'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
Beyond Burgers are absolutely delicious, remarkably so. However they are three quid MORE at my local craft burger joint so I refuse to buy them.
And some bad news for Wales.... Superstar Louis Rees Zammit has been banned from playing in Wales home games for the 2023-24 season. He was clocked at 24.6 mph during Wales recent win against Portugal, which exceeds the new Welsh speed restrictions. First Minister Mark Drakeford said 'This young mans reckless behaviour sets a terrible example for other players which endangers not just other players and officials but the 74,000 spectators inside the stadium'. As well as the ban, he will have to attend a Slow Speed School which has already been pioneered by Steve Borthwick.
I've been trying to get my head around this interactive map of the new speed limits, and I'm baffled.
The A493 from Tywyn to Dolgellau goes through a number of small villages. One of them is my old stamping ground of Llwyngwril.
If I read the map aright, they have kept the limit at 30 from Llangelynin to Llwyngwril, reduced it to 20 at Llwyngwril itself, *kept it at 20* from Llwyngwril to Friog, and *increased* it to 30 going through Friog itself.
If correct, that's madness.
And if not, the map can't be relied on.
But there, Drakeford couldn't even spell Llwyngwril.
There are quite a few anomalies, although that is the work of the individual council. The Vale Council have managed the transition very well. I was in Pembrokeshire earlier in the week and between Haverfordwest and Milford Haven the speed limit is 20 through Johnston which is insanely slow. Your post nonetheless puts pay to BigG's assertion than there is a blanket reduction.
Personally I am not averse to the changes when implemented sensibly, but it does play into Rishi's new role as the poor motorist's friend. The 20 policy, like ULEZ, both of which the Conservatives claim to hate, despite having their fingerprints all over them play into Rishi's rather clever, if cynical and untrue narrative that Labour will repossess everyone's ICE cars on January 1, 2030. I think we would all laugh out loud if Drakeford delivered Rishi a magnificent and comprehensive victory at the next GE.
Can I ask you a genuine question as one of only a few Welsh posters on this forum
Do you agree the implementation has been terrible and generated a lot of genuine anger, and that the Senedd petitions committee will report factually on the petition, it will be subject to a Senedd debate, and that whilst the 20mph rule remain, many of the present changes will be reviewed and sensible changes made ?
On the whole in the Vale there has clearly been a lot of thought gone into the roll out. There has been chaos elsewhere. Carmarthenshire council installed 20s a few weeks ago and removed the black cellophane so we had twenty and thirty signs together.
There is a great deal of animosity, not least because of political opportunism. The petition, I am fairly sure has partially been hijacked by political opponents of Labour. Do you not agree that RT Davies has been disingenuous with his u-turned opposition to the scheme? I am busy exchanging photos of gear knobs with 1, 2 and R only displayed, and the Louis Rees Zammit speed ban. They are rather funny, but I don't oppose the scheme in principle, and of course any teething problems should be rectified as soon as possible.
Andrew Davies and the Conservatives in the Senedd are now diametrically opposed and would return all 20s to 30s, which of course would mean an additional dead child or two each year. Do you agree with that approach?
No - I do not agree with RT Davies or the conservatives on this
I like to think that I am moderate in my views, and certainly 20mph zones have their place and indeed have been in various locations, especially schools, for a long time
The issues is that some of the reductions need to be revisited and a sensible compromise arrived at
Go safe has deemed 26mph will be the point of prosecution, and this morning I did detect an increase in speed towards this rather than previously when many drivers stuck to 20mph
Additionally there are many roads that simply will not be speed controlled where I expect 25 - 30mph to happen
I do not expect this to have any influence on the next GE, but I do detect an increase in support for the conservatives in the Senedd but whether that continues only time will tell
As in all things, there are extreme views on both sides but sensible compromise is the way to make this work in everyone interests
That sounds sensible, @Big_G_NorthWales. Some will be revisited, and there is provision for that.
The position being taken by Howard Cox is now "20mph zones outside schools" and even Susan Hall is "20mph limits in residential areas". They have started to move.
But if we say 20mh outside schools 'for the children', what about parks and nurseries, estates where kids play and so on? And then pedestrian crossings where a vehicle racing through on the outside lane (or the wrong side of the road) risks a pedestrian unseen behind a vehicle stopped in the nearside lane at eg a Zebra? Those are equally strong cases for applying rather more control to the behaviour of people driving around at inappropriate speed.
The logic leads to default 20mph in urban areas, with limited exceptions - perhaps where pedestrian crossings need to be signal-controlled and separated mobility infrastructure provided.
I think we will get to such a position eventually.
What worries me is that children and pedestrians generally seem to be more cavalier about stepping into the road, perhaps because they know about the Highway Code changes, or perhaps because they are staring at their phones.
Just up the road is a 20mph zone for about half a mile, taking in two primary schools and one secondary. Sure, it protects the children but maybe someone should also teach them to cross the road safely. The schools also have lollipop men and women, and zebra or pelican crossings, so perhaps it is all moot.
On the road safety teaching, good point. On the idea that childrten should only cross the road at schools and when/where there are zebra etc crossings or lollipop folk, not so convinced.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
Beyond Burgers are absolutely delicious, remarkably so. However they are three quid MORE at my local craft burger joint so I refuse to buy them.
Also way too much salt - which is probably why they are 'delicious'. (They're OK, but not much more than that, IMO.)
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
The more people say you are a liar the more people will keep that issue in their minds.
The £350m was a masterstroke. It plonked down a number plucked from thin air and then the entire debate was hitched to whether it was £350m or £250 or some other huge number. That's politics.
People often say that Remain were beaten by the side of a bus and we intelligent types might wail and gnash our teeth but it's not all wrong.
So where of course does that leave politics. In the gutter is the obvious answer but we get the politicians we elect and deserve.
Use the largest plausible number you can defend, and make your opponents suggest their own number instead.
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
Don't those vegan foods run headlong into the anti-ultra-processed food campaigns that everyone is now running (eg Zoe, NHS, Woman's Hour, younameit).
Depends. If they aren't emulating meat then probably better than nitrite etc laden meat. That's why I would always have an overtly herbivorous thing like a bean patty rather than imitation meat.
Zac Goldsmith was critical of Sunak’s Net Zero policy change. Kemi Badenoch was quoted in the Standard criticising Goldsmith, saying, “Zac Goldsmith is someone who cares very much about the environment,... But the fact is, he has way more money than pretty much everyone in the UK.”
That’s a brave line to take when Rishi Sunak has way more money than Zac Goldsmith!
The theory of “luxury beliefs” is going to be an increasingly important political issue in the next few years.
It starts with mocking those who turn up to climate change summits in private planes, but quickly goes into retail local politics, with Conservatives pointing at Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford as evidence that Labour want to make cars something that only the rich have, and everyone else can get the bus.
Same with the ‘meat tax’. Fillet steak and caviar for the climate summit attendees, but bugs and salad for the rest of us.
Sure. If you want to hate your enemies out of fear of the unknown, nobody can stop you. It is an update of the paranoid theories that Jewish monied elites control everything and kill Christian babies.
Oh, the “It’s not really happening, it’s a mad conspiracy theory” argument.
It’s really happening, in the real world.
Please show us your "real world" evidence for Labour's 'meat tax' plans, which Sunak recently referred to ?
The real world seems to be that our PM has engaged in a dishonest smear campaign, which he kicked off just as Parliament went into recess. Neatly avoiding Parliamentary scrutiny of his shoddy policy changes.
Did Sunak specifically refer to Labour’s meat tax plans? I might have missed that.
Labour’s taxes and restrictions on motorists, on the other hand, are very clear for everyone to see in London and Wales.
I think he referred to Meat Tax plans which apparentl exist out there somewhere, amongst the other things he is going to stop that were not going to happen anyway - but did not link it to Labour.
Of course there is currently no meat tax nor plans but it is dishonest to pretend this is not something that is being considered or looked at by policy makers or influencers in the environmental debate. Labour does not have a meat tax plan, I did not hear him make that claim.
There are currently no firm policies on many issues. It does not mean they are not being reviewed, looked at or discussed by various policy framing organisations.
The framing was Labour would inflict these new taxes and onerous measures on you . Sunak pretends he’s different to Johnson but is the same liar just dressed in a better suit .
How often has Labour used a policy idea floated by one of the Tories’ lunatic fringe as a political weapon? That’s all that happening here.
For example, only today they were saying “Let’s stop Truss ever having another budget” No one serious is suggesting that idea and yet Labour weaponise the fear.
The difference is the the Tories are in government. And the lunatic fringe is more than well represented in the cabinet.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
Subscribing to a slave mentality where one is subservient to a metal box with lights in it is a gross malformation of the human spirit. Fuck your red lights.
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
The more people say you are a liar the more people will keep that issue in their minds.
The £350m was a masterstroke. It plonked down a number plucked from thin air and then the entire debate was hitched to whether it was £350m or £250 or some other huge number. That's politics.
People often say that Remain were beaten by the side of a bus and we intelligent types might wail and gnash our teeth but it's not all wrong.
So where of course does that leave politics. In the gutter is the obvious answer but we get the politicians we elect and deserve.
Use the largest plausible number you can defend, and make your opponents suggest their own number instead.
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
The next step George Osborne would have taken, would be to legislate to ban all the taxes Sunak says he’s against. You make Labour comment, and vote.
I think it’s silly childish pointless nonsense, and a waste of parliamentary time for all the obvious reasons, but it worked for Osborne.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
Don't those vegan foods run headlong into the anti-ultra-processed food campaigns that everyone is now running (eg Zoe, NHS, Woman's Hour, younameit).
No idea, although I did see Dairylea advertises that it is made with milk and cheese.
‘Sexy’ Biden and family get-togethers: Comer views new email details Emails provided to House Oversight Chair Jim Comer included no smoking guns.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/21/biden-james-comer-emails-00117464 ...While there is significant evidence that Hunter — who has admitted to struggling with substance abuse at the time — made trading on his father’s name a centerpiece of his dealings with foreign business associates, Republicans have yet to turn up direct evidence* that Joe Biden benefited personally or that he took any official action as a result of those connections...
* Or any shred of evidence at all.
