Embed from Getty ImagesForget Larry: we all know whose territory Downing Street really was. It belonged to Palmerston, the Foreign Office cat. This afternoon came this exciting news from the BBC: Palmerston, the former resident cat at the Foreign Office, has been brought out of retirement for a new overseas diplomatic posting nearly 3,500 miles away in Bermuda. A post on Palmerston's X account, announced the black and white rescue cat - who served as the chief mouser Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) between 2016-2020 - had moved to the British Overseas Territory as "feline relations consultant". Palmerston's account ...
This is what Sunday afternoon cricket used to be like on television before the advent of the 40-over Sunday League. I have the faintest memory of watching a Cavaliers game myself. A Somerset side containing stalwarts like Brian Langford, Roy Virgin and Fred Rumsey, is beaten by a team of stars, with the spin of Gary Sobers and Richie Benaud bewitching the Somerset lower order. The Cavaliers opening partnership that almost wins the game on its own is Bobby Simpson, the current Australian captain, and Roy Marshall, who played four tests for the West Indies in the early Fifties before ...
"In the past two weeks, Elon Musk - a man no one elected to any office - has gained unprecedented access to Social Security payment systems, fired federal workers, shuttered entire agencies, and installed his loyalists throughout the government. If this were happening in any other country, we'd call it what it is: a coup."Parker Molloy complains that the media is treating this outrage like standard political news. Rachel Coldicutt asks what Musk's rampage through Washington means for Britain's technology policy. "Something significant happened last week. The UK government forced the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority to resign. ...
One of the social highlights of Lib Demmery in Edinburgh is the Edinburgh South Burns Supper, an annual evening of mirth celebrating Scotland's national Bard Robert Burns. Previous highlights include, and I kid you not, Alex Cole-Hamilton, dressed as a mouse acting out the part as To a Mouse was read out. The evening usually starts with the top table being piped in. Then we have the address to the Haggis. The "great chieftain of the pudding race" is piped in and, this year, Rebecca Wright gave a spirited rendition of Burns' To a Huggis. I'm a bit of a ...
Today I'm proud of the work I have been doing for the unheard, marginalised ignored and abused members of our society. Read on. During the last few years I have admired the work of Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA). They represented hundreds of people who were abused whilst in the care of Lambeth Council. SOSA was able to get over £140m from Lambeth Council in compensation paid to those affected by the Shirley Oaks abuse scandal. I sat and listened to the stories of those affected by sexual abuse. A friend of mine told me at the age of 35, ...
Lib Dems with an eye on recruitment may have spotted an interesting new job ad in circulation: Public Affairs, Communications and Administration Officer for the Lib Dem Friends of Palestine. So, who are the Lib Dem Friends of Palestine (LDFP), what do we do, and in what ways could Lib Dems help make a difference now for Palestinians and a political crisis that has threatened global stability for so many decades? LDFP was founded some 20 years ago for all party members interested in supporting justice for Palestine. We believe that the Palestinian people have the right to live in ...
Over the past 10 days I've had a marvellous time interacting with the Chinese community here in Liverpool with eleven events down and one to go I have got to know a lot more about this long-standing community in our city than I did before. Basically, large numbers of Chinese immigrants started arriving from the 1830s onwards many of them fleeing a particular political problem in the country but many were seafarers who just decided to stay because they had fallen in love either with our city or sometimes someone who lived in our city! When I address citizenship ceremonies ...
I'm sure many of us will be watching the television in absolute horror this morning. It is absolutely nauseating to watch Donald Trump talk about the ethnic cleansing of a people as if it is a normal thing to do. We should not tolerate it and we need to all it out for what it is. Three Lib Dem MPs have spoken out this morning. Lib Dem Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller has emphatically condemned Trump's plan, calling it "bizarre" and 'dangerous". He said: Donald Trump's proposal for Gaza is bizarre but also dangerous. It shows casual disregard for the ...
Which means it's time for this song, courtesy of the ever excellent John Finnemore Souvenir Programme: Lyrics by John Finnemore, music written and played by Susannah Pearse, performed by Simon Kane, with Carrie Quinlan and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
The Guardian reports that Labour reportedly dropped a plan to ban foreign political donations after an intervention from Waheed Alli, the Labour peer who paid for Keir Starmer's clothes and glasses. The paper says that the plan, if implemented, would have scuppered any potential donations from the billionaire Elon Musk to Reform UK by making it illegal to donate unless donors were registered to vote in the UK or via companies owned by people based in Britain: Labour has received £4m from a hedge fund based in the Cayman Islands, Quadrature Capital, though it pays corporation tax in the UK ...
Today, there's a lunchtime recital at the Wighton Heritage Centre at Dundee Central Library, taking place from 1.15pm to 1.45pm. Friends of Wighton is pleased to welcome local musician, singer, songwriter Ed Muirhead. Ed will be singing a collection of new-fashioned folk songs, all with a Dundee connection. All welcome - admission by donation.
