I have nothing but sympathy for Omar Salem, the dad who confronted Boris Johnson today. Watch the video on the Guardian, here. Omar's wee one is only a week old, but was admitted as an emergency. When she got to the ward, she wasn't seen by a doctor for hours. I can't imagine Omar would have got much in the way of sleep. It is absolutely terrifying when someone you love is seriously ill. You need to have confidence in the care that they are getting. I know. Three years ago, my husband was very seriously ill and spent 51 ...
Wed 18th
21:18
Brexit Party candidate for Rutland believes Britain can increase its wealth by discovering new lands
Over to the Grantham Journal to hear the platform of the newly selected Brexit Party candidate for Rutland and Melton: "I will campaign tirelessly for a clean break Brexit as this will give us the greatest chance of world-class free trading success. Let's not forget, in the first Elizabethan era, we discovered new lands, vanquished malevolent enemies and brought untold wealth back to our fantastic island. "And with a clean break Brexit, we can do exactly the same again, bringing huge prosperity into our midst, amongst many other things, helping our cash strapped public services achieve unparalleled proficiency."I am reminded ...
It is certainly ballsy. It has filled the newspaper pages and the airwaves. It has generated controversy. I'm talking about the Liberal Democrats' new policy of revoking Article 50 should they win a majority in any upcoming election. Is it a masterstroke, something that will generate some short-term excitement that will eventually die down, or a big mistake? continue reading own CityAM.. Read the full post "The Lib Dem Article 50 gamble is so radical it might just work" on Radix Think Tank.
Second paragraph of third chapter: I'd had an uneasy night — once my eyes closed — caught in a nightmarish New York of the future, all sky-scraping apartment blocks and rocket ships, as in those unpleasant German films. The dream-me, wearing only queerly tight underwear with President Coolidge's name embroidered about the waist, sauntered past the Algonquin, the pavement transformed into a howling white tunnel of cocaine. Overhead, Hubbard the Cupboard was performing dazzling aerobatics like Lucky Lindy, but the smoke trailing from his rocket-ship transformed into narcotics too, falling on my shoulders like snow. As his machine roared past, ...
Wed 18th
17:39
Shropshire Council proposes a vanity motorway having just declared a sham climate emergency
Climate emergency. Bah humbug! What is wrong with Shropshire Council? Instead of concentrating on the special qualities of our county, its greenness and quality of life, they want it to be just like Leeds or Birmingham. The latest idea from the environmentally dysfunctional council leadership is to extend the M54 to Shrewsbury. They know this will do nothing to improve traffic flow. It's a smooth flowing road and everything ends up in a queue at Preston Boats anyway. But the reason the petrol heads at Shropshire Council want to extend the motorway is to attract foreign investors. They want to ...
Lib Dem Voice hosted a fringe in Bournemouth at the party's annual conference to discuss the impact of climate change (see photo above). Our speakers were Baroness Cathy Bakewell, Lib Dem Lords Spokesperson for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Luke Murphy, Head of IPPR's Environmental Justice Commission; Lib Dem Deputy Leader Ed Davey MP; Mark Campanale of the Carbon Tracker Initiative; and Paul Sheeky from Extinction Rebellion; The panel was chaired by LDV's own Dr Kirsten Johnson. Use this link to download podcasts automatically in your podcast app and see our previous podcasts and media content here.
For years people living near this part of Rodford Way have been woken up in the early hours of the morning by heavy goods vehicles starting up - they've been using this stretch of road as an unofficial lorry park. South Glos are now considering banning HGVs over 7.5 tonnes from parking there, and they want your views. The consultation is open until 8th October - you can see the documents and comment here
The Liberal Democrats conference in Bournemouth was a heady affair. With a new leader, and new members flooding in, including six MPs from other parties, conference goers sensed they were on the verge of something thrilling. Jo Swinson, that new leader, got a standing ovation when she suggested that she was candidate for prime minister. ... Continue reading Jo Swinson channels Emmanuel Macron
I am not quite sure when I first encountered the 'Black Dog' but he has pretty much been on the premises for the last ten years. The crash as I like to call it came on 9th October 2009 when the pressures of a full-time job and caring finally took their toll. I remember waking at 3 am, not normal for the heavy sleeper that I always was back then. A trip to the GP surgery, anti-depressants and eventually counselling followed. On Christmas Eve 2010 my employment situation was finally resolved with a redundancy package and with the caring position ...
In the space of a couple of hours I was followed down the street by not one, not two, but three different men. Each of them wanted to ensure that I was very aware of the fact that they disagreed with my opinion on Brexit. One man, draped in a Union flag tried to stop [...]
Have you joined the Liberal Democrats in the last few years? If so, it'd be great if you could do this survey on your experience of what it's like joining the party. And if you're a longer-standing member, if you can share this with newer members you know, that would be great – thanks! (If the embedded survey doesn't appear below or work properly, you can use this web link instead.) Create your own user feedback survey
Before us lies an opportunity, to be leaders and advocates of climate justice. Across the world, young people have been school-striking to raise awareness of the climate emergency. We have reached a stage whereby billions of people now know about the causes and impacts of climate change, yet apathy is preventing our governments from acting. Empty goals of decarbonising by 2050 are not enough, especially when we're failing to meet targets set by the Paris Accord. The consequence of inaction is being complicit in worsening the lives of hundreds of millions of people. If we don't act, then we are ...
