I did my last Focus delivery of 2023 in my own ward of Whickham South and Sunniside between Christmas and new year. It was a good way of burning off some of those Christmas calories. The next edition of Focus for my ward is already partly written. More calorie burning is on its way!
Published tonight, the next eFocus for Birtley. Issues covered include: Birtley pool re-opening delayed; Security fencing at Birtley Swimming Centre; Joe joins Focus Team; Lloyds and Barclays branches closing on Team Valley; Ciaran chosen for Washington and Gateshead South; Have your say on Gateshead Council's budget. You can read eFocus on this link.
The competition to be the first in 2024 to publish eFocus has been won by Low Fell. Edition 130 was sent to recipients a couple of days ago. Issues covered include:· Best wishes for 2024 · Have your say on Gateshead Council's Budget plans · New salt bin at
Due to a technical complication with our flight home, our journey takes us not to Boston, but to New York, and so the question of how to get from Dover to New York arose. The typical answer is to look at flights, and that was an alternative, but luckily, Dover has that rare joy - its own Amtrak station. And I do enjoy a train ride... For some rather absurd reason, Amtrak recommends that you arrive thirty minutes before your train is due to depart. Not because it will leave early, but simply because. So, Dover, with its limited hours ...
John Rogers introduces this walk on YouTube: Our walk starts with the incredible story of Oliver Cromwell's body being kept in the cellar of The Red Lion pub in Holborn in 1661 and its possible secret burial. Then in Red Lion Square, we investigate the story that the square is haunted by three ghostly cloaked figures. There's also Conway Hall and the house inhabited by members of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. We move on to Queen Square with the Italian Hospital, Mary Ward Centre, Queen Charlotte, The Queen's Larder and the Devil's Dyke. Our Bloomsbury walk passes the Horse Hospital into ...
With changes at Facebook (groups becoming less prominent in people's feeds) and at Twitter (Elon Musk) in particular, social media is steadily become a less effective way to share, or find, news about the Liberal Democrats. Plus there are so many good reasons to want to reduced dependence on Elon Musk. Which is why, alongside changes such as closing my podcast's Twitter account, I've started up a new WhatsApp group for news about the Lib Dems. It's broadcast only and people in it get about five messages a week with the latest news about the party, by-election results, and the ...
Hello to anyone who may read this blog. It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog and am quite out of practice. There are many and varied reasons for my absence over the last year and I hope to start sharing again during 2024. I think some of it has [...]
From a correspondent: I have been having a clear-out of my shelves, and among the material which I am not going to keep is three issues of New Outlook – A Liberal Magazine from 1969. They may be of interest to some readers of LibDem Voice (not least, perhaps, for the nostalgic pleasure of reading thoughtful and respectful pieces from Conservative MPs John Biffen and John Hunt). Free to a good home. If you are interested, email us on voice@libemvoice.org with your postal address and we'll put you in touch with our correspondent. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal ...
There is nothing like a good hi-viz jacket to show that an election is on the way, but it can't come soon enough for our Ed Davey. He's just been on BBC News, surrounded by a pretty massive crowd in Guildford launching his Tory Removal Service. Nothing shows what a seasoned political nerd I am like my first reaction to the poster. Not the message, but the font. That's a new one. I understand from those in the know that this is just for this van and not for life. Ed told the assembled crowd, and tv audience: Happy New ...
Ladies and gentlemen, we have our Headline of the Day. The judges were unanimous in making the award to the Guardian.
Stephen Williams entices us with the prospect that the general election of 2024 will see the collapse of the Conservative Party. Ruxunda Teslo offers a bracing outsider's view: "Trains do not arrive in time, houses are getting old and you cannot build new ones because of weird regulations, wages are stagnating and so on. Britain, captured by the comfortable illusion of its past, seems to observe the world's relentless march from afar, reluctant to emerge from the cocoon of inaction." "Co-operatives fix things. Co-operatives share power as well as wealth. We prioritise social good and generate substantial social impact and ...
Jonathan Harris, who represents Brixworth ward on West Northamptonshire Council, is to stand for the Liberal Democrats in Daventry at the next general election.He has an extensive career in leadership development and change management and has worked with many different types of organisations in sectors including engineering, retail, financial services, construction and the motor industry. He continues to work in the UK, Europe and internationally. Jonathan wants to build on his experience in local government and fight for causes that affect everyone in the Daventry constituency, particularly the cost of living, rural isolation, the lack of investment in transport, the ...
Older members of the Liberal Democrats and its predecessor Liberal Party will be sorry to hear that Michael Anderson died just before Christmas. Michael fought the 1978 Epsom by-election for the Liberals, and then the same seat in the general elections of 1979 and 1983, followed by standing in East Surrey in 1987. He then became a district councillor in Mole Valley from 1991 to 2004, chairing the council in 1995-6. He and his wife Anne had lived in Great Bookham since 1975, and Michael took a very active interest in local affairs, in particular the health service, education (as ...
The Independent reports that running and gardening clubs will be used by Rishi Sunak's government in bid to get people on long-term sickness leave back into work. The paper says that doctors, employers, job centres and social workers will be encouraged to suggest therapy and life coaching under new government plans to cut the number of those signed off from work. And community activities such as jogging, singing, cooking or gardening will also be offered through NHS "social prescribing" initiatives. So in the eighties it was 'get on your bike and look for work', today it is just 'jog on.' ...
It is excellent to see the launch of a brand new service under The Circle banner which will provide mobility scooters and other mobility to loan on a donation basis at locations around Dundee. The new venture - The Circle Mobility - will be based at Overgate Shopping Centre and will aim to improve accessibility in the city. The Circle Mobility will integrate the former Shopmobility service, a mobility hire service which was previously based at the shopping centre. The initial relaunch will focus on the original service to provide Overgate customers with better accessibility to the shopping centre. It ...
It hit me yesterday that 2024 marks 10 years since the Scottish referendum on independence. How on earth did that happen? Given the failure of the SNP to manage Scotland's public services using the extensive powers they already have, you could argue that we had a very lucky escape. For me, that referendum set in motion the events that led to where we are now. David Cameron learned that a broadly negative status quo campaign could win the day and transferred that experience to the campaign to remain in the EU. He should have realised that the pro-UK side was ...
