And so, we're back in lockdown again, just as we were in March. The problem is that, given the mixed messages and failure to set an example at the top, the public willingness to adhere to the letter of the guidance is fragile at best. Walking in Needham Market at the weekend, it was noticeable that people aren't allowing others the required two metre separation, that people are passing each other in narrow spaces without masks, and that multiple households are meeting. Whilst I don't take the view that draconian enforcement is appropriate, the seeming lack of self-awareness is problematic. ...
Boris Johnson as good as said in his address announcing a new "March-style" lockdown that we we would have succeeded in beating Covid if it hadn't been for this pesky new variant. The variant he's known about for three months and done little to combat. Brazen or what? Not even 36 hours had passed since his Marr interview yesterday, when he said that parents should send their kids to school today. Now, the decision he should have taken before Christmas has been made. Ed Davey pointed out these errors of judgement in his reaction to the PM's statement. He had ...
Mon 4th
20:36
Covid Watch: The spread of the virus is getting even more frightening and England is now in lockdown
Mainland Scotland is in lockdown from midnight. Wales is in lockdown and today First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned there is not "much headroom for change" when restrictions are reviewed on Thursday. Tonight, Boris Johnson announced a lockdown for England. His instinct has always been to leave restrictions until they are too late but this lockdown will begin immediately and pass into law after midnight tomorrow. He had no other option after the Covid threat level in the UK was raised to Alert Level 5 today. That means the NHS is judged to be at risk of being overwhelmed within ...
It is worth listening to this tape at length. It ought to send a shiver down the spine of anyone who believes in democracy. What staggers me is that this sort of call is happening well into January, rather than on November 4th last year. The Georgia result has been certified, for goodness sake. What is clear to me from this tape is that Trump believes everything he is saying. He is so obsessed with himself that he has convinced himself that he won. This man should be locked in a room where he does not have access to a ...
"All's well that ends well." This seems to be the motto of Boris Johnson, our Conservative Prime Minister in the UK. He's had a terrible 2020, with his government constantly being wrong-footed by the developments on the coronavirus epidemic. But he ended it with two major successes and that pretty much neutralised it all at ... Continue reading 2020 ended well for Boris Johnson: do not underestimate him
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, 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. Lots of travel in August 2009. On our way to Northern Ireland we stayed with cousins in Croydon, and with H ...
Ed Davey wasted no time in denouncing the trade deal signed by Boris Johnson because it will be "bad for jobs, business, security and our environment". This is a view that is not universally shared even though UK businesses trading with the EU will now face a host of new rules, regulations and red tape. Business leaders argue that the alternative – No Deal - would have hurt the UK economy a whole lot more. The biggest relief has been expressed by the car manufacturers for whom an end to tariff-free access to the EU would have been a disaster. ...
I have thought for a while that Brexit is not just about Brexit. Leaving the EU is only a step on the way for fundamental Brexiters to get what they want, which is to turn Britain into a neoliberal paradise - Singapore on Thames is exactly what they want. That being the case, populism is not going to disappear, because it is still the primary tool for securing that end. Farage has already switched from Brexit to covid: he is adept at latching on to anything that stokes resentment, and we will continue to see the politics of resentment at ...
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that tougher restrictions are likely to be necessary as COVID-19 cases continue to rise — especially involving the recent, highly infectious new variant. Yet he has so far resisted calls from opposition politicians to bring in a national lockdown without further delay. But delaying unpalatable decisions is what Johnson [...]
I love sport, football in particular. Although I had an opportunity to serve as a local councillor in Welwyn Hatfield, I occasionally feel that I am a "spectator", not a "player", when it comes to my voting rights in the UK. In a way, it is a shame that although I have been living here for almost 16 years, I have always paid taxes, I have always worked and I have not been a "burden", I have never had a chance to cast my vote in GE or, more importantly, in the EU referendum. When I first visited the Houses ...
In the face of rising coronavirus deaths, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has called for a national lockdown in England, along with additional support for businesses and local communities.
