As a collective groan not heard since I last set my students an essay rings out, I am afraid the subject of governance reforms, whilst unexciting, is far too important to leave undiscussed. In Dorothy Thornhill's recent article, she sets out the importance of having a more agile organisation and ensuring that our party is fit to fight elections. Much of this work has been ably carried out by HQ under the new CEO, Mike Dixon. The results at the Chesham & Amersham, and North Shropshire by elections pay testament to the strategic sense of shifting resources to the campaigns ...
Last Saturday, a group of Lib Dem Women attended a conference in Oxford to discuss the women's healthcare gap. Despite working in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector for 20 years, it was not a concept I was very familiar with until recently. During lockdown, I read Caroline Criado-Perez's ground-breaking book, Invisible Women, which spelled out the issue using examples of how women's health is put at risk because medical research has been dominated by men and male biology. Since then, I have had personal experience of the issue. Speaking to a professor about his PhD on platelets, cells in the ...
Second paragraph of third story of Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters ("Beyond Lies the Wub", by Philip K. Dick):'What's the matter?' he said. 'You're getting paid for all this.'Second paragraph of third story of Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets ("Exile", by Edmond Hamilton):But the four of us were all professional writers of fantastic stories, and I suppose shop talk was inevitable. Yet, we'd kept off it through dinner and the drinks afterward. Madison had outlined his hunting trip with gusto, and then Brazell started a discussion of the Dodgers' chances. And then I had to turn the conversation ...
He has been stabbed in the back. Stabbed in the front. Stabbed in the arras. Yet, like a Shakespearean character stretching out the last scene of a tragedy, Boris Johnson staggers on, keeping the audience enthralled with his gasping phases, bravado and sense of drama. It is a great drama but is it a way to run a country? There is a fear, and perhaps it is a reality, that many of the government's announcements are now all about propping up a prime minister in free fall. A clutch of backbench Tory MPs have joined opposition MPs in calling for ...
Here's the latest running tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held since the last May round of local elections.
The clear sky, the lingering frost and the emerging daylight made for a perfect start to the day. Continue reading →
Bluefield Renewable Developments is to submit plans for a solar farm near the small village of Greete, which lies between Burford and Caynham. At this stage, it has asked Shropshire Council whether it needs to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Historic England and Shropshire Council's conservation team have said that an EIA is needed to judge the impact on nearby listed buildings. One solar farm has already been built off Squirrel Lane. An application for another project on the lane is expected to be submitted shortly. We can expect this trend to continue because of the capacity to connect ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @GuitarmoogMusic: Seriously, don't put yourself at risk of #LongCovid That means avoiding Covid. I'm 44 and it has made me an invalid.... Thu, 15:44: RT @RichardBullick1: @nwbrux An interesting additional game is to guess the first five letter word of those who post their results, working... Thu, 16:05: The BBC's children's programming is a lifeline - losing it would be a tragedy https://t.co/uxWLqzvcYa "Those who assume the BBC's kids' output is not what it used to be are simply the people who don't see it." Thu, 17:11: RT @JasonGroves1: Official study into Boris Johnson's now-abandoned dream of ...
I have, over the years, had minimal interaction with medical professionals. That is possibly because I'm not the most active of people, spending my working days behind a desk for the most part, have little appetite for participation in extreme sports (or any sports, really) and my hobbies are generally not those likely to risk personal injury. But, accidents do happen, and my fall before Christmas sits neatly within the category of unexpected misfortune. And so, yesterday afternoon, I placed myself in the hands of a physiotherapist, as suggested by Ros. Joanne was very friendly, but extremely professional and, having ...
I have posted a couple of times about Boris Johnson's rather bonkers idea of a white elephant bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, most recently, here. The latest news on this though is not good for taxpayers. The Guardian reports that nearly £900,000 of taxpayers' money was spent on a study commissioned by the Prime Minister that found it would be too expensive to build a bridge or tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The paper says that the research into the feasibility of a fixed link cost £896,681: The Network Rail chair, Sir Peter Hendy, led the investigation, which ...
Five seats up for election in four different wards in this week's principal authority council by-elections. Three Liberal Democrat candidates and two no-shows for the party.
From the City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating road safety improvement works. The Order is expected to be in force for 8 days from 24 January 2022. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all westbound vehicular traffic in Perth Road from Blackness Avenue to Windsor Street. The closure will only be in place from 0930 hours to 1530 hours each day. An alternative route will be ...
I'm doing the by-election results for ALDC tonight, with the help of some strong painkillers. I had a bit of a fall yesterday and hurt my hip. Nothing serious, but it is sore. Tonight's results got the endorphins flowing though. Not one, not two, not three but FOUR gains. One gain came in one of the Toriest parts of Oxfordshire, where we haven't had a councillor for 15 years. BY-ELECTION RESULT Carterton TC, Shillbrook Lib Dem 294 Con 139 Lib Dem GAIN from Conservative First win in Carterton for more than 20 years! Congratulations to Cllr Natalie King pic.twitter.com/P8YYMq1kLL — ...
