From The Press and Journal: Jo Swinson is being lined up for a seat at Holyrood amid speculation Willie Rennie could stand down as Scottish Liberal Democrat leader after next year's election, we can reveal. North East Fife MSP Mr Rennie will have been in charge of the party north of the border for a decade next May and is understood to be "keen" to see a fresh face take over in 2021. Ms Swinson is believed to be the favoured choice among senior figures. The former UK party leader, who lost her East Dunbartonshire Westminster seat at last year's ...
Liberalism is under attack. It's time to defend its principles; and I hope that Ed Davey will lead the charge at our Spring conference next week. As Rob Davidson wrote on LibDem Voice last week, 'liberalism and liberal democracy is facing an existential threat' - both in England and globally. Most Liberals do not read the Spectator, the Telegraph or Standpoint, which portray an alternative intellectual universe, in which conservatives decry 'the liberal elite', against which they stand for community and nation. A network of well-funded think tanks, with close links to neo-conservative think tanks in Washington, reinforces this blend ...
No Crisis Group publications in June 2005, though I did get quoted in the Financial Times again, and just the one trip, to Belfast to speak at a conference. And B had her eighth birthday. Her birthday was also the day of the last episode of the first series of New Who. Did I mention that I met Christopher Eccleston last month? Young F took the first steps towards freedom of movement: And I did my traditional big review of the Hugo written fiction nominees. Books I read in June 2005 (not that many): Non-fiction 2 (YTD 21) The Best ...
Member of Parliament Tim Farron has a message for Liberal Democrat supporters.
Donald Trump has pulled off a masterstroke of marketing for the film Parasite. I would probably have gone to see it anyway, but once I'd heard his sniffy "Can we get Gone With The Wind back?" I was duty-bound to see it. Having now seen it, I'm not its greatest fan. It's certainly original, but I can't help feeling its missed a trick. It does make for uncomfortable viewing at times. For Trump, that discomfort probably comes from the massive differences in wealth between the two central families in the film, and the beautifully ambiguous meaning of the title leaves ...
Responding to a National Audit Office (NAO) report which found that by 31 January 2020 departments had spent at least £4.4 billion of the £6.3 billion allocated for Brexit preparations, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:"Billions of pounds have been thrown away in a bid to paper over the Tories' Brexit mess. The public have a right to know where it is all going. In the face of major floods and the covid-19 threat, we have to ask if the Government knows its own spending priorities."Thanks to the Prime Minister's self-imposed and self-defeating deadline we are facing a crunch, ...
Responding to reports that the Muslim Council of Britain has called for an Islamophobia inquiry in the Conservative party, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:"Islamophobia is a scourge in our society, and over recent years both incidents of Islamophobia and hate crimes in general have got worse. Yet instead of showing leadership on the issue the PM has stayed silent."During the leadership contest Boris Johnson said that the Conservatives would undertake an independent inquiry into Islamophobia. He's gone very quiet on the idea as PM."The Conservatives must have a full independent inquiry into Islamophobia and ensure it ...
For Blair and Brown there was the famous Granita Pact. For Laura and Lisa there was the Hope Pact. Earlier in the year, Laura Gordon posted on Lib Dem Voice to announce the launch of the Northern Liberal Network. The formal launch will be at Spring Conference, which appropriately is being held in York. Upon seeing the original post by Laura, I knew I had to get involved. I grew up in Redcar, a seat described by some as one of the keystones of the Red Wall. What a lot of people fail to realise is that the Lib Dems ...
The row between British Home Secretary Pritti Patel and her until recently Permanent Under Secretary of State Sir Phillip Putnam is part of a disturbing trend which is undermining a 150-year-old tried, tested and globally-respected system. Europe, America and most of the rest of the world endure political patronage in varying degrees. This was also the case in the UK before Gladstone took a leaf from the Chinese and Indian experience and introduced civil service exams in 1870. Patronage, corruption and political ties were swapped for a civil service based on merit. Bribery income was replaced with job security, above ...
Thu, 12:56: The Cartmel Masterplan is Now the Chibnall Masterplan - 19 Questions (And Some Answers) From Doctor Who Finale... https://t.co/DSa9oj6n8L Thu, 16:05: Drug dealer loses codes for €53.6m bitcoin accounts https://t.co/aNwVWL6Vwr Glorious. Thu, 16:27: Very interesting (but Chatham House) #CEPSlab20 session on @vonderleyen's first 100 days with @BrigidLaffan... https://t.co/OyKND3z8jh Thu, 17:11: 1.5 billion-year-old Earth had water everywhere, but not one continent, study suggests https://t.co/GDYqQLw7Yd The original Great Flood. Thu, 18:30: "If you are 'managing democracy', you are not faking democracy, you are faking management." (On Russia.) Thu, 18:41: RT @BrunoBoelpaep: "Piss off!" not happy about the cameraman's light in ...
With voting underway in the Labour leadership contest, the controversy over anti-Semitism within that party has been muted as of late. It has not though, gone away. Nor have the allegations of Islamophobia within the Tory party. That is evident with news that a dossier of more than 300 allegations of Islamophobia in the Conservative party has been submitted to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, increasing pressure on the watchdog to launch a formal investigation. The Guardian reports that a submission from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) catalogues evidence of allegedly Islamophobic comments and actions by hundreds of ...
Two social media items this week reminded me of how badly wrong the Left gets attacks on the prime minister. The first was an exchange between Dawn Butler and Tory MP Laura Trott about Boris Johnson and whether or not he's a racist. Butler clearly felt she had won the confrontation as she later posted a clip of it on her own Twitter timeline. But she's wrong because what Butler and most of the Left do not understand is that the majority of the electorate either don't believe Boris Johnson is a racist or do not care. This attack line ...
A learner driver encounters the weekday congestion:- www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1dBWRWmxp0 With thanks to Keith Page for the lead to this posting
Just a reminder that the first of two drop-in events to consult residents about a possible residents' parking scheme for part of the West End takes place at Blackness Library tomorrow - all welcome :
