This post first appeared on the Radix UK blog... The peculiar Englishness of the business about the resignation of Boris Johnson was brought home to me by the following plea in the newsletter of the American scourge of narrow-mindedness everywhere, Bari Weiss. She said that, when it came to it, she didn't quite understand all the nuances. "If we have a reader who understands British politics, please leave us an explainer in the comments," she wrote. "Like, for example, can someone explain this?" She then quoted a tweet which in turn quoted Hugh Grant... "Hugh Grant tweeted a request at ...
Adrienne Poster, under the name Adrienne Posta, appeared in films of the 1960s and early 1970s, with Up the Junction being the most notable, and also did a lot of televions and recorded pop singles. The reference to Paul Guess having already appeared in Oliver! reminded me of Alan Bennett's diary entry, later published in his Writing Home, after auditioning boys for his own play 40 Years On: Many belong to a species of stage boy, only related to childhood by their small size. All the other attributes of boyhood - youth, gaiety, innocence - have long since gone. Squat ...
So we are down to six: Kemi Badenoch Suella Braverman Penny Mordaunt Rishi Sunak Liz Truss Tom Tugendhat Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi did not make the cut. What does this mean for Liberal Democrats? We are conflicted here – which contender would be best for the country and which would be better for our party's electoral prospects? Boris Johnson was a disaster for the country but a huge asset to us in recent by-elections, but that is, of course, is no reason to want him to stay in post. I would certainly put integrity and decency in a Prime ...
Rotten Boroughs in the new Private Eye has picked up the story about secrecy at Harborough District Council that I recently mentioned on this blog. In that post I quoted the Leicester Mercury: Harborough District Council came under fire last year over a decision to buy a bungalow, in Granville Street, Market Harborough, for £920,000 when property website Zoopla had it valued at an estimated £303,000. The council said at the time the purchase was to enable an affordable housing development in the area at nearby Naseby Square. An internal audit into the Naseby Square scheme has now been completed ...
Well, I was born into this mode, he said: this world of laziness and compromise andmaking-do and just-about complacency; When what I really wanted was straight linesand boxes ticked and then you have perfection –at least, in execution not design –with just a curve or two thrown in, with grace,to demonstrate some thought, that creativity exists [...]
One of the legacies of the soon-to-be-former prime minister (STBFPM) is a somewhat scrambling of the political spectrum. As Ian Mulheirn observes, the fiscal approach he precariously allowed is far from right-wing, at least neutering the standard Labour attack on under-funded public services. Remember, he supported higher taxes to pay for more money for the NHSContinue reading "Unseriousness did not start with Johnson"
Earlier today we reported that the Government had refused to allow time for Labour's Vote of No Confidence motion. There has been a surprising development in the last hour, according to the BBC. The PM has allowed a different motion of confidence specifically in the Government, not in him personally, which will be debated next week. Lib Dems have been quick off the mark and announced that they will table an amendment to the motion, to allow MPs to vote on whether they have confidence in Boris Johnson staying on as Prime Minister. Our Chief Whip, Wendy Chamberlain, said: These ...
Politics Home is one of the many media platforms covering Boris Johnson's reaction to the Vote of No Confidence motion proposed by Labour, and supported by the Lib Dems. It quotes Erskine May: By established convention, the Government always accedes to the demand from the Leader of the Opposition to allot a day for the discussion of a motion tabled by the official Opposition which, in the Government's view, would have the effect of testing the confidence of the House. Instead, the Prime Minister has refused to allow the debate. Although it was unlikely that the motion would have been ...
Tue, 13:58: RT @BestForBritain: Candidates get 12 mins each. There's a war in Ukraine, highest inflation in decades, UK predicted to have the lowest gr... Tue, 15:11: https://t.co/cP4FG2glsL https://t.co/wAuqzsuePB Tue, 18:12: Protest on behalf of @hakanaltinay. https://t.co/uaGFTRKSwc Tue, 19:38: March 2017 books https://t.co/Mu8g620dMb Tue, 21:40: RT @MSmithsonPB: This was posted on Politicalbetting on November 29th 2019. A 200/1 Tip for Next Prime Minister. Those people like me with...
The electorate for Conservative Party leadership candidates is, first, their fellow MPs, then if they succeed at that, Conservative Party members and only after that does the electorate become the public, at the general election, at local elections before then and possibly even sooner at a Parliamentary by-election. So yes, it's true to say that we shouldn't expect their pitches to be simply aimed at floating voters among the public.: Dear Twitter, however much it upsets you, you don't have a vote in the Tory leadership contest. It should not come as a major surprise, therefore, when they attempt to ...
The Federal Conference Committee (FCC) met on Saturday, 9th July to start its work on the final agenda for Autumn 2022 Conference, which will be taking place in Brighton, with an option for online attendance. If you haven't yet registered for Conference, I would recommend doing so here. At the meeting we discussed several items in relation to future venues and the meeting and motions schedule for 2023 into 2024. As previously reported, we will be returning to York for Spring Conference 17 to 19 March 2023. The Federal Conference Committee has also continued work with its Working Group on ...
Residents will be aware of the concerns raised about red-coloured graffiti damaging the flood defence walls along Riverside Drive We asked the City Council to remove this vandalism and thereafter received this helpful response : "Our graffiti team now have this in hand and it will be attended to."
