A bit late as I've been busy over the past week so editing my video diary is a bit behind schedule. This video is from Monday 4th March. I was at corporate resources committee in the morning and spent the afternoon delivering target letters.

Posted by jonathanwallace on Jonathan Wallace

One of the most interesting points about today's political events in Parliament was who said what. Note that Theresa May mentioned a number of options that MPs will have to consider over the next few days included the R word. In effect she said MPs may have to consider voting for a referendum on the Brexit deal. Yet, when Corbyn spoke as "Leader" of the Labour Party, he made no mention at all of

Posted by jonathanwallace on Jonathan Wallace

Part 6 of this series takes us down the Thames to Springhead, the Roman town of Vagniacae, near Gravesend.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

I took this photograph on one of my visits to Royal Deeside, where my ancestors are remembered. The pyramid you can see among the trees on the hill behind bears the inscription: To the beloved memory of Albert the great and good Prince Consort. Erected by his broken hearted widow Victoria R. 21st August 1862.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

At the weekend, Jo Waltham was selected by the Devizes Liberal Democrats to be their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: Image result for theresa may] Theresa May (Photo: BBC) And so, the inevitable has finally happened. There was never any other realistic outcome since 23rd June 2016. David Cameron was never going to hang around once his ill-conceived attempt at simultaneously uniting his party on Europe while neutralising UKIP's threat backfired spectacularly. And whoever became PM following Cameron's resignation was going to have to inherit his impossible legacy. Yes, Theresa May has proved inept beyond belief, but it is questionable whether Andrea Leadsom, Boris Johnson or Michael Gove would have fared any better in No. 10. Ultimately all of ...

Posted by Andrew on A Scottish Liberal

Well, more than by I thought. That was pretty emphatic. Theresa May is making a statement and is now making the No Deal vote tomorrow a free vote. That means that Cabinet members will be able to vote against no deal and keep their jobs. She confirms that the No Deal vote goes ahead tomorrow night and if the House declines to leave with no deal, the extension to Article 50 vote will happen on Thursday. Surely this just shows the need to put this back to the people. Vince's first comment: The Prime Minister's authority is in tatters while ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

When I wrote recently on my blog about Gateshead Council coming down on an errant publican about planning rules being ignored while building a gigantic car park themselves without planning permission, I was pleased to see it taken up by the Chronicle, our regional daily newspaper. The ripple effect goes on however! Private Eye are now featuring the issue. And it all started on this blog!

Posted by jonathanwallace on Jonathan Wallace

I'm a heavy user of email filters; almost everything that is emailed to me gets sorted and categorised before I even see it. Here is a picture of my Gmail sidebar as it currently stands: All the labels except Starred, Sent, URGENT and Politics are set to only show up on the list if there is something new in the label. This means the sidebar doesn't become too unwieldy - I have almost 30 labels. Politics and Sent are ones I dip into often enough that I always want them to be there; Starred are ones where I need to ...

The Finnish Basic Income experiment ended at the start of the year, and preliminary results have now been reported publicly. Certain sections of the press blared out that the trial, which paid 2000 unemployed people an unconditional €560/month income for two years, was a "failure" - but was it? It is true that the experiment did not lead to significant increases in the experiment group finding work, but should we be judging the success or failure of a benefits system solely by whether it pushes people into any job that can be found? Our values and policy as Liberal Democrats ...

Posted by James Baillie on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov

I chair the Federal Committee that designed the structures for the Supporter Scheme. My committee members worked incredibly hard on these discussions, reading long reports and complex spreadsheets and interpreting data to come to the best decisions for this new project. On almost everything we reached consensus views. The one area where there was no consensus was the most controversial question – whether these new supporters should be allowed to vote in Party Leadership elections. I absolutely understand why this is a difficult issue. There are good, sensible reasons to pause and worry. I was very against the idea at ...

