"Making Liverpool a global force," Liverpool Lib Dem proposals for regenerating our economyThe Liverpool Liberal Democrats have officially launched "Liverpool First: Global Ambitions for a Global City", a new policy paper setting out the party's plan to back the city's businesses, restore Liverpool's global standing and make it one of the most dynamic city economies in the world. You can look at the paper in detail by using this link, https://hlnks.co/edca8af3. Members of the Liberal Democrat team would be pleased to come and discuss what this would mean to your Business Association or your business. On Monday and Tuesday Liverpool Liberal Democrats published their economic development strategy for our city at two ... (more) |
Before Paddington Bear there was Mary PlainIf the Paddington phenomenon has Gone A Bit Far, as Lord Bonkers would put it, is there an alternative bear whose adventures we can enjoy? There is. A post on Scones and Chaises Longues has reminded me that I enjoyed the Mary Plain books when I was very young: Readers of a certain age (mine) may remember Gwynedd Rae's Mary Plain books. I have fond memories of sitting on one of the little wooden chairs in the children's section of Bromley Public Library, working my way through the adventures of the bear cub from Berne while my mother chose her ... (more) |
Burnham and the devolved national governmentsThe Guardian has an interesting editorial on how Andy Burnham should approach Scotland and Wales in the context of his commitment to devolving more powers to England's mayoral authorities. There are one or to missteps in the article, for example they are sceptical of Burnham's claim that "the people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster", when in fact many people in north Wales do feel equally remote from the Cardiff-based Welsh government, but they are right that the Prime Minister needs to sort out anomalies in the devolution ... (more) |
Ian Christie on the pioneer British filmmaker Robert PaulHere's another film lecture from Ian Christie. We've seen him on Gothic London, and here he talks about the forgotten London film pioneer Robert Paul. Paul, who was born in Islington in 1869, vividly portrayed the variety of London at the end of the 19th century, conscious of its historic appeal but also emphasising the modernity of which he was a part. (more) |
Huge wasp nest takes over wildlife trust's officeBBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award for this story from Norfolk. A wasp comments: It said "wildlife" on the door, and we're wildlife." To their credit, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's staff appear to view things in much the same light. (more) |
Ravensworth Castle visitAs chair of Sunniside History Society, I have arranged a visit to Ravensworth Castle (or what is left of it after the demolition squads of the 1930s and 1950s had finished their work). What is left is the stable block, the two Medieval corner towers, the ice house and a corner of the John Nash mansion. The trip will be on Saturday. If you want to join the visit, come to the Sunniside (more) |
Kemi Badenoch's dismissive attitude towards local governmentAmong the other issues with this from Kemi Badenoch on the selection by her party of former neo-Nazi Joshua Bonehill-Paine is that it is extremely dismissive of the importance of services that councils deliver and which have huge effects on people's lives, such as their roles in education, child protection or social care: It's OK for criminal ex-neo Nazis to run your bins is a hell of a line. — Chris Terry-Enescu (@cjterry.bsky.social) 2026-08-05T08:17:24.435Z (more) |
Cornerstone community fairCornerstone Church recently took over the former Sunniside Methodist Church building. I am delighted that Cornerstone took on this project as it ensured the building continues to be available for use by the community and the heritage of the Sunniside was retained and protected. On Sunday, the church held its first community fair. I was there to run the Sunniside History Society table. My (more) |
GUEST POST In praise of outgrounds: How cricket in small towns made a roaring comebackThe Hundred may be struggling for spectators, but cricket's One-Day Cup is thriving by using grounds that do not usually see professional cricket. Matthew Pennell explains why. Neath, Mansfield, Gosforth, Farington, Arundel, York and Cheltenham. Towns and cities you wouldn't normally link together, but what they have in common is they all hosted sell-out games of cricket in the first week of the One-Day Cup. These are a combination of brand new, rediscovered or longstanding outgrounds that are proving very popular with fans. This is despite relative indifference from the ECB and county squads being depleted by the existence of ... (more) |
The law has never told you which door to useThe EHRC's Code of Practice for services came into force this week. Single-sex services are now offered on the basis of biological sex, and providers may ask a person to confirm theirs. 167 MPs signed Nadia Whittome's motion to disapprove it, the majority of Liberal Democrat MPs among them. It was never debated. One fact has been almost entirely absent from the argument, and it changes the shape of it. The law has regulated lavatories and changing rooms since the 1890s. Every one of those provisions regulates what must be provided. Not one regulates who may walk in. There is ... (more) |