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#NU10K – politicalbetting.com

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  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,954

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,937

    If there are 10,000 people running things, and only 100 of them, maximum, seem to be screwing up badly enough for us to notice, does that maybe mean that 99% of them are actually doing an OK job?

    900 are fucking up in the background, creating the next scandal to keep @Cyclefree in future headers to write.

    9,000 are waiting, in the queue, patiently, to fuck up. They *are* British, after all.
    I have to say I am not bought into the idea that our managerial elite are all incompetent, venal liars. I don't *think* I am a member of this elite so I don't think I am talking my own book here, but I've certainly seen its workings up close and I've seen the elites of other countries too and I've seen the global transnational elite at work too (I'm a kind of Zelig of the elite world).
    I think we maybe have three problems in this area, most of which we share with other countries.
    1. Our elite is too narrow - too middle class, way too SE, too privately educated, too Oxbridge, too white, still too male - so we must be missing talent. But it is less narrow than it used to be (and is this maybe breeding resentment I wonder?).
    2. We live in an increasingly complex world especially with respect to anything tech related - and managers tend to be generalists and out of touch with new developments - and so they struggle to deal with this complexity.
    3. We have a highly unequal income distribution so people are incentivised to try to rise above their abilities, and their failure is even more jarring and rage-inducing to the rest of the population.

    Overall though I think our elite is actually not too bad, especially when judged against our own history or other countries. Our real problems lie elsewhere.
    My observations of tidal lagoon power stations might suggest otherwise.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,954

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    That’s not forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes.

    There is a major problem with full-on, vaccine-denying, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists going on about 15 minute cities meaning everyone is in perpetual lockdown and not allowed to go anywhere, often linked with Grand Replacement Theory and Jews controlling the media/banks.

    You repeating your usual rank about planning laws would do better to disassociate yourself from such nonsense rather than trying to co-opt their language.
    Who said anything about forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes? Not me.

    The problem is your illiteracy. You're always tilting at windmills, imagining the worst of others so you can argue against that rather than what is actually written.

    15 minute planning restrictions are an appalling, nasty bit of NIMBYism that is abused to block construction.
    It's literally YIMBYism.

    Yes, I'd like a dentist in my back yard.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,937

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    For some reason an image of Father Dougal has just popped unbidden into my mind...
    Nearly thirty years that image has been popping unbidden into our minds.

    True comedy gold that.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    Phil said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    That’s not forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes.

    There is a major problem with full-on, vaccine-denying, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists going on about 15 minute cities meaning everyone is in perpetual lockdown and not allowed to go anywhere, often linked with Grand Replacement Theory and Jews controlling the media/banks.

    You repeating your usual rank about planning laws would do better to disassociate yourself from such nonsense rather than trying to co-opt their language.
    Who said anything about forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes? Not me.

    The problem is your illiteracy. You're always tilting at windmills, imagining the worst of others so you can argue against that rather than what is actually written.

    15 minute planning restrictions are an appalling, nasty bit of NIMBYism that is abused to block construction.
    In turn Barty, your problem is that you insist on always thinking that only the individual level matters. Systemic & path dependent effects of individual choices seem to be completely irrelevant to your thinking, even if they lead to wildly suboptimal outcomes.
    Sometimes when I read Barty I think he might be the last Ayn Rand reader in the world. But he can string coherent sentences together, which precludes him from that club.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,473
    The #NU10K idea, where are we so far after a morning of discussion? I think there are two big problems with the suggestion apparent.

    1) Where does ten thousand come from? It's just been plucked from the air. Half the hashtag is there just for a jokey reference.

    2) Who are these people? Some in the discussion are talking about gongs and the article talks about high pay, a new elite, yet some of the examples are very different to that. For example, in the Letby case, we are discussing mid-ranking HR management in an NHS Trust. People on £30-60k, not what people would usually consider "elite".

    So, @Malmesbury , how many people are in the #NU10K? Does it only cover the elite, or does it cover anyone in a managerial role?

    These two questions are linked. For example, there are 43k NHS managers. If the #NU10K covers all of them, then it's clearly much larger than ten thousand and includes vast numbers of people earning less than the PB average salary. If it is just about a top elite, a top ten thousand, then you need different examples in your article.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,832

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    For some reason an image of Father Dougal has just popped unbidden into my mind...
    Smaller and further away though, in this case :disappointed:
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,473

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    That’s not forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes.

    There is a major problem with full-on, vaccine-denying, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists going on about 15 minute cities meaning everyone is in perpetual lockdown and not allowed to go anywhere, often linked with Grand Replacement Theory and Jews controlling the media/banks.

    You repeating your usual rank about planning laws would do better to disassociate yourself from such nonsense rather than trying to co-opt their language.
    *rant
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,156

    If there are 10,000 people running things, and only 100 of them, maximum, seem to be screwing up badly enough for us to notice, does that maybe mean that 99% of them are actually doing an OK job?

    900 are fucking up in the background, creating the next scandal to keep @Cyclefree in future headers to write.

    9,000 are waiting, in the queue, patiently, to fuck up. They *are* British, after all.
    I have to say I am not bought into the idea that our managerial elite are all incompetent, venal liars. I don't *think* I am a member of this elite so I don't think I am talking my own book here, but I've certainly seen its workings up close and I've seen the elites of other countries too and I've seen the global transnational elite at work too (I'm a kind of Zelig of the elite world).
    I think we maybe have three problems in this area, most of which we share with other countries.
    1. Our elite is too narrow - too middle class, way too SE, too privately educated, too Oxbridge, too white, still too male - so we must be missing talent. But it is less narrow than it used to be (and is this maybe breeding resentment I wonder?).
    2. We live in an increasingly complex world especially with respect to anything tech related - and managers tend to be generalists and out of touch with new developments - and so they struggle to deal with this complexity.
    3. We have a highly unequal income distribution so people are incentivised to try to rise above their abilities, and their failure is even more jarring and rage-inducing to the rest of the population.

    Overall though I think our elite is actually not too bad, especially when judged against our own history or other countries. Our real problems lie elsewhere.
    3 is definitely part of it. If people want to earn 20-100x standard incomes then perhaps they could bother with things like staying in touch with technology and understanding how their businesses actually work.

    If they can't or won't do this lets go back to them earning 4-10x standard incomes instead.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,645
    edited January 12
    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New German political party BSW gets its first rating at 4% with pollster FW.

    Union 31%
    AfD 22%
    Green 14%
    SPD 13%
    BSW 4%
    FDP 4%
    Left 4%
    FW 4%
    Others 4%

    https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bündnis_Sahra_Wagenknecht

    Interesting. A left wing party that is anti-green, anti-immigrant, anti-vaccination and anti-Ukraine.

    Kind of strange mix of policies for a left wing party.
    I think the 'left' comes purely from it being interventionist on the economy.
    Just sounds “Populist” to me. The definition of the German Party.

    populist can be anywhere on the political spectrum, can’t it? But it’s bad because Populism pushes the idea of popular sovereignty above the independence of democratic institutions, and the professionalism of the representatives of those institutions. populism doesn’t like government, politics or politicians much, doesn’t like professional led checks and balances on populist power and their policies, the populist opportunism masquerading as values and agenda for government, sometimes even a Moralist ideology believing it is the voice of all the people, deaf to anyone with a different view. But it’s 99.9% opportunism. When in power these people just line their own pockets and Chuck even their own supporters into graveyards. They have hi jacked conservatism in US and pretty close to that in UK too, and they are trashing Conservatism. 😣
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    Selebian said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    For some reason an image of Father Dougal has just popped unbidden into my mind...
    Smaller and further away though, in this case :disappointed:
    Or an excuse. "Smaller? No, it's only further away and it's your fault for being too poor or stupid to have a car."
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,473

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    That’s not forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes.

    There is a major problem with full-on, vaccine-denying, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists going on about 15 minute cities meaning everyone is in perpetual lockdown and not allowed to go anywhere, often linked with Grand Replacement Theory and Jews controlling the media/banks.

    You repeating your usual rank about planning laws would do better to disassociate yourself from such nonsense rather than trying to co-opt their language.
    Who said anything about forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes? Not me.

    The problem is your illiteracy. You're always tilting at windmills, imagining the worst of others so you can argue against that rather than what is actually written.

    15 minute planning restrictions are an appalling, nasty bit of NIMBYism that is abused to block construction.
    https://www.wired.com/story/15-minute-city-conspiracy-uk-politics/

    https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-10-04/what-is-the-15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theory

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-03/15-minute-cities-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-controversial

    https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-15-minute-city-conspiracy-162fd388f0c435a8289cc9ea213f92ee

    Do you not want to distance yourself from this nonsense?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,597
    Attractive young Khmer woman just came up to me on a street corner and said

    “Hey. Mister. You. Boom boom?!”

    I’m pretty sure it’s a bomb warning and I’m taking precautions
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,312
    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New German political party BSW gets its first rating at 4% with pollster FW.

