An interesting article in the FT about why Brits just don’t go for these jobs. The Labour market has evolved to the point where not having access to EU Labour makes it tricky for employers. The work is almost designed for those with no dependents nor desire to make a life here
This was the issue with the call to go and pick fruit and veg in the fields. You now need to commit to several months living on site in a caravan with a load of other people, working 6-7 days a week, morning, noon and night.
That immediately rules out anybody with kids, anybody with a significant other who doesn't also want to go and live in a caravan with a load of other strangers, etc.
So what you're saying is that if we don't have access to an unlimited pool of labour, then employers may have to improve pay and conditions to attract employees?
Oh the horror! The horror! With apologies to Jasper Conrad.
I take it you mean Joseph? Jasper Conrad wrote wordy stream of consciousness false narrator epics about women's fashions.
Joseph Conrad iirc correctly wrote a book called the Rover about a chap called Peyrol?? Who was trying to get away from the horrors of the Napoleon's wars. I loathed it but had to study it for O level. Eng Lit..50 yrs ago
Our golfers, while we are talking about posh sports, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, are both on -3 as the second round gets under way. They could win from there but so could three dozen others. The leader is on -8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/leaderboard
(Women's golf is next week.)
Golf really is a sport that shouldn't be anywhere near the Olympics. They already have 4 majors, several major team competitions and umpteen professional tours with massive tournaments 40+ weeks oit of the year.
Like tennis, you mean?
Whether or not these events belong rather depends on whether your view is that (a) the Games should be as big and as comprehensive as possible or (b) it should be a bit more streamlined, so that the cost of hosting it isn't astronomical (which would also significantly increase the pool of countries that could afford to do so.) Golf and tennis both clearly belong under criterion (a), but arguably not under (b).
The Olympics should be the pinnacle of achievement, for all the sports it contains. Athletes competing, should be thinking about nothing else for four years prior, the competitors should be basically amateur, not highly-paid professionals. Boxing does a good job of making the distinction, so should golf, tennis, and many of the team sports.
Our golfers, while we are talking about posh sports, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, are both on -3 as the second round gets under way. They could win from there but so could three dozen others. The leader is on -8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/leaderboard
(Women's golf is next week.)
Golf really is a sport that shouldn't be anywhere near the Olympics. They already have 4 majors, several major team competitions and umpteen professional tours with massive tournaments 40+ weeks oit of the year.
Like tennis, you mean?
Whether or not these events belong rather depends on whether your view is that (a) the Games should be as big and as comprehensive as possible or (b) it should be a bit more streamlined, so that the cost of hosting it isn't astronomical (which would also significantly increase the pool of countries that could afford to do so.) Golf and tennis both clearly belong under criterion (a), but arguably not under (b).
The Olympics should be the pinnacle of achievement, for all the sports it contains. Athletes competing, should be thinking about nothing else for four years prior, the competitors should be basically amateur, not highly-paid professionals. Boxing does a good job of making the distinction, so should golf, tennis, and many of the team sports.
In what way are golf or tennis players - or for that matter, boxers - ‘essentially amateur?’ Are you defining professional as ‘somebody who gets paid a regular salary?’
Labour shortages mean that either you are not employing the existing pool of labour productively enough or you need to increase the price of labour (and/or improve other conditions) to attract workers.
For example care homes lose lots of employees to the supermarkets. (More predictable hours, less physical work). If you allow anyone to come in to work fir a care home then you are effectively creating a mechanism whereby supermarkets don’t need to increase wages or invest in capital equipment
This is just one example. But fundamentally an endless pool of workers that employers can draw on is not helpful to the average/low skilled UK citizen. How about sticking up for their interests for once?
Our golfers, while we are talking about posh sports, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, are both on -3 as the second round gets under way. They could win from there but so could three dozen others. The leader is on -8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/leaderboard
(Women's golf is next week.)
Golf really is a sport that shouldn't be anywhere near the Olympics. They already have 4 majors, several major team competitions and umpteen professional tours with massive tournaments 40+ weeks oit of the year.
Like tennis, you mean?
Whether or not these events belong rather depends on whether your view is that (a) the Games should be as big and as comprehensive as possible or (b) it should be a bit more streamlined, so that the cost of hosting it isn't astronomical (which would also significantly increase the pool of countries that could afford to do so.) Golf and tennis both clearly belong under criterion (a), but arguably not under (b).
The Olympics should be the pinnacle of achievement, for all the sports it contains. Athletes competing, should be thinking about nothing else for four years prior, the competitors should be basically amateur, not highly-paid professionals. Boxing does a good job of making the distinction, so should golf, tennis, and many of the team sports.
In what way are golf or tennis players - or for that matter, boxers - ‘essentially amateur?’ Are you defining professional as ‘somebody who gets paid a regular salary?’
I’m saying that the golfers and tennis players competing at the Olympics, if we are going to have these sports, should be amateurs, not touring professionals, for whom the Games is just another event on their non-stop trip around the world.
Golf has well-defined rules on amateur status, as does boxing, and these should be the golfers at the Games.
Our golfers, while we are talking about posh sports, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, are both on -3 as the second round gets under way. They could win from there but so could three dozen others. The leader is on -8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/leaderboard
(Women's golf is next week.)
Golf really is a sport that shouldn't be anywhere near the Olympics. They already have 4 majors, several major team competitions and umpteen professional tours with massive tournaments 40+ weeks oit of the year.
Like tennis, you mean?
Whether or not these events belong rather depends on whether your view is that (a) the Games should be as big and as comprehensive as possible or (b) it should be a bit more streamlined, so that the cost of hosting it isn't astronomical (which would also significantly increase the pool of countries that could afford to do so.) Golf and tennis both clearly belong under criterion (a), but arguably not under (b).
The Olympics should be the pinnacle of achievement, for all the sports it contains. Athletes competing, should be thinking about nothing else for four years prior, the competitors should be basically amateur, not highly-paid professionals. Boxing does a good job of making the distinction, so should golf, tennis, and many of the team sports.
In what way are golf or tennis players - or for that matter, boxers - ‘essentially amateur?’ Are you defining professional as ‘somebody who gets paid a regular salary?’
golf and boxing do have a distinct amateur and professional status within the sport. Although at the olympics golf is professional - i think they should send amateur golfers as the distinction is there. Then for the likes of Joe Long (British Amateur golf champion) a gold medal would be the pinnacle
An interesting article in the FT about why Brits just don’t go for these jobs. The Labour market has evolved to the point where not having access to EU Labour makes it tricky for employers. The work is almost designed for those with no dependents nor desire to make a life here
This was the issue with the call to go and pick fruit and veg in the fields. You now need to commit to several months living on site in a caravan with a load of other people, working 6-7 days a week, morning, noon and night.
That immediately rules out anybody with kids, anybody with a significant other who doesn't also want to go and live in a caravan with a load of other strangers, etc.
