Without a doubt, my favourite period during the 20 years I was based at BBC World Service at Bush House was when John Tusa was its Head. Having worked there in more junior roles at earlier stages in his career, he understood what made the place tick. The basement canteen was an extraordinary meeting place [...]
I reached Long Eaton station without much money and had to find an ATM before I headed for Trent Lock. There was a garage in the distance. Maybe it would have one? It did and, as a reward for my enterprise, there was a tin tabernacle across the road. St Mary's, Sawley, made the BBC News Derbyshire pages in 2011 when it was announced that £100,000 was to be spent on it. That report quoted the Revd Alicia Petty: "It was the custom, at the beginning of the 20th Century, for churches to set up little tin hut buildings and ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 524th 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 (8-14 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. I'm starting too believe that the hardcore ...
This week the BBC announced changes to its political programming. When I say changes, I mean cuts. BBC Parliament will just cover Parliament and the devolved assemblies when they are sitting and the UK wide Sunday Politics is axed. The main changes are outlined here: A new team giving better digital and social coverage – including podcasts – of politics and parliament for audiences who are increasingly getting their news online, especially on mobiles. In an era of concerns about misinformation and 'echo chambers' this is designed to bring trusted impartial political coverage to younger audiences A new daily political ...
Warning: this post is about the internal workings of the British Liberal Democrats. To anybody not a party member this will be of no interest, unless you want to draw some general ideas on how, or how not, to manage a political party. Yesterday the Liberal Democrat English Council (EC) rejected a motion to implement ... Continue reading Lib Dem English Council: why didn't the turkeys vote for Christmas?
Rebecca Trimnell is the pick of Liberal Democrat members in Gloucester to be the party's next Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for the constituency.
So Theresa May tells Brexiteers in the Mail on Sunday that they had better back her or there'll be no Brexit yet on Andrew Marr, she trots out that old phrase "No deal is better than a bad deal." We're all over the place here. The only option that gives us any control at all over what happens, ironically, is staying in the EU. Then we'll have influence over the rules that affect us. Theresa May's White Paper is unpalatable to the Brexiteers who see it as tying us too closely to the EU and to Remainers who don't see ...
Monday 9th July Early start from Derby to arrive at Nottingham City Hospital for around 0800. The haematology day case unit opens at 0815 and I join the queue to report my presence. Name, date of birth, first line of address ritual completed, I'm shown quickly into the stem cell unit and introduced to Pooh, the centrifuge. However, they need ... The post The tale of Punxsutawney Neutrophil and his friend, Punxsutawney Stemcell appeared first on ten pence piece.
I grabbed the chance of a half-day during a work visit to London last week to go to Oxford and see the Tolkien exhibition in the Bodleian (strictly speaking the Weston building). It runs until the end of September, and it is free, though you would be well advised to book ahead. I am only going to hit on the highlights here; Robin Reid, who is actually a professional Tolkien scholar, has done a longer write-up for File 770. The whole thing is one big room, with a strong emphasis on Tolkien's art. I have read a lot about and ...
This evening Paul Simon is playing his last UK concert in Hyde Park. He was internationally famous when it was a fashionable venue 50 years ago. It is hard to judge an artist when his music has been part of your mental furnishing for as long as you can remember, but I think he will be remembered as one of the greats. Kodachrome comes from his 1973 album There Goes Rhymin' Simon, which also featured Take Me to the Mardi Gras and American Tune.
A surprising snippet of information from the Jad Adams biography of Tony Benn and another reminder that the new is often not so new. Back in around 1950 the later Labour MP and Cabinet minister Tony Benn was training at the BBC and required to come up with program ideas. One of his was You the star, in which a radio drama would be broadcast with the leading part left silent. The words for this role would be published in the latest edition of the Listener so that the public could act out the leading role for themselves. The idea ...
