We do have a two-tier policing system but it is not what our homegrown racists think it is.I did not know whether to be amused or appalled by the comments made, very publicly, by the half-witted Vice President of the USA, Mr Vance. Appalled, because it is not right that officials from one democracy should publicly criticise one of their allies over domestic policy. Amused, because no-one in this Country needs to take lessons from a corrupt government led by a convicted felon which is openly looting the people of America. Historically the USA with its open carrying of arms and easy access to weapons is a much more dangerous place for people of all colours than ... (more) |
Andrew Baxter: I want to be a voice for the HighlandsNew Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Andrew Baxter made his first speech in Holyrood this week. He looked very happy about it, as well he should given that he represents what I think are some of the most beautiful places in the world, especially my happy place, Rosemarkie Beach. He paid tribute to the "resilient" communities of his constituency and set out his desire to be a voice for the Highlands on issues like building public services that are accessible, reliable and closer to home. I was in tears when he talked about the lady whose husband had been put ... (more) |
What's going on with party strategy?Once per Parliament, the Federal Board is obliged to put before Conference a party strategy. Article 5.1 of the Federal Constitution states: The Federal Board shall have the responsibility periodically, and at least onceper Parliament, for preparing a document outlining the Party's strategy, inconjunction with the Leader's political strategy, for submission for debate and agreement by Conference. The Board's plan is to bring a strategy to Autumn Conference. If the anger following the local elections is anything to go by, members will be looking for a commitment to developing a nationally relevant message to re-establish us as a viable national ... (more) |
Lib Dems are reviewing policy and strategy says PoliticsHomeEmbed from Getty ImagesThe Liberal Democrats are undergoing an overhaul of strategy and policy, "with key areas of discussion including the economy, welfare, and, as the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum approaches, a bolder stance on the European Union", reports PoliticsHome. Unusually for such articles, which generally rely on anonymous senior Lib Dems and party strategists, this one by Matilda Martin and Zoe Crowther has quotations from named MPs. One is Tom Gordon from Harrogate and Knaresborough: Lib Dem MP Tom Gordon said that while the results last month were generally positive for his party, losses in the North ... (more) |
We do have a two-tier systemI think Nigel Farage is right. We do have two-tier policing. No, let me finish, as the man himself is fond of saying. A couple of years ago, Lucy Connolly, a troubled and not especially clever individual, posted an unpleasant and inflammatory tweet in the aftermath of the Southport murders. She thought better of it and deleted it after a few hours. And it is difficult to believe that anybody sought to set fire to anything simply because of what an obscure woman from Northampton posted on Twitter. What Connolly wrote was deeply unpleasant, but I can't help feeling that ... (more) |
Observations of an Expat: NATO IronyMarco Rubio says the next month's NATO summit will be one of the most consequential in history. He is right—but not for the reasons he imagines. President Trump has spent years demanding that Europe take responsibility for its own defence. The Europeans have finally agreed. The problem is that they have also concluded that they cannot rely entirely on Washington. That realisation is likely to dominate the summit. The immediate result will be more defence spending. The long-term result may be the emergence of a European military-industrial complex capable of challenging America's dominance of the global arms market. If so, ... (more) |
From Norman settlement to a civic squareIf you were to go into Swansea City Centre today, you would find that a large part of it is fenced off while building work carries on there. This is Castle Square, an open space in front of the city's historic castle that is undergoing its second transformation after a major revamp in the 1990s saw it mostly concreted over. The square itself has evolved from a medieval Norman settlement to a bustling Victorian commercial hub, and finally into a central civic space. After being flattened during the 1941 Blitz, the site was transformed into public gardens as illustrated above, ... (more) |
Northern Ireland debates the future of its railways in 1957From YouTube: The first documentary produced by the BBC Film Unit in Northern Ireland looks at the problems the railways are facing in NI. Can anything be done to arrest the decline of the permanent way in the face of rising competition from road traffic? Indeed, should anything be done?Something was done: they were largely closed down, particularly in Nationalist areas. (more) |
"The old savage England": D.H. Lawrence visits the StiperstonesFrom St Mawr by D.H. Lawrence, published in 1925: They came at last, trotting in file along a narrow track between heather, along the saddle of the hill, to where the knot of pale granite suddenly cropped out. It was one of those places where the spirit of aboriginal England still lingers, the old savage England, whose last blood still flows in a few Englishmen, Welshmen, Cornishmen. The rocks, whitish with weather of all the ages, jutted against the blue August sky, heavy with age-moulded roundnesses. Lewis stayed below with the horses, the party scrambled rather awkwardly, in their riding ... (more) |
What really happened?Soon after the Second World War ended, a German Jewish survivor, a brilliant philosophy student, sat down to explain to herself and the world how Hitler and Stalin had turned organised madness into an engine of government and destruction. Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism came out in 1951. Much of her analysis is dated or specific to the German or Russian peoples. But some is chillingly relevant. How relevant is this to Trump's MAGA movement, to Farage and Reform? "Denial of the very possibility of a common mankind...total denial of the whole concept of human rights - stigmatised as ... (more) |