Only one council by-election this week, but alas no Liberal Democrat candidate. Burtonwood and Winwick, Warrington Burtonwood & Winwick (Warrington) result: LAB: 58.9% (-3.1) CON: 36.7% (+13.9) IND: 4.4% (+4.4) Labour HOLD. No LDem (-15.2) as prev. — Britain Elects (@britainelects) February 6, 2020
This story was in the Guardian this morning: Police say they are uncovering a hidden "epidemic" of paedophile abuse in the 1970s and 1980s, with thousands of allegations leading to convictions against people who abused their power to attack children. New figures seen by the Guardian show that 4,024 allegations led to guilty verdicts at court after police investigations since 2014 into decades-old child sex offences. Officers say hundreds of offenders, including teachers, religious workers, youth and care workers, thought they had got away with their crimes. Many victims have been traumatised, and some have killed themselves or been left ...
Responding to research from the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation showing that 56% of people in poverty are in a working family, and that poverty has risen for children and pensioners over the last five years, Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey said:"The Conservatives can no longer hide behind low unemployment figures when it comes to poverty. Millions of people are trapped in bad jobs with insufficient hours and wages to make a decent living. And unnecessary welfare cuts have plunged more children and pensioners into poverty. This is unacceptable."People are tired of the Government's excuses. The upcoming budget must introduce ...
The Liberal Democrats have accused the Conservative Government of "callously inflicting uncertainty" on children of EU citizens, as official figures reveal that tens of thousands of them still have not been granted the permanent right to stay.The Home Office has received 386,570 applications to the EU Settlement Scheme from under-18s, but has only granted permanent Settled Status to 199,260.Another 116,620 children were granted pre-settled status, which only gives the temporary right to stay in the UK for up to 5 years, while 69,610 are still waiting for a final decision to be made.Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:"The ...
The new issue of Liberator has arrived. It's full of reaction to December's disappointing election campaign - notably Nick Harvey's itemising of the eight errors that campaign made. And there is Radical Bulletin, the section that sets out to let you know what's really going on in the Liberal Democrats. This time you will read, among other things, of: the analysis that showed the party's campaign was going wrong but was ignored by those running itstrange goings on in Canterburythe final disgrace of the continuing Liberal PartyYou can subscribe to Liberator here.
Thu 6th
19:49
Confirmed - no Ludlow to Kidderminster 292 bus service for much of Friday - it's pathetic
The 292 bus service between Ludlow and Kidderminster will be suspended from 9:30am to 3:30pm tomorrow. This is because the operator, Diamond Bus cannot cope with a 2.2 mile diversion along a very decent 'B' road. It is also because the councils that fund the route are prepared to pay a heft subsidy for its operation without exercising any control over how it is operated. Pathetic. Neither Shropshire Council nor Worcestershire Council have issued any information saying buses will not run. Neither has Diamond. Pathetic. This row has blown up in the last three days. There is a need to ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story on its website – see link below:- Well that was an odd read in a number of ways. Firstly, why should anyone be surprised that a political organistion is seeking to influence things within the Party whose Leader that very organistion was created to back up? Secondly, is this not yet just another example of Labour's internal difficulties with its warring factions trying to gain the ascendancy? Thirdly, this is politics in Liverpool, it's always been 'lively' to be polite about it so let's not be so shocked that Liverpool's Momentum faction is ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:He did not see or hear her arrive at the door to the cellar where he was working, until she called him by name, gently enough not to alert his comrades above. He reached for his gun at the sight of her but she tutted and shook her head with collegial imperiousness. "I'm Main à plume," she said, and he believed her. That it was by some technique from the canon, some re-uttered poem in a novel context, that she had gained unseen entrance. He put his rifle down.This was one of the near misses for ...
I am not keen to join in the witch trial of the BBC, which is more about giving Conservative politicians less scrutiny and destroying competition for organisations that only want to get rid of the BBC, so they can rake in more money for their shareholders. It isn't possible to go to jail for paying the licence fee; that is a myth, you get a fine only. However if Council Tax, which is actually quite a similar charge, is a civil offence then the licence fee should follow, but that would also result in a fine. The only difference is ...
Nearly 80 years ago the Beveridge report, 'Social Insurance and Allied Services' was published. Last year Philip Alston concluded, 'Key elements of the post-war "Beveridge social contract" are being overturned'. Beveridge wanted to fight five giant evils – Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. We need to modernise the language and fight poverty, poor health, lack of skills and training, homelessness and unemployment. Just as the Labour government of 1945-51 rejected the idea of the deserving and undeserving poor with the passing of the National Assistance Act of 1948, so must the Liberal Democrats. We have taken the first step. ...
Right. Long time, no blog. But this one is going to be a heartfelt post that may well put some noses out of joint. But it needs saying. The Greek government is issuing memorial coins for the battle of Thermopylae, on the 2500th anniversary.* Just a glance at the choice of images got me thinking, and then a colleague's post about it dragged me back to my blog. Some aspects of these coins are striking - the choice of event, and the choice of imagery. The battle of Thermopylae was a defeat which changed exactly nothi ng in its immediate ...
The Tories have long prided themselves on being the "tough on crime" party, advocating tougher sentences for all the errors some of our flesh are heir to. It's popular stuff and helps win elections. So it's no surprise that the government's most publicised reaction to Sunday's knife attack in Streatham by convicted terrorist Sudesh Ammam is to alter the law so that those convicted of terrorist offences lose their right to automatic release when they've served half their sentence. What comes as a surprise to me, and I suspect to many others , is that such a right to "automatic ...
