This is what the International Garden Festival looked like in 1984. 40 years later we are about to start developing a new 'village' on the site. The first new village in Liverpool for decades I have today written to the two developers chosen to develop the Festival Gardens site to urge them to build Liverpool's first village for decades. In a letter to Urban Splash and Igloo Liverpool needs to develop itself as a series of villages in which people have a sense of identity where there can be inter-generational resilience and communities. For those outside Liverpool, the Festival Gardens ...
Chambers' Dictionary defines terrorism as "an organized system of violence and intimidation, especially for political ends, and the state of fear and submission caused by this". The Terrorism Act 2000 has a rather wider definition. Section 1 includes action designed to influence the government, and includes serious damage to property. That means that Yvette Cooper was almost certainly within her powers in asking Parliament to proscribe Palestine Action; but the actions of that group are not within the everyday understanding of the concept of terrorism. When I learned of the events at Brize Norton, my reaction was not "I am ...
Last week, Mark Sewards, Leeds South West and Morley's freshman MP, announced that he had created an AI chatbot version of himself, complete with a facsimile of his voice and an uncanny avatar. While Sewards has become the first MP to take such a step, this is not the first time that Neural Voice, the tech company behind the chatbot, has dabbled in politics; in 2024, they fielded an AI version of their chairman Steve Endacott as an Independent candidate in the Brighton Pavillion. The West Yorkshire Labour MP said that his chatbot will "help strengthen the connection between an ...
Peter Chambers introduces us to the concept of "technical debt" and asks why no one talks about it when it comes to Thames Water. The term "technical debt" was applied to an effect in software engineering identified in the 1970s by Professor Manny Lehman. Lehman was trying to identify how the new field of software was similar to previous fields of engineering such as civil engineering, which deals with infrastructure and other hardware. It was intended to appeal, as a metaphor, to indicate future costs to rectify present-day design choices and externalities. Manny's work was intended to help estimate the ...
Writing about The Windmills of Your Mind last week, I mentioned the 1967 and 1968 Oscars for the Best Original Song. In 1966 this song was nominated, but lost to Matt Monro and Born Free. Still, it's a reminder of how popular the Seekers were in Britain in those days. The music for Georgy Girl was written by Tom Springfield (Dusty's brother) and the words by Jim Dale. This makes him the only Carry On regular with an Oscar nomination.
When the Liberal Democrats entered the Coalition Government in 2010 the introduction of a Pupil Premium was a key part of our agreement with the Conservatives. It was a simple idea – give schools extra funding for each disadvantaged child they teach, and require that money to be spent in ways that improve those pupils' life chances. It was a direct investment in fairness - helping to close the stubborn attainment gap between children from low-income families and their peers. But a new report from the Centre for Social Justice shows that while £27 bn has been spent on the ...
Following residents reporting the graffiti to us at the Scott Street to Pentland Avenue steps, we raised this with environment management at the council to ensure it was power-washed off.
Wales-on-line reports that the UK Government has said that the Crown Estate will not be devolved to Wales because it "would risk market fragmentation, complicate existing processes, and delay further development offshore". They say that the Crown Estate is a collection of marine and land assets and holdings that belong to the monarch. It includes the seabed out to 12 nautical miles, which is around 65% of the Welsh foreshore and riverbed, and a number of ports and marinas. On land the Crown Estates owns 50,000 acres of common land in Wales. The value of the estate in Wales is ...
This is just what it was like when I was a lad. Until 1983, trains from Sheffield to Huddersfield ran under the wires of the Woodhead route as far as Penistone. I remember it as an attractive line, with sweeping curves and views of the River Don far below. This film shows it all, including the way the train reversed soon after leaving Sheffield Midland station and then ran through the derelict Sheffield Victoria. Indeed, much of that part of the city looks to have been derelict then. You can see the sidings at Deepcar and Stocksbridge in their very ...
Stokesay Castle dates from the late 13th century, when there was no longer a fear of attacks from Wales, so it was built for show rather than defence. The half-timbered gatehouse is 17th century, as (largely) is the church, which was badly damaged in a Civil War skirmish. I have visited and photographed Stokesay many times - here are some pictures from my latest look round the site. It used to be possible to have tea in the castle courtyard, where birds would steal crumbs from your table. These days there is a separate cafe at Stokesay. I'm not overimpressed ...
Sheik Mansour who is the owner of Manchester City Football Club and Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates is behind the investment company which is making a huge profit from the problems of children in huge need in the UK. For about 2 months earlier this year one street in my Penny Lane Ward was the scene of really nasty scenes. They all concerned one small 15-year-old girl who had been placed in a house in the street and who was subject to real, heart-breaking behavioural problems. On one night there were 3 police vehicles, an ambulance and a fire ...
Over 500 people were arrested in London last weekend for allegedly showing support for Palestine Action, an organisation proscribed under terrorist legislation. About half of those arrested are reported to be over 65 years of age and many of the arrests were for carrying signs, with words such as "Stop the Genocide - Support Palestine Action". Palestine Action was banned as it was responsible for causing costly criminal damage to military aircraft. The Home Secretary has sought to defend the ban by saying Palestine Action is "not a non-violent organisation" and that further information will come out which will justify ...
"What Ofsted found was a total breakdown of safeguarding, with staff unable to cope and most not qualified to provide the care these vulnerable young people so desperately needed. Living conditions were poor, staff were untrained and poorly supported, and worst of all the young people faced clear risks to their wellbeing." Jane Haynes has been reading Ofsted reports on three small private children's homes in Sandwell, Coventry and Telford. Patrick Barkham reminds us that brownfield sites can be havens for wildlife: "In its ruination, this brownfield site beside the Thames in Essex has become one of the most nature-rich ...
For decades Trump has been singing Putin's praises, calling the 2014 annexation of Crimea "so smart" and his 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine "genius". Since the beginning of his second term in office, he has been very friendly towards Putin. However, the last few days have seen Trump be less accommodating to the Kremlin. Trump reduced Putin's ceasefire deadline, threatened sanctions, and positioned US nuclear submarines closer to Russia. Trump is clearly growing impatient with Putin's unwillingness to end the war. Do Trump's recent actions signal a meaningful change in the dynamic between Trump and Putin or are Trump's ...
Just a reminder that our Tuesday ward surgeries today do not take place as it is during the school summer holidays. However, we can be contacted at any time on 459378 or by email at westend@dundeelibdems.org.uk - many thanks! Our surgeries return next Tuesday (19th) as the new school year starts next week.
The Independent reports that Rachel Reeves has been dealt a fresh blow on the economy as company hiring plans fall to a "record low" following her national insurance contributions (NIC) hike. The paper says that the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has said that just 57 per cent of private sector employers plan to recruit staff in the next three months, down from 65 per cent last autumn, as they battle rising costs: The influential monthly report by accountants KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC) also showed a "further steep decline" in permanent worker appointments last ...