The absence of any council by-elections uncontested by the Liberal Democrats this week is not quite as good news as it might sounds. That's because there's only one council by-election this week. Courtesy of Nick Stuart and the team, however, the Lib Dems contested a ward on the Isle of Wight which the party had last fought back in 2009. The by-election was caused by Bob Seely standing down following his election to Parliament in 2017. On being selected, Nick Stuart said: I am pleased to be nominated as the Liberal Democrat's candidate for Central Wight. I hope that I ...
In 1967 my family had a caravan holiday at Winchelsea Beach in Sussex. And I do remember the summer of love: All You Need is Love by the Beatles and (rather less cool) Up, Up and Away by the Johnny Mann Singers were always playing. What I also remember, on the journey there, is that people were on the train at Ashford collecting signatures on a petition to save the line across Romney Marsh to Hastings. It worked. The line is still open today. This is the first part of a film made in 1987 that will tell you all ...
Embed from Getty Images In the past few days I have seen reports of two prominent Liberal Democrats leaving us for the Labour Party. Stephen Knight, a long-serving councillor in Richmond upon Thames who has also been a member of the London Authority in his time.Chris Foote Wood, a veteran councillor and parliamentary and Euro candidate perhaps best known for being Victoria Wood's brother.Like local by-elections, these defections are close to meaningless individually but can form a significant pattern over time. And if good people are giving up on the Liberal Democrats then we should be worried at the pattern ...
The morning after Hamilton, Anne and I had hoped to get down to the Dulwich Picture Gallery to see the Tove Jansson exhibition; but time was against us, so we settled for the National Gallery instead, just a short walk from the place we were staying opposite Foyle's. I confess that I had never actually been to the National Gallery before, and we only had an hour and a half. So it was a quick zoom through to The Ambassadors, The Rokeby Venus, and The Sunflowers, and whatever else we could fit in. In the Van Dyck room, one portrait ...
Welcome to the latest in my occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today it is some of the findings about which voters like local candidates. First a recap: there's strong and consistent evidence over the years that voters, in the UK at least, like "local" candidates. There is, therefore, a significant electoral benefit for parties to put up candidates who voters perceive as local. "Perceive" covers two wrinkles to this. First, being seen as local isn't the same as having been born and lived somewhere for 63 years. You can become local without having previously been local. Second, ...
It is now a few years since I first stumbled across Nina Conti's ventriloquism act on Radio 4. Even though I know that ventriloquism has a long history of entertaining on the radio, I still find the idea of such a thing working baffling.
Anne and I went to see Hamilton in London on Tuesday night - tickets booked a year ago, which turned out to be absolutely lousy timing from the work point of view where things are exceptionally busy right now, but there you go. The show really is fantastic. I was lucky enough to get to the Chicago run just over a year ago; I enjoyed that a lot, but I enjoyed London more (in fairness a couple of principals were absent the day I attended the Chicago show). I thought that London had dared to differ a bit more from ...
"Private affluence and public squalor" is perhaps the most famous phrase culled from James K Galbraith's seminal book, The Affluent Society. It's a long time since I read it and can't remember whether Galbraith was describing the situation as it already existed in 1958when the book was first published, or whether he was simply making a prediction if economics and politics were to continue of their established course. As a prediction, we can see observe its accuracy in spades when we compare, say, Grenfell Tower and the gated enclaves of such as Sutton Dittton. A friend who keeps a backlog ...
Today is the anniversary of John F. Kennedy's first live TV press conference. It was held five days after his inauguration as President of the United States. He clearly wanted to start as he intended to continue - the people's president. This news conference, in 1961, was unprecedented. Unedited, and with no time delay, it was JFK's way of speaking directly to the American people. You can listen to the broadcast here, and read the transcript in full. JFK opens with a word about the upcoming meetings in Geneva which would review the atomic test ban. He follows with an ...
In some ways, I think it's probably remarkable Mark E Smith made it to 60. Well known for his drinking, not to mention his love of amphetamines (it comes up A LOT in Fall lyrics), Smith lived life on the edge for what seemed to be all of his adult life. None of this removes the sadness of the fact that, as of today, we no longer inhabit the same reality as does the unique Mark E Smith. I figured the best way to memorialise Smith and his mega-project known as The Fall, a band that had over 60 members ...
