If you're seeing attacks from Labour types on social media tonight, saying that we didn't vote for their amendment which, amongst other things, called for the NHS to be protected in future trade deals, ignore them. Political parties often do this. It's a silly game and I don't like it when we do it, either. It goes like this. You lay down an amendment that has a bit of good stuff in it, and you combine it with something that another party just isn't going to go for. Then when they don't vote for your amendment you go after them ...
Whickham. Specifically, the area around The Broadway. I delivered 450 tabloids. I also had a meeting with a constituent. Elsewhere, I hear reports of our tabloid being delivered in Pelaw earlier this week. There are still plenty to get through people's letter boxes.
Boris Johnson is not fit to be prime minister. He has cancelled his appearance before the Commons liaison committee, whose membership consists of the chairs of all the Commons select committee, for the third time. Its chair, the Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Wollaston, has replied to his letter in forceful terms: "Frankly, I am astonished that, at such short notice, you are refusing to face detailed scrutiny from select committee chairs tomorrow morning. This is the third time that you have postponed or cancelled. "I have already conveyed the committee's deep disappointment that you did not appear on Wednesday 11th ...
Christine Jardine and Mark Pack will face broadcaster Iain Dale on LBC in just over half an hour's time. ATTN LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MEMBERS Tonight on the @LBC Newshour at 7.45pm I'll be interviewing LibDem presidential candidates @cajardineMP & @markpack pic.twitter.com/7xvIWq5VVY — Iain Dale (@IainDale) October 23, 2019 Listen live here. This is the start of a gruelling weekend of hustings for the pair with six events between now and Sunday. See here for full details.
Second paragraph of the third chapter: The Greymount family having planted themselves in the land, faithful to the policy of the founder, avoided the public gaze during the troubled period that followed the reformation; and even during the more orderly reign of Elizabeth, rather sought their increase in alliances than in court favour. But at the commencement of the seventeenth century, their abbey lands infinitely advanced in value, and their rental swollen by the prudent accumulation of more than seventy years, a Greymount, who was then a county member, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Marney. The heralds furnished ...
The BBC has the article on its website – see link below:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-merseyside-50141031 My attention was brought to this by my researcher Roy Connell who knows that by nature I'm a tree-hugger. The photo's on the BBC website remind me very much of my own tree of every year the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest:- Well I am from Nottighamshire originally, but seriously great news that Allerton Oak in the Woodlands Trust Tree of 2019.
Catherine Bearder is the leader of our MEPs in the European Parliament. She's also very kindly backing me in the Party President contest.
My former boss, Tim Farron, was frequently heard to say that a party never lost a general election because its manifesto wasn't long enough. The Liberal Democrats' manifesto process, whilst very democratic, has one fundamental weakness. It starts from the bottom up with dozen of policies on top of which the party will then attempt to impose a central message, rather than with a core narrative, which it will then illustrate with a series of eye-catching retail policies. For the European elections the party communications staff very successfully circumnavigated this difficulty by ignoring the content of the manifesto altogether and ...
This is intriguing from The Sun's Tom Newton Dunn about a very vocal pro-Brexit protester in London: The numbskull who tried his best to ruin #SkyPapers from Westminster tonight by whistling and shouting 'losers' and 'Brexit now' through out just admitted to the producer he's paid £80 a night to do it. I wonder who by? — Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) October 22, 2019 If only a journalist knew about this story and could dig into it... If you sign up for my blog posts digest you'll get a handy one-a-day email with links to all the latest posts. You ...
Tue, 12:45: RT @eucopresident: My last words @Europarl_EN: Thank you for your responsible position on #Brexit and extension. After what I have heard in... Tue, 12:56: Map of life expectancy in Belgium, from yesterday's @destandaard. Being a Walloon is bad for your health, unless yo... https://t.co/wEHNFhbLN7 Tue, 13:57: Interesting to see @lonelyplanet's four lists of top ten travel destinations for 2020, broken down by country, city... https://t.co/BEZwt3zrEL Tue, 14:31: RT @wwhyte: @nwbrux Buffalo is good value, but the unspoken downside is that you're in Buffalo. Tue, 15:03: Souvenir of my second visit to South Sudan (then Southern Sudan), ten years ...
While all the drama was happening in the Commons yesterday, the Lords was debating the Queen's Speech. One of the measures in that is an immigration bill that makes any liberal reach for a sick bag. Roger Roberts very eloquently described why freedom of movement is a good thing – what would Londoners have done for their tea without the Welsh farmers who moved their to set up dairies? My Lords, listening to the Queen's Speech, what drew my attention was the reform of the immigration regulations and that these would include restriction of freedom of movement. I agree that ...
Last night, Boris Johnson reaped what he had sowed. The programme motion, that which would have set out a timetable for him to get the WAB voted through parliament in time for him to keep his October 31st promise to the nation if every other step had worked out for him from there, was voted down by a mere 14 votes. Alienating the DUP was inevitable given he wants to sell Northern Ireland down the pan, but removing the Tory whip from 21 MPs came back to haunt him good and proper. Oh the perils of being prime minster with ...
When people talk about immigration in the context of the European Union they sometimes forget the millions of UK citizens who live on the continent, 220,000 of whom are pensioners and a large number of whom will be adversely affected by Brexit. This issue was highlighted yesterday in the Guardian, when they reported on the proceedings of the House of Lords EU justice sub-committee. Note this inquiry is being carried out by unelected peers, not by the MPs who are meant to represent these pensioners: Jeremy Morgan QC said retirees in the EU living exclusively or almost exclusively on British ...
Wed 23rd
08:55
Super Lib Dem Lords on Super Saturday: Jeremy Purvis on the potential break up of the UK
At the weekend, Lib Dem Lords basically tore apart Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, highlighting its danger to our prosperity and to the very make up of our country. Jeremy Purvis highlighted the threat to our country. For the first time in our union's history, part of our union will be under the legislative authority of a foreign entity in which the people living in that area will have no representation. Part of our union will have the laws governing its economic policy and trade regulations set by a foreign entity whose rules they will have no say in. Taxes affecting ...
Let's Eat: PumpkinThursday 24th October - 12 noon-2pm A community lunch for all. The theme for this month is pumpkin. Volunteer Jolanta Witkowska will show us how to prepare one of her favourite pumpkin recipes - please do bring along a recipe, or some food to share - with our without pumpkin! A chance to learn some new ideas for the kitchen and catch up with garden friends old and new. The sixth in a series of monthly healthy lunches and recipe swaps. All welcome - come and join us for a tasty lunch! More details are available here.
