@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
The King is back . Good news . You don’t have to be a royalist to be happy about that .
Yes you do. Can you name any non-royalists who are happy about it?
Me more or less. Don't wish carcinogenice death on any one, with a few obvious exceptions, though It's as much the prospect of another North Korean-esque weeks long orgy so soon after the last one.
Edit: make that months if including another coronation.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
King Charles III will return to public duties next week, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday, an encouraging sign of his recovery, nearly three months after he disclosed his cancer diagnosis.
Seriously. Please save him. We don’t need the royal family on the verge of collapsing. Also on a human level
In more important news: I can report that @TimS is right: the craft beer revolution has definitely hit France. The Leclerc hyper market here in Crozon has half an entire aisle of them - IPAs, wheat beers, fruit beers, loads
Also half an aisle of scotch whisky - an extraordinary selection. And yet only 3 or 4 cognacs and kind of hidden away like they are eggnog
The French have abandoned their own national spirit
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
Seriously. Please save him. We don’t need the royal family on the verge of collapsing. Also on a human level
In more important news: I can report that @TimS is right: the craft beer revolution has definitely hit France. The Leclerc hyper market here in Crozon has half an entire aisle of them - IPAs, wheat beers, fruit beers, loads
Also half an aisle of scotch whisky - an extraordinary selection. And yet only 3 or 4 cognacs and kind of hidden away like they are eggnog
The French have abandoned their own national spirit
The family doesn't collapse because individuals do. Le roi est mort, Vive le roi
Scotland consumes more vodka than whisky. I expect the USA drinks the cognac and the Russians get the bourbon.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
Is this a roundabout way of saying you have one?
There are also a practical gilets - used for work and sports where you need to keep the arms free, but the body warm.
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
The King is back . Good news . You don’t have to be a royalist to be happy about that .
Yes you do. Can you name any non-royalists who are happy about it?
Me more or less. Don't wish carcinogenice death on any one, with a few obvious exceptions, though It's as much the prospect of another North Korean-esque weeks long orgy so soon after the last one.
Edit: make that months if including another coronation.
I don’t think, when Charlie goes (and I hope he’s with us for a good few more years yet), it will be anything like the magnitude of QEIIs passing. That really was the passing into history of an era and a figure who was a constant. Charles will get the pomp and the ceremony, of course, but it won’t be anything like the reverence that accompanied QEII.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
Maybe Watson has given the nod that Rayner is to be charged.
And then, hard on that, a Rwanda flight with Rishi in the cockpit. Whole new ballgame.
That's a bit like (for our older viewers) "the good news is the Kuwait hostages have been released, the bad news is Andrew Ridgely is driving the bus to the airport"
Which, I suppose, is a step in the right direction. But bloody hell, you'd think someone who aspired to run the country might just be a little bit more alert (present incumbent notwithstanding).
The King is back . Good news . You don’t have to be a royalist to be happy about that .
Yes you do. Can you name any non-royalists who are happy about it?
Me more or less. Don't wish carcinogenice death on any one, with a few obvious exceptions, though It's as much the prospect of another North Korean-esque weeks long orgy so soon after the last one.
Edit: make that months if including another coronation.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
Is this a roundabout way of saying you have one?
Hah! I have two actually, one of the fleecey variety and one of the puffa variety. The puffa gets continuous wear in the winter as it saves sticking the heating on. Tho it probably makes me look like I deal crack.
My guess is if you sit in the insecure middle and have class anxiety, you avoid them as you can't figure out if it makes you look posh or like a chav. If you don't care, you're either posh or a chav. Or both.
The King is back . Good news . You don’t have to be a royalist to be happy about that .
Yes you do. Can you name any non-royalists who are happy about it?
Me more or less. Don't wish carcinogenice death on any one, with a few obvious exceptions, though It's as much the prospect of another North Korean-esque weeks long orgy so soon after the last one.
Edit: make that months if including another coronation.
Nobody invited me to the coronation orgy. *huff*
I think you had to shed your human skin at the door to the saurian shenanigans so probably for the best.
