And so, as I suspected, it came to pass that Nadia Cenci's tenure as Leader of the Conservative Group on Ipswich Borough Council came to a sorry end. It didn't take very long, her resignation coming on Monday without much suggestion that it wasn't inevitable. Her apology was a fulsome one, and whilst only Nadia knows whether or not it was sincere, she might hope that it doesn't necessarily mean the end of any political aspirations she has much beyond being a Borough councillor. I fear that she is, however, done for in that sense, because the other problem with ...
Down at Third Man once described the cricket ground this blog's hero J.W. Logan MP gave to the village of East Langton as "the mythic cricket ground that all lovers of the game believe one day they will stumble on". I have blogged about its history before. And today I called in to see some cricket there. If I read the Langtons Cricket Club site correctly, I was watching their second XI play Bitteswell.
This post owes a lot to this tweet, and the depressing replies to it. Corbynistas literally came to my house, woke up my family at 4am. Screamed c*** at me stole my LD signs, live tweeted it with balaclavas on ... Continue reading →
Embed from Getty Images Politics Home says Theresa May's enemies plan to challenge her leadership in the week after the Conservative conference. That is the traditional time to do it. Remember the rapturous reception the Tories gave Iain Duncan Smith just before they shot him? But it is clear that cabinet members are already fighting for the succession. Take a couple of stories that appeared in the press today. There was the one, in the words of the Telegraph, where Philip Hammond has found himself at the heart of a sexism row after telling fellow members of the cabinet that ...
The Bullring is one of Ludlow's most historic streets. So where, I hear you cry can you put two new houses? Behind Matt Fothergill's leather shop is the answer. Matt has applied to permission to build a pair of semidetached. two-bedroom houses at the back of his shop at 18 Bullring. The site already has planning permission for a single, three-bedroom house. This site has long planning history. An application for a single house was refused by Shropshire Council in 2012 (11/05386/FUL). The applicant appealed and lost on a technical matter. A new application was submitted (13/03250/FUL). When this application ...
Bucket lists. Some have swimming with dolphins or standing on the edge of a cliff on their bucket list. I have things like visiting the Alexander Fleming museum and eating East End pie, mash and liquor on mine. Visiting the Thames Barrier is another one, and this morning I finally managed to indulge. The walk ... Continue reading Thames Barrier and the Thames Walk at Greenwich and Woolwich
For the Liberal Democrats and its predecessors the party's strategy for success at general elections was based on the accumulation of random chance through hard work. That isn't a sure footing for future success.
The latest edition of the Polling Matters podcast contains a return to its regular polling question, asking whether voters want to see a referendum on the terms of a Brexit deal: UK public opinion seems to be steadily edging towards support for a second referendum on EU membership. Opposition to another vote still leads by 7 points (48%-41% against) but this is down from a 19 point deficit in December. (You can listen to the full podcast episode here.) When it comes to future Liberal Democrat policy on Europe this highlights two things. First, that public opinion can shift, especially ...
About a week ago I did a post on my blog about the split over Europe in Labour and therefore thought it would be only fair to do an analysis of the divide that Mrs May faces in her party as well. When examining Labour, I began by taking a look at the differences in opinions ... Continue reading The Conservatives' Brexit division
Before I start - you have less than 24 hours to vote for this year's Hugo Awards! Go vote, then come back and read this! If you are a voter, you should have an email which includes your link to vote (and download the Hugo voter packet) in your mailbox, sent on Thursday 12 July, sent by hugos@worldcon.fi and signed by me, with the title "Only three days left to vote for the Hugo Awards!" To the point of this post (and a few more to come). Next month's Worldcon will feature the WSFS Business Meeting, the forum at which ...
It doesn't seem that long ago that the trend was for younger political leaders. We had Blair, then Cameron, Clegg and Miliband. Our American cousins elected the youthful Barack Obama as their President. Ming Campbell one of the Lib Dem leaders in this period was thought too old by some and his age was clearly a major factor in his stepping down. He was 66 at the time. Oh how things have changed. Labour's Corbyn is in his late sixties, in the US the President is 71 and arguably his main opponent the excellent Bernie Sanders is 75! As Britain's ...
