Is it me or since @Leon* and @isam have been banished to ConHome for perpetuity there often seem to be long periods of tumbleweed between posts? * Particularly Leon
It's not loss for the former but I miss Isam. If you want to follow Leon's exploits just follow his stalker, Sean T on X.
I have not the greatest of history with (in particular) one of those posters, so it makes no odds to me whether they come and go. Both often went down particularly unpleasant race related rabbit holes on a regular basis.
It is what it is.
@isam was mostly an interesting poster, particularly on betting and football matters. Not so keen on his reposted Musk rage bait. So a bit of a curates egg.
I would just skip Leon's posts. How can anyone miss a troll?
RCS should let him back to post on Vanilla, but forget to tell him the rest of us have moved to Wordpress.
It will be quite busy what with Leon, Eadric, Lady G., Byronic and several dozen others all in deep conversation with each other.
Well…
I know you’ve posted it many times before, but it still makes me smile.
...."I watched her interacting with drivers, waiters and waitresses. She was kind to everybody. This was somebody who gave her life to public service and to fighting for the things that she believed in. She herself would not have harmed a fly.
I’m deeply shocked and upset by the nature of her death. The police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. We don’t know whether there were any political motives, and I’m not going to speculate at this stage. I’m pleased that the police are doing their job." ....
Never thought you'd be on the end of a Nigel email list, Barnesian.
that's just basic campaigning knowing what the opposition are saying
Oh shut up you grifting by-election failure. Stop causing division out of nothing.
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ · 1h It is absolutely critical — given the climate the mainstream media have whipped up in this country in recent months — that we are told EVERYTHING about the Ann Widdecombe murder suspect, the case, the context, all of it.
Land Value Tax feels like a solution looking for a problem, where you could get 80% of the good juice with some basic reforms of the property rating system.
Not an expert though.
My suggestions would be 1. Rates based on typical (not actually charged) rents for that type of property: encourages adding value to the property as you wouldn't pay higher rates. Discourages deliberately reducing rents to gain lower rates. 2. Rates paid by property owners, not renters. Encourages realistic rents as these now include taxes. Particular issue for pubs. 3. Some relief possible for empty properties, but temporary and not 100%: encourages exploitation and discourages landowners from sitting on property and/or expecting unrealistic rents.
You are clearly an accountant, or someone who thinks accountants deserve to make money.
0.49% on all land regardless of use, no exceptions, no reliefs
My ideas are half arsed, but vaguely thinking of how a surveyor might get a ballpark value or rental figure without visiting the property or considering the condition, using an online calculator. ie type of property, location, square metres etc. No accountants, and importantly, no revaluations required.
Whatever property tax we come up with needs to be easy to calculate, collect, be able to raise large sums and be affordable.
A part of my prejudice against LVT is that I think there is a much better case in principle for abolishing private land ownership entirely. Land could be a public good, owned by the collective or state, which leases out exploitation rights on long leases. LVT seems neither one thing or the other.
0.49% of what?
Isn't the key to this that is a slow burner. Keep people on the existing system until they move then they can make an educated decision. To make it even better allow councils to vary it by a small percentage +/-0.02% so they can actually do stuff other than pay for old people's arses to be wiped and kids to be kept in private equity care homes.
Land Value Tax feels like a solution looking for a problem, where you could get 80% of the good juice with some basic reforms of the property rating system.
Not an expert though.
My suggestions would be 1. Rates based on typical (not actually charged) rents for that type of property: encourages adding value to the property as you wouldn't pay higher rates. Discourages deliberately reducing rents to gain lower rates. 2. Rates paid by property owners, not renters. Encourages realistic rents as these now include taxes. Particular issue for pubs. 3. Some relief possible for empty properties, but temporary and not 100%: encourages exploitation and discourages landowners from sitting on property and/or expecting unrealistic rents.
You are clearly an accountant, or someone who thinks accountants deserve to make money.
0.49% on all land regardless of use, no exceptions, no reliefs
My ideas are half arsed, but vaguely thinking of how a surveyor might get a ballpark value or rental figure without visiting the property or considering the condition, using an online calculator. ie type of property, location, square metres etc. No accountants, and importantly, no revaluations required.
Whatever property tax we come up with needs to be easy to calculate, collect, be able to raise large sums and be affordable.
A part of my prejudice against LVT is that I think there is a much better case in principle for abolishing private land ownership entirely. Land could be a public good, owned by the collective or state, which leases out exploitation rights on long leases. LVT seems neither one thing or the other.
0.49% of what?
Isn't the key to this that is a slow burner. Keep people on the existing system until they move then they can make an educated decision. To make it even better allow councils to vary it by a small percentage +/-0.02% so they can actually do stuff other than pay for old people's arses to be wiped and kids to be kept in private equity care homes.
All those people facing higher electricity bills will thank you for your help in this matter.
Citation needed.
Sure.
Today, the wholesale price of electricity's low point was 16.3p / KWh. And the average during periods when the sun was shining was about 19p.
The current price for new commercial solar contracts through the CfD is around 7p/KWh.
So every new solar panel -commerical or residential- lowers electricity prices.
Now, I completely agree that electricity prices are elevated (due to high natural gas prices). But today, adding that solar farm would have a very positive effect on UK energy prices. (And long term, when it drops off the CfD, it'll be a price taker, doing nothing other than driving down UK electricity prices.)
All those people facing higher electricity bills will thank you for your help in this matter.
Citation needed.
Sure.
Today, the wholesale price of electricity's low point was 16.3p / KWh. And the average during periods when the sun was shining was about 19p.
The current price for new commercial solar contracts through the CfD is around 7p/KWh.
So every new solar panel -commerical or residential- lowers electricity prices.
Now, I completely agree that electricity prices are elevated (due to high natural gas prices). But today, adding that solar farm would have a very positive effect on UK energy prices. (And long term, when it drops off the CfD, it'll be a price taker, doing nothing other than driving down UK electricity prices.)
