There were not many dogs, hardy or otherwise, out this morning on the North West coast, understandably so in view of the overcast weather. Still, on a clear day from the top of Black Combe , a couple of miles away, it is possible to see Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Beyond lies Ireland and the great big wide world beyond. All those opportunities! Just behind the spot where this photo was taken is Silecroft station, one…
Four or five in the frame and a chaotic process makes it far too hard to call The Iowa caucus is one of those things that no-one in their right mind would invent if it didn’t already exist. As a democratic process, it flouts goodness knows how many rules of good practice, from high barriers to participation to non-secret voting to a lack of consistent process. However, it’s possible to get too precious about process. The caucus does exist and…
We are almost there. Just 3 days to go before Iowa – the first State to decide on its Democratic party nomination holds its unique selection processes. What makes this important is that the outcome has, historically, had an impact on the other states that follow. Getting a good outcome here can produce a huge lift off in the rest of the race and the main contenders know it. Although only perhaps 16% of Iowans will actually participate on Monday…
As can be seen the Daily Mirror is the only one which does not have reference to Brexit on its front page. Of course it might be that this is the best call from a news point of view given the potential threat that the flu represents. None of the Brexit related front pages is really very surprising and I doubt if many of them will be referred to much again as we enter into the new relationship with the…
This contest is going on far too long We are now 2 months and one week away from the special labour conference when the new leader will be announced. This will follow, of course, the membership ballot which won’t go out for weeks and won’t be counted until early April. This evening a total of 40 different constituency LAB parties have been meeting and results have been coming in. They haven’t been aggregated yet and we don’t have a total…
With the Irish general election taking place a week on Saturday the pressure is mounting on Leo Varadkar & the Fine Gael members. Michael Martin looks more certain to become the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) but it’s not over yet. Can Sinn Fein pull off the almighty, unbelievable upset, find out below!My predictions will be submitted in alphabetical order. Galway East (Three Seats) Galway East looks set to be a very interesting constituency and nobody is safe here, The current TD’s…
Drink, says the Porter in the ‘Scottish Play’, is an equivocator with lechery: “it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance…. it sets him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him, and disheartens him”. So it may prove with Brexit and Scottish Independence. Nicola Sturgeon loses no opportunity to remind Scots that Brexit is taking them out of the EU ‘against their will’, citing this as justification for holding another independence referendum so soon after the…
Confirmed – Northern Rail into public ownership from March 1st — Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) January 29, 2020 Hear also the final decision on HS2 is to be made tomorrow in a meeting of PM, Chancellor and Transport Sec – mood music seems to pointing towards go ahead but, arguments don’t seem to be over and massive anxieties about cost — Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) January 29, 2020 HS2 will be the most controversial One thing about having an ample majority is…