How it's pronounced is the least interesting thing about Southwell. For what it's worth, one of my history teachers came from the town and said Suthull not South-well, so I do too. But just as in Shrewsbury, it doesn't matter. The video is right: Southwell Minster is one of England's least well-known cathedrals, but it's one of the finest. We don't even get to see it's glory: the medieval stone carving ("The Leaves of Southwell") in the Chapter House. Look below for an example. And it's a fine little town. I believe that when the Minster became a cathedral in ...
Reader's voice: Shall I say it? Liberal England replies: Go on then. Reader: That. Is. A. Disgrace. Liberal England: Thank you. Liz Truss flew to Tokyo to sign Britain's first post-Brexit trade deal five years ago this week. She took with her a small jar of Stilton cheese. The deal was largely a rollover of the one the European Union already had with Japan, but Truss had fought for better access for Stilton and cheddar. And, as a token of her appreciation of the liberalising of the Japanese market, she presented the Japanese foreign secretary Motegi Toshimitsu with the Silton ...
Tony Blair attended Fettes College in Edinburgh, which is often called "the Eton of Scotland". I've come across a footnote about the school's origins in Stiff Upper Lip by Tim Renton: Sir William Fettes founded the college with a bequest of £14m (in 2017 money) for the "maintenance education and outfit" of orphans and to help people "who from innocent misfortune during their lives, are unable to give suitable education to their children". In 2012 only five of 750 children enrolled were paying no fees. So it really is the Eton of Scotland. Eton College was founded by Henry VI ...
Editor's Note: In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates - one to launch their candidature plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign. Reflecting in the days and weeks after another amazing Party conference, I've been struck by the number of discussions I had, whether at fringe events or (more often!) in the bar, about how we engage and inspire the next generation of Lib Dem members and voters. As Chair of English Young Liberals, this is something I ...
I heard this in 2008 on Radio 3's Late Junction, and thought I had discovered an obscure new band I rather liked. On further investigation, Vampire Weekend turned out to be about the trendiest band in the world just then. Their detractors called their music "Upper West Side Soweto" and "trust fund frat rock".
With thanks to volunteers from Dundee Westgait Church, there's Tea and Toast at the West End Campus on Thursday mornings. The volunteers welcome any parents or carers of pupils at St Joseph's RC and Victoria Primary Schools and Balgay Hill Nursery School between 9am and 10.15am each Thursday in the primary schools' hall. It is a great chance to meet other parents/carers and have a chat. All welcome!
The Mirror reports that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking at scrapping tax breaks, which allows cars leased under the Motability scheme to be exempt from VAT or insurance premium tax. The paper says that these tax breaks are worth around £1billion a year, and the measure will mean cutting an exemption which allows cars leased under the scheme to be exempt from VAT or insurance premium tax. BMWs, Mercedes and other luxury cars could also be removed from the scheme: Around 860,000 disabled people use the scheme, which is open to people who claim a qualifying mobility allowance, usually through ...
