"More people fear not terrorism, but the possible political aftermath of terrorism, the anger and hysteria that can be manipulated by populist politicians seeking support, or by tabloid media seeking sales. And more people understand that, by historical standards, the level of terrorism in Europe is still relatively low." Anne Applebaum has a message for the terrorists - and politicians - who exploit fear. James Whitman on the way the Nazis studied America's race laws. Mary Burd, who worked as a clinical psychologist at the Jubilee Street practice in Stepney between 1979 and 2009, talks to Spitalfields Life. "Ada Lovelace ...
So, net migration figures today will leave Brexiteers smug about getting rid of foreigners but what does a huge fall in the number of EU citizens coming here and a huge rise in those leaving mean for our economy. Vince Cable says it's not good as businesses struggle to get the skilled workers that they need. With UK unemployment as low as it is, we aren't going to be able to meet that need ourselves. These figures show a deeply worrying Brexodus of EU citizens who have made the UK their home. This is largely a result of the failure ...
What did I have on the walls of my room at university? There was a poster of Coalbrookdale by Night by Philip James de Loutherbourg and a reproduction of a 1950s railway map of Yorkshire sold by Leak & Thorp, the long-vanished York department store. And there was this, bought from the Athena shop in Stonegate. The reason I have been thinking of my Glastonbury poster is that the artist was a teenage Jimmy Cauty, who went on to form KLF. And KLF have reappeared in Liverpool this week.
Rather than oppose the Conservatives over substantial issues, the Corbynistas have decided to reopen Traingate. You see, what matters to them above all is the moral purity of Jeremy Corbyn. Hearing that questioned is what hurts most. Anyway, you can see the new video that is supposed to clear him above. I always thought that Traingate was a botched media stunt, and nothing here changes my mind. Like me, Jeremy Corbyn is a railway enthusiast. Like me, he is old enough to rather resent having to book a seat for your journey when you didn't have to under British Rail. ...
Well, this is an unusual approach to increasing turnout at elections: A Russian dating app is attempting to boost voter turnout in the upcoming elections by finding users an election "date", it's reported. Popular dating service Mamba has introduced a feature called "Voting Together" which offers to help users find a companion to go to the polling station with during the 10 September local elections... Users swipe through pictures of fellow users, and answer questions such as: "Would you go to vote with her (him)?" If two users say "yes", they receive a message saying, "It looks like we like ...
Welcome to my email digest for news from the Liberal Democrats in London, combining official news stories from the region with those from London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon and the London Lib Dem MPs.
There was a bit of drama at the office of Edinburgh Western Lib Dem MP Alex Cole-Hamilton today when firefighters had to come to put out a small fire after a strip light exploded. V grateful to the fantastic @fire_scot for attending a small fire in our office today after strip-light exploded during surgery. #heroes pic.twitter.com/CebjAxLIyo — Alex Cole-Hamilton (@agcolehamilton) August 24, 2017 We assume he meant that he was holding a constituency surgery rather than actually performing surgery on the strip light. Thankfully, everyone was fine and no damage was done. * Newsmoggie - bringing you comment on the ...
We have a good friend staying with us this week, and we also got confirmation on Monday that my wife can go back to university next month and do her bachelor's degree (she's going to study linguistics). On top of ... Continue reading →
Looking for a job? Fancy working for the Liberal Democrats? There are plenty opportunities at the moment, but you will need to act quickly, as some of them close tomorrow. Over at W4MP, there are opportunities available from Edinburgh to York to London Christine Jardine MP is looking for a Parliamentary Assistant to work in Edinburgh with some travel to London. This is an exciting opportunity based in the constituency and will require some travel to London. The successful candidate will be someone who enjoys the challenges and flexibility of working in a small team, be organised and have a ...
Only 4,600 international students overstayed their visas last year, less than a twentieth of the previous estimates of 100,000, official figures released today have revealed. For the first time figures have been published based on exit checks from UK ports, showing that 97 per cent of foreign students left the UK after finishing their studies. The Liberal Democrats said the figures showed the Conservatives threat to crack down on foreign students should be called off immediately. Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable commented: "This débâcle happened on Theresa May's watch at the Home Office. I spent five years in coalition battling ...
My conference pass arrived yesterday so it encouraged me to take a look at the agenda. I will be attending conference on Sunday to Tuesday so I will miss the Saturday sessions. Annoyingly, my key interests are debated on that day. There are motions on climate change and the Paris Agreement and on the natural environment. Furthermore, there is a debate on the impact of Brexit on public services
Quarterly migration data published today by the Office for National Statistics shows another significant rise in EU citizens leaving the UK, up 33,000 to 122,000. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said: "These figures show a deeply worrying Brexodus of EU citizens who have made the UK their home. This is largely a result of the failure of Theresa May's government to guarantee EU citizens' right to stay. "Recent research shows that more than half of British businesses are struggling to recruit the skilled labour they need. We have already seen record numbers of EU workers leaving our NHS, and ...
Commenting on reports in The Times that an unpublished Home Office report showed that Britons could be more at risk of terrorism and crime after Brexit, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Ed Davey said: "Theresa May was Home Secretary when this report was drawn up - she must now explain why she did not publish it ahead of the EU referendum. She must also explain why she has since claimed Brexit would not lead to reduced security cooperation when this Government report suggests otherwise. "Liberal Democrats are clear: being in the European Union makes us safer and helps catch criminals. ...
