Leaked memo confirms no-deal Brexit medicine fears Farron calls for new deal to fix broken social care system at PMQs Lords pass Lib Dem law to raise age of criminal responsibility Lib Dems: We must ensure next PM cannot shutdown Parliament Leaked memo confirms no-deal Brexit medicine fears Responding to a leaked Cabinet note revealing the UK will not be ready for a no-deal Brexit by October 31st because is will take "six to eight months" to build up supplies of medicines, Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said: This Government document will be extremely concerning to people who rely on ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: New poll shows Democrat candidates leading on Trump] You can read more here. The post New poll shows Democrat candidates leading on Trump appeared first on @ambitiousmamas.

Posted by ambitiousmamas on @ambitiousmamas

Chris Hanretty has worked his statistical expertise once again, and come up with high-quality calculations (estimates) as to what the European Parliament election result was in each Westminster constituency. As he cautions, "These figures remain estimates, and so they are subject to error." Plus, of course, they are figures for the votes in a European Parliament election held in May 2019 using the d'Hondt system of proportional representation. That is not the same as saying what will happen in another sort of election held using a different voting system on another date. Here is the spreadsheet with all the estimates: ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

[IMG: The awful realisation that the person sitting beside you is watching porn] I used a public internet cafe recently out of necessity. It was situated in the basement in Central London. A sense of foreboding came over me as I descended the stairs. There were men in... The post The awful realisation that the person sitting beside you is watching porn appeared first on @ambitiousmamas.

Posted by ambitiousmamas on @ambitiousmamas

Having previously made the brilliant film Fog of War about Robert McNamara, American Defense Secretary during the Vietnam war, Errol Morris turned to another high profile controversial figure from the US, Donald Rumsfeld.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Wed 12th
17:00

Homophobia today

One of the genuine achievements of the Coalition government was the introduction of the Marriage Equality Act, the piece of legislation that made same sex marriage legal in the UK. It is a law that is heralded as the culmination of decades of campaigning by the LGBT community, a symbol of the progress we have made as a society in regards to sexuality and sexual rights. But has progress truly been made? All over the world and, indeed, in Britain, individuals are still discriminated against in their day to day lives, they are still subject to harm, and their existing ...

Posted by Edwin Black on Liberal Democrat Voice
Wed 12th
15:51

HMRC Scams

Kent County Council Public Protection are continuing to see an increase in reports on HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) scams as well as changes to how they can trick you. To help you identify scams this is an example: [IMG: HMRC Scam email] How the scam works: You receive an email that looks as if it is from HMRC Fraudsters may "spoof" a genuine email address or change the 'display name' to make it appear genuine You are told you are due a refund You are given a deadline to apply You are directed to click on a link in ...

Second paragraph of third chapter (apologies, this is long):Thirty-third-generation Bay was crisis generation, the point at which all the changes from old race to new race began to come together and become manifest. It was also an unstable generation, neither new (though "Bay" meant "new") nor completely old. The changes took their toll. Many a line ended at thirty-third Bay. Once past thirty-third, the danger of the line ending was past, and even chance no longer held the reins of their directed evolution, since all Bays greater than thirty-third generation had the power to choose the sex of their offspring-and ...

Reading the media coverage, you would have thought the forces of Leave led by the Brexit Party had swept to victory. The Remoaners had been routed. However, taking a look at three key indicators, the truth is more complicated. The BBC has looked at three key indicators - seats won, vote share, and vote share change (there's a pretty graphic here but it's without Northern Ireland. So let's use these three indicators to tell us what really happened. On vote share, the picture isn't clear in Great Britain. You've probably seen the likes of this being shared around the internet: ...

Posted by Simon Foster on Liberal Democrat Voice

As somebody who joined the Liberal Democrats primarily to fight Brexit, I have since come to appreciate even greater the importance of fighting for liberal democratic values. What's more, it is evidently how important this is for the entirety of the United Kingdom. I used to be more sympathetic towards electoral pacts, in fact, at one time I was well on board with it. I'm still desperate to stop Brexit and so disappointed at what the leave campaigns achieved; especially as my wife is a EU citizen with only EU treaty rights currently protecting her status in the U.K. This ...

Posted by Michael Sammon on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov

I know, I know, it sounds mad. But I'm running a sweepstake on who will be the next tory leader, and even after begging and cajoling, she is the only one nobody will touch. Therefore she is bound to win. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments

Wed 12th
11:00

My tweets

Tue, 12:01: RT @DavidHerdson: It says much that Boris is hiding under the duvet, when his supposed greatest strength is as a campaigner and a front-man... Tue, 12:29: RT @pmdfoster: So the MaxFac "technology can deliver a border in Ireland" crew are trumpeting latest EU update on 'no deal' preps as 'proof... Tue, 12:56: How World War II almost broke American politics https://t.co/3x5OcSAOVG Interesting long read. Tue, 14:29: RT @faisalislam: V odd this "race to be PM" from afar - tax plans that won't pass this Parliament, Brexit "plans" that won't pass Parliamen... Tue, 16:05: Lorraine Kelly says she's "baffled" ...

