Some West Midlands railway goodness for you. If you like this, you will like an earlier video of the Lickey Incline.
Wed 1st
22:45
Two reasons why the UK will take generations to recover from the shock of leaving the single market ...
Regarding the UK's post-EU prospects, Boris Johnson has been reaching new heights of pseudo-Churchillian grandiosity. But I was taken by this remark, reported by the Guardian: Johnson says Liam Fox and his team cannot "ink in" trade deals with other countries now. But they can agree them in pencil. He's bluffing isn't he? He really ... Continue reading Two reasons why the UK will take generations to recover from the shock of leaving the single market and customs union
Embed from Getty Images The bonnie bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond (or thereabouts) From the Helensburgh Advertiser: The cousin of the late Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has been unveiled as one of the party's Helensburgh and Lomond candidates at this May's Argyll and Bute Council elections. Paul Kennedy, currently a maths teacher in Glasgow, will stand for the party in the Lomond North ward at the May 4 poll. Mr Kennedy is one of five Liberal Democrat candidates standing across the Helensburgh and Lomond area as the party aims to boost its representation in the council chamber in Lochgilphead.The ...
Tim Farron and Dick Newby responded quickly to the excellent news that the Lords have done the decent thing and defeats the Government over EU Nationals' right to stay. The Government now needs to think again over how it treats the millions of EU citizens living in this country. Theresa May has been stubbornly determined to use EU citizens in the UK as bargaining chips. Today the Lords have told her this is not acceptable. The Government must now secure the future of the millions who are currently being held in limbo by its drive for a hard Brexit. The ...
Wed 1st
18:28
WATCH: Farron: EU Nationals should be allowed to stay if we have anything decent about us
Ahead of the crucial vote in the House of Lords, now imminent, Tim Farron has done a video urging everyone, whether they voted Leave or Remain, to come together and protect the rights of EU nationals living in the UK.
The Liverpool Echo has the photos – see link above – from the wall collapse between Lime Street and Edge Hill Stations. The collapse in the deep cutting between the stations is causing all trains to be stopped in and out of Lime Street for an unknown period of days as clear up and repairs are undertaken.
After seeing a tweet which I now cannot find urging me to only retweet Women of Colour for Black History Month, I tried it out. I learnt: I do not follow enough Women of Colour, so I asked for recommendations and now follow some superb women, examples being Sunny Singh and Tressie Mc Most people posting content on Twitter are white men. It was an active task to not RT white men when I saw something I agreed with and wanted people to know I supported. White Men tend to tweet a lot There's a lot of insight and interest ...
I'm feeling quite nervous this afternoon. The House of Lords is debating an amendment which would give EU nationals who have made their homes here the right to stay. The Government is expected to be defeated and I hope very much that this will be the case and that we won't have the disgraceful scenes we saw on Monday when the so called opposition were whipped to reject an amendment on the single market. For me, this is something very personal – and also a bit selfish. Like virtually everyone else, I have friends who are EU nationals. They live ...
Oola's Intergalactic Tuneship, Eerie presents the start of a serialised scifi Space fiction story... ZOOLOGY Join the crew of an Ark class spaceship as they search out new food resources across uncharted galaxies in order to keep humanity alive... (click here)
There's a lot of firsts when you are a new MP. Your first Early Day Motion (like a House of Commons petition), your first speech, your first question, and your first Westminster Hall debate. These debates, held outside the main chamber, concentrate on one subject and allow an MP to raise an issue directly with the Minister. It will be of no surprise that Sarah's first Westminster Hall debate was on the subject of Heathrow expansion and the effects in terms of road congestion and pollution of a bigger airport. You can read the full debate – including the Deputy ...
As a member of the Party's Federal Board and Federal Finance and Resources Committee, I knew that the party were to receive a £1 million donation. We were not told who had donated it. We were told that we would only find out along with everyone else when it was published by the Electoral Commission – which it will be on Thursday. However, the FT has the inside track and has this story today: The donation from Greg Nasmyth, whose family made its fortune from Argus Media, the energy information business, will be reported on Thursday when Electoral Commission figures ...
In an interview for The House magazine, Lib Dem Lords leader Dick Newby has said that support in the Lords is growing for a referendum on the Brexit deal. However, he says that even if that amendment is lost, the campaign for the people, not MPs or the Government, to have a final say on the deal, will continue: But the fight for a second vote will not stop once Article 50 has been triggered, Newby insists. Indeed, "it's just the beginning", he adds, saying the Great Repeal Bill and other Brexit legislation could be amended. In the meantime, the ...
Want to read the latest news stories from the Liberal Democrat websites but prefer the stories to come to you rather than have to remember to go and check the websites regularly for new content?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mWS5JZZEiA If you have an interest in Liverpool in the 1950's and the demise of its once very significant tramway network then you will want to view this YouTube film – see link above. Liverpool Tram 869 (Not the last tram) in Crich tramway Village, Derbyshire. Photo from 2008 The filming was done by local man Alfred H Jacob.
Sometimes in life you just need a good belly chuckle. Some of us get this from recalling a funny incident from our past, maybe by watching a YouTube video or two, maybe some of us are so ticklish that a few clearly stroked feathers will induce laughter from the gut. Some of us though just look at what is going on in UKIP, have a wry smile and laugh. The Douglas Carswell/Nigel Farage feud has been rumbling on for years. Pretty much ever since the former defected from the Conservative party to join the UKIP ranks. He became their first ...
