More now on President Macron's cancelled visit to Germany. It was due to be the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, and was scheduled to last from tomorrow until Tuesday.
More now on President Macron's cancelled visit to Germany. It was due to be the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, and was scheduled to last from tomorrow until Tuesday.
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
That would be one of the underlying premises. Anglo-Canada would seek stronger relations with Europe precisely to avoid over-dependence on the USA.
(And the UK needs to anyway for basic economic reasons).
And why not add Australia? Also has English common law, also part of the monarchy, for now?
It's hardly a new idea, but I heartily agree. CANAUK (NZ are a bit too pathetic and reliant on China for now)
It would be quite a mighty "nation", with enormous resources, great universities, global influence and presence. We could cycle the parliament betweem London, Ottawa and Canberra
To be even more radical the four UK nations could join independently, making CANENGNIWASCO, which is a neat and catchy name in itself, and that would balance out the Scottish sense of being constantly outvoted by overdominant England
In fact I'd add Cornwall as a fifth nation, making CANENGNIWASCOCORN, and maybe make Lostwithiel the ultimate Federal capital of the entire new superpower
Twitter seems to have fallen over. For me, at least.
Me too. Hope it is a reset to let us see tweets again without logging on.
New Musk wheeze apparently. You have to be logged on in order to see Tweets.
It;s clever and sensible. In fact it's amazing Twiter haven't done this before
Except it doesn't always seem to apply. Sometimes a link takes you straight to a tweet and you can see it without being logged in. (Well that was a few days ago, they might have changed it since then).
French President Emmanuel Macron is postponing his scheduled visit to Germany.
Trying to catch another Elton John concert this weekend?
It was a State Visit as well. That's a lot of spoiled kartoffelsalat
Must be serious
A number of twitter accounts that collect Ukrainian war footage have over the past few days been also posting French riot footage ...its often hard to tell one from the other.
French President Emmanuel Macron is postponing his scheduled visit to Germany.
Trying to catch another Elton John concert this weekend?
It was a State Visit as well. That's a lot of spoiled kartoffelsalat
Must be serious
A number of twitter accounts that collect Ukrainian war footage have over the past few days been also posting French riot footage ...its often hard to tell one from the other.
Are they needing some Storm Shadows too?
Given how heavily armed some of the French rioters are, not out of the question.
There was footage of one guy in France wandering down the main street with a belt-fed machine gun.
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
That would be one of the underlying premises. Anglo-Canada would seek stronger relations with Europe precisely to avoid over-dependence on the USA.
(And the UK needs to anyway for basic economic reasons).
And why not add Australia? Also has English common law, also part of the monarchy, for now?
It's hardly a new idea, but I heartily agree. CANAUK (NZ are a bit too pathetic and reliant on China for now)
It would be quite a mighty "nation", with enormous resources, great universities, global influence and oresence. We could cycle the parliament betweem London, Ottawa and Canberra
To be even more radical the four UK nations could join independently, making CANENGNIWASCO, which is a neat and catchy name in itself, and that would balance out the Scottish sense of being constantly outvoted by overdominant England
in fact I'd add Cornwall as a fifth nation, making CANENGNIWASCOCORN, and maybe make Lostwithiel the ultimate Federal capital of the entire new superpower
Because adding Australia lacks a bit of geographic and geopolitical logic.
UK and Canada are already both in NATO, and there’s only five hours time difference between London and Toronto.
But Australia etc could be a further leg. And you’d expect Anglo-Canada to have a v strong relationship with Australia from the outset.
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
I've visited Canada twice. In the summer of 1997 and in the autumn of 2015. In 1997 it seemed like the best place in the world, a futuristic, optimistic place where no-one was ever in a bad mood. In 2015 it had become slightly more like everywhere else, which was a bit disappointing.
This morning (the beginning of a long weekend here), I have inexplicably softened toward Rishi.
He’s toothless, hopeless, already yesterday’s man. I no longer need to worry so much about him. Anger is subsiding to indifference.
My ire is starting to turn toward Starmer. I don’t like some of the straws in the wind.
Labour are authoritarian centralisers - we know that, it's nothing new.
Starmer, like Blair, is desperately trying to convince wavering Conservative voters the Labour Party he leads is a non-socialist party of the centre or centre-right - in other words, a party for which a typical Conservative voter, disillusioned after 13 years of failure, can vote with confidence.
