It's been a Suffolkrailwaytastic day as I have discovered Twitter account for the people dreaming of reopening the branches to both Southwold and Aldeburgh. This video follow the route of the former from Southwold to Walberswick - I have a feeling I once walked it. And if the water towers at the start look familiar, they featured in Peter Greenaway's film Drowning by Numbers. More information on the Southwold Railway Trust website.
Shropshire Council has granted permission for the demolition and redevelopment of the One Stop building at 9 Tower Street, Ludlow. The building also houses the town's main post office. The replacement building will probably house a café or restaurant on the ground floor with ten apartments above. There is no doubt that this site needs something doing with it. It is possibly the ugliest building in Ludlow town centre. But I am concerned that we are losing a second convenience store in the main shopping area. I am even more worried about the future of the post office. Planning permission ...
By 2020 all public places and transport must be fully accessible. No excuses. That includes our whole train network. Locally work has been done to make some of our local train stations more accessible from the public highway to the platform. Canada Water, Denmark Hill station, Herne Hill, Peckham Queens Road, Peckham Rye. London Bridge is being redeveloped and will be accessible form the pavement to platform – although most of the new shiny lifts are for staff only curiously. But this leaves, East Dulwich, Elephant & Castle, Nunhead, Rotherhithe, South Bermondsey, Sydenham Hill, West Dulwich without this type of ...
Yesterday I lost my long suffering cat, a ginger tom of great character and individuality. This slide show has been compiled in his memory:
What's this about then? Young people in Peterborough are being robbed of opportunities by the Government's push for a hard Brexit and Labour is failing to stand up for them. What does Darren think? Young people in Peterborough are seeing their future opportunities robbed from them by this Government's drive for a hard Brexit. Many [...]
So looking through old emails I found a copy of this, which I sent to my then employer about their decision to ask us all to participate in a an MBTI test as part of a team-building exercise. Having read about, and discussed this with people in the past, and come to the conclusion it is a load of old rubbish, I was naturally slightly disappointed, and disinclined to participate. I thought
So looking through old emails I found a copy of this, which I sent to my then employer about their decision to ask us all to participate in a an MBTI test as part of a team-building exercise. Having read about, and discussed this with people in the past, and come to the conclusion it is a load of old rubbish, I was naturally slightly disappointed, and disinclined to participate. I thought
My first political act was to wear a "Yes" badge during the 1979 referendum on devolution to Wales. Prime Minister Callaghan's plans for both Wales and Scotland failed. We had to wait until 1997 before any government tried again. The Blair government devolved powers to the nations of Wales and Scotland and also to Northern [...]
Embed from Getty Images Two weekends ago (from Friday March 31st to Sunday April 2nd) a group of D66 party members from The Hague, with council leader Robert van Asten and national Foreign Secretary Tjeerd Dierckxsens from the party executive, visited our brand-new Spanish sister party Ciudadános in Madrid, where their constituency party received us. They turned out to be very similar to your average D66/LibDem man or woman. Spain was the first European country ever where a small progressive majority of anti-Napoleon politicians convening in Cádiz (protected by Wellingtons expeditionary force) promulgated a truly liberal Constitution in 1812; but ...
Following up my earlier post on a podcast to listen to when out delivering election leaflets, I've now also popped up on the excellent Polling Matters podcast. This time I was talking about the Liberal Democrat standing in the polls, the party's strategic options and the prospects in Manchester Gorton: On this week's PB/Polling Matters podcast, Leo is joined by Lib Dem writer and campaign strategist Mark Pack to discuss the Lib Dem fightback and the new Polling Matters / Opinium survey on the party's prospects. The Lib Dems seem to be recovering in the polls, but how high can ...
Japan has reportedly drawn up contingency plans to evacuate 60,000 of its citizens who live in South Korea. This follows more sabre-rattling (or should one say, ballistic missile rattling) by North Korean hereditary despot Kim Jong-Un and the Americans diverting a naval force towards the Korean peninsula. President Donald Trump has said bluntly that he [...]
Embed from Getty Images In recent months I've seen a few pieces on Liberal Democrat Voice- this one and this one stick in my mind- written by party members who voted to leave the EU and are still in favour of Brexit. As would be expected, the response in the comments sections has been mixed. Some, myself included, believe the liberal response is to accept Eurosceptics into the party and encourage their participation. Others believe Brexit is entirely illiberal and that the party should be reserved for Europhiles. I think we can expect this type of dilemma to come up ...
Following the result of last June's referendum on leaving the European Union, the Liberal Democrats have pursued a strategy of branding themselves as the 'party of Remain'. While accepting the result of the referendum, the party has made clear that ... Continue reading →
Tim Farron came out in suppport of the US airstrikes inn Syria. Yet when Boris, the UK foreign secretary lest we forget, backed this up by walking away from talks with Lavrov, Farron said that Boris had made a mistake; even been played for a fool. I don't understand this position at all. Look, as long term readers of mine will know, I'm no Boris fan – I think the idea that he's in charge of the FCO a cruel joke against all of us who care about the Britain – but I think he's actually always handled the Russians ...
