I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
The Commons should have reached a united position and sent a clear message even if it would have been ignored by Israel .
That at least would have had some merit . Instead parties have tried to score political points . The SNP motion was controversial because of certain language and the Tories amendment didn’t go far enough . Both were clearly designed to cause a problem for Labour .
The speaker was wrong to allow the Labour amendment but I do think it was done with the best of intentions to allow all MPs a vote .
Opposition days are all about causing problems for at least one other party. They are not part of setting government policy.
Hoyle may have had the best of intentions but he failed. He failed to deliver a series of votes that allowed all votes to be held. He failed to abide by precedent. He failed to listen to the advice of his most senior and experienced advisor.
And he has failed to appear impartial by structuring the day to best support his former party.
That is not easy to survive.
He might limp in to the end of this parliament by declaring his intention to retire at the election. But he would have little or no authority over those months.
Better to go now. Accept the move to the Lords and let Parliament recover.
There is clearly a growing threat to MPs of all parties. You would have hoped this would bring MPs together, not send them off into partisan bickering.
Unfortunately, for some MPs, partisan bickering is what gives them life.
Labour aren't innocent in this- they also use the opposition day process to craft motions which the government can't support but it would be awkward to vote against.
But this much spluttering over a vote that is pure virtue signalling... ugh.
Meanwhile,
What no one in Westminster managed to mention, is that they weren’t the only parliament debating such matters that afternoon. Over in Jerusalem, the Israeli Knesset quietly announced it would never recognise a Palestinian state. That the “two state solution” is, as far as they’re concerned, finished.
When the political game-playing surrounds wind farms and the like, the public normally shrug their shoulders and say 'let them have their fun.' But when the issue at hand involves 30,000 people losing their lives, they expect better and are rightly angry when their leaders act like children.
In essence, the SNP and Tories were playing a game and got annoyed when the Speaker took away their ball. The SNP had some right to be annoyed (it was their ball) but the Tories were more like the cowards in the playground shouting 'fight fight' and then sulking when one doesn't break out.
Labour were playing games too, though. There is very lttle difference in the three parties positions. I heard a labour MP blathering on about hot a pause is not good enough and it must be a ceasefire. Sorry, both mean the same thing. For some reason the SNP don’t want Hamas to be mentioned. The government want a humanitarian pause, but that’s not good enough for Labour because the war can start again. Well yes, but a ceasefire can be broken too…
Labour probably would have supported the SNP motion but for the mention of collective punishment. That bit was deliberately inserted to ensure a Labour split. It was not necessary to get support for a ceasefire. It also seems that a lot of Tories would have supported the Labour motion if it had gone to a division. It may well have been the one that reflected the majority view in the House. The government clearly did not want to risk that.
Yes, but the bigger picture is the majoritarian and adversarial nature of our political model, propped up by our flawed voting system. In a proportional system there is opportunity for most politicians to make a difference and participate in meaningful decision-making; in an adversarial system the purpose of the opposition parties is solely to 'test' the administration, or indeed each other, through scrutiny, direct challenge and debate, and use of procedure. Tabling propositions that expose the splits in your opponents that they are trying to keep hidden is a legitimate, if not always edifying, part of that process.
One of the lesser commented reasons why our politicians don't like electoral reform is that too many of them have come up from university debating, and too many of them enjoy the posturing and shouting and general childlike behaviour much more than they enjoy the serious business of discussion and compromise.
I shall leave tonight from Euston By the seven-thirty train, And from Perth in the early morning I shall see the hills again. From the top of Ben Macdhui I shall watch the gathering storm, And see the crisp snow lying At the back of Cairngorm. I shall feel the mist from Bhrotain and the pass by Lairig Ghru To look on dark Loch Einich From the heights of Sgoran Dubh. From the broken Barns of Bynack I shall see the sunrise gleam On the forehead of Ben Rinnes And Strathspey awake from dream. And again in the dusk of evening I shall find once more alone The dark water of the Green Loch, And the pass beyond Ryvoan. For tonight I leave from Euston And leave the world behind; Who has the hills as a lover, Will find them wondrous kind.
Underlying all this is Labour's need for literally millions of Tory votes in the election (like mine). If Labour are seen servant to Islamism, even in part they won't get them all.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
It's well worth it. I've done the Aberdeen leg many times going home to see my folks in Fife, and the Glasgow leg, but my favourite was the Fort William one. Going to sleep in Euston then waking up in the West Highlands with a cup of tea in the lounge car... Just beautiful. If you can find some affordable tickets, take the kids. They will never forget it.
My favourite trip on the Fort William line was twenty or so years ago. I think it was the last train on a Friday night, and I was heading up to do some hiking. Some Glaswegians were in the carriage with me, and we had a long and fairly ribald conversation over a crate of beers as evening slowly sunk over the landscape. Couldn't happen now, as Scotrail have banned alcohol...
I'd phoned the lady of the B&B I was staying at in Fort William to say I was going to be arriving late; she laughed and said that she'd be up as her husband was the guard on the train!
Scotland? If the weather is nice at Easter I am going to take a few days to drive the 4 points of the (Scottish) compass. Peterhead > Mull of Galloway > Ardnamurchan > Dunnet Head. With a night camping in the car. For YouTube of course, so the whole trip would be a business expense...
Sanna to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse coastal walk is spectacular. The Inner Hebrides tower above you and we had white-tailed eagles, otters, seals and killer whales.
I argued against it (I climb mountains) but had to humbly accept my friends had it right.
It would appear there will be an attempt to defenestrate the speaker today. It would be hilarious if they mess it up as badly as their stunt yesterday
They should hang their fire on that front until he gives an indication what he is going to do. Hoyle seems above all else to be a nice and decent man (perhaps as others have alluded to, a bit too nice for his own good) and I suspect he will hate to be the story. I would not be surprised if he decides he will stand down.
p.p.s. For anyone who doesn’t know, the new Caledonian Sleeper carriages are superb. Definitely worth getting a club class. The new lounge at Euston is pretty crap but on board is fantastic. Your own ensuite shower, washbasin and loo. It’s magnificent!
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
It's well worth it. I've done the Aberdeen leg many times going home to see my folks in Fife, and the Glasgow leg, but my favourite was the Fort William one. Going to sleep in Euston then waking up in the West Highlands with a cup of tea in the lounge car... Just beautiful. If you can find some affordable tickets, take the kids. They will never forget it.
My favourite trip on the Fort William line was twenty or so years ago. I think it was the last train on a Friday night, and I was heading up to do some hiking. Some Glaswegians were in the carriage with me, and we had a long and fairly ribald conversation over a crate of beers as evening slowly sunk over the landscape. Couldn't happen now, as Scotrail have banned alcohol...
I'd phoned the lady of the B&B I was staying at in Fort William to say I was going to be arriving late; she laughed and said that she'd be up as her husband was the guard on the train!
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
There is clearly a growing threat to MPs of all parties. You would have hoped this would bring MPs together, not send them off into partisan bickering.
Unfortunately, for some MPs, partisan bickering is what gives them life.
Labour aren't innocent in this- they also use the opposition day process to craft motions which the government can't support but it would be awkward to vote against.