Those of us with soft hands. I've been told mine are like butter wrapped in silk, I have to be careful.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
Labour shortages mean that either you are not employing the existing pool of labour productively enough or you need to increase the price of labour (and/or improve other conditions) to attract workers.
For example care homes lose lots of employees to the supermarkets. (More predictable hours, less physical work). If you allow anyone to come in to work fir a care home then you are effectively creating a mechanism whereby supermarkets don’t need to increase wages or invest in capital equipment
This is just one example. But fundamentally an endless pool of workers that employers can draw on is not helpful to the average/low skilled UK citizen. How about sticking up for their interests for once?
It’s amazing how lawyers, almost uniquely, managed to exempt themselves from competition from immigrants over the past 30 years. I believe that many of them got very rich, and some were even able to announce their retirement in their early fifties.
Imagine if the price of law had come down to the point where ordinary people could afford it.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
Max, you have a link to a bit more info on this Woke approach please?
The only things I've notice this time are TeamGB proudly tweeting lots of athletes taking the knee, and that we're supposed to be proud of Tom Daley's gold medal win as a landmark moment for gay rights, rather than the fact he's Tom Daley and has finally achieved his dream in his 4th Olympics.
Labour shortages mean that either you are not employing the existing pool of labour productively enough or you need to increase the price of labour (and/or improve other conditions) to attract workers.
For example care homes lose lots of employees to the supermarkets. (More predictable hours, less physical work). If you allow anyone to come in to work fir a care home then you are effectively creating a mechanism whereby supermarkets don’t need to increase wages or invest in capital equipment
This is just one example. But fundamentally an endless pool of workers that employers can draw on is not helpful to the average/low skilled UK citizen. How about sticking up for their interests for once?
It’s amazing how lawyers, almost uniquely, managed to exempt themselves from competition from immigrants over the past 30 years. I believe that many of them got very rich, and some were even able to announce their retirement in their early fifties.
Imagine if the price of law had come down to the point where ordinary people could afford it.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
On topic immigration would certainly not be in my top 3, the economy, health and education, but I am not sure that it is true to say that we have "sharp labour shortages".
Vacancies are now at pre-Covid levels which is good news and wages are rising fast (hence the triple lock issue) so there is no question that the labour market is tight but we absolutely need to get away from an economy driven by cheap imported labour, low productivity and, inevitably, a minimum wage result for an ever increasing proportion of our population, even if there are significant upsides to that for those who are rather better off.
I greatly admire Alastair's analytical ability, wit and intelligence but I can't help feeling that in everything connected with the B word he took the conclusion he wants and works backwards to justify the conclusion he has already reached. It leads to distorted thinking.
"Australian points system" is a massively prevalent meme in the population, and so is "letting an asylum seekers' boat sink".
The problem with the last point (and it's a shame I don't remember anyone posting it when we debated that issue yesterday is that boats have sunk children did die and it hasn't stopped anyone else trying to cross the channel.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
It’s a competition, you woke idiots. Medals are all that count. Medals and more medals.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
You know what's worse? Doing 98% of it and coming away without the gold.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
On topic, the author also tweeted that those complaining about channel incursions were "morons" which after several months of ignoring his feed simply reminded me why I don't read them nor engage with him anymore.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
Effectively enslaved? Get a grip. They're free to leave Team GB at any time if they can't take the heat. They also get paid a salary, more than they would earn in a non-sporting job.
Happily it looks as though the rowing heads are ready to call time on the failed experiment of not having 100% focus on winning so Paris should be a lot better even with less funding.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
You know what's worse? Doing 98% of it and coming away without the gold.
What worries me is the 2% remainder. That’s what these poor sods have left over for free time, hobbies, reading, mucking about on bikes, holidays, dipping their toes at the seaside, taking their driving test, snogging pretty girls, studying, partaking of a lager shandy, smelling the flowers.
You nasty bunch effectively want to enslave talented children and young adults in the service of the British State. That’s not “sport”, that’s trafficking.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
You know what's worse? Doing 98% of it and coming away without the gold.
What worries me is the 2% remainder. That’s what these poor sods have left over for free time, hobbies, reading, mucking about on bikes, holidays, dipping their toes at the seaside, taking their driving test, snogging pretty girls, studying, partaking of a lager shandy, smelling the flowers.
You nasty bunch effectively want to enslave talented children and young adults in the service of the British State. That’s not “sport”, that’s trafficking.
"Australian points system" is a massively prevalent meme in the population, and so is "letting an asylum seekers' boat sink".
The problem with the last point (and it's a shame I don't remember anyone posting it when we debated that issue yesterday is that boats have sunk children did die and it hasn't stopped anyone else trying to cross the channel.
Hello everyone. Not a good morning, and I foolishly left my study window open last night. Not very wet, bit some.
Looking at the Channel crossings, I wonder how many people died seeking a new life in N America? The Titanic wasn't the only ship to be lost. I realise the scale of the crossing is much greater, but still.
Metropolitan professional can’t empathise with low skilled workers shocker!
Any labour shortage is exactly what the brexit doctor ordered, forcing wage inflation at the bottom end of the income scale and in time incentivising employers to invest in boosting productivity.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
I'm not sure calling people crackers is justified as Mr Meeks probably knows. I am happy to accept asylum seekers, and would-be happy with significant levels of economic migration so long as relevant insurance was paid for NHS cover and no significant rights accrue unless the migrant wants to make the UK their home through residency or citizenship.
What I find offensive is that migrants are allowed to travel across Europe to travel to the UK and claim asylum when there must have been multiple safe places to claim asylum en route.
What I find offensive is that people still peddle this bollocks about asylum seekers having to claim asylum in the first safe place they come to. It is not true, as the person peddling should know. I fear the bollocks is peddled because most of the angry people out there are conditioned to believe anything they read in the Daily Mail et al - the people who peddle this bollocks.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
Effectively enslaved? Get a grip. They're free to leave Team GB at any time if they can't take the heat. They also get paid a salary, more than they would earn in a non-sporting job.
Happily it looks as though the rowing heads are ready to call time on the failed experiment of not having 100% focus on winning so Paris should be a lot better even with less funding.
“Free to leave”. Bollocks. There is a well-practiced culture of psychological terror embedded deep in the culture of these nasty organisations. Woe betide the youngsters who get dragged in.
Some people are cut out for the demands of professional sport. They are a tiny minority. Let them get on with their job and leave the other 99% of normal folk to get on with their lives.
Your mad desire to see some poor sod winning a bit of metal every four years is quite literally ruining young lives.
Alistair's Tweet is crackers. It is ridiculous to say we should not worry about something with century long effects because of the short term point of the economic cycle we are in. The UK has rightly honoured its duty to the Hong Kongers, but realistically that means we have less space for anyone else for a while. Given even a median earner is a net cost to the exchequer, there is no reason we should be letting in anyone below that mark.
We have not honoured our obligation in that anyone has actually come here yet in any numbers. Close to 6m are now entitled to, the Home Office forecasts a few hundred thousand by 2025 (and we know how accurate their forecasts are...)
