I was deeply underwhelmed by the muppet representing the train operators on R4 this morning. Apparently, there is currently no wage offer on the table because any wage increase has to be tied to changes in working practices etc.
I repeat, the day before a national rail strike, there is no offer on the table. ....
Still can't quite believe it.
Yes, I heard that - astonishing. The RMT have asked for 7% - high, but below inflation. The employers have refused to say what they will offer. It's hardly surprising that the union has not backed down, with nothing on the table.
I reckon a settlement of around 5% could be agreed, not unreasonable. But for some reason neither the government nor the employers seem interested in a settlement.
I'm old enough to remember the halcyon days when the government and its supporters were lauding the return of a high wage economy that would level up, post Brexit and Covid. However, that seems to have somewhat run out of steam once the lorry drivers and a few other groups had been paid off.
Managers have to manage and if they think that they need to impose new work rosters on their staff that is fair enough. They should negotiate for a period of time to see if a mutually acceptable compromise can be reached and, if not, they should impose what they think is necessary for their business. I have no problem with this.
What I do have a problem with is refusing to discuss a wage increase at a time of 9% inflation. That is just unacceptable. And to try to pretend that the Union is being unreasonable about this is just dishonest. A settlement between 5 and 7% in the present situation is there for the taking at which point the specific proposals for managing the business can be made.
The government wants a fight. No other conclusion is possible. Shame on them.
The government aren't involved, they aren't the management.
If the unions want an agreement they should be talking to the management, not the government.
Though perhaps the government should be saying that since the railways aren't operating or serving the purpose they're there for that the subsidies the taxpayers are paying will be reduced so there will be less money for pay settlements.
I am pretty sure government would get involved were management to start closing the most unprofitable lines.
What you're spouting is rhetoric rather than reality.
What I'm saying is my own opinion, nothing more than that.
If the government wants to pay to keep unprofitable lines open then the management should say we're closing them unless you pay us £x
Of course then the government should have a choice to say "OK we'll pay it" or "OK close it" or "actually we'll get a different operator to do so instead". Just as employers with striking staff should have the choice between paying the staff what they want, firing the staff, or hiring other staff instead.
In my view unprofitable lines should be allowed to die. The state shouldn't be choosing winners or losers.
There are a whole host of problems with saying 'unprofitable lines'.
There are issues such as the social good a railway can provide; sometimes a good and practical way to provide public transport to some rural areas, particularly for travel to the cities. Like bus services, they are subsidised for the public good. Then there is the experience of the 1960s, when many of the marginal lines shut cost the other routes traffic, both freight and passenger.
Passenger rail closures are a thing of the past. The rail industry knows that no passenger service withdrawal will be approved by the Secretary of State for Transport either CON or LAB.
This is why we have 'closure by stealth' instead typically reducing the service on the line/stations which the rail operator would like to close to say one or two trains a day often at unpopular travel times.
And is why the 'least used station' thing every year is a hoot. (I believe I might be one of the few people to have used Shippea Hill for a genuine reason).
But IMO the idea that station closures are a thing of the past is dangerous. SSoTs change. Governments change. If the railways suffer a prolonged decrease in passengers and freight due to Covid and strikes, the impossible thought of full station closures will become real.
Some stations were closed 15-20 years ago as part of the WCML upgrade - Etruria being an example.
Rail staff are hastening their own demise. Ticket offices will be closing from September (as they have done years ago on the London Underground). Driverless trains are perfectly viable, as on the Docklands Light Railway, which has never had a fatality. The present system is massively overstaffed and full of restrictive practices. Staffing costs inflate fares which in turn deter customers. The unions are totally short-sighted and clearly need to be reminded of Scargill
Care to tell me how the bit in bold actually works.
Heck Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Croydon have all introduced Trams since the DLR was built - but none of them are driverless. For the same reason you can't make our rail network driverless when it's easily accessibly by people.
Only if a track is completely inaccessible to human beings is a driverless network plausible.
Oh and train prices are set centrally based on a formula from the 70s (from memory) and are completely separate to costs because the network runs at a loss anyway.
I don't pretend to be an expert but driverless trains are much easier to achieve than driverless trams. Trains run on physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access.
"physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access"
Whether the train has a driver or not doesn't change the outcome for level crossing bandits.
Indeed, suicide-by-train is very common and train drivers are rightly sometimes off for months afterwards, on full pay, in order to preserve their own mental health and process what happened.
Presumably driverless trains don't need to take months off to process what happened when someone does that, and there isn't someone left with the emotional trauma of seeing and knowing what happened while they were driving and wrongly feeling guilty over something they had absolutely no control over.
Landlords are going to pass on those interest rate rises in full.
The thing is I don't remember them reducing rents when interest rates fell. They're shits of the highest order and @MaxPB is spot on about most of them.
This is a common fallacy about the rental market.
Landlords set rents at the highest levels tenants can afford. That amount is mostly independent of interest rates. They cannot increase them in line with interest rate rises, nor will they lower them when rates are lower (indeed low rates tend to see landlords buy up housing stock, which drives more middle class into rentals and increases average rental prices).
Many individual landlords will of course try and increase rents but as a sector increase wont match the increased costs from higher interest rates.
How did the composition of the public sector change over that period?
As those are percentage salary changes, that should be corrected for automatically.
I don't think it would. If you get rid of a load of high-earning civil servants then it could bring average pay down, even if everyone gets a pay rise.
How did the composition of the public sector change over that period?
As those are percentage salary changes, that should be corrected for automatically.
I don't think it would. If you get rid of a load of high-earning civil servants then it could bring average pay down, even if everyone gets a pay rise.
Not sure about that. A lot of lower level staff were disposed of in elimination or privatisation of basic functions, such as outsourcing of security, partial or actual closure of RN dockyards, etc. Would the armed services not be part of that figure, too?
One comment under that goes 'Comme des chiffonniers', which google tells me means 'Like ragpickers', which I feel like is a very specific insult which must be more common in France.
How did the composition of the public sector change over that period?
As those are percentage salary changes, that should be corrected for automatically.
I don't think it would. If you get rid of a load of high-earning civil servants then it could bring average pay down, even if everyone gets a pay rise.
I assume you have some numbers for that 'load of high-earning civil servants' and their big salaries that were got rid off, and the pay rises that everyone else was getting? My partner worked for Glasgow City Council and afaicr she received zero payrises between 2010-2018.
How did the composition of the public sector change over that period?
As those are percentage salary changes, that should be corrected for automatically.
I don't think it would. If you get rid of a load of high-earning civil servants then it could bring average pay down, even if everyone gets a pay rise.
I assume you have some numbers for that 'load of high-earning civil servants' and their big salaries that were got rid off, and the pay rises that everyone else was getting? My partner worked for Glasgow City Council and afaicr she received zero payrises between 2010-2018.
No, I don't have any numbers. My point is just that those figures in isolation could be misleading.
How did the composition of the public sector change over that period?
As those are percentage salary changes, that should be corrected for automatically.
I don't think it would. If you get rid of a load of high-earning civil servants then it could bring average pay down, even if everyone gets a pay rise.
I assume you have some numbers for that 'load of high-earning civil servants' and their big salaries that were got rid off, and the pay rises that everyone else was getting? My partner worked for Glasgow City Council and afaicr she received zero payrises between 2010-2018.
The idea the getting rid of the top ranks would materially make a difference is the 'we should build on brownfield first' of this issue - sure, it's not entirely irrelevant, but it also is not going to address the principal issue entirely as people pretend it would.
Rail staff are hastening their own demise. Ticket offices will be closing from September (as they have done years ago on the London Underground). Driverless trains are perfectly viable, as on the Docklands Light Railway, which has never had a fatality. The present system is massively overstaffed and full of restrictive practices. Staffing costs inflate fares which in turn deter customers. The unions are totally short-sighted and clearly need to be reminded of Scargill
Care to tell me how the bit in bold actually works.
Heck Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Croydon have all introduced Trams since the DLR was built - but none of them are driverless. For the same reason you can't make our rail network driverless when it's easily accessibly by people.
Only if a track is completely inaccessible to human beings is a driverless network plausible.
Oh and train prices are set centrally based on a formula from the 70s (from memory) and are completely separate to costs because the network runs at a loss anyway.
BiB: This is the root of the problem.
Privatisation was mismanaged, it should have led to the abolition of subsidies but didn't.
Japan has a highly developed rail network mostly operating without any subsidies. Subsidies should only exist for eg very rural routes etc if they provide a strategic reason they should be open but aren't viable otherwise.
Rail staff wages should be entirely paid for by rail customers ticket prices, and other associated related revenues. The government shouldn't be in the business of picking and choosing businesses to succeed or fail.
Parts of the rail network are vastly profitable - otherwise the Open Access Providers wouldn't run long distance services from the North into London.
The issue is that local short distance networks aren't profitable yet MPs love them and wish for more to be built. Heck round here the current Sedgefield MP wants a station opened at Ferryhill (population 10,000) to provide services to Teesside.
I suspect the number of commuters wanting an hourly service from Ferryhill to Boro is about 0.01% and that's probably generous.
If the local short distances aren't profitable, then the government shouldn't be in the business of picking and choosing winners and losers.
The Japanese manage a highly efficient rail system, mostly without subsidies. We should do the same.
The rail services on the north island of Hokkaido are 100% public owned, and subsidised. And it is hard to see how we would replicate the Japanese model. You'd have to have abolished planning controls before you started hyper expensive projects like HS2, for example. Private rail in Japan either owns or has extremely long leases on its rail. It makes up to a third of its money from real estate development. And it consists of local monopolies, not competitors sharing track owned by an operating company, on short term franchises.
BiB - Hmmm. Are you aware on my opinion of planning controls?
Two birds, one stone, springs to mind. Win, win.
It makes sense for rail operators to be involved in development, because developing an area they're serving by rail improves their rail investment, improving the rail network can improve the area they've invested in. Its a virtuous circle.
So yes, embracing what the Japanese have very successfully done and emulating their lessons seems to make sense.
PS Hokkaido is less populated than Scotland, so yes different policies in Scotland than England may make sense.
That's why I say your opinions on this are fantasy. We're discussing how government and/or management deal with the current wage round.
You're planning for your benign dictatorship.
There are various debates to be had over all kinds of policies - but the government you support isn't contemplating any of what you propose.
I don't support the government.
Primarily because they aren't contemplating any of what I propose on much of anything right now.
Rail staff are hastening their own demise. Ticket offices will be closing from September (as they have done years ago on the London Underground). Driverless trains are perfectly viable, as on the Docklands Light Railway, which has never had a fatality. The present system is massively overstaffed and full of restrictive practices. Staffing costs inflate fares which in turn deter customers. The unions are totally short-sighted and clearly need to be reminded of Scargill
Care to tell me how the bit in bold actually works.
Heck Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Croydon have all introduced Trams since the DLR was built - but none of them are driverless. For the same reason you can't make our rail network driverless when it's easily accessibly by people.
Only if a track is completely inaccessible to human beings is a driverless network plausible.
Oh and train prices are set centrally based on a formula from the 70s (from memory) and are completely separate to costs because the network runs at a loss anyway.
I don't pretend to be an expert but driverless trains are much easier to achieve than driverless trams. Trains run on physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access.
"physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access"
Whether the train has a driver or not doesn't change the outcome for level crossing bandits.
Indeed, suicide-by-train is very common and train drivers are rightly sometimes off for months afterwards, on full pay, in order to preserve their own mental health and process what happened.
Presumably driverless trains don't need to take months off to process what happened when someone does that, and there isn't someone left with the emotional trauma of seeing and knowing what happened while they were driving and wrongly feeling guilty over something they had absolutely no control over.
Robocar which runs over pedestrian with gay abandon = baaad
Robotrain which ditto = goooood
*does not compute*
What are you talking about?
Pedestrians shouldn't be on train tracks. Pedestrians should be on the road, apart from motorways.
Trains should have crossings when they intersect with roads and pedestrians and cars should never use a railway crossing when its not safe to do so. If they do, and they're hit, then there's bugger all a driver or a robot can do abut it.
How did the composition of the public sector change over that period?
As those are percentage salary changes, that should be corrected for automatically.
I don't think it would. If you get rid of a load of high-earning civil servants then it could bring average pay down, even if everyone gets a pay rise.
I assume you have some numbers for that 'load of high-earning civil servants' and their big salaries that were got rid off, and the pay rises that everyone else was getting? My partner worked for Glasgow City Council and afaicr she received zero payrises between 2010-2018.
The idea the getting rid of the top ranks would materially make a difference is the 'we should build on brownfield first' of this issue - sure, it's not entirely irrelevant, but it also is not going to address the principal issue entirely as people pretend it would.
Yeah but a million here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
No I am saying that £2000 a month for a flat in London is lunacy.
Don’t pay it then
And be homeless, ok great suggestion
There's plenty of cheap housing in this country. It's just that it's in unfashionable places like Burnley, Caernarfon, Stoke-on-Trent, Middlesbrough, Cumbernauld, etc.
Rail staff are hastening their own demise. Ticket offices will be closing from September (as they have done years ago on the London Underground). Driverless trains are perfectly viable, as on the Docklands Light Railway, which has never had a fatality. The present system is massively overstaffed and full of restrictive practices. Staffing costs inflate fares which in turn deter customers. The unions are totally short-sighted and clearly need to be reminded of Scargill
Care to tell me how the bit in bold actually works.
Heck Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Croydon have all introduced Trams since the DLR was built - but none of them are driverless. For the same reason you can't make our rail network driverless when it's easily accessibly by people.
Only if a track is completely inaccessible to human beings is a driverless network plausible.
Oh and train prices are set centrally based on a formula from the 70s (from memory) and are completely separate to costs because the network runs at a loss anyway.
I don't pretend to be an expert but driverless trains are much easier to achieve than driverless trams. Trains run on physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access.
"physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access"
Whether the train has a driver or not doesn't change the outcome for level crossing bandits.
Indeed, suicide-by-train is very common and train drivers are rightly sometimes off for months afterwards, on full pay, in order to preserve their own mental health and process what happened.
Presumably driverless trains don't need to take months off to process what happened when someone does that, and there isn't someone left with the emotional trauma of seeing and knowing what happened while they were driving and wrongly feeling guilty over something they had absolutely no control over.
Robocar which runs over pedestrian with gay abandon = baaad
Robotrain which ditto = goooood
*does not compute*
What are you talking about?
Pedestrians shouldn't be on train tracks. Pedestrians should be on the road, apart from motorways.
Trains should have crossings when they intersect with roads and pedestrians and cars should never use a railway crossing when its not safe to do so. If they do, and they're hit, then there's bugger all a driver or a robot can do abut it.
Much as I admire the sheer unbendingness of your free action, free consequence form of Darwinian libertarianism, robotrain hitting car is a non zero in terms of passenger safety as well.
And sure your reply will be the free market balance of such things, but that may not be in favour of robotrain!
This is what I was alluding to last night. The PS are far closer to Macron than Melenchon. Possibly the Greens too. And as for the PCF working with a trot... It always was a marriage of convenience. And to be fair it worked for them all. The Left as a whole has far more representation now than they would have had sans NUPES.
On the subject of public sector pay, they readvertised the public sector job I took in 2017 and the pay has gone up 4.8% over 5 years. I still get the bulletins from the union and they are arguing whereabouts the increase is going to fall between 1% and 2% this year. They can't recruit and keep putting out surveys asking why people are put off applying for the job, but don't give the option of saying the pay isn't high enough. They've also recruited a load of low quality staff which is causing them problems. Once they correct the pay for new recruits, which they will inevitably need to do, they will have also to correct the pay for the existing staff as well.
Hello Kaliningrad, little known but historically significant in Europe for such a small spot
Lithuania's blocking of certain goods coming in by rail from Russia is a bit disruptive short term, though readily overcome, but politically could be like chucking a stick of dynamite in through a door. Will make for an interesting few days to see if it sticks. In all honesty what is Russia really going to do?