Posted by Miranda Roberts on Liberal Democrat Voice

In the late 1940s and early 50s the cinemas put on "Saturday Morning Pictures" for we kids. There were highly comical "shorts" by Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello et al, various other bits and pieces, and always a serial, usually a Cowboy. This invariably had a weekly "cliff hanger" ending, though usually, rather than falling off a cliff, it was the heroine or similar tied to a railway line as an express, belching smoke and steam, rapidly approached. This was to ensure that we turned up, complete with our threpences (three old pence) the following week. It is hugely ...

Posted by Peter Wrigley on Keynesian Liberal
Tue 12th
11:00

My tweets

Mon, 12:56: Lying. https://t.co/SfqE0QIAho Mon, 13:25: Good discussion at end of last week. Who knows how things will look by the end of this week??? https://t.co/7OrxLPyhC1 Mon, 13:54: RT @asabenn: "To borrow Donald Tusk's terms: there is a special place in hell for MPs who voted for Article 50 yet now refuse to endorse th... Mon, 16:05: James Meek on Brexit and the myth of St. George https://t.co/x19GC6rXn2 Good thoughtful piece. Mon, 17:11: Kevin Barry: The belligerence and brilliance of Flann O'Brien https://t.co/medfJ8IpmO Great piece about a great biography of a great writer. Mon, 18:46: Thread. https://t.co/Vo51m1T2Iy Mon, 19:10: RT ...

The BBC reports on a tweet by Trade and Invest Wales, a Welsh Government marketing initiative, which sought to attract foreign investment to Wales by saying wages are lower than in other parts of the UK. The body told potential investors that Wales' workforce often has "up to 30% lower salary costs". The problem with this approach is manifest. Not only are we effectively seeking to sell the country to investors on the basis that we are poorer than everybody else, and that as a result wage rates are lower, but we are also seeking to compete with other low ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

I was heading to my bed on Saturday night when I saw this tweet from Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton: Not your average Saturday night. I had to partially resuscitate Darcy (4) after she swallowed a coin. Blue lighted to Sick Kids and had coin (E50 cents) removed under general anaesthetic. Staff have been wonderful and so good to Darcy. Heroes all. pic.twitter.com/Gt98Vg9PHf — Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP (@agcolehamilton) March 9, 2019 Scary, scary stuff. The thought of my child choking was probably one of the things that scared me most. I made sure I knew what do do if that ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

At our last Council meeting before the elections in Liverpool Councillors who have given more than 8 years' service and will not be standing for re-election are allowed to speak for two minutes to say their good byes. This provided ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

Most Liberal Democrats will live their lives in blissful ignorance of a weekly publication called the Methodist Recorder, to which I occasionally contribute book reviews. This week one of its more conservative readers, a retired minister (in Methodist parlance a "supernumerary" like me, which I think means "surplus to requirements") appeared on the letters page raising some interesting points about extremism. He was concerned about one of the demands at the school pupils' strike over climate change which he claimed had nothing to do with climate change. This was the demand for the voting age to be lowered to 16. ...

Posted by Geoff Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice

Just to let residents know about seven recent planning applications in our area . Please just let us know if you have any queries. Single storey rear extension 67 Glebelands Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1WF Ref. No: 63885 | Received: Tue 05 Mar 2019 | Validated: Tue 05 Mar 2019 | Status: Registered Lawful development certificate for proposed conversion of the existing building which is currentl... 399 Bury Old Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1PS Ref. No: 63881 | Received: Mon 04 Mar 2019 | Validated: Mon 04 Mar 2019 | Status: Registered Single storey extension to rear 8 Westholme Road, ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

Last night, Theresa May flew to Strasbourg to have a meeting with Juncker, this being the 11th hour so many Brexiters have predicted would be the moment of total EU capitulation. Both May and Juncker emerged triumphant at a press conference late last night, the British prime minister declaring that she's got the deal now that everyone can unite around. Has she? Well, that depends, as ever, on the brainpower and collective naivety of the ERG group. She has leaned on this in the past and got what she needed – the best example being in December 2017, when she ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

A recent article in the Guardian by Caroline Lucas highlights the problems we face with climate change. Only 40 MPs attended a debate on climate change in the House of Commons. Why? It's tempting to fall back on the usual explanations – nobody cares; nobody wants to do anything about climate change; everyone is in denial. These [...] The post Getting to 'yes we can' on climate change appeared first on Radix.

