Empty pharma stockpiles show govt must rethink transition extension Covid-19 infection rate in Welsh prisons tops 20% Derisory increase in asylum support is appalling Testing announcement shows protective ring around care homes claim untrue Rees-Mogg must follow through on promises to look at voting rights for carers Empty pharma stockpiles show govt must rethink transition extension Responding to reports that No Deal Brexit stockpiles "significantly reduced and/or used up entirely" by Covid pandemic, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: These reports show the recklessness of the government's approach to Brexit negotiations and protecting our economy and NHS. ...
Big Cat Conversations is a podcast devoted to encounters with big cats in Britain. One edition interviews two people who say they have seen the animals in High Leicestershire and Rutland. I am struck by the claim that so many large black cats have been seen around Ketton cement works that on its open day the owners place figures of black cats around the site for children to find.
One of the suggestions for making the Bristol statue of Edward Colston more acceptable was to add a second plaque that spelt out his role in the Atlantic slave trade. Even this was too much for one Conservative councillor, according to a 2018 report on Bristol Live: Cllr Richard Eddy said someone taking the law into the own hands and 'unilaterally removing' the plaque, which recognises Colston's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, 'might be justified'. The website went on to quote him: "This pathetic bid to mount a secondary revisionist plaque on Colston's Statue is historically-illiterate and a further ...
Mon 8th
18:17
Poll reveals six in ten people want immediate pedestrianisation of some of Ludlow town centre #coron...
The poll has closed. The results are in. My website poll launched midday Saturday received 760 votes. Six in ten people who responded to the poll favoured some form of pedestrianisation of the town centre (61%). The others wanted no road closures at any point. Up for debate was a proposal agreed at Ludlow Town Council to close King Street and High Street to vehicles between 10am and 3pm on Fridays and Saturday. The aim is to promote social distancing. I put four options into the poll. A quarter of people who responded want the streets closed seven days a ...
After I wrote up his book abut the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, Philip Winter was kind enough to send me a much shorter publication of his, which you can get here courtesy of the University of Durham. The second paragraph of the third chapter is: The victory over the Mahdist forces of the Khalifa at the Battle of Omdurman led to the establishment of a hybrid form of rule over the Sudan for the next 56 years and the establishment of the borders of the country as they were until 2011. This odd creation needs to be understood because its boundaries could ...
I don't usually bake; neither does my husband. But we have been trying out a number of recipes during the last three months. He has made lemon drizzle cakes and Victoria sponges, while I have been going for cookies, flapjacks, crumbles and a banana loaf. Today I made brownies using the simplest possible recipe. Combine 400 g Nutella with 3 beaten eggs until smooth, then stir in 115g flour (it said plain but I only had self-raising in the cupboard). Line a 20cm square cake tin, dollop it all in and smooth the top, then bake at 180 degrees for ...
A natural question arising from images of American police killing and attacking civilians is, "How on earth can this be happening? What has happened to liberal democracy?" The answer is that, in too many places, the liberal democratic system is thought to have failed the people it claims to be serving. Authoritarian and populist governments, on the other hand, are being re-elected and seem to respond to more voters' needs, both practically and emotionally. Those authoritarian and populist governments are taking up—and taking aim at—issues close to liberal democratic hearts, including immigration, globalization, climate change and LGBT rights. But these ...
Every week I do an hour long programme for American radio. The purpose is to try to explain what the rest of the world is thinking about America and what is happening in the world which should be of interest to Americans. The format takes the form of a discussion between myself—an avowed liberal expat—and an old school friend, Lockwood Phillips, who is a staunch Trump supporter. Not surprisingly, the mix leads to some lively discussions. This week was especially so. Actually, it was the off-air discourse that was at times off-colour and even more interesting was the exchange of ...
Do you want to have your say about the Liberal Democrat leadership election or the future of the party? This is a reminder that I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. As you can see from this list of the 10 most recent guests posts, I am happy to consider a wide range of subjects beyond the Lib Dems If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. Three unlikely heroes from Grantham suggest a future for smaller towns - Brynley HeavenPolitical parties must be rooted ...
