Wingfield station stands beside the Midland main line north of Amergate. Dating from 1840, it is one of the world's oldest surviving railway stations. Like many stations, it closed in 1967. At the end of last year came news that the building is to be saved and restored by the Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust, Amber Valley Borough Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, the Liberal Democrat leader of Chelmsford Council, Stephen Robinson is interviewed about what Lib Dem council leader does, and how he got to be one in the first place.
Remember the bees that attached themselves to Jo Swinson's battle bus? Thanks to Lord Bonkers, we now know what was really going on. Thursday "How is Vince coping with not being leader any more?" people asked me in the run up to the election. All I could tell them was that he was concentrating on his hobby of beekeeping - it is customary to tell them when there is going to be a by-election - but I feared there might be More To It Than That. Word had reached that he was taking his retirement rather badly and that the ...
This is a bit of catch up as I am somewhat behind with updating the blog. Lots happening especially on the smallholding. Low Fell Lib Dem Focus team produced two eFocuses during January. Edition 50 covers: Improving Low Fell's car parks - views wanted Dealing with litter Council Tax expected to rise Cllr Craig receives honour Fallen panels on Station Road You can view Low Fell eFocus no. 50 on
(Photo: Euronews) Counting hasn't finished yet in the Irish general election, but already a picture is beginning to emerge. With 85% of seats declared, the position of the various parties is as follows: Sinn Fein 37 seats, Fine Gael 31, Fianna Fail 29, Greens 10, Solidarity-PBP 5, Labour 4, Social Democrats 4. It's been an astonishing election result and one whose ramifications and permutations will be discussed at length in the coming weeks and months. It would be impossible to reflect on the way forward until the dust settles, but what we know so far gives us a bit to ...
February 2005 was rather a busy month. The Macedonian government held a major reception in Brussels on Valentine's day, which I attended with family in tow, and then referenced in a briefing on the country published a few days later. I went to Geneva to give a lecture, and ended the month in Belgrade, but also had a couple of trips to London - on one of which I attended Picocon at Imperial College, bonding with a lot of newish friends in sf fandom; and using another for an initial conversation with my future employer, who I had met in ...
I'm told that Boris Johnson was a positive factor in voters' preferences at the last election. Apparently, it wasn't just a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, they actually liked the captain of the ship. To many of us, Boris Johnson is either a clown, a liar, or worse and therefore not exactly Prime Ministerial material. Not so, I hear; he is just the sort of chap an aspirational working class lad or lass would admire. Not so much the public school boy, unkempt toff or even likable rogue. No, he is "the very model of a ...
At the risk of appearing crude, crass and unfeeling, this article is going to focus on the political and economic consequential dangers of the coronavirus. This should not be taken in any way as an attempt to belittle the deaths of 805 Chinese (as of the early hours of Sunday morning) or the grief that their friends and families are suffering. Every human life is precious. But as the death toll mounts and the quarantine is extending, the economy suffers and this suffering will result in political consequences. In Hubei Province there are an estimated 50 million people in quarantine. ...
This blog first appeared on the Radix UK site... It has only been a fortnight since the publication of my Tickbox book, but the trickle of background information that was beginning to emerge when the book was first out has now become a flood. That is clearly also my mood to some extent, even more than when I was writing the book: I now see symptoms of tickbox everywhere I look. Teachers tell me that this is the reason they are leaving the profession. I've heard from NHS psychologists, prison officials, health workers - though not yet the marketing or ...
In 2015, I was developing a play inspired by the Greek tragedy of Antigone. I was captivated by the famous scene where Antigone's Uncle Creon tries to stop her sacrificing her life by arguing reason, compromise and a realistic view of the world. She, however, does not relent and her idealistic principles lead to her death. I both admired her brave commitment to her unique moral compass and was equally frustrated by her lack of ability to compromise and save her life. This led me to wonder; what would a modern day 'Antigone' look like? A coalition government seemed like ...