    Union 31%
    AfD 22%
    Green 14%
    SPD 13%
    BSW 4%
    FDP 4%
    Left 4%
    FW 4%
    Others 4%

    https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bündnis_Sahra_Wagenknecht

    Interesting. A left wing party that is anti-green, anti-immigrant, anti-vaccination and anti-Ukraine.

    Kind of strange mix of policies for a left wing party.
    I think the 'left' comes purely from it being interventionist on the economy.
    If you support workers in primary industries you will be anti-green. If you want to support indigenous workers wages you will be in favour of limits to immigration. And a lot of lefties believe Russia's bullshit, I think they are the same people who thought Stalin was a good guy. Not sure how you approach being anti-vax from a left perspective, though
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    edited January 12

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124

    If there are 10,000 people running things, and only 100 of them, maximum, seem to be screwing up badly enough for us to notice, does that maybe mean that 99% of them are actually doing an OK job?

    900 are fucking up in the background, creating the next scandal to keep @Cyclefree in future headers to write.

    9,000 are waiting, in the queue, patiently, to fuck up. They *are* British, after all.
    I have to say I am not bought into the idea that our managerial elite are all incompetent, venal liars. I don't *think* I am a member of this elite so I don't think I am talking my own book here, but I've certainly seen its workings up close and I've seen the elites of other countries too and I've seen the global transnational elite at work too (I'm a kind of Zelig of the elite world).
    I think we maybe have three problems in this area, most of which we share with other countries.
    1. Our elite is too narrow - too middle class, way too SE, too privately educated, too Oxbridge, too white, still too male - so we must be missing talent. But it is less narrow than it used to be (and is this maybe breeding resentment I wonder?).
    2. We live in an increasingly complex world especially with respect to anything tech related - and managers tend to be generalists and out of touch with new developments - and so they struggle to deal with this complexity.
    3. We have a highly unequal income distribution so people are incentivised to try to rise above their abilities, and their failure is even more jarring and rage-inducing to the rest of the population.

    Overall though I think our elite is actually not too bad, especially when judged against our own history or other countries. Our real problems lie elsewhere.
    1) The improvement is superficial. We have pseudo diversity, but is Cressida Dick actually much better than the third son of the Earl of Something? Diversity of thought seems to be absent.
    2) The idea that managers can mange things they don't understand has to go. Such people are fucking useless. See the outsourcing that Boeing indulged in, since it got rid of all that nasty plane making that the managers didn't understand. Tory Bruno is a very good example of a manager who actually knows something about what he is trying to manage.
    3) What jars is the vast difference in accountability.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,736
    Military spending in 2022:

    USA: $877 billion
    China: $292 billion
    Russia: $86 billion
    India: $81 billion
    Saudi Arabia: $75 billion
    UK: $69 billion

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u6dOUvaymI

  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New German political party BSW gets its first rating at 4% with pollster FW.

    Union 31%
    AfD 22%
    Green 14%
    SPD 13%
    BSW 4%
    FDP 4%
    Left 4%
    FW 4%
    Others 4%

    https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bündnis_Sahra_Wagenknecht

    Interesting. A left wing party that is anti-green, anti-immigrant, anti-vaccination and anti-Ukraine.

    Kind of strange mix of policies for a left wing party.
    I think the 'left' comes purely from it being interventionist on the economy.
    If you support workers in primary industries you will be anti-green. If you want to support indigenous workers wages you will be in favour of limits to immigration. And a lot of lefties believe Russia's bullshit, I think they are the same people who thought Stalin was a good guy. Not sure how you approach being anti-vax from a left perspective, though
    Vax = Big Pharma + USA is what they think, I suspect.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,898
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    Yes it's mad although Euston Road isn't especially seedy, just very dirty. Also, to really benefit from through trains we need to be in Schengen.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,832
    edited January 12

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    That’s not forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes.

    There is a major problem with full-on, vaccine-denying, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists going on about 15 minute cities meaning everyone is in perpetual lockdown and not allowed to go anywhere, often linked with Grand Replacement Theory and Jews controlling the media/banks.

    You repeating your usual rank about planning laws would do better to disassociate yourself from such nonsense rather than trying to co-opt their language.
    *rant
    Ah, I'd assumed the typo was the 'r'.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,597

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,834

    Andy_JS said:

    On topic, I'm not sure it's that simple. Get rid of them all and you'd just get another lot. Someone has to run all these businesses and organisations.

    It's the groupthink, lack of accountability and integrity that's the issue and I think that's more of a structural and values problem.

    93% don't go to private schools, and they usually don't get an opportunity to get to the top because of that accident.
    I think that's a myth.

    There are plenty at the top who aren't from private schools. It might be that 30-40% are but the majority are not.

    The key thing is they all operate as a club once they're in.
    It's not an either-or analysis.

    Private schooling does make it easier to reach The Club. Whether that's connections, attitude, quality of education, expectations or whatever. Probably all of them.

    But the British class system has always been a flexible thing and incorporated newcomers who've made their own way, providing they'll fit in. So it remains now.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,898

    If there are 10,000 people running things, and only 100 of them, maximum, seem to be screwing up badly enough for us to notice, does that maybe mean that 99% of them are actually doing an OK job?

    900 are fucking up in the background, creating the next scandal to keep @Cyclefree in future headers to write.

    9,000 are waiting, in the queue, patiently, to fuck up. They *are* British, after all.
    I have to say I am not bought into the idea that our managerial elite are all incompetent, venal liars. I don't *think* I am a member of this elite so I don't think I am talking my own book here, but I've certainly seen its workings up close and I've seen the elites of other countries too and I've seen the global transnational elite at work too (I'm a kind of Zelig of the elite world).
    I think we maybe have three problems in this area, most of which we share with other countries.
    1. Our elite is too narrow - too middle class, way too SE, too privately educated, too Oxbridge, too white, still too male - so we must be missing talent. But it is less narrow than it used to be (and is this maybe breeding resentment I wonder?).
    2. We live in an increasingly complex world especially with respect to anything tech related - and managers tend to be generalists and out of touch with new developments - and so they struggle to deal with this complexity.
    3. We have a highly unequal income distribution so people are incentivised to try to rise above their abilities, and their failure is even more jarring and rage-inducing to the rest of the population.

    Overall though I think our elite is actually not too bad, especially when judged against our own history or other countries. Our real problems lie elsewhere.
    1) The improvement is superficial. We have pseudo diversity, but is Cressida Dick actually much better than the third son of the Earl of Something? Diversity of thought seems to be absent.
    2) The idea that managers can mange things they don't understand has to go. Such people are fucking useless. See the outsourcing that Boeing indulged in, since it got rid of all that nasty plane making that the managers didn't understand. Tory Bruno is a very good example of a manager who actually knows something about what he is trying to manage.
    3) What jars is the vast difference in accountability.
    1) Our old elite seemed to preside over a whole lot of famines so I think you can't say there's been no improvement. 2) agreed up to a point, but senior leaders should be able to rely on technical experts to some extent - it simply isn't possible for one person to know everything in depth. 3) up to a point. Someone raised the example of Vicki Pryce - she went to jail! That seems like accountability was applied - and she didn't even do anything wrong in her professional life.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,352
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,473
    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,925

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15 minute cities is a great idea. They are building a load of housing estates round here where there are no services, not even a general store and certainly not a pub. No public transport either to you have to drive on and off the estate. Of course most of the people who can afford to live there have 2 SUVs on the drive and happy to drive everywhere, personally you couldn't pay me to live somewhere like that, I want to be able to walk to the shops and the pub, have a train service within walking distance. And then they put affordable housing in, which is in practice HA rents occupied by people who don't/can't drive or can't afford to run a car and they are fucking marooned
    Absolutely. Plus think about the impact on community cohesion, young kids with employment starter possibilities, etc etc, if there are accessible facilities nearby.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    I think they sort of tried but basically didn't think it worth spending the money on a bunch of non-Londoners.

    See also: the refusal to contemplate disturbing Londoners to do the job properly and run HS2 into St P and/or the railway lands north of StP/KX, which have been devoted to twee stuff which could go elsewhere.

    At the moment I'll be surprised if it actually ends near the Euston Road rather than Wormwood Scrubs! It's that much of a shitshow.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578
    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    On topic, I'm not sure it's that simple. Get rid of them all and you'd just get another lot. Someone has to run all these businesses and organisations.

    It's the groupthink, lack of accountability and integrity that's the issue and I think that's more of a structural and values problem.

    I agree, and citing "Common Cause" in the header has a whiff of conspiracy theory and populism to it.

    What evidence does the writer have that any of his "NU10k" have had any training by Common Cause?
    I agree that any conspiracy is far fetched and fanciful. It is more a case of people like us looking after people like us.

