UKIP may be looking like they are in their death throes but spare a thought for the new way their beliefs could survive. In this instance, I'm not talking about the Tories doing a smash-and-grab on UKIP policies. Instead, Labour in Sunderland seem to be setting out to be UKIP Mark II. They have published an article in an election leaflet which could have come straight from the pages of the
I had a long standing promise to fulfill: I had agreed to give my old university friend and now Lib Dem leader Tim Farron a hand in Westmorland and Lonsdale. The choice was phone canvassing from home or visiting this Lake District beauty spot on a lovely sunny Sunday. We opted for the latter. 5 of us went over in Cllr Chris Ord's car: me, Chris, Cllr Marilynn Ord, Cllr Ian Patterson and Amelia
My second freepost leaflet arrived on Saturday. Alas, it hit people's doormats along with the 2nd Labour and the one and only Tory freeposts. I didn't have much time however to read my opponents' literature. I had to be in Dunston again to deliver more tabloids.
Tue 6th
23:05
Election notebook #16: Police numbers; non-debates; nuclear deterrence; Liberal Socialists?
Another week, another attack, this time in London. There's a gruesome cowardice to these outrages: crude tactics, easy targets. How can you defend citizens, always, everywhere, against these 'losers' ((C) President Trump, on that single occasion he judged the tone right) with infamous murders on their minds and little care for their own survival? The wearying, worrying reality is you can't. As a result politicians have fixated on the easy bit, armed police numbers. The Conservatives point out that numbers are on the up, having been on the down on, erm, Theresa May's watch as home secretary. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, ...
Canvassing in Sheffield Hallam, Ben Rathe found this: So, canvassing in Sheffield Hallam earlier @hmatthews92 and I came across a house with this in the front window. pic.twitter.com/oRHB6Qy8Rs — Ben Rathe (@benrathe) June 6, 2017
Just stream of Newark Castle stands Newark Town Lock and some warehouses which have now been converted into flats. For more on the Trent through Newark, see The Tears of a Clown.
Tue 6th
21:42
Tim Farron: Lib Dems have three times as many BME candidates standing in winnable seats this time
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has written a piece for Operation Black Vote about their Race Equality Manifesto and how the Liberal Democrats would tackle discrimination and inequality. It is reproduced in full below, and note in particular what Tim Farron has to say about improving the Lib Dem record when it comes to electing diverse MPs: Liberal Democrats are proud of our record on equality, but we know there is much more to do, and this includes being more representative as a party. We are slowly getting there, with three times as many BME candidates standing in winnable seats ...
The actor Peter Sallis, who has died, aged 96, was without doubt my favourite lunch companion, until fading health and increasing blindness limited his ability to get out and about. Though an instantly recognisable face (thanks to many years as the character Cleggy, in the hit TV series, Last of the Summer Wine) and an even [...]
Embed from Getty Images Though he was acquitted of murder at the Old Bailey, there seems little doubt that Eastbourne's Dr John Bodkin Adams was a serial killer along the lines of Harold Shipman. The town's rich widows had a habit of changing their wills in his favour and then expiring shortly afterwards. As well as having a general practice, Bodkin Adams worked at All Saints Hospital. And who was chaplain of All Saints Hospital, Eastbourne, at the time of Bodkin Adams' arrest in 1956? The Revd Hubert Brasier, better known today as the father of Theresa May. In fact ...
Conservative or Labour Governments would deny young people a say in their future when they will have to live with the consequences for longer. That's the message from Tim Farron as the Liberal Democrats' manifesto for young people is launched. Young people voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the European Union and if allowed to vote in this election, 16-17 year olds would be influential in a number of battleground seats. Tim said: 16- and 17-year-olds are a progressive force to be reckoned with and the Conservatives are determined to alienate this pro-European age group from the general election ...
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and Jo Barton are holding their next advice centre on Saturday 10th June from 11 am to 12 noon at St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Churchtown, at BoxTree Kitchen for Queenscourt café, Manor Road/Cambridge Road, roundabout, fourth Thursday of every month (except December) from 10:30 to: 11.30 am.
Tue 6th
19:36
The Wood for the Trees by Richard Fortey wins the Richard Jefferies Society/White Horse Bookshop Wri...
From Marlborough News Online: John Price, Chairman of the Richard Jefferies Society, announced - "with great pleasure" - that the book which best reflected the spirit of Jefferies' writing was The Wood for the Trees by Professor Richard Fortey ... "With a strong sense of place in Fortey's recording of the passage of the year in the woodland, we felt that the book was a worthy successor to Jefferies' writing."And the blurb on Amazon reveals a Liberal connection: "The woods are the great beauty of this country... A fine forest-like beech wood far more beautiful than anything else which we ...
The latest Liberal Democrat poster launch, by Paddy Ashdown, focuses on Theresa May's record of flip-flopping on issues.
Rockstar and global charity leader Bob Geldof has backed the Liberal Democrats in the 2017 general election.
Bob Geldof entered the campaign today with a robust announcement of support for the Lib Dems. He helped us win Richmond Park in December. Here's hoping that his influence can help us to a good result in our key seats on Thursday. Here's what he had to say: For the first time in my life I'm going to vote for those guys, the Lib Dems. This election is about nothing else except Brexit. The Liberal Democrats are the only party with the balls to do their job of opposing the government. They happen to be my voice in parliament How ...
From a couple of weeks ago, a reminder of Tim Farron's speech from the Lib Dem manifesto launch in British Sign Language * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Third photograph: This is just a collection of quirky photographs of informal aspects of life in Brussels (mainly), some of which are obviously intended as solutions to particular problems, but mostly just included because they caught the photographer's eye (mostly taken by German Brussels resident David Helbich). The focus is not on human beings but on the material stuff we sometimes grab as a temporary fix. To be honest it's not really my thing, but there were a couple that did jump out to me. There is something richly symbolic about the door-within-a-door at the entrance to the Constitutional Court: ...
What we could have seen on election day, December 2010. Seven weeks since this all started, and now just a couple of days to go. I'm pretty sure it was a nice day back in April when all this began, warm and full of sunshine. Now, the weather seems to be reflecting the mood of the country after nearly two months of election related nonsense. Everything's very grey and it feels like there's a quest to wash us all away or at least cleanse of us of our misdemeanours. Or maybe it's just a weather system brought on by the ...
On Monday, June 5, Palestinians and their supporters marked 50 years since the 1967 Six Day War, when Israeli forces occupied the remaining 22 percent of historic Palestine left over from the War of 1948. During this military assault, Israeli forces displaced another 350,000 Palestinians from their homes, and turned many 1948 refugees into refugees again. How long must Palestinians wait to return to their homeland? How long until the international community exercises its political will to force Israel to comply with international law? How long until the UK and other western countries, explicitly or tacitly, end the double standard ...
There is only one party offering an alternative to the awful Brexit planned by the Conservatives, backed by Labour. Guess who that might be... Another good effort from our digital team.
There were varying degrees of excitement amongst Liberal Democrats that the Economist had recommended a vote for the party this Thursday. Some were ecstatic at the idea of any sort of publication that people have actually heard of endorsing the party, while others actually read the piece in question and saw that the endorsement was, at best, half-hearted: No party passes with flying colours. But the closest is the Liberal Democrats. Brexit is the main task of the next government and they want membership of the single market and free movement. (Their second referendum would probably come to nothing, as ...
Tue 6th
14:15
How the Dutch embed anti-radicalisation efforts in stronger local "joined-up" government and co-oper...
Radicalisation amongst young muslims often starts with exclusion from job opportunities, dropping out of school and/or sliding into petty crime and youth vandalism. Many famous jihadis started out as drinking, partying and stealing adolescents and youths; to be turned around abruptly like many converted "sinners" in many religions. It is also connected to growing up in problematic families (from which orthodox or jihadi Islam seems to offer a refuge; certainties their own family fails to offer). And intelligence about who is at risk of such radicalization trajectories always starts with good, steady community policing; in Tim Farron's words: with "information ...
