News is filtering out that a post Brexit trade deal is close to being agreed. On the level playing field it appears the UK will continue to follow EU rules on social policy, environment etc and any further changes in these areas will in effect have to be agreed by the UK or else face some kind of penalty. Any possibility of the UK exercising sovereignty in these areas looks like a nuclear weapon
Second paragraph of third chapter:The widespread interest was hardly surprising. After all, it wasn't just some shifty mafia-run gambling den opening its doors that day. Harrah's Cherokee was and still is a massive luxury casino owned and operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and its opening marked the end of a ten-year-long political tug of war. One tribal leader had even predicted that "gambling would be the Cherokee 's damnation,' and North Carolina's governor had tried to block the project at every turn.Originally published in Dutch with the title Gratis geld voor iedereen (Free Money for Everyone), this ...
Wed 23rd
18:01
Shropshire Council sends threatening letters to council tax debtors by mistake and brags risible 10 ...
Shropshire Council like many councils employs bailiffs to collect council tax arrears. Bristow and Sutor are its bailiffs of choice. In recent days, the bailiffs sent out a letter to 2,622 households who are behind with council tax payments. In a staggering display of incompetence, Bristow and Sutor sent the wrong letter and threatened to take possession of people's goods to pay the bill. The letter should have asked for financial details and invited discussions on paying. Council leader Peter Nutting was clearly outraged. He demanded a compensatory payment to charity from Bristow and Sutor to a charity. £250. Yes, ...
I've been blown away by our community in 2020. Families shopping for neighbours, people volunteering at Community Hubs, collecting for charity, bringing a little light into people's life. Local businesses that have adapted so fast to find new ways to survive and serve. It takes pressure to make diamonds. There's been such huge pressure, and Sandgate has shone. Thank you all. I was honoured to be elected as Sandgate Council Chairman in May, succeeding Robert Bliss. We expected he'd be around to give us guidance, and to gently tell me off, for years. Tragically that wasn't to be, and Robert ...
This is the latest post in a series I started last year, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in recent circumstances. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. In June 2009, the German TV channel ZDF did a brief spot about my work at the start of the month: The ...
The Liberal Democrats have demanded the Prime Minister declares a "State of Emergency" in Kent with over 5,000 lorries left stranded after the border between France and the UK was closed to trade and travel. [IMG: Ed Davey, photo taken by Richard Townsend (Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)] , via Wikimedia Commons)" style="width: 360px; height: 360px;"> Davey: If Ministers fail to act now and commit the resources needed now, they risk things spiralling further out of control. According to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, an emergency can be declared if "an event or situation which ...
Wed 23rd
11:12Ludlow to lose Paul our favourite courier in New Year when DPD shuffles rounds - please protest to t...
Seven years ago, who would have thought that we would see so many couriers every delivering in vans and cars? But online shopping has grown. Especially this year when so many of us have been in one lockdown after another. Many of us have go to know Paul Pugh, the cheery delivery man in the red DPD van. Despite his intimate knowledge of our town and friendly service, DPD plans to move him to a round in Birmingham early next year. He is not happy and neither are we. Please protest by emailing dwain@dpdgroup.co.uk. It takes a lot to get ...
Tue, 12:13: RT @bbcdoctorwho: Merry Christmas from the Doctors! 🎄 https://t.co/tcLckBBdCy Tue, 12:56: Sweden edges closer to NATO membership https://t.co/sAN7slQ126 European security is changing. Tue, 13:16: Little U's 18th birthday! She knows exactly what is happening. https://t.co/6lLgO9brYW Tue, 13:58: @LothianLitvak I was just wondering whether you know if Iona Mcgregor is still around? I saw that you interviewed her a few years ago. Tue, 15:18: RT @megankenna: I've been #remote for about 7-8 years now. I lived in Brussels for much of it, yet never needed to be there. Now in Barcelo... Tue, 16:38: Boulevard of Broken Dreams, by Kim ...
The growing problem for the Conservatives now is that, while a no deal is likely to cause a pretty sharp economic contraction, even a "deal" cannot now avoid most of the same problems. The core of the cabinet has no business experience and their critical failure to understand that UK PLC needs time to plan and respond in order to avoid disruption is now leading the country to a major crisis. The infrastructure of customs and immigration simply does not exist and the utter incompetence of the Home Office starts with the useless and unpleasant Ms. Patel herself. I could ...
The government recently released detailed figures on the daily admissions into hospital NHS trusts for Covid. Previously only the government had this information, people more generally could not get it. The importance of this is that it becomes possible to check whether the government's figures for infection area by area are accurate or not. Obvoiusly there is not a one to one relationship
Does Boris Johnson know where to draw a line? The House of Lords is already the second largest upper chamber in the world, there is cross-party agreement to reduce its membership to 600 over time, and a growing demand to properly democratise it so it ceases being a retirement home for failed and retired politicians and party donors, and yet none of that appears to have captured the Prime Minister's attention. Instead, he has nominated a further batch of peers, bringing his total to 52 for this year, and taking membership of the Lords to 830. Further he has defied ...
i) broadcast anniversaries 23 December 1967: broadcast of first episode of The Enemy of the World. The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on a near-future Australian beach, are attacked by gunmen, rescued by Astrid in her helicopter, and discover that the sinister Salamander is the Doctor's double. 23 December 1978: broadcast of first episode of The Power of Kroll. In search of the fifth segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana land on the third moon of Delta Minor, where Romana is captured by the native Swampies and the Doctor by the protein miners. ii) date specified ...
Many thanks to the residents who contacted me about the directional pole apparently falling over on Magdalen Green. I have asked the City Council to rectify this.
The Liberal Democrats have warned that the Chancellor must not use the excuse of higher debt to start cutting public services and called for a Green Recovery Plan. The intervention comes as ONS (Office for National Statistics) statistics published yesterday reveal Government borrowing has hit a record high. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine said: "In the face of a pandemic, it is no wonder that borrowing is so high. It is yet another reminder to Ministers that they must do all they can to limit the chaos of Brexit or risk peoples' livelihoods. "The Chancellor must now make clear ...
