Cross-party group urge Govt to "right the wrong" done to Chagos Islanders and respect the ICJ Debt response must be green recovery plan Govt must do more to tackle disproportionate BAME Covid-19 deaths Sir Simon McDonald's premature departure raises serious questions Challenge is for Govt, not teachers Cross-party group urge Govt to "right the wrong" done to Chagos Islanders and respect the ICJ The Liberal Democrats are leading cross-party calls for the Government to adhere to United Nations' calls for the Chagos islands to be returned to Mauritian control and come good on the promise of a £40m package of ...
It had a script by Denis Norden and a remarkable cast - in this brief clip you see George Sanders with John Cleese and David Hemmings with Willie Rushton - but the critics were not kind to The Best House in London, Roger Ebert gave it one star. According to Hemmings' memoirs he offered to play both lead roles so he could cross two films off his contractual obligation to MGM. Anyway, this clip is fun, not least because of those unexpected juxtapositions. It may be worth pointing out that The Best House in London appeared the year after Carry ...
Yesterday evening I proudly launched Build Back Better, a new 128-page booklet exploring progressive policy ideas for Liberal Democrats in the post-coronavirus world. With contributions from a diverse range of over forty party supporters and councillors, Peter Frankopan, former MPs Lynne Featherstone, Martin Horwood, David Howarth and Julian Huppert, and former Party Leader Vince Cable - I hope this booklet will start discussions in and outside of our Party, and help us answer that deceptively simple question: 'What are we for?' Defining what we're for is vital to winning back support. Having listened to members and voters, I also believe ...
Fri 19th
19:11
Shropshire Council publishes order to close King Street to vehicles on Friday and Saturday 10am to 3...
Today, Shropshire Council published the orders to close King Street during the middle of the day on Fridays and Saturdays. The closure will come into force next Friday, 26 June. There has been a lot of debate and confusion about this road closure. Many people want King Street with its "narrows" closed at peak periods seven days a week (see my poll). Others did not want it closed at any point, especially owners of town centre businesses. Ludlow Town Council wanted High Street closed as well. Then Shropshire Council unexpectedly decided to close King Street seven days a week. After ...
Barge at Green Lane (Methodist Turn Bridge), Maghull Quite some years ago (I can't recall just when) whilst I was living in Liverpool Road North Maghull I got a call to tell me that someone had stretched wire across the Green Lane canal swing bridge. An unbelievable act of stupidity but fortunately it was spotted before a pedestrian, cyclist or vehicle encountered it unawares. My recollection is that it did make the local press though (and the Police were involved) so if anyone has more detail I would be interested to see it. I guess it was 1980's/1990's. And what ...
Each year every tourism business has to complete a tax return, to allow HMRC know how much profit it has made, and how much tax is due. With COVID, we know that the back end of the tax year 2019-2020 March was virtually a write off, and since the beginning of the 2020-2021 tax year, trade has almost been non-existent. Since COVID the UK Government has generously seen fit to support British businesses by furloughing staff at a rate of 80% of their gross pay. Although wage costs are a vast amount of the tourism trade's costs, the premises costs ...
Jacob Rees-Mogg famously described the huge support shown to food banks as "rather uplifting" and evidence of "what a compassionate country we are". It's a claim that has haunted him ever since, with no end of social media memes using the quote (or, at least, the word "uplifting") to show how out of touch with reality he is. It's easy to ridicule Jacob Rees-Mogg, of course. But there are two observations that I'd to make in relation to what he said three years ago. The first is that he never claimed food banks themselves were "uplifting"; he was referring only ...
Fri 19th
17:56
Who was both oldest former US President and oldest former Vice-President, but not at the same time?
Last week I posed a wee question on social media: Who was both the oldest former President of the United States, and the oldest former Vice-President, but not at the same time? Lots of people scratched their heads over this, which was gratifying, and the answer is admittedly a bit obscure. Below is the full list of people who were the oldest former President of the United States, and the oldest former Vice-President, at all times since the terms of the first holders of both offices ended on 4 March 1797. I have put in bold the cases where a ...
