Last time we were at Oswestry station. Tonight we are at Llanclys, where a mile of track is open for heritage trains.
Go to Paul Nuttall's website this evening and this is what greets you. An odd time for a by-election candidate to schedule maintenance.
Some things in politics never change and always make you giggle. The other morning I was out delivering some addressed envelopes and I found the house number I was looking for and dropped the letter through the door. As the envelope dropped through the door I twitched. As I got back to the gate there was the street sign telling me I had got the end of the previous street mixed up with the start of the next, yet the number on my envelope had matched. This morning I laughed I delivered the same round before breakfast. I realised that ...
Foyle is essentially the city of Derry. The Nationalist parties got four seats with 58.5% of the vote last time, boosted by independents who were mostly from a similar part of the spectrum; Unionists got one with 18.5%, and the People Before Profit Alliance broke through to take the last seat with 10.5%. 2016 result DUP 4737 (11.9%, -6.5%) 1 seat UUP 1420 (3.6%) Conservative 36 (0.1%) Independents 5485 (13.9%) People Before Profit 4176 (10.5%, +2.5%) 1 seat (+1) CISTA 259 (0.7%) Alliance 238 (0.6%, -0.3%) Green 157 (0.4%) SDLP 11897 (30.0%, -5.3%) 2 seats (-1) Sinn Féin 11297 (28.5%, ...
East Antrim is the coastal strip of the county from Newtownabbey to the Glens. Unionists won only four seats here in 2016 with 69.6% of the vote; Nationalists succeeded in retaining one with 11.9%; and Alliance kept theirs with 14.6%. 2016 result DUP 11,701 (36.1%, -10.1%) 3 seats UUP 6,552 (20.2%, +3.3%) 1 seat UKIP 2,207 (6.8%) TUV 1,643 (5.1%, +0.5%) PUP 455 (1.4%) Alliance 4,747 (14.6%, -0.9%) 1 seat Green 693 (2.1%, -0.2%) CCLP 551 (1.7%) SF 2,633 (8.1%, -0.1%) 1 seat SDLP 1,229 (3.8%, -0.8%) 2017 candidates @David Hilditch (DUP) @Gordon Lyons (DUP) Stephen Ross (DUP) @Roy Beggs ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] All LGA board places are due for re-election this year, but due to a resignation we are looking to fill a vacancy for a Liberal Democrat Councillor to serve on this Board until the end of August 2017. (Full advert text can be found on the LGA Lib Dem Group website.) This will include attending some [...]
Richmond is now always going to be one of these words that brings a smile to Liberal Democrats, along with words like Dunfermline, Brent Central, Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, Newbury and Christchurch, all great by-election wins. But there's another reason that Richmond features on our site today. Our very own Joe Otten takes to the stage in Sheffield for the next four nights as Richmond in a production of Shakespeare's Richard III with a difference: In an alternate time-line the climax of the Wars of the Roses coincided with the nadir of trench warfare. The victorious Yorkist commander, the Duke ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] The Government have published their Housing White Paper and the LGA response can be found here. Cllrs Keith House, LGA Lib Dem lead member on the Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board, said: "The White Paper is tinkering round the edges of the planning system and a missed opportunity to help councils achieve the homes we [...]
What's up? Well, the Liberal Democrats have produced figures to show that plans to boost house-building in Peterborough cannot be delivered because of a Brexit-driven labour crisis. How come then? Our work has shown that the construction industry would need a 35% increase in workers to deliver the houses the government claims it will build [...]
[IMG: 16486839_10158141522875153_1156239219254810249_o] We have a vacancy for the position of Welsh Representative on the ALDC Management Committee. The Committee is made up of 19 members and is an important body which sets the organisation's strategy ensures it operates effectively. The Committee meets four times a year – meetings are either in Birmingham, Manchester or at the ALDC [...]
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38925034 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above Isn't this one of those lovely heart warming stories that we need to restore our faith in human nature. Life is what you make of it , and diversity is what makes it all the better, and if we all said nice things to one another how much better the world might be. With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this story
I'm sad that the Co-op Bank, with which I've had an account for may years, is giving up in its present form and seeking a buyer. Many people, when they read of its demise, will immediately think of, and blame, its inadequate former chairman, the Non-conformist minister Paul Flowers, who was later found to have drug problems and so nicknamed Crystal Methodist. It is easy to conclude that mutual ownership is not viable for serious businesses as amateurs on the board are not up to the job. But it is universally agreed that the Co-op Bank's troubles began with the ...
Nick Clegg has written an article in the Irish Times accusing the British government of not taking the impact of Brexit on Ireland seriously enough. David Davis didn't even mention maintaining the "soft border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic: Instead, the government made a fleeting reference to the fact they will aim to "minimise frictions and administrative burdens". This suggests that in one shape or form there will be an unwelcome return to checks at the Border. There is a pattern here - the government doesn't appear to be taking seriously the negative impact Brexit will have on the ...
