In truth, being locked down in the Creetings is not quite the same as being locked down in a town or city. Yes, we adhere to the "one outing for exercise" rule, and go shopping once a day only, but as most of us don't shop daily anyway, and the village is surrounded by fields laced with empty public footpaths, it isn't quite as onerous as it is for some. I've managed to keep up with my 10,000 steps each day - it allows me to check the Parish footpaths to see what condition they're in - and we're lucky ...
I suggested to Lord Bonkers that there was no need to reprint this week's diary here, seeing as everyone can download the whole issue of Liberator free of charge, but he did not see it that way. So here we go again... Monday The authorities emphasise that this beastly new virus is a danger to the elderly, so for the past two weeks I have isolated myself to avoid any risk of infecting them. If it were not for my domestic staff and the secret passage that comes out in the cellar of the Bonkers' Arms, I should have gone ...
Neal Ascherson reviews Richard Norton-Taylor's 'pugnacious' The State of Secrecy: Spies and the Media in Britain for the London Review of Books. His second paragraph runs: The structure of the 'British' state is still essentially monarchical. Constitutionally, the rest of the democratic world has moved on, adopting variants of the Enlightenment notion of popular sovereignty. Power resides in theory with the people, whose communities lease upwards only those functions they cannot exercise themselves. But in Britain, its archaisms only lightly reformed, power still flows downwards. The absurd doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty - that weird English scrap of parchment - in ...
Shropshire Council's tree team has voiced its disapproval at the final design of the Rocks Green supermarket site (20/00840/REM). It says the scheme does not represent the best possible sustainable design because "the development fails to effectively protect restore and enhance the natural assets that are key to the character and amenity of the area." The team is very critical of the limited space being provided for trees, saying there is a risk of overcrowding, poor growth and one in five trees dying. The store will be much bigger than originally proposed: 34,000 sq ft instead of the 25,000 sq ...
There is an interesting article on The Register, a news and opinion website popular with computer nerds. Zoom's end-to-end encryption isn't actually end-to-end at all. Good thing the PM isn't using it for Cabinet calls. Oh .... Apparently that "first-ever digital Cabinet" used the same remote conferencing system that we lesser mortals use for local party committee meetings during the pandemic - Zoom. In theory, information travelling via that platform should be secured by high-tech encryption, but anyone who follows the news of bugs in operating systems, computer chips, and so on knows that is not true. All the world's ...
Current A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving Last books finished (A long week, including the last two days in bed, and some very short books) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith - did not finish The Winged Man, by E. Mayne Hull Excession, by Iain M. Banks A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine Blake's 7 Annual 1979 Blake's 7 Annual 1980 The Haunting of Tram Car 015, by P. Djélì Clark Blake's 7 Annual 1981 The Wind on the Moon, by Eric Linklater Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher ...
Escher: Day and Night It is so tempting to spend all the extra time watching box sets. I do spend most evenings these days doing just that, or catching up on Netflix and favourite TV programmes. With that in mind, don't miss the National Theatre's online premiere of One Man, Two Guvnors tonight at 7pm. I do try to avoid sitting on the sofa during the day. That doesn't mean I'm not looking at a screen, but it is usually at my desk with my laptop or Kindle. In fact, I start the daytime hours with Joe Wicks and end ...
Earlier today I sent the letter below to Mayor Anderson and followed this up with a phone conversation this afternoon. I am pleased to say that he is in full agreement as to the need to get Liverpool on the ... Continue reading →
Those of us of a certain age may have some recollection of John Grant as a Labour MP who defected to the SDP but he was much more than that. In his book Blood Brothers: Division and Decline of Britain's Trade Unions he paints a vivid picture of a life in the Labour movement, part history, part autobiography. Born in 1932 in Finsbury Park Grant became a journalist eventually working for the Daily Express as its Chief Industrial Correspondent. In that role he covered a number of high profile strikes, the political climate in which they occurred and rubbed shoulders ...
The Competition and Markets Authority has developed a form to allow you to report businesses if you think they acting unfairly during the Coronavirus outbreak. This could be a business raising prices unfairly when selling to customers or to other businesses, or a business making misleading claims about their products or identity. Link to it below. Competitions and Markets Authority: Tell us about a business you think is acting unfairly during the Coronavirus outbreak
Some anecdotes throw sharp light on underlying realities. Nick Timothy's reflections on his experience as a fiercely loyal adviser to Theresa May as Home Secretary and Prime Minister, Remaking One Nation: The Future of Conservatism (just published) provides a classic example. After the uncertain outcome of the 2017 election, May told Timothy and his equally fierce colleague Fiona Hill, "The donors think you ought to go", and fired them both. She didn't say that she thought they should go, or the Cabinet, or the party chairman, or the parliamentary party: the donors were the key voice and influence. Money counts ...
Sam Delaney's book about political advertising in Britain is a fun read, but light on evidence about advertising's actual impact.
Yate and Sodbury Neighbours Scheme Covid-19 - Help and Support Yate Town Council is working in partnership with this local community group, churches and other parishes to provide information and support as well as co-ordinating volunteers for streets throughout Yate, Dodington and Chipping Sodbury. The Facebook page has gathered a lot of momentum - up to 3,707 members today with a lot of daily activity. If you would like to keep abreast of what is going on or think you might be able to volunteer in any way, or indeed need help yourself then please ask to join the Facebook ...
