I’ll begin by making two things clear. The first is that Trump’s sudden decision to pull US troops out of eastern Syria is self-evidently irresponsible and very foolish. The other is that Turkey’s invasion will cause yet further civilian suffering and I suspect it will ultimately solve nothing. But now I’ve made these two admissions, I want to share some uncomfortable thoughts about the way this new conflict taking place within the borders of Syria is being perceived.
While Turkey’s invasion has hit the headlines, the regime bombing of Idlib and attacks on the ground receive almost no attention by comparison, …
The Lib Dems are proud of their internationalism. It was one thing to oppose the intervention in Iraq and to continue as mistakes after the fall of Saddam were laid bare, but Iraqis like myself are keen to see your party develop its policy seven years later towards Iraq and Kurdistan, the region where I come from which is the stable, secure, commercial gateway to Iraq and Britain’s ally. The key question now is how can the LibDems support the Iraqi political process and ensure that Britain isn’t left behind other European countries in business, cultural and educational exchange with …
Welcome to the Sunday outing for The Voice’s near-daily Daily View series. As it’s a Sunday, today it comes with a special Twitter sing-along. Oh yes.
2 Big Stories
Let’s skip past the latest round of “No really, this time we mean it, we’re going to do something really very soon, honest guv” talk of Labour MPs plotting to oust Gordon Brown (see most previous Sundays for the last 18 months) and move on to, er…, a story of a beleaguered leader surrounded by resignations but promising to stay on.
Equality chief urged to quit post
Equalities and Human Rights Commission head Trevor Phillips is facing calls to step down after a fourth resignation over his leadership in eight days.
Ben Summerskill of gay rights group Stonewall is the latest commissioner to go. He said Mr Phillips was damaging the cause of equality by staying on.
Auditors have criticised the commission for spending almost £1m on re-employing staff after giving them redundancy.
Mr Phillips will not be resigning, the commission said. (BBC)
Kurdistan goes to the polls
About 2.5 million eligible voters in the Kurdish region’s three northern provinces of Irbil, Dahuk, and Sulaimaniya will elect their 111-seat parliament and next president…
Since 2005, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has maintained a secure region that has been largely free of the violence seen in other parts of Iraq. But a lack of government transparency, corruption, difficulty in delivering basic services, and political rivalries continue to plague the KRG. (CNN)
2 Must-Read Blog Posts
Neil Fawcett doesn’t beat about the bush in his view of what some people are saying about the Norwich North by-election: Bloggers talk balls about by-elections.
Meanwhile, outside politics the Tour de France nears its end, getting far less media coverage than the stunning performances of British cyclists Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish (only in his second Tour and already the winner of more stages than any other British cyclist has won in their career) deserve. So here’s Stephen’s Linlithgow Journal on Saturday’s crucial stage.
Rif Winfield To Simon McGrath and Mick Taylor (plus millions of other Liberals).
My friends, I totally agree with you and urge all elected representatives to add their voi...
Greg Hyde We have moved heaven and earth to try to shift the economic stats of this area, but many people are still struggling,” said Richard Crook, the head of regener...
Lyell Yardarms The short Newsnight film where Nick Clegg visited Blaenau Gwent in late 2016 was very instructive. Millions and millions of pounds of Objective 1 funding has be...
Mick Scholes "It is rather similar to World War 2, when neither we nor Nazi Germany used poison gas, because both parties were aware of what it had done in WW1 and both part...
Dominic I agree with Amin (again!). If anything, having the capability to counter an enemy’s (hypothetical) use of tactical nukes reduces the risk that the enemy woul...
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Street surgeries tonight #dundeewestend
12 opening scenes from Malcolm in the Middle
Reform drop council by-election candidate Irene Davidson
Rif Winfield 
Greg Hyde 
Lyell Yardarms 
Mick Scholes 
Dominic 