Don't mention Labour incompetence. I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it! (to paraphrase Fawlty Towers.)For the second year running, Labour in Gateshead have failed to fill all their committee places on the Council. In October last year, 5 months after the Council's annual meeting, I raised this failure and questioned Labour's competence. This brought an angry response from the
Did I hear this correctly? Boris Johnson is to make a bid to get his job back? It seems some Conservative MPs are backing him though they are fewer than those backing Rishi Sunak. But Bouncing-Back-Boris as PM? You cannot be serious!
Block Boris: Parliamentary motion tabled to stop Boris Johnson Appointments Commission urged to give no resignation gongs to Truss Block Boris: Parliamentary motion tabled to stop Boris Johnson The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion in Parliament to block Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister again. The motion seeks to stop MPs who were found to have broken the law while in government from becoming Prime Minister. The Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper has described Johnson as "Britain's Berlusconi" and said he is not fit to govern Britain. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said: Boris Johnson is Britain's Berlusconi. ...
I visited Happisburgh once. I wanted to see the eroding cliffs and liked the unexpected way its name was pronounced. Simon Knott shows you the cliffs, pronounces the village's name correctly and shows you Happisburgh's fine church. One story he does not tell is the one about Arthur Conan Doyle staying at the inn in the village and being inspired by the landlord's young son and his interest in codes to write the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Dancing Men. In 2006 Norman Lamb unveiled a plaque commemorating Conan Doyle's visit.
It has been a slightly mixed week for the Lib Dems in by-elections - with both fantastic gains and some tough losses. A huge positive is there were Liberal Democrat candidates in all 5 principal by-elections on Thursday night. It's important to stand a candidate in all by-elections and give voters the opportunity to support the Lib Dems - and we did this in every by-election this week. So thank you to everyone who stood for us. We start the roundup with a superb gain on Guildford Borough Council from the Conservatives. Congratulations to Councillor Richard Morris and the local ...
Fri 21st
19:04
The Evening Standard says naturists have hailed the first bison born wild in the UK for thousands of...
Embed from Getty ImagesWe don't have a Standfirst of the Day Award, but if we did the Evening Standard would have walked away with it for its: The first wild bison has been born in the UK for thousands of years in what has been hailed as a "monumental moment" by naturists. And here's a screenshot, just in case the Standard corrects it. But I doubt it will - it's already made fun of its mistake in a "what are we like?" tweet. I've read enough old stories via the British Newspaper Archive to realise there was never a golden ...
The Westminster model of politics and government is broken. A change of prime minister will make little difference to the deep divisions within both our major parties, and the deterioration in the quality of policy-making. A change of government can only make things a bit better, but sadly not that much. We need a major set of changes in the framework of constitutional government. That's not at all easy, in spite of the polling evidence of popular disillusion with Westminster politics, particularly among young people, the decline in membership of all parties, growing discontent with government instability in the business ...
Today Wendy Chamberlain spoke on her Carer's Leave Bill, which has cross-party support and passed its second reading. It was a great privilege to lead a debate on my Carer's Leave Bill today and to have it pass onto the next stage of becoming law. The Bill would create a right would give an estimated 2.3 million carers across the UK a statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave per year. pic.twitter.com/zjScrQEGcN — Wendy Chamberlain MP (@wendychambLD) October 21, 2022 * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon ...
Lib Dems have been busy today dealing with the fallout from the resignation of Britain's shortest ever Prime Minister. I'll rephrase that – the British Prime Minister who served for the shortest time in office EVER (although the original version is probably also true, if of no political significance). First, all departing Prime Ministers are entitled to an annual allowance for the rest of their lives of £115,000 to cover office costs. This was covered in a press release yesterday, where Christine Jardine is urging her not to take it. Today Ed Davey told LBC radio: Most people have to ...
M/s Truss's premiership is over - or, at least, it will be in a week. Her resignation after barely six weeks "in office but not in power" raises both major and minor questions. To deal with minor ones first: 1. Will she be entitled to submit a list of resignation honours? I believe both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown passed over this little perk, but subsequent Tory premiers (Cameron, May, and Johnson) have re-introduced it. (Yet another step back after Labour have taken a step forward. An earlier example is that Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan stopped granting hereditary honours ...
Thu, 12:02: RT @NoContextBrits: Do you ever look at stuff and wonder how it got there? https://t.co/RlfH4cj7e6 Thu, 12:56: RT @Mij_Europe: What's next for UK/EU relations & prospects for a deal over NI Protocol - in light of the political drama and utter chaos i... Thu, 14:35: Gone gone gone!!!!!!!! Thu, 16:41: RT @aishagani: we witnessed history lads https://t.co/o4fwIWL2Xs Thu, 18:17: "Tangents", by Greg Bear and Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card https://t.co/r42MzDjxyy Thu, 18:22: RT @RyanLohner: @TomDavidson09 Also "Who was the only PM to not have a single Doctor Who episode air during their time since it ...
I had thought that, having served four years as Chair of my Parish Council, I had deserved to enjoy a slightly slower pace of life as Vice Chair, and Finance portfolio holder. I'd even managed to resolve our lack of a Parish Clerk with what seems like a rather innovative solution. Unfortunately, for reasons too complex to explain, the Chair became vacant within ten weeks. After a discussion with my remaining colleagues, it became clear that the only solution was to return as Chair. And so, on Monday night, Council met to pick up where we'd left off in July, ...
It may be tempting for the Liberal Democrats to move to the right to capture support from Conservative voters following the collapse of their party at Westminster. But let's not do that. Remember what happened the last time we moved in with the Tories – years of austerity and near oblivion for our party. Instead we should see the opportunity presented by the Conservatives' collapse as a chance to become the party of new ideas. Ideas like decentralisation, green growth and an economy which is an equal partnership between the government and independent organisations. Successful modern economies across Europe are ...
I am torn at the moment. I am amongst the first to argue that we need electoral reform, but as we stand at present I don't accept the argument that any new Prime Minister will not have a mandate as under our system. The Tories have a substantial majority that they won at a general election. We do mot have a presidential system, and it would help if those who are acting as if we did could be clear whether that is what they are arguing for. The issue is whether whoever succeeds Truss can actually command that majority. If ...
Chamberlain to lead debate on Carer's Leave Bill North East Fife MP Wendy Chamberlain will tomorrow lead a debate in the House of Commons on her Carer's Leave Bill, after which it will be voted on by MPs. The Bill would give carers the right to take unpaid leave and has cross-party support. Ms Chamberlain's Private Member's Bill would give an estimated 2.3 million carers across the UK a statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave per year. Carer's UK have described this as a 'landmark' piece of legislation which would help carers to better balance work and ...
Further to the good news we reported at the end of August that, from this month, bus service 39 would have some journeys going via the far west end of Perth Road around Millbay Terrace, Millbay Gardens and Clovis Duveau Drive - an area completely lacking bus services in recent times. We are pleased to say this welcome re-routing has now taken place. The first journey going towards Kingoodie in the morning is just after 0941 running until 1741 with return journeys into the city centre starting around 0915 running until 1615. The timetable is given below. The City Council ...
Here's the latest tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held since the last May round of local elections.
Five principle authority council by-elections this week, with a full slate of Liberal Democrat candidates. Before we get to the results, congratulations to two Liberal Democrat councillors: Congratulations to @bizmcd for winning in the 2022 Cllr Award Winners, and also to @JoshBabarinde for a 'highly commended'! — Mark Pack [IMG: 🔶] (@markpack) October 20, 2022
