Liberal Democrats: UK access to crime databases at risk post Brexit Welsh Liberal Democrats welcome landmark for Welsh education Liberal Democrats challenge Minister on Met facial recognition surveillance Liberal Democrats: UK access to crime databases at risk post Brexit Following reports that the exchange of key security information is at risk post Brexit, due to concerns over Britain's record in protecting personal information, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine said: Our police rely heavily on co-operation with our EU partners to identify criminals and bring them to justice. It's incredibly alarming that these government scandals threaten to undermine that ...
This video was tweeted today by Dan Rebellato, who wrote: I love that something so banal is so mesmerically fascinating.In 1970 I was proud of knowing that the best Tube stop for Charing Cross station was Strand, not Charing Cross.
"Most of us know precisely what is wrong with Tickbox - that most of these measures or targets either miss the point or get finessed by managers. Those who can't see it tend to be the elite forces who run the world - and who believe what they are told by the frontline." David Boyle has a new book out on tick-box culture - or 'Tickbox'. High-tech smart cities promise efficiency by monitoring everything. But, asks Amy Fleming, would cities be better if we ditched the data? Shoshana Zuboff explains how we are all controlled by surveillance capitalism. "The most ...
The vast Maghull East site seen from Poverty Lane presently used for growing crops but under Sefton Council's Local Plan it will become housing Place North West has the article on its website – see link below:- The deferment was of course associated with the Special Planning Committee meeting held last week in Bootle Town Hall. I guess those of us who fought against this vast former Green Belt/high grade agricultural site being designated for housing in Sefton Council's Local Plan (I fought it twice – 1998 WON, Most recently – LOST) will be sad but resigned. Resigned to ...
Liberal Democrat controlled Cotswold District Council has donated £13,000 to ensure that a feasibility study of the reopening of the railway line from Kemble to Cirencester can be conducted. The line was closed to passengers in 1964 and to goods traffic the following year. Later Cirencester's ring road was built over part of it. But that has not stopped the reopening campaign. You can find detailed plans on the Cirencester Community Railway site.
Second frame of third installment: (The speaker is Rory.) This is one of the IDW Eleventh Doctor comics, and actually appears to be the only one I have. The Doctor, Amy and Rory wind up in Casablanca during the second world war, and as well as wandering Zelig-like in and out of the background of the famous film, they become caught up in a Silurian plot to take over the world. It's a neat trick to combine both Who lore and a well-known story from outside the Whoniverse, and I felt that Fialkov's narrative worked well. I wasn't always so ...
Rodford Way to be Closed - for resurfacing (Photo - members of the Focus Team on the Sundridge Park / Rodford Way corner, taken at the start of Jan as part of arguing for the massive potholes to be surfaced) GOOD NEWS: Rodford Way from the Kelston Close junction to the Shire Way junction is going to be resurfaced - some of the potholes, particularly on the corners are huge, deep and dangerous, so this is long overdue. But it means closing the road...... South Glos has made the closure orders. The order says it will close the road from ...
Roadworks in all directions: 1, Latteridge Road Iron Acton - the Latteridge bends. 3 - 18th Feb - this road will be closed from the junction with the B4058 Bristol Road to just past the railway crossing for major resurfacing. The closure will be in place from 8pm to 6am every night and a signed diversion will be in place. There will still be access for residents. 2 Latteridge lights - 3 - 18 Feb - the actual lights and the junction area will be resurfaced at some point during that fortnight. It will be closed for 2 nights to ...
In 1992 the Swiss rejected EEA membership by 50.3% to 49.7% in a referendum. It was a vote that highlighted deeper cultural divisions in the country. It's quite difficult not to look at the result and draw parallels with our own 2016 referendum, and the subsequent 28 years in Switzerland could hold the answer to the 'what next?' question for the Liberal Democrats' future position on Europe. Following the 1992 referendum the Swiss suspended their application to join the EEA and in 1997 withdrew it altogether. However, through a series of bilateral agreements Switzerland is essentially a member of the ...
Mon 27th
16:51
Oh no it's not. Oh yes it is! Shropshire Council descends into pantomime over review of parking char...
