I'm reading Sad Little Men, Richard Beard's sparkling polemic about what boarding school does to the little boys who grow up to be our leaders. In passing, Beard has provided our Trivial Connection of the Day. Because, not surprisingly, he discusses the work of the Canadian-born sociologist Erving Goffman on total institutions. While doing so says: Professor Goffman also has an interesting sister, an actor who played the Fonz's grandmother in Happy Days and who was later a favourite of David Lynch. That was Frances Bay who, sure enough, turns out to have appeared in Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks: ...
Another junior minister has resigned. That makes a total of nine resignations this evening – four Tory aides, two senior cabinet ministers, one junior minister, the trade envoy to Kenya and the vice-chair of the Conservatives. (That almost works to the tune of "The twelve days of Christmas") With great sadness I am resigning as Solicitor General. I won't be doing media interviews. pic.twitter.com/8kr9ecRECg — Alex Chalk (@AlexChalkChelt) July 5, 2022 What will tomorrow bring? * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active ...
While the cabinet was falling apart this evening I was at the Showcase in Leicester watching Drawn to War, a biographical film about the artist Eric Ravilious. There weren't many other people there - I suspect this is more one for the Phoenix crowd. I enjoyed the film greatly. It's wonderful to see Ravilious's paintings on the big screen - in the wonderfully varied palette he got from his watercolours he reminds me of another of my favourite artists, John Sell Cotman. Ravilious died at the age of 39 when his aeroplane disappeared off Iceland in 1942 - he was ...
Chancellor and Health Secretary gone. How long before the Prime Minister is gone too? A House of Cards built on lies and deceit comes crashing down. Go and go now. You have discredited our great country long enough. — Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) July 5, 2022
Ernest Hemingway wrote of bankruptcies that they happened gradually, then suddenly. It seems, this evening, that this is also true of moral bankruptcy, as the Chancellor and Health Secretary have handed in their resignations. BREAKING: Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak quit - throwing Boris Johnson's future into doubt https://t.co/cuELcqINg2 — The Guardian (@guardian) July 5, 2022 More news and commentary as we have it... * Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice.
The Beeching Report led to the closure of many branch railways during the 1960s. But for many years stubs of these lines remained open to provide access for good trains to industrial sites. One such was the branch from Little Eaton Junction on the Midland main line a couple of miles north of Derby station to a coal-washing plant at Denby. It is still marked in my 1978 Rail Atlas of Britain and was to survive until 1999. In fact the track was not lifted until 2011. This branch represented the greater part of the former line from Little Eaton ...
There's a worrying report in the Guardian today about the way black children not treated as children when they encounter the police and legal system: black girls are often not seen as children, but rather as "hypersexual beings". Black girls are perceived as being more responsible for their actions, more emotionally strong and more knowledgeable about sex. Equally, young black teenage boys who are exploited by criminals are treated as offenders rather than as in need of help. But that word. "Adultification" has six syllables. If you are looking to raise public awareness of this problem, then find a better ...
I really am surprised at some of the nonsense that is being talked about the next steps that could be taken in the City following the Governance consultation debacle. As I argued in my last blog, I warned that there ... Continue reading →
The Liberal Democrats have today tabled an amendment to backdate the government's delayed windfall tax, raising an extra £3 billion from oil and gas giants to help with the cost of living. The party is pushing for a vote on the amendment in Parliament today, putting pressure on Conservative MPs to back the move. After months of calls from opposition parties, the Government announced an emergency levy on the super profits of North Sea oil and gas producers with effect from 26 May 2022. The Liberal Democrats, who were the first party to call for a windfall tax in October ...
Mon, 18:37: Best Graphic Story or Comic Hugo,�2022 https://t.co/xafLj0eCLP Mon, 20:44: Daily Octordle #161 8️⃣4️⃣ 🕚9️⃣ 5️⃣🕛 6️⃣🔟 Score: 65 https://t.co/j7MjyMDtNS Mon, 20:45: Daily Quordle 161 6️⃣5️⃣ 4️⃣7️⃣ https://t.co/Cm9zc2fDBW https://t.co/hvZVVEF9up Mon, 20:48: RT @law_and_policy: That Chinese embassy tweet - on international obligations and moral hazard https://t.co/qGC0mw2m8c https://t.co/D03DyV... Tue, 08:30: RT @GregHands: It makes perfect sense to control the size of government and ask why & where it has grown since 2016. It makes no sense to... </ul
The list of Boris Johnson's lies and evasions is almost as long as the list of aides, Ministers and MPs who are prepared to go on the record in supporting and enabling him, and once again, it seems, the latest spin has been found out to be untrue. The Guardian reports that the Prime Minister's claim that he was not aware of prior specific allegations against Chris Pincher is falling apart, after a former top civil servant wrote a formal letter to allege that Downing Street's version of events was untrue. The paper says that Simon McDonald, who had been ...
Tomorrow - Wednesday 6th July - at 2pm! Dundee has an exceptional collection of over 600 sculptures, murals, mosaics and other forms of public art. As part of the Public Art Dundee initiative, university museum curator Matthew Jarron will lead an informal walking tour round artworks in the Blackness area, including ceramics, murals and mosaics, many created as part of the pioneering Blackness Public Art Programme 1982-85. Please meet outside the School of Life Sciences at the top end of Old Hawkhill. Participants take part in these walks at their own risk. Please wear appropriate footwear. There may be uneven ...
