Only two by-elections tonight and we are off to a good start. Congratulations to Martin Haswell and Sunderland Lib Dems great gain in Pallion ward. pic.twitter.com/IZmoE2V4Py — ALDC (@ALDC) February 1, 2018 And we did kind of hammer them. LD Martin Haswell 1251 Lab 807 Con 126 UKIP 97 Green 39 When we stood in the ward in 2016, we got 91 votes. This is becoming a habit!. Last year, we gained another seat in Sunderland with a 33% swing. Well done. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
A pair of Labour defences make up this week's council by-elections. One in Cornwall and one in Sunderland, both have a Liberal Democrat candidate.
Finely honed after years of experience, here are my top tips for how to chair a meeting with the traditional 'panel of speakers followed by questions' format.
From BBC News: All Conservative members of a town council have resigned after "bullying, abuse and harassment" of the former chairman and her family. Jane Pearce stood down from Desborough Town Council in Northamptonshire two weeks ago amid claims of abuse against her family from members of the public. It began after a 400% increase in council tax in 2016, when the annual levy rose from £19.10 to £96.98. Now all 10 Tory councillors have resigned from the 12-person council.As I wrote at the time of the increase, "If ever a town gave the visitor the impression that it needs ...
From the Welcome to Conwy site: Lancaster Square is the town square in the centre of Conwy. It hosts several festivals and events each and every year. In 2013 it held the start of the famous Wales Rally GB. In the centre of Lancaster Square is a statue of Llewelyn ap Iowerth (or Llewelyn the Great) who stands proudly above a fountain painted in his heritage colours. The writing that is in scripted on the fountain says that Llewelyn founded Aberconwy Abbey in 1186, some even say that Llewellyn founded the town himself. The bronze statue was created by a ...
Thu 1st
19:22
Oxford University Conservative Association hired Black Cab Rapist as a stripper for a social event
An extraordinary story from Cherwell, the Oxford student newspaper: The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) once hired the 'Black cab rapist' then working as a stripper, for an infamous cabaret social. John Worboys, then know as 'Terry the Minder', performed a striptease for Tory members, alongside a female stripper named "the exotic Vashanti" The event at Hertford College was attended by a young Sally Bercow (then Illman), wife of Commons Speaker John Bercow. She was blindfolded on stage before Worboys suggestively placed a banana in her hand. According to a report at the time, prominent Tory backbencher Jacob Rees Mogg ...
Jo Swinson is on Question Time tonight on the day that her book Equal Power is published. I spent a very pleasant hour in a cafe this morning reading it. I love the bright orange, yellow and aqua colour scheme – it's like it's all the Lib Dem colours of the past 20 years. There is a slight chance that the BBC debate might actually be worth watching as Justine Greening will be on too. She may not be disposed to be too loyal to the PM who effectively sacked her last month. You can find out how it all ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: "When did he move out?" Rebus asked. I admit it; I'm a complete Rebus addict. I had missed that there was a new Rebus novel out, but someone kind got it for me for Christmas. (I prioritised Christmas presents in my reading this month, and actually finished this two weeks ago - my blogging is some way behind my actual reading.) It's another good one. There is a combination of a dubious next generation criminal leader, with aspirations to become the next great Cafferty, with a cold case from the 1970s which suddenly starts warming ...
Thu 1st
16:30
Norman Lamb MP writes...On #timetotalk day tell Government to deliver on equal treatment for physica...
Imagine you have the misfortune to be diagnosed with cancer. Perhaps you have already faced this devastating illness, experiencing first-hand the distress, fear and uncertainty that comes with it. A small comfort for many is that, under NHS waiting time standards, cancer patients have the right to fast access to the best possible evidence-based treatment - a right which is fiercely defended by politicians, the media and the public. But now imagine you are told that you won't be given the treatment you need. Services are under-funded and under-staffed to the point where the full package of care isn't available. ...
Thu 1st
15:11
Why Theresa May's attempt to fiddle with the transition period will go predictably wrong
This week, another microcosm of the Theresa May premiership. One of her more pro-European ministers – usually Philip Hammond – says something that reflects the reality that the government is heading for a transition period during which we'll kind of be in the EU, except without any say in anything. Following that, a post-transition in which we'll be closely aligned with Brussels, probably still inside the Customs Union. Then, cat out of the bag, May has to appease the Eurosceptics by rattling a stick she has no intention whatsoever of using, ever. This time round, it's about the rights of ...
This is the speech Lord Robert's gave in the Lords yesterday. We need to confirm Brexit or otherwise, and we do that by voting. We voted in the referendum. People will say that we had one vote—that the people voted and made their voices heard—but it is unusual for people to rely on just one referendum. In Wales, we had a referendum on Welsh devolution way back in 1979, when 20% of the people of Wales voted for devolution. Some years later, just over 50% voted for it, but people had changed substantially in those years. People are allowed to ...
