This is an obvious idea so good it's surprising no one did it properly a decade back.
Having real temperature control (as opposed to power setting) on a stove top. The twist is having an integrated rechargeable battery, so the cooking surface can deliver instantaneous power that's well in excess of the mains supply.
So we ended up integrating a new type of sensor with the highest performance induction system I think ever built ...
After cooking with it, we realized something: actually having high heat + temperature sensing is ... big.
When we re-did our kitchen a couple of years back we got an induction hob. It's really quick, and easy to clean. It's as quick to adjust as gas, but I think I still prefer gas.
In twenty years it will still be perfect black shiny glass. When you see a gas hob that’s 20 you may want amto call environmental health.
Love my induction hob. 20 this year.
Induction hob, great.
Half your pans being incompatible with an Induction hob, not so great.
Electric hobs are shit.
Induction hobs are shit.
Both have horrible ‘buttons’ and the latter requires stupid special pans.
Gas is the only choice for people who like to cook.
You're right about the buttons.
But gas is the cash of the kitchen.
Nope. Because gas is the best technology in its class and cash the worst.
Gas is like cash in the sense that its use is going to dwindle as space and water heating switches to electric, and the shrinking number of domestic users of gas for cooking (often just the hob and not the oven) won't be enough to support the distribution network.
At some point in the future you'll have to start getting bottles instead, as in rural Ireland.
This is an obvious idea so good it's surprising no one did it properly a decade back.
Having real temperature control (as opposed to power setting) on a stove top. The twist is having an integrated rechargeable battery, so the cooking surface can deliver instantaneous power that's well in excess of the mains supply.
So we ended up integrating a new type of sensor with the highest performance induction system I think ever built ...
After cooking with it, we realized something: actually having high heat + temperature sensing is ... big.
Don't professional chefs use gas hobs? Where the flame temperature is essentially constant.
No - this keeps the pan temperature at a set level, which is a completely different thing.
A stove top gas flame burns at a bit under 2000 deg C - but the mount of energy it transfers to the pan varies with the amount of gas. A dry pan with nothing in it would eventually reach that temperature as the pan heats up, of course. Add food, and it becomes a lot more complicated.
Cooking is a dynamic process, Controlling the temperature of the pan is actually quite a skill. A temperature controlled hob makes it easy - the control electronics do all the work of turning the power up and down.
That does sound clever, I'm just not sure what the benefit to a cook is.
You don't need to micromanage the heat input to the pan. So it's great for something where you want to get up to a temperature and then hold it at that temperature. Cooking rice was one example given, but I think it would make caramelising onions, or cooking a risotto a lot easier.
Something like pancakes/griddle scones I could imagine would cook a lot better if you could hold the pan at a constant temperature. This sounds great.
I mean, anyone who can actually - you know - cook, can himself hold the temperature at the right level by looking at the food cooking and adjusting the gas level.
In the same way that everyone is capable of counting their notes and coins out, but most don't bother with contactless and phone apps being used instead.
I’m staring at maybe the world’s most hideous building. The national library of Pristina
It’s like Hitler’s bunker encased in monumentalist chicken wire. It’s one of those modern buildings with a fascinating contrast between exterior and interior. Yes from the outside it’s ugly - but once you get inside - then it’s also ugly. Dingy and cramped
The park around it is so covered in litter I suspect they recently hosted the biannual Balkan Littering Festival
The Pristina Tourist Board are clearly not sponsoring this trip.
No, they’re not. The Gazette has given me £400 to spend on 2 days in Pristina (inc flights and everything) and the same immediately after in Geneva. They are respectively the cheapest and most expensive cities in Europe
Having said that, I rather like Pristina BECAUSE it is so fucked up, ugly and weird. Like one of those quirky and mangy and starving but inexplicably cheerful stray dogs you adopt on travels. The people are incredibly friendly. A massive kebab is £1
Just £400 for 2 days in Geneva...well that is going to suck! Bread and cheese with a bottle of pop for every meal while staying in the YMCA...
Including flights it is extremely hard. I have managed to swerve a dorm room but I’m in a terrible Airbnb
I’ve got about £50 left for food and entertainment so I’m envisaging a lot of walks by lake Geneva. And more kebabs
I suspect 1 single Kebab - £50 won't go far even if you find a supermarket...
I think that £50 might stretch to about two Big Mac Meals in Geneva.
This could be funny, watching him try and find a free bus from the airport to the city, and scrounging around the supermarket half an hour before closing time trying to find the bargain bin of nearly expired food.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
RealTimeTrains (RTT) is your friend for platform allocations.`
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
RealTimeTrains (RTT) is your friend for platform allocations.`
Thank you, a very useful link
I'd be careful at Euston it's only a best guess rather than 100% accurate - see my comment earlier about things being moved round rapidly.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
I’m staring at maybe the world’s most hideous building. The national library of Pristina
It’s like Hitler’s bunker encased in monumentalist chicken wire. It’s one of those modern buildings with a fascinating contrast between exterior and interior. Yes from the outside it’s ugly - but once you get inside - then it’s also ugly. Dingy and cramped
The park around it is so covered in litter I suspect they recently hosted the biannual Balkan Littering Festival
The Pristina Tourist Board are clearly not sponsoring this trip.
No, they’re not. The Gazette has given me £400 to spend on 2 days in Pristina (inc flights and everything) and the same immediately after in Geneva. They are respectively the cheapest and most expensive cities in Europe
Having said that, I rather like Pristina BECAUSE it is so fucked up, ugly and weird. Like one of those quirky and mangy and starving but inexplicably cheerful stray dogs you adopt on travels. The people are incredibly friendly. A massive kebab is £1
Do you think they will be acceptable cold in Geneva?
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Paddington is the same. The big inter-city routes get announced 10 minutes before departure - with similar traveller tsunamis flooding the announced platforms.
10 minutes is luxury compared to Euston where it's often 5 or 6 minutes.
I’m staring at maybe the world’s most hideous building. The national library of Pristina
It’s like Hitler’s bunker encased in monumentalist chicken wire. It’s one of those modern buildings with a fascinating contrast between exterior and interior. Yes from the outside it’s ugly - but once you get inside - then it’s also ugly. Dingy and cramped
The park around it is so covered in litter I suspect they recently hosted the biannual Balkan Littering Festival
The Pristina Tourist Board are clearly not sponsoring this trip.
No, they’re not. The Gazette has given me £400 to spend on 2 days in Pristina (inc flights and everything) and the same immediately after in Geneva. They are respectively the cheapest and most expensive cities in Europe
Having said that, I rather like Pristina BECAUSE it is so fucked up, ugly and weird. Like one of those quirky and mangy and starving but inexplicably cheerful stray dogs you adopt on travels. The people are incredibly friendly. A massive kebab is £1
Just £400 for 2 days in Geneva...well that is going to suck! Bread and cheese with a bottle of pop for every meal while staying in the YMCA...
Including flights it is extremely hard. I have managed to swerve a dorm room but I’m in a terrible Airbnb
I’ve got about £50 left for food and entertainment so I’m envisaging a lot of walks by lake Geneva. And more kebabs
It's possible to linger for several hours over a fondue.
Unfortunately, it was one of their own. And the wreckage landed in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Experimental large drone apparently, one of only two made, designated S-70. From the video it looks like it was deliberately shot down by another aircraft at close visual range, so maybe it malfunctioned. Will be full of interesting new technology, much more interesting for the Ukranians than if it were another Su-25.
We know it coming along with a load of sin taxes / nanny state restrictions.
Ministers are facing pressure to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol after Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS highlighted the “alarming” death toll in England caused by cheap drink.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
Unfortunately, it was one of their own. And the wreckage landed in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Experimental large drone apparently, one of only two made, designated S-70. From the video it looks like it was deliberately shot down by another aircraft at close visual range, so maybe it malfunctioned. Will be full of interesting new technology, much more interesting for the Ukranians than if it were another Su-25.
