Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
I see Starmer has repeated the neo-fascistic language about Labour being the "political wing of the British people".
Has he? Starmer may be useless, and his speech a disaster, but your assertion is a stretch.
Sir Keir Starmer finishes his speech by echoing Tony Blair, saying "we are the party of the centre ground - once again the political wing of the British people"
So THIS is how YOU define"fascist"? THAT's the stretch!
If Ron DeSantis said, "We are the political wing of the American people," how would it make you feel?
Like he's talking his usual bullshit. Can see why you might feel the same re: Starmer.
Still zero reason to label EITHER remark as "fascist".
The word fascist gets overused far too much, but equating the people/state with the party is absolutely a principle of fascism, as well as similar one party state authoritarians.
That, and "the political wing of" is an expression I have only otherwise heard of Sinn Fein/ira during the troubles. How tin eared can you get?
99 per cent (figure plucked from thin air) of listeners will recognise it from Tony Blair's ".... political wing of the British people", especially given it was so widely briefed that Starmer would say that.
It was stupid when Blair said it and it was stupid of Starmer to say it today. We are allowed to disagree with political parties without being cast out from the British people or classed as Enemies or whatever. I really hate this idea that there can only be one "received opinion" on topics.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
PS. On a more serious note, a large number of hospital clinicians that have expressed an opinion to me over the years do not share your view. They appear to view their general practice cousins in much the same way as a London magic circle lawyer might view a parochial one man band high street lawyer who specialises in wills and conveyancing.
She exhibited the worst kind of racism: an assumption that those with certain skin colour should behave in a certain way.
Hyperbole alert: '...the worst kind of racism...' Really? You mean worse than Jim Crow? Worse than apartheid? Worse than the gas chambers?
She was wrong, she was punished, she apologised.
Meanwhile the economy continues from strength to strength.
The problem will be this - she believes what she said. Just as the left believe right wingers are baby eating psychopaths who hate the poor and think they should all starve if they don’t work, the right harbours the suspicion that the left thinks any person of colour who dares not to be left wing isn’t really a true person of colour. The left think they own the ethnic vote, They don’t, they have to earn it, like any other vote.
Sympathetic to this view but when we look at the data at an aggregate level, the colour of someone’s skin is mildly correlated to political allegiance. David Cameron made that correlation weaker but it still exists to a certain degree.
Well sure, for some groups it may be easier to guess political allegiance than others.
But no one loses their race if they don't share that more common allegiance of course, which is what the Huqs of the world seem to believe.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
I can well believe that is what they all tell us.
Odd comments, @Nigel_Foremain. Whatever our experience of GPs right now might be (our practice is awful), it is entirely obvious that it is a complicated, subtle job tht is hard to do well. One comment might be passed off as flippant (nothing wrong with that) but to come back for a second bite of the cherry suggests you really mean it. Why this view of GPs?
Eurovision song contest 2023 to be hosted in Liverpool or Glasgow
It was always going to be one of those two.
Why ?
Because Ukraine is a little bit busy right now? (And the UK came second. And has supported Ukraine fairly steadfastly.)
I presume he meant why did tlg say it was always going to be either Liverpool or Glasgow. I thought Manchester looked the best option tbh.
Bashing my own city a little here, but I can't really understand why Liverpool is still in the running. I can only assume its political.
The M&S Bank Arena has the smallest capacity of all the seven cities in the bid. The nearby hotels consist of Jurys Inn and Premier Inn (within reasonable walking distance). There is Travelodge a bit further out but that's it. And the transport links are awful. Fly in to LJL. Bus to LSP and then a train to Moorfields or Central and either walk from there, or ANOTHER train on the Wirral line to James Street and walk from there.
It really doesn't make a huge amount of sense.
Edit - checking now shows I was probably wrong about the 2 hotels. Looks like there may be a couple more nearby too. Nevertheless, there aren't many.
All said of course, is that I know a number of friends who'll be delighted. One was such a Eurovision fan she'd booked hotels in all six other cities (with the intention of cancelling five or six of them). She might now not need to do anything, other than make sure she can get a ride in and out on the week (she'll go to the Semi-Finals, guaranteed).
If gilts are collapsing in value then are not Defined Benefit pensions in deep shite?
Well, it's complicated.
But no, they're not (necessarily) fucked. But they will be under more pressure, but that's for a different reason.
Re gilts: if you were going to hold the gilts until redemption (which your average pension fund is), then you will recieve exactly the same flow of interest payments as previously.
However, because inflation is higher (and therefore salaries will be too), the pension funds future liabilities will be greater. Therefore there is more pressure on them, and firms will probably need to make additional payments, at exactly the same time they're under pressure for other reasons.
Need to correct that. Tottenham Tories. Not a Councillor - they don't have any.
Quite interesting to see their comparisons for the LTNs - pass laws, Belfast duriung the Troubles ...
The cluelessness is encouraging, in that they will lose through having no meaningful case.
Of course - I'd forgotten you are very keen on urban cycling. Quite. I see 'ghetto' is also used. And it doesn't help that in their historical comparisons the wealthy folk tooling around in big cars were, erm, one colour/race/whatever, and the poor, another ... astounding stuff to come out with in London of all places.
I'm also quite pleased that the Duke of Norfolk got a totting-up driving ban the other day for going through lights on red because he was distracted by using his mobile phone (the new drunk driving - similar penalties required) and did not even look properly. The silly old bugger could have killed someone far too easily.
I've never heard so many weasel words to try and avoid it.
London doing better now - in some places they have moved forward to nearly properly segregated cycleways, which is about the third iteration in 15 years. Chiswick latest (computo pic). Still too narrow and priorities / junctions need work within the wide High Road corridor, but on the way. I lived there for a few years and it was like a motorway.
The thing is how hard is it to get your butler to marry your phone to the car's bluetooth? Unless he was in a 1920s State Bentley or some such.
I'd say the main thing is that he does not have a clue the risks he is taking for other people when he chooses to use a mobile phone in his car whilst not parked up. But at least the people in London and Norfolk for a year from being KSI'd by an idiot.
I think Greek/Italian bonds are currently where they are because the market expects that the ECB will treat the Russian invasion / energy crisis, like they did the Eurozone crisis and the pandemic crisis. Basically: their view is that the ECB will always find a crisis to justify intervention.
The BoE is not rolling over though - my point is there is more support for Italian/Greek yields than UK ones from government intervention
I see according to some in Labour I'm superficially a brown man.
Magnificent.
"Culturally white" is the most recent one I've had said to/about me. From a self appointed "anti-racist" too. Wankers.
Polite way of saying coconut isn't it?
Wankers indeed.
I was going to say that it's surprising that some people, otherwise being against racism, still think (correctly) that they can get away with such things, but I'm really not surprised at all.
It's not hard to not do. Yes, apologies will get made, as in this case, which is about all that can be demanded I guess, but such comment is not made in the heat of the moment, its considered and deliberate, so whilst apologies have to be made it's generally pretty clear what the genuine feeling is.
And it gives cover to more 'overt' racism to boot. Fantastic.
But then I say that as a white man on behalf of non whites everywhere.
It is amusing, recently I had to listen a non racist white person tell me that it seems like I'm betraying my cultures and people by only ever being in relationships with white people.
It's the kind of logic the National Front espouse.
If he becomes PM at the next election he will be about 20 years older than Blair was. There's only a 9 year age gap between him and Blair.
