I have learned so much and understood so little of your innate grace
There were four principal council by-elections this week, of which all but one had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot. One council seat was being defended by us. North Devon Council, Fremington In North Devon, the Liberal Democrats gained a seat from the Independents in Fremington. It should be noted that in 2023, both seats were won by Independents, before Councillor Frank Biederman joined the Liberal Democrats. The by-election was triggered by the sad passing of his ward colleague, who remained as an independent. Without any independents standing this time, it would seem there was a lot of unknowns ...
From The Folklore of Shropshire by Roy Palmer: Until the 1860s, when the well was drained, it was the custom on Good Friday to dip one's hand in the water, deemed good for weak eyes, of St Margaret's well at Wellington. Much more recently, comfortably into the 20th century, the congregation of Lords Hill Baptist Church met at Snailbeach in the afternoon and perambulated the area, pausing to sing hymns to the accompaniment of a brass band. Until the 1930s, most places of work closed on Good Friday. People traditionally spent the time in their gardens, and this was considered ...
The Telegraph wins our Headline of the Day Award. And for some reason, the judges were pleased to note, the story has escaped its paywall.
Never a day goes by, or so it seems, without mention of the cost of living crisis and programmes on the television helping people to make their money go further. And yet according to the new Forbes billionaire list Elon Musk added $373.5billion dollars (or £373.5billion) to his fortune in just one year. That is £3.5bn more than the £370bn it was estimated the entire COVID pandemic cost the UK. And according to the Equality Trust, this is the biggest ever increase in one year with Elon Musk's total worth now the 22nd largest economy in the world, beating Belgium. ...
There can be little doubt that the language used by politicians has coarsened over the past few years. Just look at this exchange between a Democrat pundit and the Republican White House as reported in the Independent newspaper. "In an expletive-laden video on the Politicon YouTube channel posted earlier this week, Carville said if the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, they will launch investigations into Trump and his family, which will eventually lead to the president's resignation. "The Democrats are going to investigate you to no end," Carville said. "Then they're going to go ...
I am collecting links to papers which look at mtDNA damage in human oocytes. Mitochondrial DNA Damage and Its Repair Mechanisms in Aging Oocytes Human ovarian aging is characterized by oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid deletions in oocytes and reproductive aging in women Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid deletions in oocytes and reproductive
There were four principal authority council by-elections this week and all four saw seats change hands. All took place on Maundy Thursday, which old electoral hands will remember as a day that used to be excluded from election timetables, along with weekends and bank holidays. It became a normal day for electoral purposes following the Electoral Administration Act 2006, the legislation which also gave the Electoral Commission the power to performance standards for many Returning Officers. Elections on Maundy Thursday are now a normal occurrence. On to the results: [IMG: Jayne Mackie] Double council by-election winner Jayne Mackie. Fremington (North ...
Nation Cymru reports on the continuing disintegration of Reform's campaign for the Welsh Senedd, saying that one of the party's former candidates has issued a stark warning to Welsh voters, claiming that Farage's top candidates are driven by "power, money and self-interest" amid deepening internal turmoil. The news site says that following the publication of an image of lead candidate and former Conservative aide Corey Edwards performing a Nazi salute, Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg candidate Owain Clatworthy announced on Tuesday (March 31) he was leaving Reform UK, citing concerns about the selection process used to choose the party's top candidates for ...
SNP set to miss key child poverty target Welsh Lib Dems urge Reeves to scrap fuel duty hike as global instability drives rising petrol prices Cole-Hamilton sets out mental health plan with visit to therapy llamas Greene: Reform set to lose 26 constituency candidates by polling day, figures show Murray: Lib Dem 10p fuel duty cut will get Scotland moving again Welsh Lib Dems slam Reform's "fantasy" coal plans as a threat to jobs, bills and climate Reform candidate's Ukraine comments spark outrage as Lib Dems warn of "dangerous" pro-Kremlin rhetoric SNP set to miss key child poverty target Responding ...
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 [17] +2 (+2/0) -9 (+3/-12) +2 (+2/0) -21 (+2/-23) -1 (0/-1) – +2 (+3/-1) -25 Lab -2 (0/-2) [16] -5 (0/-5) -8 (0/-8) -30 (+1/-31) – -2 (0/-2) -7 (0/-7) -54 Lib Dem +9 (+12/-3) +5 (+5/0) [35] +2 (+4/-2) -2 (+2/-4) +2 (+2/0) – +4 (+4/0) +20 Grn -2 (0/-2) +8 (+8/0) -2 (+2/-4) [8] +1 (+1/0) – – -1 (0/-1) +4 Ref +21 ...
Here is a list of the councillors which Reform has shed from the May 2025 local elections and from those elections in by-elections since. The latest update is the departure of yet another councillor in Durham. Donna Edmunds (Shropshire, suspended by Reform UK and then quit the party; later joined Advance UK) Luke Shingler (Warwickshire, now an independent) Desmond Clarke (Nottinghamshire, resigned as councillor) Andrew Kilburn (Durham, resigned as a councillor) Wayne Titley (Staffordshire, resigned as a councillor) Mark Broadhurst (Doncaster, expelled by Reform) Adam Smith (West Northamptonshire, suspended by Reform and then expelled) John Bailey (Durham, resigned as a ...
