Kensington and Chelsea TMO is the largest Tenant management organisation in England, running nearly 10,000 properties on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea - the entire council housing stock.
The TMO was set up on 1 April 1996[1] under the UK Government's 'Right to Manage' regulations.[2] Kensington and Chelsea TMO is the largest TMO in the UK[3] and is unique in being both the only TMO that runs the entire housing stock for the local council but also in being the only TMO that is also an ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation).[4]
My Borough did the same devolition of all the stock (small by RBK standards) to ALMO when under Tory control; it turned out to be management shambles, and when in coalition we played a part in bringing it back under council control.
ALMOs are just adjuncts of the council, I believe. Quasi autonomous but essentially puppets of the local authority
Can you imagine the mockery from Europe if the UK has a second referendum. At least, the Irish were able to laugh at themselves when it happened there - and that was only on a minor treaty change.
As Malcom G would say ... O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us.
One survivor has stated that the fire alarm in his flat went off when he opened the door. Another has said his didn't work at all. A third has stated they have been asking for a building wide fire alarm.
If those are borne out, although it will be too little too late, somebody needs prosecuting.
I've been talking about the problems with building standards on here for years. Not the actual written standards - though it seems they might have been insufficient here - but the way builders are cutting corners to those standards, and the incapability of inspectors to check.
There are lots of residents in brand new, and very expensive, high-rise flats who will be concerned this morning.
Maybe there is corruption in Building Control.
Perhaps, and that might be some of the story. But the problem is that there are only so many inspectors.
Around 120,000 new homes were built in 2014. Each one may take between three and six months to build. If each one receives three visits from building control (yeah, right), and each visit takes half an hour, how many non-visible issues (e.g. missing insulation or poor foundations) can be picked up? How many inspectors would be needed to check for every possible issue?
Anecdotally, it mostly depends on 'trust' between builders and the council. Hence small builders get more inspections than the large ones.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
Yes because in the 6th largest economy in the world we can't afford a bus and a barely adequate pension. Or basic human dignity for people dying of cancer. Or enough police and hospitals. Or to educate our kids properly.
Its bullshit. And people have now realised its bullshit. And they won't stand for being patronised and sneered at any longer.
When did the Conservative Party lose its link with human compassion? Its not just the cuts that have so offended people, but the cuts on whom and how they have been done. Nasty, vicious, spiteful, un-British.
All very well, but they did inherit a £158 bn deficit. Deficits of that size don't take care of themselves.
They might have done if Osborne had thought more about growth than austerity. We had a peak deficit of around 6 per cent of GDP and a recovering economy. We'd not seen deficits that high since, oh, John Major was prime minister. In addition, while QE may have been necessary, it did entail Osborne handing over billions of pounds from his magic money tree to bankers and traders -- it was a political choice not to pay for more police or bus passes or bus passes for coppers.
It was 11% of GDP. Had we run an annual deficit of 11% of GDP between 2010 and now, we would be in a lot of trouble, I think.
Kensington and Chelsea TMO is the largest Tenant management organisation in England, running nearly 10,000 properties on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea - the entire council housing stock.
The TMO was set up on 1 April 1996[1] under the UK Government's 'Right to Manage' regulations.[2] Kensington and Chelsea TMO is the largest TMO in the UK[3] and is unique in being both the only TMO that runs the entire housing stock for the local council but also in being the only TMO that is also an ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation).[4]
My Borough did the same devolition of all the stock (small by RBK standards) to ALMO when under Tory control; it turned out to be management shambles, and when in coalition we played a part in bringing it back under council control.
ALMOs are just adjuncts of the council, I believe. Quasi autonomous but essentially puppets of the local authority
God, surely not. There is a number of people saying the fire alarms did not work but it is not clear if that is ones in the flats or the building as a whole.
I find it almost possible to believe that anyone would have been allowed to use flammable panelling in the last 50 years but I saw down thread a reference saying it was not illegal. Given the limitations on getting water above 100 feet or so that is really astonishing.
I'm pretty sure building regs - which unlike planning rules are very good in this country will deal with the water issue for more normal fires. Water stored in tanks etc. Clearly water has to be provided to every flat regardless of height - the system that does that is used to provide water for major incidents - at least I would have thought it would.
Cladding, internal and external is "fire resistant". But when the temperature is measured in 100s of degrees C that must break down.
I am amazed at how much kingspan has gone into taking my old 19thC farmhouse into a modern energy efficient house about B on the scale of things. The windows, regardless of what you call it are plastic, they are A++.
Fire hazard does worry me but with the alarms I would have to be very drunk not to be able to jump out of a window and break a leg at worst.
BTW if the EU cuts up rough and we have no Brexit deal the inability to export kingspan into the UK will be more damaging to the Irish economy than not being able to export their beef.
The EU’s executive arm forged ahead with a proposal feared by many in the City of London on so-called euro clearing, which will cost banks an estimated £63 billion and could deprive the U.K. of 83,000 jobs.
The new proposals empower the Commission to strip London of its nearly €1 trillion-a-day euro-clearing business if it deems it necessary for financial soundness in the EU.
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Ah well, it is only 83,000 jobs, I'm sure they don't need the money and will feel the warmth of taking back control.
Its not 83,000 jobs and you know it.
And this is why Project Fear is no longer believed.
Perhaps someone could link to where these 50,000+ London finance job losses actually happened:
' If you perchance thought that your London banking job would be safe with Britain outside the European Union, you were seemingly wrong. Consultants working for leading strategy firms in London say banks have activated their contingency plans and that the London job cuts are about to come thick and fast.
“You’re looking at anything from 50,000 to 70,000 London finance jobs being moved overseas in the next 12 months,” predicts one consultant working with one of the top finance strategy firms in the City. “Jobs are going to be cut, and those cuts are going to start next week.” '
Regardless of whether we leave or not, an extension to the timetable would be a good thing.
Yep, extended the timetable. Talk about transitional arrangements.
Within three or four years enough people will have had second thoughts to nullify the result frankly.
There always should have been a threshold for something so momentous. A small win is just a recipe for division. As Farage says, if he had lost by a couple of percent or so, he would be back arguing for another vote the following morning.
Thresholds, like the George Cunningham amendment to Scottish Devolution, store up more trouble for the long run, as the winners can plausibly argue that they were cheated. A big problem in our relationship with the EU is that people believed no matter how they vote, they get more Europe. ignoring the referendum result would make things very toxic.
If Cameron had seriously addressed the issues he pointed out in his 2013 Bloomberg speech, which was very good, and committed himself to work hard at it across the EU for a new treaty during the 2015-2020 parliament, then that issue might have gone away.
God, surely not. There is a number of people saying the fire alarms did not work but it is not clear if that is ones in the flats or the building as a whole.
I find it almost possible to believe that anyone would have been allowed to use flammable panelling in the last 50 years but I saw down thread a reference saying it was not illegal. Given the limitations on getting water above 100 feet or so that is really astonishing.
I'm pretty sure building regs - which unlike planning rules are very good in this country will deal with the water issue for more normal fires. Water stored in tanks etc. Clearly water has to be provided to every flat regardless of height - the system that does that is used to provide water for major incidents - at least I would have thought it would.
Cladding, internal and external is "fire resistant". But when the temperature is measured in 100s of degrees C that must break down.
I am amazed at how much kingspan has gone into taking my old 19thC farmhouse into a modern energy efficient house about B on the scale of things. The windows, regardless of what you call it are plastic, they are A++.
Fire hazard does worry me but with the alarms I would have to be very drunk not to be able to jump out of a window and break a leg at worst.
BTW if the EU cuts up rough and we have no Brexit deal the inability to export kingspan into the UK will be more damaging to the Irish economy than not being able to export their beef.
An eye witness (video on the bbc website) claims that the fire brigade were unable to open the dry riser.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
Yes because in the 6th largest economy in the world we can't afford a bus and a barely adequate pension. Or basic human dignity for people dying of cancer. Or enough police and hospitals. Or to educate our kids properly.
Its bullshit. And people have now realised its bullshit. And they won't stand for being patronised and sneered at any longer.
