The weather in the Lake District is perfect at the moment.
In Naples it used to get to 40 degrees in the summer. People decamped to the hills or the coast. But if you stayed the rule was to close the shutters during the day so the rooms - large with stone floors - remained cool and dark and to rest during the hottest part of the day.
I like shutters on a house. Why don't we have them here I wonder?
I like Mordaunt being in transition on woke questions.
There is an increasing tendency in the commentariat to move the d in Tugendhat two letters to the right. Similar to swapping the u and a in Mordaunt, which I am often guilty of myself.
The interesting, though actually not that surprising thing here is that it is the white candidates who are the wokest.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
The weather in the Lake District is perfect at the moment.
In Naples it used to get to 40 degrees in the summer. People decamped to the hills or the coast. But if you stayed the rule was to close the shutters during the day so the rooms - large with stone floors - remained cool and dark and to rest during the hottest part of the day.
I like shutters on a house. Why don't we have them here I wonder?
Sunak has a load of nominations he could "lend". Even more if the Shapps news is true. There are a small handful of candidates who are struggling to scrape the numbers. Does a small or large field help him?
I think "lending" votes is a terrible idea, trying to be too clever by half.
Build a stonking lead and that can be self-reinforcing. Wavering MPs who want preferment can go to the leader, while many members if there's a clear victor amongst MPs will respect what the MPs chose and go with that.
The only time the members have ever gone against the MPs, is when the MPs themselves didn't choose a clear victor.
That is one view. On the other hand, the larger the field, the clearer the first round victory, surely?
Not if the field is larger as they've borrowed votes from the leader. That will reduce the gap between first and second/third which is where the real competition is.
Telegraph reporting that Boris held a Cobra meeting in Number 10 over the impending heatwave. 40C is still possible next weekend/Monday
He held COBRA over a heatwave?
A similar heatwave in France a few years ago killed thousands of vulnerable people, esp the old in non air conditioned dwellings
So it’s very sensible. We’re not equipped for this heat
Hopefully the French have sorted out their game, because they could break records there as well - potentially going over 45C
Absolutely baking in Spain currently. Returning to the UK heatwave will be something of a relief! The Spanish are used to high temperatures, of course, but not this high. More worrying is the long-term decline in rainfall levels. That will make significant parts of the country uninhabitable. It’s been pretty dry in much of England this year, too.
I live in West Central Scotland - what is this "hot, dry weather" I hear rumours of?
Someone told me that the midges would be made extinct by rising temperatures.
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
I am slightly surprised that there is not more angst and upset in the Bundesbank about this. They built the strongest and largest economy in Europe with a strong deutschmark driving down inflation and forcing firms to invest constantly to improve productivity. A weak currency must be anathema to them.
On the other hand, quite the competitive advantage to exporters, particularly with a recession looming.
That's not the way that the Germans have ever looked at in the past. And their track record is seriously impressive, even if they are struggling a bit right now. The tensions within the ECB between them and the Italians (who did well with exactly the opposite policy for the Lire) must be acute. So far the Italian side of the argument seems to be winning.
Though there is an argument that by bolting the economies of Europe together, the Germans had the advantage of the Euro being much lower than a hypothetical D-Mark. That while the Euro has been a fairly strong currency, it is nothing as to what a continuing separate currency for Germany would have been.
Penny seems like such a sensible choice for the Tories I cannot believe they would pick her. She seems pleasant, and sane. That said, she is probably too woke for the rump when it comes down to it.
But, she would be hard for Labour to beat.
Presentationally for sure. Still think we are underplaying the sheer task of government, though. I've heard nowt from her that suggests she's the first clue about how to tackle the economic issues.
Huge thanks to my team for helping to pull together my leadership bid in literally no time! Amongst a field of brilliant candidates I've spoken to @RishiSunak who I believe has the competence and experience to lead this country.
Its not just the 20mph, its the blanket nature of the policy. Absolutely no need for it to be 20mph at 3am...the argument about runners or kids, there isn't any at that time.
The US system of having 30mph, then at certain times e.g. school times, its 20mph seems a perfectly sensible comprise.
It barely makes any difference though. So for the sake of simplicity, keep it at 20mph (or indeed 25mph as some have suggested).
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
I am slightly surprised that there is not more angst and upset in the Bundesbank about this. They built the strongest and largest economy in Europe with a strong deutschmark driving down inflation and forcing firms to invest constantly to improve productivity. A weak currency must be anathema to them.
On the other hand, quite the competitive advantage to exporters, particularly with a recession looming.
On the other other hand, a weak currency is exactly what you don't want in an energy crisis, when the whole world - especially Germany - will be out to buy gas and oil, priced in US dollars
So a bit shit for us too...
No one was talking about the UK, odd that you mention us
But yes, of course, this winter is going to be tough worldwide, except for major energy exporters perhaps. The UK is in a slightly better position than Germany, but it's marginal and all will feel pain
I intend to spend (Covid and God permitting) a goodly chunk of winter 22-23 in the stews of Bangkok, where it will be lovely and warm
And on that note, I must head out on my terrace to sunbathe and swim. Later
Lord Adonis appears to think not changing political leadership is a sign of strength. Glossing over French Presidential terms (how could you remove a dud?) and Germany has now swapped Merkel for Scholz, neither of whom history may judge kindly
Most British heads of govt in last half century have lasted less than 4 years & we’re about to embark on the 11th. In France & Germany not a single head of govt has lasted less than 4 yrs. Spot the country in deep democratic crisis. More in my newsletter
Oh, for goodness sake. You can argue that there have been important policy failures in France or Germany.
But we're a complete basketcase in terms of developed nations. We'll soon be moving on to our fourth PM in six years, and all three of those we've had have been absolute duds, with their terms ending under a shadow, in failure and farce. We are not, at present, a stable country with a political system that appears capable of providing a steady government developing long term, predictable policy of any kind.
We have become a joke. When I travel internationally for work people either laugh at us or shake their heads sadly at whatever the latest nonsense development is. My only response is that I am Scottish and perhaps one day we will escape the asylum.
You must travel to some very strange places. That is not my experience at all.
Flew to Romania late April and was in a car with Romanian and German employees of my client. A lot of talk about our "clown King" and our stupid Brexit deal which we now want to scrap.
