Responding to reports that Carillion is to go into liquidation, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable said: "The government must now take responsibility for the big contracts run by Carillion, or re-tender them, to keep the supply chain going and protect thousands of jobs. Ministers must minimise the damage to the capacity of the construction industry. "We also urgently need a parliamentary inquiry into some of the very questionable decisions made in the past few months, not least the award of public contracts to a company that was clearly in danger of collapse. The issue of the former chief ...
Whittlesey does not just the straw bear: it also has a rather desolate railway station with staggered platforms, a signal box and a level crossing. It also favours the older spelling of the town's name. As Wikipedia says: All the original station buildings are long demolished, and only the two platforms remain. Unlike many railway crossings, the gates are not automatic and are still opened and closed by hand by a person who sits in a small hut-like building by the crossing.You can see the station in more prosperous days in the Peterborough Images Archive. At least it did a ...
Claims by Conservative MP and high-profile Leave campaigner Priti Patel that the Remain campaign broke the law during the European referendum have fallen apart under investigation from the Electoral Commission: Former Cabinet minister and Brexiteer Priti Patel had ... alleged that Britain Stronger in Europe failed to report joint spending with Labour, the Lib Dems and the Tories. But the Electoral Commission said it did not have "reasonable grounds" to believe the official Britain Stronger in Europe (BSiE) group exceeded its spending limits and would not be opening an investigation. In a letter to Ms Patel, the commission's head of ...
Mon 15th
19:17
Internet-connected wine bottle opener is pretty clever (if you ignore the internet and the price)
I was already ready to mock the internet-connected wine bottle opener on show at the big Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year. The mechanical part of it, however, is really rather clever.
To my dearest lover I love you. It may be an obvious thing to state after our time together, but it is true. I love you, and I wish to say sorry. I'm sorry for my previous mistakes of which there are many. I am amazed by your patience, your dedication and your love. Because of that, I'm writing to you to explain why I am fucked up and hopefully give you an insight into the fucked up mind that has led me to fuck up so badly in the past. I spoke to you once before about my apparent ...
Current The Story of General Dann and Mara's Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog, by Doris Lessing Patrick Troughton: The Biography of the Second Doctor Who, by Michael Troughton Providence, Act 1, by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows Watching the English, by Kate Fox Last books finished An Old Captivity, by Nevil Shute You Can't Take It With You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman War and Turpentine, by Stefan Hermans The Tree of Life, by Mark Michalowski Quoth the Raven, by Jane Haddam Rather Be The Devil, by Ian Rankin Five Escape Brexit Island, by Bruno Vincent Next ...
Finally, belatedly, I've overcome inertia and joined the world of people who use reusable mugs when getting a takeaway coffee.
There are two democratic principles that, taken together, demand a referendum on the deal. The first is that a democratic decision should be enforced, and the second is that no democratic decision has an indefinite mandate. The first principle, taken alone, is being used by the Conservatives and Labour to oppose a referendum on the deal. This is the argument: In 2015 the Conservatives won the general election promising a referendum. The 2015 parliament voted to hold this referendum. In 2016 a referendum was held. In 2017 the same parliament voted to trigger Article 50. The process has constitutional legitimacy ...
Responding to reports that Carillion is to go into liquidation, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable said: In the light of today's announcement that Carillion plc has gone into liquidation, Vince Cable has called for urgent action; The government must now take responsibility for the big contracts run by Carillion, or re-tender them, to keep the supply chain going and protect thousands of jobs. Ministers must minimise the damage to the capacity of the construction industry. We also urgently need a parliamentary inquiry into some of the very questionable decisions made in the past few months, not least the ...
In the previous two posts in this series, I examined the legislative process and prospects for the EU negotiations. Our challenge is how to shape public opinion and move parliamentarians from other political parties to build an overwhelming national will to stop this Brexit madness, and in so doing attract more support for ourselves. We can still stop Brexit. We can withdraw unilaterally our intention to leave the EU before 29 March 2019. Lord John Kerr, former head of the Diplomatic Service, has said as much, whilst Professor Sir Alan Ashwood has argued it "takes two to tango.". UKlegalfuture is ...
This year, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. It was Europe's suicide, and after a relatively peaceful century (1815-1914), marked by the anchoring of the rule of law, monetary stability, trade, reciprocal cultural influences, industrial development, scientific research, public education. The lesson of this horrible conflict has [...] The post A century on from the Armistice, some prospects for peace appeared first on Radix.
Sun, 14:32: Incredible Bosch-like Temptation of St Anthony by Jan Mandijn on the Abdij van Park near Leuven. https://t.co/LEUfeXSB1x Sun, 16:48: Hugely important European court ruling on Western Sahara https://t.co/b2GO7cpf7m Sun, 19:13: Exhibition at the Abdij van Parc, Leuven - (Un)worldly. Images of Seclusion and Liberation https://t.co/o9lddmm1s1 Sun, 20:48: Thread. https://t.co/NIrv08UsWf Sun, 21:26: GB not UK. But it is nice! https://t.co/EG5fCvZxsQ Mon, 08:06: My first mistake of the week - taking @DeLijn bus 337 from Oud-Heverlee to Leuven. It finally came 25 minutes late;... https://t.co/EhrpMK1cXm Mon, 10:45: RT @leightoncooke: @cliodiaspora Everywhere I go in Europe I sense the fear and ...
