Free speech is an important principle in Britain. It's one of the things that gets me out of bed in the morning. It's why I so strongly believe we must remain in the ECHR, which protects in law our right to free expression. I am a supporter of free speech because whether I agree with you or not, as a liberal I'm always keen to hear what you think. That applies as much to the vexed question of immigration as it does to anything else. I take a nuanced view on the subject, just like the majority of British people. ...
The Liberal Democrats are planning to abandon the iconic yellow colour scheme in favour of mauve, following a review by a boutique consultancy to "help the party live its best life". The party is also thinking of changing its name to something more "on trend". A spokesperson denied rumours that the party was suffering a midlife crisis. A slide deck, marked "Secret - but we'll have to tell them eventually", recommends a phased transition to a "trust-forward colour ecosystem". "Yellow, in stakeholder sentiment analysis, was described by participants as 'loud,' 'a bit much,' and 'like being shouted at by a ...
Hazel O'Connor is a goddess and - sorry, Bob Holness - this is the greatest saxophone solo on a British pop single.
Party strategists are pondering an offer from the BBC which could have a serious impact on our party's fortunes. Ed Davey has been invited to appear on this year's Strictly Come Dancing. Those in favour of the move argue that appearing on the programme could boost Ed's popularity and, with it, the party's electoral success as well as cheering up the nation. It's ten years since his namesake, former Labour Cabinet Minister Ed Balls, achieved national treasure status after his hilarious efforts on the show, performing Gangnam Style with great aplomb. It's just over fifteen years since our then Deputy ...
A very welcome arrival this week - Paul Spackman's Lloyd George - Welsh Radical, World Statesman, published by Barnthorn Publishing. It's the first full-length "life" for many years, and the result of seven years research, and aims to give a more holistic portrait of the politician and the man. Paul's approach is to "explore the specific and distinctively Welsh roots and influences" that shaped Lloyd George. He highlights the social reforms that laid the foundations of the Welfare State, Lloyd George's vital replacement of Asquith in the Great War, his treatment of Germany at Versailles, the Irish settlement, and the ...
[IMG: House of Lords. Photo: Parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of Parliament] Ninety-two hereditary Peers of the Realm are packing up their ermine and saying farewell to their traditional home from home. As Liberal Democrats we are pleased that Parliament has taken one more step towards the full reform of the House of Lords – although we won't rest until we have a fully elected Upper House. But spare a thought for those departing peers. They are the product of families who have served this country for many hundreds of years, with many lifetimes of experience in ...
[IMG: a person holding a brown envelope] An envelope. Photo by Kerngker Stock on Pexels.com. Focus group questions such as 'if a political party leader were an animal, what sort of animal would they be?' often get mentioned in order to ridicule them. But the reason they are used is the same reason I love them: the answers tease out something useful. As I wrote in my book, Polling UnPacked: If this book were an animal, what sort of animal would it be? That is the sort of apparently absurd question beloved of media coverage of focus groups. But there ...
The Independent reports on warnings by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the UK is facing one of the largest shocks from the conflict in the Middle East, and that Britain's economy is "especially exposed" to spiralling prices because of its reliance on gas‑fired power. They have compared the impact of rising prices to a "large sudden tax on income" for a family, warning that the "de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz and damage to regional infrastructure have produced the largest disruption to the global oil market in its history": Writing in a blog post on Monday, it ...
Recall Parliament to address ferry crisis say Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today called for the Scottish Parliament to be recalled to address the crisis engulfing Scotland's ferry network as communities in Argyll & Bute and up and down the west coast face yet more upheaval, with up to eight ferries out of action. The Scottish Parliament can be recalled up until 8th April. Mr Cole-Hamilton made the comments as he and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visited the key target seat of Strathkelvin & Bearsden to play tennis with community activist and candidate Adam ...
A Liberal Democrat media release says: Responding to confirmation that the King will make a second state visit to the US, Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: "The Prime Minister is showing a staggering lack of backbone by pushing ahead with this state visit while Donald Trump treats our country with contempt. "To send the King on a state visit to the US after Trump dismissed our Royal Navy as 'toys' is a humiliation, and a sign of a government too weak to stand up to bullies. "What appalling thing does Trump have to do next to make ...
Tue 31st
19:56
Something amazing: A Shropshire businessman falling out of the sky and Mystery at Witchend
The latest Secret Shropshire programme on BBC Sounds is intriguing:In 1937 Max Wenner fell to his death from a plane in one of aviation's greatest mysteries. Wenner was a wealthy landowner and pilot living at Batchcott Hall outside Picklescott in the foothills of the Long Mynd. Wenner's frequent flights to Germany in the 1930s and visits from high profile Nazis like Joachim von Ribbentrop led to speculation that Wenner may be leading a double life. In January 1937 his body was found in woodland near Genk, in Belgium. He had fallen out of a passenger plane but no could explain ...
"A child who grew up in the United Kingdom, attended British schools, made British friends, and considers this country their home will find, at the threshold of adulthood, that the system treats them as a temporary guest. That is a remarkable way to build community cohesion." Labour's plans on earned settlement are a social policy disaster in the making, argues Colin Yeo. Alan Rusbridger asks if Britain has stopped believing the freedom to protest: "The police burst in, broke up the gathering and arrested everyone involved. They carted them off to the cells, confiscated their phones and, in at least ...
Here are the scores on the doors for the latest quarter of principal authority council by-elections.
I missed the Birtley North and Lamesley action day last week as I was at the Whickham Library easter fair. I was however able to make it to the Birtley South event the following day. 13 of us finished the delivery of target letters in the ward.Birtley South is an interesting ward. We first won a seat in the ward from Labour in 2023. A year later we won another seat from Labour but this time
I don't usually write in the first person like this. But some arguments are better made from inside the experience than at a careful analytical distance. This is one of them. There's a phrase that's been circulating in certain corners of British public life for a few years now. You'll have heard it. Gender ideology. Sometimes trans ideology. It gets deployed with a specific kind of confidence: the confidence of someone who believes they are simply describing reality, neutrally, accurately, from nowhere in particular. I am, apparently, an ideology. I've tried to sit with that rather than immediately reaching for ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey yesterday declared that the wind is in the party's sails as they took to the water on a visit in Edinburgh. After sailing a boat under the iconic Forth bridges, the party leaders set out their desire to "smash the Scottish Conservatives and dismantle the acid yellow wall of the SNP" to a horde of party activists. The party is targeting ten constituency seats across Scotland having proven that it can gain seats from the SNP, while taking seats on the peach regional ballot paper by targeting moderate ...
Nation Cymru reports that a Reform UK whistleblower has described the "expensive, flawed and unprofessional vetting process" used by the party to select Senedd election candidates. The news site says that the key member, who does not wish to be named, said they took part in Reform's "full candidate assessment and training process" for the upcoming Welsh election, and has accused the party of a "lack of transparency" and criticised the "calibre of some of the people now being placed in winnable positions": The insider told us: "What I witnessed was not a merit-based system designed to find the best ...