Another busy week of by-elections with a Lib Dem defence, a Ukip defence, two Labour defences and four Conservative defences adding up to eight contests in total. Not quite a full slate of Liberal Democrat candidates, with seven standing leaving just the one ward uncontested by Vince Cable's party. Not quite 100% good news then. 10/12 last week, 7/8 this time is the sort of pattern we need to be seeing more regularly – and at least that missing Lib Dem candidate isn't in the Lib Dem held ward up for election, unlike Ukip who didn't even stand in the ...
Before the Midland Railway built its London terminus at St Pancras its trains reached the capital by taking the Hitchin branch from Bedford and then running into King's Cross. The Bedford to Hitchin line closed to passengers in 1961 and the last goods train ran in 1964. This video explores what remains of the line today.
The Guardian has the opinion piece on its web site – see link above There can be little doubt that the Tories are indeed in one hell of a mess, although her Majesty's official opposition are in effect sharing the same political hole that they have jointly dug and keep on deepening. Brexit will be the ruin of us all, be in no doubt. With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting
Nick Clegg's comments about stopping Brexit in his new book are the sort that would have a civil servant muttering, 'That's a little unhelpful'. That's because of his encouragement of people to join Labour or the Conservatives to stop Brexit. Not to vote Lib Dem or join the Lib Dems, but to join Labour or the Conservatives. Said a former leader and current member of the Liberal Democrats. At first when I saw the headlines I wondered if the fuller context was more nuanced. But it's not: Join the Labour Party and make your voice heard. It may seem odd ...
Embed from Getty Images The thing about really posh people is that they make it look effortless. Think of Prince William or David Cameron. True, Cameron's inner Flashman could soon appear if he was thwarted, but Prince William probably does not even think of himself in this way. It just comes naturally to him. At the other end of the spectrum are those for whom being posh is hard work. They make everything a little bit too obvious. Take Boris Johnson. He was plucked from the same North London primary school the Miliband brothers attended and sent to prep school ...
"This video toolkit is intended to help you debunk dubious tweets. It was first developed in research by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Arena Program at the London School of Economics to detect Russian social media influence during the German elections." Henk Van Ess shows us how to spot a bot. Daniel Sugarman says the row about antisemitism is bad for the Labour Party and for everyone else. "The contrast of metropolitan gangsterism with rural comfort has always made it an irresistible tale - it was a bit like a really lovely Welsh Breaking Bad." Joe Zadeh revisits ...
And for the first time in this series of essays, we get to a book that is an actual acknowledged classic work, a book which has flaws, admittedly, but which is so obviously a good book, and so widely known ... Continue reading →
The Conservatives have achieved an amazing PR success with their lie that they have been engaged in the past seven years in "clearing up the mess left by Labour." Now they are embarked on clearing up several other messes, but without acknowledging that is it they and their policies that have caused the mess in the first place. Take, for example, housing. Mrs May has just realised that there is a national shortage of affordable housing and so has announced in her conference speech that the government will sanction an additional £2b of expenditure to alleviate it. It is not ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: 'You look very much like your father.' A peculiarly awful book set in Belgium a few years ago, in a town near the Drielandenpunt where a new local doctor moves in with his triplet sons and a sinister unspoken history of discredited scientific experimentation. I thought that the book was trying to navigate the fuzzy boundary between mainstream Belgian literature and horror, and frankly got lost en route, going for shock rather than substance. I got it because I'm always on the lookout for books about Belgium that have made a minor hit in English, ...
[IMG: Piles of money. Photo credit: czbalazs - http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1236662] Of the many phrases that pepper the UK's political discourse, the oft used 'Magic Money Tree' has to be the most grating. Its employment is a rhetorical device used to shut down any talk of government spending by hawks who believe any movement away from a narrow focus on cuts as a weapon for reducing the deficit is not only ill-advised, but belongs to the realm of fairy tales. More sophisticated commentators know that macroeconomics is more complex than that and government spending can – in some circumstances – reduce budget ...
The news that members of the LGBT community in Azerbaijan are being rounded up and held in detention on what appears to be entirely spurious grounds triggers the obvious concern that events in Chechnya, where gay men are being hunted down and killed, are spilling over into other parts of the Caucasus. In response, members of the Federal International Relations Committee have drafted a resolution to be considered at the ALDE Party Congress in Amsterdam, calling for action. It has to be said that, usually, I would leave such things to those more expert than I am. On this occasion ...
On Monday Claire Young once again took our campaign for improving local bus services to the South Glos Public Transport Forum. Claire reminded the First Bus Director James Freeman of the 82 bus service petition she presented last autumn and followed up again at the Forum earlier this year. As well as better reliability, we are calling for the reinstatement of a direct bus service from Chipping Sodbury (and the villages beyond) to Southmead, Parkway and the Mall and a later bus service for people who work at the Mall to get home after it closes. Mr Freeman said that ...