I can honestly say I've never listened to a Taylor Swift song.
I've thought about it, but then I've said to myself: wouldn't you rather listen to "Promised You A Miracle" by Simple Minds again, and the answer is always yes.
New Gold Dream. 44 years old. Still sounds very fresh. Brilliant album.
Is it me or since @Leon* and @isam have been banished to ConHome for perpetuity there often seem to be long periods of tumbleweed between posts? * Particularly Leon
It's not loss for the former but I miss Isam. If you want to follow Leon's exploits just follow his stalker, Sean T on X.
I have not the greatest of history with (in particular) one of those posters, so it makes no odds to me whether they come and go. Both often went down particularly unpleasant race related rabbit holes on a regular basis.
It is what it is.
@isam was mostly an interesting poster, particularly on betting and football matters. Not so keen on his reposted Musk rage bait. So a bit of a curates egg.
I would just skip Leon's posts. How can anyone miss a troll?
RCS should let him back to post on Vanilla, but forget to tell him the rest of us have moved to Wordpress.
It will be quite busy what with Leon, Eadric, Lady G., Byronic and several dozen others all in deep conversation with each other.
Well…
I know you’ve posted it many times before, but it still makes me smile.
I always hear it in Nigel Green’s voice…
Pvt. Cole: Why is it us? Why us? Colour Sergeant Bourne: Because we're here, lad. Nobody else. Just us
I hate to indulge in the trivial when the murder of Ann Widdecombe is still fresh, but I need to moan about a film. IMHO, there are/were three perfect films: Alien, Manhunter, Apocalypse Now. Recently they have been disfigured by "director's cuts": Alien has a variant (not too bad but entirely unnecessary and worse than the original) and Apocalypse Now was ruined by the "Final Cut" (it's just rubbish). Now Michael Mann did the Final Cut for Manhunter and the 4k version is now out, being rereleased in September. The person in the back row silently weeping salty tears will be me. Why can't they leave well enough alone?
I haven't seen the other two, but Manhunter (1986) is very close to being THE perfect film. Never get tired of watching it.
I can't think of a film to rival it in the serial killer genre. Unless you count Don't Look Now.
This Spanish team could be quite a game vs France. Both teams real class.
Belgium too many injuries.
I think that’s the last hurrah for their ‘golden generation’ too. France vs Spain winner wins the World Cup. It’s not impossible we see a repeat of the euro final of 2024.
This Spanish team could be quite a game vs France. Both teams real class.
Belgium too many injuries.
I think that’s the last hurrah for their ‘golden generation’ too. France vs Spain winner wins the World Cup. It’s not impossible we see a repeat of the euro final of 2024.
I think they missed the inventiveness of Tielemans.
This Spanish team could be quite a game vs France. Both teams real class.
Belgium too many injuries.
I think that’s the last hurrah for their ‘golden generation’ too. France vs Spain winner wins the World Cup. It’s not impossible we see a repeat of the euro final of 2024.
Either are perfectly beatable in a one off game by whoever comes through the other half (hopefully us).
But France are worthy favourites, both to beat Spain and to lift the trophy. I wouldn't be laying them.
Now it is down to 23C here, I'm off for a walk. Have a good evening all, and any of you are watching football.
Those shelves attached to the railings with the seats did look pretty dubious when combined with the tables. The tables alone seem fine.
And yet the campaign to save our footpaths totally ignores the actual blockage of the river path by Hammersmith Bridge - when the three pubs by the river get busy, it is impassable, except by filtering through the crowd.
By contrast, at the Strand On The Green pubs, they don’t block the river path, even in high season.
...."I watched her interacting with drivers, waiters and waitresses. She was kind to everybody. This was somebody who gave her life to public service and to fighting for the things that she believed in. She herself would not have harmed a fly.
I’m deeply shocked and upset by the nature of her death. The police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. We don’t know whether there were any political motives, and I’m not going to speculate at this stage. I’m pleased that the police are doing their job." ....
Never thought you'd be on the end of a Nigel email list, Barnesian.
I'm a Reform supporter. I get all the inside info. I was asked if I'd like to stand as a local councillor. They'd provide training. (They must be desperate!)
Mind you, I'm also a supporter of Labour. Conservative and Green Parties as well as Lib Dem, so I get all the gen.
Now it is down to 23C here, I'm off for a walk. Have a good evening all, and any of you are watching football.
Those shelves attached to the railings with the seats did look pretty dubious when combined with the tables. The tables alone seem fine.
I'm not going to reopen the debate, but running the whole thing in 2 pubs for decades with no pavement license at all is .... quite something.
Just the question of whether insurance will be valid.
I think it will come to a sensible conclusion.
My questions are more about the police actions. How did they know this chap was in the pub, what he looked like and why did they waste their time telling him he hadn’t broken the law?
This is a quite remarkable barrier documented on a Public Footpath by Paul Whitewick (countryside / landscape Youtuber), which is ... astonishing.
I've never seen anything like it. It's like a secure turnstile for entry for to somewhere like GCHQ, or Slade Prison. I have seen ones which DO quite closely represent the gatehouse to Slade prison, elsewhere.
I'm surprised they didn't build a gatehouse with a portcullis and murder holes.
This Spanish team could be quite a game vs France. Both teams real class.
Belgium too many injuries.
I think that’s the last hurrah for their ‘golden generation’ too. France vs Spain winner wins the World Cup. It’s not impossible we see a repeat of the euro final of 2024.
Either are perfectly beatable in a one off game by whoever comes through the other half (hopefully us).
But France are worthy favourites, both to beat Spain and to lift the trophy. I wouldn't be laying them.
I suspect France will win, but I chose Argentina in the PB competition, and I need the points.
This is a quite remarkable barrier documented on a Public Footpath by Paul Whitewick (countryside / landscape Youtuber), which is ... astonishing.