Let us see how people actually feel when half a million arrive all wanting somewhere to live and a job and school places for their kids, with 5 times that amount still to come.
Alistair's Tweet is crackers. It is ridiculous to say we should not worry about something with century long effects because of the short term point of the economic cycle we are in. The UK has rightly honoured its duty to the Hong Kongers, but realistically that means we have less space for anyone else for a while. Given even a median earner is a net cost to the exchequer, there is no reason we should be letting in anyone below that mark.
We have not honoured our obligation in that anyone has actually come here yet in any numbers. Close to 6m are now entitled to, the Home Office forecasts a few hundred thousand by 2025 (and we know how accurate their forecasts are...)
Let us see how people actually feel when half a million arrive all wanting somewhere to live and a job and school places for their kids, with 5 times that amount still to come.
They could solve part of the problem by banning non citizen non residents from owning residential property. But that stops the price ratchet money machine for the politicians and their client base.
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
Alistair's Tweet is crackers. It is ridiculous to say we should not worry about something with century long effects because of the short term point of the economic cycle we are in. The UK has rightly honoured its duty to the Hong Kongers, but realistically that means we have less space for anyone else for a while. Given even a median earner is a net cost to the exchequer, there is no reason we should be letting in anyone below that mark.
We have not honoured our obligation in that anyone has actually come here yet in any numbers. Close to 6m are now entitled to, the Home Office forecasts a few hundred thousand by 2025 (and we know how accurate their forecasts are...)
Let us see how people actually feel when half a million arrive all wanting somewhere to live and a job and school places for their kids, with 5 times that amount still to come.
They could solve part of the problem by banning non citizen non residents from owning residential property. But that stops the price ratchet money machine for the politicians and their client base.
A hesitant Like for this; as while it might put some sort of a ceiling on prices in London, the Cotswolds and in grouse-shooting areas, there might be less fortunate consequences further down the chain.
Although something like it appears to work elsewhere.
Our golfers, while we are talking about posh sports, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, are both on -3 as the second round gets under way. They could win from there but so could three dozen others. The leader is on -8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/leaderboard
(Women's golf is next week.)
Golf really is a sport that shouldn't be anywhere near the Olympics. They already have 4 majors, several major team competitions and umpteen professional tours with massive tournaments 40+ weeks oit of the year.
Like tennis, you mean?
Whether or not these events belong rather depends on whether your view is that (a) the Games should be as big and as comprehensive as possible or (b) it should be a bit more streamlined, so that the cost of hosting it isn't astronomical (which would also significantly increase the pool of countries that could afford to do so.) Golf and tennis both clearly belong under criterion (a), but arguably not under (b).
The Olympics should be the pinnacle of achievement, for all the sports it contains. Athletes competing, should be thinking about nothing else for four years prior, the competitors should be basically amateur, not highly-paid professionals. Boxing does a good job of making the distinction, so should golf, tennis, and many of the team sports.
In what way are golf or tennis players - or for that matter, boxers - ‘essentially amateur?’ Are you defining professional as ‘somebody who gets paid a regular salary?’
I’m saying that the golfers and tennis players competing at the Olympics, if we are going to have these sports, should be amateurs, not touring professionals, for whom the Games is just another event on their non-stop trip around the world.
Golf has well-defined rules on amateur status, as does boxing, and these should be the golfers at the Games.
The Olympics have not been amateur for three decades.
I don't think Labour will win many red wall voters back unless they bend to their views a little. They can't or won't do that, and the resentment that causes lingers. They might win a majority if they can present themselves as the lesser of two evils. A sort of 'We all hate your bigoted views but we're the best you're gonna get." campaign.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
It's not unusual, I understand for boys to be taken on by Premier League clubs at 8 or 9, groomed for 'stardom', and given expectations, then told at 16 or so, sorry, it hasn't worked. out. I must admit that I suspect the situation is 'better' now than it once upon a time, though.
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
You are aware that by the end of June the number of EU citizens who have managed to overcome that "hostile environment" which never applied to them anyway, exceeds 6m, roughly 10% of our entire adult population? I know that the Home Office and Border Force really cannot count a damn but how many more millions do you think were here but have supposedly gone home? The number who have applied has already significantly exceeded the previous estimates of the total number of EU citizens here.
The idea that large numbers of EU citizens have gone home is a myth or fantasy. Some may have temporarily during the pandemic but the vast majority have either stayed or returned. They see the chance of a successful country where their wages are going to rise from an already higher base much more rapidly than they do at home. They are an essential part of our economic model and many of them contribute greatly. Its a win win situation but that does not mean that we should not recognise that you can have too much of a good thing.
I don't think Labour will win many red wall voters back unless they bend to their views a little. They can't or won't do that, and the resentment that causes lingers. They might win a majority if they can present themselves as the lesser of two evils. A sort of 'We all hate your bigoted views but we're the best you're gonna get." campaign.
It might work but it's risky.
Labour can't get away from the problem that many of their activists are smug know-alls who loved the locals when they voted Labour but now call them names when they don't.
How to turn this around? Campaign on the amazing job opportunities now opening up! "They took our jobs!" was the cry, well they've gone now so here's an application form for that care home job!
I'm only being slightly silly. The success of Teesside Tories has been on campaigning for new jobs. They have created oodles of new jobs (they claim), so the area is BOOMING and you should feel GOOD. Yes in reality they haven't created that many and you aren't qualified for them but so what? Labour need a similar mindset or they will keep losing.
In this discussion we have flabby tories who would run a 150HR having a wank over Dehenna Davison telling elite level athletes they are not mentally strong enough.
It will be interesting to see the iSAGE/Covidiots reaction to a loosening of restrictions not being done by Johnson:
All adults who have been fully-vaccinated will no longer have to self-isolate if they are identified as close contacts of someone with Covid-19, Mark Drakeford has confirmed.
The changes to the NHS Wales Test Trace Protect (TTP) service for fully-vaccinated adults will come into effect from 7 August – the same day as Wales is expected to move to alert level zero, if the public health situation allows.
NEW: Now @Keir_Starmer has challenged @BorisJohnson to match the 7th August date announced by Welsh Labour Wales To End 'Pingdemic' 9 Days Before England
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
It's not unusual, I understand for boys to be taken on by Premier League clubs at 8 or 9, groomed for 'stardom', and given expectations, then told at 16 or so, sorry, it hasn't worked. out. I must admit that I suspect the situation is 'better' now than it once upon a time, though.
It is exactly that trap that the Scandinavian countries work so hard to avoid. A lot of money, time, thought, energy and effort goes into sport here, but the objectives are lifelong pleasure, lifelong good mental and physical health, and learning the arts of sociability and teamwork. Winning bits of metal and trophies, or big professional contracts, are very much secondary considerations.
It is one of the reasons that we are delighted to have brought up three beautiful children in a society that so obviously has their best interests at heart.
It’s interesting that so many people in my generation and above hate the immigration necessary to ensure the public services and pensions they rely on can be paid for without heaping ever-greater burdens on the young.
