For lunch today I had a sandwich. But it wasn’t just any old sandwich. The sandwich I had has been claimed by some to be “the best sandwich in the world”
Not just “tasty”. Or “really nice sarnie”. Or “a damn good sandwich if you’re in the area”
No. The actual BEST SANDWICH IN THE WORLD
It was the mixed bahn mi from here. Bahn Mi Phuong, Hoi An
And you know what? They might be right. It is incredible
The best sandwiches in the world are (or were) at Bedales Wine Bar in Leadenhall Market.
Fantastic with a nice bottle of sauv and I'm a burgundy kind of guy.
But (for us in the UK) a bit early for a PB culinary diversion.
How will it play in Kircudbright?
Is it a cheese and ham sandwich? A really good cheese and ham sandwich on proper sourdough is hard to beat. Especially with a nice glass of dryish red wine, as you suggest
But honestly. That bahn mi today. It’s unearthly. The French bread alone is sensational
They sell so many the bread is nearly always warm from the oven next door - they produce thousands every day. It has that perfect soft yet crusty mmmness
Fuck knows what’s in it. Genius
Who hasn't gone to an (artisanal) bakery and walked out with far too many loaves for a, max, one slice a day bread habit just because the bread looks so amazing.
What is it about bread that it looks so must haveable.
The smell delivers the coup de grace. New baked bread - utterly insidious
I'm of the view that Labour will make significant progress in Scotland at GE 2024, for two reasons.
Firstly, the departure of Sturgeon and the difficulty the SNP are having in finding a replacement that can keep the Party united.
Secondly, and equally importantly, the likelihood of a Labour-led UK government after the next GE, which was a remote prospect until around a year ago. If I lived in Scotland and had to choose between the SNP and a Tory UK government, I'd plump for the former. However, the more likely it is that the UK government is Labour led, the more likely I'd be to switch from SNP to Labour, putting independence on the backburner for now. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of progressive, left-wing Scottish voters think similarly.
Only thickos will vote English Labour in Scotland. WE had 40 years of shafting and grifting from them so it would only be cretins who would vote for them.
Yes, but we thickos and cretins are entitled to a vote too, you know. The right to vote is not confined to towering intellectuals such as your good self.
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
When I was a trainee I worked for a firm that specialised in public sector law, acting for local authorities. I remember I had to attend court with counsel to prosecute a committal hearing. The defendant was a pet shop owner who had breached an order to stop trading. To get round said order he was requiring customers to sign a sheet of paper confirming that the animals (mostly koi carp IIRC) they were buying were for consumption. He got 6 months suspended for 18.
Large, not enormous. Unless the new leader is more impressive than appears the case now, it's likely to stay that way for a bit.
But the issue isn't going to go away any time soon, if ever.
"The issue" of independence might not go away.
Any realistic prospect of its delivery will though.
Devo Maximus will be the best Scotland can get for several decades. That is where Scottish politics will move towards, with SNP and Alba fighting it out in a rather small sack.
I predict it will become like Quebec. The issue certainly will not go away but the day of Indy will never arrive. Too much hassle
And the word "Indy" will be pronounced with just the hint of a giggle....
I'm of the view that Labour will make significant progress in Scotland at GE 2024, for two reasons.
Firstly, the departure of Sturgeon and the difficulty the SNP are having in finding a replacement that can keep the Party united.
Secondly, and equally importantly, the likelihood of a Labour-led UK government after the next GE, which was a remote prospect until around a year ago. If I lived in Scotland and had to choose between the SNP and a Tory UK government, I'd plump for the former. However, the more likely it is that the UK government is Labour led, the more likely I'd be to switch from SNP to Labour, putting independence on the backburner for now. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of progressive, left-wing Scottish voters think similarly.
Only thickos will vote English Labour in Scotland. WE had 40 years of shafting and grifting from them so it would only be cretins who would vote for them.
I think anyone voting for English Labour while resident in Scotland are committing an offence. Unless they're a student maybe.
For lunch today I had a sandwich. But it wasn’t just any old sandwich. The sandwich I had has been claimed by some to be “the best sandwich in the world”
Not just “tasty”. Or “really nice sarnie”. Or “a damn good sandwich if you’re in the area”
No. The actual BEST SANDWICH IN THE WORLD
It was the mixed bahn mi from here. Bahn Mi Phuong, Hoi An
And you know what? They might be right. It is incredible
The best sandwiches in the world are (or were) at Bedales Wine Bar in Leadenhall Market.
Fantastic with a nice bottle of sauv and I'm a burgundy kind of guy.
But (for us in the UK) a bit early for a PB culinary diversion.
How will it play in Kircudbright?
Is it a cheese and ham sandwich? A really good cheese and ham sandwich on proper sourdough is hard to beat. Especially with a nice glass of dryish red wine, as you suggest
But honestly. That bahn mi today. It’s unearthly. The French bread alone is sensational
They sell so many the bread is nearly always warm from the oven next door - they produce thousands every day. It has that perfect soft yet crusty mmmness
Fuck knows what’s in it. Genius
Who hasn't gone to an (artisanal) bakery and walked out with far too many loaves for a, max, one slice a day bread habit just because the bread looks so amazing.
What is it about bread that it looks so must haveable.
The smell delivers the coup de grace. New baked bread - utterly insidious
Is it an urban myth that they pipe the smell of freshly baked bread in the entrances to supermarkets so that customers are enticed in.
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
SKS fans please explain.
Hamster is very nearly an anagram of Starmer, so he's obviously responsible.
The woman who ate the hamster said SKS was her inspiration
The hamster was initially her friend but then it sqweaked something about Corbyn so it had never been her friend so she had to kill it
And naturally although initially not a fan of the taste she changed her mind and thought it was delicious and that it would be anti semitic to not eat it
I am fascinated how this will turn out. Salmond and Sturgeon, regardless of their flaws and my personal disagreements with them, have probably been the two most capable politicians of the last 15 years in the UK. I can't wait to see what effect it will have on the popularity of the nationalist movement when they are not there as credible heads of government of an independent state.
Odd that support for Scottish nationalism should depend on whoever happens to be leading the SNP on a particular day. Surely the whole point is that national destiny transcends individuals.
Polls show that large numbers of voters can be persuaded for or against Indy by relatively small amounts of money
Eg if you’d be £1000 richer would you vote YES instead of NO etc etc
For most people this issue is actually NOT fundamental. Of course we hear the vocal minority for whom it is absolutely pivotal - in both directions
Therefore it is entirely plausible that a change of leader - from a good leader like sturgeon to someone much less impressive, will genuinely shift attitudes to Indy
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
When I was a trainee I worked for a firm that specialised in public sector law, acting for local authorities. I remember I had to attend court with counsel to prosecute a committal hearing. The defendant was a pet shop owner who had breached an order to stop trading. To get round said order he was requiring customers to sign a sheet of paper confirming that the animals (mostly koi carp IIRC) they were buying were for consumption. He got 6 months suspended for 18.
There's a great line in a US film can't remember which where the protagonists rock up to a farm which has the sign "rabbits for sale" and they are asked "pets or meat"?
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I am fascinated how this will turn out. Salmond and Sturgeon, regardless of their flaws and my personal disagreements with them, have probably been the two most capable politicians of the last 15 years in the UK. I can't wait to see what effect it will have on the popularity of the nationalist movement when they are not there as credible heads of government of an independent state.
