Introducing The Grimond SocietyLast week, a comment appeared under my last LDV piece from Dennis Delice, in which he said he would be interested in an internal party group focused on furthering the case for economic democracy by encouraging a more co-operative and mutualistic economy. After reading it, I got in touch with Dennis via LinkedIn, and within a few hours, we had brought the idea to life. The Grimond Society launched on Wednesday, 2 July, to put economic democracy (in this context, a focus on co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises, co-production, co-determination, and co-ownership) at the heart of Liberal Democracy policy. We named ... (more) |
Free: Wishing WellThe singles chart at the start of the Seventies, before glam rock's sparkly hands got around its throat, was an eclectic place and you sometimes found quite heavy bands like Free having hits. And music moved on so quickly then that it's surprising to learn that Free's singer Paul Rodgers was in a school bond with Bruce Thomas of the Attractions. It feels like they should have come from different generations. (more) |
Other parties shouldn't play Farage's gameThe Guardian reports that Nigel Farage has announced he is to resign as the MP for Clacton to fight a byelection, after revealing he is under a second investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog over undeclared gifts. For some reason the Reform UK leader believes that his resignation is part of "sticking two fingers up at the establishment" which will prove that the public wanted him to stay on as an MP. In fact, it looks more like a blatant attempt to avoid responsibility for his actions, including the failure to declare a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher ... (more) |
"Ahaarrrr!" A voiceover session from hellOne of my favourite podcasts is the Chelsea Fancast, which has kept me informed and entertained through my club's recent travails. Its two regular presenters are Stamford Chidge and JK. Stamford Chidge, I worked out eventually after putting the clues together, is David Chidgey. He's the son of the late David Chidgey, who was Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh from 1994 to 2005 - and the pilot of the Liberal Democrat spacecraft Bird of Liberty in the early years of Lord Bonkers' Diary. JK is not such a mystery. He is Jonathan Kydd, son of the once-ubiquitous British film actor ... (more) |
Navigating for Change calls for more investment in Fenland riversA flotilla of boats will make its way up the Great Ouse from St Ives to Bedford this month to highlight a critical lack of investment in the river and in Britain's inland waterways generally. Organised by the Great Ouse Boating Association and Fund Britain's Waterways, the Navigating for Change campaign cruise will take place from July 13-18, travelling some 25 miles along the Great Ouse. The flotilla will stop at riverside towns including Huntingdon and St Neots before arriving at the Bedford River Festival on July 17 The cruise is intended to draw attention to the growing funding crisis ... (more) |
The major parties should boycott Farage's dodgy by-electionLiberal Democrat HQ doesn't need much encouragement to ignore unpromising parliamentary by-elections these days - it's worryingly reminiscent of the Nick Clegg years. But in the case of the Clacton by-election Nigel Farage has just engineered, we would be right to ignore it. We should not field a candidate. And the other major parties shouldn't field one either. In a move straight from the Trump playbook, Farage wants to turn his by-election into a people versus the Establishment election. He says the voters of his constituency should be the judge of his actions. The people of Clacton can vote how ... (more) |
Day 9319: Mr Froggy's Vanity ElectionTuesday It is four years to the day since Mr Bojo the Clown resigned but didn't actually resign as Prime Monster. Does anyone remember him? In a speech that many thought was so self-serving it would set all-time records, he told the assembled press that he would squat in Downing Street long enough to outlast his predecessor, Mrs Maybe, and - as a fake scholar of the Classics, taking his cue from the not-at-all-made-up diaries of Emperor Claudius as recounted to Robert Graves - long enough to install a successor who would be even worse. Don't know what made me ... (more) |
Government should block Nigel Farage's resignation - Ed DaveyHere is the Liberal Democrat response to Nigel Farage's announcement that he is going to resign and force a by-election in which he will stand again: Davey: We are calling on all parties to stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage's vanity project Following Nigel Farage's decision to resign and trigger a by-election in Clacton, Liberal Democrat Leader, Ed Davey, said: "If this by-election does go ahead now, we are calling on all parties to stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage's vanity project. "But the Government should just say no to Farage's ego-trip and block ... (more) |
The proud independence of the Isle Of ManRecently I had the great thrill of visiting the Tynwald – the Isle Of Man's parliament. The Isle Of Man is, of course, proudly a separate nation – a self-governing British Crown Dependency. Jersey has the same status, but there is something a little more accentuated about the Isle Of Man's independence – the distinctive flag with the motto of the three legs, which is seen everywhere; much evidence of a separate historical narrative etc. So, it was worth visiting the island just because of its independent status. The Tynwald tour was very interesting – we were told about the ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1544"The plunder of children's services by business is one of the big scandals of our time. Children's homes, special schools and foster care services are increasingly run for profit. Almost every time a child is removed from their family, somebody, somewhere cashes a cheque."Martin Barrow looks at one company that received £500m from local councils last year for the care and support of children and young people. Rory Jones finds that "England is beginning to develop a cooling divide, one in which access to protection from extreme heat increasingly depends on where people live, how much they earn and the ... (more) |