Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Liz Truss now odds-on favourite in the CON leadership betting – politicalbetting.com

15791011

Comments

  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 3,056

    FUCKING HELL

    In fact, we expect today’s temperatures to expand each kilometre of rail by 30cm.

    We have about 30,000km of rail on a normal day but the network is 9km longer today!

    https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/1549409910693285888

    Explainer:

    https://www.networkrail.co.uk/stories/why-rails-buckle-in-britain/

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,069
    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    Most people’s Imaginary friends are normally more benign.
    Harvey liked a drink

    https://youtu.be/7kMwRkAqOQs
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,184
    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,851
    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    Perhaps that's to get through what he knows lies ahead?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,851

    The problem with CGT on property is it only harms those who move and is exceptionally easy to avoid if you don't even while cashing in on your capital gains.

    People can cash out gains by remortgaging paying then only interest payments while avoiding the tax as the gain isn't officially "realised".

    Tax annually on the value. Self cert, spot checks, big penalties for fraud.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    edited July 2022
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    Perhaps that's to get through what he knows lies ahead?
    This usually happens in his favourite little bar in Belsize Park, so maybe he just wants more time to enjoy the skating rink and private cinema etc
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,083
    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    Fresh back from having spent many a warm evening wandering the happy streets of Italian cities, to spending last weekend in Banbury where by 10pm every pub was pumping out loud music and the streets were full of drunken people staggering about and urinating in the street, maybe the Italians actually have the better of it?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    They are rubbish drinkers


    Incidentally I was a bit harsh on Regents Park earlier. As the sun began to ebb, it livened up a lot as people finally came out


  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,851
    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    Opposite here. I'm getting used to it and wouldn't mind a couple more.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,069
    2% for the Junior doctors, 4.5% for me with 9%CPI and 11% RPI.

    Those Juniors are not a happy bunch, effectively they will be working free for a month.

    https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/brutal-pay-cut-will-come-as-a-bitter-blow-to-doctors-says-bma
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    stodge said:

    Late afternoon all :)

    Walked to the corner shop and back just after 5pm - only in Las Vegas and Singapore have I experienced heat like that (and I was on the shaded side of the street). Potentially very dangerous and thankfully only a few other idiots like me out and about.

    This is a 48-hour hot snap - what happens if the next one is 5 days or longer? I can only hope more sensible people like Mrs Stodge have heeded the warnings and stayed indoors. As the cooler air arrives with higher humidity I suspect it will be even more unpleasant for a short period.

    I do wonder if instead of proposing tax cuts we can't afford, a "summer cooling allowance" might be an option - all right, it's a barely formulated half-idea but it would fit well in the current Conservative leadership campaign?

    Grant Shapps has at least conceded upgrading the nation's infrastructure to deal with this kind of heat won't be cheap - presumably we can use of the huge amounts being pledged for defence not that'll be of much use if your tanks and planes get stuck on melted asphalt.

    Badenoch has earned herself a "serious job" in the next cabinet and you'd think in the event of a Conservative defeat next time, she'd be a shoo-in to be the LOTO. That said, from being a blank state on which anyone can project anything, she's not shown the surest of touches and again today failed to attract large numbers of votes from other candidates but as we all know elections are often more about making sure who doesn't win.

    The Sunakans, Mordauntists and Trussites will all now scrap for the crumbs from Badenoch's table safe in the knowledge they'll be serving under her down the road - the favours you do now will earn you dividends later as a wise man once said, actually me, just now.

    It's worth noting that the ECML is currently closed south of York because it was modernised on the cheap.

    There is a fix for the ECML though but Mr Shapps scrapped HS2E last year.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,461
    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,837
    edited July 2022
    Am really pleased I got a north facing flat. No direct sunlight except first and last thing.
    Hasn't been above 23°C inside.
    As warm now as it has ever been outside, mind.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    Opposite here. I'm getting used to it and wouldn't mind a couple more.
    It's still going to be 27C or so tomorrow - we used to call that "scorching"

    Indeed London has a lovely spell of weather upcoming, once we exit the furnace: many days of 23-30C, with lots of sun, and the odd brief refreshing shower. THAT is perfect
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 113,969

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    I'm so old I remember the comments which said Labour wouldn't lead a poll this side of a GE.

    Mind you, I can also remember when the Boris fans cheered above inflation pay rises.
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,881

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    Yep it's funny how the groupthink can change on a sixpence. FWIW I think Truss could prove to be a tough opponent for Starmer. The good news for Labour is that she does not represent a clean break from Johnson.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 3,336
    Pro_Rata said:

    carnforth said:

    FUCKING HELL

    In fact, we expect today’s temperatures to expand each kilometre of rail by 30cm.

    We have about 30,000km of rail on a normal day but the network is 9km longer today!

    https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/1549409910693285888

    Explainer:

    https://www.networkrail.co.uk/stories/why-rails-buckle-in-britain/

    30 more days like this and the Tories can claim to have completed HS2 track length in full at zero cost.

    How much have the hospitals expanded by?
    40?
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,396
    Congratulations to all of you for breaking the temperature records. And I notice that you have done that, even after having imposed a small handicap on yourselves since at least 2005: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-kingdom?country=~GBR

    Perhaps you can start thinking about raisng pineapples soon, so you need no longer be so stoic about your shortages.

    (The heat wave that will hit much of the US soon won't break many records, but it will be impressive for its extent.)
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,517
    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Breaking - hottest ever day for Scotland, official.

    I think it was topping 10C, although that may be wrong?