The impeachment effort is a travesty - and includes demonstrable lies
..A May, 27, 2016 schedule card includes a call with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Hunter Biden was copied on the day’s schedule. It’s already been reported that Biden was also due to attend the one-year anniversary of the passing of his son, Beau, back home in Delaware. Comer had been pointing to this scheduling item, since it was also emailed to then-Vice President Biden under a pseudonym email address. Comer even said the vice president was sending a secret message to his son that he was about to fire the prosecutor. As recently as last week, Comer included that email on a list of “evidence” of Joe Biden’s “involvement in his family’s influence peddling schemes.”
The Washington Post had debunked this a few weeks ago by noting that parliament had fired the prosecutor two months prior to Hunter Biden being looped on the day’s itinerary. The only new information in the unredacted version was a phone number of an aide, the sources said...
I’m sorry but this is bullshit. If this was evidence in a case against Trump, Democrats - and people like you - would be all over it. The Hunter Biden scandal is a shocker
Just because it might benefit Trump if Biden goes down does not exonerate Sleepy Joe
Please point to a single piece of solid evidence the impeachment enquiry has put forward against Joe Biden.
At the moment, they are 'impeaching' a private individual who has held no government post. It's an absurdity.
I think he referred to Meat Tax plans which apparentl exist out there somewhere, amongst things he is going to stop that were not going to happen anyway - but did not link it to Labour. Have we all seen the graphic?
He says "we're stopping" measures like "taxes on eating meat" and "compulsory car sharing". The implication ios clearly that unless the Government took action, these measures were going to come in (one could even read it as meaning that the Government planned to introduce them). This is such nonsense that it's boring to even refute it. Something suggested by the odd think-tank or green politician is not "a measure that needs stopping". And actually I'm unaware of a single institute or politician anywhere on the planet who has proposed "compulsory car-sharing". It's just a preposterous pyramid of piffle, as Boris might say.
Not here (yet) but car sharing is compulsory in some States. I've seen it.
"Arizona has HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes. It is illegal to drive in these lanes with less than two people Monday through Friday during the posted times."
That’s not the same thing at all.
It’s not compulsory to car share
But they offer a (marginally) faster lane to drive in if you do. That’s an incentive based approach.
Leeds has had a 2+ lane around Armley for donkeys years. Used to go on the route regularly. Wikipedia says 1998, so 25 years old.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
Beyond Burgers are absolutely delicious, remarkably so. However they are three quid MORE at my local craft burger joint so I refuse to buy them.
Also way too much salt - which is probably why they are 'delicious'. (They're OK, but not much more than that, IMO.)
Yeah, the jury's out on whether they are any healthier than beef burgers, and taste is a subjective issue. On the plus side, though, they're less onerous on the environment, and you don't have to kill a cow to make one.
Zac Goldsmith was critical of Sunak’s Net Zero policy change. Kemi Badenoch was quoted in the Standard criticising Goldsmith, saying, “Zac Goldsmith is someone who cares very much about the environment,... But the fact is, he has way more money than pretty much everyone in the UK.”
That’s a brave line to take when Rishi Sunak has way more money than Zac Goldsmith!
The theory of “luxury beliefs” is going to be an increasingly important political issue in the next few years.
It starts with mocking those who turn up to climate change summits in private planes, but quickly goes into retail local politics, with Conservatives pointing at Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford as evidence that Labour want to make cars something that only the rich have, and everyone else can get the bus.
Same with the ‘meat tax’. Fillet steak and caviar for the climate summit attendees, but bugs and salad for the rest of us.
Sure. If you want to hate your enemies out of fear of the unknown, nobody can stop you. It is an update of the paranoid theories that Jewish monied elites control everything and kill Christian babies.
Oh, the “It’s not really happening, it’s a mad conspiracy theory” argument.
It’s really happening, in the real world.
Please show us your "real world" evidence for Labour's 'meat tax' plans, which Sunak recently referred to ?
The real world seems to be that our PM has engaged in a dishonest smear campaign, which he kicked off just as Parliament went into recess. Neatly avoiding Parliamentary scrutiny of his shoddy policy changes.
Did Sunak specifically refer to Labour’s meat tax plans? I might have missed that.
Labour’s taxes and restrictions on motorists, on the other hand, are very clear for everyone to see in London and Wales.
I think he referred to Meat Tax plans which apparentl exist out there somewhere, amongst the other things he is going to stop that were not going to happen anyway - but did not link it to Labour.
Of course there is currently no meat tax nor plans but it is dishonest to pretend this is not something that is being considered or looked at by policy makers or influencers in the environmental debate. Labour does not have a meat tax plan, I did not hear him make that claim.
There are currently no firm policies on many issues. It does not mean they are not being reviewed, looked at or discussed by various policy framing organisations.
The framing was Labour would inflict these new taxes and onerous measures on you . Sunak pretends he’s different to Johnson but is the same liar just dressed in a better suit .
How often has Labour used a policy idea floated by one of the Tories’ lunatic fringe as a political weapon? That’s all that happening here.
For example, only today they were saying “Let’s stop Truss ever having another budget” No one serious is suggesting that idea and yet Labour weaponise the fear.
Liz Truss effectively wrote Sunaks U turn on Net Zero. Clearly it wasn't communicated with either cabinet or monarch. Sunak was frit.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
Strange headline. No pictures of anyone in Lycra.
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
Subscribing to a slave mentality where one is subservient to a metal box with lights in it is a gross malformation of the human spirit. Fuck your red lights.
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
The more people say you are a liar the more people will keep that issue in their minds.
The £350m was a masterstroke. It plonked down a number plucked from thin air and then the entire debate was hitched to whether it was £350m or £250 or some other huge number. That's politics.
People often say that Remain were beaten by the side of a bus and we intelligent types might wail and gnash our teeth but it's not all wrong.
So where of course does that leave politics. In the gutter is the obvious answer but we get the politicians we elect and deserve.
Use the largest plausible number you can defend, and make your opponents suggest their own number instead.
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
On the other hand, there are now a lot of very pissed off people who actually thought that the NHS would be rolling in cash as a result of Brexit and voted accordingly. People don't like being conned.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
Don't those vegan foods run headlong into the anti-ultra-processed food campaigns that everyone is now running (eg Zoe, NHS, Woman's Hour, younameit).
No idea, although I did see Dairylea advertises that it is made with milk and cheese.
Zac Goldsmith was critical of Sunak’s Net Zero policy change. Kemi Badenoch was quoted in the Standard criticising Goldsmith, saying, “Zac Goldsmith is someone who cares very much about the environment,... But the fact is, he has way more money than pretty much everyone in the UK.”
That’s a brave line to take when Rishi Sunak has way more money than Zac Goldsmith!
The theory of “luxury beliefs” is going to be an increasingly important political issue in the next few years.
It starts with mocking those who turn up to climate change summits in private planes, but quickly goes into retail local politics, with Conservatives pointing at Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford as evidence that Labour want to make cars something that only the rich have, and everyone else can get the bus.
Same with the ‘meat tax’. Fillet steak and caviar for the climate summit attendees, but bugs and salad for the rest of us.
Sure. If you want to hate your enemies out of fear of the unknown, nobody can stop you. It is an update of the paranoid theories that Jewish monied elites control everything and kill Christian babies.
Oh, the “It’s not really happening, it’s a mad conspiracy theory” argument.
It’s really happening, in the real world.
Please show us your "real world" evidence for Labour's 'meat tax' plans, which Sunak recently referred to ?
The real world seems to be that our PM has engaged in a dishonest smear campaign, which he kicked off just as Parliament went into recess. Neatly avoiding Parliamentary scrutiny of his shoddy policy changes.
Did Sunak specifically refer to Labour’s meat tax plans? I might have missed that.
Labour’s taxes and restrictions on motorists, on the other hand, are very clear for everyone to see in London and Wales.
I think he referred to Meat Tax plans which apparentl exist out there somewhere, amongst the other things he is going to stop that were not going to happen anyway - but did not link it to Labour.
Of course there is currently no meat tax nor plans but it is dishonest to pretend this is not something that is being considered or looked at by policy makers or influencers in the environmental debate. Labour does not have a meat tax plan, I did not hear him make that claim.
There are currently no firm policies on many issues. It does not mean they are not being reviewed, looked at or discussed by various policy framing organisations.
The framing was Labour would inflict these new taxes and onerous measures on you . Sunak pretends he’s different to Johnson but is the same liar just dressed in a better suit .
How often has Labour used a policy idea floated by one of the Tories’ lunatic fringe as a political weapon? That’s all that happening here.
For example, only today they were saying “Let’s stop Truss ever having another budget” No one serious is suggesting that idea and yet Labour weaponise the fear.
Liz Truss effectively wrote Sunaks U turn on Net Zero. Clearly it wasn't communicated with either cabinet or monarch. Sunak was frit.
The BBC leak made him bring the annoucement forward significantly
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
The more people say you are a liar the more people will keep that issue in their minds.
The £350m was a masterstroke. It plonked down a number plucked from thin air and then the entire debate was hitched to whether it was £350m or £250 or some other huge number. That's politics.
People often say that Remain were beaten by the side of a bus and we intelligent types might wail and gnash our teeth but it's not all wrong.
So where of course does that leave politics. In the gutter is the obvious answer but we get the politicians we elect and deserve.
Use the largest plausible number you can defend, and make your opponents suggest their own number instead.
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
On the other hand, there are now a lot of very pissed off people who actually thought that the NHS would be rolling in cash as a result of Brexit and voted accordingly. People don't like being conned.
I'm pretty sure it can be shown that £350m/week has been allocated to the NHS.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
To me, it's like eating cardboard. I want meat that's meat, and vegetables that are vegetables.
If Labour can frame green issues in a more local/tangible way I reckon they’ll be onto a winner.
It’s hard to see a global increase of 0.3°; it is much easier to see your rivers being filled with sewage and your beaches covered in dead sealife.
My pet theory is that most people really do care about environmental issues, but are turned off by global intangibles. Labour’s job is to frame the argument correctly.
Most people do care, but they don’t want to wear hair shirts.
I had to rebut an "idea" of a vegetarian only main course at an industry dinner on Monday, I'm a member of the planning committee.