Posted by Joe Zammit-Lucia on Radix
eUKhost
Tue 12th
08:25

Open your Eyes to Knives

Following recent events across Greater Manchester and the rest of the country, Greater Manchester Police is urging members of the public to 'open your eyes to knives' to raise awareness of the dangers of knives and bladed articles hidden in our communities. The campaign runs alongside Operation Sceptre, a national week of action running this week 11 - 17 March and alongside GMP's operations over the coming weeks and months to tackle knife crime, incorporating tactics including hotspot targeting and stop and search. If you have concerns about someone you know or care about carrying or hiding a knife, or ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone
Tue 12th
08:20

What's in the Box?

Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority have published an awareness campaign about things that shouldn't be in our paper and card re-cycling bin. They say: Most people in Greater Manchester are great at recycling all they can from all over their homes. However, sometimes people forget to empty their cardboard boxes before putting them in the paper and card bin. All of these things aren't made of paper or card, so they don't belong in your paper and card bin: Polystyrene packaging Bubble wrap Old electrical appliances Food Nappies Where do they go? Nappies, polystyrene, bubble wrap and any other plastic ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

Our country's fate will tonight be decided by the right wing of the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. That, really, is not a good place for us to be in. And let's not forget those Labour MPs who will choose to back the deal to get us out of the EU. They are unlikely to face any consequences from their leadership for doing so. They may take whatever fig leaf Theresa May has begged from EU leaders as the only way to keep Brexit alive. If the deal goes down tonight, the momentum is with those of us ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

A North West author Catherine Isaac is due to give a reading from their latest novel at Prestwich Library on 28 March 2019. This is part of the annual Read Regional campaign which celebrates selected new books from the North of England. Catherine Isaac will be talking about her book "You Me Everything". This concerns a single mother called Jess, who sets off with her ten-year-old son William to spend a summer in the Dordogne, where her ex-boyfriend Adam - William's father - runs a restored chateau as a hotel. The trip is not merely a holiday: Jess is fulfilling ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

Given all the talk about political faultlines changing, progressive alliances and the like, it's perhaps surprising how few electoral pacts have occurred at local government level in the last couple of years. Cross-party cooperation: lessons from Paddy Ashdown's tenure as Lib Dem leaderHow Paddy Ashdown tried to make cross-party cooperation work during his time as Liberal Democrat leader - and the lessons for contemporary politics. more There was only a handful between Liberal Democrats and Greens last year and the year before, most notably in Richmond in south west London but very rare elsewhere. That's despite the multi-member nature of ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The Community Council meets this evening at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall at 7pm - all residents welcome! Here's the agenda : WEST END COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETINGTUESDAY 12th MARCH 2019 AT 7.00PMLOGIE AND ST JOHN`S (CROSS) PARISH CHURCH HALL(ENTER FROM SHAFTESBURY TERRACE - OFF BLACKNESS AVENUE) 1. WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS AND APOLOGIES2. MINUTE OF MEETING 11TH DECEMBER 2018 AND MATTERS ARISING3. CORRESPONDENCE4. POLICE SCOTLAND UPDATE5. WESTFEST6. PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE MAGDALEN GREEN - Calum Robertson7. PERTH ROAD UPDATE - 8. PLANNING UPDATE 9. OTHER MEETINGS ATTENDED ON BEHALF OF WECC10. AOCB - MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC INPUT DATE OF NEXT MEETING - ...

With Spring Conference just days away, Federal Conference Committee met on Saturday for the almost-final selection of amendments and Emergency and Europe motions. You can see the full text of what we selected in Conference Extra. Unfortunately, time is always the biggest factor when selecting amendments, and we simply can't select all those that come to us. The list of unsuccessful amendments is below, along with those we will be debating. For those less familiar, there are two things that can happen with a successful amendment: They can be accepted for debate and vote, or if they are uncontroversial they ...

Posted by Zoe O'Connell on Liberal Democrat Voice