Vince has been talking about how we can properly fund the NHS in England and Wales. The full LIb Dem plan is here. It includes five steps for rescuing health and social care services, with the long-term goal being to integrate health and social care into one seamless service with pooled budgets. An immediate 1p rise on the basic, higher and additional rates of Income Tax to raise £6 billion additional revenue which would be ringfenced to be spent only on NHS and social care services. Direct this additional investment to the following priority areas in the health and ...
Wed, 12:23: Lord John Stuart and his brother, by Van Dyck - not as flattering as the sitters probably thought it was! https://t.co/eaXqyk3fv0 Wed, 12:56: Imaginary friends https://t.co/ZBCsb2YvF4 Great essay by Ursula Le Guin. Wed, 15:17: RT @DTzantchev: Agreement reached at #Coreper II level on the texts of the #Brexit negotiation directives for the transitional period. Now... Wed, 17:18: An Old Captivity, by Nevil Shute https://t.co/rmEKnaVwEb Wed, 20:48: Lancaster House one year on: May has all her delusion and none of her power https://t.co/7JJ9Gd0CSE @jonlis1 on wha... https://t.co/WeeIwc1HNj Wed, 20:58: RT @leverus: Interviewer: Which would you rather have, a National ...
weekly_food_challenge | Challenge #29: Fried Things: Today's Breakfastweekly_food_challenge | Challenge #30: Sweet Potato/YamDoctors blocked by Home Office from taking up vital NHS jobs... because the NHS salaries are not enough for the Home Office earnings rules. How the Famous Five sold us a myth of Britain—and set the stage for our Brexit fantasiesA fairly convincing argument that brexit is Enid Blyton's fault. BBC Wildlife team apologises for not seeking opinion from Nigel FarageNewsthump close to the bone again. miss_s_b | Emergency! Place to Stay Needed this Friday and Saturday in LondonThis is now sorted, thanks to all who offered. Instagram ...
Boris Johnson, Britain's Foreign Secretary, understands the new politics. This week he put it about that he wanted to provide the British public with a dividend from Brexit by increasing funding to the NHS to the tune of £100M a week (or £5Bn a year). If the facts don't suit you, you create new ones; ... Continue reading Can liberals ever match the emotional appeal of populists? Should they?
It's the season for deciding the council tax we will pay from April. Last year, Ludlow Town Council raised its precept, local council tax, by 24%. This year the rise will be 21%. That means that the precept will have gone up by half in just two years. As with last year, this looks to be largely an anticipatory rise to cover the cost of taking on services from Shropshire Council and extra staff. But so far, the town council has yet to take on these extra services or appoint a deputy town clerk.[1] That, along with delays to vital ...
The National Audit Office tells us something that I believe many already suspected, Liam Fox's International Trade department is not fit to secure post-Brexit deals. As reported by the Independent, the NAO has criticised Liam Fox's running of the Department for International Trade (DIT) for failing to even properly set out the "capabilities and level of capacity" it will need to deliver for British business. They have also raised fears that DIT will never secure the "specific trade and negotiation skills" required, because of rapid turnover in the civil service: What was described as a "deeply worrying" report is published ...
Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. German just trips off the tongue doesn't it. The delightfully named Permanent Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the States of the Federal Republic of Germany is celebrating 70 years of its existence. Snappily shortened to the Kultusministerkonferenz (and with German [...] The post Bildungsföderalismus – when local control of schools enrages politicians appeared first on Radix.
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of crane lifting works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Nethergate (from West Marketgait to Park Place), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Sunday 28th January 2018 for one day. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for vehicles are available via West Marketgait /Hawkhill by- pass/Perth Road and reverse. For further information contact 433168. Executive Director of City DevelopmentDundee City ...
The horrific tales of abuse that 156 women were brave enough to speak of in court led to Larry Nassar being convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse, with a sentence of up to 175 years in jail. Reports say The women — almost all of whom initially met Nassar for a sports-related injury — said that, because of the abuse, they struggled with anxiety, depression and instances of self-harm. Others said they no longer trust doctors or that they shrink from any physical touch. This respected physician, the team doctor for USA Gymnastics through four Olympic Games, took advantage ...
Coat of Arms of Ormskirk's 1779 Town Hall The Southport Visiter has a fascinating local history article on its web site with regard to Ormskirk – You can access it via the link above The 1779 Ormskirk Town Hall With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting
Sometimes Liverpool Town Hall seems more like the Russian Duma (Parliament) than a centre for democratic debate! Liverpool City Council has an arcane set of rules which basically put all the cards in the hands of the Labour Party when ... Continue reading →
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