The only other example of similar I can think of was being in America late summer of 1997. "Oh you're British? We're so sorry about Princess Diana" followed by endless guff about her whilst I thought "meh"
I think what is happening here is people being cautious reflectors when discussing politics with someone from another country.
If I met a pro Trump American, my language about US politics would be very different to if I met a normal American. Not 180 degrees different, but significantly so, and I feel that is the correct and polite way to talk to a stranger in a casual conversation about politics.
Similarly Brits who really dislike our politics, will get that view echoed when abroad, and Brits who dislike EU politics and think Boris a great statesman will get a very different response.
In reality most foreigners don't care much about UK politics either way.
I think I am in a good position to comment on this. Although Germans will usually avoid being very critical of the UK in front of me and also avoid offending me, I am assimilated into the culture well, and I to know what is being said around me, on other tables, in the media, the asides at work meetings etc, and I understand most of the nuances.
Most Germans really like the UK countries and Ireland. They like the cities, the countryside, the beer, the 90+ year old queen, the history and overall the British/Irish culture. But in terms of politics most people just don't get, why Britain has willingly taken itself down a rabbit hole. Voting to leave the EU wsa just the start, the type of Brexit has made life really difficult for most British businesses to export to the continent. The UK elected a prime minister, who not only "turned out" to be an unreliable joker, he was elected when everyone knew he was an unreliable joker. Most think that the UK going back on the Brexit trade agreement is a really bad idea for the UK as it will make it even harder for British businesses and politicians to get good deals in the near future. Almost everyone is supportive of the ROI point off view.
You're right that most Germans don't really care that much about what the UK does, but they do think about it at times, and when they do, they just shake their heads and think "why?"
Germany allowed Gazprom to take over their largest gas storage facility after the annexation of Crimea. This should be a time for introspection about their long-term policy failures.
Germany is leading Western Europe’s return to business as usual with Russia in the natural gas sector, notwithstanding Russia’s war in Ukraine. On September 4, at the Vladivostok economic forum, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance, two binding agreements were signed that will dramatically increase Germany’s reliance on Russian natural gas for consumption, transit and storage. One agreement involves construction of the Nord Stream Two gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed, from Russia to Germany. The other agreement will see Gazprom’s full takeover of Wintershall’s gas marketing business and gas storages within Germany, in return for Wintershall acquiring minority stakes in a Siberian gas field.
These agreements’ ramifications, however, extend far beyond the Russo-German bilateral gas trade.
Both agreements presuppose special derogations for Germany from the European Union’s energy market legislation (Third Package) and EU competition policies.
Sunak has a load of nominations he could "lend". Even more if the Shapps news is true. There are a small handful of candidates who are struggling to scrape the numbers. Does a small or large field help him?
I think "lending" votes is a terrible idea, trying to be too clever by half.
Build a stonking lead and that can be self-reinforcing. Wavering MPs who want preferment can go to the leader, while many members if there's a clear victor amongst MPs will respect what the MPs chose and go with that.
The only time the members have ever gone against the MPs, is when the MPs themselves didn't choose a clear victor.
That is one view. On the other hand, the larger the field, the clearer the first round victory, surely?
Not if the field is larger as they've borrowed votes from the leader. That will reduce the gap between first and second/third which is where the real competition is.
Not borrowed votes. But nominations. But thanks for your input. Was pondering this question, and couldn't decide. Still can't tbh.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
I'm feeling good, I have wanted Boris out for nearly a year now, so I'm getting what I wanted.
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
Is that first crow I hear crowing, second or the third?
You didn't really want your beloved "Boris" out. You loved him, even more so that HYUFD and Leon. Your protestations and falling in behind "the herd" are incredible in the real sense of the word.
If there were a leadership race for Bozo Apologist, you would beat HYUFD by a mile. Your protestations to the contrary are as believable as, well, Boris Johnson himself lol.
I did like Boris when he was standing for what I believed in.
When he broke the manifesto on something I passionately believe in, I turned against him, and I've not equivocated from that point from then on. That was nearly a year ago.
For as long as Boris matched my believes, I was willing to back him. Once he went against them, I wasn't anymore. It was never Boris I believed in, I have always believed in my own beliefs and Boris was matching them until he raised NI (against his prior pledge not to) which was a dealbreaker for me.
Drakeford & Price have set out their legislation on second homes. In which they had to come clean about their own property portfolios.
Adam Price has both a home in his constituency of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, and Cardiff. Mr Price's register of interests says his partner, who is a judge, has two rental properties in London. His register of interests for the previous Senedd (from 2016 to 2021) said he had also owned a residential property in London but that has now ceased.
Mark Drakeford owns a second home that is a chalet in Pembrokeshire though (presumably from some quirk of Pembrokeshire as it is not true in Gwynedd) he pays reduced Council Tax on it.
I think this is very interesting as it shows how deep & close the relationship between property and politicians is (even for ones on the political left). If you acquire money, as most politicians do, it is natural to put it in property.
It is why it has proved so difficult to get sensible taxation on property in the UK.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
The same phenomenon at work I daresay which draws badgers to the side of the roads to be killed by passing vehicles.
Guido understands newly-appointed education minister Brendan Clarke-Smith is preparing to post a raft of legal letters to high-profile celebrity lefties who spread false claims about a photo of the MP that appeared over the weekend. The photo, which showed Clarke-Smith posing in a thong, was taken over ten years ago during a waxing fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation and Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. It made the rounds recently when the Twitterati baselessly declared it showed Clarke-Smith mocking NHS staff during the height of the pandemic…
Sue Perkins 💙 @sueperkins 1/ I messed up & want to offer a correction. I retweeted a post about @Bren4Bassetlaw without fact-checking. The picture of him was not taken during the pandemic, nor was he mocking NHS staff. He was fund-raising. I’d like to offer him my sincerest apologies for any upset caused.
Very wise move. Most of the streets around me are now 20mph and you get used to it.
Nobody needs to be flying around at 30mph in towns.
I generally support that, if they are sensible and keep eg major through routes diverted or to 30. One small step, and trials in devolved countries are a good thing.
Mrs Toad of Toad Hall was not happy in the pilot project. It is not clear why this is a problem: "Cyclists are having a whale of a time on Liverpool Road because they can do more than 20mph on their bikes and we can't do more than 20mph in a car - so I've had quite a lot of reports of people being overtaken by cycles."
Oh Matthew Goodwin is back, the most useless academic in history.
