Scrap Voter ID when Parliament returns on Monday Commenting on today's warning from the Local Government Association not to underestimate the difficulties Voter ID will cause for local authorities, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said: Today's warning on voter ID from the LGA shows the Conservative Government cannot bury their heads in the sand any longer. This is a national scandal that could end in a disaster for our democracy. The Government must urgently back my Liberal Democrat Bill which would end these regulations swiftly in the three weeks left before polling day. The moment Parliament returns on Monday, ...
Nick Cohen gives Matt Goodwin both barrels: "Democracy depends on holding the powerful to account so that an informed electorate can judge them. But in the professor's formulation, criticising Boris Johnson and Michael Gove meant criticising the people who voted for him. Performing your democratic duty became anti-democratic; holding the elite to account became elitist." "Given the terrible ordeal that Kara-Murza faces, the resources of courage, conviction and determination that he must have summoned to make this statement, defy comprehension. He knows that Putin's regime will bury him alive and yet he refuses to flinch." Adam Tooze salutes the courage ...
Applications have been submitted to convert the vacant gallery on Quality Square into a two bedroom house (23/01352/FUL; 23/01353/LBC). It will be the first building on Quality Square in recent times to have accomodation on the ground floor. The property is currently on sale with a guide price of £300,000. The shop window will be retained with heritage glazed panels, which I assume will be blacked out obviating the need for blinds. I cannot see that the conversion raises any heritage concerns. However, I do not accept the town council's view that this plan is just fine in our town ...
The accuracy or reliability of opinion polls is often questioned, especially when the polls are about voting intentions ahead of elections. I've previously written about why 1,000 or so samples are large enough to measure views across a whole nation. But what about specifically the accuracy of voting intention figures reported by the polls? Can we trust such opinion polls? Let's take a look at the evidence as to the accuracy of political opinion polls. A recent study looked at 30,000 national polls from 35 countries across just over 70 years. The verdict? Political opinion polls are pretty accurate, and ...
Honoured to be unanimously reselected by @TRLibDems members to stand again as their candidate for #Twickenham at the next election. It's been a privilege to serve my community & my country as Whitton's Woman in Westminster. I hope local residents will put their trust in me again. pic.twitter.com/TCgH1IhxB6 — Munira Wilson MP [IMG: 🇺🇦] (@munirawilson) April 13, 2023
🏗️We're working 24/7 to get the railway between Oxford and Didcot reopened 🦺Prior to the recent rapid deterioration of the viaduct, its condition posed no safety risk 📽️Stuart Calvert explains how we have been looking after the viaduct and what our permanent fix will look like pic.twitter.com/6UZgXn7esz — Network Rail Western (@networkrailwest) April 13, 2023 Stuart Calvert from Network Rail shows us the damage to Nuneham Viaduct that has forced the closure of the line between Didcot Parkway and Oxford. This isn't just a commuter line: it's part of an important passenger and freight route between the North of England ...
Liz Truss has just made her second visit to Washington since she stepped down as prime minister: this time, to deliver the 'Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture' to the Heritage Foundation. She pleased her audience by declaring that 'It was Anglo-American individualism that made the world prosperous...Low taxes, limited government and private enterprise were what won the Cold War' - and warning that 'stagnation, redistributionism and woke culture' are weakening the West in the coming struggle with China. There are many untruths in such a statement. It was Rooseveltian social democracy, on both sides of the Atlantic, that secured and revived ...
There is a terrible stink surrounding Brexit and it has nothing to do with the lies we were told in the lead-up to the referendum campaign. Specifically, it is that now we are outside the EU, there is nobody to tell us to clean up our waterways. One of the consequences of that is highlighted by this article in the Independent, which reports that there were more than 3,000 "monster" sewage dumps into England's rivers and seas last year, up 63% from the year before. The paper refers to analysis of Environment Agency data by the Liberal Democrats, which found ...
Bright eyed, bushy tailed and knowing almost nothing in 2017, being handed the keys to run a Local Party's finances was a bewildering and exciting moment. I'm sure there are thousands of people who have had similar feelings. There was always a mountain of things that needed to be done, matched by an enthusiasm to get going. As I moved through other roles, and went through elections, I picked up skills as I tried to work out what I should be doing and the best ways of doing it. While there were hugely experienced people around willing to teach what ...
From the City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating construction works. The Order is expected to be in force for thirteen months from 17th April 2023. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Brown Street from Douglas Street for a distance of 50 metres or thereby south. An alternative route will be available via Douglas Street, Blinshall Street and Miln Street. If you have ...
