I remember the phrase "Take this plane to Cuba" from my primary school years in the late Sixties and early Seventies. You would, as I recall, hear it as a punchline in comedy sketches or see it as a caption on newspaper cartoons. To understand why the phrase was so widely known, you can read a 2016 article on Vox by Libby Nelson: The hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 181 on Tuesday morning, when a man claimed to be wearing a suicide vest and demanded to be taken to Cyprus, was surely terrifying for the 64 people on board. But after ...
It's been the busiest week so far this year for local council by-elections – with 8 principal council elections taking places. The first bit of great news is there was a Liberal Democrat candidate in every single contest and thanks to our excellent candidates and local teams on the ground we can celebrate some excellent results. There was one Lib Dem gain on Thursday which came on Wiltshire Council in Calne, Chilvester and Abberd ward. Congratulations to Councillor Rob MacNaughton and the local Lib Dem for increasing the Lib Dem vote share by 18% and gaining the ward from the ...
Timothy Garton Ash argues that it's time for Europe to get serious about a Ukrainian victory: "On their own, countries such as the Czech Republic and Denmark can't possibly do what it takes to enable Ukraine to hold off Russia. As the US fatefully hesitates, this requires Europe's big boys - Germany and France above all - to step into the breach, rapidly buying that ammunition the Czechs have found; acting fast, unbureaucratically and at scale; and explaining to their publics why it's vital that they do." "Jewish people are, not surprisingly, as diverse a group as any other. They ...
From the official Israeli perspective, the war in Gaza has one aim - the elimination of Hamas. So far, it's not going particularly well. That is not surprising. Despite the IDF being well-equipped and well-funded, a ground war is Gaza was never going to be a walk in the park. Also, for reasons I previously explained in my post of 25th October entitled "How do you solve a problem like Hamas?", a war with a terror organisation is seldom won through conventional military means. As I pointed out in the early days of the war, "any 'solution' achieved purely through ...
In my previous blog post, I delved into the concerning issue of escalating Islamophobia, a problem that appears to persist despite efforts for progress The Telegraph, a prominent newspaper, boldly declares on its front page (£), "Islamists are now in control, says Braverman amid speakers row." This headline raises a critical question: What defines an Islamist, and how does one distinguish them from an average Muslim? Many Muslims grapple with this challenge daily as they seek to integrate into modern Britain, only to face fear weaponisation by politicians like Suella Braverman. Reflecting on Sir Lindsay Hoyle, I perceive him as ...
Fri 23rd
10:01
LibLink: Victor Chamberlain: Local authorities still hold the key to accessible housing
Southwark Lib Dem Councillor Victor Chamberlain has written for Inside Housing about providing suitable housing for disabled people. He sets out the problem: It's over a century since the ground breaking Addison Act of 1919, passed under Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George, laid the foundation for social housing in the UK. Despite significant progress since then, it's disheartening that we still grapple with fundamental challenges of providing quality and suitable housing for everyone. This is particularly true for disabled people who lack a range of suitable housing options, especially adequate numbers of accessible and adaptable homes. Accessible housing is ...
As the Welsh Labour leadership battle comes to its conclusion, a new and unexpected turn has thrown the outcome into doubt, while at the same time tainting the Senedd's scandal-free reputation, at least when compared to Westminster. The BBC reports that one of the Welsh Labour leadership candidates, Vaughan Gething has accepted £200,000 for his campaign from a company run by a man who was convicted twice for environmental offences. The paper says that the donor's director, David Neal was given a suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste on a conservation site. Four years later he was ...
Many thanks to the residents who highlighted that half of one of the street signs in Cambridge Street - at the junction with Oxford Street - is missing. We have therefore requested that the roads maintenance partnership replace it.
