Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Is a teacher's wage an investment? The teacher leaves a permanent legacy in all their students.
It’s an operating cost.
If nothing else, stopping declaring “all spending I like is an investment” would be an improvement in public discourse.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
The thing with fare evaders, fly tippers, even burglars is this.
You don't have to catch them every time, you don't need enforcement on every barrier, but you do have to catch them ENOUGH, and have appropriate punishments available to deploy when you do.
Enough (plus a margin) being determined by a deep understanding of the various cost/benefits to would-be evaders.
Catch them, charge them, bail them.
If they are caught while on bail for three previous, separate, offences - no bail. On remand.
Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Is a teacher's wage an investment? The teacher leaves a permanent legacy in all their students.
It’s an operating cost.
If nothing else, stopping declaring “all spending I like is an investment” would be an improvement in public discourse.
Only if you only consider costs with a quantifiable return as an “investment”. Resurfacing a road is a “cost” in the same way as a doctor or a nurse is a “cost” but not spending that money also has a cost to growth in the economy.
Same way programmes like sure start are costs but an investment if you consider gains in the round. Not everything can be distilled to nice numbers in a spreadsheet no matter how much the beancounters protest.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Some local authorities brought in noise cameras last year.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Some local authorities brought in noise cameras last year.
Is that it? Well done them, if so
I do a fair amount of moaning on here, in case you hadn't noticed, but it's important to mark the times when things actually get better
The thing with fare evaders, fly tippers, even burglars is this.
You don't have to catch them every time, you don't need enforcement on every barrier, but you do have to catch them ENOUGH, and have appropriate punishments available to deploy when you do.
Enough (plus a margin) being determined by a deep understanding of the various cost/benefits to would-be evaders.
Catch them, charge them, bail them.
If they are caught while on bail for three previous, separate, offences - no bail. On remand.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Is this a pitch for the leadership? Whatever the pros and cons of the TFL stunt one can't deny it is effective.
Kemi needs to step aside now. Jenrick has captured the public imagination like no politician has since Blair and 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime'. If the Tories play this right, a massive landslide and years of good will await Jenrick as they awaited Blair all those years ago.
If we can look upon Leon as the clitoris of the right(ho, ho) thinking English voter, Jenrick has it in the bag.
Is that near the G spot?
The BigG spot?
Those two are fairly far apart, and stimulating them both at the same time is not a task to be attempted lightly.
The thing with fare evaders, fly tippers, even burglars is this.
You don't have to catch them every time, you don't need enforcement on every barrier, but you do have to catch them ENOUGH, and have appropriate punishments available to deploy when you do.
Enough (plus a margin) being determined by a deep understanding of the various cost/benefits to would-be evaders.
On fly tipping: my council want £10 per bulky item to take away plus £15 per visit basic charge whether one or a dozen items.
Plus, they are booked solid for weeks and weeks in advance and indeed an item I wanted rid of the other day they are not taking bookings at all!!
How are the less well off supposed to deal with these charges never mind the long wait?
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Paying junior doctors to learn on the job is an investment in future consultants and registrars. The health service needs these. That’s no less of an investment than an apprenticeship.
The NHS doesn’t pay for their own doctors to take exams and up skill. That would be unheard of in the professional private sector.
No, its not, its an ongoing current expenditure.
Today's junior doctors may be tomorrow's consultants, but tomorrow there will be new junior doctors who will be the then-tomorrow consultants. The cycle repeating forever.
That's all ongoing current expenditure.
Totally different to capital expenditure whereby you build a new road, or rail, or building and that investment can be used for decades to come and doesn't need to be rebuilt as it is still there.
Yes we should be ensuring we have skills, but that's an ongoing current and future process, not a one off investment.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Love how the artists impression has been covered in trees to soften the image, where in real life three dead twigs contribute to the baleful atmosphere.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Paying junior doctors to learn on the job is an investment in future consultants and registrars. The health service needs these. That’s no less of an investment than an apprenticeship.
The NHS doesn’t pay for their own doctors to take exams and up skill. That would be unheard of in the professional private sector.
No, its not, its an ongoing current expenditure.
Today's junior doctors may be tomorrow's consultants, but tomorrow there will be new junior doctors who will be the then-tomorrow consultants. The cycle repeating forever.
That's all ongoing current expenditure.
Totally different to capital expenditure whereby you build a new road, or rail, or building and that investment can be used for decades to come and doesn't need to be rebuilt as it is still there.
