Govt must act now to reassure public they are managing Leicester outbreak PM must ensure Civil Service is not hollowed out after Sedwill's departure Govt must act now to reassure public they are managing Leicester outbreak Responding to news that the Home Secretary has confirmed the city of Leicester may face a localised lockdown following a rise in coronavirus cases, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Munira Wilson said: The Government must act now to reassure people in the Leicester area that they are managing this serious outbreak. Ministers must urgently examine the data and act immediately ...
Sun 28th
23:22
Should we publish daily totals of the number of nominations Lib Dem leadership candidates have amass...
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat do the Liberal Democrats need from the current leadership election? I'd say it's, above all, a good debate about the future of the party between candidates who offer clear and contrasting visions for it. We also need to see how those candidates perform in debate and when faced with difficult questions. Well, we have two candidates with contrasting visions, but will we have the debate? At present the party is encouraging people to nominate one of the candidates by publishing running totals every afternoon. So, of course, the two camps are doing all they can to ...
Many party figures have been paying tribute to Diana Maddock, the much loved Lib Dem Peer who died yesterday. One of the highlights of her career was winning the Christchurch by-election in 1993, overturning a 23000 Tory majority with a 35% swing. Her agent in that campaign was a 25 year old Scot by the name of Willie Rennie. Now leader of the Scottish Party, and a famous by-election winner himself, he wrote a warm tribute to Diana on his Facebook page. I first met Diana Maddock when I was asked to be the agent for the Christchurch By Election ...
The judges were unanimous: today's Headline of the Day Award goes to The Argus. In addition, they are well aware that the Great Central went nowhere near Ardingly, but they liked this photo.
We must get used to living with coronavirus. The virus is still in widespread circulation in the community. A vaccine is still quite possibly 1-2 years away even on relatively optimistic scenarios. Normality is not about to return, especially for the very large number of people in high-risk groups. In other words, we must get used to living with coronavirus. But we also mustn't get used to living with coronavirus. Friday's news that "only" 44 people had died a day on average in hospitals from coronavirus in the previous week showed how quickly we've become acclimatised to coronavirus deaths. Even ...
Sun 28th
18:07
Planners give go ahead to massive care home on listed historic park right by listed building in Y at...
On Thurs 25 S Glos planners gave the green light to a massive 3 storey nursing home occupying the historic gardens of the Grade II Rockwood House. Residents and the town council objected strongly. They were denied the right to speak at the meeting and only allowed to put in written comments - because whilst other councils have managed to retain the right to speak at on line meetings, S Glos still insists it is too difficult. Worse, although they broadcast the meeting live, the live broadcast failed during the meeting, so effectively for part of the meeting the councillors ...
A huge gap has opened up in the TV schedules for this summer, because of the cancellation of so many major sporting events. And the biggest of them all will be when the Olympics and Paralympics would have taken place. I hear they are planning to replay much of the action from 2012, and I am looking forward to watching Mo Farah, Bradley Wiggins, Ellie Simmonds, David Weir, Jessica Ennis, Laura Trott, Andy Murray, Nicola Adams and many other heroes relive their moments of glory, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Great Britain won 65 medals in the ...
She's done approaching 100,000 miles now. But I guess it's the quality of the miles that's important here, rather than the quantity Continue reading →
Second paragraph of third chapter:During my grandmother Edwina's childhood, the family used it primarily as a shooting lodge. It was lit by candles and oil lamps and had just one bath. Water from a well was carried a quarter of a mile uphill by donkey. The sandy beaches on which the children played rolled into dunes and fields. Seal colonies lived nearby and birdlife abounded. The Gaelic language and culture were still strong, relative informality was the norm, and the tempo of life was gentle.This is quite a gruelling read. In August 1979, 14-year-old Timothy Knatchbull was seriously injured when ...
At a time when Black Lives Matter demonstrations are happening round the globe, including in British cities, it is useful to be reminded that the civil rights movement in the United States was at its zenith more than half a century ago. Laws were changed, segregation ended and voter registration for African Americans facilitated. Yet [...]
