David Boyle looks to life after the coronavirus: "I'm not sure anyone will miss the airlines and airports (except the British, of course, who fly more than any nation on earth). The future of food looks set to be local with short supply lines after all. But if the economy was in such a dire situation before, then it may be that some government support for salaries will have to be semi-permanent." From miraculous cures to paranoid conspiracies, misinformation about coronavirus is going viral at a disturbing rate say Ella Hollowood and Alexi Mostrous. "Even nowadays, with parents the stunned ...
Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has called on political parties and parliamentary authorities to work together to urgently put in place remote working for Parliament in response to the Covid-19 crisis. He said:"It is right that Parliament physically closes to keep people safe, including parliamentary staff, but this cannot mean an end to scrutiny of the Government."The political parties and parliamentary authorities must now work together to urgently put in place remote working for parliament - so MPs can continue to represent our constituents, raise urgent issues with Ministers and hold the Government to account for its ...
Responding to reports that that the Government has refused to axe the five-week wait for Universal Credit payments despite an additional 500,000 claims in 9 days, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:"The Coronavirus crisis is an unprecedented threat with millions of families facing financial hardship. "There are therefore legitimate questions that the Prime Minister must answer over his Government's failure to act more quickly and compassionately for the huge numbers of people now facing a sudden financial crisis."With more and more people needing to apply to universal credit, we must ensure all who are eligible and need ...
It's been incredibly quiet in town today. For those that need to shop and pick up prescriptions, there has been a significant shift in behaviour. People queue in quiet respect at a social distance. What a change from the crowded aisles and cramming together we saw at the weekend. In a crisis unprecedented in our lifetimes, Ludlow is pulling together. Stitching together stronger community support. Building more respect for each other. Who knows what will happen in the coming weeks? But I am confident that Ludlow will come out of this as an even stronger community. I was out delivering ...
Another video from our #LockdowninOudHeverlee - this time looking at the local ponds and park.
City Hall, London I am really enjoying writing this diary. It takes me back to the time when I was blogging every day as a councillor. I have been worried that it might be seen as self-indulgent, but friends have urged me to continue, so I will. There are many benefits of writing about my life, especially during this time. It helps me to process what has been happening to me and to the world around me. I am determined to remain cheerful, and the very act of looking for good things to write about each day lifts my mood. ...
A recent conversation amongst colleagues from the Social Liberal Reform regarding the need to reaffirm the history of Liberalism and what we are all about got me thinking about my journey. It is undoubtedly an interesting one! Growing up in a family that voted for the old Liberal Party I took a different route as a young man, first becoming mainstream Labour than a supporter of its left-wing and simultaneously a committed trade union activist. When I lived in Newbury in the early 1980s, the Liberals were viewed by us socialists as people who had usurped the Labour vote which ...
Davey: We must urgently put in place remote working for Parliament Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has called on political parties and parliamentary authorities to work together to urgently put in place remote working for Parliament in response to the Covid-19 crisis. He said: "It is right that Parliament physically closes to keep people safe, including parliamentary staff, but this cannot mean an end to scrutiny of the Government. "The political parties and parliamentary authorities must now work together to urgently put in place remote working for parliament - so MPs can continue to represent our constituents, ...
I finished the latest edition (no. 130) of eFocus for the Whickham area last night. The party politics have been stripped out. Most of the content is about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on services. The latest advice was included and we will be increasing the frequency of publication to help keep people informed. You can ready eFocus on this link.
From The Guardian's rolling liveblog on coronavirus comes this unfortunate error.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): MOTs for cars, vans and motorcycles due from 30 March 2020 - GOV.UK
Cllr Jayne McCoy Deputy Leader and Chair of Housing, Economy & Business Committee The government has announced a number of financial support schemes to help businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Sutton council will be implementing many of these schemes through its responsibility for collecting business rates. Many of the business [...]
