"This week, we've seen far more of Boris Johnson than we ever thought was possible. With No 10 now home to a live, daily broadcast, Johnson's Achilles heel (one of many), has truly been exposed - his need to be adored. The result is pandemonium for the rest of us." Charlotte Moore on Boris Johnson's approach to coronavirus. Johnny McDermott finds lessons for the Liberal Democrats in T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone. "The simple truth is that the torrent of online rumour-mongering is simply filled by a vacuum left where official communications should be." James Ball says we ...
Lib Dems have been reacting to the Boris Johnson speech earlier this evening, in which he imposed a strict lockdown. Ed Davey,our acting co-leader said: We must do all we can to stop the spread, and I urge people to play their part by following these measures, and not risk their own or others health by ignoring them. Many people will be anxious about the steps the govt has taken, but it is the right decision to restrict our normal way of life to tackle this crisis. I'm greatly relieved to see this. There are legitimate questions as to whether ...
Here is the text of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's address to the nation tonight: Good evening, The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades - and this country is not alone. All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help. And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have. Without a huge national effort to ...
The British Film Institute has just released its Children's Film Foundation Bumper Box Vol. 2. This consists of three DVDS, each containing three British Film Foundation films. And one of the films is Treasure at the Mill from 1957, which is based on a book by this blog's hero Malcolm Saville. IMDB has a summary of the plot: Fourteen-year-old John Adams lives alone with his mother, who works as a cleaning lady for a living. It's holiday time now. John shares his free time between two activities, helping Mr. Wilson, an old antique dealer who is also his mother's employer, ...
Boris Johnson is speaking to the nation at 8:30pm. Some expect him to announce a "lockdown". Please comment below as the speech unfolds.... * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist. He is one of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
Our country and county are shutting around us. All Shropshire Council buildings are closed from tonight. We cannot press a pause button on the council's operations. There are essential services that must keep running and vulnerable people to support. I am not suggesting the council can't continue operating. It will. The council has been working for years to ensure that staff can work remotely. Many staff have already been working from home for several days. But this will be a challenging test of how effectively Shropshire Council's staff and councillors can work remotely. But we live in challenging times. Statement ...
It's been just weeks since Brexit ended my brief term as an MEP, but today I'm very happy to announce that I've been elected as Chair of the Federal People Development Committee. I wouldn't be where I am today without the outstanding training and support offered by the party. Like many of you reading this, I'm a relative newcomer to politics and to the Lib Dems. I joined in 2016, so I think I bring a fresh perspective to this role as a newbie. I'm eager to help the party expand and improve on its strategy, structures and processes for ...
Catching up on some news from before the coronavirus crisis really hit, welcome to former MEP Barbara Gibson who is the new chair of the party's Federal People Development Committee (FPDC).
Reduced stalls, non-food markets cancelled. But you can still get a cup of tea. That's the future of Ludlow Market during the coronavirus crisis. This is vital. Not everyone wants to shop at a supermarket. Not everyone feels comfortable with crowded aisles and queues to the checkout. Many people prefer to buy from independent traders rather than the international retail giants. Ludlow Market will be a socially distanced market from Wednesday. Only every second stall used. I observed behaviour in town today. It was very different from that even on Saturday. People stood at a respectful distance. We are in ...
I both started and ended the month in Macedonia, visiting Slovenia and Serbia (including the Vojvodina) in between (I may also have taken in Kosovo at the start of the month - my notes are not clear). Most interesting for me was to be asked to speak at a meeting of the EU's COWEB working group (the diplomats working on the Western Balkans) alongside Carl Bildt and Goran Svilanović. I also had a new intern at work, A from Armenia, who was quite a character. We published three pretty important reports at work - on the EU police mission in ...
Just a photo to cheer you up. Orchid Festival, Kew Gardens 2019 You can find previous Isolation diaries here. I haven't been sleeping too well recently. I don't suffer from classical insomnia, but I have been waking up very early and then finding I'm unable to go back to sleep. So I have been taking a nap in the afternoon, but it would be so much easier if I could get a good night's sleep. I can't really complain, and I'm having a much easier time of it than many others, but clearly the general anxiety is getting to me. ...
