Dearie dearie me. Con MPs really are a spineless bunch.
Not actually true and malicious of the police
“Equivalent to being interviewed under caution” means “not being interviewed under caution”.
But the media runs with a different story which is not actually true.
Yes, a bit like women being tried for witchcraft by holding them under water.
“Equivalent to being drowned” means “not being drowned”. You’re a jurisprudence genius.
The police are a bunch of cowards. Drag the useless oaf in and give him the full works. I recommend “Bad cop; bad cop”.
Comparing the 'stories' could be 'interesting'. Word for word all the same or wildly different. I would expect the former, TBH.
That is exactly what crossed my mind. Those forms are going to be littered with glaring inconsistencies.
If they’re not, then the witnesses are coordinating their responses, which I assume in itself breaks the law? @DavidL or any other lawyers about?
I still find these questionnaires an utterly bizarre way of going about this investigation.
Given how important it is, the Met really should pull their finger out and arrange 50 interviews (or whatever the number is) of the people involved. This is not difficult to do. I can tell them how to do it, if they're really stuck.
An interview of a potential suspect should comply with the provisions of PACE. A suspect is entitled to have a lawyer present and, critically, is not obliged to provide any answers at all.
Even if the questionnaire has the relevant PACE caution written at the top of it, a person receiving it has no obligation whatsoever to answer it. They are also entitled to take advice from a lawyer before sending in any sort of reply.
It is also worth noting that there is no law preventing people who were at the same event from talking to each other about it though they would have to be careful not to stray into behaviour which might amount to perverting the course of justice. This, though, is quite hard to prove and simply talking to another person present is not sufficient.
I certainly would not answer such a questionnaire. Nor would I advise a client of mine to do so. The very minimum I would want is to see the evidence the police claim to have and to ask them specifically what offence and on which dates and by reference to the specific Regulations (name, date, clause) they suspect me of having committed.
There is much talk of the rule of law. Well, it applies - much as I may dislike them politically - to the PM and his advisors and the No 10 staff etc, both with regard to the rules they have to follow and to how the police investigate any breaches by them.
What about the idea, from the mound of Sue Gray evidence and photo’s (checked for fake news) they have a picture for each suspect. If the suspect fesses up on the questionnaire that matches the picture, quick win for a fine. If answers back point to lying, they can interview those under caution? Which would probably be fun for the officers, knowing they got suspect over a barrel.
Boris will say he was in the flat where ‘ding dong the Dom is gone’ party took place, but was working in a separate part of it. Because of silly answers like that IMO things have very much changed in the last few weeks, with no one now believing he can survive, including himself.
Tick tock - seems to be a PB meme. Not believing he can survive is the most fatal thing so I am sticking to prediction he is gone in less than a fortnight from today.
Yours, Inspector Jade Investigates (not played by Kenneth Branagh) 🎭
You're getting the hang of this. If you stick to your view that Johnson will be gone in a fortnight you'll eventually end up having made a great call and tremendous kudos will ensue.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
I would happily forsake the ludicrously long summer evenings for more daylight in winter.
The trouble is, I've lived most of my life in warmer climes and you never really get over just how godawful British winter is.
When my youngest child finally flies the nest I'm off out of this country. I have nothing in common with it anymore. So you can wallow in your Brexit misery into your dotage, Leon my friend. If you've got any sense, like most ardent Brexiteers you won't actually live in the Britain you created.
Except most countries with significantly warmer climates than the UK are also more rightwing than the UK.
The countries which are more centre left than the UK eg Scandinavia and arguably Canada and Germany also have cold winters.
That is the most bizarre and wildly inaccurate post I think I've ever seen from you.
Believe it or not, left-right politics is not a major concern in many countries, including many in which I've lived. Those categories tend to get subsumed in others, including basic democracy and ethnic fights.
I've spent many years living in countries where the kind of debates that get people wound up on here seem as if they're from another galaxy, let alone planet.
Which I guess was Leon's point from Sri Lanka about partygate. Of course a corrupt PM is bad for British sensibilities but I've lived under dictators who would bury you in concrete if you spoke out (really I have) but I've also lived in countries where the only concern is whether you could be bothered to swim in the sea today or if it might not be preferable to remain on the verandah reading your book.
Biden is so fucked the GOP are starting to realise that anybody could beat him and they don't need Trump to fire up the deplorable base. They are starting to think they can win with a MAGA adjacent candidate who doesn't come with Trump's considerable baggage.
I've got both Trump and Biden laid. DeSantis vs a Dem yet to emerge is what I think we might see for WH24.
Opinium has changed their methodology so tonight's poll could show a considerably reduced Labour lead of about 4% which should boost Johnson massively.
Branagh is one of the most talented actors of our times, but he can't do Poirot and he insists on doing Poirot.
And he can sort-of do humour e.g. Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter which he did passably well. Still not a patch on the brilliant Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney though.
He was good in Wallender, not quite as good as Krister Henriksson in the Swedish version but pretty good.
He’s definitely better in roles where he winds in the luvvie.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
What question would be asked about bog-standard contractual arrangements for the boss class across private and public sectors? And even MPs who lose their seats get a payoff.
The thing I would like to understand about this Ukraine situation is what changed. How did Putin come to the conclusion that war was possible and in his interests. Spool back 20 years and it would have been unthinkable.
Somewhere along the line we screwed up.
So, yet again, it’s OUR fault. Can’t it just be that we have a new breed of aggressive autocrats? Was Hitler OUR fault? Genghis Khan? The Roman Empire? The heat death of the Previous Universe?
At some point lefties will stop blaming whitey, the west, us, Britain, America, Israel, Western Europe, middle aged white men in particular, but I don’t expect this epiphany to happen anytime before the Chinese regime’s “Legal Enslavement of Whitey Act 2043”
Give it a rest Leon. “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” There will always be Barbarians at the gate. The trick is to have a gate and lock it.
One thing I've noticed that is quite common amongst some educated Westerners though is the argument about how we'd feel if a Russian military alliance expanded to the doorstep of the USA. Which is exactly the Kremlin line. The anachronistic 'spheres of influence' argument cuts across the self-determination of any country small or unlucky enough to be in the way.
NATO is wholly defensive and doesn't conquer or annex territory by force; it's entirely rational for the Baltic States to join or exactly the same thing would have happened to them as has happened to Ukraine.
Would you care if Ireland entered into a military alliance with China and the PLAAF put a J-16 division into Casement?
If there were Chinese troops in Ireland, that would worry me a great deal. If there were America troops in Ireland, it would not. I wonder if you can work out why I feel very differently about the two scenarios.
It is because Ireland is not in the Middle East or South America or anywhere else that has been on the sharp end of regime change?
Sorry, my unspoken assumption is that in either case the troops were there by the express invitation of the Irish. Obviously if Ireland were invaded by America, I would certainly not be happy about it.
Speaking of Ireland, President Biden's Irish heritage mother supposedly hated England so much she refused to even sleep in the same bed as the Queen had once slept in at the White House
My (Irish) mother refused to shake Prince Charles' hand when he visited the school at which she was Head of Music. She said he could pat her poodle (called Josh) instead so he did.
Maybe the key words here are the last three.
And maybe Charles too occasionally has thoughts about his murdered friends and relations.
If HMQ can shake the hand of the man who ordered the murder of her uncle then others, including Biden's daft old mother, can stop being so bloody precious.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
I'm not sure it's a contractual term in any fixed term contract. A "resignation" should be just that, give notice, work it, the only payout should be untaken unpaid leave if you don't insist it is taken during the notice period. Any payout is a deal to avoid litigation.
Dearie dearie me. Con MPs really are a spineless bunch.
Not actually true and malicious of the police
“Equivalent to being interviewed under caution” means “not being interviewed under caution”.
But the media runs with a different story which is not actually true.
Yes, a bit like women being tried for witchcraft by holding them under water.
“Equivalent to being drowned” means “not being drowned”. You’re a jurisprudence genius.
The police are a bunch of cowards. Drag the useless oaf in and give him the full works. I recommend “Bad cop; bad cop”.
Comparing the 'stories' could be 'interesting'. Word for word all the same or wildly different. I would expect the former, TBH.
That is exactly what crossed my mind. Those forms are going to be littered with glaring inconsistencies.
If they’re not, then the witnesses are coordinating their responses, which I assume in itself breaks the law? @DavidL or any other lawyers about?
I still find these questionnaires an utterly bizarre way of going about this investigation.
Given how important it is, the Met really should pull their finger out and arrange 50 interviews (or whatever the number is) of the people involved. This is not difficult to do. I can tell them how to do it, if they're really stuck.
An interview of a potential suspect should comply with the provisions of PACE. A suspect is entitled to have a lawyer present and, critically, is not obliged to provide any answers at all.
Even if the questionnaire has the relevant PACE caution written at the top of it, a person receiving it has no obligation whatsoever to answer it. They are also entitled to take advice from a lawyer before sending in any sort of reply.
It is also worth noting that there is no law preventing people who were at the same event from talking to each other about it though they would have to be careful not to stray into behaviour which might amount to perverting the course of justice. This, though, is quite hard to prove and simply talking to another person present is not sufficient.
I certainly would not answer such a questionnaire. Nor would I advise a client of mine to do so. The very minimum I would want is to see the evidence the police claim to have and to ask them specifically what offence and on which dates and by reference to the specific Regulations (name, date, clause) they suspect me of having committed.
There is much talk of the rule of law. Well, it applies - much as I may dislike them politically - to the PM and his advisors and the No 10 staff etc, both with regard to the rules they have to follow and to how the police investigate any breaches by them.
What about the idea, from the mound of Sue Gray evidence and photo’s (checked for fake news) they have a picture for each suspect. If the suspect fesses up on the questionnaire that matches the picture, quick win for a fine. If answers back point to lying, they can interview those under caution? Which would probably be fun for the officers, knowing they got suspect over a barrel.
Boris will say he was in the flat where ‘ding dong the Dom is gone’ party took place, but was working in a separate part of it. Because of silly answers like that IMO things have very much changed in the last few weeks, with no one now believing he can survive, including himself.
Tick tock - seems to be a PB meme. Not believing he can survive is the most fatal thing so I am sticking to prediction he is gone in less than a fortnight from today.
Yours, Inspector Jade Investigates (not played by Kenneth Branagh) 🎭
You're getting the hang of this. If you stick to your view that Johnson will be gone in a fortnight you'll eventually end up having made a great call and tremendous kudos will ensue.
Thank you. But surely everyone can see this has totally changed in last two weeks? Like a wave of Rona replacing “could he survive this?” with the new “nope” variant.
Horrifically poor voter retention for the Liberal Democrats. Lots of LDs planning on voting Labour, but no reciprocation.
2019 UK GE voters - how they’ll vote next time:
Con: Con 84% Lab 5% LD 3% Grn 1%
Lab: Lab 91% Grn 9% Con 0 LD 0
LD: LD 58% Lab 36% Grn 3% Con 0
Grn: Grn 87% Lab 4% LD 3% Con 1%
(Techne; 8-9 February; 1,631)
There will be lots of reciprocation where there's a marginal seat in which the LibDems are unquestionably 2nd to the Tories. But in a national poll on "who would you support?" it doesn't show up. Similarly, I suspect only some of the 9% of 2019 Labour voters now saying "Green" will actually refuse to vote Labour in a marginal where Labour is close to the Tories.
The bloc pattern is striking and a bit depressing for those of us who like dialogue. How many 2019 Tories will vote for a centre-left party? 9%. How many Lab/LibDem voters will vote Tory? 0%. That means that the election, if held tomorrow, would depend almost entirely on tactical voting and differential abstention.
This is the inevitable consequence of a significant part of one side swing the other as evil, once it gets noticed by the public. Why should voters switch to you when your deputy leader thinks you are "scum"?
That was accurate by Rayner if directed at who I think it mainly was - Boris Johnson. I don't want to hear that sort of language from the Labour front bench but I have no problem with the sentiment in this case. Of course it doesn't apply to most Tory politicians or most Tory voters.
Many Buddhist countries have a far more socially caring intrinsic nature than one that had to be legislated for in 1945-51.
Thai people, for example, tend to be much more caring. Is that 'left wing'? Is it bollocks.
Thailand has far less welfare state than we do and lower taxes too.
It may be a good example of the Big Society in action but that is also because it is more socially conservative and religious than we are now too
You really don't know what you're talking about. Again. You seem to think that sitting around on Google makes you an expert, a recent classic example being the debacle over Northern Ireland.
I bet you've never even been to Thailand. Or if you have, for only a matter of days.
I've lived there.
Am I going to educate you about the subtleties of Thai culture: their beliefs and practices, their social structures? No.
Dearie dearie me. Con MPs really are a spineless bunch.
Not actually true and malicious of the police
“Equivalent to being interviewed under caution” means “not being interviewed under caution”.
But the media runs with a different story which is not actually true.
Yes, a bit like women being tried for witchcraft by holding them under water.
“Equivalent to being drowned” means “not being drowned”. You’re a jurisprudence genius.
The police are a bunch of cowards. Drag the useless oaf in and give him the full works. I recommend “Bad cop; bad cop”.
Comparing the 'stories' could be 'interesting'. Word for word all the same or wildly different. I would expect the former, TBH.
That is exactly what crossed my mind. Those forms are going to be littered with glaring inconsistencies.
If they’re not, then the witnesses are coordinating their responses, which I assume in itself breaks the law? @DavidL or any other lawyers about?
I still find these questionnaires an utterly bizarre way of going about this investigation.
Given how important it is, the Met really should pull their finger out and arrange 50 interviews (or whatever the number is) of the people involved. This is not difficult to do. I can tell them how to do it, if they're really stuck.
An interview of a potential suspect should comply with the provisions of PACE. A suspect is entitled to have a lawyer present and, critically, is not obliged to provide any answers at all.
Even if the questionnaire has the relevant PACE caution written at the top of it, a person receiving it has no obligation whatsoever to answer it. They are also entitled to take advice from a lawyer before sending in any sort of reply.
It is also worth noting that there is no law preventing people who were at the same event from talking to each other about it though they would have to be careful not to stray into behaviour which might amount to perverting the course of justice. This, though, is quite hard to prove and simply talking to another person present is not sufficient.
I certainly would not answer such a questionnaire. Nor would I advise a client of mine to do so. The very minimum I would want is to see the evidence the police claim to have and to ask them specifically what offence and on which dates and by reference to the specific Regulations (name, date, clause) they suspect me of having committed.
There is much talk of the rule of law. Well, it applies - much as I may dislike them politically - to the PM and his advisors and the No 10 staff etc, both with regard to the rules they have to follow and to how the police investigate any breaches by them.
What about the idea, from the mound of Sue Gray evidence and photo’s (checked for fake news) they have a picture for each suspect. If the suspect fesses up on the questionnaire that matches the picture, quick win for a fine. If answers back point to lying, they can interview those under caution? Which would probably be fun for the officers, knowing they got suspect over a barrel.
Boris will say he was in the flat where ‘ding dong the Dom is gone’ party took place, but was working in a separate part of it. Because of silly answers like that IMO things have very much changed in the last few weeks, with no one now believing he can survive, including himself.
Tick tock - seems to be a PB meme. Not believing he can survive is the most fatal thing so I am sticking to prediction he is gone in less than a fortnight from today.
Yours, Inspector Jade Investigates (not played by Kenneth Branagh) 🎭
Photos is a good point. Typically the police will disclose those at an interview under caution so you know what case you are meeting.
If anyone lies on questionnaire to avoid fine, the police are going to enjoy themselves. They could practice their “Mother of God” out in the yard with a ciggy before the interview. 🙂
Dearie dearie me. Con MPs really are a spineless bunch.
Not actually true and malicious of the police
“Equivalent to being interviewed under caution” means “not being interviewed under caution”.
But the media runs with a different story which is not actually true.
Yes, a bit like women being tried for witchcraft by holding them under water.
“Equivalent to being drowned” means “not being drowned”. You’re a jurisprudence genius.
The police are a bunch of cowards. Drag the useless oaf in and give him the full works. I recommend “Bad cop; bad cop”.
Comparing the 'stories' could be 'interesting'. Word for word all the same or wildly different. I would expect the former, TBH.
That is exactly what crossed my mind. Those forms are going to be littered with glaring inconsistencies.
If they’re not, then the witnesses are coordinating their responses, which I assume in itself breaks the law? @DavidL or any other lawyers about?
I still find these questionnaires an utterly bizarre way of going about this investigation.
Given how important it is, the Met really should pull their finger out and arrange 50 interviews (or whatever the number is) of the people involved. This is not difficult to do. I can tell them how to do it, if they're really stuck.
An interview of a potential suspect should comply with the provisions of PACE. A suspect is entitled to have a lawyer present and, critically, is not obliged to provide any answers at all.
Even if the questionnaire has the relevant PACE caution written at the top of it, a person receiving it has no obligation whatsoever to answer it. They are also entitled to take advice from a lawyer before sending in any sort of reply.
It is also worth noting that there is no law preventing people who were at the same event from talking to each other about it though they would have to be careful not to stray into behaviour which might amount to perverting the course of justice. This, though, is quite hard to prove and simply talking to another person present is not sufficient.
I certainly would not answer such a questionnaire. Nor would I advise a client of mine to do so. The very minimum I would want is to see the evidence the police claim to have and to ask them specifically what offence and on which dates and by reference to the specific Regulations (name, date, clause) they suspect me of having committed.
There is much talk of the rule of law. Well, it applies - much as I may dislike them politically - to the PM and his advisors and the No 10 staff etc, both with regard to the rules they have to follow and to how the police investigate any breaches by them.
What about the idea, from the mound of Sue Gray evidence and photo’s (checked for fake news) they have a picture for each suspect. If the suspect fesses up on the questionnaire that matches the picture, quick win for a fine. If answers back point to lying, they can interview those under caution? Which would probably be fun for the officers, knowing they got suspect over a barrel.
Boris will say he was in the flat where ‘ding dong the Dom is gone’ party took place, but was working in a separate part of it. Because of silly answers like that IMO things have very much changed in the last few weeks, with no one now believing he can survive, including himself.
Tick tock - seems to be a PB meme. Not believing he can survive is the most fatal thing so I am sticking to prediction he is gone in less than a fortnight from today.
Yours, Inspector Jade Investigates (not played by Kenneth Branagh) 🎭
You're getting the hang of this. If you stick to your view that Johnson will be gone in a fortnight you'll eventually end up having made a great call and tremendous kudos will ensue.
Thank you. But surely everyone can see this has totally changed in last two weeks? Like a wave of Rona replacing “could he survive this?” with the new “nope” variant.
Indeed
"They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them: be patient."
I will feel quite sad if Ukraine is invaded. My husband and I fell in love there in July 1988.
We had a wonderful overnight train journey from Moscow to Kiev and, fuelled by tea from the ferocious babushka train attendant glowering at us in the train corridor, plus copious quantities of vodka we had acquired ourselves, we arrived in Kiev a couple and spent the next few days exploring and boating on the lake and, well, having fun.
Even at the fag end of Communism and despite there being no bars (apart from one which offered only prune juice and where the chairs were nailed to the floor) it had a relaxed southern feel to it by comparison with Moscow.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
I'm not sure it's a contractual term in any fixed term contract. A "resignation" should be just that, give notice, work it, the only payout should be untaken unpaid leave if you don't insist it is taken during the notice period. Any payout is a deal to avoid litigation.
It also implies a payoff is agreed before the resignation letter is sent. Otherwise if your member of staff requests a pay off, your response is "F off, you just resigned".
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
We decided to leave our Christmas lights up for this reason. I find that with each passing year I seek to do more to keep the darkness at bay.
Many Buddhist countries have a far more socially caring intrinsic nature than one that had to be legislated for in 1945-51.
Thai people, for example, tend to be much more caring. Is that 'left wing'? Is it bollocks.
Thailand has far less welfare state than we do and lower taxes too.
It may be a good example of the Big Society in action but that is also because it is more socially conservative and religious than we are now too
You really don't know what you're talking about. Again. You seem to think that sitting around on Google makes you an expert, a recent classic example being the debacle over Northern Ireland.
I bet you've never even been to Thailand. Or if you have, for only a matter of days.
I've lived there.
Am I going to educate you about the subtleties of Thai culture: their beliefs and practices, their social structures? No.
I was not arguing about Thai culture.
I was arguing Thailand is economically more rightwing than the UK with lower taxes and lower spending as a percentage of gdp and generally more socially conservative and family oriented and religious than the UK too. That is indisputable
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Where any suspect, properly advised, will also say nothing.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
I'm not sure it's a contractual term in any fixed term contract. A "resignation" should be just that, give notice, work it, the only payout should be untaken unpaid leave if you don't insist it is taken during the notice period. Any payout is a deal to avoid litigation.
It also implies a payoff is agreed before the resignation letter is sent. Otherwise if your member of staff requests a pay off, your response is "F off, you just resigned".
And in Cressida's case - "Good luck with the constructive dismissal claim. I've just commandeered a very large room to store all the files which will form our evidence."
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
What question would be asked about bog-standard contractual arrangements for the boss class across private and public sectors? And even MPs who lose their seats get a payoff.
As so often one has to compare what MPs do with what happens in real life (e.g. most real life jobs don't have pubs on the job in working hours).
The payoff is odd as in normal life if you have a short term contract you don't get any right to a payoff. And if you can't get voted back in, you have by the most basic definition proven your inability to do the job in the present circumstances. "We'll employ you for x years but no promises about whether we can or want to re-up you."
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Same reason people in the private sector are compensated for "loss of office" (or at least the ones well above my paygrade). Because it is the boss class who write the contracts.
But it is our money she is beiing loaded up with.
Admittedly, in her case, asking her to actually work for it would do more harm than good and we are well shot of her. But could she not be redeployed to some (very) quiet Hamlet somewhere to walk the beat for the next 2 years?
I mean, I appreciate that there is a non negligible risk someone in that Hamlet may get shot whilst going about their business, that several people will be accused of being peodophiles without a shred of credible evidence, that race relations may deterioate to a significant extent and that she would still find ways of bullying people and abusing her position whilst taking positive steps to block any inquiry into her behaviour but its the principle of the thing.
The price of failure and mediocrity when you reach a certain level is a very good pay off. It is not her but the whole system. Sadly it is just us proles who get a month or two in lieu of notice and off you go.
Proles get nothing. It is the upper middle who get a month or two off with full pay. And the top who get a year or twos pay.
Not in any business I’ve worked in that has made redundancies and there have been a few. The proles, like me, always got their notice period paid in full.
I will feel quite sad if Ukraine is invaded. My husband and I fell in love there in July 1988.
We had a wonderful overnight train journey from Moscow to Kiev and, fuelled by tea from the ferocious babushka train attendant glowering at us in the train corridor, plus copious quantities of vodka we had acquired ourselves, we arrived in Kiev a couple and spent the next few days exploring and boating on the lake and, well, having fun.
Even at the fag end of Communism and despite there being no bars (apart from one which offered only prune juice and where the chairs were nailed to the floor) it had a relaxed southern feel to it by comparison with Moscow.
Me too. Have been there recently (well, pre-pandemic) and it's a great place. Lviv's Austro-Hungarian charm, Kyiv isn't bad, exploring the battlefield of Poltava, visiting Chernobyl that was one of the big news stories when I was younger. They now have some decent bars and Kyiv beer festival was the best I have ever been to. Great departure point for the former Soviet Union (I flew on to Tbilisi). Friendly people with a yearning to join the European mainstream. Let's hope we have called Uncle Vova's bluff and they won't have the Moskali rolling up to the Dnieper.
Many Buddhist countries have a far more socially caring intrinsic nature than one that had to be legislated for in 1945-51.
Thai people, for example, tend to be much more caring. Is that 'left wing'? Is it bollocks.
Thailand has far less welfare state than we do and lower taxes too.
It may be a good example of the Big Society in action but that is also because it is more socially conservative and religious than we are now too
You really don't know what you're talking about. Again. You seem to think that sitting around on Google makes you an expert, a recent classic example being the debacle over Northern Ireland.
I bet you've never even been to Thailand. Or if you have, for only a matter of days.
I've lived there.
Am I going to educate you about the subtleties of Thai culture: their beliefs and practices, their social structures? No.
Yes I know she is resigning and if it is in the contract then it is in the contract. Unfair as it is and it is not right. But won’t change.
The view on here seems to be that if you contribute to your pension via an in-house scheme and then you are dismissed from your post, you forfeit any benefits accrued into a scheme into which you paid?
It's not true of all public sector pension schemes but certainly for local Government (and I believe civil service though I may be wrong) both employee and employer make contributions into the scheme. Recently, the level of employee contributions has been rising and for those higher up the salary level, the amount added each month is considerable (though as a proportion of salary not so much).
The more the higher paid staff put in, the more it's affordable for those further down the food chain but everyone is contributing up to 7.5% of salary each month and for those higher up, even more.
I don't think you can lose your accrued pension entitlement whatever goes on. iirc it is pension law that the accrued benefits are locked in. I think that is right, but happy to be corrected.
The assumption has to be that the employee has worked satisfactorily till the time of resignation or dismissal, as a fundamental element of the contract. If the employer has been so incompetent as to allow someone to carry on when unsatisfactory for a significant period, then good luck in the resulting tribunal trying to reclaim the pension for the 'unsatisfactory' period. What I am not sure about is if someone is suspended with, and without, pay - in the former case then that would include pension entitlement and deductions, and in the latter, not, I assume?
Also pubvlic sector schemes have changed so much over the last 2-3 decades, now defined contrib for new persons usually, that most people in service for a couple of decades will effectively have a mixture of schemes depending on their times of service and personal preference. That has to be borne in mind as well.
Plus there is or was usually a minimum period of service before one can become a full member of the scheme - maybe 2 years. So if one is dismissed during that period, or resigns, one justr gets one's contribs back (or not at all if one has opted for a standalone scheme with a private supplier, I assume).
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I'm afraid I'm one of those ornery people who moan about every season.
Summer is too hot. Winter is too cold. Spring and Autumn are too inconsistent.
“ As @MoonRabbit has returned with the quality racing selections “
One of my hunches hasn’t even been seen for eighteen months. They must have forgot they had him.
The theme of my post was, if you get on a horse there is danger of falling off! 🤣
@stodge Agree that it is not the best of racing today but have put on more cash than usual, I am hoping for return to form of Nicholl's horses so have gone with following. Treble Bravemansgame 13:15 Newbury Clan Des Obeaux 14:25 Newbury Corey's Courage 12:50 Uttoxeter
Double and singles Bravemansgame 13:15 Newbury Clan Des Obeaux 14:25 Newbury
I totally support this. What’s the point of being misled by opinion polls for five years when the general election exit poll is completely different.?
If opinion polling can escape the fakeness of hypothetical mid term polling to show us what really would happen if there’s GE tomorrow, what’s not to like? Applause to anyone trying that?
One caveat. A lot of people never or rarely vote in elections. Apparently the Brexit vote in 16 enticed a great many in for once, and they might also have gone back to help Boris in 19. If they drift back to not bothering in the next GE, this is sizeable bad news for the Conservatives under the hood methodology is really going to struggle with, isn’t it?
Incidentally, fellow console peasants might be interested to learn that Crusader Kings III is to be released in late March, but only for current-gen consoles (still seems weird to refer to the PS5 that way given how hard they are to acquire).
The thing I would like to understand about this Ukraine situation is what changed. How did Putin come to the conclusion that war was possible and in his interests. Spool back 20 years and it would have been unthinkable.
Somewhere along the line we screwed up.
So, yet again, it’s OUR fault. Can’t it just be that we have a new breed of aggressive autocrats? Was Hitler OUR fault? Genghis Khan? The Roman Empire? The heat death of the Previous Universe?
At some point lefties will stop blaming whitey, the west, us, Britain, America, Israel, Western Europe, middle aged white men in particular, but I don’t expect this epiphany to happen anytime before the Chinese regime’s “Legal Enslavement of Whitey Act 2043”
Jonathan's point is a valid one that you have completely misunderstood.
My interpretation of his point is how have we unwittingly empowered Putin, given him the confidence, to reach this point?
It's nothing to do with your racial fixation. It might be however to do with the traditional "World Policemen" doing little about Putin's escalating outrageous behaviour. Maybe sequestering property from the Putin shills who own London after Salisbury, the Malaysian Airlines flight, and the invasion of Crimea, among other things might have focused minds.
I have now FORMALLY APOLOGISED to Jonathan for being a bit snippy. if he wants someone to blame (other than me) blame the Galle Face Hotel which has ill-advisedly gifted me a free stay with limitless free food and booze. Are they not aware of the risks?
In a way this is a good metaphor for our dealings with Putin, maybe. We offered him the all-you-can-eat curry buffet of ex-Soviet Republics and said Help Yourself, and have a beer as well (but the Baltics are like fine wines that carry a premium)
But, did we have much choice? I’m not sure. Russia is a great power with that intrinsic self belief and self confidence. It has a muscle memory of empire. I reckon we’ve done about as best we could with a Russia determined on expansion and with a clever and cunning military guy at the helm. We have contained it within the USSR as was
The time to stand up and physically fight will be if he he attacks NATO or - maybe - places outside the old Soviet Union
No need to apologise. It’s just an argument. Not personal. Who doesn’t enjoy being roasted by Leon?
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I love autumn but do get SAD despite, as you say, being better at coping with cold weather than many. I am hopefully starting to come out of it now, with the appreciably longer hours of daylight. For that reason I really love late, snowy, cold weather as I am only really in a mood to enjoy it from mid-February onwards.
