Following up news of the Digital Future Women MPs' Weekend, details are now out for the Ethnic Minority Future MPs' Weekend 2021: The Racial Diversity Campaign (RDC) is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the Ethnic Minority Future MPs' Weekend, to be held online, 6th – 7th March 2021. The weekend is an intensive training weekend for aspiring ethnic minority MPs, designed to equip you with the knowledge you need as a Liberal Democrat candidate. Confirmed guests so far include: Josh Babarinde OBE Cllr Julia Ogiehor Cllr Hina Bokhari Daisy Cooper (MP for St Albans) Baroness Lynne ...
One of my favourite subjects in ten years of blogging has been economics. But for the last year I have hesitated. There has been a lot to write about, but somehow I did not have the confidence to say anything. A couple of weeks ago I got as far as writing an article, but it ... Continue reading The economics of the pandemic: don't panic
Second paragraph of third chapter:In the sharp winter's air, their breath steamed behind them. The dinghy went first, followed by Jeff Pitt rowing his little boat, with two sheep in a net lying against his tattered backside. Their progress was slow; Pitt's pride in his rowing was greater than his ability I am a big fan of the late great Brian Aldiss, and this was the best-known book of his that I had not already read. (If you're interested, LibraryThing and Goodreads agree that the Helliconia trilogy, Hothouse and Non-Stop outrank it.) I wish I'd read it before P.D. James' ...
Social Liberal Forum – Update Anyone organising meetings with parliamentarians know that you always run the risk of events messing up your plans. The Social Liberal Forum being old hands at these things carefully chose a week when the House of Lords was meant to be in recess to hold their online meeting with William Wallace. We did not account for the government's desire to get a particular piece of legislation passed. William now has to lead for the Lib Dems in the Lords on the Ministerial Materity Allowance Bill. The week of 22nd was scheduled for a recess, but ...
Wed 17th
14:08
Southwark Labour councillor quits as housing chief over Twitter account attacking residents
The South London Press reports: Southwark cabinet minister for housing Leo Pollak has quit after it emerged he had not been transparent about a Twitter account that he managed, which slammed community groups. He has apologised to leader Cllr Kieron Williams for "a serious error of judgement that doesn't meet the standards of openness and accountability that you would expect of a public representative". His resignation comes after the South London Press investigated an account under the name @SouthwarkYIMBY which promoted house building and council projects in the borough. But it also criticised residents' campaigns - without revealing who was ...
It's great news that our wonderful NHS staff and volunteers are storming forward with the UK's vaccination programme. Still, I worry about people being lulled into a false sense of security once they have had their first and even second jab. Most of us will have had, or be getting, the AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine. It has an efficacy rate of 70 percent compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine's 95 percent. These efficacy rates are based on the trials and mark the difference between those who had the vaccine and those who had a placebo (a solution that wasn't the vaccine). If ...
Plashing Vole has fun with the reduced standing of the Liberal Democrats: Those Chinese chaps had better tread carefully. You don't want to rile either of the Lib Dem horde. https://t.co/tlkrkEkQuV — Plashing Vole (@PlashingVole) February 15, 2021 Which reminds me of a story about an old Liberal Party assembly. Here is Paddy Ashdown telling it in his leader's speech to our 1993 spring conference: It is almost exactly forty years ago that David Steel's predecessor, Foreign Affairs Spokesman Sir Arthur Comyns-Carr QC, complete in wing collar and side-boots, opened his speech at the Liberal Assembly here in Torquay with ...
Wed 17th
12:00
Road safety scheme outside Sandpits school to be installed before the summer - we need more safety s...
The long awaited safety scheme outside Ludlow Primary School will go ahead before the summer. Installation of a raised table outside the school comes after a campaign by school governors and local Shropshire Councillor Tracey Huffer. We don't have a date for the work yet but it is expected to begin immediately after Cadent, the gas infrastructure provider, vacates the site around Easter. That means the safety scheme, which includes new signage and the raised table, will be in place before the summer. We need other school safety schemes on Old Street and Bromfield Road. Red lines are existing double ...
