It’s been a bit blowy in deepest mid-Suffolk, and I hope that our readers have come out of the trio of storms unscathed. Dudley, Eunice and Franklin have brought chaos to a country undergoing a fair bit of chaos already.
On this day in 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto”, probably the most influential political manifesto ever written. Admittedly, those who claimed to be implementing it weren’t terribly keen on winning hearts and minds through simple persuasion and an intensive leafleting campaign, but its impact still hangs heavy, as the situation in Ukraine reminds us. Richard Trevithick ran his locomotive for the first time at the Penydarren Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil in 1804, and probably didn’t have to worry about trees on the line. And, though it seems hard to credit, it’s ten years to the day since Emlyn Hooson died. Here’s what Eric Avebury had to say about him.
The Government are due to announce their “Living with Covid” plan later today, with free testing expected to be axed for all but the over-80s. What provision will be made for the millions of immuno-compromised people is still to be outlined but I for one intend to continue wearing a mask in public spaces if at all possible. It’s not just about me, you see… We’ll bring you the Party’s response as we have it.
Two weeks ago, it was announced that the existing plans to refurbish and restore the Palace of Westminster were to be abandoned, and the Sponsor Body created to oversee the project scrapped;
Coverage of the R&R developments from @DArcyTiP: Parliament restoration: Back to square one?#WestminsterRR https://t.co/KBBZgJetIg
— Dr Alexandra Meakin (@A_Meakin) February 11, 2022
The now favoured option is to carry out works without evacuating the building, an option predicted to take five times as long and cost twice as much, leaving Parliament to operate in a building site. And so, last week’s news that as many as seventy-five people have been exposed to asbestos within the Palace perhaps doesn’t augur well…
And, on that note, hopefully your homes will stay intact, and you’ll stay safe…
* Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice.
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2 Comments
The Palace of Westminster should be renovated AND open as a Tourist attraction. A new Palace should be built central to the country.It will both bring money into the building and allow jobs of all sorts form the new building.
It is an interesting question whether the 1848 communist manifesto has contributed in any way to the current situation in Ukraine. Of course, in 1848, the territory that is currently Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire. After the communist revolution in 1917, Ukraine emerged as one of the republics within the USSR and became fully independent as part of the USSR dissolving. So, I suppose it could be argued that Ukraine exists independent of Russia today due, in part, to the communist manifesto. On the other hand, the current situation facing Ukraine may be more due to the Ukrainian Government’s unwillingness to implement the Minsk Agreements the country signed in 2014 and 2015, than to a document written over 170 years ago.