This post first appeared on the Radix blog... Over the next week or so, we are likely to see the next round in the Washington struggle between Donald Trump and his critics - and it isn't a very edifying spectacle. Because the approval or not for his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh involves now a confrontation with Professor Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of assaulting her at a high school party some decades ago. When I say that #MeToo has become a political weapon, and a dangerous one, that is not intended to detract from the courage of ...
From the Shropshire Star: Severn Trent Water has been accused of causing more chaos on Shropshire roads after a short-notice closure shut the road between two rural villages. School buses, commuters and the service bus between Snailbeach and Stiperstones all found themselves turned away when they ran into unexpected roadworks. The water company said no notice could be given as it was an emergency closure, but this has not gone down well with residents who reported the leak more than two months ago. Councillor Heather Kidd, who represents Chirbury and Worthen, said: "Severn Trent fail to deal with leaks until ...
A post which delivers on what the headline promised: a photograph of that Barack Obama, with a jar of paperclips. Taken in 2015 when the President of the United States was addressing part of the intelligence community. (If the image doesn't load, click the text 'embed from Getty Images'.) For more paperclip goodness, see the film, "Awesome paperclips, and other office supplies" or check-out interesting paperclip fact #2.
This evening the planning committee of Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council approved a planning application from the Japanese engineering firm Horiba Mira Ltd to build a test track for driverless vehicles on part of Bosworth Battlefield. The decision was deferred from last month's meeting after heritage organisations began to express their concern. I am finding it hard to feel happy about this decision. It seems to arise from a small council's natural anxiety to please a major local employer and from the lack of an initial outcry from the heritage lobby. The conclusion seems to be that sites of national ...
I have written often enough about what the Liberal Democrats should be doing to involve party members more. Time then to talk about something the party is doing: a new skills survey to find out how people would like to get more involved and how they can best help. It comes in three flavours, catering for where members live, and the data will end up usable across the party due to being fed into the MyCampaign system, part of Connect. That's important as sometimes best way to involve a member, and the way that members are most interested in getting ...
This summer Richard Alderman from the 'Democracy Rutland' group won a county council by-election by the drawing of lots after he and the Liberal Democrat candidate polled an equal number of votes. Less than a week later, he was arrested over some Facebook posts he had made. Now, the Leicester Mercury reports, he has been charged with three counts of sending, by public communication network, an offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing message.
Tue 25th
18:36
Giant U Turn? Well a small one anyway as Hightown is saved from station closure during event
Little girl and her dog near the old Mersey Tunnel entrance during the last Giants tour of Liverpool. I blogged about this only a few days ago and it seems that public pressure has brought about some concessions regarding the number of Merseyrail Stations that will close during the The Giants Spectacular in Liverpool in a couple of weeks time. But even with these limited concessions Merseyrail and the powers that be who are organising the event have managed to cheese off a lot of the travelling public by closing stations on the network. Hightown is one station reprieved:- Hightown ...
We have a song in Liverpool one of which verses goes, "It's six in a bed at the old Pier Head, It's Liverpool Town for me". Throughout our Country there are still people living in conditions little better than this. ... Continue reading →
Long long ago, I think even when I was in primary school (so, more than forty years ago), I read The Beast Master, and it stuck with me. Not quite so long ago, I got it and its sequel, Lord of Thunder, in a single volume, Beast Master's Planet. Both concern a future galaxy where Earth has been destroyed in the final act of a war with the alien Xik, and our protagonist, Hosteen Storm, is (as far as he knows) the only survivor of the Navajo. He is an ex-soldier, trained to have a psychic link with his animal ...
There was an extraordinary scene at the UN General Assembly in New York when US President Donald Trump declared from the rostrum that his administration had probably achieved more than any other US administration in history: everyone laughed. Even Fox News carried the embarrassing moment live. And when the President said, "Well, I wasn't expecting [...]
Tue 25th
15:43
Keir Starmer and his "Remain" comment: what could this mean for Labour and for Brexit?
The line was ad-libbed, apparently. "...and nobody is ruling out Remain as an option." As anti-Brexit statements go, in the abstract at least, it is comically tame. Yet given the fact that we've had a couple of years of Corbyn saying things along the lines of "I hate the capitalist EU and can't wait to escape", only to be followed by calls from the Left to bewail Jezza "being on the fence" in regards to Brexit, it was pretty significant. Starmer seemed surprised by the extended standing ovation he received in the auditorium. It has all kicked off since. The ...
Focus Team members Tony Davis, Louise Harris and Paul Hulbert at the Tern Inn Great news - the developers have withdrawn their appeal, so their plan to demolish the Tern Inn pub and build flats right across the car park is now dead in the water. But does this mean that we've won? Not necessarily. It just means that the developers reckon that they have no chance of getting their CURRENT plan approved. They might submit a slightly revised planning application, so that the whole process has to start again. They might "land bank" the site for a few years ...
LGBT+LDs advice for other parties at their conferences A report back from the AGM of Lib Dem Friends of Cake The Bi+ Manifesto Were you inspired to do more by Bi Visibility Day? Here are some ideas. This Is What Could Happen To People With HIV If There's A No-Deal Brexit tl;dr: another way in which people of this country will be screwed. Sandi Toksvig: Why my fight for LGBTI rights is not over Girlguiding UK is being very sensible. The transphobes, predictably, are unhappy. Larry Ngan shares his experience of his first ever LibDem Conf This is a really ...
