Looking through different leaflets picked up on the campaign trail around the country in the months running up to last Thursday reminds me of the importance of good photographs in campaign literature.
Now we have turned up Richard III, the obvious next person to look for in Leicester is Cardinal Wolsey. Accused of treason and summoned back to London from the North, Wolsey fell ill on the journey. He arrived at Leicester Abbey announcing: "Father Abbot, I am come hither to leave my bones among you."His grave was lost at the dissolution of the Abbey, but you wouldn't think so if you visited it today (as I did). The site of the abbey now lies in Leicester's largest park - Abbey Park. After it was excavated in the 1930s, low walls were ...
Capturing new worlds: How to image an exoplanet. A feature article exploring how astronomers are seeking to take direct images of planets orbiting stars other than our own. Including what they have achieved so far, what they are planning next ... Continue reading →
I was contacted the other day by a local resident who had taken photos of scrambler bikes on the Leeds Liverpool Canal tow path in Melling asking for my advice about what can be done to stop them. Yesterday, whilst out cycling through Rimrose Valley Country Park, I ended up with one blowing his horn at me whilst trying to race past. Obviously neither the canal tow path or Rimrose Valley's network of footpaths and cycle paths are places for motorbikes to be ridden! But where are these bikes kept? Surely they are often in the garages of houses where ...
Mon 6th
17:34
The Day She Saved the Doctor, by Jacqueline Rayner, Jenny T. Colgan, Susan Calman, Dorothy Koomson
Second paragraph of third story ("Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta", by Susan Calman): Clara sighed heavily, turned to face him, placed her hands very deliberately on her hips and spoke in a tone that warned of impending annoyance. 'What? Why do you keep staring at me? Have I grown a horn from the middle of my forehead?' Four pretty good stories, two by established Who writers Jacqueline Rayner and Jenny T. Colgan (Colgan of course much better known for her other writing) and two by established writers who are new to the Whoniverse (Susan Calman and Dorothy Koomson), ...
Mon 6th
17:21
International experts say we are heading towards a global biodiversity emergency. We must act in Shr...
Look around you. Trees are being felled. Hedges grubbed out. Arable fields are too often growing a monoculture crop boosted by chemicals. Biodiversity is the loser. As will be humanity if we continue this way. Few of us have heard of the body that published a technical report on the loss and threat to all manner of species today. But that doesn't make the report from the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) any less important. It is one of the most important environmental reports of this decade. It states bluntly that almost all environmental indicators ...
Richard Gadsden tweeted last Friday: Today I'm mostly missing Paddy Ashdown and Charles Kennedy because they would have been so proud and thrilled about the Lib Dems gaining so many seats yesterday. — Richard Gadsden [IMG: 🐝] (@po8crg) May 4, 2019 That's a sentiment most of us can agree with. I'm particularly thinking also of David Rendel. Here in West Berkshire last week, we saw our representation on West Berkshire Council almost quadrupled, with three Green party members elected. We also regained control of the town councils in Newbury and Thatcham, winning 34 seats, with the Greens having three and ...
[IMG: Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is in labour but the one question on my mind] While most parents may wonder about the sex of their child, mixed race parents have the added thrill of wondering what skin colour their child will have. I suspect that the press will be too... The post Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is in labour but the one question on my mind appeared first on A Feminist Mum making a difference.
The Climate crisis can only be stopped by Europe-wide action, the Liberal Democrats said today, as they called for Europe to adopt a "net zero greenhouse gas emissions target" by 2050. Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat former Climate Change Secretary, led the successful Europe-wide negotiations on the current 2030 target, and said "anyone who wants to stop our climate crisis should vote to stop Brexit". The Liberal Democrats are calling for a UK target of net zero emissions by 2045 - and believe the EU must adopt a target of at least net zero by 2050, a key policy in ...
Due to Boundary Commission making changes to South Somerset District Council's boundaries and a successful election campaign, I have now been elected to represent Yeovil Without (with fellow councillors Graham Oakes and Mike Lock). We look forward to working with and representing the communities and people of Yeovil Without (including seats on Yeovil Without Parish Council). It was an honour to represent the electorate of Yeovil East on South Somerset District Council and Yeovil Town Council for the past four years. I will continue to represent Yeovil Lyde (was East) on Yeovil Town Council (as will my fellow councillors Tony ...
The new LD Council Group in Chesterfield minus Kelly Thornton who has gone on a well deserved holiday. Centre front are Cllr Paul Holmes former MPa nd Cllr Emily Coy Parliamentary Candidate. In 2015 Chesterfield Lib Dems returned only 9 Cllrs, our lowest number since the 1980s. On Thursday we elected 17, missed one more by one vote (after 3 recounts) and another by 53 votes. The historian in me points at past precedent. In 1995 we elected 10 Cllrs, in 1999 it was 19 and in 2003 it was 37. There was also the minor side issue of electing ...