Tue, 12:56: RT @JamesBrownsell: @singharj @JuliaHB1 If Boris can't successfully negotiate *with Luxembourg* to relocate a press conference indoors, how... Tue, 13:04: RT @alexstubb: When observing the rhetoric of foreign policy and diplomcy today, I am but left with a sense that we could all do with a dos... Tue, 13:42: Just opened - the new branch of Jeanbon, at the European Parliament end of Rue Montoyer. https://t.co/csCCNM6RZb Tue, 16:05: RT @NvOndarza: Taking a step back at the moment, after today it is hard to see how Boris Johnson can still legitimately claim to have "just... Tue, 17:11: RT @cpcnw: ...
Revoking Article 50 was proposed by Chuka Umunna before he joined the Lib Dems, but nobody was listening to him in those days. Now its time has come, and it is set to be our bold new policy. It has at least two advantages over a final say referendum: It is not open to the accusation that we want to re-run the original referendum because we didn't like the result. Unlike No Deal, or the agony of another bitterly fought referendum, it really is a clean break. Whereas no-deal ushers in interminable years of haggling, in which the hapless public ...
I got back from Lib Dem conference yesterday – it was my first Lib Dem autumn conference for three years. I enjoyed it. The party was upbeat – mind you, the Lib Dems would be upbeat if parliament could somehow find a way for a party to have negative seats in it, so when there are genuine reasons to feel positively about the future, you can only imagine. The Liberal Democrats have become the revoke Article 50 party. In response, Corbyn has presented himself as the sole second referendum party, with a narrative of "Labour are the only grownups in ...
Sadly work commitments meant that I could only spend the weekend in Bournemouth this year, but it was well worth the travel (even the post-Disco train journey home). I was impressed by our new MPs and struck by the time they were spending with members as they build connections within their new political home. I did manage to stay for the Europe debate and although I am happy with the final result, I did think that the opponents to 'Revoke' did win the debate in the hall, if not the vote. Niall Hodson (rising star) and Simon Hughes (established hero) ...
Maghull Station Quite some years ago (February 2015 to be precise) I recall standing on Maghull Station with fellow Frank Hornby Trustee Les French, a rep from the Station Volunteers and a chap from Merseytravel. We were talking about making a story board for display on the station linking it to the life and works of world famous toy maker and Maghull's most famous resident, Frank Hornby. A bit of back tracking on this blog site and I found what I said at the time. Here it is:- And the reason for mentioning it again now? Well the plan ...
Wed 18th
09:04Foldgate Lane housing development gets (almost) final approval - we can still improve the scheme and...
Yesterday, Shropshire Council planners approved the details of plans for 137 houses at Foldgate Lane after nearly five years of discussions (18/02413/REM). But the development cannot go ahead without yet another application to allow construction traffic to access. The housing is due to be accessed from a T-Junction on the A49. But due to the gradients on the site, this access cannot be built other than by construction traffic thundering along Foldgate Lane. Viv Parry, the Shropshire Councillor for the area, has said this is unacceptable. I agree. The lane is totally unsuited for construction traffic and we will oppose ...
Since Donald Trump reneged on John Kerry's July 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, the United States is committed to strangle the mullahs' regime economically by blocking its oil exports. The objective is to deprive Persia of any current or future regional pre-eminence, by forcing it to give up not only any uranium enrichment (a mandatory step for anyone who wants to build a nuclear weapon), but also the influence it has gained over the past twenty years on four Arab capitals – Beirut, Baghdad, Damascus and Sanaa. In an attempt to ease this economic strangulation, Iran has chosen to attack ...
Wed 18th
08:15
What would you think are the odds on the Liberal Democrats winning most seats in a general election?
Given that we have 18 MPs right now, you wouldn't expect the odds on the Liberal Democrats being the biggest party in the House of Commons to be that good. Maybe 100-1, maybe 50-1 at best. Well, not so much. Look here and you'll see a range between 9-1 and 16-1. That reflects the fact that we have left Bournemouth with a clear path ahead. We know that our primary objective at the moment is to stop Brexit in order to make creating the more caring, more equal society that we want to see so much easier. We are clear ...
The Independent publishes more disturbing statistics about homelessness when they reveal that the number of older people falling into homelessness has surged in recent years as benefit cuts leave them struggling to make ends meet. They say that official data shows that there has been a 39 per cent rise in people over 60 approaching the authorities because they are in need of housing by local councils over the last five years, with the figure increasing from 1,800 in 2012-13 to 2,500 in 2017-18: The new figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show that Northern Ireland has ...
From Blether Tay-Gither : Our September Blether will be on Tuesday 24th September - at 7pm at Madigan's Tearoom and Bookshop at 25 Castle Street. The theme this month is "maidens and castles". Join us for a relaxed evening of stories and tales. bring a story or just come to listen. Hope to see some of you there - all welcome!
Wed 18th
06:23We should plant 350,000 trees in Shropshire by 2050, one for every person in the county
Shropshire is a green county but it has lost a lot of hedgerows and a lot of trees in recent decades. There has been some replanting but Ludlow conservation areas alone have lost close to 200 trees in the last five years. We are due to lose around 100 trees on Foldgate Lane alone. Trees will be replanted in compensation but it will be decades before they mature and replace existing tree cover. At a time when a majority of public authorities have declared a climate emergency, including Shropshire Council and Ludlow Town Council, we must accelerate our efforts to ...
