Ben Maguire welcomes dissolution of multi-academy trust over discipline concernsThere have been a growing number of stories in recent years about extreme disciplinary regimes in schools run by multi-academy trusts. One of these has come to a head today, with the announcement by the Athena Learning Trust that it will dissolve itself transfer its schools to other organisations. The trust runs nine schools across Devon and Cornwall. Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, reports BBC News, welcomed the announcement saying it was "an important step for pupils and parents". The report also says: MP Ben Maguire said he had met a number of concerned parents, students, ... (more) |
Rhodri Morgan statue unveiled in CardiffRhodri Morgan statue – photo credit: David Deans, BBC. Our man on the ground, Cllr William (Bill) Powell, attended the unveiling of the Rhodri Morgan statue at the Pierhead in Cardiff. Rhodri Morgan was the First Minister of Wales from 2000-2009 and steered the country through the initial growing pains of devolution. Championing a 'clear red water' policy for Welsh Labour that focused on social democracy and universal services. He made a conscious decision to distance Welsh Labour from many of the policies of the Westminster Labour Government. Seen as 'Old Labour', he was a Welsh speaker and a long-standing ... (more) |
The Wealth Tax is a Progressive FallacyRecently, I caught self-styled 'Inequality Economist' Gary Stevenson's Documentary, How to Get Filthy Rich on Channel 4; to say it frustrated me would be an understatement. The fundamental thesis of the documentary is that rising inequality is going to leave the grand majority of the population worse off, (which is true) and that the solution to this is a wealth tax. I've explained my concerns with a wealth tax before, but I think I'm going to go into more detail on my problems with it here, not only because it is becoming a thorn in the side of serious Left-wing ... (more) |
The Conservatives are embarking on another purgeWith the Conservatives languishing at 19 per cent in the latest YouGov poll, Kemi Badenoch has decided she knows what her party's problem is. It's appeal is too broad. So, according to both Conservative Home and the Spectator, a new purge of its membership and elected representatives is underway. Oliver Dean writes on Conservative Home:In a move which properly began last Friday, Badenoch announced that only those who back the Conservatives' commitment to scrapping net zero and leaving the ECHR will be approved as parliamentary candidates. Anyone who won't fall in line will be blocked, or have the whip removed ... (more) |
Why don't people use trains more?It is an obvious answer I'm afraid - the service that the train companies provide is awful. In the last 6 days only one of the six long distance trains that I have been on were on time. Three of them were on more than an hour late and two were 25 minutes late. On 7th July I travelled to Bournemouth via London. The London train was slate but not late enough to prevent me going through to Waterloo to catch The Bournemouth train which had been cancelled. After 30 minutes wait, I got a train to Basingstoke where after ... (more) |
Are Plaid Cymru serious about government?The BBC reports that doubts remain over whether the Plaid Cymru Welsh government will be able to get its supplementary budget through the Senedd this week after Labour rejected the offer of a deal on Thursday night. The news site says that at a meeting of the British Irish Council on Guernsey on Friday, Plaid Cymru's First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said it was "Labour's call" and the proposal was "the offer" because ministers were working under tight financial constraints. But is that good enough from a party that has taken on the responsibiity of government? The difference between the ... (more) |
Why stage plays need a character that screenplays don'tAlexander Mackendrick didn't just direct The Man in the White Suit: he wrote the first draft of the screenplay. In his book Lethal Innocence: The Cinema of Alexander Mackendrick, Philip Kemp quotes Mackendrick on the genesis of that screenplay. It began life as an unperformed theatre play by his cousin Roger MacDougall: "I did something really wicked: I took Roger's hero and gave him a minor role, and pivoted the whole story around a secondary character, the one played in the film by Alec Guinness, to make a new story entirely. And Balcon liked it, and approved it. When I ... (more) |
Plans to bring Leicester's Il Rondo back to lifeThe Leicester Mercury has a story, but doesn't know the half of it: New live music venue hopes for former board game cafe in Leicester city centre An empty unit in Leicester city centre could be given a new lease of life as a late-night entertainment venue. Generic Leisure Ltd has lodged an application seeking a licence for indoor sports events, plays, films, and live and recorded music at the site at 22 Silver Street. Former board game cafe be damned. This was once Il Rondo, where some of the top Sixties bands played, naming it as their favourite venue ... (more) |
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections?Given how popular (and lengthy!) my list of Reform councillor departures after the May 2025 elections turned out to be, here is a new list, this time for councillors elected under the Reform banner on 7 May 2026, or in by-elections after that date, who have already departed the party for one reason or another. Jay Cooper, Sefton: declared "not welcome" by Nigel Farage following reports of him calling the Holocaust a hoax and then resigned from the party (May 2026). Stuart Prior, Essex: expelled by Reform and resigned as a councillor after "he was accused the week before the ... (more) |
Random thoughtsAndy Burnham I am away on holiday for the next week so shan't be able to comment again before Mr Burnham's accession into the premiership. I wish him all the luck in the world. I've seen him described as having policies not much different from those of Sir Keir Starmer, but being a better communicator. I think that's a bit unfair, and still hope he is secretly negotiating with the Libera Democrats and Greens to beef up his cabinet by bringing some of them into it. Maybe Sir Ed Davey at the Home Office; a Green at Environment, thus releasing ... (more) |