Some lovely footage of the line north from Dingwall to Wick and Thurso in 1964. And I commend the reopening of Salzcraggie station to the excellent Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) as a vote-winning campaign. Note the post bus at Lairg. An article on Messy Nessy tells you about this lost means of rural transport.
Lib Dems support amendments to put humanity at heart of Domestic Abuse Bill Lib Dems slam Govt's £900k makeover of RAF Voyager as "absurd waste" Lib Dems support amendments to put humanity at heart of Domestic Abuse Bill Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine has today spoken in favour of amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill to put "humanity at the heart" of the Bill. If passed, the amendments would ensure an abuse survivor's immigration status does not affect the support they receive. The Bill currently fails to make provisions to support "one of the most vulnerable groups" affected by domestic ...
Goodbye to a great Leicester sportsman. In the days when Leicester Chess Club met at the Willie Thorne Snooker Centre, which was housed in the old city council offices in Charles Street, it had by far the best premises in the county league. I am so old I remember when Willie Thorne had hair, was obviously hugely talented but could not win a frame on television.
Responding to reports that the Government is set to spend £900k to repaint RAF Voyager in the colours of the Union Jack flag, Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesperson, Jamie Stone MP said: "This absurd waste of nearly £1 million at a time when so many families are struggling to put food on the table and so many are worried about their job security is insulting."This government continue to astound with their posturing. It is disgraceful. They should halt these plans and use the money to help those who need it most right now instead."
Wed 17th
19:10
Shropshire Council agrees to limit road closures for coronavirus in Ludlow and spins the reason why
As I explained this morning, Shropshire Council had made something of a mess of introducing road closures to promote social distancing in Ludlow. Today, the council issued a press release, which I copy below. This abandons any idea of closing High Street at any point. It also abandons the idea that King Street should be closed seven days 10am to 3pm. The closure would only be on Friday and Saturday. The press release says this is "following concerns raised by local councillors and the town council". That's spin worthy of Alastair Campbell. It is now clear that despite two town ...
Our election review concluded – we lacked vision, relevance and strategy in 2019. In this context, I want to return to Michael Kitching's piece ("However beautiful the strategy you should occasionally look at the results" - Op-Eds April 25th). He makes several important points arguing that we need a greater focus on delivery and more effectiveness in execution. But most importantly, he argues for clear long term strategic objectives. As he points out, a framework for allocating resources to constituencies is not a strategic objective; it is tactics. Stopping Brexit was not a long term strategic objective for the party; ...
Like many Britons who follow politics, I follow US politics enthusiastically. But I don't like to comment so much on it here. I have no special connection to the US zeitgeist,and it seems to be a bit rude to comment on somebody else's politics. But we can't help but be affected by the US, so ... Continue reading What are Donald Trump's chances in November?
As previously mentioned, we started the month with a half-term break at my sister's in Burgundy. Cluny is a remarkable town with a ruined abbey which dominates the urban landscape. I moved my personal website to http://www.nicholaswhyte.info - I should start updating it a bit more often... I also visited London for orientation with the new job, and drove to the depths of the Ardennes for my last Crisis Group retreat. We got reports out on Serbia, Kosovo and Georgia, as my time with the organisation wound down. The month ended dramatically. I had a work trip to Berlin which ...
Much has already been written about the contemporary relevance of the BBC mini-series The Salisbury Poisonings which ended yesterday and is now available on i-Player. Although written and produced before anyone had ever heard of the coronavirus, the way in which the public emergency in Salisbury was handled two years ago has some uncanny parallels with the events of this year. I was struck by one simple fact – the operation was headed by the Director of Public Health for Wiltshire, Tracy Daszkiewicz. She, in fact, was the main focus for the dramatic retelling of the story, and it is ...
After Covid-19, we all must rise to the UN challenge to 'build back better'. The impacts of the pandemic and the lockdown have accelerated changes that had been predicted would take decades to happen. We all have a new appreciation for housing, outdoor spaces, community services and the welfare state. The uncongested streets, cleaner air and slower pace of life have hopefully served as a sign that we could do things differently. The planning system has a critical role in making the 'new normal' a better one. The government's policy statement in March, perhaps due to its timing (written at ...
As we enter the start of the Liberal Democrat leadership contest, we confront the question again of what direction the new leader will take the party. We ask, what will be their platform? Their vision? Who are we going to appeal to? What issues are we going to champion? What is the policy that will reverse our fortunes? With the quick turnover of leaders since the resignation of Nick Clegg, we have never come up with any lasting answers to the big questions, and that's because we are missing the point. Our biggest failing is thinking that we are missing ...
