We left the Willow Brook as it disappeared towards the Midland main line after the Cobden Street bridge. You have to be intrepid and in a group to follow it under the railway, so thanks to the Walk About Wazzock and the rest of the crew. Because the culvert they take us through is extraordinary. It's much larger than I expected and perhaps and indication that the Willow Brook could be fearsome before it was tamed by flood prevention work. As the commentary keeps saying, it looks like a railway tunnel. The Great Northern Railway line to Leicester Belgrave Road ...
Tue 2nd
21:32
The Spectator tries to have fun with Liz Truss's Lib Dem past again, but she made more sense in thos...
Liz Truss once suggested that "the age of criminal responsibility should come to us with the right to vote" in an article titled "So why can't kids have the vote?" tweets James Heale, the editor of the Spectator's diary column. He leads us to another gentile attempt to embarrass Truss over her Liberal Democat past. This time the item is mainly about an article she wrote for Free Radical - then the organ of the party's youth wing. Maybe it will outrage Spectator readers and Conservative members, but this article (reposted here to annoy the Man) seems to me to ...
One fo the delights of the beginning of August is always the publication of the Autumn Conference agenda. It came out today and you can read it here. There are clear print and plain text versions too. Conference takes place in Brighton between 17 and 20 September. For the first time in many years, I can't go and I'm really gutted about that. It really is one of the highlights of the year and the first time in 3 years that the Lib Dem family will be getting together. You can see when all the debates and keynote speeches are ...
Is it just because I'm older now that I think popular culture doesn't evolve as quickly as it used to? I don't think it is entirely. Compare 1961 and 1971 and you might as well be comparing two different planets. Compare 2012 and 2022 and the differences are much more subtle, even if I'm not the best person to spot them. The reason for this preamble is that I have found another conjunction of musicians from the Sixties and Seventies who feel like they come from different eras. Let's give it my Trivial Fact of the Day Award. In the ...
Do you remember that incredibly funny sketch in a Morecambe and Wise programme with Andre Previn? Previn is trying to conduct an orchestra whilst Eric Morecambe plays the accompanying piano - terribly. When Previn challenges Morecambe, Ernie patiently explains to ... Continue reading →
It's just over a month since Richard Foord achieved one of the best results in by-election history. Last night the Conservative leadership candidates continued their race to the bottom at a hustings in Exeter. Richard reflected on their performance, saying that they had learned nothing from his win: Tonight's debate showed that Sunak and Truss have learned absolutely nothing from their Tiverton and Honiton by-election defeat. This is a dismal contest between the former Chancellor who repeatedly hiked taxes and a Foreign Secretary who sold out West Country farmers with botched trade deals. Rural communities across Devon spoke with one ...
Mon, 18:13: Moon Zero Two, by John�Burke https://t.co/mSnuy1UEWW Mon, 20:48: Daily #169 1️⃣0️⃣⬛0️⃣9️⃣ 1️⃣9️⃣⬛0️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣1️⃣⬛0️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣2️⃣⬛0️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣3️⃣⬛1️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣6️⃣⬛0️⃣7️⃣ 0️⃣8️⃣⬛1️⃣7️⃣ 2️⃣1️⃣⬛1️⃣8️⃣ https://t.co/1E46GFXTgD #sedecordle Just squeezed in! Tue, 10:00: RT @MSmithsonPB: The Truss plan to cut the pay of nurses, firemen and other public sector workers outside the South East can best be descri... Tue, 11:16: RT @sigridschollen: Ik blijf het hilarisch vinden dat de @de_NVA in Leuven zich opwindt over "2 talige" borden van OHL, maar niet eens merk... </ul
In her Scotsman column this week, Christine Jardine reflects how the "multicultural, diverse and joyful" Commonwealth Games opening ceremony reflected modern society and mused on the role sport has had in furthering the cause of inclusion. The mechanical raging bull, dragged into the stadium by women representing chain makers from the industrial revolution, was almost uncomfortable to watch. A reminder of who we were, the journey we have made and the journey we still have to make. The statement by Malala Yousafzai about the welcome she had received when she first came to the city that she and her family ...
Hot on the heels of Shell and Centrica announcing huge windfalls, BP has become the latest multi-national to hand billions of pounds to its shareholders after tripling its profits to nearly £7bn in the second quarter of the year amid high oil prices during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, even as families struggle in a cost of living crisis. The Guardian reports that the FTSE 100 oil company said its preferred measure of profit, which it describes as its underlying replacement cost profit, rose to $8.5bn (£6.9bn) between April and June. That is up from $6.2bn in the first three months ...
The Liberal Democrats have long been vocal in their support for Ukraine against Russian aggression. However no Liberal Democrat MPs were included in the 287 MPs banned from entering the Russian Federation in April. However, Scottish Lib Dem Leader Alex Cole-Hamilton found himself at number 14 on a list of UK politicians and journalists, including Keir Starmer and David Cameron,who were banned yesterday. According to the Russian Foreign Minisry they "contribute to London's hostile course aimed at the demonization of our country and its international isolation." Alex was pretty chuffed by the news that he is no longer allowed to ...
Residents will recall that we have campaigned for Blackness Road / Blackness Avenue / Balgay Road junction road safety improvements following a number of accidents at the junction. We have now been advised of the detail of the council's road safety improvements. Please see image of these. The council's road safety team leader has further advised : "The main body of the works and completion are currently programmed for the month of September. Exact date of these works to be clarified later once I receive an update from our contractors."
On Wednesday 13th July there was a hearing in my case against Sonia Poulton. There have been a lot of technical hearings and it has been back and forth with costs going each way. So far, everyone has made a net loss. For example, as MHN points out, there have been a number of mixed costs orders. The difficulty is Sonia only reports the ones that go her way, but fails to mention things that do not
