"The second Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, and has reigned over Britain since 1952. She was six weeks older than Marilyn Monroe, three years older than Anne Frank, nine years older than Elvis Presley - all figures of the unreachable past. She was older than nylon, Scotch tape, and The Hobbit. She was old enough to have trained as an army driver and mechanic in the last months of the Second World War." Helen Lewis on the end of the second Elizabethan Age. Max Ghenis, Nikhil Woodruff and Charles Bauman make the case for bringing the taxation of ...
The Liberal Democrat Conference, which was to have taken place in Brighton from 17 to 20 September, has been cancelled. Though I believe too many events are being cancelled, from the last night of the Proms to junior football, the party had no choice. Because the date of the Queen's funeral, Monday 19 September, falls in the middle of the conference. Mark Pack sets out the different options the party considered and the reasons for choosing this oneL Cancelling our Conference and postponing debates until Spring With a heavy heart, we think this is the least bad option. It means ...
I had written previously about the difficulties of getting to conference this month. The passing of Her Majesty has changed the situation. The rail strike is suspended so getting to Brighton becomes much easier. There is however no conference to attend. It has been cancelled. So my new plan it to go to Brighton anyway and to go by train. After all the hotel is paid for. I will use it as my base
Like many Liberal Democrats, I booked train tickets for the just-cancelled Conference in Brighton many months ago to save money. Advance tickets are not normally refundable, so when conference was cancelled, I was concerned that I was going to be out of pocket for the price of return tickets. When I checked, though, it turns out that there is still a COVID policy until 30 September 2022: Advance tickets can be exchanged for rail travel vouchers for any reason, so you get a full refund for the value of the ticket. I'll be using my vouchers to travel to York ...
This afternoon, Federal Board met to discuss a recommendation from Federal Conference Committee that our Autumn Conference should be cancelled. It was due to take place in Brighton from 17-20 September. The sad death of the Queen, and her funeral on 19th September, on the penultimate day, meant that FCC had to think about what to do. They spent a lot of time looking at all sorts of options, working with party staff. Both Federal Board and Federal Conference Committee are made up of people who love going to Conference. It's one of the great loves of my life. There ...
Here's the email sent out from Federal Conference Committee (FCC) chair Cllr Nick da Costa this afternoon. As you'll see, a huge amount of work has gone into scoping and evaluating a large number of options at very short notice. Many thanks to everyone, staff and committee members, who put in so much hard work on that at very short notice. Our autumn conference is the high point of my year. I've missed it deeply over the past three years and have been looking forward to it for months. It's a chance to see so many friends and colleagues, debate ...
It was extraordinary feat. The longest serving queen. Many reading this were not born at her coronation. Probably none have lived as long as her. Even as long as she has been Queen. She remained determined and constant in turbulent times, despite our country going to wars and her children's antics which absorbed the media but were of less interest to the rest of us. There has been an outpouring of grief and sorrow. Perhaps the last we will see on any scale for a monarch. In Ludlow, there are books of condolence available for signing at Ludlow Town Council ...
Next up in our parliamentarians' tributes to the Queen is Layla Moran. She shared some memories of the Queen sent to her by constituents, including her response to a wee girl who asked her why she wasn't wearing a crown. The full text is below: It is a true honour to be able to pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of my constituents in Oxford West and Abingdon. I restate the deep sorrow and sadness that many have already expressed. The ties between the Queen and the community were strong indeed. In every milestone of her ...
MPs and peers have been paying tribute to HM the Queen. We'll post the videos and text over the next few days. Here is Tim Farron's in which he tells of a good piece of advice the Queen gave him when he was a new MP. The full text is below: Cumbria mourns the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I personally, and all of us in our county, want to express our genuine and deep condolences to the royal family. We have lost our Queen, and it touches every one of us. We can tell from the contributions ...
Fri, 12:56: Janet Fielding looks back on 40 years of Tegan and the Fifth Doctor https://t.co/UNUS1sbTJl Happy birthday, Janet! Fri, 16:05: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954) - Myth Versus Reality - British Television Drama https://t.co/AsgeBRQEUK Challenging the myth that the Queen and Prince Philip rescued the 1954 repeat performance of the Cushing TV version of Orwells' classic. Fri, 17:04: Charles III has outlived all UK/GB rulers except George II, Edward VIII*, George III, Victoria and his mother. Also Scottish kings Edward Balliol*, Malcolm II, Robert II and (possibly) William I the Lion. Oh yeah, Richard Cromwell* and I suppose Antoninus Pius. * ...
In many ways, the sad death of the Queen, has deflected much of the scrutiny of Liz Trusses' package of measures to alleviate the cost of living crisis, so it is useful to go back a few days to this article in the Guardian, in which British companies broadly welcomed the six-month support scheme announced by government, which would enable some to get through the winter, but are concerned at how little detail was given on how it would work, while several business owners say they were concerned by the limited timescale of the help on offer. The paper quotes ...
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 City Fibre duct installation works. The Order is expected to be in force for eight days from 12 September 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 (1) Eassons Angle from Fleuchar Street to Milnbank Road and (2) Fleuchar Street at its junction with Eassons Angle. An alternative route will be available via Milnbank Road, ...
