Embed from Getty ImagesSimon Hoggart had a theory about John Major: It was always my theory that John Major was a Nigerian who had learned English from the battered paperbacks he had borrowed at an up-country British Council library. Hence his curiously dated language, such as "fine words butter no parsnips". But the latest edition of Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart's Leading podcast makes it clear that this is not the reason Major talks the way he does. The true explanation is that John Major is a Victorian. or at least learnt to speak from a Victorian. His father was ...
Yet another edition of eFocus from Gateshead Lib Dems, this time from the Low Tell team, was published yesterday. Issues covered include:Consultation on cycling and walkingJoint Police and Councillor Surgery on 24th JuneNo need to close Leisure Centres nowWeeds cleared on Beacon Lough RoadCarters' Well clean upSir Ed Davey interviewSchool road safety improvementsYou can read eFocus on this link.
Thinking it to be an historic occasion (no Prime Minister has ever before been subjected to such excoriating criticism) I tuned in to the BBC's Parliamentary Channel to watch yesterday's debate on the Privileges Committee's Report on ex Prime Minister Johnson's truthfulness or otherwise when speaking to the Commons about the parties in Downing Street during the Lockdowns The debate was opened with measured dignity by the Leader of the House, Penny Mordaunt, who in another capacity had achieved recognition and fame by holding the Sword of State Upright for ages at the King's coronation. M/s Mordaunt welcomed the report, ...
But this should not take away from the significance of this vote. And by the way, we should bear in mind that, inherent in the vote accepting the report, was the agreement of the house with this statement: We recommend that he should not be entitled to a former Member's pass. That is big. It's like being black-balled in a London club for being a "bad lot". I think of Marcus Ball who, facing personal hardship, took Boris Johnson to court concerning his statements. Mr Ball has some vindication today. But most of all I think of all those who ...
Tue 20th
09:18
Thinking of standing for election or re-election next year? Helpful questions to consider
This May's council elections extended the run of net gains for the Liberal Democrats to five rounds in a row and also saw a welcome boost in candidate numbers. But on both fronts we've still got some way to go to catch-up with Labour and the Conservatives. So we need more people than usual to think about standing next time, and also more people than usual to encourage others to think about standing too. Of course, saying yes to standing isn't the right answer for everyone. There's a whole bundle of factors that go into making the right decision, from ...
Yesterday Suella Bravermen wrote to police forces across England and Wales to encourage them to use stop and search powers more. She says that this will help tackle violent crime. In fact, it will waste police time on trivialities instead of catching dangerous criminals. Stop and search isn't well focussed on finding criminals. Only just over one in ten stops leads to an arrest[1]. In fact a 2019 study found that 'Overall, our analysis of ten years' worth of London-wide data suggests that although stop and search had a weak association with some forms of crime, this effect was at ...
The Guardian carries a feature on the crisis facing our beaches and waterways, as more and more raw sewage is discharged there. The paper says that between 15 May and 30 September last year, sewage was dumped into designated bathing waters more than 5,000 times. There were an average of 825 sewage spills every single day into England's waterways in 2022. In the north west, United Utilities discharged untreated sewage almost 70,000 times last year, while Severn Trent Water discharged sewage through storm overflows 44,765 times in the same period. In just a single eight-day stretch, Southern Water dumped more ...
From Sheena Wellington of Friends of Wighton : Tomorrow - Wednesday 21st June - Make Music Day! 10.30am - 4.30pm (free to attend) Celebrate Make Music Day at the Wighton! A chance to see some of our treasured music books up close and personal and to hear : 11am - 12 noon The Doolichters - Dundee's oldest boy band. The Doolichters comprise 4 ageing but sophisticated musicians with their own peculiar take on their home city of Dundee. Currently working on the 4th album in their musical trilogy, they have taken time off from their busy recording schedule to add ...
