The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Meanwhile, a new poll in Slovenia shows the impact of Robert Golob and his take over of Green Action and re-branding as the Freedom Movement (or Svoboda).
It's a good name which can mean anything to anyone but in fact Svoboda's origins are as an environmental party seeking a balance between economic growth and environmental protection - it's a blueprint for a new form of Green politics we're starting to see elsewhere (I think there's a similar party in Slovakia).
Anyway, Golob's arrival has pushed Svoboda into second place in a new Parsifal poll on 20.3%, eight points behind the ruling Slovenian Democratic Party.
The governing coalition of the SDS, New Slovenia and the party known as Concretely (no giggling in the cheap seats) polled 46% last time but are now down to 41.1%.
The current SDS-led coalition took over in 2020 when the previous coalition collapsed. Clearly, on the current numbers, the alternative coalition (if there is one) would be led by Golob and Svoboda. Whether there's a viable grouping of centre, centre-left and left parties to form an alternative to an SDS-led Government is far from clear.
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Highest number of daily deaths today since last February.
Judging by the number of sensible people like me still wearing masks, I don't think we will focus on any such thing.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Again, no real evidence of this. No one is suggesting a full 5 days per week office life any longer. We're now in the world of the "hybrid" office worker - 2-3 days at home and 2-3 days in the office.
The pre-Covid world of 5-day a week commuting is over certainly for many better paid white collar admin workers many of whom wouldn't go back to any organisation insisting on a 100% office presence. Indeed, companies are now offering remote working as an incentive to draw in those who have left London for other parts of the country.
Those parts of the economy previously reliant on large numbers of office-based workers are going to have to re-think how they operate.
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Highest number of daily deaths today since last February.
Judging by the number of sensible people like me still wearing masks, I don't think we will focus on any such thing.
That’s reporting day. Two years in and we are still doing this. It’s not great that people are dying from covid, of course it’s not. I have tremendous sympathy for those affected and personally have been lucky throughout. But do you ever stop to ask how many people died in the U.K. yesterday of any cause? The perpetual obsessing over covid is not helping anyone.
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
In Seattle, regional authority Sound Transit recently declared its current fiscal situation "unsustainable".
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Highest number of daily deaths today since last February.
Judging by the number of sensible people like me still wearing masks, I don't think we will focus on any such thing.
the daily deaths figure is a blip due to backlogs says Sky news
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Highest number of daily deaths today since last February.
Judging by the number of sensible people like me still wearing masks, I don't think we will focus on any such thing.
the daily deaths figure is a blip due to backlogs says Sky news
Don't disagree with Cyclefree's header, it's a good catalogue of government failings. But unless people are prepared to vote this government out, it won't change.
And I worry that the Conservatives are very good at finding issues which enrage otherwise hostile voters and stop them from voting Labour... like trans rights or border crossings or human rights or woke or free speech etc.
The answer to that, surely, is for Labour to have sensible policies on such issues which don't enrage people so that the Tory party's attempt at culture wars don't work.
It is possible to have such policies. I have suggested some. I dare say I could suggest more. But if you do Labour accuse you of some terrible thought crime or ostracise you or refuse to listen.
Take one example today - it is a year to the day since the death of Maureen Colquhoun, the first openly lesbian Labour MP. She was not treated well by Labour. A Labour group wanted to have some gathering in her memory and invited as a speaker her biographer and personal friend. Then disinvited her because this person thinks the GRA is just fine as it is. So the event is not now going ahead. When Labour behaves in this way to women - when it refuses to debate or listen, when it takes the view that there can only be one view on a topic which is of interest to lots of women for perfectly rational, evidence-based reasons (yes @kinabalu there are plenty even though you choose to ignore them) then it is not the Tories who are doing the enraging but Labour.
Womens' rights matter to me / the rights of children not to be abused / safeguarding and a decent police force one can trust matter to me - as my header today (and plenty more on these topics) would show. But I do not trust Labour on them. So .... they know what they have to do if they want my vote.
Where are Labour's views on police reforms, for instance? Why have the Mayor of London and the Opposition Leader supported the Met Commissioner despite all the evidence against her? Why should I believe that Labour will be any better on this or on child sex abuse etc?
Unfair and a bit of a misrepresentation. On here we tend to get this debate presented as if all the rational, evidence-led argument is on the side of those opposed to trans self-Id and inclusion. I try to correct that by posting the rational, evidence-led argument in favour. Which is considerable.
The one thing you haven't done is posted the rational evidence-led argument in favour. And when I have challenged you on certain consequences of your preference, you have agreed with me eg in relation to being against women being forced to name rapists as women even in a trial, even though this would be the inevitable consequence of self-ID.
And you stated yesterday something that is patently untrue - namely that trans activists do not want to erase womens' rights. I pointed out that it was the publicly stated position of trans lobby groups to remove all reference to sex in equalities legislation and to all sex-based exemptions in the Equality Act. This would remove womens' current rights. I also asked you how women would be able to take action against discrimination on the grounds of sex under the Equal Pay Act if sex was no longer a relevant category. What sort of comparator would be used and how?
So it seems to me that you do not fully understand the consequences of what you propose.
For the record, I am not opposed in the slightest to the existing rights trans people (ie those with gender dysphoria have) - those legal rights are exactly the same as everyone else has - nor do I wish to take any away. What I do oppose is the campaigns to remove womens' rights both in law and in practice. You would do well to understand how self-ID does impact on those rights and why women are concerned.
I've posted the report from the relevant House of Commons Committee which after taking evidence from all sides recommends self-Id as the way forward. I've also pointed out that this confirms the conclusions of the UK government when it looked into this previously in 2018. I've further pointed out that several countries have adopted this approach (and have no plans to reverse it) and that Germany is about to. Like it or not these are solid points. I've also sought to explain at length why imo it is illogical (and tbh rather noxious) to present self-Id as being a 'perverts charter'.
I did *not* in my post yesterday opine on what 'trans activists' do or don't want to do. What I said was that the pro trans argument isn't 100% owned by a collection of foaming twitter activists hellbent on trampling all over women's rights. Eg I'm not a trans activist (as if!) but I recognize the strength of the case for self-Id. This doesn't mean I wish to obliterate all reference to sex in the laws of the country or to abolish the whole concept of birth sex in favour of gender. Others may argue for this but that's a matter for them. It certainly doesn't follow automatically from having a less burdensome, de-medicalized gender transition process based predominantly on self-Id.
