Augustus Carp keeps us up to date with the rapidly developing story about councillors changing allegiance. My online Dictionary gives 'Defection: From the Latin defectionem (nominative defectio), desertion, revolt, failure.' It seems that we are now well into the 'revolt' category when it comes to local government councillors leaving the party under whose flag they were first elected. My intention had been to provide readers with a Christmas special on councillor defections sometime next month. The thinking had been that there wasn't going to be nearly enough movement since May 2023 to warrant anything before then. But events 2500 miles ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: A new report from Bobby Duffy and the team at King's College, based on polling by Ipsos and repeating questions asked in previous years, gives a rounded view of how the public in Britain views culture wars and the trends over time. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and you can sign up below to receive future editions direct to your email inbox:
The small town of Craven Arms in Shropshire was named after a hotel. But the Craven Arms Hotel has seen better days. Now the Shropshire Star reports that plans to convert part of it to flats have been submitted to Shropshire Council. The paper quotes Chris Naylor, the Liberal Democrat PPC for the South Shropshire constituency: "Everyone driving through Craven Arms up and down the A49 sees this huge building boarded up and basically an eyesore. I'm delighted there's a good chance now that it will get a new lease of life. "As a former licensee myself I know how ...
In 1997 mediocre Beatles tribute act Oasis released the woeful Be Here Now album, at least the title was taken from a George Harrison song, so they were honest about their influences. Fast forward to 2023 and there's a universal outpouring of love for the Real Thing©, the final ever Beatles song Now and Then, ... Continue reading 1997 all over again
When I first started listening to music anything that could be called country was deemed beyond the pale by turns atavistic, insincere, schmaltzy. Exceptions might be made for Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline or The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo but that was rock musicians doing country not the dreaded country music itself. Despite successive attempts over the decades to make country cool through labels such as new country, cowpunk, alt-country, Americana or whatever, and Dolly Parton becoming an international treasure, I still feel that to tell someone I'm going to a concert by a country artist is to invite an ...
One of the best speeches at Scottish Conference yesterday was made by 12 year old Noah. He was introducing his "mini motion" which proposed that childcare should be available universally for all children from birth to when they start nursery. Mini motions are an innovation of the Scottish Conference Committee. They aim to make the policy process less intimidating for members. Rather than produce a traditional motion, they sum up their idea in a couple of hundred words. They then introduce it with a 3 minute speech and members then respond with 1 minute interventions. An indicative vote is then ...
Alex Cole-Hamilton's speech to Scottish Conference yesterday was bright, confident, full of new ideas and contained a very positive and robust statement on our future relationship with the European Union. He also talked about the Israel/Hamas War and the Lib Dem commitment to humanitarian values. He had been introduced by Gloria Adebo, our brilliant candidate in the Rutherglen and Hamilton by-election Here it is in full: Thank you so much Gloria. Conference, Gloria had never run for Parliament before, but you wouldn't know it from the warmth and reception she receives on the doors. She is a natural campaigner. A ...
Despite being a cask beer drinker since the 1980s, until very recently I have held off joining the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). There are a few reasons for this, but the main one was disagreement with certain of CAMRA's policy positions, including a sense that was overly purist and that it was silly to make a fetish of the means of dispense rather than the quality of the beer. With hindsight this wasn't very logical. If disagreement with some of an organisation's policies was an impediment to joining, I would never have signed up to the Liberal party back ...
I heard this song twice on Friday. First piped into Tesco's and then again on the soundtrack of the film The Eyes of Laura Mars. I got the message. Native New Yorker was written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, and first recorded in 1977 by Fanki Valli. But it was the New York disco band Odyssey who had a hit with it on both sides of the Atlantic: they reached number 5 in the UK singles chart early the following year. Indeed, Odyssey enjoyed more success over here - three more big hits including a number 1 - and ...
There's a fun interview with Councillor Sally Pattle in Holyrood Magazine which includes this gem: Who is the best-known person from your area? Everybody knows Mary Queen of Scots was born in Linlithgow Palace, as was her father, James V, but we are quite proud that Scotty from Star Trek will be born in Linlithgow in about 300 years. On more traditional political fare: What made you stand for election? I had become more involved in the community through the bookshop, Far From the Madding Crowd, in working with most of the schools and on how we keep the High ...
Scottish Lib Dem Autumn Conference in Edinburgh yesterday was an absolute blast and showed the party at its best. I love going to Conference and catching up with old friends, but this time there were so many new people to get to know as well. One of them, Lauren Buchanan-Quigley from Dunfermline, criticised the UK Government for trying to force disabled people back into work without ensuring that workplaces were accessible. She talked also about the scandal of people with assistance dogs being denied access to hospitals. Scottish Liberal Democrats have led the way on pressing the Scottish Government to ...
The Guardian reports that Tory MPs are preparing to force the government to toughen up its planned leasehold reforms in England and Wales after it was revealed that, while the bill is expected to include a ban on developers selling new houses under leasehold, government sources have told the Guardian it will not extend that ban to flats, which make up about 70% of all leasehold properties. Several senior Tories said they wanted the government to end leasehold for new houses and flats, and were willing to bring their own amendments to the bill if it failed to do so. ...
When Shropshire Council was established in 2009, the Conservatives gained a majority of 34 over the opposition parties and independents. Fast forward to 2023. The Conservative majority has been reduced to just four. The Tories are in peril of losing votes they need to win in the council chamber. They are also in danger of losing more by-elections. They have lost the last four to the Lib Dems. Although leading Conservatives are blaming their problems on the national government, their problems lie closer to home. They have shown little interest in communities. They haven't listened to people. They have become ...
Justice secretary Alex Chalk's proposals could see prison terms of less than 12 months axed for offenders - critics of the move include revenge porn victim Georgia Harrison I was so appalled by the revelations in the media over the ... Continue reading →
All unpaid carers welcome at the West End Connecting Carers Café! Details below :