"It's good to see people in the Liberal Democrats actually wanting to have discussions about ideas and approaches to politics and acknowledging that we need to have this sort of debate." Nick Barlow offers his first thoughts on Build Back Better. James Gilmour calls for the reunification of the Social Democratic and Liberal traditions in British politics. Mary Reid has been thinking about the way she was taught history: "I was denied any understanding of the importance of prime sources, or of historical method, and I didn't appreciate that records were always created by the literate elite." "The most radical ...
On 1st June people in England who were shielding, like us, were told they could go out for a walk once a day for exercise, but not to the shops. If they lived alone then they could meet one other person outside, but still socially distancing. Were we excited about our new little bit of freedom? At the time I debated whether I should go out, and did go for a short walk. But I haven't been out since, apart from going to the dentist and taking my husband for a medical appointment. I have to explain that I am ...
In early March, as the devastating extent of the Covid-19 crisis was becoming clear, I sat on a call with government ministers and local authority leaders in York and North Yorkshire. The message delivered time and time again couldn't have been clearer: do whatever it takes to support your communities through this pandemic and we will cover the cost. Three months later, we find that the government is backtracking on this central commitment, with potentially devastating impacts for local government. City of York Council, like many local authorities up and down the country, has acted swiftly to support residents and ...
Looking at Layla Moran’s “Build Back Better” collection of writings on post-Coronavirus futures for the Liberal Democrats.
Fri 19th
14:38
Right the wrong done to Chagos Islanders and respect international justice court ruling
The Liberal Democrats are leading cross-party calls for the Government to adhere to United Nations' calls for the Chagos islands to be returned to Mauritian control and come good on the promise of a £40m package of support for the Chagossian community. Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael, who has secured the support of 29 other MPs from across the political spectrum, criticised the Government's "arrogant" rejection of the International Court of Justice's ruling on Chagos and warned it is jeopardising the UK's credibility on a world stage. The intervention comes after the UK Government issued a response to ...
Responding to news that public debt has risen to over 100% this month, the first time since 1963, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: "This level of public debt hasn't been seen in generations, but nor have we experienced such a devastating pandemic that has demanded such necessary spending. "Many families will rightly worry what comes next. The Conservatives must not slash and burn our public services in response - that would harm our society and harm prospects of growing our economy out of this debt. "The best response to this debt is a massive green recovery ...
Responding to reports Sir Simon McDonald - permanent secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office - is set to retire early after the Prime Minister indicated he wanted someone new after the merger with the Department for International Development, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:"Sir Simon McDonald's premature departure from the FCO will raise many questions."McDonald has been a constant voice of reason and his absence will be noticed at a time when the Government appear intent on undermining the UK's position on the world stage."The Government's bully boy approach to the civil service is dangerous and ...
Meadow Mead play areaBack at the last planning meeting at S Glos before lock down, because a couple of Tory councillors didn't show up or send subs, the Planning Committee was able to back residents and throw out plans for a play area, including aerial walkway and pavilion right behind houses in Meadow Mead. Residents understandably want the play area moved into the park, which is yards away - and don't want the 'pavilion which will become a teen shelter. Local councillors backed residents and persuaded the planning committee at S Glos to back them.But now the Tories at S ...
The last few weeks have probably resulted in people having uncomfortable conversations with friends or family because of the issues surrounding Black Lives Matter. I should add I'm no expert and I have been learning too, but I did expect better from elected officials representing the Party to show empathy and clarity with their communications. Earlier this month, Katharine Macy, the Accessibility, Diversity and Standards Officer for the Young Liberals, scheduled a call to discuss diversity. Meraj Khan, the BAME representative on the diversity committee, Pushkin Defyer, the BAME Officer on Young Liberals Executive and I, as the Vice Chair ...
I confess that when lockdown began I was like many feeling pretty low. I had been planning to get more involved in political activities as the year progressed and that looked like it was going to have to be put on hold for some weeks. My favourite sports were cancelled and the library was closed! So I watched the news, went for my daily walk and hunted for home food delivery slots on supermarket websites. My village set up a helpline for vulnerable people which I volunteered to help with and that has been a very rewarding experience. Then I ...
