Six of the Best 597

The Conservative Party's advice to agents in marginal seats at the last election contradicted official Electoral Commission advice, suggests Mark Pack.

Alwyn Turner remembers Michael Gove as a young Scotsman on the make: "No one could have behaved more naturally than he in a staffroom that looked as though it were unchanged since 1954."

Does Little Sheffield show small economics can revive a post-industrial city? asks Gareth Roberts.

Anthony Gottlieb on the rise and rise in the reputation of the philosopher David Hume.

Simon Kuper examines the reasons for England's World Cup victory in 1966: "Perhaps the men of 1966 really were a generation of giants who put all future English footballers to shame. Or perhaps what happened is simply that the fittest, luckiest and most sober team of that summer squeaked a narrow victory in a three-week tournament at home."

"When police Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier) tries to find material witnesses for the case, he comes up short. Even stranger: none of the Lake’s are mentioned on the passenger list for the ship they arrived from America on the week before...." The Retro Set watches Bunny Lake is Missing, an minor but intriguing British film from 1965.

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Six of the Best 594

"People who are not very bright have this terrible tendency to pick a side in major intractable geopolitical conflicts, and support it as if it was a football team." Dan Davies offers a fair-minded account of Labour's problem with antisemitism.

John Blake puts Ken Livingstone right on Hitler and Zionism.

"The evidence built into a startling indictment of South Yorkshire police, their chain of command and conduct – a relentlessly detailed evisceration of a British police force." David Conn on the lessons of Hillsborough and the longest inquest in British legal history.

The Shropshire Star collects local residents' memories of the filming of Powell and Pressburger's Gone to Earth in 1949: "I shall never forget Jennifer Jones’ feet. She did all the running up Pontesford Hill and up to the Devil’s Chair in bare feet, and her feet were bleeding. She was absolutely brilliant, a lovely looking girl."

James Curry remembers his grandfather, the Revd J.P. Martin, who wrote the immortal Uncle books.

Adam Gopnik reviews a new biography of Paul McCartney.

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Where is the Liberal Democrat equivalent of the Beckett Report?

Margaret Beckett's report on what she believes to be the reasons for its defeat in last year's general election has been published by the Labour Party. BBC News has a summary.

There is an article about it on Liberal Democrat Voice, which gives in passing a dispiriting glimpse of the tactics we used to hold on to Sheffield Hallam.

It also has a noteworthy comment from Liberator's Mark Smulian:

At least Labour has published its report. I understand the equivalent Lib Dem one was released only to Federal Executive members on paper, which they were obliged to return at the end of their meeting, and has otherwise remained secret.

Let's hope the Lib Dem equivalent of the Beckett Report will be published soon.

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Nick Clegg has lost an empire and not yet found a role

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Dean Atcheson famously said that Britain had lost an empire and not yet found a role. The same problem seems to be afflicting Nick Clegg.

Earlier this week the Telegraph reported:

Nick Clegg has the worst voting record in the House of Commons, according to new parliamentary analysis looking at MP turnout since the general election. 

The former deputy prime minister has failed to cast a vote in almost 90 per cent of all divisions called in the Commons since May 7.

The case for the defence, as made by "Mr Clegg's spokesman, runs

"Nick Clegg has taken part every time he felt it was possible that his vote could make a difference to the outcome, such as the crucial vote on military action in Syria. 

"Otherwise, he has devoted his time to serving his constituents in Sheffield Hallam and to issues that he cares deeply about, including social mobility, drugs reform and Britain's place in Europe. 

"The first six months after a general election are untypical and Nick expects his voting record to improve in the months ahead."

A spirited attempt, but can you imagine what the local Liberal Democrats would be saying about a Conservative or Labour MP with such a voting record?

Last year's general election results must have been a terrible shock to Nick, but then it was to many other people Lib Dems who have had to get on with their jobs since.

Nick needs to find his mojo and find it soon. He should not be providing easy ammunition for the likes of Peter Bone. He is better than that.

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Remembering Brian Niblett

I was very sorry to learn of the death of Brian Niblett from the excellent obituary on Liberal Democrat Voice.

My chief memory of Brian is of an afternoon I spent driving around rural Leicestershire with him and his wife.

I was helping them find some of the more obscure addresses of Liberal Democrat members so they could deliver Brian's campaign literature as he strove to be first on our East Midlands list for the 1999 Euro elections.

As Lib Dem Voice says, he was the early frontrunner in that contest. But he was to be overtaken by a smooth young Eurocrat called Nick Clegg.

If Nick had not been first on the East Midlands list he would not have got into the European parliament. That, in turn, would have made it much harder for him to inherit Sheffield Hallam from Richard Allan.

On such things do the history of political parties turn.

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St Pancras to Sheffield in 1971

More than 3 hours 20 minutes  of Midland Main Line nostalgia with a commentary explaining what you are seeing and some comparison footage of the line today.

Thrill to Market Harborough (1:39:00) still with its canopies, Leicester (1:58:30) still with its overall roof and the numerous semaphore signals and signal boxes along the route.

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Recently lost railways 1

The first of four parts (I spoil you. I know) of a video that looks at lines that were closed in the decade between the late 1970s and late 1980s.

This first part looks at the Woodhead route, the lost electrified line between Sheffield and Manchester.

I travelled on this line several times when it was used for Sunday diversions between the two cities while I was a student in York, and part of it was used by the Sheffield to Huddersfield service.

The video looks at a number of other lines, including the remarkable branch along the seafront to Weymouth Harbour.

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Ambitious Liberal Democrats circle our most promising seats

Back in September I blogged about Liberator's take on the row between Tony Greaves and Liberal Democrat Voice.

Members of the Lib Dem Voice queued up to comment, but it was all a bit gnomic and I am not sure we were much better informed when they had.

The good news is that peace has broken out and Tony Greaves is writing for Lib Dem Voice - on an almost daily basis.

I imagine him and the editorial team running through flower-filled meadows hand in hand.

The best gossip in the new Liberator concerns the people who have their eyes on some of the more promising seats for ambitious Lib Dems:

Richmond may soon be the scene of a by-election if Tory incumbent Zac Goldsmith is either elected mayor of London or sticks to his pledge to resign if a third Heathrow runway is permitted. 

With last May's candidate Robin Meltzer having decided not to stand again, flocks of Lib Dems are circling, some from as far afield as Guildford. 

Next door in Twickenham, which Vince Cable almost held, a similar effect can be seen.

And then there are Yeovil and Sheffield Hallam... But to find out who has their eyes on those you will have to buy the magazine.

You can subscribe to Liberator via its website.

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