After days of speculation (some of it quite wild) we now have an announcement on who is to be my Labour opponent. It is Liz Twist, Ryton Councillor and Gateshead Council Cabinet member with responsibility for building houses on land Labour took out of the greenbelt. The house-building plans are a key local issue and in one ward, Dunston Hill and Whickham East, a planning application has just
Before After My one bit of luxury - my monthly haircut at Hogg and Osborne Hairdressers in Blaydon. From grey politician to brunette rinse in less than an hour!
Thu 27th
23:26
How Theresa May could lose the general election (it's much more likely than the media think)
The Conservatives are well ahead in the polls. The opinion polls which, moreover, have a pretty good record at getting the winner of the general election right. Yes, you read that right. There have been nineteen general elections since polling begun in Britain, and the polls got sixteen out of the nineteen right (full data here). That's 84% correct, or a top mark in most exams. What's more, the errors in the polls – in both the sixteen and the other three (1970, 1992 and 2015) – have been consistent. In the sixteen the polls got Labour generally slightly too ...
What follows is a guest blog by a Southern commuter who has been battling to get his compensation by their deadline, which is this weekend... Do you find it slightly odd that, for a company with 300,000 daily commuters, to date they've only been in direct contact with 40,000 commuters owed extra compensation (and the doors close on 30 April)? I think the compensation scheme is run as poorly as their trains, and many eligible commuters will not receive the compensation owed. Why? Well, as a daily commuter over the relevant period I'd bought seven monthly season tickets, several weekly ...
Cabinet on Tuesday morning and some interesting conversations were had that threw some light on possible Labour candidates for Blaydon. The name of Mark Ferguson, former editor of Labour List, was mentioned. So were the names of a couple of Gateshead Labour councillors. And yet again, so was Tony Blair's name. The source for the person to whom I was talking was the BBC, not an internal Labour
In one sense, the big news today was Angela Merkel's speech to the Bundestag warning Brits not be under no illusion that exiting the EU means the UK will no longer enjoy the same benefits of membership as it does now: "A third-party state cannot enjoy the same advantages or be better positioned than an EU member state. I have the feeling that some people in Britain maintain illusions in this regard. They're wasting their time." Perhaps the German chancellor had in mind Brexit secretary David Davis who told parliament he was aiming for "a comprehensive free trade agreement and ...
Cheer up, everyone! There's only six more weeks of this to go. Forty-two days until we can watch David Dimbleby tell us what the exit poll has said, and if it's anything like previous years, feel what it's like to have the bottom fall out of our world. Today's unanswered broadcasting question: are Channel 4 going to be doing their own election special again this time? Because their 2015 effort managed to give us one of the most pointless hours of television ever broadcast. Some genius decided that they'd start broadcasting at 9pm, rather than waiting until 10pm like the ...
It's just over a week since Theresa May announced she would be seeking a General Election on 8th June, and MPs of various parties (including Labour's turkeys, intent on voting for Christmas) agreed, under the terms of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, to the Prime Minister's request. Aside from the obvious fact that the FTPA now joins the likes of baby cages, the Sinclair C5, hydrogen airships and The Pussycat Dolls as ideas that seemed good at the time but were later proved to be anything but, there is the question of the timing. It's reasonably obvious to any semi-informed ...
Dan Martin, the Leicester Mercury's political correspondent, has just tweeted this: Sir Edward Garnier CONFIRMS he will not seek reelection as Harborough MP— Dan Martin (@Danjamesmartin) April 27, 2017Why he linked to a tweet about Ainsley Harriott I do not know (unless it is a hint about the identity of his successor as Tory candidate). I blogged about today's speculation over Sir Edward's future earlier. Many Conservatives with less talent had longer front-bench careers, but perhaps he was limited by being interested only in the government law offices. It would have been hard to imagine Sir Edward as minister for ...
Speeds Pingle? Me neither. Talking of street names, "jitty" is a good Leicestershire word meaning ally but you don't often see it on signs. I came across two examples in Loughborough.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39739546 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above Seems poor old Boris does not have the support of his own family but then again it can't be a surprise they must know his contradictory views well enough.
