I've spent the past decade and more living in a small village. Not exactly a remote one - it's not as though Creeting St Peter is out in the wilds or anything, but it is small. And one of the things that persuaded me to leave was the question of access to facilities. You see, in a small village, the chances are that, in order to do anything, you need to leave the village. There is nothing within a fifteen minute walk except the church, which isn't exactly useful in terms of a pint of milk or a loaf of ...
Hunt rules out tax cuts as Conservative soap opera continues Water bill hike: Bosses paid £41m in bonuses while customers asked to pay for upgrades Liz Truss's £18,000 golden goodbye same as five-year mortgage hit for typical Blue Wall family HS2: Rishi Sunak makes Liz Truss look like a political genius Covid Inquiry: Sunak's failure to send messages is another "Conservative cover up" Hunt rules out tax cuts as Conservative soap opera continues Responding to Jeremy Hunt's latest comments this morning ruling out tax cuts this year, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: The Conservative Party are fighting ...
Back to the bombsites. Thanks to Talking Pictures TV, who showed this film the other day, I have discovered a sport that was invented on them in the years after the war. It's cycle speedway. The Cycle Speedway History says: The sport of Motor Cycle Speedway was allegedly introduced to this Country in 1928, and it is from these humble beginnings that the sport of Cycle Speedway emerged, with a form of racing taking place before the second World War. However, it was not until the end of this war that the sport emerged in a controlled and recorded manner, ...
Mon 2nd
20:39
Former University of Leicester director of communications to sue Steve Coogan over his portrayal in ...
The Sun's archaeology correspondent writes: Actor Steve Coogan is being sued over claims he portrayed a university academic as a "sexist bully" in a film. Coogan, 57, co-wrote and starred in 2022's The Lost King, about the quest to uncover the remains of Richard III a decade earlier. Now a member of the Leicester University team that located his final resting place beneath a car park in the city is suing the star for defamation. Richard Taylor said: "I'm portrayed as a bullying, cynical, double-crossing, devious manipulator which is bad. "But when you add I behave in a sexist way ...
With Hollywood actors and writers striking over AI, and many of our favourite TV shows and movies consigned to the cutting room shelf for now, I wanted to draw your attention, dear reader, to the truly serious implications of this - the role of AI in politics. For those of you who have not been keeping up on the latest scientific literature, this was all foreseen by the writer Michael Crichton in Westworld, his searing firsthand account of how robots replaced cowboys in the American west. Yes, it's been going on for years, but as long as it was only ...
I'm not a golf fan but seeing as the Ryder Cup finished yesterday it's a good time to remember when the Cup became a rare footnote in social history. In 1975 the GB & Ireland team was going through a run of heavy defeats. The players and the press made much of the fact they ... Continue reading Has Britain lost its mind?
Are we not already doing so? You may think so. The Pre-Manifesto motion passed at Bournemouth, F23 For a Fair Deal, demands in lines 93-94, 'Repair the broken benefits social net and set a target of ending deep poverty within a decade.' But the Media reporting the Conference didn't attend to that part of the motion. And the Labour Party which we should surely be aiming to influence will remain unaware - unless we shout about that policy, which centres on our pledge at York to bring in a Guaranteed Basic Income and begin tackling poverty and ending the need ...
From 1 October 2023, operators of short term lets in Scotland must have a licence issued by the local authority to do so (or at least have applied for a licence before that date). Local authorities decide for themselves what the licence fee should be (on a cost recovery basis) and how long they last for. Good localism there. To get a licence, the property will also have to have cleared any planning issues which, together with the ability of a local authority to declare a "control zone", are ways for a local community to regulate the impact of short ...
Mon 2nd
09:09Mike Martin, Lib Dem PPC for Tunbridge Wells, on what victory looks like for Ukraine and how it can ...
The guest on Nick Cohen's latest The Lowdown podcast is Dr Mike Martin, ex-soldier, military strategist, author - and Liberal Democrat PPC for Tunbridge Wells: Mike, a senior visiting research fellow in the Department of War Studies at King's College , London, explain to Nick how the West initially miscalculated Ukraine's chances against a belligerent Russia by looking at the spreadsheet showing the relative military strengths of each country in terms of material and troop numbers. Western leaders failed to take into account other elements such as strategy, quality of leadership and that crucial of all military essences, the will ...
The Independent reports on the government admission that new post-Brexit border checks set to come into force in 2024 will cost UK companies at least £330m a year. The paper says that additional red tape on food, animal and plant products imported from the EU had been due to be phased in from October - but was pushed back amid fears the extra costs will add to inflation: A Tory Cabinet Office minister revealed the expected annual cost in an answer to a senior Labour MP, following warnings from industry it will push up prices and drive some small firms ...
It's October already, and despite the rather pleasant September that we've had, today offered a sense that the seasons are turning. And whilst the Conservatives are still in Manchester, engaged in what the Economist described as "magical thinking" (paywall, I'm afraid), the rest of us have moved on to what will happen in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, Tamworth and, of most interest to Liberal Democrats, Mid Bedfordshire. If the polls are accurate, Labour should win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, but Tamworth is supposedly neck and neck, despite Labour's recent performance in local elections there, and Mid Bedfordshire is being ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 2 OCTOBER 2023 Brown Street (south of Douglas Street) - closed for 13 months until May 2024 for construction works. Seafield Road, Dundee - closed from its westmost end (in cul-de-sac) extending for a distance of no more than 20 metres in an easterly direction to facilitate a site access for a new housing development. Commencing Tuesday 22 August 2023 for 15 months. Blackness Road (Rosefield Street to Rosefield Place) - closed from Monday 2 October for 2 weeks for pedestrian traffic signal ...