'Those other people are doing it and recommending it' isn't actually an argument in its favour is it? It's the same argument lemmings use when charging over a cliff. If you agree with it, you can surely find a single convincing argument for it other than pointing at the German Government.
When looking at a reform it's relevant where else it has been done and with what impact. People are saying self-Id is a perverts charter and an attack on women's rights, yet several countries have adopted self-Id and it hasn't been a perverts charter or caused a regression in women's rights. Germany is about to join these countries. When the UK government looked at this in 2018 they concluded that self-Id was a positive reform - because it would help this minority and harm nobody else. The Women & Equalities Committee of the HoC has recently re-endorsed this in their report of Dec 21. There are some solid arguments for this reform. People who are interested should take a look at them.
Do you have any links to studies from these countries evidencing that "it hasn't been a perverts charter or caused a regression in women's rights"? For example, that attacks on female prisoners have not increased since the change was made?
Seems there is lot of silliness on trans rights on these boards just as there is from self indulgent commentators in the Times and the Observer. Tom Harwood on GB news has far more sensible views on trans rights and has pointed out that prisoners are already assessed on an individual basis.
Germany seems a lot better on trans rights and there is no controversy in their gvt about it.
I don't think people like Rosie Duffield and cyclefree understand the equality act and if they do they want to repeal parts of it.
The debate on this in the UK is very heated cf other countries. Not completely sure why. The proposal in the HoC committee report on gender recognition is self-Id with controls for certain areas. The objective is to help transgender people without compromising the rights or safety of women. I think the case for it is strong.
Because the English are such shits. Your final sentence sounds so reasonable nobody could possibly object to it, but it cashes out as Ian Huntley considering transitioning a year or two ago, and a bunch of dickless "activists" screeching transphobe at me for having the bad taste to mention the fact.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
Out of interest are the Scons pronounced
Skons Skohns Or Skoons
?
Surely like the famous Scots pastry?
Can appear solid and quite appealing, but too much sugar, starch, etc., etc. for a healthy Diet?
I think that it's got to the point that one high-profile resignation would tip the scales, but in its absence they'll fall short.
And if they don't resign, they are about to get reshuffled...
Sunak appears to want to become leader of the Opposition at the moment. Taking over after Johnson losses in 2024.
Given that whoever is holding the parcel marked "General Election defeat" when the music stops will have to resign, it's not a totally stupid idea. Who would want to cauterise their political career in 2024?
(Same goes for Starmer, though given his age, he's only really got one shot anyway. It's just that the public have decided that if you lose, that's it. I blame Big Brother, The Apprentice etc)
It's truly ridiculous how the critics of Patel vanish when tested. I really like the idea of an annoyoing, short, Indian, and whirlwind like young lady being in power.
There's really not much vanishing going on. You can make a point about ME not being articulate in why I hate her and dismiss it as irrational, but other people are putting pretty solid reasons on the table.
How about, you’re a racist but you cannot possibly accept that, hence your confusion?
She’s a small, smirking, not-posh Asian woman with right wing beliefs. She fails you, racially. She should be Left
If you imagine all Asian people should be left wing, you've obviously not met many!
Leon uses epithets like "Japs" and then thinks he can sniff out racism from 6000 miles away. Bizarre character.
Is Brits racist?
I cannot say I've ever heard of Japs used as a racist epithet. It could be, same way paki definitely is (since it is used when people have no way of knowing if the target has anything to do with Pakistan for a start), but reference to the Japanese at all would probably be less common so I may have missed it.
In USA use of "Japs" is considered highly offensive by 94.99% of Japanese Americans, and is avoided > eschewed > shunned by about same percent of the rest of us. In same category as "Chinks" for Chinese people.
Think this STRONG feeling stems mainly from the habitual, indeed ubiquitous use of "Japs" during WW2 in American media. Which is evident in virtually every US newsreel, movie, radio recording, book, clipping, etc., etc. from 1940-45 with any mention of the war in the Pacific.
Yeah, the thing about WW2 is, it happened, and in it happened Nanjing and Pearl Harbor and Unit 731 and a heap of other stuff. This is like Myra Hindley STRONGLY objecting to being called a moors murderer because of the habitual, indeed ubiquitous use of the expression moors murders in virtually every newsreel, movie, radio recording, book, clipping etc about the moors murders.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
That they don’t routinely refer to the SNP as the Scottish Nationalist Party of Arthur Donaldson and Sturgeon as Nippy is conclusive proof of their bias.
What is this 'Nippy' name about anyway, I've never gotten it.
Apparently the full version is Nippy Sweetie - but I use it because whenever her mugs on TV she Nips your "heid".
I hate to think what you call Germaine Greer.
I like Germaine Greer. I call her, err, Germaine Greer - What's your point?
This Germaine Greer?
“Just because you lop off your d**k and then wear a dress doesn’t make you a f***ing woman.
“I’ve asked my doctor to give me long ears and liver spots and I’m going to wear a brown coat but that doesn’t turn me into a f***ing cocker spaniel.
“A man who gets his d**k chopped off is actually inflicting an extraordinary act of violence on himself.”
Yes
Her last sentence is somewhat interesting as most of these ‘women’ don’t have their penises removed and have no intention of doing so. I believe the term is ‘girldick’
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Again, no real evidence of this. No one is suggesting a full 5 days per week office life any longer. We're now in the world of the "hybrid" office worker - 2-3 days at home and 2-3 days in the office.
The pre-Covid world of 5-day a week commuting is over certainly for many better paid white collar admin workers many of whom wouldn't go back to any organisation insisting on a 100% office presence. Indeed, companies are now offering remote working as an incentive to draw in those who have left London for other parts of the country.
Those parts of the economy previously reliant on large numbers of office-based workers are going to have to re-think how they operate.
We're looking to have days in the office where teams are all there together: Marketing Mondays (and Thursdays), Finance Tuesdays etc.
It means we need to have a different kind of office space, with lots of (clean and empty!) grouped desks so people can bring their laptops in and work together.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Again, no real evidence of this. No one is suggesting a full 5 days per week office life any longer. We're now in the world of the "hybrid" office worker - 2-3 days at home and 2-3 days in the office.
The pre-Covid world of 5-day a week commuting is over certainly for many better paid white collar admin workers many of whom wouldn't go back to any organisation insisting on a 100% office presence. Indeed, companies are now offering remote working as an incentive to draw in those who have left London for other parts of the country.