I've never seen anything like it. It's like a secure turnstile for entry for to somewhere like GCHQ, or Slade Prison. I have seen ones which DO quite closely represent the gatehouse to Slade prison, elsewhere.
I'm surprised they didn't build a gatehouse with a portcullis and murder holes.
This is a quite remarkable barrier documented on a Public Footpath by Paul Whitewick (countryside / landscape Youtuber), which is ... astonishing.
I've never seen anything like it. It's like a secure turnstile for entry for to somewhere like GCHQ, or Slade Prison. I have seen ones which DO quite closely represent the gatehouse to Slade prison, elsewhere.
I'm surprised they didn't build a gatehouse with a portcullis and murder holes.
Apropos of nothing it reminds me of some reporting from Hampshire/Berkshire of someone buying a country estate and erecting huge fences and having security guards all around. Both seem OTT.
Two weeks ago I booked tickets to see @CountBinface performing live in London, which seemed like a quirky fun thing to do 🗑️
Then Nigel Farage and the media furore happened, and somehow I randomly ended up being the only journalist in the audience last night at the sold-out gig (many journalists had begged to attend to no avail, apparently) 😅
The veteran journalist John Sweeney @johnsweeneyroar interviewed him live on stage in the style of Jeremy Paxman and then it was opened up to the floor.
Overall, it was a very funny gig - John Harvey seemed to view the whole week is rather surreal. I think some of the best material he’d planned for the gig he’d already used on air, so he was literally ad-libbing satire on the spot based on what questions he was asked, which is pretty impressive given that the room was also not air-conditioned and so we were all sweating in close quarters for an hour and 20 minutes.
I also met one of his supposed supporters, who has been funding him at the rate of £3 a month for the last 15 years 💷 (in answer to the, “who is funding him?” question).. https://x.com/concertina226/status/2075586292818042907
Land Value Tax feels like a solution looking for a problem, where you could get 80% of the good juice with some basic reforms of the property rating system.
Not an expert though.
My suggestions would be 1. Rates based on typical (not actually charged) rents for that type of property: encourages adding value to the property as you wouldn't pay higher rates. Discourages deliberately reducing rents to gain lower rates. 2. Rates paid by property owners, not renters. Encourages realistic rents as these now include taxes. Particular issue for pubs. 3. Some relief possible for empty properties, but temporary and not 100%: encourages exploitation and discourages landowners from sitting on property and/or expecting unrealistic rents.
You are clearly an accountant, or someone who thinks accountants deserve to make money.
0.49% on all land regardless of use, no exceptions, no reliefs
My ideas are half arsed, but vaguely thinking of how a surveyor might get a ballpark value or rental figure without visiting the property or considering the condition, using an online calculator. ie type of property, location, square metres etc. No accountants, and importantly, no revaluations required.
Whatever property tax we come up with needs to be easy to calculate, collect, be able to raise large sums and be affordable.
A part of my prejudice against LVT is that I think there is a much better case in principle for abolishing private land ownership entirely. Land could be a public good, owned by the collective or state, which leases out exploitation rights on long leases. LVT seems neither one thing or the other.
0.49% of what?
Isn't the key to this that is a slow burner. Keep people on the existing system until they move then they can make an educated decision. To make it even better allow councils to vary it by a small percentage +/-0.02% so they can actually do stuff other than pay for old people's arses to be wiped and kids to be kept in private equity care homes.
The value of every residential property could be assessed thus:
- Last sale value uprated by the change in the Halifax and/or Nationwide house price index since the sale.
- New self-build houses, and others not sold to be valued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (or Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in Scotland). All new houses have to be valued for CT purposes at present anyway.
- Owner (not tenant) to be liable for the tax. (This should be done for CT anyway because that gives Councils the chance to put a charge on the property for CT arrears.)
- Improving your house has no impact on the LVT value until it's sold.
All those people facing higher electricity bills will thank you for your help in this matter.
Citation needed.
Sure.
Today, the wholesale price of electricity's low point was 16.3p / KWh. And the average during periods when the sun was shining was about 19p.
The current price for new commercial solar contracts through the CfD is around 7p/KWh.
So every new solar panel -commerical or residential- lowers electricity prices.
Now, I completely agree that electricity prices are elevated (due to high natural gas prices). But today, adding that solar farm would have a very positive effect on UK energy prices. (And long term, when it drops off the CfD, it'll be a price taker, doing nothing other than driving down UK electricity prices.)
Firstly, that is not the true price. New solar creates more supply instability, adding to the price of gas generation - that is hidden within the cost of gas generation, but it is caused by the intermittency of wind and in this case of solar.
Secondly, Contracts For Difference last 20 years.
You cannot seriously be suggesting that the elevated price of gas will last that long. It may not even last until the solar plant is completed.
Land Value Tax feels like a solution looking for a problem, where you could get 80% of the good juice with some basic reforms of the property rating system.
Not an expert though.
My suggestions would be 1. Rates based on typical (not actually charged) rents for that type of property: encourages adding value to the property as you wouldn't pay higher rates. Discourages deliberately reducing rents to gain lower rates. 2. Rates paid by property owners, not renters. Encourages realistic rents as these now include taxes. Particular issue for pubs. 3. Some relief possible for empty properties, but temporary and not 100%: encourages exploitation and discourages landowners from sitting on property and/or expecting unrealistic rents.
You are clearly an accountant, or someone who thinks accountants deserve to make money.
0.49% on all land regardless of use, no exceptions, no reliefs
My ideas are half arsed, but vaguely thinking of how a surveyor might get a ballpark value or rental figure without visiting the property or considering the condition, using an online calculator. ie type of property, location, square metres etc. No accountants, and importantly, no revaluations required.
Whatever property tax we come up with needs to be easy to calculate, collect, be able to raise large sums and be affordable.
A part of my prejudice against LVT is that I think there is a much better case in principle for abolishing private land ownership entirely. Land could be a public good, owned by the collective or state, which leases out exploitation rights on long leases. LVT seems neither one thing or the other.
