Tomorrow's Hampstead & Highgate Express has an interview with Luisa Porritt, who is certain to be named as the new Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral election: The Lib Dem has spent most of her life in London. She was born at the Royal Free Hospital and grew up in Camden. While she will inherit part of the manifesto that Ms Benita was set to run on, she refers to her experiences in London that underpins her initial pitch to voters. She hits out at the "kleptocracy" behind empty homes in the capital and says Sadiq Khan hasn't done ...
When Mohammed bin Salman was made Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince in June 2017 it was if a tsunami had swept away all the assumptions about the Desert Kingdom, after decades in which elderly sons of King Abdulaziz Al Saud (1875-1953) were promoted to the top post one after another. Suddenly, there was a generation switch [...]
In the October 2019 issue of Clinical Psychology Forum I answered a few questions about my taste in books for its Books R Us feature. The book you most often recommend When I tell people they should read Dickens, which is often, it is Great Expectations I recommend. It is of manageable length, extremely good and contains all the Dickensian themes you could wish for. The book you should have read but didn't get round to It's a long list - as, more shamingly, is the list of books I have started but not persevered with - but at the ...
Sun 20th
17:14
Castle View Terrace development never had much credibility - now it is looking incredulous
Shropshire Homes, already facing massive opposition from residents, has been clarifying its application to build seven homes on Castle View Terrace. At the back of the housing scheme the developer proposes a linear area of public open space. Shropshire Homes this week has explained that it plans to cut three metres off the top of the quarry face, leaving a slope of 45 degrees above an even steeper drop into the quarry. People will need to negotiate a difficult slope to access the so-called public open space. The proposed profiling of the site will wreck biodiversity on the site. This ...
Writing in the Press and Journal this week, Malcolm Bruce argued that liberals are an essential and critical part of the fightback against the polarised world we find ourselves in. Much of society has degenerated into angry, polarised camps, brooking no compromise and demanding people conform to their woke identity slogans or resign themselves to being the "enemy". This is not the stuff of a civilised society. It prevents genuine exchange of views. Evidence is discarded in favour of fake news and alternative facts, leading to rash decisions. He wonders why the other parties are so vicious in their attitude ...
At least, so sang Simon and Garfunkel. It's hard to tell how sincere a giraffe is - how could you possibly tell? - but they are rather charming creatures. You might therefore guess that, today, we've been to the zoo, Banham Zoo, to be precise, tucked away in a quiet corner of mid-Norfolk. We've been making sure to get out and about at weekends, and whilst we usually find a National Trust property, I though that a change might be nice. Besides, zoos have been hard hit by the pandemic, and need the visitors. And, Banham Zoo offers a giraffe ...
Not so much bookblogging here recently because I've been in a couple of big long reading projects, all of which are now concluded. So I'll be filling in the gaps over the next few days. Here are two Thirteenth Doctor novels by the same writer, set shortly after the first series of Thirteen Doctor TV stories. The Secret in Vault 13 Second paragraph of third chapter:Graham was packing a case for the upcoming holiday and singing along to a playlist of seventies classics, which was being piped into the room by the TARDIS's rather fabulous - when it worked - ...
Released in August 1964, this may well be the most influential British single as its power chords were later to influence both heavy metal and punk rock. But then there is something very punk about You Really Got Me's genesis: its novel distorted guitar sound was achieved by taking a razor blade to Dave Davies' amplifier. Characteristically, he and his brother Ray cannot agree on whose idea this was. Some believe that Jimmy Page played the guitar solo here, but both he and Dave Davies deny this. Kara Jayne writes:It's been argued that perhaps the persistent Jimmy Page rumour was ...
I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit sad this weekend. For the last few days, and for the next few, Facebook will be bombarding me with memories of past years when I've headed off to the seaside for a whirlwind of social and political activity. There are pictures of me with my friends in pubs, on beaches and It's not just about the debates and the fringe and the late night gossip, it's about getting to see the Lib Dem "family." I know that I've "seen" more of people on Zoom and the like, but there is nothing ...
Sat, 15:24: The Deer Hunter https://t.co/2jwzmlYqr6 Sat, 19:59: RT @MSmithsonPB: Johnson drops to THIRD (behind don't knows) in latest "Best PM" ratings from YouGov https://t.co/aIDt7YjzhY Sat, 20:49: "Wake me up if it turns into something I need to care about." #startreklowerdecks Sun, 09:30: Whoniversaries 20 September https://t.co/Or8TJWML5h Sun, 10:45: RT @RoguePOTUSStaff: No merit to the theory that a quick RBG replacement is needed for election day court battles. Here's why. (1/x)
The Covid-19 crisis and UK government incompetence over Brexit may have pushed the issue further down the news agenda, but the failure to tackle inadequate cladding on flats following the tragic Grenfell fire, is causing huge problems across the UK. The big issue of course is safety, but as the Sunday Times reports, that is not all that is worrying families. They say that there are 30,000 flats with the type of cladding that fuelled the inferno and 186,000 private high-rise flats wrapped in other flammable materials. And they say that the defects could leave up to 1½ million modern ...
I have to admit that I drafted this a month ago for Liberal Democrat Voice, but decided not to publish it at the time - I wasn't sure that I wanted or needed the grief that would probably come from offering it up to a (probably) larger audience than it would get here. But, the nagging thought in my mind won't quite go away... so here it is. It isn't necessarily my final word, nor is it a perfect distillation of my views, although it does seem to reflect the views of our new leader, perhaps unexpectedly. As we come ...
As we start party conference, it is slightly odd not to have to pack a bag, book train tickets or google where to eat at the seaside. This year I'm thinking about what kind of snacks I need for our marathon online conference! But this year, as we embark on Ed Davey's first conference as leader, I believe we are in a good place as a party - strong, united and ready for a year of action and growth. In my own part of the world, in the West Midlands we are ready too. But as I look around the ...
i) births and deaths 20 September 1921: birth of Jack Kine, visual effects designer whose photograph is used on screen for the facist leader of the parallel Britain in Inferno (Third Doctor, 1970). 20 September 1925: birth of John Wiles, innovative producer who succeeded Verity Lambert but did not last long in 1965-66. Also 20 September 1925: birth of Christopher Barry, who directed nine and a half stories from the first four Doctors between 1963 and 1980. 20 September 1969: birth of Mina Anwar who played Rani's mother Gita in the Sarah Jane Adventures. and also appeared as Goodthing in ...
This on line presentation will follow the One World Centre AGM on Tuesday 22nd September. It will cover the global citizenship work being done by the Third Generation Project think tank with pupils at Bell Baxter High School in a really motivating, interesting collaboration. It will run from 6pm to 7pm online on Tuesday has appeal for schools and a much wider audience too. All welcome! You can book free tickets at
