How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
Angel of the North Wembley Stadium The Shard The Walkie-talkie
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
That Grand Designs lighthouse house in Devon that bankrupted the man and cost him his marriage. He finished it in the end and it looks lovely, but at what cost. A magnificent failure
Johnson weighs in on IHT cut and says he is favour. It is the right time because Gen Z need all the help they can get from baby boomers who have had it cushy.
Interestingly, it reads like this is a done deal on IHT next week.
When the Chancellor of the Exchequer rises next week to announce a long-awaited cut in inheritance tax, I can confidently predict that the Left will go more or less bananas.
I think it’s a red herring and the IHT cut will come just before the next general election .
Keir can show clear water between LAB and CON by immediately committing to stop/reverse any IHT cut. But he probably won't.
He should abolish IHT, and make any gifts or legacies received >£10k in a year subject to income tax.
Labour will have to be careful how they respond . Certainly they need to try and get through to people that only 4% of estates qualify . Much more of the public think they’re going to be effected than the reality . They should stress the country can’t afford this with crumbling public services . A lot of people when polled dislike IHT even though they are likely to never have enough assets to leave to the children to be effected .
My plan's better. (Tbf I think Barty suggested it a while back.)
Don't forget a lot of pensioners and old folk will find themselves hit disproportionately for income tax this year - or so it will seem compared to last year. Stealth tax, and the increase in savings - anyone who has 25K cash should be seeing it overflow the 1K allowance ikf they have been sensible.
It's the hassle of income tax returns and the fear of getting it wrong in the technoera that is part of it, too.
I know, I've already had to help out one baffled and anxious man in his 80s who had a Simple Tax Assessment last year and couldn't understand why, as he only has a (quite good) State Pension. Going to happen more and more.
God alone knows why DWP can't do what every single employer does and deduct ICT when due.
Or even send out a P60, rather than calculating income differently from everyone else (i.e. not the actual time the money arrives).
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
Angel of the North Wembley Stadium The Shard The Walkie-talkie
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
To be honest I think @ HYUFD needs to look to provide for his own future as so many of us have done in our working lifetime
We have received modest inheritance but we had already paid our mortgage by then anyway
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
The Thames Barrier. The Falkirk Wheel. I'd agree with the London Eye, Angel of the North, maybe the Shard. It's not many, though.
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
"Chief technology officer Mira Murati appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI; Sam Altman departs the company.
Search process underway to identify permanent successor."
Wow.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
Most boards suffer from the cult of founder. I'm surprised (in a generally positive way), that that is not true of OpenAI.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above. The children of billionaires and the super rich will inherit hundreds of millions or even billions.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle, country house or stately home thrown in too and estate, often a central London town house with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
To be honest I think @ HYUFD needs to look to provide for his own future as so many of us have done in our working lifetime
We have received modest inheritance but we had already paid our mortgage by then anyway
On a possibly happier but certainly more constructive note I hope you and your good wife are as well as can be expected.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above
But only a few.
And we are talking about people affected by IHT today. You're moving the goalposts from the football pitch into the water polo swimming pool.
"Chief technology officer Mira Murati appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI; Sam Altman departs the company.
Search process underway to identify permanent successor."
Wow.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
Most boards suffer from the cult of founder. I'm surprised (in a generally positive way), that that is not true of OpenAI.
I have this horrible feeling that ChatGPT has engineered his departure, and that a printout in the basement now starts with the line "phase two begins..."
I just had an interesting discussion with my wife. She confessed that she is thinking of voting for the 'far right' party in Finland and suggested that she will not vote for left wing parties again until they fundamentally change their position on immigration.
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
Angel of the North Wembley Stadium The Shard The Walkie-talkie
Lord's Media Centre The Eden Project
Both Arsenal and Spurs' rebuilt/new stadia stand out as big achievements - especially as they were achieved without moving the team away from their long-term homes.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
"Chief technology officer Mira Murati appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI; Sam Altman departs the company.
Search process underway to identify permanent successor."
Wow.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
And self-respect and earning one's own living. Not parasitising on one's parents and everyone else through the tax system.
There really was such a time, incredible as it may seem to our young village Tories.
"Chief technology officer Mira Murati appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI; Sam Altman departs the company.
Search process underway to identify permanent successor."
Wow.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
Most boards suffer from the cult of founder. I'm surprised (in a generally positive way), that that is not true of OpenAI.
Don't have CEOs called Sam in your tech startup might be a sensible principle ?
