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Chaminda Jayanetti on successive governments' failure to grasp the nettle of social care: "As far back as 1997, Tony Blair’s New Labour government launched a royal commission into adult care, only to then reject its calls for tax-funded free personal care and more support with residential care costs."

"Fascism is a strange ideology with a universe of conflicting and bizarre beliefs and rituals. Among the strongest is the ritualization of death that both mirrors and serves the main political drive of fascism: the creation of in groups and out groups. This is done through legal capture, the erosion and destruction of rights and protections, political framing of reality, fearmongering and weaponized activation, and the creation of religious cults of power, personality, and collective delusion." Jared Yates Sexton explains the fascist politics behind the public execution of Nidal Hasan.

Nick Baird asks where the Liberal Democrats' ambition has gone: "back in 2024, we were a Party on the up with a record number of MPs. The Tories were banished and in disarray. We talked, in all seriousness, about how we would be the Official Opposition after the next General Election. We looked admiringly at the Canadian Liberals who went from third place with a rump of MPs to an overall majority and thought 'that could be us'."

"I was confronted with a dilemma towards the end of writing my book because I had this line in the conclusion which I’d written a long time ago and thought was a really elegant, pithy sentence that summed up the argument of the book. But, as I was reading one of the final edits, I looked at it again and, having spent the last year immersed in AI slop on places like LinkedIn, I thought to myself, oh God, that sounds like something ChatGPT or Claude would write." Sarah O'Connor talks about her book We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work.

"Dadd seems to have been captivated by extreme contrasts of large and small, beautiful and grotesque – which are, of course, a feature of fairy folklore but had also been exemplified in earlier depictions of Shakespeare’s fairies (such as Joshua Reynolds’ famous Puck of 1789, and the fairy paintings of Henry Fuseli). Dadd, however, took the grotesqueness of fairies to a new level." Francis Young reviews the Royal Academy's Richard Dadd exhibition, which runs until 25 October.

Anne Bilson chooses 15 of the best movie car chases.

Lib Dem MPs are talking to the media about their concern at the party's direction

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There have been whispers about discontent with the party's leadership among Liberal Democrat MPs for some time. Now some of those MPs are talking, some more openly than others, to the media about their concerns.

This is from BBC News yesterday:

One frontbench Lib Dem MP told the BBC after Burnham's Labour conference speech: "Lots of us [are] struggling tonight with [a] Labour leader articulating Lib Dem values better than we do."

They pointed to Burnham's promises on electoral reform, social care, the water industry, and relations with Europe - all Lib Dem campaign points in recent years.

"I'm honestly utterly despondent with the state of things," another Lib Dem MP said.

Some senior Lib Dems believe Sir Ed's position as leader has been vulnerable for some time, even if they stressed no challenge is imminent.

"A plausible candidate could take him tomorrow in a bloodless coup," one prominent party figure said.

"But that person hasn't yet revealed themselves as far as I'm aware. Nobody is going to blow anything up without a clear plan to put something in its place."

A second report appeared on Sky News today, focused on dissatisfaction with our reaction to the government's proposals on social care and the triple lock. It seems there are some MPs who share my reaction:

Others, who don't necessarily agree with scrapping the triple lock, felt frustrated by the tone of Sir Ed's response - especially given he's been Westminster's most prominent campaigner in recent years for an improved social care system.

It's clear that the arrival of Andy Burnham at Number 10 has fundamentally changed the political landscape. I don't know if the Liberal Democrats need a new leader to navigate that landscape, but we certainly need some new thinking and a new approach from the top of the party.

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"Burnham’s speech was, in some ways, an exercise in calling the electorate’s bluff. 'I have given you what you often say is missing from politics,' Burnham concluded. “Honesty, ideas and a clear direction for the country we all love.' The message was thus: You say you want change and are sick of politicians who dodge difficult decisions and offer little beyond managerialism. So here are some difficult decisions — will you back me?" Zoe Grunewald was in Liverpool for Andy Burnham's speech.

Chris Grey looks at the the speech's effect on the Brexit debate: "In personal life, we rarely regard terrible decisions we have made as being unalterable, or at least not for long. We may, moralistically, tell ourselves that we have 'made our bed and must lie in it'. We may, stoically, insist that we 'mustn’t grumble' and 'have to make the best of it'. But few of us are so moralistic, or so stoic, as to deny ourselves the chance to revisit our bad decisions, if it is possible. With Brexit, that has not, in the sense of realistic politics, been possible until now. Burnham’s speech this week has made it so."

