I walked the last hundred yards of the River Jordan today, from its confluence with the Welland back to the Kettering Road bridge. With the railway on an embankment above me on one side and trees almost meeting overhead, I felt as though I was walking a long-abandoned canal, albeit one that it might be possible to restore to navigation. But then this almost certainly is an artificial cut. The Jordan used to wander through Little Bowden, passing the church and looping around the village green. At some point, and it may have been when the railway came, it was ...
Hello! I'm Mark Pack, author of both 101 Ways To Win An Election and Bad News: what the headlines don't tell us, along with maintaining the largest database of national voting intention polls in the UK, stretching back to 1943. The next general election is most likely several years away, but political polling of voting intentions for a general election is now back in full swing. Half-a-dozen firms are polling regularly, with a handful of occasional surveys from others too. As you can see from the table below, the big surge in Conservative Party support earlier in the year has ...
This afternoon I went to the cinema for the first time since lockdown — to the Picturehouse Central in London, to see the re-release of Bong Joon-Ho's 2003 dark Memories of Murder, remastered. It has sometimes been described as a "crime thriller", but that label does not really do it justice, as it is basically [...]
If you're going to get into major legal controversies – such as tabling a bill that sets out to break international law – you make sure you have the best legal advice, yes? Not if you are Boris Johnson and this Conservative government. Instead, you set aside the usual routes for expert advice on the topic at hand and turn to Brexiters and someone who is only, "a one year qualified barrister": Here is my question to the Attorney General at the #BarCouncilAGM, to which receive no answer. pic.twitter.com/3YYEn4qWtw — Jessica Simor QC (@JMPSimor) September 12, 2020
2020 will be remembered for many things. The pandemic and flooding among them. It will also be remembered as the year they took planning away from the people. The government's proposals in the white paper Planning for the Future and associated documents are bold. They will transfer many local planning powers from councils and communities to Whitehall and the planning inspectorate in Bristol. Ministers want planning by checklist instead of considered, albeit sometimes difficult, planning deliberations that lead to quality developments. There are sensible ideas in the government's proposals but they are countered by its determination to take democracy and ...
In Part 1 I noted how the political atmosphere is changing in favour of Proportional Representation (PR) and cross party co-operation – but what about the potential benefits? The Make Votes Matter website is a great resource, including details of the ways in which PR often leads to a reduction in inequality, better minority representation, greater political engagement and voter turnout and swifter and stronger action against climate change. In short, -how PR leads to better government. However, there are some recent and (perhaps) less well known studies which also highlight the value of PR. In January 2020 the Cambridge ...
Annie Hall won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1977, and won three others, Best Director (Woody Allen), Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman) and Best Actress (Diane Keaton in the title role). Woody Allen lost Best Actor to Richard Dreyfus in The Goodbye Girl. Star Wars won six Oscars to Annie Hall's four. Star Wars and The Goodbye Girl were also up for Best Pictures; so were Julia and The Turning Point. I have only seen one of those. Star Wars of course won the Hugo and a special Nebula, and is top of both IMDB rankings, ...
According to yesterday's press there appear to be at least two million people who are even now, two months after the lockdown was eased, required to wait for at least another 18 weeks for their treatment on the NHS. Full disclosure: I am one of them. Indeed I might be three of them - it depends on what is being counted. If the figure is of the number of referrals, three are mine: for my failing sight and hearing, and repair of a hernia developed at the start of the lockdown. In addition dental and and chiropody appointments made well ...
This week, London Lib Dems announced their shortlist to be the Liberal Democrat candidate to be London Mayor. This is taking place after Siobhan Benita took the difficult decision to stand down at the end of July. They have chosen two outstandingly brilliant women, Luisa Porritt and Geeta Sidhu-Robb. We have invited them both to write for us so you will hear from them soon on this site. Introducing our candidates bidding for the @libdems mayoral selection for the #London2021 election: @LuisaPorritt and @GeetaSidhuRobb Read more: https://t.co/7G0zfCTw2V Candidate statements and hustings details: https://t.co/XUoDFpcqhl pic.twitter.com/xgO0Vrka18 — London Liberal Democrats (@LondonLibDems) September ...