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
You are aware that by the end of June the number of EU citizens who have managed to overcome that "hostile environment" which never applied to them anyway, exceeds 6m,
It's ironic that the group campaigning for the rights of EU residents is called "@the3Million"!
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
I've seen this with my own son in his drive to get into Oxford. He decided he wanted it and went for it 100%. He gave up a lot of other things because he recognised it was necessary to get to that level and worked incredibly hard to achieve it. The absolutely critical thing is that this was his choice. He wanted it and he's got his medal.
It's the same with elite sport. If the kid is self driven and determined by all means give him all the technical support and skilled coaching that we can. But it must, must remain his or her choice. The moment someone else is doing the driving, as opposed to supporting, things go wrong.
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
You are aware that by the end of June the number of EU citizens who have managed to overcome that "hostile environment" which never applied to them anyway, exceeds 6m, roughly 10% of our entire adult population? I know that the Home Office and Border Force really cannot count a damn but how many more millions do you think were here but have supposedly gone home? The number who have applied has already significantly exceeded the previous estimates of the total number of EU citizens here.
The idea that large numbers of EU citizens have gone home is a myth or fantasy. Some may have temporarily during the pandemic but the vast majority have either stayed or returned. They see the chance of a successful country where their wages are going to rise from an already higher base much more rapidly than they do at home. They are an essential part of our economic model and many of them contribute greatly. Its a win win situation but that does not mean that we should not recognise that you can have too much of a good thing.
If they went home temporarily David then they’ve had it. They cannot go back to the UK now.
This is why Covid has worsened Brexit. Adjustments that should have occurred over decades happened in months.
In summary when he nationalised the airport they needed someone who knew about aviation, so in came Stobart air to develop and run the 10 year turnaround plan. Now they have abruptly walked away and gifted their 25% to Houchen who has placed it in a community trust.
This is unusual because Stobart don't just hand over chunks of their business - they recently sold 30% of Southend Airport for £125m. Yes Teesside isn't worth anything like that. But handing over in a hurry? Questions already being asked about the scale of future liabilities they are walking away from.
So as the Airport of Adventure continues to drown in public money, nothing can be found to rescue world-renowned Cleveland Bridge. Priorities...
F1: tempted to back both Hamilton and Verstappen to not be classified. Unsure if Verstappen's getting a grid penalty. If he does not, they're likely to be next to one another on the grid.
O/t but am I the only one to be surprised that the Guardian has on it's front page this: ‘Glorious Twelfth’ on the brink across UK after poor grouse breeding season
So far as I could see, from a quick glance and the other front pages as published on the BBC, no other paper has the story.
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
You are aware that by the end of June the number of EU citizens who have managed to overcome that "hostile environment" which never applied to them anyway, exceeds 6m, roughly 10% of our entire adult population? I know that the Home Office and Border Force really cannot count a damn but how many more millions do you think were here but have supposedly gone home? The number who have applied has already significantly exceeded the previous estimates of the total number of EU citizens here.
The idea that large numbers of EU citizens have gone home is a myth or fantasy. Some may have temporarily during the pandemic but the vast majority have either stayed or returned. They see the chance of a successful country where their wages are going to rise from an already higher base much more rapidly than they do at home. They are an essential part of our economic model and many of them contribute greatly. Its a win win situation but that does not mean that we should not recognise that you can have too much of a good thing.
Its a fantasy apart from that companies who used to employ them and now don't do not have fantasy vacancies. You do know the difference between statistics and reality, surely.
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
You are aware that by the end of June the number of EU citizens who have managed to overcome that "hostile environment" which never applied to them anyway, exceeds 6m, roughly 10% of our entire adult population? I know that the Home Office and Border Force really cannot count a damn but how many more millions do you think were here but have supposedly gone home? The number who have applied has already significantly exceeded the previous estimates of the total number of EU citizens here.
The idea that large numbers of EU citizens have gone home is a myth or fantasy. Some may have temporarily during the pandemic but the vast majority have either stayed or returned. They see the chance of a successful country where their wages are going to rise from an already higher base much more rapidly than they do at home. They are an essential part of our economic model and many of them contribute greatly. Its a win win situation but that does not mean that we should not recognise that you can have too much of a good thing.
If they went home temporarily David then they’ve had it. They cannot go back to the UK now.
This is why Covid has worsened Brexit. Adjustments that should have occurred over decades happened in months.
That's not correct. If they can show that they were here before the relevant date they can apply for settled status. I normally regard the Home Office as completely incompetent, especially in the realm of immigration, but the speed and efficiency with which they have processed and granted over 6m applications for settled status is a remarkable logistical feat.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
I've seen this with my own son in his drive to get into Oxford. He decided he wanted it and went for it 100%. He gave up a lot of other things because he recognised it was necessary to get to that level and worked incredibly hard to achieve it. The absolutely critical thing is that this was his choice. He wanted it and he's got his medal.
It's the same with elite sport. If the kid is self driven and determined by all means give him all the technical support and skilled coaching that we can. But it must, must remain his or her choice. The moment someone else is doing the driving, as opposed to supporting, things go wrong.
There can be a fine line, though. A certain kudos in some circles that one's child has got into Oxford/plays for Liverpool.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
I've seen this with my own son in his drive to get into Oxford. He decided he wanted it and went for it 100%. He gave up a lot of other things because he recognised it was necessary to get to that level and worked incredibly hard to achieve it. The absolutely critical thing is that this was his choice. He wanted it and he's got his medal.
It's the same with elite sport. If the kid is self driven and determined by all means give him all the technical support and skilled coaching that we can. But it must, must remain his or her choice. The moment someone else is doing the driving, as opposed to supporting, things go wrong.
100% agree.
I am not opposed to elite performance, in sport, academia, the arts, business, wherever. But I am opposed to bullying, psychological abuse and coercion; including such actions by the state, sports governing bodies and individual coaches.
I can understand some people being concerned about immigration some of the time. But the number 1 issue facing the country? In the middle of a pandemic?
In summary when he nationalised the airport they needed someone who knew about aviation, so in came Stobart air to develop and run the 10 year turnaround plan. Now they have abruptly walked away and gifted their 25% to Houchen who has placed it in a community trust.
This is unusual because Stobart don't just hand over chunks of their business - they recently sold 30% of Southend Airport for £125m. Yes Teesside isn't worth anything like that. But handing over in a hurry? Questions already being asked about the scale of future liabilities they are walking away from.
So as the Airport of Adventure continues to drown in public money, nothing can be found to rescue world-renowned Cleveland Bridge. Priorities...
Is this airport sort of the smoggy equivalent of La Sagrada Familia? Some regional icon that is deeply revered? I don't understand a) why it exists or b) why so much money can be flung at it without political repercussions.
In summary when he nationalised the airport they needed someone who knew about aviation, so in came Stobart air to develop and run the 10 year turnaround plan. Now they have abruptly walked away and gifted their 25% to Houchen who has placed it in a community trust.