Sun, 15:58: The First Season 12: Genesis of the Daleks https://t.co/dqSTRwFVM0 Sun, 17:41: RT @pmdfoster: @MichelBarnier The problem is that fishing is a millstone for both sides - the politics are horrible, but in the grand schem... Sun, 17:41: RT @pmdfoster: @MichelBarnier Recall @tconnellyRTE excellent that opened with French govt officials nervously calling their coastal prefec... Sun, 19:24: Difficult to tell #GE2020 without having seen where SF transfers go. But looking at 1st prefs (where we have them)... https://t.co/Ph44sMdGoC Sun, 20:48: RT @JenniferMerode: At the last count, there were around 80 free ports in the EU or in EU member ...
Lots more numbers overnight. Below seats in bold have declared their final results; seats in red are where I have either changed my prediction from last night, or else been proved wrong by the result. FF not doing as well on transfers - including internal transfers - as I had expected. Constituency Seats FG FF SF GP Lab SD PBP Ind Carlow-Kilkenny 5 1 3 1 possible GP overtake 3rd FF Cavan-Monaghan 5 1 2 2 Clare 4 1 2 1 0 I now think FG not Ind Cork East 4 1 1 1 1 Count complete Cork North-Central 4 ...
Have you ever encountered that moment when you are desperate for the loo and there isn't a public look around? The Can't wait scheme is designed to tackle that. If you spot this sign, it means the shop or building has agreed to make their private toilets available to disabled people with an urgent need. with have a 'can't wait' card. The Focus Team has got all Yate Town Council's buildings to join the scheme - so you can use their loos if you're a card holder. If you run a business or community building in our town, could YOU ...
What did the 2016 Remain campaign and the 2019 Revoke Article 50 position adopted by the Lib Dems teach us? – That policies must engage people, not patronise them. Let me explain. Most analyses agree that Brexit will negatively impact the more deprived communities the hardest. So the question being asked by so many people is this: why on earth did Cornwall, one the UK's most deprived regions which receives so much funding from the EU, and which appears to have a lot to lose and little to gain, vote for Brexit? The Leave message during the referendum may have ...
In a moment of frustration last week Mayor Anderson told the city that he was considering not setting a budget next year and letting the Government set one. I understand his frustration. Liverpool has suffered more than its fair share ... Continue reading →
Mon 10th
08:56
The latest awful turn in the Labour leadership contest shows how much existential trouble the party ...
It is fair to say that the Labour leadership contest has been a total nightmare for the left of the party. Rebecca Long-Bailey was the one to beat after Corbyn announced after the general election that he would resign at some point in the sort of near future. She was going to have Momentum and Unite backing her officially, Labour HQ and the NEC unofficially. Only if her campaign was monumentally bad would she be under serious threat. It has gone much, much worse for Long-Bailey than anyone could have ever foreseen. Keir Starmer has done little to become the ...
Me in my cycling gear The BBC has the article on its website – see link below www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51392314 This is genuinely interesting but the biggest problem faced by cyclists is vehicles overtaking them too close. The cycling fraternity is presently lobbying government to have the next edition of the Highway Code* amended so instead of it saying 'leave as much room as possible' or words to that effect it becomes something like 'leave 1.5m where possible when overtaking a cyclist'. I've blogged about this previously and here's a link to that posting:- My point being that if this jacket ...
Michael Gove famously told voters during the referendum campaign that he was fed up of experts, well that now appears to have become mainstream government policy. The Independent reports that Boris Johnson is to press ahead with an Australian-style points-based system for immigration despite its rejection by the government's own experts: The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said in a report last month that a points-based system was "cosmetic" and "pointless" for all but the most highly skilled migrants, with chair Alan Manning dismissing it as a "soundbite". The prime minister and Priti Patel, the home secretary, have accepted the MAC's ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 Union Place (nos 13 - 16) - closed (8.00am - 4.00pm) on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 February for BT work. Perth Road (at Union Place) - temporary traffic lights (8.00am - 4.00pm) on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 February for BT work. Magdalen Yard Road (at Taylors Lane) - off-peak temporary traffic lights on Friday 14 February for Scottish Water works. Forthcoming Roadworks West Marketgait (at Ward Road) - alternating north and southbound closures 22-24 February; 29 February - 2 ...
9. Joker Comic book films are often accused of being 'dumb fun'. Joker avoids that risk by jettisoning the fun and cranking up the dumbness. The core problem with it was skewered years ago by The Lego Movie, which had its version of the Caped Crusader performing a heavy metal "Untitled Self Portrait". This song [...]
