Theresa May's announcement that "the world needs the Liberal Democratic values of Europe" today in her speech about the triggering of Article 50 was something of a surprise. She is of course right. The world does need those values. Given the dangers of Brexit signalling a return to the values of the 1950s, in which society was dominated by white, male conformity, it is clear that Britain more
Let me close this evening by recalling the wise words of Lord Bonkers from one of the first of his diaries to be published in Liberator: A lot of people ask me if I believe in Europe. Believe in it? I've been there!
Wed 29th
22:16
The red telephone box is returning to Market Harborough High Street, but Leavers shouldn't get too e...
A ray of light on a dark day has been the news that the red telephone box will be returning to Market Harborough High Street. Last month, without warning, BT sent a lorry to carry it away, even though Harborough in Bloom were keen to adopt it. As the Liberal Democrat councillor Barbara Johnson said at the time: "It's been part of the street scene in a conservation area for years." But today the Harborough Mail reports that the box should be back within a month - as a bit of visual nostalgia; it won't have a working phone.Is this ...
Embed from Getty Images If you want a pragmatic, nuanced argument for Britian remaining a member of the European Union, I recommend the speech by Theresa May. Not today's speech, but the one she made at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in London on 25 April 2016: if we do vote to leave the European Union, we risk bringing the development of the single market to a halt, we risk a loss of investors and businesses to remaining EU member states driven by discriminatory EU policies, and we risk going backwards when it comes to international trade. But the big ...
Bad situation, good legal outcome: Three women are celebrating winning a battle against "dinosaurs" who tried to block their attempts to join a Conservative club's committee. Tyldesley Conservative Club in Blackpool settled a claim of unlawful discrimination from Amanda Mitchell, Ellen Whiteley and Irene James based on their gender. Manchester Civil Justice Centre ordered the club to pay the women a total of £9,000 compensation and £26,000 costs. [BBC]
"The world needs liberal democratic values - this is something Churchill, Thatcher and others rightly decided that Britain could deliver from our place at the heart of Europe" - Tim Farron
At Prime Minister's Questions today, any half decent opposition leader would have lined up his most ferocious MPs to go to town on the PM over Brexit. We'll gloss over the fact that any decent Leader of the Opposition wouldn't have let the Article 50 Bill pass unamended in the first place. But we don't have a decent Leader of the Opposition. We have Jeremy Corbyn. You just get the feeling that if PMQs had been extended by a couple of hours, he wouldn't have got round to asking a question on Brexit. No doubt he'd have asked about the ...
Wed 29th
19:23
LibLink: Catherine Bearder MEP: Playing hardball on Brexit will only weaken Britain's position, not ...
From today, Britain becomes an outsider to the EU. We start to negotiate our exit with the other 27 member states. What emerges cannot possibly be as good as we have now. The cost of leaving and its effect on our children's future is going to be substantial. How much that is remains to be seen. Much will depend on how the Government approaches the negotiations and the Article 50 letter doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence. If you want to inspire goodwill, you have to throw some into the mix. Instead, the letter, if you read between the ...
Responding to the triggering of Article 50, Daisy Cooper, St Albans Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate said: "Local people and businesses are telling me that BREXIT will have a huge impact and will damage the character and fabric of our city. "Many independent shops and businesses are run by EU nationals who have made St Albans [...]
Today I had the pleasure of visiting Old Christ Church in Waterloo. This is an impressive mock gothic building which became redundant as regular place of worship.It eventually came into the ownership of the Church Conservation Trust who in partnership with the local Friends Group have done a magnificent job of conserving the church and opening it up for community use. (I shall be visiting the Beer Festival there in April). Today we were marking the completion of the latest phase of restoration. It was great to meet so many of the enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers, their partnership with the ...
Tim Farron has made a video on the triggering of Article 50. How dare the Government enforce a hard brexit on us without giving the people a say, he asks. If you agree with him and you aren't yet a member, you can join the Liberal Democrats here.
Embed from Getty Images Brexit could be okay. It might happen. Maybe it will be possible for the UK to negotiate constructively with the other EU states an exit which respects the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU, maintains good trading relationships, doesn't jeopardise Northern Ireland's fragile peace, and ensures continued cooperation to defeat security threats within and beyond our continent's borders. There is no rational reason why either our Prime Minister or the other 27 heads of government in the EU should want anything other than that to happen. Of course, the ...
Article 50 has been triggered. It is still just about possible that Brexit can be stopped. But that seems an extremely remote possibility. However, Britains who support international co-operation and an open economy should not be despondent. Today's victors faced a defeat far worse than ours. In 2016, they won the referendum 52%-48%. In 1975 [...]
So, the deed is done and the letter has been delivered - the Brexit process has begun. In an excellent and thought provoking piece in The Guardian today, Rafael Behr argues the case that there is no going back now. And more to the point, no matter how badly it goes, the Brexiteers will always be able to argue the case that it's only because its not a tough enough Brexit, and if only it was done properly, all will/would have been well. The problem as he sees it, it that there's no alternative history to compare and contrast. As ...
So, the deed is done, but the Liberal Democrats aren't giving up the fight. Here's how senior Liberal Democrats have reacted: Tim Farron – The people must have their say The world needs liberal democratic values – this is something Churchill, Thatcher and others rightly decided that Britain could deliver from our place at the heart of Europe. I believe the Prime Minister is twisting the will of the people, leaping into the abyss without any idea of where our country will end up. In her statement the Prime Minister admitted we would lose influence as a result. Theresa May ...
