Topics include: Station Approach Station Area Parking New Tory 'Tip Tax' Our crossing campaigns The local vote on 'remain' Air Quality Grammar Schools Safer Routes to School Download St Paul ward Autumn 2016 Focus (pdf, 4.8MB)
One of the oddities of the Conservative right wing has always been how its dislike of Europe leads it to being soft on crime, quite at odds with its usual posturing on the issue. The reason? Pan-European cooperation to fight crime thanks to organisations such as Europol, whose British membership is under threat following the European referendum: Theresa May will be seen as "soft on terrorism and organised crime" unless she signs the UK up to continued membership of Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, warns the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. A key decision over whether the UK ...
Talking of brewers, read how Jonathan Meades' uncle trashed Burton-on-Trent.
This is my initial submission to the Boundary Commission of Northern Ireland's 2018 review. It is very long, but has lots of maps. I had a (fairly accurate) guess at what the Commission might come up with in February, and gave some initial comments to the BBC last month. Dear Commissioners, Introduction I maintain the Northern Ireland elections website at http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections, the most substantial archive of electoral information regarding the region available anywhere. Although I have not resided in Northern Ireland since 1997, I maintain a strong interest in these matters; I am a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of ...
On Friday a jury unanimously found the retired police superintendent guilty of four counts of indecent assault against two boys in the 1980s. In 1994 he won libel settlements against the Observer, Private Eye and HTV Wales after they publicised similar claims against him. The Welsh investigative site Rebecca has a full account of this year's trial: The six-week trial was a raw, bad-tempered affair. The jury were unhappy because they were in court for less than a third of the time. Barristers for the prosecution and defence sniped at one another throughout. At one point the judge warned the ...
It's unusual for banks to make the news over a weekend but social media are abuzz over reports that several major banks are considering leaving London, to relocate somewhere on the continent, to ensure that they can continue to enjoy the full benefits of being part of the European single market. During the EU referendum [...]
Too many of the World Anti-Doping Agency's ostensible sport partners appear to feel that the agency has betrayed them, by unmasking the ugly truths that lie behind the Olympic's impeccable fictions.
Often people who have never gone door-to-door canvassing worry, understandably, that they might get asked all sorts of different policy questions which they are not sure about.
The name Mara Wilson may not ring many bells for you, and that's part of the problem. A wonderful actress and more recently a very talented writer and storyteller, Wilson is better known as 'the girl from Matilda', 'the kid in Miracle on 34th Street' or the youngest girl in Mrs Doubtfire. It says something about the worth that we attach to child actors when we tend to forget what they're called - they are household faces not household names. And jesus - what a disservice that all does to Mara Wilson. Where Am I Now? is really a series ...
This week, the Lib Dems stormed to a strong second in the Tory heartland of Witney, leapfrogging from fourth. Thousands of volunteers from across the country piled down to David Cameron's former constituency, and sent a shockwave through British politics. Life-long Tory voters, disgusted by Theresa May's lurch to the hard-Brexit right, supported our hard-working [...]
Sun 23rd
11:10
LibLink: Tim Farron: Witney result shows that the Liberal Democrats are back in the political big ti...
[IMG: winninghere-at-witney-from-holly-mathies] Following the excellent result for the Liberal Democrats, an excellent 30%, a swing from the Tories the likes of which hasn't been seen for nearly two decades, Tim Farron has been writing for the Huffington Post. His message: we're back. The result not only signals that the Liberal Democrats are back in the political big time and the return to third party politics, but also a clear rejection of the Conservative Brexit government's plan to take Britain out of the Single Market. Don't underestimate what we have achieved. We started here in fourth place but have blown Labour ...
Why we lost the Brexit vote - POLITICO Doesn't live up to its title, but is a very interesting insight into the mind of a tory wonk. Revealed: Nearly Half The Adults In Britain And Europe Hold Extremist Views This is utterly terrifying Twitter RT @riotheatherrr: And we are especially vulnerable to gaslighting and emotional abuse in adulthood because of this conditioning.... miss_s_b | PSA: Contacting me FYI, everyone: MPs vote against protecting the EU right to live and work in the UK And of course my MPs name is on this list. Actually ashamed that so many of my ...
There is an interesting piece on Buzzfeed by Jim Waterson, which underlines how much the anti-European, so-called establishment-busting UKIP is reliant on European funds and establishment support for its survival. Warerson says that concerns have been raised about the state of UKIP's finances following the EU referendum, with major donors defecting to the Conservatives or threatening to form a new party now UKIP has achieved its main objective. But, to make matters worse, the party's reliance on EU funding makes it even more likely to be cast into oblivion. He says that many support staff and a large proportion of ...
