I've posted videos on the lost stations of Oxford, Cambridge and Norwich. They're all excellent stations in their way, but don't you find them a little modern? So let's go to York. I photographed York Layerthorpe (7:50) when I was a student in the city and, though Osbaldwick was long gone by then, walked further down the Derwent Valley Light Railway to Dunnington station. There's another thing. At 4:30 in the video you can see a sign on the cutting side spelling out YORK. The whole thing was cast in concrete, with the letters formed by bare earth. It was ...
Alex Massie is not impressed by Dominic Raab: "Why should champagne be reserved to those with the right credentials? Why, for that matter, is there something self-evidently ludicrous about a working-class person enjoying opera? Should she know her place and appreciate that somewhere such as Glyndebourne may never be her kind of place?" In a very real sense, Dominic Minghella was at school with Steve Bray. David Baddiel on acceptable and unacceptable Jewish Jokes: "There is a somewhat idiot notion abroad, in the endless commentary on comedy online, that jokes either punch up or punch down, and one is evil ...
VAT cut: Ministers need to stop dithering and act now Suspending Chris Pincher should never have taken this long Concern Over Cardiff Council Plans to Tackle Begging Southwark Liberal Democrats Demand More Ambition in Plans to Tackle Air Pollution VAT cut: Ministers need to stop dithering and act now Responding to reports the government is considering cutting VAT, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine said: Families across the UK are facing a cost-of-living emergency. Ministers need to stop dithering and act now. Liberal Democrats have been calling for an emergency VAT cut for months. It was a key part of ...
It was earlier in the morning than I would like, and I hadn't actually seen Tarragona in daylight, but sometimes, a traveller has to do what a traveller has to do. Tarragona has two stations, one in the city, served by regional trains from Barcelona, the other a twenty-five minute bus ride away from the city's bus station, thankfully conveniently located for my hotel, which is served by high speed trains between Barcelona and Madrid (amongst other places). Camp Tarragona was purpose built, and is a sleek glass and concrete building with all of the things that you really need ...
"You know who else only had one ball?" The Evening Standard wins our Headline of the Day competition.
A trip back to my original home county of Nottinghamshire was called for, so with Sheila and daughter Jen off we went to once again discover my roots. My main objective of this particular trip was to watch cricket at Trent Bridge following in the steps of my Dad George Robertson and Grandad Bill Robertson, but there'd other highlights too. Our first stop was Edwinstowe to have a look at the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest:- Then a visit to see a relative living only a couple of miles away from the Major Oak in the lovely Nottinghamshire countryside. Our ...
Paul is not, alas, playing in the matches going on at the moment, but when he saw that the All England Club had hosted refugees from Ukraine at the Championships he wrote to the AELTC reminding them that we have refugees from other countries in the Merton and suggested that they should give them the opportunity to enjoy the tennis as well. The Club have replied to him saying that that they had reflected on what he had said and were delighted to now be hosting refugees from Afghanistan and Syria who were living in Merton and Wandsworth on the ...
At midday today I took part in a call which gave the results from the Council's consultation process on what form of governance they want for the City. The first thing we must note is a derisory response rate to ... Continue reading →
Since the General Election in 2019 two million extra people will have found themselves paying tax in the higher income tax band. Now my first reaction to that news was to think that, when there are serious levels of poverty, then taxing the wealthy is the way to go. But a comment in the Mirror by former Lib Dem MP (and Pensions Minister) Steve Webb made me think again: Paying higher rate tax used to be reserved for the very wealthiest, but this has changed very dramatically in recent years. The starting point for higher rate tax has not kept ...
The Guardian reports that evidence of the negative impact of Brexit on the UK's trade with the European Union is starting to emerge with EU data showing that exports to the bloc declined by nearly 14% in 2021 compared with 2020. The paper quotes Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president and Brexit negotiator, who said that even with the impact of the pandemic being taken into account, the increase in red tape since the transition period ended in January 2021 has taken its toll on trade in goods and services with the UK: "One result of Brexit was the return ...
Hello! I'm Mark Pack, author of Polling UnPacked: The History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, as well as 101 Ways To Win An Election and Bad News: what the headlines don't tell us. Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention poll from each pollster currently operating in Britain. Below the table, you'll find the option to sign up to email updates about new polls and also a set of answers to frequently asked questions about political polling. Or, if you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how ...
Here's the latest tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held since the last May round of local elections.
Ten principal authority council by-elections this week. Only six Liberal Democrat candidates this time around, though at least the four wards all without a Lib Dem didn't have one last time either and one ward with a candidate this time didn't have one last time. Let's start off the results with some unabashed good news: another Lib Dem gain. Bridlington North (East Riding of Yorkshire) council by-election result: LDEM: 57.1% (+57.1) CON: 31.5% (-39.5) LAB: 5.0% (-23.9) SDP: 3.7% (+3.7) YRK: 2.7% (+2.7) Votes cast: 3,416 Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) June 30, 2022
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 Scottish Water sewer repair works. The Order is expected to be in force for two weeks from 6 July 2022. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Thomson Street from Seafield Lane for a distance of 50 metres or thereby in a southerly direction. An alternative route will be available via Perth Road, Roseangle and ...
How I want to see David Hemmings' first film as a director! It's called Running Scared, stars Robert Powell, was shot on the Grand Union Canal at Braunston in Northamptonshire and released in 1972. An article on the Braunston Marina site says it: sits neatly at the end of the three great movies made of the canals - Painted Boats in 1944 and The Bargee in 1962, all recording the working canals in their final days. And as for the ending: It is followed by Tom going berserk and finally killing himself by crashing his sports car over the A45 ...
