Pevsner says St Peter's, Irthlingborough, is: A quite remarkable sight, lying as it does between the village and the river. The church is large and at first seems quite incongruous. What appears to be incongruous is however the survival of not only the church, but also the very tall and dominant tower to the W of the church which belonged to the college founded by the widow of John Pyel, a mercer of London, in 1388.This tower (which had to be reconstructed at the end of the 19th century) is called the 'lantern tower' and many books will tell you ...
Matthew Green offers a sober assessment of Liberal Democrat prospects under our new leader. "The progressive alliance can only work when everyone is genuinely willing to work together. If they are all fighting over the same voters then it was always a fallacy." Neil Monnery draws a lesson from this year's general election campaign. "Looking back at the time of the 1967 Act even those supporting decriminalisation called homosexuality 'a disability' and 'a great weight of shame'. Bisexuals didn't even occur to them. Goodness knows what they'd think of all the diversity of sexuality we share today! It shows us ...
Embed from Getty Images "Corbyn wants a hard-right Brexit. Progressives must fight back, not follow" – that is the uncompromising headline to an article by Vince Cable in today's Guardian. Vince claims: It is a paradox not lost on many Labour MPs that while their leader is to the left even of Michael Foot, he has collaborated with the right more than any Labour leader since Ramsay MacDonald. Jeremy Corbyn's insistence that Brexit means leaving the single market and customs union - unpicking Keir Starmer's carefully woven tapestry of ambiguity - now puts him in the same place as Theresa ...
1992 was the year in which the 'Clean Hands' corruption scandal upended the Italian political system, ending its existing party system and opening the way for the rise of Silvio Berlusconi.
Fifty years on As many (if not all) of you will know, this week marks fifty years since the partial decriminalization of homosexuality. As an out and proud gay man, it is humbling to remember the efforts of so many people...most of whom didn't live to feel the joy of (near) equality but who nonetheless kept up the fight and the campaigning in the hope that future generations of gay and bi men and women would. I shed a few tears this week thinking of all the people who were demonized, criminalized, abused, and died, just because of who they ...
Once again libraries in South Gloucestershire are inviting all 4 to 11-years-old to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge. This year's theme is Animal Agents, based on a detective agency staffed by a variety of clever animals - furry, scaly and slippery - who are out to crack a case at the library with a little help from their friends. The challenge, which involves reading six books, runs until 16th September. You can find out more about the challenge and a range of free activities running through the holidays at www.southglos.gov.uk/childrenslibrary
I've just returned from a fascinating week doing "touristy" things based on Galway in the West of Ireland. I do not claim on the basis of a one week visit to have cracked the Irish perspective on everything, but here are four interesting pointers. 1. Brexit I. A leader in the Irish Times (does Murdoch own that one too?), on, I think, Friday 21st July, said something like "We are sorry to lose our friend and close ally [from the EU], but that will not preclude us from picking at the carcass" (or maybe it was 'cadaver'). This struck me ...
We have our Headline of the Day. Well done to the Richmond & Twickenham Times.
The dramatic scenes on the Senate floor in the early hours of this morning are ones that Democrats and all those that believe in health care will play over and over again on YouTube. With a majority of just two, the Republicans could absorb the two rebels who had already made themselves known, Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. The Vice President was lurking in case of a tied vote to cast the deciding ballot. So it was all eyes on Senator John McCain whose vote had been on a knife-edge seemingly all day. What happened next changed the course ...
