Brighton Conference Day 2

Yesterday I was back to Brighton for day 2 of Lib Dem conference. Useful meeting in the morning about how all constituencies are being graded for targeting and a list of what needs to be done if a constituency wants to be in the top target group. I suspect Gateshead's constituencies will struggle to fulfill the criteria!

Brighton Conference Day 1

My first day at Brighton Lib Dem conference and I commuted down from London in the morning. Various meetings attended and the exhibition area visited. I returned to London in the late afternoon.

Heading to conference

Yesterday I headed down to London from Gateshead on another LNER service that wasn't performing well (no ticket machines working and only one member of staff to deal with the resulting long queue of people wanting to purchase tickets followed by the cancellation of the 11.59am train to London). The purpose of the trip is to go to Brighton Lib Dem conference. I am staying in my flat in London so will be commuting down to Brighton each day. It's a great deal cheaper than getting a hotel room though the early morning starts are not ideal.

I am now in Brighton having attended Layla Moran's speech and the consultation session on the party's development. I'll post up today's video tomorrow.

Sunniside History Society excursion to Bowes Museum

The annual excursion of the Sunniside History Society (of which I am chairman) was held on Saturday and this time the destination was the Bowes Museum. In addition, we made a short visit to Barnard Castle. I had been to neither of these places previously. A good day was had by all.

My Wednesday meetings - library and history

On Wednesday, I had two meetings to attend, both in the evening. The first was the trustees of Whickham Voluntary Library where we discussed ambitions and aspirations for the building. The second was the executive of Sunniside History Society to put final preparations in place for the AGM next week. We also drew up some provisional plans for the year ahead.

Vince Cable in Newcastle

Vince Cable was in Newcastle on Saturday to speak at the People's Vote rally. I was part of the delegation to meet and greet him on his arrival.

Protect and Survive - government advice on how to survive the Brexit nuclear bomb

There is something awfully familiar about the government's Brexit No-Deal advice. Those of use who are old enough to remember the 1970s and 80s will recall the "Protect and Survive" advice in which we were told how to sit out a nuclear war by taking shelter under the dining room table. After a few days, it would be safe to go out into the fallout (provided you were over 30 years of age). Always remember to wear rubber gloves and clean wellies if you needed to pop outside to see whether any of your neighbours had survived the nuclear blast.

Somehow, the new Brexit advice looks horribly like a recycling of the 1970s. I hope they don't bring back flares.

Visiting the Tanfield Railway

The Tanfield Steam Railway is partly in my council ward in Gateshead and over the weekend they held a heritage event. I went along to enjoy some history and lend a hand at the Sunniside History Society stall.