I've long believed that the first night I spent in Shropshire was at the Sun Inn, Clun, in 1987. Reader (suspiciously): This isn't going to be about Snailbeach is it? No. If you'll let me finish... That summer I walked part of the Offa's Dyke Path. Because it was my first attempt at a walking holiday, I took a weekend out for the bookshops of Hay-on-Wye and another day to travel from Knighton to Llanelli and back on what they now call the Heart of Wales Line. On the way back, I got out at Knucklas, the station before Knighton, ...
Dominic Bryan, who has researched the politics of flags in Northern Ireland for decades, sets out what England needs to understand: "We've heard predictable claims that the flags are just a display of pride in a British or English identity. This is an easy claim to make as it clearly is, in part, to do with nationalistic pride. The point is that they are being hung in particular places, by particular groups of people and in a particular way that clearly links them to the ongoing debates and hostility to migration." "Not only have reports of McSweeney's political genius become ...
Sat 13th
11:55
Hina Bokhari challenges London Mayor's decision to stop funding Southall Black Sisters
This week Lib Dem AM Hina Bokhari has challenged Sadiq Khan's inexplicable decision to cut funding for Southall Black Sisters. For nearly half a century, this organisation has been helping marginalised women, including those who are subject to the cruel "no access to public funds' restrictions, flee gender based violence. They Mayor has changed the funding model so that this vital organisation has had to struggle to find funding for the second half of the financial year and faces future problems. The group protested the cut to their funding at City Hall on Thursday and Hina was there to support ...
It's that time of year when a young man's fancy turns towards getting the nominations required to run for a Federal Committee. And in each Party electoral cycle since 2010, I've been a contestant. I had a little bit of a past, in that I'd been elected to English Candidates Committee in 2005 and 2007, but in 2010, both Ros and I ran for a place on the Party's ELDR Council delegation. Ros got a vast number of votes - being Party President probably helped! - and I got elected with her, benefiting from a significant proportion of her surplus. ...
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 15% (-2) 19% (nc) 12% (nc) 12% (+1) 34% (+2) -15% (vs Ref) 10/9 GB YouGov ...
The murder of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy. The reaction is a frightening potential disaster. On a personal level, the violent death of a 31-year-old father of two is heart breaking. On the political plane it is a calamity. As of this writing we do not know the motive for the shooting. It is, however, most likely that Charlie Kirk was murdered for his far-right political views. The right of free and open debate is a fundamental principle of democracy. It is one of the key reasons that democracies have prospered and totalitarian states have failed. That is why most ...
[IMG: Mark Pack speaking at Lib Dem conference. Moving a constitutional amendment, of course. ] Moving a constitutional amendment in my younger days, of course. With the latest Liberal Democrat conference coming up soon, here are some tips for would-be new, and indeed, experienced, speakers at party conference. Doubtless, others will have good advice to add to what's in this list, so do comment away at the end, or indeed ask any questions. 1. Time your speech and aim to undershoot The conference paperwork details how long the speeches can be for each part of conference. Getting your planned comments ...
People who study NCD (Non Communicable Diseases) and particularly those that focus on the diseases of aging (which I think include many of the NCDs, but not all of them) have a concept of someone having a biological age as well as a chronological age. This guides things like how frail someone is, how well their cognition works, whether they are at the risk of cancer or diabetes or indeed how
I don't know on what evidence Lord Bonkers bases his view of Tim Farron's ambitions for St Asquith's, but he's quite insistent on the subject. He once added that he had no wish to kiss the person next to him, "unless it's Alan Beith, of course". Tuesday Calling by my Home for WBOs earlier today, I heard Matron tell a boy that if he didn't eat his cabbage he would "end up like Lembit Öpik". I suspected it was rot, but just to be on the safe side I asked Cook to be sure to serve cabbage this evening. When ...
"Dundee Discoveries past and present" is a series of self-guided walking tours through pioneering scientific research in medicine, biology, forensics, nursing and dentistry from the past to the present. Dundee is now celebrated internationally for its pioneering work in medical sciences, in particular the University of Dundee's ground-breaking research into cancer, diabetes, drug development and surgical techniques. But the city has many more amazing stories of innovation and discovery in medicine and biology, past and present, and the three walking tours presented here will introduce you to some of the most extraordinary. The tour maps from the University of Dundee ...
Looking through the blue plaques in Swansea often throws up some interesting characters. Not least amongst these is Ann of Swansea, a popular novelist in Britain in the early 19th century and author of Tammany, the first known libretto by a woman, whose memorial adorns the sea facing side of Swansea civic centre. Her portrait here is by William John Watkeys, who, I believe, was a Carmarthenshire artist. The council's website recalls her life: Ann Hatton, also known as 'Ann of Swansea', began life as Ann Julia Kemble, born in Worcester in 1764 to the family of famous theatrical actors ...
Not as bad as you feared: not as good as you hoped.
