Posted by LD Neath on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Here's me, talking about 2000AD on its fortieth birthday. Tomorrow, I write about a story that has a special resonance right now...

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!

[IMG: Penelope-Lively-Moon-Tiger] Moon Tiger, Penelope Lively This is the tenth book chosen from my #40booksby40 list. It is — let me cut to the chase — superb. I have long loved Penelope Lively's writing, and this was one of those rainy day books, long-owned but put aside because I knew I'd want to relish it, which prompted me to write my list and get on with actually reading it. If Lively were a bloke — say, one named Martin or Julian or Kazuo — she'd be fêted as one of the greatest British novelists of the last half-century. As it ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall

It's been a bit quiet here lately, predominantly for security reasons. But, now that I'm back, I can tell you about my holiday... The announcement by British Airways that they were launching a new direct service to Santiago, Chile came at a convenient moment, just as I was thinking about a destination for some winter sun. Previously, the idea of flying to Latin America would be reserved for a break of a fortnight or more, but there's seldom time in February, and having to connect somewhere between here and there just takes too much time. However, the new flights are ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on A liberal amongst the country gentry...

An unusual Tuesday by-election kicked off a busy week for by-elections, with three more council by-elections and two Parliamentary by-elections to come. The Tuesday contest was in Basingstoke, in a ward where the Liberal Democrats have never done well but where the party did stand a candidate, hooray: Winklebury (Basingstoke & Deane) result: LAB: 61.6% (+31.1) CON: 35.3% (-10.5) LDEM: 3.1% (-2.7) Lab GAIN from Con. No UKIP as prev. — Britain Elects (@britainelects) February 22, 2017

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Wed 22nd
20:20

P-1: Deep breath

Well after a few weeks, numerous days, endless hours and given my tiredness, countless minutes – polling day is about to commence. And yes, we have reached that point. 'No more leaflets' shout the notices on the doors. Some of the notices scream 'NO MORE LEAFLETS', some of the house don't want UKIP leaflets specifically and some of the residents are quite articulate in their resistance. The most receptive and consistent in welcoming the avalanche of the leaflets have been the recycling boxes and bins. What has been striking and fellow Liberal Democrats will appreciate this – has been the ...

Posted by Ed Fordham on Liberal Democrat Voice

I was pleased to help launch a new business at Ocean Plaza. Three young women who have already set up a Vets practice in Widnes and have now opened a new one in Pets at Home in Southport. There was, of course, cake, balloons and a ribbon to cut. I wish them every success. Photo by Daniel Woodcock Photo by Daniel Woodcock

Posted by iain on theMayoralBlog

the new mega cranes I have spent the day with the Liverpool Seafarers' Centre which is located in our borough at Waterloo where they provide recreational facilities for seafarers including access to the internet, subsidised international SIM cards, a library, bar, café, TV lounge and a chaplaincy.The organisation has been on the go since 1856 and brings together the two main church organisations providing support to those who go down the sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters. Unloading cocoa The centre is well used and I met sailors from several countries including India and the Philippines. ...

Posted by iain on theMayoralBlog
Wed 22nd
15:21

Paying through the nose

Despite having reserves of £234.476 million at the end of it's last accounting year (they've risen from £97.199 million in March 2012) Durham County Council has chosen to inflict another inflation busting Council Tax rise of 3.99% on its residents. Those reserves figures were supplied by the council's own Director of Resources, and exclude schools balances which would lift the figure above £270 million. I could forgive the council tax rise if the leadership were willing to give any ground on the many legitimate suggestions made by opposition councillors as to how they could either save money, or use it ...

Posted by Owen Temple on Owen Temple & Margaret Nealis

[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] Gerald Vernon Jackson, LGA Lib Dem Group Leader, said: "It is completely unacceptable that the Local Government Finance Settlement has confirmed that Government will not provide any new funding for councils in 2017/18. "Cuts to New Homes Bonus funding will leave two thirds of councils having to find millions more in savings than expected to plug [...]

Posted by Joe Mulvihill on Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors
YouGov

[IMG: John Potter Campaign Videos] We asked the wonderful John Potter, a Lib Dem Councillor on Preston City Council, to share how he makes such brilliant campaign videos. John's a professional cameraman and video editor with years of experience at the highest level. He's kindly agreed to share some of his top tips with our members. How to make campaign videos Video [...]

Posted by Ed Stephenson on Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] Council tax rises in 2017/18 will not bring in enough money to prevent the need for further deep cuts to local services next year, the Local Government Association has warned. All councils can raise council tax by up to 1.99 per cent in 2017/18 to fund local services without the need for a referendum – most [...]

Posted by Joe Mulvihill on Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

[IMG: How to get video views on Faceook] So you've read John Potter's excellent article about making campaign videos, now we need to ensure people view your video. I'm going to talk you through some hints and tips to generate more views and increase the reach of your videos on Facebook. Pay to advertise your video – Realistically this is going to be the main [...]

The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above Yet another tragedy has taken place where Fisherman's Path crosses the Liverpool Southport railway line at Formby. Surely these deaths must mean that Network Rail and Sefton Council have to agree a safe solution soon otherwise it's odds on that another death is likely to follow all the others to date.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Baroness Kishwer Falkner has been explaining on her blog how she plans to vote on Brexit and Article 50. She writes: In life, with voluntary relationships there is a clear line between the length of a relationship and the one's attachment to it. I have felt those 32 years acutely in the last few months as I have reflected on my own position with respect to the Liberal Democrats position on Brexit and the need for a second referendum. But in arriving at my decision to vote against the Lib Dem position I feel that it is the fact that ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across England & Wales] Responding to a report by the MPs' Education Committee that teacher shortages in England are getting worse, Liberal Democrat Children and Young People's Spokesperson, Cllr Liz Green, said: "The wellbeing of our teachers is fundamental to a child's education. The government must address the growing number of teachers leaving the profession struggling with a poor [...]