First of all, Rachel Johnson, writer and journalist, welcome to the Liberal Democrats. Every media outlet is telling us that she has joined and some are even suggesting that she will be a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in this coming general election. The Guardian is feverishly speculating: Johnson's decision to join the Lib Dems is expected to infuriate her brother Boris, who has had a relatively marginal role in the post-Brexit negotiations so far. She could not be reached for comment, while a spokesman for the Lib Dems declined to confirm her membership, citing data protection rules. With just ...
Thu 27th
19:27Rachel Johnson joins Liberal Democrats, although two of her brothers are Conservative ministers
Journalist, author and TV presenter Rachel Johnson has joined the Liberal Democrats, motivated by a desire to stop Brexit. Unusually amongst the thousands of new members to have joined the party recently, she has two Conservative government ministers as her brothers: Boris and Jo Johnson. She was previously a member of the Conservative Party herself 2008-11. With a couple of winnable constituencies in the West Country (Bath and Yeovil) in search of new candidates after the timing of the snap election turned out to be very problematic for the previous candidates, there's been inevitable speculation that she might run for ...
Embed from Getty Images Rachel Johnson, the journalist and sister of the government ministers Boris the Mugwump and Jo, has joined the Liberal Democrats in protest against Tory support for Brexit. The Guardian says she has "toyed with the idea of running as a Lib Dem candidate for a West Country seat". As the paper goes on to note, two prime Liberal Democrat targets - Yeovil and Bath (on whose politics I am an acknowledged expert) - have lost their candidates in recent days. This may be putting two and two together and making five, and I am sure there ...
And it'll be a good one, too. No, Theresa and Jeremy haven't overcome their fear of Tim Farron. This is the Scottish Leaders' Debate where Willie Rennie will spend an hour and a half at 8:30 pm on STV debating Nicola Sturgeon, Kezia Dugdale and Ruth Davidson. From the STV website: The Scottish debates are usually of pretty decent quality and you should be able to watch on the live stream south of the border. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Later: Yes. There has been speculation today about the future of Sir Edward Garnier, the Conservative MP for Harborough. It seems to have originated from this tweet by the chief political correspondent of Sky News: I'm told Sir Edward Garnier, 64, MP for Harborough, Oadby & Wigston, is poised to become the latest Tory MP to announce he's stepping down.— joncraigSKY (@joncraig) April 27, 2017The local press picked up the story, with the Leicester Mercury adding: Local sources ... have suggested the veteran Conservative and former solicitor general will not seek re-election. The Mercury contacted Sir Edward to ask him ...
I don't know about Maghull folk but as a former Maghullian of many years, who is now exiled in Lydiate, I was just a little taken aback by this piece of artwork on the security shutters of a local shop. It's certainly skillful artwork but how do locals feel about it?
The results of the consultation on the latest parts of the Yate Spur cycle route have been published by South Glos - full details here - scroll down and click on "Consultation Feedback Statement". This consultation - including a very busy exhibition at Shire Way Community Centre - covered Westerleigh Road between the mini-roundabout and the Common and a refuge on the Nibley Lane arm of the Nibley Lane/Westerleigh Road junction. In brief, the responses to the consultation were very positive. A total of 67 responses were received: 49 responses were in support of the scheme (73%)3 responses objected to ...
Thu 27th
14:55
LibLink: Vince Cable: We are heading towards a dangerous one party state and only a Liberal Democrat...
Vince Cable writes in today's Independent of the dangers of the Tories being given carte blanche to do what they like as Labour disintegrates: The Prime Minister wants an opposition-free parliament in which to pursue the extreme version of Brexit she has chosen. Her cruder - or more honest - supporters talk about "crushing the saboteurs". Those of a more squeamish disposition talk about letting Theresa May (known by her activists as "mummy") get on with her task without distraction. In normal circumstances, the Labour Party would rally opposition to her plan. But they are compromised by the Brexit vote ...
As part of my ongoing research into theatre's response to crisis I have been actively researching, and attending where possible, productions that have come about in this way. One of the elements that several of these plays have had in common is the use of verbatim material. In the National Theatre's case testimonies were gathered through extensive interviews. For the production of Brexit: The Musical, the politician's own words were warped into song. Verbatim theatre is a development of Documentary Theatre, and is considered to have been influenced by Joan Littlewood's work during the forties, fifties and sixties. It is ...