In Ukraine, Russia is still winning as its stands in the context of milestone objectives in the Donbas. It appears, however, some of the heavy kit from the West is starting to be used to effect. Fairly deep Russian supply & logistic operations are now being struck which is return to the fighting approach at the start of the 'Special Miltary Operation'. Its not only the range with which the kit can throw, its the range at which you can stand back and the mobility to scoot. Static Ukrainian artillery has taken a very large hit in the Donbas so it can help reduce the frequent local overmatch that Ukrainian forces are facing with less risk. For ther military geeks, the direct versus indirect fire approaches of Russia & Ukraine are being lab tested for everyone to see.
Not sure if the MLRS are fielded yet by Ukraine but those things are not your bog standard rocket launcher. If they get to extensive use, you dont want to be under that umbrella. Russian troops have not yet faced something quite like it.
Rail staff are hastening their own demise. Ticket offices will be closing from September (as they have done years ago on the London Underground). Driverless trains are perfectly viable, as on the Docklands Light Railway, which has never had a fatality. The present system is massively overstaffed and full of restrictive practices. Staffing costs inflate fares which in turn deter customers. The unions are totally short-sighted and clearly need to be reminded of Scargill
Care to tell me how the bit in bold actually works.
Heck Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Croydon have all introduced Trams since the DLR was built - but none of them are driverless. For the same reason you can't make our rail network driverless when it's easily accessibly by people.
Only if a track is completely inaccessible to human beings is a driverless network plausible.
Oh and train prices are set centrally based on a formula from the 70s (from memory) and are completely separate to costs because the network runs at a loss anyway.
I don't pretend to be an expert but driverless trains are much easier to achieve than driverless trams. Trains run on physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access.
"physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access"
Whether the train has a driver or not doesn't change the outcome for level crossing bandits.
Indeed, suicide-by-train is very common and train drivers are rightly sometimes off for months afterwards, on full pay, in order to preserve their own mental health and process what happened.
Presumably driverless trains don't need to take months off to process what happened when someone does that, and there isn't someone left with the emotional trauma of seeing and knowing what happened while they were driving and wrongly feeling guilty over something they had absolutely no control over.
Robocar which runs over pedestrian with gay abandon = baaad
Robotrain which ditto = goooood
*does not compute*
What are you talking about?
Pedestrians shouldn't be on train tracks. Pedestrians should be on the road, apart from motorways.
Trains should have crossings when they intersect with roads and pedestrians and cars should never use a railway crossing when its not safe to do so. If they do, and they're hit, then there's bugger all a driver or a robot can do abut it.
There are many, many places where people are legally on the tracks. They are called "level crossings" and there are different kinds.
The liability of the railways is not affected by there not being much there can be done about it. Indeed, there is a considerable duty of care to children, irrespective of whether they are trespassing or not. Why do you think the BRB had this film made for schools?
Hello Kaliningrad, little known but historically significant in Europe for such a small spot
Lithuania's blocking of certain goods coming in by rail from Russia is a bit disruptive short term, though readily overcome, but politically could be like chucking a stick of dynamite in through a door. Will make for an interesting few days to see if it sticks. In all honesty what is Russia really going to do?
In Ukraine, Russia is still winning as its stands in the context of milestone objectives in the Donbas. It appears, however, some of the heavy kit from the West is starting to be used to effect. Fairly deep Russian supply & logistic operations are now being struck which is return to the fighting approach at the start of the 'Special Miltary Operation'. Its not only the range with which the kit can throw, its the range at which you can stand back and the mobility to scoot. Static Ukrainian artillery has taken a very large hit in the Donbas so it can help reduce the frequent local overmatch that Ukrainian forces are facing with less risk. For ther military geeks, the direct versus indirect fire approaches of Russia & Ukraine are being lab tested for everyone to see.
Not sure if the MLRS are fielded yet by Ukraine but those things are not your bog standard rocket launcher. If they get to extensive use, you dont want to be under that umbrella. Russian troops have not yet faced something quite like it.
My great grandmother was born there, so I take an interest in it.
AI still has a long way to go .... to me this example is exactly what happened with the whole "sentient discussion": if you prompt with the seed of an answer, the transformer architecture will latch onto this seed. It's really a game of mirrors ...
I’m on a DLR at the moment, which is of course driverless and has been since its inception. It’s a completely segregated track system though, no level crossings.
Landlords are going to pass on those interest rate rises in full.
The thing is I don't remember them reducing rents when interest rates fell. They're shits of the highest order and @MaxPB is spot on about most of them.
This is a common fallacy about the rental market.
Landlords set rents at the highest levels tenants can afford. That amount is mostly independent of interest rates. They cannot increase them in line with interest rate rises, nor will they lower them when rates are lower (indeed low rates tend to see landlords buy up housing stock, which drives more middle class into rentals and increases average rental prices).
That's not true. And is one of various fairy stories used by activist groups. One of the most common mistakes in the fuckwit media (ie all of it except specialists) is to pretend that a survey of rental adverts - perhaps 1-2% of all tenancies at any one time - is a fair representation of what is being paid by a normal tenant in the country.
But then we know that rental journos are usually as ignorant as planks, and as well-informed as a house-brick.
Most LLs set initial rents at market or a little below, when attracting a tenant, and then keep raises small in order to keep the tenant if they a) look after the property and b) pay the rent reliably.
Changing tenants is *&^% expensive and the time of highest risk and charges, so it is worth paying quite a high price in reduced rents. It costs perhaps 6-9 months rent to change a tenant, and years to get that back in any rent increases.
Personally I am just re-renting a house (trad 2 bed terrace) after several years, which started with a brand new kitchen. I supplied a worktop saver, but I still need to replace all the worktops because the T has ruined them with hot pans, and replace the hob to boot, and the sink in the bathroom because they cracked that. That plus other bits will be 3x the maximum legal deposit, and there is no point in a court claim due to time and costs. On top there is fees (4-6 week's rent), leaning, lick of paint, partial new carpet, handyman bits etc. None necessary if a T stays.
I'll be renting at about 10% below the max I am told I can get - £550 not £600 pcm, in order to secure a reliable, long-term tenant, and then rent increases will be CPI once a year. T will be targeted to be someone with a reason to be there for several years eg someone with a child just entering the local primary school, and preferably a 2 earner couple for security.
As always with mine, up to 2 dogs will be allowed once I am convinced (dog interview by my dog consultant aka another dog breeding tenant who has 8 dogs) that said dogs are trained and civilised.
Good tenants are worth their weight in gold, and it is very common not to increase rents at all during a tenancy for a few years to retain a tenant who does not for example ruin worktops with hot pans, or have a dog or a child they don't care for properly.
I have several long term good tenants who are now at 15-25% below market rent, and it is fine.
Reflect on it, and you will see that the rental policy set to the max in the Estate Agent's window will ignore some elements of real long-term cost, and that the most economic solution is somewhat different to the max headline rent.
It's a practice most common amongst precisely the LLs - small long term pension generators for example with 1-2 properties - who are being driven out. Which is just another facet of increasingly moronic rental laws. Though the Gove Reforms have promise, as he may be a little bullshit-proof.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
Hello Kaliningrad, little known but historically significant in Europe for such a small spot
Lithuania's blocking of certain goods coming in by rail from Russia is a bit disruptive short term, though readily overcome, but politically could be like chucking a stick of dynamite in through a door. Will make for an interesting few days to see if it sticks. In all honesty what is Russia really going to do?
In Ukraine, Russia is still winning as its stands in the context of milestone objectives in the Donbas. It appears, however, some of the heavy kit from the West is starting to be used to effect. Fairly deep Russian supply & logistic operations are now being struck which is return to the fighting approach at the start of the 'Special Miltary Operation'. Its not only the range with which the kit can throw, its the range at which you can stand back and the mobility to scoot. Static Ukrainian artillery has taken a very large hit in the Donbas so it can help reduce the frequent local overmatch that Ukrainian forces are facing with less risk. For ther military geeks, the direct versus indirect fire approaches of Russia & Ukraine are being lab tested for everyone to see.
