Whilst I might be best described as semi-detached from party activity in Suffolk - you only really appreciate what's going on if you hold some sort of organisational position unless you work at it - I do still get the various e-mails, and today news reached me of the launch of the Liberal Democrat manifesto for May's County Council election. And, as someone who 'has views', you won't be surprised to hear that I read it with some curiosity. I have to admit that I'm impressed - it actually looks like a programme for (local) government - and I particularly ...
Scottish Liberal Democrats abstained on the no-confidence vote on Nicola Sturgeon today, along with Scottish Labour. Willie explains why here: Why we abstained in the vote of no confidence in parliament. pic.twitter.com/WDMXXzotYL — Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) March 23, 2021 * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Liberals are in the news every week. Here we try to highlight the... highlights. This week: Clapham Common & women's freedomsProtest crackdown bill & the freedom to protestLib Dem Spring conference
Second paragraph of third chapter:He hadn't known how much he'd been looking forward to seeing that girl, until they were suddenly together in the royal coach, and she froze him out. Things had been no better since. He was back where he'd started, with the stone cold eyes, the clipped chill voice, the so, do you want that fuck? In times like these, a lover isn't for sex. A lover is someone to reach for in the night, someone whose existence in the world you can cling to when you're hard pressed. He'd been imagining that was what they were ...
Extremely sad news: Liberal Democrat peer and councillor Tony Greaves passed away earlier today. Tony played a huge role in the party's survival in the 1970s and our huge local government growth subsequently. He's been a valued colleague over several decades, often forthright and frank, always with liberalism as his driving force. Tony put Pendle on the map. He cared so deeply about the place he called home. What a terrible shock. Love to his family <3 — Jamie Stone MP (@Jamie4North) March 23, 2021
I am still reeling a bit from the shock. For the second time in almost exactly a month, we've lost a liberal legend. Last month it was Derek Barrie. A short while ago, Lib Dem Lords Leader Dick Newby posted the sad news that Tony Greaves had died very suddenly this morning. We are so sad to tell you that our very own Tony Greaves died earlier today. Whilst we are shocked at the suddenness of it, we remember a real Liberal hero whose contribution to local and national politics over many decades has been massive. Salutes, Tony – you ...
In the United States the Republican Party is on the back foot and they know it. On the whole their main support is in the rural areas, whereas the the main support of the Democrats is in the larger cities. This tendency is increasing as young people move from the country to the cities, where enterprising migrants also tend to congregate. For historical reason the US Constitution gives the rural areas a built- in political advantage as each state, regardless of population, is allocated two members of the Senate. So Wyoming,the smallest state, with a population of 600 000, elects ...
Recently reading that nearly 5 people every day were sectioned across Wales during 2020 really had an effect on me. I decided to stand for election because of my experience not only in the business world but because I am one of those detentions by the police under section 136 of the 1983 mental health act. The night I lost all rights and became a individual protected by the state for my own safety and society, will remain with me for my entire life. Police collected me following my family contacting them and I was driven to the nearest hospital, ...
Mon, 12:00: RT @jackeparrock: Preparations underway to mark the 5 year anniversary of the #BrusselsAttacks at the memorial near Schuman. I still have... Mon, 12:56: South Sudan: Riek Machar and the prophet's rod - Martin Plaut https://t.co/9BtH8x8VXc The Return of Ngundeng's Dang, by Douglas Johnson. Mon, 16:12: RT @BlogTolkien: And finally, on 22 March 1916, J. R. R. Tolkien married Edith Bratt in the church of St. Mary Immaculate in Warwick. Happy... Mon, 17:43: Nicola Sturgeon cleared of breaching ministerial code https://t.co/dLvckKGUVn Mon, 19:20: 370 days of plague https://t.co/3CaRi8M3aS Tue, 08:10: RT @EmmaVardyTV: NEW: More than 80 MPs have signed ...
The recent controversy over government ministers displaying the union jack in the background on TV appearances, as well as the over-the-top £2.6 million briefing room, complete with four such flags behind the rostrum, is starting to get a bit much for some MPs. The Independent reports that in a discussion at a recent Public Accounts Committee meeting on the BBC's role as a representative of Britain on the world stage, freshman Tory MP, James Wild asked new director-general Tim Davie more than once why there were not any images of the union jack in his organisation's annual report: Mr Davie ...
I am sure that most readers would agree with me if I said that, often, in order for us all to make a tangible difference in our communities or influence change at a local or national level, we need to be politically educated. As a European national, it seems to me that this has never been more important. Today, I am delighted to be able to share with you a fantastic Open Source Election Guide, which was produced by the New Europeans UK and POMOC (Polish Migrants Organise for Change) amongst other great partners working in the field. Why is ...
