Mr Teacher, Are you having a laugh? Have you been to Cambridge? Cambridge has one of the most vibrant expanding economies in the country with a massive concentration of entrepreneurs and companies large and small. The university may originally have been the catalyst for this, but to say Cambridge is little more than the university is really very silly.
If Cambridge University and its colleges sold all of their real estate in Cambridge and moved to Dunny-on-the-Wash, do you think most of the entrepreneurs and companies would stay?
I have no idea about Welsh education. I know about London education. And London benefits from its demographics. Whether we like it or not, a lot of high achievers and aspirational immigrants of all races live in London. It is not about ethnicity. If you put Welsh kids into the London system I am sure they would do very well. But I am not sure you could replicate the London system in Wales.
Welsh education is unsuccessful not just in comparison to London.
It is unsuccessful in comparison to Scotland. And to Northern Ireland.
So, let's try the question again.
Why do you think Welsh education is so unsuccessful?
I genuinely have no idea. But you seem to be alluding to issues around funding and transportation as being pretty important. I suspect it may also be pretty difficult to attract top class teachers if those are issues.
So are London schools excellent because of something Labour are doing that Tories aren't in regard to educating children, or because a lot of high achievers and aspirational immigrants of all races live in London?
The latter is far more important than the former. But it is predicated on immigration and population churn. It could be that Labour policies encouraged both more than Tory policies would. In the absence of these factors, my guess is that willingness to spend higher sums on education is the key factor.
I’d like to know exactly what the government is proposing when it says that it will stop vexatious prosecutions of soldiers. (This is apparently to be in the Queen’s Speech.)
For any prosecution to take place, the CPS needs to be persuaded that:-
1. There is credible evidence on which a jury could convict; and 2. A prosecution is in the public interest.
It is this last which stops vexatious prosecutions.
Is the government really saying that if there is credible evidence that a soldier murdered a civilian they should be exempt from prosecution? Dreadful if so.
The Conservative manifesto seems to be a long pean to ripping up the rule of law and replacing it with what "right thinking people" would do.
The definition of a right thinking person is left to the reader.
I have no idea about Welsh education. I know about London education. And London benefits from its demographics. Whether we like it or not, a lot of high achievers and aspirational immigrants of all races live in London. It is not about ethnicity. If you put Welsh kids into the London system I am sure they would do very well. But I am not sure you could replicate the London system in Wales.
Welsh education is unsuccessful not just in comparison to London.
It is unsuccessful in comparison to Scotland. And to Northern Ireland.
So, let's try the question again.
Why do you think Welsh education is so unsuccessful?
I genuinely have no idea. But you seem to be alluding to issues around funding and transportation as being pretty important. I suspect it may also be pretty difficult to attract top class teachers if those are issues.
So are London schools excellent because of something Labour are doing that Tories aren't in regard to educating children, or because a lot of high achievers and aspirational immigrants of all races live in London?
The latter is far more important than the former. But it is predicated on immigration and population churn. It could be that Labour policies encouraged both more than Tory policies would. In the absence of these factors, my guess is that willingness to spend higher sums on education is the key factor.
Nearly managed to make it non party political there!!
Net migration was at its highest under the Cameron govt though
I’d like to know exactly what the government is proposing when it says that it will stop vexatious prosecutions of soldiers. (This is apparently to be in the Queen’s Speech.)
For any prosecution to take place, the CPS needs to be persuaded that:-
1. There is credible evidence on which a jury could convict; and 2. A prosecution is in the public interest.
It is this last which stops vexatious prosecutions.
Is the government really saying that if there is credible evidence that a soldier murdered a civilian they should be exempt from prosecution? Dreadful if so.
Is it just service personnel who served in the 6 counties who are getting a free pass or are we all off the hook?
No idea. No-one should be exempt from prosecution for murder if the evidence is there, no matter how long ago it was. It is an utterly retrograde and illiberal step. Practically it will likely lead to civil cases being brought, like the one against the Hyde Park bomber, in which judgment was given yesterday.
I am not surprised Brexit happened. Londoners really do believe everyone outside London is thick and stupid. I thought it was just the reprehensible Meeks, but the virus is widespread.
I don't believe that everyone outside London is thick and stupid.
The provincials, do, however, have a colossal sense of entitlement, believing that they can impose their backward-looking prejudices on those who pay for their lifestyles.
Mr Teacher, Are you having a laugh? Have you been to Cambridge? Cambridge has one of the most vibrant expanding economies in the country with a massive concentration of entrepreneurs and companies large and small. The university may originally have been the catalyst for this, but to say Cambridge is little more than the university is really very silly.
If Cambridge University and its colleges sold all of their real estate in Cambridge and moved to Dunn-on-the-Wash, do you think most of the entrepreneurs and companies would stay?
Duh, probably yes they would stay, but that isn't going to happen, so yours is a non-point, in the same way as if we suggested in some weird parallel universe London had it's status as capital removed.
Well done for winning the Pointless Post Prize, and this years leading entry in The Idiot's Guide to Devil's Advocacy
I’d like to know exactly what the government is proposing when it says that it will stop vexatious prosecutions of soldiers. (This is apparently to be in the Queen’s Speech.)
For any prosecution to take place, the CPS needs to be persuaded that:-
1. There is credible evidence on which a jury could convict; and 2. A prosecution is in the public interest.
It is this last which stops vexatious prosecutions.
