OK, so at the moment I'm putting the finishing touches on two separate books (my second novel, Devil in the Dark, and the final Beach Boys book), both of which I hope to have out in March. March will also ... Continue reading →
Exciting news! We have not finished with Oswestry to Welshpool. Here Holden Webster, who runs the Shropshire Railways site, returns to this line to look for more remains of disused stations.
Embed from Getty Images We've been bored to death these past two days with blanket coverage of the mix up at the Oscars ceremony. But it happens in politics too. In fact it happened twice in May 2015. Mistakes in the counting meant that the wrong candidate was declared in the winner in elections for Broxtowe Borough Council and Workington Town Council. Back in 2011, again in Broxtowe, a married couple of Liberal Democrats had to go to the High Court to get the right one of them elected. As the Nottingham Post told it in July of that year: ...
Embed from Getty Images Ukip's main donor wants to deselect its only MP and says he will stand against him at the next election if necessary. The party's former leader is backing the donor. Its current leader seems to have disappeared from the face of the Earth. When I wrote a couple of weeks ago that the Brexiteers would probably end up fighting one another, I did not expect it to happen so soon. Still, you have to laugh.
Michael Crick is on the case again about the evidence showing how one of Prime Minister Theresa May's top aides was closely linked with activities now being investigated by the police. At the heart of the matter is the Conservative election campaign in South Thanet during the 2015 general election campaign. The party saw off Nigel Farage and Ukip in that seat, but there are many questions over whether the Conservatives hid campaign spending such as accommodation costs for those working on the campaign so that its official return could show the party kept within the legal limit. In particular, ...
Non-fiction: 2 (YTD 7) THEN: Science Fiction Fandom in the U.K., 1930-1980, by Rob Hansen Based On The Popular TV Serial, by Paul Smith Fiction (non-sf): 1 (YTD 4) To Lie with Lions, by Dorothy Dunnett sf (non-Who): 6 (YTD 17) Broken Homes, by Ben Aaronovitch The Raven and the Reindeer, by T. Kingfisher [Ursula Vernon] The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown (did not finish) Azanian Bridges, by Nick Wood The Fell Walker's Guide To Eternity by Andy Carling Occupy Me, by Tricia Sullivan Doctor Who, etc: 3 (YTD 7) Short Trips: Time Signature, ed. Simon Guerrier The Eye of ...
The present Merseyrail rolling stock (Class 507/8 EMU's) at Southport Station. Below is the RMT Union notice which was sent to members of the Merseytravel Committee today:- RAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that members have voted overwhelmingly for both strike action and action short of a strike in a ballot for industrial action after Merseyrail's continued failure to provide cast iron assurances around the future of the safety critical role of the guard. Action has by RMT's Merseyrail guards and drivers has been confirmed as follows: Members not to book on for any shifts between 0001hrs and 23.59 hrs on ...
"The Long and Winding Road" is the third in Alan Johnson's trilogy of memoirs. The previous two books are: "This Boy", about his harrowing childhood and "Please Mister Postman" about his days delivering the Royal Mail. (You'll notice that all the books are titled after songs from Alan Johnson's heroes – The Beatles). I've reviewed ... Continue reading Book review – "The Long and Winding Road" by Alan Johnson
[IMG: Instagram picture 9 - logoless] An Election Briefing from March 2003 – the year we gained our highest ever share of the vote at 30% – only one percent behind the Labour party. We gained five councils (28 in total) and 193 councillors (2,624 in total). Download the March 2003 Election Briefing.
BBC2 started a new series last night called "Meet the Lords". In the style of last year's documentary series about the House of Commons, the film crew wondered around the corridors of the House of Lords, and produced some interesting sights. In fact, it centred on three peers: Baroness King – This is the previous ... Continue reading Meet the Lords – or at least two Lords and one Baroness....