This is unusual because Stobart don't just hand over chunks of their business - they recently sold 30% of Southend Airport for £125m. Yes Teesside isn't worth anything like that. But handing over in a hurry? Questions already being asked about the scale of future liabilities they are walking away from.
So as the Airport of Adventure continues to drown in public money, nothing can be found to rescue world-renowned Cleveland Bridge. Priorities...
Stobart Air went bust and ceased trading. How much that was due to Teeside Airport, and how much due to empty planes I couldn't possibly say.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
You know what's worse? Doing 98% of it and coming away without the gold.
What worries me is the 2% remainder. That’s what these poor sods have left over for free time, hobbies, reading, mucking about on bikes, holidays, dipping their toes at the seaside, taking their driving test, snogging pretty girls, studying, partaking of a lager shandy, smelling the flowers.
You nasty bunch effectively want to enslave talented children and young adults in the service of the British State. That’s not “sport”, that’s trafficking.
You do realise your last paragraph is absolutely barking, don't you?
Labour shortages leads to a change in the balance of power between labour and capital.
Throughout English history, the periods when the lot of the common man has been at its zenith has been the periods of labour shortages.
Labour shortages are nothing most people to fear.
But if you aren't worried by an apparently effectively infinite supply of immigrants with significantly different cultural values arriving on the south coast, I suspect you haven't really been paying attention this last 20 years.
In the north, we're mostly worried about an apparently infinite supply of migrants with significantly different cultural values arriving from the south coast (and surrounding areas). Particularly as they can sell a 1 bed flat down there and outbid us for our nice country mansions up here
In summary when he nationalised the airport they needed someone who knew about aviation, so in came Stobart air to develop and run the 10 year turnaround plan. Now they have abruptly walked away and gifted their 25% to Houchen who has placed it in a community trust.
This is unusual because Stobart don't just hand over chunks of their business - they recently sold 30% of Southend Airport for £125m. Yes Teesside isn't worth anything like that. But handing over in a hurry? Questions already being asked about the scale of future liabilities they are walking away from.
So as the Airport of Adventure continues to drown in public money, nothing can be found to rescue world-renowned Cleveland Bridge. Priorities...
Stobart Air went bust and ceased trading. How much that was due to Teeside Airport, and how much due to empty planes I couldn't possibly say.
The reduction is passenger travel? Stobart's Head Honcho at Southend is frequently on local TV trying to be positive. Doesn't always succeed.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
It's not unusual, I understand for boys to be taken on by Premier League clubs at 8 or 9, groomed for 'stardom', and given expectations, then told at 16 or so, sorry, it hasn't worked. out. I must admit that I suspect the situation is 'better' now than it once upon a time, though.
Things vary from club to club, but I think in some ways they are better now than a couple of decades ago, and clubs work hard to ensure that young players don't neglect general education so that they have options if football doesn't work out.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
I've seen this with my own son in his drive to get into Oxford. He decided he wanted it and went for it 100%. He gave up a lot of other things because he recognised it was necessary to get to that level and worked incredibly hard to achieve it. The absolutely critical thing is that this was his choice. He wanted it and he's got his medal.
It's the same with elite sport. If the kid is self driven and determined by all means give him all the technical support and skilled coaching that we can. But it must, must remain his or her choice. The moment someone else is doing the driving, as opposed to supporting, things go wrong.
100% agree.
I am not opposed to elite performance, in sport, academia, the arts, business, wherever. But I am opposed to bullying, psychological abuse and coercion; including such actions by the state, sports governing bodies and individual coaches.
Its not as simple as that though - When an athlete is thinking he or she is flat out in training and the coach knows they can do more is it "bullying" to tell them to push harder etc? Even with me doing middle aged parkrun running i know my brain is the most negative muscle or organ in my body in that the physical body can do more than the brain initially thinks it can.You always want to stop ,slow down ,give up before you really physicallly need to . To win gold you have to go beyond what your brain tells you.
Would anybody in later life thank a coach who denied them a gold medal because they did not push them enough ? Works two ways
Labour shortages leads to a change in the balance of power between labour and capital.
Throughout English history, the periods when the lot of the common man has been at its zenith has been the periods of labour shortages.
Labour shortages are nothing most people to fear.
But if you aren't worried by an apparently effectively infinite supply of immigrants with significantly different cultural values arriving on the south coast, I suspect you haven't really been paying attention this last 20 years.
More seriously, it's siightly more nuanced now as there's more scope for some of these jobs/industries to simply move off-shore. If you can't get fruit pickers in southern England in from Eastern Europe and pay crap wages then maybe the economics simply move the fruit growing to other countries, which is maybe worse in general for the peope in the fruit picking regions (less money in the local economy in genera). Depends what (if anything) replaces those industries, I guess.
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
You are aware that by the end of June the number of EU citizens who have managed to overcome that "hostile environment" which never applied to them anyway, exceeds 6m, roughly 10% of our entire adult population? I know that the Home Office and Border Force really cannot count a damn but how many more millions do you think were here but have supposedly gone home? The number who have applied has already significantly exceeded the previous estimates of the total number of EU citizens here.
The idea that large numbers of EU citizens have gone home is a myth or fantasy. Some may have temporarily during the pandemic but the vast majority have either stayed or returned. They see the chance of a successful country where their wages are going to rise from an already higher base much more rapidly than they do at home. They are an essential part of our economic model and many of them contribute greatly. Its a win win situation but that does not mean that we should not recognise that you can have too much of a good thing.
Its a fantasy apart from that companies who used to employ them and now don't do not have fantasy vacancies. You do know the difference between statistics and reality, surely.
How many more millions do you think we need? As I have pointed out before the scale of immigration from the EU over the last 15 years or so is by far the largest scale of immigration in our recorded history (the arrival of the Angles and the Jutes might have been similar). This is not just in absolute terms but in terms of the percentage of our population. I took some examples such as WIndrush and the Huguenots and showed it was roughly 10x the scale compared to the existing population at the time.
This is a massive social change with many good points as well as bad but I don't find it that surprising that a lot of Tories think that it is a major issue, even if I don't.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
I've seen this with my own son in his drive to get into Oxford. He decided he wanted it and went for it 100%. He gave up a lot of other things because he recognised it was necessary to get to that level and worked incredibly hard to achieve it. The absolutely critical thing is that this was his choice. He wanted it and he's got his medal.
It's the same with elite sport. If the kid is self driven and determined by all means give him all the technical support and skilled coaching that we can. But it must, must remain his or her choice. The moment someone else is doing the driving, as opposed to supporting, things go wrong.
There can be a fine line, though. A certain kudos in some circles that one's child has got into Oxford/plays for Liverpool.
Sure, and the reflected glory of some Brit winning gold in Tokyo. We are very proud of him but we are also very aware that it is his achievement.
