Dogs pushing dogs racing dogs pushing dogsWatch two Australian Cattle Dogs, Ruger and Rogue, go racing: And more: This is surely a dead cert for the next Olympics. (more) |
Wendy Chamberlain to run London MarathonIt says something about Wendy Chamberlain's capacity for hard work that in amongst being Chief Whip, an energetic constituency MP, and running the Scottish elections that she's going to be running the London Marathon two weeks today. Here she is talking to Radio 5 Live about it this week: Obviously we wish Wendy all the best in her endeavour, but we should all really put our money where our mouths are too. Wendy is using her run as an opportunity to raise money for two charities very close to her heart. Wendy has been raising the issue of PANS PANDAS ... (more) |
Dementia is a terrible wasting condition. How do people cope?If we think of death at all we all roughly have the same hope. To die peacefully in one's bed at the age of 90 or so, having been healthy until 3 days before we go. For many people that is not what happens. As we live longer, we do not necessarily live healthier. Not only is there a clear gap in life expectancy based on poverty with wealthier people living eight years longer in parts of our City but poverty also leads to more unhealthy lives so poor people live shorter lives with a much larger portion of those ... (more) |
Ed Davey on Kuennsberg to talk about "Trump's idiotic war" and need to act on food securityEd Davey was interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire who was sitting in for Laura Kuennsberg this morning. He wanted to talk about our plan to ensure food security by giving a billion to England's farmers and introduce a Good Food Bill in next month's King's Speech. Unsurprisingly, though, the first question was about whether we supported the UK sending military help to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Ed said: I think we should work with our international partners, particularly at the UN if possible but certainly with our allies in NATO and elsewhere and in the Gulf Region in particular ... (more) |
Bill Oddie: On Ilkla Moor Baht'atGraeme Garden was singing the praises of Bill Oddie's music for I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again and The Goodies on the Through the Square Window podcast the other day. And this is a good example of how funny and accomplished it was. The Dandelion Records label, says Dandies in the Underworld, was a labour of love run by John Peel and record company Clive Selworthy. The latter explains how the record came about:One of the label's most collectable singles is Bill Oddie's On Ilkley Moor Baht'at. I think I was behind that. It was another one of our jokes ... (more) |
Tom Arms' World ReviewUK and Russia UK-Russian tensions have been ratcheted up several notches this week. It started when Vladimir Putin sent a Russian frigate to escort two shadow fleet oil tankers through the English Channel. The move was a response to Sir Keir Starmer's threat to board and impound any of the sanctioned tankers moving through British waters. Result: stand- off. The tankers issue was followed by a press conference at which Defence Secretary John Healey announced that British forces—in cooperation with Norway—had foiled a Russian attempt to cut a key undersea cable north of the UK. Not revealed at the press ... (more) |
Latest PollBase is out, with all the British voting intention polls since the 1930sWith the end of another, rather interesting, quarter, another update to PollBase, my database of British voting intention opinion polls since the 1930s is now up. It includes the first PM approval ratings from 1938 and first national voting intention scores from 1939. Download the new version here. As well as another three months of data, changes this time include: Correction to information about Techne polls, which are of the UK rather than GB. Additional Gallup data from the 1951, 1955, 1964, 1966 and both 1974 Parliaments. Some of this information has come from the Bodleian Library's set of Gallup/BIPO ... (more) |
Police review Reform UK energy prize drawNation Cymru reports that police are reviewing a complaint about Reform UK's offer to pay the energy bills of an entire street for a year as part of a prize draw. However, Nigel Farage has said he is "not in the least bit worried" electoral rules may have been broken by holding the competition after footage online showed him and Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick visiting the winners: In a video posted on X, the pair could be seen handing a bunch of flowers and a large cheque for £1,758 to a couple, said to be Reform UK supporters, in Wigan ... (more) |
Ken Loach was Kenneth Williams' understudy in a West End revueIn 1961 Sheila Hancock was appearing in the West End revue One Over the Eight. In her memoir The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw she writes: The chief joy of One Over the Eight for me was meeting and becoming friends with the writer of the show, Peter Cook, and Kenneth [Williams], the maverick star. But she didn't feel London was really swinging yet and neither did Kenneth Williams: One night after the show, when I gave him a lift back to his chaste flat on the back of my Lambretta, he waved his furled umbrella at ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1502"As need has grown and reform and resources have stalled, 1.9 million people in England alone provided a 'full-time' (defined as 35 hours or more) week of care in 2023-24 - that's 70 per cent more than 20 years ago. Others have to fit caring responsibilities around their jobs: dropping off the kids at school, going to the office and then helping their elderly parents bathe and eat."Frances Ryan asks who will care for the carers. Ari Berman names the far-right conspiracists who are urging Trump to take control of the mid-term elections. Tao Wang says a study of the ... (more) |