After last week's spectacular pair of gains, this week saw just one council by-election, on Bromsgrove Council (Worcestershire), but no Liberal Democrat candidate. One council by-election tonight: a Conservative defence. We'll have the result here when we get it: https://t.co/Q1lXVZh7PI pic.twitter.com/TSFDlLefdj — Britain Elects (@britainelects) January 19, 2017
[View the story "My Twitter - the #Brexit edition" on Storify]
Conservative seat. Cause: Disqualification. LD Campaign Manager: Philip Broadbank 01423 888377. LD Agent: Bill Hoult 01423 867804.
Conservative seat. Cause: resignation. LD candidate: Antony Hook.
Finally, we have a Lib Dem on Question Time. Here's this week's full #bbcqt panel. Join us tonight at 10.45pm on BBC One pic.twitter.com/bJgcxWLEHG — BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) January 19, 2017 Alistair will, I'm sure, seek to highlight the general uselessness of the annexe to the Government led by Jeremy Corbyn. If it weren't for Alistair, I'd be tempted not to watch tonight. The smug apologism for Trump that Piers Morgan represents is bad enough, but Chris Grayling and Emily Thornberry can usually be guaranteed to annoy me. It is good that our unique position on Brexit is going ...
Cambridge City councillor Rod Cantrill was selected in a ballot of all members of the Liberal Democrats living in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough areas.
This film, made for the BBC in an era when nature dramas prided themselves on being unsentimental, is based on book of the same name by T..H. White. You may have heard of it through Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk. White's words are spoken by Duncan Carse, who also plays the falconer and has very much the look of White. You can read a little more about the film on a website devoted to the work of Carey Blyton. Blyton, who was the nephew of Enid Blyton and died in 2002, wrote the music. He also prepared Benjamin Britten's ...
Liverpool Town Hall which hosted the January Council meeting where I asked 7 questions Here are the answers to the 7 questions I asked at the Council on 18th January. You can decide for yourself whether or not they were ... Continue reading →
From Politics Home: Labour is planning to hold the Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central by-elections on the same day next month ... Senior party sources say the crunch polls are "likely" to take place on 23 February, although a final decision has yet to be made. A formal announcement could take place as early as tomorrow.Labour's presss briefing is so chaotic that this story could well be denied in the morning. But short by-election campaigns must make sense for Labour. It's not as if prolonged exposure to the media and the voters is going to do them any favours at the ...
The Tern Inn on Heron Way and the associated car park, the subject of a planning application to demolish the pub and build 28 flats on the site, has now been declared an "Asset of Community Value". Dodington Parish Council and the Birds Residents Group applied for the ACV status so that if the landowner decides to sell, the community will have six months to put a bid together. The ACV will be recorded at the Land Registry, but the landowner can appeal against the ACV decision.
I don't believe that I remember the Presidency of George H.W. Bush. I was 10 and a bit when he lost the 1992 election and handed over the Presidency the following January to Bill Clinton. Before the World Became Important It's odd but 1992 was a year when I seemed to become aware of a world outside of my own happy bubble at Hungerford Farm, Loveston in south Pembrokeshire. I became aware of football (and 25 years later am still saddled with being an Aston Villa fan). I became aware of F1 and delighted in roaring home Nigel Mansell to ...
Second paragraph of third story ("The Other Foot") In her kitchen Hattie Johnson covered the boiling soup, wiped her fingers on a cloth, and walked carefully to the back porch. The mid-point of the century was an extraordinary moment of creativity for Ray Bradbury. One of these stories was published in 1947, another in 1948 and the rest in 1949, 1950 and 1951. You can see his genius in applying the writing style of the mainstream to sf tropes - the end of the world, Mars, alien contact. He was ahead of his time as well: the very first story ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-38678629 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above Now this is an interesting story and it shows how deep the cuts in local government funding have gone. Whether Surrey County Council's Tory rulers will follow through with this significant rise remains to be seen though. Locally the elected Labour Mayor of Liverpool was talking about a big hike in Council tax a few weeks ago only to back off when the unpopularity of it became apparent. BUT it is clear to all of us that social care for the elderly across England is slowly ...
Cambridge City Councillor Rod Cantrill has been chosen as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of Cambridgeshire. From the Ely Standard: Cllr Cantrill, who has lived in Cambridgeshire for over 30 years, has a background in finance. He has run his own financial consulting business since 2003 and was first elected as a city councillor in 2004. In June's EU referendum he was a key figure in a leading local cross-party Remain campaign working with Labour, Conservative and Green campaigners to fight for what he believed was best for our county and our country. He said: "Our area has many ...
The European Parliament today voted on a report in response to the European Commission's proposal for a European Social Pillar. The ALDE Group will use the Parliament's contribution to launch a broader reflection to propose a new vision for a social Europe. Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group leader: "There is no doubt about the need for ... Continue reading ALDE To Develop New Vision For 'A Social Europe'
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and Jo Barton are holding their next advice centre in Churchtownn We will be at BoxTree Kitchen for Queenscourt café, Manor Road/Cambridge Road, roundabout, from 10:30 to 11.30am on Thursday 26th January. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We alo hold a monthly advice centre in Crossens, at St John's School, Rufford Road, Crossens every month (except August) on the second Saturday of the month from 11:00 am to 12:00.