It is important to stress that no one in government — from ministers to aides to scientists — has a clear explanation for why cases are currently far lower than projected. Today’s poll may just provide some insight. It shows that tens of millions of Brits were uneasy about Johnson’s decision to open up this month, that a clear majority seems to be complying with ongoing isolation rules, and that huge numbers are exercising significant caution in how they go about their daily lives, limiting whom they meet and taking measures that would help stop the spread. The truth is we still don’t know and there may be other more important factors at play, though it might just be that the natural caution and moderation of the public has at least partly helped to stop cases from spiralling out of control.
In this discussion we have flabby tories who would run a 150HR having a wank over Dehenna Davison telling elite level athletes they are not mentally strong enough.
Given your habit of projecting one can only surmise you've done this exact thing yourself.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
He wanted it and he's got his medal.
Missed that! Congratulations to him & no doubt proud parents - he'll have a blast!
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
It's not unusual, I understand for boys to be taken on by Premier League clubs at 8 or 9, groomed for 'stardom', and given expectations, then told at 16 or so, sorry, it hasn't worked. out. I must admit that I suspect the situation is 'better' now than it once upon a time, though.
Things vary from club to club, but I think in some ways they are better now than a couple of decades ago, and clubs work hard to ensure that young players don't neglect general education so that they have options if football doesn't work out.
I think that's right, and there are more opportunities for those young players to get something from their training now that players in the lower leagues can be paid. Was hearing something about this yesterday from a chap who's heavily involved with a couple of local non-league teams.
I can understand some people being concerned about immigration some of the time. But the number 1 issue facing the country? In the middle of a pandemic?
That is what is so worrying. There is something profoundly wrong here. The blame lies with the media and with the Conservative Party.
Some interesting comments about elite sport below.
But sportsmen have it easy. Imagine being a scientist, and working all your life to try to get a Nobel Prize. An almost impossible to achieve goal, especially nowadays.
Physicist Brian Keating wrote a book called "Losing the Nobel Prize", and he speaks eloquently about how the existence of the prize may actually hinder science.
The PB "home advantage" golfer from a couple of threads back, Hideki Matsuyama, has crept into contention on -7 (joint fifth) along with the two Irish golfers, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Still all to play for at the halfway stage and any one of two dozen or more can win the Gold Medal.
O/t but am I the only one to be surprised that the Guardian has on it's front page this: ‘Glorious Twelfth’ on the brink across UK after poor grouse breeding season
So far as I could see, from a quick glance and the other front pages as published on the BBC, no other paper has the story.
Don’t get me going on the grouse industry. There’s another bunch of chancers.
F1: tempted to back both Hamilton and Verstappen to not be classified. Unsure if Verstappen's getting a grid penalty. If he does not, they're likely to be next to one another on the grid.
I was thinking to lay MV to lead the first lap. There’s got to be a possibility he either loses his mind and bins it again, or backs off and comes in second.
The engine is in the car for the practice session, when they’ll find out of it works or not. If it doesn’t work, they’ll use the new, third one, so no penalty.
Our golfers, while we are talking about posh sports, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, are both on -3 as the second round gets under way. They could win from there but so could three dozen others. The leader is on -8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/leaderboard
(Women's golf is next week.)
Golf really is a sport that shouldn't be anywhere near the Olympics. They already have 4 majors, several major team competitions and umpteen professional tours with massive tournaments 40+ weeks oit of the year.
Like tennis, you mean?
Whether or not these events belong rather depends on whether your view is that (a) the Games should be as big and as comprehensive as possible or (b) it should be a bit more streamlined, so that the cost of hosting it isn't astronomical (which would also significantly increase the pool of countries that could afford to do so.) Golf and tennis both clearly belong under criterion (a), but arguably not under (b).
The Olympics should be the pinnacle of achievement, for all the sports it contains. Athletes competing, should be thinking about nothing else for four years prior, the competitors should be basically amateur, not highly-paid professionals. Boxing does a good job of making the distinction, so should golf, tennis, and many of the team sports.
In what way are golf or tennis players - or for that matter, boxers - ‘essentially amateur?’ Are you defining professional as ‘somebody who gets paid a regular salary?’
I’m saying that the golfers and tennis players competing at the Olympics, if we are going to have these sports, should be amateurs, not touring professionals, for whom the Games is just another event on their non-stop trip around the world.
Golf has well-defined rules on amateur status, as does boxing, and these should be the golfers at the Games.
The Olympics have not been amateur for three decades.
The football compromise works, only let younger players compete, if we're going to have sports like golf, tennis etc...
On topic, there are structural issues which Alastair highlights: 1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want 2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work 3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
You are aware that by the end of June the number of EU citizens who have managed to overcome that "hostile environment" which never applied to them anyway, exceeds 6m, roughly 10% of our entire adult population? I know that the Home Office and Border Force really cannot count a damn but how many more millions do you think were here but have supposedly gone home? The number who have applied has already significantly exceeded the previous estimates of the total number of EU citizens here.
The idea that large numbers of EU citizens have gone home is a myth or fantasy. Some may have temporarily during the pandemic but the vast majority have either stayed or returned. They see the chance of a successful country where their wages are going to rise from an already higher base much more rapidly than they do at home. They are an essential part of our economic model and many of them contribute greatly. Its a win win situation but that does not mean that we should not recognise that you can have too much of a good thing.
Its a fantasy apart from that companies who used to employ them and now don't do not have fantasy vacancies. You do know the difference between statistics and reality, surely.
How many more millions do you think we need? As I have pointed out before the scale of immigration from the EU over the last 15 years or so is by far the largest scale of immigration in our recorded history (the arrival of the Angles and the Jutes might have been similar). This is not just in absolute terms but in terms of the percentage of our population. I took some examples such as WIndrush and the Huguenots and showed it was roughly 10x the scale compared to the existing population at the time.
This is a massive social change with many good points as well as bad but I don't find it that surprising that a lot of Tories think that it is a major issue, even if I don't.
I believe we need 5.7m - the number of people now eligible to settle here from Hong Kong.
Again with a dose of reality over rhetoric. When the "floodgates" were opened they allowed job vacancies that couldn't be filled to be filled. There either wasn't a supply of locals to do the work or they couldn't do the work for various reasons (low pay, hours, transport, childcare). I know that "they took our jobs" has become embedded in the popular psyche, it just isn't true.
Once again we have vacancies we cannot fill. The jobs are not where the unemployed are. the unemployed are not qualified, the unemployed have children or no car or both which makes non-office hours jobs impossible. We can't "just make people work for their benefits", or easily move the people or the jobs.
So what else is there to do? Despite all the statistics about how "full" the country is, we have vacancies we can't fill and a structural issue of an ageing population. At least Scotland has a positive migration policy.
On topic it is hardly surprising as the Conservative party has chosen a path to move away from traditional Conservative party values to an English nationalist party. Of course their main concern is immigration.
What would be more interesting is what the main concerns of say 2010 Conservative voters are now, compared to current Conservative voters. Would the economy be top? I think it might.
Mr. Sandpit, Verstappen didn't bin it in Silverstone. He was hit from behind and put into a wall.
Cheers for the grid penalty info.