    We have driven from Llandudno to Pitlochry today in extraordinary temperatures, and when stopping at service stations all along the route it reminded me of our time driving In Australia, especially around Alice Springs with the unbearable heat

    You drove for miles and miles looking out at exactly the same view, save for the occasional kangaroo foolishly trying to cross the road, and the drivers of cars coming the other way lifted a finger off the wheel in recognition of your mutual adventure into the unknown?
    What got me when driving in Oz - and this was not even the Outback - was a minor road heading towards the Murray River. There was a sign saying 'bend 10 miles', then another 'bend 5 miles', then an increasing frequency of warnings. The road eventually took a 90-degree bend to run alongside the river, and if you did not take the bend, you would end up falling to the (at the time) low river.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    "I'm old enough to remember" is on The List

    SKS is not someone I'd be getting triumphalist about. A one trick pony of being a prosecutor (not a great one or he wouldn't have been sidelined into admin) who extraordinarily lucked out in having a prosecutable opponent as PM. Wasn't great even then, and isn't going to get the same break twice unless it turns out Lizzie runs a string of meth labs on the side.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 3,336
    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    Oh I do that, but I didn’t know there was a name for it…

    Isn’t it called front loading?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    dixiedean said:

    Am really pleased I got a north facing flat. No direct sunlight except first and last thing.
    Hasn't been above 23°C inside.
    As warm now as it has ever been outside, mind.

    Someone on netweather is claiming this is the hottest day in Britain for "thousands of years"

    Quite a striking claim. I've been considering it

    We can't really know because even the most tenuous of records only go back to the 17th century

    We also know that the Roman period was fairly balmy - vineyards in the south, and the medieval warm period saw much of exposed Dartmoor settled

    But did they ever reach 40C? Quite possibly not

    Which means that today was possibly the hottest day in the entire history of "Britain": ie going back to the day when the island of Britain was formed, by the flooding of Doggerland, after the Ice Age, maybe 8,000 years ago
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,343
    Leon said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Leon said:

    Temps still nudging up in the north

    40.3C in Coningsby Lincs

    Extraordinary day

    My 42 bet is dead in the water. Still, I break even and I had to guard against the possibility of the 40-42 bet losing on the down side. I aimed high and missed.
    You still did well. As - modest cough - did I

    A few days ago I predicted “39.8C in London or Cambs”

    I was 0.5C out, and Coningsby is 40 miles north of Cambs. Not too shabby
    Throw out enough predictions and some of them are going to land close!
    I made one precise prediction about this heatwave. That was it

    Apart from this I gave probabilities - eg 50% chance of breaking the record, 30% chance of hitting 40C. Etc. Probabilities which, IIRC, were closer to the case than yours ;)
    When you go to the casino I reckon you put chips on every number…
    Feel free to find any prediction about heatwave temps, made by me, other than the one I state
    The great thing about giving probabilities rather than predictions is that, unless you attribute a 0% or 100% probability, you (I predict) cannot ever be wrong.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,461
    edited July 2022
    IshmaelZ said:

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    "I'm old enough to remember" is on The List

    SKS is not someone I'd be getting triumphalist about. A one trick pony of being a prosecutor (not a great one or he wouldn't have been sidelined into admin) who extraordinarily lucked out in having a prosecutable opponent as PM. Wasn't great even then, and isn't going to get the same break twice unless it turns out Lizzie runs a string of meth labs on the side.
    I didn't realise you didn't rate Starmer. You've never mentioned it. One-trick pony, indeed.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 7,981

    Congratulations to all of you for breaking the temperature records. And I notice that you have done that, even after having imposed a small handicap on yourselves since at least 2005: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-kingdom?country=~GBR

    Perhaps you can start thinking about raisng pineapples soon, so you need no longer be so stoic about your shortages.

    (The heat wave that will hit much of the US soon won't break many records, but it will be impressive for its extent.)

    This lot can moan all they like. I am loving it and if it cranks up another few degrees I can cope with that just fine :)
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 7,981

    Pro_Rata said:

    carnforth said:

    FUCKING HELL

    In fact, we expect today’s temperatures to expand each kilometre of rail by 30cm.

    We have about 30,000km of rail on a normal day but the network is 9km longer today!

    https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/1549409910693285888

    Explainer:

    https://www.networkrail.co.uk/stories/why-rails-buckle-in-britain/

    30 more days like this and the Tories can claim to have completed HS2 track length in full at zero cost.

    How much have the hospitals expanded by?
    40?
    -40 is more likely ;)
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,040
    Just been outside. Still burning hot at 34 in shade but just a feeling of a change in the air and wind picking up.
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 5,414
    Imagine a Liz Truss/Keir Starmer debate. Maybe the Tories are hoping we’ll all be too comatose to notice how bad Truss is. A canny tactic to winning the next GE!
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,399
    Just reached 28.1degC in the cooler side of our house, and still creeping up. I abandoned the living room earlier when it reached 32.

    Now less hot outside than in, so all windows open in living room and kitchen. When it gets below 28 outside I'll open the bedroom windows.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249

    Congratulations to all of you for breaking the temperature records. And I notice that you have done that, even after having imposed a small handicap on yourselves since at least 2005: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-kingdom?country=~GBR

    Perhaps you can start thinking about raisng pineapples soon, so you need no longer be so stoic about your shortages.

    (The heat wave that will hit much of the US soon won't break many records, but it will be impressive for its extent.)

    This lot can moan all they like. I am loving it and if it cranks up another few degrees I can cope with that just fine :)
    Aren't you in Ireland where it has peaked at << checks notes >> about 25C?
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 7,981
    eek said:

    stodge said:

    Late afternoon all :)

    Walked to the corner shop and back just after 5pm - only in Las Vegas and Singapore have I experienced heat like that (and I was on the shaded side of the street). Potentially very dangerous and thankfully only a few other idiots like me out and about.

    This is a 48-hour hot snap - what happens if the next one is 5 days or longer? I can only hope more sensible people like Mrs Stodge have heeded the warnings and stayed indoors. As the cooler air arrives with higher humidity I suspect it will be even more unpleasant for a short period.

    I do wonder if instead of proposing tax cuts we can't afford, a "summer cooling allowance" might be an option - all right, it's a barely formulated half-idea but it would fit well in the current Conservative leadership campaign?

    Grant Shapps has at least conceded upgrading the nation's infrastructure to deal with this kind of heat won't be cheap - presumably we can use of the huge amounts being pledged for defence not that'll be of much use if your tanks and planes get stuck on melted asphalt.

