Wondering if it's worth going to help Helen Morgan in the last few days of the North Shropshire by-election? Wondering if it's really as close as everyone is saying in what was a safe Conservative seat? Here's what the Daily Telegraph found on the doorsteps: For Neil Shastri-Hurst, the Conservative candidate for North Shropshire, it should have been the easiest of doorknocks. Lifelong Tory voter Pearl Morris not only had a campaign poster of Mr Shastri-Hurst in the window of her detached home in Oswestry, she also lives next door to a party activist. "Thank you so much for putting ...
Current The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence, 1918-1923, by Charles Townshend Startide Rising, by David Brin Night of the Intelligence, by Andy Frankham-Allan Black Oxen, by Elizabeth Knox Last books finished Lying Under the Apple Tree, by Alice Munro "Blood Music", by Greg Bear Doctor Who Annual 2022, by Paul Lang This Town Will Never Let Us Go, by Lawrence Miles The Life of Evans, by John Peel Next books An Introduction to the Gospel of John, by Raymond E. Brown An Excess Male, by Maggie Shen King
The title of the third story in this collection is given as "Engine at Heartspring's Center", and the second paragraph, as presented here, is:She was regaining her feet, the signs in the sand indicating flight and collapse. She had on the same red dress, torn and stained now. Her black hair—short, with heavy bangs—lay in the only small disarrays of which it was capable. Perhaps thirty feet away was a young man from the Center, advancing toward her. Behind him drifted one of the seldom seen dispatch-machines—about half the size of a man and floating that same distance above the ...
Fri 10th
15:27
Lib Dems call for hospitality summit amid "unprecedented" level of Christmas cancellations
Daisy Cooper and Sarah Olney have joined with Paul Scully Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam in a letter to the government calling for urgent support for hospitality firms impacted by plan B measures. Concern has been mounting in pubs and restaurants in city centres about a drop off in trade during what is usually their busiest time of year after Boris Johnson issued new work-from-home guidance. The MPs say hospitality businesses are experiencing "unprecedented rates of booking cancellations" this Christmas. The letter is reported by City AM. The MPs say: We need an urgent hospitality summit to bring together ...
Seven principal authority council by-elections this week and it's very much a story in two parts for the Liberal Democrats.
Boris Johnson continues to battle his way through the maelstrom of criticism over government partying while most of the rest of the country obeyed the social distancing rules at the cost of a happy Christmas. But as so often happens when one skeleton is found in the closet, another is found under the floorboards. Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain today called for an independent public inquiry into the refurbishment of Boris Johnson's flat, after new leaked messages show the PM knew more than previously alleged. The party believes an independent, statutory public inquiry is needed to get to the ...
Fri 10th
12:37
"The testimony gathered by the Tribunal is horrifying" - Layla Moran on Uyghur Tribunal
Layla Moran comments on the judgement of the Uyghur Tribunal, which determined that the human rights abuses taking place against the Uyghurs constitute a genocide: This verdict proves beyond doubt that the human rights abuses taking place against the Uyghurs by the Chinese Government do constitute a genocide. The testimony gathered by the Tribunal is horrifying – detailing torture; rape; forced reeducation; forced labour, mass surveillance; forced sterilisation; cultural and religious destruction and other terrible abuses. All those who came forward and gave evidence, in the face of threats to both their own and their families' safety, have revealed the ...
Thu, 18:05: One Bright Star to Guide Them, by John C. Wright https://t.co/t86mXKXYLb Thu, 18:18: The Last Witness, by K. J. Parker https://t.co/QdSjsiK4fs Thu, 22:39: Still leaves Labour 17 seat short, even with a 6% lead - and that's on current boundaries. https://t.co/ziYg3WqWD8 https://t.co/vEb8SRmjLF Fri, 09:20: RT @five_books: "As the Philip K Dick once put it: 'The sci fi writer sees not just possibilities but wild possibilities'" —@nwbrux. From s... Fri, 10:45: RT @apcoworldwide: With #France set to hold the Presidency of the #EU starting in January, our team in Paris shares the priorities and obje...
Residents will recall that some weeks ago, I mentioned I had reported to the City Council the path from Saggar Street running along Pentland Crescent towards Pentland Avenue which had the foliage from a rather overgrown tree causing an obstruction. I have since been given this helpful update from the council's Neighbourhood Services : "In short we have imminent plans to crown lift this Weeping Willow tree and one or two other Weeping Willow trees in the same area. To prune this tree properly we require to use a platform which has been arranged."
Fri 10th
06:18
North Shropshire by-election win in sight - Johnson is the party gift that keeps on giving
As the media continues to be saturated with stories of Christmas parties past, one party is unexpectedly struggling in North Shropshire with just seven days to go. That party is the Conservatives who have gone from being strong favourites to neck and neck with the Lib Dem's Helen Morgan. And now Boris Johnson is proving he is the party gift that keeps on giving. The other political parties have been fading away as hundreds of Lib Dem campaigners have been picking up their phones and travelling to North Shropshire to leaflet and campaign. The Lib Dems are close to clinching ...
The ongoing controversy over Boris Johnson's refurbishment of the Downing Street flat reached a sort of conclusion yesterday with the Electoral Commission fining the Tory Party £17,800 for breaching electoral law. As the Mirror reports, the long-awaited Electoral Commission probe found laws on the reporting of donations "were not followed" over the costly revamp: The Tories "failed to fully report" a £67,801.72 donation in October 2020 from Huntswood Associates Limited - a firm controlled by the Tory peer Lord Brownlow. That loan included £52,801.72 for the costs of revamping the flat. But the full value was not included in the ...
