Usually, if I can, I write something at the beginning of the day. Today, however, I didn't, as I wanted to leave space for Caroline Pidgeon's powerful piece on violence against women. And, at the end of the day, having looked at the comments, I'm pretty depressed. A series of men either blaming a small minority, or changing the subject, or just being blind and deaf to the words of those who actually suffer from abuse and violence. Bluntly, it isn't a small minority of men, unless they're awfully active given the statistics indicating that most women have been victims. ...
Bristol's directly elected mayor is no longer needed. The people of Bristol should be offered the chance to abolish it, via a referendum. The eight year innovation in city governance has side-lined and undermined seventy elected city councillors. While the office of mayor has improved the visibility of the city's local leader it has not [...]
Protests have been an essential tool for achieving greater freedom, and for highlighting the plight of oppressed people, for almost all of humanity. Without the protests of the UK civil rights movement we may still have "No Irish, no blacks, no dogs" proudly displayed in our B&Bs; without the marches of the WSPU women may still not have the right to vote. But protests have another function: when properly enabled, they are an effective and relatively non-destructive option for trying to achieve social/political change. People can come out and march, even with their families and their friends - without having ...
On Saturday, 13th March the Federal Conference Committee met to review the amendments, late motions, emergency motions, questions to reports and appeals for this weekend's next Spring Conference which commences on Friday. You can still register for conference. We also have a claimants' rate, and provide support for those who require it through the Conference Access Fund. You can also donate to the Conference Access Fund as part of your registration. This will be our second online Conference with our partners at Hopin. As always, we would like to thank the Conference Office and wider HQ team for their support ...
Second paragraph of third episode, "Station Management":The Night Vale Business Association is proud to announce the new Night Vale Stadium, next to the Night Vale Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area. The stadium will be able to seat fifty thousand, but will be closed all nights of the year except November 10, for the annual Parade of the Mysterious Hooded Figures, in which all of our favorite ominous hooded figures — the one that lurks under the slide in the Night Vale Elementary playground, the ones that meet regularly in The Dog Park, and the one that will occasionally openly steal ...
I was delighted to receive an email this week from a good friend of mine, Roger Casale, founder of the New Europeans and also a former Member of the UK Parliament. Roger emailed to say that one of his colleagues, Peter Conradi, who is Sunday Times Europe's Editor, was running a story this weekend about the reasons why so many Poles have already left the UK. I was really pleased that I had an opportunity to speak to Peter and that the article itself was published in yesterday's paper. It was a fascinating conversation, which, probably for the first time, ...
The Liberal Democrats are fighting today to amend the landmark Domestic Abuse Bill to ensure migrant survivors are protected. The party is backing three cross-party amendments, due to be debated in the Lords this afternoon, that would offer protection for some of the most vulnerable survivors of abuse, for whom protections under the current law are woefully inadequate. The Lords will vote on a law to block the Home Office from using data gathered when survivors of domestic abuse seek support or assistance for immigration purposes. Another amendment would give migrant survivors of abuse temporary leave to remain and access ...
Responding to the news that the European Union have launched legal action against the UK for an alleged breach of the Northern Ireland Protocol trade agreement, Liberal Democrats Spokesperson for Northern Ireland, Alistair Carmichael MP, said: "Given the Government's track record on negotiating with the EU, this comes as no shock or surprise. "Boris Johnson and his Government have made a pig's ear of all of this. They have let down everyone - from farmers and fishermen, to businesses needing certainty for the months ahead. "I've always been keen to stress that there were other, more collaborative ways, to go ...
Responding to Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins' comments on the Marr show on Sunday, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: "People want Ministers to act decisively, not play for time waiting for reports. It's already crystal clear that what happened last night was a complete tactical and moral failure by the Met police. "Cressida Dick has lost the confidence of women in London and she must now resign. "The horrific murder of Sarah Everard has left millions of women angry and in grief. "They deserved the opportunity to collectively grieve in a peaceful open air vigil. "Yet from start to ...
Nearly 200 Lib Dem activists signed up to join the "How to win with UBI" online event on Tuesday 9th March, organised in partnership between Lib Dems for Basic Income, the Social Liberal Forum, the Compass-hosted Basic Income Conversation, and justLiberals. This was the first of three events being co-hosted by this partnership of organisations to explore what is arguably our biggest new party policy for some time. The second event is What Kind Of UBI?, on 29th March, and this will be followed by an exciting conversation with Michael Tubbs, the man who introduced a Basic Income as Mayor ...