The Conservative MP for Yeovil, Marcus Fysh, has been found to made multiple breaches of Parliamentary rules over his business interests. He's also been criticised by a cross-party panel of MPs for his failure to cooperate properly with the inquiry. The House of Commons Committee on Standards found that: MPs are required to register interests in accordance with their Code of Conduct and the Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members. They must record any change to their registrable interests within 28 days. The Commissioner found that Mr Fysh acted in breach of paragraph 14 of the ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @ashleybsumerel: I know masks aren't exactly comfortable, but neither are bras, and a good portion of the population wears those regular... Thu, 13:08: RT @OmniumIntl: 👥#DigitalTalk next Monday 22nd June at 4pm (CET) 🇪🇺 'Will a fractured EU survive the challenges of COVID-19?' We will try... Thu, 16:05: World Dream Bank: Planetocopia https://t.co/ap3yckXK65 A brilliant selection of alternate Earths. Thu, 18:25: Thursday reading https://t.co/6xggiZN9f0 Thu, 18:48: Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist - Goodreads/LibraryThing stats https://t.co/cSJINSRVnZ Thu, 19:44: RT @Glasgowin2024: In the last few months we have seen extraordinary changes in the world around us. However, further change ...
As we face another change of leadership this summer, we must confront the crisis in our identity with Liberalism. We must also admit the peculiarity of a Liberal Parliamentary party and that Liberalism is not an ideology that can be used to confront the Labour Party, the Conservatives, or the SNP. The crucial thing here is that this is an advantage, not a disadvantage. Liberalism transcends ideology and we must use this to bridge partisan politics. Once we have (and I believe we now have) recognised that Liberalism cannot be used in a primarily adversary manner we can move forward ...
The Independent reports on concerns by Greener UK, a coalition of 13 major environmental organisations, that enforcement around air pollution targets and chemical regulations could be undermined after the UK diverges from the European Union's standards as of 31 December: The government has said it wants to see high environmental standards and regulations in place under UK laws such as the Environment Bill, Agriculture Bill and Fisheries Bill, which are being put in place to replace the former EU legislation. However, there is still the prospect of US trade deals undercutting animal welfare and environmental standards in imported food, and ...
Govt must guarantee schools' funding boost isn't at expense of anything else Responding to news that the Government has announced plans, including a tutoring scheme, to help pupils catch up on lost learning as a result of school closures during the COVID-19 crisis, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Layla Moran said: These initiatives need to form part of a wider national plan agreed with teachers, experts, unions and others. The plan must be flexible and work for school leaders' circumstances on the ground. Top-down initiatives with funding tied to them won't make a big enough difference if schools are unable to ...
We are experiencing the eye of the storm in terms of the culture war in this country at the moment. At least I hope we are – please tell me it doesn't get worse from here somehow. Remainers like to say that Brexit caused this; that it was the vote to Leave the European Union that caused this division to explode into the open and become so poisonous. They are technically correct, yet Remainers fail to see the part they played in making that happen – or why that ultimately worked against what they wanted, which was either to somehow ...
You can't say that the leadership contest is light on ideas this time. Layla's "Build Back Better", Ed's Green Investment Plan, and Wera calling for a progressive alliance, members really can't say that they're not being offered distinctive choices. I'll be honest, I probably won't make up my mind until late on in the contest, but I suspect that there will be quite a few voters who will do the same. It's all to play for... Meanwhile, Labour Together have published their review of the Party's General Election campaign, and it isn't a comfortable read. Whilst pinning much of the ...
Fri 19th
07:17Sandpits Road closed from 13 July 2020 to February 2021 for utility and safety works - New Road is o...
We have been expecting this work for a while. There has long been a problem with flooding of properties at Whitefriars off Sandpits Road. However, to allow sewers to realigned and their capacity increased, other utilities need to be moved - electricity, gas, telecoms and water. That's a big task, hence the length of the closure - up to nine months. Severn Trent Water (STW) will also upgrade the sewers on New Road during the same contract. Pedestrian access is unaffected. Access to the school and homes will be maintained, including for emergency services. As part of the works, STW ...
The Dundee Energy Efficiency Advice Project has a new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/deeapdundee offering free energy advice and assistance to Dundee residents. It is an excellent resource and the team can be contacted on Dundee 434840 (option 3) :
