The Liberal Democrat candidate for Leicester South at the general election will be Dr Carol Weaver, an experienced campaigner who fought Rutland and Melton at the last election. The Leicester Mercury says: Dr Weaver has previously been the chairman of the Leicestershire European Movement, which campaigns to bring the UK closer to the EU. She has lectured in international relations and security at both De Montfort University and the University of Leicester. Carol Weaver told the paper: "Leicester has been taken for granted for too long, in part due to our undemocratic voting system. A General Election should not be ...
Government have left dental services to rot and now think they can rebuild it with a handful of toothpicks 2.2 million people's work impacted by being stuck on NHS waiting lists Dentist dossier: Five Conservative failures on dental care "More opportunities needed for young people living in rural Wales"- Welsh Lib Dems Government have left dental services to rot and now think they can rebuild it with a handful of toothpicks Responding to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins morning interviews on the Government's new dental plan, Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: Seeing a Minister duck and dive on ...
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother of my Sighcology columns for the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy. There are three more posted on this blog, covering private schools, Davids and mental hospitals. More about the JCPCP on the Egalitarian Publishing site. Reuben Fine could have been a contender. When Alexander Alekhine, the reigning world chess champion, died in 1946, the game's authorities announced a tournament involving the world's strongest players to find the new champion. And Fine, along with three Soviets, a fellow American and a Dutchman, was among the six players invited. Fine, however, declined to take part, arguing ...
Regular readers of my blog know I like to talk about policy a lot. This week's offering will be slightly misleading departure as it's inspired by a James Bond film. I'm sorry to disappoint but I won't be putting forward policy proposals in the future inspired by Lethal Weapon, Death Wish, McBain or Die Hard. ... Continue reading Licence Revoked – House of Lords Reform
'Bystander Society' describes how or why vast numbers of otherwise decent citizens became implicit in the Nazi regime and the descent into World War II. Historian Mary Fulbrook's analysis of events in the 1930s extends to observations of the long aftermath (and after-myths) - a gradual and reluctant process of facing reality. Mary has produced a good book - a work that is surely relevant to a far wider audience than academics and historians. Readers will demand that we heed the warnings and invest in the health of our democracy and its key institutions. When data journalists present graphs that ...
Logging onto the Guardian website this morning I was astonished to find not one but three potential Tory own goals in the news pages. The first and most expensive in terms of public expenditure was the verdict by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee that the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 has raised "urgent unanswered questions" and the government does not yet understand how the £67bn high-speed railway will now function. The paper says that the cross-party committee has concluded that the remaining London-Birmingham line will be "very poor value for money" with costs now forecast to ...
Ed Davey was interviewed on the Today programme this morning about his actions as postal affairs minister during the Horizon scandal. The BBC had obtained a briefing from civil servants to Ed in which he was advised to meet Alan Bates "for presentational reasons" and not to make any commitments to him. Ed made the point that he had wanted to meet Alan Bates anyway after Bates' second letter to him and, after that meeting, he had questioned the Post Office, who had lied to him. He added that it wasn't until the BBC interviewed a whistleblower from Fujitsu in ...
The news late yesterday was that at Licencing Subcommittee has approved the application for a licence to serve alcohol in Unit 2 of the former maternity unit at Ludlow Community Hospital. Many who have studied the application and got to know the project will applaud this decision. Others who remain opposed to any alcohol in this location will condemn it. The licence has extensive restrictions, agreed with Gather. They met my requests for restrictions. These are given in detail below. The main points there are restrictions on hours and a requirement for ticketed member or member events. This is the ...
Government has neglected children's mental health for too long Responding to the Royal College of Psychiatrists's report on children's mental health, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: This devastating explosion of mental ill health among children should be a wake-up call for the government. Conservative ministers have neglected children's mental health during and after the pandemic, leaving mental health services and families in crisis. We have seen a litany of broken promises from this government including the failure to deliver maximum waiting times for children, ending out of area placements or reforming the Mental Health ...
Ninewells Community Garden's packed programme including wellbeing and volunteering sessions continue into 2024. You can read more about the garden at www.ninewellsgarden.org.uk
It is perhaps a sign that a number of senior figures in the Conservative Party are looking towards a future out of office where their particular world view defines where it goes from here. And today's launch of "Popular Conservatism" suggests that, if you are enthused by the idea of a sensible conservative political force, you may have to wait a while for one to emerge from the expected electoral wreckage. A group led by Liz Truss, managed by Mark Littlewood and with Lee Anderson and Jacob Rees-Mogg as key figures is likely to be pretty disruptive as the Conservative ...
