Since 2008 the 26th of April has been the day our community celebrates Lesbian Visibility Day, and today I, as chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats, want to pay tribute to my lesbian sisters. I see you. I see you in all your beautiful diverse glory, from the butchest dyke to the femmiest femme and all the infinity of variation between. I see you when your wedding pictures go round twitter and half the twitterverse thinks you're two brides having a double wedding and the men are offscreen - or sometimes some even mistake one of you for a man. I ...
Taken after I had been delivering in the town during the 2012 Corby by-election. Something about the light makes it look like a painting.
The Liverpool Echo has the article on its web site – see link above With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting
Liberal Democrats have voted with a majority of cross-party Peers in the House of Lords to inflict another defeat on the government. An amendment to retain the Charter of Fundamental Rights in UK law was successfully moved and is the third defeat for the government in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill in the House of Lords at Report Stage.Commenting on the victory, Liberal Democrat Leader in the House of Lords, Lord Newby said: "The Charter of Fundamental Rights has been a key component of EU law since 2000 and has set the bar on civil, political, social and economic rights."The UK's ...
Responding to reports that the Universal Credit roll-out is leading to an increased need for food bank parcels, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions Spokesperson Stephen Lloyd said:"Wherever Universal Credit is introduced, the pressure on local food banks goes up; in Hastings last year it soared by a shocking 80%. Given major cuts to benefits since 2015, it's no wonder that many more vulnerable people, tens of thousands, are having to go to Food Banks just to feed themselves and their children."Theresa May and her Conservative government are continuing their utterly merciless attack on the poorest and most desperate in our ...
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has challenged ministers to break-up large government contracts so the public sector is less dependent on "a handful of financially fragile" outsourcing contractors. Vince Cable secured an Urgent Question on Capita on Tuesday after the outsourcing giant revealed losses of more than £500m last year. Capita has also launched a £700m fundraising to reduce its vast debt pile. The news follows the collapse of another major government contractor, Carillion, in January. In the Parliamentary debate, Vince Cable said: "What steps has the government taken to reform the system of procurement so that we do not ...
Commenting on Theresa May's refusal to maintain people's access to their data in the Home Office, Vince Cable said: "The Prime Minister refused to address the growing concerns about government plans to remove people's right to access their own data in the Home Office. "If EU citizens lose access to their data, it would be impossible for them check mistakes made, which could change their right to remain status. "The Tories cannot be trusted with treating 50,000 people from the Windrush generation fairly. It is impossible to see how anyone can trust them with 3 million EU citizens after Brexit. ...
Thu 26th
19:57
Veolia and Shropshire Council are consulting on waste and recycling - but they haven't told you abou...
A questionnaire has appeared online. It's unannounced but important. Veolia and Shropshire Council are consulting on what you think about waste and recycling in the county. Rumours, and they could be wrong, say the consultation closes tomorrow. So please complete the survey now. If that is the case, I am hardly surprised. Shropshire Council has conducted near secret consultations before. There has been a lot happening this week. Shirehall has been buzzing as the council undergoes a peer challenge. I have been in meetings about community transport, regular buses and licencing matters. We have been preparing for Future Fit and ...
The government is set to consider making upskirting a specific offence. Justice Secretary David Gauke has said he is reviewing the current law to "make sure it is fit for purpose".This breakthrough comes after efforts by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse and campaigner Gina Martin to ensure the law is changed so that upskirting is made illegal. Wera's Bill to make upskirting an offence had it first reading in March and she has been demanding change from both the Justice Secretary and Equalities Minister on the issue.Commenting on the Justice Secretary's plan to review the law, Wera Hobhouse MP said:"It ...
Thu 26th
19:33
Senior Tory MP's diary secretary caught selling sex online is sister of Channel 4 reality TV star
The Daily Mirror wins our Headline of the Day Award. However, the judges were not impressed by the paper's attempt to turn this into a story about security. I doubt Dominic Raab's diary secretary has been entrusted to with many of the nation's secrets. As to the suggestion that Raab "has been tipped as a future Prime Minister", one judge suggested the view to me that the only people tipping him are: Dominic RaabDominic Raab's motherPeople who have been paid in used bank notes to do so.I might add that if a newspaper feels it has to pixelate every face ...
