I went back to Church Langton and diffed my sunhat to J.W. Logan. I also tried the Langton Arms again and found it less full and a good place to eat. Back at the church the paving stones over what must be the crypt where the Hanburys now lie were rickety. The traffic cones on them were not a jape by lost students but there for a purpose. Be careful. Some people never escape the church at Church Langton.
It has just been announced via Twitter that Wendy Milne has been selected as the new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in my old stomping ground of Linlithgow and East Falkirk. Voters who had the chance to vote for me in 2005 and 2010 or have moved there or turned 18 since then might like to know the background of their new Labour candidate. In 1990 Wendy Milne was one of those purged from the Labour party as part of Kinnock clearing out Militant. In 2001 she went on to stand as the Scottish Socialist candidate in Livingston against Robin Cook claiming ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 523rd 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 (1-7 July, 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. Lib Dems gain seat from Conservatives in ...
On my way to windmill spotting in Lincoln a few years back, I happened across this example of an 19th century election leaflet for the City of Lincoln's local elections.
A few months ago I discovered RTÉ's archived news reports of Ireland's switch to decimal currency - when the UK switched from pounds of twenty shillings and 240 pence to pounds of 100 new pence in 1972, Ireland was compelled to follow suit, as the Irish pound had always been pegged to sterling. (Scots and others please note - this was unilaterally done by the Irish with facilitation after the fact from the Bank of England.) My grandfather was the Chairman of Ireland's Decimal Currency Board, and the RTÉ report includes what I suspect may be the only video footage ...
A regular refrain in my coverage of council by-elections is the importance of standing Liberal Democrat candidates as often as possible - and to raise our game so that the limiting factor becomes more how many seats are up rather than our capacity to put up candidates. To recap the benefits of standing even when winning looks impossible, it's about the opportunity to persuade more people that we're relevant (far more people will see the absence of a Lib Dem logo on the ballot paper than ever know the details of the result), to help people get into the habit ...
As the NHS turned 70 this week, Sal Brinton looked back at the development of social care policy and outlined the Government's failings: ... since 2015, the new Conservative Government has dithered and delayed, repeatedly promising that they would sort out the social care funding problem. We still await the Green Paper promised in the Conservative 2017 Manifesto - with a side skirmish of the Dementia Tax, a form of inverse Dilnot, which so outraged voters it was dropped mid election. Councils have faced massive cuts to all services, including making £6bn savings in adult social care since 2010. They ...
A few more people called both England and Croatia to win yesterday. I was not among them. The foresighted four were johnny9fingers, strange_complex, vilakins and mount_oregano. I watched the first match from the airport bar in Sofia, and followed the penalty shoot-out on the bus between plane and terminal in Brussels.
Human Nature is a 2003 album by Ashley Hutchings billed as "A collection of new songs observing the human relationship with creatures and plants." If There's No Other way depicts a woman turning to "omens, symbols and charms, potions and prayers" to win her love. It was written by Hutchings with Joe Broughton and performed by one of my favourite singers, Polly Bolton.
I have been away for a week and, although I have done my best to keep up with current events through social media, was quite shocked when I saw the detail of what Labour are proposing with regards to their internal anti-Semitism agenda. It appears that rather than accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, which has been adopted by thousands of public bodies and by political parties throughout the United Kingdom, Labour are seeking to build their disciplinary process around a much narrower view. As Nick Cohen writes on the Guardian website, Labour has dropped the alliance's ...
Lib Dem MPs have a relatively rare opposition day debate this week. They are approaching it a bit differently by giving you a chance to decide the subject. What's particularly brilliant is that you get to vote preferentially too. That'll be useful for next year's Ashdown Prize organisers to note. An email from Alistair Carmichael landed the other day: On Tuesday 10th July, our MPs have an opposition day debate in Parliament. This means that we can pick one topic and have MPs debate and vote on it in Westminster. And we want to hear what you think MPs should ...
Two things have come to the fore this week in the Liverpool Echo regarding Liverpool's Labour Party. The first was the disgraceful comments about a woman Labour councillor Kay Davies by another Labour Councillor and the second was the report ... Continue reading →
Yesterday Mark Pack posted a 1950 film celebrating cricket with narration from Ralph Richardson and John Arlott. Attentive reader's voice: Didn't you post that film yourself a few years ago? Liberal England replies: It was seven years ago, but who's counting? Watching the film again on Mark's blog, I was struck by how quickly Arlott established himself as the voice of cricket. Only five years before it was made he was a police sergeant in Southampton. Arlott made the leap to cricket broadcasting via the BBC Overseas Service, where he produced poetry programmes for Indian listeners. (He was an accomplished ...
Signing on the dotted line: Councillor Chris Willmore (chair of the Project Steering Group), is pictured seated next to Councillor Karl Tomasin (vice-chair of the Project Steering Group), with Councillors Mike Drew, John Serle and Tony Davis behind (from left - right). Yate Town Council is delighted to confirm that they have signed and sealed legal agreements with South Gloucestershire Council so that its project to enhance and refurbish the track and field facilities at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex (YOSC) can start. The development of the new track and field facilities at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex is scheduled to start ...
Sun 8th
08:55
LibLink: Ed Davey: Terminally ill homeless people are dying on our streets. They deserve dignity lik...
Here's Ed Davey talking about the latest developments with his Bill to make sure that homeless people who are terminally ill are provided with appropriate accommodation and support. If you thought that this must automatically happen, then you are sadly mistaken. .@EdwardJDavey shares an update on his work to provide support for terminally ill homeless people. It is unacceptable that people are left dying on our streets. The Lib Dems are fighting to give real support for the homeless. pic.twitter.com/3AEStWAOPD — Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 6, 2018 In an article for the Independent, Ed explains what his Bill would do: ...
The Andover Advertiser reports: A former Test Valley mayor caught up in a race row has been been expelled from the Conservative Party. However, Councillor Ian Hibberd claims the decision is an "over reaction". The prominent Tory councillor was suspended after making a racist comment on Facebook about Wellow parish councillor Harmeet Singh Brar in May... Cllr Hibberd, who represents Romsey Extra on Test Valley Borough Council, said: "It's a total over reaction. I deplore all this political correctness rubbish." The comment referring to Cllr Brar is not appropriate to print in a family newspaper. Harmeet Brar joined the Liberal ...
Commenting on the outcome of the Chequers summit, Lib Dem Exiting the EU Spokesman Tom Brake MP said "May's soft fudge will satisfy nobody - Leavers, Remainers, business or the EU. It leaves the UK a rule taker on goods and agricultural produce, puts the UK services sector at great risk and could fall foul of the EU's 'no cherry-picking' and deliverability rules. "The PM may have secured a Tory truce and lip service to cabinet collective responsibility, but she does not have collective public support for her plans. That is why the public deserve a final say on the ...
Keith Page and I had a great afternoon out yesterday at Waterloo Beer Festival in the magnificent Old Christ Church in Waterloo. We sampled a number of excellent beers and ran into an old Derby Arms drinking chum in Mike Penn and his son Ste. Pictured here are Mike and Keith:- My OPSTA mate Doug Macadam (Chairman of Southport & West Lancs CAMRA) was also on hand running the pub games stall although the England football match was distracting the attendees from playing them much. This event is always well run; congratulations to the organisers.