When did the Conservative Party lose its link with human compassion? Its not just the cuts that have so offended people, but the cuts on whom and how they have been done. Nasty, vicious, spiteful, un-British.
People won't vote for it. Or else why wouldn't they at any stage have voted for the LibDem's hypothecated taxes, or indeed Jezza's raid on the 1% last week.
They didn't vote for it = they don't want it.
Given that expecting our politicians to work co-operatively together to resolve such problems looks futile, the solution is for the next government to have an unassailable majority and then force through wealth taxes and the other measures needed to fund things properly. That looks rather more likely today than it did last week.
Maybe so maybe not. Certainly the Lab manifesto was crystal clear in being a key step towards that and they didn't get enough votes. Much as I was clear while canvassing that many Cons in large houses (in London) voted for Jezza because they disliked Brexit, it was often only because they didn't think he could actually get in. They will bolt to Cons or NOTA if they think he has a sniff of being PM.
Plus as a matter of practicality there is only so much that the pips can squeak; are you thinking marginal rates back up way above 60-70%?
The EU’s executive arm forged ahead with a proposal feared by many in the City of London on so-called euro clearing, which will cost banks an estimated £63 billion and could deprive the U.K. of 83,000 jobs.
The new proposals empower the Commission to strip London of its nearly €1 trillion-a-day euro-clearing business if it deems it necessary for financial soundness in the EU.
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
The clearing houses for derivatives will remain in London (for now) but under EU regulations and EU control. This means Brussels could withdraw them at any time, which would be hugely damaging for the City, lock in instability, and trigger the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. And before the PB Provincial Paleo Tories pipe up and implore us all to move to their new Jerusalem, Mansfield, these jobs include thousands of sweet girls from Essex and Kent working in back offices, not just financial services big dogs.
One survivor has stated that the fire alarm in his flat went off when he opened the door. Another has said his didn't work at all. A third has stated they have been asking for a building wide fire alarm.
If those are borne out, although it will be too little too late, somebody needs prosecuting.
I've been talking about the problems with building standards on here for years. Not the actual written standards - though it seems they might have been insufficient here - but the way builders are cutting corners to those standards, and the incapability of inspectors to check.
There are lots of residents in brand new, and very expensive, high-rise flats who will be concerned this morning.
Maybe there is corruption in Building Control.
Perhaps, and that might be some of the story. But the problem is that there are only so many inspectors.
Around 120,000 new homes were built in 2014. Each one may take between three and six months to build. If each one receives three visits from building control (yeah, right), and each visit takes half an hour, how many non-visible issues (e.g. missing insulation or poor foundations) can be picked up? How many inspectors would be needed to check for every possible issue?
Anecdotally, it mostly depends on 'trust' between builders and the council. Hence small builders get more inspections than the large ones.
One survivor has stated that the fire alarm in his flat went off when he opened the door. Another has said his didn't work at all. A third has stated they have been asking for a building wide fire alarm.
If those are borne out, although it will be too little too late, somebody needs prosecuting.
I've been talking about the problems with building standards on here for years. Not the actual written standards - though it seems they might have been insufficient here - but the way builders are cutting corners to those standards, and the incapability of inspectors to check.
There are lots of residents in brand new, and very expensive, high-rise flats who will be concerned this morning.
Maybe there is corruption in Building Control.
Perhaps, and that might be some of the story. But the problem is that there are only so many inspectors.
Around 120,000 new homes were built in 2014. Each one may take between three and six months to build. If each one receives three visits from building control (yeah, right), and each visit takes half an hour, how many non-visible issues (e.g. missing insulation or poor foundations) can be picked up? How many inspectors would be needed to check for every possible issue?
Anecdotally, it mostly depends on 'trust' between builders and the council. Hence small builders get more inspections than the large ones.
I only raise that because I had a client who was a retired building inspector. After his death, I discovered he had a big offshore account, into which he'd placed bribes from builders to pass sub-standard buildings. He was putting people's lives at risk.
Extraordinarily we have produced a parliament that, when it comes to the terms on which we leave the EU, has no majority for anything. Or for its opposite. The moment you depart from those vague and useless terms “hard Brexit” (boo) and “soft Brexit” (hooray), you are left with nothing.
I doubt there is a majority for staying in the single market, or for departing. And you might think that logic dictates that there literally had to be a majority for one of the three options of leaving without a deal, approving a deal or not leaving at all, but no. I really don’t believe that there is.
There seems to be agreement that we need jobs to be at the centre of any deal, yet this would be defeated too, because both parties agree that immigration, not jobs, should be at the centre of any deal. Yet if there was a deal that did not put jobs at the centre of it, it would be defeated because, well, jobs should be at the centre of any deal.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
You are absolutely right about people's experiences
Have to say mine are not bad at all. Very minor interaction with public services - 1 Gp visit and one blood test in about 5 years - both admirably efficient and quick. Even managed only 1 visit ever to A&E with 3 kids which must be some kind of record - again quick and efficient but I guess we ere lucky
Children's schools the main one, and they seem OK. Dripping with laptops, iPads, double glazing replacements, electronic whiteboards, good audiovisual kit, and every primary school class has a TA so the pupil:teacher ratio is really 15:1 as far as I can see. Some buildings are a bit tired.
OK potholes are a disgrace but otherwise we clearly live in a rich country. I know I am lucky generally with a decent job etc and perhaps lucky specifically where I live (?)
Yes the biggest hit to the average person who doesn't work in the Public Sector is the Local Council Maintainence stuff, pot holes, grass verges at neck height, grass cut on parks less often etc.
Where we are the NHS seems to work fine, I need a hip op and I can have it done as soon as I want. There hasn't been any great inconvenience waiting for any GP or Hospital appointment.
School outcomes at 16 are a national disaster 40% or so failing to get their GCSE requirements, despite the denials lack of money and resources is not the main factor in that.
We are not as badly off as made out to be, IDS did get a lot of people back to work but there is a general lack of care shown when an individual falls on hard times. If an individual loses his job or get's an injury or illness that stops them working, they should be given help straight away that week without more than routine question. We have to go back to that, it does the Conservatives great harm to treat people like that, most claims are not fraudulent and the delays are quite ridiculous in processing, that is a recent state of affairs totally on the Conservative watch.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
Yes because in the 6th largest economy in the world we can't afford a bus and a barely adequate pension. Or basic human dignity for people dying of cancer. Or enough police and hospitals. Or to educate our kids properly.
Its bullshit. And people have now realised its bullshit. And they won't stand for being patronised and sneered at any longer.
When did the Conservative Party lose its link with human compassion? Its not just the cuts that have so offended people, but the cuts on whom and how they have been done. Nasty, vicious, spiteful, un-British.
All very well, but they did inherit a £158 bn deficit. Deficits of that size don't take care of themselves.
They might have done if Osborne had thought more about growth than austerity. We had a peak deficit of around 6 per cent of GDP and a recovering economy. We'd not seen deficits that high since, oh, John Major was prime minister. In addition, while QE may have been necessary, it did entail Osborne handing over billions of pounds from his magic money tree to bankers and traders -- it was a political choice not to pay for more police or bus passes or bus passes for coppers.
The Labour deficit Osborne inherited was far higher than Major's.
I am also now convinced that election canvassing (both doorstep and phone) samples a very skewed proportion of the population, biased towards the more elderly, the less socially active, and homeowners.
How else to square the YouGov finding that a close result was nailed on two or three weeks out, with all the anecdotal reports from canvassers? Or the fact that the election result surprised both party HQs and almost every canvasser, despite the "intelligence" they all had based on millions of conversations.
When the relationship between age and voting wasn't so stark, and when younger voter turnout was lower, perhaps this didn't matter and, like the polls, canvassing gave a good feel despite the sample being unrepresentative in other ways. But it doesn't any more.
Except David Herdson did find it. Very late in the day.
I was sent to highly-targetted waverers and probable/firm Con households.
In hindsight, I was probably sent to broadly the right households, and the Tory vote went up, but CCHQ didn't notice that there was a huge groundswell of support for Labour in the homes and flats I didn't visit.