A map of “social trust” worldwide. Thailand does pretty well but is significantly less trustful of others than wealthy Europe (Germany, Scandi. UK) and the wider AUKUS, but is more trustful than the poorer 3rd world
The outliers are France (whoah, they don’t trust the neighbors) and Saudi, where they really do trust the neighbors.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Same reason people in the private sector are compensated for "loss of office" (or at least the ones well above my paygrade). Because it is the boss class who write the contracts.
But it is our money she is beiing loaded up with.
Admittedly, in her case, asking her to actually work for it would do more harm than good and we are well shot of her. But could she not be redeployed to some (very) quiet Hamlet somewhere to walk the beat for the next 2 years?
I mean, I appreciate that there is a non negligible risk someone in that Hamlet may get shot whilst going about their business, that several people will be accused of being peodophiles without a shred of credible evidence, that race relations may deterioate to a significant extent and that she would still find ways of bullying people and abusing her position whilst taking positive steps to block any inquiry into her behaviour but its the principle of the thing.
The price of failure and mediocrity when you reach a certain level is a very good pay off. It is not her but the whole system. Sadly it is just us proles who get a month or two in lieu of notice and off you go.
Proles get nothing. It is the upper middle who get a month or two off with full pay. And the top who get a year or twos pay.
Not in any business I’ve worked in that has made redundancies and there have been a few. The proles, like me, always got their notice period paid in full.
Yes but your notice is never 2 years long.
That’s right. 3 months is the maximum I have ever had. Currently 2 months.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
I'm not sure it's a contractual term in any fixed term contract. A "resignation" should be just that, give notice, work it, the only payout should be untaken unpaid leave if you don't insist it is taken during the notice period. Any payout is a deal to avoid litigation.
Isn't the 'management' of the Met the joint responsibility of the Home Office ands London Mayor? So Patel and Khan would have to agree on sacking, loss of confidence or whatever.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Same reason people in the private sector are compensated for "loss of office" (or at least the ones well above my paygrade). Because it is the boss class who write the contracts.
But it is our money she is beiing loaded up with.
Admittedly, in her case, asking her to actually work for it would do more harm than good and we are well shot of her. But could she not be redeployed to some (very) quiet Hamlet somewhere to walk the beat for the next 2 years?
I mean, I appreciate that there is a non negligible risk someone in that Hamlet may get shot whilst going about their business, that several people will be accused of being peodophiles without a shred of credible evidence, that race relations may deterioate to a significant extent and that she would still find ways of bullying people and abusing her position whilst taking positive steps to block any inquiry into her behaviour but its the principle of the thing.
The price of failure and mediocrity when you reach a certain level is a very good pay off. It is not her but the whole system. Sadly it is just us proles who get a month or two in lieu of notice and off you go.
Proles get nothing. It is the upper middle who get a month or two off with full pay. And the top who get a year or twos pay.
Not in any business I’ve worked in that has made redundancies and there have been a few. The proles, like me, always got their notice period paid in full.
She is not being made redundant, there will still be a head of the Met. She is resigning because her boss told her to step up. If you resign for that reason do you get a payoff?
Yes I know she is resigning and if it is in the contract then it is in the contract. Unfair as it is and it is not right. But won’t change.
What sort of contract says "if you resign we will give you X amount of money"? It normally just gives a notice period. It usually doesn't even say it has to be in writing.
(This is complicated by the fact that if she is a Crown Servant she technically doesn't have a contract. But the Civil Service Code states that the employer will behave as if she did, so it shouldn't make a difference in practice).
The only exposure of South Korean politics I have is watching the SK remake of Designated Survivor on Netflix. I really liked it, though kept imagining a UK remake. During the Queen's Speech I understand a member of parliament is held hostage by the Crown, could be a good premise for a UK version. BBC, I am available for a fee...
Many Buddhist countries have a far more socially caring intrinsic nature than one that had to be legislated for in 1945-51.
Thai people, for example, tend to be much more caring. Is that 'left wing'? Is it bollocks.
Thailand has far less welfare state than we do and lower taxes too.
It may be a good example of the Big Society in action but that is also because it is more socially conservative and religious than we are now too
You really don't know what you're talking about. Again. You seem to think that sitting around on Google makes you an expert, a recent classic example being the debacle over Northern Ireland.
I bet you've never even been to Thailand. Or if you have, for only a matter of days.
I've lived there.
Am I going to educate you about the subtleties of Thai culture: their beliefs and practices, their social structures? No.
I’ve lived there. You’re talking total shit
Who is talking rubbish, Mr L? HYUFD or Heathener?
From my frequent (until the damn pandemic) trips to the Land of Smile I'd say it's was doing quite well, socially, under Thaksin, but it's regressed lately. And the new King isn't as benevolent as his father was.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
I'm not sure it's a contractual term in any fixed term contract. A "resignation" should be just that, give notice, work it, the only payout should be untaken unpaid leave if you don't insist it is taken during the notice period. Any payout is a deal to avoid litigation.
Isn't the 'management' of the Met the joint responsibility of the Home Office ands London Mayor? So Patel and Khan would have to agree on sacking, loss of confidence or whatever.
She resigned after not wanting to do what Khan asked her to.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
No one credible is going to take a politically sensitive job like that without contractural cover, to address this exact scenario. Otherwise she will have a clear cut case for constructive dismissal and the payout is going to be less expensive. All the fuming is just a political performance.
It is hard to underestimate how difficult the job was that she was doing. Posters on PB might generally be more successful and wealthy than the average person - but in the end - the job that she was doing was simply in another league of pain altogether.
She was probably earning 10k a month after tax. I wouldn't do it for twice that.
Dearie dearie me. Con MPs really are a spineless bunch.
Not actually true and malicious of the police
“Equivalent to being interviewed under caution” means “not being interviewed under caution”.
But the media runs with a different story which is not actually true.
Yes, a bit like women being tried for witchcraft by holding them under water.
“Equivalent to being drowned” means “not being drowned”. You’re a jurisprudence genius.
The police are a bunch of cowards. Drag the useless oaf in and give him the full works. I recommend “Bad cop; bad cop”.
Comparing the 'stories' could be 'interesting'. Word for word all the same or wildly different. I would expect the former, TBH.
That is exactly what crossed my mind. Those forms are going to be littered with glaring inconsistencies.
If they’re not, then the witnesses are coordinating their responses, which I assume in itself breaks the law? @DavidL or any other lawyers about?
I still find these questionnaires an utterly bizarre way of going about this investigation.
Given how important it is, the Met really should pull their finger out and arrange 50 interviews (or whatever the number is) of the people involved. This is not difficult to do. I can tell them how to do it, if they're really stuck.
An interview of a potential suspect should comply with the provisions of PACE. A suspect is entitled to have a lawyer present and, critically, is not obliged to provide any answers at all.
Even if the questionnaire has the relevant PACE caution written at the top of it, a person receiving it has no obligation whatsoever to answer it. They are also entitled to take advice from a lawyer before sending in any sort of reply.
It is also worth noting that there is no law preventing people who were at the same event from talking to each other about it though they would have to be careful not to stray into behaviour which might amount to perverting the course of justice. This, though, is quite hard to prove and simply talking to another person present is not sufficient.
I certainly would not answer such a questionnaire. Nor would I advise a client of mine to do so. The very minimum I would want is to see the evidence the police claim to have and to ask them specifically what offence and on which dates and by reference to the specific Regulations (name, date, clause) they suspect me of having committed.
There is much talk of the rule of law. Well, it applies - much as I may dislike them politically - to the PM and his advisors and the No 10 staff etc, both with regard to the rules they have to follow and to how the police investigate any breaches by them.
What about the idea, from the mound of Sue Gray evidence and photo’s (checked for fake news) they have a picture for each suspect. If the suspect fesses up on the questionnaire that matches the picture, quick win for a fine. If answers back point to lying, they can interview those under caution? Which would probably be fun for the officers, knowing they got suspect over a barrel.
Boris will say he was in the flat where ‘ding dong the Dom is gone’ party took place, but was working in a separate part of it. Because of silly answers like that IMO things have very much changed in the last few weeks, with no one now believing he can survive, including himself.
Tick tock - seems to be a PB meme. Not believing he can survive is the most fatal thing so I am sticking to prediction he is gone in less than a fortnight from today.
Yours, Inspector Jade Investigates (not played by Kenneth Branagh) 🎭
Photos is a good point. Typically the police will disclose those at an interview under caution so you know what case you are meeting.
If anyone lies on questionnaire to avoid fine, the police are going to enjoy themselves. They could practice their “Mother of God” out in the yard with a ciggy before the interview. 🙂
Thanks for the tips. I've gone EW on Tritonic just to enliven my day a bit.
Yes I know she is resigning and if it is in the contract then it is in the contract. Unfair as it is and it is not right. But won’t change.
The view on here seems to be that if you contribute to your pension via an in-house scheme and then you are dismissed from your post, you forfeit any benefits accrued into a scheme into which you paid?
It's not true of all public sector pension schemes but certainly for local Government (and I believe civil service though I may be wrong) both employee and employer make contributions into the scheme. Recently, the level of employee contributions has been rising and for those higher up the salary level, the amount added each month is considerable (though as a proportion of salary not so much).
The more the higher paid staff put in, the more it's affordable for those further down the food chain but everyone is contributing up to 7.5% of salary each month and for those higher up, even more.
I don't think you can lose your accrued pension entitlement whatever goes on. iirc it is pension law that the accrued benefits are locked in. I think that is right, but happy to be corrected.
The assumption has to be that the employee has worked satisfactorily till the time of resignation or dismissal, as a fundamental element of the contract. If the employer has been so incompetent as to allow someone to carry on when unsatisfactory for a significant period, then good luck in the resulting tribunal trying to reclaim the pension for the 'unsatisfactory' period. What I am not sure about is if someone is suspended with, and without, pay - in the former case then that would include pension entitlement and deductions, and in the latter, not, I assume?