    In principle, people should be able to make mistakes and start again. If that were not so we would end up with almost no decisions made at all. But the reluctance to accept that gross mismanagement requires gross consequences for the individual is very marked in much of our society and not just in the public sector either.
    We've barely reached a point of agreeing people should not be rewarded for gross mismanagement, let alone face negative consequences. Rewarded in the sense of moving on and often upwards without pushback

    So a bit of performative punishment of a few is probably necessary if we're even to get close to trying to fix the wider issues.

    But let's be honest, we're not going to.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,156

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    If i was in the NU10K I would offer to run a pilot scheme for teleportation between the two stations. Cheap at a mere £100m feasibility study. I even have the requisite experience (none) and qualifications (none) but am just missing the right connections (Tory MPs).
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124
    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
    That's the Toilets. You have to be invited.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,208

    kamski said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New German political party BSW gets its first rating at 4% with pollster FW.

    Union 31%
    AfD 22%
    Green 14%
    SPD 13%
    BSW 4%
    FDP 4%
    Left 4%
    FW 4%
    Others 4%

    https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bündnis_Sahra_Wagenknecht

    Interesting. A left wing party that is anti-green, anti-immigrant, anti-vaccination and anti-Ukraine.

    Kind of strange mix of policies for a left wing party.
    I think the 'left' comes purely from it being interventionist on the economy.
    Left in the sense of saying:
    they will make rich people and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes
    they will introduce higher social security and pensions and minimum wage

    Kind of on topic because the first lines of their founding manifesto read:

    "Our country is not in good shape. For years, governments have ignored the wishes of the majority. Instead of rewarding performance, money was redistributed from the hardworking to the top ten thousand. "
    Be a bit of a bummer in these countries to be number 10,001 and just miss out on all the goodies.
    I think BSW have screwed up with their name, though. I thought "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht" was just a placeholder and when they actually formed the political party itself it would have a proper name. It would be like Nigel Farage starting a party called the "Nigel Farage Party", or maybe Jeremy Corbyn starting the "Jeremy Corbyn Party".
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/12/wokery-safe-word-and-forever-chemical-added-to-the-oxford-english-dictionary

    '“Wokery” and “wokeism”, disparaging nouns meaning “progressive or leftwing attitudes or practices, esp. those opposing social injustice or discrimination, that are viewed as doctrinaire, self-righteous, pernicious, or insincere”, were added. Another definition of “wokery”, denoting a restaurant, food counter, or kitchen serving dishes using a wok, was also included in the update.'
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 55,002

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    It’s about 600 yards from Euston to StP.

    That’s a lovely 10m walk on a nice sunny day, but a total and utter pain in the arse in winter when carrying your bags for an international trip.

    They should have built a tunnel, even if it was airport-style with travelators, and even if they had to go about 10 floors down to miss the numerous other tunnels in the area and the many basements of the British Library.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,773
    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
    You are not a real turkey twizzler gobbling Red Wall leaver unless you prepend 'Asda' with the definite article.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578
    I don't think our elites are filled with the mendacious or incompetent. Plenty of good people.

    But I do think the mendacious and incompetent among them can very easily escape notice or, when noticed, censure. And for sake of not causing a fuss a lot of the good ones are still passive about that.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    edited January 12
    [deleted, too slow]
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    Trekking with holiday luggage on the underground?

    Basic mentality was completely wrong from the start - that everything begins or ends in London, which is an increasingly parochial city as close to the edge of the UK as, say, Barnstaple or Wick.
  • Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,391
    edited January 12

    TOPPING said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Sandpit said:

    Carol Vorderman has memed herself into opposing the airstrikes because of the Tories.

    https://x.com/carolvorders/status/1745656915898552577

    For someone who used to be famous for using her brain, that skill appears to have deserted her in recent years.
    She was good at very fast arithmetic. That does not mean she is or would be sensible or wise about anything else.
    On the other hand it's a shame we haven't been able to find and smoke some of their fast boats. Maybe we should put a couple of Q ships out there
    We certainly could. Lynx/Seahawk Romeo with a nutter on the door gun but, unlike air strikes, it's a bit unpredictable and unlikely to align favourably with the news cycle. Better just to bomb some bits of desert at the time of choosing and call it done.

    Crab Air would not have to be asked twice for this lastest act of strategic foresight. They will bomb any part of the Middle East at any time in order to justify the continued and highly expensive existence of "Club Med" at Akrotiri.
    On the other hand it seems to me there is immediate justification for blowing up the fast boats. They are the enemy in action, so obviously self defence. They are also pirates and get short shrift in maritime law. Whereas bombing bits of desert look too much like "retaliation" which to my mind is never justifiable
    I'm not at all sure why we have gone to war on behalf of Israel.

    What a world, eh.
    We haven't, we are protecting international shipping lanes
    Indeed
  • Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Having everything 15 minutes away is great in theory.

    However, the manifestations of this policy appear to be primarily aimed at making it more difficult to drive anywhere - by dividing neighbourhoods by blocking roads, reducing lanes for cars, designating key roads as for residents only, and reducing or even eliminating parking in new developments.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-62223867
    That article is about LTNs, not 15-minute cities. They are different concepts, though often conflated.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/15-minute-city-urban-planning-idea-conspiracy-theory-misinformation-b1062266.html

    Edit: 15-minute cities are great in practice as well as in theory. I lived in such an area in Germany. We hardly ever needed to use a car, but if we ever did, there were no restrictions on doing so.

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Having everything 15 minutes away is great in theory.

    However, the manifestations of this policy appear to be primarily aimed at making it more difficult to drive anywhere - by dividing neighbourhoods by blocking roads, reducing lanes for cars, designating key roads as for residents only, and reducing or even eliminating parking in new developments.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-62223867
    That article is about LTNs, not 15-minute cities. They are different concepts, though often conflated.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/15-minute-city-urban-planning-idea-conspiracy-theory-misinformation-b1062266.html

    Edit: 15-minute cities are great in practice as well as in theory. I lived in such an area in Germany. We hardly ever needed to use a car, but if we ever did, there were no restrictions on doing so.
    And the evidence from the UK is that, where we have places like that, people want to live there, as shown by how expensive they are. See suburbs which grew up before World War 2 or mass car ownership.

    The question is why modern suburbs (which price signals tell us are less desirable) don't develop the same nice features. In part, I suspect it's because reserving more space for storing and driving cars pushes everything else further apart and the walkability stops working.

    But also, it's somewhere where Matt Ridley-style free market evolution doesn't lead to the optimal solution, because evolution doesn't always do so. (See peacock's tails, or the ability of humans to choke themselves to death.) If you start developing a new area, it's not commercially viable to provide local facilities, because there aren't enough customers yet. So they get used to driving further away for their needs and wants. And by the time the population is big enough, the habit is ingrained, so it's never worth anyone opening a butchers shop. Individuals acting rationally and optimally at a small scale, leading to a less than optimal solution overall.
    One of my favourite examples of the genre is the recurrent laryngeal nerve which connects the brain to the larynx but, by accident of evolution, loops below the aorta. In giraffes it is about 4.6m long!
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
    That's the Toilets. You have to be invited.
    Unless one is the attendant.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    If i was in the NU10K I would offer to run a pilot scheme for teleportation between the two stations. Cheap at a mere £100m feasibility study. I even have the requisite experience (none) and qualifications (none) but am just missing the right connections (Tory MPs).
    If your only connections are Tory MPs, you are doing it wrong.

    You need to get "wired in" to all parties and the permanent system of government. That way you are politics proof.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578

    Military spending in 2022:

    USA: $877 billion
    China: $292 billion
    Russia: $86 billion
    India: $81 billion
    Saudi Arabia: $75 billion
    UK: $69 billion

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u6dOUvaymI

    So we should be increasing?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Having everything 15 minutes away is great in theory.

    However, the manifestations of this policy appear to be primarily aimed at making it more difficult to drive anywhere - by dividing neighbourhoods by blocking roads, reducing lanes for cars, designating key roads as for residents only, and reducing or even eliminating parking in new developments.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-62223867
    That article is about LTNs, not 15-minute cities. They are different concepts, though often conflated.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/15-minute-city-urban-planning-idea-conspiracy-theory-misinformation-b1062266.html

    Edit: 15-minute cities are great in practice as well as in theory. I lived in such an area in Germany. We hardly ever needed to use a car, but if we ever did, there were no restrictions on doing so.

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Having everything 15 minutes away is great in theory.

    However, the manifestations of this policy appear to be primarily aimed at making it more difficult to drive anywhere - by dividing neighbourhoods by blocking roads, reducing lanes for cars, designating key roads as for residents only, and reducing or even eliminating parking in new developments.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-62223867
    That article is about LTNs, not 15-minute cities. They are different concepts, though often conflated.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/15-minute-city-urban-planning-idea-conspiracy-theory-misinformation-b1062266.html

    Edit: 15-minute cities are great in practice as well as in theory. I lived in such an area in Germany. We hardly ever needed to use a car, but if we ever did, there were no restrictions on doing so.
    And the evidence from the UK is that, where we have places like that, people want to live there, as shown by how expensive they are. See suburbs which grew up before World War 2 or mass car ownership.

