Sixty years ago tonight, the BBC broadcast the centrepiece of their hugely ambitious, brilliant Shakespeare Henriad An Age of Kings - beginning the really popular one, Henry V. Eight years ago tonight, the BBC broadcast the centrepiece of their hugely ambitious, brilliant Shakespeare Henriad The Hollow Crown - the really popular one, Henry V. It's Robert Hardy vs Tom Hiddleston as the one Official Good King of the set, fifty-two years apart. Hiddleston looks fantastic and has glorious weight in speeches and in battle, but doesn't look like he's enjoying himself nearly as much as Hardy, who gets his big ...
Pay rises without cash mean more cuts to schools and the police – Davey Government must be clear higher debt won't mean cuts to vital public services Delyn MP must end 'saga of scandals' PM must announce a full investigation into potential Russian interference of our democracy Braverman must apologise for endorsing Cummings Pay rises without cash mean more cuts to schools and the police – Davey Responding to reports that nearly 900,000 public sector workers will receive a pay rise out of existing departmental budgets, Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey said: Accepting the independent review body's pay recommendations ...
I returned from the Judith Stone along a bridleway, which began with views of Market Harborough and a lovely descent through a wood. A couple passed me going uphill and by the time they reached the top they had revealed themselves as spectral. Then I emerged from the woods into a partially finished housing estate, Ten Locks Village, complete with Covid precautions. The estate was not on my elderly large-scale map and I had to ask directions to find my way out of it. Eventually I emerged at Fardon Fields Farm Shop.
Back in May, I was tagged in a request about the Liberal Democrat leadership contest...
Today's news that the government is to give above-inflation pay rises to doctors, police, teachers and some other public sector workers in England is an important step forward, though as the Guardian reports pay increases, ranging from 2% to 3.1%, do not make up for lost incomes under the previous public sector pay freeze. The main question however, is who will pay? Obviously, with the centralised services, it will be the UK Government. But will there be a Barnett consequential for the three devolved national governments? And will local councils be given cash to meet the additional costs they will ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:The great west road gate we stood before was closed for the funeral, but I had no idea what it could withstand. "Is there anything else that can be done to secure the gate?"I originally bought this because I had ended up on the same panel as Sam Hawke at the Dublin 2019 Worldcon, and then counting the votes in the Hugo nominations in March, I was pleased to discover that she had made the final ballot for the newly renamed Astounding Award (formerly the John W. Campbell Award). So the book is in the Hugo ...
We don't talk enough about race. Properly talk, that is. It's become obvious, as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has come to the fore with the murder of George Floyd in the United States, that, whilst many of us who consider ourselves liberals have a desire to be anti-racist and create a society where your skin colour does not determine your life chances, we lack the language and the understanding of how to achieve this. We excel, instead, in talking around the edges of it: about statues, colonial history and political history. If you agree, I would heartily recommend ...
Tue 21st
13:59
PM must announce a full investigation into potential Russian interference of our democracy
This watershed report confirms an alarming truth: this Conservative Government has failed to take the Russian threat to our democracy seriously.
We've won the long battle we have been waging to get our Park and Ride for Yate. But so far the Council is only offering a cheapstake version that has serious flaws. Lib Dems got planning consent and funding back in 2006 but then the new Tory administration running S Glos spent the money elsewhere. We've been fighting since then to get our Park and Ride back.FInally, there is progress but it is the cheapskate model. It is not what we were promised.The proposal is for a far smaller park and ride than the original plan. Squeezed between the South ...
I was very pleased today to receive The People's Insurance by David Lloyd George. Originally published in 1912 it explains the scheme of National Insurance and National Health Insurance introduced by the Liberal Government in 1911. As well as speeches by Lloyd George both in the House and in the country, it includes extracts from explanatory memoranda issued by the government, as well as the text of the Act. My copy is a modern print-on-demand facsimile produced by Gyan Books in India. Usually I prefer to buy originals, but this work is vanishingly rare. It's a handsomely produced volume, leather-bound, ...
At the latest full meeting of Bury Council, we asked questions to the Joint Authorities on GMSF, Stop and Search and Metrolink Revenue Councillor Michael Powell – GMSF Do the existing plans to proceed with the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework remain intact and if so, when will the timetable for next steps and further consultation with the public be confirmed? Answer: The plan will be the driver for securing the homes and jobs that Greater Manchester needs and will help the process of recovery and responding to the economic impacts caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The housing crisis hasn't gone ...
Safe4Summer is an annual partnership campaign which takes place over the summer months - involving Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), local councils, plus others - with the ultimate aim to keep the young people safe and provide information to their parents and carers. The partnership work aims to protect young people in Greater Manchester through education, and by encouraging young people to keep themselves safe while also adhering to social distancing restrictions that remain in place as we combat COVID-19. Following evaluation of last year's summer campaign, this year ...
