Ministry of Justice has seen sense over proposed Baglan super-prisonPrisons minister Rory Stewart has announced that plans for a super-prison in Port Talbot have been withdrawn after strong objections in the community. (more) |
Tracing the lost River WestbourneAnother lost London river. This time it's the Westbourne, which rose at Hampstead Heath and flowed to the Thames at Chelsea. (more) |
Creeting St Peter: we may be small, but we're perfectly formed...It's certainly a cold and frosty evening in the Creetings, but regardless, Parish Council got through, with me in the role of compère and continuity. We weren't at full strength due to illness and injury, but with the need to adopt a budget for 2019/20, and to set a precept, I was keen to get through the business briskly. A very prompt start as the clock reached the half-hour, and we were off, racing through apologies, declarations of interest and applications for dispensations (none of the latter two, I'm pleased to note), before we adopted the minutes - it's so ... (more) |
Beverley Nielsen selected by Lib Dems in West WorcestershireLiberal Democrat members in the West Worcestershire constituency have selected Beverley Nielsen as their new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC). (more) |
Trollin' on the Twitter - Capitol Steps pays tribute to Vladimir PutinMore comedy genius from The Capitol Steps with a little homage to Vladimir Putin and his use of the internet. (more) |
Will the Council apologise for threatening us over Harthill being part of the Park?Now that the dust has settled a bit on the great victory by LOGS in the High Court last week, I have expanded my questions. I have written to a senior officer at the council today asking for responses to ... Continue reading → (more) |
WATCH: Lib Dem MPs challenge May on BrexitLib Dem MPs tackled the Prime Minister this afternoon as she made her Groundhog May "nothing has changed" statement. Christine Jardine, Jo Swinson, Vince Cable, Jamie Stone and Tom Brake challenged her on various aspects of her intransigence. Christine Jardine asked the Prime Minister to consider asking to extend the Article 50 period. The PM isn't even willing to ask the EU the question – and we all know that if we don't ask, we definitely don't get. Vince mentioned the troops put on standby over the Brexit period and asked how they would be carrying out their duties. I, ... (more) |
Bad news for aged couples buriedThanks to BBC's Money Box but no other broadcast news outlet that I know of, one learns that a mean tweak to the eligibility of couples to pension credit, which has been on the shelf since 2012, will be brought into operation from 15th May. (The government announcement was slipped out on the eve of a key Brexit vote.) Basically, couples will only qualify for pension credit when both parties have achieved state pension age, whereas before only one partner needed to have done so. (more) |
Rasputin features in our Trivial Fact of the DayThis morning Finedon's Revd Richard Coles tweeted that it was Rasputin's 150th birthday. He added our Trivial Fact of the Day: Rasputin's murderer Prince Felix Yusupov had been a member of the Bullingdon Club. It's on Wikipedia so it must be true. Oh, those Russians. (more) |
Second of two posts for Martin Luther King Day: my failure as an allyLong long ago, when I was an undergraduate at Cambridge in the late 1980s, I vaguely knew one of the university academics. He was famous for his rudeness. One evening I happened to be out with an Asian friend, and bumped into this famously rude academic at a bar. He offered to buy a drink "for you and your monkey". My friend was appalled. So was I. But because this chap was in a position of privilege (not directly; my friend and I were at different colleges to him, studying different subjects to the one he taught) I felt unable ... (more) |