Those parts of the economy previously reliant on large numbers of office-based workers are going to have to re-think how they operate.
This.
Some people I know have been told by their bosses that it's very unlikely that they will ever go back to full time in their office and that they will likely downsize and move their offices to a smaller building at some point for the times when do have a get together/meeting every once in a while or scheduled say once a month.
I suspect a lot of organisations and businesses have noticed there is no real productivity drop for them and work is getting done with working from home and flexible working so if this new way of working ain't broke then why fix it?
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Indeed. Friends reporting town is much busier already. I’m back in tomorrow.
The tube closures won’t happen by the way. Would look absolutely terrible domestically (and for through travellers) and on the international stage.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
That they don’t routinely refer to the SNP as the Scottish Nationalist Party of Arthur Donaldson and Sturgeon as Nippy is conclusive proof of their bias.
What is this 'Nippy' name about anyway, I've never gotten it.
Apparently the full version is Nippy Sweetie - but I use it because whenever her mugs on TV she Nips your "heid".
I hate to think what you call Germaine Greer.
I like Germaine Greer. I call her, err, Germaine Greer - What's your point?
This Germaine Greer?
“Just because you lop off your d**k and then wear a dress doesn’t make you a f***ing woman.
“I’ve asked my doctor to give me long ears and liver spots and I’m going to wear a brown coat but that doesn’t turn me into a f***ing cocker spaniel.
“A man who gets his d**k chopped off is actually inflicting an extraordinary act of violence on himself.”
Yes
Her last sentence is somewhat interesting as most of these ‘women’ don’t have their penises removed and have no intention of doing so. I believe the term is ‘girldick’
So we've got Women with Penises now.
Thanks Trans activists.
To be honest I probably have had a cheeky wank to a ladyboy before so MEH
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Highest number of daily deaths today since last February.
Judging by the number of sensible people like me still wearing masks, I don't think we will focus on any such thing.
Oh dear. Reporting day. Backlogged due to change in methodology.
No wonder anyone numerate is losing the will to live.
I think that it's got to the point that one high-profile resignation would tip the scales, but in its absence they'll fall short.
And if they don't resign, they are about to get reshuffled...
Sunak appears to want to become leader of the Opposition at the moment. Taking over after Johnson losses in 2024.
Given that whoever is holding the parcel marked "General Election defeat" when the music stops will have to resign, it's not a totally stupid idea. Who would want to cauterise their political career in 2024?
(Same goes for Starmer, though given his age, he's only really got one shot anyway. It's just that the public have decided that if you lose, that's it. I blame Big Brother, The Apprentice etc)
Suppose Hague had taken over from Major in 1995, instead of in Opposition in 1997. Would that have been better or worse for his political career?
He'd have actually become PM, instead of topping out as Foreign Secretary under Cameron, but perhaps he would have struggled to continue his political career beyond 1997, when it came to an end in the front line 18 years later in 2015.
I tend to think that so few people have a chance of becoming Prime Minister that, if you have a chance, and if that is your overriding ambition, you take the chance when it presents itself.
A Metropolitan police officer disciplined after an inquiry into misogynistic and racist messages has since been promoted, the Guardian has learned, as Cressida Dick was warned she could lose the confidence of the mayor of London.
Misconduct was proven against the unnamed officer after a watchdog inquiry into messages about hitting and raping women, which were shared by up to 19 officers based mainly at Charing Cross police station.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
Out of interest are the Scons pronounced
Skons Skohns Or Skoons
?
Surely like the famous Scots pastry?
Can appear solid and quite appealing, but too much sugar, starch, etc., etc. for a healthy Diet?
Sugar?! Not needed, except to flavour in the treacle variety. It comes in the jam you use as wished. Or indeed none at all. Certainly no sugar in my late mum's recipe. Perfectly edible with e.g. marmite.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
Out of interest are the Scons pronounced
Skons Skohns Or Skoons
?
Scons. As in 'Conservative'. Edit: not being rude, just factual!
The big news in my part of the world is the looming TfL financial crisis. Apparently, there is a £1.5 billion funding shortfall which in PPE and fraudulent furlough claims is a drop in the ocean but nonetheless unless the Government (or someone) puts up some money, the option to shut down lines (Bakerloo and the Drain being the obvious two) is being seriously considered.
Tube passenger numbers remain at little more than half pre-Covid numbers during the week (better at weekends) but pictures of crowded tubes in the past couple of weeks don't tell the real story. The service has been none too subtly reduced - one evening there was an 8-minute gap at 5.30 on the District so not surprisingly the tube after that was busy but the following one (three minutes later) was much quieter.
Khan seems to want to stand for re-election in 2024 (I'd have thought a good time for him to return to Westminster - it worked for Boris Johnson after all) and being the Mayor who oversaw the shutdown of the tube may not sit well but it's not as though anyone has come up with a practical alternative. The world of work has changed forever and operational financial models dependent on high levels of commuter income aren't going to work any longer.
Rotherhithe Tunnel facing permanent closure too. Perpetual gridlock for the City, Canary Wharf, Southwark and Greenwich amongst others.
Isn't the really serious back to work from WFH now starting? In a month or two it seems we will even abandon the daily stats of doom on covid which will focus minds on this being over.
Highest number of daily deaths today since last February.
Judging by the number of sensible people like me still wearing masks, I don't think we will focus on any such thing.
Jesus FUCKING Christ. Who are you, Robert Peston? Two years we've been doing this. There are daily fluctuations in the number of deaths reported each day due to factors such as technical errors, methodology changes and backlogs. There was a massive WoW drop by day reported yesterday due to a technical issue, which has been caught up today. Focus on the number of deaths by day of death. Which is trending downwards. Most people worked this out by June 2020. Even Sky News get it more often than not now. Sorry to be abusive, but this really riles me.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
Out of interest are the Scons pronounced
Skons Skohns Or Skoons
?
Scons. As in 'Conservative'. Edit: not being rude, just factual!
High percentage of the population vaccinated but a low number boosted. You are seeing waning immunity at play against a more infectious strain in BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron variants.
A Metropolitan police officer disciplined after an inquiry into misogynistic and racist messages has since been promoted, the Guardian has learned, as Cressida Dick was warned she could lose the confidence of the mayor of London.
Misconduct was proven against the unnamed officer after a watchdog inquiry into messages about hitting and raping women, which were shared by up to 19 officers based mainly at Charing Cross police station.
