Ever since Michael Gove said "I think the people of this country have had enough of experts" the left hasn't been able to get enough of them. Yet if you are on the left then at some point you will have decided that Important People are wrong. For me it was the debate over nuclear power. At the start of 1978, when I was still 17, Lord Justice Parker recommended in his inquiry report that a thermal oxide reprocessing plant be built at Windscale and the government went ahead with the idea. I decided Parker had got it wrong. I ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Latest resignation shows damaging consequences of PM's Brexit approach Liberal Democrats condemn Government for "destroying" UK reputation on the world stage Latest resignation shows damaging consequences of PM's Brexit approach Responding to news that Sir Jonathan Jones, head of the UK Government's legal department, has resigned following the Government's decision to introduce legislation which would undermine key aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Christine Jardine said: The head of the Government's legal department quitting over Boris Johnson's approach to Brexit should signal how serious a situation this is. For Johnson to think it is acceptable to row ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Democrat Voice

The BBC website has a series of short talks on films by Powell and Pressburger that were first broadcast on Radio 3. You can listen to: The Red Shoes - Deborah BullThe Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - Ian ChristieA Matter of Life and Death - Richard ColesBlack Narcissus - Peter BradshawI Know Where I'm Going - A.L. Kennedy And another of their films, Gone to Earth, is being shown at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury on Friday and Saturday. I am sorry if it looks a little melodramatic, but the Shropshire hills are like that.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

We are looking over the edge of the local lockdown cliff in Gateshead. We now have the highest rate forpositive infections in the North East and the 10th highest in England.Please everyone, stay 2 metres apart others not in your household, but if you can't, wear a facemask. Wash your hands often and stay away from crowded areas. These are simple actions that could help save Gateshead from a local

Posted by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace

The Liberal Democrats should be able to prosper mightily in the Scottish parliamentary election on 6th May. But only if we stop attacking the SNP. The SNP are unassailable. They are riding at over 55 per cent in the opinion polls, boosted by Nicola Sturgeon's impressive performance in the Covid-19 emergency. And by next spring, they will be able to surf the wave of anger over Brexit and the expected surge in unemployment. The Nationalists will blame the Johnson government for all the problems and the lack of resources to tackle them. In that they are quite right and it ...

Posted by John Knox on Liberal Democrat Voice

There is a series of interconnected ideas that have been highly successful, and that I certainly believe in. They are democracy, the rule of law, habeas corpus, an independent judiciary... Anyone know what the Boris Johnson who gave this speech in 2017 is up to these days? Sign up to get the latest news and analysis Email* Enter Email Confirm Email Name* First Last What would you like to receive?* Liberal Democrat Newswire: monthly newsletter Polling UnPacked (political opinion polling news): max 1 email per day Mark Pack blog posts and council by-election results: max 1 email per day Lib ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Responding to news that Sir Jonathan Jones, head of the UK Government's legal department, has resigned following the Government's decision to introduce legislation which would undermine key aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Christine Jardine said: "The head of the Government's legal department quitting over Boris Johnson's approach to Brexit should signal how serious a situation this is."For Johnson to think it is acceptable to row back on international agreements and assurances made to Northern Ireland shows he has no respect for international law or the UK's obligations."How can the UK expect other countries, like China, to ...

Posted by Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist. He is one of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.

Posted by Paul Walter on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 8th
11:00

My tweets

Mon, 12:56: RT @chip_roh: @Mij_Europe @10DowningStreet @MichelBarnier Any 3rd country who has negotiated issues with the EU can tell you that every mem... Mon, 16:05: Return to Lebanon: Destruction, despair and dignity https://t.co/wbmrYvz3AM Very moving from @RymMomtaz. Mon, 17:11: Lord Of The Rings Rewind: 49 Things You Didn't Know About The Return Of The King https://t.co/1Wv8h2h97p Brilliant list. Mon, 19:10: RT @NaomiOhReally: The rumour I hear -🚩 this is gossip and theorising around the institutions, not authoritative but interesting🚩- is that... Mon, 20:02: RT @Mij_Europe: .@Europarl_EN Brexit coordinator & by no means Brexit hawk reiterating end Oct deadline for EP ...

After pledging to phase out the badger cull, intended to reduce bovine TB in cattle, after a scientific review cast doubt on its efficacy (when did it ever have scientific valdidity - spoiler: it didn't), the government has now gone back on its word and announced that this senseless slaughter is being expanded to 11 new areas of England including parts of Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire so that more than 60,000 badgers can be killed. The Guardian reports that for the first time, culling - including cage-trapping and "free shooting" - will take place this autumn in Derbyshire, Warwickshire, ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
YouGov

Call me old-fashioned, but I was led to believe that, amongst other virtues, that an Englishman's word is his bond. As an ersatz Englishman by virtue of my mixed race background, one cleaves firmly to such concepts as honour and decency, because they matter. Indeed, much of our modern model of governance relies on the concept that most people are honourable or, at the very least, can be broadly trusted to do the right thing. It is suggested, for example, that 90% of taxpayers are compliant with the requirements of tax law. What that means is that regulatory authorities can ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy

Three homes approved. Four homes expected to be approved. But the developer of the Linney House site is determined to press ahead with his appeal against Shropshire Council's lack of a decision on his scheme for eight homes. His appeal launched in June is proving to be as complex as the planning history of this site. The developer doesn't pull any punches during the appeal. He attacks the council for not determining the application and lambasts the council's tree officer. The council quite rightly refutes these arguments. It bases its case for rejection of the scheme on the impact on ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

I've come to regard religion as something that individuals should choose to either follow or not. It's not something to be handed down from one generation to another just as it should not be the norm to follow the same politics as your parents. Individuals can grow into much more rounded citizens if they make such choices themselves. The report, linked below, on the effect of religious governance of schools therefore interested me:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54063908 I was brought up in my Dad's religion, baptised and confirmed into his religion and I went along with it not thinking or knowing of any ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

"Support for Brexit is collapsing" screams an article from Business Insider back in June, noting that a majority of Brits want to stay in the EU. Good for us? "Lib Dems FINALLY listen to Britain as Ed Davey says demand to rejoin EU 'for the birds'" bellows an article from the Express this weekend. Ah. As we all know (and often lament), in politics there is no room for nuance. Labour, post-2016, lost both blue-collared Leavers and metropolitan Remainers when they tried to navigate a nuanced policy on Brexit (something that gave us a path back to relevance, post-Coalition). And ...

Posted by James Belchamber on Liberal Democrat Voice

i) births and deaths 8 September 1922: birth of Royston Tickner, who played Steinberger P. Green in "The Feast of Steven", the lost seventh episode of what we now call The Daleks' Master Plan (First Doctor, 1965) and Robbins in The Sea Devils (Third Doctor, 1972). 8 September 1938: birth of Louis Mahoney who played a newscaster in Frontier in Space (Third Doctor, 1973), Ponti in Planet of Evil (Fourth Doctor, 1975), and the older Billy Shipton in Blink (Ninth Doctor, 2007). 8 September 2014: death of Jane Baker, who with her husband Pip Baker wrote two and a half ...

The One World Centre is hosting a really exciting online Book Chat on Wednesday 9th September 4pm - 5.15pm. The purpose is to bring teachers together to share books they have used with their pupils to help them develop a greater awareness of our world, and consider the role they can play in helping to make it a fairer, better place for everyone. Also invited is Barbara Henderson, author of the beautifully written "Wilderness Wars", to talk about her book and its associated resources for teachers. You can listen to teachers talk about their favourite books - fiction and real-life ...