When I heard that some schoolchildren in the UK are going to be asked to sing a song saying how great Britain is on Friday, to be honest, I thought someone was just having a laugh. Surely nobody could be so crass? I was wrong. As The Independent reports, The Department for Education this week announced it would encourage schools to celebrate One Britain One Nation Day on 25 June. Celebrations for the event include singing a song called the "OBON Day Anthem 2021", which ends with the children repeatedly chanting, "Strong Britain, great nation". It also includes the chorus: ...
Bill Bernbach was one of the pioneering American ad men of the mid-twentieth century, now best remembered as a frequently referred to rival in the TV series Mad Men.
Yesterday Scottish Conference Convener Paul McGarry announced in an email to members that our online Autumn conference will take place online on 8th and 9th October. So the key deadlines are: Drafting advice: 16th July at noon Constitutional amendments: 16th July at noon Motions deadline: 12th August at noon You can get your ticket here. And the first timer rate for Scottish members is but a mere pound. And while we are on the subject of deadlines, don't forget that the Federal Conference motions deadline is 1pm next Wednesday. For more information, see here. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of ...
Re-upping my post from 31 January last year: Brexiteers, you won. You have made your country a smaller-minded and less important place. For the sake of your mythical sovereignty, you have managed to re-create the old border in Ireland and also produce a new border between Northern Ireland and Britain. You have sniggered at the problems of EU citizens, resident in the UK for years, who struggle to retain the rights that you promised would be untouched by your project. I will be polite and professional with you; I hope to work positively on projects of common interest in the ...
This week's news included an early "obituary" for Apple Daily, the eponymous newspaper founded by Jimmy Lai, a long-time critic of the Hong Kong and Beijing Governments. The prediction of closure of the pro-democracy paper by the end of the week followed the arrests of the executives (including the editor-in-chief and the chief executive) and freezing of the assets of the parent company, Next Digital. All the staff of the publication are expected to resign this week and the last issue may be the June 26 edition. This news is remarkable to me in 2 respects: First, that the charges ...
As restrictions are gradually eased, it is heartening to see our public spaces once again being filled with shoppers, cafe-goers and those who just want to make the most of being able to socialise freely again. This should also prompt us to have a serious look at the value we place on our public spaces, for if we do not act soon, we could lose them without realising until it is too late. A small but growing number of commentators and activists are drawing our attention to increased use of pseudo-public spaces – that is, those which to all intents ...
This government does not do itself any favours when it comes to enforcing Covid rules. There is of course the controversy over important contracts going to Tory party donors and friends of Ministers, but there is also Dominic Cummings' trip up north during lockdown and the clear impression that the rules are flexible providing you are one of the privileged elite. Now, we have the European Championships final and the clear impression being given by Ministers that restrictions on travel that apply to all of us, to stop the spread of Covid and to keep nasty variants out of this ...
Liberal Democrats will today call on the Government to scrap visa fees for all foreign veterans and currently serving personnel in the UK Armed Forces. Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Defence Jamie Stone MP has tabled a cross-party amendment to the Armed Forces Bill, which reaches committee stage in the House of Commons today, calling for visa fees to be waived for any current or previously serving members of the UK armed forces and their families. Jamie Stone MP commented: "In Armed Forces Week, we must provide meaningful support - not more empty words - for service personnel and their families."Foreign ...
Tue, 14:17: RT @BenRigbyJourno: @nwbrux would, I think, heartily agree with this. Well done, @chrisdeerin for capturing why many of us find SciFi so ca... Tue, 18:52: Don't Be Evil: The Case Against Big Tech by Rana Foroohar https://t.co/L2PJh9R1cM Tue, 21:44: https://t.co/xXHwC1hI7D Wed, 09:30: Whoniversaries 23 June https://t.co/ePDQQ1Ku7u Wed, 10:45: A simply superb bit of number-crunching!!!!! https://t.co/4svW80jXu2
Simon Foster has kindly permitted us to share his following photos from behind the scenes at Chesham & Amersham. All photos are All Rights Reserved by Simon Foster. Went staking, found a Daisy Opposite Amersham High School She's behind you! Ready for loading Car Stake kit The car is full! Our dear leader Neil runs on real ale Piston broke on the Riso On the road with another delivery He lives next door to a Tory councillor Caption competition * Simon Foster is a lecturer in Politics and Economics, and has published 23 books on Politics, PSHE and Citizenship.
