Do you want to have your say on the future of the Liberal Democrats once our new leader is elected? I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. As you can see from this list of the 10 most recent, I am happy to publish posts on subjects far beyond the Lib Dems and politics. If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. Why am I a Liberal Democrat - Simon BeardHow the Revoke policy harmed Lib Dem chances - Michael MullaneyUnionism is making the Scottish ...
Things are even worse than you thought. Today's Mirror reports: Cash-strapped jails are facing a new crisis - people breaking in. In one case, a 13-year-old boy strolled into an open prison to deliver drugs. Unions say security is so lax at other low-category sites that criminals drop off takeaway food to pals still inside. The Prison Officers Association said Tory cuts had left some Category D jails with just three guards over night. The incidents came to light after one prisoner was battered by intruders at HMP Spring Hill, in Aylesbury, Bucks. The report quotes Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat ...
Sat 22nd
19:24
Should we reverse traffic flow in Ludlow town centre? To me it makes a lot of sense but it is a big ...
The enforced closure of King Street seven days a week has brought a stronger focus on traffic management in the town centre. Measures have been put in place to ease some of the short term impacts from displaced traffic, which has been made worse by the continued overnight closure of the A49. I hope we can agree the date for King Street reopening in the next few days. But what do we do in the long term? The Buttercross and Bodenhams are bashed up with depressing regularity. The damage to the Buttercross in this incident has been significant. We need ...
Residents in Wembley Gardens and Gateford Close held a really useful open air meeting yesterday evening to discuss the new proposed plans for the Bramcote Hills Golf Course. Nearly 50 people were in attendance and it was my privilege to attend as the ward councillor. Residents had the opportunity to look at the plans and ask questions. I will convey the views expressed to the council officers dealing with the application.
We didn't publish the full stats for the 1945 Retro Hugo categories that weren't put to the final ballot this year, mainly because voting ended only seven days before the Retro ceremony and we had to prioritise fairly ruthlessly. But after internal discussion, we are publishing them here. There is only one category that is remotely controversial (and there of course the voters delivered karma to us anyway by delivering a tie in the other category closely related to that one). There were two categories where we allowed the final ballot to proceed with one finalist who had received only ...
Last year, I participated in an experiment. After more than a year of solid campaigning in anticipation of a general election, I stood aside in favour of a formal electoral alliance of different parties devised in order to maximise their number of seats and try to stop Brexit. Whilst the success and tactical merits of the Unite to Remain alliance can be debated at length, it at least saw parties band together in common purpose and try to play the first-past-the-post system against itself. This controversial proposal was consistently met by claims from anti-reform politicians, including the Labour MP in ...
"For an innovative, democratic, liberal party caring about human rights and income security for all, and for thereby securing the future of our movement, Layla is the leader we need right now." James Baillie on why he has voted for Layla Moran to be the next Liberal Democrat leader. John Cassidy offers a brief history of MAGA money grubbing from Paul Manafort to Steve Bannon. Julie Harding looks at the real-life experience of animals that led George Orwell to write Animal Farm. "As they stood in the winter chill, preparing to begin their bloody work, the troops cannot have known ...
Responding to news that the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU "seems unlikely", Liberal Democrat Brexit and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: "We were told that this would be the easiest negotiation ever but, yet again, the Brexit reality is very different from the rhetoric. "Millions of people are looking to the future with dread. With no end in sight to the COVID crisis and the worst economic forecasts for a century or more, the disruption of a no deal Brexit threatens to push the UK into total ...
The Liberal Democrats have revealed the cost of the National Food Crime Unit, vital in making sure food sold in the UK is safe, has seen costs soar by more than 1000% in the past five years as a direct result of Brexit.Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron warned the cost of Brexit is "increasingly clear" and urged Ministers to uphold high food safety standards and prevent the UK being "flooded with cheap imports that put our health at risk." Figures uncovered by a Liberal Democrat freedom of information request have revealed the NFCU budget has gone from a budget of ...
Sat 22nd
16:01Bromfield to get mobile post office on Thursdays after current post office closes at the end of mont...
Bromfield Post Office is to close at the end of the month. Thanks to the hard work of the Bromfield parish council clerk, it will be replaced by a temporary mobile service on Thursday mornings. This will also be on the Food Centre site. This is good news for Bromfield and those that travel from surrounding parishes to use the popular post office. The post office will be open on Thursdays only, between 10am and 12pm midday. From the Post Office: "I'm writing to you to advise you of a temporary service we will be introducing following the closure of ...
The latest JL Partners poll includes a batch of questions looking at the overall reputation of the main British political parties.
A Boy and His Dog won the 1976 Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, beating Dark Star, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Rollerball and The Capture (a fannish slide show about aliens capturing a cruise ship). I must say I can't quite believe this; I have seen the first two of these and they are way better, and my skimming of Rollerball a couple of years back looked more promising also. I guess Harlan Ellison was being rewarded for his popularity in the fannish community of the day. (Other Hugos that year went to The Forever War, "Home is the ...