But this much spluttering over a vote that is pure virtue signalling... ugh.
Meanwhile,
What no one in Westminster managed to mention, is that they weren’t the only parliament debating such matters that afternoon. Over in Jerusalem, the Israeli Knesset quietly announced it would never recognise a Palestinian state. That the “two state solution” is, as far as they’re concerned, finished.
When the political game-playing surrounds wind farms and the like, the public normally shrug their shoulders and say 'let them have their fun.' But when the issue at hand involves 30,000 people losing their lives, they expect better and are rightly angry when their leaders act like children.
In essence, the SNP and Tories were playing a game and got annoyed when the Speaker took away their ball. The SNP had some right to be annoyed (it was their ball) but the Tories were more like the cowards in the playground shouting 'fight fight' and then sulking when one doesn't break out.
Labour were playing games too, though. There is very lttle difference in the three parties positions. I heard a labour MP blathering on about hot a pause is not good enough and it must be a ceasefire. Sorry, both mean the same thing. For some reason the SNP don’t want Hamas to be mentioned. The government want a humanitarian pause, but that’s not good enough for Labour because the war can start again. Well yes, but a ceasefire can be broken too…
Labour probably would have supported the SNP motion but for the mention of collective punishment. That bit was deliberately inserted to ensure a Labour split. It was not necessary to get support for a ceasefire. It also seems that a lot of Tories would have supported the Labour motion if it had gone to a division. It may well have been the one that reflected the majority view in the House. The government clearly did not want to risk that.
Yes, but the bigger picture is the majoritarian and adversarial nature of our political model, propped up by our flawed voting system. In a proportional system there is opportunity for most politicians to make a difference and participate in meaningful decision-making; in an adversarial system the purpose of the opposition parties is solely to 'test' the administration, or indeed each other, through scrutiny, direct challenge and debate, and use of procedure. Tabling propositions that expose the splits in your opponents that they are trying to keep hidden is a legitimate, if not always edifying, part of that process.
One of the lesser commented reasons why our politicians don't like electoral reform is that too many of them have come up from university debating, and too many of them enjoy the posturing and shouting and general childlike behaviour much more than they enjoy the serious business of discussion and compromise.
As a very long-time supporter of PR, I could not agree more.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
It’s among my regrets that I’ll never have been north of Inverness, although I have been on a cruise, which included a visit to the Orkney Islands.
I'm doing a trial in Inverness again today about people from the far north. I sometimes wonder if the weather has an effect on their behaviour. No doubt I am getting a distorted view.
If you talk to Invernesians about people from the far north, they would whole-heartedly agree. There's nothing you can say about the people from Caithness that is beyond the pale for Highlanders. When that refugee in Thurso wanted to go back to Afghanistan because while in Afghanistan he might die, in Thurso he died everyday, the Daily Mail was full of outrage at his ungratefulness. There was a lot of sympathy for him in Inverness.
That's nothing. You should hear Montrosians on folk from Brechin.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
Scotland? If the weather is nice at Easter I am going to take a few days to drive the 4 points of the (Scottish) compass. Peterhead > Mull of Galloway > Ardnamurchan > Dunnet Head. With a night camping in the car. For YouTube of course, so the whole trip would be a business expense...
Sanna to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse coastal walk is spectacular. The Inner Hebrides tower above you and we had white-tailed eagles, otters, seals and killer whales.
I argued against it (I climb mountains) but had to humbly accept my friends had it right.
The Ardnamurchan peninsular is like nowhere else, it feels like the Garden of Eden.
Underlying all this is Labour's need for literally millions of Tory votes in the election (like mine). If Labour are seen servant to Islamism, even in part they won't get them all.
The election is not over.
Well, the elephant in the room which no ones talking about it the underlying menace which this debate has fuelled and the ultimate pressure driver which MPs are being put under.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to Kyle line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Fort Bill to Mallaig. Open all the windows. The views. The noise (engines plus jointed track). Even on a sprinter its magical, and of course there is the chuffa train option.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The famous loop around the top of Scotland is genuinely magnificent. The Orkneys are great - especially skara brae and the stone circles and Kirkwall with its mad Viking cathedral
Stay in John o groats which is such a dump you can get cheap accommodation
Don’t stay in wick
The Caledonian sleeper is of course wondrous. The full Euston to fort William service is the one you want. Going to sleep with scotch in the buffet car around Watford - waking up in glencoe. Glorious. But yes, pricey
The north and west coasts of Scotland get a great deal of attention, but IMV the northeastern coast is sublime. The climate's a lot drier, and it has spectacular scenery; particularly the stretch between Inverness and Fraserburgh and down to Aberdeen. Small seaside towns and villages; rolling hills; beautiful beaches. It's a bit like the Llyn peninsular in Wales - because it has better known areas surround it, people ignore it. At their loss...
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
It’s among my regrets that I’ll never have been north of Inverness, although I have been on a cruise, which included a visit to the Orkney Islands.
I'm doing a trial in Inverness again today about people from the far north. I sometimes wonder if the weather has an effect on their behaviour. No doubt I am getting a distorted view.
If you talk to Invernesians about people from the far north, they would whole-heartedly agree. There's nothing you can say about the people from Caithness that is beyond the pale for Highlanders. When that refugee in Thurso wanted to go back to Afghanistan because while in Afghanistan he might die, in Thurso he died everyday, the Daily Mail was full of outrage at his ungratefulness. There was a lot of sympathy for him in Inverness.
That's nothing. You should hear Montrosians on folk from Brechin.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The famous loop around the top of Scotland is genuinely magnificent. The Orkneys are great - especially skara brae and the stone circles and Kirkwall with its mad Viking cathedral
Stay in John o groats which is such a dump you can get cheap accommodation
Don’t stay in wick
The Caledonian sleeper is of course wondrous. The full Euston to fort William service is the one you want. Going to sleep with scotch in the buffet car around Watford - waking up in glencoe. Glorious. But yes, pricey
The one time we tried it I hardly slept at all. We seemed to spend a lot of time on very bumpy tracks or stopping and starting at various points through the night.
Mrs P. however slept like a log and has told me we plan to do it again.
Tbf we did Edinburgh to London - I think the full trip the other way to Fort William would be the one to do. Also, top marks to Caledonian for managing to squeeze in a wheelchair accessible cabin, which makes it doable for us.
I had a migraine overnight, so maybe my brain is still addled, but did YouGov seem to be having a problem with 'which' and 'who' in their results/questions.
Truss' remarks ie attacks on the administrative state, calls to slash taxes, being thwarted by bureaucrats etc were clearly pitched to get her high paid speaking engagements on the conservative US lecture circuit and positions on the boards of libertarian DC think tanks more than any further attempt for high office in the UK.
Note on the polling Boris is massively ahead over Cameron amongst Conservative and Leave voters as best Conservative PM since 2010, Cameron does beat Boris with Labour, LD and Remain voters but most of them won't be voting Conservative any time in the foreseeable future post Brexit
Scotland? If the weather is nice at Easter I am going to take a few days to drive the 4 points of the (Scottish) compass. Peterhead > Mull of Galloway > Ardnamurchan > Dunnet Head. With a night camping in the car. For YouTube of course, so the whole trip would be a business expense...
