In my role as chair of Sunniside History Society, I attended an event at the Tanfield Railway recently to celebrate the lives and contributions of the steam railway and the History Society of Vic and Sheila Gascoigne. We also donated £100 to the Tanfield Railway to help ensure this great historic asset continues on our doorstep. Vic and Sheila both passed away last year and this was our
There was a time when the Labour vote in Sunderland was weighed rather than counted. Those days are now gone. In recent local elections Labour's losing streak has seen a whole strong of seats lost to a variety of opponents. Labour's decades of one party rule is being replaced by multiple parties. Quite how long Labour's majority there will last is an interesting debating point.One seat that
Fri 1st
19:25
The government is levelling down democracy: we must redouble our electoral reform efforts
The UK government's Elections Bill and the repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act are part of a clear strategy to entrench Conservative dominance and weaken our democratic foundations. Rather than merely oppose calls for positive change – such as perpetual Conservative opposition to Proportional Representation and begrudgingly working within the framework of fixed-term parliaments - this government is on the offensive. We must push back against these regressive changes with our positive vision of a fairer, more inclusive and truly representative democracy. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act isn't perfect but fixing parliamentary term-lengths and election dates created an even playing field ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:"You're a big girl," she told the scalding hot waterfall as it gushed into the tub. "Big girls don't get bent out of shape by little things," she told herself. Like losing her job. "Big girls deal with divorces. Big girls deal with getting pregnant while they're at school, putting the baby up for adoption, finishing med school, and retraining for another career when they don't like the shitty options they get dealt. Big girls cope with marrying their boyfriends, then finding he's been sleeping with their best friends. Big girls make CEOs shit themselves when ...
Labour MP Jess Phillips said today that she would have got into Police Officer Couzens' car, just as Sarah Everard did. Phillips said "almost anybody would" and she is right. Most police officers are honest, dedicated public servants who deserve our trust. But the statements by the Met saying that if we feel scared we should ask "very searching questions" and then if we aren't satisfied scream, run away, flag down vehicles are all missing the point. How should we know when to feel that something isn't right with an arrest? Warrant cards differ across the country, so there is ...
Current Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson The Unofficial Dr Who Annual 1972, ed. Mark Worgan The Wych Elm, by Tana French John Quincy Adams: American Visionary, by Fred Kaplan Last books finished De Walvisbibliotheek, by Judith Vanistendael and Zidrou Mama Bruise, by Jonathan Carroll Reflected, ed. Peter de Rijcke Gods and Tulips, by Neil Gaiman Love, Fishie, by Maddy Gaiman Next books Time Must Have a Stop, by Aldous Huxley City of Miracles, by Robert Jackson Bennett
BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award.
A party press release brings the news: Following sentencing of Wayne Couzens and further revelations about the Metropolitan Police, Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has called for a Royal Commission into male violence against women and girls and for misogyny to be immediately declared a hate crime. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said: Enough is enough. Since Sarah Everard's tragic death, 80 women have allegedly been killed at the hands of men. It is time to treat this issue with the most serious response possible. The undermining of the authority of the police around the safety ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @IsabelHardman: I have to say I find the emphasis that the Metropolitan Police are putting on Couzens being an "ex" police officer prett... Thu, 18:05: September 2021 books https://t.co/XwH81J6oSd Thu, 18:05: September 2021 books https://t.co/cph8QNO9Ov Fri, 08:57: RT @pietercleppe: EU citizens will no longer be able to enter the UK with only an ID card, from today on. An unnecessary drag on tourism to... Fri, 09:08: From today, that is. https://t.co/KJvF7Z3u4G Fri, 10:45: U.S. Executives Often Make Ransomware Payments, But Maybe Not For Long https://t.co/wuaQ7gyOzZ My colleague @JaySolomon on cyber crime.
Fri 1st
10:13Ed Davey calls for Royal Commission to look at ways of ending men's violence against women and girls
Following yesterday's sentencing of Sarah Everard's murderer and further revelations about the Metropolitan Police, Ed Davey, has called for a Royal Commission into male violence against women and girls and for misogyny to be immediately declared a hate crime. Ed said: Enough is enough. Since Sarah Everard's tragic death, 80 women have allegedly been killed at the hands of men. It is time to treat this issue with the most serious response possible. The undermining of the authority of the police around the safety of women means that only the most senior form of inquiry into this matter will do. ...
With the impending resurfacing of Blackness Avenue from next Monday (4th October), Services 17 (Xplore Dundee) and 73 and 204 (Stagecoach) will be temporarily re-routed as follows : XPLORE DUNDEE : 🚧 Roadworks on Blackness Avenue (phase 1) 4th Oct onwards Affected routes: 17Due to roadworks on Blackness Avenue (between Blackness Library and Seymour Street) for two weeks from Monday 4 October, service 17 will be diverted as follows:Towards Whitfield: Normal route to Blackness Avenue, then via Hyndford Street and Perth Road. Normal route resumes from Perth Road.Towards Ninewells Hospital: Normal route to Perth Road, then via Perth Road and ...
