It is very good news that Yoko Ono is set to officially receive a co-writing credit for “Imagine”.
I rejoice for the dear old girl!
This is all based on what John Lennon said in this 1980 BBC interview:
Splitting hairs? Jo Swinson is “Deputy leader of the (UK) parliamentary party” ?
Many congratulations to Jo Swinson on being elected as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat (UK) Parliamentary Party, sometimes referred to as the “Deputy Leader”.
Well, perhaps that sometimes should be “virtually always”.
The only reference I can find to creating a Deputy Leader in our constitution is here: Continue reading
Norway option, at least in the interim, offers the only sensible route out of this mess
The Conservative party likes to boast that it, combined with our FPTP electoral system, provides strong and stable government.
Well, a fat lot of strength and stability the Tory party and FPTP system have given us in the last two years!
We’ve had two Prime Ministers, Cameron and May, who will have historians squabbling for years as to whether they are the worst or second worst or third worst Prime Ministers in the history of this country! Continue reading
What a wonderful day to walk up to a young voter, hug them* and say: “THANK YOU”
I braced myself at 10pm last night. “Oh gawd – here we go again” I thought – along with “goodness how I hate David Dimbleby’s pompous accent and patronising manner”.
There were some distressing losses for us, and some frustrating near-wins, which Caron wrote about earlier.
But I’d like to just think about the wider picture.
As the exit poll appeared, and then the results unraveled, one thing became clear:
This was the election of the young voter. There were reports of queues of young people waiting to vote all over the place. The effect could be seen in result after result. Continue reading
Insanity, stupidity or senility?
Is it insanity, stupidity or senility that has led me to volunteer to deliver so many pigging Good Mornings tomorrow? Eight bundles!
Tim Farron says he’ll be up at 5am, so I will be up at 5am. I am not going to be outdone by Tim Farron. But I have had to carefully choose the sequence of the roads I will do. One has to carefully judge the extent to which residents in certain roads will tolerate some numpty stumbling around at 5am delivering “Good Morning” leaflets. (By the way, if you knock over some milk bottles, take a tip from an old colleague of mine and shout: “Sorry – Labour Party delivering leaflets!”. (That’s a joke by the way)). Continue reading
Photo feature: Ballot box goes off to Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland, a day early due to the ferry schedule
Some great photos from Getty Images (click on the arrows to see the slide show) which give a great view of the workings of democracy on “these islands” (as they say).
Mandy Hassan, an assistant area electoral officer for Antrim and mid Ulster, accompanies the ballot box on the ferry destined for Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland. There are 99 voters on the island and they usually have a 80% turnout.
Update 8/6: I changed the title upon sage advice from locals. Weather concerns were not a factor.
Continue readingExcellent 1959 hour on Pick of the Pops
Often listening to 1950s chart rundowns can be a bit like wading through a sea of treacle consisting mainly of Guy Mitchell and Frankie Laine.
But Pick of the Pops this week, through a mixture of luck and judgement, presents a fantastic line up of great hits from 1959. Radio 2’s Paul Gambaccini plays:
Marty Wilde – Teenager in Love
Little Richard – Kansas City
The Coasters – Charlie Brown
Cliff Richard and the Drifters – Mean Streak
Chris Barber – Petite Fleur
Buddy Holly – It doesn’t matter anymore
And as the K-Tel adverts used to say “AND MANY MORE!”…And I even enjoyed the double helping of the work of Russ Conway’s 9.75 fingers!
All in all an excellent listen on BBC iPlayer!
