The government is failing to honour the promises made by Brexit campaigners during the European referendum campaign.
We had a caravan holiday at Winchelsea Beach in 1967 (the Summer of Love) when I was seven. I remember the train from Ashford to Rye and that there were people collecting signatures to keep the line open. Luckily, they succeeded. Anyway, this is another banter-rich video from Londonist.
This weekend, I was finally happy that I'd managed to implement a reasonable temperature and humidity project as well as a motion detecting camera for my Raspberry Pi. I decided to invest £19 in a ModMyPi camera box to consolidate them onto my Pi 3. It arrived today, and after an evening's fun this is the result. Lid open for ... The post Raspberry Pi – camera box appeared first on ten pence piece.
BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award, but please don't try this at home kids.
Last week I gave a lecture to a small audience of post-graduate students at Heriot-Watt's Institute of Petroleum Engineering. The topic was on an obscure branch of geophysics (known as borehole seismic) and the life of a oilfield service hand. It is not my intent to write upon the topic here, you will be glad to learn. While researching what is effectively personal history, I really found the limits of both my own records and that of the Internet. The workhorse of Western Atlas for borehole seismic work was a tool system called an MRL - Multi-Level Receivers. It simply ...
Tim Farron was on Sky News this evening just before MPs voted for the final time on the Article 50 Bill before it goes to the Lords. He could not conceal his anger at the Tory and Labour MPs who had simply given the Government carte blanche to pursue a hard Brexit that "wasn't on the ballot paper." He called those MPs who had defied the Tory and Labour whips noble and suggested that history would be kind to them. "It's a very dark day" @timfarron reacts to likelihood of third reading of Brexit bill passing with no amendments https://t.co/Ny1WmUVjjI ...
I am writing to notify you of the forthcoming Highways Maintenance works due to take place on Sandpit Lane, St Albans. The first part of this scheme is on-going under traffic signals, however, the works requiring road closures will take place on Monday 13th February and are programmed to take approximately 5 Days to complete. [...]
Could we have any more by-elections of late? Witney, Richmond Park, Sleaford & North Hykeham, Copeland and now Stoke-on-Trent Central. It's certainly fair to say that the range of constituencies and the differing geographical demographics will give a good insight into statistical analysis of political opinion – like an on-going live poll. But some by-elections perform specific functions, have a bespoke purpose and achieve singular status and significance. In the legend of the by-election wins of the 1990's Ribble Valley ended the Poll Tax, Eastbourne saw the return of the Liberal Democrats to winning form, Christchurch ended full rate VAT ...
Spontaneous applause broke out during the Holocaust Memorial service in Southport last week after the Imam of Southport Mosque, Soyful Alam, had spoken. There were extraordinarily powerful and moving presentations during the afternoon including one from Rabbi Ariel Abel who told the congregation that he had recently discovered the details of how the genocide had directly impacted on his family. Soyful Alam spoke of his despair at our failure to learn the lessons of the holocaust. The world stands aside and fails to act. It is hard to find hope when night after night we see images of genocide and ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] The Liberal Democrats have written to the Cabinet Secretary demanding the government publish details of the alleged "Memorandum of Understanding' with Surrey County Council to call off its referendum on raising council tax to pay for social care. The claim at Prime Minister's Questions that a secretive deal was reached between Surrey County Council and the government comes [...]
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] The Fawcett Society and LGIU are running a year-long commission into the under-representation of women on councils: only 32% of councillors and 25% of local government chief executives are women. The next open evidence session is at 1.00pm on Tuesday 21 February at Camden Town Hall and it will look at the lack of women at [...]
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] The Liberal Democrats have uncovered three glaring omissions in the Government's Housing White Paper, including no mention of the one million homes target, no new funding for house-building and no decision on the future of council homes. They have also highlighted six U-turns by the Conservative government on housing over the last two years. Liberal [...]
Party President Sal Brinton has been to Copeland to campaign with our by-election candidate Rebecca Hanson. They met with local health workers to hear about their concerns. From the News and Star: Mrs Hanson said that the meeting - held at Keswick's Quaker Meeting House – also allowed the health leaders to truthfully express their own opinions on the situation in Copeland. They don't get heard on any of this because they're suffocated with people from elsewhere trying to impose structural change on them that won't work and won't make any sense in any way," she added. "I'd created sessions ...
