The latest The Reading School podcast presents its top 10 children's story maps. And in at 10 are Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine books. No one tell the presenters that the Saville book set in Whitby belongs to another series.
Mark Pack writes on Liberal Democrat Voice: Last month, the Federal Board decided to postpone the party leadership election, due to kick off in May, until May 2021, so that the party can focus on dealing with the coronavirus crisis instead. Following this decision, an appeal against it was made to the Federal Appeals Panel (our internal Liberal Democrat equivalent of the Supreme Court). The Appeals Panel has agreed that the Federal Board can suspend the leadership election while exceptional circumstances exist, but not delay to a fixed date next year. It has asked the Board to keep the timetable ...
The Northern Liberal Network (NLN) is holding its virtual launch on Zoom on Tuesday 21 April at 8 pm. If you want to attend complete the form on the network's website. Taking part in the launch will be: Lord Dick Newby, Liberal Democrat leader in the House of Lords and NLN presidentLaura Gordon, former PPC for Sheffield Hallam and NLN chairLisa Smart, former PPC for Hazel Grove and NLN vice chairKamran Hussein, former PPC for Leeds North WestThe NLN website says:We've come together because we believe that, while the party has strong policies that would benefit our regions, we have ...
Last month, the Federal Board decided to postpone the party leadership election, due to kick off in May, until May 2021, so that the party can focus on dealing with the coronavirus crisis instead. Following this decision, an appeal against it was made to the Federal Appeals Panel (our internal Liberal Democrat equivalent of the Supreme Court). The Appeals Panel has agreed that the Federal Board can suspend the leadership election while exceptional circumstances exist, but not delay to a fixed date next year. It has asked the Board to keep the timetable for the leadership election under review, as ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: Så vandrade de vidare, längre och längre in i tystnaden och mörkret. Småningom kände sig mumintrollet ängsligt och frågade viskande sin mamma om hon trodde det fanns några farliga djur därinne. "Knappast", sa hon, "fast det är kanske bäst att vi går lite fortare i alla fall. Men jag hoppas att vi är så små att vi inte märks ifall det skulle komma något farligt." So they walked on, further and further into the silence and the darkness. Little by little, Moomintroll began to feel anxious, and he asked his mother in a whisper if ...
Wed 15th
18:33
Is it time for Ludlow Town Council to open a social distanced market after success of the pop up sho...
By all accounts, the pop up Local to Ludlow shop last Thursday was a great success with Tish Dockerty and family running out of stuff to sell. Social distancing was maintained in a friendly and disciplined way. Pop up Local to Ludlow is back tomorrow. From 9am to 1pm, or whenever the supplies run out. In the light of this success, I think Ludlow Town Council should look again at opening a social distanced market. We must do all we can support our independent traders. People in Ludlow have learnt social distancing. We should do all we can to support ...
I've been getting into the great 1970s Belgian/British TV series "Secret Army". But it turns out that we have a local story of the Resistance...
Dr Yeow Poon ME: Dr Yeow Poon, you have been the Chair of the Chinese Community Centre in Birmingham since 1995, founded the England China Business Forum in 2013 and are also a trustee of the Chinese Welfare Trust national charity. Why was it necessary to set up the Covid19 Anti-Racism Action Group (CARG)? YP: The spread of COVID-19 in the UK has led to an increase in racism and hate crime towards British Chinese, East and Southeast Asians. Incidents ranged from children being taunted in schools to international students being violently attacked. The insistence of some political leaders and ...
I hadn't heard of boxty until my son and his wife took us to Holohan's Pantry in Belfast, a restaurant that offers traditional Irish food with a modern twist. Boxty of the day appears on every menu. It's appears quite simple really - a pancake made with grated raw potato, fried in butter, crispy on the outside and soft within. I was expecting a new veg and fruit box today, but still had quite a lot of potatoes to use up so decided to have a go at making it yesterday. Boxty presents a few challenges - I'm sure I ...
[IMG: My interview with the 'You Clap for me now' poet] 'You clap for me now' is a video being talked about for the way it is confronting racism directed towards immigrants. The video has been... The post My interview with the 'You Clap for me now' poet appeared first on Ambitiousmamas.
Responding to news that the UK Government is not seeking an extension to the Brexit transition period Ed Davey, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:"Right now, in their own words, the Government are 'straining every sinew' to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, and yet Ministers are still struggling to deliver on their promises on testing and protective equipment. "To press ahead with Brexit on the previous timetable - already recklessly fast - is just irresponsible and shows a fundamental disregard for the UK's national interest. "The Government must stop putting ideology before all else - including lives - and ...
Here's my latest piece for the party website, which also features in the April monthly email newsletter the party sends out: Last month, the Federal Board decided to postpone the party leadership election, due to kick off in May, until May 2021, so that the party can focus on dealing with the coronavirus crisis instead. Following this decision, an appeal against it was made to the Federal Appeals Panel (our internal Liberal Democrat equivalent of the Supreme Court). The Appeals Panel has agreed that the Federal Board can suspend the leadership election while exceptional circumstances exist, but not delay to ...
Following reports that the government is still collecting VAT on personal protective equipment for care homes, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:"VAT on PPE should be the same for care homes as for the NHS. Care homes look after some of our society's most vulnerable people and with the pressure of the coronavirus on care homes, the very least Ministers should do is to relieve them of this burden. "Throughout this crisis the Liberal Democrats have been clear that staff in the care sector are just as desperate for adequate personal protective equipment as NHS staff."It cannot ...
Wed 15th
15:21
Lib Dems lead cross-party call for urgent support for creative industries amidst Covid-19 crisis
The Liberal Democrats are leading a cross-party effort to secure Government agreement for an economic package to support the UK's world leading creative industries, including a timeline for its urgent implementation. Writing to the Chancellor, the cross-party group of parliamentarians have warned that government support so far has failed to reach "the very large numbers of directors of small limited companies, freelancers or agency workers that keep our creative industries booming." Over 130 MPs and peers from across the political spectrum have signed the letter and expressed fears that unless further action is taken quickly workers in the Creative Industries ...
Responding to news that Donald Trump has halted US funding to the World Health Organisation, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:"Trump's decision to halt funding for the World Health Organisation at this moment is a dereliction of duty and puts lives at risk around the world. Instead of taking the opportunity to show leadership the global battle against this virus, it seems that Trump would rather bury his head in the sand and sideline international efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus in some of the world's poorest countries."This approach is deeply short-sighted. Covid-19, like any other virus, ...
It is likely clear to most that British Liberalism has a complicated relationship with the Labour Party. We seemingly rely on their electoral success for our own; the periods in which we appear to gain the most seats seem to coincide with periods during which Labour is at its most electable. To me, this makes a significant degree of sense. It's obvious now that the 2019 Election was a disaster for British Progressivism. Labour's vote share and Parliamentary representation collapsed and we, while increasing our vote, ended up with a net loss of one seat. It seems to be that ...
The Liberal Democrats are leading a cross-party effort to secure Government agreement for an economic package to support the UK's world leading creative industries, including a timeline for its urgent implementation. Writing to the Chancellor, the cross-party group of parliamentarians have warned that government support so far has failed to reach "the very large numbers of [...]
Wed 15th
13:19
Why free speech is under threat in a post-Covid world in ways we haven't begun to seriously consider...
Free speech as an issue has had a hard time of it over the last ten years. A large section of the left has given up on the concept of it completely. That this has happened at the same time as the rise of the "I'm literally a communist" meme is not coincidental. The portion of the left which has been in the ascendancy over past decade would love to see the portions of the press it doesn't like – the centre-right newspapers, the BBC, well, pretty much all of the press, actually – either shut down or "corrected for ...
Although we are still in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, radical political parties like ours should be beginning to think about the brave new world that, hopefully, will emerge from this catastrophe. I offer five policy suggestions, some of them familiar, some of them new, all of them more revolutionary than you think: – – a citizen's wage at £2,500 a month; – a charge for using natural capital; – ending the triple lock on pensions; – bridging the divide between the NHS and the care sector; and – re-empowering local government. Support for the citizen's wage is growing ...
Last night my colleagues and I had the first ever virtual meeting of the Liberal Democrat Group in Liverpool. I can report back that my colleagues are doing a great job in getting things done within our communities and helping ... Continue reading →
Tue, 12:56: RT @RobertKlemko: Last month was the first March without a school shooting in the United States since 2002. Tue, 16:05: RT @Flakmagnet1: So I just want to share my CORPORATE experience on Covid19 with the UK Gov. A thread. I work for a successful medium-size... Tue, 17:11: Americans Are Paying the Price for Trump's Failures https://t.co/X2u6Ro1ytG Fair, from David Frum. Tue, 18:22: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 03 https://t.co/thIy1VA2ks Tue, 19:02: A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving https://t.co/YVFcxxUZCP Tue, 19:19: RT @thejimsmith: Is this wise? He doesn't have a great record on finding what ...
Yate and Sodbury Neighbours Scheme Covid-19 - Help and Supporthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/650869675671695/ This Facebook group has now reached nearly 4,000 members and 120 volunteers have now stepped up to register help their neighbours.Yate Town Council are providing administrative support - As a NEW servive he COVID facebook group have launched a listening service - with a separate Facebook page - so if you are able to share this Facebook page as well that would be really appreciated.https://www.facebook.com/groups/ysnslistening/
One could be forgiven for thinking that if the giant 111 feet asteroid approaching Earth at 22,500 miles an hour was not going to skim past us, but instead plunge into the Siberian wilderness, causing an Extinction Level Event, Donald Trump's first reaction would be to blame NASA for not stopping it and cut off all their funding. President Harry S. Truman, kept a sign on his desk in the Oval Office with the phrase 'The buck stops here'. That is a concept that appears to be alien to the existing US President. Instead, he uses his press conferences for ...
In the weeks ahead, as the government seeks to loosen the lockdown while containing the COVID-19 pandemic, it is likely to introduce measures that in ordinary times would constitute serious violations of our civil liberties. For example, the government is likely to introduce extensive COVID-19 testing, enforce quarantine for those who test positive and compulsory trace, everyone; they have come into contact with. As Liberals, a fundamental test we apply to any state action that restricts civil liberties is the one set out by John Stuart Mill: a person should be free to behave as they choose as long as ...
Are you sitting comfortably? I hope so, because we might be locked down for quite some time to come... 2 big stories There's no avoiding what is the biggest story of the day, the suggestion by the Office for Budget Responsibility that the United Kingdom economy could shrink by 35% in the second quarter of 2020, with 2 million joining the ranks of the unemployed. And yes, it will bounce back to some extent, but as the IMF's economic counsellor, Gita Gopinath says; the size of the hit to the global economy, uncertainty about the how long the shock would ...
From Sheena Wellington : Hello everyone, I hope you are fit and well! We can't invite you to the Wighton at the moment but we can invite you to enjoy the music some of our friends are providing online First up, the great Thursday evening session at the Fisherman's Tavern, Broughty Ferry, has gone digital and international. It can be enjoyed at your leisure so catch it here. And from our PhD student Mary-Jannet Leith and partner Thomas Allery : "#Ensemble Hesperi at Home - LIVE lunchtime concert series every Friday!Having mainly figured out how to live stream, Tom and ...
Wed 15th
04:43Shropshire Council is consulting on local economic plans - this makes little sense during the #coron...
Shropshire Council has been preparing a Ludlow Local Economic Strategy and it is now out for consultation. It doesn't really work as a strategy. For example, it identifies the lack of affordable housing as a major issue for Ludlow but affordable housing doesn't get mentioned in the annexed action plans. How can we promote our local economy when we don't have enough affordable places for workers to live? This consultation is taking place during an unprecedented international health crisis and a very uncertain economic future. Maybe there will be business as usual after Covid-19 but that is not looking very ...