Also pubvlic sector schemes have changed so much over the last 2-3 decades, now defined contrib for new persons usually, that most people in service for a couple of decades will effectively have a mixture of schemes depending on their times of service and personal preference. That has to be borne in mind as well.
Plus there is or was usually a minimum period of service before one can become a full member of the scheme - maybe 2 years. So if one is dismissed during that period, or resigns, one justr gets one's contribs back (or not at all if one has opted for a standalone scheme with a private supplier, I assume).
The new Civil Service pension scheme is not defined contrib, it is career average revalued rather than final salary. Can't speak for other public sector schemes but I presume I would have heard if they had gone DC.
I have never been a fan of removing accrued pension rights, even in cases of gross misconduct. Which can be as inoccuous as calling your boss a twat. It would have to be something completely egregious such as embezzlement from the employer in my view, or eg a policeman engaging in serious illegality.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
No one credible is going to take a politically sensitive job like that without contractural cover, to address this exact scenario. Otherwise she will have a clear cut case for constructive dismissal and the payout is going to be less expensive. All the fuming is just a political performance.
It is hard to underestimate how difficult the job was that she was doing. Posters on PB might generally be more successful and wealthy than the average person - but in the end - the job that she was doing was simply in another league of pain altogether.
She was probably earning 10k a month after tax. I wouldn't do it for twice that.
It is a very difficult job. But she has been in it for 5 years and she has got worse not better.
It is precisely because you need to have a good ear for how you appear and what you say and the political currents swirling around you that she was so useless.
She had an absolute tin ear for this important aspect of her role. How could anyone with even a quarter of a brain think that saying every force has a "wrong' un" in them was even remotely an appropriate response to the Everard case? It's not just the sentiment but the use of the phrase "wrong'un" as if Couzens was a cheeky so-and-so who'd run off with the Xmas party money not a murderer and a rapist who'd just destroyed the bona fides of every cop in London. Or just airily dismiss the findings of the Morgan report in respect of her conduct? It was unbelievably arrogant and deluded.
If she did not see for herself that this was inadequate then why did she have no-one around her to advise her of this? A good leader is not just good because of what they do but because they surround themselves with a strong team, one which will stop their leader making daft mistakes.
Yes - it will be very hard to find a good replacement - but an organisation which tolerates a second-rate leader because there is no-one better is not, frankly, worth saving.
Yes I know she is resigning and if it is in the contract then it is in the contract. Unfair as it is and it is not right. But won’t change.
The view on here seems to be that if you contribute to your pension via an in-house scheme and then you are dismissed from your post, you forfeit any benefits accrued into a scheme into which you paid?
It's not true of all public sector pension schemes but certainly for local Government (and I believe civil service though I may be wrong) both employee and employer make contributions into the scheme. Recently, the level of employee contributions has been rising and for those higher up the salary level, the amount added each month is considerable (though as a proportion of salary not so much).
The more the higher paid staff put in, the more it's affordable for those further down the food chain but everyone is contributing up to 7.5% of salary each month and for those higher up, even more.
I don't think you can lose your accrued pension entitlement whatever goes on. iirc it is pension law that the accrued benefits are locked in. I think that is right, but happy to be corrected.
The assumption has to be that the employee has worked satisfactorily till the time of resignation or dismissal, as a fundamental element of the contract. If the employer has been so incompetent as to allow someone to carry on when unsatisfactory for a significant period, then good luck in the resulting tribunal trying to reclaim the pension for the 'unsatisfactory' period. What I am not sure about is if someone is suspended with, and without, pay - in the former case then that would include pension entitlement and deductions, and in the latter, not, I assume?
Also pubvlic sector schemes have changed so much over the last 2-3 decades, now defined contrib for new persons usually, that most people in service for a couple of decades will effectively have a mixture of schemes depending on their times of service and personal preference. That has to be borne in mind as well.
Plus there is or was usually a minimum period of service before one can become a full member of the scheme - maybe 2 years. So if one is dismissed during that period, or resigns, one justr gets one's contribs back (or not at all if one has opted for a standalone scheme with a private supplier, I assume).
The new Civil Service pension scheme is not defined contrib, it is career average revalued rather than final salary. Can't speak for other public sector schemes but I presume I would have heard if they had gone DC.
I have never been a fan of removing accrued pension rights, even in cases of gross misconduct. Which can be as inoccuous as calling your boss a twat. It would have to be something completely egregious such as embezzlement from the employer in my view, or eg a policeman engaging in serious illegality.
I've found it almost impossible to recruit anyone from TfL into the Big4 - even on a much better salary, and with better career prospects - because their pensions are just so good.
We pay Employer's contribution of 6% but for TfL it's the equivalent of about 30%. Just think of the extra salary and AVCs you'd need to pay to match that.
No private sector employer can compete and - weirdly - the TfL employees themselves aren't necessarily happy about it as they feel golden handcuffed but recognise it would be silly to do anything else.
Many Buddhist countries have a far more socially caring intrinsic nature than one that had to be legislated for in 1945-51.
Thai people, for example, tend to be much more caring. Is that 'left wing'? Is it bollocks.
Thailand has far less welfare state than we do and lower taxes too.
It may be a good example of the Big Society in action but that is also because it is more socially conservative and religious than we are now too
You really don't know what you're talking about. Again. You seem to think that sitting around on Google makes you an expert, a recent classic example being the debacle over Northern Ireland.
I bet you've never even been to Thailand. Or if you have, for only a matter of days.
I've lived there.
Am I going to educate you about the subtleties of Thai culture: their beliefs and practices, their social structures? No.
I’ve lived there. You’re talking total shit
Who is talking rubbish, Mr L? HYUFD or Heathener?
From my frequent (until the damn pandemic) trips to the Land of Smile I'd say it's was doing quite well, socially, under Thaksin, but it's regressed lately. And the new King isn't as benevolent as his father was.
I’m afraid La Heathener is talking nonsense. Thailand is, like many Buddhist countries (or indeed some Islamic countries) on the face of it a caring, benign society, but this masks deep unease and conflict, and plentiful mistrust
Hence the endless civil strife in Thailand - sometimes close to civil war - for the last few decades
Sri Lanka is an even better example of this. It is a smiley, relaxed, languid, friendly Buddhist place, at first glance. But it has a terrible history of internal violence. One of the worst in the world, perhaps. No one quite knows why
Its best period in recorded history was probably the British Empire. An unparalleled century and a half of peace. Like Judea in Life of Brian
A map of “social trust” worldwide. Thailand does pretty well but is significantly less trustful of others than wealthy Europe (Germany, Scandi. UK) and the wider AUKUS, but is more trustful than the poorer 3rd world
The outliers are France (whoah, they don’t trust the neighbors) and Saudi, where they really do trust the neighbors.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
I could easily do a swap with our Thai daughter-in-law. I would love to spend the winter there, especially Late November > End January. However she really likes the idea of snow, as do the grandchildren. So far anyway. However they only get a couple of weeks in any given year and I suspect the novelty would soon wear off. And Bangkok's too warm for Mrs C, most of the time. So I reckon about a month is all I'm likely to get.
Hopefully South Korea can then be brought into a new 'NATO of the Far East' with Japan, Australia, India, Singapore etc under US leadership. Much as the Quad Alliance seeks to do
S Korea dislikes Japan as much as it dies China (though is also friendly with and does considerable business with both). And while the US is a close ally, a NATO analogue is quite unlikely in the near term.
The thing I would like to understand about this Ukraine situation is what changed. How did Putin come to the conclusion that war was possible and in his interests. Spool back 20 years and it would have been unthinkable.
Somewhere along the line we screwed up.
Genuine question, why is it the UK's fault this might be happening? Is it because Ukraine starts with UK? Does this make it our responsibility? Does this responsibility extend to other countries? Which ones?
I think we covered this. I’m not talking about fault, but we might have done to avoid this defeat for our foreign policy and security. It was not inevitable in my view. Somewhere we took our eye off the ball.
I disagree. Putin has been an arsehole since he took power in 2000. Murdering opponents and stirring up trouble in what he considers his 'sphere'. (I do love Victoria 2.... spheres of influence are very very apt right about now)
In many ways, his foreign actions in the last twenty two years aren't massively dissimilar to Hitler, but just much much slower. Spend a few years consolidating his own power and getting rid of internal opponents, then start on foreign policy 'initiatives' to reclaim 'historic' lands. Yes, maybe we could've seen it coming, but what could we, the UK, really do? Lets be honest, our only truly viable option to stop this was nuclear war. And we aren't doing this.
Sanctions don't really work (and we know it). Diplomacy doesn't really work (We'll give you Crimea if you just stop punching me in the face) and we've no real option for conventional warfare. Maybe electronic warfare? Repgramming pipelines to explode like the US did to the SU back in the 1980s?
Putin's an arsehole. He isn't going to backdown without a show of arms. It's his fault, and all his fault. I just hope he dies soon and is replaced by someone more reformist. It's time for Nikita Khrushev.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
No one credible is going to take a politically sensitive job like that without contractural cover, to address this exact scenario. Otherwise she will have a clear cut case for constructive dismissal and the payout is going to be less expensive. All the fuming is just a political performance.
It is hard to underestimate how difficult the job was that she was doing. Posters on PB might generally be more successful and wealthy than the average person - but in the end - the job that she was doing was simply in another league of pain altogether.
She was probably earning 10k a month after tax. I wouldn't do it for twice that.
It is a very difficult job. But she has been in it for 5 years and she has got worse not better.
It is precisely because you need to have a good ear for how you appear and what you say and the political currents swirling around you that she was so useless.
She had an absolute tin ear for this important aspect of her role. How could anyone with even a quarter of a brain think that saying every force has a "wrong' un" in them was even remotely an appropriate response to the Everard case? Or just airily dismiss the findings of the Morgan report in respect of her conduct? It was unbelievably arrogant and deluded.
If she did not see for herself that this was inadequate then why did she have no-one around her to advise her of this? A good leader is not just good because of what they do but because they surround themselves with a strong team, one which will stop their leader making daft mistakes.
