Red faces at Neil O'Brien's campaign headquarters this week... Someone from Neil O'Brien's office called me up the other day to ask if I'd be willing to help them put posters up. Even she saw the funny side of it when I told her I was a Harborough Lib Dem Councillor! https://t.co/hmBxe3ubuP — Cllr Buddy Anderson (@buddyandersonuk) June 16, 2024 It sounds as though the Conservatives' local campaign is going every bit as well as their national one.
Sun 16th
19:13
Understanding tactical voters, with the help of a new polling technique - The Week in Polls
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: The kind folk at Focaldata have let me have a play with their new FD_Chat tool, which is a cross between a poll and a focus group. It uses an AI bot to carry out a series of Q+As with different people, providing greater volume than you get from running a focus group but also more detailed insight than you get with a poll – as the bot personalises follow-up questions based on the previous answers. In this case, 51 people considering ...
Thanks to a nomination from an eagle-eyed reader, Southwark News wins our Headline of the Day Award. The judges were unanimous in their opinion that there was only one video that could accompany this story. Take it away, Sid.
From Anil Gomes's review of Daniel Dennett's final book, I've Been Thinking, in the London Review of Books: One of Dennett's most useful insights for anyone reading philosophy: stop whenever you see the word 'surely' - it is usually a sign that you are being nudged towards a conclusion without anything by way of support. That's a maxim that can be applied in many other intellectual fields too.
I want to say that I woke up yesterday morning after a night of bad sleep, but it would be more accurate to say that I woke up after a night of very little sleep due to coughing because of a chest infection. Andrew went to our pharmacy as soon as it was just about to open as I had run out of my Salamol inhaler and needed it. He got it and came back quickly. After using it, my breathing was much better, but I still reckoned that I needed to see a GP. So, it being Saturday morning ...
Today's post is about local columnists, and when one should read them with care. The idea of citizen journalism is one I quite like, in theory, but when one sits an opinionated individual behind a keyboard, the results can vary. In particular, today I'm going to look at Pecksniff – a usually well informed writer [...]
It was Ed Davey's turn to be interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg this morning. Her first question was from a sub post master who actually compared Ed to Boris Johnson because of the various attention grabbing stunts. How can this encourage trust? Ed replied that all these stunts have engaged people. We're talking about social care and cost of living and the environment. I am determined in all the seats we can win that people hear about what the Lib Dems stand for from our local champions. We could make real gains at this election. We are taking the voters' concerns ...
New Musical Express approves of this 2024 single: The track opens with a restrained, deep groove before erupting into a searing, '60s-flavoured electric guitar frenzy, with Moctar and band cutting loose for the bulk of the track's running time. Moctar is thought to be one of the last people who can write in Tamasheq, and the language is considered to be at risk of dying out. "People here are just using French," the musician has said. "They're starting to forget their own language. We feel like in a hundred years no one will speak good Tamasheq, and that's so scary ...
Oh dear, Lord B. doesn't sound happy with the Liberal Democrats' general election strategy. Me? I'll be happy if it produces some new MPs to become characters in his diaries. Wednesday To Vincent Square for a meeting of Ed Davey's campaign team. Freddie and Fiona explain that in the past we have made the mistake of winning too many votes. This time, our efforts will be concentrated in the more pleasant of the Home Counties - "the sort of places our schoolfriends' parents live". I suggest that we look instead to Farron and his conversion of the mint cake workers ...
Gaza Benjamin Netanyahu and the Hamas leadership share a common interest: It is to neither's advantage at this stage to end the Gaza War. But neither is in either party's interests to be seen as the bad guy. In the case of the Israeli prime minister it is the fact that once the war is over he will face an overpowering clamour for a general election. It is an election which he will almost certainly lose as the Israeli electorate will hold him to account for the events that led up to the October 7th Hamas attack. And then, once ...
Sun 16th
08:45
Ed Davey: "Lib Dems are a progressive, liberal party and we believe in investment in public services...
There's a great interview with Ed in the Observer today. He talks about how the Liberal Democrats will hold Labour to account and push them to do more radical things in the next Parliament. In fact, he says some Labour people want more of us there to keep a cautious Labour Government on track. He sets out what the Lib Dems are about: "We are a progressive, liberal party and we believe in investment in public services," Davey said. "We believe in making taxes fairer, and we believe in really transformative environmental action. I think people who want to see ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of carriageway resurfacing works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in : Riverside Avenue (eastbound from A90 Kingsway to Apollo Way) Riverside Avenue (no right turn into Apollo Way), Dundee. Apollo Way (no right turn into Riverside Avenue), Dundee This notice comes into effect on Wednesday 26 June 2024 for one night (7pm to 6am). Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for ...
Nation Cymru reports that new independent research by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has concluded that the UK Government's flagship Levelling Up policy has been a failure. They say that tThe policy was launched by the Conservative government in 2019 with the claim that it would reduce inequality based on where people live across the UK, but according to NIESR, "there are very few signs of Levelling Up, with disparities in living standards and productivity between various English regions and UK devolved nations remaining unchanged or widening since the last General Election.": NIESR's new research shows ...
