Tue 7th
21:59

Dubbed up

I've given my MP a hard time previously for how she has voted in parliament and her explanations after the fact. (here, and here). So it's nice to be able to applaud her. Having not been shy about criticising I should now take the time to say thank you. So, to Heidi Allen, thank you for bringing the recent Dubs scheme amendment before parliament and for voting with it (although it would be odd

Posted by Alex Wasyliw on My Electronic Soapbox

Nikolaus Pevsner described it as "one of the best early railway stations in England. John Betjeman said it was like "a stately home with trains". Today Huddersfield station has contains two pubs and a celebrated cat. I photographed it in the early 1980s. I am pretty sure it was on 24 January 1983, the last day of operation of the branch line to Clayton West. (More about that another time.) Since then the streets in front of the station have been pedestrianised and a statue of Harold Wilson erected.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Beyond Contempt: The inside story of the phone hacking trial Peter Jukes Canbury Press, 2014, £8.99 The Old Bailey trial of Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and others on charges of phone hacking ran from October 2013 to July 2014, attracting huge public interest. Peter Jukes live tweeted the whole thing. That he was able to do so in an atmosphere where the defence was constantly on the lookout for prejudicial comment or coverage is a tribute to his fairness and stamina - and also to the courage of the trial judge, Mr Justice Saunders, in allowing him to do so. ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Given the Conservative unwillingness to let the public decide on the final terms of Brexit, Liberal Democrat peers in the House of Lords are taking the unusual step of using an amendment at the third reading stage of the Brexit Bill to oppose it

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The BBC reports: The government has suffered a second Brexit defeat in the House of Lords as peers backed, by 366 votes to 268, calls for a "meaningful" parliamentary vote on the final terms of withdrawal. Backing the move, former deputy PM Lord Heseltine said Parliament must be the "custodian of national sovereignty". Ministers said ... Continue reading ++Second government defeat – Lords vote for parliamentary veto on final Brexit deal

Posted by paulwalternewbury on

Embed from Getty Images The BBC reports: The government has suffered a second Brexit defeat in the House of Lords as peers backed, by 366 votes to 268, calls for a "meaningful" parliamentary vote on the final terms of withdrawal. Backing the move, former deputy PM Lord Heseltine said Parliament must be the "custodian of national sovereignty". Ministers said it was "disappointing" and would seek to overturn the move when the bill returned to the Commons. The previous defeat was on the issue of guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens. After a three-hour debate, peers amended legislation which will trigger ...

Posted by Paul Walter on Liberal Democrat Voice

Liberal Democrat conferences come with quite a lot of paperwork, which makes the conference app for federal conferences a very handy way of helping to keep on top of all the information. It has just been updated for the forthcoming federal conference in York (17-19 March). It's available for both iPhone and Android. Keep up with news about Lib Dem conference If you'd like to be notified by email when further posts about Liberal Democrat conference appear on this blog, just sign up here. (Note: if you're already signed up for a daily email alert with all my new blog ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Paul (Lord) Tyler shows the nation the oven he has only used once (to warm up a pizza that "was a bit flabby"). The second episode of "Meet the Lords" aired last night and is available here on BBC iPlayer for the next 29 days. I mentioned, in my review of last week's opening show, ... Continue reading Meet Paul Tyler's (almost) unused cooker...

Posted by paulwalternewbury on

Paul (Lord) Tyler shows the nation the oven he has only used once (to warm up a pizza that "was a bit flabby"). The second episode of "Meet the Lords" aired last night and is available here on BBC iPlayer for the next 29 days. I mentioned, in my review of last week's opening show, that our own dear Paul (Lord) Tyler was popping up in the programme. Well, this week I am delighted to say that the great Cornish Liberal is featured at some length. The film crew visit him in his little flat and follow him on his ...

Posted by Paul Walter on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 7th
15:43

One or two cheers

I spent most of this morning at the anaerobic digester plant beside Swans. I was there with local resident, Colin Kingshott, my fellow councillor for Consett North, Alex Watson, the MP's senior caseworker, Environmental Health and Public Health from the council, a representative of the Environment Agency, management of the plant and Harry Swan, MD of Thomas Swan which is both landlord and customer of the plant. I'm not going to go over the old ground of how we got to where we are today, but just report back on what I saw, what I heard, and most importantly what ...

Posted by Owen Temple on Owen Temple & Margaret Nealis
YouGov

This is something I've been meaning to post about for a while, and rumours about budget allocations for new Grammar schools from the current Conservative government have reminded me about the issue. As usual, I don't pretend to be an expert on the subject, but I do think we need to think carefully about what we are doing. Should we return to grammar schools, or not? Has the 'comprehensive experiment failed or succeeded? Are grammar schools an aid to social mobility, or quite the opposite? The first thing I think is important to note is the difference between 'mixed ability ...

Posted by Cen Phillips on Liberal Thoughts

This is one of those postings that I have been meaning to get around to for a while now because the issue was raised with me following the Champion newspaper article mentioned below. And no, before I start, I don't have any inside information to say the Maghull footbridges are under threat. Firstly, the Liverpool Echo has the story of a proposal from Highways England (Previously known as the Highways Agency) to remove the pedestrian bridge over the A5036 adjacent to the the Park Lane/A5036 junction in Netherton – see link above. The Aintree & Maghull Champion also covered ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Greg Mulholland writes in Politics Home on how pubs up and down the country are being unfairly hit by business rate revaluation. Pubs are, of course, businesses and need to pay their share of tax. Yet when research for the British Beer and Pub Association shows that pubs are paying 2.8% of the entire business rate bill, whilst only generating 0.5% of business turnover, the plain unfairness of the current system towards pubs is laid bare. The revaluation will further this disadvantage, with pubs and restaurants receiving a 15% and 23% increase in rateable value respectively, being the only sector ...