And as others have pointed out, the quality of the wing surfaces don't make it look particularly stealthy. All those lovely rivetheads to produce returns. Presumably little radar-obsorbing material, either.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Unfortunately, it was one of their own. And the wreckage landed in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Experimental large drone apparently, one of only two made, designated S-70. From the video it looks like it was deliberately shot down by another aircraft at close visual range, so maybe it malfunctioned. Will be full of interesting new technology, much more interesting for the Ukranians than if it were another Su-25.
And as others have pointed out, the quality of the wing surfaces don't make it look particularly stealthy. All those lovely rivetheads to produce returns. Presumably little radar-obsorbing material, either.
Yes the comments underneath are very funny. The Russians describing it in publicity as a stealth drone, as if it was like an F-117, compared to the photos of the wreckage showing very conventional metal and rivets actually used to make it.
Unfortunately, it was one of their own. And the wreckage landed in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Experimental large drone apparently, one of only two made, designated S-70. From the video it looks like it was deliberately shot down by another aircraft at close visual range, so maybe it malfunctioned. Will be full of interesting new technology, much more interesting for the Ukranians than if it were another Su-25.
And as others have pointed out, the quality of the wing surfaces don't make it look particularly stealthy. All those lovely rivetheads to produce returns. Presumably little radar-obsorbing material, either.
Yes the comments underneath are very funny. The Russians describing it in publicity as a stealth drone, as if it was like an F-117, compared to the photos of the wreckage showing very conventional metal and rivets actually used to make it.
"Ukrainians do not have technology to shoot down Russian stealth drone! Only mighty Mother Russia has this capability...."
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
It's quite exciting for people who don't have mobility problems but must be difficult for those who do.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
The issue Euston has is that passengers use the same entrance for arrivals and departures - so you can't call people to a train until the recent arrival has emptied. One of the fixes that was implemented last November was to delay the platform announcement times - which reduced the two way use of the entrance but resulted in the Euston sprint becoming unavoidable.
Worse because it doesn't have enough platforms trains don't arrive in logical positions so one day I train is at platform 7 and the next platform 4. And if you watch realtimetrains you see trains change platform as they approach the station to say go to platform 4 - but that isn't empty so they get routed to platform 6.
The FOI request I did regarding Euston is rather interesting what they are avoiding saying but you can read between the lines..
Ironic given that Euston was originally designed to have completely separate flows for departures and arrivals. Almost 200 years ago.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
The issue Euston has is that passengers use the same entrance for arrivals and departures - so you can't call people to a train until the recent arrival has emptied. One of the fixes that was implemented last November was to delay the platform announcement times - which reduced the two way use of the entrance but resulted in the Euston sprint becoming unavoidable.
Worse because it doesn't have enough platforms trains don't arrive in logical positions so one day I train is at platform 7 and the next platform 4. And if you watch realtimetrains you see trains change platform as they approach the station to say go to platform 4 - but that isn't empty so they get routed to platform 6.
The FOI request I did regarding Euston is rather interesting what they are avoiding saying but you can read between the lines..
Ironic given that Euston was originally designed to have completely separate flows for departures and arrivals. Almost 200 years ago.
You should design it like an airport gate, so that all of those incoming who are looking for the street or the Tube are routed straight there via a side exit, and only those looking for another train go to the main concourse.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
It's quite exciting for people who don't have mobility problems but must be difficult for those who do.
Yes, it's ridiculous. A calm steady stroll to the train would be preferable for everybody. It's just about making the best of it - which for me means pretending I'm an American footballer in full flow, twisting and weaving to a touchdown (of my 60+ oyster) on the ticker barrier at the target platform. Others will have their own ways of handling it, I'm sure.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
I rather wonder if the idea is that they don't. Fewer embarrassing news reports of Olympic athletes not being able to get off at the other end, go to the loo en route, etc.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
It's quite exciting for people who don't have mobility problems but must be difficult for those who do.
Yes, it's ridiculous. A calm steady stroll to the train would be preferable for everybody. It's just about making the best of it - which for me means pretending I'm an American footballer in full flow, twisting and weaving to a touchdown (of my 60+ oyster) on the ticker barrier at the target platform. Others will have their own ways of handling it, I'm sure.
Are the announcements voice only? (Because if they don't update the departures signs then how do deaf and hard of hearing folk cope?)
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
It's core body temperature that counts. So long as your hands and feet don't freeze, they are warmed by the blood flow from the body core and can cool down somewhat anyway.
Also - more important to have a head covering than gloves.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
With luck - from what I gather fairly often they don't..
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Freedom of the arms and maximum lightness and packability. Ideal for the travel writer taking exquisitely observed notes or hauling himself up Ottoman minarets
I've thought for a while the next big political movement in this country (and more widely in other parts of Europe) will be something along the lines of Wagenknecht's BSW party in Germany.
This evolution will further diminish the relevance of terms like "right" and "left" which are already only used either as laxy short hand or perjorative terms.
Reform, for example, has, I believe, a dichotomy between elements of the leadership (Tice and Farage in particular) and some of the membership. Yes, resistance to immigration is their glue but just as every other party, it is evolving into a broader church attracting those who are culturally conservative and strongly patriotic or nationalist.
The fault line is, as it often is, around the role of the State and economics. Some might prefer the small-State, low tax model (I'm sure Tice and Farage, who are basically unreconstructed Thatcherites, do) but other parts of Reform want an active, interventionist State with public money spent, not, as they see it, on migrants, but on improving the areas in which they live.
This is why Johnson's "levelling up" agenda was so popular with ex-Labour voters in 2019 and why, when it wasn't delivered, the sense of betrayal drove hundreds of thousands of those ex-2019 Conservatives into the arms of Reform.
I'm no Conservative or Reform supporter but I can see the attraction and desirability of levelling up - the cutting back of HS2 by Sunak was probably the final nail in the coffin and it may be Reform's local strength will increase quickly (we see this in Blackpool and Amber Valley, two classic WWC areas which have frankly been let down by successive Governments of all stripes).
How will Reform evolve? It won't be Farage's plaything for ever and I suspect it will become something less like a British AfD or VOX and more like a British BSW.
Depends on what is meant by 'levelling up'.
Northern England currently has full employment for the first time for 50+ years together with affordable housing.
If you're a WWC teenager in Amber Valley you're opportunities are better than those of any previous generation.
But opportunities are not guarantees.
The right to try is not the same as a right to have.
Regrettably many will fail to take these opportunities and will be 'left behind'.
Just as there are so many 'left behind' from previous generations.
And for these 'levelling up' is really just a different way of saying 'take it from them and give it to me'.
With the 'them' often being people like themselves who have been far more successful.
I'm sure you wouldn't either but I don't just define "levelling up" in terms of house prices or employment propects (important though those factors are). It's also about improving local services and infrastructure particularly transport to alleviate how difficult many parts of rural England are without access to a car.
It's also about countering the perception successive Governments have spent more on London and parts of the south than rural and provincial England and within that notion is the perception public money hasn't been well or wisely spent and that triggers both cultural and immigration-related concerns.
I agree the right to try is not the right to have but many would argue the scales have been tipped as to make it almost impossible even if you try and perhaps all they want is to even out that perceived lack of opportunity.
You're right about the travel difficulties of the poor and rural.
And the way to help them is through better roads and buses.
Now compare with how much politicians, or the media or PB talk about roads and buses compared with trains and especially HS2.
If you're old or poor or in a rural areas what does HS2 mean to you ? Nothing but an expensive way for rich people to go to and from London.
Which is a failure to explain HS2, which would help extend rail services to more people by freeing up capacity on local lines.
I agree that bus services are by the far the most important thing to fix though, and not just in rural areas. From richest to poorest income deciles, travel mode looks something like:
Rail (flat distribution except for a big spike in decile 10, mainly because most commuter services head into London) Car* (drops off significantly in income deciles 1 and 2) Metro/trams etc Bus (lots more use in deciles 1-4, and this has seen the biggest fall since 2010)
*Car use is interesting, because the mileage and car ownership distributions look quite different. Rich people tend to have more than one car and do relatively shorter journeys; poor people have one or no cars and do longer ones if they do. That's why motoring taxation has to be calibrated carefully and the current system is wrong, imo.
Explaining about capacity on local railway lines means little to nothing when you're talking to people who don't use local railway lines.
