Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
Interesting to see a number of cruise ship operators are developing a programme of British cruises for June to August.
The pattern, stated by P&O and now being followed by Princess, MSC and Royal Caribbean is to use 1-2 ships operating out of Southampton. The voyages are wither 3-4 day trips without a stop or up to 8 nights with a stop or two in the British Isles at places like Greenock, Kirkwall, Liverpool and Falmouth.
The cruises will be for UK citizens only and any one wishing to travel will have to show evidence of either being fully vaccinated or having a second vaccination appointment at time of booking. Unvaccinated passengers will have to show evidence of a negative test 72 hours before boarding and will be tested before boarding.
I suspect these will be very popular and will cover the period through the school summer holidays - I think the cruise operators are still hoping to be able to sail to Europe from September.
They'll be popular for exactly the amount of time it takes for one person onboard to be diagnosed with Covid, after which the whole ship and everyone on it will be quarantined in port (with passengers imprisoned in their tiny cabins) for at least three weeks. Oldies will think this is playtime for them, but sounds like a tremendous gamble to me.
Why would those who have already had two vaccinations need to be quarantined?
What happens at the moment if one person in a household tests positive for Covid and one of the others has been vaccinated? Are the vaccinated exempted from quarantine or does everybody still have to stay at home?
The answer:
While COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to reduce the likelihood of severe illness for those who have received them, we do not yet know for certain by how much they reduce the likelihood of a vaccinated person spreading COVID-19 to others. Therefore, even if a person has been vaccinated, there is still a risk they could catch COVID-19 and spread it to other people.
If someone in your household has symptoms of COVID-19 or has received a positive test result, your household members must still self-isolate even if they have received one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Following all the guidance on this page will reduce the risk of spreading infection and help to protect other people outside of your household.
So, it doesn't matter if you've had one, two or a billion vaccinations. If someone else in your household tests positive, you're locked in with them.
There is no reason to suppose, based on what happened on cruise ships in the first wave, that everyone aboard won't be imprisoned in panic the nanosecond that an outbreak is identified.
While we don't know the numbers for AZ yet, it appears that Pfizer is 90+% effective at preventing any measurable CV19 infection. This, therefore, seems excessively conservative. And it's worth noting that the CDC in the US has just removed this requirement.
Indeed, CDC has just cleared those fully vaccinated to travel.
So long as they're American or are permanent residents. Regular visa holders (like me) still can't easily get into the US.
Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
The economy is going to crash eventually when the housing bubble bursts. Not if, when.
Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
The economy is going to crash eventually when the housing bubble bursts. Not if, when.
Since you are so confident, I don't suppose you could tell us when this is going to happen?
Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
The economy is going to crash eventually when the housing bubble bursts. Not if, when.
Since you are so confident, I don't suppose you could tell us when this is going to happen?
Don't know exactly when - but housing is a bubble. No chance that kind of house price inflation is healthy long term.
If you'd like to propose a solution to get young people onto the housing ladder, then let's hear it. So far the Tories have been in Government for a decade and have categorically failed.
Effect of school holidays here (I can't think of any other explanation) is remarkable. They break up on Friday 26th; cases start to decline significantly from the following Monday, as the drop off in infections feeds through into the numbers.
Kids are evidently the driver in the near-plateauing of cases for most of March - mixing in schools, passing the Plague round, bringing it home to their families. If that's correct then cases will probably continue to drop right through until the weekend of 17/18 April.
It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens immediately after that. Should cases merely level off again (rather than starting to climb) then it would be reasonable to blame that on the schools, and therefore to conclude that re-opening the shops and beer gardens has had no measurable effect. If so then what's left of physical retail and the hospitality trade, which have of course been shuttered for months because they were claimed to be such a lethal threat, will be absolutely bloody livid. And rightly so, too.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
By the Nats? Yes of course, they believe all the other rubbish the SNP has fed them over the years.
LOL, that from numpties that worship Bozo
I don't worship Boris, I think he's an idiot. But I can see the cult-like behaviour of Nats towards Sturgeon, they are not much different from Kippers towards Farage.
So Tories are different , happy to ignore the lying and stealing etc and that is different from SNP. Selective indeed on who are cults.
So Sturgeon been forced out then?
oh
When did Boris or any of his cronies get forced out then
I wonder if the idea could be planted in the minds of the voters north of the border that the Tory leadership secretly wanted Scottish independence to reduce subsidies from England then there would then be a big swing towards the union to stymie them?
there are no subsidies, we pay our way , the UK live on debt and try to pretend it is down to Scotland and halfwits like you believe it. Your village is looking for its idiot.
Per capita public expenditure, per capita GDP even if there is a margin of error show that funds are flowing into Scotland from the rest of the UK. They flow into some areas of England too and that is fine within sensible limits. Glad to have earned an insult. I really enjoy your posts they raise insults to a level of sublimity.
There was no squealing for the 40+ years when we were susidising the other way in huge numbers.
That was then and this is now and the SNP are proclaiming their green de-carbonisation credentials with the best of them.
So happy to fleece us and use our money for 40-50 years but as soon as we are down a bob or two you start whining and whinging and calling us spongers. Pathetic cretins.
Interesting to see a number of cruise ship operators are developing a programme of British cruises for June to August.
The pattern, stated by P&O and now being followed by Princess, MSC and Royal Caribbean is to use 1-2 ships operating out of Southampton. The voyages are wither 3-4 day trips without a stop or up to 8 nights with a stop or two in the British Isles at places like Greenock, Kirkwall, Liverpool and Falmouth.
The cruises will be for UK citizens only and any one wishing to travel will have to show evidence of either being fully vaccinated or having a second vaccination appointment at time of booking. Unvaccinated passengers will have to show evidence of a negative test 72 hours before boarding and will be tested before boarding.
I suspect these will be very popular and will cover the period through the school summer holidays - I think the cruise operators are still hoping to be able to sail to Europe from September.
They'll be popular for exactly the amount of time it takes for one person onboard to be diagnosed with Covid, after which the whole ship and everyone on it will be quarantined in port (with passengers imprisoned in their tiny cabins) for at least three weeks. Oldies will think this is playtime for them, but sounds like a tremendous gamble to me.
Why would those who have already had two vaccinations need to be quarantined?
What happens at the moment if one person in a household tests positive for Covid and one of the others has been vaccinated? Are the vaccinated exempted from quarantine or does everybody still have to stay at home?
The answer:
While COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to reduce the likelihood of severe illness for those who have received them, we do not yet know for certain by how much they reduce the likelihood of a vaccinated person spreading COVID-19 to others. Therefore, even if a person has been vaccinated, there is still a risk they could catch COVID-19 and spread it to other people.
If someone in your household has symptoms of COVID-19 or has received a positive test result, your household members must still self-isolate even if they have received one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Following all the guidance on this page will reduce the risk of spreading infection and help to protect other people outside of your household.
So, it doesn't matter if you've had one, two or a billion vaccinations. If someone else in your household tests positive, you're locked in with them.
There is no reason to suppose, based on what happened on cruise ships in the first wave, that everyone aboard won't be imprisoned in panic the nanosecond that an outbreak is identified.
While we don't know the numbers for AZ yet, it appears that Pfizer is 90+% effective at preventing any measurable CV19 infection. This, therefore, seems excessively conservative. And it's worth noting that the CDC in the US has just removed this requirement.
Indeed, CDC has just cleared those fully vaccinated to travel.
So long as they're American or are permanent residents. Regular visa holders (like me) still can't easily get into the US.
Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
The economy is going to crash eventually when the housing bubble bursts. Not if, when.
Since you are so confident, I don't suppose you could tell us when this is going to happen?
Don't know exactly when - but housing is a bubble. No chance that kind of house price inflation is healthy long term.
If you'd like to propose a solution to get young people onto the housing ladder, then let's hear it. So far the Tories have been in Government for a decade and have categorically failed.
House price inflation is lower now. It's not going down, but it certainty isn't going up as fast as it was at the turn of the millennium when there was about a decade of 10% year on year growth.
The solution is simple, build more houses. More supply means lower prices.
So, why don't we stop implementing policies that jack house prices up?
No? Okay then, just watch London go further and further to Labour
The only way to stop house prices going up is to build more houses. It isn't rocket science.
Despite your perverse obsession with the insane notion that taxing buyers more makes buying easier.
I very rarely respond to you because you post utter crap but this is embarrassing, even for you. I recall when you suggested the solution to London living was to live outside and to commute in, you recommended I cycle in three and a half hours to Central. You know nothing, yet you rattle on like you live in London - you don't, it's obvious.
You were schooled last time about why the stamp duty cut is a disaster for housing and why it makes houses more expensive and therefore harder to obtain - but here you are again spouting nonsense.
The reason I don't respond to your posts is because you don't listen.
