One Parliamentary by-election, one council by-election and one delayed council election (due to the death of a candidate) this week.
In my experience Royal Oak was the best place for trainspotting at Paddington. I posted the companion video St Pancras to Luton in 1960 last year.
I never fail to be impressed by the way Lord Bonkers keeps up with the latest news - and the latest ways of making money. Thursday Did you see that that boys at Uppingham are to be allowed to wear skirts? Things were very different when I was a pupil there, though one of my chums did escape by dressing as Matron and got as far as Houghton on the Hill before the rozzers caught up with him. He later entered the Foreign Office. You may also have read that my firm Rutland Analytica is accused of swinging the result ...
First of all, a massive thanks to all the staff who have worked so hard to deliver a stellar campaign in Lewisham East. Then to Lucy Salek who has done so much to get herself known in the community. To get such name recognition on the doorstep in just over 6 weeks is incredible. And also to people who have gone to help and those who have made phone calls. So, sometime in the middle of the night we'll find out the result. What would be a good one? Well, given that we got 4.4% just over a year ago, ...
A press release reaches us: Former Liberal Democrat MPs Lembit Öpik and Parmjit Singh Gill join Conservative MP Nigel Evans as newly elected Members of Parliament for Asgardia, the first space nation. Asgardia recently closed its Parliamentary elections and appointed 147 members to its Parliament, tasked with representing the best interests of over 200,000 Asgardian citizens from all over the world. But where, I hear you ask, is Asgardia? Asgardia: The Space Kingdom explains: Asgardia will be a fully fledged, independent nation inhabited on a low Earth orbit. It began with a satellite, Asgardia-1, that was launched in 2017, to ...
Wallington South once again has the honour of supplying a Mayor for the new municipal year as Cllr Steve Cook takes on the role of First Citizen of the borough. This means that Steve and his wife Pauline will be attending various events and civic functions representing the borough, and also raising money for the [...]
So, after Theresa May spent 6 years as Home Secretary politically beating up migrants and making life very difficult for them, now we are told, her government has backed proposals to relax immigration rules as they affect skilled health workers. Having spent years trying to keep them out, and adding to an already severe shortage of key NHS staff, May has performed another u-turn. But we are
I wasn't really a supporter of the YA award as part of the Hugos, and am still not entirely convinced; but I must admit that the range of quality here is about the same as for Best Novel, and that's probably a reasonably good thing. None of these is awful or embarrassing; there was one case where it is possibly Great Literature but I found it a bit squicky. 7) No Award - any of these would do. 6) Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor Reviewed here. Lost out for me due to being the second of a series where I ...
There's been a lot of ill-informed nonsense on social media about the way the Liberal Democrats voted, or in fact didn't vote, on devolution in the Commons the other night. I was going to write a post to explain it all but then found I didn't have to, because Alistair Carmichael had done it for me, and better. What I think was the problem is that we didn't really get our story out in good enough time and allowed the SNP to put it about that we had somehow not stood up for Scotland. We need to learn from this ...
Commenting on reports in The Telegraph that the cap on Tier 2 visas is to be lifted, Lib Dem Education and Science Spokesperson Layla Moran, who worked with the Campaign for Science and Engineering to obtain the figures on Tier 2 visa refusals, said: "Exemptions for NHS staff - in turn freeing up places for scientists, engineers, technicians and teachers - are very welcome but long overdue. The Government should have taken this step when visa caps first started to be hit late last year. "In the meantime NHS patients, students and cutting edge scientific research programmes have suffered as ...
One year on from the tragedy of the Grenfell fire a public inquiry is underway to ascertain how such a thing could have happened in a modern building in the middle of London. What has struck me about this whole event is the frustration and powerlessness that tenants and leaseholders express over the ability to control their own lives and safety. Property tenure has changed greatly in recent decades. Right to buy has changed the composition of public housing developments. They will frequently include a mix of leasehold apartments, shared ownership and traditional council house tenancies. Fourteen of the 129 ...
Corbyn and McDonnell have long hoped the twists and turns of Brexit would not just end Theresa May's premiership, but lead to another general election – one which they presume they'd win. This is now becoming a thing amongst Tory MPs as well. Tom Tugendhat, a rising star – as much as there are rising stars within a parliament in the midst of the May/Corbyn long winter – had this to say about the Grieve amendment and its relationship to what a "meaningful vote" could and should mean: "I think we are going to get a meaningful vote anyway. The ...
View Poll: World Cup, Day Two You should be able to vote using your Facebook or Twitter account, even if you aren't on Livejournal.
Back in 2016 I wrote a blog explaining my efforts to raise awareness of mental health first aid which led to an Early Day Motion being submitted by Norman Lamb MP. There is now a further campaign led by MHFA England to change health and safety legislation so that there is parity of esteem between mental and physical first aid. Where's Your Head At? is calling for every workplace to provide Mental Health First Aid as well as physical first aid. The call is simple: By law, all workplaces, schools and colleges must make provision around physical first aid. Why ...
Coop Bank turns away transphobes under it's ethical banking policy. I am very proud to be a coop bank customer today. Rising crime is symptom of inequality, says senior Met chief I think there's something in this, but I'm wary of it sliding into "crime is only committed by poor people, therefore punish the poor for being poor" territory. Rich people commit crimes too. It's just they're less likely to be caught, and if they ARE caught they can afford representation. Doctor Who, Twitch and race Heartfelt and thoughtful piece. If you like what you see here (or even if ...