There are some people who use rail only for local commuting, there are some people who use rail only for an occasional day out in London, there are some people who haven't been on a train for five years, ten years or longer.
Same with cycling. But you put the infrastructure in and... boom.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
It's quite exciting for people who don't have mobility problems but must be difficult for those who do.
Yes, it's ridiculous. A calm steady stroll to the train would be preferable for everybody. It's just about making the best of it - which for me means pretending I'm an American footballer in full flow, twisting and weaving to a touchdown (of my 60+ oyster) on the ticker barrier at the target platform. Others will have their own ways of handling it, I'm sure.
My way of handling it is to travel via Marylebone and thank my lucky stars I have the option. The journey takes half an hour longer but delays and outages are much rarer. I wouldn't argue that privatisation has been an unmitigated success but Chiltern has been exceptional in both service provision and station restoration, thanks to the sadly-missed Adrian Shooter.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
I rather wonder if the idea is that they don't. Fewer embarrassing news reports of Olympic athletes not being able to get off at the other end, go to the loo en route, etc.
That would be in line with the sequence of events over the embarrassing reports of hospital patients drinking the water from flower vases. It wasn't long after those reports emerged the hospitals banned flowers.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Paddington is the same. The big inter-city routes get announced 10 minutes before departure - with similar traveller tsunamis flooding the announced platforms.
10 minutes is luxury compared to Euston where it's often 5 or 6 minutes.
RealTimeTrains (RTT) is your friend for platform allocations.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
Not sure but I can imagine it might cause a problem. I think usually you know the platform reasonably well in advance so you could go there ahead of the rush. But with a late announcement, or a platform change, that wouldn't necessarily work.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
It's not about being warm, it's about being seen wearing a Patagonia gilet, mark of the finance bro.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
With luck - from what I gather fairly often they don't..
My own experience with booking travel assistance would tend to confirm that.
The Labour independents, and those elected as independents like Leicester's own Shockhat Adam* could form quite a grouping over time, though probably quite a loose one.
Though if Starmer stands down before the next GE, I would expect a different style of leader who might attract them back. Leaders are usually replaced by someone who covers what was missed by the last one. So I would expect Labour's next leader to be more openly left wing and a better communicator of vision, perhaps Ms Rayner for example.
*he seems quite left wing in his policies, as far as I can tell. He isn't particularly socially conservative.
The basic problem is that other than the current grouping on Gaza, there's probably not enough unity to hold things together to form a meaningful movement that could do Labour serious damage.
Most obviously, Duffield is persona non-grata on the left - If it were a market, I'd have a small wager on her fighting the next election as a Conservative, if they look resurgent having returned to a semblance of sanity.
The Gaza independents, with the exception of Corbyn are more socially conservative than the left, for obvious reasons.
To pick out Adam as you do, the 'not particularly social conservative'. His one statement on LGBTQ+ issues and education is that though children should be taught about all relationships "parents must be taken into consideration".
Diplomatic, but very much the line of mainstream social conservatives, not those who sit to the left of Labour because they think it's too right-wing. His not spouting the views of some supporters is to be welcomed - but it doesn't mean Muslim communitarian politics sits that easily alongside blue haired ultra-progressivism once you move beyond Israel/Palestine and ask what policies each actually wants, over slogans.
The groupings and alliances that formed over Iraq failed to make much headway. In part due to this and the genuine 'terrorists/dictators who dislike the same people we do are good, actually' hard left, who believe things that shock progressives for who Labour is an eternal disappointment and get drawn in by agreement on anti-establishment, 'anti-war' rhetoric.
Then you have those who basically want to still be left-wing Labour politicians with solid achievements, and those who want something more vibey and incoherent like the Greens.
Corbyn provided a weird rallying point for a good while - but that was partly because he was to some extent performatively vague - supporters who'd agree on little could project their views and favourite ideas on to him, because his words were often so vacuous. Also in part because they were fighting shared enemies for control of Labour.
Once you move beyond that though, there's not necessarily much of a shared programme beyond being angry at the Labour Party. Which can work in the run up to an election they look likely to win as a rallying point for dissent- but probably needs more to sustain it in the longer term otherwise everyone starts bickering.
I think that personality counts for more than you'd think and perhaps would wish. Jeremy is a nice man, famously reluctant to attack anyone personally (even Tories with shock-horror records), and that encouraged people who are broadly pro-Labour but want Labour to be left-wing not to recoil at personal vitriol. The left needs a younger figure to rally round who isn't obviusly preoccupied with Gaza or violently anti-Labour. I'm not sure they exist at the moment, or that the FPTP system gives them much of a chance..
Obviously he is personally pleasant in the mild-mannered sense- though was noticeably less so to those who challenged him on certain issues. Where a certain sneering contempt comes through.
It's certainly how Jewish groups who met him felt - and one reason his problems with antisemitism got worse as just refused to give those raising issues the basic courtesy of listening to them in good faith. Or his reactions to being questioned on his dodgier views and their logical consequences like more recently on Ukraine - which was often to sneer and invite vitriol on the questioner by acting like they were too stupid to understand his point. When of course they understood it perfectly well.
Nice to certain people, not to those he deems unworthy - they get accused of "subliminal nastiness" for the mildest criticism and questioning or get thrown to the wolves like Luciana Berger. Unless we are saying he has a specific racism problem there that means his niceness leaves his body at certain times.
But anyway, to get to the wider point, and what a younger model should or should not be aiming at. Really I think it's about being a 'Vibes Socialist'. Corbyn's great attribute (and also arguably a downfall) was his vagueness. On domestic policy the answer to everything was "socialism" without ever really defining what that meant as a theory beyond "more nice things, fewer bad ones".
On foreign policy it's "peace" without getting into the weeds of what that would mean, or the complexities that mean others don't immediately agree with something so lovely immediately.
The result was that he was much more unifying on the left than McDonnell, or before them Benn - who both have/had, much more fully formed theories of change. At the cost of not being able to draw on the wider support Corbyn got.
By being vague, Corbyn could initially draw support from those broadly on the soft left (before went off him on seeing reality), the far left, hippyish progressives, and so on. He could get support from Greens despite going on TV and suggesting we reopen coal mines. Or younger pro-Europeans despite being a Eurosceptic stick in the mud.
Because it was all based on the vibes that 'he's a nice old socialist granddad' who couldn't possibly believe the bad or daft things I disagree with - even when, when you drilled down, err, he did or didn't really have much to say as hadn't given it much deep thought.
By 2019 of course the vagueness that was once an asset wasn't any longer as by then opponents had been able to define him by his worst views and their own interpretations of them.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Freedom of the arms and maximum lightness and packability. Ideal for the travel writer taking exquisitely observed notes or hauling himself up Ottoman minarets
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Freedom of the arms and maximum lightness and packability. Ideal for the travel writer taking exquisitely observed notes or hauling himself up Ottoman minarets
Did you look at the option of dossing down under a bridge or in a doorway to eke out the funds in the very expensive place?
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Freedom of the arms and maximum lightness and packability. Ideal for the travel writer taking exquisitely observed notes or hauling himself up Ottoman minarets
Did you look at the option of dossing down under a bridge or in a doorway to eke out the funds in the very expensive place?
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Paddington is the same. The big inter-city routes get announced 10 minutes before departure - with similar traveller tsunamis flooding the announced platforms.
10 minutes is luxury compared to Euston where it's often 5 or 6 minutes.
RealTimeTrains (RTT) is your friend for platform allocations.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
I rather wonder if the idea is that they don't. Fewer embarrassing news reports of Olympic athletes not being able to get off at the other end, go to the loo en route, etc.
There were a few reports after the Paralympics, of train companies being woefully prepared for dozens of people in wheelchairs turning up at the same time, even large stations not having sufficient numbers of ramps and staff to assist. I think Eurostar were prepared for it, but the UK domestic services very much not.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
It's not about being warm, it's about being seen wearing a Patagonia gilet, mark of the finance bro.
Yes, it’s a real clothes cliché at the moment. Every unoriginal bloke in finance is wearing them - I swear they all watched Billions and think if they wear a gillet then people will think they are a hedgie. It’s actually quite tragic how ubiquitous they are.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
It's not about being warm, it's about being seen wearing a Patagonia gilet, mark of the finance bro.
