A pigeon yesterday. Thanks to a nomination from a Liberal England reader, the Newark Advertiser wins our Headline of the Day Award.
For me the week of the Conservative Party Conference is usually a week of low level nausea. Seeing Conservatives in their comfort zone is never going to be pleasant for any liberal. This week was particularly bad. The bottom of the barrel was seeing Peter Bottomley whinging that 81 grand wasn't enough for him to live on and using words such as "grim" and "desperate" to describe MPs' financial circumstances. I suspect the millions of people who are facing a £20 week cut in Universal Credit just at the same time as food and energy prices are going through the ...
At the (virtual) Party Conference at the weekend, a large number of amendments will be proposed to the Scottish Liberal Democrats' Constitution. Many of these are recommended by a Working Group (of which I was a member) appointed by the Executive. Others are proposed by the Executive themselves, mostly intended to improve or clarify the wording, and largely uncontentious. There is one, however, which was not recommended by the Working Group and which I believe should be strongly opposed. Since the formation of the Party in 1988, the Constitution has set out the grounds on which a Party Member can ...
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days, I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in recent circumstances. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. My two trips this month were both pleasure rather than business: my aunt Nora's 70th birthday at the start of the ...
[IMG: Folkestone and Hythe Express front page 6/10/2021] Article on the front page of today's Folkestone and Hythe Express on bin collections being discussed at last week's Folkestone & Hythe District Full Council Meeting. It quotes Cabinet Member for Waste Stuart Peall responding to a question from Councillor Jackie Meade on bin collection problems saying: "I have to say that I haven't received and emails or complaints from Councillors for the last few weeks about collections." Now, I don't want to be overly protective here, but that's not quite true. It's also not Stuart Peall's fault, as that is not ...
This morning Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, exposed his own ignorance on live television: Justice Secretary Dominic Raab MP was asked on #BBCBreakfast whether he believed misogyny should be treated as a hate crime. He said "misogyny is absolutely wrong whether it's a man against a woman, or a woman against a man"https://t.co/RIWo6f2kXN pic.twitter.com/8RGrwhlnnF — BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 6, 2021 Lib Dem Women and Equalities spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said: "It's little wonder the Conservatives are failing to tackle misogyny when their Justice Secretary doesn't even seem to know what it is." "These comments are an insult to the millions ...
Responding to the news that new Justice Secretary Dominic Raab does not understand the meaning of misogyny, Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP said: "It's little wonder the Conservatives are failing to tackle misogyny when their Justice Secretary doesn't even seem to know what it is." "These comments are an insult to the millions of women and girls impacted by misogyny and show just how out of touch the Conservatives are on this issue. "Women and girls deserve better than these callous remarks. The Government must make misogyny a hate crime so that police forces take these crimes more ...
Local Lib Dems party secretary Frank Little writes: The Conservatives had to find a new hall in Manchester for Boris Johnson's keynote speech because the normal conference venue was not big enough to accommodate his ego. Before he even shambled on to the platform, Liberal Democrats called him out for being full of "bombast and bluster" on green electricity, pointing to the Government's poor record on renewables. Amidst all the careless use of statistics and the downright lies, the Prime Minister indeed waxed lyrical about huge offshore wind farms and made extravagant claims about how much of Britain's electricity will ...
Rishi Sunak reassured the Conservative Party conference on Monday: 'Yes, I want tax cuts,' though not until public finances have been 'put back on a sustainable footing.' That's code for cutting public expenditure and public investment. The substantial proportion of Conservative MPs who believe in a small state repeatedly call for tax cuts without saying where they would cut spending. IN committing to balancing the budget Sunak is committing himself to cutting spending as well - or breaking the manifesto pledge not to raise taxes again. He will be well aware that Republican Administrations in the USA have repeatedly run ...
Tue, 12:56: The Ship That Became a Bomb https://t.co/wZB1S3Z3Ye Wow. Really alarming! Tue, 15:23: This is the site of one of the most important buildings of Irish history that *isn't* there any more. Behind me is where 51 North Park, Eltham, was: Wonersh Lodge, the home of Katharine O'Shea, where Charles Stuart Parnell used to sneak away for weekends. Gone. Totally gone. https://t.co/TVlxAMc9Ux Tue, 16:05: RT @jamesrbuk: Why today's Facebook drama will keep happening, explained by @xkcd https://t.co/lWpN0lWKm5 Tue, 18:29: Great Glowing Coils of the Universe, by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor https://t.co/YbofLQPxO2 Tue, 19:43: "There are some corners of ...
The timetable to elect a new Liberal Democrat Vice President responsible for working with ethnic minority communities has been released: Nominations open – October 11th, 09:00 (Mon) Nominations close – October 27th, 12:00 (Wed) Ballot opens – November 12th, 12:00 (Fri) Ballot closes – December 10th, 12:00 (Fri) Count and declaration – December 13th, 18:00 (Mon) The election follows Isabelle Parasram's new job, which means she has had to stand down from the role. This is the first time the post will be elected by the party's membership, rather than just by Federal Board members. Thank you to everyone who ...
I have been away for 12 days and thus not been blogging, despite there being plenty to blog about. I did not expect to come home though to a classic screw-up by an incompetent opposition party in the Welsh Senedd. As the BBC report, mandatory Covid passes in nightclubs and large events will now be introduced in Wales as planned on 11 October after Welsh ministers won a knife-edge Senedd vote, with 28 politicians voting for and 27 voting against. The public will be expected to show evidence of being fully vaccinated or having a recent negative Covid test at ...
The failings of the Metropolitan Police with regard to the murder of Sarah Everard have been well documented over the past few days. Our Wendy Chamberlain, the only woman in the Commons to have been a serving Police officer, has been absolutely brilliant in highlighting the need for change in the force. But the institutional sexism goes way beyond the Police. Former Nottinghamshire Chief Constable Sue Fish described yesterday how she didn't dare report sexual assault by a colleague for fear of the consequences for them and, even more disturbingly she recounted: that she had a senior colleague that was ...
From Sheena Wellington : Today - Wednesday 6th October at 1.15pm - Friends of Wighton will be delighted to present on Zoom the wonderful Robyn Stapleton, one of the finest singers of her generation. The reviewers have said : 'Rich, characterfully lilting, warm and clear' The List Robyn is an award-winning singer and song leader who shares her talent and passion for traditional music with audiences and communities throughout Scotland and internationally. 'Her warm sweet voice has a depth and colour that belies her youthfulness' fROOTS Don't miss it - link below : Sheena Wellington is inviting you to a ...
