This evening I looked up the first time I posted about this. It appears to have been 3½ years since the news first broke about David Ford was called by some in Second Donegore Presbyterian Church to step aside as an elder in their Kirk Session. It appears that the debate over his position has finally reached the highest appeal court within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI). Their findings to many outside the church will make confusing reading. The Templepatrick Presbytery of which 2nd Donegore is one of the congregations have resolved to remove him from congregational duties within ...
© National Railway Museum and SSPL There are lots of lovely images on the National Railway Museum site that can be used for free by non-commercial sites.
The Pound collapsing. Marmite threatened. Inflation doubled. All that with years still to go before massive trade tariffs start really hurting ordinary people. The unelected new Prime Minister isn't just throwing out Mr Cameron's Conservatism - it's a Great Repeal of every shred of Tory economic responsibility built from Mrs Thatcher's Single Market and control of inflation. What plans does Mrs May's government have to make the Pound seem like it's still worth anything? Now it's already fallen to its lowest value since 1848 and with accelerating inflation about to slash all our cash? Here are some EXCLUSIVE rival proposals. ...
Adam Bienkov on the threat to Jeremy Corbyn from Labour's left. The Troubled Families programme was bound to fail and ministers knew it, says Jonathan Portes. "The programme's evaluation ... is the perfect case study of how the manipulation of statistics by politicians and civil servants led directly to bad policy and to the wasting of hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money." The National Union of Journalists explains why Newsquest staff have gone on strike. "The image of the architect presented by Ladybird is beautiful, warm and unintimidating and the flat-roofed house on his graph paper is thoroughly ...
Tue 18th
18:52
Former Conservative PCC charged with disclosing information in case involving Conservative MP
From the Northants Herald & Post today: Northamptonshire's first ever Police and Crime Commissioner appeared in court today ... accused of passing information about Wellingborough MP Peter Bone. Adam Simmonds, aged 39, denied disclosing information relating to a criminal investigation into the Conservative MP when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court.Simmonds was elected in 2012 and stood down at the PCC elections earlier this year. The Herald & Post goes on to quote the words of the prosecuting counsel: "This is a case relating to the disclosure of information regarding a criminal investigation into a then and current Member of ...
We are in dangerous times. Theresa May rails against wealth and privilege, but she will only make the most minimal and tokenistic reforms to ensure very slight improvements in economic equality. In the meantime, she will weaponize the economic anger and resentment she is stoking up; these negative popular sentiments, in turn, will interact with other prejudices, frustrations and resentments, in a kind of multiplier effect. I ask all my fellow Liberal Democrats and UK people (citizen and migrant alike, for I must insist on including everyone): are there any historical precedents for such 'right wing socialism?' This is a ...
[IMG: Beach Huts on Folkestone sea front] The Creative Foundation is pleased to announce the dates of Folkestone Triennial 2017, which will return for its fourth edition and will be held over a nine week period from 2 September - 5 November 2017. Curated for the second time by Lewis Biggs, the Triennial in 2017 will take the title double edge. The concept of double edge will further develop the inquiry into 'sense of place' that guided Folkestone Triennial exhibition, Lookout, in 2014. double edge refers to the two main axes around which Folkestone's development as a town has taken ...
OK, same as last week, tomorrow I'll be doing reviews, in a free post for Patreon backers, of comics they've suggested I get, so here (and over at Patreon) is the thread to suggest comics for me to review — ... Continue reading →
Over at Prospect Magazine there is a thoughtful review from Miranda Green of Politics: Between the Extremes by Nick Clegg, alongside The Death of Liberal Democrcacy? by David Boyle and Joe Zammit-Lucia. [IMG: clegg-book] The result, in this book [Politics:...], is a mix of avowed optimism—that a liberal worldview can and must survive—with a hugely gloomy analysis of British political culture. Politics: Between the Extremes is part memoir of the Coalition years, part meditation on the rebellious spirit of the post-crash period (to call it an age seems premature). Its balance can be uneasy, but Clegg's book is a necessary ...
Tue 18th
13:39
Merseyside Police – facing yet more cutbacks but why run the South Sefton Area From Marsh Lane...
[IMG: Maghull Police Station - Down to becoming disused soon according to Merseyside's Crime and Policing Commissioner.] Maghull Police Station – Down to becoming disused soon according to Merseyside's Crime and Policing Commissioner. Like many other local councillors I recently received an e-mail, via Lydiate Parish Council in my case, from Merseyside Police telling me about the consequences of their further and on-going belt tightening. These are to be their priority areas moving forward:- * cyber-crime, child exploitation, organised criminality, terrorism and PVP-protecting vulnerable people Other changes will be:- * Some further restructuring will be taking place 'utilising the principles ...
[IMG: calendar-web] This week, we are happy to add a 2017 Calendar Design to our growing list of templates. We have two versions - full colour and two colour (for printing on a RISO). Calendars are a good way of making sure that your residents know that you are there all year round and a good way of [...]
Tue 18th
13:09
The Case for the Single Market : Rights, Economic Direction of Travel and Commercial Peace.
It strikes me that both pre and post referendum, those of us who really would have preferred to Remain, are actually failing to properly make the case for doing so. Presuming that we accept the will of the British people and leave the EU, my own position is that we should move to either a transitional arrangement that keeps us in the Single Market, or adopt a permanent position that includes Single Market membership. I think this is possibly where the UK will end up, wilful Brexiteers nonwithstanding. I accept the evidence that says the overwhelming majority of the British ...
