Tuesday is a big day for Ludlow. I am expecting a decision on whether a Sainsbury's and Argos can be built at Rocks Green shortly after 3pm. That decision, providing councillors approve the scheme, will conclude six years of debate. I am expecting a vote in favour of the scheme but planning decisions can be unpredictable. Neither Viv Parry or I will be voting at the committee for different reasons. The Southern Planning Committee will meet at 2pm on Microsoft Teams. Members of the public are invited to attend but cannot speak during the meeting under current temporary planning committee ...
"Overpromising but underdelivering" on testing will damage public trust in Government Davey: PM must protect lives and livelihoods ahead of second wave "Overpromising but underdelivering" on testing will damage public trust in Government Responding to reports that the R rate has risen to between 1.1 and 1.4 in the UK, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said: Figures showing the rapid spread of COVID will cause untold worry to families across the UK. Many will be disheartened to see the return of necessary restrictions on their daily lives. We were promised a "world-beating" test and trace system to prevent ...
Jago Hazzard relates the history of the Northern City Line from Finsbury Park to Moorgate. He does not mention it, but the former Gainsborough Studios building in Islington, which turned up on this blog recently, was originally the power station for this line.
It's been a decade since the demise of the last attempt to restructure local government in Suffolk, when some of the dying breath of the Labour Government was wasted on a futile attempt to persuade the local political leadership to agree on a new structure. It was, in truth, doomed to failure, with the Labour leadership in Ipswich never likely to quietly accept any settlement that minimised their prospects of power, plus a whole bunch of Conservative District Councillors unwilling to abolish themselves. One of the first decisions of the Coalition was to kick the idea as far into the ...
[IMG: Napier Barracks, Folkestone] Earlier this week, I co-signed letters alongside the Leader of Folkestone and Hythe District Council David Monk and Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins to both Chris Philp Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Home Secretary Priti Patel demanding answers on the Government decision to open a migrant site at Napier Barracks at Shorncliffe. We have today received a reply from Chris Philp which I quote in full below. I note the Minister's semi-apology to our area for the way in which this has been handled, and there are some helpful answers. There will be security ...
February 2008 began with a really glorious moment as Iain Banks visited Brussels to speak at Scotland House - which occupies the top two floors of the building that my office was then located in. I went to Geneva for what was then my regular gig at GCSP, and Anne and I had a rare romantic getaway weekend in Rome. I wrote blog posts on the Lisbon Treaty and the genetics of blue eyes. Kosovo declared independence and the Greek Cypriot leader lost his re-election bid (and died soon after). At work, my Danish intern V left (she has now ...
People like to do business with people they like. Think about it. How many times have you returned to the same bar, restaurant, shop or café because you like the owner or the convivial waitress. You will even pay over the odds because that big smile and friendly chat with a croissant is worth the extra money. Life is just too short for decisions to be based on the saving of a few pennies. Another much sought-after characteristic is competence. In fact, charm and competence are generally considered a winning combination. And one without the other is, well, pretty much ...
"Through the long Covid months, it was only England that Boris spoke for, and spoke to, at those teatime briefings from Downing Street. Meanwhile, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland did their own devolved things." Neal Ascherson foresees the end of the United Kingdom. Andrew Page presents 25 unquestionable benefits of Brexit - hear him. We need to overhaul what we grow, and how and where we grow it, if we are to make the most of our land and fight climate change, says Natalie Bennett. "Craigie was contributing to a new environment that encouraged the formation of modern identities for ...
Chinese Liberal Democrats are pleased that there will be a motion, F31, to be debated at Autumn Conference on "Hong Kong's Future." According to the Conference Agenda, it is scheduled for debate on Monday September 28 but at the unfortunate time of 18.50. This means that anyone in Hong Kong who would like to participate would have to stay up till 2am, Hong Kong time! This motion has undergone a number of redrafts, as the situation in Hong Kong is fast changing. More recent developments such as the postponement of the Legislative Council elections on 8 September for a year ...
[IMG: Folkestone Channel Triathlon Medal (Channel Rotary)] Each year, Folkestone and Hythe District Councillors get £3,000 of grant funding that they can use to support organisations, activities and projects that benefit the area. One of the events that Gary Fuller and I backed with grant funding in 2019-20 was the Folkestone Channel Triathlon, which we were delighted to see go ahead. We were really pleased to get a report from Co-ordinator Joe Sullivan on this years Triathlon and how it went, which I publish below with his permission. You can learn more about the F&HDC Ward grant scheme and how ...