Sanna to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse coastal walk is spectacular. The Inner Hebrides tower above you and we had white-tailed eagles, otters, seals and killer whales.
I argued against it (I climb mountains) but had to humbly accept my friends had it right.
The Ardnamurchan peninsular is like nowhere else, it feels like the Garden of Eden.
The view out to sea, across the small isles, from the very end of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula… heavenly. If you aren’t cursed with intense fog…
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to Kyle line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
I did the Kyle line as a birthday treat once with my dad, which involved us sleeping in Inverness station IIRC as you couldn't get there and back from Fife in a day. I remember my poor dad waiting desperately for the station toilet to open...
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
Single status / equal pay was something a lot of councils were implementing back in 1990 and it was painful then.
Birmingham waited 20+ years before trying to implement it - that is why it’s such a mess and so expensive.
Equally if every other council has a pay system that puts job a on the same pay scale as job b, Birmingham can’t claim that job a isn’t the same as job b which is what you are arguing there. To you they may be different but 200 other councils all of whom have gone through very painful similar equal payment processes can’t all be wrong
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to Kyle line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Fort Bill to Mallaig. Open all the windows. The views. The noise (engines plus jointed track). Even on a sprinter its magical, and of course there is the chuffa train option.
I did the steam train in 2022! Yes it is magical. But I had no idea steam trains are so FILTHY
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The famous loop around the top of Scotland is genuinely magnificent. The Orkneys are great - especially skara brae and the stone circles and Kirkwall with its mad Viking cathedral
Stay in John o groats which is such a dump you can get cheap accommodation
Don’t stay in wick
The Caledonian sleeper is of course wondrous. The full Euston to fort William service is the one you want. Going to sleep with scotch in the buffet car around Watford - waking up in glencoe. Glorious. But yes, pricey
The one time we tried it I hardly slept at all. We seemed to spend a lot of time on very bumpy tracks or stopping and starting at various points through the night.
Mrs P. however slept like a log and has told me we plan to do it again.
Tbf we did Edinburgh to London - I think the full trip the other way to Fort William would be the one to do. Also, top marks to Caledonian for managing to squeeze in a wheelchair accessible cabin, which makes it doable for us.
Yeah getting some sleep is the one thing that can be tricky, even though it is very comfortable. The secret is to have a late night the night before and arrive tired, then you will sleep.
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
Single status / equal pay was something a lot of councils were implementing back in 1990 and it was painful then.
Birmingham waited 20+ years before trying to implement it - that is why it’s such a mess and so expensive.
Equal pay for the same job is entirely reasonable. A female refuse collector should be paid the same wage as a male one.
Equal pay for different jobs which have very different supply and demand levels is utterly absurd.
If you're doing a lesser paid job, and want a higher paid job's salary, then there should be nothing preventing you from applying for that job.
Have I got this right? Sir Keir subjected the Speaker to an astonishing piece of moral blackmail: rip up a parliamentary procedure or my MPs will be in danger of violent attack. You have to sympathize with Lindsay Hoyle - who'd want that on their conscience - but Sir Keir had put him into an impossible situation.
However he leads the next-youngest candidate, Donald Trump, 49-45. And if they give a working-age woman the GOP nomination instead of Trump she gets a grand total of 27%, while another 27% want to vote for either RFK Jr, who is 70, or Jill Stein, who is 73.
Shows Biden can still beat Trump but Haley has a better chance of beating Biden than Trump but only if she doesn't leak to third parties
The 1% return is just an artefact of people cashing out tbh given the time value of money necessitates 4 or 5% either borrowing or leniding. Noone's truly backing or laying Truss here.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68366337 IVF effectively banned in Alabama. Anti-abortion laws defining embryos as people are unworkable and will lead to ever more unintended consequences. Will this help the Dems at the elections?
Yes.
The Congressional GOP also seems to be lead by religious fundamentalists. Those who object appear only to want to do so anonymously.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/21/congress/johnsons-sermon-to-gop-retreagt-00142436 ...Johnson’s private remarks to a small group of Republican lawmakers at Miami’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel over the weekend alarmed both people, who addressed the speech on condition of anonymity. Rather than outlining a specific plan to hold and grow the majority, these people said, Johnson effectively delivered a sermon.
The Louisiana Republican showed slides to the members of his Elected Leadership Committee (ELC) team in a bid to tout the party’s prospects of hanging onto its two-seat majority in November. Johnson, a devout Christian, attempted to rally the group by discussing moral decline in America — focusing on declining church membership and the nation’s shrinking religious identity, according to both people in the room.
The speaker contended that when one doesn’t have God in their life, the government or “state” will become their guide, referring back to Bible verses, both people said. They added that the approach fell flat among some in the room...
"The new House speaker, Mike Johnson, knows how he will rule: according to his Bible. When asked on Fox News how he would make public policy, he replied: “Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.” But it’s taking time for the full significance of that statement to sink in. Johnson is in fact a believer in scriptural originalism, the view that the Bible is the truth and the sole legitimate source for public policy."
Even most conservative evangelicals in the Church of England and a few in the ERG think that
Have I got this right? Sir Keir subjected the Speaker to an astonishing piece of moral blackmail: rip up a parliamentary procedure or my MPs will be in danger of violent attack. You have to sympathize with Lindsay Hoyle - who'd want that on their conscience - but Sir Keir had put him into an impossible situation.
If I was Hoyle, I would at least make clear the facts of any conversation which he had with Starmer yesterday. It was clear he was skirting around it at best.
Have I got this right? Sir Keir subjected the Speaker to an astonishing piece of moral blackmail: rip up a parliamentary procedure or my MPs will be in danger of violent attack. You have to sympathize with Lindsay Hoyle - who'd want that on their conscience - but Sir Keir had put him into an impossible situation.
What he should have done in that situation is convened the party leaders or the whips and told them of the request, and asked them for their opinions and whether in light of the Labour request the SNP would agree to a different format. If he then decided to proceed and the SNP still took their bat home, he could at least have said that he’d spoken to everyone and genuinely was trying to find a way forward.
It feels to me like he decided he was going to railroad it in a show of the Chair’s strength, which given the sensitivities of the situation was quite possibly the worst thing he could have done.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68366337 IVF effectively banned in Alabama. Anti-abortion laws defining embryos as people are unworkable and will lead to ever more unintended consequences. Will this help the Dems at the elections?
Yes.
The Congressional GOP also seems to be lead by religious fundamentalists. Those who object appear only to want to do so anonymously.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/21/congress/johnsons-sermon-to-gop-retreagt-00142436 ...Johnson’s private remarks to a small group of Republican lawmakers at Miami’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel over the weekend alarmed both people, who addressed the speech on condition of anonymity. Rather than outlining a specific plan to hold and grow the majority, these people said, Johnson effectively delivered a sermon.
The Louisiana Republican showed slides to the members of his Elected Leadership Committee (ELC) team in a bid to tout the party’s prospects of hanging onto its two-seat majority in November. Johnson, a devout Christian, attempted to rally the group by discussing moral decline in America — focusing on declining church membership and the nation’s shrinking religious identity, according to both people in the room.
