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Old Bexley & Sidcup: Another CON by-election flop? – politicalbetting.com

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  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    HYUFD said:

    ClippP said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    I went to a comprehensive. That was largely left wing inspired, taught by left wing teachers and it was shit. The problems of our education system can't just be blamed on "the Tories". The teaching unions with their sloppy attitudes and "prizes for all" mentality hold an equal portion of blame.
    That last remark, Mr Foremain, belongs rather to the world of Tory myth. In what way do the teaching unions as such have any say in determining the attitudes of teachers towards their pupils? Or in the appointment of teachers?

    It is surely in the nature of a caring profession to want all individuals to do the best they can, and encouragement is surely a key to this. In contrast, the Tory way of screaming and shouting at everybody is the very worst thing to do if you want to get the best out of people. They tell me that present-day managers in business go in for a lot of shouting and swearing at people too.
    In my experience the more hard left the person or teacher, the more likely they are to scream and shout
    Twist and shout, shirley.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    What a grotesque, tone deaf response.

    “parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.”
    Yes, family first not just relying on the state to do it. A key Tory philosophy
    Not everyone drives. Some people are medically unfit to drive. Not everyone can afford a car. And many parents will themselves be on the way to work - or already there - when their child needs to be on the way to school.

    You should also be able to rely on a contracted service.

    Or do you just believe that everyone should drive everywhere in their SUV, HYUFD, and that public transport is the Devil's work?
  • glwglw Posts: 9,535

    Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh FM have written to Boris Johnson urging him to tighten travel restrictions in light of omicron spread

    They want people arriving in the UK from overseas to have to self-isolate for 8 days

    Is there any point? Omicron is here, and probably already spreading widely.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,072
    @dixiedean your kid should just get the tube to school. Or a taxi. Apparently.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,722

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    What a grotesque, tone deaf response.

    “parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.”
    Yes, family first not just relying on the state to do it. A key Tory philosophy
    One presumes you don’t use any public services, then.
    We've had this discussion before.

    Our 'friend' provides excellent reasons for not voting Tory. Particularly if one is becoming infirm and lives in a rural area.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,153

    Happy Hannukah to Jewish PBers, doubtless feasting on fish and chips and doughnuts (a week of fried food!). It is very early this year, and is usually closer to Christmas.

    Many happy returns! I was fascinated to learn recentlyu that it was Jewish shopkeepers who introduced takeaway fish and chips to the UK in the mid-C19.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712

    @dixiedean your kid should just get the tube to school. Or a taxi. Apparently.

    Or walk if they left early enough and DD will not drive him
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    edited November 2021

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    What a grotesque, tone deaf response.

    “parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.”
    Yes, family first not just relying on the state to do it. A key Tory philosophy
    Not everyone drives. Some people are medically unfit to drive. Not everyone can afford a car. And many parents will themselves be on the way to work - or already there - when their child needs to be on the way to school.

    You should also be able to rely on a contracted service.

    Or do you just believe that everyone should drive everywhere in their SUV, HYUFD, and that public transport is the Devil's work?
    No evidence dixiedean is either medically unfit or cannot afford to drive a car.

    If a child has an important exam that morning you could drop them off at 7am so they could do some last minute cramming and still be at work in plenty of time.

    As I said no public service is 100% reliable all the time so if you do want to ensure they get there on time get them there yourself.

    That is the conservative way
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812
    HYUFD said:

    @dixiedean your kid should just get the tube to school. Or a taxi. Apparently.

    Or walk if they left early enough and DD will not drive him
    Seen the weather lately?
    You are 100%, pure grade, berk.
  • IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    Sorry, you’re wrong about that.

    They remind me of Dylan, and indeed Shakespeare, in that the more you look into the work, the more there is to look at.

    One problem they have is their ridiculous ubiquity in the culture, rendering all their stuff like wallpaper.

    I have actually tried not to listen for them for the past 20 years, but rediscovered them during lockdown, thus resulting in sheer jubilation and excitement once more.

    It’s possible I will try to ignore them again for 20 years.
    They're brilliant. By definition overrated simply because you can't be rated that high without being overrated. But brilliant.
    Bizarre

    do you like the Grateful Dead? They are the closest stab I can have at a guess as to what the beatles would have been like if they'd been any good. Try the "Best Of" album.
    I do but I don't place that much above the Beatles last 4 or 5 years. Bob's my uber alles.
    You could retire to a desert island with a playlist of Dylan covers, and never get bored. the only Beatles cover I can think of is hendrix doing Sgt pepper on one occasion, and he covered Wild Thing, so not much of an accolade. let's ponder the reasons for the discrepancy.
    Probably because Dylan was a first rate songwriter but a second rate singer. Far easier to listen to a Dylan song and think "this is a great song but it would sound better sung in tune". When you listen to a Beatles song it's usually hard to think of how it could be improved. Many people have covered their songs, of course, notably Yesterday, but the originals are always the standards, with good reason.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    What a grotesque, tone deaf response.

    “parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.”
    Yes, family first not just relying on the state to do it. A key Tory philosophy
    Not everyone drives. Some people are medically unfit to drive. Not everyone can afford a car. And many parents will themselves be on the way to work - or already there - when their child needs to be on the way to school.

    You should also be able to rely on a contracted service.

    Or do you just believe that everyone should drive everywhere in their SUV, HYUFD, and that public transport is the Devil's work?
    No evidence dixiedean is either medically unfit or cannot afford to drive a car.

