I don't usually acknowledge Halloween, seeing it as an import from across the Pond, like Thanksgiving. But my mood was nonetheless for a little spookiness this evening and it was well served by Nick Murphy's film, The Awakening, which is available on BBC iPlayer for the next four weeks. I saw it when it came [...]
I originally wrote this article in anger after the Trans Rights debate at the Liberal Democrat Autumn 2020 Conference. However, I decided to give time for the party to hear such anger (from me and from others) and act on it. Enough time has passed without action being taken that I feel it's only right to publish it. The trans rights debate horrified me and many other members. I purposefully did not put in a speaker's card for this debate - I hoped this would be a debate led by gender non conforming members to give their experiences in the ...
Ashby Folville is a village in the east of Leicestershire. In 1953 a party of boys from Leicester's Westcotes Secondary Modern School went there and filmed their visit. Click on the still above to watch that film. You will see the village's remarkable church and some farming scenes, but the most interesting thing in it is the camp for displaced Polish people at Ashby Folville Manor. The Polish Resettlement Camps in the UK page for Ashby Folville tells its story. It did not close until 1965.
Francesca Borri visits the Hyde Park neighbourhood in Leeds, and finds a community abandoned by government and ravaged by deprivation as much as Covid-19. A Canadian research project gave homeless people $7,500 each. Bridgette Watson finds the results were "beautifully surprising", "It's possible that the first MP from what we might consider an ethnic minority background today was elected as early as 1767. James Townshend, Whig MP for West Looe in Cornwall, had a British grandfather who worked for the Royal African Company, a mercantile trading company that also traded enslaved people. His grandmother, a prominent businesswoman who also owned ...
Messing up a press conference is in itself a fairly small matter compared with people's health (save when it brings down a country's ruling system), but it can be deeply symbolic of a government riddled with incompetence. Govt has once again been an utter shambles this weekend – through dither and delay they have cost jobs and lives. PM must ensure people have the support they need through this lockdown – and start work on a UK wide plan for Christmas. https://t.co/2S4SFfuPFW — Ed Davey MP [IMG: 🔶] [IMG: 🇪🇺] (@EdwardJDavey) October 31, 2020
Sat 31st
17:41
Temporary Overnight Road Closures - Cheriton High Street & Horn Street, Cheriton - 21 & 22 N...
[IMG: Roadworks sign] Overnight closures of sections of Cheriton High Street and Horn Street, Cheriton, Folkestone, are planned from Saturday 21 November 2020 for up to 2 nights, from 8.00 pm through until approximately 6.00 am each night. Cheriton High Street and Horn Street will be closed in the general vicinity of the junction where they meet each other opposite Tesco, to the actual extent indicated on site. The alternative route for through traffic is via B2064 Cheriton High Street, B2063 Risborough Lane (note 14' 6" height restriction), Church Road and Horn Street. Personnel will be on site to allow ...
Chariots of Fire won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1981, and also three others, Best Original Screenplay (Colin Welland), Best Costume Design and Best Original Score. Raiders of the Lost Ark, which also won that year's Hugo, won five Oscars (one of which was a special award) to Chariots of Fire's four. The other Oscar-nominated films were Raiders of the Lost Ark and three I haven't seen, Atlantic City, On Golden Pond and Reds. IMDB users rank Chariots of Fire astonishingly low, 14th on one list and 29th on the other, lower than last year's Ordinary People which itself ...
It is with much sadness that Liberal Democrat Voice reports the death of David Shutt overnight. David was probably better known for his central role in the early years of the Coalition, as Chief Whip in the Lords, but he was a key figure in Yorkshire and beyond, a stalwart Quaker and a source of wisdom for those who needed it. Our condolences go to his wife, Margaret, and his family and friends. Rather than running through a somewhat impersonal list of achievements, I thought that it would be more meaningful to publish his last contribution in the Lords, which ...
Fri, 12:56: Kirsty Williams's retirement is a blow and a missed opportunity for the Liberal Democrats https://t.co/DOohtDTECf Report from Wales. Fri, 13:13: RT @ZaurShiriyev: 1/25 Already a month has passed since the beginning of the war. No matter how many people in the region thought that war... Fri, 13:13: RT @ZaurShiriyev: 2/25 But one thing is clear: it's the battlefield and the political realities, not outside parties, that will drive any f... Fri, 14:20: Fermat's Last Theorem, by Simon Singh To be honest I was a little disappointed in this best-seller. I expect a little more social grit with my ...
