Embed from Getty ImagesAndy Hogan, who fought the seat at the 2017 and 2019 general elections, has been unanimously adopted as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Hartlepool by-election. The contest will take place on 6 May. The Northern Echo quotes Andy: "I have decided to stand for a third time so that people have another choice beyond Labour and the Conservatives. "There should never be one in three Hartlepool children living in poverty in one of the richest countries in the world, we need a more caring country. "If elected, I pledge to stand up for local people. "In ...
It's funny really, in that I've been a Party member for more than thirty-five years now - I joined the then Union of Liberal Students in 1984 - and always had a role of some kind, even when I was busy doing other things. It would be fair to say that what I've done has seldom been glamorous, and certainly not front of house. But, where constitutions have needed to be applied, or elections run, I've generally turned up sooner or later. For, despite my rather forlorn protests that I'd like to be more engaged with the "idea stuff", I ...
Current Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco Kaleidoscope: diverse YA science fiction and fantasy stories, eds Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios Worlds Apart, by Richard Cowper Network Effect, by Martha Wells Last books finished Water Must Fall, by Nick Wood The Sunken Land Begins To Rise Again, by M. John Harrison Romeinse sporen: het relaas van de Romeinen in de Benelux met 309 vindplaatsen om te bezoeken, by Herman Clerinx Scottish independence: EU membership and the Anglo-Scottish border, by Akash Paun, Jess Sargeant, James Kane, Maddy Thimont Jack and Kelly Shuttleworth The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris Next books ...
No more wasted votes! Police and crime commissioners are elected using the supplementary vote system. This video explains how that works. https://youtu.be/Vv7uwfJeVxc The post Fair Votes For Police and Crime Commissioners first appeared on David Watts.
I'm delighted to now be confirmed as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner election in Nottinghamshire. I'd like to thank all my colleagues for putting their trust in me. This is the first time that the Lib Dems have contested the PCC elections in the county and so we're going at this all guns blazing. In my campaign I'll be highlighting three key aims. First the police and the public need to work in partnership to tackle crime, second the police and the criminal justice system must be given the resources to do their job properly, ...
Responding to the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published this week, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Equalities Wera Hobhouse MP commented: "As the Black Lives Matter protests highlighted so powerfully, too many people's lives both in the UK and across the world are blighted by discrimination, inequality and injustice. It is unacceptable. "There is still so much to do to tackle racial injustice in our country, from the shocking number of Black and Asian children in poverty, to the over-representation of Black and mixed-race people in prison, to the courts and corporate boards still dominated by white ...
Derek Chauvin, three other police officers, the rest of American policemen, law enforcement generally, the legal system, racism and racial justice are on trial in a Minneapolis courtroom. First, the sketchy facts of the case. African-American George Floyd was arrested after allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Officer George Chauvin held him to the ground by pressing his knee against his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. By the time the ambulance arrived, George Floyd was dead. Chauvin is charged with manslaughter, second degree murder and third degree murder. He faces the possibility of 40 years in prison. George ...
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days (though this one is late) I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in recent circumstances. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia The major work development of the month was the departure of my Irish intern K and ...
Thu, 12:50: RT @blackpoppies14: To my horror I named as one of the 'academics & individuals' who was consulted by the Commission on Race & Ethnic Dispa... Thu, 12:56: Liz Truss: Britain's new Iron Lady https://t.co/Yd0KzloZaJ I remember her as head of the Oxford University Lib Dems, making a party conference speech on ?the monarchy ?cannabis. Wonder if footage survives? Thu, 14:41: RT @alexwilcock: @nwbrux Oh dear, I remember her all too well. And she was for abolishing the monarchy - the cannabis debate was fixed so n... Thu, 16:05: What Would Happen If States Started Looking at Cyber Operations ...
Only the one council by-election this week, a contest in Wales with a Liberal Democrat candidate. Great to see the Welsh run of Lib Dem candidates continue. St Kingsmark, Monmouthshire Jenni Brews stood for the Liberal Democrats in this Conservative seat, moving up into a good second place. St Kingsmark (Monmouthshire) result: CON: 55.7% (+11.0) LDEM: 29.2% (+23.1) LAB: 15.1% (+5.9) Conservative HOLD. No Ind (-39.9) as prev. [new tweet – % chgs. corrected] — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) April 1, 2021
Anybody who has read Maja Lunde's book 'The History of Bees' will understand the key role they play within the world's ecology system and the dramatic and devastating impact of them dying out will have on our environment and the survival of the human race. If you have not read it, then please do. It was disturbing to read in the Guardian therefore, that new research has shown the toxic impact of pesticides on bees and other pollinators has doubled in a decade despite a fall in the amount of pesticide used. The paper says modern pesticides have much lower ...
i) births and deaths 2 April 1934: birth of the great Robert Holmes, script editor from Robot (1974-75) to Image of the Fendahl (1977), and author of The Krotons (Second Doctor, 1968-69), The Space Pirates (Second Doctor, 1969), Spearhead from Space (Third Doctor, 1970), Terror of the Autons (Third Doctor, 1971), Carnival of Monsters (Third Doctor, 1973), The Time Warrior (Third Doctor, 1973-74), The Ark in Space (Fourth Doctor, 1975), Pyramids of Mars (1975), The Brain of Morbius (co-author, 1976), The Deadly Assassin (1976), The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977), The Sun Makers (Fourth Doctor, 1977), The Ribos Operation (Fourth Doctor, ...
A West End resident recently contacted me regarding the bins at Seabraes : "I had a lovely walk up Perth Road yesterday but was saddened to see the gulls had been out in force at Seabraes. Any chance the bins can be changed to the ones at City Quay which are more gull proof please?" I took this up with our local environment manager who has now updated me as follows : 'Just a quick note to say that we are looking into this. Any replacement bins would have to be in keeping with the rest of the furniture and ...
