John O'Gaunt Viaduct stands in East Leicestershire on the closed Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway It was building that line that first brought this blog's hero, the railway contractor and Liberal MP for Harborough J.W. Logan, to Leicestershire. Elsewhere on this blog you can see another video of the viaduct and film of the last days of the major station on the line, Melton Mowbray North.
"The Liberal Democrats have a poor quality of internal democracy because there are no well-organised factions acting as intermediaries between the membership and the internal elected bodies. If they're even aware that they exist, most members have no real idea what the internal party bodies do because no one is explaining it to them in practical terms that make sense to them." Nick Barlow argues that the Lib Dems need to understand and embrace factions. Jane Dodds says it's time for the Lib Dems to back a universal basic income. "As more and more Englishmen landed on the Caribbean, cut ...
Embed from Getty ImagesThe new leader of the Liberal Democrats will be announced at 11.30 tomorrow morning. Why not join the millions who will be watching the announcement live on YouTube?
A follow-up to my previous piece on factions in the Liberal Democrats, exploring how they can work in the party.
The next Leader of the Liberal Democrats will be announced at 11.30am tomorrow, Thursday 27th August. You can watch the announcement live on YouTube. * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames where she is still very active with the local party.
Thank you to both Ed Davey and Layla Moran, and their campaign teams, for putting in such hard work to give members a choice in the leadership election.
The party needs better internal debate and discussion — accepting factions exist is a necessary part of achieving this.
Kashmir is one of those decades-long conflicts which rarely makes it into the mainstream UK media; until recently. In June this year 20 Indian soldiers died in fighting with Chinese soldiers, on the border between Indian-administered and Chinese-administered Kashmir. So what is the nature of the conflict and why has it become much more dangerous this year ? Central to the recent upsurge in violence, lies China-India relations. To understand, we must start with 'British India'. After Indian independence following WW2, Kashmir was divided into Pakistan administered and Indian administered territory, with two smaller areas controlled by China. Both the ...
The Mirror reveals that a firm run by a close ally of Dominic Cummings was awarded a £49,300 contract to advise Ofqual ahead of the A-level results fiasco. Public First were hired to help the exam regulator with "insight on public opinion for this year's exam arrangements." However, the deal was put in place without other firms being allowed to bid for the work. This takes the total value of contracts handed to Public First this year over £1 million. The paper says that Public First is a small lobbying and research firm run by James Frayne, a Brexit ally ...
I am sure that most of you will have been shocked and distressed by recent reports that, during lockdown, Many care homes were ordered to place "Do not resuscitate" orders on all their residents. In many cases, there was no discussion of this with either the residents themselves or their families. About half of these were care homes for the elderly. The other half were for younger adults with learning difficulties or other disabilities. It is hard to find words for this violation of the most fundamental of human rights - the right to life. We thought we were going ...
Tue, 12:56: The evolution of UKIP in Wales: How the Senedd's Brexiteer politicians turned on each other and the institution that employs them to survive https://t.co/0USLeyphF2 Ohdearwhatapitynevermind. Tue, 16:05: Why Phil Hogan will survive 'golfgate' https://t.co/Cm7fyWPEx8 @TimKingBru's view. Tue, 17:11: The Grand Old Meltdown https://t.co/PIRPbnSrHX Fantastic must-read analysis of Trump's Republican Party by @TimAlberta. Tue, 20:48: Why righteous indignation is not an effective lobbying strategy. https://t.co/UF5riInXvV Good point from @turtleboy19, which applies to lobbying and advocacy generally, not just Brussels (though I am not endorsing the book which I have not read). Wed, 07:23: Why Phil Hogan has to go ...
Wed 26th
10:47
Council leaders worried that Shirehall will be listed by Historic England apply for immunity certifi...
Without informing councillors, Shropshire Council has applied for a certificate of immunity to protect its Shirehall headquarters from being listed. Councillors only heard about this yesterday in an email from Highley councillor Dave Tremellen. The consultation by Historic England ends on Friday. Council leader Peter Nutting has said the decision to apply for a certificate of immunity is not controversial as the council decision in July on the future of Shirehall was quite clear. But councillors did not agree to demolish Shirehall. They agreed to stop work on the ambitious and expensive plans to remodel Shirehall and explore developing a ...
Next week, we go back to school in England. My teenagers will return and I will go back to work as a science technician. Am I happy and confident that this will all work out? No, not really. Will we all be going to school? Yes. The government says we'll be safe. They claim that the virus won't be a problem. They also tell us we don't need to wear masks, that children won't need to stay 2m apart. The children will be in "bubbles". They gloss over the fact that some of these bubbles will include whole year groups, ...
Amidst all the concerns that there may be dangers for school children returning to school and the continued U-turns from the Government our education spokesperson, Cllr Liz Makinson has been seeking answers to questions that parents have been asking Councillors ... Continue reading →
There has been a lot of debate in the party about Universal Basic Income, but it's not always been clear what kind of UBI is being proposed. This article is to ask you to choose from four clear options. A key issue with UBI is how it will be funded, and if it is funded, whether other priorities will have to be dropped. In the 2019 election, Jeremy Corbyn proposed raising taxes by £80bn/yr. The Liberal Democrats proposed an extra £51bn/yr spending (this included a £14bn/yr 'remain bonus') The four options below involve combinations of the cheapest of the schemes ...
i) births and deaths 26 August 1970: birth of Phil Collinson, producer of New Who for most of the first four series (Ninth and Tenth Doctors). ii) broadcast anniversaries 26 August 1991: first broadcast of the so-called 'Pilot Episode', the first mounting of 'An Unearthly Child' which was not shown in November 1963. 26 August 2011: first broadcast of Torchwood series 4 episode The End of the Road. Jack is rescued but injured; Gwen is deported.
Hello! I'm Mark Pack, author of both 101 Ways To Win An Election and Bad News: what the headlines don't tell us, along with maintaining the largest database of national voting intention polls in the UK, stretching back to 1943. The next general election is most likely several years away, but political polling of voting intentions for a general election is now back in full swing. Half-a-dozen firms are polling regularly, with a handful of occasional surveys from others too. As you can see from the table below, the big surge in Conservative Party support earlier in the year has ...
Residents recently contacted about an advertising hoarding on the Blackness Road, Glamis Road, Glamis Drive roundabout. As one resident put it : "I was very upset this morning at the sight of a bright pink advertising hoarding facing my garden from the Glamis Rd/Blackness Rd Circle. This erection went up overnight with no notification that it was going to be erected and no opportunity to discuss the issues. The circle has recently been improved visually with a tree and plants and it is now totally spoilt by the use of the circle for adverts." I am all for the council ...
I write this after I have voted, but before the result is known. Whoever becomes our next leader, and we have two excellent candidates, I hope that they can work with all of the party to drive the Lib Dems forward. A lot of effort, and money, has gone into both campaigns, and the language used by both candidates has been approaching divisive. It fell short of all out war, as has been seen in other parties' leadership elections, but let's hope that they can both work together and use some of the other candidate's ideas to drive future policy ...
Blyth Town Council continues to meet over Zoom. The public are allowed to observe, and the council provides a Zoom connection before each meeting. All times are subject to change, so please check with the council The scheduled meetings are: - Tuesday 1st September, 4:30 pm, Environment Committee Thursday 10th September 2:00 pm Community Funding Sub Committee Tuesday 22nd September 4:30 pm Community Development Committee Tuesday 29th September 2:00 pm Governance Committee
As Monday 31st August is a Bank Holiday, Northumberland's bin collections for the week are put back a day. So if your usual collection day is a Tuesday, it'll be a Wednesday etc. Next week is a dry recycling ( ie blue bin ) and garden ( ie brown ) bin week If you have problems please contact Northumberland County Council, not Blyth Town Council
Wed 26th
01:18
The Conservatives dropped Land of Hope and Glory and the Union Jack from their conference in 1998
From the Independent, 18 September 1998 Land of Hope and Glory, the flying of the Union Jack and other overt shows of nationalism are to be dropped for the leader's speech at the Conservative Party conference. In a break with tradition by William Hague, the leader's speech is being brought forward a day, leaving the departing party chairman, Lord Parkinson, to wind up the conference the next day with the 84-piece Bournemouth youth orchestra playing the traditional Land of Hope and Glory and tunes from the four corners of the UK, including Scotland the Brave and Land of My Fathers. ...
