As a video recently posted here went a long way to demonstrate, Ladybird Books were about the most progressive post-war publishers of children's books. Yet misapprehensions about their publications abound. The other day someone on Twitter was convinced that Peter and Jane exclaimed "I say!" to one another. The illustrator of these books, Harry Wingfield, explained their social position to the Guardian in 2002 when he was 91: Wingfield is dismissive of claims in another national newspaper that the model for the real-life Jane has been unearthed in Shrewsbury. There was no real-life Jane. Or Peter, for that matter. Their ...
Due to be debated at our Brighton conference was For a Fair Deal, a summary from our manifesto working group, chaired by Dick Newby, of the latest Liberal Democrat thinking across the range of major issues facing our country. Although it hasn't (yet, at least) been passed by conference, with that important caveat it still serves as a useful summary of our vision, our approach and our main policies. Ed Davey's foreword is particularly worth a read for a sense of how the party's main messages are coming together into one coherent story. For a Fair Deal Policy_Paper_149_For_A_Fair_Deal You can ...
Like every member of the party, I was sorry that the party Conference had to be cancelled because of the Queen's sad death. But it was the right decision. Conference Chair Nick da Costa and the whole team, volunteers and staff, deserve our thanks for taking that decision and dealing with the massive practical consequences. This has sparked ideas about next year. Should Spring Conference 2023 be earlier? Longer? An extra conference? These questions were discussed in an interesting special Lib Dem Podcast. But this may be the right time to take a big step back and reconsider when we ...
Regional and national conferences will give Liberal Democrat members a much needed chance to get together over the next couple of months. Last week, the preliminary agenda for Scottish Conference was published. The three day event will take place in Hamilton between 28 and 30 October. There are going to be some controversial debates. Proposals to reverse our long standing opposition to new nuclear power stations, backing a 4 day working week, and a new model requiring local authorities to provide new homes for social buy sit alongside more classical liberal fare on restricting employers rights to snoop on employees ...
Editor's Note: This was submitted on 9th September but held back because of the death of the Queen. Britain's new Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss is doomed to failure because she has failed to correctly diagnose the cause of her country's problems. Any doctor will tell you that before you can successfully treat a patient you must first know what you are treating. In fact, the treatment is often the easiest part of the medical business. The same rule applies to most aspects of life, especially politics. Before you can correct social and economic ills with new policies, laws or ...
"Our dear Queen is safely interred with her ancestors," remarked Lord Bonkers this morning, "so I think we can tell the world about the Conservatives' beastliest fund-raising idea yet." "You're sure this is true?" I asked. "I have agents everywhere," came the reply. Tuesday Disgusting as the state of our waterways is, it could have been far worse. I have it on good authority that the Conservatives recently considered a fund-raising push under which their branches would have been able, for a fee, to have a leading light of the party take their daily rear in a local river. So ...
I do not know about you, but I have seen quite a lot about the Royal Family in the media in the past few days. Parts of it were over the top and more sycophantic than I would have expected. ... Continue reading →
Tue, 10:45: RT @magmidd: The photojournalist's dilemma: save your girlfriend's pasta or get the shot of a lifetime? https://t.co/ESBf56hvkV
We rely on private and secure messaging services to keep our personal information and correspondence safe. Privacy is essential in many situations. Whether we're communicating with a loved one, seeking advice on a sensitive situation, or sharing pictures on the family WhatsApp group. For some people such as journalists, whistle-blowers, or the Ukrainians fighting Russia it can be a matter of life or death. The ability for people to communicate privately is a human right and a long-standing cornerstone at the foundation of Liberal Democracy and Western values. Government ministers and the security services make no secret that they want ...
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel on a prototype electric bus in Shrewsbury. This was a small hopper bus, designed to run around routes at high frequency but without large passenger loads. This style of bus would be ideal with some modifications for Ludlow's town bus routes. Our buses must be replaced in the next couple of years as they approach the end of their reliable life. It will also be ideal for a new rural on-demand bus service for the villages and hamlets across the county. It is early days on renewing the bus ...
A week today, the Southern Planning Committee will meet in Shirehall to discuss controversial applications, including the Greete and Ledwyche solar farms and a housing development at Albrighton. Also up for a decision is a proposal to declare Sydney Road Green a town green. I expect this to be a formality as there is no controversy about the designation. Connexus told Ludlow Town Council it would not to pursue development - the site has planning permission for five bungalows - in October 2019. Two months later, Tracey Huffer and I met with the chief executive of Connexus and proposed that ...
Residents recently highlighted to us that the 'tactiles' at the crossing in Blackness Avenue at the Sinderins junction are badly deteriorated. We raised this with the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and have received a helpful reply promising replacement tactiles being installed.
It's been an intense 11 days since the Queen died. For many people, a national bereavement takes a similar pattern to any other. The adrenaline gets you through to the funeral and it's only afterwards that you have to adjust to the loss and its consequences. However we may feel about Queen Elizabeth's legacy or, indeed, the institution of monarchy itself, it will take some time to get used to the new normal, not least because we have a brand new monarch and a brand new Government. Anyone under the age of about 75 will not be able to remember ...