There are no principal authority council by-elections this week, so here instead is a reminder of why I stick to those principal authorities only in coverage. There are two sorts of councils and hence council elections in the UK. Those called "principal authorities", which cover bodies such as* county councils, district councils, unitary councils and London Boroughs. Then there is a lower tier made up of parish, community and town councils. Politically, there is a key difference between the two which explains why systematic analysis of council by-elections, vote share changes in them and collections of local by-election results all ...
I've just spent some time reading Early Warnings, Universal Credit and Foodbanks. In it, the Trussell Trust reveals the rise of foodbanks linked to the roll-out of Universal Credit. The statistics are sobering. From April 2017 to March 2018, the Trussell Trust's foodbank network supplied 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies. This was a 13% increase from the year before. Of these, 484,026 supplies went to children. I will pause and let you process that. Our families are so hard up, not being given enough money to live on, that almost half a million children have been found in need of ...
Owen Jones tweeted a couple of days ago: I "I'm told a poll is coming out on Thursday which isn't good for Labour in London. It's been a hellish few weeks for Labour. It's not in the bag in the local elections. Not even close. This is a wake-up call. If you don't vote and encourage others to vote, Labour will lose." I got all excited. Have the Tories gone up and Labour down significantly in London? Really? Of course, this was mostly hype. Across the capital, the numbers are Labour 51%, Tories 29%, Lib Dems 11%, Others 9%. Yes, ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its web site – see link above Quote from the article:- Concerned residents say two unexploded WW2 bombs remain buried under the site – although Redrow says when it commissioned surveys of the site, nothing was found. Official records state two bombs did in fact fall on Formby in 1941, and that both were abandoned, as opposed to exploded or removed. This was also confirmed by police at the time.
With one month to go until the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the focus for many is rightly the local elections. The team at LDHQ is still working hard and we recognize the importance of breaking down the legislation into smaller chunks. So we have developed a short, three-step process for handling data: Download, Use, Delete. We have been mentioning our new mantra recently in training and comms, but it would probably help if we took some time to explain in a bit more detail. In short, we are trying to describe the ideal journey of data ...
Embed from Getty Images From the Guardian: Heidi Alexander, the former shadow health secretary, is considering quitting the Commons to accept a senior job at City Hall with London mayor Sadiq Khan, the Guardian understands. Alexander was Khan's campaign chair during the 2016 London mayoral election. The MP, who has spearheaded the campaign to keep the UK in the single market since leaving the shadow cabinet, currently represents Lewisham East. It is understood Alexander may be considering taking a prominent role at City Hall under Khan, though no timeline was given for her departure.Heidi Alexander had a majority of 21,213 ...
India Willoughby: Britain's rampant transphobia has me worried for my life miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 25-04-2018 I posted The Blood is the Life for 25-04-2018 to my dreamwidth blog Abolish all bank holidays, Corbyn: and let workers choose their time off THIS THIS THIS. I don't want to have the government mandate when I can take my time off. Stephen Lawrence and the Hostile Environment I can't speak for the organ it appears in, but this article is excellent. There is no other fall guy for the Windrush scandal. What would it take for Theresa May ...
Wed, 15:19: I'm at Louise / Louiza (STIB / MIVB) - @stibmivb in Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region https://t.co/JiNZiDtcjd Wed, 15:24: RT @JenniferMerode: Likely that UK travellers will pay a €7 charge and complete a form to visit Schengen area after Brexit. But blue passp... Wed, 18:25: No Going Back to Moldova, by Anna Robertson https://t.co/Jfx5F6DZA8 Wed, 22:30: RT @Popehat: Hey guys . . . I know I'm really going out on a limb here and this is a really wild idea, but . . . . What if @kanyewest jus... Thu, 08:59: Musical anniversaries for 26 April https://t.co/U9XRmNe2Zc
We need a new way of thinking about economics. And we need it now. Continue reading →
It is two months since my last post. This may be the longest period of silence since I started this blog in 2011. This is mainly because I have been consumed with the process of getting 39 local election candidates nominated for council elections here in Wandsworth, and all the attendent duties of being agent ... Continue reading The method in Donald Trump's madness
Lib Dem members yesterday would have received an email from our Bath MP Wera Hobhouse asking for support in her campaign to get upskirting banned. If you want to sign the petition, the link is here. What is upskirting? The OED defines it as "the action or practice of surreptitiously taking photos or videos at an angle so as to see up a woman's skirt or dress." It is sickening and appalling that people even think they have the right to do this! Wera is calling for upskirting to be made a criminal offence - it already is in Scotland, ...
