Carney's rate move. It was a puny quarter point reduction that has already been reversed. Normally moves are at least half a point or if crisis moves are considerably more and aren't reversed so quickly.
GBP's fall. It was forecast as
Farmer featured in the FT - So he's having to pay a bit more than minimum wage and install WiFi in his accomodation to improve workers living conditions? That's a problem?
very funny.
Carney signalled to the markets that he was ready to act. And you Leavers can't have it both ways - he can't be criticised for instituting a Greenspan Put (as @Charles would have it) and also for it being ineffective as you say.
My own view accords with yours, AAMOF - it did no good in terms of monetary easing, it was pushing at a piece of string in the current environment, but it did signal to the markets that the BoE was all over Brexit and the risks. He also reestablished QE and spent £100bn on the banks.
Not sure about your point about GBP. Project Fear is a crock of shit but a Project Fear prediction came true so we can ignore it??
As for the farmer, as I said - a diminution of our wellbeing.
I never criticised him for instituting a Greenspan Put and most criticism I saw from Leavers was that it was unnecessary posturing. If all the market needed to be reassured was a calm statement and a tiny quarter point reduction swiftly reversed then the problems of Brexit can't have been severe.
As for GBP no that's not what I said. What I said was the Project Fear hasn't come true - the only part that has was sterling falling but by less than forecast. You can't then claim that Project Fear didn't come true because sterling fell. That's like me saying its going to rain so heavily tomorrow that your home will be flooded, then it raining but your house not getting flooded (as I was wrong) then me claiming that the only reason your home didn't flood is because it rained taking the moisture out of the air. Err no.
As for the farmer - how are increased wages and better living conditions for workers a diminution of our wellbeing? Unless you want our wellbeing to be based on indentured servitude with poor wages and poor living conditions?
OK so you didn't criticise Carney - excellent. Markets buy on rumour and sell on fact - ie they needed action and Carney's four point plan gave them facts on the ground and they were happy.
As for the FX - well it's a matter of degree. One person's crash is another's blip. Look at the news programmes (well mocked on The Day Today) talking about how "sterling has plummeted 1%".
Increased wages for everyone! Hurrah! Get in Jezzah! Literally.
This railway mayhem smacks of a nation preoccupied with Brexit and a government paralysed by it. Sadly there seems no end in sight. We'll be spending years - if not decades - hauling ourselves back to where we were pre-Brexit. Everything else will be left by the wayside. Grim.
It seems Network Rail (100% government owned) assumed passengers could disembark and embark a lot faster in theory than they can in practice. Hence trains unable to kep to the timetable.
Also some train operators are facing work to rule by their unions but failed to allow for this during a changeover to a new timetable which requires more drivers.
AIUI, the rest time assumption of 30s at a minor station and 60s at a major one is decades old and Network Rail increasing rest time assumptions for the May timetable was one of the, albeit lesser, drivers of timetable changes.
Network Rail's deficiencies are not a simple function of public ownership but rather that it retains the very specific culture set at the time of its creation, post Potters Bar, whereby it can close the whole shebang down with near impunity whenever it wants in the name of maximizing safety.
We must remember that one result of that has been that, if my reading is correct*, just a single passenger has died on board a train that has crashed in the following 15 years. I felt the government has lost the plot in 2003, but they either saw a historic opportunity that I didn't or got very lucky.
I do wonder, though, whether there are more compromises on station and line closures that can and should be made by Network Rail to lessen inconvenience.
* There are plenty of other ways of having an accident on the railways, but the narrow 'train crash' reading has value.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
Mr. Rentool, also adds to journey time, decreasing productivity.
If you want to be productive on a journey - catch the train.
Trains are only useful if both your home and your destination are near the station. Great for Metropolitan cities like London, not so great otherwise.
For me its a 40 minute walk to get to the nearest train station. How is that more productive?
Presumably you will get fitter and spend less time off work with illness?
I do a lot of my best work while walking. I find it's a good time to call my clients – the conversations are often more fruitful than when one is sedentary.
One of the more obvious eccentricities of the Faculty of Advocates is that when advocates want to negotiate they walk together up and down the Great Hall. The rationale is that no one can then overhear more than snippets of the conversation but a few thousand years ago we invented things called doors so I can't help feeling it is simply pretentious.
This railway mayhem smacks of a nation preoccupied with Brexit and a government paralysed by it. Sadly there seems no end in sight. We'll be spending years - if not decades - hauling ourselves back to where we were pre-Brexit. Everything else will be left by the wayside. Grim.