Now I will go back to ignoring you. Bye.
*A* solution to the cost housing in London is to live further out and commute in. I know people who live as far away as Derby who commute daily.
It might not be right for you - you value aspects of London life in the evenings - but it’s certainly a viable option.
(FWiW a stamp duty cut leaves the post tax cost of a house the same but rebalances between the house price and the tax elements. This makes it marginally easier to purchase as you can borrow against the value of the house but not to make a tax payment. But it’s unbelievable inefficient as a use of taxpayers money).
Indeed, CHB seems to have muddled up different ideas, conflating different points.
The point that had been made was that longer commutes require trains, but tend to have cheaper rents. Shorter commutes tend to mean more expensive rents, but enable alternatives like cycling. There's a balance.
The idea that people should cycle for 3.5 hours - that is an invention just of @CorrectHorseBattery 's imagination.
Someone said recently that Covid WFH restrictions were leading to falling rents for small flats in London and rising rents for houses in the commuter belt with rooms that could be used as home offices. Is this officially a thing?
By the Nats? Yes of course, they believe all the other rubbish the SNP has fed them over the years.
LOL, that from numpties that worship Bozo
I don't worship Boris, I think he's an idiot. But I can see the cult-like behaviour of Nats towards Sturgeon, they are not much different from Kippers towards Farage.
So Tories are different , happy to ignore the lying and stealing etc and that is different from SNP. Selective indeed on who are cults.
No, the big difference between the mainstream parties and the ones that are cult-like is how much the members question or oppose the leadership. The likes of Johnson and Starmer get much more criticism from their party members and parliamentarians than the likes of a Farage or Sturgeon do, or for that matter Salmond before her. It's probably due to the nature of their politics, that is they are essentially single issue parties with an actionable goal that will solve all problems in the view of the membership. They are quite different from the mainstream UK parties in that regard.
Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
The economy is going to crash eventually when the housing bubble bursts. Not if, when.
Yes, but which bubble?
There are some bubbles that have been going on for hundreds of years and haven't been burst (Gold). You can only be sure it was in fact a bubble after it pops.
House prices are falling in central London - a bit at least.
The government debt bubble, the personal debt bubble, the bitcoin bubble - these are the more significant risks.
Google to recall all staff to in office work with only a maximum of 14 defined WFH days allowed per year or as agreed by management.
So dies the dream of lockdown fanatics that companies will shift to a new working pattern. The rest of the tech industry will follow Google's lead and where tech goes, banking will also follow and one by one all of the other industries will fall in line.
Rishi was right all the way back in May of last year when he said remote workers and majority WFH types would find their careers curtailed.
In other news we've got the full result of our office survey back. As part of the London office culture committee (a fancy way of saying I help organise ensuring there is enough money to restock the beer fridges on Friday) I'm tasked with ensuring people are happy to come back. It's been easy. The main issues people have are that they won't come back if there is mask wearing required in office or social distancing required. We've pushed our reopening schedule back to August so we can be sure that neither of these are required.
Not a single person took issue with sharing vaccine status to ensure we can operate a full capacity office and we're expecting around 90% of people to return to in office working for 4 or 5 days per week. That number is much higher than we expected. We've also essentially said no to permanent remote working, only two people have had it approved and both have got long term family situations and they've been granted it on compassionate grounds. We're also not allowing any overseas remote working due to data concerns.
This is a predominantly under 50s office in Liverpool Street and we're a Japanese company so there is definitely some level of pushback against homeworking from senior management in Tokyo.
I get the sense a lot of people are now craving city life. Lockdown has gone on so long the charms of country walks and lavish gardens are starting to pall. It’s just a walk. It’s just a garden. It’s not a life.
Yep. In 12 months they will be returning in droves: all those Good Life people who thought they could hack it through an English winter under the pall of death-grey skies, incessant rain and mud, non-existent social life, far distant amenities: all combined with extremely pissy locals.
You'll be able to stand on a bridge over the A303 and watch them all limping back to the cities.
Then we'll have to endure a couple of years of the same Metropolitan twats writing about their experiences in the Saturday and Sunday newspapers.
Meanwhile, er, Leon, Thailand has just announced it's re-opening to the vaccinated international traveller on 01st October for six destinations providing direct entry (except Pattaya in which case you can go via BKK): Phuket, Krabi, Phangnga, Koh Samui, Chonburi (Pattaya), and Chiang Mai.
Yes, the first lockdown and then the summer were unreal. Perfect weather, for much of it. Everything was novel. It was so much better to be in the glorious countryside compared to eerie, locked down London. And even when we had some unlockdowning, london remained largely shut. No theatres. No cinemas. No clubs. Pubs demanding bookings. Yawn.
Then came lockdowns 2 and 3 and a long cold English winter. Gardens almost useless. Lonely freezing walks in fields. Hmm.
Friends of mine who moved out permanently last year are already sounding very nostalgic about bars and restaurants and urban life....
There's a huge variety of possibilities between ultra urban and ultra rural.
Outer suburbia is perhaps the best place in the spring - the bulbs and blossom of sizeable gardens plus the countryside within a short walk.
Depends on the spring. It’s quite sunny here in London today. But cold. 10C. Very different to last April. And it’s meant to get even colder next week. 7C maxima. That’s bloody winter again.
I’m so bored of cold walks in parks (or fields or beaches or anywhere)
I want my city back. And I want holidays in hot sun. Enough
Yep which is another thing. One crap British summer will soon put staycations on the back burner. We may be lucky but it doesn't take much to produce an absolute stinker on these isles.
A holiday in your own country is not a staycation.
It would be interesting to examine the mentality behind the misuse of the word staycation.
It implies that to be a 'proper' holiday you need international travel and being somewhere in your own country doesn't count.
Doubtless a mentality encouraged by the travel industry and eagerly taken up by the holiday obsessives,
"Holiday obsessives" - by which you mean people who like to have two weeks in the sun? Maybe somewhere a bit different to the UK? How very dare they.
No, people who talk endlessly about their previous and future holidays with the added feature during the last year of being more concerned about the risk covid was to their holidays than the risk covid was to either their health or employment.
Or people who say "I had a lovely week in Dorset but that was only a staycation".
Or people who rhapsodise about what they did on their week in Majorca even though there's nothing they couldn't do at home.
My parents fit into the last category - "You can go to a different restaurant every night or sit outside and have a beer" - there's all sorts of Protestant work ethic only-allowed-to-enjoy-yourself-on-holiday traditionalism involved there I suspect.
Strange, quite sad post.
And also incorrect. The islands the Ionian, Aegean and Adriatic seas have got by far the best beaches in Europe. Ours don't even come close for sand fineness, water temperature and cleanliness. Water temperature is really important for a great experience on the beach, ours tend to top out at around a pretty cold 18-20 degrees while the sea around those islands usually get to 28-30 degrees. The difference is huge and worth the expense of going there.
Plus the food in Italy or Greece is not only better, it's about half the cost of what we get here in our coastal towns. Same as hotels and villas, we're going to the Pembroke coast and our cottage works out to about £450 per night for four of us, in southern Italy or a Greek island we'd get an absolute palace for €500 per night.
Holidaying in the UK is fine, and I don't take issue with anyone that does it. However, to say it offers the same as what you get southern Europe or SE Asia is ridiculous. UK holidays are about surfing, nature walks and pub lunches, Southern European holidays about beaches, wine on a terrace and a taste of the Mediterranean diet. They aren't comparable, though each are good in their own way.
People who rave about staycations and British holidays also tend to be quite wealthy. They can afford to go to the nicest bits of the country (which, as you say, are a lot pricier than many places in the Med) or they already have second homes. Moreover, this staycation will be just one holiday out of several (the others will happen abroad)
So if the staycation gets ruined by crap British weather, hey ho, we're off to the Algarve, the Cyclades, or Tuscany, in a few weeks, anyway. No drama
If you are not wealthy and you have just one precious family holiday a year, you want guaranteed sunshine, not rain. You can't take the risk. So you fly south. Of course you do. And good luck to you.
A friend of mine who has spent most of Covid alone in his flat told me the other day that the Plague has really brought home to him the human need for holidays: in the sense of Being Somewhere Else. It's a human craving. To escape the same four walls, the same streets and houses (however nice) and just Go Somewhere Else. He's surely right. It is innate. Homo sapiens is a nomadic species, a wandering hunter gatherer, and the urge to travel or move on, is probably in our DNA as Bruce Chatwin avers, so eloquently, in Songlines
Haven't most humans throughout history lived within thirty miles from where they were born ?
Do we have a craving for 'Somewhere Else' or do we have a craving for our own patch of land ?
Or is the answer somewhere in between ?
I'm wary of generalising about what other people want, but I think most people like a change now and then.
Google to recall all staff to in office work with only a maximum of 14 defined WFH days allowed per year or as agreed by management.