Yes - it will be very hard to find a good replacement - but an organisation which tolerates a second-rate leader because there is no-one better is not, frankly, worth saving.
The most likely conclusion is that the role itself is untenable, a consequence of the size of the Met and the sheer amount of difficult stuff it is dealing with. But the underlying reality is that many of the fundamental problems experienced by the Met are to do with underfunding, for which the blame lies in politicians. So Dick was acting as a foil for this, hence Patel's support for her.
The cultural stuff is definitely a major factor. The next leader will need to tackle this. Dick was well placed to do it and couldn't get anywhere fast enough. It's going to be extremely difficult.
Hopefully South Korea can then be brought into a new 'NATO of the Far East' with Japan, Australia, India, Singapore etc under US leadership. Much as the Quad Alliance seeks to do
S Korea dislikes Japan as much as it dies China (though is also friendly with and does considerable business with both). And while the US is a close ally, a NATO analogue is quite unlikely in the near term.
S Korea (and North) dislike and distrust Japan for historical reasons. Japan wasn't 'benevolent' when Korea was part of it's empire.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
I could easily do a swap with our Thai daughter-in-law. I would love to spend the winter there, especially Late November > End January. However she really likes the idea of snow, as do the grandchildren. So far anyway. However they only get a couple of weeks in any given year and I suspect the novelty would soon wear off. And Bangkok's too warm for Mrs C, most of the time. So I reckon about a month is all I'm likely to get.
You want to get down south to one of the islands that time of year. It's not too hot. And isn't oppressive like Bangkok. Used to go there every Chinese New Year.
Many Buddhist countries have a far more socially caring intrinsic nature than one that had to be legislated for in 1945-51.
Thai people, for example, tend to be much more caring. Is that 'left wing'? Is it bollocks.
Thailand has far less welfare state than we do and lower taxes too.
It may be a good example of the Big Society in action but that is also because it is more socially conservative and religious than we are now too
You really don't know what you're talking about. Again. You seem to think that sitting around on Google makes you an expert, a recent classic example being the debacle over Northern Ireland.
I bet you've never even been to Thailand. Or if you have, for only a matter of days.
I've lived there.
Am I going to educate you about the subtleties of Thai culture: their beliefs and practices, their social structures? No.
I’ve lived there. You’re talking total shit
Who is talking rubbish, Mr L? HYUFD or Heathener?
From my frequent (until the damn pandemic) trips to the Land of Smile I'd say it's was doing quite well, socially, under Thaksin, but it's regressed lately. And the new King isn't as benevolent as his father was.
I’m afraid La Heathener is talking nonsense. Thailand is, like many Buddhist countries (or indeed some Islamic countries) on the face of it a caring, benign society, but this masks deep unease and conflict, and plentiful mistrust
Hence the endless civil strife in Thailand - sometimes close to civil war - for the last few decades
Sri Lanka is an even better example of this. It is a smiley, relaxed, languid, friendly Buddhist place, at first glance. But it has a terrible history of internal violence. One of the worst in the world, perhaps. No one quite knows why
Its best period in recorded history was probably the British Empire. An unparalleled century and a half of peace. Like Judea in Life of Brian
I don't think Sri Lanka's history of internal violence is that surprising, there was a civil war over ethnic separatism. It's not that dissimilar to Northern Ireland, there was one community seeking partition while another claimed sovereignty over the whole territory. The British may have presided over a peaceful period (especially later on) but in many ways their rule was partly responsible for the violence that followed, first because it was the British who first made it a unified territory and second because the British favoured the Tamil minority (whether deliberately as a divide and rule tactic or accidentally owing to factors like geography is open to question) which bred resentment among the Sinhalese majority and then fear among the Tamils once the Sinhalese tried to overturn their perceived disadvantage after independence. Complicated perhaps but certainly not mysterious. The one mystery about Sri Lanka I seem to recall is its very high suicide rate. That is hard to explain.
A map of “social trust” worldwide. Thailand does pretty well but is significantly less trustful of others than wealthy Europe (Germany, Scandi. UK) and the wider AUKUS, but is more trustful than the poorer 3rd world
The outliers are France (whoah, they don’t trust the neighbors) and Saudi, where they really do trust the neighbors.
Religion must be a factor, but it is hard to tease out exactly how
Not sure that accurately reflects left wing values though. Portugal just elected a leftwing government for example.
Also, there does need to be some allowance for informal networks of assistance, common in places like Africa, the Middle East etc.
In East and Central Africa there is a social expectation to support relatives down on their luck in ways that Britons do not feel. Indeed I know some Africans in Malawi who moved with no forwarding address because they got so fed up with feckless cousins turning up and staying rent free for months eating them out of house and home. It is socially impossible to refuse!
Similarly the Islamic Brotherhood established themselves by providing food and education to the poor, who then get sucked into IB politics.
Not sure these would be measurable on a Left/Right basis, and are based on kinship or religion rather than the state, but most societies have similar informal structures.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
I could easily do a swap with our Thai daughter-in-law. I would love to spend the winter there, especially Late November > End January. However she really likes the idea of snow, as do the grandchildren. So far anyway. However they only get a couple of weeks in any given year and I suspect the novelty would soon wear off. And Bangkok's too warm for Mrs C, most of the time. So I reckon about a month is all I'm likely to get.
You want to get down south to one of the islands that time of year. It's not too hot. And isn't oppressive like Bangkok. Used to go there every Chinese New Year.
Yes; know what you mean; when the grandchildren finish school.......
May be buying a laptop in the near future. Any recommendations on where to buy from? (Obviously I could just get one from Amazon but I don't buy this sort of thing often and I imagine there are decent alternatives).
Edited extra bit: I have to go now, but thanks in advance to anyone who replies (I'll check them later) or sends me a message.
Hopefully South Korea can then be brought into a new 'NATO of the Far East' with Japan, Australia, India, Singapore etc under US leadership. Much as the Quad Alliance seeks to do
S Korea dislikes Japan as much as it dies China (though is also friendly with and does considerable business with both). And while the US is a close ally, a NATO analogue is quite unlikely in the near term.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
My in laws spend Oct-Apr in Sri Lanka every year, it works out very well for them and has helped to keep them very youthful considering they are in their mid-80s.
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
I'm not sure it's a contractual term in any fixed term contract. A "resignation" should be just that, give notice, work it, the only payout should be untaken unpaid leave if you don't insist it is taken during the notice period. Any payout is a deal to avoid litigation.
She’s not resigning, she’s been sacked but they’ve all agreed to call it a resignation
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
January is so bleak that it is the worst month to go dry. Burns night is a good escape from the gloom too.
It is fairly obvious why so many Brits used to take advantage of FoM to retire to the sun. Still possible for the rich, less so for the ordinary.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Yes I know she is resigning and if it is in the contract then it is in the contract. Unfair as it is and it is not right. But won’t change.
The view on here seems to be that if you contribute to your pension via an in-house scheme and then you are dismissed from your post, you forfeit any benefits accrued into a scheme into which you paid?
It's not true of all public sector pension schemes but certainly for local Government (and I believe civil service though I may be wrong) both employee and employer make contributions into the scheme. Recently, the level of employee contributions has been rising and for those higher up the salary level, the amount added each month is considerable (though as a proportion of salary not so much).
The more the higher paid staff put in, the more it's affordable for those further down the food chain but everyone is contributing up to 7.5% of salary each month and for those higher up, even more.
I don't think you can lose your accrued pension entitlement whatever goes on. iirc it is pension law that the accrued benefits are locked in. I think that is right, but happy to be corrected.
The assumption has to be that the employee has worked satisfactorily till the time of resignation or dismissal, as a fundamental element of the contract. If the employer has been so incompetent as to allow someone to carry on when unsatisfactory for a significant period, then good luck in the resulting tribunal trying to reclaim the pension for the 'unsatisfactory' period. What I am not sure about is if someone is suspended with, and without, pay - in the former case then that would include pension entitlement and deductions, and in the latter, not, I assume?
Also pubvlic sector schemes have changed so much over the last 2-3 decades, now defined contrib for new persons usually, that most people in service for a couple of decades will effectively have a mixture of schemes depending on their times of service and personal preference. That has to be borne in mind as well.
Plus there is or was usually a minimum period of service before one can become a full member of the scheme - maybe 2 years. So if one is dismissed during that period, or resigns, one justr gets one's contribs back (or not at all if one has opted for a standalone scheme with a private supplier, I assume).
The new Civil Service pension scheme is not defined contrib, it is career average revalued rather than final salary. Can't speak for other public sector schemes but I presume I would have heard if they had gone DC.
I have never been a fan of removing accrued pension rights, even in cases of gross misconduct. Which can be as inoccuous as calling your boss a twat. It would have to be something completely egregious such as embezzlement from the employer in my view, or eg a policeman engaging in serious illegality.
I've found it almost impossible to recruit anyone from TfL into the Big4 - even on a much better salary, and with better career prospects - because their pensions are just so good.
We pay Employer's contribution of 6% but for TfL it's the equivalent of about 30%. Just think of the extra salary and AVCs you'd need to pay to match that.
No private sector employer can compete and - weirdly - the TfL employees themselves aren't necessarily happy about it as they feel golden handcuffed but recognise it would be silly to do anything else.
It also works the other way around. Central government cannot recruit people from the private sector because of the low headline pay. But when you factor in the enormous pension contributions, it is actually a better deal than the superficially higher private sector salaries.
In the end the problem for people in public sector organisations like TfL is opportunity cost. If you go out for a few years and do ok in the private sector then you have many more future career opportunities than being tied to a single employer. After a while in the public sector it becomes hard to see how things could be done differently.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
My in laws spend Oct-Apr in Sri Lanka every year, it works out very well for them and has helped to keep them very youthful considering they are in their mid-80s.
A few years ago when on a long-ish trip to New Zealand I met several people who spent 6 months there and 6 in UK.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
The payoff is one thing, she had a contract and the same thing would happen in the private sector.
The most astonishing thing is the pension, rumoured to be over £160k per year. That would be pretty much impossible to buy outside the public sector.
