The new episode of A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs is now up. This one's on "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price, but it's really about its producer, Dave Bartholomew, who turns 100 on Christmas Eve. Happy ... Continue reading →
An advertisement from the Diners' Guide in my Danny La Rue programme. 16 Irving Street is now home to the first UK restaurant of the Turkish grill chain Ali Ocakbasi.
I wanted to give an update on the 2018 Christmas Competition. We had twelve good submissions by 17th December. The articles have now been judged, and three were very close. I want to thank everyone who submitted an article. It was a shame that we didn't have more submissions from ladies. I want to thank David Warren for his articles, and I particularly liked the poem by Tony Harris, but the winner was ... Andrew Toye. A Waitrose hamper will be on its way to Andrew. Thank you again for all those who submitted an article and hopefully next year ...
Of all the unlikely pieces of news that have belaboured us in recent weeks, the news that Paddy Ashdown has died - with all his drive and vitality - seems in some ways the most unlikely. I admired him enormously, perhaps too much to know him as well as I would have liked. But he was party leader throughout my six years as editor of the party's weekly newspaper, so I was often in close touch with him. I first met him when I helped him with a green speech in 1989, after the Lib Dems were roundly trounced by ...
Of all the unlikely pieces of news that have belaboured us in recent weeks, the news that Paddy Ashdown has died – with all his drive and vitality – seems in some ways the most unlikely. I admired him enormously, perhaps too much to know him as well as I would have liked. But he [...] The post How badly do we need the Ashdown style now? appeared first on Radix.
"Anyone could talk to Paddy. If you were depressed, he cheered you up. If you lacked motivation, he provided it in bucket loads. If you were unsure of where our policies applied in the greater scheme of things, he would make it all seem so simple. He did it with a smile, a joke and often a pint in his hand." Richard Kemp pays tribute to Paddy Ashdown. Guy Verhofstadt on the reforms Europe needs. Paul Bernal examines Jacob Rees-Mogg's mastery of the techniques of fake news. Why is there a spike in deaths between Christmas and the New Year? ...
As a memorial to Paddy, read an article he wrote for the Independent in March 2017: Few in Britain voted to leave the single market; remaining in it was proposed by many Brexiteers and promised in the Conservative election manifesto. Estimates put the cost to Britain of this kind of "hard Brexit" as high as £200bn over 15 years. Already companies are leaving, taking with them livelihoods, expertise and the futures of many citizens. We are now embarked on a course that will bewilder future historians as the most remarkable example in modern history of a country committing an act ...
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at your local Liberal Democrat Focus Team!
When I trained as a teacher in the later 1950s it was implied that we should be proud that each individual school decided on its own curriculum and taught whatever the professional teachers, in discussion with the school governors, representing the community, thought was most suitable for the young people in that community. There were only two compulsory subjects: religious eduction (RE) and physical eduction ( PE.) For RE each local authority had an "Agreed Syllabus," presumably thrashed out between the local religious leaders. I've no idea how the PE syllabus was determined. At college, for primary schools we used ...
I have been hearing this quite a bit on the radio lately and I like it. Paradoxically, I have chosen the radio edit for its video - the long version is here. Let It Burn has a feel of 1970 about it, when folk and heavy rock and all sorts of other influences mingled happily. Maybe it's just the flute, but it even makes me think of Traffic.
On the eve of the 2017 party conference, Paddy wrote two articles for us about where the party should go from here. Part 1 is here.. In Part 2, he outlines four "dangerous ideas" we should explore. So, here, as promised are four dangerous ideas for the future. Please be clear. I am not necessarily proposing these. Just asking why we are not even discussing them? Dangerous idea 1 We are guiltily obsessed with student fees. The fact that we don't need to be, because the principle is right, does not make life easier (how I wish we had called ...
Courtesy of chetpancakes on Imgur comes this advance peek of British politics in the new year.
[IMG: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism] [IMG: Akaash Maharaj - iTunes] All of us can wield a power that those who would divide us will never know: an ability to make common cause out of our common humanity and our common dignity, and a determination to join hands across the divisions that beset the human condition, to create a better world in the image of the better angels of our natures.
You know these blue plaques you find on houses recognising former inhabitants of historical significance? It will probably not surprise you to realise that only 14% of them in the country's capital city remember women. Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon has long campaigned to change that. She's welcomed London Assembly members' support and call for people to nominate 100 women to be commemorated in this way. As part of this centenary year, the London Assembly is seeking to submit 100 nominations of women worthy of a Blue Plaque. Caroline Pidgeon has long supported ensuring more women are recognised ...
