One of the reasons there is a lot of solidarity among women in politics is that we all have to put up with a lot of the same crap. We have to deal with people thinking that they have the right to say things to us about our appearance, our behaviour and our beliefs than they would ever dare to say to another man. So when I saw Conservative MP Antoinette Sandbach tweet a horrible message (which she has since deleted) she'd had from a male Tory MP, my first thought was sympathy for her. Barely is the ink dry ...
Ed is on Question Time tonight at 10:35 pm along with the ultra Brexity Weatherspoons owner Tim Martin.More on that tomorrow. On tonight's panel we've got @margot_james_mp, @LauraPidcockMP, @KwasiKwarteng, @EdwardJDavey and Tim Martin. Join us in Tottenham from 10:35pm on @BBCOne and @bbc5live #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/fW4RhXYg0a — BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 20, 2019 Both candidates had the chance to have an email sent out by Lib Dem HQ. Here's Ed's: I've visited over 30 local parties in the last 3 months. From Chelmsford, Hull and Winchester in the local elections to Sheffield, Camden and North Cornwall in the Euros, and ...
As the Criterion site says: In the dystopian masterpiece Brazil, Jonathan Pryce plays a daydreaming everyman who finds himself caught in the soul-crushing gears of a nightmarish bureaucracy. This cautionary tale by Terry Gilliam, one of the great films of the 1980s, has come to be esteemed alongside anti-totalitarian works by the likes of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. And in terms of set design, cinematography, music, and effects, Brazil is a nonstop dazzler.This is a good documentary about the film. It even gives us new insights into the well-rehearsed history of Monty Python.
We had gone to bed before Jo last night so we missed her interview on Peston: I will do anything possible to stop Brexit says @joswinson and would only do a deal with a party who wanted to do the same #Peston pic.twitter.com/rmNNU5G9IN — Peston (@itvpeston) June 19, 2019 Both candidates have had their second emails sent out through the party. Jo's comes from one of our new MEPs, Antony Hook: Just a few weeks ago I was elected as one of our party's 16 MEPs, and I am excited for the challenge ahead. Voters recognised and rewarded our steadfast ...
Brought together in one place, here are the various Liberal Democrat tools and services that I look after to help keep people informed, provide materials and prompt action. Hope you find them useful – and feedback on either the range of services or thoughts about individual ones are always most welcome. Do you want to keep in touch with what's happening in the Lib Dems? Your wish is my command... and here's the suite of email lists you can choose between for signing up to, from a daily email digest through to a monthly newsletter. If you also, or instead, ...
Today the Campaign Against the Arms Trade won its legal challenge to the Conservative Government's decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. Jo Swinson called on the Government to suspend arms sales immediately. Saudi Arabia is an enemy of British values, including human rights and the rule of law. Their repeated violation and disregard for human rights should have ruled them out as an arms trading partner long ago. Instead the Conservative government have continued to export arms and equipment to this brutal regime. The situation is inexcusable and cannot continue. This court ruling is monumental. It is now clear ...
The sharp-eared amongst you will have heard little cries of delight as the new issue of Liberator landed on your neighbours' doormats this morning. This issue, among others things, questions Ed Davey and Jo Swinson, looks at the overflowing in-tray facing whichever of them wins and celebrates Liberal gains across Europe in last month's elections. And then there is Radical Bulletin, which gives you the inside story on what is going on in the party. This time it tries to get to the bottom of the confusion over the use of diversity criteria in the selection of our Euro candidates. ...
Heather Wheeler, the homelessness minister, has apologised after the leaking of emails in which she described rough sleepers in her constituency as "the traditional type, old tinkers, knife-cutters wandering through". The Guardian reports that Stephen Robertson, the chief executive of the Big Issue Foundation, has called on her to resign. He is right and not only because of her extraordinary racist and dated language. The idea that homelessness is only a problem for traditional travelling people in Britain today is so absurd that she is clearly remotely fitted to do the job. I had a week's holiday last month and ...
