The National Health Service (UK)I did mention it may be worth writing a blog about the NHS in the UK given our recent interactions with the service. It may also be worth providing some historic use of the service and the one time I needed accident and emergency (A&E) (I believe called ER in the USA). So the first thing I will do for any readers outside of the UK is to dispel a popular myth. The NHS is definitely not free, for anyone of working age who has a job that pays over a certain threshold we a taxed something that is called ... (more) |
John Pardoe, Margaret Thatcher and antisemitism in FinchleyEmbed from Getty ImagesThe photograph above is captioned on Getty Images: British Liberal Party politician John Pardoe with his wife Joyce, UK, 24th September 1964. Pardoe is standing against Conservative MP Margaret Thatcher as the Liberal candidate for Finchley. And Pardoe did very well at Finchley in the 1964 general election, putting the Liberals into second place and recording a seven per cent swing against the sitting Conservative MP Margaret Thatcher. A Jewish Chronicle article by Robert Philpot from 2017 gives an important reason for this achievement: When Mrs Thatcher was selected as Finchley's Conservative candidate in July 1958, she ... (more) |
Zoo advertises tickets for 'child predator tour'BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award for this tale from Chester. I am reminded of the glory days of Lord Bonkers' safari park at the Hall. (more) |
Memories of 9-11I remember distinctly 11th September 2001. I was working for the Lib Dem group at the Local Government Association at the LGA HQ in London. The internet was more basic and slower back then but I was able to pick up a news report that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. My initial thought was that it was a small plane that was involved in the collision. A few (more) |
The liberalism we need: a platform for people to thrive and live their version of a best lifeWe need a single guiding point that policy, communication, and a revitalised brand can flow from. Without losing the breadth of values that makes us strong Most liberals and Liberal Democrats have instincts - and often detailed, powerful, personal articulations - for why they are liberal and/or Lib Dems. Our constitution is also an impressive illustration, as is the history of liberal ideas and achievements. We have many pillars: internationalism, environmentalism, liberty, equality, community, and more - all working together. But that breadth which is so often a strength also presents a struggle: communicating a single, clear vision or "north ... (more) |
Connie Converse: Roving WomanFrom an article on the BBC website by Thomas Hobbs: Centring on an edgy, city-dwelling female protagonist unapologetically owning her sexuality, the brilliant song Roving Woman sounds like the work of a millennial musician. Evoking the smoky, airborne notes of a late-night Brooklyn bar, it contains lilting guitar harmonies that float in and out of focus like cascading cigarette smoke, while its melancholy vocal is reminiscent of popular contemporary folk musicians like Weyes Blood, Jessica Pratt and Angel Olsen. "Someone always takes me home!" the lead singer swoons. Yet the truly remarkable thing about this track is it was actually ... (more) |
Tom Arms' World ReviewSaudi Arabia Since the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, Saudi Arabia has increasing amounts of its oil through a pipeline to its oil terminal in Yanbu on the Red Sea. This way they can transport their Asian-bound products through the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean and beyond. That route goes past Yemen and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait which is another one of the sea-going world's chokepoints. On Thursday it was announced that the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have taken control of the city and seaport of Mocha and much of the shoreline of the Red Sea near the Bab ... (more) |
Austerity revisitedThis article in the Guardian is thirteen years old, but as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer considers his first budget, it is worth revisiting. The paper says that the theories on which chancellor George Osborne based his cuts policies in the 2010 coalition government have been shown to be based on an embarrassing mistake. The error was in a spreadsheet that could have been easily overlooked, a few rows that were left out of an equation to average the values in a column: The spreadsheet was used to draw the conclusion of an influential 2010 economics paper: that public ... (more) |