Odd that support for Scottish nationalism should depend on whoever happens to be leading the SNP on a particular day. Surely the whole point is that national destiny transcends individuals.
The point is whether support for Scottish nationalism continues to carry over into support for the main party that has historically represented that movement in elections. Which is a moot point given the candidates on offer. One of the two leading candidates seems just as much committed to the politics of Gilead and is determined to trash her party's "mediocre" record in her bid to claw her way to the top, in the face of opposition from most of the party's elected representatives. The other really does seem to be Yousless.
Otherwise you might as well claim that support for moderate socialism would always carry over into support for the main party that has historically represented it in UK elections, regardless of whether or not that party was led by Jeremy Corbyn or Keir Starmer.
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
What's the link to Starmer?
Freddie Starr was alleged to have eaten someone's hamster.
One of the greatest tabloid headlines ever.
And Starr sounds a bit like Starmer.
I think the link is that Freddie Starr ate a hamster, Freddie Starr was for some unknown reason a big celeb in 1980’s Britain, Jimmy Saville was also for some unknown reason a big celeb in 1980’s Britain and Keir Starmer obviously let Freddie Starr off for eating a hamster when SKS was DPP.
I'm of the view that Labour will make significant progress in Scotland at GE 2024, for two reasons.
Firstly, the departure of Sturgeon and the difficulty the SNP are having in finding a replacement that can keep the Party united.
Secondly, and equally importantly, the likelihood of a Labour-led UK government after the next GE, which was a remote prospect until around a year ago. If I lived in Scotland and had to choose between the SNP and a Tory UK government, I'd plump for the former. However, the more likely it is that the UK government is Labour led, the more likely I'd be to switch from SNP to Labour, putting independence on the backburner for now. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of progressive, left-wing Scottish voters think similarly.
Only thickos will vote English Labour in Scotland. WE had 40 years of shafting and grifting from them so it would only be cretins who would vote for them.
I would have said, given they won't be standing, anyone who votes for English Labour in Scotland has managed something exceptionally clever.
There is no Scottish Labour party , they are part of the UK ( aka English Labour party). A regional office only.
They will either choose Forbes who will have significant difficulties in trying to assert her authority given how key figures in the party have gone for her over the religion stuff.
Or they will choose Yousaf who to put it charitably can only really be seen as failing upwards.
SKS is lucky general example no. 384.
To be honest, its a poisoned chalice who ever becomes the next SNP leader and FM as its quite clear that Nicola Sturgeon's authority was already seeping away, and as a result party discipline was already breaking down among MPs and MSPs in recent months.
They will either choose Forbes who will have significant difficulties in trying to assert her authority given how key figures in the party have gone for her over the religion stuff.
Or they will choose Yousaf who to put it charitably can only really be seen as failing upwards.
SKS is lucky general example no. 384.
Hopefully anyone other than Useless wins it and when they do what you call the "key figures" will be heading for the bin. They are mere nodding donkeys who obey orders from Sturgeon and will not be missed.
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
Having read the story, it's far more fucked up than the headline alone suggests (proper animal cruelty, cutting up hamster while alive filming the process). I'm glad she's been jailed.
For lunch today I had a sandwich. But it wasn’t just any old sandwich. The sandwich I had has been claimed by some to be “the best sandwich in the world”
Not just “tasty”. Or “really nice sarnie”. Or “a damn good sandwich if you’re in the area”
No. The actual BEST SANDWICH IN THE WORLD
It was the mixed bahn mi from here. Bahn Mi Phuong, Hoi An
And you know what? They might be right. It is incredible
The best sandwiches in the world are (or were) at Bedales Wine Bar in Leadenhall Market.
Fantastic with a nice bottle of sauv and I'm a burgundy kind of guy.
But (for us in the UK) a bit early for a PB culinary diversion.
How will it play in Kircudbright?
Is it a cheese and ham sandwich? A really good cheese and ham sandwich on proper sourdough is hard to beat. Especially with a nice glass of dryish red wine, as you suggest
But honestly. That bahn mi today. It’s unearthly. The French bread alone is sensational
They sell so many the bread is nearly always warm from the oven next door - they produce thousands every day. It has that perfect soft yet crusty mmmness
Fuck knows what’s in it. Genius
Who hasn't gone to an (artisanal) bakery and walked out with far too many loaves for a, max, one slice a day bread habit just because the bread looks so amazing.
What is it about bread that it looks so must haveable.
The smell delivers the coup de grace. New baked bread - utterly insidious
It is an amazing smell. Supermarkets in America used to pump out a fake “just baked bread” smell simply to get people salivating and buying food
Edit: I see @topping claims this as an urban myth. He may be right. I shall away and google
I'm of the view that Labour will make significant progress in Scotland at GE 2024, for two reasons.
Firstly, the departure of Sturgeon and the difficulty the SNP are having in finding a replacement that can keep the Party united.
Secondly, and equally importantly, the likelihood of a Labour-led UK government after the next GE, which was a remote prospect until around a year ago. If I lived in Scotland and had to choose between the SNP and a Tory UK government, I'd plump for the former. However, the more likely it is that the UK government is Labour led, the more likely I'd be to switch from SNP to Labour, putting independence on the backburner for now. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of progressive, left-wing Scottish voters think similarly.
Only thickos will vote English Labour in Scotland. WE had 40 years of shafting and grifting from them so it would only be cretins who would vote for them.
Yes, but we thickos and cretins are entitled to a vote too, you know. The right to vote is not confined to towering intellectuals such as your good self.
Unfortunately this is true , however there should be a rule that thickos and cretins must take guidance from an inellectual to ensure we do not continue to elect morons.
I'm of the view that Labour will make significant progress in Scotland at GE 2024, for two reasons.
Firstly, the departure of Sturgeon and the difficulty the SNP are having in finding a replacement that can keep the Party united.
Secondly, and equally importantly, the likelihood of a Labour-led UK government after the next GE, which was a remote prospect until around a year ago. If I lived in Scotland and had to choose between the SNP and a Tory UK government, I'd plump for the former. However, the more likely it is that the UK government is Labour led, the more likely I'd be to switch from SNP to Labour, putting independence on the backburner for now. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of progressive, left-wing Scottish voters think similarly.
Only thickos will vote English Labour in Scotland. WE had 40 years of shafting and grifting from them so it would only be cretins who would vote for them.
I would have said, given they won't be standing, anyone who votes for English Labour in Scotland has managed something exceptionally clever.
There is no Scottish Labour party , they are part of the UK ( aka English Labour party). A regional office only.
Perfectly correct.
Instructively, Labour fiddled the electoral legislation to allow themselves to stand under the 'Scottish Labour Party' name in Scotland - nornally it's quite illegal to stand under the wrong name.
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
What's the link to Starmer?
Freddie Starr was alleged to have eaten someone's hamster.
One of the greatest tabloid headlines ever.
And Starr sounds a bit like Starmer.
I think the link is that Freddie Starr ate a hamster, Freddie Starr was for some unknown reason a big celeb in 1980’s Britain, Jimmy Saville was also for some unknown reason a big celeb in 1980’s Britain and Keir Starmer obviously let Freddie Starr off for eating a hamster when SKS was DPP.
Yes. A mate and I were recently discussing how appalling the TV 'celebrities' were in the 1980s. We cited that 'poof' bloke who wore a safari suit and kept saying 'chase me, chase me', but Freddie Starr could easily also apply. Something to do with only having four channels?
I'm of the view that Labour will make significant progress in Scotland at GE 2024, for two reasons.
Firstly, the departure of Sturgeon and the difficulty the SNP are having in finding a replacement that can keep the Party united.
Secondly, and equally importantly, the likelihood of a Labour-led UK government after the next GE, which was a remote prospect until around a year ago. If I lived in Scotland and had to choose between the SNP and a Tory UK government, I'd plump for the former. However, the more likely it is that the UK government is Labour led, the more likely I'd be to switch from SNP to Labour, putting independence on the backburner for now. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of progressive, left-wing Scottish voters think similarly.
Only thickos will vote English Labour in Scotland. WE had 40 years of shafting and grifting from them so it would only be cretins who would vote for them.
I think anyone voting for English Labour while resident in Scotland are committing an offence. Unless they're a student maybe.
There is no Scottish Labour Party, they are a regional office of the English party. They pretend to be Scottish Labour but it is a lie. You will find no registered Scottish Labour Party anywhere other than in the fake regional Labour party.
Apparently - pace @TOPPING - it is true. Some US supermarkets do indeed pump out just baked bread smells. Some do it by circulating actual air from on site bakeries throughout the store, others fake it entirely
Parts of HS2 to be delayed and a record number waiting for treatment but the boats the boats !
Treasury / DfT reported to be looking at two options: "Project Silverlight" and "Operation Blue Diamond".
Nail it to the floor, they are going to scrap the section east of Old Oak Common. Or at least heavily delay it. No tunnel sections yet dug there at all.
And the other mad option? Postpone the section between OOC and Ruislip. They have barely started on those bores (https://tunneltracker.com/), so stop, have HS2 trains trundle down the existing surface line through Greenford and into a surface platform next to the part-dug station box.
This is going to be great! Nothing works in this country, and the Tories are continuing our proud tradition of fucking up infrastructure that everyone else in western Europe builds properly.
I have it - intern asylum seekers in part built tunnels!!!! Or enslave them to dig the tunnels by hand!!!
Apparently - pace @TOPPING - it is true. Some US supermarkets do indeed pump out just baked bread smells. Some do it by circulating actual air from on site bakeries throughout the store, others fake it entirely
Not sure if I'm happier or sadder that it is true.
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
Having read the story, it's far more fucked up than the headline alone suggests (proper animal cruelty, cutting up hamster while alive filming the process). I'm glad she's been jailed.
Apparently - pace @TOPPING - it is true. Some US supermarkets do indeed pump out just baked bread smells. Some do it by circulating actual air from on site bakeries throughout the store, others fake it entirely
Not sure if I'm happier or sadder that it is true.
Talking of supermarket smells, Portuguese supermarkets always used to reek of salt cod. Bacalhau. Never a nice smell at the best of times but on a hot humid day - eeek
In the last few years this pong has entirely disappeared
I see @squareroot2 is gloating on the last thread that Gary Lineker may well be on his way out of the BBC and from reports earlier this morning that seemed quite likely.
Nothing to be proud of though.
Censoring people like Lineker and Clarkson (although Clarkson left for other reasons, but the axe was always over his head for the comments he made) just means the BBC loses great talent. Within reason (and there are some obvious limits) they should be able to comment on what they like when they like provided it is not within their BBC remit.
Where are we going to draw the line on comments anybody on TV says in their own time that we may not like? What the hell has it got to do with @squareroot2 what these people say in their own time? Mind your own business. We should not be censoring free speech. He has as much right as you or me to post on twitter about stuff provided he is not using a BBC forum to do so.
If the BBC sacks Lineker in response to criticism of him by Tory politicians, while Richard Sharp remains as chairman despite the circumstances of his appointment, I don't think many people will see that as reassurance of the BBC's independence.
They will either choose Forbes who will have significant difficulties in trying to assert her authority given how key figures in the party have gone for her over the religion stuff.
Or they will choose Yousaf who to put it charitably can only really be seen as failing upwards.
SKS is lucky general example no. 384.
Hopefully anyone other than Useless wins it and when they do what you call the "key figures" will be heading for the bin. They are mere nodding donkeys who obey orders from Sturgeon and will not be missed.
I think you are helping to make numbertwelve’s point for them - it really does feel like a catch 22 and makes me nervous for my (minuscule) bet against a LAB majority in Westminster
I expect the net economic benefits of HS2 in my lifetime to be nil. Or worse.
If they'd built it 25 years ago rather than constantly delaying it, it would have paid for itself twice over by now, and have cost about what they've already spent.
I really do not know what to say about the DfT in particular. Is it possible for even civil servants to be this incompetent for this long?
Talking of supermarket smells, Portuguese supermarkets always used to reek of salt cod. Bacalhau. Never a nice smell at the best of times but on a hot humid day - eeek
In the last few years this pong has entirely disappeared
There is a great aroma found in middle eastern supermarkets the components of which someone I'm sure can identify.
“We will never use MiGs again. They have no real value for us. If we give them to Ukraine, they can help save lives,” Slovakian Defense Minister
Poland have said they'll only send the Fulcrums if the US send aircraft first; the Leopard Gambit redux.
Slovakia want somebody, anybody to pay them 20m EUR/airframe for theirs. No takers so far. Not even Johnson when the idea was first floated last summer.
They will either choose Forbes who will have significant difficulties in trying to assert her authority given how key figures in the party have gone for her over the religion stuff.
Or they will choose Yousaf who to put it charitably can only really be seen as failing upwards.
SKS is lucky general example no. 384.
Hopefully anyone other than Useless wins it and when they do what you call the "key figures" will be heading for the bin. They are mere nodding donkeys who obey orders from Sturgeon and will not be missed.
I think you are helping to make numbertwelve’s point for them - it really does feel like a catch 22 and makes me nervous for my (minuscule) bet against a LAB majority in Westminster
You should be. Labour are going to make quite a few gains in Scotland. The SNP is heading for a long delayed period of internecine bloodletting. The internal differences can no longer be disguised or whitewashed. Yousaf and Forbes shouldn’t even be in the same party, let alone Cabinet
Starmer will get a majority, assisted by a much improved performance in Scotland
Talking of supermarket smells, Portuguese supermarkets always used to reek of salt cod. Bacalhau. Never a nice smell at the best of times but on a hot humid day - eeek
In the last few years this pong has entirely disappeared
There is a great aroma found in middle eastern supermarkets the components of which someone I'm sure can identify.
I see @squareroot2 is gloating on the last thread that Gary Lineker may well be on his way out of the BBC and from reports earlier this morning that seemed quite likely.
Nothing to be proud of though.
Censoring people like Lineker and Clarkson (although Clarkson left for other reasons, but the axe was always over his head for the comments he made) just means the BBC loses great talent. Within reason (and there are some obvious limits) they should be able to comment on what they like when they like provided it is not within their BBC remit.
Where are we going to draw the line on comments anybody on TV says in their own time that we may not like? What the hell has it got to do with @squareroot2 what these people say in their own time? Mind your own business. We should not be censoring free speech. He has as much right as you or me to post on twitter about stuff provided he is not using a BBC forum to do so.
