Write a guest post for Liberal EnglandI love publishing guest posts here on Liberal England. Why not try writing one yourself? It could be on the Liberal Democrats, politics more generally or... anything really. Why not an article about a local campaign or quirky piece of history? Please drop me an email if you want to discuss your idea first: I'd hate you to spend time on a piece I really wouldn't want to publish. Here are the 10 most recent Liberal England guest posts:Artist Nick Jensen steps into history's shadow at Belvoir Castle - Matthew PennellReform are still gaining councillors and Labour and the Tories ... (more) |
We need to learn to respect the GreensThis column is going to make me very unpopular in parts of the party, but there are times when the elephant in the room needs calling out: we have to learn to respect the Greens. I'm not saying we should love them, I'm not advocating standasides, certainly not a merger; I'm also all for highlighting how we're different as parties. But I am getting irritated at the number of cheap shots coming from our party that denigrate the Greens. The fact is: Lib Dems and Greens perform a similar function in British politics. We need them, and they need us. ... (more) |
Brexit continues to impact businessesThe Independent reports that the number of haulage companies going insolvent has almost doubled in the five years since Brexit, sparking fears over supply chain disruption and food prices. The paper says that the data, revealed in response to a parliamentary question submitted by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, shows that 2,051 haulage companies went bust between 2021 and 2025 - almost double the 1,068 that went bust in the five years prior: It comes amid growing fears over spiralling prices and shortages as a result of the Iran war, with oil prices having soared in response to Iran's ... (more) |
Exploring the disused railway tunnels at StandedgeBritain's longest canal tunnel is Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. It runs for three and a quarter miles, taking boats from Marsden in West Yorkshire and Diggle in Greater Manchester. Before local government reorganisation in 1974, both ends of the tunnel were in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The canal tunnel opened in 1811, and by the end of the 19th century three railway tunnels had been built more or less in parallel to it. Two of them have long been disused, and it is these that the video explores. As you will see, the four tunnels are ... (more) |
Pictures of NoelNoel Rippeth was Leader of the Lib Dem group and Leader of the Opposition on Gateshead Council from 1994 to 2010.Sadly, he passed away last month. His family asked me to pass on any photos I have of him from his days as group leader. SO here are some of the ones I sent. All photos are pre 2005 and some date from the 1990s.Above - Noel in his ward of Crawcrook and Greenside.Mid 1990s, a (more) |
Save Gateshead from Reform's opencast mining(more) |
A brilliantly baffling Labour bar chartFollowing this season's quite glorious Conservative bar chart, the Labour Party in Tunbridge Wells gives us this: [IMG: Labour bar chart in Tunbridge Wells 2026] A Labour Party bar chart from Tunbridge Wells. This is almost, almost but not quite, as good as the famous 'I am not a horse' Labour leaflet. As we're going through a boom time for bar charts, now it a good time to recall my 5-point list for responsible bar charting. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis (more) |
The Joy of Six 1500"They should pivot to the centre-right - announcing a bunch of sensible policies that pitch the Tories as a fiscally and socially conservative alternative to Labour's meek leadership. But Badenoch won't do that. And here's why."Sam Bright explains the Conservatives' mystifying strategy. (Clue: follow the money.) Ruth Lucas reports on depressing but unsurprising new research findings: "Only 40 per cent of disadvantaged pupils identified as high-achieving at the start of secondary school go on to achieve top GCSE grades, compared with 62 per cent of their more affluent peers." Patrik Hermansson and Harry Shukman take us inside The Sanctuary in ... (more) |
GUEST POST Political lessons from science fictionPeter Chambers turns to Dirk Gently and Battlestar Galactica to help him understand what is happening in the world. The Electric Monk is a character introduced by Douglas Adams in his 1987 novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. The Monk is a machine intelligence in the service of an alien who visits Earth before life as we know it arose here. It probably looked like Julian Glover wearing an unconvincing rubber mask. It was about as diligent as a human. The alien had a problem. Its ship - shamelessly copied from the Dr Who serial City of Death - was ... (more) |
The reality of Reform in powerThe Mirror reports that they have been told that Reform UK is running a "horror show" at Kent County Council, with an aggressive atmosphere, political point-scoring and no improvements for residents. The paper has spoken to residents, charities and local politicians to understand what impact the party had made a year after they took control of the council: Reform ended a nearly 30-year Tory reign at Kent County Council (KCC) at last May's local elections. Party figures promised it would be a "shop window" for how a Reform government could govern in Westminster and Mr Farage promised a "new dawn" ... (more) |