Veterans facing homelessness reaches five-year high Record high levels of people stuck in hospital August A&E waiting times the worst on record for the month Operations activity still well down on pre-pandemic levels Cole-Hamilton comments on NHS dental deregistration in Dumfries & Galloway Veterans facing homelessness reaches five-year high Commenting on the news that in 2023/24 there were 935 homeless applications which included veterans, the highest figure since 2018/19, Scottish Liberal Democrat Veterans Spokesperson Bruce Wilson said: Our veterans have dedicated their lives to public service and duty, putting themselves in harm's way to do so. The fact that so ...
Energy price rise: "crushing blow" to pensioners worried about having to choose between heating and eating New poll shows 1 in 4 Brits have avoided calling an ambulance over fears it would take too long to arrive Rennie responds to Accounts Commission Report McArthur responds to Scottish Government evidence submission on assisted dying Energy price rise: "crushing blow" to pensioners worried about having to choose between heating and eating Responding to the Ofgem energy price cap rise of 10% from £1,568 to £1,717 coming into effect today as Winter Fuel Payments worth between £200 and £300 are being cut for ...
I first saw the Woodhead route - the lost railway from Sheffield to Manchester - in the summer of 1978. In those days Sheffield to Huddersfield trains used it to reach Penistone, running through the derelict Sheffield Victoria station on the way and also taking sweeping curves about the valley of the Don. At Penistone you could watch a constant stream of goods trains taking coal from the South Yorkshire coalfield to a power station at Widnes or returning empty. The class 76 locomotives were unique to this line and you could tell they had been designed in the 1930s, ...
[IMG: Layla Moran, Hina Bokhari with LDW members after maternal inequality debate] One of the most moving and powerful debates at our recent Brighton Conference was on a motion from the official Lib Dem Women organisation on improving the inherent inequality in neonatal and maternity care. I wrote about the debate at the time: Lib Dem Women had put forward a motion on tackling inequality in pregnancy and neonatal care. Some of the stories of maternal and pregnancy loss were shocking, and the higher rates among black and Asian communities shameful. Laura Gordon told a terrible story about the death ...
This week the UK made history by becoming the first major industrial nation to dispense with coal as an electricity generating source entirely. On Monday Radcliffe-on-Soar power station shut for good. It's a major piece of history as coal-fired power stations date back to 1882 and the use of coal for heating or making engines work dates back to Roman times. The phase out of coal has been pretty dramatic, in the year 2000 there were 25 coal fired power stations, in 2012 coal still accounted for 40% of the electricity market. Now it's gone. This hasn't happened out of ...
The new political season has begun. What should Lib Dem strategy be in this brave new world? Is there a policy you would like to see us adopt? Any heretical thoughts you want to confess? You're welcome to share your ideas in a guest post for Liberal England. I'm happy to entertain a wide variety of views, but I'd hate you to spend your time writing something I wouldn't want to publish. So do get in touch first. And, as you may have noticed, I'm happy to cover topics far beyond the Lib Dems and British politics. These are the ...
If any of us aren't pretty scared and worried by what is going on in the Middle East, we probably should be. Lib Dem MPs have been reacting to events as Israel steps up its actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran attacks Israel. And all of this, at the heart, are people facing a humanitarian disaster, living in the most appalling conditions without food or shelter. On Twitter this morning, Layla Moran said: All my life my grandparents warned that if we didn't achieve peace in Palestine it would risk wider war. With Iran's actions overnight it seems we ...
While attending a business conference at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, I received the news that Israel had demolished a six-tower complex.Among these towers, the infamous Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, was reportedly taking refuge in a bunker situated 80 feet underground. The Israeli military employed F-15 jets equipped with bunker-buster bombs to execute this strike, effectively targeting the underground stronghold. My immediate reaction was one of concern, fearing for the region's stability and the safety of its people. In that moment, I couldn't help but sense that this conflict might become Israel's "Dirty War" (La Sale Guerre). Unlike the ...
Towards the end of April this year, damaged bollards in Mid Wynd were replaced. However, there have been unfortunate instances of some riders of motorbikes ignoring the 'no through road' at great speed and causing alarm to pedestrians. Along with local residents, we asked the City Council if the spacing between the bollards could be narrowed to prevent this, and this was agreed to. We are pleased to say this has now been done - see photo.
Tory Party conferences always have an air of unreality about them, especially when they take place in the middle of a leadership election, but rarely do they jump the shark and get as surreal as the current gathering of right wingers has managed this week. If people thought Kemi Badenoch was off the wall in telling an interviewer that maternity pay is "excessive" and people should exercise "more personal responsibility", then clearly they should have paid more attention to what followed. The London Economic website reports that a Conservative Party panel has discussed how to persuade women to "breed for ...
