Who knows how many constitutional crises, meaningful votes or equivocations by Jeremy Corbyn we'll have between now and Saturday.
Carry On Blogging! has a pleasing and unexpected interview with Samira Ahmed about her love for the Carry On films: We had Carry On Again Doctor taped on our early Betamax player so I knew that one particularly well. Carry On Up The Khyber was particularly loved by my extended Indian and Pakistani family who enjoyed sitting round together to watch it. Older visiting relatives thought it sent up Empire rather well, though I suspect the dads and uncles quite liked the naughtiness of it all too.The video above shows the film being made on location in North Wales. That ...
Much has changed at the Richard Jefferies Museum in Swindon since I visited it in 2009. Here is the Swindon Advertiser: Mike Pringle, along with poet and cultural event organiser Hilda Sheehan, took over the running of the Richard Jefferies Museum about a decade ago. At the time, the museum devoted to the passionate Victorian nature writer was attracting perhaps 800 visitors per year. Last year there were about 15,000.This increase in visitor numbers arises from the museum being open more often and its use as an arts venue. Welcome as it is, this rise is putting strains on the ...
Previously Leave.EU was fined £50,000 for sending spam text messages. Now comes news of a £40,000 fine for Vote Leave, again over sending text messages.
A striking statement appeared on the Harborough District Council website yesterday: Harborough District Council and Harborough District Commercial Services Ltd has taken advantage of an exciting investment opportunity to benefit the whole district. Land and buildings incorporating two retail units (Tesco and B&M Stores) and residential flats in Market Harborough town centre have been purchased by a private company, owned by the Council, to bring benefits to the business community and wider district and to generate income. Harborough District Council has set up a limited company, Harborough District Commercial Services Ltd (HDCS), through which this and future investments will be ...
Do you live in Yate or surrounding areas? Looking for a job or training opportunities? Pop along to the St Nicholas Family Centre on 28th March. Meet potential employers and gain interview experience! Thirsday 28 March 1-3 pm at St Nicholas Family Centre.
Its amazing how people talk big on social media but don't follow up in the real world. This occurred to me this morning when I read a Tweet that a Cabinet member in Liverpool, "said some time ago that the ... Continue reading →
Now that the party has created a registered supporter scheme, a great pack of advice is available from Lib Dem HQ on how to make the most of it.
Hugos impacting my reading time pretty seriously... Current A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot Combat Magicks, by Steve Cole Last books finished λ1 κ1 (In that order.) Next books Troll Bridge, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan
Last summer, Vince Cable set up a commission to look at how to support life-long learning. As he'd said in his first party conference speech as leader: As a country we have systematically undervalued and disrespected the 60% of young people who do not go to university, and the 80% of adults who never went... One idea I want to develop with you - with the party - is finding a way to support all young people in future with an endowment or learning account, which they can use at any stage in life - helping to finance further or ...
Well, it's one way out...Whatever your political position, you probably believe that the whole process of Britain leaving the European Union has been messed up in some way, whether you're someone who thinks we should have just quit everything with no notice on 24th June 2016, or if you're someone who thinks it all went wrong when we didn't sign up for the Euro and Schengen. We'd all probably pick different points of where things went wrong, but we'd agree on the general point that things went wrong. To try and work out where things get wrong, let's consider the ...
The General Election of 1951 occurred only eighteen months into a parliament. It was called by a Labour government with a small parliamentary majority led by Clement Attle then at the head of what was a tired and ageing administration. For the Liberals led by another Clement it proved to be a very difficult campaign for a party wracked by decades of division and desperately short of money. Liberalism was split with the breakaway National Liberals propped up by the Tories still enjoying parliamentary representation. A situation that would exist until 1968. Clement Davies, himself a former National Liberal, led ...
Tue 19th
13:18
Vince Cable: how did he do and who will succeed him? Never Mind The Bar Charts podcast
Listen and enjoy as Stephen Tall and I discuss Vince Cable's record as party leader now he's announced his departure date (nearly), who might succeed him, what happened at Liberal Democrat conference in York, the brilliance of Geoff Payne...
Tue 19th
12:28
Ending Section 21 'no fault' evictions is the right thing to do for private renters - it can also be...
I'm a private renter. Nothing unusual about that I'm sure you'll say, lots of people are. And that's true, but it wasn't always that way, and the current situation, of growing numbers of private renters, is a recent phenomenon. The most recent figures from the English Housing Survey show that a fifth of people across England now live in privately rented accommodation. A third of councils have more than 20% of residents renting privately, and research from the campaign group Shelter shows that at the next (currently scheduled) general election there will be 253 constituencies where more than 20% of ...
Cinema verité has always been one of my favourite genres — so realistic and true to life that one is totally drawn into the heart of the action, whether the film is a documentary or, as in the case of Nadine Labaki's Capernaum, a fiction feature. From the opening shots of Capernaum, one is absorbed into the [...]
Dangerous moments are like buses. You have decades free of them and then loads come along all at once. And every day our country's future is in the hands of a gruesome coalition of extreme right and left – the ERG, DUP and the Corbynistas – it gets more and more dangerous as Brexit day just a week on Friday looms. We've kind of running out of road as far as Brexit is concerned. As things currently stand, we crash out without a deal in 10 days' time. That's right. The biggest economic catastrophe ever will be underway next week ...