Ruth Bright has some questions for Burnham (and the Liberal Democrats) on what a 'National Care Service' would look like.

"In November 1749 John London walked from his home to vote in the Westminster constituency parliamentary by-election at St Paul’s, Covent Garden. He was probably with a group of his near neighbours from Hungerford Market, just south of the Strand (where Charing Cross railway station stands today). He cast his vote for the government candidate, Lord Trentham, then presumably returned home to continue his day’s business."  Gillian Williamson explores the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election.

Finlay McLaren suggests I, Claudius as a model for out beleaguered television industry: "I, Claudius is also a reminder that costume drama doesn’t need armies of extras, CGI palaces or international location shoots. It needs good scripts, good actors and directors who know how to use them. As the television industry struggles with budgets and commissioners become increasingly frightened of expensive productions, perhaps the future lies not in trying to compete with multi-million-pound streaming hits, but in cheap, writerly drama like I, Claudius."

"Without wine’s prestige, and with relatively minimal transport costs and, at those ABVs, considerably lower UK alcohol duty than wine, some of the bottles in today’s picks are nothing short of a giveaway." Mina Holland on the appeal of perries

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Benjamin Goodair says Andy Burnham is right to want for‑profit firms out of social care: "The majority of social care in England is run for-profit. The consequences of this go far beyond unfair profiteering. It actually worsens many of the core problems with England’s social care systems – making it less available, of worse quality and widening inequalities."

Children from poorer families do worse at school. Nadia Siddiqui explains why and what can be done to narrow the gap in attainment.

Steff Aquarone makes the case for a minister for coastal communities: "Too many coastal towns face lower than average wages, poorer transport connections, seasonal economies, shortages of affordable housing and increasing pressure from coastal erosion and climate change. Despite their enormous contribution to our economy, our heritage and our identity, they are too often overlooked when national investment decisions are made."

"Growing up there in the early 60s, the countryside never seemed too far away. We kids were often out and about, playing in the woods, making dens and tree swings, watching cows graze in farmers' fields and scrumping in nearby orchards where Warwick University and Cannon Park shopping centre now stand. There were brooks to jump across (or fall into regularly in my case) and an old Roman ford near to the busy A45." Ruth Cherrington celebrates Coventry's Camley Estate.

Ben Duckett is puzzled that attendances for cricket's Hundred tournament are falling, despite the presence of more star names, reports The Sports Encounter. What he and the games administrators need to grasp is that British sports fans' attachment is to teams, not to individual players.

Claire Madge has been to see the Richard Dadd exhibition at the Royal Academy: "There is no moment of finding 'madness' in Dadd's work, whether it was completed before his breakdown or after. Even the eyes of his figures from scenes of Hamlet completed in 1840 and the strange fairies that ring a sleeping Titania from 1841 show an artist with an ability to capture the uncanny and one who could easily get lost in the detail even before his psychosis came to the fore."

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"As need has grown and reform and resources have stalled, 1.9 million people in England alone provided a 'full-time' (defined as 35 hours or more) week of care in 2023-24 – that’s 70 per cent more than 20 years ago. Others have to fit caring responsibilities around their jobs: dropping off the kids at school, going to the office and then helping their elderly parents bathe and eat." Frances Ryan asks who will care for the carers.

Ari Berman names the far-right conspiracists who are urging Trump to take control of the mid-term elections. 

Tao Wang says a study of  the prohibition of absinthe in France in 1915 can teach us about modern day blaming and shaming. "Scapegoating operates as a powerful social mechanism. It often turns uncertainty, fear or political conflict into social blaming directed at certain persons or groups, based on thin, selective or simply false stories being told or repeated as if they were true."

Caitlin Chatterton argues that though female fans can make a musician's career, they are not taken seriously: "Perennial sexism in the music industry has often seen female fans stereotyped as hysterical. Rooted in Ancient Greek, 'hysteria' has long been used to portray women as somehow innately unstable, and therefore incapable of critical thought. It’s what kept us out of politics for so long, and it’s why our opinions are still being discredited."