If the BBC sacks Lineker in response to criticism of him by Tory politicians, while Richard Sharp remains as chairman despite the circumstances of his appointment, I don't think many people will see that as reassurance of the BBC's independence.
I expect the net economic benefits of HS2 in my lifetime to be nil. Or worse.
If they'd built it 25 years ago rather than constantly delaying it, it would have paid for itself twice over by now, and have cost about what they've already spent.
I really do not know what to say about the DfT in particular. Is it possible for even civil servants to be this incompetent for this long?
Apparently so. It's been crystal clear ever since Crossrail and Thameslink 2000 how these large rail projects inevitably go, so why faff around for decades?
We're going to make ourselves a laughing stock. Build high speed rail from nowhere to nowhere that isn't high speed. At a gargantuan cost which France / Spain / Germany etc would have done at a fraction of the cost in half the time.
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
We're going to make ourselves a laughing stock. Build high speed rail from nowhere to nowhere that isn't high speed. At a gargantuan cost which France / Spain / Germany etc would have done at a fraction of the cost in half the time.
Global Britain at its finest!
It is quite embarrassing
Thailand is busily building high speed networks
Morocco already has one - between Tangier and Casablanca
They will either choose Forbes who will have significant difficulties in trying to assert her authority given how key figures in the party have gone for her over the religion stuff.
Or they will choose Yousaf who to put it charitably can only really be seen as failing upwards.
SKS is lucky general example no. 384.
Hopefully anyone other than Useless wins it and when they do what you call the "key figures" will be heading for the bin. They are mere nodding donkeys who obey orders from Sturgeon and will not be missed.
I think you are helping to make numbertwelve’s point for them - it really does feel like a catch 22 and makes me nervous for my (minuscule) bet against a LAB majority in Westminster
You should be. Labour are going to make quite a few gains in Scotland. The SNP is heading for a long delayed period of internecine bloodletting. The internal differences can no longer be disguised or whitewashed. Yousaf and Forbes shouldn’t even be in the same party, let alone Cabinet
Starmer will get a majority, assisted by a much improved performance in Scotland
Agreed that’s the most likely outcome, and rapidly increasing in likelihood as the SNP contest goes on. I’m just hoping for some volatility in the betting markets so I can trade out.
Surely, surely some of the endless lumps of shit thrown at Starmer will temporarily stick? Or the red meat thrown out by Sunak will be gobbled down? There’s enough of both flying around right now.
They will either choose Forbes who will have significant difficulties in trying to assert her authority given how key figures in the party have gone for her over the religion stuff.
Or they will choose Yousaf who to put it charitably can only really be seen as failing upwards.
SKS is lucky general example no. 384.
Hopefully anyone other than Useless wins it and when they do what you call the "key figures" will be heading for the bin. They are mere nodding donkeys who obey orders from Sturgeon and will not be missed.
I think you are helping to make numbertwelve’s point for them - it really does feel like a catch 22 and makes me nervous for my (minuscule) bet against a LAB majority in Westminster
You should be. Labour are going to make quite a few gains in Scotland. The SNP is heading for a long delayed period of internecine bloodletting. The internal differences can no longer be disguised or whitewashed. Yousaf and Forbes shouldn’t even be in the same party, let alone Cabinet
Starmer will get a majority, assisted by a much improved performance in Scotland
Agreed that’s the most likely outcome, and rapidly increasing in likelihood as the SNP contest goes on. I’m just hoping for some volatility in the betting markets so I can trade out.
Surely, surely some of the endless lumps of shit thrown at Starmer will temporarily stick? Or the red meat thrown out by Sunak will be gobbled down? There’s enough of both flying around right now.
People seem to have decided, basically. Enough of the Tories. It’s done
Sunak will do enough to prevent extinction but he can’t avoid a nasty defeat. Meanwhile the Nats are also helping Starmer and I don’t see any way now of the SNP avoiding splits - and electoral damage
The latest survey, commissioned by Channel 4 News ahead of its leadership debate on Thursday night, puts Yousaf on 33% and Forbes on 32% when SNP voters were asked who would make the best first minister. Regan is on 10%.
For lunch today I had a sandwich. But it wasn’t just any old sandwich. The sandwich I had has been claimed by some to be “the best sandwich in the world”
Not just “tasty”. Or “really nice sarnie”. Or “a damn good sandwich if you’re in the area”
No. The actual BEST SANDWICH IN THE WORLD
It was the mixed bahn mi from here. Bahn Mi Phuong, Hoi An
And you know what? They might be right. It is incredible
The best sandwiches in the world are (or were) at Bedales Wine Bar in Leadenhall Market.
Fantastic with a nice bottle of sauv and I'm a burgundy kind of guy.
But (for us in the UK) a bit early for a PB culinary diversion.
How will it play in Kircudbright?
Is it a cheese and ham sandwich? A really good cheese and ham sandwich on proper sourdough is hard to beat. Especially with a nice glass of dryish red wine, as you suggest
But honestly. That bahn mi today. It’s unearthly. The French bread alone is sensational
They sell so many the bread is nearly always warm from the oven next door - they produce thousands every day. It has that perfect soft yet crusty mmmness
Fuck knows what’s in it. Genius
Who hasn't gone to an (artisanal) bakery and walked out with far too many loaves for a, max, one slice a day bread habit just because the bread looks so amazing.
What is it about bread that it looks so must haveable.
The smell delivers the coup de grace. New baked bread - utterly insidious
It is an amazing smell. Supermarkets in America used to pump out a fake “just baked bread” smell simply to get people salivating and buying food
Edit: I see @topping claims this as an urban myth. He may be right. I shall away and google
We put our house on the market last year, just before Liz Truss shafted the property market. We had a few viewings, no real interest and were considering dropping the price. We bake our own bread and I hand grind my own coffee. We had another viewing, and as luck would have it, a loaf was just out out of the oven, I had just brewed a fresh pot of St Martin's Cacao Nib coffee and the log burner was going like a steam train. The women fell in love with the place, and put an offer in that we were happy with pretty much as soon as she got back to her car. I credit the bread and coffee aromas for sealing the deal!
"Redfield & Wilton Strategies – whose poll on Wednesday gave No a nine-point lead over Yes – was called out for consistently spelling both the Scottish Health Secretary and Scottish Secretary’s name wrongly, among other issues.
Pollster Mark McGeoghegan said the firm also failed to include a Yes/No crossbreak in the tables. This would normally allow a glimpse into perceptions among people who voted for or against independence in 2014, but is missing from the Redfield & Wilton polling.
McGeoghegan further criticised the listing of the term “transgenderism” as a political issue. He said that such loaded language should not be used in polling."
"Redfield & Wilton Strategies – whose poll on Wednesday gave No a nine-point lead over Yes – was called out for consistently spelling both the Scottish Health Secretary and Scottish Secretary’s name wrongly, among other issues.
Pollster Mark McGeoghegan said the firm also failed to include a Yes/No crossbreak in the tables. This would normally allow a glimpse into perceptions among people who voted for or against independence in 2014, but is missing from the Redfield & Wilton polling.
McGeoghegan further criticised the listing of the term “transgenderism” as a political issue. He said that such loaded language should not be used in polling."
