A democratic case for public ownership of utilitiesBritain has spent the last few decades running a national experiment. We have taken essential infrastructure that behaves like a monopoly, we put it in private hands, and we hope competition somehow emerges. I can't blame the utilities executives. They got lucky and landed the utilities in the 80s, like some awful game of Monopoly we still pay for. No risk and all reward, what a deal! The results are familiar to anyone who has navigated unreliable rail services or warned their children of the dangers of swimming in the sea that was safe in their childhood. When a market ... (more) |
Towards a third way - a reformed, liberal Palestinian partyWhen I welcomed a delegation of British Liberal Democrats to Jerusalem and Ramallah last week, led by Gavin Stollar OBE and the Party's Foreign Affairs lead, Calum Miller MP, I was reminded that politics, at its best, is not a transaction but a relationship. It is built on trust, curiosity and, above all, friendship. In a region where suspicion is often the default setting, the simple act of sitting together – listening, disagreeing respectfully, and breaking bread – can itself feel radical. Our conversations were frank. They were searching. They were, at moments, uncomfortable. And they were deeply encouraging. I ... (more) |
Mercia rediscovered: The Synod of Gumley and Brixworth churchReviewing Max Adams's The Mercian Chronicles: King Offa and the Birth of the Anglo-Saxon State AD 630-918 for the London Review of Books, Tom Shippey wrote of the difficulty in recovering the history of the kingdom of Mercia: Adams's title is deliberately ironic. There are no 'Mercian Chronicles', the fact of which has caused historians headaches for centuries. For Northumbria we have Bede's History of the English Church and People, written in Jarrow and finished in 731. For Wessex we have The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, first compiled under the aegis of King Ælfred in the 890s, but including much earlier information ... (more) |
Electoral Commission to get full independence back after welcome government U-turnThe latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Another update from Parliament, sooner than expected as there was a welcome bit of news last night as the House of Commons debated the Representation of the People Bill. Electoral Commission's independence to be fully restored When a Conservative government curbed the Electoral Commission's independence by taking on the power to set a ... (more) |
Not left, not right; pluralist: a response to Roz Savage MPRoz Savage is right that "left" and "right" are poor maps for modern politics. Her alternative axes, especially "power hoarded vs power shared", are a better guide to what voters feel in daily life. But there is a risk in the slogan "Not left. Not right. Liberal." It is excellent as outward-facing messaging; it is incomplete as a description of our party. The Liberal Democrats are not a single ideological bloc. We are a coalition, intentionally, and that breadth is a feature, not a bug. We were formed through a fusion of liberal and social democratic traditions, and our constitution ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1483Taylor Lorenz argues that there is little evidence that social media is driving a mental health crisis among young people and a banning them from it would effect us all: "Removing anonymity from the web, which will inevitably happen when tech companies are required to identify and ban children, allows for easier government tracking and censorship of journalists, activists and whistleblowers, who rely on online anonymity." Opponents of traffic-reduction measures in cities sometimes claim that such policies discriminate against people with disabilities because they need cars to get about. In reality, Julia Métraux finds, walkable communities are good for them ... (more) |
Welsh voluntary sector faces perfect stormNation Cymru reports on new research that has revealed mounting pressure on Wales' voluntary sector, with rising demand, worsening finances and growing reliance on reserves threatening the long-term sustainability of charities and community organisations. They says that the latest Baromedr Cymru findings from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) paint what the organisation describes as a stark picture of the challenges facing the sector: The survey, carried out in November 2025 and February 2026, gathered responses from more than 200 voluntary organisations across Wales. Generating income remains the single biggest concern, cited by 81% of respondents in the most ... (more) |
Mystery lantern showSunniside History Society was given the photographic collection of Francis Newman after he passed away. In the collection are a large number of slides taken of the area, along with a slide projector. On Wednesday I will be chairing the next meeting of the Society and we will randomly select a cartridge of slides and show them to the meeting. We have no idea what is in the slides but the aim (more) |
Mopping upToday was a mopping up day! In other words, all those streets that somehow got missed off the delivery patches were delivered today in Marley Hill and Sunniside. Tomorrow I have 2 patches of letters to deliver in Whickham. And once they are out of the way, I start work on our next Focus newsletter. (more) |
Dame Mary Berry "frightened" after being arrested at US borderThe judges were heard grumbling about "clickbait; nevertheless, yahoo news! wins our Headline of the Day Award. (more) |