The freebie cultureThe Guardian reports that MPs have been accused of failing to learn their lesson over freebies after taking almost £400,000 of hospitality to concerts, sport matches and other events this year, with Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Wes Streeting among those accepting tickets. The paper says that despite the outcry in 2024 over Keir Starmer accepting football tickets and gifts of clothing, MPs appear to have been declaring hospitality since the start of the year on a greater scale than previously seen: The most recent disclosures include £858 worth of tickets to a Harry Styles concert at Wembley from the ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1565"In 2008, I met the Ukrainian diplomat and journalist who would go on to bribe Nathan Gill: Oleh Voloshyn. At the time he was working as press attache at the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow, where I was based as the bureau chief for the Guardian. Voloshyn made no secret of his pro-Kremlin views. He was clever, chatty and spoke impeccable English. He later went back to Kyiv to work for the Putin-backed administration of Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych." In his new book, Luke Harding joins the dots of a continent-wide Kremlin influence network that was disrupted by the jailing of ... (more) |
The view west from the Stiperstones ridge todayI was up on the Stiperstones ridge today, placating the Devil and admiring the view into Wales. Mind you, the border does funny things around there. So the large hill in the background and to the right, Corndon Hill, is in Wales, while the high ground to the left and behind it is Clun Forest and so in Shropshire. Those tortured rocks in the foreground are, of course, the Stiperstones' very own. (more) |
Liverpool needs to catch up with London in the fight for clean airSmoke emission from exhaust pipe of SUV car – concept of pollution I have always been interested in what has happened in terms of air quality not only in Liverpool where I've lived for 52 years but also in London where I lived for the 1st 11 years of my life way back in the 50s and 60s. Whilst I lived there the air quality in London and indeed almost every city was appalling. It was only when the clean air acts in the middle of the 60s began to bite that the air began to clear and be safe. ... (more) |
A library on the site of an old fire stationOystermouth library in Mumbles was built in 1935 and is a classic example of the architecture of that period. But what was on the site before then? An article on the story of Mumbles site by Carol Powell provides some insight. She tells us that there had been a school on the site since 1813, but the British 'Non-Denominational' School took over the premises in Dunns Lane in July 1835, when it enrolled 138 pupils: There had been a school on the site since 1813, but the British 'Non-Denominational' School took over the premises in Dunns Lane in July 1835, ... (more) |