    Badenoch has earned herself a "serious job" in the next cabinet and you'd think in the event of a Conservative defeat next time, she'd be a shoo-in to be the LOTO. That said, from being a blank state on which anyone can project anything, she's not shown the surest of touches and again today failed to attract large numbers of votes from other candidates but as we all know elections are often more about making sure who doesn't win.

    The Sunakans, Mordauntists and Trussites will all now scrap for the crumbs from Badenoch's table safe in the knowledge they'll be serving under her down the road - the favours you do now will earn you dividends later as a wise man once said, actually me, just now.

    It's worth noting that the ECML is currently closed south of York because it was modernised on the cheap.

    There is a fix for the ECML though but Mr Shapps scrapped HS2E last year.
    It is the sort of cost-cutting, cheese-paring deed that various British govts have done for years, definitely for decades and perhaps even for a couple of centuries. They are always averse to spend what it takes to do the job right.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    IshmaelZ said:

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    "I'm old enough to remember" is on The List

    SKS is not someone I'd be getting triumphalist about. A one trick pony of being a prosecutor (not a great one or he wouldn't have been sidelined into admin) who extraordinarily lucked out in having a prosecutable opponent as PM. Wasn't great even then, and isn't going to get the same break twice unless it turns out Lizzie runs a string of meth labs on the side.
    The UK remake of Breaking Bad has an interesting cast.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,399

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    Oh I do that, but I didn’t know there was a name for it…

    Isn’t it called front loading?
    Pre-loading
  • BalrogBalrog Posts: 207
    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    I detect an element of misogyny in the criticism of Truss. If a generic male Tory - say Ben Wallace - had the same record and the same positions, he wouldn't be treated as some kind of barely sane halfwit in the way Truss is.

    No, it's her position on tax and spend which is a disaster. Anyone who's suggesting we can cut taxes right now has got a screw loose.
    Not long ago we all agreed raising taxes was a screw loose.

    Reversing that mistake is rational, not a screw loose. You don't fix the economy by raising taxes ever higher on workers in order to build up war chests for grey vote sweeties.
    No, raising NI was idiotic. Reversing that, fine, replace the income from somewhere else because we have a rapidly slowing economy and we're borrowing £135bn per year and that number is now barely falling. Or cut spending (including the NHS) by the same amount.

    Liz is proposing to do what Brown did in 2004-2007, run a huge deficit in the run up to a recession. It was a terrible idea then and it's a terrible idea now.

    If it was up to me I'd be banging on the door of spending cuts and taxes on gross wealth with some overshoot to allow for fiscal flexibility to cut specific taxes on production and income for working age people.
    We're not running a deficit in the run-up to a recession, we're running a deficit in the aftermath of one. That's normal.

    All Rishi wants to do is put taxes up so he can have more money to give sweeties for grey voters. He won't do anything for us, just further pamper the grey.
    There is a recession looming and Liz is proposing to increase the deficit to fund tax cuts. If she said I'd cut NI but make it revenue neutral by raising elsewhere and cutting spending by some amount then I'd be fine with it. She isn't. She's going to put the deficit up to 6% of GDP on the eve of recession.
    Not meaning to cast nasturtiums, but you're proposing to raise interest rates on the eve of a recession, which would hit homeowners with mortgages pretty hard. And which would almost certainly make any recession worse.

    It'd be taking money from the young (who have debts) and handing it to the old (who have interest earning deposits).
    It would make housing more affordable (helping young people) and it would bring down asset prices (hurting older ones) and ideally bring down housing prices substantially (hurting landlords, mostly older people).

    Inflation hurts working age people because wages don't keep up with inflation, older people who have pensions will get their 9-11% rise from the government or defined benefit pension. Bringing the rate of inflation down will benefit working age people who are currently dealing with -2% real wage contraction and rising, especially among the lower paid.
    I'm not sure house prices falling hurts landlords if rents are stable or rising with inflation. Unless you have to sell, it's an opportunity to buy more properties at a higher yeild?
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,415
    Leon said:

    dixiedean said:

    Am really pleased I got a north facing flat. No direct sunlight except first and last thing.
    Hasn't been above 23°C inside.
    As warm now as it has ever been outside, mind.

    Someone on netweather is claiming this is the hottest day in Britain for "thousands of years"

    Quite a striking claim. I've been considering it

    We can't really know because even the most tenuous of records only go back to the 17th century

    We also know that the Roman period was fairly balmy - vineyards in the south, and the medieval warm period saw much of exposed Dartmoor settled

    But did they ever reach 40C? Quite possibly not

    Which means that today was possibly the hottest day in the entire history of "Britain": ie going back to the day when the island of Britain was formed, by the flooding of Doggerland, after the Ice Age, maybe 8,000 years ago
    it was certainly hotter in London on 2 September 1666
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,343
    rkrkrk said:

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    Yep it's funny how the groupthink can change on a sixpence. FWIW I think Truss could prove to be a tough opponent for Starmer. The good news for Labour is that she does not represent a clean break from Johnson.
    All politics is relative.

    Anyone who forgets this for a moment is doomed.

    SKS is dull - relative to whom? And suddenly dull and decent is OK.

    SKS is more or less honest and decent. Who cares? Until Boris made it matter.

    Labour is unelectable. Until the Tories make themselves even more unelectable.

  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,415

    Congratulations to all of you for breaking the temperature records. And I notice that you have done that, even after having imposed a small handicap on yourselves since at least 2005: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-kingdom?country=~GBR

    Perhaps you can start thinking about raisng pineapples soon, so you need no longer be so stoic about your shortages.

