This is the Old Rectory at Teigh in Rutland, now a bed-and-breakfast establishment that wins outstanding reviews. If it looks familiar it may be because it served as Mr Collins' rectory in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice - you know, the one with Colin Firth and the lake. In 1940 it was home to the Revd Henry Stanley Tibbs, when he was denounced as a Nazi sympathiser by some of his parishioners and imprisoned. Most sources say he was sent to Walton prison in Liverpool, though the National Archives page on Tibbs suggests it was the internment ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Welcome to my experimental new political scorecard, capturing how each party is performing in opinion polls and council by-elections.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: The Alternative] Judging by the reaction to Andrew George's post last week there seems to be a lot of unnecessary fretting among Liberal Democrats caused by 'The Alternative', the book I have co-edited with the Labour and Green MPs Lisa Nandy and Caroline Lucas. Allow me to explain why I think some people are getting the wrong end of the stick. I fully understand the views of those who say Labour is not a progressive party, and that we sometimes have more in common with the liberal wing of the Conservatives than we do with Labour or the nationalist ...

Posted by Chris Bowers on Liberal Democrat Voice

Guest post from councillor Tracey Huffer. One of the vital services that Ludlow Hospital provides is the minor injuries unit (MIU). People go there to be patched up or seek advice, alleviating pressure on overstretched A&E services in Shrewsbury, Hereford and Telford. For the last four days, the MIU has been closed due to staff... Continue reading Ludlow injuries unit closed again - we fear our community hospital and rural health services are being closed by stealth →

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

Welcome to the first in my series of tips and advice for Liberal Democrat members, which appear first in the email bulletin run by London Region for party members. Finding out about Liberal Democrat policy making Much of the work of making Lib Dem policy takes place in our policy working groups. These are set up to cover specific areas and run for many months (usually over a year), reporting back to the party's federal conferences. Throughout this there are plenty of opportunities for party members to take part – but you need to know what policy groups are running ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

While on holiday, I read the complete plays of Christopher Marlowe, my first encounter directly with his work. It was very interesting; I know Shakespeare to a certain extent (I read/listened to the entire canon a few years ago, starting here), and was struck by both the similarities and the differences between them. Marlowe died, of course, just as Shakespeare was getting started; experts trace several direct references to Marlowe's works in Shakespeare's plays. I have some general thoughts about Marlowe, but I am going to save them to the end. First, I'm going to write up the six (or ...

Christopher Pyne, Leader of the House, talks about the new post-election Parliament.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: 7 best] Many thanks to the 10,100 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Could "Traingate" derail Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign? (71 comments) by Caron Lindsay Nicola Sturgeon appoints controversial Brexit minister (25 comments) by Caron Lindsay Andrew George writes...Can progressives unite to defeat the Tories? (68 comments) by Andrew George Brexit and the path to a written constitution (36 comments) by Ciaran Mcgonigle Renationalising the railways is trendy but not smart (73 comments) by Jack Watson Is Labour really the natural home for those concerned about human rights? (33 comments) by ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

This is the opening track from Morrissey's 1994 album Vauxhall and I, which I regard as the best thing he has ever done - as a solo artist, at least. And it seems Mozza agrees with me. In a 1995 interview for, rather improbably, the University of Manchester Computer he said: A year and a half after its release, what do you think of the lyrics of Vauxhall And I? I'm extremely proud of them. ... The lyrics of Vauxhall And I were terribly introspective, which is certainly not new for me - this record was nothing more than another ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

I got a call yesterday from a Maghull resident whom I have know for years, indeed he was once a councillor himself. He told me that his daughter had taken her children to KGV Park yesterday afternoon but was concerned about the behaviour of a large group of lads. [IMG: Maghull's KGV Park and Meadows Leisure Centre] Maghull's KGV Park and Meadows Leisure Centre I was told that they were smoking some substance and generally behaving in an threatening and anti-social way. The lady went into Meadows Leisure Centre to raise concerns but I am told that she was told ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus
YouGov

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. This is one of our more iconic posts. Former co-editor Stephen Tall made a bit of a rash promise on the Daily Politics in 2013. He said that if the Liberal Democrats only won 24 seats in the General Election, he would run naked ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

© Peter Wagon Fine Arts When I went back to Hemel Hempstead some years ago I found that both my primary schools - Fields End in Warners End and the old Boxmoor school in St John's Road - had both been demolished. The other day I came across this drawing of the latter school on Facebook. It is by the late Peter Wagon and I would like to thank Peter Wagon Fine Arts for their permission to reproduce it here. It chimes much more with my memory of the school than the photograph of it that I once posted here. ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

[IMG: openbritain] Over the past few weeks, I've had a series of emails from Will Straw and others involved in the Stronger In campaign talking about many things and occasionally asking my opinion on what they should do next. (It's interesting, if unsurprising, that none of those emails was an abject apology for so completely bollocking up the Remain campaign, coupled with a promise to never go anywhere near political campaigning again) The culmination of all this has come today with the announcement that Britain Stronger In Europe has now completed its metamorphosis into Open Britain which follows in the ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

Gay people made Hollywood. You wouldn't know from the movies | Hugh Elliott | Opinion | The Guardian RT @WiseThoughts: Gay people made Hollywood. You wouldn't know from the movies - 50s heartthrob Tab Hunter points out Twitter RT @ArenaFlowers: Here's how to be awesome at relationships. Wuthering Bytes 2016 RT @Calderdale: We're supporting this years @wutheringbytes with @ODILeeds from 2-11 September. More info at Twitter RT @HistoryInPix: Edgar Allan Poe's handwritten last stanza of The Raven. First published (1845), New York Evening Mirror newspaper Twitter This is why I love @sevenhelz - no cow too sacred (FAO @ClaireAgutter the ...