So dies the dream of lockdown fanatics that companies will shift to a new working pattern. The rest of the tech industry will follow Google's lead and where tech goes, banking will also follow and one by one all of the other industries will fall in line.
Rishi was right all the way back in May of last year when he said remote workers and majority WFH types would find their careers curtailed.
In other news we've got the full result of our office survey back. As part of the London office culture committee (a fancy way of saying I help organise ensuring there is enough money to restock the beer fridges on Friday) I'm tasked with ensuring people are happy to come back. It's been easy. The main issues people have are that they won't come back if there is mask wearing required in office or social distancing required. We've pushed our reopening schedule back to August so we can be sure that neither of these are required.
Not a single person took issue with sharing vaccine status to ensure we can operate a full capacity office and we're expecting around 90% of people to return to in office working for 4 or 5 days per week. That number is much higher than we expected. We've also essentially said no to permanent remote working, only two people have had it approved and both have got long term family situations and they've been granted it on compassionate grounds. We're also not allowing any overseas remote working due to data concerns.
This is a predominantly under 50s office in Liverpool Street and we're a Japanese company so there is definitely some level of pushback against homeworking from senior management in Tokyo.
I get the sense a lot of people are now craving city life. Lockdown has gone on so long the charms of country walks and lavish gardens are starting to pall. It’s just a walk. It’s just a garden. It’s not a life.
Yep. In 12 months they will be returning in droves: all those Good Life people who thought they could hack it through an English winter under the pall of death-grey skies, incessant rain and mud, non-existent social life, far distant amenities: all combined with extremely pissy locals.
You'll be able to stand on a bridge over the A303 and watch them all limping back to the cities.
Then we'll have to endure a couple of years of the same Metropolitan twats writing about their experiences in the Saturday and Sunday newspapers.
Meanwhile, er, Leon, Thailand has just announced it's re-opening to the vaccinated international traveller on 01st October for six destinations providing direct entry (except Pattaya in which case you can go via BKK): Phuket, Krabi, Phangnga, Koh Samui, Chonburi (Pattaya), and Chiang Mai.
Yes, the first lockdown and then the summer were unreal. Perfect weather, for much of it. Everything was novel. It was so much better to be in the glorious countryside compared to eerie, locked down London. And even when we had some unlockdowning, london remained largely shut. No theatres. No cinemas. No clubs. Pubs demanding bookings. Yawn.
Then came lockdowns 2 and 3 and a long cold English winter. Gardens almost useless. Lonely freezing walks in fields. Hmm.
Friends of mine who moved out permanently last year are already sounding very nostalgic about bars and restaurants and urban life....
There's a huge variety of possibilities between ultra urban and ultra rural.
Outer suburbia is perhaps the best place in the spring - the bulbs and blossom of sizeable gardens plus the countryside within a short walk.
Depends on the spring. It’s quite sunny here in London today. But cold. 10C. Very different to last April. And it’s meant to get even colder next week. 7C maxima. That’s bloody winter again.
I’m so bored of cold walks in parks (or fields or beaches or anywhere)
I want my city back. And I want holidays in hot sun. Enough
Yep which is another thing. One crap British summer will soon put staycations on the back burner. We may be lucky but it doesn't take much to produce an absolute stinker on these isles.
A holiday in your own country is not a staycation.
It would be interesting to examine the mentality behind the misuse of the word staycation.
It implies that to be a 'proper' holiday you need international travel and being somewhere in your own country doesn't count.
Doubtless a mentality encouraged by the travel industry and eagerly taken up by the holiday obsessives,
"Holiday obsessives" - by which you mean people who like to have two weeks in the sun? Maybe somewhere a bit different to the UK? How very dare they.
No, people who talk endlessly about their previous and future holidays with the added feature during the last year of being more concerned about the risk covid was to their holidays than the risk covid was to either their health or employment.
Or people who say "I had a lovely week in Dorset but that was only a staycation".
Or people who rhapsodise about what they did on their week in Majorca even though there's nothing they couldn't do at home.
My parents fit into the last category - "You can go to a different restaurant every night or sit outside and have a beer" - there's all sorts of Protestant work ethic only-allowed-to-enjoy-yourself-on-holiday traditionalism involved there I suspect.
Strange, quite sad post.
And also incorrect. The islands the Ionian, Aegean and Adriatic seas have got by far the best beaches in Europe. Ours don't even come close for sand fineness, water temperature and cleanliness. Water temperature is really important for a great experience on the beach, ours tend to top out at around a pretty cold 18-20 degrees while the sea around those islands usually get to 28-30 degrees. The difference is huge and worth the expense of going there.
Plus the food in Italy or Greece is not only better, it's about half the cost of what we get here in our coastal towns. Same as hotels and villas, we're going to the Pembroke coast and our cottage works out to about £450 per night for four of us, in southern Italy or a Greek island we'd get an absolute palace for €500 per night.
Holidaying in the UK is fine, and I don't take issue with anyone that does it. However, to say it offers the same as what you get southern Europe or SE Asia is ridiculous. UK holidays are about surfing, nature walks and pub lunches, Southern European holidays about beaches, wine on a terrace and a taste of the Mediterranean diet. They aren't comparable, though each are good in their own way.
People who rave about staycations and British holidays also tend to be quite wealthy. They can afford to go to the nicest bits of the country (which, as you say, are a lot pricier than many places in the Med) or they already have second homes. Moreover, this staycation will be just one holiday out of several (the others will happen abroad)
So if the staycation gets ruined by crap British weather, hey ho, we're off to the Algarve, the Cyclades, or Tuscany, in a few weeks, anyway. No drama
If you are not wealthy and you have just one precious family holiday a year, you want guaranteed sunshine, not rain. You can't take the risk. So you fly south. Of course you do. And good luck to you.
A friend of mine who has spent most of Covid alone in his flat told me the other day that the Plague has really brought home to him the human need for holidays: in the sense of Being Somewhere Else. It's a human craving. To escape the same four walls, the same streets and houses (however nice) and just Go Somewhere Else. He's surely right. It is innate. Homo sapiens is a nomadic species, a wandering hunter gatherer, and the urge to travel or move on, is probably in our DNA as Bruce Chatwin avers, so eloquently, in Songlines
Haven't most humans throughout history lived within thirty miles from where they were born ?
Do we have a craving for 'Somewhere Else' or do we have a craving for our own patch of land ?
Or is the answer somewhere in between ?
I'm wary of generalising about what other people want, but I think most people like a change now and then.
Another deluded halfwitted Little Englander Scotch expert crawls out from under his rock.
I try to be polite here, but you do temp me to abandon that. I was born in Greenock and live nearby. Want to test my local knowledge to see if I'm 'Scotch' enough, Malc?
Then you are an even bigger erchie than I thought you were. You would know then that Greenock is the last port as water too shallow to go any further up, you would also know there are a myriad of lovely places all around and just because Greenock has some dodgy social housing etc that makes you even more of an absolute creep. Think you are a poshie because you moved to Gourock.
anyone who has experienced the joy of travellers camping up on some land nearby know exactly what they are referring to, and why someone would use terms that upset the sensibilities of modern metropolitans are entirely merited.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
Another halfwitted cretinous numpty who does not understand that Scotland has money , and after England has stolen a good part of it they still have some pocket money left to fund things. English taxpayers will not pay a penny piece of it you dumpling.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
Another halfwitted cretinous numpty who does not understand that Scotland has money , and after England has stolen a good part of it they still have some pocket money left to fund things. English taxpayers will not pay a penny piece of it you dumpling.
The same Sturgeon who would have taken Scotland out of the EU with a YES vote in 2014. Shameless lies and hypocrisy.
She has to say these things because a truly independent Scotland doesn't really work. They need to substitute UK funding with EU funding.
The EU is not in a million years going to be as nice to the Scots as the UK has been.
I have no idea why the Nationalists aren't owning up to the truth of 'now is not the time' - I think they damage themselves enormously by not doing so.
Though when the right time will be to stop pooling sovereignty with England, Wales and NI and start pooling sovereignty with Greece, Germany, Slovenia and 24 others seems opaque.
The right time won't be as now where such a thing would be on wildly worse terms. The SNP clearly would accept slightly worse terms in much the way Brexit was always accepted as slightly worse - all in the short/medium term.
Another deluded halfwitted Little Englander Scotch expert crawls out from under his rock.
I try to be polite here, but you do temp me to abandon that. I was born in Greenock and live nearby. Want to test my local knowledge to see if I'm 'Scotch' enough, Malc?
It’s a very simple test.
If you intend to vote SNP/Alba you’re Scottish enough
Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
The economy is going to crash eventually when the housing bubble bursts. Not if, when.
Since you are so confident, I don't suppose you could tell us when this is going to happen?