The speaker contended that when one doesn’t have God in their life, the government or “state” will become their guide, referring back to Bible verses, both people said. They added that the approach fell flat among some in the room...
He has something of a point there. Churches have traditionally provided food banks, soup kitchens, orphanages, homeless shelters, many schools and even some hospitals and universities. When they don't so much the welfare state and public sector expand to fill the gap.
Declining marriage and birth rates too lead to more single households and smaller family networks of support so again the welfare state has to fill the gap and more properties need to be built
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
It’s among my regrets that I’ll never have been north of Inverness, although I have been on a cruise, which included a visit to the Orkney Islands.
I'm doing a trial in Inverness again today about people from the far north. I sometimes wonder if the weather has an effect on their behaviour. No doubt I am getting a distorted view.
My wife lived in Wick and the Orkneys in her early years and yet her behaviour has ensured we are near to our 60th wedding anniversary !!!!!
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
Single status / equal pay was something a lot of councils were implementing back in 1990 and it was painful then.
Birmingham waited 20+ years before trying to implement it - that is why it’s such a mess and so expensive.
Equal pay for the same job is entirely reasonable. A female refuse collector should be paid the same wage as a male one.
Equal pay for different jobs which have very different supply and demand levels is utterly absurd.
If you're doing a lesser paid job, and want a higher paid job's salary, then there should be nothing preventing you from applying for that job.
There is a quiet thing though.... Men overwhelmingly do hard jobs outside, especially in public services. Their terms and conditions, the low status and the hard weather meant lots of side ways of adding to the wages to keep staff on. "I'm a local government office in Democratic Services" Or " I work for the council collecting rubbish"
One is often a "lazy girl job" that has high status, one isnt.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
The Cornish sleeper is ALSO really popular now. Despite attempts to cancel it altogether some years ago
Trains are back in fashion. They are more sustainable. People don’t want to drive or fly. Sleepers are fun. Invest!
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
Single status / equal pay was something a lot of councils were implementing back in 1990 and it was painful then.
Birmingham waited 20+ years before trying to implement it - that is why it’s such a mess and so expensive.
Equal pay for the same job is entirely reasonable. A female refuse collector should be paid the same wage as a male one.
Equal pay for different jobs which have very different supply and demand levels is utterly absurd.
If you're doing a lesser paid job, and want a higher paid job's salary, then there should be nothing preventing you from applying for that job.
There is a quiet thing though.... Men overwhelmingly do hard jobs outside, especially in public services. Their terms and conditions, the low status and the hard weather meant lots of side ways of adding to the wages to keep staff on. "I'm a local government office in Democratic Services" Or " I work for the council collecting rubbish"
One is often a "lazy girl job" that has high status, one isnt.
So what?
Just let supply and demand sort it out.
If you have lots of applications for every job vacancy then freeze pay and hire applicants to replace anyone who quits.
If you can't find or retain staff, pay more.
If someone wants to be paid more, let them fill a role which is in demand rather than one which is not.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
It's more a problem with available paths, particularly in the south.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
Wasn't Muir of Ord the site of a brief furore about the time of the Queen's death when a republican chippy owner put up some sort of celebratory notice, before quickly disappearing down the royal-family-are-space-lizards rabbit hole?
I too love the name. Almost impossible to say without an overly Scottish accent. Ditto Haugh of Urr.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
Serco actually lost money on the sleeper while it was running it. Now in public ownership. Would be highly risky to make that kind of investment, regardless of current popularity.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
The Cornish sleeper is ALSO really popular now. Despite attempts to cancel it altogether some years ago
Trains are back in fashion. They are more sustainable. People don’t want to drive or fly. Sleepers are fun. Invest!
I entirely agree. But there have been relentless attacks on the SNP government from the usual right-wing suspects for daring to have a Caledonian Sleeper. Which don't help. It must be said that it was loss-making initially (not sure about recent figures). But that's investment for you.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
Take the wife and kids sometime. What could be more exciting for your children than sleeping on a train. Then take them over the Mallaig line and the Harry Potter viaduct.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68366337 IVF effectively banned in Alabama. Anti-abortion laws defining embryos as people are unworkable and will lead to ever more unintended consequences. Will this help the Dems at the elections?
Yes.
The Congressional GOP also seems to be lead by religious fundamentalists. Those who object appear only to want to do so anonymously.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/21/congress/johnsons-sermon-to-gop-retreagt-00142436 ...Johnson’s private remarks to a small group of Republican lawmakers at Miami’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel over the weekend alarmed both people, who addressed the speech on condition of anonymity. Rather than outlining a specific plan to hold and grow the majority, these people said, Johnson effectively delivered a sermon.
The Louisiana Republican showed slides to the members of his Elected Leadership Committee (ELC) team in a bid to tout the party’s prospects of hanging onto its two-seat majority in November. Johnson, a devout Christian, attempted to rally the group by discussing moral decline in America — focusing on declining church membership and the nation’s shrinking religious identity, according to both people in the room.
The speaker contended that when one doesn’t have God in their life, the government or “state” will become their guide, referring back to Bible verses, both people said. They added that the approach fell flat among some in the room...
"The new House speaker, Mike Johnson, knows how he will rule: according to his Bible. When asked on Fox News how he would make public policy, he replied: “Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.” But it’s taking time for the full significance of that statement to sink in. Johnson is in fact a believer in scriptural originalism, the view that the Bible is the truth and the sole legitimate source for public policy."
Even most conservative evangelicals in the Church of England and a few in the ERG think that
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
It's more a problem with available paths, particularly in the south.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
It's more a problem with available paths, particularly in the south.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
Hence HS2...
Remarkable that the cancellation of HS2 has harmed "the north" to the extent that even Kyle of Lochalsh has taken a hit!
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
It’s among my regrets that I’ll never have been north of Inverness, although I have been on a cruise, which included a visit to the Orkney Islands.
I'm doing a trial in Inverness again today about people from the far north. I sometimes wonder if the weather has an effect on their behaviour. No doubt I am getting a distorted view.
My wife lived in Wick and the Orkneys in her early years and yet her behaviour has ensured we are near to our 60th wedding anniversary !!!!!
She's put up with you for 60 years Big_G - her behaviour is clearly very abnormal! ;-)
The situation with Hoyle, or, rather, the underlying reasons for it, is quite disturbing.
MPs getting in a flap about Hoyle making a mistake is directing outrage at someone who does deserves criticism, but who is also a lot safer to attack than those issuing threats if MPs vote 'the wrong way'.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68366337 IVF effectively banned in Alabama. Anti-abortion laws defining embryos as people are unworkable and will lead to ever more unintended consequences. Will this help the Dems at the elections?
Actually the ruling neither banned nor restricted IVF in Alabama. It just said frozen embryos needed protection from destruction now Alabama has effectively banned abortion in the wake of the repeal of Roe v Wade and is one of the most pro life states in the US
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
Single status / equal pay was something a lot of councils were implementing back in 1990 and it was painful then.
Birmingham waited 20+ years before trying to implement it - that is why it’s such a mess and so expensive.
Equal pay for the same job is entirely reasonable. A female refuse collector should be paid the same wage as a male one.
Equal pay for different jobs which have very different supply and demand levels is utterly absurd.
