The Standells: Try ItThe first time I featured Patience and Prudence here they led me to a record about Prudence's other half - Signed D.C. by Love. Patience also married a former member of Love, Johnny Fleck. He left Love after a fist fight with Albert Lee and later joined The Standells. Fleck is playing bass on Try It, which for a few seconds sounds like it's going to be like something by Lou Reed, but quickly settles into a tone that reminds us that the permissive society came some years before women's liberation. The song was banned from his stations by the ... (more) |
Tom Arms' World ReviewUnited States The Epstein Files story is reaching a climax. Emails released by the estate of paedophile and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein have mentioned Donald Trump's name, but little more than that. However, the pathway to the more extensive FBI files on Epstein is now clear. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn in this week and immediately cast the deciding vote in favour of releasing the Epstein files. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson now has seven legislative days to "ripen" the issue. He then has an additional two days to schedule the vote. The necessary legislation will have no ... (more) |
Dundee bus memories!With thanks to SJ Bogue and Dundee Memories, a clippie taking fares on a Dundee bus back in January 1955. (more) |
Has Rachel Reeves budget turned into an omnishambles?The Independent reports that Downing Street has been blamed for forcing Rachel Reeves to reverse Budget plans to raise income tax in what was described as "a panic move" to save Sir Keir Starmer's premiership. The paper says that Labour MPs, ministers and the markets were left stunned by a Financial Times report that the chancellor has now abandoned the measure despite two weeks of clear hints in public speeches that she was poised to break the party's manifesto pledge: Downing Street was blamed on Friday for forcing Rachel Reeves to reverse Budget plans to raise income tax in what ... (more) |
Pollution from Shropshire lead mines still reaches the SevernThis information from an Environment Agency page will come as no surprise to regular readers: There is evidence of lead mining in the Minsterley area of the Shropshire Hills since pre-Roman times. The importance of lead mining grew during the medieval period and had become a major part of the economy of Snailbeach and Minsterley by the late 16th and 18th centuries, respectively. This continued to grow throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, until the 19th century, when the mining activity was at its peak. During the 1870s the Stiperstones area was one of Britain's main sources of lead. But ... (more) |
The Government is right to ditch Elected Police CommissionersOur manifesto for the last General Election included a pledge to abolish the post of Elected Police Commissioners. No other Party mentioned this none-role, but we Lib Dems are pleased to support the Government in their unscripted decision. If I were to go out on the street of my ward and ask about the Police Commissioner for Merseyside, I suspect that the vast majority had never heard of the position; had no idea what it did; and even less idea who was the current incumbent. This is not a reflection of the work being done by our current incumbent but ... (more) |
Marie Goldman's statement for Trans Awareness WeekLib Dem spokesperson for Women and Equalities Marie Goldman has issued a statement for Trans Awareness Week in which she reaffirms the Lib Dem commitment to fight for a society where everyone is free to be who they are and where trans people are protected from discrimination. She said: Many trans and non-binary people – in the UK and across the world – face unacceptable barriers to healthcare, employment, education, and public life. In the UK, an estimated 62% – 73% of trans people have experienced harassment and violence because they were identified as trans. Hate crimes have risen sharply, ... (more) |
Chris Dillow explains our incompetent political cultureWhen the centenary of Margaret Thatcher's birth was marked last month, the consensus view on Bluesky was that she had made everything in Britain worse. Not only that: it was all down to her personal wickedness. Whatever happened to the left having a knowledge of the tides of history that is denied to the rest of us? One writer who offers a more sophisticated analysis is Rutland's own Chris Dillow. In his latest post he looks at the travails of the government and the BBC asks why so much of our political culture is fundamentally incompetent. Here's the crux of ... (more) |
Observations of an Expat: China's Environmental ParadoxChina is both the world's biggest environmental villain and - paradoxically– the greatest hero when it comes to the development and export of green renewable energy. The Middle Kingdom is the world's biggest emitter of CO2 gases—more than the US, India and EU combined. It burns more coal than the rest of the world combined and it continues to build coal-powered plants. But at the same time it produces 80 percent of the world's solar panels; 70 percent of lithium-ion batteries, 65 percent of the world's wind turbines and the world's most affordable electric vehicles. China has vast resources of ... (more) |
Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion pollsWelcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with the latest MRP projections and party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Find Out Now 16% (nc) 15% (nc) 11% (nc) 17% (-1) 33% (nc) -18% (vs Ref) 12/11 GB YouGov ... (more) |