Sun, 12:00: 140 hours left to nominate for this year's Hugo Awards! If you were a CoNZealand member, and you want to nominate, check now to make sure that you are in the system. Sun, 12:56: RT @RobotArchie: As a general thing one of the best 'thank you' messages you can send people who work on conventions is to send them photos... Sun, 14:48: Check out this thread, and the video. https://t.co/CfIqKkwE5D Sun, 15:29: RT @BobbyMcDonagh1: Irish Government has confirmed that all students in Northern Ireland (including students from GB) will be able to parti... Sun, 18:16: The Dolmen of ...
Have you seen the local police out and about on the new electric bikes, funded by Yate councillors Ruth Davis John Gawn and Ben Nutland, from MAF money. These are already in use, helping the police get about faster, and get to places police cars can't. The police say they are great. Thanks Ruth, John and Ben. (picture, Ruth, John and Ben outside the South Glos Offices with the bikes and the police who are using them.)
Great to see a Liberal Democrat council taking the lead with action like this: The first clean air zone in England outside of London launches today, and will see vehicles such as buses and lorries charged for driving into the centre of Bath. Commercial vehicles which do not meet required emission standards will pay a daily charge, but private cars and motorbikes are exempt... Liberal Democrat council leader Dine Romero said: "This a landmark day for the city. We've put up with unacceptable levels of nitrogen dioxide for too long. "This is unfair on residents, particularly vulnerable older people and ...
It was Private Eye, perhaps unsurprisingly, who nailed the Conservative U-turn on corporation tax rates. They note Boris Johnson's quote at the Conservative leadership hustings on 5 July 2019 that; Every time corporation tax rates have been cut in this country it has produced more revenue. Perhaps Rishi Sunak wasn't listening, or perhaps he thinks that the Laffer curve is a bit old hat, but the proposed increase in corporation tax effectively reverses most of the Coalition Government's cuts in tax rates – George Osborne inherited a basic rate of 28% and a small profits rate of 21%. If the ...
Mon 15th
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Discharge of patients with Covid from Shropshire hospitals to be discussed by health leaders
Patients are being discharged from Shropshire hospitals into family homes and care homes with Covid. While it is to be expected that patients are transferred when their treatment has ended, what is not acceptable is that the families and care homes are not always told whether discharge patients are Covid positive. This goes counter to the public health messages we hear every day. Lax practice by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has led to Covid spreading. After councillors Tracey Huffer and Heather Kidd raised the issue in local media, county health chiefs pledged to review current practices and protocols. They ...
In the light of the overreaching of police powers at the weekend one would think that the government might pause and reflect before seeking to introduce new legislation limiting our right to protest. Unfortunately, this anti-democratic, right-wing government have another agenda. The Guardian reports that more than 150 organisations have warned ministers that a new law handing police tougher powers to crack down on protesters would be "an attack on some of the most fundamental rights of citizens". They say the groups, including human rights charities, unions and faith communities, said on Sunday the wide-ranging legislation would have a hugely ...
i) births and deaths 15 March 1928: birth of Mervyn Haisman, who co-wrote The Abominable Snowmen (Second Doctor, 1967), The Web of Fear (Second Doctor, 1968) and (uncredited) The Dominators (Second Doctor, 1968). 15 March 1943: birth of Scott Fredericks, who played freedom fighter Boaz in Day of the Daleks (Third Doctor, 1972) and turncoat scientist Maxilian Stael in Image of the Fendahl (Fourth Doctor, 1977). 15 March 1947: birth of Tony Osoba, who played Lan in Destiny of the Daleks (Fourth Doctor, 1979), Kracauer in Dragonfire (Seventh Doctor, 1987) and Duke in Kill the Moon (Twelfth Doctor, 2014). 15 ...
Embed from Getty ImagesThis evening BBC4 is showing Dark Secrets of a Trillion Dollar Island: Garenne in its documentary series Storyville. The film was made by Camilla Hall, who wrote about its genesis in the Financial Times: As I dug back into Jersey, I wanted to know what the hell had happened at Haut de la Garenne. A covert police investigation had begun in 2006, going public in late 2007. The tabloid reporters alongside me had reported on mass graves and a "house of horrors" but the whole story disappeared after the Mail on Sunday reported that what had been ...
The tragic murder of Sarah Everard has shocked the nation. Over the last week the national conversation has been consumed by the horror of the events and an outpouring of grief for a young woman who was simply walking home. But Sarah's murder has also led to a national reflection on what this means more widely for us as a society. In the last 10 years 1,425 women have been murdered in the UK, that's roughly one every three days. I believe Sarah's death could prove to be a seminal moment in our country as we look to challenge the ...
The Dundee Adult Employability Team is Dundee City Council's employability service and undertakes great work working with people to get them back into the workforce - particularly vital at this challenging time. The team has recently launched a new leaflet about its services that you can see below. You can read more about the team's work here.