Yes, it’s a real clothes cliché at the moment. Every unoriginal bloke in finance is wearing them - I swear they all watched Billions and think if they wear a gillet then people will think they are a hedgie. It’s actually quite tragic how ubiquitous they are.
If no one has already posted these, the BMG poll numbers:
Labour 30% Conservative 25% (-1) Reform 20% (+1) Liberal Democrats 13% (+1) Greens 7% (-1) Others 4%
Not much change over September - the main difference between BMG and Techne (fieldwork in the same time frame - October 2nd and 3rd) is Techne is 4% higher on "Others" and 4% lower on the combined Conservative-Reform number.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
It's quite exciting for people who don't have mobility problems but must be difficult for those who do.
Yes, it's ridiculous. A calm steady stroll to the train would be preferable for everybody. It's just about making the best of it - which for me means pretending I'm an American footballer in full flow, twisting and weaving to a touchdown (of my 60+ oyster) on the ticker barrier at the target platform. Others will have their own ways of handling it, I'm sure.
My way of handling it is to travel via Marylebone and thank my lucky stars I have the option. The journey takes half an hour longer but delays and outages are much rarer. I wouldn't argue that privatisation has been an unmitigated success but Chiltern has been exceptional in both service provision and station restoration, thanks to the sadly-missed Adrian Shooter.
Good call. I'd also accept a longer train ride using Marylebone (nice station) instead of Euston.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
It's not about being warm, it's about being seen wearing a Patagonia gilet, mark of the finance bro.
Yes, it’s a real clothes cliché at the moment. Every unoriginal bloke in finance is wearing them - I swear they all watched Billions and think if they wear a gillet then people will think they are a hedgie. It’s actually quite tragic how ubiquitous they are.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
How do disabled or lesser able people get a train?
I rather wonder if the idea is that they don't. Fewer embarrassing news reports of Olympic athletes not being able to get off at the other end, go to the loo en route, etc.
There were a few reports after the Paralympics, of train companies being woefully prepared for dozens of people in wheelchairs turning up at the same time, even large stations not having sufficient numbers of ramps and staff to assist. I think Eurostar were prepared for it, but the UK domestic services very much not.
They generally don't care about providing a service, and are cost driven (as we know).
I was only last month that Dame Tanni Grey Thompson had physically to crawl off a train in Kings Cross.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
If we widen the question to gilets generally, they allow a greater range of temperature control: with just four basic items; t-shirt, sweater, gilet, jacket, and combinations thereof you can cope with any temperature from cold to warm. Plus a gilet gives you more pockets. The one I bought recently from Mountain Warehouse https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/alder-mens-gilet-p8693.aspx/jet-black/ is less than £10:
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
I suspect the answer is always because it has (a half decent) pub...
On that basis the Sheffield Tap is one of the few redeeming features of Sheffield...
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
If we widen the question to gilets generally, they allow a greater range of temperature control: with just four basic items; t-shirt, sweater, gilet, jacket, and combinations thereof you can cope with any temperature from cold to warm. Plus a gilet gives you more pockets. The one I bought recently from Mountain Warehouse https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/alder-mens-gilet-p8693.aspx/jet-black/ is less than £10:
Yes. They are incredibly practical in terms of heat control. So if you travel a lot they are the best thing to wear. Combine with a hoodie or a thicker jacket for proper cold, use thin layers beneath the gilet (eg Rab)
And they never crumple or look worn and you can wash them in moments and they will pack down to tininess and weigh ounces
A godsend for me
So I certainly don’t wear them for fashion. For me it is purely functional and excellent at that
Ok now I’m going to see where Milosovic started the war
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
Ironically, a few hundred yards away from Euston is St. Pancras, with several bars, restaurants, and an hotel. Perhaps the best train station facilities in the country.
A few happy memories of the old bar at Waterloo, which used to be my local London terminus, and agree with you about Manchester Victoria.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
I suspect the answer is always because it has (a half decent) pub...
On that basis the Sheffield Tap is one of the few redeeming features of Sheffield...
Although the dreaded Euston has two "Taps" right outside - the main one doing beers and lagers and another just opposite that's devoted purely to cider. At busy times there'll often be queues at the main one but the cider outlet is always virtually deserted. So if you don't mind a cider that's a godsend.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
If we widen the question to gilets generally, they allow a greater range of temperature control: with just four basic items; t-shirt, sweater, gilet, jacket, and combinations thereof you can cope with any temperature from cold to warm. Plus a gilet gives you more pockets. The one I bought recently from Mountain Warehouse https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/alder-mens-gilet-p8693.aspx/jet-black/ is less than £10:
That's a ridiculously low price for a gilet. You couldn't get two drinks in a pub for that.
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
Not sure I should be talking to a person who's just said he prefers the Reform ghastlies to a changed Labour Party back in the service of working people, but I'd say there are quite a few, since I generally like stations. Eg Charing Cross I always look forward to. Fabulously situated right by the Thames, equidistant between City and West End.
What about Zarah Sultana. From her various media appearances she is always having a dig at Starmer and labour. She is not keeping her head down to try to earn back the whip.
She seems to be positioning herself as an opposition speaker.
I also couldn’t see her winning as an Indy.
Good point, thank you for raisin' this and keeping us currant.
If no one has already posted these, the BMG poll numbers:
Labour 30% Conservative 25% (-1) Reform 20% (+1) Liberal Democrats 13% (+1) Greens 7% (-1) Others 4%
Not much change over September - the main difference between BMG and Techne (fieldwork in the same time frame - October 2nd and 3rd) is Techne is 4% higher on "Others" and 4% lower on the combined Conservative-Reform number.
SPLORG index is steady at 55/45. It was 59/41 at the July election.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
And so it begins. My photo for the day: the beginning of the winter stocks of apple crumbles. A was once an apple pie, Pidy Widy Tidy Pidy Nice insidy Apple Pie.
(With apologies to pendants - Edward Lear never wrote about crumbles.)
am hearing israel national security advisor just called indian counterpart to warn that their retaliation (in iran) is imminent. relayed "we have to do what we have to do."
To get here you go through a district of weird brothels offering “sports massage”. Then it turns into meadows of ashes, and rubble. And belching old communist power stations
The dark hills echo with distant thunder. Behind me is the monument to the many dead, where Serbian independence was slaughtered in the 14th century by the Ottomans, though both armies were essentially obliterated. It took 500 years for the Serbs to regain sovereignty after this
You cannot get in without a passport. It is the symbol of Serbian nationhood, so it is constantly attacked by Albanians
This is where Slobodan Milosevic gave his notorious speech of 1989 saying “they will beat you no more” to the Serbs, igniting the whole Yugoslav war and shattering the nation
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
Ironically, a few hundred yards away from Euston is St. Pancras, with several bars, restaurants, and an hotel. Perhaps the best train station facilities in the country.
A few happy memories of the old bar at Waterloo, which used to be my local London terminus, and agree with you about Manchester Victoria.
Derby has the Brunswick pub only a very short walk down the road. Cracking real ale pub.
Newcastle is always a station to look forward to because of the bridge crossing over the Tyne just before: what views!!
I've thought for a while the next big political movement in this country (and more widely in other parts of Europe) will be something along the lines of Wagenknecht's BSW party in Germany.
This evolution will further diminish the relevance of terms like "right" and "left" which are already only used either as laxy short hand or perjorative terms.
Reform, for example, has, I believe, a dichotomy between elements of the leadership (Tice and Farage in particular) and some of the membership. Yes, resistance to immigration is their glue but just as every other party, it is evolving into a broader church attracting those who are culturally conservative and strongly patriotic or nationalist.
The fault line is, as it often is, around the role of the State and economics. Some might prefer the small-State, low tax model (I'm sure Tice and Farage, who are basically unreconstructed Thatcherites, do) but other parts of Reform want an active, interventionist State with public money spent, not, as they see it, on migrants, but on improving the areas in which they live.