Peter Juul argues that Donald Trump sees America not as the leader of a global posse bringing international gangsters to heel, but as a mob boss threatening America's allies and neighbours while carving up the world with other gangster powers. "The government's plans will patch up the water system, particularly with the boost in revenue from bill payers. But the private sector has found unanticipated ways to maximise profits in the past and may well do so again. Rather than continually tweaking the failed private model, the only real route to operating water in the public interest is for it ...
There is a moment, presumably, just before the engines ignite, when even the most committed astronaut thinks: what on earth am I doing? But then, if they take a moment to look out of the portal at what is happening on the surface of this ball of rock and water we call home - well, who can fault them for wanting to get as far away as possible? Four astronauts left Earth yesterday, climbing aboard what is, in engineering terms, a controlled explosion and trusting it to hurl them away from the planet at speeds no living thing was designed ...
Thu 2nd
19:45
GUEST POST To realise the health benefits of nature we must first admit we are part of it
Stuart Whomsley reminds us that, though we evolved as a species surrounded by the blue and green stuff, we also have the power to destroy it. Let me start by stating what should be obvious, but it is something that can be lost in the way the discourse on this topic is constructed, humans are part of nature. We are not an entity separate from the rest of nature. We need to break the demarcation of humans as separate from nature, humans vs nature. This includes where the aims are positive, such as nature as a treatment that can be ...
Welcome to the latest in my occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today – new research which bolsters the argument that declining public services fuel support for the populist right. As one of the authors, Zach Dickson, explains: We study NHS GP practice closures in England: nearly 1,700 practices closed since 2013, directly affecting 600k+ patients. Using a staggered DID design, we find that closures reduce patient satisfaction AND increase support for populist right parties (UKIP, Brexit Party, Reform UK) by 2-4 percentage points. The effects are immediate, persistent (4-5 years), and replicated across two independent panel datasets... ...
On Sunday Gateshead Lib Dems had the last action day before the election expenses kick in. Again, it was another mopping up day in which bundles of manifesto leaflets were delivered. We split into 4 groups. All deliveries in the morning were in the blocks of flats on or near the Quayside. The final bundles were delivered on a new estate near Gateshead Stadium. The to Tesco (yet again) for
On Saturday Gateshead Lib Dems had yet another action day, this time in Saltwell. The aim was to mop up remaining target letters. Job done and we then headed to Tesco cafe for lunch. Over the past two years of action days, Tesco has been our regular eating place. I dread to think of how much Lib Dems have spent in the place.Promoted by Ron Beadle on behalf of Jonathan Wallace (Liberal
Let me be blunt. Donald Trump wants to pull America out of NATO. And my honest reaction? Let him. I'm not saying it doesn't matter. I'm saying we need to stop acting like heartbroken teenagers waiting for Washington to text back. The special relationship is dead. It's been dead for a while. Trump just had the decency to say it out loud. So what now? We do what Britain has always done when its back is against the wall. We get serious. We get moving. And we stop relying on people who have made it crystal clear they don't care ...
Gateshead Lib Dems held their manifesto launch at the Tynesider on Gateshead High Street on Tuesday. Good to see both the BBC and Chronicle attending.The Chronicle focused on the battle for Gateshead being between Lib Dems and Reform. You can read the write up, and Reform's attack on us, in this link.
The Guardian wins our Headline of the Day Award. As Lord Bonkers remarked, it's probably not wise to let a tortoise that old have a smart phone.
[IMG: The Thick of It Season 1 on BBC iPlayer] The Thick of It is available in the UK on iPlayer. Take an listen to our podcast to see if it is still worth watching. (Spoiler: it is.) The latest episode of Political Fictions is out, taking a look at Malcolm Tucker and his colleagues in a TV show that in no-way bears any relation to any of my own political experiences or memories: Mark and Cory talk about political TV for the first time, and there's nowhere better to start than The Thick of It. After rewatching the first ...
While we are all campaigning in this year's local elections, Liberal Democrats need to be aware of the implications of the 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill', which has already passed the Commons and is now close to completing its passage in the Lords. It's designed to complete the project the Conservatives began of imposing elected mayors and 'Combined Authorities' all across England, with larger unitary authorities to replace remaining district and county councils. As the Liberal Democrat group's Cabinet Office spokesman, I had not intended to get actively involved in the Bill beyond its constitutional significance for the governance ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat winning here election poster in garden] I've forgotten whose home I took this photo at. Let me know if it is yours! At election time, Liberal Democrat members and supporters are often asked to put up a poster in their window or if the local team can put up a poster on stakeboard outside their home. We often treat such requests as if it is obvious why someone should say 'yes'. But we also get people saying 'yes' more often if we treat them respectfully and also explain why putting up a poster is a helpful thing ...
The Guardian reports that two-thirds of hospitality businesses are planning to cut jobs as a result of "suffocating" costs imposed by government, as new business rates and higher wage bills come into force. The paper says that many pubs, restaurants and hotel companies will see their costs increase significantly from today after Rachel Reeves's changes to business rates and an increase in minimum wage thresholds announced in the November budget: An industry-wide survey of 20,000 hospitality businesses has found that as a direct result of the cost increases, 64% of firms plan to cut jobs, 42% intend to reduce trading ...