So reports Ipsos MORI: A new global study by Ipsos shows strong support for measures to be put in place to stop discrimination against LGBT people in Britain. Seven in ten (68%) support laws that stop this type of discrimination in relation to employment, access to education, housing and social services, compared to 55% globally. One in six Brits (16%) say they have attended a public event in support of LGBT people, such as a Pride march, compared with 13% globally, while a similar proportion (15%) have attended the wedding of a same-sex couple. More than a third (35%) say ...
Braveheart won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1995, and four others: Best Director (Mel Gibson), Best Cinematography, Best Make-up, and Best Sound Effects Editing. It lost in five categories, two to Apollo 13. The Hugo that year went to the Babylon 5 episode The Coming of Shadows. I have seen very few films made in 1995, a year when my PhD and my brief political career were simultaneously peaking. Of the other Oscar nominees, I have seen Apollo 13 and Babe, but not Il Postino or Sense and Sensibility. Other 1995 films that I have seen: Goldeneye, The American ...
G7 in Cornwall, NATO heads of government in Brussels and finally a Putin-Biden face-to-face on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. It is President Joe Biden's first foreign trip and designed to show, in his words, that "America is back." Not with the unilateralist, like it or lump it foreign policy of the Trump years, but with a return to across the board multilateralist-driven leadership. One of the keys to this new policy will be US-Russian relations. And a big part of the meetings in Cornwall and Brussels is finalising tactics for the summit in Geneva. The US president ...
Writing about food and politics in Britain, Pen Vogler: The governments of the day experimented vainly with taxation, until alighting on legislation that outlawed small-batch distillation. (The current craft gin craze is thanks to Sipsmith who took on HMRC and persuaded it to deviate from its strict adherence to this 1751 Gin Act.) Of course, the really great thing about craft gin is that it makes a bottle of ordinary gin seem so cheap.
... Cllr Nick Da Costa. Nick was one of the Committee's Vice-Chairs and is also a Councillor in Haringey. In a post on Facebook, he said: I am delighted to have been elected as Chair of the Federal Conference Committee taking over from the brilliant Geoff Payne who stood down as Chair at the end of May. Firstly, a massive thanks to Geoff for his hard work for this party as member, Vice Chair and then Chair of the Federal Conference Committee. He has always championed the importance and sovereignty of Conference in our party and will be sorely missed ...
Fri, 12:56: RT @Frances_Coppola: Actually I was a system designer and coder for 17 years. This is on my public biog and can be found with a simple Goog... Fri, 16:05: RT @garvanwalshe: 11/ It needs to understand that the sovereignty of all medium-sized countries is highly circumscribed. Leaving the EU inc... Fri, 16:41: RT @ColdChainShane: I'm late to this, but here is a🧵about just how non-trivial the #sausagewars / wider #NIProtocol food supply issues are... Fri, 17:11: The Scottish Anthropologist Who Inspired Dracula https://t.co/ypsGS6MpPA Emily Gerard's explorations. Fri, 18:09: Friday reading https://t.co/ZHb7av6CGk Fri, 18:44: October 2011 books https://t.co/LJHrvnFf5I Fri, ...
In the fine print of the recent budget was an announcement that UK citizens living abroad for more than 15 years were to get the right once again to vote in general elections. Eligible voters would register at the location where they lived prior to moving abroad (although we would like to see the establishment of overseas constituencies). Legislation should be laid before Parliament later this year to bring about the reform. It is estimated 5 million British citizens live overseas, and that 3 million have lived overseas for over 15 years. A brief history of the issue Before 1985 ...
Sat 12th
10:39
Want to know where your Shropshire Councillor lives? Shush! It's now an council secret
Out of the blue, Shropshire Council has decided that it will no longer publish councillors' home addresses. Anyone wishing to send letters, will need to send them to Shirehall where the overstretched secretariat will redirect them to councillors. As far as a I can see, this was a decision taken in secret by an increasingly secret council. I certainly wasn't consulted. Current rules would allow a resident in Oswestry to stand for a Shropshire Council seat in Ludlow. But now you are not now allowed to know where a councillor lives. This is just the latest step in the Conservatives ...
Here's my latest post from the Liberal Democrat website: Many congratulations to Nick da Costa who has been elected as the new chair of Federal Conference Committee (FCC), following Geoff Payne's decision to stand down earlier this year. Nick is a councillor in Haringey and former London Assembly candidate, as well as an experienced FCC member, bringing to the role a great understanding both of how conference works and of what we need to do as a party to win. In his new role, Nick will also therefore be taking over from Geoff on the Federal Board and Steering Group. ...
Friday morning and, for those of us that aren't naturally early risers, the hour time difference between Brussels, the nerve centre of the ALDE Party, and the United Kingdom was the cause of a slightly hurried morning routine for your correspondent. First, there was a rather sad piece of business, as the Congress was asked to make a decision on how to proceed following the sad demise of Party President Hans van Baalen. There had been some consultation as to whether or not a by-election should take place to fill the vacancy, amidst rumours that a candidate was already "working ...
broadcast and production anniversaries 12 June 1965: broadcast of "Journey Into Terror", fourth episode of the story we now call The Chase The Tardis crew and the Daleks explore a house filled with apparently supernatural creatures. (Frankenstein's monster was played by the father of a college friend of mine.) 12 June 1969: last filming of the last episode of The War Games, Patrick Troughton's final appearance as a regular (though he came back three times afterwards). 12 June 1971: broadcast of fourth episode of The Dæmons. The Doctor is captured by the villagers, but escapes; meanwhile the Master summons Azal. ...
There is nowhere I would rather be at the moment than Chesham and Amersham. Well, maybe not doing what is becoming known as the "Mark Pack" delivery run which is apparently vertiginous, taking in both sides of a valley. Our party president tackled it the other day and other alumni include Kevin Lang, who was Wendy Chamberlain's campaign manager. A Lib Dem by-election campaign at full pelt with the prospect of a win is a thing of joy and you really, really want to be part of it. One previous by-election victor is there: Not just one, but two stakeboards ...
Taking the figures on 8th June vs 1st June we have: Area 1st8th England 115 147 East 7 6 London 29 20 Midlands 18 40 North East 17 18 North West 31 43 South East 10 13 South West 3 7 The North west shows a more general recent growth. The figures by trust are only up to 6th June not 8th June. They do show a recent wave of admissions in Bolton
As the government prepares to launch sweeping changes to the planning system that will remove the right of communities to object to inappropriate individual developments in their area, the Guardian reports that 13% of the Tories' recent donations came from property tycoons and companies. According to the Electoral Commission these firms gave £891,984 to Tory central office and eight local associations - a sizeable chunk of the £6,418,295 the party reported receiving in the first three months of 2021. Yet another startling coincidence.
From the City Council : The Generation Rent project is a collaboration between Dundee City Council and Generation Rent. The aim of the project is to identify best practice in ensuring tenants in the private sector are more informed of their rights and responsibilities. Dundee is the only Scottish Local Authority participating alongside three English and one Welsh authority in the project. We recognised that whilst we have very good lines of communication with landlords and agents through the HMO Licensing Scheme, Landlord Registration and Dundee Landlord Accreditation, it is much more difficult to communicate with tenants and particularly the ...
A rare piece of good news for the Liberal Democrats is to be found in a New Statesman article by Ben Walker. He says that we are set to gain from the new constituency boundaries proposed by the Electoral Commission. By his calculations, if the 2019 election had been fought on these boundaries the Lib Dems would have gained Sheffield Hallam from Labour and Esher and Walton, Finchley and Muswell Hill, South Cambridgeshire and Wimbledon from the Conservatives. Other commentators have suggested that Tim Farron will have trouble finding a winnable seat in Cumbria, and there will be more subtle ...
