Three months ago, I reported that my four years as Chair of Creeting St Peter Parish Council was at an end. And I absolutely meant it, having persuaded a colleague to take over. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out, as said councillor resigned last month, both as Chair and as a councillor. Naturally, the Vice Chair acts on a temporary basis until such time as Council can meet to elect a successor. That would be me then... I've discussed the matter with my remaining colleagues and they have decided that they'd really rather I return to the post. Under the ...
Here is Christopher Hitchens on American television in 1989, the year that the Iranian leadership issued its fatwa against Rushdie.
Bertrand Russell was married four times. He wed his first wife, Alys Pearsall Smith, in 1894, but decided he was no longer in love with her during a bike ride in 1901. Cambridge dons are like that. The couple first separated in 1911, while Russell conducted an affair with Lady Ottoline Morrell ("As most people did in those days" - Lord Bonkers), and Alys allowed him a divorce in 1921 so he could marry his second wife Dora. Like Bertie Wooster, Russell had an Aunt Agatha. And she proved to be of similar mettle in 1926 when Russell complained that ...
Newly qualified primary teachers in Scotland have been the victim of mismanaged recruitment planning. According to the TES this year only 50% of those who have completed their training and probationary year have found a job in the profession. This has dropped from 77% last year (which was still a rather worrying figure). And we are not just talking about full-time permanent contracts – the fact is that only half of the cohort will get any teaching job at all, whether full or part-time, permanent or temporary. Many will be forced to take up irregular supply teaching, or to abandon ...
A tart without a heart, worn dry, weighed down by drag;who claims to be professional, but is bereftof honesty, or any whore's pretence. A denizenof many sauna years, crawled briefly from the sleazethat festers, casually, among their dark corners;thinking that the light would help... Someone who flaunts their shrivelled clitand claims their arse is tight; [...]
I think at some point, every one of us has taken a hit over tuition fees; whether in a debating society, a council chamber or even on the doorstep. It's frustrating that from every achievement we made during coalition, it is one woeful compromise that is made to define our time in government. But despite the bombasts of Corbyn's comrades and so-called progressives in Labour, ours is a record to be proud of. Under Liberal Democrat policy, more young people than ever are going to university, and even more of those are coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Not only that but ...
As I sat at Euston station waiting for my train home after doing some work down there, I pondered on the five telephone conversations that I had undertaken with journalists during the day. The first three were about whether or ... Continue reading →
Tue, 13:30: RT @pmdfoster: Immense (and intensely concerning) thread. Tue, 18:13: Manifesto: On never giving up, by Bernardine�Evaristo https://t.co/a1wAjea3K6 Tue, 19:41: Yay! Daily #191 0️⃣4️⃣⬛0️⃣8️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣⬛1️⃣0️⃣ 1️⃣1️⃣⬛1️⃣2️⃣ 0️⃣5️⃣⬛1️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣4️⃣⬛1️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣6️⃣⬛1️⃣7️⃣ 1️⃣8️⃣⬛1️⃣9️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣⬛0️⃣7️⃣ https://t.co/1E46GFXTgD #sedecordle Wed, 07:28: A good start to the day. free sedecordle 0️⃣3️⃣⬛0️⃣5️⃣ LEAST - DATUM 1️⃣5️⃣⬛0️⃣6️⃣ RUMBA - SLANT 1️⃣4️⃣⬛0️⃣7️⃣ BRICK - DREAD 1️⃣6️⃣⬛1️⃣7️⃣ COVEY - SOWER 0️⃣8️⃣⬛0️⃣9️⃣ TEASE - MOLAR 1️⃣0️⃣⬛1️⃣8️⃣ SPIED - WACKY 1️⃣1️⃣⬛1️⃣2️⃣ TIGER - AGILE 1️⃣3️⃣⬛1️⃣9️⃣ MAIZE - BRIAR https://t.co/1E46GFYr6b #sedecordle Wed, 09:52: RT @AFP: #UPDATE Thailand's Constitutional Court has suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha while it hears a case against him. The ...
Until the 1980's, when the utilities were privatised by Margaret Thatcher, they were in the Public Sector. And what a success privatisation has been. It has created dozens of millionaires paid for by the general public through higher gas, electricity and water bills! The half-yearly profits of the utilities and their Chief Executive's pay are obscene. COMPANY HALF YEAR PROFITS 2022 CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S PAY EON £3.4bn £1m National Grid £3.4bn £6.5m RWE £2.2bn £3.6m Orsted £1.5bn £1.7m Centrica £1.3bn £4.5m SSE £1.2bn £4.5m Uniper £1bn £1.6m Scottish Power £925m £1.15m Drax £225m £2.7m EDF (£225m) loss £1m Lightsource did not ...
It's been a hectic summer for the Party of Wales. First, they had to contend with the highly controversial readmittance of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP, Jonathan Edwards, who had been suspended after a domestic abuse incident involving his wife, and now a Plaid Cymru Councillor is in trouble after a social media post surfaced online which showed him posing with a gun on a beach and stating that he was making sure "there wasn't any English people trying to cross the channel". The now-deleted message appeared on Councillor Jon Scriven's Facebook page on August 8. The post by the ...
Residents have highlighted to us their concerns about the poor state of maintenance at Victoria Park's Rose Garden. Fraser is pictured at the Rose Garden and we raised this concern with Neighbourhood Services at the City Council. A senior environment management officer has now updated us as follows : "I agree the area is not up to where we would like it to be but we will have the borders and grass tidied up over the coming weeks with winter works planned to carry out pruning, tidying up of paths and surrounding areas."
Edinburgh is rapidly disappearing under a blanket of waste. The strike by bin lorry staff in the city means the waste bins throughout the city are not being emptied. Roads and paths are not being cleared of rubbish. Waste food is rotting. This situation highlights just how wasteful we are as a society. It has taken only a few days for Edinburgh to begin to disappear under an avalanche of waste.
The first major speech my hero J.W. "Paddy" Logan made after winning Harborough for the Liberal Party in 1891 was on the Small Agricultural Holdings Bill the following year. Take it away, Paddy: In our villages we find men who, after working honestly and well for 50 or 60 years, and who during that time have done their utmost to save, are compelled to husband out life's tape by a pauper's pittance. In the Division I have the honour to represent the number of such cases is very great. If the House will bear with me I should like to ...