CHB's post is the sort of exultant bullshit you get from a Labour Bot. it has been a work of art engratiating him /her/they into the minds of PB ers over the last couple of years. Now the leopard shows it's spots.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
PS. On a more serious note, a large number of hospital clinicians that have expressed an opinion to me over the years do not share your view. They appear to view their general practice cousins in much the same way as a London magic circle lawyer might view a parochial one man band high street lawyer who specialises in wills and conveyancing.
I agree, many hospital specialists are arrogant enough to think they are much more knowledgeable than GPs, and in their own speciality likely to be so.
Ask an orthopedic surgeon how to manage heavy periods, or a cardiologist to manage vertigo and they are soon lost at sea. GPs need great breadth of knowledge, specialists great depth. It is Yin and Yang, or horses for courses.
I have great respect for my GP colleagues. It is a job that I couldn't do.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
I can well believe that is what they all tell us.
Odd comments, @Nigel_Foremain. Whatever our experience of GPs right now might be (our practice is awful), it is entirely obvious that it is a complicated, subtle job tht is hard to do well. One comment might be passed off as flippant (nothing wrong with that) but to come back for a second bite of the cherry suggests you really mean it. Why this view of GPs?
At one time I worked with them. A lot are hard working enough, and some are pleasant and bright but intellectual colossuses they are not. My view is that they no more need to be drawn top performers at school than any other profession. Being a GP is not an intellectual pursuit. If it were, they would not chose to be GPs. IMO, if we need GPs at all (questionable - many countries do not) it is perfectly possible for them to have a different entry requirement, thereby segmenting the profession at entry level. It really isn't difficult.
Need to correct that. Tottenham Tories. Not a Councillor - they don't have any.
Quite interesting to see their comparisons for the LTNs - pass laws, Belfast duriung the Troubles ...
The cluelessness is encouraging, in that they will lose through having no meaningful case.
Of course - I'd forgotten you are very keen on urban cycling. Quite. I see 'ghetto' is also used. And it doesn't help that in their historical comparisons the wealthy folk tooling around in big cars were, erm, one colour/race/whatever, and the poor, another ... astounding stuff to come out with in London of all places.
I'm also quite pleased that the Duke of Norfolk got a totting-up driving ban the other day for going through lights on red because he was distracted by using his mobile phone (the new drunk driving - similar penalties required) and did not even look properly. The silly old bugger could have killed someone far too easily.
I've never heard so many weasel words to try and avoid it.
London doing better now - in some places they have moved forward to nearly properly segregated cycleways, which is about the third iteration in 15 years. Chiswick latest (computo pic). Still too narrow and priorities / junctions need work within the wide High Road corridor, but on the way. I lived there for a few years and it was like a motorway.
The thing is how hard is it to get your butler to marry your phone to the car's bluetooth? Unless he was in a 1920s State Bentley or some such.
I'd say the main thing is that he does not have a clue the risks he is taking for other people when he chooses to use a mobile phone in his car whilst not parked up. But at least the people in London and Norfolk for a year from being KSI'd by an idiot.
He's a nutter, his family keep sending him off to some wacky Center in Arizona to get him sorted out hush ma big mouf, but I still don't see what he is doing being hands unfree in 2022.
I'm not surprised - the comments were ill-judged but not racist imo.
Compare and contrast with some of Boris Johnson's utterances.
In what world is it not racist to say black men shouldn't go to private school or work in banking?! It's literally stereotyping them. She's a racist moron, glad to see Starmer take it seriously.
What is a black man supposed to sound like, in Ms Huq's view?
I crash de exchange rates after tellin my mates I do plenty of blow Befo' to royal funerals I go
It is said Russia has to keep pumping gas to prevent water getting into the NS1/2 pipes. Why can't they pump air in instead? Anyone know - @rcs1000, @Malmesbury, @Richard_Tyndall, other techies?
No - you dont need to pump or store gas (or nitrogen or dry air) to keep water out. The pipeline will do that by itself. A leaking pipeline indicates a massive quality failure due to poor welding workmanship and is almost unheard of in a modern 'sweet gas' pipeline. (Almost). To have three simultaneous leaks can only be intentional, ie sabotage. The only question is by who??
How does the pipeline do that by itself if it has a great big hole (or holes) in it?
A pipeline doesnt have a great big hole in it unless it is 'introduced' by sabotage. Once it has a big hole in it and is flooded by seawater it is f###ed. If you plug the hole, then flush the line with fresh water to clean out the salt water then purge it with nitrogen you might be able to recover it...but if you dont do it quickly you will lose the pipeline to corrosion. Maybe not totally - maybe just a reduced working life - but you will lose it.
Need to correct that. Tottenham Tories. Not a Councillor - they don't have any.
Quite interesting to see their comparisons for the LTNs - pass laws, Belfast duriung the Troubles ...
The cluelessness is encouraging, in that they will lose through having no meaningful case.
Of course - I'd forgotten you are very keen on urban cycling. Quite. I see 'ghetto' is also used. And it doesn't help that in their historical comparisons the wealthy folk tooling around in big cars were, erm, one colour/race/whatever, and the poor, another ... astounding stuff to come out with in London of all places.
I'm also quite pleased that the Duke of Norfolk got a totting-up driving ban the other day for going through lights on red because he was distracted by using his mobile phone (the new drunk driving - similar penalties required) and did not even look properly. The silly old bugger could have killed someone far too easily.
I've never heard so many weasel words to try and avoid it.
London doing better now - in some places they have moved forward to nearly properly segregated cycleways, which is about the third iteration in 15 years. Chiswick latest (computo pic). Still too narrow and priorities / junctions need work within the wide High Road corridor, but on the way. I lived there for a few years and it was like a motorway.
The thing is how hard is it to get your butler to marry your phone to the car's bluetooth? Unless he was in a 1920s State Bentley or some such.
I'd say the main thing is that he does not have a clue the risks he is taking for other people when he chooses to use a mobile phone in his car whilst not parked up. But at least the people in London and Norfolk for a year from being KSI'd by an idiot.
I'm not surprised - the comments were ill-judged but not racist imo.
Compare and contrast with some of Boris Johnson's utterances.
In what world is it not racist to say black men shouldn't go to private school or work in banking?! It's literally stereotyping them. She's a racist moron, glad to see Starmer take it seriously.
What is a black man supposed to sound like, in Ms Huq's view?
I crash de exchange rates after tellin my mates I do plenty of blow Befo' to royal funerals I go
Thanks. It is interesting that the king, even being old, has the entire time let his favoured son take all the limelight and significant decisions, or so it seems to be reported.
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
Are we past the giving half a chance stage with Truss yet?
I think she's great; I don't think she needs giving a chance. She acts. She follows through. She does what she says she will do. We haven't had a PM like that since the last Mrs. T. and that started just the same.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
PS. On a more serious note, a large number of hospital clinicians that have expressed an opinion to me over the years do not share your view. They appear to view their general practice cousins in much the same way as a London magic circle lawyer might view a parochial one man band high street lawyer who specialises in wills and conveyancing.
GPs have different skill sets. They are gatekeepers, preventing the worried well from clogging up hospital scanners and path labs when they don’t need it. They need to spot the 1 in 100 that IS cancer from the 99 that aren’t. It’s not easy, and sometimes they get it wrong. The system doesn’t help. Other countries do path tests at GP surgeries where they can so you get better evidence for referral or not. Here referral is based on probabilities and then patients are in the hands of secondary care. I’m sure a well paid consultant, specialist in his/her field may feel superior to GPs, but they chose that role. Brief example. Phlebotomists take blood. All day. That’s the job. They are brilliant at it. I know because I have had a lot of blood taken. Registrars take less blood, and are often not as good. Hence on one occasion a registrar tried 5 (five!) different places to take peripheral bloods. Phlebotomists never missed. Not once. Who is the better or more skilled clinician?
