Here's the Lib Dem contingent at today's People's Vote march. There were lots of us there. It was an incredible atmosphere as we filled Parliament Square and beyond to listen to speeches from Tony Robinson (who actually said "I have a cunning plan"), David Lammy, Caroline Lucas and our own Vince Cable. This event seemed like a real step up from previous ones. 100,000 people turned out demanding a People's Vote. The key message was that this is not a done deal and we absolutely can get out of it. This kicks off a Summer of campaigning across the country. ...
What is there left to say about Trump and the USA? The president's policy of caging migrant children separated from their parents has proven too horrific even for him to sustain. (The audio recording of Spanish-speaking children crying out for their missing mums and dads is just heart-rending.) If there's any chink of light in this story at all, it's that Trump was forced to U-turn. But note that polls showed a majority of Republicans (55%) backed him — and as The Economist points out here he only cares about energising his base. That, after all, is what put him ...
Deep in the backstreets of Kettering, the Carey Memorial Baptist Church looks prosperous. Its old Sunday School next door is another matter.
The Financial Times has been to the Lake District and covered Tim Farron's success in restoring a service to the line from Oxenholme to Kendal and Windermere when Northern Rail could not run one. Tim told the paper's reporter: "It was a real window into the fragmentation of the railways. How could we do in a weekend what Northern and the Department for Transport could not? If you have got the will to make things happen you can make it happen."I wouldn't underestimate Tim's will, but his first point is the most important one. The management of the railways is ...
James Tarry remembers a figure from the glory days of Soho. A 1996 documentary on Jeremy Thorpe recently posted on Liberal England featured a blast from my past- a short interview with Dan Farson. He was captioned "Friend of Thorpe," but most viewers would have had no idea who this man was. There's quite a bit on the internet about Dan, so no point me regurgitating stuff that's already in the public domain. This is a bit about my experiences in the late 1980s and early 1990s of being with him in the Soho pub The French. The initial experience ...
Today I was with well over 100,000 others marching to protest for a People's Vote on the EU. Photo from ITN News website As it becomes ever more clear that labeling the facts as Project Fear was a diversionary tactic, and businesses are assessing whether they can continue in the UK, people from across the [...]
Hooray! My run through the winners of the Oscar for Best Picture has brought me to what was already a favourite, Casablanca. It won the Oscar for Outstanding Motion Picture of 1943 (despite December 1942 general release). It got a total of eight Oscar nominations, winning also Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, a total of three. Both IMDB ratings have Casablanca as the top film of 1942 (here and here), with Bambi second. For the Oscars, it was in contention with 1943 releases, for which IMDB voters rank Hitchcok's Shadow of a Doubt top under both systems. I don't ...
A heart-breaking margin of two votes was the tiny margin by which Elizabeth Riches and the party fell short of gaining Fife North East from the SNP at the 2017 general election. Local members have now selected Wendy Chamberlain as the party's next Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for the seat, which previously was held by Ming Campbell: I am delighted to have been chosen as the Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate to win back North East Fife from the SNP at the next general election, after the Liberal Democrats slashed the SNP's majority to just two votes last time. I live ...
Not an exceptional list if found on, say, the Harrods website, but not quite as comradely as you might expect given its actual home - the Labour Party conference website.
Sat 23rd
13:30
LibLink: Wera Hobhouse: Upskirting will prove to be a meteorite to Westminster's political dinosaurs
Wera Hobhouse has written for the Huffington Post about how Christopher Chope's objection to her bill to outlaw the awful practice of upskirting brought people together, cross party, to fight for change, giving the bill a new lease of life. She describes how, last week, working with the Justice Minister, the Bill was ready for presentation in the Commons. Then came a bombshell: The following day we found out that none other than the honourable member for the Jurassic Coast, Sir Christopher Chope, was planning to object to the bill. I lobbied his peers, they lobbied him, I even cornered ...
View Poll: World Cup, Day ElevenYou should be able to vote using your Facebook or Twitter account, even if you aren't on Livejournal. Yesterday, everyone expected Brazil to win, but only pseudomantid expected Nigeria to beat Iceland, and only johnny9fingers called Switzerland's victory over Serbia.