Not sure if the MLRS are fielded yet by Ukraine but those things are not your bog standard rocket launcher. If they get to extensive use, you dont want to be under that umbrella. Russian troops have not yet faced something quite like it.
Since Russia announced it does not intend to recognise Lithuanian independence any more, you could say that the dynamite was thrown by Putin. Very dangerous. We have ahad several Russian air incursions into Estonian air space today.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
Unicorns are presumably also not beyond the wit of modern genomics.
I can't get all that fussed about the idea that Boris tried to land his mistress Carrie a six figure job in the F.O. It's a measure of how low things have sunk that none of us is surprised any more.
It's what came after the story broke which really stinks. The No.10 machine muscling into The Sunday Times to pull the story is the stuff of third world corruption.
How much more of this putrid situation must we endure?
Just read chapter 1 of the Oldham report, 20 pages or so of key findings.
It doesn't quite read to me as a the general cover up of Leon's summarising, but of a council post 2010 fighting the issue hard, on policy and operation fronts, actively trying to be upfront, but not always succeeding to turn the screw on the abusers tightly or quickly enough, or always managing to get the on the ground coordination right. It definitely highlights failures, very serious failures, especially in 2005-2010, but it doesn't read to me as a damning report on the post 2010 efforts of the council.
I have been impressed at times with Jim McMahon and warmed to him when he was elected in his by election, both how he put himself across and looking at his history as a campaigning council leader. Later he was supposedly the shadow minister dissing Rayner for campaigning in leopard print, where I thought he was being a bit of a pillock.
So, yes, I pretty well knew who leader A was and where he is now, and that he stands very much on my part of the political spectrum (albeit I'm not an actual activist beyond these pages nor a current member of any party), but my honest reading of the key findings is genuinely that his tenure was a phase where they were very aware and making a strong effort to crack down on this kind of exploitation and as such what I have read does not diminish him in my estimation.
Perhaps I see a distinction pre and post 2010 more because of that awareness, but it is clearly there in the findings, and the image of a council not getting everything right even in the midst of a push to do better is an important one for other councils and leaders grappling with this. And that image actually has little to do with the stripe of his politics, but his experience and actions being leader in the midst of that storm and is something leaders anywhere on the political spectrum can gain lessons from.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
If there aren't enough houses for the demand then the initiative should be to increase the rental sector, not reduce it. Whenever the authorities artificially depress supply, or increase universal costs, market forces tend to drive the price of a scarce resource higher.
Since the Private Rental Sector is more densely occupied than the Owner Occupied sector, such a shift would also help reduce pressure on housing supply. See the English Housing Survey as to which sector has all the unused 2nd spare bedrooms.
I’m on a DLR at the moment, which is of course driverless and has been since its inception. It’s a completely segregated track system though, no level crossings.
The DLR is fantastic. It's a shame they can't expand it to other parts of London.
AI still has a long way to go .... to me this example is exactly what happened with the whole "sentient discussion": if you prompt with the seed of an answer, the transformer architecture will latch onto this seed. It's really a game of mirrors ...
Does my dog have intelligence? I'd say he does. Not a vast amount to be fair but he can work out the best way through a new hedge or how to lick the very bottom of a deep yoghurt pot of a type he's never seen before.
I’m on a DLR at the moment, which is of course driverless and has been since its inception. It’s a completely segregated track system though, no level crossings.
Point of order:
The DLR is driverless, but it is not crewless. AIUI the trains cannot run in revenue service without a train captain (conductor) on board. Who has to be trained to be able to drive the trains manually (there are controls behind panels at either end), and (at least used to) have to open and close the doors at each station.
Therefore the savings from being 'driverless' are not quite as much as you might expect.
People discussing this really need to make distinctions between driverless and crewless: only the latter is truly automatic.
This is what I was alluding to last night. The PS are far closer to Macron than Melenchon. Possibly the Greens too. And as for the PCF working with a trot... It always was a marriage of convenience. And to be fair it worked for them all. The Left as a whole has far more representation now than they would have had sans NUPES.
Must admit the unbridled, not to say demented, joy expressed by Mélenchon at having stuffed Macron has put me off him a bit.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
I haven't seen the video, but my dad owned more than a few shipping containers in his time, and has always thought it a crazy idea. Whilst they can be made to work (Grand Designs had a brilliant one in NI), they require so much work to make them liveable spaces you might as well just go for bespoke prefab.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
Ooh! I’ve just been given two tickets to see Diana Ross at the O2 on Friday. I’m told they were rather expensive tickets too - £250 each. I should probably try to sell them to pay next month’s rent, but that might upset the donor if they found out so I’m going!
Just read chapter 1 of the Oldham report, 20 pages or so of key findings.
It doesn't quite read to me as a the general cover up of Leon's summarising, but of a council post 2010 fighting the issue hard, on policy and operation fronts, actively trying to be upfront, but not always succeeding to turn the screw on the abusers tightly or quickly enough, or always managing to get the on the ground coordination right. It definitely highlights failures, very serious failures, especially in 2005-2010, but it doesn't read to me as a damning report on the post 2010 efforts of the council.
I have been impressed at times with Jim McMahon and warmed to him when he was elected in his by election, both how he put himself across and looking at his history as a campaigning council leader. Later he was supposedly the shadow minister dissing Rayner for campaigning in leopard print, where I thought he was being a bit of a pillock.
So, yes, I pretty well knew who leader A was and where he is now, and that he stands very much on my part of the political spectrum (albeit I'm not an actual activist beyond these pages nor a current member of any party), but my honest reading of the key findings is genuinely that his tenure was a phase where they were very aware and making a strong effort to crack down on this kind of exploitation and as such what I have read does not diminish him in my estimation.
Perhaps I see a distinction pre and post 2010 more because of that awareness, but it is clearly there in the findings, and the image of a council not getting everything right even in the midst of a push to do better is an important one for other councils and leaders grappling with this. And that image actually has little to do with the stripe of his politics, but his experience and actions being leader in the midst of that storm and is something leaders anywhere on the political spectrum can gain lessons from.
Hahahahaha
AHAHAHAHA
I'm glad you like my rather worthy attempt at answering insinuation with full boring disclosure.
I'm sure neither you nor that journalistic gentlemen they sometimes repute you to be would have any self-interest whatsoever invested in slanting things a certain way.
AI still has a long way to go .... to me this example is exactly what happened with the whole "sentient discussion": if you prompt with the seed of an answer, the transformer architecture will latch onto this seed. It's really a game of mirrors ...
Does my dog have intelligence? I'd say he does. Not a vast amount to be fair but he can work out the best way through a new hedge or how to lick the very bottom of a deep yoghurt pot of a type he's never seen before.
The new Elizabeth Line has drivers. I thought they might have automated it.
CR will know chapter and verse, but a problem with the Elizabeth Line is that it interacts with the existing network on both ends, and especially the western end. Therefore they have to deal with three different signalling systems (this is one of the reasons for the delays).
AIUI the central section is Automatic Train Operation / ETCS Level 2 compatible, and could be 'driverless'. The same is not true of the rest of the Crossrail network.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
That confirms the argument they are making in the video....Build cost £130,000 (in 2014).....i.e. required lots of work to convert a couple of cheap metal cans into a home.
Ooh! I’ve just been given two tickets to see Diana Ross at the O2 on Friday. I’m told they were rather expensive tickets too - £250 each. I should probably try to sell them to pay next month’s rent, but that might upset the donor if they found out so I’m going!
Diana Ross headlined a festival just outside our village last week...
Don’t order gin and tonic, tho: it takes about an hour. With two staff doing it. I’ve no idea why
I prefer to listen to people who spend real time in a place, immersing, putting down roots, learning the language. They are the ones I pay attention to, not a dilettantish gadfly.
Rail staff are hastening their own demise. Ticket offices will be closing from September (as they have done years ago on the London Underground). Driverless trains are perfectly viable, as on the Docklands Light Railway, which has never had a fatality. The present system is massively overstaffed and full of restrictive practices. Staffing costs inflate fares which in turn deter customers. The unions are totally short-sighted and clearly need to be reminded of Scargill
Care to tell me how the bit in bold actually works.