2020 will be remembered for many things. The pandemic and flooding among them. It will also be remembered as the year they took planning away from the people. The government's proposals in the white paper Planning for the Future and associated documents are bold. They will transfer many local planning powers from councils and communities to Whitehall and the planning inspectorate in Bristol. Ministers want planning by checklist instead of considered, albeit sometimes difficult, planning deliberations that lead to quality developments. There are sensible ideas in the government's proposals but they are countered by its determination to take democracy and ...
In today's Guardian, the government is seeking consolation for its disastrous Brexit deal and trade policy through a trade deal with Japan, that will increase UK GDP by 0.07% - or £1.5bn - after 15 years. As the paper points out, the Office for National Statistics records Japan as the UK's 13th-most important goods export market, accounting for about 1.9% of all products sold overseas last year. Including trade in services, imports and exports were worth a total of £31.6bn last year, with 9,500 UK-based firms exporting goods there. Given that Britain's annual output is about £2tn, that represents less ...
Fri, 12:01: RT @BBCNews: Belgium ex-king's love child seeks royal rights and titles https://t.co/ZGJYXvhDi0 Fri, 12:56: Thread. https://t.co/NWlcI95gFf Fri, 16:05: RT @Shahinvallee: Incredible journalism... https://t.co/gawlsYvyC3 Fri, 17:02: RT @HankeVela: EU has zoned in on Amina Mohamed from Kenya, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria, Hamid Mamdouh from Egypt and Yoo Myung-hee fr... Fri, 17:02: Wot no Liam Fox? https://t.co/NReVDT4xYp Fri, 17:11: Don't Trust Boris Johnson's Britain https://t.co/xXgL3ls90O @GarvanWalshe lays it out. Fri, 18:35: January 2008 books https://t.co/Gdx6oOmBSb Fri, 19:41: RT @cmioffice: A warm thank you to everyone who participated in our 20th anniversary webinar yesterday! We want to especially thank the For... ...
I recently came across a detailed recollection and very significant analysis of this fabled train by Mike Pealing, who has generously allowed me to publish his work on this blog site. The Skem.Jazzer. A Personal Reflection I was born in Ormskirk during 1947. My father and his father before him were both railwaymen and as a family we used the railways extensively, which in those days, was so easy to do. There was little need to own a motor car, something that would be considered unbelievable today. It was as a small child, that I first became acquainted with the ...
I recently wrote on here about how, contrary to what appears to be a widespread assumption, I believe the right are starting to win the culture war. A lot of people on the right resist this idea, at least partly because it rubs up against their game plan, which is to win the culture war by stealth. The way they are achieving this is by using some fairly obvious tricks, ones the left just doesn't engage in or with whatsoever. I think that if the left of our politics could pick up on some of these methods, it would go ...
In a week when Boris Johnson's government has reached "give the toddler a box of matches and a can of petrol" levels of irresponsibility, Christine Jardine challenged Employment Minister Mims Davies on both their inept handling of Covid-19 and their "specific and limited" breach of international law. They were on the BBC's Any Questions programme last night and you can listen to the whole thing here. "This is a treaty that your government negotiated and got through Parliament and now you're reneging on it. How is that responsible?" she asked Ms Davies. Christine pointed out that the Government is out ...
i) births and deaths 12 September 2005: death of Ronald Leigh-Hunt, who played Commander Julian Radnor in The Seeds of Death (Second Doctor, 1969) and Commander Stevenson in Revenge of the Cybermen (Fourth Doctor, 1975). 12 September 2014: death of Christopher Wray, who played PC Groom in The Dæmons (Third Doctor, 1972) and Leading Seaman Lovell in The Sea Devils (Third Doctor, 1973). ii) broadcast anniversary 12 September 1964: broadcast of "Prisoners of the Conciergerie", sixth and final episode of the story we now call The Reign of Terror, ending the original first season of Doctor Who. Ian and Barbara ...
Grateful thanks to Jim Glover who recently sent me these photos of amazing skies at the waterfront! As Jim says, "That's why we're Scotland's sunniest city even when it's raining."
