Tue 20th
23:23
Just because it's a Tuesday, that doesn't stop the Lib Dems winning another by-election
Another Liberal Democrat gain from Labour, this time in Wales. Congratulations to Robin Rea and his team.
You might think it's the wrong day for this sort of post, but there has been a rare Tuesday by-election in the Plasnewydd ward on Cardiff Council. And look what happened. Plasnewydd (Cardiff) result: LDEM: 48.1% (+15.4) LAB: 34.8% (-2.0) PC: 6.8% (-5.3) CON: 4.4% (-1.2) GRN: 3.6% (-9.3) UKIP: 2.4% (+2.4) — Britain Elects (@britainelects) September 20, 2016 Absolutely fantastic stuff. Well done to new Cllr Robin Rea (who was out leafletting this norning not long after I had come back from the Glee Club. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings ...
The excellent Liz Leffman has been selected by the Liberal Democrats ahead of the Parliamentary by-election in Witney caused by the resignation of David Cameron.
[IMG: Liz Leffan] West Oxfordshire councillor Liz Leffman has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the by-election to be held in Witney following David Cameron's resignation as MP. She was chosen by members at a selection meeting this evening. Liz represents the Charlbury and Finstock ward where she had a commanding lead over the Conservative of over 600 votes in this May's election. She stood in Witney before, in 2005 and secured a strong second behind Cameron, in fact the highest ever Liberal Democrat result in the seat. I've worked with her over the last few years on ...
The BBC's Peter Henley has just tweeted that Liz Leffman, who fought the seat at the 2005 general election, is to be the Liberal Democrat candidate at next month's by-election. You can read all about Liz on the party website.
Arts Fresco wasn't just Musical Ruth, so here are some more photographs from the day. I even indulged in some audience participation with The Notional Trust.
Labour seat. Cause: Death. LD candidate – Robin Rea. To help, please contact Robin on 07800 559668 or visit www.CardiffLD.org.uk/roath-volunteer
The party website has the full text of Tim Farron's speech: So I was in what you might call a reflective mood when I began the meeting. There were perhaps 70 people there. Most of them had voted to leave. And most of them pretty much fitted my demographic. They weren't mostly die-hards. I reckon, honestly, that three quarters of them could have been persuaded to vote Remain up until about two or three weeks out. One guy said that the clincher for him was George Osborne's 'punishment budget'. And when he said that, pretty much the whole room chipped ...
Jeremy Corbyn jam. Best before: the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It's a while since I wrote about the "right to be forgotten" - you can find my earlier posts on the subject by following that link. Today's Guardian carries a report that reminds us how it came about and reveals that the courts are increasing its reach: Ever since the European court ordered Google to delist a 16-year-old article about a bankruptcy, web watchers have wondered how the 'right to be forgotten' would evolve. Mario Costeja González's 'Data and Goliath' victory in 2014 in Spain has meant that human concepts of fairness are now applied to Google Search, which is ...
I've not been at Conference this year. I love Conference, so it's quite difficult to have to follow it from a distance and miss out on the opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones. It's also not quite the same watching TV coverage to being on the conference floor, with the opportunity to vote and speak. You don't get quite the same feel for what's going on - which is why it's perhaps best that I leave commentary on this year's Conference to people who were there and actively involved in the political discussion. But I will comment ...
Second sentence of third chapter: Of course, she couldn't allow herself to get carried away with emotion. Tawny had a lead foot wired directly to her amygdala, but she had to be careful these days. No taking chances with even a speeding ticket anymore, not since she quit contracting with DARPA. She missed her sporty MacLaren F1, but it, along with the Victorian manor she'd been converting into a kind of Batcave, and all her social media accounts, had been sacrificed on the altar of anonymity once she made that first discovery with the virtual photons. Avoiding attention from the ...
I was interviewed yesterday on the subject of the poetry of Robert Burns by the Scottish Cultural Society in Tallinn. This is a good organisation that promotes a wide variety of things Scottish with a fervour that should embarrass even the most intransigent nationalist. Whether ceilidh dancing or singing the songs of Burns, or even kilt wearing, this small group constantly delight with their enthusiasm and passion for the subject of Scottish culture, broadly defined. Since I was a teenager I have read the works of Burns and felt that he deserves a wider audience than the annual festival of ...
Tim Farron's approach was a mirror-image of Charles Kennedy's approach early in the century, attacking the then opposition party for not being an effective opposition to the then government.
Here is the full text of Tim Farron's speech to Conference being delivered at the moment: Liberal Democrats are good at lots of things. But the thing it seems that we're best at, is confounding expectations. We were expected to shy away from taking power, but we stepped up and we made a difference. We were expected to disappear after the 2015 election, but we bounced back, we are almost twice the size we were then, we've gained more council seats than every other party in this country put together. And I've being doing a bit of confounding expectations myself. ...
