The prime minister visits Rutland in today's entry. With hilarious consequences. Wednesday Despite the blustery weather, I call on one of my neighbouring landowners - the fellow is a died-in-the-wool Tory, but a Decent Sort in his way. I find him in a state of great excitement as the prime minister is also on his estate. "She has come to Rutland to meet the voters," he explains. "And where is she?" I ask. "She's locked herself in my gardener's potting shed and refuses to come out." After I have offered the observation that Meadowcroft would never put up with it, ...
Henry Mance, political correspondent of that well known left-wing publication the Financial Times, has helpfully listed Theresa May's major policy shifts over the past 12 months. They are: BrexitA British bill of rightsHinkley PointWorkers on boardsNational insuranceEarly electionEnergy price capsSocial careForeign worker listsThe sad thing is that where May is in the right, such as on Europe and workers on boards, she lacks the courage to stand up for her views.
Conservatives have learnt what happens when a small, unaccountable clique really does make bad decis...
Turns out the Conservatives should have been looking closer to home for a small unaccountable clique making bad policy decisions in secret.
The Mayor of Liverpool should resign after his lack of judgement in this moral and financial crucial issue Statement from the Liberal Democrats "I am delighted that after 3.5 years investigation by the Lancashire Police four men are being brought to ... Continue reading →
The next 'Prestwich Artisan Market' takes place Sunday 4 June, 10am - 4pm in the Longfield Suite and around the Prestwich Fountain. There will be 43 stalls of artisans from Bury, Manchester and the North West Music, entertainment and a few little surprises along the way!
The SNP and the Tories are using the same playbook to delegitimise opposition and checks on their po...
There has been a very unfortunate trend in recent years of those in power condemning anyone who stands in their way. We all remember the failure of the Conservative Justice Secretary Liz Truss to stand up for the Supreme Court judges who upheld the law after the "enemies of the people" headline. However, that wasn't the first time the judiciary had come under such attack. Back in 2011, Alex Salmond insulted Lord Hope, a judge who had found the Scottish Government to be wanting on human rights. As I wrote at the time: Peter Cadder, whose case sparked the SNP's ...
Once again, there are six nominations for this award, of which five are proper nominees and one is gamed onto the ballot by fascists, and who I will be ranking below "No Award" without reading. As the one fascist on ... Continue reading →
Remember the Brexit "Battle Bus" with this slogan, "We send the EU £350 million a week lets fund our NHS instead Vote Leave"? It was powerful and "misleading" according to the UK Statistics Authority. Mr Farage referred to it as a "mistake". No! "The number plastered on the side of the Brexit bus was a big fat lie." It was not a mistake because it affected the "Brexit" result the way Mr Farage wanted. In short, we were misled and those who subverted our democracy with this deception have gone unpunished. Therefore it will happen again to further diminish democracy. ...
The Conservative manifesto could lump residents of Birmingham with £65,182 social care bill
Conservative manifesto plans will mean the average household in Birmingham could be forced to pay 39.5% of the value of their homes for social care after they die, it has been revealed.The manifesto plans, which would mean that people would be forced to hand over assets worth over £100,000 to pay for social care at home, would have a particularly damaging impact on sufferers of dementia, who
Councillors met last week in the for the formal Annual Meeting of the Council where Councillor Dorothy Gunther was appointed as Mayor of Bury for the municipal year 2017-2018. Dorothy, who lives in Summerseat, was first elected as a councillor in 1992, representing either Ramsbottom Ward and more recently North Manor ward. Wishing her a great year as Mayor. (Photo Bury MBC)
Elections are bruising. As a candidate, they lift you up and they can dump you just as fast. Today's been a good day with a previously unknown supporter driving to Consett to pick up some posters – fired up to support a political party for the first time. No sooner had he left than the phone rang with someone just ringing to apologise because illness had prevented them from getting out to vote in the council elections just gone. You never know how much goodwill there is out there. So just to test it, how many readers would be happy ...