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
Are we past the giving half a chance stage with Truss yet?
I think she's great; I don't think she needs giving a chance. She acts. She follows through. She does what she says she will do. We haven't had a PM like that since the last Mrs. T. and that started just the same.
Oh you're just here to troll! It makes so much more sense now.
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
No doubt people said the same about Hitler.
FFS. Meloni is not Hitler
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
To be fair, neither were the Italian Fascists Hitler either. Indeed they nearly clashed over the Anschluss.
Not all Fascists are Nazis, and not all the far right are Fascists. Fascism is its own genre of politics.
I don't know if Meloni is or isn't, but it is customary to congratulate new leaders, even if politically far removed in world views. It is just good diplomacy to be polite.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
PS. On a more serious note, a large number of hospital clinicians that have expressed an opinion to me over the years do not share your view. They appear to view their general practice cousins in much the same way as a London magic circle lawyer might view a parochial one man band high street lawyer who specialises in wills and conveyancing.
GPs have different skill sets. They are gatekeepers, preventing the worried well from clogging up hospital scanners and path labs when they don’t need it. They need to spot the 1 in 100 that IS cancer from the 99 that aren’t. It’s not easy, and sometimes they get it wrong. The system doesn’t help. Other countries do path tests at GP surgeries where they can so you get better evidence for referral or not. Here referral is based on probabilities and then patients are in the hands of secondary care. I’m sure a well paid consultant, specialist in his/her field may feel superior to GPs, but they chose that role. Brief example. Phlebotomists take blood. All day. That’s the job. They are brilliant at it. I know because I have had a lot of blood taken. Registrars take less blood, and are often not as good. Hence on one occasion a registrar tried 5 (five!) different places to take peripheral bloods. Phlebotomists never missed. Not once. Who is the better or more skilled clinician?
I refer to to a previous answer. I was not arguing that many do not do a good job, any more than I was arguing other professionals do not. I was simply arguing that the suggestion that you should only take A* students to do a job that ultimately requires you to be a GP is not sensible
On that general topic, how far do we think the new Government's commitment to easing planning restrictions for onshore wind is going to get?
Not far would be my hunch. It's not even a party political thing, we simply have way too many people in this country opposed to development. Everyone is in favour in theory, like raising taxes, but not around here. Oh no, we can't have any new houses, schools, shops, offices, factories, roads, railways, airports, power stations, tunnels, parks, masts, etc. No, build them somewhere else.
I won't address all of that list, though I'd say most of it is wrong - reasonably sized new housing developments are required to have 10% of open space, for example.
IMO there's no point in putting onshore wind on farmland or National Parks, when there are so many places renewables can go without the negatives - offshore wind, warehouse roofs, airfields, and all the rest.
I'd agree that - like fracking - it is half a political nod to a faction, but we may see some development.
Which is the better thing to do: invest any spare cash into a savings account with as good an interest rate as you can get and pay down the equity in a lump sum at remortgage time when FR ends, or overpay monthly on the mortgage? Appreciate some of that is based on what rate you can get on savings, mortgage rate, limits on overpayment etc but which, broadly, is the best option?
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
PS. On a more serious note, a large number of hospital clinicians that have expressed an opinion to me over the years do not share your view. They appear to view their general practice cousins in much the same way as a London magic circle lawyer might view a parochial one man band high street lawyer who specialises in wills and conveyancing.
GPs have different skill sets. They are gatekeepers, preventing the worried well from clogging up hospital scanners and path labs when they don’t need it. They need to spot the 1 in 100 that IS cancer from the 99 that aren’t. It’s not easy, and sometimes they get it wrong. The system doesn’t help. Other countries do path tests at GP surgeries where they can so you get better evidence for referral or not. Here referral is based on probabilities and then patients are in the hands of secondary care. I’m sure a well paid consultant, specialist in his/her field may feel superior to GPs, but they chose that role. Brief example. Phlebotomists take blood. All day. That’s the job. They are brilliant at it. I know because I have had a lot of blood taken. Registrars take less blood, and are often not as good. Hence on one occasion a registrar tried 5 (five!) different places to take peripheral bloods. Phlebotomists never missed. Not once. Who is the better or more skilled clinician?
The question for society is does it make sense to train such generalists if it takes so many years and can only be done by a tiny proportion of students?
Why not make the roles simpler and more specialised, reduce the training by a couple of years and open it up to more people? With technology to help that seems a much better use of resources.
It is said Russia has to keep pumping gas to prevent water getting into the NS1/2 pipes. Why can't they pump air in instead? Anyone know - @rcs1000, @Malmesbury, @Richard_Tyndall, other techies?
No - you dont need to pump or store gas (or nitrogen or dry air) to keep water out. The pipeline will do that by itself. A leaking pipeline indicates a massive quality failure due to poor welding workmanship and is almost unheard of in a modern 'sweet gas' pipeline. (Almost). To have three simultaneous leaks can only be intentional, ie sabotage. The only question is by who??
How does the pipeline do that by itself if it has a great big hole (or holes) in it?
A pipeline doesnt have a great big hole in it unless it is 'introduced' by sabotage. Once it has a big hole in it and is flooded by seawater it is f###ed. If you plug the hole, then flush the line with fresh water to clean out the salt water then purge it with nitrogen you might be able to recover it...but if you dont do it quickly you will lose the pipeline to corrosion. Maybe not totally - maybe just a reduced working life - but you will lose it.
I did wonder if some form of 'water hammer' effect can happen with gas. I didn't think so, because, unlike water, gas is compressible. But from a quick Google:
"However, it has been found that, when the gas-liquid ratio is relatively low, the gas phase flow rate of the pipeline is almost zero under the operating pressure condition, and the gas is mostly dissolved in the liquid. In such a case, the sudden closure of upper and lower valves will cause significant surge of water hammer pressure."
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
PS. On a more serious note, a large number of hospital clinicians that have expressed an opinion to me over the years do not share your view. They appear to view their general practice cousins in much the same way as a London magic circle lawyer might view a parochial one man band high street lawyer who specialises in wills and conveyancing.
GPs have different skill sets. They are gatekeepers, preventing the worried well from clogging up hospital scanners and path labs when they don’t need it. They need to spot the 1 in 100 that IS cancer from the 99 that aren’t. It’s not easy, and sometimes they get it wrong. The system doesn’t help. Other countries do path tests at GP surgeries where they can so you get better evidence for referral or not. Here referral is based on probabilities and then patients are in the hands of secondary care. I’m sure a well paid consultant, specialist in his/her field may feel superior to GPs, but they chose that role. Brief example. Phlebotomists take blood. All day. That’s the job. They are brilliant at it. I know because I have had a lot of blood taken. Registrars take less blood, and are often not as good. Hence on one occasion a registrar tried 5 (five!) different places to take peripheral bloods. Phlebotomists never missed. Not once. Who is the better or more skilled clinician?
I refer to to a previous answer. I was not arguing that many do not do a good job, any more than I was arguing other professionals do not. I was simply arguing that the suggestion that you should only take A* students to do a job that ultimately requires you to be a GP is not sensible
That’s fair, although A level grades are now massively inflated. Lower entry is fine, and also useful for widening access (poor but bright kids). Also emphasis is placed on added value in training. It’s hard to improve A* candidates that much, but take a ABB and turn them into a top medic is worthwhile.
