Liberals are in the news every week - here we try to highlight the... well, the highlights. This week: Mental health in ScotlandLiberals call for more support for carersPressuring China through sporting boycottsChallenging the government on "Crony contracts"National vaccine shortagePub-campaign alert!
Fri 26th
19:06
Shropshire Conservatives refuse to support the Climate and Ecology (CEE) Bill but set up a committee...
Why should you do something today when you can do it tomorrow, even if you should have done it yesterday? That is the attitude of Shropshire Council's Conservative members when it comes to tackling climate change. Why should they rush to deal with an emergency when they can take a gentle stroll? The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill is currently languishing parliament. But support for the bill, which sets out what priorities the UK needs in place to meet its climate change targets and tackle the ecological crisis, is strong. That's why a cross-party motion to give an expression of ...
After the controversies over the previous government words on political campaigning, and in the face of criticism from democracy campaigners, the government has changed tack. A new statement includes the green light for canvassing to restart in England: From 8 March, therefore, people who are campaigning in support of the electoral success (or against the electoral success) of candidates or political parties, or relating to a referendum outcome, will be allowed to deliver leaflets and canvass electors in relation to the elections and local referendums taking place on 6 May and for any further by-elections and local referendums being held ...
Fri 26th
18:21
Fundraiser planning nude ride through Ludlow could be arrested if advice not taken, police say
Not for the first time, the Shropshire Star wins our Headline of the Day Award.
Big changes coming up in America's Middle East policy and they won't all be universally applauded. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Israel are already feeling the difference. This week's American attack on Syrian-based and Iranian-backed militias may on the surface seem like a continuation of the Trump Era's unilateralist shoot-from-the-hip America first and only policy. But an examination of the press statement that followed the retaliatory action indicates otherwise. The Pentagon went out of its way to thank the Iraqi government for its intelligence input and stressed the strike was only conducted after "full consultations" with its "partners and ...
Current Titus Alone, by Mervyn Peake Chasm City, by Alastair Reynolds Goodbye To All That, by Robert Graves Science Fiction: The Great Years, eds. Carol and Frederik Pohl The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson Last books finished Club Ded, by Nikhil Singh - did not finish Three Daves, by Nicki Elson Ties That Bind: Love in Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. Francesca T. Barbini Ivory's Story, by Eugen M. Bacon Next books Mostly Void, Partially Stars, by Joseph Fink Sandkings, by George R.R. Martin
The following is taken directly from a report I received today. On Monday morning police attended the area of the Jolly Drovers roundabout near to Consett following reports of a cyclist having collapsed and had stopped breathing. Police officers and nurses who were passing assisted with CPR and a defibrillator was brought from the station at Consett. The North East Ambulance Service also attended and thankfully the male was resuscitated and has subsequently been recovering at hospital. On Wednesday police attended and address in the Consett area following a reported breach of Covid legislation. Whilst engaging with the occupant, police ...
As the reality of Brexit strikes home, there is an increasing number of MPs who appear to be regretting what they voted for. Could it be that it wasnt just the electorate that was lied to, but these politicians were fooling themselves as well? The Mirror reports that Tory Brexiteers have called on Boris Johnson to scrap part of his deal with Brussels - despite voting for it. They say that the European Research Group (ERG) are calling for a key plank of the Brexit agreement - known as the Northern Ireland Protocol - should be ditched as it had ...
Yesterday afternoon, Baroness Barker spoke on the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill. It was a short and powerful statement on how minority groups have been discriminated against, ignored and marginalised in past decades. That was "what happened to migrant communities in the UK in the 1970s and, in the 1980s, it was lesbians and gay men." Today, she said, it is the turn of trans people. She reminded the house that when it was debating changing the law to allow gay adoption or enable civil partnerships, they received "dodgy dossiers" purporting to be research from lobby groups. This is ...
Thu, 12:56: HBO Developing Adaptation Of Roger Zelazny's Sci-Fi Novel 'Roadmarks' https://t.co/m4f9eHX9Lv Brilliant! Thu, 15:28: RT @davidallengreen: Why it was correct for an appeal court to allow a memorial entirely in Irish Today's post at the @law_and_policy blog... Thu, 16:05: Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins on 'Silence of the Lambs' Legacy https://t.co/5370DBk5sQ Noting for when I get to that point in my Oscars rewatch. Thu, 16:32: RT @APCOBXLInsider: Our final episode of #BackOnTheAgenda is about access to medicines. @Lily_Reisser speaks to Alexander Natz (@EUCOPE) ab... Thu, 16:38: This is absolutely glorious, from the lawyer in yesterday's Irish gravestone inscription hearing. ...
[IMG: Green Council candidates 2019 John Wing, Doug Wade, Georgina Treloar and Lesley Whybrow and Lib dem candidates Tim Prater and Gary Fuller] At the Folkestone and Hythe District Council Full Council meeting on 24th February, an amendment to the General Fund Medium Term Capital Programme was proposed by Lib Dem Group Leader Tim Prater and Green Group Leader Lesley Whybrow. The amendment, pretty much identical to a similar one moved in 2020, fell 13-16. It would have removed the required £29m funding for Princes Parade Development from the Council's Capital programme. In moving an amendment to Item 10: Update ...
Today, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey welcomes the news that all people with learning disabilities will be invited for Covid vaccines. He said: "This news will come as welcome relief for families across the country. I am glad the Government has listened to me and other carers speaking up for our loved ones. "We know that people with learning disabilities are extremely vulnerable to Covid, yet they have far too often been forgotten and ignored by Ministers. The number who have died is heartbreakingly high. "The Government must provide clear guidance and communications to follow through on this ...
