LGBT+ rights are deeply personal to me and at the heart of Liberal Democrat values - but sometimes we have to stand up for them even in the Lib Dems. With another Lib Dem Conference looming, my Equal Marriage speech two years ago today was one of the most nerve-wracking I've ever delivered - though also one of my best. I had to stand up to a then-MP and a former Leader, because many people knew someone had to but no-one else was doing it (I've even drawn out lessons from two former Leaders at the end. Don't have nightmares). ...
Reacting to new figures which show job vacancies are at a record high, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "These figures reveal an unprecedented staffing crisis creating uncertainty for businesses all across the UK, and threatening to hurt our economic recovery. "At the same time, at the end of the month countless working families will be left worrying about putting food on the table as they face the triple whammy of furlough ending, the slashing of universal credit and the unfair National Insurance hike. "The Government can no longer ignore the unfolding crises in our economy hurting people ...
Reacting to the Government announcing a delay to import checks, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Trade Sarah Olney MP said: "The Government's 'independent trade policy' is in shambles. Utterly unable to secure the UK's vital imports, the only solution to the supply chain crisis they could cobble together is to kick the can down the road. "British businesses and consumers need to have the certainty that their supply chains won't get choked off and that they'll continue to find all the products they need in the supermarket. "The Conservative government must urgently explain how they'll avoid damaging shortages and price rises ...
The Liberal Democrats have branded the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rents) Bill a missed opportunity after amendments to look at greater financial support for leaseholders facing cladding issues were rejected. The proposed legislation, which has its third reading in the House of Lords today, was subject to a range of amendments at its second reading - including an amendment from Liberal Democrat peer Kath Pinnock. Her amendment aimed to ensure the bill looked at what could be done to better support leaseholders being left facing huge bills for fire remediation work to remove dangerous cladding. However the amendment was defeated after ...
Speaking today in Parliament ahead of the vote on the government's manifesto-breaking plans to increase National Insurance, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "This is a jobs tax, but much worse than that. It's a tax on nurses who on average will pay an extra £270 more per year. It's a tax on our teachers, police and care home workers. the very same people who have kept the country going throughout this pandemic. "It's a tax that will disproportionately hit low earners, at a time families are already seeing their income squeezed by the pandemic. "This is the ...
Second paragraph of third chapter (buckle up, it's a long one):She had travelled but little before, except, long ago, from Avalon to Tintagel. She contrasted the frightened, despairing child of that first journey with herself today. Now she rode at Gorlois's side, and he went to some trouble to tell her something of the lands they passed through, and she laughed and teased him, and at night in their tent she went willingly to his bed. Now and again she missed Morgaine, wondering how the child would be faring - would she cry at night for her mother, would she ...
Tue 14th
16:47
Temporary Overnight Road Closures - A259 Dymchurch Road, Hythe - 28 September 2021 - 4 nights
[IMG: Roadworks sign] Overnight closures of part of A259 Dymchurch Road, Hythe are planned from Tuesday 28 September 2021 for up 4 nights, from 8.00 pm through until approximately 5.00 am each night. A259 Dymchurch Road will be closed between the junctions with Botolph's Bridge Road and Redoubt Way, to the actual extent shown at any time. ~ There will be no direct access using the A259 between Folkestone / Hythe and Dymchurch / Romney Marsh during these works ~ The alternative route for through traffic is via A259 Hythe Road, High Street, Dymchurch Road, High Street (New Romney), Lydd ...
After years of discussions, a road safety scheme has been installed by Shropshire Council outside Ludlow Primary School on Sandpits Road. It doesn't work. If anything, it speeds up traffic approaching the school gates. "This is not the scheme we expected", says Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow East Tracey Huffer. "After years of discussions, a scheme for improving road safety outside the school has been implemented. There are new signs and new road markings. The centrepiece of the scheme is a raised table, a wide road hump. But the table is too low. It has no effect on the speed of ...
Today is the twentieth anniversary of the recall of Parliament in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in the USA. We posted Charles Kennedy's speech earlier. In a subsequent debate on international terrorism, Menzies Campbell, then our foreign affairs spokesperson, spoke. He made some unfailingly liberal points, about how important it was to focus on justice rather than retaliation, to make sure any response is based on decent intelligence and international co-operation and, importantly, that we should note that the perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda and the Srebrenica massacre were not met hunted down with international military action. We ...
The most significant political development here in Britain in the last week was the government's announcement that it is going to raise National Insurance by 3% of income (1.5% each to be paid by employer and employee) to pay for additional short-term costs in the NHS and longer term costs of social care. Alongside it ... Continue reading The NHS makes Britain a high-tax nation. Tories need to get over it
Mon, 12:56: RT @SJAMcBride: This is extraordinary: The latest polls put Sinn Fein nine points clear as the largest party in Northern Ireland and ten po... Mon, 16:05: Doctor Who episode 602: The Five Doctors (25/11/1983) https://t.co/dtKneRlILA A great redemptive analysis. Mon, 16:36: I wrote a year ago about this striking portrait of Th�odore Jonet and his daughters Juliette and Emilie, not realising that the age differences between them are the same as between my and my own daughters. Maybe that explains the resonance I felt! https://t.co/WgPdvBLanZ https://t.co/jxDJLtdPmg Mon, 17:11: Thoughts on the "Debarkle" | Whatever https://t.co/9BFdFoZjC7 @scalzi reflects. Mon, ...
Twenty years ago today, Parliament was recalled to debate the 9/11 terror attacks. Charles Kennedy, our then leader, spoke with customary good sense. He spoke of the need for international organisations to rise to the occasion. He spoke of his concern at the way asylum seekers and immigrants were already starting to be demonised. Here is his speech in full: On behalf of my right hon. and hon. Friends, I wholly associate the Liberal Democrats with the proper sentiments that have been expressed so well by the Prime Minister and by the new leader of the Conservative party—whom I congratulate ...
At last, a government cut I agree with. The Guardian reports that a controversial plan to build a tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland has been ditched before ground was broken. They say the proposed link, described as the "world's most stupid tunnel" by Boris Johnson's former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, had a price tag of about £15bn and the backing of the prime minister. But an unnamed government official with knowledge of Treasury spending negotiations has told the Financial Times the plans are "dead, at least for now": Johnson was reportedly keen to link Northern Ireland to Great Britain ...
Tue 14th
08:32
Therese Coffey should listen to those who really do understand how Universal Credit works
It is pretty staggering when a Government Minister goes on national television and exposes their own ignorance of something they are in charge of. But when that ignorance leads to them doing things that make it more difficult for the poorest people in our country to put food on the table and heat their homes, it is particularly reprehensible. MPs' inboxes are full of really heartbreaking stories from people who are already struggling to survive on Universal Credit and are dreading the £20 cut which comes in at the end of this month. And then you have Therese Coffey, Work ...
Action for Land Taxation & Economic Reform (ALTER) will hold its conference fringe on Sunday, 19th September 2021 13:05 to 14:15. The theme of the fringe is simulating a land value tax funded Universal Basic Income. A presentation followed by Q&A's will be made by Nikhil Woodruff, technical lead at the UBI Center, a think tank researching universal basic income policies. He is also the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at PolicyEngine. Other contributors to the research include Max Ghenis president of the UBI Center, and co-founder and CEO of PolicyEngine and Charles Bauman, research assistant at the UBI Center. ...
As residents know, councillors were not able to hold their weekly ward surgeries at schools and libraries since the start of the COVID-19 health emergency, but I am pleased to advise of the one new weekly ward surgery I am now able to start. From today - Tuesday 14th September - and during school term times, my new surgery time and location is : Tuesdays at 3.30pm prompt at Blackness Library All welcome and no need to book. The library has appropriate safety measures in place to ensure a COVID-safe environment, including hand sanitisers and use of face coverings. Unfortunately, ...
Leonard Rossiter is best remembered as the creator of Rigsby and Reggie Perrin, but before he was a sitcom star he was a celebrated actor on stage and screen. He has a habit of turning up in films (King Rat, 2001, Barry Lyndon) where you do not expect to find him. Click on the image of Rossiter as King John above to watch an interview, recorded in 1980, in which he talks about his career. Rossiter died in 1984, during a performance of Joe Orton's Loot. He was playing Inspector Truscott and I had seen him in the role only ...
