Embed from Getty ImagesThe website Left Foot Forward reports on the plans of Luisa Porritt, the Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate, to give London safer streets: She is calling for a shift in policing in the capital, following the heavy-handed policing of the vigil for Sarah Everard last month, as well as long-standing concerns over racist policing in the capital. Under Porritt's plans for the capital, London would see: A return to 'community policing', including doubling the number of dedicated ward officers. There has been growing concern about officers being 'parachuted in' from Scotland Yard to situations that should be ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Bromfield Road is one of the busiest roads in Ludlow, both with vehicle traffic and pedestrians going to and from Ludlow School. It is meant to be slow road, 20mph for the most part, but it is not a road that always feels safe. There are narrow pavements shadowed by trees that are crammed with students, especially in the afternoon at schools out. At times they spill out onto the poorly lit zebra crossing before traffic is fully at a halt. And now there is the pothole. Pothole is a misnomer. A crater up to 15cm deep has been forming ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

More sad news, I'm sorry to report. Earlier today Jonathan Fryer died after having been moved to a hospice earlier this year. Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett has written: I'm utterly devastated to announce the death of Jonathan Harold Fryer, this afternoon, 16th April 2021. He will be remembered by many people whose love and affection that Jonathan received over these past few weeks will never be forgotten. He was diagnosed with a terminal illness on 24th March and as per his request , he has asked me to share this photo of him [below] on Easter Sunday, 5th April 2021, in the ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

The conventional wisdom is that nuclear Armageddon was avoided in October 1962 by a plucky iron-willed young American President. Not quite. A new book by award-wining Russian author Serhii Plokhy reveals that the Cuban Missile Crisis was created by poor communication at every level in both countries and that it was more a matter of luck rather than pluck that saved the world. Miscommunication and misunderstanding remains a Russian-American problem and is now coming to the fore again over Ukraine. But back to October 27, 1962. The US naval blockade of Cuba had been in force for five days. To ...

Posted by Tom Arms on Liberal Democrat Voice
Fri 16th
18:04

Liz Marley 1967-2021

Devastated to hear of the sudden death of our old college friend Liz. She was tweeting away as usual on Monday night, did not log in to work on Tuesday, her employers were concerned enough on Wednesday to reach out to the Ravelry network, one of whom lived nearby, could not get an answer from her, called the police and found her. We don't know what happened, and it doesn't really matter; it's a huge shock anyway. Her 54th birthday would have been tomorrow week, two days before mine. We celebrated our 21st together, along with two other friends; here's ...

Fri 16th
17:30

January 2011 books

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 very soon after the previous one, which was 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. Much the most important thing that happened to ...

Fri 16th
17:15

Friday reading

Current Le dernier Atlas, tome 1, by Fabien Vehlmann, Gwen De Bonneval and Fred Blanchard The Complete Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant The Empress of Salt and Fortune, by Nghi Vo Last books finished Kathedralen uit de steentijd, by Herman Clerinx Riot Baby, by Tochi Onyebuchi Adventures in Lockdown, ed. Steve Cole Next books The Serpent Sea, by Martha Wells The Consuming Fire, by John Scalzi

This afternoon, Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds launched the party's Welsh Manifesto ahead of the Senedd elections on 6 May. Writing in the foreword to Put Recovery First, Jane said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has been tough on all of us, and we have much to do. We understand how you feel: frustration, exhaustion, loss, disappointment, anxiety, relief, hope. Like you, we want to focus on the things that are most important to you and your family after a tough year. To do that, we first have to get Wales back on its feet... "The Welsh Liberal Democrats will put ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: Money / banknotes (pounds sterling) in hand] Local authorities have been administering the Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG) and the Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) schemes on behalf of government since last November. Through the LRSG scheme mandatory grants have been awarded to eligible businesses in the district which are in the business rates system, while other businesses impacted by the pandemic have been catered for through the Folkestone & Hythe ARG discretionary scheme. In the 2021/22 financial year the LSRG is being replaced by a new one-off Restart (RGS) grant payment and the council has been allocated an additional ...

Luisa Porritt has launched her manifesto for the London mayoral elections on 6 May saying: "London is a liberal city. I'll offer the progressive alternative to Sadiq Khan's poor record our city needs. What would have been ten years of steady change has been accelerated in a year by the pandemic." Luisa is pledging to introduce a flexible travel card, block the Silvertown Tunnel and make the streets safer. "What would have been ten years of steady change has been accelerated in a year by the pandemic. The rise of online shopping. The shift towards homeworking. What would have been ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov
Fri 16th
11:00

My tweets

Thu, 12:56: RT @robertshrimsley: Johnson's colonial strategy for holding the UK together: https://t.co/InkLq0U2LD https://t.co/blKCDHSv72 Thu, 16:05: RT @seananmcguire: Okay. Let's take a moment to talk about How To Be A Hugo Nominee And Come Out Of It Happy About the Honor. I realize thi... Thu, 17:11: Voter distrust and non-stop polling shocks https://t.co/DPywOE58Wh A pollster writes that he thinks he has the answer. Thu, 18:22: Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco https://t.co/BndZ9Gpg5C Thu, 20:48: I check my inbox at 11.30pm and read an email about returning to the office. Disquiet sets in... https://t.co/tRb8tfMkBP The new world of work is not the ...

The Liberal Democrats have vowed to keep working to strengthen the landmark Domestic Abuse Bill, after Conservative MPs yesterday voted to remove crucial safeguards. The Liberal Democrats voted to retain cross-party amendments passed by the House of Lords last month, including measures that would: End the sharing of survivors' personal data with the Home Office for immigration purposes. Give survivors temporary leave to remain and access to public funds for at least six months. Establish a register of serial and serious perpetrators of domestic abuse and stalking. Ensure that all victims of domestic abuse are protected regardless of their migration ...

Posted by Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats will launch their national Police and Crime Commissioner campaign in Stockport by calling on the Government to restore community policing. New analysis by the party reveals more than 1.8 million crimes reported to the police last year closed without a suspect being identified. Separate figures show that half of all people say they never see police patrols in their local area. Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP, will today call for a return to proper community policing: "Everyone has the right to feel safe where they live and know those who commit crimes will be ...

Posted by Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

As the David Cameron/Greensill scandal continues to grow with more revelations spilling out from Commons Committee inquiries the question has to be asked as to what the watchdog set up to stop this sort of thing has been doing? According to the Mirror, they are effectively toothless with only 108 appointments out of the 34,000 people leaving the civil service being scrutinised last year: Lord Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), warned of the challenges scrutinising new jobs for officials as he said there did not appear to be "any boundaries at all" between civil servants ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
Fri 16th
08:30

Whoniversaries 16 April

i) births and deaths 16 April 1936: birth of Derrick Sherwin. On paper, he was producer of Doctor Who for only two stories and 14 episodes, the shortest tenure of anyone in the old regime. In fact he was the man who rescued the programme from collapse in Seasons 5 and 6 (as script editor and de facto assistant producer), invented UNIT and the Time Lords, and successfully rebooted the show in colour with a new Doctor in 1970. He also wrote, uncredited, one of the best single episodes of the entire original run, the first part of The Mind ...

If Lord Bonkers is afraid of anyone it's the Elves of Rockingham Forest. After all, no one in the Labour or Conservatives Parties is likely to turn you into a toad. Except Priti Patel, obviously. Friday The days when I could blithely start a diary entry with "To Cropwell Bishop" are long past. I have not visited even Bonkers House in Belgrave Square for a year, while the Hotel Splendide, Antibes, seems a distant dream. The Elves of Rockingham Forest still come go as they please, lighting their bonfires in my covers without a by your leave, but the rest ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

The Sustainable Wardrobe Workshop is a Gate Church Carbon Saving Project online event a week tomorrow - Saturday 24th April - at 11am. The project team advise : "Join us during Fashion Revolution Week to hear how you can make your wardrobe more sustainable and why this is so important, just as all the high street fast fashion brands are preparing to reopen. We'll be joined by Adele The Sustainable Stylist from House of Colour, who will be sharing her tips with us on how to thrift like a pro. We'll be sharing information about our Community Wardrobe and other ...

This must be the most famous exchange between Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey. As so often, Bernard is allowed to steal the scene. It comes from an edition of Yes, Prime Minister first broadcast on 23 December 1987. Yet, beautifully done though it is, these lines were not original. I can remember seeing a version of them on a junk fax (ask your parents) a year or two earlier. Dirty Feed has gone into their origins in detail. He has traced them back to July 1976 and promises further revelations.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England