Embed from Getty Images The weather of 1947 threatened food supply while the nation still recovered from war. From the snow bound uplands to the fens plagued by thaw floods, everything seemed lost. But wartime had bred a can-do attitude - with new seed from the empire, equipment from allies, conscripts building barricades and the hardy persistence of the farmers themselves, there's another victory on the home front. Made in the mode of wartime propaganda, this film continues the style and approach that the Ministry of Information had perfected in a series of agriculturally focussed films during WWII. Director James ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

It was a foggy morning in Amsterdam, dark and damp, the sort of day that makes you want to just pull the covers back over you and go back to sleep. But it was also election day, and with our own candidate in the field, sleep wasn't an option. The Congress agenda was dominated by a number of plenary sessions, on the future of European internet policy, on mobility, on the future of work and on agriculture policy, all of which might be seen as laying the groundwork for developing the manifesto. In truth, given that Liberal Democrats have traditionally ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Democrat Voice

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 497th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the five most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (26 November – 2 December 2017), together with a hand-picked seven you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Lib Dem clean sweep ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Liverpool's Sefton Park Palm House was packed out today for another performance by Maghull's very own community wind orchestra. This lovely venue really seems to suit MWO and they have quite a following these days. BTW I leaned today that they have been in existence for over 40 years and there were 85 of them playing today. Christmas music and some scores from films were the order of the day for this latest performance. Always nice to hear them and to run into some old friends and former work colleagues. I had not seen Phil Davidson for two or 3 ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus
Sun 3rd
20:19

Six of the Best 748

Why are Brexiteers so surprised that there are problems over the Irish border? Chris Grey explains. Phil Wainewright says Nick Clegg was wrong to be so dismissive of the idea of a universal basic income. While Nick Barlow was not impressed by Tim Farron's speech to the Theos think tank: "When Tim's new admirers include people like Tim Montgomerie and Douglas Murray it's hard not to be reminded of Dora Gaitskell's comment when her husband basked in seeming triumph at a Labour conference: 'all the wrong people are clapping'." Charlotte Higgins finds the Palace of Westminster is falling down: "[Political ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

It is not a surprise that the remaining members of the government's Social Mobility Commission have resigned this weekend.[1] Anger has been growing for months that the government has been distracted from improving individual lives by the demands of Brexit. Shropshire is one of the worst areas in England for young people to get out of the trap of struggling households and poor education. Last week, the county was ranked the 237th worst out of 324 local authorities for social mobility.[2] Just a year before, we were at rank 185. We have skidded downwards. Social mobility is important. When it ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

Embed from Getty Images Bill Pitt, who was Liberal MP for Croydon North-West between 1981 and 1983, died a couple of weeks ago at the age of 80. He had fought the seat at three Seventies general elections, but 1981 was the dawn of the brief era of the Liberal-SDP Alliance. So when the sitting Conservative member died it was widely expected that Pitt would step aside in favour of Shirley Williams. But he insisted on fighting the by-election and won it. As Michael Meadowcroft says in his Guardian obituary of Pitt: Naturally the alliance made the most of Bill's ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Sun 3rd
17:27

Sunday reading

Current The Bounty Trilogy, by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall Guided by the Beauty of Their Weapons: Notes on Science Fiction and Culture in the Year of Angry Dogs, by Philip Sandifer Re: Collections, ed. Xanna Eve Chown Last books finished Brexit and Ireland: The Dangers, the Opportunities, and the Inside Story of the Irish Response, by Tony Connelly Everfair, by Nisi Shawl The Lies Of Fair Ladies, by Jonathan Gash Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Audios And You Will Obey Me, by Alan Barnes Vampires of the Mind, by Justin Richards Next books The Most Dangerous ...

Former Conservative MP Bob Spink's political career has taken him through an expenses scandal, expulsion from the Conservatives, defection to Ukip (making him the party's first MP) and then into the courts. That final twist has now resulted in him and another been found guilty of electoral fraud: Bob Spink, 69, former MP for Castle Point, Essex, committed the offences during the Castle Point borough council elections in May last year. A jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of four counts of permitting a false signature to be included on a nomination form for a UKIP councillor. UKIP ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

(Hopefully not the first in an ongoing series) If you've seen more Liberal Democrats facepalming than usual this week, it's probably thanks to Tim Farron's speech to the Theos think tank in which he puts forward the argument that maybe it's liberals who are the real illiberals. Featuring a variety of hoary old cod-philosophical chestnuts like equating freedom of speech with freedom from criticism, his speech goes on to argue that Christianity "is the essential underpinning of liberalism and, indeed, of democracy" which feels somewhat of a stretch. While I wouldn't argue that it's antithetical to either, for every Christian ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With
YouGov

