In November 1912, the use of flogging with the cat was extended to those procuring prostitutes and for crimes against women and children. An anti-flogging amendment was rejected by 297 votes to 44.
Some were opposed. George Greenwood (Liberal, Peterborough) called flogging “the methods of barbarism”.
Arthur Lynch (Nationalist, West Clare – this was before Irish independence), described the horrors of a flogging he had witnessed.
“[The flogger] was an artist in it. He laid on the lash with such vigour that at every stroke the victim’s whole frame quivered, his eyes rolled in, his muscles stood out as though
…
The last morning of conference has a traditional feel to it. Sore-headed delegates drag themselves wearily out of bed, stagger to the nearest coffee emporium, point themselves in the general direction of the conference venue and start walking, hopeful that some residual memory of that first, non-hungover, visit will get them there.
The venue opened at 8.30am and by 9 o’clock the small trickle of Lib Dem activists has turned into a slightly larger trickle.
Whether through abstinence and early night or impressive force of will, some travellers seem a little less weary.
Julian Huppert, one of …
The exhibition hall is an important part of conference, along with the debates in the main hall, fringe events, training and, of course, the conference bar.
So why are so many of the stands so dull?
(not necessarily these ones, I hasten to add).
I know it’s not easy to come up with a novel and interesting stand, especially on a limited budget, and I’ll certainly plead guilty to being as unimaginative as the next man (probably more). But conference after conference the stands look much …
Posted in Conference, Op-eds
|
Tagged #ldconf
|
When the main hall is packed at a Spring Conference, you can be sure it isn’t because everyone wants to debate the third clause of the Federal Conference Committee’s report, or even (as we heard this morning) discuss the rights and wrongs of holding a conference that clashes with Mothers’ Day.
No, it’s because St. Vince of Twickenham is taking to the stage. The halo may have slipped slightly on occasion, most notably the hastily-revised Mansion Tax proposals made at Bournemouth last September, but for the party faithful it’s still Vince who can heal the sick and, if weather conditions …
Very sneakily, Clegg’s team have found a neat way to turn questions about hung parliaments into a positive message about Lib Dem policy. We saw it on the news today, and I’m sure we’ll see it wheeled out again – and again, and again, probably until journalists get bored of asking the question.
When asked what the Lib Dems would do in the event of a hung parliament, Nick’s strategy is to say what the Lib Dems would want to get from any sort of deal, which mysteriously matches closely with the four key themes. Nick says we would …
In a close vote in the conference hall, Lib Dem conference delegates decided to debate “Freedom, Creativity and the Internet” as the single emergency motion to be considered tomorrow.
The alternative NHS motion was narrowly edged out.
Promoters of the Freedom, Creativity and the Internet motion hope that it will send a clear signal of the Lib Dems both understanding and supporting a liberal position on enforcement of copyright laws online.
A good conference rally is fun to attend and tricky to report on, simply because there should be nothing new. The audience ideally leaves reminded of the key messages and enthused to fight the good fight – there’s plenty of time for controversy over the rest of the weekend.
As in Bournemouth, the rally took on a glitzy feel: dry ice, bright lights, (relatively) slick presentation.
Lorely Burt opened procedings with a few jokes, and promise of holding her seat in Solihull, where the Lib Dems overturned a 9,400 Tory majority last time round.
Then a selection of …
Following a barage of criticism over amendments to the Digital Economy Bill, the backers of the amendment are to make concessions which, they hope, will answer many of the objections.
As the FT reports [free registration may be required to view article]:
The Liberal Democrats will publish changes on Friday to their original amendment, of which the Conservatives said they were “broadly supportive”.
Under the new proposals, which will be put to the vote on Monday at the bill’s third reading in the Lords, a judge could order copyright owners to pay legal costs and other compensation for
…
Is there a link between the availability of pornography in a society and sex crimes like rape? And does watching more pornography lead men to see women as mere sex-objects?
It’s a debate that’s bounced back and forth for decades. Both sides have plausible explanations as to how their claims can be true.
Perhaps, after watching pornography, men are more likely to feel agressive and commit sex crimes. If the increased availability of pornography over the last thirty years has led to more rapes and sexual assaults, surely there’s a good case for our society being more censorious.
