Congratulations to my old friend Phil Knowles, who has been chosen to fight the Harborough, Oadby and Wigston constituency at this year's general election. Phil is the leader of the Liberal, Labour and Green coalition that took control of Harborough District Council from the Tories last May. Last week the council announced a freeze in the amount of council tax it will charge residents in the new financial year. Phil stood for the neighbouring South Leicestershire constituency at the last general election.
Another big batch of new Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates to welcome and wish good luck to: 88 this time. So a deep breath and welcome to: Aldridge-Brownhills: Ian Garrett, Arundel and South Downs: Richard Allen, Ashton-under-Lyne: Dominic Hardwick, Aylesbury: Steve Lambert, Banbury: Liz Adams, Barnsley North: Penny Baker, Barnsley South: Simon Clement-Jones, Bethnal Green and Stepney: Rabina Khan, Bexhill and Battle: Becky Jones, Bedford: Henry Vann, Bexleyheath and Crayford: David McBride, Birkenhead: David Jones, Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley: Izzy Knowles, Birmingham Ladywood: Lee Dargue, Birmingham Yardley: Roger Harmer, Bournemouth West: Jeff Hanna, Braintree: Kieron Franks, Bridgend: Claire Waller, ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: Welcome to the 94th edition of The Week in Polls, which is a bit of a behemoth as it dives head first into polling about the UK's relationship with the European Union. It's a big issue and there's been a lot of polling, so grab a coffee, tea or hot chocolate and sit back... 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: ...
Sun 11th
17:59
Brief Encounter, Kind Hearts and Coronets: Two outstanding podcasts on two outstanding films
Search for a list of the 10 best British films and there's a good chance that both Brief Encounter and Kind Hearts and Coronets will feature in it. In the Empire Online list from a couple of months ago, for instance, they figure at 5 and 7 respectively. So it's good that in recent days I have come across outstanding podcasts about both. The Cine-Files, like all the best podcasts, has two presenters. And what is so good about their edition on Brief Encounter is that one of them, Steve Morris, is already convinced of its greatness, while the other, ...
I never stop tweeting the Cleaners from Venus song Ilya Kuryakin Looked at Me, so I thought it was time I chose another one of their tracks here. Summer in a Small Town comes from the album Under Wartime Conditions, which was first issued on tape in 1984. By then the only constant member of Cleaners from Venus was Martin Newell, who wrote all the songs. But this didn't make Newell a reclusive perfectionist: his songs have the throwaway quality of a lot of the best pop. Ned Raggett, revisiting the album for Pitchfork in 2013, wrote:If there was more ...
This week, our Jim Wallace delivered the annual Donald Dewar Memorial Lecture in Glasgow. This lecture, held every year in memory of Scotland's First First Minister, has previously been delivered by senior political figures such as Alistair Darling and Jack McConnell. Donald Dewar died suddenly in October 2000. Jim served as Deputy First Minister to him and was Acting First Minister when Donald Dewar had heart surgery and in the immediate aftermath of his death while Labour selected a new leader. The Labour/Lib Dem coalition, over 8 years, delivered things like freedom of information legislation, free eye and dental checks, ...
The Mirror's quotes research from the Green Britain Foundation which found that the decision by David Cameron to tear up plans to make all new build homes zero carbon added £2.6 billion to energy bills between 2015 and 2022. The research suggests that the cuts to what Cameron termed "green crap" cost some families as much as £1,000 in a single year. They add that if the rules had not been scrapped, a family in a house built in 2015 would have saved, on average, £2759.52 in the same period. The paper says that the Code for Sustainable Homes was ...
At a recent meeting of the parent council for Blackness Primary School - Friends of Blackness - it was highlighted with us that the wooden low-rise fencing at the east end of the Pennycook Lane car park is in poor shape - see photos. As many pupils use the path to the side of the fence to get to/from Hawkhill and the school and the fencing is splintered in places, we have asked the council's parking team to repair or replace the fencing here.
