This is seriously scary: an abandoned railway tunnel under the centre of Chesterfield. Disused Stations has some photographs of Chesterfield Central station and the tunnel mouth.
Having completed another meeting of the Federal International Relations Committee, featuring an exploration of the distant reaches of Article 7 of the Federal Constitution of the Party, your editor's mind turns to press releases... Moran: Gov must recognise state of Palestine Cable: Prokopchuk's Interpol position is still 'an insult to the victims of the Salisbury attack' Sanctions needed to get Matthew Hedges home Davey: PM must publish immigration white paper now Lib Dems announce Siobhan Benita as London Mayoral candidate (covered separately here) Lib Dems lead fight to protect vulnerable people in care Davey: Something going very wrong in energy ...
Lord Bonkers once shared with me his theory that Paddy Ashdown had been planted on the Liberal Party by the intelligence service. "As he was so much more effective than anybody we came up with, we made him leader." Friday Sad news from Somerset: Sir Paddy Ashplant is unwell. I still recall with pleasure our first meeting, at Bonkers House in Belgrave Square, which I shared in these diaries when he stood down as Liberal Democrat leader: Shortly preceded by a stun grenade and an impressive quantity of smoke, he had burst in through the French windows. After I had ...
"Not only are the Welsh investing in teachers, but they are also protecting rural schools. Kirsty Williams introduced a new, stronger code last week which includes a presumption against the closure of rural schools." Kirsten Johnson says we can learn a lot from the Welsh Lib Dem education secretary, The resources of nature belong to everybody, argues an article in Progress. Mustafa Nayyem, who helped spark Ukraine's revolution five years ago, has seen the activists of Maidan pressured, isolated, and murdered. Anna Nemtsova meets him. Gillian Darley is puzzled that the Southbank Centre, and the Royal Festival Hall in particular, ...
Alongside the news of Siobhan Benita's selection as the party's candidate for Mayor of London, the Liberal Democrats have published the results of the selection of prospective candidates for the London-wide top-up list.
And we have Team London. Here are the Liberal Democrat candidates for the London Assembly List in 2020. It's great to see such a diverse team. It's no surprise that the brilliant Caroline Pidgeon topped the poll. New Merton Councillor Hina Bokhari, who wrote about her first 100 days here, got to second place with an energetic campaign on the ground and on social media. Lewisham's Lucy Salek, who got such a good result in the by-election earlier this year, is in third. Outgoing London Regional Chair Chris Maines is fourth and Federal Board Vice Chair Joyce Onstad is fifth. ...
Siobhan Benita has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor. The election takes place in 2020 so she will be able to build on the high profile she built in 2012 when she ran as an Independent. Then, she ran a really impressive campaign and came within 8000 votes of our Brian Paddick. Here's her campaign video where she talks about what she wants to achieve in London: Siobhan beat Lucy Salek, Dinesh Dhamija and Rob Blackie. It was really good to see on social media that they all had dinner together last night. As a former ...
I've been trying to find the public footpath that starts (or finishes) at the junction of Bells Lane/Altcar Lane* right on the boundary of Lydiate and Great Altcar. It runs from this point in a southwesterly direction over the Cheshire Lines/Trans Pennine Trail footpath/cycle path and then on via Showicks Bridge to Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve. Actually, it's just the short section of it from Bells Lane/Altcar Lane to the Cheshire Lines Path that I'm trying to trace because when I travel along the CLP I can't find it at all. Below is a photo of the general area of ...
The Liberal Democrats are delighted to announce that Siobhan Benita will be the party's candidate for the London Mayoral elections in May 2020, and will lead the campaign for the London Assembly elections.
Second paragraph of third chapter: 'Too long?' I had given him a straighforward [sic] two-page description of the wedding, scribbled on the ride back to New York. The newly wed couple had departed at dawn in Madame's yellow coach with six horses to visit the Colonel's nephew, Governor Edwards, at Hartford, Connecticut. Yes, I am trying to be a journalist, mentioning all facts. This turned out to be a surprisingly timely read. Gore Vidal tells the story of Aaron Burr through a young journalist, Charlie Schuyler ("not one of the Schuylers"), who downloads Burr's version of his career in the ...
The Royal Mail was privatised back in 2013, in common with previous privatisations the model used was to move a monopoly type industry into the private sector at the same time leaving elements of that monopoly firmly in place. Royal Mail was given an ongoing requirement to collect and deliver throughout the UK six days a week and regulated to ensure it did so. In addition, competitors wishing to provide an alternative letter delivery service have to apply for a license. The regulator also has powers to control prices and access to the Royal Mail network. In the years that ...
Last week was the meeting of Bury Council's Cabinet, and earlier this week the meeting of the Council's Audit Committee. Both meetings considered the mid-year financial report for the Council which raise some very concerning issues. Councillor Tim Pickstone was at the Cabinet, Councillor Steve Wright was at the Audit Committee: Both meetings heard that the Council is currently estimating a roughly £3.5 million overspend for the current financial year, which would take the Council's usable reserves down to just £2.5 million. At both meetings we raised concerns about the significantly more worry size of overspending that is behind this ...
