That's rather embarrassing, in that I managed to fall asleep mid-edit. So, time to catch up... Lib Dems respond to Conservative announcement on GP appointments Lib Dems: Boris Johnson should call Cobra meeting over flooding emergency Labour People's Vote promise rings hollow – Lib Dems Labour People's Vote promise rings hollow – Lib Dems Lib Dems: Manifestos must receive OBR scrutiny Lib Dems respond to Conservative announcement on GP appointments Responding to the Conservative Party's announcement today on GP appointments, Luciana Berger, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, said: This latest Tory announcement isn't offering any ...
A walk with John Rogers and Adrian from Shepherd's Bush Calling.
Back in April we started the process of buying a smallholding near our village of Sunniside in Gateshead. It took six months for the purchase to go through, longer than we expected, and at the start of October, it became ours. In July I agreed to be the Lib Dem candidate for Blaydon in the event of a snap general election which was widely expected to be in held in August, September or October.
You have to hand it to the old boy: he called this one right. Wednesday Never mind Bournemouth: the talk of the Bonkers' Arms when I call in this morning is the rumour that Boris Johnson is to desert Uxbridge and stand for Rutland and Melton instead. One regular tells me the prime minister is already known to have fathered children from Whissendine to Essendine; another has it on good authority that he has been taking technology lessons in the red-light district of Uppingham; a third tells me Johnson has given the address of the crime correspondent of the High ...
Our politics and culture have been convulsed by Brexit for the last three years and will be for years to come, yet the election campaign looks set to avoid any serious discussion of Brexit, argues Chris Grey. Dave Troy reads Christopher Wylie's Mindf*ck: "At stake in the Cambridge Analytica saga is the very idea of agency. Whether or not we humans have free will, freedom of thought, and capacity to shape our destiny is at the heart of our legal system and the very idea of democracy." "He seemed to be in a very bad temper and was unhappy about ...
Does Farage standing down Brexit candidates help the Tories? How can the other parties respond if it does?
The Evening Standard reports: Former Conservative minister Nick Boles today announced he will vote for the Liberal Democrats and urged voters to back anyone but the "appalling choice" between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn. Mr Boles, who resigned the Conservative whip over Brexit, claimed voters "wouldn't trust either of the Prime Ministerial candidates to mind your children for an hour let alone run the country". 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 can also sign up for a range of other lists, including Liberal ...
It was fun - but, to be honest, a little disconcerting - to watch Molly race around like an idiot, tongue and ears akimbo, patently having the time of her life. Continue reading →
[IMG: Are you a bully?] For every person bullied, there is a bully. For everyone whose life is being made miserable by someone (or more) that 'someone (or more)' is the culprit. It mystifies me as to why an enormous... The post Are you a bully? appeared first on @ambitiousmamas.
I've been bookblogging since November 2003, and will reach the twenty-year mark about four years from now. So I'm going to try and do some retrospective posts, every six or seven days, starting today, looking at the books I read each month a while back with also some reflections on what was going on for me in each month. November 2003 was politically momentous - there were elections in Northern Ireland and Croatia, a major political crisis in Moldova, and an election followed by a revolution in Georgia, all of which affected my work, though we were able to publish ...
With the general election underway, the latest edition of Never Mind The Bar Charts looks at how things are going so far for the Liberal Democrats, what the constituency polls are saying, the role of bar charts and the latest on the party's internal elections.
Mon 11th
11:55
WATCH: Jo and Layla at the Rally for the Future - We have to do better for the next generation
On Saturday, the first big Lib Dem election rally took place. The main subject was our policy of providing free childcare to children from 9 months of age – which will make life so much easier for families. What was really good is that this event was family friendly. Babies, toddlers, teenagers were in the audience including Jo's own two sons. The speeches were punctuated with toddler babble. It was a joy. Jo and Layla spoke. Watch here: Layla remarked that she had never known such a friendly reaction on the doorstep. She exposed the Tory idea that this election ...
