One of the advantages of our new home is that we can use public transport much more easily than we could before. Yes, we were a ten minute drive from the stations at Stowmarket and Needham Market but, even then, we were a bit limited. Whereas, from Ipswich, there are direct trains to Norwich and London, but also to Felixstowe and Lowestoft. And, when you add buses - and we're now a gentle stroll from the Old Cattle Market bus station, there are buses to Colchester, Manningtree, Sudbury, Framlingham, Aldeburgh and Shotley. Today, we took advantage of the opportunities, a ...
Sat 7th
20:38
Malcolm Saville on Children's Hour: More about Elaine Macnamara, the second Dickie Morton
A thousand thanks to the reader who left a comment directing me to a Radio Who's Who for 1947 and the entry for Elaine Macnamara, the actress who played Dickie Morton in two 1946 dramatisations of Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine books. The most I could establish was that she had specialised in playing children's roles in BBC Radio plays, but the Who's Who entry tells us about her earlier career:Started in ballet on the Continent, and was for three years with Andre Chariot at the Vaudeville Theatre, London. Appeared in many important parts in Repertory at the Festival Theatre, Cambridge. ...
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention poll from each pollster currently operating in Britain. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRUKCon leadFieldwork WeThink 28% (+1) 44% (-3) 10% (nc) 5% (nc) 6% (-1) -16% 5-6/10 Opinium 29% (nc) 42% (+3) 11% (-1) 6% (-1) 6% (-1) -13% 4-6/10 Techne ...
Restore Trust has changed the way I vote in National Trust elections, which is ultimately unhelpful for the long term robustness of the National Trust. Several seats on the governing body come up for re-election every year. The council recommend those they think best. Up till now I have looked at all the candidates. I usually accepted most of the council's recommendations, but substituted one or two choices of new candidates who I thought would bring fresh thinking or fresh skills to the council. I don't do that any longer. I accept the council's recommendations in their entirety. The danger ...
Many of you will have seen a tweet by Rishi Sunak saying he took 'long term decisions' to boost Britain's transport while travelling on a private jet (his normal mode of travel) and pandering to conspiracy theories about 15 minute cities this week. After Boris Johnson and Liz Truss most fair-minded observers didn't think British ... Continue reading HS2: Where did it all go wrong?
Here are the scores on the doors for the latest quarter of principal authority council by-elections:
So, the expected happened in the Rutherglen by-election. Labour won, and did so comfortably. What was unexpected was the size of the swing - 20% from SNP to Labour. There's nothing like a by-election victory to make a conference go with a bang. I speak from experience. There was a great feeling seeing our new by-election victors around the conference centre. Labour members will have a spring in
We will all feel very anxious about the horrendous scenes from Israel and Palestine this morning and for what might happen as a result. The Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Layla Moran has condemned the attacks and called for an end to the violence: I am horrified to wake up to such dreadful scenes of violence in Israel and Palestine this morning. Last year, I met with Israelis living in villages on the Gaza border. I am mortified to learn that these places are facing terrorist attacks as we speak. My thoughts are with those I met, and their safety, ...
Turkey is emerging as a pivotal country in the Ukraine War. As the fighting on land grinds to a bloody stalemate, the importance of naval power has dramatically increased. As far as Ukraine and Russia are concerned this means the Black Sea and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles that links the sea to the wider world. Turkey has control over these straits through a series of conventions dating back to the early 19th century. Unsurprisingly, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is using his position to extract every possible concession from the Russians, Ukrainians and NATO. At the start of the war the ...
The Mirror reports that Tory ministers have invited American rail bosses to visit Britain next week to learn lessons from the botched HS2 project. The paper says that executives from California High Speed Rail will arrive on Wednesday for a two-day trip organised by Kemi Badenoch's Department for Business and Trade: The jaunt, which is supposed to show off British expertise and best practice, comes just days after Rishi Sunak ditched the HS2 leg to Manchester. The U.S. delegation will hold one day of talks with Government officials including from the Department for Transport in Whitehall. They will then spend ...
If you are an unpaid carer in Dundee, the Carers of Dundee events page gives all the latest local and national events for unpaid carers across the city. This is an excellent resource for local people and can be accessed at www.carersofdundee.org/events
