The Liberal Democrats have criticised Michael Gove for giving the go ahead to gas drilling in Surrey. In a decision published yesterday, the Conservative government announced it will grant planning permission to explore for gas in Dunsfold, by the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It comes despite concerns raised by the local community and environmental campaigners about the damage the drilling could do to the countryside and the UK's climate ambitions. In a report by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove admits that "there are significant harms to the character and appearance of ...
Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has slammed the Government as 'duplicitous' for including a clause in the new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which would allow for the reintroduction of the recently repealed Vagrancy Act. The clause allows for the Secretary of State for DLUHC to re-criminalise rough sleeping, despite the House of Commons voting to repeal the Vagrancy Act earlier this year. The Government claims that this is 'placeholder text' which will be amended at the Committee Stage of the Bill, but has not given assurances that rough sleepers will be protected from the ...
They always appear together and they have a different job every time we meet them. You know who Freddie and Fiona have become? Julian and Sandy, that's who. "No one reads political books any more" To London for a meeting with my publishers; inevitably, I find that Freddie and Fiona now work there. I show them the manuscript about my travels around Britain - the Elves of Rockingham Forest, Chesham and Amersham, my time in the zoo and my finding refuge at Camley Street. "No one reads political books any more," says Freddie. "But," continues Fiona, "we think magic realism ...
Still, Helen Hurford has emerged, blinking like a timid forest creature, to say the one thing that those producing the Lib Dem literature wanted to hear. Radio Exe reports:The Conservative candidate for the upcoming Tiverton and Honiton by-election is backing prime minister Boris Johnson, after he survived a vote of confidence by his own MPs - and says he has a new mandate to lead. Helen Hurford says she "welcomed" the vote on Monday night, which the prime minister won by a margin of 211 to 148 to remain in office, as it "draws a line under what's been happening."Elsewhere, ...
Surrey Hills is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and yet this Government, in the person of Michael Gove, has just given planning permission for oil and gas drilling adjacent to it. The report by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities states that "there are significant harms to the character and appearance of the landscape from the proposal," and that it would "degrade the quality of the setting of the AONB." But it dismisses these concerns and claims they are outweighed by the benefits of gas exploration. Where to begin? Are we or are we not in ...
The Guardian has a round-up of views across the political spectrum (although, not surprisingly, no loyal Tory MPs have contributed) under the headline "Boris Johnson survived the no-confidence vote. Can he cling on to power?". Ed Davey writes: Tory MPs are now responsible for his behaviour After months of defending the indefensible, Conservative MPs had a golden opportunity to finally put an end to Johnson's sorry premiership. Instead they doubled down, narrowly choosing to put the career of a lying lawbreaker over the good of the country. The scenes prior to yesterday's no-confidence vote made clear that the Tories are ...
The Liberal Democrats have joined with Liberal parties from across Europe to condemn the British government's proposals to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol. The annual ALDE Congress last weekend in Dublin called for genuine, workable solutions to the Protocol as opposed to the current ideological approach. This initiative was proposed jointly by the Liberal Democrats, Northern Ireland's Alliance Party and Ireland's governing party Fianna Fáil, and supported by sister Liberal parties across Europe. Liberal Democrats are urging the UK Government to abandon its plans for domestic legislation overriding the Northern Ireland Protocol - warning that it is a breach of ...
'Were we better off in the single market than we are now?' 'How would you resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol?' Andrew Marr challenges Labour Shadow Home Secretary @YvetteCooperMP.@AndrewMarr9 pic.twitter.com/Vofm0Pjy2u — LBC (@LBC) June 7, 2022 Yvette Cooper is about the sharpest politician on the Labour front bench. I'm sure the Conservatives would fear her more as Labour leader than they fear Keir Starmer. Yet her performance here is pitiful. Marr's questions were perfectly fair and wholly predictable - Labour has had six years to sort out its response to the referendum result - yet Cooper had nothing useful to say ...
Many of the problems we face today in the UK such as labour shortages or the reduction in international trade, or political turmoil in Northern Ireland can be traced to Brexit. But the only political party that wants to exploit that is the SNP. Scotland after all voted to remain in the EU and this is a useful wedge issue for them, a justification for supporting Scottish independence from the UK so that they can then apply to rejoin the EU. There is after all no other way that Scotland can realistically expect to rejoin the EU as part of ...
Tue, 12:56: The making of Prince William https://t.co/wkSBPI29tj I am not very interested in the royals, but this was interesting. "No one has ever accused him of having an imagination but, to be fair, he doesn't need one, being the object of the collective imagination." Tue, 16:05: Boris Johnson Has Only Delayed the Inevitable - The Atlantic https://t.co/1cChS7sViO The prime minister's political life once appeared to be a sweeping epic. Despite surviving a no-confidence motion, it risks being more of a tragic novella. Tue, 18:32: Signs and Symbols Around the World, by Elizabeth S.�Helfman https://t.co/MnwUS93F1w Tue, 18:53: RT @tconnellyRTE: UK ...
It was June 2012. It seems like yesterday, however it has been 10 years since I had the opportunity to meet the Queen. I just left the hospital where I was treated for kidney stones. Although I felt weak and under the weather, I wanted to be ready for the big occasion. June 2012 was also a busy month at work. In actual fact, it was a busy year for the UK as we were hosting the Olympic Games whereas Poland and Ukraine were organising the European Championship in football. The Queen came to Hatfield House to visit her cousin. ...
The level of paranoia within the Metropolitian Police has been laid bare by this article in the Guardian, which reveals that attenders at Sarah Everard's vigil were arrested by police officers who feared the event had become an "anti-police protest", according to reports. The paper says that officers claimed in witness statements first reported by the Evening Standard that they were branded "murderers" by those in attendance. Clearly, this provocation was too much for them, though there appears to be no thought to the fears of those attending this vigil, who were concerned that a serving Metropolitan Police Officer had ...
Cllr Paul Arnott, leader of East Devon district council, has joined the Liberal Democrats and thrown his weight behind their candidate Richard Foord for the upcoming Tiverton and Honiton by-election. Cllr Arnott, who was elected to the Council as a member of the Independent East Devon Alliance in 2019, has recently been re-elected as leader of the Council for a third term. He was first elected as council leader in 2020, wresting control of the council from the Conservatives. His joining represents a huge win for the Liberal Democrats, just two weeks before voters go to the polls in the ...
A party press release brings news of a boost for the Liberal Democrats ahead of the Tiverton and Honiton by-election: Cllr Paul Arnott, leader of East Devon district council, has joined the Liberal Democrats and thrown his weight behind their candidate Richard Foord for the upcoming Tiverton and Honiton by-election. Cllr Arnott, who was elected to the Council as a member of the Independent East Devon Alliance in 2019, has recently been re-elected as leader of the Council for a third term. He was first elected as council leader in 2020, wresting control of the council from the Conservatives. His ...
Further to our earlier updates about the impending closure of GP services from the Ryehill Health Centre, residents have contacted up to ask why letters - promised by NHS Tayside by the end of May - advising patients of which practice they are being transferred to from 1st July, have yet to arrive. We queried this with the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership and have been advised by the Senior Manager Service Development and Primary Care as follows : "As you have noted the impact of the Friockheim closure on the 31st May has slightly delayed finalising information for ...