Posted by Joe Otten on Liberal Democrat Voice

A Magellenic Penguin - cute little thing, isn't (s)he? Flowers are nice, if a bit unchallenging. Of course, picking the right colour should matter, although I tend to pick colours that I like and hope that that suits the recipient. But, on Valentine's Day, it's the thought that counts, especially if it involves having to make an effort. And so, this year, I thought about what to do instead, especially as we were going to be a long way from our local florist. And then it struck me - we were going to be convenient for a day out with ...

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

JANE BROPHY, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester, is calling for the Greater Manchester Spacial Framework (GMSF) to be scrapped. The GMSF process will only go ahead if all ten councils in Greater Manchester and the newly elected mayor vote in favour of it. If any one of the eleven deciding vote against the plans, then it will fall – and the Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate is now pledging to do just that. Jane Brophy said: "The Government and Greater Manchester Combined Authority should have worked together with local councils, local people and local communities to ensure ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

One for your Saturday lunchtime at the Liberal Democrat conference in York.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

This is why The Daily Mail is no longer a trusted source on Wikipedia We're entering the post antibiotic age and it's all because ppl weigh up "future ability for all of humanity to live" against "ability for me to eat today" and plump for the latter. see also why we're never going to stop climate change. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments

Bury Council has issued a Notice of Intention to begin the development (for the third time) for a development plan for Bury – this would replace the existing saved policies of the Bury Unitary Development Plan. A Local Plan is a plan that is drawn up to guide and manage future growth and development (such as housing, offices, industry, warehousing and retail). It contains planning policies that will be used as the basis for determining planning applications and identifies sites where this development should be built as well as areas where development should be restricted. The following information has been ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

If you know an individual or community group that is making an outstanding contribution to a community in our borough, please show your appreciation by nominating them for an award: 2016 Winners at the Awards Ceremony · Outstanding Contribution to a Township · Young Person or Young Persons' Group · Volunteer of the Year · Best Community Project funded by the Township Forum More information on how to nominate: www.theburydirectory.co.uk/mibawards

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone
Tue 7th
09:37

Dead parrot squawking

Ed Lucas in the Times has noticed the Liberal Democrat fightback. The whole piece is behind a register-for-two-articles-a-week-wall, but here is a flavour. Yet look again. The parrot is far from dead. It is squawking back to life, thanks to the Brexit vote, Labour's meltdown and sellers' remorse after the general election. Membership has rocketed, to more than 82,000, the highest in 20 years. The party is now out-fundraising Labour. As well as the parliamentary by-election victory in Richmond Park, Lib Dems have been scoring a stunning run of local successes, snatching council seats in such seemingly unpromising places as ...

Posted by Joe Otten on Liberal Democrat Voice
eUKhost

This March there's a packed programme of female-friendly events to support women who cycle or want to give it a go. There's something for everyone, from absolute beginners to seasoned riders, with events ranging from training and maintenance courses to group rides and club events, all in a friendly and supportive environment. More information here, with some of the events in Bury below: Events taking place in Bury : 07 March – Breeze the Bury Borough 11 March - Ride Leader (training) 17 March – Breeze from Radcliffe to Edenfield 18 March – Ride the Night 23 March – Breeze ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

Yesterday, outside of Unite HQ near Holborn in London, supporters of Len McCluskey and Gerald Coyne had a physical confrontation with each other. I don't want to go overboard in describing this kerfuffle – it sounds like it was more handbags at midday than a riot – but it still acts as a beautiful illustration of the problems which surround the whole of the Left in Britain at the moment. For those of you who have not been following the contest, Gerald Coyne is the moderate candidate, i.e. he actually cares about the pay, rights and conditions of the members ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

Specifically designed for over 50s and individuals with low mobility at the Phoenix Centre start on 14 March 2017. The Phoenix Centre, St. Mary's Park, Prestwich, M25 1GG Session start on Tuesday 14th March 2017, 2-3pm Wellness, a gentle, low impact seated exercise group designed to be social and fun while improving mobility, flexibility, coordination, core stability, heart and lung function as well as many other benefits whilst coming together to have fun. £3 per person per session For more details please contact: Mathew on 07740585531 mathew@casicaretrainingacademy.com

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

Today's Independent reports on the conclusion of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that not accepting child refugees into the UK will increase the risk of child trafficking and exploitation. They say that when the Government made its surprise announcement last month that the numbers brought in under the resettlement scheme would be capped at 350, it claimed in a written ministerial statement that local authorities had suggested they did not have capacity for hundreds, if not thousands, more. However,the Home Affairs Select Committee report claims that some local councils have said they have capacity for as many ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

The next West End Police Surgery takes place at the Mitchell Street Centre today - details below :

The Road Goes On—The Making of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Silmarillion' In brief. (tags: Tolkien Sf ) Legion of Regrettable Supervillains' comic bad guys Whoops. (tags: comics )