Here's Hilary Mantel, writing in the London Review of Books, 21 February 2013: Royal bodies do change after death, and not just as a consequence of the universal post-mortem changes. Now we know the body in the Leicester car park is indeed that of Richard III, we have to concede the curved spine was not Tudor propaganda, but we need not believe the chronicler who claimed Richard was the product of a two-year pregnancy and was born with teeth. Why are we all so pleased about digging up a king? Perhaps because the present is paying some of the debt ...
Here we are again – polls have closed, results will appear tomorrow. What should the avid Lib Dem watcher be looking for in the results? The Presidential race this year lacked the chaotic fireworks of Liz Webster's run in 2022: in both Prue Bray and Josh Babarinde, the leadership faces working with a somewhat more critical socially liberal friend on the party's centre-left. The question facing the party's voters thus doesn't really break across the different lanes and is more one of style: Josh, as an MP, is well placed to lead from the front, whereas Prue is a long-standing ...
Like many Lib Dems I was immensely pleased to read of the victory of Sam Ammar in Bromsgrove South last week, taking a seat from Reform. I had met Sam at the London Region Conference a few weeks ago and was really struck by her story of how she joined us from Labour and her energy and enthusiasm and I wanted to find our the inside story of how our Bromsgrove Team beat Reform. The by election was called after a Reform Cllr ( who had not attended any Council meetings since her election in May ) resigned due to ...
One month after the Gaza ceasefire, and the prospect of a just and lasting resolution feels as distant as ever. In Gaza, Israel continues to dictate the terms of an increasingly fragile peace - obstructing humanitarian access, committing near-daily ceasefire violations, and showing little sign of any genuine commitment to withdrawal or reconstruction. But it is in the West Bank that Israel's true intentions are most clearly revealed. While global attention has remained fixed on Gaza, Netanyahu's government has quietly pressed ahead with the steady consolidation of its grip on the occupied territory. This year has already seen record levels ...
On Sunday, the Remembrance parade and wreath laying service in Whickham took place. It was well attended with over 40 wreaths laid and around 1500 people attending.You can see our full set of photos of the day on this link.
There are many things that Labour and the Liberal Democrats may disagree about, but on one issue they are of one mind - a Reform government would be a disaster for the UK. It might even mean the end of the UK. You would think that when the BBC reported recently that Davey wants to work with government on electoral reform the Labour government would have embraced the idea. After all, Keir Starmer supported electoral reform during his bid to become Labour leader in 2020. True, he then seemed to lose interest in the idea, and it never appeared in ...
The BBC is under attack as never before. Donald Trump and his cronies have it squarely in their sights - and there are no prizes for guessing why. The BBC is the world's number one source of trusted news, so of course snake-oil salesmen such as Trump see it as their enemy. If your power is built on conspiracy theories and distortions of the truth, the last thing you want is respected, independent journalists exposing that and holding you to account. Ed Davey speaks up for the BBC in a Guardian article today. Later on he says that Robbie Gibb, ...
Tue 11th
10:24
LibLink: Ed Davey - The first step towards saving our precious BBC: remove Robbie Gibb from the boar...
Ed Davey has written an article for the Guardian continuing his uncompromising support of the BBC: The BBC is under attack as never before. Donald Trump and his cronies have it squarely in their sights - and there are no prizes for guessing why. The BBC is the world's number one source of trusted news, so of course snake-oil salesmen such as Trump see it as their enemy. If your power is built on conspiracy theories and distortions of the truth, the last thing you want is respected, independent journalists exposing that and holding you to account. You can read ...
The furore over the BBC's alleged bias against Donald Trump is starting to get out of hand, not least through Trump's own actions in threatening to sue the UK's national broadcaster in a Florida court for $1 billion. The Guardian reports that Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness, have resigned after a former adviser to the corporation accused it of "serious and systemic" bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights. They add that the BBC chairman, Samir Shah, is also expected to apologise for the way ...
At this critical juncture, liberal democracy is facing a profound global crisis. Populists, masquerading as the voice of 'the people', are gaining traction, while liberals are often perceived as mere mouthpieces for institutions. However, as Charles Kennedy eloquently articulated two decades ago, liberalism is not elitist; it is the most valid form of democracy, deeply rooted in compassion, honesty, and trust in ordinary people. It's time to reclaim populism for liberal democracy, wresting it from the grip of extreme factions. This could be a pivotal strategy in our efforts to revitalise liberal democracy, and it's a task that cannot be ...
Some decades are characterised by a name. The last of the nineteenth century was "the Naughty Nineties," though by current standards I suspect they were very straight-laced. The second decade of the twentieth Century was the "roaring Twenties" when people enjoyed the relief of the end of the First World War. I suspect most of the "roaring" was done by the better better-off. There followed the "Swinging Sixties." I lived though these. There wasn't much swinging in my life-style, but I do recollect a tremendous amount of optimism and hope. We really thought we could "Build the New Jerusalem in ...
Our joint weekly ward surgeries take place tonight. This week they are as follows : Blackness Library (Tuesdays 5pm - every week during school term time) Harris Academy reception area (2nd Tuesday of each month at 5.45pm during school term time) All welcome - no appointment necessary!