If you're doing a lesser paid job, and want a higher paid job's salary, then there should be nothing preventing you from applying for that job.
There is a quiet thing though.... Men overwhelmingly do hard jobs outside, especially in public services. Their terms and conditions, the low status and the hard weather meant lots of side ways of adding to the wages to keep staff on. "I'm a local government office in Democratic Services" Or " I work for the council collecting rubbish"
One is often a "lazy girl job" that has high status, one isnt.
So what?
Just let supply and demand sort it out.
If you have lots of applications for every job vacancy then freeze pay and hire applicants to replace anyone who quits.
If you can't find or retain staff, pay more.
If someone wants to be paid more, let them fill a role which is in demand rather than one which is not.
I don't disagree with you at all. What happened was that jobs were classified (as mentioned through single status) as been of similar responsibility, but one paid more than the other and it was concluded in that this was due to sexual discrimination. I would be all for letting the market decide....
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
It's more a problem with available paths, particularly in the south.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
Hence HS2...
That too. But at night?
Yep; lots of freight travels at night, and lines often close for a few hours for maintenance. AIUI the sleepers are often routinely diverted somewhat due to closures. And extra services obviously would travel at slightly earlier or later times.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
Or easier still, put the price up.
Or put on more trains, grow the business, employ more people, bring more tourists to the north of Scotland…
I assume, maybe wrongly, that the franchise system discourages all such investment.
Spend a lot of money on new trains and then get undercut on the franchise renewal by some half-arsed 'operator' who will take a few years big bonuses and then go bust? That's for mugs.
You know what makes me think the worst of Joe Biden? The Afghan withdrawal, his age, taking classified documents home, mental health, being too pro Israel, not being pro Israel enough, his stutter, his failure in dealing with aliens, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, too much inflation?
No, none of those, it is letting his dog bite Secret Service agents 24 times before taking any action about it. I find that cruel and certainly unpresidential.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to Kyle line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Fort Bill to Mallaig. Open all the windows. The views. The noise (engines plus jointed track). Even on a sprinter its magical, and of course there is the chuffa train option.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
Yes that’s a good point. You get travel AND accommodation. Seen that way it’s actually good value, for such an experience
I’ve done sleepers all over the world. Across Europe. Cairo to Aswan. Bangkok to Chiang mai. Paris to the riviera (before the tgv). The trans Siberian. The ghan in Australia
The Caledonian sleeper might be my absolute favourite because it provides the most intense contrast in one night. Leaving a great world city like london in the evening, and waking in true and formidable wilderness in the highlands
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
Yes that’s a good point. You get travel AND accommodation. Seen that way it’s actually good value, for such an experience
I’ve done sleepers all over the world. Across Europe. Cairo to Aswan. Bangkok to Chiang mai. Paris to the riviera (before the tgv). The trans Siberian. The ghan in Australia
The Caledonian sleeper might be my absolute favourite because it provides the most intense contrast in one night. Leaving a great world city like london in the evening, and waking in true and formidable wilderness in the highlands
Liveaboard scuba is excellent value for the same reason. Food, bed, TURTLES.
Also hut-to-hut walks, where they fly the beer up to you in a helicopter.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
It's more a problem with available paths, particularly in the south.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
Hence HS2...
That too. But at night?
Yep; lots of freight travels at night, and lines often close for a few hours for maintenance. AIUI the sleepers are often routinely diverted somewhat due to closures. And extra services obviously would travel at slightly earlier or later times.
Thanks, that makes sense. The timings do seem fairly generous to allow for that sort of thing. And you don't want to be turfing people out at Waverley at 5.45 am.
You know what makes me think the worst of Joe Biden? The Afghan withdrawal, his age, taking classified documents home, mental health, being too pro Israel, not being pro Israel enough, his stutter, his failure in dealing with aliens, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, too much inflation?
No, none of those, it is letting his dog bite Secret Service agents 24 times before taking any action about it. I find that cruel and certainly unpresidential.
Yes I agree. It’s a really weird and quite disturbing detail
And these weren’t little nips. One secret service guy got so badly bitten he lots loads of blood, and needed stitches and surgery. That’s one fucking nasty dog - and a bad owner
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
It's more a problem with available paths, particularly in the south.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
Hence HS2...
That too. But at night?
Yep; lots of freight travels at night, and lines often close for a few hours for maintenance. AIUI the sleepers are often routinely diverted somewhat due to closures. And extra services obviously would travel at slightly earlier or later times.
It certainly felt like we were being diverted all over the place at night and held up when we used it.
It does seem strange though - is there really that much freight on the rails these days? And aren't the sleepers more lucrative?
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
The concept of banding has stretched. And now snapped.
It comes back to bizarre nonsense about status and pay.
So we can’t pay people in public service the going rate. Because they might get paid more than “their band”.
So we have the comedy of job adverts for IT specialists with a decade of experience and paid £40k, in London.
Five of the six officers of the Tory party's 1922 committee have signed the no confidence motion in the Speaker - Graham Brady, Bob Blackman, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Gary Sambrook and William Wragg. So far 33 MPs have signed and more could be added today. Ominous.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This isn’t correct Leon.
I too have just checked and there are cabins available virtually every day from Euston to Inverness. The Euston to Fort William route is more booked in May but there are still cabins available every week and loads in e.g. June.
Admittedly I only looked at Club Class Ensuite because I wouldn’t want to do it any other way, and you’ll pay £300 in high season, but there are zillions of spaces available almost every day.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
It is simply not true.
I too have just checked and there are cabins available virtually every day from Euston to Inverness. The Euston to Fort William route is more booked in May but there are still cabins available every week and loads in e.g. June.
Admittedly I only looked at Club Class Ensuite because I wouldn’t want to do it any other way, and you’ll pay £300 in high season, but there are zillions of spaces available almost every day.
Have I got this right? Sir Keir subjected the Speaker to an astonishing piece of moral blackmail: rip up a parliamentary procedure or my MPs will be in danger of violent attack. You have to sympathize with Lindsay Hoyle - who'd want that on their conscience - but Sir Keir had put him into an impossible situation.
If I was Hoyle, I would at least make clear the facts of any conversation which he had with Starmer yesterday. It was clear he was skirting around it at best.
In some ways I feel sorry for Hoyle as I do believe he is a decent speaker, but unfortunately he made the mistake of ignoring his Clerks advice and may well pay a heavy price for it
In his rather tearful apology he did say he would call all parties to a meeting to see a way forward and frankly, that is what he should have done in these circumstances 'before' his arbitrary decision
The situation with Hoyle, or, rather, the underlying reasons for it, is quite disturbing.
MPs getting in a flap about Hoyle making a mistake is directing outrage at someone who does deserves criticism, but who is also a lot safer to attack than those issuing threats if MPs vote 'the wrong way'.
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
Single status / equal pay was something a lot of councils were implementing back in 1990 and it was painful then.
Birmingham waited 20+ years before trying to implement it - that is why it’s such a mess and so expensive.
Equal pay for the same job is entirely reasonable. A female refuse collector should be paid the same wage as a male one.
Equal pay for different jobs which have very different supply and demand levels is utterly absurd.
If you're doing a lesser paid job, and want a higher paid job's salary, then there should be nothing preventing you from applying for that job.