How must the Liberal Democrats change in order to win more often? Listen to me discuss this with Lisa Smart, chair of the party's Federal Communications and Elections Committee.
Statues, as David Olusoga reminds us, are but a distraction from the real issues of race inequality, we as a nation and as a party must change. But, but, but... They remain a very visual presence in places where people congregate. As an insular Londoner, I have been well aware of the long and principled campaign to remove the bronze Colson, the man who branded his properties on their chests. How, then can any Liberal Democrat want to continue celebrating such ogres? Reasons for removing or pulling down statues of slave traders and owners vary greatly. Some deserve a dunking, ...
In a very short speech on 21 May, Ros was moved to refer to a sometimes forgotten element of our cultural heritage... My Lords, I declare an interest as a non-executive board member of the National Archives. While the National Archives has closed its building, given the importance of its function, I wanted to reassure noble Lords that it remains highly active in very important ways. For the duration of its closure, it is providing free online access to its wide range of digitised records. Through legislation.gov.uk, it is aiding legal certainty through the rapid publication of emergency legislation, operating ...
Tue, 12:56: RT @BretDevereaux: Statues are back in the news; I suppose I ought say something about statues, because I'm a historian and people keep say... Tue, 14:12: Working from home in good weather - taking a Zoom call in the garden, actually helps concentration as there are few... https://t.co/yChUVJeEpQ Tue, 16:05: The Supreme Court's LGBTQ ruling, explained in 5 sentences https://t.co/HDwOlvEfmV Good stuff from @imillhiser. Tue, 16:48: RT @David_Cameron: The Prime Minister is right to maintain the commitment to 0.7 - it saves lives, promotes a safer world and builds Britis... Tue, 17:16: RT @RolandGehrels: Bicycle path density. https://t.co/bHktWYXZQB ...
Wed 17th
10:28
Why I think this man will be the next prime minister - before the next general election
I've written a few times already about why I believe Boris Johnson's premiership will be a brief one. I will now outline a scenario for you involving him being deposed and replaced with Jeremy Hunt, all within roughly the next year or so. For various reasons, this process could take a little longer; this is a worst case for Boris Johnson I am about to outline. Over the next six months, opinion on the government's handling of the CoVid crisis hardens in all directions; everyone thinks they screwed up, often for completely different reasons. Some are convinced we didn't go ...
Talking with S Glos about expanding the lovely wildflower verges, they have given us the following information. The hatched areas on the maps show the areas they are trialling along the River Frome As part of a project aimed at improving biodiversity along roadside verges and selected grassed areas, we have started trials that includes some areas in Yate. These can be seen on the attached maps. The following points should help to explain what we are doing: Grass on selected areas will be mown by our new cut and collect mower, with small piles of cuttings being created in ...
It is difficult to know which is more disturbing, that Boris Johnson has combined the Foreign Office with the Department for International Development or that is in putt8ing Dominic Raab in charge of the new department. The fact is that the UK's foreign policy interests are not the same as our international obligations to assist developing countries. Up until now, only the Brexit Party and UKIP have argued that the two are interchangeable, and we have already seen for ourselves the sort of racist campaigns that they have signed up to. It is little wonder that a former Tory Prime ...
As a Liberal Democrat candidate at the last General Election, I found myself working out answers to the inevitable questions which I knew would come about the Coalition Government. The questions that all Liberal Democrats have had to contend with in debates, on doorsteps and across the media since the Clegg-Cameron press conference in the Downing Street Rose Garden in 2010. I write this as someone who broadly supported the Coalition, while not being blind to its faults. I worked as an intern for a Lib Dem MP during the middle of the Coalition, and I was inspired to sign ...
Wed 17th
08:09Shropshire Council withdraws seven day closures for King Street and High Street in favour of agreed ...
The last seven days have not been Shropshire Council's finest hours. Especially for its highway's managers. Last Thursday or thereabouts, it issued an experimental traffic regulation order closing King Street and High Street every day of the week between 10am and 3pm. On Friday afternoon it issued a press release confirming the closure from Monday morning. Only yesterday afternoon, did highway's managers admit that the experimental TRO was wrong. We had agreed closure on Fridays and Saturdays during the middle of the day. And only for King Street. Not for High Street. Not for Sunday to Thursday. The result of ...
Following some pothole repairs in Clayhills Drive, residents asked me if the promised improvements to the road surface would still be possible this year, so I took this matter up with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership. The partnership manager has responded positively as follows : "We are currently only undertaking essential works, which in reference to Clayhills Drive has been the filling of potholes which constituted a safety defect. Planned maintenance works, such as scheme patching and resurfacing, are to recommence once operating restrictions are relaxed. I can confirm it is our intension to undertake planned structural inlay patching works ...