I said it would risk patronising and alienating people, and many wouldn't come again.
Is the problem that it would be telegraphed in an earnest, virtue-signally way?
I mean, if it was an informal occasion and the food was, say, pizza and salad with no patronising bollux attached you wouldn't mind would you?
There's that too.
This stuff really yanks people's chain, but they complain in private (and vote with their feet) lest they come across as a denier or uncommitted.
It is very unpopular.
Yeah we had something similar at work, a poor idea just moving through the committees with no one objecting but as soon as someone did a few other people felt like they could speak up and then suddenly management realised just how unpopular their idea was so they reversed it.
Yes not uncommon. Like @Anabobazina I wouldn't mind a veggie main meal even though I am a meat eater. I would draw the line at vegan as that in my opinion would put people off and definitely question the motives of that being proposed so @Casino_Royale probably has a decent point for those who don't want a veggie meal forced upon them.
Went to a wedding with vegan only food (the bride and groom both vegan). I'm also an omnivore, but I must say that it was truly excellent. Whether meat, animal-derived or vegan matters much less than the quality of the ingredients and cooking. Agree that I'd struggle with full-time vegan diet, while I'd have no real problem with vegetarian - I'm very happy to eat good meat, raised well, but it wouldn't ruin my life to stop.
I do suspect CR is right in that some might be put off attending by an advertised vegetarian menu.
You haven’t lived if you haven’t been to an Indian wedding where the bride and groom turn up two hours late, the food is all vegetarian, and the bar is dry…
Several of us sneaked out quickly to another hotel two doors down, where we could get a burger and a beer.
I went to one such. Thankfully, a lot of younger guests had sneaked in bottles of champagne, which they mixed with the orange juice.
Ah, you were lucky to go with people who had been to such events previously!
Obviously, if I get an invite to another one where the food and drink menu might be a little unorthodox for my liking, I shall remember to hide a bottle in my coat.
I went to a Pakistani Muslim wedding like this. Bad veggie food. No music. No dancing. No bar or booze. It was a three hour procession of people giving money and gold to the “happy” couple
Awful and bleak. The westerners and rebellious Muslims - including the groom’s father - swiftly repaired to the garden to get drunk on contraband scotch, which made it all rather fun and illicit
And some bad news for Wales.... Superstar Louis Rees Zammit has been banned from playing in Wales home games for the 2023-24 season. He was clocked at 24.6 mph during Wales recent win against Portugal, which exceeds the new Welsh speed restrictions. First Minister Mark Drakeford said 'This young mans reckless behaviour sets a terrible example for other players which endangers not just other players and officials but the 74,000 spectators inside the stadium'. As well as the ban, he will have to attend a Slow Speed School which has already been pioneered by Steve Borthwick.
I've been trying to get my head around this interactive map of the new speed limits, and I'm baffled.
The A493 from Tywyn to Dolgellau goes through a number of small villages. One of them is my old stamping ground of Llwyngwril.
If I read the map aright, they have kept the limit at 30 from Llangelynin to Llwyngwril, reduced it to 20 at Llwyngwril itself, *kept it at 20* from Llwyngwril to Friog, and *increased* it to 30 going through Friog itself.
If correct, that's madness.
And if not, the map can't be relied on.
But there, Drakeford couldn't even spell Llwyngwril.
There are quite a few anomalies, although that is the work of the individual council. The Vale Council have managed the transition very well. I was in Pembrokeshire earlier in the week and between Haverfordwest and Milford Haven the speed limit is 20 through Johnston which is insanely slow. Your post nonetheless puts pay to BigG's assertion than there is a blanket reduction.
Personally I am not averse to the changes when implemented sensibly, but it does play into Rishi's new role as the poor motorist's friend. The 20 policy, like ULEZ, both of which the Conservatives claim to hate, despite having their fingerprints all over them play into Rishi's rather clever, if cynical and untrue narrative that Labour will repossess everyone's ICE cars on January 1, 2030. I think we would all laugh out loud if Drakeford delivered Rishi a magnificent and comprehensive victory at the next GE.
Can I ask you a genuine question as one of only a few Welsh posters on this forum
Do you agree the implementation has been terrible and generated a lot of genuine anger, and that the Senedd petitions committee will report factually on the petition, it will be subject to a Senedd debate, and that whilst the 20mph rule remain, many of the present changes will be reviewed and sensible changes made ?
On the whole in the Vale there has clearly been a lot of thought gone into the roll out. There has been chaos elsewhere. Carmarthenshire council installed 20s a few weeks ago and removed the black cellophane so we had twenty and thirty signs together.
There is a great deal of animosity, not least because of political opportunism. The petition, I am fairly sure has partially been hijacked by political opponents of Labour. Do you not agree that RT Davies has been disingenuous with his u-turned opposition to the scheme? I am busy exchanging photos of gear knobs with 1, 2 and R only displayed, and the Louis Rees Zammit speed ban. They are rather funny, but I don't oppose the scheme in principle, and of course any teething problems should be rectified as soon as possible.
Andrew Davies and the Conservatives in the Senedd are now diametrically opposed and would return all 20s to 30s, which of course would mean an additional dead child or two each year. Do you agree with that approach?
No - I do not agree with RT Davies or the conservatives on this
I like to think that I am moderate in my views, and certainly 20mph zones have their place and indeed have been in various locations, especially schools, for a long time
The issues is that some of the reductions need to be revisited and a sensible compromise arrived at
Go safe has deemed 26mph will be the point of prosecution, and this morning I did detect an increase in speed towards this rather than previously when many drivers stuck to 20mph
Additionally there are many roads that simply will not be speed controlled where I expect 25 - 30mph to happen
I do not expect this to have any influence on the next GE, but I do detect an increase in support for the conservatives in the Senedd but whether that continues only time will tell
As in all things, there are extreme views on both sides but sensible compromise is the way to make this work in everyone interests
That sounds sensible, @Big_G_NorthWales. Some will be revisited, and there is provision for that.
The position being taken by Howard Cox is now "20mph zones outside schools" and even Susan Hall is "20mph limits in residential areas". They have started to move.
But if we say 20mh outside schools 'for the children', what about parks and nurseries, estates where kids play and so on? And then pedestrian crossings where a vehicle racing through on the outside lane (or the wrong side of the road) risks a pedestrian unseen behind a vehicle stopped in the nearside lane at eg a Zebra? Those are equally strong cases for applying rather more control to the behaviour of people driving around at inappropriate speed.
The logic leads to default 20mph in urban areas, with limited exceptions - perhaps where pedestrian crossings need to be signal-controlled and separated mobility infrastructure provided.
I think we will get to such a position eventually.
What worries me is that children and pedestrians generally seem to be more cavalier about stepping into the road, perhaps because they know about the Highway Code changes, or perhaps because they are staring at their phones.
Just up the road is a 20mph zone for about half a mile, taking in two primary schools and one secondary. Sure, it protects the children but maybe someone should also teach them to cross the road safely. The schools also have lollipop men and women, and zebra or pelican crossings, so perhaps it is all moot.
On the road safety teaching, good point. On the idea that childrten should only cross the road at schools and when/where there are zebra etc crossings or lollipop folk, not so convinced.
Does anyone have the accurate information for replies to those with fond memories of the Tufty Club?
I usually have data to hand to rebut the "Why do they not teach Cycling Proficiency any more?" comments from 68 year olds on social media. The answer to that one is that it is now far better, is called Bikeability, and 439,802 kids took the course in 21/22 just in England. https://www.bikeability.org.uk/blog/record-breaking-year-for-bikeability-in-england/
There are certain places (no idea how many) that have mini-road networks in the park for learning, as used to exist in the Botanical Gardens in Rhyl. The Victoria Embankment in Nottingham has one.
We are very poor on preventative road safety - it's usually some variation of "no you can't have a safe crossing until >X people have been put in hospital." It's very like certain police forces having an effective policy of not enforcing on Dangerous Driving unless there is an injury accident.
I don't want cyclists to have to have licences, numberplates, etc, but every time one jumps a red light it makes it more likely, which is why it's good to see it being cracked down on by the City of London police.
Zac Goldsmith was critical of Sunak’s Net Zero policy change. Kemi Badenoch was quoted in the Standard criticising Goldsmith, saying, “Zac Goldsmith is someone who cares very much about the environment,... But the fact is, he has way more money than pretty much everyone in the UK.”
That’s a brave line to take when Rishi Sunak has way more money than Zac Goldsmith!
The theory of “luxury beliefs” is going to be an increasingly important political issue in the next few years.
It starts with mocking those who turn up to climate change summits in private planes, but quickly goes into retail local politics, with Conservatives pointing at Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford as evidence that Labour want to make cars something that only the rich have, and everyone else can get the bus.
Same with the ‘meat tax’. Fillet steak and caviar for the climate summit attendees, but bugs and salad for the rest of us.
Sure. If you want to hate your enemies out of fear of the unknown, nobody can stop you. It is an update of the paranoid theories that Jewish monied elites control everything and kill Christian babies.
Oh, the “It’s not really happening, it’s a mad conspiracy theory” argument.
It’s really happening, in the real world.
Please show us your "real world" evidence for Labour's 'meat tax' plans, which Sunak recently referred to ?
The real world seems to be that our PM has engaged in a dishonest smear campaign, which he kicked off just as Parliament went into recess. Neatly avoiding Parliamentary scrutiny of his shoddy policy changes.
Did Sunak specifically refer to Labour’s meat tax plans? I might have missed that.
Labour’s taxes and restrictions on motorists, on the other hand, are very clear for everyone to see in London and Wales.
I think he referred to Meat Tax plans which apparentl exist out there somewhere, amongst the other things he is going to stop that were not going to happen anyway - but did not link it to Labour.
Of course there is currently no meat tax nor plans but it is dishonest to pretend this is not something that is being considered or looked at by policy makers or influencers in the environmental debate. Labour does not have a meat tax plan, I did not hear him make that claim.
There are currently no firm policies on many issues. It does not mean they are not being reviewed, looked at or discussed by various policy framing organisations.
The framing was Labour would inflict these new taxes and onerous measures on you . Sunak pretends he’s different to Johnson but is the same liar just dressed in a better suit .
