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. The month started on a high note with the accession of Croatia to the EU, something I had helped with a ...
Two things that have happened in the past week have caused me to believe that now is the time for Liverpool Council to apologise to the thousands of people who have lost money in failed property investments in our city. ... Continue reading →
Sometimes in my browsing of family history I hit grimly interesting coincidences or anniversaries, and so it was this morning, when I realised that today is the 77th anniversary of the death of my second cousin once removed Gerard Ryan, aged 21, fighting in the Netherlands during the Second World War. His mother, Aileen Ryan née Grehan, lived to an old age; I don't know when she died, but she was born in 1890 and I remember her as an occasional presence at family gatherings in the 1970s. Her sister Magda married my great-uncle George (they were distantly related) and ...
I came across a graphic a few days ago that tries to define where Liberalism sits in the political landscape. Here it is, but you'll have to enlarge it for reading:_ One issue which sticks out for me is the supposed positioning of Liberalism between Labour on the left and the Tories etc. on the right. Well, where to start? How about the definition of Labour as a party of the left – really? Labour is a party of the working-class so it encompasses a very wide range of political opinions indeed from right to left and that is of ...
After a busy couple of weeks there were fewer by-elections on Thursday night. Polls were held in Surrey Heath, Harrow, Wigan, Billericay and Falkirk. On Surrey Heath Borough Council, Lib Dem candidate Jacques Olmo came agonisingly close to beating the Conservatives in Frimley Green ward. Well done to Jacques and the team for winning 47% of the vote. But sadly, they were just 19 votes shy of the Conservatives. Surrey Heath BC, Frimley Green Ward Conservative: 896 [48.5%, +19.6%] Lib Dem (Jacques Olmo): 877 [47.4%, -1.6%] Labour: 76 [4.1%, +4.1] In the Borough Council of Harrow, the Lib Dems achieved ...
Sat, 13:41: RT @duncan_morrow: Irish trade figures show what the real trade diversion effect of Brexit is: Imports to Ireland from GB being replaced ra... Sat, 16:02: Felaheen; Set This House in Order; Quicksilver https://t.co/waM9gs3ZPd Sat, 18:13: Just watching Gladiator for the first time. "Northern England", or as the locals call it, "Scotland". https://t.co/3YudjJINYE Sat, 18:26: RT @unamccormack: @nwbrux Lots of Englands have a Scotland... hang in that's not right... Sun, 10:22: RT @StevePeers: Mate, you're literally an unelected legislator
The Liberal Democrats have stated that, along with Labour, we will not contest the forthcoming Southend West by-election caused by the shocking murder of Sir David Amess MP on Friday. From the Evening Standard: PA news agency understands that Labour is set to follow the principle established after Jo Cox's murder in 2016 when parties which held Commons seats declined to select candidates in the subsequent Batley and Spen by-election, which was won by Tracey Brabin. As a result of that move five years ago, it is understood Labour will refuse to contest the by-election in which voters will be ...
The lack of transparency around the awarding of government contracts and the failure to rein in political donations have collided once more to raise further questions about the influence of those who give cash to government parties. The Mirror reports that a Tory donor whose father lends Boris Johnson his helicopter has won millions of pounds in government green cash. They say that Jo Bamford, son of JCB boss Lord Bamford, has set himself up in the hydrogen fuel industry - which will be big business at next month's COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow. The self-styled "green entrepreneur" bought ...
Family, pace Showaddywaddy and Kasabian, were the coolest band ever to come out of Leicester. And here they are performing on the German TV programme Beat Club in 1970. What is the song about? Wikipedia, after noting that this is one of Family's more straightforward songs. explains: Tt's about an old man asking for the "weaver of life" to show him "the patterns of my life gone by upon your tapestry". As the song gets underway, the old man recounts his childhood, his first love, and the day he took a wife; he wonders aloud how it looks on the ...
In this weekend's World Review, LDV's foreign affairs correspondent writes on the war in Ethiopia and warns that if the conflict drags on much longer then the almost certain danger is that it will spread throughout Ethiopia and then other countries in the strategic Horn of Africa. Northern Ireland and Poland's difficulties with the EU have a common stumbling block - the European Court of Justice. Have the Russians weaponised exports of natural gas to Europe? And Lebanon took another giant step towards failed state status this week when terrorists killed seven people. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has painted ...
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : We're pleased to announce that now that semester has started, our main museum venues are re-opening! The Tower Foyer & Lamb Galleries are open Monday to Friday 9.30am-7pm (we hope to resume Saturday openings in the future) and we've just created a new exhibition for the Lamb Gallery, entitled Drawn. Drawing is often seen as the fundamental basis of art, as well as being an important tool in other forms of creative thinking. This exhibition presents highlights from the University's wide-ranging collection of around 2,000 drawings. It includes ...
BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award.