Northern Fail and TPE have 25% and 30% of trains either delayed or cancelled in October If this was happening darn sarf it'd be a national crisis - it WAS, see Thameslink - but up here we're just expected to put up with it, month after month after month. Theresa May: I'm not a 'queue jumper', I'm a hard-working European who loves Britain Moving piece by Alex Andreou. I expect it'll fall on deaf ears tho. 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 ...
Amongst the chaos of last week, there were two events which stood out for me as changing the terms of the Brexit debate. The first was Theresa May's statement outside Downing Street in which she acknowledged that one choice open to us if we rejected her deal, was "no Brexit at all". The second was a clip from James O'Brien's LBC show in which Bill rings up in tears because of his regret at his vote for leave in the Referendum. This has been very widely shared on social media, and it seems to have struck a real chord with ...
Tue, 12:56: If You're Online, You're Getting Scammed https://t.co/moZRbMcll3 Five widespread online scams - including RFID-bloc... https://t.co/jlnfCaSbNy Tue, 13:42: At presentation on @EBRD Transition Report hosted by @GwilymCJones. Much fascinating information, on migration, dem... https://t.co/6lEYgis5LT Tue, 13:51: RT @ManufacturingNI: We read, analysed and backed the Agreement before we had any discussion with the NIO. Brexit: Sammy Wilson says UFU... Tue, 14:43: RT @AlexRPigman: On Brexit, from our @vestager interview today: "You just don't drift away thousands of kilometers and become another nati... Tue, 16:05: Even if you are not a darts fan, this is great writing. https://t.co/E3DCkmdEqz Tue, 16:35: RT ...
Wed 21st
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How the Lib Dems nearly promised a whole £12 extra for the NHS: Liberal Democrat Newswire #118
Liberal Democrat Newswire #118 has the story from Phil Cowley of the Liberal Democrat manifesto for the general election that wasn't in 2016. It promised a whole £12 extra for the NHS.
Just to report back on a number of local issues that have been raised by residents in recent weeks: White Lines Nursery Road / Bury Old Road Thank you to residents who have raised the issue of the faded white lines on Bury Old Road at the junction with Nursery Road. The 'turn right' filter line had almost become invisible with genuine safety concerns with cars were waiting to turn right in the middle of the road. Thanks to residents raising this we have now been able to get the Council to re-paint the lines. White Lines, Longfield Centre Car ...
Healthwatch Bury is asking for your experience of accessing GPs and GP appointments. Healthwatch is an independent, publicly-funded organisation. They have statutory duties and a remit to ensure health and social care services in Bury are the best they can be for people, now and in the future. During 2017/18, general practice represented one of the most common areas the people of Bury had been telling Heathwatch about. A significant proportion of this feedback related to the experiences in accessing an appointment with a doctor. The aim of Healthwatch Bury's 2018 'GP Access and appointments' survey is to understand people's ...
Clean Team Prestwich have confirmed the location of their next community clean. This is Sunday 2 December 2018, 9.30am meet at the Sainsbury's Local in Sedgley Park. Litter pickers and bin bags are provided, please dress appropriately for the weather! More information at their Facebook Page here.
This is Road Safety Week 2018. Nationally the campaign this year is focussing on teaching younger people to use our roads safely. With over 20,000 people injured each year in road accidents make sure you get involved and spread the message. You can use the hash tag #SaveKidsLives and share the brilliant resources. See the resources here. In Greater Manchester, T4GM is using the week to focus on being 'Bike Safe', urging drivers to: – Slow Down: Give yourself more time to spot danger and react. – Avoid 'car dooring' cyclists by using your opposite hand to open the door. ...
Just who do the Taxpayers' Alliance represent? It is a question that has been asked on many occasions. In particular, where do they get their funding from? Some of these questions are answered in this article in the Guardian, which reports that despite claiming to be an independent grassroots campaign representing ordinary British taxpayers, the Alliance has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign donations. They say that the Taxpayers' Alliance has received at least $286,000 (£223,300) from US-based donors in the last five years, including $100,000 originating from a billionaire-founded religious trust incorporated in the Bahamas. They add ...
This post is taken from the introduction to Richard Black's new book Denied, published today... This is the story of a coup-d'état that failed. A coup against science, against the will of peoples from the Arctic to the Equator, against nature itself. A coup attempt that, although it has failed, may have damaged the interests [...] The post How the climate contrarians finally lost the battle appeared first on Radix.
Over the past few days, there have been all sorts of stories leaking out of the Great George Street bunker about the appalling and depressing state of the finances of our Federal Party. All of which begs the question, "Why are we in Great George Street at all?" I have no idea what the rent is or the rates are on that building, but I know that it is situated in one of the most expensive areas for real estate in the whole of the UK. I also know that London is the most expensive place for employers in the ...
From the City Council : TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (SCOTLAND) ACT 1997 DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL (LUNA PLACE, DUNDEE) (STOPPING-UP) ORDER 2018 Dundee City Council hereby give Notice that they have confirmed an Order under Sections 207 and 208 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, authorising the stopping-up of lengths of roads, footpaths and footways situated at Luna Place, Dundee. A copy of the Order and relevant plan specifying the lengths of roads, footpaths and footways to be stopped up may be inspected at the office of the Head of Democratic and Legal Services, Dundee City Council, 20 ...