Wed 17th
11:45
Post Brexit trade - a refreshing British-Austrian perspective from an experienced UK industrialist
Last night's Shirley Williams Lecture (SWL) was really enlightening but also quite scary. The speaker was Juergen Maier CBE, described as follows on the SWL website: One of the UK's leading industrialists and business thinkers, Juergen Maier rose to prominence as the Chief Executive of Siemens UK. A regular on Question Time and a Board Member of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Juergen has been outspoken on major issues such as Brexit, Industrial Strategy and the 4th Industrial Revolution. Juergen gave us a little more detail about his life story. After being born in Germany, he grew up in Leeds from ...
The British Foreign Policy Group has some new data on how British people want relations with the EU to play out.
Tue, 13:41: Some of these are easier than others. https://t.co/RaTgl0hw0h Tue, 14:24: RT @TheNewEuropean: Tory MP is under new investigation following row UK's anti-corruption watchdog https://t.co/otV5V8p6gC Tue, 15:00: The Presidential Book of Lists, by Ian Randal Strock Let's rank US presidents! How many states joined the Union in their time? (B Harrison wins) Who were outlived by one parent (Polk, Garfield, Harding) or both (Kennedy)? #nwbooks https://t.co/fwYQTwpWTa https://t.co/mWfeqfjnRE https://t.co/k6JRpBpbXN Tue, 15:36: Two good anthropology books on Cyprus: Imagining the Modern: The Cultures of Nationalism in Cyprus by Rebecca Bryant Divided Cyprus: Modernity, History and an Island in Conflict, eds Papadakis ...
Now the deed has been done, some of this snark will still be relevant but here's an updtae for the new situation (NB: Use with care, only for hard brexiters, we welcome the ordinary person who voted brexit who are now seeing the consequences) Yeah but we've stopped EU citizens' freedom of movement! At least we've cut red tape!
Even if your circumstances have not been too adversely affected by the pandemic, chances are you have gone through some mental health challenges. Even people who were coping pretty well have found the dark and cold Winter lockdown pretty grim. And if you have had to suffer bereavement, loss or financial struggles along the way, it's been so much harder. A study tracking Scotland's mental health during the pandemic found that there was a significant rise in those contemplating suicide or suffering from Depression and Anxiety. The Herald reports: The second wave of the Scottish Covid-19 Mental Health Tracker survey, ...
At the same time the UK Government is introducing stringent and largely unnecessary measures to guarantee free speech on university campuses, their own ministers are taking extraordinary measures to avoid answering difficult questions in the House of Commons. The Independent reports that the International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss is refusing to answer questions about the cross-Channel trading crisis sparked by Brexit. They say Ms. Truss has "transferred" all enquiries about the plight facing firms to other departments, despite it being her job to promote exports overseas. A hard-hitting letter from six of the opposition parties accuses Ms Truss of trying ...
A year since the last time I was on an aeroplane, coming back from Gallifrey One in Los Angeles. I really miss travel, and I really miss getting together physically with friends and not-yet-friends who love the same things that I do. See you soon, I hope.
i) births and deaths 17 February 1916: birth of David Blake Kelly, who played the captain of the Mary Celeste in The Chase (First Doctor, 1965) and innkeeper Jacob Kewper in The Smugglers (First Doctor, 1966). 17 February 2013: death of Richard Briers, who played the Chief Caretaker in Paradise Towers (Seventh Doctor, 1988) and Henry Parker in A Day in the Death (Torchwood, 2008). ii) broadcast anniversaries 17 February 1968: broadcast of third episode of The Web of Fear, introducing Nicholas Courtney as Colonel (later Brigadier) Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart. The Doctor reappears with a mysterious colonel; the Yeti attack the ...
One of the volunteers at Ninewells Community Garden - Christina - has written an excellent blog about this year's Big Garden Birdwatch. It is an interesting read and you can read it here.