I wonder if the small boats announcement was nothing more than an internal (to the Tory party) dead cat to move on from the divisions over the NI deal? The small boats stuff is so farcical and rushed that it has the distinct whiff of ‘we need to announce something, anything, tomorrow to keep the rabid salivating loons in their cages’.
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Concorde is the only comparison I can think of. In terms of pitiful failure. At least we shared that with France and the plane itself was cutting-edge and magnificent - something to be proud of. Just a commercial failure
I expect the net economic benefits of HS2 in my lifetime to be nil. Or worse.
Just scrap HS2 now! Please!!
Can't be done. Even if they stopped all work on it now they would just have to start again in 10-15 years.
I see us a bit like that supposedly rational person who never upgrades to new tech. The argument for making do with what you've grown used to is rock solid on any given day - since the cost and inconvenience of changing is always greater than the short term benefit - but eventually the time comes when, oops, the world has changed beyond recognition and you're fucked. This very nearly happened to me with smartphones. It was only thanks to my wife that it didn't.
For lunch today I had a sandwich. But it wasn’t just any old sandwich. The sandwich I had has been claimed by some to be “the best sandwich in the world”
Not just “tasty”. Or “really nice sarnie”. Or “a damn good sandwich if you’re in the area”
No. The actual BEST SANDWICH IN THE WORLD
It was the mixed bahn mi from here. Bahn Mi Phuong, Hoi An
And you know what? They might be right. It is incredible
The best sandwiches in the world are (or were) at Bedales Wine Bar in Leadenhall Market.
Fantastic with a nice bottle of sauv and I'm a burgundy kind of guy.
But (for us in the UK) a bit early for a PB culinary diversion.
How will it play in Kircudbright?
Is it a cheese and ham sandwich? A really good cheese and ham sandwich on proper sourdough is hard to beat. Especially with a nice glass of dryish red wine, as you suggest
But honestly. That bahn mi today. It’s unearthly. The French bread alone is sensational
They sell so many the bread is nearly always warm from the oven next door - they produce thousands every day. It has that perfect soft yet crusty mmmness
Fuck knows what’s in it. Genius
Who hasn't gone to an (artisanal) bakery and walked out with far too many loaves for a, max, one slice a day bread habit just because the bread looks so amazing.
What is it about bread that it looks so must haveable.
The smell delivers the coup de grace. New baked bread - utterly insidious
It is an amazing smell. Supermarkets in America used to pump out a fake “just baked bread” smell simply to get people salivating and buying food
Edit: I see @topping claims this as an urban myth. He may be right. I shall away and google
We put our house on the market last year, just before Liz Truss shafted the property market. We had a few viewings, no real interest and were considering dropping the price. We bake our own bread and I hand grind my own coffee. We had another viewing, and as luck would have it, a loaf was just out out of the oven, I had just brewed a fresh pot of St Martin's Cacao Nib coffee and the log burner was going like a steam train. The women fell in love with the place, and put an offer in that we were happy with pretty much as soon as she got back to her car. I credit the bread and coffee aromas for sealing the deal!
Smell is so important and so underestimated as a human motivator
They will either choose Forbes who will have significant difficulties in trying to assert her authority given how key figures in the party have gone for her over the religion stuff.
Or they will choose Yousaf who to put it charitably can only really be seen as failing upwards.
SKS is lucky general example no. 384.
Hopefully anyone other than Useless wins it and when they do what you call the "key figures" will be heading for the bin. They are mere nodding donkeys who obey orders from Sturgeon and will not be missed.
I think you are helping to make numbertwelve’s point for them - it really does feel like a catch 22 and makes me nervous for my (minuscule) bet against a LAB majority in Westminster
You should be. Labour are going to make quite a few gains in Scotland. The SNP is heading for a long delayed period of internecine bloodletting. The internal differences can no longer be disguised or whitewashed. Yousaf and Forbes shouldn’t even be in the same party, let alone Cabinet
Starmer will get a majority, assisted by a much improved performance in Scotland
Agreed that’s the most likely outcome, and rapidly increasing in likelihood as the SNP contest goes on. I’m just hoping for some volatility in the betting markets so I can trade out.
Surely, surely some of the endless lumps of shit thrown at Starmer will temporarily stick? Or the red meat thrown out by Sunak will be gobbled down? There’s enough of both flying around right now.
People seem to have decided, basically. Enough of the Tories. It’s done
Sunak will do enough to prevent extinction but he can’t avoid a nasty defeat. Meanwhile the Nats are also helping Starmer and I don’t see any way now of the SNP avoiding splits - and electoral damage
Still agree with all of that but I’m relying on some panicked groupthink on the betting markets when eg numbers of small boats dip by a few percentage points and the LAB majority is briefly in doubt.
Though I acknowledge that if the SNP really does implode, any doubts about the LAB majority will probably go too.
Thankfully my exposure on the market is considerably less than what it costs me to spend one day on the picket line outside my school.
"Redfield & Wilton Strategies – whose poll on Wednesday gave No a nine-point lead over Yes – was called out for consistently spelling both the Scottish Health Secretary and Scottish Secretary’s name wrongly, among other issues.
Pollster Mark McGeoghegan said the firm also failed to include a Yes/No crossbreak in the tables. This would normally allow a glimpse into perceptions among people who voted for or against independence in 2014, but is missing from the Redfield & Wilton polling.
McGeoghegan further criticised the listing of the term “transgenderism” as a political issue. He said that such loaded language should not be used in polling."
Dunno who Mr McG is, myself, I must admit
Did they spell Yes or No wrong?
Spelling 'Yousef' is pretty poor - as is using 'transgenderism' rtather than, say, Gender Recognition Act.
HS2. We're going to get it running from London Gateway (or whatever they rename Old Oak Common to pretend its central) to Birmingham Curzon Street. And that's it. Watch them scrap the other 2 sides of the delta junction near the NEC. No onward connection even to the West Coast Main Line. Once you scrap the phases to Manchester there's no economic case to connect it up.
And the London end? Do you know how much that would cost? And besides we can repurpose the Euston flattening and build lots of apartments which our Russian and Saudi friends will buy with a nice bung to party coffers too.
Disagree? You're just Betraying Britain. Starmer's plan is to allow in 100m Albanians who will steal your jobs building the thing we won't build. Or something.
BBC News (UK) @BBCNews · 18h Woman jailed for killing and eating pet hamster
When I was a trainee I worked for a firm that specialised in public sector law, acting for local authorities. I remember I had to attend court with counsel to prosecute a committal hearing. The defendant was a pet shop owner who had breached an order to stop trading. To get round said order he was requiring customers to sign a sheet of paper confirming that the animals (mostly koi carp IIRC) they were buying were for consumption. He got 6 months suspended for 18.
Reading the account, she got (rightly) done for cruelty to the animal. Not for eating it.
HS2. We're going to get it running from London Gateway (or whatever they rename Old Oak Common to pretend its central) to Birmingham Curzon Street. And that's it. Watch them scrap the other 2 sides of the delta junction near the NEC. No onward connection even to the West Coast Main Line. Once you scrap the phases to Manchester there's no economic case to connect it up.
And the London end? Do you know how much that would cost? And besides we can repurpose the Euston flattening and build lots of apartments which our Russian and Saudi friends will buy with a nice bung to party coffers too.
Disagree? You're just Betraying Britain. Starmer's plan is to allow in 100m Albanians who will steal your jobs building the thing we won't build. Or something.