Mon, 12:56: Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing, FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system... https://t.co/70hVUVo2MH Mon, 13:53: RT @IanWishart: You'd struggle to find anyone among the dozens of officials and diplomats working on Brexit on the EU side in Brussels and... Mon, 16:05: The reason that I am convinced that the Russians are not behind the climate change protests is very simple: climate... https://t.co/UMTVTo9U3U Mon, 16:59: BBC News - Speaker rules out Brexit vote on same motion https://t.co/mXbmIIka5S OMG! Mon, 19:16: Probably @WeatherCee. At least, of those in my year. https://t.co/726qP3VCTs Mon, 21:34: RT @timjudah1: Tarrant listened ...
Those of you who attended Lib Dem Conference in York over the weekend should have had a feedback survey link emailed to you; if you haven't, let me know and I'll make sure that it is sorted for you. If there is anything that you feel particularly exercised about that you want me to highlight at the FCC washup meeting next month, please put it in a comment below. So far I have had:The feedback survey is dire, and parts of it make no sense. If I say I didn't use the Conference app, why are the detailed questions about ...
Looking back to last May, there was much to celebrate in London's election results. Winning back control of Kingston and Richmond was very welcome , as was retaining our control of Sutton. And then there were excellent results in Haringey – our group grew from 9 to 15 – and Merton leapt up from just a single Lib Dem councillor to 6! Looking closely at the areas that make such great progress, we can see how beneficial it is to have full time staff – and volunteers – working on our campaigns over a long period. Their hard work and ...
Last Wednesday was the regular meeting of Bury Council's Cabinet. This is the meeting made up of the eight Labour cabinet members. Opposition Group Leaders are invited to attend but not vote – Councillor Tim Pickstone reports: Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan We have previously reported on the Greater Manchester proposals for a Clean Air Zone charging proposals where lorries, vans, taxis and buses which had polluting Diesel engines would need to pay a daily fee to drive in Greater Manchester. (£100 per day for a lorry or bus, £7.50 per day for a taxi or van). The main thing ...
Throughout the Brexit process there has been a tendency by those seeking to leave the EU to blame the messenger when things do not go their way. Thus, the reaction to John Bercow's reassertion of basic Parliamentary procedure is entirely predictable. As the Guardian reports, the Speaker's ruling has allegedly sparked a constitutional crisis. Why that is so is difficult to ascertain, as this whole scenario was entirely predictable. The paper says that with 11 days to go until Britain is due to leave the EU, May has been forced to pull her plans for another meaningful vote because John ...
I sat in a cafe in west London last week, next to – as it turned out – two games designers of obvious American extract. They were talking rather loudly and I found it hard not to dislike them heartily. This was few two reasons. First, I am in the process of bringing up two [...] The post 5G and the stench of doublethink appeared first on Radix.
The Greater Manchester Health and Care Champion Awards are the only region-wide awards to recognise members of our paid and unpaid workforce who regularly go above and beyond to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Greater Manchester. The awards recognise the contribution of our health and care champions; from doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and pharmacists, to care workers, unpaid carers, apprentices and volunteers, for really making a difference in our communities. Nominations for 2019 are currently open and close on 15th March. Click here to nominate. View the full list of last year's winners here.
Tue 19th
08:06
Have your say on reducing prescribing of over the counter medicines for minor, short term conditions
NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS Bury CCG) has launched a four week engagement phase to gather views on conditions for which over the counter items should not routinely be prescribed. New Greater Manchester guidance, following a national consultation, has been issued to CCGs in relation to reducing prescribing of over the counter medicines for a range of minor, short term health conditions. They say: "Conditions for which over the counter items should not routinely be prescribed include: Those considered to be a self-limiting illness such as a sore throat, cough or cold. These conditions will clear up of their ...
Vince Cable has made the difficult but correct decision to stand down as the leader of the Lib Dems. And now, for the third time in four years, we're left looking for a new leader. It's certainly frustrating for us Liberals to see arguably the worst government and worst opposition in living memory still absolutely trouncing us in the polls. What is clear in a relentlessly unpredictable political climate is that opposition to Brexit is not an automatic ticket back to the top, and the shadow of the coalition years looms larger than many of us realised. With a leadership ...
Bury Archaeological Group was founded in 1953 and has been working every year since then, digging and processing sites and finds around the borough. Now the group is in dire straits. Faced with the challenge posed by the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework which plans to give up Green Belt for development that contains important archaeological sites. They need urgent funding to pay for a major project and to continue with insurance for digs after March 2019.
Swinson: Tories posturing over UK aid is shameless Following the Taxpayers' Alliance launch of their report attacking elements of UK aid, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Jo Swinson MP said: The UK should be incredibly proud of what our aid budget has achieved across the world. Between April 2015 and March 2018 alone, UK aid provided humanitarian assistance to a staggering 26.8 million people, including at least 8.2 million women and girls. Through the Department for International Development and its work with multilateral organisations, UK aid not only changes lives but does so in a transparent and effective way: DFID ...
Several constituents have recently contacted me regarding the condition of Logie Cemetery on Lochee Road north of Balgay Parish Church. As residents know, the cemetery is very old and long closed to new interments. At my request, an inspection of the cemetery was undertaken last Friday and the environment manager for the west of the city advised me after this ... "all memorials are in a safe condition either dug in or lying flat. The ones that remain upright have been found to be stable." The Service Manager - Environment - at the City Council has also advised me : ...
