... and here are the rest! A Second Chance for the Swansea Tidal Lagoon Lib Dems oppose "shockingly complacent" Tory funding for police Cable: PM speech proves the Govt has run out of ideas Brexit Bribes Breach Bribery Act - Welsh Lib Dems A Second Chance for the Swansea Tidal Lagoon The Welsh Liberal Democrats have welcomed plans from Tidal Lagoon Power to build the Swansea Tidal Lagoon without the need for funding from the UK Government. Last year the UK Government decided not to support the Swansea Tidal Lagoon, despite the strong support the lagoon enjoyed from experts, businesses, ...
It's been a busy day today, so we'll break today's releases up into two pieces, starting with... Govt must take action on projected rise of car emissions Cable: Brexit causing the economy to stagnate EU citizens in Holyhead face 224 mile round trip to register for settled status Davey questions Justice Minister on potential Brexit bribes Govt must take action on projected rise of car emissions Today a report from Friends of the Earth, and the think-tank Transport for Quality of Life highlights that a rise in emissions from the roads could have a hugely detrimental effect on climate change ...
The agenda for March's Lib Dem federal spring conference is now out. In amongst the great choices of events, debates and speakers are the debates over a registered supporter scheme.
This is Lady Bay Bridge over the Trent. You can find it a little way downstream of Trent Bridge cricket ground. It used to be a railway bridge, carrying trains on the Midland's fast route from St Pancras to Nottingham, which ran via Kettering, Corby, Oakham and Melton Mowbray. The last train crossed it in 1968. In the early 1980s the bridge was converted to carry road traffic, but before that happened it starred in a celebrated television drama. At the end of John le Carré's Smiley's People, the Soviet spymaster Karla, disguised as a labourer, defects to the West ...
The Liberal Democrats must be at the forefront of a British Green New Deal, argues Daniel Willis. "The most frightening examples were those that used violent language like "traitor" and "sabotage", because they contribute to the normalising of that kind of discourse that led to Jo Cox's death." Penny Andrewes looks at online memes attacking Yvette Cooper. Hari Kunzru does not spare us: "Britain is a country under self-inflicted stress, gripped by fear of the unknown. Remainers and Leavers - two tribes that have taken on the mythic stature of Roundheads and Cavaliers in a second civil war - are ...
The Leicester Mercury reports: Almost three years after Leicester City's momentous Premier League win in 2016, a mural which was put up to celebrate the win has been taken down. The image on the corner of Bath Lane, which depicts ex-LCFC manager Claudio Ranieri, was removed in sections this morning.It happens I was in that part of town last weekend and photographed the mural.
Yet another case of rule-breaking by Brexit campaigners: Charity Commission takes action over Instit...
The Charity Commission has found serious breaches of charity rules by the Institute of Economic Affairs in campaigning for a hard Brexit: A prominent rightwing thinktank has been accused of "misconduct and mismanagement" and issued with a formal legal warning by the Charity Commission after using its resources to campaign for a hard Brexit... The official warning requires the IEA to implement a procedure for its reports to be signed off by trustees before publication in future and undertake in writing not to carry out political campaigning again. [The Guardian] Another one for the long, long list of rule-breaking by ...
Today's Leicester Mercury reports: Reductions to Arriva's X3 service between Market Harborough and Leicester will mean that for six hours in the middle of the day no buses will drop off or pick people up from the Southern Estate stop going in or out of Leicester. Changes to the timetable will see buses into the city centre calling at the Southern Estate stop at 5.47, 6.57, 8.24, 9.37 and 10.02. There will then be no buses until 15.59. There is then almost a two-and-a-half hour gap before the last bus into Leicester leaves the stop at 18.28.The result is that ...
It's that time of year again. Today the Spring Conference agenda has been published. So, if you are sensible, you can start planning your way through the weekend, working out when you want to be in the hall, which fringe meetings (hint: LDV's homelessness and Universal Credit on Saturday at 1pm in the Walmgate Room at the Hilton) to attend, when you're going to fit in the exhibition, which training sessions you need to go to. You can work out when you are going to catch up with your friends. If you're like most people, you'll start off with good ...
EXCL: Corbyn branded EU a "military Frankenstein" and trashed second Irish referendum in footage unearthed from 2009 rally against the Lisbon Treaty. https://t.co/knycGdfQWy pic.twitter.com/Z6s73MthIp— The Red Roar (@TheRedRoar) February 4, 2019I blogged last week: Jeremy Corbyn is, as he has always been, opposed to British membership of the European Union.If you doubted me, have a look at the video above. It's not just that Corbyn clearly has no time for the EU: it's that his conspiracist views have more in common with those of Nigel Farage than they do with the Labour's mainstream or with the liberally minded young voters ...
Current ε1 Last books finished Fanny Hill, by John Cleland Candide, by Voltaire Molten Heart, by Una McCormack Next books The World of Poo, by Terry Pratchett Bitter Angels, by C. L. Anderson
It's been lovely receiving feedback from readers such as the following in the last few weeks: "Thank you for your commitment and quality output." "You are a key source of information about the party." "Thank goodness for this service. If you are a serious Liberal Democrat campaigner, you cannot do without it." "Love the comprehensive by-election results coverage." But I'd like to talk about the messages I send rather than the ones I receive. 1.72 million emails, to be precise. That's how many emails I've sent in the last year between the monthly Liberal Democrat Newswire and its sibling lists ...
Interviews with, features on and photographs of the spouses of our political party leaders are still very much the in thing.
Refugees, via the cruel world of popularist politics, red top tabloid newspapers and social media, have become a problem and many of the underlying issues of Brexit have a foundation in racism and fear of those who are different. I was therefore pleased to see this modern-day 'norm' being challenged by Alexander Betts. Have a look at this video via Mark Pack's web site, it's an eye-opener:- www.markpack.org.uk/136124/alexander-betts-refugee-talk/ And to think that not so many years ago the UK was very much at the forefront of helping refugees. Oh, what has become of my country?................
Since it was first introduced in the US in 2007, the idea of a Green New Deal has received substantial support amongst a wide range of the electorate worldwide, who are increasingly rallying their governments to tackle the imminent threat of climate change. Recently gaining traction after the election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to US Congress, the growing need to put a Green New Deal into practice is once again making its way to the forefront of global politics. Who will speak up for a deal like this in the UK? A recent European Commission report revealed that the UK currently ...
Mon, 12:26: I'm at Zidovski Muzej (Jewish Museum) in Sarajevo https://t.co/FLmTj0AqKy Mon, 19:20: RT @BrusselsGeek: It's taken the better part of two years, but I have reached peak #Brexit analogy... @theresa_may is #NotALighthouse Sprea... Tue, 00:03: A tough one. Lydecker/Gallagher's books are very good. But most of Cole's books are at least as good, and there are... https://t.co/mU0WUw5vAm Tue, 08:01: RT @ejwwest: @davidallengreen In pursuit of its 330 year old balance of power strategy, Britain only succeeded by alliances. The only time... Tue, 10:45: A Suspense Novelist's Trail of Deceptions https://t.co/SAyuY12F4y Extraordinary long read.
A tasty breakfast As Business Secretary, Vince Cable was responsible for global trade and had to deal with the growing economic might of China. He writes about this in an article for City AM. He has a stark warning for those seeking a trade deal. It's not going to be much fun without 27 of your mates to watch your back: And while the EU with its combined heft is able to be both tough and constructive, Britain on its own will be a largely powerless supplicant. I suspect that the Chinese, seeing Britain desperate for a trade deal of ...
Lee Israel was a celebrity biographer who experienced declining sales and increased penury in 1990s New York, falling out with her agent and behind with her rent. Her only solace was her aging cat. Having successfully sold one, genuine autograph letter to a local bookshop she then set about forging 400 others, purporting to come [...]
Anyone who has seen the chilling docu-drama 'Vice' will already be in despair at the condition of democracy in the United States. The film recorded how Vice-President Dick Cheney quietly, but effectively accumulated vast power for the US Presidency that potentially usurped the checks and balances put in place by the US constitution, and trampled over the human rights of America's 'enemies', while at the same time further enriching powerful businessmen who were allied to Cheney and his friends. The report by the US based Freedom House think-tank should come as no surprise therefore. As the Independent says, the organisation ...
How ironic that the future of a second referendum on Brexit now depends on the European Union saying "no" to Theresa May. What a farce the House of Commons has become. The key weakness in the current campaign for a second vote has been the failure by just about every parliamentarian to demonstrate the illegitimacy of the June 2016 referendum. MP after MP has parroted that "we must respect the result of the referendum", "it would be a denial of democracy to have another vote", or that the referendum demonstrated the "will of the people." Nonsense! Even our own party ...
Anyone who has been involved in any kind of negotiation knows that there comes a time when reason, logic, goodwill and self-interest all fly out of the window. The feeling develops that the other side is being utterly unreasonable, disingenuous and maybe even dishonest. They are making promises they do not intend to keep because [...] The post We are at the self-destructive stage of Brexit negotiations. It doesn't look good. appeared first on Radix.
Today a report from Friends of the Earth and the think-tank Transport for Quality of Life highlights that a rise in emissions from the roads could have a hugely detrimental effect on climate change and public health.Commenting, former Liberal Democrat Climate Change Secretary of State Ed Davey said: "The Liberal Democrats welcome this report and agree more radical thinking needs to be done in the transport sector to tackle climate change."While real progress has been made in the power sector, with renewables now replacing by dirty fossil fuels, thanks in part to Liberal Democrat policies, the Conservatives must now cut ...
Autumn Fields is to be the name of a development of 18 detached and semidetached homes if plans for the former Whittle bus depot in the former quarry on Fishmore Road gets planning permission. The site already has outline permission for up to 20 homes. There is no issue in principle with the development of this site and I welcome these plans from Wellington based housebuilder Clutton Homes. However, currently it is proposed that five houses will have access from Fishmore Road. Given the traffic on Fishmore Road, it would be better for all the houses to have access from ...