Yesterday I wrote to James Brokenshire, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to ask him to order a review of the governance of Liverpool City Council. In my request I cited three things as an example of ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

Now that May's two sets of elections are successfully out of the way, it's time to move our campaigning activity onto summer surveys. Why survey? Surveys are a fantastic way to generate voter ID, campaign issues and contact with local communities. If they're used properly, they will establish you and your local Lib Dem team as hard-working, locally focused and approachable. And with proper follow up they can drive your campaign and messages. The more you know about your residents, the better you can be as a community campaigner/councillor. There's a lot of useful information you can gain from surveys ...

Posted by ALDC on Liberal Democrat Voice

The Liverpool Echo has the article on its website – see link below:- Northern Rail Class 319 electric unit at Liverpool Lime Street Station Well the indications keep on coming that Northern Assist is at best struggling and let's be honest none of us will be surprised or indeed disappointed if the company has to pull out of the Northern Franchise.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

A fascinating set of answers to the question I posted on Twitter and Facebook: Are you a Lib Dem members who has changed your mind so far in the #libdemleadership race – to/from Jo, Ed or undecided? If so, what's your reason? Be great to hear more about what members are thinking. My main takeaways from the answers so far are: Very few members feel that a candidate would be a really bad choice for the party (and that's also reflected in private replies as well as public comments). Far more so than I recall in previous contests, people say ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

On June 6, celebrating the 75th anniversary of their landing in Normandy, the Great Western Allied Powers had invited Germany to the festivities. But no invitation had been sent to Moscow. Yet it was the Russian army that destroyed 80 per cent of Hitler's divisions during the Second World War (with the support of Western [...] The post Does the West wish to offer up Russia to the Chinese? appeared first on Radix.

Posted by Renaud Girard on Radix

Parklife weekend is over for another year (although we have one more separate concert this Saturday – the Courteeners on 15 June 2019). Your local councillors we are keen to get feedback from residents about the weekend, and also your ideas on things that could be done differently in the future, so that we can feed back to the event organisers and Heaton Park management when we meet with them over the summer. If you could take a few minutes to complete the survey here.

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

As universal basic income (UBI) is popping up as an issue in the Liberal Democrat leadership contest between Jo Swinson and Ed Davey, now seems a good time to revive an early pilot episode of the Never Mind The Bar Charts podcast I do with Stephen Tall, first released in February. Welcome to the third, and still possibly last [spoiler: it wasn't], pilot 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, and I may still be mostly succeeding ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Pennine Acute NHS Trust, which runs our local hospitals at North Manchester and Fairfield, have recognised the contribution of volunteers in an award ceremony during Volunteering Week last week. Special events were set up at the to celebrate the enormous unpaid contribution over 500 volunteers make at our hospitals and community services each year. The Trust decided to introduce the Volunteer Star awards this year to recognise the hard work and commitment of volunteers. Going forward, each month one volunteer from across the NCA will be chosen to win the award. The winners of the Northern Care Alliance's first ever ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone
eUKhost

The case of a drugs expert, who has been denied appointment to a policy panel, has highlighted a new vetting trend for candidates seeking to serve on public bodies. The Guardian reports that a government minister vetoed the appointment of Niamh Eastwood, the director of Release, the UK's centre on drugs and drug laws, to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which makes drug policy recommendations to government, after vetting found she had criticised the Home Office and called for drug policy reform. They say that an online search by the ACMD secretariat found that Eastwood had ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
Wed 12th
08:26

This is Carers Week

This week is national Carers Week – an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. There are 6.5 million people in the UK who are carers. They will be looking after a family member or friend who has a disability, mental or physical illness or who needs extra help as they grow older. More information on Carer's Week nationally, including advice and resources here. More information on Carers Week in the Bury area here.

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

Wera Hobhouse had a piece published on Politics Home yesterday on banning the export of plastics. It goes without saying that the wealthiest countries, like us, who have the privilege of the means to be able to sustainably deal with waste, need to accept responsibility instead of shipping plastic waste around the world for poorer countries to deal with. This begins with increasing and developing our recycling facilities. If we cannot recycle it, we shouldn't be using it. In the article, Wera also discusses the Plastic Pollution Bill, presented to Parliament in February by Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael. It ...

Posted by Kirsten Johnson on Liberal Democrat Voice

Men's Health Week is organised by the Men's Health Forum and takes place every year in the week preceding Fatherís Day. Men are often embarrassed and hesitant to discuss their health causing menís health to be seen as a taboo topic. This year the week takes place between 10th and 16th June, focusing on the numbers behind the key issues facing menís health, and encourages men to open up and talk about these issues. The Men's Health Forum say: "Numbers. Many men are obsessed by them. The half time stats at the football, the record-breaking sales made by companies, the ...

Posted by timpickstone on Tim Pickstone

Missed waiting time targets put lives at risk Responding to a report conducted by the Public Accounts Committee which concludes that the failure to meet waiting time targets is putting lives at risk, PAC member and Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said: This report provides a vital contribution at a time when the Government is reviewing waiting time standards. The delays we are seeing not only put lives in danger, but extend the time patients and families are struggling with worry, stress and pain. With waiting times being missed on this scale, the Conservative Government must not scrap waiting times, ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Democrat Voice

Residents have highliughted to me the need for posthole repairs in Glamis Terrace. I took this up with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and have received the following helpful response : "An order has been raised for pothole repairs to be carried out."