So, having retrieved my wallet, it was time to start my journey. Ipswich to Liverpool Street was easy enough - I even won the "Greater Anglia lottery" with the first class carriages actually on the 09.41. It's all becoming a bit cheapskate these days, as Greater Anglia don't offer free hot drinks and biscuits to first class passengers at weekends any more, but the new Stadler rolling stock is comfortable enough. And then things started going a little haywire. My plan was to take the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon and then Thameslink to Brent Cross West, but, as it turned ...
What is the economy for? It's a simple question. But how we answer it underpins everything else in politics. We created the economy to serve us – to make life easier, safer, better. It is a human system, designed to help people thrive. But somewhere along the way, that relationship has become inverted. Too often, it feels as though people and communities are expected to bend themselves around the demands of the economy, rather than the other way round. For decades, we have treated GDP growth as the ultimate measure of success. If the number goes up, we assume things ...
It used to be the Tory Party that was able to ruthlessly discard leaders when they ceased to be an electoral asset, but now it seems that Labour is getting in on the act as well. The Guardian reports that Labour figures from across rival factions have begun circulating informal proposals for an "orderly transition" of power away from Keir Starmer. The paper says that MPs have shifted discussions from speculating about whether the prime minister could be removed to how - including timelines, potential triggers and the mechanics of forcing a leadership contest: One Labour MP said: "There have ...
Our History Underfoot - like and subscribe, my pretties - takes a break from the railways to explore the enticing remains of Grace Dieu Priory in the west of Leicestershire. You can read more on the Friends of Grace Dieu Priory website.
One of this blog's more obscure heroes is Vaughan Wilkins, a now-obscure historical novelist who had quite a following from the 1930s to the 1950s. Through him, we discovered the spooky "strategic advisory" firm Hakluyt that occasionally features in Private Eye. That's because Wilkins's son Christopher was one of its founders. Another of Vaughan Wilkins's sons is the artist William Wilkins. And his daughter Laura has published fiction under the names Laura Powell and Laura Vaughan. Powell and Vaughan are the middle names of her father and grandfather (who was christened William Vaughan Wilkins) respectively. Vaughan Wilkins's only children's book, ...
Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Councils have published their Local Nature Recovery Strategy, reports Shropshire Live. David Walker, the Liberal Democrat run Shropshire Council's cabinet member with responsibility for planning, tells the radio station: "Nature underpins everyday life, from clean air and water to the green spaces that support our health and wellbeing, yet many species and habitats across Shropshire are still in decline. "This strategy sets out a shared, locally‑led approach to turning that around. It's about bringing councils, landowners, organisations and communities together to deliver real, practical improvements for nature. I'd like to thank everyone who contributed and ...
Mon 27th
18:05
Mathew on Monday - Ed Davey, Trump, and why legitimate criticism being blamed for violence is nonsen...
Early this morning on GB News I debated a former Tory MP (and the presenter) on why there's no connection between our leader's criticism of the present occupant of the White House and the alleged political violence that took place this past weekend -the argument simply doesn't stand up to even the most basic scrutiny. Let's start with first principles. All political violence is wrong. Full stop. Whether it's an alleged incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this weekend, or the well documented events of January 6th, 2021 – when a mob of angry supporters of Donald Trump (arguably ...
In Gateshead, so far we've had one Reform candidate disappear (no explanation given) and one candidate booted out because he forgot to tell Reform he had previously been a member of the BNP. Now another candidate is in trouble. Linda McFarlane, standing in Chopwell and Rowlands Gill for Reform, has been exposed for her white supremacist views on social media.Please note that you may find the
Fortunately, it's not the hope that will kill you, especially in the upper chamber, but there is a high degree of uncertainty in terms of the week ahead. Labour would doubtless love to prorogue on Tuesday, leaving the Lords to do so on Wednesday and avoiding the need to expose Sir Keir Starmer to another painful set of Prime Minister's Questions, but there are still disputes between the two chambers on some key issues. The Liberal Democrats have vowed to keep voting down the Government's proposals in the Pension Schemes Bill allowing ministers to dictate where pension funds allocate their ...
The Health Foundation published a report yesterday that should stop all Lib Dems in our tracks. Healthy life expectancy in the UK has fallen by over two years over the past decade. The average person can now expect to live in good health only until they are just under 61. We are ranked 20th out of 21 comparable wealthy nations. Only the United States is worse. In more than nine out of ten areas of the country, people cannot expect to be healthy enough to work until the state pension age of 66 or 67. In one in ten areas, ...
Charlie Young, Carole Cadwalladr and Ian Tucker have discovered "a 'revolving door' that has led to dozens of highly experienced UK government officials, former ministers, intelligence service chiefs and members of the House of Lords taking up key roles in the controversial Silicon Valley surveillance tech company co-founded by Peter Thiel, the libertarian friend and ally of Donald Trump." "There is no need for the UK to replace its warheads. A Holbrook's maximum yield is ninety kilotons of TNT-equivalent, about six times the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. But the US Navy wants a new warhead in the ...
Mon 27th
11:24Post-growth ecological liberalism: A regenerative care economy within planetary limits
Whether our economies can absolutely decouple from environmental harm at the scale required to mitigate the worst consequences of the socio-ecological crisis is a central debate in sustainability academia. Whilst green growthers and techno-optimists consider these achievable, ecological economists and post-growthers like myself are much more sceptical. There are many peer-reviewed articles on both sides, with the post-growth movement gaining significant gravitas in economic and policy circles. A global survey of 789 climate policy researchers revealed increased scepticism towards green growth approaches. Following these findings, a vision for how an ecological, post-growth liberal society could work is increasingly necessary. Our ...
Good morning, gentle reader, and I trust that you had an enjoyable weekend, not forgetting that, for some, perhaps many, of you, it wasn't particularly restful. We're in the end stage of election campaigns across Britain, with postal votes hitting doormats last week. That said, for the gallant trio of Liberal Democrat parliamentarians running the London Marathon yesterday, they'll be hoping for a short week and a seat on the train back to their constituencies. Their times, for those of you who might be interested, were as follows: Helen Morgan – 4:20:22 Tom Gordon – 4:29:13 Wendy Chamberlain – 5:07:49 ...
The Guardian reports that the government department responsible for a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy is at odds with that intention of making the UK an AI. superpower, with those responsible for the two visions not agreeing on their numbers. They say that the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) thinks AI datacentres will consume 6GW of electricity by 2030, while the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) appears to think they will use less than a tenth of that: Tim Squirrell, the head of strategy for the NGO Foxglove, said: "The government's cluelessness over ...