    (The heat wave that will hit much of the US soon won't break many records, but it will be impressive for its extent.)

    yeah i am welling up with pride
  • stodgestodge Posts: 12,743
    Leon said:


    Someone on netweather is claiming this is the hottest day in Britain for "thousands of years"

    Quite a striking claim. I've been considering it

    We can't really know because even the most tenuous of records only go back to the 17th century

    We also know that the Roman period was fairly balmy - vineyards in the south, and the medieval warm period saw much of exposed Dartmoor settled

    But did they ever reach 40C? Quite possibly not

    Which means that today was possibly the hottest day in the entire history of "Britain": ie going back to the day when the island of Britain was formed, by the flooding of Doggerland, after the Ice Age, maybe 8,000 years ago

    I post occasionally on Netweather - perhaps you should join us and offer your wisdom to a wider audience.

    We have no way of being certain - it seems improbable there wasn't at least one very hot summer in either the Roman or mediaeval period and there may be some allusion to it in some writings but that would require a lot more investigation.

    The synoptic set up which has brought today's exceptional conditions is rare but not that rare across a time lag of centuries.

    On balance, I'm going to disagree with you and suggest we probably have been this hot at some point in the past 2,000 years but not on many occasions and the growing frequency and severity of events would suggest to even the most sceptic observer something was happening and measures need to be put in place to mitigate the impacts.
  • StarryStarry Posts: 103
    Leon said:

    dixiedean said:

    Am really pleased I got a north facing flat. No direct sunlight except first and last thing.
    Hasn't been above 23°C inside.
    As warm now as it has ever been outside, mind.

    Someone on netweather is claiming this is the hottest day in Britain for "thousands of years"

    Quite a striking claim. I've been considering it

    We can't really know because even the most tenuous of records only go back to the 17th century

    We also know that the Roman period was fairly balmy - vineyards in the south, and the medieval warm period saw much of exposed Dartmoor settled

    But did they ever reach 40C? Quite possibly not

    Which means that today was possibly the hottest day in the entire history of "Britain": ie going back to the day when the island of Britain was formed, by the flooding of Doggerland, after the Ice Age, maybe 8,000 years ago
    We have plenty of ways of measuring ancient climates. From formanifera to dendrochronology. Ice bubbles to isotope ratios. Many more too, even before humans existed.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 12,415
    Leon said:

    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    They are rubbish drinkers


    Incidentally I was a bit harsh on Regents Park earlier. As the sun began to ebb, it livened up a lot as people finally came out


    Sasquatch?
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 4,861
    edited July 2022
    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    An Italian told me there is no special word for Hangover in Italian. It's just a "Headache" and to make it clear that it's a hangover they have to add something like "because I drank too much". I think that says a lot about Italians and drinking.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    "I'm old enough to remember" is on The List

    SKS is not someone I'd be getting triumphalist about. A one trick pony of being a prosecutor (not a great one or he wouldn't have been sidelined into admin) who extraordinarily lucked out in having a prosecutable opponent as PM. Wasn't great even then, and isn't going to get the same break twice unless it turns out Lizzie runs a string of meth labs on the side.
    I didn't realise you didn't rate Starmer. You've never mentioned it. One-trick pony, indeed.
    So you find him electrifyingly vibrant and exciting, or you are celebrating the fact that the tories have settled on the one adult human in the entire country you think he might just about get topsides of with a generous enough handicap? Which?

    One trick is over generous, probably. He is Mogadon man on steroids, or rather on mogadon. That moany whine of Last week Mr Speaker he said this, but in a different week he said a different thing.....
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 7,981
    Leon said:

    Congratulations to all of you for breaking the temperature records. And I notice that you have done that, even after having imposed a small handicap on yourselves since at least 2005: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-kingdom?country=~GBR

    Perhaps you can start thinking about raisng pineapples soon, so you need no longer be so stoic about your shortages.

    (The heat wave that will hit much of the US soon won't break many records, but it will be impressive for its extent.)

    This lot can moan all they like. I am loving it and if it cranks up another few degrees I can cope with that just fine :)
    Aren't you in Ireland where it has peaked at << checks notes >> about 25C?
    No, but I will be going back over shortly
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,263
    Having predicted Truss from the start, I'm chuffed and slightly richer. I think quite a bit of tactical voting may have been happening to squeezde out others. What would potentially change things would be if Badenoch endorsed Mordaunt, but I don't think that will happen.
  • OnboardG1OnboardG1 Posts: 1,272
    Foxy said:

    2% for the Junior doctors, 4.5% for me with 9%CPI and 11% RPI.

    Those Juniors are not a happy bunch, effectively they will be working free for a month.

    https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/brutal-pay-cut-will-come-as-a-bitter-blow-to-doctors-says-bma

    On top of all the time they work for free anyway. Who needs junior doctors right? Not sure what my pay uplift will be yet (arms length body) but I’m not holding out that much hope. I’d be grudgingly accepting of 5%. Less than that and I’m voting to reject. If they try to saddle me with 2% I’m going to start replying to headhunters.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    stodge said:

    Leon said:


    Someone on netweather is claiming this is the hottest day in Britain for "thousands of years"

    Quite a striking claim. I've been considering it

    We can't really know because even the most tenuous of records only go back to the 17th century

    We also know that the Roman period was fairly balmy - vineyards in the south, and the medieval warm period saw much of exposed Dartmoor settled

    But did they ever reach 40C? Quite possibly not

    Which means that today was possibly the hottest day in the entire history of "Britain": ie going back to the day when the island of Britain was formed, by the flooding of Doggerland, after the Ice Age, maybe 8,000 years ago

    I post occasionally on Netweather - perhaps you should join us and offer your wisdom to a wider audience.

    We have no way of being certain - it seems improbable there wasn't at least one very hot summer in either the Roman or mediaeval period and there may be some allusion to it in some writings but that would require a lot more investigation.

    The synoptic set up which has brought today's exceptional conditions is rare but not that rare across a time lag of centuries.