There are no good options for the Nats from here. Regan has no chance and she’s mad. Yousaf will alienate moderate/right voters and WHITE PEOPLE
Forbes (surely the best candidate overall) will alienate her own activists and MPs and the Wokerati
I can foresee a split - especially as Indy drifts into the far distance and the Indy-now fundamentalists peel away in anger
There are no doubt some 'WHITE PEOPLE' who will be alienated by Yousaf but very few surely?
How much of an effect in that way do you think Sunak has? Not much at all would be my hopeful guess.
I'm sorry to report he's talking about 'woke' again not his skin colour.
No, I’m talking about the infamous video - which I just linked - where Yousaf rants about there being too many WHITE people in office in Scotland, apparently unaware that Scotland is 98% white
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Concorde is the only comparison I can think of. In terms of pitiful failure. At least we shared that with France and the plane itself was cutting-edge and magnificent - something to be proud of. Just a commercial failure
This fiasco is worse
Concorde was known to be a failure quite early in the program.
The original belief/idea was that at sufficiently high speed, the fuel consumption would be outweighed by getting there faster. This turned out to be not true - certainly for Mach 2. Mach 3 flight required too much advanced technology and maintenance.
In addition it was barely had enough for transatlantic flight, let alone longer routes.
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Concorde is the only comparison I can think of. In terms of pitiful failure. At least we shared that with France and the plane itself was cutting-edge and magnificent - something to be proud of. Just a commercial failure
This fiasco is worse
Concorde was known to be a failure quite early in the program.
The original belief/idea was that at sufficiently high speed, the fuel consumption would be outweighed by getting there faster. This turned out to be not true - certainly for Mach 2. Mach 3 flight required too much advanced technology and maintenance.
In addition it was barely had enough for transatlantic flight, let alone longer routes.
“Under the last announced schedule, London-Manchester trains will start to run some time between 2035 and 2041, but that timescale could be pushed back yet further, potentially by another four years.”
So it’s gonna be working some time around THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY
By which point we will all be flitting about in self propelled AI autobots that also give blow jobs
I expect the net economic benefits of HS2 in my lifetime to be nil. Or worse.
If they'd built it 25 years ago rather than constantly delaying it, it would have paid for itself twice over by now, and have cost about what they've already spent.
I really do not know what to say about the DfT in particular. Is it possible for even civil servants to be this incompetent for this long?
Prevarication and delays are political sins, not civil service ones.
Edit - on infrastructure projects. For lots of policy stuff they’re civil service virtues….
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Concorde is the only comparison I can think of. In terms of pitiful failure. At least we shared that with France and the plane itself was cutting-edge and magnificent - something to be proud of. Just a commercial failure
This fiasco is worse
Concorde was known to be a failure quite early in the program.
The original belief/idea was that at sufficiently high speed, the fuel consumption would be outweighed by getting there faster. This turned out to be not true - certainly for Mach 2. Mach 3 flight required too much advanced technology and maintenance.
In addition it was barely had enough for transatlantic flight, let alone longer routes.
I was on its inaugural flight to Barbados and back. Press trip for the Gazette. Superb experience. Cramped, but superb
The victor in the SNP leadership race is very difficult to call as it is using the single transferable vote system, and is therefore likely to be decided by whether the transfers to Forbes on the elimination of Regan, allow Forbes to overtake a Yousaf likely lead in the first round. The transfers will certainly narrow any gap.
My betting is limited to £10 on just under 6 to 1 on a Forbes win placed after the religion related controversy blew up.
I will be using my vote to support Kate Forbes who I believe is the only candidate who just might have the potential to prove a worthy political successor to Sturgeon in eventual popularity. The opposition parties have severely undermined Yousaf (rightly or wrongly) in the eyes of the general electorate, and I feel he is severely undermined by that. Forbes has endorsed that view which is a bold move coupled with her stance on religion. It certainly does not follow a standard political approach.
Either Kate Forbes will prove politically to be a strategic mastermind-or a naive fool :-)
If the SNP suffer a significant setback at the UK General Election, I doubt the SNP Leader would survive, and I would hope that Stephen Flynn would forego his self denying ordinance and then stand for the leadership. I hope that is unnecessary , but I certainly expect him to be leader at some point as he has many years ahead of him in politics, if he should so wish.
“Under the last announced schedule, London-Manchester trains will start to run some time between 2035 and 2041, but that timescale could be pushed back yet further, potentially by another four years.”
So it’s gonna be working some time around THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY
By which point we will all be flitting about in self propelled AI autobots that also give blow jobs
What a facile waste of time and money
I fear what these two Treasury/DfT projects are. One is scrapping OOC - Euston. There's been enough mutterings about that already and they haven't started to dig the tunnels. The other?
Watch them do something totally mental like scrap the connection to the WCML. Which means opening HS2 which runs from a new station in Birmingham to somewhere west of London and literally nothing else. They will scrimp on trains for good measure and order something like the Javelin trains that do 140mph on the 186mph HS1 route.
By the time you connect to a Liz line train it will be slower than the existing route from Birmingham. And ONLY serve Birmingham with no onward connections.
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Concorde is the only comparison I can think of. In terms of pitiful failure. At least we shared that with France and the plane itself was cutting-edge and magnificent - something to be proud of. Just a commercial failure
This fiasco is worse
Concorde was known to be a failure quite early in the program.
The original belief/idea was that at sufficiently high speed, the fuel consumption would be outweighed by getting there faster. This turned out to be not true - certainly for Mach 2. Mach 3 flight required too much advanced technology and maintenance.
In addition it was barely had enough for transatlantic flight, let alone longer routes.
Gorgeous machine though.
One of the kids I went to school with, had this interesting back story.
Dad as a very young engineer at Farnborough wrote a paper outlining the problems (above). Instead he suggested that UK and France collaborate on building a huge subsonic airliner - 500 seat IIRC - for mass air travel.
The paper caused a bit of a stir inside the system. It was suppressed and he was black balled as a trouble maker by a senior civil servant working for a certain pipe smoking politician. He ended up going to the US and working for NASA.
A few years later, the civil servant in question tried to get a job in the US. The engineer at NASA got a visit from the FBI - clearance stuff, since he had worked with him.
He took a great deal of delight in explaining the "left wing views" of said civil servant and his bestie, the pipe smoking minister.
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Concorde is the only comparison I can think of. In terms of pitiful failure. At least we shared that with France and the plane itself was cutting-edge and magnificent - something to be proud of. Just a commercial failure
This fiasco is worse
Concorde was known to be a failure quite early in the program.
The original belief/idea was that at sufficiently high speed, the fuel consumption would be outweighed by getting there faster. This turned out to be not true - certainly for Mach 2. Mach 3 flight required too much advanced technology and maintenance.
In addition it was barely had enough for transatlantic flight, let alone longer routes.
I was on its inaugural flight to Barbados and back. Press trip for the Gazette. Superb experience. Cramped, but superb
I used to see it fly in past my house in Barbados on a Saturday morning. I'd hear it first, obviously. Always a beautiful sight.
I see now further elements of HS2 are going to be delayed. Chances of the line getting itself to Manchester now have to be slim.
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
They've already started building the section to Crewe, and completed quite a lot of the work. Delays would probably increase costs, not reduce them.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether to appease their paymasters because they prefer other modes of transport?
