Another London walk in the company of John Rogers. His blurb on YouTube describes the route: A walk from Barking to Creekmouth along west bank of the River Roding. Picking up the west side of the River Roding following my previous walk with Paul Powlesland of the River Roding Trust (and Friends of the River Roding). This river walk starts at Barking Town Centre and continues through Town Quay and Fresh Wharf to Hand Trough Creek. From here the route takes us through Wall End and beneath Alfred's Way on the A13 to the Creekmouth Nature Reserve and Jenkins Lane ...
One of the things that one should be able to take for granted in this country is that corruption is minimal and broadly disapproved of, that there are rules to ensure a level playing field when bidding for contracts. And, to be honest, we've been fortunate in that regard. Why is it important? Let me offer up an example of what happens when you have a public procurement system that has a known element of corruption. If you know that, by influencing a key official or politician, you increase your chances of bidding successfully, you might be minded to do ...
Earlier today I joined Willie Rennie in calling on all parties in Scotland to commit to a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and to lead a respectful campaign. In the course of the Scottish campaign to date a brick has been thrown at Scottish Liberal Democrat HQ and the new Labour Leader Anas Sarwar has been racially abused outside Holyrood. It just isn't how politics should be done. It was also worryingly reminiscent of an attitude in the 2015 campaign which resulted in the unacceptable campaign of intimidation against Charles Kennedy. And if the reaction to BBC Alba's recent documentary about ...
A series of incidents have made the news where Conservative party officials, and especially their leader, Boris Johnson, have had a questionable regard for compliance with rules. Labour think they are on to something by raising the spectre of "Tory sleaze". Are they? Well yes if the audience is liberal professional types. They equate cronyism ... Continue reading What is the significance of "Tory sleaze"?
I saw this meme going around a few months ago - what were the covers of the major science fiction magazines for the month you were born? They are a nice collection. The best is the cover of Analog, by John Schoenherr. I confess I don't recall any of the stories. The only one that has had much attention since then is "Ambassador to Verdammt" by Colin Kapp; I'm afraid I don't think I've heard of him let alone the story. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction had almost as good a cover, by Gray Morrow, and much better ...
The full weight of the Downing Street media operation has swung into gear to attempt to crush suggestions in today's newspapers that Boris Johnson said he would rather see bodies piled "high in their thousands" than order a third lockdown. Despite this more and more sources are coming forward to verify the story, while those of us who have no idea if it is true or not are taking the Nicola Sturgeon line. She also says that she has no idea if it happened but knowing Boris Johnson as she does, it would not surprise her if he did indeed ...
Sun, 12:48: Miss Congeniality - Describe your perfect date? https://t.co/INf2LEIeW9 via @YouTube Sun, 12:56: Animate Europe: Animate Europe - Animated Short Films https://t.co/f8Rmt0KVzc The winners of the biennial competition for EU-themed comics, animated. Sun, 14:25: La Pierre du Diable, Haillot. https://t.co/cCHQbjHDOE Sun, 14:48: RT @hilltopkatie: Here's to Liz @greensideknits . The final posts she wrote for the Tour de Fleece... I re-read them yesterday and they seem... Sun, 15:32: The Bordleys of Baltimore in art https://t.co/5AyC99xKCJ Sun, 16:05: Asteroid's 22m-year journey from source to Earth mapped in historic first https://t.co/dhfSIPZS82 Wow. Sun, 20:48: RT @cristianafarias: I think I've found my ...
This is a Labour leaflet circulated in Saltwell ward in Gateshead. I was rather amused by the appearance of a bar chart, given Labour's regular attack on Lib Dems for using them! As you can see in the last local election in the ward, Labour were comfortably ahead and the 3 opposition parties were within 110 votes of each other. The headline of "Keep the Tories OUT" may come as something of a
You often hear it said that the Liberal Democrats have lots of policy but no overarching narrative. That charge sticks because for too long it has been true. The party has allowed a dangerous vacuum to develop where a succinct articulation of its core philosophy should be. The preamble to the party constitution is a thing of beauty, but we need something even more direct.Our proposal is that the Liberal Democrats should define a liberal society as one in which every single person has enough power, wealth, knowledge and freedom in their own hands to be able to shape their ...
Cycling along Acres Lane in Great Altcar yesterday was glorious; the countryside and weather were just right for peddling. However, someone had to spoil it and they achieved that by abusing a fellow cyclist all because they had been slowed down by a bike. Indeed, instead of simply safely passing the cyclist, they had to draw up alongside wind down the passenger window and take a bit more of their day to ensure they were fully understood by the cyclist, if you get my drift! So what was it all about? Testosterone, selfishness, petrol-headedness, intimidation of a more vulnerable road ...
Corruption is in the news again in the UK. PPE contracts during the pandemic, the Greensill Capital scandal, and eye-watering local authority finance scandals, all serve to dent the historic public perception that politics and government in the UK is in the main 'clean'. In the early 1990s at a private lunch with senior civil servants I attended, one of them offered the view that the public's perception of a broadly clean governance system in the UK, has been 'the world's most successful long-term government propaganda operation of all time'. In my global project work, dealing with corruption at senior ...
i) births and deaths 26 April 1928: birth of Donald Cotton, who wrote The Myth Makers (1965) and The Gunfighters (1966) as well as the novelisations of both stories and of The Romans (1965), three of the best Who novelisations in the range. 26 April 1975: death of Kevin Lindsay, who played Linx in The Time Warrior (1973-74), Cho Je in Planet of the Spiders (1974), and Styre/The Marshal in The Sontaran Experiment (1975). ii) broadcast anniversaries 26 April 1969: broadcast of second episode of The War Games. The Doctor and friends, including Carstairs and Lady Jennifer, escape in an ...
It is time for business as usual with councils but the government is not helping us. It has refused to extend emergency legislation that allows local councils to meet online rather in stuffy council chambers. That decision is being challenged in the high court but unless the action by councils wins, it creates a dilemma for those councils now forced to meet in person but have no space to do so. Ludlow Town Council is to meet tonight in a Zoom meeting. The council is being asked to agree to limit business at the next meeting and to transfer most ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 26 APRIL 2021 Riverside Drive/Riverside Approach - give/take traffic control from Monday 26 April for 2 weeks for sign replacement works. BT Cable Renewal Programme - rolling off peak temporary traffic lights at various location from Monday 26 April for 4 weeks - streets affected in order are: Strathmore Avenue (at Hospital Street); Loons Road (at Gardner Street); Logie Street (at Ancrum Road); Glamis Road (at Ancrum Road); City Road (at Pentland Avenue); Charleston Drive (at Yarrow Terrace); Glamis Road (at Elmwood Road); Blackness ...
Anne Applebaum says Alexei Navalny is showing the world what courage means: "Nothing is secret about the poisoning, false trial, or harsh imprisonment of Navalny. Like the multiple attempts to murder him, these things are playing out in public, in the open, for everyone to see." "For 48 hours, soccer stood on the brink. Fans took to the streets. Players broke into open revolt. Chaos stalked the game's corridors of power, unleashing a shock wave that resonated around the world, from Manchester to Manila, Barcelona to Beijing, and Liverpool to Los Angeles." Tariq Panja and Rory Smith on how the ...
