I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. Not only that: I'm happy to publish posts on subjects far beyond the Liberal Democrats and British politics. I'm also happy to entertain a wide variety of views, but I'd hate you to spend your time writing something I really wouldn't want to publish. So if you'd like to write for this blog, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. To give you some inspiration, here are the last then guest posts published here on Liberal England:Saving Church Langton's open space from the Diocese of Leicester - Anthony LawtonThe ...
Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have chosen Tom Gordon as their candidate to fight the seat at the next general election. As I blogged recently, the selection began last summer but was restarted after Harrogate and Knaresborough was named as a Lib Dem target seat. It's good to see the party targeting seats outside the South of England. As the latest Lib Dem Podcast says, we can't just be a party of the South of England. Phil Willis, who was Lib Dem MP for the seat between 1997 and 2010, told The Stray Ferret: "Tom would make a fantastic Member ...
The licence for sale of alcohol and holding events outside at Ludlow Rugby Club has received more than 50 objections, the majority from Linney, Dinham, Cliffe and Cliffe Park. Shropshire Council has received nearly 30 expressions of support. The initial application by Ludlow Rugby Club for a licence for alcohol and events from 8:00am to 1:00am for the clubhouse, the two pitches behind the club and the new car park area. These would apply 365 days a year. Given the comments from rugby club has since cut back the proposal after discussions with Shropshire Council and the police. The area ...
This week a Conference organised by the Women's Budgeting Groups in all 4 nations of the UK looked at the specific and disproportionate impact of the cost of living crisis on women. Women were described as the "shock absorbers of poverty" as evidence showed how they often went without essentials, including food, in order to lessen the impact of soaring prices on their families. We heard some harrowing accounts of the toll this takes on women's physical and mental health. Steffan Evans, from the Bevan Foundation in Wales, described the results of YouGov polling they had commissioned to try to ...
One of the many scandals of the cost of living crisis is the forced installation of prepayment meters. Energy companies raking in massive profits are compelling their poorest consumers to paying the highest rates. The BBC highlighted the heartless attitudes behind such practices in a report this week. While Wera Hobhouse enjoyed the success of getting her Bill aimed at tackling sexual harassment in the workplace through its Commons stages this week, she was disappointed when the Government blocked her attempt to stop the forced installation of prepayment meters. Here she is on Newsnight talking about why they are so ...
Ed Davey has been in the news again talking about the need for better support for those who provide care for others.
Jethro Tull, God bless them, have a new album. RökFlöte. coming out in April. To think that I saw them at the NEC in 1986 with some colleagues from Golden Wonder and we made jokes about them being old even then. And it wasn't the best era to see them either. Ian Anderson had decided he wanted to be a guitar hero, so there were too many Mark Knopfler imitations and not enough flutes and cod pieces. Here they are 10 years before that, playing a version of Thick as a Brick, their album from 1972. Anderson once said of ...
Ed Davey used his first interview of the year on Laura Kuenssberg's Sunday show to call for an increase in pay for health and social care workers to keep people working in the sector, which is currently in crisis. He is calling for at least an extra £2 per hour to be added to the minimum wage for care workers. This would be paid for by asking the gambling industry to pay more tax. Lib Dem research found that a staggering 1 in 7 UK adults say they've had to stay at home to look after a relative over the ...
Cllr Kris Brown and I have been chairing committees and doing a lot more work behind the scenes because the Liberal Democrat Group has decided to commit to getting the Council back on track so that it can serve the ... Continue reading →
Sat, 14:48: RT @christian300658: La femme viking qui a navigué jusqu'en l'Amérique et marché jusqu'à Rome. La vie étonnante de "Gudrid la grande voyag... Sat, 15:36: Girl Power: Wednesday, and Enola Holmes�2 https://t.co/JuG0iToxJQ Sat, 20:48: RT @SunnyTyler001: Amazing 😱❤🥰 https://t.co/BPcEm2ccNn Sun, 10:45: Glorious to see the Tories lurch further down the path of self-immolation. https://t.co/4FwG7IGk7H </ul
USA and Israel US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week subtly attacked Benjamin Netanyahu. He didn't directly criticise him, but the inference was clear. With a poker-faced Netanyahu standing next to him, Blinken pointedly listed the "core values" that the US and Israel shared: "respect for human rights. The equal administration of justice for all. Equal rights for minority groups. The rule of law, a free press, an independent judiciary and a robust civil society." Israel's conservative press immediately and viciously attacked Blinken for "interfering in domestic Israeli politics." This is because by highlighting these "core values" Blinken implied ...
The Guardian reports that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt has rejected calls to prevent sharp rises in domestic energy bills for all households in his March budget - meaning millions of users will see costs soar by about 40% from April. They say that instead, Hunt will emphasise the extra support he is giving to the poorest and most vulnerable households, including those on benefits, in what he will describe as a more fairly targeted system of support: Demands for the Treasury to halt a planned rise in the energy price guarantee (EPG) - the discounted cost of gas and electricity ...
Sun 5th
09:18
Wera Hobhouse on how she is changing the law to help tackle workplace sexual harassment
This week, Wera Hobhouse's Bill aimed at tackling sexual harassment in the workplace cleared its Commons stages. It will now be considered by the House of Lords and we hope that, like Wendy Chanberlain's Carer's Leave Bill it will be law later this year. In an email to party members, Wera set out why her Bill is so important and what it will do. The 2018 Presidents Club scandal highlighted the extent to which current law does not protect people. In that instance, businessmen allegedly sexually harassed young female hostesses at a notorious men-only dinner, after being instructed to wear ...
The usual complaint in British politics is that too much attention is given to London. Some of this can be overblown, caricaturing London as rich and overlooking its high poverty rates. But even as someone who has lived in London most of their life, I have to agree that much of the time the complaint is reasonable. Our politics and our media are far too centred on London. Which makes it all the odder that the Conservative Party's electoral prospects in London are so neglected. Greater London elected 73 MPs in 2019, a quarter more than Scotland's 59 MPs and ...
Transition Dundee at 112 Nethergate is running a Lampshade Making Workshop next Friday from 10am. You can unleash your creativity at our workshop and take home a unique, upcycled lampshade! Take an old, unloved lampshade and transform it into a beauty. All materials, plus refreshments, will be provided. This workshop is open to anyone over the age of 12, though 12 to 16 year olds must be accompanied by an adult. Full details including booking are available at www.facebook.com/events/6147140971987065
