The pitch meeting for Love ActuallySorry if this is your favourite Christmas film. There are lots more such videos on the Pitch Meetings YouTube channel. (more) |
Lib Dems beat Labour on penalties in CamdenOn Friday evening Camden Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners took on their Labour counterparts at football. At full time the scores were level at 6-6, but the Lib Dems won on penalties to repeat their victory from last year. Richard Osley, our man on the press box with a mug of Bovril, reports for the Camden New Journal: As usual when these two teams meet, it was not a match light on controversy. The Lib Dems say a late equaliser by Labour housing chief Sagal Abdi-Wali to make the scoreline 6-6 was netted in "Eddie time". Mayor of Camden Eddie ... (more) |
Mathew on Monday: a year that revealed the limits of old politicsAs this political year draws to a close, it has revealed something fundamental about the state of our country: Britain is crying out for change, but all too often is being offered more of the same. After years of Conservative failure, voters rightly demanded competence and decency. Yet while the Conservatives have continued to implode-trapped between ideological exhaustion and an inability to reckon honestly with the damage they have done-the change on offer from Labour has too often felt cautious, managerial and constrained by self-imposed limits. Stability matters, of course. But stability without ambition risks becoming stagnation. This has been ... (more) |
From Hong Kong's Tai Po fire to Jimmy Lai's political persecution end impunity for crimes against journalistsFor the past two years, my father (Jimmy Lai) has been on trial under Hong Kong's arbitrary and draconian national security law.... His skin is drying up, his nails are changing colour before falling off, and his teeth are decaying. His eyes are often dry and bloodshot. – Claire Lai, The Washington Post, 9th December 2025 Lai was the owner of Apple Daily, the largest pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong. Mere words of concern from the UK government are not enough when it comes to his political imprisonment in Hong Kong. The UK Government needs to take action to end ... (more) |
Why Australia is right in dealing with gun crime and the USA is not.Those slaughtered at Sandy Hook should have meant that gun laws would be changed in the USA. Instead they became victims of political controversy about false flags and untruths Every now and then a debate will arise in the United Kingdom about whether or not the Police should routinely carry guns. The people who are most clear that they do not want this to happen are the police themselves. Of course, the police do sometimes carry arms. About 20% of the police have gun training and are occasionally part of specialist squads that are highly trained and highly disciplined. If ... (more) |
Hope dawns for Britain's neglected communities: honouring the Brexit vote by fixing trade, not leaving prosperity behindTo the proud Leave voters across the Midlands, the North East, the South, Wales and all areas that backed the decision: You voted for sovereignty, you voted to take back control, and you voted for a better economic future in British hands. The Liberal Democrats understand that vision and share your desire for a thriving United Kingdom. But across our fishing ports, industrial heartlands, and farming communities, there is a growing, painful reality. The Conservative Government's deal failed to deliver on those promises, creating a legacy of bureaucracy, crippling costs, and a constant drag on our local economies. Worse still, ... (more) |
Equality, degrowth and survivalI am becoming increasingly concerned by the party's continued stress on economic growth. This is in total contradiction to what is necessary on the environment. Of course, when pressed, this aim is hedged about as 'green growth', but increasingly this is detached from the direction needed to save the planet. As a Quaker, one of my aims is to speak truth to power. When the very survival of our planet is threatened by widespread flouting and outright denial of the steps necessary to achieve a green economy, it is surely time that we, as radical politicians, start to tell the ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1449"They can mess about with flags and play the national anthem and rail against DEI all they like. But if they shut down your mum's nursing home, will you vote for them?"Helen Pidd looks at how Reform UK are coping with running the council in Lancashire. Michael Savage dissects Liz Truss's attempt to win herself a share of MAGA gold: "The alternative media ecosystem has no shortage of comeback stories. It is always possible to rebrand yourself when you give in to a rabid political fanbase." "Systematic synthetic phonics is taught using 'decodable' books that often have very limited content. ... (more) |
What is the "right" level of immigration to the UK?There are few current issues more emotive than that of immigration, so I wanted to take a dispassionate view of the future demographic and economic implications of where we are now, and what might happen in the future, particularly if Nigel Farage achieved his aim of 'net zero' one-in, one-out migration as he stated in June this year. I took as a starting point the population projections published by the Office of National Statistics. The central assumption is that the UK's population will grow from around 69 million today to 77 million in 2047. One key point to note in ... (more) |
New Year, New Blogs..PLEASE NOTE: Just a quick update to say that I now have a Wordpress blog and so will be scaling back the blogs I have on Blogger as I don't want to keep duplicating stuff! So, in the New Year, this blog will be redesigned and content minimised before I take a decision whether to remove it completely. But, before then you can find me on Instagram, and Wordpress or find links to my bio.site here (more) |