Le Roi en Jaune by Simon Bucher-Jones My rating: 5 of 5 stars (Once again, I apologise to those following my blog through Goodreads, who will end up seeing this twice.)This is a review I should have written a long ... Continue reading →
Flip Chart Rick asks if Britain is prepared for life after the Poles: "As the Resolution Foundation research shows, entire sectors are now dependent on labour from the EU and it is unlikely that UK-born workers will take these jobs over should they leave." Simon Griffiths on what the left can learn from Friedrich Hayek. How can Lib Dems help bees right now? Sean Oxspring will tell you. "Buses are predominantly used by women, poorer people and the old. So providing good bus services should be an important element of policies to improve social inclusion and equality," says Jones the ...
Jack Stilgoe: It seems easier than ever to undermine expertise. In defending themselves, experts should not rely on reassurance and simple facts. They need to talk about uncertainty as well. The rise and fall of the controversy over the safety of mobile phones offers some useful lessons. The US Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein has come under fire for supposedly 'anti-science' statements relating to the risks of vaccines, genetically modified crops and electromagnetic fields from Wi-Fi. She said that there were 'real questions' about the dangers of vaccines, that GM foods have 'not been proven safe' and that 'more ...
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and Jo Barton are holding their next advice centre in Churchtownn We will be at BoxTree Kitchen for Queenscourt café, Manor Road/Cambridge Road, roundabout, from 10:30 to 11.30am on Thursday 25th August, We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Crossens, at St John's School, Rufford Road, Crossens every month (except August) on the second Saturday of the month from 11:00 am to 12:00.
Stewart Lee's last television series was hard going at times even for those of us who admire him. But I suppose the BBC's decision not to commission another series represented a comic triumph of sorts. It's just what the character Lee becomes on stage would have expected. In this video Lee talks with the great Alan Moore about his new collection of columns Content Provider. I was not such a fan of these, but Lee is not David Mitchell and for that we can all be grateful.
It will come as a great relief to many Unsworth residents, especially those that live around the Sunny Bank Road and Pole Lane areas that, once again, the planning application to relocate the dentist to 247 Sunny Bank Road has been REFUSED. Despite the applicant's attempt to appease the planners with a car parking solution (use of the car park behind the pub), the application did not address the 'over intensification of the site' and more crucially the fact that their planning application was contrary to the UDP (or as it is more commonly known, the local plan). Basically, some ...
I recently wrote a story that a third of Trump voters believe that Hillary Clinton has ties to Lucifer, but today I realised that that very same data has an even better piece of information that I missed the first time around. Public Policy Polling included in their questions some fun ones that added 'Harambe the Independent' into their polling. They didn't identify him specifically as the gorilla from Cincinnati zoo, but I think it's reasonable to assume that he'd be the Harambe people thought of when they answered the question. As well as measuring favourability, they included Harambe in ...
Second paragraph of third story ("Angel", by 'Tara Samms' [Stephen Cole]): The lights stay on at night, shine in your eyes, you can't sleep. When you fall to fatigue at last they wake you and feed you pills that snag in the throat. I wasn't all that satisfied with the previous anthology in this series, but I felt this was on much firmer ground - one story for each of the first seven Doctors, with linking material featuring the Eighth, and although the stories' themes are linked, they are also different. The least successful was the first, "The Duke's Folly" ...
Wed 17th
17:03
What are the odds of us having a plastic #Christmas tree in #CathedralSquare this year?
Remember last year when the Tory controlled City Council announced they'd spent tens of thousands of pounds buying a plastic Christmas Tree to be erected in Cathedral Square? Remember, quite a few peeps were not happy with their taxes being spent on such a thing. The issue even made the news and caused conversation on social [...]
[IMG: [ File # csp4524464, License # 1489536 ] Licensed through http://www.canstockphoto.com in accordance with the End User License Agreement (http://www.canstockphoto.com/legal.php) (c) Can Stock Photo Inc. / wacker] The Guardian reports the Metropolitan police are creating an Online Hate Crime Hub. The detectives staffing it – nicknamed "troll hunters" – will be specially trained to identify people using the cloak of online anonymity to commit hate crimes and similar offences. In my view, this is a thoroughly positive step that recognises modern problems need modern solutions. Liberal Democrats should enthusiastically welcome this initiative. Hate crime is terrible for the people ...
The Guardian reports: Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, made an attempted power grab on key areas of Boris Johnson's Foreign Office, writing to his colleague and the prime minister, Theresa May, in an effort to wrest control of Britain's overseas economic policy, a leaked letter has revealed. Tensions have been escalating between the Foreign Office and Fox's Department for International Trade, but the former defence secretary's suggestion has apparently been given short shrift by No 10, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Within a fortnight of arriving at the newly created department, Fox wrote to Johnson, copying in May, to ask ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37058043 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above I don't care for cooking and baking programmes on the TV but I care passionately about beating racism. The appalling life experiences of this young lady at the hands of racists must be spur for us to once again try to tackle the scourge of racism that sits within our society.
I was driving past the Coach and Horses Pub yesterday evening on the busy 30 mph Liverpool Road North and was astounded to see a group of young lads, probably 13/14 year olds, riding bikes in the road all over both carriageways, doing wheelies and generally weaving between some rather shocked drivers of cars and other vehicles. But even more astounding and highly dangerous activities were taking place on the dangerous 40 mph A59 Northway near Maghull Town Hall at 9.30pm when I went out again. Again it was a group of around 4 young men on cycles all of ...