    The question is why modern suburbs (which price signals tell us are less desirable) don't develop the same nice features. In part, I suspect it's because reserving more space for storing and driving cars pushes everything else further apart and the walkability stops working.

    But also, it's somewhere where Matt Ridley-style free market evolution doesn't lead to the optimal solution, because evolution doesn't always do so. (See peacock's tails, or the ability of humans to choke themselves to death.) If you start developing a new area, it's not commercially viable to provide local facilities, because there aren't enough customers yet. So they get used to driving further away for their needs and wants. And by the time the population is big enough, the habit is ingrained, so it's never worth anyone opening a butchers shop. Individuals acting rationally and optimally at a small scale, leading to a less than optimal solution overall.
    One of my favourite examples of the genre is the recurrent laryngeal nerve which connects the brain to the larynx but, by accident of evolution, loops below the aorta. In giraffes it is about 4.6m long!
    Pah, you'rte having a giraffe. These are ten times longer:

    https://bioone.org/journals/acta-palaeontologica-polonica/volume-57/issue-2/app.2011.0019/A-Monument-of-Inefficiency--The-Presumed-Course-of-the/10.4202/app.2011.0019.full



  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 4,240

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    "You need to build a school for the families that will move into this housing development" is a planning restriction, yes. As is "You need to provide mains water and sewerage."

    Do I presume that you're in favour of dropping the latter requirement? Because there are people who would buy a house without water and sewerage if it was cheaper. Lots of them in London - they live on boats on the Regent's Canal.
  • Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    That’s not forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes.

    There is a major problem with full-on, vaccine-denying, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists going on about 15 minute cities meaning everyone is in perpetual lockdown and not allowed to go anywhere, often linked with Grand Replacement Theory and Jews controlling the media/banks.

    You repeating your usual rank about planning laws would do better to disassociate yourself from such nonsense rather than trying to co-opt their language.
    Who said anything about forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes? Not me.

    The problem is your illiteracy. You're always tilting at windmills, imagining the worst of others so you can argue against that rather than what is actually written.

    15 minute planning restrictions are an appalling, nasty bit of NIMBYism that is abused to block construction.
    It's literally YIMBYism.

    Yes, I'd like a dentist in my back yard.
    I want is not I get.

    I would love everything in my back yard. If you're saying build more dentists/schools/facilities etc then fine, there's not a problem, if you're not blocking construction.

    If you're giving NIMBYs an excuse to block any development that doesn't have a nearby dentist/school/whatever then there is a huge problem.

    Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We have a chronic housing shortage, we need millions more homes, there is no excuse for (extra) planning restrictions.

    If your 15 minute city is without restrictions, then I can support that. If its an emperors new clothes for NIMBYism though, I can still see your penis and I don't want to.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124
    a
    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
    That's the Toilets. You have to be invited.
    Unless one is the attendant.
    (Checks)

    No, the First Minister of Scotland isn't the attendant.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 22,371
    edited January 12

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    "You need to build a school for the families that will move into this housing development" is a planning restriction, yes. As is "You need to provide mains water and sewerage."

    Do I presume that you're in favour of dropping the latter requirement? Because there are people who would buy a house without water and sewerage if it was cheaper. Lots of them in London - they live on boats on the Regent's Canal.
    Mains water and sewerage connections services that house and that house alone. I'm entirely in favour of that being put in as standard.

    Schools service thousands of homes over a wide area, they have no relationship whatsoever to any individual house. The Department for Education should fund sufficient schools for each area and if a population of children grows in the area, the DfE (not housing developers) should need to respond.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,954

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,834

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    That’s not forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes.

    There is a major problem with full-on, vaccine-denying, anti-democratic conspiracy theorists going on about 15 minute cities meaning everyone is in perpetual lockdown and not allowed to go anywhere, often linked with Grand Replacement Theory and Jews controlling the media/banks.

    You repeating your usual rank about planning laws would do better to disassociate yourself from such nonsense rather than trying to co-opt their language.
    Who said anything about forcing anyone to only go to places within 15 minutes? Not me.

    The problem is your illiteracy. You're always tilting at windmills, imagining the worst of others so you can argue against that rather than what is actually written.

    15 minute planning restrictions are an appalling, nasty bit of NIMBYism that is abused to block construction.
    It's literally YIMBYism.

    Yes, I'd like a dentist in my back yard.
    I want is not I get.

    I would love everything in my back yard. If you're saying build more dentists/schools/facilities etc then fine, there's not a problem, if you're not blocking construction.

    If you're giving NIMBYs an excuse to block any development that doesn't have a nearby dentist/school/whatever then there is a huge problem.

    Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We have a chronic housing shortage, we need millions more homes, there is no excuse for (extra) planning restrictions.

    If your 15 minute city is without restrictions, then I can support that. If its an emperors new clothes for NIMBYism though, I can still see your penis and I don't want to.
    If we get rid of a lot of planning (and licencing) restrictions, then local services will follow the market. Build the developments and shops and the rest will follow.
  • Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578
    kamski said:

    kamski said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New German political party BSW gets its first rating at 4% with pollster FW.

    Union 31%
    AfD 22%
    Green 14%
    SPD 13%
    BSW 4%
    FDP 4%
    Left 4%
    FW 4%
    Others 4%

    https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bündnis_Sahra_Wagenknecht

    Interesting. A left wing party that is anti-green, anti-immigrant, anti-vaccination and anti-Ukraine.

    Kind of strange mix of policies for a left wing party.
    I think the 'left' comes purely from it being interventionist on the economy.
    Left in the sense of saying:
    they will make rich people and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes
    they will introduce higher social security and pensions and minimum wage

    Kind of on topic because the first lines of their founding manifesto read:

    "Our country is not in good shape. For years, governments have ignored the wishes of the majority. Instead of rewarding performance, money was redistributed from the hardworking to the top ten thousand. "
    Be a bit of a bummer in these countries to be number 10,001 and just miss out on all the goodies.
    I think BSW have screwed up with their name, though. I thought "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht" was just a placeholder and when they actually formed the political party itself it would have a proper name. It would be like Nigel Farage starting a party called the "Nigel Farage Party", or maybe Jeremy Corbyn starting the "Jeremy Corbyn Party".
    Well, the peace and justice project of his is still listed in the url as 'the Corbyn project', so if he wanted to set up a party like that its ready.
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 4,240

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    "You need to build a school for the families that will move into this housing development" is a planning restriction, yes. As is "You need to provide mains water and sewerage."

    Do I presume that you're in favour of dropping the latter requirement? Because there are people who would buy a house without water and sewerage if it was cheaper. Lots of them in London - they live on boats on the Regent's Canal.
    Mains water and sewerage connections services that house and that house alone. I'm entirely in favour of that being put in as standard.

    Schools service thousands of homes over a wide area, they have no relationship whatsoever to any individual house. The Department for Education should fund sufficient schools for each area and if a population of children grows in the area, the DfE (not housing developers) should need to respond.
    Ok. That's a principled take. It's not one I agree with but it's a principled take.

    I look forward to the tax rise to pay for these schools.

    I also look forward to @ydoethur's reaction now you've suggested that more power be put in the hands of the DfE ;)
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,691
    edited January 12

    If there are 10,000 people running things, and only 100 of them, maximum, seem to be screwing up badly enough for us to notice, does that maybe mean that 99% of them are actually doing an OK job?

    900 are fucking up in the background, creating the next scandal to keep @Cyclefree in future headers to write.

    9,000 are waiting, in the queue, patiently, to fuck up. They *are* British, after all.
    I have to say I am not bought into the idea that our managerial elite are all incompetent, venal liars. I don't *think* I am a member of this elite so I don't think I am talking my own book here, but I've certainly seen its workings up close and I've seen the elites of other countries too and I've seen the global transnational elite at work too (I'm a kind of Zelig of the elite world).
    I think we maybe have three problems in this area, most of which we share with other countries.
    1. Our elite is too narrow - too middle class, way too SE, too privately educated, too Oxbridge, too white, still too male - so we must be missing talent. But it is less narrow than it used to be (and is this maybe breeding resentment I wonder?).
    2. We live in an increasingly complex world especially with respect to anything tech related - and managers tend to be generalists and out of touch with new developments - and so they struggle to deal with this complexity.
    3. We have a highly unequal income distribution so people are incentivised to try to rise above their abilities, and their failure is even more jarring and rage-inducing to the rest of the population.