I am the Vince Cable of the housing market; I have correctly predicted 27 out of the last 0 crashes.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
Another halfwitted cretinous numpty who does not understand that Scotland has money , and after England has stolen a good part of it they still have some pocket money left to fund things. English taxpayers will not pay a penny piece of it you dumpling.
Sure. Let’s convert the Darien bailout to a loan and charge you compound interest on it
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
How does that work, then? "pay more tax"
Who do you think will end up footing the bill for this shite?
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Namely, how do decisions made on the Scottish Health Service budget affect the allocation of funds from central government in such a way that "English" taxpayers have to pay more? It may be the effect of a lunchtime beer on a Friday, but I can't see how that works.
It shouldn't, and yet state spending per capita is 30% higher in Scotland than on England. So the reality is that Westminster will meekly agree to foot the bill as it always does.
You said "pay more tax because the SNP are paying nurses more". That is, an increase over the Barnett formula as it is now. How does that work?
You're quite right, it doesn't lead automatically to an increase in taxation for English taxpayers. It could potentially lead to successful public sector campaigns in England to match their Scottish counterparts, whereupon Scotland would get more in Barnett consequentials, whereupon the cycle would repeat, but that's not guaranteed and not a direct impact.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
How does that work, then? "pay more tax"
Who do you think will end up footing the bill for this shite?
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Namely, how do decisions made on the Scottish Health Service budget affect the allocation of funds from central government in such a way that "English" taxpayers have to pay more? It may be the effect of a lunchtime beer on a Friday, but I can't see how that works.
It shouldn't, and yet state spending per capita is 30% higher in Scotland than on England. So the reality is that Westminster will meekly agree to foot the bill as it always does.
You said "pay more tax because the SNP are paying nurses more". That is, an increase over the Barnett formula as it is now. How does that work?
You're quite right, it doesn't lead automatically to an increase in taxation for English taxpayers. It could potentially lead to successful public sector campaigns in England to match their Scottish counterparts, whereupon Scotland would get more in Barnett consequentials, whereupon the cycle would repeat, but that's not guaranteed and not a direct impact.
Thanks - that was my understanding too, but it didn't sound as if MaxPB had that in mind.
Personally I think the sensible thing for England and Scotland is to give a juicy bonus to NHS staff (more for the front line, but also something for those who've just been exceptionally busy). In addition, the families of those who lost their lives to Covid should be awarded this bonus. However, pay increases should be limited to what was envisaged already.
The SNP are concerned that they might be on the skids a little.
Who knows, perhaps some of their voters might notice that the two cancer centres promised in December 2020 to be in operation in "Spring 2021" are a leading promise to be created after the Election?
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GAETZ WHAT YOU WANT -- The Matt Gaetz hits just keep coming and coming. We already knew the Florida Republican was in some serious hot water after it was revealed earlier this week that the DOJ is investigating Gaetz’s alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and whether he violated sex trafficking laws.
But the New York Times dropped another bombshell last night that the probe into Gaetz and a former Florida official is focused on their “involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments,” while “one of the women who had sex with both men also agreed to have sex with an unidentified associate of theirs in Florida Republican politics.”
And, in some encounters, “Gaetz asked women to help find others who might be interested in having sex with him and his friends,” write Katie Benner and Michael S. Schmidt. “Should anyone inquire about their relationships, one person said, Mr. Gaetz told the women to say that he had paid for hotel rooms and dinners as part of their dates.” … More: “Some of the men and women took ecstasy, an illegal mood-altering drug, before having sex, including Mr. Gaetz.”
ON TOP OF ALL THAT, CNN reports that Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to fellow lawmakers and showed nude pictures of women to his colleagues — including while he was on the House floor. There’s no evidence the photos are connected to the DOJ probe, but the alleged episode sheds further light on his behavior toward women.
That also dovetails with this unflattering portrait of Gaetz from The Daily Beast that chronicles his less-than-sterling reputation on Capitol Hill, where Gaetz made his preference for younger women and drug use known and where an empty box of condoms was once spotted in the trash bin outside his congressional office. . . .
Gaetz has vehemently denied the allegations and says he’s the victim of an elaborate extortion scheme. “Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex. Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely,” his team said in a statement to NYT. “Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.” . . . .
For now, congressional leaders are deferring to the ongoing DOJ probe. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said yesterday at her press conference that the allegations, if true, would be a "matter for the Ethics Committee.” And Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have both said Gaetz would lose his committee seats if he’s indicted, which is required under House rules.
But, but, but … also don’t be surprised if Gaetz follows the Trump playbook on scandals, by refusing to bow to pressure and trying to stick it out. . . .
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
Another halfwitted cretinous numpty who does not understand that Scotland has money , and after England has stolen a good part of it they still have some pocket money left to fund things. English taxpayers will not pay a penny piece of it you dumpling.
Sure. Let’s convert the Darien bailout to a loan and charge you compound interest on it
It was a bribe to the aristos. They should be asked to pay it back.
The latest installment of "Why we lost the Red Wall".
Yes. Amazing.
They do or say something that almost everyone is probably in favour of - then apologise for it because people who have no idea what it is actually about find it theoretically offensive
Then you are an even bigger erchie than I thought you were. You would know then that Greenock is the last port as water too shallow to go any further up, you would also know there are a myriad of lovely places all around and just because Greenock has some dodgy social housing etc that makes you even more of an absolute creep. Think you are a poshie because you moved to Gourock.
Wong again, Malc. I don't live in Gourock and never have. But don't let facts stop you, eh?
And, yes, I know all about Greenock being the last suitable port for large ships on the Clyde. But that doesn't have any bearing on it being a dump, and also yes, some tourists get bussed to Glasgow. But they still have to watch the delightful scenes of urban decay through their windows, and the ones that choose to stay and explore Greenock (a surprising amount) are not coming away with a positive 'Scotch' experience.
Not unless they enjoy tripping over broken slabs as they wander along West Blackhall St, looking at boarded up shops and smelling the leaking sewers. When they reach the end of the street they can take in the ambience of the run-down Oak Mall, which is such a jewel its owners want to demolish it.
Greenock is a deeply depressing place, made all the worse because no help is coming. The SNP doesn't care. That places like Greenock exist after 14 years of SNP government doesn't fit their narrative. So it gets pushed aside, like everything they find inconvenient.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
Another halfwitted cretinous numpty who does not understand that Scotland has money , and after England has stolen a good part of it they still have some pocket money left to fund things. English taxpayers will not pay a penny piece of it you dumpling.
Sure. Let’s convert the Darien bailout to a loan and charge you compound interest on it
Is it typically British, for English to pressure Scots by threatening to "welch" on a done deal?
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
Another halfwitted cretinous numpty who does not understand that Scotland has money , and after England has stolen a good part of it they still have some pocket money left to fund things. English taxpayers will not pay a penny piece of it you dumpling.
Sure. Let’s convert the Darien bailout to a loan and charge you compound interest on it
It was a bribe to the aristos. They should be asked to pay it back.
That would be a matter for the independent Scotland to take up with certain of its citizens. England made the payments to the representatives of the Scottish government/parliament at the time
The latest installment of "Why we lost the Red Wall".
Yes. Amazing.
They do or say something that almost everyone is probably in favour of - then apologise for it because people who have no idea what it is actually about find it theoretically offensive
Scottish Unison must be mental. Take the 4%, demand it for the staff south of the border, makes the Tories look like scrooge. Job done.
Isn't their job to get the best deal for their members? Why should they take the first offer from the government?
Give an inch and they'll ask for a mile.
Pretty much ensures opening offers should only ever be like the Westminster 1% proposal.
The 1% offer in England is such a stupid political misstep. Or it was until the Union responded with a 12.5% counter FFS. How does 12.5% work for any pay rise for any large body of staff? Its something out of the 1970s...
1% was an opening suggestion.
Sturgeon opening with 4% means why not demand 12.5%? If 4% is the opening offer then why not counter with 12.5% and "settle" for 8%?
1970s here we come, but then why should we be surprised when Sturgeon etc view everything from the 1980s onwards as something horrid to be reversed.
1% was "you're getting 1%" not an "opening suggestion". Also, a very basic principle of negotiation is to open at the maximum position you can that won't piss the counter-party off. A 1% "opening suggestion" - a pay cut - is such a piss off move. Especially when it wasn't an opening suggestion but the recommendation of the (entirely independent of course...) pay review board. Thats yer lot - a pay cut.
The latest installment of "Why we lost the Red Wall".
Yes. Amazing.
They do or say something that almost everyone is probably in favour of - then apologise for it because people who have no idea what it is actually about find it theoretically offensive
FS this is so stupid. I don't have any problems with people *being* travellers but parks are not places for them to camp. Boulders to stop them, or anyone, are entirely appropriate and proportionate.
