Govt must act swiftly in face of new law to uphold promises to Hong Kong UK economy will need a Green Recovery Plan to recover Johnson's speech offers no green recovery plan and no help for vulnerable people Tories' Immigration Bill will deal enormous blow to NHS and British business Govt must act swiftly in face of new law to uphold promises to Hong Kong Responding to reports that China has passed a sweeping national security law giving it new powers over Hong Kong, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson and Chair of the APPG on Hong Kong Alistair Carmichael said: ...
Calder's Sixth Law of Politics holds that all Lib Dem leadership elections are reruns of the Liberal Party leadership conetest between David Steel and John Pardoe in 1976 As I once blogged:You could argue that the 1976 contest set a pattern for later Liberal and Liberal Democrat leadership elections. One candidate (Steel) was orthodox, sensible and just a little dull. The other (Pardoe) was more charismatic, more open to new ideas and just a little unreliable in his judgement. So in later contests Paddy Ashdown was a Pardoe and Alan Beith was a Steel. And Chris Huhne was a Pardoe ...
This video tells the story of British Rail's class 44, 45 and 46 diesel locomotives. The 45s looked after passenger services on the Midland main line in the years when there was a real possibility that St Pancras would be demolished and the video tell that story too.
Sir Dadabhai Naoroji, Liberal MP for Finsbury Central between 1892 and 1895, was the first Indian and non-white person elected to the House of Commons. Now Haringey's Liberal Democrat councillors are calling for a park, school or main road in Muswell Hill to be renamed in his honour or for a statue or plaque to be erected to commemorate him. Cllr Julia Ogiehor, Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill, says:"By remembering that Victorian voters were willing to choose an Indian campaigner against the Empire as their MP, we are remembering that whilst racism has a long history, so too does ...
Non-fiction: 6 (YTD 32) The Beiderbecke Affair, by William Gallagher The Queen's Agent: Sir Francis Walsingham and the Rise of Espionage in Elizabethan England, by John Cooper The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within, by Stephen Fry Modern China: A Very Short Introduction, by Rana Mitter From A Clear Blue Sky, by Timothy Knatchbull The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, by John Bolton Fiction (non-sf): 3 (YTD 15) Local Hero, by David Benedictus The Ghost of Lily Painter by Caitlin Davies Laatste schooldag, by Jan Siebelink (did not finish) sf (non-Who): 5 (YTD 70) The Sleeper ...
This is my last regular diary entry, although I may drop in occasional extra posts when things change for us. I have written every single day since 16th March when we went into voluntary self-isolation to protect my husband. The rest of the country joined us in lockdown a week later. Shielding will continue until the end of July at least, so my life is still going to be considerably more restricted than most people as lockdown is eased. From next Monday persons who are shielded like my husband no longer have to socially distance themselves from other members of ...
On the 23rd June was the monthly meeting of Bury Planning Control Committee. This is the meeting made up of the 11 Councillors who represent the various wards of the borough of Bury. The committee determines planning applications for certain major developments and others where objections have been received. Councillor Cristina Tegolo reports: Bury Planning Control Committee met remotely and the meeting was live streamed. In response to the emergency Government instructions on Covid-19. Due to the Government's social-distancing guidelines no site visit took place. At the Planning Control Committee meeting none of the submitted applications were refused but I ...
Many of our great local shops and businesses have been able to re-open recently, and many more (pubs and restaurants) can open from this weekend. Covid 19 has hit most businesses very hard, so we would like your views on how we can help our local businesses survive and thrive in the future. This survey is both for small business owners themselves, and local residents who are interested in supporting local traders.
Lost your membership card? Damaged it when making it double up as a cake knife? Got it stuck in a machine when you confused it with a train ticket?
Please see below details of the most significant roadworks scheduled for the Prestwich area in July 2020. For the full list see the GM Roadworks site here. Bury New Road (near Woodhill Drive) lane closures, and Woodhill Drive / Overbook Drive (road closures) 14 July – 8 August 2020 (Cadent Gas). Bury Old Road (junction of Albert Avenue) 2 way signals 29 July – 1 July 2020 (Vodaphone)Middleton Road (near Bowker Vale tram) 2 way signals 13-27 July 2020 (Electricity North West)Middleton Road (near Sheepfoot Lane) 2 was signals 6 July 2020 (T4GM)Agecroft Road (at the bottom of Rainsough Brow) ...
Tue 30th
14:20
The Independent View: Can a more balanced regional investment in the Civil Service improve democracy...
With the UK's most senior civil servant stepping down and a radical shake up of the Civil Service planned by the government, I would like to take a look at what more could be done to enhance democracy across every region of the UK. Civil servants are located around the country, but as expected, the civil service is London-centric. 20% of the civil service workforce is based in London (the most of any region), with 67% of the most senior positions in the country located in the capital. However, other regions in the UK could benefit from a more even ...
The remaining Household Waste Recycling Centres (e.g. Every St in Bury and Cobden St in Salford) are now open 7 days a week. Greater Manchester Waste are still asking people to only visit if it is essential. All recycling containers will now be available apart from the textile banks as the reprocessor is still not accepting textiles. Apparently this is a UK wide issue. The No Van policy has been lifted so residents can visit the recycling centres in a van (if it's less than 2 metres high), however the restriction on trailers will remain. They will be reminding traders ...
Bury urgently needs more foster carers to come forward after the number of people looking to become foster parents in the borough plummeted by nearly two-thirds during the Coronavirus pandemic. Figures from Bury Council's fostering service Foster with Bury show that from 1 March to 31 May this year it had 53 enquiries from people wanting to be foster carers, compared to 138 in the same period in 2019 – a 62 per cent year-on-year decline. The plunge in potential foster carers appears to have been replicated nationwide after a leading children's charity Barnardo's also released figures showing its enquiries ...