This is why Johnson's "levelling up" agenda was so popular with ex-Labour voters in 2019 and why, when it wasn't delivered, the sense of betrayal drove hundreds of thousands of those ex-2019 Conservatives into the arms of Reform.
I'm no Conservative or Reform supporter but I can see the attraction and desirability of levelling up - the cutting back of HS2 by Sunak was probably the final nail in the coffin and it may be Reform's local strength will increase quickly (we see this in Blackpool and Amber Valley, two classic WWC areas which have frankly been let down by successive Governments of all stripes).
How will Reform evolve? It won't be Farage's plaything for ever and I suspect it will become something less like a British AfD or VOX and more like a British BSW.
Depends on what is meant by 'levelling up'.
Northern England currently has full employment for the first time for 50+ years together with affordable housing.
If you're a WWC teenager in Amber Valley you're opportunities are better than those of any previous generation.
But opportunities are not guarantees.
The right to try is not the same as a right to have.
Regrettably many will fail to take these opportunities and will be 'left behind'.
Just as there are so many 'left behind' from previous generations.
And for these 'levelling up' is really just a different way of saying 'take it from them and give it to me'.
With the 'them' often being people like themselves who have been far more successful.
I'm sure you wouldn't either but I don't just define "levelling up" in terms of house prices or employment propects (important though those factors are). It's also about improving local services and infrastructure particularly transport to alleviate how difficult many parts of rural England are without access to a car.
It's also about countering the perception successive Governments have spent more on London and parts of the south than rural and provincial England and within that notion is the perception public money hasn't been well or wisely spent and that triggers both cultural and immigration-related concerns.
I agree the right to try is not the right to have but many would argue the scales have been tipped as to make it almost impossible even if you try and perhaps all they want is to even out that perceived lack of opportunity.
You're right about the travel difficulties of the poor and rural.
And the way to help them is through better roads and buses.
Now compare with how much politicians, or the media or PB talk about roads and buses compared with trains and especially HS2.
If you're old or poor or in a rural areas what does HS2 mean to you ? Nothing but an expensive way for rich people to go to and from London.
Which is a failure to explain HS2, which would help extend rail services to more people by freeing up capacity on local lines.
I agree that bus services are by the far the most important thing to fix though, and not just in rural areas. From richest to poorest income deciles, travel mode looks something like:
Rail (flat distribution except for a big spike in decile 10, mainly because most commuter services head into London) Car* (drops off significantly in income deciles 1 and 2) Metro/trams etc Bus (lots more use in deciles 1-4, and this has seen the biggest fall since 2010)
*Car use is interesting, because the mileage and car ownership distributions look quite different. Rich people tend to have more than one car and do relatively shorter journeys; poor people have one or no cars and do longer ones if they do. That's why motoring taxation has to be calibrated carefully and the current system is wrong, imo.
Explaining about capacity on local railway lines means little to nothing when you're talking to people who don't use local railway lines.
There are some people who use rail only for local commuting, there are some people who use rail only for an occasional day out in London, there are some people who haven't been on a train for five years, ten years or longer.
Same with cycling. But you put the infrastructure in and... boom.
Or you get empty cycle lanes.
Some things work in certain places and the same things don't work in other places.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Keeps the core organs (central trunk) while allowing you to move your arms to facilitate manual labour.
I've thought for a while the next big political movement in this country (and more widely in other parts of Europe) will be something along the lines of Wagenknecht's BSW party in Germany.
This evolution will further diminish the relevance of terms like "right" and "left" which are already only used either as laxy short hand or perjorative terms.
Reform, for example, has, I believe, a dichotomy between elements of the leadership (Tice and Farage in particular) and some of the membership. Yes, resistance to immigration is their glue but just as every other party, it is evolving into a broader church attracting those who are culturally conservative and strongly patriotic or nationalist.
The fault line is, as it often is, around the role of the State and economics. Some might prefer the small-State, low tax model (I'm sure Tice and Farage, who are basically unreconstructed Thatcherites, do) but other parts of Reform want an active, interventionist State with public money spent, not, as they see it, on migrants, but on improving the areas in which they live.
This is why Johnson's "levelling up" agenda was so popular with ex-Labour voters in 2019 and why, when it wasn't delivered, the sense of betrayal drove hundreds of thousands of those ex-2019 Conservatives into the arms of Reform.
I'm no Conservative or Reform supporter but I can see the attraction and desirability of levelling up - the cutting back of HS2 by Sunak was probably the final nail in the coffin and it may be Reform's local strength will increase quickly (we see this in Blackpool and Amber Valley, two classic WWC areas which have frankly been let down by successive Governments of all stripes).
How will Reform evolve? It won't be Farage's plaything for ever and I suspect it will become something less like a British AfD or VOX and more like a British BSW.
Depends on what is meant by 'levelling up'.
Northern England currently has full employment for the first time for 50+ years together with affordable housing.
If you're a WWC teenager in Amber Valley you're opportunities are better than those of any previous generation.
But opportunities are not guarantees.
The right to try is not the same as a right to have.
Regrettably many will fail to take these opportunities and will be 'left behind'.
Just as there are so many 'left behind' from previous generations.
And for these 'levelling up' is really just a different way of saying 'take it from them and give it to me'.
With the 'them' often being people like themselves who have been far more successful.
I'm sure you wouldn't either but I don't just define "levelling up" in terms of house prices or employment propects (important though those factors are). It's also about improving local services and infrastructure particularly transport to alleviate how difficult many parts of rural England are without access to a car.
It's also about countering the perception successive Governments have spent more on London and parts of the south than rural and provincial England and within that notion is the perception public money hasn't been well or wisely spent and that triggers both cultural and immigration-related concerns.
I agree the right to try is not the right to have but many would argue the scales have been tipped as to make it almost impossible even if you try and perhaps all they want is to even out that perceived lack of opportunity.
You're right about the travel difficulties of the poor and rural.
And the way to help them is through better roads and buses.
Now compare with how much politicians, or the media or PB talk about roads and buses compared with trains and especially HS2.
If you're old or poor or in a rural areas what does HS2 mean to you ? Nothing but an expensive way for rich people to go to and from London.
Which is a failure to explain HS2, which would help extend rail services to more people by freeing up capacity on local lines.
I agree that bus services are by the far the most important thing to fix though, and not just in rural areas. From richest to poorest income deciles, travel mode looks something like:
Rail (flat distribution except for a big spike in decile 10, mainly because most commuter services head into London) Car* (drops off significantly in income deciles 1 and 2) Metro/trams etc Bus (lots more use in deciles 1-4, and this has seen the biggest fall since 2010)
*Car use is interesting, because the mileage and car ownership distributions look quite different. Rich people tend to have more than one car and do relatively shorter journeys; poor people have one or no cars and do longer ones if they do. That's why motoring taxation has to be calibrated carefully and the current system is wrong, imo.
Explaining about capacity on local railway lines means little to nothing when you're talking to people who don't use local railway lines.
There are some people who use rail only for local commuting, there are some people who use rail only for an occasional day out in London, there are some people who haven't been on a train for five years, ten years or longer.
Same with cycling. But you put the infrastructure in and... boom.
To get here you go through a district of weird brothels offering “sports massage”. Then it turns into meadows of ashes, and rubble. And belching old communist power stations
The dark hills echo with distant thunder. Behind me is the monument to the many dead, where Serbian independence was slaughtered in the 14th century by the Ottomans, though both armies were essentially obliterated. It took 500 years for the Serbs to regain sovereignty after this
You cannot get in without a passport. It is the symbol of Serbian nationhood, so it is constantly attacked by Albanians
This is where Slobodan Milosevic gave his notorious speech of 1989 saying “they will beat you no more” to the Serbs, igniting the whole Yugoslav war and shattering the nation
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
Try Huddersfield. It has two pubs and is the best looking in the country.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Keeps the core organs (central trunk) while allowing you to move your arms to facilitate manual labour.
So most people in Chelsea don’t need one
The latest gadget seems to be rechargable handwarmers that you can keep in your pockets.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Keeps the core organs (central trunk) while allowing you to move your arms to facilitate manual labour.
So most people in Chelsea don’t need one
The latest gadget seems to be rechargable handwarmers that you can keep in your pockets.
