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The front pages after an eventful day – politicalbetting.com
The front pages after an eventful day – politicalbetting.com
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The front pages after an eventful day – politicalbetting.com
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If of course the SNP splits as a result of her departure that may be different, but I can’t see it happening.
In praise of the ‘15-minute city’ – the mundane planning theory terrifying conspiracists
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/16/15-minute-city-planning-theory-conspiracists
One for the “Peak Guardian” list.
Given how much other parties have been split by leadership changes in recent years, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see something similar now happen with the SNP - especially as their common goal of Scottish independence looks to have slipped away in the medium term, and they face the more practical role of actually running a government and public services.
It is an outrage we're not getting any August Ashes tests because of that competition.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64653483
residential areas), and some paranoia (WEF will make you stay in your zone).
It's quite a good test of political celebrities. Maybe we should check the other things they've been telling people and see if they follow the same template.
Try reading the article.
Fan favourites are being unexpectedly canned amid complaints of soaring costs, skills shortages and an oversaturated market
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/why-disney-hbo-netflix-cancelling-many-great-shows/ (£££)
Hands up who said Brexit.
“Drama is becoming so expensive, especially in the UK,” explains Ed Waller, editorial director of trade bible C21 Media. “Talent costs are going through the roof – there’s a skills shortage behind the camera and European crews are reluctant to come to the UK post-Brexit. That means we just don’t have enough people to film good drama. The industry is launching training schemes across the business, but it’s going to take a couple of years to skill up. You can expect a strong move from scripted to unscripted shows – reality is back, basically. With the exception of Autumnwatch, obviously, which was canned at the start of the year.”
The American streamers are cutting spending, and without those US dollars, we can't afford to make good telly.
Been in our planning system for decades - current term is "placemaking", but also under "sustainability" as in sustainable communities (which confuses some 'deep green' people, who think they own the verb). Because people keen on walking and cycling embrace the idea, parts of the car hoon lobby have gone off at the deep end, and because it sounds leftish so have a few Tory MPs.
For a bit further back look, for example, at the book about how liveable human communities can be designed to work well "A Pattern Language", by Christopher Alexander, published in 1977 - which takes an interesting approach identifying a design vocabulary of 'patterns'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pattern_Language
There's an interesting obsession parallel at the moment about "Floating Bus Stops" (recently given a name) and a blind organisation called National Federation for the Blind UK who have latched onto it and think that bus-stop bypasses behind bus stops are the end of the world. They do not engage with the reality that shopping service roads in London suburbs have been using identical setups since perhaps the 1930s, with the bus stop separated by a service road for cars and vans.
Really imo just people turning idiot into a verb. If the conspiracy people keep obsessing, it will leave space for practical politicians to implement, then the nuts will move on.
Not sure about "Peak Guardian" - the G has similar levels of nuttiness in it every week, from a different angle. Try Zoe Williams.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/russia-ukraine-war-potemkin-occupation-murder-torture/672841/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
https://twitter.com/joswinson/status/1625825883444465665?s=46&t=kZucUS2yp_ePLV4Eu_7tuw
Britain risks falling behind France as Nato’s foremost military power in Europe, a think tank has warned. France has more combat aircraft, more frigates and more troops than Britain despite spending significantly less on defence
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/france-outguns-uk-military-despite-spending-less-on-defence-20wppspfw (£££)
For instance: I have not watched 'Happy Valley', but people I know love it. It'd be interesting to see what that coss to make in comparison with some of these big-budget series.
I tried to get in touch with them with some data from STATS19 and they blocked me.
I wasn't entirely convinced and do worry about people not calling an ambulance when they really do need one, but interesting.
It may be summed up by that tennis player fondling herself in public.
Whatever your racket, always cover your arse.
https://twitter.com/TomMcTague/status/1626125713450364928?s=20
https://unherd.com/2023/02/scottish-nationalism-will-survive-sturgeon/
It's an odd one politically, though, as it tends to cut across conventional party politics.
I would have said a modestly sized country leaving a controversial but generally successful Union because reasons and then deciding it can't deal with the economic fallout so it has to rejoin isn't actually the best advert for Scottish independence.
Sturgeon standing down may make a difference at the margins, but that in itself is a major achievement when you look at the independence movement in the longer term. Probably around 40% of Scots are now settled in the view that the Union should end. For younger people I bet the number is higher. A decade ago that was not the case. This is largely a Sturgeon achievement, though she got a lot of help from her political enemies.
Suddenly the England score doesn't look so far short of par as I thought.
