Pensioner waits more than 9 hours for ambulance after suffering heat stroke as UK hits heatwave CalMac maintenance soars 55% in a year to over £41m Pensioner waits more than 9 hours for ambulance after suffering heat stroke as UK hits heatwave Freedom of Information Act (FOI) on heat strokes reveals a pensioner in the East Midlands waited close to nine-and-a-half-hours for an ambulance last year. FOI shows an almost doubling of ambulance response times when going on call outs involving heat stroke since 2018/19, rising from 32 minutes to 59 minutes in 2023/24. Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper ...
Tom Forth examines the prospects for HS2 now: "Building a new railway from Birmingham to not-quite-London at Old Oak Common would be ridiculous. It is good that Labour seem likely to continue the railway to the city centre. But it is also painful that a huge national investment sold for more than a decade on the promise to benefit North England is now likely to barely benefit it at all. What little gains remain from the plan will fall overwhelmingly to London." "Duncan came back to his foster home from college one day and found all his bags were packed. ...
Bremain in Spain has a page giving the reaction of half a dozen pro-European voices to the result of the general election.Among them are Nick Harvey: Yes, we would all have preferred Labour not to be elected with red lines drawn against the customs union, single market or 'rejoin' - though experts tell me those would barely have been feasible in the first term anyway. But we have seen the new PM totally reset the relationship with Europe at the Blenheim summit, the new Foreign Secretary start talks about an ambitious UK-EU security agreement, and the first King's Speech signal ...
You can download Liberator 424 for free here. This issue is a bit different from usual as since the last Liberator came out the Liberal Democrats have won an unprecedented 72 MPs and moved into some remarkable new territory. But what happens now, and what can they do? There's a huge Labour majority, second places are scarce and there is concern that the gains were made at the expense of the party in the rest of the country. Contributors analyse the results and where to look for success next, explain how the Lib Dems moved into (or didn't) some new ...
A vacancy has arisen for the Liberal Democrats representative to the Executive Committee of Liberal International. This Committee meets annually in person and is hosted by a Liberal International member party, so can take place almost anywhere worldwide. The next event will take place on 29th November 2024 in Santiago, Chile. The position is elected by the Federal International Relations Committee and the term will run until the end of 2025. The post entails engaging fully with the work of Liberal International and working as a member of a team with the FIRC Chair and Liberal Democrat members of the ...
Last night I had a flashback to when I was relatively young councillor representing Dingle which was part of Liverpool 8. The media had turned remorselessly to focus on the so-called Toxteth riots and the "disgraceful and illegal behaviour" of the people who lived in that area. Well, that was the description from the right-wing press about what was happening there although that did not accord to reality. Yesterday I visited Southport on behalf of the people and council of Liverpool to show solidarity with the people of Southport and Sefton Council. On Monday three children died after the stabbings ...
"You are the co-architects of austerity" grimaced the Mayor of London, pointing his finger at me, when he responded to a simple question of asking him to write to the new government to scrap the two-child benefit cap. For many, it was shocking that the Mayor was so aggressive and angry in his response, which can be viewed here. But for Liberal Democrats active in Labour facing areas like London, we have too often seen this nasty side of Labour Party where councillors, members or activists are attacked for daring to question Labour and daring to question what Labour see ...
Liberator 424 is out! You can download it for free from the magazine's website. Which means, I am afraid, it's time to spend another week at Bonkers Hall. At least we find the old boy in celebratory mood. I must at once apologise to any readers in Scotland, as the text he forced on the Revd Hughes was Cromwell's reaction after his army had defeated the Scots at Dunbar. Monday Seventy-two Liberal Democrat MPs elected! How the bells of St Asquith's rang that night! We drank the Bonkers' Arms dry and made an impressive dent in my champagne cellar. At ...
In a few short years, bank branches have gone from being a key part of any high street to curious relics. So it's no surprise that three former banks in Market Harborough town centre have been added to Harborough District Council's list of non-designated heritage assets. My photo above shows the Nat West branch, which shut up shop in January of last year. The former HSBC and Barclays branches are also now on the list. The former Kibworth railway station and the airfield at Husbands Bosworth, reports HFM News, have been added too. This list is intended to ensure that ...
The climate-nature crisis remains an existential threat to the future prosperity, wellbeing and security of the UK. We can see its effects all around us—from last Monday being the hottest day ever recorded, to the deafening silence of birds and butterflies across our once wild isles. The recent Climate Change Committee report shows that the UK Government is off track to meet its 2030 target (to cut emissions by 68%) and that only a third of current plans are credible. Our natural environment is being destroyed at pace. The last State of Nature report set out the drastic declines in ...
Wed 31st
10:25
We are a major force in British politics again - let's update elements of our support processes to r...
We have 72 Members of Parliament, it would be the easiest thing in the world to sit back and be a bit smug for six months. However, that would be a mistake - with the Conservatives hell bent on internal warfare and Labour in a honeymoon period, we are the de facto opposition. Consequently we have to start acting like it. To my mind we succeed where there is local leadership and being blunt, our selection process is unnecessarily slow in getting candidates in place. Parliamentary Selections - including seats where we are third, should take place in the next ...
Wed 31st
08:55Should LIb Dems rethink our new fiscal rules after our successful General Election campaign?
Following the announcement of the new (so-called) £22bn 'Black Hole' in the Government's finances, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has announced over £3bn in departmental spending cuts, making the winter fuel allowance mean-tested, and scrapping the previous government's social care reforms (which set a maximum of £86,000 on a person's personal care costs) meant to be implemented eventually in October 2025. During the General Election it was generally recognised that there would need to be cuts to the non-protected departmental budgets, which the Resolution Foundation said could be as much as £33bn and the IMF said could be about ...
The mob actions of ill-informed thugs caused more problems in Southport and town which was trying to come together to heal and offer mutual support to each other. Yesterday was a day of huge contrasts for me. In the afternoon ... Continue reading →
This year's City Road Allotments Open Day this Saturday - 3rd August - 11am to 3pm - has stalls with fruit and produce grown on the allotments, an art sale, wine tasting, crafts and plants sale. The is a BBQ, refreshments, tombola, activities for children and a site walk. As part of City Road Allotments' aim to provide an environment that supports wildlife, they will have stalls from the Countryside Rangers and Froglife which have lots of really useful information and activities. All welcome!
The Independent reports on the view of Sir Andrew Dilnot, whose government-backed commission proposed a cap on social care costs, that the Labour government has "failed another generation of families" with the cancellation of a series of planned social care reforms. Rachel Reeves announced the cancellation of the Dilnot reforms on Monday, alongside a swathe of other spending cuts to address a black hole in the public finances left by the previous Conservative government. Dilnot described the changes as "a tragedy": The commission's findings were presented to the government more than a decade ago, with proposals including a £35,000 cap ...
