The latest edition of the eFocus for the Whickham area (no. 128) has just been published. Issues covered include: proposals to begin work again on the unfinished house on Whickham Bank; Lib Dem tree planting plans backed by Gateshead Council; Cllr Peter Craig to be awarded British Empire Medal; Knitting activities at Sunniside; Fireworks clamp down call; Polling stations moved from some local
Another walk with John Rogers: My first walk of 2020, and it seemed apt to start the new decade at the tomb of King Harold at Waltham Abbey. The aim of the walk was to climb a ridge of high land near Monkham's Hall that I've looked at many times. A comment on a previous video mentioned a First World War anti-aircraft gun emplacement on the hill near Kennel Wood - so that's where I headed. A truly magnificent start to the new year and the new decade.
An annual lecture on Hong Kong has been established to honour the late Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown. Announcing the Paddy Ashdown Memorial Lecture on Hong Kong, Hong Kong Watch says: The lecture will take place in the Houses of Parliament in London each year, and details of the inaugural lecture to be held later this year will be announced soon. The guest speaker invited to deliver the lecture each year will be chosen by the trustees of Hong Kong Watch. The speaker will be either a distinguished politician or activist from Hong Kong who has shown particular courage and ...
This is the text of the speech given by Ed Davey today in Manchester. Good morning. For the last four years, the Liberal Democrats fought to stop Brexit. We held street stalls, town hall meetings and we marched in our millions. Today we stand strong in the knowledge that we did everything we could. Tens of thousands of people got involved with our campaign. People who had never campaigned before. And old hands, campaigning harder than they ever had before. We fought with good humour and great energy. We fought because we love our country. Our pro-Europeanism is built on ...
As we leave the EU, we need to show that we are not Trump's poodle. Britain must therefore publicly be seen to reject the wholesale attack on the rule of international law that is unfortunately an important element in Trump's so-called "deal of the century", his plan for peace between Israel and Palestine. Although the "deal" contains positive elements, such as aspects of its vision for cooperation in economic development, nothing can hide the fact that it contains a diktat to be imposed on the Palestinians that deprives them of their right of self-determination (whilst brazenly maintaining that the contrary ...
Second paragraph of third section:"Yes?"This is the next in sequence of joint winners of the Hugo and Nebula Award as I re-read them. It was the cover story for the November 1975 issue of Analog, and won the Hugo and Nebula for Best Novella. I have to be honest: I love this story with a deep love that is not entirely rational. Zelazny was one of the first authors I discovered when I first started reading sf systematically as a teenager. He won five Hugos and three Nebulas in his abbreviated career; this was the one story that won both. ...
Thu 30th
17:05
From Folkestone and Hythe District Council:Innovative approach to power-sharing unveiled
[IMG: Folkestone and Hythe District Council logo (Folkestone and Hythe District Council logo)] The Leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council will implement an innovative and new cross-party Cabinet from 1 February 2020. This pioneering approach will give political parties an opportunity to be represented on the Cabinet, giving them direct involvement in executive decision-making. In practice, this means the leaders of the Green and Liberal Democrats groups will take up seats on Cabinet alongside Conservative and UKIP colleagues and hold portfolios of their own. These councillors are not subject to Cabinet collective responsibility, if they have voted against something ...
Last year Theresa May's government declared a climate emergency and put into law the aim to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. But here's the rub. The UK government's current primary objective for offshore oil and gas is to enable as much as possible to be extracted. This is written into the Petroleum Act 1998. To many people it is a matter of common sense that opening up new oil and gas fields - and building new fossil fuel infrastructure - is incompatible with acting to tackle the climate emergency and meeting the net-zero target by 2050. It ...
The Liberal Democrats, a recent LibDem Voice posting declared, 'are the party of ideas.' Except that we're not very good at spelling them out, or at getting them across in the political debate, at present. And that leaves us at a major disadvantage in national politics, since few voters and not enough journalists know what we stand for. 'Stop Brexit' has now run out of steam. Polls show us as credited with a positive approach to climate change, but little more. When I joined the Liberal Party as a student, 60 years ago, a popular but cruel description was that ...
This list summarises those manifesto pledges made by the Conservative Party ahead of its election in the General Election which are of relevance to the health and social care areas. Some, but not all of the pledges have now been ... Continue reading →
Thu 30th
11:45
Some further thoughts on Orange Book liberalism as it pertains to the Lib Dems, based on feedback fr...
Over this past week, I have written a couple of articles about the direction I believe the Lib Dems need to take if they wish to become electorally relevant again in the near future. To summarise and simplify, I said the party needed to move to the right and become more pro-business in order to do this. I used the word "Orange Book", which I realises triggers many Lib Dems, so I want to elaborate on what I meant. This is mostly based on responses to the articles that I have had, in the hundreds verging on thousands already, some ...
In a speech just ahead of Britain leaving the European leader, Liberal Democrat co-leader Ed Davey said: Tomorrow will be a celebration for some. But for others it will be a dark day. For the millions of us who marched against Brexit and the millions who voted to stay, tomorrow will be desperately hard. We built the largest pro-European movement this country has ever seen. And though ultimately we did not succeed in stopping Brexit, I am immensely proud of all that we have achieved. He called for the party to stick to its values: The Liberal Democrats will always ...