Have you got money on Verstappen for the title or something? I get that there's debate about the crash, but to say that he was hit from behind is unquestionably wrong.
On topic it is hardly surprising as the Conservative party has chosen a path to move away from traditional Conservative party values to an English nationalist party. Of course their main concern is immigration.
What would be more interesting is what the main concerns of say 2010 Conservative voters are now, compared to current Conservative voters. Would the economy be top? I think it might.
More interesting would be what is top issue in those Southern LibDem target seats that are currently Tory.
Recriminations already starting in Team GB rowing. "Medals and more" (the woke approach) being blamed for the underperformance. Athletes to be told you win medals or you fuck off for Paris in a reversal of the Tokyo approach. Weak willed athletes to be left at home if they can't handle training to win gold.
If sport isn’t fun then these young people are simply wasting a chunk of their lives. I feel profoundly sorry for individuals caught in the web of the nasty bastards running these organisations. The culture of course comes from the top: the UK government.
Wokeness doesn't come from the top of government, it's the ideology of present day elites and it's advancing through society day-by-day regardless of politics.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
So, now it’s “woke” to say that children and young adults should be having fun? Nonsense! It’s plain common sense. Nothing to do with “elites”.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
I am with you on this Stuart. Those of us who are old enough to remember the enslaved gymnasts of eastern Europe who were even in some cases inseminated and then aborted because it gave the young girls just that little bit of more suppleness or who were force fed diets of steroids with horrific consequences to their health all in the name of glory for some tin pot dictator can see where this leads.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Thank you for your support David.
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
I've seen this with my own son in his drive to get into Oxford. He decided he wanted it and went for it 100%. He gave up a lot of other things because he recognised it was necessary to get to that level and worked incredibly hard to achieve it. The absolutely critical thing is that this was his choice. He wanted it and he's got his medal.
It's the same with elite sport. If the kid is self driven and determined by all means give him all the technical support and skilled coaching that we can. But it must, must remain his or her choice. The moment someone else is doing the driving, as opposed to supporting, things go wrong.
And if the coach believes the athlete has the ability to get the gold with that extra 1-2%? Will they be thanked for not pushing for it. All of those 4th place finishers will find the coaching advice they ignored ringing in their ears right now and all of the previous gold medal winners remember standing on the top step.
As you say, it's a choice, if they aren't doing what it takes to get the gold then give them the chop for someone who will. Elite sport is exactly that.
Some interesting comments about elite sport below.
But sportsmen have it easy. Imagine being a scientist, and working all your life to try to get a Nobel Prize. An almost impossible to achieve goal, especially nowadays.
Physicist Brian Keating wrote a book called "Losing the Nobel Prize", and he speaks eloquently about how the existence of the prize may actually hinder science.
I tend to agree. The Nobel prize is *huge* here in Sweden, with wall to wall coverage at that time of year, including all the ball gowns and meal details for the banquet. Yawn.
They do attempt to explain the actual science to the general public, but fail I fear.
Nobel himself was a bit bonkers, and I fear his legacy was also ill-considered.
Our golfers, while we are talking about posh sports, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, are both on -3 as the second round gets under way. They could win from there but so could three dozen others. The leader is on -8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/leaderboard
(Women's golf is next week.)
Golf really is a sport that shouldn't be anywhere near the Olympics. They already have 4 majors, several major team competitions and umpteen professional tours with massive tournaments 40+ weeks oit of the year.
Like tennis, you mean?
Whether or not these events belong rather depends on whether your view is that (a) the Games should be as big and as comprehensive as possible or (b) it should be a bit more streamlined, so that the cost of hosting it isn't astronomical (which would also significantly increase the pool of countries that could afford to do so.) Golf and tennis both clearly belong under criterion (a), but arguably not under (b).
The Olympics should be the pinnacle of achievement, for all the sports it contains. Athletes competing, should be thinking about nothing else for four years prior, the competitors should be basically amateur, not highly-paid professionals. Boxing does a good job of making the distinction, so should golf, tennis, and many of the team sports.
In what way are golf or tennis players - or for that matter, boxers - ‘essentially amateur?’ Are you defining professional as ‘somebody who gets paid a regular salary?’
I’m saying that the golfers and tennis players competing at the Olympics, if we are going to have these sports, should be amateurs, not touring professionals, for whom the Games is just another event on their non-stop trip around the world.
Golf has well-defined rules on amateur status, as does boxing, and these should be the golfers at the Games.
The Olympics have not been amateur for three decades.
The football compromise works, only let younger players compete, if we're going to have sports like golf, tennis etc...
If I am going to watch Olympic tennis, I would rather watch a field led by Djokovic than one led by Casper Ruud. I suspect I am in a big majority.
Comments
Labour shortages mean that either you are not employing the existing pool of labour productively enough or you need to increase the price of labour (and/or improve other conditions) to attract workers.
For example care homes lose lots of employees to the supermarkets. (More predictable hours, less physical work). If you allow anyone to come in to work fir a care home then you are effectively creating a mechanism whereby supermarkets don’t need to increase wages or invest in capital equipment
This is just one example. But fundamentally an endless pool of workers that employers can draw on is not helpful to the average/low skilled UK citizen. How about sticking up for their interests for once?
Golf has well-defined rules on amateur status, as does boxing, and these should be the golfers at the Games.
SNP
1= Healthcare
1= Scottish independence / the Union
3. Economy
Lib Dems
1. Economy
2. Healthcare
3. Britain leaving the EU
Did not vote
1. Healthcare
2. Housing
3= Education
3= Economy
Imagine if the price of law had come down to the point where ordinary people could afford it.
The only things I've notice this time are TeamGB proudly tweeting lots of athletes taking the knee, and that we're supposed to be proud of Tom Daley's gold medal win as a landmark moment for gay rights, rather than the fact he's Tom Daley and has finally achieved his dream in his 4th Olympics.
Vacancies are now at pre-Covid levels which is good news and wages are rising fast (hence the triple lock issue) so there is no question that the labour market is tight but we absolutely need to get away from an economy driven by cheap imported labour, low productivity and, inevitably, a minimum wage result for an ever increasing proportion of our population, even if there are significant upsides to that for those who are rather better off.
I greatly admire Alastair's analytical ability, wit and intelligence but I can't help feeling that in everything connected with the B word he took the conclusion he wants and works backwards to justify the conclusion he has already reached. It leads to distorted thinking.
You'd be right to say that only Government action can stop it, though.
Next.
What you “anti-woke” chancers want is for children and young adults to be effectively enslaved by the state. Shame on you!
Happily it looks as though the rowing heads are ready to call time on the failed experiment of not having 100% focus on winning so Paris should be a lot better even with less funding.
You nasty bunch effectively want to enslave talented children and young adults in the service of the British State. That’s not “sport”, that’s trafficking.
Looking at the Channel crossings, I wonder how many people died seeking a new life in N America? The Titanic wasn't the only ship to be lost. I realise the scale of the crossing is much greater, but still.
