Gateshead Lib Dems held another action day today, this time in Low Fell. I had initially planned to go to help deliver Focuses. Alas, I stayed at home this morning as I had another Focus to write which we need for the action day next weekend. Time was running out to get it done and sent to the printer. The good news is that I had time to pop over to the action day HQ to have lunch. It was also an
Nicolás Maduro (Photo: BBC) This piece marks the first instalment of what I intend to be a regular weekly reflection on the news — a look at what has happened, why it matters, and where it might lead. The US Capture of Nicolás Maduro: When Law Is Treated as Optional The reported capture of Nicolás Maduro by the United States is an event that should chill anyone who takes international law seriously. Let me be clear from the outset: I have little sympathy for Maduro himself. His government has presided over repression, economic ruin, and the hollowing out of Venezuela's ...
Sun 4th
11:39
The Government are right to abolish Elected Police Commissioners, but what should they do next?
No one knows what Police Commissioners do. In fact, I can add that hardly anyone knows that they even exist! In the one election that has been just for the position of Police Commissioner which did not take place alongside other local government elections the turnout was a massive 7% on Merseyside. It is a nonjob which causes confusion when mentioned, costs money for elections that no-one wants and creates a level of bureaucracy which can slow down effective decision making on key issues. So, these ludicrous positions should go but what comes next? The following thoughts are contained in ...
The year 1973 was good to Wizzard. They released a succession of great singles - Ball Park Incident, See My Baby Jive, Angel Fingers (the latter two both topped the UK charts) - and took part in an epic battle to be the Christmas number 1 with Slade. This, their next single, should have been been out just after that battle had been lost, so that I listened to it while doing my homework by candlelight during the three-day week. But their new label, Warner Bros, didn't release it until 19 April 1974. Despite this lack of seasonality, it reached ...
Those of you who know me modestly well will know that I am an aficionado of public transport, or transit as I guess I should call it when across the pond. I am particularly fond of old trams and, having discovered that Boston's MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) still runs a few, I decided to go take a look whilst I still had the chance to do so. The Boston subway system is a bit of a hybrid. The Blue, Orange and Red Lines are familiar in that they look like "proper" underground trains. The Green Line runs underground in ...
Sun 4th
08:55
Huge opportunity for the Liberal Democrats in the 2026 Birmingham City Council Elections
In what is likely to be a dramatic set of local elections this May, Birmingham is poised to be one of the most notable, with huge opportunities for the Liberal Democrats. Think of Birmingham City Council and it's likely the words 'bankruptcy' or 'bin strike' will come to mind. While these have done huge damage to the city, they are just a couple of the worst examples of Birmingham Labour's failures. For example, the council has suffered badly from the botched implementation of a new IT system, now 4 years late with cost overruns of more than £100m. These failures ...
I was delivering care early one morning when the radio cut through the routine. The BBC was reporting that Donald Trump had authorised direct military action in Venezuela, framing it as a decisive move to remove the tyrant Nicolás Maduro from power. I won't pretend to shed tears for Maduro. He has spent years hollowing out democracy, crushing opposition, and driving millions of Venezuelans into poverty and exile. But geopolitics isn't a boxing ring where the loudest punch wins. It's more like a line of dominoes: once the first falls, you don't get to choose how the rest collapse. When ...
The Independent reports on new figures that show the poorest households in Britain have become poorer while the rich have seen their disposable income rise under Labour. The paper says that data from Retail Economics shows that the amount the poorest households have left over after bills and essential spending has fallen by 2.1 per cent since Labour came to power in July 2024, but the most affluent households have seen their discretionary incomes rise by 10.3 per cent: The new figures from Retail Economics, an independent economic consultancy, look at discretionary income, which is how much money families have ...