[IMG: Just how broad can a broadchurch become?] I feel as if I have been here many times before. An association, group, party, organisation, call it whatever you wish, sets in motion a change which causes seismic breaks in the norms of its... The post Just how broad can a broadchurch become? appeared first on @ambitiousmamas.
We are sparkling with excitement here at LDV Towers. Lib Dem Disco is about to get underway in the Marriott. It means that Mikey Smith from the Mirror has to stay up late and watch Lib Dems do strange things on the dance floor but I'm sure he enjoys it really. Tonight, Jane Dodds, Christine Jardine, April Preston and James Spiby are the guest DJs. Will CJ be able to equal Jo Swinson's triumph and win two years in a row? I have to say that there are some mighty fine tunes on the set list. And I have another ...
I have been staggering along to more conference rallies than I care to remember. But tonight's conference opener was the most thrilling rally I have been to. Hard on the heels of Sal's fantastic presidential swan song, Tim Farron was on fire as he started it. We then had a great speech from Jane Dodds which particularly celebrated all the hard work done by hundreds of volunteers at Brecon and Radnorshire. Laura Gordon gave us a remarkably poised and spirited speech inviting us to go to Sheffield Hallam to help. We then saw the new Lib Dem MEPs on stage ...
Sat 14th
20:49
Lord Bonkers' Diary: "My message to everyone who sits on the sofa and shoots at the television"
It's not just Tim Farron and pews Lord Bonkers goes on about: he is always telling us the reasons for his remarkable longevity. There have always been readers who worry about his age, but it has never troubled me. What does trouble me these days is my own age. I still find it natural to refer to Wallace Lawler, Nesta Wyn Ellis and the Great Torrington by-election in these diaries, but how many Liberator subscribers or Liberal England readers have heard of them? Tuesday I am, as my more attentive readers will have realised, more than 75 years in age. ...
Last time I visited Tur Langton it was to meet Charles I. I was back there today and, because it was the day of Ride+Stride for Churches, I found the village's Victorian church unlocked for the first time. Inside I found some pleasing use of contrasting bricks, and I have always liked the way that the windows that face across the fields are much larger than those that look out on to the village's main street. But my chief memory will be those terrifying ladders.
Another day, another new MP for the Liberal Democrats – and another step forward in making the party more diverse as Sam Gyimah joins the party: Former Conservative MP Sam Gyimah has joined the Liberal Democrats. Six MPs have defected to the party in recent weeks, including former Tory MP Philip Lee, and ex-Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna. Mr Gyimah was one of the 21 Tories who had the Conservative whip removed after rebelling against Boris Johnson in a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit. [BBC] Very pleased with our signings so far. Confident of securing a European ...
Sat 14th
18:46
Resurrection of the Daleks: 1984 TV story, and novelisations by Eric Saward and Paul Scoones
There's a new novelisation out of the Fifth Doctor story Resurrection of the Daleks by Eric Saward, which prompted me to go back and rewatch the original 1984 story on which it was based, and also to reread the fan novelisation published some years ago by Paul Scoones. I missed Resurrection of the Daleks when first broadcast. When I watched it in 2007, I wrote:In keeping with my practice of watching the later Davros stories backwards (see Revelation of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks), I tried the Fifth Doctor's only encounter with his chief foe, from 1984. Well, it ...
The Liberal Democrats have today backed proposals to demand better for all LGBT+ people across the UK and deliver equal marriage. The proposal, passed today at Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, include calls to introduce equal marriage in Northern Ireland, extending existing legislation in England and Wales to remove the spousal veto and to enable the Church of England and Church in Wales and their celebrants to conduct same-sex marriages, and extend recognition of humanist marriages to all of the UK. Speaking after the debate, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who backed the amendment in Parliament to extend same-sex ...
This is Sal Brinton's last speech to Conference as Party President. It contains joy, celebration, tributes, challenges and report. And here is the text in full. Well, hello Conference and hasn't everything changed since we last met in March! Wow! Just wow! We asked you to all go on the Stop Brexit march on 20 March to make it clear we are the strongest Remain party. You did that. It was my privilege to help lead thousands and thousands of Liberal Democrats along with Vince Cable at that march that had over a million people on the streets of London. ...
I am deeply honoured to have been selected by Newark Liberal Democrats to be their parliamentary candidate for the next general election. This will be the third time that I have contested Newark. In the coalition period I came sixth, last time I jumped up to third and this time we are in it to win. The current MP in Robert Jenrick. I have always found him perfectly pleasant when I have met him, but he is part of Boris Johnsons cabinet and therefore part of the right wing cabal currently running the country. We find ourselves at a time ...
