Three principal authority council by-elections this week and all, hooray, with Liberal Democrat candidates.
The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald reports: A new head of steam appears to be gathering behind plans to bring back the Penrith to Keswick railway line. This summer a campaign group has hailed a number of "positive" political changes in Cumbria this year, which it believes could get the long-standing dream back on track. Gamely keeping up the railway metaphors, the paper explains: In recent years, one of the issues keeping the project in the sidings at a national level was that the former Labour-run Cumbria County Council, was cool on the idea. ... However, the county council as a ...
Thu 10th
21:46
Kibworth Harcourt windmill and St Peter's, Church Langton, are hosting Heritage Open Days
This year's Heritage Open Days events are taking place between 8 and 15 September. Two venues near Market Harborough have caught my eye: Kibworth Harcourt Windmill and St Peter's, Church Langton. The windmill, which is not normally open to the public, is offering guided tours on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September:Built-in the early 18th century, Kibworth Harcourt Mill is the only surviving post mill in Leicestershire, with the oldest parts dating from around 1600. Visitors can see the working mechanisms of the mill, historic graffiti dating from 1711, and burn marks and witch marks added to ward off evil ...
In the latest The Week in Polls I touched on how risky it is to think of those who answer voting intention questions from pollsters with 'don't know' as an easy route back to popularity for the Conservatives.
It took decades of campaigning for Prohibition campaigners to win in the US, getting alcohol banned in the early twentieth century. Once they'd won, their victory seemed set to last. Yet in less than a decade and a half their victory had been undone and the the idea killed off politically. So can pro-Europeans take heart from drawing parallels between Prohibition and Brexit? Find out in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts as I discuss this with Professor Ben Ansell who has just written a great piece comparing Prohibition and Brexit. Feedback very welcome, and do share ...
Enter the words "lib dem councillor cycling" into a search engine and you'll find more stories about Lib Dems criticising or being negative towards cycling infrastructure than positive stories about Lib Dem active travel successes. Search for "lib dem cycling policies" and you'll find little information about our cycling-related policies that is concise or compelling. Lib Dem Friends of Cycling aims to change that. We are an informal group of party members, ranging from armchair members to seasoned campaigners and elected politicians, who all share a desire for the UK to be a safer and more friendly place for people ...
In order to meet the needs of moving to carbon zero over the coming years, it will be necessary to increase the power transmission capacity of the National Grid by a factor of at least two. Currently, the perceived view is that a large number of additional grid links will be needed to facilitate the increased capacity. That would require extensive planning applications and would further delay any project planning and design development. It is thought that this could involve a delay of up to fifteen years. However, there is a simpler solution that would not require any additional power ...
It is rather sickening that the biggest headline arising from news of the millions of pounds pocketed by MPs through their second jobs focusses on the fact that the former Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, is struggling to keep up with his old boss Liz Truss when it comes to earnings outside parliament since the pair left Downing Street in ignominy. The Guardian also reports that Kwarteng admitted at the weekend that he was badly hit by his own disastrous mini-Budget - revealing his mortgage payments had soared "a great deal". To which one can only comment that ...
We are in a housing crisis. This crisis means that people are struggling to afford the cost of renting, let alone home ownership. But we know this, Priced Out recently gave evidence to the London Assembly which said that it would take the person on an average income 19 years to save for a deposit. Those who deny a housing crisis are simply ignoring the largest issue that is crushing the lives of younger people in our country. In the Young Liberals we have young barristers, doctors and teachers who cannot afford to get onto the housing ladder. If it ...
From the City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating the installation of electricity supply to a new development. The Order is expected to be in force for two weeks from 14 August 2023. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in in the left turn lane at the exit from Greenmarket onto West Marketgait (northbound). This is a single lane closure prohibiting a left turn ...
Our Glorious Former Leader, Vince Cable, came to Edinburgh yesterday to talk to Iain Dale. It was great to see him for the first time Bournemouth Conference in 2019. He looks well and hasn't aged even now he's turned 80. There was a time when our press office held its breath whenever he came to Scotland. I remember one Conference in particular, ahead of the independence referendum where he said something that wasn't quite our line which the press and the SNP made hay with. Today, he could not have been more on message, praising what Ed Davey was doing ...
