Maybe posting the theme from Survivors wasn't in the best taste. But I am glad I did because of an email I received from a reader. Seven episodes of the show were written by Martin Worth. And the reader pointed me to his Guardian obituary: In the 80s, while living in Fletching, East Sussex, he became interested in the Liberal party after receiving a call from a Liberal agent asking if he could do something about Conservative popularity in a Liberal desert. He turned things around politically, and over the next few years he was elected as an East Sussex ...
Last night the Liberal Democrats failed to gain a Wiltshire Council seat from the Conservatives by just 14 votes. Commenting on Lib Dem Voice, Mark Pack described this as "good news tinged by disappointment", But if you study the preview by Andrew Teale - it takes more than a Tuesday poll to put him off - you will find that it was not good news at all. Because the seat in question, Till and Wylye Valley, was won by the Lib Dems in both 2009 and 2013. And if we are failing to win seats we held even in 2013, ...
The Party's Federal Board has tonight decided to cancel the Spring Conference due to take place this weekend. In a joint statement, Party President Mark Pack, Chief Executive Mike Dixon and Federal Conference Committee Chair Geoff Payne said: Following careful consideration of the latest health advice and risks, the Federal Board has tonight decided to cancel our federal conference this weekend. It's not a decision that was taken lightly as conference plays a key role in our democratic party as well as being an important training and information exchange event. However, the health of our members and supporters, the staff ...
The Federal Board has tonight decided to cancel the 2020 Liberal Democrat spring conference: Following careful consideration of the latest health advice and risks, the Federal Board has tonight decided to cancel our federal conference this weekend. It's not a decision that was taken lightly as conference plays a key role in our democratic party as well as being an important training and information exchange event. However, the health of our members and supporters, the staff who work on conference and the wider public is far more important. We have noted today's announcement from the WHO, treating this as a ...
Ross Pepper has been chosen by Louth and Horncastle Liberal Democrats as their candidate at the next general election, reports Horncastle News. He has previously fought two other Lincolnshire seats: Lincoln in 2015 and Sleaford and North Hykeham at a 2016 by-election and at the general election the following year.
Last Tuesday, Parliament debated the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property), Bill. Well, actually, it didn't. Several Tory backbenchers and a Labour shadow Minister hijacked the debate with amendments seeking to exclude 'High-Risk Vendors' (by which they mean Huawei) from UK telecoms networks. They did not provide any evidence to support their concerns, and the speeches sometimes bordered on a witch hunt. Robert Harrison and Paul Reynolds have both written balanced and insightful articles on Huawei for Lib Dem Voice. The Government currently proposes to limit 'High-Risk Vendors' to the access network, and 35% market share. In a comment on Paul's article, ...
Second paragraph of third section, plus footnote:Dresden House is a historic landmark in Evesham, Warwickshire, an important market town on the River Avon, both then and today. Located on the High Street, the name of this 1692 townhouse comes from Dr. Baylies, who married Elizabeth Cookes, the daughter of the builder of 'the Mansion', thereby becoming its owner. After her death, he settled as a physician at Dresden, where his skill led Frederick the Great to send for him in 1774 to reside in Berlin. He died in Berlin in 1789. Mrs. Cooper was the first to manage a Young ...
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Responding to the Budget, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:"This Budget reveals the UK economy was alarmingly weak even before Covid-19. The Government is desperate to blame anyone or anything but the reality is that it's the Conservatives' Brexit which is costing Britain's economy dearly."Whilst the Government is taking some action to deal with the corona virus, after five years of Tory governments the NHS and our social care sector are chronically under-funded, under-resourced and under-staffed, just at the moment we need them most. Nothing is being done to fill the care sector's staffing needs here and ...
According to the charity Shelter, three million new social homes must be built in England over the next 20 years of which 1.2 million homes are needed for younger families who cannot afford to buy and "face a lifetime in expensive and insecure private renting". The Government intends to build 250,000 homes by 2022, including homes for rent. Travelling around the UK one gets the impression that there is more house building going on than ever before gobbling up agricultural land. This is at the time that we are leaving the EU, the "single market" and the "common agriculture policy". ...
Following on from my previous 'Best of the Year' post, since we've got to the end of the 2010s I was planning a similar top 20 'Albums of the Decade' kind of post. I rapidly ran into problems, though - too many albums that were too good to leave out, and no way I could work out any kind of order! So it ended up becoming just a 'Top 100 (in no particular order)' playlist, and of course once I'd done that for the 2010s I ended up doing the previous decade, and then the one before that, and so ...