In the present political turmoil, there is increasing recognition that our present electoral system should carry much of the blame, Amber Rudd being the latest convert to this point of view. If the opportunity to replace it suddenly opens up, we need to be ready to seize it. Fortunately, the kind of proportional system for Parliamentary elections that the Liberal Democrats have long believed in has the added advantage that it could be implemented quickly. Constituencies for elections using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) can be based on local authority areas, mostly electing 3 to 6 MPs, as the attached ...
Apologies to Mark – we accidentally crashed his time at the top of the page with an ad for our fringe (do join us at 1pm in the Dorchester North at the Marriott asking what sacrifices we are prepared to make for the planet.). So it returns to the top of the page for an hour or so. Although Liberal Democrat conference has only just started, I already feel a bit like a child who has wandered into a chocolate shop, bubbling with excitement at what they can see all around. Here in Bournemouth, that excitement comes from bumping into ...
It was a truly impressive site as Jo Swinson led a group including newly elected MEPs, key seat candidates and other key party figures such as Isabelle Parasram, our Vice President BAME down the hill in the sunshine towards the Conference Centre. Impressive to see @joswinson arrive at #ldconf in the sunshine surrounded by future MPs and newly elected MEPs. pic.twitter.com/OOK1jhuMGc — Caron Lindsay [IMG: 🔶] (@caronmlindsay) September 14, 2019 Shaffaq Mohammed, Yorkshire and the Humber MEP and HazelGrove PPC Lisa Smart were on either side of her in a group that included our own Kirsten Johnson as PPC for ...
Fri, 12:56: Contempt of Parliament, Political Satire and the Case of the Rt Hon Rees-Mogg MP https://t.co/5b7JlnVIoE How parlia... https://t.co/Pir9KuaM7C Fri, 14:52: RT @timjudah1: Can someone explain? Today if you are say a Serb and have a visa for Ireland but not the UK can you simply cross the unpolic... Fri, 16:05: RT @SpotTheLoon2010: Low energy version of fetch https://t.co/0R2Ij2jDzO Fri, 17:11: RT @apcoworldwide: With less than a week until #Israeli's second #Knesset elections of 2019, here's what you need to know ahead of Septembe... Fri, 18:49: Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver https://t.co/ggwJrFH4mI Fri, 20:48: So true. https://t.co/SHCng3rosr Sat, ...
The Liberal Democrats have been the proud standard-bearers of the rearguard action from the 2016 EU referendum. That Britain is still in the EU, and we as a party are enjoying a revival from the drubbing of 2015, are direct results of our commitment to what looked at the time like a lost cause. But if, as seems likely, we go into the next general election with a policy of revoking Article 50 without another referendum, it will become absolutely vital for us to present to the electorate a 'non-Brexit dividend' - otherwise we will fail the very society we ...
Lib Dem Voice is sponsoring a fringe event (yes, free food!) from 1:00 – 2:30 today at the Highcliff Marriott, Bournemouth, in the Dorchester North room. Focussing on climate change, our panellists will be asked "What sacrifices are you prepared to make for the planet?" We have Ed Davey, MP, now Deputy Leader of the party, coming to give his ideas of policy areas that could help shift society's habits. Joining him will be Baroness Cathy Bakewell, our Lib Dem Lords Spokesperson for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Luke Murphy, Head of IPPR's Environmental Justice Commission; Paul Sheeky from ...
Today and tomorrow sees Dundee's contribution to "Doors Open Days" with thanks to the Dundee Institute of Architects who has coordinated the weekend's events. There are over 40 venues opening their doors this year with many favourites returning and some new venues such as NCR Discovery Centre tour. Avertical World is opening its doors to show off their exhilarating re-use of a former church building and University of Dundee School of Medicine who are hosting a fantastically informative Open Day at Ninewells Hospital. There are four walking tours this year. Local eminent Architect and Town Planner Joe Dagen is guiding ...
It is amazing how a lucrative book deal can cause hitherto shy politicians to emerge from their garden shed to try and rewrite history. There is no doubt that David Cameron is absolutely right in this Telegraph article, when he says that Boris Johnson and Michael Gove left "the truth at home" over Brexit and behaved "appallingly" during the EU referendum campaign: In an excoriating attack by an ex-prime minister on one of his successors, Mr Cameron criticised his former friends and colleagues over the claims they made about £350m a week payments to Brussels on their campaign bus. Casting ...
