Showing posts with label Liverpool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liverpool. Show all posts
Six of the Best 594
John Blake puts Ken Livingstone right on Hitler and Zionism.
"The evidence built into a startling indictment of South Yorkshire police, their chain of command and conduct – a relentlessly detailed evisceration of a British police force." David Conn on the lessons of Hillsborough and the longest inquest in British legal history.
The Shropshire Star collects local residents' memories of the filming of Powell and Pressburger's Gone to Earth in 1949: "I shall never forget Jennifer Jones’ feet. She did all the running up Pontesford Hill and up to the Devil’s Chair in bare feet, and her feet were bleeding. She was absolutely brilliant, a lovely looking girl."
James Curry remembers his grandfather, the Revd J.P. Martin, who wrote the immortal Uncle books.
Adam Gopnik reviews a new biography of Paul McCartney.
The impossibility of holding academies to account
David Higgerson writes on his blog about the Liverpool Echo's attempts to investigate the actions of a local academy that has announced it will no longer offer A levels:
The school, Halewood Academy, appears to consider itself above scrutiny and refused to talk to the Echo, instead referring to a statement online. The local council, Knowsley, shrugged its shoulders as well it might – it has no say on what goes on at Halewood, despite the fact its borough will have no A-level provision.
Tom was pointed towards regional schools commissioners who are apparently responsible for making decisions about academies in their areas. There is next to no information on this role, and what there is is tucked away on the utterly useless .gov.uk website. The fact there are precisely zero FOI releases from the regional schools commissioners tells you how accountable they are. There’s no information on the decisions they make either.
North West commissioner Vicky Beer seemed surprised to be asked what her role was by Tom, and referred him to central government, as it was their decision. Which doesn’t sound very devolved, does it?
The final irony – if irony is the right word – is contained in a screen grab in Tom’s report – a petition against the A-level closure plans filed on the government’s petition website was rejected because "the government and parliament aren’t responsible."Higgerson says this glimpse into the future of education will horrify any journalists, but it should horrify every parent and citizen too.
Six of the Best 579
Richard Kemp proposes a radical shake up of the way Liverpool is run.
Nick Clegg and the dogging site - a first post from Ben Rathe that went viral.
Northern Soul presents a striking piece of local history: "In 1859 the body of a man by the name of Harry Stokes washed up in the River Irwell. Upon examination, it was discovered that twice-married Stokes was biologically female and had been successfully living the life of a Victorian man in Manchester."
"The thrill of the aerial running shot and the suddenness of the ending mean that this, rather than The 400 Blows, is the film that leaves the viewer breathless. Even writing about it makes me shiver." Somewhere Boy has been to see Andrei Tarkovsky's first feature-length film, Ivan's Childhood.
A Clerk of Oxford visits Ramsey Abbey in the Fens.
Six of the Best 570
"If you criticise the party of government, you become a pariah - all of a sudden, you're faced with a deluge of SNP warriors to defend yourself against. What is becoming of democracy in Scotland if this is the situation that we have been left in?" Jordan Daly on life in post-referendum Scotland.
David Brindle talks to Brian Rix, who was 92 this week, about his two careers: farceur and activist for people with learning disabilities.
Labour peer Lord Berkeley warns against a pause in Network Rail's work to protect and improve the route to the South West.
Roger Mills introduces us Lilian Bowes Lyon, the Queen Mother's rebel cousin.
The Liverbirds were Britain's first all-female rock band. Paul Fitzgerald describes how they found fame in Hamburg.
Luciana Berger shows what it will take to survive in Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party
You may have seen the front page lead of today's Guardian: a deeply worrying story about a sudden spike in the number of mental health patients dying unexpectedly in NHS care.
It was based on figures obtained by the former health minister Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk.
The Guardian quoted Norman's comment on the figures:
So how did Luciana Berger, Labour's shadow mental health minister, respond to Norman Lamb's comments?
Let me show you:
Why did Berger break from the cross-party approach to mental health?
It is certainly not because she is a wild left-winger.
Though, as the great niece of Manny Shinwell, she has some claim to come from the working-class aristocracy, she comes from an affluent background. She attended the private Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls (current fees £15,516 per annum).
When she was parachuted into the Liverpool Wavertree constituency just before the 2010 election she soon became a controversial figure. She was seen as a Blairite, not least because of her friendship with Euan Blair.
But being a Blairite won't do her any favours now. Not with boundary changes in the air and threats of deselection coming from Corbyn loyalists. Certainly not on Merseyside.
Hence the stupid, partisan tweet we see above.
I am sure Berger is intelligent enough to realise that this approach will alienate the moderate voters Labour needs to win over to have any hope of winning the next election.
But she is trapped. And her fellow moderate Labour MPs are trapped too until they see the opportunity and summon the courage to depose Jeremy Corbyn and his strange inner circle of Trots and Stalinists.
It was based on figures obtained by the former health minister Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk.
The Guardian quoted Norman's comment on the figures:
"Significant numbers of unexpected deaths at the Mid Staffs NHS trust caused an outcry and these figures should cause the same because they show a dramatic increase in the number of people losing their lives,” Lamb said.
“NHS England and the government should set up an investigation into the causes of this as these figures involve tragedies for families around the country and the human impact is intense.”
Underfunding of sometimes threadbare mental health services which are struggling to cope with rising demand for care is to blame, Lamb claimed.One of the best things about politics since 2010 has been the new importance given to questions of mental health. This was exemplified by the 2012 debate in which MPs from both sides of the Commons spoke about their own experience of mental health problems.
So how did Luciana Berger, Labour's shadow mental health minister, respond to Norman Lamb's comments?
Let me show you:
.@normanlamb until 8 months ago u were the Minister for #mentalhealth. What did you do about this during ur 2.5yrs? pic.twitter.com/G4fFEF8vkV— Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) January 25, 2016Why did Berger break from the cross-party approach to mental health?
It is certainly not because she is a wild left-winger.
Though, as the great niece of Manny Shinwell, she has some claim to come from the working-class aristocracy, she comes from an affluent background. She attended the private Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls (current fees £15,516 per annum).
When she was parachuted into the Liverpool Wavertree constituency just before the 2010 election she soon became a controversial figure. She was seen as a Blairite, not least because of her friendship with Euan Blair.
But being a Blairite won't do her any favours now. Not with boundary changes in the air and threats of deselection coming from Corbyn loyalists. Certainly not on Merseyside.
Hence the stupid, partisan tweet we see above.
I am sure Berger is intelligent enough to realise that this approach will alienate the moderate voters Labour needs to win over to have any hope of winning the next election.
But she is trapped. And her fellow moderate Labour MPs are trapped too until they see the opportunity and summon the courage to depose Jeremy Corbyn and his strange inner circle of Trots and Stalinists.
Six of the Best 553
Raymond Smith speaks up for the Green Belt: "The Green Belt may not have turned out quite as it was planned, but it is increasingly used for urban recreation and, if protected, could be of ever greater environmental value.
"During the latter half of the 1930s, a surprising number of Nazi-themed summer camps sprouted across the United States. Organized locally and without the support of Germany, these summer outings bore a startling resemblance to the Hitler Youth." George Dvorsky on a forgotten slice of American history.
Yes you should drag your children round museums, says John Lanchester.
Lynne About Loughborough is pleased by the opening up of the town's Old Bleach Yard.
Wales Online has some fascinating photographs of lost towns, villages and neighbourhoods in Wales - some of them "dismantled for English gain," as it puts it.