I just had an interesting discussion with my wife. She confessed that she is thinking of voting for the 'far right' party in Finland and suggested that she will not vote for left wing parties again until they fundamentally change their position on immigration.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
Angel of the North Wembley Stadium The Shard The Walkie-talkie
Lord's Media Centre The Eden Project
Funnily enough they were the two that sprang to mind for me as well. The Lords media centre is wondrous. It looks like something out of a 1950s Dan Dare vision of the future with the justaposition of the classically English cricket scene with an ultra modern but absolutely in keeping new building.
And the Eden project is iconic in both its look and outlook.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
To be honest I think @ HYUFD needs to look to provide for his own future as so many of us have done in our working lifetime
We have received modest inheritance but we had already paid our mortgage by then anyway
On a possibly happier but certainly more constructive note I hope you and your good wife are as well as can be expected.
Thank you again, and my wife is much improved but I do have several continuing issues and have accepted that I may not be able to do quite what I used to but then we have a wonderful family who will be coming round tomorrow for my wife's 84th birthday, bless her
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
"Chief technology officer Mira Murati appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI; Sam Altman departs the company.
Search process underway to identify permanent successor."
Wow.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
I just had an interesting discussion with my wife. She confessed that she is thinking of voting for the 'far right' party in Finland and suggested that she will not vote for left wing parties again until they fundamentally change their position on immigration.
The film seems to have really annoyed the French, as it's too "pro-British", which swung it for me.
I intend to see it - Ridley Scott may be past his best but has done some great movies in his time, Joaquin Phoenix is a phenomenal actor, and Napoleon should be easy to make a fascinating movie out of. There's so much material in his life it should be impossible to make a boring biopic out of him, though no doubt someone could manage it, given most biopics are dull.
The IMDB description does make it seem a little weird though - important as it was, is through that prism the best way to see the entire rise and fall?
An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.
Ridley Scott is one film away from brilliance and one film away from shit. He has a lovely eye, a very good sense of place and scene, and absolutely no ability to distinguish a crap film from genius. Whatever he does is interesting, if not good. Apparently he's domesticised the drama, turning it into Marriage Story with added war. The film is longer than your life. I'm going to ignore it until it comes out on Netflix, then ignore it some more. The Marvels , for all its faults, is funnier and is less than two hours long. Just saying. 😃
I can’t forgive him for Alien : Covenant . Utter tripe . I just about coped with Prometheus.
Alien is great. Blade Runner is visionary, but turgid. Gladiator is a dull, overlong cod-epic punctuated by some brilliant scenes*. His best film may be Thelma & Louise; he’s definitely a filmmaker of note but Christ he’s done a lot of dross. Like an inverse Michael Mann.
*and as an aside to this aside, I’ll take this footnote to share my appreciation for Russell Crowe, who I think doesn’t get the credit he deserves for actually being a very good film actor.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
Angel of the North Wembley Stadium The Shard The Walkie-talkie
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Funny you should mention Maggie. Saw this chart from the IFS this morning;
The reason people (and perhaps the country) are too poor to afford nicer things is the amount we are all spending on putting a roof over our heads. So far so blah.
But it's scary to see how much of a Matthew effect there is (if you're poor, your'e spending massively more of your income on housing than if you're rich). But also- it's been that way for quite a while, with the big rise during the 1980s.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
To be honest I think @ HYUFD needs to look to provide for his own future as so many of us have done in our working lifetime
We have received modest inheritance but we had already paid our mortgage by then anyway
On a possibly happier but certainly more constructive note I hope you and your good wife are as well as can be expected.
Thank you again, and my wife is much improved but I do have several continuing issues and have accepted that I may not be able to do quite what I used to but then we have a wonderful family who will be coming round tomorrow for my wife's 84th birthday, bless her
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
And self-respect and earning one's own living. Not parasitising on one's parents and everyone else through the tax system.
There really was such a time, incredible as it may seem to our young village Tories.
2009: Osborne & Little heir, George Osborne says Tories will end the 'money-for-nothing' society.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Funny you should mention Maggie. Saw this chart from the IFS this morning;
The reason people (and perhaps the country) are too poor to afford nicer things is the amount we are all spending on putting a roof over our heads. So far so blah.
But it's scary to see how much of a Matthew effect there is (if you're poor, your'e spending massively more of your income on housing than if you're rich). But also- it's been that way for quite a while, with the big rise during the 1980s.
Somehow, we have to do something about that.
Not "Matthew Effect" (had to look that up) but "Engel's Law"
The film seems to have really annoyed the French, as it's too "pro-British", which swung it for me.
