No one can go anywhere any more, so here's a photo of St Albans Abbey I took on a damp March morning in 2012.
I have a friend who is not well. She had to spend lockdown away from her husband, who was working, being cared for by her parents. She didn't see her husband until restrictions were lifted, even though he was round the corner. Another friend lost her husband. She's had people at the end of a phone or video call, but not with her to help and hold her. We may all have watched the livestream of the funeral but we couldn't be there to support her and pay tribute to her husband. We'll all know people who have made extraordinary ...
Sat 23rd
19:00
LibLink: Cllr Rabina Khan: This Eid, technology will ease loneliness and bring people together onlin...
Eid Mubarak to everyone who is celebrating this weekend. To mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Cllr Rabina Khan has written about how technology will help as people who would normally be together have to spend this special time apart: This year, under Covid-19 restrictions, Eid will mean that families and communities will not be able to come together in each other's homes or any other public places. They will pray and eat Eid food without being together, but they can be connected to each other's lives through technology. When I was a child, the technology ...
Sat 23rd
18:33
Ludlow as a socially distanced town - new signage to be discussed with Shropshire Council next week ...
We must get our town back into business. It's going to be tough. We must move into unknown territory as a socially distanced town. Every business will need to adjust the way they work. We must allow cafes and pubs to spill into our streets. Allow businesses to sell their wares from tables on their frontage. Some streets should be closed at weekends and public holidays. The market must reopen. A lot of decisions need to be made. First up will be new signage. A street meeting of officers and councillors on Tuesday afternoon will look at locations for up ...
Britain is going through a difficult period just now, as we enter the third month of COVID-19 lockdown, with millions of people worried about their future, not only because of the ongoing threat of the virus but also the danger of economic ruin. Many businesses, not least in the hospitality sector, face going under if [...]
This morning I discovered the Miracle Sudoku – so the chances of my getting anything else done today went out of the window. I'm fairly obsessive about sudoku, my current favourites being the killer variety. I usually do one in the newspaper over lunch, plus another couple on an app in the evening before going to bed. But the Miracle Sudoku is something else, as you can see from the image. It contains exactly two numbers, so is unsolvable as it stands, of course. The point is that three extra rules are introduced to the normal sudoku rules. These are: ...
Slaughterhouse Five won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1973, with only three competitors - Silent Running, which I have not seen, and two TV films that I had not even heard of, Between Time and Timbuktu which is based on other works by Kurt Vonnegut, and The People, mostly based on a novella by Zenna Henderson, "Pottage". IMDB users rank Slaughterhouse Five 25th and 27th of all films of 1972 on the two systems; Silent Running does better at 12th and 18th, while the other two are a very long way down. Iwonder why there were only four ...
This is worth a view: I'm feeling a lot better this Monday after a weekend of recuperation. Here's what I had to say earlier this month when the TV crew from #Unspun came to my office. They asked me what was the most trouble I'd even gotten into. pic.twitter.com/uHiHZwsCwD — Jamie Stone MP (@Jamie4North) March 26, 2018 * News Meerkat - keeping a look-out for Liberal Democrat news. Meerkat photo by Paul Walter
Deadline for comments 22nd June. S Glos have published plans for a 20mph limit and no waiting areas in Autumn Brook. For details see the Focus Special - full details at http://www.southglos.gov.uk/
Daisy Cooper has announced on social media that she will not be standing for leader. In her statement she says that she was flattered by the messages she received from Liberal Democrat members asking her to stand but she has decided against it. My decision on whether to stand was always going to depend on the timing and, as the contest has been brought forward to this Summer I've decided that, right now, this isn't the time for me. Thank you to all Lib Dem members and supporters who have been encouraging me to stand in the Lib Dem Leadership ...
The Liberal Democrat MP for St Albans has issued a statement saying she won't be running for party leader in the contest starting this June.
Today's Downing Street statement about Dominic Cummings and his lockdown travel highlights, again, the danger with anonymous sources.
Sat 23rd
12:23
Social distancing experiment starts Tuesday: major road changes in George Street, High Street, Marke...
Herts County Council has launched a "Social Distancing in the Highway" public health-related initiative. Essentially, vehicular movements on certain roads across the county will be restricted in order to yield more "road space" for pedestrians. The main reason for the initiative is to facilitate social distancing where current pavement width simply does not allow this. [...]