Yes we should be ensuring we have skills, but that's an ongoing current and future process, not a one off investment.
Tomorrow there will be a new building. (Indeed, you often talk about Japan and a culture of frequent rebuilding!)
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
My experience of the police is that, because they know they're judged on crime detection and clean-up, that they'll go for soft middle-class targets on things like numberplates, speeding, traffic lights and "speech" because they're hoping for self-incrimination - far too much work to gather evidence, charge and prosecute through the courts, and they know a lot of lay people will panic and admit it if they see a copper - and they know the risk of violence is minimal.
They'll get neither from the hard-nut cases, which are also much harder to clear up.
My advice to anyone dealing with the police playing these games is not to self incriminate - deny everything - and never accept a formal warning or caution.
All true and a sad reflection of society and the Police. Also the hard nut cases will have had dealings with the police previously, by and large, so know the way around. A regular every day person won’t have.
Little good can come from talking to them. I’d never attend a voluntary interview and it will be a fishing excercise and they won’t tell you why they want to speak to you. Just incriminate yourself.
If they have enough evidence then let them arrest you.
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Insurance costs, probably. In a lot of areas now it is extremely expensive to insure a motorcycle if you're young. Riding without insurance is very risky, one cop car with an ANPR camera and you're done.
So a lot of teenagers have switched to juiced-up ebikes. Completely illegal, but the chance of getting nabbed is very small.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Three real life pictures taken in poor light, with no lights in the building, are not helping it. And I would say that the windows are decent sized (essential for me) and there are plenty of balconies.
Its not that bad. Would it look better if it was clad? Yes, but for some reason cladding is out of favour right now...
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Paying junior doctors to learn on the job is an investment in future consultants and registrars. The health service needs these. That’s no less of an investment than an apprenticeship.
The NHS doesn’t pay for their own doctors to take exams and up skill. That would be unheard of in the professional private sector.
No, its not, its an ongoing current expenditure.
Today's junior doctors may be tomorrow's consultants, but tomorrow there will be new junior doctors who will be the then-tomorrow consultants. The cycle repeating forever.
That's all ongoing current expenditure.
Totally different to capital expenditure whereby you build a new road, or rail, or building and that investment can be used for decades to come and doesn't need to be rebuilt as it is still there.
Yes we should be ensuring we have skills, but that's an ongoing current and future process, not a one off investment.
Yeah, it’s not a “one off investment” but that doesn’t mean it’s not an “investment” in the future. The cycle repeats but only if we have suitably trained people to repeat the cycle. It doesn’t happen on its own.
Further, many forms of investment require ongoing maintenance payments, to protect the investment. Those costs are built into the value of the investment. For example, gold or art requires security. A classic car or a watch requires servicing. A road requires maintenance or the investment fails.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Is this a pitch for the leadership? Whatever the pros and cons of the TFL stunt one can't deny it is effective.
Kemi needs to step aside now. Jenrick has captured the public imagination like no politician has since Blair and 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime'. If the Tories play this right, a massive landslide and years of good will await Jenrick as they awaited Blair all those years ago.
If we can look upon Leon as the clitoris of the right(ho, ho) thinking English voter, Jenrick has it in the bag.
Is that near the G spot?
The BigG spot?
Those two are fairly far apart, and stimulating them both at the same time is not a task to be attempted lightly.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
I do believe that Jenrick did have his Eurosausage moment yesterday and will be Tory leader quite soon. Most of that video hit home.
However, he couldn't help bringing 'Weird Turkish Barber Shops' into it. One knows what he is driving at, but there are enough legitimate places fitting that description, and enough voters using them in their, often decent, neighbourhoods for quite unexpected voters to take against such remarks.
And in any case they are not anywhere near as numerous as slightly dodgy 'Weird Tory Leadership Candidates'.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
I think the three real life photos are rather unfair - all in poor light etc
I agree - all buildings should be photographed basking in the glow of golden hour, framed by leafy boughs, before we can truly decide if they're ugly or not.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Love how the artists impression has been covered in trees to soften the image, where in real life three dead twigs contribute to the baleful atmosphere.
Yes it's one of the worst examples of the rendering not matching reality that I've ever seen
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
or do you just need new batteries for your hearing aid?
