There are worse things than a coronation for VinceEarly this morning, I got an email from Ed Davey. He asked if he could send us a post for publication late afternoon, early evening. "Of course!" I replied. And then I went into a brief explanation of how we were going to be neutral in the leadership contest, and how we would be very even-handed between the candidates. I concluded, flippantly, that I was just randomly mentioning that for no apparent reason. I knew that there was a pretty strong expectation that Ed would stand and that some serious work had been done on putting a campaign together. I ... (more) |
"My decision not to stand now to be Leader of our party is a difficult one, but it is rooted in my family" - Ed DaveySomewhat to most people's surprise (including my own), Lib Dem MP Ed Davey has decided not to run for party leader: When Tim [Farron] resigned, I assumed Jo [Swinson] would go for it, and I would have supported her. She gave understandable reasons why she didn't - so here are my reasons, some similar to Jo's. Emily and I met through the party. I was chairing a Housing Policy Working Group and she was a member, as a social housing lawyer. What could be more romantic? Our joy this weekend was seeing our two children play together. And when you ... (more) |
Lord Wenlock on the Derwent Valley Light Railway, 1981I have posted my photographs of York Layerthorpe and Dunnington stations on the Derwent Valley Light Railway. This is the third and last of my photographs of the line. I think it was taken in the spring of 1981, which was the line's last year of operation. The locomotive shown is now at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, on whose site you can real all about its career: This locomotive belongs to a class introduced in 1952, one of the first diesel types mass-produced by British Railways. D2298 itself was not built until October 1960, however, becoming one of a class ... (more) |
EU's Google fine in "sharp contrast" with government's sweetheart tax dealThe Liberal Democrats have said that the EU's decision to fine Google £2.1bn for distorting the market stands in "sharp contrast" with the UK government's tax deal struck with the company last year. Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson Christine Jardine said:"This hefty punishment acts as a stark warning to others that search results must be fair to online retailers and ensure healthy competition. "It shows that by acting together across Europe, we can hold global giants like Google to account and protect consumer rights and smaller businesses. "This decisive action stands in sharp contrast to our own Conservative ... (more) |
Poverty stats must be a wake up call for Tories - FarronData released by the Office for National Statistics today shows 4.6 million people were classed as being trapped in a vicious cycle of 'persistent' poverty. Commenting on the news, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said:"These figures must be a wakeup call for the Conservatives. In Britain, 4.6 Million people endured persistent hardship and poverty. For all the Conservatives talk, these figures show they just don't care and sadly, I think poverty is going to get worse."The divisive Brexit the government is pushing is putting jobs at risk and this means more and more people will be driven to the edge."Those ... (more) |
How Reg Varney ruined BritainEmbed from Getty Images Fifty years ago, reports the Shropshire Star's business section, the first withdrawal from a bank cash machine was made. In those days it was known as an ATM - automated teller machine, And it was made at a branch of Barclay's in Enfield by the comedian Reg Varney. He was even trending on Twitter today, nine years after his death, because of it. But is this anniversary to celebrate? In what is probably the greatest post in the history of blogging, Stumbling and Mumbling pointed out: The invention of the ATM helped make it much easier ... (more) |
Dingle of the Husseys, Part 15This is one of the main tourist traps of Ireland now; who knows what it was like in 1580?The twenty-seventh, we marched by the famous Lough Leyn, out of which the ryver of Lowgen doth spring, and falleth into the sea beside Magne. The Logh is fulle of salmon, and hath in it eleven islands, in one of which (Innisfallen), there is an abbey in another a parish church, and in another (Rosse) a castel, out of which there came to us a fair lady the rejected wife of Lord Fitz-Maurice, daughter to the late McCartie-More (elder brother to the ... (more) |
Ed Davey MP writes....My family, my partyLast weekend I went glamping. with Emily and our children, John and Ellie. This luxury form of camping was my birthday present to my super-patient wife, and our first proper time to reflect together after the General Election. And to cut to the chase, I've come back to Westminster more determined than ever to campaign hard for the party Emily and I both love - but not to campaign to lead the party at this moment. When Tim resigned, I assumed Jo would go for it, and I would have supported her. She gave understandable reasons why she didn't - ... (more) |
Potholes, protests and a country wakened to political powerI'm writing this in Burkina Faso, where I'm working with an African colleague evaluating a programme on food security and local economic development. One of the big topics as we run up and down the country looking at cattle markets, check dams, irrigation and water systems, and so on is transport infrastructure, and mainly, potholes. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country, but a major crossing route across the growing regional single market and customs union (with a single currency already for the Francophone countries, and a bigger one mooted when the Francophone Union (UEMOA) and the wider Anglohone-Francophone Union (ECOWAS) ... (more) |
What do the centrists do now? Here's my suggestion...I've written before about my sympathy for a new 'Centre Party' (much as I dislike such a split-the-difference name). The election result means the issue has simultaneously both become more urgent and less likely. More urgent because who does a centrist voter now vote for? The Conservatives, already moving to the right as Theresa May made slashing immigration her party's top priority, have now sealed the deal with the antediluvian DUP. If you're the kind of Tory who liked John Major, to whom do you now turn? Meanwhile, Labour is now in thrall to Jeremy Corbyn following his expectations-defying result, ... (more) |