My tribute of flowers in memory of Heather Heyer Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville while protesting against the racism of the Alt-Right. The moment she was killed was the moment that racism had reached its nadir this year because she was fighting against something that by any normal and moral standards of decency is WRONG. The Alt-Right exudes a privilege that it has no moral or legal right to lay claim to but, by dint of being of being born White, these knuckleheads think they are superior. They stoke fear and division and thrive on it because this is ...

Posted by Jane Chelliah on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas

Is the glass half empty? Is the glass half full? Or is it really always full?

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

I am always pleased when I find out that someone I had assumed was dead is still alive. The only trouble is that they tend to die soon after you make that discovery. A couple of years ago it was the England cricketer Bob Appleyard. (What I didn't say in that post was that I was using his name as part of a password at work at the time he died and therefore felt rather responsible for his death.) Today came news that another such figure had left us: Richard Gordon. A doctor himself (his real name was Gordon Ostlere), ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

So what are the hot takes on events in Charlottesville? Brendan O'Neill is in no doubt about who is to blame. The events in Charlottesville are the logical consequence of the politics of identity. One of the nastiest trends in Western politics in recent years has been the relentless racialisation of public life and political debate. Everyone has been forced, often against their will, into a racial box. It's all "Dear White People", black lives matter, white lives matter, Asian lives matter, racial re-education on campus, warnings against "cultural appropriation", where everyone from the white dude who wears dreadlocks to ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

As the damage to Britain's economy from looming Brexit becomes ever clearer, it is time for Remainers to make the patriotic case for staying in the EU. The Brexiteers wrapped themselves up in the Union Flag during last year's EU Referendum and talked about "taking back control", peppering their arguments with distortions and lies, but [...]

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer

From left to right: Councillor Gary Millar, Simon Law of Hong Kong Homes, and Peter McInnes of North Point Global I have recently received a number of e-mails from desperate investors from people in Hong Kong and parts of the UK ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

The County Council is undertaking a consultation: the document can be found here: Consultation document final

Posted by chriswhite on Chris White

Both nervous and determined, I stood to make my first speech at the full Oxfordshire County Council meeting on July 11th. In fact, I spoke twice. First, I supported the motion for the County Council to move to a committee system of governance rather than the existing cabinet system. I spoke about working together, across party lines, for the common good. And how this could be best achieved through a committee system, encouraging round-table decision making, than the cabinet model of top-down governance. The motion, with amendment to investigate the options available and to change the structure as soon as ...

Posted by Kirsten Johnson on Liberal Democrat Voice
Mon 14th
11:10

It must be summer

The title is not a reference to the rainy weather. Instead, it is about how daft, unrealistic political stories make it into the headlines. August always sees a famine of real political issues so the nation's army of political journalists, rather than shutting up, puts fingers to keyboards to write rubbish (some would argue they do that all year round). So what are the mad political stories

Posted by jonathanwallace on Jonathan Wallace
Mon 14th
11:00

My tweets

Sun, 16:33: RT @worldcon75: We are the second biggest Worldcon ever. 10516 Members and Day Passes 7119 Warm Bodies on Site. #Worldcon75 Sun, 20:09: RT @worldcon75: @audiojeremy @howardtayler @crashwong Apologies for this pretty terrible mistake. Artists (who we greatly admire) were on s... Mon, 10:45: Doctor Who writer Victor Pemberton has died https://t.co/jHvNApAaZn Brilliant interview with him from last year.

YouGov

brithistorian | The state of the world Or how scifi gives people hope. I'm a woman in computer science. Let me ladysplain the Google memo to you. YouGov | What does the ideal House of Commons look like? "Lib Dem voters do not, on the whole, want to see the Liberal Democrats as the largest party in the Commons." *headdesk headdesk headdesk* If you're wondering why you are hearing autistic people complain about the Netflix series Atypical, read this I, A British Person, Watched The London Scenes Of "Sharknado 5" And There Are A Few Problems Oh God. Britain needs ...

Liberal Democrat Newswire #103 came out last week, including an exclusive piece from Lib Dem leader Vince Cable on the roots of his political views and a piece on what next for Brexit from journalist Ian Dunt.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The Liberal Democrats have backed calls by the Chairman of the Parole Board, Nick Hardwick, for urgent action to address the backlog of people serving prison sentences with no fixed release date. Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection (IPPs) were abolished in 2012, but there are over 3,000 people in England and Wales still serving them, with many facing long delays for Parole Board hearings. Those serving indeterminate sentences have also been found to have far higher rates of self-harm than those serving fixed sentences. Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Jonathan Marks commented: "It's a disgrace that five years on since the ...

Posted by LD Neath on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

The economic and political disconnect between the people and the powerful can be addressed in a Liberal and Democratic fashion. There is no monopoly of wisdom or one size fits all solution for the range of issues our country faces and we should acknowledge this. We should aim to make our people ready to embrace and thrive in the next stage of globalisation. Our institutions will need to be more agile and responsive to the needs of the populus. As a party this means embracing some radical solutions and communicating an optimistic message. What if power to the people meant ...

