This modest house in Wharf Road, Stamford, as the plaque records, was the boyhood home of Sir Malcolm Sargent. Sargent began as the church organist in Melton Mowbray - there is a plaque on the house where he lived there too - but thanks to his extraordinary musical talents and skill at social climbing he ended as a celebrated conductor and star of the Proms. His nickname of 'Flash Harry' may tell you something of his reputation among orchestral players. Yet I was seven when he died and remember it being a big news story and how sorry people were. ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 529th 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 (16-22 September, 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. Huge swing to Lib Dems but Conservatives ...
Over recent months the People's Vote campaign has gained some considerable momentum, with polls in August and September indicating that slightly more people now want a referendum on the final Brexit deal than don't. The talk today has been whether the Labour Party will swing behind this (some of the unions already have) or whether [...]
The partnership between Redrow and Liverpool Council does nothing to provide homes for the needy in our City In my last blog I gave most of the answers that Lib Dems received to questions that we posed at the last ... Continue reading →
Sun 23rd
17:34
Maghull – It's new North Railway Station will have level access soon – Only 3 months aft...
Well the pressure finally brought about some action and work is proceeding – This is how things looked earlier today:- But who will provide the dropped kerb to enable cyclists to access the station off School Lane? Oh no, let's hope it not another case of here we go again; let's guess the likely responses:- It was not considered as part of the new station build project or It's Merseytravel's/Merseyrail's/Sefton Council's/Persimmon's/Network Rail's responsibility or Sefton Council will provide a dropped kerb if someone else pays for it or There's no money and its not going to happen or Common sense ...
This is a brief update to collate a few diverse matters relating to this project. They concern the review by Defra, delays in submitting the planning application and doubts about whether the Forestry Commission is achieving value for money by its relationship with Forest Holidays. The breaking news is that English Heritage has withdrawn from its promotion of Forest Holidays under pressure from a Ludlow resident. As reported earlier in the summer, Defra is conducting a review of the relationship between Forest Enterprise, the business arm of the Forestry Commission, and Forest Holidays. This was the background to Ludlow resident ...
In the bowels of the conference hotel, with some odds props and a weird aroma, I was quizzed by fellow Liberal Democrat Richard Maxwell during the Brighton conference on how political messaging works. Future podcasts in the series when he talks with other guests are likely to be members-only, but for this one we talked about political messaging more generally and so it's available to listen to here. For more on effective political messaging, there is of course also 101 Ways To Win An Election along with my series on five of the best political adverts.
Tim Farron made a barnstormer of a speech in the migration debate at Conference last week, and was largely credited with fending off the threat of a Reference Back. However, the Chair of Lib Dem Immigrants, Lisa Maria Bornemann, pointed out a flaw in his argument, to the great amusement of everyone in the hall except Vince. Watch our Leader's face. And contrast with Tim's realisation that he had been well and truly pwned. I was sitting right behind him and just after this he turned to me, still laughing, and said something along the lines of "Well, that's me ...
Yesterday I went to the Asterix in Britain exhibition at the London Jewish Museum. Actually it's much more an exhibition about the life and work of René Goscinny, who created Asterix and also Lucky Luke and the scheming grand vizier Iznogoud. Goscinny was born in 1926, the son of Jewish parants who had moved to Paris from Poland; when he was two they moved to Buenos Aires, where he grew up. He comes across as a very humorous individual - in the many photographs, he is either clearly thinking of something funny to say, or has just said it. He ...
Today is Bisexual Visibility Day. Even now, bisexuals come in for a fair bit of prejudice even from other parts of the LGBT community. LGBT+ Lib Dems have put out a statement to mark the day: Today we are marking the twentieth annual Bi Visibility day, which aims to raise the profile and visibility of bisexual people within our society – a society which so often overlooks them. Whilst great progress has been made in advancing rights and acceptance for gay and lesbian people (although of course, there is more to be done), bisexual people often suffer from assumptions based ...
The DUP has power. Far greater power than they have had in almost every single Parliament since the party's creation. The strong odds are that a new general election will produce a result that reduces the DUP's power. It isn't in the DUP's interest to force an early general election. Nor can the Conservatives force an election on their own by no-confidencing themselves and then others (as they could have in 2017, forcing Labour in effect to go along with a contest anyway given the rules). Which means that an early general election can only happen if the Conservatives want ...
Three times a year, the Barrandov Opera holds a short series of gala evenings and Ros and I usually attend one of them. Now I'd be the first to admit that opera is not entirely my first musical choice, but the opportunity to hear emerging talent from around the world in little old Needham Market is not one that can be missed. And so, last night, with friends, we were there for a night of culture, with a Serb soprano, Polish mezzo-soprano, Korean tenor and Polish baritone, singing a selection of arias, accompanied at the piano by Peter Bailey, the ...
Sun 23rd
12:25
LibLink: Tom Brake: Parliament must be recalled to introduce People's Vote legislation
Tom Brake has called for Parliament to be recalled in the wake of Theresa May's statement yesterday. In an open letter to the Prime Minister, published on Politics Home, he argued that a People's Vote was the only safe exit to the chaos over Brexit. The purpose of recalling Parliament would be to enable the Liberal Democrats, other parties and Parliamentarians from across the House to work with you to ensure that legislation for a final say on the deal or People's Vote is drawn up immediately. A People's Vote could then be held before the European Elections in May. ...