You might argue all that will mean is a continuity of decline but continuity is important - there aren't enough radical voters out there to make a radical alternative an option. Get them in the tent and walk them to radicalism.
As always, there's policy and there's politics - policy is what you'll do if you get elected, politics is what you do in order to get elected.
The obvious danger is that Labour decides to offer pale pink Toryism to get elected - and then drifts further towards conservatism afterwards. Already we've got what plans Labour did have being watered down because fiscal responsibility bollocks - not, "this is actually important, so the rich will have to cough up more," but, "no, can't do anything, no money." Except, of course, that there is always enough money somewhere to fund the catastrophic pension triple lock, which will ruin the country if it drags on for long enough. And I think we all know how long the positive noises about house building will survive the advent of a significant bloc of shire counties Labour MPs after the election.
So what's the mechanism you think that causes an in-power Labour government to drift right, rather than back to the left? The "bloc of new MPs who want to get reelected and drag the party in their direction" is a possibility. But it didn't work for all those Red Wall Tory MPs, who only got levelling up to the extent it happened to match Johnson's instincts when he was PM, and in general this government has drifted back towards its comfort zone, not towards the centre. So I'm sceptical that Labour in power is likely to be different. (I do think they're likely to show sides of the party that we've seen in the past, like authoritarian and centralising aspects. But those aren't conservatism.)
1. Money talks, and wealthier voters want right-leaning economic policy 2. Labour will take the young and the poor for granted, on the basis that they assume they've got nowhere else to go 3. The economy is so bent towards property speculation, and that has been the case for such a long time, that any kind of radical reform plan (the centrepiece of which must necessarily be a massive campaign of both private and social housebuilding, along with a large hike in the taxation of asset wealth,) will quickly end up in the dustbin marked "too difficult"
In essence, I'm concerned that they'll be too scared to do anything significantly different, and will slip into the comfort zone of trying to manage decline better than the other lot.
French President Emmanuel Macron is postponing his scheduled visit to Germany.
Trying to catch another Elton John concert this weekend?
It was a State Visit as well. That's a lot of spoiled kartoffelsalat
Must be serious
A number of twitter accounts that collect Ukrainian war footage have over the past few days been also posting French riot footage ...its often hard to tell one from the other.
Are they needing some Storm Shadows too?
Given how heavily armed some of the French rioters are, not out of the question.
There was footage of one guy in France wandering down the main street with a belt-fed machine gun.
French President Emmanuel Macron is postponing his scheduled visit to Germany.
Trying to catch another Elton John concert this weekend?
It was a State Visit as well. That's a lot of spoiled kartoffelsalat
Must be serious
A number of twitter accounts that collect Ukrainian war footage have over the past few days been also posting French riot footage ...its often hard to tell one from the other.
Are they needing some Storm Shadows too?
Given how heavily armed some of the French rioters are, not out of the question.
There was footage of one guy in France wandering down the main street with a belt-fed machine gun.
This is one thing that distinguishes these riots from previous ones and makes it look more like an incipient low-level civil war.
More now on President Macron's cancelled visit to Germany. It was due to be the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, and was scheduled to last from tomorrow until Tuesday.
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
That would be one of the underlying premises. Anglo-Canada would seek stronger relations with Europe precisely to avoid over-dependence on the USA.
(And the UK needs to anyway for basic economic reasons).
And why not add Australia? Also has English common law, also part of the monarchy, for now?
It's hardly a new idea, but I heartily agree. CANAUK (NZ are a bit too pathetic and reliant on China for now)
It would be quite a mighty "nation", with enormous resources, great universities, global influence and oresence. We could cycle the parliament betweem London, Ottawa and Canberra
To be even more radical the four UK nations could join independently, making CANENGNIWASCO, which is a neat and catchy name in itself, and that would balance out the Scottish sense of being constantly outvoted by overdominant England
in fact I'd add Cornwall as a fifth nation, making CANENGNIWASCOCORN, and maybe make Lostwithiel the ultimate Federal capital of the entire new superpower
Because adding Australia lacks a bit of geographic and geopolitical logic.
UK and Canada are already both in NATO, and there’s only five hours time difference between London and Toronto.
But Australia etc could be a further leg. And you’d expect Anglo-Canada to have a v strong relationship with Australia from the outset.
