Bass in Bottle and Ace Petrol Pumps can be found on the same town centre building.
Embed from Getty Images From the Portsmouth paper The News: Former Portsmouth MP Mike Hancock faces censure after not taking part in a vote-rigging corruption inquiry. The former Portsmouth South representative, who was resigned from the Lib Dems, faces losing his 'honorary associate' title at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (Pace).He also faces being denied access to its buildings.That's an odd way of putting it: "was resigned from the Lib Dems". What happened is spelt out in this 2014 BBC News report: Liberal Democrat Mike Hancock has resigned from the party, officials have confirmed. The Portsmouth South MP, who ...
I have a friend who's heading down to Lewisham for a few days today to help Lucy Salek. She's travelling 400 miles to work in a by-election in London. Why? Well, the sooner you get there, the bigger the impact. We've had a fair few people out this weekend – 3 figures – which isn't bad. We need more, though, to show that we are aiming high and taking the fight to the pro-Brexit Tory and Labour parties. It's those early days of a by-election where we can lay down a statement of intent. If people get lots of stuff ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 517th 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 (13-19 May, 2018), 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. Could this be what causes the next ...
Let us pass rapidly over Richard Reeves spell as chief of staff to Nick Clegg and instead celebrate him as a leading scholar of John Stuart Mill, whose birthday it is today. You can hear Reeves talking about Mill and On Liberty in a short Philosophy Bites podcast. The point he makes that the Harm Principle is not what is most interesting or important in the essay cannot be made often enough. I once wrote an article for Liberator on why John Stuart Mill is the greatest Liberal that owed an indecent amount to Richard Reeves' ideas.
Peering into the details and the patterns behind the Liberal Democrat performance in this May's local elections, one intriguing political opportunity presents itself. The party did best in shire district elections up against the Conservatives. There appear to be rich pickings for the party from Remain voters in such areas who are unimpressed by Brexit and unimpressed by the government's wider record. The opportunity The good news? These are the sorts of contests that are coming up in spades next year. The opportunity and yet also the reason for the headline's question is that the local election – including in ...
I was rather surprised to find myself challenged three times walking through the market today about my support for a ban on motorcycles parking on Castle Square. I have never agreed with this ban sponsored by Ludlow Town Council. I cheer the weekend bikers' gatherings. I think it is great for the town. It's great for traders. Today I signed a petition against the council's proposed ban. I just don't agree with the ban. Ludlow Town Council has got this one wrong. Today, people were crowding around the twenty or so bikes outside the castle. The arrival of the bikes ...
Welcome to my email service Polling UnPacked, updated in the last few days with a bigger and better range of sources. Polling UnPacked is an email digest (no more than one email per day) which brings you the best and latest news about British political opinion polling from a range of different experts direct to your inbox: Email* Enter Email Confirm Email Name* First Last If you submit this form, your data will be used in line with the privacy policy here to update you on the topic(s) selected. This may including using this data to contact you via a ...
Jo Swinson is expecting her second baby this Summer. As Minister, she made sure that everyone else had the option to share their parental leave with their partner in a way that suits them. Men and women will no longer be tied to what history dictates their traditional roles should be with mum holding the baby while dad goes out to work. Parenting is a shared endeavour and now dads have the opportunity to spend more time with their new baby in those vital early weeks. Shared parental leave is my proudest achievement in government, and I'm delighted that it ...
Last month, David Buxton wrote about how the Government's freezing of the Access to Elected Office Fund meant that he simply couldn't stand in the 2017 General Election: For the 2015 General Election, I obtained a grant of £40,000 from the Access to Elected Office Fund, which I used to participate in the Liberal Democrat candidate-selection process. But I could not have participated without the Fund's support. And, last year, I was effectively barred from standing in the 2017 General Election because of the absence of the Fund.Many other deaf and disabled candidates from the Lib Dems and from other ...
I found it pretty easy to rank these this year, though I am also very well aware that my tastes are very different from those of voters (and indeed nominators). One point before I start: it's of course very gratifying for Tor.com to have got five of the six available slots, but is it such a good thing that one publisher has cornered the market in this category? (There was a time, of course, when Asimov's had this dominance too, getting five out of five slots for Best Novella in 1991 and 1996, and four out of five in 1987, ...
Nicola Sturgeon was on the Peston show today talking about various aspects of Brexit. One thing struck me when she was pressed on the issue of a People's vote of the Brexit deal. She said that the SNP won't be the block to that but if there was to be another EU referendum, the big question for Scotland would be what would happen if we got the same outcome, where Scotland voted to remain and Wales and England voted to leave. To be honest, I think it would be so much better if the SNP threw their massive campaigning energy ...
