Jan262017

News story: Article 50 Bill process begins

HM Government
image_pdfimage_print

The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill has been introduced to the House of Commons today, by Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis.

The straightforward Bill, which gives the Prime Minister the power to formally trigger Article 50, is expected to move through both the House of Commons and House of Lords before gaining Royal Assent prior to the March 31st deadline.

The Bill comes ahead of the introduction of the Great Repeal Bill, that will transpose EU law into UK law to ensure the maximum stability on exit, with changes to the law requiring the full consent of Parliament.

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis said:

The British people have made the decision to leave the EU and this government is determined to get on with the job of delivering it.

So today we have introduced a Bill in Parliament which will allow us to formally trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

I trust that Parliament, which backed the referendum by six to one, will respect the decision taken by the British people and pass the legislation quickly.

The Bill is being introduced following the judgment handed down by the Supreme Court earlier this week. It can be found here.

Jan262017

PhD Placement Opportunity: Developing Access to the Evolving English VoiceBank

British Library
image_pdfimage_print

The Evolving English VoiceBank is an audio archive of approximately 15,000 voices created by visitors to the Library’s Evolving English exhibition in 2010/11. This collection is only partly catalogued and a new placement opportunity at the British Library offers a PhD student the chance to work on this unique and so-far unexplored archive.

During the three-month placement (or part-time equivalent) the student will audit VoiceBank and WordBank audio files and prepare cataloguing metadata for about 500 to 750 files for the Sound and Moving Image catalogue. The student will receive training in audio editing software and in preparing cataloguing records, and will also be able to use the collection for original research or potentially to support their own doctoral project. The content will be particularly relevant for students of dialectology, sociolinguistics, phonetics or language variation and change.

The placement student will be a full member of the Spoken English team, which sits within the British Library’s Sound & Vision team, and participate in the department’s core activities. This may involve taking part in workshops or conferences, writing blog posts, and preparing content for online resources. The placement will support the development of transferrable skills in areas such as public engagement, team-working, and project planning and delivery. It will be an opportunity to engage in the work of a world-class research Library and to understand its content, structure and remit.

The placement would suit someone studying for a PhD in linguistics or English Language. They would be expected to have a thorough grounding in dialectology, sociolinguistics and/or phonetics. Familiarity with British accents would also be desirable. View a detailed placement profile.

Application guidelines

For full application guidelines and profiles of the other placements offered under this scheme, visit the Library’s Research Collaboration webpages.

The application deadline is 20 February 2017.

For any queries about this placement opportunity, please contact Research.Development@bl.uk

A note to interested applicants

This is an unpaid professional development opportunity, which is open to current (or very recent) PhD researchers only. To apply, you need to have the approval of your PhD supervisor and your department’s Graduate Tutor (or equivalent senior academic manager).

Our PhD placement scheme has been developed in consultation with Higher Education partners and stakeholders to provide opportunities for PhD students to develop and apply their research skills outside the university sector. Please note that the Library itself is not able to provide payment to placement students, nor can it provide costs for daily commuting or relocation to the site of the placement. Anyone applying for a placement at the Library is expected to consult their university or Doctoral Training Partnership/Doctoral Training Centre to ascertain what funding is available to support them. The Library strongly recommends to universities that a PhD student given approval to undertake a placement is in receipt of a stipend for the duration of the placement.

Jan262017

The latest crime statistics show the true scale of the challenge our officers now face – Diane Abbott

Labour
image_pdfimage_print

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary,
speaking after the release of police workforce statistics, said: 

“With over 20,000 officers lost since 2010, the Tories are risking
public safety with these extreme cuts.

“They slashed police budgets in the last Parliament and are
reducing funding even further now.

“The latest crime statistics show the true scale of the challenge
our officers now face. This is the worst time to cut the police.”

Jan262017

It is clear that the Tories’ rigged economy simply isn’t delivering for the majority of people in Britain – Rebecca Long-Bailey

Labour
image_pdfimage_print

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the
Treasury, responding to GDP figures published today, said:

“While we welcome today’s Q4 GDP figures, growth for 2016 as a whole is
lower than 2015, and lower than forecast by the OBR just two months ago in the
Autumn Statement. It is clear that the Tories’ rigged
economy simply isn’t delivering for the majority of people in
Britain. Prices are rising but earnings are still
below where they were before the financial crash. As a result, we have
extremely high levels of household debt as people struggle to make ends meet on
incomes alone. 

"Manufacturing is bumping along without proper support from government to
power it through Brexit, even the Bank of England acknowledged recently that
our economy was being driven by consumer spending rather than trade and export.
This is clearly not a Government serious about making sure that we support British
industry and claim a prestigious place at the world’s table as we leave the
European Union. 

"Labour will fix our rigged economy with a real living wage, expected to
be £10 an hour by 2020, and the long-term, patient investment we need to
make sure that businesses thrive and that nobody and no community is
left behind.”