"Though supported by the Parish Council and pressing need, this modest plan for six council houses aroused fierce opposition. William Maclean Homan, the town’s historian, argued it would cause Winchelsea to become a 'third-rate modern village'. He favoured, instead, a proposal to build private rented housing on low-lying land away from the town at the bottom of the hill on a site rejected by the Council because of its poor drainage." Municipal Dreams on the battle to build council housing in Winchelsea.

Adam Roberts wonders why no one reads Walter Scott any more: "Back then, everybody read him. He was the first global superstar of the novel. It's the Rule 34 of 19th-century literary studies: Everybody read Scott, no exceptions. ... Dickens's great dream, when he began writing fiction, was to do what Scott did."

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Julia Baird says there are many questions that the people in Epstein's web of connections have never answered, but this one perplexes her most: "Why is it that so many of Epstein's circle of male friends – inner, outer, bestie, acquaintance – have never decried or confessed to seeing something suspicious or concerning in his conduct or environment, while the few women who have spoken, thought it was blatantly obvious he was an 'abhorrent' creep?"

"For decades, Mandelson was both an irritant for the press and a reliable source of leaks, gossip, and backbiting. The part missing from many of the post-mortems on his political career that have appeared in newspapers and news programmes this week is how often he appeared as a media figure, treated as a 'sensible' big beast of British democracy." Mic Wright reminds us that the journalists pretending to be surprised about Peter Mandelson's character have used him as a resource for years.

Nathan Ley gives the reason why Council Tax keeps going up while council services get worse: the cost of adult social care.

Hedgehogs are disappearing fast – in fact they are vulnerable to extinction in the UK. Kate Moore lists some practical steps we can take to save them.

Hillary Burlock explains that not knowing how to dance could ruin your reputation in Regency Britain: "Dancing masters were crucial to transforming girls and boys into ladies and gentlemen, equipping them with the skills necessary to perform when they made their entrance into society around the age of 18."

"The Amish community, along with their traditions, customs and way of life, serve as an integral part of the movie, not a picturesque backdrop to the main arc of the story." Sven Mikulec finds Peter Weir's Witness is a deep, subtle and complex social comment disguised as a police thriller.

Reform UK sack Joseph Boam as deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council

A local political story broke on social media over the weekend and now Leicester Gazette has written it up:

Joseph Boam, who was appointed deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council after his election win in May, has been removed from his role by council leader Dan Harrison.

It goes on to discuss some rumoured reasons for Boam's dismissal, without coming to any definite conclusions. Reform itself has said nothing about why the decision was taken - the party runs Leicestershire with a minority administration.

As well as losing the deputy leadership of the council, Boam has told Leicester Gazette that he is also no longer the cabinet member for adult social care.

The Gazette has talked to the Liberal Democrat leader on the council, Michael Mullaney. He said:

"There are many things that need sorting in Leicestershire, the problems with social care and special educational needs. The potholes in pavements and roads. These can only be solved if there is a united, determined group running the county council. 

"Removing your deputy leader so soon after the election is a sign things are not going well in the new Reform administration and that there are serious splits and divisions."

The appointment of Boam as the council's adult social care lead at the age of 22 raised some eyebrows. Its 19-year-old lead for children and family services, who is also studying full time at university, remains in position.

Reform council leader pleads for government to soften new visa regime for care workers - Welcome to the real world

The Reform UK leader of Kent County Council has written to the home secretary expressing "grave concerns" about government proposals to reduce health and social care visas. 

In the letter, which was also signed by the council's cabinet member for social care Diane Morton, she said:

“Across the contracts for the council’s adult social care and health services there are approximately 150 providers we are aware of who have sponsorship licences which is equal to 20-25% of our social care workforce being from overseas. 

“There are a number of displaced social care workers who may have lost their jobs, or the sponsoring provider has lost their licence. 

“Kent Integrated Care Alliance has advised us that the Government has ringfenced £2m for the south east so providers could pick up these displaced people and get them into work. 

“They would receive £5,000 each, however in three years’ time or when the visa expires, they are currently expected to pay the care worker £41,000 a year. This is £10,000 more than a band five nurse in the NHS.”

It would be easy to laugh or call her a hypocrite, but let's welcome a Reform politician being prepared to recognise reality. Too many of them believe that outside consultants or their own parties DOGE are coming to save them. They're not.