On the eve of the 2017 party conference, Paddy wrote two articles for us about where the party should go from here. Part 2 is here.. In Part 1 he challenges us to get thinking and bring forward new ideas. I am getting old. Like most old men I have a tendency to be grumpy and claim that things aren't as good as they were in the old days. Please bear this in mind when you read this. I was trained as a Commando officer so I don't know any other means of tackling a challenge than fix bayonets and ...
The last of six posts about my media and social media profile this year (previously: traditional media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Livejournal, Twitter). Facebook remains dominant among my social group, despite its well-publicised problems and issues. It takes some effort to delve into the metrics to find the most liked, commented and shared posts of the year, but here they are. My most shared original content (not that the content was originally mine, but I'm pretty sure that I was the first to post it to Facebook in this form) was this grumpy October post about Boris Johnson and engineering: My most ...
(Fifth of six posts: see also traditional media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Livejournal, and Facebook.) My most successful tweet of the year, topping the metrics for impressions, engagements, retweets, replies, media views and media engagements was a clip of Frans Timmermans, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, laying into Nigel Farage: Brilliant takedown of Nigel Farage by @TimmermansEU about #Poland in the European Parliament yesterday! pic.twitter.com/qFmCusPT84 — Nicholas Whyte (@nwbrux) March 1, 2018 My most liked Tweet was a report from Peter Capaldi's Q&A at London Film and Comic Con, where, in case I didn't mention it, I had a great ...
Homelessness can happen so easily. All it takes is for a landlord to decide to sell the home you have always lived in and you have nowhere to go. If you are a child in temporary accommodation, your toys and all of your family's furniture will be in storage. There will be no tree to put presents under. You could be in a bed and breakfast with all your family in one room with nothing to cook on. You could be in a cold, damp flat somewhere you don't know. You could be moved somewhere else at a moment's notice. ...
(Fourth of six posts: see also traditional media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.) As the tumbleweed grows deafening, I have stayed on LJ, entirely out of inertia. Some time Real Soon Now, I will switch to the Wordpress solution that a lot of other people are using. (yeah, I know, Dreamwidth; it doesn't have several of the features that keep me on LJ, and to be honest the stench of slow decay is detectable there too.) Six of my LJ posts got six or more comments this year. (Back in the glory days, there would be dozens of posts with ...
Few films merit the description "truly original", but Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt's Diamantino defies categorisation or comparison. The central story-line is deceptively simple: a super-talented and handsome Portuguese footballer (Carloto Cotta) with a childlike mind and understanding of the world has a kind of epiphany when he comes across a dinghy containing African refugees while out [...]
(Third of six posts: see also traditional media, Instagram, Livejournal, Twitter and Facebook.) LinkedIn doesn't make it all that easy to assess the impact of your posts, which is one of the reasons I am less active there than on other platforms. However, my most successful post of the year in terms of both likes and views (views only seem to go back a couple of months), and joint top number of comments, was the announcement that I am in the top 40 #EUInfluencers as measured by ZN Consulting and EurActiv. The second highest number of likes went to Helsingin ...
In his last speech to the House of Lords in January this year, Paddy had some strong words for both Donald Trump and the Brexiteers and some useful reflections on where the world should go from here. Here is the speech in full: My Lords, I will wait for noble Lords to perform the usual exodus. My noble friend Lord Campbell of Pittenweem has just said, "What we want is genesis, not exodus"—which may well be correct. I am privileged to lead this debate. For reasons that I will not bother the House with, I have been spending a lot ...
(Second of six posts: see also traditional media, LinkedIn, Livejournal, Twitter and Facebook.) My top post on Instagram, with 203 likes (no doubt due to cunning use of hashtags) was my first picture from the London Film and Comic Con in July. https://instagram.com/p/Bl0OtnJB7Al Second most popular, with 90, was a view from the walls of Dubrovnik into the main city from June: https://instagram.com/p/Bj12FC4gKJw And third, with 88, was a view of the Atomium in the mist a few weeks ago. https://instagram.com/p/BqkZiCmFum_ I am not an addict of Instagram, but I do enjoy it and have tended to find the atmosphere ...