What people actually care about is their bills. What are the Tories going to do about it
He is the most annoying, droning, one-trick pony for sure. But you have to hand it to him: he has somehow fashioned a career out of saying exactly the same thing over and over again and getting someone to pay him for it.
Drakeford & Price have set out their legislation on second homes. In which they had to come clean about their own property portfolios.
Adam Price has both a home in his constituency of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, and Cardiff. Mr Price's register of interests says his partner, who is a judge, has two rental properties in London. His register of interests for the previous Senedd (from 2016 to 2021) said he had also owned a residential property in London but that has now ceased.
Mark Drakeford owns a second home that is a chalet in Pembrokeshire though (presumably from some quirk of Pembrokeshire as it is not true in Gwynedd) he pays reduced Council Tax on it.
I think this is very interesting as it shows how deep & close the relationship between property and politicians is (even for ones on the political left). If you acquire money, as most politicians do, it is natural to put it in property.
It is why it has proved so difficult to get sensible taxation on property in the UK.
Its incredibly convenient that Drakeford has come up with a policy that manages to not effect his second home....
NEW: John Major fires a broadside at the cabinet, many of whom are now running for Tory leader (Suank, Truss, Zahawi...) for failing to confront the PM.
Very wise move. Most of the streets around me are now 20mph and you get used to it.
Nobody needs to be flying around at 30mph in towns.
I would prefer 25. Trying to pass some nerd on a bike who thinks he is Bradley Wiggins doing 15mph is a bit annoying.
15mph is hardly Bradley Wiggins! That's about my average speed on my ~15 mile commute (allowing for stops, traffic lights etc at each end) and I have to accept I'm now MAMIL territory age wise, even if I mostly dodge the lycra.
Penny seems like such a sensible choice for the Tories I cannot believe they would pick her. She seems pleasant, and sane. That said, she is probably too woke for the rump when it comes down to it.
But, she would be hard for Labour to beat.
Presentationally for sure. Still think we are underplaying the sheer task of government, though. I've heard nowt from her that suggests she's the first clue about how to tackle the economic issues.
She is not an outlier in this, mind.
Indeed she is no weaker than any of the others in that regard.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Boring, I'm afraid - to my mind. Also, 96% of planned buildings look better in the render than in reality, so that will get worse
That is quite deliberate, I think. And quite a few renders I've seen are from perspectives impossible in real life unless you're airborne. Good architects are rare.
Guido understands newly-appointed education minister Brendan Clarke-Smith is preparing to post a raft of legal letters to high-profile celebrity lefties who spread false claims about a photo of the MP that appeared over the weekend. The photo, which showed Clarke-Smith posing in a thong, was taken over ten years ago during a waxing fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation and Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. It made the rounds recently when the Twitterati baselessly declared it showed Clarke-Smith mocking NHS staff during the height of the pandemic…
Sue Perkins 💙 @sueperkins 1/ I messed up & want to offer a correction. I retweeted a post about @Bren4Bassetlaw without fact-checking. The picture of him was not taken during the pandemic, nor was he mocking NHS staff. He was fund-raising. I’d like to offer him my sincerest apologies for any upset caused.
I bet that correction tweet gets about 1% of the original tweets shares / retweets etc.
I think that people should be forced to "pin" the correction for x days on their twitter feed. Its all too easy for a single tweet (that doesn't get engagement) to whizz by and nobody see it.
Penny seems like such a sensible choice for the Tories I cannot believe they would pick her. She seems pleasant, and sane. That said, she is probably too woke for the rump when it comes down to it.
But, she would be hard for Labour to beat.
Presentationally for sure. Still think we are underplaying the sheer task of government, though. I've heard nowt from her that suggests she's the first clue about how to tackle the economic issues.
She is not an outlier in this, mind.
I don't think Sunak has a clue either, he was a poor Chancellor with no answers in my opinion.
Euro was $1.00016 a couple of minutes ago. Today might be the day it breaks through parity.
It’s got quite a bit further to fall too, if as expected the Fed raises rates and the ECB doesn’t.
Yes, Sterling is struggling too because we are paying the price of the MPC of the Bank being so painfully behind the curve on interest rate increases in the face of such high inflation.
Alternatively, the dollar is strong as the US is less susceptible to inflationary energy prices.
Their Fed isn't afraid to stick up rates either.
I think inflation may have peaked in the US already. Container rates are also down quite a lot.
Lord Adonis appears to think not changing political leadership is a sign of strength. Glossing over French Presidential terms (how could you remove a dud?) and Germany has now swapped Merkel for Scholz, neither of whom history may judge kindly
Most British heads of govt in last half century have lasted less than 4 years & we’re about to embark on the 11th. In France & Germany not a single head of govt has lasted less than 4 yrs. Spot the country in deep democratic crisis. More in my newsletter
Oh, for goodness sake. You can argue that there have been important policy failures in France or Germany.
But we're a complete basketcase in terms of developed nations. We'll soon be moving on to our fourth PM in six years, and all three of those we've had have been absolute duds, with their terms ending under a shadow, in failure and farce. We are not, at present, a stable country with a political system that appears capable of providing a steady government developing long term, predictable policy of any kind.
Austria is on to its ninth Chancellor in six years.
I don't think that France and Germany have had any leaders of stature since Mitterand and Kohl.
I like Mordaunt being in transition on woke questions.
There is an increasing tendency in the commentariat to move the d in Tugendhat two letters to the right. Similar to swapping the u and a in Mordaunt, which I am often guilty of myself.
The interesting, though actually not that surprising thing here is that it is the white candidates who are the wokest.
The Tories are going to choose a PM who's name even the media cannot spell correctly? I don't think so. Out today would be my guess, probably because he will withdraw after scraping through the first round.
Guido understands newly-appointed education minister Brendan Clarke-Smith is preparing to post a raft of legal letters to high-profile celebrity lefties who spread false claims about a photo of the MP that appeared over the weekend. The photo, which showed Clarke-Smith posing in a thong, was taken over ten years ago during a waxing fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation and Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. It made the rounds recently when the Twitterati baselessly declared it showed Clarke-Smith mocking NHS staff during the height of the pandemic…
Sue Perkins 💙 @sueperkins 1/ I messed up & want to offer a correction. I retweeted a post about @Bren4Bassetlaw without fact-checking. The picture of him was not taken during the pandemic, nor was he mocking NHS staff. He was fund-raising. I’d like to offer him my sincerest apologies for any upset caused.
