Russia's war in Ukraine is a genocide. It's not just a land grab but a bid to expunge a nation, argues Kristina Hook. Giles Wilkes finds himself increasingly uncertain about the desirability of economic growth: "What is the right approach to value, for example, all the incomes that were generated in the ecosystem around a busted cryptocurrency? It now turns out it was just a few thousand fools throwing real or fake money at one another, consulting, meeting, emailing, writing software, and now it is all bust. Was it real GDP at the time, and now not? Never real in ...
Another week goes by, another round of up all things By-elections goes live. A noticeably quiet week for principal by-elections with one only two being contested across the country. However, a very action-packed agenda on the Town Council front and more specifically, Town Council by-elections in Westhoughton, three in one evening! As Liberal Democrats we take Town and Parish elections extremely seriously. Community politicians are the beating heart of our democracy, and we pride ourselves on representing our communities as close as possible to the people that we represent. So here we have it one hold, one gain and one ...
Fri 29th
19:43
How an 18th-century chimney sweep's boy helped Coleen Rooney win the Wagatha Christie case
Embed from Getty ImagesI suspect it was that too-conveniently lost mobile phone that did for Rebekah Vardy. As the Guardian report says: The judge was highly critical of the loss of key communications in the case. She said it was not believable that Watt accidentally dropped her mobile phone in the North Sea shortly after a legal request was made to search its WhatsApp messages. But then: There was widespread mockery in court of the loss of potentially crucial evidence by Vardy and those around her. Rooney's lawyers invoked a legal precedent from 1722 to argue that, in the absence ...
It is almost fifteen years since I first blogged about growth. My opinions have become more and more uncertain since the earliest "just boost demand already" days. Since then I have contorted in all sorts of ways. Here are some barely connected thoughts. Having opinions on growth is a little bizarre. The more I haveContinue reading "Umpteen reasons I am so uncertain about growth "
Her virtue has been easy, usedby her and others as a shortcut to a woman:as she herself describes, with talent, craft and humour,brought to bear on glorious debauchery; The cover skills of artifice – nails and cosmetics,heels and hosiery and lingerie, perfume –each one has been applied with tender careas temple gifts to raw and [...]
The BBC tells us that their weather forecasters have been trolled about their heatwave reports. Weather forecasters report unprecedented trolling during UK heatwave coverage https://t.co/W2HkB8ugWU — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 29, 2022 Tweets aimed at BBC Weather and its presenters featured personal insults and messages such as "it's just summer" – many described advice on how to stay cool as pandering to the "woke-brigade" or for "snowflakes". Other tweets accused the Met Office and the BBC of spreading "alarmism" and "hysteria", telling both to "stop scaremongering". Hundreds of people have also shared their experiences of the 1976 heatwave on ...
Yesterday Rishi Sunak agreed that he wanted to bring back grammar schools. Earlier Liz Truss had said that she wanted to end the ban on new grammar schools. I find this profoundly depressing. No-one should talk about grammar schools in isolation from the rest of the education system. They are one aspect of a selective system which sees all children placed in either a selective grammar school or a non-selective school. Each new grammar school generates, by default, at least two other schools designed for those who don't attend grammar schools. Such a system is based on three questionable assumptions. ...
Writing for The Independent, Sunny Hundal says the Labour Party should get off Twitter: It's about time the Labour Party, especially the leadership, faced up to the uncomfortable truth: we are obsessed by what's happening on Twitter and it is hurting the party. Ban it. Delete it. Avoid it at all costs. It's a wrecking ball to the party's chances of re-election. The Labour leadership and its MPs should take the decision to stop using Twitter and try life without it. Sunny is no social media luddite, having been a pioneering blogger and more. So his argument is worth a ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @AdamRutherford: MILK TIME 🥛! Have you ever considered that it's a bit weird that you drink the milk of another animal, and it's totally... Thu, 13:47: Strictly speaking, Neum is in Herzegovina, not Bosnia. #justsaying Thu, 14:31: RT @JamesAHogg2: 1/5 This is one of those days I always wished would never come. Bernard hadn't been well for several weeks but I, like all... Thu, 14:37: RT @cooraysmith: At the Doctor Who 50th anniversary shindig at the Excel Bernard Cribbins spontaneously performed a Capella versions of his... Thu, 16:05: RT @christineburns: Two broadsheets today have initially misrepresented the ...
With average annual energy bills predicted to hit £3,850 from January, triple the level at the beginning of this year, one would have thought that the energy companies are also struggling with market forces. Alas, nothing could be further from the truth. The Guardian reports that Shell and Centrica have sparked outrage by announcing huge windfalls. The paper says that Shell posted record earnings of $11.4bn (nearly £10bn) for the three-month period from April to June and promised to give shareholders payouts worth £6.5bn. At the same time, Centrica, the owner of British Gas, reinstated its dividend, handing investors £59m, ...
Two principal authority council by-elections this week, and both with Liberal Democrat candidates. Pilsley and Morton (North East Derbyshire) council by-election result: LAB: 65.9% (+34.6) CON: 29.5% (+14.4) GRN: 2.8% (+2.8) LDEM: 1.8% (-8.9) No Ind (-42.9) as prev. Votes cast: 1,223 Labour HOLD. — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 29, 2022
We have had numerous concerns from residents about the deteriorating state of the road surface at the north end of Seymour Street. We raised this with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and have received the following response : "An order has been raised for repairs to be carried out in Seymour Street. It is not currently included in the five year Carriageway Programme. However, it will be condition scored in the near future and will be considered for future works dependant on that."
