POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC report on a topic which is gaining strength.....
Elections in some local councils are facing further delays, amid an escalating blame game over Labour's planned overhaul of local government in England. Ministers have indicated they will agree to postpone elections due next May until 2027, if authorities request it by mid-January. Polls in nine such areas have already been postponed once, having originally been scheduled for May 2025. It has sparked a huge row, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accusing Labour and the Conservatives of working together to stop his party making further gains.
This matter is gaining traction and could be the big story of 2026.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the fate of MedPro...
The UK Government is unlikely to see most of the £148m it is owed by a faulty PPE supplier linked to Baroness Michelle Mone after the company was wound up. PPE Medpro, a consortium run by Mone's husband Douglas Barrowman, was placed into liquidation at the Insolvency and Companies Court on Thursday. It follows a High Court ruling in October, which found that the firm breached a contract to supply 25 million surgical gowns during the Covid pandemic. PPE Medpro filed for administration in September, a day before the order to pay. HM Revenue & Customs is separately owed £39m in tax. Records filed by PPE Medpro's administrators have revealed it only had around £600,000 available to pay unsecured creditors. At the Insolvency and Companies Court, barristers for the three joint administrators asked for the firm to be kept in administration to pay off money owed. But lawyers for the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PPE Medpro was "hopelessly insolvent" and asked for the firm to be wound up. Despite the order to pay back the money, as an unsecured creditor it's unlikely the DHSC will recover the millions of pounds owed.
I can't describe how angry this makes me. The numbers are eye-watering and my fear is that the noble lady and her husband have walked away from the wreck with a profit despite the failure of the company. Please tell me I am wrong!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on reaction to poll delays....
The Electoral Commission has raised concerns about the prospect of more delays to council elections in England, saying it risks "damaging public confidence". Ministers have indicated they would agree to postpone local polls due next May until 2027 if councils request a delay. The government said some were concerned about their capacity to run the polls alongside a planned overhaul of town halls, as well as the cost to taxpayers of holding elections for councils that are due to be abolished. But the commission, which oversees elections in the UK, said it did not think "capacity constraints are a legitimate reason for delaying long-planned elections". Vijay Rangarajan, the watchdog's chief executive, said there was also "a clear conflict of interest in asking existing councils to decide how long it will be before they are answerable to voters". Delays to elections risk "affecting the legitimacy of local decision-making," he added.
This matter isn't going away and could end up being a very serious problem.

[Whyperion]

Not sure. It seems, for good or ill , the more or less original pre 1965 boundaries of local government seemed to work , with the addition of the years of borough / urban district and city status as areas of population got larger and more important. Messing around with half counties and areas that dont really work well for a logical , accessible , "Service Hub" has not brought forth really the ground level improvements. Smaller authorities always recognised that acting together for the likes of tram services, electricity, cemetaries , local public health , legal services or similar with the invention of the Joint Board or Joint Committee. Counties had their role in education, roads, ( and general transport policy ), waste management, water policy , environmental strategic planning, policing. Larger main authorities have still been delegated downwards to area committees, town councils , parish councils and village councils for dealing with the very local issues of the annual Christmas Tree location or a grant to an allotments group.

[Stanley]

THIS caught my eye this morning.....
7 hours ago
The chair of the King's Foundation Dame Ann Limb has admitted being "misleading" about her doctorate qualification. The education specialist, who was recently nominated for a life peerage by Labour, told the Sunday Times that she had not completed a PhD at the University of Liverpool, despite this appearing on her since-amended CV. "To be completely upfront and honest about it, I never completed my PhD at Liverpool University," she told the newspaper, adding that she used the Doctor title because she had been conferred with honorary PhDs by other institutions. The BBC has contacted Dame Ann for comment. The King's Foundation declined to comment. Dame Ann was among nominees to the House of Lords announced by Downing Street earlier in December, having held a number of senior public and private roles. The King's Foundation - which offers courses in practical skills to young people - announced last week that she would be stepping down from her role as chair, which she had held since January, to become a peer.
Unusual and embarrassing are the adjectives that spring to mind. Did she actually think she could get away with it?