As a service to my readers, I thought that I ought to test out this invitation from the Conservative Party... Naturally, I was keen to test their figures against my own calculation, given all of the suggestions from public minded users of X that I might be disappointed. And no, I did not accept the kind invitation to be kept updated by them as to their campaigning - my e-mail inbox is quite busy enough as it is. Having entered my details into the e-form - name, approximate salary and e-mail address - I was told that I could ...
Eric Loveland Heath writes of growing up in the Shropshire village of Snailbeach and his artistic reaction to it today. I grew up amongst the ruined mine buildings of Snailbeach in the shadow of the Stiperstones. Not everyone can say that. A strange, dank and mysterious place, set high on a hill and far cry from the London streets I was used to. Further up, along the Stiperstones sat the Devil's Chair, where on a misty day the dark lord himself was said to sit. The Stiperstones themselves were his fault as well. Apparently he dropped them from his apron ...
Sun 7th
14:55
Tories choose Peter Bone's partner as their candidate for the Wellingborough by-election
Wellingborough Conservatives met this afternoon to choose their candidate in the forthcoming by-election. Their choice? Helen Harrison, who is Peter Bone's live-in partner. She is also an executive member of North Northamptonshire Council and a physiotherapist who could claim to be the only local name on the Tory shortlist. I've seen it suggested that this is a Cunning Plan to dissuade Bone from standing as an Independent himself. But the way David Cameron used to flatter Bone at PMQs - whatever happened to Mrs Bone, by the way? - is a good example of the attitude to their far-right that ...
In the last few days the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, has been the focus of questions about his role in the Post Office Horizon scandal. ITV's drama Mr Bates v The Post Office has, unsurprisingly, led to the expressions of anger at the miscarriage of justice and the dishonesty of the Post Office. It has also, less understandably, resulted in a focus on Mr Davey - who has been portrayed by some news outlets as a useless minister who refused to meet Mr Bates and naively believed Post Office management. Others, such as Kelvin McKenzie, have gone so far ...
At the 2023 Autumn Liberal Democrat conference, we changed our position on school accountability in England away from the "abolish OFSTED" line, to a more pragmatic viewpoint of reforming our system of school accountability. I have taken the time to set out what reform should actually look like. 2023 was, I think it is fair to say, a fairly tumultuous year for the schools inspectorate, OFSTED. From the tragic death of Ruth Perry to increasing disquiet about the blunt-tool of single gradings. However, whilst disquiet has been on the rise, 2023 has also seen an increase in high-quality research about ...
Sun 7th
10:38
Farron: Victims of Post Office scandal need compensation, not being weaponised by the Tories
The ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office has highlighted the dreadful injustice suffered by so many sub postmasters, as John Barrett outlined yesterday. I haven't seen it yet, but I know it will be very uncomfortable to watch. Yet again in my lifetime, something has gone very wrong with a public service and it takes too long for the victims to be taken seriously. Windrush, Hillsborough, numerous health scandals are just a handful of others. Government needs to find a way of being much quicker to react when things go wrong and not just dismiss concerns until they ...
The Independent strikes a familiar note with their report that Rishi Sunak has warned he will curb benefits and government spending to help fund tax cuts. The paper says that in a new interview, the prime minister said his priority was cutting taxes, but that would result in "difficult decisions" having to be made on public spending, without going into specifics: The prime minister told The Sunday Telegraph: "When I say that I want to keep cutting taxes, that's what we're going to deliver. We're going to do that responsibly. That requires difficult decisions on public spending. It requires difficult ...
McConnel in Ludlow has applied for planning permission to expand its premises on Weeping Cross Lane (23/05270/FUL). It wants to expand the workshop space, install new staff facilities and improve the entrance to the site. There are many light engineering businesses in Ludlow and they form part of the backbone of the town's economy. McConnel is one of our largest engineering employers. It proudly declares itself the "Home of the Hedgecutter". This is a welcome application. It shows that McConnel is committed to Ludlow. In the long term. That is good news for jobs, all the people that work for ...
I don't know why this song sounds so familiar: it wasn't a hit in the UK or anywhere much else when it was released as a single in 1994. But that may be the effect the Smithereens wanted on someone of my generation, because Wikipedia tells us: Along with a basic East coast roots-rock sound that owed much to musicians who inspired DiNizio, including the Who, the Clash, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, The Smithereens deployed a uniquely retro obsession with Mod, the late British Invasion pop of John's Children and the Move and other artifacts of 1950s and 1960s ...
Israel "The Day After Gaza" - as the discussion about what to do after the fighting is called in Israel, is the number one topic in the Israeli cabinet. Not surprisingly, the coalition government is hopelessly divided. On the far-right side are the representatives of the Ultra-Orthodox parties led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. They want to "encourage" the Palestinians to leave the Gaza and replace them with Jewish settlers. A shade more reasonable is Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who wants Israel to retain overall security control while working with a multi-national force in ...
Residents will be aware that we have continually raised concerns about the repeated flooding issues that have led to numerous closures including the issues following the recent Storm Gerrit that has resulted in the civic amenity site being closed since Christmas. Fraser's actions and comments about the situation appeared in last Thursday's Courier and Evening Telegraph - see - and we have gone back to the Waste Services Manager about the Riverside situation. We have asked for an update on works that are being undertaken to ensure a long-term solution to the continual flooding closures and the timescales of ...
