It does sometimes seem hard to believe that I'm now in my seventh year as a member of the ALDE Party's Financial Advisory Committee. Perhaps that's because, when I was first appointed, it was on the basis that we would serve no more than three two-year terms, but for various reasons, we have all been extended, some of us for one year, the remainder (including myself) for two. And in that time, the Committee has evolved. We still do financial advisory stuff, but we also consider grant applications to the Political Projects fund, we examine proposals for new types of ...
It is very nice of the Labour Party in Dunston Hill and Whickham East ward to set aside a fair chunk of their main leaflet in the local elections in Gateshead to respond to the Lib Dems in the ward. It has been clear from the start of this campaign that we, rather than Labour, have set the agenda in the ward and Labour have been forced to respond. One of the key issues is the plan for nearly 600
Our latest eFocus for the Whickham area, edition 106, was published tonight. It leads on the work being done at the top of Dunston Hill where Labour are pressing for nearly 600 executive houses on former greenbelt. There is also a number of stories about the local elections. You can view it on this link.
We have been told. When Brexit goes horribly wrong it will be the fault of us Remainers for not getting behind the project. "Every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead," as Peter Pan put it. What we need is a song we can all sing to show our for support Brexit. And I have found it. My God, have I found it. I know England Swings from a sweet version by Roger Miller, but this is, er, different. You wonder if the Bonzos were familiar with Patty Duke's ...
There was an urgent question in the House of Commons today about the Gender Pay Gap. Harriet Harman asked the Government what it was doing to close the gender pay gap after companies with more than 250 employees were required to report for the first time. The minister Victoria Atkins was very supportive of the legislation. If you didn't know better, you might be inclined to think that the Tories had introduced it: It is unacceptable that in 2018 there are still differences in how men and women are paid in business and in industries. That is why this Government ...
Embed from Getty Images For the first time in a couple of centuries, the building of a canal is a major election issue. The Conservative-run Daventry District Council has come up with the madcap but magnificent idea of building a two-mile arm to link the town with the Grand Union. According to a report in the Daventry Express:The Labour Party will oppose any further expenditure on the proposal for a canal arm and will demand that more is done to make Daventry into an attractive market town again. It will press for better leisure facilities and entertainments for people of ...
Last year, the Federal Board asked barrister Isabelle Parasram to produce a report on how companies involving sexual sexual impropriety in the party should be handled. Should the party inform the Police? What about anonymity of complainants? This happened because concern had been expressed about how some such complaints had been handled. The report had been embargoed by the English Party out of concern that ongoing investigations could be compromised by its publication. However it has now been published. In a post on the members' section of the party website, Isabelle Parasram said: As the Head of Greycoat Law (a ...
At the Royal Air Force training centrifuge in Farnbrough, pilots learn how to avoid G-LOC: g-induced loss of consciousness. Let's talk about g-force, about jerk, and about how to keep circulation flowing to your brain.
My fascination with the White House and all its incumbents has been a constant feature but was at its peak in the late 80s and 90s as the long Republican incumbency gave way to the optimism of the Clinton era. I hoovered up every book I could find on the subject. I always had a huge amount of time for Barbara Bush. She had an authenticity and candour that both got her into and helped extricate herself from trouble at times. The powerful images of her scooping up and kissing children with HIV were an important part in busting the ...
It's always the way, the sunshine arrives and something manages to get in the way of a good bit of gardening... this time, I only have myself to blame, a sprained ankle is of no use when there's grass to mow and weeds to pull! Let's hope I'm up and running soon or it will be another year of taming a jungle again. Bonsai happy Pollarded trees rejuvenating Onions have now shot up in sudden warm weather... Lots of soft green shoots Lovely new fence to show off plants against Blue sky days... Double-barrelled water but... Long tailed tit
Second paragraph of third chapter:We were talking about the rise of European populism over the past fifteen years and how 2002 was the year that changed everything. Political systems dominated by competition between a main party of the centre-left and the centre-right had been slowly fraying in much of continental Europe in the last decades of the twentieth century, with proportional representation making it easier for small parties to eat into the voter base of the big ones.I had an unnerving experience one evening in February. I was chatting with a friend (from Montenegro) about politics, and she asked me ...
