Cole-Hamilton writes to minister for third time over neonatal death spike Rennie warns that the Scottish Government's heat pump installation scheme is hardly helping Cole-Hamilton writes to minister for third time over neonatal death spike Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today written to the Scottish Government for a third time to call for ministers to answer questions in Parliament over a spike in the neonatal mortality rate - deaths within the first 28 days of life. His call comes as five Scottish health boards were rated 'red' for neonatal mortality rates in the annual UK-wide evaluation known as ...
Embed from Getty ImagesFrom the Guardian this afternoon: The Liberal Democrats plan to "finish the job" of eliminating the Conservatives from their traditional heartlands at the next election, Ed Davey has promised, saying a further move to the right by a new Tory leader would make this even more likely. In his first interview since the Lib Dems won 72 MPs in the general election, beyond party strategists' highest predictions, Davey said this expanded Commons contingent - nearly seven times more than their 2019 total - had given them a bigger platform for their message. Confirming that he intends to ...
The judges decided to make today's Headline of the Day Award to the the Guardian. And I'm glad they did, because the story below is fascinating. Nadia Mohd-Radzman is the scientist whose research is being reported: However, it is the ingredient levodopa, or L-dopa, which is of special interest to Mohd-Radzman, who also works at the Entrepreneurship Lab of King's College Cambridge. It is used in the clinical treatment of people with Parkinson's - and broad beans contain high levels of the compound. "The crucial point is that L-dopa has been shown to be very effective in treating the condition ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: It's always healthy to return to your previous analysis to see how good your prognostication skills really are. Plus it's holiday season and so a good time to reuse words previously written. So here's a post from January 2023, for which I have resisted using the advantage of hindsight to make edits other than very slight improvements to the language. But I've then added some new thoughts at the end... Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls ...
We've not been short of electoral success this year and the best of our campaigning will be recognised at Conference in September. ALDC has opened nominations for its annual Local Campaigner awards. You don't have to be an ALDC member to nominate, though everyone should be an ALDC member because you get access to the very best in campaigning support. The categories are: Best literature - We're looking for local parties' examples of well-designed literature with strong messaging, photos and layout. We want to see your best. Best local election campaign - We're looking for local parties that have fought ...
Tinnitist liked The Crystal Lake: It's rather upbeat, with a catchy refrain even though it tells the story of someone who desperately wanted to get away from the country into the city. Once there he winds up in a small apartment and discovers the urban existence to be pretentious, unfriendly, ugly and even more isolated: "Should never have left the crystal lake. For parties full of folks who flake." So did Pitchfork, though it had doubts about the Grandaddy album The Sophtware Slump (2000) as a whole: The rest of the album wallows in a depression so deep, it'd make ...
Gaza The world was presented with two alternative approaches to the Gaza War this week. The first was brokered by China. The second was outlined by Benjamin Netanyahu in an address to a Joint Session of the US Congress. The first was supported by the feuding leaders of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, 12 other Palestinian factions and a big chunk of the Global South. The second was received with a standing ovation by America's Republican lawmakers but boycotted by dozens of Democrat Congressmen. The Chinese-brokered deal is aimed at ending the schism between Fatah which rules the West Bank as ...
Fantastic, wasn't it? Seeing Ed Davey rise on Wednesday lunchtime to ask the first of two questions to the Prime Minister, as the leader not only of the third largest Commons caucus but of the biggest third party presence in our Parliament's elected chamber for a century. The first time a Liberal leader has been able to do so since pre-Coalition Nick Clegg in the early months of 2010. Ed, rightly, went on carers and social care; an issue personal to him and to countless families across the country. A serious leader asking about a serious issue. But the question ...
From Blether Tay-Gither, the Dundee storytelling club : Date : Tuesday 30th July - 7pm to 9pmTheme : Unhappily Ever AfterLocation : Dudhope Castle This month the storytelling club is looking at stories that don't have such a happy ending, something some of our storytellers delight in anyway. In many cultures the end of the story is not always encouraging, in fact quite the opposite. Come along to share a story, or just to listen and have a blether. All welcome!
We always knew that Trump wasn't a democrat, and now he has confirmed it in explicit terms. The Guardian reports that the Republican nominee for President of the United States has ignited alarm among his critics after telling a crowd of supporters that they won't "have to vote again" if they return him to the presidency in November's election. The paper tells us that Trump said on Friday night at a rally hosted in West Palm Beach, Florida, by the far-right advocacy group Turning Point Action: "Christians, get out and vote! Just this time - you won't have to do ...