It seems barely a few moments ago since I published a statement from Shropshire Council that the long promised review of the impact of regime of parking charges introduced in November 2018 is to be delayed until March. That was based on an email from the Chief Monitoring Officer at 2:31pm. Alas, in the short time I was taking the dog and cat for a walk, all has changed. The Chief Monitoring Officer emailed at 3:35pm to say the review will take place as planned on Wednesday morning. There is no paperwork for this meeting. It will not be possible ...
Tomorrow I am attending a meeting to try and prevent the so-called merger of twp branches of Boots the Chemists on Allerton Road and Smithdown Place. Boots have already closed down an Alliance pharmacy on Allerton Road, (a subsidiary of ... Continue reading →
Mon 27th
14:49
Nick Tyrone: "What the Lib Dems keep failing to understand about the Labour Party" ****WARNING: CONT...
On his website, writer Nick Tyrone has written a typically astute and pithy article which cuts to the heart of the relationship of the Liberal Democrats to the Labour party: What I'm trying to say here, Liberal Democrats, in a long winded way, is this: Labour people hate you. They really hate you. And the hatred runs deep and dark. They don't want to form some "progressive alliance" with you. They want to destroy your party. And once you understand the Labour mindset, that goal seems totally rational. If you think the Labour Party is the source of all good, ...
A recent survey by Ludlow Town Council reported that more than half of independent traders in the town have seen a drop in footfall and turnover since the new parking regime came in in 2018. The annual review of the new parking regime was due to be discussed at the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday morning. But no paperwork has been published. None of us in Ludlow know what changes Shropshire Council is planning to make to this punitive parking regime that is punishing town centre trade at a time when high streets all over the country are struggling. ...
In April of last year, George Monbiot went on Frankie Boyle's show and gave a speech about what we need to do to halt and reverse climate change. There were several prescriptions, some of them sensible, like switching to plant based diets, several of them less sturdy. Amongst the ones that fit into the latter category are that we need to have a zero growth economy in order to keep the planet inhabitable for humans: "Since when was GDP a sensible measure of human welfare? And yet everything that governments want to do is to try to boost GDP. Now, ...
I've been meaning to get back into the swing of this for a while now, and now that the debate over Brexit is over (albeit the consequences will be debated for years to come), perhaps now is a good time to pick up where I erratically left off... Monday is a relatively gentle opener to the week, with the primary item of business being the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill, whose Second Reading takes place. Think drones. Batting for the Liberal Democrats will be Bill Bradshaw, Tom McNally, and our Transport Spokesperson, Jenny Randerson. This will be followed ...
There are two versions of 2019 which future historians of the Liberal Democrats may write about. One is about a party that was on the road to recovery...
This post first appeared on the Radix UK blog... Why are there so many blank walls in public libraries these days? Is it because librarians have, despite decades of inculcation, conceived a dislike to the printed form? It seems unlikely. I first discovered the phenomenon visiting the award-winning Thornton Heath Library in Croydon. The design in concrete and glass certainly looked impressive - but what happened to all the books? There are people who might have said that was what a library was for - some of us still read after all (especially after the decline in ebook sales) but ...
Sun, 13:01: Making a rare appearance at SF Café Leuven https://t.co/7Z1MIvd00E to spread the good news of @glasgowin2024. (@ Br... https://t.co/pilB6uqEyk Sun, 15:05: Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain, by Charlotte Higgins https://t.co/TLpUVLpBph Sun, 16:05: RT @HMAesq: I've debated whether to share what happened the night I went back to Dulles Airport to help two travelers arriving from Iran wh... Sun, 20:26: OK, I did not see *that* coming! #doctorwho Sun, 20:48: RT @piris_jc: You are right. This debate is finished. https://t.co/QKY2M4qrYE Mon, 09:22: RT @JenniferMerode: NEW Brexit slide: This is how the EU wants to structure the EU-UK ...