Seems I picked the wrong weekend of the campaign to take a break from politics and blogging, as everything appears to have been turned upside down over the last few days. 'Dementia tax' went from being the sort of thing you don't even write on the flipchart when someone suggests it to a Google search term both the Tories and Labour were bidding to advertise on, and meanwhile Donald Trump touched a mysterious glowing orb as part of a ceremony, and Jeremy Corbyn made a surprise appearance at a Libertines gig where he was greeted with acclaim by the thousands ...
A round of constituency "polling" figures have been appearing in local newspaper titles from both the Northcliffe and Trinity Mirror groups. The reason for the quote marks? All the stories I've seen so far have been for online surveys carried out with self-selecting samples of people who are not weighted in any way to be representative of the public. No surprise then that where voting figures are given, some of them are highly implausible. Do you really think, for example, that in Truro and Falmouth the Conservative vote has collapsed from 44% to 18%, or even, if we recalculate the ...
Embed from Getty Images Apparently that bus now looks like this: Embed from Getty Images Which might explain why Boris Johnson got a bit confused yesterday on Peston on Sunday. Would you like to see him claiming that the Conservative manifesto promises £350m a week for the NHS? Of course you would. Thanks for your #AskBoris questions here is the moment @erikathomas_me2's question on #Brexit bus was asked https://t.co/oculImB7Nu #Peston pic.twitter.com/3oQTaugT5p — Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) May 21, 2017 And while we are with Robert Peston, here is another insight into Johnson's behaviour: Here 's Boris stealing and copying my ...
Older citizens in #Hastings #StLeonards #Rye being betrayed by social care plans of Mrs May and Mrs ...
Conservative manifesto plans will mean the average household in Hastings & Rye could be forced to pay a massive percentage of the value of their homes for social care after they die, it has been revealed. The manifesto plans, which would mean that people would be forced to hand over assets worth over £100,000 to [...]
In a letter, more than 50 business leaders, including Nicola Horlick and the founders of EBookers and Innocent Drinks, have said that they will be voting Liberal Democrat because of our stance on Brexit. From the Times (£) The 53 signatories who say they intend to vote Lib Dem include senior players in the investment and IT sectors, two industries that could be hit by a poor Brexit deal. They represent small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) rather than FTSE 100 companies. "The Conservatives' failure to even mention a transitional deal threatens Britain's status as one of the best countries in ...
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was given a new title by the Mail on Sunday. Under the striking large-caps headline, THE WRATH OF FIERY FARRON, Tim was reported as fired up to denounce the Tory manifesto declaration that the value of people's homes will be taken into account in future to help pay for extensive home care. People will only be able to safeguard £100,000 of their total assets, including their home. 'If you have dementia', Tim is said to have told the Mail journalist Simon Walters, 'Theresa May is coming for you. Your house is up for grabs.' He ...
50 top business figures back Lib Dems over support for single market Over 50 of Britain's leading business figures and entrepreneurs - including the founder of Ebookers, Dinesh Dhamija, co-founder of Innocent Drinks Richard Reed and businesswoman Nicola Horlick - have backed the Liberal Democrats today as the only UK party campaigning to stay in single market. In a letter to The Times, the business figures write that leaving the single market would be "destructive to the British economy," and that the Liberal Democrats are "the only party speaking for business and the majority of Britons on the key issue ...
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron tells Sky News that the PM's "dementia tax... will become her version of the poll tax". 'No school meals & dementia tax. Vote of thanks to Mrs May! Now we see how cruel her Govt wld be with a large majority. You have been warned!' – Paddy Ashdown former Lib Dem Leader on Twitter
Alternatively, they start yelling at me. Calling me a liberal elitist snob who thinks he knows better and should just shut the hell up and let the Tories extricate us from the European Union and lead us nobly onward to the land of milk and honey. This happens quite a lot, though admittedly people generally don't use those exact words. Continue reading →
pod_together | 2017 Rules and FAQOooo it's Pod Together time of year again! YAY! If you're a fic writer or a podcaster or both I really rec this challenge. I have participated several times now and had fun every time. pod_together | Match Maker Sign-UpsIf you want to sign up to Pod Together do so here. The Definition Of Hell For Each Myers-Briggs Personality TypeYes, yes, I know, Myers-Briggs is mostly a bag of shite. This still amused me. Brexit and the coming food crisis: 'If you can't feed a country, you haven't got a country'Oh look, more project fear... ...
