Davey: Spending review cannot be used to cut social care as number requesting support set to rise by 500,000 a year Winter Fuel Payments: Govt has realised "how disastrous this policy was" but misery caused "cannot be overstated" Nigel Farage Port Talbot speech - Real cheek as Trump threatens remains of Welsh steel industry Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain warns the government risks 'decimating' rural communities ahead of Spending Review Lee Waters comments - nonsense, that Welsh funding isn't a party-political issue Farage promising to re-open mines shows he doesn't understand Wales Jardine comments on winter fuel news Davey: Spending ...
We're used to Trekking Exploration searching for abandoned railway lines, but this time he searches for an abandoned church next door to Nottingham Racecourse in Colwick Park. As the YouTube blurb explains: The listed grade II church dedicated to St John the Baptist now stands in ruins near Colwick Hall. It was built by Sir John Byron in the 16th century incorporating 14th and 15th century sections from an earlier church. In the mid-17th century the church was repaired and a chancel and steeple built by Sir John Musters. Later in the century, the tower and chancel were rebuilt. Towards ...
Dear Ed, As the Chair of Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, I am writing to you to express my appreciation for your principled leadership in speaking out against the atrocities unfolding in Gaza. Your question to the Prime Minister in this week's PMQs powerfully highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in the Strip, where Israeli forces are shooting at starving Palestinians as they attempt to access aid. The Early Day Motion you tabled on Tuesday, signed by every Liberal Democrat MP, sets out a clear and unified statement condemning Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank and reaffirming our Party's ...
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile I was writing my article in the current Liberator, I searched for the quotation below - the last paragraph in particular. I didn't find it, because I was convinced it came from The Strange Death of Tory England by Geoffrey Wheatcroft, which was published in 2005. It doesn't. It comes from Endgames: Questions in Late Modern Political Thought by John Gray. Impressively, this was published as early as 1997. Perhaps there's something in the idea that Gray's a bit of a seer after all. Because I couldn't find the last paragraph, I had to write instead: ...
Reform UK has shed another councillor after John Bailey has resigned. Elected for Easington and Shotton ward on County Durham, his resignation today has been reported by journalist Bill Edgar. John Bailey is now the second Reform councillor in County Durham to have been elected at the start of May and then to have resigned, triggering new elections to pick their replacements. The Northern Echo adds: Mr Bailey is the second Reform UK county councillor to have resigned in County Durham, just over a month after the local election. A party spokesman said: "We are deeply saddened to learn of ...
As I type these words early afternoon on this fine June Monday, the big political story dominating the headlines and the airwaves is more details on the government's at least partial u-turn on winter fuel payments for pensioners. The top story on the BBC website as I write this is 'More than 75% of pensioners to get winter fuel payments as Reeves confirms major u-turn.' The sub-head reads, 'Pensioners in England and Wales with an annual income below £35,000 will now be eligible, reversing one of the government's first major policies.' Liberal Democrats are claiming this as a campaign win, ...
This coming week will see the Public Spending Review: probably the most difficult test of this Labour government since it was elected a year ago. The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will be attacked from all sides. Friday's newspapers write themselves: hostility from the 'over-taxed' tribunes of the Right, much of it wrapped in misogynist language about bird-brain 'Rachel from Accounts'; frustration from the Left that the Magic Money Tree is not producing the expected crop of seasonal fruit; and disappointment from everyone else that she isn't, after all, the Growth Fairy promised in the Labour manifesto. In fact, the Chancellor is ...
Not everyone is or wishes to be an accountant. And so, for solo consultants, managing the money side of things may not be your favourite thing to do. But it is, nevertheless, vitally important that you keep on top of the financial aspects of your business. You need to send out invoices, for example, and to make sure that they get paid. You need to keep a record of the money you've spent and what you've spent it on. You need to pay yourself a salary. And you need to pay your taxes. None of this is especially complicated. But ...
This review appears in the new Liberator. You can download the whole issue (it's issue 429) free of charge from the magazine's website. Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis Nick Bano Verso, 2025, £10.99 The idea that British industry is held back from fuelling a golden age of economic growth only by excessive regulation used to be a staple of right-wing think tanks. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly popular in left-wing think tanks too, with the planning laws seen as the particular enemy. One reason for this is that people who work for left-wing think ...
Rennie reveals 1,250 teaching posts had to be readvertised in two years Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie has today unveiled new research showing that more than 1,250 teaching posts have gone unfilled and had to be readvertised in the past two years. The figures uncovered by his party through freedom of information requests also reveal: Moray was the worst hit with 252 roles readvertised in the past two years, Aberdeen has had to readvertise 206, Shetland 90, Argyll & Bute 70, Highland 62 and Dumfries & Galloway 61. Orkney has a teaching post which has been vacant since ...
As ever, the appearance of a new issue of Liberator (this time it's no. 429 - you can download for free from the magazine's website) means it's time to spend another week with Lord Bonkers. Today he's all about celebrating Liberal Democrat victories, Tizer and the Notswolds. Monday The dozy spires of Oxfordshire and the plashy fens of Cambridgeshire are ours. We hold Shropshire from the pubs of Oswestry to the crumbling walls of Ludlow; from the lead mines of Snailbeach to the cliff railway at Bridgnorth. Half a dozen other councils will see Liberal Democrat control after one fashion ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 9 JUNE 2025 Blinshall Street (Douglas Street to 50 metres south) - closed until August 2025 for construction works. Douglas Street (Blinshall Street to Brown Street) - temporary traffic lights until August 2025 for construction works. Scottish and Southern Energy Networks Elmwood Cable Renewal Scheme - temporary traffic lights and road closure from Tuesday 4 March for 19 weeks insofar as it affects the West End Ward : Ancrum Road (at Peel Street) - temporary traffic lights for 4 weeks; and Tullideph Road ...
The Guardian reports that Ministers have asked the British Council to draw up spending plans that would force it to close in as many as 60 countries in the latest sign of the impact of Keir Starmer's decision to cut the aid budget. The paper adds that the scenarios are the same as those that have been demanded of the BBC World Service, and would mean the council having to shut completely in large parts of the world: The plans are likely to add to warnings that the government's cuts to overseas aid are at risk of damaging its soft ...