At an Open Europe event this week, Jacob Rees-Mogg, now the great white hopes of the Conservative right, said a lot about the House of Lords. Here's a snippet: "When it challenges the democratic will, as it is doing now, then we get fed up with it and think it has very little legitimacy and needs to be challenged. Their lordships are playing with fire and it would be a shame to burn down a historic House. They may have to decide whether they love ermine or the EU more." Several things to say about this. One, this is an ...
As the long-lasting works on the Bromley Heath Viaduct come to an end, the contraflow will be removed this weekend. To do this safely there needs to be a full closure of the A4174 Ring Road in both directions from the Wick Wick roundabout to the Hambrook traffic lights from 8pm on Friday 27 April until 6am on Monday 30 April. Signed diversions will be in place. Further information is available from www.southglos.gov.uk/bhviaduct
Not many of us use the old fashioned chip pans anymore probably because we are all pretty well aware of how dangerous they can be for starting house fires. As dangerous as this!:- Sheila and I saw this demonstration by Lancashire Fire Brigade in Ormskirk about the dangers of using a chip pan. The photo above shows what happens if just a cup full of water is thrown into a chip pan fire. Below is the before photo with just the oil in the pan on fire:- A sobering experience indeed and just imagine if that fire was within the ...
An effective leader does not swirl unanchored in the wind of public opinion. A true leader establishes a direction and brings public opinion along. Or pushes forward in spite of public opinion. The contrast between Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron could not be greater when it comes to how they are handling President Trump. Britain [...] The post Macron versus May – why is one a real leader? appeared first on Radix.
Today the House of Commons debates a motion that the UK should stay in the EU Customs Union, even if we actually leave the EU. Staying in the customs union will have two massive advantages and one small one. The big ones are: there will be no need for customs checks at the entry and exit ports (Dover/Calais; Folkstone/Boulogne etc ) so no costly delays, massive lorry-parks, tailbacks on the M20 blessedly, no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.and the little one is: the UK's exporters will not have to pay the common external tariff (customs duty) on ...
I don't know to what extent there is an anti-Semitism problem within the Labour Party. Like others I can only judge on the evidence that is presented to us in the media, by the testimony of MPs who have said they have been subject to racist abuse and the views of Jewish groups who feel that Labour is not taking these issues seriously enough. I understand that due process can mean delays in dealing with abusers and that sometimes, when people believe that they are being discriminated against, it can be difficult to win back their trust. That can only ...
As a mother of three, we have been to A & E more times than I would have liked and have had help from paediatricians and other consultants. The NHS is wonderful! But sorely understaffed. A report out today by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, "Facing the Future Audit 2017", has recommended drastic increases in staff to meet need. Up to 752 more paediatric consultants are required across the UK: 520-554 in England; 84-110 in Scotland; 84-91 in Wales; and 30-31 in Northern Ireland. There are clearly not enough paediatric consultants and services are struggling to provide ...
Fugue in A by Adam Falckenhagen, who was born on this day in 1697. Deep Moaning Blues, by Ma Rainey, born on this day in 1886. Theme from "Love Story", by Francis Lai, born on this day in 1932. "Ghost Riders in the Sky", by Duane Eddy, born on this day in 1938. "Touch Myself" by T-Boz, born on this day in 1970. "A Night Like This", by Carlo Emerald, born on this day in 1981. "Dy-Na-My-Tee", by Ms. Dynamite, also born on this day in 1981. Happy birthday to all of them. And to me.
[IMG: Fear GB] The Brexit saga continues. Look beyond the sound and fury of the domestic political soap opera and focus on the agreed actions. The working hypothesis that the end point of the process will be whatever the EU wants it to be continues to do a serviceable job. If the mutterings about concessions on a customs union turn out to be right then the odds on "Brexit in name only" must surely shorten dramatically. If, that is, we don't find ourselves in the rather less likely "let's-call-the-whole-thing-off referendum on the terms" territory. I'm not sure that would signify ...
