It started last year - people in Streetgate, one of the villages I represent as a councillor, made scarecrows and displayed them in their gardens. The newly established soon-to-be-a tradition this year has seen lots of Halloween decorations put up as well. Lots of residents are joining in the fun. I've included quite a few photos of the displays in the video above.
There should be an ancient Chinese curse: May someone make a film of a real-life story you care about. I went to a couple of open days at the Richard III dig before it was announced that they thought they had found him, and went to several academic events after his identity had been confirmed. I even filed past Richard's coffin to pay my respects, which was more than I did for Elizabeth II. The whole episode was a marvellous example of interesting and involving the community in archaeology. I find I got quite emotional about the day Richard was ...
When I first posted this back in 2010 I described it as "a lament for a child who is lost or never was". Today, I know that Joanna Newsom is the second cousin, twice removed, of Gavin Newsom, the governor of California.
1. 1. Although they have a massive majority in parliament, Labour received only 34% of the votes in the 2024 election. Given the low turnout, this means that only about 25% of those entitled to vote supported them, (and many of those will have given their support for what Labour isn't - the disgraced Conservative party - than what it is. Thus our government lacks the confidence of the electorate, and this may explain why it seems to lack confidence in itself. 2. 2. A succession of minor "indiscretions" were revealed soon after Labour took office - from freebies for ...
Wed 29th
17:13
You can like, work with, and respect a person with different political beliefs than your own
I have just got back from an incredible event in Liverpool. It wasn't an official event organised by the council or LFC or a company or organisation. It was an event organised by his family and details circulated to friends to commemorate the life of George Knibb. Most people who read this will have no idea who George Knibb was. He was a political opponent of mine. He was a conviction politician to the left of the Labour Party who was connected all those 40+ years ago with Militant. Having got on the Council for Labour after the Militant expulsions ...
Wed 29th
15:36
Child prodigies: A column for the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy
Here's another of the discursive Sighcology columns I write for the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy. Chess, cricket, Steve Winwood... it covers several topics dear to this blog's heart. You can see Aksel Rykkvin as a treble above and as a baritone below. Prodigious talent Prodigies aren't always popular with their elders. When Sir Martin Shee, the president of the Royal Academy of Arts, encountered the nine-year-old John Everett Millais in 1838, he suggested the boy should be sweeping chimneys rather than seeking to train as an artist. And sometimes prodigious genius is misunderstood. At a very young ...
Many of you reading this will know that African Americans have been making a huge contribution to popular music since the advent of Jazz in the 1880s. For this blog I'm going to fast forward 100 years because the 1980s arguably represents the pinnacle of black American music innovation. Six genres were pioneered by African Americans during this decade - Hip Hop, Electro, Chicago House, Acid House, Detroit Techno and New Jack Swing. Some of these were embraced in the UK and had a lasting impact, especially house and techno, some are now a footnote - New Jack Swing didn't ...
Wed 29th
08:55
We still need to adopt a Jenkinsite approach to support trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming ...
Back in 2022, I wrote my first piece for Lib Dem Voice, titled "We must adopt a Jenkinsite approach to support trans people". As part of the piece, I discussed Roy Jenkins' achievements as Home Secretary under Harold Wilson, from abolishing theatre censorship and legalising abortion, to decriminalising homosexuality and banning racial discrimination in the workplace. I also discussed the ideology Jenkins brought to the role of Home Secretary: social libertarianism (the idea that if you are not breaking the law or causing harm to others or yourself, then the government should leave you alone). Unfortunately, the argument I made ...
At the request of residents, we requested graffiti removal from utility boxes at the entrance to Morven Terrace - see photo below :
The Guardian reports that John Major has told the Conservatives that forming an alliance with Reform UK would "for ever destroy" the party, which he said had already left traditional supporters "politically homeless" by lurching too far to the right. The paper says that Major warned that despite the existential threat posed by Reform's surge in popularity, far more than the future of the Tory party was at stake with autocracies on the march across the world: "Frustration with democracy should not blind us to the toxic nature of nationalism, or any and every form of populist or authoritarian government," ...