I've just been out delivering the first of our EU leaflets in Church Ward after joining a canvassing team in Woolton yesterday. I have been struck by two things whilst I have been out. Firstly, the pleasure that people have ... Continue reading →
Mon 6th
11:34
ICYMI: Labour's Barry Gardiner telling Tories Labour were trying to bail them out on Brexit
Coming to a Lib Dem risograph near you very soon, I would imagine. Seriously, Labour's shadow international trade minister told Tory James Cleverly ON LIVE TV that "We are in there trying to bail you guys out" on Brexit. .@BarryGardiner admission on BBC1 that @UKLabour are trying to bail the Tories out to deliver Brexit will go down like a lead balloon with Labour voters... looks like we are seeing that tonight #LocalElections2019 — Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) May 2, 2019 You could not make it up. No wonder reports from the talks earlier this week made them sound ...
It is a good moment to be a Liberal Democrat, after the party's strong showing in last week's local elections. The party were unequivocal winners, while both the the big parties fell back. After years of being ignored and told that the party was broken forever, it is good to be back. But it is ... Continue reading The two party system takes a blow – but what about a general election?
Sun, 12:46: RT @Dublin2019: On the tour of the #theconventioncentredublin for #worldconallstaff #Dublin2019 #anirshworldcon https://t.co/F5sSB5KbZe Sun, 13:19: RT @davidallengreen: Can Brexit be challenged and stopped in the courts? That is a question being debated in my mentions at the moment. I... Sun, 13:19: RT @davidallengreen: This approach is wrong-headed. There is a place for law in the debate about Brexit. There is a place for the courts.... Sun, 13:43: RT @Dublin2019: A currach race taking place on the River Liffey just outside the Convention Centre!Here is some quick info about currachs:👇... Sun, 14:48: I dunno, you should count your blessings ...
Having listed a litany of offences and misdeeds on this blogs for leading UKIP members over the years, it is time to turn my attention to the Brexit Party, which aspires to take UKIP's place as the go-to party for anti-Europeans and the far right, and which has already inherited a number of miscreants and rejects from Farage's former party. Yesterday's Observer reports that two senior members of Nigel Farage's Brexit party who left their roles after the Guardian uncovered offensive social media messages they had sent are still directors of the organisation weeks after they had supposedly cut all ...
Mon 6th
09:04Today is the last day to give your views on Shropshire Council's unsustainable slash and burn cuts t...
Shropshire Council has been consulting on drastic cuts to local bus services. The council is only concerned with saving £455,000 - plus an unspecified saving on concessionary fares. This is a slash and burn exercise driven by a council that doesn't have a strategy for the future of public transport in the county. The proposals will cut Bishop's Castle off except for the school run. It is bad news for sustainable transport in Shrewsbury with a substantial hike in park and ride costs. In Ludlow, the popular 701 town service will be cut by a third. These cuts will disproportionately ...
Mon 6th
08:23
Maghull/Lydiate* – What was the thinking when the Turnbridge Road site was picked for developm...
You only have to pick up a copy of the Aintree & Maghull Champion newspaper or look at comments on the Maghull Community Facebook page to see how troublesome this site is proving to be during the early stages of construction work to realise what a tough site it was always going to be to build on. And before you think oh here's that damn environmental campaigner going on about stopping development and building on agricultural land again just bear with me..... When Sefton Council chose the sites that it was willing to take out of Green Belt/allow to be ...
We are living in interesting times. The local elections brought an expected collapse in Conservative support and an unexpectedly poor Labour showing. The recovery of the Liberal Democrats and the performance of the Greens and independents were little short of stunning. As in the last general election, political commentators underestimated the sophistication of the political [...] The post The Brexit battle is still hotting up appeared first on Radix.
As today is the May Day holiday and local schools are on holiday, my usual ward surgeries on a Monday at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre do not take place. However, I can be contacted at any time at home on 459378 or by e-mail at surgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk. My surgeries resume on Thursday of this week. Details are available here.
The new episode of A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs is now up! This one's on "Only You", how a group of six people called the Flamingos became an entirely different five people called the Platters, and ... Continue reading →
Mon 6th
04:58Shropshire Council's recycling isn't that green but it has backed down on charges for green waste co...
Shropshire Council was always determined to remove the 120 recycling bring banks from around the county. It had managed them badly and that allowed the council to make excuses for scrapping the service by saying the recyclables were contaminated and that businesses were disposing of their waste there. But of course, Shropshire Council only wanted to save money. The council's waste contractor Veolia described the withdrawal as: "A great opportunity for residents to re-examine their recycling and to make full use of the kerbside service." But we are more likely to see a lot more recyclables go into the black ...
Responding to John McDonnell's comments on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday, Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake said:"It is clear the Conservatives and Labour have more in common than just some disastrous local elections results, they are also happy to stitch up a damaging Brexit deal behind closed doors."John McDonnell's comments on Andrew Marr today clearly show that Labour are willing to compromise with the Prime Minister to ensure they force a Brexit deal through parliament."If they do not ensure that a people's vote is attached to any deal, they have not only disregarded their own party members, but ...