I think it is too far gone to scrap it altogether, now it’s just neutering it to the extent that any benefit will be marginal to nil.
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Concorde is the only comparison I can think of. In terms of pitiful failure. At least we shared that with France and the plane itself was cutting-edge and magnificent - something to be proud of. Just a commercial failure
This fiasco is worse
Concorde was known to be a failure quite early in the program.
The original belief/idea was that at sufficiently high speed, the fuel consumption would be outweighed by getting there faster. This turned out to be not true - certainly for Mach 2. Mach 3 flight required too much advanced technology and maintenance.
In addition it was barely had enough for transatlantic flight, let alone longer routes.
Gorgeous machine though.
One of the kids I went to school with, had this interesting back story.
Dad as a very young engineer at Farnborough wrote a paper outlining the problems (above). Instead he suggested that UK and France collaborate on building a huge subsonic airliner - 500 seat IIRC - for mass air travel.
The paper caused a bit of a stir inside the system. It was suppressed and he was black balled as a trouble maker by a senior civil servant working for a certain pipe smoking politician. He ended up going to the US and working for NASA.
A few years later, the civil servant in question tried to get a job in the US. The engineer at NASA got a visit from the FBI - clearance stuff, since he had worked with him.
He took a great deal of delight in explaining the "left wing views" of said civil servant and his bestie, the pipe smoking minister.
“Under the last announced schedule, London-Manchester trains will start to run some time between 2035 and 2041, but that timescale could be pushed back yet further, potentially by another four years.”
So it’s gonna be working some time around THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY
By which point we will all be flitting about in self propelled AI autobots that also give blow jobs
What a facile waste of time and money
There is a vanishingly slim chance of it making it to Manchester now in any respect. Unless someone looks at it again in say 50 years time and decides it’s worth throwing some more money at it to try and eke out some marginal benefit. I doubt any of us will still be here to see it open though.
HS2 - I doubt that delaying the project will actually save money. Cost pressures will just increase.
The purpose of any delay is to limit capital spend in a particular year, so that capital spend fits into the overall government budget parameters over each of the relevant years.
Presumably the government has (will in the budget?) specified tight capital spending limits over the next 10 years?
The victor in the SNP leadership race is very difficult to call as it is using the single transferable vote system, and is therefore likely to be decided by whether the transfers to Forbes on the elimination of Regan, allow Forbes to overtake a Yousaf likely lead in the first round. The transfers will certainly narrow any gap.
My betting is limited to £10 on just under 6 to 1 on a Forbes win placed after the religion related controversy blew up.
I will be using my vote to support Kate Forbes who I believe is the only candidate who just might have the potential to prove a worthy political successor to Sturgeon in eventual popularity. The opposition parties have severely undermined Yousaf (rightly or wrongly) in the eyes of the general electorate, and I feel he is severely undermined by that. Forbes has endorsed that view which is a bold move coupled with her stance on religion. It certainly does not follow a standard political approach.
Either Kate Forbes will prove politically to be a strategic mastermind-or a naive fool :-)
If the SNP suffer a significant setback at the UK General Election, I doubt the SNP Leader would survive, and I would hope that Stephen Flynn would forego his self denying ordinance and then stand for the leadership. I hope that is unnecessary , but I certainly expect him to be leader at some point as he has many years ahead of him in politics, if he should so wish.
I do agree with you about Forbes. It appears to be her vs Yousaf and I can't see how continuity Sturgeon does them any good. A change of approach is needed, one that concentrates on governing first and then using that as justification for independence second. Not crap governance focus on anything but and blame Westminster for your own mess.
Her big problem won't be the church stuff, it will be the right on MPs and MSPs who within their bubble have condemned her and all she stands for. Getting her as their leader would be awkward at best...
“Under the last announced schedule, London-Manchester trains will start to run some time between 2035 and 2041, but that timescale could be pushed back yet further, potentially by another four years.”
So it’s gonna be working some time around THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY
By which point we will all be flitting about in self propelled AI autobots that also give blow jobs
What a facile waste of time and money
I fear what these two Treasury/DfT projects are. One is scrapping OOC - Euston. There's been enough mutterings about that already and they haven't started to dig the tunnels. The other?
Watch them do something totally mental like scrap the connection to the WCML. Which means opening HS2 which runs from a new station in Birmingham to somewhere west of London and literally nothing else. They will scrimp on trains for good measure and order something like the Javelin trains that do 140mph on the 186mph HS1 route.
By the time you connect to a Liz line train it will be slower than the existing route from Birmingham. And ONLY serve Birmingham with no onward connections.
HS2 - I doubt that delaying the project will actually save money. Cost pressures will just increase.
The purpose of any delay is to limit capital spend in a particular year, so that capital spend fits into the overall government budget parameters over each of the relevant years.
Presumably the government has (will in the budget?) specified tight capital spending limits over the next 10 years?
Not especially, but they won’t want to grow them and inflation is way over expectations when they were set.
I have a theory that the Government should abandon all pretence of RAB type accounting, because politics stops it being done properly anyway. View everything in simple cash terms and you can remove these perverse incentives to “save”.
The victor in the SNP leadership race is very difficult to call as it is using the single transferable vote system, and is therefore likely to be decided by whether the transfers to Forbes on the elimination of Regan, allow Forbes to overtake a Yousaf likely lead in the first round. The transfers will certainly narrow any gap.
My betting is limited to £10 on just under 6 to 1 on a Forbes win placed after the religion related controversy blew up.
I will be using my vote to support Kate Forbes who I believe is the only candidate who just might have the potential to prove a worthy political successor to Sturgeon in eventual popularity. The opposition parties have severely undermined Yousaf (rightly or wrongly) in the eyes of the general electorate, and I feel he is severely undermined by that. Forbes has endorsed that view which is a bold move coupled with her stance on religion. It certainly does not follow a standard political approach.
Either Kate Forbes will prove politically to be a strategic mastermind-or a naive fool :-)
If the SNP suffer a significant setback at the UK General Election, I doubt the SNP Leader would survive, and I would hope that Stephen Flynn would forego his self denying ordinance and then stand for the leadership. I hope that is unnecessary , but I certainly expect him to be leader at some point as he has many years ahead of him in politics, if he should so wish.
Stephen Flynn's Aberdeen South seat has changed hands at ever GE in the last thirteen years, if the SNP do suffer a significant setback at the next UK GE I think he will would struggle to hold it.
Comments
The way that the whole thing has been managed has been a national scandal and the government deserves much more flak for it than it gets.
No wait, an Enoch.
Many principles.
The hamster was initially her friend but then it sqweaked something about Corbyn so it had never been her friend so she had to kill it
And naturally although initially not a fan of the taste she changed her mind and thought it was delicious and that it would be anti semitic to not eat it
Just the pay-off to finally sort.
But he was complaining about ohter areas of public life as well.
Are the DfT actually unaware of that? Or are we back to, they're trying to scrap it altogether
to appease their paymastersbecause they prefer other modes of transport?Otherwise you might as well claim that support for moderate socialism would always carry over into support for the main party that has historically represented it in UK elections, regardless of whether or not that party was led by Jeremy Corbyn or Keir Starmer.
