For years, Victor Orban's Hungary has been held up – by admirers and critics alike – as proof that the populist Right, once entrenched, is almost impossible to dislodge. A self-described "illiberal state," tight media control, constitutional engineering, and a politics built on division and grievance all seemed to point in one direction: permanence. And yet – politics has a habit of reminding us that nothing is permanent. Yesterday's election result in Hungary has sent a jolt through that assumption. After more than a decade and a half dominating Hungarian politics, Orban's grip has been broke by a broad, pro-European ...
Péter Magyar (Photo: Márton Mónus/Reuters) Yesterday's Hungarian parliamentary election has delivered what, until very recently, seemed improbable: the defeat of Viktor Orbán and his long-dominant Fidesz party. For over a decade, Hungary has stood as the clearest example within the European Union of how the structures of democracy can be steadily eroded by those in power. That this system has now been challenged—and decisively so—marks a turning point not only for Hungary, but for liberal democracy across Europe. Péter Magyar and TISZA didn't just win - with over 98% of votes counted it is clear that they have won comfortably, ...
it looks like a relatively gentle week in the Lords, although there will be an opportunity for the Lords to ask the Commons to think again... again... on the Victims and Courts Bill and the Crime and Policing Bill. Yes, it's ping-pong time in the Lords... Bills Today sees Day 3 of the Report stage of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. Kath Pinnock has two amendments down promoting the Town and Parish Council sector, whilst John Shipley and Shaffaq Mohammed are attempting to persuade the Government that there are alternatives to the "strong leader" model of local government ...
English football likes to think of itself as the most competitive, compelling league system in the world. And in many ways, the Premier League still delivers on that promise every weekend. But financially, the game is drifting into something far less credible: a system where losses are disguised, rules are gamed, and profit increasingly exists only on paper. The rise of intragroup sales is not a clever innovation. It is a symptom of a broken model. When clubs such as Newcastle United or Chelsea can transform massive losses into tidy profits by selling assets to companies owned by the same ...
You really could not make this up. The Vice President of America goes to take part in a General Election in Hungary and then complains about foreign interference in that country's election. Did he not know what he was saying or did he believe that God had sent him to save Hungary from Satan's spawn. What happened in Hungary yesterday was utterly amazing not only for the people of Hungary but also for the rest of the free world. You could only envy the huge celebrations of the young people of the Country as they looked forward to a new ...
Marcus Hughes on the many problems the Welsh government must overcome in achieving its laudable aim of removing private profit from the care system. "The anxiety inducing question from those working in the sector is what happens if local authority and not-for-profit provision can't replace that offered by the private sector in time? Finding places for some young people is already a challenge even with the current options available." "Could the bellicose, belligerent and braying Hegseth - with his Crusader tattoos, his disdain for diplomacy, and his evident taste for violent domination - have convinced Trump to start a war ...
Imagine the UK economy suddenly becoming £180 billion richer every single year - not as a one‑off sugar rush, but as a permanent, compounding uplift. That is what rejoining the European Union could mean: a structural transformation that boosts national income, raises living standards, strengthens public finances and restores Britain's economic confidence. It would mark a deliberate, strategic shift away from managed decline and towards a confident, outward‑looking economic future. An economy on turbo Britain's economy today is worth around £2.7 trillion. Add £180 billion more in real GDP each year and you get a 6-7 per cent permanent uplift - a lasting improvement that ...
This leaflet for independent candidate Nick Picton comes from Cambridge, and note the pledge not to canvass any voters. [IMG: Nick Picton election leaflet 2026 front] [IMG: Nick Picton election leaflet 2026 back] Nick Picton election leaflet. The leaflet comes from ElectionLeaflets.org and hat-tip to Phil Rodgers for spotting it. You can add to the site any leaflets that come through your door with a simple upload. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis
Agnes Bowker, the Market Harborough woman who claimed on 16 January 1569 that she had given birth to a cat, is the subject of the latest short podcast in the BBC's Secret Leicestershire series. The photograph shows the ruined church of St Mary in Arden by Market Harborough railway station, where the story begins.
For years, our political opponent, especially the hypocritical Labour party, have lambasted us for our role in tuition fees during the coalition, conveniently overlooking Labour's role of introducing them in the first place after saying they wouldn't and then introducing top-up fees when they said they wouldn't. This ham-fisted government has messed about with student fees ever since getting back into power, first raising the interest rate and then capping it. Saying they would reintroduce maintenance grants and then not doing so. Now a group of mainly poor working-class students are being told that the people responsible for student loans ...
I'm in a good mood this morning, following the glorious victory for the Hatters over... the Hatters... I've been doing European politics with the Liberal Democrats on and off since 1989, long enough to know that it's always worth waiting a little before declaring that a change of government is good news or not. Indeed, I've been around so long that I remember when FIDESZ were a welcome part of the liberal family – and Viktor Orban was its leader in those days too. But the news that FIDESZ have suffered what looks like a pretty crushing defeat, despite controlling ...
I am reading and enjoying the fourth (?) volume of Alan Bennet's "Diaries," published last month. Here are two highly prescient entries: 7 January 2019: When Trump destroys the world those who are left will look at one another and wonder why nobody stopped him." And, a few days later: 16th January, 2019: ". . .Jacob Rees -Mogg . . .Boris Johnson, 'Sir' John Redwood . . .gentlemen who have never been in two minds about anything except where their own self-interest lies."
The Guardian reports that Ministers are planning to fundamentally reshape Britain's relationship with the European Union, with new legislation that could result in the UK signing up to EU single market rules without a normal parliamentary vote. The paper says that they understand that ministers are bracing to face down opposition to a "dynamic alignment" with the EU from those who "scream treason" over the powers in a new EU-UK reset bill. After weeks of Donald Trump's war with Iran that have exposed the fragility of the UK's damaged special relationship with the US, ministers argue the move will add ...
Scot Lib Dems set out plans to improve childcare for working families Scottish Lib Dems will fix NHS staffing as almost all GPs retiring early Scot Lib Dems set out plans to improve childcare for working families Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today used a visit to a sports club in the Lothians to set out how his party will give parents more choice and help juggling work and family through funded early learning and childcare. Scottish Liberal Democrats would ensure families can access flexible, affordable and fair early learning and childcare (ELC). As well as protecting the ...
Ed Davey has been talking to Hillary Clinton: "We talked about how we need to fight Reform in the way they need to fight Donald Trump, and she gave me some choice advice, which I'm not going to repeat because that would be unfair on her." He's also been talking to PoliticsHome- that's a quote from an interview they've posted this evening. "Pressed" (as if he needed pressing) to say more his meeting with Hillary Clinton, he added: "She said you have to be very strong and stand up to bullies and don't cave in and cosy up to them. ...
Roz Savage, the Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, is the only woman to row solo across the the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. She has spoken about the first of those feats to Gloucestershire Live: "When I got up in the morning, I saw Antigua on the horizon. I was just like, I'm going to make it there today if it kills me. "So I just like rowed flat out for the whole day. "I was determined I was not going to spend another day on the ocean." She said arriving on land was just fantastic after such a ...
On Sunday 12 April 1908 David Lloyd George was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was less than five months after the death of Mair, his eldest daughter and best-beloved child. Her death, aged 17, was probably the worst personal loss of his life. He cursed god, when not denying him altogether. For months he was liable to burst into tears at the unexpected sight of a picture of her in a friend's house, and he refused to return to live at the home they had shared, sleeping instead in his office at the Board of Trade where Willie Clark, ...
Watch two Australian Cattle Dogs, Ruger and Rogue, go racing: And more: This is surely a dead cert for the next Olympics.
It says something about Wendy Chamberlain's capacity for hard work that in amongst being Chief Whip, an energetic constituency MP, and running the Scottish elections that she's going to be running the London Marathon two weeks today. Here she is talking to Radio 5 Live about it this week: Obviously we wish Wendy all the best in her endeavour, but we should all really put our money where our mouths are too. Wendy is using her run as an opportunity to raise money for two charities very close to her heart. Wendy has been raising the issue of PANS PANDAS ...
If we think of death at all we all roughly have the same hope. To die peacefully in one's bed at the age of 90 or so, having been healthy until 3 days before we go. For many people that is not what happens. As we live longer, we do not necessarily live healthier. Not only is there a clear gap in life expectancy based on poverty with wealthier people living eight years longer in parts of our City but poverty also leads to more unhealthy lives so poor people live shorter lives with a much larger portion of those ...
Sun 12th
12:15
Ed Davey on Kuennsberg to talk about "Trump's idiotic war" and need to act on food security
Ed Davey was interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire who was sitting in for Laura Kuennsberg this morning. He wanted to talk about our plan to ensure food security by giving a billion to England's farmers and introduce a Good Food Bill in next month's King's Speech. Unsurprisingly, though, the first question was about whether we supported the UK sending military help to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Ed said: I think we should work with our international partners, particularly at the UN if possible but certainly with our allies in NATO and elsewhere and in the Gulf Region in particular ...
Graeme Garden was singing the praises of Bill Oddie's music for I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again and The Goodies on the Through the Square Window podcast the other day. And this is a good example of how funny and accomplished it was. The Dandelion Records label, says Dandies in the Underworld, was a labour of love run by John Peel and record company Clive Selworthy. The latter explains how the record came about:One of the label's most collectable singles is Bill Oddie's On Ilkley Moor Baht'at. I think I was behind that. It was another one of our jokes ...
UK and Russia UK-Russian tensions have been ratcheted up several notches this week. It started when Vladimir Putin sent a Russian frigate to escort two shadow fleet oil tankers through the English Channel. The move was a response to Sir Keir Starmer's threat to board and impound any of the sanctioned tankers moving through British waters. Result: stand- off. The tankers issue was followed by a press conference at which Defence Secretary John Healey announced that British forces—in cooperation with Norway—had foiled a Russian attempt to cut a key undersea cable north of the UK. Not revealed at the press ...
With the end of another, rather interesting, quarter, another update to PollBase, my database of British voting intention opinion polls since the 1930s is now up. It includes the first PM approval ratings from 1938 and first national voting intention scores from 1939. Download the new version here. As well as another three months of data, changes this time include: Correction to information about Techne polls, which are of the UK rather than GB. Additional Gallup data from the 1951, 1955, 1964, 1966 and both 1974 Parliaments. Some of this information has come from the Bodleian Library's set of Gallup/BIPO ...
Nation Cymru reports that police are reviewing a complaint about Reform UK's offer to pay the energy bills of an entire street for a year as part of a prize draw. However, Nigel Farage has said he is "not in the least bit worried" electoral rules may have been broken by holding the competition after footage online showed him and Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick visiting the winners: In a video posted on X, the pair could be seen handing a bunch of flowers and a large cheque for £1,758 to a couple, said to be Reform UK supporters, in Wigan ...