The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: At first glance, the figures published by Muslim Census this week seemed clear, and dramatic... Though even in that there were two warning signs about how good this data is. One is the unusually large sample size, 30,000. Unusually large even for a normal survey of the whole national population and a sample size that would a real challenge for any traditional pollster to get close to matching from British Muslims alone. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week ...
Sun 29th
17:00
Shropshire Council is consulting on fines for dog owners whose dogs poo in a public place
The council is consulting on the most draconian anti-dog rules in Britain. One of the most punitive rules being proposed is to fine dog owners if their dogs poops anywhere that the public can access, even if the public pay to access the land, even if it is cleared up. There is a welcome prospect of dog owners being fined if they don't clear up poop. Shropshire Council has had these powers since 2013 but it hasn't used them more than a few times. The proposed Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) will extend the power of issuing a fixed penalty ...
Research from both Paul Whiteley and also Will Jennings shows how Parliamentary by-election and general election results match up.
Trump Trump has been too tight-fisted for his own good. That is the judgement of number of those observing the trial of ex-president Donald Trump on racketeering charges related to his alleged efforts to subvert the Georgia electoral process. So far, three lawyers and one bail-bondsman out of 19 of Trump's co-defendants – have flipped, pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the ex-president. One of the main reasons for their change of heart is believed to be astronomical legal fees. America's top legal eagles are expected to turn up in the Georgia courtroom for the Trump trial. Their fees ...
I must have heard the Rolling Stones' hits in the Sixties, but I don't remember them the way I can remember hearing and liking Penny Lane and Eleanor Rigby. So Angie, which reached number 5 in the UK single chart in the autumn of 1973 and topped the US chart, was my introduction to them. Discover Music describes its genesis: It was their 24th US single (18th in Britain) and over the years many have speculated that it was inspired by Angie, David Bowie's wife, or even Keith's daughter. Keith, who wrote the majority of the song's music and lyrics, ...
Alex Davies was Vince Cable's Chief of Staff when he was Lib Dem leader between 2017 and 2019, a time of tumultuous and febrile politics when our "Bollocks to Brexit" message gained us 16 MEPs at the same time as we won hundreds of new councillors. We used the unique opportunities offered to us in the European elections to the max. He, like many of us in the party, including me, are concerned that the party's messaging is too timid for the coming General Election and feel that we need to be offering a much more distinctive liberal voice. Having ...
The Independent reports on the view of top economists that Britain's beauty industry has suffered a £850m slump in exports to the EU since Brexit. The paper says that experts believe that the sector has suffered from customs hold-ups and increased red tape costs since the UK quit the bloc in January 2020: The Oxford Economics study, commissioned by the British Beauty Council, discovered a marked decline in exports to EU countries despite sales holding steady in the rest of the world. The research also found that the decline in EU workers had created skills shortage in the sector, while ...
Timing. Brilliant musicians have it. Amazing dancers have it. Stunning actors have it. And sometimes great journalists display it too.
Our Manx Steam Engine having delivered us safely at Port Erin where we went for a charming walk around the Bay. Erica enjoyed the trip every bit as much as I did! Erica and I have just come back from ... Continue reading →
As residents will be aware, following Storm Babet and the continuing heavy rain since, the Riverside Recycling Centre has been closed due to flooding. We asked the council for an update and received this on Friday from the Assistant Waste Services Manager : "Despite ongoing efforts to pump hundreds of thousands of litres of flood water out of the site by both ground pumps and gully tankers, the Yellow weather warning and torrential rain has set us back a number of days with the water levels having increased again overnight. Unfortunately we are not in a position to be able ...
