Only one council by-election this week: a Liberal Democrat defence with Steven Daniell that was unsuccessful in Newquay Treviglas ward on Cornwall Council: Conservative GAIN Newquay Treviglas (Cornwall) from Liberal Democrat. — Britain Elects (@britainelects) August 9, 2018

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Second paragraph of third chapter: However, others are pressing their claims. Environmental economists dismiss most green thinking as so much mumbo jumbo. For them, a proper approach must be hard-edged and phrased in terms of the costs and benefits of different strategies, with markets having the upper hand. They also tend to look towards carbon markets as likely to contribute most to enabling us to cope with global warming. This book was published in 2009 and is already very dated. Climate change is a topic that I orbit around a bit at work (more so in my last job) and ...

If, as literary scholars increasingly maintain, Bonkers Hall was modelled on Nevill Holt, then Medbourne must be the inspiration for the village at its gates. Which means that the Nevill Arms in Medbourne must be the inspiration for the Bonkers' Arms, that source of good beer, good conversation and good political sense.. If I am honest, the Neville Arms is rather neater than I imagine the Bonkers' Arms. Nor does it serve Smithson & Greaves Northern Bitter. But it is a good pub and also home to cafe that serves food in the courtyard all day. When I arrived there ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Reader's voice: Isn't this meant to be political satire? Liberal England replies: Lord Bonkers and his diaries are protean. This week I am deepening readers' understanding of his character and those of his associates while exploring the landscape he loves. Reader does not give up: So you are just being self indulgent? Liberal England has the last word: Yes, but you have given me the chance to do the sort of self-referential piece that everyone has copied from Stewart Lee. Thursday The morning begins on a distasteful note when I find the Elves of Rockingham F. have charged me mooring ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

The former Budgens store in Ludlow is an eyesore. The building is to be redeveloped. Today, I have agreed with the new owner to use the building as Ludlow's biggest canvas. All those ugly boards will be painted up as a giant mural during the Food Festival. The project will be designed to encourage people to stop, stare and applaud. We have less than a month to get this project together. I am not an artist. I can't even paint the walls of my flat. I haven't a clue where to start on a mural. But we are a town ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

A goat yesterday Once again, our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Shropshire Star: Officers said neither the women or the animal were harmed but they could not prevent the goat from eating one of the women's handbags.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Photo of Yeovil Pen Mill station © Roger Cornfoot The decision by a Conservative member of South Somerset District Council's to join the Liberal Democrat group has given us overall control of the council. The Yeovil Lib Dems website explains: In the 2015 SSDC election, the Liberal Democrats won 29 seats to the Conservatives' 28. However, the 3 Independents decided to support a continuing Liberal Democrat administration. Shortly after the election Cllr Amanda Broom (Chard) left the Tory party and joined the Liberal Democrats and now Cllr Neil Bloomfield has done the same meaning once again The Liberal Democrats are ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Welcome news from Somerset as the Liberal Democrat administration on a local council has been strengthened by the switch of a Conservative Party councillor. Here's the news release from the local Lib Dem team: After over three years as a district councillor and just over one year as a county councillor Neil Bloomfield (Martock) has moved from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats. In the 2015 South Somerset District Council election, the Liberal Democrats won 29 seats to the Conservatives' 28. However, the three Independents decided to support a continuing Liberal Democrat administration. Shortly after the election, Cllr Amanda Broom ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

What is there left to say about Brexit? Do I spend the next seven months wailing against the 'will of the people'? Half of me thinks I should, if only for posterity. Because I do want my (grand-)children one day to know that lots of us did foresee the long decline just over half the voters chose to condemn this country to. That said, there is something perfectly British, or at any rate English, about Brexit. I'm loathe to suggest there's anything as simple as a national psyche — we contain multitudes — but in voting as we did we ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall

Most countries have some kind of broadcasting levy to pay for public radio and television. In the UK there is the license fee to pay for the BBC. In France, one must declare possession of a television on one's income tax form. In Germany, every household must pay in excess of 200 euros even if [...] The post We need a universal digital income, and soon appeared first on Radix.