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Its improved on the three images originally posted. Its not going to win any awards for beauty but the Swedes are gonna be ok if thats the worst build of the year.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
E-twats are less noticeable to the police than noisy twats.
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Insurance costs, probably. In a lot of areas now it is extremely expensive to insure a motorcycle if you're young. Riding without insurance is very risky, one cop car with an ANPR camera and you're done.
So a lot of teenagers have switched to juiced-up ebikes. Completely illegal, but the chance of getting nabbed is very small.
Motorcycles and to a lesser extent cars, are now an old man's passion. Super high insurance and eebs have pretty much killed it off for young people.
Just put some Jollymoto pipes on and rebuilt the carbs on my RD500LC. That thing is #crisp now. Full on Eddie Lawson antics on every roundabout. 21mpg and death wobble at 110mph. 10/10 ownership experience.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Its improved on the three images originally posted. Its not going to win any awards for beauty but the Swedes are gonna be ok if thats the worst build of the year.
I think, if anything, it looks worse, if that was at all possible.
One of those rare, but occasional moments when I agree with both @Leon and @Luckyguy1983 .
I do believe that Jenrick did have his Eurosausage moment yesterday and will be Tory leader quite soon. Most of that video hit home.
Agreed. I dislike Jenrick intensely, but he is actually trying to give voters a reason to vote Tory by highlighting things that piss them off and emphasising a perceived Labour weak-spot.
Kemi is ineffective and barely visible. Stop a random person in the street and ask them to name a single thing Kemi has done or said as Tory leader and I'd be surprised if they can even give an answer.
I quite like the Chayna tariffs. They've ripped the piss, and now someone is making some (ham-fisted admittedly) attempt to stand up to them.
Well we, in the west, have allowed China to do that as we have happily offshored many industries to China to get lower prices. Everyone wants a cheap iPhone and every Xmas all the cheap tat that comes from China.
There are actually people who are supporting Xi and the PRC over this simply as they are going up against Trump.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
E-twats are less noticeable to the police than noisy twats.
Good
A small but meaningful improvement to the urban realm, those souped up exhausts drove me nuts. Now it is blissfully quiet
NB I first noticed the change in Almaty, Kazakhstan of all places - as in: noisy amped-up small dick energy @Dura Ace bikers are still a menace out there. Hideously loud exhausts, driving people mad. Then I realised Wait, this no longer bothers me in London. Why?
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Its improved on the three images originally posted. Its not going to win any awards for beauty but the Swedes are gonna be ok if thats the worst build of the year.
I think, if anything, it looks worse, if that was at all possible.
One of those rare, but occasional moments when I agree with both @Leon and @Luckyguy1983 .
Brutalism is a funny thing: a very fine line between the ugliest buildings on earth and some fairly attractive ones. I would say it’s mostly about window size, and avoiding large flat surfaces that absorb light and joy from the surroundings.
I learned only last month that the word brutalist isn’t intended to signify anything to do with brutality as we’d understand it, but is a translation from the French beton brut (raw concrete).
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
E-twats are less noticeable to the police than noisy twats.
Good
A small but meaningful improvement to the urban realm, those souped up exhausts drove me nuts. Now it is blissfully quiet
NB I first noticed the change in Almaty, Kazakhstan of all places - as in: noisy amped-up small dick energy @Dura Ace bikers are still a menace out there. Hideously loud exhausts, driving people mad. Then I realised Wait, this no longer bothers me in London. Why?
Then I came home and noticed properly
What's weird is it makes people think a High Street is "dead", even if traffic or footfall has increased. We've become accustomed to background noise, so trams + e-bikes feels like a ghost town.
TFL have advised staff not to confront people they think might be dangerous, they have to call in officers trained in 'enforcement' - which merely begs the question, how many of these stations have these enforcement staff, and where are they? Anyone dodging a barrier has committed a crime, so don't they all present the possibility of danger? So what's the point of having people who aren't trained to enforce the rules?
It is understood that TfL tells station staff that they are expected to assist customers to pay the correct fare for their journeys and encourage everyone to tap in.
But the network says that if a member of staff judges it is not safe to intervene, they are encouraged to report incidents they witness to inform the deployment of enforcement staff.
Most stations don't have enforcement staff, they just have one or two ordinary TFL staff members. And, as you say, they've been told not to intervene in case it's dangerous.
Would you want to confront four or five large young gentlemen pushing through the barrier? I wouldn't - I suspect even Robert Jenrick wouldn't.
