Martin Sixsmith
Martin Sixsmith (born 24 September 1954) is a British author and radio/television presenter, primarily working for the BBC. He has also worked as an adviser to the Labour government and to the BBC television comedy series ''The Thick of It''. Sixsmith's book about Philomena Lee, ''The Lost Child of Philomena Lee'', was the basis for the 2013 film ''Philomena'', in which Sixsmith is played by Steve Coogan. Education Sixsmith was born in Warrington. He was educated at The Manchester Grammar School, then at New College, Oxford, Harvard, the Sorbonne University in Paris, and in Saint Petersburg – then called Leningrad – in Russia. He studied Russian and French. He was a Slavics Tutor at Harvard, and wrote his postgraduate thesis about Russian poetry. Between 2002 and 2007 he studied Psychology and Applied Psychology as a mature student at Birkbeck College, University of London, and at London Metropolitan University. Career and writings Sixsmith joined the BBC in 1980 as a f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Warrington
Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east of Liverpool and the same distance west of Manchester. The population in 2021 was recorded as 174,970 for the built-up area and 210,900 for the wider borough, the latter being more than double that of 1968 when it became a New towns in the United Kingdom, new town. Warrington is the largest town in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. Warrington was founded by the Roman Britain, Romans at an important crossing place on the River Mersey. A new settlement was established by the Saxons, Saxon Wærings. By the Middle Ages, Warrington had emerged as a market town at the lowest bridging point of the river. A local tradition of textile and tool production dates from this time. The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington coincided with the Industr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west. The territory has a varied landscape, diverse ecosystems, and a temperate climate. Poland is composed of Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the List of European countries by area, fifth largest EU country by area, covering . The capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city is Warsaw; other major cities include Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, and Gdańsk. Prehistory and protohistory of Poland, Prehistoric human activity on Polish soil dates to the Lower Paleolithic, with continuous settlement since the end of the Last Gla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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September 11, 2001 Attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the third into the Pentagon (headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense) in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in a rural Pennsylvania field during a passenger revolt. The attacks killed 2,977 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in history. In response to the attacks, the United States waged the global war on terror over multiple decades to eliminate hostile groups deemed terrorist organizations, as well as the foreign governments purported to support them. Ringleader Mohamed Atta flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex at 8:46 a.m. Seventeen minutes later at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Fli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stephen Byers
Stephen John Byers (born 13 April 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallsend between 1992 and 1997, and North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010. He served in the Cabinet from 1998 to 2002, and was implicated in the MP expenses scandal and retired from politics in 2010. During Byers' ministerial career, he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in the Cabinet. Early career Stephen Byers was born in Wolverhampton. He was educated at Wymondham College, a state-run day and boarding school, Chester City Grammar School and the Chester College of Further Education. He then gained a law degree at Liverpool John Moores University and became a law lecturer at Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University) in 1977, a post he retained until his election as a Member of Parliament in 1992. Byers was elected as a coun ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Political Scandals In The United Kingdom
This is a list of political scandals in the United Kingdom in chronological order. Scandals implicating political figures or governments of the UK, often reported in the mass media, have long had repercussions for their popularity. Issues in political scandals have included alleged or proven financial and sexual matters, or various other allegations or actions taken by politicians that led to controversy. In British media and political discourse, such scandals have sometimes been referred to as political sleaze since the 1990s. Notable scandals include the Marconi scandal, Profumo affair and the 2009 expenses scandal. 1890s *Liberator Building Society scandal, in which the Liberal Party MP Jabez Balfour was exposed as running several fraudulent companies to conceal financial losses. Balfour fled to Argentina, but was eventually arrested and imprisoned. 1910s * Marconi scandal of insider trading by Liberal Party Ministers including: ** Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Readin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Department For Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland that have not been Devolution#United Kingdom, devolved. The department is led by the Secretary of State for Transport. The expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department of Transport are scrutinised by the Transport Committee. Responsibilities The Department for Transport has six strategic objectives: * Support the creation of a stronger, cleaner, more productive economy * Help to connect people and places, balancing investment across the country * Make journeys easier, modern and reliable * Make sure transport is safe, secure and sustainable * Prepare the transport system for technological progress and a prosperous future outside the EU * Promote a culture of efficiency and pro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marconi Communications
Marconi Communications was the former telecommunications arm of Britain's General Electric Company plc (GEC). It was founded in August 1998 through the amalgamation of GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) with other GEC subsidiaries: Marconi SpA, GEC Hong Kong, and ATC South Africa. In December 1999, it became the principal subsidiary of Marconi plc, formed by renaming the remainder of GEC when GEC's defence arm, Marconi Electronic Systems, was sold to British Aerospace to form BAE Systems. Marconi plc was restructured to Marconi Corporation plc in May 2003. Marconi Corporation used the cash raised by selling the defence arm to buy US telecoms companies, with the aim of becoming a major telecommunications systems provider. After losing most of its value in the subsequent dot-com bubble crash, and failing to win major contracts, in 2006 Ericsson acquired a majority of Marconi Corporation. The remainder of Marconi Corporation was renamed Telent. History Companies with "Marco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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General Electric Company
The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an electrical goods wholesaler based in London. It quickly adopted a then-unorthodox business model of supplying electrical components over the counter. In 1889, the business was incorporated as the General Electric Company Ltd, and became a public limited company 11 years later. During the 1890s and 1900s, the company heavily invested into electric lighting, a sector that proved to be immensely profitable in the long term. The GEC was heavily impacted by the outbreak of the First World War, supplying various goods to the military, and thus becoming a major player in the electrical industry. In 1921, a new purpose-built company headquarters (Magnet House) was opened in Kingsway, London; two years later, GEC's industrial research laboratories at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alistair Darling
Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2015, representing Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency), Edinburgh Central and Edinburgh South West. Darling was first appointed chief secretary to the Treasury by prime minister Tony Blair in 1997, and was promoted to secretary of state for work and pensions in 1998. After spending four years at that department, he spent a further four years as secretary of state for transport, while also becoming secretary of state for Scotland in 2003. Blair moved Darling for a final time 2006 British cabinet reshuffle, in 2006, making him president of the Board of Trade and secretary of state for trade and industry. After Brown succeede ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frank Field (British Politician)
Frank Ernest Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead, (16 July 1942 – 23 April 2024) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead for 40 years, from 1979 to 2019, serving as a Labour MP until 2018 and thereafter sitting as an independent. In 2019, he formed the Birkenhead Social Justice Party and stood unsuccessfully as its sole candidate in the 2019 election. After leaving the House of Commons, he was awarded a life peerage in 2020 and sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher. From 1997 to 1998, Field served as Minister of Welfare Reform in Tony Blair's first government. Field resigned following differences with Blair; as a backbencher, he soon became one of the Labour government's most vocal critics. Field was elected chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee in 2015, and was re-elected unopposed following the 2017 general election. In 2018, Field resigned the Labour whip citing antisemitism in the party, as well as a "culture ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harriet Harman
Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2015 and Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal from 2007 to 2010. She also briefly served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition in 2010 and 2015 after the resignations of Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband respectively. She was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham (UK Parliament constituency), Camberwell and Peckham (formerly Peckham (UK Parliament constituency), Peckham) from 1982 to 2024, during which time she held various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet and Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Cabinet positions, and was appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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First Blair Ministry
The first Blair ministry lasted from May 1997 to June 2001. Following eighteen years in opposition, Labour Party (UK), Labour ousted the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives at the 1997 United Kingdom general election, May 1997 election with a 179-seat majority. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who turned 44 years old days after leading Labour to victory, was the youngest prime minister of the twentieth century. Cabinet Changes *July 1998 – 1999 British cabinet reshuffle * October 1998 – Alun Michael becomes Welsh Secretary. Ron Davies (Welsh politician), Ron Davies leaves the Cabinet. *December 1998 – Peter Mandelson is dismissed from the cabinet over a secret home loan he received from Geoffrey Robinson (politician), Geoffrey Robinson. Stephen Byers becomes Trade & Industry Secretary. Alan Milburn becomes Chief Secretary to the Treasury. * May 1999 – John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, John Reid becomes Scottish Secretary. D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |