Embed from Getty ImagesThis summer London Irish followed Worcester and Wasps to become the third Premiership to drop out of the league because of financial problems. Last week Jersey Reds, who play in the second tier and are one of the English game's success stories of recent years, announced they had 'ceased trading' and that liquidation is inevitable unless new funding can be found. Yet this financial crisis may not be the most serious threat rugby union faces. It may be that professionalism has made the game too dangerous. Gavin Francis has reviewed Sam Peters' Concussed: Sport's Uncomfortable Truth in ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: "Sadiq Khan risks being booted out as London Mayor by Tory maverick, exclusive poll shows" was The Sun's headline this week on a poll showing him only 3 points ahead of Conservative candidate Susan Hall. The poll was a legit poll from a respectable pollster, JL Partners, who releases all the proper details of its polls. But should we believe it, given both how heavily London voted Labour in the 2019 general election and the 2022 council elections, not to mention the ...
I am a first time writer for Lib Dem Voice. I attended the Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, also for the first time. If you are struggling financially (and I know many people are) please apply to the Conference Access Fund. I did, and it's been a fantastic process. The vibe and the atmosphere at Conference is one of the most enjoyable experiences in my life. From the security guards, to other party members to those exhibiting and especially the awesome stewards and the conference team. Having said that (before we get onto other parts of the conference such as the ...
"Sex is binary and immutable" is the great myth that underpins "gender critical" ideology. At first glance, it might appear to be plausible, but anything beyond a cursory inspection shows it to be shallow and incorrect. Biology is a complex system, and although broad classifications like sex can be useful for a lay understanding, it falls apart at edge cases and under scrutiny. Intersex people exist, other differences of sexual development do happen, and of course there are also transgender people. Medical science is wonderful and has helped us overcome constraints of biology. Vaccinations help us develop immunity, LASIK corrects ...
Last week we were back at Lib Dem autumn conference for the first time in 4 years. This video was filmed across day one of the gathering in Bournemouth and includes:a look at the exhibition area;the general election briefing;lessons from the Somerton and Frome by-election;Countryside Alliance fringe meeting;and the rally which included videos of Steve Coogan and Carol Vorderman backing fair
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 27% (-1) 47% (+2) 10% (+1) 5% (-1) 7% (+1) -20% 28-29/9 Opinium 29% (+3) 39% (-2) 12% (+1) 7% (nc) 7% (-1) -10% 27-29/9 Techne ...
For very dull reasons I stumbled on what I'd written about the mood in the Liberal Democrats after the party's 2015 autumn Federal Party conference: Ask a Liberal Democrat if education is important and the odds are they will agree at length, believing it not only reflects the party's values but also has an important long-term impact on people's lives. They may also reminisce about the old penny on income tax policy. But listen to what policy area people mention unprompted - whether it is Tim Farron choosing the topic of a party political broadcast or a new member asking ...
I once chose two classics by Dobie Gray - The In Crowd and Drift Away - in consecutive weeks because I like them so much. And here is a third. Out on the Floor often appears in lists of the greatest Northern Soul tracks, sometimes at the top. It was recorded in 1966 and has twice (1975 and 1983) been a minor hit in the UK, and appeared on the wonderfully named 1990 collection album Dobie Gray Sings for 'In' Crowders That 'Go Go'.
Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh is no more. The centuries-old Christian enclave has finally been absorbed into Muslim and Turkish-dominated Azerbaijan. Tens of thousands of residents have fled to refuge in Armenia and many more face the possibility of persecution. The fate of Nagorno-Karabakh has been in dispute since the Persian Empire hived off a considerable slice of the Armenian Kingdom in the seventh century. Since the end of the Cold War it has been the cause of two wars and innumerable skirmishes between Azerbaijan backed Turkey and Armenia backed by Russia. The end of Nagorno-Karabakh has signalled a major shift in the ...
At last, a high-ranking official, who is in the position to know, has unwittingly revealed that what we are all thinking about the plan by right wing Tory Ministers to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, may well be correct. The Guardian reports that Johnston Busingye, high commissioner of Rwanda, backs the UK government's plan to send asylum seekers to his country, but said ministers needed to examine the driving forces of migration. He said it was "immoral" for Britain to claim to be a compassionate country: Busingye was covertly filmed in a meeting in a London club in an investigation ...
So, I don't live in Mid Suffolk any more, thus goodbye Greens, hello Labour, who run Ipswich most of the time - there was a Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration from 2004 to 2011 but nevertheless... In truth, I've never paid much attention to the politics here. Ipswich has surprisingly little impact on its neighbouring authorities, even though it is the county town and largest centre of population, and it is, in a traditional sea of electoral blue, a red island, albeit a real bellwether parliamentary seat, swapping hands as power has done nationally. At the moment, the constituency is held by ...
As residents will recall, we have long campaigned to see improvements of the road surface in Rockfield Crescent, which has long been in a very poor state. We were pleased when the roads maintenance partnership gave a commitment to resurface the road this financial year. Michael is pictured during the works which have resulted in a much better road surface.
