The Ivanhoe Line west of Coalville is disappearing fast: Here's what's leftEver since I was a councillor in the Eighties, the reopening to passengers of the line from Leicester to Coalville, Ashby and Burton upon Trent has been high on the agenda of transport campaigners in the East Midlands. Which makes this video following the line between Coalville and Burton concerning. No train has run west of Coalville for a couple of years and, as a result, that section of the line is rapidly being reclaimed by nature. This is doubly worrying because, though what people in Coalville want is a train to Leicester, it is this section between Coalville and ... (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 Find Out Now 17% (-2) 17% (+2) 13% (nc) 17% (-1) 26% (+1) -9% (vs Ref) 20-21/5 GB YouGov ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1522"Why, if the homes are unregistered and therefore illegal, are English councils still placing children in them? And how can the system be reformed so this doesn't continue to happen?"Noel Titheradge investigates a continuing scandal. James Meek looked at housing in Andy Burnham's Manchester om the eve of the last general election: "Burnham presides over a scale model of a future Starmer Britain, one where a social democratic leader full of genuine desire to mend the broken, over-marketised public realm is hamstrung by lack of resources and constrained by fear of frightening away the wealth-holders. Like England, Greater Manchester has ... (more) |
Lib Dems get new by-election cycle off to a double winning start[IMG: Chris McSweeny] Winning Lib Dem by-election candidate Chris McSweeny. Four principal authority council by-elections this week to kick off the new cycle. Good to see a full slate of Lib Dem candidates, up one on the last time these seats were contested. Those candidates also scored two important wins for the Liberal Democrats: Alfrick, Leigh & Rushwick (Malvern Hills) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 25.8% (+10.6) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 22.3% (+3.2) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 19.4% (New) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 16.9% (New) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 10.8% (New) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 4.7% (New)No MHI (-65.6) as previous.Liberal Democrat GAIN from ... (more) |
Jake Austin picked as Liberal Democrat candidate for Makerfield[IMG: Jake Austin - Makerfield candidate] Jake Austin. A Liberal Democrat press release brings the news: Jake Austin has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Makerfield in the upcoming by-election, pledging to champion local issues that matter most to residents. Jake is passionate about revitalising our high streets, improving public transport across the North West, and providing affordable homes for the next generation. Jake was born and raised in Hindley, and has lived in Greater Manchester his whole life. Working in fundraising, Jake is also a Liberal Democrat Councillor. In 2024, Jake was the Liberal Democrat candidate in ... (more) |
Marching for Palestinian rights - and our ownWhen 88-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos addressed last Saturday's London peace rally for Palestine he confronted some upside-down thinking, and turned it the right way up. "These are NOT hate marches", he said, "Quite the opposite! These are NOT no-go areas for Jews...Quite the opposite! A majority of Jews of the world do NOT support Israeli policy...Quite the opposite!" A good number of Lib Dems attend these Palestine marches each month. We all know the misconceptions spread by journalists and politicians. Few have attended a march, yet they're happy to label them extremist, pro-Hamas, hate-led, and often predict arrests. This ... (more) |
The amended EHRC code is an attack on trans rights. Lib Dems should be at the forefront of challenging it.The amended Equality and Human Rights Commission Code of Practice on services, public functions, and associations was laid before Parliament yesterday. It will become law in 40 days unless Parliament acts. That window matters, and Liberal Democrats should be using it. I have read the code carefully. The headline is this: it does not just reflect the Supreme Court's ruling in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers. It goes further, resolving almost every area of discretion against trans people and in favour of those who want to exclude them. It makes inclusion legally risky and exclusion legally safe. That ... (more) |
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) |