In the recent edition of Focus we promised to tell you more about the various projects that Yate Town Council has got a total of £1.4 million funding for. The success of these bids is due to a lot of local teamwork by the Focus Team councillors, Yate Town Council staff, volunteers, friends groups and residents. Here are the "main headlines": Yate Outdoor Sports Complex (YOSC) Yate Town Council successfully bid for funding to replace the track and athletics facilities. They raised £850,000 in total, from developers' "Section 106 money" to develop outdoor sporting facilities in the area), Sport England ...
This blog first appeared on the Radix website... Well, that is how the Book of Revelation puts it (3:16), and it may be peculiarly good advice for the Lib Dems in the local elections. I ought perhaps to apologise for returning again to the continuing mental strife between me and my own party, but I am a Liberal and always will be. It is just that I'm not quite so confident that my party is as much as it should be. At the beginning of the month, I posed the question here: why do voters hate the centre left. I ...
In Barcelona, high-tech data platforms generate demand for old-fashioned community development. Residents living around Plaça del Sol joke that theirs is the only square where, despite the name, rain is preferable. Rain means fewer people gather to socialise and drink, reducing noise for the flats overlooking the square. Residents know this with considerable precision because they've developed a digital platform for measuring noise levels and mobilising action. I was told the joke by Remei, one of the residents who, with her 'citizen scientist' neighbours, are challenging assumptions about Big Data and the Smart City. Continue reading...
Canvassing in Wokingham Ever since the 2015 general elections, knocking on doors has been difficult; almost a chore. I can't say that residents were abusive, but they were certainly challenging, very direct and uncompromising. I remember at the conference after the 2015 general election we had one of the largest attendances ever, and the general atmosphere was very positive. This was all the more unexpected because of the media's scorn for the party (which was very unfair) and the loss of so many MPs. The attitude of my friends who supported me and the party changed. We had many discussions ...
The government should be in a tricky place at the moment. First of all, the Windrush scandal should be hurting them badly. And it is – but Corbyn's own problems with anti-Semitism give May a partial out. She used it against Corbyn at PMQs today because she knew it would stick. Secondly, they are having to back peddle furiously on Brexit, bracing us for more climbdowns on what we'll get from the EU upon departure. Corbyn's Brexit fudge may allow him to be the Remainers choice while not losing the Labour Leave voters, but it also means he has little ...
Well, that is how the Book of Revelation puts it (3:16), and it may be peculiarly good advice for the Lib Dems in the local elections. I ought perhaps to apologise for returning again to the continuing mental strife between me and my own party, but I am a Liberal and always will be. It [...] The post If you are neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth appeared first on Radix.
Facebook to force everyone to accept being tracked around the internet if they want to keep using it SO glad I don't have faceache Home Office destroyed Windrush landing cards, says ex-staffer This just gets more and more disgusting Twitter thread on all the awful things the Home Office does Quite long and comprehensive You can't even say racist things without being called a racist, laments Morrissey Britain's foremost Quorn Gammon speaks. Facebook Crossed The Creepy Line And Can't Go Back How do you become less creepy, when creepiness is baked in? The cruelty and insensitivity of the Home Office ...
Tue, 12:56: Do you know the difference between a jetty, pier, wharf & quay? https://t.co/3cjCC19qHV In case you were wondering. Tue, 12:56: RT @cboussClaire: Difficile d'égaler la clarté de la vision européenne d'@EmmanuelMacron . Espérons qu'il soit suivi par 26 Etats membres.... Tue, 15:33: RT @knufleckenstein: Congratulations! Am very happy. Big step forward for Albania! Unconditional recommendation from the EU-commission to o... Tue, 15:33: RT @tfajon: Well done, Albania! Great news and a big step forward. Happy for your success! https://t.co/zQXRivb7Jz Tue, 15:45: RT @dannyctkemp: Breaking - European Commission backs opening accession talks with Albania and Macedonia - @AFP Tue, ...