Edit: I see @topping claims this as an urban myth. He may be right. I shall away and google
Instructively, Labour fiddled the electoral legislation to allow themselves to stand under the 'Scottish Labour Party' name in Scotland - nornally it's quite illegal to stand under the wrong name.
Nail it to the floor, they are going to scrap the section east of Old Oak Common. Or at least heavily delay it. No tunnel sections yet dug there at all.
And the other mad option? Postpone the section between OOC and Ruislip. They have barely started on those bores (https://tunneltracker.com/), so stop, have HS2 trains trundle down the existing surface line through Greenford and into a surface platform next to the part-dug station box.
This is going to be great! Nothing works in this country, and the Tories are continuing our proud tradition of fucking up infrastructure that everyone else in western Europe builds properly.
I have it - intern asylum seekers in part built tunnels!!!! Or enslave them to dig the tunnels by hand!!!
(Assuming they're all different people of course, not the Scottish equivalent of George Osborne.)
HS2 construction to be delayed to save money
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64901985
I expect the net economic benefits of HS2 in my lifetime to be nil. Or worse.
In the last few years this pong has entirely disappeared
I really do not know what to say about the DfT in particular. Is it possible for even civil servants to be this incompetent for this long?
Slovakia want somebody, anybody to pay them 20m EUR/airframe for theirs. No takers so far. Not even Johnson when the idea was first floated last summer.
You should be. Labour are going to make quite a few gains in Scotland. The SNP is heading for a long delayed period of internecine bloodletting. The internal differences can no longer be disguised or whitewashed. Yousaf and Forbes shouldn’t even be in the same party, let alone Cabinet
Starmer will get a majority, assisted by a much improved performance in Scotland
https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-open-letter-to-the-bbc/
Global Britain at its finest!
Rules of big infrastructure projects 101 - build to plan (or as close as realistically achievable) or don’t build it at all. If you want a brilliant high speed rail network connecting the northern cities of the UK and Birmingham to London, great, build it. Don’t green light it and then cut pieces away here and there so as to make the whole thing a waste.
We had a binary decision to spend the money on the new capacity via HS2 or to try to spend it to improve capacity on existing lines (challenging in and of itself but at least worth consideration). That we have actually ended up with neither and just a lot of burning bank notes is absolutely scandalous.
Thailand is busily building high speed networks
Morocco already has one - between Tangier and Casablanca
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Boraq
Surely, surely some of the endless lumps of shit thrown at Starmer will temporarily stick? Or the red meat thrown out by Sunak will be gobbled down? There’s enough of both flying around right now.
Sunak will do enough to prevent extinction but he can’t avoid a nasty defeat. Meanwhile the Nats are also helping Starmer and I don’t see any way now of the SNP avoiding splits - and electoral damage
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23374091.poll-snp-voters-split-kate-forbes-humza-yousaf/?ref=ebbn
The latest survey, commissioned by Channel 4 News ahead of its leadership debate on Thursday night, puts Yousaf on 33% and Forbes on 32% when SNP voters were asked who would make the best first minister. Regan is on 10%.
"Redfield & Wilton Strategies – whose poll on Wednesday gave No a nine-point lead over Yes – was called out for consistently spelling both the Scottish Health Secretary and Scottish Secretary’s name wrongly, among other issues.
Pollster Mark McGeoghegan said the firm also failed to include a Yes/No crossbreak in the tables. This would normally allow a glimpse into perceptions among people who voted for or against independence in 2014, but is missing from the Redfield & Wilton polling.
McGeoghegan further criticised the listing of the term “transgenderism” as a political issue. He said that such loaded language should not be used in polling."
Dunno who Mr McG is, myself, I must admit
They either back Linekar and face down government ire or they sack him and are seen to be doing the government’s bidding.
Lots of heads hitting desks in Broadcasting House right about now I’d think.
This fiasco is worse
Though I acknowledge that if the SNP really does implode, any doubts about the LAB majority will probably go too.
Thankfully my exposure on the market is considerably less than what it costs me to spend one day on the picket line outside my school.
Bet she didnt see that coming
And the London end? Do you know how much that would cost? And besides we can repurpose the Euston flattening and build lots of apartments which our Russian and Saudi friends will buy with a nice bung to party coffers too.
Disagree? You're just Betraying Britain. Starmer's plan is to allow in 100m Albanians who will steal your jobs building the thing we won't build. Or something.
The original belief/idea was that at sufficiently high speed, the fuel consumption would be outweighed by getting there faster. This turned out to be not true - certainly for Mach 2. Mach 3 flight required too much advanced technology and maintenance.
In addition it was barely had enough for transatlantic flight, let alone longer routes.
“Under the last announced schedule, London-Manchester trains will start to run some time between 2035 and 2041, but that timescale could be pushed back yet further, potentially by another four years.”
So it’s gonna be working some time around THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY
By which point we will all be flitting about in self propelled AI autobots that also give blow jobs
What a facile waste of time and money
Edit - on infrastructure projects. For lots of policy stuff they’re civil service virtues….
My betting is limited to £10 on just under 6 to 1 on a Forbes win placed after the religion related controversy blew up.
I will be using my vote to support Kate Forbes who I believe is the only candidate who just might have the potential to prove a worthy political successor to Sturgeon in eventual popularity. The opposition parties have severely undermined Yousaf (rightly or wrongly) in the eyes of the general electorate, and I feel he is severely undermined by that. Forbes has endorsed that view which is a bold move coupled with her stance on religion. It certainly does not follow a standard political approach.
Either Kate Forbes will prove politically to be a strategic mastermind-or a naive fool :-)
If the SNP suffer a significant setback at the UK General Election, I doubt the SNP Leader would survive, and I would hope that Stephen Flynn would forego his self denying ordinance and then stand for the leadership. I hope that is unnecessary , but I certainly expect him to be leader at some point as he has many years ahead of him in politics, if he should so wish.
Watch them do something totally mental like scrap the connection to the WCML. Which means opening HS2 which runs from a new station in Birmingham to somewhere west of London and literally nothing else. They will scrimp on trains for good measure and order something like the Javelin trains that do 140mph on the 186mph HS1 route.
By the time you connect to a Liz line train it will be slower than the existing route from Birmingham. And ONLY serve Birmingham with no onward connections.
Dad as a very young engineer at Farnborough wrote a paper outlining the problems (above). Instead he suggested that UK and France collaborate on building a huge subsonic airliner - 500 seat IIRC - for mass air travel.
The paper caused a bit of a stir inside the system. It was suppressed and he was black balled as a trouble maker by a senior civil servant working for a certain pipe smoking politician. He ended up going to the US and working for NASA.
A few years later, the civil servant in question tried to get a job in the US. The engineer at NASA got a visit from the FBI - clearance stuff, since he had worked with him.
He took a great deal of delight in explaining the "left wing views" of said civil servant and his bestie, the pipe smoking minister.
The purpose of any delay is to limit capital spend in a particular year, so that capital spend fits into the overall government budget parameters over each of the relevant years.
Presumably the government has (will in the budget?) specified tight capital spending limits over the next 10 years?
Her big problem won't be the church stuff, it will be the right on MPs and MSPs who within their bubble have condemned her and all she stands for. Getting her as their leader would be awkward at best...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64781986
I have a theory that the Government should abandon all pretence of RAB type accounting, because politics stops it being done properly anyway. View everything in simple cash terms and you can remove these perverse incentives to “save”.