The third and final Bob Trubshaw video on little-known Leicestershire and Rutland covers holy wells. Below is my own photo of the well at Beeby.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Fri 26th
21:05

Bryan Magee (1930-2019)

Bryan Magee died today at the age of 89. He sat as Labour and then SDP MP for Leyton between 1974 and 1983 - he was one of the last Labour MPs to make the jump - but it is not his politics that I remember him for. As a television presenter he was able to make philosophy accessible to the intelligent general viewer. The clip above shows him talking to A.J. Ayer's about the latter's once scandalous Language, Truth and Logic - Ayer is amusingly candid about the book's faults. It forms part of a longer interview about logical ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

This application has long been expected. Western Power Distribution (WPD) has operated from an unsuitable location in The Riddings, Sandpits for decades. Its 1960s depot is behind a new row of housing built on the site of the former tax office. WPD maintenance trucks must travel along St Margaret Road and Parys Road to leave the depot. Worse, they often travel past Ludlow Infants School when children are arriving or leaving. Now the company is applying to move to a plot between the Eco Park park and ride and Western Power Distribution's substation on Squirrel Lane. This is a good ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington
Fri 26th
17:37

My Worldcon schedule

See you in Dublin! Is it about a bicycle? The influences of a comedic genius and their funniest book 15 Aug 2019, Thursday 11:00 - 11:50, Wicklow Room-2 (CCD) Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is a significant and well-loved novel, especially in Ireland. (One of its central characters, de Selby, has become a cult hero. Cited as Alan Moore's favourite book, its prodigious footnoting was a major influence on Robert Rankin.) Yet it was initially rejected by publishers and finally issued only after the author's death. See what our panel make of this! Jenna Maguire, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Nicholas Whyte, ...

Maybe chief among the expressions being weaponised in contemporary politics is democracy. The purpose below is to combat the inflationary use of the word, to provide a set of reminders, and to introduce some semblance of order into the debate. What democracy is not: It is not the same as liberalism, whether this is defined [...] The post Let's just remember what democracy is – and isn't appeared first on Radix.

Posted by Paul Gregory on Radix

No one needs any help demonstrating the problems with the current ad-hoc manner in which the UK conducts referendums. But while it might be tempting to argue that the best solution is simply to stop having them, there are problems with that approach. First, I'm not at all sure it is politically sensible, or intellectually honest, to say that since lies, fraud, and gross misconduct constituted the bulk of the Brexit campaign the solution is simply to have no more referendums. There have been lies, fraud, and misconduct in political campaigns since electoral politics began. The solution has always been ...

Posted by Chris Fauske on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Sandgate Esplanade road and pavement flooding (Claire Hudson (www.twitter.com/clairehudson73))] Local Flooding Folkestone and Hythe District Council passed a motion declaring a Climate Emergency on Wednesday night. The motion was moved by the Green Party, with support from the Lib Dems and Labour. As ever. to win the debate, we'd need to persuade a member of the administration or two to back us, but we started full of hope... There are now over 170 Councils that have declared a Climate Emergency, as listed at https://www.climateemergency.uk/blog/list-of-councils/ - with Councils controlled by every Party and none having done so. It's a declaration ...

There are only a few days left to seize the opportunity to give the Liberal Democrats and the anti-Breixt cause another huge boost – by electing Jane Dodds in Brecon & Radnorshire. You don't have to be able to make it to the seat to help. Details of how you can help on the ground, on the phones or financially are here. Here are some of the messages you'll be helping to get out:

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

This autumn, there will be general election. It will pit liberalism against conservatism. It will dictate who will be in power for the next few years. No, I'm not talking about the UK (although it is highly likely too), I'm talking about Canada. Four years on from Trudeau's barn-storming election result, Canadians will return to the polls to elect their new government. The polls see the Liberals neck-and-neck with the Conservatives, so the election in October should be an interesting one. The poster boy of progressive politics has had a difficult 2019, after enjoying a three-year honeymoon period. His Carbon ...

Posted by Jonathan Adcock on Liberal Democrat Voice
Fri 26th
12:11

Gchq

On 1 November the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) will be celebrating its centenary. The very fact that it is acknowledging this landmark is a reflection of how things have changed. Much of GCHQ's work may still be top secret, but in an era of greater transparency, it doesn't need to pretend it doesn't exist. Moreover, [...]

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer
YouGov

The Liberal Democrats are the party of David Lloyd George, John Maynard Keynes and William Beveridge. We are the party that laid the foundations of the welfare state and pioneered support for Keynesian economics, which strived to create an economy of public investment in infrastructure, growth and full employment. Our party's history is one which is staunchly against 'slash and burn' austerity. Of course, during the Coalition Government, the party's leadership supported the austerity programme of David Cameron and George Osborne. This continues to be used against us by supporters of other progressive parties, not least Labour, despite the fact ...

