When I posted the USAAF photograph of Market Harborough in 1943 or 1944, one of the features I singled out was the prisoner of war camp in Farndon Road. I was down there this morning, and I'm pretty sure that this long since fenced off turning on to Farndon Road was once one of the entrances to that camp. There's lots of information about the camp on the East Farndon website, including friendships between German prisoners and local families that lasted long after the war. I'm used to seeing pictures of village children with Italian prisoners of war, but it's ...
Fri 1st
20:03
Here's proof the Lib Dems are the challengers in Mid Bedfordshire: The Tories are talking up the Lab...
Byline Times has an eye-widening article about Festus Akinbusoye, the Conservative candidate in the Mid Bedfordshire by-election. It's worth reading the whole thing, but let me draw your attention to this comment about a newspaper delivered on his behalf: Akinbysoye's paper also describes a "close two-horse race between Labour and local Conservatives". If the Tories are talking up the Labour vote, you can be damn sure it the Lib Dems they're more afraid of.
Four by-election wins in little over two years, an encouraging set of council results in May, the governing party suffering dreadful poll ratings - it's a time of optimism for the Liberal Democrats! Or is it? Sorry to prick the bubble, but there's an elephant in the room. That elephant is our national opinion poll rating, which is resolutely refusing to rise above the 10-12% range. With the Conservatives doing so badly, a feeling that a once-in-roughly-15-years change in government is approaching, and the reality of the Brexit disaster becoming clearer by the day, we should be up to 20% ...
This policy paper deserves careful study in advance of our Conference in Bournemouth, as it contains many good ideas for tackling the housing crisis, which must be one of the most important priorities of a Liberal Democrat-led Government. The section on the very important and complex issue of leasehold reform at the end, has been included in the chapter on The Planning System, and says "(we) would fix the flaws in the current planning system by..." and there follow four bullet points, of which the last is "Abolish leasehold for residential properties and cap ground rents to a nominal value." ...
I was listening a while back to someone on a video online. He spoke about family. He spoke about personal responsibility. And he spoke about the need for a strong, resilient and just society. I can get behind all of these things. But he then segued into how abortion is evil and how anyone who thinks otherwise is going straight to hell. As someone who thinks that the topic of abortion is actually a little more nuanced than this, I was already preparing myself for my fiery fate. Because the moment this American gentleman started talking about family, I just ...
The timing could not have been worse. This is the most stressful part of the school year for teachers and Heads, getting the buildings ready for the new intake, checking all the tech, induction for new staff and planning a term's worth of lessons. For pupils there is some anticipation and excitement, tinged perhaps with a bit of anxiety, as they prepare to move into a into a new school or a new class next week. So it beggars belief that the Government should announce this week that a large number of schools in England have defective buildings which must ...
I am not one of those people who cry foul at every perceived slight to Wales, especially where money is involved. We are part of the United Kingdowm and we are dependent on their government for the funding that enables us to provide important services. The Welsh Government also has limited taxation powers and is able to borrow to invest in important infrastructure. Nevertheless, there are instances when the rules by which we are financed are deliberately broken by UK Ministers, to avoid having to provide us with valuable resources. One such instance is the failure to allow a Barnett ...
Michael is pictured at Blackness Road near to the bus shelter at the very western end of the road on its north side. We are grateful to residents to contacted us about a missing utility cover which posed a trip hazard for people crossing to the bus stop. We therefore reported this to the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership to get this resolved.
Here's the latest tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held since the last May round of local elections.
Three principal authority council by-elections this week, with two of them having Lib Dem candidates. Though it's disappointing not to have a full slate, that is at least one up on the last time these wards were up. Swadlincote South (Derbyshire) Council By-Election Result: LAB: 62.2% (+29.8) CON: 37.8% (-21.4) No GRN (-8.4) as previous. Labour GAIN from Conservative Changes w/ 2021. — Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) August 31, 2023