Behaviours are learned and displayed in both everyday life and in aesthetic performances. Schechner writes that we learn behaviour from birth through social and cultural conditioning, or "...a continuous training by osmosis"[1] Image Source: jessiejreynolds.com Any interaction is a relationship system. We could say that an interaction starts with an actor and a spectator or an audience. However, we are, at all times, both the spectator and the spectated. An observer observes, but is, in turn, being observed. Within society we perform behaviours depending on how we want other people to see us. Goffman writes that "...the individual will have ...
Have you heard about the Disabled Children's Partnership? It was launched over the summer by a large group of charities, including Mencap, Contact and The Children's Trust. The network now links more than fifty organisations who support children with a range of conditions, from the Fragile X Society and the Down's Syndrome Association to Young Lives with Cancer CLIC Sargent and the Myotonic Dystrophy Support Group. So how do the Disabled Children's Partnership priorities tally with our new party disability policy? (Did you know we had a new policy? Passed at conference last month and available here.) The Disabled Children's ...
Prestwich Liberal Democrat councillor Tim Pickstone is to swim the equivalent of an English Channel Crossing during October 2017 to raise funds for the Medical Aid Charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders). Click image to watch video Tim is swimming the equivalent of an English Channel crossing in local swimming pools throughout October – that's 66 lengths of a normal swimming pool every day to raise funds for MSF. MSF are saving lives every single day by providing doctors and medical staff to countries that are suffering from famine, conflict, natural disasters and ideas. All donations very much appreciated. ...
Bury Adult Learning Service is offering a 2 day FREE* interview technique course to give you the interview skills you need and tips to succeed. This is at: Lester House, 21 Broad Street, Bury BL9 0DA 2 weeks from Monday 9th October 9.30-12.00pm : Code: CL101 Cost: *Free to those in receipt of relevant benefits For advice and information contact Learner Services on 0161 253 7501. To enrol contact 0161 253 5772. Bury Adult Learning Service www.bury.gov.uk/adultlearning
There has been a small amount of press coverage over the last year or so about Bury Council buying property outside of the Bury MBC area. At the last meeting of Bury's Full Council the Liberal Democrat Group of Councillors tabled a formal written question on this issue. The answer shows that since 2015 Bury Council has bought the following properties outside of Bury: Prezzo Restaurant, Lytham St Ann's Purchase price: £1,010,000 Current annual revenue generated: £60,000 Capita Regional Office Headquarters, Huddersfield Purchase Price: £2,300,000 Current annual revenue generated: £150,000 Bakerie Restaurant and My Dentist Surgery and Regional Training Centre, ...
What do people who need to enter residential care fear most? Losing the home they have worked for the best part of their lives? Separation from their spouse they have shared a bed with for decades? Going to a place where they know they are going to die? At a time when a person is at their most vulnerable we force them away from their families and potentially destroy their treasured legacy for their children and grandchildren. So let's be clear, caring for the elderly and keeping them safe as they become frail is more than just a financial crisis, ...
Responding to the news that the Scottish government has banned fracking after a public consultation, Lib Dem Energy and Climate Change spokesperson Lynne Featherstone said: "This is a welcome move from the Scottish government. Fracking is economically questionable, deeply unpopular in local communities up and down the country, not to mention a disaster for our environment. "Yet again, Theresa May is finding herself on the wrong side of the argument. Fracking is simply a fig leaf for her government's failures on decarbonising heating."May should follow the Scottish government's lead and bring a ban on fracking below the border into effect ...
Responding to comments made by Boris Johnson at an event at the Tory conference, in which he said that a Libyan city could be the new Dubai once they "clear the dead bodies away", Lib Dem deputy leader and foreign affairs spokesperson Jo Swinson said:"Diplomacy is a basic requirement for the role of Foreign Secretary."This latest unbelievably crass and insensitive comment about an issue of such importance is further proof Boris is not up to the job."May needs to get her house in order and sack him."
The collapse of the airline operator Monarch earlier this week cannot entirely be blamed on Brexit. The terror threats to Tunisia and Turkey effectively closed down the company's more profitable routes, leaving Monarch to try to earn a living on the highly competitive routes to places such as Spain and Portugal. However, the company also had to carry the increased costs of Brexit caused by the
Wed, 12:56: 'Fancy Believing in the Goblin King' https://t.co/bI4cZ591Ze Fantastic David Bowie story. Wed, 13:24: She doesn't look very happy either! https://t.co/u5ExkytR3r Wed, 13:29: RT @MSmithsonPB: This is brilliant. Amber Rudd ordering BoJo to stand for tehe PM https://t.co/oTBY2Muiy6 Wed, 13:58: RT @pickwick: F off https://t.co/U4VRT0GmdU Wed, 16:05: Two strangers bond over country music and beer. Then the gunshots started. https://t.co/Vne7D6ZKtP A must read. Wed, 18:36: 1688: A Global History, by John E. Wills https://t.co/zvpxjGjAC1 Wed, 20:48: 5-10 March 1891: Bovril and the first ever Sci-Fi convention, at the Royal Albert Hall https://t.co/sUlGLqaa3R Yep. Wed, 21:49: RT @mckenp: Former Taoiseach ...