Posted by Paul Hindley on Liberal Democrat Voice

Here's a little set of resources you may find useful if you are one of the very many new Liberal Democrat members or registered supporters: New to the Liberal Democrats? Welcome! Here's a little set of resources you may find useful. pic.twitter.com/8Tkcp0EcCc — LibDemNewswire [IMG: 🔶] (@LibDemNewswire) June 1, 2019

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Fri 26th
11:00

My tweets

Thu, 12:45: No new British Commissioner, says new PM Boris Johnson. So that makes 27 for @vonderleyen to achieve gender balance with. Thu, 12:56: Julian Smith's role - to keep the DUP happy and step up plans for No Deal including direct rule https://t.co/Zqa4O2PVam Yep. Thu, 13:54: I agree with this thread. https://t.co/YasH3VpFOW Thu, 16:14: RT @alexebarker: Here's the @MichelBarnier email to EU member states calling Boris' statement "rather combative" and basically unnegotiable... Thu, 17:00: 160 hours left to vote in the 2019 Hugo Awards and 1944 Retro Hugo Awards! Thu, 18:08: Gateways, ed. Elizabeth Anne Hull https://t.co/Hp4tRvonit Thu, 18:45: ...

Yesterday, with my two ward colleagues Councillors John McClurey and Marilynn Ord, we had our annual ward meeting with Martin Gannon, Leader of Gateshead Council, and the Chief Exec. It is an opportunity to discuss matters of local relevance. I brought to the table issues about the future of Sunniside Park and the neighbouring Lambing Hill/reservoir area and the Sunniside Kingsway community

Posted by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace

I can't help but feel there is going to be an autumn general election. There has been a major clear out of the cabinet and Johnson is heading off on what looks very like an election tour. Having shown he can ruthlessly dump all his opponents in government as quickly as he can dump previously held political beliefs, a general election will also give him the opportunity to purge all opponents from

Posted by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace

Welcome to the thousands of people who have joined the Liberal Democrats this week. The Swinson Surge has seen our total number of members and supporters surpass 120,000. When you think that just 4 years ago, our membership wasn't much more than 40,000, that is spectacular. A Lib Dem Lowdown piece would not be complete without a Greg Foster (Lib Dem Head of Membership) GIF. After that day, I'm sure you could all use some good news – so here it is, more than 1200 people have joined @LibDems as a member or supporter today – that makes almost 7,500 ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

To the Young People of Briton, I am so sorry. I really cannot apologise enough for landing you with a far-right, anti-EU government led by a delusional buffoon who appears to have abandoned reality in favour of policies which have more in common with blind religious faith than practical politics. You may kindly respond: "It's ok. You did what you could. It's not your fault." Thank you. That is very kind. But my generation (the baby boomers) collectively failed to do enough. If we had we would not be in the mess we are in today. Furthermore, we would not ...

Posted by Tom Arms on Liberal Democrat Voice

Good news to wake up to this morning. The Liberal Democrats have gained not one but TWO Council seats in Gloucester – one each from Labour and the Conservatives. The one from Labour was proper knife edge stuff. Not between us and Labour, who absolutely tanked because, you know, what is the point of them these days? We won by three votes from the Conservatives. There was a nail biting recount in Podsmead where Sebastian Field triumphed and Ashley Bowkett won in Barnwood. [IMG: 🚨] LD GAIN: Ashley Bowkett GAINS Tory seat in Barnwood ward. That means Barnwood is now ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Great to see the official opening of Dundee West End Community Fridge taking place and all in the local community invited!

As the UK Government has found out with TV licences for the over 75s, it is harder to take a benefit away than it is to grant it in the first place. It is a lesson that the Welsh Government may also have to learn as they seek to rebalance their budget, by amending the terms of the many 'freebies' they have introduced over the last 20 years. Amongst these benefits we can include free prescriptions, free entry to museums, free swimming for some age groups, free school breakfasts and of course free bus travel for the over-60s. As this ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
eUKhost
Fri 26th
02:36

Who is Alister Jack?

As Boris Johnson's ministerial appointments were announced, it was clear some were going to generate more media interest than others. Priti Patel and Dominic Raab as Home and Foreign Secretaries respectively are the obvious ones, but there were many others that seemed either strange or controversial. David Mundell being relieved of his duties was not particularly surprising, but his replacement as Secretary of State for Scotland certainly was. The confirmation of Alister Jack as Mundell's replacement had many asking "Alister who?" Even I was surprised given Jack's status as a relatively new MP - having been first elected in the ...

Posted by Andrew on A Scottish Liberal

Four council by-elections this week, one on a Wednesday, only two with Lib Dem candidates and the debut of Brexit Party local election candidates.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack