The LibDem Creative Network held an excellent event on the fringes of the Brighton autumn party conference last night, in an upstairs room at the Bar Broadway in Kemptown. There were two great speeches by producer Nik Powell, former Director of the National Film and Television School, and drummer Bob Henrit, who used to play [...]
Dudley Sutton should be remembered for so much more than Lovejoy. The British Film Institute - click on the still above to view the video - has footage of a Q&A session about Ken Russell's The Devils. Taking part with Sutton are actors Georgina Hale, Gemma Jones and Murray Melvin, and editor Mike Bradsell. Melvin describes the experience of visiting Loudun, where the events of The Devils took place, while Sutton recalls working with Derek Jarman, the designer of the film's sets.
What comes after Saturday at Lib Dem conference? Sunday, of course. Which was also the day I got to meet Ian Kearns, who gave a barnstormer of a speech about leaving Labour.
I am not sure Alfred, whom we last saw hauling the Flower of Rutland, has quite got with Vince Cable's new plan for the Liberal Democrats. With this we finish another week at Bonkers Hall. Sunday Driving along the lanes to inspect some property in a distant village, I encounter Alfred the carthorse trudging in the opposite direction. I surmise he has been delivering Focus. Endeavouring to strike up a conversation, I say: "I hear Gina Miller doesn't want to be leader of the Liberal Democrats." "I've not heard of her," replies Alfred "is she a party member?" "No." "Well," ...
Time to see how they are getting on with straightening the railway through Market Harborough. The HST in the photograph above is using the existing rails and the Midland arch of the bridge. Already we can see that when the work is complete trains will used the LNWR arch instead. Once trains between Northampton and Nottingham (via Melton Mowbray North) and between Rugby and Peterborough used rails that ran under it. A little way north of Market Harborough the St Pancras main line climbs to a flyover across the LNWR trackbed. In the 1970s there was talking of a more ...
The controversial paper on immigration passed today, but the only one of the five amendments to it that was opposed by the leadership passed. Earlier, Ed Davey had reached an agreement with Lib Dems for Seekers of Sanctuary which made the defeat of the paper less likely. The leadership's acceptance of their amendments meant that the policy on asylum seekers is pretty much what a liberal party should be offering. The 90 minute debate was heated and passionate and saw some quality speeches. Opposing the paper, Alex Wilcock, who wrote for us yesterday, riveted the hall with a barnstormer which ...
This was actually two weeks ago, but I was excitedly posting about Jeremy Thorpe that day. The annual Zomerfeest in our village has been getting more sophisticated over the 17 years we have been living here; it started with a barbecue and a bit of music, and has become one of my unmissable events of the year. The highlight this year was a Sunday lunchtime concert by Mechelen band Selene's Garden, with this vibrant cover of "Billie Jean": It was a nice end-of-summer weekend, which had started with a Saturday walk up the plateau and back down the river valley. ...
The Lib Dems just passed a very poor policy motion and paper on immigration. It has quite a lot of good policies, but overall the tone is one of moderate centrism rather than liberalism. It does very little to move the Overton Window back towards liberal democracy. The blizzard of five amendments passed with it ... Continue reading Lib Dem immigration policy: what I wanted to say
This is from Insecure Men's first LP. They were formed by Saul Adamczewski from Fat White Family and Ben Romans-Hopcraft from Childhood - I gather both bands are popular with the young people. Admaczewski pays tribute to his new bandmate on the Fat Possum Records site: Saul explains that he has been round Ben his whole life: "I was always trying to corrupt Ben and his twin brother, to try and get them to bunk off primary school in Herne Hill but they never would."And he remains incorruptible to this day: "Ben is very centred, calm, rational and nice - ...
BBC short story prize selects all-female shortlist for fifth time Blind judging, so no affirmative action here. Time for hard headed realism on immigration This is a great article. I fear it is too little against the organised push from the leadership, who have even paid to distribute flyers at conference trumpeting the wishy-washy bag of crap they call a motion... 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] ...