King Charles III will return to public duties next week, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday, an encouraging sign of his recovery, nearly three months after he disclosed his cancer diagnosis.
transitive verb 1: to deceive, win over, or induce to do something by artful coaxing and wheedling or shrewd trickery 2: to gain by cozening someone cozened his supper out of the old couple
Not so long since Labour jumped up and down and demand that the SNP nationalise the water supply, railways, etc. etc. The party leader (the one yanking the chain, not the one on the other end) came up aaaaall the way to Scotland to give a speech and make those demands, much written down and publicised by BBC, etc. etc.
Alas it was impossible to achieve the impossible of nationalising a nationalised industry.
This not just nationalisation, this is SKS nationalisation.
It isn't particularly 'nationalisation'; leastways, not as was being screamed for decades ("Bring back BR!"). Large and important parts are going to remain in the private sector, and it will take five years or more to get all the franchises into public ownership.
I'm unsure how this is supposed to improve things for passengers; especially given that, AIUI, the DfT will still be in ultimate charge.
Ultimately, the only way to seriously improve things is to seriously upgrade the network. What it may help them do if get things right is find efficiencies in the places where operators weren't that interested in, improve things like ticketing and pricing, and deploy or increase staff to reduce cancellations where it's become a huge problem.
That's largely tinkering, and will upset those who think nationalisation is a magic wand - but may just be a useful and necessary kick up the bum that improves things where they've become unacceptable.
There was a very good thread (linked to from Nigel Harris's account) detailing why franchises were so successful initially, especially in terms of increasing passenger numbers (*).
A large question is whether this change will actually mean the DfT works better - and many of the current problems are down to the DfT rather than the franchisees. Or whether giving the DfT more power just leads to more problems.
(*) The sorts of reasons I've bleated at before, so of course I like it.
Yes that thread kind of makes sense. Private franchising provided some early wins as it brought in investment/new ideas - but ran out of steam once you'd made those and had little incentive to invest and little ability to do so meaningfully at scale beyond the obvious.
And you may well need government now because it does have that. Now just has to do it well (easier said than done).
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
Who in their right mind goes to the country with the current polling .
Lefties: "The Tories' judgement is so bad that they are ruining the country at every turn!"
Also lefties: "An imminent election is absolute nonsense. The Tories are certain to time an election perfectly optimally! The bastards!"
The tories will only drop more the longer they wait. There is nothing to wait for even if it is bad. They have to pinch their noses and take their medicine.
But Sunak will surely want his 2 years. So I'm ruling out anything earlier than Oct 24th.
Agreed
Even though it looks terrible for similar reasons I could see him trying for January.
2022-2025 looks much more impressive than 2022-2024.
Ah no I don't expect Jan. Too clingy. But yes I'd make that more likely than anything before Oct 24th.
I think they'll pull back from January, the chances of any event saving them between end of Oct through to January seems minimal, though December could be defended as going the full five years, so October can be pretended to be 'early'.
After the last few years, dismissing the chance of a world shaking black swan in any four month period is… overly sanguine?
Such a Stygian beast might drag them still further down, of course.
The King is back . Good news . You don’t have to be a royalist to be happy about that .
Yes you do. Can you name any non-royalists who are happy about it?
Me more or less. Don't wish carcinogenice death on any one, with a few obvious exceptions, though It's as much the prospect of another North Korean-esque weeks long orgy so soon after the last one.
Edit: make that months if including another coronation.
Nobody invited me to the coronation orgy. *huff*
I think you had to shed your human skin at the door to the saurian shenanigans so probably for the best.
I'd only forget where I'd left it and have to go through life as an Iguana.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
Is this a roundabout way of saying you have one?
There are also a practical gilets - used for work and sports where you need to keep the arms free, but the body warm.
Yes but we're not talking about practical gilets. Least I don't think we are. Nobody has a problem with somebody who needs a gilet wearing a gilet.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
The newly minted Archduke Leon of Arrivism.
