In the midst of some philosophical worrying I blogged the other day about the 1997 Ashes test at Trent Bridge and Alan Knott:At this point Alan Knott came in and began batting with his usual impish brilliance. This had the effect of waking Boycott, who had seemed genuinely distraught at Randall's demise, and the two of them put on over 200. England made 364 and went on to win the test.You can see Knott's innings in the video above. The editing is a little unfair to Boycott, who hit 11 boundaries in his own century. And, as a bonus, here ...
Non-fiction: 5 (YTD 37) EU Lobbying Handbook, by Andreas Geiger The Complete Secret Army: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Classic TV Drama Series by Andy Priestner George Eliot, by Tim Dolin Yugoslavia's Implosion: The Fatal Attraction of Serbian Nationalism, by Sonja Biserko Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, by Mary Trump Fiction (non-sf): 3 (YTD 18) The Overstory, by Richard Powers Guban, by Abdi Latif Ega Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo sf (non-Who): 5 (YTD 76) City of Lies, by Sam Hawke Tooth & Claw, by Jo Walton ...
Fri 31st
17:49
Good news for Ludlow with increased bus services and park and ride on Friday and Saturdays during Au...
From Friday 7 August, Minsterley Motors will be running more frequent bus services across Ludlow. Town services had been reduced to a single bus running hourly during lockdown. Now as lockdown eases, more people are going out to shop. Visitors are coming to Ludlow. Ludlow's 722 park and ride service from the Eco Park will be running every half an hour on Fridays and Saturdays during August. The first bus from the Eco Park will be 8.15am. The last bus from the town centre will leave The Compasses at 5pm. On Fridays and Saturdays also, the 701 town service serving ...
The 1st of August kicks off a month of activity led by councillors, traders and community groups to get the business and residential communities going again in the Liverpool 18 area. Not only are we having a series of events ... Continue reading →
The pandemic is an unprecedented global challenge affecting all humanity, which is suffering the consequences at very considerable social and economic cost. The world was already in disorder before COVID-19 made its appearance but the crisis has undoubtedly deepened the great power rivalry between China and the U.S., aggravated by a far-reaching trade war starting sometime before the pandemic hit. Trust in international systems of cooperation have been impacted. Although coordination is better right now, and concrete initiatives are underway to try and ensure that the eventual vaccine is a global public good for health, the scramble between countries to ...
The judges took great pleasure in making today's Headline of the Day Award to Deutsche Welle for this tale of a vulpine Imelda Marcos. Thank you to a reader for the nomination.
My latest Federal Board report on the party website following our July meeting has now been updated with more information as additional details have been set. Here is the latest version, with thanks to all my colleagues on the Board and the staff team for what was a very constructive set of debates and decisions. We've also updated and expanded the information on the Federal Board page on the party website, including membership of the Steering Group. We're putting the party back on track so we can achieve the sort of successes in future that we all so desperately want, ...
Jamie Stone is fast becoming a cult figure. If Lord Bonkers can talk him into being the first Liberal Democrat MP on Mars his fame will only grow. Friday Jamie Stone telephones, full of his plans for his new spaceport in Sutherland; no wonder they call him the Wernher von Braun of the Flow Country. I wish him well with his scheme and am then reminded of the days, shortly after our triumph in 1997, when we Liberal Democrats had our own spacecraft. The Bird of Liberty was piloted by David Chidgey, then the MP for Eastleigh, and funded by ...
Fri 31st
13:20
Lord (Martin) Thomas writes...How the government smuggles potentially tyrannical powers into legisla...
Lord (Martin) Thomas has sent us this speech which he made at the committee stage of the agriculture bill on July 28th, explaining how "Henry VIII clauses" are being smuggled into legislation via the word "modify". You can read the full debate in Hansard here. My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the indignation expressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. Sir Edward Leigh summed up the Government's attitude to a Henry VIII clause admirably when he said in the other place, when speaking on the then current European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: "We have heard a lot ...
The National Liberal Club held its first post-lockdown event in situ last night, chaired by Val Stansfield, when actor and Crossbench peer Michael Cashman came to speak about his life and his recently published memoir One of Them (which I will soon be reviewing). A small group of us sat with him socially distanced in the [...]
Professor Jane Green is co-director of the British Election Study, which is to British elections what Wisden is to cricket or Oxford is to dictionaries.
Responding to the Government's change in guidance stating that separate households will not be able to meet indoors from today in Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Munira Wilson said: Throughout this crisis, the Government's communications have been an utter disaster. To announce a regional lockdown of millions of people not only just hours before it's enforced, but with no clarity on the new rules coming into place, is beyond comprehension. Considering their ability to tackle this pandemic relies on the clarity of messaging coming from the Government, it is unsurprising that just ...