How often has Labour used a policy idea floated by one of the Tories’ lunatic fringe as a political weapon? That’s all that happening here.
For example, only today they were saying “Let’s stop Truss ever having another budget” No one serious is suggesting that idea and yet Labour weaponise the fear.
Liz Truss effectively wrote Sunaks U turn on Net Zero. Clearly it wasn't communicated with either cabinet or monarch. Sunak was frit.
The BBC leak made him bring the annoucement forward significantly
Either way, it wasn't going to be made to Parliament. And it's a load of dishonest bollocks.
The fact that he was unable to time it precisely to his advantage isn't something anyone should lose much sleep over.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
Strange headline. No pictures of anyone in Lycra.
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Meanwhile this driver mounts the kerb, kills two pedestrians, found not guilty
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
The more people say you are a liar the more people will keep that issue in their minds.
The £350m was a masterstroke. It plonked down a number plucked from thin air and then the entire debate was hitched to whether it was £350m or £250 or some other huge number. That's politics.
People often say that Remain were beaten by the side of a bus and we intelligent types might wail and gnash our teeth but it's not all wrong.
So where of course does that leave politics. In the gutter is the obvious answer but we get the politicians we elect and deserve.
Use the largest plausible number you can defend, and make your opponents suggest their own number instead.
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
On the other hand, there are now a lot of very pissed off people who actually thought that the NHS would be rolling in cash as a result of Brexit and voted accordingly. People don't like being conned.
The NHS budget is up way more than £350m a week since 2016.
Well that’s a damn shame. 🇺🇦 🇬🇧 British Storm Shadow. 💣
The Ukranians seem to be taking an “f. you in particular” attitude to the black sea fleet.
That’s where a lot of the long-range cruise missiles, that regularly pound Ukraine, are coming from. It’s also the whole reason that Russia wants Crimea, to maintain the port there.
Well that’s a damn shame. 🇺🇦 🇬🇧 British Storm Shadow. 💣
The Ukranians seem to be taking an “f. you in particular” attitude to the black sea fleet.
That’s where a lot of the long-range cruise missiles, that regularly pound Ukraine, are coming from. It’s also the whole reason that Russia wants Crimea, to maintain the port there.
Also clearing the Russian Navy out of the everything West of Crimea gives a longer time to track missiles, and keeps them further away from potential grain shipments.
Right, things to do and people to see. Have a good day, all.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
Strange headline. No pictures of anyone in Lycra.
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Meanwhile this driver mounts the kerb, kills two pedestrians, found not guilty
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
The vast majority of cyclists jump red lights it is just part of London, unfortunately.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
Strange headline. No pictures of anyone in Lycra.
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Meanwhile this driver mounts the kerb, kills two pedestrians, found not guilty
Similar thing happened with me a month or two back. Had it not been for a fortunately placed metal sign post two feet away from where I and four others were standing, I may not be posting here now (for better or worse depending on your viewpoint).
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
ULEZ is an anti-pollution tax, not a Green Tax.
There is a smallish green benefit, however that is not the aim of the target set by the Government.
What do you mean? Isn't anti pollution almost definitionally a green policy?
Trying to be more precise - much rhetoric has been around how little difference it will make, using data either effectively from before it started or items (eg particulates or Co2 emissions) that are not the main target.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
The vast majority of cyclists jump red lights it is just part of London, unfortunately.
No, they don't.
They certainly do in central/inner London. @TOPPING is right
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
I like my plant based food.
Grass fed beef.
Corn fed chicken.
What's not to like?
“I like my food plant based” would have been funnier 😊
Before Covid, the plant-based non-sausage rolls were outselling the meat sausage ones in our staff canteen. Try some of the plant-based food next time you are shopping. It has come a long way since Quorn and tofu. You might even like it.
Beyond Burgers are absolutely delicious, remarkably so. However they are three quid MORE at my local craft burger joint so I refuse to buy them.
Also way too much salt - which is probably why they are 'delicious'. (They're OK, but not much more than that, IMO.)
Yeah, the jury's out on whether they are any healthier than beef burgers, and taste is a subjective issue. On the plus side, though, they're less onerous on the environment, and you don't have to kill a cow to make one.
There's a delicious hazelnut and mushroom burger that you can make at home. Can add as little, or add much, salt as you like.
They're really pretty good, definitely better than >90% of the beef burgers you can buy out there, but not quite as good as homemade beef burgers, or the very best beef burgers. I like the variety.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
Strange headline. No pictures of anyone in Lycra.
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Meanwhile this driver mounts the kerb, kills two pedestrians, found not guilty
And some bad news for Wales.... Superstar Louis Rees Zammit has been banned from playing in Wales home games for the 2023-24 season. He was clocked at 24.6 mph during Wales recent win against Portugal, which exceeds the new Welsh speed restrictions. First Minister Mark Drakeford said 'This young mans reckless behaviour sets a terrible example for other players which endangers not just other players and officials but the 74,000 spectators inside the stadium'. As well as the ban, he will have to attend a Slow Speed School which has already been pioneered by Steve Borthwick.
I've been trying to get my head around this interactive map of the new speed limits, and I'm baffled.
The A493 from Tywyn to Dolgellau goes through a number of small villages. One of them is my old stamping ground of Llwyngwril.
If I read the map aright, they have kept the limit at 30 from Llangelynin to Llwyngwril, reduced it to 20 at Llwyngwril itself, *kept it at 20* from Llwyngwril to Friog, and *increased* it to 30 going through Friog itself.
If correct, that's madness.
And if not, the map can't be relied on.
But there, Drakeford couldn't even spell Llwyngwril.
There are quite a few anomalies, although that is the work of the individual council. The Vale Council have managed the transition very well. I was in Pembrokeshire earlier in the week and between Haverfordwest and Milford Haven the speed limit is 20 through Johnston which is insanely slow. Your post nonetheless puts pay to BigG's assertion than there is a blanket reduction.
Personally I am not averse to the changes when implemented sensibly, but it does play into Rishi's new role as the poor motorist's friend. The 20 policy, like ULEZ, both of which the Conservatives claim to hate, despite having their fingerprints all over them play into Rishi's rather clever, if cynical and untrue narrative that Labour will repossess everyone's ICE cars on January 1, 2030. I think we would all laugh out loud if Drakeford delivered Rishi a magnificent and comprehensive victory at the next GE.
Can I ask you a genuine question as one of only a few Welsh posters on this forum
Do you agree the implementation has been terrible and generated a lot of genuine anger, and that the Senedd petitions committee will report factually on the petition, it will be subject to a Senedd debate, and that whilst the 20mph rule remain, many of the present changes will be reviewed and sensible changes made ?
Big G - I concur. There will be a debate in the Senedd. 'Welsh' Labour will be all pious - Conservatives very shouty and ineffective - Plaid sensible but ignored. An enquiry will be set up to look at local implementation but law will not be repealed or even changed. And the publi will continue
And some bad news for Wales.... Superstar Louis Rees Zammit has been banned from playing in Wales home games for the 2023-24 season. He was clocked at 24.6 mph during Wales recent win against Portugal, which exceeds the new Welsh speed restrictions. First Minister Mark Drakeford said 'This young mans reckless behaviour sets a terrible example for other players which endangers not just other players and officials but the 74,000 spectators inside the stadium'. As well as the ban, he will have to attend a Slow Speed School which has already been pioneered by Steve Borthwick.
I've been trying to get my head around this interactive map of the new speed limits, and I'm baffled.
The A493 from Tywyn to Dolgellau goes through a number of small villages. One of them is my old stamping ground of Llwyngwril.
If I read the map aright, they have kept the limit at 30 from Llangelynin to Llwyngwril, reduced it to 20 at Llwyngwril itself, *kept it at 20* from Llwyngwril to Friog, and *increased* it to 30 going through Friog itself.
If correct, that's madness.
And if not, the map can't be relied on.
But there, Drakeford couldn't even spell Llwyngwril.
There are quite a few anomalies, although that is the work of the individual council. The Vale Council have managed the transition very well. I was in Pembrokeshire earlier in the week and between Haverfordwest and Milford Haven the speed limit is 20 through Johnston which is insanely slow. Your post nonetheless puts pay to BigG's assertion than there is a blanket reduction.
Personally I am not averse to the changes when implemented sensibly, but it does play into Rishi's new role as the poor motorist's friend. The 20 policy, like ULEZ, both of which the Conservatives claim to hate, despite having their fingerprints all over them play into Rishi's rather clever, if cynical and untrue narrative that Labour will repossess everyone's ICE cars on January 1, 2030. I think we would all laugh out loud if Drakeford delivered Rishi a magnificent and comprehensive victory at the next GE.
Can I ask you a genuine question as one of only a few Welsh posters on this forum
Do you agree the implementation has been terrible and generated a lot of genuine anger, and that the Senedd petitions committee will report factually on the petition, it will be subject to a Senedd debate, and that whilst the 20mph rule remain, many of the present changes will be reviewed and sensible changes made ?
Big G - I concur. There will be a debate in the Senedd. 'Welsh' Labour will be all pious and condescending - Conservatives very shouty and ineffective - Plaid sensible but ignored. An enquiry will be set up to look at local implementation but law will not be repealed or even changed. And the public will continue as before as if nothing happened.
If the Conservatives win the next Senedd election,......
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
The vast majority of cyclists jump red lights it is just part of London, unfortunately.
No, they don't.
I cycle around 30miles in Central London every week and I can tell you that...Oh Yes They Do!!
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
The more people say you are a liar the more people will keep that issue in their minds.
The £350m was a masterstroke. It plonked down a number plucked from thin air and then the entire debate was hitched to whether it was £350m or £250 or some other huge number. That's politics.
People often say that Remain were beaten by the side of a bus and we intelligent types might wail and gnash our teeth but it's not all wrong.
So where of course does that leave politics. In the gutter is the obvious answer but we get the politicians we elect and deserve.
Use the largest plausible number you can defend, and make your opponents suggest their own number instead.
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
On the other hand, there are now a lot of very pissed off people who actually thought that the NHS would be rolling in cash as a result of Brexit and voted accordingly. People don't like being conned.
