Reflections of a dinosaur: the world of work changes...I was on editorial duty at Liberal Democrat Voice yesterday and, as part of that, I try to promote each published article using our Bluesky account. My first comment began, "The work week starts here...", I posted it and thought little more about it. Until, that is, I did think about it. I've been employed by the same organisation for nearly forty years now, working in offices on, effectively, a 9-5, Monday to Friday basis. I am, you might say, somewhat institutionalised. When I started, in the mid-eighties, if you wanted to talk to a professional, or purchase a service, ... (more) |
Defending Liberalism against the illiberal counter-attackIn Britain, the USA and across Europe an active cultural war is being fought between liberalism and nationalistic reactionaries. I regret that British Liberal Democrats are playing so small a part in this conflict - fought through the intellectual media and think tank world, within Christian churches (and within Judaism) and across university campuses. Anti-liberal tracts and articles spill out from well-funded think tanks and newspapers in the USA, Britain and elsewhere. Liberal rebuttals are fewer. But Allen Lane/Penguin have just published one full-length rebuttal: 'Centrists of the World Unite: the lost genius of Liberalism', by Adrian Wooldridge, who has ... (more) |
The Independent View: Lib Dems would be backing a winner on greyhound racing banThis week, greyhound advocates and adopters assembled at a parliamentary reception hosted by Neil Duncan-Jordan MP. Our organisation, international greyhound protection group GREY2K USA Worldwide, jointly released a report entitled Reaching the Finish Line, alongside the League Against Cruel Sports. It is the most comprehensive policy argument in favour of phasing out greyhound racing in the UK ever assembled. The timing of this release coincides with reporting that there are Labour MPs, as well as sympathetic Labour Ministers, urging Keir Starmer to follow Scotland and Wales and call time on greyhound racing. It is our belief that it is now ... (more) |
"Haunted" Devon swingers club investigated by ghost hunters after "eerie" eventsDevonLive wins today's Headline of the Day Award. The judges remarked that if the sub writing this headline is that fond of scare quotes - and the story below is even worse - they should get a job at BBC News. And after reading: A Plymouth adult entertainment venue, housed in a former bank, has become the focus of a chilling paranormal investigation. The "alternative" establishment, which features a well-appointed bar and a bondage "dungeon", is reported to have a "horrible" atmosphere in certain areas, a sensation that has intensified since recent renovation work commenced. they suggested the owners move ... (more) |
Founder of Starmer's legal chambers spells out opposition to plan to abolish jury trialsThe Guardian reports that the founder of Keir Starmer's barristers' chambers has condemned the planned restriction of jury trials in England and Wales as "a betrayal of the values for which Labour purports to stand". The paper says that Geoffrey Robertson KC, founding head of Doughty Street Chambers, where the attorney general, Richard Hermer KC, and the justice secretary, David Lammy, also had their professional homes, has written a more than 9,000-word polemic to coincide with the committee stage of the courts and tribunals bill: In the document, published on the Bar Council's website on Monday night, Robertson questions the ... (more) |
Greene: Offord must tell Scots if he'll risk free prescriptionsScottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Inverclyde, Jamie Greene, has called for Reform UK's Malcom Offord to come clean on whether he would make Scots pay for medicine. In 2025, Lord Offord wrote in a Centre for Policy Studies paper that "dialogue" was needed on making people in Scotland pay prescription charges. Mr Greene claimed that it was Offord's responsibility to tell the Scottish people exactly what the consequences of voting for Reform UK would be for hard-pressed Scots. Reform's UK boss Nigel Farage has a history of flirting with NHS charging and privatisation, once advocating that the health service moves ... (more) |
A TV mast on the Stiperstones? What horrors would it have broadcast into people's homes?The transmitting station on top of the Wrekin, which broadcasts television and radio to much of Shropshire and parts of the West Midlands beyond, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. But if the county's planners had got their way it would have been built on the Stiperstones instead. An article on BBC News- and they should know - says the BBC had tested transmissions from the Wrekin as far back as 1964. But in 1970, the Wellington Journal reported:Salop County Council's planning committee is in favour of putting the proposed BBC TV mast on the Stiperstones. It has rejected the ... (more) |
Mathew on Monday: Hungary shows us that the populist Right can be defeated!For years, Victor Orban's Hungary has been held up – by admirers and critics alike – as proof that the populist Right, once entrenched, is almost impossible to dislodge. A self-described "illiberal state," tight media control, constitutional engineering, and a politics built on division and grievance all seemed to point in one direction: permanence. And yet – politics has a habit of reminding us that nothing is permanent. Yesterday's election result in Hungary has sent a jolt through that assumption. After more than a decade and a half dominating Hungarian politics, Orban's grip has been broke by a broad, pro-European ... (more) |
Taking Hungary Back: The Fall of Orbánism and What It Means for EuropePéter Magyar (Photo: Márton Mónus/Reuters) Yesterday's Hungarian parliamentary election has delivered what, until very recently, seemed improbable: the defeat of Viktor Orbán and his long-dominant Fidesz party. For over a decade, Hungary has stood as the clearest example within the European Union of how the structures of democracy can be steadily eroded by those in power. That this system has now been challenged—and decisively so—marks a turning point not only for Hungary, but for liberal democracy across Europe. Péter Magyar and TISZA didn't just win - with over 98% of votes counted it is clear that they have won comfortably, ... (more) |
This week in the Lords - 13-16 April 2026it looks like a relatively gentle week in the Lords, although there will be an opportunity for the Lords to ask the Commons to think again... again... on the Victims and Courts Bill and the Crime and Policing Bill. Yes, it's ping-pong time in the Lords... Bills Today sees Day 3 of the Report stage of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. Kath Pinnock has two amendments down promoting the Town and Parish Council sector, whilst John Shipley and Shaffaq Mohammed are attempting to persuade the Government that there are alternatives to the "strong leader" model of local government ... (more) |