I am far from being an ardent royalist. The idea that someone should just inherit the position of head of state is very strange to me. However, that doesn't stop me acknowledging that the current incumbent has been doing a fantastic job since way before I was born. I've always admired her dignity, dedication and the experience that comes from dealing with Prime Ministers as diverse as Alec Douglas-Home, Tony Blair and Winston Churchill and having an unrivalled perspective of almost six and a half decades of world events. Today, MPs paid tribute to her service as they wished her ...
Earlier tonight, I also attended the fourth informal meeting to discuss the creation of a new committee to take forward evening classes from when Harris Academy returns to Perth Road. Prior to the school decant to Lawton Road to enable the school rebuilding in Perth Road, there was an active Harris Education and Recreation Association that successfully provided a programme of evening classes over many years. At the time of the decant, the previous committee retired after many years' service to the community. We had a really positive meeting tonight. It was agreed that the "Harris Evening Classes Team" will ...
This week the High Court in England heard argument in a legal challenge by UK citizens' living abroad to their disenfranchisement in the European Referendum on 23 June. British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years are to be denied the vote, unless (as their counsel pointed out) they hastily move back to the UK. They cannot vote while Commonwealth citizens living in the UK, whether for a long or a short time, can vote. Aidan O' Neill QC for the claimants pointed out the great deal at stake for the claimants – their right to live, ...
There is a pleasant programme about the Northamptonshire writer and illustrator Denys Watkins-Pitchford on the BBC iPlayer at the moment. The photo above shows his birthplace, Lamport Rectory, and I seem to remember seeing him about Market Harborough in the 1980s. Deny Watkins-Pitchord also got a mention in my Masters dissertation on Richard Jefferies as one of the many later writers for children who used Bevis as a touchstone.
The Leave Campaign was asked to name just one independent study that shows the UK would be better off if we left. Here's what happened: You can sign up to back the Liberal Democrat In campaign here, and the official Remain (In) Campaign is here. But more importantly, share this video so that as many voters as possible see it before referendum polling day.
The Conservatives have admitted failing to declare £38,000 of general election expenses. The party blamed an "administrative error" for failing to register the accommodation costs of activists involved in the Battlebus 2015 operation. The admission follows a Channel 4 investigation. A Conservative spokesman said the party had already brought the error to the attention of the Electoral Commission. The Tories insisted the Battlebus operation was part of the national campaign organised by Conservative Campaign HQ and, as such, the expenditure did not form part of the spending by individual candidates. [BBC] That final paragraph is, of course, a particular point ...
[IMG: ram roast 2016]
"Something has to be done by the beginning of June" @MichaelLCrick tells @afneil on possible #battlebus prosecutions https://t.co/qmwyu9R6Kz— DailySunday Politics (@daily_politics) April 21, 2016 Following the new revelations on Channel 4 News last night, Michael Crick appeared on today's Daily Politics.
This is actually quite tricky, because Shakespeare's most interesting characters are more likely to be villains than heroes, and if heroes they tend not to be all that admirable. I've written already about Hamlet and Macbeth, nether of whom really fits the bill - Hamlet is fascinating, but one struggles to like him, and Macbeth is certainly on the villain side of the line. I guess in the end the most interesting hero, as such, on the most interesting plot journey in Shakespeare is Prince Hal in Henry IV Part I and Henry IV Part II and then in his ...
Michael Crick, Channel 4 News's political correspondent, has spent months investigating the Conservative Party's election expenses from last year's general election, focussing on the party's "battle buses", which moved activists around the country, and the associated costs incurred (e.g. hotels). Last night's programme featured another report, this time looking at the use of the buses in the South-West, where the Conservatives successfully targeted every one of the 14 seats held by the Lib Dems: In response to Crick's investigation, the Conservatives accepted that they had failed to declare some expenses for hotels due to what they termed an "administrative error". ...
Last night, ITV held a debate for the six Welsh party leaders. As expected, Kirsty Williams put in a strong performance on education, taking on UKIP's Nathan Gill on the folly of his education policies, emphasising Liberal Democrat successes such as the Welsh version of the Pupil Premium which was implemented because of Liberal Democrat influence and Kirsty's More Nurses Bill. She was also keen to emphasise that the stark choice voters face on the list, with key seats being a choice between Kirsty's Lib Dems and UKIP. .@Kirsty_Williams: we're smallest party in assembly, made the biggest difference, only party ...
As well as all out elections for the electoral wards of Peterborough City Council on the 5th May, you might also like to know that the number of City Councillors is increasing by 5%, from 57 to 60! This means that the annual cost to local taxpayers of covering the cost of the allowances for [...]
Coalition: The Inside Story of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government (Biteback; £25) [IMG: David Laws Coalition] If journalistic reportage is the first rough draft of history, then the politicians' memoir has a good claim to be the second — at least as far as contemporary political history is concerned. Few are better placed to give the inside account of the UK's first national coalition in living memory than David Laws. Laws was at the heart of the coalition before it had even been conceived, as part of a small Lib Dem team preparing for a hung parliament, and was then ...
Lib Dem Hame Editor Dawud Islam will be taking part in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) hustings this evening (Thursday) at the Pollock Room, St. Leonards Hall in the Pollock Halls of Residence in Edinburgh, EH16 5AY. Free Tickets are available here:- The event runs from 5-7pm and will feature all 5 parties [...]
