Impressive though this headline from the Lancashire Evening Post (Tuesday 27 October 1953) is, it's his Wikipedia entry that has won Alfred Rawlinson, the second ever Bishop of Derby* (1936-59), this new award: As an outstandingly biblical scholar, Rawlinson's name appeared for several more senior bishoprics and, although he had the support of successive archbishops, his name was not forwarded to the Crown with the Prime Minister's recommendation for appointment. The Prime Minister was the key figure in such appointments and Rawlinson was considered for vacancies at London in 1939, Bath and Wells in 1945 and Lincoln and Salisbury in ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England | Mute

Embed from Getty ImagesThe former Tottenham and Brazil midfielder Sandro has come out of retirement to join the mighty Harborough Town. Mitch Austin, manager of the Southern League Premier Central outfit, says the signing feels "totally unbelievable" and he is "gobsmacked" by Sandro's decision. Sandro, 35, joined Tottenham from Brazilian side Internacional in 2010 and spent four seasons with the Premier League club. He also won 14 caps for Barzil. Mitch Austin explains how the singing came about on the Harborough Town FC website: "I had a chance conversation with Sandro a couple of weeks ago and we got talking ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England | Mute
Wed 6th
12:13

The US elections

[IMG: The Congress building in Washington DC] Photo by Gagan Cambow on Pexels.com. With not even all the results in, it's too early to be thinking seriously about the lessons from the US elections, though there will certainly be ones for both politics, polling and the understanding of polling. (The result looks like it will come in closer to what the polls were telling us than popular perception of what the polls were telling us, hence me splitting the last two out.) At this early stage, though, I suspect the sort of lessons I've drawn after previous US elections will ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack | Mute

Embed from Getty ImagesEd Davey has issued a statement on Twitter this morning: This is a dark, dark day for people around the globe. The world's largest economy and most powerful military will be led by a dangerous, destructive demagogue. The next President of the United States is a man who actively undermines the rule of law, human rights, international trade, climate action and global security. Millions of Americans - especially women and minorities - will be incredibly fearful about what comes next. We stand with them. Families across the UK will also be worrying about the damage Trump will ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England | Mute

Logie & St John's (Cross) Church is hosting a ceilidh next Saturday - 9th November. Whether you are part of Church Community or the wider West End Community the church would love to see you there. Simply contact administrator@logies.org for tickets or just turn up on the night - all welcome!

Posted by Bailie Fraser Macpherson & Cllr Michael Crichton on Councillors Fraser Macpherson & Michael Crichton - working for the West End | Mute

The inewspaper reports that MPs are able to claim thousands of pounds in taxpayer-funded support for up to three children, despite imposing a two-child cap for benefit claimants. The paper says that MPs can claim almost £7,000 per child each year for up to three children on top of their standard accommodation budget, which can be up to £29,000 a year. However, people claiming universal credit or tax credit eligible for a child benefit uplift cannot receive support for more than two children: Labour has been under pressure to scrap the two-child benefit cap, including from its own MPs, but ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black | Mute
Tue 5th
20:53

Spiral

Null. Light Dust was there in the beginning; then gravity drove Vulcan's forge... Bacteria, march! God is with us. Heaven awaits... But a seductive illusion took root, that we could bring life under control ~ We skate the ice of first world problems; performance optimised, but increasingly fragile, until at last we end alone. 1 0

Posted by AL Franklin on Maintain the Advance! | Mute

Newcastle Labour group have not been having a good time of it recently. Having seen the resignation of their leader a few weeks ago, the authority has now experienced the resignation of 6 Labour councillors who will now sit as independents. To add to the confusion, there is already an independent group on the council called the Newcastle Independents. If you think that is confusing, there are 5

Posted by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace | Mute
Tue 5th
19:13

The Joy of Six 1285

"When I retired from professional chess in 2005, I channeled all of my energy into preventing Russia from sliding back into the hands of the KGB, the Soviet Union's secret police and most sinister spy agency. Unfortunately, those efforts were unsuccessful: Vladimir Putin consolidated power and rebuilt an authoritarian state in the image of the Soviet regime under which I was born. Facing imminent arrest, I was forced into exile and have lived in New York since 2013. I never thought I would need to warn Americans about the dangers of dictatorship."Garry Kasparov endorses Kamala Harris. James Chapman argues that, ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England | Mute

BBC Radio Shropshire is running a series of short programmes on strange stories from the county under the title Secret Shropshire. So far there are 17. They range from Bloudie Jack to the ghost barge of Ironbridge; from Wild Edric and the seven whistlers to the RAF Cosford UFO; from Mad Jack Mytton to the Child's Ercall mermaid. Because he was born in Dawley, there's a good programme on Bill "Fatty" Foulke, who played only 34 games for Chelsea but remains part of the club's folklore to this day. I've not plucked up the courage to listen to The Phantom ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England | Mute

Fraser's weekly ward surgeries take place later today and are as follows : Tuesdays at 5pm prompt - Blackness Library Tuesdays at 5.45pm prompt - Ancrum Road Primary School All residents welcome - no appointment necessary.

Posted by Bailie Fraser Macpherson & Cllr Michael Crichton on Councillors Fraser Macpherson & Michael Crichton - working for the West End | Mute

It was inevitable, given the parlous state of university finances, that the new education secretary would have to increase the level of student fees, but were there other options open to her? The Independent reports that university tuition fees will increase in England for the first time in eight years putting Labour on course for a clash with one of their biggest voter bases, students. The paper says that fees have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017 but will now rise in line with the Retail Price Index inflation from September 2025, matching them to the current rate of inflation ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black | Mute