Last week, a fire destroyed the former Debenhams building in the heart of Edinburgh. The Princes Street building was once the home of the Scottish Liberal Club. The premises were sold in 1970 and many of the artefacts, including a bust of Gladstone, were removed by the Scottish Liberal Club. However, the beautiful wood panelled library was destroyed in the fire. This was covered by the Edinburgh Evening News in which Convener of the Scottish Liberal Club Faith Sutherland and President (and LDV contributor) Lin Macmillan were quoted: The Scottish Liberal Club, which once owned the property, has urged Historic ...
Liberal Democrats believe in a limited state and a market economy. We are naturally cautious about how much of the economy should be taken by the state. Our party started out strictly opposed to high taxes: 'peace, retrenchment and reform'. But the largest share of 19th century central taxation went on the army and navy, and Liberals opposed imperial expansion and geopolitical strategy. At the local level Liberals taxed and spent, on the 'municipal socialism' of water, public health, gas, electricity and transport, against Tory opposition. From W. E. Forster's Education Act onwards, Liberals committed government to spend on improving ...
An interesting perspective on working with Andy Burnham comes from former Special Adviser to Nick Clegg Shabnum Mustapha. Shabnum advised Nick on Scotland media matters during the coalition years. In 2019, she moved to Manchester to take up a job with the Greater Manchester Authority as Assistant Director of news and media. She writes about how then Mayor Andy Burnham, before he was King of the North and Future PM, operated: My experience of working with him is that he gets things done. He has a strong work ethic, he's very driven and he's ambitious about what he wants to ...
I chose this as a Sunday music video when Val Doonican died in 2015. I wrote then: Val Doonican is worth noticing for two reasons. First, because younger generations will have no idea how popular a figure he was in his heyday. The Val Doonican Music Show ran on BBC1 for more than 20 years. And it was the characteristically named LP Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently that knocked Sergeant Pepper off the top of the album charts. Second, because this is one of the first singles I remember - a cover of the American version by the song's writer ...
Sam Bright explains what is missing from the Covid Inquiry PPE report: "Long before the pandemic struck, the governing party had established a fundraising system that handed influence to those with the fattest chequebooks. The Conservatives, and Westminster as a whole, created the conditions for the PPE scandal long before even the first whiff of Covid in Wuhan." Andrew Page shares his thoughts on the reaction to the death of Ann Widdecombe: "It has been deeply depressing to see some people going much further than this and celebrating her death online. Quite apart from the cruelty shown towards her family ...
[IMG: 4 parallel white vertical lines on orange background ALDC logo] Sixteen principal authority by-elections took place across England, Wales and Scotland last week, with two taking place on Tuesday and 14 on Thursday. The Liberal Democrats were the main defenders this week, attempting to hold onto five seats. The Green Party and Plaid Cymru were defending three each, with Labour and the Independents defending two apiece, and Reform UK on just one this week. Triple race in Haslemere Both of Tuesday's principal authority by-elections were triggered by the sad passing of Liberal Democrat Cllr John Robini, who as well ...
Donald Trump has famously made it his business to interfere in the electoral process in the USA, seeking ro stop mail-in ballots, restricting voting rights for certain minorities and encouraging the gerrymandering of boundaries to favour his republican party. Reform haven't gone that far yet, though they are not in a position to implement those sort of changes, but an amendment to the elections bill by their MPs certainly seems to be of the same ilk. Byline Times portrays this amendement as seeking to prevent candidates from using the Irish language, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish on election leaflets, but of ...
In 1980 the were serious proposals, and not for the first time, to close both Marylebone and St Pancras stations in London. Jago Hazzard takes us through the plans and why they came to nothing. Before I go any further, let my suggest you like this video, follow him on YouTube and have a look at his Patreon page. One thing he does not explain is how trains from the Midland Main Line would have reached Euston. There was no existing connection they could have used nor any obvious new one that could have been built. I don't know what ...
There have been a growing number of stories in recent years about extreme disciplinary regimes in schools run by multi-academy trusts. One of these has come to a head today, with the announcement by the Athena Learning Trust that it will dissolve itself transfer its schools to other organisations. The trust runs nine schools across Devon and Cornwall. Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, reports BBC News, welcomed the announcement saying it was "an important step for pupils and parents". The report also says: MP Ben Maguire said he had met a number of concerned parents, students, ...
Rhodri Morgan statue – photo credit: David Deans, BBC. Our man on the ground, Cllr William (Bill) Powell, attended the unveiling of the Rhodri Morgan statue at the Pierhead in Cardiff. Rhodri Morgan was the First Minister of Wales from 2000-2009 and steered the country through the initial growing pains of devolution. Championing a 'clear red water' policy for Welsh Labour that focused on social democracy and universal services. He made a conscious decision to distance Welsh Labour from many of the policies of the Westminster Labour Government. Seen as 'Old Labour', he was a Welsh speaker and a long-standing ...
Recently, I caught self-styled 'Inequality Economist' Gary Stevenson's Documentary, How to Get Filthy Rich on Channel 4; to say it frustrated me would be an understatement. The fundamental thesis of the documentary is that rising inequality is going to leave the grand majority of the population worse off, (which is true) and that the solution to this is a wealth tax. I've explained my concerns with a wealth tax before, but I think I'm going to go into more detail on my problems with it here, not only because it is becoming a thorn in the side of serious Left-wing ...
With the Conservatives languishing at 19 per cent in the latest YouGov poll, Kemi Badenoch has decided she knows what her party's problem is. It's appeal is too broad. So, according to both Conservative Home and the Spectator, a new purge of its membership and elected representatives is underway. Oliver Dean writes on Conservative Home:In a move which properly began last Friday, Badenoch announced that only those who back the Conservatives' commitment to scrapping net zero and leaving the ECHR will be approved as parliamentary candidates. Anyone who won't fall in line will be blocked, or have the whip removed ...
It is an obvious answer I'm afraid - the service that the train companies provide is awful. In the last 6 days only one of the six long distance trains that I have been on were on time. Three of them were on more than an hour late and two were 25 minutes late. On 7th July I travelled to Bournemouth via London. The London train was slate but not late enough to prevent me going through to Waterloo to catch The Bournemouth train which had been cancelled. After 30 minutes wait, I got a train to Basingstoke where after ...
The BBC reports that doubts remain over whether the Plaid Cymru Welsh government will be able to get its supplementary budget through the Senedd this week after Labour rejected the offer of a deal on Thursday night. The news site says that at a meeting of the British Irish Council on Guernsey on Friday, Plaid Cymru's First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said it was "Labour's call" and the proposal was "the offer" because ministers were working under tight financial constraints. But is that good enough from a party that has taken on the responsibiity of government? The difference between the ...