    If a child has an important exam that morning you could drop them off at 7am so they could do some last minute cramming and still be at work in plenty of time.

    As I said no public service is 100% reliable all the time so if you do want to ensure they get there on time get them there yourself.

    100% proof Toryism.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    edited November 2021

    HYUFD said:

    @dixiedean your kid should just get the tube to school. Or a taxi. Apparently.

    Or walk if they left early enough and DD will not drive him
    Seen the weather lately?
    You are 100%, pure grade, berk.
    There are such things as coats, scarfs, gloves and hats.

    As the old saying goes there is no such thing as bad weather, just wearing inappropriate clothing for it
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812
    edited November 2021

    @dixiedean your kid should just get the tube to school. Or a taxi. Apparently.

    Tube is the devil’s work, though, as it’s publicly-subsidised.

    HYUFD presumably had to cross his fingers and don his foil helmet every time he gets on at Cockfosters.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,010
    IshmaelZ said:

    aaand good news from Israel, just in time for Advent

    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/top-israeli-health-expert-covid-vaccine-reduces-severe-illness-in-omicron-cases-1.10421310

    "Israel’s chief of public health services, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, warned Sunday that the potential for infection with the COVID variant omicron is “very high,” but stressed that in cases where vaccinated people were infected they became only slightly ill.

    Speaking at a Knesset meeting, she gave the example of a flight from South Africa to the Netherlands, where 62 out of 600 passengers were found to be infected. “This is very, very fast," Alroy-Preis said."

    She is surely not suggesting they were infected on the plane and then immediately tested positive?
  • glw said:

    Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh FM have written to Boris Johnson urging him to tighten travel restrictions in light of omicron spread

    They want people arriving in the UK from overseas to have to self-isolate for 8 days

    Is there any point? Omicron is here, and probably already spreading widely.
    Must do something different to England.....must do something different from England.....
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    What a grotesque, tone deaf response.

    “parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.”
    Yes, family first not just relying on the state to do it. A key Tory philosophy
    Not everyone drives. Some people are medically unfit to drive. Not everyone can afford a car. And many parents will themselves be on the way to work - or already there - when their child needs to be on the way to school.

    You should also be able to rely on a contracted service.

    Or do you just believe that everyone should drive everywhere in their SUV, HYUFD, and that public transport is the Devil's work?
    No evidence dixiedean is either medically unfit or cannot afford to drive a car.

    If a child has an important exam that morning you could drop them off at 7am so they could do some last minute cramming and still be at work in plenty of time.

    As I said no public service is 100% reliable all the time so if you do want to ensure they get there on time get them there yourself.

    That is the conservative way
    Drop them off a 7am (when the school won't let them in until 8:30) because the school bus didn't turn up at 8...

    What time machine do you have?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    Sorry, you’re wrong about that.

    They remind me of Dylan, and indeed Shakespeare, in that the more you look into the work, the more there is to look at.

    One problem they have is their ridiculous ubiquity in the culture, rendering all their stuff like wallpaper.

    I have actually tried not to listen for them for the past 20 years, but rediscovered them during lockdown, thus resulting in sheer jubilation and excitement once more.

    It’s possible I will try to ignore them again for 20 years.
    They're brilliant. By definition overrated simply because you can't be rated that high without being overrated. But brilliant.
    Bizarre

    do you like the Grateful Dead? They are the closest stab I can have at a guess as to what the beatles would have been like if they'd been any good. Try the "Best Of" album.
    I do but I don't place that much above the Beatles last 4 or 5 years. Bob's my uber alles.
    You could retire to a desert island with a playlist of Dylan covers, and never get bored. the only Beatles cover I can think of is hendrix doing Sgt pepper on one occasion, and he covered Wild Thing, so not much of an accolade. let's ponder the reasons for the discrepancy.
    Probably because Dylan was a first rate songwriter but a second rate singer. Far easier to listen to a Dylan song and think "this is a great song but it would sound better sung in tune". When you listen to a Beatles song it's usually hard to think of how it could be improved. Many people have covered their songs, of course, notably Yesterday, but the originals are always the standards, with good reason.
    Disagree. I prefer the dylan versions of Mr Tambourine Man, Mighty Quinn, bitw, you ain't going nowhere. Ambivalent about aatwt.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    What a grotesque, tone deaf response.

    “parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.”
    Yes, family first not just relying on the state to do it. A key Tory philosophy
    Not everyone drives. Some people are medically unfit to drive. Not everyone can afford a car. And many parents will themselves be on the way to work - or already there - when their child needs to be on the way to school.

    You should also be able to rely on a contracted service.

    Or do you just believe that everyone should drive everywhere in their SUV, HYUFD, and that public transport is the Devil's work?
    No evidence dixiedean is either medically unfit or cannot afford to drive a car.

    If a child has an important exam that morning you could drop them off at 7am so they could do some last minute cramming and still be at work in plenty of time.

    As I said no public service is 100% reliable all the time so if you do want to ensure they get there on time get them there yourself.

    I don't really think dixiedean's circumstances are relevant, you are making blanket statements.

    Parents aren't 100% reliable either. You may wake up too ill to drive, do a positive LFT, or the car won't start.

    I have certainly travelled by public transport to important events, job interviews, exams etc and expected to get there on time. Either when I didn't have a car, or it was impracticable to drive (ie central London).