The government has announced new regulations to prevent people leaving the UK, but with a list of specific exemptions. As the Guardian reports, anyone who is caught breaking the rules on travel by going on holiday faces a fine of up to £5,000. One exemption allows people to travel abroad "in connection with the purchase, sale, letting or rental of a residential property". Those activities include visiting an estate agent, developer sales office or show home, viewing residential properties to rent or buy, and preparing a property for moving in.Other exemptions include study or competing in an elite sporting event. ...
The Liberal Government took the first step in reforming the House of Lords in 1910-11. Since then it's been hard work to push constitutional reform further. Life peerages were introduced in the 1950s, creating a House of over 1000 members in which, as one Tory woman life peer once told me, 'the hereditaries treat us like day boys' in a public school. Tony Blair realised that a frontal approach to Lords reform would tie up his government for months, and negotiated a partial further reform with Lord Cranborne, the Conservative leader in the Lords, behind William Hague's back (and with ...
i) births and deaths 23 March 1909: birth of Charles Morgan, who played Songsten in The Abominable Snowmen (Second Doctor, 1967) and the Gold Usher in The Invasion of Time (Fourth Doctor, 1978). 23 March 1928: birth of Louis Marks, who wrote Planet of Giants (1964), Day of the Daleks (1972), Planet of Evil (1975) and The Masque of Mandragora (1976). 23 March 2018: death of Rupert Laight, writer of two Sarah Jane Adventures TV stories and of various bits of spinoff fiction, most of them rather good. I had missed the memo about this - he cannot have been ...
Liberal Democrats voted to launch an internal review that will set out roadmaps to rejoining EU agencies such as the Customs Union and Single Market, with a view to membership of the European Union in future. It comes in the wake of the devastating impact of Boris Johnson's trade deal, which has left millions of British businesses and workers worse off. The Liberal Democrats notably stood as the only major, UK-wide party who opposed the deal at every stage it was presented to Parliament. With today's policy motion they pledged to continue to hold the Government accountable for its inadequacies. ...
The Liberal Democrats passed a motion at our federal Spring Conference last weekend calling for immediate action to be taken on the Russia Report. This includes: An investigation into Russian interference into our electoral process Making protection of our democratic security a national priority with clear ministerial responsibility Take big money out of politics by reforming party funding. Following the debate, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Layla Moran MP said: "It is time for the Government to take our national security seriously and stop ducking this because it's politically inconvenient. Our democratic defences are weak and we must listen ...
Commenting on the Defence Command Paper published yesterday, Jamie Stone MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Defence, said: "The Government's plans for the defence of the realm should worry us all. "Everything we have heard so far has reeked of financial mismanagement and broken promises. "Drastic cuts to our armed forces to plug the defence budget blackhole whilst wasting millions on a Hollywood-style situation room tells you everything you need to know about this vanity obsessed Government. "Our Army is the smallest it has been in hundreds of years and our reserves are dwindling in numbers. Yet the Prime Minister is ...
In an emergency motion passed at the party's Spring Conference last weekend,Liberal Democrats called on the Home Secretary to drop proposals to restrict the right to protest. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP commented: "The Conservative Government's attempts to crack down on peaceful protests are dangers and draconian. "The right to protest is a fundamental human right. From the slave trade to women's suffrage, workers' rights to the Iraq war, protesting has always been a crucial part of our democratic society. "Liberal Democrats fiercely oppose the Government's anti-democratic attempts to silence any opposition to its policies by restricting ...
The Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Government to reverse "unprincipled, unjustified and downright deadly" cuts to international aid. The motion passed at its Spring Conference last weekend reaffirmed the Party's commitment to the UK contributing 0.7% of GNI on Official Development Assistance and slammed the merging of the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office. It also demanded the UK Government play a 'proactive role in debt forgiveness and relief initiatives' for developing countries struggling with the economic and health impact of Coronavirus. Speaking after the motion was approved, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International ...
Responding to the Government's announcement that it will remove part of the Coronavirus Act that reduces people's rights to care, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: "Watering down the rights to care for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people was unlawful and unnecessary. Far too many families have seen the hardships of lockdown compounded by having the lifeline of care cut off completely. "Liberal Democrats opposed the Government reducing people's care rights from the very start of the pandemic, and voted against this law in September. So I am glad Ministers have finally accepted that care rights must be ...
I am grateful to the residents who contacted me recently to advise that the gate to the playpark Bankmill Road/Milnbank Road (Bankmill side) won't lock and the gate is scraping the ground when opening and closing. I contacted the City Council's environment team about this and have now been updated as follows : "... it looks like we need to put in a few washers to raise gate slightly. This is on our list and will be carried out shortly."
I have been filling the time between sessions of caring for my mother by watching old episodes of Time Team on YouTube. It really was a remarkable programme as it turned an obscure activity into popular entertainment and lasted for two decades. Here Time Team's presenter, Tony Robinson, talks about his memories of its 20 series.