It seems that some Labour MPs don't want to share the bed with the Conservatives over their Brexit plans (I use the word "plans" loosely as it is difficult to work out whether or not the government has any plans at all). 75 Labour MPs rebelled and voted to keep us in the EEA and effectively in the Single Market. The Labour line was for Labour MPs to help the Tories by sitting on the fence. 15
When I started my original "Building a Better Walrus" programme at the beginning of 2016, the intention was to walk 10,000 steps each day. It was, if you like, an aspiration which soon turned into something rather more serious. And, as the days went by, the idea of not reaching my target became rather like an obsession. That was, until I contracted food poisoning in Cuba and was confined to a sofa for three days. I'd managed forty-five straight days of 10,000 steps and was feeling quite proud of myself, and was determined to get back into my stride, so ...
At this time of year, as both a councillor and beekeeper, I get lots of messages from residents worried about bees in their garden. Last year I put together this video but I'm posting it again. The basic point is that bumble bee colonies have a short lifespan and there is nothing to be gained and a great deal of money to be lost in calling out pest control to destroy any colonies. The bees
Wed, 12:56: RT @RobDotHutton: Fans of Boris Johnson will be pleased see that he has identified, as "the kind of ambitious project we need to make a suc... Wed, 13:53: World Cup, Day One https://t.co/VJ2CzfIXy6 Wed, 16:05: My boss is verbally abusive and won't pay me https://t.co/LYIfYlN4dO Not a new story, but only just seen by me - the toxic non-profit. Wed, 18:52: The 2018 Hugo and 1943 Retro Hugo finalists for the Artist categories https://t.co/MmE5vg01fW Wed, 20:48: RT @DTriantaphyllou: Posted on a colleague's door...I can relate...although I still insist on teaching early morning classes...call me a sa... Thu, 10:45: ...
As an adviser to Tax Justice UK, I was invited to the Fair Tax conference in London last week. No-one really likes paying taxes, but if we are to have civilised society that provides or enables the things that we cannot provide as an individual on our own, then tax is essential. My late father, [...] The post Can we create a fair UK tax system? appeared first on Radix.
I accept that the alternative single market option of the European Economic Area may not be the best way forward for the UK, but if we are really going to leave the EU then it represents the best we can hope for to minimise the damage caused by Brexit. The Tory Government does not accept that of course. They seem set on a hard Brexit, possibly a no-deal Brexit that is going to cause immense harm to our economy and cut our living standards. Surely it is the duty of the official opposition to take a principled stand against that ...
The new timetable for the 82 bus has now been in place for a few weeks. Although the route has been extended to Chipping Sodbury, we've heard that from time to time late-running buses have turned round at Yate and left out the Sodbury part of the route. Has this happened to you? How good have the buses been at keeping to time? Also what do you feel about the Sunday service, which runs every two hours, and only comes as far as Yate? If you're a staff member, how does the new timetable suit you? You can check out ...
Ormskirk Station – The train in the foreground is Preston bound. The one behind it is Liverpool bound. Northern has stated unequivocally there will be no Sunday services during June and July on the Ormskirk – Preston Line! It has been only a couple of weeks since we were told that Sunday running trains (unusual for this particular line) would be put on to help combat the closure of Liverpool Lime Street Station! My previous posting refers:- The Weekday (Monday-Fridays) trains on the same line are often being replaced by buses presently. An Optimistic scenario is that trains may ...
Lib Dem activist Dr Ruvi Zieglar has written for the Cherwell, Oxford University's newspaper, on the effect of Brexit being felt by universities. Many European staff are leaving because of the uncertainties surrounding jobs, research funding and future prospects. Ruvi says, 'Brexodus' is picking up speed: according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 130,000 EU27 citizens emigrated between September 2016-17, the highest number since the 2008 financial crisis. Ruvi goes on to explain, Nearly two years after the referendum, EU27 [citizens] are still waiting for their post-Brexit rights to be secured....The draft Withdrawal Agreement hardly puts EU27 citizens' anxieties ...
This year's Garden, Allotment & Best Kept Close Competition is now on - closing date Friday 20th July. This competition celebrates the hard work being done by members of the community across Dundee in their gardens, allotments and homes. It is open to all within the Dundee City boundary and is free to enter. Entries are encouraged by individuals, community groups, residents groups, businesses and more. Hard copies of the application form and further information is available in libraries and community centres and it is available to download here.
[IMG: 'The Future Remains To Be Written' -THE video screened at the Trump-Kim summit] Transcript Seven billion people inhabit planet Earth. Of those alive today, only a small number will leave a lasting impact. And only the very few will make decisions or take actions that renew their homeland... The post 'The Future Remains To Be Written' -THE video screened at the Trump-Kim summit appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.
Two years ago, when the UK, by a slender majority, voted to leave the EU, I thought the Tories would end up as the most united of the two larger parties while Labour would end up with the divisions. Instead, both have ended up divided but the shambles that are Labour under Corbyn were on full view today. And about bloody time too. Corbyn the Leaver has had an easy ride over the past year. He