Heck Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Croydon have all introduced Trams since the DLR was built - but none of them are driverless. For the same reason you can't make our rail network driverless when it's easily accessibly by people.
Only if a track is completely inaccessible to human beings is a driverless network plausible.
Oh and train prices are set centrally based on a formula from the 70s (from memory) and are completely separate to costs because the network runs at a loss anyway.
I don't pretend to be an expert but driverless trains are much easier to achieve than driverless trams. Trains run on physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access.
"physically isolated systems with control over all signalling, junctions and access"
Whether the train has a driver or not doesn't change the outcome for level crossing bandits.
Indeed, suicide-by-train is very common and train drivers are rightly sometimes off for months afterwards, on full pay, in order to preserve their own mental health and process what happened.
Presumably driverless trains don't need to take months off to process what happened when someone does that, and there isn't someone left with the emotional trauma of seeing and knowing what happened while they were driving and wrongly feeling guilty over something they had absolutely no control over.
Robocar which runs over pedestrian with gay abandon = baaad
Robotrain which ditto = goooood
*does not compute*
What are you talking about?
Pedestrians shouldn't be on train tracks. Pedestrians should be on the road, apart from motorways.
Trains should have crossings when they intersect with roads and pedestrians and cars should never use a railway crossing when its not safe to do so. If they do, and they're hit, then there's bugger all a driver or a robot can do abut it.
Much as I admire the sheer unbendingness of your free action, free consequence form of Darwinian libertarianism, robotrain hitting car is a non zero in terms of passenger safety as well.
And sure your reply will be the free market balance of such things, but that may not be in favour of robotrain!
Trains with drivers hit pedestrians too. Suicide-by-train is a very real thing in this country already, indeed it represents about 5% of all suicides I believe.
A car is designed to be able to stop at a short distance if required. If I am driving in a pedestrian area, then the speed limit will typically be 20mph or 30mph and I'll be required to do an emergency stop if required within seconds. The stopping distance of a car at those speeds can be measured in metres - typically 6 metres at 20mph and 14 metres at 30mph.
A driver in an area with pedestrians need the hazard awareness that eg a child could step onto the road and be prepared to stop if needed. I have had a child step onto the road in front of my car before, and I was able to stop in time.
The stopping distance by a train on the other hand varies from half a kilometre to multiple kilometres, not 6 metres.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
I always enjoy the contortions people go through to get past the real problem - if your population has been growing at 300k+ a year for years and you haven’t been building 300k+ bedrooms, then there is huge shortage.
Second homes, Russian oligarchs, Chinese oligarchs, brown field sites etc are all distractions.
Landlords are going to pass on those interest rate rises in full.
The thing is I don't remember them reducing rents when interest rates fell. They're shits of the highest order and @MaxPB is spot on about most of them.
This is a common fallacy about the rental market.
Landlords set rents at the highest levels tenants can afford. That amount is mostly independent of interest rates. They cannot increase them in line with interest rate rises, nor will they lower them when rates are lower (indeed low rates tend to see landlords buy up housing stock, which drives more middle class into rentals and increases average rental prices).
That's not true. And is one of various fairy stories used by activist groups. One of the most common mistakes in the fuckwit media (ie all of it except specialists) is to pretend that a survey of rental adverts - perhaps 1-2% of all tenancies at any one time - is a fair representation of what is being paid by a normal tenant in the country.
But then we know that rental journos are usually as ignorant as planks, and as well-informed as a house-brick.
Most LLs set initial rents at market or a little below, when attracting a tenant, and then keep raises small in order to keep the tenant if they a) look after the property and b) pay the rent reliably.
Changing tenants is *&^% expensive and the time of highest risk and charges, so it is worth paying quite a high price in reduced rents. It costs perhaps 6-9 months rent to change a tenant, and years to get that back in any rent increases.
Personally I am just re-renting a house (trad 2 bed terrace) after several years, which started with a brand new kitchen. I supplied a worktop saver, but I still need to replace all the worktops because the T has ruined them with hot pans, and replace the hob to boot, and the sink in the bathroom because they cracked that. That plus other bits will be 3x the maximum legal deposit, and there is no point in a court claim due to time and costs. On top there is fees (4-6 week's rent), leaning, lick of paint, partial new carpet, handyman bits etc. None necessary if a T stays.
I'll be renting at about 10% below the max I am told I can get - £550 not £600 pcm, in order to secure a reliable, long-term tenant, and then rent increases will be CPI once a year. T will be targeted to be someone with a reason to be there for several years eg someone with a child just entering the local primary school, and preferably a 2 earner couple for security.
As always with mine, up to 2 dogs will be allowed once I am convinced (dog interview by my dog consultant aka another dog breeding tenant who has 8 dogs) that said dogs are trained and civilised.
Good tenants are worth their weight in gold, and it is very common not to increase rents at all during a tenancy for a few years to retain a tenant who does not for example ruin worktops with hot pans, or have a dog or a child they don't care for properly.
I have several long term good tenants who are now at 15-25% below market rent, and it is fine.
Reflect on it, and you will see that the rental policy set to the max in the Estate Agent's window will ignore some elements of real long-term cost, and that the most economic solution is somewhat different to the max headline rent.
It's a practice most common amongst precisely the LLs - small long term pension generators for example with 1-2 properties - who are being driven out. Which is just another facet of increasingly moronic rental laws. Though the Gove Reforms have promise, as he may be a little bullshit-proof.
I'm not sure people will go in to it any more: too regulated, too much risk. That was my conclusion. Its going to lead to a crisis in supply of rental housing pushing up rents, and this is going to be a social disaster. We need to massively increase the capacity of housing associations and Councils to provide social housing.
Hello Kaliningrad, little known but historically significant in Europe for such a small spot
Lithuania's blocking of certain goods coming in by rail from Russia is a bit disruptive short term, though readily overcome, but politically could be like chucking a stick of dynamite in through a door. Will make for an interesting few days to see if it sticks. In all honesty what is Russia really going to do?
In Ukraine, Russia is still winning as its stands in the context of milestone objectives in the Donbas. It appears, however, some of the heavy kit from the West is starting to be used to effect. Fairly deep Russian supply & logistic operations are now being struck which is return to the fighting approach at the start of the 'Special Miltary Operation'. Its not only the range with which the kit can throw, its the range at which you can stand back and the mobility to scoot. Static Ukrainian artillery has taken a very large hit in the Donbas so it can help reduce the frequent local overmatch that Ukrainian forces are facing with less risk. For ther military geeks, the direct versus indirect fire approaches of Russia & Ukraine are being lab tested for everyone to see.
Not sure if the MLRS are fielded yet by Ukraine but those things are not your bog standard rocket launcher. If they get to extensive use, you dont want to be under that umbrella. Russian troops have not yet faced something quite like it.
As ever, thanks. One thing people over on ARRSE are saying is that a problem with the MLRS system is logistics: one launcher can get through a vast amount of ordnance in a day. I can see that becoming a big issue.
Having the guns is all well and good: keeping them supplied with ammo is a very different issue.
Don’t order gin and tonic, tho: it takes about an hour. With two staff doing it. I’ve no idea why
I prefer to listen to people who spend real time in a place, immersing, putting down roots, learning the language. They are the ones I pay attention to, not a dilettantish gadfly.
you mean one of a cognoscenti, like you, a real connoisseurs of travel, an afficionadio
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
Absolute bollox, you suggesting free houses for all, with unicorns in the gardens to boot
I read your comment and laughed about the unicorns...
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
That confirms the argument they are making in the video....Build cost £130,000 (in 2014).....i.e. required lots of work to convert a couple of cheap metal cans into a home.
Shipping containers are fairly rubbish at anything except containing stuff for shipping.
In the U.K., the housing problem isn’t constructions costs.
It’s a bit like the fuel costs and space flight thing. If we could get house prices down to the point that construction cost is the problem - then we wouldn’t have a problem.
Ooh! I’ve just been given two tickets to see Diana Ross at the O2 on Friday. I’m told they were rather expensive tickets too - £250 each. I should probably try to sell them to pay next month’s rent, but that might upset the donor if they found out so I’m going!