Fri, 12:38: Just noting that the @BSFA winners for Novel, Short Fiction and Non-Fiction were each owned by more LibraryThing an... https://t.co/MYNz2DMhxW Fri, 12:56: The Uncounted Dead https://t.co/3h6nlJOQL6 This is really grim reading, but useful to understand where the statisti... https://t.co/SXIEIIiguc Fri, 16:05: RT @LAM_Barrett: anybody else struggling to remember the last time a cloth mask accidentally went off and killed a toddler https://t.co/Xor... Fri, 17:06: I got my first post-lockdown haircut! https://t.co/Bjfk03SHHh Fri, 17:11: Come On and Zoom-Zoom https://t.co/s0OMnBFFpM A kids tv show that I remember well from living in the USA in 1973-4. "Oh-two-one-three-FOUR!" Fri, 19:27: Black Wine, ...
Senior Lib Dems have backed a call from newly elected Lib Dem Councillor Anton Georgiou for young refugees to be given computer equipment and support to enable them to access education during the pandemic. Lib Dems at all levels, from MPs to Councillors, to London mayoral candidate Siobhan Benita and London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, LDCRE Chair Roderick Lynch and Cllr Rabina Khan supported the initiative and signed Anton's letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. I've sent this letter, along with many @LibDems, to @GavinWilliamson. We want to: [IMG: 🔸] ensure young refugees, ESL students & vulnerable groups receive equal ...
The BBC reports: A Plaid Cymru MP has had the whip withdrawn by the party after being arrested on suspicion of assault. Jonathan Edwards, who has represented Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2010, was arrested on Wednesday 20 May. Dyfed-Powys Police said a 44-year-old man from Ammanford had been arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of assault. He has been released on bail and the investigation is ongoing. Want to know more about what the Liberal Democrats are doing in the Westminster Parliament? Sign-up for a weekly email when Parliament is in session.
Sat 23rd
10:06
Some Saturday etymology: door, forum, forensic, foreign, forest, thyroid, Durbar and Dari
In yet another astonishing example of 'do what we say, not what we do' from the UK, it transpires that Boris Johnson's key adviser, Dominic Cummings, was spoken to by police about breaching the government's lockdown rules after he was seen in Durham, 264 miles from his London home, despite having had symptoms of coronavirus. The Guardian reports that officers approached Cummings days after he was seen rushing out of Downing Street when the prime minister tested positive for the virus at the end of March. Inevitably, and quite rightly, there are now calls for his resignation: At the time, ...
Many have rightly heralded the party's open and honest attempt to understand our defeat as a gamechanger for the Lib Dems. This is a chance to address not just the damp, but the dry-rot and subsidence too. In the spirit of Dorothy Thornhill, I think it's time we addressed all of the party's structural problems. The report repeatedly and rightly mentioned the need for greater BAME involvement in the party, which is holding back our ability to win seats and appeal to a broader base of liberally-minded people. We are also being held back, however, by an absence of young ...
No mere fields of wheat for Jamie Stone, Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross: I'm feeling a lot better this Monday after a weekend of recuperation. Here's what I had to say earlier this month when the TV crew from #Unspun came to my office. They asked me what was the most trouble I'd even gotten into. pic.twitter.com/uHiHZwsCwD — Jamie Stone MP (@Jamie4North) March 26, 2018 Hat-tip: Jonathan Calder. Want to know more about what the Liberal Democrats are doing in the Westminster Parliament? Sign-up for a weekly email when Parliament is in session.
Analysis by the LSE's Centre for Economic Performance on the impact of the coronavirus crisis on self-employed people found that "over the last month, 46% have had trouble paying for basic expenses such as rent, mortgage payments or essentials."Responding, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:"The coronavirus crisis is leaving thousands of families facing financial hardship. We must ensure no one is left behind. The Government must extend its support for self-employed people in line with the furlough scheme, and expand it to cover those who are currently left out, including the newly self-employed."The government rightly paid out ...
Govt creating confusion and worry about returning to work Responding to a GMB survey that reveals four in five UK workers are worried about returning to work during the coronavirus pandemic, Liberal Democrat Business Spokesperson Sarah Olney said: The Coronavirus crisis is leaving the most vulnerable at risk. Absolutely no one should be left suffering panic attacks with worry and being forced to go into the workplace until it is safe. Any easing of the lockdown can only happen once the Government delivers a comprehensive strategy to test, trace and isolate to prevent a new surge. Sadly, the Prime Minister ...
Responding to reports that senior government adviser Dominic Cummings broke the government's lock-down guidelines, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:"Millions of people have made incredible sacrifices over the past three months to do their bit to stop the coronavirus. They have been forced to cancel their normal daily lives as well as important family gatherings like weddings. Many have had to witness the funerals of loved ones through video conference."They expect senior members of the Prime Minister's office to stay home too."If Dominic Cummings has broken the guidelines he will have to resign, it is as simple ...
