In 1984, Anthony Burgess published Ninety-Nine Novels, a selection of his favourite novels in English since 1939. The list is typically idiosyncratic, and shows the breadth of Burgess's interest in fiction. This podcast, by the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, explores the novels on Burgess's list with the help of writers, critics and other special guests. This is the final episode of Series Two, and our guest Elizabeth Elliott is helping us explore Camelot in The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Published in 1958, The Once and Future King adapts the famous stories of King Arthur and his Round ...
Talk about burying the lede. BBC News has a story about Alan and Boudicca, the beavers at Rushden Lakes - they've featured here before- and late on it drops this in: Alan was named after Alan Carr, who grew up in the county, and Boudica after the warrior, as it is believed she lost her leg in a fight. Boudicca has three legs? That makes these achievements even more remarkable: In February 2025, eight beavers were released into Delta Pit lake, part of Rushden Lakes, Northamptonshire - the first time the rodent had been reintroduced to the county in 400 ...
It's all kicking off in Desborough. The excellent NN Journal reports a walk out at last night's meeting of the town council after the mayor refused to stand down: Last month Desborough Town councillor and North Northamptonshire councillor Bill McElhinney quit the Conservative Party after sending a message to a resident calling fellow town councillor Labour's Andy Coleman a "prick" and a "sad wanker". Cllr Coleman has put in a standards complaint about Cllr McElhinney, which is being looked at by NNC's legal officer, and last night he boycotted the town council meeting along with Liberal Democrat Alan Window. [Hello ...
Our esteemed Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper recently announced plans to replace the Treasury with a Department of Growth tasked with promoting economic growth and ending the cost-of-living crisis and a Department of Expenditure. The very first event of Spring 2026 Conference in York is the Consultative Session for the Thriving Economy Policy Working Group, doubtless where many members plan to contribute other inspired and radical proposals to boost our economy. I write to make one such proposal: the establishment of a Bank of the United Kingdom with a complete monopoly on banknote issuance, principally by rescinding the issuing power of ...
Yesterday's arrest of the former second in line to the Throne of the UK and 14 other Countries in some ways came as a bit of a shocker. The UK has always had a soft spot for the monarchy since it was restored after Charles 1 got his head chopped off. There is an element of the population that does crawl to the concept and practice of royalty and there is another group of people equally clear that the monarchy should be abolished. For the record I am somewhat in between these two positions. Over 60 years of political and ...
Thank you so much for being a reader whether here, on my email newsletters, or both. With another year under its belt, Liberal Democrat Newswire passed its fifteenth birthday last month, continuing to be, most likely, the longest-running single-authored political email newsletter in Britain. Eeek. (And this blog has been going in some form or other for twenty years, double eek.) That is only possible thanks to the support of wonderful readers who mention this site, my newsletters and podcasts to others, keeping the audiences growing rather than shrinking, and who donate to help cover the costs. So long-term readers ...
There were three principal council by-elections this week, and all three had a Liberal Democrat on the ballot. In Redcar, this by‑election brought a much broader field than the last contest, with five parties on the ballot. Congratulations to Councillor Alison Barnes and the local Liberal Democrat team, who secured a convincing win, taking the seat from an Independent who had originally been elected for Labour. Redcar and Cleveland Council, Zetland Liberal Democrats (Alison Barnes): 446 (50.8%, +15.5) Labour: 191 (21.6%, -25.2) Reform UK: 119 (13.5%, new) Green Party: 65 (7.4%, new) Conservative: 62 (7.0%, -10.9) Liberal Democrats GAIN from ...
Leicestershire County Council's minority Reform UK administration has lost a councillor and former cabinet member, reports the Leicester Mercury. Charles Whitford, the member for Markfield, Desford and Thornton, has joined Restore Britain. I last blogged about Whitford when he lost his cabinet position over emails he sent to residents. I quoted the Mercury In the emails ... Cllr Whitford claimed the people raising the flags were doing so to "reject" the "destruction of British values" amid an alleged "influx of soon to be millions of mainly Muslim men of fighting age". One recipient described the councillor's response as "flat out ...
The Independent reports on a warning by former defence leaders that Britain's armed forces have been "hollowed out by years of chronic underfunding". The paper says that an open letter to the prime minister, signed by three ex-defence secretaries, retired senior military chiefs, and former MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove, argues that the UK faces a "1936 moment", with global conflict likely amid rising tensions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine: The letter, published in The Telegraph, calls for defence spending to reach 5 per cent of GDP. This contrasts with Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to increase it to 2.5 per ...
