The enthusiasm for reopening long-closed railways has reached Shropshire. A plan has been published to reopen the line up the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to a station serving new housing on the site of Ironbridge power station. According to the Shropshire Star: The plan would create a 10-mile route, with six new stations, and ambitions to link with the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth. It could also connect to Telford, if plans from Telford Steam Railway to extend its line are developed. You can find the full plan on the Ironbridge Railway Trust website. From the outside, reopening the line ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Guardian.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Fri 26th
19:24

A Quieter Bang

[IMG: Fireworks] In October the Lib Dem Group of Tim Prater and Gary Fuller proposed to Folkestone and Hythe District Council a motion on Fireworks. It got massive majority support from Council - 27 votes for, none against, 2 abstentions. It read: That the Council takes the following action: 1. Encourage all publicly organised firework displays within the district area to be advertised online in advance of the event by offering or signposting a free listing service, so that residents can both enjoy the celebrations and take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people; 2. Promote a public awareness campaign ...

Since I became Leader of the Liverpool Lib Dems in 2012, I have received hundreds of tip offs by email about bad behaviour in the Council. Some days I get 6 or 7 and I have a number of regular ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

Second paragraph of third chapter:Transportation was — and probably still is — a major problem for new bands. Borrowing a parent's car was an option with limited scope, especially with the almost immediate depreciation caused by cramming it full of drum kits and band members. Acquiring a van represented by far the biggest capital outlay — yet had none of the glamour of spending a student grant on a new guitar or bass drum. But though it was possible to muddle through a show with a mishmash of less than perfect or borrowed equipment, the band — and the ever-increasing ...

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has announced he will lead the pro-impendence Alba party, which was registered just four months ago. He told a press conference today: "We expect to field a minimum of four candidates in each regional list and we're hoping to elect Alba MSPs from every area of Scotland." Scottish Lib Dem leaders responded: "There are no questions about Scotland's future to which Alex Salmond is the answer." Responding to the announcement from Alex Salmond that he will stand for the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Liberal Democrat campaign chair Alistair Carmichael MP said: "This astonishing announcement shows ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

When I started my first job, I met with our finance officer. She was looking quite stressed, so I asked what was going on. She explained she was working out how much of our 'bad debt' to write off as an organisation. I was confused, naively. Turns out, this is probably what most people know, but every year companies and organisations write off debt. They decide that even if someone owes them £50, they are likely never to get that money back – in short, it costs them more to chase the debt, than they'd ever make getting it back. ...

Posted by Oliver Townsend on Liberal Democrat Voice

David Lloyd George died this day, the 26th of March 1945. Countless words have been written about him, and he has defeated all his biographers - I think perhaps Peter Rowland's 1975 effort is the best. He really needed - needs - a Martin Gilbert to take him on. I want today to concentrate on just a couple of episodes in his long and eventful life. He was perhaps the most outspoken British opponent of the Boer War, speaking out against both its origins and its conduct. When he learnt of the concentration camps into which the British Army corralled ...

Posted on A Rambling Ducky

They come along in three's: but none of us expected to put Jonathan Fryer, Tony Greaves and Derek Barrie in the same sentence in such a short period of time. Three liberals who now feature in our hearts, in our memories and in our stories. But if we do them justice they will feature in our actions, our principles and that will keep them alive in our hearts. LDV has published obituaries for Tony Greaves and Derek Barrie. Jonathan Fryer is terminally ill and has sadly written his last Facebook post. These were three very different people. I, like many ...

Posted by Ed Fordham on Liberal Democrat Voice

I remember saying this during the EU referendum in 2016 and I was not alone, but the Brexit deal that was struck by this Tory government has left this country less able to deal with crime due to leaving the European Arrest Warrant system. The Independent reports that the government has admitted at least 10 EU countries will no longer extradite their nationals to face prosecution in the UK because of Brexit: In correspondence with the House of Lords EU Committee, it said Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden will be "invoking constitutional rules as ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
YouGov
Fri 26th
11:00

My tweets

Thu, 12:01: RT @bbcdoctorwho: Oh my giddy aunt! Remembering the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, on his birthday 🎂 https://t.co/Lonsg2GOt0 Thu, 13:56: RT @Heraldofcreatio: #DoctorWhoRankings #DoctorWho ULTIMATE POLL (11-20 of 51) 11 Which is best? Vote & Retweet Thu, 18:55: Chasm City, by Alastair Reynolds https://t.co/NcNgdhdyAw Thu, 20:22: RT @KeohaneDan: I wasn't aware of this book until @SJAMcBride wrote about it recently. The v interesting perspective of an European Parliam... Thu, 20:27: RT @AmopaIrlande: C'est parti pour écouter l'histoire fascinante de #Sarsfield qui fait partie du projet #SarsfieldHomecoming du Dr Loïc Gu... Thu, 20:44: https://t.co/fvYE1jS1Wv https://t.co/Bk4rlaRW4y Thu, 20:48: Europe after the ...

Local councils have been meeting online during the pandemic. After a few teething problems, the practice of meeting online has worked well. But yesterday the government declared councils must meet in public after 7 May. Many councillors think this is too early. A good many councils, including Ludlow Town Council and Shropshire Council, do not have suitable buildings to accommodate all their councillors, let alone members of the public, while social distancing remains in place. Vaccination is under way but having kept myself safe for a year, I think this is too risky. Up to 74 councillors and at least ...

Posted by Andy Boddington on Liberal Democrat Voice

Local councils have been meeting online during the pandemic. After a few teething problems, the practice of meeting online has worked well. But yesterday the government declared councils must meet in public after 7 May. Many councillors think this is too early. A good many councils, including Ludlow Town Council and Shropshire Council, do not have suitable buildings to accommodate all their councillors, let alone members of the public, while social distancing remains in place. Will any councillors or members of the public want to attend the cramped Ludlow Town Council meeting in the Guildhall on 24 May? Or the ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

Tyson's Triangle – March 2021 It must have been back in the 1980s that the triangle of farmland bounded by Liverpool Road, Kenyons Lane and the A59 (Northway) in Lydiate became known as Tyson's* Triangle, indeed I seem to recall there was an advertising hoarding up for a while in that company's name which led directly to it being dubbed Tyson's Triangle. And now to bring this all up to date. Not so long ago Sefton Borough Council published its Local Plan which defined land use across Sefton for around the next 15 years or so. This plan replaced what ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus
Fri 26th
09:09

Alliance for Myanmar

 

Posted by liberalabroad on overseasliberal
Fri 26th
08:30

Whoniversaries 26 March

i) births and deaths 26 March 1925: birth of Barry Letts, producer of Who from Doctor Who and the Silurians (Third Doctor, 1970) to Robot (Fourth Doctor, 1974-75), director of Enemy of the World (Second Doctor, 1967-68) and The Android Invasion (Fourth Doctor, 1975), writer of The Dæmons (Third Doctor, 1972). ii) broadcast anniversaries 26 March 1966: broadcast of "The Bomb", fourth episode of the story we now call The Ark. The Monoids fight among each other; the Doctor and friends find the bomb on the Ark; and the Doctor turns invisible... 26 March 1978: broadcast of fifth episode of ...

I have been in correspondence with the City Council's electoral registration team regarding polling arrangements in the West End for the Scottish parliamentary elections in May - particularly challenging given the COVID-19 health emergency. The only polling place change in the West End this year is that the West Park Conference Centre is not available and electors who normally vote there vote this year in the Ballroom at the Invercarse Hotel. This affects a large number of voters in the western part of the West End Ward as it is one of the largest polling districts in Dundee. The Scottish ...