It is a definite thing tho. Poshness is fluid these days. It’s no longer about schools and accents and it’s much less about family and ancestors and riding to hounds. All that is retarded shite
It’s what you do, and what you can talk about. Elon musk is infinitely posher than any guy with a Habsburg surname or an eton education. Guaranteed: if those guys walked into a room with musk they would be awestruck and a bit mumbly - like the bourgeoisie meeting an actual and serious king in the ancien regime
I feel a gazette article coming on. I feel it in my posho waters. There needs to be a word for this feeling
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
The newly minted Archduke Leon of Arrivism.
It is a definite thing go. Poshness is fluid these days. It’s no longer about schools and accents and it’s much less about family and ancestors and riding to hounds. All that is shite
It’s what you do, and what you can talk about. Elon musk is a lot posher than any guy with a Habsburg surname or an eton education. Guaranteed: if those guys walked into a room with musk they would be awestruck - like the bourgeoisie meeting an actual and serious king in the ancien regime
I feel a gazette article coming on. I feel it in my posho waters. There needs to be a word for this feeling
That's just something a non-posh person would say.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
Real posh take their umbrage, and don't bring it back, having flounced. (cf Charles)
Don't take it hard, though. Your regular returns are much appreciated.
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
Is this a roundabout way of saying you have one?
Hah! I have two actually, one of the fleecey variety and one of the puffa variety. The puffa gets continuous wear in the winter as it saves sticking the heating on. Tho it probably makes me look like I deal crack.
My guess is if you sit in the insecure middle and have class anxiety, you avoid them as you can't figure out if it makes you look posh or like a chav. If you don't care, you're either posh or a chav. Or both.
Well that's not why I don't have one. I just don't like jackets without sleeves. I did want a Barbour though (with sleeves) and invested a couple of hours recently in nearly buying one. What stopped me? The overthought zip architecture. Bad design. Pity since the rest of it lived up to the billing, particularly that 'oily' finish.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
Is this a roundabout way of saying you have one?
Hah! I have two actually, one of the fleecey variety and one of the puffa variety. The puffa gets continuous wear in the winter as it saves sticking the heating on. Tho it probably makes me look like I deal crack.
My guess is if you sit in the insecure middle and have class anxiety, you avoid them as you can't figure out if it makes you look posh or like a chav. If you don't care, you're either posh or a chav. Or both.
Well that's not why I don't have one. I just don't like jackets without sleeves. I did want a Barbour though (with sleeves) and invested a couple of hours recently in nearly buying one. What stopped me? The overthought zip architecture. Bad design. Pity since the rest of it lived up to the billing, particularly that 'oily' finish.
My fleecey gilet gets worn under the barbour when I'm out in the sticks visiting family... where it works, somehow, as some kind of old-timey cosplay. At work or at home in london it looks like someone forgot to put the sleeves on a cardigan, and instantly ages you ten years, with a faint whiff of Farage.
Hot take, barbours are actually pretty crap, they don't keep the cold or rain out the way modern gore tex'd puffa insulated triple lined tech gear does, and the wax gives them a distinct aroma that - like the stench of flatulent labrador - might be a status signifier, but doesn't make it in any way pleasant.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
The newly minted Archduke Leon of Arrivism.
It is a definite thing go. Poshness is fluid these days. It’s no longer about schools and accents and it’s much less about family and ancestors and riding to hounds. All that is shite
It’s what you do, and what you can talk about. Elon musk is a lot posher than any guy with a Habsburg surname or an eton education. Guaranteed: if those guys walked into a room with musk they would be awestruck - like the bourgeoisie meeting an actual and serious king in the ancien regime
I feel a gazette article coming on. I feel it in my posho waters. There needs to be a word for this feeling
That's just something a non-posh person would say.