It seems Network Rail (100% government owned) assumed passengers could disembark and embark a lot faster in theory than they can in practice. Hence trains unable to kep to the timetable.
Also some train operators are facing work to rule by their unions but failed to allow for this during a changeover to a new timetable which requires more drivers.
AIUI, the rest time assumption of 30s at a minor station and 60s at a major one is decades old and Network Rail increasing rest time assumptions for the May timetable was one of the, albeit lesser, drivers of timetable changes.
Network Rail's deficiencies are not a simple function of public ownership but rather that it retains the very specific culture set at the time of its creation, post Potters Bar, whereby it can close the whole shebang down with near impunity whenever it wants in the name of maximizing safety.
We must remember that one result of that has been that, if my reading is correct*, just a single passenger has died on board a train that has crashed in the following 15 years. I felt the government has lost the plot in 2003, but they either saw a historic opportunity that I didn't or got very lucky.
I do wonder, though, whether there are more compromises on station and line closures that can and should be made by Network Rail to lessen inconvenience.
* There are plenty of other ways of having an accident on the railways, but the narrow 'train crash' reading has value.
One of my father's earliest postings in the Army was at Tewksbury. He told me that the train was not allowed to stop at the station but would slow down to maybe 10mph, the doors would all be slammed open and cases and squaddies would be thrown or jump/roll onto the platform. Maybe this should be reintroduced.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The only way the situation with the moped gangs is going to change, is if the police reverse their policy of not chasing them. I can’t see the bleeding hearts in charge of the Met going for that, but surely public opinion must now be close to tipping point on the issue?
The mayor will just wibble something about Tory Cuts, but it doesn’t matter how many police are in London if they refuse to chase criminals just because they’re on mopeds without helmets.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
Sadiq did say something -- probably blamed TMay's police cuts but I can't be bothered to look it up. If any politician had a solution that would survive more than 30 seconds thought and a searching interview with Richard Madeley, we'd have heard about it.
The astonishing part about the A1 is how there aren't more accidents with people pulling out of petrol stations out onto the road. The slip roads on are near non existant - has it simply not been noted how lethal these are ? Other than that it is not a bad road - just I feel some of the whole "smart motorway" spending on the M1 is a waste of cash (And unwanted with the nonsense near constant 60 mph limit) and improving the slip roads to a couple of services on the A1 would have been a far better use of cash.
The money spent on managed motorways is a disgrace.
Agreed. Smart motorways are a joke. The M1 is nearly always under speed restrictions. A wiser policy would have been to restrict demand, by offering tax breaks to employers along motorway commuting route who offered rotating working from home to their employees. But that would have required imaginative thinking – all too rare among governments both Labour and Tory I am afraid.
Having a near-permanent 50 or 60 mph speed limit is, to me, a Good Thing.
1. Improves fuel economy, therefore reduced emissions. 2. More people switch to the train, as driving takes significantly longer, further reducing emissions and reducing road congestion. 3. For those still driving, flowing at 50 mph is much less stressful than a cavalry charge, hard braking, charge again experience all too common on busy motorways. 4. It annoys 'petrol heads'.
5. It increases the throughput of the road because slower moving cars don't need such large gaps between them. Or, more precisely, because the size of the gaps required between the cars is not a linear function of their speed.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The only way the situation with the moped gangs is going to change, is if the police reverse their policy of not chasing them. I can’t see the bleeding hearts in charge of the Met going for that, but surely public opinion must now be close to tipping point on the issue?
Mr. Rentool, also adds to journey time, decreasing productivity.
If you want to be productive on a journey - catch the train.
Trains are only useful if both your home and your destination are near the station. Great for Metropolitan cities like London, not so great otherwise.
For me its a 40 minute walk to get to the nearest train station. How is that more productive?
Presumably you will get fitter and spend less time off work with illness?
I do a lot of my best work while walking. I find it's a good time to call my clients – the conversations are often more fruitful than when one is sedentary.
Me too. It’s amazing how little one actually needs ones notes/computer access.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The only way the situation with the moped gangs is going to change, is if the police reverse their policy of not chasing them. I can’t see the bleeding hearts in charge of the Met going for that, but surely public opinion must now be close to tipping point on the issue?
