I've not finished with Worzel Gummidge yet, because I've discovered that The Laughing Stock YouTube channel has most of the episodes from the four series that Southern made between 1979 and 1981. There are lots of other good things on there too, so I have subscribed to it. This extract comes from The Return of Dafthead in series 3. It illustrates the folk horror aspect of this version of Worzel that appeals to me. Don't worry: Worzel doesn't die and does get his head back. The Crow Man is a benign deity, giving life too and overseeing the scarecrows. I've ...
Favourite interview of the week - new Lib Dem MP Steve Darling on his guide dog Jennie stealing the show in the Commons. More on the pod, inc @GraemeDogfather on what dog Starmer should get 🎧 https://t.co/ffgoWIQSq5 pic.twitter.com/jYakn1BF30 — Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) July 11, 2024 By common consent, the star of the new Liberal Democrat intake is Steve Darling's guide dog Jennie.Here Steve gives a candid portrait of her and of her many splendid qualities. This was tweeted by Matt Chorley of Times Radio. You can hear the full interview on his podcast Politics Without the Boring Bits.
The other day Caron mentioned that Jennie, the guide dog for Steve Darling, MP for Torbay, now has her own account on X at @rthonjennie. First day of the new job. Looking forward to my first #PMQs. pic.twitter.com/IPemW6BRwH — Rt Hon Jennie (@rthonjennie) July 9, 2024 Of course, Jennie is a Golden Retriever, but why spoil a good joke? * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
(very much a personal post: this does not reflect IFG or other thinking). The new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has declared that the Labour government has inherited "the worst set of circumstances since the second world war". Former Osborne Spad Rupert Harrison disagrees, calling it "objectively not true". His evidence: the size of the budget deficit,Continue reading "Battle of the inheritances"
I want to thank all those Labour supporters who voted Lib Dem to ensure that a Conservative was not elected in their constituency. I also want to thank all those Lib Dem supporters who voted Labour for the same reason. The first time I ever voted it was for Labour. I had been a Liberal supporter from my teens, but my preferred candidate had no chance in my area in South West London. Labour selected a doctor who was black as their candidate, and he came in for all sorts of nasty racist dog-whistle and overt attacks during the election ...
Speaking in a Q+A session at a British Polling Council event near the start of the election, John Curtice was pretty down on Lib Dem prospects.
With the open web under threat in Britain, Laurence Warner argues that it may be time to make it a child-free zone. Last year I warned Lib Dem Voice not to follow Iran in banning encrypted messaging like Signal and WhatsApp. Ofcom now can, since the Online Safety Act passed near intact through parliament. Just as Big Tech finally adopts encrypted messaging - with Apple on Google's RCS and Meta the Signal protocol - Britain's two illiberal governing parties called law'n'order on progress. Whilst a Lib Dem Lord who watched the act sail by assures me Ofcom's "expert" won't pull ...
Some of you may remember a World in Action TV programme back in 1984 called 'Claptrap' in which a first time speaker at the SDP Conference, Ann Brennan, was given an amazing standing ovation. Her success was the result of a social experiment, and the programme tracked the coaching she received from Max Atkinson. Max was an academic who had studied political speechmaking. Earlier that year he had published a book titled Our Masters' Voices: The Language and Body Language of Politics in which he described various public speaking techniques that are almost guaranteed to get applause (ie claptraps). He ...
Residents recently contacted us about the overgrown and unsightly area at the south end of the Pennycook Lane car park - next to the top of Ford's Lane. We have contacted the council's parking team to see if this part of land is part of the car parking asset on the parking account and, assuming so, to ensure it is tidied up.
