The Leicester Mercury reports that the Queen will be visiting Leicester Cathedral for the Maundy Thursday service on April 13:Leicester Cathedral announced today that Her Majesty, accompanied by Prince Philip, would be handing out Maundy Money to 91 men and 91 women during a service in the city. The tradition dates back to the year 600AD and each year the Queen visits a different cathedral. Leicester is the only one of the 42 Anglican cathedrals in England Her Majesty has not been to on a Maundy Thursday.Some will be miffed that Leicester has been made to wait so long, but ...
Second paragraph of third chapter of Five Go On A Strategy Away Day:'Yup!' said Dick.Second paragraph of third chapter of Five on Brexit Island:'I'm afraid so, Mummy,' said George. 'I'm for leaving Britain, and Julian's for remaining in it. You see, once they caught wind that I'd declared independence, the other three all demanded citizenship - Dick, Anne and Julian - and I gave citizenship to Timmy, of course, without him asking. It seems only fair enough, because they were all residing on the island when I declared independence. And, of course, I can't imagine Kirrin Island without them.[']These are ...
Words are life. Words make us different from the animals. Words are what make us the superior species on the planet. Our words allow us to feel, to fear and most importantly to love and inspire. My passion is words. But ...
Tue 31st
20:39
Lamb and Mulholland to abstain on Article 50 vote - what does this mean for the party?
In news which should surprise nobody, both Norman Lamb and Greg Mulholland have said today that they will be abstaining rather than voting against the Article 50 Bill. The three-line whip tells MPs to vote against if there is no referendum on the final deal with an option to remain in the EU. Greg Mulholland explained his decision to the Yorkshire Post: "The outcome of these negotiations is hugely important to the British economy... So I support there being a referendum on the terms of exit so the British people are the ones who decide what our relationship with these ...
Embed from Getty Images Yesterday, asking Boris Johnson a question about Trump's state visit, Dennis Skinner said: Will the Foreign Secretary for a moment try to recall, along with me, what it was like as I hid under the stairs when two fascist dictators, Mussolini and Hitler, rained bombs on towns and cities in Britain?In reply Johnson scoffed: I hesitate to say it, but the hon. Gentleman's memory is at fault if he thinks that Mussolini rained bombs on this country.But Skinner was right and Johnson was wrong. An article on Military History Now tells the story of Il Duce's ...
Tue 31st
19:58
Shropshire planning officers recommend Rocks Green supermarket for approval next week - they fear ap...
Planning officers have recommended that the application for a large supermarket off Dunn Cow Road is approved. They argue that although the scheme is a departure from the local plan, it will expand retail choice in the town and will not have a significant impact on the town centre. They say they will not be able to defend of any appeal and worry about the costs. The South Planning Committee will decide whether to award planning permission to the scheme next Tuesday. This article summarises the arguments planning officers have put forward in favour of the scheme in the committee ...
I always think the apogee of local party press work would be to get a local newspaper headline 'Liberal Democrats add new page to website', so at the risk of caricaturing myself...
[IMG: hornby-room-29-11-16-2] Anyone who has owned a Dinky Toy, Meccano set or a Hornby Trains model will have been playing with something that takes it's heritage from the late Frank Hornby. [IMG: rsz_hornby_11_12_2] He is probably the best known toy maker in the world and he lived for much of his life in Maghull at two houses on Station Road and later at what is now the sixth form block of Maricourt High School. [IMG: This photo shows an image of Frank Hornby as part of the logo for the Heritage Centre that the Frank Hornby Trust has created within ...
A Yorkshire Lib Dem MP has indicated he is willing to defy the party leadership in its plans to block Article 50, as he argues negotiations with the EU must be allowed to get underway. The Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland has disclosed that unlike party leader Tim Farron a second referendum on the final Brexit deal is not a red line for him, and he will not vote to oppose Government legislation... Coming up: the defining Parliamentary vote of this political generationThere's a double-danger for the Liberal Democrats in the Parliamentary vote promised by Theresa May on Brexit. ...
Congratulations to Lincoln City and Sutton United for reaching the 5th round of the FA Cup. However, part of me wants them to get beaten and not to score. The mighty Blyth Spartans are the last non-league team to score in the 5th round , in fact in a 5th round replay at St James' Park Newcastle. That honour is still held by Terry Johnson, one of the finest, and nicest, players to wear the green and white of the mighty Spartans !!
... for hot breakfast. We seem to have got into a bit of a rut with daughter, where it's either bacon OR sausages OR American pancakes. She doesn't like scrambled eggs, sadly. Anyway, I'd like to add some more things to my repertoire. What hot breakfasts do YOU eat? (FCC report later this evening for those anxiously awaiting it, btw) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Wow this sounds very worthy but potentially boring, but hey give it a chance its actually quite interesting. Here's a link to it:- www.westlancs.gov.uk/gicstrategy Yes I know, this is the kind of document so beloved by planning officers. But such documents do serve a wider purpose and this one is about the green infrastructure of West Lancashire which surrounds my Lydiate hometown on 3 sides. I have often thought it is odd that Lydiate's only land connection with Sefton Borough (to which it was allocated – some would say misappropriated – in 1974's local government reorganisation) is via a short ...