The mayor will just wibble something about Tory Cuts, but it doesn’t matter how many police are in London if they refuse to chase criminals just because they’re on mopeds without helmets.
I think if we copied the Ewoks’ methods for dealing with speeder bikes the issue would diminish quite rapidly.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The only way the situation with the moped gangs is going to change, is if the police reverse their policy of not chasing them. I can’t see the bleeding hearts in charge of the Met going for that, but surely public opinion must now be close to tipping point on the issue?
They have a policy of not chasing them ?!
Yep. A couple of kids got killed in accidents while being chased a year or so ago, so the Met police decided to stop chasing them as a matter of policy.
So now every gang member in London now goes around on a stolen moped with no helmet with absolute impunity. Hence the explosion of this sort of crime.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The only way the situation with the moped gangs is going to change, is if the police reverse their policy of not chasing them. I can’t see the bleeding hearts in charge of the Met going for that, but surely public opinion must now be close to tipping point on the issue?
The mayor will just wibble something about Tory Cuts, but it doesn’t matter how many police are in London if they refuse to chase criminals just because they’re on mopeds without helmets.
I think if we copied the Ewoks’ methods for dealing with speeder bikes the issue would diminish quite rapidly.
Those of you in the North only have to wait another 10 years and you will be able to join us in the South even faster by travelling on HS2 (provided you have enough money to buy a single ticket)
It is fast enough at the moment IMO, from York to Kings Cross. 1 hour 58 mins .
This railway mayhem smacks of a nation preoccupied with Brexit and a government paralysed by it. Sadly there seems no end in sight. We'll be spending years - if not decades - hauling ourselves back to where we were pre-Brexit. Everything else will be left by the wayside. Grim.
It seems Network Rail (100% government owned) assumed passengers could disembark and embark a lot faster in theory than they can in practice. Hence trains unable to kep to the timetable.
Also some train operators are facing work to rule by their unions but failed to allow for this during a changeover to a new timetable which requires more drivers.
AIUI, the rest time assumption of 30s at a minor station and 60s at a major one is decades old and Network Rail increasing rest time assumptions for the May timetable was one of the, albeit lesser, drivers of timetable changes.
Network Rail's deficiencies are not a simple function of public ownership but rather that it retains the very specific culture set at the time of its creation, post Potters Bar, whereby it can close the whole shebang down with near impunity whenever it wants in the name of maximizing safety.
We must remember that one result of that has been that, if my reading is correct*, just a single passenger has died on board a train that has crashed in the following 15 years. I felt the government has lost the plot in 2003, but they either saw a historic opportunity that I didn't or got very lucky.
I do wonder, though, whether there are more compromises on station and line closures that can and should be made by Network Rail to lessen inconvenience.
* There are plenty of other ways of having an accident on the railways, but the narrow 'train crash' reading has value.
One of my father's earliest postings in the Army was at Tewksbury. He told me that the train was not allowed to stop at the station but would slow down to maybe 10mph, the doors would all be slammed open and cases and squaddies would be thrown or jump/roll onto the platform. Maybe this should be reintroduced.
Perhaps something for Michael O'Leary to mull over..
Mr. Max, do you have inside info, because that seems like an unusual bet?
No markets as far as I know (I just check Ladbrokes/Betfair though, so they might be up elsewhere).
No inside info, just a feeling that Renault are going to prove themselves over this season and the fact they are a works team. McLaren have been poor all season and Canada is going to be a complete shitshow for them (they will be competing with Williams and Sauber). I doubt Alonso will be interested in signing for 2019 with them which leaves Renault as the only other realistic option, should he want to stay in F1.
Argentina boycotting a football match with Israel to great international acclaim on the same day Theresa May is laying out the red carpet for Benjamin Netanyahu in Downing St......
A perfect metaphor for Britain's new position in the world
perhaps you could explain the significance of that
It's a morality tale. I thought you might struggle with it
Mr. Max, do you have inside info, because that seems like an unusual bet?
No markets as far as I know (I just check Ladbrokes/Betfair though, so they might be up elsewhere).
No inside info, just a feeling that Renault are going to prove themselves over this season and the fact they are a works team. McLaren have been poor all season and Canada is going to be a complete shitshow for them (they will be competing with Williams and Sauber). I doubt Alonso will be interested in signing for 2019 with them which leaves Renault as the only other realistic option, should he want to stay in F1.
