Locked in at the Civic CentreThe AGM of Gateshead Lib Dems was held on Monday evening. There were around 40 members present (it's normally a lot lower!) Officer positions were filled, as were the executive ordinary places. There was also a speech by Ron Beadle, Lib Dem leader on Gateshead Council, about the local elections next year and the work we are putting in to the campaign.When the meeting finished, we headed (more) |
It's up!It's up! The first community Christmas tree in Sunniside since 2018 is now in place. Myself and Councillors Marilynn Ord and Jonathan Mohammed, were determined that this year Sunniside will have a Christmas tree. We've worked with Planting Up Sunniside, the local group that has taken on the task of ensuring we have a tree in the village. We also met with officers to arrange the funding. So, (more) |
19 November 2025 - today's press releasesInflation stats: Chancellor must put households and high streets first Lib Dems: Govt must go further and "ban surge pricing" PMQs: Kemi Badenoch should apologise for £40bn of Conservative stealth tax hikes Scottish Liberal Democrats call for World Cup fan parks and late night licenses Stone secures meeting with Treasury to save high street banks Inflation stats: Chancellor must put households and high streets first Responding to the latest ONS inflation figures released this morning, Daisy Cooper, Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said: As the cost-of-living crisis rages on, the Chancellor mustn't look this small gift ... (more) |
Internal elections update: the results edge closer as gender and LGBT quotas disappliedThe Lib Dems moved closer to being able to count our election results this afternoon. In an email to candidates, party Chief Executive Mike Dixon said: We have now received legal advice from a second King's Counsel who specialises in election law and discrimination cases. We asked them to review the recent Federal Appeals Panel judgement about the internal elections and recommend how to proceed at a detailed operational level. The KC advice is that in the light of the Supreme Court judgement and our Federal Appeals Panel judgement, we must suspend rule 2.5 and rule 2.6(c) in the Federal ... (more) |
No, Pope Leo XIV did not mail dead rats to American radio stations to promote The Boomtown RatsThis claim was made in a recent Word in Your Ear podcast, but sadly it appears not to be true. In fact, the young Bobby Prevost, as the Holy Father was then known, was a temporary replacement for the man who did mail the rats. So close, but no cigar. You can read the full details on Facebook. And Mike Bone tells the same story on Best Classic Bands, but doesn't mention the young temp there. (more) |
Labour leader of Camden quits Fortune Green in fear of Lib DemsRichard Olszewski, the Labour leader of the London Borough of Camden, is quitting his Fortune Green ward next May to fight what he hopes will be a safer seat. Fortune Green is already split between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, and a crushing Lib Dem victory in a recent by-election in neighbouring West Hampstead suggests he would have trouble holding on there. Of course, it wasn't Olszewski's idea, you understand, He told the Camden New Journal: "Over recent months, several colleagues approached me to raise their concerns that, as Leader of Camden Council, I am likely to be especially targeted ... (more) |
World Toilet Day 2025Like Christmas, World Water Day (19th September) seems to come round more quickly every year. The number of people without access to a place to defecate,and urinate in privacy, safety, decency, with and the waste disposed of hygienically, at 3.4 billion, is slightly lower than the figure I quoted last year, 3.5 billion,. Not much as a ball-park figure, but it does mean a reduction in human anxiety for 500,000 individual people. Think of that when you next retire to your bathroom or a lavatory cubical. That's a huge reduction in human anxiety.. Maybe you'll feel "moved" (pun intended) to ... (more) |
10cc: I'm Mandy Fly MePeople rave about I'm not in Love, but it's a bit of a dirge and was played to death on the radio at the time. It's the cleverness of the production that people admire about it. But I still love I'm Mandy Fly Me and want to listen to it again if I hear it. The song exemplifies what made 10cc so interesting: the combination of, even tension between, two very different types of musician. Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman were Tin Pan Alley songwriters: Kevin Godley and Lol Creme were art-school experimentalists. I'm Mandy Fly Me began as a ... (more) |
Labour has lost its moral and political compassI have been a Liberal Democrat for many years, and I never imagined a time when a major party on the centre-left would be celebrating its immigration policy alongside the very architects of anti-immigrant sentiment. Yet here we are. As Shabana Mahmood unveils her new asylum and immigration plans, the loudest endorsements are not coming from progressive voices, the NHS, or the communities dependent on migration, but from figures like Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage—men who have built careers on demonising and scapegoating newcomers. This applause is a siren call that should terrify the Labour movement, but for the Liberal ... (more) |
Labour's inhumanity must be opposed!Immigration and asylum have been dominant political issues since the general election last year. These issues have been amplified by Reform UK, the Conservatives and right-wing media outlets. However, Labour is in power, not the traditional right, not that you can recognise anything progressive about many of this Labour government's policies, especially towards immigrants and asylum seekers. Labour's current political approach is completely contradictory. You cannot be in favour of economic growth and strong public services on the one hand and anti-immigration on the other hand. Where would our National Health Service, our social care sector, our education system or ... (more) |