Midweek music spot: Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Winter (L'Inverno)

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Norman Tebbit RIP

 Lord Norman Tebbit, one of Margaret Thatcher's closest allis, has died at the age of 94. He will be remembered as many things by many people, but the image which will stick in my mind was what a kind and courteous man he was when I met him. He was described as an “i con in British politics ” by the current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch., As employment secretary he took on the trade unions, and as chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1987 he helped Mrs Thatcher secure her third general election victory. As employment secretary he took on the trade unions, and as chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1987 he helped Mrs Thatcher secure her third general election victory. He also served as trade secretary and had a reputation as a political bruiser. He suffered grave injuries in the 1984 Brighton bombing, which left his wife, Margaret, paralysed from the neck down. After the 1987 election success he left his post as Tory chairman to help care for Margaret, who...
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The hero decorated fighting for Germany in World War I and the Allies in World War II.

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The Jewish shopkeeper in this picture from Germany in 1933 is called Richard Stern - and he's wearing an Iron Cross awarded for serving in the German Army in World War One as a Nazi thug stands guard outside his shop as part of a boycott of Jewish businesses. . You can see from the wry smile of Richard Stern's face that the man had incredible guts. It's the brown shirt, not the shopkeeper, whose demeanour radiates fear and tension. This post is taken from a tweet by  Archaeo - Histories on X here  which reprinted an article in the Jewish Observer. After being awarded the prestigious Iron Cross for his service in the German army during World War I, Richard Stern was driven out of his home country by the Nazi regime. MyHeritage’s Research team discovered records of him arriving at Ellis Island at the age of 40 in May 1939 — narrowly escaping the beginning of the war.  In 1942, when Stern was 43 and not yet an American citizen, he enlisted in the U.S. Army to join the war ef...
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Forthcoming book: British by-elections 1769 to 2025

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  Iain Dale has put together a book about the 88 most consequential British by-elections since 1769. It will be published on 18th September 2025 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon at British By-Elections 1769–2025: The 88 By-Election Campaigns That Shaped Our Politics: Amazon.co.uk: Dale, Iain: 9781785909788: Books Or from Politicos (signed by Iain) at British By-Elections 1769-2025 - The 88 By-Elections That Shook British Politics edited by Iain Dale COMING 18 SEPTEMBER | Politicos.co.uk Let me declare an interest - I wrote the chapter on the Copeland by-election of 2017 in which, obviously I was a participant as part of the Conservative campaign team. So I am an interested party, but I think this is a really interesting book. I have been racking my brains trying to remember how many of these elections I personally took part in. There were at last a dozen from the Darlington by-election in 1983 where I remember telling in the snow, to the Runcorn & Helsby by-election earlier t...
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