    On balance, I'm going to disagree with you and suggest we probably have been this hot at some point in the past 2,000 years but not on many occasions and the growing frequency and severity of events would suggest to even the most sceptic observer something was happening and measures need to be put in place to mitigate the impacts.
    Yes, as I say I dunno. It's fun to speculate

    But I did read that the particular circs required to produce this plume are a once in a 1000 year event

    And if those circs did not coincide with a warmer period - Roman times, medieval warmth, now in the anthropocene, and of course in the past they dd not have industrialisation to boost temps - then this is indeed, today, the hottest day ever in Britain
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,165
    Starry said:

    Leon said:

    dixiedean said:

    Am really pleased I got a north facing flat. No direct sunlight except first and last thing.
    Hasn't been above 23°C inside.
    As warm now as it has ever been outside, mind.

    Someone on netweather is claiming this is the hottest day in Britain for "thousands of years"

    Quite a striking claim. I've been considering it

    We can't really know because even the most tenuous of records only go back to the 17th century

    We also know that the Roman period was fairly balmy - vineyards in the south, and the medieval warm period saw much of exposed Dartmoor settled

    But did they ever reach 40C? Quite possibly not

    Which means that today was possibly the hottest day in the entire history of "Britain": ie going back to the day when the island of Britain was formed, by the flooding of Doggerland, after the Ice Age, maybe 8,000 years ago
    We have plenty of ways of measuring ancient climates. From formanifera to dendrochronology. Ice bubbles to isotope ratios. Many more too, even before humans existed.
    Climates, not weather.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    eristdoof said:

    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    An Italian told me there is no special word for Hangover in Italian. It's just a "Headache" and to make it clear that it's a hangover they have to add something like "because I drank too much". I think that says a lot about Italians and drinking.
    So more hangovers is better?

    They got Campari, they got good local wines everywhere at a euro a bottle, they got grappa. I'd've said they were doing just fine.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,880
    tlg86 said:

    Starry said:

    Leon said:

    dixiedean said:

    Am really pleased I got a north facing flat. No direct sunlight except first and last thing.
    Hasn't been above 23°C inside.
    As warm now as it has ever been outside, mind.

    Someone on netweather is claiming this is the hottest day in Britain for "thousands of years"

    Quite a striking claim. I've been considering it

    We can't really know because even the most tenuous of records only go back to the 17th century

    We also know that the Roman period was fairly balmy - vineyards in the south, and the medieval warm period saw much of exposed Dartmoor settled

    But did they ever reach 40C? Quite possibly not

    Which means that today was possibly the hottest day in the entire history of "Britain": ie going back to the day when the island of Britain was formed, by the flooding of Doggerland, after the Ice Age, maybe 8,000 years ago
    We have plenty of ways of measuring ancient climates. From formanifera to dendrochronology. Ice bubbles to isotope ratios. Many more too, even before humans existed.
    Climates, not weather.
    You cannot tell the highest daily temp 400 years ago from a tree ring.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 8,480
    edited July 2022
    Beginning to feel a tad tropically stickier as the temperature comes down. I now feel as if I should be wearing one of Roger Moore's ridiculously big-collared safari shirts, from "Moonraker", and sitting by a pool to pass the evening, cocktail in hand.

    I expect in Mayfair, or deepest Surrey, someone is doing such a thing right now.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,069
    OnboardG1 said:

    Foxy said:

    2% for the Junior doctors, 4.5% for me with 9%CPI and 11% RPI.

    Those Juniors are not a happy bunch, effectively they will be working free for a month.

    https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/brutal-pay-cut-will-come-as-a-bitter-blow-to-doctors-says-bma

    On top of all the time they work for free anyway. Who needs junior doctors right? Not sure what my pay uplift will be yet (arms length body) but I’m not holding out that much hope. I’d be grudgingly accepting of 5%. Less than that and I’m voting to reject. If they try to saddle me with 2% I’m going to start replying to headhunters.
    Ballot for Junior doctors strike nailed on, they are not happy bunnies. Will get a lot of support from Consultants too, though probably work to rule rather than strike.

  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Beginning to feel a tad stickier as the temperature comes down. I feel as if I should be wearing one of Roger Moore's ridiculously big-collared safari shirts, from "Moonraker", and sitting by a pool, with a cocktail in hand.

    I feel like one of those Americans who wear a prosthetic bulge to empathise with their wives' pregnancy. I've been sweating it out with you guys every step of the way, when actually we had an hour of rain down here and maxed out at 25. Perfect summer day. But I, in a very real sense, feel for you.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    I HAVE JUST RAISED THE BLINDS AND OPENED THE WINDOWS

    Praise Be
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,280
    edited July 2022
    Leon said:

    I HAVE JUST RAISED THE BLINDS AND OPENED THE WINDOWS

    Praise Be

    What's the temperature like? It's still about 32C in the Midlands but cloudy.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    I HAVE JUST RAISED THE BLINDS AND OPENED THE WINDOWS

    Praise Be

    What's the temperature like? It's still about 32C in the Midlands but cloudy.
    Clouded over and about 32C outside, and 33C inside - so the windows are open
  • Definitely cooling down now, all good things must come to an end.

    Hopefully we get some more of this glorious weather soon.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 12,743
    Leon said:


    Yes, as I say I dunno. It's fun to speculate

    But I did read that the particular circs required to produce this plume are a once in a 1000 year event

    And if those circs did not coincide with a warmer period - Roman times, medieval warmth, now in the anthropocene, and of course in the past they dd not have industrialisation to boost temps - then this is indeed, today, the hottest day ever in Britain

    Indeed - I'm not sure these synoptics are a "1 in a 1000 year event" in all honesty. Most of our hot spells come from getting an air flow sourced from the south or south east in summer. The Sahara is pretty hot, there's little cool sea to moderate the temperature, add on a dry landscape and clear skies and that's your ingredients for heat and of course the longer the synoptics stay in place, the hotter it gets.

    Had we, for example, had another 24 hours of these conditions, today's records would have been broken tomorrow.

    One can ask some valid questions about the heat and the extent to which the warmer atmosphere is the result of man-made changes but that's for elsewhere. It may be it's added a few degrees which wouldn't have been there in earlier times - I'm not wholly convinced but I am certain if we get to 45c or higher we'll be in uncharted and very dangerous territory.