To be serious, I do like this idea - always have done - but I disagree on Australianot being a good fit. Oz is a Pacific power, so is Canada - just different sides of the Pacific. And Australia is alrrady in AUKUS, an embryonic global NATO
And yes a big liberal English speaking power, able to balance the lunacies of the USA, would be excellent for the West - and the world
Twitter seems to have fallen over. For me, at least.
Me too. Hope it is a reset to let us see tweets again without logging on.
New Musk wheeze apparently. You have to be logged on in order to see Tweets.
It;s clever and sensible. In fact it's amazing Twiter haven't done this before
Requiring accounts is clever if you want to boost the number of accounts, making the platform more attractive to advertisers. But it could backfire if it simply reduces the number of people who use Twitter from outside, thus making it less attractive to advertisers (and political spin doctors).
Twitter seems to have fallen over. For me, at least.
Me too. Hope it is a reset to let us see tweets again without logging on.
New Musk wheeze apparently. You have to be logged on in order to see Tweets.
It;s clever and sensible. In fact it's amazing Twiter haven't done this before
Requiring accounts is clever if you want to boost the number of accounts, making the platform more attractive to advertisers. But it could backfire if it simply reduces the number of people who use Twitter from outside, thus making it less attractive to advertisers (and political spin doctors).
Yes, it's a calculated gamble - but justified, to my mind
Despite many attempts, no one has come up with a rival platform to Twitter. It is still THE global/western forum for politicians and journalists etc. You can't function in those worlds without access to Twitter. This will force peope who loathe Musk (or simply dislike Twitter) to get accounts, or miss out on the vital conversation
Crikey. This is small town France, not Paris or Marseille
"France is looking like a war torn country. Pharmacy collapsed after being set on fire. 70 stores in the city center of this small town were ravaged or looted 🚨🚨🚨"
Ridiculous that they banned runners in test matches, because it was alleged that certain teams were using them when they didn't really need to. But you could get round that problem with medical examinations.
Ridiculous that they banned runners in test matches, because it was alleged that certain teams were using them when they didn't really need to. But you could get round that problem with medical examinations.
Also runs* the risk of aggravating injuries, which makes it even sillier.
Talking of Australia, I was just about to post that they seem to be ahead of the rest of the world in discovering the potential benefits of carefully moderated psychedelic medicine !
Australia is set to become the first country in the world to legalize clinical prescribing of MDMA, better known as ecstasy, and psilocybin — the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms — for certain mental health disorders.
Starting July 1, authorized psychiatrists will be able to prescribe MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, according to a February news release. Both drugs are otherwise illegal in Australia. “Psilocybin and MDMA are relatively safe when used in a medically controlled setting under the supervision of appropriately trained healthcare professionals and in the dosages that have been studied in clinical trials,” said Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA, when announcing the move.
Crikey. This is small town France, not Paris or Marseille
"France is looking like a war torn country. Pharmacy collapsed after being set on fire. 70 stores in the city center of this small town were ravaged or looted 🚨🚨🚨"
Twitter seems to have fallen over. For me, at least.
Me too. Hope it is a reset to let us see tweets again without logging on.
New Musk wheeze apparently. You have to be logged on in order to see Tweets.
It;s clever and sensible. In fact it's amazing Twiter haven't done this before
Requiring accounts is clever if you want to boost the number of accounts, making the platform more attractive to advertisers. But it could backfire if it simply reduces the number of people who use Twitter from outside, thus making it less attractive to advertisers (and political spin doctors).
Yes, it's a calculated gamble - but justified, to my mind
Despite many attempts, no one has come up with a rival platform to Twitter. It is still THE global/western forum for politicians and journalists etc. You can't function in those worlds without access to Twitter. This will force peope who loathe Musk (or simply dislike Twitter) to get accounts, or miss out on the vital conversation
Twitter seems to be having some sort of technical problem at the moment. #TwitterDown is trending and reports of "rate limit exceeded". Maybe some of those laid off workers were important, though as you imply, Twitter is a necessary tool for so many people that the occasional outage probably does not matter.
Why does nobody call the American War of Independence, the Second English Civil War?
Because it wasn't (1) English or (2) civil.
And on top of that because there had already been two English civil wars - one in the 12th century and another in the 17th - or more if you subdivide the civil wars in the 17th century.
OTOH if you include the pre-1603 civil wars, you need to include the ones in Scotland (and no doubt Wales and Ireland as well). Can't leave them out, e.g. Marian Civil War.