Tue 31st
17:29
Canadian Leader stands up to the bully next door as May is Selling England by the Pound
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38786656 As the rather sad Mrs. May went creeping around Trump for the odd crumb from his table the decent man next door to the USA who leads Canada was standing firmly against the politics of hate and division. As the leader of the supposedly free world takes us all into some very dark places indeed with our own appeasing Prime Minister tagging along it's great to see other world leaders like Justine Trudeau standing firm. Trouble is that Mrs. May is in an impossible bind, she needs to take whatever Trump is prepared to offer her in terms of ...
Non-fiction: 5 Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution, ed. Margarette Lincoln The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, by David W. Anthony Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, by Nicholas Ostler The Other Islam, by Stephen Schwartz The Geek Feminist Revolution, by Kameron Hurley Doctor Who, etc: 4 Short Trips: Farewells, ed. Jacqueline Rayner Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet, by Douglas Adams and James Goss Rip Tide, by Louise Cooper The Dead Men Diaries, ed. Paul Cornell Comics: 3 Jeremiah: Een Geweer in het Water, by Hermann ...
John, Lord Alderdice, who is conducting an independent inquiry into improving process and culture within the Liberal Democrats - focusing on race and ethnicity – has put out a further invitation for comments and responses on the issue. I am most grateful to the significant number of Party members, officials and others who have responded in writing or in confidential meetings, to my invitation to provide relevant experiences and views to help me form an accurate picture. I have also appreciated their thoughts and ideas about how to address issues that they have observed. Some have responded to the invitation ...
Before 2016, I had never been on a protest. I had been a bit dubious about their value and I still feel that, back then, they achieved very little. The Brexit vote however changed the environment in which we were living. Having lived through a number of decades of liberalisation and growing tolerance of and acceptance of diversity, after 23rd June, I felt the movement was starting to go into
Liberal Democrat MPs have tabled amendments to the Article 50 Bill demanding a people's vote is held on the final Brexit deal, that the government must commit to securing Britain's membership of the Single Market and that EU nationals living in the UK are guaranteed the right to remain. The first requires a referendum on the final deal, the alternative being to remain a member of the EU. This is the "reality v reality" referendum, as opposed to the "reality v fantasy" that we had. It doesn't address the question of whether Article 50 is unilaterally revokable – if it ...
What's this to do with? Well basically, it relates to the recent news that the Voyager Academy has been taken over by the Thomas Deacon Academy Education Trust. The academy had been run by the Cam Academy Trust. You may remember that the school had previously been placed in to special measures? It is currently rated as 'Requires [...]
Today, the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies has slated the government's plans for creating three million apprenticeships on the back of a £2.4 billion tax on business as, "a considerable risk to the efficient use of public money." The IFS is warning of an expensive blunder in the making. Government does not look like it is listening. Then we have the Home Affairs Select Committee calling much of the housing provided for refugees, "a disgrace." Add that piece of inhumane incompetence to the epidemics of violence and suicide in our prisons. Or how about the cries of anguish coming from ...
Rainbow Flags Flying At Town Halls I am pleased to announce that Rainbow flags will be flying at both Bootle and Southport Town Halls today (February 1) to mark the start of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) history month. Notices will be displayed at the Town Halls explaining why the flag is being flown for the day. LGBT History Month is a month-long annual observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. In 2017 the month looks at Citizenship, PSHE and Law to mark the 50th anniversary ...
I didn't join the Liberal Democrats in order (to use David Cameron's phrase) 'to bang on about Europe.' My main pre-occupation was building communities and quality public services. I have met colleagues in the party though for whom this was the big "thing" that brought them into politics and for whom any tinge of Euro-scepticism smelt of heresy; any suggestion that the European project was going off the rails was unspeakable back-sliding. This sensitivity always struck me as odd but as something to be aware of rather than to react to. Liberals have always been internationalist and for free trade, ...
Why there were two protests in Glasgow last night [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Tue 31st
09:46
Brexit and Trump are becoming synonymous for a lot of people. That's really bad news for Labour
The other day Nadhim Zahawi, the Iraq-born Tory MP for Stratford-Upon-Avon, tweeted about his sadness surrounding the Trump Ban and how it would (we assumed at the time) personally affect him. I retweeted Nadhim and was surprised at how many people came back with something along the lines of "That's what you get for supporting Brexit", directed at the Conservative. A lot of people – and growing – think of the vote to leave the EU and the election of Trump as being all but synonymous. It makes sense in some respects: the two votes happened reasonably close to one ...
