Three council by-elections this week, though alas only two Liberal Democrat candidates: a reminder of how much more we still have to do to rebuild the party's local government base. Newnham, Cambridge A Lib Dem defence, triggered by happier circumstances than most by-elections: Lucy Nethsingha's election to the European Parliament. Josh Matthews stood to replace her... and succeeded with some style: The result is in ... pic.twitter.com/o3zvfoyaZB — Cambridge Electoral Services (@votecambridge) August 8, 2019
Just published, edition 121 of eFocus for the Whickham area. This edition includes: thank you to those voting Lib Dem in the recent PCC by-election; green flag for Chase Park; Marley Hill bowling green pavilion restored after fire; Dunston Hill housing plans; Sunniside bird of prey event postponed; Helping people with dementia; Tyne and Wear Fire Service rated good. You can read eFocus on
Here's how.
The Herald reports: The Scottish Liberal Democrats have produced an etiquette guide for the Holyrood by-election in Shetland as they draft in help from mainland. The party has warned activists from outside the constituency that referring to "The Shetlands" is regarded as a "no no". Members contacting voters by phone have also being given tips on pronouncing Norse place names in the islands.If they ever call a by-election in Rutland, I shall ask Lord Bonkers to write something similar.
[IMG: Striving for perfection is a pain in the proverbial] In the summer of 2017 when my daughter finished her school years I felt a sense of loss. Call it 'Empty Nest Syndrome' for want of a better word but it isn't an entirely accurate... The post Striving for perfection is a pain in the proverbial appeared first on @ambitiousmamas.
Third page: "I'll call you and wake you in the morning. And I can't wait to see you, darling." "Me neither, sweetie!"* "Till tomorrow. Sleep well!" "See you tomorrow, sweetie!" (ring tone) Impossible to translate the "Ik zie je graag"/"Ik zie je graager" exchange accurately. And the pet names are much more bokeworthy than my translation. I was blown away by Evens' previous book, Ergens waar je niet wil zijn (The Wrong Place), and grabbed this as well; it won the Fauve d'Angoulême: Prix Spécial du Jury at the Angoulême International Comic Book Festival. Here's a (wordless) trailer for it: ...
You may just have heard that Ed Maxfield and I have written a book, now on to its second edition, about how elections are won. If you've not yet read it, here are six reasons to give it a whirl...
Lyndon Johnson was one of the greatest US presidents and the 4th volume of Robert Caro's fantastic biography of him, The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson is about his becoming VP, then President and how he used his incredible political skills to push the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act ... Continue reading "LBJ - America's greatest Liberal ?"
Following the announcement that British rail companies will be pulling out of InterRail at the end of the year, Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson Jenny Randerson said: "The UK rail companies pulling out of Interrail will have a huge impact on both tourism and the environment. But the blame really lies at the feet of the Conservative Government, who have failed to step in and stop the cancellation of this important scheme. Liberal Democrats demand better. "Interrail is a vital scheme, not just for tourism, but also for building bridges between different cultures across Europe. We must encourage more people to ...
As predicted in the previous post the real question facing us, whether to continue with Brexit or stop it altogether (either by revoking Article 50, as I'd prefer, or having another public vote) has now morphed into the quite different question: deal or no-deal? A letter to the Guardian from a Stephen King on 6th August puts the matter clearly: '. . .Boris Johnson has changed the conversation. The debate is no longer "Brexit v referendum /no Brexit", it is "no deal v deal." This smart strategy positions a deal as the best possible outcome , and removes from the ...
Britain is entering a period of high political drama. All the political parties are geared up for a few months where they could have a decisive influence on events. Except, apparently, one. Labour's policy on Brexit, the issue of the day, appears confused. They have added to to the general confusion after one of its ... Continue reading So just what are Labour up to?
We now face a really nasty government, hell-bent on leaving the EU without a deal. What Boris Johnson described only weeks ago as 'a million-to-one chance' has now become the central planning assumption for No.10. Johnson's airy language about a rapid re-negotiation has evaporated; he has refused to visit even Dublin, and has made no effort to talk directly to prime ministers he casually offended when he was foreign secretary. He is focussing instead on blaming the EU for refusing to accept the UK's demand to drop the 'Irish backstop', even though the British government has no alternative workable proposals ...
Wed, 13:08: RT @damonwake: Unsurprisingly, @OborneTweets has no time for your Dominic Cummingses and their apparent hold over your Boris Johnsons. Abso... Wed, 13:31: What a miserable decision. https://t.co/34iLmjRkOn Wed, 13:38: RT @TKanoume: And how do we benefit from this? More Brexit 'upsides' revealed daily 😥 https://t.co/FIf8BadriM Wed, 14:20: Hits the nail on the head. https://t.co/KPFkigtV3y Wed, 17:11: RT @EU_Commission: -"Do you feel you are a citizen of the EU?" 🇪🇺 -"Yes" (% by country) 🇱🇺93 🇩🇪88 🇪🇸87 🇮🇪85 🇫🇮85 🇵🇹84 ðŸ‡ðŸ‡º84 🇵🇱84 🇸🇪83 🇩🇰82... Wed, 17:41: RT @gerrylynch: Until arriving here, I must admit I hadn't quite processed the ...
On Tuesday work was taking place to resurface Thornley Lane between Lockhaugh and Winlaton. A sudden downpour at a key moment in the work destroyed the new surface and stopped the bitumen from setting. Work had to stop. My recollection is that the weather forecasts were warning of sudden heavy downpours. How was this missed? I've emailed the director to ask.
Aged 20 I went on holiday to the south of France with 4 friends and the wonderful Carlos Santana tune Europa was being played on jukeboxes everywhere we went – It was from the album Amigos the seventh studio album by Santana released in 1976. Indeed, we played it so often in the bar we frequented during that holiday that we were asked to play some other tracks. Some years later I came across the Argentinian jazz saxophone player Gato Barbieri via his 1976 album Caliente and was immediately taken with his rendition of Europa so imagine how great it ...
Absolutely nobody would grudge Jane Dodds, our newly elected MP for Brecon and Radnorshire a weekend off. After all, she has just been through a gruelling by-election campaign. When I was down there three weeks ago, she had a very strong sense that people were coming to help her and she needed to return that favour. Nobody expected her to be doing it quite so soon, though. This Saturday I'm going to #Sheffield to help the amazing @LibDemLaura and @SheffLibDems team! We have a real chance pull off another big win here and elect a hard working @LibDems MP. So ...
We are now in completely uncharted political waters and anyone who says with confidence that they know what will happen next is either deluded or a charlatan, descriptions that have both been applied to our new Prime Minister in the past fortnight. For that reason, even his own declarations of 'do or die' should be treated with an EU salt mountain of scepticism. Nevertheless, there are still a few certainties even in these uncertain times: first, politicians do not give up power easily; second, those in power will claim responsibility for anything that goes right; third, anything that goes wrong ...
The Family Sustainment Service aims to support families in private rented accommodation who are having financial difficulties and have or are at risk of accruing rent arrears. The service advises : "Living with poverty can make family life very hard. Parenting can be stressful and, without financial resources, it can feel like an uphill struggle for our families. When poverty is combined with poor mental health, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol problems, trauma from your own childhood and/or learning disabilities then the ability to hold a family together can feel almost impossible. Working in partnership with the DWP, Dundee City ...
