Paignton-based schoolteacher and former Foreign Office diplomat Lee Howgate has been selected as the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for Torbay, the former constituency of Adrian Sanders. Winning out over three other shortlisted candidates, he said: I am delighted to have been chosen from a strong and talented field. It is fantastic that so many members backed my vision on how we need to change Torbay for the better. We need to make clear to Torbay that we are the party of social justice, and the only party to offer a clear way forward on Brexit. Lee Howgate is ...
And so, once again, I find myself writing about navel-gazing internal Lib Dem stuff because, rather than listen to the concerns of the members and do something sensible, the Lib Dem leadership have decided to go to war with the ... Continue reading →
The Liberal Democrats are proud to have taken a stand against the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill which has tonight passed through the House of Commons with a 376 - 10 majority. Commenting on the decision of the party to stand against the Bill, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Ed Davey said:"The Liberal Democrats are determined to combat terrorism and support action that will keep Britain safe. But the Government has failed to provide evidence that most of these new laws will help in the fight against terrorists. "This Bill does little to fight terrorism, and a lot to destroy ...
Christine Jardine has used her column in the Scotsman to highlight the difference that the EU has made in LGBT rights. Lest we get complacent and think that the work is done, she reminds us how Roe v Wade, the landmark decision on abortion in the US that everyone thought was settled could well unravel. And we aren't as far on as we thought we were, either: As a society we have travelled a long way, but this is not the time to relax and assume the work is done. I have LGBT constituents who are still not comfortable holding ...
Some commentators have taken issue with the Liberal Democrats' new slogan 'Demand Bitter, but none has revealed its origins. Until now. Tuesday There is a cottage that I make available to the party so that overworked headquarters staff can enjoy some rest and recuperation. After a stay in Rutland they return to the fray refreshed and ready to redouble their efforts - and if they do not then they are packed off to the Home for Distressed Canvassers in Herne Bay, from which they are occasionally allowed out if the lady in the library promises to Keep An Eye On ...
[IMG: The Survivor Tree at the 9/11 Memorial in New York] I visited the 9/11 memorial during my trip to New York in August. It has to be a living memorial in every sense of the word to those who died that day and who subsequently The post The Survivor Tree at the 9/11 Memorial in New York appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.
It's often useful to save what you can see on screen as an image, such as to safely store a copy of that foolish comment a political opponent made online or to clip a piece of content to attach to a social media posting (though bear in mind copyright rules when you do). There are 1,001 ways to do such screenshots, but if you are on a PC there's a particular benefit of using the free Full Page Screen Capture extension for Chrome. As the name implies, it captures the full page, rather than just the part of the page ...
Kenilworth town councillor Richar Dickson has been chosen by the Kenilworth and Southam Liberal Democrats.
A lot of revisions have been made to the Winnersh Relief Road planning application. Comments on them must be in by 24th September. The application is on the council website http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning/planning-applications/ Look for application number 180760. The revised plans are at the bottom. A lot of the things I was lobbying for have been included. We have not managed to do anything about the ban on right turns for Woodward Close or King Street Lane. Unfortunately the junctions wont work if they are allowed. We also have not got any extra signalised pedestrian crossings. But we have got – 30 ...
So, the Boundary Commission's report is finally out, as already discussed by Mick and commentators here. As ever I have done some number-crunching; details below but here are the headlines. At Westminster level, five currently DUP-held seats are squashed into four - East Londonderry is replaced by the new seat of Causeway; most of North Antrim becomes Mid Antrim; South Antrim is split several ways, and the new seat with that name actually has more of the old Lagan Valley in it; the old Strangford largely becomes Mid Down. North Down loses Holywood to East Belfast but takes in the ...
You pick up all sorts of bits of trivia from the "Professor of Pop", Paul Gambaccini on Radio 2's "Pick of the Pops". Before playing Jimmy Ruffin's "What becomes of the broken hearted" the other day, he imparted this trivia gem. As explained by the great Gambo, the reason Ruffin's classic has such a long ... Continue reading Jimmy Ruffin's "What becomes of the broken hearted" with rare spoken introduction
Tue 11th
13:30
Vince's brave reforms: To fix our broken politics we need a fresh approach, not simply a new party
It is clear to everybody that our political system is increasingly out of step with the real world and that the status quo is failing to deliver a fair deal for millions of people. Our country is not grasping the challenges and new opportunities of today's changing society, with too many rightly feeling let-down, unrepresented and powerless. Despite the very obvious and formidable challenges, I was backing the formation of a new political party from outside Westminster in the hope that an alternative could turn the tide against a worsening, divisive and toxic national debate and focus instead on solving ...
I covered a story that first saw the light of day in the Liverpool Echo recently about the problems that parking vehicles on pavements causes for those with disabilities etc. The matter was also covered in the Aintree & Maghull Champion. Here's a link my blog on the matter:- Since all this publicity and the fact that the person who originally raised the issue was said to live in Lydiate folks have seemingly jumped to the wrong conclusion i.e. they have assumed it was raised by former Lydiate Parish Councillor Tony Fenton who's a well know local wheelchair user ...
Hard Evidence: do we become more conservative with age? This is incredibly depressing :( How Britain's political conversation turned toxic Look, I know, I know, linking to Helen Lewis... But aside from a whine about how having to consider not-hurting people from minorities is REALLY HARD this is a really good, and thought-provoking, article. Either / And: Anti-fascist surge in Sweden An alternative view of what is happening in Sweden to that being pushed by most of the UK media. On Filter Bubbles This is a really thought-provoking post. It's not that we don't see the views of those whose ...
Photo credit: Freefoto.com Federal Conference is probably the best fun that you will ever have in your life. You will thoroughly enjoy every exhausting moment. If you're new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I had a long break from going to them and when I returned, in 2011, I spent the first day wandering round in a state of wide-eyed amazement, like a puppy not knowing whether to play with the squeaky toys or eat all the biscuits. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd throw together a fairly random ...
Mon, 13:09: RT @labourwhips: The Government have confirmed that the reports from the Boundary Commissions should be available in the Lobby Vote Office... Mon, 13:51: RT @BCE2018: The #2018boundaryreview final recommendations report has now been presented to Parliament, and you can see our final recommend... Mon, 13:54: The @BCNI2018 Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland's Final Recommendations are out. Compared to Revised Recomme... https://t.co/wS8CryuF30 Mon, 14:01: RT @BCNI2018: The #2018boundaryreview Final Recommendations Report has now been published. You can read it at https://t.co/2ftwjWDg12 http... Mon, 14:11: RT @ParlyApp: Here are the NI boundary commission recommendations - new constituency names include Mid ...
I talked a bit about this in "Timings", but I want to expand on that a bit here. 1, Before you leave homeRead (or at least skim through) the Agenda and directory (or the app, whichever route you're going down), and make a plan as to what you think you might like to do.However you do this, accept that the plan will likely not happen as planned in it's entirety.You might want to think about colour coding your plan - I put things in red that I am absolutely committed to1, and meal breaks in green.Put meal breaks in your ...
If you are to succeed in politics then you need to start with a power base, a group of people who are going to elect you and then further groups who will support you as you rise through the ranks. There is nothing more sensitive to an MP therefore, or indeed a political party, as the integrity of their constituency. It was inevitable therefore that the publication of boundary commission proposals that will see the number of MPs reduced from 650 to 600 was going to produce howls of anguish, not least from those who are losing out. Nevertheless, those ...
A favourite assignment on my masters two years ago was one that looked authentic leadership. It wasn't because I have any love for the positive psychology movement and the cults it spawns, particularly through management gurus. Instead, the assignment gave me an opportunity to critique it. There was one paper in particular that I read at the time that summed ... The post Transplant -1: Authentic appeared first on ten pence piece.
The best source of gossip and inside information on the Liberal Democrats is Radical Bulletin in Liberator. In the new issue you can read about the: candidates who may stand to succeed Sal Brinton as Lib Dem President;Young Liberals' policy they are too embarrassed to mention in their freshers' campaign;key target constituency that won't tell its parliamentary candidate where its office is.All of which proves that you should subscribe to Liberator.
I watched the Last Night of the Proms, along with goodness knows how many people, on Saturday night. It was as uplifting as ever: I feel remarkably uncynical about this kind of thing. Except that, this time, I was struck by the number of foreign flags and European stars in evidence. I know this has [...] The post The most important political battle now... appeared first on Radix.
Last Friday the leader of the British Liberal Democrats, Vince Cable, launched his plan for remaking his party into a broader liberal movement. Having been away, my reaction to this event has been slow. But before we launch into the party conference next weekend, here are my first thoughts. Vince's main idea is to create ... Continue reading Is Vince Cable's plan for the Lib Dems a gamble too far?
Tue 11th
08:38
Proposals for new parliamentary constituencies will undermine Shropshire as a place we belong to
The final recommendations for new constituency boundaries have been published. The aim is to equalise the size of the electorate in each constituency and reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600. Our county MPs should vote against the proposals. Under the plans, Ludlow will become part of a new constituency with Leominster. Bridgnorth will join with the Wrekin. If the proposals go through, and that's a "big if" right now, we will get a shakeup of MPs in the south and east of the county. Ludlow is Shropshire. It should remain in Shropshire at every political level and ...
A central tenet of Liberalism is trust in the people. That's why reforming our party must be built on greater trust in our members and supporters. And why for me this new reform process must itself be open and belong to the members. The most exciting change to our party in the last 3 years has been the increase in members. In Kingston, people who've joined us since the 2015 General Election have been key to our revival: from getting the fantastic Sarah Olney elected in North Kingston to our best ever Kingston Borough Council results this May - with ...
Tue 11th
08:23
My response to the 'Leading Change: Proposals to open up the Liberal Democrats' consultation
After weeks of rumours, whispers and leaks to the press (which I wrote about here and here), Vince Cable finally announced his proposals for changes to the party last Friday. I wrote about them at the time, and since then have expanded on my thoughts to respond to the party's formal consultation on the proposals. I've copied my response to the consultation below, which I hope might be useful to any of you thinking of responding to the consultation yourselves. (As Andrew Hickey explains, you might have to click through a few links to actually get to the consultation, though) ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its web site – see link below:- Extract from article – "I think Labour have got really complacent in Liverpool and we need councillors to hold them to account."
Great news from Liverpool, site of impressive gains from Labour in May: Cllr Kay Davies who left the Labour Party in August has taken a further step in her political future and has joined the City's fast-expanding Liberal Democrat Group. In her joining statement, Cllr Davies said: "Today I announced my decision to join the Liberal Democrats. I think you deserve to know what has made me do this. "Firstly, I'm no longer willing to put up with bullies like Councillor Woodhouse. My time and energy need to be spent supporting and helping people in Liverpool. The Labour Party talks ...
West End Community Council meets at 7pm tonight at the Logie & St John's (Cross) Church Hall in Shaftesbury Terrace - all welcome! The agenda is as follows : WEST END COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETINGTUESDAY 11th SEPTEMBER 2018 AT 7.00PMLOGIE AND ST JOHN`S (CROSS) PARISH CHURCH HALL(ENTER FROM SHAFTESBURY TERRACE - OFF BLACKNESS AVENUE) 1. WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS AND APOLOGIES2. MINUTE OF MEETING 12TH JUNE AND MATTERS ARISING3. CORRESPONDENCE4. POLICE SCOTLAND UPDATE5. DUNDEE CULTURAL TRAIL - Russell Pepper6. INDEPENDENCE MARCH - AUGUST 20187. PERTH ROAD UPDATE 8. PLANNING UPDATE9. WECC HIT LIST10. OTHER MEETINGS ATTENDED ON BEHALF OF WECC11. AOCB - MEMBERS ...
Liam Thorp listening to Cllr Kay Davies as she explain her reasons for joining the Liverpool Lib Dems for the Liverpool Echo Cllr Kay Davies who left the Labour Party in August has taken a further step in her political ... Continue reading →
