Lib Dems: Tories failing on air pollution New figures released today by the Department for the Environment show that emissions of air pollutants have not dropped significantly over the past three years, despite the Government promising to tackle air pollution as a priority. Responding to the figures, Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, said: These figures show that this Tory Government is failing to tackle air pollution, which they described themselves as 'the biggest environmental threat to public health.' Long-term exposure to these emissions can cause heart and lung problems as well as potentially contribute to cancers, with the young ...
I was in the Lib Dem office in Consett yesterday and today printing a load of literature for Birtley, Whickham North and Dunston Hill and Whickham East wards. Tomorrow, I will be delivering some of what I produced. I hope the weather is as good then as it was today.
This video is a bit murky, but it contains an extract from Shoestring that brings together two great television performers. Before he played Harold Steptoe, Harry H. Corbett was a revered method actor - the British Brando. And Trevor Eve did not use to be angry all the time. Eve also appeared in a film with Albert Steptoe - Wilfrid Brambell - but you will need IMDB to tell you which.
We must rebuff the calls to scrap GCSEs and A levels, says Mark Lehain, because they ensure every child gets a broad and balanced education until 16. In the 1960s British Black TV drama was sharp, hard-hitting and streets ahead of America. Steve Rose asks what happened to it. Gillian Darley on a Tolstoyan commune in Essex. Backwatersman reviews Stephen Fay and David Kynaston's biography of John Arlott and E.W. Swanton. The England opener Peter Richardson emerges as a hero for his teasing of the latter. He "continued to vex him by submitting accounts of the doings of fictitious public ...
I know we are supposed to believe that every single day in school is precious and one lost is never recovered, but that is bollocks. It was great to see schoolchildren protesting about climate change today. In an age when MPs behave like spiteful children, someone has to play the adult.
It was announced today that Andrew Neil is giving up presenting This Week and the BBC is taking the opportunity to scrap the programme. There was a time when I never missed This Week. The problem, as a confirmed hater of Question Time, was how to fill the 20 minutes between Newsnight ended and it began. Then I got older and realised that I could go to bed and watch it on iPlayer the next day. Then I gave up watching it at all. There were always too many "funny" items that weren't funny - step forward Kevin Maguire and ...
Fri 15th
19:08
Tony Greaves writes..."There really is no Planet B" Scenes from the Schools 4 Climate action demo
Fantastic atmosphere in Parliament Square today as some thousands of mainly school students gathered to protest against what is happening to our climate and our planet. This was one of the most extraordinary demonstrations I have witnessed. There was none of the usual organisation, attempts at order and regimentation, agenda of speeches and actions. No stewards and precious few police, who were clearly taken unawares by the scale of the protest and were standing around looking a rather lost at how to cope with quite a big disruption with no organisers to talk to! People just turned up, often in ...
Here are the latest general election voting intention figures from each of the main pollsters currently polling in the UK. As you can see, from a situation earlier in the year where it was a case of 'YouGov puts the Conservatives ahead, but that's not the picture from other pollsters', it is now a case of the majority of pollsters putting the Conservatives ahead. Polling company Con Lab LibDem Ukip Green Con lead Fieldwork Method BMG 36% 36% 12% 6% 5% 0% 8-11/1 Online ComRes 38% 37% 10% 6% 3% 1% 16-17/1 Online ICM 39% 40% 9% 5% 3% -1% ...
So we're heading for a no-deal Brexit. That, at any rate, is the mood music this week from well-informed observers like ITV's Robert Peston and Huffington Post's Paul Waugh. Waugh's account is particularly eye-catching for its claim that Theresa May's preference for a cliff-edge Brexit is motivated by the need to preserve Conservative party unity: One source says: "She's been told - 'You need to understand prime minister, it's very simple maths - the ERG [European Research Group] will fuck you, fuck the Conservative party and they will throw themselves over a cliff. Your Remainer colleagues will not'. It's who's ...
