Long-standing Liberal Democrat member, activist, and election talisman Erlend Watson has been accorded Honorary Life Membership of the Young Liberals. The announcement comes after Erlend has undergone a serious period of hospitalisation at the Royal Papworth Cambridge and after he has himself issued a Farewell statement on his own Facebook page (copied below with his permission). Young Liberals Chair Eleanor Kelly said: Erlend has been a great friend of Young Liberals since before most of our members were born. With a long and varied career within the party, he has been a fixture of general and by-election campaigns for decades. ...
So. Enjoying a much quieter Christmas than usual; though still a bit more convivial than last year; for Christmas dinner, we invited our old Cambridge friend P, who normally goes to his family in England but couldn't this year. I'm happily blogging away (most of my book blog posts are written at least a week in advance). We took B out for a walk today despite the rain (which she doesn't mind) and did not quite succeed in getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time. The girls have now had their booster shots, Anne and I ...
For the last couple of years, I did a roundup of science fiction set in the year to come - 2020 and 2021. This year I have not looked into TV shows or games, but can present you with three novels and six films, all made in 2002 or before, all set more or less in 2022. I'm going through them in reverse chronological order, frankly because that way we save the best until last. (Most of them are not very good, but I also confess that I watched several of the films when sick with COVID, so my concentration ...
This morning I went out delivering some leaflets to advertise a consultation event to create a small, wooded area and an outdoor activity centre on unused land at a Football Hub owned by the Council in my Church Ward in ... Continue reading →
Interviewed by the Guardian, Helen Morgan said the Liberal Democrats' win, which overturned a Conservative majority of nearly 23,000, was not a fluke. Morgan said her election builds on the party's success in the Chesham and Amersham byelection in June and the Lib Dems are capable of winning over more voters than people expect and the Lib Dems have proved their popularity is no longer confined to parts of the country which voted Remain. We've won two big byelections in just over six months. We've now proved the Chesham and Amersham result wasn't a fluke. Everyone said that was about ...
A legend passed away unexpectedly. Heavens, he could be troublesome – cantankerous, occasionally outrageously rude, but if any one person represented the sheer bloody-mindedness of Liberal Democrat campaigners, it was Tony Greaves. A peerage did little to change him other than to allow him a platform to make life miserable for hapless Government ministers. We still miss him but, as Molly Nolan noted, we stand on the shoulders of giants. Another remote Federal Conference saw Ed Davey outline his vision for the country. Some of you weren't impressed but then again, some of you aren't actually Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, my ...
Sun, 15:36: The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence, 1918-1923, by Charles Townshend https://t.co/qHeAQH1RGf Sun, 20:48: RT @alexstubb: This should not come as a surprise to anyone and unfortunately it will get worse before it will get...well, worse. Do not know... Mon, 10:45: Fellowship of the Ring at 20: the film that revitalised and ruined Hollywood https://t.co/qXmWXGR5SU
As the Boxing Day hunts gather there is growing concern that these trail hunts are being used as a smokescreen for illegal foxhunts. As a result, Ministers are being urged to ban trail hunting on public land. The Guardian notes that in a landslide vote at the National Trust's annual meeting in November, members voted overwhelming to ban this form of hunting, which was devised after the Hunting Act banned the hunting of foxes with dogs. Natural Resources Wales, similarly banned the practice, but activists expect more than 240 hunting days will have taken place on land owned by the ...
No council by-elections this week either on the traditional Thursday or on an unconventional different day. So here's a suggestion for something useful and quick you can do instead.
Many thanks to the residents who recently contacted me about the street sign in Cambridge Street at the Oxford Street end - it is broken and half of it is missing. I have therefore asked the roads maintenance partnership to replace it.
