Why did I worry? I looked young.
Govt must follow the science when it comes to easing lockdown Govt must rethink plans to shut down virtual Parliament Govt must issue "crystal clear" guidance for those returning to sport Ministers must explain evidence behind decision to ease lockdown Foreign Secretary's silence on Trump tweets is shameful Govt decision to press on with reopening schools "deeply worrying" Govt must urgently scrap Vagrancy Act as part of plan to end rough sleeping Govt must follow the science when it comes to easing lockdown Responding to reports that several members of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group have warned of the risk ...
Joss Bay, Broadstairs, Kent 30 May 2020 The UK government, in its capacity as the English government, has been easing the Coronavirus lockdown steadily over the last couple of weeks. Generally the public has been one step ahead. The picture shows the scene yesterday at one our nearby beaches yesterday; you would be pushed to ... Continue reading We need to escape 2m social distancing. We are going about it in the wrong way.
Sun 31st
17:05
Ludlow Market to reopen as a smaller social distanced market but no date set #coronavirus
Papers published by Ludlow Town Council on Friday pave the way to the reopening of Ludlow Market. Next Wednesday night, the council will discuss different layout options for the market (agenda). Officers are not setting out a preferred option and have not proposed a date for reopening the market. The papers suggest that a maximum of 14 stalls and one van will be able to operate. That is one third of the market's normal capacity of 43 stalls and three vans. There could be as few as nine stalls under the options preferred by officers. It seems so long ago! ...
This is really rather special. There have been lots of collaborative music projects during lockdown, with varying degrees of success, but the story behind this one is rather different. Churches in many countries around the world have stitched together their version of The Blessing by Elevation Music including The UK Blessing. In Ireland three weeks ago a group of friends conceived the idea of producing a Blessing with a distinctive Irish flavour. But importantly it was to bring together churches and Christian organisations from right across the island, from across all the Christian traditions and incorporating all styles of music ...
One of the joys of Parish Council life is our status as a statutory consultee when it comes to planning applications. Admittedly, some of them are pretty straightforward, for example the recent application from Muntons, the local malt business, who wanted to build a new staff car park. Given that you couldn't see the site because it's hidden from view by... a bloody great malt factory... there didn't seem to be much for an issue. However, a proposal last year to knock down a house in the centre of the village and replace it with five "executive homes", leaving scope ...
Wera Hobhouse has set out her vision for the party on her website. It's about making a clean break with the last decade and abandoning one key element of our strategy and reigniting another. The time for equidistance is over: The mistake was to see our party in the political centre, standing equally between right and left. In this day and age, the biggest threat to liberalism - not just in Britain - comes from the right. Our reasons for entering coalition with the Conservatives in 2010 were well intended, but we ended up undermining our values. We ultimately legitimised ...
Only 18 books this month, as the absence of my usual commute hits my reading habits... Non-fiction: 5 (YTD 26) The Hunt for Vulcan: ...And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe, by Thomas Levenson Joanna Russ, by Gwyneth Jones A Sacred Cause: The Inter-Congolese Dialogue 2000-2003, by P. E. Winter Roger of Hereford's Judicial Astrology: England's First Astrology Book?, by Chris Mitchell A border too far: the Ilemi triangle yesterday and today, by Philip Winter sf (non-Who): 9 (YTD 65) Riverland, by Fran Wilde In an Absent Dream, by Seanan McGuire The Forever War, ...
A new local emergency fund for Small Business has been launched. You can apply for a grant of up to £5000 through the 'Discretionary Fund for Small Businesses'. Deadline is 8th June to apply.The fund will prioritise businesses in shared spaces (such as units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment), regular market traders, small charity properties that would meet the criteria for Small Business Rates Relief, and Bed and Breakfasts that pay council tax rather than business rates.Other examples of the type businesses that could be eligible include:• Independent businesses ...
Fewer people have been following lockdown guidance since the story about Dominic Cummings' excursion to Durham broke.That is the finding of a survey conducted by academics from De Montfort University in Leicester. For their research, Professor Edward Cartwright and Dr Jonathan Rose surveyed 1201 people across the UK. The number who admitted they had behaved in ways inconsistent with the government guidance because they did not agree with it had increased from 4 per cent to 9 per cent over the space of the last week. The researchers say: "There are two explanations for our findings. It could be that ...
In recent weeks, both houses of the US Congress almost unanimously passed a Bill calling on the Trump administration to enact sanctions against China for its human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. Republicans expect the President soon to sign this into law. The main individual target is Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party's [...]
