This just in... At a meeting this evening, the judges have awarded Headline of the Day to the Derbyshire Times. Lord Bonkers suggests the bakery send a press gang to Melton Mowbray.
From "If this is a Nan", Primo Levi (page 68, as he wakes from a recurring dream): "It must be later than 11pm, because the movement to and from the bucket next to the night-guard is already intense. It is an obscene torment and an indelible shame; every two or three hours we have to get up to discharge ourselves of the great dose of water which during the day we are forced to absorb in the form of soup in order to satisfy our hunger: that same water which in the evening swells our ankles and the hollows of ...
In America, it is conventional political wisdom that the campaign for their next presidential election begins the day after the last one. A recent opinion poll suggests that half of Americans are already considering the far-off 2028 race, although this may be testament to the unpopularity, corruption and chaos of Trump and his second administration. The 2025 off-year elections in the US were the first opportunity for voters to rebuke Trump with many local and down-ballot elections receiving greater attention and the Democrats making a clean sweep wherever they were held. With a blue wave is anticipated at the 2026 ...
Spotted in Camden ahead of the borough's local elections this May was this gem of a bar chart: [IMG: Bar chart shows Lib Dems first, Conservatives second and Labour third. But leaflet says, 'Only a vote for the Conservatives can stop Labour'.] This is almost as good as the famous 'I am not a horse' Labour leaflet. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis
By 261 votes to 150, the House of Lords has backed a social media ban for under-16s. Arguments for the ban On the one hand, I understand the need for action. A study from the Child Mind Institute suggests that the use of social media from a young age impairs the ability of teenagers to understand nonverbal cues and body language, and feeds into teenage mental health issues, with growing cases of comparisons with perfect online images that lower self-esteem. The United States Surgeon General's study on social media use among young people found that children aged 12-15 who spent ...
How to turn a mundane, repetitive job into something interesting!? On Sunday, Gateshead Lib Dems hired the concert room at Sunniside Social Club for an envelope stuffing event. 35 members turned up to help put 25,000 letters into envelopes. We turned the day into a social event and put on a lunch as well. My job was to manage the event, making sure the right letters went into the right envelopes.
When one of the world's superpowers becomes a totally unpredictable rogue state it makes sense to reduce dependence on it. One way of doing so is to engage more closely with the other superpower: China. That is the basic logic behind Keir Starmer's visit to China, starting tomorrow, as it was for Canada's Mark Carney and France's Emmanuel Macron's 'recent visits and Germany's Chancellor Merz next month. The Starmer visit is particularly significant for two reasons. First, Britain is one of the closest allies of the USA and most dependent on it. Starmer has, hitherto, gone to considerable lengths to ...
Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York Andrew Lownie William Collins, 2025; £22 Before he turned to royal biographies, Andrew Lownie wrote about Britain's intelligence services, and he reports that he found the spies far more cooperative than he has ever found the royal family. It's not just that many people in the know won't talk, it's that papers are kept secret and can be destroyed on a whim. This eye-opening biography of the aristo formerly known as Prince Andrew has been overtaken by events since it was published and can now be found on sale at ...
I'm pleased to see the Well-Behaved Orphans' having a better time of it today. Lord Bonkers had the Village Hall renamed as the Alexandra Hall Hall Hall during Donald Trump's first term, and I note that he very nearly quotes an Elvis Costello lyric here. Tuesday To the Alexandra Hall Hall Hall for the Christmas party I hold every year for the village children and Well-Behaved Orphans - ginger beer flows like vintage champagne and I insist on trying every cake to make sure it's up to snuff. The afternoon's entertainment is provided by a strangely familiar magician. Then it ...
The BBC report that the Home Secretary has decided that a major overhaul of policing will not see the Welsh Parliament given powers to decide how the service is run. The broadcaster says that Shabana Mahmood's stance comes as the Labour party remains split over whether Cardiff Bay politicians should have direct control of criminal justice: First Minister Eluned Morgan called for the devolution of policing last Thursday in a speech which warned Westminster Labour to act now to prevent pro-independence parties dominating the Senedd. Plaid Cymru said the House of Commons exchange exposed "deep divisions" and a "lack of ...
