George Orwell: Life and Legacy by Robert CollsThis review appears in the latest issue of Liberator - no. 434. You can download it free of charge from the magazine's website. George Orwell: Life and LegacyRobert Colls Oxford University Press, 2026, £14.99 I read Nineteen Eighty-Four as a teenager because it felt like a moral duty and as a student regarded the four paperback volumes of George Orwell's Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters as a sort of bible. So I wonder if Rob Colls (who taught me on my MA Victorian Studies course long ago) is right to say we are now living at peak Orwell. The imperative ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: Unpleasant scenes outside the hallIf you heard jeering on you way into the spring conference at York, it appears from that it probably came from militant young badgers. And good luck to them, I say. Thursday I am summoned to the residence of the King of the Badgers, which is to be found on the Bonkers Hall Estate, beneath the triumphal arch I had erected to celebrate the victory of Wallace Lawler in the 1969 Birmingham Ladywood by-election. He tells me that the younger badgers have seen Ed Davey's video opposing the replacement of Winston Churchill by a badger (or other form of wildlife) ... (more) |
Overseas political funding to be capped and crypo banned at lastThe Guardian reports that political donations from British citizens living abroad are to be capped at £100,000 a year from Wednesday, in a move that is likely to limit further funding from Reform UK's Thailand-based mega-donor, Christopher Harborne. They add that the new representation of the people bill will also include a temporary ban on donations in cryptocurrency: Steve Reed, the communities secretary, said the legislation would be applied retrospectively from Wednesday subject to parliamentary approval, as the move was urgently needed to protect UK democracy. He said he was "not prepared to allow any window of opportunity for malign ... (more) |
25 March 2026 - today's press releasesMore than 17,000 children waiting longer than a year in temporary accommodation David Chadwick calls for Government action to protect Rural Community Transport Schemes Greene: Aspiring politicians must campaign with decency Greene: Offord and Reform should reject secretive crypto donations Collien Fernandes: Renew Europe calls for EU action to close loopholes on AI deepfake abuse More than 17,000 children waiting longer than a year in temporary accommodation Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson and Central Scotland candidate Paul McGarry has today accused the SNP of "catastrophic neglect" as he published figures showing that over the past five years, there have been ... (more) |
Stanley Unwin in The Box of DelightsI probably heard the repeat of it near Christmas in 1968, but it was this BBC Radio adaptation of The Box of Delights from 1966 that introduced me to the book's magic. And I discovered recently that Stanley Unwin was in it. Click play on the video above and you will hear a short scene between Abner Brown, Sylvia Daisy Pouncer, Rat and Rat's nephew Alf. The nephew is played by Stanley Unwin. Unwin understood that his act worked best in small doses, which is why he turns up making cameo appearances in all sorts of unexpected places. (more) |
catThe usual: cat reported missing. Then it was found dead in the street; its stalk and mewl and problematic claws no more. Perhaps hit by a car... The neighbourhood has grieved: 23 have posted sad emojis, 8 sent their condolences. Now. Black or white, that cat does not catch mice. (more) |
Why the Lib Dems need more candidates (LDN#207)Liberal Democrat Newswire #207 came out last week and you can now 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: Welcome to Lib Dem Newswire #207, which includes a look at why the Lib Dems need more local election candidates, a discussion of James Graham's hit play This House, news of how the Cabinet Office moved very slowly to correct an error in government pay and more. First, however, congratulations to the new Lib Dem councillors since last time, and their ... (more) |
Welsh Party Leaders debate in Haverfordwest... want to be there?Here at LDV Towers, we receive all sorts of interesting invitations, most of which we can't respond to. You know, we're busy people with jobs and other commitments. But here's one that we've been asked to share with you... The BBC Wales Your Voice Live: Ask the Leader is on Wednesday, April 8th in Haverfordwest. The audience will have the opportunity to put questions to the leaders of the Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and Welsh Liberal Democrats ahead of the Senedd election in May. BBC Cymru are looking for audience members and, as they are obliged to try to balance ... (more) |
MPs are turning away from using X/TwitterThe latest annual report from 5654 & Company and MessageSpace into the social media usage of MPs is out and it shows a drop in use of Elon Musk's X: [IMG: Social media consumption table for MPs] Note also, though, that after the promising debut of Bluesky in the statistics last year its usage among MPs has, on this measure at least, dropped. It usage varies hugely by party: 54% of Lib Dem MPs say they visit Bluesky every day, compared to 29% of Labour and 0% of Conservative MPs. Here is the full report. Sign up to get the ... (more) |
Straits of Hormuz blockade shows that we must all reduce our dependence on fossil fuelThere are many lessons to come out of the deluded Trump actions in the Middle East. This is a conflict which will take time to evolve and, in some ways, will never be completed as people will hold resentment for what has happened down the decades. However, there are already a number of things that have become clear. The most important of these is that we must look to renewable energy and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. That is why I am delighted with an announcement that has been made that the Government has taken a 'Sunshine' Bill promoted ... (more) |