In 2017, we lost North East Fife by a heartbreaking 2 votes. It was such a disappointment – but it is a hell of a bar chart for next time. Last night, the local party selected the person who will fight the seat at the next General Election. Wendy Chamberlain joined the party after the 2015 General Election. She's a former Police Officer who now works as a training manager where she has won recognition for her work on diversity. After her selection she said: I am delighted to have been chosen as the Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate to win ...
Great photo of the White House press corps, moments after being told of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Earlier on this week I ordered some new fence panels for delivery from diy.com (B&Q). This was the message I received during checkout: A DIY (not very) digital experience. The part of their instructions about the letter was wrong, fortunately. I received an email from their supplier some hours later to organise delivery. This (naturally, given the paucity of the ... The post B&Q (diy.com) = Do It Yourself integration appeared first on ten pence piece.
Fri, 12:56: On The Portrayal Of People Of Color And Potatoes In Fantasy Games https://t.co/1Wqtf1Zu3o Worth reading. Fri, 13:47: World Cup, Day Ten https://t.co/TKV9dWkelh Fri, 18:33: Gemini, by Dorothy Dunnett https://t.co/eoLX11jLoY Fri, 21:12: So, the Kosovo team just equalised against Serbia then? Sorry, I lose track... Fri, 21:49: And Kosovo takes the lead against Serbia in the 89th minute!!! #STBSUI Fri, 21:49: RT @FloellaBenjamin: I truly loved playing Professor Rivers in #DoctorWho spin-off Sarah Jane Adventures. Would love to do more parts like... Fri, 21:50: When a childhood hero retweets you.... https://t.co/esNFnPgGyy Sat, 10:45: Who Framed Roger Rabbit at 30: ...
Yesterday was quite an extraordinary one in politics, and not just because of the warning issued by Airbus concerning its own future in a post-Brexit UK. Airbus have consistently argued over the last two years that the UK leaving the EU will damage their business and cause the loss of jobs. They said no different yesterday. It is just that the UK Government do not appear to be listening. What was most remarkable about the last 24 hours though, was the reaction of Brexiteers to the announcement by Airbus and the subsequent row that blew up amongst the Welsh Tories ...
In the final throws of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, MPs were left focusing on just one issue - the significance of just two words in relation to a parliamentary Motion that the Government would bring forward in the event of 'no deal' with the EU on the term of Brexit. The two words were "neutral terms"—a phrase, incidentally, which most of us have never heard before. The view of the Lords was that "neutral terms" would prevent the Commons having the opportunity to express a view on the merits of the Government reaching no deal in the Brexit negotiations, and ...
A new Stadler Merseyrail train artist impression The Railway Gazette has the details on is web site – see link above An article for those of you more interested in the technical aspects of the new and soon to be delivered rolling stock for the Merseyrail network. With thanks to Colin for the lead to this posting
The Guardian has the report on its web site – see link above So according to this report Northern say they tried to get the latest timetable changes put back but were refused by Network Rail and others in rail industry. If true this shines a clear light on what was going on prior to the meltdown when the timetable changes were brought in in May. Makes you wonder about the decision making process in the rail industry if they can seemingly forge ahead with something they collectively have been told won't work! With thanks to Bob for the ...
So what were you doing two years ago today? June 23rd will forever go down in history and not just for being Mary Reid's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mary, by the way. It was a beautiful day in Livingston. I spent the day handing out leaflets, wandering round the college doing what I could to persuade people to vote. We had a good reception. We'd spent the weeks leading up to it campaigning hard and were exhausted after a gruelling Scottish election campaign. The SNP, bless them, were knackered and barely lifted a finger. The Livingston band of helpers went rogue ...
Residents have drawn to my attention the poor condition of part of the pavement on the north side of Fyffe Street. I highlighted this with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and have received the following response : "An order has been raised for a thermal patching repair to be carried out at this location. There is no specific timescale for completion but it will be done when resources are available."
