From the blurb on YoutTube: This walk starts with a look around the incredible home of Hackney artist and flamenco dancer Ron Hitchins. Ron was also known as the Prince of Petticote Lane when he had a stall selling the shirts he made. We then walk across London Fields to the notorious artists studios in Martello Street when Genesis P-Orridge and Cosi Fan Tutti had studios as well as Bruce Lacey and many others. We look at the Pub on the Park, pass Netil Market and London Fields Brewery on our way to Beck Road which was once home to ...
It's time to look back30 [gulp] years and see what Lord Bonkers was doing in Liberator 196, the April 1991 issue. We journey to the glory days of Ronnie Fearn, who was Liberal MP for Southport from 1987 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2001. Also present is a youthful Matthew Taylor, Liberal MP for Truro from 1987 to 2010. Adopted at birth, Matthew was later revealed to be the great grandson of Sir Percy Harris, who was Liberal MP for Harborough from 1916 to 1918. This was news to me, but I suspect Lord Bonkers knew it all along. ...
Yep, ten days on from my last post in this series; April Fools' Day, though I do not feel particularly mirthful More or less a year since I did my second lockdown video, about the ponds at Zoetwater: The Belgian numbers have continued to rise rather alarmingly, though with the eye of faith there may be some flattening in the infection rate over the last couple of days. Vaccinations, which had been steadily increasing, seem to have lost a bit of momentum. I made a very careful expedition into Brussels to meet a diplomatic contact last week, walking around les ...
We were so near to taking the Conwy seat from the Tories. Only 995 votes separated us. So grateful to those who poured into the constituency to give us their support. Chris Rennard was the mastermind and I remember him organising my sharing a farm trailer with Paddy Ashdown whilst Ann brandished a Vote Rog poster. David Penhaligon spoke and conducted the financial appeal at a crowded Conwy Town Hall dinner and that was just a week or so before his tragic death. Would our record as a party have been any different if David hadn't skidded on that black ...
2021 marks four years since the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower that claimed 72 lives. It shouldn't take a horror of that scale, or any scale, to prompt change, but yet political divides still seem to be preventing meaningful action taking place. As well as this grim anniversary, 2021 marks the beginning of long overdue regulatory reform, where we expect to see some of the biggest changes to building safety laws for over 40 years. Since the last time I wrote about the ongoing work led by the LGA, Lib Dem councillors, Lords and Parliamentarians to fight for tenant and ...
OK, to the top half of my ballot for this year's BSFA Award for Best Novel. Two of the below (Piranesi and The City We Became) are also on the Nebula ballot. In transparency, I nominated Piranesi myself; at that point in January I had read very few of this year's potential award nominees. They are all really good and it's a really tough choice Again you have to start somewhere. (Really, can't they all win?) 5) The Doors of Eden, by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Second paragraph of third chapter:Not for one moment had she considered not going. The phone line ...
During the pandemic local Councils have been permitted to hold formal meetings online, and this has enabled them to carry on Council business through lockdowns and other restrictions. The Government has now announced that this ruling will be withdrawn after 7th May and Councils will have to meet in person after that date. This is quite bizarre in the short term because meetings are not permitted under current Covid rules. According to the roadmap, from 17th May groups of 30 will be allowed to meet outdoors, but only 6 indoors. The earliest date at which meetings could be held indoors ...
The Liberal Democrats lost a much-loved colleague, mentor and campaigner on February 8th. David Penwarden was a member of the Party for about 70 years, his first role being President of the 1000-strong Oxford University Liberal Party. He took pride in making it the largest political society at the University, a feat he attributed to holding meetings at the women's colleges rather than the men's colleges where the other parties operated! He first stood as a Liberal candidate in the 1955 General Election in a, not unsurprisingly, unsuccessful campaign in West Ham North where he used beer-mats with the message ...
This is an excellent new project from Young Liberals, being run with the support of ALDC.
Someone asked me the other day what I thought our position should be on vaccine passports. I said that if we supported them, then it would be something that would make me question my membership of the party. Ed Davey has missed his chance to get rid of me with a blistering article in today's Telegraph: Liberal Democrats have always been the civil liberties party in British politics. Covid ID cards are illiberal, unworkable and even Michael Gove knows it [IMG: 👇] https://t.co/9fOaxOHFWx — Ed Davey MP [IMG: 🔶] [IMG: 🇪🇺] (@EdwardJDavey) March 31, 2021 He said that they would ...
