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Exactly-New album from Right Said Fred

Right Said Fred release their 9th studio album Exactly in March 2017.

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The album, two years in the making features an array of special guests and Fred and Richard Fairbrass’ signature mix of tongue-in-cheek observational pop.

Half of the album was recorded with Paul Statham (Simple Minds, Kylie, Dido) and the other half with Gordon Davis and Jason Glover (who was part of the James Taylor Quartet).

The album’s opener Me And You is an upbeat pop anthem featuring Jodie Scantlebury who has previously worked with Bryan Ferry.

The album’s themes range from simple and fun observations like single Sweet Treats inspired by a British Airways dessert, to the more serious Save Me, which touches upon depression whilst Raining In England is a melancholic song about everything in the world around us is changing but the one thing that can be relied upon – the rain in England.

The album arrives after the Fairbrass brothers spent 2016 celebrating the 25th Anniversary of their 1991 hit I’m Too Sexy. In the 25 years since I’m Too Sexy’s release, the brothers have reached fans all across the globe, selling in excess of 7 million copies of their debut album Up worldwide, receiving two Ivor Novello’s for I’m Too Sexy and Deeply Dippy as well as a Brit Award nomination for Best British Act.

The brothers have also played The Royal Variety Performance, met the Queen, released a track for Comic Relief (Stick It Out) and, most importantly, Richard was voted Rear of the Year by Smash Hits Magazine.

Right Said Fred continue to appear at special events and TV shows all over the world. They performed in front of 200,000 people at the 2006 World Cup opening ceremony and 300 million people for the Bollywood Awards plus guest appearances on Good Morning America, Big Brother’s Bit On The Side, The Wright Stuff, Lorraine, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Pointless and John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight.

After 25 years, the brothers say they remain true to their spirit – they don’t follow trends, they follow their instincts and have fun along the way.

You can buy Exactly in March 2017.

Government choose third runway for Heathrow

Local politicians express disappointment as Gatwick expansion plans turned down in favour of third runway at Heathrow.

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Transport Secretary Chris Grayling MP announced this morning that the government had decided on a third runway at Heathrow to increase the country’s airport capacity rather than a second runway at Gatwick in Sussex. He said: “This is the very clearest sign that post referendum this country is open for business.”

This is despite Brighton & Hove City Council expressing its strong support for a second runway at Gatwick and the Chief Executive writing to the Prime Minister to offer the council’s support for expansion at Gatwick.

Cllr Warren Morgan
Cllr Warren Morgan

Cllr Warren Morgan, Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “We’re incredibly disappointed the government has decided to expand Heathrow rather than taking forward the opportunities for growth at Gatwick Airport.

“A second runway at Gatwick would have massively benefited Brighton & Hove’s economy, businesses, and residents as well as supporting our thriving overseas visitor economy.  This decision is a real blow for city.

“We will now be lobbying hard with Gatwick Airport and our partners across Greater Brighton and the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership to seek the massive investment needed in the region’s considerable infrastructure challenges.”

Cllr Geoffrey Theobald
Cllr Geoffrey Theobald

Cllr Theobald, Leader of the Conservative group on Brighton & Hove Council, added: “we are very disappointed that the Government has chosen not to support the expansion of Gatwick Airport. The potential benefits of a second runway for the city, local businesses and residents were hugely significant in terms of delivering jobs, apprenticeships and boosting the local economy.

“In terms of moving forward, I know that spokespersons for Gatwick airport have previously said that they could take the project forward without public money from Government and I would implore them to do so.

In the meantime, the Conservative Group will continue to push for the expansion of Gatwick airport for the benefit of the city and its residents.”

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson MP, a long-term critic of the Heathrow option had said in the past: “he would lie down in front of the bulldozers” to stop the expansion if Heathrow was chosen. He told reporters today that he did not think the new runway would ever get built because four surrounding Conservative local authorities opposed the plan.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London who favoured the Gatwick option, also said the Government had made the wrong decision.

Sir Howard Davies, author of the Airports Commission report had recommended Heathrow as the best option and today said, Heathrow was the “only choice” for airport expansion.

The Greens say any airport expansion is damaging to the environment and communities, and will damage our tourist economy in Brighton.

Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty
Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, Convenor of the Green Group of Councillors, said: “The expansion of any airport – whether Heathrow or Gatwick promises to pollute our skies further, break our climate change promises and puts big businesses before communities and our environment.

“Standing in favour of airport growth, as the Labour administration has done locally, does not mean standing in favour of local businesses and communities. In fact, 60% of flights at Gatwick are leisure related to other parts of the UK  so expansion of the airport would only entice visitors away from spending money in our city which would negatively impact on our local tourist economy. Our city has seen a large drop in visitor numbers since Labour took power and we believe we should be spending our energy making the case for more visitors to come to the city.

“Further a myth is peddled about how airport expansion benefits those with least in society when ¾ of leisure travel is by the richest people in society and over half of the British population don’t fly at all. Only 15% of the population take 70% of the flights. Air travel has paid no tax for 70 years.

“Transport for London put the cost of expanding Heathrow to taxpayers at £15bn-£20bn to provide associated infrastructure and there is no question it would cost us at Gatwick too. On the one hand we are told that we have to tighten our belts but somehow there’s always the cash to throw at airports. Airport expansion happening at the same time as we have meltdown across public transport is madness. The fact that you can often fly cheaper than taking the train and anyone who has taken a train to or from Brighton and Hove recently knows we desperately need investment in public transport infrastructure.

“A healthy economy can only happen with a healthy environment so the protection of the environment in turn protects the economy. What good will any expanded airport be if we are too unwell to feel any benefits? The government is in court this week for failing to cut air pollution and any expansion of airports will only mean our air is more polluted as our climate change commitments go unachieved.

“It is a shame that for our government and locally, commitments to our environment are little more than lip service.”

Zac Goldsmith MP
Zac Goldsmith MP

In protest at the Governments decision Zac Goldsmith MP for Richmond Park and the unsuccessful Conservative candidate for London Mayor earlier this year, has resigned his seat. He has a majority of 23,000 and will stand as an Independent candidate. He said: “This project is almost certainly not going to be delivered. I believe this decision will be a millstone round this Governments neck for many, many years to come.”

Huddersfield University to undertake major human rights project for Intersex people

A MAJOR research project is under way that looks to open the eyes of the public generally, and in particular health practitioners and policy-makers, to rights, or lack of them, for Intersex people.

Professor Surya Monro
Professor Surya Monro

The project, by researchers at the University of Huddersfield, has been announced to coincide with Intersex Awareness Day (October 26), an internationally-observed day, designed to highlight human rights issues faced by intersex people.

‘Intersex’ is an umbrella-term that encompasses various physical variations in the components of the parts of the body that are generally considered gendered or sexed.  This can include chromosomes, genetic markers, gonads, hormones, reproductive organs, genitals and secondary sex characteristics such as facial hair or muscle mass.

Despite the fact that these variations generally do not threaten the physical health of the individual, people with these biological variations are often subjected to involuntary unnecessary surgery and other medical treatment.

Up to 2% of the population may be born with invisible or visible intersex traits, and between 0.1% and 0.05% are detected and subject to medical attention.

The Huddersfield project was proposed by Professor Surya Monro, who has researched extensively in the field of citizenship and equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer (LGBTQ)people.

Professor Monro discovered that across Europe there has been very little research into or promotion of human rights for intersex people, who may also be medically referred to as having the controversial term Disorders or Differences of Sex Development (DSD, coined in 2006).

Professor Monro worked together with Dr Daniela Crocetti, who has undertaken much of her work including her PhD at the University of Bologna on the medicalisation of the gendered body from a social studies of science and medicine perspective, and sociologist Dr Tracey Yeadon-Lee, who was published substantially in the field of transgender studies, to seek funding for the project on Intersex Human Rights.

The successful research application was made to the European Commission for a prestigious Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship and received funding for a two-year project which will see collaborative work undertaken across three countries, the UK, Italy and Switzerland.

Project work has already started and workshops are planned for each of the three countries, primarily targeting the health services and policy-makers.  The initiative will conclude with a major international conference.

“Intersex people and in particular the rights of intersex people are still very hidden,” says Professor Monro. “There are many misunderstandings and there is very little research into human rights for these people and, across Europe, just a few countries have some legislation regarding their citizenship.”

Many live simply as either men or women, while some prefer to be identified as intersex. Professor Monro argues that individual people should have the right to decide how they want to live their lives, which includes a right to bodily autonomy and integrity.

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London Gay Men’s Chorus celebrate Silver Jubilee

The London Gay Men’s Chorus (LGMC) celebrates its Silver Jubilee with a special gala concert at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on November 27.

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The LGMC began in 1991 when 9 friends sang at Angel tube station to raise money for the Terrence Higgins Trust.  25 years’ later and the LGMC now has over 220 members and is the largest male voice choir in Europe.

Speaking about the Silver Jubilee, Chairman of the LGMC, John D. Carrion, said: “Across our 25 years, the LGMC has developed from a small operation to a internationally performing organisation with over 200 members.  From combatting homophobia in schools through music via our Youth, Education, and Outreach programme to helping raise funds for other charities or to our work at home and abroad to promote equality, the LGMC stands as a true pillar of the international LGBT community.  We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate our achievements with our supporters with a special concert in such a prestigious venue. This is a landmark event that will launch the LGMC into preparation for the second 25 years. ”

The concert will bring the Southbank Centre’s Being a Man festival to a close.  The Festival, which launched in 2014, returns to explore the challenges and pressures of masculine identity in the 21st century.

Taking place a week after International Men’s Day (November 19), the festival features a 3-day programme of talks and debates, performances and workshops with contributions from over 150 speakers and performers including Sir Roger Moore, Ashley Walters, Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke and Pulitzer Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler.

The panels and workshops will cover such key issues as shared parental leave, depression, video games, education, and of course dad dancing.

In addition to being a celebration of the Chorus’ 25 years, UGotMale? will therefore also explore the subject of masculinity.

Artistic Director, Simon Sharp, said: “The subject of masculinity was a fantastic one to explore for a concert and, in itself, it’s a statement to have a gay men’s chorus doing a show about masculinity.  In our song choices for the show, we aimed to explore and celebrate masculinity with thought-provoking, fun and sometimes cheeky numbers, along with a few old favourites to give an uplifting and celebratory feel.  We hope the combination of songs will make the show enjoyable, surprising, stimulating and memorable.”

UGotMale? features new arrangements including songs by Michael Jackson, Take That and Alice Cooper, as well as numbers from DreamgirlsWest Side Story and La Cage Aux Folles.


Event: Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Where: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX

When: Sunday, November 27

Time: 19.30pm

Cost: Tickets £25, £30, £35 and £40: conc 50% off (limited availability)

To book tickets online, click here:

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Can you spare an hour to plant bulbs in Hove this Friday?

Members of the Friends of Hove Park will be planting 5,000 purple crocus bulbs in Hove Park this Friday (October 28) and need volunteers to help them.

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The bulbs are being planted as part of the Purple4Polio campaign, an initiative between the Royal Horticultural Society and Rotary to raise awareness and help eliminate Polio from the world.

The purple crocus is a symbol of Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate polio – the colour represents the purple dye used to mark the finger of a child who has been immunised.

The Friends, and Brighton & Hove City Council gardeners, are inviting volunteers from different parts of the community to join them on the day, and help plant bulbs to support this national event.

If you can spare some time, just turn up at the cafe in Hove Park at 10am. The bulbs will be planted at the bottom of the Droveway, just down from Legal & General and the Bilingual school inside the railway loop. Bring a trowel if you have one!

Planting is expected to finish at around 12.30pm.

 

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