Kent Online quotes the Liberal Democrat group leader on the council supporting her letter:

“KCC has rightly acknowledged the importance of overseas workers to the care sector. 

“Under the plans in the government’s immigration white paper, care providers will be able to apply until 2028 to extend their workers’ visas, but will have to pay the Home Office’s Immigration Skills Charge, which the Government is raising to £1,320 for each worker per year of their visa.

“Imposing crippling Home Office fees on top of the Government’s misguided jobs tax (the national insurance increase) will just make the crisis even worse, pushing many care homes to the brink and leaving our loved ones in the lurch.

“People who have moved to the UK to look after our elderly and disabled people are doing tough jobs and helping to keep our NHS on its feet. They should be thanked for their contribution, not demonised.”

I foresee a split opening in Reform between the leadership, which will go on talking bollocks and making impossible promises, and those of their councillors who are trying to do the job conscientiously.

Guardian editorial heaps praise on Ed Davey's "moral clarity rooted in lived experience"

Does anyone read newspaper editorials? I never got the habit. But this one from tomorrow's Guardian in praise of Ed Davey's approach to politics is something else:

The Lib Dem leader wants to rewrite British politics – not with the language of crisis, but that of care. In a Westminster hooked on “tough choices” and resistant to compassion in policy, he offers something rare – moral clarity rooted in lived experience. He understands that care is not a luxury to be considered after the economy is “fixed”. It is, he says, the core economy. His new book is both memoir and manifesto, containing a call to abandon parliamentary introspection and recentre politics around mutual support. ...

Rooted in real life and years helping constituents through a broken system, his authority on care is hard-won. The UK has 6 million unpaid carers – 1.7 million work more than 50 hours a week. The NHS would collapse without them. Yet many carers are met not with help, but hurdles – denied adequate respite and treated as invisible. This paper’s investigation into the scandal over carer’s allowance payments revealed a brutal bureaucracy punishing vulnerable people. It’s not just neglectful. It’s insulting.

Sir Ed’s proposal – to assign every family in need a named carer and social worker – is modest, sensible and overdue. He’s also had enough of the care reviews. Who can blame him? Since 1997, there have been 25 commissions, inquiries and white papers. Now ministers want Louise Casey to take three more years for a review into adult social care. He says it’s enough to make you cry.

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"If Morgan can beat the BNP in Barking, goes the argument, then surely he can do the same for Reform in Britain too. Yet in all the coverage of McSweeney’s supposedly unique ability to slay the far right, through deploying tough messages on crime and immigration, almost nobody has actually bothered to check whether it’s true." Adam Bienkov explodes the founding myth of Morgan McSweeney.

Nandi Msezane says migrant workers prop up the UK’s social care system, but are now being forced out.

Cameron Joseph argues that Donald Trump is borrowing a playbook from other elected leaders who have used the tools of democracy to destroy it: "Would-be autocrats often move to eliminate structural checks on their power. They intimidate opposition parties, threaten potential dissenters within their own ranks, and defy the courts. Autocrats punish and bully the news media, protect allies from legal prosecution while targeting political opponents, and purge senior military and government ranks of career staff in favor of loyalists."

"There were numerous attempts at creating Labour-affiliated clubs, as Labour became a serious party of government for the first time. It is also easy to see why the inherent contradictions around that gave these clubs a limited appeal within the Labour Party." Seth Thévoz on the attempts to establish a London club for Labour parliamentarians.

"It was a reminder of a time when democratic politics wasn’t viewed with contempt but was understood as a form of collective expression and - for some (for very many in the 1940s) - as a means of making a better world." Municipal Dreams looks at the at creation and reception of the 1943 County of London Plan.  

Katherine Stockton explores the problematic implications of Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys.

Lib Dems win £100m in concessions for allowing Labour's budget for Wales to pass

Jane Dodds, the only Lib Dem member of Senedd, allowed Labour's budget for Wales to pass today by abstaining on the vote. As a result it was passed by 29 votes to 28.

Deeside.com reports the concessions that the Welsh Lib Dems won in return for allowing the budget to pass:

The deal with Ms Dodds, the Lib Dems' only Senedd member, included a promise to ban greyhound racing in Wales and allocate £15m for a pilot of £1 bus fares for under-22s.