Perhaps there's a clue in the word 'English' as to why you wouldn't include "the ones in Scotland".
Because the war of American Independence deals with the post-1707 UK. The colonists were interested in the rights prevailing in Westminster post-1707. That's not an English but a British civil war.
Not quite sure what you're going on about. I already pointed out that the American War of Independence wasn't "English". I'm sure if you want to you can increase the count of "English civil wars", but trying to include Scottish wars scarcely makes sense!
Eh? you wanted to increase the count in the first place of "English civil wars", when including the pre-1707 ones doesn't make any more sense than including the pre-1707 Scottish ones.
"A minister has ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week "immediately" over concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
South Cambridgeshire District Council, the first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial, had announced plans to extend it until April.
Local government minister Lee Rowley wrote to Liberal Democrat council leader Bridget Smith to "ask that you end your experiment immediately" and say he had concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
...
"There is no good reason to end this trial, which is already bringing many benefits to council workers, local residents and saving the council money."
Council leader Ms Smith replied to request a meeting with ministers to discuss the matter, saying independently reviewed data showed "performance was maintained at the level shortly before the trial, while some areas of performance data saw significant improvement compared to recent data."
Perhaps a 4 day week should be accompanied by an equivalent reduction in council tax.
I think the objection is to the trial for tax payers that working hours were cut by 20% but wages are still at 100%, so basically a 20% pay rise for all those workers
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
I've visited Canada twice. In the summer of 1997 and in the autumn of 2015. In 1997 it seemed like the best place in the world, a futuristic, optimistic place where no-one was ever in a bad mood. In 2015 it had become slightly more like everywhere else, which was a bit disappointing.
What I like about Canada is that it contains bits like Texas (Alberta), bits like Chicago (Toronto), and bits like Blackpool (newfoundland).
More now on President Macron's cancelled visit to Germany. It was due to be the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, and was scheduled to last from tomorrow until Tuesday.
"A minister has ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week "immediately" over concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
South Cambridgeshire District Council, the first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial, had announced plans to extend it until April.
Local government minister Lee Rowley wrote to Liberal Democrat council leader Bridget Smith to "ask that you end your experiment immediately" and say he had concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
...
"There is no good reason to end this trial, which is already bringing many benefits to council workers, local residents and saving the council money."
Council leader Ms Smith replied to request a meeting with ministers to discuss the matter, saying independently reviewed data showed "performance was maintained at the level shortly before the trial, while some areas of performance data saw significant improvement compared to recent data."
Perhaps a 4 day week should be accompanied by an equivalent reduction in council tax.
I think the objection is to the trial for tax payers that working hours were cut by 20% but wages are still at 100%, so basically a 20% pay rise for all those workers
Yep but if productivity is the same as before and customer satisfaction is equal or better what exactly is the problem?
And from what I've read both of the above seem to be true - and other places have shown similar results..
Twitter seems to have fallen over. For me, at least.
Me too. Hope it is a reset to let us see tweets again without logging on.
New Musk wheeze apparently. You have to be logged on in order to see Tweets.
It;s clever and sensible. In fact it's amazing Twiter haven't done this before
Requiring accounts is clever if you want to boost the number of accounts, making the platform more attractive to advertisers. But it could backfire if it simply reduces the number of people who use Twitter from outside, thus making it less attractive to advertisers (and political spin doctors).
Yes, it's a calculated gamble - but justified, to my mind
Despite many attempts, no one has come up with a rival platform to Twitter. It is still THE global/western forum for politicians and journalists etc. You can't function in those worlds without access to Twitter. This will force peope who loathe Musk (or simply dislike Twitter) to get accounts, or miss out on the vital conversation
Twitter seems to be having some sort of technical problem at the moment. #TwitterDown is trending and reports of "rate limit exceeded". Maybe some of those laid off workers were important, though as you imply, Twitter is a necessary tool for so many people that the occasional outage probably does not matter.
Yes, it isn't loading at all at the moment, logged in or not.
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
That would be one of the underlying premises. Anglo-Canada would seek stronger relations with Europe precisely to avoid over-dependence on the USA.
(And the UK needs to anyway for basic economic reasons).
And why not add Australia? Also has English common law, also part of the monarchy, for now?
