A steam locomotive leaving Loughborough CentralIn Loughborough today in connection with a thing, I didn't have time to visit the preserved Great Central Railway. But I did strike lucky when I crossed a bridge just south of Loughborough Central station. (more) |
The financing timebomb in Sub-Saharan Africa: What Britain should do — and isn'tThe IMF recently highlighted a 25% cut in aid to Sub-Saharan Africa — largely, but not solely, driven by Trump's dismantling of USAID. The UK's own cuts echo a wider trend: aid is being redirected, relabelled under different expenditure lines or simply eliminated as defence spending and domestic social security demands crowd it out. Some of those cuts exposed genuine waste. But the scale is not sustainable — particularly for fragile low-income states where aid accounted for up to 6% of GDP. For them, this is potentially brutal. Aid remains a fiscal lifeline for millions. It is also in our ... (more) |
Labour's weakening of local government will do nothing for voters' confidence in the political systemSo Harborough District Council is to disappear, subsumed into a single authority for the whole of the county outside the city of Leicestershire. And Leicester is to be expanded to make the hole in the doughnut bigger. City boundaries have to be expanded from time to time, but I'm not sure the areas Leicester is taking will be delighted. For some years there has been criticism that its elected mayor Peter Soulsby, now in his fourth term, is keen on prestige projects in the city centre, but less interested in bread-and-butter issues like litter and the state of the pavements ... (more) |
Congratulations to five new peersThe Liberal Democrats have today announced the names of five new members of the House of Lords. They are: Julia Aglionby, Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land, Professor of Practice at the University of Cumbria, and agricultural valuer Hannah Kitching, former NHS physiotherapist, Mayor of Penistone, and former Leader of the Opposition on Barnsley Council Tim Leunig, Chief Economist at Nesta, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Government, Director of Economics at Public First, and former senior civil servant Dave McCobb, Liberal Democrat Director of Campaigns who masterminded the party's best ever election results, and former Hull ... (more) |
Five new Liberal Democrat peers appointed[IMG: New Lib Dem peers July 2026] The five new peers. News from the Liberal Democrats: Five new Liberal Democrat members of the House of Lords have been announced today: Julia Aglionby, Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land, Professor of Practice at the University of Cumbria, and agricultural valuer Hannah Kitching, former NHS physiotherapist, Mayor of Penistone, and former Leader of the Opposition on Barnsley Council Tim Leunig, Chief Economist at Nesta, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Government, Director of Economics at Public First, and former senior civil servant Dave McCobb, Liberal Democrat Director of Campaigns ... (more) |
Has the Chancellor set the tone for a Burnham administration?The Independent reports that Rachel Reeves has said that the UK holds "no alliance" more important than its relationship with the EU in what is anticipated to be her final major speech as Chancellor. The paper adds that reflecting on her two years in the Treasury, Chancellor Reeves urged Britain to be "much bolder" and go "much further" in pursuing closer ties with the bloc: Ms Reeves also defended her record, stating the economy had "beaten the odds" under her stewardship and she had proven her credibility in "every decision" since Labour was elected. She concluded by urging incoming prime ... (more) |
"His glamour tarnished, his boorishness came to notice": On being the monarch's second sonEmbed from Getty ImagesBeing the second son of a monarch is a difficult career, because you cease to be of use to the family firm - assuming your older brother has healthy children - when you are still young. Here's Jonathan Parry writing about Victoria's second son in the London Review of Books in 2020: The monarch's younger sons in each generation are fated to follow the same trajectory. Few now remember Prince Alfred - except tourists visiting the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town who assume that its name is a misprint for 'Albert'. In the 1860s Alfred, ... (more) |
A piece of Liberal history destroyed in Edinburgh fireLast week, a fire destroyed the former Debenhams building in the heart of Edinburgh. The Princes Street building was once the home of the Scottish Liberal Club. The premises were sold in 1970 and many of the artefacts, including a bust of Gladstone, were removed by the Scottish Liberal Club. However, the beautiful wood panelled library was destroyed in the fire. This was covered by the Edinburgh Evening News in which Convener of the Scottish Liberal Club Faith Sutherland and President (and LDV contributor) Lin Macmillan were quoted: The Scottish Liberal Club, which once owned the property, has urged Historic ... (more) |
William Wallace writes: The case for higher taxesLiberal Democrats believe in a limited state and a market economy. We are naturally cautious about how much of the economy should be taken by the state. Our party started out strictly opposed to high taxes: 'peace, retrenchment and reform'. But the largest share of 19th century central taxation went on the army and navy, and Liberals opposed imperial expansion and geopolitical strategy. At the local level Liberals taxed and spent, on the 'municipal socialism' of water, public health, gas, electricity and transport, against Tory opposition. From W. E. Forster's Education Act onwards, Liberals committed government to spend on improving ... (more) |
"I've worked with Andy Burnham. There is much to look forward to"An interesting perspective on working with Andy Burnham comes from former Special Adviser to Nick Clegg Shabnum Mustapha. Shabnum advised Nick on Scotland media matters during the coalition years. In 2019, she moved to Manchester to take up a job with the Greater Manchester Authority as Assistant Director of news and media. She writes about how then Mayor Andy Burnham, before he was King of the North and Future PM, operated: My experience of working with him is that he gets things done. He has a strong work ethic, he's very driven and he's ambitious about what he wants to ... (more) |