There is something corrosive happening in British politics. Not in any single policy decision, nor in any one government department, but in the way governing itself now seems to unfold with these latest U-turns. U-turns are not, in themselves, a sign of bad government. Sometimes they reflect learning, listening, or legitimate correction. But when reversals become habitual and almost ritual; they point to a more serious problem: a politics that has lost confidence in its own ability to persuade. This provokes a very deep question: Are we becoming ungovernable? In a country that feels increasingly fractious, and perhaps voters that ...
Two principal authority council by-elections this week to kick off the year and get us started with the January contests. Bridgemary (Gosport) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: ➡] RFM: 42.5% (New) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 40.5% (-8.0) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 14.6% (-23.7) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 2.5% (-10.8)Reform GAIN from Liberal Democrat.Changes w/ 2024. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-01-16T00:48:10.936Z Thank you to Ian Eiloart for being the Liberal Democrat here. Contrary to the above result, fragmentation certainly happening here. For what all this means for the running total of council by-election results since the last May elections, see my council by-elections scorecard ...
They have proscribed an anti-Palestinian organisation, are planning to abolish trial by jury, were on the verge of introducing compulsory ID cards before they were forced into a u-turn and now, according to this article in the Independent, the Labour government have taken away the fundamental right to protest peacefully after it made non-violent demonstrations at animal-testing facilities a criminal offence. The paper says that advocates for free speech and animal rights have warned that the move by home secretary Shabana Mahmood sets a dangerous precedent towards clamping down on basic freedoms, while activists staging round-the-clock vigils at a Cambridgeshire ...
Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2025 and the May 2026 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [12] +2 (+2/0) -9 (+2/-11) +2 (+2/0) -20 (+2/-22) -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+2/-1) -25 Lab -2 (0/-2) [15] -4 (0/-4) -6 (0/-6) -26 (0/-26) – – -7 (0/-7) -45 Lib Dem +9 (+11/-2) +4 (+4/0) [32] +1 (+2/-1) -1 (+2/-3) +2 (+2/0) – +3 (+3/0) +18 Grn -2 (0/-2) +6 (+6/0) -1 (+1/-2) [7] – – – -1 (0/-1) +2 Ref +20 (+22/-2) +26 ...
So, Jenrick has been evicted from the Conservative Party and immediately moves next door to live with his chum Nigel. Media reports suggest he has been talking to Reform since September last year, before the Conservative conference. That means he has been secretly plotting to knife his colleagues for four months. No wonder Farage said, "Never trust a Tory". So what are the immediate effects of
It was meant to be a fantastic building attracting worldwide attention and international visitors. It was meant to put Gateshead on the map. But the international convention centre, planned in the last decade and meant to have been built well before now, is yet to have a brick laid. The initial cost of £260 million has ramped up and the land on the Gateshead Quays where it was supposed to
The BBC faces two existential crises. The first is obvious: the licence fee is dying. Younger audiences don't watch linear TV. Coverage is declining. Enforcement costs over £100m annually to prosecute people who can't afford £174.50. Within a decade, the model collapses completely. The second crisis is worse: nobody trusts the BBC's independence anymore. And why would they? Ministers appoint the Board. The government sets funding levels. Every charter renewal becomes a hostage negotiation where editorial freedom trades for financial survival. Trust in BBC impartiality has fallen 15 points since 2018. The public sees the strings. Charter renewal in 2027 ...
In October 1956 Britain and France,with Israeli support, launched military strikes against Egypt. The military operation was entirely successful, and within a matter of days it appeared that all the operational objectives would be achieved. However, almost immediately, the United States put so much pressure on their allies that the operation became unsustainable. Nine days after the attack was launched the Eden government declared a ceasefire and within two months all of the British and French attacking forces were withdrawn, leaving Egypt the clear victor, Eden himself was forced from office in January 1957. The point was that even the ...
The Islamic Republic of Iran's theocratic dictatorship has, so far, murdered at least 2,400 protestors. That is the latest report from human rights groups monitoring the situation. This is on top of the expected execution of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani for the crime of exercising his right to protest peacefully. As previously stated in my piece, "In praise of destabilising tyranny", it has been incredibly encouraging to see and hear Ed Davey be so vocal about his support for the Iranian protestors, as well as hearing the UK government voice its support and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, too. This is ...
Deeply unfashionable though prog rock is, this still sounds lovely.
I am allergic to attempts to define Liberalism and the role of Liberal Democrats in terms of "the centre". If I thought Liberal Democrats were only aspiring to be a centre party I would have left years ago. More than sixty years ago I joined a party whose leader regularly described the Liberals as a "non-socialist radical alternative." In recent years the left/right terminology (which goes back to the French Revolution in the late eighteenth century) has become even less useful than it was in the Grimond era. The same may be said of "centre-ism." Even if we take seriously ...
"The government continues to frame the cost-of-living crisis as a problem that can be solved largely through domestic policy choices. Announcements focus on price caps, fare freezes and measures like free school meals and breakfast clubs to ease pressure on family budgets. But these treat the symptoms, not causes." We need to recognise that geopolitics is driving the cost-of-living crisis, argues Anna McShane. Harriet Walter on the effect of the government's misbegotten treatment of Palestine Action: "By accusing them of being part of a terrorist organisation rather than a protest movement, the government ensures that these people who broke machinery ...
Ashby Hub News wins our Headline of the Day Award for its tale of crime in Coalville. The judges were, however, concerned by the story below it. The first sentence states that the pensioner was fined for "snotting out his van window". If one accepts that "to snot" is a verb, then snotting out a window and snotting out of a window are surely two different things, the former being far more newsworthy than the latter.
The Independent reports that Labour MPs are questioning whether Sir Keir Starmer can hold on to power after he performed yet another U-turn as prime minister by ditching plans for mandatory digital ID. The paper says that the government has reversed course on policy issues at least 11 times so far, including by raising the inheritance tax relief threshold for farmers after months of protest and scrapping a raft of benefits cuts under the threat of a backbench revolt. They add that the latest decision comes amid growing concern over the direction of Sir Keir's beleaguered Labour government in the ...