Responding to today's protests in London calling for an increase in funding for the NHS, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Baroness Judith Jolly said:"The Tories have consistently neglected our NHS and the anger is palpable. "The amount recently pledged is simply not enough to undo the systemic problems that we now face due to relentless underfunding."NHS workers devote their lives to saving ours. It is time they were supported by a funding deal fit for the 21st century."The Liberal Democrats are the only party with a concrete plan for funding the NHS in both the short and long term. The Liberal ...
Embed from Getty Images Ian Jack (whom I have praised before as one of my favourite columnists) has been to a county game at Scarborough: I've been to a few cricket matches, and yet I know very little about cricket. What strikes me is the skill that's required of the people who watch it, who know the instant they have to stop talking to their neighbour and look across the field just in time to see the ball leave the bowler's hand in the direction of the batsman, and then to stay focused on the result - hits, misses, runs, ...
So, Transport for London has £321 million of our money and is keeping quiet about it. Lib Dem Assembly Member and former Mayoral Candidate Caroline Pidgeon has made the headlines by uncovering the fact that TfL is sitting on this vast sum of money on Oyster cards which haven't been used for over a year. From the BBC: Ms Pidgeon, chair of City Hall's transport committee, put the "soaring" figure partly down to the number of people switching in recent years to making contactless payments with their bank cards. She said: "TfL never stops bombarding us with advertisements and information ...
In Kettering last Saturday I noticed that the town's Conservative Club was up for sale and likely to be converted into "luxury apartments". Unfortunately, I suspect this has more to do with the general decline of licensed premises than it has with the decline of the Conservative Party. If I remember correctly, the shop next door used to sell secondhand goods and always had a good selection of books. I once picked up a Malcolm Saville there. The Dukes of Buccleuch own Boughton House near Kettering. The current holder of the title was recently deployed as a scary rich person ...
Non-fiction: 2 (YTD 27) Virgins, Weeders and Queens, by Twigs Way Brexit and the Future of Ireland: Uniting Ireland & Its People in Peace & Prosperity, by Senator Mark Daly Fiction non-sf): 2 (YTD 16) Gemini, by Dorothy Dunnett Ghana Must Go, by Taiye Selasi Theatre: 2 (YTD 3) Everybody Comes to Rick's, by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison Le Mariage de Figaro, by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais sf (non-Who): 12 (YTD 61) The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee Penric's Fox, by Lois McMaster Bujold Stories of the Raksura vol. 2, by Martha Wells ...
View Poll: World Cup, Second Round, Day Two You should be able to vote using your Facebook or Twitter account, even if you aren't on Livejournal.
I have avoided reading too much by former Obama staffers because, as I watch the racist, misogynist monster in the White House play havoc with the most basic of human rights, I just get too sad. I definitely appreciated what we had while we had it, making its loss acute. Similarly, watching The West Wing feels a bit masochistic sometimes. There is very little point in languishing, though. Obama's people survived 8 years of a Republican onslaught, from actual bare-faced lies and fake news to serious national and international crises. It stands to reason that they have a lot to ...
I'm listening to King of America, Elvis Costello's 1986 album, while receiving my fourth and final dose of Cytarabine for this chemo cycle. Unlike the over-produced and rather directionless 'Goodbye Cruel World', this album still works for me 32 years on as the songs and production remain coherent for the whole hour. The first track is 'Brilliant Mistake', and the ... The post Brilliant Mistake appeared first on ten pence piece.
Britain's democracy is at a crisis point, with the Prime Minister shackled by the need to appease about 60 hardline Brexiteers in her parliamentary party as well as the whims of the 10 right-wing DUP members from Northern Ireland, whose support she bought with a bung of a billion pounds. Meanwhile, the Opposition Labour Party, [...]
Today is the 15th anniversary of the introduction of Oyster travel cards in London. Which also means it is the 15th anniversary of the start of the creation of a huge pile of money left on unused Oyster cards. Back in 2012 it had reached £55 million. Now it's up to £321 million. Here's what Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon has to say about it: There is no question that Oyster has been an incredible success. It has made travel more convenient and provided real flexibility for millions of people. It is now so established that it is ...
Fri, 12:21: RT @APCOBXLInsider: European leaders #EUCO agrees on the new composition of the #EuropeanParliament. We will be voting for 705 #MEPs during... Fri, 12:22: My analysis of how the #EUCO new allocation of European Parliament seats would have worked out for MEPs in 2014. (W... https://t.co/2hZIZUdUUB Fri, 12:56: RT @thesiswhisperer: Whoops... https://t.co/NZbes8nUlW Fri, 13:10: RT @APCOBXLInsider: The 2014 #EuropeanParliament elections, under the 2019 rules, explained by our @nwbrux. The proposed new allocation of... Fri, 13:34: World Cup, Second Round, Day One https://t.co/bs3y8KcjXO Fri, 16:05: RT @JoshuaMurrayNev: Wow that teenager really pissed him off. https://t.co/Xhho3ue6WH Fri, 18:53: The Fifth Doctor ...
The short version: universities minister Sam Gyimah has once again made a factual claim about absurdities in the university sector. Once again the evidence doesn't stack up. Once again the best explanation offered on his behalf is a version of 'it's an anecdote a student told him'. The longer version, as Research Research reports: In an interview with The Times on 25 June, Gyimah said: "There's a culture of censorship in some of our universities. At one institution when I turned up to speak to students they read the safe-space policy and it took 20 minutes."... Each of the universities ...
I guess it is unsurprising, but there has been a jump of more than six times in the number of British people seeking citizenship of another EU country. I look at these figures with more than a touch of envy. One of the worst things about Brexit is losing my EU citizenship. It's not just about freedom to travel. It's about belonging to an organisation that has democracy, peace and human rights at its heart. The EU flag is the only one I have ever felt comfortable wrapping myself in. There is somewhere on the internet a video of me ...
The other day I was cycling the short path that leads from Green Lane to the Cheshire Lines Path/Trans Pennine Trail when I noticed workmen reconstructing a footbridge across Maghull Brook. Maghull Brook is the boundary between Maghull & Lydiate and it also forms part of the boundary between Sefton and West Lancs. It was indeed this very brook that the Leeds Liverpool Canal collapsed into in 1995. Here's a reminder of that day:- Anyway I digress as this posting is about what seems to be a rarely used Maghull Footpath which the bridge pictured above serves. Trouble is I ...
