As another week draws to a close, the opportunism of the Conservatives becomes more apparent, using the chaos of Brexit to disguise their true intent. And it isn't to make life better for ordinary people, or to fulfil the promises of the Leave campaign... Lib Dems: Boris still peddling mistruths on Brexit Lib Dems fight Tory threats to human rights Lib Dems: Final fig leaf of leave campaign falls off with Fox Lib Dems: Boris still peddling mistruths on Brexit Responding to the speech Boris Johnson made today, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said: No one will take lessons ...
Wikipedia tends to the bleak: The Cambridge to Mildenhall railway is a closed railway between Cambridge and Mildenhall in England. It was built by the Great Eastern Railway, and opened in two stages, in 1894 and 1895. Traversing thinly populated agricultural terrain, it was not heavily used. The GER introduced cost-saving measures on passenger trains, including push and pull trains and a conductor-guard system, and in 1922 opened three very basic lineside halts. The passenger service on the line was discontinued in 1962 and, except for a short stub, the line was closed completely in 1965. There is no railway ...
It's a nice problem for a local party to have: what to do with some new Liberal Democrat members. Here are some ways to make the most of that opportunity.
We've bought a Google Home Hub for the house. Now I ought to admit that it hadn't been something that had insinuated itself into my thought processes up until now, but as a means of organising our lives, and being generally useful, I'm beginning to see some advantages. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of a bureaucrat-made cup of tea will know that, having gone to the trouble of boiling water in a kettle and pouring it over a teabag pre-placed in a mug, I am perfectly capable of then forgetting all about it. This is, especially for people ...
Good news from the Shropshire Star and one of my favourite towns: A wolf sanctuary based in Shropshire has been given the go-ahead to expand. Visitors will be able to see the animals in their natural habitat after proposals for an educational facility were approved by planners. With the backing of Born Free actress Virginia McKenna, Wolf Watch UK applied to Shropshire Council for permission to build a holiday let and learning centre at its 100-acre sanctuary near Bishop's Castle.You will find out more about this project if you search the Wolf Watch UK website.
During the 2017 general election campaign I blogged about Jeremy Corbyn's cordial relations with the Provisional IRA. Though they had not been the trump card that the Conservatives expected - it was all too long ago for most voters attracted by him - I still found them hard to forgive. I quoted an earlier post where I wrote of the Provisionals' bombing campaign: I was working in London at the time shoppers and workers were being killed by it. The very least I expect from the party of the workers is that it condemns those who murder them. Rather to ...
[IMG: A Review of 'Pig Wrestling'] I love pigs. Actually, on second thoughts, I ought to be despising them because I was a huge fan of Pork curry till last year. Taking up mindful eating brought to mind little piglets being... The post A Review of 'Pig Wrestling' appeared first on FeministMama.
Fri 18th
19:32
Paddy Ashdown, Lib Dem strategy, Tim Farron's record and overseas elections: pilot podcast #2
Welcome to the second, and still possibly last, edition of a new political podcast featuring former Lib Dem Voice editor Stephen Tall and, er..., former Lib Dem Voice editor Mark Pack. We may still be without a name, but we are now with a better audio recording setup than for pilot episode number one. Listen and enjoy as we talk about Paddy Ashdown and how he compares with Jo Grimond, Liberal Democrat strategy, Tim Farron's time as party leader and elections overseas. As an added bonus, we manage the rare feat of talking politics without mentioning Brexit. Nearly. If ...
Layla Moran joins the Any Questions panel in Huddersfield (or Hoodezfield if you're American and listening to Jodie Whittaker talk about her home town) at 8pm this evening. Also on the panel is Richard Burgon, who was so rude to Jo Swinson the other night. Clearly Labour can sense the threat from us because of their failure to back a People's Vote. 1922 Committee Chair Graham Brady and the Economist's Anne McElvoy complete the line-up. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Second paragraph of third chapter:Inside was a teeming mass of bobbing heads and hoisted horns. He sank his weight onto the oak branch he'd whittled into a crutch and breathed in the familiar, happy sounds of the feis, the ancient gathering convened by the high king once every third year. Bone dice clattered, cheers spurred a chieftain crowing about his war feats, and a harp gantree [sic] silked [sic] through the smoky air. Niall smiled; this was his true ken, not some damp, lost lake. It felt good to be back among men.Well. This is pretty rubbish. It is set ...
One of the most popular tropes of the colonial era was that Britain rules the waves. But for the country that once boasted that it had an empire on which the sun never set, another metaphor is more apt today: Britain is all at sea. Ever since the shock result of the EU Referendum in [...]
Just published: Rejection of Brexit deal causes alarm across science community. A news analysis piece looking at the potential impact of a 'no deal' Brexit on the UK science community, following the defeat in Parliament of the proposed withdrawal agreement. ... Continue reading →
Responding to the speech Boris Johnson made today, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:"No one will take lessons from Boris Johnson on eroding trust in our democracy. The fact he is still peddling mistruths about money from Brexit going to our NHS is shameful. Brexit will make us poorer."As exit day approaches, with Theresa May's deal soundly defeated, extending Article 50 is the only responsible course of action left."We can then hold a people's vote with the option to remain in the EU. This could happen much sooner than has been suggested and dig the country out of the ...
