We've had a deluge of press releases today, perhaps unsurprisingly, given events... Moran: Isolation booths are a symbol of a broken education system Davey: Brexodus already damaging NHS and social care Lib Dems back move to defeat 'craven' Govt over FOBT delay Brexit will derail the gravy train Davey: Tory cuts make our borders less secure Both Tories and Labour must be transparent about Brexit mess Layla Moran: Botched Brexit can be stopped Cable: Deal will be torn apart before ink is dry MPs must now let people have final say on Brexit Moran: Isolation booths are a symbol of ...
First things first. My old friend Phil Knowles - here in the Leicester Mercury - wins our Quote of the Day Award: A council has been accused of cancelling Christmas in part of a Leicestershire town. Councillor Phil Knowles, who is leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition has spoken out after Harborough District Council announced it would not be putting Christmas lights up in Church Street in Market Harborough. The council has said that no festive lights will be positioned in the busy town centre street because electrical supply points and fixing brackets no longer meet regulations. Coun Knowles, who ...
If we end up with a 'no deal' Brexit, travelling with pets is going to get a whole load more complicated. And travelling across Europe with two massive Labradors is challenging enough as it is. Continue reading →
I recently began a role as a volunteer advice worker and two-thirds of my training was focused on understanding the benefits system and how to aid with individual applications. The most complex part of the training was understanding universal credit. To apply for the benefit claimants are required to keep up a journal online constantly detailing changes to their situation, have access to the internet, wait at least 6 weeks for payment and change the way that they pay rent. The welfare system in the UK has been in dire condition for years, to the extent where most people I ...
Second paragraph of third story ("Celestial Intervention - A Gallifreyan Affair") with illiustration by Alexis Snell: The boy comes through my door like he has a grudge against it, smoke-eyed and pale, with a predator's smile. There's a ratty old chair in the corner of my office that I save for special occasions, like employment or sleep, and he falls into it with a boneless, theatrical slump, fingering the diamonds in his ear. Newly published collection of vaguely Christmassy stories set in the Whoniverse, by Irish YA author Dave Rudden (who I confess I hadn't heard of before). Single-author collections ...
Welcome to the second in this series that tries to explain the finances of Wokingham Borough Council! So this time I am going to have a stab at starting to tell you about what the council spends its money on. This is only about the spending – trying to deal with where it gets the money from as well would make this post waaaaay too long. There are two sorts of spend – revenue, which is all the stuff that recurs year after year, to keep services running – and capital – which is basically big projects and one-off spend. ...
Today the British Psychological Society's research digest has highlighted Lobato & Zimmerman's recently published research on how people reason about controversial (*) scientific topics. Their research asked participants to justify their position on evolution, climate change, genetically modified foods and vaccinations. The researchers found that 34% of participants simply restated their thoughts with no justification. [...] The post Is scientific knowledge about cancer controversial? appeared first on ten pence piece.
Tue 13th
15:15
The South East region: Increasing youth membership is essential for political survival.
Tilly Russell and I were elected as the new Young Liberals (YL) Regional Chairs for the South East; the first thing that we would like to say is a huge 'thank you' to everybody that voted for us. For us both, the region is one of those places that is close to our hearts. Both Tilly and I have lived here for the whole of our lives, it is and always has been our home. We've both worked here, studied here and campaigned here. We are both truly honoured that we were chosen to represent it, increasing youth engagement is ...
This is the text of the Saudi Arabia resolution, drafted by Prof. Paul Reynolds, which I successfully moved on behalf of the UK Liberal Democrats at the ALDE Party Congress in Madrid at the weekend: On Saudi Arabia The Congress of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party convening in Madrid, Spain, [...]
Tue 13th
12:32
Shropshire in crisis: Health special measures and service cuts, future could be "Armageddon" - is it...
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust is in special measures because patient safety is being compromised. Telford A&E will close overnight for safety reasons. Rural maternity units, including Ludlow, are closed for live births. For safety reasons. Shropshire Council is axing £4 million from its public health budge despite the opposition of the director of public health. The council's cabinet member for adult social care and public health is predicting "Armageddon" in public health services. Soon, the medics will be saying its not safe to live in Shropshire. It is beginning to feel that way. NHS Improvement has put Shrewsbury and ...
I chaired an event last night in a House of Commons committee room entitled "Brexit: what's next for the Left?" with panelists Femi Oluwole and Cathleen Clarke from OFOC, Khalid Mahmood MP, shadow minister for Europe (which I have to admit, I was unaware of pre-event. Wait, why does Labour even have a shadow minister for Europe now? There isn't a minister for Europe anymore, so who is he shadowing?), and Stephen Kinnock MP. It was a good chat, and everyone's contributions were thoughtful. However, what I personally took away from it was that Brexit might be an even bigger ...
I first wrote this eight years ago, and I share it every year during Anti-Bullying Week. I could write something else, but it took some emotional energy to write the first time and I'm not really up for putting myself through that again. Let's not put up with anyone being treated like this, whether at school, in the workplace or within politics. It's important that anyone in any sort of leadership role in any organisation has the skills to recognise and intervene to stop bullying and support those affected by it. It casts a very long shadow and destroys lives. ...
On Sunday I took part in the Remembrance Day parade and service in Whickham. For some years, the Whickham event has been the biggest in Gateshead and this year 50 wreaths were laid and over 1000 attended. I laid a wreath on behalf of my constituents.
