Anti-poverty campaigners habitually indulge in scaremongering to justify their calls for yet more welfare. Now, the left-wing think tank the Joseph Rowntree Foundation claims that 7.4 million low-income households cannot afford basic toiletries such as soap or a toothbrush. How does that assertion square with the fact that 95% of people in Britain over 16 have a smartphone?
Manufactured Controversy Over Burnham's Holiday
The manufactured controversy over Andy Burnham's holiday is absurd. If critics feel he should not take a break now, even though Parliament is in recess, when do they suggest he should? The last truly successful Prime Minister was David Cameron, who got the balance between "chillaxin" and hard work exactly right.
Romance Across the Aisle
Few married couples can have a more original story of how they met than my wife Elizabeth and me. Our tale features romance across the political divide, an unlikely location and a benevolent matchmaker. It all happened in May 1994, when I was up for re-election as a local Labour councillor in Islington.
On the day of the poll, I was feeling depressed because I was certain I would lose my seat to the Liberal Democrat candidate, a gracious but formidable community campaigner called Margot Dunn. When I ran into Margot early that morning, she asked if I was going to be at any particular polling station later. I could not see the harm in telling her, so I said: "Yes, St Mary's School at noon," and then I asked, "What's this all about, Margot?" With an enigmatic smile she replied: "You'll find out."
When I arrived at St Mary's school, I had my answer. Collecting the voting numbers for the Liberal Democrats was this beautiful American redhead by the name of Elizabeth. A close friend of Margot's, she had been at home that morning when she received an urgent instruction to get to St Mary's by noon.
As Margot generously intended, Elizabeth and I fell in love that day and have been together ever since. Margot easily won my seat and went on to become a much-admired Mayor of Islington. Sadly, she died last week at the age of 95, a battler to the end. The debt that Elizabeth and I owe her is incalculable.
