Tariff proposals show Johnson's willing to break his word on Brexit yet again Govt must be clear on process for regional COVID-19 lockdowns Lib Dems push to strengthen support for survivors in Domestic Abuse Bill Davey: Coronavirus death toll a national tragedy Tariff proposals show Johnson's willing to break his word on Brexit yet again Responding to reports that the UK Government is considering accepting tariffs as part of any UK-EU transition deal, Liberal Democrat Brexit and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: This proposal is the latest chapter in a long story of the Brexit reality failing to meet ...
Lib Dems: Ministers must commit now to any recommendations from inequalities inquiry ONS figures highlight the devastating COVID-19 care home crisis Lib Dems call for legally binding targets to restore natural world Lib Dems: Extend Brexit transition now Lib Dems: Ministers must commit now to any recommendations from inequalities inquiry Responding to the announcement that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission will lead an inquiry into the racial inequalities exposed by the coronavirus outbreak, Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson Christine Jardine said: The consequences of the coronavirus crisis are exacerbated for some communities by the existing inequalities in our society. The ...
This mighty Norfolk church was heavily restored in the 19th century, but there's still much to enjoy.
Responding to the statistics released on victims of modern slavery in Quarter 1 2020, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:"The extent of modern slavery here in the UK is shocking. As coronavirus has spread, so has modern slavery yet the Government is failing to act on this rise we have seen since last year."The coronavirus crisis has seen thousands of people lose their livelihoods overnight and Ministers simply are not doing enough to prevent people from falling into financial hardship and then, tragically in too many cases falling into modern slavery. The fact that some of the most ...
On World Environment Day, the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Conservative Government to take "radical action" to restore and protect nature. In a letter to George Eustice, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Liberal Democrat MPs urge the Government to show "global leadership" on this issue, after the UN Environment group highlighted the link between zoonoses, including coronaviruses, and the destruction of the natural world. The Party calls for key measures to be introduced ahead of COP 26 next year, including a Nature Act, which would set legally binding near-term and long-term targets for improving ...
Responding to reports that the UK Government is considering accepting tariffs as part of any UK-EU transition deal, Liberal Democrat Brexit and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: "This proposal is the latest chapter in a long story of the Brexit reality failing to meet Boris Johnson's rhetoric."Johnson told British businesses, including farmers, they'd have tariff free access to the EU market. "But just as he promised Northern Irish businesses that there would be no checks in the Irish Sea, and consumers that we wouldn't have chlorinated chickens on our shelves, it seems that this too is an issue he ...
Fri 5th
21:16
How Michael Gove and Theresa Villiers lied to consumers and farmers over food standards
If anything can make middle England sire up against the Conservatives, I suspect it is lying to Countryfile. Can @michaelgove guarantee future food imports will have to meet UK welfare standards? @tomheapmedia investigates the future of farming on tonight's @BBCCountryfile #countryfile pic.twitter.com/E57vcWPYiJ — BBC Countryfile (@BBCCountryfile) October 7, 2018
I'll be interested to see what Lord Bonkers makes of the Thornhill review. My own view is that it managed to sound more far-reaching and hard-hitting than it really was and I can't see the old boy agreeing that changes to party structures are the key to success in the future. He is more one for breaking out the exploding Focus leaflets. Friday To Mr Patel's convenience store and newsagent's in the village. I arrive to find the suitably spaced queue tailing back as far as the lychgate of St Asquith's. We are all there with but one purpose in ...
The German government has shed its reputation for excessive monetary caution and announced what the Guardian reveals as a "€130bn boost for [the German] economy." Highlights include: temporary cut in VAT from 19% to 16%€300 one-off payment for every child in Germany€50bn to address climate change€25bn loan support for small firms€10bn for municipalities struggling with lower tax receipts.The cut in VAT recalls Alistair Darling's cut of the UK's VAT from 17.5% to 15% as part of his package to help us recover form the 2008 financial crash. The package was successful and the economy was actually growing again when the ...
Hugely important news came today: the foundation where our daughters live has let us know that we should be able to visit (under certain strict conditions) from 13 June, and U will be able to come home again for short stays as she had done before. We are still working out exactly how we will approach it, but basically we should be able to get together again as a family some time this month. When I first posted about the restrictions being imposed in March, I was too upset to realise that the picture I used was from Christmas 2017, ...
McCarthyism was one of the most disgraceful features of modern American history, as for a decade from the late 1940s a witch-hunt against real and imagined Communists was carried out, on the grounds that these "un-American activities" amounted to treason. Hollywood was a particular focus for attention. The US film industry had before the Second [...]
September 2006 was a momentous month for me: ploughing through unread emails in Budapest on the evening of the 1st, I found a message from Independent Diplomat, with whom I had been in communication for about eighteen months, inviting my application for the position of director of their not-yet-established Brussels office. I applied, was interviewed later in September, and got offered the job early in October. Apart from my trip to London for the interview, I also went to Washington DC and New York for networking and to Athens for a conference during the month. With all that travel, I ...
[IMG: Dog - Terrier mixed-breed (Chris Barber / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) In amongst the works at the Lower Leas Coastal Park tthis week, a large number of new signs have been put up, some moved, some recycled and some new. In this process, a couple of signs that said that Dogs were not allowed in the Park ended up on display. This issue was spotted by a few eagle eyed residents who reported to me. I've now checked with the Council and can confirm: it was a mistake. We're sorry! There is no change in the rules governing dogs ...