Should there be permanent security staff at every problematic tube station? Might help though the evaders will do to another station.
Mobile swat squads attending stations randomly would be the most cost effective way of reducing fare evasion.
Which is roughly what happens. Arguably it doesn't happen enough, but that's a question of how much money TfL is prepared/able to spend to catch how many fare dodgers.
A crackdown on London Tube and bus fare dodgers cost around 20 times more than it clawed back over the past year, new figures show.
Then the fines are at least 20 times too low.
See fines on public transport in Singapore.....$500, $1000, $2000, these are real fines you can get for doing things like drinking water, carrying smelly fruit, bringing batteries over a certain size.....
There is an historical problem in the UK with using fines charged for offences to support enforcement.
Do you remember the ginormous whinging noise that arises whenever speeding fines are suggested as a way to support policemen or cameras to deal with the offence?
Or the whining chorus like a million labradors about "Councils making money from enforcing parking rules." Translation: How dare they try and stop ME from doing what I want.
That's Jenrick's game. He's pointing to particular people, like the Daily Mail, because he wants to fluff the finger-pointing demographic.
You can be sure that were enforcement applied stringently to people whose support he wanted, he'd be yowling his cynical head off about it in Parliament.
We might fruitfully adapt the Finnish practice of making fines proportionate to the income and wealth of the offender. Thus the £200k exec type fraudulently avoiding the full whack for his season ticket from Woking to Waterloo would be fined significantly more than the spotty oik jumping the disabled barrier at Stratford to catch the tube to Mile End.
Surely this an idea that would appeal to Jenrick?
Do we not already have proportionate fines to some extent?
Going too far would run into problems like TSE's “friend” whose fine would presumably depend on whether it was levied before he was sacked (income £200k) or after (income £50 a week JSA).
Yes, I see the problem, although any friend of TSE would automatically be done for the max.
Edit: Seriously, it would be interesting to know more about how the Finns manage this. I really think the idea has some mileage, and as you note we kind of do it a bit anyway. All the same I wouldn't mind seeing the idea given a proper trial.
It would be one of those policies where people who considered themselves hard done by are suddenly confronted by the fact they are quite well off.
There's also the issue of household v individual wealth/income, so you'd definitely need a car value catch. If it's a maximum of the three (proportionately), I'd get hammered by the income element - but that's the policy working as intended.
There are numerous problems but not insuperable ones, as the Finns seem to have demonstrated. One would envisage for example some combination of income past and projected, and net total worth. In practice I would imagine the main obstacle would be the howls of protest from those most likely to be adversely affected, so unlikely to happen.
Cheer up, people of Swindon, Luton, Cumbernauld, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Birmingham, Lambeth and Croydon, Sweden has just built something far far uglier than even you can imagine
Motorcycles and to a lesser extent cars, are now an old man's passion. Super high insurance and eebs have pretty much killed it off for young people.
I saw a stat that the average age of a biker in the UK is 54 now, which I find very believable.
Can't see why any young person would go the legal route, to be honest. A 16-year old can pay to do their CBT, pay for insurance, tax, helmet, etc, then spend a couple of thousand on a 50cc bike or scooter that's limited to 28mph. Or they can get an illegal ebike for a fraction of the cost that'll do 40+ in bursts. And no pesky number plate for plod to ID them with.
Successive governments making it harder to get a motorcycle licence has hasn't helped either. If you're 16 the process required to get an unrestricted licence looks like it was designed by a sadist.
Thanks for that. I was wondering how to work out the % change when the LD's were the only ones last time to field a full slate (assuming the Inds were running separately, which is how it looks from the result):
May 2023 result LD 552/432 Ind 550/89 C 277 Maldon District Ind Group 271 Lab 124 (as per Andrew's Previews)
Motorcycles and to a lesser extent cars, are now an old man's passion. Super high insurance and eebs have pretty much killed it off for young people.
I saw a stat that the average age of a biker in the UK is 54 now, which I find very believable.
Can't see why any young person would go the legal route, to be honest. A 16-year old can pay to do their CBT, pay for insurance, tax, helmet, etc, then spend a couple of thousand on a 50cc bike or scooter that's limited to 28mph. Or they can get an illegal ebike for a fraction of the cost that'll do 40+ in bursts. And no pesky number plate for plod to ID them with.
