The BBC and the Telegraph have been today reporting an idea that the opposition political parties could stand aside in the forthcoming North Shropshire by-election in favour of an anti-corruption candidate. It's the Martin Bell strategy resurrected. It is easy to see why this idea is attractive. Bell, the "Man in the White Suit", won the Tatton seat as an anti-corruption independent candidate, with more than 60% of the vote. At the previous election, Neil Hamilton of cash for questions fame, had secured 55% of the vote. It was a dramatic and highly publicised drubbing by Bell. It was a ...
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023 Every six-ish days, I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in recent circumstances. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. Today we reach exactly the half-way point - 120 posts down, 120 to go. The month started with a rather grim ...
Part 1: Trans Rights? Yes. Toxic In Your Face Activism? No / A Strange Kind of Liberalism / Detail Free Slogans / When Reality Wins / Stonewall
Current The Book of the War, ed. Lawrence Miles The Burning God, by R.F. Kuang Last books finished The Unspoken Name, by A.K. Larkwood Blake's 7 Annual 1982, eds Grahame Robertson and Carole Ramsay Sweeney Todd & Other Stories, by Neil Gaiman Not Before Sundown, by Johanna Sinisalo The Empire of Gold, by S. A Chakraborty - did not finish The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde Paul: A Biography, by Tom Wright Next books Camouflage, by Joe Haldeman Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve
Thu, 17:38: Britain and the Puzzle of European Union, by Andrew Duff https://t.co/mJbmC3JyTn Thu, 18:55: RT @AndrewDuffEU: Old friends. Still puzzled. The quicker the EU gets to be federal, the better it will be for the UK, too. @RoutledgeHist Thu, 20:48: RT @john_lichfield: Non-fish people look away. Here is my reply to a dishonest kettle of fish dumped on Parliament yesterday by the British... Fri, 08:43: RT @Mij_Europe: The UK is going to invoke Article 16. They'll argue it's surgical - "it's only Articles 5 & 7" etc. But EU will (rightly) s... Fri, 10:45: RT @timmckane: If there was ...
There must be a lot of Tory MPs regretting some of the things they said and the way they voted over the Owen Paterson sanction after the Prime Minister's screeching u-turn in the face of overwhelming publc opinion that he and his government are mired in fouk-smelling sleaze. Not least amongst these will be Mr. Paterson himself, who apparently discovered that he had been hung-out to dry during a telephone conversation with a journalist while in a supermarket. He has subsequently resigned his seat, prompting a by-election in true-blue Shropshire. However, the MP who may regret his actions the most, ...
You can't lose more credibility than this. Boris Johnson, distracted no doubt by glad handing world leaders at COP26 and his slap up dining with Telegraph grandees at the Garrick, arrived back at No 10 to find that he was swirling towards the black hole of political failure. His attempt to protect North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson from allegations of lobbying on behalf of his food industry paymasters failed. Big time. Jacob Rees Mogg yesterday cancelled the review of loyal Tory MPs had voted for just hours before. Paterson, back on the hook and facing suspension, resigned. Dominic Cummings once ...
You can't lose more credibility than this. Boris Johnson, distracted no doubt by glad handing world leaders at COP26 and his slap up dining with Telegraph grandees at the Garrick, arrived back at No 10 to find that he was swirling towards the black hole of political failure. His attempt to protect North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson from allegations of lobbying on behalf of his food industry paymasters failed. Big time. Jacob Rees Mogg yesterday cancelled the review of loyal Tory MPs had voted for just hours before. Paterson, back on the hook and facing suspension, resigned. Dominic Cummings once ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of Scottish Water investigation works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Nethergate (from its junction with South Marketgait to approx. 20 metres west), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Monday 8 November 2021 for one night (7.30pm to 6.30am). Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for vehicles are available via West Marketgait / Hawkhill / Perth Road / Nethergate. For ...
New action demanded Responding to the new official crime figures, which show that there were 5 million fraud offences in the last year, a rise of 32%, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: "The scourge of fraud and scams is spreading at an alarming rate, but the Government is still not giving it the focus it deserves. "Fraud is an appalling crime that particularly preys on vulnerable people. Far too many criminals are getting away with it, and far too many victims are being left without justice or redress. "We need real action to stop fraud from ...
Responding to the news Owen Paterson has resigned, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: "Boris Johnson thought he could rewrite the rules to defend himself and his Tory chums from charges of sleaze and corruption without anyone noticing. "But he underestimated the British people and how badly this would go down, including among many lifelong Conservative voters. "It just shows that the Conservatives are taking people for granted. The public wants decency and honesty from their government, instead under Boris Johnson all they get is lies, chaos and cronyism."
Following a Liberal Democrat debate in the House of Lords yesterday, the party has challenged the Government to do more to protect the UK's vital cultural sector. The Government claims it wants to 'level up' and 'build back better', but has failed to give the UK cultural sector the support it needs to do this. Their failure to resolve disagreements over visas with the EU has left musicians and performers unable to tour, with Sir Elton John wading into the debate to call for action to resolve this. The Liberal Democrats are calling for greater financial support for cultural institutions ...
I am covering the by-election results for ALDC tonight. So far we have done pretty well. We have won 3 of the 4 wards where we are standing. A very strong gain from the Conservatives in Gloucester: BY-ELECTION RESULT Longlevens, Gloucester City Council Lib Dem 1520 Con 781 Lab 135 Green 86 Congratulations to Cllr Sarah Sawyer! pic.twitter.com/Y20wVQcIk3 — ALDC (@ALDC) November 5, 2021 This is not a bad haul. Well done to all the campaign teams on some great results. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
"Watering down the HRA has long been one of Raab's pet projects - he quite literally wrote a book on it - but to human rights lawyers like me who've spent the last 20 years seeing the Act change lives for the better, these plans make no sense." Louise Whitfield stands up for the Human Rights Act against Dominic Raab. Nigel Warburton celebrates the power of disgust - it forced a government U-turn on an amendment to the Environment Bill to curb the discharge of raw sewage into our rivers. "According to a wry joke in Central Europe, socialism was ...
Four Liberal Democrat candidates for the six principal authority by-elections this week. That's an improvement on last week but also a reminder of the work we need to do to stand in more elections. Let's start with a Lib Dem defence: Huntingdon East (Huntingdonshire) by-election result: LDEM: 55.3% (+8.3) CON: 44.7% (+5.6) Liberal Democrat HOLD. No Labour (-13.9) as prev. — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) November 4, 2021