    Overall though I think our elite is actually not too bad, especially when judged against our own history or other countries. Our real problems lie elsewhere.
    1) The improvement is superficial. We have pseudo diversity, but is Cressida Dick actually much better than the third son of the Earl of Something? Diversity of thought seems to be absent.
    2) The idea that managers can mange things they don't understand has to go. Such people are fucking useless. See the outsourcing that Boeing indulged in, since it got rid of all that nasty plane making that the managers didn't understand. Tory Bruno is a very good example of a manager who actually knows something about what he is trying to manage.
    3) What jars is the vast difference in accountability.
    1) Our old elite seemed to preside over a whole lot of famines so I think you can't say there's been no improvement. 2) agreed up to a point, but senior leaders should be able to rely on technical experts to some extent - it simply isn't possible for one person to know everything in depth. 3) up to a point. Someone raised the example of Vicki Pryce - she went to jail! That seems like accountability was applied - and she didn't even do anything wrong in her professional life.
    I don't think anyone should be in senior management if they can't determine if the underlings are probably lying. Not some deep technical knowledge requiring 10 years of UNIX experience but a generalised understanding of their core business helps immeasurably. The idea that most 'leadership' positions are fungible and managers can easily flit between industries needs to die.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,954

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    If i was in the NU10K I would offer to run a pilot scheme for teleportation between the two stations. Cheap at a mere £100m feasibility study. I even have the requisite experience (none) and qualifications (none) but am just missing the right connections (Tory MPs).
    If your only connections are Tory MPs, you are doing it wrong.

    You need to get "wired in" to all parties and the permanent system of government. That way you are politics proof.
    10k at the next election is a good way to make connections and new friends in a different party.
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,780
    Sandpit said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    It’s about 600 yards from Euston to StP.

    That’s a lovely 10m walk on a nice sunny day, but a total and utter pain in the arse in winter when carrying your bags for an international trip.

    They should have built a tunnel, even if it was airport-style with travelators, and even if they had to go about 10 floors down to miss the numerous other tunnels in the area and the many basements of the British Library.
    It's also about 600 yards from Birmingham International station to the terminals at Birmingham Airport.

    They are connected by a wonderful low-tech cable-driven above ground monorail which takes just 2 minutes and is free. (The original high tech magnetic Maglev system from several decades ago was a total failure.)

    Totally reliable and one of the reasons why Birmingham airport is the only airport I travel to by rail not car.
  • Sandpit said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    It’s about 600 yards from Euston to StP.

    That’s a lovely 10m walk on a nice sunny day, but a total and utter pain in the arse in winter when carrying your bags for an international trip.

    They should have built a tunnel, even if it was airport-style with travelators, and even if they had to go about 10 floors down to miss the numerous other tunnels in the area and the many basements of the British Library.
    Or how about an air-bridge linked by travellators if underground doesn't work?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,473

    Sandpit said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    It’s about 600 yards from Euston to StP.

    That’s a lovely 10m walk on a nice sunny day, but a total and utter pain in the arse in winter when carrying your bags for an international trip.

    They should have built a tunnel, even if it was airport-style with travelators, and even if they had to go about 10 floors down to miss the numerous other tunnels in the area and the many basements of the British Library.
    It's also about 600 yards from Birmingham International station to the terminals at Birmingham Airport.

    They are connected by a wonderful low-tech cable-driven above ground monorail which takes just 2 minutes and is free. (The original high tech magnetic Maglev system from several decades ago was a total failure.)

    Totally reliable and one of the reasons why Birmingham airport is the only airport I travel to by rail not car.
    I support a cable-driven above ground monorail along Euston Rd.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,285
    kamski said:

    kamski said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New German political party BSW gets its first rating at 4% with pollster FW.

    Union 31%
    AfD 22%
    Green 14%
    SPD 13%
    BSW 4%
    FDP 4%
    Left 4%
    FW 4%
    Others 4%

    https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bündnis_Sahra_Wagenknecht

    Interesting. A left wing party that is anti-green, anti-immigrant, anti-vaccination and anti-Ukraine.

    Kind of strange mix of policies for a left wing party.
    I think the 'left' comes purely from it being interventionist on the economy.
    Left in the sense of saying:
    they will make rich people and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes
    they will introduce higher social security and pensions and minimum wage

    Kind of on topic because the first lines of their founding manifesto read:

    "Our country is not in good shape. For years, governments have ignored the wishes of the majority. Instead of rewarding performance, money was redistributed from the hardworking to the top ten thousand. "
    Be a bit of a bummer in these countries to be number 10,001 and just miss out on all the goodies.
    I think BSW have screwed up with their name, though. I thought "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht" was just a placeholder and when they actually formed the political party itself it would have a proper name. It would be like Nigel Farage starting a party called the "Nigel Farage Party", or maybe Jeremy Corbyn starting the "Jeremy Corbyn Party".
    They should have just used the second part of the name: Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit.
  • Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    Again trying to dodge the question.

    Once again failing to answer the question. Dentists, schools, shops etc are not basic sanitation.

    Do you want this 15 minute thing to be a planning restriction that NIMBYs can abuse to block new housing developments? Yes or no.

    If all you mean is it'd be great where possible and without restrictions to get facilities within walking distance, then there's nothing wrong with that. If you mean planning restrictions, then there is and you know it, hence your embarrassment to answer a straight question with a straight answer.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,191

    Andy_JS said:

    "The Post Office threatened and lied to the BBC in 2015 ahead of a Panorama programme with a Horizon whistleblower which exposed the scandal, the public broadcaster said. The BBC said experts who were interviewed for the programme were sent intimidating letters by Post Office lawyers who also sent letters to the broadcaster, threatening to sue Panorama. According to the BBC, senior Post Office managers also told the broadcaster at the time that no staff or the company who developed Horizon, Fujitsu, could access post office operators accounts, despite being warned four years earlier this was possible. The BBC says the claims did not stop the programme, titled Trouble at the Post Office, but it did delay the broadcast of the show. The Post Office has been contacted for comment. It told the BBC it will not comment while the public inquiry continues."

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/jan/12/post-office-horizon-it-scandal-inquiry-threats-bbc-conservatives-labour-uk-politics-latest-updates

    “The Post Office threatened and lied to the BBC in 2015 ahead of a Panorama programme with a Horizon whistleblower”

    Threats and lies as late as 2015 really does help Davey case avoiding becoming the sole sacrificial lamb the Tories are doing overtime to turn him into.

    In fact it helps everyone up to 2015 struggling to get to the truth. But doesn’t really help anyone in power positions after the 2015 whistleblowers, unfortunately.

    Over Christmas I put a lesson together for Church about Sacrificial Lambs - maybe Davey should hire me as a subject matter expert 😇
    Scapegoat, rather than sacrificial lamb, I think ?
    If he and the LibDems decide is would be expedient for him to resign, then he would be the latter.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578

    If there are 10,000 people running things, and only 100 of them, maximum, seem to be screwing up badly enough for us to notice, does that maybe mean that 99% of them are actually doing an OK job?

    900 are fucking up in the background, creating the next scandal to keep @Cyclefree in future headers to write.

    9,000 are waiting, in the queue, patiently, to fuck up. They *are* British, after all.
    I have to say I am not bought into the idea that our managerial elite are all incompetent, venal liars. I don't *think* I am a member of this elite so I don't think I am talking my own book here, but I've certainly seen its workings up close and I've seen the elites of other countries too and I've seen the global transnational elite at work too (I'm a kind of Zelig of the elite world).
    I think we maybe have three problems in this area, most of which we share with other countries.
    1. Our elite is too narrow - too middle class, way too SE, too privately educated, too Oxbridge, too white, still too male - so we must be missing talent. But it is less narrow than it used to be (and is this maybe breeding resentment I wonder?).
    2. We live in an increasingly complex world especially with respect to anything tech related - and managers tend to be generalists and out of touch with new developments - and so they struggle to deal with this complexity.
    3. We have a highly unequal income distribution so people are incentivised to try to rise above their abilities, and their failure is even more jarring and rage-inducing to the rest of the population.

    Overall though I think our elite is actually not too bad, especially when judged against our own history or other countries. Our real problems lie elsewhere.
    1) The improvement is superficial. We have pseudo diversity, but is Cressida Dick actually much better than the third son of the Earl of Something? Diversity of thought seems to be absent.
    2) The idea that managers can mange things they don't understand has to go. Such people are fucking useless. See the outsourcing that Boeing indulged in, since it got rid of all that nasty plane making that the managers didn't understand. Tory Bruno is a very good example of a manager who actually knows something about what he is trying to manage.
    3) What jars is the vast difference in accountability.
    1) Our old elite seemed to preside over a whole lot of famines so I think you can't say there's been no improvement. 2) agreed up to a point, but senior leaders should be able to rely on technical experts to some extent - it simply isn't possible for one person to know everything in depth. 3) up to a point. Someone raised the example of Vicki Pryce - she went to jail! That seems like accountability was applied - and she didn't even do anything wrong in her professional life.
    I don't think anyone should be in senior management if they can't determine if the underlings are probably lying. Not some deep technical knowledge requiring 10 years of UNIX experience but a generalised understanding of their core business helps immeasurably. The idea that most 'leadership' positions are fungible and mangers can easily flit between industries needs to die.
    There's a wariness around people who are experts being too immersed in the detail. There's a place for big picture thinking of course, but I think too many leaders think 'leadership skills' alone without putting in the work of understanding things in context is enough. That buzz words about being agile or whatever entirely substitutes, well, knowing things.