Theresa May's British Nightmare In which Correct Isabel is correct; a sober and sensible summary of what went wrong for TMay yesterday, without the gleefully incredulous tone of the Indy piece linked below. Waymo vs. Uber: unsealed court documents reveal damning evidence This Future Looks Familiar: Watching Blade Runner in 2017 This is a very interesting perspective. miss_s_b | "Never read the comments" In which I wonder aloud why other outlets don't have comment sections like mine The Indy's comment column on TMay's Speech is a little masterpiece "Not for anything like the first time in recent years, the satirist ...
There is a full update of roadworks in Prestwich on the GM Roadworks Website (www.gmroadworks.org) Significant roadworks this month are: – Heywood Road / Hampden Road (3-5 October) – lights at Prestwich Park Road South / Bury New Road (15 October) – lights at Richmond Avenue Bury New Road (25 October) – continuing works on through the village (A56) – continuing nighttime works at Junction 17
Embed from Getty Images This is the fifth of my posts based on a recent tour of the eastern half of the USA. I visited a number of sites relevant to African American history. To mark Black History Month, I am relating some of the things I saw, in the order I saw them. While in Detroit, I visited the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History. This museum is holding a special art exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Detroit 1967 Rebellion. The exhibition is called: "Say it loud: Art, History, Rebellion". The blurb says: "This ...
These last few days, I spent some time talking to my Spanish wife and her friends about events in Catalonia. None of them are Catalan. But the way in which the government handled the task of trying to stop a referendum that was deemed illegal has turned them all into Catalans. None of them supports [...] The post We are all Catalans now – and why that matters appeared first on Radix.
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Sefton Lab Councillor declare 'year zero' and accept no responsibilities for 'before JC'
'Year zero' was declared by a Labour councillor at the Sefton Council meeting last week. Everything 'before JC' , as he put it they did not accept responsibility for. With JC all was made new and the world began again. We had the usual rants about how evil and wicked the Lib Dems were for agreeing to reduce the deficit. I thought it appropriate to point out the 2010 Labour manifesto proposed cuts more swingeing than those actually carried out by the Coalition. The Labour councillor did not dispute that. It simply didn't matter because it was 'before JC ' ...
I read somewhere this week that the Conservative Party gathering in Manchester felt like a "Potemkin conference". It had all the forms of a party conference, with hordes of journalists and lobbyists, but few actual members. That reminded me of something: Liberal Democrat conferences during the coalition era of 2010 to 2015. So, after comparing ... Continue reading Theresa May is channelling Nick Clegg
I ended yesterday's post by noting that the proposals for new boundaries were of interest in so far as they related to Creeting St Peter. I should explain, I guess. Prior to the last round of boundary changes, the village formed part of The Stonhams ward, combining with Stonham Aspal, Earl Stonham, Stonham Parva and Creeting St Mary. It elected a Liberal Democrat councillor and was a neat enough fit. Unfortunately, that round of boundary changes stripped the ward of our village, throwing us with the metropolis that is Stowupland. The proposals made by the three political parties each had ...
The introduction of a food waste collection in Lewisham is good news for Liberal Democrats, who have long campaigned for it and would like to see a food waste collection in ninety percent of households nationally. It is cheering to know that it will save money as well as help the environment. It is collected [...]
It was hardly the housing revolution that we had been led to expect. Theresa May's pledge to put another £2 billion into affordable housing over the next four and a half years will produce just 25,000 more homes, or just over 5,000 a year. Furthermore there is no intention to relax borrowing controls so councils will not be able to use the money to seed-corn bigger developments. Compared to the demand and the growing crisis facing parts of England and Wales, the promise is wholly inadequate. As the Daily Mirror points out the extra £2 billion is just one fifth ...
The next West End Police Surgery takes place at Blackness Library next Monday - details below :
What is your workplace doing on World Mental Health Day? It's coming up on Tuesday, October 10th, and the theme is Workplace Mental Health. Ask your boss, line manager and co-workers if anything is planned. If not, do something! There's still time to organise an event to raise awareness on Tuesday that we all have mental health. De-stigmatising that conversation in the workplace is paramount. The charity Mind has some excellent tips for improving Workplace Mental Health here. Maybe one of these can be something your office does together on Tuesday? For example, a group walk, a lunchtime game of ...