First up, what the BBC did get from "a Cabinet source" about House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow: Ministers are furious at what they see as John Bercow's "bias" during Commons debates on Brexit. The move would break a tradition dating back 230 years, that former Commons Speakers are automatically offered a seat in the House of Lords. A Cabinet source said: "It's a good job peerage nominations are in our gift." They added: "I'm sure we'll be thinking carefully about which individuals we would choose to elevate to the House of Lords. "I can't imagine we would look favourably ...
My wife, Ruth, has had a collection of boxes, originally some 30 strong, in which she stored both personal and political stuff, waiting for the opportune moment to open them and sort out the treasure trove within. That job is now underway and there are minutes of both NLYL and ULS as well as a huge collection of newsletters produced by all manner of Liberal activists in the late sixties and seventies. Radical Bulletin, Gunfire, New Outlook, Liberator and a whole raft of local stuff from Young Liberal and Liberal Student groups from Scotland to Cornwall. It even included some ...
I welcome today's High Court judgement which will save part of Calderstones Park from being built on. I can only describe it as a victory of the People of Liverpool over the political elite that rules the Liverpool Town Hall. ... Continue reading →
Does the new Gillette ad mean we're winning? | Girl on the NetThe advert has angered Piers Morgan. Morgan's Law states that if something angers Piers Morgan then, no matter how complex the underlying debate we may have about its relative merits and drawbacks, it is fundamentally a good thing. [IMG: [personal profile] ] hollymath on LetterboxesI had to do a twitter thread on why it was reasonable for politicians to discuss letterboxes yesterdayYoung Trans Children Know Who They AreIsle Of Man Is Now The First Place In The British Isles To Decriminalise AbortionWoman ?refused? abortion will travel to United ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @apcoworldwide: With the recent UK #BrexitVote resulting in widespread doubts over the British Government's ability to finalize a deal b... Thu, 12:56: RT @alexstubb: Rough reading on a rough life. Learned a lot on Northern Ireland too. Hope we never go back to bad old times. https://t.co/a... Thu, 15:44: RT @AndrewDuffEU: When British politicians and @BBCRadio4 hacks say "take it off the table" what on earth do they mean? If they mean rescin... Thu, 16:05: The Malign Incompetence of the British Ruling Class https://t.co/UPyVaOJBIa Vicious, but mostly fair. Thu, 17:45: Saddest moment: All these years later, has ...
Fri 18th
10:25
LibLink: Alistair Carmichael: A People's Vote is the only way for our country to move forward
Alistair Carmichael emerges from the shadows of his Chief Whip's role to make the case for a People's Vote in the Herald in his own inimitable style. First he sets the scene. Instead of trotting out platitudes ("Brexit means Brexit" - remember that one?) and promising the undeliverable to the insatiable on her own right wing and the DUP (we shall leave the Customs Union AND have no hard border between the North and the South AND we shall have no border in the Irish Sea) she could have built a consensus in the House of Commons. There are two ...
The delay in building the £13bn Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant, which was announced yesterday raises a number of questions about UK energy policy and in particular whether Government needs to become more proactive to achieve their goals. According to the BBC the Welsh secretary, Alun Cairns said he was "confident" the plant would still be built on the Anglesey site and that it will be delayed by "potentially a small number of years". In my view that can only be the case if the UK Government is prepared to take on a substantial portion of the construction cost and, ...
British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal is dead. It is just not buried. The Prime Minister hopes to raise it Lazarus-like and present herself as a political Messiah. But her deal has been shot, knifed, strangled, knocked over the head with the candlestick and thrown into a ditch. To put the chances of a political miracle into perspective, let us look at the next worse defeat in modern British political history. The current British government lost by 230 votes. The next nearest defeat was in 1924. Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government had dropped a prosecution against John Ross Campbell, editor ...
"I will assert the privilege of yielding to the force of argument and conviction, and acting upon the result of enlarged experience. It may be supposed that there is something humiliating in making such admissions; Sir, I feel no such humiliation. I have not so much confidence in the capacity of man to determine what is [...] The post When Britain was ruled by statesmen... appeared first on Radix.
The role of local carers, and the support they require, has prompted the launch of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation's Trust's first carers' strategy at it's headquarters at Prestwich Hospital. The Strategy sets out how the Trust is working with partners in health, social care and the voluntary sector to support the thousands of Greater Manchester carers who look after people with mental health problems. The Strategy recognises and values the important work of family and friends, young and old, caring for people who need help due to a mental illness, addiction or dementia. It sets out how the ...
Shropshire Council has cut £48 million from its budget over the last three years under pressure of government cuts. It will need to cut, or in its words "save", £18.5m next year. The council has now set out details of the proposed cuts and is asking for public comments. Under the proposals, recycling will get more difficult and households will pay twice over for garden waste. This is bound to cut the proportion of waste that is recycled, a proportion that is already falling. The council is also proposing cuts to the planning team, along with culture and leisure services. ...