When one looks at the details of the IOPC report into Charing Cross police station, it strikes me that there is an extremely unwoke culture among many police officers; indeed, their lack of political correctness is off the scale. The transcripts are horrific.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
Out of interest are the Scons pronounced
Skons Skohns Or Skoons
?
Scons. As in 'Conservative'. Edit: not being rude, just factual!
I know, I was being a twat.
One of the minor pleasures of posting on PB, indeed.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
That they don’t routinely refer to the SNP as the Scottish Nationalist Party of Arthur Donaldson and Sturgeon as Nippy is conclusive proof of their bias.
What is this 'Nippy' name about anyway, I've never gotten it.
Apparently the full version is Nippy Sweetie - but I use it because whenever her mugs on TV she Nips your "heid".
I hate to think what you call Germaine Greer.
I like Germaine Greer. I call her, err, Germaine Greer - What's your point?
This Germaine Greer?
“Just because you lop off your d**k and then wear a dress doesn’t make you a f***ing woman.
“I’ve asked my doctor to give me long ears and liver spots and I’m going to wear a brown coat but that doesn’t turn me into a f***ing cocker spaniel.
“A man who gets his d**k chopped off is actually inflicting an extraordinary act of violence on himself.”
Yes
Her last sentence is somewhat interesting as most of these ‘women’ don’t have their penises removed and have no intention of doing so. I believe the term is ‘girldick’
So we've got Women with Penises now.
Thanks Trans activists.
To be honest I probably have had a cheeky wank to a ladyboy before so MEH
Is that what all that ‘best of both worlds’ stuff was about?
"My conclusion is that unless the report offers remarkable exoneration for the Prime Minister, a vote of no confidence looks pretty well certain. His prospects of success thereafter will depend on the efficiency of his operation. Efficiency is not a word generally associated with the Prime Minister’s operation."
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
I think that it's got to the point that one high-profile resignation would tip the scales, but in its absence they'll fall short.
And if they don't resign, they are about to get reshuffled...
Sunak appears to want to become leader of the Opposition at the moment. Taking over after Johnson losses in 2024.
Given that whoever is holding the parcel marked "General Election defeat" when the music stops will have to resign, it's not a totally stupid idea. Who would want to cauterise their political career in 2024?
(Same goes for Starmer, though given his age, he's only really got one shot anyway. It's just that the public have decided that if you lose, that's it. I blame Big Brother, The Apprentice etc)
Suppose Hague had taken over from Major in 1995, instead of in Opposition in 1997. Would that have been better or worse for his political career?
He'd have actually become PM, instead of topping out as Foreign Secretary under Cameron, but perhaps he would have struggled to continue his political career beyond 1997, when it came to an end in the front line 18 years later in 2015.
I tend to think that so few people have a chance of becoming Prime Minister that, if you have a chance, and if that is your overriding ambition, you take the chance when it presents itself.
In general terms, I'd agree; let alone for the idea of doing the right thing for the nation. Getting Johnson out and leading the Conservatives to an honourable defeat ought to be an honourable ambition. And yes- having been PM... They can never take that away from you. And yet nobody wants to be the fag-end PM
The observation that Rishi'n'Liz are making a different calculation says something bad about them. It's too much about them, not enough about the country. I can understand their calculation though, even if I don't like it.
In all seriousness, it is very sensible move. I don't think it is really helping anybody now to keep seeing these figures, and then most people won't know a lot of the nuances behind them.
Data is useful - we use these data in research I’m involved in - and data should be open and available. If some people are too obsessed with checking these figures, that’s not the fault of the data! If you want people to stop worrying about COVID-19, convince them that they don’t need to worry.
PS: Making nonsense claims - e.g. it’s just like a bad cold - is not going to be very persuasive.
Thats not a nonsense claim for the vaccinated and previously infected though, its the truth. @Foxy has had it for a few days, is mostly through it, and says it was bad, but not that bad.
You see, actual medical research involves collecting data from multiple people, not just stopping after one anecdote from someone, nice though they are, on a message board.
Even before any vaccinations, even with earlier strains, there was always variation in people’s reactions to infection. Some people were completely asymptomatic. Some had mild symptoms. Some had worst symptoms. Some needed hospitalisation. Some died.
I’m glad Foxy came off lightly. With vaccinations and prior infections, with Omicron, we do expect more people to have fewer symptoms. However, it’s still not just like the flu or a bad cold. That’s grade A nonsense, bordering on conspiracy theory. It remains a more serious infection: more people have worse symptoms than flu or a bad cold.
Yes, its fair enough that it is a bit more severe than a bad cold for some. I think you need to ask who is dying at the moment though. It is mostly the unvaccinated and the frail. Thats not me being callous, its the truth. For the vaccinated person who is not generally frail or ill with other issues, omicron in particular is not a terrifying disease. Its really not a conspiracy theory to say this.
It’s not a “bit more severe than a bad cold”. It’s a lot more severe. I am unclear why you are so resistant to this basic fact.
Is COVID-19 “terrifying”? I’m not, at a personal level, terrified of it. But maybe a comparison is useful here? We think back on polio as a terrifying condition. But like COVID, people’s responses vary. Most polio infections are asymptomatic; some people have flu-like symptoms. But in about 1% of cases, it crosses into the central nervous system, and in about half of those cases, it causes this horrendous and terrifying paralytic condition.
Vaccinations help, Omicron is milder, most people here have nothing to fear. The news is definitely good in the war on COVID-19. But downplaying the remaining risk isn’t going to make COVID go away any quicker, just as pretending Partygate has run out of steam doesn’t actually mean Johnson isn’t still in trouble.
Explaining a joke clearly shows it wasn’t funny but if it helps I was using the R&A as the most obvious golf club in the world (nod to the greatness of Scotland) and the cliché of golf being chauvinistic (thanks dad for the childhood seeing it first hand…)
Hope I’m not now branded as evil English. It was a light hearted joke.
Next time I will refer to the Royal and Birkdale if that helps - not sure if ladies allowed to play there either though……
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
Explaining a joke clearly shows it wasn’t funny but if it helps I was using the R&A as the most obvious golf club in the world (nod to the greatness of Scotland) and the cliché of golf being chauvinistic (thanks dad for the childhood seeing it first hand…)
Hope I’m not now branded as evil English. It was a light hearted joke.
