I walked back across Parliament Square on Wednesday evening, watching the very small anti-war demonstration and it is that experience - that political experience at least - which has stuck with me most since last weekend. Bear in mind, when I say this, that I was - and still am - pretty sceptical about the whole idea of bombing, and especially when civilians will undoubtedly get caught in the crossfire and when there appears to be little in the way of a plan to achieve our objectives. I say that as a way of putting in context the sense of ...
The Post office have sent me information about changes to the Birkdale Village Post Office. I should point out that other Post Offices are available in Birkdale at Spar in Liverpool Rd and also in Cemetery Rd, and these are not impacted by the changes in the village
Politicians have been paying tribute to the emergency services today for their work in the floods in Cumbria. It's what politicians do in such circumstances, but don't let cynicism creep in. I am reminded of the aftermath of the derailment I was involved in at Chilham this summer. After the train had come to a halt we all sat there and waited for something to happen. For several minutes nothing did, then a convoy of flashing blue lights appeared in the darkness a couple of fields away. Suddenly there was a wonderfully reassuring sense that other people knew about our ...
The conclusions of the Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life, chaired by former High Court judge Baroness Butler-Sloss that Britain has seen a "general decline" in its Christian affiliation and the time has come for public life to take on a more "pluralist character" is hardly surprising. Nor should that change be mourned. The commission says that only two in five British people now identify as Christian, while there has been a general move away from mainstream denominations to evangelical and Pentecostal churches. Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism have overtaken Judaism as the largest non-Christian faiths in Britain. We ...
Mon 7th
19:46
Malcolm Pate is new Shropshire Council leader elect - it's an opportunity to change for the better
It has not been a good few weeks for Shropshire Council with the sudden resignation of its leader, Keith Barrow. Everyone has been asking: "Where will the council go from here?" Now we know one part of that. Councillor Malcolm Pate, the representative for Albrighton, is to lead the unitary council at its most difficult [...]
A short, somewhat grim account of being a middle aged man and feeling that life has completely passed you by. I'm classifying it as non-fiction because it's presented as a memoir. Some of the observations were uncomfortably close to home, but in general I felt I'd had a better life than the writer and wasn't learning much from this. It's well written, though, the account of the circumstances around his son's conception being especially gripping.
Spring Conference is a good place to start for conference newbies. Next year it will be held in York from 11th to 13th March. It is shorter and considerably less confusing that the full-length conference in the Autumn, most people don't have to take time off work, and accommodation costs for two nights are substantially less. But for many members it is still very difficult to find or justify the cost of attending conference – registration fees, accommodation and travel all add up. So how can we make 'one member one vote' a reality for all members whatever their financial ...
Previously...The Doctor... The Companions... the third angle to this triumvirate is the Monsters. And the first monsters of Doctor Who will always be... Introducing... The Doctor's Arch Enemies (Monster Edition) - see also "Terror of the Autons". This is set in the space year 2012: the future when it was first broadcast, now the past - which is almost as weird as "The Tenth Planet" being set in 1980. Henry Van Statten, the man who "owns the internet" and so almost by definition the biggest monster on the planet, has a secret bunker in the Nevada desert where he keeps ...
The police were very quick to designate the attack by one man with a knife at Leytonstone underground station in London as a "terrorist incident." Whether this was on their own initiative or on instructions from on high we are not yet told. There will be investigations which may discover a network of fanatics out to cause similar mayhem in other London stations in the name of their religion. Or maybe it was an isolated incident involving just just one person with a mental illness. For the man suffering from "deep lacerations to his throat" this is certainly a very ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat Newswire logo] Liberal Democrat Newswire 74 came out last week, featuring the newly updated biography of Charles Kennedy, Christmas book suggestions, the role of social events in political organising, a prize draw and more. You can also read it below, but if you'd like the convenience of getting it direct by email in future, just sign up here. It's free! Since it came out, the Syria issue has developed further, on which see Why the Liberal Democrats are right to support air strikes in Syria and A footnote re. Charles Kennedy and military intervention. Dear Friend, Welcome ...
I was sat behind another car today at the junction of Dodds Lane and Northway trying to get across the busy A59. [IMG: index] The traffic cleared but the other car did not move? However, because of the angle of the car in front in relation to mine I could clearly see why – the young lady driver had her head down not on the traffic. I am 99% sure she was texting! Sadly, this most dangerous of driving habits seems to be on the rise.
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur accused the SNP of micro-managing local authorities and riding roughshod over them as they attempt to introduce a 'one size fits all' style of education policy. McArthur was speaking today at a sitting of the Education committee as it considered the Education (Scotland) Bill. Speaking after the sitting had... More McArthur Slams SNP on '1 size fits all' Education
There were a couple of second places for Liberal Democrat candidates in principal council by-elections last Thursday. In Guildford (BC), the party's vote share increased by 4.7% from May as Alan Hilliar finished second to the Conservatives in Ash South & Tongham ward. Also, Sherree Miller came in second place in Bolyen ward in Newham (LB) with 9.1% of the party, with no Lib Dem candidate being fielded last year. Labour still clinched a very comfortable hold, polling 72.1% to take victory. Elsewhere, the Conservatives held their seat in Meole ward in Shropshire (UA) with a 187 majority. The Lib ...
I certainly know that there are many people in this world who know a lot more than I do about the Middle East, about military strategies, about international politics and about the human tragedy that arises through conflict. However, based on what I have I have seen over the last two decades, I do not believe that the UK government has presented an adequate strategy for destroying Daesh. I believe that the current bombing campaign in Syria will fail to achieve its stated objectives. Throughout my lifetime, I have watched the modern 'gun boat' diplomacy fail time and time again ...
I've had confirmation of dispatch for every backer who's sent me their address (one has still yet to do so), except those who ordered signed hardbacks (those have to make their way to me first, and then I have to sign them and send them off, so they may well not arrive til after Xmas). [...]
The fireworks that went off over parts of Caracas were a good sign, considering the alternative, indicating a victory for the Opposition. So, with many seats declared, where are we? In the constituency contests, La Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) has won seventy-two seats out of ninety-six, the balance going to the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV). Pretty clear cut, I'd say. In the list contest, the D'Hondt system used means that, with two seats to be won in each state, the Opposition have to get more than twice as many votes as PSUV in order to ...
Local chap Ross Ferguson is, together with a team of supporters, trying to push the railway powers that be to name the new and soon to be built Maghull North Station as 'Maghull Moss Side'. [IMG: Site for the new Maghull North Railway Station. Photo taken looking north from School Lane road bridge. The former Moss Side Hospital site is to the right and Mersey Avenue to the left.] Site for the new Maghull North Railway Station. Photo taken looking north from School Lane road bridge. The former Moss Side Hospital site is to the right and Mersey Avenue to ...
Whether or not to extend British involvement across the "non-existent" border between Iraq and Syria was always going to be a divisive issue. There was no way around that. For a party such as ours, it promised to be particularly so. Not especially in Parliament, where we are now so few that nobody would notice except us. No, I mean divisive internally. Within hours of Tim's announcement that he would support the strikes and ask our other MPs to as well, not only had my inbox exploded with Facebook notifications declaring it to be a stupid idea or that the ...
Polling day dawned mostly sunny and quiet which, in itself, was something given recent electoral history here. I don't have a role here - this is an entirely private trip - but thought that it might be nice to get a feel for the atmosphere. Security was definitely heightened around the hotel, but there was a lengthy queue outside the polling station across the street from the El Recreo mall when I passed it at 11 a.m. Apparently, voters were keen to vote early in case of trouble later, but all seemed peaceful enough. Voting started at 6 a.m. (so ...
From the Guardian website this morning: Lord Janner has been formally found unfit to stand trial regarding a string of historical sexual offences at a hearing at the Old Bailey. The peer and former Labour MP is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, which is incurable, severe and has left him unable to participate in a trial, four experts who have examined him have agreed. The decision on Monday means that there will not be a full criminal trial to hear the claims against Janner, which span three decades. Instead, he is expected to face a "trial of the ...
It was reported on the BBC News at Ten on Saturday night [Ed: and also here on LDV] that Tim Farron had been stranded in his car with four children in the stormy weather conditions, in Cumbria with (presumably) a telephone interview with Tim. I wonder if, while waiting to be picked up, he reflected on the report from Keswick – that the town had launched an appeal for one million pounds to help with the clear up operation that will now be required in the town. If he did he might have recalled that each of the bombing missions ...