Sun, 14:48: Driving the social divide: planning in Belfast reinforces the city's segregation | Essay | Architectural Review... https://t.co/L2IpnW6vzq Sun, 15:13: Sleeper (1973) and The Sleeper Awakes (1899/1910) https://t.co/L19EAb5bRC Sun, 18:27: Trees. https://t.co/CSwhEntgTj Mon, 10:45: Ronald McNair's Civil Disobedience: The Illustrated Story of How a Little Boy Who Grew Up to Be a Trailblazing Astr... https://t.co/QEjYEQxjPU
A couple of years ago a friend gifted me a copy of Rutger Bregman's "Utopia for Realists". It ended up close to the top of my "to read" list and got read not long afterwards. Utopia for Realists makes a series of very clear and well reasoned arguments for a number of policy interventions that result in a better society. That one of the core premises is that a better society is an equitable one is one that should appeal to all Liberal Democrats – it's very in keeping with the vision in the preamble of "no one shall be ...
[IMG: Three types of homemade facemasks or face coverings] *** Parking restrictions are now being enforced again*** From 15 June - next Monday - you will need a face covering to use buses or trains. Here are a couple of links to guides on how to make them, whether you make a 1 layer basic or a 3 layer one. It also has links to where to buy them. But rather than using those sources to buy there are a number of residents in Yate who have been making and selling
The BBC has the article on its website – see link below:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52932611 I have thought for many a year that some people recruited to police our laws are fundamentally unsuited for such sensitive jobs. And I'm talking here about what is probably a world-wide problem across most if not all democracies. Militaristic organisations like policing will always tend to attract people who enjoy being controlling, authoritarian, in charge, able to enforce etc. etc. but often of course some of them are actually the very last people a society would want in such sensitive jobs. Yes police forces across most ...
In a democracy, even an imperfect one, there can be no justification for the toppling of statues or for violent protest, but that does not preclude us from trying to understand the reasoning and the motives behind such actions, nor should it prevent us stopping to think what can be done differently to accommodate legitimate grievances. Those politicians and commentators who have dismissed the toppling of Edward Colston's statue into the river in Bristol as mindless vandalism, should reflect as well, on why protestors felt they had to take the matter into their own hands after years of fruitless debate ...
This is the time of year when FPC meetings normally come thick and fast, as we finalise several policy papers to propose at autumn conference. This year of course we aren't doing that, both because of the current crisis and also because during the autumn when key work on developing them would normally have been under way, attention was also elsewhere. However we are still meeting very regularly as planned, because we have another significant project of a different kind up our sleeves. We expect the policy challenges facing us all in the wake of the virus to be very ...
Lib Dems to use emergency debate to warn Rees-Mogg is threatening public health Covid-19 has exposed politics as not fit for purpose, Lib Dems warn Lib Dems to use emergency debate to warn Rees-Mogg is threatening public health The Liberal Democrats will today use an emergency debate in Parliament to warn Jacob Rees-Mogg that if an MP falls ill to COVID-19 or there is a spike in cases because of travel to and from London then he must take personal responsibility and resign. The debate, secured by Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael MP, was agreed following alarm at Business ...
This is a guest post from Bus Users Shropshire (BUS). It proposes rejuvenating our town's park and ride service. BUS says allowing more access for the car has been eroding the core attraction of Ludlow town centre for years, diminishing the appeal of walking around amid historic buildings and browsing in small shops. The group says there has been a lack of maintenance of the park and ride. Marketing of the service has lapsed. I might add with the proposed closure of King Street and High Street during the middle of the day at peak periods, the park and ride ...
2 big stories Black Lives Matter. A simple statement that probably ought not to be necessary, but is. The demonstrations in our bigger towns and cities will have drawn most of the coverage, but the picture is from that well-known radical heartland of Bury St Edmunds, where a demonstration took place yesterday afternoon. Perhaps it is a sign of promise that, even in a community like this, where the non-white population is small, hundreds of people felt moved to express their anger at the injustice of a society which treats black people in the way that George Floyd was treated. ...
The pink hawthorn is always the last to flower and very grateful to the West End resident who sent me this!
The Liberal Democrats will today use an emergency debate in Parliament to warn Jacob Rees-Mogg that if an MP falls ill to COVID-19 or there is a spike in cases because of travel to and from London then he must take personal responsibility and resign.The debate, secured by Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael MP, was agreed following alarm at Business Secretary Alok Sharma becoming unwell with COVID-19 symptoms in Parliament last week.The Orkney and Shetland MP believes Mr Sharma's condition "should be a wakeup call for the Government" and makes clear that forcing physical proceedings "exposes MPs, our families ...
