Trains. I'm rather fond of them, fond enough to spend much of the day on them if given the opportunity. Ros is not so keen, unless there is a purpose. And so, day 3 started with a train ride to Lauterbrunnen, the other branch of the Berner Oberland Bahn. The train was packed with tourists evidently bound for the Jungfraujoch, as well as skiers heading up for some time on the slopes. There hasn't been any snow so far this winter, but it had been cold enough for the authorities to start up the snow cannons, and you could see ...
I said Wirksworth is full of characterful buildings and that I shall return one day. For the time being, this is what I came up with on Saturday. My favourite building was the Old Grammar School, a piece of early 19th-century gothic fantasy. You can now rent it as holiday accommodation.
The postscript from a letter sent by the Erewash Conservative Association in the late 1980s, asking supporters what their freedom was worth to them. The answer today would appear to be not very much. The post What is your freedom worth to you? appeared first on ten pence piece.
Embed from Getty Images Or did she? There was an extraordinary story on BBC East Midlands Today earlier this evening about the attempt to clear the name of Alice Wheeldon. The Derby Telegraph has the story: Exactly one hundred years ago, on Boxing Day 1916, a Government agent posing as a conscientious objector arrived on the doorstep of a Derby home. The combined house and secondhand shop was occupied by suffrage supporter and anti-war campaigner Alice Wheeldon and her family, and within a few months, the property, the family and Derby would be known worldwide in connection with an alleged ...
There is a significant opportunity for the Liberal Democrats in the Copeland Parliamentary by-election - if the party leaves aside its usual campaigning instincts.
Introducing Doctor Who - The Rescue... A poor orphaned waif with a forbidding guardian, waiting to see if their ship will ever come in. The sinister figure that terrorises her while claiming to be her protector. This is Doctor Who at its most Dickensian - set on an alien world four hundred years in the future, first on TV fifty-two years ago today. Time for New Year stress and resolution in this 1965 tale that's small but perfectly formed at the length of a 2017 episode. Maureen O'Brien debuts as the series' first 'new companion', comforted by William Hartnell's Doctor ...
Alongside the forthcoming new Head of Campaigns, 2017 is also seeing a new Head of Digital Content at Lib Dem HQ, Michael Wilkinson.
Does anyone know of a tool that will allow you to archive *someone else's* LiveJournal (ideally in an easily-editable format)? I had a LiveJournal myself years ago, but deleted it a long time back. However, I've been meaning for a ... Continue reading →
Everything else I found had already been brought over. I feel oddly sad, given that I hadn't even logged in to LJ in 2 years, and not posted there in 8. Ah well. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
"The year that has passed dealt three tremendous shocks to Britain's parliamentary system. Taken together, they constitute a quiet revolution: potentially the most significant recasting of how Britain is governed since the coming of universal suffrage. Understanding how this has happened, why it matters and what should be done about it is essential, if we are not to sleepwalk into new and potentially more dangerous forms of government in the year ahead." Robert Saunders on the lessons of 2016. "Hungary, my country, has in the past half-decade morphed from an exemplary post-Cold War democracy into a populist autocracy." Miklos Haraszti ...
Mon 2nd
17:13
Farage's legacy and continental populist laws put EU expats in UK in impossible quandary
Embed from Getty Images With Farage's legacy (Britain leaving an EU it never loved) and Trump's victory in the US (appointing Putin's friends on key White House and ministerial positions), the world is getting back to the "each for his own, beggar-thy-neighbour"-politics that were such a stunning success in bringing wealth to everybody in the 1930's. What the possible success in upcoming European elections of populist parties (many already being sponsored by Putin) will mean to European expats living in the UK (often being married to a British citizen) is becoming clear with the cases of a Dutch engineer/housewife and ...
Title: An Unlikely Alliance Rating: U Prompt: Tarot Card #22: the Three of Wands Era: Post-Doomsday, in the universe of Mickey, Rose, Pete and Jackie Spoilers: None that I can think of. Word Count: 1139 Notes: When this challenge was posted, I knew little of tarot (I now have my own deck and am learning fast and finding it fascinating), but I knew that a fair few members of my F-list knew about it, so I posted a "Help! What the hell do I do with the three of wands?" post. Somebody mentioned that one of this card's meanings can ...
... I am finally deleting all traces of myself from LJ. A ready reckoner for those uninformed about the situation can be found here, if you're at all interested. If you've had the urge to migrate here from LJ yourself, do comment below, especially if you're someone I know well. I made the move years ago, and while I do miss some aspects of LJ, there's loads that's better here, I promise. The other thing you'll notice is that I'm migrating stuff over which I wrote, so there's going to be a few posts in the next hour or so. ...
J. Patrick Boyer's history of the group at the heart of the Canadian Progressive Conservative Party's campaigning for many years, The Big Blue Machine, is one of those books whose existence is more valuable than a reading of it.
2016 has been one of the worst years for race equality which I have lived through in the UK. It is quite frankly a stain on our country's record which every liberal, whether a member of the Liberal Democrats or not, would not wish to see repeated ever. It is up to us to create a better future, up to each of us personally. We need our political parties to be fit for purpose for race equality campaigners of all backgrounds. Imagine my surprise when I read Roy Lilley's words below on the NHS (in an email from nhsmanagers.net) and ...
