Second paragraph of third chapter:Even before night had ended there had been signs of trouble. At five o'clock a landslide had caved in the stable at Kress's brewery, and anyone who was awake then could hear the rivers. By six everyone who was up and about knew that Johnstown was in for a bad time. The rivers were rising at better than a foot an hour. They were a threatening yellow-brown color and already full of logs and big pieces of lumber that went bounding along as though competing in some sort of frantic race.I picked this up out of ...

On Monday 12th July the Commons will debate the 2nd Reading of the Higher Education (Academic Freedom) Bill. This Bill, which closely follows the recommendations of two Policy Exchange papers and of Toby Young's Free Speech Union, provides for the Office for Students (OfS) to regulate and enforce rules on free speech within universities, and establishes the new post of 'Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom' in the OfS. It gives students, staff and visiting speakers the right to sue universities and student unions for alleged breaches of free speech, with fines to be imposed. The OfS may ...

Posted by Lord William Wallace on Liberal Democrat Voice

The Guardian reports that leading homelessness charities have made an unprecedented joint plea to UK ministers to reconsider the police and crime bill, warning it could in effect criminalise large numbers of people simply for being homeless. They say thirteen charities and housing groups have written to \Robert Jenrick, the housing and communities secretary to say that urgent changes are needed to the bill to avoid the risk of people being arrested and imprisoned for sleeping rough: The police, crime, sentencing and courts bill passed through the Commons this week and will now be considered in the Lords. It features ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

It's Wimbledon. Surrounded by screens I am watching a couple of games at once. John McEnroe is commenting. He is famous of course for his comments on court. "You can't be serious man. You cannot be serious!" This came to mind because of an open letter from Steve Charmley earlier in the week. He is the deputy leader of Shropshire Council who backed a £5 million annual cut from the highways budget under Peter Nutting's leadership. Now he has nothing but good news about highways. Our roads are to be manicured as perfectly as the lawn of Centre Court. There ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington
Thu 8th
12:50

Ecocidal thoughts

Ecocide, unlike Geocide, has yet to be embedded in international law. Ecocide, as envisaged, would perhaps be reserved for extreme forms of our everyday Planet Abuse and directed at corporates and government leaders whose policies wreak so much damage. Even so, the chances of such condemnation becoming law are minimal - and the chances of it acting as any deterrent, even less. Like so much else in the hot air of climate debating circles, the notion of Ecocide is as purely symbolic as national flag waving or political greenwashing. On the other hand, everyday Planet Abuse is more easily understood ...

Posted by David Brunnen on Liberal Democrat Voice
Thu 8th
11:00

My tweets

Wed, 16:57: RT @AFP: #BREAKING Haiti President Jovenel Moise assassinated: interim PM https://t.co/b6rFriYfjv Wed, 18:11: Boys in Zinc, by Svetlana Alexievich https://t.co/0RrWTcpCOf Wed, 21:30: 😂🤣😂🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰 Wed, 23:12: Well, *that* was dramatic. Thu, 09:55: RT @timboltonuk: @gwennoschmenno @scumbelievable Checking into sources - is this going to be Mary Renault? There is some info about her rel... Thu, 10:45: It Was All a Dream by Raheem Sterling https://t.co/EHmZ7llUFt If you are going to read one piece about the football, make it this one.

Thanks to lockdown I'm not getting the chance to meet Liberal Democrat members and supporters at events in the way I'd usually do.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

We pride ourselves on the idea that party members make policy at Federal Conference. There is an idea that any member can write a motion, get the required support, and submit it to Conference and the members will then discuss it. This is not quite reality. The 30th June was the deadline for submitting motions for Federal Conference. Imagine you have spent weeks working on your motion. You submitted it for drafting advice and have made some of the suggested changes. You got the support needed to submit it and have submitted it. Now you wait to hear if it ...

Posted by Michael Berwick-Gooding on Liberal Democrat Voice

Rosehill Gardens is the new housing estate in Lydiate which, by road, can only be reached via Maghull's Turnbridge Road. However, it now has pedestrian and cycle access into the rest of Lydiate. The link from the estate is onto the Leeds Liverpool Canal towpath not far from the Bells Lane swing bridge. Rosehill Gardens Leeds Liverpool Canal link as seen on 2nd July 2021 during construction. I was recently asked why this link had seemingly moved from where it was originally planned to be i.e. slightly nearer towards Bells Lane? A look at the works to provide the link ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

Residents have highlighted to me that Perth Road/Ryehill Lane corner site and seating area is again looking very unkempt. This was in the ownership of JC Decaux who owned the original advertising hoardings at the rear of the site. My understanding is that the company was some time ago wishing to sell the site but I have written to a contact at JC Decaux to ascertain current ownership to get the area tidied. I had hoped that a substantive improvement of the site could have been achieved through the Spaces for People funding in relation to district shopping centres but ...

YouGov

West of Scotland Cricket Club in 1910. Is this the real home of football? (Photo: The Glasgow Story) We've been hearing a lot in the last few weeks about how football is "coming home". Fans are talking about it. Commentators are telling us about it. Newspaper reporters are getting excited about it. Conservative MPs are tweeting about it, even the Home Secretary whose usual level of interest in football is on a par with her knowledge of the finer points of the Refugee Convention. Forget the implications of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill - all that really seems ...

Posted by Andrew on A Scottish Liberal