Davey: Richard Sharp must resign Hunt's budget set to be "more hot air and no real or urgent help" Davey: Richard Sharp must resign The Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has called on Richard Sharp to resign. Davey has said that Richard Sharp's position is "untenable" and blamed the Conservative Government for "systematically attacking the independence of the BBC". Richard Sharp has spent recent months wrapped in controversy around his role in an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson. The Chairman of the BBC is head of the BBC Board and responsible for maintaining the independence of the BBC. ...
Sun, 16:20: Sunday reading https://t.co/ZRqOjfHk7s
Sun 12th
14:30
Sue Miller highlights falling breastfeeding rates in Lords International Women's Day debate
Back in the day, I spent a few years as a breastfeeding counsellor, doing what I could to support parents when they hit trouble and helping them find solutions that worked for them. I got involved in that because I wanted to give something back after my breastfeeding journey was helped back on track by a lovely and patient volunteer called Louise who came to my house and sorted me out with great empathy. Her help motivated me to help other women who desperately wanted to breastfeed but hadn't been able to overcome their problems but hadn't had the support ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: Within a minute of each other earlier this week, emails from two different professors of politics (The Swingometer and Political Calculus) landed in my inbox. Both were laden with evidence about polling, immigration and the Conservatives. But they came to contradictory conclusions. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and you can sign up below to receive future editions direct to your email inbox:
This week, Liz Barker spoke in the International Women's Day debate in the Lords. She highlighted the orchestrated attacks on women's rights worldwide in all its forms. She particularly focused on the treatment of trans women. She added that an attack on the rights of one group of women is an attack on the rights of all women. She also criticised the Government's reduction in international aid and the impact that has on things like HIV research – and which could leave us unprepared for future pandemics. Finally she talked about women's health care, in particular the under-reporting of mental ...
Erica's Mum was a widow for 61 years. She brought up three daughters not quite single handedly but with the support of a loving family Over the past three days I have been to two lovely events with Erica's family ... Continue reading →
On Thursday the Lib Dems gained a seat in Edinburgh's Corstorphine/Murrayfield ward, which naturally put me in mind of this obscure record from 1974. So I did a bit of research. The first thing I found was that Costafine Town wasn't obscure in its day: it made No. 17 in the UK singles chart. And Splinter were the first band signed by George Harrison to his Dark Horse Records label. Not only that: he produced this single and is playing bass on it. As to Costafine Town itself, the song doesn't sell the place to me. The detail in the ...
Sun 12th
10:59Standing up to government is the only way the BBC will get out of the corner it's backed itself into
It would be easy to conclude that if you want to have an influence on British political life you have to be a name in top-level football. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford succeeded where many politicians had failed in getting free school meals to disadvantaged children. In the past fortnight, the England women's football team, the 'Lionesses', have used the leverage from their 2022 Euros title-winning run to secure over £600 million in government funding to give girls the same opportunities in sport that boys currently enjoy. And over the past few days, the former ...
A far more serious breach of the BBC's impartiality guidelines than anything Gary Lineker may have tweeted in my view, was the comments by Fiona Bruce during Thursday's Question Time. The remarks in full are quoted below: Effectively, we have a presenter trying to minimise domestic violence, and one as well, who is also an ambassador for the charity Refuge, who work with victims of domestic abuse. The reaction of BBC management was that Bruce was trying to provide context. Presumably they think 'I only hit her once for context' is a valid defence to a domestic abuse charge. Just ...
UK British Home Secretary Suella Braverman's "Stop the Boats" policy is in danger of being torpedoed by the European Convention on Human Rights. But then Ms Braverman may have an answer to that problem: Withdraw from the convention and the jurisdiction of the administering European Court of Human Rights. The Illegal Migration Bill – as it is officially called – is aimed at stopping the estimated 50,000-plus people who are expected to cross the English Channel in small boats this year. It is one of the five cornerstone goals of Rishi Sunak's premiership. A key element of the policy is ...
We have received complaints about the unkempt paths at the Union Place car park. We have therefore raised this with environment management at the City Council to ensure a tidy-up takes place.