This week I have picked out a couple of events that I attended either side of the Easter holiday beginning with my visit to the Formby Passion Play on Good Friday. The play was attended by about 500 people who assembled in Chapel Street and walked, singing Easter hymns, to the land adjacent to the Formby Pool where the play was performed. This year's play was written and directed by Dympna Edwards and was a great success. Everyone at Churches Together in Formby should be congratulated for the staging of this performance. It brought the community together and it was ...
8 Lib Dem MPs were elected in 2015 – all male, all white and myself the oldest. This was despite the party having put a lot of effort and energy behind some absolutely superb female candidates in seats where sitting MPs had stood down. So monochrome were we until the Richmond by election that when we were caricatured as pale, male and stale I felt almost apologetic at being elected. However it wasn't really our fault; it wasn't the party's fault. It was all down to an electorate spooked by the possibility of a Miliband/SNP government ....oh and a little ...
Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff by Michael Nesmith My rating: 4 of 5 stars (This will be crossposted to my blog and Goodreads — apologies to those who read my blog via the Goodreads feed and will thus see it ... Continue reading →
Oh dear what a mess, more managers tried than you could imagine, the Chairman has resigned, other directors are going to quit and rock bottom of the National League too. During the period that my team, Mansfield Town, were in the National League (or whatever it was called at the time) I really enjoyed going to Southport's Haigh Avenue Ground to watch the two teams play. My dear friend David Rimmer, who sadly died last year, was a staunch Southport supporter and I have other friends who are fans and even work for the club. They must be despairing at ...
Thu 27th
12:57
Lembit Opik to become a dad at 52 despite fears serious impaling accident had left ex-MP sterile
The Daily Mirror wins our Headline of the Day Award with this heart-warming tale. I hear that the judges also liked the detail that Lembit and Sabina Vankova "met in July 2015, at a party to celebrate Tim Farron's election as Lib Dem leader".
I've just returned from a week's holiday in the Netherlands, where I've been more or less cut off from British news, so much of what follows has probably already been said. However, for the record. . . I started my holiday by travelling down to London on Tuesday 18th April, and was startled, on leaving King's Cross Station, to see blazoned on the front page of the Evening Standard that Mrs May had called an election. At first I had assumed it was some sort of spoof as per Private Eye . It has never been quite clear why Mrs ...
Following on from questions from Prestwich Liberal Democrat councillors, the reasons for the delays in the start of the roadworks on the A56 through Prestwich village have been revealed: According to the Council: "- The main contractor struggled with resources to meet the original start date. – Trial holes have demonstrated that some tree positions were not achievable due to underground services which has necessitated some redesign work. – Some traffic modelling inconsistencies that needed to be addressed. – The business case for contributory funding from GMCA has been waiting for approval." Liberal Democrats went on to ask whether the ...
Last month, the independent panel of health experts set up by Norman Lamb published its interim report on "a new deal for Britain's Health and Social Care Services". The panel were "unanimously of the opinion that it is necessary to raise additional revenue for health and care through taxation" and Spring Conference seemed to agree. Similar views may partly explain why the Conservatives have so far (sensibly) refused to rule out any headline tax rises in the next Parliament. The interim report, which may influence the Lib Dem manifesto, concludes with three options: 1) raise Income Tax (e.g. raising all ...
Zac Goldsmith has been selected as the Tory candidate for Richmond Park for the 2017 general election. I think if anyone other than Zac had run there, the Tories would have had a very good chance of retaking this seat. As it stands, I think the Lib Dems will hold it, just. The reason for this is simple: we very recently witnessed a by-election in which Zac was rejected. And as many have said before, voters never liked being asked a question twice (although we see if this holds in Scotland sometime in the near future). For whatever reasons, they ...
What's the about? Government says that by 2040, every new car and van sold in the UK will have to be Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV). Now we all know that for some years now Peterborough City Council has been crowing on about becoming the Environment Capital of the UK, while at the same time reducing [...]
You can get a list of all the roadworks happening in Prestwich (or any area of Greater Manchester) here. For information the site is listing YELLOW and RED warnings for May 2017 for both Bury Old Road AND Bury New Road (though obviously the Bury New Road works seem to be a little behind schedule....)