    I'm this case you would hope the school can rearrange the exam, although that does rely on the teaching profession being sensible, which is not a given.
  • @dixiedean your kid should just get the tube to school. Or a taxi. Apparently.

    Tube is the devil’s work, though, as it’s publicly-subsidised.

    HYUFD presumably had to cross his fingers and don his foil helmet every time he gets on at Cockfosters.
    I think HYUFD is a central line user given his location. Must kill him that it's red. To be fair to him the Tube relies little on public subsidy, certainly compared to other global public transport systems. That's why (a) it's so expensive and (b) the Covid collapse in ridership has blown a hole in TfL's finances.
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
  • glwglw Posts: 9,535

    glw said:

    Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh FM have written to Boris Johnson urging him to tighten travel restrictions in light of omicron spread

    They want people arriving in the UK from overseas to have to self-isolate for 8 days

    Is there any point? Omicron is here, and probably already spreading widely.
    Must do something different to England.....must do something different from England.....
    If anything the currently known case numbers suggest that England should close the border with Scotland. As Scotland's per capita cases are far higher than England's. Of course it wouldn't make any real difference, as there are likely many more cases in England than we currently know about.

    The only things that actually matter right now are vaccination and gathering data, everything else is a distraction and very unlikely to be effective if Omicron is as transmissible as it appears to be. So jab, test, and sequence; and do it as fast as is possible.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,588
    .
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    @dixiedean your kid should just get the tube to school. Or a taxi. Apparently.

    Or walk if they left early enough and DD will not drive him
    Seen the weather lately?
    You are 100%, pure grade, berk.
    There are such things as coats, scarfs, gloves and hats.

    As the old saying goes there is no such thing as bad weather, just wearing inappropriate clothing for it
    You personify the post Brexit-return-to-the-1950s Tory dream.

    All we need is hanging, flogging, rationing, national service and rickets to complete the picture.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Chris said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    aaand good news from Israel, just in time for Advent

    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/top-israeli-health-expert-covid-vaccine-reduces-severe-illness-in-omicron-cases-1.10421310

    "Israel’s chief of public health services, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, warned Sunday that the potential for infection with the COVID variant omicron is “very high,” but stressed that in cases where vaccinated people were infected they became only slightly ill.

    Speaking at a Knesset meeting, she gave the example of a flight from South Africa to the Netherlands, where 62 out of 600 passengers were found to be infected. “This is very, very fast," Alroy-Preis said."

    She is surely not suggesting they were infected on the plane and then immediately tested positive?
    Um, yes, I think she is. Which is a brave assumption.
  • Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh FM have written to Boris Johnson urging him to tighten travel restrictions in light of omicron spread

    They want people arriving in the UK from overseas to have to self-isolate for 8 days

    Sturgeon now acknowledging, thanks to a question from @wornoutmumhack, that four-nation discussions on #OmicronVariant have been going on for some time at both official and political levels, and remain the appropriate forum for her and Drakeford to push for any additional action.

    https://twitter.com/dhothersall/status/1465276251845926912?s=20
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    edited November 2021
    eek said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    What a grotesque, tone deaf response.

    “parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.”
    Yes, family first not just relying on the state to do it. A key Tory philosophy
    Not everyone drives. Some people are medically unfit to drive. Not everyone can afford a car. And many parents will themselves be on the way to work - or already there - when their child needs to be on the way to school.

    You should also be able to rely on a contracted service.

    Or do you just believe that everyone should drive everywhere in their SUV, HYUFD, and that public transport is the Devil's work?
    No evidence dixiedean is either medically unfit or cannot afford to drive a car.

    If a child has an important exam that morning you could drop them off at 7am so they could do some last minute cramming and still be at work in plenty of time.

    As I said no public service is 100% reliable all the time so if you do want to ensure they get there on time get them there yourself.

    That is the conservative way
    Drop them off a 7am (when the school won't let them in until 8:30) because the school bus didn't turn up at 8...

    What time machine do you have?
    Well if the school does not even open until 8 30am what are you worried about if the school bus was not there at 8 am precisely?

    Does not exactly sound like teachers in the school are in a rush to get things open and started either
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    Dead from the neck down.
    And deaf, too.
    Who? Me? I doubt I am deaf as I am a musician (although Beethoven did OK) with many (much better) musician friends and relatives including pros. Are you? Here is a tip: If someone says the band that you love is maybe not as good as many think, it is just an opinion. Music has a certain objectivity to it's sophistication, but it is fundamentally taste and therefore opinion.
    I find that people appealing to this idea have fundamentally bad taste.

    Bach is Bach.
    Mozart is Mozart.
    Porter is Porter.
    Miles is Miles.
    Dylan is Dylan.
    Beatles are Beatles.

    There’s a reason.
    I dont think the Beatles were actually beatles, though the others are true.

    Now, don't go all gammon on me please, but I see them as a very good boy band that were very good at writing melodies and quite good at singing harmonies. You have a different view, probably based on the "I know what I like" principle. That is fine. Get over it. They are only a pop band.
  • Eleni Courea
    @EleniCourea
    ·
    3m
    Reports from
    @paulwaugh
    and
    @siennamarla
    that the reshuffle has begun this morning - trying to confirm
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,739
    ...
  • That's a Labour reshuffle btw.
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
    There's quite a good version by Peter Frampton, although I like the original - it's one of my favourite Beatles songs along with Lucy and Helter Skelter.
  • IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    Sorry, you’re wrong about that.