This is Raynards Mansion in Much Wenlock, where evacuee children are supposed to have come down for breakfast on their first morning and asked who the children in funny clothes they'd been playing with were. I heard another ghost story from Shropshire. There is a bed-and-breakfast there I have stayed at many times. It is an old property and its core is medieval. The owner told me that one morning she found her little boy playing on the landing rather than in his bedroom. When asked why, he replied quite unperturbed: "The people are being a bit of a nuisance." ...
Scottish Conference is taking place this weekend in that wonderful resort of Hopin. Yesterday, Ed Davey gave his keynote speech. He was introduced by Molly Nolan, our fantastic candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross. Here's his speech in full: Good afternoon Scotland. And thank you Molly for that kind introduction. One of the things that gives me great hope for our party is seeing so many brilliant rising stars - and there's no doubt that Molly Nolan is one of the brightest. That's why we must get Molly elected to the Scottish Parliament in May, so she can put her ...
"I was at a hospital the other night where there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody you'll be pleased to know and I continue to shake hands." Salutary to watch Johnson treat it all as a great joke back in March. pic.twitter.com/sAmSfchOfR — Jo Maugham QC (@JolyonMaugham) October 31, 2020 It's worse than that: Boris Johnson is almost certainly lying here. I know that's no great surprise - he just says what will get him through the next 10 seconds, whether it's true or not - but it's important we don't lose our capacity ...
Assuming the figures are accurate (and ConHome's leadership surveys seem to have been), this is a very striking finding about the modern state of the Conservative Party...
Just when we thought that Dominic Cummings' illicit trip to Barnard Castle in the middle of a pandemic lockdown has dropped off our radar along comes a former crown prosecutor to reignite the controversy. The Independent reports that lawyers acting for Nazir Afzal OBE, the former chief crown prosecutor for northwest England, have sent authorities a dossier accusing the prime minister's chief adviser of breaking coronavirus laws and perverting the course of justice: The documents argue that there is sufficient evidence for Mr Cummings and his wife, Spectator commissioning editor Mary Wakefield, to be charged. In a statement, Mr Afzal's ...
Sat 31st
09:59
Covid Watch - Shropshire is heading towards Tier 2 in days but that action may be overtaken by a loc...
When I started this article yesterday, the message was to be that the Shropshire unitary area might well join Telford and Wrekin in Tier 2 (high alert) next weekend. A meeting will be held on Monday to discuss this, though the final decision will lie with the Department of Health midweek. The way numbers are going are going all of Shropshire will be in Tier 2 by Saturday. It would have made more sense to stepped up a tier with Telford and Wrekin today. But this morning's media reports that Boris Johnson is to give way to his scientific advisers ...
When I started teaching, I taught in a vibrant, multi-cultural school with teachers from all ethnic backgrounds. An Irish head, a Pakistani deputy and leading black senior staff, all women. I never thought about it then, but it made a difference on how the curriculum was taught in that school - so much so, that we probably taught "Black History" a lot of the year. I don't recall it being called "Black History" but we did teach it. This was over 20 years ago. Things have changed since. I didn't realise how lucky I was to have had that start ...
A third of the way through the year, and although these posts don't get a lot of feedback, I'm enjoying them for myself which is the main thing. i) births and deaths 31 October 1922: birth of Talfryn Thomas, who played the hospital porter Mullins in Spearhead from Space (Third Doctor, 1970) and mine Dave Griffiths in The Green Death (Third Doctor, 1974). 31 October 1958: birth of Ian Briggs, who wrote the Seventh Doctor stories Dragonfire (1987) and The Curse of Fenric (1989). ii) broadcast anniversaries 31 October 1964: broadcast of "Planet of Giants", first episode of the story ...
I am grateful to the local resident who recently highlighted that one of the panels was damaged on the bus shelter on Perth Road near the junction with Glamis Road by the Invercarse Hotel. I took this up with the transport team at the council and the panel was promptly removed for repair by a glazier.
Blyth Town Council continues to meet through the Zoom programme. If you wish to observe any meetings BTC will send a link just prior to each meeting. In November anticipated meetings are:- Tuesday 3rd November , 4:30 pm, Planning and Development sub-committee Thursday 5th November , 4:30 pm Special Full Council Tuesday 17th November, 2:00 pm, Community Funding sub-committee Thursday 26th November , 4:30 pm Environment Committee Please check with BTC that the meetings will proceed as planned if you wish to observe them