I intend to see it - Ridley Scott may be past his best but has done some great movies in his time, Joaquin Phoenix is a phenomenal actor, and Napoleon should be easy to make a fascinating movie out of. There's so much material in his life it should be impossible to make a boring biopic out of him, though no doubt someone could manage it, given most biopics are dull.
The IMDB description does make it seem a little weird though - important as it was, is through that prism the best way to see the entire rise and fall?
An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.
Ridley Scott is one film away from brilliance and one film away from shit. He has a lovely eye, a very good sense of place and scene, and absolutely no ability to distinguish a crap film from genius. Whatever he does is interesting, if not good. Apparently he's domesticised the drama, turning it into Marriage Story with added war. The film is longer than your life. I'm going to ignore it until it comes out on Netflix, then ignore it some more. The Marvels , for all its faults, is funnier and is less than two hours long. Just saying. 😃
I can’t forgive him for Alien : Covenant . Utter tripe . I just about coped with Prometheus.
Alien is great. Blade Runner is visionary, but turgid. Gladiator is a dull, overlong cod-epic punctuated by some brilliant scenes*. His best film may be Thelma & Louise; he’s definitely a filmmaker of note but Christ he’s done a lot of dross. Like an inverse Michael Mann.
*and as an aside to this aside, I’ll take this footnote to share my appreciation for Russell Crowe, who I think doesn’t get the credit he deserves for actually being a very good film actor.
"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? IS THIS NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE?"
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
Angel of the North Wembley Stadium The Shard The Walkie-talkie
The walkie talkie is a truly hideous building.
Does the Tate Modern count?
And in "I would have been the first man to conquer Everest if I hadn't missed the boat train from. Victoria" news.
The Zaha Hadid crystal opera house in Cardiff Bay would have won hands down. It was all set to go ahead until panic set in and they built a cheap copper armadillo instead.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
The Sage might be a candidate
The iconic Sage, next door to the iconic Baltic.
It just gets better and better for The Heed.
Views of the Toon rather than the Heed from there too.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
Very meritocratic.
Mind, at least she didn't depend on the past generation.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
The Sage might be a candidate
The iconic Sage, next door to the iconic Baltic.
It just gets better and better for The Heed.
Views of the Toon rather than the Heed from there too.
From a vantage point in a first class county you do indeed get a view across the Tyne to a minor county.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
The Sage might be a candidate
Taken last month:
I find it very difficult to think that that is an improvement on Grainger Street and Newcastle Central. But they are rather too old to qualify for the competition. Not to mention the Wall.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
The Sage might be a candidate
Taken last month:
A view of three iconic landmarks, taken from a fourth iconic landmark. Very nice!
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
The Shard.
It's the ridiculous Tory power pose made manifest in steel and glass to a height of more than 300m.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
There's also the Angel of the North, and the Falkirk Wheel.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
The Sage might be a candidate
Taken last month:
I find it very difficult to think that that is an improvement on Grainger Street and Newcastle Central. But they are rather too old to qualify for the competition. Not to mention the Wall.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Not a great recommendation for Harrow, mind.
I am sure they prefer to mention Churchill or Palmerston
How has this huge political story not been covered here?
There's a place near where I live that officially has an apostrophe in the name, but no-one uses it, including the road signs. The only place I've seen it was on the Boundary Commission's website.
There was some consternation in Birmingham a while ago with possessive apostrophe's being added left right and centre by the punctuation police. Acock's Green, King's Norton, King's Heath and Druid's Heath all got the apostrophe treatment. But wait, was Druids Heath a heath frequented by druids, or a heath owned by a lone druid, maybe called Mr Druid.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She did a very personal interview with Miriam Stoppard where she spoke about that. It’s hard to imagine a politician at that level being so unguarded these days:
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
Either way she had her own career before she met him, though as I said he provided financial security for the risky business of standing to be an MP
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
Either way she had her own career before she met him, though as I said he provided financial security for the risky business of standing to be an MP
Which might work if it wasn't for the trifling detail she was selected as a candidate for Dartford in 1950 and didn't marry Denis until 1951.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
The Shard.
It's the ridiculous Tory power pose made manifest in steel and glass to a height of more than 300m.
You have to admire the skill of a communications consultant grifter convincing serious people to do this though.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
Either way she had her own career before she met him, though as I said he provided financial security for the risky business of standing to be an MP
So what first attracted her to the millionaire Dennis Thatcher?