My first stop was at St Leonard's in Bootle where I met up with Debbie again. She had been nominated for an award earlier in the year by one of her volunteers. Most of the volunteers on the day that I visited were former firefighters. The centre also had a welfare rights adviser available. Everything was very well organised in accordance with the Trussel Trust's good practice. The centre had just taken delivery of a new trolley,in the photo, donated by the staff at Maghull Lidl . Next stop was the main storage site for the various foodbanks in the ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39048293 Above is a link to a BBC web site page and it is an issue for considerable thought. Talking up division in society is not clever whether it comes from Trump, UKIP or anyone else, indeed that kind of talk can lead to all sorts of problems for any society and it can even start wars. Quote from article 'Politicians who have used a divisive and dehumanised rhetoric are creating a more divided and dangerous world, says rights group Amnesty International.' With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting
Embed from Getty Images "The Long and Winding Road" is the third in Alan Johnson's trilogy of memoirs. The previous two books are: "This Boy", about his harrowing childhood and "Please Mister Postman" about his days delivering the Royal Mail. (You'll notice that all the books are titled after songs from Alan Johnson's heroes – The Beatles). I've reviewed both previous books here on LDV (see links above), and to a large extent it helps to read the whole series from the beginning. If you pick up "The Long and Winding Road", the subject matter, the daily grind of a ...
Tue 28th
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Maghull – Update on work behind Sefton Drive on Cheshire Lines Path by Merseyside North Volunt...
Merseyside North Volunteers have the story on their web site – see link above A really welcome environmental project being brought to fruition by volunteers on the Cheshire Lines Path in Maghull.
The Mayor, I learn, is President of the Southport Music Festival and so it came to pass last week that I was down to chair their AGM. I was unable to attend the festival this year as I was already booked up so the 'President's opening remarks were something of a challenge. I have chaired some pretty boring meetings but this one was certainly not in that category. A dedicated group of volunteers have kept this Festival alive whilst many across the country many have folded. Today, in its 110th year, it flourishes. After the business of the meeting was ...
A while ago, I wrote a couple of posts on why people saying 'let's take the politics out of this' are invariably actually saying 'let's all agree with me' and how such tactics are often used to benefit those who already hold the power and want to claim that their actions aren't political. That was back in 2015 when my major concern about those issues was the way they get misused in local government. Not that it hasn't stopped happening there – I still see people who've been elected to multiple officers as the candidate of a political party claiming ...
A few months back, when Jamie Reed and Tristram Hunt both decided to stop being MPs around a similar time period, a rumour was afloat in Westminster that "dozens" of Labour members of parliament were lined up to quit politics should either Copeland or Stoke Central be lost. Since the first part of that has happened, I thought it might be prudent to speculate as to who might be the next Labour MP to quit, should this be the case. I would like to stress adamantly that I don't think the following Labour MPs are actually going to quit, nor ...
A cross party amendment to keep Britain in the Single Market was lost yesterday by 299 votes to 136 after Labour Lords who voted were mostly against, and Conservatives turned out in greater numbers. Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords Dick Newby commented. By far the best option for our economy is to stay in the Single Market. Unfortunately Theresa May's Government is hell bent on dragging us towards a hard Brexit. Whatever deal May comes back with is quite simply not going to be as good as remaining in the Single Market. That is why we voted to ask ...
At the last full meeting of Bury Council, Lib Dem Councillor and School Governor Steve Wright asked a question about the increases in permanent and fixed term exclusions in Bury schools (pupils being 'expelled' or 'suspended'). We understand that these figures have been rising and compare unfavourably with with other local authority areas. Question: Could the Leader inform members on the numbers of permanent and temporary exclusions from Bury schools in this and the previous three years? How does this level of exclusion compare to other authorities in the region? Answer: "In 2013/14 the number of permanent exclusions was 26, ...
Work is set to start on the narrowing of Bury New Road through Prestwich Village shortly with trial excavation works in March, and the main works starting in April, expected to take 35 weeks. It is Generally, work will take place between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 2pm on Saturday – some works will take place on Sundays and evenings. Residents will recall we campaigned against this proposal. We DO need investment in Prestwich, but it needs to be the right investment on the right schemes. There was massive public opposition to these proposals, which even ...
