mostly david ephgrave

While the death of the Queen last week inevitably overshadowed the arrival of the new Tory Prime Minister, Liz Truss, I hope this won't lead to decreased scrutiny. It's hard to fathom that she's the most popular and competent candidate the Tories could rustle up to lead the UK, but I guess that's what happens when you leave the decision to 0.2% of the population. How can someone who sounds like she's voiced by Speak & Spell and curtseys like she didn't spot a dropped curb in front of her be in charge of our nuclear codes? Her speeches are more wooden than every Center Parcs put together, and the civil service nickname her the "human hand grenade", and yet she still nabs the top job. If nothing else, her promotion continues our ongoing Prime Ministerial decline. It's like watching The Doctor regenerate in the most budget way possible after switching from BBC1 to QVC. You can only fold a piece of paper seven times, and yet the Conservatives can p...

Today, I voted for my local Lib Dem candidate, Sam Collins; the first time I haven't voted for the Labour Party in a General Election. That's not to say I've switched allegiance - I still want Labour in - but I'm thinking tactically. And locally, as Sam would be an absolute asset to Hitchin as our MP. I put this out there in the hope it'll give anyone umming & ahhing over whether to vote tactically the reassurance others are doing it. four out of the five tactical-voting sites in the image below suggest voting Lib Dem in Hitchin & Harpenden; let's get duplicitous Boris Johnson and the Tories out. Remember: endlessly intoning they'll "Get Brexit Done" after all the "dither and delay in Parliament" is simple and memorable, but it's devoid of substance. And it's a lie too, as even accepting the Conservatives' current deal will not be an end to it.  That's my two penn'orths; Ephgrave, over and out....

I attempted a little subliminal messaging on Twitter this morning to influence my small collection of followers, but I don’t know if it worked. "If you build it, he will come." It would be bloody lovely if it did, as I’d like Theresa May’s smug ‘calling a General Election at a time when she think she’s impervious’ plan to fall flat on its face. I, for one, wouldn’t be voting for a party that’s so detrimental to the NHS; not for all the shiny shoes in the PM’s Imelda Marcos-style shoe cabinet. I’ll be particularly annoyed if the Tories hold their seat in my local constituency when our candidate - who’s replaced the truly odious Peter Lilley - apparently lives in Kettering, which is over an hour’s drive away; not only this, but his Twitter biog has listed three different addresses in so many weeks (something he hasn’t acknowledged when pressed on the social media site by a number of people, including me). How well will he represent Hitch...