As a child, I was an avid reader of books. I spent much of the summer of, I think, 1971, in the library at Notting Hill Gate, ploughing through the "Thomas the Tank Engine" series. And I still enjoy reading, assuming that I can carve out the time to do so. But you know how it is. There's so much information, news and stuff on the internet, and it's all in the palm of your hand. And so, I spend too much time online and not enough doing the panoply of other things that I could occupy myself with. But ...
McArthur: SNP must confirm that they won't dump another climate target More than 400 solicitors withdrawing from legal aid schemes in just 3 years McArthur: SNP must confirm that they won't dump another climate target Scottish Liberal Democrat climate spokesperson Liam McArthur has called on the SNP government to confirm that they will not dump their target to decarbonise the passenger rail network by 2035 after the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero failed to mention this deadline during an exchange in parliament. Speaking in the Scottish Parliament earlier this week, Mr McArthur asked Gillian Martin, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: There have been some great recent pieces, including by Peter Kellner and Ben Ansell, on how solid, or not, Labour's majority is from an electoral and polling perspective, and the latest Opinium poll comes with an eye-catching graph. But as I've covered Labour in some detail in the last two editions of TWIP, I will hold on diving into those for a future date and instead this time turn to some new data about the electorate's values from the ever-excellent Paula Surridge. ...
Desborough continues to open new vistas to me. This time I discovered its Millennium Green, tucked away behind the church: Desborough's Millennium Green Trust holds the Green in perpetuity for the people of Desborough. Designed by local people, it has ten dedicated benches, a scented raised bed and a butterfly corner. The hedges were planted as wildlife corridors and the trees were selected as mainly native species (arrived between 5,000 to 10,000 years ago), together with three species introduced more recently by the Romans. The most striking feature near the entrance was the apple trees left over from the land's ...
I missed this as I was on my way to Brighton at the time, but thought that it might of interest to readers. Friday, September 13th saw the First Reading of a Private Members' Bill in the House of Lords, sponsored by Lindsay Northover, our spokesperson on International Development there. The core text reads as follows: Recognition of the State of Palestine The Secretary of State must, within one month of the passing of this Act, take such steps as are necessary to ensure the Government of the United Kingdom formally recognises Palestine as a sovereign and independent state on ...
When it became obvious that Labour were going to win a general election in 2024 or 2025, commentators assumed that Keir Starmer would be keen to show how different his government and party were from the Conservative Bacchanalia that had gone before. Woe betide the first Labour backbencher to be found doing something that appears a little dodgy, the commentators said. They would be out on their ear, as Starmer showed he wasn't going to tolerate any misbehaviour. It hasn't turned out like that. Nothing happened when, to his shock, the poor condition of flats let by the new Labour ...
A couple of weeks ago, new MP for Surrey Heath Al Pinkerton wrote for us about a Conference fringe meeting he was chairing about the Falklands. In that article, he said: In so many ways we Liberal Democrats find ourselves in common cause with Falkland Islanders. Socially liberal, protective of the natural environment, committed to the UK and yet proudly and avowedly international in outlook. As Liberal Democrats we champion and defend the right to self-determination at home and around the world. What greater example of that than a community of 3,500 people in the South Atlantic who, like so ...
A single from the Stone Roses' first LP, Waterfall reached no. 27 in the UK singles chart in 1991. I love that very Nineties chiming guitar sound, but what is the song about? A comment on Song Meanings says: Ian Brown said in an interview that this is about a girl whose fed up with everything, drops an acid and goes to Dover. What would Vera Lynn make of that? But then writers don't necessarily fully understand their own songs. * I suppose using 'LP' rather than 'album' is hopelessly old fashioned, but I still tend to write it first ...
As we do each year at both the Spring and Autumn Conferences, we take a moment to celebrate and recognise the inspiring individuals or groups who have provided outstanding service and commitment to the party over the past year. These awards serve as a small token of our immense gratitude for the hard work, dedication, and passion each has shown. The award winners this time were: Belinda Eyre-Brook Award – Lucy Lennon Lucy Lennon was recognised for her impressive local campaign efforts in Hull. In her first role after graduating from university, Lucy has been instrumental in helping us make ...
My conference video diary from Sunday 15th September - I had missed the first day of conference because I had been at an agricultural show on Saturday 14th. So on Sunday I arrived at Brighton in the evening just in time to get to the rather crowded councillors' reception where Ed Davey was speaking. Sadly I was stuck at the back of the room with lots of taller people in front of me!
Keir Starmer and Labour had earned the right to a bit celebration in Liverpool this week. Having turned Labour around from an utter mess to a party with the size of majority nobody should ever have, their Conference in Liverpool could have been an even bigger celebration than our display of sunshine and unbridled joy in Brighton last week. However, the mood in Liverpool becomes gloomier with each headline. And while some of the headlines are definitely the right wing press making trouble, others are signs of serious trouble within the Government. Let's take the fuss about the clothes first. ...
What next in the Lebanon? Destruction of your enemy's communications is usually a prelude to an all-out attack. But so far Israeli ground troops appear to be focused on Gaza. Such an attack could provoke a violent response from Hezbollah. But so far they have been relatively restrained. Hezbollah's 64-year-old leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday that the exploding pagers and walkie talkies was a "severe blow" and that Israel had crossed a "red line." But he made no explicit threats. It is thought that the Israeli government is trying to decouple the tit for tat missile attacks on the ...
As part of Doors Open Day, St Joseph's Church is open on Saturday 28th September between 10am and 4pm. The beautiful church is at 42 Wilkie's Lane and is well worth a visit. There will be tours to the crypt and teas will be available. There will also be items of historical interest to see - all welcome!
The Daily Post reports that Welsh Government has spent more than £200m to get people walking and cycling but activity rates have dropped or remained static. The paper adds that the Active Travel Fund, established in 2018, helps local authorities develop and deliver improvements to active travel infrastructure and related facilities like adding cycling and walking paths. They say that this fund or equivalent expenditure by local authorities increased significantly between 2018-19 and 2023-24, from £20 million to £46 million: Total expenditure in the period was £218 million with another £65 million allocated by Welsh Government to its key active ...
