Harry’s Place

Tony Wilson on a possible future for the former milltowns of East Lancashire, which, re-branded as Pennine Lancashire or PL, could follow the example of Seattle.
Yes, it’s got Microsoft in the hills and Meg Ryan in the movie, but that’s now,” the report says. “Twenty years ago, with Boeing in decline, Seattle was washed up, […]

It seems Scots get to a have their say on a new national anthem soon.
Let’s hope the eventual winner beats this effort:
Arise, oh Scotland, Successful and Smart/Home of Social Inclusion, diversity and Cultural Rights/Smackin’ ’n’ Smokin’ gonnae no dae that.

The proposed smoking ban in Scotland’s public spaces is likely to be extended to trains travelling between London and Scotland.
Even passengers who did not intend to cross the Border would not be allowed to smoke if their train’s final destination was Scotland.
Indulgers beware: There will be no ability to change from being a smoker […]

A deeply disappointing result in the referendum vote on a regional assembly for the North East of England, at least for those Northerners who support devolution.
696,519 (77.93%) voted against devolution, with only 197,310 (22.07%) voting in favour of an elected regional assembly to give the region a stronger voice.
That is a hammering and it is […]

Roy Hattersley suggests in the Guardian today that Michael Howard was guilty of double-speak in his visit to Burnley and says:
Unsuspecting readers might well have believed that the leader of the opposition had gone to Burnley to excoriate the British National party and all its racial works. In fact, he had used the occasion to […]

The Yes Campaign for devolution for the North-West is known as the Necessary Group and now has a superb website.
All the info is on their website and they are also encouraging supporters of Northern democracy to start blogs.
It would be great to have a blog which was supportive of all three pro-devolution movements in the […]

Thanks to Voxpolitics I have discovered the websites of the ‘Yes’ campaigns for regional assemblies in the North.
The best looking site is certainly Yes 4 Yorkshire while the Yes for The North East site also looks to be well maintained.
Sadly my own region’s effort Campaign For a North West Assembly has a site that hasn’t […]