Suzanne Fletcher is one of the hardest working, humanitarian, compassionate people I have ever known. She has devoted her life improve living conditions for the poorest people with the least power. Her local paper, the Darlington and Stockton Times, has done a wonderful profile of her as part of their series of features inspired by Middlesborugh Soroptimists' list of outstanding local women. Suzanne talked of her own experience of poor housing when she was small: "We lived in an awful place, near the slag heaps," says Suzanne. "It was difficult and dangerous as there was so much pollution in the ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice
Sun 18th
14:11

Napoleon

There is a big exhibition about Napoleon in Paris, and in the course of a long weekend there F and I visited it yesterday. It's alway interesting to see what is included and what is not in an exhibition like this. Napoleon's career as a military and political leader lasted only 20 years, but he packed a lot into that time. The exhibition is big on art and artefacts, including several of the classic portraits: And also the coach that took Napoleon to his coronation and his second marriage, and some pretty amazing domestic objects. Videos of talking heads and ...

The Greens were in the gods, the sound system was in the pits and the Speaker was stage left. As for Robert Tindall, he exited Theatre Severn stage right in Shakespearean style. Robert, Tory councillor for Cleobury North, was dismissed from the Southern Planning Committee in a callous act by the council leader just because he voted for what his constituents believed in. It was a dark day for Shropshire. The wrong plan for our county. And the wrong approach to democracy for our modern age. It confirmed that planning in Shropshire under the current Tory regime is about politics, ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

Willie Rennie has done two major interviews this weekend talking about his decision to stand aside as Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and his hopes for the future. The Times (£) leader had praise for him yesterday, too: It is to be hoped that Mr Rennie remains active in public life. He has been a cheerful voice for a more decent politics and his brand of low-key, relaxed liberalism is more necessary than ever. After a summer running in the hills he should return to the fray, ready to play his part in building a bigger and better centre. Willie spoke ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

You couldn't make it up. It's like reading the cover of Private Eye. Health secretary Sajid Javid gets a positive Covid-19 result. If the Prime Minister and Chancellor, who met with him on Friday, were ordinary mortals, they would have been banished into the self-isolation wilderness for 10 days. But those at the heart of government live more privileged lives. Driving to Barnard's Castle to test eyesight. Sneaking a clinch with a mistress, though forgetting to smile for the CCTV. And now Johnson and Sunak, who must not to be confused with the comedy act Laurel and Hardy no matter ...

Posted by Andy Boddington on Liberal Democrat Voice
Sun 18th
11:00

My tweets

Sat, 17:50: April 2012 books https://t.co/HKHIROpppi Sun, 11:22: https://t.co/urgGIPAsyv Sun, 11:48: Tremor, by Bridget Riley https://t.co/32eX9kwvRy

This Tory Government is not known for its moral integrity. Huge amounts of cash have been given on mate's rates contracts to people on a VIP procurement list which seems to consist solely of Tory donors. A Health Secretary who ... Continue reading →

Posted by richardkemp on But what does Richard Kemp think?

If you are hoping to be a Lib Dem Councillor next May, you really need to be a member of ALDC, the Association of Lib Dem Councillors and Campaigners. They have all the tools you need to win and you will be able to access all of them and attend their brilliant online training if you join. They are having an online conference for members which includes their AGM on Saturday 4th September. There are sessions on things like how to win, how to make a difference in your community and local government in Europe. ALDC Chief Executive Tim Pickstone ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

There was a meme on Twitter a while back about the five albums in your collection that meant most to you when you were 17. I doubt that I owned five albums at that age - blame poverty and the lack of anyone to guide me. And I am certain that when I was 14 I relied on Radio One and (under the bedclothes) Radio Luxembourg for my music. Thanks to them, I have fond memories of this single from 1974. It may be an obvious Beach Boys pastiche, but it reached 13 in the UK singles chart. And in ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

I think we were all aware that Boris Johnson's government had abandoned evidence-based policy making some time ago, preferring instead for their legislation to pander to various minority elements and prejudices as part of their war in 'woke' culture. It comes as no surprise therefore, that the Home Secretary has been caught out doing precisely that. The Observer reports that Priti Patel is under fresh pressure after she appears to have misled parliament on proposed powers to crack down on protests and, separately, issued a statement on her asylum bill that does not seem to be supported by evidence. They ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black
YouGov

Just as it looked like the rates of infection in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin were slowing a little, they are now soared up. Cases of Covid-19 are growing by around 70% a week in Shropshire and 75% in Telford. That's much higher than in England as a whole, where rates are increasing by around 30% a week. The growth in infection is among children of school age and young adults. No area of Shropshire or Telford is now free of Covid-19. That includes south west Shropshire where rates have gone from zero at the beginning of June to 102 ...

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington

Cuba may be reaching the end of its search for Utopian Socialism - shop shelves are empty and people are hungry. Ten years from now 2021 will be known as the year that the world was dragged kicking and screaming to the reality of climate change. The Taliban continues its march to victory with the capture of a key border crossing in the southeast corner on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Boris Johnson's win on foreign aid this week was the world's loss. Cuba may be reaching the end of its long search for Utopian Socialism. Shop shelves are empty. People are ...

Posted by Tom Arms on Liberal Democrat Voice

Following his decision to stand down as leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, Willie Rennie has given an interview with The Scotsman: "I don't want to be involved in a politics that is driven by fear and even if I don't win as a result I am not going to be driven by that," he said. Highlighting the debate in the House of Commons around international aid, which led to a cut in overall aid funding and the decision to remove the £20 uplift in Universal Credit, Mr Rennie said both results "chips away" and "undermines" public trust in the ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

A resident recently contacted me about overgrown foliage on Riverside Drive near to the roundabout with Riverside Avenue, stating : "Branches are overhanging shared footpath/cycle path. Because cyclists are higher above ground level when seated there's a need to "duck" to avoid direct contact with the branches to face or head." I raised this with the City Council and the foliage has now been cut back.