Today sees the release of the fiftieth anniversary box set devoted to Forever Changes, Love's third and, to many, best album. I say "to many" because while I think Forever Changes is a magnificent album, it's also one which, like ... Continue reading →
Highlights from Easter Monday's contest, in which Hallaton beat Medbourne 2-0.
Another trip down to Whickham and Dunston this morning, this time to deliver about 100 letters. Job done by midday. Tomorrow I shall return - to deliver our next Focus.
Great news this morning which I've been unable to share with you until now because I've been at work. There have been a few Lib Dem gains in the Highlands in recent years – Carolyn Caddick in Inverness South, Jean Davis in Aird and Loch Ness and Trish Robertson in Culloden and Ardersier. Today they were joined by Denis Rixson in Caol and Mallaig. This is a bit of Charles Kennedy's old seat turned gold again and taken from the SNP. I've been hearing from Lib Dems on the ground that it felt good, but I'm not sure anyone actually ...
Watch this fun (yet educational) video from CGP Grey all about how you can set out to make people angry with digital content, and succeed.
Fri 6th
19:48
The new Liberator and the elusive review of the Lib Dems' 2017 general election campaign
The new Liberator has arrived - you can subscribe to this Liberal magazine via its website. As well as Lord Bonkers' Diary and my review of Chris Rennard's memoirs, both of which I shall post here, it contains its usual Radical Bulletin section. This prints the news about the party that other people don't. The lead story in RB this time is about the elusive review of the Liberal Democrats' 2017 general election campaign. As it says: After the 2015 general election, the Liberal Democrats took pride in publishing James Gurling's review of that campaign, which if not 'warts and ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: Ettepanek tundus ülimalt ohtlik, juba paljalt sellele mõtlemine pani südame taguma. Ega Pärtelgi kuigi vapper välja näinud, ta vahtis mulle otsa sellise ilmega, justkui ootaks, et ma pead raputaks ja keelduks - küllap oli tal oma sõnade pärast hirm. Mina ei raputanud pead, vaid ütlesin hoopis: "Lähme siis." The suggestion seemed extremely dangerous; the very thought of it made my heart race. Nor did Pärtel look all that brave; he looked at me with an expression that expected me to shake my head and refuse; his words had indicated his dread. I didn't shake my ...
There is a lot of talk about a possible new centrist party forming, given the deep divisions in the two main parties and the lowly position of the Liberal Democrats in the opinion polls. People can't seem to decide whether we are more pro-Tory, on the basis of our Coalition involvement, or more pro-Labour, on the basis of our commitment to social justice and community. We have some claim to be different from either of them. But we lack a cutting edge to seize public imagination. Is that because we don't have any passionate commitment to good causes? What do ...
These are my first thoughts on the plans. I haven't been through the Transport Assessment thoroughly yet, but I have looked at just about everything else. I have sent a list of 14 questions in to the project manager and planning officer on things I have noticed as I went through. At this stage I am trying to build a full picture of what's proposed – I haven't fully thought out what I think of it yet. King Street Lane junction Once Phase 2 is built, if you travel from Reading Road down the new road towards Lower Earley, when ...
I've been doing some research into housing as it has become a hot topic in Oxfordshire where I am a county councillor. Young people want to get on the property ladder but can't, houses are just not affordable. Keyworkers wish to take jobs but can't afford to live locally. Our social housing register in Oxford city has over 3000 people on it. There is a housing crisis, but it won't be solved by landowners building houses which can only be afforded by London commuters. At the same time, government is pushing for growth in the south – we have a ...
As the so-called 'sugar tax' comes into being, it's worth remembering just how poor a piece of policy it is. The sugar tax is regressive, it is ineffective and it is illiberal; any Liberal government worth its salt would repeal it. The pre-amble to the constitution of the Liberal Democrats commits the party to both the fundamental value of liberty and ensuring that no-one is enslaved by poverty, the sugar tax fails on both these counts. First and foremost the sugar tax is illiberal. If we accept that philosopher John Stuart Mill's 'harm principle', the idea that power should only ...