No it’s true. Poshness basically means social confidence. That is its practical exercise in the real world
These days when I meet ANYONE I know 1. I have been more places than them and 2. I have had more extraordinary experiences than them and 3. I almost certainly earned more in a year from using my own brain (ie not just banking or shit like that) than they ever did
So I feel socially superior to almost everyone and the confidence comes from that. If that isn’t poshness, what is? Is it lineage? I have a proven descent from William the fucking Conqueror and Alfred the fucking great so no, I’m not abashed by that either
Poshness is social confidence. Extreme poshness is total social confidence. I have that
I readily admit these are not attractive sentiments I’m just being honest coz it’s pb and it’s fun
However if I met someone like musk THEN I would feel socially inferior. And maybe the king (and maybe not). That’s about it
You can dispute my logic but that is what I feel. I just wish I was younger and had this total self belief back then. Would have been fun. Oh well
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
As I say, it's the intersection of working and upper class that makes the middle nervous. Does wearing a gilet make you look posh or like a try hard (cf. farage), or worse, like a chav?
Better avoided entirely, like the fence-sitting "living room" vs sitting room or front room, and yet still incredibly significant in determining one's social standing.
Also, if we're still doing Fast Show characters, surely Charles was the 13th Duke of Wybourne and Ishmael was Rowley Birkin QC?
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
Is this a roundabout way of saying you have one?
Hah! I have two actually, one of the fleecey variety and one of the puffa variety. The puffa gets continuous wear in the winter as it saves sticking the heating on. Tho it probably makes me look like I deal crack.
My guess is if you sit in the insecure middle and have class anxiety, you avoid them as you can't figure out if it makes you look posh or like a chav. If you don't care, you're either posh or a chav. Or both.
Well that's not why I don't have one. I just don't like jackets without sleeves. I did want a Barbour though (with sleeves) and invested a couple of hours recently in nearly buying one. What stopped me? The overthought zip architecture. Bad design. Pity since the rest of it lived up to the billing, particularly that 'oily' finish.
My fleecey gilet gets worn under the barbour when I'm out in the sticks visiting family... where it works, somehow, as some kind of old-timey cosplay. At work or at home in london it looks like someone forgot to put the sleeves on a cardigan, and instantly ages you ten years, with a faint whiff of Farage.
Hot take, barbours are actually pretty crap, they don't keep the cold or rain out the way modern gore tex'd puffa insulated triple lined tech gear does, and the wax gives them a distinct aroma that - like the stench of flatulent labrador - might be a status signifier, but doesn't make it in any way pleasant.
Really? Ok so the right call from me then. Looking good and smelling bad isn't the way to go.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
The newly minted Archduke Leon of Arrivism.
It is a definite thing go. Poshness is fluid these days. It’s no longer about schools and accents and it’s much less about family and ancestors and riding to hounds. All that is shite
It’s what you do, and what you can talk about. Elon musk is a lot posher than any guy with a Habsburg surname or an eton education. Guaranteed: if those guys walked into a room with musk they would be awestruck - like the bourgeoisie meeting an actual and serious king in the ancien regime
I feel a gazette article coming on. I feel it in my posho waters. There needs to be a word for this feeling
That's just something a non-posh person would say.
No it’s true. Poshness basically means social confidence. That is its practical exercise in the real world
These days when I meet ANYONE I know 1. I have been more places than them and 2. I have had more extraordinary experiences than them and 3. I almost certainly earned more in a year from using my own brain (ie not just banking or shit like that) than they ever did
So I feel socially superior to almost everyone and the confidence comes from that. If that isn’t poshness, what is? Is it lineage? I have a proven descent from William the fucking Conqueror and Alfred the fucking great so no, I’m not abashed by that either
Poshness is social confidence. Extreme poshness is total social confidence. I have that
I readily admit these are not attractive sentiments I’m just being honest coz it’s pb and it’s fun
However if I met someone like musk THEN I would feel socially inferior. And maybe the king (and maybe not). That’s about it
You can dispute my logic but that is what I feel. I just wish I was younger and had this total self belief back then. Would have been fun. Oh well
Poshness isn't about merit, or confidence (though I think it can help with confidence), it's a network of people who know each other because they're posh. I'd say you're right, you don't need to be posh. People with merit, intelligence, beauty, achievement, humour, fame, even just obscene wealth, will be sought out and admired by posh people, but that doesn't mean that they are posh. The late Duchess of Devonshire idolised Elvis, but that doesn't make him posh. I say all this as very much an observer btw, I am not posh.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
The newly minted Archduke Leon of Arrivism.