Fri 14th
11:55
Electoral Commission turns to Snapchat in bid to boost teenager electoral registration
With the registration deadline for May's Scottish local elections approaching, the Electoral Commission is turning to Snapchat in a bid to raise electoral registration levels among teenagers.
Sorry this is a bit late, folks, have had a bunch of stuff to do since arriving home (inc local party exec and various other things) which have meant a lack of laptop time. ANYway... This meeting was the debrief after conference - going through all the feedback and working out what we can do better next time, what was good, etc. I don't propose to go through everything, but I'm going to pull out some of the bits that interested me. ( I'm also going to put it behind a cut for the non-LDs among you who probably don't ...
Report on the London protest about the horrific stuff in Chechnya including several ppl from LGBT+LDs. Well done to the Grauniad for putting this on their front page, too. I'm not linking to the article (if you want to find it, you can easily do so) because it is THAT horrific. Artificial intelligence: How to avoid racist algorithms Tech made by humans is just as flawed as humans shocker Uranus has asteroids, say giggling astronomers Tee hee hee People who make tea in the microwave should be put to death, insists Britain Five tips for extending lithium-ion battery life Useful ...
Embed from Getty Images Easter is a time of new beginnings, wrote my local Vicar in his April newsletter. New beginnings for whom? I wondered. If the followers of a 2000-year-old religion can talk about new beginnings, can there be anything in the idea for the rather younger Liberal Democrats? This is a time of working and waiting, for us - working for the May elections and waiting for Brexit-related developments. But could this be a pregnant pause, with our party about to burst into new life after the nine-month post Referendum hard grind? I believe so. What strikes me ...
Over at Buzzfeed the site alleges that a company run by a senior UKIP politician is selling what appears to be industrial-strength bleach as a health product, with instructions for users to put a few drops of it in drinks or use it with water as mouthwash. They say that Andrew Haigh, who was appointed UKIP's national organiser for Wales in 2015, has, according to the website of his company Vitalox, been supplying "Aerobic Oxygen" since 1998: Its leaflet describes it as "good for you" and "the healthier element" - it says it "harness[es] the powerful healing properties of oxygen ...
From The Folklore of Shropshire by Roy Palmer (2004): Until the 1860s, when the well was drained, it was the custom on Good Friday to dip one's hand in the water, deemed good for weak eyes, of St Margaret's Well at Wellington. Much more recently, comfortably into the 20th century, the congregation of Lords Hill Baptist Church met at Snailbeach in the afternoon and perambulated the area, pausing to sing hymns to the accompaniment of a brass band. Until the 1930s, most places of work closed on Good Friday. People traditionally spent time in their gardens, and this was considered ...
I ran a series in Liberal Democrat Newswire highlighting essential online tools for campaigners. Given their continuing relevance, here's what I had to say about Dropbox in LDN #71. Dropbox is a simple, reliable and (until you get to using it on a large scale) free way of saving files securely online whilst being able to access them easily from all your different computer, tablet or smartphone devices. This provides a double benefit. First, it's a simple and safe way to make sure your key files are always backed up and won't be lost if a device is lost or ...
The Labour party has recently had one of its biggest meltdowns yet. They voted for, then against the amendment to protect the rights of EU citizens who already live in the UK to stay here. Unreal. Nobody knows where Labour stand on Brexit, they're trying desperately to play both sides. People in this country are wise to it and people cannot respect a party that will not stand up for what it believes in – or have something it believes in. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said Labour had the chance to block Theresa May's hard Brexit, but chose to ...
Fri 14th
07:48
The War against Labour-run Sefton Council's Green Belt busting Local Plan has been lost but there we...
This is what a recent letter said to those who had taken part in the Sefton Council Local Plan process:- Dear Sir or Madam Examination of the Local Plan for Sefton - Receipt of Inspector's Report The Council has received the Inspector's Report into the examination of the Local Plan for Sefton. This is has now been published by the Council and is available at the following locations: Online at www.sefton.gov.uk/localplan At each of Sefton's libraries At the Planning Offices at Magdalen House, Bootle Following receipt of the Inspector's Report the Council now intends to adopt the Local Plan at ...
Southwark Lib Dems have criticised Labour Southwark for taking no action about the selling of new Southwark homes to overseas owners. A damning 'Transparency International' report revealed that 100% of the 51 apartments sold at South Gardens by the Australian property tycoon LendLease were sold to overseas investors. No locals getting to buy a local homes. This flagship development at Elephant and Castle, replacing the now-demolished Heygate Estate, had previously been criticised for failing to provide affordable homes demanded by the council's own planning policy. Southwark Labour councillors have often told us how good their relationship is with Lendlease, and ...
UK denies residency to London-born children of Dutch-Spanish couple Shameful. (tags: ukpolitics brexit eu migration ) Conflict and Famine The last time the UN declared a famine was in 2011. Today we are on the brink of four. (tags: war southsudan Somalia nigeria yemen ) Democracy Is Not Dying Thomas Carothers & @YoungsRichard at @CarnegieEndow are not pessimistic. (tags: democracy poliics ) "@United Airlines made me ABANDON my mobility device at the gate before my honeymoon" Boggle. (tags: unitedairlines disability ) United Passenger "Removal": A Reporting and Management Fail Really good analysis. (tags: unitedairlines )