0.49% of what?
Isn't the key to this that is a slow burner. Keep people on the existing system until they move then they can make an educated decision. To make it even better allow councils to vary it by a small percentage +/-0.02% so they can actually do stuff other than pay for old people's arses to be wiped and kids to be kept in private equity care homes.
The value of every residential property could be assessed thus:
- Last sale value uprated by the change in the Halifax and/or Nationwide house price index since the sale.
- New self-build houses, and others not sold to be valued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (or Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in Scotland). All new houses have to be valued for CT purposes at present anyway.
- Owner (not tenant) to be liable for the tax. (This should be done for CT anyway because that gives Councils the chance to put a charge on the property for CT arrears.)
- Improving your house has no impact on the LVT value until it's sold.
In addition, after a one year grace period, the landowner pays tax based on the value of properties that would be built on the land.
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
FIRST LOOK: The Brink of War is an upcoming political thriller about President Reagan's efforts to negotiate nuclear disarmament with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Jeff Daniels plays Ronald Reagan & Jared Harris plays Mikhail Gorbachev while J.K. Simmons plays George Shultz.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
+1 - I'm at a loss as to what the police could have done differently today, a person has been arrested and as many questions about race and motive were answered as could be without impeding the case and investigation.
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
We’ve been to Durham v Derbyshire. Fantastic game. Went to the last ball.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
Because social media today was full of malicious communications re Anne Widdecombe's death but, as far as I'm aware, nobody has been arrested for posting those types of comments. (as it happens, I don't agree with the malicious communications law, because I'm a bit of a free-speech absolutist, other than direct incitation).
All those people facing higher electricity bills will thank you for your help in this matter.
Citation needed.
Sure.
Today, the wholesale price of electricity's low point was 16.3p / KWh. And the average during periods when the sun was shining was about 19p.
The current price for new commercial solar contracts through the CfD is around 7p/KWh.
So every new solar panel -commerical or residential- lowers electricity prices.
Now, I completely agree that electricity prices are elevated (due to high natural gas prices). But today, adding that solar farm would have a very positive effect on UK energy prices. (And long term, when it drops off the CfD, it'll be a price taker, doing nothing other than driving down UK electricity prices.)
Firstly, that is not the true price. New solar creates more supply instability, adding to the price of gas generation - that is hidden within the cost of gas generation, but it is caused by the intermittency of wind and in this case of solar.
Secondly, Contracts For Difference last 20 years.
You cannot seriously be suggesting that the elevated price of gas will last that long. It may not even last until the solar plant is completed.
And you cannot seriously be suggesting that there is no risk of supply disruptions in the next twenty years, can you?
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
Because social media today was full of malicious communications re Anne Widdecombe's death but, as far as I'm aware, nobody has been arrested for posting those types of comments. (as it happens, I don't agree with the malicious communications law, because I'm a bit of a free-speech absolutist, other than direct incitation).
Refering to events like Southport posts that resulted in arrests/convictions were clearly inflammatory. Have there been similar ones today, calling for action? Genuine question. People being nasty about Widdicombe is not the same as posting things that might cause serious events.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
+1 - I'm at a loss as to what the police could have done differently today, a person has been arrested and as many questions about race and motive were answered as could be without impeding the case and investigation.
It's like this, I think.
These days the police feel they have to disclose the suspect is white - if he is - so as to stop all the racists oiling up for a rumpus.
The cry then goes up, "ha, see, they tell us when it's a white bloke but if he's black or brown they keep quiet and hope nobody asks".
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
We’ve been to Durham v Derbyshire. Fantastic game. Went to the last ball.
So many of thr county T20 games have jeopardy right up to the last over. It's the perfect sport. (Obvs I prefer a Test Match. But if you only have three hours available...)
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
Because social media today was full of malicious communications re Anne Widdecombe's death but, as far as I'm aware, nobody has been arrested for posting those types of comments. (as it happens, I don't agree with the malicious communications law, because I'm a bit of a free-speech absolutist, other than direct incitation).
What, you think people should be able to say anything at all without legal consequence?
I bet you don't really.
Eg, a speech in Trafalgar Square telling the audience that Jews are filth who have no place in Britain and urging them to make that clear to any they come across.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
+1 - I'm at a loss as to what the police could have done differently today, a person has been arrested and as many questions about race and motive were answered as could be without impeding the case and investigation.
It's like this, I think.
These days the police feel they have to disclose the suspect is white - if he is - so as to stop all the racists oiling up for a rumpus.
The cry then goes up, "ha, see, they tell us when it's a white bloke but if he's black or brown they keep quiet and hope nobody asks".
Two tier - aka Catch 22.
Except of course they don't. The new guidelines from earlier in the year were that the police shoukd not withold information on ethnic background unless releasing it would hinder the investigation. The police today followed the guidance and I see no reason for criticism at all.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
Because social media today was full of malicious communications re Anne Widdecombe's death but, as far as I'm aware, nobody has been arrested for posting those types of comments. (as it happens, I don't agree with the malicious communications law, because I'm a bit of a free-speech absolutist, other than direct incitation).
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
+1 - I'm at a loss as to what the police could have done differently today, a person has been arrested and as many questions about race and motive were answered as could be without impeding the case and investigation.
It's like this, I think.
These days the police feel they have to disclose the suspect is white - if he is - so as to stop all the racists oiling up for a rumpus.
The cry then goes up, "ha, see, they tell us when it's a white bloke but if he's black or brown they keep quiet and hope nobody asks".
Two tier - aka Catch 22.
We should encourage the racists to turn up for a ruckus.
Land Value Tax feels like a solution looking for a problem, where you could get 80% of the good juice with some basic reforms of the property rating system.
Not an expert though.