Is the government really saying that if there is credible evidence that a soldier murdered a civilian they should be exempt from prosecution? Dreadful if so.
Is it just service personnel who served in the 6 counties who are getting a free pass or are we all off the hook?
No idea. No-one should be exempt from prosecution for murder if the evidence is there, no matter how long ago it was. It is an utterly retrograde and illiberal step. Practically it will likely lead to civil cases being brought, like the one against the Hyde Park bomber, in which judgment was given yesterday.
I am not surprised Brexit happened. Londoners really do believe everyone outside London is thick and stupid. I thought it was just the reprehensible Meeks, but the virus is widespread.
I don't believe that everyone outside London is thick and stupid.
The provincials, do, however, have a colossal sense of entitlement, believing that they can impose their backward-looking prejudices on those who pay for their lifestyles.
Aren’t you an Essex man these days?
A rural village rather than London suburb at that!
I am not surprised Brexit happened. Londoners really do believe everyone outside London is thick and stupid. I thought it was just the reprehensible Meeks, but the virus is widespread.
I don't believe that everyone outside London is thick and stupid.
The provincials, do, however, have a colossal sense of entitlement, believing that they can impose their backward-looking prejudices on those who pay for their lifestyles.
I have no idea about Welsh education. I know about London education. And London benefits from its demographics. Whether we like it or not, a lot of high achievers and aspirational immigrants of all races live in London. It is not about ethnicity. If you put Welsh kids into the London system I am sure they would do very well. But I am not sure you could replicate the London system in Wales.
Welsh education is unsuccessful not just in comparison to London.
It is unsuccessful in comparison to Scotland. And to Northern Ireland.
So, let's try the question again.
Why do you think Welsh education is so unsuccessful?
I genuinely have no idea. But you seem to be alluding to issues around funding and transportation as being pretty important. I suspect it may also be pretty difficult to attract top class teachers if those are issues.
So are London schools excellent because of something Labour are doing that Tories aren't in regard to educating children, or because a lot of high achievers and aspirational immigrants of all races live in London?
The latter is far more important than the former. But it is predicated on immigration and population churn. It could be that Labour policies encouraged both more than Tory policies would. In the absence of these factors, my guess is that willingness to spend higher sums on education is the key factor.
Nearly managed to make it non party political there!!
Net migration was at its highest under the Cameron govt though
You asked me a party policial question! Labour is traditionally associated with higher levels of immigrationt than the Tories - and has been more inclined to defend it - but it is undoubtedly true that the Tories have presided over high levels, too. And London schools benefit. As levels fall, it will be interesting to see what happens to educational standards.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Realistically is it possible to provide a national level education service without a gap in funding favouring London given teachers are the biggest cost and living costs are significantly higher in London?
In terms of fairness Londoners dont expect every region should pay the same levels of tax, those with more pay more. In return why shouldnt those with higher costs beyond their control receive more?
I think you have to address the huge disparity in outcomes. E.g., the single biggest bias in entrance to Oxbridge is not based on gender or race. It is based on geography. 45 per cent of all Oxbridge entrants come from London & the South East.
Or look at the PISA statistics. Wales is falling, falling, falling. The worst place in the UK.
London grabs way too much of the national resources -- if living costs in London are too high, then the proper conclusion is not London must grab more but to relocate organisations out of London.
E.g., there is no reason for Imperial College to be in London. They could sell their prime real estate and relocate. They would make a profit. The professors would find their academic salaries go further, it would be cheaper for the students.
If you want to save this rickety, falling-to-bits country, there has to be a truly massive relocation of institutions and resources OUT of London.
The University of Wales has offices in London......perhaps start with those!
God knows why -- where is it, I could not find it mentioned on their website.
But, the process I have mentioned is taking place in Leiden or Munich. Historic universities are selling prime real estate in the centre and moving out to Oegstgeest or Garching.
It is beyond-stupid to have a University on the Strand or in Kensington.
Unless the undergraduates and staff would rather be in London than Dunny on the Wold for cultural, lifestyle, transport and not-dying-of-boredom reasons. Which they would.
Actually Imperial has already started selling bits of its central London real estate (notably student accommodation) and building a satellite campus.
The likelihood of its ever moving to (say) Leeds is... slim.
I was somewhat surprised to find a campus of Coventry University in Scarborough
university of cumbria (yes.. such an institution exists) has a london campus...
I am not surprised Brexit happened. Londoners really do believe everyone outside London is thick and stupid. I thought it was just the reprehensible Meeks, but the virus is widespread.
I don't believe that everyone outside London is thick and stupid.
The provincials, do, however, have a colossal sense of entitlement, believing that they can impose their backward-looking prejudices on those who pay for their lifestyles.
I await your impartial piece on why Labour lost northern seats with interest.
(Needless to say, if you do own BTC, don’t send anything to that address; you’re not getting anything back )
I believe that the ads you see are down to your individual browsing history rather than PB. I think we all see different ads.
The best response (many moons ago) was when a poster told OGH that "Romanian Mail Order Brides" were inappropriate ads to have on his site.....after it was pointed out this was down to his own browsing history, he was never heard of again....
If you continue to abuse me simply for pointing out facts and ascribe to me opinions that I simply don't hold and have certainly not expressed here then I may well come to the conclusion that you personally are thick and stupid.
I don't live in London, so I would expect you to believe I was thick and stupid.
The only reason I have to believe you are thick and stupid is that you keep saying things that point in that direction. I am not from London myself, I have never thought nor expressed on here that people who live outside London are any worse in any way than people who live inside London. I do think it's interesting that people in London are obviously being lined up as the new right wing scapegoat now that the EU is out of the frame. I had worried it was going to be brown people so I suppose I should be thankful for small mercies.
I am not right-wing.
I understand you are originally from Scotland. I would have though any Labour supporter might be interested in why they lost Scotland and whether Wales might be next.
I am not a tribal Labour supporter. In general I think it is bad for any area of the country to become a one party state since electoral competition leads to more attentive and pragmatic politicians who do things like look at the evidence. So while I never want Labour to lose an election I recognise that having the party run Wales in perpetuity is probably bad for both Wales and the Labour party. Since I have no knowledge whatsoever of Wales I won't get involved in Welsh politics - as others have noted it is devolved so what goes on there is really none of my business. I would like to see Wales do a lot better as I know it is one of the UK's poorest areas and I can assure you that in my years of living in London I have never heard anyone say anything rude about Wales or the Welsh! In general the beef that non Londoners seem to have with us is wholly unreciprocated.
Was Leicester East Labours worst result of the night ? It's not ex mining, is precisely the sort of city seat that should be very safe for Labour if an urban rural realignment is going on.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
(Needless to say, if you do own BTC, don’t send anything to that address; you’re not getting anything back )
I believe that the ads you see are down to your individual browsing history rather than PB. I think we all see different ads.
It’s not an advert: It’s part of the PB page. Is it just me that’s seeing this then?
I get the bitcoin advert on edge I see the PB banner on Chrome.
Oh good, it’s not just me. Looks like either the PB wordpress server has been hacked, or (more likely) someone has gained access to the S3 bucket the assets are kept in & replaced the header image.
If you continue to abuse me simply for pointing out facts and ascribe to me opinions that I simply don't hold and have certainly not expressed here then I may well come to the conclusion that you personally are thick and stupid.
I don't live in London, so I would expect you to believe I was thick and stupid.
The only reason I have to believe you are thick and stupid is that you keep saying things that point in that direction. I am not from London myself, I have never thought nor expressed on here that people who live outside London are any worse in any way than people who live inside London. I do think it's interesting that people in London are obviously being lined up as the new right wing scapegoat now that the EU is out of the frame. I had worried it was going to be brown people so I suppose I should be thankful for small mercies.
I am not right-wing.
I understand you are originally from Scotland. I would have though any Labour supporter might be interested in why they lost Scotland and whether Wales might be next.
I am not a tribal Labour supporter. In general I think it is bad for any area of the country to become a one party state since electoral competition leads to more attentive and pragmatic politicians who do things like look at the evidence. So while I never want Labour to lose an election I recognise that having the party run Wales in perpetuity is probably bad for both Wales and the Labour party. Since I have no knowledge whatsoever of Wales I won't get involved in Welsh politics - as others have noted it is devolved so what goes on there is really none of my business. I would like to see Wales do a lot better as I know it is one of the UK's poorest areas and I can assure you that in my years of living in London I have never heard anyone say anything rude about Wales or the Welsh! In general the beef that non Londoners seem to have with us is wholly unreciprocated.
The only way Wales will do well is for labour to be thrown out
Here is a serious question, to which I would genuinely like to know the answer:
If London’s state schools are so good, how come 16% of all secondary school pupils in London are privately educated?
Because there are a multiplicity of reasons why people send their kids private. But it may also be that the private schools in an around London are very good too, as they have to be in order to compete.
Thanks. It’s not meant as a criticism of you but that does not make sense. Civil cases are not prosecutions. The reference in the papers was to criminal prosecutions.
I am not aware of civil cases being brought against soldiers using the HRA to events happening before it came into force. That seems unlikely because it is a pretty well established principle of English law that laws cannot be applied retrospectively. And in any case the 1998 HRA came into force in October 2000, which was well before the Iraq war. The prosecution of the Bloody Sunday Soldier F is not under the HRA. Murder has always been murder. There is nothing retrospective about such a prosecution.
There has been an issue about soldiers being repeatedly investigated for the same allegations on the basis of made up evidence. That is down to more effective control over the investigations and by the Legal Aid Board and the SRA over some solicitors who behaved very badly indeed. But it hardly needs legislation.
We shall see when the details come out.
From the Daily Telegraph article on this subject on Remembrance Sunday:
The change will prevent prosecutions where "no new evidence has been produced and when accusations have already been exhaustively questioned" The change is designed to protect military personnel from repeated inquiries and will specify that the Human Rights Act "doesn't apply to issues - including any death in the Northern Ireland Troubles - that took place before the Act came into force."
As you say murder has always been murder and it seems these changes won't prevent murder charges where the CPS is convinced those should take place. What it seems to be trying to ensure is the twin long-established principles of double jeopardy and no backdating of law changes both apply here where the law has been permitting abuses by the likes of Shiner.
Mr Teacher, Are you having a laugh? Have you been to Cambridge? Cambridge has one of the most vibrant expanding economies in the country with a massive concentration of entrepreneurs and companies large and small. The university may originally have been the catalyst for this, but to say Cambridge is little more than the university is really very silly.
If Cambridge University and its colleges sold all of their real estate in Cambridge and moved to Dunn-on-the-Wash, do you think most of the entrepreneurs and companies would stay?
Duh, probably yes they would stay, but that isn't going to happen, so yours is a non-point, in the same way as if we suggested in some weird parallel universe London had it's status as capital removed.
