First and most crucially, I got my second vaccination last Friday, and am therefore clear to travel in the EU from Friday week. [IMG: D11AAD4C-73D7-4DB0-A9DF-2BDE00A98CF5.jpeg] Many people had warned me that the second Pfizer dose can really knock you out the second day after you have had it. I am glad to say that I did not notice anything. I had a big work task over the weekend and was able to complete it comfortably by Sunday afternoon. I note that in my previous post in this series I referred to "Worldcon hassles". As those who care about these things ...
It is roadworks season. Longer days. Better weather. The need to catch up after the epidemic. The Conservatives election pledge to fix the county's potholes. Work to connect developments to the road system. Much needed maintenance of rail networks. All are contributing to a summer surge of fixing and upgrading. The Broadgate has been closed for emergency works. And it is not known when they will be complete. I have asked that King Street is not closed at the same time. There will be closures on Sheet Road and Sandpits, as well works to patch up poorly executed resurfacing on ...
During the referendum, voters were promised Westminster would have greater power to scrutinise legislation. Liberal Democrats recently made valiant attempts to hold the government to account for its post-Brexit trade deals. European Union era deals are being "rolled over" by the government. These recycled deals contain review mechanisms that can be triggered if parties breach human rights and democracy clauses. Yet, in the case of the Cameroon deal, those mechanisms were not triggered despite decades of election-rigging, corruption and more recent human rights abuses. What hope is there that the Conservatives will consider current atrocities as sufficient to suspend the ...
The Guardian reports on the conclusion of the House of Commons environmental audit committee (EAC) that the UK government's underfunded green ambitions and "toothless" policies are failing to halt catastrophic loss of wildlife. They believe the biodiversity crisis is still not being treated with the urgency of the climate crisis arguing that the UK is the most wildlife-depleted country out of the G7 nations and, despite pledges to improve the environment within a generation, properly funded policies are not in place to make this happen: The government's 25-year environment plan to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 and ...
Wed 30th
12:02
Reflection on Vince Cable's article "Shouting at China over alleged Uighur genocide won't help" in T...
I am at disbelief at Vince Cable's assessment of the atrocities faced by the Uighurs people and the allusion of self-censorship based on emotional feelings in his article in The Independent yesterday. The Uighurs are indeed facing a crisis and consequences of genocide that requires international attention. The 38th parallel between North and South Korea can sometimes be comparable to a pristine natural reserve, but one will not celebrate such as an achievement. The economic progress in China may also be a beauty. However, it is pushed forwards by the same autocratic regime that self-inflicted a famine causing the death ...
Tue, 17:17: RT @StevePeers: Full text of yesterday's judgment giving permission to proceed to the judicial review of the domestic law application of th... Tue, 18:08: January 2012 books https://t.co/33X2P2QLlQ Wed, 09:30: Whoniversaries 30 June; and envoi https://t.co/SgFNjiUkrb Wed, 10:45: RT @billbirtles: Worth spending a minute to watch the video of this extravaganza in Beijing's Olympic stadium ... just to get an idea of how...
Reacting to the revelations from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that billions of pounds of taxpayer's money may have been lost in fraud from coronavirus support schemes, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Business and member of the PAC Sarah Olney MP said: "The PAC's revelations are eye-opening about the scale of the Government's failure to ensure that taxpayer money is directed to those that need it. "While it was essential that businesses and families were given support to get through this pandemic, the public still expect ministers to not be so negligent with their money. These are funds that could have ...
i) births and deaths 30 June 1978: death of David Ellis, who co-wrote The Faceless Ones (1967) 30 June 2015: death of Edward Burnham, who played Professor Watkins in The Invasion (1968) and Professor Kettlewell in Robot (1974-75) 30 June 2019: death of Glyn Houston, who played Professor Watson in The Hand of Fear (Fourth Doctor, 1976) and Colonel Ben Wolsey in The Awakening (Fifth Doctor, 1984). ii) broadcast anniversaries 30 June 2007: broadcast of Last of the Time Lords, the 200th story and 750th episode (depending how you count) of Doctor Who. And so I reach the end of ...
Reacting to evidence submitted by Lord Frost and Caroline Dinenage MP on EU visa arrangements for touring workers at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee today, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for DCMS Jamie Stone MP said: "Lord Frost's attitude of apathy today raises serious concerns about the way this Conservative Government is sacrificing people's jobs in favour of its anti-immigration ideology. As ever with the Tories, sorry seems to be the hardest word. "Our touring professionals have been devastated by this pandemic and are desperate for some clarity and reassurance on their ability to travel around Europe for work. But ...
I have in recent weeks had many grass maintenance related issues from residents about council-maintained areas - for example drying areas in council housing estates like Logie, Pentland and Tullideph - where grass is long and in dire need of cutting. This issue is not in relation to biodiversity areas but areas that the council maintains in the traditional maintenance way. I am aware this is a city-wide not just a West End issue but I took it up with the Head of Environment who has given me the following assurance : "As we are now reaching the peak of ...
Geoff Marshall follows the path of the abandoned line from Merton Park to Tooting through Merton Abbey station, which was originally known as Tooting Junction.
