Responding to the publication of the BDO High Street Sales Tracker which shows the UK high street is suffering the worst year on record, with in-store sales declining 2.7% year on year, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said: "This report highlights two significant problems in our economy. Firstly, taxation is skewed directly against shops, particularly small and medium sized retail enterprises. To protect high street businesses the Chancellor must take action in the Budget by undertaking the Liberal Democrat plan to abolish business rates and create a system of taxing land, offering big tax cuts to most British high streets. ...
My programme for Cinderella, the 1966 Christmas Panto at the Palace Theatre, Watford, had advertisements too. Shortly after it arrived I tweeted this one with the words "#Watford nightlife 1966 style". That turned out to be rather Emily Thornberry tweet, because Steve Benbow (1931-2006) and Tommy Eytle (1926-2007) were both considerable figures. Benbow's Guardian obituary said he was: an inspiration to younger players. Davy Graham, whose guitar style affected those of Eric Clapton and Paul Simon, credits him as a primary influence: Benbow introduced him to Moroccan music he had heard while in the forces. Graham told the Guardian last ...
Yesterday saw 5 seats up for re-election, but with only 2 Liberal Democrat candidates it was the independents who did best, with 2 seats being gained from Labour! With Labour having another bad night, it shows how important it is for us to take advantage and make their loss our gain. Since May we've had the strongest by-election results of any party but we must stand candidates everywhere to give ourselves the best chance of winning. Halton UA, Ditton - Labour Hold LD David Coveney 97 [11.1%; +11.1%] Con 135 [15.4%; +15.4%] Lab 644 [73.5%; +11.6%] [Ind 575-38.1%; -38.1%] Starting ...
She had exploratory examination and x-rays under anaesthetic today: her heart is healthier than they were expecting but her lungs are worse. She's got a bunch of new medications (mostly to loosen the mucus so she can cough it up) and they've taken blood and mucus to be sent away for testing. When we went to pick her up they were quite worried, because while she'd recovered consciousness from the anaesthetic she was really lethargic and refusing to touch the food they'd given her. It turned out that some of that was missing me, because till she saw me and ...
Before my stem cell transplant, I was told that recovery would take around 3-6 months. If I'm honest, I chose not to believe it as I recovered from most of my earlier cycles of chemotherapy in about 2-3 weeks. After my 6th cycle of cytarabine and rituximab I even felt well enough to go away [...] The post Transplant +30: Slow going appeared first on ten pence piece.
We need to release the expertise and dedication of our teachers to allow them to link up with the enthusiasm and joy of our children and create an education system not a learning system Our education service is poor value, ... Continue reading →
We've all been asked to give our thoughts on the Leader's Proposals. The suggested method is via a form with (in my opinion) hopelessly leading questions. Fortunately there's also an email address: consultation@libdems.org.uk and I'd encourage everyone to use that. Let's start with what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that no change is needed, and I'm not saying that every single thing in the proposals is awful. For instance, I think a non-voting supporters scheme would be a reasonable idea, and we need some mechanism for having a leader in the event that none of our MPs are willing ...
Fri 12th
11:38
We lost too many arguments during the Coalition - Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat Newswire #117)
Liberal Democrat Newswire #117 has a special survey on the party reform proposals, a book offer for readers and Jo Swinson's views on the Coalition, amongst other stories.
The former Welsh Liberal Democrats Regional Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black, has announced that he will not be seeking to return to the Welsh Assembly when his party selects its list candidates for the 2021 elections early next year.The Welsh Liberal Democrats have set in train the process for selecting candidates to contest the seat that Mr. Black held for seventeen years representing Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend, with an advert on the party's website and an email to all those approved as suitable for selection. The former AM and past Deputy Minister, will not be ...
Thu, 12:33: RT @jonworth: Summary of the report mentioned by @Ricken_Patel about Facebook use correlating with refugee attacks in Germany is here: http... Thu, 12:56: Stumbling Toward Armageddon https://t.co/AejvibuRo2 How the Yom Kippur war almost became a superpower conflict - fuelled by drugs and drink. Thu, 16:05: Brexit as a Revolution (PDF, 21 pages) https://t.co/PnX94HpyRt Brilliant lecture by Sir Ivan Rogers. Thu, 16:13: RT @jonworth: Here we go! #spitzenkandidat @alexstubb vs @HelleThorning_S https://t.co/6XnJLW9iTV Fri, 10:45: The Franks Casket https://t.co/JceG8YN1H7 A fascinating 8th-century English artifact.