My suggestions would be 1. Rates based on typical (not actually charged) rents for that type of property: encourages adding value to the property as you wouldn't pay higher rates. Discourages deliberately reducing rents to gain lower rates. 2. Rates paid by property owners, not renters. Encourages realistic rents as these now include taxes. Particular issue for pubs. 3. Some relief possible for empty properties, but temporary and not 100%: encourages exploitation and discourages landowners from sitting on property and/or expecting unrealistic rents.
You are clearly an accountant, or someone who thinks accountants deserve to make money.
0.49% on all land regardless of use, no exceptions, no reliefs
My ideas are half arsed, but vaguely thinking of how a surveyor might get a ballpark value or rental figure without visiting the property or considering the condition, using an online calculator. ie type of property, location, square metres etc. No accountants, and importantly, no revaluations required.
Whatever property tax we come up with needs to be easy to calculate, collect, be able to raise large sums and be affordable.
A part of my prejudice against LVT is that I think there is a much better case in principle for abolishing private land ownership entirely. Land could be a public good, owned by the collective or state, which leases out exploitation rights on long leases. LVT seems neither one thing or the other.
0.49% of what?
Isn't the key to this that is a slow burner. Keep people on the existing system until they move then they can make an educated decision. To make it even better allow councils to vary it by a small percentage +/-0.02% so they can actually do stuff other than pay for old people's arses to be wiped and kids to be kept in private equity care homes.
Snag with doing it gradually, triggered by a house being sold is that unless everyone pays less under the new system, there's a huge disincentive to move if you live in what is presently an under-taxed house.
Possibly we could make transferring to the new system voluntary, but put up council tax by 15% annually, thus ensuring that eventually council tax is more expensive for pretty much every house. After say 10 years we could finally bin council tax and deal with the remaining handful of stately homes which were still getting a better deal on council tax.
FIRST LOOK: The Brink of War is an upcoming political thriller about President Reagan's efforts to negotiate nuclear disarmament with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Jeff Daniels plays Ronald Reagan & Jared Harris plays Mikhail Gorbachev while J.K. Simmons plays George Shultz.
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
Why do people so often have to accompany appreciation for a sport with the dissing of another one? That's what baffles me.
But anyway, ok. Too tetchy. Let's play Back Home again and go to bed.
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
Why do people so often have to accompany appreciation for a sport with the dissing of another one? That's what baffles me.
But anyway, ok. Too tetchy. Let's play Back Home again and go to bed.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
+1 - I'm at a loss as to what the police could have done differently today, a person has been arrested and as many questions about race and motive were answered as could be without impeding the case and investigation.
It's like this, I think.
These days the police feel they have to disclose the suspect is white - if he is - so as to stop all the racists oiling up for a rumpus.
The cry then goes up, "ha, see, they tell us when it's a white bloke but if he's black or brown they keep quiet and hope nobody asks".
Two tier - aka Catch 22.
Except of course they don't. The new guidelines from earlier in the year were that the police shoukd not withold information on ethnic background unless releasing it would hinder the investigation. The police today followed the guidance and I see no reason for criticism at all.
There have been some ‘confusing’ cases, such as the rapes that never happened, where the police didn’t reveal the race of the attackers. Obviously. Because they didn’t exist.
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
Cricket is the equivalent of 3D chess. That's why it's the best type of sport.
Now it is down to 23C here, I'm off for a walk. Have a good evening all, and any of you are watching football.
Those shelves attached to the railings with the seats did look pretty dubious when combined with the tables. The tables alone seem fine.
And yet the campaign to save our footpaths totally ignores the actual blockage of the river path by Hammersmith Bridge - when the three pubs by the river get busy, it is impassable, except by filtering through the crowd.
By contrast, at the Strand On The Green pubs, they don’t block the river path, even in high season.
OK - you've encouraged me to comment.
I'm not clear what the "campaign to save our footpaths" consists of exactly? Local Councillors will not of course give time to things outside their areas, and I see so much stuff that I could employ 2 or 3 people part time to deal with just some of it.
I have taken a personal interest in Thames Path issues in several London Boroughs over the last five years - Greenwich, Hammersmith, Richmond, and now Hounslow. Usually the problem is various ignorant Councillors or Officials trying to do something, and not having a clue what they are doing, or not understanding the implications, in their haste to trip over their own feet to do something that looks good or satisfies a local squeaky wheel. The Hounslow policy, once I dug it out, is quite good - assuming one can respond in detail in mere days.
Quite often the legal system is set up to make it almost impossible, without a Judicial Review or a High Court action, to impose legality and reality. Council complaints procedures take 12 months or more and then deliver no remedy anyway; they are a waste of time from the pov of making changes.
The Hammersmith one was around a fuckwitted Thames Path PSPO banning "e-bikes", which is a meaningless term, and was written so that eg 'e-bikes carrying children' were exempt, so Samantha could cycle her kids to school in a cargo bike, but was then committing an offence if she cycled home again. The text has improved since 2020, and now has "EAPCs" and a disabled exception, but it's still poor.
This stuff is not difficult; like H L Mencken, I just was basic competence on any subject from A to Z. PSPOs are set up to allow bee-in-bonnet Councillors to impose whatever they want on whoever they want with pushback being massively difficult, short of huge legal budgets. I know; we made Mansfield back down on their complete cycling ban after a couple of minor incidents with teenagers. My own Council has used a PSPO to close PROWs, and I have no idea where that is legally.
Licensing Laws are in some ways similar - the process can be so quick that engagement becomes effectively impossible.
The Strand-on-the-Green one was fascinating in how a simple request from the Green Councillor "please look at the interest of pedestrians, and check the other pubs" was immediately turned into a culture war based on fake claims and dishonest headlines from the usual media suspects. They went straight for 'Authoritarian Labour / Greens want to ban outside drinking and control your life' and 'Hilton was arrested' (aiui he wasn't - it's like the overhyped Allison Pearson thing).
