Safer Phones Bill: Government making "ponderous progress" as measures watered down Commenting on news that the Safer Phones Bill was watered down to gain government support, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology Victoria Collins MP said: So far, the Government has made ponderous progress on children's online safety. I'm disappointed that they've seemingly succeeded in pushing for the Safer Phones Bill to be watered down – a bill that had such promise when it was first proposed. There's a mounting crisis in children's mental health, driven in large part by addictive algorithms. Parents and families across the country ...
We join the LeiceExplore crew again and they're still in Shropshire. First they find remnants of the town's canal basin near the railway station - I'll confess I had no idea they were there or even where the basin had been. Then it's off to Longdon-upon-Tern to see the oldest iron aqueduct in the world. It was built by Thomas Telford and it's still in place over the Tern. The canal is long closed and the aqueduct is drained, but you can walk along its trough with the blessing of officialdom. Subscribe to this excellent YouTube channel now!
Phil Brickell, Labour MP for Bolton West, argues that the rules on foreign donations to political parties must be tightened to help restore voters' confidence in politics. "Perhaps we should think about the social workhouse, which is productive of stigma, fear, and forcing unwell people into work. This isn't primarily to make money out of the disabled and the ill, but to reinforce the discipline wage labour depends on. Clamping down on benefits is Labour's way of telling their bourgeois backers that the management of class relations is safe with them"A Very Public Sociologist on why Labour won't leave the ...
At last year's general election, the British people voted for change following nearly a decade of chaos under the Conservatives punctuated by austerity, Brexit, mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, scandal at Westminster, the mini-budget and the cost-of-living crisis. This much was shown by the twenty-point slump in their vote share in comparison to their 2019 result. Nationwide, our party gained 57 seats to elect a total of 72 MPs to Westminster, our best performance ever and a close parliamentary reflection of our vote share of 12.2%. Because of the distortive effects of First Past the Post, a system whereby winning ...
This week with its 9 principal councils saw mostly successful defences this week across all political parties, with only 2 exchanging hands. A huge gain for the Lib Dems from the Tories thanks to our consistent performance, and another for an independent councillor from a slumping Labour. The Conservatives and Labour both held their remaining 2 seats respectively, while the Lib Dems, the Green Party, and Plaid Cymru all held theirs. Part of the only 2 gains this week, Cllr Andy Bell managed to gain the seat in Vivary Bridge, Vivary Bridge from the Conservatives, who fell to third place ...
BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award for this very Leicestershire story.
When I saw that Conservative Home has a post today about sorting the Conservatives' Liberal Democrat problem, I was curious and a little worried. Have the Tories finally noticed that they lost dozens of seats to us at the general election last year? Quite a few of them were sort where they used to weigh their vote rather than count it. I needn't have worried. The article is written by a former Tory activist and parliamentary candidate who has joined Reform, and it's about what his old party would have to do before his new one would even consider forming ...
Yesterday, I wondered about the impact of proposed changes to how the Party manages candidate approval and selection in relation to my current role as a member of my Regional Candidates Committee. I wasn't convinced that it left me with much of a role. But it did lead me to take a closer look at the proposals, and the more I look, the less I like it. At the moment, each State Candidates Committee has responsibility for establishing a list of approved Parliamentary candidates, determining how they will be approved and what the processes are for selecting candidates in each ...
There are a lot of things to despair of in Donald Trump's first month of office, but his gaffes barely register in the hierarcchy of concerns about his policies, his conduct and the consequences of his actions. Or do they? Those howlers speak not only to his state of mind, but also to his cognitive ability, his intelligence and his focus, all key attributes that should be present in a leader wielding such power and influence. The latest gaffe, and one that is already searing the interweb with memes, is the reference in the Presidents address to the joint session ...
Nine principal authority council by-elections this week and let's start with another case of the Liberal Democrats being the party that can beat Reform: Vivary Bridge (Pendle) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 34.9% (+3.5) [IMG: âž¡] RFM: 32.2% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 22.0% (-16.9) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 10.9% (-11.9)No GRN (-6.9) as previous.Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative.Changes w/ 2024. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2025-03-07T00:09:32.947Z
** UPDATE PM 7.3.25 * From the Assistant Engineer (Network Management) at Dundee City Council : "I can confirm that this road closure has now been cancelled as Scottish Water no longer need to carry out the planned manhole cover repairs." From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited in a Westerly direction by reason of Scottish Water manhole cover replacement works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Hawkhill (from its junction ...