There were echoes of a previous battle in the Welsh Assembly in today's Times, who report that charities and companies working with universal credit claimants have been banned from criticising or harming the reputation of the work and pensions secretary Esther McVey. The paper says that at least 22 organisations have been required to sign gagging clauses as part of their involvement with programmes to help people back to work. The contracts, worth a total of £1.8 billion, state that groups receiving the money must "pay the utmost regard to the standing and reputation" of the work and pensions secretary. ...
Corbyn is clearly right to highlight the 'grotesque inequality' in our society. Wage growth has stagnated. Continued cuts are hitting the poorest hardest. And this generation is on set to be the first on living memory to be poorer than their parents. Even if you try and ignore the unfairness, the evidence shows it harms productivity and creates the sort of 'asset bubbles' that caused the 2008 financial crisis. But I have one question. Where are Labour's answers? At first glance the most radical is renationalisation. But this is nothing more than a recycled plan from the 1970s. It just ...
Echoing a point made rightly but unsuccessfully before the European referendum, Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse has been writing for PoliticsHome about the importance of patriotism for the pro-European cause: The greatness of our country lies in its democracy. A true democracy is honest about the presentation of real choices. It stands on a powerful but fragile pillar: truth. If lies go unchallenged democracy falls. Democracy only survives if true democrats are intolerant of liars. Democracy is under serious threat in the West today not because any of our democratic institutions or laws have changed, but because enough people have ...
There is said to be cabinet "unease" around the latest May proposal for dealing with the backstop issue the UK seemingly unwittingly signed up to in December 2017. Namely, that until a super-whizz bang trade deal between the UK and the EU can be agreed and implemented, the UK essentially stays in the Customs Union. This is subject to the usual semantics that pervades and is in some ways the very essence of Brexit: it will be called a "temporary customs arrangement" or some such thing, but will de facto mean we remain inside the CU. Again, until there is ...
The argy bargy over North Korea is part of a much bigger geopolitical battle. That is not to say that the denuclearisation of an authoritarian and unstable rogue state such as North Korea is unimportant. It is vitally so. But the prize at stake is huge– control of the Pacific East Rim. And what a prize it is. Excluding contender China, the combined GDP of the region is $12.9 trillion dollars and growing fast. The size of the market is one billion consumers. For centuries the Pacific Rim was a Chinese lake and primary source of wealth for the Middle ...
Maghull Station Phase 1 of the platform upgrade work for the new trains will start on the Ormskirk line on 20 October 2018. The following stations will be closed during the work: Ormskirk to Walton – from 20 October to 28 October Ormskirk to Old Roan – from 29 October to 9 November Merseytravel say that high quality rail replacement buses will run between: Ormskirk and Sandhills – from 20 October to 28 October Ormskirk and Aintree – from 29 October to 9 November Aintree Station at night As well as regular buses stopping at all affected stations, additional express ...
Before we even got to Thursday this week, there was already one by-election, for the always different City of London Corporation. In addition to not following that closely the tradition of having elections on Thursdays, City of London elections are different for being dominated by independent candidates and for giving votes not only to residents but also to businesses based on the number of people they employ. Hence the exclusion of these contests from most round-ups of seat and vote changes. Here though is the result for your delectation: Castle Baynard (City of London) Result: LAB: 27.8% (+27.8) IND (Malins): ...
Following my reporting residents' complaints, I am pleased to advise that a series of potholes on Logie Avenue at its east end will be repaired this week. I have also received from the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership the following feedback on complaints I raised about road surface deterioration in Marchfield Terrace and Hillcrest Road : "The Road Maintenance Partnership inspector has raised an order for two thermal patches to be done in Hillcrest Road with a timescale for repair of approximately ninety days. A pothole repair has also been raised for Marchfield Terrace with a timescale for completion of approximately ...
Plans for 137 homes off Foldgate Lane, in the final stages of approval, have hit a snag over plans to fell trees along 450 metres of the A49. This was not part of the original application and is a response to Highways England's demands that there is adequate visibility on the main entrance to the site off the A49. The plans have been queried by Shropshire Council planning officers. They have also met strong objections from the council's tree specialist. At the end of May, housebuilder Crest Nicolson submitted detailed plans for the development of 137 homes (18/02413/REM). This stage ...
