What I've been thinking... Has the centre of British politics really run out of ideas? It's the kind of casual remark which will get wise politico heads nodding in agreement. But I'm not sure I go along with it. After all, it's only 3 years since David Cameron's won a shock election victory thanks to an explicit promise to maintain the status quo: Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice – stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband: https://t.co/fmhcfTunbm — David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 4, 2015 That's conservatism for you. It was also unabashedly centrist in ...
There has been a concerted attempt to make us think the allegations that Greville Janner abused children emerged only recently and from an apparently unreliable source. The truth, as this BBC East Midlands report makes clear, is that they were first made public in the proceedings against Frank Beck in 1991 and were circulating locally before that. Now read two journalists' memories of Greville Janner and the trial of Frank Beck.
A year ago during general election campaign hustings and interviews in Bristol West I predicted with confidence that the shock of Brexit was about to shake up British politics. One of my frequently deployed phrases was that Brexit was "a meteorite striking the surface of our politics." I thought that the almost 50:50 split of [...]
"We ought to recognise that all three parties have collaborated in the myth that decent public services could be provided without higher and more progressive taxation." William Wallace tells us it's time to talk about tax. Amy Zimmerman on how Roseanne Barr abandoned reason and embraced the alt-right. Peter Walker explains why forcing cyclists to wear helmets will not save lives. "As Dostoyevsky implored through his novels and reporting, it is not only our task to support the innocent or wrongly convicted but also to recognise the humanity of the guilty and the shared sense of responsibility that we have ...
The Shropshire Councillors for Ludlow and Clee are backing Option 1 for Future Fit. But they warn that asking people to choose to choose a single A&E for Shropshire is like asking them to play Russian Roulette with people's lives. Faced with the choice between Option 1, with the A&E based in Shrewsbury, and Option 2, which would see the single A&E site in Telford, they are backing Option 1. Andy Boddington represents Ludlow North on Shropshire Council. Tracey Huffer Ludlow East, Vivienne Parry, Ludlow South and Richard Huffer, Clee. Tracey Huffer speaks for the four councillors on health matters: ...
Non-fiction: 8 (YTD 25) Luminescent Threads, edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal The Road to Middlemarch, by Rebecca Mead Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate, by Zoe Quinn No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K. Le Guin Sleeping with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Liz Bourke The Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook, European Edition, by Harrison Monsky and the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs The Case for a New WEU: European Defence After Brexit, by ...
The tiredness I felt after cycle 4 turned into shortness of breath a few days later. I didn't think too much of it at the time – after all, I still felt pretty well compared to the horrors of cycle 3 and was eating and drinking normally. Rather more than normally most of the time ... I therefore spent most ... The post Chemotherapy cycle 5 postponed appeared first on ten pence piece.
I'm delighted to announce that we have a new arrival in our household. Her name's Ozzy. She's a black Labrador puppy. And she's now coming up to ten weeks old. Continue reading →
Opposition to Brexit has become of the defining characteristics of today's Liberal Democrats. And probably everyone knows that our predecessors in the Liberal Party supported British entry to the European Community in the 1970s and before. But where does this commitment derive from? The latest Journal of Liberal History (issue 98, spring 2018) explores the historical origins of the Liberal commitment to Europe. As Anthony Howe discusses in the first article, one of the foundations of Victorian Liberalism in the nineteenth century was support for free trade, the removal of tariffs (import and export duties) on trade in goods. Normally ...
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This is why anti-Semitism really runs so deep on the British Left - and why that makes it so hard to...
On April 17th, 2018, after much discussion within the Labour Party on the subject, a debate was had in the House of Commons around the topic of anti-Semitism in British politics. And while it was officially about that, it was really about anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. There were several poignant speeches from Labour MPs about their experiences with an anti-Semitism that had emanated from their own party's activists. Luciana Berger in particular spoke of some of the abuse she had received from members of her own CLP, including being told to "go back to Israel". For this speech, she ...
London's Evening Standard newspaper, edited by the former chancellor George Osborne, has agreed a £3 million deal with six leading commercial companies, including Google and Uber, promising them "money-can't-buy" positive news and "favourable" comment coverage, openDemocracy can reveal.
