New research reveals four week waits for GPs three times higher in rural areas than urban ones Lib Dems to adopt pre-manifesto with right to see a GP within a week at its heart Ed Davey calls for strategy to close urban rural divide in access to GPs The proportion of people waiting four weeks or more for a GP appointment is three times higher in rural parts of England than in London, stark new figures published by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. It comes as Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey calls on the government to launch a new strategy ...
Here's the pic of one of the goats. The cliff is quite steep so it makes sense that goats, which have evolved to climb vertical cliffs, rather than people take on the job of vegetation control.
A number of people mentioned to me today that they had seen goats on the cliff in front of the Highcliff Hotel here in Bournemouth. So I had a look and there they were: three billy goats presumably there to clear the vegetation. If made me feel right at home!
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention poll from each pollster currently operating in Britain. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRUKCon leadFieldwork WeThink 28% (+1) 45% (+1) 9% (-2) 6% (nc) 6% (-1) -17% 21-22/9 Techne 26% (nc) 45% (-1) 11% (+1) 7% (+1) 5% (-1) -19% 20-21/9 More ...
Well, here I am, in Bournemouth, enjoying the sunny weather and meeting people I haven't seen for ages. There are however lots of people here at Lib Dem conference I don't recognise. Assuming I can get the hotel WiFi to work (don't count on it) I will keep posting from Bournemouth throughout conference. In the meantime I need to head to the rally.
"Neil Oliver and his pals see themselves as radical, romantic revolutionaries, but they are really nothing more than a dismal combination of David Icke and Liz Truss. They have nothing useful to say. Please don't indulge them." Chris Deerin on the online stars of the conspirasphere. Andrew Rawnsley says Theresa May's memoirs leave no stone unturned, except when it comes to her own failings. "Our national record on infrastructure and amenities since 2010 has been consistently awful. After getting back onto a growth path from 2011 onwards we could've taken advantage of rock bottom interest rates to borrow and invest ...
I could die today.I've thought that many timessince I was a troubled personin my teenage years –before the suicide attempt –but less and less once I took my lifein hand,to simplify and move it forward... So it was a shock to realise in A&Ethat it was your life that's hangingby a thread more slender than my [...]
Without a doubt, the Ukrainian Military's recent counteroffensive has proved more challenging than the last one. Ukraine's ability to put together such counteroffensives and defend the wider country remains at the mercy of the generosity of military aid donors. "Give us the tools and we will finish the job" Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky pleaded. However, the arrival of military aid has often been delayed for political reasons as much as logistical ones. This counteroffensive for instance has seen the Ukrainian Military forced to determinedly advance without air cover. This is despite the Ukrainian Government requesting Fighter Jets, such as F-16s, ...
Perhaps the thing that the HS2 debacle is most symbolic of is our total inability as a nation to plan and implement major infrastructure costs. I reproduce below an excellent article on HS2 which has just popped on the Guardian ... Continue reading →
Tim Farron makes the first policy speech of conference this morning The first policy speech of the first in-person autumn conference since 2019 brought a smile to my face and very positively answered the question "What is Tim Farron for?" "F5 Combatting Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery" kicked off conference after we conducted the religious rites of the Liberal Democrat religion (Amendments to standing orders and reports to FCC/FPC). "There is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker" was Tim's opening salvo. He linked to our preamble: "no-one shall be enslaved" and yet that we have 100,000 people living ...
At least Freddie and Fiona don't have a new job this time, so they're a little less like Julian and Sandy. Thursday Dinner with Freddie and Fiona. I arrive at their top-floor flat to find they have no cook, nor even a kitchen. Instead, I am handed a bundle of menus that encompasses every cuisine you can imagine (though I note there is no Rutland takeaway in this fashionable quarter of London - do I sniff a business opportunity?) I make my choice - a Norman Lamb dhansak with naan bread - and then my hosts telephone the restaurant to ...
Happily coinciding with the first day of our first terrestrial conference since the Ice Age, today is the 25th anniversary of Bi Visibility Day, also known as "Does this thing open from the inside?" Day. Over on Stonewall's website, their digital officer, George Alabaster, has answered the question "Why do we need Bi Visibility Day?": Bi people are often the forgotten part of the LGBTQ+ community. Our experiences are commonly assumed to be the same as lesbian and gay experiences, and our identities are frequently made invisible or dismissed as something that doesn't exist, by people both inside and outside ...
Writing for The Scotsman, Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael says: Nationalist MSPs are starting to look around at each other and realise they have little in common besides the nationalism. SNP members who see themselves as progressive found earlier this year that almost half of their fellow nationalists wanted to be led by Kate Forbes, someone so conservative that, were it not for independence, she could comfortably fit within the Tory party... For evidence of this, you need only look over to the Western Isles, where Angus MacNeil was expelled after complaining that there was no serious plan for independence ...
Conference kicks off officially today. The whirlwind of debate and socialising and fringe meetings is guaranteed to have at least three things in every slot that you want to go to. Here's my pick of the fringe for today, all of which can be found in the directory: Saturday lunchtime 1-2:30 Federal Conference Committee invite people to suggest ways of improving disability access at future Conferences. I suspect the New Liberal Manifesto's meeting with Sir John Curtice on the need for the party to have bolder messaging will be very busy, so get there early. It's chaired by Layla and ...
As the Prime Minister moves the goalposts on key environmental targets, the UK car industry has more concerns and yes, the problem is Brexit as advocated and supported by ministers in the current government. The Guardian reports that the responsible European Commissioner has ruled that the Brexit trade deal should not be reopened just to satisfy demands from some sectors of the UK and EU motor industry concerned about looming tariffs on electric cars. The paper says that EU leaders have come under pressure to suspend 10% tariffs on electric car exports that are expected to begin in January under ...
Sat 23rd
07:30
'Tutoring for the millions': Lib Dems plan booster classes for almost 2 million children
Liberal Democrats will offer free small-group tutoring to 1.75 million children a year who struggle with their learning, the party's education spokesperson will say today (23 September). It comes analysis by the party shows that more than one in seven teenagers fall behind with English or Maths at secondary school. These 64,000 students meet government reading and maths standards at age 11 but then fail either GCSE English or Maths at age 16. In her keynote speech at the party's Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, Munira Wilson MP will accuse Rishi Sunak of letting down these children by "pulling the plug" ...
Blether Tay-Gither is the Dundee Storytelling Group. From Sheila Kinninmonth, Blether Tay-Gither's secretary : Blether Tay-Gither is back! After a summer hiatus we are getting back on track and meeting this month at Dudhope Castle in Dundee. With the signs of harvest all around we thought it would be a fitting theme. And there are no shortage of stories from around the world that link with the harvest. So come along and tell a tale, listen, and have a cup of tea. Tuesday September 26th - 7pm - 9pmDudhope CastleDundee
