Reacting to suggestions made by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that fuel shortages are a crisis "manufactured" by the public and "one of the road haulage associations", Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Business, Trade and Transport Sarah Olney MP said: "Grant Shapps is shamefully passing the buck for the Government's own failures. "The Conservatives have repeatedly ignored calls from businesses to address the shortage of drivers. It is a bit rich for ministers to now blame the public and the road haulage industry for the mess we find ourselves in. "The Transport Secretary should focus on getting a grip of this crisis ...
The second of the Black Archive books analysing past stories of Doctor Who looks at The Massacre, a 1966 First Doctor story which has been lost from the archives, apart from an off-air audio recording, a few photographs, and the Loose Cannon reconstruction which you can watch here, here, here and here. It's set immediately before the Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve in 1572, also the subject of Christopher Marlowe's last play. Incidentally, it was the first Doctor Who story to be directed by a woman (Paddy Russell). Second paragraph of third chapter of Cooray Smith's book:Steven also lacks a ...
New polling by Number Cruncher Politics for the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform shows strong support for electoral reform: 52% support proportional representation 17% oppose 31% don't know This is one of those topics where the exact question wording can produce quite varying results, with YouGov late last year pegging it at 42% to 33% in favour of proportional representation. The road to electoral reform: Lib Dem Newswire #148LDN #148 covers the road to electoral reform, universal basic income (UBI), the decriminalisation of cannabis and more. more It's also one of those topics where a neutral question – which you ...
Well, well, well - I had not realised that Dennis Villeneuve's Dune is not yet out in the UK or America. My British and American (and I guess also Irish) friends, you have a treat in store. F and I went to see it yesterday in the IMAX near the Heysel stadium. I think in retrospect I'd have gone for the 3-D experience rather than the IMAX; it is such a huge film that one rather gets lost in the perspective. You have surely read the book, so the only important thing to say about the plot is that we ...
Over the past few months, it has become clear that the sunny uplands of Brexit are not just a long way off but in fact never existed. Rule Britannia has turned into a small offshore island with very few friends ... Continue reading →
Infection rates reached the highest recorded level in Ludlow last weekend at 520 cases per 100,000 people. That means 57 people living in the town tested positive in the seven days to 19 September. That is 63% higher than the previous high rate in July. And it is 44% higher than the rate across Shropshire at the same date. There were higher infection rates in Cleobury Mortimer (1,076 on 19 September); Harlescott Grange (923); and Ellesmere (801). In Shropshire, rates are now climbing with a current infection rate of around 430, up from around 310 at the beginning of the ...
This week, a landmark announcement from the Lord Advocate means that people caught in possession of a Class A drug could be given a warning rather than prosecuted and instead referred to support services. From The Guardian: Individuals caught in possession of class A drugs in Scotland could be issued with a police warning rather than facing prosecution, in a significant policy shift announced by the country's new lord advocate as a direct response to the ongoing drug death crisis. Dorothy Bain, who was appointed to the role in June, said the decision to give police discretion over class A ...
Sat, 12:13: Just imagine if Verity Lambert had been brought back as Doctor Who showrunner 17 years after 1963. It would have been her instead of John Nathan Turner! Sat, 12:56: RT @johnmcgooner: @CaitlynBBS https://t.co/qpdzgNlRHE Sat, 13:29: Dune!!!!! (at @Kinepolis in Laken, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest) https://t.co/wqtrh7dy3J Sat, 14:48: RT @suey2y: I absolutely bloody love Grease. I always saw it as Danny having to change for HER, and her dazzling emergence at the end, a t... Sat, 16:05: RT @EroComfort: So glad that we no longer have to continue this most painful countdown. Michael is coming home and with Michael Spavor. ...
It's a case of 'as you were' in Canada as electors stick with the Liberals - as a minority government. Having called a snap election in August, Justin Trudeau will be relieved to still be Prime Minister having seen his Liberal Party slump in the opinion polls earlier in the campaign. When the election was called on 15th August, the Liberals had a strong 6-point lead over the Conservatives. However, by 5th September, the Tories had overtaken the Liberals for a 3-point lead. At this point, it looked as though Trudeau's gamble was going to backfire. After some strong performances ...
I wasn't sure which song to choose for today's music video, but when I walked home past the Conservative Club last night I heard someone making a brave stab at this. Sorted. There are those who say The Same Old Song is a reworking of Where Did Our Love Go or I Can't Help Myself, but Motown Classics is having none of it: The title is an intentional joke, occasioned by the increasing perception that all Holland-Dozier-Holland's songs sounded the same, together with the ludicrously unrealistic time frame imposed on this. It's a cheeky wink, something that HDH might have ...
Social media is the expression of all of us. Collectively and individually. Even if people don't participate in it, its impacts cannot be ignored. Social media is all of us on the internet, on phones, laptops, smart speakers and an ever growing number of devices. It is almost as everyday as conversation. Except social media is not like conversation. Any abuse in conversation is usually sporadic. On social media it can be relentless. This commentary comes from someone who has engaged with online communication since the late 1980s. I get abuse as a councillor but not as much as some ...
Sun 26th
08:30
World Review: US ballots, the Quad, Britain as a "vassal state" and vaccinated Africans
In this weekend's review, Tom Arms reports auditors have discovered that Donald Trump received 261 fewer votes in Maricopa County, Arizona, and Joe Biden 99 more undermining those that called the election result the "Big Lie". Could the crisis at Evergrande slow China's economy and that of the world? The "Quad" is a new Indo-Pacific alliance of the US, India, Japan and Australia designed to counter the rise of Chinese. India is the outlier in the group perhaps its including might mean it will look more towards the US. France has recalled its ambassadors to Australia and America over the ...
Social media is the expression of all of us. Collectively and individually. Even if people don't participate its impacts cannot be ignored. Social media is all of us on the internet, on phones, laptops, smart speakers and an ever growing number of devices. It is almost as everyday as conversation. Except social media is not like conversation. Any abuse in conversation is usually sporadic. On social media it can be relentless. This commentary comes from someone who has engaged with online communication since the late 1980s. I get abuse as a councillor but not as much as some others. Steve ...
From the City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating carriageway resurfacing works. The Order is expected to be in force for 4 weeks from 4 October 2021. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Blackness Avenue for its entire length. The works will be completed in 2 separate phases: Phase 1 - Perth Road to Seymour Street (west side) and Phase 2 - Seymour ...
It seems that my expression of hope that Lord Bonkers is about to return to the political was miscalculated. I grant that he is no longer wandering a strangely timeless East Midland landscape with the Elves of Rockingham Forest, but I remain to be convinced that he is yet pointing the way to a Liberal Democrat return to office. Those nuns were the authors of their own misfortune When I set out on this odyssey I swore that I would not spend time in a zoo, having unhappy memories of the Bonkers Hall Safari Park and its sudden closure. (I ...
