What a great, great city Liverpool isWhen Spellow library and community hub was nearly destroyed by rioters the community, businesses and council worked together to create an even better facility than existed before. I spent the first 4.5 months of 2024 as Deputy Lord Mayor and the last 7.5 months as Lord Mayor of Liverpool. What I have done and seen has convinced me that my analysis that Liverpool is one of the best cities in Europe was a considerable understatement! It's one of the best cities in the world! As councillors we often underestimate the good things that happen in our city. It's not that ... (more) |
A brief defence of teaching Latin and natural history in state schoolsI went to a comprehensive, I received free school meals, I even had Allison Pearson in the same class. But I still took and passed O level Latin. Which made me sad to read this story in Schools Week: Thousands of secondary pupils are facing "significant disruption" after the government scrapped its state school Latin programme mid-year as it seeks to plug a fiscal black hole. In a letter seen by Schools Week, the Department for Education has informed schools it is terminating its Latin Excellence Programme in February. The £4 million scheme was supposed to run until 2026, but ... (more) |
Number 4: Bruce Cockburn - Closer To The LightBruce Cockburn has long been an artist I feel that I should like more than I actually do. He ticks all the boxes: sort of folk rock style singer-songwriter who writes intelligent and thoughtful lyrics. Yet I have never quite taken him to my heart. I listen to an album, think it's pretty good but then don't go back to it. Part of the problem is that I found some of his political songwriting in the 1980s overly didactic and dogmatic. (Don't get me wrong, as a fan of Bob Dylan and Neil Young I hardly object to political songwriting ... (more) |
Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion pollsWelcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Techne 26% (+1) 27% (nc) 12% (+1) 7% (nc) 21% (-1) 1% 18-19/12 GB Find Out Now 23% (-3) 26% (+3) 11% (nc) 9% ... (more) |
How many mistakes can you spot in my first Focus leaflet?After yesterday's news, I was reflecting on the 34 years since I first joined the Liberal Democrats, and the many people who have kindly helped and supported me along the way. Including the person who first recruited me to the party (and then went on to become a Conservative Parliamentary candidate, but let's move along). Or the bubbling enthusiasm of Willie Rennie the first time I took part in a full-on election campaign, which gave me the bug for campaigning. Plus of course those mad intensive eight years working with a great team and an amazing candidate, going from no ... (more) |
Observations of an Expat: Christmas TraditionsTis the season. Egg nog, mulled wine, presents, Christmas trees, yule logs, Christmas cards, Midnight Mass, food, food and more food.... The list goes on and on. The Holiday Season is one tradition after another. In fact, you could call it the Tradition Season just as easily as the Christmas or Holiday Season. But when and where did the traditions start? Well, they came from all over the Western world and some of the Eastern. Some have deeply religious roots. Others tell a political story. Some are strictly secular money making operations. There was a time when Christmas was banned. ... (more) |
Hope Point over the festive periodChristmas can be a tough time for many people. If you, or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Hope Point, Dundee Wellbeing Support is open 24/7 : Phone - 0800 955 0008 Text - 01382 604 123 Drop in - 4 South Ward Road, Dundee, DD1 1PN (more) |
Failing on House of Lords reformKeir Starmer may be putting a bill through Parliament to abolish hereditary peers but it seems that is as far as his reforms of the world's largest second chamber goes. The Mirror reports that the Prime Minister is expected to name around 30 new peers on Thursday - with a gong for former aide Sue Gray. This is despite a manifesto commitment to slim down this unelected body: Despite commitment to reform the Lords, the Government is concerned about getting legislation through the upper chamber. There are currently 273 Tories, 187 Labour, 78 Lib Dems and 184 cross-benchers, meaning no ... (more) |
Bob Trubshaw on the ironstone railways of LeicestershireA thorough survey of a vanished local industry and its associated railways. At 33:20 we visit Nevill Holt, which is believed by many scholars to be the inspiration for Bonkers Hall. (more) |
ALDC By-Election Report 19th DecemberThe results for the final by-elections of the year are here! It was Labour defences across the board for this week's three contested seats. Labour held on to only one, suffering a huge loss of vote share to the Lib Dems, while the Tories and Reform each gained a seat from the ruling party in Westminster. Starting off with Greenwich LBC, Steve Day stormed into second place in West Thamesmead, where we were fourth last time voters went out to the polls. Labour's support while dropped from over 60% to under half while the Lib Dems almost quadrupled their vote. ... (more) |