    If you don't truly understand it you cannot properly lead it. You don't need to be an expert in all things to do that, but of course we overestimate how well we understand something.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,391

    Sandpit said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    It’s about 600 yards from Euston to StP.

    That’s a lovely 10m walk on a nice sunny day, but a total and utter pain in the arse in winter when carrying your bags for an international trip.

    They should have built a tunnel, even if it was airport-style with travelators, and even if they had to go about 10 floors down to miss the numerous other tunnels in the area and the many basements of the British Library.
    It's also about 600 yards from Birmingham International station to the terminals at Birmingham Airport.

    They are connected by a wonderful low-tech cable-driven above ground monorail which takes just 2 minutes and is free. (The original high tech magnetic Maglev system from several decades ago was a total failure.)

    Totally reliable and one of the reasons why Birmingham airport is the only airport I travel to by rail not car.
    I support a cable-driven above ground monorail along Euston Rd.
    I think there's an old fashioned thing called a "path". One propels ones self from X to Y by moving one's legs, a process known as "walking". Remarkably cheap, apparently.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,067
    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    If Crossrail 2 ever gets built they'll be connected on that. Probably never will though, despite it being in London there's not enough money now.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,954

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    Again trying to dodge the question.

    Once again failing to answer the question. Dentists, schools, shops etc are not basic sanitation.

    Do you want this 15 minute thing to be a planning restriction that NIMBYs can abuse to block new housing developments? Yes or no.

    If all you mean is it'd be great where possible and without restrictions to get facilities within walking distance, then there's nothing wrong with that. If you mean planning restrictions, then there is and you know it, hence your embarrassment to answer a straight question with a straight answer.
    I am against 15 minute cities because it would mean moving my local pub 10 minutes further away.
  • Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    Again trying to dodge the question.

    Once again failing to answer the question. Dentists, schools, shops etc are not basic sanitation.

    Do you want this 15 minute thing to be a planning restriction that NIMBYs can abuse to block new housing developments? Yes or no.

    If all you mean is it'd be great where possible and without restrictions to get facilities within walking distance, then there's nothing wrong with that. If you mean planning restrictions, then there is and you know it, hence your embarrassment to answer a straight question with a straight answer.
    I am against 15 minute cities because it would mean moving my local pub 10 minutes further away.
    Still refusing to answer a straight question with a straight answer.

    No point banging on about this anymore, you've been found out and I've got better things to do.
  • franklynfranklyn Posts: 322
    It would seem that an obvious answer to our transport infrastructure problems is to invite Hamas to do the tunnelling. They obviously have an aptitude and it would solve the Gaza question at a stroke.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124
    viewcode said:

    Sandpit said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    It’s about 600 yards from Euston to StP.

    That’s a lovely 10m walk on a nice sunny day, but a total and utter pain in the arse in winter when carrying your bags for an international trip.

    They should have built a tunnel, even if it was airport-style with travelators, and even if they had to go about 10 floors down to miss the numerous other tunnels in the area and the many basements of the British Library.
    It's also about 600 yards from Birmingham International station to the terminals at Birmingham Airport.

    They are connected by a wonderful low-tech cable-driven above ground monorail which takes just 2 minutes and is free. (The original high tech magnetic Maglev system from several decades ago was a total failure.)

    Totally reliable and one of the reasons why Birmingham airport is the only airport I travel to by rail not car.
    I support a cable-driven above ground monorail along Euston Rd.
    I think there's an old fashioned thing called a "path". One propels ones self from X to Y by moving one's legs, a process known as "walking". Remarkably cheap, apparently.
    Try rain, suitcases, prams...

    Incidentally, does anyone know why the canopy covering the path from the station to the Millennium Dome has a substantial gap? So you go out of the station, get rained on for a bit, then walk 90% of the distance under a canopy...
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124
    franklyn said:

    It would seem that an obvious answer to our transport infrastructure problems is to invite Hamas to do the tunnelling. They obviously have an aptitude and it would solve the Gaza question at a stroke.

    Even better, my plan to fill in a chunk of the Med, creating more land to distribute. At the very least, it would keep everyone in the region gainfully employed for decades. So busy working and making piles of money that there's no time for light, recreational genocide.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,473

    viewcode said:

    Sandpit said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    dixiedean said:

    Foxy said:

    Not sure this has been covered yet:

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745539594987192383?t=i22lPT0OZv2yiXr6ohLodQ&s=19

    🌹Labour 42% (-)
    🌳Conservatives 27% (-1)
    🔶Liberal Democrats 10% (-1)
    🟣Reform UK 9% (+1)
    💚Greens 8% (+2)
    Labour lead of 15
    Field work 9/1-11/1

    Bad news for Davey, in this first poll with the PO Scandal leading the news.

    "People think Ed Davey should resign 42%-19% - again it isn't unusual for people to say a politician (even fictional ones should resign). But more worryingly for the Lib Dem leader his own supporters are split 28%-33% on the question of if he should go."

    https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1745538792335839305?t=pZTzHMeXMFjPwcM2jelWBQ&s=19

    One thing I like of this pollster is how they break down by generation, and also try to squeeze the initial "Don't Knows" into a choice.

    Lab ahead with all age groups under 75, even boomers. If forced to choose then DKs break fairly evenly, but narrowly for Labour.

    Strewth.
    If don't knows are breaking for Labour (even slightly) then that's devastating.
    If the crossover age is 75+ then...well.
    Yeah, but, no. All the don’t knows breaking Tory might vote on the day, whilst all those favouring Labour stay at home, might not remotely be even split from each.

    Something has happened reasonably recently for large number of voters to decide conclusively against Tories. I think it might have been Conference Season. I think Radical Rishi Unleashed & The Great HS2 Surrender has gone down badly with voters. Conservative drift downward seems to stem from that week?
    The HS2 decision really fucked the infrastructure industry in this country and has caused chaos, quite aside from it being economically devastating.

    I'm still furious about it. And the idea that Sunak thought this was evidence of him taking great decisions for the long-term that would appeal to voters.

    I mean, WTF?
    It's particularly disappointing when you consider how successful the Elizabeth Line has been. It's possible the enormous construction bill will be paid off within 20 years because passenger numbers are so high.
    Yes but London is so much more important than Manc. Apparently.

    The whole decision is pure idiocy. Especially as the line will get built eventually, just for even more money. The HS2 decision took me from thinking Sunak was just an annoying wee prick to actively loathing him.
    And still no direct trains from anywhere north, west, south or east of London, a couple of stations on HS1 excepted, on which one can go to the rest of Europe without a greater or lesser trek on foot with luggage and offspring etc through a still seedy part of London.
    A bodge perhaps, but surely they can find a line along which to bore an airport style transit, moving walkways etc. between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

    I know it's busy down there, but surely that's the minimum.
    King's Cross and St Pancras are linked underground.

    It's quite a way to Euston. I mean, it's a short walk on a nice day, but that would be a lot of tunnelling.
    It’s about 600 yards from Euston to StP.

    That’s a lovely 10m walk on a nice sunny day, but a total and utter pain in the arse in winter when carrying your bags for an international trip.

    They should have built a tunnel, even if it was airport-style with travelators, and even if they had to go about 10 floors down to miss the numerous other tunnels in the area and the many basements of the British Library.
    It's also about 600 yards from Birmingham International station to the terminals at Birmingham Airport.

    They are connected by a wonderful low-tech cable-driven above ground monorail which takes just 2 minutes and is free. (The original high tech magnetic Maglev system from several decades ago was a total failure.)

    Totally reliable and one of the reasons why Birmingham airport is the only airport I travel to by rail not car.
    I support a cable-driven above ground monorail along Euston Rd.
    I think there's an old fashioned thing called a "path". One propels ones self from X to Y by moving one's legs, a process known as "walking". Remarkably cheap, apparently.
    Try rain, suitcases, prams...

    Incidentally, does anyone know why the canopy covering the path from the station to the Millennium Dome has a substantial gap? So you go out of the station, get rained on for a bit, then walk 90% of the distance under a canopy...
    I would guess it’s to do with who owns the different bits of land..?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    edited January 12
    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    But consider where I used to live. The sanitation was full up capacity wise - the council blocked future housing developments till it was sorted. What else could they do?

    BR thinks houses should still be allowed. Are we to have a new plant built for one house, two ... 200, or a full load for the plant? And where is the money coming from? Severn Trent's profits (for instance)? It has to come from the developer - they are the ones wanting planning permission big enough to justifyt a new plant and they are the only ones with money.

    How this squares with BR's demands fior piecemeal individual development like a 1920s bungaloid cancer, and trhe current government demand for 101% efficiency in every public service, I have absolutely no idea and leave the two of you to make sense of it all.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,124
    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    Again trying to dodge the question.

