Happy birthday to Steve Darling's guide dog Jennie. She is seven today. Leaving aside the unfortunate episode when she briefly crossed the floor, she has consistently been one of the most impressive members of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party I can confirm that Jennie is in good health: she has a nice wet nose, as I learnt when she booped me on her way into the Glee Club at last year's Lib Dem autumn conference. I felt honoured. Photo from Steve Darling on Bluesky.
In July 2025, South Cambridgeshire District Council did something no other UK council had done. It made the four-day week permanent. Not as a trial, not as a temporary arrangement, but as the way the council works. Its staff complete 100% of their work in 80% of the time, for 100% of the pay. The government told them to stop. They didn't. The results came in: £371,500 in annual savings, a 120% rise in job applications, a 40% fall in staff turnover. Services maintained. Budget improved. Staff retained. South Cambridgeshire is a Lib Dem council. This is our proof of ...
Most of us by now will have heard of the tech giant Palantir, and its deal with the NHS to build a federated data platform. Putting to one side the influences of Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings and Peter Mandelson in dodgy looking tech deals, revolving doors and high-pressure lobbying, the more we look into it, the more questions the NHS Palantir deal raises. My team and I have been investigating and asking questions in Parliament. Last week I, (Martin) secured a Westminster Hall debate on the Palantir issue, and I made the case that Palantir's implementation of the NHS Federated ...
As the world seeks new links in the light of the withdrawal by American from civilised discourse and old and trusted relationships, Liverpool is very well placed to take advantage of new trade patterns. To begin with, let's deal with the United States of America. Brits traditionally have liked our relationship with America and with the people of America. We would laugh at their English spelling and pronunciation, and they would laugh at us for all sorts of reasons, but all that was in a safe way that you can josh with friends. We have traded together and fought alongside ...
Liberal Democrat Newswire #208 came out earlier in the week and you can now also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Welcome to Lib Dem Newswire #208, which takes a look at that favourite election season topic: are we doing too many leaflets? The rest of this edition includes my first report back from my new role in the party, new polling on what local issues matter most to people, a policy idea for England's cities and more. First, however, ...
Wed 22nd
10:54
"Forthright, clear, determined, energetic" - a tribute to Councillor Jeanette Sunderland
[IMG: Jeanette Sunderland running] Photo Credit: Bradford Lib Dems Some people stand at the front and lead, others sit and back and chunter. Jeanette Sunderland did both, and did them both very well. Forthright, clear, determined, energetic and a real sense of no-nonsense she was a familiar face to so so many of us within the Liberal Democrat family. In tough times and good Jeanette would be there – often turning up to the by-elections that could not be won, precisely because she knew they could not be won and she wanted to help and thank the team who were ...
Dominic Cummings, in a post about, among other things, using AI to do factchecking, used this quote: All AI amounts to is plausible nonsense. Former senior GCHQ official, Ciaran Martin, 2025 However, and ironically given the subject of the post, Ciaran Martin himself says that he didn't say that. On his Bluesky account he posted that: The phrase "plausible nonsense" – an excellent one used in proper context – is not mine. It's @meredithmeredith.bsky.social's I can't claim credit for it IIRC she used it entirely accurately in the context of LLM hallucinations a while back It wasn't presaged with "All ...
If only the singles chart in 1975 had been this good.
Tonight I was sent by a colleague the link to the Gateshead page on Poll Check. I've always had a bit of a sceptic view of polls that take the average of national polls and then project them onto ward contests. There is a significant proportion of the electorate which votes for a different party in local elections to national elections. Add into the equation some basic mistakes. For example, in
The latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: A quick update about the Home Office's social media use policy, which encourages people to use Elon Musk's X. I got excited about an update to it... but the update was, let's say, niche. The Home Office and X [IMG: a close up of a cell phone with social media icons] Photo by ...
I've just got back from an event at Leicester Central Library: High Flying Around: Memories of the 1960s Leicester Arts and Music Scene Join Leicester author and curator Shaun Knapp, author, curator and graphic designer Joe Nixon, musician Kenny Wilson, and the University of Leicester's Colin Hyde for a discussion on the arts and music scene in Leicester during the 1960s. I talk to Kenny Wilson sometimes in my favourite coffee shop in Market Harborough and Shaun Knapp turned out to be a member of Gypsy (who were called Legay earlier in their career), a Leicester band of the late ...
I wouldn't call the Welland Viaduct exactly secret: it's nearly three-quarters of a mile long, 60 feet hight, contains 30 million bricks and is really quite hard to miss. But having been inspired to write posts by the BBC's Secret Shropshire and Secret Leicestershire pages, I though I would have a look at Secret Northamptonshire. And this is the story that caught my eye: Northants'"Grandest and Most Perfect" Structure The Harringworth or Welland Viaduct is one of the longest of its kind in Britain. Stradling the picturesque Northamptonshire valley, it is a magnificent example of Victorian construction and ambition. But ...
The past week has forced many across our country to confront a deeply troubling reality: anti-Jewish hatred is not an abstract concern, but a present and growing threat here in Britain. Yet there remains a striking silence from parts of our society that have long prided themselves on standing against racism in all its forms. In the space of just days, three arson attacks have targeted the Jewish community, including petrol bomb attacks on synagogues in Finchley and Kenton. It is only by sheer good fortune that these buildings did not suffer the same devastating fate as the Hatzola ambulances ...
"These settings are not registered - as they should be by law - with Ofsted. They are meant to be temporary, but a recent report by the children's commissioner found the average placement lasted six months - one child had been in a 'holiday camp/activity centre' for almost nine months."Alexandra Topping explains why social workers are forced to place children in unregistered homes. Heather Stewart analyses Labour's crabwise approach to closer economic ties with the EU. Richard Kemp condemns the snobbery behind the use of classical music to disperse groups of young people: "I have instead asked the Council and ...
Yesterday, Keir Starmer faced Parliament to explain how a man who failed his security vetting ended up as Britain's most important ambassador. It is a question worth asking. But there is a deeper one beneath it: how does a prime minister who presents himself as the cautious, process-respecting antidote to Conservative chaos keep finding himself in exactly these situations? The Mandelson affair is, in miniature, the story of this government. A political decision was taken — to appoint a Labour grandee to a high-profile role. Warnings existed. Red flags had been raised. The vetting process that was supposed to filter ...