The MP-turned-Senedd member secured £30m for childcare, £30m for social care, £10m for playgrounds and leisure centres, £10m for rural investment and £5m to address pollution.

Ministers also committed £8m to a "funding floor" to reduce variation across Wales’ 22 councils, with each set to receive a minimum increase of 3.8 per cent.

Jane Dodds told Senedd:

"If we don’t pass this budget, we risk losing billions for the people of Wales and I cannot in good conscience let that happen."

But, explaining her decision to abstain, she said: 

"I cannot fully support a budget that falls short of delivering the investment and radical change Wales needs."

Ed Davey will publish his book 'Why I Care: And Why Care Matters' in May

After leading a strikingly successful first general election campaign, the next thing on a Liberal Democrat leader's to do list is the book. And Ed Davey is about to tick that one off too.

The Bookseller reports:

HarperCollins has bought Why I Care: And Why Care Matters, the debut from Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats. Editorial director for HarperNorth Jonathan de Peyer acquired world all-language rights directly from the author. The book will be published in hardback, e-book and audio in May 2025.  

“Care is the thread that runs through Ed’s life,” the synopsis reads. “Aged only four, Ed lost his father. When his mother also became ill with cancer, Ed and his brothers nursed her at home until she died when Ed was just 15. That formative experience was one of the main inspirations in seeking election and with it the opportunity to take action. 

Now, he and his wife care for their son John, who has severe physical and learning disabilities, as well as raising their younger daughter. So, Ed has real knowledge of the emotional, physical and financial challenges faced by legions of carers in Britain today.”  

HarperCollins said of the politician’s debut: “Why I Care is both a deeply personal story, drawing on Ed’s own experiences, and a book that reflects the stories of people everywhere to offer a vision of change. Shedding light on the often-invisible world of carers, he calls for society, our government and our institutions to recognise, support and lift up the silent carers who form the backbone of our communities. This isn’t just Ed’s story. It’s the story of millions.” 

And Ed Davey says:

“Carers don’t just look after their loved ones: they’re propping up our NHS and are so often the bedrock of our communities. It’s a tough job, caring. But the thing about being a carer is you develop these amazing relationships. As I’ve gotten older, having had all these family caring responsibilities and now seeing life through the eyes of my son, I could not be more passionate or determined to sort out care in this country. And that’s why I’ve written this book.” 

I can see Why I Care making more of an impact than the books Charles Kennedy and even Paddy Ashdown wrote as Lib Dem leader. And I shall end here by reflecting on how quickly "gotten" is replacing "got" in English English.

New Statesman: Lib Dems cheered and baffled by Kemi Badenoch

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The Liberal Democrats have two strategic objectives in this parliament. 

One is to be a better opposition than the Conservatives by focusing on issues of substance, like social care reform, rather than ones of style or personality.

The second is to embed our new MPs as local champions, so that even voters profoundly disillusioned with Westminster will welcome their achievements in their communities.

That's according to George Eaton writing on the New Statesman website.

He goes on to say:

From an electoral perspective, the Lib Dems’ aim is to "finish the job” in the Blue Wall. Of their 30 notional target seats, all but four are held by the Tories. That Kemi Badenoch has displayed little interest in defending – or reclaiming – such territory has cheered (and baffled) the Lib Dems.

But Davey’s team also believe they have opportunities against Labour. “We want a Liberal voice back in the cities,” an aide told me. Early targets include Nick Clegg’s former seat of Sheffield Hallam (Labour majority: 8,189) and Simon Hughes’s former seat of Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Labour majority: 7,787).

Elsewhere in the article, I was surprised to read that it was Paddy Ashdown who pioneered "pavement politics".

This approach, under the grander name "community politics" was developed in the previous decade by the Association of Liberal Councillors and graduates of the Young Liberals' radical era.

At that time Paddy was still... Well, if I told you what he was doing in those days, I'd have to shoot you.

Love is Enough: Ed Davey sings in Bath on Saturday

From Somerset Live:

The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is to perform Top 40 Christmas hits with Bath Philharmonia Young Carers’ Choir at a live concert in Bath. The choir is performing their Top 40 hit ‘Love is Enough’ featuring Sir Ed this Saturday (December 14) at The Bath Forum.

