Tories failing to act on modern slavery in car washes Lib Dems: Nobody should take lectures from Liam Fox Landmark conviction in fight to stamp out FGM Tories leading us to a Brexit wasteland Tories failing to act on modern slavery in car washes The Liberal Democrats have called for urgent action to tackle modern slavery in hand car washes after Conservative Ministers rejected a licensing scheme in their response to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Commission. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Ed Davey said: Yet again the Tories are failing to take the necessary action to tackle modern ...
A new series from Londonist. Looks promising.
It does not sound a fortune, but more vindication for the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse comes in the shape of this Guardian report: Child migrants from Britain sent thousands of miles from home to Australia in what was described as a "misguided" programme are to be given £20,000 (A$36,000) in compensation by the British government. Under the programme, more than 130,000 children were sent to a "better life" in former British colonies, mainly Australia and Canada, from the 1920s to the 1970s. The children, aged between three and 14, often faced a life of servitude and hard labour ...
What are the polls telling us about a snap election? Public Policy and the Past has some answers. Tom Arms examines the dangers of "anti-Elite" politics. "Stop and search is deeply toxic, especially when people feel that they are being stopped because of their class or ethnicity. Our research suggests that it is a critical part of the social process whereby riots occur. Unless we stop seeing stop and search as a solution rather than part of the problem, they will happen again." The psychologist John Drury says current policies are storing up trouble. "I often joke that out of ...
We're back for 2019 after a quiet January of by-elections. One by-election took place yesterday in Warlingham for Surrey County Council. In freezing weather, there was an unsurprising low turnout of 25% but a decent battle nonetheless. Surrey CC, Warlingham - 31st January 2019 Con 1199 [48.1%; -8.1%] LD Charles Lister 990 [39.7; +10.8%] UKIP 176 [7.1%; -2.9%] Lab 126 [5.1%; +0.3%] Turnout 25% Con Hold Percentage change from 2017 Liberal Democrat candidate Charles Lister put on a strong campaign and managed to increase his vote by 10.8%. This increase saw Charles come within 210 votes of the Conservative candidate ...
As with rather many science fiction catastrophe movies, to call the underlying science in The Day The Earth Caught Fire dodgy is too kind. However...
Fri 1st
17:46
Berlin Calling: A Story of Anarchy, Music, The Wall, & the Birth of the New Berlin, by Paul Hock...
Second paragraph of third chapter: You don't have to look very far in Berlin today to find traces of the gifted dilettantes and their creations; they're everywhere in the old stomping grounds, and beyond Berlin too. The protagonists of the post-Wall techno scene, for example, were embedded among them, experimenting with electronic music more than a decade before its global boom. And there's not an industrial offshoot worth its salt, from Marilyn Manson to Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails, that doesn't pay homage to Einstürzende Neubauten, the most renowned Berlin brand of the '80s. The Brilliant Dilettantes even managed to ...
[IMG: Do you procrastinate?] Procrastination is something that we all do. I was doing it myself till a few minutes ago. Instead of blogging I was staring out of the window at the falling snow. Therein lies one of... The post Do you procrastinate? appeared first on FeministMama.
The Lib Dem Focus Team in Pelaw and Heworth ward of Gateshead have just published their next eFocus. This is their 3rd edition and features: Dealing with anti-social behaviour Potholes fixed Good news for Bill Quay farm St Mary's Church clock repaired Update on the Council's Budget Helping the Focus Team You can read eFocus on this link.
The Liberal Democrats have called for urgent action to tackle modern slavery in hand car washes after Conservative Ministers rejected a licensing scheme in their response to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Commission [published 00:01 01 Feb 2019]. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Ed Davey said: "Yet again the Tories are failing to take the necessary action to tackle modern slavery, even though Theresa May once called it 'the great human rights issue of our time'. "Both a committee of MPs and the Government's own Director of Labour Market Enforcement have called for a trial licensing scheme to prevent ...
Another one to add to the long, long list of Leave campaigners breaking the law: The information commissioner has launched an audit into Leave.EU and the insurance company owned by the campaign's key financial backer, Arron Banks, after fining the organisations a total of £120,000 for data protection violations during the EU referendum campaign... Leave.EU was fined £15,000 for using Eldon Insurance customers' details unlawfully to send almost 300,000 political marketing messages, and a further £45,000 for its part in sending an Eldon marketing campaign to political subscribers. Eldon was fined £60,000 for the latter violation... The ICO will begin ...