He promised a new 70% home ownership target if Labour won power, with proposals to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
I am behind you Keir, I am behind you
Please no props for first time buyers. All they are about is to ensure first time buyers bid higher against each other so that prices are higher for the people selling.
What first time buyers really need is low prices and that comes from the govt withdrawing from the housing market, including taking housing benefit back to the levels of a couple of decades ago. The houses will still end up lived in, just at a lower price, whether rented or bought.
Housing benefit shouldn't be reduced, it should be abolished. Roll it into a UBI and allow people to choose how to spend their own money for housing, whether it be on a mortgage, or rent.
Insisting on renting instead of buying your own home, or having benefits like housing benefit that get lost if you work more, just sets the wrong incentives.
Tangentially we should perhaps note that renting as opposed to buying homes increases labour mobility, and aiui is normal in places like Germany. I'm not advocating renting but perhaps some organisation cleverer than me should look at the question.
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
No doubt people said the same about Hitler.
FFS. Meloni is not Hitler
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
To be fair, neither were the Italian Fascists Hitler either. Indeed they nearly clashed over the Anschluss.
Not all Fascists are Nazis, and not all the far right are Fascists. Fascism is its own genre of politics.
I don't know if Meloni is or isn't, but it is customary to congratulate new leaders, even if politically far removed in world views. It is just good diplomacy to be polite.
Yes, anyone getting in a twist about a boilerplate diplomatic messge to someone who did just win a free and fair election is barking up the wrong tree. Until you have an appalling record in office you'll get the congrats, and probably afterwards too.
Need to correct that. Tottenham Tories. Not a Councillor - they don't have any.
Quite interesting to see their comparisons for the LTNs - pass laws, Belfast duriung the Troubles ...
The cluelessness is encouraging, in that they will lose through having no meaningful case.
Of course - I'd forgotten you are very keen on urban cycling. Quite. I see 'ghetto' is also used. And it doesn't help that in their historical comparisons the wealthy folk tooling around in big cars were, erm, one colour/race/whatever, and the poor, another ... astounding stuff to come out with in London of all places.
I'm also quite pleased that the Duke of Norfolk got a totting-up driving ban the other day for going through lights on red because he was distracted by using his mobile phone (the new drunk driving - similar penalties required) and did not even look properly. The silly old bugger could have killed someone far too easily.
I've never heard so many weasel words to try and avoid it.
London doing better now - in some places they have moved forward to nearly properly segregated cycleways, which is about the third iteration in 15 years. Chiswick latest (computo pic). Still too narrow and priorities / junctions need work within the wide High Road corridor, but on the way. I lived there for a few years and it was like a motorway.
The thing is how hard is it to get your butler to marry your phone to the car's bluetooth? Unless he was in a 1920s State Bentley or some such.
I'd say the main thing is that he does not have a clue the risks he is taking for other people when he chooses to use a mobile phone in his car whilst not parked up. But at least the people in London and Norfolk for a year from being KSI'd by an idiot.
He's a nutter, his family keep sending him off to some wacky Center in Arizona to get him sorted out hush ma big mouf, but I still don't see what he is doing being hands unfree in 2022.
He said he was talking to his wife. And that he needed his continued license because he would suffer exceptional hardship by not being able to drive around to organise the Coronation.
One good thing to come out of this should be the death of populism/ cakeism. Yes, it’s a bit of a laugh to vote for Corbyn/ Johnson/ Brexit, but it’s now been shown to have real world consequences that not even the densest voter could miss.
Which is the better thing to do: invest any spare cash into a savings account with as good an interest rate as you can get and pay down the equity in a lump sum at remortgage time when FR ends, or overpay monthly on the mortgage? Appreciate some of that is based on what rate you can get on savings, mortgage rate, limits on overpayment etc but which, broadly, is the best option?
Hopefully this isn’t a dumb question.
Starting principle is compare your savings rate and mortgage rates and put your money in the higher one. Penalties, fixes, overpayments, tax, cash flow and other stuff also need to be taken into account which makes it complicated and personalised.
It is said Russia has to keep pumping gas to prevent water getting into the NS1/2 pipes. Why can't they pump air in instead? Anyone know - @rcs1000, @Malmesbury, @Richard_Tyndall, other techies?
No - you dont need to pump or store gas (or nitrogen or dry air) to keep water out. The pipeline will do that by itself. A leaking pipeline indicates a massive quality failure due to poor welding workmanship and is almost unheard of in a modern 'sweet gas' pipeline. (Almost). To have three simultaneous leaks can only be intentional, ie sabotage. The only question is by who??
How does the pipeline do that by itself if it has a great big hole (or holes) in it?
A pipeline doesnt have a great big hole in it unless it is 'introduced' by sabotage. Once it has a big hole in it and is flooded by seawater it is f###ed. If you plug the hole, then flush the line with fresh water to clean out the salt water then purge it with nitrogen you might be able to recover it...but if you dont do it quickly you will lose the pipeline to corrosion. Maybe not totally - maybe just a reduced working life - but you will lose it.
The media assumption seems to be the pictures are of natural gas streaming out.
@geoffw's excellent question was "It is said Russia has to keep pumping gas to prevent water getting into the NS1/2 pipes. Why can't they pump air in instead?"
But maybe it's just the gas contents on the pipe spewing out as it is displaced by seawater? In which case the gas will stop soon (assuming the Russians are not still pumping gas in at their end).
One good thing to come out of this should be the death of populism/ cakeism. Yes, it’s a bit of a laugh to vote for Corbyn/ Johnson/ Brexit, but it’s now been shown to have real world consequences that not even the densest voter could miss.
One good thing to come out of this should be the death of populism/ cakeism. Yes, it’s a bit of a laugh to vote for Corbyn/ Johnson/ Brexit, but it’s now been shown to have real world consequences that not even the densest voter could miss.
I wouldn't get too excited just yet. Voters can be formidably dense.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
75% doesn't sound right to me? I've seen 17% success rate online, even with second applications that seems unlikely.
I sit on our admissions panels, and that is the figure that I have been quoted by our application team. Of course more may apply if they thought they could get in.
I don't have a problem with expansion, but quite how we manage isn't obvious. There are only so many good clinical teachers.
Incidentally has Reeves or Starmer actually discussed with the Teaching Hospitals how they double the number of Medical Students? It would be quite a building programme, and I am not convinced there are enough candidates of the right calibre. At present 75% of applicants are successful, albeit many on their second application.
Seeing as many of them will end up as GPs I think 3 Es at A-level should be an adequate pass rate, or perhaps an apprentice scheme might suffice.
Being a GP is a very tough job, with nowhere near the resources of us hospital staff. They need to be particularly sharp clinicians.
PS. On a more serious note, a large number of hospital clinicians that have expressed an opinion to me over the years do not share your view. They appear to view their general practice cousins in much the same way as a London magic circle lawyer might view a parochial one man band high street lawyer who specialises in wills and conveyancing.
GPs have different skill sets. They are gatekeepers, preventing the worried well from clogging up hospital scanners and path labs when they don’t need it. They need to spot the 1 in 100 that IS cancer from the 99 that aren’t. It’s not easy, and sometimes they get it wrong. The system doesn’t help. Other countries do path tests at GP surgeries where they can so you get better evidence for referral or not. Here referral is based on probabilities and then patients are in the hands of secondary care. I’m sure a well paid consultant, specialist in his/her field may feel superior to GPs, but they chose that role. Brief example. Phlebotomists take blood. All day. That’s the job. They are brilliant at it. I know because I have had a lot of blood taken. Registrars take less blood, and are often not as good. Hence on one occasion a registrar tried 5 (five!) different places to take peripheral bloods. Phlebotomists never missed. Not once. Who is the better or more skilled clinician?
