Text of my presentation to the SAGB Conference in Canterbury this morning, 7 August 2016 THE REFUGEE CRISIS: The Media and Public Opinion in the UK This being a time when many Christians in Britain will be on their way to church, it's perhaps fitting to add an overtly moral dimension to our discussions. What follows [...]
My most recent Six of the Best included am article by John Disney that says our rural bus services are in meltdown. Judging from Market Harborough he is right. In the last couple of years we have lost a bus that served Northamptonshire villages on the way to Clipton and our service to Wilbarston, Corby and Gretton. Even the mighty 44 has been reduced in frequency. Given that background, I have long been intrigued by the 303, which claims to run from Rothwell via Market Harborough to Melton Mowbray on the first Tuesday of every month. Finding myself at a ...
Later this morning, I attended the City Road Allotments Open Day and had the pleasure of officially opening the allotment's refurbished trailer, which will be a boon for allotment members. The acquisition of the trailer has been possible thanks to a real effort by the allotment community. The Open Day was a really great and well-attended event and I was delighted to attend. It is great to see our local allotments in such good heart! A few photos from today : The refurbished trailer - looking fab! Official ribbon cutting ceremony! Great stalls at the Open Day! With Erika and ...
This morning, I took part in a litter pick of Riverside Nature Park, along with other volunteers - a couple of photos below. It was a fine, warm morning - but extremely windy! Many thanks to the volunteer staff from Tesco Riverside for taking part. With some of today's volunteers Great views from Riverside Nature Park
Second paragraph of third chapter: "They was up here, bold as brass, on Manor parkland, the exact same spot they was last time, proud of that clump of old pines." I read a lot of John Le Carré as a teenager and in my early twenties; it was quite good preparation for the work I subsequently went on to do, though more in terms of preparing myself to meet the mindset of those who think they are doing their best for their country and find themselves questioning their own motivation. I suspect that his portrayal of inner Cold War circles ...
This 1982 hit looked back in musical style and hairstyle to the great female singers of the 1960s. In fact Mari Wilson was later to play Dusty Springfield in a musical. She is still active, as you can see from her website Mari Wilson Pop Deluxe. Michelle Collins - Cindy Beale from EastEnders - was one of the Wilsations.
[IMG: 7 best] Many thanks to the 16,670 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Two Liberal Democrat peers quit the party (55 comments) by Caron Lindsay. Muddled mandates and the EU Referendum (83 comments) by James Lindsay. By-election watch - Another Lib Dem GAIN from the Conservatives (14 comments) by Caron Lindsay. The 3 most complained about TV moments connected to the EU Referendum campaign (2 comments) by Antony Hook. Did you spot the Liberal Democrat in David Cameron's Resignation Honours? (8 comments) by Caron Lindsay. Why I'm wary of an early ...
So we've got a new Prime Minister, who was chosen by 0.0005% of the UK population aka Conservative MPs in Parliament. Haven't we been here before? Remember Gordon Brown? It's only 14 months since we had a general election and many people believe it is simply inconceivable that Theresa May should be crowned Prime Minister without even [...]
The bridge. The middle eight. Whatever you want to call it (and I know there's a technical difference, but whatever), it's the twist that can take a song into a different stratosphere. It's the delicious pre-chorus that kicks you into a different gear, building anticipation for that frisson-filled final refrain. Or, sometimes, it's the left turn [...]
Sun 7th
12:57
LibLink: Jo Swinson: The media's reporting of the Child's Review sums up why we are still light year...
Recently Jo Swinson commented on the media coverage of the Childs Review, a report which made a number of recommendations about how the diversity of Parliament could be improved. The reporting put a huge emphasis on breastfeeding in the Chamber despite this having barely been mentioned in passing. She wrote this for the Huffington Post: None of these 43 recommendations are about breastfeeding. The word 'breast' is mentioned just twice in the body of the report, in a sub-section under recommendation 12 on page 21, which covers the need for a clear policy on maternity, paternity, parental, adoption and caring ...
When it comes to fracking, not knowing very much about it I have tended to sit on the fence, but some headlines across the Sunday papers today piqued my interest. So what I learned (abridged version): Fracking involves pumping copious amount, including sand and un-named chemicals down a drill hole 2 to 4 km down [...]
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. Remember that wonderful day in 2009 when a Liberal Democrat motion to allow Gurkhas to settle in this country was won and the Labour Government was defeated. Joanna Lumley had been at the forefront of the campaign and she and Nick Clegg and David ...
That the proposal to nationalise the Red Lion pub in Westminster for the sole use of MPs during the refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster was even considered shows some seriously misplaced priorities for the UK's legislators. The Guardian reports that Richmond House, which hosts the Department of Health is the likely new home for the House of Commons when a multi-billion pound refurbishment of their current home gets underway. Richmond House is one of three government buildings owned by Middle East financiers who have bought into an Islamic bond issued by the government. One of its stipulations is that ...
My previous 3 postings are available via the link below:- This posting deals with a couple of small steam locos at the Ribble Steam Railway and the Planet loco (a replica) at the Museum of Science and Industry (MS&I) in Manchester. [IMG: LUCY DOCKS] The first loco is an Avonside 1568 of 1909 'Lucy' – see photo above and the link to the Ribble Steam Railway web page below:- [IMG: efficient_001] The second is Andrew Barclay 1598 of 1918 'Efficient' – see photo above. It spent it's entire working life at McKechnie Brothers' copper smelting works at Widnes ...
Today's winning headline comes from The Herald.
How legitimate marriages have become Home Office honey traps Disgusting. Again. (tags: migration ukpolitics ) 11 Fun Facts About the International Phonetic Alphabet Nifty though incomplete. (tags: linguistics alphabets ) The International Phonetic Alphabet More about this great construct. (tags: linguistics alphabets ) Mapping the Hidden Worlds Beneath Greenland's Ice Wow. (tags: greenland maps climatechange )
A statement from Wiltshire Police brings the news that former Lib Dem MP Duncan Hames has been cleared of allegations that his election expenses did not properly account for the Liberal Democrat 'battlebus' during the 2015 general election. As the police statement makes clear (but, ahem, Guido Fawkes has repeatedly failed to), the Lib Dem use of a campaign battlebus to carry the party leader around was very different from the Conservative battlebuses used to ferry campaigners around, and for which numerous Tory MPs are under police investigation. Here is the Wiltshire police statement: Wiltshire Police received an e-mail in ...
In a forced choice between a very liberal and a very socially conservative position, half the country are liberals.
I just spent an hour writing a blog post, only to discover I'd written almost exactly the same one in November 2014. So instead of that, you're getting this — the prologue and first chapter of a murder mystery novel ... Continue reading →
