Braunston is famous as one of the centres of the canal system, but there's much to enjoy in the village itself. We'll have to look inside All Saints church one day to see some wood carving by an unexpected hand. The old windmill did teas in its garden last time we passed through on a family canal holiday, but as that was at least 52 years ago, I was prepared for things to have changed. It was also at least 52 years ago that I suggested to my mother that Nibbit was a famous local rabbit after whom the had ...
Chris Naylor will fight the South Shropshire constituency for the Liberal Democrats at the next general election. He told the Shropshire Star: "I'm delighted and honoured to be selected as South Shropshire's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Lib Dems here. I promise to do all I can for local residents. "I want to build on the success of our previous Lib Dem MP here, Matthew Green - and win back this seat to give our residents, our rural issues, a stronger voice in Westminster. "South Shropshire and our particular problems are sadly being taken for granted by this exhausted, infighting ...
At the last full council meeting in Gateshead, Labour submitted a motion for debate. Labour motions here tend to be wordy affairs but the nearly 600 words in the motion on 25th May is probably a new record even for them. A helpful summary is: ask the government to pay for the pay increase demands of those in local government. At Lib Dem group meeting a few days before full council, we discussed
David and I were looking forward to a visit to the Hoppings on Newcastle's Town Moor on Friday evening. Given the dry weather we have ensured for the past few weeks, we felt it was tempting fate to take cagoules with us. Almost as soon as we left the house, the rain started. By the time we got to Newcastle, it was clear it was not a passing shower. We abandoned the Hoppings plan in favour of
Sun 25th
18:02
Who is right about the combined Labour and Conservative share in polls? - The Week in Polls
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: Questions about whether some pollsters in this Parliament are recording figures that are too high for minor parties has long been part of informed polling punditry, whether it is doubts over the figures for Reform found by many pollsters or pondering about who is getting the Green share most accurately. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and you can sign up below to receive future editions direct to your email inbox:
YouGov polling claims 15% of people are saying it is not acceptable to drink a cup of tea during even an informal work meeting.
This article is a list of the recommendations made by Shropshire Council's Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Ludlow (LCWIP) along with my additional proposals. For most LCWIP proposals, I comment on whether I support them or not. For some, I make no comment in this gazetteer because my opinion doesn't boil down to one line. For a full explanation of all of the proposals, along with maps, see a Movement Strategy for Ludlow. The report includes a table of contents and an index. Search this post to see if there are recommendations for your street or area. See ...
Over the last couple of months, we have been discussing proposals put forward by Shropshire Council for walking and cycling in Ludlow. This was an uneasy process based on a technical report known as LCWIP. We saw a lot of controversy, even anger, about proposals for improving walking and cycling around Ludlow. Proposals to reduce traffic have too often been rebuffed with vitriolic comments, including claims that the proposals are part of plans to restrict people's freedom of movement. They are nothing of the sort. We do need to reduce congestion in the town centre but not necessarily in the ...
Embed from Getty ImagesRemember this? Now, more than any time in our recent history, we will be judged by our capacity for compassion. Our ability to come through this, won't just be down to what government or business can do, but by the individual acts of kindness we show one another. The small business who does everything they can not to lay off their staff. The student who does a shop for their elderly neighbour. The retired nurse who volunteers to cover some shifts in their local hospital. When this is over, and it will be over, we want to ...
This week David Cameron wrote a gushy article for the Independent on how proud he was to have introduced same sex marriage. I was prime minister, driving forward a bill that would allow gay people to get married. The opposition was fierce, from the Church, sections of the press, a number of party members (one even tore up their membership card in front of me), and from some of the MPs I was hoping would help to turn the bill into law. People assume now that equal marriage was inevitable, that the bill sailed through Parliament without difficulty. It's true ...
United States Did Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden talk this week? On the surface it would seem they did not. Blinken spent a constructive few days in Beijing repairing Sino-American relations, at least to the stage where the two sides were talking to each other even if they were failing to agree on very much. Then, almost as soon as Blinken steps off the plane, his boss calls China's President Xi Jinping a dictator. The Chinese foreign ministry immediately responded by attacking Biden's comments as "blatant political provocation." The American president is well known for his ...
So I thought I would watch some Glastonbury to see what music the young people enjoy. And who should I find there but Sparks, a band I loved when I saw them on Top of the Pops 49 years ago. Those were the days of This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us and Amateur Hour. Russell Mael pranced about like an overgrown choirboy. while his brother Ron played a keyboard, looked sidelong at the camera and occasionally, terrifyingly, smiled. Legend has it that John Lennon rang Ringo Starr to say: "You won't believe what's on television, Marc ...
I am absolutely livid this morning. I watched in disbelief as Rishi Sunak, without so much as the tiniest bit of empathy, said we all have to "hold our nerve" as interest rates rise higher than they have been in decades. That is not going to go down well with the millions of homeowners who face having to find an average of £2900 more a year if they are unfortunate enough to have to remortgage in he next year as their fixed terms come to an end. This is on top of the double whammy of high inflation and energy ...
Attending the 'iSing' concert at the Philharmonic on Monday was definitely the icing on the cake for my week of work and pleasure! I was at an event at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic last Monday when I was asked by ... Continue reading →
Friday was the seventh anniversary of the Brexit vote and as a result we have been subjected to the odd bit of gloating by Brexiteers, who are clearly inhabiting a different world to the rest of us. Just in case the likes of Nigel Farage et al have missed it, Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian sets out precisely how that vote has left the UK poorer and more isolated in the world: We don't need to rehearse on this seventh anniversary all the ways in which Brexit has disappointed even those who voted for it. Farage and Redwood, along with ...
Sun 25th
08:33
UK Autophagy Network and the importance of autophagy for health (Healthspan and Longevity)
On 19-20 June 2023 I attended the conference of the UK Autophagy network. They have a website for the conference here and https://twitter.com/autophagyuk is their twitter account. This was a really interesting conference. My degree is in Physics specialising in Theoretical, Atomic and Nuclear physics. However, I have spent a lot of time reading up on molecular biology in the last few years.