It is one thing to be caught out on a PR stunt, but quite another to then lose all sense of perspective and try to turn a personal act of revenge against your nemesis into a higher cause. Alas, those leading the Labour Party have done exactly that, leaving their dummy on the field as they gun for Richard Branson. The Independent has all the details. They relate how Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has called for Virgin's founder and CEO Sir Richard Branson to be stripped of his knighthood. Mr Branson's crime is apparently that he sought to "undermine ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

Embed from Getty Images Former BHS owner Sir Philip Green has been traversing the tranquil southern European seas in his humungous new £100 million yacht, staffed by a crew to cater for his, his family's and his pets' every need. That might be fine if the flagship High Street chain was still going strong and if the pension funds were in a healthy condition. Instead, nine decades of retail history comes to an end today as the final stores close. 11,000 workers lose their jobs and many will be facing the consequences of what a committee of MPs described as ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

If you're a political activist, as most of the people reading this probably are, and not a member of the Labour Party, there is an obvious temptation to look upon the internal strife as Jeremy Corbyn and the Parliamentary Labour Party do battle and order stocks of popcorn. I started political life as a democracy activist rather than a party member though, and it's rather more complex than that, I suspect. You see, a vibrant democracy requires a range of credible options for the voter, and if Labour do destroy themselves, it removes one significant option for the electorate. Yes, ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy

Britain is at its best when open - open minded, open for business, open to trade and investment, open to talent and hard work, open to Europe and to the world.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Sun 28th
09:15

An election or not?

Right now it feels a little like an electoral phoney war. Rumours of a possible snap general election prompted the party, rightly, to do urgent selections of prospective parliamentary candidates over the summer. Will the election happen? Could a possible false alarm be helpful? One answer is to wait and see: a general election in October would point to a different strategy from one early in 2017, and we don't have resources to invest a lot in an election that doesn't happen. But the appointment of a slate of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) and putting things in place for an ...

Posted by Mark Argent on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: IMGr] The photo above is of Altcar & Hillhouse Station on 6th June 1959 Altcar and Hillhouse Station was on the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway that ran from Aintree Central to Southport Lord Street Stations. Altcar is in the present Borough of West Lancashire. The station was between Lydiate and Mossbridge Stations. It opened on 1st September 1884, closed from 1st January 1917 to 1st April 1919 (due to the First World War) and finally closed altogether on 7th January 1952. A private siding on the site remained in use up until 1960 so the track from ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus
eUKhost

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 29 AUGUST 2016 Scottish Water Clatto East (Mains Renewal) - Logie Street (Loons Road to City Road) closed southbound and City Road (Logie Street to Tullideph Road) closed for 2 weeks. Temporary traffic lights at Loons Road / Gardner Street junction. Polepark Road and Guthrie Street - traffic control for 2 weeks for street lighting works. Forthcoming Closures Perth Road (Glamis Road to West Park Road) - closed from Monday 5 September for 8 weeks for gas main renewal. Park Place (Old Hawkhill to Smalls ...

We have known for a while that the upmarket clothing chain is planning to move into the former Shoe Zone premises on King Street opposite the Bull Ring Tavern. Now, the company has published plans for a new shopfront. Shoe Zone has long been a blight on our historic streetscape. It was popular for the... Continue reading Design for Joules in King Street looks good but do we need a Ludlow town centre design guide? →

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington
Sun 28th
07:57

Death and disability

One of B's housemates died last week. He was 40, and just didn't wake up one morning. Like her, he would have been unable to tell anyone that his tummy felt sore, or his chest felt tight, or his head felt funny, and of course it might not have made a difference anyway. (I assume that the necessary investigations into cause of death have been made, and I don't expect to hear the outcome; we're not his family.) I went to see B yesterday for the first time since our holiday (and obviously the first time since her housemate died). ...

How a Self-Published Writer of Gay Erotica Beat Sci-Fi's Sad Puppies at their Own Game Wow. (tags: disability sf ) A Pocket Guide To Northern Ireland For WW2 US Servicemen. Hilarious! (tags: Northernireland wwii ) Radical Futures and Conservative Sensitivities Great deconstruction of the issues around SF today. (tags: sf ) Exonerating Milosevic: A Futile, Destructive Cause of Global "Anti-Imperialists" Alas, it still needs to be spelled out. (tags: war kosovo bosnia serbia )

A quiet summer passes by, and with it come opportunities to broaden the mind. That has meant that it's been a bit quiet here at "Liberal Bureaucracy", but I am intending to return to the blogging, if only because it is a chance to keep people abreast of what I'm up to. Yesterday, I learned a new skill, peeling hard-boiled quail eggs. we're entertaining today and, as usual, Ros has been busy in the kitchen preparing. There are, however, certain jobs that get referred to me for reasons I don't always understand. Peeling the quail eggs was one of them. ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy