Six council by-elections on Thursday, following up the trio on Tuesday. Disappointingly there were only four Liberal Democrat candidates for the seat seats this time around. Although one missing candidate was in a ward the party last stood in back in 2003, the other was in a ward the party contested as recently as 2019. First in is a huge swing from Labour in Sunderland, in a ward where since 2010 the Lib Dems have always either finished last or not stood: First result of the night: Hetton Ward, Sunderland MBC [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 661 (31.6%, -13.1%) [IMG: 🔶] LD: ...
My friend and colleague, Cllr Peter Craig, has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the community. He was presented with his medal recently. I was there to take the photos and video.
Tonight, while sitting down to have my dinner on the settee, channel hopping took me to the Forces Channel which was broadcasting Blake's 7. That takes me back to the late 70s. Unconvincing special effects, cardboard props and terrible acting. I loved that programme then and was delighted to see it again tonight!
So, if you have never had bad period pain, how can I convince you that it really is horrible? You know what bad toothache can be like? That sort of immersive pain experience that completely consumes you. There is very little you can do to get relief. Painkillers barely take the edge off. Concentrating on anything is virtually impossible. Thankfully, bad toothache doesn't come along too often. But period pain, which is kind of like toothache in the abdomen comes along roughly once a month. I know people who are in absolute agony for a couple of days. On the ...
Congratulations to the latest Liberal Democrat to be selected as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC), Tom Morrison in Cheadle: Last time we managed to slash the Conservative majority in half, making Cheadle the top target in the North West. Next time we can go one better, join the campaign at https://t.co/W4GPwFJxK1 https://t.co/m95aZOGzlY — Tom Morrison (@ThomasMorrison) September 30, 2021
Non-fiction 3 (YTD 30) Rose, by Jon Arnold The Massacre, by James Cooray Smith Gods and Tulips, by Neil Gaiman [IMG: book cover] Non-genre 3 (YTD 22) Jack, by Marilynne Robinson Kipps, by H. G. Wells 4.50 from Paddington, by Agatha Christie [IMG: book cover] SF 11 (YTD 94) Zodiac Station, by Tom Harper The Return of the Discontinued Man, by Mark Hodder - did not finish Hurricane Fever, by Tobias S. Buckell The Man Who Walked Through Walls, by Marcel Aymé Felaheen, by Jon Courtenay Grimwood The Bloodline Feud, by Charles Stross "The Saturn Game", by Poul Anderson Dominion: ...
Thu 30th
15:34
Getting a story out - the Liberal Democrat press team in action over furlough extension
The Press Team at Lib Dem HQ don't just write press releases and send them out, hoping that journalists will publish them. They actively go out and try and get them published. A great success story is a push on the end of furlough, highlighting a letter written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak by Lib Dem Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine asking him to extend furlough for six months to those sectors which are still struggling such as tourism, travel and the creative arts. Christine says this is important to avoid a "tidal wave" of job losses as the scheme comes to ...
Responding to the news that the government will launch a £500m support fund for vulnerable households this winter, Christine Jardine MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson said: "This will be cold comfort for struggling families seeing their universal credit slashed and facing the risk of eviction. "People need a generous package of support to help them cope with soaring gas bills this winter. Instead Rishi Sunak is offering then some crumbs off the table. He's kidding himself if he thinks this will be enough to prevent the looming winter of discontent. "If the chancellor really wanted to support vulnerable households, he ...
The global political situation, with the rise of populism and nationalism, and the domestic political scene, with a Conservative government trampling on democratic values with impunity, is crying out for the powerful advocacy of Liberalism. The huge problem is that in Britain there is currently no relevant political organisation that encompasses and promotes Liberalism. The Liberal Democrats have sunk to such a level that the party is incapable of recovering to become the political force that the vacuum in our politics demands without first developing a topical and substantial statement of Liberal philosophy to unite around and to promote, and ...
It's worth reading the right-wing media to try to understand where the policies our opponents are advancing come from. In the Sunday Telegraph some weekends ago Simon Heffer was encouraging Michael Gove to continue to fight 'the Blob', which for Heffer includes the staff of the NHS as well as school and university teachers, most civil servants and others in the public sector, theatres, museums and charities, the BBC (of course), and the clergy of the Church of England - a large chunk of our population, possibly even a majority of its university graduates. On September 26th Eric Kaufmann warned ...
There was a name that didn't pass Starmer's lips yesterday but his contempt and determination to deal with that name was apparent throughout. Starmer holds Corbyn in absolute contempt. If a so-called social democrat could undertake a Stalinist revisionist purge ... Continue reading →
Wed, 18:14: April 2013 books https://t.co/ZLXleoP2QO Thu, 10:45: RT @MatthewOToole2: We are in the genuinely surreal situation of the British government simultaneously trying to pretend there isn't a cris...
Awareness and lack of effective action concerning global warming are not new. In 1896 Savante Arrenhuis suggested that fossil fuels would raise the World's temperature. In the 50s and 60s Messrs. Callendar, Plass and Keeling proved this. We need to grasp and manage the actual and possible causes of this concern and the lack of effective responses. They include: • Effects of fossil fuels • Lack of neutral and benign alternatives to fossil fuels • International conflicts • Economic and accountancy theory and practices • Preoccupations with dominance Fossil fuels pollute the air with the harmful chemicals which their combustion produces. They pollute water in ...
It's been a while since I last looked at research evidence on whether local candidates do better in elections. So time to catch up with another experiment which has come to a similar conclusion: voters prefer local candidates.
[IMG: Princes Parade] At the Folkestone and Hythe District Council meeting last night, a vote to delay the removal of vegetation from the Princes Parade site until the current Public Inquiry into moving the road has given its verdict was lost by 12 votes to 14. The motion, moved by Green Group Leader Lesley Whybrow and seconded by Lib Dem Group Leader Tim Prater said: In order to cap the contaminated land at Princes Parade it will be necessary to remove all the vegetation. Although the reptiles should have been moved to an alternative habitat by then and the badgers ...
This week, the Scottish Parliament debated the £20 per week cut to Universal Credit that will be hitting already struggling families from tomorrow. Willie Rennie highlighted the number of families on Universal Credit in the constituencies of Scotland's Conservative MPs in his speech. He also set out how some families, affecting up to 8000 children, would lose much more. If their entitlement to Universal Credit is £20 or less, then they lose entitlement to so many other benefits, including the Scottish Child Payment. A briefing from the Child Poverty Action Group explains: Mhari is 23. She and her partner have ...
The Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden will be holding a plant sale this Saturday - 2nd October. It will take place from 12 noon to 3pm and will take place in the Botanic Garden car park. The Friends add : "We are grateful for any donations on the day, but please can you split clumps into smallish chunks for ease of sale. Also we'd be grateful if plants can be clearly labelled with the name. Colour is also helpful. As before, plants will be priced in units of £1, so come with your real money if you ...
Historic England's blurb on YouTube says:Completed in 1220, St Mary the Virgin's Church is a grand Norman build that sits at the heart of Shrewsbury town centre. It boasts an incredible ornate nave roof, grand pinnacles and one of the finest stained-glass collections in the country. A portion of the £1,345,049 Culture Recovery Fund grant awarded to Churches Conservation Trust was allocated to St Mary the Virgin's Church. The grant was used to stabilise the chapel pinnacles and reroof the vestry.
