YARDLEY, PA Work that will span several months at one of Yardley's busiest intersections is scheduled to get started on Monday.

Crews will begin a project to replace the current traffic signal and do other work at the intersection of Main Street and Afton Avenue in Yardley. Yardley Borough Council members discussed the work at their meeting Tuesday night.

Because of a backlog in making the poles that will support new traffic signals at the intersection, the work could continue through July or August, Borough Manager Paula Johnson said.

The work will include the full replacement of the intersection's existing traffic signal with a new signal design that includes overhead traffic signals for improved visibility, borough officials said.

The new signal will meet all current PennDOT guidelines, officials said.

Pedestrian push buttons and pedestrian signals with countdown timers will be added at all four crosswalks, all signs around the traffic signal will be renewed and a four-camera video detection system will be installed, replacing the current in-ground loop detectors.

There also will be an emergency preemption system, which will allow borough officials to improve response time for emergency services.

Lighting at the intersection also will be upgraded with energy-efficient LED arms as part of the new signal pole installations. The existing traffic-controller cabinet will be moved form its pole-mounted location on the southwest corner of the intersection to the southeast corner.

All poles and mast arms will be painted black to match with existing decorative lighting in the area, Johnson said.

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Signal Work At Main St. And Afton Ave. In Yardley Starts Monday - Patch.com

Andrea Leadsom used her Commons resignation speech to deliver a parting shot at John Bercow, joking that he was the only politician she would tell to "f--- off".

The former business secretary who regularly sparred with the ex-Speaker in the Commons also said the Brexit referendum result was as good as Mr Bercow's face when she reprimanded him for calling her "a stupid woman".

In a personal statement after Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs Leadsom recalled her first rebellion against a three-line whip when she joined 80 other Tory rebels to vote for a referendum on EU membership in 2011.

She said this led to "media speculation" that she had told the former chancellor George Osborne to "f--- off".

Well, I can assure you that there's only one person to whom I might be tempted to provide such frank advice, and that wouldn't include any former or current chancellor and certainly not any current speaker," she said.

She added that the result of the EU referendum in June 2016 was "right up there with England winning the World Cup for rugby 16 years ago".

And she said: "It's right up there with the look on John Bercows face when I told him to apologise for calling me a stupid woman, and it is a bit behind the happiness of my wedding day."

Mrs Leadsom, who was one of the first casualties of last month's Cabinet reshuffle, added that she believed Boris Johnson was "the right person to seize the opportunities that await us outside the EU" and said it was "an honour" to serve as business secretary in his first Cabinet.

She wished her replacement, Alok Sharma, "huge success" as COP president when the UK plays host to the UN climate talks later in the year.

The South Northamptonshire MP said that she would now focus on the issue of early years from the backbenches.

She said: "When the Prime Minister asked me to step aside, he also gave me his word that he will enable me to take forward the early years work and I am delighted that the wheels are in motion.

"And I want to heartily congratulate him and Carrie for their decision to do their own bit of early years research."

Mr Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds announced this weekend that they are engaged and expecting a baby in the early summer.

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Andrea Leadsom says the only person she'd tell to 'f--- off' is John Bercow in resignation speech - Telegraph.co.uk

Muhyiddin Yassin has been sworn in as the new prime minister of Malaysia. Many people were surprised because 94-year-old Mahathir Mohammad, the oldest prime minister in the world, was widely expected to be reappointed for a third time.

Muhyiddin outfoxed the wily Mahathir, because Mahathir made two fatal errors. First, he had resigned, thus creating a vacancy. Second, he made a miscalculation about the kings discretion. The Malaysian king appoints a person he thinks can command the majority in parliament it has nothing to do with election results or how many MPs support you. In Australia, its called the captains pick.

The king picked Muhyiddin over Mahathir, and thats that. The only way now to remove the new government is via a vote of no-confidence in parliament, which will take months.

Muhyiddins new ruling coalition consists of three parties: United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Parti Islam Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM or United Indigenous Party).

UMNO and PAS were the defeated parties in the historic 2018 general elections that produced Malaysias first regime change since independence. UMNO had been the ruling party for nearly six decades before losing to PPBM and Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope). Mahathir had established PPBM specifically to beat UMNO, and almost the entire PPBM leadership was ex-UMNO.