For most of you reading this, 2016 was a terrible year. Perhaps there are some out there who believe the opposite is true: given Nigel Farage almost certainly figured 2016 was one of the best years ever ever, there must be at least a few of you in existence. Either way, now that 2016 has been and gone, we find ourselves in the midst of 2017, a year some of us think must turn out to be better than 2016 – while some of us are unsure that's going to be the case. I decided this was a big enough ...
Liberal Democrat Newswire #90 came out last week, looking in particular at the latest talk, and even some action, about political realignment and deals between or across parties.
Children's ward, 1974. A nurse has told us what to do. Important. Nurses are grown-ups and important. They have a uniform. You do what they say. All of us, boys and girls, all ages, we have to do what they say. I am 7 and here to have my tonsils out. This hospital is special. It was where I was born. I have never been away from my parents or my grandparents or my cat. On the bedside table is a Blue Peter Annual and a Lucie Attwell prayer book, it has pop-up pictures. The books remind me of home. ...
For those of us who monitor developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, one of the most fascinating aspects of recent years has been the failure of what one might call mainstream Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood to fully capitalise on the so-called Arab Spring. True, in Egypt the Brotherhood [...]
Every Social Media Thread On Heterosexual Online Dating Ever 'Choose Freedom': EU passport campaign launched across Europe Mass sexual assaults by refugees in Frankfurt 'completely made up' What You Can Learn from Polyamory This is aimed at monogamists, but there's stuff in there for everyone [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
ALDC is keen to help local parties and council groups think about how we address diversity at a local government level, to enable us to produce recommendations and best practice. We would like to hear your views about what can be done to increase the number of Liberal Democrat councillors from underrepresented groups (women, members [...]
For the 1.3 million British migrants living in the EU, the past couple of weeks have been pretty eventful. Many of us have watched and listened (in horror) from afar whilst Brexit and Article 50 have been discussed in parliament. We've heard that it's "the people's will" and that Parliament should not ignore the referendum vote. Yet many of us did not have the vote in the referendum, as we have lived for too long outside of the UK. We saw an attempt to guarantee the rights of European citizens living in the UK defeated, even by Labour MPs such ...
As part of LGBT History Month, I have been researching the history of openly trans politicians in the UK and I will be posting these over the next few days. You can read part one of this mini-series here. Jennifer Liddle (Liberal Democrats) 1999: City Council Candidate for East Chesterton Ward, Cambridge 2000-2007: Cambridge, East Chesterton (Reelected 2004) 2008-2010: Cambridge, East Chesterton Jenny Bailey (Liberal Democrats) 2002-2008: Cambridge, East Chesterton (Releected 2004) 2007-2008: Mayor of Cambridge There is a question as to exactly where in the timeline Liddle and Bailey – partners who represented the same ward on Cambridge City ...
Residents will have noted that the temporary traffic lights on Blackness Road at the Glamis Road/Glamis Drive roundabout (see right) have disappeared. However, this is unfortunately not because the works by Scotland Gas Networks (SGN) are completed. I have been updated by Scotland Gas Networks' Team Manager as follows : "Unfortunately our work at the Glamis Road roundabout is well behind schedule due to the ground conditions we are encountering. However, as Scottish Water (SW) is programmed to start in Blackness Road shortly which would conflict with our work, we are lifting the traffic management at the roundabout before they ...
According to the council's website, the following meetings are scheduled for March. Dates and times may change, so please contact me, or the council, if you intend going to any of the meetings. Tuesday 7th March - Policy Working Group. This is not normally open to the public. Thursday 9th March - Finance Committee Thursday 16th March - Planning & Development Committee Thursday 23rd March - Full Council ( preceded by Public Question Time ) Tuesday 28th March - Events Committee All meetings are at Arms Evertyne House, starting at 6:30 pm
The European Contraception Atlas Fascinating. (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality eu ) Do we still need Doctor Who? Time travel in the internet age Long Guardian piece on time travel in sf. (tags: sf ) India polio-free for three years: meet the people fighting to keep it that way Glad to be involved with global eradication. (tags: health polio ) Staying the course on the long road One more case of polio confirmed in Afghanistan - but eradication is close. (tags: polio health ) A great opportunist story shows how PRs need to be looking further ahead Who's profiting from your content? (tags: ...
I am not often in the habit of quoting myself on this blog but I believe that the decision yesterday by the Welsh Government to effectively axe Communities First justifies it just this once. The BBC reports on the row that this announcement provoked and for once Leanne Wood is spot on the mark. More than £300 million has been spent on this programme since 2001 and yet it is difficult to know what has been achieved. The most recent figures indicate 740 posts were funded through the Communities First programme. At one point it was supporting about 200 projects, ...
Copyright: yayayoy / 123RF Stock Photo ...or "Don't Go To Bed Angry". The first in I hope an infrequent series of getting something off my chest before going to bed. Tonight: how not to make friends in a new political party. I was a witness and participant this evening in a Facebook thread in a forum for Liberal Democrat "Newbies" that was, I think, the vilest feeding frenzy I've seen in the party. A new member, who said he had voted to Leave in June and still believed there were reasons we were... Read the whole article online...