We do not have, and cannot have, a free market for jobs while they're is so much economic coercion on people to take a job, any job, on passing of losing their house and suffering other hardships.
Furthermore, a profession, such as care work, can lump on for many years, with below market rates of pay, and shortages of staff, and simply not provide the necessary service, and so the pay rate that the "market" clears at is not the rate that would be paid if there was a free market, where the demand for care services was met.
It's entirely legitimate for workers to seek other means of achieving a better rate of pay than solely your "free market" methods, given the reality of economic coercion and market distortion.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
It's more a problem with available paths, particularly in the south.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
Hence HS2...
That too. But at night?
Yep; lots of freight travels at night, and lines often close for a few hours for maintenance. AIUI the sleepers are often routinely diverted somewhat due to closures. And extra services obviously would travel at slightly earlier or later times.
It certainly felt like we were being diverted all over the place at night and held up when we used it.
It does seem strange though - is there really that much freight on the rails these days? And aren't the sleepers more lucrative?
Freight hasn't increased as much as passenger traffic has (the loss of trainload coal has really hit it), but the increase in passenger services has meant it's harder to fit freight in during the daytime.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It's not like the BR days when there were plenty of locomotives and coaches to draw on all over the UK. New trains have to be specified and ordered years in advance because of the privatisation setup. I don't suppose it is possible to borrow from the people who do the Penzance sleepers as they will have diverged in design, even if they had any spares. A further issue is that the service is locomotive hauled which is now very unusual for a passenger train, so this has been a complication in terms of finding anyone with a suitable loco [edit] and also servicing depots - as things are, GB Railfreight provide the locos now.
I understand the Flying Scotsman has an expensive problem with self locking carriage doors
Have I got this right? Sir Keir subjected the Speaker to an astonishing piece of moral blackmail: rip up a parliamentary procedure or my MPs will be in danger of violent attack. You have to sympathize with Lindsay Hoyle - who'd want that on their conscience - but Sir Keir had put him into an impossible situation.
If I was Hoyle, I would at least make clear the facts of any conversation which he had with Starmer yesterday. It was clear he was skirting around it at best.
In some ways I feel sorry for Hoyle as I do believe he is a decent speaker, but unfortunately he made the mistake of ignoring his Clerks advice and may well pay a heavy price for it
In his rather tearful apology he did say he would call all parties to a meeting to see a way forward and frankly, that is what he should have done in these circumstances 'before' his arbitrary decision
I feel sorry for him too. He's been a good speaker and he was put in a bad position.
If Starmer put any pressure on him, then Starmer overstepped the mark. He's the leader of the opposition and a very likely next PM and shouln't have done it.
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
The concept of banding has stretched. And now snapped.
It comes back to bizarre nonsense about status and pay.
So we can’t pay people in public service the going rate. Because they might get paid more than “their band”.
So we have the comedy of job adverts for IT specialists with a decade of experience and paid £40k, in London.
When this all started off (late 1980s) computers weren’t really heard of.
And then in the 1990s those computers were used by secretaries whose grade were clerical and once placed there it’s been impossible to shift their grades because you would need to start again and better have £x round to pay for all the jobs being moved round
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
I had to go to Aberdeen for the RSS Conference. I wanted to go by Caledonian Sleeper but it sold out the week I went to the travel agent. I went by plane instead. It wasn't as nice. The faff involved in front door to taxi to airport to flight to airport to taxi to hotel is not good. I hate trains but sleepers look much more fun and yes, 200 pounds would have been worth it.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
Not sure I would describe Inverness as beautiful but agree the rest
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
The first thing they could do is split the Hugh
1. Lack of capacity on the network to run additional trains 2. Lack of sleeper vehicles to be these additional trains 3. Lack of money to subsidise additional trains
Sleeper services cost an absolute fortune - anywhere in Europe hence most being scrapped.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
Not sure I would describe Inverness as beautiful but agree the rest
Have I got this right? Sir Keir subjected the Speaker to an astonishing piece of moral blackmail: rip up a parliamentary procedure or my MPs will be in danger of violent attack. You have to sympathize with Lindsay Hoyle - who'd want that on their conscience - but Sir Keir had put him into an impossible situation.
If I was Hoyle, I would at least make clear the facts of any conversation which he had with Starmer yesterday. It was clear he was skirting around it at best.
In some ways I feel sorry for Hoyle as I do believe he is a decent speaker, but unfortunately he made the mistake of ignoring his Clerks advice and may well pay a heavy price for it
In his rather tearful apology he did say he would call all parties to a meeting to see a way forward and frankly, that is what he should have done in these circumstances 'before' his arbitrary decision
It may be too late, but perhaps it would be possible to call all parties together, and get agreement to rerun the vote, this time following precedent. I can’t imagine Labour agreeing to it though, given the successful outcome of their bullying.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
The first thing they could do is split the Hugh
1. Lack of capacity on the network to run additional trains 2. Lack of sleeper vehicles to be these additional trains 3. Lack of money to subsidise additional trains
Sleeper services cost an absolute fortune - anywhere in Europe hence most being scrapped.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
The first thing they could do is split the Hugh
1. Lack of capacity on the network to run additional trains 2. Lack of sleeper vehicles to be these additional trains 3. Lack of money to subsidise additional trains
Sleeper services cost an absolute fortune - anywhere in Europe hence most being scrapped.
Austrian Railways Nightjet sleeper service is expanding throughout Europe, now covering seven countries. Most of their trains don’t go to or from Austria. It would be great if they could expand their services using the tunnel.
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
It is simply not true.
I too have just checked and there are cabins available virtually every day from Euston to Inverness. The Euston to Fort William route is more booked in May but there are still cabins available every week and loads in e.g. June.
Admittedly I only looked at Club Class Ensuite because I wouldn’t want to do it any other way, and you’ll pay £300 in high season, but there are zillions of spaces available almost every day.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
Not sure I would describe Inverness as beautiful but agree the rest
Careful
Maybe I have been there too often and dare I say it, spending our first honeymoon night there before, and you will like this, going by train to Newcastle and sailing to Norway
Grim news from Birmingham today. City Council has announced cuts to deal with effective insolvency notice. Includes:
-sale of £750m of assets -cuts of to public services by £300m over two years -21% rise in Council Tax -dimming street lights -fortnightly bin collections
Their liabilities for equal pay claims that look quite tenuous ought to make people question the premise of the legislation.
Refuse collectors have been paid more than all other council jobs of the same grade. Refuse collectors are nearly all men. Other jobs are partly or mostly women. The net effect of the implementation of the law says that a man working a grade 3 job at the council can claim equal pay compensation under what is called sex discrimination. On the surface that seems wrong. Beneath that, a grade 3 worker in one job should be paid the same as a grade 3 worker in another job regardless of sex. The mockery of the law is that if the council outsources workers, the law no-longer applies and they can be paid wildly different amounts. Even though they do the same job and ultimately for the same people.
It's not the same job, if it was the same job then why don't people who want to be paid a refuse collectors wage apply to be a refuge collector?
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
The concept of banding has stretched. And now snapped.
It comes back to bizarre nonsense about status and pay.