St John Ambulance are looking for volunteers to join their team of First Aiders. You will be trained to a high standard to provide first aid treatment to patients at events covered by St John Ambulance in the community, at concerts, sports events etc. at local, regional and national level. No previous training is required - it will all be provided - they just look for a desire to help people and the readiness to deal with situations that can be distressing. Click here for more details - the closing date is 28/02/2017 and interviews will be held on 08/03/2017. ...
The opportunity to use data to improve health and social care is being hampered by a lack of personnel with skills in data science Public institutions such as the National Health Service increasingly want—and are expected—to base their actions on nationally agreed standards, rather than anecdote. The collection and analysis of data, when done responsibly and in a trusted manner, has the potential to improve treatment and improve the social and economic value of healthcare. However, the goal of using data to improve the NHS and social care is hampered by a talent gap - a lack of personnel with ...
Wed 8th
14:55
Let the trumpets sound, the banners fly, Federal International Relations Committee has met...
The Federal International Relations Committee held its inaugural meeting in central London on 28 January which, for those of us living beyond the M25, meant a rather early start, albeit for a good cause. And we had much to do, not all of it entirely political. For, with any new body comes a panoply of administration which, although rather dull, is essential to making sure that, when decisions are taken, they are valid. We had, fortunately, elected a Chair in advance, as only one of the directly elected members, Robert Woodthorpe Browne, applied for the post. Standing Orders have been ...
Extra money for Welsh schools is great, but the Pupil Deprivation Grant doesn't seem to be all it is cracked up to be. It targets those on free school meals, the rationale being that they are, typically, more likely to need additional learning support. Whilst I'm pragmatic enough to accept that its the best gauge we have for deprivation, it is the inflexibility in how the budget can be used that concerns me. Equipment bought for FSM pupils, books and IT for instance, can ultimately be accessed by all pupils in a school, but any extra tuition or supplementary teaching ...
Ever wondered where Lydiate's footpaths will take you? Well have a look at this map of the Civil Parish of Lydiate (Parish Boundary not shown) with all the public rights of way detailed on it:- [IMG: lpc-rights-of-way-map-r] Click on the map to enlarge it You will notice along the edges of the map that the footpaths have differing numbers and prefixes. This is because the paths cross into neighbouring Civil Parishes in Lancashire i.e. ALT = Altcar, DOW = Down Holland and AUG = Aughton. The map is from a colour pamphlet produced by Sefton Council which details walks you ...
I still vividly recall seeing "Pulp Fiction" for the first time in the cinema. I was 21 years old and had walked in there with high expectations; I exited with my head spinning, thinking I'd seen one of the greatest movies of all time. I say this as a preface to make note of the fact that I was a huge, early fan of Tarantino and as a result I have wanted to like every subsequent film of his – often to be faced with the unpleasant fact that I didn't enjoy his latest offering. "Jackie Brown" took some getting ...
As I woke up from my third night on the streets, I started to feel it. Sleep deprivation had kicked in, so the word didn't come to me immediately and it still hasn't as I start to write this article at home in the warm. Feeling unable to move my mouth to speak properly or even bring to mind the right words wasn't a side effect I'd imagined. Stretching in a vain attempt to rid my bones of the deepest imaginable chill, I was sure about one thing: I was in a very different position to the other people who ...
Wed 8th
11:56
Spot on Sarah Olney – Saying things that many other MP's are thinking whilst they still plough...
If this young woman, who is new to both politics and Parliament, can see so clearly what this whole Brexit issue is about how come some many Tory and Labour MP's can't?
I'm sure you'll have noticed how well we've been doing in local by-elections, and with your support, we can do better still. In May 2016, we secured a net gain of 45 councillors. We can do even better this year, by helping scores of our enthusiastic and hard-working campaigners get across the winning line. We want to back an additional 50 wards we are fighting to win this May. To do this we need to raise £15,000. Every year we support seats with cash grants from G8 or our Fighting Fund. Our stunning win in Sunderland from less than 4% ...