Some events for your December diary: Tuesday 8th, 7pm: Sandgate Parish Council meeting, followed by annual Christmas drinks. Residents and businesses in Sandgate would be most welcome to join us. 12th to 24th: Dick Whittington at The Tower Theatre. Canadian singing sensation Andy Laine joins Bucks Fizz superstar Mike Nolan and the star of last year's pantomime John Pritchard for this year's pantomime: Dick Whittington. Same as last year, the FHODS annual pantomime will be a mix of professional and amateur talent. The opening date is the 12th December and, with the exception of a couple of dates, will run ...
Everybody knows that when you want to win an argument, you need to 'walk the talk'. Doing the opposite to what you preach tends to fatally undermine your case. When that argument is persuading the rest of the world, in Paris, to tackle the root causes of climate change, your actions back home act as a global shop window. But saying one thing, and doing another, is exactly the course this Tory government has taken over green issues. And they do it with no apparent embarrassment, or even understanding of the problem. So we have the Foreign Secretary in the ...
You say Iraq, I say Sierra Leone. You say Afghanistan, I say Former Yugoslavia. You say Libya, I say Ivory Coast. If you are willing to look at a wide spread of evidence, the exchange about whether or not military action can improve matters should be quite a long one, looking at many different countries, both where it has taken place and counter-factual examples where military action did not take place or took place only very belatedly, such as in Rwanda. So what does a systematic review of the evidence show? Patrick Johnston in a study of militant degradation and ...
There were a couple of second places for Liberal Democrat candidates in principal council by-elections last Thursday. In Guildford (BC), the party's vote share increased by 4.7% from May as Alan Hilliar finished second to the Conservatives in Ash South & Tongham ward. Also, Sherree Miller came in second place in Bolyen ward in Newham (LB) [...]
[IMG: social democrat group] Many Labour members are thinking of resigning. I'm sure we would love them to join us. How can we encourage them without being too pushy? If you are a social democrat outside the Liberal Democrats, whether in the Labour party or not, if there are ways the Liberal Democrats could make it easier for you to switch to us let us know in the comments below. Here are a few of my thoughts. Don't forget we lost too. Moderate members of the Labour party may have lost the leadership battle for their party, but we've lost ...
When Jeremy Corbyn, was running his successful campaign for the leadership of Britain's Labour Party, he floated the idea of "People's QE". "QE" stands for Quantitative Easing, the means by which central banks try to loosen monetary policy in an economy without reducing interest rates – handy when interest rates are near zero. It attracted quite a bit of attention from economists, much of it quite approving. That is because the idea touches on one of the most important aspects of modern economic policy: the suggestion that governments can sustain quite big deficits simply by "printing" money. In the end ...
As some of you might have seen this morning in the Guardian, my organisation, British Influence, will be launching a report about the possible unintended affects of Brexit this evening. At the end of the Guardian article, it is mentioned that we pose ten questions to those who wish to see Britain leave the EU. So I thought I would post the ten questions here for all to see: What would the Eurosceptic ideal arrangement between the UK and the EU look like and how realistic is it possible to achieve? Every successful arrangement with the EU to allow countries ...
As the tide of war turned in 1942 following the second battle of El Alamein, Winston Churchill spoke about "the end of the beginning" of the fight back against fascist oppression. I have to confess that these words went through my mind as I sat through many hours of TV parliamentary debate last Wednesday on whether or not to bomb Daesh in Syria. For those who are cynical about the goings on at Westminster, this was an occasion that illustrated perfectly how important our parliamentary democracy really is. There were some cracking speeches on both sides. Tim Farron rose in ...
This week South Glos Council launched a consultation on its draft Cycling Strategy. The council's vision for cycling is that South Gloucestershire will become a place where people of all ages and abilities will feel happy to cycle, from ages 8-80. The strategy aims to deliver that vision. You can view it and have your say on the South Glos website until 15th January 2016. If you would like someone to talk to your group or organisation about these proposals, please email consultation@southglos.gov.uk or telephone 01454 868195.
The destruction of Alderaan was completely justified !!! (tags: uspolitics )