Posted by John Armah on Liberal Democrat Voice

Over the weekend, Philip Hammond and Liam Fox co-authored an article in the Sunday Times that was meant to show cabinet unity on the subject of transition from being inside the EU to whatever being outside of it will supposedly be; what the three years, or however long it goes for, that will kick in after March 2019 will substantially look like in macro regulatory terms. Unfortunately, like all these sorts of exercises undertaken these days, it brought to light more questions than it came close to answering. "We want our economy to remain strong and vibrant through this period ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

The morning after your first night out at university is always the one you remember most clearly. James rolled out of bed, still dressed in his favourite grey jeans and unbuttoned blue shirt. His silver cross lay against his bare chest. His head felt clear and fresh, but the same couldn't be said for his mouth. Parched and tasting of vile chocolate, cheese and vodka all blended together. He walked into his en-suite, spat what little saliva was left into his sink before rinsing his mouth out. James stripped naked, discarding his clothes into his washing basket in the corner. ...

Posted by Matthew Metcalf on Matthew 'Mec' Metcalf - The Mec Journal

I have not been keeping a particularly close eye on online pharmacy services for a while, but an interesting email from InHouse Pharmacy sent to their customers has come my way – and it suggests that the ongoing pressure on online pharmacies has not let up recently, with international payment provider OrbitRemit now refusing to serve online pharmacies. I could not find any further information about this change on either InHouse Pharmacy or OrbitRemit's web sites, although I did run across an FAQ on IHP's web site that's now specifically blaming "BigPhama" – something that's long been assumed to be ...

Posted by Zoe O'Connell on Complicity

For many, Trump can do no right. The latest cause for concern is the aggressive rhetoric with North Korea that many feel is pushing far too close to potentially catastrophic confrontation.Yet, in spite of armchair critics aplenty, there are no good options for dealing with North Korea. It is worth bearing in mind that the [...] The post Blame Trump for many things, but Korea isn't his fault appeared first on Radix.

Posted by Joe Zammit-Lucia on Opinion - Radix

Last year, the West of England consulted on a Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) proposing: 1,500 new homes at Coalpit Heath2,600 around Yate and Chipping Sodbury1,000 homes at Charfield600 homes at Thornbury2,200 homes at a new garden village at Buckover near ThornburyThe next round of consultation will take place in the autumn and judging from where they're holding the drop-in events, they are pressing ahead with these locations. The full list of drop-in events is: Charfield Event - Charfield Memorial Hall - Wednesday 20th Sept 2 - 8pmCoalpit Heath Event - Coalpit Heath Village Hall/Miners InstituteFriday 22nd Sept - 2 - ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

What do the the French Revolution, the Irish famines of the 19th century, the Boston Tea Party and Gulliver's Travels all have in common? I suspect you have grasped my point already. They all have food at the centre of their stories. The ancient Lilliputian dispute between big-enders and little-enders (over which end to open a boiled egg), led to, "six rebellions...wherein one Emperor lost his life and another his crown." Swift was parodying and satirising the British state of George l. Marie Antoinette told her people that if they had no bread they should eat cake. Down came a ...

Posted by Martin Roche on Liberal Democrat Voice
eUKhost

My friends Roy and Bob separately (but on the same day) drew my attention to two well thought out Brexit articles on the Guardian Web Site which you can read via the links above. Both articles are economy related. The first shows why the predictions of economic gloom were are most probably right. The second picks up on the mad plan of many leading Brexiters to try to deregulate the financial sector again post-Brexit so that bankers can go back to playing fast and loose with the world economy again. I must admit to have never being able ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 14 AUGUST 2017 Riverside Esplanade/Riverside Drive (Tay Road Bridge off ramp to 75m along Riverside Drive) - westbound nearside lane closure for 17 weeks to facilitate V&A construction works. SSE Glenagnes Cable Renewal - Lochee Road lane restrictions and closures on Blinshall Street, Fleuchar Street and Scott Street for 2 weeks. A85 Riverside Drive - prohibition of right turn from westbound lane of Riverside Drive into Riverside approach and prohibition of right turn from Riverside Approach in to Riverside Drive for 17 weeks for ...

Like many others, I was horrified to see that our Federal Conference in Bournemouth was only going to have a consultation session on Brexit and our relationship with the European Union. That, I felt, was an opportunity missed to make very clear and unambiguous policy. We were a bit too equivocal during the election. Had Tim Farron said on the day the election was announced that if he walked into Downing Street as Prime Minister, the first thing he would do would be to revoke Article 50 because the political earthquake that would had happened would justify it, people would ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

I listened with mounting incredulity yesterday morning as UKIP's Welsh MEP, Nathan Gill told Radio Wales listeners that if anti-Islam campaigner, Anne Marie Waters was elected as leader of his party then he will quit UKIP altogether. Nathan Gill is also a Welsh Assembly Member, an institution in which he sits as an Independent following his ousting as Welsh Leader by former Tory Minister, Neil Hamilton. He has a distinctly independent and stubborn streak, which is to his credit, as is his stand against extremism and racism. As the BBC reports, Mr Gill has also criticised the party's delay in ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black