Two new blogs appeared on the LibDemBlogs aggregator in July. Thanks as ever to Ryan Cullen for sending me the details. Feminist Mama @ Ambitious Mamas is written by Jane Chelliah and has been running for five years. Here she responds to Nick Timothy's claim that because of sexism Theresa May has not received enough credit for her policies: It's a cynical and convenient use of a prejudice to spin a yarn to extricate his then boss, Theresa May, from the blame and shame that was heaped on her after the disastrous run at the general election by both the ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

When we first started frequenting Praia de Iracema over 30 years ago, it was an arty suburb of Fortaleza, with low-rise buildings that gave it an attractive air, accentuated by the crystal blue waves that broke along the beach behind the houses. Subsequently, the city grew five-fold, population-wise, and the empty dunes that began only [...]

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer
Sun 6th
21:50

Sunday reading

Current Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (a chapter a month) The Help, by Kathryn Stockett Last books finished Decide Your Destiny: Claws of the Macra, by Trevor Baxendale Aliénor: La Légende Noire, vol 1, by Arnaud Delalande and Simona Mogavino, art by Carlos Gomez The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, by Erving Goffman Next books Moon Stallion, by Brian Hayles QI: The Book of the Dead, by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson Short Trips: Transmissions, ed. Richard Salter

Sun 6th
21:48

Brexit latest

I think this is pretty significant and rather hopeful. First, of course the first side to state a number will end up having to move towards the other side. The consensus around Brussels is that the final figure is likely to be €60bn, but allowing the €100bn to unofficially circulate was smart tactics. If the UK's opening offer is €40bn (rather than zero, as it was previously), we will likely reach a figure that both can live with in the end. (Probably nearer the €60bn because the EU has prepared better.) Second, if the UK line is now that they ...

While heading South on the M40 tonight at 6pm, my car's music player selected this Graham Parker track. Only about an hour and thirty-four years too late. The post (Too late) The smart bomb appeared first on ten pence piece.

Posted by tim on ten pence piece
Sun 6th
21:38

Six of the Best 714

Peter Geoghegan offers an enlightening "semi-personal reflection" on the Irish border and Brexit. "If a week is a long time in politics and there's plenty of evidence for that at the moment, perhaps eight months will seem a veritable eternity." Even so, Stodge forecasts next May's London borough elections. Christian Wolmar asks if there is any price the proponents of HS2 will regard as too steep for their cherished scheme. "Education should be about kindling a thirst for knowledge - children discovering who they are, what brings them joy and what does not, how to work, how to learn and ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

I have spent the past week in Shropshire with the songs of Scott Walker going through my head. Before I left I watched the BBC Prom devoted to those songs and I thought it was wonderful. I had heard it on the radio, but the staging in the Royal Albert Hall added magic. Without it, on the radio, you missed Scott Walker's voice. But then the fact that Walker devoted himself to these songs when, with that voice, he could have done anything he wanted in music was somehow a statement of their importance in itself. On Your Own was ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Embed from Getty Images A trivial historic footnote for your delectation. During the 1966 general election campaign, Prime Minister Harold Wilson, one of Labour's most successful leaders, visited the Birmingham Rag Market for a public meeting. The location had been the scene of a famous* public meeting in the 1964 campaign when the then Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home got shouted down. Compare and contrast the media coverage of the time about how this meeting went. Exhibit A: a Labour supporting paper WILSON GETS THE BETTER OF TORY HECKLERS (The Worker) Exhibit B: a Conservative supporting paper HECKLERS GET THE BETTER ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Local band the Lightning Seeds who were due to play at the Hope & Glory Festival have now moved to the Zanzibar this evening I recklessly did a none-political, hopefully amusing blog this morning which I concluded by saying that ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-40837594 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above There does not seem to be much in the world of the Internet that is not open to fraud these days but locals who want to register to use the new Mersey Gateway Bridge need to be careful of this scam.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus
YouGov

Heading south now, we'd left the bright lights of Longyearbyen behind us, and were heading back to Hornsund for a scheduled glacier cruise in our trusty zodiacs. Our driver for the morning was Pierre, a South African marine oceanographer, and a really fascinating character. A glacier in Hornsund. It's a lot bigger than it looks... We set off in glorious sunshine and made our way through the brash ice - that's the small bits of ice - to near the foot of the glacier. The safety rule is that you keep at least three times the height of the glacier ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on A liberal amongst the country gentry...

