Politics is sometimes bizarre. Labour's Martin Gannon has called on me to resign today because I did not predict the Covid pandemic in 2018. Yes, you read that right! But if Martin knew what was coming, why didn't he say anything?Some background is in order. There have been long rumblings from within the Gateshead Labour party about my blog. This is nothing new. It seems that a fair proportion
Cable... Earlier this week, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable appeared on a GB News segment with Nigel Farage. In relation to China's treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjang, he said this: "The use of the word genocide is not right here. There is terrible human rights abuse in many countries ofContinue reading "More thinking, less judging: Cable, Duffield and the mob"
In my look at the lessons from Chesham and Amersham for Liberal Democrat Newswire, I highlighted Bobby Dean's Twitter thread explaining that Blue Wall photo stunt: So I know some people felt the Blue Wall stunt was a bit cringe. But here are three reasons why it's important. THREAD [IMG: 🧵] 1/5 pic.twitter.com/8XFlYXq9Jb — Bobby Dean [IMG: 🔶] (@Bobby_Dean) June 20, 2021 Email* Enter Email Confirm Email Name* First Last What would you like to receive?* Liberal Democrat Newswire: monthly newsletter Polling UnPacked (political opinion polling news): max 1 email per day Mark Pack blog posts and council by-election results: ...
This post first appeared on the Radix UK blog. It was fascinating to see the interview in the Observer with David Brown last weekend, about the Go-Ahead group where he has been CEO for the past ten years - including the GTR railway that I have been writing about in various places for the past five years. It was also a little strange that no mention was made of the court case against his company for unlawfully restricting travel, in contradiction of the legal fare-setting regulations. Who is taking them to court? Well actually it is a little complicated, but ...
Non-fiction 2 (YTD 24) Too Innocent Abroad: Letters Home from Europe 1949, by Joan Hibbard Fleming The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, Commonly Called Mother Ross on Campaign with the Duke of Marlborough (incorrectly attributed to Daniel Defoe) Non-genre 4 (YTD 17) Middlemarch, by George Eliot Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, by Zora Neale Hurston Martin Lukes: Who Moved My Blackberry, by Lucy Kellaway The History of Mr Polly, by H.G. Wells SF 11 (YTD 74) Raybearer, by Jordan Ifueko Riding the Unicorn, by Paul Kearney Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse The Separation, by Christopher ...
40 covid updates to my community since March'20, on regulations that change constantly. In my last I got a date wrong and sent out a correcting email as soon as it was pointed out. Yesterday, Scotland led the world in drug mortality (again) and yet my typo is your lead story? https://t.co/fmFdcbaQTy — Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP [IMG: 🔶] (@agcolehamilton) July 31, 2021 Alex Cole-Hamilton has done a brilliant job of keeping his constituents informed about the constantly changing Covid restrictions over the past 17 months. As soon as things change, he sends out an email to his constituents to let ...
Over at the Guardian they report that Labour has called for Boris Johnson to explain the existence of a secretive "advisory board" for wealthy Conservative donors who have received regular access to the prime minister and Rishi Sunak. The paper explains party chair Ben Elliot, charged with beefing up Tory fundraising efforts, had created the club for some of the party's most generous donors, some giving £250,000 a year or more. They quote Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds saying: "This appears to be less of an advisory board than a means for a select group of elite donors to gain ...
Fri, 18:10: Friday reading https://t.co/VISAIQGKvC Fri, 18:53: 500 days of plague https://t.co/LRPSZou1NH
With Lib Dems competing in four of the five principal authority by-elections on Thursday, this really was one to watch. Two fantastic principal authority gains in Harrogate and Norfolk, and some great town council performances with a win in Knaresborough and near miss in Woodley meant a good night for Lib Dems. In Knaresborough Scriven Park in Harrogate, we saw two seats up for grabs triggered by the resignation of a Conservative district and town councillor. In 2018 we missed out on the district seat by just 16 votes, and so was prime material for some Lib Dem by-election magic. ...
The Shropshire Star, inevitably, wins our Headline of the Day Award. Well done everybody.
China is building underground silos capable of housing nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles. In doing so, they are potentially quadrupling their nuclear arsenal overnight; abandoning an established strategic policy of minimum deterrence and threatening to start a domino-like arms race. The Chinese have had nuclear weapons since 1964. Exactly how many warheads they have is a state secret, but analysts estimate that the number has been stuck at 250 for a number of years. They wanted just enough to deter an attack but not enough to seriously threaten and thus invite a first strike attack from either the US or Russia. ...
Numerous residents have highlighted the poor state of the seating area at the corner of Ryehill Lane and Perth Road. This is owned by JCDecaux the billboard advertising company and I contacted the about this. I have since received a positive response : 'I have asked the regional team to get the land tidied and cleared of weeds and rubbish.' I had hoped that a substantive improvement could have been achieved here through the district shopping areas aspect of the 'Spaces for People' projects funding but this came to nought - a real disappointment. I will continue to pursue a ...
In adding a note about his slip fielding to my post marking the passing of Mike Hendrick, I exploded one of my favourite pieces of cricket trivia. You see. in the summer of 1977 two English batsmen - Geoff Boycott and John Edrich - scored their 100th first-class centuries. And I used to believe that the same batsmen was at the other end when they did so. Certainly, Graham Roope was batting with Boycott when he reached 100 in the Ashes test at Headingley. You can see him in the clip above, jumping over the ball as Sir Geoffrey on ...
The best decades I have lived through are the 1960s and the 1990s. One thing they have in common is that the Union Jack did not belong to the far right or the establishment. It belonged to everyone and was often used playfully. Can it happen again? Well, here are five reasons the Conservatives and the wider right can be ridiculed for their lack of patriotism. On Tuesday Boris Johnson used the unveiling of a memorial to police officers who died on duty as the occasion for a comic turn with an umbrellaJohnson and Priti Patel have made it clear ...