I was invited to open the Sunniside Methodist Hall fair on Saturday. The chapel are keen to carry out renovation work of the hall and to make it more accessible as a community asset and venue for meetings for local groups and organisations. I was quite chuffed to be asked to perform the opening.
Mon, 12:56: RT @uk_domain_names: Ok, it's high time to look at the REAL effects of Brexit 1/50 #marr #ridge #pienaar #bbcsp #bbcnews #BBCPolitics #C4Ne... Mon, 16:05: RT @feemcbee: At the Moomin Cafe in Tokyo, if you go by yourself, they sit a Moomin with you so you won't be lonely 😢 https://t.co/yX3B7pOV... Mon, 18:56: Monday reading https://t.co/6Sutp0sRVi Mon, 20:48: RT @jburnmurdoch: This @nytimes cartogram is getting a lot of deserved praise, but I wanna talk about one particular design choice that is... Mon, 21:31: Stan Lee, former publisher of Marvel Comics, dead at 95 https://t.co/bqsqIrQ0B8 via @phillydotcom This really is ...
A History Of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs A genuinely fascinating podcast which you should all be listening to. Trans rights are human rights This is such an important piece by the president of our party FUNDED PLACES FOR SF WRITERS OF COLOUR TO ATTEND MILFORD 2019 | milfordsfwriters Of the 83 members of the Windrush generation who were removed from the UK, the Home Office has made contact with 42. The Home Office has been unable to contact 33. And 8 are dead. If you like what you see here (or even if you don't) please consider dropping ...
I was in the office last week to print our latest Focus. This is the edition for the four villages of Sunniside, Streetgate, Marley Hill and Byermoor. Issues covered include housing plans being granted in Sunniside and Streetgate, arson attack at Marley Hill bowling club, Whinnies garden bird of prey day, repairs to Ravensworth Castle, improvements to Sunniside Methodist hall , Sunniside
Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton, a former youth charity worker, has called for the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland to be raised to 14. The UN suggests that 12 should be an absolute minimum baseline. On both sides of the border, we fall short of this. In England and Wales, it's 10 and in Scotland just 8. The Scottish Government is putting forward legislation to raise it in line with the UN minimum guidelines, but Alex says that it doesn't go far enough: Scotland is the only country in the EU where children as young as eight can find ...
What did Faye think? www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxHYyayvxqg
Last week a marvelous thing happened which I have never seen before in my political life. A local community raised £40,000 to fight the Council at a Judicial Review which was held in the High Court in Manchester. This week ... Continue reading →
Jo Johnson's resignation underlines yet again the disaster that is Brexit. But the repeated call for a second referendum puts a high level of responsibility on the Remain camp to flesh out details and consequences. The Liberal Democrats, as the only party campaigning unequivocally for Britain's membership of the European Union, must take a lead. A second referendum would mark only the beginning of a momentum which must look far beyond the headlines and slogans of 2018. Let us speculate, therefore, that there is a second vote and we win. Then what? Could Remain celebrations really light up Britain's streets ...
I have long argued on this site that the UK Government's obsession with culling badgers is contrary to the science, and that all the evidence points to the fact that the methods they have adopted are potentially cruel, ineffective and unnecessary. It is gratifying therefore to find some support for this point of view in an independent review commissioned by the environment secretary, Michael Gove. The report's authors have concluded that frequent trading of cattle and poor biosecurity on farms is "severely hampering" efforts to tackle the crisis of bovine tuberculosis in England and that it is wrong to blame ...
Merseyrail Class 508 EMU at Maghull Station The Liverpool Echo has the story on its website – see link below This Echo article made me think of a journey from Liverpool to Maghull late one night a few years ago. There was a guy so stoned that he kept falling asleep whilst he was trying to eat his chips. He was a happy drunk but trying to stay awake long enough to find his mouth with a chip was a challenge and he entertained a number of his fellow travellers. I guess he would not even be allowed to ...
"Simplify your life. Don't waste the years struggling for things that are unimportant. Don't burden yourself with possessions. Keep your needs and wants simple and enjoy what you have. Don't destroy your peace of mind by looking back, worrying about the past. Live in the present. Simplify!" Henry David Thoreau As I have got older [...] The post Localism means we must simplify our language appeared first on Radix.
Responding to the news that NHS Digital has withdrawn from its immigration data-sharing arrangement with the Home Office, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said: "The Home Office should never have been forcing NHS staff to supply patients' data in the first place. Doctors and nurses' time should be spent providing healthcare to those who need it, not acting as border guards in Theresa May's hostile environment. "The Liberal Democrats demand better. We will completely scrap the Tories' hostile environment and instead invest in an accountable, intelligence-led Border Force to prevent people entering the country illegally and quickly identify ...
AGENDA FOR WEST END COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETINGTUESDAY 13th NOVEMBER 2018 AT 7.00PMLOGIE AND ST JOHN`S (CROSS) PARISH CHURCH HALL(ENTER FROM SHAFTESBURY TERRACE - OFF BLACKNESS AVENUE) 1. WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS AND APOLOGIES 2. MINUTE OF MEETING 9TH OCTOBER 2018 AND MATTERS ARISING 3. CORRESPONDENCE 4. POLICE SCOTLAND UPDATE 5. WASTE MANAGEMENT - PAUL RAEPER 6. PERTH ROAD UPDATE 7. PLANNING UPDATE - McClaren Group/Peterson Hall 8. WECC HIT LIST 9. OTHER MEETINGS ATTENDED ON BEHALF OF WECC 10. AOCB - MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC INPUT 11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING - Tuesday 11th DECEMBER 2018 Light refreshments will be provided