By the Nats? Yes of course, they believe all the other rubbish the SNP has fed them over the years.
LOL, that from numpties that worship Bozo
I don't worship Boris, I think he's an idiot. But I can see the cult-like behaviour of Nats towards Sturgeon, they are not much different from Kippers towards Farage.
So Tories are different , happy to ignore the lying and stealing etc and that is different from SNP. Selective indeed on who are cults.
So Sturgeon been forced out then?
oh
When did Boris or any of his cronies get forced out then
Scottish Unison must be mental. Take the 4%, demand it for the staff south of the border, makes the Tories look like scrooge. Job done.
Isn't their job to get the best deal for their members? Why should they take the first offer from the government?
Give an inch and they'll ask for a mile.
Pretty much ensures opening offers should only ever be like the Westminster 1% proposal.
The 1% offer in England is such a stupid political misstep. Or it was until the Union responded with a 12.5% counter FFS. How does 12.5% work for any pay rise for any large body of staff? Its something out of the 1970s...
1% was an opening suggestion.
Sturgeon opening with 4% means why not demand 12.5%? If 4% is the opening offer then why not counter with 12.5% and "settle" for 8%?
1970s here we come, but then why should we be surprised when Sturgeon etc view everything from the 1980s onwards as something horrid to be reversed.
1% was "you're getting 1%" not an "opening suggestion". Also, a very basic principle of negotiation is to open at the maximum position you can that won't piss the counter-party off. A 1% "opening suggestion" - a pay cut - is such a piss off move. Especially when it wasn't an opening suggestion but the recommendation of the (entirely independent of course...) pay review board. Thats yer lot - a pay cut.
Yeah, the recommendation of the government. There will also be one from the employees, which will most certainly be higher.
So i'm guessing (hoping?) that the real reason for Johnson's comments on vaccinated people meeting was because he doesn't want to give the impression that the vaccinated should get privileges not allowed to the rest of the population (especially as by and large the ban on young people meeting is not because of the "threat" to themselves as individual).
But whether or not that is the real reason, the overall messaging is horrible.
How can you simultaneously be pushing for domestic vaccine passports on the grounds that large social gatherings restricted to vaccinated individuals are 'safe' whilst also saying that small groups of vaccinated people isn't? And, as others have intimated, in draws into question the whole basis for slow playing the unlockdown. If vaccinated people meeting now isn't safe (or at least safe to an acceptable level of risk), then it will never be.
Its times like this when having a Government as THE sole dictator of what people can do in the country causes issues. As opposed to, say, the US where different authorities have control over different things.
I see the Scotch expert incels are having another normal one about Scarlett McJohansson.
Of all the self-owns on here one of the best is those who go on and on and on about how awful are the EU, the SNP and Sturgeon; despite all of that Scots still prefer them to the arseholes you elect and therefore impose upon us.
Get real lads, Scotland’s never going to shag you.
Remarkably, and mind-bogglingly, the drug wars seem to have gotten WORSE. Even more violent. Even more threatening to the state. These are rival internal armies, often more powerful than Federal forces.
The only solution I can see (barring some miracle like complete legalisation of drugs, and would that even work?) is for the Mexicans to elect a Fascist Dictator, with draconian powers and the complete militarisation of the state itself. Basically get a Mussolini in, to do what he did to the Mafia (exterminate them)
Otherwise, they will drag Mexico into ever greater chaos and suffering. Awful
Nobody should need to commute from three hours away - by bike as Philip once proposed - to get into London, unless they want to. The fact people are forced into it, is why the system is so broken.
House prices need to come down fast in London, young people are fucked buying until that happens.
House prices going down fast in London (and elsewhere) may have other consequences for the economy.
The economy is going to crash eventually when the housing bubble bursts. Not if, when.
Yes, but which bubble?
There are some bubbles that have been going on for hundreds of years and haven't been burst (Gold). You can only be sure it was in fact a bubble after it pops.
House prices are falling in central London - a bit at least.
The government debt bubble, the personal debt bubble, the bitcoin bubble - these are the more significant risks.
Hasn't the bursting of "personal debt bubble" been set back years by Covid, and the largest paying back of personal debt in a year since records began?
anyone who has experienced the joy of travellers camping up on some land nearby know exactly what they are referring to, and why someone would use terms that upset the sensibilities of modern metropolitans are entirely merited.
They stormed onto land owned by one of the gyms I (used to) attend late on a Friday night.
The manager went out to talk to them, not hostile, just hey what are you doing this is private land...to which he was told they would burn the gym down if anybody else came to talk to them.
The gym then had to employ security to protect the building for the next 2 weeks why all the nonsense legal proceedings were undertaken to shift them.
The police basically just shrugged and said they will be moved on eventually.
Scottish Unison must be mental. Take the 4%, demand it for the staff south of the border, makes the Tories look like scrooge. Job done.
Isn't their job to get the best deal for their members? Why should they take the first offer from the government?
Give an inch and they'll ask for a mile.
Pretty much ensures opening offers should only ever be like the Westminster 1% proposal.
The 1% offer in England is such a stupid political misstep. Or it was until the Union responded with a 12.5% counter FFS. How does 12.5% work for any pay rise for any large body of staff? Its something out of the 1970s...
1% was an opening suggestion.
Sturgeon opening with 4% means why not demand 12.5%? If 4% is the opening offer then why not counter with 12.5% and "settle" for 8%?
1970s here we come, but then why should we be surprised when Sturgeon etc view everything from the 1980s onwards as something horrid to be reversed.
1% was "you're getting 1%" not an "opening suggestion". Also, a very basic principle of negotiation is to open at the maximum position you can that won't piss the counter-party off. A 1% "opening suggestion" - a pay cut - is such a piss off move. Especially when it wasn't an opening suggestion but the recommendation of the (entirely independent of course...) pay review board. Thats yer lot - a pay cut.
Surely you offer your opening suggestion with "this is as much as we can afford". And 1% by some measures of inflation is actually a real increase.
She's back! And should be standing for Hartlepool. And still has that talent for spotting the vote winning issue.
She does have a point though- Saying "dealing with traveller incursions" is a dogwhistle to people who hate travellers. Fine if the leaflet gave a specific measure but its a lazy statement praying on bias.
As France has just gone back into lockdown they can be forgiven for having a sense of humour failure. And it appears they can order pizzas with anchovies on, which is more than I can
I see the Scotch expert incels are having another normal one about Scarlett McJohansson.
Of all the self-owns on here one of the best is those who go on and on and on about how awful are the EU, the SNP and Sturgeon; despite all of that Scots still prefer them to the arseholes you elect and therefore impose upon us.
Get real lads, Scotland’s never going to shag you.
SNP do not need our help in doing just that to Scotland
Must be a personal thing. But walking out into a 25C day is very different, for me, to walking out into a 10C day with a stiff wind, even if they are both sunny.
The first - for me - is an absolute pleasure in itself, shirtsleeve order, you can lie down on the grass in the park, you can have a lovely picnic with cold white wine, the human body evolved in these temperatures - on the savannah - that's why we love them, they are our comfort zone.
A chilly, windy, sunny 10C is preferable to rain or fog or sleet or whatever, but I do not smile and think Aaaaaah.
Are we sure this comment was not ghost-written by a crocodile?
The latest installment of "Why we lost the Red Wall".
Yes. Amazing.
They do or say something that almost everyone is probably in favour of - then apologise for it because people who have no idea what it is actually about find it theoretically offensive
anyone who has experienced the joy of travellers camping up on some land nearby know exactly what they are referring to, and why someone would use terms that upset the sensibilities of modern metropolitans are entirely merited.
They stormed onto land owned by one of the gyms I (used to) attend late on a Friday night.
The manager went out to talk to them, not hostile, just hey what are you doing this is private land...to which he was told they would burn the gym down if anybody else came to talk to them.
The gym then had to employ security to protect the building for the next 2 weeks why all the nonsense legal proceedings were undertaken to shift them.
The police basically just shrugged and said they will be moved on eventually.
They took over an area on a farm near where I used to live - It was not a pleasant experience for local shop / bar owners - and the mess they left!
She's back! And should be standing for Hartlepool. And still has that talent for spotting the vote winning issue.
She does have a point though- Saying "dealing with traveller incursions" is a dogwhistle to people who hate travellers. Fine if the leaflet gave a specific measure but its a lazy statement praying on bias.
How else would you describe "measures to deal with traveller incursions", if your neighborhood has a particular problem with "traveller incursions"
"Understandable but uncomfortable settlements by elements of colourful but more nomadic communities"??
She's back! And should be standing for Hartlepool. And still has that talent for spotting the vote winning issue.
She does have a point though- Saying "dealing with traveller incursions" is a dogwhistle to people who hate travellers. Fine if the leaflet gave a specific measure but its a lazy statement praying on bias.
