Welcome to my day: 5 October 2026 - it's beginning to feel a lot like AGM season...For those of us who have been officers of Local Parties, Associated Organisations or any of the other myriad bodies across the Party who hold elections, this is the time of year when things change, and the cycle of persuading people to hold the positions that keep the show on the road begins anew. But as someone who hasn't been perhaps as active as in years past, I can now be a bit more relaxed. People don't necessarily ask me to be things, they ask me to run their elections instead. And that reminds me that the Party relies on ... (more) |
Green's split over 'Zionism is racism' policyHas the Green Party's bubble burst? The Mirror reports that things are not looking so rosy for Zach Polanski and the Green Party after their favourable bump in the polls has largely subsided, and Polanski's own ratings are not where he'd like them to be. They add that the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on Thursday, triggered by Keir Starmer's unexpected resignation as an MP, could well prove to be reckning for the Green Party leader if he doesn't perform as well as expected. And now a vote at their party conference looks like it has added to their troubles. ... (more) |
One in the eye for the Tory Bayeux Tapestry as Labour hits backOver on Beelzebub's Picture Book, the Labour Press account has posted this neat response to the Conservatives weird take on the Bayeux tapestry. (more) |
The Joy of Six 1586Jonathan Freedland argues that the Greens' anti-Zionism motion is yet another attempt to tell Jews what they should think: "In each generation, those making such demands of Jews believe they are acting in a righteous cause. The Christian persecutors of the Inquisition were sure that they were honouring Jesus; today's Greens are certain they are advancing the cause of anti-racism, even as they would hound and defame and shame a tiny minority." "Money matters in politics, especially if you have a lot of it. Alistair McAlpine understood this all too well. 'If you've got £1 million or £2 million to ... (more) |
What do Britain's death-penalty cheerleaders have to say about Christa Pike?When I was a little boy the whole of the United Kingdom knew when someone was going to be legally executed by the state. Hangings, which was the method used, were only carried out very rarely and indeed the UK has always had a very low murder rate compared to other countries especially the United States of America. They were always carried out at 8:00 in the morning and at 8:10 the newsreaders of the Today programme would solemnly read out the official death proclamation. It may reside in my childish imagination, but it seemed to me at the time ... (more) |
This is Lorelei: Billy Come BackFor most of his life, Nate Amos made music just to get through the day, writes Jazz Monroe in the Guardian: There was plenty of it: dozens of self-produced albums and EPs uploaded - since his This Is Lorelei project launched in 2012 - to what was then a plucky, independent platform called Bandcamp. Now 35, he is perhaps the quintessential Bandcamp artist: part bedroom-pop whiz, part alt-country troubadour, part indie rock rascal with a big, heavy heart. His peers treat him like a lost folk hero from a bygone era. And his new album as This is Lorelei? The ... (more) |
A Week in Politics #8Julie Calder (Photo: Scottish Lib Dems) Here is another weekly round-up of the news, this week with far more jeers than there are cheers. Cheers for Julie Calder, our fantastic candidate in Wick and East Caithness who won a fantastic victory with a massive 50.4% of first preference votes - 20% up from 2022 - and in the SNP council leader's own ward, too! A thoroughly welcome result and a reminder that local campaigning deserves its place alongside the Westminster headlines. Congratulations to everyone who knocked on doors, delivered leaflets and helped get voters to the polls. Cheers to Andy ... (more) |
Tom Arms' World ReviewThe Brazilian presidential elections could presage a major shift in Western Hemispheric politics. At issue are the rabidly pro-Trump conservative policies of Flavio Bolsonaro v. the more independent-minded and left-leaning incumbent President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula). Flavio is the 45-year-old son of former president Jair Bolsonaro who is serving a 27 year prison sentence for attempting to overthrow the government and conspiring to assassinate President Lula. At the top of the younger Bolsonaro's manifesto is the promise of a pardon for his father. He also wants to lower taxes; do away with at least ten government departments and ... (more) |
Reform continue to block journalists from doing their jobThe Mirror reports that the Reform UK leadership of a council which blocked a journalist who reported on a pensioner's row with the local authority is being urged to U-turn. The paper says that Local Democracy Reporter Eddie Bisknell told how an 81-year-old woman won a legal battle with Derbyshire County Council over a garden fence, but Reform UK's administration, which runs the local authority, now says it will not engage with the journalist after what it characterised as "a prolonged period of concerns": The decision has prompted a backlash, including from the Society of Editors (SoS), which champions press ... (more) |