First off, news from Portsmouth, scene of a defection from the Conservatives to independents over the summer. This time, it is the Liberal Democrats picking up an extra councillor: Councillor Jennie Brent has today been welcomed into the Liberal Democrat Group on Portsmouth City Council. Councillor Brent was formerly a Conservative Party member before becoming an Independent earlier this year... [She said,] "Whilst considering what I was going to do, I came across the introduction to the Lib Dem Constitution. It says: "The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair free and open society, in which we seek ...
As I once remarked: Before drink and American television dulled his talent, David Hemmings was a promising film director.The film that harmed his reputation was his third, Just a Gigolo. It is remembered, fairly or not, as a disaster. Here its star, David Bowie, and Hemmings himself talk about it.
"On the few occasions in its history when the Conservative party has not just lost power but been roundly thrashed, it has been when wealth-creators and ideologues have fought each other: over the Corn Laws in the 1840s, imperial preference in the 1900s and the EU in the 1990s. Each of these internal splits led to ten years or more in the wilderness." Peter Kellner thinks the Tories could pay a heavy price for Brexit. And it would serve them right, says Cicero: "The only thing that keeps this shop window of stupidity alive is the fake money that drives ...
Cllr Hina Bokhari is a newly elected councillor from Merton. She wrote about her first 100 days as a councillor for us here. I met her at Conference and was blown away by her commitment to diversity. "Saying hello is not difficult." she said in an article on the party website for National Inclusion Week as she described how she engaged with the Tamil community in the run up to the election in May. In fact, she put a lot of effort into learning and listening. It wasn't long before I learnt key phrases, important festivals and some basic home ...
Wed 3rd
17:45
Celebrating yet another win in my campaign for greater transparency on parental leave and pay
I am absolutely delighted that earlier this week the Government announced it would be consulting on the Bill I introduced in Parliament back in June, which would require organisations with more than 250 staff to publish their parental leave and pay policies. Campaigning does work! The numbers in Parliament and the Government's inability to focus on anything but Brexit mean that more and more MPs want to work across party lines to make things happen. In fact, my Bill received support from Conservative, Labour, SNP and Green MPs, as well as of course from my Lib Dem colleagues. It's great ...
The essential circus of party politics in the UK is never more cringe making than at party conference time. The spectacle of socially awkward, physically clumsy individuals trying to get "down with the kids" in a vain attempt to assert a non-existent popularity is always a fairly barf-making sight. Even the best political figures tend to feel uneasy about the false ballyhoo of the conference set-piece speech; I recall Paddy Ashdown coming off stage amid a minor fireworks display and muttering a gentle imprecation at the slightly surreal farce he had been forced to take part in. Neither Theresa May ...
It was the laughs that did it. They made me wonder whether we actually want to solve the #MeToo problem, or whether we get too much secondary gain from the righteous indignation we feel about being on one side or the other. It's a serious question, because without the will to solve a problem, we will never solve it.The laughs came when I saw the new movie 'The Wife', which I felt illustrated very clearly why we're skirting round the #MeToo issue rather than addressing it. You don't need this particular film (which is not a comedy) to understand this ...
One of the things that often pains me in this party, in my eight years of membership, is the way we seem more obsessed with fighting each other than we are getting out there fighting for liberal ideas and candidates. Far too often our party becomes personality-centric, you either love someone or hate them. We define our relationships and views of people based upon one or two key things we either agree or disagree with them on, this is not constructive and doesn't help us work together as a party. You can have grievances with someone, you can incredibly dislike ...
