British broadcasting's political interviewing used to be a very gentlemanly affair; the taciturn Clement Atlee was given a very easy ride by the BBC when he finally agreed to appear before the camera. But Robin Day later added edge to TV interviewing, probing with what some stuffier government Ministers considered to be impertinence. Audiences loved [...]
I'm having to face up to the fact that on July 31st, 2017, I'm going to turn 50. When I was young ,50 seemed ancient. Now I'm almost in its embrace, I feel confused, because in my heart I'm still ... Continue reading →
Mon 1st
18:19
Q: Can we have a roundabout at the Gunthorpe Road/Coniston Road/Gunthorpe Riding junction? A: No! He...
The junction in question, can get pretty busy at peak times, with car and bus drivers having to wait to cross or turn onto the Gunthorpe Road. Local residents have previously asked about the possibility of a roundabout, to help the traffic flow. So, at a meeting of Full Council my colleague, Cllr Julia Davidson asked [...]
Embed from Getty Images In 2008, financial services firm Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. With over $600 billion in assets, Lehman Brothers remains the largest bankruptcy filing in US history. Under-capitalised and enormously leveraged with significant holdings of risky mortgage-backed and residential property-related assets, despite weeks of intense negotiations with regulators and prospective buyers no viable solution could be found and Lehman was allowed to fail. In the ensuing market chaos, and following a G20 meeting in London in early 2009, the Financial Stability Board was established to monitor the global financial system and ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: Lieutenant Uhura's quarters were a notable exception. They were richly, tastefully decorated with hanging fabrics, a non-regulation assortment of pillow-couches and a chair made especially for the extremely sensitive skin of a Deltan - a chair which was sheer heaven for a human. Sculpture ranging in size from a few centimetres to one meter betrayed Uhura's particular obsession, collecting surrealistic and totemistic modern African ebony carvings. I have read few Star Trek books, but back in 2012 on a Loncon 3 site visit I picked up three of them and have now finally got around ...
Cllr Allan Knox has condemned the so-called public consultation around the new market development as a sham and as being the same sort of consultation a developer carries out when they want to foist hundreds of new houses on a town or village which is already drowning under new house building. Cllr. Knox said: "The market belongs to all of us; but the council and Barnfield have come up with a take it or leave it solution. The only input from the general public comes via the town centre masterplan - a document which is six years old. "It was ...
[IMG: Fake Norman Lamb Facebook group screenshot] On 27th August, LDV will be 10 years old. In that time, we've brought you over 24,000 posts and published over 337,000 comments. Over the Summer holidays, we'll take you on a nostalgic meander through a decade of Liberal Democrat history, seen through the eyes of our editors and contributors. We hope you enjoy our choices. LDV was actually set up before Facebook became a thing. Or at least before it became a thing outside universities. The first mention I can find came back in February 2007 when Mark Pack spied Liberal Democrat ...
Embed from Getty Images This goes back to Harold Wilson in 1976 – so there is nothing new about controversial prime ministerial farewell honours lists. Wilson's retirement honours list was called the "Lavender List" because Marcia Williams (the head of his political office and herself ennobled as Baroness Falkender in the list) allegedly wrote the original draft on lavender-coloured notepaper. All sorts of Harold Wilson's colleagues and chums were honoured in the list. The most controversial of them was the bloke who made Wilson's trademark Gannex macs – who became Baron Kagan. This was added to the fellow's knighthood, which ...
The whisper of silver leaves under wide skiesIn ancient tongues asking meWhere are your dreams nowWild lass, wild lass Only wreathed as silver strands in your hair The willows are calling meBack to the water landsWindmills to the seaWhere river and sand flat and blue martins plyUnder the old cobblesA shore of brick and stoneIn memory of a place once we called home Where are your dreams nowWild lass, wild lassOnly wreathed as silver strands in your hairLost to the pine wind in the wild sea air All your dreams travelledA gathering stormBut your heart is a vaulted cathedral where ...
My previous post from April this year sets the scene:- [IMG: The floor of the south end is striking in black and white.] The floor of the south end is striking in black and white. We had not been over the water (River Mersey) to see this lovely gallery for some time and Sheila and I wanted to have a look at the recently refurbished south end which Jen Robertson had a hand in. We went on 21st July and here are some shots from that visit:- [IMG: IMG_8339 r] [IMG: IMG_8306 r] A lovely visit with our own ...
This machine told me that my body mass index, blood pressure, heart and other things were right within 2 minutes of standing on it! Imagine a timeline that that starts 10,000 years ago with the first modern man (and woman!). ... Continue reading →
Our Trivial Fact of the Day has a 1966 World Cup theme. As revealed by this article from the Sheffield paper The Star, Gordon Banks is the uncle of Pulp's drummer Nick Banks.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP said yesterday that the First Minister's focus on independence risks wrecking the consensus on finding a solution to the vote on the European Union. Mr Rennie was speaking as one candidate for deputy leader of the SNP called for any second referendum question to include reference to the [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP said yesterday that reports the Conservatives will back SNP moves to cut Air Passenger Duty (APD) undermine claims that they are a strong opposition to Nicola Sturgeon's government. Mr Rennie was speaking following newspaper reports that the Tories are set to back proposals for an APD cut despite [...]
