A busy Yeovil road will close for five days as resurfacing work is carried out on the route - only two years after it was last resurfaced.

The A30 Sherborne Road will be closed between the Lyde Road junction and the Dorset boundary for the work.

The route will be closed for five days from Monday June 15, Somerset County Council has revealed, and heavy traffic disruption is expected.

The road was initially resurfaced in 2018, but the surface has already begun to deteriorate.

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A spokesman for Somerset County Council said: "Testing has shown the surface to be defective and it will be removed and replaced at no cost to the county council.

"This replacement is also taking place earlier than planned, making use of the quieter network at present.

"Works will take place over five nights, starting on June 15, with a road closure in place to keep the workforce and travelling public safe."

Councillor John Woodman, Somerset County Councils cabinet member for Highways and Transport, added: Our contractors use approximately 23,000 tonnes of road surfacing materials every year and failures like this are very rare.

However, when it does happen, we have the necessary safeguards in place to ensure faulty materials can be replaced at no cost to the taxpayer.

Although the additional works may not be welcome in the short term, the restored road surface will be much improved and provide lasting benefits.

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Busy Yeovil road to close for five days with heavy traffic disruption expected - Somerset Live

During the last couple of years, the vending machine market has demonstrated significant growth in general, with increasing market share of intelligent vending machines. According to research firm Technavio, the intelligent vending machine market size has the potential to grow by $11.24 billion during 2020-2024. As the maturity of connected devices and IoT sensors has been established, there is increasing demand both from customers and operators to use more intelligent machines.

In addition, the fast changing lifestyle of the population urbanization, extensive growth of public transportation usage, development of huge office buildings and parks and the consuming habits of the younger generations, millennials and Gen-Z led some research firms to claim an increasing market share of micro markets at the expense of slowing the growth of traditional vending machines.

Micro markets are more robust from a variety of products perspective, allow the selling of fresh foods, salads and sandwiches, and are much more relevant in office buildings' lobbies, workplaces, clubs, gyms, etc. The main challenge of micro markets is still the relatively high level of shrinkage, being open and relying on trust of the customers. That also limits their potential distribution to public areas such as railway stations.

Apparently, vending machines and micro markets leave a space for a solution that has significant potential growth: "a next generation vending machine" or "closed cabinet micro market." This type of machine will include a full micro market with a reasonably large number of SKUs functioning like a vending machine from a resilience and security point of view, while allowing a wider variety of products and price points. Several North American and European operators are offering such solutions, but until recently, it has not gained significant market share.

Micro markets are deploying a large variety of solutions, from single closed coolers or dry cabinets to combined cabinets to fully automated convenient stores equipped with several cabinets and open shelves offering an autonomous, frictionless shopping experience.

One of the main challenges in closed micro markets is the product recognition functionality. While solutions with sensors and telemetry can perform like traditional vending machines using scan-and-go or self-check-out technologies, such solutions actually downgrade the customer experience. That is why technologies such as smart weighing sensors, camera vision and in some cases even RFID will be used in micro markets.

With post COVID-19 market trends emerging, including the desire for more healthy food, sanitary and public safety, we can expect major growth in the demand for intelligent vending machines, equipped with more sensors monitoring the status of the food, and even consumers' temperatures.

The hotter trend appears to be the demand for closed micro markets. Closed cabinets of micro markets, or even autonomous closed micro markets, are expected to grow even faster because of their potential to better meet the customer's desires, including a full replacement for the supermarket.

Autonomous micro markets offer a variety of products, including fresh foods, available 24/7 (either at the office, on the way at the railway station or close to home in neighborhoods), while adhering to sanitary requirements, social distancing and providing a pleasant customer experience.

Micro markets are not only for traditional vending machine operators. By the nature of operations and data management, the micro market can be an ideal solution for retailers (mainly supermarkets and pharmaceuticals) wishing to expand beyond the store and allow customers 24/7 availability of products.

Even consumer product manufacturers, some of which are looking to get direct access to the end customers, are considering their own micro market networks.

