Interviewed in costume between West End performances of a Worzel Gummidge show, here is Jon Pertwee in 1982.
Some people believe that 13 is an unlucky number. Let's hope that is the case for the thirteen candidates standing against Helen Morgan in the North Shropshire by-election on 16 December. The four main contenders are the Lib Dems, Conservatives, Labour and the Green Party. They are joined by a candidate based in Monaco, UKIP, Rejoin EU, Reclaim Party, Heritage Party, Freedom Alliance, Reform UK, an independent and of course the Monster Raving Loony Party. The full list of candidates in surname order: Andrea Christabel Allen: UK Independence Party (UKIP) Boris Been-Bunged: Rejoin EU Martin Edward Daubney: The Reclaim Party ...
Current The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve River of Gods, by Ian McDonald Last books finished Doctor Who - Ghost Light, by Marc Platt Ghost Light, by Jonathan Dennis A Beautiful Mind, by Sylvia Nasar Next books Iron Council, by China Miéville The Story of Sex: From Apes to Robots, by Laetitia Coryn and Philippe Brenot
Second frame of third section ("Holly's Story", by Holly Gaiman and Michael Zulli): Another of the Gaiman rarities that I got in a Humble Bundle years ago, and am rapidly clearing from the electronic unread shelves. This has three and a half sections, all illustrated by Michael Zulli: 0) an introduction to the historiography of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street; 1) the best bit, where Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean go looking for the original Temple Bar structure, then located in the grounds of Theobalds Park in Hertfordshire (since then, it has been moved back to ...
Earlier this week, one of the party's foremost data experts, Andrew McLean passed away. Andrew has been a great colleague to so many of us over several decades.
Nine principal authority council by-elections this week, but disappointingly only six Liberal Democrat candidates – and that's one down on the last time these wards were fought. (See here for why this matters.) Chorlton (Manchester) by-election result: LAB: 52.1% (-4.9) LDEM: 21.7% (+8.9) GRN: 20.1% (-1.0) CON: 3.1% (-1.6) WEP: 2.2% (-1.1) IND: 0.9% (+0.9) Labour HOLD. — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) November 19, 2021
Thu, 12:28: RT @xhacka_olta: Same old fake news this time in the front page of a respected paper as The Times! And btw I am not a "he" but a "she" who... Thu, 12:56: RT @AdamBienkov: Just the Culture Secretary there, trying to police what the BBC's political editor should and shouldn't be tweeting. https... Thu, 16:05: RT @mercedeslackey: Before all else: trans women are women, and trans men are men. This is something I fiercely believe, and will always su... Thu, 17:11: yes, again https://t.co/HRekNbsw9h A different perspective on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ...
A report from the National Audit Office published this morning reveals Brexit preparations hindered the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic how badly prepared the government was a major health emergency. : This pandemic has exposed a vulnerability to whole-system emergencies - that is, emergencies that are so broad that they engage the entire system. Although the government had plans for an influenza pandemic, it did not have detailed plans for many non-health consequences and some health consequences of a pandemic like COVID-19. There were lessons from previous simulation exercises that were not fully implemented and would have helped prepare ...
It was very difficult to read this article in the Independent in which some faceless apparatchik defends the slaughter of black bears in Canada to fuel their appetite for the ceremonial caps worn by the Queen's Guard, on the grounds that the synthetic version is not as good as the real thing. The paper says that the government spent more than £1m of taxpayer money in seven years on bear fur hats for the military, despite the fact that they are made from the skins of Canadian black bears, which often suffer slow deaths after being shot. Acccording to Peta, ...
Fri 19th
08:29
DON'T PANIC: Responding to our Climate Emergency - The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
Just when we reach for it, we realise The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy can only be found on the Fiction shelves. F - not SF - with barely a hint of science warped to suggest credibility. But, oh, how we chuckled at the patently preposterous existential crisis for a planet Earth where no-one had bothered to read the planning notices. But today our self-inflicted existential crisis is no comedic platform. Novelists prefer the dystopian where borders blurred by reality are fading into climatic irrelevance. COP26 (or COPout26 as some insist) reduced COP President, Alok 'down, but not out' Sharma, ...
While I am pleased to see the old boy rescued, I am (not for the first time) moved to remark that the Well-Behaved Orphans don't appear to be terribly well behaved. Still, you'd want them on your side in a closely fought by-election. The Wise Woman of Wing, meanwhile, stands alone. Matron's gin cupboard I am woken by a hand being held over my mouth. "Don't breave a word, Lord B.," says a squeaky voice. I look up to see skinny figures descending from the cage roof on ropes: the Well-Behaved Orphans! "I just needs to unlock the cage," says ...
Embed from Getty ImagesJoe has found the UK's hardest-working MP: As well as being a Tory MP for Mansfield, Ben Bradley is the leader of the Nottinghamshire County Council and a member of the Executive Board of East Midlands Councils. Both jobs apparently total 30 hours of additional work per week, raising questions as to how Bradley finds time to be an MP. The website goes on to point out that studies have found that MPs work an average of 69 hours a week. Assuming Bradley does his 69 hours, Joe calculates that his extra duties, if he works weekends, ...