I reckon Alonso will join the rumoured McLaren Indycar effort, he really wants to win the 500 and has a pretty good chance of winning Le Mans this year or next.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, comes out as a Remainer 'the EU has been the greatest thing for human beings since the Western Roman Empire'
Better than democracy, or the abolition of slavery, or capitalism?
The re-uniting of christendom after a couple of centuries of nationalism.
So there's no Christendom in Africa or the rest of the world? How imperialistic.
Not imperialistic, just old-fashioned.
No imperialistic. Literally the very thing he's comparing to as the only thing greater in the past two thousand years is the Western Roman Empire. So long as the white Europeans are united then Christendom is and forget about the savages on other continents even if they are Christians.
It is jaw droppingly stupid to describe the EU as more lovely than the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, liberal democracy, the codification of human rights, emancipation, female suffrage, etc etc. I swear Europhilia is a delusion in some of its more hardcore forms.
I think Hulkenberg and Sainz is a very good pairing. If Renault can keep both, they will (Sainz to Red Bull is possible if Ricciardo leaves for pastures new). Whilst Alonso's good and I agree with you on Renault's long term possible strength, their current pair of drivers will be around for a lot longer than Alonso.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The only way the situation with the moped gangs is going to change, is if the police reverse their policy of not chasing them. I can’t see the bleeding hearts in charge of the Met going for that, but surely public opinion must now be close to tipping point on the issue?
The mayor will just wibble something about Tory Cuts, but it doesn’t matter how many police are in London if they refuse to chase criminals just because they’re on mopeds without helmets.
The Met does have a point. Even if they caught them what would happen? Two weeks suspension of chocolate rations? And in the meantime how many innocent pedestrians get ploughed into the pavement? As for Michael McIntyre: who cares? I never found him remotely funny and he can afford it!
Mr. Rentool, also adds to journey time, decreasing productivity.
It doesn't. That's why they are doing it. The average journey time is lower as there is less stop-start
It depends how heavily used the road is. If traffic is light, then lower speed limits obviously do add to journey times. However, as the road becomes more congested, they do indeed reduce average journey times by making more efficient use of the road space and thus increasing throughput.
It depends how heavily used the road is. If traffic is light, then lower speed limits obviously do add to journey times. However, as the road becomes more congested, they do indeed reduce average journey times by making more efficient use of the road space and thus increasing throughput.
And if the traffic is light, the speed restrictions are lifted
Mr. Rentool, also adds to journey time, decreasing productivity.
It doesn't. That's why they are doing it. The average journey time is lower as there is less stop-start
It depends how heavily used the road is. If traffic is light, then lower speed limits obviously do add to journey times. However, as the road becomes more congested, they do indeed reduce average journey times by making more efficient use of the road space and thus increasing throughput.
Speaking as a member of the pedestrians' union, I like gaps in traffic. It is far harder to cross the road if rain, temporary speed limits or just congestion slow traffic and the gaps disappear.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, comes out as a Remainer 'the EU has been the greatest thing for human beings since the Western Roman Empire'
Better than democracy, or the abolition of slavery, or capitalism?
The re-uniting of christendom after a couple of centuries of nationalism.
So there's no Christendom in Africa or the rest of the world? How imperialistic.
Not imperialistic, just old-fashioned.
No imperialistic. Literally the very thing he's comparing to as the only thing greater in the past two thousand years is the Western Roman Empire. So long as the white Europeans are united then Christendom is and forget about the savages on other continents even if they are Christians.
It is jaw droppingly stupid to describe the EU as more lovely than the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, liberal democracy, the codification of human rights, emancipation, female suffrage, etc etc. I swear Europhilia is a delusion in some of its more hardcore forms.
One might have expected an Archbishop to rate the conversion of England more highly than the creation of the EU.
"As for Michael McIntyre: who cares? I never found him remotely funny and he can afford it!"
Cruel, but true.
I'm always puzzled my the reluctance to chase criminals in case they hurt themselves. It gives them free rein. Yes, I know they could hurt innocent people but they hardly obey the highway code even when not chased.
off topic (not that I can remember what the topic was/is):
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The only way the situation with the moped gangs is going to change, is if the police reverse their policy of not chasing them. I can’t see the bleeding hearts in charge of the Met going for that, but surely public opinion must now be close to tipping point on the issue?
They have a policy of not chasing them ?!
Yep. A couple of kids got killed in accidents while being chased a year or so ago, so the Met police decided to stop chasing them as a matter of policy.
