Ah yes, constitutions. Wonderful things, in the right hands. Admittedly, in the wrong hands, a thing of peril, but they are at least reasonably certain. And, for someone like me, used to working in a rules-based, legislative system, a cause of work within a party political environment. People do not join political parties to enforce rules - they generally join to make rules, or change them. And thus, anyone willing to be the arbiter of them is likely not to be stampeded in the rush to do so. My Party "career" is a fairly good example of that - seldom ...
Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable and leading figures from opposition parties met Michel Barnier at the European Commission's Berlaymont building headquarters in Brussels today. The Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Greens are working together, alongside rebels from Labour and the Conservatives, to fight Brexit. Vince Cable pressed Barnier on the need for the EU to make contingency plans for a People's Vote and to protect EU and UK citizens rights in the event of a no deal Brexit. The other attendees were SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford, Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts, and Molly Scott Cato, the ...
Yesterday, we received a lot of press releases with an embargo upon them until after midnight, so it's a bumper bunch today... Leading figures from opposition parties will meet Michel Barnier in Brussels today [Thursday] to say the UK must remain within the Single Market and the Customs Union. The campaign to resolve Brexit through a People's Vote will also be discussed. The Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens have all said they would support the public to have the final say on any Brexit deal in a vote in the House of Commons. Last weekend saw ...
If you want to know why the social revolution of the 1960s was necessary, have a look at this Alan Whicker report on Newquay from 1960:"The council wrote official letters to all the shopkeepers, cafes and bars urging that they refuse to serve beatniks, and at the same time wrote to the hotels association suggesting that beatniks be given no employment, not even as 'washer-uppers'."Newquay Urban District Council died in 1974, but Wizz Jones is still with us. What put me on to this film was seeing a tweet about a concert he is giving in Wanstead on Saturday week. ...
Earlier this week I published the latest Lib Dem members' email newsletter. It covered the People's Vote rally and the action day we have in Low Fell on Saturday. You can view it on this link.
Yesterday I headed to the Woodmans pub in my ward for a meeting with the owner about a planning application for an extension of the premises. The plans look good and, if given the go ahead, will lead to eight new jobs being created. The aim is to create a venue suitable for wedding receptions. The issue however is that the location is in the greenbelt. My view is that the countryside cannot be
On Tuesday I had a meeting with Gateshead Council officers who deal with community matters. It is the latest in a series of meetings where we discuss ward matters and how to take them forward. Dealing with such matters actually forms the bulk of the work I do as a councillor. The meeting covered a range of local matters but key was the need to set up a partnership between local organisations to
Second paragraph of third chapter: Cependant, rien que par mes rêves quand j'étais endormi, j'aurais pu apprendre que mon chagrin de la mort de ma grand'mère diminuait, car elle y apparaissait moins opprimée par l'idée que je me faisais de son néant. Je la voyais toujours malade, mais en voie de se rétablir, je la trouvais mieux. Et si elle faisait allusion à ce qu'elle avait souffert, je lui fermais la bouche avec mes baisers et je l'assurais qu'elle était maintenant guérie pour toujours. J'aurais voulu faire constater aux sceptiques que la mort est vraiment une maladie dont on revient. ...
We are pleased that consultation is now starting on the redevelopment of Bramley Moore Dock by Everton. However, questions still remain about infrastructure costs and the redevelopment of the County Road area when EFC move out Today I welcomed the ... Continue reading →
Thu 25th
16:25
House of Lords questions: Young mental health, the post-Brexit Promised Land and the interloper in t...
House of Lords "Oral questions" don't get a lot of publicity. However, they happen every weekday when the House is in session. All the seats tend to be full – most of the peers are "on parade". Some pithy debates do take place. It is very easy to dismiss the House of Lords but it is one half of our bicameral parliamentary system and has a lot of influence. There is a form of civility in the Lords which does not come over in the Commons during its more active sessions (e.g. PMQs). There is reasonably intelligent debate and some ...
Nothing could be simpler than changing your Will. You simply alter it to take account of a new situation, including your new grandchildren perhaps, and it's done. Nobody objects that you have betrayed your first Will by making another, and if they did, you would think it mighty strange. Not so with the will of the people. The decision of 2016, corrupted and flawed though it certainly was, must stand forever, or for at least 20 years in Nigel Farage's opinion. Why should that be? After all, it was only supposed to be an advisory result to be considered by ...
Thu 25th
13:30In full: Vince Cable's speech on universal credit - how the Lib Dems would tackle poverty
Yesterday Vince Cable gave a speech on tackling poverty to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. He addressed the growing poverty faced by working families and called for changes to Universal Credit – including putting back the £3 billion a year that George Osborne took out with indecent haste the minute we Lib Dems were out of the picture. He said that the principles behind UC were right, but the implementation was wrong and called for its rollout to be halted until the problems were fixed. Universal Credit hits Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen at the end of November. This means that thousands ...
For some time public figures have received threats. Rarely do they take them seriously, and in fact only very occasionally are they serious. However in recent years the political discourse has grown very ugly. Although neo-Fascists and populists have fanned the flames of popular hatred, in fact the crisis of "civility" goes back a pretty long way. After forming a coalition with the Conservatives in the UK, the Liberal Democrat leader faced significant abuse: dog shit through the letter box and all the rest of it. This routine and increasingly extreme abuse against MPs has now become simply an occupational ...