The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to drop overseas students from official immigration figures, as Amber Rudd announces a review into the impact of foreign students on the UK. It comes as new figures show the number of overseas students overstaying their visas has turned out to be vastly exaggerated. Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Ed Davey commented: "International students bring huge benefits to the UK economy and help our universities thrive - after which the vast majority leave the country. "Yet for too long the Conservatives have preferred an arbitrary immigration target that ignores these benefits and ...
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has backed George Osborne in the row with Theresa May over HS3 after the former Conservative Chancellor accused her advisers of trying to bury the Northern Powerhouse.. Vince Cable said: "George Osborne is absolutely right to call out the prime minister for starving the North of investment in its railways. It is a priority for the economy of the North of England that it has a good trans-Pennine rail route. "Frankly, HS3 should have priority over HS2. At present the government is investing too little beyond London, be it electrification in Wales or infrastructure investment ...
Last night I attended a meeting of the volunteers who now run Whickham Library. I am one of the trustees of the organisation though my plans to help issue books, deal with queries and the plethora of other librarian activities have not yet materialised. Earlier this year I put myself forward to be one of the volunteers and then missed all the training events because of the general election
Wed, 12:56: John Kerr: Brexit is about foreign policy. Why is Britain being so silent? https://t.co/PSh8rvXbU0 Good question. Wed, 16:05: Brexit: a word of caution https://t.co/lxtVyh8eZ4 The Leave Alliance are (justifiably) worried. Wed, 16:18: RT @UK_LDC: 🇬🇧 Privatised 🇧🇪 Nationalised 🇮🇹 Nationalised 🇫🇷 Nationalised 🇵🇱 Nationalised https://t.co/KOV1ViHRK4 Wed, 17:59: RT @dan_kammen: Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our count... Wed, 19:01: RT @callicramed: @smilinglaura @CharlesTannock https://t.co/Y33GnBbKOz Wed, 20:48: Home Office apologises for letters threatening to deport EU nationals https://t.co/T8Haj47Kf0 Appalling. Wed, 21:32: RT @SannaPudas: Nicholas @nwbrux after receiving the ...
The first time I did it, it hurt. A lot. It was New Years Day. The night before I'd been enjoying a party with my family and that day I'd woken up at midday. I called up Jacob, Josie, and Rachel and they all came around. We chilled out watching films and talked about school, gossiped about others we didn't like and those we did like, and joked around with truth or dare. It was late and we were hungry so I got up and went to put on a pizza (my lazy attempt because I couldn't be bothered making ...
Thu 24th
09:39
ERS General Election report shows that Liberal Democrats are heavily under-represented
It doesn't matter what the result of a Westminster election, the Liberal Democrats are usually under-represented. Our 23% in 2010 should have brought us 140 MPs. At this election, according to an Electoral Reform Society report, we could have had 29 or 39 MPs under a proportional system. Given that Labour and the Tories are doing generally all right out of the system at the moment, we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for reform. If the election had been conducted under the Alternative Vote, which we campaigned for and squandered too much political capital on in the coalition negotiations in ...
It's a funny thing, but the political rhetoric about families and family life is almost overwhelming. The rhetoric goes a long way beyond the policy, but there is policy too – directed towards the idea of encouraging traditional families, and by doing so strengthening the underpinnings of society. This Conservative approach is usually criticised on [...] The post Is it time policy-makers thought more intelligently about friendship? appeared first on Radix.
Southern Brooks Community Partnerships are currently recruiting community volunteers who live and/or work in Yate to learn: more about health and wellbeing; where to gain support to improve health; and hold the skills to have a 'health chat' with friends, relatives and neighbours as well as other residents of Yate to make steps to health improvement. It's a great opportunity to gain knowledge and take action without a regular commitment. The role comes with a free level 2 qualification in health. There will be information sessions in September: Monday 4th 3-7 pm, Cadbury Heath LibraryMonday 18th 12-1 pm, Yate - ...
From Brian Devlin : I am developing a children's war museum to present children's experience of war through their own voices and creativity. We are presenting an exhibition about the Basque child refugees at Dundee central library from 28th August to 9th September. After the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish civil war 4000 children were evacuated to Britain. The government did not want to compromise its policy of neutrality and offered no assistance to the El Nino's. Mining communities, schools, churches, trade unions, peace groups and private sponsors supported the children who also raised money by performing ...
Now call me a kill-joy and an old misery guts if you wish but my issue over this bandstand business, apart from there being little if any call for one amongst the community, is that Maghull's KGV Park is reasonably small and in effect surrounded by residential properties on 3 sides – Brendale Avenue, Liverpool Road South and Bailey Way off Hall Lane. The other day I had a look at the traditional bandstand that sits in Ormskirk's Coronation Park – I appreciate that the one Maghull Town Council is to construct is likely to be far more modern in ...
When Donald Trump won the Presidency the thoughts of many of us turned to what would happen when he took possession of the nuclear codes. His erratic and thin-skinned behaviour over the last seven months has heightened rather than eased that anxiety. The views of those best placed to understand the damage Trump can do are also disturbing, as is evidenced in this Guardian article. They quote a former US intelligence chief who, having viewed Trump's 'disturbing' rally in Arizona on Tuesday night, now says that his access to the nuclear codes is "pretty damn scary": James Clapper, director of ...
The Liberal Democrats have accused Chris Grayling of a "betrayal of the North," after the Transport Secretary said it was not up to central government to advance Crossrail in Northern England. Writing in the Yorkshire Post, Chris Grayling said: "the success of Northern transport depends on the North itself." It comes after the government dropped pledges to electrify rail routes in Wales, the Midlands and the North, while supporting the £30 billion Crossrail 2 scheme for London. Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary Jenny Randerson commented: "This is a betrayal of the North and all the areas across the country being ...
