These trains are on display in the National Rail Museum and Iran has ditched them, yet Welsh passengers will continue to use them daily. Following the announcement today from the Department for Transport that Class 142 trains have been given their third dispensation in just over a year to continue in service, Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on Transport for Wales and Ken Skates to apologise to travellers across South Wales. Pacer trains were built by British Rail in the early 1980s with a planned lifespan of 15-20 years. Following decades of under-investment in rolling stock, they were given extension ...
I've been a bit lazy about finishing off the Secret Army project, partly because I'm a little sorry to see the end of it. (In case you missed them: Series One, Series Two and Series Three.) Before discussing the spinoff series Kessler, we need to have a look at the fourteenth episode of Series Three, What Did You Do In the War, Daddy?, which was filmed in 1979 along with the rest but has never actually been shown on TV. Samizdat copies are floating around the internets, and you can see it here. It's a startling break of pace with ...
Visions of a possible future for a country usually come from politicians or, more often these days, from think-tanks. This book is a notable exception, its authors coming from backgrounds in the oil and gas industry, the defence sector, and nursing respectively. The authors deliberately set out to make their vision non-political; what they suggest could equally well be achieved in an independent Scotland, in a Scotland that is part of a Federal UK, or a Scotland that has its present devolved powers. Their vision instead is for a Scotland with a renewal of the spirit that characterised the Scottish ...
Mon 28th
17:34
We need MPs to act to stop overloud fireworks terrifying pets and people after weak Shropshire Counc...
It's coming up to New Year. It is normally a time for partying and what self-respecting party doesn't drag everyone out into the cold for the firework display? The problem, coronavirus restrictions aside, is not the fireworks. It is that they have become noisier over the years. They scare the hell out of some people and traumatise a nation of pets. My dog hides under the bed in a panic, despite being an ex-farm dog used to guns. My cat is well frit for hours. It is not just animals. Many people with autism, tinnitus and other conditions also suffer. ...
Dine Romero, Liberal Democrat leader of Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council, has posted a helpful clarification about the recent rejection of a 5G-related planning application.
Mon 28th
17:08
Temporary Road Closure - Granville Road East, Sandgate, Folkestone - 18-22 January 2021
[IMG: Roadworks sign] It will be necessary to close part of Granville Road East, Sandgate, Folkestone, currently planned from Monday 18 January 2021, with estimated completion by 22 January 2021. Granville Road East will be closed in the general vicinity of number 4, as shown on site. The alternative routes for any through traffic are: Southbound via A259 Sandgate High Street, Parade Road and Granville Parade Northbound via Granville Parade, Granville Road West and A259 Sandgate High Street The remainder of Granville Road East will become two-way to allow essential access / exit up to where the road is closed. ...
Second paragraph of third chapter:But much of the Old City had endured, as had London and Paris, Tokyo, Rome, and major areas of Moscow and Peking—subterranean haunts tucked away in the world's memory like dear, unwanted relations.I picked this up as one of the few sf novels set in 2021; the other two (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Children of Men) are better, and also only half of this is set in 2021, the rest being in the year 3000. At the end of the first half of the book, the planet earth disintegrates due to some ...
The latest update from your Wallington South ward councillors
As I come to the end of my six years as President of the Party in South East England I have been reflecting on lessons to be learnt from a time that has been particularly significant both for our Country and our Party. When I began we were in Government and as I leave the final arrangements for departing the EU are being confirmed. We have had four leaders during this period. It has been a tumultuous time dominated by our relationship with the EU. As a committed European I now realise that people like me have to take a ...
With Ambassadors of the 27 EU member states in Brussels giving their nod of approval to the UK-EU trade deal agreed last week Brexit is now finally happening. The European Parliament will have formally to give their consent (retrospectively), but that is now seen as a formality. And so too the UK House of Commons [...]