The Office for National Statistics published data yesterday on economic well being. One of the main points from the ONS report was on household property wealth. This data shows that we now have even more inequality between generations. The report reads The gap in net household property wealth between those aged 30 to 32 and 60 to 62 years has widened in the last 10 years; the net household property wealth of those aged 60 to 62 years was six times that of those aged 30 to 32 years during July 2006 to June 2008, however, this difference increased to ...
Thu, 12:56: How *not* to fix the Irish border problem https://t.co/2zx6IfXu8o @Hayward_Katy writes. Thu, 16:05: RT @JenniferMerode: The Home Office has done its own dear Deidre case-studies on EU citizens' rights. The last one is about a German natio... Thu, 20:27: The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver https://t.co/wkbZBXytSQ Thu, 20:48: 'Pics or it Didn't Happen': Instagram's New Rules for Life https://t.co/c8uKUwBh8C Good piece. Fri, 10:45: Lessons from My Math Degree That Have Nothing to Do with Math https://t.co/XSr13INvhD Useful life lessons.
Very shortly, towards the end of April, a statue to Millicent Fawcett will be unveiled in Westminster. She was a tireless campaigner for women's suffrage and equal treatment. Women still lag behind men both in selection processes and in electoral opportunity. Too few women are selected; too few women are elected. Fawcett would understand how far we still have to go and how much is still to be done. Local elections can be a good place to make change happen. The opportunity is there for us and in Cheltenham, for example, Liberal Democrats are taking the need for more women ...
With the next big round of elections only a few weeks away, it's now peak season for getting the Liberal Democrat message out. One very effective way of doing that is via social media – it can provide a sort of background noise to local offline campaigning and prompt people to take specific actions (such as go do this or this). One way to do that is via the Liberal Democrat Newswire Facebook page. The bigger its audience, the bigger the reach for Lib Dem messages. So if you haven't yet Liked it, would you mind doing so now? (Top ...
It is time to look at the evidence a second time, and then a third, fourth and a fifth. A large and important slice of the world's governments—led by the British—have inflicted severe diplomatic damage on the Russians because of the British allegation that Moscow attempted to murder a Russian double agent and his daughter on British soil with the nerve agent Novichok. The Conservative government of Theresa May is utterly convinced that Putin's Moscow is behind the attack. It persuaded 24 other countries - and NATO headquarters—of the veracity of their case to the extent that they have all ...
Those of us who have been involved in helping people with appeals for PiP and ESA are well aware of the flaws in the process, particularly around the assessments. It is not surprising therefore to read in The Mirror that almost a third of assessments for the PIP disability benefit are not fully up to scratch. The paper says that Atos and Capita have a target for 3% or fewer of their reports to be ranked "unacceptable" and currently it is around 5%: But figures handed to MPs show thousands more "acceptable" reports still had to be amended or prompted ...
There has been a great deal of media speculation about the prospect of a new centre party in the UK. Meanwhile in many countries in Europe, new insurgent parties have been spectacularly successful for example in Spain, France, Greece and Italy. We are publishing a series of blogs (on Fridays) describing the experience from other [...] The post The resistable rise of Geert Wilders appeared first on Radix.
I blogged about the error on this emergency notice quite recently and having spotted the problem reported it to Network Rail. My previous posting refers – see link below:- I have just had the following response from Network Rail who are going to replace the sign Incorrect Sign – Maghull Thank you for contacting us in regards to the above matter. We have been in contact with the structures team for your area and they have advised that a 16 week remit has been issued to have the signage changed to the correct information.
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : A Meeting of Minds - Mental Health Past & PresentTuesday 10th April at 5.30pmBaxter 1.36, Tower Building, University of Dundee How can looking at examples from the past help us to understand mental health issues today? Historians and health professionals meet to explore the lessons we can learn from looking at psychiatry's history. Free but places should be booked via Eventbrite here.