The new Stadler trains (ordered by Merseytravel the Transport Committee of Liverpool City Region) which will be coming to Merseyrail in early 2020 look to be innovative and potentially class leading. Here's some photos from a mock-up of a Stadler train carriage so you can see how very different the new trains will look from the present rather elderly (40 years old in fact) British Rail built 507 and 508 trains:- And you can see the mock up yourself too. Here's where and how:- The mock-up will be on display at the following times: · Pacific Road, Birkenhead, CH41 1LJ: ...
Tue 25th
11:24
'How should the UK change its refugee family reunification policies': LD4SOS at Brighton Fringe meet...
There were plenty there to hear our panel of speakers and enjoy the refreshments provided courtesy of Lib Dem Voice despite us clashing with a big consultation on the supporters scheme. Tim Farron MP started off with a review of the overall position and welcomed the approval earlier in the day of policy motion F16 with all 5 amendments, most notably amendment #1 (LD4SOS). He reminded us that in debates we are not just talking about policies but real people who are affected. He talked about the experience of visiting Calais, where it was clear that what people were looking ...
Mon, 12:56: Deborah Copaken: My Rapist Apologized https://t.co/52fR1zbJh8 Stark. Mon, 16:05: Salzburg: How chronic misreading took Brexit to brink https://t.co/bS1Balt8qa Excellent as ever from @TConnellyRTE. Mon, 18:09: Abe's Third Term and What it Means for Japan and the World https://t.co/K3OyLpBMCA Analysis by @APCOWorldwide colle... https://t.co/cGBqlEgHyC Mon, 18:17: Monday reading https://t.co/yUBIPB2VLI Mon, 20:48: Owning the Peanut Gallery https://t.co/VSt5zXGPAA @mariafarrell's true story of a student debate with Ted Cruz. Tue, 08:28: RT @jimkelly2006: So: ever wondered whether your vote really matters.........? Tonight's #NBElection2018 outcome balanced on a knife edge... Tue, 10:45: Brexit: Flights 'at risk' under no-deal, government warns https://t.co/Y4D8x3q2u3 #TakingBackControl #ToldYouSo ...
The government has published the latest in its series of advice notes on the consequences of a no-deal Brexit, an outcome that is looking increasingly likely, and it does not look encouraging for those who like to holiday abroad. As the Independent reports, the papers say that flights will be grounded if Britain crashes out of the EU next March unless an emergency aviation deal can be struck. They add that a no-deal Brexit could also force passengers to re-screen luggage and go back through security on, for example, a flight to the UK via Paris or Amsterdam. In addition, ...
Those of you who attended conference should hopefully have received a feedback form by email, and have by now filled in the survey. If you haven't filled it in yet, you've still got a little bit of time. If you haven't received it, let me know. The other thing about the emailed feedback survey is that it is a little restrictive as to what you can put. If you'd like to give more freeform feedback, comments are open below (although anon comments will be checked before publication). I promise I will take all useful feedback to FCC myself. [IMG: comment ...
After the spectacular breakdown between Britain and the remaining EU countries at the summit in Salzburg last week, what is the state of Brexit? The chatter in the media, mainstream or otherwise, is either hopelessly partisan, or hopelessly superficial (the BBC is taking mediocrity in political analysis to new heights). Before taking the plunge on ... Continue reading The dust starts to settle from Salzburg: the tension over Brexit mounts
Labour have made it clear: they want a general election. They claim that is the way to break the logjam if Parliament rejects whatever final Brexit deal is on offer. A general election however will solve nothing. Labour are simply putting forward the same basic approach as the Conservatives (keep the benefits of membership while leaving the club). So there will be nothing significant to
This morning a series of articles caught my eye; Marina Abramović, the artist, was attacked outside a gallery. Abramović was at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, which is hosting a retrospective of her work. She was approached by an amateur artist, who was holding out a painting of Abramović, framed but without glass, which she initially thought was a gift. However, the man then broke the painting over her head, allegedly proclaiming 'Boom' as he did so. It is interesting to note that, if the man was doing this for publicity, only one news outlet that I have seen so ...
Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP has warned people face being unable to "go on holiday, visit friends and family, or make necessary business trips" after the Government's no-deal papers revealed UK-EU flights could cease in event of a no-deal Brexit.Ms Jardine said: "In another nod to Victorian Britain, we are facing a situation where flights between the EU and UK could cease because of the Conservative Government's chaotic approach to Brexit. Most people would be unable to go on holiday, visit friends and family, or make necessary business trips if this happens. "Theresa May's posturing is bringing ...
Over the next week or so, we are likely to see the next round in the Washington struggle between Donald Trump and his critics – and it isn't a very edifying spectacle. Because the approval or not for his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh involves now a confrontation with Professor Christine Blasey Ford, who has [...] The post Honouring the older generation in the age of #MeToo appeared first on Radix.
OK... so I can finally make the announcement official. In exactly one week, my podcast, A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs, will start up, I'll post a link here, but it'll be available from 500songs.com and all ... Continue reading →
