I'm currently not very online because my in-laws are visiting. Proper posts resume Friday, but I've got an odd question for anyone I might have lent DVDs to — have I lent any of you the Doctor Who DVDs Robot, ... Continue reading →
Liberal Democrats in Weston-super-Mare, formerly Brian Cotter's constituency (1997-2005), have selected Patrick Keating as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for the next general election: A strong believer in community action, Patrick is a trustee of the Community Council for Somerset which provides services to rural communities across the county and is a non-parent governor of a local primary school. A life-long supporter of the Liberal Democrat vision of an open, tolerant and united Britain, Patrick was pushed into action the morning after the Brexit referendum. "The morning after the EU referendum, I thought – did I do enough to fight ...
When they came up to the gap in the walls which once had been a gateway they saw that nothing but the central tower remained inside, Sheep were nibbling on the very ground where Henry VIII's garrison may have sat down to eat, ivy climbed the walls from which armoured sentinels had watched the Channel, and from the crumbling mortar of the keep lusty wallflowers were swaying in the wind. They stood for a moment in the big, grassy space. The sun beat down upon them, and they were sheltered, too, from the breeze which was rustling the leaves above ...
I've been ignoring all things Brexit. Well, that's not strictly true; I'm not on Love Island. Eg, I know David Davis threatened to resign (yes, again) over whether the backstop agreement between the UK and the EU over the Northern Irish border is time-limited. I also know that a handful of Tory Remainer rebels threatened to rebel against Theresa May (yes, again) before agreeing to a compromise that was denied as soon as their votes were in the bag. And so it goes on, and on. As a pragmatic Remainer, here are my priors on Brexit: 1) it was a ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 520th 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 (10-16 June, 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. Huge swing to Liberal Democrats in Lewisham ...
Our week at Bonkers Hall ends with the old boy's unique insight into the events behind A Very English Scandal. For myself, I am pleased that no one else seems to have used this "a stable lad and an unstable lad" line about Norman Scott. Sunday This moving moving-television drama about Jeremy Thorpe has awakened some distressing memories, not least of the fate of poor Rinka whom I always found a Good Girl. I did my best to warn Norman Scott, who was a stable lad and an unstable lad, against taking up with Thorpe, but he was not to ...
Most of my memories of the Leave campaign involve the blatant lies it told. 77 million Turks, we were told, would pretty much be here the day after we voted Remain, according to their literature. And the biggest lie of all was emblazoned on the side of a bus. £350 million a week for the NHS. It was the thought of more money for our beleaguered NHS that prompted many people to vote Leave, something confirmed by Vote Leave's director, Dominic Cummings. Within hours of the referendum result, that pledge was in tatters. Nigel Farage distanced himself from it on ...
All that coverage of Labour Live yesterday awakened a distant memory. Hadn't there been a Liberal Party fun day at Knebworth round about 1980? When I tweeted that question I received three replies confirming it had taken place, including this one from someone who had been at the event: Yes that triggers a vague memory. I remember I talked my then girlfriend into coming along.— rawliberal (@rawliberal) June 17, 2018 Someone else suggested the Liberal Party had held more than one fun day at Knebworth. A bit of googling produced the confirming snippet from Campaigning Face to Face by Wynn ...
I have written often enough about what the Liberal Democrats should be doing to involve party members more. Time then to talk about something the party is doing: a new skills survey to find out how people would like to get more involved and how they can best help. It comes in three flavours, catering for where members live, and the data will end up usable across the party due to being fed into the MyCampaign system, part of Connect. That's important as sometimes best way to involve a member, and the way that members are most interested in getting ...
The last time I took any interest in the figures, the Lib Dems had around 100,000 members. It would probably be fair to say that I'm in the top 1% of those people with regards to my support of the former leader and Deputy Prime Minister. I have written many blog posts defending Nick Clegg but the moment I saw the words that he'd typed out in his Financial Times column, I knew it was going to be a lightning rod for criticism. The premise of the piece is that freedom of movement within the European Union shouldn't be a ...
Third page: Over to foreign news. A heated debate broke out today between the Financial Times newspaper and the Portuguese minister Manuel Pinho... The reason for this? The Financial Times' use of the acronym... DIINNG DOONNG Good morning, Hugo! Good morning, Elias! I picked this up from the author herself at FACTS last October. It's a nicely done short graphic novel about the experience of being a young Italian immigrant in Ghent, just at the time that the financial crisis was hitting the southern European economies and Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain were dubbed PIGS by the Financial Times. Cecilia ...
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View Poll: World Cup, Day Five You should be able to vote using your Facebook or Twitter account, even if you aren't on Livejournal. Well done to vilakins and johnny9fingers on getting three correct out of four yesterday, successfully predicting that Denmark would beat Peru as well as Croatia beating Nigeria (which I also got) and France beating Australia (which mount_oregano and I also got). Nobody expected Iceland to hold Argentina to a draw.
miss_s_b | The Blood is the Life for 16-06-2018 I posted The Blood is the Life for 16-06-2018 to my dreamwidth blog 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, 12:56: A year on, I am even angrier about Grenfell https://t.co/3IDkAvoKuy So am I. Sat, 16:04: World Cup, Day Four https://t.co/tKo2tXQ0AX Sat, 16:05: United 2026 World Cup: An Opportunity for the Host Countries, the Sport and Brands https://t.co/jDB76xrrq3 @TGKraus looks ahead. Sat, 16:51: Tumuli and church at Tienen https://t.co/vqtJboB1eV Sat, 20:48: 2018 World Cup Predictions | FiveThirtyEight https://t.co/saoODl8e5m I'm keeping an eye on this. Sun, 10:45: RT @kevinhorourke: There is also the ominous news that HMG is back at its old trick of briefing against the Irish government across Europe....