It is a definite thing go. Poshness is fluid these days. It’s no longer about schools and accents and it’s much less about family and ancestors and riding to hounds. All that is shite
It’s what you do, and what you can talk about. Elon musk is a lot posher than any guy with a Habsburg surname or an eton education. Guaranteed: if those guys walked into a room with musk they would be awestruck - like the bourgeoisie meeting an actual and serious king in the ancien regime
I feel a gazette article coming on. I feel it in my posho waters. There needs to be a word for this feeling
That's just something a non-posh person would say.
No it’s true. Poshness basically means social confidence. That is its practical exercise in the real world
These days when I meet ANYONE I know 1. I have been more places than them and 2. I have had more extraordinary experiences than them and 3. I almost certainly earned more in a year from using my own brain (ie not just banking or shit like that) than they ever did
So I feel socially superior to almost everyone and the confidence comes from that. If that isn’t poshness, what is? Is it lineage? I have a proven descent from William the fucking Conqueror and Alfred the fucking great so no, I’m not abashed by that either
Poshness is social confidence. Extreme poshness is total social confidence. I have that
I readily admit these are not attractive sentiments I’m just being honest coz it’s pb and it’s fun
However if I met someone like musk THEN I would feel socially inferior. And maybe the king (and maybe not). That’s about it
You can dispute my logic but that is what I feel. I just wish I was younger and had this total self belief back then. Would have been fun. Oh well
Poshness isn't about merit, or confidence (though I think it can help with confidence), it's a network of people who know each other because they're posh. I'd say you're right, you don't need to be posh. People with merit, intelligence, beauty, achievement, humour, fame, even just obscene wealth, will be sought out and admired by posh people, but that doesn't mean that they are posh. The late Duchess of Devonshire idolised Elvis, but that doesn't make him posh. I say all this as very much an observer btw, I am not posh.
My point is that poshness itself is rapidly changing
transitive verb 1: to deceive, win over, or induce to do something by artful coaxing and wheedling or shrewd trickery 2: to gain by cozening someone cozened his supper out of the old couple
Not so long since Labour jumped up and down and demand that the SNP nationalise the water supply, railways, etc. etc. The party leader (the one yanking the chain, not the one on the other end) came up aaaaall the way to Scotland to give a speech and make those demands, much written down and publicised by BBC, etc. etc.
Alas it was impossible to achieve the impossible of nationalising a nationalised industry.
This not just nationalisation, this is SKS nationalisation.
It isn't particularly 'nationalisation'; leastways, not as was being screamed for decades ("Bring back BR!"). Large and important parts are going to remain in the private sector, and it will take five years or more to get all the franchises into public ownership.
I'm unsure how this is supposed to improve things for passengers; especially given that, AIUI, the DfT will still be in ultimate charge.
Ultimately, the only way to seriously improve things is to seriously upgrade the network. What it may help them do if get things right is find efficiencies in the places where operators weren't that interested in, improve things like ticketing and pricing, and deploy or increase staff to reduce cancellations where it's become a huge problem.
That's largely tinkering, and will upset those who think nationalisation is a magic wand - but may just be a useful and necessary kick up the bum that improves things where they've become unacceptable.
There was a very good thread (linked to from Nigel Harris's account) detailing why franchises were so successful initially, especially in terms of increasing passenger numbers (*).
A large question is whether this change will actually mean the DfT works better - and many of the current problems are down to the DfT rather than the franchisees. Or whether giving the DfT more power just leads to more problems.
(*) The sorts of reasons I've bleated at before, so of course I like it.
Yes that thread kind of makes sense. Private franchising provided some early wins as it brought in investment/new ideas - but ran out of steam once you'd made those and had little incentive to invest and little ability to do so meaningfully at scale beyond the obvious.
(Snip)
That, and the fact that central government has made those new ideas impossible by regulating the heck out of the industry. Which is one reason I fear this move may fail: any good new ideas will get squashed as there will be little incentive to do them.
The Guardian @guardian Liz Truss book enters bestseller list in 70th place with 2,228 copies sold
I've just got the new Tim Shipman: No Way Out.