Posted by Joe Mulvihill on Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

At the budget setting meeting today at County Hall, councillors heard about the Administration's plans to reset spending on roads, pavements, gulleys and culverts back to 2012/13 levels. This means over £4m million more than spent last year, after a series of cuts in spending over the last four years. They also heard about £3.5m extra [...]

Posted by chriswhite on Chris White

Rimrose Valley Country Park map. Always happy to give publicity to Rimrose Valley Friends and their campaigns – have a look at the link above which takes you to their web site.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Does it go without saying that the vast majority of Labour voters would never vote Tory and that they will continue to vote Labour pretty much whatever the party stands for? I ask as having been involved in politics for some 37 years now I really don't know what Labour stands for these days other than not being the Tory Party. Just look at this:- They started to privatise the NHS when in government but now say they oppose NHS privatisation. They campaigned, if rather weakly, to Remain in the EU during the recent referendum but now support Leaving the ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

The Independent has covered a PwC report on the likely biggest 32 economies by the middle of this century. It is a familiar prediction of power slipping away from the West towards the global South and East. As history teaches us, with economic size go political, diplomatic, military and cultural power. The PwC prediction has China and India overtaking the USA. Only Germany, Britain and France from Europe in the top 12. Of the top 5: China, India, the USA, Indonesia and Brazil. All except China are putative democracies and have functioning multi-party systems, to an extent, but all have ...

Posted by Antony Hook on Liberal Democrat Voice
eUKhost

Even by Gateshead Labour standards, this outburst was noteworthy. Corbyn-adoring Catherine Donovan is the Deputy Leader of Gateshead Council. She loves to shoot from the hip when it comes to leftwing posturing, especially when she has Labour trade unionists as an audience, as she had at Cabinet yesterday. Whether a single word she has ever uttered in one of her rants has ever had a positive

Posted by jonathanwallace on Jonathan Wallace

Bizarre: Why is a strange network of Twitter accounts, usually the source of pro-Russian messages, now pumping out tweets about a very specific British election? They number in the dozens and they are targeting the pro-Brexit UK Independence Party and in particular its leader, Paul Nuttall. This odd collection of Twitter accounts is obsessive. They co-ordinate their messages. And they are also praising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ahead of Thursday's by-election in Stoke-on-Trent Central. There's no evidence that they are connected to Labour or any other political party, however... The accounts were putting out pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine memes ... Several ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Embed from Getty Images Lib Dem peer Liz Barker has written a post on Politics Home titled 'Trump and his hateful eight are condemning women worldwide'. She writes: So egregious is the Trump administration that it is difficult to focus one's anger and start to plan a fightback. The thing which spurred me on was that photograph of Trump and a bunch of old white men - the hateful eight - signing the executive order for the global gag. At the stroke of a pen, a bunch of billionaires condemned women and girls all over the world to misery, illness ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

Following the revelations of Russian interference in the US Presidential election I was a bit startled today to see in the Independent a former Minister allege that there is "clear evidence" that Russia interfered directly in UK elections. They say that Rhondda MP, Chris Bryant has told Parliament some of the top-level decisions affecting security in Britain have been "compromised by Russian infiltration". The former Europe minister's comments came after it emerged that political parties in the UK have approached the security agencies for help following a cyber attack during the 2015 British general election: "There is now clear evidence ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

Fundraising event hosted by Dodington Parish Council and Dodington Parish Band on Friday 31st March 2017, 7:30pm in Dodington Parish Hall, Finch Road, Chipping Sodbury. Experience the best of our local community brass band, with music chosen by the Band themselves. All proceeds to be split between South Gloucestershire Youth Housing and Childhood Cancer Charity. Tickets are only £2 per person, but numbers are limited - reserve yours now by contacting the Parish Office on 01454 866546. Raffle & Refreshments Available. Don't forget - call now to secure your tickets!

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

How you emotionally respond to the question I've posed in the headline will have a lot to do with your politics. "Who cares?" might be one. "They're doing pretty well given the tuition fees fiasco" might be another. "Who cares about the national polls – look at all those local by-election wins!" will paint you as a particular tranche of my readership also. For all the talk of a resurgence of the Lib Dems – and those local by-election victories I'm starting to have to admit are impressive – and for all the talk of the Liberal Democrats inheriting Remain ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

 

To counter Trump's administration, scientists need counter-propaganda, evidence-based alternative policies and political representation It would surprise very few if surveys revealed that the vast majority of scientists and academics find the US presidency of Donald Trump abhorrent. After all, the scientific community shares values that are clearly not held by the Trump administration and its supporters: among them, the importance of diversity and the crucial role of evidence in the process of making smart decisions. What has been surprising is that the scientific community has not fully upheld these values in their initial responses in opposition to the Trump administration's ...

Posted by Roger Pielke Jr on Political science | The Guardian

Are There More Trees on Earth Than There Are Stars in the Milky Way? Actually, yes, as it turns out. (tags: mathematics biology astronomy ) Inside the Secret World of Russia's Cold War Mapmakers Fascinating piece (from 2015) (tags: Russia Maps ) Same But Different My friend Siobhán: "I can see the world as a white person and as a black person." (tags: race ireland )