The govt gave her a new contract only a few months ago, when it was clear that they didn't really have any confidence in her. Just a waste of public money.
Small change. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/half-of-ppe-procured-by-uk-using-vip-companies-has-not-been-used ...The proportion of unused PPE is significantly higher for contracts processed through the a so-called VIP lane – 59% of the £1.7bn ordered from them – than for other firms awarded contracts through the standard procurement route. Of the £10.4bn committed to non-VIP companies for PPE, 17% or £1.8bn has not been used.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
My in laws spend Oct-Apr in Sri Lanka every year, it works out very well for them and has helped to keep them very youthful considering they are in their mid-80s.
Mrs Stodge and I know an older retired couple who go to Goa for three months. I suspect they are old hippies re-living the 1960s and as he was in the financial sector in his working life I think that is entirely plausible.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
My in laws spend Oct-Apr in Sri Lanka every year, it works out very well for them and has helped to keep them very youthful considering they are in their mid-80s.
A few years ago when on a long-ish trip to New Zealand I met several people who spent 6 months there and 6 in UK.
Yep. A friend of mine was a gliding instructor and tug plane pilot. He did summers in UK and ‘winters’ in NZ for a couple of decades. Best job in the world!
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
My in laws spend Oct-Apr in Sri Lanka every year, it works out very well for them and has helped to keep them very youthful considering they are in their mid-80s.
Mrs Stodge and I know an older retired couple who go to Goa for three months. I suspect they are old hippies re-living the 1960s and as he was in the financial sector in his working life I think that is entirely plausible.
Problem with doing that, although it's quite tempting, is the disruption to social life here. Although, as Mr L demonstrates, it's quite possible to post on Pb from such places.
So you really do believe April is the cruellest month?
I don't actually detest the spring. There are many good things about it. But the end of winter is not one of them. For me the cruellest month is August. The Dead Days as I refer to them. Not even the birds sing very much in August.
May be buying a laptop in the near future. Any recommendations on where to buy from? (Obviously I could just get one from Amazon but I don't buy this sort of thing often and I imagine there are decent alternatives).
Edited extra bit: I have to go now, but thanks in advance to anyone who replies (I'll check them later) or sends me a message.
My advice is choose the laptop first then work out where to buy it from.
I've had several Microsoft surface laptops which I think are very good, as long as you use chrome and not microsoft edge as a web browser.
I've found Currys to be ok as you can go to an actual shop for them to look at it if something goes inexplicably wrong (but only if you buy it from the store, not online). That way you avoid the hassle and confusion of having to ship it back to whoever you bought it from if you want to return it.
May be buying a laptop in the near future. Any recommendations on where to buy from? (Obviously I could just get one from Amazon but I don't buy this sort of thing often and I imagine there are decent alternatives).
Edited extra bit: I have to go now, but thanks in advance to anyone who replies (I'll check them later) or sends me a message.
May be buying a laptop in the near future. Any recommendations on where to buy from? (Obviously I could just get one from Amazon but I don't buy this sort of thing often and I imagine there are decent alternatives).
Edited extra bit: I have to go now, but thanks in advance to anyone who replies (I'll check them later) or sends me a message.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
The payoff is one thing, she had a contract and the same thing would happen in the private sector.
The most astonishing thing is the pension, rumoured to be over £160k per year. That would be pretty much impossible to buy outside the public sector.
The govt gave her a new contract only a few months ago, when it was clear that they didn't really have any confidence in her. Just a waste of public money.
Small change. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/half-of-ppe-procured-by-uk-using-vip-companies-has-not-been-used ...The proportion of unused PPE is significantly higher for contracts processed through the a so-called VIP lane – 59% of the £1.7bn ordered from them – than for other firms awarded contracts through the standard procurement route. Of the £10.4bn committed to non-VIP companies for PPE, 17% or £1.8bn has not been used.
What is the correlation coefficient between % unused PPE and donations to the Tory party?
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
Up to now, your posts from foreign climes have been pleasant reportage but have not clome close to tempting me away from a Pennine winter. But those last sentences have hit a spot - expected moons and stars bit. And, you know, weirdly, it occurs to me it could work for me too. It always struck me that life was just for footloose freelancers - but how many days in the last 23 months have I spent in the office? Fewer than ten. Indeed, many of my idle moments over the past two years have beenspent wondering whether I could move to the Lake District. So why not winter in Sri Lanka? Obviously not right now. Kids at school, etc. But in 10 years time, perhaps...
Partygate questionnaire recipients: If you ring round to co-ordinate your answers with fellow incredibly hard-working staff be careful you're not doing something which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice. https://twitter.com/Barristerblog/status/1492410437274640384
Why on Earth would anyone actually reply to an emailed questionnaire? Would any of the lawyers here recommend a client reply to something like this?
Don’t talk to the police, ever.
Because the subtext is we'll drag you down the station if you don't comply
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Presumably it depends on the contractual terms. If true then it is utterly scandalous. Someone needs to ask a question in Parliament about this.
I'm not sure it's a contractual term in any fixed term contract. A "resignation" should be just that, give notice, work it, the only payout should be untaken unpaid leave if you don't insist it is taken during the notice period. Any payout is a deal to avoid litigation.
She’s not resigning, she’s been sacked but they’ve all agreed to call it a resignation
That has to be the assumption, the payoff is pre-agreed and extra-contractual.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
Up to now, your posts from foreign climes have been pleasant reportage but have not clome close to tempting me away from a Pennine winter. But those last sentences have hit a spot - expected moons and stars bit. And, you know, weirdly, it occurs to me it could work for me too. It always struck me that life was just for footloose freelancers - but how many days in the last 23 months have I spent in the office? Fewer than ten. Indeed, many of my idle moments over the past two years have beenspent wondering whether I could move to the Lake District. So why not winter in Sri Lanka? Obviously not right now. Kids at school, etc. But in 10 years time, perhaps...
MANY people must now be thinking the same
= “i love London, NYC, Paris, Berlin… Manchester… but do I have to spend winter there? Covid says No”
May be buying a laptop in the near future. Any recommendations on where to buy from? (Obviously I could just get one from Amazon but I don't buy this sort of thing often and I imagine there are decent alternatives).
Edited extra bit: I have to go now, but thanks in advance to anyone who replies (I'll check them later) or sends me a message.
My advice is choose the laptop first then work out where to buy it from.
I've had several Microsoft surface laptops which I think are very good, as long as you use chrome and not microsoft edge as a web browser.
I've found Currys to be ok as you can go to an actual shop for them to look at it if something goes inexplicably wrong (but only if you buy it from the store, not online). That way you avoid the hassle and confusion of having to ship it back to whoever you bought it from if you want to return it.
I have a Lenovo Yoga at work. It's very good and even copes with running Edge. And it can't be that expensive as my employers are cheapskates.
Comments
Again, poor fields widely affecting both the all weather and the jumps so not many opportunities to be had.
My three for today (1 point win Patent so a total 7 point investment):
1.25 Uttoxeter: OSCARS LEADER
1.45 Lingfield: DESERT EMPEROR
2.55 Lingfield: KODIAS SANGAURIUS
Believe it or not, left-right politics is not a major concern in many countries, including many in which I've lived. Those categories tend to get subsumed in others, including basic democracy and ethnic fights.
I've spent many years living in countries where the kind of debates that get people wound up on here seem as if they're from another galaxy, let alone planet.
Which I guess was Leon's point from Sri Lanka about partygate. Of course a corrupt PM is bad for British sensibilities but I've lived under dictators who would bury you in concrete if you spoke out (really I have) but I've also lived in countries where the only concern is whether you could be bothered to swim in the sea today or if it might not be preferable to remain on the verandah reading your book.
One of my hunches hasn’t even been seen for eighteen months. They must have forgot they had him.
The theme of my post was, if you get on a horse there is danger of falling off! 🤣
Many Buddhist countries have a far more socially caring intrinsic nature than one that had to be legislated for in 1945-51.
Thai people, for example, tend to be much more caring. Is that 'left wing'? Is it bollocks.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08819cv
But please don't all go and live there.
It may be a good example of the Big Society in action but that is also because it is more socially conservative and religious than we are now too
I bet you've never even been to Thailand. Or if you have, for only a matter of days.
I've lived there.
Am I going to educate you about the subtleties of Thai culture: their beliefs and practices, their social structures? No.
And remember that when Opinium show brilliant Boris is shooting for the stars, they've changed their methodology (apparently).
"They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them: be patient."
UBL
We had a wonderful overnight train journey from Moscow to Kiev and, fuelled by tea from the ferocious babushka train attendant glowering at us in the train corridor, plus copious quantities of vodka we had acquired ourselves, we arrived in Kiev a couple and spent the next few days exploring and boating on the lake and, well, having fun.
Even at the fag end of Communism and despite there being no bars (apart from one which offered only prune juice and where the chairs were nailed to the floor) it had a relaxed southern feel to it by comparison with Moscow.
Imagine being Ukrainian tonight and listening to this.
Diane Abbott is simply a disgrace to the Labour Party.
https://twitter.com/JohnOBrennan2/status/1492268205141897225
https://twitter.com/chriscurtis94/status/1492172471386218497
I was arguing Thailand is economically more rightwing than the UK with lower taxes and lower spending as a percentage of gdp and generally more socially conservative and family oriented and religious than the UK too. That is indisputable
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
The payoff is odd as in normal life if you have a short term contract you don't get any right to a payoff. And if you can't get voted back in, you have by the most basic definition proven your inability to do the job in the present circumstances. "We'll employ you for x years but no promises about whether we can or want to re-up you."
The worst is behind us: 57% (-5)
The worst is yet to come: 19% (–)
Don't know: 24% (+5)
Changes +/- 31 Jan
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1492453508204933126?s=20&t=Xweh_EMT7mavNsQFs1R4Sw
https://twitter.com/pipmadeley/status/1492453428227821572?s=21
Sometimes you can understand how people reach such conclusions. Other times you have to question if they can possibly even believe it themselves.