Very exciting.
Damn, is it released? It's in hardback and my local library hasn't got a copy. When does it go up to? If it's just to the end of May (pun!), then there's still room for a fourth
The Guardian @guardian Liz Truss book enters bestseller list in 70th place with 2,228 copies sold
I've just got the new Tim Shipman: No Way Out.
Very exciting.
Damn, is it released? It's in hardback and my local library hasn't got a copy. When does it go up to? If it's just to the end of May (pun!), then there's still room for a fourth
Part Four of the trilogy, 'Out' is... out at the end of June.
Do a google image search for "gilet" and 50% of the images returned look like blue blooded poshos who like hunting poor people for sport. The other 50% look like they hang out around bus stations and deal crack.
It's one of those bizarre nexus points where the upper and working classes meet over comfort and utility, and the striving middle look and feel self conscious and unsure about whether or not what they're wearing is a status signifier.
I’ve gone from upper working class to extremely posh in my own lifetime, due to my life experience and life style, so I agree with this class-conscious take
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
The newly minted Archduke Leon of Arrivism.
It is a definite thing go. Poshness is fluid these days. It’s no longer about schools and accents and it’s much less about family and ancestors and riding to hounds. All that is shite
It’s what you do, and what you can talk about. Elon musk is a lot posher than any guy with a Habsburg surname or an eton education. Guaranteed: if those guys walked into a room with musk they would be awestruck - like the bourgeoisie meeting an actual and serious king in the ancien regime
I feel a gazette article coming on. I feel it in my posho waters. There needs to be a word for this feeling
That's just something a non-posh person would say.
No it’s true. Poshness basically means social confidence. That is its practical exercise in the real world
These days when I meet ANYONE I know 1. I have been more places than them and 2. I have had more extraordinary experiences than them and 3. I almost certainly earned more in a year from using my own brain (ie not just banking or shit like that) than they ever did
So I feel socially superior to almost everyone and the confidence comes from that. If that isn’t poshness, what is? Is it lineage? I have a proven descent from William the fucking Conqueror and Alfred the fucking great so no, I’m not abashed by that either
Poshness is social confidence. Extreme poshness is total social confidence. I have that
I readily admit these are not attractive sentiments I’m just being honest coz it’s pb and it’s fun
However if I met someone like musk THEN I would feel socially inferior. And maybe the king (and maybe not). That’s about it
You can dispute my logic but that is what I feel. I just wish I was younger and had this total self belief back then. Would have been fun. Oh well
Did you resent posh people when you were younger and non-posh?
@PippaCrerar · 1h In a sign of how febrile the atmosphere in Westminster is just now, there have been wild rumours flying around today that Rishi Sunak is planning to finally call an election on Monday. Read on
Why would a PM call a general election with local elections about to take place? Doesn't make any sense.
Yes it does if: 1. Your private polling suggests that your party is about to get reamed 2. Your Chief Whip tells you that after your party gets reamed, they are going to oust you
SSI - DJT may note, that millions of voters from sea to shining sea, reckon that HE is a "disgusting goat" (worse that David Lloyd George!) and WAY less than a less-than-worthless dog.
I am just not buying the late GE. Even conservative home can see that a summer election is for the best
"When the public have decided a government is doomed, it can do little to shift its fate. Just ask John Major or Gordon Brown. We’re at the end of an age. It may be unappetising, but the voters are ready for Labour. The longer Sunak is seen to delay Starmer’s arrival out of a mixture of timidity and vanity, the angrier the voters will become at his squatting. Things can always get worse."
Comments
My thumbs are pricking in respect of what might happen at tomorrow's demonstrations in London.
Edit: make that months if including another coronation.
King Charles III will return to public duties next week, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday, an encouraging sign of his recovery, nearly three months after he disclosed his cancer diagnosis.
https://x.com/nytimes/status/1783920914553250032?
Nothing like it in UK. Definitely hits the spot.
Scotland consumes more vodka than whisky. I expect the USA drinks the cognac and the Russians get the bourbon.
