Another day out with Steve and friends for LeiceExplore, this time tracing the route of the Derby Canal, which was closed to navigation in 1964 having been unpassable for some time. There's a promise of more videos on this waterway to come. I find the traces around Derby station particularly interesting, though I admit I've found that locomotive cab myself but failed to recognise the canal bridge next to it. And we should all mourn the loss of the level crossing of the Derwent. The Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust explains what was once to be found: The Derby & ...
Public spending audit: We must focus on NHS New Mid Dunbartonshire MP welcomes home Kirkintilloch Roy Roy Public spending audit: We must focus on NHS Commenting on the Treasury's audit into the state of public finances, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: The shortfalls in public spending announced today are truly shocking, and the result of years of Conservative failure and mismanagement. We have been left with a stalling economy, leaving millions of families struggling to pay the bills and make ends meet. To get our economy growing, we must focus on the NHS by cutting the waiting ...
I've seen many tweets in favour of Rachel Reeves's decision to stop making winter fuel payments to pensioners unless they are on welfare benefits. Most include a statement along the lines of "it's wrong for public money to go to people who don't need it". Leaving aside the facts that our state pensions are on the low side by European standards and that its arguable some of the people who will no longer receive these payments do need them, I distrust arguments that make things sound so simple. Because I don't believe we arrive at our political views so logically. ...
Embed from Getty ImagesThe last Conservative government, as it's increasingly being called, promised to get rid of no-fault evictions of private tenants, but never got round to doing so. Which was a shame for Olly Glover, who received an eviction notice the day after he was elected as the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot and Wantage. BBC News has reported his experience: Mr Glover, who has been renting his current home in Milton for four years, said "no fault evictions" create a "huge pressure" for renters. He said he believed there was a cultural problem in the UK where housing ...
Recently, I have been reading 'Jo Grimond: Towards the Sound of Gunfire" by Michael McManus and, although there is much to be learnt from Grimond's leadership of the Liberal party, it is his later years that most interested me. On Margaret Thatcher's arrival in Downing Street, Grimond, "at first hoped that a restatement of liberalism, might come from that unlikeliest sources, a Conservative government". Despite soon expressing his disappointment, writing, "there has been no serious assault on . . . excessive government", Thatcher's Conservatives, nevertheless, did in some ways successfully cannibalise a theme once strongly identified with the liberal tradition, ...
The amount of unclaimed benefits in the UK is estimated by Policy in Practice to be £22bn – the largest unclaimed benefits being Universal Credit (£8.3bn), Council Tax support (£3.4bn) and Carers Allowance (£2.3bn). Councils have an important role to play in helping people claim benefits to which they are entitled but do not claim and so Merton Liberal Democrats proposed a motion at a recent council meeting to ask the Council to take some simple and inexpensive actions to ensure Merton residents claimed what they are due. Proposing the motion, Cllr John Oliver highlighted an estimate of £118m not ...
Thanks to a nomination from a Liberal England reader, the Guardian wins our Headline of the Day Award.
Two great archives of political leaflets would benefit from a moment of your time – as would subsequent generations of academics, not to mention geeks like me who spend time reading old leaflets. University of Bristol This is the new home for the old National Liberal Club's collection: The University of Bristol's Special Collections holds an extensive archive of more than 30,000 pieces of political promotional material from every British general election dating back to 1892. The collection was originally established by the National Liberal Club and has been maintained by the University of Bristol since the 1970s. Anyone who ...
Yes, it's the 73rd Liberal Democrat MP, Jennie, making the news once again. Today's Guardian picks up on the adventures of Steve Darling and Jennie as they work out life at Westminster. But it looks as though Jennie is finding things to her liking... She will often be very keen to take me back to the chamber because she thinks 'we always go here and I get to lie down for quite a period of time'. She likes banking as much rest in as possible, so the chamber is a good place to lie down and relax. It sounds as ...
"The experience of that Royal Commission - on long-term care for older people - is instructive. It made four major recommendations relating to: free personal care, a cap on care costs for accommodation, the establishment of national care standards, and integration of services. We are still awaiting effective action on all of these." Bob Hudson asks why social care is never fixed. Annie Hickox on the 'toxic positivity' - the dark side of all those simple recipes for dealing with unhappiness and depression that spread so frictionlessly across social media. Privacy International says the use of social media monitoring by ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 29 JULY 2024 Blinshall Street (Douglas Street to 50 metres south) - closed until December 2024 for construction works. Douglas Street (Blinshall Street to Brown Street) - temporary traffic lights until December 2024 for construction works. Brown Street (south of Douglas Street) - closed until December 2024 for construction works. Seafield Road, Dundee - closed from its westmost end (in cul-de-sac) extending for a distance of no more than 20 metres in an easterly direction to facilitate a site access for a new ...
As if it weren't bad enough having a cohort of professional carers who are underpaid, and a consequent shortage of workers due to Brexit, the government seems intent on penalising those voluntary carers who look after family and friends by ensuring that they are unable to supplement their measly income with a part time job. The Guardian reports that those teachers, NHS staff and other key workers who do balance part-time work with caring for loved ones are quitting their jobs to avoid being hit with huge cash penalties for breaching carer's allowance rules. They say that research into the ...
