220 tabloids delivered by me this morning, this time in Dunston. We are making good progress with getting the tabloid through tens of thousands of doors in Gateshead.
Went round the corner at the weekend to draw some cash from an ATM – there are three in Station Road. The first one I looked at said on its screen '99p charge', so I moved on. Once upon time, there were two banks in Station Road - a NatWest and a Lloyds, each in [...]
West Indies vs England in the winter of 1967/8 is the first test series I followed. I was seven. It marked John Snow's emergence as England's' premier fast bowler and Alan Knott's arrival as an outstanding wicketkeeper and batsman. The only decisive result in the five-match series was in the fourth test. England won because of a remarkably generous declaration as Gary Sobers asked them to make 214 in 53 overs. To a team already used to playing limited-overs cricket, it looked eminently gettable. England reached their target for the loss of only three wickets. Geoff Boycott opened the innings ...
The Commons standards committee has published its report on the conduct of Keith Vaz, the Labour MP for Labour East. To cut to the chase: We have found that Mr Vaz acted in breach of paragraph 16 of the 2015 House of Commons Code of Conduct. By expressing willingness to purchase a Class A drug, cocaine, for others to use, thereby showing disregard for the law, and by failing to co-operate fully with the inquiry process, thereby showing disrespect for the House's standards system, he has caused significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as ...
There seems to be a bit of an informal competition between the Low Fell and Whickham Focus teams to see who can produce the most eFocuses! While Whickham have 125 editions to their credit, Low Fell have 45. But, Low Fell are definitely closing the gap with the second edition in a week. The latest edition includes: Low Fell's Remembrance Service 'Friends of Kells Lane Park' Low Fell's Volunteer
See why the chair of Calderdale Liberal Democrats, Mark Pittaway, is backing me to be the next Liberal Democrat Party President.
Second paragraph of third chapter:"Please calm down and have a seat, Uncle," Auntie Surpun, the youngest of the Tchakhmakhchian sisters, muttered without directly looking at him. Being the only one in the family who had unreservedly supported Barsam's marriage to Rose, she now felt culpable. Such self-reproach was not something she was used to. A professor of humanities at the University of California at Berkeley, Surpun Tchakhmakhchian was a self-confident feminist scholar who believed that every problem in this world was negotiable by calm dialogue and reason. There were times this particular conviction had made her feel alone in a ...
Yesterday the Liberal Democrats announced that they will propose a Bill to amend the Fixed Term Parliament Act to hold a General Election on Monday December 9th.The plan, which is backed by the SNP, would amend the Fixed Term Parliaments Act to set the date of the next General Election, with Parliament being dissolved on Thursday following its passage this week.As this is a simple Bill, it would require only a simple majority, as opposed to the two thirds majority required under the normal FTPA legislation.Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson said:"Boris Johnson has missed his 'do-or-die' deadline and ...
Sun, 14:48: How Climate Change Is Pushing This Desert State to Fish https://t.co/Z4f1JxKyde Not sure it's totally fair to descr... https://t.co/vmYBFhHK2H Sun, 15:18: Luck and the Irish: A Brief History of Change, 1970-2000, by Roy Foster https://t.co/04eh97a8fT Mon, 09:51: RT @IanDunt: Those calling for a referendum before an election really do need to explain how they'll find in the numbers in the Commons and... Mon, 10:45: RT @parfitt_tom: Question: It's your personal milk? Lukashenko: Yes! No, not mine, a cow's https://t.co/oRt1Tw1vOU Mon, 11:36: https://t.co/mH6lZ21t3B
Over the weekend, a lot of Remainers vented their unhappiness on social media toward the Lib Dem/SNP plan to put forward a bill that might allow parliament to bypass Labour and allow a general election to happen in December. It was said that these parties were acting in their self-interest and that what we need instead is a People's Vote. There are many things wrong with this idea. One is that in order for another EU referendum to work before a general election takes place, we would need a government of national unity. Corbyn won't allow this to happen, so ...
Mon 28th
09:40
To win in politics, you need to be able to count, which is why we need a December election
'Yesterday's offer from the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party to back a December election appears to have been a major factor in the EU27's decision' From @politico this morning. The Lib Dems have managed to stop Brexit, for now. https://t.co/kCvbQ4YPMX — Rob Blackie [IMG: 🔶] (@robblackie) October 28, 2019 Back when I worked in the party's Campaigns & Elections Department, one of my contributions to the Liberal Democrats was working out and spreading a new way of calculating how many votes you need to win in an election and hence how many voters to target with activity such ...
There is, goodness knows enough bad news at the moment so a study by Kings College London and IPSOS which shows Britain is becoming socially more liberal is very welcome. The study looks at the same questions asked in 1989 and 2019 which makes it much easier to track the differences - and what differences they are! In 1989 40% of British adults thought that homosexuality was morally wrong - in 2019 that was down to 13% while people thinking that homosexuals should be treated 'just like other people' has increased from 23% to 64% On drug use the % ...
I admit that I am not shedding many tears for the owner over this report in the Guardian, that JD Wetherspoon has been accused of breaching the Companies Act after failing to seek shareholder approval for spending on almost 2m pro-leave beer mats before the 2016 EU referendum. The paper says that the pub chain spent £94,856 during the referendum campaign, comprising £18,000 on 1.5m "Brexit beer mats", £8,400 on a further 200,000 mats, and £68,186 on another 200,000 mats, 5,000 posters and 500,000 booklets. But legal experts believe that shareholder approval was necessary because the spending constituted political expenditure ...
A Pacer at Preston Station I came across the You Tube video (see link below) pretty much by chance even though it's on a matter I have blogged about a number of times before i.e. the infamous 'Nodding Donkeys' of the railway world made from bus bodies and freight van trucks. However Southport rail campaigner Eric Woodcock is on the video explaining in straight forward terms how the much derided Pacer trains came about. It's an interesting watch...... www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucA5xIgjZBc Inside a down at heel Pacer on the Ormskirk Preston Line My good friend and former MP for Southport John Pugh ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 28 OCTOBER 2019 SSEN Pitfour Area Cable Renewal - Phase 2: City Road (Pentland Avenue to Scott Street) closed southbound for up to 3 weeks. Westfield Lane - closed from Tuesday 22 October for 5 weeks for building repair works.
