From Nation Cymru: A former leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has been expelled from the party for advising the Tories on how to beat them, it has been reported. Lembit Öpik, who used to be the MP for Montgomeryshire, upset his former colleagues when he claimed the party had become a "become a parody of itself" and suggested that there is "currently no vaccine against stupidity". In the run up to the Senedd election, he spoke at a 'How to Stop the Lib Dems with Lembit Öpik' event organised by the Conservative Party. He was introduced by former Secretary ...
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds used her first question as a Member of the Senedd to the First Minister to demand action on ending violence against women and girls. This comes at a time when Operation Encompass, an initiative set up to notify schools if domestic abuse has taken place in pupils' homes, report that there has been a huge rise in Public Protection Notices to do with domestic abuse to 2254 from September 2020 to March 2021 compared to 1043 during the same period in the previous year. The impact of Covid-19 appears to be severe. What actions, ...
When I first arrived back in Scotland in 2000, Matthew Clark worked in the Lib Dem staff pool in the Scottish Parliament, then deputy to a certain Willie Rennie. He went on to serve as a senior special adviser in those happy days of the Lib Dem/Labour coalition. Out of Government, he became Chief of Staff to the Lib Dem Group, a role he's held since 2007. He actually started out as a very young councillor in Southampton and he and Willie first met at the Christchurch by-election where Willie was the campaign manager and Matthew had the job of ...
Second paragraph of March:My mother has become a force I no longer recognize. She burst into my flat this morning as I sat slumped in my dressing gown, sulkily painting my toenails and watching the preamble to the racing.I had of course read this years ago when it first came out. It's still pretty funny, even though some parts of it have dated - nobody has a mobile phone, for instance, and nobody is on social media which did not exist in the prehistoric days of (checks) 1996. There are some hilarious moments and good bits of human observation. It's ...
[IMG: Proposed new Constituency Boundaries for Folkestone and Hythe] The first proposed draft boundaries for Folkestone and Hythe constituency are the current Folkestone and Hythe District Council boundary minus Elham Valley (North Downs East and North Downs West wards). Folkestone and Hythe constituency is currently the full district plus Saxon Shore ward from Ashford BC, but population growth on the electoral roll was always likely to see the constituency at least revert to the District boundary. That there are now too many people in the district to fit in one constituency (on the Government's rules) so a part of the ...
There's been a lot of coverage already about Stonewall and gender identity in the past few weeks. Indeed, there's been much written about the topic for far longer than that too. Madness probably lies in attempting to add to it. So, all I'll say of my own view is that I think it's a veryContinue reading "How not to do a media interview - courtesy of Benjamin Cohen, CEO of Pink News"
Tue, 12:56: RT @SJAMcBride: In what should have been his honeymoon as leader, Edwin Poots is presiding over chaos in the DUP. Poots finds himself leade... Tue, 15:32: RT @JP_Biz: The Biden administration's point person on Brexit is Queens Uni Belfast alum Amanda Sloat. She's Senior Director for Europe on... Tue, 15:32: RT @irishagreement: @JP_Biz @A_Sloat while at Brookings also wrote their Brexit End Game series reporting every detail of the Brexit circus... Tue, 16:05: Best of a good thread. https://t.co/HW9whkhzeN Tue, 17:11: RT @Sime0nStylites: If I was seeking international agreement for a climate 'Marshall plan' I wld have already ...
The Guardian reports that the row between the UK and the EU over checks on sausages and other chilled foods sent from Britain to Northern Ireland has deepened, with the Brexit minister telling Brussels that trade war threats will not wash with voters. They say the UK government is reportedly considering unilaterally extending the grace periods under the protocol that give businesses in Northern Ireland time to adapt to new rules - including for the import of chilled meats such as sausages, chicken nuggets and mince from Great Britain. What is ironic of course is that this so-called crisis is ...
One of the things that has been saddest about the none medical and care aspects of the Coronavirus is the way that it is totally obscuring the problems to our economy caused by Brexit. In the last week two things ... Continue reading →
Nation.Cymru reports: A former leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has been expelled from the party for advising the Tories on how to beat them, it has been reported... In the run up to the Senedd election, he spoke at a 'How to Stop the Lib Dems with Lembit Öpik' event organised by the Conservative Party. He was introduced by former Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling, Conservative Member of Parliament for Epsom and Ewell... "I gravitate towards common sense and liberty,' says Lembit Öpik. "Sadly, If the modern day Lib Dem party has its way, there'll be a ...
Controversial former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik has reportedly been expelled from the Liberal Democrats after he spoke at a Conservative Party event on how to beat the Lib Dems. From Nation Cymru: Lembit Öpik, who used to be the MP for Montgomeryshire, upset his former colleagues when he claimed the party had become a "become a parody of itself" and suggested that there is "currently no vaccine against stupidity". In the run up to the Senedd election, he spoke at a 'How to Stop the Lib Dems with Lembit Öpik' event organised by the Conservative Party. He was introduced ...
i) births and deaths 9 June 1950: birth of David Troughton, son of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, who played Private Moor in The War Games (Second Doctor, 1969), King Peladon in The Curse of Peladon (Third Doctor, 1972) and Professor Hobbes in Midnight (Tenth Doctor, 2008) as well as the Black Guardian for Big Finish and the Second Doctor for the Serpent's Crest series. ii) broadcast anniversaries 9 June 1973: broadcast of fourth episode of The Green Death. Mike Yates and the Doctor go undercover to penetrate Global Chemicals. 9 June 2007: broadcast of Blink. The Doctor and Martha try ...
New research by Liberal Democrats/Savanta has shown that 30 per cent of British adults self-identify as someone who has unpaid caring responsibilities for a family member or friend due to illness - almost 1 in 3 UK adults. The research surveyed over 2,000 UK adults and prompted Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey to call on the Government to give unpaid carers support to take time off. In further research commissioned for Carers Week (7 -11 June), a Carers UK survey revealed 72 per cent of unpaid carers have not been able to have a break since the Coronavirus pandemic began. ...
In response to the Ministerial Statement on upholding employment rights and plans for a new 'workers' watchdog', Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Business, Sarah Olney MP, said: "This is a long-overdue step towards properly enforcing workers' rights, but we need to see far more action from the Government. "It is unacceptable that this announcement comes without new legislation or funding. This body must be written into law as soon as possible, and receive enough funding to employ at least one labour inspector per 10,000 workers. "Making a real difference to workers' lives takes more than a new watchdog. The Government must ...
The Dundee City Archives blog has a great article about the very first pupils who attended Harris Academy after it was first established in 1885. This can be read here.
We have all seen it. Plastic recyclables blown out of boxes put out on the pavement ready for collection for Veolia. The boxes are not fit for purpose. They do not have lids and even if that was the case, there is a chance of the lids going the same way as the plastic milk bottles and trays that litter our streets in a decent storm. The good news is that Conservative administration for Shropshire made an election pledge to replace boxes with wheelie bins. The bad news is that the Conservatives had not worked through the election pledge. Any ...
Embed from Getty ImagesIn my early days with Liberator I reviewed The Yawning Heights, a satire of the Soviet system by the Russian philosopher Alexander Zinoviev. Its title at least has remained with me all these years, and I was reminded of it when I read Tom McTague's profile of Boris Johnson for The Atlantic. Because, though Johnson has devoted his life to becoming a 'character', the clear impression of him you get from this profile is that there's nothing there. The man is a vacuum. McTague has scaled the yawning heights of Boris Johnson.