    They remind me of Dylan, and indeed Shakespeare, in that the more you look into the work, the more there is to look at.

    One problem they have is their ridiculous ubiquity in the culture, rendering all their stuff like wallpaper.

    I have actually tried not to listen for them for the past 20 years, but rediscovered them during lockdown, thus resulting in sheer jubilation and excitement once more.

    It’s possible I will try to ignore them again for 20 years.
    They're brilliant. By definition overrated simply because you can't be rated that high without being overrated. But brilliant.
    Bizarre

    do you like the Grateful Dead? They are the closest stab I can have at a guess as to what the beatles would have been like if they'd been any good. Try the "Best Of" album.
    I do but I don't place that much above the Beatles last 4 or 5 years. Bob's my uber alles.
    You could retire to a desert island with a playlist of Dylan covers, and never get bored. the only Beatles cover I can think of is hendrix doing Sgt pepper on one occasion, and he covered Wild Thing, so not much of an accolade. let's ponder the reasons for the discrepancy.
    You forget one of the greatest live performances of any song in history. Joe Cocker doing 'With a Little Help from my Friends" at Woodstock. Everyone practically has covered a Beatles song at some point - including Bob Dylan 5 times. Indeed according to Wikipeadia there have been 2200 Beatles song covers recorded and released to date.
  • glw said:

    Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh FM have written to Boris Johnson urging him to tighten travel restrictions in light of omicron spread

    They want people arriving in the UK from overseas to have to self-isolate for 8 days

    Is there any point? Omicron is here, and probably already spreading widely.
    Must do something different to England.....must do something different from England.....
    Really a terrible mistake to mix critical info for public health with megaphone diplomacy in this way. You're either FM for all of us, pulling everyone together to get through a crisis, or you're the antagonist in an unending war on Downing St. You can't be both in one briefing.

    https://twitter.com/dhothersall/status/1465271913907990528?s=20
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,010
    IshmaelZ said:

    Chris said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    aaand good news from Israel, just in time for Advent

    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/top-israeli-health-expert-covid-vaccine-reduces-severe-illness-in-omicron-cases-1.10421310

    "Israel’s chief of public health services, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, warned Sunday that the potential for infection with the COVID variant omicron is “very high,” but stressed that in cases where vaccinated people were infected they became only slightly ill.

    Speaking at a Knesset meeting, she gave the example of a flight from South Africa to the Netherlands, where 62 out of 600 passengers were found to be infected. “This is very, very fast," Alroy-Preis said."

    She is surely not suggesting they were infected on the plane and then immediately tested positive?
    Um, yes, I think she is. Which is a brave assumption.
    Well, it would be good news (in most ways) if it were true that the serial interval was smaller, because it could explain the rise of the variant without any need either for an increase in R0 (and in the herd immunity threshold) or for immune escape. But I haven't seen it suggested at all elsewhere, and it seems unbelievable that it could be reduced to that extent.
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
    I do love that. I also love the look of joy on Harrison's son's face while Prince is playing.

    Harrison is regarded by many of the world's great guitarists as one of the finest ever. I tend to agree with them.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,625
    Carnyx said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I got the bus to school every day. And back again. Was fun in bad weather one time when it didn't show up and I had a four mile trudge through the snow.

    Was it uphill both ways?
    Of course. It was/is Yorkshire.
    You had hills?

    Luuuuuuuuuuuxxuuuury....
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,226

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    Sorry, you’re wrong about that.

    They remind me of Dylan, and indeed Shakespeare, in that the more you look into the work, the more there is to look at.

    One problem they have is their ridiculous ubiquity in the culture, rendering all their stuff like wallpaper.

    I have actually tried not to listen for them for the past 20 years, but rediscovered them during lockdown, thus resulting in sheer jubilation and excitement once more.

    It’s possible I will try to ignore them again for 20 years.
    They're brilliant. By definition overrated simply because you can't be rated that high without being overrated. But brilliant.
    Bizarre

    do you like the Grateful Dead? They are the closest stab I can have at a guess as to what the beatles would have been like if they'd been any good. Try the "Best Of" album.
    I do but I don't place that much above the Beatles last 4 or 5 years. Bob's my uber alles.
    You could retire to a desert island with a playlist of Dylan covers, and never get bored. the only Beatles cover I can think of is hendrix doing Sgt pepper on one occasion, and he covered Wild Thing, so not much of an accolade. let's ponder the reasons for the discrepancy.
    Probably because Dylan was a first rate songwriter but a second rate singer. Far easier to listen to a Dylan song and think "this is a great song but it would sound better sung in tune". When you listen to a Beatles song it's usually hard to think of how it could be improved. Many people have covered their songs, of course, notably Yesterday, but the originals are always the standards, with good reason.
    Always on the look out for a good Beatles cover to add to my playlist. Not saying they’re all better than the original. But a great way of hearing the songs semi fresh again.