So now every gang member in London now goes around on a stolen moped with no helmet with absolute impunity. Hence the explosion of this sort of crime.
If you are right then some sort of AI on speed or cctv cameras to alert police that helmetless riders are descending on Bond Street jewellers will fix this particular crimewave.
instead of (or as well as) a massive infrastructure spending spree in the North, how about cutting taxes for poorer areas. A few taxes that could be reduced:
Employers/employees national insurance contributions Business rates PAYE rates (maybe another £5k tax free threshold) Council tax
Get people and businesses wanting to move up North and the case for better infrastructure becomes a lot stronger.
That list of delayed projects has nowt to do with Brexit and everything to do with contractors leaving HMRC when the IR35 public sector changes were announced...
It won't because Labour Leave backers like Hoey, Field and Mann and Stringer and Hopkins would still vote against the ERA not forgetting most Labour seats voted Leave largely to end free movement and membership of the ERA prevents that
Always worth checking the publication date of pro-EU stories on the Mail website. They'll either be April 1, or more likely (as in this case) any Saturday night or Sunday morning when the pro-Europe Mail on Sunday uploads its stuff
Just listening to PMQ's on my return from holiday and TM was poor simply because she has no agreed position. The problem is no one else has.
I am heading up to God's own Country tomorrow visiting family and when I return I will contribute more but politics seems to be in utter chaos and only hope next week's votes may help to change the narrative
Just back from fabulous cruise to the Med and Greek Islands and in all my time away no one mentioned Brexit and it was just wonderful. Great friendship with all the locals and fellow passengers
This can't go on. Theresa can't allow Jezza to strut around being all soft Brexity and, ergo, business and prosperity's friend. Theresa needs to adopt an ultra-continentalist approach, and if that means exiling Rees-Mogg to Trump's America then so be it!
This can't go on. Theresa can't allow Jezza to strut around being all soft Brexity and, ergo, business and prosperity's friend. Theresa needs to adopt an ultra-continentalist approach, and if that means exiling Rees-Mogg to Trump's America then so be it!
This can't go on. Theresa can't allow Jezza to strut around being all soft Brexity and, ergo, business and prosperity's friend. Theresa needs to adopt an ultra-continentalist approach, and if that means exiling Rees-Mogg to Trump's America then so be it!
Corbyn is not soft Brexit at all as Leslie and Umunna have shown this morning Labour is deeply divided over Corbyn's refusal to endorse continued UK membership of the EEA and May and Corbyn both know most Labour seats voted Leave largely to end freedom of movement which EEA membership prevents
Worth noting that the detailed analysis done on Heathrow expansion by Government and its commissions showed that while the "pain" of Heathrow expansion falls squarely on London and the South East through noise and air pollution, the economic benefits are fairly evenly spread across most of the country. Most of the regional airports (other than Birmingham, which is too close to London to benefit from it) support Heathrow expansion as it benefits their onward connectivity, as do the more serious regional government bodies.
Crossrail and the like do indeed primarily benefit Londoners and commuters, but Heathrow is in a different category. The government will be depending on votes from the SNP and Labour MPs from the North to get it across the line in a vote.
Indeed. Heathrow is so congested that every time there’s some morning fog in the winter, half of BA’s domestic schedule gets binned for the day. I imagine that MPs from northern constituencies notice this personally.
Meanwhile KLM and Emirates operate to most of the regional airports and take a considerable amount of long haul passengers (and APD) away.
Heathrow is WAY overdue, and other regional airports should be expanded too. Why give the Dutch extra business with Schipol connections ?
Heathrow expansion is more than 20 years overdue but I never really followed why it was an alternative to Gatwick or other regional expansion. We need both right now. We certainly will need them desperately by the time the Heathrow expansion is built.
If we had the mentality of China, we’d be building TWO runways at Heathrow to cope with future increase demand, plus another one a Gatwick and one somewhere in the North. We have a bad habit of building infrastructure that is immediately at 99% capacity because we think far too short term and allow NIMBYs to make construction time consuming and expensive
Politics is a tormentingly complicated business and one of May's failures as a leader is to allow all those complications to show on her face/in her words.
Cameron, by contrast, was the consummate swan. He hardly ever allowed the complications to show.
Politics is a tormentingly complicated business and one of May's failures as a leader is to allow all those complications to show on her face/in her words.
Cameron, by contrast, was the consummate swan. He hardly ever allowed the complications to show.