Diana Ross headlined a festival just outside our village last week...
Childerley Hall? A friend of mine was singing on the main stage the night before.
I can't get all that fussed about the idea that Boris tried to land his mistress Carrie a six figure job in the F.O. It's a measure of how low things have sunk that none of us is surprised any more.
It's what came after the story broke which really stinks. The No.10 machine muscling into The Sunday Times to pull the story is the stuff of third world corruption.
How much more of this putrid situation must we endure?
This sort of scandal felled the Douglas- Home Government.
I am not comparing in any way Ms Symonds to Christine Keeler, nonetheless we have a Prime Minister who is so cavalier with blurring the lines between his national security sensitive professional life with his sexually incontinent private life that he really does appear to be a potential risk to national security.
Scratching a Times story is one thing, at least there are no super injunctions that should worry us...
Don’t order gin and tonic, tho: it takes about an hour. With two staff doing it. I’ve no idea why
I prefer to listen to people who spend real time in a place, immersing, putting down roots, learning the language. They are the ones I pay attention to, not a dilettantish gadfly.
you mean one of a cognoscenti, like you, a real connoisseurs of travel, an afficionadiomus?
I’m on a DLR at the moment, which is of course driverless and has been since its inception. It’s a completely segregated track system though, no level crossings.
Point of order:
The DLR is driverless, but it is not crewless. AIUI the trains cannot run in revenue service without a train captain (conductor) on board. Who has to be trained to be able to drive the trains manually (there are controls behind panels at either end), and (at least used to) have to open and close the doors at each station.
Therefore the savings from being 'driverless' are not quite as much as you might expect.
People discussing this really need to make distinctions between driverless and crewless: only the latter is truly automatic.
Yes it does of course have a conductor. During quiet times of day, like just now, they like to come and check people have touched in with their cards too.
It is to all intents and purposes driverless though. The braking, queuing and spacing of trains is all automated.
A completely crewless train would of course be a health and safety disaster.
This is what I was alluding to last night. The PS are far closer to Macron than Melenchon. Possibly the Greens too. And as for the PCF working with a trot... It always was a marriage of convenience. And to be fair it worked for them all. The Left as a whole has far more representation now than they would have had sans NUPES.
Must admit the unbridled, not to say demented, joy expressed by Mélenchon at having stuffed Macron has put me off him a bit.
Hello Kaliningrad, little known but historically significant in Europe for such a small spot
Lithuania's blocking of certain goods coming in by rail from Russia is a bit disruptive short term, though readily overcome, but politically could be like chucking a stick of dynamite in through a door. Will make for an interesting few days to see if it sticks. In all honesty what is Russia really going to do?
In Ukraine, Russia is still winning as its stands in the context of milestone objectives in the Donbas. It appears, however, some of the heavy kit from the West is starting to be used to effect. Fairly deep Russian supply & logistic operations are now being struck which is return to the fighting approach at the start of the 'Special Miltary Operation'. Its not only the range with which the kit can throw, its the range at which you can stand back and the mobility to scoot. Static Ukrainian artillery has taken a very large hit in the Donbas so it can help reduce the frequent local overmatch that Ukrainian forces are facing with less risk. For ther military geeks, the direct versus indirect fire approaches of Russia & Ukraine are being lab tested for everyone to see.
Not sure if the MLRS are fielded yet by Ukraine but those things are not your bog standard rocket launcher. If they get to extensive use, you dont want to be under that umbrella. Russian troops have not yet faced something quite like it.
As ever, thanks. One thing people over on ARRSE are saying is that a problem with the MLRS system is logistics: one launcher can get through a vast amount of ordnance in a day. I can see that becoming a big issue.
Having the guns is all well and good: keeping them supplied with ammo is a very different issue.
Artillery of any kind is huge on consumable spend. I assume the Americans and British have supplied the the cartridges and the support trucks.
In important global news, the largest freshwater fish ever recorded has been caught in the Mekong. It is not, surprisingly, one of the giant catfish but a freshwater stingray:
This is what I was alluding to last night. The PS are far closer to Macron than Melenchon. Possibly the Greens too. And as for the PCF working with a trot... It always was a marriage of convenience. And to be fair it worked for them all. The Left as a whole has far more representation now than they would have had sans NUPES.
Must admit the unbridled, not to say demented, joy expressed by Mélenchon at having stuffed Macron has put me off him a bit.
I’m on a DLR at the moment, which is of course driverless and has been since its inception. It’s a completely segregated track system though, no level crossings.
Point of order:
The DLR is driverless, but it is not crewless. AIUI the trains cannot run in revenue service without a train captain (conductor) on board. Who has to be trained to be able to drive the trains manually (there are controls behind panels at either end), and (at least used to) have to open and close the doors at each station.
Therefore the savings from being 'driverless' are not quite as much as you might expect.
People discussing this really need to make distinctions between driverless and crewless: only the latter is truly automatic.
Yes it does of course have a conductor. During quiet times of day, like just now, they like to come and check people have touched in with their cards too.
It is to all intents and purposes driverless though. The braking, queuing and spacing of trains is all automated.
A completely crewless train would of course be a health and safety disaster.
But that's the point: because you still need a crew member on board, the cost savings are much reduced. A DLR train captain earns £42,000 a year (*). A tube driver earns £59,000. Whilst that is a £17,000 'saving' per train, the costs of full automation are in the many hundreds of millions.
It basically is not worth the cost except on new and self-contained systems.
The former Governor of Missouri has made a crazy militaristic campaign video where he talks about "RINO Hunting": We are sick and tired of the Republicans in Name Only surrendering to Joe Biden & the radical Left.
On the subject of containers, as I'm sure you all know there's a whole 'thing' about van life in the UK at the moment. It all went viral in lockdown and I know several people who have pursued this path.
The most amusing video, to me, is this one. She's quite the gal but the opening makes me laugh every time:
Ooh! I’ve just been given two tickets to see Diana Ross at the O2 on Friday. I’m told they were rather expensive tickets too - £250 each. I should probably try to sell them to pay next month’s rent, but that might upset the donor if they found out so I’m going!
Diana Ross headlined a festival just outside our village last week...
Childerley Hall? A friend of mine was singing on the main stage the night before.
Yep, Childerley.
My cousin is playing Glastonbury this year with the band he is in.
In important global news, the largest freshwater fish ever recorded has been caught in the Mekong. It is not, surprisingly, one of the giant catfish but a freshwater stingray:
I once canoed with a friend down the Mekong from the upper reaches in a rickety local canoe. It's the most batshit crazy thing I've ever done.
“The creatures outside looked from Leon to Heathener, and from Heathener to Leon, and from Leon to Heathener again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
In important global news, the largest freshwater fish ever recorded has been caught in the Mekong. It is not, surprisingly, one of the giant catfish but a freshwater stingray:
I once canoed with a friend down the Mekong from the upper reaches in a rickety local canoe. It's the most batshit crazy thing I've ever done.
“The creatures outside looked from Leon to Heathener, and from Heathener to Leon, and from Leon to Heathener again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
I was deeply underwhelmed by the muppet representing the train operators on R4 this morning. Apparently, there is currently no wage offer on the table because any wage increase has to be tied to changes in working practices etc.
I repeat, the day before a national rail strike, there is no offer on the table. ....
Still can't quite believe it.
Yes, I heard that - astonishing. The RMT have asked for 7% - high, but below inflation. The employers have refused to say what they will offer. It's hardly surprising that the union has not backed down, with nothing on the table.
I reckon a settlement of around 5% could be agreed, not unreasonable. But for some reason neither the government nor the employers seem interested in a settlement.
I'm old enough to remember the halcyon days when the government and its supporters were lauding the return of a high wage economy that would level up, post Brexit and Covid. However, that seems to have somewhat run out of steam once the lorry drivers and a few other groups had been paid off.
Managers have to manage and if they think that they need to impose new work rosters on their staff that is fair enough. They should negotiate for a period of time to see if a mutually acceptable compromise can be reached and, if not, they should impose what they think is necessary for their business. I have no problem with this.
