In the southern part of my council ward in Gateshead, an application for a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use has been submitted to the Council. The applicant aims to have the land used for 4X4 and motorbike off-road driving. This is not a normal planning application which seeks permission for a new use or activity on a specified site. Instead, it is an application for the continued use of a
My plans for Sunday were to help out at the Whinnies Community Garden volunteers' day in the morning and then go to a meeting with representatives of the Jewish community in the afternoon. Alas, the best laid plans often fall apart from the impact of real events. In this case, the event was one of my goats having 2 babies. I keep my goats on land rented from the Whinnies so when we were helping
Nick Clegg has called on liberal and one-nation Conservatives, centrist Labour politicians and Liberal Democrats to join together to mount an ideological response to Theresa May's government.
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe as Peter Dutton, Minister for Immigration, talks about same-sex marriage.
Vince Cable says economists, not politicians, will have the last word on Brexit. Erika Baker reports that the Liberal Democrats are making great strides in Tower Hamlets. The sky is the limit: I was drinking with a former Liberal education chair from the borough last Saturday. Jeremy Corbyn wants to bypass the mainstream media. So why are Labour's memes so bad? asks Martin Robbins. "The notion of taking the script of Annie Hall - or, more frighteningly, just the idea for the movie - to a rational studio head ... and requesting millions of dollars to realize it on the ...
I recently came across a list provided by Lydiate Parish Council detailing the Listed Buildings within the Civil Parish and thought it worthy of sharing. All the listings are grade II with the last two below being grade II*. The date after the grading is when the building was actually listed. I've added photos where I have them in my collection. Barn to Lydiate House Pilling Lane II 17-01-1986 Barn and former stable - lintel inscribed 1611 Carriage House at Lydiate House Pilling Lane II 17-01-1986 Carriage house - probably early 18th century Church House Southport Road II 11-10-1968 Farmhouse - 17th century Church of Our Lady Southport Road II 17-01-1986 Catholic church - 1854/5 Church ...
The Bog Visitor Centre is based in an old school that opened in 1839 for the local mining community, at one stage the village had over 200 buildings and was a prosperous centre for lead and barytes mining. The mine closed in the 1920s, and as buildings gradually disappeared the school eventually closed in 1968. So Paul Davis once wrote for me in a guest post about the Bog Centre. You may find it hard to believe, but Shropshire's ruling Conservative group is proposing to install pay and display machines in the centre's very basic car park. And how do ...
Embed from Getty Images Tom Brake has written a letter to the Prime Minister urging her to raise human rights issues in her meeting with Saudi Arabia. Here is the letter: Dear Theresa, I am writing in advance of your visit to Saudi Arabia tomorrow, to ask you to raise urgently with the regime a number of serious human rights concerns. 1. The targeting of civilians in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition According to the United Nations, over 7,600 people have been killed and 42,000 injured since fighting began in March 2015, the majority in airstrikes led by the Saudi ...
B-Day: So it has happened. Theresa May has sent the "dear John" to Donald Tusk (good elephant name, just sayin') to let him know we are all shooting ourselves in all of our flappy feet by triggering Article 50. Remember, if we all get BEHIND the Prime Monster, then when SHE goes over the cliff... we DON'T have to follow! The Brex Maniacs tell us to be optimistic. So I'll tell you what I am optimistic about: we CAN turn this around. We can FIX this. WE CAN WIN. Let me put it in a story: Never upon a time... ...
Embed from Getty Images It's not clear what he bases it on, but the Conservative peer and psephologist is tipping the Liberal Democrats to do well in May's local elections. According to the Financial Times: Lord Hayward predicted that the Lib Dems could see a net gain of about 100 seats, in line with a recent estimate by fellow psephologists Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. "They have a seriously good prospect of winning both Cornwall and Somerset," he said.He goes further over at Heart FM: Elections analyst Robert Hayward told Sky News the Tories would surge to victory if Mrs ...
