No one likes roadworks but there again, no one likes roads that are unsafe or that wreck wheels. There have been a few problems with the resurfacing work on the A4117 between Rocks Green and Snitton. The work has been moved overnight and signage has been improved. We have had reports of people struggling to gain access to local properties. Even of conflicts with the contractors. When we are alerted to problems, we relay them to officers as soon as we can. Please note you can't drive through the roadworks, only access properties within the closed section and there may ...
There's a new 'I'm voting Lib Dem' frame you can use on your Facebook avatar ahead of the May elections.
The guilty verdict in the trial of Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin for the murder of African-American George Floyd has the potential to be a watershed in American race relations. But it has a host of hurdles to overcome. The key to surmounting well-entrenched centuries old problems is the George Floyd Policing Act, also known more succinctly as the George Floyd Bill. It passed the House of Representatives in March and is now before the Senate where it needs 60 votes (nine more than there are Democrats) to circumvent the dreaded filibuster. The Bill proposes slew of changes which has raised ...
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. I don't seem to have travelled that month, and no particular family or office news. The big developments were all international ...
Current The Complete Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant The Serpent Sea, by Martha Wells The Consuming Fire, by John Scalzi Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn Last books finished The Empress of Salt and Fortune, by Nghi Vo Muse vol 1: Celia, by Terry Dodson & Denis-Pierre Filippi Muse vol 2: Coraline, by Terry Dodson & Denis-Pierre Filippi Le dernier Atlas, tome 1, by Fabien Vehlmann, Gwen De Bonneval and Fred Blanchard Feeders & Eaters & other stories, by Neil Gaiman, art by Mark Buckingham Sculpture Stories, by Neil Gaiman with Lisa Snellings The Gameshouse, by Claire North Next books In ...
[IMG: Sandgate Community Garden] It's a real bright spot of each week supporting the Sandgate Community Garden team by taking Leonie's weekly updates and photos and tunring them into the online diary posts at https://sandgatepc.org.uk/sandgate-community-garden/ With 102 weekly diary entries now in place the diary covers from pretty much day one of the Community Garden at Enbrook Park, plus the Incredible Edible planters on Sandgate High Street and Golden Valley Parade. It also goes through the development of the new planting areas on the Sandgate Parish Council run Fremantle Road Park which now looks SO much better in local control ...
Ed Davey has announced plans for a £20bn fund to fight the "invisible enemy" of pollution in England's communities. The money will be part of the Lib Dems' flagship £150bn Green Recovery Fund, which will pump £5.5bn into new walking and cycling routes, £4.5bn into light rail and tram projects, £5bn for the expansion of bus routes and £2bn to convert bus fleets to hydrogen fuel. Davey is due to launch the policy in Watford today. Reported in The Independent, Davey said: "Air pollution is an invisible enemy threatening the community spaces we love and the people we care most ...
Following the collapse of the European Super League, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Sport, Jamie Stone MP, has called on the Government to "speak out against slavery" associated with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. According to data compiled from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, 6500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup 10 years ago. Several human rights organisations have raised concerns about Qatar's treatment of migrant workers who arrived in the country following the successful 2022 World Cup bid. There is consensus that the infrastructure supporting Qatar's World ...
The Liberal Democrats are calling on Priti Patel not to impose centralised crime targets on local police forces, warning it "would be a grave mistake" that "risks seriously undermining" police officers. In a letter to the Home Secretary, the party's Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael and 27 candidates for Mayor or Police and Crime Commissioner write that "the police need to be responsive and accountable to their local communities, not micromanaged by Ministers in Whitehall." The Liberal Democrats argue that the Government should instead be focusing on "ensuring that police forces can restore proper community policing, where officers are more ...
New economic data from the Office for National Statistics show the Government borrowed £303.1bn in the year to March, the highest level since the end of World War Two. The figures show that, compared to the previous 12 months, borrowing is nearly £250bn higher in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. In response to the statistics released this morning, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "These record figures are a reflection of the momentous challenge posed by Covid-19 in the past year. As significant as they are, they can't distract from the fact that people and businesses throughout ...
Arguing that Scotland deserves better than to spend the next five years arguing over independence, Alistair Carmichael notes that Alex Salmond does not appear on Alba Party leaflets. Apparently it is all down to the size of Salmond's ego. For the record, Newsmoggie is only interested in the size of the salmon in the River Tay. Responding to reports that Alex Salmond is not mentioned on Alba party leaflets, Alistair Carmichael MP said: "In ordinary circumstances you might think it would be hard to get a leaflet big enough for Alex Salmond's ego but he seems to have realised that ...
Thu, 12:56: A Delightful Discovery Inside an Old Book https://t.co/DroGQsqRSa A note from Fritz Leiber. Thu, 13:04: RT @APCOBXLInsider: 🌍Europe's forests have grown to cover about 45% of EU land. 🌳The EU Forest Strategy this Summer will set out how to f... Thu, 15:34: RT @APCOBXLInsider: 🌍Pollution harms our health and ecosystems. The Zero Pollution Action Plan will: 🔎Increase pollution monitoring; ☁️Add... Thu, 16:05: The First Flight On Another World Wasn't on Mars. It Was on Venus, 36 Years Ago https://t.co/hRh5PjTGxA An interplanetary balloon. Thu, 17:11: The Mark Drakeford election interview: My greatest regrets, what happens in the third wave ...
