I journeyed to London on Sunday for a couple of days of history related activities. I'm working on a history talk about John Nash, the Georgian and Regency architect who designed Buckingham Palace, Regent Street and a long list of other buildings. One of his biggest projects outside London was the building of Ravensworth Castle in Gateshead. Nash designed the Marble Arch which was installed
My attendance at local fairs normally entails the bringing of a goat. I'm regularly asked to take a goat, or other animal, to local fairs. On Saturday last week, I wasn't asked by the organiser of the Dunston fair (Labour Councillor for Dunston and Teams Brenda Clelland) to bring any of my 4 legged friends so I brought a two legged one instead, in the form of Cllr Peter Maughan! Good time
Last week I went to the Gateshead Lib Dem pool night at the Lock and Quay pub on the Gateshead Quays, next to the Swing Bridge. I have not played pool for over 30 years and this was reflected in my one miserable attempt to win a game (I came second, out of 2!) Still, it was quite a fun night out. It showed that being in the Lib Dems was not all about meetings, delivering Focuses and
I thought of this old television commercial a while ago, but I've only just found it because I had convinced myself it was advertising Viennetta. What I also found, thanks to a Guardian article, is that Alan Bennett praised it in his diary of 2003 for the London Review of Books: 30 August. A commercial for Carte D'Or ice cream I would have been very pleased to have written. A family which includes the aged grandmother is having Sunday dinner. 'Pass your father the potatoes,' the mother says to the grown-up son. 'He's not your father,' snaps the grandmother. 'We ...
[IMG: Emma Macdonald selection graphic] Shetland News reports: Shetland Islands Council (SIC) leader Emma Macdonald has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Shetland in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election... Speaking to Shetland News, Macdonald said she was "really excited and delighted" but added that there is a "huge amount of work that now needs to come"... The Lib Dems were on the look-out for a new candidate for the 2026 Holyrood election after the party's current Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart confirmed she would be standing down. Elected as an independent councillor, Emma Macdonald joined the Liberal Democrats in ...
To London, for one of my infrequent visits to the big city. And, on a mildly unpleasantly hot day, it possibly wasn't the ideal day to don a suit and tie. But, given the occasion, one does what one must. Jenny Randerson passed away early in the New Year, and today was the occasion of her memorial service, held appropriately at the Welsh Church in Central London, a short stroll from Oxford Circus. And, having "worked" with Jenny - we'd been on Federal International Relations Committee together and been to a number of ALDE Party events together - I felt ...
"Since the Truss debacle, the UK has had to pay a substantial premium over other G7 countries to borrow in the bond markets. In other words, it has to pay a higher rate of interest on its gilts than it normally would. A similar message is being sent by the stock market where, since Brexit, UK shares have traded at a huge discount to European and US shares."Simon Nixon says Rachel Reeves' misfortune is to be the teller of hard truths in a country only interested in easy answers. Emily Kenway asks why carers are so often made to feel ...
Back when I worked in a big consultancy firm, one of the pivotal moments of my career was the day when I stopped referring to the firm as 'KPMG' (because that was, and still is, it's name) and started referring to it as 'we'. This doesn't sound like much of a change. And grammatically it wasn't a big deal. But in terms of how people responded to it, it was huge. Colleagues instantly perceived me as more senior than I was. (And I was already fairly senior.) Clients actively sought out my opinion and paid more attention to what I ...
Social security must be achieved by co-operation between the State and the individual. The state should offer security for service and contribution. The State in organising security should not stifle incentive, opportunity, responsibility; in establishing a national minimum, it should leave room and encouragement for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than that minimum for himself and his family. These were the words of William Beveridge in his work on "Social Insurance and Allied Services", more commonly known as The Beveridge Report. Thanks to Beveridge, the UK has a healthcare system that is free at the point of ...
Although our Tuesday ward surgeries do not take place over the school summer holidays, we are holding a Thursday street surgery tonight as usual to speak with residents on any local issues or concerns they may have. Should you have an issue you wish to discuss with us, e-mail us at westend@dundeelibdems.org.uk or call Dundee 459378 and we will be pleased to meet you - many thanks.
Having sat through a meeting yesterday, scrutinising the draft Regional Transport plan for south west Wales, I can very much identify with the criticism being levied at the Welsh Transport Minister in the Senedd, that the Welsh Government has secured "literally nothing at all" in railway investment west of Cardiff from the UK Government's recent spending review. Nation Cymru reports that the critcism came from Plaid Cymru's Cefin Campbell during a scrutiny session on the work of Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Ken Skates: Last month, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she had delivered what the Welsh Government had asked for ...