That then went from the UK fuckwitted Right to the US fuckwitted Right and back again. They really do need to dig themselves out of this hole of unthink, or they are finished.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
+1 - I'm at a loss as to what the police could have done differently today, a person has been arrested and as many questions about race and motive were answered as could be without impeding the case and investigation.
It's like this, I think.
These days the police feel they have to disclose the suspect is white - if he is - so as to stop all the racists oiling up for a rumpus.
The cry then goes up, "ha, see, they tell us when it's a white bloke but if he's black or brown they keep quiet and hope nobody asks".
Two tier - aka Catch 22.
Except of course they don't. The new guidelines from earlier in the year were that the police shoukd not withold information on ethnic background unless releasing it would hinder the investigation. The police today followed the guidance and I see no reason for criticism at all.
Indeed and I'm not. In an ideal world the skin colour or ethnicity of a suspect wouldn't be released unless there was a compelling reason for it - ie the opposite of where we are - but this isn't an ideal world.
Now it is down to 23C here, I'm off for a walk. Have a good evening all, and any of you are watching football.
Those shelves attached to the railings with the seats did look pretty dubious when combined with the tables. The tables alone seem fine.
And yet the campaign to save our footpaths totally ignores the actual blockage of the river path by Hammersmith Bridge - when the three pubs by the river get busy, it is impassable, except by filtering through the crowd.
By contrast, at the Strand On The Green pubs, they don’t block the river path, even in high season.
OK - you've encouraged me to comment.
I'm not clear what the "campaign to save our footpaths" consists of exactly? Local Councillors will not of course give time to things outside their areas, and I see so much stuff that I could employ 2 or 3 people part time to deal with just some of it.
I have taken a personal interest in Thames Path issues in several London Boroughs over the last five years - Greenwich, Hammersmith, Richmond, and now Hounslow. Usually the problem is various ignorant Councillors or Officials trying to do something, and not having a clue what they are doing, or not understanding the implications, in their haste to trip over their own feet to do something that looks good or satisfies a local squeaky wheel. The Hounslow policy, once I dug it out, is quite good - assuming one can respond in detail in mere days.
Quite often the legal system is set up to make it almost impossible, without a Judicial Review or a High Court action, to impose legality and reality. Council complaints procedures take 12 months or more and then deliver no remedy anyway; they are a waste of time from the pov of making changes.
The Hammersmith one was around a fuckwitted Thames Path PSPO banning "e-bikes", which is a meaningless term, and was written so that eg 'e-bikes carrying children' were exempt, so Samantha could cycle her kids to school in a cargo bike, but was then committing an offence if she cycled home again. The text has improved since 2020, and now has "EAPCs" and a disabled exception, but it's still poor.
This stuff is not difficult; like H L Mencken, I just was basic competence on any subject from A to Z. PSPOs are set up to allow bee-in-bonnet Councillors to impose whatever they want on whoever they want with pushback being massively difficult, short of huge legal budgets. I know; we made Mansfield back down on their complete cycling ban after a couple of minor incidents with teenagers. My own Council has used a PSPO to close PROWs, and I have no idea where that is legally.
Licensing Laws are in some ways similar - the process can be so quick that engagement becomes effectively impossible.
The Strand-on-the-Green one was fascinating in how a simple request from the Green Councillor "please look at the interest of pedestrians, and check the other pubs" was immediately turned into a culture war based on fake claims and dishonest headlines from the usual media suspects. They went straight for 'Authoritarian Labour / Greens want to ban outside drinking and control your life' and 'Hilton was arrested' (aiui he wasn't - it's like the overhyped Allison Pearson thing).
That then went from the UK fuckwitted Right to the US fuckwitted Right and back again. They really do need to dig themselves out of this hole of unthink, or they are finished.
Typo I just was simple competence ... / I just want simple competence ... .
Well, what do ya know. It's the weekend yet again:
Barak Ravid @BarakRavid · 1h 🇺🇸🇮🇷🚢U.S. gives Iran Saturday deadline to publicly renounce Hormuz attacks and announce that the strait is open, U.S. officials say. My report on @axios
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
Why do people so often have to accompany appreciation for a sport with the dissing of another one? That's what baffles me.
But anyway, ok. Too tetchy. Let's play Back Home again and go to bed.
Well I see your point but try being an enthusiast of any other sport but football between September and May. Football just barges in occupying centre stage. And it's shit. It's 10 parts feeling outraged to one part being entertained. So when football tramples over six weeks of the time it should be minding its own business, it gets a bit exasperating. It's not that I dislike football - though I do - it's that it is so demanding of attention. I was in the cricket club last weekend - the cricket club! - and the T20 had been turned off the telly in favour of some football match. I've tried to get into the spirit of the football world.cup, I really have, but it's just ragebait. I don't like the way it makes me feel. No other sport makes me feel so consistently angry. And every other team sport is more entertaining. Football is just nothing happening for lengthy periods. I said the other day it's a poor sport to judge by stats, and whybis this? Because fuck all happens. It's been going on for nearly a month now and the numbet of incudents of sport I can recall are almost zero; all I can remember is a series of howls of outrage and a morass of cheats.
Sorry. Got a bit exercised there. I'll go away and play the Colourbox World Cup Theme.
Today has done more to convince me than ever before that we live in a country of two-tier policing.
Which bit specifically?
Because social media today was full of malicious communications re Anne Widdecombe's death but, as far as I'm aware, nobody has been arrested for posting those types of comments. (as it happens, I don't agree with the malicious communications law, because I'm a bit of a free-speech absolutist, other than direct incitation).
Refering to events like Southport posts that resulted in arrests/convictions were clearly inflammatory. Have there been similar ones today, calling for action? Genuine question. People being nasty about Widdicombe is not the same as posting things that might cause serious events.
I don't often agree with you Tubbs, but you are absolutely on the money. However disgusting the social media X posts may be about Widdecome no one has attempted to incite others to burn families in their beds in a Holiday Inn.
