British film history meets Shropshire hill porn. What's not to like? As the blurb from Third Rate Content on YouTube says: Journey into the heart of Shropshire where the magic of 'Gone to Earth' was captured through film. This video blends history, mystery, folklore, and magic, taking you to the very places where the story unfolded, Warning: May contain Stiperstones.
I joined up with Planting Up Whickham volunteers to help sort the flowerbeds on Church Green in Whickham last Sunday. My job - as usual - was to take away all the stripped out plants to my farm where they were put into compost bins. Sadly I wasn't able to join in the planting of the summer flowers today as I was in Saltwell instead. Hopefully the volunteers have created some great displays
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was an unlucky man to have as your uncle. Two of his nieces were beheaded by Henry VIII, after they had become two of his many wives. Thomas himself only avoided being executed by Henry due to the King dying just before the execution would have taken place. Yet, despite his role in dramatic Tudor court politics, Howard's most enduring legacy may be linguistic.. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls ...
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features an interview with Emeritus Professor Jonathan Parry, whose new book, Liberalism, explores the history of liberalism as a political idea in Britain. Parry emphasises that liberalism is best understood through the actions of politicians rather than the abstract theories of political intellectuals. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Liberalism by Jonathan Parry: Amazon, Bookshop.org or Waterstones. Professor Jonathan Parry. Jonathan Parry on Bluesky. Previous podcast with Duncan Brack about Jo Grimond. Photo of Big Ben CC0 Public Domain. ...
"If Reform is claiming, as it is, to be a party capable of governing this country, then the media must subject it to the same kind of scrutiny applied to Labour or the Conservatives. Such scrutiny must be applied to the past record of those associated with Reform, its current policies and its performance where it is in power, such as the 10 local authorities where it is now in control."Raymond Snoddy says it's time the media stopped giving Reform a free ride. Amanda Morcotte argues that the bust up between Trump and Musk was always going to happen: "This ...
Two weeks ago, Liverpool hosted the BBC Radio festival in Sefton Park which is the big park closest to my Penny Lane Ward. How much did this cost? Well, we do not yet know. We know that the Council paid the BBC £250,000 to come here. What we do not know is how much the council paid out before or since for all the signage, liaison, such as it was, with residents, schools and businesses of the post festival remediation of the park which is being undertaken by LSSL. Usually, all these costs are paid for by festival organisers who ...
You can download Liberator 429 for free here: https://liberatormagazine.org.uk/recent-issues/ You can also sign up to get an email each time a new issue of Liberator comes out: https://liberatormagazine.org.uk In addition to the news in Radical Bulletin, and Lord Bonkers' thoughts, what's inside this issue? WHITEHALL DINOSAURS THREATEN STABILITY A walk on the Jurassic Coast reminds Sarah Olney MP that cliff edges in the benefits and VAT systems undermine personal security and small businesses LABOUR'S BLIND SPOT ON SOCIAL CARE Solutions to the social care crisis are well-known but always blocked by the Treasury. The government could grasp this nettle, but ...
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From Liberator: Such people write about Lincolnshire as though they were Victorian explorers or miss...
The new Liberator - issue 429 - is out and can be downloaded free of charge from the magazine's website. As well as Lord Bonkers' Diary and a book review of mine, it includes this article. I wrote it in response to the local election results of 1 May. In Search of Their Motives Why did Reform UK do so well in the local elections? How should parties respond to their rise? Who exactly is voting for them? Some would tell you to wait for the academics to crunch the numbers, but if you go to the research on how ...
One of the things that's great about this song is that the Pips are more than just backing singers. You just know they're going to give Gladys Knight a hard time if she doesn't catch that train. Midnight Train to Georgia was a track on the group's 1973 album Imagination, but not released as a single in the UK until 1976, when it made the top 10. It had topped the US singles chart in the year the album was released. The song was written under the title Midnight Plane to Houston by Jimmy Weatherly, inspired by a conversation he ...
Just a few years ago it looked like our country was moving in the right direction. There was a broad consensus for trans rights, things were moving forward. Yet now, not only have trans rights not progressed, they have actually regressed. Even for the few thousand of us that have gone through the burdensome procedure of getting a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), we still almost no legal recognition of our true gender. In the aftermath of the UK Supreme Court ruling, trans people are experiencing a roll back of our rights at a pace not seen since Section 28. With ...
Yesterday, Michael had the pleasure of representing Dundee's Liberal Democrat councillors at the Veterans Day event in the City Square, a chance to honour all military veterans for their devoted and selfless service to our country :
This is my latest article for Liberator magazine. The magazine can be downloaded here. Whisper it softly but are the Welsh Liberal Democrats on the verge of a revival? We are taking small steps, but so far it has all been forward momentum and there is growing optimism within the party that we can exceed expectations in next year's Senedd elections. The first buds of this political spring came in a council by-election in Penllergaer, a suburb of Swansea that has been an independent stronghold for some time. Realistically, nobody was going to beat the former councillor's widower, but this ...