Well done for winning the Pointless Post Prize, and this years leading entry in The Idiot's Guide to Devil's Advocacy
So what first attracted the entrepreneurs and businesses to a world class university city? (with apologies to Mrs Merton)
Realistically is it possible to provide a national level education service without a gap in funding favouring London given teachers are the biggest cost and living costs are significantly higher in London?
In terms of fairness Londoners dont expect every region should pay the same levels of tax, those with more pay more. In return why shouldnt those with higher costs beyond their control receive more?
E.g., there is no reason for Imperial College to be in London. They could sell their prime real estate and relocate. They would make a profit. The professors would find their academic salaries go further, it would be cheaper for the students.
If you want to save this rickety, falling-to-bits country, there has to be a truly massive relocation of institutions and resources OUT of London.
The University of Wales has offices in London......perhaps start with those!
God knows why -- where is it, I could not find it mentioned on their website.
But, the process I have mentioned is taking place in Leiden or Munich. Historic universities are selling prime real estate in the centre and moving out to Oegstgeest or Garching.
It is beyond-stupid to have a University on the Strand or in Kensington.
Unless the undergraduates and staff would rather be in London than Dunny on the Wold for cultural, lifestyle, transport and not-dying-of-boredom reasons. Which they would.
Actually Imperial has already started selling bits of its central London real estate (notably student accommodation) and building a satellite campus.
The likelihood of its ever moving to (say) Leeds is... slim.
I was somewhat surprised to find a campus of Coventry University in Scarborough
university of cumbria (yes.. such an institution exists) has a london campus...
But most of University of Cumbria is in fact in Lancashire. While its Ambleside bit (it actually is in Cumbria) is at least more scenic that the outpost in East India Dock Road. As a whole it does not, yet, rival Cambridge, MIT or Caltec.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
I hope it will be but it will take a long time.
I understand how those who want to remain must feel and both my wife and I have reflected on how we would have felt if Corbyn had been elected and it does give cause to a sober realisation that while we are delighted at the outcome many are not
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Here is a serious question, to which I would genuinely like to know the answer:
If London’s state schools are so good, how come 16% of all secondary school pupils in London are privately educated?
Isn’t that about the national average for secondary schools?
The comparable overall figure for England is 14.8%. As I noted in my edit, I buggered up the figures and they should have been just over 22%. So London is around 7.5% points (or roughly 50% higher) than the national average.
Even allowing for possibly quite large numbers of foreign students that gap strikes me as statistically significant.
Realistically is it possible to provide a national level education service without a gap in funding favouring London given teachers are the biggest cost and living costs are significantly higher in London?
In terms of fairness Londoners dont expect every region should pay the same levels of tax, those with more pay more. In return why shouldnt those with higher costs beyond their control receive more?
E.g., there is no reason for Imperial College to be in London. They could sell their prime real estate and relocate. They would make a profit. The professors would find their academic salaries go further, it would be cheaper for the students.
If you want to save this rickety, falling-to-bits country, there has to be a truly massive relocation of institutions and resources OUT of London.
The University of Wales has offices in London......perhaps start with those!
God knows why -- where is it, I could not find it mentioned on their website.
But, the process I have mentioned is taking place in Leiden or Munich. Historic universities are selling prime real estate in the centre and moving out to Oegstgeest or Garching.
It is beyond-stupid to have a University on the Strand or in Kensington.
Unless the undergraduates and staff would rather be in London than Dunny on the Wold for cultural, lifestyle, transport and not-dying-of-boredom reasons. Which they would.
Actually Imperial has already started selling bits of its central London real estate (notably student accommodation) and building a satellite campus.
The likelihood of its ever moving to (say) Leeds is... slim.
I was somewhat surprised to find a campus of Coventry University in Scarborough
university of cumbria (yes.. such an institution exists) has a london campus...
But most of University of Cumbria is in fact in Lancashire. While its Ambleside bit (it actually is in Cumbria) is at least more scenic that the outpost in East India Dock Road. As a whole it does not, yet, rival Cambridge, MIT or Caltec.
Its main campus is in Carlisle. I don’t think Carlisle is in Lancashire, although I’m happy to be corrected.
Here is a serious question, to which I would genuinely like to know the answer:
If London’s state schools are so good, how come 16% of all secondary school pupils in London are privately educated?
Class. Parental stupidity. More money than sense.
Two things independent schools give you: confidence (which some might reframe as arrogance/entitlement, but confidence is the overriding characteristic) and a network.
Often - and this may not always be the case, but is often the case - the cohort is free of 'disruptive' pupils, which means teachers can spend increasing amounts of time teaching rather than behaviour management. Indie schools can simply remove disruptive or pupils with learning disabilities, state schools increasingly cannot (or have to appeal, and spend money, fighting with the local education authority to do so).
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
I hope it will be but it will take a long time.
I understand how those who want to remain must feel and both my wife and I have reflected on how we would have felt if Corbyn had been elected and it does give cause to a sober realisation that while we are delighted at the outcome many are not
Not wanting anyone to win the election meant that one of the sides I wanted to lose did. That lessens the blow of the other side winning.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Mr Teacher, Are you having a laugh? Have you been to Cambridge? Cambridge has one of the most vibrant expanding economies in the country with a massive concentration of entrepreneurs and companies large and small. The university may originally have been the catalyst for this, but to say Cambridge is little more than the university is really very silly.