I remember buying those from party poppers in the 1980s!
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Keeps the core organs (central trunk) while allowing you to move your arms to facilitate manual labour.
So most people in Chelsea don’t need one
The latest gadget seems to be rechargable handwarmers that you can keep in your pockets.
My work-from-home snoodie has a similar heater for the small of the back.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Keeps the core organs (central trunk) while allowing you to move your arms to facilitate manual labour.
So most people in Chelsea don’t need one
The latest gadget seems to be rechargable handwarmers that you can keep in your pockets.
My work-from-home snoodie has a similar heater for the small of the back.
Utter bliss...
Starmer should issue them to pensioners as an energy saving measure.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Keeps the core organs (central trunk) while allowing you to move your arms to facilitate manual labour.
So most people in Chelsea don’t need one
The latest gadget seems to be rechargable handwarmers that you can keep in your pockets.
My work-from-home snoodie has a similar heater for the small of the back.
Utter bliss...
Starmer should issue them to pensioners as an energy saving measure.
Good heavens no. They're far too pleasurable for Starmerland.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
That’s not really all that surprising given they are in the middle of a leadership election. They are too busy talking amongst themselves rather than to the electorate.
To get here you go through a district of weird brothels offering “sports massage”. Then it turns into meadows of ashes, and rubble. And belching old communist power stations
The dark hills echo with distant thunder. Behind me is the monument to the many dead, where Serbian independence was slaughtered in the 14th century by the Ottomans, though both armies were essentially obliterated. It took 500 years for the Serbs to regain sovereignty after this
You cannot get in without a passport. It is the symbol of Serbian nationhood, so it is constantly attacked by Albanians
This is where Slobodan Milosevic gave his notorious speech of 1989 saying “they will beat you no more” to the Serbs, igniting the whole Yugoslav war and shattering the nation
Superb. Majorly dark noom
I like the cloudscape.
The whole place is brimming with the blackest Noom
The ominous storms certainly helped, but I think that even on a perfect summer's day it would be brilliantly sinister. The horrible grey factories and fuming power stations, the creepy red light district (around the heavily fortified US Embassy), the litter and trash and squalor and shabby police defending the site from Albanian Muslim attacks
Nearby is the tomb of Murad, where the "internal organs" of Sultan Murad are enshrined. The only Ottoman Sultan ever killed in a battle; he too fell at the Battle of Kosovo
To Serbs the day of this battle is called "Vidovdan Day" - 28th June in the Gregorian Calendar. What else happened on Vidovdan Day?
Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, setting off World War 1
Truly epochal Noom! And you can get bizarre massages
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
But we know the polls are likely off, and overstate Labour by 6-7. We have the most tangible proof: the election
If that is still the case, and it is quite plausible, then Labour are down around 23-26 like the Tories, and that shines an entirely different light on everything
What we need is a major polling company to get really forensic and transparent on what went wrong in July, then show us their workings, then fix the problems, and THEN do new and better polls
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
Nah, it just tells us that most normal people aren’t paying attention
To get here you go through a district of weird brothels offering “sports massage”. Then it turns into meadows of ashes, and rubble. And belching old communist power stations
The dark hills echo with distant thunder. Behind me is the monument to the many dead, where Serbian independence was slaughtered in the 14th century by the Ottomans, though both armies were essentially obliterated. It took 500 years for the Serbs to regain sovereignty after this
You cannot get in without a passport. It is the symbol of Serbian nationhood, so it is constantly attacked by Albanians
This is where Slobodan Milosevic gave his notorious speech of 1989 saying “they will beat you no more” to the Serbs, igniting the whole Yugoslav war and shattering the nation
Superb. Majorly dark noom
I like the cloudscape.
The whole place is brimming with the blackest Noom
The ominous storms certainly helped, but I think that even on a perfect summer's day it would be brilliantly sinister. The horrible grey factories and fuming power stations, the creepy red light district (around the heavily fortified US Embassy), the litter and trash and squalor and shabby police defending the site from Albanian Muslim attacks
Nearby is the tomb of Murad, where the "internal organs" of Sultan Murad are enshrined. The only Ottoman Sultan ever killed in a battle; he too fell at the Battle of Kosovo
To Serbs the day of this battle is called "Vidovdan Day" - 28th June in the Gregorian Calendar. What else happened on Vidovdan Day?
Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, setting off World War 1
Truly epochal Noom! And you can get bizarre massages
It is remarkable that Christians and Muslims are still physically fighting in the EXACT spot where they fought, with great bloodshed and consequence, on June 28, 1389, roughtly 5 klicks north of Pristina, past the 24 hour love motel
When you consider how much has changed since 1389...... but not THAT
Seriously lovely, ancient, noomy old mosque. Prayer time. Tucked away in the decrepit old town. Lots of men in puffer gilets including me
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
I've never really seen the point of the puffer gilet. I have got one, but I never wear it. Surely it is one's extremities that are most at risk of getting cold - the more extreme the colder.
Keeps the core organs (central trunk) while allowing you to move your arms to facilitate manual labour.
So most people in Chelsea don’t need one
The latest gadget seems to be rechargable handwarmers that you can keep in your pockets.
My work-from-home snoodie has a similar heater for the small of the back.
Utter bliss...
Starmer should issue them to pensioners as an energy saving measure.
To get here you go through a district of weird brothels offering “sports massage”. Then it turns into meadows of ashes, and rubble. And belching old communist power stations
The dark hills echo with distant thunder. Behind me is the monument to the many dead, where Serbian independence was slaughtered in the 14th century by the Ottomans, though both armies were essentially obliterated. It took 500 years for the Serbs to regain sovereignty after this
You cannot get in without a passport. It is the symbol of Serbian nationhood, so it is constantly attacked by Albanians
This is where Slobodan Milosevic gave his notorious speech of 1989 saying “they will beat you no more” to the Serbs, igniting the whole Yugoslav war and shattering the nation
Superb. Majorly dark noom
I like the cloudscape.
The whole place is brimming with the blackest Noom
The ominous storms certainly helped, but I think that even on a perfect summer's day it would be brilliantly sinister. The horrible grey factories and fuming power stations, the creepy red light district (around the heavily fortified US Embassy), the litter and trash and squalor and shabby police defending the site from Albanian Muslim attacks
Nearby is the tomb of Murad, where the "internal organs" of Sultan Murad are enshrined. The only Ottoman Sultan ever killed in a battle; he too fell at the Battle of Kosovo
To Serbs the day of this battle is called "Vidovdan Day" - 28th June in the Gregorian Calendar. What else happened on Vidovdan Day?
Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, setting off World War 1
Truly epochal Noom! And you can get bizarre massages
Known as the Field of the Blackbirds.
Yes!
And I actually saw a dark wintry flock of them, haunting the ash-fields, near the monument
Euston has (immediately, as of right now) on the orders of @LouHaigh turned off its annoying giant advertising board that replaced the departure board. But the thing is… it was purposely designed to be annoying, to cover up for lack of investment.
So they just got rid of the departures board because everyone was looking at it, so now everyone has to walk round the station trying to work out which trains go from which platforms? Which idiot came up with that idea?
Very much agree. I could not believe it when I cam back from France earlier this month and the Departures Board which could be seen from everywhere in the Concourse was trying to sell me airfreshner, Glade as it happened. This must be a case, like Gary Linaker with his crisps where most people would make a point of choosing a different brand because of the advertising.
I had incorrectly assumed, having not my been there for years, that they’d replaced the old departures board with a new one that also incorporated advertising space, which would make sense. I hadn’t realised that they had left no departures board at all, because why the hell would you have a main line terminus station with 18 platforms and no departures boards?
There were departure boards, just in the middle of the concourse. There was some analysis that found this actually helped with crowding with people spreading out a bit more.
But the giant advertising screens were just a bit ridiculous.
Euston is weirdly secretive about what platform trains are going to depart from - such information is highly prized and the subject of rumour. I think there are paid-for apps which tell you. The result is that once the platform is announced, 400 anxious travellers bolt for the platform in the hope ofgetting a seat. Obviously this is bad for passengers. But I don't see who benefits from such secrecy. Presumably someone thinks this better for Euston than the convetional approach, and I'd love to know why.