In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talked with the chief executive of Demos, Polly Mackenzie, about the impact of coronavirus on public policy. We got a bonus bit of background music courtesy of one of her children and a piano. As with the other shows since coronavirus, this one was recorded over video call so apologies for the occasional blip in sound quality. Feedback as every very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Demos website, including the old content being re-released as discussed in ...
Wed, 12:56: RT @Channel4: Isolating with the #DerryGirls @SaoirseJackson @louisa_harland https://t.co/2yal4TpGiR Wed, 16:43: Devastated to hear that we have lost Mhamed Khadad, UN negotiator for the Frente POLISARIO. I worked with him a lot... https://t.co/mvX8BJqjc2 Wed, 18:10: Starting with a bang! https://t.co/wcSGvtsMLF Wed, 20:21: RT @KatieTaft: Not a happy read but a #mustread on #covid19 thanks to @thinink for this ANALYSIS-Climate stress and coronavirus gang up on... Wed, 20:38: Babayaga, by Toby Barlow https://t.co/hmw8QVU1ga Wed, 20:48: RT @tconnellyRTE: The British government is resisting a request by the EU to maintain a physical presence in Northern Ireland, following th... Wed, 21:33: ...
Shops, pubs, restaurants and some other small businesses in the St Albans District may be entitled to a Government grant to help them during the Covid-19 crisis. More than £20 million of cash support is likely to be distributed to an estimated 1,500 qualifying enterprises in the District. Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure [...]
Joint statement from CEOs of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group: Temporary closure of St Albans Minor Injuries Unit as part of COVID-19 response Our top priority - as we respond to the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak – is to provide the best care we can to local people [...]
We'd intended to announce at York that Liberator will become a free online only publication in September. Given the pandemic though, with potential readers stranded at home, we're doing this a bit early with our 400th issue, which also marks Liberator's 50th anniversary. Go to: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk and you can download a pdf onto any device. We will soon announce arrangements for those who'd like to sign up to be notified of when new issues come out. Also now available on the website is our post-election review in Liberator 399. Subscribers have been sent Liberator 400 by post and subject to ...
Thu 2nd
09:56
Guest post: YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE PLENTY OF THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT. THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVI...
Sorry for the lack of activity. I haven't succumbed to Covid-19. I have just been exceptionally busy, not least with a house-move. And not just that: my Treasurer duties have been quite intense, and still are: I'm in the middle of an audit. I will recount my tale when things settle down a bit. Meanwhile ... Continue reading Guest post: YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE PLENTY OF THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT. THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS SHOULDN'T BE ONE OF THEM
An homage to the 30th anniversary of the Ghostbusters movie made with LEGO bricks.
Thu 2nd
09:41
Why Boris and the government's current bounce in the polls could be brief and what that will mean
In a time of crisis, the government's poll ratings go up, everywhere in the world. "Rally round the flag" it's called and it's completely understandable: at a time when the government becomes necessary, possibly for one's survival, people invest in that government doing the right thing. However, this has a time limit and is also fragile; it's just as easy for people to start flipping and feeling like the government has mishandled the crisis. There are early signs of trouble for Boris Johnson. The nightly press conference is starting to seem barren; essentially, one of the cabinet members gets thrown ...
The free pass that the UK Government have enjoyed to date in managing the COVID-19 crisis with little or no criticism, has dissipated today with even friendly papers like the Telegraph demanding answers as to why the promised testing for the virus has not materialised. As the Guardian reports, the government have admitted that just 2,000 of half a million frontline NHS staff have been tested to date. This has led to a plea from scientists for Health officials to abandon strict production rules that are hampering the introduction of mass testing. The paper says that their plea has come ...
This is the last of my postings regarding the quite excellent new exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool which is presently inaccessible due to our health crisis of course. Anything to do with Hornby and the products of his Binns Road factory interest me as a Trustee of the Maghull based Frank Hornby Trust so of course the section of the Liverpool on Wheels exhibitions was always going to draw me to it. Here are my photos:- Like the Museum of Liverpool the Frank Hornby Experience exhibition (within Meadows Leisure Centre) in his home town of Maghull is also presently ...
After meeting by Zoom for the third consecutive day, the judges agreed this blog's Headline of the Day Award should go to the New York Post.
I'm celebrating a glorious third place finish in the first Creeting St Peter online quiz last night, and thus in a good mood today... 2 big stories The number of ventilators that will be delivered this weekend is... 30. A visibly shocked Jane Hill – It does seem to say 30 ventilators.....#COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/V3QofrISAH — Haggis_UK [IMG: 🇬🇧] [IMG: 🇪🇺] (@Haggis_UK) 1 April 2020
As residents know, I have long campaigned to have the poor conditioned road surface of Seafield Road improved. I am therefore pleased to have been advised by the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership, in reply to my lastest e-mail regarding this, as follows : "Seafield Road has been identified for inclusion in future carriageway resurfacing schemes, provisionally 2020-2021 subject to budget availability."
