Bishop's Castle Town Council sees the importance of supporting residents during a food crisisBishop's Castle has always had a strong sense of community. Here's a contemporary account of how it responded to the Civil War: Out of Shropshire we hear that there are above a thousand in armes about Clun and Bishop's Castle, standing out against both sides: neither for the King nor for the Parliament, but stand only upon their own guard for the preservation of their lives and fortunes. So it's no surprise to learn from the Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser - it's that paper again - that Bishop's Castle Town Council's new food resilience strategy aims to "improve local ... (more) |
Assembly Rooms toilet row - Ludlow council "not a bottomless pit"Now here's a decision that didn't take the judges long: the Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser is the clear winner of our Headline of the Day Award. (more) |
Former Green Mayor Ian Conlan joins Lib DemsFollowing the news of a Green councillor joining the Lib Dems, there is now also news of former Mayor Ian Conlan doing the same: Liberal Democrats on North Yorkshire Council say they are aiming to take control of the authority in next May's elections as they welcomed a former Green Party mayor into their ranks. Ian Conlan, who served as Mayor of Malton for three years, has defected to the Liberal Democrats and announced plans to stand as a candidate in the May 2027 local elections. [Richmondshire Today] Liberal Democrat councillor Steve Mason welcomed the decision, saying: I have known ... (more) |
Scottish Lib Dems defeat SNP on Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence BillThis week Scottish Lib Dems inflicted the first parliamentary defeat of this session on the minority SNP Government. SNP candidates had championed the idea of a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill for years and it was in their manifesto for the elections in May. I represented the party at numerous hustings on disability, including specific ones to do with supporting people with learning disabilities, autism and neurodivergence, and there was unanimity amongst all parties. Earlier this month, the SNP Government said that it would no longer pursue this, claiming that they could make change more quickly as though these ... (more) |
The Manchurian Candidate (the 1962 version)The latest edition of the email newsletter for my podcast, Political Fictions, 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: Get the books As well as covering some books in the podcast, we also mention others in the newsletter's bonus content. You can browse all the books mentioned and get them for yourself via my Bookshop.org page (affiliate link) including the original novel version of The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon. The (original) Manchurian Candidate [IMG: ... (more) |
The Red Lady of PavilandGreece may want us to return the Elgin Marbles, but they are not the only misplaced historical artifact. There are people in Swansea who want the red lady of Paviland returned to South Wales as well, though this aint no lady. As the BBC reports, two-hundred years ago scientists unearthed one of the most intriguing and controversial finds in Welsh archaeological history: On 18 January 1823, The Red Lady of Paviland was discovered in a cave on the Gower peninsula, Swansea, by William Buckland, a reverend and Oxford University's first ever professor of geology. "She" was immediately transported to the ... (more) |
How housebuilding can tackle the cost of living crisis and boost growthThis article draws on "Hitting housebuilding targets would reduce rents by £251 a month" published by the Centre for British Progress, written by Rob Blackie, Tim Leunig and David Lawrence. Andy Burnham's recent promise to tackle the cost of living pitch ignored the most practical approach: increasing housebuilding to bring down rents. This week the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that people will get poorer in the next few years. If Britain focuses on cutting rents we can reverse that trend. The typical British renter spends three times as much on rent as on food, and five times as much ... (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 the latest MRP projections and 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 Opinium 20% (nc) 30% (nc) 10% (+1) 8% (-2) 22% (nc) 8% (vs Ref) 28-30/10 GB BMG 21% (+1) ... (more) |
The Independent View: Nobody falls in love with a manifestoLast week on this site, Maria Linforth-Hall asked a question that has stayed with me: what are the Liberal Democrats for? One line in particular. "Having individual policies is not necessarily the same as communicating a coherent political vision." She then asked whether ordinary people can recognise liberal values in the practical answers the party offers to their everyday problems. I should say where I'm writing from. I'm not a party member. I write for LibDem Dating, an independent dating site for liberal-minded singles in the UK, which has no connection to the party and no endorsement from it. So ... (more) |
Retro.1Driven, I moved away from home (deep roots) and in the tearing, left some blood behind although I was a stone; a pliant rock since modified by alchemy of years to straw and dust, now scattered in the fall (more) |