[IMG: Plastic bags for website] On 5th October 2015, new plastic bag charges came into force in England and thanks to the Liberal Democrats commitment to the environment in government, we have already seen six billion fewer plastic bags in use this year. We have produced a few items to help you campaign on the issue - A small pack [...]
BBC - Remembering David Bowie RT @BBCRadio4: Remembering David Bowie - dozens of clips and programmes dedicated to the Starman: In which AMC Manchester discrimination causes my friend to suffer [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Embed from Getty Images When did you last pay 5p for a plastic bag to carry home your shopping from a supermarket? When I went food shopping yesterday I selected from the pile of heavy duty bags that sit in the boot of my car. I can choose from bags that bear the logos of Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, M&S or Lidl and for some time I've gone beyond feeling embarrassed if I use the 'wrong' bag in a shop. I very occasionally pay for a bag if I forget my own but it's interesting that my reaction is one of ...
[IMG: recruiting website] More than 17,000 people have joined the Liberal Democrats since the referendum and our membership is higher now than it has been in over a decade. Many teams have been writing to Remain voters and asking them to join with quite a lot of success. This works even better on the doorstep and the team in [...]
Have you noticed that 'Brexit' is becoming an excuse for every kind of incomp- etence and ineffic- iency? A sort of twenty-first century 'don't you know there's a war on?' I'm expecting Southern to start making announcements blaming Brexit for their continued failures. I mean, what else have they got to blame? But then, suddenly, they do have something else to blame. In fact, I am chewing my delay repayments with frustration. The mysterious but hopeless GTR, part of the absentee landlord system of rail franchising (I refer to the Go Ahead Group), seemed finally to be accepting reality. They ...
Stephen Woolfe, the maybe, maybe-not candidate to be the next UKIP leader, was on Radio 4 this morning. You see, Stephen's been dogged by two problems concerning his candidacy. One, an apparent lapse in his membership at some point a couple of years ago (UKIP have this absurd rule you have to have been a member for five years to run, which rules out most credible possibilities). Two, the fact that due to what sounds like an error in UKIP's own IT systems, his official application didn't arrive at UKIP HQ until it was 17 minutes too late. Woolfe answered ...
[IMG: Bus shelter replacement] Around 18 months after it was damaged in a traffic accident, the bus shelter on Sandgate High Street by the Village Store is being replaced today. The replacement is in no small part due to the dogged determination of Sandgate Parish Councillor Michael Fitch. Some time after the accident, Shepway Council had told Sandgate Parish Council that the shelter could not be repaired due to a lack of budget. Michael could not only tell them when the accident had taken place, but provided them with photos he took at the time of the accident, including of ...
[IMG: Unexploded WW2 shell (UXB) on beach (Folkestone Coastguard)] Folkestone Coastguard have apologised to Sandgate residents who may have been awoken this morning by the sound of... a bomb going off. An unexploded second world war shell was found on Sandgate Beach (near the Sir John Moore Memorial) on Sunday evening, but the changing tide meant it could not be dealt with immediately. The position was marked, and at around 5am this morning the shell was safely detonated in a controlled explosion. There is more information at Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, CT20 ...
Embed from Getty Images "A week is a long time in politics", so quipped Harold Wilson – although in the aftermath of Brexit, perhaps 'week' should be replaced by 'hour'. The glut of political developments since June 23rd have evidently led Tim to forget the nadir of 2015. "There must be an election", he demanded upon the accession of Theresa May to the premiership. Right now, we will gain little if Britain were to go to the polls early. We need more time to rebuild our grassroots organisations and to formulate a liberalism that acknowledges the circumstantial changes catalysed by ...
Simon Hughes, the very popular former Lib Dem MP, will be standing again for Bermondsey and Old Southwark in the event of an early general election.
Welsh Tory leader, Andrew R.T. Davies has a massive cheek in demanding in today's Western Mail that pro-European parties actively embrace the result of June's referendum. He complains that 'instead of accepting the result and seeking a positive outcome for a post-Brexit Wales, there is a sense of active hostility to it from the Welsh Labour Government and Plaid Cymru. A profoundly toxic political narrative is merging; a sense that they are privately willing it to fail.' Very much like the anti-European forces in the 1970s then, or the anti-devolutionists today. Mr. Davies should acknowledge that we live in a ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of Big Lunch event being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Arnhall Gardens, Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Saturday 6 August 2016 for one day. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. No alternative routes are available however access to residents will be maintained. For further information contact 433275. Executive Director of City DevelopmentDundee City Council
Mon 1st
07:09
Planning appeal for five houses on Burway Lane, Ludlow thrown out by planning inspector
Burway Lane is a narrow and quiet road that passes to the Cricket Club and a number of rather well appointed houses, before continuing as a track onto farmland to Burway House. In 2014, plans were submitted to Shropshire Council for four market homes and one affordable house.[1] They were rejected in October 2015. In... Continue reading Planning appeal for five houses on Burway Lane, Ludlow thrown out by planning inspector →
People Are Furious That Owen Smith Woke Them Up With A Text At 4am Oops. (tags: ukpolitics ) Questions all Jeremy Corbyn supporters need to answer Long but well worth reading. (tags: ukpolitics ) More sex please, we're Swedish Concerned government commissions new survey. (tags: sweden sexandgenderandsexuality )
