Gerald Vernon-Jackson is back in charge of Portsmouth City Council tonight, leading a minority administration. He served in this role from 2004-14 so he certainly knows the ropes. He now leads a minority administration with Labour backing: From the BBC "I will work as hard as I can to make sure the city of Portsmouth always comes first," Mr Vernon-Jackson said. "We need to be building more council houses and affordable homes for local people... I want to make sure we make the city a better place in terms of transport," he told the meeting. He added that for family ...
I've known for a while that there is a medieval chapel near Oakham station, but a couple of halfhearted attempts to locate it failed. On Saturday I was more purposeful and located the chapel of the former hospital of St John Evangelist & St Anne. Today, appropriately, it stands at the heart of a sheltered housing scheme.
The author of Municipal Dreams: The Rise and Fall of Council Housing, John Boughton, is interviewed about the way providing social housing can fuel economic growth. Simon Baron-Cohen considers the revelations about Hans Asperger's collusion with the Nazis, "It is conventional wisdom that immigration played a central role in the 2016 EU Referendum. But what about the long-term role of European elites and EU institutions in (unwittingly) creating the seismic conditions for the Brexit vote in the first place?" asks Jeremy Richardson. Carlo Celli and Nathan Richardson on the effect of abandoning coaching children at football: "As the kids were ...
Another myth about the Liberal Democrat experience 2010-2015, to add to the one about what voters think of what the Lib Dems did. This time it's about tuition fees.
Second paragraph of third chapter: One afternoon Col Ben Phu and Drez Doyle — two private soldiers from Orange Company who'd befriended her in Cymru along with Sergeant Aswad — arrived. Bibi was glad to see them. The servants who'd been together on campaign had been dispersed. The only familiar face in Juniper was Ogul Merdov, proud possessor of a family name (although she had no actual family living), and she had no time for the 'savage'. Col and Drez took Bibi off with them, ignoring the protests of Serenity, the Han woman who was warden of the girls' dorm: ...
So I learned a new word yesterday, which may or may not be a racial slur against angry white men of a certain age who voted for Brexit. Being a white man myself, approaching a certain age, occasionally angry about bad grammar, Brexit, Trump, Corbyn, Putin, the senseless loss of life in the middle east... – I felt I ought to know whether it is a racial slur or not. It doesn't matter if I'm angry about different things – I needed to know whether to be offended. So I asked the source of my discovery: Twitter. Is #Gammon racist? ...
Brian Blessed discusses his beard ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ If you like what you see here (or even if you don't) please consider dropping me a tip: [IMG: Paypal Donate Button] [IMG: Buy Me an uncaffeinated beverage (because I'm allergic to coffee) at ko-fi.com] [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Mon, 12:56: Grenfell: the 71 victims, their lives, loves and losses https://t.co/VhsvcVyt6I 🙁 Mon, 16:05: RT @estwebber: Striking that Tessa Jowell's maiden speech was about how we care for people towards the end of their lives https://t.co/8h01... Mon, 18:50: Monday reading https://t.co/vTk4CnVXdw Mon, 20:48: EU rough sleepers win damages for illegal deportations https://t.co/J86253x0sk Home Office caught out again, actual... https://t.co/fu5rhj2jTm Mon, 20:59: RT @jonlis1: Your regular reminder that Irish border issue needs to be resolved in 7 weeks and withdrawal treaty agreed in 5 months https:/... Mon, 21:13: RT @bbcdoctorwho: #OTD in 2011 Suranne Jones starred alongside Matt Smith in ...
Moral hazard or moral panic? Is social media warping the fragile minds of our children or is it the end of the atomised individual and the rediscovery of community? Is it a bit of both, and what might be done to improve the mix? Baroness Floella Benjamin writes of her work on these questions through the APPG on a fit and health childhood, and Norman Lamb MP explains how the Science and Technology select committee is also looking at this. This interest is perhaps to be feared and welcomed in equal measure. Feared, because the knee jerk response to moral ...
The reason I wanted to write a book about the Munich debacle of 1938 was that I heard the novelist Robert Harris talking about it on the radio - and taking a revisionist position sympathetic to Neville Chamberlain. Having immersed myself in the subject for some months, I came to the conclusion that Harris was wrong. Yes, the Munich summit, and the two which immediately preceded it, delayed world war for a year and gave Britain, France and the Nazis time to prepare their arsenals and procedure. Yes, Hitler himself bitterly regretted the agreement too. But there were three elements ...
Some Israelis may still be celebrating their Eurovision Song Contest win at the weekend, but as Palestinians today mark the 70th anniversary of the Naqba or Catastrophe that sent an estimated 700,000 people fleeing from their ancestral homes, the mood should be one of respectful mourning on both sides of the Gaza border fence. Dozens [...]
Liberal Democrat Newswire #112 came out last week, looking at the Lib Dem performance in the 2018 local elections.
