One feature of posting about the Ukraine-Russia crisis that occasionally comes across my social media feeds is that of left-wing, pro-Russian bloggers and thinkers attacking Ukraine and its independence on a number of grounds. In particular, the claim or implication made is frequently that Ukraine is an aggressive nationalist-fascist state, backed by America for selfish [...]
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to bring forward a package of support for communities affected by storms in the UK. It comes as both Storm Dudley and Eunice are barraging places with strong winds and harsh weather. Like Storm Arwen that ravaged homes in November 2021, thousands are set to be left without power, with railways and transport links also taking serious damage. The Lib Dems are calling for ministers to step in and provide food, emergency accommodation and other essential supplies to vulnerable people on the ground impacted by the storms. The party is also urging ...
Responding to the Government's announcement of plans to create 4,000 more prison spaces, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: "This is the cost of the Conservatives' failure on crime. The UK already has more people in prison than any other country in Western Europe, and now the Government is spending an extra £4 billion because crime is rising. "These new places won't even do anything to reduce the huge overcrowding in prisons, because of the rising prison population. Only by ending overcrowding can we rehabilitate prisoners properly and break the cycle of reoffending. "Just building more prison ...
The Liberal Democrats have said Putin's cronies who have previously been granted golden visas should have them revoked and be kicked out of the country. It comes after the Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed today the golden visas scheme will be scrapped and that a Home Office review on the issue that ministers have been sitting on since 2018 will be published "in due course." The review examines those golden visas which were issued between 2008 and April 2015, and is reportedly reviewing more than 6,000 golden visas for national security risks - over half of all those issued during ...
It has been a very windy winter, with reports suggesting that 8 million trees have been blown down this winter so far. There will be a few more down by midday tomorrow, probably very many more. There is an Amber Warning of high winds in Shropshire from 3am tomorrow until 9pm in the evening. The Met Office said today there is an increasing likelihood of widespread inland wind gusts of 60-70 mph and up to 80 mph in a few places. Around coasts of west Wales and southwest England, gusts of 90 or possibly even 100 mph are possible. Severe ...
Second paragraph of third chapter ("The Space Buoy", by Paul Vought):He flicked a switch on the control panel and waited for an image to appear on the monitor. Seconds ticked by, the screen remained black. Although it normally took a short while to show an image, this was taking too long. What was wrong with the confounded thing now? He had only recently replaced the valves in the device. He flicked the switch back and forth but the screen was still resolutely black.There is a bit of a cottage industry at the moment in producing unofficial annuals for old TV ...
The Financial Times today reports that Labour will fight only a "minimal campaign" in most of the Lib Dems' top 30 target seats at the next general election, in "an informal Lib-Lab plan to topple the Conservatives". Apparently, Keir Starmer has told colleagues that Labour must "ruthlessly focus" resources on its target seats in the general election freeing the ground for the Lib Dems to be the main challengers in some seats. Labour is aiming to gain more than 125 seats to reach the 326 required to form a government. The Tories are worried by potential Lib Dem gains in ...
Chinese families live in every community in the UK. Some of the smallest, remotest villages in the UK will still have one Chinese takeaway. And yet we and other East and Southeast Asian minorities are consistently under-represented in the media and in positions of power - in businesses, in the judiciary, the legislature and most other institutions of note. Hey, have you seen the Chinese family in Eastenders? No? That's cos they don't exist - it only started in 1985, maybe they just didn't get around to it yet. Oh wait, how about the East or Southeast Asian celebrity that's ...
As someone in a hurry with a shed roof that was become less attached to the shed by the moment, time to observe this unexpected phenomenon was sadly in short supply. Continue reading →
Anne Applebaum explains why the West's diplomacy with Russia keeps failing. "If you are repeatedly saying racist things, standing in front of racist posters and devoting your entire political career to a racist agenda, then the question of whether you are a racist 'at heart' seems somewhat irrelevant." Adam Bienkov on Michael Crick's biography of Nigel Farage and the taboo on calling racist politicians racist. Social Work Shorts listens to Lucy Johnstone critique the current professional and public perception of mental health: "She started by quoting Dr Allen Francis the chair of the DSM IV Committee (the mental health diagnostic ...