Sat, 12:56: Is the US Ready for a Nice, Centrist President? https://t.co/kwfYb5u2cz @GillianTett hopes so. Sat, 15:17: The Lost Weekend (1945); and book by Charles L. Jackson https://t.co/mLiEmv3kT1 Sat, 16:05: Tintin and the vanishing murals: Brussels races to save art https://t.co/qyC4QEpzpu Hergé's crumbling heritage. Sat, 17:03: Best of luck, Eric. We will miss you from @euobs and I am sure your colleagues will miss you too. But... https://t.co/0mXdjYe7Lc Sat, 17:06: RT @afneil: I find this surprising and in need of greater corroboration because: 1. Michael Foot was not a Soviet sympathiser. 2. He wasn... Sat, 17:07: RT @campbellclaret: And because ...
Saturday's consultation session at Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton on Vince Cable's proposed party reforms was attended by several hundred people. With no checks on the door, the event was open not only to party members but also press, other conference attendees, lost hotel residents and bored hotel staff. Piled up at the back of the room were copies of the consultation paper that was published before conference, had a press conference held about it and published online for anyone to read. (Please don't tell me how many emails you've had from me with it too.) And yet, here is ...
Cats do have a tendency to roam so let's hope that the absence of Gladstone from the vaulted confines of the nation's treasury will only be temporary. Nevertheless, the mouser's wanderlust has made national headlines and a call has gone out for reports from the public of any sightings, the sort of appeal that normally just graces community Facebook groups and pages on a daily basis. . The Guardian claims it is a purritical crisis. They say that the three-year-old cat, known as the most prolific mouse-catcher in government, is believed to have gone missing in the Westminster area. Treasury ...
I'm officially entering the "dip" days now. It's the point at which I have zero neutrophils and am likely to suffer most from the side effects of the chemo. I felt pretty unwell last night just before I went to bed, but the problems passed and I got a reasonable night's sleep. At the moment, +4 feels like +3 – ... The post Transplant +4: Down the dip appeared first on ten pence piece.
Over the past few months I've been immersed at the intersection between protest, theatricality, and expressions of (what I termed) margin-culture. It was an exceptionally interesting time to be considering these correlations, as I observed the academic strikes taking place around the anniversary of the 1968 evenements, and the 'carnival of resistance' which greeted Trump on his visit to Britain. I really want to write more about this, but I used much of what happened in my dissertation, so I'll wait a few months (at least until it's been marked!) to reproduce any of that online. This quote was the ...
Well this has been one very, very long saga indeed but at last Sefton Council has taken what looks to be effective action. I think my first involvement in this issue will go back to around 2007 when a Liverpool Road South resident contacted me in what was my Sefton Councillor capacity back in those days. The complaint was that the 'Hammer Head' at the end of Green Lane was being used for commercial car sales and could I help get it stopped/addressed? I blogged about the matter back in March 2011:- Subsequently I contacted Sefton Highways quite a ...
Responding to the publication of the Government's Agriculture Bill, Tim Farron, former Lib Dem leader and Environment Spokesperson, said: "The ambition in this bill can only be achieved if it is matched with funding, at the very least the current funding we receive from the EU - around £4 billion - must be maintained in order for Michael Gove's aims to be achieved.There has been no indication that the same level of funding will be matched by the Treasury after 2022. Without this spending, the farming industry will struggle to adapt to the new regime and we will see many ...
From Ninewells Community Garden : This year's AGM will take place on Thursday 20th September in the Leaf Room. We will meet for a cup of tea at 5pm and start the AGM at 5.30pm. The formal business should not take any longer than 1 hour, after which there will be time to catch up with garden friends, have a look around the garden and perhaps pick up some fresh produce or flowers. Please do attend if you can - we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. If you are able to bring some food to ...
The controversial migration paper is the most likely opportunity to upset the leadership today. Many Liberal Democrats have expressed alarm at its negative language. Expect passion. Other debates include ending discrimination in mental health provision, a longstanding Lib Dem priority and a paper on foreign affairs. Also up today, Vince takes to the stage for the first time for his annual Q & A session. What other party leader would submit to genuine, unscripted questions from members for an hour in public? There are keynote speeches from Sal Brinton and Jo Swinson. As far as accountability is concerned, the Campaign ...
