An interesting meeting partly spent in the concert room of Sunniside Social Club tonight. This is the venue where, before the pandemic, we held the monthly meetings of Sunniside History Society. Since then, meetings have been online but next week we return to having physical meetings though we are retaining the opportunity for people to attend the meeting via Zoom. Tonight was all about testing
When I first read the horrific account of Sarah Everard's murder as it was revealed in court this morning, I felt sick, and, several hours later, that queasiness remains. My heart breaks for her family who have to live with that awful reality every single day. I have nothing but admiration for them that they were able to put together such articulate, raw victim impact statements which show the strength of their love for Sarah and the daily hell they endure at the thought of the torture she went through as her life was taken from her. It takes incredible ...
The Preston to Southport Line by David John Hindle As railway books go this is one is up there with the best of them. I collect railway books covering Merseyside/Cheshire/Lancashire and also the East Midlands from where I originate so have quite a selection and rarely have I been so impressed with the content and layout of a book. To say it is comprehensively illustrated is not to do it justice as there are many well-known locations where significant numbers of photos cover different times during the railway's operation. The text is mainly there to support and indeed explain the ...
No panic buying from me! I got £20 worth of petrol for our Nissan Note today though the limit was £35. I rarely have the tank more than half full. I wasn't going to do anything different today.
Having not much else to do I listened to Sir Keir Starmer's speech to the Labour Party Conference this lunchtime. In my view it did what I assume the Party would hope: establish him as a competent, confident, capable leader with a credible background to enable him relate to ordinary people. It was short on oratorical skills, with wooden and repetitive gestures and little uncontrived humour, but a stark contrast to the buffoonery we now expect from the prime minister. Bons mots The government's routine method neatly summed up as: Ignore a problem: Blame someone else; Come up with a ...
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days, I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in recent circumstances. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. My one trip this month was to Bratislava, where I chaired a session of a conference which was sadly deficient in ...
People often ask what is the point of the British Liberal Democrats; the same question, for similar reasons, might be asked of the country's Green Party. The raison d'être of Labour seems self-evident. But the party is failing and the question needs to be asked again. A century ago Labour broke through the country's two-party ... Continue reading What is the point of the Labour Party?
Those that don't agree with vaccinating children are targeting our local schools and schools across the country. They are using a fake NHS checklist to tip the balance in parents and cares minds against vaccination. It is clever propaganda campaign because it looks convincing. It is an insidious and dangerous campaign because it aims to undermine confidence in the way that public health officials are trying to bring the pandemic under control. The fake form asks whether the parent/carer or clinician understands the answer to ten statements. No clinician would ever complete this type of assessment. Mention of a clinician ...
It's been a while since the last Tuesday council by-election, but two this week for three seats – all Conservative defences on Broadland Council, which has a full council meeting on Thursday. A full slate of Lib Dem candidates once again too, hooray. Old Catton and Sprowston West (Broadland) by-election result: CON: 50.0% (+3.5) LAB: 23.0% (+4.8) LDEM: 19.3% (-0.4) GRN: 7.6% (-8.0) Conservative HOLD. — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) September 29, 2021
This post first appeared on the Radix UK blog... "Nobody in politics seems to know what the real problems are, let alone how to fix them. The government lurches from one 'fix' to another, and seems to think that the public finances can be repaired by taxing employees and employers alone, with no additional taxation on wealth. Mr Starmer seems to think that following what Tony Blair did makes sense." Tim Morgan, Surplus Energy Economics What on earth is happening? Not only are we reeling from Brexit and the aftermath of a pandemic, but something else appears to be going ...
Tue, 18:13: 560 days of plague https://t.co/F6cph859xE Tue, 20:48: RT @SatEvePost: The Day the Earth Stood Still, the classic sci-fi film, turns 70 today. We took the opportunity to chat with actor Billy Gr...
One of the most popular speeches at this year's autumn Liberal Democrat federal conference was from Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper.
In her Scotsman column this week, Christine Jardine looks at the "perfect storm" of food and fuel shortages, health service crisis, Covid and high energy prices we are facing at the moment. She argues that the show how bad both UK and Scottish Governments are – and we shouldn't let them away with blaming Covid and Brexit for our current travails. They were failing long before then: It must be tempting for those responsible for the well-being of the NHS to blame its current predicament on all the other elements of the storm. That somehow the crisis which has necessitated ...
Devon Live reports: One of Tiverton's newest political movements has suffered a blow, after its only elected member defected to the Liberal Democrats. The Lib Dems have welcomed Councillor Siobhan Knight to their team on Tiverton Town Council. Siobahn was elected to Tiverton Town Council during a bi-election in May when she stood for LIFT (Local Independents for Tomorrow). Other members of LIFT remain on Tiverton Town Council, but had previously not been elected as representatives of LIFT... She said: "When I was elected in May 2021, I did not want to be part of a political group, thinking that ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of road safety measures during Dundee Dance Event being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Old Hawkhill / West Port / South Tay Street (between Hunter Street and Nethergate), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Sunday 3 October 2021 for one evening (5pm to 11pm). Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Access will be maintained where possible. Alternative routes for vehicles are available ...