The Positive Steps Project is offering courses for people in Bury who mild to moderate mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and low mood. The courses are for six weeks and are free. More information click on the picture below.
As readers will know we have another election this year, a General Election on Thursday 8 May 2017. If you're thinking of being away, or would prefer to vote by post then you need to fill in this form to register for a postal vote. Anyone can sign up for a postal vote. (Deadline 23 May 2017). If you're not registered to vote then you can do so online here. (deadline 22 May 2017).
Please don't look at my voting record on gay rights, pleads vicar's daughter Newsthump a little close to the bone again... Government fine with female employees being forced to wear heels or sacked FFS EpiPen price hike wasn't just about greed. It was about shafting the competition. YAY capitalism! What the Fuck Is Going On With Star Trek: Discovery? This is profoundly depressing Portugal Basks In Post-Bailout Economic Revival What happens when you cancel austerity? Your economy recovers... Five years later, legal Megaupload data is still trapped on dead servers Some of it is mine. weekly_food_challenge | Challenge 16: Chickpeas ...
There will be a debate about how MPs operate during this election. Because both of the candidates that can win have been MP for the same seat it is possible to compare how they operate. I, for example, ran a weekly advice bureau in the same place every Saturday (apart from bank holidays). That took 1/2 hours and I saw at a peak 35 people or groups of people. When people visit the bureau they
Liberal Democrats in Brighton Pavilion last night decided not to field a candidate in Brighton Pavilion against Greens co-leader Caroline Lucas. From the Mirror: Lib Dem President Sal Brinton said: " Liberal Democrats across the country are challenging Theresa May's Conservative Brexit government. As in previous elections, a limited number of local parties are considering how best to provide that challenge in their constituencies. This comes after the Greens stepped aside in Richmond Park to give us a clear run. What is also significant is that close to Brighton is the constituency of Lewes which we narrowly lost by less ...
Responding to Theresa May's refusal today at PMQs to guarantee the triple lock for pensioners, introduced by the Liberal Democrats in coalition, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Susan Kramer said: "Theresa May is preparing to raid pensions to pay for her hard Brexit. "The Conservatives must clarify their position now to pensioners across the country. "The triple lock was one of the Liberal Democrats' biggest achievements in government, lifting many pensioners out of poverty. Now this progress risks being undone. "This election is a chance to prevent a hard Brexit and secure the strong economy we need to protect pensions and ...
It's just a week since John Pugh announced his decision to retire at the snap General Election. Last night, local Liberal Democrats selected Cllr Sue McGuire to fight the seat on 8th June. From the Southport Visiter: Sue McGuire represents Cambridge Ward in Southport, which covers parts of Churchtown and Marshside, and is a governor at Marshside Primary School. She was first elected to Sefton Council in May 2010, and was chosen as leader of the party in June 2015. Born and bred in Banks, Sue attended Tarleton High School. She has worked extensively within the community to support and ...
The Friends of Balgay Spring Litter pick at Balgay takes place at 2pm on Saturday 29th April. All welcome to help tidy the park! Equipment provided - meet at Balgay Bridge.
John Hemming believes that an MP should represent everyone in their constituency. This should be regardless of their race, religion, gender, abledness, sexual orientation or anything else. It should be everyone. When he was an MP he worked on issues relating to men, those relating to women and those relating to non-binary people. Everyone. For example here is John Hemming on a demonstration
What Bullets Do To Bodies Profile of a trauma surgeon. (tags: guns uspolitics )
It is a long trek from allowing people to believe falsely that you lost 'close personal friends' at Hillsborough to comparing yourself to Mahatma Gandhi but it is a journey that the UKIP leader, Paul Nuttall is determined to take. According to the Independent, Mr Nuttall claims that his views are a decade ahead of our time just like the more enlightened, pacifist Indian leader. The only problem with that self-serving analysis of course is in fact, his and his party's views are actually rooted in some very old prejudices and have nothing to do with the future at all. ...
Just so people know, there was an accident involving my laptop a few days ago, and on top of that I've been spending all day every day at Lib Dem HQ (when a by-election suddenly becomes a general, a lot ... Continue reading →
