A sweet little film that shows the bombsites of Canterbury in 1945. Like Sheila Sim in my favourite film, young John struggles to recognise the city's old street pattern among the ruins. But We've Come Back shows you the real thing. Study the bombsites in A Canterbury Tale closely and you realise that a lot of matte painting and model-making has gone into producing them.
Yesterday I blogged about the emergence of a new political party in Leicester. So what's been happening today? Here's the Leicester Mercury (or Leicestershire Live, as it calls itself online): The Labour Party has suspended its entire Leicester East branch. The national executive (NEC) is investigating the troubled constituency Labour party (CLP) over concerns around its operation, according to an email seen by Leicestershire Live. All branch and constituency Labour party meetings will be stopped 'until further notice' and all CLP and branch officers have been 'relieved of their positions and duties' while an internal investigation takes place, the email ...
On Monday, a post from Martin Gannon, Labour leader of Gateshead Council, dropped into my Facebook feed. He asked:"Got to ask the question. What part does ATC privatisation play here? Just wondering."It's an interesting question, given the airline chaos of the day caused by a faulty system that came close to grounding the nation's entire air transport. Martin's reference to ATC (Air Traffic
I see the government have announced that, for the fifth time, they have postponed the introduction of border checks on EU goods entering the country. If I were a Brexit supporter (I am not) I would be furious at the government's inaction on the borders. After all, taking control of our borders and Britain deciding what comes into the country was a key promise of Brexit. It is yet another promise
Conservative politician Grant Shapps is a man of many guises. Not all under his own name and many of which have led others to ridicule him. But for a while in the earlier part of this century he frequent tussled with Liberal Democrats during Parliamentary by-elections. That included making claims which, when pushed to provide evidence for, he admitted he couldn't substantiate. But perhaps the strangest incident was the one about his password. Back in 2007 during the Ealing Southall by-election, where Lib Dems and Conservatives were battling to present themselves as the main rivals to Labour, this comment appeared ...
We liberals have promoted internationalism, yet recently we are in a dilemma – how to cope with China? If we isolate the China government their people are going to suffer from their government and our China policies. The West is gradually finding a realistic way to cope with China. Not only is China's help needed in areas such as climate change and economic instability, but also Chinese people's human rights will be protected by the non-isolation of China from the West. Their human rights have rapidly gone down to nearly zero: they can only follow the CCP's orders, but no ...
"Basic Income was proposed by Paddy Ashdown as a fundamental component of his Radical Agenda for the 1990s, a book published in the late 1980s. It is liberal because it recognises the agency of the individual and their contribution to society. A Basic Income, he said, 'gives security to each individual', and will also 'liberate power in the hands of the citizen'." Jane Dodds is encouraged by the success of a Basic Income in Wales and dismayed by Liberal Democrat backsliding on the policy. Richard Sanders on the way the 2017 general election has been written out of Labour Party ...
The term 'housing crisis' has been in the political lexicon for a long while - it first entered Hansard, the record of speeches and debates in Parliament, in 1919. This gives us some sense of normality when we discuss it as a party and when we consider policy approaches to housing, even in the current crisis which is rooted in the 1980s. Familiarity with the term 'housing crisis' is harmful to how we view the scale of the problem. Housing has been a ballooning problem for decades, arguably the label of a 'crisis' has been justified for much of this ...
As a long-standing advocate of Basic Income I was incredibly excited that my native Wales was the first part of the UK to pilot this policy idea. I have supported the Labour Government in this process and am following developments with optimism. The pilot is centred around young people leaving the care system. This is a particularly disadvantaged group of youngsters who ordinarily would be more or less left to their own devices when they reach their 18th birthday and are no longer considered children by the system. There is already evidence that the generous £400 per week package is ...
On Tuesday, Sunniside Social Club held their annual leek show. I didn't enter any of the competitions myself (I don't grow show leeks) though some of the people there suggested to me I should give it a go next year!Well done to all those who did enter the competitions and especially to those who won.
A craft fair was held at Marley Hill Community Centre on Saturday and I popped in, hoping that there would be plenty of cake makers. I found only one as I toured the stalls. But that was sufficient. A large piece of lemon drizzle cake was purchased. Obviously I wasn't being self-sufficient when I bought the cake but we are happy to support local bakers and crafts people.On a general point, I try
Shropshire Council's health team is undertaking a survey of local needs across the county. The survey asks about what people value most in their local areas, health services, youth provision, volunteering, road repairs, education, public transport and much more. It also seeks to assess how satisfied people are life and whether they would like to be involved in decisions about their area. I hope people will spend around 10 minutes completing the questionnaire. If we don't tell people what our needs and views are, we get and keep the services we need. This is survey for all adults not just ...
As the Conservative party is supposedly a strong supporter of the rule of law, this article in the Daily Mail must have come as a shock to the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade, or is it just that they want to enforce the rules against those who disagree with them politically? The paper reports that Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said that he backs the 'blade runners' who are vandalising ULEZ cameras, om the rather spurious and debateable grounds that his constituents have been 'lied to': Sir [Iain Duncan] Smith said: 'A lot of people in my ...
Michael's surgeries take place today and every Thursday during school term time. They are as follows : Thursdays at 5.45pm prompt - West End Campus (come to reception area of St Joseph's RC and Victoria Park Primary Schools) Thursdays at 6.30pm prompt - Harris Academy reception area All welcome - no appointment necessary!