You would probably have a heart of stone not to feel pleased for Harry and Meghan. They are clearly two well-suited people who are very happy together. While I'm delighted for them, I'm also very conscious that their experience is very different to that of many who try to live in this country with their partner from abroad and I want that to change. I want this country to be a place that recognises that the world is much smaller than it used to be. It's much easier to fall in love with someone from another country than it used ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Another of those great Sixties records that you have always known without being sure who recorded it. The Fortunes were a Birmingham band The article on Brumbeat gives the story of this, their greatest hit: Decca gave the band one last chance. The Fortunes fifth single was a new composition written by then-unknown songwriters Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook with the recording featuring lavish instrumentation as well as the now trademark 3-part harmonies by the group alongside Rod Allen's lead. Produced by Noel Walker at Decca he recalled; "The Fortunes contract came up for renewal and Decca didn't want to ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

A number of people with inside knowledge have told me that the UK Government's fixation with Brexit has left the machinery of government with little appetite or capacity for anything else. That is certainly one explanation being mooted for the delay in a decision on the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon by those who still think it may yet happen. The truth of this insight has displayed itself again today with the decision of a key government advisor and his entire team to quit. Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister who chairs the government's social mobility commission, said that he ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
Sun 3rd
11:00

My tweets

Sat, 14:09: RT @Five_Rights: Slovenian PM @MiroCerar: 'There be no freedom without security.' The right to personal safety is vital for a free society... Sat, 14:18: RT @SarahLudford: Bittersweet irony: this entire @ALDEParty Congress is being conducted in English. #exitfrombrexit #StopBrexit Sat, 15:37: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) https://t.co/SF2HGtTHDN Sat, 16:04: RT @PeterKGeoghegan: Ill-informed, jingoistic British political and media response to Ireland has made a difficult situation for UK much, m... Sat, 16:05: Coming days will stretch politics of Brexit to limit https://t.co/rIh26OPYCi @TConnellyRTE lays it out. Sat, 17:08: RT @KishwerFalkner: Excited to be speaking at this in Parliament on ...

First child born to a woman with a transplanted uterus I really wanted to be "omg that's amazing" but I have to admit, my first thought was "that's another thing TERFs will use to fuel moral panic about trans folks then". Fucking TERFs. Such joysuckers. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments

For various reasons too convoluted and boring to go into I was talking to [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgb about Children In Need/Comic Relief turns, and I mentioned that my favourite ever one was the Ready Steady Cook chefs doing The Full Monty* (you can see a clip here, at #6, 3 minutes 55 in), especially Ainsley Harriott's magnificent, triumphant final twerk... And now it's bugging me who the fifth chef was. There's Ainsley, there's a babyfaced but rather cute James Martin, there's a defiant Brian Turner, there's a faintly embarrassed (& embarrassing) Antony Worral-Thompson... And there's some other dude. ...

You can join the Liberal Democrats quickly, easily and safely online here. There are lots of reasons to join the Lib Dems. Some people join because they want to stand up for our values, of openness, tolerance and unity. Some because they want to help us win elections. Others so they can stand for election and stand up for their community. Joining the Liberal Democrats will let you do all that – and much more besides. As a member, you'll have the power to change things and all our members, from party leader Vince Cable right down to our newest ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The iNews has been looking at some of the 2017 intake of MPs and have identified those who – for good reasons and not so good – have come to prominence. One of ours gets a well-deserved mention: Liberal Democrat high command expects great things of Layla Moran, rewarding her for capturing Oxford West and Abingdon by appointing her education spokeswoman. The former teacher and assured TV performer, is already being talked about as a future leader. Here she is leading a debate on period poverty this week in Westminster. It was a pleasure to be able to put forward ...

Posted by NewsHound on Liberal Democrat Voice

In a burst of pre-Christmas goodwill I am hoping that this blog will put a smile on the face of Mayor Anderson!! After calamity after calamity for the Mayor of Liverpool in recent months I thought it was time I ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

Women born in the 1950s face an unexpected wait of the best part of a decade before they can get their State Pension. When they started their working lives they would have expected to be able to retire at 60. Now they have to wait until they are 67. The principle of the age going up and being equal with men is not in question. That women have had such a steep and disproportionate rise without being properly informed by the Government is an issue that needs to be addressed. These women were at the sharp end of the gender ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice
eUKhost

From the Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden : In the Garden's Education Centre in the Garden at 2pm today, Angela Montford presents "In the Garden Shed: Old Tools and Gadgets". From the wheelbarrow to the hosepipe, an illustrated survey of the usual tools and gadgets we have used and improved in our gardens since the Middle Ages.

A few highlights from last Tuesday's Parish Council meeting * Parish Council to spend £500 buying boundary planter troughs to go on Lydiate boundary signs for the Lydiate in Flower volunteer group. They will look similar to this Maghull one:- * A £803 grant bid by Lydiate PC to the Lydiate-only John Gore Trust has been successful. It will help run community events at Lydiate Village Centre. * Lydiate PC will continue to pay the Living Wage to its staff as opposed to the lower Minimum Wage. Music to the ears of this old trade unionist who helped bring in ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Crossens Saturday, 9th December, St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens, from 11am to 12 noon. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in.

Posted by John Dodd on Meols Lib Dems