Today is the start of LGBT History Month, marked in the UK since 2005 to raise the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, their history, lives and their experiences. In 2017, there was a clear unifying anniversary of fifty years since the partial decriminalisation for part of the UK of sex between men - enabled by then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, whose political career took him from Labour minister via SDP leader to the Lib Dem green benches. 2018 has key round-number dates too, though: forty years since the assassination of Harvey Milk; thirty years since the ...
The Liberal Democrats hold two federal (i.e. UK-wide) party conferences a year, a weekend in the spring and a week in the autumn.
As of... right now, I can announce the release in ebook and hardback formats of my latest book, The Glam Rock Murders. This is the second in my Sarah Turner Mysteries series, following The Basilisk Murders, but it's a very ... Continue reading →
Wed, 12:56: World Wide Words: Gone for a Burton https://t.co/gIDCECc4ve Worth browsing around this fascinating site. Wed, 17:45: RT @adamfleming: Hurrah. Another addition to the collection of Jean-Claude Juncker looking young pictures. https://t.co/KLYtrKXLPq Wed, 18:43: Should be fun! https://t.co/yhpTPUieU0 Wed, 18:52: RT @Carnegie_Europe: If the democracy dimension continues to be overlooked, the EU will be on a bumpy road, says @YoungsRichard Wed, 19:23: January Books https://t.co/YoZs87BizG Thu, 10:45: The Great Soulmate Debate - The Geeky Gaeilgeoir https://t.co/aHHElatKAc "mo anam cara" and why you should checknth... https://t.co/tSSgeeVzgS Thu, 11:14: RT @davidallengreen: Then: Brexit will be a boon for the UK as ...
weekly_food_challenge | Challenge #31: A recipe given to you by a loved one This week's challenge is live Pink, Sheryl Crow and more slam Grammys boss for telling women to 'step up' IKEA founder's funeral postponed because family can't assemble the casket Possibly too soon, but it made me laugh UK mass digital surveillance regime ruled unlawful This is my face of not-surprise Britain First supporter taught to mimic human speech If you like what you see here (or even if you don't) please consider dropping me a tip: [IMG: Paypal Donate Button] [IMG: Buy Me an uncaffeinated beverage (because ...
Last month, I spent a day hi yu at a public-sector shared services conference in Manchester. The experience moved me to write. I hope it moves readers to do all they can to alert public-sector leaders, politicians and anyone who ought to care to what has been, and will continue to be, an ill-conceived folly [...] The post How consultant-speak makes us all poorer appeared first on Radix.
On Monday, Ros was in action again, during a debate on the Government's 25-year plan for the environment. Now, one must always be suspicious of any document which talks about aspiration but leaves much of the detail to the imagination, especially from a Government as inadequate and incompetent as this one, but... I start by offering a welcome to this 25-year plan for the environment, even though it is by no means perfect and has been justifiably criticised as heavy on aspiration and light on detail. The plan outlines some progress that has been made: it highlights significant improvements in ...
I wrote just over three years ago how we need urgent work to modernise the Palace of Westminster. This time though I was not talking about family-friendly hours, electoral systems or any of the other matters that are needed to bring our democracy into the twenty first century. My concern was the condition of the buildings themselves and the danger that a major part of our history might be lost forever without significant work being carried out. As I wrote then: 'A BBC documentary to be broadcast next month is to highlight that the parlous state of the Houses of ...
It can safely be said that there are not too many articles on Lib Dem Voice inspired by Adele! But with LDV's record of taboo-breaking posts on mental health she is a fitting heroine for her refreshing honesty about post-natal depression. She said in an interview a few months ago that it affected her so seriously that she hesitated about having more children. It is something many of us can identify with but few admit. For me, it was very tied up with having a sick baby and the pressures of being a PPC. The sense of inadequacy of feeling ...
My frustrations with Sefton Council's Local Plan are well documented on this blog site. Having spent more years than I care to recall fighting it; I lost of course as did many other campaigners across the Borough. It's not that we don't recognise the need for housing locally, as our opponents often try to portray our campaigning, its that we see the need to protect some of the very highest grades of agricultural land in England from being concreted over. But the other clash was actually about the type of housing to be built in the Borough. The poster below ...
Today is Time To Talk Day - a day to talk about mental health with friends, family and colleagues. Time to Change organises #timetotalk on the first Thursday in February each year. Lib Dem Voice would love to have your stories and thoughts on mental health - please send them in and we will post as many as possible. I will start with a post on children and mental health - we most likely won't get any submissions from children today, but to me, getting children's mental health care right is paramount. "Half of all mental health problems manifest by ...
The following are the meetings at Blyth Town Council this month. All meetings are scheduled to be held at Arms Evertyne House, and to start at 6:30 pm Thursday 1st Allotments Committee Tuesday 6th Environmental Services Committee Tuesday 13th Community Grants Committee Thursday 15th Planning & Development Committee Tuesday 20th Events Committee Tuesday 27th Staff Committee Please check with BTC if you intend to attend any of the meetings
Patreon backers at the $5/month level or higher should now have their ebook copies of my new book. It should be available for general ebook and paper purchase tomorrow. If you're not yet a Patreon backer, you can always sign ... Continue reading →