Jane Dodds, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Member of the Senedd has called on Wales to stand in solidarity with Ukraine amid continued threats to its independence by the Russian Government. This morning Dodds submitted a Statement of Opinion to the Senedd in support of Ukraine which can now be signed by other members. Commenting, Dodds said: Now more than ever, the rules-based international order is under threat. After years of hybrid warfare, threats and provocations, which tragically have seen over 13,000 casualties in the last few years, a further Russian incursion into Ukraine now looks like a ...
Tony Blair fanously set out his stall on his way to power on the back of a 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' approach, but even he did not advocate that our police forces should disregard the rule of law in pursuing criminals and terrorists. Because Labour is once more being seen as soft on law and order, it seems that at least one of its leading lights has lost touch with the distinction between tough law enforcement and law-breaking. The Independent reports that Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has told Matt Forde's Political Party podcast that ...
I'll be honest - Compass and the whole "Progressive Alliance" debate frustrates me. Yes, I fully understand the principle of opposition parties working together in some as yet undefined way, but in my opinion the advocates of a Progressive Alliance are failing. Leaving aside what "Progressive" means (if anything), I'm still not clear what the "Alliance" bit means. Compass say they want to "stimulate the debate" but what are we even debating? Cooperation could mean anything within a wide spectrum - from one party's activists campaigning for another, through one party simply standing down, to standing but campaigning selectively, or ...
Wed, 18:36: March 2015 books https://t.co/f3RgFOVgmK Wed, 19:24: Waiting for the 337 @delijn at Leuven station. Ten minutes late (and this is the first stop of the route), miserable weather, with nowhere to sit. As usual, no explanation and no advice of when it will come, if ever. Thanks guys. Wed, 20:28: I'll be there! https://t.co/fwNHVh1KZf Wed, 22:06: RT @DebStanish: On this date, at this time, at the last @gallifreyone (2020) I was on stage with @taigooden having a lovely chat with Chris... Thu, 08:11: See you very soon! https://t.co/O64jxpmhV1 Thu, 10:45: Why Performing Stage Combat With Cerebral Palsy Was ...
It is budget setting time for councils across the country. Local councils of all types have to decide what rate of Council Tax to set and budget how they will spend their revenue and capital over the coming year. Everyone in local government knows how tough things are. Local services are under resourced, struggling and sometimes failing. At the same time, ordinary families face a huge cost of living crisis from rising bills that many in Westminster do not seem to understand. In Kent County Council, where I lead the Liberal Democrat group, the ruling-Conservatives are raising Council Tax by ...
The Guardian reports: A new attempt will be launched next week to force publication of the full report into whether No 10 parties broke Covid laws, with Conservative MPs urged to support the move to ensure there are "no more cover-ups and no more lies". While more questionnaires were sent out by Scotland Yard to those who attended a dozen gatherings under investigation, a "humble address" motion was tabled in the House of Commons by the Liberal Democrats. If passed, ministers would be forced to release a specific set of documents within two days of the Met concluding its investigation. ...
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a 'Humble Address' motion to force the government to reveal whether Boris Johnson, ministers and senior officials have been fined by the Met police over law-breaking parties in Number 10. The parliamentary motion would require the publication of a full list of the names of any elected officials, senior civil servants and political appointees given Fixed Penalty Notices as a result of the police investigation. It would also require the Sue Gray report to be published in full alongside any accompanying evidence including photographs. The motion states that this information should be published no more ...
I have written to Lorna Birse-Stewart, Chair of Tayside Health Board, and Grant Archibald, Chief Executive of NHS Tayside seeking clarification of the Health Board's commitment to the 5 400 Dundee patients affected by the proposed closure of the Ryehill Health Centre and saying it should do all it can to keep the practice open. NHS Tayside needs to be much clearer as to how it will support the patients at Ryehill and he has asked for assurances that the Health Board has discussed all the options and will consider taking over the running of the health centre rather than ...
Anglo Renewables is seeking to build a 49-hectare solar farm on Rock Farm, south of Rocks Green. To give an idea of the scale of this proposal, if it was built in Ludlow it would stretch from New Road to Temeside and from the Castle to the Ludlow Mascall Centre. The scheme will generate around 49.95MWp, enough to power around 9,000 homes when the sun shines. It will also have 12MW of energy storage to supply power when the sun doesn't shine. With the existing solar farm off Squirrel Lane and another planned by Locogen, we will probably have enough ...