    Once again failing to answer the question. Dentists, schools, shops etc are not basic sanitation.

    Do you want this 15 minute thing to be a planning restriction that NIMBYs can abuse to block new housing developments? Yes or no.

    If all you mean is it'd be great where possible and without restrictions to get facilities within walking distance, then there's nothing wrong with that. If you mean planning restrictions, then there is and you know it, hence your embarrassment to answer a straight question with a straight answer.
    I am against 15 minute cities because it would mean moving my local pub 10 minutes further away.
    It's idiocy like this that gives the concept a bad name. They will build a *new* pub 15 minutes away from you. Obviously.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,125

    Dylan Difford
    @Dylan_Difford
    ·
    2h
    The estimates for where the 14m 2019 Conservatives are today:
    6.4m (46%) Still Conservative
    1.7m (12%) Don't Know
    1.7m (12%) Labour
    1.7m (12%) Reform
    1.2m (8%) Deceased
    0.5m (4%) Lib Dem
    0.5m (4%) Would Not Vote
    0.2m (1%) Green
    0.1m (1%) Other
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,046
    franklyn said:

    It would seem that an obvious answer to our transport infrastructure problems is to invite Hamas to do the tunnelling. They obviously have an aptitude and it would solve the Gaza question at a stroke.

    Or the Jews in New York who are learning fast - they can bring the Mexican contractors with them if they really want.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,473
    Maybe they could build an underground light railway between King’s Cross and Euston? If it works, maybe they could then extend it further?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,597
    Carnyx said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/12/wokery-safe-word-and-forever-chemical-added-to-the-oxford-english-dictionary

    '“Wokery” and “wokeism”, disparaging nouns meaning “progressive or leftwing attitudes or practices, esp. those opposing social injustice or discrimination, that are viewed as doctrinaire, self-righteous, pernicious, or insincere”, were added. Another definition of “wokery”, denoting a restaurant, food counter, or kitchen serving dishes using a wok, was also included in the update.'

    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
    You are not a real turkey twizzler gobbling Red Wall leaver unless you prepend 'Asda' with the definite article.
    The evidence is in

    @BartholomewRoberts shops at “Asda” and “Aldi”. His nearest actual shop is a “co-op”

    His house is a redbrick Barratt home semi new build and he drives everywhere. He’s not that far from Newent

    I’m afraid to say - and there’s no kindly way of phrasing this - it very much looks like @BartholomewRoberts is Lower Middle Class
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,046
    edited January 12
    Meanwhile, as if PB hasn't spent enough time on the post office, arguably one of the most extraordinary and shocking elements of the whole thing is the "racist categorisation" of the SPOs.

    I mean ffs we are in the 21st century and we are (they were) still using those terms. It's a real WTAF moment. Vennells or whoever is in charge should get a thrashing for that alone.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65730464
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,191

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    Yes, I am - since any system of planning can be "abused by NIMBYs".

    It's a ridiculous formulation.
    Like saying you don't believe in having a legal system because it can be abused by Tump.

    ‘This to Him Is the Grand Finale’: Donald Trump’s 50-Year Mission to Discredit the Justice System
    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/12/donald-trump-indictments-legal-system-00135151

    I get that you're something of a libertarian absolutist, but I simply don't accept your premise.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,865
    Thanks, Malmesbury, for your point that you are not suggesting a conspiracy theory.

    Two further difficulties. It's all a bit neat. Are you saying (as you have explicitly said) that the 10,000 'have no skill in their jobs'. Are there not big leaders of big organisations, public and private, who attract no attention because things work quietly and well?

    Secondly, how many? You mention a director of a LA (Rotherham) children's services. Well, in terms of job status (head of a department of a local authority) that would have placed my late father, and a number of very ordinary people I knew and know in the '10,000'. He wasn't and they aren't. Ditto 'senior NHS managers'.

    It seems to me you are taking a real and bad set of people and outcomes and universalising it.
  • Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    But consider where I used to live. The sanitation was full up capacity wise - the council blocked future housing developments till it was sorted. What else could they do?

    BR thinks houses should still be allowed. Are we to have a new plant built for one house, two ... 200, or a full load for the plant? And where is the money coming from? Severn Trent's profits (for instance)? It has to come from the developer - they are the ones wanting planning permission big enough to justifyt a new plant and they are the only ones with money.

    How this squares with BR's demands fior piecemeal individual development like a 1920s bungaloid cancer, and trhe current government demand for 101% efficiency in every public service, I have absolutely no idea and leave the two of you to make sense of it all.
    It absolutely should not come from the developer, the developer is not responsible for the water firm, the water firm is.

    Houses aren't full of shit anyway, people are, especially you it seems still regurgitating this shit despite having been called on it repeatedly. Our population has grown by nearly 10 million people in a generation, yes that means more housing and more treatment plants and whatever else is needed.

    You make it efficient by everyone taking responsibility for their own responsibilities. Housing developers should be responsible for building housing and absolutely nothing else. Sewage companies should be responsible for treating sewage - and in your case its nationalised anyway, so it is your government's fault at Holyrood more than housing developers if there's still not enough waste treatment as that's their wholly-owned responsibility.
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,925

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    Let’s look at this another way,

    Should we be building more housing - yes,

    Should we be trying to build housing in a way that is sustainable, integrated with communities/facilities, and well planned - in my view, also yes.

    It doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.

    If you ask me for my view that we should be aspiring to build housing that is properly supported by community infrastructure including the ability to be near and have access to leisure space and retail space, then yes, I think we should be.
  • Leon said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/12/wokery-safe-word-and-forever-chemical-added-to-the-oxford-english-dictionary

    '“Wokery” and “wokeism”, disparaging nouns meaning “progressive or leftwing attitudes or practices, esp. those opposing social injustice or discrimination, that are viewed as doctrinaire, self-righteous, pernicious, or insincere”, were added. Another definition of “wokery”, denoting a restaurant, food counter, or kitchen serving dishes using a wok, was also included in the update.'

    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
    You are not a real turkey twizzler gobbling Red Wall leaver unless you prepend 'Asda' with the definite article.
    The evidence is in

    @BartholomewRoberts shops at “Asda” and “Aldi”. His nearest actual shop is a “co-op”

    His house is a redbrick Barratt home semi new build and he drives everywhere. He’s not that far from Newent

    I’m afraid to say - and there’s no kindly way of phrasing this - it very much looks like @BartholomewRoberts is Lower Middle Class
    And?
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,184
    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    Again trying to dodge the question.

    Once again failing to answer the question. Dentists, schools, shops etc are not basic sanitation.

    Do you want this 15 minute thing to be a planning restriction that NIMBYs can abuse to block new housing developments? Yes or no.

    If all you mean is it'd be great where possible and without restrictions to get facilities within walking distance, then there's nothing wrong with that. If you mean planning restrictions, then there is and you know it, hence your embarrassment to answer a straight question with a straight answer.
    I am against 15 minute cities because it would mean moving my local pub 10 minutes further away.
    5 minutes to walk to the pub.

    15 minutes to stagger home from the pub.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,597
    TOPPING said:

    franklyn said:

    It would seem that an obvious answer to our transport infrastructure problems is to invite Hamas to do the tunnelling. They obviously have an aptitude and it would solve the Gaza question at a stroke.

    Or the Jews in New York who are learning fast - they can bring the Mexican contractors with them if they really want.
    This is genius. All we have to do is grant planning permission for a Chabadi Hasidic synagogue next to Euston and “the lads” will have completed a complex tunnel network to St Pancras and beyond within weeks, and what’s more - no one will notice any building
  • Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    Let’s look at this another way,

    Should we be building more housing - yes,

    Should we be trying to build housing in a way that is sustainable, integrated with communities/facilities, and well planned - in my view, also yes.

    It doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.

    If you ask me for my view that we should be aspiring to build housing that is properly supported by community infrastructure including the ability to be near and have access to leisure space and retail space, then yes, I think we should be.
    So long as its not a restriction, its not exclusive. If you're encouraging it to happen but still leave people the choice, or responding to developments by putting in facilities afterwards, then great.

    If its a restriction, then its bad. I'd go as far as saying its NIMBY scum.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,472
    TOPPING said:

    Meanwhile, as if PB hasn't spent enough time on the post office, arguably one of the most extraordinary and shocking elements of the whole thing is the "racist categorisation" of the SPOs.

    I mean ffs we are in the 21st century and we are (they were) still using those terms. It's a real WTAF moment. Vennells or whoever is in charge should get a thrashing for that alone.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65730464

    That is stunningly bad. Published between 2008 and 2011, the PO calls it a 'historical document'.

    I would have thought that reference to 'negroid types' was beyond the pale in the 1970s, let alone in this century.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,453
    Nigelb said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    Yes, I am - since any system of planning can be "abused by NIMBYs".

