The Joy of Six 1452Peter Jukes says Boris Johnson and Alexander Lebedev must be investigated in a new public inquiry into Russian influence "If you are young or have a young family, should you vote for millionaire Nigel Farage? For me, he is likely to directly impoverish and disenfranchise the young - Reform UK policies are already shaping up in this way. Where will it end?"Mark Cunliffe itemises Reform's attack on the young. "This punishment represents the state's most severe power to harm its citizens. Understanding how and why it is used tells us about our appetite for punishment and the state's power to ... (more) |
Is Mayor Rotheram becoming the Mad Mole of Merseyside?Another day another tunnelling announcement from the Regional Mayor who has a strong tendency to make big announcements that lead nowhere! In the summer he suggested a £1 billion scheme to take traffic off the Strand. We had some fancy words but no idea where the money would come from and what the added extra value from such a scheme would be. Now he is a proposing a £5 billion scheme to link Lime Street and Central stations. These are, of course, already linked but only one way on the Chester Line link that lops round in the City Centre. ... (more) |
Counting Crows: Mr. JonesI heard this the other day and was instantly transported back too... Well, it turned out to be the spring of 1994. Mr. Jones was everywhere then, so much so that I'm surprised to find it never got higher than no. 28 in the UK singles chart. It was a big hit in the US though. But what is the song about? Wikipedia (crediting an old Counting Crows FAQs) thinks it knows: The song is about struggling musicians ([Adam] Duritz and bassist Marty Jones of The Himalayans) who "want to be big stars", believing that "when everybody loves me, I ... (more) |
Israel/Palestine: ComplicityOur campaigning for peace and reconciliation has always rested on respect for the rule of law, a determination to uncover the truth, and a refusal to tolerate ideologies that promote hatred, war and terrorism. The fragile ceasefire in Gaza must not distract us from prosecuting war crimes thoroughly or from accelerating progress toward a two-state solution. I usually avoid conflating the Israel-Palestine conflict with broader issues around Islamophobia and antisemitism, but recent events compel me to speak plainly. In the wake of the appalling atrocity in Sydney, it is right to express solidarity with the victims and their families. Those ... (more) |
Perth Road - 1999 #dundeewestendWith thanks to SJ Bogue and Dundee Memories, the Agacan back in 1999 - best İskender then and still is! (more) |
A long overdue inquiryAt last, we have some commonsense from this government, with the announcement that they have ordered an independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics in response to the "shocking" case of Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales, who was jailed in November, after admitting to taking bribes for pro-Russian interviews and speeches when he was a Member of the European Parliament The BBC report that the review will be led by former senior civil Philip Rycroft and will report back in March: Speaking in the House of Commons, [Communities Secretary Steve] Reed said: "The ... (more) |
BBC : How to blame the Conservatives for Trump's $10bn damages claimWe should publicly blame the Conservative Party for its role in ousting Tim Davie as the BBC's Director-General, and for President Donald Trump's $10bn lawsuit. The Party has insufficient grounds for `looking the other way'. Our Party Leader Ed Davey's `Guardian' article of 10 November was superb. His demand that Sir Robbie Gibb resign from the BBC Board was well focused. Even after Gibb had been exposed to many people who didn't realise his power within the BBC, shining the spotlight on him was right. I have been monitoring Gibb for the last couple of years, after my attention had ... (more) |
Guerilla guardianship on the River RodingHere's the YouTube blurb for this film: The Roding is London's largest forgotten river. Out on the eastern fringe of the city, it endures every modern indignity: scythed by motorways and concrete bridges; choked with sewage and rubbish; canalised, fly-tipped, retail-parked, thickened with the polluted slime of London clay. It is a forbidding place to call home. Yet in 2017 that is what the environmental barrister, Paul Powlesland, set out to do. Embarking on a hair-raising journey up the Thames on a tiny narrowboat (his propeller nearly fell off on route) he made it to the mouth of the Roding, ... (more) |
Ludlow market stallholder spends donkey's years raising £190,000 for equine charity - selling footstools and false teethOur Headline of the Day Award goes to one of its regular recipients: the Shropshire Star. This gives me an excuse for linking to one of my favourite stories from last year - the one about the pet donkey who strayed from home and was later found living as the head of a herd of elk. (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 18% (nc) 14% (nc) 11% (-1) 17% (-1) 33% (+3) -19% (4th, vs Ref) 17/12 GB ... (more) |