I found a health service like the one we were promised in the Vote Leave video, where you walk in to an almost empty waiting room, there are more staff than patients, you get seen almost straight away even without an appointment, and are back on the street in less than hour having been examined, tested, and given a prescription for the medication you need.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
The GOP has gone nearly all in on Trump - which is going to make things interesting if his criminal indictments prevent them nominating him in the end.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
The vast majority of cyclists jump red lights it is just part of London, unfortunately.
It's because of the light phasing. You spend too much time sitting stationary at red lights with no traffic coming the other way. It's the same reason that in London most pedestrians don't wait for the green man before crossing the road. There is usually a large gap long before the lights change.
In fact I have worked out round my way that pressing the button on the pedestrian crossing control at road junctions makes no difference whatsoever, it never stops the traffic and the light will change to green at the same point in the cycle whether you press it or not. And I will usually have crossed long before then.
Cyclists adopt the same principle.
(Edited to remove vanilla nonsense and a schoolboy spelling error)
That is true. I often sit, alone, at one of the several bike red lights around Birdcage Walk where a car couldn't hit you if it tried, and there are no pedestrians. That said, plenty of people on bikes blithely cycle across Ludgate Circus without slowing down at all.
On my cycle commute to work there is a single red light that I sometimes ignore, at a junction where there is almost no traffic crossing in the other direction. I stop and if there's nothing coming I then cross carefully. I'm sorry if this upsets red light purists but I'm not going to wait for several minutes, frequently in the cold and rain, at a completely dead intersection just to obey the letter of the law. All the other red lights I obey because to do otherwise would place myself in danger and cause difficulty for other road users.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
Strange headline. No pictures of anyone in Lycra.
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Meanwhile this driver mounts the kerb, kills two pedestrians, found not guilty
Similar thing happened with me a month or two back. Had it not been for a fortunately placed metal sign post two feet away from where I and four others were standing, I may not be posting here now (for better or worse depending on your viewpoint).
The last day of summer is next Friday, Michaelmas and quarter day, 29th September. Cricket fixtures seem to agree more or les with this.
There is, at least, a big f-off autumn storm for the equinox tomorrow, so seems like the meteorology wants to make things feel properly autumnal for Bob.
Though, of course, it's not the first such storm, it having been autumn for ages already.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
Yes, and this point has now been made to the PB Cash Fetishists many times, yet still they persist in this nonsense.
Moreover, I asked how they withdraw cash when 'electronic systems go down'. Answer, there came none.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
Yes, and this point has now been made to the PB Cash Fetishists many times, yet still they persist in this nonsense.
Moreover, I asked how they withdraw cash when 'electronic systems go down'. Answer, there came none.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
I went to Norway in about 2016 when the banking systems were down when I arrived and everywhere was cash only. Unfortunately I had no cash, intending to get some out of an ATM on arrival. Luckily the contactless ticketing on the train from the airport was working and I was able to eat dinner in my hotel but I was reliant on the generosity of colleagues to buy me beer.
Ukraine. Do I get a sense that the world's view is shifting? Wars used to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Winners and losers, and followed by a moral determination to make the world better and safer. Obvs what I have just said is mostly false but not entirely.
In recent decades wars have done nothing like this. They have interminable middles, no proper end and the outcome is always worse than before. (Iraq, Syria, various bits of Africa, Afghanistan etc).
Is Ukraine, in our minds, entering the phase of being just another of these? If so, the west is going to start losing its grip.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
In the event of power cut, by the way, no petrol.
The pumps are driven by electricity. Believe it or not, garages don't have UPS systems as a rule.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
Yes, and this point has now been made to the PB Cash Fetishists many times, yet still they persist in this nonsense.
Moreover, I asked how they withdraw cash when 'electronic systems go down'. Answer, there came none.
Occasionally I need cash. It tends to sit in my wallet for months at a time. My wallet contains plastic cards all of which are loaded onto Google Pay. I've already stopped getting them out...
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
The vast majority of cyclists jump red lights it is just part of London, unfortunately.
No, they don't.
I cycle around 30miles in Central London every week and I can tell you that...Oh Yes They Do!!
You have data?
The best numbers I have seen (TFL surveys) suggest it is around 15% when a selection of junctions with traffic lights are studied.
And that excludes the proportion of journeys that go through no traffic lights at all, or hardly any traffic lights, such as many suburban journeys or those on quiet ways.
A large minority of cyclists in London ignore lights almost completely. They slow down for reds but still sail through
Then there’s the hardcore that whizz down pavements
There's quite a difference between "the vast majority" and "a large minority" though. And I'd say it's a small minority, like maybe 5%. Most weeks I cycle 60km a week and almost all cyclists obey almost every red light on my commute. The big miscreants are food delivery e bikes and couriers, who you can sort of rationalise because they're trying to get their hourly pay rate at least close to the minimum wage.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
Yes, and this point has now been made to the PB Cash Fetishists many times, yet still they persist in this nonsense.
Moreover, I asked how they withdraw cash when 'electronic systems go down'. Answer, there came none.
When systems go down they go down. Whether cash can be got from a branch (!) of a bank etc (what are these?) I do not know. But being old fashioned I like to have enough cash to get me home wherever I am. This no doubt is ancient wisdom - like the wisdom of buying a return ticket when you go racing so that (PG Wodehouse) you don't have to raffle your trousers to get home.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
The vast majority of cyclists jump red lights it is just part of London, unfortunately.
It's because of the light phasing. You spend too much time sitting stationary at red lights with no traffic coming the other way. It's the same reason that in London most pedestrians don't wait for the green man before crossing the road. There is usually a large gap long before the lights change.
In fact I have worked out round my way that pressing the button on the pedestrian crossing control at road junctions makes no difference whatsoever, it never stops the traffic and the light will change to green at the same point in the cycle whether you press it or not. And I will usually have crossed long before then.
Cyclists adopt the same principle.
(Edited to remove vanilla nonsense and a schoolboy spelling error)
That is true. I often sit, alone, at one of the several bike red lights around Birdcage Walk where a car couldn't hit you if it tried, and there are no pedestrians. That said, plenty of people on bikes blithely cycle across Ludgate Circus without slowing down at all.
On my cycle commute to work there is a single red light that I sometimes ignore, at a junction where there is almost no traffic crossing in the other direction. I stop and if there's nothing coming I then cross carefully. I'm sorry if this upsets red light purists but I'm not going to wait for several minutes, frequently in the cold and rain, at a completely dead intersection just to obey the letter of the law. All the other red lights I obey because to do otherwise would place myself in danger and cause difficulty for other road users.
What happens if your brother* is coming the other way?
Ukraine. Do I get a sense that the world's view is shifting? Wars used to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Winners and losers, and followed by a moral determination to make the world better and safer. Obvs what I have just said is mostly false but not entirely.
In recent decades wars have done nothing like this. They have interminable middles, no proper end and the outcome is always worse than before. (Iraq, Syria, various bits of Africa, Afghanistan etc).
Is Ukraine, in our minds, entering the phase of being just another of these? If so, the west is going to start losing its grip.
Having long been quite pessimistic about the war, I have slightly cheered up. Feels like it’s entering a more critical phase - maybe favouring Ukraine. Their constant bombardment of Crimea might just turn things around
However, I’n far from certain - and if no great breakthrough is made before winter I reckon that’s it. The war, as you suggest, will grind down to a muddy stalemate and a frosty armistice
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
Strange headline. No pictures of anyone in Lycra.
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Meanwhile this driver mounts the kerb, kills two pedestrians, found not guilty
Similar thing happened with me a month or two back. Had it not been for a fortunately placed metal sign post two feet away from where I and four others were standing, I may not be posting here now (for better or worse depending on your viewpoint).
Glad you're ok.
Cheers! The car in question actually ploughed into a lady a few feet up the pavement and sent her flying, but I think she made a full recover despite a number of broken bones. Being hit is one thing, but if the post hadn't had been there and the car had sped onwards who knows what kind of crushing event could have occurred. Nasty.
Further down in the article, police nab other road users too.
One of the first things one notices when visiting London is how a lot of cyclists jump red lights, which they don't in most of the rest of the country. How and when did that become a common thing to do?
The vast majority of cyclists jump red lights it is just part of London, unfortunately.
No, they don't.
I cycle around 30miles in Central London every week and I can tell you that...Oh Yes They Do!!
You have data?
The best numbers I have seen (TFL surveys) suggest it is around 15% when a selection of junctions with traffic lights are studied.
And that excludes the proportion of journeys that go through no traffic lights at all, or hardly any traffic lights, such as many suburban journeys or those on quiet ways.
Do you cycle in London? What's your impression? Because unless they are at risk of death, say by crossing the Marylebone Road, or the aforementioned Ludgate Circus, or around Parliament Square where they physically can't cross the traffic, then the majority of cyclists simply do not stop at red lights.
If I need to qualify my "vast majority" with a "where not at risk of death" then I will happily do so.
Had a strange experience last night, in Merano, the most sedate of alpine resorts catering mostly to rich middle aged Germans. Took the dog for a walk in the dark before bed, we were just turning onto a bridge across the river when the only other person on it, a guy coming the other way at the far end, very deliberately threw a cigarette packet to the ground and carried on walking.
Something about the way he did it, throwing it to his feet and not looking round, rather than tossing it to the side as most people would, seemed odd, and I was pondering whether to tell him he’d dropped something when another guy, about twenty paces behind, walking in the same determined not-looking-round way, walked directly to it, picked it up and put it in his pocket without looking in it, and carried on walking.
I thought I’d stop and look at the river, to see if the second man might catch the first man up, but at the end of the bridge the first turned left and the second, still some distance behind, turned right, and they both strode off into the night. They were both fit shaven headed guys in their late 30s and neither looked like a typical tourist.
Perhaps I have watched too many films; in this technological age do spies still do old fashioned tradecraft like that?
For litter to be cleared away so quickly after being dropped is very impressive.
Zac Goldsmith was critical of Sunak’s Net Zero policy change. Kemi Badenoch was quoted in the Standard criticising Goldsmith, saying, “Zac Goldsmith is someone who cares very much about the environment,... But the fact is, he has way more money than pretty much everyone in the UK.”
That’s a brave line to take when Rishi Sunak has way more money than Zac Goldsmith!
