Yesterday I went to two events which showed to me both the roots of our city and the way that it has been built and relied on successive waves of immigrants from all over the World. My first event was with the Polish community celebrating 20 years of their Saturday School where young Brits with a Polish heritage are taught the Polis Language, history, and culture. There are 29 other similar Saturday schools in Liverpool which shows youngsters how to integrate into our society but retain something of their roots. Believe me there were a lot of broad Scouse accents ...
In her Budget Statement the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated one of her aims was to cut waiting lists in the NHS. According to a survey by the Times newspaper earlier this year it was estimated that there were on average 13,600 older people in hospital every day who did not need to be there awaiting social care, costing the NHS £2.9m per year. Therefore, one cannot resolve the problems of the NHS in isolation of social care. The NHS and social care are in crisis and in need of radical reform, restructuring and cultural change to liberate the professionals ...
BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award. The good doctor's response was a bit "I'm sorry if you feel you've been sworn at": Dr Delicate, who hitherto had a five-year unblemished record, apologised "if such behaviour occurred", and said some of her actions may have been misinterpreted.
On Friday it was Peter the Painter: today it's Gandalf the Grey. You meet all sorts in Rutland. It sounds as though Meadowcroft would have seen eye-to-eye with Hugo Dyson. Legend has it that he responded to Tolkien reading something from Lord of the Rings at a meeting of the Inklings in an Oxford pub by groaning "Oh fuck, not another elf." Saturday On Bonfire Night I was accosted at the village firework display by a white-bearded fellow who claimed to be a wizard. He said they were looking for a couple of chaps to trek into eastern Rutland and ...
This is beautiful. Sunny Goodge street is a cover of a Donovan song and appeared on Marianne Faithfull's album 1966 North Country Maid. The Marianne Faithfull site says of it: Marianne's two folk albums from the 60's were conceived as a pair. Where her first folk album Come My Way, had largely been compiled from music of the American folk revival, Marianne's second, released in April 1966 was built around songs from the British Isles. Rightly hailed as her finest LP of the 60s, North Country Maid conclusively established her as an artist with a unique stylistic approach, and many ...
Ever since 1941 the fundamental assumption of British foreign policy has been that the 'special relationship' with the USA is the foundation of our international security and status. Winston Churchill reimagined Britain as America's 'Ango-Saxon' partner, and as 'the bridge' between North America and continental Europe. Huge numbers of US forces were based in Britain during the war; 10,000 US personnel, in several USAF airbases and intelligence stations, still remain. Access to US intelligence, nuclear missiles and defence technology is crucial to our defence and security. The UK has of course become more and more the junior partner in the ...
With thanks to SJ Bogue and Dundee Memories, a group of sledgers at Lochee Park in December 1993.
The Guardian reports on a report from the Equality Trust that has found that structural corruption and the rise of "conduits for unelected power" are reshaping British politics. The report claims that unelected influence has increased over the past two decades, driven by the growing political clout of the ultra-rich and the institutions that enable it: Priya Sahni-Nicholas, the co-executive director of the trust, said: "Our new Concentration of Power Index shows that wealth concentration aligns with power. Our index rises almost exactly in step with increases in the top 1% share of wealth. This correlation is strong and statistically ...
I'm always open to the idea of a good meal, and when Ros suggested dinner at the Suffolk Food Hall, I warmly welcomed the notion. There was the small detail that the dinner was part of a murder mystery evening, but that didn't put me off particularly. And so, last night, we set off into the dark of a typical late-November evening towards the south bank of the Orwell, just below the bridge which carries the A24 towards Felixstowe. Whilst we were early, we were far from alone and, before long, were encouraged to find our dedicated table in anticipation ...
Embed from Getty ImagesThe playwright Tom Stoppard died today. There will be plenty of obituaries, but there is a good portrait of him in this Guardian interview from two years ago (to the day) by Claire Armitstead: Tom Stoppard is chatting in the theatre bar when I arrive to interview him about a revival of his play Rock 'n' Roll. He was comparing ailments with an elderly director friend, he says cheerfully, as he heads up the stairs, having declined an offer of the lift. At 86 he has the nonchalant elegance of a spy in a cold war thriller, ...
We're still awaiting, at the time of writing, the results of the Lib Dem internal elections: we'll find them out in the middle of next week. In any case, one question I raised in my results-watching post was the impact of having a greater number of endorsement slates available – well, here's a post looking at endorsements in a lot more depth within the party. To help people understand the possible effects, we can essentially map out who's endorsed who to look at what it says about groupings and their relative closeness. This is a process called Social Network Analysis ...
Was Peter the Painter at the Siege of Sydney Street? Did he survive it? Was he still alive in Rutland this summer? It's possible, if he stumped up for the potion the Elves of Rockingham Forest sell. Anyway, as the old boy says, it was a strange episode. Friday When I heard a few months ago that they had an "artist in residence" at Belvoir Castle, I determined at once that no Duke of Rutland was going to outdo the Bonkers. I telephoned Joshua Reynolds and Freddie van Mierlo to see if they were interested in the gig, but both ...
"Christmas is coming, The geese are getting fat, Please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do. If you haven't got a ha'penny, good cheer to you." This Victorian children's rhyme came to my mind this week as we considered two major events in one week: the UK budget and Black Friday. The theme of the rhyme is simple. Give to others as much as you can and if you have nothing to give, we give you our best wishes. In many ways the response to both was remarkably similar. ...
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with the latest MRP projections and party leadership ratings. 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 PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Opinium 17% (nc) 21% (+2) 11% (-2) 13% (+1) 31% (-1) -10% (vs Ref) 26-28/11 GB Find Out Now ...
There is a West End Christmas Fortnight highlight today with the afternoon concert - details below : 2pm to 3.45pm - Kindly hosted by St Peter's Free Church. Featuring Dundee Community Youth Orchestra, "The Dundee choir that doesn't have a name yet" and Loadsaweeminsingin. All welcome and no booking required - refreshments kindly provided by the church. Read about all the West End Christmas Fortnight events at www.facebook.com/WestEndChristmas
Having joined over a thousand people at Swansea Grand Theatre in watching the marvellous Matthew Rhys in a sold-out Playing Burton on Monday night. There is a review of an earlier performance here, but I thought it might be a good idea to reflect on the history of the theatre itself. There is an excellent website here, that goes into some detail as to how this historic and much-loved building became a major hub of culture in Swansea. It records that Frederick Mouillot and H. H. 'Mackenzie' Morell, two entrepreneur actor managers, seized an opportunity to build a Theatre in ...