"One of the leaders of the German branch of the QAnon movement - a conspiracy founded on the belief that Donald Trump was doing battle with a cabal of Satanic paedophiles led by Hillary Clinton and George Soros, among others - was at first best known as the author of vegan cookbooks." James Ball maps the path that leads from concern for your health to conspiracy theories and then fascism. Pen Hemingway on the horrors of the prison hulks: "By the turn of the 20th century, it was thought the hulks were a ridiculous concept; degrading, repellent, best sunk in ...
If so, you're an absolute hero. The job of agent, keeping the candidate and campaign on the right side of the law, recording donations and making the returns to the Electoral Commission is essential. It's hard work and it doesn't end on polling day. I feel like we need to appreciate those who act as agents more. For this coming election, all election agents need to be certified by the Party as required by the Electoral Commission. This is a really good thing as it means that every agent will have been through training and will know where to get ...
"£350m a week more for the NHS". That was the tagline used by the Leave Campaign to peddle Brexit. It was plastered over the official Brexit bus, promoted by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Major news outlets, including the BBC, debunked this, which revealed the UK was sending closer to £161m a week. This falsehood was not the only lie perpetuated by the Leave Campaign. They claimed working people would save money by not having to pay tax contributions – a report from the Resolution Foundation and LSE has since found that Brexit has exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis, with working ...
"Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change," wrote neoclassical economist and free-market libertarian Milton Friedman. "When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around." We need ideas. And when we need them, Milton argues, we need them in a hurry. And so we need ideas 'lying around'. Ideally good ones. Milton knew a bit about ideas*. He was one of the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics. He wrote books, academic papers and newspaper columns. He brought monetary policy back onto the agenda. He advised governments ...
Conservatives of all shades seem resigned to being in opposition after the next General Election. Apart from minimising losses by trying to trip up Kier Starmer, what is the strategy ? What are they thinking about the future, and are there any useful potential implications for other parties ? The idea gaining traction amongst some senior Conservatives is that, since the economic fundamentals are so bad, conditions for almost all of the population will continue to deteriorate during 2024 and 2025. Therefore it is better to get Starmer and the Labour Party into government as early as politically possible. The ...
Team Low Fell have just published their latest eFocus, no. 127. Issues covered include:Council backs down on Valley Drive;Trees on Dryden Road;New bus shelter on Durham Road;Chowdene Bank cut backAlbert Drive lighting.You can read eFocus on this link.
Ellen Milligan reports on Bloomberg: The British premier this month plans to announce proposals to build interest in the game by expanding instruction in schools and installing 100 chess tables in public parks, people familiar with the matter said. The announcement is due at a ceremony featuring an over-sized set on 10 Downing Street's lawn, they added. Sunak will also earmark £500,000 ($640,000) of funding for the English Chess Federation, they said. The grant to help send teams to international tournaments would be the first time the UK government has financially backed its national squads. Number 10 declined to comment, ...
Former Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson and her husband Duncan Hames are getting used to being outnumbered by their children at the moment. On Friday night, their third son, Robin arrived. Last night, his proud mum announced his arrival on Instagram Welcome to the world, our baby boy Robin! Born at home on Friday night, a happy and healthy 8lb 3oz bundle of love. . The best things come to those who wait, and though he didn't appear until 17 days after his due date, he didn't hang about in the end: first contraction to delivery a very intense 1hr ...
It's worth taking a moment to think about the enormity of the events in the US. I remember that day, not far off 49 years ago, when the resignation of a US President was of such monumental importance that there was tv at breakfast time. Almost half a century on, there's a 24 hour news cycle and social media to chew over the fact that a former leader of the free world has been charged with trying to fraudulently overturn the result of the election in which he was defeated by Joe Biden. You can read the whole indictment here ...
The Guardian reports on a new study by thinktanks Civil Exchange and the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, which argues that anti-protest laws and culture wars perpetrated by the government, and imposed on the charity sector, are having a "chilling effect" on public campaigning. They say that the findings came in a report titled Defending Our Democratic Spaces: In an assessment about the state of British democracy, the report said there had been attempts to portray judges, lawyers, charities, campaigners and parts of the media as a "block to democracy rather than key components of it". The report added: "We must recognise ...
Residents contacted us about the very worn white junction lining at two junctions in Benvie Road - at Fyffe Street and Mitchell Street. We took this matter up with the Roads Maintenance Partnership along with the need for resurfacing at both junctions. Refreshed white lining is now promised although we have been advised there's not enough funding for resurfacing at present. There is definitely a need for greater capital funding for roads and will continue to campaign for this.