Donald Trump has made a whirlwind start to his presidency, acting much as he did on campaign. This has provoked predictable moral outrage from liberals across the globe. This leaves me with foreboding. It will not stop Mr Trump, or the political movement he represents. As a Briton I feel a sense of deja-vu. It reminds ... Continue reading Moral outrage against Trump is distracting people from his incompetence →
The most interesting feature of the Welsh white paper on local government published today is the proposal to give 16 and 17 year olds the vote and the suggestion that councils can opt to hold their elections using the single transferable vote system if they wish. This is especially intriguing because the author of this white paper is a Labour Minister. I suspect that many of his colleagues are not very happy. The planned reforms would allow Councils to decide which voting system best reflects the needs of their local people and communities. Local Authorities will be able to use ...
From Sheena Wellington : Wednesday 1st February, 1.15pm (admission free) - Lunchtime Recital at the Wighton Heritage Centre. For their first Lunchtime Recital of 2017 Friends of Wighton are delighted to welcome Just3Folk! Just 3Folk (J3F) got together when they helped to start up a folk club called Sunday Sessions in Monifieth. The group: Liz Crawford, Maggie Douglas and Anne Hamilton share a common love of folk music and have been on an exciting musical journey over the past two years. The group has taken part in many Folk sessions in Tayside, Angus, and Fife, and are regular performers at ...
At a packed reception at the Town Hall we were celebrating our borough's success in the Britain in Bloom competition. There was a time, not so far distant, when the only entry we had was from Southport Town Centre. Last week I presenting certificates to acknowledge and thank the volunteers who support over thirty schemes. Southport is no longer alone there were brilliant projects from Birkdale, Ainsdale, Crosby and Waterloo, Litherland, Netherton and Bootle. Southport in Bloom exceeded expectations by coming out as overall national champions in the 'large seaside resort' category. But the great thing was that there were ...
A packed lecture theatre in St James's Square, London, was the setting for this year's Isaiah Berlin Lecture, hosted by Chatham House and introduced by Liberal International President, Dr Juli Minoves. Tickets had been swallowed up within three hours of becoming available in anticipation of a typically robust contribution from the recently appointed negotiator for the European Parliament, and Guy Verhofstadt didn't disappoint. Against a backdrop of unprecedented threats to the stability of the European Union, he set out his vision for the future of the political order in Europe. He believes that Europe is under a triple threat of ...
Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron MP has urged Theresa May not to "roll out the red carpet" for Donald Trump after he was invited to Britain on a State visit. As the government indicated it would ignore a huge petition calling for Mrs May to withdraw her invitation to Mr Trump, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "The government is ignoring millions of ordinary British people and their revulsion that Donald Trump will receive the red carpet treatment. [IMG: hero_theresatrump] "It is wrong for Theresa May to put The Queen in this position. People can see how desperate she is ...
To many it will be the unveiling of one of the worst-kept secrets in Cornish local politics, but after twenty years in or around local government I'm standing down at this May's elections. I've had the privilege of an extremely varied couple of decades, serving two stints on Wadebridge Town Council, four years on the [...]
Last Wednesday was the regular meeting of Bury Council's Cabinet, made up of the seven Cabinet members of the ruling Labour Group on the Council, together with the two opposition party leaders. The main item for discussion was the next stage of the Council's Review of Library provision. The Council has been consulting on Libraries for some time. Previously we have raised concerns that the consultation was fairly meaningless, as the questions being asked almost everyone could agree with! As probably most of us could have guessed, this earlier consultation was just the beginning, and actual proposals much worse. Bury ...
Councillors in Bury are to debate Bury pulling out of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF). The three Prestwich Liberal Democrat councillors have tabled the proposal, which will be discussed at the full Council meeting on Wednesday night (1 February 2017). Lib Dem Leader Councillor Tim Pickstone said: "At the moment Bury is signed up to a process which will destroy 20% of our green belt land, almost 50% in Prestwich and Whitefield – while the average across Greater Manchester is just 8%. This cannot be right for our area." The Liberal Democrats will propose Bury Council submits its own ...
Bury Council now offers residents the option to receive bills by email only. The Council's Chief Executive says: "Everyone who signs up for e bills helps the Council to save money which in turn helps us to protect services and jobs. It's quick and easy to do and is also good for the planet." Find out more and register for email only bills here. [IMG: screen-shot-2017-01-31-at-06-10-27]
Swallows and Amazons: The Syria connection Missed this at the time. Fascinating. (tags: books syria ) United Nations Committee Affirms Abortion As A Human Right Headline exaggerates, but important news. (tags: humanrights abortion ) Peter Capaldi confirms he'll leave Doctor Who at end of series 10 No big surprise. (tags: DoctorWho )