So we can’t pay people in public service the going rate. Because they might get paid more than “their band”.
So we have the comedy of job adverts for IT specialists with a decade of experience and paid £40k, in London.
When this all started off (late 1980s) computers weren’t really heard of.
And then in the 1990s those computers were used by secretaries whose grade were clerical and once placed there it’s been impossible to shift their grades because you would need to start again and better have £x round to pay for all the jobs being moved round
There's a longer history to the grades than that.
IIRC in a number of countries, refuse collection is a high paid job and not compared to the desk work in local government.
I seem to recall a story that a whole bunch of Australian semi-pro athletes used to work as binmen in Sydney - good money, and the job was just in the early morning, leaving the rest of the day for training.
EDIT: There is also the issue that the nature and status of some manual work has changed. In times past, "some men from the council" would trim the trees. Now being a Tree Surgeon is a fairly well paid, specialist job, that has a fair bit of status in the private sector.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
I had to go to Aberdeen for the RSS Conference. I wanted to go by Caledonian Sleeper but it sold out the week I went to the travel agent. I went by plane instead. It wasn't as nice. The faff involved in front door to taxi to airport to flight to airport to taxi to hotel is not good. I hate trains but sleepers look much more fun and yes, 200 pounds would have been worth it.
How can anyone - especially a PBer - “hate trains”?
😶
I get that an early morning commute from Stockport to Walsall might not be as romantic as the trans Siberian but still - trains!
I just checked and it’s true that much of the Caledonian sleeper is booked solid through the spring and summer
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
The first thing they could do is split the Hugh
1. Lack of capacity on the network to run additional trains 2. Lack of sleeper vehicles to be these additional trains 3. Lack of money to subsidise additional trains
Sleeper services cost an absolute fortune - anywhere in Europe hence most being scrapped.
Sure. Problem is that nobody builds GB loading gauge stock. CAF had a go and they have been so bad that they're unlikely to get any further contracts. So you'd need one of the remaining domestic companies to design and build a specialised vehicle in small volumes.
I've never been that far north and it'd be a great excuse to ride the amazingly scenic Far North Line.
Might even combine with a ferry trip to the Orkneys.
The north coast of Britain is stunning. Make the trip.
Really tempting to take Friday off and just disappear tonight and catch the sleep train to Inverness. I'd be there by lunchtime tomorrow.
Trouble is the Caledonian sells out well in advance, and I'm not sure my wife would welcome me abandoning her with two young kids all weekend.
When I was 17 my dad saved tokens from Sainsburys and bought cheap ba tickets from Gatwick to Inverness. We spent the weekend touring the north coast to Skye and flew back from Glasgow.
Worth it!
Amazing!
I'm such a train nerd. I'd love to do the full Caledonian sleeper.
Expensive though.
Ha. I’ve just done it and several other lines. Took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness ten days ago and it was wonderful. Coming over the Drumochter Pass when there was still snow was magical.
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
The Inverness to fort William line is stunning
Yet few people know of it. Mad
Incredibly the DK Guide to Scotland barely mentions that line or the other three I’ve mentioned. All of which would get a double page spread if they were anywhere else on the planet. Utterly bizarre.
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon and waking up to sunrise in the Highlands.
One of my favourite things about the Inverness Kyle line is that there’s a station called “Muir of Ord”
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
I have, alas, never been able to sleep while on a sleeper train, which does rather detract from what would otherwise be one of its greatest advantages.
On the plight of Hoyle, let us play out the alternative scenario yesterday. Starmer tells him that Labour MPs and others are in fear of their safety. Hoyle calls in the whips of the SNP and Tories.
Would they all have reached an agreement? No. Because the entire purpose of yesterday was to sow division. An SNP debate explicitly designed and worded to create divisions in Labour they could exploit to try and save some central belt seats. The Tories latched on hoping to save some red wall seats.
Compromise? Fat chance. Hoyle was screwed whatever he did - and remember that his actions were in order, even though the clerks advised against doing so.
Comments
Then last Friday I took the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line which is absolutely stunning. I was lucky with the weather. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
On Sunday I took the West Highland line from Fort William to Glasgow which … well the superlatives simply roll on and on.
I took the Caledonian Sleeper to FW not long ago too and if anything that was even lovelier, although FW doesn’t compare as a town to the city of Inverness.
Three of the world’s most scenic railway journeys right there, right here, on our doorstep.
Highly highly recommended.
xx
Hoyle may have had the best of intentions but he failed. He failed to deliver a series of votes that allowed all votes to be held. He failed to abide by precedent. He failed to listen to the advice of his most senior and experienced advisor.
And he has failed to appear impartial by structuring the day to best support his former party.
That is not easy to survive.
He might limp in to the end of this parliament by declaring his intention to retire at the election. But he would have little or no authority over those months.
Better to go now. Accept the move to the Lords and let Parliament recover.
One of the lesser commented reasons why our politicians don't like electoral reform is that too many of them have come up from university debating, and too many of them enjoy the posturing and shouting and general childlike behaviour much more than they enjoy the serious business of discussion and compromise.
I Leave Tonight From Euston
I shall leave tonight from Euston
By the seven-thirty train,
And from Perth in the early morning
I shall see the hills again.
From the top of Ben Macdhui I
shall watch the gathering storm,
And see the crisp snow lying
At the back of Cairngorm.
I shall feel the mist from Bhrotain
and the pass by Lairig Ghru
To look on dark Loch Einich
From the heights of Sgoran Dubh.
From the broken Barns of Bynack
I shall see the sunrise gleam
On the forehead of Ben Rinnes
And Strathspey awake from dream.
And again in the dusk of evening
I shall find once more alone
The dark water of the Green Loch,
And the pass beyond Ryvoan.
For tonight I leave from Euston
And leave the world behind;
Who has the hills as a lover,
Will find them wondrous kind.
The election is not over.
I'd phoned the lady of the B&B I was staying at in Fort William to say I was going to be arriving late; she laughed and said that she'd be up as her husband was the guard on the train!
I argued against it (I climb mountains) but had to humbly accept my friends had it right.
Yet few people know of it. Mad
The West Highland Line has several times been voted the most beautiful railway journey in the world.
Thoroughly recommend these routes. There’s something quite magical about sleeping out of Euston, or indeed hitting on board bar @Leon
Supply and demand should set wages. If another job pays more, then go for it. If you don't want to, then maybe that is the reason it pays more?
Our collections typically happen at 7am and in this time of year it's happening in miserable, cold, wet, outdoor weather.
Should people who work outside of normal hours, outside, exposed to the elements like the rain be paid more than people who do a comparably skilled job, for which there's much more of a supply of people willing to do it, who work comfortably inside? I don't see why not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMtF6AbtsEY
I’ve been on that line a couple of times and I always faintly hope that the station - being so remote - is literally named after one guy, Muir, from Ord, who stands there in the middle of the forest and occasionally gets on the train
Mrs P. however slept like a log and has told me we plan to do it again.
Tbf we did Edinburgh to London - I think the full trip the other way to Fort William would be the one to do. Also, top marks to Caledonian for managing to squeeze in a wheelchair accessible cabin, which makes it doable for us.
