Another interesting video from Jago Hazzard, who I believe was a minor character in Poldark. And Colour My Days has some photos of City Road Basin on the Regent's Canal.
Rory Stewart does not so much review Tom Bower's biography of Boris Johnson for the TLS as brush the book aside to get at its subject himself. After paying sincere and generous tribute to qualities in Johnson that may have eluded outside observers, he strikes: Johnson is after all the most accomplished liar in public life - perhaps the best liar ever to serve as prime minister. Some of this may have been a natural talent - but a lifetime of practice and study has allowed him to uncover new possibilities which go well beyond all the classifications of dishonesty ...
Anger rises as Consett Swimming Pool faces longer closure delays It may be hard for people outside Consett to understand why the people of the town are so concerned about the closure of their swimming pool - after all aren't all swimming pools closed for a month? - but for the people of Consett a month-long swimming pool closure is nothing. Their pool has been closed since March this year and looks likely to be closed long after March 2021. Already the project to repair the pool is way behind target. The plan was for a specialist report to be ...
On "Good Morning Britain" yesterday morning we listened to Nigel Farage (the British Ambassador for Donald Trump) explicitly deny that Trump talked about injecting disinfectant, and then continue to deny it after they played the video of Trump talking about injecting disinfectant. As Liberals we can easily mock this. How could anyone listen to a word this idiot has to say? Well, 68 million Americans (and counting) watched this kind of thing play out for the four years (four years!) of Trump's presidency. They couldn't escape it - every news channel, every Facebook feed and every Twitter stream. Pervasive, nationwide ...
Vince Cable has just published an article on The Independent: "Biden faces a war on many fronts - Trump has the tools to make the presidency a poisoned chalice". He considers the worrying consequences of Trump losing but still able to call upon substantial support. Trump's career in the New York property market owed much to the deployment of batteries of lawyers to intimidate and out-manoeuvre his competitors. Every legal argument in the book will be deployed to block or invalidate the postal ballots which have tipped the balance in key states. If he can get a case in front ...
Alistair Carmichael had a Commons first today. He was the first person in the UK Parliament to refer to President-Elect Biden. He was presenting his Bill to tackle plastic pollution. When Speaker Dame Rosie Winterton asked him when it would be debated, he said "Nine days after President-Elect Biden's inauguration." If he has tempted fate, he will be in massive amounts of trouble... If he has tempted fate, he has to keep us all in whisky for the next 4 years but those words are lovely to hear. https://t.co/SJlFzu8gdl — Caron Lindsay [IMG: 🔶] (@caronmlindsay) November 5, 2020 So what ...
Second paragraph of the third chapter of Secret Army Dossier, by John Brason:Albert sat, silent and morose, contributing nothing and feeling generally sorry for himself. He was still feeling pangs of guilt and self-disgust at Andree's death. Monique bore with him, quelling her own personal mingling of sadness and relief. There was no doubt that Andree's death changed her own situation significantly. She should be rejoicing, but the actuality proved something different. She was feeling slightly sick inside . . . just slightly . . . and even responsible for that wretched woman's death. What purpose did it serve? There ...
Current Ash: A Secret History, by Mary Gentle The Nth Doctor, by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier Borderline, by Mishell Baker Last books finished Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig For the Love of God, Marie!, by Jade Sarson Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick Neil Dreams, by Neil Gaiman An Honest Answer & Other Stories, by Neil Gaiman Next books SS-GB, by Len Deighton Painless, by Rich Larson
The view across London from Epsom Downs, with quarter of a rainbow So lockdown comes to England again, but it doesn't make much of a difference to us. Ian has received an email from Matt Hancock reminding him that he is "clinically extremely vulnerable" – which is hardly news to him. It advises him to stay at home as much as possible but to go outside for exercise and to attend health appointments. We have been doing exactly that for the last three weeks, impatient once again with the slow response by the Government to the widespread re-emergence of Covid-19. ...
National Lockdown COVID Business Grants [IMG: Purple Pages screenshot] Yesterday all local authorities met with BEIS and heard about the funding available for business support grants during the current period of national lockdown. There are two schemes which apply to the Follkestone & Hythe District and I have summarised these below: Local Restrictions Support Grants (Closed) Addendum - funding is to be made available to businesses required to legally close during lockdown. However, at this stage further clarifications, including about which businesses are eligible, is still awaited and expected early next week. Once we are able, we will provide further ...
The Mexican city of Guadalajara may be best known for Tequila and mariachi, but now citizens have another reason to celebrate as it has been named by UNESCO as World Book Capital for 2022. It was selected for its comprehensive plan for policies around books to trigger social change, combat violence and build a culture [...]
Although neither Biden nor Trump has yet reached the winning tally of 270 electoral college votes it seems that Biden is now the overwhelming favourite to get there. If so then those of us who believe in the rational and dignified conduct of public affairs can heave a sight of relief at the end of the awfulness of the Trump presidency. Whether America itself will benefit all that much (see later) is by no means guaranteed, but the World as a whole will benefit if the leader its most powerful nation accepts the reality of the climate crisis, the acceptance ...
Stories of contracts for services and equipment relating to the Covid pandemic being given to firms linked to the Tory Party continue to surface in the media at an embarrassing rate, so much so that, given the failures around PPE that have plagued the government's response, this issue must surely form part of an inquiry into the way the virus was handled once we have got over the worst of it. The latest story is in yesterday's Guardian and involves the awarding of a new £347m Covid-19 testing contract to Randox, the Tory-linked private healthcare company whose testing kits had ...
Mike Dixon, Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats, has written to members, musing on the US elections. It's worth quoting at length: I woke up this morning to Trump saying he'd won the election and that no more votes should be counted. I can't remember a darker speech by a major world leader in my lifetime. A lot will be written about this election. But here are two important lessons for us: Campaigns run into trouble when they pull back on contacting voters.It looks like the Democrats stopping knocking on doors because of coronavirus – with the Republicans continuing – ...
Wed, 12:56: *Some* good news. https://t.co/Epgh5MZiWa Wed, 14:40: Bloomberg quotes me on the potential for the Supreme Court to intervene. https://t.co/fH5e2DbHsj https://t.co/mueUZVh5vU Wed, 14:45: Safe Area Goražde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95, by Joe Sacco A superb portrait of a community under siege, not actually sure if there is a future, yet alone what it might hold. #nwbooks https://t.co/RtpunqwY8e https://t.co/8NVS1T1biG https://t.co/mzAlnmo7A7 Wed, 15:01: RT @ClareMalone: A good reminder as people log back on this morning: https://t.co/BOsyOjlv3z https://t.co/rUBmOoPkbA Wed, 15:07: Moving Mars, by Greg Bear Moving Mars scores very well on the sensawunda scale, better indeed than most Nebula winners. ...
Jamie Stone is the Lib Dem spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and he has written an article "Ministers must ensure no one is left behind by the digital revolution" in The House magazine. Talking of his constituents in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, he writes: Many still do not have access to any broadband, let alone high-speed broadband. With such poor infrastructure, it is virtually impossible to conceive of how communities like mine can avoid being left behind as this digital revolution continues apace. But I beg the Government to do more to invest in those communities that ...
i) births and deaths 5 November 1953: birth of Malcolm Kohll, who wrote Delta and the Bannermen (Seventh Doctor, 1987) 5 November 1983: birth of Andrew Hayden-Smith who played Jake in Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, and Doomsday (all Tenth Doctor, 2006). 5 November 1971: birth of Chris Addison, who played Seb, Missy's AI ally, in The Caretaker, Dark Water and Death in Heaven (Twelfth Doctor, 2014). ii) broadcast anniversaries 5 November 1966: broadcast of first episode of The Power of the Daleks. Ben and Polly are getting used to the mysterious new bloke in the Tardis; ...
In the absence of any further developments in the investigation of the death of Russian sausage king Vladimir Marugov, our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Oxford Mail. Thank you to the reader who nominated it. Photo by Carole Raddato.
Dundee Carers' Centre has a page for West End that is useful. It covers the work the centre undertakes in the West End, the partnership organisations the centre works with in our area and its work with schools. You can read this here.
