Thanks to Paul Walter on Liberal Democrat Voice for posting this track from Norman Baker's solo LP Staying Blue. Paul also has news of an album involving another former Lib Dem MP - Greg Mulholland.
Last week Layla Moran came out as a pansexual, but the decision and its timing were made under duress. Writing for the Independent she explains: For the last few months, I had been hearing second hand that a few journalists had been attempting to make our relationship salacious or sensational. My understanding was that they had been calling around asking questions from as early as mid-October. Then, last Saturday the Mail on Sunday contacted me directly to tell me they were publishing something with less than 24 hours notice. I pleaded with them to wait. I hadn't yet told my ...
Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, has today announced the new Lib Dem team in the House of Commons. The new team will speak up for the millions of people who voted for the party in the recent general election and the millions more who are dismayed with the current Conservative government. Speaking on the announcement, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: We will run positive campaigns for our fresh ideas, to show how social injustice and the climate emergency can be tackled and how Britain's poor economic performance can be turned round. The Liberal ...
A party press release brings the news: Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, has today announced the new Lib Dem team in the House of Commons. The new team will speak up for the millions of people who voted for the party in the recent general election and the millions more who are dismayed with the current Conservative government. Ed Davey said: We will run positive campaigns for our fresh ideas, to show how social injustice and the climate emergency can be tackled and how Britain's poor economic performance can be turned round. The Liberal Democrats will continue ...
I spent most of August 2004 on holiday, but this was also the moment that I set my long-laid plans to join the cabinet of one of the new members of the European Commission in motion. (Those plans failed.) I also set up and publicised my Interactive Language Quiz, based on the instructions from a McDonald's toy. While on holiday we published reports on Macedonia and Georgia, and I had an op-ed on the Macedonian local government reform plans (rather a good one, if I say so myself). Once I got back to work, my new intern, K, a Slovenian, ...
Mon 6th
17:08
Peter Nutting says he has "no intention" of selling Ludlow Assembly Rooms - we need better guarantee...
It is always worth listening to what politicians say. And listening to it twice. This morning, Shropshire Council leader Peter Nutting was questioned by Eric Smith on BBC Radio Shropshire. He said that reports of Shropshire Council selling Ludlow Assembly Rooms (LAR) were "tosh". There is no intention of selling. Fair enough and good news. But "no intention" is not a guarantee. Shropshire Council has backed itself into a corner over LAR. It has only two options that will not cost it more money. Flogging the premises or allowing Ludlow to run South Shropshire's premier cultural centre as agreed. Eric: ...
I suppose that it is very easy to get into the mindset that politics is everything in life. But it turns out that there is life outside of Westminster. I read the other day that former Labour Deputy Leader, Tom Watson, is training to become a gym instructor. That started me thinking about what had happened to our vast number of MPs from before the election in 2015. Stephen Gilbert, former MP for St Austell and Newquay, for example. Whatever happened to him after he posted a "Gone Surfing" post-it note on his Twitter account in 2015? Well, it turns ...
During my researches for my "Class of 2015" articles, I have been delighted to find that two of our MPs from the "Class of 2015" have released musical albums. Norman Baker, who lost his Lewes seat in 2015 and previously recorded with his band "The Reform Club", has released a solo album called "Staying Blue" which is available widely on Angel Air Records. A couple of the tracks are on YouTube including "Shipping Forecast" (above) which includes a snippet of the BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast and these classic lines: I'm lying in bed and waiting for you It's quarter ...
Sometimes stepping back for a moment, and not thinking about an issue, can give you a whole new perspective on it. This is, I believe, one of those moments for the party. In the brief, frantic, space between the election result and Christmas it sometimes felt as if we were continuing to hurtle at the same uncontrollable pace which had propelled us into the election. Before any work had been done to work out what had gone wrong there was, it seemed an almost reckless determination to launch ourselves into a new leadership contest. Too soon, for me, in so ...