Just come back from a brilliant evening at Lancs v Yorks in the T20. Genuine sporting entertainment at its best. And for about £15. It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
Cricket is the equivalent of 3D chess. That's why it's the best type of sport.
I only learned to enjoy cricket when it was explained to me as a 'pleasant sound in the background while you have a picnic'.
Now it is down to 23C here, I'm off for a walk. Have a good evening all, and any of you are watching football.
Those shelves attached to the railings with the seats did look pretty dubious when combined with the tables. The tables alone seem fine.
I'm not going to reopen the debate, but running the whole thing in 2 pubs for decades with no pavement license at all is .... quite something.
Just the question of whether insurance will be valid.
I think it will come to a sensible conclusion.
My questions are more about the police actions. How did they know this chap was in the pub, what he looked like and why did they waste their time telling him he hadn’t broken the law?
You just feel that a few years ago everyone would have sorted out the problem to everyone's satisfaction without making such a fuss.
His experience sounds typical for any car of that age. I recently got into the Ferrari parts game because the 911 market has got ridiculously oversaturated. As an ownership proposition, what I've found is that you get a lot less home "mechanic" / project car issues but the build quality is variable compared to Porsches. OEM part availability is excellent if not cheap... Just got back from the Netherlands via a 26 counties Smuggler's Run to evade VAT on a low km 575M engine that cost as much as a brand new Mini One. I'm putting it in my 575 with the ECU/engine harness from a Superamerica and a Tubi exhaust.
I don't hate the Mondial and think it's a thrilling drive but old mate is a wanker for getting rid of it to get a fucking Capri.
I hate to indulge in the trivial when the murder of Ann Widdecombe is still fresh, but I need to moan about a film. IMHO, there are/were three perfect films: Alien, Manhunter, Apocalypse Now. Recently they have been disfigured by "director's cuts": Alien has a variant (not too bad but entirely unnecessary and worse than the original) and Apocalypse Now was ruined by the "Final Cut" (it's just rubbish). Now Michael Mann did the Final Cut for Manhunter and the 4k version is now out, being rereleased in September. The person in the back row silently weeping salty tears will be me. Why can't they leave well enough alone?
I haven't seen the other two, but Manhunter (1986) is very close to being THE perfect film. Never get tired of watching it.
I can't think of a film to rival it in the serial killer genre. Unless you count Don't Look Now.
Holy Spider and Memories of a Murder are both better. IMO.
Comments
Belgium too many injuries.
In my view France v Spain is the WC final. Whoever wins gets to beat whoever comes out of the other side of the drawer.
Today, the wholesale price of electricity's low point was 16.3p / KWh. And the average during periods when the sun was shining was about 19p.
The current price for new commercial solar contracts through the CfD is around 7p/KWh.
So every new solar panel -commerical or residential- lowers electricity prices.
Now, I completely agree that electricity prices are elevated (due to high natural gas prices). But today, adding that solar farm would have a very positive effect on UK energy prices. (And long term, when it drops off the CfD, it'll be a price taker, doing nothing other than driving down UK electricity prices.)
Today, the wholesale price of electricity's low point was 16.3p / KWh. And the average during periods when the sun was shining was about 19p.
The current price for new commercial solar contracts through the CfD is around 7p/KWh.
So every new solar panel -commerical or residential- lowers electricity prices.
Now, I completely agree that electricity prices are elevated (due to high natural gas prices). But today, adding that solar farm would have a very positive effect on UK energy prices. (And long term, when it drops off the CfD, it'll be a price taker, doing nothing other than driving down UK electricity prices.)
A good blow by blow account in the Chiswick Calendar of the imbroglio a few days ago.
"All quiet on the River Front"
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/all-quiet-on-the-river-front/
Now it is down to 23C here, I'm off for a walk. Have a good evening all, and any of you are watching football.
Pvt. Cole: Why is it us? Why us?
Colour Sergeant Bourne: Because we're here, lad. Nobody else. Just us
(But it is why it shouldn't be touched...)
But France are worthy favourites, both to beat Spain and to lift the trophy. I wouldn't be laying them.
Just the question of whether insurance will be valid.
I think it will come to a sensible conclusion.
By contrast, at the Strand On The Green pubs, they don’t block the river path, even in high season.
Mind you, I'm also a supporter of Labour. Conservative and Green Parties as well as Lib Dem, so I get all the gen.
Useful for betting as well as plotting
Anyway, what does Kelly Dalgleish know about football?
A determined infantry assault would take a couple of minutes to overcome it.
Then Nigel Farage and the media furore happened, and somehow I randomly ended up being the only journalist in the audience last night at the sold-out gig (many journalists had begged to attend to no avail, apparently) 😅
The veteran journalist John Sweeney
@johnsweeneyroar interviewed him live on stage in the style of Jeremy Paxman and then it was opened up to the floor.
Overall, it was a very funny gig - John Harvey seemed to view the whole week is rather surreal. I think some of the best material he’d planned for the gig he’d already used on air, so he was literally ad-libbing satire on the spot based on what questions he was asked, which is pretty impressive given that the room was also not air-conditioned and so we were all sweating in close quarters for an hour and 20 minutes.
I also met one of his supposed supporters, who has been funding him at the rate of £3 a month for the last 15 years 💷 (in answer to the, “who is funding him?” question)..
https://x.com/concertina226/status/2075586292818042907
You could say similar for Gabby Logan nee Yorath.
The arrangement, which could enable the Reform UK leader to lower his tax bill, falls outside parliamentary transparency rules
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/nigel-farage-rent-studio-own-property-qbl583062
What is it about this guy that makes me think, if he ever actually made it to No10, that he'd be trying to out-grift Trump ?
- Last sale value uprated by the change in the Halifax and/or Nationwide house price index since the sale.
- New self-build houses, and others not sold to be valued by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (or Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in Scotland). All new houses have to be valued for CT purposes at present anyway.