It was Cameron's failure to deal with the complications of getting a deal with the EU which cost Remain the referendum and ended his premiership
Politics is a tormentingly complicated business and one of May's failures as a leader is to allow all those complications to show on her face/in her words.
Cameron, by contrast, was the consummate swan. He hardly ever allowed the complications to show.
It was Cameron's failure to deal with the complications of getting a deal with the EU which cost Remain the referendum and ended his premiership
Just back from fabulous cruise to the Med and Greek Islands and in all my time away no one mentioned Brexit and it was just wonderful. Great friendship with all the locals and fellow passengers
We've missed you Big_G! The voice of loyal but concerned Conservatism.
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
Super waffle by Tezza and this after commentators saying Jezza wouldn’t lead on Brexit.
That was a terrible Pmqs for May.
On what should be her strength Brexit.
Strength?
Brexit is a curse on the Tory Party - Euroscepticism has brought down the last three Tory PMs, May will certainly be the fourth PM to fall victim and the whole country is now caught up in the maelstrom.
instead of (or as well as) a massive infrastructure spending spree in the North, how about cutting taxes for poorer areas. A few taxes that could be reduced:
Employers/employees national insurance contributions Business rates PAYE rates (maybe another £5k tax free threshold) Council tax
Get people and businesses wanting to move up North and the case for better infrastructure becomes a lot stronger.
... and there'll be even less money to pay for it.
Politics is a tormentingly complicated business and one of May's failures as a leader is to allow all those complications to show on her face/in her words.
Cameron, by contrast, was the consummate swan. He hardly ever allowed the complications to show.
It was Cameron's failure to deal with the complications of getting a deal with the EU which cost Remain the referendum and ended his premiership
I don't disagree. But May's discomfort is written all over her face and as a leader she needs to be better at concealing.
Politics is a tormentingly complicated business and one of May's failures as a leader is to allow all those complications to show on her face/in her words.
Cameron, by contrast, was the consummate swan. He hardly ever allowed the complications to show.
It was Cameron's failure to deal with the complications of getting a deal with the EU which cost Remain the referendum and ended his premiership
I don't disagree. But May's discomfort is written all over her face and as a leader she needs to be better at concealing.
Maybe but no PM is going to find it easy getting any sort of deal with Juncker and Barnier
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
To befair , Corbyn pressed her to trigger it from the start. so they're in that error together,
Just back from fabulous cruise to the Med and Greek Islands and in all my time away no one mentioned Brexit and it was just wonderful. Great friendship with all the locals and fellow passengers
We've missed you Big_G! The voice of loyal but concerned Conservatism.
Thanks Ben and yes I am concerned
Our cruise demonstrated the advantages of using the euro in the main, 4G roaming was amazing considering the ships satellite internet charges, and of course health care, though we did not need it.
Personally I want to have a deal that keeps us close but then I am for immigration, though controlled, and see the many advantages of close ties with Europe
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
I think the 17m who voted Leave were entitled to assume the government knew it's arse from its elbow and would have some kind of coherent plan (or even objective) before actually triggering Article 50!
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
I think the other source of mess- at least on the political side- is that the referendum was not more specific about what we were voting for. It could have been designed so that the official Leave campaign would be responsible for producing a one-page statement of negotiating objectives, red lines, etc. at the beginning of the campaign
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
I think the other source of mess- at least on the political side- is that the referendum was not more specific about what we were voting for. It could have been designed so that the official Leave campaign would be responsible for producing a one-page statement of negotiating objectives, red lines, etc. at the beginning of the campaign
+1 Which is why Cameron has to join the list go 'Guilty Men' when the full history gets written.
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
Correct. 17 million people voted to leave the EU and enter a world in which the UK would get all the benefits of membership but none of the costs, vast amounts would be invested in the NHS and the EU would give us a simple, cost-free Brexit.
But the world they voted for is a fantasy and cannot be made into reality simply by voting for it.
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
I think the other source of mess- at least on the political side- is that the referendum was not more specific about what we were voting for. It could have been designed so that the official Leave campaign would be responsible for producing a one-page statement of negotiating objectives, red lines, etc. at the beginning of the campaign
+1 Which is why Cameron has to join the list go 'Guilty Men' when the full history gets written.
Cameron is responsible for putting the idea of the referendum on the agenda. Osbourne can share the blame for that and for attacking the Lib Dem seats in the 2015 election that led to the actual win, given that the referendum was supposed to die in the coalition negotiation.
