Four principal authority council by-elections this week, featuring three Liberal Democrat candidates – which is up one on the last time these seats were up. First up is a Liberal Democrat gain from independents: The results are in and Liberal Democrat @Paulaspenceley has been announced as the councillor for Heybridge West. She's the first Liberal Democrat councillor in Maldon for 23 years. @MaldonNubNews pic.twitter.com/2yyFmU9kp6 — Ben Shahrabi (@BenShahrabi) April 14, 2022
I've just come across this video of the actor Ian Richardson on the BBC's Sunday AM programme in 2006, the year before he died. In the excerpt I have chosen here, he reveals something I didn't know. And I speak with all the authority of a former parliamentary sketch writer for Liberal Democrat News.
Ahmad Khan, the Conservative MP for Wakefield, who was convicted of the sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy, is to resign from the Commons. Steerpike on the Spectator website quotes his resignation statement: Owing to long delays in the legal process, my constituents have already been without visible parliamentary representation for a year. Even in the best case scenario, anticipated legal proceedings could last many more months. I have therefore regrettably come to the conclusion that it is intolerable for constituents to go years without an MP who can amplify their voices in parliament. Representing them has been the honour ...
The announcement that the Home Secretary has finalised an "economic development and migration agreement" with Rwanda, whilst not necessarily a surprise, is a reminder that Government policy is now to make the seeking of asylum in the United Kingdom as difficult and unpleasant as possible, regardless of the cost. The idea is that asylum seekers will be initially processed at a base in the United Kingdom, before being flown to Rwanda and "warehoused" there whilst their application is considered. That is, perhaps not everybody, as The Times is suggesting that only male asylum seekers would be sent. But the devil ...
I picked this book up from one of those free wayside stalls that sprung up during lockdown - people had the time to sort out their houses but the charity shops were all closed. Naturally, I turned to the back to see what it said about Richard's burial: After the battle Richard's body was recovered from the corpses piled around Henry's fallen banner and stripped of all its clothing. With a halter around the neck the naked corpse was strung across the back of a pack horse and taken off to Leicester. Here it lay exposed for two days, as ...
Wed, 12:16: RT @SophieintVeld: Essential paper 👇 by @CEPS_thinktank making the case for immediate candidate status for Ukraine 🇺🇦 and a reformed 🇪🇺 acc... Wed, 18:48: BSFA Award: Best Non-fiction https://t.co/WJ8JEWgCNH https://t.co/rgnNXdblAY Thu, 10:45: Good for you, David. You have probably forgotten a minor incident from Cambridge student politics in 1990 when you impressed me with your integrity. Glad that has continued. https://t.co/4lHFQyeX9H Thu, 10:46: RT @davidallengreen: A close look at the resignation letter of David Wolfson QC as Justice Minister Today's law and policy post https://t...
I cannot believe the depths to which our nation has sunk. We have a government led by a liar and by ministers and civil servants being handed out fines for breaking their own laws. We have a government that slaps tax increases on struggling people and refuses to raise benefits to the level people need to survive. Food banks, once few and far between, and now ubiquitous and essential for good health and survival of many families. And we have a government that is planning to fly migrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. It is almost impossible to ...
Liberals are too nice to go for our opponents in the way they go for us. But now is the time to throw back at them the insult that they are patriotic and we are not. Who is more committed to this country: those who work in its public services, educate its young and hold together its local communities, or those who play around with the financial markets, hold their wealth as far as they can offshore, own properties in other countries and share in the privileges of international elites? One of the most effective epithets in the Brexit camp's ...
During the Brexit campaign the current crop of Tory Ministers were lined up with other Brexiteers to reassure us that Wales would not miss out on European funding if we left the EU. Alas, as we suspected at the time, their promises have disappeared into the usual Treausry rabbit hole, never to be seen again. The Independent reports that a government fund designed to replace EU grants lost due to Brexit has been blasted as "catastrophic" amid claims that it will cut support for disadvantaged areas by more than 40 per cent over the coming three years. The paper says ...
Responding to the announcement of an agreement between developers and the Government regarding cladding on high rise buildings, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: "It's right that developers pay to remove dangerous cladding from buildings, but while Ministers continue to design convoluted schemes people are facing a fifth miserable year stuck in homes which are not safe. "As campaigners have called for again and again, we need an unequivocal commitment that innocent leaseholders won't have to shoulder the cost of remediation - whether that's external cladding or internal fixes. "Liberal Democrats continue to call for the government to ...
Responding to the Government launching the allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "This announcement is yet another attempt at smoke and mirrors from a government in chaos. There's no new money for local communities and it does nothing to support the millions of families who are struggling with soaring energy bills right now."This shallow effort to shore up the sinking ship by re-heating announcements from months ago will not help get Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak off the hook."Ministers should be giving families real help - by holding an emergency budget ...
Postal voters in the West End will shortly receive their ballot papers. Cllr Fraser Macpherson and Michael Crichton work for the West End all year round - not just election time! Please give FRASER MACPHERSON your NUMBER 1 vote and MICHAEL CRICHTON your NUMBER 2 vote at this year's council election - many thanks! ... the team that works for the West End! If we can help with any local issue or problem, please e-mail westendfocus@dundeelibdems.org.uk
