I recommend a visit to Foxton Locks when they are drained if you get the chance. Two years ago I went myself.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Readers with a particularly long memory will recall that this used to be a political blog. Trouble is, there's not much politics* around at the moment. Still, the Guardian did report this morning that: Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP competing to become the party's next leader, has castigated its tactics at the last election, saying a pledge to revoke Brexit lost it the trust of voters, while Jo Swinson's talk of becoming prime minister was not seen as credible. Moran said the Lib Dem's national image was "broken" and the party had to reconnect with voters and examine what ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Second paragraph of third chapter:The Danes do seem to have an uncommon facility to get on with each other regardless of age, class or outlook. Egality comes easily to them. One of my most cherished memories of this inclusiveness is of a friend's fortieth birthday party where his octogenarian grandmother was seated next to the country's most notorious rapper. and the two spent a jolly evening chatting together.A Finnish friend was kind enough to give me this book as a Christmas present. I'm not very surprised - of the five countries and people Booth surveys, he gives the Finns much ...

You can find previous Isolation diaries here. The very first time I placed an online food order I wanted a pack of mushrooms. But I clearly misunderstood how these things work, because what I received was one large paper bag containing one very small mushroom. I'm the cook in my family, and I don't usually do the food shopping online because I always enjoy walking around the supermarket, spotting new products and picking up ideas. But a week ago I set up a new online account. Placing the order was a doddle because they already knew all my shopping habits ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice

This post first appeared on the Radix UK blog... In the time of cholera, which - despite Gabriel Garcia Marquez - I take to be the 1830s, there were riots in the back streets of London among the poor who believed the government's intention was to let them die so they could turn their bodies into what they called 'nattomy soup' - to feed the others. By the 1840s, there was Ebenezer Scrooge worrying about the so-called surplus population. There was the government allowing the Irish potato famine to take its course. There has always been a strand of British ...

Posted by David Boyle on The Real Blog

[IMG: Sandgate and West Folkestone Focus March 2020 Page 1] [IMG: Sandgate and West Folkestone Focus March 2020 Page 2] The issue that never was: this edition of SWF Focus was written and printed by mid-March, and although a few hundred were delivered on 12 and 13 March, the remainder were to be delivered week commencing March 16th. Having taken advice from a range of people, it has been decided that delivering this leaflet door-to-door for every resident in Sandgate and West Folkestone as usual is not appropriate at this time. Although the risk of our volunteer deliverers, or the ...

The issue that never was: this edition of SWF Focus was written and printed by mid-March, and although a few hundred were delivered on 12 and 13 March, the remainder were to be delivered week commencing March 17th. Having taken advice from a range of people, it has been decided that delivering this leaflet door-to-door for every resident as usual is not appropriate at this time. Although the risk of our volunteer deliverers or the leaflets they would be delivering acting as a means of transmission of Coronavirus seems slight it is not nil, and so we do not wish ...

A press release from the party brings the news of how the party is stepping up its efforts to help local communities through the coronavirus crisis: Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey has set up a Coronavirus Community Taskforce to coordinate Liberal Democrat councillors', members', activists' and supporters' response to the coronavirus crisis in their communities. Setting up the network of Liberal Democrats across the country, Ed Davey said: "we must do everything we can to support our communities during the crisis". The taskforce will be chaired by Sir Stuart Etherington, the former Chief Executive of the National Council for ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The government's web page on "social distancing" contains some useful hints about mental wellbeing. It suggests for example "Keep your windows open to let in fresh air, get some natural sunlight if you can, or get outside into the garden. You can also go for a walk outdoors if you stay more than 2 metres from others" And wash your hands as soon as you get home. If you're feeling well, this could be an ideal time to explore one of our larger local open spaces like Yate Common or Wapley Bushes. For more information about going out - ...

It is a scary time. As Covid-19 spreads across the globe, it is causing severe disruption and panic. The shift in government policy away from gambling lives on the mass infection (so-called 'herd immunity') to instead falling in line with most of the rest of world in attempting to slow the spread of the virus means that the likely death toll from the outbreak has fallen dramatically. However, the impact on the economy will be enormous and will compound the significant damage already done by Brexit. Companies are already calling in the receivers, thousands of staff are being laid off ...

Posted by James MacCleary on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov

For the moment, there is no politics. Not really, Sure, some are trying to say the current crisis means that capitalism is dead, blah, blah, blah, but no one is really listening. Almost everyone is hoping the government is doing the right thing, even we aren't sure they are at times. There has been talk in some quarters about a government of national unity to help the country through the current crisis. If we're at war, the logic of this follows. Would be a good thing for Labour, I think, a GONU. Worked for Attlee. Harder to say you're a ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

Ed Davey, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has written to the government and the CEO of OFGEM, the energy regulator, to raise concerns about customers relying on prepaid electricity and gas meters.The former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change outlined in his letter the risk that individuals living alone who rely on prepaid meters, will be left "unable to heat their homes, or forced to go out whilst unwell, jeopardising the health of others".Speaking on this issue Ed Davey said:"Over 4 million UK households rely on prepaid electricity and gas meters. Of those, an untold number have ...