And finally, having such digitized systems, equipped with a large number of sensors and available data, will become a rich source of data to be analyzed by the various stakeholders: operators, retailers and consumer product manufacturers, to learn and better understand the needs and habits of their customers. Such technology offers operational excellence, improved sales and many insights to other fields of expertise.

For an update on how the coronavirus is affecting convenience services, click here.

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Why the post COVID-19 era will drive intelligent vending, micro markets and beyond - Vending Times

Even with NCDOTs and other state agencies budgetary woes from the pandemic, Whitehead said that resiliency work will continue.

The thing about climate change in any of this, its not going to go away, she said. Were still going to figure out ways to plan for it.

Transportation projects in North Carolina have already been engineered for environmental changes, said Chris Werner, director of technical services at NCDOT.

Resiliency is a critical part of how we design and build our infrastructure, he said. We work with all our partners across the state.

Werner said that the agency has an inbuilt culture that fosters innovative and proactive approaches to problem solving.

Were always looking for cutting-edge analytics and software, he said. Most of us are engineers. The more data we can get, the more analytics we can perform.

One example is application of the states data-richFlood Inundation Mapping Alert Network, or FIMAN, to not only predict flooding on roads and bridges, but also to design for it by looking at trends in the data.

The agency, he said, is in the process of expanding the FIMAN gauge system from a property-impact focus to provide data specific to transportation infrastructure. For instance, data collection can be tailored so it can be used to prevent future road washouts.

Its not just a matter of fixing a damaged structure, he explained, the goal is to keep it from happening again by building redundancy and resiliency.

When severe flooding on U.S. 421 in Wilmington in 2018 during Hurricane Florence damaged the road and cut off traffic, Werner said, the agency took the opportunity to build better and stronger. After analysis of historic and current data, instead of just replacing ruined culverts, the department replaced them with a new bridge. Another bridge was also built nearby, providing the transportation corridor with both redundancy and resiliency in the event of future flooding.

Our goal is to build infrastructure thats durable and safe and resilient as possible, Werner said. As civil engineers, were constantly improving what weve done in the past. Thats what we do. It all stems from field observation and data.

Other measures NCDOT has put in place, he said, are monitors of water levels at low bridges, and identifying alternative travel routes on itsREADY NC app. The department has partnered with Google Maps and WAZE to feed their traffic data into the app. Also,DRIVENC.govshows up-to-date closures and maintenance work on the states roads.

In reality, the feats of engineering for NCDOT are not so much in dramatic crane work at bridge construction sites or road restorations after storms. Its mostly what goes on behind the scene at research centers and laboratories.

We do a lot of work with our universities, said Neil Mastin, NCDOT Research and Development manager. We work with business units and academics.

In May 2019, the department presented its first Research & Innovation Summit at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to discuss transportation-related innovations and research.

Although it is not often a focus of public discussion, NCDOT has been studying numerous issues that could result in transportation improvements, although its research program for 2021 has been postponed, Mastin said.

Ongoing or planned research projects include the following:

How to reduce environmental impacts of road construction.

Building 2-D scour models to improve understanding of water interaction at bridge pilings.

Monitoring erosion on the Outer Banks going back 20 years, along with an ongoing coastal monitoring program, that gathers data on island width, the size of the dunes and distance of the road to the ocean.

Documenting stormwater impacts from recent storms (on pause) and studying Neuse River watershed flood abatement study (ongoing).

Forensic analysis of sections of girders from the old Bonner Bridge that spanned Oregon Inlet to learn how they withstood the harsh coastal conditions.

Analysis of submerged aquatic vegetation in the Currituck Sound to understand where it is and how to protect it.

Biologic stabilization of soil to potentially increase resistance to erosion.

Using dredged material from the Rodanthe emergency ferry channel potentially to build bird or material disposal islands or to fill eroded areas.

