Today is the 163rd birthday of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde and as usual on this anniversary occasion the writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth brought together an extraordinary band of people to celebrate, this time in the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, which was frequented by Oscar and his wife Constance at least as late as [...]
Obviously for data protection reasons I can't go into much detail about the responses FCC got to the end of conference survey, but I do want to highlight one small area: The impressive number of you who said Glee was the best fringe event, and the smaller but still impressive number who said we were the best thing about conference full stop, and the hardy few who said the best way to improve conference would be to have more Glee, and the one dear sweet soul who said Glee was their main reason for coming to conference? I am genuinely ...
The Sun quoted Vince Cable's condemnation of the government's failure to provide the business rate relief it has promised them the other day. The Liberal Democrat leader was commenting on the party's own research showing that 4500 pubs across England have been left out of pocket and lacking any funding from the government since the revaluation of rates. Vince said: "Thousands of pubs faced with crippling tax hikes are being left in the lurch by this government. "This rushed scheme has been plagued with problems from the start. Local councils have had to deal with software glitches, a lack of ...
Melton Mowbray station - a long way from Cambridge On Saturday I had an enjoyable day in Cambridge with some old Liberator friends. But if anyone doubts that the railway network in England is dominated by the needs of London, they should try making a journey from West to East like this. Market Harborough and Cambridge are 48 miles apart. To get there from there you first have to travel north to Leicester and then take a train to Cambridge. Because that train takes a circuitous route via Peterborough and the connection at Leicester is not very good, the journey ...
I had a post planned for today, but had to use all my energy fixing the washing machine. Should be several posts over the next week, though — the next Prometheans, a politics one, the next Nilsson one and reviews ... Continue reading →
Embed from Getty Images It's 2023 and members of the Grayling Youth are growing vegetables to save the need for expensive imports.
When a former Labour Minister with a vast experience of Liverpool politics makes comments like this in a national newspaper we should all listen to him Without a doubt the most experience Labour politician in Liverpool is Peter Kilfoyle. He ... Continue reading →
Second section of third chapter (actually section 3.1, on the European Economic Area):In economic terms this would be close, but not identical, to the status quo for a full member state that is not a eurozone member, with full inclusion in the single market for all four freedoms, and compliance with all 'EEA-relevant' regulatory legislation by the EU. But it excludes membership of the EU's custom union, as well as agricultural and fisheries policies. In the EEA all new or amended EU legislation has automatically to be taken on board by the non-EU EEA states. Dispute settlement is by a ...
[IMG: Slack screenshot] Slack is one of those things that's more complicated to explain than use, and for which the best way to learn is to try. Why give it go? Simply because it's an online tool for teamwork which many Liberal Democrats are taking up due to its usefulness. It's a bit like a cross between Facebook and email. Easier to follow threads of conversations and share different sorts of material than email. Fewer distractions and easier to keep up with things than Facebook. It's free to use (though paid-for versions give some extra features) and it can also ...
This is the speech I gave on Saturday to the Nottingham Rally for Europe. I'm Mathew Hulbert. Proud Leicestershire lad. Proud East Midlander. Proud Brit. Proud European. Proud internationalist. And, yes, Mrs May, a proud citizen of nowhere. Also, a proud Liberal Democrat. Proud that my party-alone of the major parties-has remained resolutely Remain; before, during and after last year's Referendum. A Referendum, let's not forget, that was called by David Cameron not to determine a soaring point of principle, but to get him out of a political tight corner; to appease the europhobic Right-flank of his party and counter ...
Councillor Muhammad Sadiq has provided below a summary of the Beddington & Wallington Local Committee meeting held on 10 October at Wallington County Grammar School attended by your Wallington South Councillors. Various issues were discussed in this meeting and some ward related and general interest issues are listed below for your information. Tackling Anti Social [...]
