This is a nice collection of four essays by Orwell, three very short and one much longer, and I'm going to treat them separately, because that gives me an excuse to inflict Orwell's gorgeous prose on you several times. "Why I Write" Third paragraph:However, throughout this time I did in a sense engage in literary activities. To begin with there was the made-to-order stuff which I produced quickly, easily and without much pleasure to myself. Apart from school work, I wrote vers d'occasion, semi-comic poems which I could turn out at what now seems to me astonishing speed -- at ...
The Liberal Democrats have slammed Boris Johnson for having "nothing new to offer" as it emerges several of the cancer treatment targets announced today are simply re-announcements of existing policies. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: Cancer treatment is a matter of life and death for thousands of people yet Boris Johnson clearly has nothing new to offer. This pathetic rehashing of old pledges for the unprecedented challenge we face is an insult to the millions of frightened cancer patients and their families. Johnson needs to understand that there are lives on the line right now – ...
It has been the stuff of dystopian science fiction for centuries. We have read the novels and watched the dramas. The typical thread is that the normal order of society breaks down due to alien invasion of beings, mutant plants, disease or nuclear war. Or that society descends entropically into chaos because that is the natural order of things. I am a fan of dystopian writing. But I am not a fan of dystopia when it spills onto the streets and threatens democracy. Yesterday's abuse of Kier Starmer was not the usual rough and tumble of politics as some have ...
Responding to the news that BP has made £10 billion in the past year following surging oil and gas prices, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: The truth is that this is about basic fairness. It simply cannot be right these energy companies are making super profits whilst people are too scared to turn their radiators on and terrified there will be a cold snap. The government has said that a windfall tax would harm investment but this is an absolutely bogus argument. These profits have come out of nowhere, no energy company was expecting them, no investor was either. ...
Lib Dem spring conference Excellent news: alongside the virtual spring federal conference in March, there will be a Conference Live campaign training weekend piloted by ALDC: Working with partners like the Green Liberal Democrats, the LGA, and the Young Liberals, ALDC's Spring Conference Live will include a series of training and workshop discussions - all centred around the theme of winning in May 2022 and beyond. Registration for Conference Live will automatically include registration for the virtual conference, so people attending the training and workshops will also be able to take part in our internal democracy, hear keynote speeches and ...
Mon, 12:04: Am not going to link to the article in question, but I am very amused by the notion that the EU was all set to cave to Unionist demands on the Protocol until the non-Unionist political parties went to Brussels and stiffened Šefčovič's spine!!!!! Mon, 12:56: RT @MaddowBlog: "An officer filled out and signed a certificate confirming her probation had ended." https://t.co/oG8Rw4wY3V Mon, 13:32: RT @Simon_Nixon: Boris Johnson is not a complete clown, says the British prime minister's new spokesman. Mon, 16:05: The view from Ottawa. https://t.co/dRzZwCBJrD Mon, 17:11: RT @Samfr: New post just gone out from me. ...
The Liberal Democrats have calculated that each home under the zero carbon standard could have expected an energy bill saving of £200 a year.
Following the news earlier from Ealing, comes this news from Wales: The former Welsh Conservatives Member of the Senedd for Monmouth [2007-2021] Nick Ramsay has joined the Welsh Liberal Democrats... The former shadow finance minister will now stand as a Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate in the upcoming Monmouthshire council elections this May... "I have thought long and hard about the future of politics in Wales and the UK," he said. "The Conservative Party is not the party I once joined ... I have spent a long time examining the Liberal Democrats, and I find their underpinning values of fairness, community, ...
Hot on the heels of giving out incorreect crime statistics in the House of Commons and launching an unfounded slur against the Leader of the Opposition, Boris Johnson has once more been caught out misleading the House of Commons, this time on employment figures. The BBC reports that Ed Humpherson, from the Office for Statistics Regulation, has sent one of the prime minister's advisers at Downing Street a letter saying it was "incorrect to state {as Johnson did at Prime Minister's Question Time} that there were more people in work at the end of this period than the start": Responding ...
Kwasi Kwarteng has, on BBC's Sunday Morning Show, repeated dishonest comments made by Boris Johnson claiming crime has fallen in the UK, when it has actually increased by 14%. He said that the Prime Minister was right to say that crime has gone down, because "on the doorstep people are saying progress is being made." The Liberal Democrats accused the Business Secretary of having "doubled down on a blatant lie." The UK Statistics Authority last week officially rebuked Boris Johnson and Priti Patel for misleadingly claiming that crime had fallen, following a letter of complaint by Liberal Democrat Home Affairs ...
Tue 8th
07:05
Downing Street overhaul: Boris Johnson wasting taxpayers' cash during cost of living crisis
The Liberal Democrats have written to Boris Johnson challenging him to set out the cost of the merger of Number 10 and the Cabinet Office into the new Office of the Prime Minister. The party has also challenged Johnson to rule out any public money being spent on renovating the Downing Street flat as part of this change, saying "it should be curtains for Johnson - not more curtains for Johnson." According to the Institute for Government, the average cost of a departmental merger is £15 million. Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP labelled the sums as "staggering", given ...
Tue 8th
07:00
Proposed Lochee Road/Cleghorn Street road safety improvements - an update #dundeewestend
Residents will recall that some months ago, I gave an update on proposed road safety improvements at the junction of Cleghorn Street and Lochee Road. Following a number of minor accidents at the junction and my request to the then Director of City Development some time ago to improve safety and tailbacks at the junction, it was agreed to include the junction for a safety audit and implement any resulting improvements recommended. The council is now are proposing to install a section of central island on Lochee Road adjacent to Cleghorn Street, thus preventing any right hand turning movements into ...