Fiber Burn Chart Or, how to identify a piece of cloth by setting fire to it and observing the results. This is fascinating, and probably useful for those of us with a fabric stash for sewing. Here's The Audio Recording Of John Humphrys And Jon Sopel's "Jokey Exchange" About Equal Pay "It's only banter, you feminists can't take a joke": The Humpty edition. An under-appreciated reason why Britain voted for Brexit - and a possible solution My heart wants this to work and be true. My head says that we'll all keep bickering... When the Magna Carta exhibition is getting ...
Mon 15th
10:07
Nigel Farage is simply ahead of the curve on the Brexiteer desire for a second referendum
Some have commented that Farage only wants a second referendum in order to be back in the national spotlight again. While that may well be amongst the reasons he has introduced this idea into the debate – that Brexiteers, even of Farage-grade, can be second referendum cheerleaders – I think you actually have to give Farage more points for political nous. I believe he saw something, as usual, before most of his Brexiteer clan had managed to. Farage probably spotted what most Leavers can see, but flinch from: that the UK government's negotiations around leaving the EU are not going ...
It was a real privilege to play with Cyrille. He was then, as always, a class act. I was shocked and deeply saddened to discover that Cyrille Regis, the former West Bromich Albion, Coventry City and England striker, has died at the age of 59. As a child, Regis was a hero to me. I was not a West Brom supporter - but you didn't need to be to admire his flair, his athleticism and his creativity. At a time when black footballers were few in number and regularly subjected to racist abuse, Cyrille and his team-mates Laurie Cunningham and ...
Mon 15th
09:51
A progressive alliance for decency in the news media defeats the Government in the Lords
In writing my preview of last week's events in the Lords, I rather glossed over the debate on the Data Protection Bill on Wednesday. That will rather teach me to do more research, as it turned out that there was to be an attempt to set up a new Leveson-style inquiry into the nefarious activities of some of our news outlets... As the noble Lord Greaves pointed out last week, Wednesday saw the Government defeated on a vote to require them to set up and inquiry into issues arising from data protection breaches committed by or on behalf of news ...
Mon 15th
09:37
Maghull North Station – Latest construction photos – It's also 66 years since Maghull lo...
Here are a couple of photo's taken on Sunday 14th January of work being undertaken on the site of the Town's new and soon to be second railway station, which is due to open in May of this year:- It is 66 years this month since Maghull lost its original second railway station on the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway. That station was on Sefton Lane and it was called Sefton & Maghull. Sefton & Maghull Station @ 1930 – Photo D Thompson The station closed on 7th January 1952 and the site has been built over by what ...
I've often written in the past about the conventional wisdom of undue pessimism when it comes to turnout in British elections. Partly because there is no Campaign for Democratic Optimism to balance it out, public commentary on turnout in elections is dominated by pessimism as so very many of those who do talk about turnout have (sometimes subconsciously) an interest in talking up gloom. That may be because they are campaigners for some sort of reform – and so gloom helps make their case – or it may be because they want to try to sound interesting and 'it's not ...
There is some controversy over recent changes to terms of payment which bans retailers, airlines and other businesses from hitting shoppers with hidden surcharges when they use credit or debit cards. These surcharges can be as high as 20 per cent and costs consumers around £166m each year. The downside is that retailers will now try to recover the cost by raising their prices and this will hit people who tend not to use credit cards for purchases. The reality of course is that as a society we are addicted to credit and that the vast majority of people will ...
[IMG: Mothers with something to say? Open Mic Session on 20 January] Make your views known at an Open Mic session which I am holding on 20 January in Central London for mothers with something to say about how their lives are being affected by politics. How... The post Mothers with something to say? Open Mic Session on 20 January appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 15 JANUARY 2018 A85 Riverside Drive - prohibition of right turn from westbound lane of Riverside Drive into Riverside approach and prohibition of right turn from Riverside Approach in to Riverside Drive for one week for works to the sea wall. Prohibitions will only be in place when required. City Road (at Tullideph Road) - lane restrictions on Monday 15, Tuesday 16 and Thursday 25 January for smart meter antenna works. Forthcoming Roadworks Nethergate (at Queens Hotel) - closed on Sunday 28 January for ...
There is an increasing possibility that Parliament will vote down the Brexit terms and/or there will be a second referendum or even a General Election. It is winnable as people become disenchanted with Brexit. Two years of young people (mostly pro remain) will join the electorate Going forward with a "much the same" attitude to the EU is not an option. The public have clearly expressed concerns about the EU. Failure to address these concerns will at best appear complacent and at worst a deliberate ignoring of the British electorate. The current British MEPs have generally been well-meaning plodders but ...
So, I find myself splashing about in the turbulent waters of Liberal Democrat Voice again on another Monday morning. At least this week, the waters aren't frozen, as I'm back in the country after two weeks in the United States. On the moderation front, we're still in mid-experiment as I understand it, so do bear with us. I do find myself wondering whether or not moderation should be more transparent. For example, comments could be edited to take out the off-topic, discourteous or simply rude bits, with some explanation of why. It might be a lot of work though, and ...
Instructions:Find the nearest book to you, turn to page 45, and read the first sentence: this describes your sex life in 2018."Make it for the shelves, then." (from We Have Always Lived in The Castle by Shirley Jackson.) Given the amount of book and DVD/bluray consolidation and sorting we've been doing in this household over Christmas and New Year, this seems apt. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Before I start this post, a few disclaimers: Firstly, this post comes with trigger warnings for rape, rape culture, and ableism. Second, I do not speak for all autistic people here, or even for all autistic men. And third, and ... Continue reading →
