Liberal England

Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year 2014

"Well written, funny and wistful" - Paul Linford; "He is indeed the Lib Dem blogfather" - Stephen Tall
"Jonathan Calder holds his end up well in the competitive world of the blogosphere" - New Statesman
"A prominent Liberal Democrat blogger" - BBC Radio 4 Today; "One of my favourite blogs" - Stumbling
and Mumbling; "Charming and younger than I expected" - Wartime Housewife

Friday, July 31, 2026

The white horses of Lutterworth

I went to Lutterworth today and was taken by these four white horses on a grassed bank at the bottom of the town's main street, which cl...

The Joy of Six 1555

Benjamin Goodair says Andy Burnham is right to want for‑profit firms out of social care: "The majority of social care in England is ru...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: The nation’s prison governors

With this final postcard from Trescothick Bay, our latest week with Lord Bonkers' Diary draws to a close. What did become of Freddie and...

Foxes need to be humble - Chaplin

BBC Sport wins our Headline of the Day Award. Personally, I've not heard many complaints about foxes being overproud. They more often i...

Thursday, July 30, 2026

Will Nigel Farage be made to pay for sharing that photograph?

Here's an unexpected twist: the man who took the photograph of that "Making plans for Nigel" T-shirt is suing people – one N. ...

Trapped pigeon freed from netting under bridge in Shrewsbury with ‘verbal encouragement’ by firefighters

Our Headline of the Day Award goes to an old friend of this blog, the Shropshire Star . When I showed the judges this photograph, which has ...

Shropshire Hills project receives almost £1m from National Lottery

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £993,475 in development funding to Shropshire's Landscape Connections project. A report o...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Clip the wings of the Russian Bear

I would point out that Lord Bonkers is more against Landlordism in principle than in practice, but my rent falls due on Lady Day. Saturday I...

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

An Ian Christie lecture about Gothic London on film

This a terrific lecture by Ian Christie, whose writings did much to bring the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger back to promine...

Reform UK's opaque finances: Now the Lib Dems raise questions

Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrat cabinet office spokesperson, has referred Richard Tice to the parliamentary standards commissioner over an ...

The Joy of Six 1554

"The idea that England has always been governed from a single political centre is surprisingly recent. Westminster may now appear almos...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: He would sit there like a stuffed haddock

Proof, I think. that Lord Bonkers reads this blog. The theory that Starmer was never meant to be prime minister, but was put in place as a m...

Cliff Richard and the Drifters: Move It

John Lennon once said: "I think the first English record that was anywhere near anything was Move It by Cliff Richard, and before that ...

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Jonathan Meades: Remember the Future (1997)

The news that the Jodrell Bank telescope may soon be no more sent me back to a piece by Jonathan Meades : Concorde was seen in the sky over ...

Our universities aren't just managerialist: they're authoritarian

Britain's universities aren't just getting rid of the arts and humanities: they're getting rid of collegiate governance too. Her...

Book Review: Young Aleister Crowley and the Magicians’ Revolt by Lon Milo DuQuette and Jim Bratkowsky

This review appears in the new issue of Liberator, which you can download free of charge from the magazine's website. Young Aleister Cro...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: "Hooson, we have a problem"

I never know how much of Lord Bonkers' reminiscences to believe. In this case, I suspect he should have gone back for his Panama. Thursd...

Monday, July 27, 2026

The Fenland floods of 1947

A film about farming and the harsh winter of 1946/7. In particular, about the flooding that hit the Fens when the snow finally thawed and th...

The concept of the 'school run' dates from the 1990s

Adam Webster , full-time father and part-time Associate Professor in Law and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, argues tha...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: The arid south of Rutland

As ever, Lord Bonkers was ahead of the curve on the climate crisis. Perhaps the sands at Trescothick Bay remind him of the deserts of southe...

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