Every canvasser in every election has a night when they get a bad street, and are suddenly convinced of imminent defeat. When it's the candidate they need lots of tea and reassurance.
Statistically it is far more likely that Mr Herdson stumbled across such a street, and was "lucky" that this was followed by a bad result, than it is that the small sample of voters he spoke to that night (with big MOE) was both truly representative and indicating a late swing. Particularly since the best analysis we have right now doesn't reveal any evidence of a late swing - the result was nailed on for a fortnight during which Mr H was out visiting lots of other streets and coming home happy of victory.
As humans we see patterns in and links between things, and work hard to find them even when they don't exist.
Everyone is talking about and preparing for a softer approach to Brexit, across the political spectrum, except for the Tory ultras and Mrs May herself. Mrs M may not be a star performer, but she knows more than any of us and is not completely stupid. I am wondering therefore whether she plans to resign at some point soon, between the QS being agreed and the summer holidays?
If she is going, why be the person who changes tack on Brexit? Whereas if she is staying, surely she would understand that her previous approach is futile.
Yes, thinking about this, I recon she should get the Queen's speech through and resign as Conservative Party Leader, but not yet as PM just after the Parliamentary recess starts next month. That will give the Tory party around 2 months to sort out a new leader whilst Parliament isn't sitting and then that person could be appointed PM in time for the party conference in October. Then they can get on with the Brexit talks and if a deal is done before the autumn of 2018 there could be an election at that time with the deal an issue of the campaign. If there's no deal by the end of March 2019 we leave the EU anyway and a GE should be called on the first Thursday in May.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
Hardly surprising when the Tories have spent the last 7 years throwing bribes at pensioners and cuts for everyone else
Spending keeps going up - where are these "cuts"?
On every front line service. Where I live we are down to 3 police officers on shift at any given time to cover a wide area. All our local schools have lost many hundreds of pounds per pupil with the same again to come. All the GP practices are short of cash, our hospital is threatened with closure due to cash shortage. Council funding grant from government cut 70% and the rest to go in a few years leading to mass cuts to frontline services. And that's just here - nationally you add in the abusive cuts to disabled support, making terminal cancer patients go and work, the devastating cuts to the armed forces - it would be a shorter list to say what hasn't been cut.
And that's the devastating legacy of George Osborne. A 70% increase in national debt at the same time as grinding austerity and imposed poverty.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
And this is a very good point. How best to provide necessary travelling for all sections of society. Running near empty buses around the countryside in case someone might just happen to want to use them one day was and is stupid. Even buses as entertainment for the young elderly was reasonable. Does the pension provide for the taxi fare, when desired or even just when needed ?
Here in Cumbria under the last administration there weren't even bus services to get 16-18 yos to school. So they drove themselves to school. Now to me that was just plain wrong.
Incredibly irresponsible coverage of the horrors in Kensington by the BBC at the moment. There should not be completely uninformed speculation at this point particularly from someone with a clear agenda.
Yes there are serious questions to answer. But it is not right to give airtime to speculation such as they have just broadcast. It is not for Victoria Derbyshire to give her opinion as to why this fire spread in such a way.
She is there to report not give her views. All she is doing is trying to create a television moment rather than give sensitive coverage of a very difficult situation.
One survivor has stated that the fire alarm in his flat went off when he opened the door. Another has said his didn't work at all. A third has stated they have been asking for a building wide fire alarm.
If those are borne out, although it will be too little too late, somebody needs prosecuting.
I've been talking about the problems with building standards on here for years. Not the actual written standards - though it seems they might have been insufficient here - but the way builders are cutting corners to those standards, and the incapability of inspectors to check.
There are lots of residents in brand new, and very expensive, high-rise flats who will be concerned this morning.
Maybe there is corruption in Building Control.
Perhaps, and that might be some of the story. But the problem is that there are only so many inspectors.
Around 120,000 new homes were built in 2014. Each one may take between three and six months to build. If each one receives three visits from building control (yeah, right), and each visit takes half an hour, how many non-visible issues (e.g. missing insulation or poor foundations) can be picked up? How many inspectors would be needed to check for every possible issue?
Anecdotally, it mostly depends on 'trust' between builders and the council. Hence small builders get more inspections than the large ones.
I only raise that because I had a client who was a retired building inspector. After his death, I discovered he had a big offshore account, into which he'd placed bribes from builders to pass sub-standard buildings. He was putting people's lives at risk.
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
One survivor has stated that the fire alarm in his flat went off when he opened the door. Another has said his didn't work at all. A third has stated they have been asking for a building wide fire alarm.
If those are borne out, although it will be too little too late, somebody needs prosecuting.
I've been talking about the problems with building standards on here for years. Not the actual written standards - though it seems they might have been insufficient here - but the way builders are cutting corners to those standards, and the incapability of inspectors to check.
There are lots of residents in brand new, and very expensive, high-rise flats who will be concerned this morning.
Maybe there is corruption in Building Control.
Perhaps, and that might be some of the story. But the problem is that there are only so many inspectors.
Around 120,000 new homes were built in 2014. Each one may take between three and six months to build. If each one receives three visits from building control (yeah, right), and each visit takes half an hour, how many non-visible issues (e.g. missing insulation or poor foundations) can be picked up? How many inspectors would be needed to check for every possible issue?
Anecdotally, it mostly depends on 'trust' between builders and the council. Hence small builders get more inspections than the large ones.
Inevitably there will be some cases of failings through incompetence, cost-cutting or misconduct.
Many cases, IME. And the problem has got worse because building standards are so much more complex nowadays, and there is much more for inspectors to check.
The EU’s executive arm forged ahead with a proposal feared by many in the City of London on so-called euro clearing, which will cost banks an estimated £63 billion and could deprive the U.K. of 83,000 jobs.
The new proposals empower the Commission to strip London of its nearly €1 trillion-a-day euro-clearing business if it deems it necessary for financial soundness in the EU.
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Ah well, it is only 83,000 jobs, I'm sure they don't need the money and will feel the warmth of taking back control.
"Could". And they "could" have done this anyway as long as we had stayed outside the eurozone...
"1 trillion a day". They're listing the notional value of derivatives transactions. Bless. At that point you can stop reading.
The EU can restrict clearing in Euros or it can be a major financial centre and reserve currency. It can't do both. This line of thinking will also be likely to see it reintroduce concentration rules for the trading of shares and other such constructs. It is ultimately self harming, and at least this way we flush it out now and don't get dragged into that nonsense ourselves.
The worst case scenario is that the City finds itself where it was before the full implementation of the first Markets in Financial Infrastructure Directive - the dark days of 2006 when bankers had barely two pennies to rub together.
I am also now convinced that election canvassing (both doorstep and phone) samples a very skewed proportion of the population, biased towards the more elderly, the less socially active, and homeowners.
How else to square the YouGov finding that a close result was nailed on two or three weeks out, with all the anecdotal reports from canvassers? Or the fact that the election result surprised both party HQs and almost every canvasser, despite the "intelligence" they all had based on millions of conversations.
When the relationship between age and voting wasn't so stark, and when younger voter turnout was lower, perhaps this didn't matter and, like the polls, canvassing gave a good feel despite the sample being unrepresentative in other ways. But it doesn't any more.
Except David Herdson did find it. Very late in the day.
I was sent to highly-targetted waverers and probable/firm Con households.
In hindsight, I was probably sent to broadly the right households, and the Tory vote went up, but CCHQ didn't notice that there was a huge groundswell of support for Labour in the homes and flats I didn't visit.
Every canvasser in every election has a night when they get a bad street, and are suddenly convinced of imminent defeat. When it's the candidate they need lots of tea and reassurance.
Statistically it is far more likely that Mr Herdson stumbled across such a street, and was "lucky" that this was followed by a bad result, than it is that the small sample of voters he spoke to that night (with big MOE) was both truly representative and indicating a late swing. Particularly since the best analysis we have right now doesn't reveal any evidence of a late swing - the result was nailed on for a fortnight during which Mr H was out visiting lots of other streets and coming home happy of victory.
As humans we see patterns in and links between things, and work hard to find them even when they don't exist.