Successive governments making it harder to get a motorcycle licence has hasn't helped either. If you're 16 the process required to get an unrestricted licence looks like it was designed by a sadist.
I could make a living doing nothing but unrestricting eebs were I so inclined. The demand is essentially infinite.
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Paying junior doctors to learn on the job is an investment in future consultants and registrars. The health service needs these. That’s no less of an investment than an apprenticeship.
The NHS doesn’t pay for their own doctors to take exams and up skill. That would be unheard of in the professional private sector.
No, its not, its an ongoing current expenditure.
Today's junior doctors may be tomorrow's consultants, but tomorrow there will be new junior doctors who will be the then-tomorrow consultants. The cycle repeating forever.
That's all ongoing current expenditure.
Totally different to capital expenditure whereby you build a new road, or rail, or building and that investment can be used for decades to come and doesn't need to be rebuilt as it is still there.
Yes we should be ensuring we have skills, but that's an ongoing current and future process, not a one off investment.
Yeah, it’s not a “one off investment” but that doesn’t mean it’s not an “investment” in the future. The cycle repeats but only if we have suitably trained people to repeat the cycle. It doesn’t happen on its own.
Further, many forms of investment require ongoing maintenance payments, to protect the investment. Those costs are built into the value of the investment. For example, gold or art requires security. A classic car or a watch requires servicing. A road requires maintenance or the investment fails.
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
Like him or not, he's made a heck of an impact, with one simple video and a neat idea
Jenrick is after (or at least preparing the ground for) Mayor of London imo. We can't bet on that. But it would make Cleverly more likely to replace Kemi as next leader.
Replacing Kemi now is a fool's errand. You'd likely be replaced yourself before the election which the blue team looks set to lose anyway. Better to do four to eight years as Mayor then return to Parliament, like what Boris done.
ETA apparently a lot of LBC JOB callers were saying Jenrick's still a twat but he's right about fare-dodgers.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Some local authorities brought in noise cameras last year.
Fashion imo. Noise has died out in cars as well as bikes; gone the way of humorous car stickers and ring tones.
@NYTimes : “Mr. Musk’s drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms.”
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Some local authorities brought in noise cameras last year.
Fashion imo. Noise has died out in cars as well as bikes; gone the way of humorous car stickers and ring tones.
Its not totally dead - there is at least one dickless wonder who drives very loudly up and down the local town high street. To what end, no-one knows.
We will see. It looks like they are too slow to remove tariffs. Bessent is still speaking to the Chinese.
I’m sure there are plenty out there in the markets happy to use the TACO acronym against Trump to simply harden his resolve. 🤔
Do you support Trump's continued territorial claim to Canada?
That’s on a par with ‘When did you stop beating your wife’.
Not really but it does explain why a lot of Americans have no objection *in principle* to Russia grabbing Ukraine, Israel Gaza, or Britain Normandy. America has overthrown states often enough in the past and now the White House covets Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Paying junior doctors to learn on the job is an investment in future consultants and registrars. The health service needs these. That’s no less of an investment than an apprenticeship.
The NHS doesn’t pay for their own doctors to take exams and up skill. That would be unheard of in the professional private sector.
No, its not, its an ongoing current expenditure.
Today's junior doctors may be tomorrow's consultants, but tomorrow there will be new junior doctors who will be the then-tomorrow consultants. The cycle repeating forever.
That's all ongoing current expenditure.
Totally different to capital expenditure whereby you build a new road, or rail, or building and that investment can be used for decades to come and doesn't need to be rebuilt as it is still there.
Yes we should be ensuring we have skills, but that's an ongoing current and future process, not a one off investment.
Yeah, it’s not a “one off investment” but that doesn’t mean it’s not an “investment” in the future. The cycle repeats but only if we have suitably trained people to repeat the cycle. It doesn’t happen on its own.
Further, many forms of investment require ongoing maintenance payments, to protect the investment. Those costs are built into the value of the investment. For example, gold or art requires security. A classic car or a watch requires servicing. A road requires maintenance or the investment fails.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Some local authorities brought in noise cameras last year.
Fashion imo. Noise has died out in cars as well as bikes; gone the way of humorous car stickers and ring tones.
Still plenty of loud bikes and cars round here, particularly in the early hours
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Some local authorities brought in noise cameras last year.
Fashion imo. Noise has died out in cars as well as bikes; gone the way of humorous car stickers and ring tones.
Still plenty of loud bikes and cars round here, particularly in the early hours
Mainly gone from here although tbh I'd not noticed until thinking about Leon's post.
We will see. It looks like they are too slow to remove tariffs. Bessent is still speaking to the Chinese.
I’m sure there are plenty out there in the markets happy to use the TACO acronym against Trump to simply harden his resolve. 🤔
Do you support Trump's continued territorial claim to Canada?
That’s on a par with ‘When did you stop beating your wife’.
No, because Trump actually is threatening to annex Canada.
Yes it is how it is posed.
Effectively I am being asked to deny something I have never spoken. It’s a ridiculous question from an otherwise rational person who seems to think I am some Trump fan.
But this is PB and unless you’re engaging in rants against Trump or Putin or whoever you ar deemed to be a supporter of them. All very GWB and war against terror.
Sandpit, a man with more reason than most to oppose Putin, was hounded from here for not being pure enough.
I no longer care if AI swiftly subjugates the human race and plunges us into a Terminator-inspired hellscape. Because AI yielded this. It cannot be topped. It's all downhill for humans from here. So, plug me into the computer-generated dream world, I'm ready to power the Matrix.
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
Did you hear about the psephologist from Warsaw who moved to Haiti?
He became a...
Presumably the answer is the same as last time you told it Sunil...?
Secret of 90's humour was repitition. The Fast Show, Harry Enfield, later Character driven sketches such as Catherine Tate. Sunil's just carrying the torch for a new generation.
The most visible and audible example of petty crime around us at the moment is kids riding hacked Lime Bikes.
It’s both profoundly irritating, particularly given their smug faces and the annoying beeping a hacked Lime bike makes, and also bizarrely nostalgic to see so many young boys (always boys) riding around on bikes rather than sitting staring at iPads.
One GOOD thing I've noticed is the death of young versions of @Dura_Ace wanking about on motorbikes with deafening exhausts. They were an absolute menace as recently as 18 months ago. Through the evening, into the night, so loud it would drive anyone close by insane, and near-constant
Loathsome, pointless, selfish
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Some local authorities brought in noise cameras last year.
Fashion imo. Noise has died out in cars as well as bikes; gone the way of humorous car stickers and ring tones.
Still plenty of loud bikes and cars round here, particularly in the early hours
Mainly gone from here although tbh I'd not noticed until thinking about Leon's post.
Occasionally you still get the odd boy racer with over-loud exhausts tootling along the Eastern Avenue, but less common.
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
Rachel Reeves to announce billions in regional spending after Treasury rule changes
Extra investment lined up for schemes such as energy projects, roads and rails outside London and south-east
This seems good but Labour need to SELL IT. Johnson would be out there shouting about it.
I can't see an explanation of how a treasury rule change creates the additional money, unless it is merely transferred from elsewhere. So I suspect it is just a way of justifying increasing our grandchildren's liability.
Borrowing to spend on investment is reasonable.
The problem is mislabelling all expenditure as investment.
With very few limited exceptions (eg construction workers), salaries are not investment. A doctor's wages is current expenditure, an ongoing cost, not "investing in healthcare".
New buildings, roads, rails. Stuff that leaves a permanent legacy after it is built, that is a capital cost, not a current one.
Is a teacher's wage an investment? The teacher leaves a permanent legacy in all their students.
It's best to think of it as current spending. Perhaps with a medium term multiplier significantly better than (say) pension payments, though I'm not sure how you'd quantify that ?
And yet, they've suddenly dwindled to near nothing. You hear the odd one every now and again, once every few days, for a few seconds
Does anyone know why? Is it a fashion, or a fashion dying out? Is it new electric bikes and scooters?
Insurance costs, probably. In a lot of areas now it is extremely expensive to insure a motorcycle if you're young. Riding without insurance is very risky, one cop car with an ANPR camera and you're done.
So a lot of teenagers have switched to juiced-up ebikes. Completely illegal, but the chance of getting nabbed is very small.
Motorcycles and to a lesser extent cars, are now an old man's passion. Super high insurance and eebs have pretty much killed it off for young people.
Just put some Jollymoto pipes on and rebuilt the carbs on my RD500LC. That thing is #crisp now. Full on Eddie Lawson antics on every roundabout. 21mpg and death wobble at 110mph. 10/10 ownership experience.