Mon 16th
13:55
WATCH: Alex Cole-Hamilton and Scottish Young Liberals President speak at Edinburgh Rally for Europe
On Saturday the Royal Mile erupted in a sea of dark blue and yellow stars as hundreds of people attended a rally at Edinburgh's City Chambers run by the Scottish Young European Movement. Awesome @LibDems turn out for #EU rally in Edinburgh today, calling for #exitfrombrexit pic.twitter.com/31nEmg34bd — Alex Cole-Hamilton (@agcolehamilton) October 14, 2017 There were two Liberal Democrat speakers – Edinburgh Western MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton and new Co-President of the Scottish Young Liberals Christopher Wilson. The videos below are brought to you courtesy of SYL's Tristan Gray. I did try to film them but my phone threw a strop ...
Are you a community group looking for advice on how to apply for Member Awarded Funding or Area Wide Grants? If so, you can book a 30 minute slot on the dates and times below. The sessions take place at the Council Offices, Badminton Road, Yate, BS37 5AF. There has been a lot of interest, so South Glos are running several extra sessions. To book a place, please contact the team on 01454 865865 (Mon-Fri 9am to 4pm) or email grants@southglos.gov.uk. It would be useful to know when booking which subject area you are interested in. Wednesday 1 November 2017: ...
The statue of Rosa Parks in the Rosa Parks museum, Troy University, Montgomery, Alabama. This is the fourteenth of my posts based on a recent tour of the eastern half of the USA. I visited a number of sites relevant to African American history. To mark Black History Month, I am relating some of the things I saw, in the order I saw them. I've wanted to visit the Rosa Parks museum for years. It has been very high on my bucket list. It was a strange desire. The Rosa Parks museum is in Montgomery, Alabama, which is not one ...
Mon 16th
12:07
Can MPs actually prevent a "no deal" Brexit? Why I think Chris Grayling is right on this one
Over the weekend, John McDonnell said that Labour MPs would work with rogue Tory MPs in order to block a "no deal" Brexit whilst on the Andrew Marr show. Marr followed up this declaration with the counter-point, "But there is no vote on that in the House of Commons", to which McDonnell replied: "When we amend the legislation as I think we will - I think there's a majority to do that - we'll have a meaningful vote. We'll be able to say to the government 'whatever you're negotiating, it will not be on the basis of no deal', because ...
I just got around to filing all my paperwork from Bournemouth conference, and I realised that I'm not going to be able to fit any more into that lever arch file: This means that paperwork from the three meetings I have remaining to attend this year will need to go in a new file. This displeases me; I wanted to be all neat and do a file per year. * grumpy face * [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
There are books that make me laugh and books that make me think. But there are very few books that actually change me as a person. Feral by George Monbiot is one of those books. It has transformed fundamentally how ... Continue reading →
Sun, 12:56: RT @paulkrugman: Why are Jews more liberal than expected given income? Because unless stupid, they know where illiberalism leads https://t.... Sun, 13:21: Here for Blade Runner! (at @Kinepolis in Laken, Brussels-Capital Region) https://t.co/8TpIMDuPlM Sun, 16:47: After the film. @ Atomium https://t.co/9j7WQjbVyI Sun, 17:41: RT @ORFBreakingNews: 1. Hochrechnung inkl. Wahlkartenprognose: ÖVP 30,2%, FPÖ 26,8% SPÖ 26,3%, Grüne 4,9%, NEOS 5,3%, Pilz 4,3%. Schw.breit... Sun, 17:54: Sunday Reading https://t.co/EgWBNHEtzH Sun, 20:08: RT @GuitarMoog: @SE25A @Sime0nStylites You called, Linda. This is from June, and nothing's really changed. 1/ https://t.co/GQcRCDGipZ Sun, 20:35: RT @EuropeElects: Austria, 99.6% counted: �VP-EPP: 31.6 SP�-S&D: 26.9 FP�-ENF: ...