It was over two years ago that I wrote in these pages about the virtues of patience, if we desire to re-enter the EU. Roger Liddle, the Labour peer and former adviser to Tony Blair, had predicted the conservatives would inevitably triumph and our best bet would be to re-apply under article 49, once the fuss had died down and the country had woken up to reality. He was, unfortunately, right, but as for rejoining the EU in the foreseeable future the prospects look very limited. The idea that Britons will suddenly wake up and come to their senses is ...
I was rather shocked by a story on the radio news last weekend. It was announced that the NHS was about to spend £40m to sort out the login to its IT systems, as staff are wasting lots of time with separate logins to a dozen or more systems. My first reaction was: "Why on ... Continue reading Why Dominic Cummings is doomed to fail to reform state inefficiency
Sun, 13:11: What if we re-run the Boundary Commission for 650 MPs, 18 in Northern Ireland? https://t.co/RCBQOFXCCq Sun, 16:05: Tales from the Coffeeshop: A PR disaster of nuclear proportions https://t.co/a00qKzjMuP My favourite Cypriot commen... https://t.co/XKu2c8ggqq Sun, 19:33: RT @MatinaStevis: #BREAKING: #Iran announces complete withdrawal from nuclear deal https://t.co/vFCABeU0vC via @NYTimes Sun, 20:48: How Rose Hudson-Wilkin Became Britain's First Black Female Bishop And A Chaplain To The Queen https://t.co/1vZTzht1iE Interesting profile. Mon, 10:45: How did Africa get its name? https://t.co/x1B0t787Co or rather, names.
Mon 6th
10:51
A review of "Rise of Skywalker", a look at McDonald's new business model, then melting into a rant a...
Took the kids to see Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker yesterday afternoon. Before I tell you about the movie, I need to talk about what happened immediately afterwards. My son was thirsty and there was a McDonald's across the road from the cinema. I figured it was the easiest and quickest way to get him liquid. For background: I have not stepped into a McDonald's in at least ten years. My whole idea of what the central USP of McDonald's was, prior to yesterday, revolved entirely around speed. You walk in, you pay your money, you get your food in ...
I recently purchased the postcard scanned above, published by Judges of Hastings, and am guessing the photo was taken in the 1990's but I could be well be wrong. Can anyone date it from the type of signs it had back then? Clearly the postcard is pre the new bridge and traffic light/barriers It's interesting that the postcard was published for the Lancashire Federation of Women's Institutes and the photo was taken by a Mrs A McFarlane of Lathom WI. Just for comparison here's the shot replicated in Jan 2020:- Click on the photos to enlarge them
For a Prime Minister who claims to want to heal the divide in our country caused by his championing of Brexit, Boris Johnson has a peculiar way of delivering on his objective. As the Guardian reports, the UK Government is planning to press ahead with plans for post-Brexit festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2022 at an estimated cost of £120 million. Of course the two year gap between commitment and delivery is plenty of time for that cost to double. The paper says that figures from arts institutions have privately expressed concern about the project, which some ...
Following Dominic Raab's appearance on the Andrew Marr show yesterday morning, Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey said: Dominic Raab's lapdog defence of Donald Trump's reckless action against Iran is seriously misguided and not in Britain's best interests. The United States' so-called strategy with Iran and across the Middle East is so incoherent and inconsistent that it is making the search for peace and security far more problematic. So it is a huge mistake for the Foreign Secretary to give Trump a blank cheque of unequivocal support, especially when the Government was not even consulted before this action and this ...
Maggie's Dundee is looking more support from volunteers, so any help you could give would be amazing! The Maggie's team is looking for more support in the following areas : • Drop in Volunteers - welcome visitors and make tea and coffee• Event volunteers - stall, bucket collections, event stewards• Admin support - Thank you letters, help with banking, volunteer admin jobs• Speakers - people who can go do talks / presentations for Maggie's and also collect cheques on Maggie's behalf. Please contact Laura Boyd, Maggie's Centre Fundraiser on 496384 (or mobile 07860 271415). Many thanks!