I learned that by watching Bangers and Cash. Retirees in their seventies buying all the interesting stuff, while those in their forties might indulge in a Peugeot 106 Rallye or a Polo breadvan.
Of course it might be that youngsters are savvy enough to realise that a £20,000 Escort that one could have bought for a hundred quid 20 years ago still drives like a hundred pound car.
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
Did you hear about the psephologist from Warsaw who moved to Haiti?
He became a...
Presumably the answer is the same as last time you told it Sunil...?
Secret of 90's humour was repitition. The Fast Show, Harry Enfield, later Character driven sketches such as Catherine Tate. Sunil's just carrying the torch for a new generation.
Comments
If nothing else, stopping declaring “all spending I like is an investment” would be an improvement in public discourse.
If they are caught while on bail for three previous, separate, offences - no bail. On remand.
Same way programmes like sure start are costs but an investment if you consider gains in the round. Not everything can be distilled to nice numbers in a spreadsheet no matter how much the beancounters protest.
Ref lead of 9pts
Westminster voting intention
REF: 31% (+1)
LAB: 22% (-)
CON: 16% (-1)
LDEM: 16% (-)
GRN: 9% (-)
via @TechneUK, 28 - 29 May
Chgs. w/ 22 May
(What's wrong with me? Takes self off to a darkened room)
I do a fair amount of moaning on here, in case you hadn't noticed, but it's important to mark the times when things actually get better
LOOK AT IT
https://x.com/cmarschnerde/status/1928050499753824732
Plus, they are booked solid for weeks and weeks in advance and indeed an item I wanted rid of the other day they are not taking bookings at all!!
How are the less well off supposed to deal with these charges never mind the long wait?
Today's junior doctors may be tomorrow's consultants, but tomorrow there will be new junior doctors who will be the then-tomorrow consultants. The cycle repeating forever.
That's all ongoing current expenditure.
Totally different to capital expenditure whereby you build a new road, or rail, or building and that investment can be used for decades to come and doesn't need to be rebuilt as it is still there.
Yes we should be ensuring we have skills, but that's an ongoing current and future process, not a one off investment.
Note the Tories are on equal third down at 16 with Dem Libs
Ref still inching up. If they can get to 35 and stay there (not easy) then they win a big majority. Will Jenrick defect?
Maybe I am a brutalist without realising.
Little good can come from talking to them. I’d never attend a voluntary interview and it will be a fishing excercise and they won’t tell you why they want to speak to you. Just incriminate yourself.
If they have enough evidence then let them arrest you.
So a lot of teenagers have switched to juiced-up ebikes. Completely illegal, but the chance of getting nabbed is very small.
Its not that bad. Would it look better if it was clad? Yes, but for some reason cladding is out of favour right now...
Further, many forms of investment require ongoing maintenance payments, to protect the investment. Those costs are built into the value of the investment. For example, gold or art requires security. A classic car or a watch requires servicing. A road requires maintenance or the investment fails.
https://x.com/2jtneel/status/1928128573317034492/photo/1
However, he couldn't help bringing 'Weird Turkish Barber Shops' into it. One knows what he is driving at, but there are enough legitimate places fitting that description, and enough voters using them in their, often decent, neighbourhoods for quite unexpected voters to take against such remarks.
And in any case they are not anywhere near as numerous as slightly dodgy 'Weird Tory Leadership Candidates'.
I HATE 94% of modern architects
No more Mr Nice Guy with China. They have violated the agreement
SMH
https://x.com/kobeissiletter/status/1928424199611191363?s=61
Just put some Jollymoto pipes on and rebuilt the carbs on my RD500LC. That thing is #crisp now. Full on Eddie Lawson antics on every roundabout. 21mpg and death wobble at 110mph. 10/10 ownership experience.
One of those rare, but occasional moments when I agree with both @Leon and @Luckyguy1983 .
Kemi is ineffective and barely visible. Stop a random person in the street and ask them to name a single thing Kemi has done or said as Tory leader and I'd be surprised if they can even give an answer.
Maldon West - Lib Dem gain (from Ind)
Liberal Democrats 573
Reform UK 488
Conservative 204
Maldon District Independent Group 83
Green 33
Turnout 33.1%
There are actually people who are supporting Xi and the PRC over this simply as they are going up against Trump.
