Posts
Humanitarian response package for Ukraine.
- Get link
- Other Apps
The UK has announced a humanitarian response package for Ukraine. This will include £37 million which will support the UN and Red Cross to give vital help to Ukrainian people through winter, as well as partners focusing on the most vulnerable: women, girls, older people and people with disabilities.
PISA study international education results
- Get link
- Other Apps
Yesterday the OECD PISA study named England among the highest performing Western countries in education – whilst in Wales, Labour lets children down with their worst ever PISA test results, showing that only Conservatives can be trusted with our children's future. Under Labour in 2009, Britain was 25th, 27th and 16th in international league tables for reading, maths and science. This has improved to rank 13th, 11th and 13th with our 15-year-olds performing above the OECD average in the international education league tables. We must not be complacent. the COVID pandemic created great difficulties for students and teachers alike. But these international comparisons show that British schools, particularly those in England, have responded to these challenges better done better than those in many other comparable countries. There is still more to work to be done, but we are making progress, ranking higher than Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Norway. However, Labour-run W
Advent Sunday music spot: "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from Handel's "Solomon"
- Get link
- Other Apps
This lovely Sinfonia from the start of Act III of Handel's oratorio "Solomon," immediately precedes the story of the visit to King Solomon of the Queen of Sheba and has long been nicknamed "The arrival of the Queen of Sheba." Today is Advent Sunday, the first day in the Christian Church's year, and the official start of the lead-in to Christmas. Advent means arrival, and the Rector of St James' church in Whitehaven had this piece played at the start of her sermon this morning, to use the arrival of the Queen of Sheba as a metaphor for the arrival of the baby Jesus at Christmas, to which we look forward at Christmas.
Celebrating Small Business Saturday today
- Get link
- Other Apps
Celebrating Small Business Saturday Small and medium businesses make up 99.9 per cent of the 5.6 million businesses in the UK – they employ almost 17 million people and contribute £2.4 trillion to the economy. That is why the Conservativves are helping small businesses succeed by cutting their businesses rates, cutting the cost of employing staff and keeping corporation tax low. We are also freeing up billions of pounds of Start Up Loans so new businesses are created every day. By taking the long-term decisions to support these businesses we are supporting local jobs and helping to secure economic growth to fund public services. We are doing this by: Cutting tax for small and medium businesses , allowing them to focus on their priorities. We have raised the employment allowance to £5,000 which delivers a £1,000 tax cut for small businesses – and we have secured a lower rate of corporation tax for smaller businesses through the Small Profits Rate, meaning smaller businesses do not
Midweek music spot: Bach's Concerto for two violins in D minor BWV 1043
- Get link
- Other Apps
MoD Defence intelligence update summary 28th November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
Tuesday music spot: Sing Joyfully (by William Byrd)
- Get link
- Other Apps
When politics drives people away ...
- Get link
- Other Apps
This evening I attended the AGM of Lancashire area Conservatives as Regional Chairman. It was a constructive and friendly meeting chaired by the outgoing area chairman, Sir Robert Atkins and, in the circumstances, a useful reminder that politics does not have to be unpleasant, destructive or extreme. The reason this was a useful reminder is that as I left the hotel where the meeting took place to drive to the next location I needed to be, I put my car radio onto BBC Radio 4 just as a very well-produced but deeply disturbing "Crossing Continents" programme was starting. BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Florida's political refugees The programme was about certain trends in US politics but trends in American politics, culture and society often spread to the rest of the world, and when I ask myself if it is possible that what was being reported in America could happen here in Britain, I have to answer, yes it could. Lucy Proctor presented a report on people in the USA who a
The Global Investment Summit
- Get link
- Other Apps
Today the Prime Minister unveils over £29 billion of new investment in thriving UK sectors at the Global Investment Summit , creating thousands of new jobs and driving growth across the country. Attracting global investment in new projects is vital to boosting long-term economic growth, creating highly-skilled jobs, and building a brighter future for families across the country. Today the Prime Minister unveils £29.5 billion of new investment for thriving UK sectors at the Global Investment Summit, alongside Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, and the world's leading CEOs and investors. This investment – which is triple the sum raised at the last Global Investment Summit in 2021 – will create more than 12,000 new jobs and is a huge vote of confidence in the UK economy. We are making the UK the best place to invest and do business with the biggest business tax cut in modern history, our culture of innovation and thriving universities – and today’s announcement shows our
MoD Defence intelligence update summary 27th November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
MoD Defence intelligence update 26th November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
Nissan to invest £2 billion making cars in Sunderland
- Get link
- Other Apps
Sunday music spot: the NEW Doctor Who Theme 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
MoD Defence intelligence update 25th November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
Music to relax after campaigning: "The Windmills of Your Mind" sung by Noel Harrison
- Get link
- Other Apps
MoD Defence intelligence update on the war in Ukraine 24th November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
MoD Defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine 23rd November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
Highlights from the Autumn statement for growth
- Get link
- Other Apps
Here are twelve ways the Autumn Statement for Growth reduces debt, cuts tax and rewards hard work: Cutting taxes for 27 million working people from January, rewarding hard work across the country. We are cutting the main rate of National Insurance Contributions from 12 per cent to 10 per cent. For the average worker earning £35,000 a year, that means a £450 tax cut. Helping people keep more of their hard earned money (Source, HM Treasury, Autumn Statement 2023 , 22 November 2023, link ). Cutting and simplifying tax for two million of the self-employed, supporting the country’s entrepreneurs. We are abolishing an entire class of NICs and cutting the rate of the NICs top rate from nine per cent to eight per cent – a with an average total saving of around £350 for someone earning £28,000 a year ( Source, HM Treasury, Autumn Statement 2023 , 22 November 2023, link ). Cutting business taxes permanently by £11 billion a year, delivering the biggest business tax cut in modern Britis
MoD Defence intelligence update 22nd November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
MoD Defence intelligence update 21st November 2023
- Get link
- Other Apps
Tuesday music spot: The Vivaldi Gloria (RV 589)
- Get link
- Other Apps
Labour is "institutionally islamophobic" - says Labour MP.
- Get link
- Other Apps
I must confess that I do not often agree with Labour MP Zarah Sultana, a fact which will doubtless come as no surprise to any regular reader of this blog. But I do think that she was absolutely right, as well as very brave, to condemn Labour's attack advertising against the PM earlier this year as, quote, “playing on racist tropes of Asian men”. Zarah Sultana added that Labour officials " knew exactly what they were doing " when they published a picture of the Prime Minister's face alongside the claim he did not think child sex abusers should go to prison. The adverts, published on the party’s X (formerly Twitter) account in April , highlighted the number of adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under 16 who did not go to prison. “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t ,” the poster said. I will add - and this point is coming from me rather than Ms Sultana - that during most of the perio
MoD Defence intelligence update on the war in Ukraine 20th November 2022
- Get link
- Other Apps