The developing consensus that the NHS needs more money, and that there is nowhere else for that to come from except increased taxation, shows that there are some things that voters may well be willing to pay more for in order to get better-quality service. But we need, also, to recognise how strong the anti-tax lobby in this country is, and how difficult it will be to shift popular perceptions that others should pay more, but we deserve lower taxes ourselves. Liberal Democrats beat themselves up about their collaboration in the coalition's austerity programme. Our mistake was not to mount ...
weekly_food_challenge | Challenge #44: Extremely Orange Warming Soup My recipe for slightly spicy carrot and orange soup. weekly_food_challenge | Challenge #45: Salad and salad dressings ... and this week's challenge is live Government hikes fees to renounce British citizenship after Brexit foreign nationality surge Govt profiteering off misery. Again. Whatever the Ashdown Prize is, it's not about radicalism. Nick (accurately) describes the prize process as "a process that's seemingly designed to weed out any inadvertent actual radicalism coming through it that ends up proposing a bunch of worthy and wonkish policies that won't achieve any of the aims set out ...
Wed, 12:56: RT @qmulbioethics: Carrying books to impress girls is a whole chapter in my forthcoming misery memoir: Nietzsche, Spots and Me. Wed, 13:38: RT @Dublin2019: Eligible voters for the 2018 Hugo Awards, i.e., members of @worldcon2018, take note! The voter packet is now available, w... Wed, 16:05: RT @Berlinnaeus: Daughter's religion class was asked the names of the two main groups in the ruling class of Jews at the time of Jesus. She... Wed, 18:29: No Time to Spare, by Ursula Le Guin; and Sleeping with Monsters, by Liz Bourke (2018 Hugo finalists) https://t.co/5OPOK5ae31 Wed, 20:48: Ursula K. Le ...
Last night's episode of 'Carry on Brussels' on Channel 4 featured our own MEP, Catherine Bearder. Unfortunately she was juxtaposed with UKIP Press Officer, but it makes for entertaining viewing. Catherine is seen gathering support amongst her European allies for her Exit from Brexit campaign. The documentary demonstrates the links that Catherine has with Guy Verhofstadt MEP, the European Parliament's chief negotiator on Brexit. He is a former Prime Minister of Belgium, but of more importance to us, he is the Leader of ALDE, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe, which is the political group in the European ...
[IMG: The Russian journalist's staged death is almost a Hollywood parody] A Russian journalist, Arkady Babchenko, who lives in Kiev was reportedly murdered by Russian forces earlier this week for his frank and outright reporting. Much to everyone's shock, especially his wife's, he appeared the next... The post The Russian journalist's staged death is almost a Hollywood parody appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.
Well one of my 2018 New Year predictions is bearing fruit. I predicted that the big issue in 2018 for the EU would be Italy, and its push back on how the Euro is run. Just how this will play out is very hard to judge, but it is now centre stage. Most of the ... Continue reading Italian populists will find it easier to complain than to govern
There is no doubt that many people will be focussing on French intransigence as the reason why the UK's membership of a European Union security system that helps to identify foreign criminals and which is designed to keep the public safe is under threat. The problem though, as with all negotiations, is that when a party puts everything on the table they may not get all that they want. In other words. we voted to come out of the EU so we have no right to expect we can continue to enjoy all the benefits of membership without being part ...
There is a great view from the top of the 'Cheesegrater', or the Leadenhall building to use its formal name, right there in the City of London. But when I was there on May 8, for the launch of the final report of the Intergenerational Commission from the Resolution Foundation, there was a distinct haze around [...] The post I can see clearly now: we all create wealth appeared first on Radix.
Following the decision of Federal Conference Committee Chair Andrew Wiseman to stand down, Geoff Payne has been elected as his successor. Geoff is perhaps best known to many party activists as a long-standing member of the Federal Policy Committee (FPC) who produced regular email updates for members after each FPC meeting. (Fellow FPC members always had the challenge of exiting the room after an FPC meeting before Geoff's FPC report could land in their email inboxes. Geoff frequently won the race.) Following his election as FCC Chair, he is stepping down from FPC. Best of luck with the new role, ...
Having spent 12 years representing Melling on Sefton Council (up until 2011) I'm well aware of its worsening public transport options over a long period now. The knotty problem has been withdrawal/reduction of bus services, which is in no way unique to Melling but has had a significant and detrimental impact on this predominately rural community. One part of Melling that could do with a positive public transport move in the right direction is that along Prescot Road from the Pear Tree Pub to wards Maghull – it presently just has an hourly 133 bus. It's been suggested that with ...
From Keep Scotland Beautiful : We are delighted to be working with Dundee Flower and Food Festival 2018 to promote a One Planet Picnic competition to design the most exciting and unusual pocket garden, using plants that can be eaten, attract wildlife and celebrate 30 years of the Festival in Camperdown Park. The competition is for groups to design a pocket garden, sized 120cm x 100cm, to mark this 30th year of the Dundee Flower and Food Festival and celebrate sustainable growing and gardening. Twelve winning designs will be selected and these groups invited to construct their pocket garden for ...