So you are saying the University was founded there because of the electronics industry and science park? Very foresighted of those Oxford refugees.
I continue to be utterly perplexed by what the DUP's goals and strategy was during the Brexit negotiation and votes.
Did they... Did they actually believe Boris when he said no PM would ever put a border down the Irish Sea?
Where they that thick?
Tbf quite a lot of the folk currently saying BJ is the modern Alcibiades were also saying the DUP were playing blinder when dangling Tessy on a string. I'm sure no conclusion can be drawn from this.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
And as we know, his word is his bond.
It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
Ah I see. I've primarily been browsing the site on Vanilla since I can't see comments on the main site, so when I went to the main site it must have pulled a cached version of the header. Very concerning.
I’d like to know exactly what the government is proposing when it says that it will stop vexatious prosecutions of soldiers. (This is apparently to be in the Queen’s Speech.)
For any prosecution to take place, the CPS needs to be persuaded that:-
1. There is credible evidence on which a jury could convict; and 2. A prosecution is in the public interest.
It is this last which stops vexatious prosecutions.
Is the government really saying that if there is credible evidence that a soldier murdered a civilian they should be exempt from prosecution? Dreadful if so.
The Conservative manifesto seems to be a long pean to ripping up the rule of law and replacing it with what "right thinking people" would do.
The definition of a right thinking person is left to the reader.
One possible meaning is (if my law is up to date) that the political judgement of the AG could be used, over riding the non-political judgement of the CPS or DPP, by use of the Nolle Prosequi in such cases. The AG is, of course an ex officio Right Thinking Person, as the holder of the elected office of MP.
Here is a serious question, to which I would genuinely like to know the answer:
If London’s state schools are so good, how come 16% of all secondary school pupils in London are privately educated?
Class. Parental stupidity. More money than sense.
Two things independent schools give you: confidence (which some might reframe as arrogance/entitlement, but confidence is the overriding characteristic) and a network.
Often - and this may not always be the case, but is often the case - the cohort is free of 'disruptive' pupils, which means teachers can spend increasing amounts of time teaching rather than behaviour management. Indie schools can simply remove disruptive or pupils with learning disabilities, state schools increasingly cannot (or have to appeal, and spend money, fighting with the local education authority to do so).
I agree with you that they do create over confident, arrogant, entitled adults with a network that lets them sail through working life whether they contribute or not. I am still bemused as to why this is something people pay for!
I am not surprised Brexit happened. Londoners really do believe everyone outside London is thick and stupid. I thought it was just the reprehensible Meeks, but the virus is widespread.
I don't believe that everyone outside London is thick and stupid.
The provincials, do, however, have a colossal sense of entitlement, believing that they can impose their backward-looking prejudices on those who pay for their lifestyles.
Aren’t you an Essex man these days?
I have a foot in many camps.
You see, I have a couple of difficulties with what you say on this, despite sharing your general view about Brexit and about the nasty views it has unleashed.
The first is that if we are one country we can’t simply slice the place up into sections and determine relations between them on a purely transactional basis (we earn more than you and subsidise you so our views should count for more etc). And we have one person, one vote - votes are not determined by wealth. It seems to me inherent in the nature of any group that at different times different parts will subsidise other parts. It is part of the price of being part of a group.
Second, the whole country effectively gives an implicit guarantee to the banking sector. That guarantee is very valuable. I am unclear as to whether that value is ever included when it is said that London’s financial sector pays for the rest of the country. And, of course, in the last decade and more, it has cost - and is still costing - the country a very great deal. The provinces have been impacted by that and the opportunity costs of having to sort out the very considerable mess finance got the country into.
Finally, on FoM, as I asked in July 2016 -
“ But why would someone in Millom (look it up) vote to have FoM because this is the price to be paid to enable a Swiss bank to base itself in London in order to sell financial services to very rich individuals in Europe? Why would people there care about bankers who have cost the country so much? This may be a shock to Londoners and others but it is a salutary shock.”
In my experience, there are few people with as enormous a sense of entitlement as those in the financial sector. It is not a pleasant sight when you have seen their dark underbelly.
Brexit may not answer these concerns, may indeed make them very much worse - as I fear - but we need to answer these questions a bit more thoughtfully than simply accusing provincials of not knowing what is good for them
The changes they make to fit in is what makes the working class communities they left dislike them more than toffs, is more or less what I was trying to say yesterday
Realistically is it possible to provide a national level education service without a gap in funding favouring London given teachers are the biggest cost and living costs are significantly higher in London?
In terms of fairness Londoners dont expect every region should pay the same levels of tax, those with more pay more. In return why shouldnt those with higher costs beyond their control receive more?
E.g., there is no reason for Imperial College to be in London. They could sell their prime real estate and relocate. They would make a profit. The professors would find their academic salaries go further, it would be cheaper for the students.
If you want to save this rickety, falling-to-bits country, there has to be a truly massive relocation of institutions and resources OUT of London.
The University of Wales has offices in London......perhaps start with those!
God knows why -- where is it, I could not find it mentioned on their website.
But, the process I have mentioned is taking place in Leiden or Munich. Historic universities are selling prime real estate in the centre and moving out to Oegstgeest or Garching.
It is beyond-stupid to have a University on the Strand or in Kensington.
Unless the undergraduates and staff would rather be in London than Dunny on the Wold for cultural, lifestyle, transport and not-dying-of-boredom reasons. Which they would.