For cynical timing and political manoeuvring, Theresa May must get a gold medal. Her entire premiership has been based on half-baked promises to one group which directly contradict promises made to others, just so that she can live on to fight another day. So far she has been a dab hand at political survival. Today's announcement of zillions of pounds for the NHS at some point in the future, paid
Here's Christine Jardine speaking to Edinburgh's Pride march yesterday. One of these days, I'll remember to hold the phone round the other way. She was speaking at the Mercat Cross on the Royal Mile to a vast, sparkly and bright crowd. As always the atmosphere was incredible. The Scottish Young Liberals and Edinburgh Lib Dems did proud with t-shirts, a stall and a Brexitometer. LGBT+ rights are human rights @LGBTLD #EdinburghPride2018 #pride2018 pic.twitter.com/Ghgjd6KRSF — Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) June 16, 2018 And Greyfriars Bobby went all rainbow: There was a pre-pride Lib Dem Pint on Friday at which much pink ...
I am a month into my first summer break from university and I am at the point of paralysing boredom. This racoon in Minnesota spent hours scaling a 25 story office building. I wish that I had the determination and purpose of the racoon this summer,
Today's headlines are all about the supposed additional £20bn a year injection of extra cash by 2023-24 being proposed by Theresa May for the National Health Service. She argues that this money will pay for thousands more doctors and nurses, while cutting cancer deaths and improving mental health services. However, other news reports highlight the on-going disagreement between the Health Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer over how much extra the government can afford to put into the health service, whilst the cabinet is also reportedly split as to how it will be paid for and to what extent ...
I have seen something you will never see: England win the World Cup. While I have vague memories of World Cup Willie, the 1966 tournament's mascot, I have no memory of this song. You can hear why. In those more innocent days before the England team has its own official supermarket, the song was not even a hit. Lonnie Donegan, a figure from the era before the Beatles and the British Invasion, must have seemed an odd choice to sing it even at the time. Note that in those days the England fans had no problem in wrapping themselves in ...
I was wrong about Labour Live. If you look back through my social media, you'll find a bit of snark about Labour's struggle first to sell tickets and then to pack the venue with free tickets. I wasn't wrong because it turned out in the end to be a rip-roaring success. I was wrong because trying something new and failing – especially when it comes to rejuvenating the format of political events intended to involve large numbers of people – is just what we need more of, in politics in general and in the Liberal Democrats. Trying something new and ...
Sun 17th
09:18
Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils to pilot pioneering developer contributions database
I don't normally reproduce Council press releases, but this one might be of wider interest... Residents and those in the development industry will be able to see how money collected from developers as part of planning agreements is being spent on providing infrastructure for local communities when a new database goes online. Both Babergh and Mid Suffolk are working with the software provider Exacom as part of a pilot exercise involving two other local authorities to hone this innovative, new database which will transform the way that information is held for developer contributions paid for by legal agreements and the ...
I am one of those with a fascination for history, who sometimes indulge in the practice of 'What if?'. Some of you may know what I mean; but, if not, here are a few examples. Let's start with 1066. What if King Harald had actually defeated Duke William of Normandy at the battle of Hastings? Scroll forward some eight hundred years and ask yourself what if President Abraham Lincoln had not attended Ford's Theatre on that fateful night in April 1865? What if Archduke Franz Ferdinand's driver hadn't taken a detour in Sarajevo in June 1914 or what if Adolf ...
Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine yesterday called for the Home Secretary to make medicinal cannabis based products available to those who need them following reports Billy Caldwell will be given back cannabis oil that was previously confiscated. Ms Jardine has been campaigning on behalf of her constituent Murray Gray, who is also seeking access to cannabis based treatments for seizures.Christine Jardine said:"Sajid Javid has done the right thing for a young boy enduring unimaginable pain."These treatments can have enormous benefits for patients like Billy Caldwell and my constituent Murray Gray."The Home Secretary should now take common sense steps to ensure ...
Sun 17th
07:44
Maghull – It's 2nd railway station opens tomorrow 66 years after it lost its original 2nd stat...
Maghull lost its original 2nd railway station when it closed on 7th January 1952. That station (Sefton and Maghull) was on Sefton Lane and was a part of the former Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway. I'm told by an old Maghullian in the know that the first talk of a 2nd station for Maghull, on the Liverpool – Ormskirk line, was just after World War 2, so its taken a while you might say to get it built. The serious talk has been going on for I suppose over the last 25 years and it took some time to ...
From Blether Tay-Gither : Our June Blether will be on Tuesday 26th June at 7.30pm at The Butterfly Café, 28 Commercial Street. The theme this month is "SAND." Join us for a relaxed evening of stories and tales. Bring a story or just come to listen. Hope to see some of you there - all welcome!
