Becoming very knowledgeable about a niche subject is worrying, because you find much that has been published about it is wrong. And then it become more worrying, because you suspect this is true of every subject if only you knew. One of my niches of expertise is the death of Dennis O'Neill in 1945. He had been fostered by a couple on a farm in the Stiperstones (that's why I first came across the case) and the trial of his killers shared the front pages with news of the last days of the war in Europe. Now I've come across ...
After commending the slugs of Stretford, the judges gave our Headline of the Day Award to The Scotsman. Our picture shows Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides, where the cafe in the island cafe dog snub row is to be found.
(Image: The Guardian) I was 18 years old when I opened a bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland. It was my first experience of aggressive salesmanship. I thought all I was doing was taking in some pieces of identification, confirming some information and opening a bank account. But no. I had a half-hour appointment with an advisor who was keen to offer me pretty much every other product the bank had available. Inevitably the conversation came round to the subject of pensions. He asked me whether I had thought about pensions. I'd just turned 18 years old a ...
The triple lock was introduced in 2010 by David Cameron's Coalition Government when Steve Webb (Lib Dem) was Minister of Pensions, to restore the erosion which had taken place since the earnings link was replaced with a prices' link in the 1980s. To replace the triple lock with a prices' link or 2.5%, as was proposed today, will reverse the progress of the last sixteen years. Clearly it has been proposed to save money, as it was in the 1980s, which means a reducing state pension at the very time Government should have been looking to increase it to reduce ...
A Labour Prime Minister has announced a commission on electoral reform. Where have we heard this one before? For those who remember, or, like me, are interested in political history, you would know that Andy Burnham isn't the first Labour leader to announce the creation of a commission on electoral reform; that accolade belongs to Tony Blair. Time for a quick crash course: as part of their 1997 election manifesto, New Labour committed to holding a referendum on an alternative voting system to First Past the Post. After entering office, Blair asked Lord Jenkins to head a commission on electoral ...
On the cusp of sixty, having witnessed so many speeches of unconvincing emotion - Thatcher: the tragic King's Cross fire, Blair: "I love this party, it was losing I hated", or various Lib Dem leaders over the years lecturing Liberal Assembly or the early Lib Dem conferences that we weren't "serious about power" – it would be churlish not to recognise the raw power and daring delivery of Burnham's speech about care. Having been both a politician and a worker in the care sector, I for one appreciated the PM's direct apology to camera that the former profession had let ...
For too many young people, the transition from education into employment is becoming harder. Employers face rising costs and are understandably cautious about taking on additional staff. Young people without extensive experience then find themselves trapped in the familiar catch-22: they need experience to get a job, but they need someone to give them a job to gain that experience. In Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere, the Liberal Democrats are trying to do something different to solve this problem whilst simultaneously supporting local economic growth. That is why we are calling on the Government to establish a pilot "Special Economic ...
For a Liberal, Andy Burnham's commitment to work closer with EU. possibly by rejoining the single market or even the EU itself, his support of proportional representation and his pledge to bring in free social care is like catnip. However, we should not put all our hopes on the contents of one speech and numerous press briefings without some detail. For a start, what form of proportional representation is being proposed? What is the timescale and will there have to be another plebiscite before we can proceed? Just another commission, no real commitment. And what exactly is being proposed regarding ...
Grim Jim and his disembodied hands are new to me, but this is a good video. Though he talks mostly about Garner and his first two books, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath, there are passing insights into other fantasy writers too.
I was impressed by Andy Burnham's speech to the Labour Conference and I hope the Liberal Democrats will soon sound warmer about his talk of electoral reform, return to the European Union and improvements to social care than they have so far. But that isn't going to stop me the final verse of a song written to celebrate the acquittal of five Tollesbury men charged with piracy in 1894: The Tollesbury men and Mersea men Know how to stand together; The Burnhamites will not hurt them, For they are tough as leather. That comes from an article by Helen Matten ...
Liberal Democrat Newswire #214 came out last week and you can now also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Welcome to Lib Dem Newswire #214, which takes a look at the geography of Lib Dem support, includes advice on how to react to stories about hung Parliaments, explains why "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" is bad political advice, and more. First, though, congratulations to the new Lib Dem councillors since last time – Tim Murray, Fred Hulls, James Hartley, Mark Stephenson, ...
The Labour Party has had a successful Conference, burnished by a very successful speech from Andy Burnham. Next week we shall endure the Tories tarnishing the shine with predictable scorn and cries of unaffordability, unjustified optimism and Death Taxes, with no mention that it is largely their 14 years of misrule that has brought the country to this sorry pass (along with 40 years of multi-party acquiescence to misguided neo-liberal policies . I hope we Liberal Democrats will confine ourselves to constructive suggestions rather than knee-jerk opposition for the sake of opposition. It is refreshing to have a prime minister ...
Now that the Prime Minister is back from his trip to see Donald Trump and has enjoyed the emotional warm bath of his party conference, he rejoins the world of hard choices. The budget looms. A more immediate question is to decide on whether to proceed with drilling for gas and oil in the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields in the North Sea. The politics are awful. Environmentalists regard the issue as central to the government's credibility on climate change. The Labour v Green battle in Camden provides context. On the other hand, rejection of the developments will send a negative ...
"The judge told him he did not qualify for asylum and asked the 13-year-old to make a choice: a promise of a $3,000 stipend from the Department of Homeland Security to return to Honduras without his mother and family, or a deportation order. 'I don't know,' Angel said before beginning to cry. 'I have no one. I have nothing.'Julia Conley reports on monstrous US deportation hearings where children are given no legal representation. Steven Beschloss thinks the Republican mid-term candidates now deserting Donald Trump have left it too late. "Feltham was described as the most violent YOI at the time ...
I heard this late one long ago night on Radio 3's Late Junction and thought I had discovered an obscure band to like. Then I discovered they were the most fashionable new band in the world.
[IMG: Picture of Southwark Lib Dems surrounded by diamonds and placards with achievements] Last week at Liberal Democrat Conference, I was delighted to pass an amendment to our party strategy making clear that, if we are serious about growing our party, we must become more relevant to people living in urban areas, diverse communities and younger generations. Our recent electoral successes give us an extraordinary platform. But we cannot be satisfied with consolidating our support only where we are already strong. We should be ambitious about winning and governing in cities and diverse communities across Britain too. For Southwark Liberal ...
Wed 30th
08:05
Andy Burnham's speech was good: Here's how Lib Dems can make the implementation better
Chris Bowers talked about the lack of a "Yesss" moment at our Conference yesterday. Well, like buses, if you wait long enough, several come along at once – the problem is that they were in the speech of the leader of another party. Andy Burnham's speech yesterday was quite simply one of the best I have ever heard from a UK politician. It had heart and soul and ideas and emotion and mission. I had goosebumps and it's a long time since a speech has done that to me. I'd have to go back to Obama for that. A speech ...
If there is one thing we should expect from a future Prime Minister it is that s/he can keep their head in a crisis, that they should be able to assess a situation, gather all the evidence, and then draw up a plan of action, not jump to conclusions on the basis of rumour and incomplete information. When it comes to Nigel Farage's reaction to the arrest of five men on suspicion of terror offences near RAF Fairford, Marina Hyde in the Guardian hits the nail on the head. She says that for a guy who supposedly valorises the wartime ...