How many people out there "hate" travellers simply because of who they are? Can't be many.
I see the Scotch expert incels are having another normal one about Scarlett McJohansson.
Of all the self-owns on here one of the best is those who go on and on and on about how awful are the EU, the SNP and Sturgeon; despite all of that Scots still prefer them to the arseholes you elect and therefore impose upon us.
Get real lads, Scotland’s never going to shag you.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
How does that work, then? "pay more tax"
Who do you think will end up footing the bill for this shite?
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Namely, how do decisions made on the Scottish Health Service budget affect the allocation of funds from central government in such a way that "English" taxpayers have to pay more? It may be the effect of a lunchtime beer on a Friday, but I can't see how that works.
It shouldn't, and yet state spending per capita is 30% higher in Scotland than on England. So the reality is that Westminster will meekly agree to foot the bill as it always does.
You said "pay more tax because the SNP are paying nurses more". That is, an increase over the Barnett formula as it is now. How does that work?
You're quite right, it doesn't lead automatically to an increase in taxation for English taxpayers. It could potentially lead to successful public sector campaigns in England to match their Scottish counterparts, whereupon Scotland would get more in Barnett consequentials, whereupon the cycle would repeat, but that's not guaranteed and not a direct impact.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
How does that work, then? "pay more tax"
Who do you think will end up footing the bill for this shite?
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Namely, how do decisions made on the Scottish Health Service budget affect the allocation of funds from central government in such a way that "English" taxpayers have to pay more? It may be the effect of a lunchtime beer on a Friday, but I can't see how that works.
It shouldn't, and yet state spending per capita is 30% higher in Scotland than on England. So the reality is that Westminster will meekly agree to foot the bill as it always does.
You said "pay more tax because the SNP are paying nurses more". That is, an increase over the Barnett formula as it is now. How does that work?
You're quite right, it doesn't lead automatically to an increase in taxation for English taxpayers. It could potentially lead to successful public sector campaigns in England to match their Scottish counterparts, whereupon Scotland would get more in Barnett consequentials, whereupon the cycle would repeat, but that's not guaranteed and not a direct impact.
Thanks - that was my understanding too, but it didn't sound as if MaxPB had that in mind.
Personally I think the sensible thing for England and Scotland is to give a juicy bonus to NHS staff (more for the front line, but also something for those who've just been exceptionally busy). In addition, the families of those who lost their lives to Covid should be awarded this bonus. However, pay increases should be limited to what was envisaged already.
The SNP are concerned that they might be on the skids a little.
Who knows, perhaps some of their voters might notice that the two cancer centres promised in December 2020 to be in operation in "Spring 2021" are a leading promise to be created after the Election?
Or perhaps they might continue to sleep.
The SNP have two big objectives: Independence and maximising power. The first objective has vanished until and unless Scotland independence can amass genuine and consistent majority support of getting towards 60% in polling. They can't. Personally I think they won't in the medium term.
So they are focussed truthfully on the second objective. Alba threaten both to disperse their authority (cf SDP and Labour) and also allow unionists to get in the act by playing on nationalist divisions.
A genie is out of the bottle of nationalist purity, and Nicola, though a political genius, is going to find it hard to pop it back.
While I would always back Sturgeon to beat Salmond, it is less certain that she can beat unionism, and very uncertain whether she can beat Boris in his pomp.
It's great fun; though less than it might be for me living in England where you can see Scotland from it, and like most of us on the border each side committed to the union.
She's back! And should be standing for Hartlepool. And still has that talent for spotting the vote winning issue.
She does have a point though- Saying "dealing with traveller incursions" is a dogwhistle to people who hate travellers. Fine if the leaflet gave a specific measure but its a lazy statement praying on bias.
How many people out there "hate" travellers simply because of who they are? Can't be many.
I nominate my one and only trans friend, who admits a deep dislike for tinkers and travellers, from his days as a cab driver in a Midlands city and having to pick up and transport them
He (now a she) never got into specifics, but was absolutely contemptuous, which was highly unusual in my friend, who was and is otherwise flawlessly left and bien pensant
I've always wondered if trans status allowed him/her to be bigoted in this one area; I'm not sure if Travellers trump Trans, or vice versa
She's back! And should be standing for Hartlepool. And still has that talent for spotting the vote winning issue.
She does have a point though- Saying "dealing with traveller incursions" is a dogwhistle to people who hate travellers. Fine if the leaflet gave a specific measure but its a lazy statement praying on bias.
How else would you describe "measures to deal with traveller incursions", if your neighborhood has a particular problem with "traveller incursions"
"Understandable but uncomfortable settlements by elements of colourful but more nomadic communities"??
Really. How would you describe this?
Well for a start it is meaningless. "dealing with traveller incursions" tells me sod all about what Labour would do and I can guess it means they will do nothing because they cannot think of anything to do on this difficult issue. But the point is not to actually "deal" with the issue but to play on anti traveller sentiment.
Effect of school holidays here (I can't think of any other explanation) is remarkable. They break up on Friday 26th; cases start to decline significantly from the following Monday, as the drop off in infections feeds through into the numbers.
Kids are evidently the driver in the near-plateauing of cases for most of March - mixing in schools, passing the Plague round, bringing it home to their families. If that's correct then cases will probably continue to drop right through until the weekend of 17/18 April.
It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens immediately after that. Should cases merely level off again (rather than starting to climb) then it would be reasonable to blame that on the schools, and therefore to conclude that re-opening the shops and beer gardens has had no measurable effect. If so then what's left of physical retail and the hospitality trade, which have of course been shuttered for months because they were claimed to be such a lethal threat, will be absolutely bloody livid. And rightly so, too.
Each has an effect on R. Opening schools has been considered to have a bigger effect on R than outside retail - some were saying that the schools were going back too early. The judgement was based on the social cost of broken education. It seems to have paid off.
We are increasing the depth and spread of vaccination at such a rate that making such judgements over time is becoming very difficult. Even at the reduced rate of first vaccinations.
It took closing everything into a lockdown to stop the rise due to the new variants and reverse it.
The idea that retail and pubs has no effect on R is attractive. For those wanting a pint. However there is actual evidence of transmission in those settings.
The latest installment of "Why we lost the Red Wall".
Yes. Amazing.
They do or say something that almost everyone is probably in favour of - then apologise for it because people who have no idea what it is actually about find it theoretically offensive
She's back! And should be standing for Hartlepool. And still has that talent for spotting the vote winning issue.
She does have a point though- Saying "dealing with traveller incursions" is a dogwhistle to people who hate travellers. Fine if the leaflet gave a specific measure but its a lazy statement praying on bias.
How else would you describe "measures to deal with traveller incursions", if your neighborhood has a particular problem with "traveller incursions"
"Understandable but uncomfortable settlements by elements of colourful but more nomadic communities"??
Really. How would you describe this?
Well for a start it is meaningless. "dealing with traveller incursions" tells me sod all about what Labour would do and I can guess it means they will do nothing because they cannot think of anything to do on this difficult issue. But the point is not to actually "deal" with the issue but to play on anti traveller sentiment.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
How does that work, then? "pay more tax"
Who do you think will end up footing the bill for this shite?
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Namely, how do decisions made on the Scottish Health Service budget affect the allocation of funds from central government in such a way that "English" taxpayers have to pay more? It may be the effect of a lunchtime beer on a Friday, but I can't see how that works.
It shouldn't, and yet state spending per capita is 30% higher in Scotland than on England. So the reality is that Westminster will meekly agree to foot the bill as it always does.
You said "pay more tax because the SNP are paying nurses more". That is, an increase over the Barnett formula as it is now. How does that work?
You're quite right, it doesn't lead automatically to an increase in taxation for English taxpayers. It could potentially lead to successful public sector campaigns in England to match their Scottish counterparts, whereupon Scotland would get more in Barnett consequentials, whereupon the cycle would repeat, but that's not guaranteed and not a direct impact.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
How does that work, then? "pay more tax"
Who do you think will end up footing the bill for this shite?
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Namely, how do decisions made on the Scottish Health Service budget affect the allocation of funds from central government in such a way that "English" taxpayers have to pay more? It may be the effect of a lunchtime beer on a Friday, but I can't see how that works.
It shouldn't, and yet state spending per capita is 30% higher in Scotland than on England. So the reality is that Westminster will meekly agree to foot the bill as it always does.
You said "pay more tax because the SNP are paying nurses more". That is, an increase over the Barnett formula as it is now. How does that work?
You're quite right, it doesn't lead automatically to an increase in taxation for English taxpayers. It could potentially lead to successful public sector campaigns in England to match their Scottish counterparts, whereupon Scotland would get more in Barnett consequentials, whereupon the cycle would repeat, but that's not guaranteed and not a direct impact.
Thanks - that was my understanding too, but it didn't sound as if MaxPB had that in mind.