    Longer term, I wonder if the European climate may come to be similar to that of the Indian sub-continent with monsoon-type rains and long very hot and dry spells especially if the slowing of the Atlantic continues.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 3,853
    edited July 2022

    Leon said:

    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    They are rubbish drinkers


    Incidentally I was a bit harsh on Regents Park earlier. As the sun began to ebb, it livened up a lot as people finally came out


    Sasquatch?
    Yucca Man, surely.

    Went to my local park. Nothing as grand as Regent's Park, but it was also totally empty.

    Just dust and 40.3C in the shade.

    Definitely a slight whiff of the apocalypse.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,019
    Alistair said:

    For someone who backed Truss @14 at one point I am doing abysmally at this betting malarky.

    Join the club.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 3,773

    Beginning to feel a tad tropically stickier as the temperature comes down. I now feel as if I should be wearing one of Roger Moore's ridiculously big-collared safari shirts, from "Moonraker", and sitting by a pool to pass the evening, cocktail in hand.

    In these times of heat induced discomfort please spare a thought for JRM slithering around the stultifying corridors of Westminster in full morning suit and top hat wittering about traitors. His loyal fan-wallah having been refused a security pass.

    When there is a slight breeze his frame is too svelte to catch it.

    His monocle steaming up as the hot breath of Nadine Dorries screams at him that they must stop Sunak and Truss.

    He day-dreams of being Viceroy of India being able to drop the formalities of rigid London Victorian dress for the breathable joys of a new-fangled breathable material favoured in the empire called cotton.

    Spare a thought for Jacob and then laugh, laugh some more and laugh a bit more.

  • TresTres Posts: 2,163
    OnboardG1 said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    HYUFD said:

    The fact there are proper traditional Tories terrified of a Truss premiership is very scary to me

    She isn't a traditional Tory, she is a libertarian Liberal in Tory clothing.
    It's so cute, you say that as if it's a bad thing.

    Though I for one will only stick to supporting her if she remains (pun intended) a libertarian Liberal, you will be her greatest fan no matter what she does from the second she wins.
    There's nothing libertarian about borrowing from future generations to fund today's tax cuts. Rishi may be a bit dull and not have a good back story but I trust he won't bankrupt the nation. Liz and Penny are playing very dangerously with the national credit card and suggesting we run a very loose fiscal policy when inflation is already running at 9% and we're borrowing £135bn per year already.

    I don't agree with the NI rise but I do recognise that we have a structural deficit, I'd have closed it with other taxes that target older people and spending cuts that also target older people and gross wealth exclusive of primary residences (the latter would hurt people like me, a lot I expect) but Liz and Penny both seem to deny that we need to be prudent and bring the budget into balance.
    I completely agree that borrowing is bad, but getting into a vicious cycle of ever-higher taxes in order to give more sweeties to the grey vote while smothering those who are young or having to work for a living isn't "realistic" or better.

    The Treasury views NI as the "easy way out" to get more money since 1% in NI is really 2% on Income Tax but without the political harm or harming the grey vote.

    The Treasury orthodoxy needs to be challenged, and Rishi isn't going to do that.
    The problem is that Liz Truss is proposing exactly that, spending future tax revenue (mine, your's, everyone's kids and grandkids) to fund sweeties for old people. It's a disaster waiting to happen.
    And, y’know, buggering working age people in the process.
    That's what they've been doing since Brexit.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249
    That's the first time I have ever heard a newscaster turn to a weather forecaster and say "Ah thankyou, thank God it's getting cooler and rainier" (or words to that extent)

    A cultural change
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,046

    IanB2 said:

    Breaking - hottest ever day for Scotland, official.

    I think it was topping 10C, although that may be wrong?

    Good afternoon/evening

    We have driven from Llandudno to Pitlochry today in extraordinary temperatures, and when stopping at service stations all along the route it reminded me of our time driving In Australia, especially around Alice Springs with the unbearable heat

    Indeed the car was the safe refuge with its air cond, but at our hotel just now it is stifling, uncomfortable and just not the Scotland we know and love

    Utterly drained with no end in sight, I turn on the news to see the conservative party determined to vote for it's Johnson tribute act rather than the only one, notwithstanding his faults, that at least knows what he is doing

    Very sad
    I think you're being more than a little dramatic. Get a cold G&T inside you and enjoy the Costa Del Perthshire whilst it lasts.
  • DadgeDadge Posts: 2,038
    Obviously I'm not a Tory, so I have some difficulties understanding how their minds work, but I find it hard to believe that even 10% of them would want Truss as leader. She was a remainer, she does a bad Thatcher impersonation and she has the charisma of a haddock. Sunak at least has the personality of a Thunderbirds puppet. All Truss seems to have going for her is the damascene conversion to the church of numptydom.
  • Leon said:

    That's the first time I have ever heard a newscaster turn to a weather forecaster and say "Ah thankyou, thank God it's getting cooler and rainier" (or words to that extent)

    A cultural change

    Nothing could be more stereotypically British culture than moaning about the weather.

    Even good weather.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,249

    Leon said:

    That's the first time I have ever heard a newscaster turn to a weather forecaster and say "Ah thankyou, thank God it's getting cooler and rainier" (or words to that extent)

    A cultural change

    Nothing could be more stereotypically British culture than moaning about the weather.

    Even good weather.
    It's all about perspective, but about 98% of humanity would not call 40C "good weather"

    But you do you, it's a free country
  • MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,281
    Just the increased chance of Truss has already moved the GE odds.

    Con most seats now 1.91, having been mid 1.8s for last few days.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,046
    boulay said:

    Beginning to feel a tad tropically stickier as the temperature comes down. I now feel as if I should be wearing one of Roger Moore's ridiculously big-collared safari shirts, from "Moonraker", and sitting by a pool to pass the evening, cocktail in hand.

    In these times of heat induced discomfort please spare a thought for JRM slithering around the stultifying corridors of Westminster in full morning suit and top hat wittering about traitors. His loyal fan-wallah having been refused a security pass.