I found it throughout canvassing all over the constituency. Not a one-off. As it proved on the night.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
The clearing houses for derivatives will remain in London (for now) but under EU regulations and EU control. This means Brussels could withdraw them at any time, which would be hugely damaging for the City, lock in instability, and trigger the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. And before the PB Provincial Paleo Tories pipe up and implore us all to move to their new Jerusalem, Mansfield, these jobs include thousands of sweet girls from Essex and Kent working in back offices, not just financial services big dogs.
Vote Leave. Take back control.
And it could have been moved anytime the EU wished to relocate it to the Eurozone.
What's home ownership levels in Ealing Central these days ? Is it below 40% yet ?
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
Yes because in the 6th largest economy in the world we can't afford a bus and a barely adequate pension. Or basic human dignity for people dying of cancer. Or enough police and hospitals. Or to educate our kids properly.
Its bullshit. And people have now realised its bullshit. And they won't stand for being patronised and sneered at any longer.
When did the Conservative Party lose its link with human compassion? Its not just the cuts that have so offended people, but the cuts on whom and how they have been done. Nasty, vicious, spiteful, un-British.
All very well, but they did inherit a £158 bn deficit. Deficits of that size don't take care of themselves.
They might have done if Osborne had thought more about growth than austerity. We had a peak deficit of around 6 per cent of GDP and a recovering economy. We'd not seen deficits that high since, oh, John Major was prime minister. In addition, while QE may have been necessary, it did entail Osborne handing over billions of pounds from his magic money tree to bankers and traders -- it was a political choice not to pay for more police or bus passes or bus passes for coppers.
The Labour deficit Osborne inherited was far higher than Major's.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
"Incredibly irresponsible coverage of the horrors in Kensington by the BBC."
Journalists are generally liked as much as politicians. They are the story. They have every right to pontificate on things they don't understand because they are superior people.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
The clearing houses for derivatives will remain in London (for now) but under EU regulations and EU control. This means Brussels could withdraw them at any time, which would be hugely damaging for the City, lock in instability, and trigger the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. And before the PB Provincial Paleo Tories pipe up and implore us all to move to their new Jerusalem, Mansfield, these jobs include thousands of sweet girls from Essex and Kent working in back offices, not just financial services big dogs.
Vote Leave. Take back control.
And it could have been moved anytime the EU wished to relocate it to the Eurozone.
What's home ownership levels in Ealing Central these days ? Is it below 40% yet ?
They tried to move it and lost under an ECJ ruling.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
This is what you voted for.
Brexit = making us all poorer
It's a price worth paying, Mike.
Even if its a price worth paying it still doesn't make it true.
And the Libs are scratching their heads wondering why they got trashed.
Wake up this morning to yet another unimaginable horror in London and can only pray that as many as possible escape that towering inferno.
The Country is in a very poor place and to be honest my views have changed dramatically since last Thursday. I cannot see any positives in any form of hard Brexit and hope as the weeks and months pass common sense prevails and we stay in the single market and customs union.
The reports from business since Thursday are so worrying and with Airbus threatening UK production it would be an act of extreme folly to do anything to disrupt our essential industries.
I do not agree with the Lib Dems that there should be a second referendum as that could make things worse but hope that with the influence of Ruth Davidson and indeed the DUP Theresa May can in time bring her position in line with the consensus that seems to be developing that the single market is more important than immigration. The appointment of pro remain Gavin Barwell to no 10 and the sacking of active leaver David Jones indicates the way of travel in my opinion
Immigration was a major part of the leave vote and we should ignore it then ?
Wake up this morning to yet another unimaginable horror in London and can only pray that as many as possible escape that towering inferno.
The Country is in a very poor place and to be honest my views have changed dramatically since last Thursday. I cannot see any positives in any form of hard Brexit and hope as the weeks and months pass common sense prevails and we stay in the single market and customs union.
The reports from business since Thursday are so worrying and with Airbus threatening UK production it would be an act of extreme folly to do anything to disrupt our essential industries.
I do not agree with the Lib Dems that there should be a second referendum as that could make things worse but hope that with the influence of Ruth Davidson and indeed the DUP Theresa May can in time bring her position in line with the consensus that seems to be developing that the single market is more important than immigration. The appointment of pro remain Gavin Barwell to no 10 and the sacking of active leaver David Jones indicates the way of travel in my opinion
Immigration was a major part of the leave vote and we should ignore it then ?
Mr. Eagles, I can see why the EU might be concerned. I still can't see why they then have the authority to prevent business in Britain conducting business in Britain, particularly if we've left the EU.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
How would you have known if it was safe or unsafe? Once we are used to something, it's human nature to assume that it's not problematic. This natural complacency is the cause of many accidents.
For instance, we live in a three-story townhouse of the sort increasingly popular with builders. Three of the four bedrooms are on the top floor. We've tried to work out how we'd evacuate in case of a fire (the staircase is uninterrupted from ground floor to top, so would act as a channel for fire), but it's a bit of a bugger. We've got something in one room we can dangle out of the window to act as a rope, but it's far from ideal.
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
I am also now convinced that election canvassing (both doorstep and phone) samples a very skewed proportion of the population, biased towards the more elderly, the less socially active, and homeowners.
How else to square the YouGov finding that a close result was nailed on two or three weeks out, with all the anecdotal reports from canvassers? Or the fact that the election result surprised both party HQs and almost every canvasser, despite the "intelligence" they all had based on millions of conversations.
When the relationship between age and voting wasn't so stark, and when younger voter turnout was lower, perhaps this didn't matter and, like the polls, canvassing gave a good feel despite the sample being unrepresentative in other ways. But it doesn't any more.
Except David Herdson did find it. Very late in the day.
I was sent to highly-targetted waverers and probable/firm Con households.
In hindsight, I was probably sent to broadly the right households, and the Tory vote went up, but CCHQ didn't notice that there was a huge groundswell of support for Labour in the homes and flats I didn't visit.
Every canvasser in every election has a night when they get a bad street, and are suddenly convinced of imminent defeat. When it's the candidate they need lots of tea and reassurance.
Statistically it is far more likely that Mr Herdson stumbled across such a street, and was "lucky" that this was followed by a bad result, than it is that the small sample of voters he spoke to that night (with big MOE) was both truly representative and indicating a late swing. Particularly since the best analysis we have right now doesn't reveal any evidence of a late swing - the result was nailed on for a fortnight during which Mr H was out visiting lots of other streets and coming home happy of victory.
As humans we see patterns in and links between things, and work hard to find them even when they don't exist.
I found it throughout canvassing all over the constituency. Not a one-off. As it proved on the night.
I must have missed your predictions that the Tories were to lose their majority.
"You are now talking about debt which Osborne increased by an incredible 50 per cent."
Two points. If it's incredible, then it isn't believable. And if you have a deficit, the debt is bound to increase.
What were Labour's plans for the deficit by the way? The main problem for Labour is that the idea of spending more to get out of debt really is incredible.
Wake up this morning to yet another unimaginable horror in London and can only pray that as many as possible escape that towering inferno.
The Country is in a very poor place and to be honest my views have changed dramatically since last Thursday. I cannot see any positives in any form of hard Brexit and hope as the weeks and months pass common sense prevails and we stay in the single market and customs union.
The reports from business since Thursday are so worrying and with Airbus threatening UK production it would be an act of extreme folly to do anything to disrupt our essential industries.
I do not agree with the Lib Dems that there should be a second referendum as that could make things worse but hope that with the influence of Ruth Davidson and indeed the DUP Theresa May can in time bring her position in line with the consensus that seems to be developing that the single market is more important than immigration. The appointment of pro remain Gavin Barwell to no 10 and the sacking of active leaver David Jones indicates the way of travel in my opinion
Immigration was a major part of the leave vote and we should ignore it then ?
I am also now convinced that election canvassing (both doorstep and phone) samples a very skewed proportion of the population, biased towards the more elderly, the less socially active, and homeowners.
How else to square the YouGov finding that a close result was nailed on two or three weeks out, with all the anecdotal reports from canvassers? Or the fact that the election result surprised both party HQs and almost every canvasser, despite the "intelligence" they all had based on millions of conversations.