Sat, 13:46: Who will win the 2018 World Cup? https://t.co/OUF1wlmbdd Sat, 15:01: Going My Way (1944) https://t.co/IYl6qTFT06 Sun, 09:11: RT @FrancesLievens: 32 years ago Belgium came 4th place in the World Cup. I remember the images of 1000s of fans on Brussels' Grand Place.... Sun, 10:45: RT @badgermcbadger: @GNRailUK excelled yourself today. Needed 728 train, cancelled without warning. 754 said on time until 756 when you sud...
It was a fine day at the Trump protest yesterday. The photo shows some of the Scottish Lib Dem contingent before we went to the pub to watch sports and drank ridiculous amounts of Prosecco. My favourite banner was so rude that I definitely can'trepeat it here. To paraphrase, it suggested a name we might like to call the President if only he had warmth and depth. Our speaker at the demo was Christine Jardine, MP for Edinburgh West. Here she is quoting Bobby Kennedy saying that we don't need division and hatred but wisdom, compassion and love. * Caron ...
This was the Agenda Setting meeting, so we now have an agenda for conference. I can't tell you yet what motions we did and didn't select because I have to wait for the people who submitted the motions to be informed first*; but I can tell you that we will be debating a (controversial) topic that we've never debated at conference before, and several of the other motions are genuinely, pleasingly, excitingly radical. There's motions on topics we haven't debated in decades, and motions on extremely topical stuff. There's even an FPC motion that's not motherhood and apple pie!** Also, ...
Sun 15th
09:30
Why is the British Right so incapable of understanding Trump's motives? I think I finally get it
Over this weekend, I have found reading articles from right of centre news outlets about the Trump visit and its relationship to Brexit fascinating. They come from a place that can only be arrived at with either a total ignorance of or a wilful disregard for the entire trading history of the United States of America as well as everything that is indisputable about Donald Trump, even the stuff the British Right claims to like about him. The idea here seems to be that May should be willing to give the EU one last take it or leave it offer ...
The Andover Advertiser reports of the birth of the Andover Alliance, the latest in a long line of new political movements in the UK: A former Liberal Democrat chief who has left the party to put 'local people before national politics' says he is gaining headway in support for a new local campaign. Richard Rowles, former Test Valley chair of the Liberal Democrats resigned last week out of his frustration at party policies and created the 'Andover Alliance'. The 42-year-old called a meeting outside the Guildhall on Monday to rally support for a 'new dawn in Andover' with 14 people ...
Theresa May's travails suggest we may be close to a breakthrough on Brexit, but we need a new strategy. Normally if you're making progress, your strategy is working, but something different is required for the final push. Let me explain. There's only one way to make sense of Brexit, and that's to realise that it has nothing to do with the UK leaving the European Union. Or only peripherally. How else does one explain a situation that is already making Britain poorer, hitting hardest those keenest on being out of the EU? How else does one explain the vehemence with ...
The long-term restoration of the Class 502 EMU, which used to run on the Northern Lines of the Merseyrail network, continues at the premises of Merseyside Transport Trust in Burscough by the Friends of the 502 Group. It really is a huge task for the volunteers who are undertaking the work as the two car unit reached Burscough in terrible condition due to age and it being stored in the open. Rust is unsurprisingly the main problem, so fabrication of new parts is the major headache. Here are some photos of the present state of the works:- Good luck to ...
The Independent reports that a new poll indicates that the majority of the British public now back the legalisation of cannabis so that it would be sold in shops like alcohol and tobacco. They add that that a majority also support for decriminalisation, something that would free up police time and resources to deal with serious crime: The exclusive BMG Research poll for The Independent comes days after cannabis oil was for the first time brought into the UK legally, to treat an epileptic boy. But within hours of the landmark moment, a young girl was rushed into hospital and ...
Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Daniel Lewis, Nigel Ashton and Yaso Sathiy, Focus Editor are holding their next advice centre in Churchtown. We will be at BoxTree Kitchen for Queenscourt café, Manor Road/Cambridge Road, roundabout, from 10:30 to 11.30am on Thursday 26th July. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Crossens, at St John's School, Rufford Road, Crossens every month (except August) on the second Saturday of the month from 11:00 am to 12:00. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in.