Last week's British by-elections prompt me to make one of my occasional posts. It is about the bizarre predicament of Britain's Labour Party and the wider question this poses for the British left. The first thing to say about Labour is that I am not a neutral observer. As a supporter of the Liberal Democrats ... Continue reading Labour shows the problem with a core vote strategy →
The Women Candidates' weekend is about to take place and (apart from the odd party pooper) most reasonable folk can see that an event that boosts confidence and offers a quick burst of training is of value. But what about candidate support and candidate retention when the big weekend is over? In a small party with a reliance on the selfless hard work of a thin layer of ridiculously dedicated volunteers it is not surprising that the pastoral care of candidates has not been a big priority over the years. It was a luxury we could not afford. But that ...
Val McDermid on LGBT retirement homes [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
[IMG: Manderston House 2005] BBC2 started a new series last night called "Meet the Lords". In the style of last year's documentary series about the House of Commons, the film crew wondered around the corridors of the House of Lords, and produced some interesting sights. In fact, it centred on three peers: Baroness King – This is the previous Oona King, the inspirational MP for Bethnal Green and Bow. In her office she has a photo of a black Margaret Thatcher – which is interesting. We see her putting through an amendment to the Housing Bill – a process involving ...
Some people have drawn parallels between the shock of Brexit in the UK and the shock of the advent of Donald Trump as President of the United States. In particular on both sides of the Atlantic there is a powerful sense of the role of the media in both events. Of course, Trump himself is a product of celebrity culture who managed, improbably, to turn a reality TV show into a platform for government. Through the power of the alternative media he was able to create a platform and a power base. The supporters of Brexit many of whom, such ...
Last night the House of Lords debated an amendment to keep Britain in the Single Market as part of the Brexit negotiations. Even though the amendment came from a Labour peer, the Labour Party put out a three line whip for its peers to join with the Conservatives and vote down the amendment: Last night Lab leaders in Lords killed attempt to keep us in Single Market. 33 Lab rebelled, 119 didn't vote, 53 voted with Tories. Awful. pic.twitter.com/ckFLzwscAw — Paul Strasburger (@LordStras) February 28, 2017 It is worth remembering that staying in the Single Market is overwhelmingly supported by ...
A meeting for people who may or may not be affected by dementia and their carers and families will be held at Ridgewood Community Centre, 244 Station Road, Yate BS37 4AF at 1.30 pm on Wednesday 15 March 2017. The guest speaker will be Dr Judy Haworth, Dementia Specialist (NBT) and there will be other specialist speakers. If you wish to attend, please notify Ms. Liz Wilkie on 07593 980538 or 01454 319886 by 10 March.
Anybody who doubts that Labour is committed to a hard Brexit, which will take the UK out of the single market would soon have been disabused of that uncertainty after last night's vote in the House of Lords. In an act of craven capitulation, the main opposition party in the UK Parliament discarded its responsibility to oppose and fight for the best interests of the country and voted with the Tories to leave us economically and politically isolated in Europe. As the Independent reports, peers voted against an amendment to the Brexit Bill demanding the UK retains its membership of ...
A merger would reunite our county within its historic borders. It would, some say, save money. Others, me included, think Telford and Shropshire are such different places that we need different councils. What do you think? Vote below. Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski says the merger could save between £10 million and £20 million a year. I don't know where he gets that figure from but it is evident that, after restructuring costs are accounted for, savings could be made. I take the view that we can't merge politically. Telford is a great place but so different from the ...
Theresa May's Brexit trade bluff The UK's weak position. @BraithewaiteUKUN is quoted. (tags: eu ukpolitics brexit ) The old British tactic of divide and rule in Europe will not work for Brexit negotiations When you announce you're leaving, you lose leverage. (tags: ukpolitics brexit eu ) The Adorable Maps Today's Cartographers Made as Kids Awww! (tags: maps ) Survival tips for Sebastian Gorka, PhD @DanDrezner knocks it out of the park! (tags: uspolitics ) Can PwC's reputation overcome #EnvelopeGate? 5 experts weigh in Includes my colleague @khsprehe. (tags: films publicrelations voting EnvelopeGate )
