Another Thursday goes by, another action-packed week of by-elections comes with it. As always we have the tail of the tape with all the ups, downs, close calls and no-contests. In a snapshot; two Liberal Democrat holds over at Dacorum, a huge Lib Dem gain in Manchester and three other holds for Labour and Conservatives across the country complete this week's super 6 of by-elections. It is only fitting that we begin in the great city of Manchester which hosted a shootout between the Lib Dems and Labour over at Ancoats and Beswick. The full By-election canvassing machine had been ...
I did once try making my own dog biscuits, but even I found this a bit of a faff. Continue reading →
Second paragraph of third chapter:One of the more plausible interpretations of The Shining covered in the documentary movie, Room 237 (2012), is that the movie is a reworking of the Theseus and the Minotaur myth. At the end of the film Jack dies inside a hedge maze, a location that Kubrick added to King's novel. The association of Jack with the Minotaur is foreshadowed elsewhere in the movie: there are moments when Jack appears taurine-like - as if he's a bull about to charge; there is a poster of a skier who looks like the Minotaur beside another of a ...
The full Agenda or Spring Conference 2022 (11-13 March) is now out. There are full range of motions on a diversity of topics and, as such, probably at least one instance (if not many) whereby something has been proposed in relation to a particular issue which you may yourself disagree with. That is where amendments come in. Both business motions (concerning how the party operates internally) and policy motions (concerning our position on and policy proposals for a particular external issue) are subject to amendment. The deadline for amendments is Monday, 28 February 2022. The Federal Conference Committee (FCC) runs ...
There's an episode of "Yes Prime Minister" in which the PM's principal private secretary, Bernard, explains to Jim Hacker that prime ministers don't actually do much. I think it's the one in which Hacker is suffering from jet lag and keeps falling asleep after his successful (ie well covered by the media) visit to the US President. Hacker is anxious that, after his few days' absence, there must be a huge backlog of work for him to catch up on. Bernard carefully enumerates: Chairing the Cabinet: two hours a week Prime Minister's questions: 2 x half an hour a week ...
I first discovered 'politics' when I was about 16. I'd just entered the sixth form, having taken only four years to do my O-levels and had joined the Debating Society (yes, we had them in inner city grammar schools in Leicester back then). It was at the time of the 1959 'Life is better under the Conservatives, don't let Labour ruin it' General Election, that pitted 'Supermac' against the cerebral Hugh Gaitskell at a time when the two main parties were still mopping up around 90% of the votes and, or so it seemed, nearly 100% of the seats between ...
Sun, 15:43: RT @WilliamMcGowa15: https://t.co/yQYJFymPEm Sun, 16:26: The spiritual progress of William Charlton Hibbard https://t.co/ZAkgLR1USN
Writing in today's Times, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey says that Boris Johnson has spent much of the past two weeks shacked up in his parliamentary office pleading for his own skin. Meanwhile, one hundred thousand Russian troops have massed on Ukraine's border threaten the largest military action in Europe since the Second World War. Telling the Tories they need to get a grip fast, he warns that the gas Russia supplies to Europe could fall by up to 30 per cent and that already high gas prices will treble or worse. Liberal Democrats have called for a "Robin Hood ...
The Independent reports: Boris Johnson's has been urged to crackdown on a loophole which could allow post-Brexit freeports being used to launder dirty money, as peers move to stop illicit finance from Russia and elsewhere. Eight English ports are to be granted tax breaks by the government in a bid to generate more trade after the UK's exit from the EU. The Liberal Democrats are attempting to amend the government's tax bill to stop freeports extending the "London laundromat" across the country. Tabled by Lib Dem peer Baroness Susan Kramer, it would mean freeports could only qualify for tax relief ...
It is fair to say that if the Tories had continued to follow the agenda of investing in alternative energy sources set by Ed Davey and the Liberal Democrats when they were in government, the near doubling of domestic fuel bills, due to happen in a few months time, would be nowhere near as severe as expected. Of course, it is not too late to pick that policy up and run with it, except that key members of Boris Johnson's government, rich enough to easily absorb the additional costs of our reliance on fossil fuels, and to hell with the ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2022 Perth Road between Glamis Road and Seymour Street - rolling 2 way temporary traffic lights for 3 weeks starting Monday 7 February for City Fibre works. Lochee Road (Smellies Lane to North Marketgait) - closed eastbound from Monday 7 February for 4 days for Virgin Media work. Forthcoming Roadworks Westgrove Avenue (Farington Street to 8 Westgrove Avenue) - closed from Tuesday 15 February for 4 days for Scottish and Southern Energy Network work. Riverside Drive (near Wright Avenue) - overnight (6.00pm to 6.30am) and off-peak ...