What's this to do with? The Tory Government is considering bringing back grammar schools. They've confirmed that such reforms could include allowing Free Schools to introduce academic selection. I ran a poll.... I ran a Twitter poll and 73% of respondents said that they thought the idea was not a good one. What does Darren [...]
Our huge number of new members are making me think differently about the familiar problem of balancing resources between target and non-target seats, and the possibility of attracting support in a way that parallels En Marche in France. For a long time targetting has been a difficult decision. The electoral system means that, if we lean too far one way, we spread ourselves too thinly and are even more badly under-represented in parliament. If we lean too far the other way, we create Liberal Democrat holes where there is more-or-less little for people to join, which makes it really hard ...
Full scale of 'dementia tax' revealed as diagnosed cases rise to record high of 442,000
The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Conservative proposed "dementia tax," as official figures have revealed the number of people diagnosed with dementia reached a record high of over 442,000 last month. NHS digital statistics show that in April 2017, the number of patients recorded by GPs as having dementia was 442,000, more than double the 220,000 cases recorded 10 years ago. Older
What do you call it? A cacophony of road and rail closures? A collision? Or perhaps a conspiracy? Get ready for closure of the A5 overnight for three weeks. The A49 will be shut at Onibury 24-hours a day for ten days. Drivers will be directed via Kidderminster and Bridgnorth. The main exit from Ludlow town centre will be blocked for three days, so HGVs and coaches will be sent over Dinham Bridge and Whitcliffe. South Shrewsbury is already often gridlocked as the "hamburger" - served without fries - is installed at Meole Brace and Reabrook roundabout is resurfaced. Arriva ...
We live in strange times. Scandals that would have been once in a presidency type stuff rock the Oval Office every single day. Closer to home, Ed Miliband's performance in the 2015 general election, which let us remind ourselves involved the Labour Party losing 26 seats and handing the Tories a majority no one thought they could get, is now considered a roaring success. At least, inside of the upper echelons of the Labour Party itself that is. Corbyn and his inner circle are briefing that, regardless of how many seats the party loses on June 8th, if Corbyn manages ...
Tim Farron, this morning, has highlighted the impact of Tory plans to shake-up funding for social care, which he says could see nine out of 10 English homes eligible to be put on the market to cover treatment costs. As the Independent says, The Tory manifesto commits the party to get people to pay for their own care if they have combined savings and property valued at more than £100,000. If they wish to keep their home, payment can be deferred until after they die when it will be deducted from their estate. Lib Dem research shows that, overall, 90% ...
Our Headline of the Day comes from the Middlesbrough Gazette, Thanks to a reader for the nomination.
From Dundee Design Festival 2017 : This year's Dundee Design Festival runs from 24th to 29th May. The theme for this year's festival is Factory Floor through which we celebrate and explore makers, machines, and the future of manufacturing. We've drawn inspiration from Dundee's illustrious yet complex industrial heritage and the extraordinary festival venue itself to describe what making means now. Across three enormous galleries, we present a programme of design-inspired exhibitions, talks, film screenings, live performances and family events. You can expect to experience an assembly line of creative activity at West Ward Works. Try out new techniques at ...
Mount Everest's famous Hillary Step destroyed, mountaineers confirm Crumbs. (tags: everest ) Edward and Catherine Despard The Anglo-Irish rebel and his Jamaican wife. (tags: race History ireland ) What's in a name? My old friend Andrew Smith: "I have the most common boys' name of my birth year and the most common surname, so you will not be surprised I have come across many others in my time, which can cause confusion or comedy." (tags: names )