Liberal England in 2015, Part 4

October

A pioneer of rock singing on a suburban Manchester railway station? It doesn't get any better than Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

I pondered the significance of Charlotte Church on Question Time and posted an alarming recording of Elizabeth Butler-Sloss interviewing a victim of Bishop Peter Ball.

It turned out that Leicester thought it had found the body of Richard III back in 1935.

I was able to show that I had never believed in Camila Batmanghelidjh before asking why so many wanted to do so.

Quite by accident, I listened to Dapper Laughs.

In a happier accident, I discovered film of a little Black girl being crowned Queen of the May in a Northamptonshire village in 1944.

November

It transpired that, after cutting council tax by £7 before the local elections, Harborough Tories were to charge £40 a year for collecting garden waste.

I expressed my fears for bloggers who suddenly disappear and was annoyed by a London primary school that told its pupils to walk with their hands clasped behind their backs.

The Liberal Democrats were right to contest the Oldham West and Royton by-election seriously, or so I argued. I also said that we need more good third places in council by-elections.

I boasted that I once drew with a player who had come second in the British chess championship and insisted that J.K. Rowling is not the sole arbiter when it comes to interpreting the Harry Potter books.

Photo: Scottish Republican Socialist Movement

December

I traced the journey of Alistair Darling from the International Marxixt Group to a directorship at Morgan Stanley - that's him holding the banner above.

My defence of underage drinking was published by the Leicester Mercury.

The Liberal Democrats held a council seat in Market Harborough with an increased majority.

I explained how Thatcherites and Blairites had buggered up Britain between them. I also found the Shropshire roots of The Knights Who Say "Ni!"

A young Paddy Ashdown turned up in a video of British troops in Sarawak.

I detailed the evidence that Greville Janner would have faced in court and ended the year by praising BBC Radio 4 Extra;


Now read...

Liberal England in 2015: Part 1
Liberal England in 2015: Part 2
Liberal England in 2015: Part 3