Last Thursday (17 May) was International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia*. Here's a piece that I wrote for Lib Dem Voice on behalf of LGBT+ Lib Dems, of which I am Secretary. The original piece can be found on Lib Dem Voice, and on the LGBT+ LD site. On this day in 1990, the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of 'mental disorders'. Since 2004 the anniversary of this has been used to promote awareness of the legal and cultural discrimination LGBT+ people still experience around the world.In the UK that we have come a long way ...
Our group leader in Liverpool, Cllr Richard Kemp, has outlined the drama, fear and loathing, accusation and counter-accusation that is the rather sorry life of the city's Labour administration at the moment. It's almost like we're back in the 80s. In no way does the Labour party sound like any sort of competent administration. It's quite a story. I've been an active politician in Liverpool for 44 years but I have never seen anything like the farce that is being played out within the Liverpool Labour Group at the moment. Even when things were at their most rancorous in the ...
Landscapes inOil & Watercolour Patricia Herlihy 26th May to 2nd June 2018 11.00am - 3.00pm in the almshouses at St Margaret's Chapel & Royal Magdalene AlmshousesMagdalene Street, Glastonbury, Somerset
A track from their third album Pour Down Like Silver, which was written shortly after they had converted to the Sufi strand of Islam. The Wikipedia entry for Pour Down Like Silver talks about the effect this had on their music. It says of Dimming of the Day: The understated and elegant "Dimming of the Day" was sung by Linda Thompson on this album, but Richard Thompson has continued to feature it in his own live shows for many years - an indication of its deep personal significance. This song is an example of Thompson writing in a centuries-old Sufic ...
Aye Fair Lady on Game Jolt Are you desperate for the next installment of Yorkshire Gubbins? Download Aye Fair Lady, a musical mini-chapter, here. Secret Brexit deal with USA could threaten scotch whisky ... and everything else with geographic origin protection. 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 I'm allergic to coffee) at ko-fi.com] [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Sat, 12:39: RT @DavidLammy: Your officials asked to come to my constituency surgery. Your officials asked for my advice on an outreach strategy because... Sat, 12:47: In case you were wondering: the definitive list of Doctor Who weddings. https://t.co/0X2yx0Q7xy Sat, 12:56: geoTLDs - Small but Perfectly Formed? https://t.co/ccG0sLCs35 @MariaFarrell on the internet's new localism. "Though... https://t.co/1te7kXJmxs Sat, 13:28: RT @AnnwieAnna: Let's not forget, #Ukraine is shedding blood for the idea of Europe, says @kmathernova #EU #Globsec2018 #GLOBSEC #säkpol ht... Sat, 15:02: Wondering why the letters H A Λ are painted onto the motorway lane. Then I realise that this is ...
Sun 20th
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WATCH: Michael Curry's incredible sermon at the Royal Wedding - how to make poverty history
One of the most talked-about highlights of yesterday's Royal Wedding was the lively and passionate sermon preached by the Presiding Bishop of the US Episcopal Church, Michael Curry. I doubt it was any accident that this man, who has a strong record in supporting same sex marriage, was chosen to deliver this address. I don't believe in God and didn't find anything in his words to change my mind on that score. That didn't stop me being utterly inspired by the message he brought to the heart of the British establishment. His theme was "the power of love" and it ...
Labour's new Cabinet in Liverpool having its first meeting to discuss where to find the £60,000 for two new Deputy Mayors and the £200,000,000 promised for potholes Well where do I start? I've been an active politician in Liverpool for ... Continue reading →
February 1974 saw a big increase in the Liberal Party share of the vote. What are the lessons for the Liberal Democrats, currently seeking a similar level of recovery?
We are going to hear a lot of adverse things about Jeremy in the next few weeks. But I doubt even Hugh Grant can portray the style of Jeremy as he really was. He was a terrific campaigner. It was typical of him to swish in on a helicopter to support me in West Flintshire in 1970, to make a speech on the stump and to swish out again, leaving the gathering gasping for breath and hugely impressed. He had one amazing political attribute - an abiding memory of your name and always, one additional attribute about you: for me ...
I must admit that I thought that the fly-tipping would stop when Sefton Council gated the back lanes behind Lunt Village but sadly I was wrong. This was the scene on Longdale Lane 6th May:- And this is what the gates look like:- Pedestrians can step over them and cyclists can lift their bikes over them, but how on earth are fly-tippers getting their vans and lorries around the back of Lunt?
Family is strange. We each have one and in almost all media and modern stories spell the moral imperative of defending our family regardless of the opponent and yet the family is complicated. Family raises us and impacts us in ways that no one else can. People compare you to your parents or siblings and say "oh, you're a surname". But there comes a point in our lives for some of us when the family stops being everything and it usually revolves around the keeping of a secret. For me, it was the fact that I was gay. However, that ...