Despite all the sugar-coating in her speech, the "Hard Brexit" announced by prime minister May didn't go down well with Dutch businesses, many of whom have done business with Britain for decades. The combination of the threats uttered alongside the Hard Brexit option, and a series of recent stories in Dutch newspapers about extradition letters being sent to Dutch housewives by Tory immigration ministers, seriously changed the way many UK-loving Dutch think about being in Britain, and British policy attitudes. That point was today brought home to me, when I met a friend whose family had been visiting the Lake ...
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Rennie says SNP Government must put more into mental health, the police and helping disadvantaged ki...
It's time for the Scottish Parliament to debate the Government's budget plans for the coming year. It's particularly interesting this year as the SNP no longer has a majority and must secure the backing, or at least the abstention, of others in order for the budget to pass. Willie Rennie has written to Derek Mackay, the SNP's Finance Minister, to set out the changes that the Liberal Democrats wish to see before they could consider supporting the budget. It will come as no surprise to anyone that he is sticking to the priorities we outlined in our manifesto for the ...
I've listened to two speeches in the last few days. One motivated me to redouble my efforts to support a cause I've long supported. The other left me depressed and worried about the future direction of our country. It was a rather dry lecture from a philosopher that gave me hope. It was the Prime [...]
Too often, success in accessing our top professions is down to the lucky accident of birth. Too often, structural inequalities mean that young children find themselves imprisoned on an inescapable path. By the age of five, there is a clear academic attainment gap between children from rich and poor families. This increases throughout school. The benefits of being born to wealthy parents do not just accrue to the talented - in fact, less-able, better-off kids are 35% more likely to become high earners than bright poor youngsters. The resultant domination of our top professions like medicine, law, finance and the ...
Happy new Year! The most recent meeting of the Federal Policy Committee took place on 18th January 2016 in Portcullis House, Westminster. This was a very well attended meeting indeed, it being the first of a new cycle of Federal Policy Committee meetings. This committee has a three-year term. We welcomed a large number of new members the committee. There had been a substantial change in committee membership following the elections. They included Elizabeth Jewkes, Alisdair McGregor, Chris White, Paul Tilsley, Qurban Hussain, Christine Chueng, Jim Williams, Sally Burnell, Catherine Royce, David Weston, Susan Juned, Jonny Oates, Tony Greaves, Kamran ...
During yesterday's debate in the European Parliament, ALDE Members urged the Presidents of the three European institutions to give an official reaction to Trump's EU provocations. Verhofstadt: "Can you imagine the US administration failing to react, if foreign leaders suggested that the US would fall apart? It is high time we send out an official ... Continue reading ALDE Tell EU Presidents: 'React To Trump'
The Scottish Liberal Democrat have today published their formal budget submission to the Finance Secretary. In a letter to Mr Mackay, party leader Willie Rennie sets out substantial changes to the SNP's draft budget that are needed to support the economy and underpin the NHS. The changes to the budget being sought by the Liberal ... Continue reading 'Substantial' Changes to Budget Needed, says Rennie
The Ludlow Nut Company is one of Ludlow's many success stories. It is now planning to move from the Eco Park. The company was set up by Helen and Bob Graham in 2004. It's gone from strength to strength and is outgrowing its Eco Park premises. An application has been submitted for a new unit on the vacant plot on the Foldgate Lane retail area, between Pets at Home and the Hagley Place Care Home. This will be a low impact development, which suits its position adjacent to a care home. Exterior lighting will be limited. This is welcome as ...
The Prime Minister may argue that one of the benefits of leaving the single market is that we will be able to have better control of our borders but she will soon discover that the UK cannot have its cake and eat it. Brexiteers are seeking to reassure us that once we leave the EU, there will be many countries seeking to do a trade deal with the UK. I have already argued that in the case of the USA there are substantial downsides to such a deal both in terms of the quality of goods and food we may ...
Residents have pointed out to me that the white and yellow lining (including the yellow box markings) at the City Road/Logie Street junction are badly worn. I have therefore asked the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership to have these refreshed.
Sorry it's a letting off steam post. We've got to the stage where aggressive, nasty behaviour abounds and people can be attacked for being nice. The Gary Lineaker débâcle a few weeks ago, where he was savaged for being a nice, compassionate guy a while back was a low point for me. Here's my theory: [...]
First of all, I can barely watch PMQs any longer, so depressing is it as a spectacle. It feels as if you could be watching the final days of Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of the western Roman Empire – far from May and Corbyn making me think that a new dawn for Britain is just around the corner, I feel like we're at the end of British history. Hopefully said history will prove me wrong in the fullness of time. God, Corbyn was lame yesterday in the chamber, wasn't he? I mean, seriously, how can any of the hangers-on ...
Tearing Up Forty Years' Work John Bruton on Brexit and Ireland. (tags: ireland eu brexit ) Africa's largest iron-ore deposit has tainted all who have touched it A tale of corruption and exploitation. (tags: economics )
