"Whereas Thatcher offered young people hope - not least the hope of owning their own home - today's Tories do not. Yes Thatcher wanted to achieve cultural change, but she saw economics as the means of achieving that." Boris Johnson's Conservative's Party has diverged from Thatcherism and not for the better, argues Chris Dillow. David Boyle reports from the front line of his war with tickbox culture, which is currently to be found in the NHS. "The form of public accountability we've settled on is one that relies on a robust, independent-minded, largely private-sector media to do the job of ...
I thought of the 1970s, when the North American Soccer League came to British attention because of an influx of ageing world stars like Pele and Bobby Moore. We smiled when we found out that the Americans could not cope with the concept of a draw - the saying "a draw is like kissing your sister" was widely quoted at the time. Instead, the league had a penalty shoot out in case of a draw at full time. Later it introduced a revised version in which a player ran towards the goal from 35 yards out and had five seconds ...
Written about the forthcoming US Presidential election, this point from The Message Box newsletter about how perceived strength can trump competence comes with some obvious echoes for British politics too.
In the few days since Ed Davey was announced as our new leader, I've been saddened to see more than a few people, good solid liberals, thinking about leaving the party. It's worrying that both young people, and longstanding activists and councillors, are questioning whether the party can recover sufficiently to deliver the liberal country where no-one is enslaved by poverty ignorance and conformity, to quote the preamble to our Constitution, that we all want to see. I've had many such conversations over the last few days. What has been particularly disappointing is the way in which some supporters of ...
I started the month in London, and then went to Cyprus for a work trip via Istanbul on the way out and (very briefly) Malta on the way back. Later in the month there was a science fiction convention in Leuven, where I renewed acquaintance with Ken MacLeod and Al Reynolds, and got to know Christopher Priest. I finished the month with trip to Skopje, including a day excursion to Pristina. F got his first taste of Doctor Who live when we let him stay up to watch Time Crash. He and I also visited Technopolis in Mechelen, where he ...
One of the things about life is that, if you're paying attention, you learn more about the world about you and about the people that inhabit it. This summer has been a case in point. A chunk of it was spent acting as Returning Officer for the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats - an independent Returning Officer is required for such groups - and I was seriously exposed to the world of pronouns for the first time. There's no doubt that the world we live in has become more complex and, as our society becomes more diverse in every sense, the range ...
Boseman's version of T'Challa is so powerful that it will endure undiminished, even despite his death A colleague responded to the news that the actor Chadwick Boseman had died of cancer aged just 43 by posting to Instagram of her son - who's maybe eight or nine and white British - in costume as the [...]
This is one from a few weeks ago, but worth sharing. Malcolm Bruce, a former leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, wrote in the Scotsman about the need for those who want to stay in the UK to build a stronger and newer vision of why it is so essential to Scotland's interests. He argues for a federal UK as the best option. It's all about focusing on the positives of staying together: The SNP clearly articulate the disruption that Brexit brings. The same arguments apply in spades to Scotland opting in a fit of pique to leave the UK. ...
Sun 30th
13:28
LibLink: Vince Cable Disbanding Public Health England is the last thing the Government should be doi...
Writing in the Independent this week, Vince Cable condemned the Government's decision to shut down Public Health England. He suggested that it was the scapegoat for the Government's policy failings before setting out why it is such a bad idea: Aside from practical questions about who is to deal with other public health issues like obesity and sexual health, the long-term challenge for the new agency and its network of local public health officers is to make Britain better prepared for serious pandemics in future. They must be ready, too, for the more predictable annual rounds of flu, which though ...
I have been asked a lot of questions recently about the Companies that are owed by the Council. The last time we were able to review the companies they were quite seriously in debt with a balance of liabilities over ... Continue reading →
In his acceptance speech Ed Davey claimed to have been a member of our Party for 30 years. This surprised me as I worked in the same Liberal Democrat Whips' office as Ed in 1989/90 and had assumed he was already a member. I can't claim to have influenced him in joining, but I can imagine some of the other great people who were in that team might have done. My surprise was down to Ed's keenness at the time to ensure we had a credible economic message and his enthusiasm for campaigning at the grass roots to get that ...
Having brought Liberal Democrat politics into this features last week by choosing Something Better Change, I've decided to be consistent and post this today: Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Sat, 12:56: RT @trevorcopter: I got to meet @chadwickboseman once while I worked Samuel French film & theater bookshop. He didn't bring any attention t... Sat, 14:48: RT @Hephaestus7: » British stalkers and abusers rejoice: Life will get easier in Europe after Brexit | Westminster Confidential https://t.c... Sat, 16:05: RT @AndrewPRLevi: It's frustrating to see @DavidGHFrost belittled by Twitter "experts", for supposedly not understanding politics, the EU,... Sat, 16:45: Rocky https://t.co/hCU0KWJwzr Sat, 18:35: RT @anandMenon1: But wasn't Brexit about welcoming more Indians? 🤔 https://t.co/O3gSs2IRwJ Sat, 20:48: RT @AProdigiosus: Weird Presidential History! John Quincy Adams was a believer in Hollow Earth ...
Nick Cohen's article in the Observer is worth reading today, if only for the insight it provides into the way that Boris Johnson's government values ideological purity over competence, and acts accordingly. As importantly, he explores the lessons to be found in Peter Geoghegan's Democracy for Sale - which is already on my Christmas list - about how easily democracy is manipulated and why we need to reform regulation to restore level playing field. Cohen looks at Tony Abbott, who is Boris Johnson's favoured choice as a UK trade envoy - a failed Australian politician who will be remembered, if ...
In case you missed it, here is Ed Davey's acceptance speech from Thursday. Nothing happens for the first 19 minutes, so use the slider to get to that point. The text is below: I'd like to start by thanking my friend Layla Moran. Layla, you fought a passionate campaign, full of energy. I'd like to start by thanking my friend Layla Moran. Since becoming an MP, you have inspired so many people, particularly young people. Your future is bright and I look forward to you playing a big role in my team. To members of the Liberal Democrats, thank you ...
A big hit at the time, the story of a journalist investigating the story of a woman who insists her son was wrongly jailed for the murder of a policeman, has aged remarkably well, helped by that basic plot still being sadly contemporary.
i) births and deaths 30 August 1988: birth of Ellis George, who played Coal Hill pupil Courtney Woods in four 2014 Twelfth Doctor episodes. ii) broadcast anniversaries 30th August 1975: broadcast of the first episode of Terror of the Zygons, launching Season 13. The Doctor, Harry and Sarah, responding to the Brigadier's appeal via space-time telegraph, land in the neighbourhood of Loch Ness . Oil rigs are being wrecked in the North Sea; while tending to a survivor, Harry is shot and injured by a servant of the enigmatic Duke of Forgill. As Sarah visits him in hospital, she is ...
With thanks to Maggie Brown and Dundee Westenders, a fabulous old view of the rail station and Riverside!