I might actually be the poshest person in the world now. In terms of extraordinary billionaire experiences and super-privileged but worldly wise perspective
Evan Davies: "Would you still vote for that bill knowing everything you know now?"
Anas Sarwar: "No."
https://x.com/soniasodha/status/1783896216918491243
My guess is if you sit in the insecure middle and have class anxiety, you avoid them as you can't figure out if it makes you look posh or like a chav. If you don't care, you're either posh or a chav. Or both.
And you may well need government now because it does have that. Now just has to do it well (easier said than done).
Cards on table - I don't have one.
It’s what you do, and what you can talk about. Elon musk is infinitely posher than any guy with a Habsburg surname or an eton education. Guaranteed: if those guys walked into a room with musk they would be awestruck and a bit mumbly - like the bourgeoisie meeting an actual and serious king in the ancien regime
I feel a gazette article coming on. I feel it in my posho waters. There needs to be a word for this feeling
(cf Charles)
Don't take it hard, though. Your regular returns are much appreciated.
https://harristweedisleofharris.co.uk/store/Gilets-c19303240
Hot take, barbours are actually pretty crap, they don't keep the cold or rain out the way modern gore tex'd puffa insulated triple lined tech gear does, and the wax gives them a distinct aroma that - like the stench of flatulent labrador - might be a status signifier, but doesn't make it in any way pleasant.
I’ve decided to make a 5th compilation video of Keir Starmer's Flip flops, u-turns and lies
https://x.com/timmyvoe/status/1783658747723755932?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
NEW THREAD
These days when I meet ANYONE I know 1. I have been more places than them and 2. I have had more extraordinary experiences than them and 3. I almost certainly earned more in a year from using my own brain (ie not just banking or shit like that) than they ever did
So I feel socially superior to almost everyone and the confidence comes from that. If that isn’t poshness, what is? Is it lineage? I have a proven descent from William the fucking Conqueror and Alfred the fucking great so no, I’m not abashed by that either
Poshness is social confidence. Extreme poshness is total social confidence. I have that
I readily admit these are not attractive sentiments I’m just being honest coz it’s pb and it’s fun
However if I met someone like musk THEN I would feel socially inferior. And maybe the king (and maybe not). That’s about it
You can dispute my logic but that is what I feel. I just wish I was younger and had this total self belief back then. Would have been fun. Oh well
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-four-lads-jeans-make-29046532
As I say, it's the intersection of working and upper class that makes the middle nervous. Does wearing a gilet make you look posh or like a try hard (cf. farage), or worse, like a chav?
Better avoided entirely, like the fence-sitting "living room" vs sitting room or front room, and yet still incredibly significant in determining one's social standing.
Also, if we're still doing Fast Show characters, surely Charles was the 13th Duke of Wybourne and Ishmael was Rowley Birkin QC?
Very exciting.
But let’s move this to the next thread
https://futurism.com/the-byte/orbiter-spots-spiders-surface-mars
(buys canned food and shotguns
1. Your private polling suggests that your party is about to get reamed
2. Your Chief Whip tells you that after your party gets reamed, they are going to oust you
Pre-empt the Soviets and launch first...
NY Post - Potential Trump VP pick Gov. Kristin Noem says she shot dead a ‘less than worthless’ dog, ‘disgusting’ goat
https://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-news/gov-kristi-noem-shot-and-killed-less-than-worthless-dog/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=com.microsoft.Office.Outlook.compose-shareextension
SSI - DJT may note, that millions of voters from sea to shining sea, reckon that HE is a "disgusting goat" (worse that David Lloyd George!) and WAY less than a less-than-worthless dog.
"When the public have decided a government is doomed, it can do little to shift its fate. Just ask John Major or Gordon Brown. We’re at the end of an age. It may be unappetising, but the voters are ready for Labour. The longer Sunak is seen to delay Starmer’s arrival out of a mixture of timidity and vanity, the angrier the voters will become at his squatting. Things can always get worse."
https://conservativehome.com/2024/04/26/a-summer-election-may-be-sunaks-only-hope-of-avoiding-a-wipeout/