A small but meaningful improvement to the urban realm, those souped up exhausts drove me nuts. Now it is blissfully quiet
NB I first noticed the change in Almaty, Kazakhstan of all places - as in: noisy amped-up small dick energy @Dura Ace bikers are still a menace out there. Hideously loud exhausts, driving people mad. Then I realised Wait, this no longer bothers me in London. Why?
Then I came home and noticed properly
I learned only last month that the word brutalist isn’t intended to signify anything to do with brutality as we’d understand it, but is a translation from the French beton brut (raw concrete).
🔶LD : 573 (41.5%, +6.8)
➡️RFM: 488 (35.3%, new)
🔵Con: 204 (14.8%, -2.6)
⚪MDI: 83 (6.0%, -28.5)
🟢GRN: 33 (2.4%, new)
https://x.com/ALDC/status/1928416630238789680
Personally I would like to see it tried.
Can't see why any young person would go the legal route, to be honest. A 16-year old can pay to do their CBT, pay for insurance, tax, helmet, etc, then spend a couple of thousand on a 50cc bike or scooter that's limited to 28mph. Or they can get an illegal ebike for a fraction of the cost that'll do 40+ in bursts. And no pesky number plate for plod to ID them with.
Successive governments making it harder to get a motorcycle licence has hasn't helped either. If you're 16 the process required to get an unrestricted licence looks like it was designed by a sadist.
I’m sure there are plenty out there in the markets happy to use the TACO acronym against Trump to simply harden his resolve. 🤔
"No Lab (-7.8) Ind (-5.6) as prev."
https://x.com/BritainElects/status/1928423489641349566
Labour getting less than 50% of the Radical Left Lunatic vote.
May 2023 result LD 552/432 Ind 550/89 C 277 Maldon District Ind Group 271 Lab 124 (as per Andrew's Previews)
Like him or not, he's made a heck of an impact, with one simple video and a neat idea
I personally am filled with joy.
Poland 2nd round, Sunday:
Polls for the Poles are too close to call, my prediction is that Nawrocki wins with between 50.5 to 51.5%, and that the 10/11 for him at William Hill, in from 11/10, is therefore value.
DYOR obviously but I think Kellner's Law will apply and the right is more likely to be underestimated in the polling.
https://sports.williamhill.com/betting/en-gb/politics/OB_EV35593820
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2025_Polish_presidential_election#Nawrocki_v._Trzaskowski
Thanks,
DC
Investment is capital expenditure.
He became a...
Replacing Kemi now is a fool's errand. You'd likely be replaced yourself before the election which the blue team looks set to lose anyway. Better to do four to eight years as Mayor then return to Parliament, like what Boris done.
ETA apparently a lot of LBC JOB callers were saying Jenrick's still a twat but he's right about fare-dodgers.
You seem to have some bizarre view that I support Trump when my main interest is global markets and the impact on my retirement funds.
Quite frankly I don’t doubt some bears and short sellers are happy to use the TACO term to Trump to harden his resolve.
https://bsky.app/profile/coachfinstock.bsky.social/post/3lqfaetbgsk2f
@NYTimes
: “Mr. Musk’s drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms.”
https://x.com/sahilkapur/status/1928435760916550117
Effectively I am being asked to deny something I have never spoken. It’s a ridiculous question from an otherwise rational person who seems to think I am some Trump fan.
But this is PB and unless you’re engaging in rants against Trump or Putin or whoever you ar deemed to be a supporter of them. All very GWB and war against terror.
Sandpit, a man with more reason than most to oppose Putin, was hounded from here for not being pure enough.
I no longer care if AI swiftly subjugates the human race and plunges us into a Terminator-inspired hellscape. Because AI yielded this. It cannot be topped. It's all downhill for humans from here. So, plug me into the computer-generated dream world, I'm ready to power the Matrix.
https://x.com/jefftimmer/status/1928434895954555390
While we are on the subject, if you have a £100,000 Ferrari, Bentley or Overfinch RR, and buy new number plates, FFS stick them on level.
Perhaps with a medium term multiplier significantly better than (say) pension payments, though I'm not sure how you'd quantify that ?
Apart from, presumably, the price.
Of course it might be that youngsters are savvy enough to realise that a £20,000 Escort that one could have bought for a hundred quid 20 years ago still drives like a hundred pound car.
Though the diameter would then be... how large, Robert ?
(There's the extension work for the brighter students.)
Repetition.
Repetition.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14764505/Baby-suffers-life-changing-injuries-face-dog-attack.html