The concert will include The Snowman on the big screen with a live orchestra, while the MP for Kingston and Surbiton will narrate ‘The Night Before Christmas’ and sing the chart song. 

Written by six young carers and former young carers, the song ‘Love is Enough’ is a tribute to the caring responsibilities of young carers and the bond they share with the people they care for.

Ed Davey is quoted in the story:

"It was a joy to spend time with this amazing group of young carers, to see their incredible talents, energy and love. With the wonderful Bath Philharmonia, they have created something that I'm sure will strike a chord not only with other young carers - often invisible in our communities - but also with all carers and families. I can’t wait to perform it live to audiences in Bath."

If you can't make it to Bath on Saturday, you can stream or download Love is Enough.

Ed Davey teams up with choir of young carers to record their song Love is Enough

Life as a young carer was tough, but it was also full of love.

Tomorrow, Bath Philharmonia Young Carers' Choir and I are releasing a Christmas single - “Love is Enough” - in support of @bathphil and @CarersTrust.

I can’t wait for you to hear it! pic.twitter.com/CTBEYXFR5m

— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) November 27, 2024

From the Guardian this evening:

When already this year you’ve bungee-jumped, jetskied and led your party to its best election result for a century, how can you possibly top that as a politician? If you are Ed Davey, the answer is obvious: try for a Christmas No 1.

That, at least, is the ambition for the Liberal Democrat leader, who has teamed up with a choir of young carers to record an original song of theirs, complete with a Christmas-heavy video featuring festive jumpers and hats, tinsel, and baubles being hung on a tree.

As with Davey’s many stunts for the general election, there is a serious purpose: to generate awareness of the plight of carers, particularly younger ones, and to raise money for good causes.

The genesis of this latest move by 2024’s most consistently surprising MP came in the spring, when the widow of Davey’s former choirmaster sent a recording of him aged 13 singing a solo version of In The Deep Midwinter.

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James Crouch argues that the greatest challenge the Conservative Party faces is a lack of unity among both its members and its remaining voters.

"In their speeches to this week’s Labour Party conference, Rachel Reeves mentioned it only briefly and in passing, and Keir Starmer not at all. It’s absurd, especially as the guiding theme of both speeches, as of the government’s entire incoming communications message, is that of the dire inheritance bequeathed by its Tory predecessors. Brexit can hardly be excluded from that reckoning." Chris Grey says there’s still little sign Britain has accommodated itself to Brexit or has any idea how to do so.

"It’s night. I’m trying to sleep. I’m so tired. But a voice says, 'What time is it?'. It’s half two, Mum, go to sleep. Half an hour later again, 'What time is it?'. Mum, it’s night, that’s why it’s dark. Please be quiet and let me sleep. 'Oh, okay.' Ten minutes later, 'Mick, put the light on for me'. My brother Mick hasn’t lived in this house for over 40 years! Again, I calm her down. But it only lasts for a bit, and finally at quarter to four I give up on this night, get out of bed and start the day." Anna Schurer talked to a carer and describes her life in her own words.

Andrew Anthony reviews a new book on Elon Musk's destruction of Twitter.

"It was a seminal moment in chess history, comparable to the 1945 USA v USSR radio match when the Americans, quadruple Olympiad gold winners in the 1930s, were crushed 15.5-4.5 to launch 45 years of Soviet supremacy, interrupted only by Bobby Fischer." Leonard Barden on India's dominant performance in the chess Olympiad.

Jon Hotten remembers Graham Thorpe: "His professional life was stellar, but other parts were hard, perhaps impossibly so, and there’s a deep and abiding sadness to that."

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"The experience of that Royal Commission - on long-term care for older people - is instructive. It made four major recommendations relating to: free personal care, a cap on care costs for accommodation, the establishment of national care standards, and integration of services. We are still awaiting effective action on all of these." Bob Hudson asks why social care is never fixed.

Annie Hickox on the 'toxic positivity' - the dark side of all those simple recipes for dealing with unhappiness and depression that spread so frictionlessly across social media.

Privacy International says the use of social media monitoring by government and commerce is increasingly prevalent and largely unregulated. 

Thomas Horabin held North Cornwall for the Liberal Party at a 1939 by-election, defended it in 1945 to become the only parliamentary representative of West Country Liberalism, but crossed the floor to join Labour two years later. Jaime Reynolds and Ian Hunter weigh up his maverick career.

"There was something else in the house, unmentioned and unlabelled. A sort of shadowy presence that hovered by the back door. No one referred to it, so I kept quiet, but without ever really actually seeing anything I knew it was a boy. A boy of about 10 or 12, in short trousers and a cap. I acknowledged him as I walked by, much as I would acknowledge a single magpie, with a dip of the head and a murmured incantation." Esther Freud discusses Walberswick, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and ghosts.

Tom Moran shows that our false belief that Shakespeare had little knowledge of Latin and Greek - the basis of many a nutty theory about the authorship of his plays - rests on a misunderstanding of the meaning of "though" in a poem by Ben Jonson. Fascinating stuff.

Daisy Cooper quizzed on Lib Dem commitment to free social care

Daisy Cooper is interviewed by Care Home Professional about Lib Dem policy on social care. As she says:

"So many people don’t realise just how broken the system is until they, or a loved one, has to use it. ...

"Only with wider reform - like the Liberal Democrat pledge to increase care workers’ minimum pay, and creating a Royal College of Care Workers to create a real career path in the sector – will we achieve a vision where the most vulnerable in our society are cared for properly and those doing that caring are fairly compensated and appreciated."

Asked about our policy of providing free personal care, she says:

The Liberal Democrats have long been champions of care: of care users, unpaid carers and social care workers. We have announced our commitment to free personal care, not dissimilar to the model in Scotland ... .

Fundamentally, there are two reasons why we have made this commitment.

First, people are living longer and often in ill-health and this has given rise to a huge injustice: some diseases can be treated by the NHS, free at the point of use, but when someone is diagnosed with a degenerative disease, like dementia, they will have to pay for their care.

Second, free personal care will support people to live independently in their own homes, for as long as possible. This will maximise the opportunities for early intervention and prevention, helping people stay out of hospital in the first place and to leave hospital as soon as they no longer need to be there.

And Daisy is asked how will it be paid for:

Liberal Democrats publish a fully costed manifesto at every election, and the next general election will be no exception.

There may be a danger that voters won't believe any big spending pledges in the current climate, but this commitment needs to be given prominence by the Liberal Democrat general election campaign.

Our call for a Royal College of Care Workers will interest professionals, but free social care would have more effect on the daily lives of many voters.

Ed Davey talks about adversity and achievement on the What I Wish I'd Known podcast

For The Times podcast What I Wish I'd Known, Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester talk to:

extraordinary people living astonishing lives to learn from those who excel in sport, politics, the arts, business and more, despite real adversity. We hear their secrets and their inspirations, and learn how you too can thrive after life’s setbacks.

Well, maybe you can, though it should be mentioned that many people never make a full recovery from early adversity.

The podcast's latest guest is Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats:

He was just four years old when his father John George died and after years of caring for his mother Nina, who was diagnosed with incurable cancer, she passed away too when he was only 15. 

Ed has remained a positive outlook on life, focused on his work, he’s adamant that he’s never felt sorry for himself. 

Yet when Ed’s son, John, was born with a rare neurological condition and he became a carer once again in adulthood, it's astonishing to comprehend the resilience that Ed has learned. 

Ed's is a moving and humbling story, and you can listen to it on The Times's website.

Ana Savage Gunn wins Name of the Day - and will be the Lib Dem candidate if there's a Wellingborough by-election

Congratulations to Ana Savage Gunn. Not only has she won this blog's rarely presented Name of the Day Award, she's been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the event of a Wellingborough by-election.

This will take place if the recall petition for Peter Bone receives the necessary 7940 signatures.

North Northamptonshire Lib Dems tell us all about Ana:

Ana was born and raised in Northamptonshire, and brings a wealth of experience in public service and care with her. 

She joined Northamptonshire Police in 1985 and rose to the rank of Inspector, serving across the county - including in Wellingborough - and she supervised the tactical firearms team. 

In 1994, Ana helped run security at the Atlanta Olympics and a couple of years after this became a law enforcement consultant in the US before her return to the UK and Northamptonshire. 

When COVID-19 broke out Ana retrained as a Health Care Assistant and worked in her mother’s care home before becoming a COVID clinic coordinator in the county. 

Ana continues to work at the care home, and is a trustee of Northamptonshire Carers, located in Wellingborough.