The old boy obviously feels strongly about this. Wednesday A message arrives from Jo 'Gloria' Swinson via the electric Twitter urging me to "Protest Trump". I send a telegram by return telling her that neither I nor any of my staff will be protesting Trump. Neither, I point out, will we be wearing plaid trousers or eating grits (whatever they are). The reason I have booked every charabanc in Rutland for that weekend in July is that we are going to protest against Trump. You will say that 'protest' is shorter than 'protest against' and that Americanisms always catch on ...
Well, I suppose a bit of drama at PMQs brightens up the day, but what exactly was the point of the SNP's mass walkout and their leader depriving himself of a vote as one of the most crucial pieces of legislation ever to go through the Commons. Not only that, but he had an application in for an emergency debate on the devolution related issues that everyone except the Scottish Tories are livid about. That fell because he was no longer allowed to be there. Presumably the SNP decided that a walkout would get them more attention on the news ...
It was great to spend a day campaigning for Lucy Salek in Lewisham East yesterday. It was my second time helping the campaign, greatly assisted by an off-peak Travelcard, which allowed fulsome use of the train, tube and bus. Tragically, there was a fatal incident on the line yesterday around Hither Green and Lee stations, meaning that I ended up, to my surprise, in New Eltham, at one point. Anyway, our enormous HQ was brimming with volunteers all day. A hive of industry. There were people there from as far afield as Falmouth. It was particularly good to join in ...
Sometimes these are quite easy categories to sort out - it's always helpful if there is one artist that stands out from the crowd for good or bad reasons. This time for Best Professional Artist (2018) I have found it much more difficult - all of the artists on the final ballot are very good, and sufficiently distinct that it's quite difficult to give them a comparative rating. So I'm actually going to go from top to bottom of my ballot, rather than bottom to top, because I don't have much to say about any of them but I have ...
Our two free sample articles for this issue are by former MP Norman Baker on his experiences as a Home Office when Theresa May set about constructing her 'hostile environment', which was to lead to the Windrush scandal, and by Claire Tyler on ideas to help young people deal with precarious work, unaffordable housing and low incomes. Both are on: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk Also in this issue: How Green Was My Pact? Richmond Liberal Democrats struck a pact with the Greens and took control of the council in May. Was this too high a price to pay? Wendy Kyrle-Pope says it worked, ...
Wed 13th
14:34
Fundamentalist Islamism! Fake news! Suicidal pop stars! Consiracy theorists! A Slavoj Zizek wannabe!...
June, 2018. A kid from the Deep South of the USA, Noah Hastings, is the biggest pop star in the world. One night on stage in New York City, Noah commits suicide by detonating a bomb attached to his chest, killing himself and ninety-one of his fans. The public and the media, both online and in traditional outlets, run wild with theories on Hastings' motivation for causing the incident – until authorities conclude it was an act of fundamentalist Islamist terrorism. This only causes the hysteria to ramp up further until no one can agree with anyone on almost anything. ...
Last year a computer program used by a US court for risk assessment was biased against African/Caribbean prisoners. The program was much more prone to label these defendants to re-offend. Again in 2016 Microsoft released its Chatbot Tay in Twitter to engage in conversation. In less than a day Chatboy Tay began uttering racist and sexist comments. Facebook last year experimented by allowing two AIs to interact freely. They had to shut them down as they very quickly developed their own version of the English language. Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is coming. We are moving from automation to intelligent application to ...
Responding to claims from the President of the CBI that sections of the UK car industry face extinction unless the UK stays in the EU Customs Union, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Jenny Randerson said: "These expert comments cannot be ignored. They should act us a wakeup call. The stark reality of Brexit is clear; it will pose a serious threat to the British car industry, including jobs and the wider supply chain. "Neither the Tories or the Labour party get it. But Liberal Democrats do, which is why we will fight tooth and nail to protect people's livelihoods by keeping ...
The Liberal Democrats have welcomed today's ruling by the Supreme Court categorising Pimlico Plumbers' employees as workers rather than self-employed, meaning that they are entitled to basic employment rights such as holiday pay.The ruling is likely to have a knock-on impact on ongoing legal battles against other prominent businesses in the gig economy such as Uber and Addison Lee. Speaking following the ruling, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson, Stephen Lloyd MP, said: "The Supreme Court has made it clear: if a company has its grip over how you work, how you are paid and who you can work for, ...
View Poll: World Cup, Day One You should be able to vote using your Facebook or Twitter account, even if you aren't on Livejournal.
Having been down to have a look at the Leeds Liverpool canal breach in Melling this morning it looks to be of a similar nature to the 1995 breach on the boundary between Maghull & Lydiate i.e. the canal may well have broken through into a culvert that crosses underneath it. Here's the latest photos, including one of a very unfortunate narrow boat caught near to the breach point:- dam built by Canal and River Trust at Holmes swing bridge. From here the canal is in water through Maghull, Lydiate and northwards A canal with virtually no water in it ...
Do we need to have more radical fringe meetings - i.e. Invite more thought provoking / radical guests to fringe meetings; Yes! I would love to see more radical fringe meetings. Without wishing to be seen to cop out though, I should add that FCC is not directly responsible for running the fringe. We make the rooms available and promote the opportunities to book but we are dependent on party members and other bodies coming forward with radical ideas. I would like to see more fringe meetings focussed around controversial items on the agenda. Do you feel the different number ...
