I'd rather lost track of this, but perhaps I ought to catch up before moving onwards... It was very early in the morning in Tbilisi, and even earlier according to my body clock, but when the alarm went off at 5.20 a.m., I was ready to go. Better still, my hotel was too, for when I went to checkout, they had very efficiently arranged a picnic breakfast for me. And yes, it did appear to have enough food to feed three people, but I was hardly going to complain. My taxi whisked me through the empty streets of Tbilisi to ...
So there I was listening to Radio 4 Extra and an episode of The Burkiss Way which I probably heard when it was first broadcast in 1977. When (at 09:36) this happened: Robin Day: Well, Mr Novelty, the question I must put to you is this. Who dreamt up this whole toad idea in the first place? Liberal candidate: Well, it were our party's economics expert. Robin Day: Pardoe? Liberal candidate: I SAID IT WERE OUR PARTY'S ECONOMIC EXPERT.They don't write them like that any more. It's up there with the Two Ronnies' joke about boundary changes in the Scottish ...
It's always a good day when you find a new tin tabernacle. This one is near the Evington Road in Leicester. There is no signage to say who uses it now, but whoever it is has spent money to make it secure from vandals and burglars. But I have found a tantalising clue to its history in a Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society paper about St James the Greater, the large Romanesque church on the London Road, from 1986: There is a strong tradition in the church which has been passed down from older members of the congregation, that the ...
The Leicester Mercury wins our Headline of the Day Award. There is also a good second mention in the report: "The Please Release Me singer...". Best of all, I get a chance to post my favourite Engelbert track again.
Increasingly, I'm finding myself spending time on a form of political matchmaking, trying to help would-be new Liberal Democrat activists find the best way to get involved in the party. I've written before about how existing activists can best get newer people involved, but this process has also made me increasingly aware that there's a set of tips about how to get involved that pretty much no-one ever tells would-be new activists. So this post is an attempt to put that right. Do let me have your feedback on it; I hope this post will evolve and improve over time, ...
If you haven't already been to Brecon and Radnorshire to help, please do so as soon as you can. Details are the foot of this post. Jane Dodds and team have been out in the sun in Presteigne. It's very good to see some distinguished members of the House of Lords in Jane's coterie: Getting a great response on the doorstep in #Presteigne this afternoon. We have real issues with broadband connectivity right across #Powys, it's time for us to elect a hard working MP who'll fight to fix this!https://t.co/6FsTenl3mX pic.twitter.com/3GNMWY2Qmv — Jane Dodds [IMG: 🏴] [IMG: 🇪🇺] [IMG: 🔶] ...
Looking forward to photographing @LibDems at Pride today. #Pride #PrideInLondon #pridejubilee pic.twitter.com/7wDWrSWi3M — John Russell (@john4london) July 6, 2019
Prime Minister-in-waiting, Boris Johnson, said this week that he wants immigrants to feel more British. This was swiftly followed up on Twitter by appeals on how this can be achieved. For instance, a French lady called Martha, currently living in York, made this appeal: "If any of my English followers have any tips on how to 'feel British', I'd appreciate receiving them." As a native Brit, being half-Irish / half-English, university educated in Wales, a previous resident of the Republic of Ireland and having lived in Scotland since 2000, I should have some insights to offer you Martha. One of ...
Yesterday Boris Johnson said: ...too often there are parts of our country and parts of London still and other cities as well where English is not spoken by some people as their first language, and that needs to be changed... Jane Dodds responded brilliantly: Mae sylwadau di-glem Boris yn dangos pa mor allan o gyswllt yw e gyda Cymru ac ardaloedd fel ein rhai ni. * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist. He is one of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
Fri, 12:56: Why I Had a Hard Time Calling My Transgender Child 'They' — and Why I'm Doing it Anyway https://t.co/yBuGfboa80 Exactly. Fri, 13:26: RT @DmitryOpines: Fantastic! What specifically do you want to sell more of to the US? Which current US policy impedes such sales? Has th... Fri, 13:33: RT @LibDemInternat: The 202nd Liberal International Executive Committee Meeting in has just started London. President Hakima Elhaité is spe... Fri, 14:04: RT @vonderleyen: My new desk as a nominated candidate in Brussels might still be empty but the telephone certainly works 😉. Cue lots of liv... Fri, 15:50: RT @Stuart_McDonald: ...
Liberal Democrat party members in Putney have selected Sue Wixley to be their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC).
Writing this week in the Evening Standard, Vince Cable has repeated his call to legalise assisted dying, a topic on which he changed his mind earlier this year. He wrote: The law forbids assisted dying, despite instances where a patient with an incurable, awful, disease wants to make a rational, considered, decision to have control over their own death. In such cases, a spouse may want to respect their partner's final wishes, and to act out of love and compassion to assist them. They are forbidden from doing so by the criminal law — an injustice which the Supreme Court ...
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Jeanetta Black for her letter in Thursday's "Evening Telegraph" regarding the council's axing of the 204 bus : The campaign to save the 204 is far from being over and, like Jeanetta, I share the concern that the so-called Blether Bus "alternative" service the council is suggesting is simply not fit for purpose. The "service" utilises council mini-buses that many older folk and people with mobility difficulties will not be able to access. I have now queried the legal position with Dundee City Council's Head of Democratic and Legal Services. ...
As the two candidates to be the next Prime Minister compete with each other to see how much of a hole they can ditch the United Kingdom economy into, the Independent carries a reminder of just how high the stakes are for the rest of us. The paper says that local areas across the UK are set to lose access to as much as £8.4bn in funding in 18 months' time unless the government acts fast to replace the European Union cash used to create jobs, support small businesses and invest in infrastructure. The Local Government Association believes that England ...
