Blogs

The Commons Culture Media and Sports Committee on which I sit is currently doing an inquiry into the balance of arts funding in England. This was prompted by a number of recent independent reports showing that both Government and lottery support for the arts and culture is skewed massively in favour of London and that regions like the South West lose out.

At a recent hearing of the Committee, the Chairman of the Arts Council agreed that the current situation was unfair. In fact, every witness who has given evidence has accepted that – except the Arts Minister himself, Ed Vaizey....

Millions of years ago the Earth was a spinning ball in space surrounded by enormous clouds of toxic gases - including carbon and methane.

This planet had no oxygen and supported no living creature. Then over millions of years microscopic organisms began to evolve into plants. The plants turned into larger plants and slowly began to absorb the poisonous gas. They gradually gained the capacity to absorb sunlight and photosynthesise, and emitted oxygen which in itself facilitated more complex beings and the process of life on earth moved on.

In the course of time millions of...

It’s no secret that all of us are going to die at some point. Certain people will die from a long illness, while someone can be perfectly healthy and still die from some other cause. Today, we decided to present you with 6 weirdest ways people have died.

1 - Exploding Bubblegum

Vladimir Likhonos, a 25-year-old chemistry student enjoyed chewing bubblegum a lot; however, he didn’t always like the taste of it. In order to give it a more bitter taste, he started dipping his bubblegum into the citric acid. One day he dipped it in gunpowder by accident, and blew off his entire...

Devon and Cornwall's Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Hogg reflects on the first half of his first term of office for Police and Crime Commmissioners.

As I reach the halfway point in the first term of office for Police and Crime Commissioners, it seems appropriate to reflect on how the role is developing and why it will prove crucial in sustaining and building effective policing for the longer term. I am responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of policing and the justice system. Having one clearly visible, democratically elected and locally focused individual who the...