"No Recourse to Public Funds" is a phrase which has become surprisingly common in the immigration policies of the British centre-left. The idea is essentially that, instead of the current system of having a flat cap on incomes below which you're not allowed to bring a spouse to the UK, instead the family simply need [...]
[IMG: LD SoS Founder Member on the Immigration Policy Paper] I previously wrote almost in despair about the immigration policy paper being debated at conference in September. You can read the blog post here. Lib Dem Voice has published articles too on the same topic. I am... The post LD SoS Founder Member on the Immigration Policy Paper appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats, featuring Deputy Leader Jo Swinson talking about the new bill she has tabled in Parliament to improve arrangements for shared parental leave.
When I blogged about the Erewash Canal at Long Eaton, I said I looked for shabby charm on the canals. There is still some of that on the Grand Union at North Kilworth, but it is already dominated by the new marina that is being constructed there. Like a modern golf course, this is the contrived landscape of middle-class affluence. Such developments are inevitable given the popularity of canal cruising today, but they are hard to love. Perhaps it will look better when it is finished and hosting hundreds of boats. My perceptions must be warped by having had childhood ...
Bristol Liberal Democrats have just completed selections of Prospective Parliamentary candidates for three of the four constituencies.
Sad but not unexpected news from the Ludlow Advertiser: One of the most iconic landmarks in Ludlow has closed with the loss of 16 jobs. The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow has closed its doors after going into administration. It is hoped that a buyer can be found and that the building can reopen again at some point as a hotel. Ongoing trading difficulties as the result of a legionnaires outbreak in 2017, meant that it was no longer viable for the business to remain open. The Company entered administration on Thursday, August 2.The Feathers, with its spectacular half-timbering, is certainly ...
Rushton Hall Sarah Ward reports in the Northamptonshire Telegraph: Northamptonshire County Council spent huge sums on corporate hospitality, string quartets and lavish events as it was heading towards its financial crisis. During 2015 when the state of the finances was becoming increasingly serious, the authority paid for a number of luxuries including £2,700 on a heritage dinner at Rushton Hall, £3,624 on a flypast at the Grafton Underwood memorial event and £4,500 on a marquee for an occasion at Boughton House, Kettering. It also spent £80,000 with Northampton Saints rugby club, which included the cost of a stadium hospitality box. ...
Current Welcome to Night Vale, by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor The Deer Hunter, by Eric Corner Last books finished Nobody's Children, by Kate Orman, Jonathan Blum and Philip Purser-Hallard The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson Wroxeter Roman City, by Roger H. White Fair Trade, by Laura T. Reynolds, Douglas L. Murray and John Wilkinson Anno Dracula - Dracula Cha Cha Cha, by Kim Newman Missile Gap, by Charles Stross Women and Power, by Mary Beard Next books Rare Unsigned Copy, by Simon Petrie The Laertian Gamble, by Robert Sheckley Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
(in which I nail my colours to the mast on the Immigration Motion and Paper before conference next month) I want to say right at the start of this: there are definitely good bits in the motion, and the paper which it endorses. There are also bits which, while not exactly good, are still an improvement on 1, the Lib Dems's current godawful pre-compromised coalition-era shitfest of an immigration policy and 2, the immigration policy of the current government. This does not mean the motion as a whole is good, or liberal, or worth passingThe paper which the motion endorses ...
[IMG: Jerry Ridgway letter copy] Over the last few days, I've been made aware of a leaflet being circulated to some areas of Sandgate by Jerry Ridgway questioning many points of the puchase of Sandgate Escarpment and Martello Towers 6 & 7. I know that Mr Ridgway has asked many of these questions to Sandgate Parish Council before, and had had responses, but it seems those have not reassured him - that is his right, despite a 6 to 1 majority (359 to 60) of those local residents who voted wanting the Council to buy the land and towers in ...
The policy paper produced by our party's Immigration Working Group has stirred a lot of comment on these pages. Quite right too. Lib Dem Voice is, after all, where we come to meet and talk about the things we care about most. I am proud to sit on that working group, from a background first as a Lib Dem caseworker, helping thousands of constituents who been poorly served by our immigration system, and then at a small refugee charity. I had thought about writing a piece rebutting some of the criticisms the paper has received. But I know how emotive ...
