"The row over LTNs isn't a culture war, it's a microcosm of a much more fundamental question. How does a society built on fossil fuels shift its behaviour quickly enough to have an impact on the looming climate change catastrophe? It's a question that's not going to go away." Flip Chart Fairy Tales on the outcry over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. James Ball says the government's online safety bill will annoy voters and may lead to messaging apps withdrawing their apps from the UK. Norman Lebrecht argues that Arts Council hostility has added to the problems caused for opera by Covid ...
Sun, 18:34: Sunday reading https://t.co/5IJgXyW5BC
Embed from Getty ImagesPippa Crerar is the political editor of the Guardian, but in June 2021 she was at the Mirror. And there she wrote a story saying that Boris Johnson had tried to have his weekly audience with the late Queen in the usual face-to-face way at the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, even though he was himself going down with the virus. Only when he was persuaded that he could be responsible for the death of the Queen did he abandon the idea. No 10 told her the story was "completely untrue," but she stood ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: After last week digging into a report in The Times of a poll, this time I'm taking a look at the Daily Telegraph and another 'poll'. (Quote marks very much required.) 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 in the local elections, Lib Dems across England have been getting a great reception on the doorsteps. This is often, for activists, the toughest weekend of the campaign. You've been campaigning all year round of course, but particularly intensively for weeks and you're starting to get a bit knackered. It is amazing how quickly you go from "there's still another 10 days to go" to "oh yikes, I need to get these last eve of poll jobs done" though. Our teams across the country are doing an amazing job. If you haven't got elections on your patch, offer ...
OFSTED, the schools inspectorate has received flack for its inspection methods in the aftermath of the tragic death of Ruth Perry earlier this year. Following a period of silence, OFSTED Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman appeared on BBC Laura Kuenssberg this morning to face questions over the OFSTED's approach to inspections. The Liberal Democrat policy on OFSTED is to abolish it and replace it with a new body for school accountability. This is flawed for a number of reasons, not least because the hiatus period between abolition and refounding could lead to serious failures in uncovering failing establishments, hurting the life ...
I have spent this morning reading Adam Tolley KC's report into the complaints about Dominic Raab's behaviour. Of its 48 pages, the first half is devoted to the process and dealing with multiple criticisms of his methods from Dominic Raab. It's always interesting that those accused of bullying behaviours often spend a lot of time picking holes in the investigations against them that could arguably have been spent reflecting on their own behaviour and its impact on others. Tolley's conclusions are being spun as though Raab has not been found to have done much wrong and that he had to ...
The late British jazz singer George Melly used to ask his audiences: "Who is the greatest blues vocalist Britain has ever produced?" He'd tease them, asking, "Mick Jagger? No! Steve Winwood? No! Van Morrison? No!", before suggesting the greatest of all time was Ottilie Patterson. Me neither, but you can read about her career - it's a sad story - in a Guardian article. And there's a documentary about her on the BBC iPlayer, My Name Is Ottilie. I don't know when this was recorded, but Patterson is singing with her husband Chris Barber's band.
Full marks to Lambeth Liberal Democrats for their regular campaigning trips outside London for this May's local elections.
Via The Guardian, here's what Ed Davey said on the BBC: I can take you to places both in my constituency in other areas controlled by the Liberal Democrats where we are building lots of houses. But here's the key question. The problem I have with the government's approach is they have a developer-led approach to housing, and that has resulted in the wrong types of homes being in the wrong places. Don't believe me? That is what Theresa May said. What Liberal Democrats want is a community-led approach to housing, and all the evidence shows that results in more ...
Bird Moment Haiku: A Bright Balance of Feathers: Paperback Edition: My author copies have arrived! It's always exciting to open a parcel and find a new book. I'm so pleased to have released this new edition...
It was a pleasure for us both to attend the community gardens beyond communities exhibition yesterday at the Larick Centre in Tayport and we are grateful to West End resident Daisy MacGowan for the kind invitation. We are pictured with Daisy and Jenny Glen of the University of Dundee who has led the community gardens beyond communities project. The project that focused on the role of local community activism in addressing climate change and related challenges faced by urban centres and involved academic partners from Scotland, Brazil, Portugal, Nepal, the USA and Kenya. You can read the project report, beautifully ...