And Thailand is much better than Indian, Lat Am, Africa
I’ve lived there. You’re talking total shit
The assumption has to be that the employee has worked satisfactorily till the time of resignation or dismissal, as a fundamental element of the contract. If the employer has been so incompetent as to allow someone to carry on when unsatisfactory for a significant period, then good luck in the resulting tribunal trying to reclaim the pension for the 'unsatisfactory' period. What I am not sure about is if someone is suspended with, and without, pay - in the former case then that would include pension entitlement and deductions, and in the latter, not, I assume?
Also pubvlic sector schemes have changed so much over the last 2-3 decades, now defined contrib for new persons usually, that most people in service for a couple of decades will effectively have a mixture of schemes depending on their times of service and personal preference. That has to be borne in mind as well.
Plus there is or was usually a minimum period of service before one can become a full member of the scheme - maybe 2 years. So if one is dismissed during that period, or resigns, one justr gets one's contribs back (or not at all if one has opted for a standalone scheme with a private supplier, I assume).
Summer is too hot. Winter is too cold. Spring and Autumn are too inconsistent.
Agree that it is not the best of racing today but have put on more cash than usual, I am hoping for return to form of Nicholl's horses so have gone with following.
Treble
Bravemansgame 13:15 Newbury
Clan Des Obeaux 14:25 Newbury
Corey's Courage 12:50 Uttoxeter
Double and singles
Bravemansgame 13:15 Newbury
Clan Des Obeaux 14:25 Newbury
Good Luck to everyone
If opinion polling can escape the fakeness of hypothetical mid term polling to show us what really would happen if there’s GE tomorrow, what’s not to like? Applause to anyone trying that?
One caveat. A lot of people never or rarely vote in elections. Apparently the Brexit vote in 16 enticed a great many in for once, and they might also have gone back to help Boris in 19. If they drift back to not bothering in the next GE, this is sizeable bad news for the Conservatives under the hood methodology is really going to struggle with, isn’t it?
The outliers are France (whoah, they don’t trust the neighbors) and Saudi, where they really do trust the neighbors.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/iab8r7/social_trust_around_the_world/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Religion must be a factor, but it is hard to tease out exactly how
The ship of state is the only one that leaks from top down.
So Patel and Khan would have to agree on sacking, loss of confidence or whatever.
(This is complicated by the fact that if she is a Crown Servant she technically doesn't have a contract. But the Civil Service Code states that the employer will behave as if she did, so it shouldn't make a difference in practice).
From my frequent (until the damn pandemic) trips to the Land of Smile I'd say it's was doing quite well, socially, under Thaksin, but it's regressed lately. And the new King isn't as benevolent as his father was.
It is hard to underestimate how difficult the job was that she was doing. Posters on PB might generally be more successful and wealthy than the average person - but in the end - the job that she was doing was simply in another league of pain altogether.
She was probably earning 10k a month after tax. I wouldn't do it for twice that.
I have never been a fan of removing accrued pension rights, even in cases of gross misconduct. Which can be as inoccuous as calling your boss a twat. It would have to be something completely egregious such as embezzlement from the employer in my view, or eg a policeman engaging in serious illegality.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
No one credible is going to take a politically sensitive job like that without contractural cover, to address this exact scenario. Otherwise she will have a clear cut case for constructive dismissal and the payout is going to be less expensive. All the fuming is just a political performance.
It is hard to underestimate how difficult the job was that she was doing. Posters on PB might generally be more successful and wealthy than the average person - but in the end - the job that she was doing was simply in another league of pain altogether.
She was probably earning 10k a month after tax. I wouldn't do it for twice that.
IN RESPONSE TO @IshmaelZ (messed up block quotes)
It is a very difficult job. But she has been in it for 5 years and she has got worse not better.
It is precisely because you need to have a good ear for how you appear and what you say and the political currents swirling around you that she was so useless.
She had an absolute tin ear for this important aspect of her role. How could anyone with even a quarter of a brain think that saying every force has a "wrong' un" in them was even remotely an appropriate response to the Everard case? It's not just the sentiment but the use of the phrase "wrong'un" as if Couzens was a cheeky so-and-so who'd run off with the Xmas party money not a murderer and a rapist who'd just destroyed the bona fides of every cop in London. Or just airily dismiss the findings of the Morgan report in respect of her conduct? It was unbelievably arrogant and deluded.
If she did not see for herself that this was inadequate then why did she have no-one around her to advise her of this? A good leader is not just good because of what they do but because they surround themselves with a strong team, one which will stop their leader making daft mistakes.
Yes - it will be very hard to find a good replacement - but an organisation which tolerates a second-rate leader because there is no-one better is not, frankly, worth saving.
We pay Employer's contribution of 6% but for TfL it's the equivalent of about 30%. Just think of the extra salary and AVCs you'd need to pay to match that.
No private sector employer can compete and - weirdly - the TfL employees themselves aren't necessarily happy about it as they feel golden handcuffed but recognise it would be silly to do anything else.
Hence the endless civil strife in Thailand - sometimes close to civil war - for the last few decades
Sri Lanka is an even better example of this. It is a smiley, relaxed, languid, friendly Buddhist place, at first glance. But it has a terrible history of internal violence. One of the worst in the world, perhaps. No one quite knows why
Its best period in recorded history was probably the British Empire. An unparalleled century and a half of peace. Like Judea in Life of Brian
However she really likes the idea of snow, as do the grandchildren. So far anyway. However they only get a couple of weeks in any given year and I suspect the novelty would soon wear off.
And Bangkok's too warm for Mrs C, most of the time. So I reckon about a month is all I'm likely to get.
Putin has been an arsehole since he took power in 2000. Murdering opponents and stirring up trouble in what he considers his 'sphere'. (I do love Victoria 2.... spheres of influence are very very apt right about now)
In many ways, his foreign actions in the last twenty two years aren't massively dissimilar to Hitler, but just much much slower. Spend a few years consolidating his own power and getting rid of internal opponents, then start on foreign policy 'initiatives' to reclaim 'historic' lands.
Yes, maybe we could've seen it coming, but what could we, the UK, really do? Lets be honest, our only truly viable option to stop this was nuclear war. And we aren't doing this.
Sanctions don't really work (and we know it). Diplomacy doesn't really work (We'll give you Crimea if you just stop punching me in the face) and we've no real option for conventional warfare.
Maybe electronic warfare? Repgramming pipelines to explode like the US did to the SU back in the 1980s?
Putin's an arsehole. He isn't going to backdown without a show of arms. It's his fault, and all his fault.
I just hope he dies soon and is replaced by someone more reformist. It's time for Nikita Khrushev.
The cultural stuff is definitely a major factor. The next leader will need to tackle this. Dick was well placed to do it and couldn't get anywhere fast enough. It's going to be extremely difficult.
https://www.economist.com/interactive/2022/02/11/russias-military-build-up-enters-a-more-dangerous-phase
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
'Have to say I absolutely love the winter.'
So you really do believe April is the cruellest month?
The British may have presided over a peaceful period (especially later on) but in many ways their rule was partly responsible for the violence that followed, first because it was the British who first made it a unified territory and second because the British favoured the Tamil minority (whether deliberately as a divide and rule tactic or accidentally owing to factors like geography is open to question) which bred resentment among the Sinhalese majority and then fear among the Tamils once the Sinhalese tried to overturn their perceived disadvantage after independence. Complicated perhaps but certainly not mysterious.
The one mystery about Sri Lanka I seem to recall is its very high suicide rate. That is hard to explain.
Also, there does need to be some allowance for informal networks of assistance, common in places like Africa, the Middle East etc.
In East and Central Africa there is a social expectation to support relatives down on their luck in ways that Britons do not feel. Indeed I know some Africans in Malawi who moved with no forwarding address because they got so fed up with feckless cousins turning up and staying rent free for months eating them out of house and home. It is socially impossible to refuse!
Similarly the Islamic Brotherhood established themselves by providing food and education to the poor, who then get sucked into IB politics.
Not sure these would be measurable on a Left/Right basis, and are based on kinship or religion rather than the state, but most societies have similar informal structures.
If I live that long; youngest is 7.
Edited extra bit: I have to go now, but thanks in advance to anyone who replies (I'll check them later) or sends me a message.
It is fairly obvious why so many Brits used to take advantage of FoM to retire to the sun. Still possible for the rich, less so for the ordinary.
In the end the problem for people in public sector organisations like TfL is opportunity cost. If you go out for a few years and do ok in the private sector then you have many more future career opportunities than being tied to a single employer. After a while in the public sector it becomes hard to see how things could be done differently.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/half-of-ppe-procured-by-uk-using-vip-companies-has-not-been-used
...The proportion of unused PPE is significantly higher for contracts processed through the a so-called VIP lane – 59% of the £1.7bn ordered from them – than for other firms awarded contracts through the standard procurement route. Of the £10.4bn committed to non-VIP companies for PPE, 17% or £1.8bn has not been used.
Although, as Mr L demonstrates, it's quite possible to post on Pb from such places.
My advice is choose the laptop first then work out where to buy it from.
I've had several Microsoft surface laptops which I think are very good, as long as you use chrome and not microsoft edge as a web browser.
I've found Currys to be ok as you can go to an actual shop for them to look at it if something goes inexplicably wrong (but only if you buy it from the store, not online). That way you avoid the hassle and confusion of having to ship it back to whoever you bought it from if you want to return it.
What are you using it for, how big a screen do you want, what budget.....
And, you know, weirdly, it occurs to me it could work for me too. It always struck me that life was just for footloose freelancers - but how many days in the last 23 months have I spent in the office? Fewer than ten. Indeed, many of my idle moments over the past two years have beenspent wondering whether I could move to the Lake District. So why not winter in Sri Lanka?
Obviously not right now. Kids at school, etc. But in 10 years time, perhaps...
https://twitter.com/dalrymplewill/status/1492289552257593348?s=21
MANY people must now be thinking the same
= “i love London, NYC, Paris, Berlin… Manchester… but do I have to spend winter there? Covid says No”