Every time I visit London I have to engage in the infamous run to the platforms at Euston when they give you about 5 minutes before the train is departing.
Yes, I've done that many times. You have to get a shift on to make it. Quite exciting. The only time I failed was my own fault. I figured I had just enough time to nip into the M&S halfway down the tunnel and grab a bag of nuts. I figured wrongly. I got the nuts but not the train. Felt pretty bleak ten minutes later, back on the concourse, nibbling those nuts.
One of the many fundamental problems with Euston is that each horde of rushing passengers from a late incoming train has to thread its way through an equal and opposite horde of stationery would-be passengers rooted to the concourse in anxious expectation of the four-minute warning.
Yes exactly. I was kidding with "quite exciting". It isn't. It's a poor configuration which adds needless stress. Unpleasant too because you have to kind of dodge and brush against people as you make your run. There are stations I really look forward to passing through but Euston isn't one of them.
Ooh, go on, let's have a note of cheer - which stations do you look forward to passing through? York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
Try Huddersfield. It has two pubs and is the best looking in the country.
For all I rue the state of some parts of the town now, I still recall as someone who grew up a mere 25 miles away, first walking out into St George's Square in its full pomp in my late twenties and thinking, damn me, why do I not know about this place.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
But we know the polls are likely off, and overstate Labour by 6-7. We have the most tangible proof: the election
If that is still the case, and it is quite plausible, then Labour are down around 23-26 like the Tories, and that shines an entirely different light on everything
What we need is a major polling company to get really forensic and transparent on what went wrong in July, then show us their workings, then fix the problems, and THEN do new and better polls
Voting intention lags approval ratings, and Labour’s ratings are heading into the toilet.
This time next year, I would not be surprised if Labour are third, behind Reform.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
But we know the polls are likely off, and overstate Labour by 6-7. We have the most tangible proof: the election
If that is still the case, and it is quite plausible, then Labour are down around 23-26 like the Tories, and that shines an entirely different light on everything
What we need is a major polling company to get really forensic and transparent on what went wrong in July, then show us their workings, then fix the problems, and THEN do new and better polls
Voting intention lags approval ratings, and Labour’s ratings are heading into the toilet.
This time next year, I would not be surprised if Labour are third, behind Reform.
You mean, behind Reform and the Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives in fourth, presuambly?
I've thought for a while the next big political movement in this country (and more widely in other parts of Europe) will be something along the lines of Wagenknecht's BSW party in Germany.
This evolution will further diminish the relevance of terms like "right" and "left" which are already only used either as laxy short hand or perjorative terms.
Reform, for example, has, I believe, a dichotomy between elements of the leadership (Tice and Farage in particular) and some of the membership. Yes, resistance to immigration is their glue but just as every other party, it is evolving into a broader church attracting those who are culturally conservative and strongly patriotic or nationalist.
The fault line is, as it often is, around the role of the State and economics. Some might prefer the small-State, low tax model (I'm sure Tice and Farage, who are basically unreconstructed Thatcherites, do) but other parts of Reform want an active, interventionist State with public money spent, not, as they see it, on migrants, but on improving the areas in which they live.
This is why Johnson's "levelling up" agenda was so popular with ex-Labour voters in 2019 and why, when it wasn't delivered, the sense of betrayal drove hundreds of thousands of those ex-2019 Conservatives into the arms of Reform.
I'm no Conservative or Reform supporter but I can see the attraction and desirability of levelling up - the cutting back of HS2 by Sunak was probably the final nail in the coffin and it may be Reform's local strength will increase quickly (we see this in Blackpool and Amber Valley, two classic WWC areas which have frankly been let down by successive Governments of all stripes).
How will Reform evolve? It won't be Farage's plaything for ever and I suspect it will become something less like a British AfD or VOX and more like a British BSW.
Depends on what is meant by 'levelling up'.
Northern England currently has full employment for the first time for 50+ years together with affordable housing.
If you're a WWC teenager in Amber Valley you're opportunities are better than those of any previous generation.
But opportunities are not guarantees.
The right to try is not the same as a right to have.
Regrettably many will fail to take these opportunities and will be 'left behind'.
Just as there are so many 'left behind' from previous generations.
And for these 'levelling up' is really just a different way of saying 'take it from them and give it to me'.
With the 'them' often being people like themselves who have been far more successful.
I'm sure you wouldn't either but I don't just define "levelling up" in terms of house prices or employment propects (important though those factors are). It's also about improving local services and infrastructure particularly transport to alleviate how difficult many parts of rural England are without access to a car.
It's also about countering the perception successive Governments have spent more on London and parts of the south than rural and provincial England and within that notion is the perception public money hasn't been well or wisely spent and that triggers both cultural and immigration-related concerns.
I agree the right to try is not the right to have but many would argue the scales have been tipped as to make it almost impossible even if you try and perhaps all they want is to even out that perceived lack of opportunity.
We should level up people, not places. All experience shows that people are more productive in London and some other cities in the south east than in rotting parts of the north. We should stop obsessing about areas that have no economic future, no matter how many overpriced train links we build there or white elephant factories are built and fail there, and start to focus on our strengths.
Labour mobility is an important driver of economic growth, and something we as a country do really badly. Those that want to should be able to move, rather than forced to stay in place by a huge house price differential and artificially high public sector salaries, minimum wages and welfare subsidies.
You need both. The problem is previous governments have gone we will move some civil servants out of London and fund some white elephant that will do it, but that doesn't sort it, while educational achievement in the North lags the South.
However, all the talent from the North goes to the SE, because poor job prospects, poor infrastructure etc e.g I am not going to set up a business somewhere with poor internet, high crime, poor housing, poor connections to set of the country.
And it comes back again and again, to also, you can't get f##k all built of any size, and it all ends up going through central government in London.
--
Edit - I imagine the brain drain from North to South doesn't help educational achievement in the North. If loads of smart motivated people leave, who are much more likely to be motivating their kids to strive to achieve. And that has knock on effect as your Mum / Dad has a well nice house / car, how come, well they have this good job...how did they get that....they got good A-levels, went to a good uni.
Reading about Denise Coates and Bet365 in the Graun this morning, it looks like she stayed in her home town, runs the business from there, and has invested in the area, thereby proving that you don't have to go to London or the SE to be successful.
Hmmm, kinda of. I'm from Stoke, it is in an absolute and utter state and gets worse all the time. Bet365 is a large employer in the area (which is good), at one point John Caudwell was, but increasingly many of the jobs are in Eastern Europe and there is the dirty little secret of the Asian part of the business is where the big bucks come from.
So if business growth in a depressed area doesn't help "level it up", what does?
No, I am saying that is one business. One key problem in Stoke, the schooling in appalling. It wasn't that many years ago the government had to send in specialist team to take over all the local school and restart from scratch. Not one failing school, all of them. I think they were ranked in the bottom 10 regions on Ofsted reviews.
Fair enough. The schooling problem is concerning. Today's pupils are tomorrow's doctors teachers, engineers, lawyers, farmers, politicians etc. What hope is there if we can't invest in their education?
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
But we know the polls are likely off, and overstate Labour by 6-7. We have the most tangible proof: the election
If that is still the case, and it is quite plausible, then Labour are down around 23-26 like the Tories, and that shines an entirely different light on everything
What we need is a major polling company to get really forensic and transparent on what went wrong in July, then show us their workings, then fix the problems, and THEN do new and better polls
Voting intention lags approval ratings, and Labour’s ratings are heading into the toilet.
This time next year, I would not be surprised if Labour are third, behind Reform.
You mean, behind Reform and the Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives in fourth, presuambly?
Nothing would surprise me now. We may be back to Summer 2019.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
But we know the polls are likely off, and overstate Labour by 6-7. We have the most tangible proof: the election
If that is still the case, and it is quite plausible, then Labour are down around 23-26 like the Tories, and that shines an entirely different light on everything
What we need is a major polling company to get really forensic and transparent on what went wrong in July, then show us their workings, then fix the problems, and THEN do new and better polls
Voting intention lags approval ratings, and Labour’s ratings are heading into the toilet.
