Further information about the arrest of the Liberal Democrat MP Cameron Thomas have emerged today. BBC News quotes a statement from Gloucestershire Police: "On Wednesday, a man in his 40s from Tewkesbury was arrested on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour and assault. "The man was interviewed by officers before later being released on police bail." That report also quotes a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats: "Cameron Thomas MP has had the party whip suspended pending the outcome of a police investigation. "Allegations of this nature are extremely serious, and it is important that the police are able to investigate ...
Yesterday the Church of England apologised for the part it played in forced adoptions in the past. Some years ago the Catholic Church issued a similar apology. Earlier this week we heard that the Government is also planning to issue an apology, when the Education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, told the Education Select Committee: The prime minister will have more to say on this shameful period in our history, reflecting the gravity of what has happened. But here and now, let me say to all of those affected, you will get the apology that you so profoundly deserve. It is quite ...
Ed Davey's call for Labour to drop its 'torpor and timidity' and rejoin the single market is welcome and shows the EU's one consistent supporter in UK politics, the Lib Dems (and the Liberals before them). The first thing to say is that his statement puts paid to all those ideas about Lib Dems having no policies (beyond mending the local church roof, of course) while other parties at least make it clear where they stand. Really? Is that how Starmer's Labour Party behaves? Ed Davey is right to say that the Labour Party's talk of a 'reset' just seems ...
A bumper fifteen principal authority council by-elections this week, including a clutch from Wales caused by councillors getting elected to the Senedd. [IMG: Richard Lee election leaflet June 2026] Let's start with a Lib Dem win in sad circumstances: Chelmsford Springfield (Essex) Countermanded Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 54.6% [IMG: ➡] RFM: 27.5% [IMG: 🌳] COM: 12.3% [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 3.7% [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 1.9%Liberal Democrat WIN (New Ward Boundaries) — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-06-19T12:50:14.775Z Thank you respectively to Jake Austin, Mel Sullivan and Tanvir Ahmad for being the Liberal Democrat candidates. What do the polls say? The results ...
"When news of the arrests of the three Ukrainians broke, a rumour soon began to spread online that the alleged perpetrators were, in fact, Ukrainian male sex workers employed by Starmer and that the arson attack was revenge for unpaid bills. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the most influential online figures involved in spreading this 'Rent Boys' conspiracy theory was Stephen Lennon." Joe Mulhall and Nick Lowles argue that Tommy Robinson is Putin's useful idiot. Theo Rodwell fears the Liberal Democrats are being held hostage by Conservatives who have lent them their votes. "The mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, announced ...
At the end of our weekly council by-election reports from ALDC they usually thank the Lib Dem candidates for flying the flag in unwinnable wards. And that is what we must do today. So a big thank you to Jake Austin (Makerfield), Mel Sullivan (Aberdeen South) and Tanvir Ahmad (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) for putting up with all the hoo-ha and making sure Lib Dems were on the ballot papers. This now provides our readers with an opportunity to discuss the results and their wider implications, in the comments below. * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem ...
Oakham Nub News wins our Headline of the Day Award for a worrying story from Rutland. Ever fair-minded, the judges point out that though the document exposes pervasive administrative backlogs, repeated statutory failures, severe asset mismanagement, and critical operational risks.everything else about the body is tickety-boo.
Three cheers for the voters of Makerfield: they have delivered the best possible result. Andy Burnham's resounding majority of over 9 000, with 54% of the vote against Reform's 35%, should puncture Farage's balloon and push talk of his becoming our next prime minister into the realms of fantasy. Reform can't even claim that they were robbed because the even-further-to the-right Restore split their vote. Their candidate received only 7% of the vote so both together were still 12% behind Labour. Congratulations to the Liberal Democrats and Greens (and presumably many Tories) who accurately "read the runes" and had the ...
The Independent reports on findings by researchers at the Centre for European Reform think tank that almost every sector of the economy has been hit by Brexit. The paper says that the study found that exports of chemicals and pharmaceuticals have fallen by 21 per cent since the UK left the EU, while those classed as "agrifood" are down 29 per cent: The report argues that many of the economic costs of Brexit stem from Britain's departure from the bloc's single market, suggesting recent calls for a new customs union with the EU would only have a limited impact. Almost ...
Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2026 and the May 2027 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [5] – -1 (0/-1) -1 (0/-1) -1 (+2/-3) – – +1 (+1/0) -2 Lab – [2] – – – – – – 0 Lib Dem +1 (+1/0) – [6] – – – – +1 (+1/0) +2 Grn +1 (+1/0) – – [2] – – – – +1 Ref +1 (+3/-2) – – – – – – – +1 SNP – – – – – – ...
I've written before about my great great grandmother's brother Sandy Campbell - about how his dog Sir William Wallace and how the last Tsar of Russia gave him a pair of binoculars. An item in a Dundee Courier (8 May 1973) column by "Craigie" about a laburnum tree in a Carnoustie front garden soon turns to him: Back in those Victorian times Queen Victoria herself an eye for quaint and picturesque effects of this sort. When visiting Loch Muick (near Balmoral) she often had a word on the subject with Sandy Campbell, her stalker at Glasallt Shiel. Sandy had the ...
From the Guardian website this evening: A Liberal Democrat MP has had the whip suspended pending the outcome of a police investigation, a party spokesperson said. Cameron Thomas was arrested by Gloucestershire police on Wednesday night, it is understood. His office has been contacted for comment. A Lib Dem spokesperson said the party was unable to comment further while an "investigation is ongoing". Thomas's party membership is also understood to have been suspended. The former RAF officer has served as MP for Tewkesbury since the 2024 general election. This is credited to the Press Association and appears to be all ...
After six months at the National Gallery in London, the art exhibition Wright of Derby: From the Shadows has come home. It's now being shown at Derby Museum and Art Gallery and will run there until 1 November. Its billing on the Derby Museums website says: Wright of Derby: From the Shadows is the first major exhibition dedicated to the British artist's 'candlelight' paintings. Join us as we celebrate and look again at his most admired works. Illuminated faces gather around a variety of objects, from classical sculptures and scientific instruments to bones, bladders and animals. Through his unflinching scenes ...
Runes of wisdom, rings of power fused in silicon's pale mirror; reflected through a changing line whose alchemy brings nemesis.
The government's headline-grabbing £1 billion overhaul of school sport is wrapped in the shiny vocabulary of modern progressive policy: equity, accessibility, and an explicit promise to end the "fitness postcode lottery." On paper, it looks like a long-overdue victory for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The policy promises a needs-led system where "one-size-fits-all" gym classes are scrapped, replaced by specialist coaches from Paralympics GB, adapted sports like boccia, and a massive facility fund to tear down physical barriers. But talk to any headteacher or parent of a disabled child this week, and the mood is not one ...
Reports that the Government is considering watering down the 2030 Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate should concern anyone who cares about Britain's economic future, energy security, and the cost of living. At a time when other countries are racing to adopt the industries of the future, weakening the UK's commitment to electric vehicles would be a step backwards. It risks leaving Britain tied to the economy of the past rather than embracing the technologies that will drive growth, create jobs, and reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels. What is particularly disappointing is that ministers appear not to have learned ...
Gateshead Planning Committee met yesterday. Reform, reflecting their overall control of Gateshead Council, have a majority on Planning. Or do they...? Of the 13 Reform members of the committee, 8 were missing yesterday. The combined opposition of 8 could out vote the 5 Reform members who managed to get to the meeting. Reform aren't exactly off to a flying start.
Picture the scene. Ed Davey is on Question Time. He has just made the case for fixing social care, rescuing our crumbling roads, or matching our European allies on defence. And then it comes, the question every politician dreads: "That all sounds lovely. But how are you going to pay for it?" Here is the reply I would love to hear. "I'm glad you asked, because it's the wrong question, and I think most people at home suspect as much. You're asking how we'd fund twenty-first-century public services with a tax system built for a different century. Council tax based ...
Forget Sycamore Gap: this is real tragedy. The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is dead. The Guardian reports: The Major oak, one of Europe's oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died. The huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers. Thousands of visitors admire the oak each year, with its great age, enormous 11-metre girth and 28-metre canopy inspiring a forest of folklore. Although the oak would not have been hollow in Robin ...
I feel it is necessary to quote two items from Will Hayward's twice-weekly newsletter to illustrate the chaos that is the Reform Senedd group at the moment. Please click on the link and subscribe, it is well worthwhile. The newsletter tells us that Reform have been on quite a journey when it comes to childcare: During the election campaign, their manifesto didn't even mention it. Then last week 11 of their 34 MSs - a third of their members - bizarrely voted in favour of an amendment that criticised its absence from their proposals for Wales. We asked Reform why ...
