Worrying words from East Anglia Bylines if you're planning a holiday on the Norfolk Broads this summer: A mysterious spate of sinkings along a remote stretch of the River Yare has prompted growing concern from the Broads Authority (BA), as costs mount and investigators struggle to find answers. Six vessels have already sunk this year, including two within weeks of each other in the same three-mile section between Reedham and the Berney Arms. The unusual pattern of incidents has sparked comparisons with the infamous Bermuda Triangle - the area of the Atlantic Ocean known for the unexplained disappearances of ships ...
Wed 9th
22:01
The Worcestershire ward where the Lib Dem and Reform candidates are both former Tory MPs
Embed from Getty ImagesI was right about Alan Amos. Over the years, Amos has gone from Conservative to Labour to Independent to Conservative to Independent. What comes next? Will he perhaps rediscover his enthusiasm for reactionary social policies and join Reform?And that's just what Amos, who Conservative MP for Hexham between 1987 and 1997, has done. He is fighting the Bredwardine ward of Worcestershire County Council for Reform. What makes this particularly interesting is the the identity of his Liberal Democrat opponent there. It's another former Conservative MP - in fact a former Conservative cabinet minister. Step forward Stephen Dorrell, ...
This May, thousands of voters like me face a democratic void – our voices silenced as local elections are suspended under the convenient guise of "fast-track devolution" and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). While Labour and Conservative local councillors rushed to chase this programme in pursuit of the "sunlit uplands" of devolution and LGR, the truth is far more troubling. Both parties appear all too willing to dodge voter scrutiny, with the government eagerly agreeing to cancel elections in Hampshire for at least a year at their request. The result? County councillors continuing to wield power without a mandate from May ...
On lead vocal and slide guitar, Jeremy Spencer.
I don't know what the New Rutlanders made of their food parcels, but I can see Cook having a big future in these diaries. Wednesday I descend to the Servants' Hall, where Cook is manifestly in charge of wrapping food parcels for our cousins in the US State of New Rutland: "No, that Stilton's not too ripe, my girl. Foreigners like strong flavours. And make sure you screw those jars as tight as tight - we don't want to give the poor Americans salmon-error and bolshevism. And write the contents on the parcel or the customs and exercise men will ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have announced their lead list candidates for five of their top target constituencies in the 2026 Senedd election at their Spring Conference in Cardiff at the weekend. The Senedd will now be elected entirely by proportional representation using closed party lists and the D'Hondt system. This replaces the previous system of first past the post constituencies and a top up list. Wales has been divided up into 16 constituencies, each electing 6 MSs. Party Leader Jane Dodds MS will head the party's list in the Brecheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency. Cllr Rodney Berman and Cllr Sam Bennett, ...
Brno, Monday morning. I'd taken a stroll around the town the previous evening before dinner, and rather liked it, and so I was up early to do it all again, but this time in daylight. I started with an unexpectedly stiff uphill climb to the cathedral - stone steps, a right knee that wanted to grumble a little and signs of impending fragility made it more challenging than I had anticipated - which is described as a bit dumpy by one commentator but I rather liked it. You know that St Peter and St Paul's is there, which to my ...
Sunday morning dawned bright and early. Cool too, as the temperature had dropped sharply. But Nuremberg is perfectly charming on a Sunday morning without the crowds of a Saturday night, and I thought that a walk would clear the cobwebs before the next train. As you might expect, Nuremberg has that comfortable sense of a city that does quite nicely for itself, with a high class array of retail opportunities and, despite the results of US and UK-inspired urban renewal, has retained some interesting architecture. The Weißer Turm, which actually has a U-Bahn entrance underneath it, marks the gateway to ...
Over a protracted period, on behalf of residents, we have raised concerns about the state of the former garage site at the top end of Benvie Road. Following our numerous concerns being raised with planning officers at the City Council, an amenity notice was served on the site owner, but he has taken no action. The state of the site has deteriorated further - it is insecure and a fire hazard as the photos show. As the owner has failed to take action, we asked the council as planning authority to consider direct action to clean-up and secure the site ...
In recent months, a direction of travel has emerged for the party. One might expect that faced with a right-leaning, technocratic Labour party that's disappointing in government, we Lib Dems would lean into our radical side, channelling Kennedy in a full-throated stand for our values to outflank Labour, if not wholly to the left, then certainly on a more radical side. That is not what has been happening – if anything we remain more fixated on last year's battles against the Conservatives. Flashes of radicalism are visible in our opposition to Trump and Farage, and standing up for communities. But ...
There is more evidence of Labour's rather wishy-washy response to Trump's tariffs in the Guardian, which reports that Rachel Reeves has declined to back calls for the UK government to launch a "buy British" campaign in response to the tariffs, saying it would make Britain too "inward-looking". The paper says that the chancellor and Downing Street said that, despite a campaign from the Liberal Democrats, they would not be calling om Britons to follow Canada, who have launched a buy Canadian campaign in response to a 25% US tariff on Canadian imports: During Treasury questions on Tuesday, the Lib Dems' ...