On Monday I will be visiting the vigil arranged by relatives of Brushwood and Millvina Care Homes. A Labour Cllr has already accused me of grandstanding. I can assure him that I am only going because I have been asked ... Continue reading →
Tucked away in a long article by Gordon Brown in the Guardian on Tuesday 15th September were short and long term suggestions for sustaining and then reforming our economy. Although he doesn't actually say it I'm pretty sure I'm not putting words into his mouth by suggesting that he believes we should take appropriate action now and worry about paying for it later. In the short run he states that we should: 1. a. maintain furlough payments for key sectors b. along with a pay-subsidy for part-time work c. and offering retraining opportunities during absence from work. 2. For those ...
At a glance Conference will be taking place from 25th – 28th September, We are using a platform called Hopin; login details will be sent out the week of conference, Speaker's cards for debates must be submitted by 4pm the day before the debate, The motions on COVID-19 and Europe, along with other late items, will be announced in Conference Extra the week of conference and on Facebook, The Emergency Motions ballot will be taken on the Friday using Mi-Voice. Instructions will be sent out in advance. Please watch our introductory video, You can follow us on Twitter @LibDemConf. Introduction ...
Thu, 12:56: War & Peace: How a Bad Brexit May Sour European Security Cooperation https://t.co/lIM6xA96im I don't usually link to podcasts, but this from @crisisgroup is well worth your time. Thu, 13:58: RT @pmdfoster: Intense clarity of thought, as ever , by @AntonSpisak unpicking the "blockade" issue in @prospect_uk - one level petulant no... Thu, 16:05: Why the real special relationship is between the US and Ireland https://t.co/DirwAFphaR Well observed by @PronouncedAlva. Thu, 18:57: Thursday reading https://t.co/wpMLcyvjpM Thu, 19:10: Public art in Ostende: repression and resistance https://t.co/xrgeYwEoWP Thu, 20:23: Closer than the Moon... https://t.co/NXdqrPaGKe Fri, 09:30: Whoniversaries 18 September: Gary ...
i) births and deaths 18 September 1931: birth of Terence Woodfield, who appeared in two different First Doctor stories in 1966: as Celation in the story we now call The Daleks' Master Plan, and as Maharis in the story we now call The Ark. 18 September 1963: birth of Gary Russell, former editor of Doctor Who Magazine, former producer at Big Finish, author of twelve Doctor Who novels (counting the book-of-the-movie) and of various other related books, script editor for The Waters of Mars and The End of Time, and director of the two Tenth Doctor animated stories. 18 September ...
Yesterday we went to have a look at this new exhibition which has recently been put tpgether by curators at Merseyside Maritime Museum. I say recently but it should have opened back in March however a certain lockdown stopped that happening. But with the relaxation of Covid 19 rules the exhibition indeed the Museum itself is now open for public viewing again, although it's wise to pre-book your visit. It's all free I might add. 'Life on Board' is a look into the lives of both crew and passengers of merchant ships and passenger vessels and it tells a story, ...
This in an unsurprising story. It is not a cheerful story. It is a story that will inevitably get worse. But it is important an important story for our community in Ludlow and for Shropshire. More people are out of work and are signing on for benefits. In Ludlow, the number of claimants - people looking for work - grew by 8% between July and August. This is nowhere near as big a jump we saw at the beginning of lockdown but it is an upward trend in a time when jobs are being destroyed, not created. Over the last ...
Anybody with any experience of dealing with the Home Office and the government's immigration regime will be unsurprised at the criticism levelled at them by the Public Accounts Committee. As the Guardian reports, the Parliamentary Committee concluded that the department drew up immigration policies on "anecdote, assumption and prejudice" instead of relying on evidence. They added that Priti Patel's department was unaware of the damage caused by policy failures on "both the illegal and legitimate migrant populations": In a highly critical report published on Friday, the committee said in summary that Home Office's officials had "no idea" what its £400m ...
A resident recently wrote to me regarding the steps that run from the west side of Riverside Drive near the bridge over the rail line down from the Botanic Garden, writing : "We regularly use the steps down to Riverside from the rail bridge down from Newhall Gardens. They are becoming quite dangerous when wet and also the foliage is really overgrown." I have raised these concerns with the local environment manager asking for this to be resolved.