    Al Green - I wanna hold your hand
    Joe Cocker - She came in through the bathroom window
    Joe Cocker - With a little help from my friends
    Paul Weller - Sexy Sadie
    Stevie Wonder - We can work it out
    Jonny Cash - In my life
    Prince et al - While my guitar gently weeps
    Fats Domino - Lady Madonna
    Elbow - Golden Slumbers
    Bristol Love - Strawberry Fields Forever
    Billy Preston - Eight Days a Week
    Scary Pockets - Rocky Racoon
    Wilson Picket - hey Jude
    Oasis - I am the walrus
    David Bowie - across the universe
    Hendrix - sgt pepper / day tripper
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
    I do love that. I also love the look of joy on Harrison's son's face while Prince is playing.

    Harrison is regarded by many of the world's great guitarists as one of the finest ever. I tend to agree with them.
    Nigel is right on the technicalities, but wrong on the substance. So what if Clapton wrote the guitar solo? All the good stuff on the Layla album is Duane Allman ffs.
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
    I do love that. I also love the look of joy on Harrison's son's face while Prince is playing.

    Harrison is regarded by many of the world's great guitarists as one of the finest ever. I tend to agree with them.
    Nigel is right on the technicalities, but wrong on the substance. So what if Clapton wrote the guitar solo? All the good stuff on the Layla album is Duane Allman ffs.
    Indeed. One of my pet peeves down the years that it is not properly credited.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I had to just watch that on Youtube. Magnificent. A recent posting (6months ago) - 2.1m views, 43k likes and, which I don't think I've ever seen before, zero "dislikes"!!
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,881
    UK government selling a vaccine manufacturing facility?
    https://www.ft.com/content/d312c4cb-201d-4ce6-a98f-715b20d77998

    Feels like we might need that...
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    TOPPING said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I had to just watch that on Youtube. Magnificent. A recent posting (6months ago) - 2.1m views, 43k likes and, which I don't think I've ever seen before, zero "dislikes"!!
    That's an even bigger temptation than the Off-topic button. But I am better than that...
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,072
    rkrkrk said:

    UK government selling a vaccine manufacturing facility?
    https://www.ft.com/content/d312c4cb-201d-4ce6-a98f-715b20d77998

    Feels like we might need that...

    Ffs
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
    I do love that. I also love the look of joy on Harrison's son's face while Prince is playing.

    Harrison is regarded by many of the world's great guitarists as one of the finest ever. I tend to agree with them.
    Nigel is right on the technicalities, but wrong on the substance. So what if Clapton wrote the guitar solo? All the good stuff on the Layla album is Duane Allman ffs.
    I didn't know that. I love the Allmans.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    edited November 2021
    glw said:

    Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh FM have written to Boris Johnson urging him to tighten travel restrictions in light of omicron spread

    They want people arriving in the UK from overseas to have to self-isolate for 8 days

    Is there any point? Omicron is here, and probably already spreading widely.
    If Omicron was already here in large numbers we'd have picked it up in our sequencing efforts, which hasn't happened. So there is value in slowing down its arrival.

    That doesn't mean it's worth imposing quarantine on arrivals from France, etc, yet. The requirement for a day 2 PCR for all arrivals should be coupled with sequencing all of those which give positive results - that would give us a way of measuring the prevalence of Omicron in those countries that doesn't rely on their own sequencing efforts.

    Then we can introduce stricter border controls on other countries as necessary.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,271
    This just in

    appin
    @pappinworld
    ·
    2m
    “No Need to Panic:” South African Doctor Who First Reported Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Calls Symptoms “Very Mild”
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    rkrkrk said:

    UK government selling a vaccine manufacturing facility?
    https://www.ft.com/content/d312c4cb-201d-4ce6-a98f-715b20d77998

    Feels like we might need that...

    Is that the one we've only just built?
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
    I do love that. I also love the look of joy on Harrison's son's face while Prince is playing.

    Harrison is regarded by many of the world's great guitarists as one of the finest ever. I tend to agree with them.
    I have never seen Harrison do anything sophisticated or challenging on guitar. Happy to watch if you can point me to anything.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 9,653
    Leon said:

    This just in

    appin
    @pappinworld
    ·
    2m
    “No Need to Panic:” South African Doctor Who First Reported Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Calls Symptoms “Very Mild”

    Too late now. The panic is out there - not in the public mind but in the politicians. Genie back in the bottle etc ...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,271
    Stocky said:

    Leon said:

    This just in

    appin
    @pappinworld
    ·
    2m
    “No Need to Panic:” South African Doctor Who First Reported Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Calls Symptoms “Very Mild”

    Too late now. The panic is out there - not in the public mind but in the politicians. Genie back in the bottle etc ...
    Er, it was a joke
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,881

    rkrkrk said:

    UK government selling a vaccine manufacturing facility?
    https://www.ft.com/content/d312c4cb-201d-4ce6-a98f-715b20d77998

    Feels like we might need that...

    Is that the one we've only just built?
    Yep.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 9,653
    edited November 2021
    Leon said:

    Stocky said:

    Leon said:

    This just in

    appin
    @pappinworld
    ·
    2m
    “No Need to Panic:” South African Doctor Who First Reported Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Calls Symptoms “Very Mild”

    Too late now. The panic is out there - not in the public mind but in the politicians. Genie back in the bottle etc ...
    Er, it was a joke
    Oh - you got me again.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    edited November 2021
    Stocky said:

    Leon said:

    This just in

    appin
    @pappinworld
    ·
    2m
    “No Need to Panic:” South African Doctor Who First Reported Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Calls Symptoms “Very Mild”

    Too late now. The panic is out there - not in the public mind but in the politicians. Genie back in the bottle etc ...
    Unless it is proved that being double vaccinated proves totally ineffective against the risk of hospitalisation and death from this new variant then I don't think there is much more the politicians can do. As far as I can see most of them have been relatively calm, mainly requiring increasing testing and isolation for foreign travel etc.

