Crash! (1971): An experimental television film with J.G. Ballard and Gabrielle DrakeThis film, made for BBC2 and broadcast in 1971, features J.G. Ballard and Gabrielle Drake. It must have been inspired by one of the linked stories - also called Crash! - from Ballard's novel The Atrocity Exhibition, which was published in 1970. Ballard's novel Crash did not appear until 1973. It was adapted by David Cronenberg for a 1996 film that caused great controversy when it was released. (more) |
Roz Savage and her Liberal vision for a flourishing BritainRoz Savage has written a paper called Liberalism Alive: A Liberal Vision for a Flourishing Britain for Compass. It was published last month and touches upon questions that Liberal Democrats are currently wrestling with, such as leadership and defining what we stand for. It's well worth a read. You can download it from the Compass website. Here's a little of what Roz writes: Britain does not need another political saviour. It needs direction: leadership capable of describing that direction, institutions capable of learning, a state strong enough to protect the public interest, and millions of people with enough security, ownership ... (more) |
Mathew on Monday: Davey has been given a second chance. Now he must show us what his leadership is forEd Davey's leadership of the Liberal Democrats has been given something of a reprieve. Some of his parliamentary colleagues have rallied around him, offering protection at a time when questions about his leadership and the party's direction have become increasingly difficult to ignore. But protection is not the same as vindication. And a second chance must not become an excuse for more of the same. The Liberal Democrats cannot afford another period of drift and dither. We need leadership. We need vision. Above all, we need to know what our party is actually for. I've argued before that our problem ... (more) |
The decapitation strategyThere seems to be a naïve assumption that all the problems of the Liberal Democrats will be solved by a decapitation strategy. During my lifetime there have been 12 Liberal and LibDem leaders and during that same period we have always been told that voters don't understand what we stand for. Yes, occasionally, voters do identify with something we stand for. Our opposition to the Iraq war for example or our support for the EU. They have also recognised stupidity like abandoning our firm pledge on tuition fees. In 2024 I suspect our success was mainly down to being the ... (more) |
Welcome (belatedly) to my day: 12 October 2026 - a leadership challenge, or a challenge to the leadership?...My estimable colleague and our Editor-in-Chief, Caron Lindsay, wrote yesterday asking the question, "Is Ed Davey toast?". And a fine question it is too, although I'm perhaps not the obvious person to answer it. So, instead, I'm first going to look at the mechanics of it all. With the Parliamentary Party in the Commons due to meet tomorrow, what are the options? Charlie Maynard has moved in the confidence that he can secure enough votes to defeat Ed, and Ed knows it. That would potentially trigger Article 18.2(a) of the Federal Constitution: the Leader asking for an election or, Article ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1590Jonathan Wilson explains why we're stuck with a Premier League in the clutches of the global mega-rich: "Clubs represent their communities and for fans support becomes an aspect of identity, a link to family and place and past, a role that has only become more significant as the influence of traditional institutions - the church, the workplace, the social club - has faded. Yet fans in England have almost never owned their clubs, which in part underlies the present crisis." "While investors get richer, the dysfunctional market inflicts a huge cost on children in care. Young people removed from their ... (more) |
What is Christian nationalism?There is a billboard on a main road near where I live, which has not carried any advertisements for some considerable time. However, it has become a canvass for the far right's meaningless slogans. Faced with studied indifference by the owners, the council has twice now painted over these tags, and the culprits appear to have moved on to defacing walls in nearby parks. However, I noticed the other day that a makeshift wooden cross (pictured) has been erected above the billboard in a clear attempt to differentiate the perpetrators from the multi-cultural society we now live in. The Ku ... (more) |
Is Ed Davey toast?The news that two Lib Dem front benchers, Alison Bennett quietly and Charlie Maynard with a bit more noise have resigned their positions this week should concern the party. It's been clear for some time that all is not well within the party, and the controlling, top-down management style adopted by the party leadership since the General Election in 2024. This sort of rigid discipline didn't work so well in the Labour Party in the first two years of the Starmer administration and it sure as hell is doomed in a liberal party. We are supposed to encourage independence of ... (more) |
Ellesmere Yard: A living relic of the canal ageEllesmere's canal basin is at the end of a short branch off the Llangollen Canal, which used to be called the Shropshire Union Canal, but was rebranded in the 1980s in the hope that would bring more visitors. At the point where this branch joins the main line stands an attraction I didn't know much about: Ellesmere Yard. The Canal & River Trust describes it:Established in 1806, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, Ellesmere Yard is steeped in history. Originally the headquarters of Ellesmere Canal Company, it played a critical role in the golden era of canal building, helping ... (more) |
The Lib Dem leadership should listen to our MPsPeter Black blogged this morning about the reaction to Charlie Maynard call for the Liberal Democrats to elect a new leader: The reaction has been predictable, with the leadership recruiting the usual suspects to go public in support of Ed Davey. Their social media posts are all suspiciously similar., and also slightly ridiculous, but ... what is really interesting is how few of them have gone public in this way. The politics.co.uk website lists just 17 out of 72 prepared to pin their support of Davey to a public mast. The rest appear to be keeping their powder dry. There ... (more) |