Lib Dems win big in Mel Stride's constituencyA bumper 10 principal authority council by-elections this week and let's kick off with a Liberal Democrat hold with a big swing from previously second-place Labour: Crediton Lawrence (Mid Devon) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 64.9% (+12.8) [IMG: âž¡] RFM: 27.2% (New) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 7.9% (-18.3)No CON (-21.7) as previous.Liberal Democrat HOLD.Changes w/ 2023. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2025-06-26T23:42:38.941Z 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 here. These by-election results round-ups cover principal authority by-elections as it's only those for which ... (more) |
Riverside Nature Park event #dundeewestendAll are welcome at an event at Riverside Nature Park a week on Saturday - 5th July - at which the lovely new signage for the park will be officially launched. The signs are designed by the wonderful Cara Rooney Illustration and the event will be fun for all the family! (more) |
Starmer performs u-turn but the disabled will still sufferWatchers of parliamentary controversies will be suffering a severe case of déjà vu today, after Keir Starmer offered his rebellious backbenchers "massive concessions" on the controversial welfare bill in the hope of securing their vote at second reading on Tuesday. It is long-standing tactic by governments through the ages when faced with serious rebellions, making changes without altering the thrust of the legislation. The Guardian reports that leading rebels told the paper that they had been promised significant changes to the planned cuts that could cost the government several billion pounds over the next few years but look set to ... (more) |
Guest chicks at the Whinnies WanderersWhinnies Wanderers are a group of parents and pre-school children based at the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside. Earlier this week, they invited me to bring some of our recently hatched chicks for the children to see. The good news is that they want me back next week. I will be bringing a goat instead! (more) |
Council by-election results scorecard 2025-2026Here'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 [2] +1 (+1/0) -3 (0/-3) – -4 (0/-3) – – – -6 Lab -1 (0/-1) [4] -1 (0/-1) -2 (0/-2) -8 (0/-8) – – – -12 Lib Dem +3 (+3/0) +1 (+1/0) [9] – – – – +1 (+1/0) +5 Grn – +2 (+2/0) – [1] – – – – +2 Ref +4 (+4/0) +8 (+7/0) – – – – – +5 (+4/0) +17 SNP ... (more) |
26 June 2025 - today's press releasesDavey calls on Government to pull Welfare Bill before vote as "PM's own backbenchers" can see the damage carers face "Bungling Badenoch" urgently needs to clarify Conservative position on PM attending major summits after Pritchard criticism Married couple Yi-pei Chou Turvey and Michael Turvey top North East list Wendy Chamberlain MP and People's Postcode Lottery respond to Government not lifting Charity Lottery Cap Cole-Hamilton: Cancer patients deserve better than SNP failures Davey calls on Government to pull Welfare Bill before vote as "PM's own backbenchers" can see the damage carers face Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1377"The government's planned disability benefit cuts could affect the majority of current working-age claimants with ischaemic heart disease, inflammatory arthritis, hip and knee disorders and Crohn's disease, according to official figures revealed to Big Issue."Chaminda Jayanetti analyses data on the likely impact of the cuts. Ella Cockbain interviews a representative of SPACE (Stop & Prevent Adolescent Criminal Exploitation) about the authorities' inadequate response to recruitment of children into serious crime: "Nobody's trying to look beyond that to see the child's victimisation as the source of their criminality. We're not asking, why has this child got drugs? Why is this child ... (more) |
Anthony Burgess's time in Leicester now marked by heritage panelOver a pint of Tiger, somebody told me that Anthony Burgess used to drink in our pub. The story sounded implausible - that Burgess had been a familiar face at the Black Horse, Aylestone in the 1950s - but I filed it away mentally. Long ago, Phil Beesley kindly wrote me what is still one of my favourite guest posts on this blog. It hold of his discovery that Anthony Burgess had once lived in the Leicester suburb of Aylestone and set one of his novels - The Right to an Answer - there. Today a friend (thanks, Herbert!) sent ... (more) |
Facing the harrowing facts: it's time for bold action on Gaza and the West BankAfter more than a year and a half of bombardment, siege, and systematic starvation in Gaza, it is becoming harder than ever to grasp the true scale of Israel's atrocities there. Not because the evidence is lacking, but because the horrors have become so appallingly routine. Since March, when Netanyahu abrogated the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, and effectively curtailed the further release of Israeli hostages, the Israeli military has killed almost 6,000 Palestinians, bringing the total Palestinian death toll to 56,000. Day after day, dozens of Palestinians are killed by Israeli soldiers while in their homes, in shelters, or in the ... (more) |
Starmer's coming U-turn on PIPs reminds us of the virtues of a parliamentary systemIf Keir Starmer backs down on his planned cuts to Personal Independence Payments, he will be attacked for being weak and making a U-turn, but really it will be a sign that our political system works. He has put forward a policy that does not command a majority in the House of Commons, so he has found that he can't get it through. This ought to happen more often. If the Conservatives were better at politics, they would have announced they would vote for the cuts, deepening the split in the Labour Party if Starmer went ahead with them. But ... (more) |