And, as much as it grates, the 40% was Salmond. He used the referendum to crystallise an independence vote that had probably been there for decades, and nothing much has changed since.
The separatists are already split, and this might be the catalyst for them to splinter. An acrimonious leadership contest between the fundies and the gradualists is unlikely to further the cause in the short term
The real reason for her departure might be helpful
I wonder how far that goes.
Back in the 60s, every city wanted a network of motorways. That time is long ago - now people want more fresh air and not being stuck in commuting queues of cars. Or even worse their fresh air outside their house being spoiled by commuting queues of someone else's cars.
So what Mince MP is objecting to is progress. Instead of having everyone commute into the centre in a car have alternatives. Have local shops and businesses - the way it was before the 1960s.
Did the local shopkeepers and business owners of old know they were part of this international socialist conspiracy...?
Part of my work involves producing video and TV ads and there is still generally a correlation between what something costs to make and how good it is. In any case, more of the budget on the big marquee series goes into effects, pre- & post-production and paying expensive performers.
If she has been scythed down by Sunak's political genius over trans politics, prepare for a swift Conservative lead in the opinion polls.
So much investment in everything except compelling story. Interesting how the much hokier Star Wars universe actually lends itself to much better storytelling beyond the core narrative than Middle Earth*.
*I know it’s not just Middle Earth, technically.
The good news for Nicola is she can always self identify as First Minister whenever she wants
One of the many great things about the Stokes/McCullum era is that they're not embarrassed about England's best two bowlers being old enough to be parents of the younger members of the team.
It is not by any means inevitable that her replacement will be somebody less able to tap into these same forces she has manipulated so successfully. Possible, even probable. But not certain.
I find it very hard to judge par in a day night game but it is definitely lower than in normal conditions.
What an incredible player he has been. Has to be said, rather in spite of some dreadful mismanagement in his early twenties. Equally, the fact he wasn't grossly overbowled then May be one reason for his longevity.
I suspect he will call time at the end of this summer, but boy we will miss him.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-did-nicola-sturgeon-resign-gender-bill-trans-law-9h9w02wsk
Smart opposition parties should be able to capitalise. If the SNP are now rowing back their positions on pushing forward on this can they now focus on actual issues that affect actual people?
The Roman version of the bugle.. always wondered what these might sound like.
The ancient sound of the Roman cornu - a horn used for signalling troop movements and announcing the presence of the emperor in military and civilian settings. Each legion had 36 cornu players, as well as other trumpet and horn players. Imagine the noise!
https://mobile.twitter.com/OptimoPrincipi/status/1625806237601304577
Ah, Rings of Power. The show in which stone forts are held up by ropes.
The source said: “We need to get back on track by pursuing things that matter to the people of Scotland, not pushing stuff that the public is vehemently opposed to.
“I expect the gender reforms to be parked somewhere as quickly as possible. Any sensible new leader will want to get that off the front pages, and quickly.”
Privately, senior figures within the SNP are highly critical of Ms Sturgeon’s failure to groom an obvious successor. They fear an unpopular new SNP leader would cause support for both the party and independence to collapse.
https://archive.ph/2023.02.15-220721/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/02/15/nicola-sturgeon-brought-trans-row-snp-prepares-rip-gender-bill/
Edit - she had been grooming a successor. Unfortunately he’s been doing some grooming of his own…
They have some comments to make, but the research to deal with their concerns was done in 2015-2016 (ish) around TFL and Greater Manchester, and the TRL.
And we now have good designs for cycle infra in guidelines (at least in England), and the issues are around consistent implementation.
As a wheelchair user I find myself increasingly deciding to wheel along roads in town centres - nice smooth tarmac compared to uneven, unstable, narrow, highly-cambered pavements.
It also reminds me of a Spartan quote about other armies having drums and trumpets to get the soldiers riled up, while the Spartan army had flutes and pipes to calm them down.
But that's a bit like saying somebody is less of a threat to world peace than Vladimir Putin.
I currently have a van regularly parked 90% across the pavement which is the walking route to the local primary school, and to the shops. Council can't enforce as it is not marked double yellow or zone, and is not yet adopted. Police generally aren't interested.
Plus there is a Transport Select Committee into Accessibility in Transport at present.
It makes a lot of difference to quotidien Scottish and UK politics. NS is a force of nature, as was Salmond. Kate Forbes is the only possible 'force of nature' candidate - jury is out and we may never know. She may have better things to do that face the mob over her centre right opinions.
Finally, suppose we rejoin the EU, in truth it makes little difference whether Scotland is then 'independent' or not. It just means their 'ever closer union' is with rUK +27.