Wed, 12:56: Sci-Fi Writer or Prophet? The Hyperreal Life of Chen Qiufan https://t.co/ArimI2eYf1 Very interesting long read. Wed, 16:05: RT @petergklein: You say my office is messy but check out Jean Piaget https://t.co/rCX7LfBgIK Wed, 16:26: Tough choice: both are flawed, both have their good points. https://t.co/gzq42crNQm Wed, 17:11: Why are the UK's drug laws so backward? https://t.co/evGtMKZWyD The "war on drugs" that the drugs are winning. Wed, 18:50: My BSFA votes: Best Novel, part 1 https://t.co/ci3vqoWQUD Wed, 22:36: RT @Ciara87C: Just thinking about how Diane Abbott drinking a mojito on the train got given more air time and press scrutiny ...
Lib Dems in Torquay have alerted us to the fact that a number of cruise ships have been anchored off shore since the first lockdown. Apparently long-term docking fees at the usual cruise ports are unaffordable for many cruise lines, and in any case there are simply not enough berths available worldwide for all the ships. Some careful research and negotiation have resulted in the proposal that is being considered seriously by the Federal Conference Committee – that Autumn Conference this year should be held in one of those underused ships. The resources are perfect on the ship which offers ...
The sudden spell in warm, dry weather has meant lots of growth in the garden and a chance to get out and get on with a bit of weeding and tidying up after such a long lockdown winter. These Pasque Flowers are a lovely welcome sight for Easter. The fierce frosts destroyed this old pot but the pansies it held survived, clearing up the pieces, I found this makers stamp with its pretty little flower motive intact. Peacock butterflies have been emerging in the sudden heat this week, I guess from hibernation, a delightful distraction. Indoors, pots of seedlings are ...
i) births and deaths 1 April 1917: birth of Sydney Newman, without whom etc etc. 1 April 1926: birth of John Scott Martin, Dalek operator and rubber-suited monster extraordinaire. ii) broadcast anniversaries 1 April 1967: broadcast of fourth episode of The Macra Terror. The Doctor floods the mines with oxygen and then blows them up, killing the Macra. 1 April 1972: broadcast of sixth episode of The Sea Devils. The Doctor sabotages the Sea Devils' base and it explodes killing them all; he and the Master escape. iii) date specified in canon 1 April 1963: setting of First Doctor novella ...
A resident recently advised me : 'I wonder if anything can be done about the lane leading from Hazel Drive, near Hazel Gardens, to Perth Road. The area by the drains is totally blocked by leaves and mud. When it rains, the path becomes a mini river.' I took this up with the Roads Maintenance Partnership and have now been advised that the local roads inspector has since checked the gullies at the top and bottom of this footpath and they are now clear. Our local environment manager has been asked to ensure the leaves in the path are removed. ...
Thu 1st
06:33
As campaign to protect potholes grows, Shropshire Council pledges to fly the Union Jack from longsta...
Potholes are part of our everyday life. As everyday as the shopping basket though rather more destructive of the wheels of cars, let alone the danger they pose to cyclists. But some potholes are exceptional and have gained celebrity status. Concerned about the continued destruction of potholes, Shropshire Councillor Andy Boddington, a former archaeologist, is calling for the county's most distinctive potholes to be protected with a Grade II listing from Historic England. He has also applauded the new tradition of pothole dressing. Dismissing the councillor's views, the leader of Shropshire Council has decreed that all long standing potholes in ...
The creation of custom songs used to be a big part of political campaigns a century and more ago.
Yesterday I referenced the report from No 10's Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which rather optimistically concluded that the UK should be seen as an international exemplar of racial equality, playing down the impact of structural factors in ethnic disparities. In fact the report has attracted a huge amount of criticism and scepticism with many people of colour arguing that it does not reflect their experience of living in the UK. There is a suspicion that the conclusions of the report are seeking to promote a government agenda, but that is not the most shocking part of it. That ...
