There's someone missing in amongst all the coverage of the gender pay gap today. It's not entirely surprising that in 78% of companies men are paid more than women. However until recently, we didn't have the evidence. Thanks to a law passed in 2015, the facts have been laid bare. Companies have to face the uncomfortable truth about the disproportionate number of men in senior positions. Much of the copious coverage of this today has missed something, though. This crucial step forward was secured by none other than: On 24th March 2015, Jo announced that she and Nick Clegg had ...
Embed from Getty Images I was surprised at how much the death of Ray Wilkins affected me today. He was my second Chelsea hero: the first and greatest was Charlie Cooke. There have been many fine tributes to him as a man and a footballer today, but I shall quote one from 2009. Here is Richard Williams, the first presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test and now a sportswriter on the Guardian: Ray Wilkins was 18 years old when Eddie McCreadie gave him the captaincy of Chelsea back in 1975, with the team newly relegated to the old Second ...
The part of Westerleigh Road alongside Chedworth is getting plastered with mud from the works on the other side of the railway arch at Beech Hill Farm. They are supposed to have wheel washers, but if they are there, they're not working very well! There's a road sweeper going up and down but it's not dealing with the situation properly. There is mud all along the Chedworth pavement and on roads up to half a mile from the site. What's more they're not sticking to the agreed HGV routes - lorries are coming in down Westerleigh Road. Cllr Claire Young ...
Wed 4th
19:36
Shropshire Council is planning to raid the tills of Ludlow charities with business rate hikes - it's...
We have more news from the Directorate of Very Bad News at Shropshire Council. The council is planning to cancel all discretionary business rate relief for charities, sports clubs, youth clubs and a lot of other social enterprises across the county. In Ludlow, and voluntary and social enterprises will face an annual bill of more than £20,000 from next April. This is nothing other than a tax on our volunteer community. It is a disgusting tax on good causes. Ludlow is a town of volunteers. Many people reading this blog raise money in our charity shops. You serve tea and ...
Listed by length, title links for Amazon (UK) DVDs, other links where I have found them online. 164 min: Blade Runner 2049 (BDP LF 2018) 152 min: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (BDP LF 2018) 141 min: Wonder Woman (BDP LF 2018) 130 min: Thor: Ragnarok (BDP LF 2018) 123 min: The Shape of Water (BDP LF 2018) 108 min: Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book (BDP SF 1943) Whole thing on Youtube Whole thing on Internet Archive 104 min: Get Out (BDP LF 2018) 81 min: Invisible Agent (BDP SF 1943) Whole thing on Internet Archive 77 min: I Married a ...
Heavy with experience and years, and growing stale as I've grown dark, but not in colour (greying at the edge), I glower round anxiety and tense the badly printed jaw forming the overwhelming mouth which infects the skull of my lopsided skeletal rack; chaired by my consent into a passive beast beneath the kick applied [...]
The Liverpool Echo has the article on its web site – see link above Well I bet this will go down well (not) with residents living around this busy row of shops! I think the oft used phrase from my days representing Maghull as a Sefton Borough and Maghull Town Councillor come to mind 'unsuitable for a predominately residential area'. Must admit that sadly even though I'm a CoOp member I rarely use this row of shops as the parking around it is hardly adequate when the shops are open. Click on the photo to enlarge it – It ...
On 31 March, as part of the Liberal Democrats' national Europe Day of Action, Hertford and Stortford Liberal Democrats were out in the market place in Bishop's Stortford. This was mainly about talking with people about Brexit and hearing their concerns - though we also collected 136 signatures on a petition for a referendum on the final deal. At a principled level, it's essential to talk with people who voted Leave if there is to be a realistic prospect both of reversing Brexit and healing the divisions this saga has exposed. Although many of the comments echoed previous stalls, this ...
I have lived in the diocese of Chichester for nearly 35 years. For far too much of that time I have watched with increasing distress the gradual revelation of the cycle of crime and cover up in the abuse scandal that has persistently bedevilled the diocese. This diocese believes in the warmth and comfort of the gospels. This diocese painted itself as a place of refuge for religious souls cast adrift by the sea of change in the modern world. And for more than a generation this diocese has responded to the needs of the souls in its care with ...
Tue, 20:16: Macedonia: Ohrid, Sveti Naum, Skopje and Tetovo https://t.co/UfWlt38KIZ Tue, 20:48: If We Remember How Unity Feels, We Can Save Democracy https://t.co/WDyTyfUtyX @MariaFarrell's call to arms. Wed, 10:45: The mystery of Jesus, the naked hippie dancer https://t.co/bXgNt7fY5o Solved.
Those nice people at Core TV have been interviewing MPs so we can find out more about them. Remember Jamie Stone, the ferret and the pantomime dame? Christine Jardine's interview was very different. There was some light-hearted stuff about her hidden talents, but also some very personal reflections on the death of her husband during last year's general election campaign which will resonate with anyone who has suffered that sort of loss. Find out, too, what motivates her in politics, who she's there for. * Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary published in print or online.
Here's something to bring a smile to your face. Quite simply, one of the very best Conservative leaflets ever.
The Liverpool Echo has the story, photos and a Video – see link above A film set on our doorstep
One of the reasons bureaucracy annoys us so is that it mostly doesn't seem to provide the services we, as individuals, want for ourselves and for the areas in which we live. We grumble about declining services and also about wasteful expenditure. One reason for our discontent is that standards and processes of service provision [...] The post Bureaucracy will prevail, but we could change the way it works appeared first on Radix.
The party's three policy consultations on immigration, refugees and identity, tuition fees and people and communities close today. If you have something to say, you can find the information you need here. My response to the immigration, refugees and policy consultation ran to 4,700 words but yours can be much more pithy. The introduction to mine was as follows: I am extremely disappointed with the tone of the consultation document. This country is crying out for a strong liberal voice on immigration. Nigel Farage, the Daily Mail and the unpleasant anti immigrant lobby didn't get where they are today by ...
The latest YouGov polling on Britain's future in Europe shows a continuing steady trend of growing support for a referendum on the Brexit deal once its terms are known.
Bootle Townscape The Liverpool Echo has news of the proposed demolition of the former gas works off Bootle's Marsh Lane on its web site – see link above. I worked overlooking this gas works for many years and took the photo above from my high vantage point workplace (The Triad) a few years back. It looks like the demolition process is going to be troublesome and lengthy for the residents who live in the surrounding streets. It's rather sad to see such a landmark in Bootle being torn down. It was once connected to the railway network and the ...
Details of the next meeting of Community Spirit Action Group taking place tonight - the community group for the "north" part of West End Ward, covering Pentland, Tullideph, Ancrum, Forest Park and the Cleghorn area - all very welcome :
On Monday 2nd April, a letter in the Guardian from PennyCiniewicz, head of HMRC's Customer (sic) Compliance Group, claimed with apparent satisfaction that the UK's tax gap is "down to 6% - its lowest level ever and one of the lowest in the world." Given that the latest figure for a year's tax actually collected is £752bn, by my calculation that uncollected 6% amounts to some £48bn. That would have financed a lot of hospitals, schools, road repairs, decent payments for the sick and disabled, or whatever else is in your wish list (parks, libraries?). So there is no room ...
Wed 4th
06:00
Vince Cable launches Lib Dem Local Election campaign: Lib Dems show local government at its best
Today, Vince Cable launches the Liberal Democrats' local election campaign. He talks about the party's prospects and the real difference Lib Dem councillors can make to people's lives in schools and hospitals. He also compares and contrasts with both Labour and Conservative councils. Did you know that Labour Manchester had granted planning permission to not one single affordable house in the last two years? What was that thing about the many and the few again? Here are the highlights of what he will say: On the party "There is a secret phenomenon in British politics. "It is occurring in by-elections ...
When Nigel Farage unveiled his 'Breaking Point' poster during the Brexit referendum suggesting that if we were to stay in the EU then the UK will be swamped with immigrants, he hit a new low. appealing to his supporters racist instincts to harvest their votes. Many people voted to leave the European Union because of fears about immigration which Farage and UKIP exploited. It was little wonder that following that plebiscite, the number of racially motivated attacks increased. Key figures in the official Leave campaign condemned that poster, saying it was entirely inappropriate. That did not stop their cause from ...