From Cheshire Lines Railway Estate Plans. I understand Cheshire Record Office holds them. Now part of the Cheshire Lines Path/Trans Pennine Trail its hard to believe that Lydiate once had its own railway station on the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway. www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/lydiate/ Disused Stations Site Record has the info' and a couple of interesting 'then and now' photos on Lydiate's long lost railway station – see link above, which was not even in the Civil Parish of Lydiate but in Altcar. Here are a few additional photos I have also come across/purchased/taken of the old station. Lydiate Signal Box ...
I was ambivalent and awkward, an outsider twice squared who was fluent with an accent and my eccentric idiom – just a small-town foreigner, come to work their way except that I became a citizen by choice of a city in the orbit, on the horizon's outer edge which signalled opportunity (although not in its back [...]
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe as Wal Socket, energy consultant, gets interviewed.
In today's Guardian, Tim Farron sets out the case for the people to decide in a referendum whether they wish to accept the terms of Brexit or remain in the EU after all. He sets out what Theresa May is up to: Theresa May's tactic is clear: to accuse anyone who dares question her headlong, blindfold charge towards hard Brexit of being democracy deniers. This despite it looking increasingly likely that the result of her reckless, divisive Brexit will be to leave the single market and not reduce immigration - the very opposite of what Brexiteers pitched to the people. ...
So today is the day. Article 50 and all that. We knew it was coming, and here it is. What I'd like to take time to talk about will seem odd to some of you. But here goes: what the Eurosceptics have achieved should inspire today's progressives in one particular way, which is this: regardless of how hopeless things can feel politically for your side, it is amazing what hard work and unity of vision can achieve. Dan Hannan is fond of relating a story about when he had a conversation with CCHQ in 2009 during which he said he ...
As usual, I wish I had better words – but will probably make up in volume what I lack in wisdom. This is the largest setback for progressive forces in Britain in my lifetime, perhaps in a half-century. There should be no confusion about that – even if there had been last June, the scale [...]
If you're a lib dem who has been vaccillating about whether or not you should go help in Gorton, read this [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
You can read part 1 here and part 2 here. It's not even been two years since you joined the party, and you are now sitting in the famous House of Commons. Has it sunk in yet? Not really. One of the things I think is quite strange is how familiar it is when you enter because you see the House of Commons on tele so much. It doesn't actually feel that strange in there. The weirdest thing I've experienced while there was when waiting for one of the votes, the Article 50 one I think, I was chatting with ...
As Theresa May prepares to make a statement to the House of Commons the BBC reports that she is going to use the opportunity to call for unity. Her problem is that what she is seeking to unify us behind is contrary to the wishes to 48% of the population and some leavers too. It is one thing to respect the outcome of last year's referendum, which I do, but in that campaign we were told explicitly that we would remain part of the single market, that we would have £350m a week extra for the NHS and that trade ...
So, the day has arrived. I'm wearing blue, as Roger Roberts suggested, for 3 reasons. As the Government carries out the worst assault on our children's future I have seen in my lifetime, I'm doing this for three reasons. Out of sadness at what today means for our future, out of pride in the EU's values of peace and collaboration – and out of defiance. I will not stand by why the Government destroys our country. I will take every opportunity for peaceful resistance as this incompetent and reckless government puts us all in harm's way. I will not stand ...
Well, there it is. According to the TES, in the brave new world of Justine Greening's Department for Education, a GCSE pass is now a grade 4. Except when it is a 5, because a 5 is also a pass. And just to remind you, the top grade is a 9, and the bottom grade a 1. Except maybe it's a zero. Nobody really knows anymore, so don't feel too left out. And don't panic, if you're a student, a parent or a teacher. Because all will be well. Don't listen to anyone who complains about the government not knowing ...
What's this about then? The Tory controlled Peterborough City Council, have announced that they intend to alter junction 18 (A47/A15), by demolishing the Rhubarb bridge. According to a Council report, it will "increase capacity and make it more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists." Currently £2.5 million has been allocated in 2017/18 for this scheme and a [...]
This is a reminder that I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. And as you can see from the list of the 10 most recent guest posts below, I am happy to consider a wide range of subjects. If you would like to write a guest post yourself, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. We are all the poorer for soundbite politics - Tony RobertsonA few thoughts on walking - Phil SmithThe mad, mad world of Maghull Town Council - Tony RobertsonWhat the US can do to end the Gaza conflict? - Daphne Holmes"You're all ...
From Dundee City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating construction works. The Order is expected to be in force for 33 weeks from 2 April 2017. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all westbound vehicular traffic in the nearside lane of both Riverside Esplanade and Riverside Drive from a point 125 metres or thereby from the end of the Tay Road Bridge west off ramp for a ...
Article 50 annotated — with comments from its author What Lord Kerr thinks it says. (tags: ukpolitics eu brexit ) Siberian princess reveals her 2,500 year old tattoos Fascinating. (Story from 2012.) (h/t Annie Cúglas.) (tags: archaeology ) A Map of Europe's Fastest-Eroding Coast Bye bye, Withernsea... (tags: maps ) Why you should always put a coin in the freezer before you leave home Top tips! (tags: health )
My working and thinking year has begun in the state of California, which has been racked by stormy rains since before I arrived. Here is a place that has been suffering a five-year drought made worse by its status as a farmers' bastion, where agriculture pumps more water than falls from the sky, creating subsidence and ... Continue reading And if California slides into the ocean...
We shall return.
I wrote a few weeks ago, after Jackie Pearcey was selected for the Lib Dems in Manchester Gorton, that I think she stands a decent chance of winning the seat. Certainly the bookmakers seem to agree now — the odds ... Continue reading →