(I apologise for the terrible pun, but I really couldn't resist.) I am moved to respond to the latest flurry of speculation in the right wing press that Britain, post-Brexit, might demonstrate its independence and Precious Bodily Sovereignty by... changing ... Continue reading →
In 1974, Stapleford Hall near Melton Mowbray was home to the 2nd Lord Gretton and his family. The park was at its peak as a tourist attraction, with the grounds containing a lion reserve, miniature railway and two scale model cruise liners. The Derbyshire Caravan Club centre held a rally there that September. I've recently digitised a short sequence of ... The post Stapleford Park and Miniature Railway: September 1974 appeared first on ten pence piece.
I don't want to link to any of the stuff, but there was a kerfuffle over the weekend on Twitter about journalism and ethics. One senior journalist decided to lay into a political party's press operation, and a more junior journalist criticised this in public, whereupon they were put down by a third (senior) journalist that they hadn't had any scoops so weren't worth listening to. Now, I don't really want to comment on that particular situation, but all these comments flying about reminded me of two things, and as I keep thinking about it, I'm getting it all down ...
Embed from Getty Images Normally I try to switch off on holiday. I am in the Canary Islands with my family. When I switched on my Twitter feed I nearly choked on my cafe con leche after reading Lord Howard's comments about Gibraltar. Today was the 35th Anniversary of the start of the Falklands war and should have been a day to remember the dead and learn from the past. Yet instead Lord Howard used an interview on a Sunday politics program to remind people of what Thatcher did in 1982 and support a similar reaction in relation to Gibraltar. ...
Embed from Getty Images I was taken in by Saturday's April 1st joke on the pages of The Liberal Democrat Voice: that we should stop "remoaning", and be a bit more positive about the Brexit process. No doubt some readers will call me foolish, but I absolutely agreed with the thrust of the article. After all, many a true word's spoken in jest... So here are three reasons for my optimism: 1) Moving past the romanticism of the EU would help, not hinder a more pragmatic pro-European cause. During both the referendum and the period before Article 50 was triggered, ...
What's the about then? I have now been contacted by several residents who have complained about the issue of grass verge damage by certain residents living along Derwent Drive and Avon Court in Gunthorpe. They are upset that this is being done by a handful of people, who are showing little regard for the upkeep [...]
I saw her then, a girl displayed in her mother's wedding dress, remade and fitted for the modern world. The original was lost. What does it mean? So much was lost. Meantime, I clasped your hands, recovering while twisted tendons cracked and snapped: I could not look. Look away! I had to look away. But [...]
The lead character in Ghost in the Shell is a cyborg haunted by glimmers of her human past. Likewise, Ghost in the Shell is an efficient if rather robotic piece of franchise filmaking, that occasionally gives you a sense of the genuinely interesting project it might have been (1). The things to like still outweight [...]
Here are some photos from the event.More text to follow
Embed from Getty Images "This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back." If the second part of the PM's sentence had been true, there would have been no need to state it. Therefore it isn't. Revocation of Article 50 by a British Government would be the ultimate vote of confidence in the EU. Europe would never pass on that opportunity. Therefore the campaign continues. In the first phase of the Brexit-campaign until now, Leave's weapons (unsubstantiated dreams, outright lies, fraudulent slogans, the opinion press), were more effective than Remain's (appreciation of a status quo, plausible ...
Since Donald Trump has been elected as the 45th president of the United States and the rest of the world watched that hand-holding moment between Theresa May and Trump during her visit to Washington, it's safe to say that there have been some awkward questions posed about the 'special relationship' between the UK and US. As a country, it is safe to say that Britain has found it hard to come to terms with Donald Trump, TV personality and thin-skinned businessman, being elected for president. His win (not by popular vote, mind!) came as a particularly damning blow when there ...
Embed from Getty Images I was delighted by Tim Farron's performance at Spring Conference this year; his eloquence and passionate words show a good leader moulding into a great one. Yet, there is one thing that Tim's speech missed: a distinct view upon the economy. The need for a Liberal Democrat policy on the economy is clear, with Tim himself saying in the speech 'Britain needs a progressive party... a plan for an economy that makes the most of the opportunities in front of us'. To put it short the Liberal Democrats need a clear economic policy so that when ...
