Many congratulations to Camden campaigner Janet Grauberg on her OBE "for services to the community in North London and to education", London Assembly Member Hina Bokhari on her OBE "for services to young People, to charity and to inter-faith relations", long-time Federal Policy Committee Vice Chair Jeremy Hargreaves on his MBE "for political service" and Stephen Gosling, chair of the Lib Dem Business Network on his CBE "for services to business, to politics and to democratic engagement". Do let me know if there are any others I have failed to spot. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis ...
Danny Chambers MP, the Liberal Democrats' mental health spokesperson in the Commons, is alarmed by new NHS figures on face-down restraint of patients obtained by the party, reports the Guardian The figures show that the controversial technique was used in England 5,247 times during 2023 and 3,732 times in the first 10 months of this year. Danny told the Guardian: "Physical restraint can cause significant distress for vulnerable patients and leave staff with severe injuries. That some institutions are physically restraining mental health patients far more than others shows that our NHS services have been neglected and overlooked for too ...
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Guardian has slapped an "Exclusive" label on its report that Josh Babarinde has called for a specific defence of domestic violence to be introduced. This is a bad case of overselling, given that he appeared on Good Morning on 10 December to talk about the idea. But there are encouraging developments in the report. Josh says he has received support from both Labour and Conservative MPs, and its claims that: Officials are examining whether to change the way domestic violence crimes are recorded after a campaign by an MP who says the lack of a specific ...
Zoe Crowther asks what the Westminster social media landscape will look like in 2025. "You get people saying they can't say anything. But a lot of them are filling stadiums, winning Grammys, and getting $60m off Netflix. Jimmy Carr carries on despite the idea he was cancelled for his joke about gypsies. Ricky Gervais would love to be properly 'cancelled', I think, but ... he doesn't seem able to say anything actually controversial enough to be as controversial as he'd like to be."Stewart Lee talks to Prospect. Far from displaying intelligence, argues Baldur Bjarnason, chat-based Large Language Models replicate the ...
Nation Cymru reports on the issues facing businesses, as industry experts warn that insolvencies and restructuring could rise further over the start of 2025 as firms face more increased cost pressures. The news site says that restructuring bosses have cautioned that impending cost rises linked to the autumn Budget could particularly weigh on the retail, hospitality and care sectors after official figures pointed towards an uptick in insolvencies at the end of this year: Company insolvencies lifted by 13% in November compared with the previous month, although they were lower year-on-year, according to the Office for National Statistics. DIY and ...
Yes, I know we're supposed to be on a festive break, but there is no way I could let the passing of one of my political heroes go unremarked. Ed Davey was one of the first to pay tribute to former US President Jimmy Carter: Jimmy Carter was an inspiration. He led a truly remarkable life dedicated to public service with a genuine care for people. My thoughts are with his family, friends and all those who loved him. He will be remembered for generations. I was 9 years old when Jimmy Carter won the 1976 presidential election. I remember ...
Huge thanks to all my guests and listeners for my podcast, Never Mind The Bar Charts, through the last year. The most popular episodes this year were: In second place: Can Rishi Sunak save himself by doing a Jeremy Corbyn? with Will Jennings. (Spoiler: no, he can't.) And topping the charts: Election 2024 debrief: podcast with Tim Bale. (See if you can spot how many times the number 72 is mentioned.) As well as being available in all the usual podcast feeds, the episodes all go up on YouTube as well, such as that chart topping one: Now, let's see ...
The Mirror wins our Headline of the Day Award. The judges hope Grandpa in his bunker has a good alibi.
Just a reminder that our weekly ward surgeries do not take place during the school Christmas and New Year holidays so there are no surgeries this Tuesday and Thursday. Surgeries return on Tuesday 7th January 2025 (Fraser's) and Thursday 9th January 2025 (Michael's). Meantime we can be contacted at westend@dundeelibdems.org.uk or call Dundee 459378 - many thanks!
