The Guardian reports: A Conservative MP is facing bankruptcy proceedings over unpaid taxes that could result in him having to step down. In a fresh blow for Boris Johnson's embattled party, court records show a petition for bankruptcy has been filed by HMRC against Adam Afriyie, who has represented Windsor since 2005. Afriyie is described as a "litigant in person", suggesting he intends to represent himself. Under parliamentary rules, sitting MPs who are declared bankrupt have to step aside. That would create turmoil for the prime minister, whose party is already facing three byelections. Sign up to get the latest ...
Mon 8th
18:15
The Problem With Self-ID: A Liberal's Case For Reality Against Gender Identity Ideology: Part 2
Part 2: The Problem with Self-ID / Women's Rights Are Human Rights / Public Opinion
In some past years, the Campbell Award, now the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, has presented the conscientious voter with difficulties, due to the different formats of submission from different authors - how can you judge the talent displayed in three short stories against a fantasy blockbuster? This year, fortunately, all of the finalists are asking to be judged on their novels. Not all of them were supplied in the Voter Packet, but really, folks, it doesn't cost much to buy them for yourself the way we used to in the olden days. So here, judged by the novels ...
Liberator 410 can be downloaded here. This is the November 2021 online-only edition of Liberator and we hope you enjoy reading it. What's inside this issue? Alongside Radical Bulletin, Commentary, Letters, and Lord Bonkers' Diary, Liberator 410 includes: China goes fox hunting Pressure from the Chinese Communist party to suit down criticism – even in the west – is the greatest threat we face, says Ed Lucas Priti vacant The arrival of Afghan refugees exposes Home Office incompetence and Rebecca Tinsley is among those picking up the pieces of western flight from Afghanistan. JOHNSON PUTS THE CLOCK BACK 60 YEARS ...
Austin Mitchell, a wonderfully maverick Labour MP, once described the British constitution as 'whatever the government can get away with.'. A government with a big Commons majority can get away with a lot, so long as the polls remain in its favour. This government, above all this prime minister, has got away with a great deal so far, and intends to push its advantage a good deal further through changes in law and electoral regulation now before Parliament. As one of his Eton teachers remarked, Boris Johnson does not think that rules and conventions apply to him. Press commentators have ...
I did wonder whether I should bother I did wonder, whether inspiring young people to learn and find out more about the role of the Parliament, makes sense I did wonder whether I should simply "drop" my passion for the civic agenda and look for another "hobby" The most recent events in the Houses of Parliament "wobbled" my desire to do my little part and absolute commitment to enhancing the democratic process. Another scandal, another U-turn, another opportunistic attempt from the government to change the rules. "One rule for us, one for them", we heard a lot this week. I ...
Sun, 12:56: What I Learned While Cataloguing an Entire Library of 19th-Century Schoolbooks https://t.co/cKWWOwXZ5A Great on books, research, and having a writing projext, by @kalophile. Sun, 13:14: RT @ThomasByrneTD: Strong words on Article 16 and the Protocol today from John Major, a former British Prime Minister from the Tory party.... Sun, 13:15: RT @dannykellywords: RIP the magnificent Clifford Rose. Brilliant actor in everything he did, but at his absolute best/worst as quietly-spo... Sun, 15:37: The Ryans of Inch and Their World: A Catholic Gentry Family from Dispossession to Integration https://t.co/onpCd89qsx Sun, 18:15: 600 days of plague https://t.co/79jAtu3BpM Mon, 10:45: RT ...
The latest scandal centres on the alleged abuse of the honours system with the Mirror reporting that the Tories have been accused of giving peerages to donors paying more than £3 million to the party. They say that a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Open Democracy claims to have found evidence of a new "cash for peerages" scandal, as 16 of the party's main treasurers have reportedly been offered a seat in the Lords over the past 20 years. The only exception is the most recent one, who stood down two months ago: Since gaining power in 2010, ...
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats has called for a "Sewage Tax" on water companies to prevent raw sewage polluting rivers and lakes.
As the world heats, we are inevitably going to need to change in response. The questions are when we change, how disruptive that change is, and what world we are left.
What, if anything, do we learn, or reaffirm, from the 2021 double rerun of The Great Stink of 1885? The events are not, of course, directly comparable. The Victorian version directly offended the nostrils of Parliamentarians. The 2021 versions offend the nostrums of the governing Party. The 1885 stink led to great reforms - the creation (eventually) of the Public Works Loans Board to fund long-term infrastructure investment and Joseph Bazalgette's designs for the Embankment. This year's more-political stinks were first triggered by the Tories refusal to oblige privatised water companies to stop dumping raw sewage - as intended by ...
There has been a welcome fall in cases across England, and in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Ludlow. Rates however remain high. As always, we should view the trend with caution. Over the last few months, we have seen rates fall only to shoot up again very quickly. The latest data for Ludlow shows 31 cases in the week to 31 October, down from 97 two weeks earlier. It is disturbing to see that the number of hospital beds occupied by patients with Covid has shot up in Shropshire, with 60 patients now in the county's three main hospitals. There ...
I was, I admit, slightly surprised by the response of some Conservatives to scrutiny over the "Paterson affair". Nadhim Zahawi first admitted live on television that he hadn't read the Standards Committee report before, then upon it being pointed out to him that he'd voted to reject it anyway, then stated that he had "looked at it", whatever that means. Meanwhile, Alex Chalk, the MP for Cheltenham, sent an e-mail stating that Owen Paterson was wrong to lobby ministers on behalf of companies employing him, that it was wrong to conflate his case with the question of amending the disciplinary ...
Mon 8th
07:54
Lib Dems demand public inquiry into Tory sleaze scandal ahead of emergency Commons debate
Liberal Democrats demand independent public inquiry into sleaze allegations with powers to summon witnesses under oath. MPs under investigation should no longer be able to vote on disciplinary issues. The Lib Dems have secured an emergency debate in Parliament on the political sleaze scandal this afternoon.The Liberal Democrats have called for an independent public inquiry into government sleaze and allegations of political corruption, warning that Boris Johnson's Conservatives are "releasing sewage into our rivers and sleaze into our politics." The party is also demanding that any MPs under investigation for breaking parliamentary rules should be barred from taking part in ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2021 Nethergate (South Marketgait to Tay Street Lane) - closed westbound overnight (7.30pm - 6.30am) on Monday 8 November for Scottish Water work. Riverside Drive (at Perth Road) - temporary traffic lights on Monday 8 November for 2 days for City Fibre works. Lochee Road (Smellies Lane to North Marketgait) - closed eastbound from Monday 8 November for 5 days for Virgin Media work. Glamis Drive (Glamis Road to Invergowrie Drive), Eton Street and Elliot Road (Blackness Road to Cambridge Street) - ...
