Cole-Hamilton calls for statement on eye hospital closure Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, health spokesperson and MSP for Edinburgh Western Alex Cole-Hamilton has today called for the Scottish Government to deliver a statement in the Scottish Parliament on the closure of the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion. It was announced last week that the Eye Pavilion, which provides ophthalmic care across Edinburgh and the Lothians, will close temporarily from Monday 28th October for six months while works on the plumbing system are carried out. Campaigners including Mr Cole-Hamilton have long pushed for a replacement for the 55 year old Eye Pavilion building. ...
Some striking figures from More in Common about how many Labour voters now regret their general election vote. [IMG: Seventeen percent of Labour voters regret their vote - More in Common] Notable too how happy Lib Dem voters are with their choice. This is not 2010 or 2019. Get the best of polling summarised, weekly Sign up here if you would like to receive The Week in Polls, a weekly round-up and analysis of the latest British political polls: Get the essential polling book [IMG: Polling UnPacked book cover and Sunday Times review quote]
Rachel Reeves was heckled during her conference speech today. Naturally, the man responsible was grabbed by security and bundled out of the hall. Our politicians used to be more robust. Before the decline of the public meeting, they were expected to deal with hecklers using their own wits and wit. The heckler would stomp off defeated, not in the grasp of a gorilla in a suit. The most able of politicians, such as Harold Wilson, positively welcomed heckling because it gave them the chance to appear in a good light. All Reeves had was a line copied from Keir Starmer, ...
Mon 23rd
18:32
More than a million homes granted planning permission since 2015 have not yet been built
To listen to some, you would think that the only thing holding back a boom in house building is our planning laws. Reform those, we are told, and there will be millions of new houses built and tumbling prices. A story on Professional Builder suggests things are not so simple: The inaugural Planning Portal Market Index has found that more than a million homes granted planning permission since 2015 have not yet been built. This equates to around a third of the total given the green light over the period. The figures cast doubt on the near-exclusive focus of the ...
Whilst The Economist is calling for Liberal Democrats to move economically rightwards, the mood music from the newly-elected Liberal Democrat MPs is somewhat different. In a piece for The House Magazine, Bobby Dean, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington, suggests that; Starmer says he wants to end the politics of easy answers - and I agree. But on the exam question of "how to fix Britain", he sidesteps complex answers in favour of a simple one that we have all heard before: we must tighten our belts. If this approach turns out to be what it sounds like - a ...
I've long been one with a penchant for fighting Labour. I grew up on Lincoln's famed Tower Estate. Growing up I was surrounded by real poverty, and the consequences of that poverty. I remember the fire engine arriving to extinguish a car that had been set alight just a few doors down. Our neighbours (who's children I played with) disappeared one day – they'd been operating a cannabis farm from their council house and got caught (my bedroom wall had been occasionally warm to touch...). Our Labour district council had long withdrawn from the estate. Crime was high, deprivation everywhere, ...
That I should live to see such times! This video was produced by Harborough District Council - and very good Harborough looks in it too.
Way back in the 1960s a significant part of the way we "swung" was an enthusiastic campaign for the countries in the rich "Developed World" to allocate 1% of their National Incomes for the reduction and eventual elimination of poverty in what we then called the "Third World." This succeeded to the extent that by the end of the decade, the United Nations was sufficiently convinced to pass a resolution in which the governments of the rich countries agreed to devote 0.7% of their national incomes to Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). The other 0.3% was expected to come from the ...
There's been an ongoing debate within the party about Europe, and the ambition for rejoining the European Union. And, within that debate, there has been an oft-expressed disappointment that the party is not bolder and more vocal on its ambition to rejoin at some point. Caroline Voaden, the newly-elected Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, laid down a rather clearer marker in a piece in The House Magazine on Thursday, noting; I also now represent Brixham, one of the UK's largest fishing ports - a place that supported the Brexit ideal, but where they now say they were hoodwinked by ...
We have another by-election in Gateshead. On 24th October, Whickham North and Swalwell will go to the polls. This is a seat we are defending. Sonya Hawkins, who has represented the ward for 12 years, was promoted at work in the summer, making it difficult for her to attend meetings and give the role the full attention it deserves. She also has increased family caring responsibilities. She
At the beginning of the General Election campaign, I wondered whether the protagonists would engage with the big global issues that face us. I've been reminded of this by Anatol Lieven's recent article in the Guardian, "I've studied geopolitics all my life: climate breakdown is a bigger threat than China and Russia". He opens with a good account of the scale of the problem of global warming. The crux of his argument is near the end: At present, the mainstream left in Europe and North America appears to believe that it is possible to reshape economies to limit carbon emissions ...
What a difference a week makes. From the almost unbridled joy of a Liberal Democrat Conference where we celebrated a huge infusion of new MPs and a sense that, after more than a decade of pain and struggle to be seen as relevant, we're bystanders at a Labour Conference where, rather than celebrated a glorious victory, there's a sense of defensiveness already. Caron has already covered the rather bizarre mess that Keir Starmer has gotten into over the £100,000 worth of gifts that he has received and declared in recent years. And I entirely understand that there is a perceived ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2024 Seafield Road, Dundee - closed from its westmost end (in cul-de-sac) extending for a distance of no more than 20 metres in an easterly direction to facilitate a site access for a new housing development until November 2025. Blinshall Street (Douglas Street to 50 metres south) - closed until December 2024 for construction works. Douglas Street (Blinshall Street to Brown Street) - temporary traffic lights until December 2024 for construction works. Brown Street (south of Douglas Street) - closed until December 2024 for construction works. ...
According to the Guardian, donations to Keir Starmer of £65,000 in gifts in the last year, including new clothes and accommodation and funded by millionaire Labour peer Waheed Alli was just the tip of a very substantial iceberg. The paper has carried out a trawl of what, to my mind, are pretty difficult spreadsheets on the Parliamentaru website, to establish that more than £700,000 worth of free gifts and hospitality was received by MPs in the past year for everything from Taylor Swift tickets to a helicopter ride. These figures are based on data from the MPs' register of interests ...
