Something has always puzzled me about Desborough: where are the shops? There's a Co-op supermarket in what was the once the yard of the town's railway station and a Sainsbury's just out of town on the old A6, which I'll make the effort to visit one day, but both are 21st-century arrivals. Beyond that there are a few shops on Station Street and two or three more on the High Street, but that is it. The answer came in the form of a photo caption in the little town's excellent heritage centre: In July 1970 work began that would completely ...
Fri 2nd
18:45
"Stop that, it's silly": My instinctive reaction to the government's latest proposal on smoking
Caron Lindsay raises the question of whether we should support the government's plans to prohibit anyone born after 1 January 2009 from ever buying cigarettes. And I think she comes down on the right side: I do think that reducing smoking is a good thing. I was absolutely in favour of the legislation banning smoking in public places. It's a great thing that people under 25 have never experienced being in a smoky pub or restaurant in this country. It's meant that people with conditions like Asthma can go out without fear. I don't mind making cigarettes more difficult or ...
As of February 2nd 2024 there is a gigantic and ongoing fuss about the exact status of Labour's £28bn climate investment promise. It is probably the exact fuss that the dying and likely departing current government wants to see happen, the last Balrog-whip of an attack before they plummet into the abyss.* You can probablyContinue reading "Industrial strategy, its quantity and the Certainty Fixation"
The Warrington Guardian reports: The police and crime commissioner for Cheshire has apologised over commenting about 'schoolgirls all wearing very short skirts'. PCC John Dwyer has offered a 'full and unreserved apology' after being reported to Cheshire's Police and Crime Panel for 'misogynistic remarks' made in a council meeting... The complaint states: "Others in the room looked shocked at this comment. Within the context of the conversation, relating to violence and abuse of women and girls, this statement came across as victim-blaming and misogynistic." Oddly, the media coverage I've seen so far hasn't really included the Conservative Party being put ...
The website of Eton College promises that "Eton believes in equal opportunity for everyone irrespective of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, belief, disability or social demographic background". Before you dispatch your progeny to claim their free first-class education at this socialist paradise by the Thames, it is worth checking the "fees" section of the same website, which takes a rather less egalitarian line on the issue of "social and demographic background". There's a good article by James Marriott on The Times website about the dark side of the new-found enthusiasm for social justice that expensive public schools are exhibiting. I ...
The Guardian wins our Headline of the Day Award, despite the judges' misgivings about the lack of a capital letter in yorkshire. I pointed out in reply that the Guardian is so down on the things that "Scotland" was lucky to get one, and I tend to follow its approach on this blog. The whole story is enjoyable - I expect it to be a movie before the year is out: "I've been thinking why the world needed a story about an escaped monkey in the Highlands," Nagle added. "I've watched a lot more news bulletins in the last week ...
It is now looking increasingly certain that the only radical policy left in the Labour arsenal, a £28 billion investment in green energy, will be dropped by them before the next election, if not sooner. The Independent reports that Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has become the latest senior Labour figure to refuse to confirm whether Labour will stick to this pledge: The MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, in Greater Manchester, said it was Labour's "ambition" to carry out the multi-billion pound investment but warned that "sometimes circumstances change". The row-back from Rachel Reeves' 2021 green prosperity plan has been ...
People in the neighbourhood of Station Drive and councillors have received an update on the work to install a lift on Platform 1 at the railway station. Network Rail now hope to complete the work by the summer, pushed back from the previous estimate of completion by March. Station Drive will be closed overnight on three Saturdays, 10, 17 and 24 February to lift the lift into position. Problems with turning out of Tesco have been eased by moving the lights. The overnight road closures will not have a significant impact on the town but I will be asking for ...
A street sign at the east end of Shaftesbury Place is now missing, residents have reported to us. We therefore asked the Roads Maintenance Partnership to replace it.