We've been in Switzerland for the past four days, taking a break to recharge the batteries after the excitement of Christmas. Based in a very nice hotel in Interlaken, the Grand Hotel Beau Rivage, we've taken the train into the mountains (Grindlewald, Kleine Schiedegg) and along the lake to Brienz, and had a bit of pampering in the spa. Our journey here was, given the chaos we found at London City Airport, remarkably straightforward. Whilst our scheduled flight was delayed, the early morning flight was so late that we were able to be transferred onto it, putting us pretty much ...
Embed from Getty Images Pursuit of electoral reform was once a defining policy of the Lib Dems, and it remains one of the key reasons why I am a member of the party. But the disastrous AV referendum in 2011 seems to have kicked the issue into the long grass. I have the same hangups about that referendum as many other Lib Dems do. Labour's support was non-existent; the Murdoch press spread lies; and the vote was used as a way of punishing Nick Clegg. In short – the establishment pulled rank. One popular observation about electoral reform is that ...
Action Fraud, UK's national fraud reporting centre, has warned of new email and letter phishing attacks that can put passwords, bank account details and other personal information at risk. Two email scams: supposedly from the Metrpolitan Police, entitled "Crime prevention advice and notice of intended prosecution" One letter scam supposedly from Lloyds Bank about "Unusual activity on your account"Click here for more details on these scams and important information on how to protect you and others from becoming a victim of this fraud crime.
Embed from Getty Images Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is nothing about 2016 that wasn't inevitable. Nothing that hadn't been brewing for years. Whether you're looking at Brexit, Trump or 'untimely' celebrity deaths. 2016 is the year things caught up with us – it became a melting pot for events we had arguably been dodging It may not be a fashionable opinion but as "Changes" by Bowie came on to my iPhone this morning and I remembered that night at New Slang in Kingston in January with friends where we belted out his lyrics thinking ...
[IMG: day-9-christmas] On the ninth day of Christmas, ALDC gave to me... PagePlus for twenty pounds and 37p. PagePlus is the go to design and print tool for Liberal Democrat campaigners. Start 2017 the right way: download a discounted version of PagePlus and some ALDC templates... and start playing about. You'll soon pick up the skills and [...]
The Liverpool Echo has the story on is web site – see link above What a remarkable story – well worth a read of the article on the Echo web site.
[IMG: Bootle Townscape] Bootle Townscape Click on the photos to enlarge them The Liverpool Echo has both the stories on its web site – see links above It is somewhat ironic that on the same day I found a very negative and a potentially very positive story on the Echo web site about the town I have worked in all my adult life. [IMG: Stanley Road Bootle] There can be no doubt that Bootle is presently going through some tough times indeed not least because of the recent withdrawal of retail giant M&S and the impending removal of ...
What would Britain look like in 2030, if we Lib Dems had our way? That is the challenge set by Your Liberal Britain. Before Christmas Sal Brinton reminded us in an email: If we do this well, we'll not only inspire manifestos and campaigns for years to come, but we'll also inspire the people in this country who are looking for leadership through difficult times. Your ideas could help give them that leadership. The authors of the winning entries will be invited to join Your Liberal Britain's writing group, who'll work together to take a shared vision to Conference in ...
Mon 2nd
09:10
How am I doing so far? Reviewing my premiership predictions midway (and the dangers of making predic...
Back in August, in those carefree days before we knew America could elect Trump, I had a stab at how the premiership football season ahead would pan out. Given Leicester City had won the previous year after starting the season 5000/1 to do so, this seemed a brave thing for anyone to do. I was inspired in this by the terrible predictions I was reading from mainstream outlets, mostly from ex-footballers who should really have known better. Almost all of them picked Manchester United to win the league when it was abundantly clear to me that this was not going ...
People are being urged to recycle Christmas cards and wrapping paper to help plant trees across the UK. A scheme run by the Woodland Trust saw 600 million cards recycled in recent years and stores including Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's have set up similar projects. Recycling boxes will be in stores throughout January (from today), with a tree to be planted for every 1 000 cards recycled. The M&S stores in Murraygate and at the Gallagher Retail Park are participating and you can read more about the scheme here.
The Liberal Democrat Environment Group is now 40 years old. It was formed in 1977 and at the time was considered beyond fringe and radical by the mainstream political parties. Lib Dems love environmental policies.
Self-selecting newspaper polls do NOT show Britain has turned against Brexit A dose of reality. (tags: brexit ukpolitics ) 2017 is not just another prime number Lots of oddities. (tags: mathematics ) The 2017 elections to watch for progress on gender equality Rick writes. (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality elections )
We are in the second day of 2017, but the fourth day of the UK Government's controversial Investigatory Powers Act being in force. As the Independent reports,the measure places Britain under some of the widest-ranging spying powers ever seen. It includes the ability to collect the browsing records of everyone in the country and have them read by authorities as diverse as the Food Standards Agency and the Department for Work and Pensions as well as new powers to gather and retain data on citizens, and new ways to force technology companies and others to hand over the data that ...
