Davey – Govt must stick to science based approach Responding to the Health Secretary's press conference in number 10, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: It is concerning that the government has decided not to make the usual test, trace and isolation data available to the public. The government claims to be 'led by the science' but with members of SAGE publicly warning against the government's policy and little access to data about test, trace isolate, a science led approach is looking like a threadbare claim. The press conference today raised even more concerns about lockdown beginning ...
You join us for another week at Bonkers Hall. When Lord Bonkers wrote this entry it was not publicly known that Brian May had been seriously ill. But I should report, in fairness to the old boy, that he remarked at the time: "Buttock injuries can be awkward things. You should always take a buttock seriously. Monday Ever since Dr Brian May, lead guitarist of The Queen, caused terrible damage to his glutei maximi in what has been described as a "bizarre gardening accident" I have been inundated with letters enquiring after the health of my own gardener Meadowcroft. Is, ...
Researching my post on Wallace Lawler and the Birmingham Ladywood by-election, I came across a remarkable document online. Liberal/Liberal Democrat candidates in parliamentary elections in the West Midland Region 1945-2015 was compiled Lionel King. It gives a brief biography of each candidate in Who's Who style, but also a character sketch. These are often bracingly candid - so much so that I would hesitate to quote some of them here. Among those I can quote is my former landlord in Sutton Coldfield, Jim Whorwood. He is described as a "party stalwart from 1950s; meticulous keeper of records and election information; ...
This week I'm going to write about the media we've been watching during lockdown. First off, Derry Girls, whose two series so far are set in the early and mid 1990s, and feature five girls (one of whom is actually a boy) attending a Catholic school run by nuns in Derry, at the tail end of the Troubles. It hit home very hard for me. I went to a Catholic school run by nuns, and I am about ten years older than the Derry Girls, but that moment in the mid 1990s was an important one for me - I ...
[IMG: Lower Leas Coastal Park Sign] We all know that the position in the Lower Leas Park this weekend (and in previous weekends) has not been acceptable, and was not sustainable. I've been pushing Council Officers and the Leader for radical action, and I was promised an update today. I'm really pleased to say I've had that response from Head of Paid service Susan Priest tonight, and it really is a big step forward, with a massive increase in bin capacity, the banning of BBQs, closing of the Coastal Park Car Park (accessed from Radnor Cliff) overnight and a number ...
It's Happy Monday. Lockdown is, apparently, over – at least that seems to be the way many people have interpreted a gentle easing in the restrictions. There is even some good news for those of us practising shielding. We are now allowed to go outside the home once a day, either with a housemate or for a socially distanced walk with someone else if we live alone. We can't go to the shops, or go to work or visit others in their homes. I was quite excited when this was first flagged up on Saturday, but am now having second ...
Following yesterday's announcements from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary and Dame Louise Casey relating to support for rough sleepers, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said: "After years of prevarication it took a crisis to get the Tories to house thousands who were sleeping rough at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's vital that this support continues in the months ahead, to ensure we don't go backwards when such progress has been made."Ministers must now show they are completely committed to tackling this issue head on."That is why the Liberal Democrats are urging the Government to commit to ...
The party's General Election Review has certainly generated plenty of debate and goes on to make a number of useful recommendations which I hope will be followed. However for me a key issue is that we are coming out of a long period where we abandoned our radicalism and we need to rediscover it. At the 2010 General Election we fought on a manifesto that could attract a wide range of voters either disillusioned with New Labour or sceptical of David Cameron's Conservatives. This was a continuation of the strategy adopted by Paddy Ashdown and it resulted in a 23 ...
Eleven and a half years ago I, along with millions of people in the UK, stayed awake to hear who had become the President of the USA. At about 3 a.m. I was delighted to hear that it was Barack ... Continue reading →
Liberator 401 is on its way to subscribers and is available as a free download from our website. We'd – fortuitously – decided before the pandemic to go free online only from September but because many potential readers are stuck at home we're putting our last few print issues up online too as they come out. The website also has a free archive of copies back to 2001. Liberator 401 includes: The People They Forgot – It was too little, too late when the Government tried to protect care homes from Covid-19, leading to a scandal of needless deaths, say ...
The new issue of Liberator has arrived. Now there is just one more printed issue to go. Already you can download this issue free of charge from the magazine's website. This was a decision we took back in the winter, but it would have been forced on us by Covid-19 and the consequent cancellation of two Liberal Democrat conferences. In the Radical Bulletin section this time you can: find analysis of the Thornhill report on the Lib Dem performance in last year's general election ("Every leader ends up in a 'bunker' listening only to a trusted coterie of advisers - ...
Wessex are laying the new main sewer/drainage for the Ladden Garden Development across the YOSC sports pitches and Brimsham Green School pitches in the next few weeks. So the public footpath will be closed. Work is due to start on Mon 1 June. Here is the diversion.
Dominic Cummings famously declared that he didn't care about appearances — he'd stuck to the letter of the law and that's all that matters. It sounds like an unsympathetic insurance company wriggling out of a claim but I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt because the real issue, for me, is that appearance do matter. And we'll be able to tell in about a week's time whether I'm right. When "government scientist", Neil Ferguson, and Scotland's chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood were exposed for flouting lockdown regulations they immediately understood the implications. They're scientists and it was ...
My son is in Year One and so he could return to school today. We decided on balance that we would let him go back. During the walk to school he was neither nervous nor excited about returning; just strangely indifferent. His questions while we walked were the usual bag of six-year-old tricks: he wondered what the day of the year was when we all stayed up really late and fireworks went off by the London Eye (New Year's Eve, in case that wasn't apparent) and then asked me why we celebrate the end of December in that way but ...
Sun, 12:56: RT @campbellclaret: On this letter to your constituent's complaint about @borisjohnson and Cummings, @matthancock , you really will have to... Sun, 13:13: First time I have been shopping in a French-speaking supermarket since this all started. Weird to realise how much... https://t.co/175qgjC3oF Sun, 14:48: RT @nvonwestenholz: Dominic Lawson's again waded in on the issue of trade policy, food and standards of production. Difficult to discern th... Sun, 15:17: May books https://t.co/8v1fLzqwkT Sun, 15:32: I renewed my subscription (online). https://t.co/WsKdHGOpVO Sun, 16:05: Connell losing touch with club championship is real tragedy of Normal People https://t.co/IPxZ6gcN10 Hilarious take! Sun, 21:22: ...
UBI (Universal or Unconditional Basic Income) is a brilliant idea. A majority of people support it. Let's implement it worldwide. But to pay for it, we first must enact Justice Capitalism, that is, Capitalism that is fair, equal, and balanced for everyone. But how will UBI be funded? The Tax system is broken and cannot be fixed to pay for UBI. Governments have been trying to fix the tax code forever, but it just gets more complicated with more and more loopholes. Corporations, criminals, corrupt politicians, and the 1%, hide money in Tax Havens or they game the tax rules ...
I'm regularly finding myself spending time on a form of political matchmaking, trying to help would-be new Liberal Democrat activists find the best way to get involved in the party. I've written before about how existing activists can best get newer people involved, but this process has also made me increasingly aware that there's a set of tips about how to get involved that pretty much no-one ever tells would-be new activists. So this post is an attempt to put that right. Do let me have your feedback on it; I hope this post will continue to evolve and improve ...
From today's Guardian
President Trump has a point when he attacks Twitter for flagging his posts. But it reeks of hypocrisy. The social media platforms have to date enjoyed pretty much a license to print money existence with very little in the way of a corresponding social responsibility. Under a 1996 American law website operators — unlike traditional publishers — cannot generally be held responsible for content by their users. They are effectively a digital wall upon which the public paste fly posts. The social media sites argue that they have no more control of those posts than does the owner of a ...
2 big stories It is an exaggeration to say that America's cities are in flames, and despite President Trump's inflammatory comments, in most places, demonstrations remain peaceful, if tense. And protests against the death of George Floyd have spread beyond America too. Unfortunately, there is little doubt that the only difference between policing in the United States and here is that, at least here, the police are unarmed and the courts less perfunctory and politicised, thus deaths are thankfully rarer, but BAME citizens, especially black ones, are more likely to be the subjects of police activity, even if they aren't ...
Over the weekend, I have had numerous concerns about a minority of people using our local parks in the lovely weather but leaving their rubbish behind them. The photos below are just a few examples - from Lochee Park and Magdalen Green - and there were also examples on Balgay Hill. I am grateful for the efforts of council environment staff over the weekend to clean this up and have reported concerns raised by residents. Most people are sensible enough to use litter bins and tidy behind them and that's the message residents would like everyone to take on board. ...