I've commented on this very significant urban transport debacle many times before but the other day I came across an article published in June 2008 in an international magazine called Tramways & Urban Transit. Yes I know, railway/tramway enthusiast niche issue........ The article covered the ever more desperate attempts to breath new life into a project which had been all but killed off by the then Transport Secretary Alistair Darling back in 2005 when he withheld £170m of government funding. Quoted in the article was former Labour MP (for Liverpool Riverside) Louise Ellman who said the project had failed because ...
Last Wednesday, I had an article published by Liberal Democrat Voice and, I think, was well received. But perhaps I should take the opportunity offered by my own blog to expand a little... the original article is in italics... Two weeks ago, I wrote a piece questioning a proposal for managing the Party through a Steering Group, pointing out that, based on what I had been led to understand, it appeared to duplicate existing bodies while adding another step between those in charge and those to whom they are accountable. Subsequently, there were reassurances given, which I think were reasonable. ...
Liberal Democrats call for a rail fare freeze The Liberal Democrats are calling for a freeze on rail fares following the announcement that the Retail Price Index rose by 1.6% in July, which will be used to calculate the increase in fares at the end of the year. The Liberal Democrats suggest that any increase in fares would be "a slap in the face" for consumers. Given the significant drop in passenger numbers due to COVID-19, the Party is calling for fare freezes to help restore confidence in the railways. The Party want to see additional funding to increase capacity ...
I've voted for Layla Moran to be the next Liberal Democrat leader. At our best, we're a democratic, blue skies thinking party that revitalises communities: at our worst, we're a clique-led party of dull centrism that stares into potholes. Layla, I think, is the candidate who best understands that. I've increasingly felt that the key [...]
Gateshead Labour Councillor and former mayor John Eagle is never far from controversy when sitting at a keyboard. Sadly, no action was taken against Cllr Eagle by the Gateshead Labour group when he backed a Facebook site calling for the violent murder of Margaret Thatcher. Another Labour councillor in Sunderland who backed the same site was suspended.Moving on from that, Cllr Eagle has now
Fri, 12:56: RT @AbrahamHanover: I've said it before. I grew up on Discordianism and Church of the Subgenius. They were my dead-virus inoculation agai... Fri, 18:13: What will happen to the 1945 Retro Hugos https://t.co/vciUYwcGl8 Fri, 20:48: Good thread. https://t.co/vgOmP3Qdaz Sat, 09:30: Whoniversaries 22 August: Ivor Salter, Mark Williams, Reign of Terror #3, Slipback #5 + #6, massacre https://t.co/8XYIhEbdVy Sat, 10:45: Fantastic thread in case you want to know what just happened in Ireland. https://t.co/8rioskVOuS
A couple of weeks ago the Agenda for the online Autumn Conference was issued. That has now been joined by its companion publication, the Directory. While the Agenda contains the timetable for all the formal sessions in the Main Hall – policy debates, speeches etc – the Directory lists all the other fun things you can do over the Conference weekend. You can read and download the Directory here. So what is on offer? Fringe meetings Dozens of meetings organised by Lib Dem and external organisations, most with key speakers. Watch out for the Comedy Night We understand that information ...
The Guardian reports that a cross-party group of MPs is threatening to sue Boris Johnson unless he orders an independent investigation into Russian interference in recent UK elections and the 2016 Brexit vote: The MPs say the government's refusal to investigate Kremlin meddling is a breach of the European convention on human rights, which enshrines the right to free elections in protocol 1. The group says it will take the prime minister to court if he fails to implement what it describes as essential steps to protect future elections. It has sent him a pre-action letter, to which Downing Street ...
Sat 22nd
08:30
Whoniversaries 22 August: Ivor Salter, Mark Williams, Reign of Terror #3, Slipback #5 + #6, massacre
i) births and deaths 22 August 1925: birth of Ivor Salter, who had three roles in Old Who - the Morok Commander in the story we now call The Space Museum (First Doctor, 1965), Odysseus in the story we now call The Myth Makers (also First Doctor, 1965) and Sergeant Markham in Black Orchid (Fifth Doctor, 1982). But for my selfish purposes, he was also the semi-regular policeman in Here Come the Double Deckers! 22 August 1959: birth of Mark Williams, who played Rory's father Brian Williams in two 2012 Eleventh Doctor stories. ii) broadcast anniversaries 22 August 1964: broadcast ...
Blether Tay-Gither is the Dundee Storytelling Group. From Sheila Kinninmonth, Blether Tay-Gither's secretary : "Hope you can join us for our August Blether on Tuesday 25th August via Zoom. The Theme is "WATERY TALES." Last month's zoom meeting went very well so we will are having another go. Join us to share a story or just to listen!" For the log-in details to participate, contact Blether Tay-Gither at sheila@blethertaygither.org.uk
