In a couple of recent articles journalist and historian Andy Becket has pointed out that not only do the Tories have a greater proportion of the media prepared to tell their stories, they also tell them better. The catchy summary of the current story is "Build back better." Before that was "Get Brexit done." Not too long ago (was it Mrs May's premiership?) we had a "Long-term economic plan." Not only are their stories made memorable by a three-word summary, the are also not averse to bending the truth more than a little in their telling. When our children embellish ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:'Certainly,' replied the man who was calling himself Mr Fisher. He unbuttoned his jacket, shifted forward in his seat and gave the psychic his undivided attention.I am familiar with Adams' Whoniverse writing (includes a particularly good Torchwood novel), but this is a different series, the middle book of a loosely linked trilogy about the Clown Service, a secret British government agency fighting paranormal terrorism. Dark forces are attempting to cause a high-level conference between the UK and South Korea to disintegrate in acrimony and mysterious deaths (always accompanied by hyper-localised rain and a spectral bride). The ...
You may not realise it, but those empty shelves, the unfuelled car of Kirstie Allsopp, and thousands of pointlessly culled pigs all mark the "birth pangs of a new economic model." Get over it, we are heading to prosperity, this is what it looks like. The gist of the idea is simple, and much-rehearsedContinue reading "Britain is trying to shrink its way to prosperity. It doesn't work."
It is just possible to read Parag Khanna's latest work and take comfort in our prospects here in Europe's troubled offshore island - but that optimism (as learned when coding in the late 60's) - is a Multiple IF statement. The likelihood of a positive outcome is dependent on passing a series of successively dependent tests, each with its own probability of success. IF this, IF that, and IF something else, THEN this may be. Optimists may rejoice that the ELSE, and the timeframe, remains unstated. Even the far-seeing Parag Khanna can only divine a favourable outcome for Britain 'despite ...
I was having a conversation with my old political buddy Andrew Blackburn the other day and we talked of who we would have in our team if we were the US President. It was re-watching the 1st season of The West Wing which inspired this conversation. It must be one of the best series that I've seen on the TV. So anyway here goes with my personal list of West Wing characters and some personal additional aides. Those in brackets are the actors playing the parts in Season 1:- The President (Martin Sheen) - Me of course! – Delusions of ...
Have you noticed the hierarchical language that is often used by public service providers? Local authorities, and others, are required to 'engage' with residents. 'Citizen empowerment' is offered as a gift by government. Even those of us involved in politics fall into the trap and sometimes talk as though it is government that drives society; we talk as though it is government that is the main source of welfare for citizens; and we talk as though it is government that creates successful communities. We need to turn this on its head. We need to talk instead of government dependent on, ...
Wed, 12:56: Hugo Book Club Blog: Location Matters https://t.co/PdaNy3YooN A good quick roundup of the bids for the 2023 Worldcon. Myself, I am voting for @Winnipegin23. Wed, 16:05: Very sad news. https://t.co/q93GMmBPt6 Wed, 18:12: May 2013 books https://t.co/eqb0sQASTS Wed, 18:29: Wise words from @bjhbfs: After the end of the transition period The leader of Traditional Unionist Voice Stated at a fringe meeting at the Manchester Convention Centre That the manufacturing sector Had forfeited the confidence of Unionism https://t.co/lIYQhSDX89 Wed, 18:34: RT @bagatsen: @nwbrux The Brechtxit Solution. Wed, 23:52: RT @Mico_Vlahovic: Brdo Declaration, Oct 6, 2021. https://t.co/ue35du0xoA "The EU reconfirms its ...
We have just seen a £20 a week cut in universal credit, national insurance is going up for everybody but the super-rich, the demand for food banks continues to grow, furlough payments have ended leaving many people jobless and worse off, and wages are struggling to keep pace with inflation, having barely recovered fron the pandemic, yet a Tory MP is claiming that £82,000 a year is not enough to live on. The Independent reports on the view of Worthing West Conservative MP, Sir Peter Bottomley, that some MPs are finding it "really grim" to live on a salary of ...
The Sunniside History Society met in person last night for the first time in 19 months. It was great to be back. It will take time to build ourselves back up to 60 members attending each month but 35 attended (both in person and online, more than I expected. Good talk by David Goldwater on the most recent excavations of the Roman town and fort of Vindolanda in Northumberland, just south of the
I can't say I am happy with this. The fundamental rule on planning is that committee members must consider all the evidence before them and that should be all the available evidence. But a report written for the committee on traffic at the Gaskell Arms Junction was not available until two days after the Southern Planning Committee approved the application for redevelopment of the former power station site at Buildwas. I challenged this but that challenge has now been rejected by the chief monitoring officer who says if councillors had seen the report, they would not have made a different ...
For the second time the Guardian and investigative newspapers across the World have brought into the public view a huge treasure trove of documents, the Pandora Papers, which relate to the way that the wealthy conceal their wealth from us ... Continue reading →
I have today heavily criticised Dundee City Council for yet further delays in bringing forward proposals for residents' priority parking in the West End - a year and a half after the council undertook consultation meetings with local residents over the issue. I have been continually asking the City Development Department to bring the outcomes of the consultation with the public to committee together with recommendations to improve parking for residents. There is clearly good support for a residents' priority parking permit scheme as long as it is reasonable and affordable as it would make it much easier for local ...
