Devon's high quality brick paved high streets could be a thing of the past if County Engineers have their way. Devon highways department is looking to save money by not repairing the paving but rather to cover it in tarmac. The proposals would see Courtenay Street in Newton Abbot and Bank Street in Teignmouth change from "a coloured textured highway to a boring sea of black tarmac" according to some members on the committee.
An updated directive on the automatic exchange of information between national tax administrations received the green light from the EU's 28 finance ministers on Tuesday (8 March), EurActiv reports. So-called 'country-by-country reporting' between national tax authorities is opening a new era in tax transparency, backers say. Campaigners says it does not go far enough: http://www.euractiv.com/section/euro-finance/news/eu-tax-transparency-directive-insufficient-first-step-activists-say/
Cannabis could be sold in plain packaging over the counter in specialist, licensed shops to over-18s only, according to an expert panel set up by the Liberal Democrats to examine what a regulated cannabis market in Britain should look like. The panel suggests cannabis be sold in three different strengths - lower, medium and higher - and come in prescription medicine-style resealable childproof containers with their own health warning.
Cyber-crime knows no borders, and the sums involved can be massive. One recent example published in the East Anglian Daily Times*...
A 'Health Fair' will be taking place on 17 March at the Rugby Art and Gallery Museum, giving local people a chance to have their say on services as well as advice on keeping fit and healthy.
I understand why people dislike targeted shortlists. I don't like them, in principle. To me, liberalism is all about giving people the greatest personal choice, and in an ideal world I wouldn't support them, which is what I said on the stage at autumn conference in 2014. But we don't live in an ideal world, and that's why I'm supporting the diversity motion at this Spring Conference.