Actually Imperial has already started selling bits of its central London real estate (notably student accommodation) and building a satellite campus.
The likelihood of its ever moving to (say) Leeds is... slim.
I was somewhat surprised to find a campus of Coventry University in Scarborough
university of cumbria (yes.. such an institution exists) has a london campus...
But most of University of Cumbria is in fact in Lancashire. While its Ambleside bit (it actually is in Cumbria) is at least more scenic that the outpost in East India Dock Road. As a whole it does not, yet, rival Cambridge, MIT or Caltec.
Its main campus is in Carlisle. I don’t think Carlisle is in Lancashire, although I’m happy to be corrected.
Both correct. Carlisle in Cumbria. Largest number of students in Lancashire.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
And as we know, his word is his bond.
It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
Saying you want healing and then legislating to promote a hard Brexit are not compatible.
Here is a serious question, to which I would genuinely like to know the answer:
If London’s state schools are so good, how come 16% of all secondary school pupils in London are privately educated?
Isn’t that about the national average for secondary schools?
The comparable overall figure for England is 14.8%. As I noted in my edit, I buggered up the figures and they should have been just over 22%. So London is around 7.5% points (or roughly 50% higher) than the national average.
Even allowing for possibly quite large numbers of foreign students that gap strikes me as statistically significant.
Larger proportion of parents who can afford it I would assume. There is a well known independent school not far from mine and I have visited it a lot. I can understand why some parents would prefer the better facilities and smaller class sizes than any state school could afford.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
And as we know, his word is his bond.
It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
Saying you want healing and then legislating to promote a hard Brexit are not compatible.
I am not surprised Brexit happened. Londoners really do believe everyone outside London is thick and stupid. I thought it was just the reprehensible Meeks, but the virus is widespread.
I don't believe that everyone outside London is thick and stupid.
The provincials, do, however, have a colossal sense of entitlement, believing that they can impose their backward-looking prejudices on those who pay for their lifestyles.
Aren’t you an Essex man these days?
I have a foot in many camps.
You see, I have a couple of difficulties with what you say on this, despite sharing your general view about Brexit and about the nasty views it has unleashed.
The first is that if we are one country we can’t simply slice the place up into sections and determine relations between them on a purely transactional basis (we earn more than you and subsidise you so our views should count for more etc). And we have one person, one vote - votes are not determined by wealth. It seems to me inherent in the nature of any group that at different times different parts will subsidise other parts. It is part of the price of being part of a group.
Second, the whole country effectively gives an implicit guarantee to the banking sector. That guarantee is very valuable. I am unclear as to whether that value is ever included when it is said that London’s financial sector pays for the rest of the country. And, of course, in the last decade and more, it has cost - and is still costing - the country a very great deal. The provinces have been impacted by that and the opportunity costs of having to sort out the very considerable mess finance got the country into.
Finally, on FoM, as I asked in July 2016 -
“ But why would someone in Millom (look it up) vote to have FoM because this is the price to be paid to enable a Swiss bank to base itself in London in order to sell financial services to very rich individuals in Europe? Why would people there care about bankers who have cost the country so much? This may be a shock to Londoners and others but it is a salutary shock.”
In my experience, there are few people with as enormous a sense of entitlement as those in the financial sector. It is not a pleasant sight when you have seen their dark underbelly.
Brexit may not answer these concerns, may indeed make them very much worse - as I fear - but we need to answer these questions a bit more thoughtfully than simply accusing provincials of not knowing what is good for them
Mr Meeks has, just for once, lost his judicious sense of balance and fairness. Cyclefree is right on the money.
Thanks to The Green Machine for a very interesting header. Politics in Northern Ireland seems finally shifting a bit, though perhaps the more interesting bit will he the next Stormont elections. Watching the news of the NI NHS last night, there really does need to be a government soon. The current state is intolerable.
Yep, not heard much from the 'less government is better' lads for a while.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
And as we know, his word is his bond.
It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
Saying you want healing and then legislating to promote a hard Brexit are not compatible.
Sure it is. Healing can occur post-Brexit.
Indeed. Brexit is needed to move the dial forward and eventually start the healing but it will be some time ahead and for some it will never heal
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
And as we know, his word is his bond.
It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
Saying you want healing and then legislating to promote a hard Brexit are not compatible.
You see, I have a couple of difficulties with what you say on this, despite sharing your general view about Brexit and about the nasty views it has unleashed.
The first is that if we are one country we can’t simply slice the place up into sections and determine relations between them on a purely transactional basis (we earn more than you and subsidise you so our views should count for more etc). And we have one person, one vote - votes are not determined by wealth. It seems to me inherent in the nature of any group that at different times different parts will subsidise other parts. It is part of the price of being part of a group.
Second, the whole country effectively gives an implicit guarantee to the banking sector. That guarantee is very valuable. I am unclear as to whether that value is ever included when it is said that London’s financial sector pays for the rest of the country. And, of course, in the last decade and more, it has cost - and is still costing - the country a very great deal. The provinces have been impacted by that and the opportunity costs of having to sort out the very considerable mess finance got the country into.
Finally, on FoM, as I asked in July 2016 -
“ But why would someone in Millom (look it up) vote to have FoM because this is the price to be paid to enable a Swiss bank to base itself in London in order to sell financial services to very rich individuals in Europe? Why would people there care about bankers who have cost the country so much? This may be a shock to Londoners and others but it is a salutary shock.”