Sun, 12:56: China, Unsure of How to Handle Trump, Braces for 'New Cold War' - Bloomberg https://t.co/AANLTuW2lO Personally I th... https://t.co/SGUJGeBEn3 Sun, 13:02: RT @keiranpedley: THREAD: New poll from @DeltapollUK backs what I've been saying - idea that there's been some kind of seismic shift in p... Sun, 16:05: China Bids for 2023 Worldcon https://t.co/Rn0ZyLkMzZ Putting the "World" into "Worldcon" with @chengduworldcon. Sun, 16:47: The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson https://t.co/YhtYzKMxmX Sun, 20:48: RT @petertimmins3: Denying that MI6 are spying on the EU, a foreign office spokesman states "The UK government are categorically not using... Mon, 05:31: RT @worldcon2018: ...
The Independent reports that the government is to begin publishing its Brexit technical notices, setting out the consequences of crashing out of the EU without a deal, on Thursday. These documents are designed to inform citizens and businesses how to cope with a no-deal scenario. They say that all 84 of the notices are due to be published before the end of September. Some are thought to be broad in scope, covering issues like financial services, company law and climate change, while others will focus on specific problems including travelling abroad with pets. Apparently, this is preparatory work (which is ...
Mon 20th
08:47
You can't plan to replace centralised systems like care homes - you have to bide your time
"Everywhere it seems to be the case that the absence of government does not lead to bewilderment and confusion and disorder, as might be imagined if all government's claims for itself were true, but rather to a resurgence of locally based forms, most often democratically chosen and scrupulously responsive, that turn out to be quite [...] The post You can't plan to replace centralised systems like care homes – you have to bide your time appeared first on Radix.
The road that runs from the back of what used to be called the Swan Pub (now a steakhouse) on the A59 up to Town Green Station and Prescot Road is well used and part of it is called Bold Lane. In recent times the section of this lane between its junctions with Sandy Lane and Winifred Lane has been in poor condition, so much so that as a cyclist I have tended to avoid it. Indeed, I blogged about it back in February and if anything the surface is worse now than it was then. Here's a link to ...
Brexit will be a disaster. But it's what comes after that really worries me. Leaving the EU will be a catastrophe. Many firms will relocate their manufacturing to the EU. The alternative would be to lose easy access to just-in-time supply chains, and to have to store vast quantities of components in warehouses, at ruinous expense. It will mean a loss of control. We will lose our say in setting the regulations of the largest free trade zone in the world. In order to keep trading, we'll then have to adopt these regulations with no say in how they develop. ...
The results are here! The stats are here! Headlines: Closest result of the night was Best Editor Short Form - Lynne M. Thomas and Michael D. Thomas finished just 6 votes ahead of Sheila Williams.Most crushing victory was File 770 for Best Fanzine, 20 votes short of a first-count win, easily getting there on the second count.Missed being on the final ballot by a single nominating vote:Archive of Our Own (Best Related), would have replaced Sleeping with Monsters;C.C. Finlay (Best Editor, Short Form), would have replaced Sheila Williams;Yuko Shimizu (Best Professional Artist), would have replaced Kathleen Jennings;Black Gate (Best Fanzine), ...
This was said to me recently and it made he wonder, why should a family business be any better to trade with than other kind of business? We are conditioned to hear or read the word family and think it means good, secure, dependable etc. But hang on a minute some families are very far from that ideal. They could be criminal, racist, Islamophobic, homophobic, misogynistic etc. So on its own 'family business' as a statement does not necessarily give you the security you may be seeking when trading.
Time for the start of a new week, for those of us with weekday, nine to five jobs. Of course, with the rise of the gig economy, zero hour contracts, flexible working hours and self-employment, that represents fewer of us, and why is Monday seen as the start of a new week anyway? Since I returned to the frontline of Liberal Democrat Voice, I've started most days with an opening piece, putting the day into context, but increasingly sense that it isn't really working. So, I'm going to try something more... editorial, I guess. See what you think. It's been ...