Tue, 12:30: Tremendous. "The insanity of a market led economy that only thought about profit for the last decade has left milli... https://t.co/VpvNUbIY70 Tue, 15:22: RT @EU2020HR: A great step for #EU2020HR! EU Ministers reached a political agreement on opening accession talks with 🇲🇰 and 🇦🇱! This is a... Tue, 18:38: Miss Shumway Waves a Wand, by James Hadley Chase https://t.co/VLqDEP8RLX Tue, 18:58: RT @harari_yuval: Yuval's recent article in the @FinancialTimes has been selected as key coronavirus coverage, and is now free to read in a... Tue, 20:48: RT @sophiasgaler: positively phenomenal use of the BBC News theme tune. Little ...
Colonialism, racism, capitalism, Fascism, appeasement and more all get a satirical going over in Karel Capek's book, which combines these serious themes with a fast moving and very readable plot. War with the Newts shows how you can be worthy without being dull, erudite without being turgid.
For a government that only a few months ago had secured a substantial Commons' majority through a clear and focussed campaign featuring message discipline and good communication strategies, the present uncertainty over how to tackle coronavirus is difficult to fathom, As the Guardian reports, No 10 is facing criticism after a day of widespread confusion over its coronavirus lockdown advice, with a lack of clarity about who is allowed to travel to work, whether couples who live apart can still see each other and what counts as exercise. As a result, Ministers had to give further guidance on a raft ...
This may seem a peculiar thing to say whilst globally we are fighting a virus which is now, and will be until a vaccine is produced, a killer. I am not hoping, as some clearly do, that this will kill ... Continue reading →
Tudor Jones has updated his 2011 publication setting out and analysing Liberal thinking so that now his purview runs from 1956 to 2016. Everything in the review of the earlier volume applies to his extended work. There is no better single-volume reference work on sixty years of Liberal thought, and Tudor Jones' analysis of the numerous and diverse publications during that period is both rigorous and reliable. The additional chapters in this new volume cover the years leading into the Coalition of 2010 and the disastrous electoral consequences of that Coalition. Tudor Jones deals with the policy issues raised by ...
Wed 25th
09:05
Why a CoVid coalition government would be of long term benefit to Labour - and short term benefit to...
George Freeman, Tory MP for Mid Norfolk, used Twitter to call for a wartime coalition style government, bringing the Labour shadow frontbench in. He specified that this only be genuinely considered once Labour had "serious leadership" in a week and a half's time, but it was still a Conservative Member of Parliament calling for a temporary grand coalition to fight the CoVid crisis. Is this a good idea for the country, for the Tories, for the Labour Party? The short term benefits to the country would be having all the best brains available round the table to figure out how ...
Farm access bridge over the former Cheshire Lines Railway between the former Lydiate and Sefton & Maghull Stations. My exercise as we all try to keep safe is solo cycling around the East Parishes part of Sefton Borough and into West Lancs and South Sefton. One of my recent rides (on a glorious Sunday morning) was from my Lydiate home down the Cheshire Lines Path/Trans Pennine Trail from the site of the former Lydiate Station down to the site of the former Sefton and Maghull Station, then on via Old Racecourse Road to regain the path at Meadway. From there ...
Extraordinary times don't only require extraordinary measures. They also require rather more mundane help. Things that are easy to do for nearly all of us. Here are three of them.
I recently received complaints about potholes in Saggar Street at the bottom near the junction with City Road and half way up the Saggar Street hill. I reported these to the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and the matter was very promptly tackled - response below : "Bailie Macpherson Thank you for your email. An order has already been raised for pothole repairs to be carried out and these will be done in the near future if not already done."
I run a small model shop here in Blyth. We benefit from the small business exemption, and so after the exemption is applied pay no business rates. As the corona virus started to get a hold, we noticed that we were getting fewer customers, and with this week's announcement we have closed the shop to the public. The budget announcement of grants to businesses such as ourselves was welcome, and with the thought of financial help we accepted the inevitable. This was further reinforced by the chancellors subsequent announcements. We will continue to provide a very limited on-line business, but ...
