Second paragraph of third chapter:Without hesitation I unbuckled my swordbelt and slid into the seat across from her, balancing my weapon across my knees. My fellow passenger was strikingly beautiful, I found, with long dark hair and a wide, almost familiar face. Thin nose, full lips, strong chin--The first of the prequels to the late great Roger Zelazny's Amber series, published in 2002 but I only got around to it as part of a Humble Bundle a few years back. I had been warned that the prequels were terrible; actually while the first book is not superb, it's not awful ...
Current Middlemarch, by George Eliot Riding the Unicorn, by Paul Kearney The Separation, by Christopher Priest Raybearer, by Jordan Ifueko Last books finished Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas The Monster's Wife, by Kate Horsley Light, by M. John Harrison The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje Next books Empire Games, by Charles Stross The Kingdom of Copper, by S. A Chakraborty
Oppositions are normally expected to win seats they are defending comfortably. What went wrong with Labour in Batley and Spen? A 7% drop in their share of the vote compared to the general election (and Labour's share was down 12.7% compared to the 2017 general election). A majority slashed by 90%, down to 323. In a sign of Labour desperation, Labour were spinning this as a great result. In
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Earlier in the week, Western Power Distribution (WPD) closed the Broadgate to vehicles after a cable fault some households and businesses without power. The cable has since been repaired and a temporary tarmac patch been put in place. The stone setts will be reinstated once new setts to replace those that have broken have been sourced. There has been a lot of concern expressed on social media and through email about the temporary reinstatement at the Broadgate. Here is the Shropshire Highways update from this morning: "The reinstatement is temporary which a Utility is allowed to do, we have also ...
Our newest MP has been talking to the Guardian about her landslide victory in leafy Buckinghamshire. She told political correspondent Peter Walker that the Conservative voters in Chesham and Amersham felt ignored by the Tories. They felt they could no longer relate to Boris Johnson and the Conservative party. The overarching theme was people feeling taken for granted, being ignored. With some people it was about Boris himself, with others the phrase was 'snouts in a trough'. One of our canvassers heard a conversation where someone said: 'All you need is Boris Johnson's mobile phone number and you're sorted.' My ...
One of the many casualties of Boris Johnson's administration is the code that is meant to regulate the way Ministers behave and fulfill their role. The Institute for Government certainly thinks so. As the Independent reports the Institute has urged the Prime Minister to urgently overhaul "fundamental flaws" to the ministerial code on the basis that it has been "severely weakened" and undermined during his time at No 10. They say that the Matt Hancock episode has once again made clear that "more than just piecemeal updates are needed": In a scathing paper, the authors also suggested Mr Johnson's response ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @RufusTSuperfly: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory is 50. Gene Wilder's letter to director Mel Stuart remains a perfect example of wha... Thu, 16:05: The problem with reinforced concrete https://t.co/G475tZjV17 Steel rusts. Things fall apart. Thu, 16:38: My top tweets H1 2021 https://t.co/qsaudzWKMP Thu, 16:41: My four top tweets from the first half of 2021: 4) The future Sir Alex Allan lends his skateboard to a family friend. https://t.co/d2fjrXcoOQ Thu, 17:11: Victoria Newton's Diary: How the Sun got its Matt Hancock scoop https://t.co/8t9uBNaLCh "It's rare that a news exposé unites the left and the right in British ...
First - huge congratulations to Kim Leadbeater. Brand new to politics, she was absolutely thrown to the wolves in this campaign, but she survived it. The fight between Labour and Galloway was bitter and divisive, the last thing this community needed. I hope that Kim will be a compassionate and healing MP and I wish her luck. Honestly, as someone who has been campaigning and knocking on doors in this election, the result has come as a huge shock. I thought the Conservatives would walk it. Perhaps that tells you something about the areas we targeted - our locally held ...
Back in April, on behalf of residents, I reported the deterioration of the road surface in Hillcrest Road to the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and received the following response : "An inspection has been carried out at Hillcrest Road and there are currently no actionable defects. However an order has been raised to repair non actionable defects when resources are available. Non actionable defects are minor defects and have no specified timescale for repair. Actionable defects are defects that require intervention i.e. repair within an appropriate timescale dependant on the location and scale of the fault." These defects had ...
Labour: 13 296 35.3% Conservative 12 973 34.4% G Galloway 8 264 21.9% Liberal Dem 1 254 3.3% 12 others 1 898 As explained in the previous post , a Tory win would have been regarded as an endorsement of Mr |Johnson's untruthful, self serving and incompetent govenmt , so this Labour win promotes a sigh of relief. Congratulations to our new MP, Kim Leadbeater. So far (06h42) the comments on the news bulletins I've heard have concentrate on the narrowness of the Labour majority. More significant, I think, is the smallness, 34.4% of the Conservative share of the vote ...
Labour have narrowly retained Batley and Spen after two bundle checks. Keir Starmer has been spared the ignominy of losing a red wall seat at a time when there is talk in his party of a leadership challenge. The majority of 323 defied the doomsayers but a 7.4% reduction in the Labour vote will still lead to continued questioning of his leadership. The Conservatives did not make ground and lost 1.6% of the vote. George Galloway came third, the Lib Dems fourth. The turnout was 47.6%. Batley & Spen parliamentary by-election, result: Lab: 35.3% (-7.4) Con: 34.4% (-1.6) WPGB: 21.9% ...
NHS Bury is offering vaccines to everyone over the age of 18, who either lives, works or studies in Bury. There are walk-up vaccination clinics every day over the next week in different places across Bury. The only one in Prestwich is on Sunday: St Gabriel's Medical Centre, 4 Bishops Road, Prestwich. 10am to 6pm. Pfizer first dose and second dose. The full list of walk-up clinics across Bury is here, and you can still book an appointment at local clinics as before.
Free summer holiday clubs are to be held for children and young people across Bury in August. Bury Council is working with a range of local organisations to put on activities that will be fun, challenging and exciting, while also providing parents with vital childcare. The Bury Holiday Activities and Food programme is being put on for children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. The sessions will run for four hours a days, four days a week, between August 2 and August 27 and each session will include a free healthy meal. The schemes are funded by the ...
Please see below the significant roadworks currently scheduled for the Prestwich area for July 2021. The full list can be found here Junction of Poppythorn Lane, Glebelands Road and Nursery Road, Prestwich – 3-4 July 2021 – Road closure (Bury Council) Nursery Road (Junction with Lime Grove) – 26 July 2021, Road Closure (United Utilities) Bury Old Road (just south of Thatch Leach Lane, Whitefield), 2-7 July 2021, Lane Closures (Virgin Media) Higher Lane, 6-7 July 2021, Lane Closures (Virgin Media) Singleton Road (Salford) 26-30 July 2021, Multi-Way Signals (United Utilities).
Join Heaton Park Methodist Church this Saturday (3 July 2021) for 'Outdoor Church' (First Saturday of the month going forwards.) They meet at the 'Rec' off Heaton Street (M25 1HT) around 2.30pm for a time to pause, breathe and reflect using guided 'pause points' Heaton Park Methodist Church sat: "We also offer (Covid safe) snacks and drinks as we meet to chat and share in friendship togetherWe also have great activities for children and young people with a story time at 3pm!. Come along and join us, we'd love to meet you!
Fri 2nd
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Boris Johnson joins my campaign to have Parliament moved to Arkwright's Mill in Cromford
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cromford Mills (@cromfordmills1771) At last! A big-hitter has backed my campaign for the Palace of Westminster to be allowed to fall to ruin and Parliament to be sent to meet in Arkwright's Mill in Cromford. As I once wrote of the palace: Imagine how much more attractive it would be as a ruin alive with feral cats, buddleias and fragments of Gothic tracery. Until now, I will admit, this campaign has gathered steam only slowly. But tonight all that changed. Home from caring for my mother, I logged into Instagram and ...
In addition to the Batley and Spen Parliamentary by-election, there were seven council by-elections this week, to fill eight vacancies. Good to see six of those seven contests have Lib Dem candidates, an improvement of one on the last time the wards were contested. Even better news to see this result from Dominic Rabb's Esher and Walton constituency: Cobham and Downside (Elmbridge) result: LDEM: 49.8% (+18.4) CON: 43.5% (-3.9) GRN: 3.0% (+3.0) LAB: 2.6% (-6.1) REFUK: 1.1% (+1.1) Liberal Democrat GAIN Conservative No UKIP (-12.5) as prev. — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 1, 2021
As I write this the by-election in Batley and Spen, where I live, is taking place but I shall not publish this post until the polls close. I fear that if the Conservatives take the seat this will be regraded as an endorsement of the Johnson Government, the most incompetent and dishonest of my lifetime at least, and probably ever. So I do not want to publish anything that contd be used as ammunition to hamper Labour's holding on to the seat. However I believe the circumstances that have led to the by-election have involved an outrageous abuse of our ...