My last posting on this subject for a while I promise Above is a link to the Westminster Hall debate that I mentioned in my last posting. It makes interesting reading although the inaction of Sefton Council in recent years does not get the prominence that their sit back and watch/sit on the fence approach deserves! And here is a link to the Liverpool Echo's take on the debate:- I get the feeling that the powers that be are actually really on board with a road 'solution' and that working up a credible and maximum rail solution is ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie today said the SNP's approach to mental ill health takes complacency to new levels as he revealed that £70m of funding announced for mental health last year remains unallocated. Figures provided to Liberal Democrats by the Scottish Government show that just £80m of the £150m announced for mental health [...]
You may have seen Michael Crick's report on Channel 4 News last night – if not I've linked to it above. Obviously there are a number of interesting questions that arise from this, not least whether or not electoral law was broken in the pursuit of vital marginal seats, and I and many others will [...]
Truro City Council is now the owner of the popular Boscawen Park which has transferred from Cornwall Council, securing the future of this important leisure area for Truro's residents and visitors. Truro City Council has already been managing the park under a long lease. Ownership of the park has been transferred to the city council [...]
Instagram This is Spike's worried face. We are at the doggy beautician; Roxy is having her nails trimmed... Comedian Victoria Wood dies aged 62 - BBC News Noooooooooooo Quiz: Can you recognise these British places from their Roman names? | CityMetric I got: "All hail our new Roman Emperor" (8 Right!) - Can You Recognize These British Locations... via @play_buzz Instagram Daughter made a mobile phone stand in DT at school. Apparently the poor spelling is "ironic"... Tories admit failure to declare #electionexpenses citing "administrative error". RT @Hayley_Barlow: New evidence uncovered #c4news 7pm UK Chancellor exempts families of "Politically Exposed ...
Ten years ago to the day I was living in France doing my "year abroad" as part of the language course I was following at Leeds University. I was amazed that, on the French TV1 news at 7am the lead item was: "Today the Queen of England is 80 years old." Why, I teased my French colleagues, was this of any interest at all, never mind the lead item, in this staunchly Republican nation? They replied that they were very interested in the British royal family, but pleased that we rather than they were paying for it. So today the ...
I remember a time, in the early 2000s, when it felt like every discussion on the future of the Liberal Democrats or of political parties in general mentioned the fact the RSPB had 2 million members whereas political parties were reduced to a few hundred-thousands between them. This massive organisation has now spoken out in the referendum debate. It has not taken a side but demanded that each campaign answer how the environment will be effected. My view, taking part in public IN/OUT debates every week, is that the environment itself will not swing a huge number of votes but ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said yesterday that the SNP's response to the economic challenges facing Scotland has been utterly timid as new figures revealed an increase in unemployment. Unemployment in Scotland rose by 20,000 and stands at 171,000 in the period December 2015 to February 2016, according to new figures just released. The Scottish [...]
It's been said that the case to stay within the European Union will work at its best if it successfully appeals to the varied policy interests of different types of party-aligned voters. The idea is that Labour voters will be drawn to EU achievements like the Social Chapter on worker's rights, Greens to the bold environmentalism of the Union and Lib Dems to human rights and free trade statutes. But most interestingly (and perhaps most vitally), Conservative voters are being courted by appealing to their party emphasis on maintain the integrity of British foreign policy. Whilst this is fascinating and ...
Scottish Liberal Democrats candidate for Edinburgh Eastern Cospatrick D'Inverno will be taking to the stage this evening as the Peace & Global Justice Hustings goes ahead at the Augustine United Church on George IV Bridge from 7.10 – 9.15 pm, a decent length for once to allow detailed questioning. You can see full details of [...]
Yesterday, I met with local residents and an environment manager from Neighbourhood Services at Dundee City Council on-site in Millhall Crescent and in Pentland Avenue, to discuss options to improve the look of the steep banking in each street - see below (Pentland Avenue) and above (Millhall Crescent). These are challenging areas to maintain given the very steep banks but we discussed options including ways of retaining soil and hopefully planting wildflower towards the bottom of banks to improve the look of them.
I realised yesterday that I had made no grand announcement and didn't want groups like Medway yet again.Labour jumping to the wrong conclusion. (1) I have indeed left the Liberal Democrats. It was not a political decision or a disagreement or because of local issues - it was due to mundane selfish reasons. I joined back in 2009 and supported my party proudly, stood in two local elections and a by-election, represented the party at hustings and school debates. I believe in Liberalism to my very core and truly believe Tim Farron is the leader to take the party forward. ...
Word reaches us that Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right Front National and daughter of infamous quasi-fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen (who also led FN), is thinking of coming to London to campaign for Brexit. A few outlets have run the story, including The Guardian which included this understatement of epic proportions in their article on the subject: "The mainstream Vote Leave camp would be likely to keep their distance from Le Pen." This is particularly important given the line in Gove's recent speech regarding the Remain campaign's supposed scaremongering on Brexit, when he said they were trying to ...
"Karabakh rules Armenia" Reporting from Yerevan. (tags: armenia nagornokarabakh ) 'Accuracy is for snake-oil pussies': Vote Leave's campaign director defies MPs Gawd. (tags: eu ukpolitics ) Brokered Conventions Often Make A Winning GOP President Though not since 1952. (tags: uspolitics ) who2voteNI.com Discover your place in the Northern Ireland political landscape! (tags: northernireland ) Macedonia's political crisis: Make or break for civil society A bad time for my favourite Balkan country. (tags: macedonia )
Channel Four News has finally pinned the Tories down on the tens of thousands of pounds they spent campaigning in 29 key marginal seats in the 2015 general election that were not declared to the authorities. The news channel say that they have found further undeclared receipts showing more than £38,000 was spent accommodating activists at hotels across the country, as part of the BattleBus2015 campaign. This spending was not declared to the Electoral Commission in accordance with the law: The investigation has also obtained evidence that the BattleBus campaign was focused on local candidates, suggesting the accommodation costs incurred ...