Fri, 12:56: An open letter to Glastonbury, from a victim. https://t.co/HnQHvgPPlC Amazing story about creating and maintaining safety. Fri, 19:01: RT @BBCNewsnight: Is there anything worse than getting burnt alive? "I'm afraid there is" - Nazanin Aklani who lost her mother and aunt in... Fri, 20:48: Re-Animate Europe: And the winner is..... https://t.co/3Kzdz2ZmSv This was great fun.
An open letter on the subject of Tim Farron's "homophobia" from the acting chair of LGBT+ Lib DemsWrote this almost 3 months ago. I still stand by every word of it. miss_s_b | Quick Update on previous postIn which I give details of Roxy's current medication situation. Alice Cooper unleashes lyric video for new song 'Paranormal' - Planet RockI have tickets for the 11th November show in Leeds. I am very very VERY excited. 22 Dogs That Prove We Don't Deserve DogsDogs are the best mammals. Knock humans into a cocked hat. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Whatever you think about tuition fees, and I remain opposed to the concept, they have changed the nature of higher education. A public service has become a market place, in which universities compete not for the best and brightest, but for lucrative fee income and where courses rise and fall on their popularity rather than their academic merits. The name of the game is expansion as Vice Chancellors build up little educational empires and seek to exploit every avenue to boost budgets to pay for their ambitions. They have morphed from being the head of an educational establishment into the ...
This is the poster Lord Bonkers is talking about. Tuesday One pleasing outcome of this hung parliament is that the Conservatives have been forced to give up their idea of doing away with Clegg's cherished free school meals, and I am pleased to have played some small part in that. The bright young things in the Liberal Democrat press office rang me during the campaign asking if I could help them source a thin, doe-eyed child for a poster. I, of course, replied that the Bonkers Hall for Well-Behaved Orphans is simply full of them. In fact, I suspect Matron ...
The annual Social Liberal Forum conference is always nourishing for the Liberal soul. There's always some proper intellectual heft behind its discussions and deliberations. It takes place today in London. By the time you read this, I'll have been up since before the crack of dawn. That 6:25 flight from Edinburgh is not my favourite way to travel but I couldn't justify the cost of the sleeper. The last time I was on this particular flight, it didn't even leave until after 11. The theme of the Conference is "The Retreat from Globalisation." That takes the morning and the afternoon ...
Issue 385 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers. This includes in Radical Bulletin our piecing together of the story of Tim Farron's resignation and who did and did not conspire to do what. We also look at what went on in some controversies over candidates and campaigns. Its traditional for Liberator to send a questionnaire to leadership contenders, so we did so even though there is only one and Vince Cable's answers can be seen here. This issue's other free sample article is Liz Barker's recounting of how she tried to get Tim Farron to see the political ...
From the City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating carriageway resurfacing works. The Order is expected to be in force for four weeks from 24 July 2017. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Perth Road from Hawkhill to Roseangle. Working hours will be 11 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday and 11 am to 6 pm Saturdays. Access will be maintained outwith ...
A packet of Ormskirk Gingerbread I posted a while back (May 2016) about the market town of Ormskirk and made reference to it being famous for Gingerbread. That posting can be accessed via the link below:- Quote from my previous posting – 'The market town of Ormskirk (famous for its gingerbread and for having a very rare Parish Church with both a tower and a steeple) nestles in a rather awkward spot sandwiched between Preston, Southport, Liverpool, Skelmersdale and Wigan.' Well there I was recently standing outside M&S Ormskirk wondering about the large gingerbread man outside the store when ...
Me with my Carer!! Erica and I hope that we have a long, healthy and happy third age but we must all be aware of the problems that we face as longevity increases. I am attending three events next week ... Continue reading →