One of the blessings of social distancing is that I have been looking around for films to watch at home. I stumbled on "Lucky Jim", a 1957 Boulting Brothers classic comedy starring Ian Carmichael. Despite being a Carmichael fan, I hadn't previously watched this one. It is a real treat. As usual John Boulting directs ... Continue reading Lucky Jim starring Ian Carmichael
I'm reviewing the Government's plans for dealing with the Corona Virus. Do you agree with the new emergency powers contained within the Corona Virus Bill? Do they alarm you? Are you from a minority group with observations on how this will impact you either positively or negatively? Here's an example of some of the proposals: It will be easier to section people into mental health facilities, and to keep them detained there for longer periods. There will be a temporary removal of the legal duty on councils to provide social care to vulnerable older people, disabled people etc. The process ...
Yate Town Council has launched three new defibrillators in our town centre - outside Poole Court, the Armadillo and Sunnyside Lane sports facilities. More are coming. You can't miss them, as they are bright yellow. Thanks to Yate Councillor Ben Nutland who contributed his Member Allocated Funding to make this happen. But they won't save lives unless we all know how to use them. So we have uploaded the Defibrillator instructions. Why not download them to your phone, so you know you have them with you if you ever need them?
Liberal self identity, or libertarian self indulgence? Personal autonomy vs political authority? Subjective rather than objective? The individual not society? Where is the balance in pitting things, one against the other, and where is the harmony in the lack of balance? The Covid-19 crisis, has led us to where the fears, concerns, obsessions, priorities, of years, are questioned, or should be, in weeks. No ideology fairs well in this, from left to right. My own view is, the centre ground so many decry, has never had a try. We have had extremes, in tandem. Moderate societies, that have had fewer ...
Red streaks drew down our walls. Reddened claws of tiger stripes threatened weaker life in rustling breaths, choking, culling an unlucky two percent Except: solicitous, draconian and officious, the wardens flourished, doubling day by day; While hoarders, panicking, insidiously unmasked a national myth of fortitude; While travellers were condemned, because maybe, just maybe, well you never know; While living was suspended altogether so none at all would ever have to die... Fevered, [...]
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a complete lockdown of her country from Wednesday. Only essential services people will be allowed outside their homes. New Zealand currently has 102 reported cases of Covid-19, with zero deaths from the disease. The UK currently has 5,683 cases with 281 deaths. (Figures from John Hopkins University). And yet, last weekend, people were swarming the beaches of seaside towns such as Skegness, and UK urban parks were "heaving" with people. Johnson cites the freedom-loving instincts of the British people as reason to take things slowly, at the weekend balking at the idea ...
[IMG: Folkestone and Hythe District Council logo (Folkestone and Hythe District Council logo)] Further to the Governments announcements last Friday, we have further updated our www.Folkestone.works website with information and links. The key points are summarised below. For UK workers of any employer placed on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the government will pay up to 80% of a worker's wages, up to a total of £2,500 per worker each month. These will be backdated to 1st March, will be initially open for 3 months and may be extended if necessary. VAT payments due between now and the end of ...
This is the advice from the NHS that our local GPs are working to. It explains why they are working in the way they are working. They need to keep themselves safe so that they can serve us all properly ... Continue reading →
Sun, 12:56: RT @MaxCCurtis: Fandom, let's. Together, we can write the impossible story where Sara Kingdom and Mike Yates meet - ONE TWEET each at a tim... Sun, 14:48: RT @GoshDarnMyLife: Y'all need to put that shit right the fuck back. https://t.co/jBMeEbM2Ob Sun, 15:25: RT @A_Sloat: Hoarding toilet paper, stockpiling weed, applying vodka as hand sanitizer, making music videos, using urine as natural remedy,... Sun, 16:05: The Pandemic Means Less Europe—For Now https://t.co/9AprD4XK6G Sensible from @DaveKeating. Am baffled by those who... https://t.co/PvM5X3dk9Z Sun, 17:37: RT @dwpageofficial: 🚨 It's happening! 🚨 'Rose' #DoctorWho online communal rewatch, Thursday 26th March at 7pm ...
