'Full Confidence' in Williamson shows same old Conservative sleaze Responding to the news that Rishi Sunak has 'full confidence in Gavin Williamson despite knowing about the complaint made, Liberal Democrat Cheif Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said: Different Prime Minister, same old Conservative sleaze. If Rishi Sunak, had any sense of public duty, he would sack Gavin Williamson now. In any other workplace, someone who behaved as he did would have been rightly dismissed for gross misconduct. Instead Williamson is being let off the hook by a Prime Minister happy to let his integrity be brought into question on a daily ...
Mon 7th
18:54
You wait ages for a story about a Shropshire bus ending up in a field and then two come along at onc...
Friday wasn't the best day for bus transport in Shropshire. The 501 from Ellesmere to Shrewsbury ended up on its side in a field after the driver took evasive action to avoid an oncoming lorry. Neal Hall of Lakeside Coaches, which runs the service, told the Shropshire Star: "The driver had to take evasive action and the bus ended up in a field. There were 10 passengers on the bus but none received serious injuries." The company, based just a few minutes away, was able to provide a replacement bus. "We had another bus out within 20 minutes and all ...
It's odd really, but I'd never given a lot of thought to the role of the Leader. After all, they're the Leader, right? One of the candidates for Party President is emphasising the words at the beginning of Article 20 of the Federal Constitution: The President shall be the principal public representative of the Party...and, of course, Liz Webster is absolutely right to point that out. But what, exactly, being the principal public representative of the Party means in reality is rather less clearcut. I thought, therefore, that I ought to see what it says about the role of the ...
If you would like to escape briefly from the turmoil of our domestic politics, here is one possible way to do it, in a new light-hearted book by former Edinburgh West MP, John Barrett. Set on the Greek island of Kalymnos, a former MP settles back in the house he designed for his daughter and her family, where he expected to visit his grandchildren in the future, but after a family crisis the house lay empty. It was now the perfect place to go to recover from illness and to write the story of his life. He expected to leave ...
Like many Liberal Democrats I have been viewing with concern the developments at Twitter where it appears that a right-wing takeover of the Company could damage its reasonably justifiable claim that it is a platform for free speech but where extremes are moderated. That raises to my mind questions about how we should consider the developments both as a Party and as individual Lib Dems. I have already registered on Mastodon which is a sort of Twitter although I have neither done much on it nor got many followers on my account. I have noticed though that a few people ...
A short week in Parliament, with the short November recess starting on Thursday, but there's plenty of Liberal Democrat interest. Monday starts with the usual oral questions, this time including a question from Shas Sheehan regarding Government steps, as President of COP26, to acknowledge and address greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries, in the light of recent flooding in Pakistan. The Seafarers' Wages Bill receives its Third Reading, with Ros Scott from our benches expected to pursue the issue of how the legislation sits with international agreements in the maritime sector. So far, there's been little sense that the Government ...
Sun, 12:56: RT @tombarton: In 2005 Rupert Murdoch paid $580m for MySpace. In 2009 he sold it for $35m In 2013 Yahoo paid $1.1bn for Tumblr. In 2019 th... Sun, 14:48: RT @PeterBowdenLive: If you leave Twitter, I recommmend you DO NOT delete your account. All old tweets @ mentioning you will still exist... Sun, 15:02: October 2018 books https://t.co/XU4yx0OUqt Sun, 15:59: The Arthur C. Clarke Award and me,�again https://t.co/VEnVm4icmv Sun, 16:05: RT @PaddyMulroe: The 'other denominations' religious affiliation from the 1911 Census in Belfast is quite the diverse list. Fair play to th... Sun, 20:48: RT @alexstubb: Recommended reading ...
With the news that nurses have voted to take strike action – and it should be borne in mind that the result of the strike ballot isn't official yet, merely rumoured – the Sunak administration faces an early test of its popularity (or lack thereof). Offering 4% would, in most recent years, have been seen as rather good given the ongoing squeeze on public sector pay since 2010. But, with inflation hovering above 10% and effectively higher for those on lower salaries, it comes as another blow to a workforce which knows that it's running to stand still. Of course, ...
The Mirror reports that out of touch Tory ministers have spent nearly £160,000 on a 'youth survey' to help the Government get down with the kids. They say that the research was signed off by ex-Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, just days before being replaced in the job by Liz Truss's choice, Michelle Donelan: The contract, published last month and worth £159,000 to pollsters Kantar, admits the research is designed to fill "gaps in knowledge." It's the second youth survey the department has commissioned in two years. Ms Dorries rubber stamped a previous review of youth services in February 2021 - ...
One in four mortgage borrowers fear losing their homes due to unpaid bills New poll reveals homeowners expect their mortgage bills to rise and are worried about losing their home, defaulting on a payment or cutting down on food bills Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called for a Mortgage Protection Fund, to offer grants to struggling homeowners who risk financial ruin whilst interest rates soar New polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has found over one in four mortgage holders (27%) are worried about losing their home due to unpaid bills as interest rates rise. Almost half of mortgage ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 7 NOVEMBER 2022 Miller's Wynd - closed until 26 December 2022 at its junction with Hawkhill for major construction works. Guthrie Street (Brown Street to West Marketgait) - closed for 2 weeks for Scottish and Southern Energy Network work. Forthcoming Roadworks Milnbank Road - closed westbound from junction of Bankmill Road for 4 days from 15 November for ground investigation works. Brown Street (at Douglas Street) - temporary traffic lights from Tuesday 22 November for 2 weeks for Scottish Water work. NOTE : ...
I had planned to go to London this weekend for the Lib Dem rally and Ed Davey's speech. By early last week I was having doubts about getting there as I am rather busy at the moment. The final nail in the coffin of the plans was when DEFRA announced that there will be a poultry lockdown from this Tuesday. As I have over 100 chickens and ducks, their runs would have to be prepared. This all takes