In my experience, there are few people with as enormous a sense of entitlement as those in the financial sector. It is not a pleasant sight when you have seen their dark underbelly.
Brexit may not answer these concerns, may indeed make them very much worse - as I fear - but we need to answer these questions a bit more thoughtfully than simply accusing provincials of not knowing what is good for them
The impacts of the banking guarantee and banking collapse are generally misunderstood. Yes there are a large number of people adversely impacted.
However anyone with assets at the time of the collapse not only had the value of those assets protected by the state but QE combined with very low inflation rapidly accelerated the value of those assets vs wages.
It was not just the bankers, probably just as many people did well out of the banking collapse as did badly. Asset owners vs Wage earners, Old vs Young, those are the dividing lines it created, and those were the dividing lines in the GE.
No it's a factual statement based on empirical research. It's got nothing to do with "race", it's simply that people with a recent immigrant background tend to have a more constructive attitude towards education than the native population. You can clearly see that in London schools. It's important to understand why London schools are out-performing, because if it is something to do with how they are run then that can be replicated elsewhere, but if it's simply different demographics then there's less that other areas can do to improve by copying London. Unfortunately the evidence suggests it's mostly the latter.
Please provide some links to the research.
I think this is lazy and wicked thinking.
There are huge cultural advantages to living in London. For example, all the national museums and galleries are free. There is an enormous benefit in having that resources on your doorstep to stimulate a young mind.
There are outreach and science festivals that occur at all the Universities. London has one of the highest densities of Universities in the world. It is very difficult to access that level scientific stimulation if you are living in a remote area in Wales or Scotland or even parts of the North of England.
Compare that to a child living in some remote Welsh valley with poor transport links.
I am not surprised Brexit happened. Londoners really do believe everyone outside London is thick and stupid. I thought it was just the reprehensible Meeks, but the virus is widespread.
You were blaming a Labour government in Wales when it seems from your own posts the issues are a little more complex than that.
I think London has many advantages, both culturally and financially.
Welsh education is failing whether compared to Ireland (RoI or NI), Scotland and England.
I think there is a reason. It is shown by the Labour party supporters on this board.
No-one in Labour is remotely interested in Wales, as long as it provides pliant MPs for Westminster.
Lomdin schools arr that great iirc that they are installing knife detectors in all schools because of knofe crime.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
And as we know, his word is his bond.
It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
Saying you want healing and then legislating to promote a hard Brexit are not compatible.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
Hiliary Benn on Sky continuing to do his best to keep losing votes for Labour via his inner Mr Stop Brexit.
There are very many who are understandably upset that Brexit is lost to the remain cause and it is like bereavement, time will be needed for them to adjust to the dramatic change in their hopes and dreams
Wise words, MrG. If we are to heal as a country, an understanding of this is required. Sadly, I am not sure that healing is on the agenda!
Your old mucker Boris explicitly said it was in his victory speech.
And as we know, his word is his bond.
It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
Saying you want healing and then legislating to promote a hard Brexit are not compatible.
Thanks. It’s not meant as a criticism of you but that does not make sense. Civil cases are not prosecutions. The reference in the papers was to criminal prosecutions.
I am not aware of civil cases being brought against soldiers using the HRA to events happening before it came into force. That seems unlikely because it is a pretty well established principle of English law that laws cannot be applied retrospectively. And in any case the 1998 HRA came into force in October 2000, which was well before the Iraq war. The prosecution of the Bloody Sunday Soldier F is not under the HRA. Murder has always been murder. There is nothing retrospective about such a prosecution.
There has been an issue about soldiers being repeatedly investigated for the same allegations on the basis of made up evidence. That is down to more effective control over the investigations and by the Legal Aid Board and the SRA over some solicitors who behaved very badly indeed. But it hardly needs legislation.
We shall see when the details come out.
From the Daily Telegraph article on this subject on Remembrance Sunday:
The change will prevent prosecutions where "no new evidence has been produced and when accusations have already been exhaustively questioned" The change is designed to protect military personnel from repeated inquiries and will specify that the Human Rights Act "doesn't apply to issues - including any death in the Northern Ireland Troubles - that took place before the Act came into force."
As you say murder has always been murder and it seems these changes won't prevent murder charges where the CPS is convinced those should take place. What it seems to be trying to ensure is the twin long-established principles of double jeopardy and no backdating of law changes both apply here where the law has been permitting abuses by the likes of Shiner.
That article talks about “ongoing ... prosecutions”. If that is a reference to NI then it suggests that the government is seeking to stop the prosecution of Soldier F, charged with two murders. I bloody hope not.
Double jeopardy already applies and does not need new legislation, unless the government is preparing to repeal the legislation which allowed the retrials of the killers of Stephen Lawrence. And retrospective legislation has always been contrary to English law, except in very specific circumstances.
It still remains to be seen exactly what mischief needs to be addressed which cannot already be dealt with using the existing law. Or whether the government is really trying to give certain groups immunity from the law.
Anyhoo, I’ve watched The Rise Of Skywalker and I’m about to post a huge Star Wars spoiler.
Worth going?
I watched Knives Out last night with my partner which was brilliant and certainly has got better reviews than the final Star Wars instalment which seems to be worse than Last Jedi which I enjoyed.
I will still go though to wrap up the saga and while it will be OK ignore the hype, there are better movies out there at the moment
Knives Out is probably the best film I saw this year. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who likes a tightly plotted and well acted film with some great lines.
