For much of this week I was in Brussels, attending the Open Eurasian Book Forum and Literature Festival, organised by the Eurasian Creative Guild. This annual event is a celebration of writers from Central Asia and Eastern Europe, with a special focus this year on Abai Qunanbaiuly (1845-1904) and Chinghiz Aitmatov (1928-2008), towering figures from [...]
Lib Dems commit £6 billion per year to strengthen welfare system Lib Dems: Unholy alliance signs up to Johnson's disastrous deal Lib Dems: Tory migration policy panders to Farage Swinson: Clueless Corbyn cannot answer the most basic questions on Brexit Labour pursuing Brexit makes their dentist policy 'undeliverable' Lib Dems: Tory nurse tax ballooning due to immigration health surcharge rise Lib Dems commit £6 billion per year to strengthen welfare system The Liberal Democrats will today (Sunday 17 November) announce bold proposals to invest £6 billion per year to strengthen the welfare system over the next Parliament. This forms part ...
Today the Liberal Democrats have slammed reports that Boris Johnson's Conservatives have pledged to make all those permanently relocating to the UK pay an increased surcharge of £625, further increasing what was dubbed by the Liberal Democrats the 'nurse tax'. The 'nurse tax' was the policy outlined just last week by the Tory Party that the Immigration health surcharge and immigration visa fee were being extended to EU health professionals, coming to the UK to work in the NHS. Following these announcements, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Christine Jardine said: "The Tory nurse tax is ballooning due to the immigration ...
I was on a little bus yesterday and the driver had decided to entertain his passengers by playing a selection of Sixties classics. This was one of them and it sounded good. But who was Ruby Tuesday? According to Keith Richards she was his girlfriend Linda Keith, who was a Vogue model and has another claim to rock fame. It was she who introduced Jimi Hendrix to his future manager, Chas Chandler of the Animals. Linda Keith was the daughter of Alan Keith, an actor and disc jokey, who was a stalwart of Radio 2 into his nineties. Alan Keith ...
Three photographs from a Spondon Carnival of the late 1940s. The first two images show the procession emerging from Cambridge Street onto Willowcroft Road. The third picture is the Celanese float, advertising the benefits of...Continue Reading The post A 1940s Spondon Carnival appeared first on ten pence piece.
After the disappointment of yesterday's election results, today was a rather more uplifting sort of day, as Ros had planned a lunch date to celebrate my birthday (not today, but close), and had promised a proper Sunday roast in Long Melford, about forty minutes away across the heart of Suffolk. There are many places that boast about the quality of their Sunday lunches, and they don't always live up to the hype, but the Black Lion delivers. This delicious looking pile of roast vegetables, served with two generous slices of roast topside of beef and a perfect Yorkshire pudding, served ...
In December 2003 we celebrated little U's first birthday, and at work I was dealing with the fallout from the previous month's events, rushing out a report on Georgia on the first of the month (actually most of it had been writen before the revolution on 25 November, but obviously needed updating) followed by one on the Preševo Valley in Southern Serbia. At the end of the month Serbia had an election. The books I read in December 2003 were: Non-fiction 3 The Myth of Greater Albania, by Paulin Kola The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest ...
Chris Coghlan, the founder of Renew, is now a Liberal Democrat and standing for the party in Leicester South (Parmjit Singh Gill's former constituency). He says: The breakthrough in the European elections convinced me that the Liberal Democrats are the future of liberal Britain. I have been delighted with the warm reception I have received from fellow Lib Dem members. At a perilous time for Britain, I feel honoured to be representing the party standing up for what I would like our country to be. Welcome Chris, and I hope you enjoy being a Liberal Democrat candidate. There's a full ...
Jo Swinson has given two major press interviews in the past two days – one to Scotland on Sunday talking about her fight to retain her East Dunbartonshire seat and one to The Times (£) which is more about what she and the Liberal Democrats offer nationally – an open hearted, open minded outward-looking liberal country. In the Times piece, she talks about the unique Lib Dem offer: The 39-year-old leader of the Liberal Democrats is from a different generation to Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn (16 years younger than the prime minister and 31 years younger than the Labour ...
