Here's the main problem with all political parties at the moment: the membershipsWhat has become received wisdom is that modern politics in the West is too removed from people and their every day concerns. That parties have become too remote. While there is truth in this, the solutions all parties have taken on board to combat this problem have been the wrong ones in reaction to this issue and have even made things worse. While all parties have made the mistake I am about to lay out, the parties of the Right have done it way less and it has directly benefited them at the ballot box. The way parties have tried ... (more) |
My tweetsTue, 12:56: Do you remember LiveJournal? It was part of my teenage identity. https://t.co/iBvkmgzG5W Ah yes. I actually still u... https://t.co/oEsolkETGp Tue, 16:05: Anti-Semitic carnival polarizes Belgian politics https://t.co/ITKGP65Fs5 This is appalling. Another reason why I could never vote for N-VA. Tue, 17:43: A Major Step Toward Ending South Sudan's Civil War: https://t.co/yT6UKj3BsN @CrisisGroup Tue, 20:21: RT @davidallengreen: What is the point of Brexit commentary? Sisyphus every day rolled a boulder uphill, for it to fall back each time Pr... Tue, 20:48: RT @OzKaterji: I think sometimes we as a nation forget that the fourth season of Celebrity Big Brother ... (more) |
CYCLISTS and WALKERS - have your say on what needs doingThe West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is consulting about its "Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan". This document suggests lots of local minor improvements, but in our area it doesn't contain anything that resembles a strategy. The walking part is mainly about how people get from one shopping area to another, from Chipping Sodbury to Yate Shopping Centre and then along Station Road. The cycling section hasn't considered any of the major issues that local cyclists want, like the link to the Bristol to Bath Railway Path and improvements to the Goose Green Cycleway. We don't know about any ... (more) |
Lydiate – Maintenance works at Kenyons ParkFollowing the January Lydiate Parish Council meeting this is the maintenance schedule for Kenyons Park:- Click on the graphic above to enlarge it for reading This photo is from April 2012 when new play equipment was being installed at Kenyons Park (more) |
How to undermine a household brandNobody is saying that the new Chancellor of the Exchequer is toxic, after all even us political geeks can barely remember his name, but it might not have been a good idea to alienate a well-known household brand in the first few days of his tenure, even if he does represent a Yorkshire constituency. Of course the first thing that sprung to my mind when I saw this picture was a question: he does know that Yorkshire tea is not grown in Yorkshire, doesn't he? However, others saw it differently and the poor handler of the brand's twitter account was ... (more) |
When tactics become strategyThe great strategist B H Lidell Hart wrote: "The only thing harder than getting a new idea into the military mind is to get an old one out." We can take from this many of the problems facing our party today. Following a decade of relative failure, we face an existential crisis and are in dire need of a rethink. Many, including me, have written here in recent months about specific failings we've made, things we've overlooked or miscalculations that have occurred. But I think that much about how we operate as a party is fundamentally flawed – because we ... (more) |
Feisty Women Conference is on Saturday - all welcome!(more) |
The Establishment prevented investigation into paedophiliaA report of the long-running investigation into child sexual abuse (IICSA) finds that there is no evidence of a paedophile ring operating in Westminster in the last quarter of the last century. However, there was a resistance to investigation of accusations of illegal sexual behaviour on the part of MPs. Both fellow MPs and senior police officers were part of this implicit conspiracy. Media interest centres on Cyril Smith and the failure of David Steel and other senior party people to resist his rise within the party. However, the report is equally damning of those who could have reported the ... (more) |
Lib Dems take action to guarantee EU citizens' rightsIn the House of Commons tomorrow [Wednesday 26th February], Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine will present a Private Members' Bill to guarantee the rights of EU citizens to stay in the UK. The European Citizens' Rights Bill would give all EU citizens living in the UK before Brexit the automatic right to stay, without having to apply to the Home Office's Settled Status scheme. The Liberal Democrats pointed out that Boris Johnson has repeatedly promised that EU citizens would automatically be granted the right to stay, but failed to deliver on that promise. Instead, EU citizens have to ... (more) |
The cricket ground at CromfordYou'll find Cromford's cricket ground in the meadows beside the Derwent with views of the hills beyond. (more) |