The Federal Conference Committee met on Sunday, 8th March to review the amendments, emergency motions and topical issues submitted for Spring Conference. We also discussed the most recent guidance with regards to COVID-19 and a few other reports back from the Federal Board. On COVID-19; we're keeping under close review the plans for the York conference in the light of the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Based on health advice from Public Health England and government, along with that from York Council, at present, the Conference will go ahead as planned. We will, however, be ensuring that those coming to Conference ...
A little further afield than usual, but a number of readers use the A38 - so here's a warning of closures overnight on a section between where the B4427 (Latteridge Road) joins the A38 and the turning into Thornbury. Here is the Council statement: Overnight road closure - A38 Gloucester Road, Alveston From 18 - 31 March the A38 will be closed overnight from north of the Thornbury Road junction to just past the junction with New Lane. The closure will be in place from 8pm until 6am every night. This is necessary while we carry out major resurfacing work. ...
Now the work on Goose Green Way has finished some residents have been asking - what about Church Rd. We thought it worth reminding everyone of our posting on 21 Jan which updated residents. It is going to get a complete resurfacing and some works to the lights - during the school holidays. Here is what we posted back on 21 Jan:"Some good(ish) news. Drivers will have noticed the patch repairs done a year so ago now have their own potholes. South Glos hoped the patches would last until they could afford a complete resurface. No such luck. Officials have ...
Tue, 12:50: RT @epc_eu: NEW publication Setting the bounds of the European Union By @AndrewDuffEU At: https://t.co/64Mhfww7QW #Brexit #Enlargement... Tue, 12:56: The best yet. https://t.co/rZtXqZEcfC Tue, 13:53: RT @apcoworldwide: Congratulations to our @cboussClaire, who was recognized by Politico as one of the top women leaders shaping Brussels in... Tue, 14:01: 90 hours left to nominate for the 2020 Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards, and the 1945 Retro Hugos! Time to get... https://t.co/14YOYcJkDa Tue, 16:05: 98.6 Degrees Fahrenheit Isn't the Average Anymore https://t.co/zQfXUWfVHy We've all got the wrong number! Tue, 18:56: Hex, by Thomas Olde Heuvelt https://t.co/JfclfawiHF Wed, 00:00: 80 hours ...
Tuesday is not a usual day for council by-elections, though it is the most commonly used day for those rare occasions when polling isn't on a Thursday. Tuesday contests have also often brought good news for the Lib Dems, though this time it's good news tinged by disappointment at just missing out on gaining a seat from the Conservatives: Last night's council by-election, a Conservative defence in Wiltshire. Till & Wylye Valley (Wiltshire) result: CON: 49.6% (-4.6) LDEM: 48.5% (+4.4) LAB: 1.9% (+0.2) Conservative HOLD. Read all about it:https://t.co/iT1T4Wygeg — Britain Elects (@britainelects) March 11, 2020
£22,000 has been shared by community groups and projects in Prestwich as a result of the "Parklife Community Fund". The fund is money donated by the Parklife Festival to the areas in Prestwich, Middleton and Blakeley that surround Heaton Park.
The NHS is telling us that best way to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus is to wash our hands properly, and more often than we normally would. This short video shows us how: If you are worried about someone else, including neighbours who might be vulnerable, then Age Concern have issued this sensible advice. (Scroll to bottom of page.)
In celebration of last week's World Book Day, Bury Council and Foster with Bury is launching their latest appeal for Children in Care and Care Leavers. We all know the importance of reading and the promotion of reading for children of all ages. With this in mind, we aim to create a Virtual School Library and a Care Leavers Library, as well as using the books as rewards and gifts for our young people. The books can be accessed by Foster Carers, care leavers' Personal Assistants, designated teachers and anyone working with our young people, so they have access to ...
On the 18th February was the monthly meeting of Bury Planning Control Committee. This is the meeting made up of the 11 Councillors who represent the various wards of the borough of Bury. The committee determines planning applications for certain major developments and others where objections have been received. Councillor Cristina Tegolo reports: Prior to the Committee meeting, a site visit took place in respect of planning application 64875. At the Planning Control Committee meeting none of the submitted applications were refused but I raised concerns and voted against two out of three applications: Land off Ainsworth Hall Road, Ainsworth, ...
The Bury Special School Nursing Team, based at Elms Bank School and Millwood Primary School, have been successful in their bid to the Queen's Nursing Institute Funds for Innovation Programme 2020. The Team have been awarded £5000 to support their work with young people with learning difficulties and their diet and nutrition needs. The team want to increase the number of children within the healthy weight range at Bury schools, increase access to and intake of healthier foods, and working with children with learning, sensory or communication difficulties to promote healthy eating. The team will also be working with families, ...
I've been asked many times recently what does the City Region Mayor and the Combined Authority actually do? So, I've done some digging around and now believe that an urgent review of the staffing levels and the wage levels of ... Continue reading →
As requested by school pupils in Yate. They asked Ruth Davis to get them a 'poo bus' a biomethane bus. Ruth took it up with First Bus, who said they would investigate and hoped to get something live by April 2020. True to their word...... they are actually launching a whole fleet of them. A brand new fleet of 13 biomethane buses is being launched. Come along if you can on Monday 16th March at 3pm at Yate Bus Station or 4pm a Chipping Sodbury High Street to see one and take a first ride. It will be used on ...
With serious assaults, late night high speed car racing, vandalism a lot of residents have been raising issues about policing. YOU can raise your concerns directly with the police at the Yate Dodington Community Engagement Forum . TONIGHT on 11 March from 7 - 9pm at Yate Parish Hall on Station Road Yate. ANYONE can attend, no need to register in advance. Your Councillors will be there as well as the police, so it is a good place to sort out what can be done to tackle the problems we are facing locally. You can also find out more about ...
As if it is not bad enough having countless puppies abandoned because families grow tired of them, we now have a story in The Times of the Prime Minister and his fiancé doing precisely that. The paper reports that Dilyn, the Jack Russell cross adopted by Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds from a Welsh rescue centre, could be quietly rehomed before the couple have their first child in early summer. The paper understands that Dilyn has proved quite a "sickly animal" and quotes one Whitehall source as predicting: "I'm not sure that dog is going to make it through the ...
Singapore is often depicted as an authoritarian dictatorship come economic paradise. Conservatives like to fantasise about Singapore, seeing it as the prime example of a small state, low-tax, low-regulation economy that they would like to emulate. But Singapore's success has been driven by an idea that is antithetical to the Conservative mind: that the state can be as efficient and effective as the market. Singapore is not the neoliberal paradise it has been heralded as below are four policy areas we could learn from: – A sovereign wealth fund to accompany fiscal policy: the Singaporean state asserts its primacy in ...
Class 66 diesel locomotives 66040 and 66145 leaving Knowsley Freight Terminal on 24th August 2018 with another trainload of Merseyside's waste. I posted back in September 2018 about how Merseyside's non-recyclable waste is moved to the north east of England to be used as fuel in Wilton Power Station. See link below:- Since I penned my original posing I've come across an excellent video on You Tube by Don Coffey showing detail of the railway movements. If you skip to 2h & 10mins for the section from Rainford Junction to Knowsley you can watch the Merseyside/local part of the ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of building cleaning works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Nethergate (from its junction with West Marketgait to its junction with South Tay Street), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Sunday 15th March 2020 for one day. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Access to premises will be maintained where possible. Alternative routes for vehicles are available via West Marketgait/Hawkhill/Hunter Street/Old Hawkhill/South ...
Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone will today lead a debate in Parliament where he will urge the Government to "make it easier for veterans and their families to access peer-led mental health support." The Highlands MP, who is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Defence, secured the Westminster Hall debate after winning cross-party support for his Bill which would require the Government to ringfence mental health spending for veterans and members of the armed forces. The campaign led by the Liberal Democrats comes in response to cuts which have left mental health charities, such as Combat Stress, no longer able to ...
Well done to Harry Ashcroft and the team for achieving a 4.4% to the Lib Dems from the Conservatives in the Wiltshire Council by-election today. The by-election was caused by the resignation of the Conservative councillor, who was elected as the MP for Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire. After a recount, the results of the Till and Wylye Valley Unitary Division by-election have been confirmed by Returning Officer Terence Herbert. Harry Ashcroft (LD) 623 Kevin Stuart Daley (CON) 637 Timothy John Treslove (LAB) 24 Kevin Stuart Daley has been elected. pic.twitter.com/GQ4KlLBFtE — Wiltshire Council (@wiltscouncil) March 10, 2020 * Newshound: bringing you the ...