    Another winter lockdown absent that would likely lead to rioting, we have already seen riots in the Netherlands and Australia and NZ over lockdown measures in recent weeks. There are no easy choices for politicians on this
  • Rumour Starmer about to sack shadow home secretary, shadow education secretary and shadow dcms secretary

    Guido - Starmer phoning shadow ministers

  • Deciding to reshuffle the shadow cabinet while your *deputy leader* is giving a keynote speech on taking on the Tories is proper galaxy brain stuff from Labour.

    https://twitter.com/SebastianEPayne/status/1465279030819708931?s=20
  • Labour source confirms shadow cabinet reshuffle underway.

    But sounds like Angela Rayner may have been left out of loop (because that worked so well last time).

    Deputy leader: "I don't know the details of any reshuffle, I've been concentrating on the job I have been doing."


    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1465285029865607170?s=20
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712

    Rumour Starmer about to sack shadow home secretary, shadow education secretary and shadow dcms secretary

    Guido - Starmer phoning shadow ministers

    Morning of the North London long forks?
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,933
    edited November 2021
    Your mothers are hamsters, and your fathers smell of elderberries!
  • Labour source confirms shadow cabinet reshuffle underway.

    But sounds like Angela Rayner may have been left out of loop (because that worked so well last time).

    Deputy leader: "I don't know the details of any reshuffle, I've been concentrating on the job I have been doing."


    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1465285029865607170?s=20

    Angela Rayner being interviewed live on Sky as she makes her speech and has no idea of a reshuffle

    Adam Boulton 'looks like Starmer has overshadowed his deputy ' !!!!!!!!!
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,840
    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    So. My youngest's school bus has simply not turned up today. On the day of A level mocks which may well count towards final grades, and which, in their wisdom it has been decreed cannot be re-sat.
    The bus company didn't notify anyone, not parents nor school. Nor is the school open for anyone to complain to till 8:15. Well after the time he would normally be already there.
    No public transport exists. Nor are there any available taxis at that time of day. So for parents without transport, or already gone to work their kids simply don't take the exam.
    Getting fed up of this country.

    This country sets people up to fail. Successive Tory governments have stripped away all the postwar infrastructure put in place to minimise the advantages of inherited wealth and privilege. The result? A second rate country dominated by well spoken nonentities, that throws away the talents of most of the population while telling them that it's all the fault of immigrants, or the woke, or the EU.
    What on earth has that got to do with rural bus services which are always intermittent, hence most people in rural areas mainly drive themselves.

    It was of course Thatcher, a Lincolnshire grammar school girl and grocers' daughter, who rescued this country from becoming an economic basket case which it was becoming by the late 1970s
    This isn't rural bus services. We don't have any.
    This is a private company not providing the service they are contracted to do.
    Nor informing anyone.
    Many of the parents who use the service do drive. But not having a car oughtn't to be a reason to be unable to take your mocks.
    Just shoddy arsed lack of service that is all too common these days in a nation that seems not to give a toss.
    Led from the top.
    The government is not responsible for private bus companies by definition and school bus services are rarely 100% reliable, hence parents who want to be sure their children get to school at a specific time drive them.

    On the other hand bus companies will only provide services based on demand, if services are cut it is because not enough people are using them
    And there you have it.
    Nobody gives a toss.
  • Leon said:

    This just in

    appin
    @pappinworld
    ·
    2m
    “No Need to Panic:” South African Doctor Who First Reported Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Calls Symptoms “Very Mild”

    The same quote over and over again.....
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Leon said:

    This just in

    appin
    @pappinworld
    ·
    2m
    “No Need to Panic:” South African Doctor Who First Reported Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Calls Symptoms “Very Mild”

    The same quote over and over again.....
    The quote propagates more easily than previous memes, but seems to do comparatively little damage.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    eek said:

    Alistair Meeks has posted what is a good but would be very long header on who the next PM will be

    https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/next-1c587c0a44f8

    Very thorough review of the current situation and some interesting tips.
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    The Beatles documentary is way too long.

    Fascinating, though, in its micro-details.

    They seem to subsist entirely on dry buttered toast and Riesling.

    5 minutes would be too long for me. In my very controversial humble opinion they were a good band, but the most overrated of all time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQS91wVdvYc&t=6s
    Sorry don't have time at mo, but will look at it later. Never said they weren't worth appreciating, particularly for great melodies and harmonies, just that musically they are nowhere near many other bands. Their almost universal deification is, again in my opinion, misplaced and based on popularity far more than musicality.
    That programme, by an expert and great communicator, is made for you, then.
    Looking at the title, might I wonder whether the "expert" might be indulging in confirmation bias? People love the Beatles, which is nice for them, but they then attempt to make out that they were something they were not and look for sophistication that isn't there. They wrote good tunes and they gelled together well, but none of them were top level players. The only really good guitar song was "while my guitar gently weeps" and this was actually written by Clapton, and the great Beatles "forgot" to credit him for it. The jokes about Ringo Star not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was a little harsh, but he certainly wasn't anything special compared to many others before or since.