    When there is a slight breeze his frame is too svelte to catch it.

    His monocle steaming up as the hot breath of Nadine Dorries screams at him that they must stop Sunak and Truss.

    He day-dreams of being Viceroy of India being able to drop the formalities of rigid London Victorian dress for the breathable joys of a new-fangled breathable material favoured in the empire called cotton.

    Spare a thought for Jacob and then laugh, laugh some more and laugh a bit more.

    He has endorsed Truss hasn't he?
  • Leon said:

    Leon said:

    That's the first time I have ever heard a newscaster turn to a weather forecaster and say "Ah thankyou, thank God it's getting cooler and rainier" (or words to that extent)

    A cultural change

    Nothing could be more stereotypically British culture than moaning about the weather.

    Even good weather.
    It's all about perspective, but about 98% of humanity would not call 40C "good weather"

    But you do you, it's a free country
    Get a cold drink and a pool and stay hydrated. Its glorious weather.

    People pay good money to travel to enjoy this weather.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,585
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    Remember when somebody said Johnson was all muscle ROFL

    No.
    That's because you weren't around back then.

    What started it was this poster - Philip Tompkins? - who in all seriousness said Boris Johnson didn't look as obese as you'd expect for a man of 5 foot 7 weighing nearly 18 stone because he had an "unusually high muscle to fat ratio" from all the running and cycling. Also "good strong legs".

    It was one of the most remarkable pieces of punditry seen on here in recent times. The author has since left us, sadly, but in a sense he never
    will having bequeathed us this gem.
    Yes I remember that, but it was someone who named himself after an Anfield legend. Emlyn Hughes?
    No, I think I'd have remembered that. But, yes, he was a Liverpool nut. Liverpool FC and the Laffer curve were his twin passions.

    When you cut people's tax
    Hold your head up high
    And don't be afraid of the Left ...
    If only Arthur Laffer had been an Anfield legend.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    Alistair said:

    For someone who backed Truss @14 at one point I am doing abysmally at this betting malarky.

    Join the club.
    I've thrown caution to the wind and laid Sunak hard.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,618
    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    The French, Germans, English? Yes they all drink. Spanish? Borderline.

    Italians? Well. They seem to think drinking is a bitters-based brew, long dinner, small glass of red wine and a tiny digestif. Food always seems to play a big part.

    Probably the Spanish and Italians have it right, in health terms. But, even so.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Leon said:

    That's the first time I have ever heard a newscaster turn to a weather forecaster and say "Ah thankyou, thank God it's getting cooler and rainier" (or words to that extent)

    A cultural change

    Nothing could be more stereotypically British culture than moaning about the weather.

    Even good weather.
    People who can't just shake off a touch of malignant skin melanoma. all part of the circle of life.
  • MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,281
    edited July 2022
    In slightly better news for those of us hoping for a sane world:

    The 538 "Polls Only" model now gives the Democrats a 64% chance of winning the Senate.

    Link and then select "Lite" Model (bottom left corner of screen):

    https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/senate/?cid=rrpromo
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 8,480
    edited July 2022

    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    The French, Germans, English? Yes they all drink. Spanish? Borderline.

    Italians? Well. They seem to think drinking is a bitters-based brew, long dinner, small glass of red wine and a tiny digestif. Food always seems to play a big part.

    Probably the Spanish and Italians have it right, in health terms. But, even so.
    The Greeks are interesting on drinking. Generally in quite a lot of family and socially assented moderation, like the Spanish, Italians, and Portugese, but then ridiculously wild benders on special, usually family-orientated, occasions.

    Needless to say they take a dim view of average British drinking habits, based on the carnage they see daily in places like Rhodes and Corfu, and I tend to agree with them on that.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,618
    edited July 2022
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    Opposite here. I'm getting used to it and wouldn't mind a couple more.
    It's still going to be 27C or so tomorrow - we used to call that "scorching"

    Indeed London has a lovely spell of weather upcoming, once we exit the furnace: many days of 23-30C, with lots of sun, and the odd brief refreshing shower. THAT is perfect
    Agree although I’m not sure we can bank on the showers. Seem to always get downgraded as T0 approaches. Lots of places in the south east have failed to report any measurable rainfall all
    month apparently.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,046
    edited July 2022
    Does the plume mean that areas of Africa are currently experiencing Skegness conditions? They'll be begging for their weather back.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 47,787
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 3,702
    kinabalu said:

    The problem with CGT on property is it only harms those who move and is exceptionally easy to avoid if you don't even while cashing in on your capital gains.

    People can cash out gains by remortgaging paying then only interest payments while avoiding the tax as the gain isn't officially "realised".

    Tax annually on the value. Self cert, spot checks, big penalties for fraud.
    With perhaps the French option of government compulsorily purchasing at self-certificated value + 20%.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,019

    If you're wondering why George Osborne left parliament, this is what he knew was coming.

    Brexit is a hard left project espoused by Michael Foot, it was inevitable other hard left policies would be taken over by the Brexiteers.

    George Osborne was even less popular than Liz Truss.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    Membership still in full on Anyone But Rishi mode.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 14,087
    Dadge said:

    Obviously I'm not a Tory, so I have some difficulties understanding how their minds work, but I find it hard to believe that even 10% of them would want Truss as leader. She was a remainer, she does a bad Thatcher impersonation and she has the charisma of a haddock. Sunak at least has the personality of a Thunderbirds puppet. All Truss seems to have going for her is the damascene conversion to the church of numptydom.

    I doubt that they particularly want Truss... it's more that they want Sunak and Mordaunt even less. After all, whoever finally wins this seems set to have the active support of 35ish percent of their MPs.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,461
    edited July 2022
    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    "I'm old enough to remember" is on The List

    SKS is not someone I'd be getting triumphalist about. A one trick pony of being a prosecutor (not a great one or he wouldn't have been sidelined into admin) who extraordinarily lucked out in having a prosecutable opponent as PM. Wasn't great even then, and isn't going to get the same break twice unless it turns out Lizzie runs a string of meth labs on the side.
    I didn't realise you didn't rate Starmer. You've never mentioned it. One-trick pony, indeed.
    So you find him electrifyingly vibrant and exciting, or you are celebrating the fact that the tories have settled on the one adult human in the entire country you think he might just about get topsides of with a generous enough handicap? Which?

