Bankers have raised potential money-laundering concerns over transactions involving senior Reform UK figuresThe Guardian reports that a host of transactions involving Reform UK's most senior figures, and some donations to the party, have led bankers to report potential money-laundering concerns to the National Crime Agency (NCA). According to the newspaper, finance industry figures have raised at least four suspicious activity reports (SARs) relating to transactions involving senior figures in Reform. It names them as: One relates to a £1m donation made to Britain Means Business, a fundraising organisation for Reform UK, before the last general election. Half of the £1m was then transferred by Tice, as director of the company, to Reform ... (more) |
Introducing The Grimond SocietyLast week, a comment appeared under my last LDV piece from Dennis Delice, in which he said he would be interested in an internal party group focused on furthering the case for economic democracy by encouraging a more co-operative and mutualistic economy. After reading it, I got in touch with Dennis via LinkedIn, and within a few hours, we had brought the idea to life. The Grimond Society launched on Wednesday, 2 July, to put economic democracy (in this context, a focus on co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises, co-production, co-determination, and co-ownership) at the heart of Liberal Democracy policy. We named ... (more) |
Free: Wishing WellThe singles chart at the start of the Seventies, before glam rock's sparkly hands got around its throat, was an eclectic place and you sometimes found quite heavy bands like Free having hits. And music moved on so quickly then that it's surprising to learn that Free's singer Paul Rodgers was in a school bond with Bruce Thomas of the Attractions. It feels like they should have come from different generations. (more) |
Other parties shouldn't play Farage's gameThe Guardian reports that Nigel Farage has announced he is to resign as the MP for Clacton to fight a byelection, after revealing he is under a second investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog over undeclared gifts. For some reason the Reform UK leader believes that his resignation is part of "sticking two fingers up at the establishment" which will prove that the public wanted him to stay on as an MP. In fact, it looks more like a blatant attempt to avoid responsibility for his actions, including the failure to declare a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher ... (more) |
"Ahaarrrr!" A voiceover session from hellOne of my favourite podcasts is the Chelsea Fancast, which has kept me informed and entertained through my club's recent travails. Its two regular presenters are Stamford Chidge and JK. Stamford Chidge, I worked out eventually after putting the clues together, is David Chidgey. He's the son of the late David Chidgey, who was Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh from 1994 to 2005 - and the pilot of the Liberal Democrat spacecraft Bird of Liberty in the early years of Lord Bonkers' Diary. JK is not such a mystery. He is Jonathan Kydd, son of the once-ubiquitous British film actor ... (more) |
Navigating for Change calls for more investment in Fenland riversA flotilla of boats will make its way up the Great Ouse from St Ives to Bedford this month to highlight a critical lack of investment in the river and in Britain's inland waterways generally. Organised by the Great Ouse Boating Association and Fund Britain's Waterways, the Navigating for Change campaign cruise will take place from July 13-18, travelling some 25 miles along the Great Ouse. The flotilla will stop at riverside towns including Huntingdon and St Neots before arriving at the Bedford River Festival on July 17 The cruise is intended to draw attention to the growing funding crisis ... (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) |
The major parties should boycott Farage's dodgy by-electionLiberal Democrat HQ doesn't need much encouragement to ignore unpromising parliamentary by-elections these days - it's worryingly reminiscent of the Nick Clegg years. But in the case of the Clacton by-election Nigel Farage has just engineered, we would be right to ignore it. We should not field a candidate. And the other major parties shouldn't field one either. In a move straight from the Trump playbook, Farage wants to turn his by-election into a people versus the Establishment election. He says the voters of his constituency should be the judge of his actions. The people of Clacton can vote how ... (more) |
Day 9319: Mr Froggy's Vanity ElectionTuesday It is four years to the day since Mr Bojo the Clown resigned but didn't actually resign as Prime Monster. Does anyone remember him? In a speech that many thought was so self-serving it would set all-time records, he told the assembled press that he would squat in Downing Street long enough to outlast his predecessor, Mrs Maybe, and - as a fake scholar of the Classics, taking his cue from the not-at-all-made-up diaries of Emperor Claudius as recounted to Robert Graves - long enough to install a successor who would be even worse. Don't know what made me ... (more) |
Government should block Nigel Farage's resignation - Ed DaveyHere is the Liberal Democrat response to Nigel Farage's announcement that he is going to resign and force a by-election in which he will stand again: Davey: We are calling on all parties to stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage's vanity project Following Nigel Farage's decision to resign and trigger a by-election in Clacton, Liberal Democrat Leader, Ed Davey, said: "If this by-election does go ahead now, we are calling on all parties to stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage's vanity project. "But the Government should just say no to Farage's ego-trip and block ... (more) |