Shropshire Hills project receives almost £1m from National LotteryThe National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £993,475 in development funding to Shropshire's Landscape Connections project. A report on the Heritage Fund website explains: The project brings together farmers, communities and young people to improve habitats and strengthen ecological networks across one of England's most treasured landscapes. With almost £1m in development funding awarded and the potential for a further £8.9m in delivery funding, the project will support long-term stewardship while helping more people connect with nature and heritage. Over the next decade, the project aims to work with more than 200 landowners across the Shropshire Hills, delivering four large-scale ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: Clip the wings of the Russian BearI would point out that Lord Bonkers is more against Landlordism in principle than in practice, but my rent falls due on Lady Day. Saturday It was my old friend John Arlott who claimed that Manchester is the only city in Britain where they have lifeboat drill on the buses. No doubt the damp climate has encouraged its mayor to march on London to claim the crown - or at least the tenancy of 10 Downing Street. Yes, there is something Medieval about the whole affair; it's like an episode from a school textbook on the reign of King Henry ... (more) |
Hidden meanings in social careAndy Burnham has promised to 'fix' social care and to 'use some of his political capital on the issue'. The first steps are expected this week. Ed Davey, who has campaigned strongly on the issue, promises to work with him on a cross-party basis. All good. The problem is that people mean very different things by the 'social care' problem. The obvious priority is to help unpaid carers – around 6 million people, 1.7 million of whom provide care for over 50 hours a week – and those they care for at home. There are rather meagre carers' benefits but, ... (more) |
Procedures and rule books are the real heroes of this filmThe 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: Welcome to the latest email for our podcast, Political Fictions: political drama on screen and on the page. Please do spread the word about the podcast to your friends, colleagues and even dastardly rivals who you want to distract from doing something else. They can all sign up here: Now, on to the proper business of ... (more) |
Is there a magic money tree?The Independent reports that an analysis by one of the UK's leading economic think tanks has concluded that Andy Burnham has been warned that he will have to raise taxes or cut spending if he wants to fund his new priorities. The paper says that economists at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) caution the prime minister and new chancellor John Healey that "there is no capacity to borrow any more" and that inflation will push up the cost of living much higher than the Bank of England (BoE) is forecasting: The warning comes amid questions over ... (more) |
An Ian Christie lecture about Gothic London on filmThis a terrific lecture by Ian Christie, whose writings did much to bring the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger back to prominence. His Gothic London begins with early Dickens adaptations, made because there was a ready public for them. And Dickens, after all, was a cinematic novelist before cinema was invented. Then we go though Jekyll and Hyde, Jack the Ripper and the London fog to reach the early Hitchcock. The exoticism of Limehouse, with its opium dens and Chinese population, also figures. Next we take in the Blitz and this blog's favourite topic of bombsites, before returning ... (more) |
Wallpaper ballotThis photo has been doing the rounds on Facebook. It is the ballot paper for the Clacton by-election. At this point in the contest the supply of jokes about this absurd contest have been exhausted. 34 candidates are competing for the crown, making for a ballot paper that is more like wallpaper.The jokes may be exhausted but it is still possible to engage in fantasy outcomes. The idea that (more) |
What should the Liberal Democrats say about compulsory voting?Last week, Andy Burnham became Labour leader and thus Prime Minister. Labour hope that his leadership will reverse the party's political misfortunes and poor polling under Keir Starmer, while many hope that his new policy priorities and governing style would bring about vital change. Electoral reform advocates hope that such change will include Proportional Representation, given his past and recent vocal support for it and the proposal of an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform. However, the latest speculated change, as reported by several outcomes, may come in the form ... (more) |
Reform UK's opaque finances: Now the Lib Dems raise questionsLisa Smart, the Liberal Democrat cabinet office spokesperson, has referred Richard Tice to the parliamentary standards commissioner over an undeclared loan of nearly £80,000 from Nigel Farage's aide George Cottrell. The Guardian reports that Tice, the Reform UK MP for Boston and Skegness, received a loan of nearly £80,000 from Nigel Farage's aide George Cottrell some months after he was elected parliament. This transaction, says the newspaper's report, caused bankers to raise concerns with authorities. In her letter to the commissioner, Lisa Smart wrote: "Mr Cottrell is not merely a private acquaintance of Mr Tice, he is an official adviser ... (more) |
Ed Davey and Andy Burnham are right to try to work together to solve the adult care crisisIt is quite clear that if we carry on the way we are doing at present the problems of adult care, especially for the elderly, will continue to grow to a point where the finances to support them will no longer be sustainable. That is why I'm delighted to see both that Andy Burnham has issued an invitation to Ed Davey and Kemi Badenoch to join with him to try and deal with this crisis and that Ed Davey immediately agreed to such talks. As Ed Davey himself put it, "There have been 22 failed attempts at reforming social care ... (more) |