What I do have a problem with is refusing to discuss a wage increase at a time of 9% inflation. That is just unacceptable. And to try to pretend that the Union is being unreasonable about this is just dishonest. A settlement between 5 and 7% in the present situation is there for the taking at which point the specific proposals for managing the business can be made.
The government wants a fight. No other conclusion is possible. Shame on them.
The government aren't involved, they aren't the management.
If the unions want an agreement they should be talking to the management, not the government.
Though perhaps the government should be saying that since the railways aren't operating or serving the purpose they're there for that the subsidies the taxpayers are paying will be reduced so there will be less money for pay settlements.
I am pretty sure government would get involved were management to start closing the most unprofitable lines.
What you're spouting is rhetoric rather than reality.
What I'm saying is my own opinion, nothing more than that.
If the government wants to pay to keep unprofitable lines open then the management should say we're closing them unless you pay us £x
Of course then the government should have a choice to say "OK we'll pay it" or "OK close it" or "actually we'll get a different operator to do so instead". Just as employers with striking staff should have the choice between paying the staff what they want, firing the staff, or hiring other staff instead.
In my view unprofitable lines should be allowed to die. The state shouldn't be choosing winners or losers.
Well that's just ridiculous, as you would no longer have a network – only the most popular lines would stay open. Would you apply the same test to roads, where only the most used roads remained open? Road and rail networks are a cost of running an economy.
Considering the entire road network is self-funded, yes I would.
The entire road network is profitable, sure. But certain roads are undoubtedly unprofitable.
If I remember correctly (and this may be wrong, and is certainly pre-covid, so is definitely out of date):
Intercity services are generally profitable, with operators paying the government to run trains.
The South East commuter network is unprofitable, but the margins are small and it's complicated by how revenues (& costs) are split between TFL services and railway operators.
I’m on a DLR at the moment, which is of course driverless and has been since its inception. It’s a completely segregated track system though, no level crossings.
Point of order:
The DLR is driverless, but it is not crewless. AIUI the trains cannot run in revenue service without a train captain (conductor) on board. Who has to be trained to be able to drive the trains manually (there are controls behind panels at either end), and (at least used to) have to open and close the doors at each station.
Therefore the savings from being 'driverless' are not quite as much as you might expect.
People discussing this really need to make distinctions between driverless and crewless: only the latter is truly automatic.
Yes it does of course have a conductor. During quiet times of day, like just now, they like to come and check people have touched in with their cards too.
It is to all intents and purposes driverless though. The braking, queuing and spacing of trains is all automated.
A completely crewless train would of course be a health and safety disaster.
But that's the point: because you still need a crew member on board, the cost savings are much reduced. A DLR train captain earns £42,000 a year (*). A tube driver earns £59,000. Whilst that is a £17,000 'saving' per train, the costs of full automation are in the many hundreds of millions.
It basically is not worth the cost except on new and self-contained systems.
(*) As far as I can tell.
Presumably the TCs need route familiarity, too. Relatively easy on DLR, 38km total route length, with little change. But elsewhere ...
This story perhaps explains our troll from this morning.
Our @nytvideo team went to Estonia to interview a dozen Ukrainian refugees who survived the siege of Mariupol & were then forced to resettle in Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been forcibly removed & pressured to take Russian citizenship. https://twitter.com/SimonOstrovsky/status/1538801580442636289
Ooh! I’ve just been given two tickets to see Diana Ross at the O2 on Friday. I’m told they were rather expensive tickets too - £250 each. I should probably try to sell them to pay next month’s rent, but that might upset the donor if they found out so I’m going!
Diana Ross headlined a festival just outside our village last week...
Childerley Hall? A friend of mine was singing on the main stage the night before.
Yep, Childerley.
My cousin is playing Glastonbury this year with the band he is in.
Cool! I want to know which one of these you're related to..
VOCALS : GOBSHITE RAMBO
GUITAR : SKELEGOG
GUITAR : BUTCH MYSTIQUE
BASS : TACTILE SASQUATCH
My friend is the Brand New Heavies' current singer. She got me backstage at the last gig of theirs I went to; I ended up drinking quite heavily with the very friendly band for about an hour.
In important global news, the largest freshwater fish ever recorded has been caught in the Mekong. It is not, surprisingly, one of the giant catfish but a freshwater stingray:
I once canoed with a friend down the Mekong from the upper reaches in a rickety local canoe. It's the most batshit crazy thing I've ever done.
“The creatures outside looked from Leon to Heathener, and from Heathener to Leon, and from Leon to Heathener again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
If “canoeing down the Mekong” is the most “batshit crazy thing” @Heathener has ever done, I suggest there is quite a difference between us
TripAdvisor is completely right. The food here in “SOVATS VOZNI” is brilliant. Simple Caucasus wild mushrooms, lightly fried in egg and some wild herbs. Looks like tripe….
Yet sensational. You see mushroom sellers hawking these shrooms all along the forest roads here. I can understand why
Comments
But IMO the idea that station closures are a thing of the past is dangerous. SSoTs change. Governments change. If the railways suffer a prolonged decrease in passengers and freight due to Covid and strikes, the impossible thought of full station closures will become real.
Some stations were closed 15-20 years ago as part of the WCML upgrade - Etruria being an example.
Robocar which runs over pedestrian with gay abandon = baaad
Robotrain which ditto = goooood
*does not compute*
Landlords set rents at the highest levels tenants can afford. That amount is mostly independent of interest rates. They cannot increase them in line with interest rate rises, nor will they lower them when rates are lower (indeed low rates tend to see landlords buy up housing stock, which drives more middle class into rentals and increases average rental prices).
Many individual landlords will of course try and increase rents but as a sector increase wont match the increased costs from higher interest rates.
Not enough houses = charge as much as they want or you're homeless
https://twitter.com/annesaurat/status/1538871261383868416
In Boris case, probably Carrie complaining about his snoring.
Primarily because they aren't contemplating any of what I propose on much of anything right now.
Pedestrians shouldn't be on train tracks. Pedestrians should be on the road, apart from motorways.
Trains should have crossings when they intersect with roads and pedestrians and cars should never use a railway crossing when its not safe to do so. If they do, and they're hit, then there's bugger all a driver or a robot can do abut it.
Turns out that was the weekly price
And sure your reply will be the free market balance of such things, but that may not be in favour of robotrain!
The PS are far closer to Macron than Melenchon. Possibly the Greens too. And as for the PCF working with a trot...
It always was a marriage of convenience. And to be fair it worked for them all. The Left as a whole has far more representation now than they would have had sans NUPES.
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/61702238/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=network&campaign=rich_results
Found a cupboard in Hillingdon for £1100 too.
Lithuania's blocking of certain goods coming in by rail from Russia is a bit disruptive short term, though readily overcome, but politically could be like chucking a stick of dynamite in through a door. Will make for an interesting few days to see if it sticks. In all honesty what is Russia really going to do?
In Ukraine, Russia is still winning as its stands in the context of milestone objectives in the Donbas. It appears, however, some of the heavy kit from the West is starting to be used to effect. Fairly deep Russian supply & logistic operations are now being struck which is return to the fighting approach at the start of the 'Special Miltary Operation'. Its not only the range with which the kit can throw, its the range at which you can stand back and the mobility to scoot. Static Ukrainian artillery has taken a very large hit in the Donbas so it can help reduce the frequent local overmatch that Ukrainian forces are facing with less risk. For ther military geeks, the direct versus indirect fire approaches of Russia & Ukraine are being lab tested for everyone to see.
Not sure if the MLRS are fielded yet by Ukraine but those things are not your bog standard rocket launcher. If they get to extensive use, you dont want to be under that umbrella. Russian troops have not yet faced something quite like it.
The liability of the railways is not affected by there not being much there can be done about it. Indeed, there is a considerable duty of care to children, irrespective of whether they are trespassing or not. Why do you think the BRB had this film made for schools?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXGqwCbeFD8
Also - the other problem is whether the train itself is affected. Peoplke have a habit of being in cars, for instance.
1 + 1 = 3 or 4 ?