Pretty much ever since I arrived in the village in 2008, the fate of the land bordering our side of the A1120 slip road has haunted us. It is, I freely acknowledge, a perfect location for development, sandwiched between the East Anglian Main Line railway and the A14 with its link between the container port at Felixstowe and the Midlands. But, up until recently, whilst there was a lot of talk about first a lorry park, and later a business and enterprise zone, nothing had actually happened, except that the site had been transferred from Creeting St Peter to Stowmarket ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @RikeFranke: Looks like it's again time for my regular threat "what US military installations are located in Germany?", and "Why is the... Thu, 13:38: RT @yesterdaysprint: Daily Mirror, England, January 23, 1923 https://t.co/hlqz8XJM2q Thu, 15:04: RT @BBCBreaking: US President Donald Trump calls to delay 2020 election, citing possible mail-in voting fraud despite little evidence https... Thu, 15:40: With books review, including one by me. https://t.co/jFpxOihV1N Thu, 18:50: Thursday reading https://t.co/p61OYtefuy Fri, 10:00: Whoniversaries 31 July https://t.co/C166ZQR7bD
Leadership email and paper ballots have been going out over the last 24 hours. Party members have until 1pm on Wednesday 26th August to place "1" or "2" or "blank" against the names of (listed alphabetically) Ed Davey and Layla Moran, or to abstain. I received my email this morning from Alan Masters, the returning officer. The email included a unique number which I should use to place my vote. It included the following links for those who are yet to decide: Rewatch hustings that have already taken place here: www.LibDems.org.uk/Livestream Register for some of the upcoming hustings here: www.LibDems.org.uk/Hustings ...
For a politician who had built his career on misleading people and disseminating false information as 'facts', it is surprising that Boris Johnson has not fallen foul of the parliamentary authorities and public sector watchdogs more often. The Prime Minister's support of bus-based lies about the EU effectively secured him the top job, and yet people continue to vote for him and sustain him in that position, as if he were some sort of unchallengeable enigma. We are all waiting for the truth to finally catch up with him and cast him back into the journalistic wilderness. The Independent reports ...
A common thread amongst centre-right commentators at the moment is the "V-shaped recovery". This is the idea that the unprecedented economic crash we are experiencing will be brief and things will return to normal very soon – thus, a graph showing economic growth in the years 2019 through 2021 will demonstrate a huge dip followed by an equally large spike (making a V shape). What's so odd about this line is that it isn't helpful to the Tory government at all. One, it sets expectations high. If you tell people that everything is going to be hunky dory, then if ...
Here it is! After talking with users, the Focus Team have drawn up a draft vision document for the key primary network we need for people on bikes and mobility scooters / wheelchairs to get around town. The Town Council backed the plan this week - now it is for South Glos / WECA to decide what they can to do deliver it as they are the authority responsible.There are lots of other things that need doing to fill gaps- this focuses on the 'strategic' network within Yate/Dodington - with exit points to connect to wider networks. We would love ...
This is the end of the first month of my new Whoniversary post series. I am going to stick with it - I'm enjoying filling out my own work from ten years ago, and the feedback has not been huge but has been very positive. I normally try and write the week after next's entries at the weekend - I am behind at the moment, and this was written last Sunday. i) births and deaths 31 July 1999: death of Ric Felgate, who appeared in three stories all directed by his brother-in-law Michael Ferguson. He was Roy Stone, an American ...
This moring's Politico London Playbook email contains a very useful quick-fire Q&A with the candidates to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats: LIB DEMISTRY: The Lib Dem leadership race is finally out the blocks after voting opened this week, giving members until August 26 to cast their ballots. Playbook asked the two candidates to make their pitch to the Lib Dem faithful in a quick-fire Q&A. They appear in alphabetical order to avoid squabbles. THE ED DAVEY PITCH: "The Liberal Democrats need a leader with experience, vision and judgment to take on the big challenges we face as ...
I recently wrote to the City Council's Street Lighting Partnership Manager as follows : "A resident has said he finds the lighting as he walks up the above steps is not adequate. The resident appreciates that even if it is agreed it needs improved, work like this will not be possible until we return to more normal times but I did promise to raise his query and would appreciate your feedback." I have had helpful feedback as follows : "We've had a look at this and we agree that there needs to be a revision of the lighting provision at ...
This evening a group of travellers have moved onto the running track on Moor Lane. I have been in touch with the council and asked that urgent steps are taken to secure their removal. The running track is used by a range of different groups and I fear what damage may be done to it.
