Between 1962, when he first appeared as Charlie Barlow in Z-Cars, and 1976, when he played the character for the last time in Second Verdict, Britain's most famous television policeman was Stratford Johns. That baton was then taken on by John Thaw, who had begun playing Jack Regan in The Sweeney in 1975. He continued in that role until 1978 and then played Inspector Morse between 1987 and 2000. (I don't remember their being any clear holder of the crown during that interregnum.) And here they are together in a Z-Cars episode from 1964. Trivia fans will be pleased that ...
The party is seeking members for a new policy working group, called Empowering Consumers. The group will be aiming to prepare policy proposals for Spring Conference next year. If you would like to know how policy is decided in the Liberal Democrats, and how policy working groups fit in, then there is a useful guide here. In brief, policy groups meet in person and online and take evidence from professional and industry experts before crafting a policy paper. The paper is then distilled down to provide a substantial set of proposals which form a conference motion. They also carry out ...
I'm not in the habit of blogging about race relations, it's a topic that attracts far more heat than light and I expect I will receive many abusive replies to this. What I've learnt from Brexit, however is that right wingers will lie repeatedly about a topic and the mainstream media then fails to correct or clarify those lies. The drip drip drip of propaganda works and positions that should be widely debunked and dismissed when subjected to expert scrutiny – real facts, stats and figures – become accepted and respectable. I no longer stay silent when such a deception ...
There were three principal council by-elections this week, and all three had a Liberal Democrat on the ballot. Tuesday saw the poll for a new councillor in Fishguard North East ward on Pembrokeshire County Council. This had a big increase in candidate numbers, after the straight Labour-Conservative contest last time. Caleb Churchill and the team achieved a good second place here, as Plaid Cymru gained the seat. A great effort, and a solid base from which to win next time. Pembrokeshire County Council, Fishguard North East Plaid Cymru: 253 (33.8%, new) Liberal Democrats (Caleb Churchill): 135 (18.0%, new) Reform UK: ...
I couldn't find room for it in my Lion & Unicorn article about the film No Room at the Inn, but I did blog here about my discovery that the Joan Temple play on which it was based gave John Osborne his first break in the theatre: After No Room at the Inn had cleaned up in the West End, it went on a national tour, though without its star, the awe-inspiring Freda Jackson. As there were so many children in the cast, the company needed a tutor for them to make up for the schooling they were missing. That ...
This week's by-elections started with a Tuesday contest in Wales: Fishguard North East (Pembrokeshire) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🌼] PLC: 33.8% (New) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 18.0% (New) [IMG: âž¡] RFM: 12.7% (New) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 11.1% (-47.9) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 10.5% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 9.2% (-31.9) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 4.7% (New)Plaid Cymru GAIN from Labour.Changes w/ 2022. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-02-10T23:42:03.498Z The thanks here go to Kay Kirkham for being the Lib Dem candidate. 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 ...
The Richard Jefferies Museum, which is housed in the writer's birthplace at Coate Farm, Swindon, is raising money to fund its plans for a new Centre for Arts and Wildlife. You can read all about those plans on the museum website. A spokesperson for the trust that runs the museum told the Swindon Advertiser: "Our little museum has been growing - more events, more activities, more volunteers and more visitors. "But we think it is time to grow some more, by creating something that will help the old farm site accommodate everything that's going on. "So, we have come up ...
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 Nick Brown, yet another departure in Durham. Donna Edmunds (Shropshire, suspended by Reform UK and then quit the party) 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 councillor) Daniel ...
The Independent reports that the Home Office has spent nearly £700,000 on fighting a legal battle against the co-founder of Palestine Action over the group's terror ban. The paper says that Huda Ammori, co-founder of the group, has challenged the government's decision to ban the organisation under anti-terrorism laws in the courts: Since the proscription, thousands of people have been arrested for holding signs declaring support for Palestine Action and the move has been condemned as "an enormous overreach of the UK's terrorism powers" by human rights groups. A decision by the High Court in the case is expected tomorrow. ...
This short video explores an unexpected and exciting piece of film and television history. Muriel Box's 1955 film explored the perils of reality television 45 years before Big Brother was first screened. Simon and Laura provided Peter Finch with his first leading role (Laura was played by Kay Kendall). His last film, Network in 1976, was also about television.
Thu 12th
17:27
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is right - this Country has been colonised by immigrants - for more than 2,000 yea...