Posted by Paul Gregory on Radix
YouGov

[IMG: Blogging from New York - Part 2] I am in New York and continue to be intrigued by the politics here that is dominated by stories about Donald Trump. He is the defining factor in American life and it's not hard to... The post Blogging from New York – Part 2 appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.

Posted by ambitiousmamas on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas

Free speech is important to us as Liberals. So much so we made it a fundamental human right. The freedom to exchange ideas and challenge orthodoxy is what leads to new radical plans to make a better future. Without debate we have dictatorship, literally by dictation. And yet, often we choose to limit how freely we use our speech. Classically, this is put as the "Does free speech include demanding the right to shout 'fire!' in a crowded theatre?" question. A modern way of putting that, which we seem to be seeing appear quite a lot, looks to be: "Does ...

Posted by Richard Flowers on Liberal Democrat Voice

As everybody from Gary Lineker to the Independent is now backing the People's Vote campaign for a referendum on the final Brexit deal – which started out as a Lib Dem idea in the Summer two years ago – there is one notable exception. The SNP is the third largest party in Parliament. It could make the difference. Yet it continues to sit on its hands on this most important question. Nicola Sturgeon could have used her meeting with Theresa May to say that the SNP will block the deal and push for a People's Vote, but she didn't. It ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Bad news: there's no solution to false information online The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat 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

Thu 9th
11:00

My tweets

Wed, 12:56: Beautiful thread. https://t.co/jX3IYKAJmB Wed, 16:05: RT @SirWilliamD: The oldest known photograph of #London - Whitehall from Trafalgar Square, taken in 1839 by M. de St. Croix. Charles Dicken... Wed, 16:53: The Supernatural Enhancements, by Edgar Cantero https://t.co/amp5rYdA07 Wed, 19:29: The Martian Inca, by Ian Watson https://t.co/7Eq03ww7Kq Wed, 20:48: RT @MuslimIQ: Today I returned home after a week in London. Customs & Border Protection "randomly selected" me even after I passed passport... Wed, 22:02: RT @lionelbarber: Friends of Boris "burka" Johnson say he is speaking up for liberal values. This is tosh. Genuine liberals don't make cal... Wed, 23:25: ...

The agenda for Scottish Conference in Dunfermline on 8th September has been published. The party leadership will want the headlines to be about the motion on education which aims to improve teachers' pay and working conditions and reward those who take on the most challenging jobs or go to the furthest flung areas of Scotland. It may well be overshadowed by the debate on faith schools. Or rather a motion which calls for "a single, secular model of state-funded education." We can expect some amendments for that one, which is the most controversial motion on the agenda. I hope that ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Teachers in England are in the middle of their Summer holiday as the Scottish schools prepare to go back next week. Former teacher and Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran has written for the Yorkshire Post about how to alleviate the stress that teachers are facing in their jobs: She knows that being a teacher is absorbing and that you are often required to go above and beyond to excel at your job. However, there are extra stresses in the system that shouldn't be there: But it is something else altogether when the reasons you find yourself working later and ...

Posted by NewsHound on Liberal Democrat Voice
Thu 9th
07:00

Public Art Uploadathon

From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : We need your help to record Dundee's amazing collection of public art! Over the summer we've been working with volunteers to map and photograph artworks across Dundee, and we now have over 400 on our list! Now we need your help to upload images and information onto Historic Environment Scotland's Urban Detectives website. We're holding a special uploadathon (is that a word? It is now!) in the Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee on Saturday 11th August 10am-1pm. The event will take place in IT suite 1G01 so everyone ...

Major works are underway at Ludlow station. The scheme is to put a temporary footbridge in place while the old footbridge is repaired along with the steps leading up to it. There are no plans to install lifts for those who are disabled or have limited mobility. A couple of weeks before, Shropshire Council refused a licence for the only fully disabled access taxi in Ludlow because it did not meet the Euro 5 standard. You can't get into a Ludlow Town Council meeting if you have severe mobility problems. In Shropshire, the disabled remain second-class citizens. We must change ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington