Ostiense bridge, in the less privileged area I visited in Rome Rome, which I recently visited, has its extravagant treasures, such as in the Vatican. I found these material things rather difficult to reconcile with the idea of faith in Jesus Christ. While in the city, we went on a Street Art tour, organised by ... Continue reading Rome – a city of two halves
Jo Swinson has just announced that Sarah Wollaston MP has joined the Liberal Democrats. In an email to members Jo says: I am thrilled that Sarah has chosen to join the Liberal Democrats. Sarah is a fierce campaigner who I have enjoyed working with in the campaign to stop Brexit and as one of the most respected Members of Parliament and brings real expertise to our team. She is one of more than 30,000 members who have joined us since May, along with 10,000 new registered supporters in rejecting the politics of nationalism and populism, showing it is the Liberal ...
In the latest grotesque twist in the Alice in Wonderland alternative reality of Boris Johnson's Brexit Britain, the Prime Minister has denounced as "collaborators" those who wish to prevent a No Deal crash-out of the EU on 31 October. That presumably includes noble souls such as the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, and [...]
The video below shows Bob Monkhouse, live on stage in 2003, interspersed with interviews with comedians and celebrities that were in the audience that night. It was to be his last stand-up comedy performance and shows him at his best. He really was a stand-up genius. I was fortunate enough to see him on stage ... Continue reading Bob Monkhouse: The Last Stand
Former Conservative MP turned independent, Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) is now joining the Liberal Democrats: Welcome on board @sarahwollaston – our newest MP! The Lib Dems are ready to stop Brexit and build a liberal Britain. Become a member or supporter now > https://t.co/uhtmkhaCuA pic.twitter.com/qJ1BtF43QC — Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) August 14, 2019 Sarah Wollaston's statement on switching to the Lib Dems Here's what she posted on Facebook, explaining her decision: After very careful thought, I have come to the conclusion that I can best serve the interests of this constituency by joining the Liberal Democrats. Brexit has not only sucked all ...
Sebastian Payne has been to St Albans and found Liberal Democrat prospects good: Person after person I speak to there registers their disgust at Brexit - a clear majority voted for Remain in 2016 - and the rightward shift of the Tories. Many inhabitants are London exiles, bringing with them liberal metropolitan sensibilities. St Albans may once have been a Labour marginal, but the party's equivocation on Brexit could well have scuppered its aspirations.He also met our candidate Daisy Cooper: "I stood to be our candidate in St Albans because it is exactly the sort of seat that should and ...
The General Election we will be facing in the Autumn will be vital for the future of the UK. I know, this is said every time we elect a Westminster Parliament but this time, it really is true. Stopping a majority right wing Tory party under Boris Johnson (and his extremist backers) is paramount to prevent the UK being dragged out of the EU with no deal and then left to the tender mercy of the vulture capitalists already circling to feast on its carcass, is a priority above all other considerations. Not only is this a threat to our ...
Josh Bararinde has reminded us of the Tory power pose. As it happens I took my two grandsons to Hampton Court Palace on Monday. As we explored Henry VIII's apartments we came across the man himself, holding court to a delighted audience of children and their adults. One of my grandsons had noted that the King had to wipe away sweat from his brow and asked if he was hot. That gave the actor an opportunity to talk about the clothes he was wearing and to introduce a new word to the boys' vocabulary: codpiece. He told us that the ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: 'I drew a breath, set my teeth, gripped the starting lever with both hands, and went off with a thud. The laboratory got hazy and went dark. Mrs. Watchett came in and walked, apparently without seeing me, towards the garden door. I suppose it took her a minute or so to traverse the place, but to me she seemed to shoot across the room like a rocket. I pressed the lever over to its extreme position. The night came like the turning out of a lamp, and in another moment came to-morrow. The laboratory grew ...
As you can imagine, I have been, as Dutchman, watching the developments this summer first in Lincolnshire and recently in Derbyshire around dikes and dams that turned out to be outdated, and uncertain to withstand rivers or lakes filled with excessive amounts of rainwater. Even in low-lying, water conscious Netherlands we sometimes get caught out by a dike or dam breaking; but Rijkswaterstaat (RWS, founded in the Napoleonic era), our Public Works & Water-Management government agency, is ever alert. And RWS knows from experience that when a certain type of dike or dam is wobbly in one place, it is ...
Elizabeth Evenden-Kenyon is the Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Here she is talking in the about the experience of standing against Boris Johnson, and the potential of a Remain Alliance.
Twice in as many weeks, this government has committed to making would-be offenders "literally feel terror" in an effort to look tough on violent crime. The country eagerly awaits the Home Secretary's Tory power pose to accompany this policy. The truth is, the Tories have gone soft on crime. A tough policy is one that works - but their approach of inciting fear among those at-risk of offending simply isn't an effective means of reducing crime. Reams of academic evidence and my work as a frontline practitioner make that very clear. Project Terror starts with turbocharging police stop and search ...
Tue, 12:56: RT @simongerman600: Want to go road tripping around the US but always want mild climate of 70F (21C)? This map is for you! Source: https://... Tue, 13:55: RT @redhistorian: This is excellent by @alexvtunzelmann, on how myths of exceptionalism stop Britain learning from its mistakes. "Britain's... Tue, 13:56: RT @StevePeers: @davidallengreen Thanks for your gracious comments. I should have phrased my own comments better. Tue, 16:05: RT @MeAndVan: WE FOUND HIM!! A thread 👇👇 After 3000 RTs, 3 news articles, 1 video and thousands of wonderful messages from around the wor... Tue, 17:11: RT @APHClarkson: UK courtier journalism ...
It should be obvious now that the current government, effectively headed jointly by Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, is prepared to break almost any constitutional convention to ensure that Brexit occurs by 31 October 2019. This is even though such a Brexit will almost inevitably be a crash out Brexit without a deal with the EU, an outcome which Michael Gove dismissed during the Leave campaign, saying that it was as likely as Jean-Claude Juncker joining UKIP. This is a sea-change from the May government which, for all its faults, never tried to defy the will of parliament or take ...
On 25 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of about ten Sunni Arab countries, launched a major military operation in Yemen to restore President Mansour Hadi to power after he was overthrown through a Houthi (Shia mountain people) rebel insurgency. It was a 29-year-old Minister of Defence, Mohammed Ben Salman (MBS, now Crown Prince), who embroiled the Kingdom in this adventure. He called it "Decisive Storm". A month later, this Arab adventure received another official name: it became Operation Restore Hope. It continues to this day. With three million displaced and eleven million hungry, the Yemeni people have suffered ...
Residents recently raised with me the very overgrown grass in Peddie Street running alongside the industrial units. I am grateful that the City Council has acted upon my request to have this tidied : Before After