When the relationship between age and voting wasn't so stark, and when younger voter turnout was lower, perhaps this didn't matter and, like the polls, canvassing gave a good feel despite the sample being unrepresentative in other ways. But it doesn't any more.
Except David Herdson did find it. Very late in the day.
I was sent to highly-targetted waverers and probable/firm Con households.
In hindsight, I was probably sent to broadly the right households, and the Tory vote went up, but CCHQ didn't notice that there was a huge groundswell of support for Labour in the homes and flats I didn't visit.
Every canvasser in every election has a night when they get a bad street, and are suddenly convinced of imminent defeat. When it's the candidate they need lots of tea and reassurance.
Statistically it is far more likely that Mr Herdson stumbled across such a street, and was "lucky" that this was followed by a bad result, than it is that the small sample of voters he spoke to that night (with big MOE) was both truly representative and indicating a late swing. Particularly since the best analysis we have right now doesn't reveal any evidence of a late swing - the result was nailed on for a fortnight during which Mr H was out visiting lots of other streets and coming home happy of victory.
As humans we see patterns in and links between things, and work hard to find them even when they don't exist.
I found it throughout canvassing all over the constituency. Not a one-off. As it proved on the night.
I must have missed your predictions that the Tories were to lose their majority.
I posted several times that I had backed NOM and Lab Maj.
Prof Scully has come out well too in his Welsh polling .Prof JC remains the king however,his exit poll was another bullseye.The betting markets were as bad a guide as some of the pollsters too.Even reports on the ground game were hoplelessly wrong-the Tories were closing in on Dennis Skinner's Bolsover according to this nonsense. You Gov did well but Survation is now the gold standard.The rest have probably suffered long-term reputational damage.Ipsos Mori and ICM and the rest have got some explaining to do.
The Tories may not have won Bolsover but they did get a 7% swing to them in contrast to the 2% national swing to Labour and Skinner's majority is now 5000 down from 11 000 in 2015 and it is a marginal seat
Give Ladbrokes a ring and ask them to price up 'Con gain Bolsover' for the next GE. You could be a rich man. Or not.
Not Bolsover but I won a cake off my friend for predicting Con Gain Mansfield
The swings to the Tories around here (North East Midlands) were decent on an otherwise poor night in England. My friend is fine, Thank God, lives about 3 streets away from the tower.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
Yes, it's fine if you're also prepared to fund a Scandinavian state to ensure high standards. UK rapidly losing its first world status.
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
Because it is true.
I'd think you'd know better than that. Such an accident is *always* the result of multiple causal factors. Cuts may be one of them, but it's wrong to concentrate on that when there were probably many other failures as well that contributed.
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
That and 'Isis did it'.....
More likely an unattended candle.
Attended a fire safety talk once. The fireman said 'If, after this talk you go home and throw out every single candle you possess I'll consider this a success, if not, a failure'.
Just think, if the PB team had published my article that said pollsters should skew towards the politically uninterested, we would almost certainly have had a debate over the fact that YOUGOV already did that, and might have all piled on the 'surprise' results they found. Particularly as I had assumed the Labour score was influenced by over inclusion of political engagement, imagine how many people would have been keen to point out my error!!
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
Because it is true.
Thanks. Could you explain your previous comment that LFB had plenty of resources? Or do you mean in general resources are stretched nationwide?
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
This is what you voted for.
Brexit = making us all poorer
Brexiteers are economic terrorists.
They should have to pay an extra 25% a year in income tax and 400% extra in council tax.
Morning all. Horrific scenes in London which one fears the casualty figures will render all the more grim. Depending on what caused the fire to spread so quickly might have dramatic and far reaching consequences with immediate action required. Very dangerous moment if criminal negligence is involved. As a country it feels like we are stumbling, lurching from crisis to crisis as if somehow the wheels have just come off. The atmosphere could easily turn febrile. Overwhelmingly sad, depressed and concerned all at the same time. Things have to change.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
Yes because in the 6th largest economy in the world we can't afford a bus and a barely adequate pension. Or basic human dignity for people dying of cancer. Or enough police and hospitals. Or to educate our kids properly.
Its bullshit. And people have now realised its bullshit. And they won't stand for being patronised and sneered at any longer.
When did the Conservative Party lose its link with human compassion? Its not just the cuts that have so offended people, but the cuts on whom and how they have been done. Nasty, vicious, spiteful, un-British.
All very well, but they did inherit a £158 bn deficit. Deficits of that size don't take care of themselves.
They might have done if Osborne had thought more about growth than austerity. We had a peak deficit of around 6 per cent of GDP and a recovering economy. We'd not seen deficits that high since, oh, John Major was prime minister. In addition, while QE may have been necessary, it did entail Osborne handing over billions of pounds from his magic money tree to bankers and traders -- it was a political choice not to pay for more police or bus passes or bus passes for coppers.
The Labour deficit Osborne inherited was far higher than Major's.
You are now talking about debt which Osborne increased by an incredible 50 per cent.
I'm no fan of Osborne and he certainly borrowed more than he predicted but given his starting point a huge increase in the national debt was inevitable.
If you're looking for someone to blame start with Gordon Brown - it was during his time that the structural deficit started and who based his spending plans on the assumption there would never be another recession.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
Yes because in the 6th largest economy in the world we can't afford a bus and a barely adequate pension. Or basic human dignity for people dying of cancer. Or enough police and hospitals. Or to educate our kids properly.
Its bullshit. And people have now realised its bullshit. And they won't stand for being patronised and sneered at any longer.
When did the Conservative Party lose its link with human compassion? Its not just the cuts that have so offended people, but the cuts on whom and how they have been done. Nasty, vicious, spiteful, un-British.
All very well, but they did inherit a £158 bn deficit. Deficits of that size don't take care of themselves.
They might have done if Osborne had thought more about growth than austerity. We had a peak deficit of around 6 per cent of GDP and a recovering economy. We'd not seen deficits that high since, oh, John Major was prime minister. In addition, while QE may have been necessary, it did entail Osborne handing over billions of pounds from his magic money tree to bankers and traders -- it was a political choice not to pay for more police or bus passes or bus passes for coppers.
The Labour deficit Osborne inherited was far higher than Major's.
Incredibly irresponsible coverage of the horrors in Kensington by the BBC at the moment. There should not be completely uninformed speculation at this point particularly from someone with a clear agenda.
Yes there are serious questions to answer. But it is not right to give airtime to speculation such as they have just broadcast. It is not for Victoria Derbyshire to give her opinion as to why this fire spread in such a way.
Anyone who claims to know what happened at this stage is lying. There have been lots of major fires where the real cause wasn't determined to much later, and wasn't obvious at the time.
The EU’s executive arm forged ahead with a proposal feared by many in the City of London on so-called euro clearing, which will cost banks an estimated £63 billion and could deprive the U.K. of 83,000 jobs.
The new proposals empower the Commission to strip London of its nearly €1 trillion-a-day euro-clearing business if it deems it necessary for financial soundness in the EU.
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
Yes, it's fine if you're also prepared to fund a Scandinavian state to ensure high standards. UK rapidly losing its first world status.
Are you prepared to live within your means and run a trade surplus in order to fund a Scandinavian state ?
Morning all. Horrific scenes in London which one fears the casualty figures will render all the more grim. Depending on what caused the fire to spread so quickly might have dramatic and far reaching consequences with immediate action required. Very dangerous moment if criminal negligence is involved. As a country it feels like we are stumbling, lurching from crisis to crisis as if somehow the wheels have just come off. The atmosphere could easily turn febrile. Overwhelmingly sad, depressed and concerned all at the same time. Things have to change.
We've spent too long playing political games and worshipping the individual, and we have taken our eyes off the main job of building a country we are proud to live in.
Wake up this morning to yet another unimaginable horror in London and can only pray that as many as possible escape that towering inferno.
The Country is in a very poor place and to be honest my views have changed dramatically since last Thursday. I cannot see any positives in any form of hard Brexit and hope as the weeks and months pass common sense prevails and we stay in the single market and customs union.