I bet that correction tweet gets about 1% of the original tweets shares / retweets etc.
Carol Fairlamb @lambchop03 Replying to @sueperkins To be fair, I think we can all understand why, in the current climate, you assumed this was yet another Tory MP behaving …badly. But, as always, you are being marvellous. 👍
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Boring, I'm afraid - to my mind. Also, 96% of planned buildings look better in the render than in reality, so that will get worse
That is quite deliberate, I think. And quite a few renders I've seen are from perspectives impossible in real life unless you're airborne. Good architects are rare.
DALLE-2 is producing some amazing architectural designs. Superior to most human designs
This is surely one field where AI will reign supreme quite soon. A few star architects will run offices staffed mainly by computers; eventually we will see buildings with no human input at all
Drakeford & Price have set out their legislation on second homes. In which they had to come clean about their own property portfolios.
Adam Price has both a home in his constituency of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, and Cardiff. Mr Price's register of interests says his partner, who is a judge, has two rental properties in London. His register of interests for the previous Senedd (from 2016 to 2021) said he had also owned a residential property in London but that has now ceased.
Mark Drakeford owns a second home that is a chalet in Pembrokeshire though (presumably from some quirk of Pembrokeshire as it is not true in Gwynedd) he pays reduced Council Tax on it.
I think this is very interesting as it shows how deep & close the relationship between property and politicians is (even for ones on the political left). If you acquire money, as most politicians do, it is natural to put it in property.
It is why it has proved so difficult to get sensible taxation on property in the UK.
Its incredibly convenient that Drakeford has come up with a policy that manages to not effect his second home....
Indeed. Well done, Drakey.
And look at Price + partner. 4 homes (two rental in London). Pretty good, though I am sure some pb-ers can beat that.
Very wise move. Most of the streets around me are now 20mph and you get used to it.
Nobody needs to be flying around at 30mph in towns.
I would prefer 25. Trying to pass some nerd on a bike who thinks he is Bradley Wiggins doing 15mph is a bit annoying.
15mph is hardly Bradley Wiggins! That's about my average speed on my ~15 mile commute (allowing for stops, traffic lights etc at each end) and I have to accept I'm now MAMIL territory age wise, even if I mostly dodge the lycra.
Note, I said "thinks"! I always find it amusing how many Mamils boast about how light their bikes are when it might be better just to lose a stone and get a cheaper bike!
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
I'm feeling good, I have wanted Boris out for nearly a year now, so I'm getting what I wanted.
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
Is that first crow I hear crowing, second or the third?
You didn't really want your beloved "Boris" out. You loved him, even more so that HYUFD and Leon. Your protestations and falling in behind "the herd" are incredible in the real sense of the word.
If there were a leadership race for Bozo Apologist, you would beat HYUFD by a mile. Your protestations to the contrary are as believable as, well, Boris Johnson himself lol.
I did like Boris when he was standing for what I believed in.
When he broke the manifesto on something I passionately believe in, I turned against him, and I've not equivocated from that point from then on. That was nearly a year ago.
For as long as Boris matched my believes, I was willing to back him. Once he went against them, I wasn't anymore. It was never Boris I believed in, I have always believed in my own beliefs and Boris was matching them until he raised NI (against his prior pledge not to) which was a dealbreaker for me.
Yea right. Moooooo
People are more complicated than the one-dimensional caricatures that is all you are able to think in.
I wrote off my own back a thread header that was published here when I stopped supporting Boris, saying why, when the Tories were still polling leads and Boris was still leading in the polls versus Starmer. But you don't believe I stopped supporting him, despite the fact I said there and then why I have. 🙄
You also regularly question the fact that I used to be pro-Remain, despite the fact that I've posted on this website for fifteen years now and was making pro-Remain arguments until I was won around by the Leave ones that convinced me - and that people here remember that.
All you're showing by your lack of understanding is that you can't comprehend that people are more complicated than you give them credit for. You've pigeon-holed me in the wrong way, and so now you're confused whenever that doesn't meet reality, which is quite regularly.
The weather in the Lake District is perfect at the moment.
In Naples it used to get to 40 degrees in the summer. People decamped to the hills or the coast. But if you stayed the rule was to close the shutters during the day so the rooms - large with stone floors - remained cool and dark and to rest during the hottest part of the day.
I like shutters on a house. Why don't we have them here I wonder?
Cheapskate builders ? It's not unknown. My parents' (Victorian) house has internal shutters in a couple of the rooms.
Euro was $1.00016 a couple of minutes ago. Today might be the day it breaks through parity.
It’s got quite a bit further to fall too, if as expected the Fed raises rates and the ECB doesn’t.
Yes, Sterling is struggling too because we are paying the price of the MPC of the Bank being so painfully behind the curve on interest rate increases in the face of such high inflation.
Alternatively, the dollar is strong as the US is less susceptible to inflationary energy prices.
Their Fed isn't afraid to stick up rates either.
I think inflation may have peaked in the US already. Container rates are also down quite a lot.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Perhaps this a difference between urban and rural foxes. The urban foxes where we are (and there are a lot of them) and the local cats generally ignore each other completely, even when they are within a few metres of each other.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Boring, I'm afraid - to my mind. Also, 96% of planned buildings look better in the render than in reality, so that will get worse
As I've said passim, one thing I'd love to do is get architect's drawings of a building - complete with children holding balloons, small trees lining the streets etc - and compare with real pictures of the building from the same angle.
As per normal, because of my poor English I have to correct a misunderstanding of one of my posts yesterday. I seem to need to do this every day. I'm blaming using a phone to post and nothing to do with my incompetence. Sorry for the delay in responding but I'm only just back.
So @dixiedean I wasn't suggesting Comprehensives don't stream. I agree with you and I don't know any that don't. My point was that because they stream and set classes they provide the same benefits of grammars except it is ongoing and not some crude cut off at 11 which also doesn't allow for kids who might be bright in some subjects and rubbish in others and also doesn't allow for kids who might be late starters or who have peaked early.
My experience of this in the early 60s was traumatic and although this wouldn't happen today to this extent, I was excluded from languages and literature and had to do completely inappropriate subjects (practical ones for which I had no talent) because I was a late academic starter (although my maths ability was always there, but as an awkward youngster it wasn't spotted eg I refused to learn times tables as I thought it pointless). My failure to learn a language is something I have always regretted.