Any labour shortage is exactly what the brexit doctor ordered, forcing wage inflation at the bottom end of the income scale and in time incentivising employers to invest in boosting productivity.
Sport is not just about winning. If it were it is not worth doing. Athletes need to be treated with respect and develop as people not as automatons. There is nothing woke about stopping sexual or physical harrassment of young athletes in the name of some glory for the institution. It leads to bad things.
Some people are cut out for the demands of professional sport. They are a tiny minority. Let them get on with their job and leave the other 99% of normal folk to get on with their lives.
Your mad desire to see some poor sod winning a bit of metal every four years is quite literally ruining young lives.
Sport funding should aim for breadth, not depth.
Let us see how people actually feel when half a million arrive all wanting somewhere to live and a job and school places for their kids, with 5 times that amount still to come.
1. The Clown Posse's hostile environment policy means that many EU workers have left. They filled the jobs that many British people didn't want, and still don't want
2. Some industries in some areas are riddled with vacancies and very low local unemployment. There is literally no-one to fill the gaps left by departed EU workers as the natives are largely all in work
3. Where we have sticky unemployment issues there aren't any jobs, at least not ones available to people without a car, with children etc etc.
There is no easy solution. You can't move either the jobs or the labour pool very easily. We aren't about to create all hours public transport or childcare that is affordable. And we have too many old people and not enough workers.
So the solution is simple - a positive migration policy that brings people in specifically to fill the vacancies that cannot otherwise be filled.
I'll get me coat...
This is a topic very close to my heart. I have a lot of experience in the area, both joy and sorrow. Both historic and current.
I suspect that most people have never been anywhere near the strange world of elite sport, and therefore don’t really understand it. That said, PB does have several hundred experts on Covid19 who don’t have a degree in medicine, so why should the world of sport be any different?
Although something like it appears to work elsewhere.
https://twitter.com/wfaa/status/1420874282092187650?s=19
It might work but it's risky.
I must admit that I suspect the situation is 'better' now than it once upon a time, though.
https://twitter.com/bmj_company/status/1420875545571700737?s=20
The idea that large numbers of EU citizens have gone home is a myth or fantasy. Some may have temporarily during the pandemic but the vast majority have either stayed or returned. They see the chance of a successful country where their wages are going to rise from an already higher base much more rapidly than they do at home. They are an essential part of our economic model and many of them contribute greatly. Its a win win situation but that does not mean that we should not recognise that you can have too much of a good thing.
How to turn this around? Campaign on the amazing job opportunities now opening up! "They took our jobs!" was the cry, well they've gone now so here's an application form for that care home job!
I'm only being slightly silly. The success of Teesside Tories has been on campaigning for new jobs. They have created oodles of new jobs (they claim), so the area is BOOMING and you should feel GOOD. Yes in reality they haven't created that many and you aren't qualified for them but so what? Labour need a similar mindset or they will keep losing.
All adults who have been fully-vaccinated will no longer have to self-isolate if they are identified as close contacts of someone with Covid-19, Mark Drakeford has confirmed.
The changes to the NHS Wales Test Trace Protect (TTP) service for fully-vaccinated adults will come into effect from 7 August – the same day as Wales is expected to move to alert level zero, if the public health situation allows.
https://nation.cymru/news/drakeford-makes-changes-to-self-isolation-rules-for-fully-vaccinated-adults/
NEW: Now @Keir_Starmer has challenged @BorisJohnson to match the 7th August date announced by Welsh Labour
Wales To End 'Pingdemic' 9 Days Before England
https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1420994322242097159?s=20
It is one of the reasons that we are delighted to have brought up three beautiful children in a society that so obviously has their best interests at heart.
It's the same with elite sport. If the kid is self driven and determined by all means give him all the technical support and skilled coaching that we can. But it must, must remain his or her choice. The moment someone else is doing the driving, as opposed to supporting, things go wrong.
This is why Covid has worsened Brexit. Adjustments that should have occurred over decades happened in months.
In summary when he nationalised the airport they needed someone who knew about aviation, so in came Stobart air to develop and run the 10 year turnaround plan. Now they have abruptly walked away and gifted their 25% to Houchen who has placed it in a community trust.
This is unusual because Stobart don't just hand over chunks of their business - they recently sold 30% of Southend Airport for £125m. Yes Teesside isn't worth anything like that. But handing over in a hurry? Questions already being asked about the scale of future liabilities they are walking away from.
So as the Airport of Adventure continues to drown in public money, nothing can be found to rescue world-renowned Cleveland Bridge. Priorities...
F1: tempted to back both Hamilton and Verstappen to not be classified. Unsure if Verstappen's getting a grid penalty. If he does not, they're likely to be next to one another on the grid.
‘Glorious Twelfth’ on the brink across UK after poor grouse breeding season
So far as I could see, from a quick glance and the other front pages as published on the BBC, no other paper has the story.
I am not opposed to elite performance, in sport, academia, the arts, business, wherever. But I am opposed to bullying, psychological abuse and coercion; including such actions by the state, sports governing bodies and individual coaches.
Would anybody in later life thank a coach who denied them a gold medal because they did not push them enough ? Works two ways
This is a massive social change with many good points as well as bad but I don't find it that surprising that a lot of Tories think that it is a major issue, even if I don't.
https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/politico-london-playbook-poll-exclusive-ping-for-the-moment-french-farce/
But sportsmen have it easy. Imagine being a scientist, and working all your life to try to get a Nobel Prize. An almost impossible to achieve goal, especially nowadays.
Physicist Brian Keating wrote a book called "Losing the Nobel Prize", and he speaks eloquently about how the existence of the prize may actually hinder science.
https://twitter.com/business/status/1421010889793327108?s=20
The engine is in the car for the practice session, when they’ll find out of it works or not. If it doesn’t work, they’ll use the new, third one, so no penalty.
They may be crackers, but unfortunately Starmer has to win 1000s of them over to take office.
Again with a dose of reality over rhetoric. When the "floodgates" were opened they allowed job vacancies that couldn't be filled to be filled. There either wasn't a supply of locals to do the work or they couldn't do the work for various reasons (low pay, hours, transport, childcare). I know that "they took our jobs" has become embedded in the popular psyche, it just isn't true.
Once again we have vacancies we cannot fill. The jobs are not where the unemployed are. the unemployed are not qualified, the unemployed have children or no car or both which makes non-office hours jobs impossible. We can't "just make people work for their benefits", or easily move the people or the jobs.
So what else is there to do? Despite all the statistics about how "full" the country is, we have vacancies we can't fill and a structural issue of an ageing population. At least Scotland has a positive migration policy.
Cheers for the grid penalty info.
What would be more interesting is what the main concerns of say 2010 Conservative voters are now, compared to current Conservative voters. Would the economy be top? I think it might.
As you say, it's a choice, if they aren't doing what it takes to get the gold then give them the chop for someone who will. Elite sport is exactly that.
They do attempt to explain the actual science to the general public, but fail I fear.
Nobel himself was a bit bonkers, and I fear his legacy was also ill-considered.