Yesterday a group from Hinckley and Bosworth went down to help out in the Chesham and Amersham by election. It was great to see so many other Lib Dems from across the country there to help the campaign of our excellent candidate Sarah Green. From speaking to people in the constituency it's clear many people are fed up with being taken for granted by the Conservatives and many long standing traditional Tory voters are considering backing us this time. Although it's traditionally been a strong Tory seat many Tory voters are open to backing Sarah Green to send a message ...

Posted by Michael Mullaney on Liberal Democrat Voice

It's fun. Not fun in the grim sense of 'mandatory fun session at work'. But fun in the sense of lots of people being in, lots of people being polite, lots of people willing to talk, lots of Lib Dem posters appearing and lots of trees (beautiful to look at and they make campaigning in the rain a rather drier experience than you might expect). I like Amersham's hedges. pic.twitter.com/aRAMXc4xd4 — Mark Pack [IMG: 🔶] (@markpack) May 30, 2021 Email* Enter Email Confirm Email Name* First Last What would you like to receive?* Liberal Democrat Newswire: monthly newsletter Polling UnPacked ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Is rape sentencing misogynistic? The online news organisation National World (no, I'd never heard of them either) published a series of articles this weekend examining rape sentencing data over the past few years. One piece of research concluded that 'rapists of men and boys are receiving tougher sentences than those who attack women and girls'.Continue reading "When statistics have an agenda: The difference between lobbyists and academia"

Posted by democracycoma on Democracy Coma
Sun 30th
15:18

Another genealogy case

I had a new DNA detective case last week. I connected via Reddit with a young woman in Las Vegas, who I'll call Maria. She had done the 23andMe test, and was surprised to find that her ancestry was more or less exactly 25% African. Her mother's family are of European descent, and her mother had always told Maria that her father was Mexican or Central American, but also that she could not remember any more details. (Her mother is, to put it delicately, not a reliable reporter. Maria and her half-brothers have been brought up by their mother's parents.) ...

Sun 30th
14:54

August 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, 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. I started August by inspecting the sculpture too scandalous to see in Brussels. We spent the second half of the month ...

Sun 30th
11:00

My tweets

Sat, 12:31: RT @Mij_Europe: "To be quite honest all these solutions are coming from our side... from the UK side we still do not have the basic answers... Sat, 16:02: Forrest Gump https://t.co/rioZQH2tyA Sat, 17:07: I see also that Thursday 9 June was followed by Saturday 10 June that year; I knew that I grew up in a twisted part of the universe... @senrab_nala https://t.co/T15HlRVUd1 Sat, 22:41: RT @SammyOWilson1: @Mij_Europe @spectator The Spectator was/is among a number of U.K. publications that rubbed its hands with glee in the h... Sun, 09:30: Whoniversaries 30 May https://t.co/zqeiDQuqb1 Sun, 10:41: RT @MSmithsonPB: It ...

Last week, Liberal Democrat Steven Webb became Mayor of Truro. Me and my daughter tonight. I have just become the Mayor of Truro. What an honour and privilege. #MayorOfTruro #Mayor pic.twitter.com/q5ybK4yzlq — Steven Webb (@_StevenWebb) May 17, 2021 A Lib Dem since his teenage years, he was first elected to Truro City Council in 2017. In 1991, he was paralysed in an accident. The BBC has done a profile of Stephen. He talked about what he hopes to achieve as Mayor: In a time where clinically vulnerable people have had to isolate for so long, I see it as an ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice
Sun 30th
10:35

Jeff Buckley: Grace

I chose a Jeff Buckley track 10 years ago, but he has been on my mind recently because of a BBC Radio documentary. The Grace of Jeff Buckley tells the story of a momentous day during his first solo UK tour in 1994. He was to die three years later aged only 30. This performance of his only LP's title track is taken from an edition of BBC2's The Late Show. I don't remember its presentation style being this stilted, but the video camera does not lie. And I wonder how it feels to be introduced with a reference to ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Sun 30th
08:30

Whoniversaries 30 May

i) births and deaths 30 May 1938: birth of Christopher Robbie, who played the Karkus in The Mind Robber (1969) and the Cyber-Leader in Revenge of the Cybermen (1975) ii) broadcast anniversaries 30 May 1964: broadcast of "The Warriors of Death", second episode of the story we now call The Aztecs. In his efforts to regain entrance to the tomb, the Doctor is inadvertently responsible for poisoning Ian. 30 May 1970: broadcast of fourth episode of Inferno. The Doctor is imprisoned, but escapes, trying to stop the drilling of the planet "screaming out its rage". 30 May 2003: webcast of ...

I have spent the last two days in Chesham and Amersham helping my good friend, Sarah Green, who is the Liberal Democrats' candidate in the by-election there, and have to say that things look promising. The Independent reports that discontent in the southern Tory shires over the government's planning reforms and Boris Johnson's focus on the northern "Red Wall" could put this rock-solid Conservative seat at risk in the upcoming by-election. They say Liberal Democrats are preparing to flood Chesham and Amersham with volunteers after internal polling showed Ed Davey's party making inroads into the Conservative vote in a leafy ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
YouGov

In today's World Review, our foreign affairs correspondent, Tom Arms, looks at the outcome of the bloody battle between Israel and Palestinians. Should there be an inquiry into the attack on capitol Hill? Or should the matter be left to the law authorities. The police are also investigating the latest mass shooting in America just as Texas loosens gun control laws. Here in Britain, our conflicts have been political - Cummings, Boris and Hancock. And Hungary's populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban is coming to Number 10. Will Boris challenge him on human rights? Hamas has declared victory in its latest ...

Posted by Tom Arms on Liberal Democrat Voice

The next Friends of Wighton Lunchtime Recital is on Wednesday 2nd June - 1.15pm - 1.45pm Friends of Wighton stalwart Sheena Wellington will be the guest in the Lunchtime Recital. The well-known local singer needs little introduction but promises to bring along some ballads, some stories and perhaps, some fun! Sheena Wellington is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Lunchtime Recital Time: Jun 2, 2021 01:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 837 1982 1692 Passcode: 548311