Lloyd George's oratory owed a heavy debt to the music hallEmbed from Getty ImagesIn 1992 the journalist Edward Pearce published a diary of that year's general election campaign. It was reviewed for the London Review of Books by Peter Clarke. Here is Clarke on Lloyd George: Lloyd George, too, did his bit to lower the tone of politics once secularisation had made the pulpit an obsolescent model. As A.J.P. Taylor liked to point out, Lloyd George's platform oratory owed a heavy debt to the music hall. He could control an audience with the inspired timing of a stand-up comic. His one-liner about the House of Lords - "five hundred men, ... (more) |
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since May?Here is a list of the councillors which Reform has shed from the May 2025 local elections and from those elections in by-elections since. The latest update is the departure of Dean Burns to Restore Britain. Donna Edmunds (Shropshire, suspended by Reform UK and then quit the party) Luke Shingler (Warwickshire, now an independent) Desmond Clarke (Nottinghamshire, resigned as councillor) Andrew Kilburn (Durham, resigned as a councillor) Wayne Titley (Staffordshire, resigned as a councillor) Mark Broadhurst (Doncaster, expelled by Reform) Adam Smith (West Northamptonshire, suspended by Reform and then expelled) John Bailey (Durham, resigned as a councillor) Daniel Taylor (Kent, ... (more) |
Failed teeth op woman admits drug drivingThis tale of everyday life in Telford wins BBC News our Headline of the Day Award. (more) |
Black CrowShe'd left life behind Frail flesh turned against itself Slowly wound by fate (more) |
1 kilometre of road has had 164 pothole repairs in 5 years[IMG: Potholes on Stroud Green Road] Potholes in the repairs to potholes in the repairs to potholes on Stroud Green Road. Stroud Green Road in north London, on the border between the boroughs of Haringey and Islington, is the scene of potholes. Many potholes. Many many potholes. So I've put in another Freedom of Information request to find out how many pothole repairs there have been in the last five years. There have been a massive 164 pothole repairs in 2020/21 to 2024/25 along a road that is only about 1 kilometre long, not counting the three occasions on which ... (more) |
Cancellation cancelledI was chopping firewood yesterday when my phone pinged. I checked the message and initially came to the conclusion that someone had sent me a spoof. Apparently, the government have now carried out U-turn no 15: the cancelled elections were no longer cancelled. And Reform were £100K better off, paid for by the taxpayer. I thought someone had sent me by mistake a copy of a very bad script for a (more) |
The new Gilded Age: A liberal case for radical reformIn 1900, the wealthiest one per cent of people in Britain controlled an estimated 70 per cent of all personal wealth. By 1990, that share had fallen to under 20 per cent. It was the most sustained redistribution of wealth in British history, and it was not inevitable. It was the product of deliberate policy choices: progressive taxation, labour rights, universal public services, and democratic reform. That settlement is now being unmade. The wealthiest one per cent of UK households again hold the same share of wealth as the entire bottom half combined. The 50 wealthiest families hold more combined ... (more) |
How can the UK protect itself?Sir Ed Davey's recent Defence proposal to start selling war bonds so that we can "move far faster" on UK defence spending, was welcome. The state of our armed forces is far poorer than these dangerous times call for. The UK's ability to project its defensive capabilities within our own neighbourhood would be severely tested and likely found wanting if it were to be needed any time soon. Whilst I was pleased to see that there were the beginnings of a party plan on funding the defence investment needed. I was left wondering how ready we are as a party ... (more) |
Action, not words, needed on EuropeThe Independent reports that Keir Starmer has argued for closer links with the EU, saying Britain is "turning its back" on the Brexit years and warning that the split with the EU has left the UK unable to use its influence internationally: In an interview after the worst week of his tenure in No 10, he added: "We are not reversing Brexit but we are turning our back on the Britain of the Brexit years that we've had for the last decade. "That has seen a Britain that has turned inward, a Britain that has not been able to assert ... (more) |
Golders Green: A milestone in the history of the tube and suburbiaJago Hazzard sets out the history of Golders Green station, and tells us about the history of the London Underground and of London suburbia in the process. You can support Jago's videos via his Patreon page. And why not subscribe to his YouTube channel? (more) |