Last week Josh Babarinde was interviewed by Nick Robinson for his Political Thinking series. The blurb for this edition runs: The Lib Dem Justice Spokesperson managed to persuade ministers to change domestic abuse law within a year of being elected to parliament. Josh Babarinde tells Nick how his own childhood experience spurred him on to push for reform. He also explains how a beer mat persuaded him to join the Liberal Democrats. You can listen to the interview on the BBC website. At one point Robinson asks Josh why the Liberal Democrats don't have as much impact on the news ...
On Saturday I underestimated the number of people expected to turn up for the Gateshead Lib Dem action day in Ryton. I only printed 500 survey forms but fortunately, on the same print run on Friday, I also printed 1000 Focuses for Bridges ward, all about the flyover which is due to be demolished later this year. So, Councillors Ian Patterson (pictured above) and Ron Beadle, having turned up
On Saturday 12th July, Gateshead Lib Dems held another action day, this time in Ryton. There was a positive response on the doorsteps. And it was also an opportunity to get a few more photos around the ward for Focus newsletters.At midday we piled into Fed and Watered for lunch. Excellent food.
On Thursday Friends of Sunnisde held their regular meeting. As the ward councillors, Jonathan Mohammed, Marilynn Ord and, I attend to give advice and support. This time we took along with us our neighbourhood officer Sam Laing from the Civic Centre so he could give further advice to the group. We are running a fair for local voluntary organisations on 6th September at Sunniside Club
As Liberal Democrats, we believe in universal access, clinical autonomy, local accountability, and innovation that serves the patient rather than the platform. Labour's 10-year plan for the health service threatens each of these foundations. It shifts decision-making power from clinicians to digital triage apps, replaces continuity of care with walk-in hubs, and centralises England's patient data under the control of Palantir, a US surveillance firm with no democratic oversight. The plan anticipates fewer staff, conditions access on risk scores and outcomes, and introduces no new safeguards on how patient data is routed, monetised, or reused. This is not modernisation. It ...
A good song for a summer Sunday. The Poachers are a Glasgow band, and I don't know much about them beyond what we are told in this Instagram post. The songwriting duo of Neil Donaldson and Seb Jonsen primarily started The Poachers as a studio based project, working with producer Marco Rea and releasing 3 EPs of bona fide country folk pop classics in 2020 and 2021. With no way of promoting these works in the traditional sense due to the lockdown, they took a hiatus for much of 2022 before emerging rejuvenated in 2023 with support from independent label ...
July 4th was America's Independence Day. It was also the day that Trump signed his Big Beautiful Bill. And it was the day that flash floods in Texas left At least 100 dead and more than 160 still missing. As the flood waters started to recede the blame game began, and it is clear that Trump's cuts are playing a major part in the disaster. At first it was thought that cuts in the National Weather Service were responsible. But it turns out that the meteorologists did accurately predict the storm and sent out the necessary warnings. The problem was ...
With thanks to SJ Bogue and Dundee Memories, the opening of Ancrum Road Primary School's conservation area - June 1990.
Labour's reluctance to remove the two-child benefit cap, the single most important thing they can do to alleviate child poverty, continues to have repercussions. The Independent reports that new figures have revealed that more than 1.66 million children are living in households affected by the cap. This new data brings the total number of children affected by the cap since Labour came into power a year ago to 300,000: New figures have revealed that more than 1.66 million children are living in households affected by the two-child benefit cap as campaigners ramp up calls for the controversial measure to be ...