Next time I will refer to the Royal and Birkdale if that helps - not sure if ladies allowed to play there either though……
I was being only mildly sarcastic, not very serious about your comment! Seriously, though, it's good the R&A have evolved a little bit, almost into the Miocene now, so it seemed a shame to do them down. Edit: and you were right, it was pretty PreCambrian not so long ago.
In all seriousness, it is very sensible move. I don't think it is really helping anybody now to keep seeing these figures, and then most people won't know a lot of the nuances behind them.
Data is useful - we use these data in research I’m involved in - and data should be open and available. If some people are too obsessed with checking these figures, that’s not the fault of the data! If you want people to stop worrying about COVID-19, convince them that they don’t need to worry.
PS: Making nonsense claims - e.g. it’s just like a bad cold - is not going to be very persuasive.
Thats not a nonsense claim for the vaccinated and previously infected though, its the truth. @Foxy has had it for a few days, is mostly through it, and says it was bad, but not that bad.
You see, actual medical research involves collecting data from multiple people, not just stopping after one anecdote from someone, nice though they are, on a message board.
Even before any vaccinations, even with earlier strains, there was always variation in people’s reactions to infection. Some people were completely asymptomatic. Some had mild symptoms. Some had worst symptoms. Some needed hospitalisation. Some died.
I’m glad Foxy came off lightly. With vaccinations and prior infections, with Omicron, we do expect more people to have fewer symptoms. However, it’s still not just like the flu or a bad cold. That’s grade A nonsense, bordering on conspiracy theory. It remains a more serious infection: more people have worse symptoms than flu or a bad cold.
Yes, its fair enough that it is a bit more severe than a bad cold for some. I think you need to ask who is dying at the moment though. It is mostly the unvaccinated and the frail. Thats not me being callous, its the truth. For the vaccinated person who is not generally frail or ill with other issues, omicron in particular is not a terrifying disease. Its really not a conspiracy theory to say this.
It’s not a “bit more severe than a bad cold”. It’s a lot more severe. I am unclear why you are so resistant to this basic fact.
Is COVID-19 “terrifying”? I’m not, at a personal level, terrified of it. But maybe a comparison is useful here? We think back on polio as a terrifying condition. But like COVID, people’s responses vary. Most polio infections are asymptomatic; some people have flu-like symptoms. But in about 1% of cases, it crosses into the central nervous system, and in about half of those cases, it causes this horrendous and terrifying paralytic condition.
Vaccinations help, Omicron is milder, most people here have nothing to fear. The news is definitely good in the war on COVID-19. But downplaying the remaining risk isn’t going to make COVID go away any quicker, just as pretending Partygate has run out of steam doesn’t actually mean Johnson isn’t still in trouble.
Explaining a joke clearly shows it wasn’t funny but if it helps I was using the R&A as the most obvious golf club in the world (nod to the greatness of Scotland) and the cliché of golf being chauvinistic (thanks dad for the childhood seeing it first hand…)
Hope I’m not now branded as evil English. It was a light hearted joke.
Next time I will refer to the Royal and Birkdale if that helps - not sure if ladies allowed to play there either though……
I was being only mildly sarcastic, not very serious about your comment! Seriously, though, it's good the R&A have evolved a little bit, almost into the Miocene now, so it seemed a shame to do them down. Edit: and you were right, it was pretty PreCambrian not so long ago.
Being too woke for Andrew Windsor can only be an improvement.
How is it that the SNP get to arse about with regards to Scotland? My Scotland is much the same as theirs.
I'm not sure of your point - but one of the key factors of SNP types "arsing Scotland" is the media not holding them to account.
The dominantly Unionist-owned media such as the Scotsman?
Err, the Scotsman's influence pales into insignificance compared to SBBC and STV.
BBC Scotland is just a local branch of the BBC, on a PB point of order.
So the BBC and STV put out pro-SNP propaganda? Remarkable if true.
I would say the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias, yes.
Seriously? Really?
You do know who Ruth Davidson and Sarah Smith used to work for? BBC Scotland. Now I'm sure they were terribly neutral on air, they are not stupid.
But I do remember the election when the SNP got a shock victory - 2010 it must have been - and the news presenter in the studio on election night started crying and turned to the very senior Slab politician and said "Whatever will we do now??" live on air. Edit: can't recall now if BBC or STV.
I seriously believe the BBC and STV have a pro-SNP Type bias nowadays - I don't think it was that way in 2010.
I wonder what the "independent" Electoral Commission thought of Sturgeon being on TV for every day in the run up to Holyrood 2021.
Mr Johnson and his minions too, for the same reason. So you can't complain.
Wrong.
Johnson and Co stopped daily Covid briefings. Nippy, in a Scottish election year; didn't.
So doing a public service is a bad thing? It's not as if Mr Johnson stopped being photographed in hi-vis vests.
So Nippy had her mug on TV for a full year before a Scottish election and it was a Public Service?
How kind of her.
Oh, my! You didn't have to watch it every day, just to check, but it is very kind of you for doing so. I just checked the Graun feed later on. ,
The electoral commission should have not allowed it.
Then you'd complain because Kate Forbes was on instead. And so on ad infinitum.
Do you seriously think the Scons wouldn't have made their complaints if they thought there was any sense in it ? The EC is a UK body.
Out of interest are the Scons pronounced
Skons Skohns Or Skoons
?
Surely like the famous Scots pastry?
Can appear solid and quite appealing, but too much sugar, starch, etc., etc. for a healthy Diet?
Sugar?! Not needed, except to flavour in the treacle variety. It comes in the jam you use as wished. Or indeed none at all. Certainly no sugar in my late mum's recipe. Perfectly edible with e.g. marmite.
Here in the Colonies, scones (pronounced "sk'Oh'nzz" by us) in my experience invariably have some sugar somewhere, inside, outside or both.
Unless they best fit for roadway repairs.
Which I'm morally certain was NOT case with your Mum's version, though perhaps you could express a batch or two so I may judge for myself?
BTW, and FYI, had a sugary scone just this morning with my morning coffee.
But not part of a healthy diet . . . or Diet. (Does no one get my pun?)
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question, what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a great a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
Levelling Up is the latest in a string of bollocks slogans which lie stranded on the rocks of any practical policies.
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
Listening to the mayors across the North they have broadly welcomed it and say it is a very good blueprint
Time will tell but it has not received the negativity you suggest
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
Levelling Up is the latest in a string of bollocks slogans which lie stranded on the rocks of any practical policies.