A third of female employees called out on their appearance were deemed 'a distraction' to male colleagues at work Today's Pope Shits In The Woods news Cultural Appropriation: Whose culture is it anyway, and what about hybridity? Food for thought here, and I'd like to see (reasonable) arguments from the other side that take her points into account. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Thu, 20:48: More proposed changes to the Hugo Awards https://t.co/Am3VC0aaTn ...Best Novel, Best Related Work, Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form). Thu, 20:54: Arthur C. Clarke award night! (at @Foyles in Soho, Greater London) https://t.co/xFHJIy7fI0 Thu, 21:00: This remark was also made at @ClarkeAward ceremony this evening! https://t.co/eyOVCoUcnS Thu, 21:16: Colton Whitehead's The Underground Railroad wins the @ClarkeAward - Hooray!!!! Fri, 10:45: The harsh truths of Brexit https://t.co/qDqDCKTR1e The correlation between the regions most economically dependent on the EU, and support ... Fri, 10:48: London Film and Comic Con! (at @Olympia_london in London, Greater London) https://t.co/RxgclE4YBj
Last week Vince Cable was elected unopposed as leader of the Liberal Democrats, following Tim Farron's resignation. This is not a situation many Lib Dems expected to be in a month or so ago. I don't think I would have voted for him if the selection had been contested. Yet I dare to hope. Let's ... Continue reading Can Vince Cable broaden the Lib Dems appeal? →
A question for you to mull over... Why should a political party restrict itself to fighting public elections? Why not also take part in the myriad of other elections that exist, such as those for directors of companies? Instead of complaining from the sidelines about how a council behaves, we fight elections to change its decisions and methods. The same logic could apply to companies, hospital trusts, housing bodies and may more, all of which - like the bodies we fight elections for - have significant power over communities and individuals. Trying to change the directors of a newspaper group ...
The discussion that took place in Swansea Council's debating chamber last night on the non-electrification of the main line between Swansea and Cardiff highlighted perfectly the many contradictions in the UK Tory Government's environmental policies. The UK Government want to ban diesel and petrol cars and yet they are reluctant to approve projects that will produce non-carbon electricity to charge the replacement electric vehicles. We are still waiting for the go-ahead for the Swansea tidal lagoon. They deny Swansea and all points west of Cardiff, the long-promised electrification of our railway line and offer polluting diesel trains on that route ...
Rail User Express is the newsletter of Railfuture Ormskirk's Station with it's split tracks and disjointed railway journeys is illustrated well by this photo by 'mwmbwls' borrowed from Flickr. Ormskirk-Preston-Southport Travellers Association In the draft Northern timetable from May 2018, just two peak services each way between Wigan and Manchester Piccadilly via Bolton would start and end at Southport, using bi-mode Class 319 Flex trains. Diesel powered alternators under the driving trailer cars of these units power the existing DC electric motors and on-board systems, so they can run both on electrified lines and to non-electric destinations. OPSTA believes that ...
After Corbyn said his bit about single market membership equalling being in the EU and then Gardiner going full on Peter Bone on everyone, then the Carwyn Jones led uproar that contradicted all of this perfectly, we've now had the counter-counter-attack. Or is it the counter-counter-bluff? I don't know, let's try and piece it all together. Keir Starmer got in on the act: "Labour's objective is tariff-free access to the single market, no new red tape at customs and a deal that works for services as well as goods. It is vital that we retain the benefits of the Single ...
Our Leader, Vince Cable, sets out a powerful Lib Dem view on LGBT issues in PinkNews which is especially relevant following the Trump declaration on trans-gender soldiers It had been my intention today to write my own blog about Liverpool ... Continue reading →
South Glos are currently looking for foster carers for every background to care for children and young people who have had a difficult start in life. You can find out more at a Fostering Information Evening in Yate on Thursday 3 August. It runs from 7pm to 9pm at the Badminton Road Council Offices. For more information, call the fostering team on 01454 866423, email fostering@southglos.gov.uk or visit www.southglos.gov.uk/fostering
The next West End Police Surgery takes place at the Mitchell Street Centre on Tuesday - details below :
Radix is an all-party affair; just take a look at our board if you don't believe me. But it is no secret that many of those involved have centrist links, often with the Lib Dems. Perhaps that should come as no surprise given that Radix was set up with the objective of becoming the intellectual [...] The post Five things that irritate me about the Lib Dems appeared first on Radix.
Being a blogger is fun because you get to write about an issue or topic of your choosing when you want. Ideas abound everywhere and all it takes is imagination and natural curiosity to spot the potential for a blog post in, both, normal everyday situations and the big situations in life.The best bit about blogging is, for me anyway, that I have complete control over the point of view that I take. As an example, when I blogged about 'Love Island' a few days ago the angle I took was about the parent and child interaction which interested me ...
Last week at full council in Gateshead, I raised the issue of who paid for the repairs to the Blaydon Footbridge. Last August, a lorry driver drove into the bridge causing considerable damage. A section of the bridge had to be removed. The repairs and replacement of the missing section took place earlier this month. I had previously raised concerns that the costs would fall on local council
