Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on beachThe judges were about to knock off for Christmas, but BBC News deserves our Headline of the Day Award for this. (more) |
The Joy of Six 1453Martin Barrow reports that, following the intervention of Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children's Commissioner for England, it is hard to find anyone prepared to defend the current arrangements, outside the actual 'business' of children's homes and foster care. "Despite the numerous inquiries that have been carried out, the lessons identified often fail to translate into meaningful, lasting change. As a result, organisations find themselves repeating the same mistakes, leading to avoidable disasters. Those impacted wait years for answers, and political impetus for reform can wane."Rebecca McKee and Jack Pannell make the case for reform of public inquiries. The 'one ... (more) |
The Guardian discovers the Welland Valley: "An unsung alternative to the Cotswolds"We've all heard of The Notswolds, and an article in the Guardian today adopts my definition of Les Notswolds profonds: the Welland Valley between Market Harborough and the Welland Viaduct. Ben Lerwill visits Market Harborough: The town itself has ancient Saxon roots and is easy to like, with a head-turning mix of Jacobean, Georgian and Victorian architecture. I stumble on Quinns, a cracking independent bookshop tucked down an alleyway, then devour a curry bowl at a lively cafe called Two Old Goats. A board on the street lists notable town residents through the ages, the most recent being rugby giant ... (more) |
Another year of progress (LDN#204)Liberal Democrat Newswire #204 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 #204 and, first, a little favour please. You may have seen some of the press coverage about the horrendous behaviour that Lib Dem councillors and others have been on the receiving end of in Swale from racists and extremists. There has even been more and worse than has appeared in the press. So a quick request ... (more) |
Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2026!Christmas is fast approaching, so it's time once again for one of my animated Christmas cards. This time I've roped in some European political leaders and a very demanding cat... New Year's Eve sees my second and final term as Liberal Democrat President come to an end, and party members have elected Josh Babarinde to succeed me. So come January, I'll be able to give my full attention to the amazing new opportunity I've had the chance to start this year: serving in the House of Lords. I've been pleasantly surprised how much modern efficiency has sneaked into different corners ... (more) |
Our weekly ward surgeries over the festive season #dundeewestendAs the schools come off for the Christmas holidays this afternoon, our weekly ward surgeries do not take place today or during the school Christmas and New Year holidays. Surgeries return on Tuesday 13th January 2026 but meantime we can be contacted at westend@dundeelibdems.org.uk or call Dundee 459378 - many thanks! (more) |
Has Starmer declared war on the lobby?We know that Keir Starmer's ratings are in the toilet, but is restricting access to journalists really going to help turn that around, and what does it say about his commitment to open government and democratic accountability? James Heale in the Spectator is not amused. Heale explains that Downing Street has announced a major overhaul of the 'lobby' briefing system: Currently, accredited political reporters are invited to twice-daily briefings with No. 10 spokesmen. But Tim Allan - the newly-appointed executive communications director - wants to change all that. He plans to scrap afternoon briefings and host 'occasional' morning press conferences ... (more) |
Paul Scholfield and Simon Callow were Salieri and Mozart in the original production of AmadeusBecause of the new television version of Amadeus ("flat, airless and banal"- Guardian), there's been much recent discussion of Paul Shaffer's original play and of the 1984 film. A television documentary about Paul Schofield has recently appeared on YouTube. Simon Callow, who played Mozart to Schofield's Salieri in the first production of the play, talks about the experience in the video above. (Just click play to see the extract.) If you watch the whole programme on YouTube, you will see that Schofield was regarded by his contemporaries as a peerless stage actor. Because he made relatively few screen appearances, his ... (more) |
Andrew George is the member for the Isles of ScillyIt's not just Scottish MPs who worry about island ferries: Andrew George's St Ives constituency, as well as the far west of Cornwall, takes in the Isles of Scilly, which are 28 miles off the Cornish coast. In this latest Cornish Times column, the Liberal Democrat MP reports a meeting with the transport minister Keir Mather: He says he wants to help. I've invited him to visit, to help him better understand the challenges islanders face, and then help ensure sustainable solutions are found. Scilly may be an exceptional place. But it's also a tough place to survive, especially if ... (more) |
Of Mice and Men (and worms)As I biohacker I do quite a bit of self-experimentation. There is an interesting ethical question about self-experimentation. Obviously people have the right to make their own decisions. Self Experimentation has a long history in Medicine and at least five Nobel Prize winners have won a prize following self experimentation. However, it is potentially dangerous and people have died. The (more) |