Excellent film- went in with no expectations and it was great. Another great film from Johnson to go along with the last jedi.
Anyhoo, I’ve watched The Rise Of Skywalker and I’m about to post a huge Star Wars spoiler.
Worth going?
I watched Knives Out last night with my partner which was brilliant and certainly has got better reviews than the final Star Wars instalment which seems to be worse than Last Jedi which I enjoyed.
I will still go though to wrap up the saga and while it will be OK ignore the hype, there are better movies out there at the moment
Knives Out is probably the best film I saw this year. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who likes a tightly plotted and well acted film with some great lines.
Excellent film- went in with no expectations and it was great. Another great film from Johnson to go along with the last jedi.
You’ll be telling me next that pineapple is a perfect topping for pizza.
Comments
The definition of a right thinking person is left to the reader.
Net migration was at its highest under the Cameron govt though
Well done for winning the Pointless Post Prize, and this years leading entry in The Idiot's Guide to Devil's Advocacy
If London’s state schools are so good, how come 16% of all secondary school pupils in London are privately educated?
Edit - in fact, I was checking the wrong figure. Make that 22%.
Since I have no knowledge whatsoever of Wales I won't get involved in Welsh politics - as others have noted it is devolved so what goes on there is really none of my business. I would like to see Wales do a lot better as I know it is one of the UK's poorest areas and I can assure you that in my years of living in London I have never heard anyone say anything rude about Wales or the Welsh! In general the beef that non Londoners seem to have with us is wholly unreciprocated.
It's not ex mining, is precisely the sort of city seat that should be very safe for Labour if an urban rural realignment is going on.
https://youtu.be/X_G-FBSf1UI
The change will prevent prosecutions where "no new evidence has been produced and when accusations have already been exhaustively questioned"
The change is designed to protect military personnel from repeated inquiries and will specify that the Human Rights Act "doesn't apply to issues - including any death in the Northern Ireland Troubles - that took place before the Act came into force."
As you say murder has always been murder and it seems these changes won't prevent murder charges where the CPS is convinced those should take place. What it seems to be trying to ensure is the twin long-established principles of double jeopardy and no backdating of law changes both apply here where the law has been permitting abuses by the likes of Shiner.
I understand how those who want to remain must feel and both my wife and I have reflected on how we would have felt if Corbyn had been elected and it does give cause to a sober realisation that while we are delighted at the outcome many are not
Even allowing for possibly quite large numbers of foreign students that gap strikes me as statistically significant.
TSE has already contacted RCS about it.
Often - and this may not always be the case, but is often the case - the cohort is free of 'disruptive' pupils, which means teachers can spend increasing amounts of time teaching rather than behaviour management. Indie schools can simply remove disruptive or pupils with learning disabilities, state schools increasingly cannot (or have to appeal, and spend money, fighting with the local education authority to do so).
On a related note - and in response to an interaction I had with @SandyRentool earlier in the week on here - here's one unintended consequence for de-funding 'youth outreach wank' (his words, not mine): https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/is-the-netherlands-a-narco-state-lawyer-s-murder-raises-troubling-questions-1.4024082
Oh of course! Let the division remain!!
On which subject, @MikeSmithson can we get the 'donate' button back for a few days please, before the election winnings all get spent on Christmas?
Oh of course! Let the division remain!! It's obviously not on a lot of people's agenda, takes two to make up
https://twitter.com/isabelhardman/status/1207612164128870402?s=21
The first is that if we are one country we can’t simply slice the place up into sections and determine relations between them on a purely transactional basis (we earn more than you and subsidise you so our views should count for more etc). And we have one person, one vote - votes are not determined by wealth. It seems to me inherent in the nature of any group that at different times different parts will subsidise other parts. It is part of the price of being part of a group.
Second, the whole country effectively gives an implicit guarantee to the banking sector. That guarantee is very valuable. I am unclear as to whether that value is ever included when it is said that London’s financial sector pays for the rest of the country. And, of course, in the last decade and more, it has cost - and is still costing - the country a very great deal. The provinces have been impacted by that and the opportunity costs of having to sort out the very considerable mess finance got the country into.
Finally, on FoM, as I asked in July 2016 -
“ But why would someone in Millom (look it up) vote to have FoM because this is the price to be paid to enable a Swiss bank to base itself in London in order to sell financial services to very rich individuals in Europe? Why would people there care about bankers who have cost the country so much? This may be a shock to Londoners and others but it is a salutary shock.”
In my experience, there are few people with as enormous a sense of entitlement as those in the financial sector. It is not a pleasant sight when you have seen their dark underbelly.
Brexit may not answer these concerns, may indeed make them very much worse - as I fear - but we need to answer these questions a bit more thoughtfully than simply accusing provincials of not knowing what is good for them
However anyone with assets at the time of the collapse not only had the value of those assets protected by the state but QE combined with very low inflation rapidly accelerated the value of those assets vs wages.
It was not just the bankers, probably just as many people did well out of the banking collapse as did badly. Asset owners vs Wage earners, Old vs Young, those are the dividing lines it created, and those were the dividing lines in the GE.
Double jeopardy already applies and does not need new legislation, unless the government is preparing to repeal the legislation which allowed the retrials of the killers of Stephen Lawrence. And retrospective legislation has always been contrary to English law, except in very specific circumstances.
It still remains to be seen exactly what mischief needs to be addressed which cannot already be dealt with using the existing law. Or whether the government is really trying to give certain groups immunity from the law.