Eagle-eyed Conference goers this year may spot enlarged Brighton beaches, thanks to a scheme extending them to combat coastal erosion. Dumping tonnes of rocks is hard work, but the simplicity has a certain beauty. Sadly, the tide is not so easily turned on free speech. We have all seen it. Octogenarians arrested for holding bits of paper, terrifying examples of trials for tweets, and the unedifying spectacle of 'free speech absolutists' banning journalists they do not like from events. Big Brother Watch has just published a major review: Britain's Free Speech Problem – How growing restrictions are stifling speech online ...
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: Welcome to my latest update on work in the House of Lords. This time I am taking a look at how our political system is regulated, and the protections we need to keep democracy safe from becoming simply a contest to see who has the biggest bank account. Campaigning is all year round, ...
It has been long predicted, especially after the spectacular disintegration of the Welsh Assembly UKIP group between 2016 and 2021, but I don't think anybody expected it to happen so quickly. The first defection is so improbable that I had to check twice to make sure that I was reading it correctly. But it is true, Reform UK MS Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, an ex-Tory who represents the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency (Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan) in the Senedd, has defected to Plaid Cymru. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Farage's party, the leader of ...
Shrewsbury Town's old ground at Gay Meadow stood beside the Severn, so loose shots could end up in the river. This Nationwide report from 1975 is about the man who retrieved the ball when they did.
The BBC reports news of another council getting a Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr Amjid Ali: The Labour leader of Luton Borough Council has lost a no-confidence vote after being in the role less than four months. Tahmina Saleem was appointed in May to replace long-serving Hazel Simmons, but has faced a leadership challenge which puts Liberal Democrat Amjid Ali in charge of a coalition-led authority. Luton Liberal Democrats add: Congratulations to Cllr Amjid Ali on becoming the new Leader of Luton Borough Council. A significant moment for Luton, with its first Kashmiri Leader who is proudly Luton-raised. [IMG: Amjid Ali ...
This is another of the quarterly 'Sighcology' columns I contribute to the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy. Work, play and creativity An overexcited website selling business courses tells us: It's easy to play it safe. To follow the rules and optimise what already exists. In a world of constant change, sensible can feel smart. Until it stops working. You see, logic will get you to the starting line - but only creativity will win you the race. That's why we believe creativity is the most valuable capability for growth. And it's something that you can learn, practise and ...
Mark Valentine tried hard to prove his identity, and the Government Digital Service tried hard to prevent him. The other day I had to do business with the Government Digital Service (GDS). This is one of those jolly three-word English phrases that make the heart sink, like Family Fun Day, Rail Replacement Service, Celebrity Game Show and Andrew Lloyd Webber. I suspect I don't need to issue a spoiler alert to tell you that the weakest spot, in a weak line-up, was in the word "service". There isn't any. This claims to be a "beta" service. Apparently, this is IT ...
Britain has accumulated government without accumulating democratic power. A citizen trying to discover who is responsible for a major decision can now encounter ministers, councils, combined authorities, mayors, regulators, agencies, commissioners and public-private partnerships—often with overlapping responsibilities and no obvious person whom an election can remove. This is not simply a problem of having too much government. It is a problem of power becoming difficult to see and therefore difficult to control. The liberal answer is neither centralisation nor another wave of institutional invention, but to make the state smaller where possible, stronger where necessary, and democratic wherever public power ...
[IMG: David Howarth] Over on the Democracy For Sale site, former Lib Dem MP for Cambridge and electoral commissioner, David Howarth writes about the problem of big money in British politics and suggests three ways to combat it: The £72 million donation by two crypto-billionaires to Reform UK, a party that just happens to have promoted tax cuts for crypto-billionaires, has prompted some previously complacent political commentators to notice the enormous flaws in Britain's political funding regime. Those flaws are long-standing and simply stated. No cap exists on donations to political parties and existing controls on political spending are riddled ...
There's the heartrending story of Anna Sabine MP over on PoliticsHome's The House section. Anna tells their Ben Gartside how emergency surgery led to the loss of her voice. The Frome and East Somerset MP says she is returning to Parliament more determined than ever to be heard: When Anna Sabine finished a routine media appearance on Politics Live in the spring, she returned to her office and received an email that would prove life-changing. Her parliamentary assistant warned her that they had been sent a "really weird" email, and they couldn't be sure it was legitimate. "It wasn't even ...
Gateshead and Durham Lib Dems held a join action day on Saturday. On the Gateshead side we delivered 1000 Focus on Barley Mow newsletters. On the other side of the border, Durham delivered their latest edition of their North Lodge Focus. We are used to action day lunches consisting of sandwiches. North Lodge Councillor Craig Martin had other ideas. It turns out he is a keen cook and
Tue 15th
09:08
Foreign interference in British politics: How the Liberal Democrats man meet the challenge
The Brexit referendum was a watershed moment in British politics. Ten years on, the British political landscape is still very much carved out between 'Remain' and 'Leave'. Among Remainers, there are also beliefs that the campaign was heavily affected by influence from Russia and far-right figures in the United States. Nigel Farage, one of the leading figures in the Brexit campaign, was recently involved in an alleged case concerning unsolicited donations, and allegations about Reform UK's links with Russia and the Trump Administration continue to make newspaper headlines. At the same time, far left politics is similarly highly susceptible to ...
Wales-on-line's political editor, Ruth Mosalski reflects on yesterday's meeting of the three nationalist leaders of the devolved nations of the UK, Wales' Rhun ap Iorwerth, Scotland's John Swinney and Northern Ireland's Michelle O'Neill. She says that in their capacities as party leaders, they asserted their desire for self determination, claiming that "Each of our nations has the right to determine its own future, through democratic means and in accordance with the wishes of its people.": Mr ap Iorwerth passionately disputed during the press conference that this meant a "break-up" of the United Kingdom. He refused to accept the word was ...