Wed 18th
10:25
Jane Dodds on the Welsh Lib Dems vision of hope and optimism to tackle today's giant evils
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds set the party in Wales a mission at their Conference at the weekend. She wants them to find ideas to tackle the issues that provide the modern equivalent of Beveridge's giant evils. Here's her speech proposing the motion that kicks the process off. Conference, I'm excited to begin the process today of shaping our vision for our party and for Wales. One thing I made clear during my campaign to become leader of our party was that I wanted to re-capture not only our radical, Liberal roots, but the idea that politics should offer ...
Wes Anderson's quirky imagination and deep love of film guarantee that anything he directs will give cinephiles much food for thought as well as entertainment, and in his latest stop-motion animation offering, Isle of Dogs, there is so much content that at times it is hard to digest. The basic plot is simple, however, like any [...]
The Councillors who debate and discuss in the Town Hall do not 'run' Liverpool they 'lead' it. That's why getting the right management team in place must be a vital priority for our city In the council's budget meeting in ... Continue reading →
That is the question the Conservative Chair of the investigating Commons Select Committee asked last weekend. Hitherto, his Ministerial colleagues have seemed determined to turn a blind eye to all the recent revelations of possible illegality by Leave campaigners. Will they be more forthcoming this afternoon ? My Question to be discussed in the Lords reads as follows: "Lord Tyler to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are satisfied that current electoral law adequately prevents the misuse of personal data in United Kingdom elections and referendum campaigns" The HOUSE magazine has published some background for this mini debate: The revelations ...
For perhaps the first time since I lost the election in May 2016 today, I am grateful that I no longer have to make the long trek down the M4 and take my seat in the Senedd chamber. Not only has the row over the Welsh Government's leak report grown out of control, but it has become embarrassing. It has started to undermine the credibility of Welsh democracy. A quick recap: following the death of Carl Sargeant a number of reports were commissioned. One of these was conducted by the Permanent Secretary and concluded there had been no "unauthorised" leak ...
The final candidate totals for this May's local elections are now collated and the confirmed story is the one I trailed in the last Lib Dem Newswire of Liberal Democrat candidate numbers up significantly on four years ago. That's the good news. The news also comes with a caveat and a warning. The caveat is that the numbers may be up, but they are still a good way short of the Conservative and Labour numbers: PA #LocalElections candidate totals by party: CON 4,398 LAB 4,362 LD 3,315 GRN 2,158 UKIP 635 BNP 7 IND 1,019 OTH 114#LE2018 — Number Cruncher ...
Wed 18th
07:47
Southport – Loss of trains to Manchester Airport and Piccadilly, seems Merseytravel has form h...
I have always been annoyed by the fact that Merseytravel, the publicly funded passenger transport committee for Merseyside, shows such little interest in the railway line from Southport to the east of the Town. Northern Rail train standing in Southport Station. In fact this line is of some considerable importance despite it being run as little more than a secondary line for the past 40 years or so. One of the reasons that Southport developed in the railway age was that Manchester businessmen set up home in the Town because of its excellent railway service. There's can be little doubt ...
Fairtrade: enabling sustainable, quality coffee from small-holder value chainsMonday 30th April at 6pm Lecture Theatre 1, Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee This year, Ewan Reid, Director of Coffee at Glasgow-based, Matthew Algie, one of the UK's leading coffee roasters specialising in sustainable sourcing will be speaker. With a 20-year Fairtrade heritage starting with the UK's first Fairtrade espresso in 1997, today nearly 90% of the company's sourcing is Fairtrade. Matthew Algie supplies coffee to the cafe and hospitality sector including Marks & Spencer coffee shops and around 2,500 independent coffee shops, bars and restaurants. Ewan has worked for the company ...
I seen a story today about 21 jobs in the UK Border Force to be based in Belfast. The advert for the jobs states that to apply you have to be a UK passport holder. Until recently this would not have been an issue for me as I held two passports, however when my British passport ran out I didn't immediately renew waiting to see the outcome of the Brexit referendum. As a result of that I haven't renewed my British one and only retain my Irish Passport. I was born in the UK. Under the terms of the Good ...