I refer to to a previous answer. I was not arguing that many do not do a good job, any more than I was arguing other professionals do not. I was simply arguing that the suggestion that you should only take A* students to do a job that ultimately requires you to be a GP is not sensible
We don't.
At Leicester we take AAB with only an A in Chemistry compulsory. This is probably equivalent to BBC or even less when I got my place in the early Eighties.
I agree though that the students that wail, or that drop out, are rarely in that position because they are too thick. Usually it is other problems, from laziness, to poor motivation or lack of concern for patients.
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
No doubt people said the same about Hitler.
FFS. Meloni is not Hitler
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
Absolutely right. People are being silly about the labelling here. In the bigger picture Our current UK government is to the right of Meloni’s, because UK electorate more right wing than italys.
One good thing to come out of this should be the death of populism/ cakeism. Yes, it’s a bit of a laugh to vote for Corbyn/ Johnson/ Brexit, but it’s now been shown to have real world consequences that not even the densest voter could miss.
Finally, I think 'Great British Energy', in public ownership, is a big winner.
Yes it will be
I’m not keen. State competing with private simply won’t work well.
It will be popular though. I'd rather we went all in and grabbed hold of 100% of our needs in energy and food. Fuck globalism, its over
Globalism isn’t over. It’s only just begun.
It’s also unbeatable.
Populism will defeat globalism. Watch this space.
Not If moderatism defeates populism first.
This winter will do for moderatism. Also watch this space.
i honestly think the only chance for the conservatives now as the economy is screwed is to go full on bnp lite to get the red wall votes...start talking about things like an immigration freeze..fight a full on culture wars battle
Yes, if not there is scope for a red wall friendly populist movement to really grab the long term trend away from Labour there. But they need to get motivated and organised now
They’ve not shown any great inclination or effort to really understand or tune into the dynamics of the red wall or build upon that voter base (one of the greatest party political failings of the Tories in the past 3 years - and Liz is even less convincing than BoJo and Rishi on that front) so good luck with that…
Whuch is why i said there is scope for a red wall friendly populist movement. The red wall is leaving labour, has been for nearly 20 years, somebody can cash in if the Tories are too thick to
The idea that the red wall is full of racists is one of the most depressing and appalling ideas mooted here. Its really not.
The red wall is seats where people increasingly own their own home and transport, have aspiration and meet typical concerns for voting Tory, its not some morass of bigoted hicks.
Which is the better thing to do: invest any spare cash into a savings account with as good an interest rate as you can get and pay down the equity in a lump sum at remortgage time when FR ends, or overpay monthly on the mortgage? Appreciate some of that is based on what rate you can get on savings, mortgage rate, limits on overpayment etc but which, broadly, is the best option?
Hopefully this isn’t a dumb question.
Personally speaking, unless you can get much better rates saving its normally better to remove the debt. Having said that, its important to have access to funds with the capacity to see you through a short term crisis if you can.
He promised a new 70% home ownership target if Labour won power, with proposals to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
I am behind you Keir, I am behind you
Please no props for first time buyers. All they are about is to ensure first time buyers bid higher against each other so that prices are higher for the people selling.
What first time buyers really need is low prices and that comes from the govt withdrawing from the housing market, including taking housing benefit back to the levels of a couple of decades ago. The houses will still end up lived in, just at a lower price, whether rented or bought.
Housing benefit shouldn't be reduced, it should be abolished. Roll it into a UBI and allow people to choose how to spend their own money for housing, whether it be on a mortgage, or rent.
Insisting on renting instead of buying your own home, or having benefits like housing benefit that get lost if you work more, just sets the wrong incentives.
Tangentially we should perhaps note that renting as opposed to buying homes increases labour mobility, and aiui is normal in places like Germany. I'm not advocating renting but perhaps some organisation cleverer than me should look at the question.
It's taken less than three years to (more-or-less) repair Labour's image after the fall of Corbyn.
The reputation of the private rental market will probably still be in the sewer when the Sun engulfs the Earth.
Finally, I think 'Great British Energy', in public ownership, is a big winner.
Yes it will be
I’m not keen. State competing with private simply won’t work well.
It will be popular though. I'd rather we went all in and grabbed hold of 100% of our needs in energy and food. Fuck globalism, its over
Globalism isn’t over. It’s only just begun.
It’s also unbeatable.
Populism will defeat globalism. Watch this space.
Not If moderatism defeates populism first.
This winter will do for moderatism. Also watch this space.
i honestly think the only chance for the conservatives now as the economy is screwed is to go full on bnp lite to get the red wall votes...start talking about things like an immigration freeze..fight a full on culture wars battle
Yes, if not there is scope for a red wall friendly populist movement to really grab the long term trend away from Labour there. But they need to get motivated and organised now
They’ve not shown any great inclination or effort to really understand or tune into the dynamics of the red wall or build upon that voter base (one of the greatest party political failings of the Tories in the past 3 years - and Liz is even less convincing than BoJo and Rishi on that front) so good luck with that…
Whuch is why i said there is scope for a red wall friendly populist movement. The red wall is leaving labour, has been for nearly 20 years, somebody can cash in if the Tories are too thick to
The idea that the red wall is full of racists is one of the most depressing and appalling ideas mooted here. Its really not.
The red wall is seats where people increasingly own their own home and transport, have aspiration and meet typical concerns for voting Tory, its not some morass of bigoted hicks.
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
To be fair, neither were the Italian Fascists Hitler either. Indeed they nearly clashed over the Anschluss.
Not all Fascists are Nazis, and not all the far right are Fascists. Fascism is its own genre of politics.
I don't know if Meloni is or isn't, but it is customary to congratulate new leaders, even if politically far removed in world views. It is just good diplomacy to be polite.
Reading up a little on Meloni, she seems replete with a heady mix of a strong social conservatism mixed with a robust nationalism propped up by all manner of curious anti-Left conspiracy theories.
The hysterical anti-Left nonsense with which she comes out makes me wonder which she and I inhabit the same world. I can appreciate her nationalism which seems in vogue currently and even her social conservatism which, to be charitable, is probably based on respect for "traditional values" no matter how romanticised and idealised.
As to whether she'll be a good Prime Minister for Italy, time will tell. She carries the burden (as do many Opposition leaders going into Government) of expectation all the "problems" can be put right and she can accomplish what previous Governments could not and she has a clear mandate for that.
The problem will be if it looks like she is failing or compromising someone else will pick up the banner for her views and values and she will become part of the problem rather than all of the solution.
He promised a new 70% home ownership target if Labour won power, with proposals to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
I am behind you Keir, I am behind you
Please no props for first time buyers. All they are about is to ensure first time buyers bid higher against each other so that prices are higher for the people selling.
What first time buyers really need is low prices and that comes from the govt withdrawing from the housing market, including taking housing benefit back to the levels of a couple of decades ago. The houses will still end up lived in, just at a lower price, whether rented or bought.
Housing benefit shouldn't be reduced, it should be abolished. Roll it into a UBI and allow people to choose how to spend their own money for housing, whether it be on a mortgage, or rent.
Insisting on renting instead of buying your own home, or having benefits like housing benefit that get lost if you work more, just sets the wrong incentives.
Tangentially we should perhaps note that renting as opposed to buying homes increases labour mobility, and aiui is normal in places like Germany. I'm not advocating renting but perhaps some organisation cleverer than me should look at the question.