The reports from business since Thursday are so worrying and with Airbus threatening UK production it would be an act of extreme folly to do anything to disrupt our essential industries.
I do not agree with the Lib Dems that there should be a second referendum as that could make things worse but hope that with the influence of Ruth Davidson and indeed the DUP Theresa May can in time bring her position in line with the consensus that seems to be developing that the single market is more important than immigration. The appointment of pro remain Gavin Barwell to no 10 and the sacking of active leaver David Jones indicates the way of travel in my opinion
Immigration was a major part of the leave vote and we should ignore it then ?
Immigration wasn't on the ballot paper
Keep your head in the sand pal.
Daniel Hannan, member of the Vote Leave board, says the referendum had nothing to do with immigration
Yep - my 90 year old mother-in-law has seen the bus she used to get from her village to Leamington cut to one day a week. Schools here are not replacing teachers; other services are being cut to the bone. It's the same story everywhere. We may not have had balance sheet austerity, but on the ground we certainly have. And it's people's experiences that count.
We haven't had austerity we've had wealth transfers.
Your mother-in-law's cut bus services were used to fund her triple lock pension.
Yes because in the 6th largest economy in the world we can't afford a bus and a barely adequate pension. Or basic human dignity for people dying of cancer. Or enough police and hospitals. Or to educate our kids properly.
Its bullshit. And people have now realised its bullshit. And they won't stand for being patronised and sneered at any longer.
When did the Conservative Party lose its link with human compassion? Its not just the cuts that have so offended people, but the cuts on whom and how they have been done. Nasty, vicious, spiteful, un-British.
While I have a great deal of sympathy with the sentiment, I vividly remember Gordon Brown making precisely the same rhetorical point - except that at that time it was the "4th largest economy in the world"...
The EU’s executive arm forged ahead with a proposal feared by many in the City of London on so-called euro clearing, which will cost banks an estimated £63 billion and could deprive the U.K. of 83,000 jobs.
The new proposals empower the Commission to strip London of its nearly €1 trillion-a-day euro-clearing business if it deems it necessary for financial soundness in the EU.
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Morning all. Horrific scenes in London which one fears the casualty figures will render all the more grim. Depending on what caused the fire to spread so quickly might have dramatic and far reaching consequences with immediate action required. Very dangerous moment if criminal negligence is involved. As a country it feels like we are stumbling, lurching from crisis to crisis as if somehow the wheels have just come off. The atmosphere could easily turn febrile. Overwhelmingly sad, depressed and concerned all at the same time. Things have to change.
We've spent too long playing political games and worshipping the individual, and we have taken our eyes off the main job of building a country we are proud to live in.
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
Because it is true.
I'd think you'd know better than that. Such an accident is *always* the result of multiple causal factors. Cuts may be one of them, but it's wrong to concentrate on that when there were probably many other failures as well that contributed.
+1.
There'll be a reason the fire started inside the flat. There'll be a reason why it quickly spread to the rest of the block. There'll be a reason why people weren't alerted or evacuated quickly enough. AFAICS there isn't yet any reason to fault the emergency response?
"You are now talking about debt which Osborne increased by an incredible 50 per cent."
Two points. If it's incredible, then it isn't believable. And if you have a deficit, the debt is bound to increase.
What were Labour's plans for the deficit by the way? The main problem for Labour is that the idea of spending more to get out of debt really is incredible.
Wake up this morning to yet another unimaginable horror in London and can only pray that as many as possible escape that towering inferno.
The Country is in a very poor place and to be honest my views have changed dramatically since last Thursday. I cannot see any positives in any form of hard Brexit and hope as the weeks and months pass common sense prevails and we stay in the single market and customs union.
The reports from business since Thursday are so worrying and with Airbus threatening UK production it would be an act of extreme folly to do anything to disrupt our essential industries.
I do not agree with the Lib Dems that there should be a second referendum as that could make things worse but hope that with the influence of Ruth Davidson and indeed the DUP Theresa May can in time bring her position in line with the consensus that seems to be developing that the single market is more important than immigration. The appointment of pro remain Gavin Barwell to no 10 and the sacking of active leaver David Jones indicates the way of travel in my opinion
Immigration was a major part of the leave vote and we should ignore it then ?
Immigration wasn't on the ballot paper
Keep your head in the sand pal.
Daniel Hannan, member of the Vote Leave board, says the referendum had nothing to do with immigration
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
This is what you voted for.
Brexit = making us all poorer
Brexiteers are economic terrorists.
They should have to pay an extra 25% a year in income tax and 400% extra in council tax.
We could increase George's tax rates to pay for the hundreds of billions extra he borrowed.
I am also now convinced that election canvassing (both doorstep and phone) samples a very skewed proportion of the population, biased towards the more elderly, the less socially active, and homeowners.
How else to square the YouGov finding that a close result was nailed on two or three weeks out, with all the anecdotal reports from canvassers? Or the fact that the election result surprised both party HQs and almost every canvasser, despite the "intelligence" they all had based on millions of conversations.
When the relationship between age and voting wasn't so stark, and when younger voter turnout was lower, perhaps this didn't matter and, like the polls, canvassing gave a good feel despite the sample being unrepresentative in other ways. But it doesn't any more.
Except David Herdson did find it. Very late in the day.
I was sent to highly-targetted waverers and probable/firm Con households.
In hindsight, I was probably sent to broadly the right households, and the Tory vote went up, but CCHQ didn't notice that there was a huge groundswell of support for Labour in the homes and flats I didn't visit.
Every canvasser in every election has a night when they get a bad street, and are suddenly convinced of imminent defeat. When it's the candidate they need lots of tea and reassurance.
Statistically it is far more likely that Mr Herdson stumbled across such a street, and was "lucky" that this was followed by a bad result, than it is that the small sample of voters he spoke to that night (with big MOE) was both truly representative and indicating a late swing. Particularly since the best analysis we have right now doesn't reveal any evidence of a late swing - the result was nailed on for a fortnight during which Mr H was out visiting lots of other streets and coming home happy of victory.
As humans we see patterns in and links between things, and work hard to find them even when they don't exist.
I found it throughout canvassing all over the constituency. Not a one-off. As it proved on the night.
I must have missed your predictions that the Tories were to lose their majority.
I posted several times that I had backed NOM and Lab Maj.
OK, kudos. I trust you enjoy this year's luxury holiday!
"You are now talking about debt which Osborne increased by an incredible 50 per cent."
Two points. If it's incredible, then it isn't believable. And if you have a deficit, the debt is bound to increase.
What were Labour's plans for the deficit by the way? The main problem for Labour is that the idea of spending more to get out of debt really is incredible.
Spending on consumption gets you into more debt. Spending on investment (infrastructure, education and training etc) gives a return that can get you out of debt if the return is greater than the cost of borrowing.
All businesses recognise the difference between day to day spending and capital investment. This government and many commentators on this blog seem incapable of making this distinction. They think like housewives managing a weekly budget.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
Yes, it's fine if you're also prepared to fund a Scandinavian state to ensure high standards. UK rapidly losing its first world status.
Are you prepared to live within your means and run a trade surplus in order to fund a Scandinavian state ?
Of course. I would be delighted to engage in productive activities to fund a high-quality state which levers the economic benefits of cooperation. I am not delighted to live in a country that underfunds its public services and believes that property ownership is a productive activity.
Perhaps we should have a referendum on EU membership every five years? Had we done so, the pressure and frustration might not have built up for so long. In fact, it would have served as a check on the EU's inexorable progress to a nation state, or at least alerted the population to the political reality, and thus closed down the argument before it became so heated.
Wake up this morning to yet another unimaginable horror in London and can only pray that as many as possible escape that towering inferno.
The Country is in a very poor place and to be honest my views have changed dramatically since last Thursday. I cannot see any positives in any form of hard Brexit and hope as the weeks and months pass common sense prevails and we stay in the single market and customs union.
The reports from business since Thursday are so worrying and with Airbus threatening UK production it would be an act of extreme folly to do anything to disrupt our essential industries.
