Last week I was in the unusual situation of having no Focuses to delivery. It was a situation that changed rapidly thanks to the Lib Dem team in Whickham North. They discovered I had no leaflets and decided to help me out of my urgent need to put newsletters through people's doors by giving me 200 to deliver. Two streets in Swalwell enjoyed my company - Park Terrace and Napier Road, the latter
Ofwat on exec pay: Toothless regulator needs to ban bonuses Health Secretary must be accountable for mouth cancer link to lack of dental care Braverman article: Home Sec is running a leadership campaign, not her department Ofwat on exec pay: Toothless regulator needs to ban bonuses Responding to the latest announcement by the water industry regulator Ofwat, which rules out banning executive bonuses despite the sewage scandal, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: The British public will be reading this and screaming at regulators to just get on with banning these insulting bonuses. Every penny spent on exec ...
John Betjeman chose to survey children's books for his About Books column in the 16 December 1943 issue of the Daily Herald. He wasn't enthusiastic about the standard of the new volumes on offer, but did find something to praise:One called Mystery at Witchend, by Malcolm Savile (Newnes. 7s net), about three evacuee children who have a fine time in Salop catching German spies, stands out as rather better written than most. The success of books of this sort depends on how well they can be re-enacted in the back garden with one's friends. The last-named can.
John explains on YouTube: Our walk today takes into the secret world of St James's with its many passages, courtyards and cellars. We're guided by a route described in Secret London by Andrew Duncan which starts at Piccadilly Circus and goes along Piccadilly. We then walk through the Wren Church of St James's Piccadilly to Jermyn Street and follow this into Bennet Street and then down a set of steps into Park Place and the home of the Royal Over Seas League. From here we find Blue Ball Yard and then Spencer House in St James's Place and another secret ...
The recall petition for Peter Bone, the Conservative MP for Wellingborough, opened today. This follows Bone's six-week suspension from the House of Commons after the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards upheld five allegations of bullying and one of sexual misconduct against him. The petition will remain open until Tuesday 19 December. You can find full details of the petition process on the North Northamptonshire Council website. Voters will receive the equivalent of a polling card telling them where they can sign and reminding them of the need to bring photographic proof of identity when they do so. Registered postal voters will ...
Kingston Nub News reports: 23 October saw the launch of the first building block, Arun House, as part of Kingston Council's Small Sites Housing project. Holding 18 homes, the site is one of four small sites which will see 101 new affordable, sustainable council homes built by Kingston Council and development partners Countryside. Waseem Ahmab, 47, moved into his new home with his wife and three children in August this year. His ground-floor apartment provides a standing frame, a wheelchair and a hoist for his disabled thirteen-year-old son... Present was Kingston MP Sir Ed Davey, Cllr Emily Davey, the Mayor ...
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has emphasised the need to follow international law when talking with the media.
Pro-Palestine March Last weekend (4th and 5th November) I caught a snatch of an interview on BBC Radio 4 with one of the organisers of the Pro-Palestine march in London on the coming weekend. The organiser sounded balanced and rational (about the pros and cons of holding the march: not the pros and cons of the Arab-Israeli conflict - that wasn't the topic). The route had been agreed perfectly amicably with the police, who seemed happy with it, it didn't go anywhere near the Cenotaph and in any case the Remembrance Proceedings at the Cenotaph would be over, as the ...
Last year I went on the Mile End Institute podcast with Professor Tim Bale (role-reversal for us there!) to discuss polls, and our conversation is even more relevant now as a general election nears: The Week in Polls Sign up to receive the free version of my weekly round-up of political polling news: "*" indicates required fields Email* Enter Email Confirm Email Name* First Last If you submit this form, your data will be used in line with the privacy policy here to update you on the topic(s) selected. This may including using this data to contact you via a ...
The response to our first Green Book podcast was hugely encouraging. We're now working on the second in the series, looking at the climate emergency, focused on the challenge of net zero, and asking how the Lib Dems can recover our leading position on the environment. That will go live later this month. First, though, what did we learn for the debate on the economy? We began here because concerns about the economy, be they low paid jobs, insecurity or our apparent inability to fund decent public services and infrastructure, are at the top of most people's concerns. The lack ...
London Mayoral candidate Rob Blackie has criticised the Government's ban on Nitrous Oxide which, as the BBC reports, has come into force Now categorised as a class C drug, possession of laughing gas for its "psychoactive effects" will carry a sentence of up to two years in prison. The government says the ban will combat anti-social behaviour and reduce damage to users' health. Experts previously warned against a ban saying it would be disproportionate to the level of harm it causes. Nitrous oxide is regularly used as a painkiller in medicine and dentistry. When mixed with oxygen, it is known ...
Marina Hyde is coruscating in the Guardian about Nadine Dorries' new book 'The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson', suggesting that the narrative, rather than being an exposé of actual things that happen in Downing Street, may well be instead, an exposé of Nadine's credulity/state of mind after not getting a peerage. Hyde's explanation of the dead cat theory and its possible demise, though, is worth a read: Anyway, by way of welcome byproducts, it would be nice to think that Nadine's failure to burn down the whole Conservative government with her book would lead to the permanent demise ...
Ed Davey has been on Sky News talking about the King's Speech. He called for a General Election to put a Government that has run out of ideas out of its misery. In the debate in the Commons yesterday, Ed said: May I, like others, start by paying tribute to His Majesty for delivering his first King's Speech? It was clearly an historic moment, but for our King it must have been an emotional one. He made reference to his late mother, our late, amazing Queen, and many of us listening to him felt that he delivered that speech with ...
The mosaic outside the Rep in Tay Square is unfortunately needing repair again. We raised this with the City Council and the Head of Planning & Economic Development has assured us he will ask an appropriate colleague to take repairs forward.