A tribute to the video conferencing app that Covid-19 has made suddenly indispensable. Zoom was a hit in the UK (but not the US) in 1982. Fat Larry, you may not be surprised to learn is the drummer. He was originally the singer too, but by now the role had been taken over by Freddie Campbell. Which means we can add this band to the list (Spencer Davis Group, Santana, J. Geils Band...) of those named after a member other than their lead singer.
Thanks to COVID-19 we may well be on the cusp of a public mental health crisis. The ONS latest#understanding-the-impact-on-society) reports that 48% of adults feel their well-being has been affected by COVID-19, with evidence of a continuing upward trend, while 31% of those whose well-being has been affected said it was making their mental health worse. Grief, loneliness, uncertainty, an inability to access health and social care, and rising levels of domestic abuse are only some of the factors that are affecting people's mental health right now. Many I am sure will have seen the following chart indicating ...
Sat, 12:56: RT @GordonFbpe: @Lifelandlady This is what Vote Leave promised in 2016... https://t.co/gsvJXoSooK Sat, 14:23: The Sting https://t.co/Ul8zMFmrbD Sat, 14:48: RT @simongerman600: Looks like Belarus successfully solved the Crimea problem on maps. Some might say this is a #badgeographyjoke but I thi... Sun, 07:21: RT @CoNZealand: The Hugo Voter Packet for the 2020 Hugo Awards is now available! All supporting & attending members of CoNZealand can downl... Sun, 08:44: Can't help on this specific question (which got some good replies), but please enjoy Jon Pertwee and William Hartne... https://t.co/tzG8y9GMSq Sun, 10:45: RT @RichMunden: Privacy/confidence - £15k damages awarded for ...
The Conservatives have always been pretty ruthless at dumping their leaders once hey have outlived their usefulness,(Edward Heath, then Margaret Thatcher) or proved to be useless ( William Hague, Ian Duncan Smith, Michael Howard, Theresa May). The Tory MPs and faithful chose Mr Johnson as there leader, many I suspect against their better judgement, becasue he could win elections. Well, he's done that: through a quirk of our flawed electoral system system, on a minority vote he has delivered a stonking parliamentary majority of 80. Sadly, but predictably, so far in office he has demonstrated that he is not up ...
There's a type of late-sixties British comedy film for which I have a fondness that is out of all proportion to its actual merits — films which are sort of a lower-budget and slightly more hippyish equivalent of American films ... Continue reading →
As we look in horror at the murder of George Floyd and its aftermath, we must reflect on the structural racism that made it possible. We shouldn't think such racism is confined to the US. Too many suffer injustice in this country too. We have a duty to fight & extinguish it #BLM — Ed Davey MP [IMG: 🔶] [IMG: 🇪🇺] #StayHomeSaveLives #ProtectNHS (@EdwardJDavey) May 30, 2020 It is worth joining them to learn about how you can support and contribute to their work. Lib Dem Councillor and race equality adviser Rabina Khan has written an article for the Huffington ...
On Downholland Moss there's a lonely former railway bridge, just to the west of Haskayne Village, which still carries Old Lane/Old Moss Lane over the trackbed of the now long gone Liverpool, Southport & Preston Junction Railway and subsequently Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway branch. It left/joined the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway just north of Altcar & Hillhouse Station, at Hillhouse Junction, and headed off via Barton, Halsall, Shirdley Hill, Meols Cop etc. to swing around Southport. Here are today's views both west and east:- Looking west and the curve of the line south can be seen by following ...
Unfortunately, this article on the Bloomberg site is not about government's imposing a wealth tax in an effort to recover some of the cost of locking us down to minimise the impact of Coronavirus. Rather it records the circumstances whereby events have undermined the tax avoiding antics of the super-rich, and in doing so imposed a form of rough social-justice on them. Bloomberg say that as nations have closed borders, some individuals are confronting unexpectedly complex tax situations. These include the prospect of higher levies from spending too many days in a foreign locale, or having to shelve plans to ...
Is there any point to the English State Party of the Liberal Democrats?" A recent article asked this question, and it's a good question, and one asked by many people over the years. In some ways the English layer of the Lib Dems is there because we are a Federal Party with the Party in Scotland and Wales who are the constituent parts of the party, and there has to be something at an English level. For the last three months I've been Chair of the Party in England. I don't like calling it the English Party, as one of ...
With thanks to James Grant Reid and Dundee Westenders, a great view of the Sinderins junction of old, taken from 297 Hawkhill :
