Six council by-elections this week, including a trio of Liberal Democrat defences and a rare Tuesday polling day for the by-election in Cardiff (a place that seems to be making a habit of using Tuesdays). Cyncoed, Cardiff The Tuesday by-election is a Liberal Democrat defence with Robert Hopkins standing. Cardiff UA, Cyncoed LD Rob Hopkins 1920 [55.3%; +18.9%] Con 838 [24.1%; -11.9%] Lab 560 [16.1%; -3.3%] PC 152 [4.4% +4.4%] Grn 0 [[0.0%; -8.1%]] Lib Dem Hold. Percentage changes from 2017. — ALDC (@ALDC) July 16, 2019
Good to see so many Labour peers speaking up against anti-semitism with an advert in The Guardian directed at Jeremy Corbyn.
Umunna: Ministers asleep at the wheel in the face of online shopping time bomb New Lib Dem leader to hold Brexit talks with Barnier Lib Dems: New PM must not delay Domestic Abuse Bill Umunna: Ministers asleep at the wheel in the face of online shopping time bomb The introduction of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) will lead to two-factor authentication for all online purchases. The aim of this is to cut down on fraud and improve digital security, however the Government have failed to both support retailers or inform consumers about this change. Furthermore, it is estimated that around 2 ...
Geoffrey Boycott made the first of his 22 test centuries in 1964 against Australia at the Oval. It was enough to save the rain-affected match. John Arlott was commentating when he reached the landmark.
"This is the ideal policy - it requires no increase in public spending, but can make a real difference to the lives of low income families. We should be campaigning for this in England." Simon McGrath is delighted by Kirsty Williams' new guidance on school uniforms in Wales. Jonathan Wallace shares his leaflet for Thursday's police and crime commissioner by-election in Northumbria. "It's exactly the same concerns people had when we introduced the weekend or the eight-hour workday. But the world didn't collapse in on itself then - and it won't now." Francois Badenhorst examines the case for a four-day ...
News from the Lewes Liberal Democrats: Lewes District Council, after 8 years of Conservative leadership, is now controlled by a Co-operative Alliance of councillors from the Green, Liberal Democrat, and Labour parties plus two Independents.... Liberal Democrat Councillor, James MacCleary and Labour Councillor Chris Collier proposed the new Leader of Lewes District Council, Councillor Zoe Nicholson, leader of the Green Party group in a move to take control of the council. The Alliance voted unanimously for the new leadership arrangements with Councillor James MacCleary, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, as Deputy Leader. The Alliance has an overall majority on ...
A home win for Headline of the Day as the award goes to the Harborough Mail (even though the judges question the need for that second comma). Close reading of the story beneath it reveals that the bird in question is not an emu but a sacred ibis.
Current 1913: The World before the Great War, by Charles Emmerson Terror Moon, by Trevor Baxendale Better Than Sex, by Hunter S. Thompson Last books finished Night of the Kraken, by Jonathan Green Gateways, ed. Elizabeth Anne Hull The City of Brass, by S.A. Chakraborty Plastic Man #1, by Jack Cole Adorable Illusion, by Gary Russell The Making and Remaking of the Good Friday Agreement, by Paul Bew Next books Het Amusement, by Brecht Evens The Ghosts of Heaven, by Marcus Sedgwick
Chatter across social media led me to me getting an early and nervous bus journey to town this morning. I discovered to my horror that the phone box in the Market Square painted with artwork in recent days had been crudely painted white. That act is criminal damage. It is also an attack on local artists. No application was made to Historic England for either the original artwork or its destruction. But BT have given permission for the now destroyed artwork to remain for a short period. Regardless, some mindless idiot decided to destroy it. I'm fuming. Before and after ...
The police has concluded the evidence doesn't stack up for various claims of law-breaking during the Peterborough Parliamentary by-election: Five allegations of malpractice at a Parliamentary by-election were unfounded, a police inquiry concluded... Allegations of bribery, postal vote issues, burning of ballots and breaching the privacy of the vote were made to Cambridgeshire Police. A spokesman confirmed the force found no criminal activity had taken place. [BBC] The Brexit Party had been very vocal with claims that the law had been broken. Meanwhile, in other election law related news: The now-defunct fringe far-right party Britain First must pay a fine ...
This map may resemble the route of one of Ian Botham's never-ending charity walks or the British leg of the Tour de France where the organiser forgets to place a finishing line. But it's actually a record of my campaigning odyssey over the past year, through our fantastic local and European elections onto my campaign to become leader of our party. I've loved every minute – from Aberdeen to Penzance. Like my hero Paddy Ashdown and indeed most Liberal Democrats, I'm happiest out of Westminster meeting people - or, when with our brilliant Brecon candidate, Jane Dodds, meeting the odd ...
Towards the end of his Harold Wilson Memorial Lecture (referred to in the previous post and which can be reached from here) Bishop Nick Baines argues that, whatever the outcome of Brexit, the controversy has exposed five areas in which we need to to take action. We need: A codified constitution.A more representative electoral system.Rules for referendums.Rules for devolution to, and the powers of, the parliament and assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.A redesign of the chambers in the Palace of Westminster to reflect our changed political makeup. Baines does not go into detail on these proposals. My own ...