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
Correct. 17 million people voted to leave the EU and enter a world in which the UK would get all the benefits of membership but none of the costs, vast amounts would be invested in the NHS and the EU would give us a simple, cost-free Brexit.
But the world they voted for is a fantasy and cannot be made into reality simply by voting for it.
No they didn't. And given you didn't vote Leave you are in no position to make those claims. Like so many Remoaners you speak from a position of ignorance.
Super waffle by Tezza and this after commentators saying Jezza wouldn’t lead on Brexit.
That was a terrible Pmqs for May.
On what should be her strength Brexit.
Strength?
Brexit is a curse on the Tory Party - Euroscepticism has brought down the last three Tory PMs, May will certainly be the fourth PM to fall victim and the whole country is now caught up in the maelstrom.
May called a snap election because she believed her stance on Brexit , would give her a massive majority.
One year on she looks feeble , not able to answer a question on the same subject
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
They did not vote for it to be triggered precipitously before the government had the first clue about what leaving actually entailed or how it might be done without inflicting substantial harm.
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
Boris said we shouldn't rush:
“The only change — and it will not come in any great rush — is that the UK will extricate itself from the EU’s extraordinary and opaque system of legislation,” Johnson wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph.
“EU citizens living in this country will have their rights fully protected, and the same goes for British citizens living in the EU,” wrote Johnson, the former mayor of London and a favourite to succeed the outgoing Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.
“British people will still be able to go and work in the EU; to live; to travel; to study; to buy homes and settle down,” he said.
Politics is a tormentingly complicated business and one of May's failures as a leader is to allow all those complications to show on her face/in her words.
Cameron, by contrast, was the consummate swan. He hardly ever allowed the complications to show.
It was Cameron's failure to deal with the complications of getting a deal with the EU which cost Remain the referendum and ended his premiership
I don't disagree. But May's discomfort is written all over her face and as a leader she needs to be better at concealing.
Maybe but no PM is going to find it easy getting any sort of deal with Juncker and Barnier
All she needs to do is what the Italians are gonna spend the next few years doing. Ignore them, flout their rules and basically laugh at their demands. The EU only has as much power as we allow it to have. The French ignore them too.
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
I think the 17m who voted Leave were entitled to assume the government knew it's arse from its elbow and would have some kind of coherent plan (or even objective) before actually triggering Article 50!
It was the Leave campaign who were supposed to have a clear plan, the PM and Cabinet at the time backed Remain
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
I think the other source of mess- at least on the political side- is that the referendum was not more specific about what we were voting for. It could have been designed so that the official Leave campaign would be responsible for producing a one-page statement of negotiating objectives, red lines, etc. at the beginning of the campaign
+1 Which is why Cameron has to join the list go 'Guilty Men' when the full history gets written.
Abolutely. Both Remain and Leave had their own reasons for not wanting to do this, but it was extraordinarily irresponsible.
This entire post-referendum mess boils down to one thing: the catastrophic decision to trigger Article 50 without first understanding the complexities of the UK’s integration into the EU or having an agreed strategy about how to work through these. Everything else flows from that.
17 million voted Leave to trigger Article 50 much as diehard Remainers may wish to gloss over that fact
I think the 17m who voted Leave were entitled to assume the government knew it's arse from its elbow and would have some kind of coherent plan (or even objective) before actually triggering Article 50!
It was the Leave campaign who were supposed to have a clear plan, the PM and Cabinet at the time backed Remain
The posts you're responding to are talking about the decision on WHEN to invoke A50.
Super waffle by Tezza and this after commentators saying Jezza wouldn’t lead on Brexit.
That was a terrible Pmqs for May.
On what should be her strength Brexit.
Strength?
Brexit is a curse on the Tory Party - Euroscepticism has brought down the last three Tory PMs, May will certainly be the fourth PM to fall victim and the whole country is now caught up in the maelstrom.
Brexit is like the bathtub ring in "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back"
Everything and every little Cat recruited to clear it up just makes it worse. The difference is that there is no Voom at the end.
Comments
As for the FX - well it's a matter of degree. One person's crash is another's blip. Look at the news programmes (well mocked on The Day Today) talking about how "sterling has plummeted 1%".
Increased wages for everyone! Hurrah! Get in Jezzah! Literally.