Read more: Mahathir Mohamad crops up again in bid to lead Malaysia with Anwar on the same side

So now we have an interesting combination. UMNO and PPBM are essentially the same parties with similar ideologies, Malay nationalism, combined with PAS, which wants to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.

But what about the non-Malay and non-Muslim Malaysians who make up 38% of the population? Dont they count?

The short answer is no. While the new administration will appoint a few non-Malays to the administration, make no mistake, this is an all-Malay government and its focus is on the Malay and Muslim community.

UMNO is still sore at the Malaysian Chinese and Indian population for voting en bloc against UMNO in 2018, which led it to lose government. Now its payback time. Expect more Malay-centric policies that will punish the Chinese and Indians.

Many are worried about the direction Malaysia may be heading in the short term.

First, there is concern that corruption trials relating to the infamous 1MDB scandal involving ex-prime minister Najib Razak may now go nowhere. Najibs wife is also charged with corruption in a different case, along with several other ministers in the last UMNO-led government.

In fact, the UMNO president, Zahid Hamidi, who is facing 47 charges of money-laundering (the legal term for corrupt money), is trying to get a cabinet post in the new Muhyiddin administration. The attorney-general has resigned and his replacement will probably not go after high-profile UMNO individuals now that UMNO is back in government.

High-level corruption was one of the main reasons UMNO was defeated in 2018 and UMNO has not reformed. Now its back in government, most people expect business as usual. There is credible fear that Muhyiddin cannot stand up to UMNO as UMNO is now the largest party among the three core parties. UMNO and PAS also have a political pact, which means PPBM will definitely not be able to stop the senior coalition partner if it insists on certain public policy.

Read more: What Najib Razak's corruption trial means for Malaysia and the region

Second, people are extremely worried about PAS. Since its founding in 1951, PAS has advocated the idea of turning Malaysia into an Islamic state. It has introduced huhud (Shariah) law at the state level in Kelantan and Terengganu, but cannot enforce the law because it conflicts with Malaysias federal constitution.

Now that PAS is one of the troika in power, will PAS push the new administration to amend the constitution? There is already talk that PAS will get the government to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, or RUU355. This will indirectly allow for hudud to be implemented.

Third, and perhaps most worrying, the new government has broken the political convention that it always has a significant number of non-Malay voices to represent the diverse population. This government was built purely on the concept of ketuanan Melayu Islam (Malay Islamic supremacy). Non-Malays to be appointed to the new administration will know exactly where they stand as window dressing.

Despite its racial and religious tensions, Malaysia has always been seen by the international community as a modern, moderate Islamic country with strong Westminster institutions. It was always understood that the political elite would choose the middle path at the end of the day, no matter how heated the politics became.

This may no longer be the case.

If there is a lesson to be learnt here, it is that regime change does not guarantee progress. In May 2018, there was joy that Malaysia had finally joined the club of newly democratising countries via the ballot box. Almost two years down the road we are seeing a complete reversal via an elite game.

If there is one thing about Southeast Asia, it is that the votes of the ordinary people do not matter when it comes to power games. Power here is a zero-sum game and, in this case, the non-Malays and non-Muslims in Malaysia are the losers.

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Malaysia takes a turn to the right, and many of its people are worried - The Conversation AU

NewsLynn Davidson confronted Boris Johnson's right-hand man at a meeting of special advisers

Tuesday, 3rd March 2020, 6:46 pm

Lynn Davidson was sacked as a special adviser to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in the latest sign No 10 is exerting more control over the machinery of Government. But senior Conservative sources claimed her departure was unconnected to the argument she had with Mr Cummings, Boris Johnson's most powerful aide.

At a meeting of all special advisers on 14 February, Ms Davidson accused Mr Cummings of being "out of order" for telling aides they were at risk of losing their jobs in the Cabinet reshuffle.

No 10 subsequently tried to move her from the Ministry of Defence to the health or education department, but after Mr Wallace blocked the move she was unexpectedly fired this week.

Spad shake-up

Ms Davidson previously worked as a journalist for The Sun, before moving into the Government to work for then-Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt. She is one of a number of special advisers to be sacked or moved in the wake of last month's reshuffle.

A Tory source said the move was planned before she confronted Mr Cummings and insisted there was no link between the two events.

