So, Boris Johnson was in Scotland today for a fleeting visit. No meetings with the Scottish government or council leaders. Just high profile visits to factories and vaccine distribution centres. With the media in hot pursuit, denials were made that this was a campaign visit despite appearances. Well, I keep an open mind on the real reasons for the trip. It's a good job for the PM however that he
Following complaints from residents across Acocks Green about litter bins being removed by the Council, without any local consultation, we have launched a petition to ask the Council to bring them back. The link to the petition is here. The Council have attempted to justify the move by saying that the bins attract fly-tipping. Well it may be true that some fly-tippers put their rubbish by the bins, but do they seriously thing that removing them will make the fly-tippers give up and book a slot at the tip? Of course not – indeed as the photo shows some former ...
The long-awaited auditor's report into Northampton Borough Council's loan to Northampton Town Football Club was published yesterday. You can download it from the council's website. A BBC News report on the affair begins: A £10.25m council loan to a football club for use on a stadium redevelopment had "serious failings", a report found. Northampton Borough Council loaned the money, which has since disappeared, to Northampton Town in 2013 and 2014 to rebuild a stand and develop land. The Public Interest Report "calls into question the legality" of decision-making over the deal. For the political background to the loans, I recommend ...
It is the second part of this Government strapline that causes me more than a little concern. "Protect the NHS". To me, it is the one thing that successive Conservative Governments have failed to do. We only need to look back at those years of austerity to know just how much the NHS has been decimated. My local hospital used to provide beds for over 600 patients and at extreme times could reach 650 and there were the staff to provide for the needs of those patients. But now it provides for fewer that 400 when pressed, but usually it ...
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. After the odyssey of November, the only travel I seem to have done in December 2009 was London at the start ...
Around 23,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been given across the four Bury community vaccination centres in Prestwich, Radcliffe, Bury Town Hall's Elizabethan Suite and Ramsbottom. The centres are focussing on offering the first dose of the vaccination, to people within the first four priority groups that have been set nationally, by mid-February. This includes people living and working in older people's care homes; people aged 80+; health and care workers; people aged 70+ and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals. Residents who are eligible for a vaccination will be contacted by their GP when it is their turn, and people ...
Wednesday 27 January 2021 was Holocaust Memorial Day. This year the theme was Be the Light in the Darkness. Sadly the physical event, which normally takes place at the Longfield, couldn't take place this year, but the organisers worked hard to produce an online event involving school children, musicians, artists and religious leaders which can be viewed here: https://buryholocaustmemorialevent.vidius.co.uk
I'm so pleased to have on the podcast an absolute A-lister when it comes to how politics works in the UK, Professor Meg Russell of the Constitution Unit.
Please see below a list of the major roadworks in the Prestwich area for February. For the full list see the GM Roadworks site here. Bury New Road, outside 412 – opposite Red Lion Hotel. 9-11 February 2021, Multi-Way signals (BT).Heywood Road, near Oldfield Road, 2-6 February 2021, Multi-Way signals (BT).Scholes Lane, near the top of Bishops Road, 8-10 February 2021, Stop-Go boards (BT).Hilton Lane, near Mytil Grove, 10 February – 2 March 2021, Give and Take (Cadent Gas)Bury New Road, near the George Street/Kings Road junction, 24-26 February 2021, Multi-Way signals (Virgin Media).Mather Avenue, 22-26 February 2021, road closed ...
Here is a preview of our party political broadcast which can be seen today on BBC One at 6.55pm and ITV at 6.25pm.
I've commented many times previously about the regular flooding of Sefton Lane/Bridges Lane due to the backing up of Dover's Brook when it can't empty out into the River Alt. This was the scene in December 2015 along Bridges Lane:- A flooded Bridges Lane between Dovers Brook and the River Alt – when it all got too much in December 2015 Of course the flooding has happened a number of times since then, most recently within the last week. This is my most recent blog posting on the matter:- Cliff Mainey But my reason for raising the matter again ...