Whether we have more renting or less, the idea of the government setting an ever inflationary floor onto rental prices is just wrong. It is a terribly inefficient way to help poor renters and makes it much harder for average renters to buy if they wish to, as they compete against landlords with near guaranteed yields set by govt that rise each year.
He promised a new 70% home ownership target if Labour won power, with proposals to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
I am behind you Keir, I am behind you
Please no props for first time buyers. All they are about is to ensure first time buyers bid higher against each other so that prices are higher for the people selling.
What first time buyers really need is low prices and that comes from the govt withdrawing from the housing market, including taking housing benefit back to the levels of a couple of decades ago. The houses will still end up lived in, just at a lower price, whether rented or bought.
Housing benefit shouldn't be reduced, it should be abolished. Roll it into a UBI and allow people to choose how to spend their own money for housing, whether it be on a mortgage, or rent.
Insisting on renting instead of buying your own home, or having benefits like housing benefit that get lost if you work more, just sets the wrong incentives.
Tangentially we should perhaps note that renting as opposed to buying homes increases labour mobility, and aiui is normal in places like Germany. I'm not advocating renting but perhaps some organisation cleverer than me should look at the question.
It's taken less than three years to (more-or-less) repair Labour's image after the fall of Corbyn.
The reputation of the private rental market will probably still be in the sewer when the Sun engulfs the Earth.
And the Tories are now doing a right-wing Corbynism.
The interesting question is how quickly will the milk sour for Labour and how rapidly will the Tories recover in opposition.
They're going to have a very shitty in-tray. Worth remembering that in 1997 it couldn't really have been better.
He promised a new 70% home ownership target if Labour won power, with proposals to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
I am behind you Keir, I am behind you
Please no props for first time buyers. All they are about is to ensure first time buyers bid higher against each other so that prices are higher for the people selling.
What first time buyers really need is low prices and that comes from the govt withdrawing from the housing market, including taking housing benefit back to the levels of a couple of decades ago. The houses will still end up lived in, just at a lower price, whether rented or bought.
Housing benefit shouldn't be reduced, it should be abolished. Roll it into a UBI and allow people to choose how to spend their own money for housing, whether it be on a mortgage, or rent.
Insisting on renting instead of buying your own home, or having benefits like housing benefit that get lost if you work more, just sets the wrong incentives.
Tangentially we should perhaps note that renting as opposed to buying homes increases labour mobility, and aiui is normal in places like Germany. I'm not advocating renting but perhaps some organisation cleverer than me should look at the question.
It's taken less than three years to (more-or-less) repair Labour's image after the fall of Corbyn.
The reputation of the private rental market will probably still be in the sewer when the Sun engulfs the Earth.
I must admit I wouldn't want to rent the cheap gaff in this set of three - though he does claim to have had tenant problems. And I couldn't afford the one that is worth exactly 1K times as much to buy.
I see according to some in Labour I'm superficially a brown man.
Magnificent.
"Culturally white" is the most recent one I've had said to/about me. From a self appointed "anti-racist" too. Wankers.
Polite way of saying coconut isn't it?
Wankers indeed.
I was going to say that it's surprising that some people, otherwise being against racism, still think (correctly) that they can get away with such things, but I'm really not surprised at all.
It's not hard to not do. Yes, apologies will get made, as in this case, which is about all that can be demanded I guess, but such comment is not made in the heat of the moment, its considered and deliberate, so whilst apologies have to be made it's generally pretty clear what the genuine feeling is.
And it gives cover to more 'overt' racism to boot. Fantastic.
But then I say that as a white man on behalf of non whites everywhere.
It is amusing, recently I had to listen a non racist white person tell me that it seems like I'm betraying my cultures and people by only ever being in relationships with white people.
It's the kind of logic the National Front espouse.
That's where Wokery ends.
Which is why I oppose it. Sounds like you do too.
I don't really think it's anything to do with woke. It's just another variation on the old story of many people not being willing to try to understand why someone might disagree with them, but simply looking for a quick way of declaring the opposing view invalid.
It happened before woke. It will happen after woke. After all, I had a monarchist on here tell me I disagreed with monarchism only because I was autistic. That's the same sort of insulting approach to dismissing someone for having a different point of view.
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
No doubt people said the same about Hitler.
FFS. Meloni is not Hitler
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
Absolutely right. People are being silly about the labelling here. In the bigger picture Our current UK government is to the right of Meloni’s, because UK electorate more right wing than italys.
Indeed
Tho I’m not sure the UK is further right than Italy
You can hear Hard Right views expressed openly in Italy that you simply don’t in the UK
FWIW I think all the western world is moving sharply to the right on matters of things like migration, even as they often become “left” in social attitudes, or perhaps more secular
Need to correct that. Tottenham Tories. Not a Councillor - they don't have any.
Quite interesting to see their comparisons for the LTNs - pass laws, Belfast duriung the Troubles ...
The cluelessness is encouraging, in that they will lose through having no meaningful case.
Of course - I'd forgotten you are very keen on urban cycling. Quite. I see 'ghetto' is also used. And it doesn't help that in their historical comparisons the wealthy folk tooling around in big cars were, erm, one colour/race/whatever, and the poor, another ... astounding stuff to come out with in London of all places.
I'm also quite pleased that the Duke of Norfolk got a totting-up driving ban the other day for going through lights on red because he was distracted by using his mobile phone (the new drunk driving - similar penalties required) and did not even look properly. The silly old bugger could have killed someone far too easily.
I've never heard so many weasel words to try and avoid it.
London doing better now - in some places they have moved forward to nearly properly segregated cycleways, which is about the third iteration in 15 years. Chiswick latest (computo pic). Still too narrow and priorities / junctions need work within the wide High Road corridor, but on the way. I lived there for a few years and it was like a motorway.
The thing is how hard is it to get your butler to marry your phone to the car's bluetooth? Unless he was in a 1920s State Bentley or some such.
I'd say the main thing is that he does not have a clue the risks he is taking for other people when he chooses to use a mobile phone in his car whilst not parked up. But at least the people in London and Norfolk for a year from being KSI'd by an idiot.
He's a nutter, his family keep sending him off to some wacky Center in Arizona to get him sorted out hush ma big mouf, but I still don't see what he is doing being hands unfree in 2022.
He said he was talking to his wife. And that he needed his continued license because he would suffer exceptional hardship by not being able to drive around to organise the Coronation.
Sure, my point is still: who in 2022 has a car and a phone which do not have a handsfree bluetooth link?
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
No doubt people said the same about Hitler.
FFS. Meloni is not Hitler
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
Absolutely right. People are being silly about the labelling here. In the bigger picture Our current UK government is to the right of Meloni’s, because UK electorate more right wing than italys.
Italy is more socially conservative than the UK, it is one of the only western nations still not to have gay marriage. It also has a lower abortion time limit and is more anti immigration
He promised a new 70% home ownership target if Labour won power, with proposals to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
I am behind you Keir, I am behind you
Please no props for first time buyers. All they are about is to ensure first time buyers bid higher against each other so that prices are higher for the people selling.
What first time buyers really need is low prices and that comes from the govt withdrawing from the housing market, including taking housing benefit back to the levels of a couple of decades ago. The houses will still end up lived in, just at a lower price, whether rented or bought.
Housing benefit shouldn't be reduced, it should be abolished. Roll it into a UBI and allow people to choose how to spend their own money for housing, whether it be on a mortgage, or rent.
Insisting on renting instead of buying your own home, or having benefits like housing benefit that get lost if you work more, just sets the wrong incentives.
