Are there really people who do not think that climate change is real?!As I sat stewing in my back downstairs room, the coolest in the house, a few days ago I wondered, "does anyone really not believe in climate change now?" In the United Kingdom we have had the hottest weather on record in the early Summer and the wettest Spring on record. This is not a coincidence and must mean something. If it was just one year perhaps it could be classed as an unfortunate set of circumstances, but it is now year after year. It is affecting the way that we behave and in extremis is leading to earlier deaths ... (more) |
Find the Lib Dems on Bluesky and ThreadsUnsurprisingly given Elon Musk's recent antics and increasing unpopularity, with even some parts of government moving away from X, more and more Lib Dems are looking at giving Threads and/or Bluesky a try. There is now an official Lib Dem account on Bluesky, following the earlier one on Threads. One problem with starting off in a new place is finding other people to follow, so here are some starting places: Bluesky: a list of Lib Dem MPs on Bluesky and a Starter Pack of those MPs. Both include other official party accounts and the like, and include one Ed Davey. ... (more) |
Richard Webber - 4th April 1946 to 28th June 2026Richard Webber, husband to Catherine, father to Edward, Rebecca, Richard, and Sophie, was my friend and mentor, and he died peacefully at home last Sunday after a long fight with oesophageal cancer. Richard was an inspiring teacher, much respected councillor, entrepreneur, dearly beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend to many. He was a mainstay and stalwart of the Oxfordshire Lib Dem Party, stepping up to fight (and win) a District by-election in his home village of Drayton in 2005, following a long and successful career as a teacher. He then fought a much harder series of Oxfordshire County Council elections ... (more) |
"We have blue passports, but everything else has gone south": Andrew George on the failure of BrexitAndrew George won back the St Ives constituency in Cornwall for the Liberal Democrats two years ago today - he had previously represented it between 1997 and 2015. It's estimated that there was a 54.8 per cent vote for Leave in St Ives at the 2016 referendum, but that hasn't stopped Andrew telling it like it is in the Bude & Stratton Post: There's been much commentary on the 10th anniversary of Brexit referendum. I viewed it as a test of UK self-confidence. In the event the answer was negative. That we didn't see ourselves as leaders in Europe. That ... (more) |
Observations of an Expat: I am an ImmigrantI am an immigrant. I emigrated from the United States to the United Kingdom on the 12th of December 1971. I had studied for a year in Britain 18 months before and fell in love with the country and one of its citizens and moved back despite the dreary weather and traffic jams. I did not flee a Middle Eastern War. I did not turf up at Heathrow claiming political persecution. I did not risk my life to cross the English Channel in freezing weather. Nor was I fleeing from poverty or conflict. In fact, if I had stayed in ... (more) |
Violent drunk banned from booze after throwing flapjack at police officer's genitals having missed with Pot NoodleIt wasn't a long judges' meeting: the Manchester Evening News has won our Headline of the Day Award. Incidentally, when I worked at Golden Wonder many years ago I was a member of the Pot Noodle tasting panel. I'd rather have been on a flapjack tasting panel. (more) |
PontywoodFor a small village of just over 800 souls, Pontrhydyfen stands out as an exceptional source of talent. It is of course the birthplace of Richard Burton, a fact I have blogged on before here and here, but it was also the birthplace of other celebrities. Broadway theatre and musical star Ivor Emmanuel, who was also in Zulu, was born in the village as was international opera singer Rebecca Evans, and singer and songwriter Geraint Griffiths who played in Welsh language bands Hergest and Edward H Dafis. The Richard Burton Appreciation Society is also based there. Now, as Wales-on-line reports, ... (more) |
DCMS logs off X: a second Whitehall exitThe latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, 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: Lisa Nandy announces an end to using X [IMG: Close up photo of a smartphone with the X/Twitter app in use] Photo by Joshua Miranda on Pexels.com. Regular readers will know that I've long been pushing the government to stop expressly singling out X for preferential treatment, with the government's own communications efforts ... (more) |
Ian Holm as Richard III in the BBC's Wars of the Roses from 1965First, Fergus McClelland led us to Brecht on television. Now, bless his little khaki shorts, he's led us to Shakespeare. Ravensbourne University London explains the origins of the BBC's Wars of the Roses: This production had had a highly acclaimed run on the RSC stage in 1963 and was directed for BBC Television in 1965 by Robin Midgley and Michael Hayes. It was filmed on the stage at Stratford-On-Avon using a multi-camera set up, resulting in a much more fluid filmic result with a greater variety of shots and even the use of hand-held cameras for the battle scenes. In ... (more) |
Liverpool Lib Dem boss accused of using "sex appeal to build fanbase" in cover shootToday the Liverpool Echo walks off with our Headline of the Day Award. The judges requested several copies of Attitude. #JustSayin (more) |