(404) I posted The Blood is the Life for 24-10-2018 to my dreamwidth blog 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
Last week I attend the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference (IWT) in London. The optics were every bit as impressive as you would imagine for such an occasion. In attendance, there was a star-studded line-up of celebrities such as Ben Fogle and Nicky Campbell, UK cabinet ministers Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove, African presidents and even the Duke of Cambridge himself. It felt like the grand opening for the international fight back against wildlife crime and was a great marker for real action on this criminal activity. The flagship policy launched at the conference was the 'Ivory Alliance 2024', which will ...
Thu 25th
11:18
Interpreting John McDonnell's latest interview on Brexit - yes, I do go beyond "It's laughably crap"...
So, what is there to say about Brexit anymore? We're all just waiting for the May-EU drama to play out, for the prime minister to present the deal to parliament – and then the actual unknowable, namely will such a thing get a majority in the Commons or not. As has been obvious for a while, May is going nowhere until this drama plays out over the next few months. In the meantime, we political obsessives can try and have fun with the mutterings of the shadow front bench, as usual saying stuff that makes no sense whatsoever. Take John ...
Wed, 12:56: How to Configure Your iPhone to Work for You, Not Against You https://t.co/dM2SAGTo75 This is tremendous advice. I... https://t.co/XkareAeawE Wed, 12:57: Thanks for great view of my bald patch on left of first two pictures! https://t.co/yoiTD6I52g Wed, 13:15: RT @RotaryGBI: Want to know more about polio? See the progress we've made and and the steps we're taking to #endpolio now and forever. Dis... Wed, 13:34: RT @tconnellyRTE: Here are some sobering observations from NI business groups when asked at DexEU committee what they would say to those ca... Wed, 13:34: RT @BobbyMcDonagh1: What do facts and NI business ...
Louise Harris with Lib Dem Focus Team colleagues If you live in the Shire Way, Rodford Way or Abbotswood areas, it won't have escaped your notice that there is a by-election for the South Glos Dodington Ward seat following the sad death of Cllr Gloria Stephen. The election will be held on Thursday 1st November, but postal vote forms have already been sent out. The Lib Dem Focus Team candidate is Louise Harris, who grew up locally after being born in an RAF hospital where her father was serving. She shares our problems, like finding an affordable home, travelling to ...
Well I actually came face to face with a mock-up of one of the new trains at Birkenhead's Pacific Road Building as the first actual train is not due to be delivered until 2019. Here are my photos:- The two Merseytravel reps with the mock-up were really informative and helpful on the day I went to have a look, which was in fact the last day the unit was on display in Birkenhead. It is now being set up at Liverpool's Lime Street Station for a further period of display to the public – 5-18 November, Mon-Sun 7.00 to 18.30 ...
After lying to the world for three weeks, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia finally admitted that it had murdered its subject Jamal Khashoggi, a well-known journalist in the small community of Middle East observers. This murder – of which we do not yet know all the circumstances – took place on October 2, in the [...] The post Saudi Arabia-Turkey: who will dominate Sunni-ism? appeared first on Radix.
700,000+ marched Saturday in London to ask for a second vote concerning Brexit. They marched for many more who could not come. How many is a guess but probably several million. The nation is hence divided and it is the duty of the government, if not most likely Her Majesty's wish, for the UK to recover national unity. Every learned politician knows of its importance and what history shows to happen sooner or later when there is a lack of it. Independently of its prospects, positive or negative, a consensus for Brexit is required before proceeding, as the project now ...
I have no problem with full-time politicians receiving what are effectively redundancy payments when they lose their seats. Nor would I deny them a pension, which they would have paid into during their time serving constituents. Thus this article in the Guardian comes as no surprise. The paper reports that British MEPs have been given details of transition payments that could see the longest-serving eligible for six-figure sums, as well as instructions on clearing their offices before Brexit day. They add that the UK's 73 members of the European parliament received confirmation on Tuesday that those under pensionable age would ...
Tower Foyer Gallery, Tower Building, University of DundeeNow on until 14th December Monday to Friday 9.30am to 7pm and Saturday 1pm to 5pm This fascinating new exhibition explores the history of Anatomy in the city. The Chair of Anatomy in Dundee was endowed by Thomas Hunter Cox of the jute family who owned Camperdown Works, and the first Anatomy teaching began here in 1888. This was a key milestone for the new University as it marked the first official step towards the creation of a Medical School in the city, which would eventually be realised in 1897. The fortunes of ...
I'm not an expert on Northern Irish politics. In fact, until a few weeks ago I'd never been to the province. But when I was asked a few months ago if I would sponsor a cross-party Bill in Westminster that would introduce the right for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland to get married it was a no-brainer. As debates rage over Brexit, the border and the backstop we hear that the Government's confidence and supply the partners, the DUP, don't want Northern Ireland to be treated differently to the rest of the UK. But when it comes to LGBT+ rights ...
Responding to a report from the Home Affairs Select Committee called 'Policing for the future', Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:"Unnecessary Conservative police cuts have already made our streets less safe. The Home Office's own analysis shows that police cuts have likely contributed to the rise in serious violent crime, yet the Conservatives continue to squeeze forces' budgets. "The Liberal Democrats demand better. We're calling on the Chancellor to use his Budget to give police forces an extra £300 million a year to recruit more officers and boost community policing." "If the Chancellor refuses to give police the ...
Council's contractors have erected signs along Sheet Road stating: "Shropshire. Council Road Closed 28/10/18 for 4 Weeks. No Parking. 09.30-16:00" This is nonsense. The road will be partly closed on 29 and 30 October. Four-way lights will operate on 31 October. Highways managers have issued instructions for the signs to be replaced. Update: New signs have been put in place this morning advertising a three day closure from Monday. Buses will run normally but may be delayed. Access to Charlton Rise and other side streets will be maintained. A steward will be on duty to manage traffic. Correct closure information ...