In the Home Office, Priti Patel remains embroiled in a row over claims she bullied Sir Philip Rutnam out of his job as permanent secretary. On Tuesday the Home Secretary sent a memo to all staff co-written with Shona Dunn, who is Sir Philip's temporary replacement.

The pair said they "both regret Sir Philip's decision to resign", adding: "We both deeply value the work that every person in this department does and care about the wellbeing of all our staff. It is therefore a time for us all to come together as one team."

Court fight

The Government is currently being sued by Sonia Khan, a former aide to Sajid Javid, after she was frogmarched out of the building and accused of leaking information.

See original here:
Government aide who spoke out against Dominic Cummings is fired from her job - inews

A councillor at the centre of a previous row over the future of a Lichfield leisure centre could be axed from a task group looking to develop a replacement facility in the city.

Cllr Jamie Checkland had been earmarked as a member of the cross-party group put together by Lichfield District Council.

But his position is now in doubt after questions were raised over his involvement by another member, Lib Dem representative Cllr Paul Ray, at a meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee.

The six-person group has temporarily been reduced to five members while a decision is made over the councillors involvement.

Cllr Tim Matthews, chairman of the leisure, parks and waste management (overview and scrutiny) committee, said:

At the meeting we discussed who should be on the task group and confirmed the membership of five councillors.

Following a recommendation by a committee member, we decided to delegate the decision about filling the sixth place to the task group.

We also acknowledged the huge role the task group will have to play in the development of a new leisure facility in Lichfield, and how crucially important it is that we fully capture community need as we seek to shape the future provision of leisure in Lichfield.

Cllr Checklands initial appearance in the task group had raised eyebrows after comments he made during the original battle to save Friary Grange Leisure Centre.

The Conservative member had claimed at a public meeting about keeping the facility open that The Friary School of which he was a governor wanted their facilities back.

Ive been fighting on behalf of The Friary School to get a fair crack of the whip in relation to the facilities and the income that comes in to the school and the way in which the pool and other elements are managed.

My priority is the children of the school. They are there to be educated and the money that comes into The Friary School should be used for their education.

For a number of years now, because of the contract signed in 1971 when it was just a sports centre the county council was paying a third and the district council paying two thirds. In 1978 a pool was built on the side and the contract was not changed.

As time has eroded the school has been picking up the county council bill. As it stands, around about 70,000 a year goes towards supporting the sports centre and school thats your pupils money.

We gave notice that the school wanted their facilities back. They do belong to the school and they create an income. They were built by the county council as a sports centre and astro turf pitch as part of the school.

The Friary Schools move to become an academy had been central to the reasoning behind the original plan to shut the neighbouring leisure centre.

Cllr Checklands dual role at the council house and as a governor led to another councillor asking whether there was a conflict of interest with the Conservative representative later apologising for breaching the code of conduct after a debate about the facility.

He eventually opted to step down as a school governor, before resigning from senior roles at the local authority too.

I do this to ensure the good work that needs to be carried out by these committees is not distracted any further.

I was grateful for the chance to meet with you where I was able to prove to you my integrity over my past three years involvement concerning the issues at the Friary Grange Leisure Centre.

I submit this and offer my continuing full support for the future and the progress you going to make.

Lichfield Live understands Cllr Checkland will be interviewed by council leader Doug Pullen and cabinet member Liz Little to decide whether he should take up a place on the task group.

Cllr Steve Norman, leader of the Labour opposition group at the council, has criticised a lack of decisive action by the overview and scrutiny committee on the issue of Cllr Checklands involvement .

The decision on who should or should not be on the group should have been decided by the scrutiny committee there and then, but it was left for the leader and cabinet member, to interview Cllr Checkland and report back.

To be fair to the leader, Cllr Doug Pullen, I think he was trying to leave that to the scrutiny chairman, but I got the impression that the cabinet member was in charge of this.

Its scrutiny at Lichfield District Council but not as I know it.

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Councillor at centre of controversy during campaign to save Lichfield leisure centre could be axed from task group - Lichfield Live

ST. JOHN'S, N.L.

David Maher

The Telegram

Former Liberal MHA Neil King has accepted a temporary position with the Department of Transportation and Works without a job competition.

Conception Bay South Progressive Conservative MHA Barry Petten raised the hiring in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, after filing an access to information request.

On the form it says: recruit from a previous competition, which means there were people there that were interviewed, went through the proper process that could have been hired, just scored a bit lower. There were people ready to take this position. Instead, it was scratched out and it was: hire 13-week temporary employment, said Petten.

Obviously, this was done to avoid a job competition, which don't make sense because there's already someone there waiting to take the job.

Transportation and Works Minister Steve Crocker says the practice of hiring temporary employees to 13-week positions without competition is not rare within government.

He's referring to a former MHA who actually took a temporary assignment, a short-term assignment, a 13-week assignment on an as-needed basis, said Crocker.

We do this all the time, Mr. Speaker, as MHAs and people who represent people put forward names for positions that come forward.

Crocker says a competition for a full-time replacement has already begun.

The hiring of workers on temporary contracts is within the right of ministers, according to legislation.

Clause 5.01 cc of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees' collective agreement, for example, specifies an employee can be put into a higher or lower position for up to 13 weeks without any competition.

Petten says the issue isnt the legislation, but putting a Liberal insider into the job when others had been interviewed.

We're talking about a former Liberal MHA being put in a public-service job, bargaining unit job, that someone is more qualified to do, he said.

They will show you the person that should have got called for that job. They never got called. Instead, their friend, the former MHA, got called. That's our issue. Simple.

Crocker denied the charge of cronyism.

If he wants to talk about cronyism, how about the 2015 appointment of a former minister to the chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, he said, referring to the appointment by the Tory administration of former cabinet minister John Ottenheimer.

Let's think about what he's saying over there today.

david.maher@thetelegram.com

@DavidMaherNL

Link:
Former Liberal MHA given government job without competition: Petten - The Telegram

Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, has reshuffled his cabinet. But among all the sackings and appointments, the big news of the day was Sajid Javids resignation as chancellor of the exchequer. Javid was reportedly told by the prime minister that he had to fire all his special advisers and replace them with No 10 special advisers to make it one team, which he refused to do, instead choosing to resign. He has been replaced by his deputy, Rishi Sunak.

This is a very swift promotion for Sunak and is a role that will immediately come with a lot of work given the budget is only four weeks away. This replacement is seen by many as the prime ministers move to take more control of economic policy. And, by replacing a chancellor who had, at times, different views to him, Johnson now has someone with limited political and cabinet experience at No 11 a move that has caused former Tory MP David Gauke to take to Twitter to warn Whitehall to remember the importance of its independence. He said: the chancellor and the Treasury has to be strong enough to say No to the PM or anyone else.

Research further supports the importance of a strong chancellor. In cross-country studies that have looked at the role of finance ministers, it has been found that strong ministers keep lower levels of debt and deficit and are able to block rises in social welfare spending.

Why the reshuffle?

Typically, prime ministers reshuffle when their popularity goes down and when they cannot effectively control their cabinet or their backbench. So the timing of this reshuffle may seem unusual as it comes only two months after the formation of a new government from a prime minister who enjoys high approval ratings and a large parliamentary majority.

Yet its not as abnormal as it seems given that the prime minister kept his team of ministers after Decembers election so this is effectively his first opportunity for a post-electoral reshuffle.

The profile of cabinet ministers reflects the PMs policy priorities. Johnsons July 2019 cabinet sent a very clear message: he was determined to deliver Brexit, and accordingly he appointed ministers with strong pro-Brexit stances. Now that the UK has technically left the European Union, it was expected that he would want to replace some of these ministers with ministers who share his policy vision beyond Brexit. Nonetheless, it appears Brexit is still a prominent issue for Johnson as a lot of high-profile appointments include vocal supporters of Brexit.

MPs policy expertise, professional background, political experience and past performance are all factors that matter when deciding who to appoint.

Indeed, Theresa Villiers is out as environment secretary, replaced by George Eustice MP for Camborne and Redruth in Cornwall. This appointment could have significant consequences for the countrys environmental policy as evidence suggests that the people that prime ministers appoint to ministerial portfolios matter for policy outcomes. Although Eustice has policy experience as a former minister for agriculture, his public profile speaks louder of his opposition to the EUs agricultural policy than of his environmental record.

Friends with political goals

Johnson is faced with a very different party and country than in July 2019. He has a large parliamentary majority and a parliamentary group that is more unified than before the December elections. This allows him to appoint ministers who are ideologically close to him without worrying too much about satisfying party factions.

Policy objectives, however, are not the sole or the primary reason for reshuffles. Prime ministers seek to balance a number of important goals when they decide who to appoint to cabinet. And prime ministers often use cabinet appointments to reward their friends and those loyal to them.

Johnson clearly wants to send a strong signal that he values loyalty above everything else. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, for example, has been rewarded with a more senior appointment from minister for the armed forces to secretary of state for international development. Similarly Oliver Dowden has been promoted to culture secretary. Geoffrey Cox on the other hand has lost his job as attorney general for openly disagreeing with the PM over the parliaments prorogation.

Reshuffles are also the only way to fire ministers who have drifted from the prime ministers agenda or who openly disagree with the prime minister. Indeed, probably most of those whove been sacked were ministers who had stood up to the prime minister in cabinet meetings.

And of course, not all ministers are high performers. Its the prime ministers responsibility to replace low-performing ministers particularly in high-priority portfolios and reshuffles offer than opportunity.

So of the ministers would have remained in post, such as international trade secretary Liz Truss, education secretary Gavin Williamson and health secretary Matt Hancock, its safe to say they have either performed sufficiently well and have avoided scandals. Or it could simply be theyve been kept where they are because the prime minister considers their areas to be low priority where policy stability is expected time will only tell.

Despina Alexiadou, Chancellors Fellow at the School of Government and Public Policy, University of Strathclyde

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

Here is the original post:
British Politics Primer: Who's Who in Johnson's Reshuffled Cabinet? - The National Interest Online

Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, has reshuffled his cabinet. But among all the sackings and appointments, the big news of the day was Sajid Javids resignation as chancellor of the exchequer. Javid was reportedly told by the prime minister that he had to fire all his special advisers and replace them with No 10 special advisers to make it one team, which he refused to do, instead choosing to resign. He has been replaced by his deputy, Rishi Sunak.

This is a very swift promotion for Sunak and is a role that will immediately come with a lot of work given the budget is only four weeks away. This replacement is seen by many as the prime ministers move to take more control of economic policy. And, by replacing a chancellor who had, at times, different views to him, Johnson now has someone with limited political and cabinet experience at No 11 a move that has caused former Tory MP David Gauke to take to Twitter to warn Whitehall to remember the importance of its independence. He said: the chancellor and the Treasury has to be strong enough to say No to the PM or anyone else.

Research further supports the importance of a strong chancellor. In cross-country studies that have looked at the role of finance ministers, it has been found that strong ministers keep lower levels of debt and deficit and are able to block rises in social welfare spending.

Typically, prime ministers reshuffle when their popularity goes down and when they cannot effectively control their cabinet or their backbench. So the timing of this reshuffle may seem unusual as it comes only two months after the formation of a new government from a prime minister who enjoys high approval ratings and a large parliamentary majority.

Yet its not as abnormal as it seems given that the prime minister kept his team of ministers after Decembers election so this is effectively his first opportunity for a post-electoral reshuffle.

The profile of cabinet ministers reflects the PMs policy priorities. Johnsons July 2019 cabinet sent a very clear message: he was determined to deliver Brexit, and accordingly he appointed ministers with strong pro-Brexit stances. Now that the UK has technically left the European Union, it was expected that he would want to replace some of these ministers with ministers who share his policy vision beyond Brexit. Nonetheless, it appears Brexit is still a prominent issue for Johnson as a lot of high-profile appointments include vocal supporters of Brexit.

MPs policy expertise, professional background, political experience and past performance are all factors that matter when deciding who to appoint.

Indeed, Theresa Villiers is out as environment secretary, replaced by George Eustice MP for Camborne and Redruth in Cornwall. This appointment could have significant consequences for the countrys environmental policy as evidence suggests that the people that prime ministers appoint to ministerial portfolios matter for policy outcomes. Although Eustice has policy experience as a former minister for agriculture, his public profile speaks louder of his opposition to the EUs agricultural policy than of his environmental record.

Johnson is faced with a very different party and country than in July 2019. He has a large parliamentary majority and a parliamentary group that is more unified than before the December elections. This allows him to appoint ministers who are ideologically close to him without worrying too much about satisfying party factions.

Policy objectives, however, are not the sole or the primary reason for reshuffles. Prime ministers seek to balance a number of important goals when they decide who to appoint to cabinet. And prime ministers often use cabinet appointments to reward their friends and those loyal to them.

Johnson clearly wants to send a strong signal that he values loyalty above everything else. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, for example, has been rewarded with a more senior appointment from minister for the armed forces to secretary of state for international development. Similarly Oliver Dowden has been promoted to culture secretary. Geoffrey Cox on the other hand has lost his job as attorney general for openly disagreeing with the PM over the parliaments prorogation.

Reshuffles are also the only way to fire ministers who have drifted from the prime ministers agenda or who openly disagree with the prime minister. Indeed, probably most of those whove been sacked were ministers who had stood up to the prime minister in cabinet meetings.

And of course, not all ministers are high performers. Its the prime ministers responsibility to replace low-performing ministers particularly in high-priority portfolios and reshuffles offer than opportunity.

So of the ministers would have remained in post, such as international trade secretary Liz Truss, education secretary Gavin Williamson and health secretary Matt Hancock, its safe to say they have either performed sufficiently well and have avoided scandals. Or it could simply be theyve been kept where they are because the prime minister considers their areas to be low priority where policy stability is expected time will only tell.

More here:
Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: what you need to know - The Conversation UK

Former BBC producer Patrick Howse speaks to those inside the Corporation about the threats facing it at the hands of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings.

Boris Johnson may be intent on making his Cabinet behave, but he appears not to be content with meek colleagues and subservient newspapers. He and his favourite unelected, unaccountable bureaucrat Dominic Cummings have decided to go after the BBC.

John Whittingdale was not in the room as the new reshuffled Cabinet bleated its obedience to its leader, but the newly appointed Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was presumably lurking somewhere in Whitehalls corridors of power. He is a former Culture Secretary, who has been brought back to the same department in a more junior role an appointment that raises a few questions.

An article in this weekends Sunday Times made it clear that the BBC is in for it. The article quoted a senior source from No. 10 as saying we are not bluffing on the licence fee. We are having a consultation and we will whack it. It has to be a subscription model. The source told the newspaper that the public service broadcaster will have to become smaller because theyve got hundreds of radio stations, theyve got all these TV stations and a massive website. The whole thing needs massive pruning back.

The comments have drawn criticism from Conservative MPs including Damian Green who tweeted that destroying the BBC wasnt in our manifesto and would be cultural vandalism.

But these attacks come at a time when the BBC feels unsure of where its going. The Director General Lord Hall is leaving and a replacement is yet to be appointed. Some alarming names including Rupert Murdochs daughter Elisabeth have been floated as possible replacements. It adds up to a climate of fear for the national broadcaster.

This is real boot on the throat stuff its all about making the BBC compliant and docile, says Meirion Jones, a former BBC journalist who was instrumental in breaking the Jimmy Savile abuse story the row over which led to his departure from the Corporation.

The BBC is set to lose the licence fee in 2027 and its now been put on notice that that can be brought forward at any time, he told me. Its direct, obvious pressure anything they do now will be immediately punished. One mis-step and that could be it. Anything controversial has to go up to the Director General, as editor-in-chief. With a threat like this hanging over them theyre not going to do anything to rock the boat.

It is worth restating that the BBC does much more than news and politics. It is a massively important cultural institution which has helped shape Britain for almost a century. It is also a global brand that has enabled this country to punch way above its weight. From local radio to the natural history Unit, from CBeebies to Test Match Special, it serves its listeners, viewers and readers with unforgettable programming across every platform.

The BBC still inspires love from its audiences and from the people who work for it, many of whom continue to be willing to risk their lives for it. And thats partly why the likes of Cummings and Boris Johnson fear and hate it because, at its best, it is brave, brilliant and out of their control.

However, the BBCs headquarters are in London, not Heaven, which means that its not perfect. I have written about its failings over Brexit and related issues and Im not alone in recognising those very serious shortcomings. It is already too slow to rock the boat and has lost the support of many who would have once supported it.

Despite all this, former BBC current affairs journalist John Sweeney is one of many who have been quick to support the Corporation. My timeline on Twitter is crowded with people ripping great lumps out of me for defending the BBC, he told me. He left the organisation last year over a row about a Panorama documentary, which has not yet been broadcast, about the far-right rabble-rouser known as Tommy Robinson, but he still believes passionately in the BBC. It is a noble thing. I am worried that Boris, Dom and Co are out to smash it to pieces by a thousand cuts. To take away the licence fee would be the biggest blow.

There must be serious doubts that Tony Halls successor as Director General is going to have the guts to properly hold such a Government to account. One very experienced investigative journalist, who still works for the BBC, told me that the news department has too many layers of timid management and needs a shake-up.

No decision can ever be made quickly and too many people are covering their arses rather than making the ethically, morally, or editorially correct decision, the journalist said. But and its a big but it seems as if people like Johnson, Cummings and Whittingdale are not interested in making a strong, healthy press but want to neutralise any potentially strong critical voices, a la Trump.

Some in the BBC see the weekends events as clumsy bluster. I think its mostly c*ck-waving for the Sunday Times to be honest, one former colleague told me. Theyll never sell English local radio, its too strong a public service and MPs like appearing on it. Plus the commercial sector is all about rationalising into a national network at the moment. However, in the longer term, I dont see a future for a public BBC post-2027, he said, reflecting a growing sense of pessimism among many BBC staff.

It is clear that the senior No. 10 source who spoke to the Sunday Times clearly doesnt fully grasp the meaning of consultation, having already made up his mind before anyone else has told the Government what they think. And we may be excused for being confused about which sense of the word whack he intended did he mean a Chicago gangster whack, as in a hit, or did he mean chastisement?

Which brings me back to John Whittingdale. When he was appointed Culture Secretary by David Cameron in 2015, the journalist Peter Oborne wrote that his views on the BBC repay inspection. The new Culture Secretary is the spokesman for a very powerful body of right-wing opinion which has long been determined to weaken and even to destroy the BBC as a national institution, and clearly sees its opportunity in the wake of the 2015 General Election victory, Oborne wrote in openDemocracy.

Whittingdale didnt survive long in his post. In April 2016, newspapers reported that he had been involved in a six-month relationship with a female sex worker he said he had been unaware of his girlfriends true occupation after meeting her online. He survived, but was sacked when Theresa May took office later that year.

That very powerful body of right wing opinion Peter Oborne wrote about is now in power, unchallenged and ravening and, behind it, are media organisations desperate to get their teeth into the BBCs dismembered carcass. They all hate the ideal of public service broadcasting that reaches into every home in the country and which is funded by what they present as a regressive tax.

John Sweeney views Whittingdales appointment as both silly and dark, all at the same time.

He was disgraced after he hid a freebie he took with a sex worker from the House of Commons register of interests, he told me. As an MP, he took far too many freebies thanks to a British-Ukrainian friendship group funded by pro-Kremlin oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who is now a fugitive from the FBI. Whittingdale is one of the Kremlins useful idiots.

He is also a politician who might have something to gain from a compliant, docile media.

See the original post:
'Real Boot on the Throat Stuff': Why the BBC is Facing the Fight of its Life - Byline Times

CalMac breakdowns increased by over a third in 2019, according to figures obtained under freedom of information by Scottish Greens transport spokesperson John Finnie.

There were 1,069 cancellations of CalMac sailings because of technical failures last year compared to 780 in 2018, an increase of 289 or 37 per cent.

In light of the figures, Highlands and Islands MSP Finnie called for the Scottish Government to urgently review its vessel deployment and replacement plan.

John Finnie MSP said: CalMac is entrusted to deliver lifeline services to remote and island communities up and down the west coast, so it is particularly concerning that the number of cancellations as a result of technical breakdowns has greatly increased in the last year.

Behind these cancellations are people unable to attend hospital appointments on the mainland, missed job interviews, small businesses unable to send and receive goods, and a loss of important tourism revenue.

We know that the bulk of the fleet needs renewed.

The average age of the CalMac fleet is 23 years, and the Scottish Governments own ferry plan for 2013-2022 highlighted that the majority of the vessels needed to be replaced.

This hasnt happened and were left with the situation where we have an ageing fleet which requires longer periods of maintenance and repair.

The Cabinet Secretary for Transport must urgently review the vessels deployment and replacement plan, ensuring community representatives and trade unions are at the heart of the procurement process, in order to deliver a fleet that communities served by the Clyde and Hebrides services deserve.

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CalMac ferry breakdowns increase by over a third in a year - Holyrood