Many thanks to everyone who helped with the Heron Way traffic count (and kept us topped up with tea and coffee!) This information is being analysed at the moment and will be passed on to the Government's Planning Inspector who is considering the plan to replace the pub and the car park with flats, with all the traffic chaos that will bring. The Planning Enquiry will have a public hearing - it won't just be done on documents. UPDATE: The hearing has been delayed, and we expect the hearing to be held at a local venue around 20th November. As ...
tigerfort | How bad could it be, really? In which the consequences of a no-deal brexit are laid out in terrifying detail. Excellent Twitter thread on the biology of sex/gender 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
A couple of years ago, I decided to clean a road sign that was annoying me. It seems as though somebody was paying attention, because Suffolk County Council have concluded that this is something that Parish Councils should be taking on.Suffolk Highways is currently developing its Community Self Help offer. The scheme will aim to enable local community groups, including town and parish councils, to undertake work that Suffolk Highways does not have the budget to undertake.However, it seems that their intention goes a bit further than just cleaning the odd road sign...So, how can our communities help? We know ...
Come and see what Allerton Road has to offer on Saturday when there will be community stalls at the Farmers Market and the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside will be visiting the Farmers Market and retailers. Over the past few weeks ... Continue reading →
Tue, 12:56: RT @carolecadwalla: Also.. @BBCr4today invited me on this morning. They then rang back & asked if I would "discuss" it with Isabel Oakeshot... Tue, 16:05: Status Anxiety https://t.co/JJhfsDzrFe In his own words: How @toadmeister got into Brasenose after failing to meet... https://t.co/Ml0fZ7vgcO Tue, 17:11: RT @TomMcTague: The government is clearly wobbling on this amendment here. A loss or concession makes two things more likely: 1) EEA/custom... Tue, 17:26: RT @CNN: George H.W. Bush just became the first former US president to turn 94 https://t.co/z6zJuch5ed https://t.co/obC2PKHzXa Tue, 18:27: #Macedonia name dispute - #MK government announcement coming in three minutes: ...
[IMG: Geoff Payne] Repeatedly I hear from members that they want more policy motions to be discussed at the conference and to hear directly from more of the senior figures in the party Given that we only have a finite amount of agenda time, there can be a tension between those two things! I agree that those are the priorities of many of our members though. People do enjoy speeches from spokespeople but they also attend to debate policy. I am committed to wringing as many minutes as we can from the agenda. That said, there are other important aspects ...
It looks like the most plausible way for Britain to remain in the EU is for a Peoples' Vote on the terms of Brexit, and with the newly-publicised allegations about involvement between Leave campaigners and Russian politicians, this may happen sooner rather than later. To be clear, this isn't my preferred outcome – I'd rather [...]
It was very concerning to read on the BBC this morning that Wales chief fire advisor, Des Tidbury believes that residents in private high-rise blocks may have to live with unsafe cladding for years because of wrangling over who should pay to replace it. Apparently, fifteen buildings in Wales were found to have the same type of aluminium composite cladding which engulfed Grenfell, 12 of them being private sector blocks comprising of about 700 flats. The others were social housing blocks in Newport which are being adapted with £3m in Welsh Government funding. However, the broadcaster reports that there is ...
Behind the farce of the G-7 summit of June 8-9 in Canada, is a tragedy, less publicised, but with much more serious and real consequences. Faced with the extraordinary rise in industrial, commercial and military power in China, Westerners are unable to form a coalition. In the contemporary history of international relations, coalitions have always [...] The post Where is the coalition to contain China? appeared first on Radix.
It is often said, rightly, that the Liberal Democrats are like a family. We share good times and bad. We sometimes quarrel and we frequently spend more time around each other than is healthy. It also means that, when we lose one of us, we feel it as intensely as losing a close relative. That's certainly how I and other Liberal Democrats feel at the loss of George Grubb. The first ever Liberal Democrat Lord Provost (mayor) of Edinburgh, George was not only a friend and mentor, he was an inspiration to me and so many other Liberal Democrats in ...
Ongoing developing incident in Melling regarding a Leeds Liverpool Canal breach Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service have the details on their web page – see link above I've seen some video footage of water flooding surrounding fields on the Aintree Village Community Page of Facebook.
I blogged about this former railway station just to the north of the present Hightown Station on Merseyrail's Northern Line between Liverpool and Southport not so long ago. My previous posting is available via the link below:- I have now taken a photo of the remains of the former station's platforms and it's below. They can be clearly seen from the footpath/cycle path that runs from Hightown to Formby. Click on the photo to enlarge it
Wed 13th
07:39No, the Tory rebels cannot be "screwed" by the government: explaining the technicalities behind last...
Many Remainers were livid with the Tory "rebels" – the Remainer Conservative MPs who had threatened to vote for the Lords' amendment on a "meaningful" vote on the final Brexit deal – for having in the end voted with the government and defeated the amendment last night. I am not asking any of you who feel this way to not do so – I'm only here to straighten out a very key misconception. The Tory rebels have not "taken Mrs May at her word"; they cannot possibly be "screwed over" by the PM. In fact, they have placed the prime ...
Wed 13th
07:30
Interview with the new Chair of Federal Conference Committee - Geoff Payne - Part 1 of 3
[IMG: Members at a conference] Congratulations on being elected the new FCC Chair Thank you! It is a really exciting job to have; one of the very best in the party. What changes do you think that Andrew Wiseman brought to the FCC as Chair? Andrew was a great chair. He steered us through the immediate pre-coalition period, though the years we were in government and then the period of re-building afterwards. He oversaw increases in attendance, vast increases in commercial revenue from 2010 and more recently the attendance of huge numbers of new members at conference. One of the ...
