Embed from Getty ImagesThe actor Sir Antony Sher has died at the age of 72 - there is a tribute to him in the Guardian by Michael Billington. It was Sher's performance as Howard Kirck in the BBC adaptation of Malculm Bradbury's novel The History Man that bought him to public notice. But before that he had enjoyed great success at the Liverpool Everyman playing Ringo Starr in Willy Russell's John, Paul, George, Ringo ... & Bert. He was not the only future star in the band: John Lennon was played by Bernard Hill and Paul McCartney by Trevor Eve. ...
It's been internal elections day for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, including these two pieces of news: And that one of my oldest and best friends, @lang_towers has been elected Convener of our party. [IMG: 🔶] pic.twitter.com/nGduLr6i8U — Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP [IMG: 🔶] (@agcolehamilton) December 3, 2021
Fri 3rd
17:41
Johnson panic visit to North Shropshire a cynical attempt to gloss over decades of neglect
Commenting on Boris Johnson's visit to North Shropshire today, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: The Prime Minister turning up in North Shropshire is nothing less than a panic visit, two weeks out from the election because he's scared of an upset. His visit will be seen for what it is – a cynical attempt to gloss over the fact that people are worried sick about ambulance wait times and feel taken for granted. The people of North Shropshire are ready to send a message to Johnson's government: their local health services have been failed, ...
Current The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien Lying Under the Apple Tree, by Alice Munro This Town Will Never Let Us Go, by Lawrence Miles The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence, 1918-1923, by Charles Townshend Last books finished The Last Defender of Camelot, by Roger Zelazny (2002) - did not finish Shanghai Sparrow, by Gaie Sebold Beautiful World, Where Are You, by Sally Rooney Le dernier Atlas, Tome 3, by Fabien Vehlmann A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine Staring At The Sun, by Julian Barnes Ann Veronica, by H. G. Wells The Secret, by Eva Hoffman ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:Another mindless new experience was the school assembly, which was held every morning in the main hall that passed also as a gymnasium. Mr Hall would address the pupils and then the music teacher, Mrs Hicks, would play some classical music on some beat-up old mono record player. I became very familiar with Ravel's Bolero and Greig's Peir Guint suite [sic] as a result. The most painful part of assembly though was the singing of hymns. We had all just been issued with new, plastic-covered hymn books, very tasty to nibble on, and it was from ...
After Tuesday's council by-election there were another ten principal authority contests on Thursday, along with the Old Bexley and Sidcup Parliamentary by-election.
As if it were not bad enough that the government wasted billions of pounds of public money on buying useless PPE and giving contracts to a dodgy VIP list, the Guardian reveals that this may just be the tip of a large iceberg in which administrative incompetence saw fraudsters cream off even more cash. The paper quotes a National Audit Office report which has identified that the government failed to guard properly against fraud in its £47bn Covid emergency lending programme for small businesses, opening itself up to billions of pounds of losses. The NAO says that the bounce-back loan ...
Yesterday our government proudly announced that it had signed contracts for an extra 114 million vaccines (that's enough for two each) which would "future proof" our protection for the next two years. Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: Thanks to the Vaccines Taskforce, we have an excellent track record of securing the vaccines the country needs to keep this virus at bay. These new deals will future proof the Great British vaccination effort - which has so far delivered more than 115 million first, second and booster jabs across the UK - and will ensure we can protect ...
Cash for unpaid carers amounts to 87p a year, Ed Davey told the Independent yesterday. This comment followed the publication of the government's long delayed white paper on reforming funding for social care. Ed Davey said that the funding on offer over a three-year period was an "insulting" response to the sacrifices made by millions of people who have cared for disabled or ill family members and other loved ones during the pandemic. They are now at "breaking point" after months without respite. Ed Davey said: Millions of people across the country are making huge sacrifices to look after loved ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @FinancialTimes: Opinion: Boris Johnson's character and his government, with its taste for brinkmanship, mistrust of diplomats and campa... Thu, 17:19: This is the only place where I have seen the raw numbers. Barnier lost out by 1209 votes. (He turns 71 next month.) https://t.co/nhGr0uskZP Thu, 17:20: RT @Mij_Europe: All 3 losing candidates have backed @vpecresse. If she can win @lesRepublicains nomination on Sat she will be 1st ever offi... Thu, 18:08: Image of the Fendahl, by Simon Bucher-Jones (and Terrance Dicks) https://t.co/dj9DOyhe1C Thu, 21:48: COVID, day 15 https://t.co/7EII0QrLzB Fri, 10:44: RT @KatyJayne101: If anyone needs cheering up ...
Do you remember what you were doing on the evening of 16 April 2015? The chances are you were in front of your telly, as I was, watching the seven leaders' TV debate in the run-up to the general election. I have a distinct memory of that night: I became aware I could sum of what six of the seven parties stood for in three or four seconds, but the one I struggled with was my own party. We must be careful not to make too much of the 'Do people know what we stand for?' line, as politics is ...
Conservative Louie French won the suburban London seat yesterday but the vote saw the Tories' majority of nearly 19,000 slashed to just 4,478. The by-election had been called after the death in October of the well-liked former cabinet minister James Brokenshire. French won 11,189 votes, well head of the Labour challenger Daniel Francis who gained 6,711 votes. The turnout was low at 34 per cent compared to almost 70 per cent in the constituency at the 2019 general election. Labour increased its share of the vote by over 7 per cent while the Conservatives' share of the vote fell by ...
Residents have drawn to my attention the rusted goalposts at the Eton Street/Oxford Street/Elliot Road playing field area. I have asked environment management at the City Council to repaint them.
It's a while since we had a least-used station, so let's join Geoff Marshall and guest as they visit Bordesley in the West Midlands. When we first meet them they are at their Whitlocks End.