The theory of “luxury beliefs” is going to be an increasingly important political issue in the next few years.
It starts with mocking those who turn up to climate change summits in private planes, but quickly goes into retail local politics, with Conservatives pointing at Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford as evidence that Labour want to make cars something that only the rich have, and everyone else can get the bus.
Same with the ‘meat tax’. Fillet steak and caviar for the climate summit attendees, but bugs and salad for the rest of us.
If we take your argument to be correct, where does this leave Sunak? Is he seen as a man of the people, or do people think about his family’s immense wealth?
If I was advising Sunak, my very first comment would be to never be seen near another helicopter. Even if he’s at the factory that makes them. Have the diary secretary work through proper timings with road or rail transport.
(I do wonder if a lot of the Tory party machine are still writing lines for Boris Johnson to say, and haven’t yet realised that Rishi Sunak is a very different personality).
That seems like sensible advice.
And do you think it’s sensible for a Cabinet Minister, Kemi Badenoch, to dismiss someone’s (Zac Goldsmith’s) view on a topic on the grounds that he’s too rich to understand? Doesn’t that just open the door to the same criticism being levelled at Sunak?
(Or maybe Badenoch did it deliberately to undermine Sunak? Leadership manoeuvres?)
A large minority of cyclists in London ignore lights almost completely. They slow down for reds but still sail through
Then there’s the hardcore that whizz down pavements
There's quite a difference between "the vast majority" and "a large minority" though. And I'd say it's a small minority, like maybe 5%. Most weeks I cycle 60km a week and almost all cyclists obey almost every red light on my commute. The big miscreants are food delivery e bikes and couriers, who you can sort of rationalise because they're trying to get their hourly pay rate at least close to the minimum wage.
You seriously cycle 60km/week in central London and you put the figure at 5%, lower than TfL?
I find that really weird to believe.
But yes food delivery bike riders are programmed not to acknowledge traffic lights of any type.
A large minority of cyclists in London ignore lights almost completely. They slow down for reds but still sail through
Then there’s the hardcore that whizz down pavements
There's quite a difference between "the vast majority" and "a large minority" though. And I'd say it's a small minority, like maybe 5%. Most weeks I cycle 60km a week and almost all cyclists obey almost every red light on my commute. The big miscreants are food delivery e bikes and couriers, who you can sort of rationalise because they're trying to get their hourly pay rate at least close to the minimum wage.
I’m making three distinctions
The majority jump red lights A large minority ignores red lights - unless in danger of dying A small hardcore essentially obeys no laws at all: cycling on pavements, going the wrong way down one way streets, &c
Central London cyclists are not a great advert for cyclists
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
Yes, and this point has now been made to the PB Cash Fetishists many times, yet still they persist in this nonsense.
Moreover, I asked how they withdraw cash when 'electronic systems go down'. Answer, there came none.
Occasionally I need cash. It tends to sit in my wallet for months at a time. My wallet contains plastic cards all of which are loaded onto Google Pay. I've already stopped getting them out...
An oversupply of wallet destroying cash can be sorted easily by: going racing where many on course bookies know what cash is, (though this is no use if you back winners, but it's never let me down) using a traditional drugs dealer who lives with his mum, shopping in independent shops in a small town, entering most churches, being generous to grandchildren, offering generosity to street life lying on the pavement in York, Oxford, Cambridge, London, Leeds and most major towns near you.
Zac Goldsmith was critical of Sunak’s Net Zero policy change. Kemi Badenoch was quoted in the Standard criticising Goldsmith, saying, “Zac Goldsmith is someone who cares very much about the environment,... But the fact is, he has way more money than pretty much everyone in the UK.”
That’s a brave line to take when Rishi Sunak has way more money than Zac Goldsmith!
The theory of “luxury beliefs” is going to be an increasingly important political issue in the next few years.
It starts with mocking those who turn up to climate change summits in private planes, but quickly goes into retail local politics, with Conservatives pointing at Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford as evidence that Labour want to make cars something that only the rich have, and everyone else can get the bus.
Same with the ‘meat tax’. Fillet steak and caviar for the climate summit attendees, but bugs and salad for the rest of us.
Sure. If you want to hate your enemies out of fear of the unknown, nobody can stop you. It is an update of the paranoid theories that Jewish monied elites control everything and kill Christian babies.
Oh, the “It’s not really happening, it’s a mad conspiracy theory” argument.
It’s really happening, in the real world.
Please show us your "real world" evidence for Labour's 'meat tax' plans, which Sunak recently referred to ?
The real world seems to be that our PM has engaged in a dishonest smear campaign, which he kicked off just as Parliament went into recess. Neatly avoiding Parliamentary scrutiny of his shoddy policy changes.
Did Sunak specifically refer to Labour’s meat tax plans? I might have missed that.
Labour’s taxes and restrictions on motorists, on the other hand, are very clear for everyone to see in London and Wales.
I think he referred to Meat Tax plans which apparentl exist out there somewhere, amongst the other things he is going to stop that were not going to happen anyway - but did not link it to Labour.
Of course there is currently no meat tax nor plans but it is dishonest to pretend this is not something that is being considered or looked at by policy makers or influencers in the environmental debate. Labour does not have a meat tax plan, I did not hear him make that claim.
There are currently no firm policies on many issues. It does not mean they are not being reviewed, looked at or discussed by various policy framing organisations.
The framing was Labour would inflict these new taxes and onerous measures on you . Sunak pretends he’s different to Johnson but is the same liar just dressed in a better suit .
How often has Labour used a policy idea floated by one of the Tories’ lunatic fringe as a political weapon? That’s all that happening here.
For example, only today they were saying “Let’s stop Truss ever having another budget” No one serious is suggesting that idea and yet Labour weaponise the fear.
“What the other side do is bad, so we should do it too” isn’t the most compelling argument…
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
Sheep will happily eat birds, especially chicks. Shocking but true
First conference since pre-Covid as last year's had to be cancelled due to the Queen. We are sending a couple of people there but I can't make it. I'm going to the Labour conference and doing one of the fringe events.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
And add red deer to the fungivores and lichenivores (and algivores opportunistically, but I think most folk would call seaweed a 'plant').
Ukraine. Do I get a sense that the world's view is shifting? Wars used to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Winners and losers, and followed by a moral determination to make the world better and safer. Obvs what I have just said is mostly false but not entirely.
In recent decades wars have done nothing like this. They have interminable middles, no proper end and the outcome is always worse than before. (Iraq, Syria, various bits of Africa, Afghanistan etc).
Is Ukraine, in our minds, entering the phase of being just another of these? If so, the west is going to start losing its grip.
No, because the outcome has been very much better than before.
If Labour can frame green issues in a more local/tangible way I reckon they’ll be onto a winner.
It’s hard to see a global increase of 0.3°; it is much easier to see your rivers being filled with sewage and your beaches covered in dead sealife.
My pet theory is that most people really do care about environmental issues, but are turned off by global intangibles. Labour’s job is to frame the argument correctly.
Most people do care, but they don’t want to wear hair shirts.
I had to rebut an "idea" of a vegetarian only main course at an industry dinner on Monday, I'm a member of the planning committee.
I said it would risk patronising and alienating people, and many wouldn't come again.
Is the problem that it would be telegraphed in an earnest, virtue-signally way?
I mean, if it was an informal occasion and the food was, say, pizza and salad with no patronising bollux attached you wouldn't mind would you?
There's that too.
This stuff really yanks people's chain, but they complain in private (and vote with their feet) lest they come across as a denier or uncommitted.
It is very unpopular.
Yeah we had something similar at work, a poor idea just moving through the committees with no one objecting but as soon as someone did a few other people felt like they could speak up and then suddenly management realised just how unpopular their idea was so they reversed it.
Yes not uncommon. Like @Anabobazina I wouldn't mind a veggie main meal even though I am a meat eater. I would draw the line at vegan as that in my opinion would put people off and definitely question the motives of that being proposed so @Casino_Royale probably has a decent point for those who don't want a veggie meal forced upon them.
Went to a wedding with vegan only food (the bride and groom both vegan). I'm also an omnivore, but I must say that it was truly excellent. Whether meat, animal-derived or vegan matters much less than the quality of the ingredients and cooking. Agree that I'd struggle with full-time vegan diet, while I'd have no real problem with vegetarian - I'm very happy to eat good meat, raised well, but it wouldn't ruin my life to stop.
I do suspect CR is right in that some might be put off attending by an advertised vegetarian menu.
You haven’t lived if you haven’t been to an Indian wedding where the bride and groom turn up two hours late, the food is all vegetarian, and the bar is dry…
Several of us sneaked out quickly to another hotel two doors down, where we could get a burger and a beer.
I went to one such. Thankfully, a lot of younger guests had sneaked in bottles of champagne, which they mixed with the orange juice.
Ah, you were lucky to go with people who had been to such events previously!
Obviously, if I get an invite to another one where the food and drink menu might be a little unorthodox for my liking, I shall remember to hide a bottle in my coat.
I went to a Pakistani Muslim wedding like this. Bad veggie food. No music. No dancing. No bar or booze. It was a three hour procession of people giving money and gold to the “happy” couple
Awful and bleak. The westerners and rebellious Muslims - including the groom’s father - swiftly repaired to the garden to get drunk on contraband scotch, which made it all rather fun and illicit
I went to an Indian Muslim wedding which was kind of similar, but the food was very good.
Also been to a Hindu wedding; veggie food was first-rate (and also not was not dry at the reception dance bit after, so everyone was happy.
A large minority of cyclists in London ignore lights almost completely. They slow down for reds but still sail through
Then there’s the hardcore that whizz down pavements
There's quite a difference between "the vast majority" and "a large minority" though. And I'd say it's a small minority, like maybe 5%. Most weeks I cycle 60km a week and almost all cyclists obey almost every red light on my commute. The big miscreants are food delivery e bikes and couriers, who you can sort of rationalise because they're trying to get their hourly pay rate at least close to the minimum wage.
I’m making three distinctions
The majority jump red lights A large minority ignores red lights - unless in danger of dying A small hardcore essentially obeys no laws at all: cycling on pavements, going the wrong way down one way streets, &c
Central London cyclists are not a great advert for cyclists
Yes I would say that was about right. I would say a majority jump red lights, a large minority always ignores red lights, a small minority ignores red lights even when at risk of dying.