RIP Paddy Ashdown 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
Sat, 19:35: Quite a tough one. Craig Hinton was a strong contributor to the glory days of Who spinoff fiction before his untime... https://t.co/xeOu8UQGCU Sat, 19:43: RT @Moedas: Saying goodbye to roaming charges was a game-changer: use of mobile data grew 5 times and phone calls roughly doubled. A real i... Sat, 21:28: BBC: Paddy Ashdown dies aged 77 https://t.co/RRlXeLhPZd I had heard that he was very ill, but hoped of course tha... https://t.co/0x353PSUga Sat, 21:32: RT @SebastianEPayne: Touching words from Sir John Major paying tribute to Paddy Ashdown: https://t.co/PNcJc2IOOQ Sat, 21:46: A Fortunate Life https://t.co/zus4ElPj22 My review of Paddy ...
I know that most of you reading this will be feeling the same as I am this morning – so incredibly sad that we have lost one of the best advocates for liberalism we have ever had. Paddy Ashdown was brilliant – a mix of compelling persuasiveness, charm, wit, and the ability to be a total pain when the occasion demanded it. He stood up for the right things at the right times whether they were popular or not. The architect of the original Lib Dem Fightback will be so, so missed. Back in 2014, after the Euro election results ...
Last night the death of Paddy Ashdown hit me quite hard. Perhaps it was the realisation that at the age of almost 66 I am only 12 years his junior. But actually, it was because even now, Paddy was one ... Continue reading →
December 22nd is a sad day for Liberal Democrats. In 1986, on this day we lost David Penhaligon. Yesterday, we lost Paddy Ashdown. I met Paddy and campaigned with him on a number of occasions. He was a man of extraordinary passion and energy, a great champion for the under-represented and the oppressed, deeply committed to social justice and a strong advocate for devolution and for Europe. He was an internationalist as much as he was a local politician, a statesman as much as he was a party leader, a patriot and a liberal. As Olly Grender says in her ...
As the centenary year of the end of WW1 is about to close I decided to have a close look at the war memorial that stands on the opposite side of the road to St. Helens Church in Sefton Village:- And here's a shot of the plaque denoting those who fell during the Great War from Sefton Parish – Note the loss of 3 people in the Wood family:- And then in a chance spotting within the extensive graveyard of the church I came across this grave:- One family (the Wood's) with 3 sons lost in consecutive years 1914, 1915 ...
Nick Clegg has paid tribute to "his" leader, the man who brought him into the party and then supported him throughout his career and throughout the darkest days of the coalition: My heart goes out to Jane and Paddy's whole family. Paddy was the reason I entered politics. He was the reason I became a liberal. And he became a lifelong mentor, friend and guide. Much will, rightly, be said about him in the days ahead. He was a soldier, a diplomat, a writer, a leader, a campaigner, a servant of his constituents, and an international statesman. But the thing ...
Increasingly, I'm finding myself spending time on a form of political matchmaking, trying to help would-be new Liberal Democrat activists find the best way to get involved in the party. I've written before about how existing activists can best get newer people involved, but this process has also made me increasingly aware that there's a set of tips about how to get involved that pretty much no-one ever tells would-be new activists. So this post is an attempt to put that right. Do let me have your feedback on it; I hope this post will evolve and improve over time, ...
It has been a bit of an up and down year for everyone, but can I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
Sun 23rd
07:32
Going to the bottle bank this Christmas? It could be your last chance before they are closed
Shropshire Council wants to close all its recycling bring banks across the county, including the six in Ludlow. The council says that usage has fallen and that people can use kerbside recycling. Usage has fallen but only by 17% over five years. Each bring bank collects more than 22 tonnes of recyclables every year. That's around 6% of household dry recyclables collected by Veolia. The council complains about contamination of recyclables and fly-tipping at bring banks but says it has no information on how often this happens. People use bring banks for a reason. Those that live in apartments often ...
The City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership has published a useful guide to winter maintenance arrangements in Dundee. You can download this here.
I first met Paddy Ashdown, who died yesterday from cancer at the age of 77, in a queue for coffee at a Liberal Party Assembly (probably his first?), some time after he had been adopted as candidate for what was assumed to be the "safe" Conservative seat of Yeovil, in Somerset. He had the advantage [...]
My first proper Paddy Ashdown memory was in the 1992 election. Paxman was giving him a manifesto grilling about whether the voters of Yeovil were crying out for the abolition of section 28 and equalisation of the age of consent. At a time when it was far from popular - the ink was still wet from Section 28 coming into law remember - Paddy put him back in his box as "we don't campaign for these things based on whether they are popular but because they are the right thing to do". I already knew I was too left wing ...