Orkney's Lib Dem MSP this week lodged a bill in Holyrood which would enable assisted dying in Scotland. This would enable terminally ill, mentally competent adults to have an assisted death. Here he is talking about it to the BBC. This is a subject that is obviously emotive and needs to be handled with compassion and sensitivity. I can't think of anyone better than Liam to do this. He is very thoughtful and wise and will take concerns about the measure very seriously and try to address them as best he can. I have been a supporter of assisted dying ...
i) births and deaths 23 June 1925: birth of Mary Ridge, who directed Terminus (1983). ii) broadcast anniversaries 23 June 1973: broadcast of sixth episode of The Green Death, ending Season 10 of Old Who; last regular appearance of Katy Manning as Jo Grant. The Doctor realises that Cliff's fungus is fatal to the maggots, and destroys BOSS with the blue crystal; but Jo gets engaged to Cliff. 23 June 2007: broadcast of The Sound of Drums. The Master, as Harold Saxon, becomes Prime Minister, kills the cabinet and the American president, ages the Doctor by hundreds of years and ...
Media reports suggest the Government is to hold off on announcing its plans to reform social care until at least the autumn amid continued disputes within the Cabinet. Boris Johnson this week delayed a meeting with the Chancellor and Health Secretary to discuss the reforms and is said to have ruled out using rises in income tax, VAT and national insurance to pay for social care in England. In a letter in the Times this morning, Sir Norman Lamb, minister of state for care from 2013-15, calls for the "Dilnot cap" to be implemented and for all parties to work ...
Responding to suggestions that the Government is ushering in national ID cards via Covid certificates, Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: "Vaccine passports were the thin end of the wedge. That the Department for Health is contracting work to a company that makes its money setting up surveillance systems, including ID cards, for Governments around the world is extremely worrying. "Collecting everyone's personal information in a national database through an ID card system risks breaching people's right to privacy. This is a policy no one wants and any plans for ID cards should be scrapped immediately. "The Government cannot continue ...
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to remove Part 3 from its Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, as a new report from Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights says it "would increase those restrictions on non-violent protest in a way that we believe is inconsistent with our rights". Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: "Priti Patel's protest crackdown law is dangerous and draconian. The right to peaceful assembly and protest is a fundamental human right, and has always been a crucial part of our democratic society. "As the Joint Committee on Human Rights makes ...
Responding to the economic stats yesterday, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Treasury Christine Jardine MP said: "The scale of the Government borrowing illustrates clearly just how huge an economic challenge people and businesses have faced in this pandemic. "Ministers must remember that behind these figures are millions of families, individuals and businesses who need support to get by in this and by refusing to extend furlough and the business rates holiday the Government putting all of them, our recovery and public finances at risk. "This Government has serious questions to answer about its economic strategy - if indeed it has ...
Liberal Democrats MPs Munira Wilson and Christine Jardine have written to the Chancellor demanding the Government protects lives and livelihoods in response to reports HM Treasury suppressed access to sick pay for furloughed workers. The letter also highlights the lack of new support for businesses and workers following the month-long extension of Coronavirus restrictions. Munira Wilson MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health, commented: "At the beginning of this pandemic the Chancellor promised he would do 'whatever it takes' to protect people's livelihoods. Yet his department stands accused of suppressing access to support for those self-isolating, one of the country's most ...
During the recent demolition works at 219-245 Blackness Road, the bus stop at the Ashbank Road junction for services towards the City Centre has been out of action for safety reasons. Now the demolition works are nearly complete - and it will be some time before the new build will commence - many residents have asked when the bus stop will be back in action. It is used by many people from the Blackness and Logie areas and a fair walk to the next nearest stop. I took this matter up with the City Council and the Senior Transport Officer ...
John Rogers takes us on another London walk, This one takes into a magical realm just off the hustle and bustle of Upper Street Islington as we take a walking tour around the streets of Canonbury. Ed Glinert described Canonbury as 'The best preserved and most picturesque suburb in inner London' (The London Compendium). In The London Nobody Knows, Geoffrey Fletcher wrote that to walk from Upper Street to Canonbury Square is to 'move into an entirely different world'. John Rogers has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.
