At least one black Liberal Democrat has threatened to resign over a race row, Scrapbook understands. Since they welcomed him back to the fold last week, the party’s group on Reading Borough Council have been doing their best to bury the story of an offensive racial remark by their member Warren Swaine, who suggested MP Chuka Umunna would use... »
At last! A Westminster Conservative Councillor tells the truth about new Sunday and evening parking charges. Conservative Westminster Councillor John Paul Floru, who represents the same Hyde Park Ward as Council Leader Colin Barrow, has told a constituent that the Sunday and evening parking charges agreed by the Council's Cabinet on 1st August are... »
Anne Snelgrove becomes Labour's first candidate to be chosen to fight in the next General Election. Labour members in South Swindon have selected former MP Anne Snelgrove to fight the seat for Labour at the next General Election, after a packed meeting in the town's Broadgreen Centre. Labour members from across South Swindon turned... »
Jonnie Marbles is a complete and utter clown. His ‘cream-pieing of Rupert Murdoch was a stupid stunt. Did it deserve six weeks in prison? Watching my Twitter timeline, and reading around, the obvious answer is no, however you read it, … Continue reading → »
District Judge Daphne Wickham has just handed down a six-week prison sentence and a £265 fine to Jonathan May-Bowles (aka Jonnie Marbles), the “comedian” who gave Rupert Murdoch a pie in the face at last month’s committee hearing. While this is probably fair — according to eye-witness Paul Waugh, Marbles gave Murdoch a “real... »
Freedom of Information request submitted by me last December – still waiting for a response. Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:06:28 +0000 Subject: Freedom of Information Request – Andy Coulson CABINET OFFICE – ANDY COULSON Dear Sir/Madam, Under the Freedom of Information Act, please tell me: (a) On what date the Cabinet Office approved... »
By Diarmid Weir Immigration, by being freighted with so many unsaid and often unconsidered subtexts, is a toxic subject. As both Marc Stears and Anthony Painter have suggested on LabourList recently, it certainly seems to have poisoned the ‘Blue ... »
by Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka from Challenge magazine The following article was originally written in Arabic as a response to Muhammad Nafa’a, the General Secretary of the Communist Party in Israel (MAKI). We offer it in English because it gives an important insight into the political and ideological discussions regarding the Arab Spring. Mohammed Nafa’a, secretary-general of... »
A round-up of all the key indicators from IPPR senior economist Tony Dolphin »
With Tameside Hospital still hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons, and the forthcoming resignation of the hospital trust chairman, a local question time taking place in Glossop may be quite well attended.The meeting which starts at 6.30pm on Mon... »
Summer is silly season in politics, and I’m doing my best to prove this blog isn’t immune to that, with the second odd David Miliband story in two days. Yesterday’s was about Syria and politics and today’s is about… falafel. I was in Amman, Jordan last week, and one of the popular places to... »
Right-wingers claim that the Coalition has cut by a "smaller amount" than the US debt deal. The truth is that they are faster and deeper than anything in the Tea Party's wildest dreams. »
By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk As part of our July State of the Party survey (results here), we asked you - for the first time - to identify the Labour MP who had impressed you the most over the last month. This was the first in what we are hoping ... »
New column up today at Progress here reflecting on a year as Deputy Mayoress of Ealing, sadly over all too fast, and the libraries debate amongst other things. »
Scrapbook is somewhat surprised to learn that, having resigned in disgrace from News International and been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking, Rebekah Brooks remains a non-executive director of the Press Association. Owned by major media organisations, PA Group counts News International among its 27 shareholders. Alongside representatives from Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail... »
By Sarah Hayward / @sarah_hayward Today's depressing False Economy research on funding for voluntary sector organisations will come a little surprise to people who work in the sector or councillors trying to manage the toughest round of budget cuts the... »
Mark Ferguson has a piece on LabourList welcoming last night’s appointment of Charles Allen, former CEO of ITV and chairman of EMI to ‘assist’ Iain McNicol, the new General Secretary in central Party reform. Leaving aside the question of his dubious qualification for … Continue reading → »
by Dan Hodges Every Christmas evening my family and I would settle down for the same ritual. Excitement, mixed with anticipation, blended with hope. Could this, we wondered, be the year Steve McQueen finally makes it over the wire? In the days before satellite television lured us out of our cosy viewing habits with “Ice Road... »
Labour's comeback in Cornwall continues as figures show that the party has polled more votes than any other party in the by-elections fought in Cornwall since the beginning of this year. Combining the results of the seven by-elections fought since January 1st 2011, 1384 votes have been cast for Labour Party candidates compared to... »
Following the expulsion of the remaining Libyan diplomats from the UK last week - a move we welcomed - the death of army chief Abdul Fatah Younis on Friday highlights the fragility of the situation. In Syria, we have seen shocking footage of Assad's re... »
According to new research from Harvard University, an independent Wales would be a richer Wales »
I have read with interest recent reports of the allegedly unfair treatment of men who have worked for the British army in Afghanistan as interpreters. They do not usually get the right to relocate to the UK, and are not allowed to become serving soldi... »
Responding to concerns over Andy Coulson’s security clearance, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman has relied on a technicality which cannot be found in any of the Government’s published guidance. In an evasive reply to a set of fourteen questions sent by The Guardian last week, the spokesman claimed repeatedly: “vetting is about access to... »
You may have seen, if you watch the television news, that Barack Obama has been screwed over by the mental ‘tea party’ politicians in the US. This has been over the tax ceiling that the US has, in theory to … Continue reading → »
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is seen before (L) and after (R) he had his head shaved at Miraflores Palace in Caracas. Chavez appeared on television on August 1, 2011 with his head closely shaved and bald patches from hair loss caused by chemotherapy for a cancer that has slowed him ahead of HIS re-election bid.... »
By Ryan Thomas It seems that few figures in the Labour Party attract more revulsion than James "I'm centre-left, honest" Purnell, the former cabinet minister whose recent foray into the public eye is to call for radical changes to the welfare state. Gi... »
According to Asia Times, Russia, Syria’s key European ally, urged Damascus on Monday to immediately stop the use of force and repression against civilian protesters, in its strongest criticism yet of the government’s crackdown on demonstrations. The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement expressed “serious concern” over Sunday’s violence. “The use of force against both... »
After yesterday’s guest blog on happiness, today I turn to the subject of madness, more specifically my own. I was approached a few months ago and asked to write a poem for a book being prepared by Bovington Middle School in Dorset, to raise money both for the school’s English deparment and for Help... »
Since we learned that GDP grew by only 0.2% in the second quarter of 2011, we’ve had a blizzard of further bad economic data. The CBIindustrial and distributive trends surveys last week pointed to an economy slowing in August, the manufacturing PMI is pointing towards actual contraction, the construction sector is still weak whilst... »
Strategy with Sue Marsh If I see just one more politician trot out poor Mrs Duffy as the font of all wisdom, I may just implode. Goodness me, you'd think none of them had every met a real person before.....oh wait.... Surely, if they ever canvassed or ... »