Mastin said that NCDOT is also hyper-aware of the public concern about drainage issues. The state is responsible for the ditches and culverts within road right of ways, as well as the nine ocean outfalls in the state, all of which except one is on the Outer Banks.

Water in general, he said, is the enemy of transportation networks.

In the past, locations of all small and medium drainage pipes around the state were mapped, he added, with the ambitious goal yet mostly unfulfilled of eventually replacing them. But thats just pipes and flooding is getting increasingly worse.

Eastern North Carolina in particular, with land as flat as it is, makes it extremely challenging, Mastin said. We can fix one problem somewhere and it makes it worse somewhere else.

Drones are being used more often by NCDOT to provide footage of flooded areas and to help manage flood gates, he said. Theyre also used to build wetlands, to identify plant types, to measure elevation and to help determine where to send crews after disasters. Researchers are also studying development of drones to inspect bridges.

Improvements of material mostly concrete and asphalt are constantly being studied, Mastin said. One example of research results is the proposed bridge replacement on Harkers Island, which would be the states first fully composite reinforced bridge. Rather than using corrosion-prone steel rebar, he said, the structure will be built with a mixture of carbon fiber prestressed strands and fancy fiberglass.

Well be monitoring this closely, he said. This is really exciting.

Continue reading here:
Resilience Bigger Part of Plan to Save N.C. 12 - Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Fresh protest in Berlin for Floyd; France plans rally against police violence

Protests against the death of George Floyd are continuing for a third day in Berlin, though the gathering outside the US embassy Monday is significantly smaller than earlier rallies, which drew up to 2,000 people.

Paul Schreiner, 69 and originally from Wisconsin, is among a dozen people holding a vigil outside the embassy Monday. Its my duty, I feel, to be here, he said. Theres a very interesting phrase that white silence is violence, and that moved me to make sure I came today.

People attend a rally to commemorate George Floyd and against racism and police violence in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 1, 2020. (AP/Markus Schreiber)

Holding a sign with the names of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and others, American citizen Carmen Osorio Rodrigues says she is concerned about the direction the United States is heading. We have to confront these social injustices, she says, adding: We need clear leadership on how to act.

In Paris,family and friends of a French black man who died shortly after he was arrested by police in 2016 have called for a protest on Tuesday which will also pay homage to George Floyd.

The circumstances of the death of Adama Traore, a French 24-year-old man of Malian origin, are still under investigation by justice authorities.

Calls for Tuesdays protest in front of the Paris court come after some medical experts last week attributed the death to a cardiac problem, the latest in a series of conflicting medical assessments.

French police claimed Traore died of a heart attack due to preexisting medical condition. His family said he died from asphyxiation from police tactics.

In a video message published on social media, Traores sister Assa Traore calls for protesters to express their indignation at a time when the world, when France is outraged by the death of George Floyd.

Les ecologistes rejoignent l'appel contre le dni de justice! Youth For Climate IDF Mardi 2 juin 19h00 devant le

La vrit pour Adama - , 31 2020

She says they had the same words, their last words: I cant breathe, I cant breathe.

She denounces the latest medical experts report as racist and untrue.

The family wants the officers in charge of Traores arrest to go on trial.

AP

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Netanyahu facing fresh stint in quarantine after worker comes down with virus - The Times of Israel

With current National Partnership Agreements (NPAs) on Public Dental Services for Adults due to end on June 30 and no sign of an extension, the Australian Dental Association (ADA) is urging the National Cabinet to renew the arrangements.

NPAs are funded by the Commonwealth and allow states and territories to increase services to eligible patients, either within their own facilities or outsource treatment of public patients to the private sector, where the public system cannot cope due to long waiting lists.

If the NPA funding isnt extended, we estimate around 720 patients a day, or 180,000 a year, will miss out on dental services they so badly need, said ADA President Dr Carmelo Bonanno.

This will result in waiting lists getting even longer, and peoples dental issues will get even worse as they wait years for treatment.

The National Partnership Agreements expires on June 30 and as yet theres no concrete plan for its continuation or replacement.

Peak oral health bodies are calling on governments to extend the current agreement for two years to allow time for a national group of experts to be established to advise on a more permanent solution.

ADA statistics show these agreements urgently need to be renewed: in March the ADA released the 2020 Oral Health Tracker which revealed Australias oral health is tracking in the wrong direction, with the prevalence of tooth decay and gum disease on the rise.

Australia has one of the best health systems and approaches to public health measures in the world as weve just proven with our management of COVID-19, said Dr Bonanno.

The Cabinet has worked collaboratively on an agreement for public hospitals, now it must put that same strategy in place to manage funding for public dental care. Without this, the oral health of those eligible for public dentistry will decline.

Further damning statistics from Australias Oral Health Tracker revealed:

a third of people eligible for public dental avoid certain foods/have difficulty chewing,

a quarter of those eligible for public dental dont have the teeth needed for their mouth to function properly. (Note:21 teeth is the threshold dentists use for the minimum number of teeth needed for the mouth to function efficiently.)

Continued here:
Oral health of millions in hands of government - Mirage News

A recent FICCI survey made it amply clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on Indian businesses which could lead to unprecedented collapse of the Indian economy. Only a substantive and urgent economic package by the Government could save a large section of the industry from permanent impairment, survey findings stated.

The survey has just brought to the fore what businesses, cutting across segments, have been realizing ever since the Corona outbreak led to shuttering of businesses and disruption of supply chains. A financial stimulus is, indeed, imperative in view of the huge financial impact on businesses especially to those like auto & tyre sectors who had been facing exceptional distress even before the arrival of the current pandemic. For instance, Tyre industry is poised to lose sales of nearly Rs 10000 crore due to lock-down till the end of April. There is huge blockage of funds by way of inventories of raw materials and in the form of finished goods. Many OEMs have asked for deferment of payments and realizations from the replacement market have dried out.

It is heartening to note the Governments resolve to fight back with full might. Honble Prime Minister has exhorted his cabinet that Government must work on war footing to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and strategize for the emergent conditions. However, what is of greater significance is PMs advice to lessen the countrys dependence on other nations and give a sincere push to Make in India as a long-term strategy to immune the country from external trade shocks. He emphasized on boosting Indias manufacturing and exports to benefit from emerging world realties.

Certainly, it is all the more important now to identify champion sectors where the country has much better bet of attaining the ideals of Make in India. These sectors will include the ones which have significant employment potential, have proven credentials in domestic manufacturing and exports, enjoy wide acclaim for quality worldwide and have the capacity to ramp up and become global leaders.

On all these counts, Tyre Industry in India has withstood the test very well over the years. It is unfortunate that Indian Tyre Industry has remained one of the less celebrated success stories on manufacturing landscape of India. The industry has not been adequately acclaimed for sterling achievements in areas such as exports, research & development and innovation. It is time that industrys key contribution as wheels of nations economy gets adequately noticed.

For one, Tyre Industry is self-sufficient in India with indigenous capacities to manufacture practically all kinds of tyres from a moped tyre to mammoth off-the-road tyres. Not many countries in the world can boast of this capability.

Not only has the Tyre Industry worked for a self-reliant India ever since independence but has emerged as a major exporter with Indian manufactured tyres being exported to more than 100 countries in the world including the most discerning ones such as US and European countries. Exports of tyres from India are in the range of Rs 12,000 crore per annum (nearly 20% of the industry revenue).

Job creation potential of the Tyre Industry is huge in view of a rich value chain extending from rubber planters to tyre mechanics. Industry supports over one million Natural Rubber (NR) planters since as much as 75% of the NR produced in the country is consumed in tyre manufacturing. Another million or so are engaged in tyre manufacturing, tyre retreading and those employed at tyre dealerships and tyre repair services across the length and breadth of the country.

Indian Tyre Industry is increasingly converging with the world in terms of practices, product quality and research & development. Today India has some of the finest radial tyre manufacturing facilities in the world. International vehicle majors (OEMs) have been rolling out leading brands in India on Indian made tyres underscoring the quality edge. The Indian Tyre Industry is emerging as a force to reckon with in the global manufacturing ecosystem. As many as four Indian tyre companies find a pride of place among the top 30 tyre companies in the world.

At a time when private investments have been hard to come by, Tyre Industry in India has continued to invest handsomely in capacity creation and technology. Ongoing and recently completed investments are to the extent of Rs 51,000 crore which is unprecedented in the history of the industry.

There is little doubt that India is in the sweet spot as far as tyre manufacturing goes. Seasoned entrepreneurship, availability of skilled manpower, availability of NR plantations and products surpassing international quality benchmarks are all the ingredients to make India a hub for tyre manufacturing in the world.

Tyre Industry deserves to be a shining example of Indian manufacturing (much like IT or Pharma in the respective sectors) in view of advancements in technology, contribution to Auto and Transport sectors, job creation potential and growth projections.

Currently, several countries in the world are looking to reduce their dependence on China for political, economic and strategic reasons. US and Japan are openly looking for alternatives to China to source products that offer quality and price competitiveness. And therein lies the opportunity of casting the net wider for exports of tyres from India.

However, the Indian Tyre Industry can leverage this opportunity and replace China in several key markets only if production and exports are provided a policy push by the Government and bottlenecks are removed. China enjoys huge economies of scale as far as tyre manufacturing is concerned. For instance, China exports tyres worth $15 billion in a year which is nearly double the size of Indian Tyre Industry. Actually, China has provided large export incentives to its tyre companies since the manufacturing capacity in China is many times that of its domestic requirements. To insulate its companies from the vagaries of fluctuation in Natural Rubber prices and availability, China is maintaining large reserves of rubber as a state policy.

Corona outbreak can work to Indias advantage as the quality of tyres produced in India has received worldwide acclaim. India can leverage this opportunity if the production and exports of tyres is given a strong fillip. That requires support to the industry much in the same way that the Chinese Government has been providing to its tyre companies.

Indias economic engine needs a lot of help from the Government to restart after the lockdown. However, support to a champion sector like Tyre Industry which has already proven its credentials as employment and export revenue generator will pay dividends in multiples.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Getting the priority sectors right post-lockdown - Economic Times

Under cover of the fight against the coronavirus and fears of a threatened second wave, the Netanyahu-Gantz government is trying to appropriate draconian legislative powers that will deal a mortal blow to human rights. The cabinet is advancing a bill to give itself special authorities as a replacement for existing emergency regulations that are due to expire. This bill would undermine not just fundamental rights, but also the principle of the separation of powers and the basic rules of democracy.

LISTEN: Bibis slash-and-burn strategy puts Israel on trial

The emergency regulations, which were hastily enacted when the coronavirus pandemic began, naturally entailed major violations of human rights freedom of occupation, freedom of movement, personal autonomy, the right to demonstrate, the right to education and freedom of religion and conscience. The Basic Laws put a time limit on emergency regulations for that very reason so as to give the government these powers only during brief periods of crisis and prevent rights from being severely infringed for longer than the period of immediate necessity.

Apart from the restrictions the public is familiar with from the lockdown period, the bill would allow the government to authorize police officers (and inspectors who arent police officers) to enter private homes without a warrant and enforce these restrictions inside them, including by using force. The courts would never declare this constitutional. The government could also create new crimes without the Knessets approval. All this violates the foundational idea of democracy and the separation of powers, which is that fundamental issues are supposed to be decided by the legislature rather than the executive, since the Knesset is the publics most authentic representative. Moreover, the minister in charge of the law would be the prime minister.

The draft bill would authorize the cabinet to promulgate regulations and allow it to continue dictating rules that undermine freedom of movement, the right to demonstrate, freedom of assembly and personal autonomy just as if the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty and the Basic Law on Freedom of Occupation had never been enacted, or as if they were irrelevant in the coronavirus era.

The proposed legislation does set a time limit on regulations that undermine individual rights, but it doesnt set any criteria for infringing on these rights. It also doesnt set any criteria for what constitutes a relevant rise or fall in the incidence of illness. Thus it effectively gives the government an opening to decide for itself what constitutes an emergency situation.

This is the behavior of a cynical government that has abandoned all restraints and is trying to accumulate more and more power rather than working to serve the public and protect its rights. This is what a police state looks like. Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit must make it clear to the cabinet that it may not expropriate power from the Knesset. And Kahol Lavan Chairman Benny Gantz must exercise the veto power he received under the coalition agreement to strive to get this destructive legislation shelved.

The above article is Haaretzs lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.

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With proposed coronavirus emergency regulations, it's the Israeli government vs. the public - Haaretz

Habitat has taken about 70 for an order which has not arrived, and I have been unable to speak to anyone.

It seems to have closed its phone lines and you can only use Facebook or Twitter, where they seem to be ignoring most people. I have seen numerous posts about the same issue: goods not arriving, or arriving damaged, and with no way to make contact.

Annoyingly, I still get almost daily marketing emails and was asked to write a review for a product I have not received. So I wrote a review to raise this point, but then got an email saying my review did not meet its standards.

I ordered a vase, a dish and some filing trays, but I feel sorry for people who have ordered more expensive items such as furniture.

If Habitat is not able to deal with orders, it should not still be selling stuff on its website.SG, Teddington, Middlesex

As you say, you are certainly not alone in complaining about Habitats poor customer service. Although its physical shops have been closed since lockdown, its online store has continued. After our intervention it phoned you to tell you that your order had been sent back by the delivery company Hermes as some items had been broken.

Sainsburys said: We have contacted SG to apologise for her experience and the delay to her order. We have arranged a replacement which will be with her as soon as possible.

Many of our Habitat customer service colleagues are temporarily supporting Sainsburys work to feed the nation and helping customers access Sainsburys home delivery service [Habitat and Argos are now owned by Sainsburys as part of the Home Retail Group]. This means that our capacity to respond to Habitat customer queries has been reduced, and we have recently only been able to deal with customer service queries through social media channels. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause and we will have colleagues dedicated to our Habitat customer service line again soon.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us atconsumer.champions@theguardian.com. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions:http://gu.com/letters-terms

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Habitat hasn't delivered my order and it's closed its phone lines - The Guardian

The 3.9 million project at King Edward VI School involves the design and build of an extension to an existing building and the construction of a new modular building to provide much needed replacement teaching and other spaces.

Phase one of works involves the construction of a new three-storey extension on the site of a former swimming pool which was demolished prior to commencement and is expected to be completed in spring 2021. The extension will provide replacement teaching and extra spaces, as well as an administration area on the lower ground floor, which will be the location of the schools new student services area.

Phase two, which is expected to be complete in winter 2020, involves the demolition and replacement of existing accommodation, providing modern and enhanced science laboratory teaching facilities at the school.

This is the second contract secured by G F Tomlinson through the Staffordshire Construction framework for Staffordshire County Council, led by Entrust Property Services.

During the work, the site management team will perform virtual live site tours for the school to report project progress and allow them to raise any queries they have.

Chris Flint, a director of G F Tomlinson, said: We are pleased to be able to commence construction works for our client Staffordshire County Council, particularly in the current climate. The works will maximise space and upgrade the existing buildings at King Edward VI School. These important renovations will optimise teaching spaces and improve the overall educational experience for students and staff.

It has been rewarding to engage with Entrust Property Services again and we look forward to working for them and Staffordshire County Council to deliver this project, whilst continuing to build strong relationships with Arc Partnership and our other local supply chain partners over the course of both phases.

Councillor Philip White, cabinet member for learning and skills, said: These works are being completed to ensure the site can accommodate an increased demand for pupil places at the school, as a result of new housing in and around the city. Once finished, the work will enable the school to expand by 150 pupils.

We have been planning for this for a while, and construction is taking place over the course of a year to minimise disruption as much as possible. Im sure pupils and teachers will enjoy using the brand-new accommodation in September 2021.

John Doherty, chief executive of Entrust Support Services, said: We are proud to see works commence at King Edward VI School following Entrusts master planning of a multi-faceted brief across a split campus.

"This is a complex project which we are proudly project managing with our preferred contractor and we look forward to working with G F Tomlinson, Staffordshire County Council and the school to complete it. Once finished these new teaching spaces will benefit the school and its pupils well into the future.

Jane Rutherford, head at King Edward School, said: With additional students joining us each year, this project will provide all our students and staff with access to improved facilities. We are looking forward to seeing the project completed during the coming academic year."

The council is leading the project, with project management from Entrust, G F Tomlinson acting as main contractors and Arc partnership acting as architect and structural engineer.

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Work starts on 3.9 million expansion at Lichfield school - expressandstar.com

On the morning after the general election, Boris Johnson told the country that parliament must change. No legislature can be expected to be preserved in aspic. There is a need for our systems of governance to be made more pluralistic and representative. However, Mr Johnson has seized an opportunity in a crisis to concentrate power rather than diffuse it. The end of online voting and the quelling of parliamentary debate will reduce the Commons to a rubber stamp for whatever Mr Johnson wants.

What is being done away with for the next month is effectively the pivotal role assigned to parliament: the scrutiny that improves the quality of government, which, given the economic and public health emergencies facing the country, has never been needed more. Since early May, a hybrid parliament has been operating. MPs debated proposed laws and voted in virtual divisions. This was considered an imperfect but makeshift arrangement necessary to observe the social distancing guidelines. These rules, instituted to save lives, have not changed.

Yet the government has decided to end remote voting and online interventions in debates. Ministers want only a few dozen MPs in the parliamentary chamber to ask questions, and those who wish to vote must queue up to cast their vote in person at the dispatch box. MPs who have been advised to stay home and shield can no longer take part in debates or votes and will have to rely on their whips to find opponents to pair with. It is wrong that parliament should proceed without provision for remote participation when many elected representatives cannot attend in person.

The system was given a dry run on Tuesday and was hardly an advert for parliamentary oversight. Instead of a digital voting system in which all MPs could be involved, we have a ludicrous queueing system in which only two-thirds of parliamentarians can participate. Online voting took 15 minutes, its replacement three times as long. That the new system is slower, more dangerous and less inclusive undermines ministers argument that the previous one was not fast enough to deal with the volume of legislation.

One suspects that there will now be fewer votes scheduled, which is a step back for democracy. Ministers evidently see no loss in the absent MPs unable to participate in debates on legislation. The message is very clear: we are dealing with a cabinet that is responsive at a stretch to the ruling party, but not to the Commons. Parliamentary democracy is fragile and can easily be disrupted if a powerful group of its members does not accept its rules.

A government that controls parliament can suppress information or inquiries which are to its disadvantage, sometimes by refusing to supply information. Team Johnson appears to be both scornful and fearful of scrutiny silencing scientists who might depart from the script during the damaging Dominic Cummings affair and delaying the publication of the last intelligence and security committee report on Russia. More pertinently, the coronavirus crisis requires an effective parliamentary audit of the far-reaching powers placed in the hands of the executive.

It was a former Tory lord chancellor who warned that human nature being what it is, every human being and every human institution will tend to abuse its legitimate powers unless these are controlled by checks and balances, in which the holders of office are not merely encouraged but compelled to take account of interests and views which differ from their own. A system was in place that allowed MPs to vote, speak and represent their constituents. In rescinding that, the government has left many voters unrepresented. Mr Johnson betrays a view of the lower chamber as a bystander in governance. A vigilant, inquiring and effective Commons is essential to prevent the misuse of formidable powers in a pandemic. It is extremely bad news for the country that Mr Johnson does not want such a parliament.

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The Guardian view on a Covid-19 parliament: unable to do its job - The Guardian