@Sandpit you came up with a very interesting idea about doing grammars in reverse. That is selecting the bottom 10%. I find this very interesting. An obvious gut reaction is that it is the same problem, but if done well and with specific resources and one to one focus I think this could be a clever idea.
The major attraction to parents of grammars is that the nasty and disruptive kids - either those who will male lessons unmanageable or those who will make your kids' lives a misery - tend to be elsewhere.
Its not just the 20mph, its the blanket nature of the policy. Absolutely no need for it to be 20mph at 3am...the argument about runners or kids, there isn't any at that time.
The US system of having 30mph, then at certain times e.g. school times, its 20mph seems a perfectly sensible comprise.
It isn't really a blanket policy, though:
The Welsh government have acknowledged the new lower limit won't be appropriate everywhere and local authorities can make exceptions, though not outside schools.
And the autonomy can only be increased in the process, I think.
Think about all the money that will no longer need to be spent on traffic calming, and cane be spent more usefully.
With the terrible twosome backing Truss from right outside No10, it looks too much like BBC Truss is Boris's preferred candidate. The optics are awful for her on that.
Glad that Shapps has finally stepped aside. Hopefully that is the end of his career
NEW: John Major fires a broadside at the cabinet, many of whom are now running for Tory leader (Suank, Truss, Zahawi...) for failing to confront the PM.
Penny seems like such a sensible choice for the Tories I cannot believe they would pick her. She seems pleasant, and sane. That said, she is probably too woke for the rump when it comes down to it.
But, she would be hard for Labour to beat.
Presentationally for sure. Still think we are underplaying the sheer task of government, though. I've heard nowt from her that suggests she's the first clue about how to tackle the economic issues.
She is not an outlier in this, mind.
I don't think Sunak has a clue either, he was a poor Chancellor with no answers in my opinion.
Not sure there are any answers tbh. Someone saying there aren't, and especially no painless ones, is at least a start.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Perhaps this a difference between urban and rural foxes. The urban foxes where we are (and there are a lot of them) and the local cats generally ignore each other completely, even when they are within a few metres of each other.
Maybe, the ones who come here are definitely rural.
Its not just the 20mph, its the blanket nature of the policy. Absolutely no need for it to be 20mph at 3am...the argument about runners or kids, there isn't any at that time.
The US system of having 30mph, then at certain times e.g. school times, its 20mph seems a perfectly sensible comprise.
It isn't really a blanket policy, though:
The Welsh government have acknowledged the new lower limit won't be appropriate everywhere and local authorities can make exceptions, though not outside schools.
And the autonomy can only be increased in the process, I think.
Think about all the money that will no longer need to be spent on traffic calming, and cane be spent more usefully.
Lets see, I bet its 20mph basically everywhere, as the argument will always be think of the kids...its like new temporary taxes, they only ever become permanent and go up.
The Queen’s most senior advisors have been working closely with Downing Street officials to ensure “her Majesty is not put in a difficult position” over any honours that outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson may attempt to bestow before leaving office, i understands.
It is understood the Queen’s private secretary Sir Edward Young has been in regular contact with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case since Mr Johnson resigned last Thursday and has been assured the UK’s top civil servant will vet any recommendations deemed unsuitable before passing them on to the Palace.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Boring, I'm afraid - to my mind. Also, 96% of planned buildings look better in the render than in reality, so that will get worse
That is quite deliberate, I think. And quite a few renders I've seen are from perspectives impossible in real life unless you're airborne. Good architects are rare.
That's not offensive and quite like the part octagon shaping. And it's not that tall really.
Where is it? Are we looking N / NE towards the St. Peter's Square there? Somewhere west of Oxford Road?
Euro was $1.00016 a couple of minutes ago. Today might be the day it breaks through parity.
It’s got quite a bit further to fall too, if as expected the Fed raises rates and the ECB doesn’t.
Yes, Sterling is struggling too because we are paying the price of the MPC of the Bank being so painfully behind the curve on interest rate increases in the face of such high inflation.
Alternatively, the dollar is strong as the US is less susceptible to inflationary energy prices.
Their Fed isn't afraid to stick up rates either.
I think inflation may have peaked in the US already. Container rates are also down quite a lot.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Had a fox den in our garden for a couple of years (thankfully the messy blighters have moved on). Our cats survived unscathed.
I like Mordaunt being in transition on woke questions.
There is an increasing tendency in the commentariat to move the d in Tugendhat two letters to the right. Similar to swapping the u and a in Mordaunt, which I am often guilty of myself.
Oh Matthew Goodwin is back, the most useless academic in history.
What people actually care about is their bills. What are the Tories going to do about it
He is the most annoying, droning, one-trick pony for sure. But you have to hand it to him: he has somehow fashioned a career out of saying exactly the same thing over and over again and getting someone to pay him for it.
Actually we shouldn’t call him an academic anymore. He’s more a lobbyist.
Dishonest to the core, he spent his last two weeks deleting old Tweets.
He only posts polls he likes and only posts research that supports what he already thinks to be true. He is genuinely the most useless person on Twitter today. Why he has any reputation I do not know.
But as you said, he is a genius. Because people pay him for this crap
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
I'm feeling good, I have wanted Boris out for nearly a year now, so I'm getting what I wanted.
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
Is that first crow I hear crowing, second or the third?
You didn't really want your beloved "Boris" out. You loved him, even more so that HYUFD and Leon. Your protestations and falling in behind "the herd" are incredible in the real sense of the word.
If there were a leadership race for Bozo Apologist, you would beat HYUFD by a mile. Your protestations to the contrary are as believable as, well, Boris Johnson himself lol.
I did like Boris when he was standing for what I believed in.
When he broke the manifesto on something I passionately believe in, I turned against him, and I've not equivocated from that point from then on. That was nearly a year ago.
For as long as Boris matched my believes, I was willing to back him. Once he went against them, I wasn't anymore. It was never Boris I believed in, I have always believed in my own beliefs and Boris was matching them until he raised NI (against his prior pledge not to) which was a dealbreaker for me.
Yea right. Moooooo
People are more complicated than the one-dimensional caricatures that is all you are able to think in.
I wrote off my own back a thread header that was published here when I stopped supporting Boris, saying why, when the Tories were still polling leads and Boris was still leading in the polls versus Starmer. But you don't believe I stopped supporting him, despite the fact I said there and then why I have. 🙄
You also regularly question the fact that I used to be pro-Remain, despite the fact that I've posted on this website for fifteen years now and was making pro-Remain arguments until I was won around by the Leave ones that convinced me - and that people here remember that.
All you're showing by your lack of understanding is that you can't comprehend that people are more complicated than you give them credit for. You've pigeon-holed me in the wrong way, and so now you're confused whenever that doesn't meet reality, which is quite regularly.
Yes, there is a certain sort of Boris-basher for whom any failure to castigate Boris for absolutely everything is equal to being Boris's biggest fan. It's not enough simply not to support him, not enough even to say you want to see him gone, you have to actively display your hatred at every opportunity.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Yes - the foxes are large, and they seem to be losing their fear of pretty much anything. The local foxes just stop are stare, rather than running for cover when humans approach.
Foxes are the ultimate opportunist predator. Many cats have barely any fighting ability - bred to be fluffy and nice. Why not eat them?
Very wise move. Most of the streets around me are now 20mph and you get used to it.
Nobody needs to be flying around at 30mph in towns.
I would prefer 25. Trying to pass some nerd on a bike who thinks he is Bradley Wiggins doing 15mph is a bit annoying.
15mph is hardly Bradley Wiggins! That's about my average speed on my ~15 mile commute (allowing for stops, traffic lights etc at each end) and I have to accept I'm now MAMIL territory age wise, even if I mostly dodge the lycra.
15 mph is a moderately quick average speed for a normal person on a bike. It's also the effective general limit for people on legal e-bikes.
If someone is doing 15 in a 20 overtaking is unlikely to save any time for the person in the car.
And the solution is to provide attractive-to-use segregated cycle routes.
The stats on people killed by motorists are also very convincing:
Before you know it, you will be following a herd of 10 year olds cycling to school
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Yes - the foxes are large, and they seem to be losing their fear of pretty much anything. The local foxes just stop are stare, rather than running for cover when humans approach.
Foxes are the ultimate opportunist predator. Many cats have barely any fighting ability - bred to be fluffy and nice. Why not eat them?
Good for the bird population, and less likely to spread brain-altering parasites, I would presume (as the dead cats no longer shite in neighbours' gardens).
I like Mordaunt being in transition on woke questions.
There is an increasing tendency in the commentariat to move the d in Tugendhat two letters to the right. Similar to swapping the u and a in Mordaunt, which I am often guilty of myself.
For years I always thought it was Tugdenhat...
Understandable. That would be easier to say. As Morduant would be easier to say than Mordaunt. I think our brains try to arrange unfamiliar words into ways we can make sense of them.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Perhaps this a difference between urban and rural foxes. The urban foxes where we are (and there are a lot of them) and the local cats generally ignore each other completely, even when they are within a few metres of each other.
Maybe, the ones who come here are definitely rural.
Meanwhile the local pet owners' FB group recently told of a greyhound off its lead in the park, which ran out of the park and killed a cat sitting in its own front garden.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Perhaps this a difference between urban and rural foxes. The urban foxes where we are (and there are a lot of them) and the local cats generally ignore each other completely, even when they are within a few metres of each other.
We are completely urban here - West London. The foxes show up on the street, and the cats vanish.
Its not just the 20mph, its the blanket nature of the policy. Absolutely no need for it to be 20mph at 3am...the argument about runners or kids, there isn't any at that time.
The US system of having 30mph, then at certain times e.g. school times, its 20mph seems a perfectly sensible comprise.
It isn't really a blanket policy, though:
The Welsh government have acknowledged the new lower limit won't be appropriate everywhere and local authorities can make exceptions, though not outside schools.
And the autonomy can only be increased in the process, I think.
Think about all the money that will no longer need to be spent on traffic calming, and cane be spent more usefully.
And without huge sums on enforcement, the roads will continue to be used at speeds that suit road conditions
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Boring, I'm afraid - to my mind. Also, 96% of planned buildings look better in the render than in reality, so that will get worse
That is quite deliberate, I think. And quite a few renders I've seen are from perspectives impossible in real life unless you're airborne. Good architects are rare.
DALLE-2 is producing some amazing architectural designs. Superior to most human designs
This is surely one field where AI will reign supreme quite soon. A few star architects will run offices staffed mainly by computers; eventually we will see buildings with no human input at all
Some would say we've had those since Le Corbusier. Buildings with rather more human input would be my preference.
The Queen’s most senior advisors have been working closely with Downing Street officials to ensure “her Majesty is not put in a difficult position” over any honours that outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson may attempt to bestow before leaving office, i understands.
It is understood the Queen’s private secretary Sir Edward Young has been in regular contact with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case since Mr Johnson resigned last Thursday and has been assured the UK’s top civil servant will vet any recommendations deemed unsuitable before passing them on to the Palace.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Boring, I'm afraid - to my mind. Also, 96% of planned buildings look better in the render than in reality, so that will get worse
That is quite deliberate, I think. And quite a few renders I've seen are from perspectives impossible in real life unless you're airborne. Good architects are rare.
DALLE-2 is producing some amazing architectural designs. Superior to most human designs
This is surely one field where AI will reign supreme quite soon. A few star architects will run offices staffed mainly by computers; eventually we will see buildings with no human input at all
Some would say we've had those since Le Corbusier. Buildings with rather more human input would be my preference.
There is a lot more to architecture that coming up with a design for the exterior. We are a long, long way off AI being nuanced enough to produce a set of blue prints for a building rather than concept art.
There are just too many variables to take human input out of the equation just yet
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Boring, I'm afraid - to my mind. Also, 96% of planned buildings look better in the render than in reality, so that will get worse
As I've said passim, one thing I'd love to do is get architect's drawings of a building - complete with children holding balloons, small trees lining the streets etc - and compare with real pictures of the building from the same angle.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
I'm feeling good, I have wanted Boris out for nearly a year now, so I'm getting what I wanted.
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
Is that first crow I hear crowing, second or the third?
You didn't really want your beloved "Boris" out. You loved him, even more so that HYUFD and Leon. Your protestations and falling in behind "the herd" are incredible in the real sense of the word.
If there were a leadership race for Bozo Apologist, you would beat HYUFD by a mile. Your protestations to the contrary are as believable as, well, Boris Johnson himself lol.
I did like Boris when he was standing for what I believed in.