It's hardly a new idea, but I heartily agree. CANAUK (NZ are a bit too pathetic and reliant on China for now)
It would be quite a mighty "nation", with enormous resources, great universities, global influence and oresence. We could cycle the parliament betweem London, Ottawa and Canberra
To be even more radical the four UK nations could join independently, making CANENGNIWASCO, which is a neat and catchy name in itself, and that would balance out the Scottish sense of being constantly outvoted by overdominant England
in fact I'd add Cornwall as a fifth nation, making CANENGNIWASCOCORN, and maybe make Lostwithiel the ultimate Federal capital of the entire new superpower
Because adding Australia lacks a bit of geographic and geopolitical logic.
UK and Canada are already both in NATO, and there’s only five hours time difference between London and Toronto.
But Australia etc could be a further leg. And you’d expect Anglo-Canada to have a v strong relationship with Australia from the outset.
To be serious, I do like this idea - always have done - but I disagree on Australianot being a good fit. Oz is a Pacific power, so is Canada - just different sides of the Pacific. And Australia is alrrady in AUKUS, an embryonic global NATO
And yes a big liberal English speaking power, able to balance the lunacies of the USA, would be excellent for the West - and the world
Australia, like New Zealand, has very much turned towards the Pacific. Australian universities are absolutely full of Chinese students.
N. Parish Flannery @NathanielParish · Jun 30 "War with Mexico? It’s on the 2024 ballot, at least if you believe the campaign rhetoric of more and more Republican candidates," argues @davidfrum for The Atlantic.
Lindsey Graham said, "🇲🇽They are at war with us. We need to be at war with them.”
I thought it was fantastic. From Australia, obviously.
TBF I didn't realise Lyon is so old. 35. He's very near the end of his career anyway so he probably thought it was worth the risk, for that bit of glory at Lord's in the Ashes: the ultimate venue. I imagine it was his personal choice
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
That would be one of the underlying premises. Anglo-Canada would seek stronger relations with Europe precisely to avoid over-dependence on the USA.
(And the UK needs to anyway for basic economic reasons).
And why not add Australia? Also has English common law, also part of the monarchy, for now?
It's hardly a new idea, but I heartily agree. CANAUK (NZ are a bit too pathetic and reliant on China for now)
It would be quite a mighty "nation", with enormous resources, great universities, global influence and oresence. We could cycle the parliament betweem London, Ottawa and Canberra
To be even more radical the four UK nations could join independently, making CANENGNIWASCO, which is a neat and catchy name in itself, and that would balance out the Scottish sense of being constantly outvoted by overdominant England
in fact I'd add Cornwall as a fifth nation, making CANENGNIWASCOCORN, and maybe make Lostwithiel the ultimate Federal capital of the entire new superpower
Because adding Australia lacks a bit of geographic and geopolitical logic.
UK and Canada are already both in NATO, and there’s only five hours time difference between London and Toronto.
But Australia etc could be a further leg. And you’d expect Anglo-Canada to have a v strong relationship with Australia from the outset.
To be serious, I do like this idea - always have done - but I disagree on Australianot being a good fit. Oz is a Pacific power, so is Canada - just different sides of the Pacific. And Australia is alrrady in AUKUS, an embryonic global NATO
And yes a big liberal English speaking power, able to balance the lunacies of the USA, would be excellent for the West - and the world
Australia, like New Zealand, has very much turned towards the Pacific. Australian universities are absolutely full of Chinese students.
Although I personally think we still have more a bit more in common with New Zealand, for reasons discussed on previous threads.
The overall idea of a bit of British-Canada integration, with Britain also with one foot in our continental neighbour's union too, maybe via at least the single market at least, is a good one, I think.
"A minister has ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week "immediately" over concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
South Cambridgeshire District Council, the first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial, had announced plans to extend it until April.
Local government minister Lee Rowley wrote to Liberal Democrat council leader Bridget Smith to "ask that you end your experiment immediately" and say he had concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
...
"There is no good reason to end this trial, which is already bringing many benefits to council workers, local residents and saving the council money."
Council leader Ms Smith replied to request a meeting with ministers to discuss the matter, saying independently reviewed data showed "performance was maintained at the level shortly before the trial, while some areas of performance data saw significant improvement compared to recent data."
Perhaps a 4 day week should be accompanied by an equivalent reduction in council tax.
