Making the most of the Government's belated action on illegal Israeli settlementsMost of the country clearly believes that the Government's newly announced actions to be taken to curb the illegal Israeli settlements are overdue... but very welcome nonetheless. It's not universal, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews condemning the change, but liberal Jewish groups, such as Yachad, made the obvious but important point that "These new policies do not target Israel; they target the occupation. They draw a clear distinction between the legitimacy of the State of Israel and the settlement enterprise which is illegal under international law." As a Liberal Democrat, and as Vice Chair of the Liberal ... (more) |
David Alton, Andy Burnham and telescopic radicalismEmbed from Getty ImagesIt struck me that if Mrs. Jellyby had discharged her own natural duties and obligations before she swept the horizon with a telescope in search of others, she would have taken the best precautions against becoming absurd, but I need scarcely observe that I kept this to myself. - Bleak House, Charles Dickens. Mrs Jellyby goes in for what Dickens call "telescopic philanthropy", in that she devotes her energies to promoting a philanthropic project in far-off Borrioboola-Gha while her own children fall into the grate. We've all known political households like that. You can also have telescopic ... (more) |
Will Burnham abandon neoliberalism by adopting a radical agenda?The Guardian reports on the view of more than a dozen influential thinkers who have called on Andy Burnham to tackle inequality in the UK by introducing a wealth tax, universal free personal social care and bringing gas and electricity networks under public ownership. The paper says that in the lead-up to the first budget of the chancellor, John Healey, this autumn, the Compass thinktank has collated 70 policy options from 15 leftwing thinkers that they argue would deliver on the prime minister's promise to end 40 years of neoliberalism: Introducing the report, Ending Business as Usual, Michael Jacobs, a ... (more) |
9 September 2026 - today's press releaseScottish Lib Dems secure £7.6 million in neurodevelopmental support as government announces funding Transport Secretary was "oblivious" about escape of flammable gas on embattled Arran ferry Scottish Government must respect will of parliament after it backs ferry compensation for coastal areas Murray backs parliamentary inquiries into party funding and Lord Advocate role in wake of Murrell embezzlement Scottish Lib Dems secure £7.6 million in neurodevelopmental support as government announces funding Responding to the Scottish Government announcing £7.6 million in funding to expand neurodevelopmental support, money which was secured by the Scottish Liberal Democrats in their negotiations during the 2026/27 budget, ... (more) |
Pennsylvania's Kids for Cash Scandal shows the danger of the profit motive in the juvenile justice systemIf you want to see the danger of introducing the profit motive into the detention of young offenders, watch this video on Pennsylvania's Kids for Cash Scandal. In the first decade of this century, two judges in Luzerne County, Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, accepted millions of dollars in bribes to lock up children and teenagers for trivial offences from the owners of for-profit detention centres. At least 2,300 young people were wrongly imprisoned. And get a load of cuddly Uncle Joe Biden at the start of the video. (more) |
Conservative councillor joins Lib Dems in Cannock ChaseThe Express and Star reports the news of Josh Bancroft joining the Liberal Democrats: A councillor has quit the Conservatives to join the Liberal Democrats, voicing concerns that the party is drifting too far to the right. Councillor Josh Bancroft represents Cannock Park and Old Fallow ward on Cannock Chase Council... Chairman of West Midlands Liberal Democrats Lee Dargue said: "I'm very pleased to welcome Josh into a strong team. He brings real experience in community politics, which is an ideal fit for the Liberal Democrats." The Liberal Democrats previously had no councillors on the council. Sign up to get ... (more) |
The AI world and some fallacies about itAI will, we keep being told, take over the world. "Jump on now or be forever left behind and made obsolete", we get told, in every form of knowledge work. The advent of GPT-6 Astra and its solving (which has not yet been confirmed by the mathematical community, and which may have involved them accessing a scholar's unpublished materials) of some of the very complex proofs of fluid dynamic turbulence are prompting, pun depressingly intended, the latest round of yelling that we've reached AGI, a statement which is becoming a little bit like Elon Musk's repeated assertions that we're about ... (more) |
Yet another government makes a mess of local government reformIn 1973 I took part in the first set of local elections which completely changed the way that local government was run. Thousands of small urban and rural district councils were abolished, and some county boroughs became cities whilst the number of counties was reduced. These reforms were indeed needed and came about because of an independent review of local government on the ways and levels in which it worked and which was independent of politicians until, quite rightly, they took the final decision on the recommendations. At that stage I can well remember having to take information into a ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1574Liz David-Barrett argues that, by making rule-breaking a selling point, Reform UK is signalling it's open for influence trading: "It is no coincidence that some of Reform's biggest donations have come from individuals in cryptocurrency, keen to ward off the threat of regulation." "Our findings lay bare the reality of an industry that operates without regulation. Some companies are run by people with no previous experience in care work: directors are security bosses, or come from the music business or the military. One company in our dataset is owned by an overseas private equity firm."Tom Wall reveals the vast scale ... (more) |
Front Street looking greatVolunteers from Planting Up Sunniside have been hard at work on Sunniside Front Street. The flower beds look great. Well done everyone. (more) |