Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion pollsWelcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with the latest MRP projections and party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Survation 21% (+2) 28% (+1) 10% (+1) 8% (-2) 23% (-1) 5% (vs Ref) 9-10/9 UK Find Out Now ... (more) |
Recollections of 9/11George Cunningham was present in New York on 9/11. Here are his personal recollections of what happened taken from his book, "Journey to Become a Diplomat" ISBN 978-0871242136 At first, I did not know anything had happened. It was one of those typically summery Septembers in New York in 2001, and I was attending as an EU diplomat the traditional international prayer breakfast at the start of a new United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Mr. Hang Seung-soo of South Korea stood up to make his speech. There was a hush to hear his words, but something made my ears prick ... (more) |
Why we need a Trade NATOMark Carney was right: if middle powers aren't at the table, they're on the menu. A credible 'Trade NATO' would make the great powers think twice. At Davos earlier this year, Mark Carney delivered a stark warning: the rules-based international order no longer works and a new architecture is needed. We are living through a "rupture", not a transition, in which great powers increasingly use tariffs, supply chains and economic dependence as tools of coercion. At the Lowy Institute in March, Carney put more flesh on the bones. He called for a "dense web" of middle-power partnerships and "variable geometry": ... (more) |
'I Fear a Target on My Back' — A Liberal Democrat's fight for Hong Kong's freedomHong Kong, September 2019. I was on the streets every other day, having just joined the Protect the Children Action group (PtCA). It was the height of the pro-democracy protests. The Hong Kong police shot two people in the eye, a nurse and a journalist, and tear-gassed care homes full of elderly residents. Hong Kongers fought back. Young people may have been the backbone of the protest, but the whole of society mobilised. Alongside those marching peacefully, others handed out food and drink, and the Methodist Church in Wan Chai opened its doors to everyone, offering shelter and comfort. PtCA ... (more) |
A website on Alec Guinness's two BBC series as George SmileyHere's what we need: a website devoted to the BBC productions of John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. Guinness is Smiley explains: The aim of this website is to publish fresh material about both series, identify some of the filming locations and signpost visitors to the wonderful content that is already out there. This website is not a commercial endeavour and will hopefully be of interest to fans of both productions. I have my dad to thank for my love of these series. He watched each episode beside me when they were first broadcast, but I ... (more) |
Another ward becomes a Reform vs Lib Dem contestThere were four principal authority council by-elections this week and, after the halt to Reform net gains in the last few weeks, Reform are back to making progress against Labour and the Conservatives, for this week at least. Let's start though with another ward which has become a Reform versus Lib Dem tussle as a result of a by-election: Hutton & Locking (North Somerset) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: ➡] RFM: 38.5% (New) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 33.3% (+13.7) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 15.3% (-21.2) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 7.2% (-9.2) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 5.7% (New)No Ind (-27.5) as previous.Reform GAIN from Conservative.Changes w/ ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1575Zöe Franklin celebrates the 98th anniversary of the Equal Franchise Act, which gave women equal voting rights with men and calls for further reforms: "Today, barriers remain for women, disabled people, people from ethnic minority backgrounds and others who are underrepresented in public life." Abandoning the triple lock on pensions is more likely to condemn today's younger generations to an old age of poverty than help them, argues Mark E. Thomas. Josiah Mortimer on a study that finds the introduction of mandatory voter ID has damaged trust in British elections, not improved it. "It's not hard to see the appeal ... (more) |
Back to reality on datacentresThey may be the future, but the issues with datacentres persist and now it transpires that they may not be the nirvana some believe. The Guardian reports on new research that has found that datacentres in the UK will create just a quarter of the jobs predicted by the tech sector, while consuming vast amounts of energy. The paper adds that environmental thinktank Verdant predicts that all the datacentres currently planned are likely to directly employ 10,400 workers - compared with the more than 40,000 cited in projections by the industry lobby group TechUK: Verdant's analysis is based on 20 ... (more) |