When he broke the manifesto on something I passionately believe in, I turned against him, and I've not equivocated from that point from then on. That was nearly a year ago.
For as long as Boris matched my believes, I was willing to back him. Once he went against them, I wasn't anymore. It was never Boris I believed in, I have always believed in my own beliefs and Boris was matching them until he raised NI (against his prior pledge not to) which was a dealbreaker for me.
Yea right. Moooooo
People are more complicated than the one-dimensional caricatures that is all you are able to think in.
I wrote off my own back a thread header that was published here when I stopped supporting Boris, saying why, when the Tories were still polling leads and Boris was still leading in the polls versus Starmer. But you don't believe I stopped supporting him, despite the fact I said there and then why I have. 🙄
You also regularly question the fact that I used to be pro-Remain, despite the fact that I've posted on this website for fifteen years now and was making pro-Remain arguments until I was won around by the Leave ones that convinced me - and that people here remember that.
All you're showing by your lack of understanding is that you can't comprehend that people are more complicated than you give them credit for. You've pigeon-holed me in the wrong way, and so now you're confused whenever that doesn't meet reality, which is quite regularly.
Agree with them or not, I've always found your positions entirely clear and straightforward.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
foxes attacking cats is a extremely rare thing.
Seen it in our cul de sac a couple of times when the foxes come out of the wood. The males are surprisingly large. The cats try to hide under cars if they get caught on the ground and are usually ok if the car has a low enough base. But the foxes really go for them.
Perhaps this a difference between urban and rural foxes. The urban foxes where we are (and there are a lot of them) and the local cats generally ignore each other completely, even when they are within a few metres of each other.
We are completely urban here - West London. The foxes show up on the street, and the cats vanish.
Our old cat was more than capable of seeing off a fox. Hard as nails, he was. Partly it was out of necessity - he was quite arthritic so running away wasn't really an option. But I don't think this is unusual - foxes may be bigger but they're not that tough for their size. (He also gave any dog which came within range short shrift. Dogs were always puzzled at his refusal to run away.)
Current cats are far more cowardly, though the little black one takes great delight in sitting on the fence of the yappy bichon frise next door and cocking a snook at it.
Rishi looking good to dominate the first ballot on the current trend.
It may come down to who can consolidate the stop Rishi vote. Truss? She’s also the candidate Rishi would probably want to face in the second round so if he has spare votes that could prove crucial.
Penny needs to get some more endorsements in today I think. I could see her starting to struggle.
Badenoch now saying politicians have “for too long being telling you: you can have your cake and eat it”
She tries to distance herself from unfunded tax cuts and spending rises by suggesting she’ll slim down the state
Badenoch says she “will not enter a tax bidding war” where “my tax cuts are bigger than yours”
It would be “to make promises you cannot keep”, which she says would be a “betrayal”
Tax cuts only achievable by rolling back the state
She calls for cuts in international aid, for schools to focus on core teaching not support staff and “superfluous” activities, to stop funding certain university courses, to free up police resources from dealing with “hurt feelings online”
Oh Matthew Goodwin is back, the most useless academic in history.
What people actually care about is their bills. What are the Tories going to do about it
He is the most annoying, droning, one-trick pony for sure. But you have to hand it to him: he has somehow fashioned a career out of saying exactly the same thing over and over again and getting someone to pay him for it.
Actually we shouldn’t call him an academic anymore. He’s more a lobbyist.
Dishonest to the core, he spent his last two weeks deleting old Tweets.
He only posts polls he likes and only posts research that supports what he already thinks to be true. He is genuinely the most useless person on Twitter today. Why he has any reputation I do not know.
But as you said, he is a genius. Because people pay him for this crap
Comments
In Naples it used to get to 40 degrees in the summer. People decamped to the hills or the coast. But if you stayed the rule was to close the shutters during the day so the rooms - large with stone floors - remained cool and dark and to rest during the hottest part of the day.
I like shutters on a house. Why don't we have them here I wonder?
The interesting, though actually not that surprising thing here is that it is the white candidates who are the wokest.
It's all about what it brings to the locality, and how it integrates into the immediate area.
If it is just a golden pedestal that richer people live on top of, then it is a missed opportunity.
Still think we are underplaying the sheer task of government, though. I've heard nowt from her that suggests she's the first clue about how to tackle the economic issues.
She is not an outlier in this, mind.
https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1546796702623039490
But yes, of course, this winter is going to be tough worldwide, except for major energy exporters perhaps. The UK is in a slightly better position than Germany, but it's marginal and all will feel pain
I intend to spend (Covid and God permitting) a goodly chunk of winter 22-23 in the stews of Bangkok, where it will be lovely and warm
And on that note, I must head out on my terrace to sunbathe and swim. Later
From 2015:
https://icds.ee/en/nord-stream-expansion-agreed-wintershall-swapped-to-gazprom/
Germany is leading Western Europe’s return to business as usual with Russia in the natural gas sector, notwithstanding Russia’s war in Ukraine. On September 4, at the Vladivostok economic forum, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance, two binding agreements were signed that will dramatically increase Germany’s reliance on Russian natural gas for consumption, transit and storage. One agreement involves construction of the Nord Stream Two gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed, from Russia to Germany. The other agreement will see Gazprom’s full takeover of Wintershall’s gas marketing business and gas storages within Germany, in return for Wintershall acquiring minority stakes in a Siberian gas field.
These agreements’ ramifications, however, extend far beyond the Russo-German bilateral gas trade.
Both agreements presuppose special derogations for Germany from the European Union’s energy market legislation (Third Package) and EU competition policies.
What people actually care about is their bills. What are the Tories going to do about it
That should scare a lot of people.
But thanks for your input. Was pondering this question, and couldn't decide.
Still can't tbh.
Adam Price has both a home in his constituency of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, and Cardiff. Mr Price's register of interests says his partner, who is a judge, has two rental properties in London. His register of interests for the previous Senedd (from 2016 to 2021) said he had also owned a residential property in London but that has now ceased.
Mark Drakeford owns a second home that is a chalet in Pembrokeshire though (presumably from some quirk of Pembrokeshire as it is not true in Gwynedd) he pays reduced Council Tax on it.
I think this is very interesting as it shows how deep & close the relationship between property and politicians is (even for ones on the political left). If you acquire money, as most politicians do, it is natural to put it in property.