First Bus have decided to stop running the weekend 47A Night Bus service from Bristol through Downend, Frampton Cotterell, Coalpit Heath, Yate and Chipping Sodbury after the end of April. This means that the services at 1.31 am and 3.31 am Saturday and Sunday will stop, and the last bus will be 11.35 pm from Bristol Bus Station. These late night buses have in the past been supported by town and parish councils along the route, but now First have have doubled the amount of money they want as a council subsidy, and the passenger numbers have fallen - on ...
Last Friday marked 8 months since I woke up in disbelief at the outcome of the EU referendum. That morning, I looked at my 3 month old daughter, and feared what the result could mean for the U.K in the short, medium and long term. Ever since that result, as events have unfolded, I have been lost as to whom I should direct my despair at: Should it be David Cameron for calling the Referendum, which he did not believe in, purely to solve internal divisions in his own party? Should it be the right wing press (such as the ...
[IMG: website story #BeBoldForChange] International Women's Day brings together women across the world to celebrate our achievements and highlight our continued fight for gender equality. Each year, women celebrate the 8th March as a chance to remember the advancement of women's rights and the women who led the way, whilst remembering our continued action to maintain and advance women's rights [...]
I was rather amused and also slightly taken aback when the agenda for the March meeting of Sunniside History Society was advertised at the February meeting. I noticed the last item was "An audience with Jonathan Wallace"! Fortunately for the good people of Sunniside, the Secretary had put it on the agenda as a joke! After all, I can't think of something more likely to scare away the punters!
[IMG: Trump 2017] The following is a small excerpt from my book, "2017", available now in digital form and paperback. How much is it the fault of the Left that the rise of the New Right has taken place? In some sense, it is entirely the fault of the Left. After the 2008 crash, the Left became bizarrely complacent and thought that the major theoretical defeat that neoliberalism had just suffered would automatically mean victory for themselves. It seemed to have never occurred to them in 2008 and 2009 that there would be some very nasty elements of the financial ...
The Newcastle Journal carries a report today that sends a shudder down the back of the North East. The cost of Brexit to Nissan, without a trade deal when the UK leaves, could be as high as £500 million. No matter how that is spun by the Brexit extremists, it means there is a huge doubt over the future of the Nissan plant in the North East. And if Nissan goes, our region will be left with a
Wed 1st
09:50Two reasons why the UK will take generations to recover from the shock of leaving the single market ...
Regarding the UK's post-EU prospects, Boris Johnson has been reaching new heights of pseudo-Churchillian grandiosity. But I was taken by this remark, reported by the Guardian: Johnson says Liam Fox and his team cannot "ink in" trade deals with other countries now. But they can agree them in pencil. He's bluffing isn't he? He really hasn't got a clue what he is talking about, has he? Compare his words with those of former EU ambassador, Sir Ivan Rogers: Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the [European] commission or in ...
The Liberal Democrats have received a £1m gift from one of Britain's richest men, ... Greg Nasmyth, whose family made its fortune from Argus Media, the energy information business... Mr Nasmyth is understood to have been motivated by the party's position on the EU and also on green issues... Mr Nasmyth is an environmentalist and former journalist who has supported Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Shelter, Save the Children and other charities. [Financial Times] This is a continuation of a very impressive fundraising track record, principally but not solely by Liberal Democrat HQ, which means that the party regularly raises ...
Wed 1st
08:57
This one Daily Telegraph article tells you everything you need to know about why UKIP never succeede...
There is a live debate around whether Stoke Central was UKIP's Waterloo or not. I have thrown my hat into the ring already, saying that I think it was; however, such a declaration was not made without a certain amount of nervousness on my part. UKIP have been written off by the cognoscenti many times previous, only to rise from the dead stronger than ever. An article by Nigel Farage in yesterday's Telegraph made me feel a great deal better about my declaration regarding UKIP's demise. It is entitled "Douglas Carswell has brought constant division and is actively working against ...
Of all the things for key figures in UKIP to fall out over, a knighthood for Nigel Farage must be the most unlikely, not least because one's immediate reaction is 'what were they thinking earmarking Farage for a knighthood in the first place?' Nevertheless, the Guardian reports that Farage has again urged colleagues to expel the party's only MP, Douglas Carswell after an extraordinary day of public backbiting in the party: Amid reports that Carswell is in talks with the Tories about switching back, Farage told the Press Association: "Did he ever leave the Conservatives? He was certainly representing them ...
Wed 1st
07:30
Improved plans for shop and offices submitted for former toilet block on New Road, Ludlow
This is a site that needs developing and at last we have plans that might get approved. The former toilet on New Road is an eyesore. The new plans are to build a ground floor retail unit with office space above. An application to demolish the toilet and build a retail unit with residential accommodation above was submitted in May 2016 (16/02163/FUL). This was refused by planning officers on grounds of lack of amenity space and the very small size of the proposed residential accommodation. I supported that decision. We need small flats but not so small that they fall ...
A potted history of EU referendums More complex than is usually remembered. (tags: eu ) Brexit: Nissan may 'adjust' its UK business, potentially putting 7,000 jobs at risk #takingbackcontrol (tags: brexit ukpolitics eu )