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
Either way she had her own career before she met him, though as I said he provided financial security for the risky business of standing to be an MP
Which might work if it wasn't for the trifling detail she was selected as a candidate for Dartford in 1950 and didn't marry Denis until 1951.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
Either way she had her own career before she met him, though as I said he provided financial security for the risky business of standing to be an MP
So what first attracted her to the millionaire Dennis Thatcher?
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
Either way she had her own career before she met him, though as I said he provided financial security for the risky business of standing to be an MP
Which might work if it wasn't for the trifling detail she was selected as a candidate for Dartford in 1950 and didn't marry Denis until 1951.
Despite getting some of the facts wrong I think this HYUFD goalposting still mostly works - it seems conceivable having stood the first time may have helped impress upon her that financial security was even more important to pursue a political career than she had realised.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
The Shard.
It's the ridiculous Tory power pose made manifest in steel and glass to a height of more than 300m.
You have to admire the skill of a communications consultant grifter convincing serious people to do this though.
Where's the picture of the serious people he convinced? I can only see Osborne, Cameron, Javid and May.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
The Shard.
It's the ridiculous Tory power pose made manifest in steel and glass to a height of more than 300m.
You have to admire the skill of a communications consultant grifter convincing serious people to do this though.
I recently adopted something similar to stop me falling over !!!!!!!
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
There's also the Angel of the North, and the Falkirk Wheel.
And the Kelpies of course... But of the actual buildings, arguably the Welsh Senedd house.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
The Shard.
It's the ridiculous Tory power pose made manifest in steel and glass to a height of more than 300m.
You have to admire the skill of a communications consultant grifter convincing serious people to do this though.
IIUC the paper that recommended the power pose has a problem and the results haven't been reproduced. People still do it even though it's plainly ridiculous.
No it isn't, proper Tories believe in building up the family assets and estate to pass to the next generation
Or pay for their care in old age
That too. HYUFD seems to think they can live on it, pay the school fees for posh schools, *and* - as you say - pay for care in old age. Not to mention things like major capital repairs to the house.
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
No, some upper middle class families will inherit £1 million+ from the wife's parents and another £1 million+ from the husband's parents, which could pay for all the above.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle or stately home thrown in too and estate, with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Thus ensuring that more talentless numpties waltz into top universities and thus top jobs. No wonder the country is in such a state.
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
Thatcher was the ultimate meritocrat, grammar school and Oxford educated daughter of a Grantham grocer, once she made it, became PM and married an oil millionaire even she sent her son to Harrow
Didn't she marry an oil millionaire* and *then* 'make it?'
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
She was an Oxford educated tax barrister before she married Dennis but his money helped give her the financial security she wanted before entering a political career
She trained as a barrister after marriage, paid for by her husband's money. At the time of her marriage, she was working for BX plastics.
Either way she had her own career before she met him, though as I said he provided financial security for the risky business of standing to be an MP
Which might work if it wasn't for the trifling detail she was selected as a candidate for Dartford in 1950 and didn't marry Denis until 1951.
And she wasn't elected as an MP until 1959
So I was right - she married a millionaire and *then* made it...
Re good architecture of the last 50 years, the Jubilee extension has some very striking stations. Also in London (and beyond that already mentioned), the much-despised Olympic park area actually has quite a lot of lovely landscape architecture and I’m fond of the Copper Box. It’s become humanised through everyday use, and kids really enjoy it. And hush KCIII, I *like* the British Library.
Outside London, Baltic in Gateshead has been mentioned already. Honestly thought, all the good stuff is in the capital; stark contrast to the stunning Victorian buildings like Sheffield Town Hall, Liverpool’s Graces, Bradford’s Wool Exchange* or Halifax’s Piece Hall. There’s the odd nice bit, like the Winter Gardens in Sheff or Preston bus station but by and large it’s all bland consensus glass.
*I used to work in this building; no matter what sort of day you were having, having such gorgeous surrounds was always uplifting.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
You mean the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
The Sage might be a candidate
Taken last month:
I find it very difficult to think that that is an improvement on Grainger Street and Newcastle Central. But they are rather too old to qualify for the competition. Not to mention the Wall.
Oh FFS Restoration of parliament faces downgrade to "enhanced maintenance" + debate on next steps postponed until next year. How we got here (abbreviated version)...
This year has been spent working up two main options: a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while major works are carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” on the parliamentary estate. If these sound familiar, it's because they've always been the main options on the table.
But they had to be scoped and presented again after the independent body set up to oversee restoration in 2018 was scrapped and its functions brought in-house...
