Repton is a village in Derbyshire whose church is dedicated to St Wystan. As we have seen, both Wistow in Leicestershire and Wistanstow in Shropshire claim to be the site of Wystan's original burial and the subsequent miracle, What is sure is that young Wystan's bones were later moved to Repton and lay in the crypt beneath the church that is now named after him. Early in the 11th century his bones were moved to Evesham, whee they were lost when the town's abbey was sacked at the Reformation. The remarkable crypt at Repton remains, even if it tries its ...
On the BBC website you will find a radio programme entitled John Arlott: Cricket's radical voice. And it is a desperately good programme too. As its blurb says: It is not an exercise in nostalgia about a man universally considered to be the greatest cricket commentator and 'the voice of an English summer' it is an exploration of Arlott as a political figure both inside and outside the world of cricket. John Arlott's politics can best be summed up as those of a radical liberal, and he twice stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Party. But he ...
I am honoured and delighted to have been elected as President of the Liberal Democrats. The news is overshadowed by the results of the general election where, in amongst the individual brilliant results, there were so many disappointments and tragedies. After such a promising start as our party leader only a few months ago, Jo's own defeat is particularly saddening. Our increased share of the vote, more second places and enlarged party membership, added to the fantastic growth in our local government base earlier in the year, does, however, provide us with the foundations to recover from. As does the ...
Second frame of third page, vol. 1: There was panic on board, chaos...I took my fate in my own hands. I grabbed this shuttle and left - full speed, straight ahead. Second frame of third page, vol. 2: Tell me what's up, Pam. This is a spinoff series from the main narrative of Leo's great graphic novel sequence, Les Mondes d'Aldebaran. A group of teenagers are the only survivors of a starship colonisation mission landing on a strange planet; they must grapple with the native fauna, including several different intelligent species of carying degrees of friendliness. As usual the art ...
Understandably delayed by the general election, the count for Liberal Democrat Party President was held this morning. Many thanks for the support and help from so many people. It made a huge difference and is why I'm delighted to be able to say these are the official figures: Christine Jardine: 10,164 (41.40%) Mark Pack: 14,381 (58.59%) – ELECTED Non-transferable votes: 0 Total votes cast: 24,545 I'd like to particularly thank Christine for the good humour in which the contest was conducted and our party staff for administering the contest at such a busy time. There will be a huge task ...
The new President of the Liberal Democrats is.... Mark Pack Many congratulations to him on his election and commiserations to Christine Jardine. Both were superb candidates and fought an election in the best traditions of Liberal Democrat internal elections. I'd also like to give my thanks also to the staff and volunteers who have been counting in Liberal Democrat HQ since early this morning and who have run this set of elections whilst also preparing for and playing their part in the General Election campaign. The result in full can be found here: Christine Jardine: 10,164 (41.40%) Mark Pack: 14,381 ...
I strongly agree with Nick Barlow's call yesterday for the Party to do some serious introspection. We failed to properly do so after 2014 and 2015 and we won't proceed on firm foundations until we do. One reason the 2019 General Election campaign was so disastrous for us was because Labour leaning remainers went back to supporting Labour in droves. Other parties attempt to squeeze us at every Election, so this shouldn't be a surprise. But what should deeply concern us is the degree to which Labour's squeeze took effect and what we did to help make this happen. The ...
Sat 14th
11:56
Some initial thoughts on how the Labour Party could rebuild from this defeat and win the next electi...
Some of you might think I'm the wrong person to write this article. I've never voted Labour at a general election and I've spent most of the last four and half years slagging off Corbyn and telling anyone who would listen why everything Labour was doing was wrong. But that's why I think I'm the right person to write this: what follows is what it would take to get me to vote Labour at the next general election. Some of it might not be what you'd expect. First of all, Labour can't just "go back to Blairism" – it won't ...
Fri, 13:29: Surfacing briefly - many thanks to the friend who alerted me to the fact that @markdevenport and I have a fan in he... https://t.co/N0DlSCdZyy Fri, 13:35: RT @Sathnam: Who could've predicted that having no position on greatest issue of our time, allowing Antisemites to run riot, buying into co... Fri, 15:00: RT @LSRPlaid: Agony aunt advice to the Taoiseach: that's what Johnson says at the start of evey relationship. https://t.co/CC8SwheXrI Fri, 15:10: RT @EuropeElects: UK, popular vote lead in national parliament elections since 1979: 1979: 7.0% (Con) 1983: 14.8% (Con) 1987: 11.4% (Con)... Fri, 15:15: RT @henryfarrell: https://t.co/3Ry60uQlp8 ...
My conclusion from the election is simple. Progressive parties cannot fight each other next time. Instead, we must unite against the populist right. With our current electoral system it may be the only way to win. So I have a proposal. But I warn you, many of you will not like it. First, we must elect a new leader and so, according to their own timetable, will Labour. For a while we continue to develop our own individual policy platforms. Then, in about two years' time, the four progressive parties of England and Wales come together and agree a common ...
Most of our local charity shops collect used stamps - foreign, UK commemorative or just plain "ordinary" stamps - and sell them on to dealers to raise funds. Please keep all those stamps you get at Xmas or indeed any time of year and take them in. Alternatively you can drop them off to Paul Hulbert at 35 Blaisdon, Yate (this year he's collecting them for the Children's Hospice) or leave them at Dodington Parish Council for him to collect.
The scale of the climate crisis has just increased massively, with news that the destruction of the world's largest tropical rainforest in November more than doubled the same period last year. According to the Guardian, preliminary government data has revealed that deforestation in Brazil's Amazon jumped to the highest level for the month of November since record-keeping began in 2015. The country's space research agency INPE found that 563 square kilometres of the world's largest tropical rainforest were destroyed in November, which is more than double the area in the same month last year. The paper says that would bring ...
All politicians lie. That is what we are told anyway. If they told the truth, it is argued, they would never be elected. The problem with that belief is that it undermines the very foundations of democracy. If you cannot believe your elected representatives than what is the point in elections? They become no more than expensive political theatre. It certainly seems that the 21st century political arena is filled with more mendacity than previous years, and the instances of misinformation and disinformation appear to be multiplying. The question is: How to deal with the increasing number of lies before ...
Many residents will know of the Revival Church situated in Taylor's Lane. Pastor Stephen McCluskey of the church is taking forward some community initiatives such as school holidays breakfast and lunch for low-income families, in partnership with Dundee Bairns. However, he has also mentioned that the church facilities may be available for community and charity activities during 2020 and if any local group wishes to find out more, the church can be contacted here.