I do not agree with the Lib Dems that there should be a second referendum as that could make things worse but hope that with the influence of Ruth Davidson and indeed the DUP Theresa May can in time bring her position in line with the consensus that seems to be developing that the single market is more important than immigration. The appointment of pro remain Gavin Barwell to no 10 and the sacking of active leaver David Jones indicates the way of travel in my opinion
Immigration was a major part of the leave vote and we should ignore it then ?
Immigration wasn't on the ballot paper
Keep your head in the sand pal.
Daniel Hannan, member of the Vote Leave board, says the referendum had nothing to do with immigration
Dominic Cumming said the main factor was £350 million for the NHS.
How would you have known if it was safe or unsafe? Once we are used to something, it's human nature to assume that it's not problematic. This natural complacency is the cause of many accidents.
Good point, felt safe and looked safe are meaningless.
For instance, we live in a three-story townhouse of the sort increasingly popular with builders. Three of the four bedrooms are on the top floor. We've tried to work out how we'd evacuate in case of a fire (the staircase is uninterrupted from ground floor to top, so would act as a channel for fire), but it's a bit of a bugger. We've got something in one room we can dangle out of the window to act as a rope, but it's far from ideal.
You can buy chain ladders that clip over a windowsill, they aren't even that expensive.
Many political views on the fire on twitter mainly centring around Tory cuts and lax regulations for their (the Tories') landlord friends.
Cuts is a bit of an odd one seeing as the building has just been refurbished and almost certainly went through some rigorous planning and inspection. Regulations are more plausible, it will be interesting to see if the cladding is a problem and why. One thing that has long concerned me is knock-off parts and material in the supply chains of a lot of industries, it is increasingly difficult to be sure what you are buying is what is claims to be.
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
Because it is true.
I'd think you'd know better than that. Such an accident is *always* the result of multiple causal factors. Cuts may be one of them, but it's wrong to concentrate on that when there were probably many other failures as well that contributed.
You're right, of course, but I can only speak from my experience. My service has cut dramatically and we've been close to disaster a few times on jobs I've been too because of not enough resources, and have lost a number of buildings that we might have saved with a speedier and weightier attack. There are a number of court cases pending throughout the country bought by insurance companies against local fire services. I've never argued for a gold plated Porsche fire engine on every street corner crewd by a bus full of firefighters, just enough and in the right places. We don't have that anymore.
Perhaps now they will finally stop building these death traps
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
I grew up in a tower block (in Denmark), lived there for about 15 years. Never experienced better maintenance and always felt safe. Clearly more people are exposed to risk than in a single family house, so high standards are needed, but there's nothing wrong with the idea per se.
The simple truth is that even without insanities like ACM, all tall buildings are fire traps.
Keeping inflammable materials out of a structure is close to impossible. The US Navy regularly audits it's ships - and keeps finding multiple tons of unauthorised materials on board. And that is in very closed environment with military discipline. Humans just accumulate stuff.
Hardly surprising when the Tories have spent the last 7 years throwing bribes at pensioners and cuts for everyone else
Spending keeps going up - where are these "cuts"?
On every front line service. Where I live we are down to 3 police officers on shift at any given time to cover a wide area. All our local schools have lost many hundreds of pounds per pupil with the same again to come. All the GP practices are short of cash, our hospital is threatened with closure due to cash shortage. Council funding grant from government cut 70% and the rest to go in a few years leading to mass cuts to frontline services. And that's just here - nationally you add in the abusive cuts to disabled support, making terminal cancer patients go and work, the devastating cuts to the armed forces - it would be a shorter list to say what hasn't been cut.
And that's the devastating legacy of George Osborne. A 70% increase in national debt at the same time as grinding austerity and imposed poverty.
No, that is the legacy of a structural deficit where public spending was allowed to run far ahead of tax revenues in anticipation of growth that never came. We got a massive recession instead.
Despite Osborne's efforts we are still overspending and any government elected for the next several years would have to face the consequences.
If Osborne had, say, frozen the State Pension (in common with all other benefits) and introduced CGT on primary residence sales the deficit would have been eliminated now, albeit at a big electoral cost. It's a political choice that it's still there.
Inflation is not a capital gain.
If he had done that, then between punitive stamp duty and tax on inflation nobody would be able to afford to move at all. The deficit would get worse.
Mr. Eagles, if we're outside the EU, how can the EU forcibly remove business from the UK?
Not making a political point, genuinely unclear on this. The story was covered [I use the term loosely] on the news last night but in such a superficial way the actual legality or mechanism involved was never specified.
Also, the EU has always wanted to harm the city or tax it for its own purposes.
Well if you read the my post and the article is explains it clearly
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
Wake up this morning to yet another unimaginable horror in London and can only pray that as many as possible escape that towering inferno.
The Country is in a very poor place and to be honest my views have changed dramatically since last Thursday. I cannot see any positives in any form of hard Brexit and hope as the weeks and months pass common sense prevails and we stay in the single market and customs union.
The reports from business since Thursday are so worrying and with Airbus threatening UK production it would be an act of extreme folly to do anything to disrupt our essential industries.
I do not agree with the Lib Dems that there should be a second referendum as that could make things worse but hope that with the influence of Ruth Davidson and indeed the DUP Theresa May can in time bring her position in line with the consensus that seems to be developing that the single market is more important than immigration. The appointment of pro remain Gavin Barwell to no 10 and the sacking of active leaver David Jones indicates the way of travel in my opinion
Immigration was a major part of the leave vote and we should ignore it then ?
Immigration wasn't on the ballot paper
Keep your head in the sand pal.
Daniel Hannan, member of the Vote Leave board, says the referendum had nothing to do with immigration
Dominic Cumming said the main factor was £350 million for the NHS.
Comments
Well they can take the £63bn off the final bill then. At this rate they will end up paying us!
As Malcom G would say ... O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us.
Around 120,000 new homes were built in 2014. Each one may take between three and six months to build. If each one receives three visits from building control (yeah, right), and each visit takes half an hour, how many non-visible issues (e.g. missing insulation or poor foundations) can be picked up? How many inspectors would be needed to check for every possible issue?
Anecdotally, it mostly depends on 'trust' between builders and the council. Hence small builders get more inspections than the large ones.
Building inspections do not check as much as you think, and in practice much less:
https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/what-does-a-building-inspector-do/
Cladding, internal and external is "fire resistant". But when the temperature is measured in 100s of degrees C that must break down.
I am amazed at how much kingspan has gone into taking my old 19thC farmhouse into a modern energy efficient house about B on the scale of things. The windows, regardless of what you call it are plastic, they are A++.
Fire hazard does worry me but with the alarms I would have to be very drunk not to be able to jump out of a window and break a leg at worst.
BTW if the EU cuts up rough and we have no Brexit deal the inability to export kingspan into the UK will be more damaging to the Irish economy than not being able to export their beef.
' If you perchance thought that your London banking job would be safe with Britain outside the European Union, you were seemingly wrong. Consultants working for leading strategy firms in London say banks have activated their contingency plans and that the London job cuts are about to come thick and fast.
“You’re looking at anything from 50,000 to 70,000 London finance jobs being moved overseas in the next 12 months,” predicts one consultant working with one of the top finance strategy firms in the City. “Jobs are going to be cut, and those cuts are going to start next week.” '
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/248265/london-banking-redundancies-brexit/
But, the speech was purely rhetorical.
Plus as a matter of practicality there is only so much that the pips can squeak; are you thinking marginal rates back up way above 60-70%?
Vote Leave. Take back control.
And in many other things than house construction.
Inevitably there will be some cases of failings through incompetence, cost-cutting or misconduct.
I doubt there is a majority for staying in the single market, or for departing. And you might think that logic dictates that there literally had to be a majority for one of the three options of leaving without a deal, approving a deal or not leaving at all, but no. I really don’t believe that there is.
