Lords Parliamentary Party reshuffle - who's who in the new Parliamentary sessionReaders may have noticed over the past few days a few personal announcements as to what certain Peers will be doing now, so we thought that we'd better provide readers with a complete list. And, with thanks to Humphrey Amos from the Lords' Whips Office, we can announce that our Lords Spokespeople are as follows: Leader – Jeremy Purvis Deputy Leaders – Kath Pinnock and Mike Storey Chief Whip – Dave Goddard Attorney General – Martin Thomas Business and Industry – Chris Fox Cabinet Office – Mark Pack Culture, Media and Sport – Jane Bonham-Carter, Dominic Addington (Sport) and Liz ... (more) |
Creeting St Peter: putting the administrative stuff to rights, one task at a time...In my eight years as Chair of the Parish Council, I've held a number of roles. At one point, I was Chair, Acting Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer, a period which caused me huge levels of stress and was, in organisational terms, highly unsatisfactory. But sometimes, especially with a micro-parish, needs must. The show must, if you like, go on. In my earlier incarnation, I was the Wildlife portfolio holder, which was a source of great amusement given that I still couldn't confidently identify even the obvious stuff and was still convinced that wolves stalked the land. Now, I hold ... (more) |
Mutant 'super pigs' breeding at uncontrollable levels in nuclear fallout zoneCongratulations to the Daily Star. Thanks to a nomination from a Liberal England reader, it has won our Headline of the Day Award. (more) |
Too much Tik Tok, not enough protocolIt is a sure sign that the government is getting too obsessed with social media when the Speaker of the House of Commons scolds Labour ministers for making major announcements on TikTok before Parliament. The Guardian reports that, speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, ahead of Rachel Reeves' cost of living plan announcement, Lindsay Hoyle criticised ministers for announcing policies on social media before updating MPs: The chancellor received a dressing down from deputy speaker Judith Cummins as she prepared to set out measures to mitigate the economic impact of the Iran war, several of which had already been ... (more) |
Rob Kenyon: Reform's vetting has failed in Makerfield[IMG: Social media post by Rob Kenyon] Just one of Rob Kenyon's many objectionable social media posts. Reform often boasts about how good its candidate vetting is. But even with plenty of examples of its failure already widely known, this is a shocking failure of vetting for their Makerfield Parliamentary by-election candidate: On a deleted social media account, Reform UK's candidate in the upcoming Makerfield parliamentary by-election, Rob Kenyon, made creepy comments about women, peddled baseless conspiracy theories, and called for a method of torture prohibited by international human rights law. After Rob Kenyon was announced as Reform UK's Makerfield ... (more) |
Liz Crowther played Lucy in a 1967 adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was first adapted for the screen in 1967 by ABC Weekend Television. I was reminded of this when I watched the first episode of A Very Peculiar Practice on BBC4 last night and Liz Crowther was in the cast. That's because Liz Crowther played Lucy Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1969. Broadcast in ten 30-minute episodes, the series was written by Trevor Preston and directed by Helen Standage. According to Wikipedia, only the first and eighth episodes have survived, along with an audio recording of episode 7. But ... (more) |
Two cracking maiden speeches from Lib DemsThe latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: There was a treat in the House of Lords this week – two maiden speeches from Liberal Democrat peers, Rhiannon Leaman and Mike Dixon. I know many readers enjoyed Sarah Teather's maiden speech, so here now are Rhiannon's and Mike's too. And even if you think you know them already, I think you'll ... (more) |
What do we Lib Dems offer the voters Zack Polanski has won over?Embed from Getty ImagesIt's easy for a Liberal Democrat with a good memory to find Zack Polanski irritating. His story that he stood for his local council as Lib Dem because he cared about proportional representation, but then joined the Greens because he found he agreed with them more, doesn't square with what we recall of him. He didn't just stand for his borough council, he also stood for the London Assembly and was dead keen to be our candidate in the 2016 Richmond Park by-election. His complaints when he wasn't selected filled Lib Dem social media for ages afterwards. ... (more) |
Andy Burnham's mixed record: Why Greater Manchester deserves betterThe argument for standing aside in Makerfield sounds "strategic", but from a Liberal Democrat perspective it is strategically short-sighted, democratically unhealthy, and misunderstands how Reform is defeated. Political parties exist to represent voters, not simply to game outcomes between larger parties. If Liberal Democrats believe in liberal values, civil liberties, internationalism and local democracy, then voters everywhere deserve the opportunity to vote for those values. Writing off entire areas risks accelerating decline, not preventing it. The claim that standing and polling poorly makes the party "look inept" ignores Liberal Democrat history. The party's biggest advances often began from tiny bases ... (more) |
Liberalism in the age of AI: building an economy that liberates peopleFor most of the modern political era, economic debate has revolved around one central question: how do we create more jobs? But what happens when technology begins reducing the need for human labour just as our population is ageing and demand for care, health and support is rising sharply? Artificial intelligence is already reshaping parts of the economy at extraordinary speed. Entry-level legal work, coding, administration, customer service and research are all changing before our eyes. At the same time, Britain is growing older. More people are living longer, often with complex health or care needs, while birth rates fall ... (more) |