George Orwell on the style and quality of C.S. Lewis's argumentsWhen I wrote about the philosopher C.E.M. Joad last month, a comment suggested I read one of George Orwell's 'As I Please' columns from Tribune. In it (it was the column for the 27 October 1944 issue), Orwell defended Joad as someone associated in the public mind with Science and Rationalism (his capitals), unlike the religious right-wingers who tended to dominate debate on the BBC. But the column was mostly about C.S. Lewis and Orwell's criticism of his writing style and the quality of his arguments. It's worth quoting at length: Reading, a week or two ago, Mr C. S. ... (more) |
London tram driven the wrong way through Croydon town centreIan Visits wins our Headline of the Day Award for what turns out to be a piece of good news: The successful trial gives London Trams much greater flexibility during the engineering works. Instead of forcing passengers onto the inevitable replacement buses, trams can be repositioned through the town centre to continue serving routes to New Addington, Elmers End and Beckenham Junction. (more) |
First Labour by-election gains of the Burnham PremiershipFive principal authority council by-elections this week, including Labour's first gains of the Andy Burnham era: Grays Town (Thurrock) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 37.0% (+5.3) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 27.0% (-7.8) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 13.0% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 12.3% (+1.3) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 8.8% (-7.3) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 1.9% (-4.5)Labour GAIN from Reform UK.Changes w/ 2026. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-07-23T23:26:37.505Z Thank you to Jim Corrigan for being the Lib Dem in this contest. (The Lib Dem vote the time before was inflated by an unusual and small candidate line-up.) For what all this means for the ... (more) |
Mr Smith Goes To WashingtonThe latest edition of the email newsletter for my podcast, Political Fictions, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Mr Smith Goes To Washington, with Aidan Byrne [IMG: Mr Smith Goes To Washington] Public opinion arrives in the Senate in Mr Smith Goes to Washington After messing around with football / broadening our cultural frames of reference (delete according to which one of us you agree with), it's back to hard core politics this time ... (more) |
The problem with balancing budgetsThe Independent reports that green groups and opposition politicians have criticised the government over its decision to fund its new £500m policy capping bus fares in England at £2 using the climate aid budget. The paper says that the new transport policy, which was announced yesterday, is set to reverse a cap increase to £3 that was put in place by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in 2024, and is being billed as a landmark measure intended to tackle the cost of living crisis. However, around £400m of the cost is set to come from switching government investment in international ... (more) |
Council by-election results scorecard 2026-2027Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2026 and the May 2027 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [5] +1 (+1/0) +1 (+3/-2) -1 (0/-1) -2 (+1/-3) -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+2/-1) -1 Lab -1 (0/-1) [6] – -1 (+2/-3) -3 (+2/-5) – – +1 (+1/0) -4 Lib Dem -1 (+2/-3) – [10] +1 (+1/0) – -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+1/0) 0 Grn +1 (+1/0) +1 (+3/-2) -1 (0/-1) [5] – – – – +1 Ref +2 (+3/-1) +3 (+5/-2) – – [5] ... (more) |
Dennis Potter's 1975 dramatisation of Angus Wilson's Late CallAngus Wilson is an example of a once highly regarded writer who has disappeared from view. I read his books when I was a teenager and enjoyed them, but they are now out of print. I also have fond memories of Dennis Potter's television dramatisation of Wilson's novel Late Call from 1975. Today I discovered that all four parts of it are on YouTube, so I have included the first one here. I've not watched it for 51 years, so apologies if it does not live up to my memories of it. Margaret Drabble once wrote about the novel: My ... (more) |
Richard Dadd and Victorian treatment of lunaticsJonathan Jones wrote about the painter Richard Dadd, who spent much of his life as a patient at Broadmoor Hospital, in the Guardian earlier this week: You can't escape the tragedy of a gifted artist who spent so much of his life locked up, albeit in more liberal conditions than our stereotype of Victorian asylums might lead you to expect. When I went on my guided walk around Desford in May, the guide stopped at the top of hill above the village's railway station and told us that doctors would bring patients from a local asylum by train for picnics ... (more) |
Long, long ago on a Policy Working Group far, far away...I am reminded this week of one of the more quirky items on my political CV, something I did at a time when I was rather (incorrectly) more confident in my views than perhaps I am now. Back in the days when I was a young Liberal Democrat, indeed Secretary of the Young Liberal Democrats, our then International Officer concluded that, in order to protect his budget, it was a good idea to send the organisation's Chair and Secretary to a LYMEC (Liberal Youth Movement of the European Community) seminar entitled "Youth Culture in a Coca-Cola World" in Aarhus, Denmark. ... (more) |
Nominate someone for the Party AwardsDo you know someone within the party who should be recognised for what they do? Every year at Conference the President presents awards to some very special people within the party. Now is the right time to be nominating people you know for one of the awards. The nominations deadline is 12th August. The awards that will be given at this year's Autumn Conference are: The President's Award: open to any Party Member elected to public office and who has demonstrated excellence and commitment, either in that role or both in that role and other roles for the party. The ... (more) |