However, an poll! View Poll: New Episode of Doctor Who [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments

The Irish Times had an interesting story yesterday, quoting one of the Irish Brexit officials as saying that British Ministers realise that Brexit is a huge mistake. The British government is slowly realising Brexit is "an act of great self-harm" and that upcoming EU-UK negotiations must seek to limit the damage, the State's top Brexit official has said. The official, John Callinan, said on Thursday: "I see signs in the contacts that we're having, both at EU level and with the UK, of a gradual realisation that Brexit in many ways is an act of great self-harm, and that the ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

I may struggle to get there this summer, but the Shropshire Hill shuttle buses started running today. You can find full details and the timetable on the Shropshire Hill AONB site. Once again, spending cuts mean that only the service being provided is the core one from Church Stretton over the Long Mynd to Pontesbury, Minsterley and the Stiperstones is running. It's not so long since you could reach Much Wenlock, Bishop's Castle and Knighton on these buses.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

On the famed EHPodcast two-step scale I liked it. I like Nardole's character so much I am beginning to be able to put up with him being played by Matt Lucas. The storyline was kind of light, but that's not unexpected for a jumping-on episode - I get the feeling that this is how Moff would have done Rose if he'd done Rose. I liked the pictures of River and Susan, and the doctor talking to them. And Bill. OMG I have fallen deeply in love with Bill. Her curiosity. Her turn of phrase ("my face keeps doing these expressions ...

A new poll finding from ComRes shows both huge dangers and opportunities for the Liberal Democrats.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Encouraging stuff from Toby Helm on the Guardian website this evening: The Liberal Democrats are fast closing the gap on Labour in next month's Manchester Gorton byelection and believe they could steal a victory to match their stunning success over the Conservatives in Richmond last December, according to an internal campaign briefing ... A briefing for senior Lib Dem officials and campaigners written by deputy director of campaigns Dave McCobb says the party's messages on Brexit, including calls for a second referendum on the outcome of negotiations, are winning over voters in a seat where more than 60% voted remain ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

What's this about then? Peterborough City Council have admitted that in our city the "existing drainage network struggles to cope with short durations of intense rainfall." The disclosure was made in their Local Plan document. The Council also states on their website that there is a "risk of both foul and surface water flooding during times of heavy [...]

Posted by Cllr Darren Fower on Cllr Darren Fower

The biggest impact of the Tory Party's obsession with cutting immigration has always been in the higher education sector, with many foreign students being out off coming to UK Universities because of visa restrictions. That, in turn has hit the finances of many Higher Education Institutions. It is no surprise therefore to read in the Independent that Theresa May is facing a damaging Commons revolt next week by Conservative MPs who are pressing her to remove foreign students from the immigration figures. The paper says that rebel Tories claim they have enough support to inflict a humiliating defeat on Ms ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
Sat 15th
12:20

Police Numbers

Police numbers sadly have been a political football over recent years. With claims and counter claims. We all feel inherently more Police officers is a good thing. Southwark Labour and Southwark Council have stated in official documents that since 2010 Southwark Borough Police has lost 300 police and PCSO's. The Met Police Service has been and continues to be restructured under the 20/20/20 plan. This restructures various units which would in the past have purely serviced one Borough Operational Command unit (OCU) such as Southwark Borough have been centralised and therefore now serve more that one OCU. This gives the ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber

On the 4th May, we have the chance to choose a new "Metro Mayor" for our region, covering South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset, and Bristol. The Metro Mayor will have powers over important issues like transport, housing, the local economy, skills and jobs - on a par with the Mayor of London. As a former Government minister, Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams has the experience to be a strong voice for our area. Working closely with the local Focus Team, he understands the problems we face here in South Gloucestershire, and has set out his plans to tackle them ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington
YouGov
Sat 15th
11:39

The Weirdness of Dreams

In the early hours of this morning I had a very weird dream. I was on a passenger aircraft returning from Asia to London (Club Class, so obviously somebody else was paying for it!) when the person sitting next to me was suddenly taken ill. After the plane landed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, I helped [...]

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer

A thing I've not seen many people mention is the "Popular in your circle" feature. Once you've added a few people, this will tell you what is popular with your friends, and then you can find things you might have missed but that you're likely to like. ETA: It's a paid account feature, apparently, which might explain why I've not seen many ppl mention it. I know I've mentioned this before, but this post on [IMG: [community profile] ] 2017revival is an excellent resource. In fact, the whole comm is ace. Find your LJ friends, and add yourself so they ...

British government realises Brexit is a mistake, official says But we're still going to do it because WILL OF THE PEOPLE and THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN. Christ, sometimes this country is depressing. UK denies residency to London-born children of Dutch-Spanish couple Eurgh. Petty xenophobia is running rampant in the borders agency again, I see. UK denies residency to British-born children of Greek-German couple While this is a sharp parody of the article linked above, I do regret that it normalises the "no matter how long you've lived here, no matter how important you are, you're not properly British if you ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMOCJXubh5w With the 2017 Festival only days away now I found this you tube review – see link above – of the 2016 Festival. It's well worth watching. Cllr. Edie Pope gets in on the act with then Mayor of Maghull. The 2017 Lydiate Village Festival will be held on Sunday 30th April on The Festival Field, Hall Lane, (Off Southport Road) L31 4HN. Behind Our Lady's Church.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

The following piece I penned for our weekly Digital Inspirational email at Teneo Blue Rubicon. Do sign up if you'd like such stories in your inbox every week. Online publishers have long had a testy relationship with adblocking software, disliking third party software providers software stopping readers seeing their ads and cutting their revenue. Adblockers in return have pointed the finger at publishers, stating people only use adblocking when they find ads intrusive, dull or a security threat. But, one of the largest adblockers, AdBlock Plus, is looking to make it easier for some revenue to flow back to publishers. ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Our most notorious road junction in East Dulwich is where East Dulwich Grove (EDG) meets Lordship Lane. It feels dangerous and you have be razor sharp crossing with confidence. Over the last 5 years 10 crashes have occurred. Putting full traffic lights would significantly reduce the capacity of Lordship Lane there and result in lots more rat running. It would also see significant parking removed to make it happen – both along Lordship Lane and East Dulwich Grove – which is predicted to speed traffic up countering any safety. On a site visit with council officials we noted the following ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber

 

The Liberal Democrats have criticised the Department for Work and Pensions after ministers found themselves having to increase the value of contracts to Atos and Capita to £700m a year for their controversial assessments for disability benefits. This is way over the £512m budget. Celia Thomas, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for disability, said: "Before these companies are given more money for benefit assessments, they need to give much better value for money than they do at present. "In particular, the PIP reassessments from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are a complete lottery for claimants, with two-thirds of these PIP claimants winning their ...

Posted by LD Neath on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Elderly face 260% meals on wheels price hike Many elderly residents in Southwark are paying 260% more for their meals on wheels service this year after price hikes introduced by the Labour council. In May 2010, Southwark Labour's manifesto pledged to reduce the cost of meals on wheels by half to £1.71. This target was reached in November 2013. But service users have been notified by the Council that under its new 'Fairer Contributions' policy for adult social care the previous flat-rate charge has been abolished and replaced by a new rate based on people's presumed ability to pay. While ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber

So, the Hugo Packet isn't out yet (and may, as always, not include everything), but happily all the nominees for Best Short Story are available free online, so I've been able to read through them all and rank them. By ... Continue reading →

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!
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