Of late there has been a surge of Right-wing media, twisting and distorting facts or even just blatantly lying, clearly hoping that the old adage attributed to Mark Twain "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes" still holds some weight. As Conservatives push their message, the opposition parties must be smarter, there is no point in responding directly to try to put right their ceaseless mantra of misinformation, little point in reacting or name-calling. Instead, we must be faster, more cautious, and cleverer. Instead, we need to be fervent in checking ...
Sun, 12:34: RT @TimandraHarknes: What are you putting into the console of your mood organ today? I need "focussed optimism with an edge of self discipl... Sun, 12:56: RT @koryodynasty: 1/ I thought I'd write about my experience re-entering South Korea, where I reside, during this global pandemic. It wasn'... Sun, 12:59: RT @Iain_Coleman: @nwbrux @peterjbirks Meanwhile, the UK tie-in edition, from Grafton Books, kept the year as 1992 https://t.co/gaEmXlNaky Sun, 13:04: RT @by_tor: "my schedule today calls for 6 hour self-accusatory depression" https://t.co/AO65jGVqej Sun, 13:04: RT @bjhbfs: @jasonomahony @nwbrux @timoconnorbl @oconnellhugh @KeohaneDan The SoS can more or less do ...
It is a little early in the new year to be confronted with irony, but the current UK government just cannot help itself. Thus yesterday's Observer reports that the UK government has demanded that executives who supplied combustible cladding to Grenfell Tower "step up to the plate" after their refusal to give evidence to the public inquiry into the disaster provoked anger among the bereaved and survivors. The paper says Stephen Greenhalgh, the building safety minister, has escalated a legal and diplomatic dispute over the position taken by three current and former executives at the French division of the US ...
A long time ago, students on my English Language and Literature course were invited by the Language professor to come to the next lecture with a new word that had been coined in the previous year. I knew exactly when mine had appeared and who invented it. A certain Jo Grimond had said we needed an Ombudswoman. I shan't go into the gender politics here, but my example had a short shelf life. Others had more clue about new words which would last. However the crucial aim was getting us to recognise the fluidity and development of the English language ...
Mon 4th
08:30
Whoniversaries 4 January: Daleks #3, Krotons #2, Robot #2, Castrovalva #1, Greatest Show #4
i) births and deaths 4 January 1947: birth of Terry Molloy, who played Davros three times in Old Who and also undercover policeman Russell in Attack of the Cybermen (Sixth Doctor, 1985) 4 January 1970: birth of Shayne Armstrong, who co-wrote seven episodes of the Australian K9 series. ii) broadcast anniversaries 4 January 1964: broadcast of "The Escape", third episode of the story we now call The Daleks. Susan meets Alydon the Thal in the forest, and returns to the others in the city, where they capture a Dalek. 4 January 1969: broadcast of second episode of The Krotons. Zoe ...
I welcome guest posts on Liberal England and I'm happy to publish posts on subjects far beyond the Lib Dems and politics. If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. Unionism is making the Scottish Lib Dems irrelevant - Mark StephensWith Valour and Distinction: The 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment in the First World War - Nigel AtterBelloc, Chesterton and the Distributist League - David BoyleLiberal Democrats for the Heart of England - Michael MullaneyTime for the Lib Dems to learn from social democracy - George ...
Good grief, is it that year already? And welcome to another week here at Liberal Democrat Voice. Whilst the Commons is away for another week, entirely thanks to Jacob Rees-Mogg and his fetishistic dislike of virtual working, the Lords is rather more efficient and sits on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Domestic Abuse, Trade and Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bills are the core agenda, but there are Liberal Democrat Oral Questions from Dick Newby (the future of the Hull-Zeebrugge passenger ferry), Joan Walmsley (the prospects for obesity services) and Jonny Oates (the Green Homes Grant scheme). Here on ...
From Sheena Wellington : "The Friends of Wighton invite you to an online illustrated talk on the Montgomerie Collection to be given by Dr Margaret Bennett this Wednesday - 6th January. After organising a successful event online for Scottish Book Week we have decided that it is worth trying to put some concerts online too. We plan to hold the concerts on the first Wednesday of the month at 1.15pm. The first will be on Wednesday 6th January when the guest will be Dr Margaret Bennet with an illustrated talk on the renowned Montgomerie collection, the children's songs recorded in ...
