Welcome aboardGateshead full council meeting was held last week. Quietly slipping in under the radar was Reform Councillor, Lindsay Atkinson. He was the winner of the High Fell by-election caused by the Reform councillor, elected in May, lasting only 11 days in the job. Atkinson's win went unobserved by Full Council. No mention by the Leader or Mayor. No opportunity for Reform to celebrate their majority of 5. (more) |
50 years in businessI had to go to Lobley Hill today for some stamps. The joy of popping to the Sunniside Post Office ended when the branch was closed a few years ago. Lobley Hill is therefore now our closest branch. The Lobley Hill branch is next to the Kular Stores which recently celebrated 50 years as the convenience store for the whole of Lobley Hill. I remember being sent to the shop 50 years ago by Mam (more) |
A cross between Biggles, Tintin, the Famous Five and FitzcarraldoGeorge Weeks posted the link to this the other day, saying: I love the BBC Archive YouTube channel. So much footage to enjoy. This one is possibly my favourite: The Trans-African Hovercraft Expedition of 1969-70. It's a cross between Biggles, Tintin, Famous Five and Fitzcarraldo. And he was right. This film was shot in Francophone Africa, and though I know from a recent rabbit hole that British Africa had all but crumbled by 1962 when Sammy Going South was released, but it's still tempting to place hovercraft beside flying boats and airships as new means of transport that promised to ... (more) |
George Orwell on the style and quality of C.S. Lewis's argumentsWhen I wrote about the philosopher C.E.M. Joad last month, a comment suggested I read one of George Orwell's 'As I Please' columns from Tribune. In it (it was the column for the 27 October 1944 issue), Orwell defended Joad as someone associated in the public mind with Science and Rationalism (his capitals), unlike the religious right-wingers who tended to dominate debate on the BBC. But the column was mostly about C.S. Lewis and Orwell's criticism of his writing style and the quality of his arguments. It's worth quoting at length: Reading, a week or two ago, Mr C. S. ... (more) |
London tram driven the wrong way through Croydon town centreIan Visits wins our Headline of the Day Award for what turns out to be a piece of good news: The successful trial gives London Trams much greater flexibility during the engineering works. Instead of forcing passengers onto the inevitable replacement buses, trams can be repositioned through the town centre to continue serving routes to New Addington, Elmers End and Beckenham Junction. (more) |
First Labour by-election gains of the Burnham PremiershipFive principal authority council by-elections this week, including Labour's first gains of the Andy Burnham era: Grays Town (Thurrock) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 37.0% (+5.3) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 27.0% (-7.8) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 13.0% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 12.3% (+1.3) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 8.8% (-7.3) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 1.9% (-4.5)Labour GAIN from Reform UK.Changes w/ 2026. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-07-23T23:26:37.505Z Thank you to Jim Corrigan for being the Lib Dem in this contest. (The Lib Dem vote the time before was inflated by an unusual and small candidate line-up.) For what all this means for the ... (more) |
Mr Smith Goes To WashingtonThe latest edition of the email newsletter for my podcast, Political Fictions, 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: Mr Smith Goes To Washington, with Aidan Byrne [IMG: Mr Smith Goes To Washington] Public opinion arrives in the Senate in Mr Smith Goes to Washington After messing around with football / broadening our cultural frames of reference (delete according to which one of us you agree with), it's back to hard core politics this time ... (more) |
The problem with balancing budgetsThe Independent reports that green groups and opposition politicians have criticised the government over its decision to fund its new £500m policy capping bus fares in England at £2 using the climate aid budget. The paper says that the new transport policy, which was announced yesterday, is set to reverse a cap increase to £3 that was put in place by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in 2024, and is being billed as a landmark measure intended to tackle the cost of living crisis. However, around £400m of the cost is set to come from switching government investment in international ... (more) |
Council by-election results scorecard 2026-2027Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2026 and the May 2027 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [5] +1 (+1/0) +1 (+3/-2) -1 (0/-1) -2 (+1/-3) -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+2/-1) -1 Lab -1 (0/-1) [6] – -1 (+2/-3) -3 (+2/-5) – – +1 (+1/0) -4 Lib Dem -1 (+2/-3) – [10] +1 (+1/0) – -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+1/0) 0 Grn +1 (+1/0) +1 (+3/-2) -1 (0/-1) [5] – – – – +1 Ref +2 (+3/-1) +3 (+5/-2) – – [5] ... (more) |
Dennis Potter's 1975 dramatisation of Angus Wilson's Late CallAngus Wilson is an example of a once highly regarded writer who has disappeared from view. I read his books when I was a teenager and enjoyed them, but they are now out of print. I also have fond memories of Dennis Potter's television dramatisation of Wilson's novel Late Call from 1975. Today I discovered that all four parts of it are on YouTube, so I have included the first one here. I've not watched it for 51 years, so apologies if it does not live up to my memories of it. Margaret Drabble once wrote about the novel: My ... (more) |