When a young England spinner makes an exceptional start to his career, his feat is compared with past performances. High among them is that of the Leicestershire slow left armer Nick Cook - you can see him here making his debut against New Zealand in 1983. As Wikipedia says: He picked up 32 wickets in his first four Tests, taking four five-fors, including one on debut (after he had been called up at short notice), and a best bowling match return of 11 for 83 against Pakistan at Karachi. But it was not to last: Cook's next 11 Tests, spread ...
Today the Commons voted to give Sarah Olney leave to introduce her 10-minute rule bill to bring in "a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England". The vote was won with a majority of two - 138 to 136 The bill is unlikely to proceed further, as it does nor have government support. But the vote was still significant, because 59 Labour MPs voted in support of Sarah's bill. Sarah is the Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park. Introducing her bill, she said: We are also seeing record levels of disillusionment with the ...
Since our stunning victories back in July, something has been gnawing away at me: Who are we in the LibDems for? Talk to any LibDem activist and you will likely hear the following: Liberalism is about the ordinary citizen against concentrations of power, stultifying social conformity and unjustified privilege. The same activists will often say that Liberalism champions equality of opportunity, human diversity, material justice and civil participation. But throughout 2024, the messaging around Liberal Democrat identity has been troublingly murky. Back in the summer, Ed Davey gave voice to a vision of centre-left liberalism in his New Statesman interview, ...
After five M.R. James adaptations, in 1976 the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas turned to Dickens and an unforgettable version of The Signal-Man. This story is the subject of a good episode of the podcast Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! Though it's only 10 or 11 pages long, Dominic Gerrard and John Bowen find it inexhaustible. You can read it for yourself on Project Gutenberg. And for more on premotions, I strongly recommend Sam Knight's The Premonitions Bureau.
Fraser's weekly ward surgeries take place later today and are as follows : Tuesdays at 5pm prompt - Blackness Library Tuesdays at 5.45pm prompt - Ancrum Road Primary School All residents welcome - no appointment necessary.
Many of us have been thinking it for some time, now Unlock Democracy has said it out loud, the next UK general election could be a disaster of "Trumpian proportions" if the Labour government does not adopt measures to boost public trust in the political system> The Guardian reports that a cap on political donations and wider powers for the House of Lords Appointments Commission to block unsuitable peer nominations are among 54 proposals laid out in a paper from the campaign group Unlock Democracy: Campaigners acknowledged that Keir Starmer has made changes to the ministerial code, including tightening the ...