- Owner (not tenant) to be liable for the tax. (This should be done for CT anyway because that gives Councils the chance to put a charge on the property for CT arrears.)
- Improving your house has no impact on the LVT value until it's sold.
Secondly, Contracts For Difference last 20 years.
You cannot seriously be suggesting that the elevated price of gas will last that long. It may not even last until the solar plant is completed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCgEzKnJ3DY
They've dispensed with the landing legs, and catch it with wires. (A solution toyed with by SpaceX).
It will save a small amount of weight.
They're certainly Messi.
"Andy Burnham
@andyburnham
This is terrible news.
Ann Widdecombe brought conviction, wit and personality to public life over many years.
My thoughts are with her family and friends.
I hope her killer is brought to justice as quickly as possible and faces the full force of the law."
https://x.com/andyburnham/status/2075636771996487845
A terrible way to die.
RIP.
He's actually a really nice bloke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZcUlUvMUBw
It genuinely baffles me why people prefer football.
Cinema Tweets
@CinemaTweets1
FIRST LOOK: The Brink of War is an upcoming political thriller about President Reagan's efforts to negotiate nuclear disarmament with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Jeff Daniels plays Ronald Reagan & Jared Harris plays Mikhail Gorbachev while J.K. Simmons plays George Shultz.
https://x.com/CinemaTweets1/status/2075606635813437446
https://x.com/metoffice/status/2075614352166531088
These days the police feel they have to disclose the suspect is white - if he is - so as to stop all the racists oiling up for a rumpus.
The cry then goes up, "ha, see, they tell us when it's a white bloke but if he's black or brown they keep quiet and hope nobody asks".
Two tier - aka Catch 22.
(Obvs I prefer a Test Match. But if you only have three hours available...)
It's warm enough already thank you.
CNN
I bet you don't really.
Eg, a speech in Trafalgar Square telling the audience that Jews are filth who have no place in Britain and urging them to make that clear to any they come across.
Then shoot the bastards.
Possibly we could make transferring to the new system voluntary, but put up council tax by 15% annually, thus ensuring that eventually council tax is more expensive for pretty much every house. After say 10 years we could finally bin council tax and deal with the remaining handful of stately homes which were still getting a better deal on council tax.
But anyway, ok. Too tetchy. Let's play Back Home again and go to bed.
I'm not clear what the "campaign to save our footpaths" consists of exactly? Local Councillors will not of course give time to things outside their areas, and I see so much stuff that I could employ 2 or 3 people part time to deal with just some of it.
I have taken a personal interest in Thames Path issues in several London Boroughs over the last five years - Greenwich, Hammersmith, Richmond, and now Hounslow. Usually the problem is various ignorant Councillors or Officials trying to do something, and not having a clue what they are doing, or not understanding the implications, in their haste to trip over their own feet to do something that looks good or satisfies a local squeaky wheel. The Hounslow policy, once I dug it out, is quite good - assuming one can respond in detail in mere days.
Quite often the legal system is set up to make it almost impossible, without a Judicial Review or a High Court action, to impose legality and reality. Council complaints procedures take 12 months or more and then deliver no remedy anyway; they are a waste of time from the pov of making changes.
The Hammersmith one was around a fuckwitted Thames Path PSPO banning "e-bikes", which is a meaningless term, and was written so that eg 'e-bikes carrying children' were exempt, so Samantha could cycle her kids to school in a cargo bike, but was then committing an offence if she cycled home again. The text has improved since 2020, and now has "EAPCs" and a disabled exception, but it's still poor.
This stuff is not difficult; like H L Mencken, I just was basic competence on any subject from A to Z. PSPOs are set up to allow bee-in-bonnet Councillors to impose whatever they want on whoever they want with pushback being massively difficult, short of huge legal budgets. I know; we made Mansfield back down on their complete cycling ban after a couple of minor incidents with teenagers. My own Council has used a PSPO to close PROWs, and I have no idea where that is legally.
Licensing Laws are in some ways similar - the process can be so quick that engagement becomes effectively impossible.
The Strand-on-the-Green one was fascinating in how a simple request from the Green Councillor "please look at the interest of pedestrians, and check the other pubs" was immediately turned into a culture war based on fake claims and dishonest headlines from the usual media suspects. They went straight for 'Authoritarian Labour / Greens want to ban outside drinking and control your life' and 'Hilton was arrested' (aiui he wasn't - it's like the overhyped Allison Pearson thing).
That then went from the UK fuckwitted Right to the US fuckwitted Right and back again. They really do need to dig themselves out of this hole of unthink, or they are finished.
Barak Ravid
@BarakRavid
·
1h
🇺🇸🇮🇷🚢U.S. gives Iran Saturday deadline to publicly renounce Hormuz attacks and announce that the strait is open, U.S. officials say. My report on @axios
https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/2075690871509389434
I've tried to get into the spirit of the football world.cup, I really have, but it's just ragebait. I don't like the way it makes me feel. No other sport makes me feel so consistently angry. And every other team sport is more entertaining. Football is just nothing happening for lengthy periods. I said the other day it's a poor sport to judge by stats, and whybis this? Because fuck all happens. It's been going on for nearly a month now and the numbet of incudents of sport I can recall are almost zero; all I can remember is a series of howls of outrage and a morass of cheats.
Sorry. Got a bit exercised there. I'll go away and play the Colourbox World Cup Theme.
"The downfall of the Oxbridge don
British academic life was not prepared for the shocks of student protests and Thatcherism
By John Gray" (£)
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/book-of-the-day/2026/07/the-downfall-of-the-oxbridge-don
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy04erw9y42o
I don't hate the Mondial and think it's a thrilling drive but old mate is a wanker for getting rid of it to get a fucking Capri.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-Dons-British-Intellectuals-Thatcherism/dp/0691188769
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2227926/ann-widdecombe-neighbour-claims-hiking-gear-man-visited