This time next year, I would not be surprised if Labour are third, behind Reform.
You mean, behind Reform and the Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives in fourth, presuambly?
Nothing would surprise me now. We may be back to Summer 2019.
I don’t see how Labour avoid polling meltdown. Starmer is too charmless and they have no ideas what to do, apart from really really bad ones (Chagos, WFA, Carbon Capture)
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
Labour 31% Conservative 24% Reform 20% Liberal Democrat 11% Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
I am not sure whether we should pay any attention to the polls given they were so far out in the general election. They got the result right but that's it: the percentages were way off.
We shouldn't. But of fun and all that.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
But we know the polls are likely off, and overstate Labour by 6-7. We have the most tangible proof: the election
If that is still the case, and it is quite plausible, then Labour are down around 23-26 like the Tories, and that shines an entirely different light on everything
What we need is a major polling company to get really forensic and transparent on what went wrong in July, then show us their workings, then fix the problems, and THEN do new and better polls
Voting intention lags approval ratings, and Labour’s ratings are heading into the toilet.
This time next year, I would not be surprised if Labour are third, behind Reform.
You mean, behind Reform and the Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives in fourth, presuambly?
Nothing would surprise me now. We may be back to Summer 2019.
I don’t see how Labour avoid polling meltdown. Starmer is too charmless and they have no ideas what to do, apart from really really bad ones (Chagos, WFA, Carbon Capture)
Simply because they have a huge majority, and really quite a lot of Labour MPs just see the job as a pay-check, with the option of bigger pay-checks if you play your cards right.
Edit: And they're going to say whatever the public wants to hear.
Comments
At some point in the future you'll have to start getting bottles instead, as in rural Ireland.
I feel like Oscar Wilde in the Cafe Royal crossed with Sartre at the Cafe de Flore crossed with an old hobo outside the biggest Spoons in Newent
This could be funny, watching him try and find a free bus from the airport to the city, and scrounging around the supermarket half an hour before closing time trying to find the bargain bin of nearly expired food.
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1842512157201617353
Unfortunately, it was one of their own. And the wreckage landed in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
‘More serious than we had hoped’: Bird flu deaths mount among California dairy cows
To coin a phrase, it feels like a “hidden gem”
Also - more important to have a head covering than gloves.
It's certainly how Jewish groups who met him felt - and one reason his problems with antisemitism got worse as just refused to give those raising issues the basic courtesy of listening to them in good faith. Or his reactions to being questioned on his dodgier views and their logical consequences like more recently on Ukraine - which was often to sneer and invite vitriol on the questioner by acting like they were too stupid to understand his point. When of course they understood it perfectly well.
Nice to certain people, not to those he deems unworthy - they get accused of "subliminal nastiness" for the mildest criticism and questioning or get thrown to the wolves like Luciana Berger. Unless we are saying he has a specific racism problem there that means his niceness leaves his body at certain times.
But anyway, to get to the wider point, and what a younger model should or should not be aiming at. Really I think it's about being a 'Vibes Socialist'. Corbyn's great attribute (and also arguably a downfall) was his vagueness. On domestic policy the answer to everything was "socialism" without ever really defining what that meant as a theory beyond "more nice things, fewer bad ones".
On foreign policy it's "peace" without getting into the weeds of what that would mean, or the complexities that mean others don't immediately agree with something so lovely immediately.
The result was that he was much more unifying on the left than McDonnell, or before them Benn - who both have/had, much more fully formed theories of change. At the cost of not being able to draw on the wider support Corbyn got.
By being vague, Corbyn could initially draw support from those broadly on the soft left (before went off him on seeing reality), the far left, hippyish progressives, and so on. He could get support from Greens despite going on TV and suggesting we reopen coal mines. Or younger pro-Europeans despite being a Eurosceptic stick in the mud.
Because it was all based on the vibes that 'he's a nice old socialist granddad' who couldn't possibly believe the bad or daft things I disagree with - even when, when you drilled down, err, he did or didn't really have much to say as hadn't given it much deep thought.
By 2019 of course the vagueness that was once an asset wasn't any longer as by then opponents had been able to define him by his worst views and their own interpretations of them.
Unsettling but cool.
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:EUS?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt
York for me. And Manchester Victoria, 'cos of its pub.
If no one has already posted these, the BMG poll numbers:
Labour 30%
Conservative 25% (-1)
Reform 20% (+1)
Liberal Democrats 13% (+1)
Greens 7% (-1)
Others 4%
Not much change over September - the main difference between BMG and Techne (fieldwork in the same time frame - October 2nd and 3rd) is Techne is 4% higher on "Others" and 4% lower on the combined Conservative-Reform number.
I was only last month that Dame Tanni Grey Thompson had physically to crawl off a train in Kings Cross.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgPNrtU8yHQ
"All I want is the same miserable experience of commuting as everyone else."
A very good description of her lived experience.
On that basis the Sheffield Tap is one of the few redeeming features of Sheffield...
And they never crumple or look worn and you can wash them in moments and they will pack down to tininess and weigh ounces
A godsend for me
So I certainly don’t wear them for fashion. For me it is purely functional and excellent at that
Ok now I’m going to see where Milosovic started the war
A few happy memories of the old bar at Waterloo, which used to be my local London terminus, and agree with you about Manchester Victoria.
Labour 31%
Conservative 24%
Reform 20%
Liberal Democrat 11%
Greens 8%
However, from Opinium's own tweet:
These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially compared to our past Voting Intention work, as they are not weighted to our standard weightset.
A was once an apple pie,
Pidy Widy
Tidy Pidy
Nice insidy Apple Pie.
(With apologies to pendants - Edward Lear never wrote about crumbles.)
am hearing israel national security advisor just called indian counterpart to warn that their retaliation (in iran) is imminent. relayed "we have to do what we have to do."
To get here you go through a district of weird brothels offering “sports massage”. Then it turns into meadows of ashes, and rubble. And belching old communist power stations
The dark hills echo with distant thunder. Behind me is the monument to the many dead, where Serbian independence was slaughtered in the 14th century by the Ottomans, though both armies were essentially obliterated. It took 500 years for the Serbs to regain sovereignty after this
You cannot get in without a passport. It is the symbol of Serbian nationhood, so it is constantly attacked by Albanians
This is where Slobodan Milosevic gave his notorious speech of 1989 saying “they will beat you no more” to the Serbs, igniting the whole Yugoslav war and shattering the nation
Superb. Majorly dark noom
Newcastle is always a station to look forward to because of the bridge crossing over the Tyne just before: what views!!
Some things work in certain places and the same things don't work in other places.
So most people in Chelsea don’t need one
Utter bliss...
Brace.
If you are a Iranian theocrat who wants to build a nuke.
But Labour keep having bad weeks and keep being ahead. By less than in 2022/3 (hence the losses in local by-elections), but still ahead.
At some point, that starts telling us something, probably about the predicament the Conservatives are in.
The ominous storms certainly helped, but I think that even on a perfect summer's day it would be brilliantly sinister. The horrible grey factories and fuming power stations, the creepy red light district (around the heavily fortified US Embassy), the litter and trash and squalor and shabby police defending the site from Albanian Muslim attacks
Nearby is the tomb of Murad, where the "internal organs" of Sultan Murad are enshrined. The only Ottoman Sultan ever killed in a battle; he too fell at the Battle of Kosovo
To Serbs the day of this battle is called "Vidovdan Day" - 28th June in the Gregorian Calendar. What else happened on Vidovdan Day?
Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, setting off World War 1
Truly epochal Noom! And you can get bizarre massages
If that is still the case, and it is quite plausible, then Labour are down around 23-26 like the Tories, and that shines an entirely different light on everything
What we need is a major polling company to get really forensic and transparent on what went wrong in July, then show us their workings, then fix the problems, and THEN do new and better polls
When you consider how much has changed since 1389...... but not THAT
And I actually saw a dark wintry flock of them, haunting the ash-fields, near the monument
It's fantastic
This time next year, I would not be surprised if Labour are third, behind Reform.
Edit: And they're going to say whatever the public wants to hear.