Funnily enough I don't come across/see pavement cycling all that much. You'd have to be an idiot to try to cycle along many London pavements, that said, at least in core central London.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
And add red deer to the fungivores and lichenivores (and algivores opportunistically, but I think most folk would call seaweed a 'plant').
The red deer in the field above my vineyard are vineivores but mercifully haven't paid a visit since spring, either because the makeshift electric fence is working or because the gamekeeper is having a bumper season.
The pheasants on the other hand...the bottoms of multiple grape bunches have been nibbled away. They hop along the rows then jump up to peck the bunches.
If Labour can frame green issues in a more local/tangible way I reckon they’ll be onto a winner.
It’s hard to see a global increase of 0.3°; it is much easier to see your rivers being filled with sewage and your beaches covered in dead sealife.
My pet theory is that most people really do care about environmental issues, but are turned off by global intangibles. Labour’s job is to frame the argument correctly.
Most people do care, but they don’t want to wear hair shirts.
I had to rebut an "idea" of a vegetarian only main course at an industry dinner on Monday, I'm a member of the planning committee.
I said it would risk patronising and alienating people, and many wouldn't come again.
Is the problem that it would be telegraphed in an earnest, virtue-signally way?
I mean, if it was an informal occasion and the food was, say, pizza and salad with no patronising bollux attached you wouldn't mind would you?
There's that too.
This stuff really yanks people's chain, but they complain in private (and vote with their feet) lest they come across as a denier or uncommitted.
It is very unpopular.
Yeah we had something similar at work, a poor idea just moving through the committees with no one objecting but as soon as someone did a few other people felt like they could speak up and then suddenly management realised just how unpopular their idea was so they reversed it.
Yes not uncommon. Like @Anabobazina I wouldn't mind a veggie main meal even though I am a meat eater. I would draw the line at vegan as that in my opinion would put people off and definitely question the motives of that being proposed so @Casino_Royale probably has a decent point for those who don't want a veggie meal forced upon them.
Went to a wedding with vegan only food (the bride and groom both vegan). I'm also an omnivore, but I must say that it was truly excellent. Whether meat, animal-derived or vegan matters much less than the quality of the ingredients and cooking. Agree that I'd struggle with full-time vegan diet, while I'd have no real problem with vegetarian - I'm very happy to eat good meat, raised well, but it wouldn't ruin my life to stop.
I do suspect CR is right in that some might be put off attending by an advertised vegetarian menu.
You haven’t lived if you haven’t been to an Indian wedding where the bride and groom turn up two hours late, the food is all vegetarian, and the bar is dry…
Several of us sneaked out quickly to another hotel two doors down, where we could get a burger and a beer.
I went to one such. Thankfully, a lot of younger guests had sneaked in bottles of champagne, which they mixed with the orange juice.
Ah, you were lucky to go with people who had been to such events previously!
Obviously, if I get an invite to another one where the food and drink menu might be a little unorthodox for my liking, I shall remember to hide a bottle in my coat.
I went to a Pakistani Muslim wedding like this. Bad veggie food. No music. No dancing. No bar or booze. It was a three hour procession of people giving money and gold to the “happy” couple
Awful and bleak. The westerners and rebellious Muslims - including the groom’s father - swiftly repaired to the garden to get drunk on contraband scotch, which made it all rather fun and illicit
I went to an Indian Muslim wedding which was kind of similar, but the food was very good.
Also been to a Hindu wedding; veggie food was first-rate (and also not was not dry at the reception dance bit after, so everyone was happy.
I can kind of get the dry aspect. I don’t like it, but that’s Muslim culture - each to their own
But no music or dancing?! That seems specifically joyless - designed to remove any possible fun from proceedings. Quite weird
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
Sheep will happily eat birds, especially chicks. Shocking but true
The crows tend to get their own back during lambing sadly. Nature!
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
And add red deer to the fungivores and lichenivores (and algivores opportunistically, but I think most folk would call seaweed a 'plant').
The red deer in the field above my vineyard are vineivores but mercifully haven't paid a visit since spring, either because the makeshift electric fence is working or because the gamekeeper is having a bumper season.
The pheasants on the other hand...the bottoms of multiple grape bunches have been nibbled away. They hop along the rows then jump up to peck the bunches.
I'd happily eat both for you if I lived near. I like to stew pheasant in red wine ...
Regarding cash vs electronic. I believe "try using your phone if systems go down" was the retort.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
Yes, and this point has now been made to the PB Cash Fetishists many times, yet still they persist in this nonsense.
Moreover, I asked how they withdraw cash when 'electronic systems go down'. Answer, there came none.
When systems go down they go down. Whether cash can be got from a branch (!) of a bank etc (what are these?) I do not know. But being old fashioned I like to have enough cash to get me home wherever I am. This no doubt is ancient wisdom - like the wisdom of buying a return ticket when you go racing so that (PG Wodehouse) you don't have to raffle your trousers to get home.
You'd struggle to get cash from a branch if their 'electronic systems go down', I presume. How would they check your bank account? I suppose they could ring up head office or something.
A large minority of cyclists in London ignore lights almost completely. They slow down for reds but still sail through
Then there’s the hardcore that whizz down pavements
There's quite a difference between "the vast majority" and "a large minority" though. And I'd say it's a small minority, like maybe 5%. Most weeks I cycle 60km a week and almost all cyclists obey almost every red light on my commute. The big miscreants are food delivery e bikes and couriers, who you can sort of rationalise because they're trying to get their hourly pay rate at least close to the minimum wage.
I’m making three distinctions
The majority jump red lights A large minority ignores red lights - unless in danger of dying A small hardcore essentially obeys no laws at all: cycling on pavements, going the wrong way down one way streets, &c
Central London cyclists are not a great advert for cyclists
Yes I would say that was about right. I would say a majority jump red lights, a large minority always ignores red lights, a small minority ignores red lights even when at risk of dying.
Funnily enough I don't come across/see pavement cycling all that much. You'd have to be an idiot to try to cycle along many London pavements, that said, at least in core central London.
You get a fair amount of pavement cycling in Camden. I’ve learned to be wary of them - because this is how thieves snatch phones: they cycle up on to the pavement from behind you and whisk it out of your hand. Happened to me about six months ago. Infuriating
My suggestion that we would see changes in yesterday's by-elections proved to be pretty spot on. The Con gain in Ayrshire, the LD gains in Milton Keynes and Colchester were expected. Lab did hold its seat in Hull but there was a large swing to the Lib Dems.
A large minority of cyclists in London ignore lights almost completely. They slow down for reds but still sail through
Then there’s the hardcore that whizz down pavements
There's quite a difference between "the vast majority" and "a large minority" though. And I'd say it's a small minority, like maybe 5%. Most weeks I cycle 60km a week and almost all cyclists obey almost every red light on my commute. The big miscreants are food delivery e bikes and couriers, who you can sort of rationalise because they're trying to get their hourly pay rate at least close to the minimum wage.
I’m making three distinctions
The majority jump red lights A large minority ignores red lights - unless in danger of dying A small hardcore essentially obeys no laws at all: cycling on pavements, going the wrong way down one way streets, &c
Central London cyclists are not a great advert for cyclists
Yes I would say that was about right. I would say a majority jump red lights, a large minority always ignores red lights, a small minority ignores red lights even when at risk of dying.
Funnily enough I don't come across/see pavement cycling all that much. You'd have to be an idiot to try to cycle along many London pavements, that said, at least in core central London.
They also shout and do wanker signs at pedestrians and motorists if they do anything they consider remotely off. Cyclists in London are - perhaps as an evolutionary defence mechanism - wired up XL-Bully style and ready for a fight at all times. The middle aged male ones anyway. The youths are more placid, though defiantly dismissive of the ban on pavement cycling.
Contrast with Denmark where I've several times stepped out into a cycle lane not realising it was one, almost caused an accident and got nothing worse than a chirpy bell ring from a suit wearing commuter sitting upright on their basketed bike.
Had a strange experience last night, in Merano, the most sedate of alpine resorts catering mostly to rich middle aged Germans. Took the dog for a walk in the dark before bed, we were just turning onto a bridge across the river when the only other person on it, a guy coming the other way at the far end, very deliberately threw a cigarette packet to the ground and carried on walking.
Something about the way he did it, throwing it to his feet and not looking round, rather than tossing it to the side as most people would, seemed odd, and I was pondering whether to tell him he’d dropped something when another guy, about twenty paces behind, walking in the same determined not-looking-round way, walked directly to it, picked it up and put it in his pocket without looking in it, and carried on walking.
I thought I’d stop and look at the river, to see if the second man might catch the first man up, but at the end of the bridge the first turned left and the second, still some distance behind, turned right, and they both strode off into the night. They were both fit shaven headed guys in their late 30s and neither looked like a typical tourist.
Perhaps I have watched too many films; in this technological age do spies still do old fashioned tradecraft like that?
For litter to be cleared away so quickly after being dropped is very impressive.
Drug deal? (Although I prefer your more romantic spycraft theory)
My suggestion that we would see changes in yesterday's by-elections proved to be pretty spot on. The Con gain in Ayrshire, the LD gains in Milton Keynes and Colchester were expected. Lab did hold its seat in Hull but there was a large swing to the Lib Dems.
There was a big swing to Labour in MK though. That, so close to Mid Beds, would imply they might do better than the Lib Dems there.
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
Sheep will happily eat birds, especially chicks. Shocking but true
The crows tend to get their own back during lambing sadly. Nature!
I remember standing in a house on the island of Foula watching the lady owner as she gazed at her fields through binoculars. She was intent on something I couldn’t see
Then she turned to me and said, without context: “the ravens are eating the placenta”
'Plant-based' is a stupid shift in language because it reduces the amount of useful information.
Vegetarian has a clear meaning. Vegan has a clear meaning. Plant-based also has a clear meaning by itself, but if you're a vegan you have no idea if something that's just 'plant-based' is ok or not.
Just label and name stuff clearly so people can make an informed choice without having to read the tiny print on the back.
