I will be doing a talk on local locations with a wartime connection at 7pm on Wednesday 7th May at Sunniside Social Club. All welcome.
Whickham Lib Dem councillors held a street surgery outside the Library today. It was a good chance to meet residents and talk about issues important to them. Conversations were wide and varied!
I posted this cutting on Bluesky yesterday. As a couple of followers replied with a line good enough for me to want to steal it to use as a headline, I am posting it here too. A TES story from 2017: YouGov asked 2,060 British adults whether a list of things that have disappeared from British life "should or should not be brought back once Britain leave the EU". In total, 27 per cent said that corporal punishment in schools "should be brought back". However, there was a big difference in support for the idea between Remain and Leave voters. ...
The two most influential philosophers who worked in Britain in the last century were Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Russell, thanks to his pronouncements on everything from sexual morality to geopolitics, was a public figure. Wittgenstein, by contrast, was a slightly mysterious figure even to his fellow philosophers. Wittgenstein was born on 26 April 1889 and died in 1951. When I took my first degree in Philosophy (1978-81) he was still a dominating figure in the discipline - many papers began with one of his aphorisms. So I was rather proud that my report on our Philosophy of Mind option ...
I'm surprised more hasn't been made of the similarities between and Britain's relations with Ireland and Russia's with Ukraine. The histories of the two pairs have obvious similarities. The British, or perhaps more precisely, the English, have over the centuries tended to regard the Irish as part of "Us" whilst most if not all of the Irish think of themselves as different. From the 12th Century onwards English kings have claimed to be "Lords," then Kings of Ireland and our rulers have made successive but unsuccessful attempts, stretching through the Earl of Essex, Oliver Cromwell, William of Orange, and the ...
[IMG: Very different events but grea silariy las uesday nigh] For Erica and me, Tuesday evening was very much an evening of two completely contrasting halves. Our first event was a solemn High Mass at the Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool City Centre to give thanks for the life of the late Pope Francis who had died on the previous day. Nothing could have been grander. It was solemn, profound, and reverent. About 800 people poured into the Cathedral for a solemn mass with the most important Catholic in the World deep in the thoughts of so many. We came to ...
In its recent judgement on "biological sex", the Supreme Court avoided defining what "biological sex" is. It says it is "commonly understood", however the phrase does not appear in most leading dictionaries. This is of particular interest to me. As an intersex person, I am not, in UK legal terms, transgender, and I am comfortable presenting as a man in many contexts. I typically use men's loos, and play men's sports. But I would not call myself "biologically male", except in some very peculiar contexts. Reading the recently released EHRC guidance, this seems to imply that I should not use ...
"Years of historic underinvestment in favour of profit has run the business into the ground. It now finds itself on the brink of collapse despite a financial lifeline that it ought not to have been awarded, when a court last month allowed the company to take on another three billion pounds of debt." Thames Water is failing, Ofwat is toothless and the public is paying the price, says Luke Taylor. Tim Bale explores the motives that led David Cameron to call the EU referendum and the subsequent impact Brexit has had on the Conservative Party. Laura Laker asks why the ...
The Liberal Democrats have recently announced a new policy. A policy that transforms the political landscape, changes our society for the better and inspire millions... enforce a legal fine of up to £1000 on people who play loud music on public transport. Of course, I'm being sarcastic and quite frankly this is embarrassing. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that our party has come up with the right approach on lots of the big issues of the day, but this policy is a stinker for many reasons. Firstly, let's look at the morals of this policy. Yes, I think ...
Who is the best choice to vote for if you want to see Reform defeated in the Hull and East Yorkshire Mayor contest on 1 May? Tactical voting website recommendation The StopReform tactical voting website is clear with its recommendation: [IMG: Hull and East Yorkshire Mayor - tactical voting recommendation to stop Reform] As the site explains: This is a new election. The most recent local election results (in 2023 and 2024) over the same area show the Lib Dems ahead of Labour in both areas, Hull and East Yorkshire, which means that the Lib Dems are better placed to ...
The possibility of a "Big Split" between Europe and America has taken another giant leap forward with a take-it-or-leave-it Ukraine plan from President Trump. In addition, there are dangers of widening chasms opening up between EU and European members of NATO. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and chief negotiator Steve Witkoff were expected in London this week for talks on Ukraine with key European leaders. But at the last minute they pulled out, saying that the president was tired of negotiations and demanded that all sides accept an agreement hammered out in Moscow between Witkoff and Putin. The proposal ...
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with the latest MRP projections and party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Opinium 21% (-1) 26% (-1) 11% (-1) 9% (+2) 26% (nc) Tied (vs Ref) 23-25/4 GB Find Out Now ...
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 Scottish water ironwork repairs being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in a westbound direction in Nethergate ( from its junction West Marketgait to its junction with South Tay Street ), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Tuesday 29th April 2025 for two working days. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Vehicular access for residents will be maintained where possible. Diversions are available ...
The BBC reports that law-breaking water company executives face tougher punishments, including possible prison sentences, under new powers that have come into force in England and Wales. Their website says that bosses who fail to co-operate or obstruct investigators looking into sewage spills can now be jailed for up to two years: The government said the threat of tougher sentences would act as a "powerful deterrent". At the same time a highly critical report from the public spending watchdog accuses the government and regulators of failing to manage risk and drive investment in the water sector, contributing to higher bills ...