Responding to reports that the Home Office lied in order to deport victims of human trafficking and modern slavery to other EU countries, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Ed Davey said:"These allegations are so shocking that they'd be unbelievable if they were about anyone other than the Home Office. "The idea that officials have been deliberately lying in order to unlawfully deport victims of trafficking and modern slavery is sickening. There must be a full and independent investigation of these allegations immediately, and any victims must be returned to the UK. "This is yet more evidence that the Home Office ...
Mon, 12:56: Diarmaid MacCulloch: 'I got very irritated with Henry VIII' https://t.co/VbDCdwQx0q Difficult to blame him, really. Mon, 15:21: All-star panel of old friends at @CEPS_thinktank to ask "Is It A New Moldova?" with new foreign minister... https://t.co/EX4ZjMkG0I Mon, 15:28: RT @EUCouncilTVNews: Doorstep by @EU_Commission @JHahnEU and #Moldova 🇲🇩 MFA @nicupopescu at the Foreign Affairs Council #FAC https://t.co... Mon, 15:34: With view of my bald patch. https://t.co/ARPje0tEBg Mon, 15:34: RT @MartaBarandiy: Good to see @nicupopescu as Minister of Foreign Affairs of such an important country for Ukraine - Moldova. He is in CEP... Mon, 15:43: RT @niktwick: Moldova's new foreign ...
Iain Dale has spent much of the last few weeks going round the country chairing Conservative leadership hustings. In what must have been a refreshing change, with a much higher quality of candidates, he put Ed and Jo through their paces in an hour long debate last night. Watch it here.
Members of Wapley Bushes Conservation Group showing off their eighth Green Flag Community Award at one of the Bug Hotels during their July work morning on the Local Nature Reserve. Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve and the Orchard for the Future have been recognised as one of the UK's very best green spaces. Today, a record number of parks and green spaces collect a Green Flag Award. This international award, now into its third decade, is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities. Wapley Bushes ...
It takes a special talent for an opposition leader, faced with a divided, chaotic and incompetent government, to dominate the headlines with his own internal party troubles, rather than with the sort of scathing and constructive criticisms of the ruling party he should be leading on. But that is where Jeremy Corbyn finds himself this morning, with no sign of the turmoil within the Labour Party over anti-Semitism and Brexit coming to an end any time soon. As the Guardian reports, the Labour leader has come under renewed pressure as more than 200 former and current staff challenged him to ...
As I watch the woeful spectacle of the appointment of the UK's next prime minister by an un-representative electoral college that is at the top extreme of age and wealth, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on whether we are now facing the nadir of political leadership in our country. Elections suggest that, for [...] The post Whatever happened to our leaders? appeared first on Radix.
Posted by Chris Bones on
Radix
For an example of the real difference Liberal Democrats in government can make to peoples lives, look no further than the announcement by Kirsty Williams of new guidance on school uniforms in Wales. There's no doubt that the cost of school uniforms can be a real issue for poor families and the tendency of some schools to make arbitrary decisions which put up the cost are an example of how arbitrary decisions by the state can adversely affect people lives. The Children's Society have issued several reports on this, highlighting the high costs caused by schools which have over complicated ...
Bury libraries are urging children to sign up to read six books this summer as part of Space Chase, the Summer Reading Challenge for 2019. The challenge is open to youngsters aged 4 to 11 and is inspired by the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. Children will team up with futuristic family The Rockets for an exciting space mission as they track down books nabbed by a mischievous band of aliens. As children read library books for the Summer Reading Challenge, they will receive special stickers, some with mysterious smells. By adding these stickers to their collector's mission ...
Bury Council's 'Pitch' Community Funding is for constituted and non-constituted groups, special interest groups and residents who are undertaking projects that will contribute to improving the health and well being of local people within their community. Projects must be delivered in the area identified for local residents and should be community led and demonstrate that they help people to help themselves and others live a good life. The grant must be spent within 6 months at the very latest but the activities can continue afterwards. Who can apply? Groups do not need to be constituted, but will need their own ...
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : Our latest exhibition has been opened in the Tower Foyer Gallery, University of Dundee, featuring a selection of the University's extensive collection of 19th century Scottish art. It includes influential figures from early in the century such as Robert Scott Lauder and David Wilkie, renowned Victorian painters like William Quiller Orchardson and examples of the famous Glasgow Boys from the end of the century. One of the relatively few professional women painters of this era, Charlotte Nasmyth, is also featured, as well as notable Dundee artists such as ...
Lib Dems: Govt must stop inaction to protect British farmers and the planet Responding to the RSA Food, Farming & Countryside Commission report outlining a transition to a more sustainable food system and a new deal for the rural economy, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael, said: Farming has a vital role to play in tackling the climate emergency and reversing the tragic loss of biodiversity. This report presents tangible steps to help transform our farming industry to one that works with the environment to produce sustainable, healthy food for the future. Farmers must be placed at the heart of ...