Susan Calman & Kevin Clifton Quickstep to 'Bring Me Sunshine' by The Jive Aces Because everything is shit at the moment, and we all need a slice of unbridled joy at the moment, watch this. I'm only sorry it's just the dance and not the scoring, in which Susan reacts like a football player celebrating the cupwinning goal. Time to make the link between abuse and film content Indeed. Fiercest of rivals, best of friends: cross-party pals in parliament This is an extremely Westminster Bubble fluff piece. I mean, it's nice that people get on in their workplace and all, ...
Vince Cable has written for City AM about governemnt's fiscal responsibilities and how it has become less important to be financially credible. Yet since the 2015 election, belief in financial magic appears to have grown. Brexit's biggest appeal was a treasure trove to finance the NHS. Labour has caught the new mood. A few weeks ago, shadow chancellor John McDonnell added £200bn of PFI contracts to a lengthening list of Labour financial commitments, including the nationalisation of rail franchises, energy and water utilities, free universities, and much else. The IFS was scathing at the June election about Labour's numbers, but ...
Mon 16th
10:25
Will we still be prisoners of geography? The conundrum Tim Marshall leaves unaddressed
I'm an outlier when it comes to Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall. [IMG: Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall - book cover] This popular book by foreign affairs correspondent Tim Marshall has achieved the impressive combination of not only receiving many glowing reviews by experts but also sustained high sales with the public. That's thanks to the way he expertly and thoughtfully dissects the geographic stories behind much of the globe's political and economic history. So why am I an outlier? Partly because the maps reproduced ...
This Brexit lark gets odder by the day; why on earth can't we all see what these investigations into the consequences of Brexit say? Probably because they say things that the establishment (read Tory/Bluekip and Labour/Redkip Party leaderships) do not want us to see! We all know that in a democracy if you are denied sight of something it is in your interests to see it.
Electric cars – in fact electric everything – is pushed by the environmental movement as one vital part of the solution to climate change. True, electric gives out less emissions than diesel or petrol. But the push to electric also highlights one of the main issues associated with looking at environmental issues in silos. As [...] The post The dark side of going electric appeared first on Radix.
South Glos Council has teamed up with an IT provider to offer a range of low cost professionally refurbished computers to eligible residents and registered UK charities in South Gloucestershire. Both desktop and laptop computers are available under the scheme in a range of performance/price combinations, costing between £99 and £149. All have Windows 10 fitted. To apply for a low cost computer you must meet at least one of the following criteria: Housing Benefit Income Support Jobseeker's allowance Pension credit Disability Living Allowance Attendance Allowance / Constant Attendance Allowance Carer's Allowance Incapacity Benefit / Employment and Support Allowance Disability ...
The Sunday Herald carries a very disturbing story about the detention by Police Scotland of a political activist, Eleanor Jones, under the same controversial law that was used to detain David Miranda four years ago. Ms Jones was heading to Germany from Edinburgh Airport in the Summer when she was detained. She had been in the city attending her grandad's funeral. She made her way through security and, after walking towards her gate, was met by two plain-clothed police officers. She recalled: "It was clear they had expected me and came there to get me - they had a copy ...
From Sheena Wellington : Friends of Wighton invite you to a special song workshop with Bob Walser at the Wighton Heritage Centre in the Central Library on Wednesday 18th October from 3pm to 4ish! Bob Walser from the US is a singer, musician, and workshop leader specializing in sea songs and shanties. He's also part of the Elphinstone team researching the James Madison Carpenter collection of songs made in the 1930s, with a lot of material collected in the North-East, including Dundee. The event is free and all singers are welcome so please do pass this invitation to anyone you ...
One of the more extraordinary news stories of the weekend has to be this one in the Daily Mirror in which they report on the remarkable claim by the new new UKIP leader that he could capture a badger and kill it with his bare hands. The reference came when he was asked a question about possible initiation ceremonies for UKIP leaders. Henry Bolton told Russia Today that "the one that was probably most suitable for me was chasing a badger across Dartmoor, capturing it and then breaking its neck with one's bare hands, which was a slightly unusual thing." ...
