Cheam @suttonlibdems thanks for all the support! — Amna Ahmad (@amnajahmad) July 22, 2016 You can find out more about Amna and what makes her tick in an interview she gave to the Croydon Citizen when standing for the GLA for Sutton and Croydon ...
Embed from Getty Images This week I succumbed, only for the sake of family bonding, to the latest craze sweeping the planet, or at least that part of it that can afford a mobile phone with enough 4G data to do it. Pokemon Go is, actually, a good thing. If it does nothing other than get the nerds some Vitamin D, it will have succeeded. It's also a pretty social occupation. It's great to see crowds of people gathering around landmarks actually talking to each other. The speed at which phrases like "I only have to walk another 5k to ...
The Lib Dems have form for calling things right – the Iraq War, the Credit Crunch, Mystic Clegg's account of what would happen post Brexit vote. We also said from the beginning that merging Scotland's eight police forces into one was a disaster waiting to happen. So it has been proven in many ways from routine arming of Police in the Highlands to the failures related to the M9 crash where two people died after being left for 3 days, to the closing down of saunas in Edinburgh, ruining years of a system that worked. Now think tank Reform Scotland ...
The EU referendum was both democratic and dictatorial. This form of democracy was, is and will be profoundly self-harming of our nation. It destroyed opportunities, such as negotiating for a more democratic and less finance controlled EU, and precipitated unnecessary difficulties, such as having to deal with a massive range of trade negotiations from a position of weakness. It was imposed unilaterally by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, in an inept and selfish attempt to cohere his party and keep in his job. It has cost us our powerful place in Europe and may cost the United Kingdom the ...
Twitter RT @po8crg: A: Because she's a woman and we live in a culture that teaches us women lie. Twitter RT @Max_Fisher: Very disturbing story from WSJ's @Abihabib on being detained at LAX - gets worse from there Instagram Traditional "the sign says 40: chance would be a fine thing" message Instagram Spike coping with the traffic jam by cuddling Will the Whale AND Jeffrey the Giraffe AND... Twitter RT @indy100: All the bad news the government tried to bury this week All the bad news the government tried to bury before the summer RT @indy100: All the bad news ...
Just over two years ago Jeremy Corbyn signed an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons that expressed concern over the proposed takeover of AstraZeneca by Pfizer. It called on the Government to act as necessary to protect employment and skills in the UK, ensure that the development of the new headquarters in Cambridge continues as planned, with the associated infrastructure needs, and ensure that the UK continues to be a world-leader in science and pharmaceuticals research and development. Now he is proposing to withdraw tax relief for research by drug companies, and suggesting that the development of new ...
Sat 23rd
09:10Brexit: How we could be in the single market with greater control over immigration - the Adam Smith ...
Embed from Getty Images The words of President Hollande on Thursday reinforced the UK's apparent dilemma: It's the most crucial point... Britain will have to choose: stay in the single market and accept free movement or have another status. I have banged on about this since the referendum. There is a halfway house – that of being in the EEA and EFTA. The Adam Smith Institute have this week released a briefing paper entitled: "The case for the (interim) EEA option". In it, they point out the ability for the UK to "have greater control over migration" while being in ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-36837803 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above Can there anything much more irritating than a screaming child when you are in a cafe or restaurant especially when the parents/guardians do nothing about it! I was quite taken by this article as it reflected many of my irritating experiences of recent years. Why on earth do those responsible not teach their children how to behave? How can they put up with the screeching themselves? I was in an M&S store one day last week and two very young children seemed to be having a ...
Uncertainty over Britain's future role in European science makes boundary-challenging initiatives like ESOF and Falling Walls more important than ever. Next week, the European science community will meet at the biannual EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Manchester. This will be the first ESOF to be held in the UK, and the first in the context of a post-referendum Britain. With the uncertainty that Brexit has created both in Britain and Europe more generally, and for UK science in particular, there has never been a more important time for the European science community to commit to overcoming barriers. Related: Six leading ...
Sat 23rd
08:42
Ludlow Library opening hours cuts are wrong - it should remain open on Saturday afternoons
Shropshire Council has published the results of its Library opening hours review. The library will close on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons, but get an extra hour on Monday evenings. I am very disappointed that the cuts to opening hours at Ludlow Library have been largely confirmed. I am quite angry that the library will... Continue reading Ludlow Library opening hours cuts are wrong - it should remain open on Saturday afternoons →
Yesterday, along with a number of other members of the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board and senior council officers, I took part in a meeting updating us on the bridge's 50th Anniversary events next month. The bridge is 50 years old on the 18th August and, by way of way of celebration, the bridge manager, staff and board members are organising a free family day of events and activities on Sunday 21st August. It'll be a fabulous day out for all the family - more details here - don't miss it!
Boris is in New York at present, co-incidentally the city of his birth, to speak at the UN about all things Brexity (this will be pretty much the sole job of Foriegn Secretaries from now until the middle of the century at least). He warned people not to equate Brexit with a desire for isolationism. "I would draw a very, very strong contrast between Brexit and any kind of isolationism," the man with the new grownup haircut declared. "Brexit means us being more outward looking, more engaged, more energetic, more enthusiastic on the world stage than ever before." Boris probably ...
Four Europeans lead in race for UN Secretary-General The plot thickens. (tags: un ) I'm With The Banned Passionate, readable account of @PennyRed at the RNC. (tags: Uspolitics ) Our nine-point guide to spotting a dodgy statistic Numbers often lie; or the people using them, anyway. (tags: mathematics statistics politics ) The Stockholm-Helsinki hyperloop pre-feasibility study 500 km in 28 minutes, for a mere 19 billion euro. (tags: sweden finland travel ) 3-Stage Voting (and Other Hugo Award Proposals) I have signed on to two of these three proposals. (tags: sf hugos ) Don't believe your own hype My old ...
