What do we Lib Dems offer the voters Zack Polanski has won over?Embed from Getty ImagesIt's easy for a Liberal Democrat with a good memory to find Zack Polanski irritating. His story that he stood for his local council as Lib Dem because he cared about proportional representation, but then joined the Greens because he found he agreed with them more, doesn't square with what we recall of him. He didn't just stand for his borough council, he also stood for the London Assembly and was dead keen to be our candidate in the 2016 Richmond Park by-election. His complaints when he wasn't selected filled Lib Dem social media for ages afterwards. ... (more) |
Andy Burnham's mixed record: Why Greater Manchester deserves betterThe argument for standing aside in Makerfield sounds "strategic", but from a Liberal Democrat perspective it is strategically short-sighted, democratically unhealthy, and misunderstands how Reform is defeated. Political parties exist to represent voters, not simply to game outcomes between larger parties. If Liberal Democrats believe in liberal values, civil liberties, internationalism and local democracy, then voters everywhere deserve the opportunity to vote for those values. Writing off entire areas risks accelerating decline, not preventing it. The claim that standing and polling poorly makes the party "look inept" ignores Liberal Democrat history. The party's biggest advances often began from tiny bases ... (more) |
Liberalism in the age of AI: building an economy that liberates peopleFor most of the modern political era, economic debate has revolved around one central question: how do we create more jobs? But what happens when technology begins reducing the need for human labour just as our population is ageing and demand for care, health and support is rising sharply? Artificial intelligence is already reshaping parts of the economy at extraordinary speed. Entry-level legal work, coding, administration, customer service and research are all changing before our eyes. At the same time, Britain is growing older. More people are living longer, often with complex health or care needs, while birth rates fall ... (more) |
#interrail2026 - day 2: across the Low Countries to Schleswig HolsteinIt's time to catch up with the trip now that I'm back, so let's do just that... Early morning, Antwerp, and my first intention was to deal in a little nostalgia. But isn't Antwerpen Central just a little special? There's some outstanding architecture (and a very convenient zoo). And, as a place to start your journey in earnest, it's so much of an improvement on any of the Brussels stations. Sadly, it was early, and I had miles to go before I slept. The obvious route to my intended destination would be via Amsterdam and a series of German high ... (more) |
What has happened?In an Essex district, three excellent candidates stood for election to the county council. Two were experienced councillors, one Labour, one Conservative, well-known, well-liked, well-dug-in to their communities and having done plenty for those communities. One was a Liberal Democrat challenger in a division where the sitting Conservative was standing down. This candidate too was highly popular, a district councillor who had accomplished much. All three lost to Reform. The Reform candidates were unknowns. Their party did not think fit to tell the voters anything about them. They did little locally. Whereas those three losing candidates all ran campaigns highlighting ... (more) |
The Reform councillor who wants to turn Eccles into the "UK's Dubai"The Manchester Evening News wins our Headline of the Day Award. "Ambition? I had ambition once," remarked one of the judges. (more) |
A failure of transparency and accountabilityThe Mirror reports that Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, has voiced her frustration about the amount of information being redacted about Peter Mandelson's appointment, accusing Ministers of putting "obstacles" in the way of the truth over the former Ambassador's appointment. The paper says that one of Keir Starmer's top aides was confronted by senior MPs who accused the Government of changing the goalposts over which documents it plans to release. This is despite the fact that the PM has committed to releasing all relevant files and messages around the decision to name Mandelson as ambassador to ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1521"Look at our responses to three of Labour's flag ship pieces of legislation: the Employment Rights Bill, Great British Energy and taking the railways into public ownership. On each of these pieces of legislation, the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons abstained on them. Why? I gather we attempted to amend each of them, but how? I could not tell any voter whether the Lib Dems supported or opposed Labour's landmark legislation on employment, energy or transport, because I genuinely have no idea."Paul Hindley convicts the Lib Dems of timidity. Sacha Hilhorst has interviewed Reform voters and she found ... (more) |
Alexander McCall Smith on publishing novels in serial formOccasionally a writer will still publish a novel in instalments as the Victorians did. In the preface to his 44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith describes the genesis of the book in his meeting Armistead Maupin at a party in California. Maupin had originally published the first five of his celebrated Tales from the City books in this manner. On his return to Scotland, McCall Smith wrote an article about this meeting in The Scotsman, saying it was a shame that newspapers no long published serialised novels. The newspaper's editorial staff took up the implicit challenge and, over an optimistic ... (more) |
The Walker Brothers: No RegretsBy 1975 the Walker Brothers had got over the evening when they had their shirts ripped off in Market Harborough. You can tell this single is from that era because of the gratuitous guitar solo. (more) |