Embed from Getty ImagesAn unexpected figure turns up in a Guardian article about Rutland ("England's secret foodie heartland"): the former England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard, who played throughout the classic Ashes series of 2005. Hoggard turns out to run a school of barbecue cooking - Hoggy's Grill - at Manton on the southern shore of Rutland Water. Sarah Baxter, author of the article, explains this move: Unsure what to do after retiring, he finally decided to focus on what he loves most - eating and drinking, ideally outside, with flames - and opened Hoggy's in 2020. It's not such a ...
Second paragraph of third episode:Nevertheless, in a show of civic dedication, or mindless bloodlust - and they really are so similar - Night Vale's librarians have banded together in defiance of authority to reinstate Summer Reading. Colorful posters with appealing statements like, "Get Into A Good Book This Summer!" and "We Are Going To Force You Into A Good Book This Summer!" and "You Are Going To Get Inside This Book, And We Are Going To Close It On You And There Is Nothing You Can Do About It!" have appeared overnight around the library entrance and in local shops ...
It was sad news that the Company undertaking the huge changes at Lime Street went into administration yesterday with all the loss of jobs and grief that this will entail. However, some good my come of it if we use ... Continue reading →
A party press release brings the news: The Liberal Democrats have demanded that the Conservatives finally bring in long-delayed legislation to tackle money-laundering through UK properties as soon as Parliament returns later this month. It comes as the latest revelations from the Pandora Papers suggest that £4 billion worth of UK property has been bought using offshore firms. The Conservative government still hasn't introduced legislation to establish a public beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property, despite promising it nearly five years ago. A draft bill was published in 2018 and was mentioned in the 2019 Queen's ...
Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Climate Emergency and Energy, has taken aim at the Tory government's energy policies: The Conservatives have utterly neglected the UK renewables industry to the point where coal power stations are being fired up. They need to come clean on a firm end date to fossil fuel use in the energy sector, but Boris Johnson studiously avoids this topic. It's insulting that the Prime Minister is talking a good game on green electricity whilst families are left feeling the pinch this winter, thanks in no small part to the UK's overreliance on gas and ...
Responding to reports about a prominent Conservative donor in the leaked 'Pandora papers', Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "It is simply wrong that wealthy donors get privileged access to Conservative Ministers, while millions of people and small businesses have been excluded from their support throughout the pandemic. It's even worse when those donors are seemingly implicated in corruption themselves. "The Electoral Commission should launch an immediate investigation into these allegations. The Tories must comply with this investigation and explain what they are doing to stop the flow of dirty money into the UK and apparently into their ...
Responding to Dominic Raab's comments on the Human Rights Act, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Alistair Carmichael MP said: "This Conservative Government's attacks on human rights and the rule of law must stop. "Trying to weaken people's ability to challenge the Government just because the courts sometimes rule against you is the act of dictators and despots, not democrats. "Liberal Democrats will oppose any attempts to water down the Human Rights Act and will always defend individuals' abilities to challenge the government and uphold their rights."
Responding to the news that Boris Johnson does not support making misogyny a hate crime, Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP said:"Violence against women and girls is endemic in our society. Since the tragic death of Sarah Everard, 80 women have allegedly been killed at the hands of men. We need stronger political leadership for a huge culture change. "The Prime Minister today ruling out making misogyny a hate crime shows just how out of touch and tone deaf he is. "Making misogyny a hate crime is a crucial step at the heart of reforming our criminal justice system, ...
Tue 5th
13:11
Pandora papers: Foreign property ownership law must be introduced when Parliament returns
The Liberal Democrats have demanded that the Conservatives finally bring in long-delayed legislation to tackle money-laundering through UK properties as soon as Parliament returns later this month. It comes as the latest revelations from the Pandora papers suggest that £4 billion worth of UK property has been bought using offshore firms. The Conservative government still hasn't introduced legislation to establish a public beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property, despite promising it nearly five years ago. A draft bill was published in 2018 and was mentioned in the 2019 Queen's Speech, but the law still hasn't been ...
In the Guardian, Sarah Olney is quoted calling for protection for workers in the forthcoming takeover of Morrisons: It would be a great shame to see local teams lose their stake in the future direction of the business. With uncertain economic times ahead, the new owners must pass the key tests of not loading the business with debt, not cutting jobs, and critically, protecting existing working conditions. There is particular concern that the supermarket will be "heaped with debt and stripped of assets as a result of the company's pending takeover". You can read the full article here. * Newshound: ...
Responding to the news that the Government has only received 127 visa applications from EU HGV drivers, Liberal Democrat Business Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: "The Government's sticking plaster solution to recruit drivers at the last minute has been exposed as a dismal failure. "Ministers knew that their new immigration rules were worsening the HGV driver shortage for months, yet they sat on their hands and waited until it was too late. This lack of leadership has let down all those people still struggling to fill up their tank and go about their daily lives. "The Government must urgently treat ...
Mon, 15:26: https://t.co/A48ZcyVLFO Mon, 18:50: Dominion, eds. Zelda Knight and Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald https://t.co/9xWoGdvW4s Tue, 10:45: RT @Frances_Coppola: If you make people feel thoroughly unwelcome, they don't want to come here. Who knew? https://t.co/bC0vR8QAEt
Tue 5th
10:10
Six hours without Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - is social media now vital infrastructure?
Social media is central to our lives. It is arguably essential to our lives. Many of us believe it is helpful to our lives, though some blame it for the evils of the world. When Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went offline for six hours yesterday, there was immediate outrage about the outage on Twitter but of course the other main social networks had been silenced. The outage interrupted important council business for me. On the other hand, there were no distractions as I tucked into dinner and prepared for sleep. And I slept well. Perhaps, we should shut down social ...
Tuesday morning's excellent Politico Playbook email brings promising news for the Liberal Democrats from new focus group research: Kekst CNC's James Johnson, a former aide to Theresa May, conducted two recent focus groups: one in red wall Blyth Valley, where Ian Levy is the first Tory MP to represent the constituency since it was established in 1950, and one in blue wall Esher and Walton, where Dominic Raab faces the very real prospect of losing his seat to the Lib Dems... Worryingly for the Tories — and Raab in particular — the focus group in the middle class Brexit-skeptic blue ...
In an article for The House, Wendy Chamberlain, the only woman former Police officer in the Commons, says that the murder of Sarah Everard is a watershed moment to tackle serious and systemic failings at the heart of the Police. It's a great follow-up to her interview on Sky News on Friday. She describes how the abuse of power of Sarah's murderer has led to a loss of trust in not just the Met, but Police across the country: As a former police officer myself, I still carry the responsibility of my service with me long after I stopped wearing ...
Leisure and Culture Dundee has advised that, with the further easing of restrictions, library hours at Blackness Library are being increased from this week. Full details are available at www.leisureandculturedundee.com/blackness-community-library
Choosing Psul Simon and Anji as Sunday's music video, I quoted Wizz Jones. But who, I hear you cry,.is Wizz Jones? Wikipedia tells us he has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 1965 to the present. He has worked with many of the notable guitarists of the British folk revival, such as John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. And the blurb for this video on YouTube says: Wizz Jones, one of the first British Beatniks, and noted folk-blues musician, performs two of his songs and talks about his life in this documentary from 1960, which provides an illuminating ...
I took this at about 8am this morning on the way to feeding the animals. A rainbow over Sunniside. Sadly, there was no pot of gold at the end of it. Instead, in Johnson's Brexit Britain, there's no gold (no lorries to deliver it) and it was all a myth anyway. But at least the rainbow looks nice.
