I once imagined that Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (rhymes with Gooch), who signed himself Q and edited Horace Rumpole's beloved Oxford Book of English Verse, was an austere and distant figure. Not a bit of it. When he was knighted by Asquith's government in 1910, it was for literary, educational and political services. He was a good Cornish Liberal and a Radical with it. In 1899 he chaired a Liskeard meeting against the Boer War. The speakers were David Lloyd George and the remarkable Emily Hobhouse, sister of L.T. As so often at these meetings, there were ugly scenes and Lloyd ...
Fri 20th
15:25
Survation: Majority of Conservative councillors dissatisfied with own party's performance
This week Survation reported the results of a survey undertaken in the last month. They polled 710 councillors of all parties across the UK. The results are interesting, if painfully predictable for the Tories. Survation asked the councillors to assess the local performance of their party in 2022. Liberal Democrats came out with a net satisfaction rating of +92% (which is remarkably high); Labour councillors had a net satisfaction of +73%, but the Conservatives came in with a miserable +21%. Note that this is their assessment of their local performance for which they were responsible. If you think that last ...
"Hear no evil, see no evil, say no evil", is a way of working that has been endemic in Liverpool Council for too long. Liverpool Liberal Democrats want to make the Council much more open and transparent No-one can doubt ... Continue reading →
A story has been appearing in the regional press about a cross-bench peer, John Pakington (Baron Hampton) who is, unusually, also a working teacher. He is concerned that students are using Artificial Intelligence systems to produce essays, technical designs and even works of art and then passing them off as their own. He says: There is a lot of anecdotal evidence, at the moment, that suggests that students are using AI for everything from essays and poetry to university applications and, rather more surprisingly, in the visual arts subjects. Just before Christmas, one of my product design A-level students came ...
Thu, 18:36: On Black Sisters' Street, by Chika Unigwe https://t.co/p7ztZ6jIHq Thu, 20:20: Here for the first night of "Noises Off", starring Felicity Kendal (@ Phoenix Theatre for Noises Off in London, Greater London) https://t.co/tjmLaCO00n Thu, 20:48: RT @comingupcharlie: Politics aside, here's a small thing about Jacinda Ardern I admire that I think speaks to her good character. It's abo... Fri, 06:02: RT @chengduworldcon: Important Announcement: Location Change Time Reschedule Hugo Awards Nomination https://t.co/ZZ9SoG1rVG Fri, 10:45: RT @rachelz: After the mosque attacks, my then 8-year-old wrote to Jacinda Ardern, thanking her for being Prime Minister and saying she tho...
Following on from yesterday's post about the Prime Minister's wealthy constituency being awarded £19 million of levelling up funds, the Guardian reports that an analysis of the way the £4 billion fund has been distributed has found that Tory seats have been awarded significantly more money per person than areas with similar levels of deprivation. The paper says that the disclosure is bound to provoke further fury from some regional leaders, who on Thursday accused Rishi Sunak of offering "pre election bribes": Research by the Guardian found that the money allocated so far would disproportionately benefit people in Conservative seats. ...
Four seats in three wards up in this week's principal authority council by-elections. Only one Lib Dem candidate in them, alas. Bedwell (Stevenage) council by-election result: LAB: 69.8% (+15.6) CON: 20.2% (-12.8) LDEM: 9.9% (+0.2) Votes cast: 1,299 Labour HOLD.https://t.co/V9n2VrXFpY — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) January 20, 2023
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : Our programme for 2023 starts with a new exhibition, Uncertain Territories - Women & Nature, in the Tower Foyer Gallery. The exhibition celebrates a variety of women artists and scientists from Dundee and beyond who have explored the natural world and left tangible traces through the artefacts, specimens and artworks in the University of Dundee Museum Collections. Whether through pioneering research, collecting or creating, these women have helped us to understand nature and the world around us. The exhibition runs until 1st April and is open Monday to ...