PLAY AREA & PAVILION GET GO AHEAD DESPITE STRONG OBJECTION Never mind the fact that adjoining residents are opposed. Never mind that every single local councillor in this town is against it.Never mind it is not the strategic Master Plan for the new development, what developers want they get. Yesterday South Glos Planning Committee granted consent for developers to put a major play area, including aerial ropeway and a 'pavilion' without doors, or windows and a flat roof right behind existing houses in Meadow Mead, Brimsham Park. Nobody would have minded the small equipment for young children originally in the ...
On Sunday 28 June at 1400 BST, a time chosen to suit a global audience, LibDems Overseas (LDO), a g(local) party, co-hosted our first webinar with the Paddy Ashdown Forum, the centrist think tank supported by the European Liberal Forum. Participants who joined via Zoom were largely drawn from LDO's 1000 members and supporters living in over 40 countries outside Europe. The event was moderated by LDO Chair, George Cunningham. Covid19 has been called a "game changer", knocking all countries sideways economically and in the sphere of public health. It has also awoken the world to the rise of China, ...
Is Johnson seeking to create a more presidential British political system?
Mon, 12:56: Programme for Government #PfG is (not very strangely) silent on this. No real interest from political parties in ex... https://t.co/YYW2RMJr8H Mon, 17:52: RT @LEJ88: The French far-right lost almost half their local representation yesterday, falling from 1,438 seats on 463 municipalities to 84... Mon, 18:10: January 2007 books https://t.co/TVEeaVCfXB Mon, 18:29: RT @bbcdoctorwho: A very happy birthday to Maureen O'Brien, who played the First Doctor's friend Vicki! 🐜🧛♂️💫 #DoctorWho https://t.co/8afv... Mon, 20:46: RT @EU2020HR: #EU2020HR steered the EU ship through rough waters in the first half of this year. Today, our captain @IrenaAndrassy handed o... Tue, 10:08: RT ...
Welcome to Cllr Neville Taylor, who has decided to join the Liberal Democrats in East Hampshire.
Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms all allow you to create Live videos. The time people spend watching Facebook Live videos has quadrupled in the past year and generate more engagement than pre-recorded videos. Around one in five videos on Facebook is a Live video and across all social media channels Live video is expected to grow 15-fold by 2022, making up around 17% of all internet traffic. So how do you incorporate live streams into your social media campaign? Vikki Slade, Leader of BCP Council and Liberal Democrat Councillor for Broadstone Ward, is not only a ...
Responding to reports that China has passed a sweeping national security law giving it new powers over Hong Kong, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong Alistair Carmichael said: "This new law crushes what was left of the 'one country, two systems' framework. It destroys Hong Kong as we know it. "The UK government must now act swiftly to uphold the promises we made during the Handover."The people of Hong Kong must immediately be given the right to live in the UK, with a pathway to citizenship. It is not good enough ...
Responding to news that the Government will establish a new Trade and Agriculture Commission, Liberal Democrat Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson Tim Farron said:"On the face of it this is a very welcome concession from the Government and is thanks to the brilliant campaign run by the NFU that we've been proud to support."However, the announcement contained no details about how this new commission will operate or how Parliament will be able to properly scrutinise any new trade deal and the effect it will have on our world-class food, animal welfare and environmental standards. "This new body must be a ...
Responding to the Government's statement on prisons yesterday, including the announcement that four new prisons are to be built in the next six years, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:"The answer to the prisons crisis is not more prisons. Instead of wasting even more money locking people up, mostly on short sentences that don't work, the Government should spend it on the things that actually prevent crime."It's two years since the Government promised to set up five women's community residential centres, but we still haven't seen one. That should be the priority, not more prisons."The Conservatives are continuing their ...
I am currently reading Hannah Fry's book, 'Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine' about the way that our lives are increasingly being dictated (and improved) by algorithms. I recommend it, the book is truly eye-opening. But as with all these advances, there is a downside as well, and the only way to combat that is through complete transparency. The Independent reports on one aspect of our lives where full transparency is crucial of we are to avoid the sort of manipulation and misinformation that has been the dominant feature of recent referendums and elections. ...
The Young Liberals are delighted to finally announce the dates and preliminary agenda for our Online Conference, which will take place between Sunday 19th and Sunday 26th July. We've had over 150 people pre-register and near 40 submissions, making this by far the largest conference we will ever have held! The conference will be totally free for Young Liberals members, including those between 26-30 who have opted in (which you can do here). This is a really exciting opportunity for policy debates, socialising with other Young Liberals and some great speakers. You can sign up to Conference here! There are ...
Further update - for Tuesday 30th June - from Councillor Fraser Macpherson (West End) and Councillor Craig Duncan (Broughty Ferry) : FURTHER RELEASE OF LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONSThere is to be further easing of the lockdown. These changes are dependent on the continued suppression of the virus. From Thursday 2nd July• Subject to the go ahead of from advisors we may see relaxation of 2 metre physical distancing- based on scientific recommendations. This may see facemasks made mandatory in shops from that date. From Friday 3rd July• You can travel for more than five miles for leisure and recreation purposes.• Self-contained holiday ...
There are two meetings at BTC scheduled for July. Both will be held over Zoom, and will be afternoon meetings. I have twice tried to join Zoom meetings but have been unable to do so - probably my error somewhere but if you want to watch the meeting you'll need to make sure your Zoom program is installed correctly. Governance Committee Tuesday 7th July 2 pm Full Council Thursday 23rd July 4pm There are no meetings scheduled for August
