So. I have a work meeting in London on Thursday. This would have been not unusual before March 2020, but now it is a new step into the unknown. Booked on the only Eurostar of the day for Wednesday, will stay two nights and then off to family gathering in Northern Ireland. Of course, despite my doubly vaccinated status, the British still require me to have a negative COVID test before I travel. So I hunted around last night, and I found a testing centre near the office, and booked in for 3pm today. At about 4.30 this afternoon, I ...
The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Government as new statistics reveal just 292 new "rapid" electric vehicle chargers were installed in the last three months, in spite of Tory promises to dramatically increase the number of fast chargers. The news comes as the Prime Minister's COP26 Spokesperson Allegra Stratton said she was sticking with her diesel car because of concerns about range and recharging - suggesting she would buy an EV if "the stop times for recharging improve so much that it's half an hour." Rapid chargers will charge an EV from 0% to 80% in roughly the same time ...
Responding to the report released by the IPCC* today, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said: "Climate Change is here, it's already affecting our communities, the economy and people's lives. Yet the Prime Minister still can't make his mind up whether he cares about the climate or not. This is a wake up call. "The UK should lead the world in tackling the climate emergency, instead we're showing other countries that climate inaction is acceptable." *The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Robyn Vinter is a journalist based in Leeds, and, no surprise, writes about the UK's over-centralisation, the need for devolution and stronger local governance. Her observations from Yorkshire are not, however, uniquely Northern. Here, in Robyn's piece published by 'New Local', local voices reflect widespread concerns for Local Authorities lacking authority: ... when you really dig down to the specific local issues, among the well-informed and carefully considered responses, more often than not people will talk about things that councils have little control over or are just simply not responsible for. They talk about council tax bandings, the number of ...
I miss the speed and spontaneity of blogging, even if it comes at the expense of rigour and completeness. More on those last two later. A blog feels like the right medium for a quick postscript to the much slower report I published last week, on what sector analysis can tell us about the UK'sContinue reading "Services matter, or more on productivity"
This issue we've done something a bit different by running extended pieces by Layla Moran and Michael Meadowcroft on Lib Dem strategy. Layla argues for a progressive alliance with Labour and the Greens, while Michael calls for the party to make itself matter again across the widest area possible. See which (if either) you think is right. Liberator 408 also includes: LABOUR FOR THE TAKING. 15 Far from seeking a 'progressive alliance' Liberal Democrats should "pummel the life out of Labour", says Jonathan Hunt LOST STEAM FROM MACRON'S ENGINE. 16..17 La République en Marche came from nowhere to send Emmanuel ...
The IPCC report is a big report in a big year. COP26 is less than 100 days away. A world still gripped with the pandemic is being urged to get to grip with climate change. Covid-19 has been in our communities. In our bodies. Debilitating and killing in real time. Climate change has been around the corner. Out of sight and too often out of mind. No longer. Heat bombs, floods, droughts, all predicted consequences of climate change and the strains to which human activities are putting on our planet. Yet, we still get contradictory messages from politicians. In the ...
Sun, 16:24: Too Innocent Abroad: Letters Home from Europe 1949, by Joan Hibbard Fleming https://t.co/3H0r1tHQuY Sun, 21:36: RT @karengillan: 😱😱😱 Mon, 10:45: RT @seanjonesqc: Meanwhile: I had a secret plan that would have made Brexit a huge success but the narrow-minded fools wouldn't listen and...
Make no mistake about it our Olympics team did excellently. As indeed did the England, Scottish and Welsh Football teams earlier in the summer. Every participant in the events can tell a story about sacrifice, persistence, endurance and dedication. This ... Continue reading →
Infection rates in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin have until recently been dropping by more than 40% a week. The rate of fall was astonishing. But in the last few days there are signs that the drop infection rate is slowing in England and may even have halted in Shropshire. Infection rates are now low. Restrictions have been eased. The government is urging people to go back to work. But vaccination rates among young people remain low. Young people are less likely to suffer serious health impacts from Covid-19 but a small number will suffer seriously from the disease. They ...
Liberals across the world have condemned events in Nicaragua, as the government have dissolved the main opposition party, Ciudadanos por la Libertad (Citizens for Freedom), and stripped its leader, Kitty Monterrey, of her Nicaraguan citizenship. In a joint statement, Liberal International and its regional grouping RELIAL (Red Liberal de América Latina) have said; Democrats and human rights defenders around the world are outraged that, on Friday 6 August, the regime of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua has dissolved the main opposition party, Citizens for Freedom, and stripped its leader, Liberal International Vice President Kitty Monterrey, of her Nicaraguan citizenship. These are ...
Today's Boris Johnson faux pas bring us back to the furnishing in 10 Downing Street, with a report in the Independent that the government has forked out almost £100,000 of taxpayers' money on two sets of artwork while at the same time, the Prime Minister is planning to cut public sector pay and benefits: The pieces of artwork were bought through the Government Art Collection fund, The Mirror reported. A unnamed painting by Belfast-born artist Cathy Wilkes was purchased for £70,200. The 24x28 inch piece - bought from the Xavier Hufkens gallery in Brussels - is a washy blend of ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 9 AUGUST 2021 Riverside Approach -overnight (midnight to 6.00am) temporary traffic lights from Monday 9 to Thursday 12 August for bridge parapet works. Abbotsford Place - closed for 5 days for carriageway resurfacing works. Forthcoming Roadworks Larch Street - closed from 16 August for 6 days for road resurfacing. Brown Street (at Hawkhill) - closed on Monday 16 August for road marking works. Riverside Drive Taxi Rank - closed overnight (10.00pm - 7.00am) Saturday 21 and Saturday 28 August for work at Railway Station. ...
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Belly dancing is the secret to a healthy life, says 80-year-old teacher from Shropshire
Embed from Getty ImagesOnce again, the Shropshire Star wins out Headline of the Day Award. But should she be thanking the belly dancing or the Shropshire air?
