Ros served on the Sponsor Body, from its shadow period until this Summer. And, as a member during the period covered by the Annual Report, she wanted to raise some of her concerns about how the Restoration and Renewal Project was going... My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Best, for his introduction and his kind words to me. It is interesting how much we can get accustomed to things over time. We turn up to this building and almost do not see the ever-encroaching scaffolding, the netting that was installed to stop masonry falling on us, the portakabins ...
As previously noted, I had hoped to be able to stop this series of posts if there was no big surge in COVID numbers, and declare the pandemic over as a constant concern. But that's not where we are. The government have just annouced that we're going back to mandatory teleworking four days a week in Belgium. I am in a special situation where I am arguably working for two different employers, so I'll see if I can get away with two days a week in Brussels, but I am not very hopeful. I'm just back from five days in ...
Yesterday, the Lib Dems announced that Helen Morgan has been selected as our candidate for North Shropshire. This morning BBC Radio Shropshire broadcast an interview recorded with, in Wem yesterday. Helen told Joanne Gallagher, the station's political reporter, that the Lib Dems have already knocked around 1,000 doors. Problems with the NHS in Shropshire, where there are difficulties in getting GP appointments and people are sometimes waiting for several hours for an ambulance, are top of Helen's agenda. The bad deal we got out of Brexit and the bureaucracy created are significant issues for farmers and small businesses. A referendum ...
UK inflation is today reported to be running at an annual rate of 4.2%. The labour market appears reasonably healthy at this point with the UK unemployment rate at 4.3%, vacancies broadly in line with unemployment numbers and labour shortages driving wages growth. Inflation, however, hits those on low and fixed incomes hardest. The high levels are being driven by higher household gas and electricity prices UK inflation. While the Bank of England expects inflation to reach 5% next year before coming back down in the second half of 2022, the Labour shadow Chancellor said households would be left more ...
New polling from Savanta ComRes shows it's not only the means of getting into the House of Commons that the public wants to change: A fully elected chamber is the most popular option chosen across: [IMG: 🌹] 2019 Lab (39%) [IMG: 🌳] 2019 Con (31%) [IMG: 🔶] 2019 LDM (44%) [IMG: ❌] 2016 Leave (29%), AND [IMG: 🇪🇺] 2016 Remain (38%) — Savanta ComRes (@SavantaComRes) November 17, 2021
I have been in a hotel in London for the past two nights and it has given me a rare opportunity to watch the telly. As you might guess I have been paying special attention to the what the media ... Continue reading →
Tue, 12:56: Britain of the welcomes. https://t.co/DrUjgiY473 Tue, 16:05: RT @reclamation2022: Our first Progress Report can be found via the link below. It's full of useful information for anyone planning to come... Tue, 16:13: RT @sundersays: DCMS Select Committee has published a witness statement from @AzeemRafiq30 about his experiences of racism @YorkshireCCC... Tue, 17:11: How Your Family Tree Could Catch a Killer https://t.co/dNDB8THTe6 This is a more than usually interesting article about forensic DNA, finishing with an appearance from a well-known science fiction writer. Tue, 18:20: December 2013 books and 2013 books roundup https://t.co/yJAkzJHFXv Tue, 20:48: RT @that_mc: Finally watching ...
Just the presence of a VIP lane for contractors should be enough to raise the alarm about a dysfunctional tendering process open to abuse, but when one of the criteria for entry appears to be the friendship of a government minister, then it is clear that something is very wrong. The latest in the long line of revelations regarding this VIP lane is reported in yesterday's Guardian. They say that a Conservative party donor who supported Michael Gove's Tory leadership bid won £164m in Covid contracts after the minister referred his firm to a "VIP lane" that awarded almost £5bn ...
I have criticised the proposal by the Dundee City Council administration to hike the Brown Bin charge to £40 a permit for the 2022 collection year and will be opposing the increase in the brown bin charge when it comes before the council's Policy & Resources Committee next week. The £5 increase represents a 14% hike - at a time when inflation is running at about 3%. It is completely unjustified and just a way of the council fleecing another £100 000 out of the Dundee public. I have always opposed having a tax on recycling and felt that this ...
The old boy is clearly planning to escape. Incidentally, there really was a Wise Woman of Wing. She is known to all the fowls of the air One solace of zoo life is that a kindly keeper leaves us his newspaper after he's eaten his sandwiches, and I have taken to reading the day's stories to my fellow inmates. Today there is much debate over the prime minister's suggestion that feeding people to animals could help solve the biodiversity crisis. Generally speaking, the lions and tigers are all in favour of the idea, while our herbivorous friends urge the provision ...