Liberal Democrats stand for fairness. "We exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society", as the Preamble to our Constitution begins, and fairness is our continuing thought. For there is little fairness apparent in our unequal society, with 14 million people in poverty, including close to 40% of our children predicted to be living in poverty by next year, as reported by UN Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty Philip Alston last May. Where are these people? They are in every nation and region, in cities, towns and rural areas, wherever there are food banks, wherever there are people ...
From a very early age I recall wanting to know facts so I could make my mind up about things. I've never been one to take what is said to me as anything but one side of a story and possibly it's utterly wrong and even prejudiced nonsense. I've mentioned before that antisemitism was sadly an issue within my family with both my Dad and his mother being prone to make anti-Jewish statements/remarks. I'm not sure when on hearing these remarks I became curious about them but I was probably subject to them all my childhood. Did we know any ...
The Guardian reports on a new study which has found that more than one in 19 deaths in Britain's largest towns and cities are linked to air pollution - with people living in urban areas in south-east England more likely to die from exposure to toxic air. The study found that London, Slough, Chatham, Luton and Portsmouth had the highest proportion of deaths attributable to pollution, with around one in 16 in 2017 caused by high levels of harmful particulates in the atmosphere: By contrast, places such as Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Blackpool attributed one in 30 deaths to air ...
Mon 27th
08:15Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water - there are referendums galore this Thursd...
You probably thought that we have had our fill of referendums for the next several millennia. But, in my researches for this Thursday's by-elections, I stumbled upon several Neighbourhood planning referendums happening this Thursday, 30th January. These polls take place under the Localism Act 2011 and various statutes such as the Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) Regulations 2012. The Local Government Association provides a helpful briefing paper on the subject. Our own LDV editorial team "attack sea otter" and parish council chair, Mark Valladares wrote about this subject in his briefing on the powers of parish councils in 2018: (Parish councils) can ...
According to Primo Levi's account ("If this is a Man," Chapter 17) the Germans evacuated Auschwitz on 18th January 1945 as the Russian armies approached. He writes: All the healthy prisoners(except a few prudent ones who at the last moment undressed and hid themselves in the hospital beds) left during [that] night. . . They must have been about twenty thousand, coming from different camps. Almost in their entirety they vanished during the evacuation march. . . Perhaps someone will write their story one day. By what turned out to be good fortune, a week earlier Levi had been diagnosed ...
New visa is nothing more than a Tory gimmick Responding to the Government's announcement of a "Global Talent" visa to attract top scientists, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine said: This announcement is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Boris Johnson is showing that he fundamentally doesn't understand what makes our science sector so successful. Changing the name of a visa and removing a cap that's never been hit is not a serious plan. Science relies on thousands of researchers, and this announcement does nothing for the vast majority of them. If the Government is serious about championing UK ...
Residents have drawn to my attention the mess recently of Park Place near the Old Hawkhill junction - see photo below : The bins here are a mix of council and commercial bins and I have contacted environment management at the City Council's Neighbourhood Services requesting action to have the area tidied and necessary steps taken to ensure the area is kept clean in future.
Responding to the Government's announcement of a "Global Talent" visa to attract top scientists, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine said:"This announcement is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Boris Johnson is showing that he fundamentally doesn't understand what makes our science sector so successful. Changing the name of a visa and removing a cap that's never been hit is not a serious plan."Science relies on thousands of researchers, and this announcement does nothing for the vast majority of them. If the Government is serious about championing UK science, it must prioritise continued mobility as part of our future ...
Mon 27th
06:32The Lib Dems must abandon their support for HS2 for the sake of our economy and environment
This article was first published on Lib Dem Voice and got a mixed reception... Last week's report from the National Audit Office contained no surprises. But it was still devasting for High Speed 2. The complexity of the project was underestimated. Costs are ballooning. Value for money is deflating. The political uncertainty surrounding the project, especially the northern sections, will load more costs. It is "impossible to estimate with certainty" how much HS2 will eventually cost, the auditors conclude. But it will be north of £100bn. That dwarfs into insignificance the cost of a third runway at Heathrow. The drain ...
Open Culture reminds us that, as well as being a Python, was a medieval historian. His series Terry Jones' Medieval Lives was screened by the BBC in 2004.
