It's can't be worse than 2020, can it?
Half Man Half Biscuit secured the village its place in music with Descent of the Stiperstones: And so returning to the car at Snailbeach, I set off in the direction of Montgomery, where I was more than certain my need would be met by Bunner the chandler who sold everything. Now Theo Williams, an artist based in South London, has gone further and taken to calling himself Snailbeach. Perhaps he shares my love of the remains of lead mining?
Well. When I did my first ten-day update on 27 March last year, it seemed then that we would have a grim few weeks and then be back to normal by late summer. Obviously, that did not happen. And it seems somehow appropriate that 40 weeks after that Friday at the end of the first full week of lockdown, it's New Year's Day and we are as uncertain as we ever were about the end of all of this. The numbers in Belgium are actually fairly encouraging right now (unlike in some other countries, alas). Confirmed new cases are down ...
So, it's New Year Day. Happy 2021, which everyone believes will be much better than 2020. That's not a big ask! As it's a bank holiday, I will avoid political comments, though I can't resist saying that while most of you were happily warm at home, I was trudging around my smallholding checking on pregnant sheep and goats and feeding poultry that continues to live under a DEFRA lockdown.
The task of summarising the Liberal Democrat argument against the Brexit deal fell to Sarah Ludford, former MEP for London and our frontbench Brexit spokesperson... The wisest comment on the Johnson deal came from his Conservative Party colleague — if not friend — the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, somewhat puncturing the bluster and self-congratulation. He said: "We must welcome the news that Brexit does not end in the chaos of no deal, but only with the sense of relief of a condemned man informed that his execution has been commuted to a life sentence." What was promised in 2016 was ...
Here are the last group of excerpts from Liberal Democrat interventions during the debate on the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill... Tim Clement-Jones We have been assured by Ministers countless times of the value they place on the arts, but they have now abandoned one of our most successful sectors, already heavily battered by Covid lockdowns, to its own devices. The noble Baronesses, Lady Bull and Lady Bakewell, are absolutely right. In the trade and co-operation agreement, our hugely successful audio-visual sector is specifically excluded. They represent 30% of all Toggle showing location of Column 1881channels in the EU, but ...
Once more – uphill – once more! We still try. Despite knowing perfection, inherently, will always be denied us. Though others, in simplicity, have come close: ♫ Scottish Music – My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose (LYRICS) ♫ – YouTube
I am a founder member of the Liberal Democrats and I live in England. I respect the right of Scottish Lib Dems to decide their policy on Independence for Scotland. I hope, though, that they will permit me to ask the question "Why don't you support Independence". We, that is Lib Dems on both sides of the border, are an outward-looking, pro-European Union party. We argued long, hard and loudly that a Union of 28 member states with a home market of over 400 million citizens was better than a single state with 67 million. The UK is no longer ...
A couple of years ago, my daughter had a non-uniform day at school. She wasn't sure what to wear, however at the end, she picked a Polish football top, with my nickname on it (ksiadz, which means in English priest), and a Croatian scarf (see the photo). My kids were born into a truly European family. I am Polish and my wife comes originally from Croatia. Yes, I know; their European identity and sense of belonging to different cultures and traditions won't be taken away, however it might affect our and their lives in the future. When I asked my ...
This morning, we bring you the third tranche of excerpts from Liberal Democrat speeches against the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill in the Lords... Jenny Randerson The automotive industry is also at the sharp end. Today's vehicles comprise parts from many countries. Although there are some useful provisions on rules of origin, it will still require additional paperwork and data gathering, and that means additional costs. The timescale is hopelessly short; the industry believes that a phase-in period is critical, but we are not getting that. Of course, businesses are not ready. There are huge uncertainties built into this deal, ...
Thu, 12:56: Britain braces for not-so-special relationship with Biden https://t.co/HdurSnRW5D Article quotes UK diplomat asserting that they have just as good access to Democrats as to Republicans. I've heard a *very* different story. Thu, 15:04: RT @shezza_t: @nwbrux The Indian school point caught my eye: my BiL was born in Oman, and went to boarding school in India too. Thu, 15:45: Thursday and December reading https://t.co/LpM7DwOKtY Thu, 16:00: My Doctor Who books of the year 2020: Two that I especially enjoyed: - @unamccormack's All Flesh is Grass (with Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors) @Jody_Houser's Defender of the Daleks (with Tenth ...
Five years ago, in response to very different political currents, I wrote an article for this site called "What a Liberal Democrat PM's Christmas message might say". It was grounded in the idea that our ambition as a party shouldn't just be to offer better policies, but to offer a grander and more purposeful political language to the electorate, conveying a vision for the country. With the ongoing confluence of crises, and the Government's inability not just to respond to them but to mobilise language to inspire us all to pull through, it seems to me worth a go hazarding ...
It's funny really, but 2020 has been a bit of a mixed year. Yes, we've had the pandemic, which has been awful in the generality, and we've finally left the European Union which, whilst traumatic, will only really impact in the months and years ahead, but on a personal note, neither has had an obviously negative impact yet. I've been working from home since 18 March which, at the beginning, was not something I had looked forward to with unalloyed pleasure. I'm kind of institutionalised, having worked for the same organisation, in the same context, for well over thirty years, ...
Second half: This is a repeat of a project I did ten years ago in 2010-11, and it's generally been a fun distraction rather than a chore. This time around I have been ioncluding relevant photographs of actors and TV episodes, which is usually a nice little hunt. The Tragical History Tour website is generally reliable I do the research for each day's anniversaries on the Tardis Index File (Doctor Who wiki), but rather than just use the individual pages for each date (such as the one for today) I use the list of pages linking to that date (again, ...
After such a challenging year, here's hoping for a much better 2021 ... best wishes to all residents in the West End for the New Year!