My nearest and dearest booked seats for us at "The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson" at the Nuffield theatre in Southampton this week. It seems to be your type of thing – said her nibs. Well, as usual she was right. It very much was my type of thing. "The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson" is a topical satire play written by Jonathan Maitland. The latter name rang a bell. Jonathan Maitland has broadcast on BBC and ITV, and wrote a play called "Dead Sheep" about the Geoffrey Howe speech which led to Margaret Thatcher's downfall. The play starts with ...
Wed, 12:56: In Which I am Unconvinced by The Daughter of Time https://t.co/MMmOYNvdBq Richard III did it. Or at least Josephine... https://t.co/fJnYjnyQUy Wed, 16:05: Cruel but fair. https://t.co/NJDS5KOWYC Wed, 17:11: From chapter 25 of Oliver Twist: "all of which remonstrances, Master Bates received in extremely good part; merely... https://t.co/cjAPiWWzjk Wed, 18:06: The First Season 12: The Ark in Space https://t.co/my8479c1kj Wed, 19:25: Wednesday reading https://t.co/MLPfBshg8i Wed, 20:48: The hardest decision of my life: to end a pregnancy because I had no paid leave https://t.co/fVeT5zK7WT A moving fi... https://t.co/8G0S59OqWt Thu, 10:45: RT @ProSyn: The details of an EU-UK trade deal will ...
Thu 6th
10:40
The western Left's reaction to Buttigieg "winning" in Iowa tells us a lot about why the Right contin...
Mayor Pete hasn't even won yet. Strangely, and in a major boost to Trump's re-election hopes, the count in the Iowa Democrat presidential caucus continues on. This, however, has not stopped Bernie Sanders supporters across the west ganging up on Pete Buttigieg for daring to challenge their saviour in the Midwest. The whole thing is like a primer for why the western Left keeps losing, over and over again. Some of the killer barbs at Buttigieg thrown around on social media yesterday were: he ran focus groups. Wow, what a crime. But hold on, he held focus groups on whether ...
Derek Mackay MSP (Photo: Scottish Business Insider) Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has today resigned from his ministerial role - on the very day he was due to deliver the budget statement to Parliament. Mr Mackay's decision comes after the Scottish Sun published a series of text messages he sent to a 16-year old boy. Mr Mackay admitted that he had been "foolish" and took responsibility for his actions. Once the press got hold of the messages, there was only one likely outcome. Two things are very clear to me: a) Derek Mackay has done nothing illegal but has behaved inappropriately ...
Thu 6th
10:24
The rules of political economy have changed. Mainstream politicians and commentators haven't noticed
Before the great financial crash of 2007-2008 there was a solid consensus as to the sorts of economic policies governments should pursue. In fact the underlying realities have been changing for some time. These new realities now dominate in developed economies, and yet the political mainstream hasn't caught up. It is one of the reasons ... Continue reading The rules of political economy have changed. Mainstream politicians and commentators haven't noticed
In Seaford East Ward of Seaford Town Council (in Lewes district) there is a by-election today. Good luck to Maggie Wearmouth (above with some of her team) who is standing for us there. Good luck today also to Luigi Gregori and Robin Hughes who are standing for two seats on Andover Town Council in the Harroway ward. They are facing two candidates from the "Andover Independents Party". Good luck to Martin Jones who is the Liberal Democrat candidate in Spennymoor ward of Spennymoor Town Council in County Durham. There is one principal local authority by-election today in Burtonwood and Winwick ...
After each round of major internal Liberal Democrat elections such as for leader, president or the federal committees, there is a review of how things worked. Given the problems with the voting systems this time, resulting in some people having to vote a second time, the review is particularly important this time around. So it's great that Duncan Brack has agreed to the invitation from the Federal Board head up the review. He's written more about the review over on Lib Dem Voice, including how you can get involved in it. Its key remit is to: Seek views on the ...
For a government with a substantial majority, in the first few months of its term, Boris Johnson's administration is showing a remarkable level of paranoia in the way it deals with the media. Not only has there been a walkout by senior journalists in protest at an attempt by No 10 to restrict a briefing on Brexit negotiations to reporters from approved publications and broadcasters only, but there also appears to be a boycott of certain BBC programmes such as the Today programme. As the Independent reports, this has made some ministers very uncomfortable. They say that the Brexit briefing, ...
Should the Liberal Democrats seek to cooperate with Labour in some way and if so, how? That's a question being debated again in the Liberal Democrats in the aftermath of the 2019 election, so here is a re-run of an excellent account of a previous attempt, the one under Paddy Ashdown. It's Duncan Brack's chapter from The Alternative: towards a new progressive politics, kindly reproduced here with the permission of the author and editors. You can also read Tim Farron's chapter from the same book, about immigration, in an edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire. For more on this topic, see ...
Residents have recently again raised with me pedestrian safety concerns in Morven Terrace towards the junction with Tullideph Road, particularly on the bend in the road as you enter into the residents' parking area near the start of the street. I raised this with the City Council and have now been advised by the Team Leader in the council's Network Management Team as follows : "I will arrange to add this location to this of locations to have further inspections."