3...
https://twitter.com/SebastienBubeck/status/1538757720005783553?s=20&t=6dKyTIeU5lhsEblrTUMxBw
SOVATS VOZNI
Sit on THAT and swivel
But then we know that rental journos are usually as ignorant as planks, and as well-informed as a house-brick.
Most LLs set initial rents at market or a little below, when attracting a tenant, and then keep raises small in order to keep the tenant if they a) look after the property and b) pay the rent reliably.
Changing tenants is *&^% expensive and the time of highest risk and charges, so it is worth paying quite a high price in reduced rents. It costs perhaps 6-9 months rent to change a tenant, and years to get that back in any rent increases.
Personally I am just re-renting a house (trad 2 bed terrace) after several years, which started with a brand new kitchen. I supplied a worktop saver, but I still need to replace all the worktops because the T has ruined them with hot pans, and replace the hob to boot, and the sink in the bathroom because they cracked that. That plus other bits will be 3x the maximum legal deposit, and there is no point in a court claim due to time and costs. On top there is fees (4-6 week's rent), leaning, lick of paint, partial new carpet, handyman bits etc. None necessary if a T stays.
I'll be renting at about 10% below the max I am told I can get - £550 not £600 pcm, in order to secure a reliable, long-term tenant, and then rent increases will be CPI once a year. T will be targeted to be someone with a reason to be there for several years eg someone with a child just entering the local primary school, and preferably a 2 earner couple for security.
As always with mine, up to 2 dogs will be allowed once I am convinced (dog interview by my dog consultant aka another dog breeding tenant who has 8 dogs) that said dogs are trained and civilised.
Good tenants are worth their weight in gold, and it is very common not to increase rents at all during a tenancy for a few years to retain a tenant who does not for example ruin worktops with hot pans, or have a dog or a child they don't care for properly.
I have several long term good tenants who are now at 15-25% below market rent, and it is fine.
Reflect on it, and you will see that the rental policy set to the max in the Estate Agent's window will ignore some elements of real long-term cost, and that the most economic solution is somewhat different to the max headline rent.
It's a practice most common amongst precisely the LLs - small long term pension generators for example with 1-2 properties - who are being driven out. Which is just another facet of increasingly moronic rental laws. Though the Gove Reforms have promise, as he may be a little bullshit-proof.
And then I thought, you know what, in this day and age free homes for everyone is not beyond the wit of mankind. Sure, something else would have to give but if society wanted it badly enough it could be done.
Not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not as impossible as unicorns.
Why shipping container homes are overrated
https://youtu.be/Ef7hQ35bfIU
It's what came after the story broke which really stinks. The No.10 machine muscling into The Sunday Times to pull the story is the stuff of third world corruption.
How much more of this putrid situation must we endure?
AHAHAHAHA
Since the Private Rental Sector is more densely occupied than the Owner Occupied sector, such a shift would also help reduce pressure on housing supply. See the English Housing Survey as to which sector has all the unused 2nd spare bedrooms.
Does my dog have intelligence? I'd say he does. Not a vast amount to be fair but he can work out the best way through a new hedge or how to lick the very bottom of a deep yoghurt pot of a type he's never seen before.
Can he tell you what 1 + 1 equals? Not a chance.
COME AND JOIN ME
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1160895-d23479593-Reviews-Sovats_Vozni-Dilijan_Tavush_Province.html
Don’t order gin and tonic, tho: it takes about an hour. With two staff doing it. I’ve no idea why
The DLR is driverless, but it is not crewless. AIUI the trains cannot run in revenue service without a train captain (conductor) on board. Who has to be trained to be able to drive the trains manually (there are controls behind panels at either end), and (at least used to) have to open and close the doors at each station.
Therefore the savings from being 'driverless' are not quite as much as you might expect.
People discussing this really need to make distinctions between driverless and crewless: only the latter is truly automatic.
https://www.granddesignsmagazine.com/grand-designs-houses/shipping-container-home-county-derry-2014/
"British tourists will be fined £645 for going to the toilet in Spanish sea under new rules"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10934131/British-tourists-fined-645-going-toilet-Spanish-sea-new-rules.html
As I'm sure you know, there was an amazing one on Grand Designs a few years back. Well worth watching for the pros and cons:
https://www.granddesignsmagazine.com/grand-designs-houses/shipping-container-home-county-derry-2014/
https://www.livinginacontainer.com/the-grand-designs-shipping-container-house-ireland/
Here's the link to the full programme:
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/on-demand/57386-006
Recommended viewing.
I'm sure neither you nor that journalistic gentlemen they sometimes repute you to be would have any self-interest whatsoever invested in slanting things a certain way.
Enjoy your drink!
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810025241.htm
https://www.science.org/content/article/dog-brains-have-knack-numbers-much-ours
But maybe you don't have a Border Collie?
AIUI the central section is Automatic Train Operation / ETCS Level 2 compatible, and could be 'driverless'. The same is not true of the rest of the Crossrail network.
A car is designed to be able to stop at a short distance if required. If I am driving in a pedestrian area, then the speed limit will typically be 20mph or 30mph and I'll be required to do an emergency stop if required within seconds. The stopping distance of a car at those speeds can be measured in metres - typically 6 metres at 20mph and 14 metres at 30mph.
A driver in an area with pedestrians need the hazard awareness that eg a child could step onto the road and be prepared to stop if needed. I have had a child step onto the road in front of my car before, and I was able to stop in time.
The stopping distance by a train on the other hand varies from half a kilometre to multiple kilometres, not 6 metres.
Second homes, Russian oligarchs, Chinese oligarchs, brown field sites etc are all distractions.
Are British people dragging entire soft-close John Lewis toilet fittings into the Med?
Having the guns is all well and good: keeping them supplied with ammo is a very different issue.
In the U.K., the housing problem isn’t constructions costs.
It’s a bit like the fuel costs and space flight thing. If we could get house prices down to the point that construction cost is the problem - then we wouldn’t have a problem.
I am not comparing in any way Ms Symonds to Christine Keeler, nonetheless we have a Prime Minister who is so cavalier with blurring the lines between his national security sensitive professional life with his sexually incontinent private life that he really does appear to be a potential risk to national security.
Scratching a Times story is one thing, at least there are no super injunctions that should worry us...
It is to all intents and purposes driverless though. The braking, queuing and spacing of trains is all automated.
A completely crewless train would of course be a health and safety disaster.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-61862169
I once canoed with a friend down the Mekong from the upper reaches in a rickety local canoe. It's the most batshit crazy thing I've ever done.
It basically is not worth the cost except on new and self-contained systems.
(*) As far as I can tell.
https://twitter.com/EricGreitens/status/1538876823978713089
The most amusing video, to me, is this one. She's quite the gal but the opening makes me laugh every time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R4GMJZP2A8
To be fair to her, she really did build the thing herself ... and even damaged those finger nails doing so
My cousin is playing Glastonbury this year with the band he is in.
https://www.ridingthelow.co.uk/
Maybe that's why he irritates me so much!
If I remember correctly (and this may be wrong, and is certainly pre-covid, so is definitely out of date):
Intercity services are generally profitable, with operators paying the government to run trains.
The South East commuter network is unprofitable, but the margins are small and it's complicated by how revenues (& costs) are split between TFL services and railway operators.
Everything else is highly unprofitable.
Our @nytvideo team went to Estonia to interview a dozen Ukrainian refugees who survived the siege of Mariupol & were then forced to resettle in Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been forcibly removed & pressured to take Russian citizenship.
https://twitter.com/SimonOstrovsky/status/1538801580442636289
I don’t think many normal people rent these flats on their own
VOCALS : GOBSHITE RAMBO
GUITAR : SKELEGOG
GUITAR : BUTCH MYSTIQUE
BASS : TACTILE SASQUATCH
My friend is the Brand New Heavies' current singer. She got me backstage at the last gig of theirs I went to; I ended up drinking quite heavily with the very friendly band for about an hour.
TripAdvisor is completely right. The food here in “SOVATS VOZNI” is brilliant. Simple Caucasus wild mushrooms, lightly fried in egg and some wild herbs. Looks like tripe….
Yet sensational. You see mushroom sellers hawking these shrooms all along the forest roads here. I can understand why