The Joy of Six 1482Writing in the wake of the Gorton and Denton by-election, Hannah White says our political institutions are dangerously underprepared for a multi-party future. Jane Green and Marta Miori argue that the electoral challenge Reform represents to Labour is widely misunderstood: "Focusing on Labour voters misses the much bigger threats to Labour from Reform, which is Reform overtaking the party in Labour councils and constituencies by continuing to capture Conservative voters and 2024 non-voters - the latter small in proportion, but currently larger in size than for other parties. This is made likelier if Labour's vote continues to splinter broadly, to ... (more) |
The Greens copied our playbook. We shouldn't copy theirs.Labour's old coalition was always a coalition of convenience. On one side: socially conservative, economically anxious working-class voters, whose politics were shaped by trade unions, community, and a deep suspicion of those at the top. On the other: socially progressive, increasingly comfortable metropolitans, whose politics were shaped by universities, public service, and a belief that social liberalism was self-evidently correct. These two groups shared little except a common enemy: the Conservative Party. That enemy is gone, at least for now. And without it, the coalition is falling apart. Lib Dem CEO Mike Dixon sent members a thoughtful analysis of what ... (more) |
Chartwell Dutiro: MahororoThe opening of Chartwell Dutiro's obituary on Afropop Worldwide: Chartwell Dutiro has joined the ancestors. More than a brilliant Zimbabwean mbira player and a pillar of Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited during their rise to international fame in the late 1980s and early '90s, Chartwell was a musical visionary with a deep and abiding fidelity to the Shona tradition in which he was raised, and a wry, witty cosmopolitanism that made him a singularly effective ambassador to the world. Shorayi Dutiro's journey began in a Kaganda village in the Bindura region of then-Southern Rhodesia. According to his passport, he ... (more) |
Tom Arms' World ReviewState of the Union What a politician omits to say is often more important than what he says. There were two significant omissions during President Trump's record-breaking State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The first concerned Ukraine and the second Iran. Tuesday was also the day that Ukraine marked the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of their country. Notables from around the world gathered in Kyiv's Maidan square to mark the occasion. Every Western country was represented – except the United States. There was no American diplomat, politician or Trump-appointed delegate at this important and moving ceremony. ... (more) |
Roz Savage MP write: Not left, Not right. Liberal.Not Left. Not Right. Liberal. The Green victory in the Manchester Gorton and Denton by-election should stiffen every Liberal Democrat spine. Not because we suddenly face a new political opponent. But because it reveals something important about the electorate. Voters are restless. They are frustrated with managerial politics. They are wary of institutions. And when they sense conviction, clarity and purpose – even if they do not agree with every detail – they respond positively. That matters to us, and our future strategy. If we do not define clearly what Liberalism stands for, others will fill that space with their ... (more) |
Ed Davey: "The UK can't be dragged into an other protacted Middle Eastern war by a US President"I was relieved that a long drive to the rural Highlands of Scotland prevented me sitting in front of a news channel with my head in my hands for most of yesterday. The sight of Donald Trump in a baseball cap looking the exact opposite of dignity and statesmanlike calm did nothing to quell my anxiety levels. It is absolutely clear that the Regime in Iran was awful – illiberal, disgustingly misogynist with no care at all for the human rights and freedom of its people. It's hard to see how the actions yesterday helped the plight of the Iranian ... (more) |
Let Starmer be.....The Guardian reports that Keir Starmer is facing an ultimatum from his own party to change direction or risk a leadership challenge within months after the Greens humiliated Labour with a historic byelection victory in Gorton and Denton. The paper says that the scale of defeat in an area that had returned Labour MPs for nearly a century, and where Starmer's party still believed it could win even on polling day, plunged his ministers and MPs into renewed despair just weeks after he saw off a challenge to his position: While only a handful of backbenchers called openly for Starmer ... (more) |
Ben McGuire fights to save Sharp's Brewery in RockBen McGuire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, has called the planned closure of Sharp's brewery in his constituency "devastating" and urged its American owners to think again. ITV News reports that he has also said it would be "unacceptable for Molson Coors Beverage Company to market its products as Cornish if it moved out of the Duchy". The brewery at Rock, which produces the UK's best-selling cask ale Doom Bar, is due to close by the end of the year with the loss of 50 jobs. Ben told ITV News: "I'm really disappointed to hear this devastating news ... (more) |
Letters and toastiesToday was my ward's turn to host a Gateshead Lib Dem action day. We had letters to deliver. We also had two surgeries. The first was at 10am outside Whickham Library. I didn't get to it as I was in Sunniside Club car park dishing out bundles of letters to the eight members who turned up to help.But at 11.30am, by which time all the bundles had gone, we had our second surgery of the day, on (more) |
Derby councillors clash over cost of Snickers bars in heated council tax rowDerbyshire Live wins our Headline of the Day Award. One of the judges was heard to ask what the point of Reform UK is if their councillors don't insist on calling them "Marathon bars". (more) |