It's the time of the year when a Day Editor is minded to look back at the year's highlights and, given how interested some of our readers and contributors are in such things, I thought that I'd look at our data and see what drew most interest. Today, I start with numbers 16-20 (in reverse order, naturally)... At number 20, the announcement of the findings of the General Election Review, courtesy of the Party President, Mark Pack. It was, in fairness, rather more hard hitting than some of its predecessors, but it was certainly time for some home truths... There ...
Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade. And, in the case of this government, that means we need to be much more direct in tackling a problem at the heart of our democracy: corruption. I write not as a conspiracy theorist wearing a tin foil hat, frantically scrolling through obscure online message boards and Facebook groups. My observations are made as a liberal who is fed up of the broken system that governs our country. The appointment of sixteen more unelected lawmakers to our bloated parliament might be enough to prompt anger, but there's more. The Prime ...
It is a few days now since Boris Johnson sold the UK down the river with his Brexit deal and as people and organisations start to digest the 1200 page document more details are emerging of exactly what the new 'independent UK' will have to content with in the post-Brexit world. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) have contributed to this discussion with a paper that warns workers' rights and environmental protections can be watered down easily under the Brexit trade deal. As the Independent reports, the IPPR suggests that the so-called "level playing field" safeguards the EU believes ...
Sun, 12:56: RT @AntonSpisak: The Brexit deal marks a new beginning of a complex relationship in which Britain and the EU will have to learn to live tog... Sun, 13:23: RT @DavidHenigUK: Now in article length, my thoughts on winners and losers from the UK-EU trade deal. Both sides achieved their top priorit... Sun, 13:38: RT @paulmaunders: I wonder how much of UK-EU trade deal has been copy & pasted from old 90s documents 🤔 p921 refers to Netscape Communica... Sun, 14:09: Very good analysis. https://t.co/RUumAaqGdv Sun, 14:48: David Beesley FRAS https://t.co/LtszcMHxNn As the year ends I am discovering that ...
It would be too easy just to concentrate on what went wrong in 2020. Brexit and the Coronavirus would come top of the list. But it would be wrong to write off 2020 as a total failure. Some good things ... Continue reading →
Political parties need distinctive policies. The Liberal Democrats had them in the 2005 election, with their own policy in foreign affairs (opposing military intervention in Iraq) and their own policy at home (supporting modest tax increases to pay for public services, something Labour had run away from ever since it lost the 1992 election). Five years later, the Liberal Democrats went into Coalition government. That wasn't a mistake in itself, but Nick Clegg did not insist upon one of the three 'great posts' - Chancellor, Home Office or Foreign Office. Compare the moment when Germany's Greens went into coalition with ...
i) births and deaths 28 December 1916: birth of Noel Johnson who played King Thous in The Underwater Menace (Second Doctor, 1967) and Sir Charles Grover in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (Third Doctor, 1974). Also 28 December 1916: birth of Dennis Edwards who played the Centurion in the story we now call The Romans (First Doctor, 1965) and the surgeon Time Lord Gomer in The Invasion of Time (Fourth Doctor, 1978). 28 December 1990: death of Edward Brayshaw, who played Léon Colbert in The Reign of Terror (First Doctor, 1964) and the War Chief in The War Games (Second Doctor, ...
Welcome back, gentle readers, after our brief winter hibernation. On behalf of the team, I hope that you enjoyed the Christmas break as best you were able to, and that you've all kept well enough. And thank you for the kind comments that some of you have made whilst we've been away. Of course, the big news is that a deal has been negotiated with the European Union and goes before both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday. Labour will support it, whilst the SNP and the Liberal Democrats will vote against, if the news reports are to be believed. It's ...
Loneliness and isolation has been magnified for all of us this year and particularly at Christmas. Meal Makers' volunteer cooks have been going the extra mile to do something special for an older neighbour. Meal Makers is a subsidiary of the award winning Scottish Charity Food Train. It is a local neighbourhood food-sharing project that connects people who love cooking, and who are happy to share an extra portion of home cooked food, with an older neighbour who would really appreciate a freshly prepared meal and a friendly chat. By turning an everyday activity into a volunteering opportunity, Meal Makers ...
