It seems, from today's East Anglian Daily Times, that many of you are. That is, if you currently live in London. Now, having made the journey myself a decade or so ago, I can entirely understand it - some charming countryside, decent beer, good food and, above all, house prices that allow you to sell your house in the suburbs, replace it with something with a bit of character and bank a large chunk of cash to spend on having a good time. It was not long after I moved up here that the Evening Standard ran one of those ...
Donald Trump is on trial in the US Senate. The Republican Party is on trial. America is on trial. The likely verdicts are: Not Guilty, Guilty and Guilty. This will undermine democratic values and the rule of law which underpins it. This is bad for America and bad for the world. The United States is more than a nation. It is also an idealised aspiration. Trump is accused of inciting an insurrection. He is alleged to have provoked a mob to attack Capitol Hill in order to reverse an election in direct contravention his oath to "preserve and protect the ...
[IMG: Covid Vaccination Feedback Poster] Along with all Folkestone and Sandgate residents, I've been delighted to see the fast progress being made on vaccinations locally. An update from Dr Tuan Nguyen, from HNS Kent & Medway CCG, says that: "...as of 1pm today [12 Feburary], we have vaccinated 16,872 residents of Folkestone, Dover & Deal across both sites at Dover Health Centre and Folkestone Civic Centre. This figure also includes care home residents and staff. "The Civic Centre site has vaccinated 8,177 residents since it was opened on the 19th of January. This is an incredible achievement from the whole ...
Second cartoon of third chapter (on Brexit): Turner does a cartoon for the Irish Times most days; I've been following his work since I was a teenager, which must mean that he's getting on these days. This collection covers the last five years, and to be honest it's rather difficult to find much that is funny to say about Trump, COVID or Brexit, and where he does find something funny the joke is belaboured by repetition in a collection like this. (For instance, Boris Johnson is invariably depicted as a clown, which is hardly shocking.) It got a bit more ...
Current A Buzz in the Meadow, by Dave Goulson Bold As Love, by Gwyneth Jones Titus Alone, by Mervyn Peake Pūrākau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers, edited by Witi Ihimaera and Whiti Hereaka A.I. Revolution vol 1, by Yuu Asami Last books finished The Kappa Child, by Hiromi Goto Koko Takes a Holiday, by Kieran Shea Ring Shout, by P. Djèlí Clark The Autumn Land, by Clifford D. Simak My Father's Things, by Wendy Aldiss Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor - Old Friends, by Jody Houser The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisin Next books Three Daves, by Nicki ...
Last year I emailed Rishi Sunak suggesting some policies for his summer economic statement, which incorporated some improvement to working-age benefit including making permanent the £1000 Universal Credit increase and some economic actions. I think these were far too radical for the Conservatives, so this year I am calling on him to: Extend the £1000 temporary increase in Universal Credit to April 2022 and consider making it permanent; Increase the Benefit Cap by £1000 plus £1105 to cover some of the increase in LHA rates brought in last year (based on the difference between the non-London average for Category D ...
Great to see an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on electoral reform up and running again: Glad to join the first meeting of the reformed APPG for Electoral Reform yesterday. @LibDems are proud to support reform but this cannot be viewed from a party-political lens. All parties should have an interest in making a more representative democracy that works for everyone. https://t.co/5sOHipBYE3 — Alistair Carmichael MP (@amcarmichaelMP) February 12, 2021
The Woodhouse issue should be treated on the facts. There is an AECOM report commissioned by West Cumbrian Mining which I am using for some facts below and facts I have googled from sound sources. viz. International Energy Agency. In this document GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) cover all the carbon gases to be found in the mine. In calculating quantities these gases are quantified using their CO2 equivalents. Facts 1. The world produced 18699.9m tonne of steel in 2019. A 3.4 % increase over 2018. World steel production increases every year unless there is a depression. 2. Every tonne of ...
[IMG: Abolish Council Tax graphic] At Kent County Council's 2021 budget meeting on Thursday 11th February the Liberal Democrats (the largest opposition group) challenged the fairness of the council tax system and called for council tax to be abolished. The Liberal Democrat amendment was proposed by Faversham councillor Antony Hook. It called for Kent County Council to write to the Government to ask for council tax to be reviewed and an alternative system used. Council Tax is an unfair system that takes no account of ability to pay and based on bands that are considered arbitrary. The Lib Dem amendment ...
