They may be the future, but the issues with datacentres persist and now it transpires that they may not be the nirvana some believe. The Guardian reports on new research that has found that datacentres in the UK will create just a quarter of the jobs predicted by the tech sector, while consuming vast amounts of energy. The paper adds that environmental thinktank Verdant predicts that all the datacentres currently planned are likely to directly employ 10,400 workers - compared with the more than 40,000 cited in projections by the industry lobby group TechUK: Verdant's analysis is based on 20 ...
Murray to push for key figures to attend and Scottish Affairs committee to exert its full powers Scottish Government flounders over ferries again Parliament backs Scot Lib Dems for more generous community benefit from energy projects Murray to push for key figures to attend and Scottish Affairs committee to exert its full powers Following on from yesterday's announcement that the UK Parliament's Scottish Affairs Committee will launch inquiries into the dual role of the Lord Advocate, and into the financial regulation of political parties in Scotland, Liberal Democrat Scottish Affairs spokesperson and committee member Susan Murray MP has called for ...
Thu 10th
19:05
Dysfunctional council to be abolished after years of controversy and "all out civil war"
Our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Leicester Mercury. I know things can get pretty het up on the city council, but the authority in question here is Witherley Parish Council. The village of Witherley lies on the Leicestershire-Warwickshire border near Atherstone, and we are able to bring you exclusive video of its most recent attempt to conduct a parish council meeting.
Today Sarah Olney MP officially launched her bid to become the Liberal Democrat candidate in the London Mayoral election, which will take place in May 2028. In her campaign to be selected as the candidate she stated that these are her priorities for London: Making London the most business-friendly city in the world: By harnessing the power of London's unparalleled business community and creating a Deputy Mayor for Business, elected by a consortium of business leaders based in London. Improving the quality of London's housing: Empowering renters, landlords and developers to raise housing standards; to boost energy efficiency, tackle mould ...
Farmers have been complaining for some time that the price of farmland has lost any connection with the income that be derived from farming it. And The Agri Brigade column in the new Private Eye suggests they have a strong case: Average UK farmland prices have more than quadrupled this century, from just under £2,000 an acre to well over £8,000 an acre, according to statistics from land agents Savills. Over that time, farm profitability has remained poor, but farmland's IHT-free status drew many ultra-high-net-worth individuals into buying land as a convenient way of minimising their tax liabilities - the ...
Most of the country clearly believes that the Government's newly announced actions to be taken to curb the illegal Israeli settlements are overdue... but very welcome nonetheless. It's not universal, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews condemning the change, but liberal Jewish groups, such as Yachad, made the obvious but important point that "These new policies do not target Israel; they target the occupation. They draw a clear distinction between the legitimacy of the State of Israel and the settlement enterprise which is illegal under international law." As a Liberal Democrat, and as Vice Chair of the Liberal ...
Embed from Getty ImagesIt struck me that if Mrs. Jellyby had discharged her own natural duties and obligations before she swept the horizon with a telescope in search of others, she would have taken the best precautions against becoming absurd, but I need scarcely observe that I kept this to myself. - Bleak House, Charles Dickens. Mrs Jellyby goes in for what Dickens call "telescopic philanthropy", in that she devotes her energies to promoting a philanthropic project in far-off Borrioboola-Gha while her own children fall into the grate. We've all known political households like that. You can also have telescopic ...
The Guardian reports on the view of more than a dozen influential thinkers who have called on Andy Burnham to tackle inequality in the UK by introducing a wealth tax, universal free personal social care and bringing gas and electricity networks under public ownership. The paper says that in the lead-up to the first budget of the chancellor, John Healey, this autumn, the Compass thinktank has collated 70 policy options from 15 leftwing thinkers that they argue would deliver on the prime minister's promise to end 40 years of neoliberalism: Introducing the report, Ending Business as Usual, Michael Jacobs, a ...