Of course with rising costs and a looming election, restoration was looking less and less likely. But the journey here was tortuous, and it's hardly a great advertisement for our record on major infrastructure projects https://nitter.net/estwebber/status/1725434647977275747#m
I get it, leaving it for a proper restoration is hated by MPs, and the billions it would cost will be very unpopular with the public, but a patch and mend doesn't fix the problems and it will only get more and more expensive.
It's fucking ridiculous. Risks the whole Palace burning down and being destroyed, like last time.
At least lastime we got an awesome and iconic (if rather shoddy) replacement out of it. This time? Not a chance.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge? The Gherkin?
The Shard.
It's the ridiculous Tory power pose made manifest in steel and glass to a height of more than 300m.
You have to admire the skill of a communications consultant grifter convincing serious people to do this though.
Comments
You're spending the same money several times over.
The Eden Project
Oh, and the Channel Tunnel
Tempo di barbone cigolante?
My son in law has paid over £200,000 in this context
Spending the same money 3 or 4 times over.
And of course only about 25-30% of over 70s will need residential care
You're just scraping the barrel at random. You'd be better earning a honest living than sitting on a tree like the vultures in a Western.
We have received modest inheritance but we had already paid our mortgage by then anyway
The Falkirk Wheel.
I'd agree with the London Eye, Angel of the North, maybe the Shard. It's not many, though.
If you are in the aristocracy you get a castle, country house or stately home thrown in too and estate, often a central London town house with money left over in a trust fund for Eton or Harrow fees for the children.
If you are the heir to the throne you get a couple of Palaces as well
Mind you watching it is untrue as it is an utter bore
And we are talking about people affected by IHT today. You're moving the goalposts from the football pitch into the water polo swimming pool.
Ok PBers: Which, if any, UK buildings or structures of the last 50 years could be called iconic?
The Millennium Bridge?
The Gherkin?
Angel of the North
Wembley Stadium
The Shard
The Walkie-talkie
Last 50 years gives us a bit more scope than is being used so far. That’s back to 1973. I would add:
Lloyds of London
The O2
The Barbican
Liverpool cathedral (completed 1978)
Humber bridge
Channel Tunnel
1 Canada Square
Remember when Conservatives used to believe in meritocracy?
There really was such a time, incredible as it may seem to our young village Tories.
And the Eden project is iconic in both its look and outlook.
The Angel of the North. Also Gateshead.
My manor is the home of icons.
There was, of course, also the iconic Get Carter carpark. Now sadly gone.
Praise be to OGH.
*and as an aside to this aside, I’ll take this footnote to share my appreciation for Russell Crowe, who I think doesn’t get the credit he deserves for actually being a very good film actor.
Does the Tate Modern count?
https://x.com/TheIFS/status/1725440523794530386
The reason people (and perhaps the country) are too poor to afford nicer things is the amount we are all spending on putting a roof over our heads. So far so blah.
But it's scary to see how much of a Matthew effect there is (if you're poor, your'e spending massively more of your income on housing than if you're rich). But also- it's been that way for quite a while, with the big rise during the 1980s.
Somehow, we have to do something about that.
It just gets better and better for The Heed.
*A divorced oil millionaire, at that.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/osborne-says-tories-will-end-the-moneyfornothing-society-1638508.html
The Zaha Hadid crystal opera house in Cardiff Bay would have won hands down. It was all set to go ahead until panic set in and they built a cheap copper armadillo instead.
Mind, at least she didn't depend on the past generation.
It's the ridiculous Tory power pose made manifest in steel and glass to a height of more than 300m.
It's rather down at heel these days, though perhaps it always was and I never noticed as a child.
https://youtu.be/Bzof-se9VKo
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/14/possible-conflict-of-interest-for-new-environment-secretary-steve-barclay-anglian-water-sewage
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10006410/A-side-of-Margaret-Thatcher-weve-never-seen.html
Outside London, Baltic in Gateshead has been mentioned already. Honestly thought, all the good stuff is in the capital; stark contrast to the stunning Victorian buildings like Sheffield Town Hall, Liverpool’s Graces, Bradford’s Wool Exchange* or Halifax’s Piece Hall. There’s the odd nice bit, like the Winter Gardens in Sheff or Preston bus station but by and large it’s all bland consensus glass.
*I used to work in this building; no matter what sort of day you were having, having such gorgeous surrounds was always uplifting.
I guess making it in Silicon Valley will help wipe away the shame.