I think the objection is to the trial for tax payers that working hours were cut by 20% but wages are still at 100%, so basically a 20% pay rise for all those workers
If their output over those hours was the same as before then surely it doesn't matter? It just reflects an increase in productivity (output per hour). That's what the studies keep finding.
Indeed, historically a large chunk of productivity gains didin't manifest as increased economic output but as reduced working hours and participation rates. Off the top of my head, I think productivity growth during the 20th century was 2%, but hours per week dropped by 0.5% per annum.
This is a good thing. The target economy sees us all having a great time and doing very little work.
"A minister has ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week "immediately" over concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
South Cambridgeshire District Council, the first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial, had announced plans to extend it until April.
Local government minister Lee Rowley wrote to Liberal Democrat council leader Bridget Smith to "ask that you end your experiment immediately" and say he had concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
...
"There is no good reason to end this trial, which is already bringing many benefits to council workers, local residents and saving the council money."
Council leader Ms Smith replied to request a meeting with ministers to discuss the matter, saying independently reviewed data showed "performance was maintained at the level shortly before the trial, while some areas of performance data saw significant improvement compared to recent data."
Perhaps a 4 day week should be accompanied by an equivalent reduction in council tax.
I think the objection is to the trial for tax payers that working hours were cut by 20% but wages are still at 100%, so basically a 20% pay rise for all those workers
Advocates of the idea have claimed that people are more motivated and productive working a four-day week. If they're right then you'd get more output for the same pay, even if people were technically working for fewer hours.
The council in this trial claimed to have saved a lot of money because the offer a four-day week has helped them to recruit permanent staff in place of the expensive agency staff they previously relied upon.
But, obviously, it looks like skiving, so who cares whether it's actually a good idea? Maybe everyone should be forced back to a six day week with no increase in pay?
N. Parish Flannery @NathanielParish · Jun 30 "War with Mexico? It’s on the 2024 ballot, at least if you believe the campaign rhetoric of more and more Republican candidates," argues @davidfrum for The Atlantic.
Lindsey Graham said, "🇲🇽They are at war with us. We need to be at war with them.”
I keep meaning to write a thread header, but can’t be arsed.
In a nutshell, post-Brexit Britain should prioritise economic, industrial and security integration with Canada to create a moderate, liberal “hedge” to US hegemony within the Western order, and a powerful energy, finance and cultural player of 110m that stretches from London to Vancouver.
I quite like this idea. Canada is still one of the most moderately civilised places in the world.
The only amendation I would make is that i'd still like us to have close relations with our European neighbours, at the same time.
That would be one of the underlying premises. Anglo-Canada would seek stronger relations with Europe precisely to avoid over-dependence on the USA.
(And the UK needs to anyway for basic economic reasons).
And why not add Australia? Also has English common law, also part of the monarchy, for now?
It's hardly a new idea, but I heartily agree. CANAUK (NZ are a bit too pathetic and reliant on China for now)
It would be quite a mighty "nation", with enormous resources, great universities, global influence and oresence. We could cycle the parliament betweem London, Ottawa and Canberra
To be even more radical the four UK nations could join independently, making CANENGNIWASCO, which is a neat and catchy name in itself, and that would balance out the Scottish sense of being constantly outvoted by overdominant England
in fact I'd add Cornwall as a fifth nation, making CANENGNIWASCOCORN, and maybe make Lostwithiel the ultimate Federal capital of the entire new superpower
Because adding Australia lacks a bit of geographic and geopolitical logic.
UK and Canada are already both in NATO, and there’s only five hours time difference between London and Toronto.
But Australia etc could be a further leg. And you’d expect Anglo-Canada to have a v strong relationship with Australia from the outset.
To be serious, I do like this idea - always have done - but I disagree on Australianot being a good fit. Oz is a Pacific power, so is Canada - just different sides of the Pacific. And Australia is alrrady in AUKUS, an embryonic global NATO
And yes a big liberal English speaking power, able to balance the lunacies of the USA, would be excellent for the West - and the world
Australia, like New Zealand, has very much turned towards the Pacific. Australian universities are absolutely full of Chinese students.
I can see what is in this sort of arrangement for the UK, especially for those who lament the loss of the dominions.
But what's in it for Canada (pop 37 million), Australia (25 million) or New Zealand (5 million) (all bloody miles away) to hitch their wagons to ours? Didn't they choose to Take Back Control?
"A minister has ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week "immediately" over concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
South Cambridgeshire District Council, the first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial, had announced plans to extend it until April.