On Tuesday I visited the European Parliament building for the first time. I was awed by the beautiful modern glass buildings in the Place de Luxembourg, which merge together to form an impressive (and somewhat confusing) web of corridors and doorways. The Parliament is the epicentre of the European Union and is where over 7,500 staff and 751 MEPs work. Sadly, from Friday, this will be reduced as our UK contingent leave Brussels - just 8 months into what should've been a 5-year term. But my visit to the Parliament wasn't just to marvel at the impressive architecture. I came ...
Wed, 12:56: A British MEP's lessons for a post-Brexit EU https://t.co/BrlZKNecX5 Passionate as usual from @MagicMadid. Wed, 14:19: Just had lunch with a British MEP who told me he wept this morning as his Group sang "Auld Lang Syne". There'll be a lot of that this week. Wed, 16:05: RT @MSmithsonPB: Just 6% tell YouGov that they'll definitely doing something to mark Brexit on Friday https://t.co/N4IzdOZkB2 Wed, 16:05: ∂³∑x² Wed, 17:11: Oliver Cromwell, the man who wouldn't be king https://t.co/Ucf3Su4aG6 Interesting and thoughtful from... https://t.co/s3WAxmGXOJ Wed, 18:42: Wednesday reading https://t.co/n3ATfb0NGK Wed, 19:20: RT @davidallengreen: Technical possibility there can be another ...
[IMG: Tim Prater] At the Full Council meeting last night, it was announced that on Monday, I will be joining the Folkestone and Hythe District Council Cabinet as Cabinet member for Revenues, Benefits, Anti-Fraud and Corruption. This is NOT a coalition or support deal. I and the Lib Dem Group retain all rights to speak out against, oppose and vote against Council decisions we disagree with. Lesley Whybrow as Green Group Leader is also joining the Cabinet on the same terms with the Climate Change brief, and Connor McConville as Labour Group Leader has been offered a place too and ...
Robbie Simpson, long-standing Lib Dem activist, died suddenly in Geneva at the beginning of January. He was 30 years old. To lose such a talent, and such a friend as Robbie, is a tragedy beyond comprehension. To try and summarise his impact is nearly impossible, but I hope this goes some way to remind us all of the wonderful friend we have lost. I met Robbie at my first meeting of Glasgow University Liberal Democrats in September 2009. He was a very tall, kind looking man, although it took me three weeks to understand his accent (which was not unique ...
I have always thought the term 'modern slavery' is a bit disingenuous, as if it is significantly different from that in our near past. It still involves the loss of freedom, the taking away of human dignity, maltreatment and abuse - often sexual but also physical and mental abuse. The only difference is that it carries on out of sight, whereas before it was paraded openly. We know that 'modern slavery' is going on all around us, as is the trafficking of men, women and children into this country to be enslaved. Getting a handle on the scale of this ...
Sheila and I went along to this interesting exhibition (which is open until the 6th March) after seeing it promoted in the Champion newspaper. One of Sheila's ancestors was killed in the Bootle Blitz so we had a family connection to it as well as historical curiosity. I took a number of photos whilst there and thought I would share them here:- Johnson's factory on Linacre Road hit by an incendiary bomb A more recent shot of my own of the rebuilt but closed Johnson's the Cleaners building. Marsh Lane now Bootle New Strand Station Very different times indeed but ...
Responding to news that Northern Rail will be taken into public ownership on 1 March, Tim Farron MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the north of England, said: "I am delighted that my calls to 'Sack Northern' have finally been listened to by this Conservative government. For far too long, people across the north of England have suffered a substandard service. "However, this is just the first step on a long road to improving the trains across the north. The Conservatives must now reverse their cancellations of the electrification of the Lakes Line and the Trans-Pennine line. It must press on ...
Davey speech on Brexit – Progressives must fight on Today, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey will make a keynote speech addressing party members and activists in Manchester ahead of the UK's exit from the EU. Ed Davey will make a rallying call to pro-Europeans ahead of our departure from the EU, calling on them to continue to campaign for close association with our allies in the EU and for the progressive values we share. Ed will call for the end of the Remain/Leave division in our country and for progressives to unite to tackle other serious divisions. ...
From Sheena Wellington : Wednesday 5th February from 1.15pm - 1.45pm Wighton Heritage Centre, Central LibraryLunchtime Recital with Robbie Fotheringham, storyteller Robbie, founding member of Blether-Tay-Gither, Dundee's Storytelling Group for Adults, keeps the tradition of oral storytelling alive. She believes in inclusive storytelling; the story is always the star of the show and audiences are asked to contribute and participate therefore feeling a part of the story. Stories may originate from near or far; some are specially written for specific situations. Robbie has also collaborated with other storytellers, presenting workshops at Dundee's Women's Festivals and takes part in the Scottish ...
Confusion has reigned throughout the week over whether Shropshire Council would go ahead with its parking review at the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee yesterday afternoon. I had complained that the paperwork had not been published and there would be no time to study it and hold local discussions. Discussions led to me believing that the review would be delayed until the March meeting. But then I was told the review would go ahead as planned on Wednesday. There was still no paperwork. Just before 5pm on Tuesday, more than 130 pages of paperwork were quietly published. Before I had time ...