Are you saying the requirement for buy to let landlords to pay upto £15,000 to bring their property upto scratch is bollocks
Michael Gove vs Lisa Nandy on the levelling up white paper is a serious tour de force. Labour finally found the right person to attempt its fightback in the red wall.
"They've given more to Covid fraudsters (£4.3bn) than they've given to the North of England"
Someone selling something above market price is a fraudster?
When it is known not to work? Yes, I would say so.
It's a terrible comment to make. We needed that PPE. We paid the going price for it. The idea that £4.3 billion was given to fraudsters is a far worse lie than anything about Johnson's parties.
I guess people like you would have preferred us not to get the PPE, so you could then scream and shout about the government's failure to get it?
The £4.3 billion to fraudsters is about the write off for BBL by Sunak.
The write down for price gouged PPE is a separate issue. I don't see why there has not been a thorough audit of the decision process for those contracts to see who profited…
Wow that is a tough gig. Standing up in Parliament to pay tribute to you own husband after his death.
Never been a fan of Harriet Harman or her politics but feel for her and admire her courage today.
It is very sad for her. She announced her retirement from Parliament presumably expecting to spend more time with her husband and family. And then this.
A Metropolitan police officer disciplined after an inquiry into misogynistic and racist messages has since been promoted, the Guardian has learned, as Cressida Dick was warned she could lose the confidence of the mayor of London.
Misconduct was proven against the unnamed officer after a watchdog inquiry into messages about hitting and raping women, which were shared by up to 19 officers based mainly at Charing Cross police station.
When one looks at the details of the IOPC report into Charing Cross police station, it strikes me that there is an extremely unwoke culture among many police officers; indeed, their lack of political correctness is off the scale. The transcripts are horrific.
The Met needs training in wokeness, methinks.
Not wokeness. Just training in how to behave like decent civilised human beings.
What else? A few public sackings of the officers involved - pour encourager les autres. Oh and of Cressida Dick as well.
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
Levelling Up is the latest in a string of bollocks slogans which lie stranded on the rocks of any practical policies.
Are you saying the requirement for buy to let landlords to pay upto £15,000 to bring their property upto scratch is bollocks
I was commenting earlier that at least one requirement ('spend more on X') is so easy that inflation alone will sort it out while cutting it in real terms.
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
Listening to the mayors across the North they have broadly welcomed it and say it is a very good blueprint
Time will tell but it has not received the negativity you suggest
I don’t really care how it’s received, to be honest. I’m not so interested in the political aspect.
I’m just interested in whether the government is willing and able to address the structural reasons for why Britain performs so poorly against a first world standard that is starting to drift out of reach completely for people in places like the North East.
The good thing is that they’ve finally cottoned on to the problem and some of the thinking about why this is so.
The bad news is that it’s a dog’s dinner and there is no money, while taxes continue to rise on the productive sector of the economy (working people as Keir calls them).
Let's hope by tomorrow the mps deliver the 54 letters and 181 of them do the right thing and vote him out
You can just see the threshold being met and then the turnips voting to keep him. That is, I've previously assumed that Johnson is toast if all Tory MPs are forced to express an opinion - if they elect to keep him they are explicitly endorsing his rotten behaviour *AND* setting the bar for sufficient wrongdoing to justify throwing him out later so high (basically being caught on camera throwing a locked cage full of puppies into a canal) that he'd become immovable. But the sheer reluctance to proceed against the man on the part of over 300 limp dicks gives one pause for thought.
If Johnson does survive a VONC then Lord alone knows what the dissidents are meant to do - perform a 180 degree about turn and fall into line behind a leader whom they have publicly denounced as beyond the pale? Or split the party?
Appalling cartoon, especially given the German government is doing sod all to help the Ukrainians as Russian troops mass at their border
Whatever one thinks of the Germans, the reality is that Boris is portrayed as a sleazy buffoon right around the world.
You (or is it Leon) are right that Boris is the most recognisable PM globally since Blair, or maybe even Thatcher.
The downside is that he’s considered a punchline.
Boris is a hero to Ukrainians at the moment, none of them know who German Chancellor Scholz is let alone care given German government indifference to them
Let's hope by tomorrow the mps deliver the 54 letters and 181 of them do the right thing and vote him out
You can just see the threshold being met and then the turnips voting to keep him. That is, I've previously assumed that Johnson is toast if all Tory MPs are forced to express an opinion - if they elect to keep him they are explicitly endorsing his rotten behaviour *AND* setting the bar for sufficient wrongdoing to justify throwing him out later so high (basically being caught on camera throwing a locked cage full of puppies into a canal) that he'd become immovable. But the sheer reluctance to proceed against the man on the part of over 300 limp dicks gives one pause for thought.
If Johnson does survive a VONC then Lord alone knows what the dissidents are meant to do - perform a 180 degree about turn and fall into line behind a leader whom they have publicly denounced as beyond the pale? Or split the party?
When I was a child my sister had a deeply specific (in name and appearance) imaginary friend that I then went on to never speak of for the next thirty years.
One day, my three year old child introduced me to them.
A Metropolitan police officer disciplined after an inquiry into misogynistic and racist messages has since been promoted, the Guardian has learned, as Cressida Dick was warned she could lose the confidence of the mayor of London.
Misconduct was proven against the unnamed officer after a watchdog inquiry into messages about hitting and raping women, which were shared by up to 19 officers based mainly at Charing Cross police station.
Appalling cartoon, especially given the German government is doing sod all to help the Ukrainians as Russian troops mass at their border
Whatever one thinks of the Germans, the reality is that Boris is portrayed as a sleazy buffoon right around the world.
You (or is it Leon) are right that Boris is the most recognisable PM globally since Blair, or maybe even Thatcher.
The downside is that he’s considered a punchline.
Boris is a hero to Ukrainians at the moment, none of them know who German Chancellor Scholz is let alone care given German government indifference to them
A Metropolitan police officer disciplined after an inquiry into misogynistic and racist messages has since been promoted, the Guardian has learned, as Cressida Dick was warned she could lose the confidence of the mayor of London.
Misconduct was proven against the unnamed officer after a watchdog inquiry into messages about hitting and raping women, which were shared by up to 19 officers based mainly at Charing Cross police station.
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question, what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a great a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
As far as I can see this is just piling more regulation on the private rented sector, which is already over regulated, causing landlords to quit the market, so reducing available properties, and pushing rents up.
