NHS national conversation: Govt must show ambition to fix Conservatives mess or "risks becoming a talking shop" Social Care: Govt kicking the can down the road yet again McArthur responds to First Minister "wrestling" with assisted dying NHS national conversation: Govt must show ambition to fix Conservatives mess or "risks becoming a talking shop" Responding to the government's announcement that it will begin a 'national conversation' about the future of the NHS, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: The government must show the ambition needed to fix the awful damage done by the Conservatives to the NHS and care, or ...
The video of Jimmy Page playing skiffle as a 13-year-old is well known, but here he is six years later being interviewed about his work as a session guitarist. It was tweeted by Nikki Kreuzer. Jimmy Page, age 19, still completely unknown, June 1963, interviewed in Guernsey, Channel Islands, about his session guitar work. He had only been playing guitar for 4 yrs and hoped to one day become an accomplished visual artist, financing his artwork with his guitar playing. pic.twitter.com/0XTl1gWdJk — Nikki Kreuzer (@NikkiKreuzer) September 25, 2018
We hardly ever use our landline. We've actually turned the ringer off, because so many of the calls we get on it are scams and it became a real annoyance even just to go to the phone check the number of caller ID, say, I don't recognise that number, and leave it. To test whether this was just a perception, or based in reality, I took the numbers off our call list which has a maximum of 80. The calls were in the period February to March this year. 61 of the 80 calls logged were from numbers I didn't ...
More good news for the Liberal Democrats in Bromsgrove, following the by-election win from Labour with a 27% swing. This time it's about a councillor joining the party: Bromsgrove Liberal Democrats look set to become the biggest opposition party on the district council after Coun Sam Ammar joins their ranks. The former Labour and independent councillor, and current chairman, has made the switch which means the Lib Dems are the authority's second biggest party behind the Conservatives. Councillor Ammar, who represents Charford ward, said: "I am delighted to join the hard working team that has been an effective and constructive ...
I really ought to get better at producing this mostly erratic column. After all, with all those new MPs on the green benches, the prospects of decent coverage of our Parliamentary Party in the Lords fall somewhat, and they're still as busy as ever... We'll start with a quick trot through the business for the week. There are four Bills before their Lordships' House this week: the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill – intended to enable the transfer of the remaining passenger service franchise back to Government control. the Crown Estate Bill – intended to widen the borrowing and ...
Judging by my Twitter feed, British liberal opinion is unanimous in the view that Donald Trump, as well as exhibiting increasing signs of senility and having an unpleasant smell about him, is bound to lose next month's election. As a corrective to this unwarranted optimism, here's a link to a piece by Nate Silver giving 24 reasons why he may win:This election remains extremely close, but Donald Trump has been gaining ground. One of my pet peeves is with the idea that this is Kamala Harris's election to lose. I could articulate some critiques of her campaign, but if you ...
With Kim Leadbeater's Private Members Bill on Assisted Dying comes up for its Second Reading at the end of next month, now is a good time for us to be talking about the issues involved and why it should never be a choice for those facing a diagnosis of a fatal illness between giving them a choice when and how they die if they wish or providing them the best quality palliative care to allow them to live as long as possible. Both are needed and the debate about the bill must not be about choosing between the two. Much ...
Volunteers from Planting Up Whickham yesterday stripped clear all the flowerbeds on Church Green, despite the weather being against us. My job was to supply lots of empty animal feed sacks and then take away all the sacks, by then filled with garden waste, to my farm. It took two journeys to transport everything. The waste will remain in the sacks to let it rot down and convert into compost
As I may have noted before, I'm a parish councillor in a small, but perfectly-formed, village in Suffolk's Gipping Valley. And, generally, the role isn't that stressful. After all, my council provides no services of a life or death nature, nor do we provide services which impact hugely on people's lives, like education, social care or housing. But, even here, there can be contentious issues which impact on us. Planning applications for example, and whilst we have no decision making powers there either, as a statutory consultee, our residents expect us to represent their views to the powers that be. ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 21 OCTOBER 2024 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 until November 2025. Blinshall Street (Douglas Street to 50 metres south) - closed until December 2024 for construction works. Douglas Street (Blinshall Street to Brown Street) - temporary traffic lights until December 2024 for construction works. Brown Street (south of Douglas Street) - closed until ...
The Independent reports on a warning by a senior MP that ministers and AI developers are locked in an "arms race" with criminals and rogue states attempting to use the technology for harm. They say that Chi Onwurah, who chairs the science, innovation and technology committee, has told the paper that the "creativity and focus of criminal enterprises on adopting technology is unimaginable". They add that the Labour MP has stressed that AI should not simply be seen as a force for harm, saying when used correctly it can be a "transformative technology that can really improve people's lives: It ...