Every Monday when parliament is in session, in the early evenings, the parliamentary Labour Party meets for a chat. These get togethers have been witness to some explosive moments over the past few years – moderate MPs leaving f-ing and blinding, sometimes leaving nuggets for the assorted hacks outside to chew over – but the meeting held last night may be one for the history books. Corbyn and his inner circle, combined with Eurosceptic Labour MPs of a non-Corbyn flavour such as John Mann, combined to try and kill the idea of Labour voting for the Lords amendment to the ...
Manchester Weekend Walkers have organised a walk which seats off from Prestwich Metrolink on Saturday 26 May 2018, to 'marvel at the magnificent Giant Hogweed' in the Irwell Valley. They say: "We start the walk at Prestwich tram stop, to Prestwich Clough, and Prestwich Forest Park, to enjoy the mid spring greenery. We have a break at Clifton Aqueduct, to admire the mighty River Irwell and the 13 Arches Viaduct. We then follow the River Irwell to Drink Water Park and the highest point at Kersall Moor. Finally, we stroll through Broughton Park and to Crumpsall Tram Station. What to ...
Six Town Housing has been shortlisted for "Landlord of the Year" at the upcoming Northern Housing Awards. The awards promote and celebrate innovative affordable housing providers, projects and services across the North of England. The shortlisting comes following a year where several innovations have been made at Six Town Housing. These include the implementation of a new repairs system that has cut down on travel time between jobs and a greater use of their internal new works team to carry out improvement schemes, with all surpluses going back into services for tenants. More details here. Six Town Housing is is ...
Bury Council is set to appoint Geoff Little OBE as its new Chief Executive. The appointment, subject to ratification at Annual Council on Wednesday 16 May 2018, is following a full external recruitment process. Geoff is currently deputy chief executive of Manchester City Council, a post he has held since 1999.
Pay & Display parking parking, all year round, in Heaton Park will be implemented from 21 May 2018. An advert was placed in the Manchester Evening News on Tuesday 8 May 2018 as required to seal the Traffic Regulation Orders and bring these into operation. Residents may remember that Heaton Park (Manchester City Council) consulted on the year-round charges four years ago. At the time Prestwich's team of Liberal Democrat councillors submitted a strong objection to the proposals, supporting the views of many local residents who were concerned about the impact on our use of the park, and on surrounding ...
As a liberal, I am not in the business of banning many things. I subscribe to the idea that knowledge is power, and that by providing consumers with more information, positive outcomes can be achieved. For a market to be competitive, consumers must have information, and we know that competitive markets improve outcomes across the board. In the food industry this has already happened. If you look on a packet of crisps, it will show you how many calories there are, how much salt as well as a whole host of other nutritional information. According to this report, the US ...
The reason I wanted to write a book about the Munich debacle of 1938 was that I heard the novelist Robert Harris talking about it on the radio – and taking a revisionist position sympathetic to Neville Chamberlain. Having immersed myself in the subject for some months, I came to the conclusion that Harris was [...] The post Let's remember Munich 1938 – what happens when the UK tries to wriggle out of Europe appeared first on Radix.
The Guardian reports on claims that the Home Office has been accused of being unfit for purpose and guilty of "shambolic incompetence" after letters written by Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, appeared to contradict what she told a parliamentary committee about when she became aware of the problems experienced by highly skilled migrants: Nokes last week told Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs select committee, that she hadn't had time to investigate revelations in the Guardian that at least 1,000 highly skilled migrants seeking indefinite leave to remain in the UK were wrongly facing deportation. Officials were citing ...
Federal International Relations Committee will be discussing its response to the Alderdice Report on Thursday evening, and we have been asked to give some thought to the matter. And, perhaps because my expectations are quite low in terms of useful outcomes, it seems sensible to put my thoughts into the public domain. I've adapted the five questions posed in the report, in order to make them suitable for the Committee... Are there barriers to participation for BAME members? If so, what and where are they? The barriers tend to be similar to those affecting other underrepresented groups. The cost of ...
Currently market traders can purchase a waiver to allow all day parking in the town centre car parks. In a consultation slipped out announced, Shropshire Council is to withdraw all waivers. Traders will need to £1 an hour, £1.80 an hour on street. Or park outside the town centre. Anyone who has run a market stall single handed will know that is not practical. The danger is that traders will be put off coming to our market. I have received one comment in on this already: "Is the Council trying to kill off the market. Are they economic illiterates?" I'm ...
Place North West has news about Maghull's Parkhaven Trust and it's soon to be built dementia care facility – see link above The former Maghull Homes sites at both Liverpool Road South/Green Lane and Deyes Lane/Damfield Lane in Maghull have changed almost beyond recognition since I ceased working there 1994 and here is another change on the way. I have blogged about developments on these two sites previously but this particular change is likely to most welcome due to the sadly rising demand for dementia car facilities. With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting
From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : Saturday 19th May at 3pmA Legacy of Art & Design in Dundee - Meet the Artists - as part of the annual Festival of Museums D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, Tower Building To accompany our current exhibition in the Lamb Gallery, this event provides a unique opportunity to meet and hear the stories of some of the artists who have contributed to the exhibition. Find out what part their time at DJCAD played in their lives and what career paths their work has taken them since graduating. Speakers will ...