The Liberal Democrats are calling for the ban on asylum seekers' working to be lifted, as new Home Office figures reveal that 46,796 people have been waiting more than six months for a decision on their claim. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: "It beggars belief that the Government not only keeps more than 40,000 people waiting for months for a decision on their asylum claim, but bans them from working too. It's bad for asylum seekers, bad for employers and bad for taxpayers. "Conservative hostility and Home Office incompetence have created a system that no one trusts, ...
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Chancellor to fund an "ambitious, 10-year commitment" to resettle vulnerable refugees from conflict areas in his Budget next week, as new official figures show the number brought to the UK plummeted by 85% in 2020. The Home Office's latest Immigration Statistics*, published yesterday, show that just 823 refugees were resettled in the UK in 2020 - compared to 5,612 in 2019 - after the Government suspended the UK's resettlement schemes in March and has not reopened them. Meanwhile, the number of people granted asylum in the UK fell by 40%, from 12,561 in ...
[IMG: Tim Prater and Gary Fuller] At the Folkestone and Hythe District Council Meeting of Wednesday 24th February, the Lib Dem Group of Tim Prater and Gary Fuller were, as ever, doing their best to represent Sandgate and West Folkestone and the wider district to the best of their ability. During the almost three hour meeting: We both voted for the Labour motion calling on the Home Office to immediately close Napier Barracks as an Asylum Centre. The motion passed. On the the Corporate Plan, which included specific reference to building new leisure facilities at Princes Parade in Hythe, Tim ...
The UK Government has an explanation of what these principles are on its website – see link below:- But surely the big question is, does our UK Government live up to its own clearly set out principles? An alternative question could well be, is this a set of principles for UK public life but not for the UK Government? When I look at our Government I can't see that it's following its own lofty guidance, nor can I see much in the way of the press or opposition trying to hold them to these principles either! Rules for 'us' ...
All local councillors in Bury receive a small budget to spend in their local areas. In Holyrood Ward we combine ours together to create a Holyrood Ward Community Fund and give 100% to local groups and projects who apply. Applications were sought last Autumn, and our final list of grants for the 2020-21 year is: Simister Village Community Association – £600 for a new village notice board. Prestwich Business Group – £300 to promote local business Walk Ride Prestwich and Whitefield – £200 – for a campaign to promote more walking and cycling Simister Allotment Association – £400 for repairs ...
As of yesterday, 59,000 people in Bury have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. This means that one third of the eligible population (182,100) have been given at least the first done. Bury's jabs are being carried out by medical staff at four vaccination centres run by the Primary Care Network: the Elizabethan Suite in Bury, Bealey's in Radcliffe, Ramsbottom Civic Hall, and the former Prestwich Walk-in Centre. More details on the vaccination programme here. Schools and colleges are reopening on 8 March, in line with the Government's easing of lockdown restrictions. Additional safety measures have been ...
Please see below schedule major roadworks in March in the Prestwich area. Some potentially quite bad ones this month, including Fairfax Road and the big Bury New Road/Hilton Lane junction. The full list, including more minor works, can be found here. Bury New Road / Scholes Lane / Hilton Lane junction – 1-5 March 2021, multi-way signals (T-Mobile)Fairfax Road – 11-24 March 2021, Multi-Way signals (Virgin Media)Sheepfood Lane (just east of Park Lane) – 4-10 March 2021, Two-Way signals (Electricity North West) Agecroft Bridge (bottom of Rainsough Brow), 4-17 March 2021, Multi-Way signals (Electricity North West) Hilton Lane (near Bland ...
i) births and deaths 26 February 1932: birth of Michael Goldie, who played Jack Craddock in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (First Doctor, 1964) and Elton Laleham in The Wheel in Space (Second Doctor, 1968) 26 February 1938: birth of Tony Selby, who played Sabalom Glitz in The Mysterious Planet (Sixth Doctor, 1986), The Ultimate Foe (also Sixth Doctor, 1986) and Dragonfire (Seventh Doctor, 1987). 26 February 2018: death of Peter Miles, who played Dr Lawrence, the obstructive director of the Wenley Moor nuclear research facility, in Doctor Who and the Silurians (Third Doctor, 1970); Professor Whittaker, the inventor of ...
The tectonic plates of Scottish politics are on the move again. When Labour dominated politics in Scotland they were often lazy, arrogant, bullying and complacent and looked after their own. Sufficiently like the mafia to be caricatured as COSLA NOSTRA. Labour lost its way and initially Liberal Democrats picked up ground. However, free of any obvious ideological positioning the SNP were able to move into Labour territory. Now less than a generation later, the SNP have become the Scottish establishment and acquired an even more venal, more incompetent yet downright arrogant, complacent and nasty braggadocio. They have consistently oversold their ...
A new open call has been announced by Bury Town of Culture to find six local artists to create a series of creative micro-commissions for the town. Applications are now open for artists working in any medium including art, prose, design, film, poetry or performance to submit their ideas. Each successful commission will receive £500 worth of funding from Bury Town of Culture as well as 'in kind' support from the town's cultural partners including The Met theatre and Bury Art Museum. This latest initiative is part of a year-long programme of events to celebrate Bury's Town of Culture status ...
The University of Dundee Botanic Garden recently published another interesting newsletter. This is well worth a read and can be read here.
