GDP figures: Chancellor's claims at spending review have not "survived contact with reality" Spending review: Over £4.5 billion of "hidden" cuts to departments could be avoided with better UK-EU trade deal Reeves must rule out tax rises for families and small businesses, say Lib Dems AUKUS: Trump move to bring submarine deal under review throws "grenade" into security partnership GDP figures: Chancellor's claims at spending review have not "survived contact with reality" Responding to GDP falling by 0.3% in April, the first month of figures since the employers' national insurance rise came into effect and Trump's tariffs came into effect, ...
Here is a curio. Michael Ramage was elected in May as a councillor in County Durham as one of the Reform UK candidates. But as others have spotted, on the official council website, he is listed as: Party: Reform UK Political grouping: Not aligned to any political group In other words, he is not a member of the official Reform group on the council although his two ward colleagues both are. Hopefully the next few days will shed more light on all this. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis
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 Find Out Now 16% (nc) 24% (+2) 13% (-2) 11% (nc) 30% (-1) -6% (vs Ref) 11/6 GB YouGov ...
This is the latest video from Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition in Gateshead, Cllr Ron Beadle, talking about the Labour councillor elected in September last year and who, due to his health, has not attended any meetings. Labour have voted to let him avoid attending any meetings until May next year, rather than hold a by-election.
In last week's Comprehensive Spending Review the Labour Government claimed to be thinking long-term about the key issues. But as my old Mum used to say, "fine words butter no parsnips." In other words, look at the reality behind the glitzy headlines. If you do that with the NHS cash settlement, the short-termism of the Government is manifest. Put simply, the Government ducked dealing with the key issue that bedevils medical care and that is the failure to invest in social care. In the long-term social care is not receiving the backing it needs, and if it does not get ...
Until recently, Labour had a commanding majority on Newcastle City Council. Now, they are a minority administration which, this week, lost a key vote on plans for the city in the years ahead. Though they have lost some seats in recent local elections, the biggest wrecking ball applied to Labour's majority has actually come from within Labour itself.Over the river in Gateshead, we are rather used
There is no safe way to bomb an Iranian nuclear reactor. This is especially true of Iran's facilities as the key ones are buried deep underground and heavily protected. The more impregnable the target. The bigger the bomb required to destroy it. The greater the risk of a nuclear disaster. This is why Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), quickly called a press conference when he heard of Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear power plants. Nuclear sites, he said, should never be attacked. He added: "Any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear ...
The Mirror wins our Headline of the Day Award. This story, the judges were at pains to emphasise. is not funny. Few of the stories under the headlines that receive this award are funny if you think about them for more than a moment. No, they chose this headline because it brings home the terrible randomness of human existence like nothing else they have seen.
I'm no Nancy Banks Smith, but if you ask me this wasn't one of the better ideas to emerge from the fecund brain of Lord Bonkers. That dog did us all a favour Saturday What with one thing and another - above all my riding the wave of Rutbeat like a portly surfer - I had a good Sixties, but I do have a regret from that enjoyable decade: my failure to make a television detective of Jeremy Thorpe. I imagined him storming the beaches of the South Coast by hovercraft to arrest drug smugglers, people traffickers and holidaymakers who ...
The lovely folk at Transition Dundee are hosting a fundraiser ceilidh at The Friary on Saturday 28th June. Tickets are £15 with stovies being provided and a pop bar available for drinks. They are having a raffle, a whiskey toss and selling upcycled items made by the talented volunteers! You can book tickets at - all welcome!
Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday I have two special reasons for being interested in the doctrine of the Trinity. One, because I live in a row of houses called Trinity Terrace, (so named because it says in my deeds that the builder bought the land from the "Masters and Fellows of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Cambridge.) The other arises from an incident when I was at junior school. I was a fairly biddable school boy, not so much from innate goodness as fear - corporal punishment was rampant - but one occasion when I transcended the rules ...
On International Women's Day 2024, Friday 8th March, Swansea's newest park was officially named Amy Dillwyn Park celebrating the lady's extraordinary life and her contribution to the economic wellbeing and civic life of city. As Swansea Council's website explains, Amy Dillwyn was born in 1845, the daughter of industrialist Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn. On her father's death in 1892 she inherited the Llansamlet Spelter Works, along with considerable debts. They say that in the male-dominated world of commerce and industry, she made the courageous decision to run the company herself, saving the jobs of 300 employees in the process. Despite everything, ...
Congratulations to the following Liberal Democrats spotted in the 2025 King's Birthday honours: Mike Cox, Lib Dem councilor and chair of our federal finance committee (FFRC) – CBE "for Political and Public Service"; and Stephen Giles-Medhurst, Lib Dem councillor and council leader – OBE "for services to Local Government". Bridget Stevens, key volunteer in the Lib Dem candidate system as an assessor and Returning Officer – MBE "for services to the Arts". Sign up to get the latest news and analysis "*" indicates required fields Email* Enter Email Confirm Email Name* First Last What would you like to receive?* Liberal ...