I am happy to give publicity to this community volunteering group Next litter picking – Saturday 24 September 11.00 am Dear All, How apt to send this email today when the lead story on Radio Merseyside is Litter dumping! So, this coming Saturday, the last of each month is our time for giving to the community. Thank you all for your continued support. I have said it before but it feels like the 'deep cleaning' is done and all we have to do is the surface litter now. Those who wish to partake we are meeting outside Lydiate Village Centre ...
Tue 20th
14:15
Conference speeches: Alistair Carmichael: Liberal Britain will follow this party once again
Here is Alistair Carmichael's speech to Conference in full: It is good to be back in Brighton. It has been quite a year since we all left Bournemouth after autumn conference last year. I remember the journey home. We had had a good conference. Membership was up and we had more new members at conference than I had ever known Glee Club had been as hot, tuneless and tasteless as I had ever known it. Tim had delivered a stonker of a leader's speech The mood was upbeat. But too be honest I remember thinking on that train pulling out ...
As part of the South Gloucestershire Discover Festival there will be two community family bike rides on Sunday 25 September at 11.00 am and 1.00 pm. The rides start from Yate Library and will cover a distance of approx 5 miles, taking about 1 hour to complete. Please bring your own bike and wear a helmet. The event is free but you'll need to register here for the 11.00 am event or here for the 1.00 pm event For more events please check out the Discover Festival website - there's something for everybody!
Liberal Democrats are launching a National Consultation exercise on the impact of Brexit on local communities. All Lib Dem parliamentary candidates will contact businesses, health and educational institutions and civil society organisations in their constituencies to discuss their Brexit concerns. Launching the initiative Dick Newby, Lib Dem Leader in the Lords, said: This Tory Brexit Government are clearly floundering as they try to get to grip with the multitude of difficulties that leaving the EU presents. While the Government thrashes about, we will be talking to ordinary people up and down the country to understand their concerns. Every sector of ...
Twitter RT @LoveMeLuLu22: if you can share the #trump photo you can help me raise awareness on the #FlintWaterCrisis #LittleMissFlint #Flint Twitter RT @hagalope: Monday Government is 'up Brexit creek without a paddle, canoe or map', says Nick Clegg - Mirror Online RT @WycombeLibDems: Government is 'up Brexit creek without a paddle, canoe or map', says Nick Clegg #ldconf... Campaigners demand investigation into G4S discrimination helpline contract | World news | The Guardian RT @DavidLammy: Human rights and equality organisations also opposed. G4S wholly unfit to run this service @libertyhq @TellMamaUK Twitter RT @CloveHitched: See that flag at the front? ...
[IMG: cpag-19sept16] I was one of the speakers at last night's fringe meeting – hosted by the Child Poverty Action Group and the Education Policy Institute – alongside Alison Garnham (CPAG's chief executive), former Lib Dem MP Jenny Willott and Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon. The topic was 'Turning the Tide 2020', and what's needed to stop the projected increases in child poverty during this parliament. Here's (more or less) what I said... Thank you to both the Child Poverty Action Group and the Education Policy Institute for convening this very timely debate. Timely because child poverty - ...
Before I embark on this rant I should make it clear that I am not deluded enough to ignore the fact that the Liberal Democrats are in trouble. We have just eight MPs, one MEP, one GLAM, one AM and five MSPs. We are at 8% in the opinion polls and are apparently grounded at that level. For all their splits, arguments and eccentricities (and they have more than most) UKIP remain ahead of us in the view of the public and are still being touted as a rising force. Whether that is proved right has yet to be seen. ...
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe as George Brandis, Attorney General, gets grilled.
I regularly attend meetings of the Bonnie Dundee group, the group that encourages improvements to the Dundee environment and helps local groups who keep Dundee's parks, open areas, streets and gardens in good shape. We have been pleased to have input from a staff representative from Dundee and Angus College whose horticulture students kindly agreed to undertake a project to improve the site at the back of the Overgate Centre. The project has gone well and the students have done a great job with a good floral display and new seating now provided - see below :
Whether you are physically in Brighton or are following what is happening from home, this is your place to talk about the public face of the Conference – in other words, all the debates and speeches that are going on in the main auditorium. Please use the comments below to add your reports on policy and constitutional debates or to draw readers' attention to ones in the pipeline. You can read the agenda in full, including the text of amendments, here. We will be running a similar thread each day, so please confine your comments today to what is actually ...
Notes from Holland The architecture of Amsterdam. (I'm going this weekend.) (tags: architecture netherlands )
Health, education, Europe. That's the combo which Tim Farron will set out as being at the heart of the Liberal Democrat message in his conference speech later today. Of course, regular readers will know how often the Lib Dem message has changed since the general election. The likely life span of this trio is however looking rather more promising than some. Europe is – post-referendum – very firmly established as a key Liberal Democrat issue, with a practical set of policy demands agreed by party conference this week. Education is, Tim Farron has just told us, his top priority and ...