The real problem is with landlords who just ignore all the regulations. Unless you start to find ways of shutting this sector down, then the same problems will prevail and nothing will really change.
I was a witness in a case where a Council issued a prohibition order preventing one of these landlords from letting out a substandard property. The accomodation had hundreds of failings and was a death trap on almost every possible level, but the landlord represented himself in the hearing, told 'fundamental inaccuracies' to the judge, and somehow won the case on a techicality. This Council had hired a barrister and a team of several senior officials spent the day in court.
These landlords just wont even notice the creation of a 'register of landlords'. They will just ignore everything the government does.
Christopher Snowdon @cjsnowdon · 1h I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
It is reasonable to have a minimum standard, and of course the landlords should pay.
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question, what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a great a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
As far as I can see this is just piling more regulation on the private rented sector, which is already over regulated, causing landlords to quit the market, so reducing available properties, and pushing rents up.
The real problem is with landlords who just ignore all the regulations. Unless you start to find ways of shutting this sector down, then the same problems will prevail and nothing will really change.
I was a witness in a case where a Council issued a prohibition order preventing one of these landlords from letting out a substandard property. The accomodation had hundreds of failings and was a death trap on almost every possible level, but the landlord represented himself in the hearing, told 'fundamental inaccuracies' to the judge, and somehow won the case on a techicality. This Council had hired a barrister and a team of several senior officials spent the day in court.
These landlords just wont even notice the creation of a 'register of landlords'. They will just ignore everything the government does.
Possibly true. I don’t have an informed view on ways to improve rental quality.
The point is, it’s not levelling up. It may be worthy, but it’s something else.
It’s not going to stop the issue whereby Yorkshire GDP is falling behind former East Germany, former Czechoslovakia, etc, with Spain, the Baltics and even Portugal hot on its heels.
I don’t think British people, who are immersed after all in London-dominated media, fully realise what has happened in the past couple of decades in terms of living standards.
Comments
It's a good name which can mean anything to anyone but in fact Svoboda's origins are as an environmental party seeking a balance between economic growth and environmental protection - it's a blueprint for a new form of Green politics we're starting to see elsewhere (I think there's a similar party in Slovakia).
Anyway, Golob's arrival has pushed Svoboda into second place in a new Parsifal poll on 20.3%, eight points behind the ruling Slovenian Democratic Party.
The governing coalition of the SDS, New Slovenia and the party known as Concretely (no giggling in the cheap seats) polled 46% last time but are now down to 41.1%.
The current SDS-led coalition took over in 2020 when the previous coalition collapsed. Clearly, on the current numbers, the alternative coalition (if there is one) would be led by Golob and Svoboda. Whether there's a viable grouping of centre, centre-left and left parties to form an alternative to an SDS-led Government is far from clear.
Judging by the number of sensible people like me still wearing masks, I don't think we will focus on any such thing.
The pre-Covid world of 5-day a week commuting is over certainly for many better paid white collar admin workers many of whom wouldn't go back to any organisation insisting on a 100% office presence. Indeed, companies are now offering remote working as an incentive to draw in those who have left London for other parts of the country.
Those parts of the economy previously reliant on large numbers of office-based workers are going to have to re-think how they operate.
It’s not great that people are dying from covid, of course it’s not. I have tremendous sympathy for those affected and personally have been lucky throughout. But do you ever stop to ask how many people died in the U.K. yesterday of any cause? The perpetual obsessing over covid is not helping anyone.
Skons
Skohns
Or
Skoons
?
It's not like the console SNES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD1gDSao1eA
Once one is no longer part of the payroll vote, then odds one will pick up one's pen are surely on the upswing.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2022/02/02/lee-westwood-signs-nda-saudis-super-golf-league-eyes-ryder-cup/
Can appear solid and quite appealing, but too much sugar, starch, etc., etc. for a healthy Diet?
(Same goes for Starmer, though given his age, he's only really got one shot anyway. It's just that the public have decided that if you lose, that's it. I blame Big Brother, The Apprentice etc)
Christopher Snowdon
@cjsnowdon
·
1h
I bet you the levelling up agenda amounts to nothing more than appointing some dodgy mayors, putting on more buses nobody uses and introducing some idiotic anti-obesity policies. With lots of money for Deloitte and Serco.
https://twitter.com/cjsnowdon/status/1488940723403739159
Tomorrow should be entertaining. I think Cameroon have looked a class above, and really benefiting from the Home crowd and conditions.
It means we need to have a different kind of office space, with lots of (clean and empty!) grouped desks so people can bring their laptops in and work together.
Some people I know have been told by their bosses that it's very unlikely that they will ever go back to full time in their office and that they will likely downsize and move their offices to a smaller building at some point for the times when do have a get together/meeting every once in a while or scheduled say once a month.
I suspect a lot of organisations and businesses have noticed there is no real productivity drop for them and work is getting done with working from home and flexible working so if this new way of working ain't broke then why fix it?
The tube closures won’t happen by the way. Would look absolutely terrible domestically (and for through travellers) and on the international stage.
A PB favourite fantasy.
Thanks Trans activists.
To be honest I probably have had a cheeky wank to a ladyboy before so MEH
So golf is a good Saudi sport.
No wonder anyone numerate is losing the will to live.
He'd have actually become PM, instead of topping out as Foreign Secretary under Cameron, but perhaps he would have struggled to continue his political career beyond 1997, when it came to an end in the front line 18 years later in 2015.
I tend to think that so few people have a chance of becoming Prime Minister that, if you have a chance, and if that is your overriding ambition, you take the chance when it presents itself.
A Metropolitan police officer disciplined after an inquiry into misogynistic and racist messages has since been promoted, the Guardian has learned, as Cressida Dick was warned she could lose the confidence of the mayor of London.
Misconduct was proven against the unnamed officer after a watchdog inquiry into messages about hitting and raping women, which were shared by up to 19 officers based mainly at Charing Cross police station.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/02/met-officer-was-promoted-despite-misconduct-over-sexist-and-racist-messages
Who are you, Robert Peston?
Two years we've been doing this.
There are daily fluctuations in the number of deaths reported each day due to factors such as technical errors, methodology changes and backlogs.
There was a massive WoW drop by day reported yesterday due to a technical issue, which has been caught up today.
Focus on the number of deaths by day of death. Which is trending downwards.
Most people worked this out by June 2020. Even Sky News get it more often than not now.
Sorry to be abusive, but this really riles me.