[IMG: Tim Prater] Tim Prater: We want to see less Conservatives, and more Liberal Democrats and Greens, on Kent County Council. It would make our County better. Folkestone and Hythe Liberal Democrats and the Shepway Green Party have agreed not to stand against each other in the six Folkestone and Hythe seats being fought in May's Kent County Council elections. Shepway Green Party will not stand against Lib Dem candidate Tim Prater in Cheriton, Sandgate & Hythe East, where he came second in 2017 and was the clear challenger to the Conservatives. Georgina Treloar will not face a Lib Dem ...
Thu, 12:37: A year ago in Rome, I found, tucked away in a back staircase of the @FAO, this striking sculpture by Gina Lollobrigida, better known as a film actress. She has a very solid record in sculpture too. https://t.co/VS3iyUHiz5 https://t.co/Lfb2jZBXCa Thu, 14:17: Some *very* tough choices here! https://t.co/q7GvAZTLgw Thu, 18:30: The Lowest Heaven, eds Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin https://t.co/478xnGGexC Thu, 20:48: The Age of Chaos: Barrie Mitchell responds to my 2007 review https://t.co/rZRIptlZdZ He did not draw The Four Marys, but did do a lot else. Fri, 00:16: RT @tconnellyRTE: Joint statement following Gove Šefčovič meeting: After ...
In an interview with The New European, Ed Davey has talked about his carers campaign and why it's so important: Care has defined much of his life: at 12 years old, he and his brother started to care for his mother, Nina, until she died when he was 15. He and his wife Emily's eldest son John, 13, has an undiagnosed neurological position the symptoms of which are he can't walk or talk and has learning difficulties, requiring 24-hour care. Care is a passion born of experience so he understandably bristles a little when I suggest all parties come into ...
In part 1, I talked about how pedestrians have been relegated to be second class citizens for the last half century or more. In this part, I will give you my twenty top tips to make life easier for pedestrians and get more people walking: Don't make pedestrians wait at traffic lights. People on foot must press the "beg button", asking permission to cross the road. They shouldn't be forced to wait. Where possible, pressing the button should stop traffic and allow pedestrians to cross right away. On some roads, the pedestrian crossing could default to green, only turning red ...
Data last date 7/2/2021 This table reports admissions into hospital trusts for covid in the order of the number of admissions in the last available week compared to the total number of admissions. The idea is to highlight those trusts which are having a high level of admissions that has grown in the past two weeks. Some trusts serve areas where there is a high level of immunity and hence few
Here's my latest report to party members, from the party website: Our values work best Tackling the coronavirus epidemic, and minimising the tragic loss of life, is primarily a public health issue. But there's also a consistent political lesson from it too. The approaches that work best use international cooperation. Viruses don't stop at borders, and scientific cooperation and vaccine supply chains work best when they don't either. The approaches that work best involve giving power and responsibility to those on the front line. That's why localised public health services in Germany have done so much better than our centralised ...
i) births and deaths 12 February 1930: birth of Henry Lincoln, who together with Mervyn Haisman wrote The Abominable Snowmen (Second Doctor, 1967), The Web of Fear (Second Doctor, 1968) and The Dominators (also Second Doctor, 1968). Together with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, he later wrote The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. 12 February 1953: birth of Nabil Shaban, who played Sil in Vengeance on Varos (1985), Mindwarp (1986) and Big Finish audios starting with Mission to Magnus (Sixth Doctor, 2009). ii) broadcast anniversaries 12 February 1966: broadcast of "The Sea Beggar", second episode of the story we ...
Further to my update earlier this week about the street lights being out in much of the Hillside/Glamis Drive/Hazel Drive area, in which I advised that there was an electricity supply problem, I have now received this further news from SSE : "Our Network Integrity team are aware of this fault and have advised that it is high on this priority list. We have had a number of faults on our network as a result of the snowfall which the team have had to attend to in the first instance. Can you please share our apologies and advise that we ...
Having commented, just over a week ago, on the rather bizarre decision by Number Ten to employ three different photographers, one of whom is being paid the equivalent of six figures, I was bemused to see this piece in the Guardian detailing some of the work being undertaken by one of these employees. The paper says Downing Street has defended the use of a taxpayer-funded photographer to take pictures of the prime minister's dog, Dilyn, frolicking in the snow, saying their role is to document the work of the government: A series of photos of Dilyn appeared on No 10's ...