I recorded this on Sunday morning while driving to the home of one of our local election candidates in Gateshead. Yet more thoughts on Brexit. The Tories, starting their conference, are divided. Labour could not give a straight answer on a further referendum which is increasingly looking like the only realistic way forward to break the logjam. Theresa May however may end up surviving on the
On Saturday I had three events to attend. The first was the Lib Dem action day in Ryton where we delivered our latest Focus newsletter across the ward. As usual, I was given the Riverside Estate patch to do. After completing my Ryton delivery, I headed to Sunniside where the Whinnies Community Garden were holding a bird of prey day. Top of the billing was a Bengali eagle owl. In the
miss_s_b | Inktober Day 1 - featuring @RealAliceCooper I really enjoyed doing this. miss_s_b | Inktober Day 2 - featuring @DannyJohnJules as Brother Cat I drew a dancing Cat :) Judge Dredd co-creator Carlos Ezquerra dies aged 70 RIP Carlos :( 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] comments
Commenting on the Government announcement that it will consult on greater transparency on parental pay, Jo Swinson, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: "I am delighted that the Government will be consulting on putting my parental pay transparency bill into law. "This is a simple regulatory change with great benefits for employers, employees and job applicants. "It is a national scandal that each year in the UK 54,000 women lose their jobs because of maternity and pregnancy discrimination. Conservatives must listen and deliver real change. "The Government is right to consult on this but it must take swift action ...
Tue, 12:20: Credible analysis of next steps from @pmdfoster of @Telegraph. https://t.co/IIHzTfbNri Tue, 12:56: Jeremy Hunt is the anti diplomat - insulting Britain's closest allies to please a few thousand Tories... https://t.co/BHQYZsa1qV Tue, 14:58: APCO Brexit Bites — With "Capital Ideas" https://t.co/jrDRAEbZJI Expert analysis of the latest on Brexit from @APCOWorldwide (including me). Tue, 16:05: The Strumion. And on. https://t.co/o8iOOiSusf Very good deconstruction of the Strumia paper. Tue, 18:09: Wedding anniversary weekend https://t.co/K6fEpWvZjG Tue, 19:21: At dangerous, bleak bus stop where @delijn #337 is 10 mins late, with no explanation or ETA. (@ Perron 14 - @delijn... https://t.co/upvUlFplwI Tue, 19:40: ...
The decision of the Council to make the suggested EFC new stadium the heart of the bid for the Commonwealth games was a major reason for its failure. The stadium is still not fully costed or funded Once again, the ... Continue reading →
On Monday your local councillors are meeting with Council Officers and the Management of Heaton Park to discuss issues of parking on the residential streets near to Heaton Park (next Monday 9 October 2018). Issues that we would like to raise are: – impact of event and other 'busy day' parking on nearby streets (e.g. St Margaret's Road and Close, Milton Road and the Upper Wilton Street area), and what measures can be taken to address these problems. – Specific parking issues in some areas near to the park – St Margaret's Road and Polefield Roads areas, Carver Avenue and ...
I must have done something wrong in my previous life because for the last 15 years or, so I have been (it feels like I have been condemned) to travel to work by train. Firstly, it was from Solihull and now from Wokingham to London. My local train from Earley (which comes from Waterloo) to Reading arrives on time no more than 8 to 9 times a year. Approximately 60 per cent of the trains to London are late getting into Reading. However, coming home the trains do leave Paddington on time and get to Reading more or less on ...
Today's prompts were Roasted and Mushrooms: [IMG: An ink drawing of two Mario mushrooms being roasted by a flame thrower] As always, click to embiggen. Media: Goulet notepaper; Noodler's Nib Creaper fountain pen; Caran D'Ache water brush; and Herbin Perle Noire, Diamine Yellow. Sunshine Yellow and Meadow, Visconti Red, Mont Blanc Petit Prince red, Pilot iroshizuku ama-iro blue, Lamy Green and Pelikan 4001 Violet inks. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Wed 3rd
10:27
Last thoughts from Tory conference: Boris isn't as popular with the grassroots as the media might ha...
The big occasion yesterday at Conservative party conference, and let's face it, the whole conference itself, was the Boris speech. The queues for it really were impressively epic, notable even further at a conference in which the hall had mostly been half-full at best for other speeches. This has led to a media narrative that Boris is the next leader in waiting, adored by the faithful. Except if you were here in Birmingham, that's not how it felt at all. A lot of Tory members were really annoyed at the way Boris has behaved this week (the field of wheat ...