Both sides are over-reacting massively here. The Brexiteers are reacting to a (perhaps deliberate?) misunderstanding of the EU letter. It didn't say that Spain would take over Gibraltar. It says that Spain will have a veto on any trade (or other EU-related) relationship between the EU and Gibraltar. That's either a statement of fact – or a recognition that QMV won't be used by other EU states to overrule Spain on Gibraltar-related issues (not sure which applies – possibly the latter, otherwise the letter wouldn't have said what it did). The idiotic Howard quote now means that Remainers are compounding ...
Embed from Getty Images Ever since the referendum vote to leave the EU last year there has been feverish speculation about the need to set up a new political party. Yet 9 months have gone by and nothing has so far emerged. I would suggest that they have missed the boat. Thousands have already joined the pro-EU parties, notably the Lib Dems and the new party missed the opportunity to recruit them. Even if it had been set up 9 months ago, would it have worked? Some see a parallel with the SDP formed in 1981 by the "Gang of ...
Just four days after Article 50 was triggered by the Prime Minister, a former leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard, has declared cheerfully that Mrs May would be prepared to go to war to keep Gibraltar British, just as Margaret Thatcher did over the Falklands. It is hard to imagine a more provocative and [...]
(AKA, today in anti-clickbait titles...) Special offer: use this card to vote, and get your second ballot free! We're just three weeks away from the first round of the 2017 French Presidential election and I've recently been trying to write a journal article about tactical voting, so various things have smashed together in my head to create an electoral system that would never be used but would make for interesting campaigns. A quick recap for those who don't know: the French electoral system has two rounds. In the first (taking place on April 23rd this year), all candidates that can ...
FPC's meetings tend to be dominated by two things: consideration of consultation and policy papers, which are ultimately put to conference for discussion and debate; and trying to find ways to improve the process of policy-making and policy discussion within the party. Last Wednesday's meeting featured both. For the first hour or so of the meeting we discussed our responses to two of the consultation papers we published in February, on the 21st Century Economy, and on Education. The working groups which wrote the papers for us will take our comments, along with the many received from party members and ...
The latest controversy surrounding North Wales UKIP AM, Michelle Brown involves attempts by her regional party to deselect her. As the BBC reports, a copy of a letter inviting Ms Brown to a meeting in Holywell, Flintshire, to discuss her "serious misconduct" has fallen into their hands. The letter lists a series of concerns "likely to bring the party into disrepute": The letter, written by Shaun Owen, vice chairman of the UKIP Delyn branch "on behalf of UKIP members in north Wales", says there is a "deep sense of growing disquiet, disillusionment and alarm" amongst members regarding Ms Brown's conduct. ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of Scottish Water main repair works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Brown Street (southbound from Guthrie Street for approx. 35metres south), Dundee This notice comes into effect on Monday 3 April 2017 for 5 working days. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Diversion routes for vehicles available via Guthrie Street / Horsewater Wynd / Hawkhill For further information contact 433082. Executive Director ...
Mon 3rd
07:27
Spain saying they won't block an independent Scotland from joining the EU is monumental
I'm abroad at present – Croatia – so forgive me if Jonathan Freedland or somebody has already written a comment piece saying what I'm about to say. But that stuff Spain has said about not vetoing an independent Scotland from joining the EU is bigger news than it appears to be being treated in the U.K. – for it means two rather large things, both of them meaningful to the future of Britain as a country. One, it takes a big argument against Scottish independence away from the Unionists. The idea that Spain would block a would be independent Scottish ...
Can Le Pen win through differential turnout? @ChrisHanretty think it's unlikely. (tags: elections france ) Why Republicans Can't Find the Big Voter Fraud Conspiracy It ain't there! (tags: uspolitics )
Today is World Autism Awareness Day, an annual day created by the UN for people with neurotypicality to talk on Twitter about how inspirational autistic kids are and how we must make sure that people like me and my friends ... Continue reading →
