These days North London Trains from Richmond terminate at Stratford. When this driver's-view video of the line was shot in 1987 they turned south there, ran through a largely derelict Docklands and reached the river at North Woolwich. So we have in the latter part of the video is a portrait of Stratford and Docklands before their redevelopment had begun. There's fun to be had earlier on too, as the North London line is carried over the Great Western main line at Old Oak Common and the West Coast main line at Willesden Junction. When I lived in London three ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is now out. As it says: It's become a bit of a cliché to point out that the public doesn't get a vote in the Conservative leadership election. But the public will get a vote at the general election (and at local elections and possibly early Parliamentary by-elections too). Those votes will determine if the new leader is a success or a failure, and how many of the leader's Parliamentary followers get to keep their seats. So those who do get to vote for the Conservative leadership ...
Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Lib Dem leader of Portsmouth City Council has given his backing to Penny Mordaunt as the Tory leader contest enters its closing stages among the MPs. Reported in the i, Gerald Vernon-Jackson described Mordaunt as "competent and hard-working" and told the newspaper that she has been a "pleasure to work with" since she was elected as an MP in 2010. Inevitably I would like a Prime Minister not to be Conservative, but for a few years there will be - looking at the choices and, from a Portsmouth point of view, Penny would be good. He continued: She ...
"We cannot, under any circumstances, repeat the catastrophic mistakes of Thatcher and the Conservatives where whole communities in Wales were destroyed by the closing of industries with no plan to replace them and no plans to reskill the workers who lost their jobs." Jane Dodds is calling on the Welsh government to consider extending its current basic income pilot to workers employed in heavy industries who will be impacted by the transition to a net-zero carbon economy. Alastair Driver says the government must not water down its funding for Environmental Land Management schemes: "There is absolutely not a 'food crisis' ...
While all eyes were on the leadership election last Thursday, the Environment Agency published its annual report on the environmental performance of water and sewerage companies. The agency has suffered from severe cuts to staff and that has limited its operational effectiveness. But it has too often pulled its punches, preferring diplomatic niceties to forceful language. No longer. Outgoing chair Emma Howard Boyd didn't mince her words in her last report on water and sewage. She called for prison sentences for the chief executives and board members of the companies responsible for the most serious pollution incidents. Company directors should ...
Yesterday we reported that much loved liberal activist Ruth Coleman-Taylor had died. She will be very much missed. Back in 2014, she wrote this piece for us on the future of the state which is as relevant now as it was then, probably more so. The Liberal Democrat pre-manifesto sets out our ambitions to take power from 'the stifling hand of Whitehall' and return it to citizens and communities: but does the state have the power it once did? Can we rely on having a strong state to implement our plans? After the Second World War, the new architecture of ...
Politicians have always known how to play to our prejudices and to keep us thinking about supposedly simple answers to complex issues. Of course, little in our society and world can be solved by simple sound-bite political slogans but how many of us are sucked into simplistic/easy answers whilst we can't really be bothered with all the complexities? I'd been thinking about this for a while and then an issue popped up again which could well be of great significance but which has mainly been brushed under the political carpet. See the link below:- Carole Cadwalladr is one of ...
Chosen because of the weather, the widespread anxiety and my fear that all this will result in riots. The Ruts reached no. 7 with this in the cooler summer of 1979 and got to appear on Top of the Pops twice. The first time, according to Wow Vinyl: A nervous-looking Dave Lee Travis introduced the song with the old-school producers allegedly in a panic behind the scenes fearing it might actually inspire riots.
Yes, Women Get It Too Say it loud and say it again. Women do suffer from the midlife crisis. There is enough evidence about to substantiate this. There isn't anything wrong with us for going through the crisis. It's perfectly understandable that when you reach a certain point in life - mid phase - you ... The post How do you know if it's a midlife crisis? appeared first on A Midlifer in London .
Ludlow councillors and Philip Dunne have been working towards getting a lift installed at Ludlow Station for several years. The lift was approved under the Access for All Scheme in April 2019. Since then, it has gone rather quiet. Earlier this week I asked Network Rail what the current situation is. The response is: "The aim is to deliver the new Access for All footbridge at Ludlow station by March 2024 to meet DfT funding timescales. We have engaged a contractor to take forward detailed design and will share drawings when these become available." This very good news though I ...
Sat, 12:05: So, here's an inconsequential question from @verystrangemaps: which U.S. President's grave is furthest to the east? Reagan is the westernmost, LBJ the southernmost & Coolidge the northernmost. But J Adams & JQ Adams share the same crypt in Quincy, MA. 1/4 https://t.co/h8FpzTeeJN Sat, 12:06: RT @ThraexBarbatus: @dagger0621 *turns book over* "All Quiet on the Western Back" *with the same scene viewed from the rear* Sat, 12:56: RT @TolkienWonder: The invitation to Christopher Tolkien's 21st birthday. Love the bottom lines... https://t.co/TEKIzqrqK1 Sat, 14:48: Daily Octordle #173 🕛7️⃣ 🕚5️⃣ 8️⃣🔟 6️⃣9️⃣ Score: 68 https://t.co/j7MjyMV4Fq Sat, 14:49: Daily Quordle 173 7️⃣8️⃣ ...
I really love sports! I remember that as a child, I could easily spend hours playing football, basketball, or badminton. Winning or losing a game, belonging to a team, communication & learning; sport gives us so many important lessons which can shape our adult life. When I moved to Croatia and then Italy, football was such a powerful way to meet new people. At the beginning, I didn't speak Croatian or Italian so sport was a fantastic way to build new friendships and learn basic words in both languages. All of these experiences helped me a lot to feel less ...
(know yourself – know your worth) #qualityoflife"Know well what leads you forward, and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom." 'Intrinsic Value', is often called 'Fundamental Value' as it's to do with knowing yourself to know your worth. Outside the world of business, intrinsic value has traditionally been thought to [...]
A diplomatic truism is that some conflicts are insoluble. They are, however, manageable. Although the consequences of doing nothing or mismanagement can spell disaster. The Arab-Israeli conflict falls neatly into the above category. President Joe Biden obviously came to this conclusion before stepping on the plane for his tour of the Middle East this week. A succession of American administrations – except Trump's – has paid homage to the two-state solution. Biden reiterated the pre-Trump position, but not as forcefully as his predecessors. Part of the reason is that there was little point as his Israeli counterpart, Yasir Lapid, is ...
When he said he was going to be a caretaker Prime Minister, surely we could expect that he would do the bare minimum. However, that is not how Boris Johnson sees his role, and frankly, why should we expect anything different? The Guardian reports that the Prime Minister is omce more "missing in action" after failing to attend a Cobra meeting to discuss the national heatwave emergency following predictions that thousands could die in the coming days: As the threat to life from the impending heatwave continues to crystallise, the prime minister chose to skip the meeting on Saturday. He ...
