Supporting Chelsea hasn't always been easy. As Wikipedia tells it: The late 1970s through to the '80s was a turbulent period for Chelsea. An ambitious redevelopment of Stamford Bridge threatened the financial stability of the club, star players were sold and the team were relegated. Further problems were caused by a notorious hooligan element among the support, which was to plague the club throughout the decade.In 1982, Chelsea were, at the nadir of their fortunes, acquired by Ken Bates for the nominal sum of £1, although by now the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to property developers, meaning the ...
"There is, it appears, a worldwide epidemic of infants in positions of political power, and everyone is telling everyone else to grow up," says Samuel Earle. Jennie Bristow questions the current fashion of blaming the Baby Boomers for everything. Timothy Snyder asks if Trump is waiting for his Reichstag fire moment. "James Taylor's description of the moment his implanted defibrillator shocked his heart back into a normal rhythm is told in a matter-of-fact way without a flicker of emotion but nevertheless is a stark reminder of what he faces every day." The former England batsman talks to Nick Hoult about ...
In Belgium, there's an underground beer pipeline. Yes, it's inherently difficult to film something that's underground, but Tom Scott headed over to Bruges to investigate anyway.
Embed from Getty Images Seth Thévoz has written a study under the title The Richmond Park By-Election in Perspective: Lessons from Liberal, Social Democrat and Liberal Democrat By-Election Gains for the Social Liberal Forum. Like everything he writes, it is worth reading. The first lesson he draws is that: Liberal Democrats should be realistic in aiming to make more by-election gains this parliament - but not ... imagine that a streak of four or five such victories is likely, given the diminishing number of by-elections triggered. One more, maybe two, would be quite enough to show that the party is ...
Sports clubs and community organisations can now apply for funding from our new Community Asset Fund Sport England have opened their Community Asset Fund which is aimed at breathing life into the spaces and places in your community. "We really want to hear from all kinds of sports clubs, community organisations and social enterprises" To [...]
As part of the Council's 'Made in Bury' campaign we want to recognise the good work of many of our residents and community groups throughout the borough. If you know an individual or community group that is making an outstanding contribution to a community in our borough, please show your appreciation by nominating them for [...]
Just to let residents know about a new planning application in Unsworth. Please just let me know if you have any queries. Two storey extension to both sides and rear and demolition of existing garage – 83 Hillsborough Drive, Bury, BL9 8LF Ref. No: 61104 | Received date: Mon 06 Feb 2017 | Status: Application [...]
The next Whitefield/Unsworth Township Forum takes place on Tuesday 14 March, 6.30pm at Elms Community Centre. Agenda items include: · Police Update · Presentation: Library Review - update on progress of review · Health Centre Development update with NHS officers · Updates - Uplands, Former Town Hall, Hickory Grange, Porada, Pilsworth (Park 66), Boz Park [...]
Regular readers of my blog and weekly newsletter will remember that I have written several times about planning applications submitted by the Unsworth Smile Clinic currently located at Unsworth Pole next to the medical centre. I blogged about their latest attempt to secure permission for a third floor extension here at the end of January [...]
Can anyone explain this video I've just seen on Twitter?
As more countries and jurisdictions are relaxing their laws around cannabis, many questions have arisen. Will legalisation affect potency? Could some types of cannabis actually reduce psychosis? What are the choices in cannabis legislation, is it just prohibition or legalisation? And if cannabis is legalised, will everyone start using it? These are just a few of the questions answered by myself and two other researchers from King's College London in the fourth episode of a new podcast; What's the Crack. We created the podcast with an aim to improve public awareness of the complexity and reality of addiction, policies, stigma ...
Manchester Gorton is one of Labour's safest seats if we look solely at the numbers. A majority of over 24,000 coupled with none of the other parties clearing 10% means that is any normal by-election, it wouldn't really interest politicos. Yet we don't live in a normal political era anymore and anything can happen. One of the biggest reasons it was so safe came down to having an extremely popular and long-time MP. As we saw in 2015 for the Lib Dems, popularity and incumbency couldn't save a plethora of MPs but this wasn't a problem for Labour here. Sir ...
Fri 3rd
13:08
Sir Rod Stewart mimics Jihadi John ISIS execution on trip to desert in bizarre video posted online b...
Another day, another Headline of the Day. Well done to the Daily Mirror. Now read about Rod Stewart and Python Lee Jackson.
Many of you will have read Kate Atkinson's novel, Life After Life. If you haven't, I recommend it. On one level, it is a story of alternative realities, but its real theme is war. In chapter after chapter, the central character, Ursula, meets a different untimely end. Each time, this is followed by a chapter in which, in an alternative reality, the tragedy is averted, and Ursula lives longer, on borrowed time. Perhaps we are all Ursula, in one of her more fortunate realities. I'm sure I am. I was born in the early hours of the 9th September, 1962. ...
I don't think Tom Brake, Sarah Olney or Simone van Beek, the staffer from LDHQ who directed the video, actually meant to amuse Twitter in quite the way that they did with this campaign video for Fairtrade Fortnight. The message was good, although it may not have had quite the chemistry of the old Gold Blend ads of the 1990s. For those readers who are too young to remember them, this was a series of twelve ads over six years advertising Gold Blend coffee. The romantic tension between stars Anthony Head and Sharon Maugham built up over time and everyone ...
Fri 3rd
12:04
Sefton Borough – Accessible countryside routes for those with disabilities are very limited
I posted not so long ago about Sefton Council's Rights of Way Liaison Group which I happen to sit on representing both Lydiate and Maghull Councils. An issue raised with me recently by a Maghull resident was with regard to someone in their family having disability restrictions who finds it hard to access our local countryside. Accessible paths like this are required by people with disabilities There's no doubt this is an issue and it's one that is often compounded by the obstacles that are placed on public rights of way to try to stop abuse of them by motorbikes/quadbikes. ...
Fri 3rd
11:57
My television appearances today and tomorrow - #AE17 Northern Ireland Assembly election
I am participating in today's BBC coverage of yesterday's Northern Ireland Assembly election (votes here are counted over the two days after the vote). It looks like the results will be much more interesting than I had anticipated - turnout is up in Nationalist and mixed areas, down in some of the more hardline Unionist areas. Initial indications will start coming through at lunchtime and they think that they may have finished as early as tomorrow lunchtime (which seems to mne optimistic, especially if there are close and contested results. You can catch me on BBC One Northern Ireland and ...
(Like my post the other day, and as I expect posts here to be frequently from now on, this is me thinking aloud about issues that circle around my PhD thesis so thoughts, comments and corrections are welcome) It's electoral systems geek Christmas right now as Northern Ireland counts its latest Assembly election. As one of the few places in the world to use STV elections and because it has both parties and voters ready to utilise the full potential of the electoral system, it's fascinating to watch how election counts unfold and see how votes transfer between parties and ...
Donald Trump's economic policy can best be described as guns, butter and bridges. At the moment the United States ratio between its public debt and what it earns as a country every year is 104.7 percent. That means the government owes 4.7 percent more than the country earns. If America was a business– or a private household—the bank manager would be strongly advising Uncle Sam to earn more money and/or cut expenses or file for bankruptcy. Now, Donald Trump wants to increase defence spending by ten percent, maintain welfare spending, spend trillions on improving American infrastructure and cut taxes. Cash ...
Swedish women's team replace shirt names with messages of empowerment [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
(previous episode) In the near future, Daisy takes part in an isolation experiment for five years only to find a very different world waiting for her when the doors open... (comedy/horror/sci-fi/distopian. All rights reserved) Part twelve of many. Resetting Expectations... You've overridden the computer programme? Daisy asks, almost in awe of the small, slightly battered robot. 'Yes, Fermat programmed me to be able to access all systems on board. For when we are... were going to be living in it. Is he dying?' Outside, Fermat is screaming and screaming until one of the baying pack moves up gingerly approaching the ...
As someone fascinated by the Central Asian countries, I was delighted when the All Party Parliamentary Group for China (APPCG) organised a talk this week by Peter Frankopan, author of "The Silk Roads - A New History of the World". "The Silk Roads are rising again", said Richard Graham MP, Chair of APPCG at the end of a fulsome introduction of the Oxford University historian. Yet, there are not many other Parliamentarians, let alone the British public, who are in tune with the zeitgeist. Frankopan was keen to put into historical context the dramatic changes that we are witnessing today ...
Hey, Have you already read that news? It's incredible, I'm terrified, just read it here website Yours truly, Alex Feakes
Whether or not there is a soft coup underway in the Labour Party as alleged by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, there is no doubting that the official opposition is facing a crisis. Not only are Labour trailing badly in the polls, with Jeremy Corbyn consistently scoring historically poor approval ratings, but they are also losing local council by-elections and have become the first opposition party to lose a Parliamentary seat to the Government since 1982. But there is a more potent trend that underlines the crisis facing Labour. That is the steady loss of members. According to the Guardian, Labour ...
Fri 3rd
08:30
The 2020 general election will be about who can hoover up the ex-Labour vote - how well placed are t...
One thing is pretty much certain: the Labour vote is going to go down and the Tory vote up from where they both were in the 2015 general election when the next GE comes around. It's a matter of how much, really. Labour could go down 5% nationally – or 10%, or even more. The Tories will go up at least 5%, but could experience an even greater rise. But how will other parties do? And how will that translate into seats? These are key questions for all parties, but particularly the Liberal Democrats, as targeting could become a key ...
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : WAY BACK WHEN - STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHS 1968-73 The opening of a new exhibition of rarely seen photographs taken by a Dundee art student in the early 1970s - "Way Back When" - opens today - Friday 3rd March - from 5pm - 6.30pm in the Tower Foyer Gallery at the University of Dundee. The photographs were all taken by Walter Simms, who studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art from 1968-1973, specialising in Graphic Design and Photography. He went on to have a successful career in graphic ...
Fri 3rd
05:30
Rocks Green supermarket gets planning permission after government declines to intervene
Yesterday, 2 March, Shropshire Council planners approved a 21,000 square foot supermarket on the edge of Ludlow at Rocks Green. This follows a decision by Sajid Javid, the local government and communities minister, not to call the application in for his own determination. Whether the supermarket is good for the town, as many argue, or whether it will destroy our unique town centre, as others claim, this scheme will change Ludlow more than any other planning application approved in recent years. The Rocks Green application has been controversial from the outset (14/05573/OUT). The plans were approved by the South Planning ...
It's that time on Thursday night again and I can tell you that we have gained a council seat – this time, on Wells City Council, from the Independent. Congratulations to Rob Ayres and his team. Liberal Democrats gain St Cuthbert's ward, Wells City Council from Independent. Great work! Full results to follow. pic.twitter.com/3lxZ4yOD2J — ALDC (@ALDC) March 2, 2017 It was knife edge stuff – just 21 votes in it: St Cuthbert's Ward – Wells City Council LD Rob Ayres 341 [42.6%] Conservative 320 [40.1%] Green 137 [17.1%] Liberal Democrats gain from ind — ALDC (@ALDC) March 3, 2017 ...