In a letter to the Home Secretary today, the party's Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael and 27 Lib Dem candidates for Mayor or Police and Crime Commissioner write that "the police need to be responsive and accountable to their local communities, not micromanaged by Ministers in Whitehall." The Liberal Democrats argue that the Government should instead be focusing on "ensuring that police forces can restore proper community policing, where officers are more visible, trusted and known personally to local people." Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: "It seems Priti Patel is the latest Home Secretary who thinks ...
Unusual news from Gosport Council: Postal voters in Gosport are being sent replacement ballot papers for the forthcoming borough council election, following a printing error. This year, Gosport voters will be choosing candidates in borough council, county council and police commissioner elections. Rather than attend polling stations on 6 May, almost 10,400 residents have decided to vote by post. They have been sent packs with three ballot papers – one for each of the three elections. But a printing mistake meant that one of the three ballot papers – the one for Gosport Borough Council – did not have party ...
i) births and deaths 23 April 1975: death of William Hartnell, who played the First Doctor from 1963 to 1966, and returned for The Three Doctors in 1972-73. 23 April 2013: death of Norman Jones, who played Khrisong in The Abominable Snowmen (Second Doctor, 1967), Major Baker in Doctor Who and the Silurians (Third Doctor, 1970) and Hieronymous in The Masque of Mandragora (Fourth Doctor, 1976). 23 April 2019: death of Edward Kelsey, who played the slave buyer in the story we now call The Romans (First Doctor, 1965), Resno in The Power of the Daleks (Second Doctor, 1966) and ...
Fri 23rd
07:43
Yesterday was Earth Day - was it also the day we really began to tackle the climate emergency?
Earth Day is now in its 51st year. If Donald Trump had gained a second term, it would have probably gone unnoticed in the Capitol yesterday. But Joe Biden is now leading America and he used the occasion to host an international summit and announce deep cuts in carbon emissions. Pledges came in from leaders across the world. Boris Johnson got his pennyworth in earlier announced that he will set in law "world's most ambitious climate change target", cutting emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels in pursuit of zero carbon by 2050. Admirable stuff. More ...
Fri 23rd
07:35
Yesterday was Earth Day - was it also the day we really began to tackle the climate emergency?
Earth Day is now in its 51st year. If Donald Trump had gained a second term, it would have probably gone unnoticed in the Capitol yesterday. But Joe Biden is now leading America and he used the occasion to host an international summit and announce deep cuts in carbon emissions. Pledges came in from leaders across the world. Boris Johnson got his pennyworth in earlier announced that he will set in law "world's most ambitious climate change target", cutting emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels in pursuit of zero carbon by 2050. Admirable stuff. More ...
Yesterday, I was advised of the detail of roads and pavements improvements planned for the West End for this financial year and these are as follows : Adopted Footway Programme 2021-22 Perth Road South Side - Nr 312 to Taylors Lane - Resurface South Tay Street - East Side - Whole Length - Slabs Taits Lane - Both Sides - Various Sections - Resurface + Kerb Unadopted Asset Programme 2021-22 Dunmore Gardens - Footways - Reconstruction Norwood Terrace - North Footway - Reconstruction Perth Road - South Footway Phase 2 - Reconstruction * Rockfield Crescent - Footways - Reconstruction * ...
Once more the government has been caught out in its eagerness to be seen as tough on immigration, with the Guardian revealing that almost half of the Vietnamese migrants forcibly removed from the UK on a Home Office charter flight being understood to have been put on the plane in breach of the Home Office's own rules. The paper says twenty-seven Vietnamese nationals were removed on Wednesday on the flight, which took off from Birmingham. It is believed to have been booked with the holiday airline Tui, although the company refused to confirm or deny this. Fourteen were enforced returns ...
That's the hardback price. The paperback and Kindle editons are much cheaper. I have written a chapter of Racism in Psychology: Challenging Theory, Practice and Institutions, which is edited by my old friend Craig Newnes and published by Routledge. It will be published on 29 April, but some copies have already appeared on Amazon. My chapter, which I will admit is a strange inclusion, looks at my own obsession with Oliver Twist and the way I have written about it in the part without touching on the novel's anti-Semitism. I look at tellings of the story other than that by ...
The Liberal Democrats are calling for all EU citizens in the UK to be given the automatic right to stay, as new figures reveal that 323,800 are still waiting for the Home Office to process their applications. The party is warning that those who aren't given 'Settled Status' by the 30th June deadline could "become the victims of another Windrush-style scandal". Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: "The Conservatives must guarantee the rights of EU citizens who've made their lives here, and contribute enormously to our economy, our public services and our society. They ...