There seems to be agreement that we need jobs to be at the centre of any deal, yet this would be defeated too, because both parties agree that immigration, not jobs, should be at the centre of any deal. Yet if there was a deal that did not put jobs at the centre of it, it would be defeated because, well, jobs should be at the centre of any deal.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/theresa-may-s-only-brexit-option-is-dodging-the-cliff-edge-cjdqxnpxc
You are absolutely right about people's experiences
Have to say mine are not bad at all. Very minor interaction with public services - 1 Gp visit and one blood test in about 5 years - both admirably efficient and quick. Even managed only 1 visit ever to A&E with 3 kids which must be some kind of record - again quick and efficient but I guess we ere lucky
Children's schools the main one, and they seem OK. Dripping with laptops, iPads, double glazing replacements, electronic whiteboards, good audiovisual kit, and every primary school class has a TA so the pupil:teacher ratio is really 15:1 as far as I can see. Some buildings are a bit tired.
OK potholes are a disgrace but otherwise we clearly live in a rich country. I know I am lucky generally with a decent job etc and perhaps lucky specifically where I live (?)
Yes the biggest hit to the average person who doesn't work in the Public Sector is the Local Council Maintainence stuff, pot holes, grass verges at neck height, grass cut on parks less often etc.
Where we are the NHS seems to work fine, I need a hip op and I can have it done as soon as I want. There hasn't been any great inconvenience waiting for any GP or Hospital appointment.
School outcomes at 16 are a national disaster 40% or so failing to get their GCSE requirements, despite the denials lack of money and resources is not the main factor in that.
We are not as badly off as made out to be, IDS did get a lot of people back to work but there is a general lack of care shown when an individual falls on hard times. If an individual loses his job or get's an injury or illness that stops them working, they should be given help straight away that week without more than routine question. We have to go back to that, it does the Conservatives great harm to treat people like that, most claims are not fraudulent and the delays are quite ridiculous in processing, that is a recent state of affairs totally on the Conservative watch.
The bulk of euro-denominated derivatives transactions are cleared at clearing houses in Britain. EU regulators — including the European Central Bank — are concerned they will no longer have oversight of key transactions in their currency after Brexit takes effect.
This is what you voted for.
Those "events" coming thick and fast!
Debt rose about 15% of GDP under the Major government while it rose by about 35% of GDP between 2007 and 2010 alone:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/timeseries/hf6x/pusf
Statistically it is far more likely that Mr Herdson stumbled across such a street, and was "lucky" that this was followed by a bad result, than it is that the small sample of voters he spoke to that night (with big MOE) was both truly representative and indicating a late swing. Particularly since the best analysis we have right now doesn't reveal any evidence of a late swing - the result was nailed on for a fortnight during which Mr H was out visiting lots of other streets and coming home happy of victory.
As humans we see patterns in and links between things, and work hard to find them even when they don't exist.
Everyone is talking about and preparing for a softer approach to Brexit, across the political spectrum, except for the Tory ultras and Mrs May herself. Mrs M may not be a star performer, but she knows more than any of us and is not completely stupid. I am wondering therefore whether she plans to resign at some point soon, between the QS being agreed and the summer holidays?
If she is going, why be the person who changes tack on Brexit? Whereas if she is staying, surely she would understand that her previous approach is futile.
Yes, thinking about this, I recon she should get the Queen's speech through and resign as Conservative Party Leader, but not yet as PM just after the Parliamentary recess starts next month.
That will give the Tory party around 2 months to sort out a new leader whilst Parliament isn't sitting and then that person could be appointed PM in time for the party conference in October.
Then they can get on with the Brexit talks and if a deal is done before the autumn of 2018 there could be an election at that time with the deal an issue of the campaign.
If there's no deal by the end of March 2019 we leave the EU anyway and a GE should be called on the first Thursday in May.
Here in Cumbria under the last administration there weren't even bus services to get 16-18 yos to school. So they drove themselves to school. Now to me that was just plain wrong.
Yes there are serious questions to answer. But it is not right to give airtime to speculation such as they have just broadcast. It is not for Victoria Derbyshire to give her opinion as to why this fire spread in such a way.
She is there to report not give her views. All she is doing is trying to create a television moment rather than give sensitive coverage of a very difficult situation.
Shameful
The EU can restrict clearing in Euros or it can be a major financial centre and reserve currency. It can't do both. This line of thinking will also be likely to see it reintroduce concentration rules for the trading of shares and other such constructs. It is ultimately self harming, and at least this way we flush it out now and don't get dragged into that nonsense ourselves.
The worst case scenario is that the City finds itself where it was before the full implementation of the first Markets in Financial Infrastructure Directive - the dark days of 2006 when bankers had barely two pennies to rub together.
What's home ownership levels in Ealing Central these days ? Is it below 40% yet ?
I'm ashamed to say this was one of my first thoughts that it would be blamed on "Tory cuts." Labour won't come out and say it directly but I see social media is well and truly up and running on this.
"Incredibly irresponsible coverage of the horrors in Kensington by the BBC."
Journalists are generally liked as much as politicians. They are the story. They have every right to pontificate on things they don't understand because they are superior people.
And the Libs are scratching their heads wondering why they got trashed.
For instance, the residents of Ronan Point probably felt safe. Until this happened:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronan_Point
For instance, we live in a three-story townhouse of the sort increasingly popular with builders. Three of the four bedrooms are on the top floor. We've tried to work out how we'd evacuate in case of a fire (the staircase is uninterrupted from ground floor to top, so would act as a channel for fire), but it's a bit of a bugger. We've got something in one room we can dangle out of the window to act as a rope, but it's far from ideal.
"You are now talking about debt which Osborne increased by an incredible 50 per cent."
Two points. If it's incredible, then it isn't believable. And if you have a deficit, the debt is bound to increase.
What were Labour's plans for the deficit by the way? The main problem for Labour is that the idea of spending more to get out of debt really is incredible.
The swings to the Tories around here (North East Midlands) were decent on an otherwise poor night in England.
My friend is fine, Thank God, lives about 3 streets away from the tower.
More likely an unattended candle.
Attended a fire safety talk once. The fireman said 'If, after this talk you go home and throw out every single candle you possess I'll consider this a success, if not, a failure'.
They should have to pay an extra 25% a year in income tax and 400% extra in council tax.
As a country it feels like we are stumbling, lurching from crisis to crisis as if somehow the wheels have just come off. The atmosphere could easily turn febrile. Overwhelmingly sad, depressed and concerned all at the same time. Things have to change.
If you're looking for someone to blame start with Gordon Brown - it was during his time that the structural deficit started and who based his spending plans on the assumption there would never be another recession.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/02/dramatic-scenes-fire-engulfs-skyscraper-downtown-dubai/
To be fair, incredibly there were no injuries.
Inflammable cladding was blamed for the speed of spread of the fire.
Must be due to Hammond being a Remainer or something.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Garley_Building_fire
https://twitter.com/scottreid1980/status/874744529089441793
There'll be a reason the fire started inside the flat.
There'll be a reason why it quickly spread to the rest of the block.
There'll be a reason why people weren't alerted or evacuated quickly enough.
AFAICS there isn't yet any reason to fault the emergency response?
http://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/Images/manifesto-2017/Labour Manifesto 2017.pdf
All businesses recognise the difference between day to day spending and capital investment. This government and many commentators on this blog seem incapable of making this distinction. They think like housewives managing a weekly budget.
Our useless politicians should have a look at this
Perhaps we should have a referendum on EU membership every five years? Had we done so, the pressure and frustration might not have built up for so long. In fact, it would have served as a check on the EU's inexorable progress to a nation state, or at least alerted the population to the political reality, and thus closed down the argument before it became so heated.
I've never argued for a gold plated Porsche fire engine on every street corner crewd by a bus full of firefighters, just enough and in the right places. We don't have that anymore.
Paid for by??
Lab had £41 Bn of tax rises
Whats May got MMMT (Mays Magic Money Tree)
Keeping inflammable materials out of a structure is close to impossible. The US Navy regularly audits it's ships - and keeps finding multiple tons of unauthorised materials on board. And that is in very closed environment with military discipline. Humans just accumulate stuff.
If he had done that, then between punitive stamp duty and tax on inflation nobody would be able to afford to move at all. The deficit would get worse.
Prepares for 'up because of referendum uncertainty & Nat incompetence', or 'down because of the broad shoulders of strong & stable UK'.