Network Rail's deficiencies are not a simple function of public ownership but rather that it retains the very specific culture set at the time of its creation, post Potters Bar, whereby it can close the whole shebang down with near impunity whenever it wants in the name of maximizing safety.
We must remember that one result of that has been that, if my reading is correct*, just a single passenger has died on board a train that has crashed in the following 15 years. I felt the government has lost the plot in 2003, but they either saw a historic opportunity that I didn't or got very lucky.
I do wonder, though, whether there are more compromises on station and line closures that can and should be made by Network Rail to lessen inconvenience.
* There are plenty of other ways of having an accident on the railways, but the narrow 'train crash' reading has value.
The whole explosion in moped crime thing is a gift waiting to be claimed for either current or future Mayoral candidates in many cities, London in particular.
Surprised we've heard nothing from Sadiq about it, especially with high profile victims such as Michael McIntyre.
The mayor will just wibble something about Tory Cuts, but it doesn’t matter how many police are in London if they refuse to chase criminals just because they’re on mopeds without helmets.
So now every gang member in London now goes around on a stolen moped with no helmet with absolute impunity. Hence the explosion of this sort of crime.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-35635536
1 hour 58 mins .
https://twitter.com/alstewitn/status/1004312459556147200
I think Hulkenberg and Sainz is a very good pairing. If Renault can keep both, they will (Sainz to Red Bull is possible if Ricciardo leaves for pastures new). Whilst Alonso's good and I agree with you on Renault's long term possible strength, their current pair of drivers will be around for a lot longer than Alonso.
"As for Michael McIntyre: who cares? I never found him remotely funny and he can afford it!"
Cruel, but true.
I'm always puzzled my the reluctance to chase criminals in case they hurt themselves. It gives them free rein. Yes, I know they could hurt innocent people but they hardly obey the highway code even when not chased.
Never has the opposition/enemy observation been so well illustrated.
And a good joke by Jezza! Oh end of days!!
Employers/employees national insurance contributions
Business rates
PAYE rates (maybe another £5k tax free threshold)
Council tax
Get people and businesses wanting to move up North and the case for better infrastructure becomes a lot stronger.
Why the Northern Rail disaster was inevitable...
On what should be her strength Brexit.
Always worth checking the publication date of pro-EU stories on the Mail website. They'll either be April 1, or more likely (as in this case) any Saturday night or Sunday morning when the pro-Europe Mail on Sunday uploads its stuff
I am heading up to God's own Country tomorrow visiting family and when I return I will contribute more but politics seems to be in utter chaos and only hope next week's votes may help to change the narrative
Meantime, the Democrats aren't exactly free of missteps:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/sen-bob-menendezs-poor-primary-showing-creates-a-new-headache-for-democrats-in-new-jersey.html?
Cameron, by contrast, was the consummate swan. He hardly ever allowed the complications to show.
Proving yet again that, in politics, words mean exactly the opposite of their regular meaning.
Brexit is a curse on the Tory Party - Euroscepticism has brought down the last three Tory PMs, May will certainly be the fourth PM to fall victim and the whole country is now caught up in the maelstrom.
Our cruise demonstrated the advantages of using the euro in the main, 4G roaming was amazing considering the ships satellite internet charges, and of course health care, though we did not need it.
Personally I want to have a deal that keeps us close but then I am for immigration, though controlled, and see the many advantages of close ties with Europe
But the world they voted for is a fantasy and cannot be made into reality simply by voting for it.
Osbourne can share the blame for that and for attacking the Lib Dem seats in the 2015 election that led to the actual win, given that the referendum was supposed to die in the coalition negotiation.
TM must be a severe source of embarrassment for PB Tories.
When will she be put out of her misery?
One year on she looks feeble , not able to answer a question on the same subject
Strong and Stable or Weak and Wobbly you decide
Only a few political anoraks watch PMQs anyway and a bad day one week can be rectified by a good day the next week
“The only change — and it will not come in any great rush — is that the UK will extricate itself from the EU’s extraordinary and opaque system of legislation,” Johnson wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph.
“EU citizens living in this country will have their rights fully protected, and the same goes for British citizens living in the EU,” wrote Johnson, the former mayor of London and a favourite to succeed the outgoing Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.
“British people will still be able to go and work in the EU; to live; to travel; to study; to buy homes and settle down,” he said.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1131059/uk-trigger-article-50-leave-eu-ready/
Everything and every little Cat recruited to clear it up just makes it worse. The difference is that there is no Voom at the end.