The scariest things I watched on television when I was young were Don Taylor's television play The Exorcism, a cross between folk horror and a Marxist Play for the Day, and Tinker being measured for his coffin while he was still alive in Sexton Blake. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I can tell you that I was twelve when I saw The Exorcism and only seven when I saw Sexton Blake. The Scarred for Life generation had it easy. The first X-rated film I can remember seeing was Hammer's The Nanny, starring Bette Davis. That must have been ...
On the day of the Prime Minister's announcement, I was working from home. As some of us did, I received endless messages from friends and colleagues, who were commenting on a sequence of unfolding political events, which have never (?) been seen in British politics. When it was clear that Mr Johnson would eventually resign, I was actually looking forward to his speech. It has been the most extraordinary few years for the nation, democracy and the political process in Britain. In recent weeks, we were all reflecting on the quality of politics, here at home, but also across the ...
Liberal Democrat members in Truro and Falmouth have picked Ruth Gripper as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC).
The old Skelmersdale Station – now long gone in the name of 1960's progress! Well, it's been a long time coming and I guess quite a bit of cash must have been spent (in person-hours particularly) in the planning but Government has probably unsurprisingly run for the hills over the cost of reconnecting Skelmersdale to the national rail network. The BBC has the story on its website – see link below:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-62087680 I say unsurprisingly as folk I know who are knowledgeable of Lancashire's politics and indeed its railways have been indicating such an outcome pretty much ever since this ...
The recent disgraceful consultation run by Liverpool City Council has encouraged people to push for a legally binding petition to have a referendum. I welcome the fact that people like Stephen Yip and Liam Fogarty are wanting to engage in ... Continue reading →
At the deferred Spring Conference, held online today, of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, policies on biofuel, on young people in care and on campaigning were decided. An emergency motion agreeing the main thrust of the Welsh Government's Senedd reform proposals, but with objections to the voting method and selection of constituencies, was also passed. The motions are set out here.
With the end of another quarter, another update to PollBase, my database of British voting intention opinion polls since 1943 is now up. Jack Bailey and Luke Mansillo have taken this data and turned it into PollBase Pro, daily estimates of aggregate voting intention in Great Britain from 1955. Details here. Enjoy! P.S. For the very latest polls, see my polling scorecard and for the history of polls, how to spot the good from the bad and what the future holds for opinion polling, see my book, Polling UnPacked: the history, uses and abuses of political opinion polls. Get polling ...
Fri, 13:00: RT @Tom_deWaal: On Georgia. And how the EU tries to balance new geopolitical realities with the need to stay true to its normative agenda a... Fri, 13:14: At this moment, only 1% of humanity is experiencing night time. https://t.co/HDBPaAahkZ Fri, 13:54: RT @jonnybid: Have just invented a new Wordle spin-off, where you wake up each morning and have six guesses to work out who that day's Educ... Fri, 17:50: Superlative thread about the problem of dishonesty in British politics, with a nod at the end to Northern Ireland. https://t.co/T9ylT4ovdz Fri, 18:50: The Monk, by Matthew�Lewis https://t.co/gCB904cmDS Fri, 19:37: ...
The rules, the law, other people... they were of little or no concern to Boris Johnson. At least not until this week when his contempt for parliamentary convention, constitutional law and common decency resulted in his being dragged kicking and screaming to the exit door of 10 Downing Street. Boris Johnson's lack of moral fibre has wreaked havoc on Britain's unwritten constitution; the social contract between rulers and ruled; Britain's position in the world and the country's finances. The Conservative Party has been mortally wounded by the decision to elect him Party leader and to stand by him for three ...
Amid the political maelstrom of last Wednesday, MPs found time to debate the continuing ambulance crisis (video). The debate was led by Wera Hobhouse, Lib Dem MP for Bath. There were important contributions made by Lib Dem, Labour and Conservative members. The government response was given by the Minister for Health, Edward Argar. His view seemed to be that the problems are not as bad Lib Dem, Labour and some Conservative members were suggesting and where there are problems, they are being solved. Watching the debate, I had the distinct impression if MPs were allowed to a appear in fancy ...
