"The status quo is no longer acceptable: it's either federalism or independence. It's time for the Liberal Democrats to fight for what we believe, rather than define ourselves by what we're against. Let's either make federalism happen or go down fighting for it." Andrew Page on what should be the Lib Dem response to the growing support for Scottish independence. Regina Keith outlines the long history of school meals in Britain. "An inadequate train service and vanishing high street are common complaints of Barrovians - and visitors will say those complaints are justified. Portland Walk in Barrow's town centre lost ...
Today is the birthday of Scotland's National bard, Robert Burns. The traditional suppers to honour his memory have had to go online for obvious reasons. The Edinburgh South Lib Dems' Burns Supper has been an essential part of my social calendar for years where I've been on the Naughty Table. It was a little different this year, eating my haggis in a Zoom breakout room with my fellow naughty friends. Alistair Carmichael gave the Immortal Memory and had a pitch perfect look at how Burns might have coped with lockdown. He has kindly given us permission to reproduce it: Good ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: একদিন আমার সামনেই আমার মেজো জা হাসতে হাসতে আমার স্বামীকে বললেন, ভাই ঠাকুরপো, তোমাদের এ বাড়িতে এতদিন বরাবর মেয়েরাই কেঁদে এসেছে, এইবার পুরুষদের পালা এল, এখন থেকে আমরাই কাঁদাব। কী বল ভাই ছোটোরানী? রণবেশ তো পরেছ, রণরঙ্গিণী, এবার পুরুষের বুকে কষে হানো শেল। One day my sister-in-law remarked to my husband: "Up to now the women of this house have been kept weeping. Here comes the men's turn. We must see that they do not miss it," she continued, turning to me. "I see you are out for the fray, Chota Rani! Hurl your shafts ...
The Liberal Democrats have been in coalition in Holyrood. We've been in coalition in Westminster. We are in coalition in the Welsh Senedd. What can the party learn from those previous experiences, and how can those lessons be applied to any future hung Parliament in Westminster? I'm teaming up with the most excellent Lib Dem Podcast to record a special live panel discussion on Friday 12th February 2021, from 4pm. We've got an awesome panel with direct first hand experience of how coalitions do and don't work: current Welsh coalition minister Kirsty Williams and two survivors of the 2010-15 Westminster ...
We're a few months away from elections to the Scottish Parliament and already it looks as if those elections will essentially be a referendum on the Scottish government's handling of the pandemic and its proposal to hold an independence referendum in the near future. Nicola Sturgeon, and the SNP government more generally, have not necessarily performed brilliantly during this pandemic. Personally, I think Mark Drakeford has been the stand-out performer. However, the comparison that matters is between Holyrood and Westminster, and in that respect the SNP have been very fortunate that their London-based counterparts have stumbled through this crisis with ...
Like many of our members, I joined the most pro European party soon after the 2016 EU referendum, and am bitterly disappointed at how things have gone since, and am frustrated at the lack of short term prospect of reversing what I am convinced is an historic mistake. I'd be delighted if this party were to pledge to rejoin (for example, as the price of membership of a coalition government), but the sad reality is that this wouldn't be credible . The problem is that the EU gets a say too. And unless it sees a stable majority in favour ...
The pledge by Nicola Sturgeon to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence if the SNP wins a majority in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections was predictable. In the light of a changing constitutional landscape and growing disenchantment with what has become a fractured union it is most probably also the right thing to do. The question though is whether the UK government could reasonably resist such a request, and if it does whether Scotland should proceed anyway, Catalonian-style. The Times reports on the views of the Scottish Tory leader, that Unionist politicians should boycott any independence referendum that does not ...
We have got used to TV series that pack in lots of unexpected developments (e.g. The Stranger) or even mix fantasy with reality (e.g. Lupin), but the six-part Danish police drama, The Investigation (available via BBCiPlayer), is something else. The series takes "slow burn" to a whole new level, as Jens Møller (Søren Malling) and his colleagues [...]
Sun, 12:25: RT @archivetvmus71: George and the Dragon (3rd February 1968). Tom Baker certainly makes the most of his brief screen time. https://t.co/9f... Sun, 12:33: RT @RokNezic: A winter wonderland @ArmaghPlanet this morning! 😊❄️ 5cm of snow (I know, not much for some places, but a lot for Northern Ir... Sun, 12:52: RT @SamuelMarcLowe: To make things even more difficult, despite the economic case against independence remaining very strong, the current g... Sun, 12:56: RT @astroehlein: The UK government that brought us brexit is now telling UK businesses to move to the EU because of brexit... It's almos... Sun, 14:48: ...
On the 25 January 1981, Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams and David Owen issued a joint statement signalling intent to leave the Labour party and form a new Council for Social Democracy that would later become the SDP. Stemming from disagreements over the recent Wembley conference and an increasing far-left stranglehold from the Militant tendency, the 'Gang of Four' made the heart-breaking decision to leave their political home and start anew. As I was born in 1990 the moments above are of pure historical reference to me, however, I have often felt a kinship to Jenkins, Rodgers and Williams ...
There is a long history of research into how religious cults react to the promised day of God's appearance or predicted the end of the world coming and going without disturbing the news headlines. Such research has renewed relevance thanks to the spread of the politically themed conspiracy theories, which often involve a repeated set of promises about how a major event or revelation is about to occur. We saw this with the US Presidential election and the repeated promises how a conclusive dossier proving election fraud was just about to appear. The moment of factual revelation never came. As ...
This is me at the Liverpool Road North site back in January 2013 when I was a Maghull Councillor Well this one has done the rounds many times before and I'm talking about the general state of these once regularly maintained gardens which in recent years have been a right old mess. In case you're not aware of the site it's in Liverpool Road North close to the Red Lion canal bridge. I've blogged about them before as the Maghull in Bloom volunteers had a go at tidying them up a few years back working with the former Kennet Prison. ...
i) births and deaths 25 January 1943: birth of Ian Collier, who played Stuart Hyde in The Time Monster (Third Doctor, 1972) and Omega in Arc of Infinity (Fifth Doctor, 1983), and reprised the role of Omega in Big Finish Productions' excellent Fifth Doctor audio Omega (2003). 25 January 1950: birth of Christopher Ryan, who played Lord Kiv in Mindwarp (1986), General Staal in The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky (2007) and Commander Stark in The Pandorica Opens (2010). Also played Mike Thecoolperson in the Young Ones. 25 January 1962: birth of Emma Freud, script editor for Vincent and ...
REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 25 JANUARY 2021 Hawkhill - traffic control for up to one week for street lighting column removals. Strawberrybank - closed on Thursday 28 January for Scottish Water mains repair works. Forthcoming Road Works A991 West Marketgait (Hawkhill to Guthrie Street) - northbound nearside lane closure on Monday 8 February for roof inspection works.