Retro Hugos have been awarded for earlier years, but this was the first film to win a Hugo - for Outstanding Movie (which ever since has been Best Dramatic Presentation). History doesn't seem to record which other films were in contention, but let's face it, today's voters would probably give a Retro Hugo for 1958 to The Seventh Seal. (Others in play: The Curse of Frankenstein, Night of the Demon.) I can't really judge as the only other 1957 film I have ever seen is Bridge on the River Kwai. Our hero, played by Grant Williams, finds after exposure to ...
Congratulating the CAAT on their successful case against the Conservative government's arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Jo Swinson said:"Saudi Arabia is an enemy of British values, including human rights and the rule of law. Their repeated violation and disregard for human rights should have ruled them out as an arms trading partner long ago."Instead the Conservative government have continued to export arms and equipment to this brutal regime. The situation is inexcusable and cannot continue. "This court ruling is monumental. "It is now clear for all to see: the UK arms sales to the Saudi ...
Today, on Clean Air Day, the Liberal Democrats have secured a victory with the Government confirming they are looking at implementing Wera Hobhouse's bill, which would strengthen local authority powers on idling. The bill would allow local authorities to increase the fines for stationary vehicle idling offences, as well as increasing fines for those who repeatedly offend. The Environment Minister, Thérèse Coffey, was asked if the Government would consider implementing the Vehicle Emissions (Idling Penalties) Bill that was presented to the Parliament last week. Liberal Democrat Climate Change spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said:"For far too long this Conservative Government has failed ...
Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire runs a Universal Credit support service for local residents in Yate and nearby. The sessions are every Monday and Wednesday from 9 am to 12 noon at the Citizens Advice office at Kennedy Way. Please find poster below for further information.
If you like classic cars and bikes you have the chance to see them at Lydiate Parish Hall on 7th July and at the same time help raise money for North West Cancer Research:- Click on the graphic above to enlarge it
If you missed the online Liberal Democrat leadership hustings a few days ago, don't worry - you can now watch it again online.
Today is World Refugee Day - when we celebrate the amazing contributions that refugees make to the social, cultural and economic life of our country, and raise awareness of the 29 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world. Every minute, 30 people are forced to flee their homes to escape the horrors of war, violence or persecution. This is the biggest refugee crisis in history. The number of refugees has doubled in the last fifteen years. More than half of them are children. Over 6 million refugees are from Syria. The UK has a long and proud record of ...
I got front page of the Journal today! Our regional newspaper decided to make my call to abolish the PCC role their lead story. So, a good start to the campaign.
I have just returned home from my first media interview in my new guise as Lib Dem candidate in the Northumbria PCC by-election. I met up with Fergus Hewison from BBC Radio Newcastle outside the Baltic Gallery. The key issues I covered were my call to abolish the PCC role (an expensive experiment that has failed) and the need to rebuild community policing. All candidates will eventually be
Wed, 12:15: Happy birthday to my daughter B, who is 22 today. Your brother and I took you out for a walk on Sunday to a favouri... https://t.co/dmZzfi8fQ5 Wed, 12:56: Another brilliant piece from @xtophercook. https://t.co/8G1xmEgawZ Wed, 16:05: RT @KeohaneDan: I was on this road recently for an @emireland citizens dialogue on the future of the EU in Cavan town. The quickest road to... Wed, 17:11: RT @JenniferMerode: I asked an EU official recently about Dominic Raab's claims to have been a tough negotiator. The answer: "It's not that... Wed, 17:57: RT @KeohaneDan: @DourMouse I'd happily let Dr Who look ...
Thu 20th
10:25
With Tories deaf to Rory, and Corbyn rehashing Wilson, the Lib Dems should flourish even more
According to last night's Newsnight, and Heather Stewart in the Guardian, Jeremy Corbyn told a very fractious shadow cabinet meeting that he was reading Harold Wilson's memoirs as inspiration. Shadow ministers saw that as a signal that Corbyn, like Wilson, "is not ready to become a cheerleader" for EU membership. According to those memoirs, published in 1986, end in 1964, the year he became PM and started grappling with the possibility of EEC accession which he asked for after vastly improving his government majority in 1966). In their book "Post-War Britain, 1945-1992" (Penguin Books, 1993), professors Sked & Cook tell ...
The two televised debates between the contenders for the Conservative leadership served at least one useful purpose to those of us who have no role in the process. They showed how divided the country is and how different sections of the public live in different and irreconcilable worlds. Brexit is the problem.The contenders hunted for ... Continue reading A divided nation is bad news for the Tories
Figures released today (20th June) show that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are losing tens of billions in lost tax revenue.During 2016/17, HMRC estimated that the shortfall was approximately £33 billion. Commenting on these figures, which are equivalent to the entire budget for Housing and the Environment, Liberal Democrat Business and Treasury spokesperson Chuka Umunna said: "For every extra pound the Government invests in HMRC, tax collection, clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion, it gets many more pounds in return but HMRC is simply not being given the resources it needs by Ministers to do the job."Continuing to underfund ...
You cannot criticise Jeremy Corbyn for his consistency. One can however question his effectiveness as an opposition leader and his commitment to doing what is best for the country. This is especially so after he once more rebuffed calls to commit Labour to a people's vote on Brexit. I wonder how else he proposes to resolve the impasse that is threatening to rip apart both Labour and Tory Parties, whilst turning conventional UK politics on its head, not to mention the devastating impact Brexit will have on the UK economy, our international standing and our standard of living. The biggest ...
Thu 20th
08:53Rory Stewart: you were honest with the Tory Party about Brexit, now it's time you were honest with y...
Dear Rory, As the only person standing for the leadership of the Tory Party ("Conservative" must now surely be considered an oxymoron) who recognises how much damage Brexit will cause our country, I was saddened to see you knocked out of the contest yesterday. I will not go as far as saying I would vote for you; fundamentally I only vote for people who will stop Brexit and address the real problems in this country through root and branch reform of our own broken political system. However, I did very much respect your open and honest approach with Brexit supporters ...
Let us be clear. China is a repressive, authoritarian state. It suppresses all dissent and free speech and blocks access to the internet. It runs concentration camps (sorry, "re-education camps") for up to one million Uyghurs, suppresses Tibetans, has made a mockery of democracy in Hong Kong, and continues to threaten Taiwan. We have just [...] The post Should we really prefer Xi to Trump? appeared first on Radix.
Looking east along the North Mersey Branch in the direction of the former Ford Station from Hawthorne Road, Bootle in 2014. Here's a fascinating collection of old photos on You Tube showing the now long-mothballed North Mersey Branch railway from Aintree to Bootle in its latter working days. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8OdzAuIJxc About once every 5 years or so there's talk about the branch being opened up again for Merseyrail passenger services but nothing seems to happen.
The Evening Standard wins our Headline of the Day Award.
There seems to be some disquiet about the fact that it is 160 000 or so Conservative Party members who will make the final decision as to who will become the next leader of their party and, in the present circumstance, our prime-minister. To find this curious is to ignore history. It is only recently that party members have had any say in who should be their leader. That was a matter usually left up to the MPs , and in the case of the Tory Party, not even all of them. In the post war period Sir Anthony Eden ...
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran yesterday urged the Government to repeal the Vagrancy Act at the launch of Crisis' report into the case for repealing.The MP for Oxford West and Abingdon had held a debate in the House of Commons in January on her campaign to repeal the Vagrancy Act, which criminalises rough sleeping in England and Wales. Ms Moran also introduced a Bill to repeal it in February 2018.The report says that the Act "does not tackle the problems people have, and there is evidence that it can also push people further from the help they need."Speaking ahead of ...
Today is Clean Air Day! Well done to pupils from three Dundee Primary Schools, including Victoria Park PS in the West End, who last week braved the rain to decorate bus shelters in the city centre to encourage everyone to walk, cycle and take the bus instead of driving to reduce air pollution. Clean Air Day is the UK's largest air pollution campaign, engaging thousands of people at hundreds of events, and reaching millions more through the media.
There is a rule of thumb in housing. It is much easier to give permission to build new homes, most of them on green fields, than to bring empty homes back into use. Empty homes are a growing problem here in Shropshire where the number of homes empty for at least six months is increasing at the rate of two a month. We have a bigger proportion of our housing stock empty than England as a whole. There were 4,460 empty homes in Shropshire last year, 1,654 of which had been vacant for more than six months. The waiting list ...
