Parliament Square: The statues of Churchill and Lloyd George (left) will not be being joined by that of Margaret Thatcher People talk about all kinds of things. Most lately it's been snow. Go onto facebook or twitter and all you'll see are pictures of people finding imaginative ways to enjoy being outside in the cold. Either that or people complaining that Britain can't cope with a bit of a cold snap. You'll be pleased to know I haven't posted hundreds of pictures on facebook this week telling all my friends there's snow outside. I am sure they can see it ...
Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Daniel Lewis, and Nigel Ashton are holding their next advice centre on Saturday 10th March from 11 am to 12 noon at St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Churchtown, at BoxTree Kitchen for Queenscourt café, Manor Road/Cambridge Road, roundabout, fourth Thursday of every month (except December) from 10:30 to: 11.30 am. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may ...
Peter Phillips, doyen of Shropshire Liberal Democrats, sends me this photograph of a Tesco delivery van abandoned in a snow-choked lane deep in the county's hills. He speculates that the locals may prevent its contents going to waste, much as happened in Whisky Galore.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 509th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the five most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (25 February -3 March 2018), together with a hand-picked seven you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Full slate of Liberal Democrats ...
Embed from Getty Images The Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse is not attracting much media attention, even though its hearings on Cyril Smith and Knowl View appear to have led to the resignation of the Labour leader of Rochdale.Borough Council. It has now produced its first report, which is Child Migration Programmes and it appears to be a good piece of work. It bears out what another of my alter egos, Professor Strange, has argued. These programmes were not a secret, as later commentators so often maintain: they were widely discussed and controversial at the time. Here is the ...
Sun 4th
17:13
Lib Dems call on Labour to join the fight against Home Office's 'sinister' proposal on data rules
The Liberal Democrats and the3million are calling on Labour to protect people's basic fundamental rights where data is being processed for immigration purposes. Next Monday Diane Abbott and Liam Byrne have the chance to join with the Liberal Democrats to oppose the government from using the cover of GDPR implementation to sneak in a sinister proposal that would deny people the right to access data held about them as part of their wider hostile environment agenda targeted at immigrants in the UK. These provisions will likely impact EU citizens living in the UK post-Brexit. The Liberal Democrats put forward an ...
The Cloverfield Paradox (15) Director: Julius Onah(Netflix) The third of the Cloverfield movies, this is set on a space laboratory where a team of scientists are trying to solve the world's power crisis. What could possibly go wrong? Parallel universe theory gives the director a chance to play with some gory scenarios, interesting protagonist dynamics, grim humour and weird science. A disaster movie in horror movie clothing with an ensemble cast including: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, John Ortiz, Chris O'Dowd, Aksel Hennie, Ziyi Zang, Elizabeth Debicki and Roger Davies. Three out of five stars ***** Thor Ragnarok (12A)Director: ...
A great video from Islington Liberal Democrats: Vince made clear on Peston today that we are definitely going for this group of people. There will be a series of tailored social media adverts in 21 European languages. The adverts are fronted by MEPs from those countries and they encourage EU citizens to register and vote Lib Dem in May. Vince said: The local elections represent a huge opportunity for EU migrants, who contribute so much to our economy and society, to make their voices heard. We are reaching out to them to vote Lib Dem and help us support their ...
Second paragraph of third chapter (which is not surprisingly about The Unquiet Dead): Roots and References Dickens' own work, especially A Christmas Carol (1843), but also his ghost story "The Signal Man" (1866) which the Doctor calls the greatest ghost story ever; Simon Callow's one-man show about Dickens, particularly the BBC production An Audience With Charles Dickens, influenced the casting process. NB that there is no question mark in the title, though there is one at the end of the second author's surname. I got this at Gallifrey One in 2013, so it covers the first six series of New ...
I don't write much about politics any more. It isn't that my interest has waned or that I don't care about the issues facing the country and world but it is mainly because Brexit is the overbearing presence that sucks the oxygen out of everything else. Yes in my opinion, leaving the EU and in all likelihood the way we are going to leave will be extremely problematic in terms of the economy. We aren't going to get the best trade deals the world has ever seen just because Liam Fox, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Boris Johnson or David Davis want it ...
Embed from Getty Images We don't often feature speeches from members of other parties. But this speech made on Wednesday by Sir John Major is worth reading through in full. The text was published by the Mirror. At the bottom of the text is a video of the speech from the Guardian channel on YouTube: I would like to express my thanks to the Creative Industries Federation, Somerset House Trust, and Tech London Advocates for the opportunity to speak here today. Brexit matters to our creative industries. They express our culture and values - but give so much more. Nearly ...
Sun 4th
12:15
Arriva Train Wales has no service through Ludlow today Sunday but is promising a full service tomorr...
Updated: 17:50pm Sunday. This post will not now be updated as the disruption appears to be over. In the last few minutes the company has said: "A normal service will operate between Cardiff and Shrewsbury/Manchester." Check before you travel. You can check the latest information at https://www.journeycheck.com/arrivatrainswales/. For real time information on arrivals and departures from Ludlow, and cancellations, the best site is live departure boards. There are again no trains running through Ludlow on the Shrewsbury to Cardiff line. Just after midday Sunday, Arriva Train Wales announced 15 trains in each direction on Monday. However, a few hours later ...
David Christiensen explains: London-based Lookman Adekunle Salami, known as L.A. Salami, is equally adept playing a full club or a quiet living room. On stage he's a whirl of acerbic energy, eschewing guitar to throw himself into singing and leading his band in between asides to the audience. His songs are crowded with restlessness observations of modern life and indictments of modern urbanisation, the treatment of refugees and race.He released this single last year.
Sat, 12:56: La Belgique parmi les pays de l'UE qui risquent le plus gros en cas de Brexit https://t.co/zFagGIz7ss Brexit treate... https://t.co/fmV2vlnxUs Sat, 13:04: RT @kevinhorourke: This attempted demonization of Dublin, and its 'young and inexperienced PM', has been one of the more unpleasant and per... Sat, 15:51: Woman on the Edge of Time & He, She and It, by Marge Piercy https://t.co/QRRdQGu19L Sat, 16:05: APCO's guide to the 2018 Italian elections (PDF) https://t.co/8kw1XVjW7Y Sat, 17:21: RT @timjudah1: Another vintage card from Macedonia. This is what the centre of Skopje used to look like. NB the fume choking bus! https://t... ...
I did a quite soppy Twitter thread for #LibDemsAt30 DWP making blanket requests to leisure facilities to send all & any CCTV footage of disabled customers, so DWP can persecute disabled people who dare to go out in public ... which is, of course, illegal. Boris Johnson's white privilege: imagine he was a black woman "The fact that Boris Johnson got and remains in his job, clearly illustrates how the privileges of gender, race & class consciously accrued, fiercely protected & gratefully inherited, can promote incompetence, elevate arrogance and exclude alternatives." Paris Lees: My interview with Nick Robinson highlights everything ...
I suppose we should be grateful that the US President has so far only declared war on trade with the US. After all many were predicting worse, though there is still time. That is no consolation for the many thousands of workers whose jobs will be affected if Trump's threats come to pass. As the Guardian reports, Donald Trump has escalated the threat of a trade war with Europe, warning that the US will slap a tax on cars made on the continent if the European Union (EU) retaliates against tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium: The European commission ...
I was incensed to read this article in the Independent about our 30th anniversary. It's based on interviews with 2 former leaders, Tim Farron and Paddy Ashdown and with one other person, Nick Clegg's former staffer, James McGrory. In the whole article, there isn't even the merest hint of a mention of the women who helped build this party. Nothing about Shirley Williams. Nothing about Diana Maddock's amazing victory in the 1993 Christchurch by-election. Nothing about Sandra Gidley's unexpected victory in Romsey in 2000. Nothing about Sarah Teather's ground-breaking by-election victory in Brent in the wake of the Iraq war. ...
During the years that I spent trying to grapple with the Sefton Borough Local Plan I came to understand housing provision much better and I realised that the Local Plan process (in Sefton as elsewhere) is far more about deciding which land is designated for housing then it is about actual housing need. Yes I saw and read many worthy documents about land use, housing need etc. but I quickly came to the conclusion that actual housing need is always going to be a secondary issue to the needs and wants of land owners, developers and builders. In my view ...
Ten years ago, the lib dem blogfather Jonathan Calder wrote an article for the New Statesman about the party's first 20 years. But if Liberal enthusiasts for merger were to have their hopes crushed, Liberal sceptics were to be confounded too. There were many who feared the new party would see Liberalism submerged within Social Democracy or junked in an enthusiasm for all things new. He shared it on Twitter yesterday, saying that he had been one of the Liberal Party members who had opposed the merger. His tweet prompted a confession from Tim Farron: I would have voted in ...
Over on Mainly Macro, economist Simon Wren-Lewis made a good point about the need to understand the wider context and the motivation of others.
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018 Glamis Road (Blackness Road to Dickson Avenue) - give and take traffic control for up to 5 days for footway and tree works. West Marketgait (Overgate Lane to Nethergate) - southbound nearside lane closure for 2 weeks for SSE cable overlay. Riverside Drive/South Union Street at Dundee Railway Station - off-peak (9.30am - 3.30pm) east/northbound nearside lane closure from Wednesday 7 March for 3 weeks for footway works. Forthcoming Roadworks West Hendersons Wynd (from Douglas Street for a distance of 50m) ...