I've regularly covered in the last few years the work of Vince Cable in particular to get the Liberal Democrats to focus on life-long learning, particularly for the (near)majority of teenagers who don't get to university. It's become one of the party's central policy pledges at this general election, as the BBC reports: The Lib Dems are proposing a £10,000 grant for every adult in England to put towards education and training. The money would go into a "skills wallet" over a period of 30 years, to help with the cost of approved courses. The party says it would pay ...
Sun, 12:36: RT @nigreenways: A heady mix of political will & grassroots vision: stunning 1,000km greenway network planned for NI https://t.co/80G7n9PN0... Sun, 12:56: RT @pernilleru: I'm going to be interviewed by a journalist for a Japanese news agency on whether prolonged Brexit uncertainty is causing J... Sun, 14:21: RT @MSmithsonPB: I live and vote in ultra marginal Bedford which is a key CON target and was taken LAB by 700 votes at GE17 yet so far I'v... Sun, 14:48: What She Learned From the One Who Got Away https://t.co/FVGeHjfhXy A complicated love story. Sun, 16:05: Who is the real Dice ...
Another news release from Gateshead Lib Dems, this time about the selection of Vicky Anderson as candidate for Blaydon. Vicky fights for victory in Blaydon Liberal Democrats in Blaydon constituency have chosen Vicky Anderson as their candidate for the snap general election on 12th December. Vicky is relishing the battle ahead as she takes on Labour in the constituency they have held
Peter Maughan has been selected as Lib Dem candidate for Gateshead. The following is the news release I've just sent out: Peter chosen as Lib Dem candidate in Gateshead Liberal Democrats in Gateshead constituency have chosen Peter Maughan as their candidate for the snap general election on 12th December. Peter has considerable experience of representing residents of the borough where
When I saw Luciana Berger at Conference in September, she looked happy and relaxed as she toured the stalls in the exhibition. She said then that she felt very welcome in the Liberal Democrats. Many of us hoped for a long time that she would come across to us. In an interview with the Independent, she contrasted her new life in the Lib Dems with the appalling, horrible abuse she suffered in when she was in the Labour Party: Being in the Liberal Democrats is so refreshing and so positive. I can have disagreements with people and we do so ...
Despite the Conservative party getting their election campaign off to what has by consensus been a rocky start, they are still around 10-12 points ahead of their nearest competitor, the Labour Party, in the polls. Some people are confused as to how this can be – and what can be done by opposition parties to bring the Tory lead down. Thankfully, I believe there are easy answers to these queries. For a start, Labour cannot win this election and further, I find it very difficult to imagine a way to them even being the largest party. I don't think they ...
Maghull North Station as it was nearing completion in 2018 I've blogged about Maghull new 2nd railway station many times, often with a little frustration about the design details which have been left hanging well after the station opened. Now don't get me wrong (a Jim Sharpe'ism – Jim is a journalist on our local Champion newspaper) having campaigned for the station to be built I'm happy that it has been, but for the life of me some of the issues with it should not still be issues now, well over a year since it was opened. The good news ...
The Sunday Times reports that Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has received a surge in cash from nine Russian donors, who have been named in a suppressed investigation into Russia's attempts to undermine democracy in the UK. The paper says that oligarchs and other wealthy Tory donors were included in the report on illicit Russian activities in Britain by the cross-party intelligence and security select committee (ISC), whose publication was blocked by No 10: Some Russian donors are personally close to the prime minister. Alexander Temerko, who has worked for the Kremlin's defence ministry and has spoken warmly about his "friend" ...
Mon 11th
05:38
Shropshire Council gives upbeat update on its huge investment in Shrewsbury shopping centres
Shropshire Council has made a lot of controversial decisions. Many have reduced help for those that most need it. The council has also focussed on Oswestry and Shrewsbury at the expense of rural areas. That's why it decided to spend £51 million to buy three shopping centres in closed session in January 2018. It has been a mixed picture since with some new retail units opening but a general trend of store closures and rent reductions. More taxpayer's money is to be invested in improving the stores in a climate of declining high streets. The council continued to justify its ...
