I've blogged before about how successful the Liberal Democrat membership incentive scheme has been both at encouraging local parties to do more membership recruitment and retention work and also at distributing funds into grassroots organisation and campaigning. So successful, indeed, that's extending it formed one part of my plan for rebuilding the party. It's great news, therefore, that details of the 2017 extension of the scheme have just come out and they are the same as before, covering the whole federal party: Net growth of between 1 and 10 members in a quarter will entitle your local party to receive ...
I've long fought shy of the term 'feminist'. On the occasions I was asked if I was one, I'd brush it aside: "I don't want to be one of those try-hard guys who uses the label as bragging rights." There was some truth to that. There's also some truth that I find it a bit presumptuous to say "I'm a feminist." (Why should anyone care?) But probably the biggest single reason has been that, at least until relatively recently, I wasn't a feminist. At least, not explicitly. If I was anything, I guess I was an implicit feminist. I believed ...
Embed from Getty Images The plan to build a new town called Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire was agreed on 23 January 1967 - that is, 50 years ago. Some will tell you that the name was plucked out of the air, but there always was a village of Milton Keynes. Here is J.H.B. Peel writing in his Buckinghamshire Footpaths (1949): In Broughton you turn rightward along a lane into Milton Keynes, as fine a small English village as you are likely to encounter in these parts, or, for that matter, in any other parts. Milton Keynes is a homely place. ...
Another day in the company of Rutland's most celebrated peer. Tuesday The days between Christmas and the year's end are ones for hunkering down in the warm. I don't know what the weather has been like where you are, but here in Rutland we always have a white Christmas. In some years the wolves are driven down from the North of Rutland by the hard weather and the cottages in the village bar their shutters. It is then that the secret passage that leads from the Hall to the cellar of the Bonkers' Arms comes into its own. This afternoon ...
Only six days after the funeral of former Maghull and Sefton Councillor Jim Byrne we had another one this time for Charles 'Uncle Albert' Walker, also a former Maghull Town Councillor, today. [IMG: punch-bowl-3] This was my personal tribute to Charles which his family asked me to contribute to his funeral service. Uncle Albert I first met Uncle Albert, then known of course as Charles Walker, when he was in his early 70's. He came over as a really nice chap but little did I know how our friendship would develop over the next 20+ years and that he would ...
Embed from Getty Images In 1969 in the middle of a US countryside pasture they organized a small music festival called Woodstock. The organizers (having lined up the "fine fleur" of the pop music in those days) counted on 200,000 visitors max. As the later song about that legendary festival attests, it were much more: "By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong". The same thing happened with the Women's March on Washington, as older demonstrators noted. Dutch television news, in an overview of 'Women's March' -demonstrations in American cities, even showed a massive demonstration ...
What's this to do with? Last year, the housing charity Shelter claimed that there were 600 homeless people living in Peterborough. You might also remember reading the reports in the Peterborough Telegraph, about the increase in homelessness cases being dealt with by the City Council, which had seen families moved into the Travelodge? The knee [...]
Mon 23rd
15:55
Parliamentary committee calls for public funding to be linked to political party diversity
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee has published a report including a call for state funding of political parties to be linked to their progress in improving their own diversity. As the Unlock Democracy blog on the report explains: The committee recognises the crucial responsibility that political parties have in delivering greater gender balance in parliament. It is political parties, not voters, that determine who stands for elections. Increasing the number of women candidates is therefore an essential first step. Until parties both take seriously and act on their responsibility to increase the representation of women, and diversity ...
Embed from Getty Images We have two by-elections to fight within five weeks, so this is urgent. It was bad enough that Prime Minister May declared on January 17th her intention for Britain to leave the single market and make a definite break with the EU. But it was also made clear subsequently that, when the negotiations on terms of leaving are completed, the options she intends to put to Parliament will be to either accept them, or reject them and leave without a deal. The option of rejecting the deal, but also deciding to remain in the EU, will ...
Embed from Getty Images Mathematics seems to be the most objective, least easily manipulated form of human knowledge. Consequently it can be considered an essential tool for the assessment of political performance. Here are some mathematical metrics applied to Mr Obama's presidential performance in military aspects of what is usually labelled Foreign Policy. However, it is always needful to bear in mind the inevitable effects of military Foreign Policy on domestic policies. Security and spending, including debt charges, are always affected. Mr Obama has spent annual average of $653.6 billion on US military spending. This beats the previous post war ...
Even when the US president was a relatively decent chap, such as Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter, Clinton (in public) and Obama, the British establishment's desperate attempts to claim a "special relationship" with the US was a humiliating embarrassment. Our pretence was successfully mocked as far back as the 1960s by Peter Cook in his wonderful "Beyond the Fringe" take-off of Harold Macmillan. I can't remember the exact words but, referring, Britain's attempts to retain relevence by offering to be an "honest broker" between the US and the then USSR it went something like: "I chaffed him by saying that no nation ...