Recently, a youngster asked me if I remembered anything like the current crisis in the past. I had trouble remembering anything like it. The 1967 Foot and Mouth outbreak? The 1963 big freeze? I can only just remember 1963 and the image of a car in 12 feet of snow by our local golf club. Of course, my mother lived through the war and is still going strong. But then a fellow sexagenarian reminded me of the Three Day Week of 1974. That perhaps does provide some paralell, when, due to the Oil crisis, the government had to impose a ...
Yesterday's Observer contained a follow-up to the Guardian's report on how Venice is being transformed by the coronavirus lockdown, highlighting social media posts about animals frolicking through deserted cities. Not all the reports are true however: We must sadly report that many of these optimistic posts have turned out to be fake - there were no dolphins in Venice's celebrated canals, or drunken elephants ambling through China's Yunnan province. But as the coronavirus crisis changes the rhythms of urban life, there are some early signs that animals - especially the creatures that lurk in the periphery of big cities and ...
Good morning, everyone, and as the United Kingdom heads towards lockdown, another week starts on Liberal Democrat Voice. There's been a lot of debate on this site about the pace of Government action, whether or not various steps are appropriate or not, but my sense from rural Suffolk is that most people are attempting to be sensible – staying indoors for the most part, keeping a sensible distance when meeting each other on the street, that sort of thing. And, whilst the Government might be hesitating about ordering a lockdown, non-essential services are rather leading in shutting up shop so ...
Mon 23rd
09:22
Aintree – Is the mothballed Nth Mersey Branch a Port of Liverpool access opportunity going beg...
Just south of Aintree Station there's still a rail connection to the overgrown and mothballed North Mersey Branch, which heads off in the direction of the Port of Liverpool and Bootle. Here and above are a couple of shots of the rail connection as it is now:- Both shots were taken from the end of the Liverpool bound platform of Aintree Station. Surely it (the Nth Mersey Branch) could be, at least in part, a sensible contribution to the accessing the expanding Port of Liverpool. I might add that Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson wants a railway in a ...
As many of you already know, I've never been a fan of Boris Johnson. I don't hate the man or even really dislike him; I just think he chose the wrong line of work. There is an alternative universe where the Boris Johnson Show on BBC1 is keeping the nation warm during the crisis, as Boris interviews celebs and MPs via Skype, with the usual technological breakdowns adding to the standard Boris shenanigans. I've always seen Johnson as an entertainer, not a serious bloke. Certainly not someone who should be prime minister at the best of times – and God ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 23 MARCH 2020 Perth Road (at Riverside Place) - temporary traffic lights for one week for Scottish Water work. Glamis Road (at Carseview Gardens) - off peak temporary traffic lights from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 March for telecom mast maintenance. Forthcoming Roadworks West Marketgait (Argyllgait to Nethergate) - overnight (7.00pm - 3.00am) southbound nearside lane closure on Monday 30 March for Scottish Water work.
During the Covid-19 emergency, many bus and train services will be running on reduced timetables. Trains will begin later and will run less frequently. Some bus services are running as normal in the Ludlow area. Others are on a reduced service or different timetable. This article gives a summary of what we know so far. It will be updated if circumstances change. Passengers with concessionary passes no longer need to pay if they travel before 9:30am. Ludlow town buses. No changes announced yet but we are expecting a reduction in service and changes of route. Updates on this page as ...
£1 million Coronavirus Charity Help Fund has been set up by MoneySavingExpert's Martin Lewis personal charity fund to help those affected by the coronavirus. My thanks to Heather Kidd for this post. With the emerging Coronavirus across the country we are all aware of the impacts this is having on the community and economy, and I know that many of our local charities and voluntary groups are already working on ways in which they can support the local community. To help support charities during this time a new small grant scheme has been launched which might be of interest to ...