    It's a ridiculous formulation.
    Like saying you don't believe in having a legal system because it can be abused by Tump.

    ‘This to Him Is the Grand Finale’: Donald Trump’s 50-Year Mission to Discredit the Justice System
    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/12/donald-trump-indictments-legal-system-00135151

    I get that you're something of a libertarian absolutist, but I simply don't accept your premise.
    Besides, "lack of facilities" is often given as a reason for opposing new housing. The experience of places like Poundbury and Nansledan is that, if you plan for the amenities to make sure they grow alongside (but a bit in advance) of housing, and put constraints on what the houses look like, you reduce the complaints from existing people. Not eliminate them, but reduce them. And that way, get more houses built in the real world.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,701
    Lol. Just reading the NAO report of the MOD equipment programme from 2023 to 2033 from 4 weeks ago. Biggest projected MoD deficit since 2012. Already talking about what programmes will end up getting cancelled, which it criticising deferring until the next review due to poor VfM for the public. Inflation and the deterrent (massive increase in projected cost) chewing it all up. Even that crappy forecast makes big efficiency assumptions in later years, and it seems like Warrior and Challenger 2 extensions aren't even in there.

    Expect in total its tens of billions over, if not more.

    Raising defence spending to 2.5% of GDP may be required just to wash our face. Any expansion in capability is going to require the full 3%.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,472
    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    Again trying to dodge the question.

    Once again failing to answer the question. Dentists, schools, shops etc are not basic sanitation.

    Do you want this 15 minute thing to be a planning restriction that NIMBYs can abuse to block new housing developments? Yes or no.

    If all you mean is it'd be great where possible and without restrictions to get facilities within walking distance, then there's nothing wrong with that. If you mean planning restrictions, then there is and you know it, hence your embarrassment to answer a straight question with a straight answer.
    I am against 15 minute cities because it would mean moving my local pub 10 minutes further away.
    I have 5 pubs within a 5-minute walk, and only one of them is a no-no. Bet you're jealous.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,701
    And the proposed new Type 83s (which basically are proposed cruisers) look great on paper but I'll be surprised if they ever see the light of day as specced.

    And if we do we'll probably just get 2 or 3 sub-par ones.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,898
    Leon said:

    Attractive young Khmer woman just came up to me on a street corner and said

    “Hey. Mister. You. Boom boom?!”

    I’m pretty sure it’s a bomb warning and I’m taking precautions

    Certainly sounds like something is ready to go off at any moment.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,125
    But what worries me even more is the change I see in ordinary Americans. I live in the heart of MAGA country, and Donald Trump is the single most culturally influential person here. It’s not close. He’s far more influential than any pastor, politician, coach or celebrity. He has changed people politically and also personally. It is common for those outside the Trump movement to describe their aunts or uncles or parents or grandparents as “lost.” They mean their relatives’ lives are utterly dominated by Trump, Trump’s media and Trump’s grievances.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/opinion/donald-trump-culture-decline.html

    Bleak and important article.

    It is turning into a complete cult and darkness beckons.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,597

    Leon said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/12/wokery-safe-word-and-forever-chemical-added-to-the-oxford-english-dictionary

    '“Wokery” and “wokeism”, disparaging nouns meaning “progressive or leftwing attitudes or practices, esp. those opposing social injustice or discrimination, that are viewed as doctrinaire, self-righteous, pernicious, or insincere”, were added. Another definition of “wokery”, denoting a restaurant, food counter, or kitchen serving dishes using a wok, was also included in the update.'

    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    15-minute cities are a planning concept.

    They just mean that the key facilities you need for daily life are available within 15 minutes' walk or bike ride.

    That's it. Full stop. I'm not sure how that can at all be construed as "forcing your views on others". No one is going to frogmarch you down to the corner shop 15 minutes away and force you to do all your shopping there.
    Two ways. Firstly, "planning" is forcing people, if its a requirement.

    If you mean "build it and they will come", we're going to design this here and let people choose if they want to move here or not - then fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Compelling it so that design has to be used everywhere, even where people don't want it, that's a bad thing.

    Secondly, if you're putting up barriers that make it harder for people to drive to alternatives, then that's anti-competitive and wrong too.

    I have a Co-op within a 15 minute walk of me - considerably less in fact. I almost never go there though, unless its literally for just bread or milk or something like that. I get my meat delivered to me from a butcher I order online from, and the rest of my food I typically get from Asda or Aldi which I can drive to in less than 15 minutes and fill my boot with a much better selection of food, for cheaper too.
    “Asda”

    “Aldi”

    Can’t we get some sort of tier system on PB where these people post “below stairs” as it were, and we don’t have to see their ludicrous proletarian comments? Some of us are sensitive
    You are not a real turkey twizzler gobbling Red Wall leaver unless you prepend 'Asda' with the definite article.
    The evidence is in

    @BartholomewRoberts shops at “Asda” and “Aldi”. His nearest actual shop is a “co-op”

    His house is a redbrick Barratt home semi new build and he drives everywhere. He’s not that far from Newent

    I’m afraid to say - and there’s no kindly way of phrasing this - it very much looks like @BartholomewRoberts is Lower Middle Class
    And?
    And…. nothing. It’s just a thing I didn’t realise. You know. No need for awkwardness or anything. Let’s not hear any nonsense about toilets or serviettes

    You’re absolutely welcome to post, as far as I’m concerned? I don’t know about others but that’s how I feel. Let everyone comment
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,342
    edited January 12

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    Eabhal said:

    11 months to a probable Labour victory and PBers are already losing their minds over the threat of militant vegetarianism, 15-minute cities and, bizarrely, Ed Davey.

    Election now, for all our sakes.

    As far as I notice, you're the one who keeps bringing up the stupid idea of "15-minute cities", I don't see many others doing so.

    15 minute cities, like vegetarianism, is fine if its voluntary and you don't force your views on others.

    When you want to push your beliefs upon others, its discriminatory, wrong, and don't be surprised if you get a backlash.
    No one has ever wanted to force “15 minute cities” on others. That’s pure conspiracy theory.
    So nobody wants to make it a planning requirement? Nobody wants to stand in the way of construction if it's not met?

    You may want to get your story straight by having a conversation with @El_Capitano because he gladly wants to stand in the way of "Barratt Homes or David Wilson Homes" getting some much-needed houses built.
    Are the Tories really going to go into the next election campaigning for public services to be further away?
    I'm not a Tory so can't answer that.

    But get your story straight.

    Is nobody trying to force 15 minute cities on others?

    Or is it a good thing that they are?

    You keep flirting between both with no shame whatsoever.
    No one is stopping you from driving 30 minutes to see a GP in a neighbouring town. You do you.
    That's not the question.

    Are you supporting planning restrictions that prevent people building homes during the middle of a housing crisis?
    I made a silly comment about some PBers losing their minds about 15 minute cities and vegetarians and...

    Take a step away from Facebook for a few weeks. Will do you some good.
    Still avoiding the question.

    Are you in favour of planning restrictions that can be abused by NIMBYs during a housing shortage? Yes or no?

    If no, we're on the same page. If yes, you're in the wrong and you know it so are embarrassed to admit it.
    I am in favour of no new housing without basic sanitation, so yes, I suppose I am.
    But consider where I used to live. The sanitation was full up capacity wise - the council blocked future housing developments till it was sorted. What else could they do?

    BR thinks houses should still be allowed. Are we to have a new plant built for one house, two ... 200, or a full load for the plant? And where is the money coming from? Severn Trent's profits (for instance)? It has to come from the developer - they are the ones wanting planning permission big enough to justifyt a new plant and they are the only ones with money.

    How this squares with BR's demands fior piecemeal individual development like a 1920s bungaloid cancer, and trhe current government demand for 101% efficiency in every public service, I have absolutely no idea and leave the two of you to make sense of it all.
    It absolutely should not come from the developer, the developer is not responsible for the water firm, the water firm is.

    Houses aren't full of shit anyway, people are, especially you it seems still regurgitating this shit despite having been called on it repeatedly. Our population has grown by nearly 10 million people in a generation, yes that means more housing and more treatment plants and whatever else is needed.

    You make it efficient by everyone taking responsibility for their own responsibilities. Housing developers should be responsible for building housing and absolutely nothing else. Sewage companies should be responsible for treating sewage - and in your case its nationalised anyway, so it is your government's fault at Holyrood more than housing developers if there's still not enough waste treatment as that's their wholly-owned responsibility.
    Developers are the reason the demand for sewerage moves around from place to place and new plants need to be built. Simple as that.

    You may think you live in a wall to wall 1950s shite version of LA, but I live in an area where there is plenty of open space with rather little sewerage treatment in between. It's called 'countryside with towns here and there'. You can't connect every fucking field between Edinburgh and Carlisle to sewage plants just because some developer might want to build Barratt'type houses in the middle of nowhere with parking for 3 cars perh house and no facilities closer than Riccarton Junction.


This discussion has been closed.