From October 2018, any new applications to seek funding for IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) services will be capped to one funded cycle for Bury patients. The decision to reduce provision in this area from the current offer of up to three funded cycles, to one, was made at the most recent meeting of the NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group's (CCG) Governing Body, and follows a six week consultation period. IVF is one of a number of areas where the CCG has explored potential savings to reduce the expected financial gap. Moving to one funded cycle of IVF will save the ...
More major roadworks this month – for the full list see the GM Roadworks site here The major roadworks in October are: – 2-9 October carriageway incursions outside 232 Hilton Lane – 2-3 October 2 ways signal on Sheepfoot Lane (just east of Meade Hill Road) – 29-31 October 2 way signals on Heywood Road (just south of the Metrolink Bridge) – continuing roadworks on the Motorway roundabout (to 17 November 2018) – Cadent works on Bury Old Road continue until March 2019 – not in Prestwich, but nearby on 21 October there are multi-way signals at the junction of ...
Tougher new licensing rules to better protect thousands of animals are introduced this month (from 1 October 2018) as part of reforms to safeguard the welfare of Britain's pets. These rules tighten up laws around selling pets, breeding dogs and the business of caring for animals. This information is provided by Bury's Trading Standards team: Smaller establishments – sometimes called 'backstreet breeders' – which supply thousands of dogs to families each year, as well as larger commercial breeders, must meet strict welfare criteria to get a licence. It is now illegal to sell puppies younger than eight weeks and anyone ...
A new exhibition of images inspired by the words of Mark E Smith, leader of The Fall, is now on at Bury Art Museum. Mark E Smith lived in Prestwich for most of his life, forming The Fall in 1976 and leading that inspirational band until his death earlier this year. This show aims to celebrate the independence, individuality and language disruption of a unique voice. More than 60 leading designers and image-makers from around the world were invited to take part in the exhibition, which forms part of Design Manchester's DM18 Festival. The brief was simple: create one original ...
So now we know. It isn't just Boris Johnson who is holding Theresa May's feet to the fire over Brexit. The real threat comes from the DUP, otherwise known as the militant wing of the Christian right. The Independent reports that Theresa May's DUP allies have threatened to torpedo her Brexit plans and vowed to vote with Labour if the proposals breach their red lines. Their Westminster leader Nigel Dodds has said that his party will not tolerate a border of "any kind" down the Irish Sea, effectively ruling out potential regulatory checks at Irish Sea ports as part of ...
The chances are that you haven't heard of Trevor Smith, or to be more precise, Professor Lord Smith of Clifton. He was the prime financial and intellectual force behind the surge for democracy in the 1990s when Charter 88 was rampant under Anthony Barnett, and the Blair governments were legislating for a spate of constitutional reforms. Smith is a man of singular entrepreneurial vision and remarkable political energy who most unusually followed through his many ideas in action. He was a political scientist of distinction when he took on the chair of the Joseph Rowntree Social Services Trust in 1987 ...
From Sheena Wellington : We have a Lunchtime Recital with a difference today - Wednesday 3rd October - when musician Morag Anne Elder and former city archivist Iain Flett take us on a musical journey around the collectors and collections housed in the Wighton Heritage Centre. From the base of Andrew James Wighton's original legacy The Wighton Collection has acquired, usually by donation, a fascinating range of musical books and manuscripts. Equally interesting are the stories of those generous people who gave us their treasured collections and we look forward to hearing more of the them and their music. The ...
Responding to the announcement that civil partnerships will be extended to mixed-sex couples, Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson Jonathan Marks said: "It's very good news that all couples will now be able to have civil partnerships. This is something the Liberal Democrats have been fighting for for years, but it was blocked by David Cameron in Coalition. I'm glad the Supreme Court's ruling has finally forced this change, and I congratulate the determined campaigners who made it happen. "However, this is not a solution for the millions of couples who live together but do not choose to make a formal commitment. ...
