The publicity surrounding Earl Spencer's early memoir A Very Private School, which details his abuse at Maidwell Hall, reminds me of one of the most important posts on this blog, though it's not important because of anything I wrote. If Maidwell Hall was the most prestigious prep school around here in the Seventies, then Nevill Holt was its closest rival. And on that post I have dozens of comments detailing the abuse that took place there. Someone in the field has told me that when professionals talk about child abuse scandals that were not sufficiently investigated, Nevill Holt comes high ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: His switch of party has put him into the news headlines, but as ever the polls are useful to tell us the difference between stories that fill the headlines and stories which grab the public's interest. Handily, we have a new Ipsos poll to guide us. First though, a quick question: what do Justin Timberlake, Manchester United and peri peri chicken have in common? Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and you can sign up ...
Take a watch of Lib Dem leader Ed Davey's speech to our York spring conference, with a bonus of the party awards presentation first.
I'm grateful to see the motion on Cancer care passed at Conference but I am sorry to my core that it had to be written in the first place. I'm coming from a slightly different place than you might expect, partly because that place is Scotland and I know what is called for wouldn't apply, but I wanted to tell a story which whilst does not have a happy ending, it had a happy-ish journey. My mum died of cancer just over 18 months ago. She was diagnosed in December, and left us in the following July. There wasn't much ...
In all honesty, the prospects for being called to speak in a forty minute debate on the crisis in local government finance were always pretty slim, especially in a Party whose strength in local government is very much on the up. But, given that I'd prepared a short intervention, and that nobody really touched upon the aspect I was going to, here it is... Good morning, Conference, from one of the more unlikely Cinderellas you'll ever encounter. I'm here to remind my fellow Liberal Democrats of the bit of local government overlooked by the motion in front of you today. ...
From the LTM Recordings website: January 1981: hotly tipped for top, Jane Kennaway tapes an all-important Top of the Pops appearance for her debut single IOU, a deserving indie hit now reissued on a major label, and poised at #65 on the national chart. Jane's lucky break owes much to the misfortune of teenager Honey Bane, who has charted a few places higher with Turn Me On, Turn Me Off, but is stuck at an airport and unlikely to reach BBC Television Centre in time to perform. None of that matters. IOU is a brilliant, witty song by an artist ...
The Guardian has an interesting follow-up to the ongoing story of Diane Abbott-abuser Frank Hester's ten million pound donation to the Tory Party. They reveal that Rishi Sunak was flown to Leeds by Frank Hester for a private tour of the businessman's offices on the day after the autumn statement last year, raising further questions about the access afforded to the £10m donor who is bankrolling the Tories' election campaign: Sunak's relationship with Hester is under the spotlight after a Guardian investigation revealed on Monday that the mega-donor made comments about Diane Abbott which have been widely condemned for being ...
Trump and Orban It was the Trump-Orban love fest in Mar-a-lago last weekend. The Hungarian Prime Minister praised the ex-president as "the president of peace." Trump went several steps further: "There is nobody that's better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orban," he enthused. President Joe Biden failed to agree with Trump's assessment. He referred to Orban as a wannabe dictator, and attacked Trump for meeting him, let alone praising him. Biden's man in Hungary, Ambassador David Pressman, was even more undiplomatic in his language, which could herald a looming clash between the Biden Administration and Europe's darling of ...
As part of the package of £62 million cuts agreed by Shropshire Council, the waiting list for social and council housing is to be closed except for those most in need. I raised concerns about this at council on 29 February and received some information from councillor Dean Carroll, the portfolio holder for housing. The next day I sought clarification. This arrived yesterday evening. Currently the housing register is open to allcomers, including people with no local connection. The "temporary" changes being brought in will close the register except to those most in need. That will include everyone to which ...
A political collapse along the lines of that suffered by the Canadian Conservatives in 1993 – when they fell from a Parliamentary majority to just 2 seats - has long been the stuff of fantasy in British politics. Such implosions hardly ever happen in Western democracies and yet the chances a near repeat by the British Conservatives later this year have climbed from "impossible" to merely "highly improbably". Conservatives whips are struggling, I am told, to identify more than fifty colleagues confident of victory in the Autumn, while the steady trickle of senior Conservative MPs standing down - Theresa May ...
The posters below highlights the very first spotlight event in collaboration with the Dundee Botanic Garden and Riverside Nature Park. All welcome to attend to learn, explore, get creative and celebrate Skylarks during this whole-day event. Tickets are limited so please book at :
Top o' the morning to you this St Patrick's Day! Here's what's on on the last day of our Spring Conference in York. All details, including the text of motions are in the agenda. 09.00-09.45 F16 Emergency motion Navalny and sorting our pitiful, cruel, brutal asylum system out 09.45-10.25 F17 Report: Federal Board F18 Report: Campaign for Gender Balance F19 Report: Federal Communications and Elections Committee F20 Report: Federal International Relations Committee F21 Report: Federal Council 10.25-10.40 F22 Speech: Alistair Carmichael MP 10.40-11.25 F23 Policy motion: The Funding Crisis in Local Government Another one that's a potential flashpoint. Tony Vickers ...