As councillors in the Whickham area, we've been contacted by quite a few people who are concerned about the work taking place in Chase Park. Gateshead Council has a proposal to sell off the old stable block and depot area and those who have been in touch with us are concerned that the housing development is now taking place. We can assure you that that is not the case. The proposal to declare
[IMG: year-of-campaigning-web-image] For Liberal Democrat campaigners 'Working Hard All Year Round' is so much more than a slogan; it is how activists, candidates and councillors are hitting doorsteps, making calls and delivering Focus leaflets whatever the weather. Throughout 2017, we will be providing you with a few of our tips to help you get the most from [...]
Much of the coverage of the new law pardoning thousands of gay men for historic convictions became law last week. The Lib Dem peer who fought for this for years, John Sharkey, has written for Pink News about why this was such an important issue for him. He started with an account of how homosexual acts became a crime in the first place – almost casually. On 6 August 1885, late at night in the Commons debate on the Criminal Law Amendment Act, Henry Labouchère suddenly produced an amendment to the Bill before the House. This amendment criminalised homosexual acts. ...
[IMG: Wales header] We're delighted to release our first bilingual templates for use in Wales. Along with other support, this is part of our commitment to improving support for Welsh members. We are also providing the Welsh Election Law Helpline for all teams in Wales - ALDC members and non-members alike. The first batch includes a template calling [...]
The late Jo Cox who is being remembered by the development of the 'Jo Cox Trust' to develop strategies to deal with loneliness which is a major cause of suicide Suicide has been much on my mind lately - not ... Continue reading →
It's not enough to fact check; the media must also endeavour to spread the truth JRF reports on how poverty affects people's decision making processes It's interesting stuff, but does involve downloading a .pdf RIP Hans Rosling [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: aberdeenshirepv] What you do now, will make a difference in your election in May 2017 and even in future elections. The postal vote is an increasingly important part of every election campaign. Turnout of postal voters is extremely high, especially if they have been receiving regular FOCUS leaflets and have met members of the team on [...]
This is getting old. Just once, I'd like to be able to say that the frontbench of Labour had done something well. Actually, I won't even set my standards that high – I'd settle for principled these days. But alack, you all know what I'm about to say. Sigh. I was in Portcullis House yesterday for a few hours; every Westminster commentator of note was swanning around the place, clearly wanting to say they were there for posterity. As it happens, the Tories wrong-footed Labour spectacularly immediately, with David Jones announcing that the government was prepared to offer parliament a ...
This post, like it seems all of them these days, was first published on Lib Dem Voice, here. In May, eight "Metro Mayors" will be elected across England. Whilst the precise details vary between authority areas, each mayor will inherit a city deal providing them with money and powers over infrastructure development in an area covering multiple local authorities.Given the generally urban nature of most of the areas it is anticipated that Labour will win many of these. (Although given recent results in Sunderland and Rotherham such old certainties no longer feel quite so axiomatic.) In the "West of England" ...
Having grown up on a council estate where you're written off the moment you're born, I know what it's like to live in a place devoid of much hope. I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who believed in and supported me, and it's an experience that inspired my mission to improve the lives of others. It's why I entered public service and, since I first became a councillor four years ago, it's been a privilege being able to help people and make a difference to my community in Prescot. Last year, I was selected as the Liberal ...
At one stage yesterday it looked like Brexit sceptics in the UK Parliament had got some of what they wanted when the Minister stood to confirm that MPs will be given a vote on the final deal. However, closer scrutiny revealed that the promise was worthless as it became clear that if the house rejected what was put before them then there would be no re-negotiation and that the UK would leave the EU without any agreement in place. It was one of those take-it-or-leave-it offers favoured by movie gangsters, not so much a concession as an ultimatum. The rejection ...
I recently participated in a very well-attended meeting at Harris Academy aimed at relaunching the West End Community and Sports Hub. There was a great mix of local sports clubs there and much enthusiasm. To help the West End Community and Sports Hub relaunch to assist with and build community sport in the West End, there is now an on-line survey. This takes just a couple of minutes to complete and you can access it here.
The €60 billion Brexit bill: How to disentangle Britain from the EU budget #takingbackcontrol #fb (tags: eu brexit ukpolitics ) Toronto taught me about belonging A cheering perspective. (tags: canada ) The Con-committee Chairman's Guide, by George Scithers. Chapter 10 - The Constitution and Bylaws - the World Science Fiction Society From 1965. (tags: sf hugos )
