Thanks to a nomination from a reader, Ars Technica wins our Headline of the Day Award for the first time.
"Most British governments since Thatcher's have sought to stamp out what they see as a spreading 'European heresy': the notion that supreme law should stand above parliaments, that judges in a democracy may reverse the will of an elected government if it violates a constitution." So says Neal Ascherson, reviewing a book by Linday Colley. What did Richard Kemp know about Liverpool's scandals? Matthew Pencharz says that Londoners opposed to low traffic neighbourhoods will be glad of them in the end. Are you local? Sophia Adamowicz explores the blend of the macabre and the mundane in the work of Steve ...
Today is the annual Trans Day of Visibility, a day for celebrating the achievements of trans people. LGBT+LIb Dems looked at 7 trans politicians from the UK and across the world. If you were at Spring Conference you will have seen Charley Hasted make some incredibly powerful speeches, on issues like NHS pay, describing the horrors they and their colleagues went through as ambulance call handlers. They also spoke about their life as a carer, describing how they had not been able to do anything with their sibling for 23 years as one of them has to look after their ...
With ever increasingly dangerous journeys, and increasingly restrictive measures against refugees to prevent them accessing asylum, the Liberal Democrats have taken the lead in adopting a radical new proposal: humanitarian visas for refugees to travel safely and legally to find the safety they deserve in the UK. 'Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries freedom from persecution', says Article 14 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. There is no such thing as an illegal asylum-seeker: only asylum seekers lacking legal routes to safety. But how can you get safely and legally to other countries? Well, ...
This year's long list of novels for the BSFA Award was very long, comprising 56 books (I actually wrote to the award administrators to query the eligibility of two of them; they replied defending their decision; neither appears on the short list; let's leave it at that). The "short" list is also very long, with ten novels - which appears to be the longest ever for any BSFA Award category (the 2014 Best Novel and 2018 Best Art ballots both had eight nominees). Of course there are often problems with splitting ties, but I wonder how many (or how few) ...
The delayed resurfacing of Westley Road, between Fox Hollies Road and Acocks Green Village is finally planned to take place from Tuesday 6th April to Thursday 15th April. While it should have happened a couple of years ago, having been caught up in the dispute with the previous highways contractor, Amey, it's great that the work is finally being done. It is also good news that it is being done over the Easter Holiday period, which should reduce the resulting traffic disruption. The road will be closed from 7pm to 5am for 6 nights from next Tuesday (6th April) and ...
If I was going out canvassing and opened my conversation with, "we've got some really exciting ideas about due process and governance which will transform our City", I would be looked at with amazement which I would see in the ... Continue reading →
This week, we note that Keir Starmer has been in post as Labour leader for a year. He was an improvement but if that is the only test of his success, he is hardly in line for any performance awards. Corbyn was dire, a millstone around the neck of Labour. A cardboard box full of sand would have been a significant improvement. Starmer has the advantage of being able to hog the news coverage that
Tue, 12:56: AA Milne's pacifism and patriotism https://t.co/FIul7qFZ7B Fascinating. "Overwhelming success is harder to deal with than failure. At least failure has an element of hope in it." Tue, 12:58: Actually not just Best Short Fiction and Best Novel, but I think also Best Non-Fiction!!!! https://t.co/IPLg0ITf18 Tue, 13:10: RT @aliettedb: @nwbrux 😱 Tue, 15:45: RT @lizbatty: @nwbrux Fangorn in 2006? But that's the only other one I can see. Tue, 16:05: One click forward, two clicks back https://t.co/OSreLUic7I Why progressives keep losing online, by @youngvulgarian. Tue, 18:42: My BSFA votes: Non-Fiction (I'm voting for @pkincaid_critic) https://t.co/MliTmqlke4 Tue, 19:36: Check out ...
Reading the reports on Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) review of the shocking scenes at Clapham Common when police physically restrained women paying tribute to the late Sarah Everard, one cannot help but question the scope of their inquiry. As the BBC report, the watchdog said there was too little communication between officers at the event but their response, amid Covid restrictions, had been "measured". It called the media coverage a "public relations disaster" for police and added that "there was insufficient communication between police commanders about changing events on the ground". More importantly, ...
Margaret Thatcher commenting in detail on Pepsi & Shirlie's debut single, Heartache? The morning after I had caught a clip of this...
Three quarters of the way through the year now, and past the January-March hump; April-June will be less intense. Nine of the 26 seasons of Old Who ended in the first quarter of the year - six of them in March, including the two-episode-per week seasons of the 1980s. In celebration, we're doing two photographs per episode today. i) births and deaths 31 March 1930: birth of Michael Hart, who directed The Space Pirates (Second Doctor, 1969). ii) broadcast anniversaries 31 March 1973: broadcast of sixth episode of Frontier in Space; last appearance of Roger Delgado as the Master. It ...
Wed 31st
07:58
Shropshire Council to use council meeting to smooth over highways problems ahead of 6 May local elec...
Despite the clear restrictions on what council business can be conducted in the run up to an election, Shropshire Council's administration has scheduled a meeting on its contractors' performance on highways maintenance next Tuesday. It seems that the council is not aware that highways are a political issue and a battleground in many council areas around the county. Among the reports to be considered by the Place Overview Committee next Tuesday is one on the struggling highways contractor Kier, the company responsible for delivering highways repairs at a cost of £27m a year. The report admits to three years of ...
Last year, I highlighted that residents have pointed out that, although real time bus information is working at bus shelters, paper timetables have been out of date since the bus companies altered bus services temporarily at the start of the COVID-19 the health emergency. Whilst appreciating there needed to be the return to normal services and stability in timetables before new and correct timetables could be placed at every bus stop, I got assurances that erroneous, out of date information would be removed meantime. With the Xplore Dundee recent bus services review having taken place at the start of 2021, ...