Tangentially we should perhaps note that renting as opposed to buying homes increases labour mobility, and aiui is normal in places like Germany. I'm not advocating renting but perhaps some organisation cleverer than me should look at the question.
It's taken less than three years to (more-or-less) repair Labour's image after the fall of Corbyn.
The reputation of the private rental market will probably still be in the sewer when the Sun engulfs the Earth.
And the Tories are now doing a right-wing Corbynism.
The interesting question is how quickly will the milk sour for Labour and how rapidly will the Tories recover in opposition.
They're going to have a very shitty in-tray. Worth remembering that in 1997 it couldn't really have been better.
We had to clear up the mess left by the Tories will become the new we had to clear up ths mess left by Labour
If he becomes PM at the next election he will be about 20 years older than Blair was. There's only a 9 year age gap between him and Blair.
CHB's post is the sort of exultant bullshit you get from a Labour Bot. it has been a work of art engratiating him /her/they into the minds of PB ers over the last couple of years. Now the leopard shows it's spots.
Hey Rooty! What up pal?
Just calling it as I see it. If you recall we had these chats a while back when you firsy joined. Your love in.last night spoke volumes.
If gilts are collapsing in value then are not Defined Benefit pensions in deep shite?
Well, it's complicated.
But no, they're not (necessarily) fucked. But they will be under more pressure, but that's for a different reason.
Re gilts: if you were going to hold the gilts until redemption (which your average pension fund is), then you will recieve exactly the same flow of interest payments as previously.
However, because inflation is higher (and therefore salaries will be too), the pension funds future liabilities will be greater. Therefore there is more pressure on them, and firms will probably need to make additional payments, at exactly the same time they're under pressure for other reasons.
Kherson Oblast - 97.47% Zaporozhye Oblast - 98% Donetsk Oblast - 98.05% Luhansk Oblast - 97.79%
Genuine courageous votes to stay in Ukraine? Or just made up numbers to look ‘realistic’?
If you look at the last Ukrainian parliamentary elections, the Pro Russia (now banned) Opposition Platform - For Life, got majorities/pluralities in much of Donetsk and Luhansk, but did much worse in the other 2 provinces.
Not saying those Opposition Platform voters are necessarily in favour of joining Russia, but maybe you'd expect higher support in those places for it, than in Kherson or Zaporizhzhia
Those people voted for parties that supported closer ties with Russia.
Just as LibDem voters in the UK voted for closer ties with the EU.
It does not follow, though, that LibDem voters would cheer on a Franco-German invasion.
Which is the better thing to do: invest any spare cash into a savings account with as good an interest rate as you can get and pay down the equity in a lump sum at remortgage time when FR ends, or overpay monthly on the mortgage? Appreciate some of that is based on what rate you can get on savings, mortgage rate, limits on overpayment etc but which, broadly, is the best option?
Hopefully this isn’t a dumb question.
Starting principle is compare your savings rate and mortgage rates and put your money in the higher one. Penalties, fixes, overpayments, tax, cash flow and other stuff also need to be taken into account which makes it complicated and personalised.
Something I know nothing about but will just mention anyway. After I paid off the mortgage, a friend high-up in the property game said that it might have been better to keep a small mortgage going; iirc it was because it was easier to get a new mortgage if you already had one, or something. It was too late for me so I was not really paying attention.
"If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the ... border of Ukraine again, then there will be ... no longer a Nord Stream 2. We, we will bring an end to it," Biden said. Asked how, given the project is in German control, Biden said: "I promise you, we'll be able to do it."
Scholz said the United States and Germany had the same approach to Ukraine, to Russia and to sanctions, but did not directly confirm the Nord Stream 2 plans or mention the pipeline publicly by name over the course of his day-long visit.
And the answer is Gazprom who can now claim Force Majeure on gas delivery contracts, and therefore avoid the massive financial penalties from failure to deliver gas.
I see according to some in Labour I'm superficially a brown man.
Magnificent.
"Culturally white" is the most recent one I've had said to/about me. From a self appointed "anti-racist" too. Wankers.
Polite way of saying coconut isn't it?
Wankers indeed.
I was going to say that it's surprising that some people, otherwise being against racism, still think (correctly) that they can get away with such things, but I'm really not surprised at all.
It's not hard to not do. Yes, apologies will get made, as in this case, which is about all that can be demanded I guess, but such comment is not made in the heat of the moment, its considered and deliberate, so whilst apologies have to be made it's generally pretty clear what the genuine feeling is.
And it gives cover to more 'overt' racism to boot. Fantastic.
But then I say that as a white man on behalf of non whites everywhere.
It is amusing, recently I had to listen a non racist white person tell me that it seems like I'm betraying my cultures and people by only ever being in relationships with white people.
It's the kind of logic the National Front espouse.
That's where Wokery ends.
Which is why I oppose it. Sounds like you do too.
I don't really think it's anything to do with woke. It's just another variation on the old story of many people not being willing to try to understand why someone might disagree with them, but simply looking for a quick way of declaring the opposing view invalid.
It happened before woke. It will happen after woke. After all, I had a monarchist on here tell me I disagreed with monarchism only because I was autistic. That's the same sort of insulting approach to dismissing someone for having a different point of view.
You touch on the heart of the matter. Woke is lazy thinking. It enables lazy and immature people to believe they are right because the prejudices they espouse are fashionable and therefore go unchallenged.
I think Greek/Italian bonds are currently where they are because the market expects that the ECB will treat the Russian invasion / energy crisis, like they did the Eurozone crisis and the pandemic crisis. Basically: their view is that the ECB will always find a crisis to justify intervention.
The BoE is not rolling over though - my point is there is more support for Italian/Greek yields than UK ones from government intervention
And the Tories are now doing a right-wing Corbynism.
The interesting question is how quickly will the milk sour for Labour and how rapidly will the Tories recover in opposition.
They're going to have a very shitty in-tray. Worth remembering that in 1997 it couldn't really have been better.
What will help Starmer and the other parties is first it will take the Conservatives a fair while to understand they are no longer in power but in Opposition - last time it took them 8 years and three leaders. The same may be true this time.
Second, and here I'm going to be blunt, after 14 years of listening to the Conservatives, people will be happy to be able to ignore them. No one will be interested in what Badenoch or Wallace will say and it will take a while before anyone is prepared to give them a hearing.
Third, "surely no one wants Jones back" - it worked in Animal Farm and could work at Westminster too (is there any difference?). The Opposition parties will remember how the Conservatives comported themselves in office and how the Opposition was treated and the very mechanisms which the Conservatives created will now be used against them. The other parties may disagree on anything and everything but they'll be united against the Conservatives.
One good thing to come out of this should be the death of populism/ cakeism. Yes, it’s a bit of a laugh to vote for Corbyn/ Johnson/ Brexit, but it’s now been shown to have real world consequences that not even the densest voter could miss.
Perhaps, but I think in good grace you should give Meloni half a chance.
No doubt people said the same about Hitler.
FFS. Meloni is not Hitler
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
Absolutely right. People are being silly about the labelling here. In the bigger picture Our current UK government is to the right of Meloni’s, because UK electorate more right wing than italys.
Indeed
Tho I’m not sure the UK is further right than Italy
You can hear Hard Right views expressed openly in Italy that you simply don’t in the UK
FWIW I think all the western world is moving sharply to the right on matters of things like migration, even as they often become “left” in social attitudes, or perhaps more secular
A complex picture
We are in a way sister nations; their boats from North Africa problem is pretty comparable to our channel crossers.
Bit surprised not to have had an initiative on that from whatever clown is the new HS.
