Watching the superb and at times harrowing five-part BBC documentary series Once upon a Time in Iraq this week has aroused many memories and emotions in me, as the country has repeatedly been a feature of my life for the past half century. Iraq was the first Arab country I visited, in the late summer [...]
Little U has developed a habit of watching my Doctor Who DVDs - I have no idea what she makes of them, but I am glad to share an interest with her. The other day she picked up my copy of The Moonbase, and I realised that I had not actually watched it myself, as it was still in the plastic wrapping. Oddly enough I had been looking at the story anyway in a slightly random quest for references to Glasgow in Doctor Who: When I first watched The Moonbase in 2006, I wrote:The Moonbase was a four-part series broadcast ...
I was going to say that this was a hit in 1974, but that would have been generous as it only made number 22 in the UK singles chart. That I have such clear memories of it suggests it received lots of play on Radio 1. The wonder is that it did so well in the era of glam rock as it has no hooks and lacks even a chorus. I does have a cat though. But the blogger Jittery White Guy Music likes it:a simply delightful, understated jazzy pop track; it's entrancing and fascinating, the one song that leaves ...
Over the last couple of weeks, leadership candidates Ed Davey and Layla Moran have taken part in hour long interviews with LBC presenter Iain Dale. He certainly put them through their paces. Compare and contrast both interviews here: First up, Ed from 16th July And Layla from 21st July If you haven't made up your mind yet, maybe these will help.
"Successful campaigns tell a story": wise advice from this mini-documentary on political campaigns produced by the New York Times.
Sun 26th
12:29
My statement to the Southern Planning Committee on Linney House, with drone views of the site
On Tuesday, Shropshire Council's Southern Planning Committee will take a view on the proposed scheme of eight homes at Linney House. The site is on the banks of the Corve and within Ludlow's conservation area. See my previous article... Below is my statement to the Southern Planning Committee. You may also wish to watch these two videos to view the site. https://bit.ly/linneyhousevid https://bit.ly/linneyhousevid2 The garden of Linney House from over the Corve Statement to Southern Planning Committee on proposed housing for Linney House, Ludlow - 19/00826/FUL Andy Boddington, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow North This has always been a challenging scheme ...
A hit In 1789, Alexander Hamilton became America's first Treasury Secretary. That presented him with the immense challenge of enabling the new republic to repay the immense debts it had wracked up winning the Revolutionary War against Britain. These came to the enormous sum of $75 million. In order to avoid a default, he not [...]
I took over as Layla's mentor when Vince had to stop because he became leader. I didn't know her. I'd met her only once at a training weekend a few years earlier. We had lunch to introduce ourselves to each other. I came away from that very first meeting thinking here is someone who should be our leader. I did my damndest to get her to run last time against Jo and Ed. Sadly (but possibly wisely) she resisted my pleading. She felt having been in Parliament a short time, and with a majority of just 800, she wasn't ready. ...
Sat, 13:03: RT @NotAdric: Rendezvous With Rama was probably the first grown-up SF book that I ever read. Striking to be reminded that Clarke was born... Sat, 15:13: May 2007 books https://t.co/uIYoSLPBTX Sat, 17:10: Axe-throwing, for someone's 21st birthday. https://t.co/mS5tx1yf1E Sat, 20:48: What's So 'Disruptive' About AOC Standing Up for Herself? https://t.co/IMoeGrGA9f Great piece. Sun, 09:30: Whoniversaries 26 July: Bob Baker, Eve Myles, John Normington, Mary Tamm, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 https://t.co/TXlDzFPs81 Sun, 10:45: RT @jordanbhx: It's weird that a bunch of people opposed removing statues because they thought it was 'destroying history' but when the *en...
The problem with drawing a line under the past is that the past often insists on crossing it, and that certainly seems to be the case with Labour and their problems over anti-Semitism. The Observer reports that Labour will this week be formally notified of a batch of potentially costly new legal actions over antisemitism - days after a warning was issued to the shadow cabinet about the devastating toll the crisis is taking on the party's finances. The paper says that lawyers from the Manchester-based firm 3D Solicitors, representing nine current and former Labour members, will notify the party's ...
Earlier this month, an open letter was published to both leadership candidates about race and diversity. I promised in the comments to publish a full response, because this is an issue that I take incredibly seriously. Our party's record on diversity is poor – and when it comes to representation of Black and Asian communities it is unacceptable. It will be a central purpose of my leadership to sort this – working with people inside and outside our party. Two years ago, the Alderdice Review, set out the problem with great clarity – with clear recommendations for sorting the problem. ...
I really like Maajid Nawaz as a pundit. I think he is an interesting addition to a commentariat that can often feel boringly samey. A self-identifying Muslim who is a proper liberal and not only happy to criticise what he thinks is wrong or at least not working in the Islamic world but has taken to doing so as one of his driving missions. A liberal who is not swayed at all by the "liberal orthodoxy" of the present moment, one that often feels anything but liberal; this is unfortunately a real rarity. Maajid is someone who is happy to ...
Liberator 402 is on its way to subscribers and is available as a free download from our website: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk This is our last issue in print, and future Liberators will be free downloads from the website, which also has a free archive of copies back to 2001. In future anyone – not just subscribers – can download and read Liberator on any device they wish, print out parts of it and pass it on to anyone interested. We will send out email notifications when each PDF issue comes out. To be on this list please visit our website to sign ...
Sun 26th
08:30
Whoniversaries 26 July: Bob Baker, Eve Myles, John Normington, Mary Tamm, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150
This was another day that I skipped first time round, probably because I was feeling ill and short in Uganda. But there is plenty to say. i) births and deaths 26 July 1934: birth of Neil McCarthy, who played prisoner Barnham in The Mind of Evil (Third Doctor, 1971) and methane refinery controller Thawn in The Power of Kroll (Fourth Doctor, 1978). 26 July 1939: birth of Bob Baker, who wrote eight classic Old Who stories with Dave Martin and one (Nightmare of Eden) without him, as well as two episodes of the Australian K9 series. (He's still alive. Happy ...
Sun 26th
08:27Coronavirus related deaths in Ludlow remains at eight, new statistical data shows (updated)
One of the most common questions I have been asked of late is how bad has Covid-19 been in Ludlow? How many people have died if it? For Ludlow, Covid-19 was cited eight times on death certificates over the four months to the end of June. There were four recorded Covid-19 related deaths in Ludlow in each of April and May, and none recorded in June. Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Herefordshire showed similar rates of citation of Covid-19 on death certificates. A record of Covid-19 on a death certificate does not mean the person died of it, only that ...
Most GP surgeries across Tayside will be closed tomorrow - Monday 27th July. However, many chemists in Dundee are open tomorrow and are listed below :