Or maybe …
Posted in News
|
Tagged hawaii, pornography
|
2 Must-Read Blog Posts
What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:
- Tories in Devon and Cornwall set themselves a target of raising £13,000 in an Obama-style online donate-now campaign, perhaps in an attempt to wean themselves off the Ashcroft millions. How much did they raise?
- Stephen Glenn picks up on the news that Lord Paul has said he will voluntarily end his non-dom status from April, whether required to or not, and asks what it means for the Tory “they do it too” defence.
Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.
2 Big Stories
Short term prison sentences don’t work
A bit for libetarians and for regulators – so take what you will. It was laws and regualations, not market forces, that ended this, though it seems we can never under-estimate the ability of a greedy State to make a bad situation worse.
This is an account from 1942 looking back to the condition of the poor a century earlier.
In the early years of the [19th] century the builder and landlord were unrestricted. The filthiest hovel or cellar could be let to as many people as would take it; no drainage or water had to be provided.
Ventilation the State heartily discouraged
…
Better late than never, today’s Daily View finally arrives. The miners’ strike ended on this day in 1985, and Switzerland voted to join the United Nations in this day in 2002.
2 Big Stories
Life found on Mars
A former US grassroots campaigner, now working in Manchester, has claimed that Labour is an alienating force in our big cities and Obama would never have made it in the Labour Party.
Gregory Galluzo, the Guardian claimed on Saturday, trained Obama in grassroots politics over a decade ago.
Galluzo is quoted in the Guardian as saying:
In my experience the Labour party in your big cities like Manchester is one of the most alienating forces in Great Britain.
It is a very small group of people that controls the city council and they get voted in because they are Labour, not because of
…
Contrary to popular belief, the Victorians tended to be pretty open and frank about sex. The old myth about covering the legs of pianos or tables was a joke told by the Victorians about others.
This text is taken from “An exposition of the true Cause and only Cure of the Three Primary Evils: Poverty, Prostitution and Celibacy”, by Dr George Drysdale and published in 1852.
Excepting medical advances and terminology, it could almost have been written today.
The only means by which virtue and the progress of mankind are rendered possible is ‘Preventative Sexual Intercourse’. By this is meant sexual
…
Every now and again, some opinion poll or other asks people to name their own MP and politocos tutt when, invariably, a good proportion fail the test.
But, if you were to speak to every MP and ask them who the MP for their own constituency is, you’d hope for a better result.
Sadly, news reaches us that at least one MP may be unsure.
Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent South, held a coffee morning on Friday with Rt Hon Paul Boateng MP.
On this day in 1920 (according to the nice people at Wikipedia), the Nazi Party was founded.
The days when the Daily Mail publically paraded its sympathies for the Nazis are long gone – their interests lie elsewhere these days…
2 Stories
The story Mail hacks have been waiting for
This story must have felt like Christmas and Easter rolled into one for reporters at the Daily Mail – it’s got everything.
…it is becoming increasingly clear that teenage girls are a stand-alone demographic in crisis
So says a report in Sunday’s Observer, looking at the pressures faced by teenage girls and the effects it has on their lives, and it’s far from alone.
As Mark Pack reported here on Sunday, the Evening Standard and Telegraph both reported on concerns of girls becoming sexualised at ever younger ages.
Just hold on a moment, though.
Yes, teenage girls have problems. And it may well be that there are specific measures the State can take to reduce those problems, such as the regulation …
A few quotes from Labour’s Campaign Quotations book from the 1951 General Election.
Back in the days before the Internet (yes, young people, it didn’t always exist), Labour published this 300 page book of quotes from friend and foe to help its eager activists.
Socialism is a system of national co-operation. It is based upon the principle of co-operation, as opposed to the principle of competition. It is based on the principle of collectivism as opposed to the principle of individualism. It is union as against disunion, order as against anarchy. It means each for all and all
…
It’s Wednesday 17th February and for me, like so many other Lib Dem activists, another day of delivering leaflets and knocking on doors (plus a Council meeting in the evening).
On this day in 1933 prohibition ended in the United States, and in 2003 London got a new congestion charge. There, wasn’t that interesting.
2 Lib Dem-related Stories
Lib Dem voters are the kinkiest
Thanks to Sara Scarlett for spotting this report in the Telegraph. There’s lots there on the sex lives of supporters of the three main parties, including:
