A Tory/Reform pact?One of the national newspapers is reporting that Farage is open to some kind of electoral pact at the next general election between Reform and the Conservatives. The suggestion is that each side would stand down in constituencies where they are weaker than the other. I suspect this will never happen. Reform is a coalition. Part of that coalition is a grouping made up of former Labour voters who (more) |
Belated by-election resultsA pile up of Christmas fairs, two sets of Christmas lights switch on ceremonies and a day long manifesto meeting meant my weekly by-election analysis is a bit late (well actually very late!) So let's start with the results.Hunstanton ward in Kings Lynne and West NorfolkAnother Reform gain, this time from the Independents. Reform had not previously stood.Lib Dems came in second, only 46 behind (more) |
Name that partyThere was a great deal of comedy coming out of Liverpool over the weekend. Boycotted on the first day to avoid ranting comrade Corbyn's speech to the Your Party, Zarah Sultana made her appearance on Sunday instead. It seems that the Sultana and Corbyn show has had its plug pulled even before they had both agreed to be in the same room as each other. Instead, a politburo of worthies will run the (more) |
Boarding on Insanity documentary to be shown at WestminsterThere will be a special screening of the film documentary Boarding on Insanity at Westminster on 19 January. The evening will be hosted by Simon Opher MP and feature a panel of speakers including Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Alex Renton. A page about the event emphasises that the prevalence of boarding education is not a niche or historical issue, but a "public interest issue affecting safeguarding, social mobility, governance, mental and physical health across generations". You can see Piers Cross making that case in the video above. Attendance is by invitation only. MPs and members of the media can apply ... (more) |
After three years online, Leicester Gazette launches a print editionLeicester Gazette is one of a new generation of local news outlets born out of the collapse of local newspapers and the right-wing bias of most national ones. It began almost three years ago as a website - Reece Stafferton wrote a guest post for this blog outlining the Gazette's plans a few months before it launched. Now comes news that the Gazette is to launch a print edition. An article on the Gazette site says it will have 32 pages and be a unique "half Berliner" size - slightly larger than a magazine but with the feel and look ... (more) |
The Three Tuns in Bishop's Castle has reopenedGood news from the BBC News Shropshire pages: A historic Shropshire pub has reopened under new ownership, five months after it shut and was branded by locals as an "embarrassment". The Three Tuns Inn in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, closed on 11 July due to "unforeseen circumstances", former owner Heineken Star Pubs said at the time. Now its doors are open again under the management of The Shed, a Shropshire-based events and hospitality business. I visited Bishop's Castle this summer and found the Three Tuns closed and the town, partly as a result, rather depressed. As Darren Dixon, one of the ... (more) |
Liberal Democrats need to be honest when talking about Digital Services TaxThe party has had a long standing policy, at least since 2021, on the Digital Services Tax (DST), whereby it has backed its use starting from Autumn 2021 through the "Towards a Fair Global Corporation Tax System" motion passed. Since then we've gone into the 2024 general election to triple it from 2% to 6% to fund mental health support in schools, and since then we have wanted to raise to 10% to fund our increases to defence spending in this critical time. All well and good but next fiscal year it's projected to bring in £1.1billion, so an extra ... (more) |
The Lib Dems are at a crossroads - an open letter to the leadershipAbout a month ago I wrote a piece on my blog examining the rhetoric coming from Ed Davey about appealing to One-Nation Conservatives, and found that his words didn't actually align with our current position electorally at all. This created a bit of a splash with it being featured on Liberal England, and even earned a response from political analyst William Lane detailing where we should go next. So imagine my annoyance when after the latest budget was unveiled by Labour Ed began speaking out against tax increases in a Tory-like fashion, most shockingly targeting the Mansion Tax of all ... (more) |
West End weekly ward surgeries tonight #dundeewestendOur joint weekly ward surgeries take place tonight. This week they are as follows : Blackness Library (Tuesdays 5pm - every week during school term time) Ancrum Road Primary School (1st Tuesday of each month at 5.45pm during school term time) All welcome - no appointment necessary! (more) |
Will the Welsh government allow councils to go bust?The BBC reports on comments by Welsh auditor general, Adrian Crompton, that "One or two" of Wales' councils are close to going bust. The auditor general told Radio Wales that councils face a "real squeeze" as costs spiral for children's care and other services, while at the same time local authorities have reacted with concern after the Welsh government announced an extra £169m in funding for next year, less than a third of what they said they need. The settlement could mean major cuts if a council failed to balance the books: There have been warnings for years that some ... (more) |