J.W. Logan's Wikipedia entry now has this picture of the great man. It's not as good as the one of him with the East Langton ladies cricket team, mind. Logan, as regular readers will know, was Liberal MP for Harborough between 1891 and 1904, and between 1910 and 1916. They will also know that he once instigated a mass brawl on the floor of the Commons. And as I recently blogged, Logan is quoted in The Shortest History of England by James Hawes.
Here, in case you missed it, is our newest MP, Sarah Green's maiden speech from Tuesday of this week. pic.twitter.com/U8ygi9qWx3 — Sarah Green MP [IMG: 🔶] (@SarahGreenLD) September 7, 2021 A wonderful sight for those of us who helped get Sarah Green elected as MP for Chesham and Amersham. A short while ago, she made her maiden speech. It was warm, generous, gracious and funny. She paid a lovely tribute to her predecessor Dame Cheryl Gillan, talked about her beautiful constituency with huge affection and got in a criticism of HS2, a description of the roads as an assault course ...
Today is Open Monument Day in Flanders, but it caught me a little by surprise and I was too late to book tickets for the one thing I really really wanted to see, the stucco ceilings of Jan Christian Hansche at Beaulieu Castle in Machelen near Brussels. Apart from that, my tastes run to the ancient rather than modern, and the most promising Roman-era event was a celebration of the Menapian tribe in the small town of Nieuwkerken-Waas, near Sint-Niklaas, on the far side of Antwerp from us. Here the patch of land behind the town hall has been launched ...
Alex Cole-Hamilton is conducting his early interviews as leader with considerable skill. There's a lot of core messaging around the Lib Dems being the alternative to the clash of nationalisms, to the SNP ruining public services and how we offer new hope. We Lib Dems will get utterly sick of these things at some point but we aren't the target audience. The rest of the public doesn't hang off every word our leader utters like we do. Well, we don't really but we pay more attention than most people. By the time we have heard what he wants to say ...
New York Twin Towers 11th November, 2011: 2977 deaths. Resulting War on Terror (2001 to 2121) Afghanistan: 7 000 US servicemen 8 000 contractors 100 000 civilians. Iraq: 151 000 "violent" deaths. Annual road deaths in US: 38 000 London Blitz: 43 000 civilian deaths Korean War: 54 000 US Military 227 000 Korean Military Uncountable civilian deaths Vietnam War: 282 000 US and allies military deaths 415 000 civilian deaths. European colonisation of the area of the US; (aka the Indigenous Holocaust, 1492 - 1992) at least 100m deaths of Native Americans by military and "cowboy" action and disease. ...
The Liberal Democrats are stepping up campaigning in Conservative seats across the "Blue Wall", targeting Tory MPs who broke their manifesto promise by voting for a National Insurance rise last week. Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey has warned the Conservatives are "losing touch with their votes across the Blue Wall" and that the Liberal Democrats will provide an alternative choice, ahead of the party's Autumn conference later this week. It also follows the revelation that the Government's own analysis of their NI plan shows it will harm families and that those who are "currently just about managing financially, will see ...
Sun 12th
14:15
Alex Cole-Hamilton presses Scottish Government on measures to tackle violence against women and girl...
After Sarah Everard's murder in March, women across the country were in shock and expressed their anger. So many took to social media to talk about how they had felt frightened when they were out and about. I recorded a video at the time recounting my experience of being threatened by a man, which is pretty minor in the scheme of things, but it's typical of the sort of thing women have to put up with: We had a discussion amongst Scottish Lib Dem Women about what we could do to turn our anger into positive change that would make ...
Sun 12th
12:11Dates for your diary: The rise of China and 40 years on from the Limehouse declaration
I thought it might be worth sharing a couple of things I've registered for this morning. On Thursday 30th September at 11 am, the Paddy Ashdown Forum will be hosting a debate on China. The motion is "This House believes that China is interested in coexistence rather than domination." This will be a hybrid event, both in person at the National Liberal Club and online. It's the sort of thing you can listen in to if you are still working from home. You can get more details and register here. The second is a virtual event being hosted by Queen ...
I bet most of us remember what we were doing on 11th September 2001. Erica and I were on holiday in a small Greek Island called Tinos. We were in a very, very Greek and none-tourist restaurant up in the ... Continue reading →
Sat, 12:56: Duelling in the Dunes: When Tourists Fought in Flanders - the low countries https://t.co/hzTtZE9GDt Visitors welcome. Sat, 14:48: RT @Chican3ry: Trans women don't need rights because trans women are women. It's not ontologically or existential. Trans women need freedo... Sat, 15:46: American Beauty https://t.co/r1kfRvhYEL Sat, 17:32: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (at @Kinepolis in Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant) https://t.co/xTtR7JF9Id Sun, 08:42: RT @pmdfoster: Oh to be a fly in the wall at this one... via @ShippersUnbound King Boris keeps his court guessing https://t.co/TBXJjRK7CJ... Sun, 09:01: Dear god, my hair at age 23! (Concentrating on the Finnish phrase ...
Interesting news from the US on how CNN is reacting to the problems the polls had in the 2016 and 2020 US Presidential elections: The new approach relies on both online and telephone interviews, allowing respondents to participate in whichever way is more comfortable for them, and will use different methods for measuring long-term trends and for reactions to breaking news... Under the new methodology, CNN and SSRS will carry out polls several times a year using a larger sample and a longer field period than is typically used for news polling. Respondents across the country will be randomly selected ...
According to the Sunday Times (£), Boris Johnson may be about to ditch his controversial plans for vaccine passports in England to access nightclubs and other large indoor venues. On Tuesday, the prime minister will announce plans to try to keep Covid under control over the winter. He will say that he has abandoned the proposed compulsory certification scheme, which would have forced venues to check people's vaccine status. Johnson tore up the proposals after scientists said vaccinations would be an effective first line of defence against a winter wave of the pandemic. But the move also represents a significant ...
Boris Johnson is a serial rule-breaker, in fact he has built a career on his willigness to buck the trend when it is in his own interests. It is lttle surprise therefore to find that he tolerates similar traits in other members of his government. Amongst those who like to do things their own way is Priti Patel, who was notoriously forced to step down as international development secretary in 2017 after it emerged she failed to be candid with Theresa May about 14 unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers, businesspeople and a senior lobbyist. Whether Johnson takes the same approach ...
Sun 12th
09:37
Covid Watch 159: Infections in Ludlow, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin high and not falling
There is already talk of reintroduction of social mixing restrictions over the winter because Covid-19 infections rates are not falling. There could be announcement within the next few days on contingency plans should the NHS become overwhelmed with the twin pressures of flu and Covid. We are far from getting infection rates reduced. Infection rates have stopped falling in Shropshire and have been climbing in Telford & Wrekin. Across England, around 225 people per 100,000 people are testing positive each week, more than 150,000 new cases a week. In Shropshire, the infection rate is around 306, a third higher than ...
I have taken to using my phone to play my mother classical music while I am caring for her. She loves The Messiah and I have long found that He Shall Feed His Flock makes me wish there was a God. I don't get the same yearnings from The Trumpet Shall Sound, but it is a magnificent piece of music and Phillipe Sly is a mighty bass-baritone. I have also developed a love of the baroque trumpet from listening to Mark Bennett and Aksel Rykkvin. As ever, Handel makes the most of the words he was given:Behold, I tell you ...
The Bataclan Trial which opened this week in Paris has huge domestic and international significance. Domestically, it will be an act of national catharsis. 1,500 "civilian plaintiffs"—surviving victims and family members of the dead—are scheduled to give five weeks of testimony about the horror of the attack on Friday the 13th 2015 and its life-changing consequences. The bulk of the nine-month trial, however, will focus on the details of the attack on the Bataclan Theatre, the Stade de France and the street cafes of the 10th and 11th arondissements, and the origins and planning of the operation. The latter will ...
The school crossing patroller on Milnbank Road near Milnbank Gardens recently retired. Tayside Contracts, who provide the service for the City Council, has not replaced the patroller, saying the crossing does not meet its criteria for allowing a crossing, in terms of pupils using it and vehicle movements. I am very unhappy about this decision becuase the crossing is at a crucial location as vehicles come down the hill at City Road towards the site and I feel strongly that a crossing patroller is needed here. I have therefore put in a formal objection to the removal of the patroller ...