Responding to news that cladding may have been a factor in a fire at a student accommodation block in Bolton, Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "My thoughts are with all those affected by this incident and our emergency services teams who tackled the blaze last night. "In the wake of the Grenfell tragedy, it is absolutely shocking to witness another high-rise fire in which cladding may have been a factor in allowing the fire to spread. "Lives are in danger. The government must act immediately to make sure that all high-rise buildings ...
The Liberal Democrats will announce bold proposals to invest £6 billion per year to strengthen the welfare system over the next Parliament. This forms part of the party's ambitious plans to build a brighter future. Tory austerity has left a fifth of UK citizens in poverty, unable to afford even the most basic essentials. The Liberal Democrats will tackle this crisis by committing £6 billion per year to strengthen the welfare system over the next Parliament. Liberal Democrat proposals will prioritise tackling child poverty by abolishing the cruel two-child limit for Universal Credit and ending the unfair benefits cap. A ...
Last night, after a long day of hard work by brilliant LDHQ staff, the Federal Committee results were declared. Party members had been voting for 3 weeks to choose members of the Federal Board, Federal Policy Committee, Federal Conference Committee, Federal International Relations Committee and ALDE Council delegations. Principal councillor reps to Federal Board and Federal Policy Committee, the English rep to the Federal Board and Scottish reps to both Committees were also chosen. You can see the full results including all the STV tables here. Those elected were: Federal Board Alice Thomas April Preston Candy Piercy Caron Lindsay Elaine ...
Sun 17th
09:45
Ludlow Aldi is delivering at 7am on Sundays in flagrant breach of its planning permission
At the end of October, I wrote about a planning application from Ludlow Aldi. On Sundays and bank holidays, it is permitted deliveries for six hours from 8am and 4pm. It wants these hours more than doubled to allow deliveries between 7am to 10pm. What the planning application doesn't say is that Aldi is already receiving deliveries in Ludlow at 7am on Sundays in a flagrant breach of its current permission. Aldi is a multinational. This is not the first time it has broken planning rules. Clearly it doesn't care domestic matters such as the law of the United Kingdom. ...
I'm member of the Mersey Railway Group on Facebook and every now and again I come across interesting old photos of our local railway stations. Here are 3 I've just seen for the first time. The copyright for each one is owned by John Tolson:- Maghull Station – 10th March 1979 Maghull Station 13th June 1974 Aintree Station 11th August 1973 The first shot shows the former Maghull Signal Box (Removed in 1994, if memory serves) and the Station Master's House, which having remained derelict for many a year is presently being renovated as part of the new housing development ...
This edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire is full of stories about the general election, including the huge turnout for campaigning against Zac Goldsmith and Dominic Raab.
[IMG: A bereavement amid politics reminds me of what is important] Since the election starter gun was fired, politics has dominated my reading and thoughts. Then something happened. Something quite devastating and debilitating. A woman who has been a mother figure to me for 38 years... The post A bereavement amid politics reminds me of what is important appeared first on @ambitiousmamas.
Lib Dems begin legal challenge against BBC for Swinson exclusion The Liberal Democrats have instructed a legal team to write to the BBC in response to the public service broadcaster excluding Jo Swinson from their election 'leaders' debate'. In the letter, the party's lawyers warn that the exclusion of one of the leaders of the three main UK-wide national parties is "clearly unlawful". President of the Liberal Democrats, Sal Brinton, has said "voters of this country deserve to hear from a Remainer on the debate stage, not just from the two men who want to deliver Brexit." The Liberal Democrats ...
The Truacanta Project is about helping communities unleash their compassion and find ways to help each other with death, dying, loss and care. It is part of the Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief initiative, which promotes more open and supportive attitudes and behaviours relating to death, dying and bereavement in Scotland. The Truacanta Project is a new initiative being run by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, and funded by Macmillan Cancer Support. The project will support local communities across Scotland who are interested in taking community action to improve people's experiences of death, dying, loss and care. More ...
The election has barely begun and already Labour are backtracking on some of their pledges and promise. The Independent reports that the party is for a major row over its immigration policy amid reports that Jeremy Corbyn will back away from a commitment to extend free movement to non-EU countries and give foreign nationals the right to vote in all UK elections. The paper says both policies are expected to be significantly watered down or ditched entirely when senior figures meet on Saturday to thrash out Labour's election manifesto. Such a move would lead to a backlash from grassroots activists, ...
