Clare Coffey watches It's a Wonderful Life: "It is seeing Mary without him that breaks George enough to make him ask for life, as it is her just anger at him that sends him into the most desperate phase of his downward spiral." "A target will probably be someone who has particular weaknesses that can be exploited, often revolving around money or sex. They are seldom at the very pinnacle of power. But that, in itself, can leave them resentful and hungry for affirmation."Philip Murphy believes the British establishment offers a "target-rich environment" to spies. Timothy Garton Ash asks what ...
When Spellow library and community hub was nearly destroyed by rioters the community, businesses and council worked together to create an even better facility than existed before. I spent the first 4.5 months of 2024 as Deputy Lord Mayor and the last 7.5 months as Lord Mayor of Liverpool. What I have done and seen has convinced me that my analysis that Liverpool is one of the best cities in Europe was a considerable understatement! It's one of the best cities in the world! As councillors we often underestimate the good things that happen in our city. It's not that ...
I went to a comprehensive, I received free school meals, I even had Allison Pearson in the same class. But I still took and passed O level Latin. Which made me sad to read this story in Schools Week: Thousands of secondary pupils are facing "significant disruption" after the government scrapped its state school Latin programme mid-year as it seeks to plug a fiscal black hole. In a letter seen by Schools Week, the Department for Education has informed schools it is terminating its Latin Excellence Programme in February. The £4 million scheme was supposed to run until 2026, but ...
Bruce Cockburn has long been an artist I feel that I should like more than I actually do. He ticks all the boxes: sort of folk rock style singer-songwriter who writes intelligent and thoughtful lyrics. Yet I have never quite taken him to my heart. I listen to an album, think it's pretty good but then don't go back to it. Part of the problem is that I found some of his political songwriting in the 1980s overly didactic and dogmatic. (Don't get me wrong, as a fan of Bob Dylan and Neil Young I hardly object to political songwriting ...
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Opinium 23% (-2) 29% (nc) 11% (+1) 10% (+1) 22% (+1) 6% 18-20/12 GB Techne 26% (+1) 27% (nc) 12% (+1) 7% (nc) 21% ...
After yesterday's news, I was reflecting on the 34 years since I first joined the Liberal Democrats, and the many people who have kindly helped and supported me along the way. Including the person who first recruited me to the party (and then went on to become a Conservative Parliamentary candidate, but let's move along). Or the bubbling enthusiasm of Willie Rennie the first time I took part in a full-on election campaign, which gave me the bug for campaigning. Plus of course those mad intensive eight years working with a great team and an amazing candidate, going from no ...
Tis the season. Egg nog, mulled wine, presents, Christmas trees, yule logs, Christmas cards, Midnight Mass, food, food and more food.... The list goes on and on. The Holiday Season is one tradition after another. In fact, you could call it the Tradition Season just as easily as the Christmas or Holiday Season. But when and where did the traditions start? Well, they came from all over the Western world and some of the Eastern. Some have deeply religious roots. Others tell a political story. Some are strictly secular money making operations. There was a time when Christmas was banned. ...
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Keir Starmer may be putting a bill through Parliament to abolish hereditary peers but it seems that is as far as his reforms of the world's largest second chamber goes. The Mirror reports that the Prime Minister is expected to name around 30 new peers on Thursday - with a gong for former aide Sue Gray. This is despite a manifesto commitment to slim down this unelected body: Despite commitment to reform the Lords, the Government is concerned about getting legislation through the upper chamber. There are currently 273 Tories, 187 Labour, 78 Lib Dems and 184 cross-benchers, meaning no ...