Personally I think the sensible thing for England and Scotland is to give a juicy bonus to NHS staff (more for the front line, but also something for those who've just been exceptionally busy). In addition, the families of those who lost their lives to Covid should be awarded this bonus. However, pay increases should be limited to what was envisaged already.
The SNP are concerned that they might be on the skids a little.
Who knows, perhaps some of their voters might notice that the two cancer centres promised in December 2020 to be in operation in "Spring 2021" are a leading promise to be created after the Election?
Or perhaps they might continue to sleep.
The SNP have two big objectives: Independence and maximising power. The first objective has vanished until and unless Scotland independence can amass genuine and consistent majority support of getting towards 60% in polling. They can't. Personally I think they won't in the medium term.
So they are focussed truthfully on the second objective. Alba threaten both to disperse their authority (cf SDP and Labour) and also allow unionists to get in the act by playing on nationalist divisions.
A genie is out of the bottle of nationalist purity, and Nicola, though a political genius, is going to find it hard to pop it back.
While I would always back Sturgeon to beat Salmond, it is less certain that she can beat unionism, and very uncertain whether she can beat Boris in his pomp.
It's great fun; though less than it might be for me living in England where you can see Scotland from it, and like most of us on the border each side committed to the union.
Yeah, but if it’s a problem for Nicola, let them go for it. 😆
The unions know they've got her over a barrel, refuse and she's not "backing the NHS". The losers will be English taxpayers, including NHS workers, who will now have to pay more tax to pay for this bullshit.
I'm not clear why English Taxpayers have to pay extra for decisions in the Scottish NHS? Does the mechanism work both ways?
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
Another halfwitted cretinous numpty who does not understand that Scotland has money , and after England has stolen a good part of it they still have some pocket money left to fund things. English taxpayers will not pay a penny piece of it you dumpling.
There's no fiscal transfer whatsoever?
As I said Rob , there was fiscal transfer to England for 40 years , UK borrows huge amounts and we get a small portion of that borrowing and pay dearly for it.
Effect of school holidays here (I can't think of any other explanation) is remarkable. They break up on Friday 26th; cases start to decline significantly from the following Monday, as the drop off in infections feeds through into the numbers.
Kids are evidently the driver in the near-plateauing of cases for most of March - mixing in schools, passing the Plague round, bringing it home to their families. If that's correct then cases will probably continue to drop right through until the weekend of 17/18 April.
It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens immediately after that. Should cases merely level off again (rather than starting to climb) then it would be reasonable to blame that on the schools, and therefore to conclude that re-opening the shops and beer gardens has had no measurable effect. If so then what's left of physical retail and the hospitality trade, which have of course been shuttered for months because they were claimed to be such a lethal threat, will be absolutely bloody livid. And rightly so, too.
Aren't you misinterpreting the graph because it includes figures up to 1st April, when the 4 days are meaningless for this statistic?
If they mean what they say by saying independence can be negotiated and making no reference to the need for a referendum they are indulging in legal fictions. The text gives themselves a tiny get out, which suggests that they want you to believe it while knowing they don't mean it.
She's back! And should be standing for Hartlepool. And still has that talent for spotting the vote winning issue.
She does have a point though- Saying "dealing with traveller incursions" is a dogwhistle to people who hate travellers. Fine if the leaflet gave a specific measure but its a lazy statement praying on bias.
How else would you describe "measures to deal with traveller incursions", if your neighborhood has a particular problem with "traveller incursions"
"Understandable but uncomfortable settlements by elements of colourful but more nomadic communities"??
Really. How would you describe this?
Well for a start it is meaningless. "dealing with traveller incursions" tells me sod all about what Labour would do and I can guess it means they will do nothing because they cannot think of anything to do on this difficult issue. But the point is not to actually "deal" with the issue but to play on anti traveller sentiment.
You haven't answered my question
I thought I did as well as I could given I have no idea what "dealing with traveller incursions" actually means they will do. If Labour had a proposal on this issue that could help it should list it not do lazy statements that are plain dogwhistling.
Effect of school holidays here (I can't think of any other explanation) is remarkable. They break up on Friday 26th; cases start to decline significantly from the following Monday, as the drop off in infections feeds through into the numbers.
Kids are evidently the driver in the near-plateauing of cases for most of March - mixing in schools, passing the Plague round, bringing it home to their families. If that's correct then cases will probably continue to drop right through until the weekend of 17/18 April.
It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens immediately after that. Should cases merely level off again (rather than starting to climb) then it would be reasonable to blame that on the schools, and therefore to conclude that re-opening the shops and beer gardens has had no measurable effect. If so then what's left of physical retail and the hospitality trade, which have of course been shuttered for months because they were claimed to be such a lethal threat, will be absolutely bloody livid. And rightly so, too.
School holidays, yes. Kids, not necessarily.
A lot of people haven't used up all their leave this year and will have been off work for the whole of this week.
Next week should be interesting. The kids will not be back yet but there will be fewer people off work (new leave year, waiting for unlockdown).
If they mean what they say by saying independence can be negotiated and making no reference to the need for a referendum they are indulging in legal fictions. The text gives themselves a tiny get out, which suggests that they want you to believe it while knowing they don't mean it.
If it really did come to pass that this attempt to game the Scottish electoral system succeeded, but cost the SNP seats, then wouldn't it formalise a split in the Nationalist movement that would be quite difficult to contain? If they did end up with 60+% of the seats in the Scottish Parliament then they would actually likely quickly lose control of the agenda with Alba massively pushing for prioritising Independence above all else (even if they didn't push for some kind of UDI idea).
Pretending that Independence support was significantly in excess of what it actually was is not likely to bring waverers over to the indy side.
Effect of school holidays here (I can't think of any other explanation) is remarkable. They break up on Friday 26th; cases start to decline significantly from the following Monday, as the drop off in infections feeds through into the numbers.
Kids are evidently the driver in the near-plateauing of cases for most of March - mixing in schools, passing the Plague round, bringing it home to their families. If that's correct then cases will probably continue to drop right through until the weekend of 17/18 April.
It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens immediately after that. Should cases merely level off again (rather than starting to climb) then it would be reasonable to blame that on the schools, and therefore to conclude that re-opening the shops and beer gardens has had no measurable effect. If so then what's left of physical retail and the hospitality trade, which have of course been shuttered for months because they were claimed to be such a lethal threat, will be absolutely bloody livid. And rightly so, too.
School holidays, yes. Kids, not necessarily.
A lot of people haven't used up all their leave this year and will have been off work for the whole of this week.
Next week should be interesting. The kids will not be back yet but there will be fewer people off work (new leave year, waiting for unlockdown).
Doesn't matter how many cases as it should not change policy now given that with the vaccination programmes there should not be many hospitalised cases or deaths. Death and hospitalisation happen from many things .We have to learn to forget about covid
Are they going to continue to highlight the number of rare blood clots in the under 60s now they aren't getting AZ?
Europe has been afflicted by a peculiar madness with regard to vaccines. It began no doubt with an underlying scepticism has been fuelled by ordering shambles at the EU level, extraordinary irresponsible commentary from politicians at the highest levels, the extraordinary actions of national health agencies who have repeatedly ignored the EMA and finally a bizarre and irrational lashing out especially at the UK for reasons best known only to themselves. In Spain the personal result for me is that, at 66, I am too old to be offered AZT and around 15 years too young to be offered anything else. Luckily, unlike much of the rest of Europe, infection rates here are still quite low. Either way those aged 66-80 are mostly still a good month away from a first dose while anything approaching , say 70% of the population vaccinated with one dose, is unlikely before September. Ironically most citizens are remarkably stoical about it all. Very strange.
Whatever the EU's madness the press are worse. I can't think of a single journalist who I now respect.
Effect of school holidays here (I can't think of any other explanation) is remarkable. They break up on Friday 26th; cases start to decline significantly from the following Monday, as the drop off in infections feeds through into the numbers.
Kids are evidently the driver in the near-plateauing of cases for most of March - mixing in schools, passing the Plague round, bringing it home to their families. If that's correct then cases will probably continue to drop right through until the weekend of 17/18 April.
It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens immediately after that. Should cases merely level off again (rather than starting to climb) then it would be reasonable to blame that on the schools, and therefore to conclude that re-opening the shops and beer gardens has had no measurable effect. If so then what's left of physical retail and the hospitality trade, which have of course been shuttered for months because they were claimed to be such a lethal threat, will be absolutely bloody livid. And rightly so, too.
School holidays, yes. Kids, not necessarily.
A lot of people haven't used up all their leave this year and will have been off work for the whole of this week.
Next week should be interesting. The kids will not be back yet but there will be fewer people off work (new leave year, waiting for unlockdown).