Some days I'm just in the mood for James Bond. A couple of weeks ago, I marked the Double Seven (7th July) with a More! More! Moore! The Spy Who Loved Me - For Your Eyes Only double bill review. But back in April, I Tweeted along with the 007 25-Day Challenge in the absence of the delayed #Bond25, picking my favourite of many different aspects of the Bond films. Today I'm writing an article that's not going to be a cheering read. So for this morning's displacement activity, I've re-edited all 25 Bond Favourites into one punchy collection. And ...
Mon, 16:05: Through sci-fi and fantasy, Muslim women authors are building new worlds https://t.co/JkfcoSrr7U Have read and enjoyed several of these. Mon, 17:11: Haunted by the ghosts of 1940: why Britain is truly alone in the world https://t.co/pTRYtuNw1I Very good brief piec... https://t.co/1WF8doxyl4 Mon, 18:52: EU Lobbying Handbook, by Andreas Geiger https://t.co/WQ34xhtUQt Mon, 20:48: RT @danthomascomedy: Soviet bus stop appreciation thread. https://t.co/jDSyxTGBmw Tue, 08:33: RT @duncanrobinson: Odd that the people criticising the deal so far are the most fervently pro-EU. Yes, some good programmes were cut. But... Tue, 09:16: RT @FHeisbourg: A clear summary from an expert. Of course, the ...
One part of the Intelligence and Security Committee report into Russia rather reminds me of the recent report headed by Dorothy Thornhill into the Liberal Democrats...
Applications are now open for the 2020/21 Standing Together Fund. The main focus of the Fund is to support Community Safety. Awards of up to £5,000 are available, with awards of up to £10,000 available for exceptional or partnership projects The full criteria are here and all applications must be made using the form which can be downloaded here. Projects must meet one of the following criteria: Priority 1 – keeping people safe Protecting and caring for people who live, work, socialise and travel in Greater Manchester. Protecting those who are vulnerable and those who are victims of crime or ...
We face interactive networks of problems. Some were and are easily perceived, some not. All need analysis and addressing. The U.K. is amongst the worst performing nations in the protection of its citizens against the current plague. A chronic cause is under-investment in national health infrastructures. An immediate cause is serial governmental ineptitude. A foundation cause is the power of the theory of Neo-liberalism, with its policies of social programme cuts, the transfer of wealth to the wealthiest, the reduction of the costs to "Big Business" and its associates, the opening up of public infrastructures for profitable exploitation etc. Multinational ...
Tue 21st
09:05
We have been discussing the Rocks Green supermarket for six years - here's a brief history of the pl...
This morning I wrote about the latest application for a supermarket at Rocks Green. This is for a Sainsbury's and an Argos. This post summarises the recent planning history of this site from 2014 to 2020. It has been six long years but now look likes it can be resolved within a few months. Work could start by the end of the year with a view to opening in the second half of 2021. It is my 45th blog post on the Rocks Green supermarket scheme. The full sequence, for those with a couple of hours to spare, is here. ...
It's not a Whoniversary as such, but I just want to tell the rest of you that it's Belgium's National Day today, 190 years after we declared independence. (Yes, I'm Belgian; naturalised in 2008.) i) births and deaths Three sad notes today. 21 July 1995: death of Michael Wisher, who appeared as TV anchor Wakefield in The Ambassadors of Death (Third Doctor, 1970); factory owner Rex Farrel in Terror of the Autons (Third Doctor, 1971); Kalik in Carnival of Monsters (Third Doctor, 1973); most iconically as Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (Fourth Doctor, 1975); Magrik of the Vogans in ...
Our Headline of the Day Award goes to Sky News for this sad crime story.
Tue 21st
08:01The future is orange - Sainsbury's to build supermarket with Argos at Ludlow Rocks Green
First it was to be Lidl. Then Marks and Spencer. Now it has been announced that the supermarket at Rocks Green will be Sainsbury's with an Argos. If the plans are approved, work on this site could begin this year and the store will open in the second half on 2021. The plans are an improvement on this previously submitted. The scheme is nearly one third smaller that that approved by the South Planning Committee in February 2017. On an initial reading of the documents, my main concern is the removal of rural greenery on the north east side of ...
Liberal Democrats: Government must step up and tackle misinformation Responding to the DCMS Select Committee Report 'Misinformation in the COVID-19 Infodemic', Liberal Democrat DCMS spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: The pandemic has brought home how fundamental it is that we stamp out dangerous misinformation on social media, and how important it is that the public can trust information online. This report is clear that the Government must do more to tackle misinformation and the Liberal Democrats strongly support its calls for greater transparency. To tackle the invisible algorithms that drive people to extreme content, platforms must not only have the ability ...
Helena Simmons from Ninewells Community Garden will share her tried and tested ideas on making space for wildlife within a productive vegetable garden at this on-line workshop tomorrow (Wednesday 22nd July) at 1pm. She will talk about benefits for crop protection, biodiversity and carbon storage. The live online workshop is a great opportunity to share ideas and ask questions about your own gardens. You can register for it here.
