Embed from Getty ImagesMarket Harborough gets a bad press because the Jarrow Marchers did not meet with a particularly warm reception here. But things were different in 1905, when over 400 men Leicester men set off to walk to London to draw attention to the plight of the unemployed. The Leicester Gazette recalls: Local supporters in Market Harborough organised and paid for the first night's supper and accommodation in the town. Each man was given a supper consisting of one pound of bread and two ounces of cheese, with tea or coffee. They were then encouraged to rest their heads ...
I've given up writing "why oh why oh why" posts about the decline of Bonfire Night and the rise of Halloween. In part this is because, while it's rather fun to play the old fogey when you're young, it's less fun when your older. You start to fear that you really are an old fogey. But it's also because we British seem to have found a way to adapt the reimported American Halloween so it's more to our liking. So there's lots of M.R. James but very little Casper the Friendly Ghost. For myself, I never miss a chance to ...
We've talked a lot about the changes the party has made to diversity quotas for the forthcoming presidential election this week. Presidential candidates Prue and Josh have had their say, as have Rebecca, Iain and Jack. I have wanted to amplify other voices, but so many people have asked me for my view that I thought I'd give it to you too. My heart is in a million pieces this weekend. To be fair, it's been that way since the Supreme Court Judgement effectively ruined the lives of too many people I love for me to be silent on this ...
Across both sides of the Atlantic the question of 'Kings' has been a hot topic item for quite distinct reasons and in very different circumstances. In America, Trump has been taking kinglike powers on himself by taking illegal decisions and then fighting the courts. By usurping the Constitution of his own Country which was written after the royalty of the UK was overthrown and by the creation of his own 'Royal Court' which fawns on the man's every word and seeks to get advantage by association with the Supreme Power. Everything is done in Trump's name as he issues Executive ...
Time to get his posted before autumn turns to winter. Autumn Almanac is a non-album single from 1967 that made no. 3 in the UK singles chart. Ray Davies once explained its genesis: The words were inspired by Charlie, my dad's old drinking mate, who cleaned up my garden for me, sweeping up the leaves. I wrote it in early autumn, yeah, as the leaves were turning colour. And Andy Partridge of XTC has commented: It's a miniature movie, basically, that unravels itself as you are listening to it, and it has all these little movements or scenes. And they ...
Trump's Asia trip was a tour of important political contrasts. In Malaysia, Japan and South Korea he was treated with obsequious knee-bending accommodations. As his helicopter Marine One flew past the landmark Tokyo Tower was lit up with red, white and blue, AND, the final touch, topped with Trumpian gold. But it was the South Koreans who won the toadying prize. President Trump was greeted with a 21-gun salute, a band that played "Hail to the Chief" followed by his campaign rally theme song, "YMCA". But it didn't stop there. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung presented Trump with his ...
With thanks to Peter Gow, this is a really interesting historic photograph of Milnbank Road.
This interview with former Welsh Liberal Democrat Education Minister, Kirsty Williams is both sobering and shocking, exposing the pressures and the travails facing many politicians, and female politicians in particular, that are undermining our democracy and driving people away from public office. The BBC quotes Kirsty as saying that the online abuse she and other politicians had received was "unforgivable", and it was this level of trolling that forced her to leave politics: Speaking to politician Lee Waters - who has said he will step down next year - on the Fifth Floor podcast, she said the way she was ...