Fri 15th
13:58
Ground Wars - Personalized Communications in Political Campaigns by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
If you have been involved in grassroots electoral campaigning, reading Rasmus Kleis Nielsen's study of the grassroots part of two Democrat campaigns from the 2008 Congressional elections in the US is likely to produce a mix of two responses.
Fri 15th
11:55John Leech: Lib Dems will oppose Labour's fines for homeless people till the end of time
Rough sleepers in Manchester are to be hit with fines of up to £1,000 as part of Labour's latest social cleansing plans. Former Lib Dem MP John Leech who is now one of Manchester's two Lib Dem councillors and the only opposition to Labour in City Hall, vowed that the party would 'oppose it until the end of time'. I want to be absolutely crystal clear; Liberal Democrat councillors in Manchester will oppose this crap until the end of time. https://t.co/P8yp8ibwgJ — John Leech (@johnleechmcr) February 12, 2019 He said: Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester Council, described Christmas as ...
Former Royal Marine Commando Bruce Wilson has been selected by the Liberal Democrats as the party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for Edinburgh North and Leith.
Thu, 12:56: RT @alanbeattie: Roses are red, Violets are blue. Sugar is an interesting example of how what ought to be an efficient global commodity m... Thu, 16:05: RT @benjaminbutter: We need to stop pretending the coverage of trans people in the media is a 'debate'. It's abuse. The smears linking tran... Thu, 17:11: Very sad, well worth reading. https://t.co/tYdo7L9aQA Thu, 18:11: Very important thread. https://t.co/VARl8jJ3nj Thu, 18:18: RT @BBCkatyaadler: Frustration and #Brexit despondency reign right now in EU circles. "This new round of EU-UK negotiations is essentially... Thu, 20:48: Brexit: Government admits it has 'run out of time' to ...
We know that there is going to be a leadership election at some point in the not too distant future. Vince said as much last year when he launched his plans for a supporters scheme. He said: Once Brexit is resolved or stopped, that will be the time to conduct a leadership election under the new rules. Those new rules will be voted upon by the York Conference next month. We're not going to get a leadership election imminently and of course nobody has yet announced their candidacy. But we can make an educated guess about likely front-runners. In 2017, ...
Fri 15th
09:39
Following the latest government defeat, here's what the latest Number 10 press statement really mean...
Right, so for those of you still desperately trying to keep up with what's going with Brexit in the House of Commons, the government lost another vote last night. This has become so commonplace as to not qualify as news on its own anymore (remember when a government defeat was really newsworthy? I look back with bliss). Anyhow, trying to explain where that leaves Brexit now is too impossible to try and explain. As in, I could give it a try, but by the time I was 1,000 words in, all of you will have given up already. Instead, I'm ...
As the Times reports, the decision by many school pupils to go on strike today is causing some controversy. The paper says that some parents are undecided about whether to allow their children to break the rules to campaign, while others have accused schools of withdrawing permission under pressure from local authorities. Some schools that had told parents that children could have a day off were told by councils to take a harder stance: They say that parents could be fined £60 if they permit their child to take unauthorised absence. Some pupils said that teachers had turned a blind ...
Lib Dem MPs have been out and about in the media this week. Christine Jardine took Labour to task for their abject failure to oppose the Government properly. Layla took to Twitter to give a Valentine's Day message – and she mentioned the possibility of revoking article 50 if we get to March 29th and there is still no deal. Like Christine before her she talked about May's game of chicken with the country. Definitely a theme here. . Valentines Day update [IMG: 💛] Nothing has changed, but here's my latest thoughts on this Brexit mess... in short we need ...
Fri 15th
08:48
Liverpool – What's going on? – Our society is really sick when people get treated like t...
The Liverpool Echo has the article on its web site – see link below Is it me or have we become more selfish and intolerant in recent times? And why do some people feel the need to make fun of, intimidate and even attack those who look or speak differently to themselves? What fuels all this fear and loathing? When I was at school in Maghull and there was a large epileptic colony in the Town I recall some youngsters making fun of the epileptics, some of whom had physical disabilities as well. As I grew up I realised ...