Doesn't matter how many cases as it should not change policy now given that with the vaccination programmes there should not be many hospitalised cases or deaths. Death and hospitalisation happen from many things .We have to learn to forget about covid
Also lots of schools didn't break up until THIS thursday.
Comments
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56620113
If you'd like to propose a solution to get young people onto the housing ladder, then let's hear it. So far the Tories have been in Government for a decade and have categorically failed.
Kids are evidently the driver in the near-plateauing of cases for most of March - mixing in schools, passing the Plague round, bringing it home to their families. If that's correct then cases will probably continue to drop right through until the weekend of 17/18 April.
It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens immediately after that. Should cases merely level off again (rather than starting to climb) then it would be reasonable to blame that on the schools, and therefore to conclude that re-opening the shops and beer gardens has had no measurable effect. If so then what's left of physical retail and the hospitality trade, which have of course been shuttered for months because they were claimed to be such a lethal threat, will be absolutely bloody livid. And rightly so, too.
If English NHS pay was forced to go up yes, but that will be more like 2% than 4% or 12%.
And I don't see the Scottish NHS being large enough to cause a major collapse in Englsh NHs workforce by cross-recruitment.
The solution is simple, build more houses. More supply means lower prices.
There are some bubbles that have been going on for hundreds of years and haven't been burst (Gold). You can only be sure it was in fact a bubble after it pops.
House prices are falling in central London - a bit at least.
The government debt bubble, the personal debt bubble, the bitcoin bubble - these are the more significant risks.
If you intend to vote SNP/Alba you’re Scottish enough
If not you’re a filthy turnip
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56617049
Bound to be right eventually...
https://wingsoverscotland.com/justice-stirring/
Who knows, perhaps some of their voters might notice that the two cancer centres promised in December 2020 to be in operation in "Spring 2021" are a leading promise to be created after the Election?
Or perhaps they might continue to sleep.
Politico.com - Is Gaetz a goner?
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GAETZ WHAT YOU WANT -- The Matt Gaetz hits just keep coming and coming. We already knew the Florida Republican was in some serious hot water after it was revealed earlier this week that the DOJ is investigating Gaetz’s alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and whether he violated sex trafficking laws.
But the New York Times dropped another bombshell last night that the probe into Gaetz and a former Florida official is focused on their “involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments,” while “one of the women who had sex with both men also agreed to have sex with an unidentified associate of theirs in Florida Republican politics.”
And, in some encounters, “Gaetz asked women to help find others who might be interested in having sex with him and his friends,” write Katie Benner and Michael S. Schmidt. “Should anyone inquire about their relationships, one person said, Mr. Gaetz told the women to say that he had paid for hotel rooms and dinners as part of their dates.” … More: “Some of the men and women took ecstasy, an illegal mood-altering drug, before having sex, including Mr. Gaetz.”
ON TOP OF ALL THAT, CNN reports that Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to fellow lawmakers and showed nude pictures of women to his colleagues — including while he was on the House floor. There’s no evidence the photos are connected to the DOJ probe, but the alleged episode sheds further light on his behavior toward women.
That also dovetails with this unflattering portrait of Gaetz from The Daily Beast that chronicles his less-than-sterling reputation on Capitol Hill, where Gaetz made his preference for younger women and drug use known and where an empty box of condoms was once spotted in the trash bin outside his congressional office. . . .
Gaetz has vehemently denied the allegations and says he’s the victim of an elaborate extortion scheme. “Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex. Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely,” his team said in a statement to NYT. “Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.” . . . .
For now, congressional leaders are deferring to the ongoing DOJ probe. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said yesterday at her press conference that the allegations, if true, would be a "matter for the Ethics Committee.” And Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have both said Gaetz would lose his committee seats if he’s indicted, which is required under House rules.
But, but, but … also don’t be surprised if Gaetz follows the Trump playbook on scandals, by refusing to bow to pressure and trying to stick it out. . . .
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/huddle/2021/04/02/is-gaetz-a-goner-492341
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1377059082931204097
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1377059721044230145
They do or say something that almost everyone is probably in favour of - then apologise for it because people who have no idea what it is actually about find it theoretically offensive
And, yes, I know all about Greenock being the last suitable port for large ships on the Clyde. But that doesn't have any bearing on it being a dump, and also yes, some tourists get bussed to Glasgow. But they still have to watch the delightful scenes of urban decay through their windows, and the ones that choose to stay and explore Greenock (a surprising amount) are not coming away with a positive 'Scotch' experience.
Not unless they enjoy tripping over broken slabs as they wander along West Blackhall St, looking at boarded up shops and smelling the leaking sewers. When they reach the end of the street they can take in the ambience of the run-down Oak Mall, which is such a jewel its owners want to demolish it.
Greenock is a deeply depressing place, made all the worse because no help is coming. The SNP doesn't care. That places like Greenock exist after 14 years of SNP government doesn't fit their narrative. So it gets pushed aside, like everything they find inconvenient.
https://twitter.com/LauraPidcock/status/1377911827196211201
https://twitter.com/MacaesBruno/status/1359549585002295300
Now you are saying they are the same
But whether or not that is the real reason, the overall messaging is horrible.
How can you simultaneously be pushing for domestic vaccine passports on the grounds that large social gatherings restricted to vaccinated individuals are 'safe' whilst also saying that small groups of vaccinated people isn't? And, as others have intimated, in draws into question the whole basis for slow playing the unlockdown. If vaccinated people meeting now isn't safe (or at least safe to an acceptable level of risk), then it will never be.
Its times like this when having a Government as THE sole dictator of what people can do in the country causes issues. As opposed to, say, the US where different authorities have control over different things.
Of all the self-owns on here one of the best is those who go on and on and on about how awful are the EU, the SNP and Sturgeon; despite all of that Scots still prefer them to the arseholes you elect and therefore impose upon us.
Get real lads, Scotland’s never going to shag you.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/02/jalisco-cartel-mexico-rise-guadalajara
Remarkably, and mind-bogglingly, the drug wars seem to have gotten WORSE. Even more violent. Even more threatening to the state. These are rival internal armies, often more powerful than Federal forces.
The only solution I can see (barring some miracle like complete legalisation of drugs, and would that even work?) is for the Mexicans to elect a Fascist Dictator, with draconian powers and the complete militarisation of the state itself. Basically get a Mussolini in, to do what he did to the Mafia (exterminate them)
Otherwise, they will drag Mexico into ever greater chaos and suffering. Awful
https://twitter.com/davieclegg/status/1377983237352460290?s=20
What with reports of police interviews of very senior figures over the SNP's supposedly "ringfenced" £600,000 which is not evident from the accounts
The manager went out to talk to them, not hostile, just hey what are you doing this is private land...to which he was told they would burn the gym down if anybody else came to talk to them.
The gym then had to employ security to protect the building for the next 2 weeks why all the nonsense legal proceedings were undertaken to shift them.
The police basically just shrugged and said they will be moved on eventually.
The Tories are setting up obvious culture war traps everywhere, and Labour are walking into all of them
"Understandable but uncomfortable settlements by elements of colourful but more nomadic communities"??
Really. How would you describe this?
https://twitter.com/AlbaParty/status/1378054507658117122?s=20
So they are focussed truthfully on the second objective. Alba threaten both to disperse their authority (cf SDP and Labour) and also allow unionists to get in the act by playing on nationalist divisions.
A genie is out of the bottle of nationalist purity, and Nicola, though a political genius, is going to find it hard to pop it back.
While I would always back Sturgeon to beat Salmond, it is less certain that she can beat unionism, and very uncertain whether she can beat Boris in his pomp.
It's great fun; though less than it might be for me living in England where you can see Scotland from it, and like most of us on the border each side committed to the union.
He (now a she) never got into specifics, but was absolutely contemptuous, which was highly unusual in my friend, who was and is otherwise flawlessly left and bien pensant
I've always wondered if trans status allowed him/her to be bigoted in this one area; I'm not sure if Travellers trump Trans, or vice versa
We are increasing the depth and spread of vaccination at such a rate that making such judgements over time is becoming very difficult. Even at the reduced rate of first vaccinations.
It took closing everything into a lockdown to stop the rise due to the new variants and reverse it.
The idea that retail and pubs has no effect on R is attractive. For those wanting a pint. However there is actual evidence of transmission in those settings.
A lot of people haven't used up all their leave this year and will have been off work for the whole of this week.
Next week should be interesting. The kids will not be back yet but there will be fewer people off work (new leave year, waiting for unlockdown).
Pretending that Independence support was significantly in excess of what it actually was is not likely to bring waverers over to the indy side.
Tim Harford?
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1378058433203744771?s=20
"Leading COVAX donors"
After:
USA: 2.5bn
DE: 1.1bn
UK: 0.7bn
EU: 0.5bn
https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/covid/covax/COVAX-AMC-Donors-Table.pdf