"Thatcher, like her contemporaries in all parties, thought the job of politicians was not so much to sheepishly follow public opinion as to shape it. In her 1975 speech opposing the EU referendum, she approvingly cited a letter to the Evening Standard pointing out that if it had been left to the will of the people, 'we would have no Race Relations Act, immigration would have been stopped, abortions would still be illegal and hanging still be in force'." Chris Dillow on politicians who appeal to 'the will of the people'. Michael Rosen counters Nick Gibb, the Conservative education minister, ...
Ethics adviser must investigate Braverman Braverman: By refusing investigation, Sunak is stealing page one from Johnson's playbook Coffey must apologise for the sewage scandal Sunak must explain Braverman scandal in Parliament tomorrow Ethics adviser must investigate Braverman Responding to reports in the Sunday Times that Suella Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help her avoid a speeding fine and points on her licence by arranging a private one-to-one driving awareness course, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: Once again for the Government, it's one rule for them and another for the rest of us. Suella Braverman ...
I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. So if you'd like to write for this blog, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. As you will see from the list below, I'm happy to publish posts on subjects far beyond the Liberal Democrats and British politics. I'm also happy to entertain a wide variety of views, but I'd hate you to spend your time writing something I really wouldn't want to publish. So please get in touch first. These are the last then guest posts I have published:Monty Python's Life of Brian: Were Malcolm Muggeridge and ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: Welcome to this week's edition which takes a look at the current Conservative hope for avoiding a general election meltdown, talking up fears of a 'coalition of chaos' if they are voted out of office. Will an attempt to drum up a new Project Fear succeed, or will it be an insular, process-heavy and implausible message that turns into Project Flop? The polls give us some clues. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and you ...
Last week, Conservative MP Danny Kruger made some controversial remarks about marriage at the awful National Conservative Conference in London. He said: The second truth is that the normative family – held together by marriage, by mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children and the sake of their own parents and for the sake of themselves – this is the only possible basis for a safe and successful society. "Marriage is not all about you. It's not just a private arrangement. It's a public act, by which you undertake to live for someone else, and for ...
Sun 21st
16:30
Memories of the 1983 General Election - Detention, a bonfire and the relief of victory
Like first love, your first General Election is a special and precious thing. Mine was 1983 and this post is inspired by the earlier one about Simon Hughes' 40th anniversary celebration. It must be pretty much exactly 40 years since I first walked into Bob Maclennan's campaign HQ in Wick to ask for a copy of the manifesto. It certainly was a Saturday afternoon about 3 weeks before the election. They didn't have one, but it took them an impressively short time to persuade me to deliver leaflets for them. But all didn't go smoothly. There was a lady in ...
Today's Sunday Times (£) reports that Home Secretary Suella Braverman tried to get civil servants to arrange a private driving awareness course so that she could get out of paying a speeding fine and having points on her licence. This, the paper says, contravenes the Ministerial Code as she asked civil servants to help her out with a private matter. When the civil servants refused to help, she turned to a political aide who tried to persuade the course provider to agree to the arrangements. After the requests were refused, Braverman, 43, who is a barrister and in charge of ...
Why does Britain do so badly in Eurovision these days? The Iraq War? Brexit? Or is it because we pick weak songs and give them to performers who lack experience? My money's on the last of these. I chose Grace Kelly for reasons of trivia: a number of sources suggest that the little girl sitting on the piano is Mae Muller, who grew up to finish last but one in this year's contest. But then I got to wondering why we can't have a Eurovision entry as good as this song. The singer was even part of the presenting team ...
On Friday night Southwark Lib Dems had a celebration to mark Simon Hughes' 40 years in public life. Wonderful to join colleagues from across @LibDems and outside to celebrate 40 years of elected Liberals in Southwark and the inspiration that is @SimonHughes. Wonderful speeches from @EdwardJDavey @alsameraia @Riverside_Nick and so many wonderful chats with friends [IMG: 🔸] [IMG: 🔸] [IMG: 🔸] pic.twitter.com/CdtwTq3m8v — Caroline Pidgeon [IMG: 🔶] [IMG: 🇺🇦] (@CarolinePidgeon) May 20, 2023 I find it quite scary that it's 40 years since I, then a teenager in the far north of Scotland, was inspired by his victory in the ...
Diamonds are sexy. That is why they are at the top of the new list of sanctions against Russia. They also represent only $4 billion of Russia's exports. This is a fraction of what Russia is earning in sales of oil, gas and weapons to countries thumbing their noses at Western sanctions. That is why Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida has invited eight additional world leaders to the G7 Summit in Hiroshima this weekend. Gone are the days when the top seven industrialised countries could dictate terms to the rest of the world. If sanctions against Russia are going to work ...
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is engaged in its final consultation on new electoral divisions for Shropshire Council. In my view, it hasn't got the proposals for Ludlow right. If you live in Vashon in Vashon Close, Ballard Close and Baker Close, you could be in a different division (ward) in the local elections in 2025. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is consulting on plans to move these streets from Ludlow South (currently represented by Viv Parry) to Ludlow East (currently represented by Tracey Huffer). The Boundary Commission has a duty to balance the number of ...
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As we mentioned on Friday, the local elections in Northern Ireland took place two weeks later than the ones in England, so we have been able to focus this week on the progress of our sister party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. These are four year all-in, all-out elections using STV. Wards are grouped into District Electoral Areas which elect five, six or seven councillors, depending on size, so understandably, the count has been quite lengthy in some areas. In total 462 seats have been contested across 11 local councils, and the count was only completed at around midnight ...
The BBC add to our knowledge of those who were denied their democratic right to vote earlier this month, with their own survey of local councils and those turned away from polling stations for having no ID. They report that information from 160 of 230 councils where polls were held this year shows 26,165 voters were initially denied ballot papers at polling stations. Of these, 16,588 people came back with valid ID, whilst 9,577 did not return: David Cowling, a former BBC polling expert who is now a visiting research fellow at King's College London, also says it must be ...
The City Council organised Sunday band concerts for Summer 2023 are listed in the poster below - including those at Magdalen Green :