Local government minister Lee Rowley wrote to Liberal Democrat council leader Bridget Smith to "ask that you end your experiment immediately" and say he had concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
...
"There is no good reason to end this trial, which is already bringing many benefits to council workers, local residents and saving the council money."
Council leader Ms Smith replied to request a meeting with ministers to discuss the matter, saying independently reviewed data showed "performance was maintained at the level shortly before the trial, while some areas of performance data saw significant improvement compared to recent data."
Perhaps a 4 day week should be accompanied by an equivalent reduction in council tax.
I think the objection is to the trial for tax payers that working hours were cut by 20% but wages are still at 100%, so basically a 20% pay rise for all those workers
Advocates of the idea have claimed that people are more motivated and productive working a four-day week. If they're right then you'd get more output for the same pay, even if people were technically working for fewer hours.
The council in this trial claimed to have saved a lot of money because the offer a four-day week has helped them to recruit permanent staff in place of the expensive agency staff they previously relied upon.
But, obviously, it looks like skiving, so who cares whether it's actually a good idea? Maybe everyone should be forced back to a six day week with no increase in pay?
Or, equally logically, 7 days, with church/mosque/chapel/synagogue parade for those with official documentation?
The Tories hate it because their organ grinders are yanking the chain at the thought of 20% fewer Daily Mails sold on the commuter train, etc. etc .
"A minister has ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week "immediately" over concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
South Cambridgeshire District Council, the first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial, had announced plans to extend it until April.
Local government minister Lee Rowley wrote to Liberal Democrat council leader Bridget Smith to "ask that you end your experiment immediately" and say he had concerns about the "value for money" for local taxpayers.
...
"There is no good reason to end this trial, which is already bringing many benefits to council workers, local residents and saving the council money."
Council leader Ms Smith replied to request a meeting with ministers to discuss the matter, saying independently reviewed data showed "performance was maintained at the level shortly before the trial, while some areas of performance data saw significant improvement compared to recent data."
Perhaps a 4 day week should be accompanied by an equivalent reduction in council tax.
I think the objection is to the trial for tax payers that working hours were cut by 20% but wages are still at 100%, so basically a 20% pay rise for all those workers
Advocates of the idea have claimed that people are more motivated and productive working a four-day week. If they're right then you'd get more output for the same pay, even if people were technically working for fewer hours.
The council in this trial claimed to have saved a lot of money because the offer a four-day week has helped them to recruit permanent staff in place of the expensive agency staff they previously relied upon.
But, obviously, it looks like skiving, so who cares whether it's actually a good idea? Maybe everyone should be forced back to a six day week with no increase in pay?
We should be forced to work eight days a week, with no lunch break, and get up 'alf an hour afore we go to bed, like in good old days.
Comments
King Charles III's state visit to France has been postponed after a request by President Emmanuel Macron, Downing Street says.
The president said "we would not be sensible and would lack common sense" to go ahead after unions called a day of pension protests during the visit.
The trip to Paris and Bordeaux had been due to begin on Sunday.
But both cities were caught up in violence on Thursday, some of the worst since demonstrations began in January.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65064510
More now on President Macron's cancelled visit to Germany. It was due to be the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, and was scheduled to last from tomorrow until Tuesday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-66073728
It's well and truely broken at the moment...
It's hardly a new idea, but I heartily agree. CANAUK (NZ are a bit too pathetic and reliant on China for now)
It would be quite a mighty "nation", with enormous resources, great universities, global influence and presence. We could cycle the parliament betweem London, Ottawa and Canberra
To be even more radical the four UK nations could join independently, making CANENGNIWASCO, which is a neat and catchy name in itself, and that would balance out the Scottish sense of being constantly outvoted by overdominant England
In fact I'd add Cornwall as a fifth nation, making CANENGNIWASCOCORN, and maybe make Lostwithiel the ultimate Federal capital of the entire new superpower
There was footage of one guy in France wandering down the main street with a belt-fed machine gun.
UK and Canada are already both in NATO, and there’s only five hours time difference between London and Toronto.
But Australia etc could be a further leg.
And you’d expect Anglo-Canada to have a v strong relationship with Australia from the outset.