I, like many others, was very struck by the recent YouGov Poll outlining that a majority of over 65 Leave voters think their family losing their jobs is an adequate price to pay for Brexit. God knows what dreams they have about the benefits of Brexit, but it is very shocking at quite a visceral level, before you get onto how Boomer Leavers expect us to pay for triple-locked pensions from a reduced GDP. British Nostalgia, or a million iterations of the same Keep Calm and Carry On font and poster design, the station in the Railway Children, Paddington Bear's ...

Posted by Louise Ankers on From one of the Jilted Generation...

At the last meeting on Gateshead Council in July, a report on tackling substance misuse was approved, but it did spark a debate about the legalisation and regulation of cannabis. Cllr Daniel Duggan led the debate on supporting such a move for the Lib Dems, arguing that the current law does not work and the only beneficiaries are the drug barons.

Posted by jonathanwallace on Jonathan Wallace

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.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Sun 6th
11:00

My tweets

Sat, 12:56: The Church of England Takes on Climate Change—and Generates a 17% Return https://t.co/N3mBrvkO6m My former colleague @edwardcmason at work! Sat, 14:04: Britain prepares to show its Brexit hand https://t.co/XUzExWRHUR Sat, 16:03: RT @JohnnyPixels: @DavidAllenGreen EU lays down a royal flush. UK looks at own cards: Mr Bun the Baker, Pikachu, a Shadowmage, a fireball s... Sat, 16:05: There Is No Way to Survive the Trump White House https://t.co/ectnjRMPiR Another brilliant brilliant piece from Matt Tabibi at @RollingStone Sat, 22:13: RT @ulrichspeck: Merkel loosing her foreign policy advisor, a key player behind the scenes for many years. https://t.co/0IEI4r7mN1 Sun, ...

miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 05-08-2017 I posted The Blood is the Life for 05-08-2017 to my dreamwidth blog Instagram Instagram photo: Roxy is still Not Talking To Mummy :( Twitter Instagram photo: Roxy is still Not Talking To Mummy :( [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments

Vince has high prominence in the media this morning for his Mail on Sunday column about the Brexit age divide. Talking about Brexit "martyrs" who are prepared to risk economic hardship to "take back control", he writes: (A) concern is that the self-declared martyrs may be planning to sacrifice other people rather than themselves. It is striking that the martyrs appear predominantly elderly (indeed the YouGov poll confirmed that fact). This is unsurprising since 64 per cent of over-65s voted Brexit in the referendum and 71 per cent of under-25s voted Remain. In the campaign, I was struck by the ...

Posted by Paul Walter on Liberal Democrat Voice

Did my ancestors wear one of these I thought to myself after a third gin and tonic on the train home!! One of the problems with spending a lot of time on the train, as I did during July, was ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

There are many contradictions and inconsistencies in the commitment by the Conservative Government and their Labour hard Brexit allies to abandon all of our links with Europe so one more should not make a difference. However, when that contradiction comes about after the policy is determined and because Ministers have not properly thought-through the consequences of their decisions, then there is no excuse. In this particular instance I am referencing the announcement that the UK will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, and redouble its efforts to promote the uptake of electric vehicles. The Independent reports ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

The Guardian has the story on its web site – see link above Quote for the article – From energy and water bills to exorbitant rail fares, we're all busy lining the pockets of wealthy 'investors' My good friend Roy Connell brought this to my attention and it resonates with both of us. Why not read this opinion piece it may resonate with you too.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus
eUKhost

 

Any woman in any situation is a potential victim of sexism, granted, because sexism is a pervasive sickness that does not respect the woman or her position or her dignity. Having been a victim of sexism myself many, many times, like countless women around the world I bristle at sexism but I am bristling far more at what Nick Timothy had to say. Nick Timothy, former joint Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Theresa May, interviewed in a piece in theTelegraph, claimed "Mrs May had been a victim of "sexism" because some people in Westminster refused to give her credit ...

Posted by Jane Chelliah on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas