Best Of

Zack Polanski complains that food is too cheap

https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2064014185776705584

Zack Polanski has criticised supermarkets for selling vegetables for as little as 7p

“This isn’t a sign of a healthy system… someone is being exploited somewhere”

Out of touch eco-warrior.

No, Zack may have a point, whether you view too-low prices as a sign of exploitation or low quality. I've been of this view since one place was maintaining its low prices by turning its freezers off at night.

(Hmm. Wasn't there a food poisoning story recently?)

More than 80 struck down in major UK and Europe salmonella outbreak linked to instant noodles
https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/39339109/uk-europe-salmonella-instant-noodles/

NHS England figures do show that more people are seeking hospital treatment for more serious food poisoning symptoms.
https://www.dailymail.com/health/article-15879505/sickening-truth-Britain-food-poisoning-epidemic-surging-reveal.html

Salmonella cases in England at a decade high
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/salmonella-cases-in-england-at-a-decade-high

An interesting cultural phenomenon taking France by storm:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78q215vyd7o

Giant banquets rile radical left in France

They're revolting ...

Had an interesting conversation with a French friend about Troyes Cathedral. Unlike say Canterbury* or a number of European Cathedrals there are virtually no statues on the outside. The reason was that they were smashed during the French Revolution and no one wants to put statues back up again. She seemed quite insistent that there was a clear divide between personal freedom and what the church/state wanted to impose on you. Hence they are always revolting.

Perhaps a lesson for the Brits.


* Canterbury has QEII and Prince Philip on the outside but Charles III has not made the cut yet.

A case study in why resisting reasonable development entirely can come back to bite you (if the developer ploy here works)? Work in the system to resist where you can, don't just pretend the system doesn't exist because you don't like it.

Council rejects 100 homes.

Developer wins appeal for 75 homes.

Developer then submits another 65 homes on the remaining land.

End result? Residents could get 140 homes instead of the original 100. Now they claim they’re being “picked on”.

https://nitter.poast.org/jakewg_/status/2063551764796752183#m

No sympathy for NIMBYs

Actually, I have sympathy for some of them. No facilities or infrastructure gets built to match the housing. Yes, there’s some. But not enough to improve on the existing shortages.

Ironically, a man who has an employee to put toothpaste on his toothbrush gets this. And when he builds towns, includes infrastructure.

Build the hospitals, GPs surgeries and rest. First. Before any houses. So the locals see an improvement in their lives early on.

You and I both know the economics of construction, especially but not exclusively in London, preclude much in the way of "generosity" from developers.

Indeed, the current state of the housing market would make anyone think twice before going into development. Combined with recent changes in the rental market, there is a lot of property coming onto the market so why should we be sanctioning excessive new developments when the current sale stock isn't shifting?

A case study in why resisting reasonable development entirely can come back to bite you (if the developer ploy here works)? Work in the system to resist where you can, don't just pretend the system doesn't exist because you don't like it.

Council rejects 100 homes.

Developer wins appeal for 75 homes.

Developer then submits another 65 homes on the remaining land.

End result? Residents could get 140 homes instead of the original 100. Now they claim they’re being “picked on”.

https://nitter.poast.org/jakewg_/status/2063551764796752183#m

No sympathy for NIMBYs

Actually, I have sympathy for some of them. No facilities or infrastructure gets built to match the housing. Yes, there’s some. But not enough to improve on the existing shortages.

Ironically, a man who has an employee to put toothpaste on his toothbrush gets this. And when he builds towns, includes infrastructure.

Build the hospitals, GPs surgeries and rest. First. Before any houses. So the locals see an improvement in their lives early on.

Yes. I've just been invited to sign a petition, not to stop housing development, but to ensure that the infrastructure is built first before the extra housing. Does that count as NIMBYism? Not in my book. Why isn't it standard practice?

A case study in why resisting reasonable development entirely can come back to bite you (if the developer ploy here works)? Work in the system to resist where you can, don't just pretend the system doesn't exist because you don't like it.

Council rejects 100 homes.

Developer wins appeal for 75 homes.

Developer then submits another 65 homes on the remaining land.

End result? Residents could get 140 homes instead of the original 100. Now they claim they’re being “picked on”.

https://nitter.poast.org/jakewg_/status/2063551764796752183#m

No sympathy for NIMBYs

Actually, I have sympathy for some of them. No facilities or infrastructure gets built to match the housing. Yes, there’s some. But not enough to improve on the existing shortages.

Ironically, a man who has an employee to put toothpaste on his toothbrush gets this. And when he builds towns, includes infrastructure.

Build the hospitals, GPs surgeries and rest. First. Before any houses. So the locals see an improvement in their lives early on.

Windsor Davies latest:



WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧
@WarMonitor3
·
3h
Russian forces according to reports are being forced to withdraw on mass from positions around the Kinburn Spit south of the Dnipro river due to severe supply difficulties caused by continued Ukrainian drone strike campaigns on Southern logistical routes.

https://x.com/WarMonitor3/status/2064011164040806673

This is just the start. It is highly likely by later this year that the Russians will have to withdraw from Crimea due to lack of supplies, fuel and even water. They have lost this war and it is getting worse for them by the week. Zelenskyy must have been very confident that Putin would reject his latest peace offer or he wouldn't have made it. He was right.

Withdraw from Crimea sounds wildly optimistic, consider how much territory there is just to even get to Crimea. If they could even close the landbridge (the goal of the full scale counter offensive a few years ago which failed), that would be a tremendous achievement surely, not sure that is even something they would be contemplating.

Be wary of Russia closing the drone innovation gap.

Russia cannot supply Crimea. They cannot defend Crimea. Ukraine doesn't need to capture all the land in between for the Russian position there to become untenable. Drones are in the process of changing warfare as we watch. Gathering together a force large enough to attack now is nothing short of suicidal. Supplying it is pretty much impossible. The front line is 100km deep and nothing in that territory is remotely safe. How do you fight any sort of conventional war in such circumstances?

'Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch helped stack shelves during a visit to an M&S store in Victoria, central London, where she was joined by the retailer's CEO Stuart Machin, on Monday (8 June).'

https://x.com/Independent/status/2063979087794716752?s=20

I preferred Trump's McDonalds stunt.

Didn't Kemi genuinely work in MaccieDs to pay herself through uni?

A summer job as a sixth former. She became working class that way.

https://news.sky.com/story/kemi-badenoch-claims-she-became-working-class-after-securing-a-job-at-mcdonalds-as-a-teenager-13217266

Very impressive.

If it doesn't work out as LOTO, and it has been touch and go, she could always get a job at Marksies now.

Would that be after her parents flew her in to the UK to take exams here as Nigerian education was crap.

Was it before the American University, that's a College offered her a Scholarship on a Course that didn't exist at a place that didn't do scholarships and deny any record of her.

Maybe Grant Shapps sold her a Michael Green certificate with her pocket money from McDonald's.

It's very good of her to advertise an excellent LABOUR POLICY though.

The private school she was at in Lagos is one of the best in Nigeria, being run for the befit of staff at the University.

I suspect the reason she came to Britain at 16 to do her A levels was so she could establish residence for domestic rather than ovrrseas university fees.

'Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch helped stack shelves during a visit to an M&S store in Victoria, central London, where she was joined by the retailer's CEO Stuart Machin, on Monday (8 June).'

https://x.com/Independent/status/2063979087794716752?s=20

I preferred Trump's McDonalds stunt.

Didn't Kemi genuinely work in MaccieDs to pay herself through uni?

A summer job as a sixth former. She became working class that way.

https://news.sky.com/story/kemi-badenoch-claims-she-became-working-class-after-securing-a-job-at-mcdonalds-as-a-teenager-13217266

Very impressive.

If it doesn't work out as LOTO, and it has been touch and go, she could always get a job at Marksies now.

This isn't just a LOTO, this an M & S LOTO.

Remember as she is an M&S politician, you can always take her back and exchange her if you've still got the original receipt.