Posted by Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Following the Chancellor's statement outlining financial support measures in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, Ed Davey, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has called for the the government to: guarantee that anyone who is laid off receives at least 20 days of full pay; provide full council tax relief for bands A to E for at least six months, with councils fully compensated for this loss of income;turn day one universal credit loans into grants immediately; take action to ensure no renter is evicted in the coming months as a result of this crisis;Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats ...

Posted by Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

...preferably pursued by a bear. Mr Johnson is, of course, no buffoon, but a very shrewd man. He has calculated, sadly correctly, that acting as a P G Wodehouse jackass- type will appeal to the electorate and get him where he wants to be. So he won the London mayoralty twice in spite of making a mess of the job, and in spite of being being a failure as the buffooning foreign secretary, went to to become prime minister. Now he realises that the upper-class-twit persona is not appropriate for the coronavirus pandemic, so the buffoon veneer is cast off ...

Posted by Peter Wrigley on Keynesian Liberal

Three things have been making me think about the ageing process lately. Firstly, I'm getting old myself. Although this is at the standard rate of 24 hours a day, I have got a fair number of days under my belt ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

So how is this for a random idea? I realised yesterday that I have a hair appointment on 2 April that I'm not going to be able to go to. My husband is in a high risk group. And, according to the small print in the Public Health England guidance, so am I. It looks like we'll be spending the next few weeks with as little social interaction as possible. But our income, at least in the short term, isn't going to be affected by this. Unfortunately, small businesses, especially independent ones face an existential threat. Hospitality and entertainment venues ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice
Wed 18th
11:00

My tweets

Tue, 12:01: RT @SkyNews: Coronavirus: Laura Ashley set to become first retail casualty of crisis https://t.co/FXAg1OXT6I Tue, 12:56: RT @gnuman1979: Quarantine day 6. https://t.co/er652Oy3Ki Tue, 13:11: RT @DaveClark_AFP: And after Macron urged us to turn to culture in our confinement, EU Commission spokesman Eric Mamer reads us a poem at t... Tue, 16:05: RT @youwouldknow: Saying bye to work when you go into self-isolation https://t.co/yddpYqVbco Tue, 17:11: Scott Atran: Coronavirus & The Social Distancing Problem https://t.co/uuycuZ3tZp "Epidemics and pandemics spread am... https://t.co/dTnvi5I1WX Tue, 20:17: RT @tconnellyRTE: EU leaders have agreed to cancel the "physical" meeting of the EU summit due ...

On 25 July 1911 the then UK Government, in an atmosphere of widespread hysteria, responded to the Agadir Crisis, in which the UK threatened war with Germany, by introducing the Official Secrets Act in the House of Lords. The act was rushed through Parliament, with little debate or opposition, passing through all of its stages in a single day - 18 August 1911 - and receiving the Royal assent four days later on 22 August. The act contained extremely wide ranging powers, replacing the earlier Official Secrets Act 1889 that had provided criminal sanctions only for breaches which could be ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
Wed 18th
09:23

Advice Centres

In view of the current concerns surrounding the spread of coronavirus, we we have decided to postpone our advice centres for the time being.

Posted by John Dodd on Meols Lib Dems

Here they are - photos of our first Yate poo bus!!

eUKhost

With another leadership election looming, what do we need in a leader? What's essential and what's merely desirable? If we don't think clearly about these things, we're likely to make bad choices. We don't have a Person Specification for the job, but maybe we should at least think that way. What would it look like? Unfortunately, it wouldn't stay the same. At some times, the ability to inspire the activists or to gain the attention of the media is vital. At others, the activists are already inspired, and the media are listening, but keen to find weaknesses. Then judgment is ...

Posted by Simon Banks on Liberal Democrat Voice

I have recently had complaints about the extent of white vans parked at various locations north of the Amazon site on Riverside Avenue - for example on Perth Road near to the Invercarse Hotel. This is not a new problem in that I had complaints last year from Riverside Drive near Vernonholme and in Newhall Gardens. At the time, the then Amazon Delivery Station Manager resolved matters. I took this most recent series of concerns to the new Delivery Station Manager who responded very promptly and positively as follows : "Thanks for letting me know about the issues our neighbours ...

I've seen this graph doing the rounds and used as a gotcha against people who are for closing schools "See, it'll make no difference people say." So instead of reading one out of context graph in a report I decided to spend my sleep deprived night reading the report it's from and it says anything but what the people are sharing this are saying....... "A one third of transmission occurs in the household, one third in schools and workplaces and the remaining third in the community" "Stopping mass gatherings is predicted to have relatively little impact (results not shown) because ...

Posted by Carl Minns on Carl Minns - Thoughts from Hull