Shell profits: Lack of proper windfall tax an insult to families struggling to pay bills Suella Braverman: Sunak must correct record if he misled Parliament Shell rebate shows government's windfall tax is failing COP27: Rishi Sunak must not turn his back on progress Shell profits: Lack of proper windfall tax an insult to families struggling to pay bills Responding to Shell announcing £8.2bn ($9.5bn) in the third quarter, around double last year's, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: The Conservative government's refusal to properly tax these eye-watering profits is an insult to families struggling to pay their energy bills. Even ...
Back to Freda Jackson, who played the villainous Mrs Voray in Joan Temple's play No Room at the Inn and also in the subsequent film. The play, like Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, was inspired by the death of Dennis O'Neill. I've come across a couple of accounts of how theatre audiences reacted to her performance. Her son Julian Bird, who became an actor himself in his sixties after a career as a psychiatrist, spoke to the Guardian: "I was brought up in a theatre family," Bird says. His father, Henry Bird, was an artist who designed sets. His mother, Freda ...
Alok Sharma lost his cabinet role shortly after Rishi Sunak picked up the keys to No 10 Downing Street. It was a shocking action. Sunak could have kept Sharma in place until after COP27. A simple act that would have shown the new prime minister's commitment to the challenge the world faces as the atmosphere and oceans heat. It would have shown a mark of respect for one of Britain's greatest champions in tackling climate change. Another simple act would be for the prime minister to attend COP27 for a day to show that Britain is not wavering on its ...
Rishi Sunak should take a leaf out of Mr Gladstone's book and give his fortune away, argues Eduardo Reyes. Leaving aside our different locations on the political paint chart of this country, I can see that Rishi Sunak wants to be first known, and then remembered, as a good prime minister. To get to 'good' he faces some fierce headwinds. But I have an absolute zinger of an idea as to how he can remove a major threat to his aspiration. Sunak, having first discussed the matter with his wife, should say they are giving up pretty much all of ...
The House magazine runs an annual poll to identify the top 100 women in Westminster. To quote from the launch publicity from The House: There are more incredibly talented women from across politics and public service than ever before, from parliamentarians, to journalists, civil servants, and activists. Some might say, yes, but there is now a shortage of women in Rishi Sunak's cabinet. Putting that to one side, we Lib Dems and liberal thinkers have a lot of talented colleagues in both houses and across the broader Westminster village. Why not spend a few minutes shouting out for Lib Dem ...
At his first PMQs Sunak twice attempted to wrong-foot Sir Keir Starmer by accusing him of being insufficiently supportive of the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU. Unlike Mrs May and Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak was a Brexiter from the start. His performance at PMQs indicated that he remains a Leaver and is bullishly unrepentant. I think this provides the Liberal Democrat parliamentary team with a wonderful line of attack. We now have a shedload of evidence that Brexit is having an adverse impact in all sorts of areas. Only last week the Financial Times issued an excellent video ...
I have solved one of the mysteries of Shropshire politics: why is the constituency called "Shrewsbury and Atcham" when Atcham is only a small village? The solution is that the constituency does not cover just the town of Shrewsbury, but also takes in a swathe of countryside to its south that stretches from the Severn to the Welsh Border. This includes the Stiperstones and the nearby large villages of Minsterley and Pontesbury. And until 1974 the local authority covering that countryside was Atcham Rural District Council. Atcham RDC was merged with the Borough of Shrewsbury in 1974. The new authority ...
Thu 27th
11:14
NALC Annual General Meeting 2022 - keeping the flame of ultra-local government burning...
It has, somewhat astonishingly, been two years since I became Suffolk's representative on the National Assembly of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) under somewhat unusual, albeit worryingly typical for me, circumstances. And, as nobody seems to mind that I continue, I'm still in post. In that capacity, I attended NALC's Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, expecting a not terribly exciting meeting but keen to do my bit for the organisation. I say "not terribly exciting" as it's an off year for elections to the Executive Board and the various committees, and the only items likely to be debated ...
If anybody had an opportunity to get the government off to a fresh start, it was Rishi Sunak. Entering number 10 Downing Street to replace the incompetent Liz Truss and the dissolute Boris Johnson, all he had to do was play it straight, not make any obvious mistakes and look the part. Alas, the internal politics of the Conservative Party, and whatever deals he struck to get thw support of his Parliamentary Party's right wing, has left him mired in controversy from day one. The Guardian reports that Sunak's decision to reappoint Suella Braverman six days after she was forced ...
Wed, 12:14: Daily Duotrigordle #238 Guesses: 36/37 2️⃣6️⃣ 2️⃣7️⃣ 2️⃣8️⃣ 0️⃣4️⃣ 0️⃣5️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣ 2️⃣9️⃣ 0️⃣7️⃣ 3️⃣0️⃣ 0️⃣8️⃣ 3️⃣1️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣ 3️⃣2️⃣ 1️⃣0️⃣ 3️⃣3️⃣ 3️⃣4️⃣ 3️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣1️⃣ 1️⃣2️⃣ 3️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣7️⃣ 1️⃣8️⃣ 1️⃣9️⃣ 2️⃣0️⃣ 2️⃣1️⃣ 2️⃣2️⃣ 2️⃣3️⃣ 2️⃣5️⃣ https://t.co/hh9bUoa7aM Wed, 12:56: A look at Monster Fun strips: March of the Mighty Ones https://t.co/1dGpwUGay3 I remember this fondly. Do you? Wed, 20:07: Weapons of Past Destruction, by Cavan Scott, Blair Shedd, Rachel Stott and Anand�Setyawan https://t.co/7Ch95UluqA Thu, 09:21: Daily #256 1️⃣3️⃣⬛0️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣4️⃣⬛0️⃣5️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣⬛1️⃣6️⃣ 0️⃣7️⃣⬛1️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣7️⃣⬛0️⃣8️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣⬛1️⃣0️⃣ 1️⃣1️⃣⬛1️⃣8️⃣ 1️⃣9️⃣⬛1️⃣2️⃣ https://t.co/1E46GFXTgD #sedecordle Thu, 10:44: Whew! Daily Duotrigordle #239 Guesses: 37/37 2️⃣3️⃣ 2️⃣4️⃣ ...
The Independent reports: Recent Tory turmoil means several sacked ministers - now back in government - are able to claim hefty pay-outs at the taxpayers' expense. The Liberal Democrats described the arrangement a "farce" and called on ministers to return their "revolving door bonus" to help struggling families with the cost of living. Dominic Raab, sacked by Liz Truss but reappointed as justice secretary and deputy PM, would be eligible to receive £16,876 despite only being out of a job for seven weeks. Steve Barclay, made health secretary by Mr Sunak after being sacked in September, would also be entitled ...
The recent political upheaval necessitates an assessment of our position as a party. How do we respond when Labour now has a large poll lead and the Tories have tanked but have a new leader? Our lack of visibility, reflected by a slight drop in our poll figures, is in part a consequence of the recent drama but is it also that we haven't yet got enough to say? The exposure of Tory Brexiteers as both morally and economically bankrupt leaves a large political space to be filled - what is the way forward for the UK? Policy positions and ...
There will be a Friends of Balgay meeting this Saturday morning at the Botanic Garden. Details below and all welcome!
I went to Vindolanda Roman fort and settlement on Friday afternoon last week. I was doing a bit of filming for a history video I am making about the Washingwell Roman fort in Whickham. I needed some footage of the reconstructed timber gateway to give viewers an idea of what the Washingwell fort would have looked like. I also used the opportunity to look around the site. It's all in the video
I am not particularly interested in cars. I have one small car for personal use and a pick up truck which is the workhorse of our farm. However, I did notice the story today that Ford will stop producing the Fiesta next year. It reminded me of my first election campaign back in 1982 in Whickham South ward in Gateshead. All out elections meant we had 3 candidates in the ward and one of them was a