Two Daily Mirror journalists came to the Liberal Democrats conference determined to find material that would label us as marginalised and irrelevant. The best they came up with were a couple of songs from the Liberator song book that were rather rude about the leader, his predecessor and well, pretty much everybody associated with the party really. From my perspective all that they managed to demonstrate is that the Liberal Democrats are as cynical as everybody else, but with a unique ability to laugh at ourselves. It would not be tolerated at any other party conference, which is why I ...
This, I understand, is what the young people used to call 'stoner rock'. It is a live version of a track from the Masters of Reality's first LP, which was released in 1989. There are some versions around with Ginger Baker playing on them, but I like this one best.
Sat, 12:10: I'm at Asterix In Britain in London, England https://t.co/7Dli7QDGOc Sat, 12:56: Theresa May's negotiating flaws were laid bare at Salzburg https://t.co/NakY2BnNdU Great analysis from... https://t.co/lp6cZpYMmv Sat, 15:38: Yes, and that went well, didn't it! https://t.co/WRZKnGw1DX Sat, 17:34: https://t.co/qw7AlekuRJ Sat, 21:39: It's particularly striking, given the rather limited extent to which the UK government is paying any attention to B... https://t.co/kvX3ONb9ob Sat, 22:53: The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946); and Glory For Me, by MacKinlay Kantor https://t.co/ir0oE8T3pE Sun, 08:02: RT @Msummerslowe: I laughed at this way too hard. https://t.co/Tejtz5EG83 Sun, 10:38: RT @FranceintheUK: Full quote of President @emmanuelMacron's ...
Dateline: Brighton, September 2018 Wandering into Conference a leaflet is thrust into my hands. It touches on current Government consultation on the Gender Recognition Act. One paragraph of the leaflet sets the tone "sex self-ID that would allow any man to get his birth certificate reissues in the opposite sex. Just like that. On demand. With no change to his body and no medical supervision." The rest of the leaflet is a list of scenarios each more prurient than the last. None of these scenarios are evidenced as ever having happened, no evidence that a trans woman has ever abused ...
At the time, both inside the Liberal Democrats and outside the party, the 2001 general election appeared to be a good result. Far from falling back in seat numbers after the huge gains in 1997, the party gained further seats, up a net six. That even included a general election gain from Labour, something beyond generations of predecessors. The party's vote share was up - a modest 1.5% increase yet the first increase in the vote share for the party or its predecessors since 1983. Progress too on improving the party's diversity, with three of the six gains at the ...
Responding to Donald Tusk's remarks that the Chequers plan will need to be "re-worked and further negotiated" to address trade and Irish border questions, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson Tom Brake MP said: "Theresa May's Chequers deal was dead on arrival and has now been unequivocally rejected by EU Leaders including Barnier, Juncker and Tusk. The irony for Theresa May is that so far the only consensus she has created about Brexit is that Chequers is unworkable. "There are fewer than 200 days to go until exit day and still the Conservatives have made no real progress on key problems thrown up ...
On Thursday Gateshead's first full council after the recess was held. One of the issues on the cabinet report was the need to address how to reduce the use of single-use plastics. I pointed out that while this is a welcome move (I was attacking single use plastics on this blog a decade ago) there is an element of hypocrisy. Biscuits are served up at the start of all council meetings. Not just
Moderation is in crisis in Britain. Extremists have taken over our politics, while those who aim to speak up for the moderate majority find themselves with little influence over the levers of power. The problem for moderates today is that there can be no return to the old post-war consensus, built on the notion that ever-increasing prosperity would gradually trickle down to everyone. That theory died in the financial crisis 10 years ago. No one today can drum up any enthusiasm for 'third way' centrism, even when tempered with a solemn promise that it'll be kinder and more sensible than ...
The Sunday Times today has a report that Tory strategists are starting to think about a General Election in November. I would be very surprised if they were only just starting to think about it now. The chances were always that there would have to be some recourse to the country if Theresa May couldn't get whatever deal she managed to get through Parliament. How on earth, though, could Anna Soubry and Jacob Rees-Mogg fight an election on the same manifesto? If, as is being suggested, the Tory manifesto goes for a hard Brexit basic Canada style trade deal, how ...
I took the train up from London to Liverpool yesterday afternoon. I felt gloomy about it, which is strange, because I usually look forward to Labour conference each year. A whole big mess that I have no real emotional stake in – plus I get to see a lot of Labour people I like that I never normally get to see. But this year I felt a real sense of foreboding as I found my way to Lime Street station via the rest of the country. I think there are, to be fair, two big reasons for this that I ...
Apparently the EU's reaction was an insult to Britain. Prime Minister Theresa May has track record of not listening however and for being inflexible. From a harsh line on immigration, resulting in the injustice of the Windrush affair, through the 2017 snap election with its unwavering mantra of "strong and stable" and now to the so-called Chequers plan, May has shown that, once set out upon a course, she is incapable of moving from it until it meets an immovably real object. According to the European editor of Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Tony Connelly, this mismatch of expectation led to the ...
Yesterday's blood test results were hugely encouraging. Haemoglobin was up to 110, platelets 35 and ... I Haz Neutrophils! 0.8, to be precise. The threshold for discharge is platelets above 30 and neutrophils above 1.0. My blood samples have just been taken, so there's a possibility I may be discharged today. If not, it will almost certainly be tomorrow. A 19 ... The post Transplant +11: Home time? appeared first on ten pence piece.
The next West End community police surgeries take place tomorrow - Monday - details below and all residents welcome :