Note on the polling Boris is massively ahead over Cameron amongst Conservative and Leave voters as best Conservative PM since 2010, Cameron does beat Boris with Labour, LD and Remain voters but most of them won't be voting Conservative any time in the foreseeable future post Brexit
Birmingham waited 20+ years before trying to implement it - that is why it’s such a mess and so expensive.
Equally if every other council has a pay system that puts job a on the same pay scale as job b, Birmingham can’t claim that job a isn’t the same as job b which is what you are arguing there. To you they may be different but 200 other councils all of whom have gone through very painful similar equal payment processes can’t all be wrong
But great fun
I tried to do it in winter in early 1998 from Inverness but the trains weren't running due to the weather
But I managed to find it in Summer 1999 (and again in 2013 when I went to Orkney)
Hopefully you will have more luck if you try again in the Summer 👍
Equal pay for different jobs which have very different supply and demand levels is utterly absurd.
If you're doing a lesser paid job, and want a higher paid job's salary, then there should be nothing preventing you from applying for that job.
Despite being seriously expensive
This seems to be a failure of free enterprise. If there is such demand, provide more trains, and make more money? Or am I missing something?
It feels to me like he decided he was going to railroad it in a show of the Chair’s strength, which given the sensitivities of the situation was quite possibly the worst thing he could have done.
Declining marriage and birth rates too lead to more single households and smaller family networks of support so again the welfare state has to fill the gap and more properties need to be built
"I'm a local government office in Democratic Services"
Or
" I work for the council collecting rubbish"
One is often a "lazy girl job" that has high status, one isnt.
Trains are back in fashion. They are more sustainable. People don’t want to drive or fly. Sleepers are fun. Invest!
Just let supply and demand sort it out.
If you have lots of applications for every job vacancy then freeze pay and hire applicants to replace anyone who quits.
If you can't find or retain staff, pay more.
If someone wants to be paid more, let them fill a role which is in demand rather than one which is not.
Saying 'provide more trains' actually means 'provide more paths'
Hence HS2...
I too love the name. Almost impossible to say without an overly Scottish accent.
Ditto Haugh of Urr.
To those who complain about the Caledonian Sleeper being pricey, well … maybe … but ...
For c. £200 Club Class you're getting a night’s accommodation with breakfast + the travel itself in some style + the views
I had a solid 7 hours’ sleep with lovely sheets and duvet. Took my shower in my room. Was served my proper coffee and Scottish porridge and watched a snowy sunrise over the Cairngorms, to arrive in beautiful Inverness. A while back on the other side I woke in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in time for the climb up across stunning Rannoch Moor.
Worth every penny of £200 in my book.
MPs getting in a flap about Hoyle making a mistake is directing outrage at someone who does deserves criticism, but who is also a lot safer to attack than those issuing threats if MPs vote 'the wrong way'.
Spend a lot of money on new trains and then get undercut on the franchise renewal by some half-arsed 'operator' who will take a few years big bonuses and then go bust? That's for mugs.
No, none of those, it is letting his dog bite Secret Service agents 24 times before taking any action about it. I find that cruel and certainly unpresidential.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68366306
I’ve done sleepers all over the world. Across Europe. Cairo to Aswan. Bangkok to Chiang mai. Paris to the riviera (before the tgv). The trans Siberian. The ghan in Australia
The Caledonian sleeper might be my absolute favourite because it provides the most intense contrast in one night. Leaving a great world city like london in the evening, and waking in true and formidable wilderness in the highlands
Also hut-to-hut walks, where they fly the beer up to you in a helicopter.
And these weren’t little nips. One secret service guy got so badly bitten he lots loads of blood, and needed stitches and surgery. That’s one fucking nasty dog - and a bad owner
It does seem strange though - is there really that much freight on the rails these days? And aren't the sleepers more lucrative?
It comes back to bizarre nonsense about status and pay.
So we can’t pay people in public service the going rate. Because they might get paid more than “their band”.
So we have the comedy of job adverts for IT specialists with a decade of experience and paid £40k, in London.
Five of the six officers of the Tory party's 1922 committee have signed the no confidence motion in the Speaker - Graham Brady, Bob Blackman, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Gary Sambrook and William Wragg.
So far 33 MPs have signed and more could be added today. Ominous.
The Spartans are mobilising.
I too have just checked and there are cabins available virtually every day from Euston to Inverness. The Euston to Fort William route is more booked in May but there are still cabins available every week and loads in e.g. June.
Admittedly I only looked at Club Class Ensuite because I wouldn’t want to do it any other way, and you’ll pay £300 in high season, but there are zillions of spaces available almost every day.
https://www.sleeper.scot/booking/calendar
Click on ‘View More Dates’ and you’ll see loads.
In his rather tearful apology he did say he would call all parties to a meeting to see a way forward and frankly, that is what he should have done in these circumstances 'before' his arbitrary decision
{browses Hugo Boss catalogue}
Furthermore, a profession, such as care work, can lump on for many years, with below market rates of pay, and shortages of staff, and simply not provide the necessary service, and so the pay rate that the "market" clears at is not the rate that would be paid if there was a free market, where the demand for care services was met.
It's entirely legitimate for workers to seek other means of achieving a better rate of pay than solely your "free market" methods, given the reality of economic coercion and market distortion.
If Starmer put any pressure on him, then Starmer overstepped the mark. He's the leader of the opposition and a very likely next PM and shouln't have done it.
And then in the 1990s those computers were used by secretaries whose grade were clerical and once placed there it’s been impossible to shift their grades because you would need to start again and better have £x round to pay for all the jobs being moved round
1. Lack of capacity on the network to run additional trains
2. Lack of sleeper vehicles to be these additional trains
3. Lack of money to subsidise additional trains
Sleeper services cost an absolute fortune - anywhere in Europe hence most being scrapped.
https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/02/20/good-night-train-visit-seven-of-europes-top-cities-on-this-new-sleeper-route
https://www.dw.com/en/sleeper-train-relaunched-between-berlin-and-paris/a-67689539
And not just in Europe
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/faster-than-rajdhani-indian-railways-to-introduce-vande-bharat-sleeper-train-by-march-2024-on-delhi-howrah-delhimumbai-11707183207116.html
"I looked at two dates in May and both were solid"
IIRC in a number of countries, refuse collection is a high paid job and not compared to the desk work in local government.
I seem to recall a story that a whole bunch of Australian semi-pro athletes used to work as binmen in Sydney - good money, and the job was just in the early morning, leaving the rest of the day for training.
EDIT: There is also the issue that the nature and status of some manual work has changed. In times past, "some men from the council" would trim the trees. Now being a Tree Surgeon is a fairly well paid, specialist job, that has a fair bit of status in the private sector.
😶
I get that an early morning commute from Stockport to Walsall might not be as romantic as the trans Siberian but still - trains!
It can be done! But it'll cost ya...
Would they all have reached an agreement? No. Because the entire purpose of yesterday was to sow division. An SNP debate explicitly designed and worded to create divisions in Labour they could exploit to try and save some central belt seats. The Tories latched on hoping to save some red wall seats.
Compromise? Fat chance. Hoyle was screwed whatever he did - and remember that his actions were in order, even though the clerks advised against doing so.