I’m not saying there’s something afoot but this is how I looked at my bacon roll this morning https://twitter.com/KirstyStricklan/status/1488971910406979584/photo/1
The Met needs training in wokeness, methinks.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/mar/27/royal-and-ancient-golf-club-st-andrews-drop-ban-female-members
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/golf/st-andrews-ra-votes-end-ban-women-members-1525945
UKOK!
"My conclusion is that unless the report offers remarkable exoneration for the Prime Minister, a vote of no confidence looks pretty well certain. His prospects of success thereafter will depend on the efficiency of his operation. Efficiency is not a word generally associated with the Prime Minister’s operation."
https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/every-conservative-mps-position-on-boris-johnson-and-the-parties-in-number-10-bc4f5f77032f
Written I think 10 days ago when he did the original spreadsheet.
Just to say I have made money on Meeks tips on political outcomes in countries I've never fucking heard of, and never lost on one.
You can back VONC in Feb at 3.05 on smarkets
It’s depressingly chaotic; feels Brownian, and not in a good way.
Turns out it’s hard to Level Up when you’ve made promises to everybody but have decided not to spend any money.
The observation that Rishi'n'Liz are making a different calculation says something bad about them. It's too much about them, not enough about the country. I can understand their calculation though, even if I don't like it.
Is COVID-19 “terrifying”? I’m not, at a personal level, terrified of it. But maybe a comparison is useful here? We think back on polio as a terrifying condition. But like COVID, people’s responses vary. Most polio infections are asymptomatic; some people have flu-like symptoms. But in about 1% of cases, it crosses into the central nervous system, and in about half of those cases, it causes this horrendous and terrifying paralytic condition.
Vaccinations help, Omicron is milder, most people here have nothing to fear. The news is definitely good in the war on COVID-19. But downplaying the remaining risk isn’t going to make COVID go away any quicker, just as pretending Partygate has run out of steam doesn’t actually mean Johnson isn’t still in trouble.
Explaining a joke clearly shows it wasn’t funny but if it helps I was using the R&A as the most obvious golf club in the world (nod to the greatness of Scotland) and the cliché of golf being chauvinistic (thanks dad for the childhood seeing it first hand…)
Hope I’m not now branded as evil English. It was a light hearted joke.
Next time I will refer to the Royal and Birkdale if that helps - not sure if ladies allowed to play there either though……
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/60196913
Apparently 800,000 homes to be bought upto standard at a cost of £12-15,000 per home
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buy-to-let/landlords-hit-15000-bills-levelling-plans/
https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1488976353680576514
Unless they best fit for roadway repairs.
Which I'm morally certain was NOT case with your Mum's version, though perhaps you could express a batch or two so I may judge for myself?
BTW, and FYI, had a sugary scone just this morning with my morning coffee.
But not part of a healthy diet . . . or Diet. (Does no one get my pun?)
Let's hope by tomorrow the mps deliver the 54 letters and 181 of them do the right thing and vote him out
Half-term holidaymakers face ‘Brexit penalty’ Covid restrictions in EU
Families planning breaks face virus measures not imposed on EU citizens travelling within the bloc
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/02/brexit-penalty-blamed-uk-travellers-face-eu-covid-restrictions/
In fact, it seems this policy doesn’t go far enough, as it’s part of the pledge is to decrease the “number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030”, which begs the question, what about the other 50%?
But the point is, what’s this got to do with levelling up, which fundamentally should be about the problem of poor productivity outside the South East.
Gove’s document is a great a la carte of stuff, with no money behind it, which means that little is likely to be achieved.
Time will tell but it has not received the negativity you suggest
(Translation: „look over there, the Russians are coming“ while he holds the Partygate report behind his back) https://twitter.com/Germans4indyref/status/1488947605493198852/photo/1
What else? A few public sackings of the officers involved - pour encourager les autres. Oh and of Cressida Dick as well.
I’m just interested in whether the government is willing and able to address the structural reasons for why Britain performs so poorly against a first world standard that is starting to drift out of reach completely for people in places like the North East.
The good thing is that they’ve finally cottoned on to the problem and some of the thinking about why this is so.
The bad news is that it’s a dog’s dinner and there is no money, while taxes continue to rise on the productive sector of the economy (working people as Keir calls them).
If Johnson does survive a VONC then Lord alone knows what the dissidents are meant to do - perform a 180 degree about turn and fall into line behind a leader whom they have publicly denounced as beyond the pale? Or split the party?
I know that Rishi is looked on by Brexiteers as soft on the NI protocol and they have been trying to find a unity candidate
I do not bet but maybe the odds are changing tonight
You (or is it Leon) are right that Boris is the most recognisable PM globally since Blair, or maybe even Thatcher.
The downside is that he’s considered a punchline.
https://twitter.com/acrowandthedead/status/1487186624433860608?s=21
When I was a child my sister had a deeply specific (in name and appearance) imaginary friend that I then went on to never speak of for the next thirty years.
One day, my three year old child introduced me to them.
Perhaps the BJ government should demand an apology.
I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and consequently..
The real problem is with landlords who just ignore all the regulations. Unless you start to find ways of shutting this sector down, then the same problems will prevail and nothing will really change.
I was a witness in a case where a Council issued a prohibition order preventing one of these landlords from letting out a substandard property. The accomodation had hundreds of failings and was a death trap on almost every possible level, but the landlord represented himself in the hearing, told 'fundamental inaccuracies' to the judge, and somehow won the case on a techicality. This Council had hired a barrister and a team of several senior officials spent the day in court.
These landlords just wont even notice the creation of a 'register of landlords'. They will just ignore everything the government does.
I follow the NZ press (and below the line commentary), and even the Toriest equivalents there think Boris is a total chump.
Defiant BoJo tells @theSun readers he won’t quit over partygate as he launched an 8-year blueprint to fix Britain.
Embattled PM rejects calls to resign and said he will seek re-election in 2023 saying: “I’ve got a lot more to do”.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17525872/boris-johnson-partygate-next-election/
I don’t have an informed view on ways to improve rental quality.
The point is, it’s not levelling up.
It may be worthy, but it’s something else.
It’s not going to stop the issue whereby Yorkshire GDP is falling behind former East Germany, former Czechoslovakia, etc, with Spain, the Baltics and even Portugal hot on its heels.
I don’t think British people, who are immersed after all in London-dominated media, fully realise what has happened in the past couple of decades in terms of living standards.