Boris Johnson rejects calls to cancel Donald Trump's state visit. He should never have had one in the first place. Change the world.
Theresa May was right. As much as it galls me to even type those words, she was right when she said that this was the most important election. It is. It is a chance for change. For many people who voted Leave in the referendum it was a protest vote: they felt that their voices were not being heard so they let loose a howl of frustration at years of government austerity that was channelled by a campaign built on lies and emotional manipulation into a misguided anger towards "unelected" bureaucrats in Brussels. Really their anger should have been at ...
The Guardian has the story on its web site – see link above If this thoughtful assessment of the UK's perilous situation does not sober up the mad Brexiters in the Tory and Labour parties I am not at all sure what on earth will. Mrs. May and her Brexit lapdog Mr. Corbyn potentially have us on the road to utter ruin. They may well have swallowed UKIP's mad ideas of isolation, closed borders and Little England but the prospect of no deal with the EU and a government of Bluekip or Redkip with no idea how to stop ...
Tue 6th
12:10WATCH: Nick Clegg on why a "self destructive" hard brexit is so damaging for our economy and securit...
Nick Clegg has given a big speech on Brexit this morning. You can watch it here. The highlights: May and Corbyn's conspiracy of silence as they pursue the hardest of Brexits – the politics of evasion and fantasy The cost of leaving the single market and customs union How the poorest will be most adversely affected by a hard Brexit while the rich will be relatively insulated May will think she has a mandate if she gets a majority on Thursday but there are still so many unknowns There is a chance to avoid all this – by electing Lib ...
I am standing for a third term as Bristol West's MP. Theresa May called this snap general election for reasons of cynical party advantage. She thought Jeremy Corbyn would crash Labour straight into the electoral iceberg and that she would be Prime Minister of a Tory government with a commanding Commons majority. She might also [...]
Conductor Phil Shotton Addresses the audience Liverpool's Sefton Park Palm House was packed out last Sunday afternoon for another great performance by Maghull Wind Orchestra. It never ceases to amaze me how this community orchestra can produce such wonderful sounds and still ask anyone to join them who is at any standard in the musical development. The Flute Section The youngest in the orchestra was just 12 last Sunday and the oldest over 90! Oh yes, and I'm still the roady for flute player Jen Robertson. George Melly's comments are spot on – it is a wonderful venue Click on ...
This post first appeared on the Radix blog...One of the irritating elements, among so many, of the current general election campaign is the way that Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party has dragged debate back to an issue that most other countries have long since settled - the issue of privatisation versus nationalisation. Long after this was stopped being a useful debate, and for my entire lifetime, British political debate has been bled by this pointless discussion. And now, thanks to the Labour manifesto, we are shooting back round again. My main fear is that it will take decades for us to ...
Yet more tabloid delivery on Thursday and Friday last week. On Thursday I was in the Ryton Riverside Estate. Those in charge of our leaflet delivery here keep giving me this estate to do on the grounds I've done it so often that I know my way around easily! I've also watched it grow. It is a new build of about 500 houses on a brownfield site and on my visit on Thursday, I saw that work had
I have blogged before about how hard women fought to win the right to vote in this country and I am sad to see voter turnouts are still low in this century. Please stand up for your rights and your local community and vote this Thursday. It isn't a chore, it's your chance to vote for someone to represent you in government. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday and you can still vote even if you've lost your poll card, as long as you are registered on the electoral roll. The BBC have put together ...
Hey, Donald Trump, back the f**k off our mayor | British GQ GQ is not my usual new outlet (I find Teen Vogue, Attitude magazine, and Ars Technica fulfil any news needs the beeb and the Grauniad miss) but this is STONKING. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Our latest edition of eFocus for the Whickham area was published last night. Lots of news about Chase Park, Planting Up Whickham, volunteer groups in Sunniside and much more. You can read eFocus on this link.
Tue 6th
09:26
The effect that multiple terror attacks have on a society: it becomes normalised more than we realis...
After the Manchester bombing attack, political campaigning was suspended for several days. Each leader of the main political parties assiduously avoided trying to say anything political whatsoever in the aftermath of the attack. It was felt that any mention of anything that could be interpreted as electioneering would be extremely frowned upon and the politicians complied with the national mood. It's been interesting to watch how different things have been since the London Bridge attacks. There was a call for election campaigning to be suspended, again, only this time it was much more loosely observed, to put it mildly. Theresa ...
Social care is any extra help that a person needs with day to day living. It might be getting out and about, maintaining relationships, preparing meals, washing, paying bills or cleaning and maintaining the house. Anything that does not require really specialised knowlege but is, nonetheless, essential for a person's wellbeing. Infants, small children and those with disabilities often need social care. Most adults can manage well into their old age by hiring someone like a gardener or a cleaner except if they have a medical condition such arthritis, Parkinson's or dementia. Even then, most people can pay for their ...
The next West End Police Surgery takes place at the Mitchell Street Centre today - details below :
Responding to Conservative proposals for a so called 'board of trade', Liberal Democrat Shadow First Secretary for Scotland Alistair Carmichael said: "If we needed any further proof that the Conservatives have no new ideas, it's this desperate attempt to apply 17th century solutions to 21st century challenges. "This plan is so outdated it's probably been written on parchment by Jacob Rees-Mogg. "Just 48 hours from an election, the Conservatives have run out of things to say on policing, our crumbling schools and the NHS crisis."No number of fancy trade commissioners jetting around the world will save us from crippling tariffs ...
Metro wins our Headline of the Day Award.
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Conservatives to "level with the British people" after Culture Secretary Karen Bradley refused to answer whether armed officer numbers have been cut on their watch. The Liberal Democrats have also reiterated calls for a long-awaited government report on foreign funding of extremism to be published, after Karen Bradley refused to answer whether it will be made public and said it was important to "work with our partners and our allies."Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said:"Theresa May must level with the British people and accept that on her watch armed officer numbers were cut. ...
I had decided to be part of the Party's delegation to the 70th Anniversary Congress of Liberal International partly because it sounded interesting, but also because it was an excuse to add another country to my list. And so, I had booked a hotel in Andorra, and flights to and from Toulouse. I hadn't really given it much more thought than that. And you know how things are, you're busy with other stuff, and you don't really get round to doing quite as much research as you ought to. That's particularly true if you aren't taking your wife, who would ...
Over at the Independent, Nick Clegg has pointed out the obvious truth that Labour and the Tories seem reluctant to admit, Theresa May is putting the safety of Britons at risk after Brexit, by failing to explain how the police will retain access to EU anti-terror information. He is particularly critical of the Prime Minister for vowing to pull the UK out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), whatever the cost. He has pointed out that outside the ECJ, Britain is likely to lose the right to share data through the Europol enforcement agency and the ...
Winners of the Made in Bury Community Awards were announced at Annual Council earlier this month: The winners: Outstanding Contribution to a Township Award: Joanne Wilcock Chair of the Affetside Society Young Person or Young Persons' Group: Bury STARS Best Community Project funded by the Township Forum: D-Caff Dementia Cafe, Greenmount And the Volunteer of the Year Award went to Prestwich's own Jacquie Morrison for her hard work as cook at the Creative Living Centre Full information www.theburydirectory.co.uk/mibawards
I'm a Liberal and I want a brighter future. This General Election hasn't been about that. I'm sick at heart of the Theresa May—Jeremy Corbyn—Brexit bad trip to a meaner past. But the hope of a Liberal future keeps me going. My vote on Thursday will not be just to stop the Conservatives / stop Labour because though both are s**t I'm marginally more afraid of one than the other. I can't vote to make Britain just a bit worse. I'll vote positively. Here's my hope of a future worth voting for. Do you want a brighter future? Because if ...