By an incredible chance, the nasty little tax dodger who is a co-owner of Manchester United has got it right when he says that this Country has been colonised by immigrants, because it has been, with successive waves of immigration, since at least AD 55 when Caeser turned up with his legions! Mind you Ratcliffe has little loyalty to this Country - he is now officially resident in Monaco! Well, that is one less to worry about with our apparent overcrowding problem! He is so concerned about the problems of the UK that he has taken his profits and the ...
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 [15] +2 (+2/0) -10 (+2/-12) +2 (+2/0) -20 (+2/-22) -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+2/-1) -26 Lab -2 (0/-2) [16] -4 (0/-4) -6 (0/-6) -29 (0/-28) – -1 (0/-1) -7 (0/-7) -49 Lib Dem +10 (+12/-2) +4 (+4/0) [32] +2 (+3/-1) -1 (+2/-3) +2 (+2/0) – +3 (+3/0) +20 Grn -2 (0/-2) +6 (+6/0) -2 (+1/-3) [7] +1 (+1/0) – – -1 (0/-1) +2 Ref +20 ...
You've got to admire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. It takes a certain kind of genius to build a bonfire out of football tribalism, Brexit politics, tax avoidance, right-wing dog whistles and historical colonial sensitivity, set fire to it and then throw yourself on top. As self-immolative performance art goes, it is unbeatable. The Manchester United co-owner managed to offend almost everyone this week by declaring that Britain has been "colonised by immigrants". Not "immigration has risen" or "we need border controls" or any of the hundred ways you can open a debate on migration policy without sounding like you're auditioning for ...
Jessica Valenti sounds the alarm about the Heritage Foundation's plan for American women: "Like the conservative movement more broadly, the organisation wants young women to believe this is all being done for their benefit: that work is soulless and unfulfilling, that feminism has made women miserable, and that the real path to happiness is being a stay-at-home mom. The latest right-wing mantra for women? 'Less burnout, more babies.'" The government's proposed model for mandatory reporting of suspected child sexual abuse bears no resemblance to the frameworks used in the 82 per cent of countries that have enacted such legislation, argues ...
Daisy Cooper's call to break up the Treasury and create a new Department for Growth is the kind of proposal that deserves more than reflex applause or suspicion. It is not simply a change of ministerial job titles, but a complete restructuring of the British state, and it raises the question of whether such restructuring helps or hinders long-term prosperity outside Westminster and London. What follows is a friendly, Jenkinsite-based debate between two Liberal Democrats who agree on the destination: a Britain where wealth, power and opportunity are less concentrated, and where institutions are accountable to the whole country. Where ...
Reform's candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Matt Goodwin, has come up with a remarkable (and remarkably bad) policy to tax people if they have no children. So how could this work in practice?Would this be an income tax or some kind of poll tax?Perhaps it could be something like the BBC license fee?Who in a household would pay it?Would this tax apply to people who are infertile due to
On Tuesday, a somewhat cryptic message went up on Lib Dem social media promising a "big announcement" at 09:00. Naturally, expectations were raised. When a Party primes its members and supporters like that, you assume something substantial is coming — a major defection, implementation of a flagship policy passed by Conference, or a decisive shift in direction. Instead, what we got was... rebranding the Treasury as the "Department of Growth." A dull, inoffensive, and uninspiring ghost of New Labour if ever I saw one. We're told its functions will be reorganised and the whole department relocated to Birmingham. For a ...
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen Reform UK formed a minority administration at Leicestershire County Council last May, 22-year-old Joseph Baum was made deputy leader and the cabinet member for adult social care. He had lost both roles by August. Now comes news that Reform's council leader, Dan Harrison - who has to play Captain Mainwaring to Boam's Private Pike - wants him out of the party altogether and has written to Richard Tice to that effect. BBC News reports: In a letter seen by the BBC, Dan Harrison criticised his former deputy council leader Joseph Boam over a social media post ...
Nation Cymru reports that a charity has urged Senedd members not to let Wales fall behind other nations, calling on them to put cats front and centre. The website says that with one in four Welsh households (24%) owning a cat, Cats Protection is using its Cat Manifesto Wales to call on MSs to make cats a priority during policy-making: The charity also highlights areas where Wales falls behind the rest of the UK. This includes cat breeding and the regulation of animal welfare establishments which are already licensed in Scotland; compulsory microchipping which is required by law in England ...