Embed from Getty ImagesWhen Barnardo's policy of encouraging the emigration of children in their care, which was in place until 1967, was rediscovered years later, it seemed so unbelievable that people assumed it had been a secret. In fact, as I made clear in a post in 2011, there was nothing secret about it. It was a practice that had once been discussed in every relevant report on children in care and had later been forgotten. I was reminded of this when I came across this photograph, which is dated 20 March 1956. Its caption runs: A group of orphans ...
I reviewed Nick Bano's Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis in a recent issue of Liberator. You can hear him set out the arguments of the book in this video. Bano is an author and barrister who specialises in representing homeless people, residential occupiers and destitute and migrant households.
Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart has written to the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall KC to ask him to review the legislation that led to the arrest of more than 500 people for expressing support for proscribed organisation Palestine Action. To cover all her bases, she has also written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to ask her to order an independent investigation by Jonathan Hall. She said: Acts of terrorism, antisemitic hate and violence, and violent disorder should all be punished to the fullest extent of the law and are totally unacceptable. It is right that ...
The Liberal Democrat leader joins tells Alison Phillips, Matt Green and Hannah Fearn as the guest on the latest Oh God What Now podcast. He gives a reasoned defence of his general election stunts and talks about fighting Farage, Labour's travails, the war on cruelty in politics and what the Lib Dems can get done in parliament. I have wearied of this school of political podcasting - if everything right-wing parties do is laughable, how come they win so many elections? - but the comedian here is Matt Green, who I rather like.
In Cardiff, a close-fought election between the Greens and Labour emerged, with the Green Party ultimately being victorious. Thank you to Irfan Latif and the local team for flying the Liberal Democrat flag. Cardiff Council, Grangetown Green Party: 818 (24.0%, +5.5) Labour: 774 (22.7%, -24.8) Plaid Cymru: 639 (18.7%, +0.2) Reform UK: 495 (14.5%, new) Propel: 327 (9.6%, +0.1) Independent: 156 (4.6%, -2.1) Conservative: 139 (4.1%, -8.4) Liberal Democrats (Irfan Latif): 63 (1.8%, -2.1) Green Party GAIN from Labour Turnout: 26.7% In Newcastle, it was a hard-fought battle between us and the Greens for the seat. Despite our best efforts, ...
Two principal authority council by-elections this week. South Jesmond (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 36.4% (+15.2) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 33.0% (+7.3) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 16.8% (-25.3) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 10.9% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 2.8% (-5.7)No SDP (-2.4) as previous.Green GAIN from Labour.Changes w/ 2024. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2025-08-15T10:20:17.208Z Thank you to Irfan Latif for being the Lib Dem here. For what all this means for the running total of council by-election results since the last May elections, see my council by-elections scorecard here. These by-election results round-ups cover principal authority by-elections as it's only those ...
Embed from Getty ImagesUntil the government proscribed it as a terrorist organisation, I had not much heard of Palestine Action. Now its name is everywhere. One reason for this is that, though its actions may fall within the expanded definition of terrorism in the 2000 Act, they are not what the average voter recognises as terrorism. So people who would never dream of carrying a placard saying "Provisional IRA" do not feel the same distaste towards Palestine Action. More deeply, the British people are shocked by the razing and starving of Gaza, yet no one in government has acknowledged that ...
David Lloyd George - the great Liberal Chancellor and Prime Minister of the early 20th Century - is often credited as the 'founder of the welfare state'. This is entirely fair: he and the Liberal Reformers created the state pension, a scheme for national insurance against sickness and unemployment, and new legal protections for workers. Meanwhile, his controversial People's Budget established the foundational principle that the wealthiest must fund public services, beginning a constitutional showdown which saw the House of Commons triumph over the conservative House of Lords. However, the prevalent view that Lloyd George was simply a 'first-step' on ...
Residents recently drew to our attention the decorative walling at the entrance to the Dundee Technology Park at its west end (near Swallow roundabout) was badly graffitied (see photos). This sits in front of Swan House in the Technology Park and is very prominent as you enter the city from the Swallow Roundabout. The Technology Park is no longer fully owned by Scottish Enterprise so we asked SE if it knew the ownership nowadays at this specific location. SE advised that the wall sits within the title boundary of Swan House and therefore is the responsibility of the owners, Marketgait ...
One of the biggest objections to a wealth tax is that those who would be targetted have the means to relocate to another country. That was certainly suggested when the current government scrapped the non-domiciled tax status, which allowed wealthy individuals with connections abroad to avoid paying full UK tax on their overseas earnings. In fact, there were predictions that so many would leave that the Treasury would actually be worse off. The Guardian reports that claims of an exodus of wealthy "non-doms" in response to tax rises may be overblown, according to a report that suggests the number leaving ...