While the debate over the potential development of new grammar schools rages, I dream of a school that nurtures every person who passes through it by giving them the freedom to grow into their own talents; a school that gives all of our children the skills to make their own opportunities. Welcome to The Hive. Here, in our early years department, our children gain a foundation in English and Maths; developing their basic practical, social and self-regulation skills. Their free play is observed to create a profile of their interests, aptitudes and abilities that will follow them into our primary ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur MSP has said that the Scottish Government are letting down Police Officers and failing communities across Scotland in response to reports that police officers are being actively told not to investigate drug dealers to avoid over time. Calum Steele from the SPF took to social media to show [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Cllr Carolyn Caddick today said that there is no room for complacency on job figures as new statistics revealed that Scotland's employment rate is still lower than the UK average despite an increase in the number of people in work. Commenting, Cllr Caddick said: "Any increase in the number of [...]
The council will be carrying out essential maintenance on the A4174 Ring Road at Hambrook traffic lights / Bristol Road junction and between the Wick Wick and Lyde Green roundabouts from Friday 19 August to Friday 9 September as part of the Challenge Fund road improvement project. These roadworks will require the following closures: Full closure of the westbound carriageway at the Hambrook traffic lights from 8pm on Friday 19 August to 6am on Monday 22 August and from Friday 2 September to 6am on Monday 5 September.Full overnight closure of the eastbound carriageway between Wick Wick and Lyde Green ...
Cartoon Movement RT @thalestral: It's always important to remember the hidden cost of the Olympics. By Tom Humberstone: How Racism Kept The World's Fastest Swim Stroke Out Of The Pool | Atlas Obscura RT @Ian_Mosby: How Racism Kept The World's Fastest Swim Stroke Out Of The Pool (& how 2 Anishinaabe swimmers scandalized Britain) Joseph Goebbels' 105-year-old secretary: 'No one believes me now, but I knew nothing' | World news | The Guardian This is scary. With Rio gold medal in the bag, the real work starts now for Australian women's sevens team RT @ScrumQueens: "RUPA will go into bat ...
Embed from Getty Images Boris is in charge of the country. What could he get up? Perhaps finally use those three German water cannon to cool down heated tourists in Trafalgar Square? Issue a multiple apology for his past columns to all UN member nations (just to be sure)? Get stuck on a zip wire between Number 10 and Buckingham Palace while trying to visit Her Majesty? Go into Madame Tussauds and pretend to be his own waxwork for a morning? Warf! Warf! Try to catch up on our Olympic medals total via the BBC red button but fire our ...
Wed 17th
09:38
Oak trees on Whitcliffe Common to be felled after Shropshire Council lodges no objection
Ludlow is no stranger to controversy. We are a busy town, medieval in origin with a streetscape to match. We are also a working and tourist town, and one that is proud of its green credentials. As a rule of thumb, a local councillor's inbox is dominated by emails on new developments, parking and trees,... Continue reading Oak trees on Whitcliffe Common to be felled after Shropshire Council lodges no objection →
Commenting as the board of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) approved a consultation on plans that would see maternity units and other NHS facilities shut their doors, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: "The health board can consult all they want but it is not hard to imagine the sort of [...]
There have been several party leadership contests in the UK since June 23rd, all vying for the title of greatest shit show ever, but I think the prize has to go to UKIP. Following the vote to leave the European Union and Nigel Farage's resignation as leader of the party (third time and counting), UKIP were presented with his ideal replacement in Paul Nuttall and two decent standbys in Steven Woolfe and Suzanne Evans. UKIP managed to conspire to have none of those three as final candidates for the leadership, leaving a field of mostly hopeless seeming unknowns, even to ...
Scottish Liberal Democrats have pushed for greater flexibility on childcare after a series of FOI's submitted by Fair Funding for our Kids showed that some parents are still struggling to access the childcare they are entitled to. Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson for children, Sheila Thomson said: "Everyone knows that there are issues with flexibility in provision [...]
There are many who voted for the UK to leave the European Union in June as protest against the two opposing groups of politicians who they saw as lying to achieve their chosen outcome. Alas, despite being accused of promoting 'Project Fear', it is the remain campaign whose claims are being proven to most accurate. The latest sign that Brexit will be bad for the health of our economy is the news that big investment banks with their European headquarters in London will start the process of moving jobs from the UK within weeks of the government triggering Brexit. That ...
*Spoilers for Jason Bourne and all the proceeding Bourne films* The Bourne films are clearly popular. Therefore, a lot of people like them. I, however, love them. While I don't care for the Legacy, the peculiar semi-sequel with Jeremy Renner rather than Matt Damon, I've watched each of three 'proper' Bourne films - the [...]
There are two events taking place at the Botanic Garden this coming Sunday - 21st August :Butterflies and bees - 12 noon to 3pm.Guided walk looking for bats - 8pm to 10pm.For further information about these events, contact the Botanic Garden office on 381190 or check the Garden's website.
How badly is Jeremy Corbyn doing? "Labour's current position is poor, but not exceptionally so." (tags: ukpolitics ) How many presidents has America had? The Cleveland confusion. (tags: uspolitics history ) The Terrifying JFK Airport Shooting That Wasn't Extraordinary. (tags: waronterror psychology ) Watership Down and the power of not-quite-appropriate children's books. Indeed. (tags: reading books ) Brexit is not going to happen (but it might need a second referendum) Too optimistic, I fear. (tags: ukpolitics eu ) Hitler and the Reinvention of Interpreting Actually Nuremberg trials more important. (tags: languages wwii )
A short rant prompted by the recent discussions over the Duke of Westminster's inheritance tax payments and Tim Farron's very correct call that we should crack down heavily on avoidance of this, one of the core wealth taxes in the government's arsenal. This has predictably triggered numerous claims that it is somehow an "envy tax" [...]