The UKIP MEP, Steven Woolfe, who was favourite to become the party's new leader, has dramatically quit UKIP, though he intends to stay on as an MEP (why wouldn't he, given the salary and benefits?). He recently spent several days in hospital after a fracas in the European Parliament with one of his fellow UKIP [...]
It's neatly summed up by the quote from Robert Reich which Ed Maxfield and I used to head up Chapter 4 of the newly updated and expanded 101 Ways To Win An Election.
The Brighouse Festival | 22nd October - 30th October 2016 RT @CMBClibraries: To find out more about the festival and the events at Brighouse Library go to @BrighouseFest #readlocal UK security agencies unlawfully collected data for 17 years, court rules | World news | The Guardian RT @Snowden: Officials: Mass surveillance is legal. Courts: No. Even post-2013, "bulk collection" violated human rights (ECHR). Court ruling shows mass spying on British people must end RT @Calderdale_LD: Court ruling shows mass spying on British people must end Instagram Daughter has made an awesome trinket box in DT at @hipperholmegs Immediately she showed ...
We have a number of issues to report back on Heaton Park: Heaton Park Branding and Signage Residents will have noticed a new visual 'brand' for the park and things associated with it. New signs have been installed at main entrance, with internal signage to follow. A bi-monthly leaflet on events in the park now available, with a visitors guide available form the public-facing buildings like the farm and cafes. Play Area The play area is being refurbished with lots new facilities with disabled children in mind. Work is nearly complete and it is hoped the new facility will be ...
Residents will no doubt be aware of the ongoing proposals to introduce pay and display parking in Heaton Park. When the proposals were introduced objections were raised by residents, and by your local councillors about the potential impact on the St Margaret's Road area. To help reduce the impact, Manchester Council have agreed to pay for additional double yellow line in the St Margaret's Road area, and also on Sheepfoot Lane. This has been something we have been chasing up ever since the proposals were made, and this is now being consulted on by Bury Council. The new yellow lines ...
[IMG: mei] Last night I was at the Mile End Institute's first 'In Conversation With' where Professor Philip Cowley was talking to Gisela Stuart MP. It was an interesting discussion, though I did find a lot of her answers to direct questions annoyingly evasive and coupled with a refusal to take responsibility for anything. A case in point is that she won't take any blame for their being no plan on the Leave side for what happened next, as that's David Cameron's fault, and the £350m for the NHS pledge was nothing to do with her, but she's adamant that ...
The local Lib Dem team across Bury are campaigning to save our precious 'Green Belt' land from development. 60% of Busy is green belt land. This is under threat because Greater Manchester Councils are considering proposals to provide the land to build up to 225,000 new houses over the next 25 years. [IMG: Screen Shot 2016-10-18 at 09.35.59] Across Bury, developers have already proposed 70 sites with over 12,000 new homes. Most of these sites propose building on the green belt land that surrounds our towns and communities. More details of the proposals here. We support the need for new ...
Theresa May might have said this I will deliver Brexit. I will be faithful to the mandate given to us by the British people. I will heed their anxieties about immigration and I will act so that we have more control about who comes in and out of our country. But, friends, I must tell you candidly that I will not act in a way which will jeopardise the open, dynamic economy upon which our great trading economy relies. And that means I will also fight to retain our membership of Europe's single market, the world's largest borderless marketplace created ...
Ever since I became interested in politics around the age of 15.16 (possibly earlier), I have been confused by remarks like "politics is boring" or "I have no interest in politics". I say this not because I am fascinated by politics but because politics is just another word for how things get run and done. It isn't simply about the political personalities on show such as David Cameron, Teresa May, Jeremy Corbyn or Tony Blair. They are simply just actors on the stage. No, politics is about so much more than just that. It is about ideas, counter ideas, philosophy, ...
Even the Prime Minister Theresa May is saying it. Low interest rates are not lifting the economy in the right way. So time for government spending and tax cuts to take over? Or, as economists call it, active fiscal policy. She joins a chorus of academic economists and newspaper commentators. The story goes back to ... Continue reading Fiscal activism makes a comeback. But it won't help savers →
This latest photograph of this short series of West End historical photographs (below) is of Perth Road. Although "Perth Road" is absolutely correct, residents of this section of the north side of Dundee's Perth Road preferred to have their mail addressed to Windsor Terrace. Residents of the block in 1895 included David Dewar, the superintendent of police, James Walker, Professor of Chemistry and University College, George Haggart, a solicitor, and John B. Hay, a builder. In 1905, three were still there: Haggart had been replaced by Henry William Rennie, a merchant. Mrs James Burdon [sic], a spirit merchant in 1895, ...
When Billy Elliot's coal-miner Dad was asked if he were a supporter of the ballet he replied that he wasn't exactly and expert. I feel much the same in daring to discuss antisemitism but it does seem to me, as a non-specialist, that the Labour Party is receiving far too much stick as the result of the parliamentary committee report published this weekend. In my view the problem arises becasue it is far too easy to conflate criticism of the actions of the Israeli government with antisemitism. Jeremy Corbyn, and some prominent members of the Labour party, have a long ...
The arguments for and against Brexit have been well-rehearsed and in particular there are strong views on what should happen next. The Liberal Democrats have argued that the UK Parliament should debate our negotiating position and that the final deal should be subject to a referendum so that the public can accept or reject it. Nobody though has tried to argue that all debate should be shut down completely with severe penalties for those of us amongst the 48% who want to continue to argue the case to remain in the EU - until now. The Independent reports that a ...