It is why it has proved so difficult to get sensible taxation on property in the UK.
https://order-order.com/2022/07/12/brendan-clarke-smith-threatens-legal-action-over-photo-smears/
Guido understands newly-appointed education minister Brendan Clarke-Smith is preparing to post a raft of legal letters to high-profile celebrity lefties who spread false claims about a photo of the MP that appeared over the weekend. The photo, which showed Clarke-Smith posing in a thong, was taken over ten years ago during a waxing fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation and Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. It made the rounds recently when the Twitterati baselessly declared it showed Clarke-Smith mocking NHS staff during the height of the pandemic…
https://twitter.com/sueperkins/status/1546539941999542272
Sue Perkins 💙
@sueperkins
1/ I messed up & want to offer a correction. I retweeted a post about
@Bren4Bassetlaw
without fact-checking. The picture of him was not taken during the pandemic, nor was he mocking NHS staff. He was fund-raising. I’d like to offer him my sincerest apologies for any upset caused.
Mrs Toad of Toad Hall was not happy in the pilot project. It is not clear why this is a problem:
"Cyclists are having a whale of a time on Liverpool Road because they can do more than 20mph on their bikes and we can't do more than 20mph in a car - so I've had quite a lot of reports of people being overtaken by cycles."
"They were silent when they should've spoken out, and only spoke out when their silence became self-damaging."
https://twitter.com/michaelsavage/status/1546798017319157765
And quite a few renders I've seen are from perspectives impossible in real life unless you're airborne. Good architects are rare.
I think that people should be forced to "pin" the correction for x days on their twitter feed. Its all too easy for a single tweet (that doesn't get engagement) to whizz by and nobody see it.
Container rates are also down quite a lot.
She is now being introduced by Eddie Hughes (not Gove)
https://twitter.com/singharj/status/1546798345611612160
I don't think that France and Germany have had any leaders of stature since Mitterand and Kohl.
https://twitter.com/lambchop03/status/1546541195010228227
Carol Fairlamb
@lambchop03
Replying to
@sueperkins
To be fair, I think we can all understand why, in the current climate, you assumed this was yet another Tory MP behaving …badly. But, as always, you are being marvellous. 👍
And...
https://twitter.com/pclincsavon/status/1546544651078860802
PC
@pclincsavon
Replying to
@sueperkins
and
@Bren4Bassetlaw
This is how civilised people behave, Sue Perkins you are wonderful.
This is surely one field where AI will reign supreme quite soon. A few star architects will run offices staffed mainly by computers; eventually we will see buildings with no human input at all
And look at Price + partner. 4 homes (two rental in London). Pretty good, though I am sure some pb-ers can beat that.
I wrote off my own back a thread header that was published here when I stopped supporting Boris, saying why, when the Tories were still polling leads and Boris was still leading in the polls versus Starmer. But you don't believe I stopped supporting him, despite the fact I said there and then why I have. 🙄
You also regularly question the fact that I used to be pro-Remain, despite the fact that I've posted on this website for fifteen years now and was making pro-Remain arguments until I was won around by the Leave ones that convinced me - and that people here remember that.
All you're showing by your lack of understanding is that you can't comprehend that people are more complicated than you give them credit for. You've pigeon-holed me in the wrong way, and so now you're confused whenever that doesn't meet reality, which is quite regularly.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcnews
It's not unknown. My parents' (Victorian) house has internal shutters in a couple of the rooms.
The Welsh government have acknowledged the new lower limit won't be appropriate everywhere and local authorities can make exceptions, though not outside schools.
And the autonomy can only be increased in the process, I think.
Think about all the money that will no longer need to be spent on traffic calming, and cane be spent more usefully.
Glad that Shapps has finally stepped aside. Hopefully that is the end of his career
Badenoch now saying politicians have “for too long being telling you: you can have your cake and eat it”
She tries to distance herself from unfunded tax cuts and spending rises by suggesting she’ll slim down the state
https://twitter.com/singharj/status/1546799488047644672
Someone saying there aren't, and especially no painless ones, is at least a start.
It is understood the Queen’s private secretary Sir Edward Young has been in regular contact with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case since Mr Johnson resigned last Thursday and has been assured the UK’s top civil servant will vet any recommendations deemed unsuitable before passing them on to the Palace.
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/palace-relies-on-top-civil-servant-to-temper-boris-johnsons-resignation-honours-list-1736380?
Where is it? Are we looking N / NE towards the St. Peter's Square there? Somewhere west of Oxford Road?
Dishonest to the core, he spent his last two weeks deleting old Tweets.
He only posts polls he likes and only posts research that supports what he already thinks to be true. He is genuinely the most useless person on Twitter today. Why he has any reputation I do not know.
But as you said, he is a genius. Because people pay him for this crap
Foxes are the ultimate opportunist predator. Many cats have barely any fighting ability - bred to be fluffy and nice. Why not eat them?
If someone is doing 15 in a 20 overtaking is unlikely to save any time for the person in the car.
And the solution is to provide attractive-to-use segregated cycle routes.
The stats on people killed by motorists are also very convincing:
Before you know it, you will be following a herd of 10 year olds cycling to school
(talking of which the Mo Farrah story is truly remarkable).
The tax base is at the highest its been in decades and spending went up not down during so-called "austerity". There's plenty to slim.
Buildings with rather more human input would be my preference.
And that opens up a different question - what should the Government do and why?
There are just too many variables to take human input out of the equation just yet
(He also gave any dog which came within range short shrift. Dogs were always puzzled at his refusal to run away.)
Current cats are far more cowardly, though the little black one takes great delight in sitting on the fence of the yappy bichon frise next door and cocking a snook at it.
It may come down to who can consolidate the stop Rishi vote. Truss? She’s also the candidate Rishi would probably want to face in the second round so if he has spare votes that could prove crucial.
Penny needs to get some more endorsements in today I think. I could see her starting to struggle.
She tries to distance herself from unfunded tax cuts and spending rises by suggesting she’ll slim down the state
Badenoch says she “will not enter a tax bidding war” where “my tax cuts are bigger than yours”
It would be “to make promises you cannot keep”, which she says would be a “betrayal”
Tax cuts only achievable by rolling back the state
She calls for cuts in international aid, for schools to focus on core teaching not support staff and “superfluous” activities, to stop funding certain university courses, to free up police resources from dealing with “hurt feelings online”
https://twitter.com/singharj/status/1546799488047644672