The Guardian wins our Headline of the Day award thanks to a nomination from a Liberal England reader. Beneath the headline you will find a story of grotesque tragedy.
I suspect many people, including me, aren't as clued up on how their personal data is used as they should be. The idea that everyone should know what data is held about them and have a say in how it will be used is a very liberal one. In fact, it was a liberal government in Estonia which brought in liberal information laws which ensure citizens have the right to see who has accessed the information about them that government holds. Today is the third birthday of GDPR, which was supposed to give us all a much better say on ...
July 2011 started with a visit to Ireland to celebrate my mother's 70th birthday (which actually fell at the end of June; she turns 80 next month). My photos from the party are, frankly, embarrassingly poor. Here's the two best ones I got, my great aunt (who had just turned 95, and will turn 105 next month) with my mother and six of my mother's eight siblings; and 11-year-old F with my great aunt who unfortunately had her eyes closed at the moment I took the shot. Back at home, I found a new place to take B, the Paterskerk ...
Maddi Crickmay, Liberal Democrat Youth and Student Development Officer and Shrewsbury Councillor Alex Wagner at Amersham party HQ today I spent today helping Sarah Green's campaign at Amersham. What a great day! I don't think I have had such a beautiful delivery round since the heady days of Littleborough and Saddleworth in 1995. Then, I had to walk several miles up to a farmhouse to deliver one leaflet. But it was blazing sunshine and the surroundings were idyllic – so I didn't mind. The Amersham HQ was bustling with activity when I arrived. Maddi and Alex were just two of ...
News that Lib Dem Councillor, Kris Brown, is to be nominated as Chair of the new independent Audit Committee tomorrow after agreement between Labour and Lib Dem Parties should be a sign that the scrutiny process will become more important ... Continue reading →
Responding to record-breaking public sector net borrowing statistics, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Treasury said: "These record breaking figures are a warning of potential problems ahead. But they mustn't be used by the Government as an excuse to cut short essential support while the economy reopens. "Small businesses are concerned about the new Indian variant's potential threat to the final steps of re-opening. This must be taken into account in the next stage of the recovery. "The Government must extend the furlough scheme at least until the end of the year, and unroll an ambitious revenue compensation scheme for small ...
Responding to trade stats from the ONS this morning, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Trade Sarah Olney MP said: "The loss of nearly a quarter of our trade with our biggest trading partner should make the Prime Minister and Trade Secretary hang their heads in shame. "Despite the impact of Covid-19, the figures are clear: this is primarily the outcome of the Government's catastrophic trade deal with the EU. "Hundreds of thousands of British small businesses that rely on trade with Europe have been abandoned by the Government, and their millions of employees will be rightly worried about their future. "We ...
My posting below from 26th April mentioned a national policing campaign which was held on 14th April this year called 'Operation Close Pass Day' when police forces across the country would be sending out officers on cycles to try to catch those drivers who dangerously overtake cyclists by passing far too close to them. Here's a link back to that posting:- Photo from Cycling UK showing the likely change to the Highway Code for passing a cyclist. I said back then that I awaited a response from both Lancashire and Merseyside Police about how they engaged with the campaign ...
Responding to the news that local lockdowns have been introduced by "stealth" Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said: Changing policy by stealth is completely irresponsible. Matt Hancock should have made clear the changes he was making to guidance in advance and communicated it to the public and local officials. He needs to make clear the situation immediately to Parliament. Clarification on the new rules in these areas is now needed, not only for residents but for those that would normally travel to the affected areas. People cross these invisible boundaries every day for medical appointments or to go ...
As I watched with horror, the escalating flames in Jerusalem, and their reverberations around Israel and Gaza, it was bitterly ironic that preview screenings of my film, The Tinderbox, are running now. Five years ago I set out to make a single film that would allow audiences to understand what's been happening in Israel/Palestine for the past century. Despite being told that there must already be historically rigorous, balanced documentaries clarifying past and present context, I have been unable to find another. This notwithstanding, after two years it became clear that despite being a BAFTA/RTS-winning, Oscar-nominated documentary film team, I ...
Mon, 15:14: @H_Bettsworth and her pizza. (Yes, it has chips/fries on it.) https://t.co/N5vj8ZiQ4X Mon, 18:04: Merovingian metalwork https://t.co/1TgPxJ7rXc Tue, 09:30: Whoniversaries 25 May https://t.co/h3ZJSF3aNU Tue, 10:33: Happy birthday, @FondacioniT !!! https://t.co/p0tLuMeWf6 Tue, 10:45: Aboard the 'hijacked' plane to Minsk https://t.co/0qCFi13Fsz First person accounts.
As Liberal Democrats, we do not support independence and we don't want a second referendum; we have better ideas about the constitution. However, we must live up to our title as democrats and must recognise that there is now a clear majority at Holyrood for such a referendum. It would be foolish and self-defeating to oppose it. We must not repeat the mistake we made at the 2019 General Election when we were proposing to ignore the outcome of the EU referendum by not going back to the electorate for a second vote. That surely damages our reputation and cost ...
i) broadcast anniversaries 25 May 1968: broadcast of fifth episode of The Wheel in Space. The Doctor fights back against the Cybermen, and sends Jamie and Zoe on a dangerous spacewalk. 25 May 1974: broadcast of fourth episode of Planet of the Spiders. Tommy is healed by the crystal, but Sarah and then the Doctor are captured by the spiders. ii) date specified in-universe 25 May 1972: birth of Joseph Serf, the titular Man Who Never Was in the very last story of the Sarah Jane Adventures (2011).
The Guardian reports that fewer than one in 60 rape cases recorded by the police last year resulted in a suspect being charge. They say that of the 52,210 rapes recorded by police in England and Wales in 2020, only 843 resulted in a charge or a summons - a rate of 1.6%, leading to increased pressure on the government to deliver radical proposals to overhaul the treatment of rape by the criminal justice system: According to Guardian analysis, more than 100,000 rapes have been reported to police since the review was announced in March 2019, following concerns about a ...
Residents have been in touch with me about the decision by Stagecoach to currently suspend bus service X54 as far as its route west of the City Centre goes. This is concerning as it removes the service from the most westerly part of the Perth Road. I took this up with the City Council's Team Leader, Parking & Sustainable Transport who has now advised me as follows : "I have spoken to the commercial manager at Stagecoach East Scotland who has confirmed the 'temporary' suspension of X54 between the city centre and Ninewells. The longer term future of this express ...
"Clarke roots his theories in the politics of the contemporary left and has identified three mythologies that need to be overcome if the party is to win power again. He terms these 'the Dark Knight', 'the Puppet Master' and 'the Golden Age'." Anthony Broxton reviews Chris Clarke's book The Dark Knight and the Puppet Master. Eric Levitz says the choice before us on climate change is techno-optimism or barbarism. "Not only is parkrun exactly the kind of health intervention that local government should be pulling out all the stops to support, but it is also a source of company and ...
