Liberal Democrats call for independent equality assessment of Voter ID plan Liberal Democrats: Government must halt use of facial recognition by police Liberal Democrats call for independent equality assessment of Voter ID plan The Liberal Democrats are calling for independent equality impact assessments into voter ID to protect "the legitimacy and integrity" of the UK electoral system as the Government looks to press ahead with voter ID legislation. Citing evidence from around the world demonstrating that Voter ID makes it more difficult for people to vote, Liberal Democrat MPs are raising deep concerns that voter ID checks "will disproportionately impact ...
Here is the latest of Jim Butler's Hidden Histories videos. It's about devotion, death and dissolution in Leicester and there's so much of them that it's divided into two parts. This is the first.
A Conservative Party agent has appeared in court on charges of electoral fraud. She's accused of tricking people into signing nomination papers for the last Hackney Council elections.
Pointless is almost a mirror image of Family Fortunes, which rewarded contestants for being average not for being clever. Yet there are two subjects where Pointless contestants generally know little and find the thought they might know something to be so unreasonable as to be amusing. One is British politics and the other is geography. I saw a tweet yesterday that bore out the truth of that post: I have today discovered that Bakewell is an actual place and now I want to go and live there. — Sarah Vine (@WestminsterWAG) August 10, 2020 But this may not be general ...
The first item in my last Six of the Best read: Ed Davey has pulled out of the Radical Association hustings because James Baillie was to chair it: "I hope sincerely that this conduct by Ed's campaign has been a one-off which they will on reflection agree was not up to the standards to which they would wish to hold themselves, and is not representative of their wider attitude to my fellow party activists." Today the party issued a statement that gives a different explanation for the cancellation of those hustings:On the 1st of August, we notified both Leadership Campaigns ...
Tue 11th
18:54
Huge leap in unemployment in Ludlow following lockdown - we can't assume that jobs will just reappea...
Today saw the publication of national and local unemployment statistics. As expected, the data make grim reading. It shows people in the local job market have lost their jobs and people hoping to get into employment are struggling to get a job. The latest data for July show that 385 people in Ludlow were claiming employment related benefits. A year ago, just 165 people were claiming. That's a huge leap for a small town like ours. In Ludlow, the claimant rate in June was 6.8%. That's higher that the rate for Great Britain (6.3%) and nearly half as big again ...
As restaurants are now open again, the Government is encouraging people to go to them with its Eat out to Help out scheme. You can get a 50% discount, up to the value of £10 from every participating restaurant. Social Liberal Forum member Andy Galloway has come up with a brilliant idea which will not only help the restaurant but will also benefit Fareshare, a charity that distributes food to vulnerable people who need it. The idea is that you donate your discount to the charity and show that you have done so on social media to encourage others to ...
The first part of August 2007 was spent on holiday in Northern Ireland as usual, with MeCon a particular high point. My account of it here and here, but my favuourite picture, for sentimental reasons, is this one: We got back to a very grim situation with B, which culminated in her being removed from the house at the end of the month by three burly ambulancemen to give us a break for a few weeks, still waiting for a permanent residential place to become available. In the meantime we got very little sleep, and were very stressed. So I ...
Around 4,000 migrants have crossed the channel from France in small boats this year. For context, 105,425 migrants crossed the Mediterranean sea to Southern European countries such as Italy and Greece last year. The overwhelming majority of refugees find sanctuary in the country neighbouring their own. Lebanon, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uganda are amongst the host countries for the majority of refugees. Refugees are under no legal obligation to claim asylum in the first safe country they land in. All refugees have a legitimate claim to asylum in any safe country if they are still at risk of persecution in ...
Few people outside Liberal Democratic circles take any interest in our party leadership selection, yet this selection has the potential to be historically significant. The right choice of candidate could lift the party into relevance again, thus allowing Britain's proud liberal movement to live on in hope. The wrong candidate could kill us off completely. As we reach the final rounds, we've witnessed the standard heated debates online, the bonding of two teams, occasional frustration spilling into rudeness, cries for civility, apologies, and even a few giggles. What we haven't seen is anything that sparks the political imagination. Our position ...
What do the Liberal Democrats stand for, and why vote for us? Liberal Democrat Leadership contender Edward Davey MP highlights "a greener economy, a fairer society and a more caring country" on my lead question. Last month I sent three questions on Lib Dem values to both Ed and Layla Moran - plus two individually tailored 'mean' questions each. Layla replied last week, so you also can read Layla Moran's five answers here. Ed and his Correspondence Team have now replied to me in full, and you can read his five answers below. Ed Davey MP Ed Davey MP's Answers ...
The numbers applying for asylum in our neighbouring rich counties in 2019 was Germany: 165 516 France: 151 070 Spain: 117 800 Greece: 77 275 UK: 36 000 Yet our politicians have for years given the impression that we are being uniquely targetted as a "soft touch." Worse, Prime Minister Johnson has described the current attempts of migrants to reach the UK across the Channel, as "criminal" (it isn't), a letter to him from 20 Tory MPs speaks of an "invasion" and a junior minister on the radio this morning talked repeatedly (she was clearly "on message") of people trying ...
It's been a hugely stressful week for thousands of Scottish teenagers and their parents. They did not receive the results they were expecting for their HIgher exams after marks submitted by their teachers were downgraded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. This has disproportionately affected pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Willie Rennie supported pupil protests against the system used by the SQA. Pupils who have worked hard for months have been marked down because of how previous students performed at their school. This is grossly unfair as it reinforces the inequity that has been growing for years. The Education Secretary and the ...
Last week, with a whimper but not a bang, the Council published its long-awaited report on fractional investment. It was approximately 2 years after the Task Group first met and 14 months after it last met. Not exactly a rapid ... Continue reading →
Lib Dem leadership elections often bring up the same criticisms of the party: People don't know what we stand for. We aren't radical enough. We need to advance a "core voter" strategy based on values, not just on being "hard working local people". I agree with all of these criticisms, but get weary when they are repeated ad infinitum without solutions. Both Davey and Moran talk about the importance of building a distinctive liberal message without saying what this distinctive liberal message should be. What I'm seeing from both candidates is a list of reasonable policy ideas which aren't meaningfully ...
There is vanishingly small evidence that showing your ID when voting in Britain would reduce electoral fraud. That's because, although the occasional rare case hits the headlines, there is vanishingly little evidence that personation (pretending to be someone else in order to steal their vote) is a problem. Even the government's own report, from a carefully selected knighted ex-Conservative minister, failed to find such evidence. In that respect, England, Wales and Scotland are different from Northern Ireland, where there was evidence of such problems. Evidence that justified taking action in Northern Ireland. But action is not cost-free. Concentrating on fixing ...
Mon, 12:56: RT @tombennett71: This letter, from Albert Camus immediately after he was awarded the Nobel Prize,to his childhood teacher Louis Germaine,... Mon, 20:48: RT @Alby: Finally, an answer. https://t.co/kXlvDTp18k Tue, 09:30: Whoniversaries 11 August: Ron Grainer, John Gorrie, Peter Cushing, Derek Newark https://t.co/RHiEe8gX2n Tue, 10:07: Lukashenka's War on the Belarusian People Calls for a Strong EU Response https://t.co/UR7LY17K4b Strong from @JoergForbrig. Tue, 10:45: RT @TonyTrotman: EAT: https://t.co/T5A6oPrLWV A rare case where an employee's dismissal was fair - without following any disciplinary proce...
Back in 2018 I wrote a post under the title Forget "the Lib Dem family": Let's have proper leadership elections. I thought of it yesterday when I read an article on Liberal Democrat Voice. It was about the Liberal Reform hustings and celebrated the fact that it had revealed few policy differences between Ed Davey and Layla Moran. It went on to wish that the leadership contest were over and warn the party against bickering. Given the collapse in Liberal Democrat fortunes at Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff and in local government over the past decade, you may have hoped that the ...
If you think Big Brother is watching you, then you may well be right. The Guardian reports that the government has hired an artificial intelligence firm to collect and analyse the tweets of UK citizens as part of a coronavirus-related contract. The paper says the copy of a contract, published online, reveals that Faculty, which was hired by Dominic Cummings to work for the Vote Leave campaign and counts two current and former Conservative ministers among its shareholders, was paid £400,000 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for the work. The unredacted copy of the contract, published ...
Tue 11th
09:33
Dawn Butler incident - hopefully this will lead to review and change in the Met Police
I have been very impressed by the calm and fair way that Dawn Butler MP has dealt with the police stop incident on Sunday. She has been very specific about the particular behaviour she is criticising. I note that Chief Superintendent Roy Smith, who spoke to Ms Butler following the event, said she had given "a very balanced account of the incident". It is disgraceful that Ms Butler has been subjected to abuse on social media following Sunday. I think this is a timely lesson for the Met Police and I hope it leads to institutional review and change. Please ...
births and deaths 11 August 1922: birth of Ron Grainer, who composed the Doctor Who theme tune. According to the lore, he was so gobsmacked by Delia Derbyshire's electronic arrangement of the music that he asked her, "Did I really write this?" "Most of it," she replied. Of course he got the on-screen credit and she didn't. This is maybe how he would have expected it to sound: 11 August 1932: birth of John Gorrie, director of The Keys of Marinus (1964) and the third episode of The Reign of Terror (1964) 11 August 1939: birth of Ian Thompson, who ...
I am grateful to the residents who last week highlighted to me that, in the heavy rain, a large part of a tree in Newhall Gardens came down, landing on the central grass area. I drew this to the attention of the council's forestry team who very promptly removed this last Thursday.