Plant based is perfectly clear. If something is plant based, there ain't no animal bits in it, plus it doesn't trigger snow flake meat eaters like Vegan does. Also, you can have a plant based diet but not be Vegan. Great, innit?
Beef is plant based, as is lamb, as is chick. All meat if based on the consumption of plants. Its just another wanky marketing idea that has caught on in the same way that business speak does. Retailers are using it because it has become the cool thing to use.
PB pedantry alert! Some people eat dogs, so that’s meat based on the consumption of other animals. Deer occasionally eat baby birds, which brings us back to venison. Pigs eat truffles, so that’s meat based on the consumption of fungi.
And add red deer to the fungivores and lichenivores (and algivores opportunistically, but I think most folk would call seaweed a 'plant').
The red deer in the field above my vineyard are vineivores but mercifully haven't paid a visit since spring, either because the makeshift electric fence is working or because the gamekeeper is having a bumper season.
The pheasants on the other hand...the bottoms of multiple grape bunches have been nibbled away. They hop along the rows then jump up to peck the bunches.
I'd happily eat both for you if I lived near. I like to stew pheasant in red wine ...
Perhaps I should insert some sleeping pills in a few of the grapes, with my son.
Oh and on the seven bins thing this is smart by Sunak because in many peoples' minds the feeling is "they're coming for my turkey twizzlers" and are going to tax me for watching Netflix unless I offset the carbon used while I do so.
So this tells those people that the government is "on their side" and if the Hampstead champagne socialists want to forego one of their holidays - their flight to Costa Rica, perhaps, then that's fine by them.
Sunak is offering imaginary cures for imaginary diseases. The oldest political snake oil known.
It is creating mood music and will be well-understood by its target audience.
See: £350m spent on the NHS.
The more people say well meat tax was never a thing the more the govt can keep that issue in peoples' minds because there sure are going to be a lot of green taxes, ULEZ being a prime example.
The more people say you are a liar the more people will keep that issue in their minds.
The £350m was a masterstroke. It plonked down a number plucked from thin air and then the entire debate was hitched to whether it was £350m or £250 or some other huge number. That's politics.
People often say that Remain were beaten by the side of a bus and we intelligent types might wail and gnash our teeth but it's not all wrong.
So where of course does that leave politics. In the gutter is the obvious answer but we get the politicians we elect and deserve.
Use the largest plausible number you can defend, and make your opponents suggest their own number instead.
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
On the other hand, there are now a lot of very pissed off people who actually thought that the NHS would be rolling in cash as a result of Brexit and voted accordingly. People don't like being conned.
I found a health service like the one we were promised in the Vote Leave video, where you walk in to an almost empty waiting room, there are more staff than patients, you get seen almost straight away even without an appointment, and are back on the street in less than hour having been examined, tested, and given a prescription for the medication you need.
Unfortunately for us, it was in Norway.
Who, to be fair, are not in the EU! (Although it does pay 447 Euros per year to them.)
Comments
⚡️This is what the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the 🇷🇺Russian Federation looks like after the meeting with the 🇺🇦Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missile
https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1705170808505557148?s=20
(They're OK, but not much more than that, IMO.)
The massive rows about whether it was £250m or £350m per week that was given to the EU, was a total campaign masterstroke by Cummings.
And the lunatic fringe is more than well represented in the cabinet.
I think it’s silly childish pointless nonsense, and a waste of parliamentary time for all the obvious reasons, but it worked for Osborne.
At the moment, they are 'impeaching' a private individual who has held no government post. It's an absurdity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane?wprov=sfla1
The report is rather better. 77 cycling offenders caught in 5 days on a junction which has 10s of thousands going through over the period - encouragingly few. The article is better:
"Seventy-seven rogue cyclists will now either have to pay a £50 fine or enrol on a safety course.
During the five-day operation against anti-social behaviour at Bank Junction, a further 94 traffic offence warnings were given to other road users and nine illegal e-bikes or e-scooters seized for destruction."
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus
I think that several of these qualify as UPF.
Awful and bleak. The westerners and rebellious Muslims - including the groom’s father - swiftly repaired to the garden to get drunk on contraband scotch, which made it all rather fun and illicit
https://www.rospa.com/road-safety/advice/pedestrians/children-road-safety
Does anyone have the accurate information for replies to those with fond memories of the Tufty Club?
I usually have data to hand to rebut the "Why do they not teach Cycling Proficiency any more?" comments from 68 year olds on social media. The answer to that one is that it is now far better, is called Bikeability, and 439,802 kids took the course in 21/22 just in England.
https://www.bikeability.org.uk/blog/record-breaking-year-for-bikeability-in-england/
There are certain places (no idea how many) that have mini-road networks in the park for learning, as used to exist in the Botanical Gardens in Rhyl. The Victoria Embankment in Nottingham has one.
We are very poor on preventative road safety - it's usually some variation of "no you can't have a safe crossing until >X people have been put in hospital." It's very like certain police forces having an effective policy of not enforcing on Dangerous Driving unless there is an injury accident.
And it's a load of dishonest bollocks.
The fact that he was unable to time it precisely to his advantage isn't something anyone should lose much sleep over.
BBC News - Driver acquitted after couple's crash death in Glenrothes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-66852585
NHS Full-time-equivalent staffing is up 5% year-on-year https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/may-2023
And they’re lining up to hire even more staff. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/17/nhs-england-diversity-roles-despite-crackdown-waste-wokery/
Right, things to do and people to see. Have a good day, all.
Where's Leon?
Newport Pagnell South (Milton Keynes) council by-election result:
LDEM: 43.5% (+5.4)
LAB: 27.4% (+13.4)
CON: 22.4% (-19.8)
GRN: 3.2% (-2.5)
IND: 2.1% (+2.1)
WEP: 1.4% (+1.4)
Valid votes cast: 2,500
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative.
10:29 AM · Sep 22, 2023
They're really pretty good, definitely better than >90% of the beef burgers you can buy out there, but not quite as good as homemade beef burgers, or the very best beef burgers. I like the variety.
Then there’s the hardcore that whizz down pavements
Unfortunately for us, it was in Norway.
OK, so I go into a shop. Power cut. They aren't taking cash payments either because their tills aren't working. BTW phone payment is not reliant on an internet connection anyway.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/22/desantis-florida-republicans-governor-elections-00117514
The GOP has gone nearly all in on Trump - which is going to make things interesting if his criminal indictments prevent them nominating him in the end.
https://centralbedfordshirecouncil.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/Communications/EWC9nAkhEOJFm4dyevj6krQBerNsjbm3VYF87dJpKFsIPg?e=4cFdXe
What say you @Big_G_NorthWales? Worthy of a petition?
What about the Scottish Tories and their 20mph limits in the Borders?
Though, of course, it's not the first such storm, it having been autumn for ages already.
Moreover, I asked how they withdraw cash when 'electronic systems go down'. Answer, there came none.
In recent decades wars have done nothing like this. They have interminable middles, no proper end and the outcome is always worse than before. (Iraq, Syria, various bits of Africa, Afghanistan etc).
Is Ukraine, in our minds, entering the phase of being just another of these? If so, the west is going to start losing its grip.
The pumps are driven by electricity. Believe it or not, garages don't have UPS systems as a rule.
The best numbers I have seen (TFL surveys) suggest it is around 15% when a selection of junctions with traffic lights are studied.
And that excludes the proportion of journeys that go through no traffic lights at all, or hardly any traffic lights, such as many suburban journeys or those on quiet ways.
*Reference to old Italian driving joke.
However, I’n far from certain - and if no great breakthrough is made before winter I reckon that’s it. The war, as you suggest, will grind down to a muddy stalemate and a frosty armistice
https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-09-22/porsche-driver-loses-licence-after-travelling-at-162mph-on-a-road
If anyone wants a second-hand car... One careful owner.
If I need to qualify my "vast majority" with a "where not at risk of death" then I will happily do so.
Something about the way he did it, throwing it to his feet and not looking round, rather than tossing it to the side as most people would, seemed odd, and I was pondering whether to tell him he’d dropped something when another guy, about twenty paces behind, walking in the same determined not-looking-round way, walked directly to it, picked it up and put it in his pocket without looking in it, and carried on walking.
I thought I’d stop and look at the river, to see if the second man might catch the first man up, but at the end of the bridge the first turned left and the second, still some distance behind, turned right, and they both strode off into the night. They were both fit shaven headed guys in their late 30s and neither looked like a typical tourist.
Perhaps I have watched too many films; in this technological age do spies still do old fashioned tradecraft like that?
For litter to be cleared away so quickly after being dropped is very impressive.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c4w9ny11pv5t
And do you think it’s sensible for a Cabinet Minister, Kemi Badenoch, to dismiss someone’s (Zac Goldsmith’s) view on a topic on the grounds that he’s too rich to understand? Doesn’t that just open the door to the same criticism being levelled at Sunak?
(Or maybe Badenoch did it deliberately to undermine Sunak? Leadership manoeuvres?)
I find that really weird to believe.
But yes food delivery bike riders are programmed not to acknowledge traffic lights of any type.
The majority jump red lights
A large minority ignores red lights - unless in danger of dying
A small hardcore essentially obeys no laws at all: cycling on pavements, going the wrong way down one way streets, &c
Central London cyclists are not a great advert for cyclists
Also been to a Hindu wedding; veggie food was first-rate (and also not was not dry at the reception dance bit after, so everyone was happy.
Funnily enough I don't come across/see pavement cycling all that much. You'd have to be an idiot to try to cycle along many London pavements, that said, at least in core central London.
The pheasants on the other hand...the bottoms of multiple grape bunches have been nibbled away. They hop along the rows then jump up to peck the bunches.
But no music or dancing?! That seems specifically joyless - designed to remove any possible fun from proceedings. Quite weird
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66878234
Less sensible lib dems are having conniptions on social media this morning.
Contrast with Denmark where I've several times stepped out into a cycle lane not realising it was one, almost caused an accident and got nothing worse than a chirpy bell ring from a suit wearing commuter sitting upright on their basketed bike.
Then she turned to me and said, without context: “the ravens are eating the placenta”
I have concluded, of course, that he is.
THE DRAKE
Leader.
Visionary.
Friend.
Totally bland and depressing.
the champagne was good though.