The following piece I penned for our weekly Digital Inspirational email at Blue Rubicon. Do sign up if you'd like such stories in your inbox every week. During 2016 it became fashionable to label the year as one of the worst ever. But here's some further bad news: people got even worse at setting good passwords. New data from Keeper Security shows that bad habits spread even wider, with 123456 continuing to dominate as the most popular password. It's also pretty hopeless as a password, as even the most novice of hackers knows to try out such obvious picks (and ...
Theresa May is doubtless feeling very pleased with herself that she will be the first European political leader to meet US President Donald Trump. Ahead of this encounter officials have let it be known that one thing the two are keen to promote is a greater exchange of US and UK workers. Quite apart from [...]
Amidst Trump's inauguration, it may have escaped some of your attentions that there was a meeting of far-right European leaders, hosted by Alternative fur Deutschland in the Rhineland city of Korblenz. Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen, the whole far-right gang were there at a conference, open to all the public. They gave speeches and posed for selfies with one another. Nigel Farage was otherwise engaged in the US or he would have no doubt shown up too. There are two really significant things about the Koblenz meeting. One, this is very unusual behaviour for the European far-right. Generally, the leaders ...
Mon 23rd
11:29
LibLink: Tim Farron writes "May's Brexit intentions will betray the values promoted by Churchill"
Tim Farron has written an article in The New European. He starts: If 2016 felt like a never-ending cycle of shocks and surprises, then 2017 already shows no sign of relenting. ... I, like all other 'Remoaners', get constantly criticised for being too negative about the prospects of Brexit Britain. Yet right now, it is not my confidence in the government's direction that is significant, it is the markets, displayed so clearly in the pound slumping to a fresh 31-year low on Monday. The prompt for this had been the impending sense of gloom in anticipation of Theresa May's Brexit ...
The Department for Education has announced that Yate International Academy will be "re-brokered" into the Greenshaw Learning Trust, with the changeover happening no later than September 2017. You can read more here. Winterbourne International Academy will remain the responsibility of The Ridings' Federation Academy Trust, who, with the support of The Olympus Academy Trust and Castle School Education Trust, will take responsibility for responding to the issues identified by the Department, EFA and Ofsted.
Embed from Getty Images As we know, on Friday Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States. This was in a carefully choreographed handover of power, laid down by the Founding Fathers of the nation a couple of centuries ago. This is a country of 319 million people with a GDP per capita (PPP) of $53,750. Trump was elected in a process which took two years in total. Controversial but smooth. Just a few hours before, election winner Adama Barrow was sworn in as President of The Gambia, one of Africa's smallest states. It is smaller, in land ...
After my last post, expecting Ward 2 at Shotley Hospital to re-open in February after repair work is completed in January, I went away on holiday. I was therefore very disappointed to come back to a newspaper article in which a Foundation Trust spokesperson failed to confirm this, but was reported as saying the trust position was that "all options would be considered once the work is complete." I therefore took the opportunity to pursue this again at Health Scrutiny on Friday. It was confirmed to me again that the ward will re-open, that the closure is temporary, but a ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats may have been reduced to just one Assembly Member but that has not stopped us delivering a number of items from our 2016 manifesto. As the Western Mail reports, Welsh Education Secretary Kirsty Williams today delivered on one of our key pledges when she announced a new £36m fund to reduce infant class sizes and raise standards. The money, consisting of revenue and capital funding, will be invested over the next four years up until 2021 and will target classes, starting with the largest ones, where teaching and learning need to improve and where there are ...
"I cannot tell a lie, Father, but alternative facts say I did not damage the cherry tree."
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 23 JANUARY 2017 Blackness Road/Glamis Road - temporary traffic lights for 2 weeks for gas main renewal. Nethergate (West Marketgait to South Tay Street) - closed on Sunday 29 January for water main installation works. Forthcoming Roadworks Greenmarket - prohibition of right turn into South Marketgait on Thursday 2 February from 9.00pm 6.00am for BT cabling works. Nethergate (eastbound from South Tay Street to West Marketgait) - closed on Thursday 2 February from 9.00pm 6.00am for BT cabling works.
Trump wages war against the media as demonstrators protest his presidency Excellent fact-checking here. (tags: uspolitics ) Eternal gratitude for Russia's principled stand Moscow's reaction to the Cyprus coverage of @Politicoeurope's article. (tags: ) Trump's Lies vs. Your Brain Lies often win even if debunked. (tags: uspolitics psychology )