[IMG: Parking Zone Signs] As part of a host of changes in motion to try to address issues being caused to Radnor Cliff and Radnor Cliff Crescent residents by the access to the Lower Leas Coastal Park, it has been agreed to consult those residents on a change to the on-street parking rules in that area. With the parking charges in the Lower Sandgate Road West Car park being increased to try to push users to the cheaper and less disruptive Coastal Park car park at the Folkestone end of the park (accessed via Marine Parade) some park users have ...
My mother died from Alzheimer's. It was some years ago and I don't find it difficult to write about. In fact she was in her 90s, had lived a good life and had a calm death in a supportive environment. The home where she spent the last 3 years of her life practised the Eden Alternative, which is a holistic approach to caring for people with dementia. She was very contented. So that's not what is making me sad today. What is often forgotten is that Alzheimer's, along with other forms of dementia, is an irreversible terminal illness. However, unlike ...
#BoycottHSBC #BoycottFirstDirect * Guy Benson is a Liberal Democrat member who also serves on the executive of the Young Liberals.
Well done to Leicester's Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Porter. The Leicester Mercury reports that has secured a donation of 2000 facial masks that will be distributed through shops in his Aylestone ward. His achievement gives me that chance to mention again how absurd the city's politics have become. For not only is Nigel Leicester's only Lib Dem councillor: he is its only opposition councillor. Labour holds 53 of the 54 seats on the city council. I'm not a fan of the mayoral system, but where it does operate the council that holds the mayor to account must be elected by ...
Fri 5th
11:55
Christine Jardine MP writes: We must support all survivors of domestic violence, regardless of their...
It's been three years since we were first promised the Domestic Violence Bill by Theresa May. Ever since then, the Bill has been dogged by delay. I'm relieved that it's finally making its way through the House of Commons, and honoured to be among the group of MPs entrusted with scrutinising the detail of the legislation as it goes through the Public Bill Committee. It's hugely important legislation, and in the current Covid-19 crisis, its need is acutely felt by those who might feel more trapped than ever. We need to get this right and leave no one to face ...
If someone contacts you claiming to be from the NHS track and trace, please remember the following. Contact tracers will never: ask you to dial a premium rate number to speak to them (for example, those starting 09 or 087)ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product or any kindask for any details about your bank accountask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contactsask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phonedisclose any of your personal or medical information ...
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows how rates of positive tests for COVID-19 appear higher for individuals who work outside the home compared with those who work from home.
Thu, 12:56: RT @Haggis_UK: Rudy Giuliani completely loses the plot on #GMB. Piers Morgan - you sound completely barking mad. https://t.co/iS6kyJWfVi Thu, 14:32: Wow, the courts just quashed the recommended new constituency boundaries for Northern Ireland. Doesn't matter in pr... https://t.co/frNPHqc5k5 Thu, 16:05: RT @PeatWorrier: Jings. The schedule at the end of this Supreme Court judgment - capturing judicial interventions from Mr Justice Jay in re... Thu, 18:01: Thursday reading https://t.co/rDdndP6wPx Thu, 19:38: Normal People https://t.co/5DtrglWI4v Thu, 20:37: RT @MattSingh_: @nwbrux (Minor point but there are actually four protected constituencies, as the lsle as the Isle of Wight has two) ...
Alice Wiseman, Director of Public Health in Gateshead, has urged residents to maintain social distancing despite the relaxation of some of the lockdown restrictions.
Facing the axe. Hearing the heavy blade's heart-cutting 'whoosh', stunned, before thought can hold; retreat is not an option, it will split your spine instead... Neither charity nor faith will save you in this moment – nor holding back, nor living with reserve – only an attack, triggered deep below, inside that falling curve
It has been a bad June for President Donald Trump – and the month has just begun. The death of African-American George Floyd at the hands (or, if you prefer, knee) of a Minneapolis policeman has sparked demonstrations and riots across America and the wider world. The president's plan to wrap his proposed military clampdown in a religious cloak badly backfired when he was condemned by mainstream American religious leaders for using the Bible as a political prop. It looks as if the president is about to lose another Secretary of Defence, Mark Esper. And his first and most popular ...
There is no satisfaction is being proved right, especially when it is on a matter of public health, but nevertheless Boris Johnson's abandonment of his promise not to lower food standards in negotiations with the United States was inevitable. How else was he going to get his trade deal? The fact that this breach of faith has taken place during a national crisis will not go unnoticed by keen watchers of media management. Effectively, the government has chosen to hide their U-turn in a bad news year. It is the strongest argument yet for delaying Brexit - surely the government ...
The day after protests in London took place, several young people came to clean off the graffiti that had been put onto the Earl Haig memorial. While they were doing this, a young woman approached and berated them. "Couldn't even wait a day. Not one day, because of their precious memorial," she said to them as they scrubbed "ACAB" (All Cops Are Bastards) off of the WW1 statue. She then gave them hell for putting signs left as litter into bins. The young woman who berated the group from the Household Cavalry for cleaning off the statue was captured on ...
On Wednesday night, Ludlow Town Council met to consider plans for a social distanced town, included Ludlow Market. The good news is the market will reopen next Monday - 8 June. It is essential that the market reopens. Here is just one of the many comments I have received from market traders in the last couple of months. "It's the end of my business. It's taken ten years to build up and it's my only income. It's over for us. I feel helpless." We need to help people that trade on the market. They are at the centre of our ...
2 big stories Yesterday, the New York Times published an opinion piece by the junior US Senator for Arkansas, Tom Cotton, which called upon President Trump to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to employ the military "or any other means" in "cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws" by way of an overwhelming show of force against protestors. Why is this important? Because Tom Cotton is a potential Republican nominee for the Presidency in the not that distant future. It would be fair to say that there was a backlash, as the editorial page editor himself admitted. There is ...
With thanks to Tricia, a beautiful Broom in the Riverside Nature Park.