    One trick is over generous, probably. He is Mogadon man on steroids, or rather on mogadon. That moany whine of Last week Mr Speaker he said this, but in a different week he said a different thing.....
    I don't expect you to read my posts, but if you did you'd know I was a) pretty sceptical about Starmer - worthy but dull, not electrifying or vibrant, and b) voted for Nandy as leader. But whatever.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 12,415
    edited July 2022

    I detect an element of misogyny in the criticism of Truss. If a generic male Tory - say Ben Wallace - had the same record and the same positions, he wouldn't be treated as some kind of barely sane halfwit in the way Truss is.

    That is because Ben Wallace ain’t a barely sane halfwit in the way Truss actually is. You may not give a toss William, as is coming across from your posts, who is British Prime minister and leader of the Conservatives, but some of us do!

    How did this happen, she has been ridiculed as foreign Secretary and Boris successor to demote her, she couldn’t get any decent backers and rumoured not to get enough signatories to compete, her polling was awful, her votes awful, her launch a disaster, her big idea’s on tax and borrowing split sides with howls of derision, flat last in first debate, barely any better in second - how has Liz Truss made top 3 and chance of top 2.

    It makes no sense.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,772
    England are going to lose this because the scoring rate in the power play was lamentable. If this is what the Buttler era is going to bring it’s a step back from the Morgan era.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,837

    Dadge said:

    Obviously I'm not a Tory, so I have some difficulties understanding how their minds work, but I find it hard to believe that even 10% of them would want Truss as leader. She was a remainer, she does a bad Thatcher impersonation and she has the charisma of a haddock. Sunak at least has the personality of a Thunderbirds puppet. All Truss seems to have going for her is the damascene conversion to the church of numptydom.

    I doubt that they particularly want Truss... it's more that they want Sunak and Mordaunt even less. After all, whoever finally wins this seems set to have the active support of 35ish percent of their MPs.
    Lower than that.
    A fair few still think Johnson is the best PM.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I'm old enough to remember the days when the pretty unanimous PB Tory (and others, too) view was that Starmer was so ineffably dull and useless that whoever the Tories put up would slaughter him at the next GE.

    I don't remember anybody inserting the proviso "except Truss", though I may be mistaken.

    "I'm old enough to remember" is on The List

    SKS is not someone I'd be getting triumphalist about. A one trick pony of being a prosecutor (not a great one or he wouldn't have been sidelined into admin) who extraordinarily lucked out in having a prosecutable opponent as PM. Wasn't great even then, and isn't going to get the same break twice unless it turns out Lizzie runs a string of meth labs on the side.
    I didn't realise you didn't rate Starmer. You've never mentioned it. One-trick pony, indeed.
    So you find him electrifyingly vibrant and exciting, or you are celebrating the fact that the tories have settled on the one adult human in the entire country you think he might just about get topsides of with a generous enough handicap? Which?

    One trick is over generous, probably. He is Mogadon man on steroids, or rather on mogadon. That moany whine of Last week Mr Speaker he said this, but in a different week he said a different thing.....
    I don't expect you to read my posts, but if you did you'd know I was a) pretty sceptical about Starmer - worthy but dull, not electrifying or vibrant, and b) voted for Nandy as leader. Bu whatever.
    So I started out saying he was a one-trick pony. You questioned this. Then you reflected for 30 secs and concluded that I was right. So that's where we are.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,618

    Leon said:

    Cookie said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Still 38C outside and 34C in my flat - creeping up inside

    I really would like the hot weather to fuck off now

    On my second pre-dinner drink in an air-conditioned chain hotel near Manchester airport. £48 per night. Good day of work done.

    (Two pre-dinner drinks required to smooth out the mediocre dinner, you understand)
    I have a friend who enjoys "pre drinks drinks"

    ie if I meet him for a drink he likes to get there half an hour beforehand, for a drink, to get him in the right mood for having a drink
    The opposite used to drive me nuts in Italy.

    Have a plan to go to bar. Get to bar. Oh, do we want to go in there? Spend the time it would take to consume a drink and decide standing outside deciding. Go in.
    The Italians are generally splendid people. But in my experience they are a bit shit at drinking.
    They are rubbish drinkers


    Incidentally I was a bit harsh on Regents Park earlier. As the sun began to ebb, it livened up a lot as people finally came out


    Sasquatch?
    L

    O

    L

    !!

    🤣🤣🤣

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    Does the plume mean that areas of Africa are currently experiencing Skegness conditions? They'll be begging for their weather back.

    "Algiers is so bracing!"
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,019
    I don't think even Liz Truss is made enough to make JRM Chancellor.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,618

    Beginning to feel a tad tropically stickier as the temperature comes down. I now feel as if I should be wearing one of Roger Moore's ridiculously big-collared safari shirts, from "Moonraker", and sitting by a pool to pass the evening, cocktail in hand.

    I expect in Mayfair, or deepest Surrey, someone is doing such a thing right now.

    I’m in a beer garden, where it has gone from being searing hot to tropically humid in the last two hours!
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,280
    "The Conservative party has ceased to be serious
    Liz Truss is worst-placed to win over Labour voters. Naturally, she's the favourite.
    James Kirkup" (£)

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-conservative-party-has-ceased-to-be-serious
  • EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,960
    edited July 2022
    After a couple of days of wild swings, all of which have ultimately cancelled each other out, I am finally happy with my Tory leader book and hereby vow to stop fiddling with it:
    Liz: +300
    Rishi: +200
    Penny: +150

    Laying the favourite has been, as usual, very profitable (although I think not from this point onwards).

    Not laying back my Kemi exposure cost me 40 or so. I regret nothing.
This discussion has been closed.