So, Vince's The Leader column on the Party's website looks like it's becoming a regular thing. This week, he talks about Tuesday night's Brexit votes: If there is a big loser from yesterday it is Jeremy Corbyn; his speech was beyond abysmal, embarrassing to his own side. It was the culmination of two years of procrastination: sitting on the fence over Brexit. A Labour rebellion last night helped the government snuff out a whole series of constructive amendments which would have probably opened a way forward, perhaps to a People's Vote. So where do we go next? The Prime Minister ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @andreas_akt: Registration of non-Belgian voters for the 2019 European Parliament elections - it's really easy! https://t.co/gDoy6d3bNX... Thu, 14:55: RT @robertshrimsley: What I Iove about this is that every journalist who worked on local newspapers has always met someone who was petition... Thu, 17:45: Favourite guest star: I've said this already, but Derek Jacobi's brief appearance rules. https://t.co/3LWsVlLPjZ Thu, 20:43: January Books https://t.co/FtFTXoGjtX Thu, 22:06: RT @FinancialTimes: Gillian Tett: Trade is only half the battle. National security concerns could overshadow any breakthrough in US-China t... Fri, 00:41: RT @sjgeimer: fuckers https://t.co/jVKjauvvd7 Fri, 10:45: Great thread. https://t.co/t20ZjvXQ4S
For as long as I have been running this blog – and in fact, it was almost exactly five years ago that I started doing so – I have watched as mainstream media has become shriller and more polemic, trying to match the blogosphere in this respect in a chase for readership. I have seen investigative journalism sadly decline over that time period and, particularly in respect to Brexit, journalists and media figures either present information absurdly poorly or just as bad, not thoroughly questioning MPs or other figures who come on news programmes about either exaggerated or in some ...
Fri 1st
10:25
And this is why I spent 10 years trying to get this man elected to the Scottish Parliament
I wanted Alex Cole-Hamilton to be elected to the Scottish Parliament for a decade for many reasons, but one took precedence over all the rest – that he would be a fantastic voice for children and young people. Yesterday he proved why, arguing in committee for his amendment for the Scottish Government to raise the age of criminal responsibility from a "medieval" 8 to a much more civilised 14. The SNP Government would only go as far as 12. He lost, 5-2, but listen to his passionate arguments. After the vote, he said: The Scottish Government has found itself firmly ...
Fri 1st
09:53
Connect: 8 things Lib Dem activists should know about the Connect electoral database program
5. Don't share your Connect database login. Your Connect login is just for you to use, and what is done with it gets logged and recorded.
The Independent reports that the Northern Ireland Secretary has been accused of misleading MPs about human rights laws, after refusing to act on the province's bans on abortion and same-sex marriage. They say that Karen Bradley sparked a backlash when she announced she would not intervene, despite the Commons passing guidance requiring her to take into account "human rights obligations". She insisted both abortion and marriage law remained matters "for the devolved administration", and argued Belfast had responsibility for ensuring equal rights despite the Legislative Assembly at Stormont still being suspended, with no sign of it reconvening soon. The row ...
In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church called them heretics. They were excommunicated or burned at the stake. Hitler branded them Jews or Jew lovers and sent them to labour camps or to the gas chambers. During the Cold War era they were derided as the intelligentsia. In the Soviet Union they were pulled out of their positions as teachers, journalists and scientists and despatched to Siberian Gulags. In China they were given a little Red Book and sent to "re-education camps". In Cambodia they were murdered. Why? Because these people sought answers by asking questions. They challenged the accepted ...
Down here at grassroots, there is misunderstanding about what post-growth is. We need to understand this if we are to prepare ourselves and our local communities for it. Assuming, of course, that we believe that the future will be post-growth. Growth, as defined by GNP, is a figure which is supposed to tell us whether [...] The post How to plan ahead for a post-growth economy appeared first on Radix.
I hear that Formby Labour members voted for a 2nd Referendum recently. Not sure how comfortable or indeed uncomfortable that will make Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson. I also understand that at a meeting in Aintree on 15th February that the Constituency Labour Party will be debating a similar motion. I've been trying to find out what the MP's views on Brexit are but 5 e-mails to his office have so far not brought back any answers. I'm guessing that as the MP is a Shadow Minister in Corbyn's team that he will be compelled to take his lead ...
Two council by-elections this week and only one Liberal Democrat candidate. But things are better than that statistic makes it sound, for the contest without a Lib Dem is from the City of London Corporation, where independent candidates usually dominate. This time it is five independents and one SDP (modern, Eurosceptic variety) fighting to succeed an independent there. On then to the results... Billingsgate, City of London Go, SDP: IND Masojada: 52 IND Heath-Richardson: 25 IND Kent: 15 IND Raja: 9 IND De Suasmarez: 8 SDP: 0 — Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) January 31, 2019
Residents recently drew to my attention the fact a street sign at the entrance to Newhall Gardens has been knocked over - see photo (right) : I drew this to the City Council's attention and have now been advised : "An order has now been raised for the pole to be re-erected."