Yesterday morning I gave 3 hours of my time to help out at the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside, a minute's walk from my house. Much of the work involved moving large quantities of branches chopped from the extensive hedges on the site. I took them to my goats (which are also kept on the site). It was the equivalent of fast food for them. I also helped weed some beds and build a raised
[IMG: 14681612_696537703845859_7410615004637708644_n] Yesterday I attended a hustings meeting at Dovedale Baptist Church Hall in Liverpool to hear prospective Lib Dem Mersey Metro Mayor candidate Carl Cashman speak. Carl is an impressive young man who seems to have that 'X' factor that many other politicians simply don't. So what are Carl's assets? Well youth is one, being in his 20's brings us a candidate unburdened by the baggage that many older politicians carry with them. He has a fresh perspective and one that folks seem to like. Carl has not had a privileged upbringing; he was brought up a a Merseyside ...
Embed from Getty Images The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless. What's happening to our country? — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 18, 2016 Gary Lineker has taken a bit of stick this week for comments (such as the one above) on Twitter. The Sun went to town on him and there were calls for him to be sacked from the BBC. But Gary Lineker deserves to be saluted for putting his head above the parapet. It is very important that iconic figures, such as Lineker (especially those like him who have many young ...
In his 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded, Jon Savage writes: It was the silence and dark tones that reinforced the horror of the news report, as both the BBC and ITV gave Aberfan blanket coverage. By the early afternoon, viewers nationwide were seeing the black tide, the faces contorted by grief and pain, the crowds of rescuers, the small bodies being carried out under blankets. The rolling reports would continue over the next few days: as Tony Austin later wrote, "Aberfan showed that TV observation of grief is acceptable to the vast majority, even if it opened eyes to ...
Sun 23rd
09:34
You won't believe this latest FIASCO from the Council regarding the Bridge Street cycle ban!
Given all the real issues and problems occurring in our city each and every day, I'm always amazed by the amount of coverage the issue of Bridge Street cycling gets throughout the year! What's the latest news then? The Peterborough Telegraph has discovered that, despite the Tory leader at the Town Hall announcing in August a [...]
Several years ago I had a moment. In fact, I had several moments where I genuinely contemplated suicide. Not just a quick thought about it. I considered how and when to do it. There was a variety of reasons why I thought it was best to end it, but I believe the main reason was coping with my sexuality and my religion and my family and having to deal with all that on my own. At this point, I hadn't come out and the only other person who knew was the person I was having an on and off unofficial ...
So, rightly, says the latest edition of The Economist: The party is right to take some solace from the result [in the Witney by-election]. Firstly because the 19-point swing in its favour is the first solid sign that the party's long slump, during and after its unpopular participation in the last coalition government, is bottoming out and perhaps easing off. A "comeback" in itself it is not, but it might herald the tentative beginnings of one. Secondly – and more significantly – the result represents the first fruits of the party's new strategy... The thinking behind this is set out ...
Just after 7.30am today the flotilla (see previous postings over the past week) of 8 boats set sail for Liverpool. I caught up with lead barge Kennet at Bells Lane swing bridge in Lydiate:- [IMG: Kennet at Bells Lane] and then just a little further down the tow path towards Maghull I saw this narrow boat all decked out for the 200 year celebrations:- [IMG: Opposite 55] That's about it for the 200 year celebrations of the completion of the Leeds Liverpool Canal folks, its been nice recalling how the slowest form of transport affected the communities of south and ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 24 OCTOBER 2016 Perth Road (Glamis Road to West Park Road) - closed for one week for gas main renewal. 43-47 Windsor Street - closed on Tuesday 25 October for BT pole replacement (see Public Notice below) : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of BT telegraph pole replacement works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Windsor Street ...
Blackness House (below) was a picturesque 17th century mansion, demolished before World War II. It is shown on Ordnance Survey maps of the periods in extensive grounds, and a bowling green to the south side, the North Lodge House being on Blackness Road. In 1867, J. B. Brechin published a list of paintings by the old masters in the Blackness House Gallery, which included Giotto, Bruegel, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens and Titian. In 1894, when Alexander Wilson took this photograph, Blackness House belonged to John E. Prain, listed in the Dundee Directory as a manufacturer. James Prain and Sons, spinners ...
BT are proposing to remove many public call boxes across Blyth ( and elsewhere in the county / country ) including the one on Fulmar Drive Obviously it is a cost saving exercise, but I really find it hard to argue retention if the boxes are not being used. My colleague, Jeff Reid, is attempting to get usage figures for the boxes, but he has been told that at least one in his ward / division has not been used in over a year. At the meeting of the town council planning and development committee last week, we all agreed ...
Brexit: leading banks set to pull out of UK early next year Taking back control. #fb (tags: eu brexit ukpolitics )
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. 1. Council Budget Consultation Broxtowe Borough Council is consulting on its budget and the services it intends to provide for next year. The Council is inviting you to have your say on shaping budgets and services in 2017/18. The Government grant to the council has reduced by 42% since 2010 and it is expected to reduce to zero by 2019. The Council needs ...