The landmark figure of 100 000 coronavirus related deaths was officially reached yesterday though I'd thought I'd seen the figure earlier. The Prime Minister has said he is "sorry," and he may be genuinely so, but it has the sound of the routine "sorry for your loss" which features on funeral condolence cards rather than an admission of responsibility for errors made. Though the 100 000 deaths indicates not just lives cut short but several hundred thousand grieving friends and relative, the total figure itself is not a measure of the competence with which the pandemic has been dealt. For ...
Apologies for not posting this yesterday. Ed Davey writes: Today we remember every single life cut short during the Holocaust – the Jewish lives and the countless others who suffered at the hands of the Nazis. It is vital that we remember these innocent victims and tell new generations of the unspeakable things people experienced in Nazi death camps and ghettos, from the torture to the mass exterminations. It's vital because we must never forget the lesson – that every human life should be valued and cared for. The theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day – be the light ...
Wed, 12:56: RT @chattlibrary: Difficult to believe, and yet it's true! 😁 Check us out at https://t.co/JdpiX3HO3d and visit @nathanwpyle for more otherw... Wed, 14:41: RT @Pavel99_B: @hopeformaybe Facts from @QasimRashid Benghazi: •GOP: 33 hearings & investigations over 5 years. Hillary's emails: •GOP:... Wed, 15:02: The Star Factory, by Ciaran Carson For anyone like me who knows and loves Belfast, it's a quick and pleasant read, where we can share our memories with the author. #nwbooks https://t.co/E5XaLAlEXl https://t.co/k7yAeIcQSa https://t.co/OrHPiTcKZh Wed, 15:13: Year's Best SF 10, ed. David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer Enjoyed G Grant "Burning Day", N Asher "Strood", ...
New analysis from the British Election Study shows the age breakdown of party support. It's notable how flat Lib Dem support is...
The Scottish Lib Dems have released a new party political broadcast. Enjoy.
Conservative MPs yesterday voted to overturn safeguarding amendments to a controversial Bill that could give the Food Standards Agency a licence to kill.The Government's Covert Human Intelligence Services Bill would create a legal basis for certain public bodies, including MI5, the Food Standards Agency and the Gambling Commission, to give undercover agents complete immunity to commit crimes in the UK.A cross-party amendment inserted in the House of Lords to rule out murder, torture and sexual violence from being authorised was overturned by Conservative MPs in the Commons this evening. All Liberal Democrat MPs voted to keep the amendment.Four other amendments ...
i) births and deaths 28 January 1937: birth of John Normington, who played the oligarch Morgus in The Caves of Androzani (Fifth Doctor, 1984), Trevor Sigma the galactic inspector in the The Happiness Patrol (Seventh Doctor, 1988) and the older version Tom Flanagan, abandoned as a child in wartime Cardiff in Ghost Machine (Torchwood, 2006, just a few months before he died). 28 January 1938: birth of Christopher Coll, who played lunar technician Phipps in The Seeds of Death (Second Doctor, 1969) and the Marshal's aide Stubbs in The Mutants (Third Doctor, 1972). 28 January 1957: birth of Frank Skinner, ...
Thu 28th
07:58
Today is V Day for over 80s in south west Shropshire - here's what we know about transport arrangeme...
Vaccination in our care homes is complete. Many front line staff have been vaccinated. From today, it is the turn of the over 80s. Some will be vaccinated at their local GP or a centre run by their GP. People who are housebound will get vaccinated at their homes. But a lot of people across south west Shropshire will need to go to Church Stretton. From next week, Ludlow Racecourse will open. Local taxis are giving deals. Shropshire Council has set up a free dial-a-ride service. Minsterley buses will divert to both sites. Parking is free at all vaccination sites. ...
Following requests, I highlighted to the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership the need for an additional grit bin towards the Lochee Road end of Cleghorn Street as it is sloped there and also some distance from the nearest grit bins at Pitfour Street and Mitchell Street. I am grateful to the resident who highlighted the best location for this (see his graphic) adding "there are actually glass recycling bins just up from this so it seem like a grit bin next to these would be an ideal location." I am very grateful to the Roads Maintenance Partnership Manager who responded ...