Note the little puff of steam from the train running along what is now the London Overground train line through Crouch Hill station.
A woman singer-songwriter who has enjoyed a 40-year career? That's unusual. A Black British woman singer-songwriter who has enjoyed a 40-year career? That must be unique. Joan Armatrading is one of those artists who has been there for as long as I have been interested in music. And for that reason it is easy to forget what an unusual career she has had.I stand by what I wrote when I chose her Willow, except that she has now enjoyed a 50-year career. Me Myself I was a single taker from her 1980 LP of the same name.
Plans by government ministers, announced in March, to phase out mass badger culls to replace then with wildlife vaccines appear to have fallen through a massive popularist hole as the Independent reports that projects to trap and shoot the animals have been extended across England. (Health warning: don't watch the video on the second link). The paper says that another 100,000 badgers could be killed by the end of the year as the government prepares to broaden culling from Cornwall to Cumbria. That would add to the estimated 100,000 already killed since 2013, in a failed and misguided effort to ...
Mary wrote yesterday about her lifetime as an LGBT ally. She mentioned the virtual Prides that were taking place at the moment. I went to the Scottish Lib Dems virtual Pride event last Sunday, which was run by LGBT+ Lib Dems and Scottish Lib Dem Women. It was a marathon, but well worth every second. The day started with a rally with speeches by Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and Wendy Chamberlain MP. It ended almost 12 hours later with a Eurovision watch along of the 2014 event, won by Conchita Wurst. I had forgotten so many of the delights of that ...
Sat, 12:56: RT @greg_jenner: Yes https://t.co/p2LAu8mJj1 Sat, 12:56: RT @LibDemLords: We are so very sad to tell you that our dear friend and colleague Diana Maddock has died. She will be tremendously missed... Sat, 14:42: RT @ClareChoir: With the help of @ClareChoir and 200+ @ClareCollege musical alumni, conductor @MrGrahamRoss assembled something special for... Sat, 15:40: The Ghost of Lily Painter by Caitlin Davies https://t.co/l6EWKZRQAq Sat, 19:22: RT @ConchurDowds: Education • Norma Foley (FF) Public Expenditure • Michael McGrath (FF) Finance • Paschal Donohoe (FG) Justice • Hel... Sun, 08:27: RT @lowflyingrocks: 2020 ME1, 15m-33m in diameter, just passed the Earth ...
Map of the Borough of West Lancashire. Jim Hancock has the posting on his blog site – see link below:- jimhancock.co.uk/big-changes-for-lancashire/ Jim, as ever, has an interesting and informative take on the long running saga about how Lancashire will be run in the future. It is to put it bluntly a dogs breakfast of a local governmental mess presently as I guess most will agree. Trouble is there's been no consensus to agree how to sort out the mess which pre-dates John Prescot's attempt resolve it as Deputy Prime Minister many years ago. Those with long memories will recall he ...
I joined the party in 2014, and resigned my membership just over a month ago. I didn't leave because of any ideological difference with the party's direction per se but because I have lost faith that the party is capable of winning and putting our values in to practice. In the second half of 2019, I thought our watershed moment had arrived when the party had managed to surge in the EU elections, and attract a raft of exceptionally talented and likeable MPs from the other two parties. Like we had seen in Canada in 2015, and France in 2017, ...
From Dundee City Council : From Monday, 29 June 2020, the commercial and supported bus network in Dundee will begin to return to something close to its pre-Covid levels. Xplore Dundee and Stagecoach are proposing to operate around 80% to 85% of their registered journeys. For the last three months around 30% of journeys have been operated. To allow this to happen, there has been a deal negotiated between the Scottish Government and the bus industry and Transport Scotland has agreed to meet shortfalls in passenger revenue. Full details can be found on operators' websites. In Dundee, the two supported ...
Birmingham based Fintech, Cirrostratus Exedra, claims its Open Banking Treasury Management Software is a defence for senior directors against fraud such as Wirecard or Patisserie Valerie.Cirrostratus Exedra through its Vat Direct website gives senior directors the ability to see the balances on all of their bank accounts up to the minute whatever bank they bank with. CEO John Hemming said,