Comments
But the Huq woman has made me angry.
But no one loses their race if they don't share that more common allegiance of course, which is what the Huqs of the world seem to believe.
I can only assume its political.
The M&S Bank Arena has the smallest capacity of all the seven cities in the bid.
The nearby hotels consist of Jurys Inn and Premier Inn (within reasonable walking distance). There is Travelodge a bit further out but that's it.
And the transport links are awful. Fly in to LJL. Bus to LSP and then a train to Moorfields or Central and either walk from there, or ANOTHER train on the Wirral line to James Street and walk from there.
It really doesn't make a huge amount of sense.
Edit - checking now shows I was probably wrong about the 2 hotels. Looks like there may be a couple more nearby too. Nevertheless, there aren't many.
All said of course, is that I know a number of friends who'll be delighted. One was such a Eurovision fan she'd booked hotels in all six other cities (with the intention of cancelling five or six of them). She might now not need to do anything, other than make sure she can get a ride in and out on the week (she'll go to the Semi-Finals, guaranteed).
But no, they're not (necessarily) fucked. But they will be under more pressure, but that's for a different reason.
Re gilts: if you were going to hold the gilts until redemption (which your average pension fund is), then you will recieve exactly the same flow of interest payments as previously.
However, because inflation is higher (and therefore salaries will be too), the pension funds future liabilities will be greater. Therefore there is more pressure on them, and firms will probably need to make additional payments, at exactly the same time they're under pressure for other reasons.
Which is why I oppose it. Sounds like you do too.
It's the overall quality of British politics and British politicians at the moment that bothers me. So uninspired.
Ask an orthopedic surgeon how to manage heavy periods, or a cardiologist to manage vertigo and they are soon lost at sea. GPs need great breadth of knowledge, specialists great depth. It is Yin and Yang, or horses for courses.
I have great respect for my GP colleagues. It is a job that I couldn't do.
https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/top-cop-criticised-over-rap-to-black-officers-6955764.html
No more than ex-communist Nick Palmer is Pol Pot, nor many other senior Labour figures who dallied with Far Left politics when younger
I’m sure a well paid consultant, specialist in his/her field may feel superior to GPs, but they chose that role.
Brief example. Phlebotomists take blood. All day. That’s the job. They are brilliant at it. I know because I have had a lot of blood taken. Registrars take less blood, and are often not as good. Hence on one occasion a registrar tried 5 (five!) different places to take peripheral bloods. Phlebotomists never missed. Not once. Who is the better or more skilled clinician?
Not all Fascists are Nazis, and not all the far right are Fascists. Fascism is its own genre of politics.
I don't know if Meloni is or isn't, but it is customary to congratulate new leaders, even if politically far removed in world views. It is just good diplomacy to be polite.
IMO there's no point in putting onshore wind on farmland or National Parks, when there are so many places renewables can go without the negatives - offshore wind, warehouse roofs, airfields, and all the rest.
I'd agree that - like fracking - it is half a political nod to a faction, but we may see some development.
Which is the better thing to do: invest any spare cash into a savings account with as good an interest rate as you can get and pay down the equity in a lump sum at remortgage time when FR ends, or overpay monthly on the mortgage? Appreciate some of that is based on what rate you can get on savings, mortgage rate, limits on overpayment etc but which, broadly, is the best option?
Hopefully this isn’t a dumb question.
Why not make the roles simpler and more specialised, reduce the training by a couple of years and open it up to more people? With technology to help that seems a much better use of resources.
"However, it has been found that, when the gas-liquid ratio is relatively low, the gas phase flow rate of the pipeline is almost zero under the operating pressure condition, and the gas is mostly dissolved in the liquid. In such a case, the sudden closure of upper and lower valves will cause significant surge of water hammer pressure."
https://onepetro.org/ISOPEIOPEC/proceedings-abstract/ISOPE19/All-ISOPE19/ISOPE-I-19-092/20827
But apparently there have been three leaks in NS1 and/or NS2, which means sabotage is *very* likely.
https://youtu.be/TNTojcx5Oug
@geoffw's excellent question was "It is said Russia has to keep pumping gas to prevent water getting into the NS1/2 pipes. Why can't they pump air in instead?"
But maybe it's just the gas contents on the pipe spewing out as it is displaced by seawater? In which case the gas will stop soon (assuming the Russians are not still pumping gas in at their end).
At Leicester we take AAB with only an A in Chemistry compulsory. This is probably equivalent to BBC or even less when I got my place in the early Eighties.
I agree though that the students that wail, or that drop out, are rarely in that position because they are too thick. Usually it is other problems, from laziness, to poor motivation or lack of concern for patients.
A 75% acceptance rate can't be right.
If 15% get in, I could easily believe that the next 15% could be excellent doctors as well.
I would imagine also that UK training is better than that of many other countries we recruit from.
The reputation of the private rental market will probably still be in the sewer when the Sun engulfs the Earth.
We’d sign as Mr - and Mrs - Simply Divine
The hysterical anti-Left nonsense with which she comes out makes me wonder which she and I inhabit the same world. I can appreciate her nationalism which seems in vogue currently and even her social conservatism which, to be charitable, is probably based on respect for "traditional values" no matter how romanticised and idealised.
As to whether she'll be a good Prime Minister for Italy, time will tell. She carries the burden (as do many Opposition leaders going into Government) of expectation all the "problems" can be put right and she can accomplish what previous Governments could not and she has a clear mandate for that.
The problem will be if it looks like she is failing or compromising someone else will pick up the banner for her views and values and she will become part of the problem rather than all of the solution.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/27/hydrogen-is-unsuitable-for-home-heating-review-concludes
The interesting question is how quickly will the milk sour for Labour and how rapidly will the Tories recover in opposition.
They're going to have a very shitty in-tray. Worth remembering that in 1997 it couldn't really have been better.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/sep/27/25000-wreck-25m-home-indoor-pool-three-house-sales-modern-britain
It happened before woke. It will happen after woke. After all, I had a monarchist on here tell me I disagreed with monarchism only because I was autistic. That's the same sort of insulting approach to dismissing someone for having a different point of view.
Tho I’m not sure the UK is further right than Italy
You can hear Hard Right views expressed openly in Italy that you simply don’t in the UK
FWIW I think all the western world is moving sharply to the right on matters of things like migration, even as they often become “left” in social attitudes, or perhaps more secular
A complex picture
Just as LibDem voters in the UK voted for closer ties with the EU.
It does not follow, though, that LibDem voters would cheer on a Franco-German invasion.
It's an escalation, and a somewhat deniable one.
You might want to check on Amazon - see if they sell "Moral Compasses" ....
And the answer is Gazprom who can now claim Force Majeure on gas delivery contracts, and therefore avoid the massive financial penalties from failure to deliver gas.
Go on then, phrase that point correctly.
Second, and here I'm going to be blunt, after 14 years of listening to the Conservatives, people will be happy to be able to ignore them. No one will be interested in what Badenoch or Wallace will say and it will take a while before anyone is prepared to give them a hearing.
Third, "surely no one wants Jones back" - it worked in Animal Farm and could work at Westminster too (is there any difference?). The Opposition parties will remember how the Conservatives comported themselves in office and how the Opposition was treated and the very mechanisms which the Conservatives created will now be used against them. The other parties may disagree on anything and everything but they'll be united against the Conservatives.
Number during the 22 years prior to that: 4.
Bit surprised not to have had an initiative on that from whatever clown is the new HS.
We spoke about the Tories dominating, that time has passed. I think the Tories will now be out of power for a generation, maybe even 20 years.