    As I say, a good band. Right place, right time. Highly overrated.
    While my Guitar Gently Weeps was not written by Clapton. It was written by George Harrison. Clapton only provided an overdubbed section of guitar. And the best version is not by either of them but by Prince at the tribute concert.
    I was really referring to the guitar solo part, which one could argue was written (and is argued by some) by Clapton (most guitar solos are initially improv'ed) , and it is overdubbed because no-one in the Beatles were very good on guitar (maybe why the rest of them didn't like the song). Harrison claims credit to the song. The solo is the best bit IMO and it's composition is very Clapton. The chorus is very Harrison so probably was written by him.

    The Prince version is very fine, partic when he throws the guitar at the end!
    I do love that. I also love the look of joy on Harrison's son's face while Prince is playing.

    Harrison is regarded by many of the world's great guitarists as one of the finest ever. I tend to agree with them.
    Nigel is right on the technicalities, but wrong on the substance. So what if Clapton wrote the guitar solo? All the good stuff on the Layla album is Duane Allman ffs.
    Matricidal maniac Derek & the Dominos drummer Jim Gordon stole the credit for writing the piano on Layla. It was written by Rita Coolidge. Her sister Priscilla recorded her original version "Time" a couple of years later with Booker T Jones.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IJPLcwHOes
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,072
    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?
  • Sky suggesting Yvette Cooper on way to shadow cabinet
  • FarooqFarooq Posts: 10,775

    Rumour Starmer about to sack shadow home secretary, shadow education secretary and shadow dcms secretary

    Guido - Starmer phoning shadow ministers

    One can only assume they are the three that Boris is going to unveil at the Tory conference [checks notes] several weeks ago.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,404
    Cat Smith confirms that she is returning to the back benches. (Sky)
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,840
    edited November 2021
    Re school bus.
    This is a private company, not a bus anyone can get. We have paid £ 600 in advance as have many others to take and bring back every day.
    On the day of the mocks it simply doesn't arrive without warning, explanation, apology or mitigation. No alternative provision provided.
    This is UK private business in a nutshell.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,404
    So is Yvette Cooper going to get the Shad Home Sec gig?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,153
    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    The pay packets you exaggerated by very nearly 100%?

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    dixiedean said:

    Re school bus.
    This is a private company, not a bus anyone can get. We have paid £ 600 in advance as have many others to take and bring back every day.
    On the day of the mocks it simply doesn't arrive without warning, explanation, apology or mitigation. No alternative provision provided.
    This is UK private business in a nutshell.

    Has it not arrived at all or did it just not arrive at 8am precisely or did you miss it?

  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,883
    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,072
    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    Do you think if TFL was private it would pay its drivers less?
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    Let's post this again to educate you

    https://www.londonreconnections.com/2021/the-political-myth-of-the-driverless-tube-train/

    Nothings going to change as a driverless tube is a complete pipe dream.

    The conclusion from a former Mayor....

    “I would rather prioritise capacity… I would rather put the investment into expanding the ability of our underground system to carry people in comfort, than in putting money now into creating a new breed of driverless train.”

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    The pay packets you exaggerated by very nearly 100%?

    Not once you include pension contributions, allowances and season ticket reimbursements etc too
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,404
    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    The ability to take collective action and to have collective bargaining has certainly helped to enhance the pay and conditions of the drivers.

    Unity is strength.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    eek said:

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    Let's post this again to educate you

    https://www.londonreconnections.com/2021/the-political-myth-of-the-driverless-tube-train/

    Nothings going to change as a driverless tube is a complete pipe dream.

    The conclusion from a former Mayor....

    “I would rather prioritise capacity… I would rather put the investment into expanding the ability of our underground system to carry people in comfort, than in putting money now into creating a new breed of driverless train.”

    Well if they are on strike continually half the time there will be no trains at all then
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,153
    HYUFD said:

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    The pay packets you exaggerated by very nearly 100%?

    Not once you include pension contributions, allowances and season ticket reimbursements etc too
    Pay Packets = take home pay.

    Your expression, not mine.

  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    edited November 2021

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    Do you think if TFL was private it would pay its drivers less?
    Wait to HYUFD sees what the drivers on the WCML are paid (and why they continually got pay rises to reach such levels)..
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    Will it be more difficult to get a table at the front at the Lone Star?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,153
    edited November 2021
    eek said:

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    Do you think if TFL was private it would pay its drivers less?
    Wait to HYUFD sees what the drivers on the WCML are paid (and why they continually got pay rises to reach such levels)..
    Not exactly nationalised, either.

    Edit: though the track and ijnfrastructure are effectively nationalised.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    edited November 2021
    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is still remaining within the Commonwealth.

    It is also black majority while the majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.

    Indeed only 34% of Australians wanted to become a republic in a poll earlier this year, to 40% who wanted to keep the constitutional monarchy it has
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-sense-of-momentum-poll-finds-drop-in-support-for-australia-becoming-a-republic-20210125-p56wpe.html
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,153
    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is still remaining within the Commonwealth.

    It is also black majority while the vast majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.

    Indeed only 34% of Australians wanted to become a republic in a poll earlier this year, to 40% who wanted to keep the constitutional monarchy it has
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-sense-of-momentum-poll-finds-drop-in-support-for-australia-becoming-a-republic-20210125-p56wpe.html
    OMitting the DKs yet again, I see.