2. Labour will take the young and the poor for granted, on the basis that they assume they've got nowhere else to go
3. The economy is so bent towards property speculation, and that has been the case for such a long time, that any kind of radical reform plan (the centrepiece of which must necessarily be a massive campaign of both private and social housebuilding, along with a large hike in the taxation of asset wealth,) will quickly end up in the dustbin marked "too difficult"
In essence, I'm concerned that they'll be too scared to do anything significantly different, and will slip into the comfort zone of trying to manage decline better than the other lot.
And yes a big liberal English speaking power, able to balance the lunacies of the USA, would be excellent for the West - and the world
It was.
Needs to to avoid being Timed Out.
He could get concussion and they could bring on a spinner.
Despite many attempts, no one has come up with a rival platform to Twitter. It is still THE global/western forum for politicians and journalists etc. You can't function in those worlds without access to Twitter. This will force peope who loathe Musk (or simply dislike Twitter) to get accounts, or miss out on the vital conversation
"France is looking like a war torn country. Pharmacy collapsed after being set on fire. 70 stores in the city center of this small town were ravaged or looted 🚨🚨🚨"
https://twitter.com/Based_Ninja_San/status/1675141044499800067?s=20
*No pun intended, for once.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/30/health/australia-mdma-psilocybin-psychedelics-medicine-wellness/index.html
Australia is set to become the first country in the world to legalize clinical prescribing of MDMA, better known as ecstasy, and psilocybin — the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms — for certain mental health disorders.
Starting July 1, authorized psychiatrists will be able to prescribe MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, according to a February news release. Both drugs are otherwise illegal in Australia. “Psilocybin and MDMA are relatively safe when used in a medically controlled setting under the supervision of appropriately trained healthcare professionals and in the dosages that have been studied in clinical trials,” said Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA, when announcing the move.
350 to win is nigh impossible when it takes surviving 120 overs.
It's a different calculus when it's less than 70.
If Lyon coming out to bat leads to Starc's injury as well, that was a poor decision by Oz.
Carapaz not in good shape either with his knee.
Need a boundary for a run.
Edit.
Apparently not.
Could easily have injured himself though.
Declare now Cummins!
More fun than watching an injured bowler try to bat.
And every minute that passes means a minute more cricket tomorrow...
Plus it has Victoria Island. Banff. Vancouver.
And from what I've read both of the above seem to be true - and other places have shown similar results..
An "unscheduled rapid disassembly"?
Dare I say it, but that last partnership might well make the difference.
N. Parish Flannery
@NathanielParish
·
Jun 30
"War with Mexico? It’s on the 2024 ballot, at least if you believe the campaign rhetoric of more and more Republican candidates," argues
@davidfrum
for The Atlantic.
Lindsey Graham said, "🇲🇽They are at war with us. We need to be at war with them.”
https://twitter.com/davidfrum
But I think we will give it a go! If we can get to close today no more than 2 wickets down then who knows!
👍
The overall idea of a bit of British-Canada integration, with Britain also with one foot in our continental neighbour's union too, maybe via at least the single market at least, is a good one, I think.
Indeed, historically a large chunk of productivity gains didin't manifest as increased economic output but as reduced working hours and participation rates. Off the top of my head, I think productivity growth during the 20th century was 2%, but hours per week dropped by 0.5% per annum.
This is a good thing. The target economy sees us all having a great time and doing very little work.
The council in this trial claimed to have saved a lot of money because the offer a four-day week has helped them to recruit permanent staff in place of the expensive agency staff they previously relied upon.
But, obviously, it looks like skiving, so who cares whether it's actually a good idea? Maybe everyone should be forced back to a six day week with no increase in pay?
*SPOILER: more ifs and maybes and hypotheticals than a PB poster proving that the Tories will win the next election*
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12242997/How-Spain-DESTROY-Gibraltars-economy-far-right-Vox-party-carry-threats.html
We will give it a go because in the absence of Sibley and Foakes we have no batsmen who know how to block. But we will still lose.
But what's in it for Canada (pop 37 million), Australia (25 million) or New Zealand (5 million) (all bloody miles away) to hitch their wagons to ours? Didn't they choose to Take Back Control?
The Tories hate it because their organ grinders are yanking the chain at the thought of 20% fewer Daily Mails sold on the commuter train, etc. etc .
Mr. Sandpit, the sprint race remains a stupid format. It was entertaining on this occasion, though.
If Hulkenberg had a car that didn't eat tyres he'd have kept 2nd.
But I'm not terribly optimistic for you.