Lib Dems: Dishonest of PM to say technical education is a priority The Association of Colleges has warned that there is a "real risk to the long-term economic prosperity of the UK" if the Government's flagship 'T-Level' policy is not implemented correctly. T-Levels, which are due to be introduced in September 2020 will be equivalent to 3 A-Levels and it is hoped that they will provide a skills based education to enable people to go straight into work within our industries. Over half (58%) of small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) across the UK are warning that the country risks being ...
Older than Stonehenge, London's own henge is to be found in J.G. Ballard country at Shepperton.
On Monday I blogged that I found the decision of seven Labour MPs to leave the party more sad than hopeful: Rather than the launch of a new movement, I see seven individuals who have succumbed to the hard left's perennial tactic of making life so unpleasant for those who oppose them that they eventually walk away from the fight.Things seemed rather different this morning when three Conservative MPs joined the in The Independent Group. Isabel Hardman tweeted:Heidi Allen kicks off the defection press conference with jokes and a v upbeat tone. Couldn't be more different to the sorrowful atmosphere ...
In his speech on 16 February 2019 at the Munich Security Conference – which is to international strategic issues what the Davos forum is to international economic issues – the Vice President of the United States said that his country was stronger than ever, and was still the leader of the free world. In a [...] The post America, former leader of the free world appeared first on Radix.
The BSFA shortlist is out - somehow I only spoted it today. (The Nebula final ballot is out too, but I'll post the stats for that tomorrow.) There are five shortlisted novels, which were 8th, 13th, 16th, 17th and 32nd on my previous ranking. Goodreads LibraryThing owners av rating owners av rating Tade Thompson - Rosewater 20,063 3.86 192 3.79 Yoon Ha Lee - Revenant Gun 7,147 4.21 146 4.06 Gareth L Powell - Embers of War 4,651 4 69 3.67 Emma Newman - Before Mars 3,504 4.09 75 4.05 Dave Hutchinson - Europe at Dawn 359 4.14 37 4.4 ...
Following his comments earlier today, I've just fired off the letter below to Vince Cable. I think it speaks for itself. Dear Vince, I would like to express my concern regarding comments made by you today regarding possible alliances with The Independent Group, especially comments made this afternoon on the BBC that the group "shares many of our values". The very first line of their values talks about the first duty of government being "to do whatever it takes to safeguard Britain's national security", a clear dog-whistle anti-civil-liberties and anti-immigration statement. Its members now includes people such as Joan Ryan, ...
How can we overcome the challenges of rolling out zero emission vehicles? by Mark Calman of Electric Blue (IS) You'll have worked out by now that my car (one of two cars in our household) is an electric vehicle, and that I am interested in the engineering, management and political implications of EVs. So the [...]
Wed 20th
17:09
Sandgate Parish Council Elections 2019: Joint Statement by Robert Bliss and Tim Prater
[IMG: Tim Prater] We were both elected to Sandgate Parish Council in 2011, and have served as Councillors, and nominally "leaders" of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups on Sandgate Parish Council ever since. We are are both members and activists in our respective Parties, both been so for decades, and plan to remain so. We both see a strong role for Parties, especially our own Parties, in politics at District, County, National and European level, and have both served as Councillors at both District and County levels. However, in almost eight years on Sandgate Parish Council, we both struggle ...
Bloody neutrophils. Bloody absence of neutrophils, actually. I've been feeling really good for the last week or so. Gnu has emerged from hibernation and I've racked up a hundred or so very pleasant miles in...Continue Reading The post Transplant +161: Bloody neutrophils appeared first on ten pence piece.
The real advantage of having been around a long time (52 years as a member and 36 as a councillor) is that you can usually say, "I've seen it all before". There are two things about the emergence of the ... Continue reading →
Radical changes are afoot in UK politics – Cable Responding to news that three Conservative MPs have left the party to sit with the Independent Group, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable said: "There is clearly some very radical changes now afoot as both the Conservatives and Labour have being taken over by militant groups, driving out more moderate MPs. "We will hold out the hand of friendship to the independent MPs with whom we already have a good working relationship. "In the short term we will be concentrating on securing a People's Vote, with an option to stay ...
Just after 10am this morning, a Shropshire Council vehicle blocked two disabled bays on Mill Street. We have had a lot of problems in this area. Not much with parking. But with civil enforcement officers challenging businesses going about their daily work. This photo is of a civil enforcement officer emptying cash from a parking machine. He decided that he could break all rules by parking in the highway and blocking two disabled spaces. We have a two tier society in Shropshire. Shirehall slaps a ticket on your screen when you are trying to run a business that needs to ...
Meeting 29th January 2019 key items of business: Housing Rents and Related Charges 2019/20 Annual council housing rent setting report. 1% rent reduction set by government so no local discretion currently. Have discretion over other HRA items which were generally increased in line with inflation. Recommendations agreed Performance management of the Roundshaw estate by Metropolitan Thames [...]
Wed 20th
13:58
++Three MPs quit the Conservative party to join the Independent Group (plus one more Labour MP)
The Independent Group now has eleven MPs in it, the seven original resignees from the Labour party, Joan Ryan who left Labour last night and three Tory MPs who resigned from their party today. The Guardian reports: Three Conservative MPs - Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen - have quit the party to join the Independent Group founded by former Labour MPs. In a devastating critique of Theresa May's handling of the Brexit negotiations, the three MPs said the Tories had lurched to the right, adopting Ukip policies and pursuing a hard Brexit. Their move reduces May's already tenuous ...
I was in a meeting the other day, and someone (I forget who it was) asked an interesting question "What is the party's message on 30th March" - a day after we leave the EU (if it happens). The answer seems to be we don't have a message. Potentially, what message can we have? I suppose that will depend on the situation we face on 29th March 2019. Below, I speculate regarding the focus of the message for the different scenarios we may encounter. Scenario 1 - We call and get an extension before we leave the EU We get ...
Tue, 12:56: Timothy the Talking Cat reads "Ender's Game" https://t.co/iCjJ5RW9C8 Spot on. Tue, 16:05: On the Loss of Citizenship https://t.co/Rf18IQsxTi @PaulDBurgess reflects on Brexit. Tue, 16:34: RT @BlockchainforEU: #BlockchainforEU is unifying the #Blockchain industry's voices. Learn more about our views on the #EU, #GDPR, our idea... Tue, 17:11: Is this Britain's Macron moment? - POLITICO https://t.co/XxAnqurBKB One of those questions to which the answer is, "Probably not". Tue, 19:38: Tuesday reading https://t.co/tgyRnD4cxG Wed, 10:45: Becoming Belgian https://t.co/FKYgEhM7qf @GarethHarding has joined the club.
Wed 20th
10:55
To succeed, the Lib Dems need a registered supporter scheme: Liberal Democrat Newswire #121
Liberal Democrat Newswire #121 came out last week, including a special guest piece from Jo Swinson and a look at why the Lib Dems aren't better at strategy.
The BBC report on warnings by nature charities that Wales risks losing 80% of the laws that protect its environment after Brexit with no plans in place yet to replace them. They say that Wildlife, habitats, air and water quality could all be affected: With less than 40 days to go until the UK is set to leave the EU, WWF Cymru's director Anne Meikle warned "the rug will be pulled out from our existing environmental protections". In her letter to the government she writes that "without these principles and governance structures in place, decisions will be significantly less robust ...
Responding to the reports from Shamima Begum's family lawyer that she will lose her UK citizenship, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Ed Davey said:"Membership of a terrorist group is a serious crime, as is encouraging or supporting terrorism. But Shamima Begum should face justice for those crimes in the UK. "It is not only hard to see Ms Begum and her baby as constituting a serious threat to national security, but it also seems a huge wasted opportunity. We can learn lessons as to why a young girl went to Syria in the first place; lessons which could improve Britain's ...
Wed 20th
08:23
Council housing, social housing, housing associations – What's gone wrong and why we have a ho...
I was taken by this recent speech by Lord Tony Greaves in the House of Lords where he squarely nails why we have a housing crisis on our hands:- Lord Tony Greaves – For all the faults of local authorities over the years and some of the major mistakes that were made, council housing is one of the great success stories of the last century. The more that that is said, the better. I remember when social housing was a new term introduced from America and we did not like it, because in America it meant housing for the down ...
It is not easy to contemplate the loss of jobs and hardship to families from that or enormous outflow of capital because of an ideological stance by one party about leaving the EU. I was listening to the radio today and Terry Christian was saying that if bosses have to sack people after Brexit then they should start with Leavers The manufacturer of Honda cars at Swindon is equivalent to 10% of all cars manufactured/assembled in the UK. In 2018 the UK made 1.5 million cars (down from 2016 when they produced 1.7 million). Similarly, investment in the car industry ...
The City Council has updated me about the proposed commencement of the playpark improvement works at Lochee Park's playpark as follows : "Works are due to commence at the end of February and we will have signage in place in advance to give notice of the closure of the park. A laminated plan will also be put onto the noticeboard." The new playpark proposals look great and will be a huge improvement :
We have seen this many times. A utility company needs to fix a problem. It fixes the problem. Then they clear off for a couple of days before removing lights or patching up a road. This has happened twice over the last few days. On Saturday night, Western Power Distribution dug up the main exit from the town centre, Brand Lane, to fix a power fault. But the tarmac to patch the hole didn't arrive until Monday morning. Western Power was however outclassed by Severn Trent. The water company needed to dig a hole in the pavement on Upper Galdeford. ...