    That would equate to 46% of those actually voting in a referendum, to get rid of the monarchy.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is also black majority while the majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.
    Er what?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    eek said:

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    Do you think if TFL was private it would pay its drivers less?
    Wait to HYUFD sees what the drivers on the WCML are paid (and why they continually got pay rises to reach such levels)..
    They don't stike like the tube drivers do, in fact the last strike threatened on the WCML was called off beforehand in 2019
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    The ability to take collective action and to have collective bargaining has certainly helped to enhance the pay and conditions of the drivers.

    Unity is strength.
    While helping destroy the TfL balance sheet
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,153
    edited November 2021
    HYUFD said:

    eek said:

    HYUFD said:

    Time to privatise and stop subsidising TFL then @HYUFD?

    To stop subsidising the large pay packets of striking tube drivers certainly as strikes will certainly not help it back into a healthy financial position post lockdown
    Do you think if TFL was private it would pay its drivers less?
    Wait to HYUFD sees what the drivers on the WCML are paid (and why they continually got pay rises to reach such levels)..
    They don't stike like the tube drivers do, in fact the last strike threatened on the WCML was called off beforehand in 2019
    So they get paid more, is the obvious inference. And that is by commercial firms.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    edited November 2021
    dixiedean said:

    Re school bus.
    This is a private company, not a bus anyone can get. We have paid £ 600 in advance as have many others to take and bring back every day.
    On the day of the mocks it simply doesn't arrive without warning, explanation, apology or mitigation. No alternative provision provided.
    This is UK private business in a nutshell.

    Pretty bad service. Isn't it a clear case of breach of contract?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is still remaining within the Commonwealth.

    It is also black majority while the vast majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.

    Indeed only 34% of Australians wanted to become a republic in a poll earlier this year, to 40% who wanted to keep the constitutional monarchy it has
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-sense-of-momentum-poll-finds-drop-in-support-for-australia-becoming-a-republic-20210125-p56wpe.html
    OMitting the DKs yet again, I see.

    That would equate to 46% of those actually voting in a referendum, to get rid of the monarchy.
    So barely any change from the 45% of Australians who voted for a republic in 1999 even then
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    TOPPING said:

    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is also black majority while the majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.
    Er what?
    It's a good point. How far would Oliver Cromwell have got without an indigenous black majority?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,722
    RobD said:

    dixiedean said:

    Re school bus.
    This is a private company, not a bus anyone can get. We have paid £ 600 in advance as have many others to take and bring back every day.
    On the day of the mocks it simply doesn't arrive without warning, explanation, apology or mitigation. No alternative provision provided.
    This is UK private business in a nutshell.

    Pretty bad service. Isn't it a clear case of breach of contract?
    Probably previously had a Polish driver. Who has now been sent home.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,712
    edited November 2021
    TOPPING said:

    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is also black majority while the majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.
    Er what?
    Those born in Australia (ie who are mainly white and with ancestors originating from the British Isles) want to keep the monarchy by 41% to 33%, those not born in Australia but who are immigrants to the country (and now mainly non white) want a republic by 38% to 37%
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-sense-of-momentum-poll-finds-drop-in-support-for-australia-becoming-a-republic-20210125-p56wpe.html
  • HYUFD said:

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is still remaining within the Commonwealth.

    It is also black majority while the vast majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.

    Indeed only 34% of Australians wanted to become a republic in a poll earlier this year, to 40% who wanted to keep the constitutional monarchy it has
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-sense-of-momentum-poll-finds-drop-in-support-for-australia-becoming-a-republic-20210125-p56wpe.html
    OMitting the DKs yet again, I see.

    That would equate to 46% of those actually voting in a referendum, to get rid of the monarchy.
    So barely any change from the 45% of Australians who voted for a republic in 1999 even then
    It is inevitable over the coming years many more countries will become republics as the monarchy declines post the death of the Queen
  • Rumour Starmer about to sack shadow home secretary, shadow education secretary and shadow dcms secretary

    Guido - Starmer phoning shadow ministers

    Guido probably read it on here.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,153
    HYUFD said:

    TOPPING said:

    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is also black majority while the majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.
    Er what?
    Those born in Australia (ie who are mainly white and with ancestors originating from the British Isles) want to keep the monarchy by 41% to 33%, those not born in Australia but who are immigrants to the country (and now mainly non white) want a republic by 38% to 37%
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-sense-of-momentum-poll-finds-drop-in-support-for-australia-becoming-a-republic-20210125-p56wpe.html
    Eh? 41/33 equates to a pro-republic vote of 44.6% for the locally born. Which is as near as dammit to the 45% you told us a minute ago for the whole population. So you're now telling us that there is even more pro-republic sentiment than you told us a few moments ago.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,722
    HYUFD said:

    TOPPING said:

    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Congratulations to Barbados who shrug the yoke of imperialism and become a republic from midnight tonight. Australia next, I reckon.

    It is also black majority while the majority of people who live in the remaining Commonwealth realms are of white British origin.

    So no, Australia is not likely next either.
    Er what?
    Those born in Australia (ie who are mainly white and with ancestors originating from the British Isles) want to keep the monarchy by 41% to 33%, those not born in Australia but who are immigrants to the country (and now mainly non white) want a republic by 38% to 37%
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-sense-of-momentum-poll-finds-drop-in-support-for-australia-becoming-a-republic-20210125-p56wpe.html
    What about indigenous Australians?
This discussion has been closed.