Embed from Getty ImagesDavid Goldblatt writes on Qatar and the imminent football World Cup In the new London Review of Books. He includes a fascinating parallel with an earlier host of the tournament: We have been here before. In 1930, Uruguay was a country of fewer than three million people that had undergone an explosive economic and social transformation. It had grown rapidly on the strength of beef and agricultural exports, attracting huge numbers of migrants from Italy and Spain. It was also building South America's most robust liberal democracy and its first welfare state. Having charmed Europeans while winning ...
In a note on chapter 7 of his 1945 book The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper wrote the following. Less well known [than other paradoxes] is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.—In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we ...
Sad news from the London Liberal Democrats conference today about one of the party's best elected office holders and an inspiration to so many, as well as being highly rated by Londoners across the political spectrum: Sad news for London and the Lib Dems. Caroline has been an amazing campaigner on so many issues. And I will need to find someone new to email about TfL not removing graffiti somewhere for months [IMG: 🙁] https://t.co/cJuxZtyICZ — Mark Pack [IMG: 🔶] (@markpack) November 12, 2022
Two young people married in Kyiv and celebrating their love in their Country I have spent much of the last 20 minutes with tears in my eyes as I have watched a series of news broadcasts about the liberation of ... Continue reading →
Lib Dem London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon announced today at the London Regional Conference that she will not stand for re-election in 2024. Later she tweeted: It's been an honour to have served for 14 years as a Lib Dem London Assembly Member. I will stand down from the Assembly at the 2024 GLA elections. I am proud to serve as a strong Liberal voice in our great city and thank everyone for their support over many happy years. — Caroline Pidgeon [IMG: 🔶] [IMG: 🇺🇦] (@CarolinePidgeon) November 12, 2022 * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and ...
It's been a lovely day, but by mid November such weather feels more of a warning than a blessing. In Leicester the prime position under the clocktower had been claimed by the anti-vaccination nutters, so the climate justice people assembled at the end of Humberstone Gate. More power to them.
This is a commentary post on the Lib Dem internal elections. It's a bit weird writing a somewhat journalistic piece on an election I'm actively running in, but I'm going to do my best to provide an even-handed view of things. We're getting to late in the voting process, so the focus here is how [...]
On Thursday evening, Ludlow Lib Dems hosted Flanders and Swann tribute evening at Ludlow Assembly Rooms. The two-man show, with occasional interjections from the audience, was well received. David Gaukroger took the role of Donald Swann at the piano and tenor Kim Begley played Michael Flanders, minus the wheelchair. They performed Flanders and Swann standards from a Drop of Hat and a Drop of Another Hat, songs of weather, slow trains, omnibuses, gnus, bedsteads, the inability of the left and right to intertwine, and a tale of a dirty old man with a bottle of madeira. There were some new ...
It has not been a great week for those who think Liberal Democrats will find it easy to work with a minority Labour Government or that Labour are our natural partners. First we had Keir Starmer's very odd comments on people working in the NHS - where he said What I would like to see is the numbers go down in some areas. I think we're recruiting too many people from overseas into, for example, the health service. I have recently spent time visiting someone in hospital and was struck by what a high % of the nursing and auxiliary ...
The last few days have been quite interesting in the supplements space. We had the FDA banning NMN and the reports that NR may encourage some forms of cancer. FDA says ingredient studied as drug—β-NMN—is excluded from supplements is one of a number of stories which explain how the FDA have concluded that NMN is actually excluded. It wasn't really so much a decision of the FDA actually to ban
It would be fair to say that the question of Britain's contribution to world history is a pretty controversial one right now. Obviously Britain has contributed hugely to the world in areas like, for instance, literature and science. However, people have also become much more aware of the damaging effects of colonialism. However, one aspect of British culture and its effect on the world that has perhaps not received the study it deserves is football. It came from Britain and yet today, it is played all over the world. It was British, and yet today, for each country, football is ...
Remembrance Sunday is tomorrow and if you are joining the parade through Whickham, please meet up on School Lane. The parade will set off at 10.30am, heading along Front Street to the war memorial where the remembrance service and wreath laying will take place.
We are sad to learn that Lib Dem Peer and former MP for Cheltenham Nigel Jones died on Monday during heart surgery. The BBC reports: During his parliamentary career, he served as the Liberal Democrat spokesman on housing and local government, and later as spokesman for science and technology. He also served in the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges. The body was set up by John Major in 1994 after a number of scandals rocked his government, that came to be known as the "sleaze-busters". Lord Jones of Cheltenham passed away on 7 November during heart surgery. He is ...
One of the more puzzling aspects of the leave campaign in 2016 was why so many businesspeople were prepared to back the Brexit cause despite this position being contrary to their best interests. It is gratifying therefore to have some key figures finally seeing sense and reversing their position. The Independent quotes Lord Simon Wolfson, who was a prominent advocate of Brexit, but now says that the UK's current immigration policy is holding back economic growth. Wetherspoons' Tim Martin who campaigned for a hard Brexit, including leaving the single market and the end of freedom of movement which came with ...
In her Guardian column today, Marina Hyde speaks for us all: Which brings me to the other horror show on offer: Conservative MPs queueing up to pour scorn on Hancock now. Have you clocked this tendency? It's exemplified by an actual secretary of state, Chris Heaton-Harris, repeatedly going on telly yesterday to smugly claim that "hundreds of MPs and peers" were downloading the I'm a Celebrity app and voting for Hancock to face unpleasant trials. To which the only possible response is: oh NOW you're voting against him, is it? Sorry, but where were you lot before? Where were you ...
Trump lost. Biden did not win. Democracy did. But Slow Joe may have damaged his 2024 options by securing democracy a place on the mid-term ballot. At the same time, if President Biden takes the statesmanlike position and declares that he not a candidate for the 2024 election, then he is more likely to have a working relationship with a Republican-controlled Congress for his final two years. He also ensures his place in history as the man who saw off the threat to American democracy as opposed to the 80-plus-year-old who clung to power past his sell by date. But ...
