Another day and now the betting edges back to a 2022 PM exit – politicalbetting.com

HYUFD said:

Gary Sambrook, MP for Birmingham Northfield, has withdrawn letter to the 1922.

Says he is now getting behind Boris and his programme for delivery

https://twitter.com/Mike_Fabricant/status/1489178561944637454?s=20&t=OqJCcHMa3yUj9M33fYOBVA

IanB2 said:

StillWaters said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

The only question is now will he lose with the dignity of Donald Trump?

I had dinner last night with a senior Tory.

View was that Boris is toast. The 54 will happen, possibly after the Met report, and his support will collapse at that point. Very few friends in the parliamentary party. But he will fight not resign

But the Met has said that its investigation will take “no more than a year”. Which doesn’t sound exactly imminent.

Nigel_Foremain said:

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent

You know fuck all about NI, so why don't you just for once metaphorically shut your stupid politically brain dead gob and move onto another subject that you might know something about. Oh, hang on that is going to be pretty challenging, as I can't remember anything that you have spoken about with authority in spite of thousands of boring Conservative Central Office slogans that are designed for terminally gullible such as yourself.

I used to think that you were probably a decent person underneath all the stupidity of your blind loyalty. The fact that you could speak so insensitively about a place that clearly you know nothing about where people have been murdered and tortured, and where there are still thousands of people with the mental scars of conflict shows what an inhumane and unpleasant little automaton you are.

Foxy said:

HYUFD said:

Gary Sambrook, MP for Birmingham Northfield, has withdrawn letter to the 1922.

Says he is now getting behind Boris and his programme for delivery

https://twitter.com/Mike_Fabricant/status/1489178561944637454?s=20&t=OqJCcHMa3yUj9M33fYOBVA

His tweet last night certainly earns the Order of the Brown Nose:

I’ve listened carefully to the Prime Minister today, the @BorisJohnson we love and who has delivered. He’s made promises on how he wants to change how he does things, how he wants to deliver for my constituents and the UK and I support him in doing that. Let’s get on with the job

https://twitter.com/GarySambrook89/status/1488243552874283011?t=AwxlIRr2obPW-ZVAGulB8A&s=19

eek said:

MaxPB said:

Nigelb said:

MaxPB said:

DavidL said:

Nigelb said:

DavidL said:

I am really struggling to see how changing CT is going to help with increased gas prices. Those most at risk of fuel poverty are those on benefits who already don't pay CT. Is he going to boost UC at the same time? The removal of the Covid uplift in UC looks ever more problematic....

While that's true, the number of household spending over 10% of their income on fuel costs is predicted to rise from 2m to 6m. The aim is more to shore up their vote than to help the hardest hit, I think.

If they wanted to make a direct difference to bills, they could also look at suspending the green levy. But the chancellor would likely veto that.

Indeed. The Atlantic article is quite timely on all this too. The massive reduction in capital investment in oil and gas (driven by "green" investement policies which are very in right now) means that the increase in prices is not stimulating additional production to the extent that it should. The pension fund I am one of the trustees of are getting a lot of information about this just now and some of the trustees are very keen to show their green credentials but not investing in Oil and gas. I am personally far from sure that this policy has been properly thought through.

It hasn't. We've got a massive energy gap coming over the next 5 years. The only countries that will escape the oncoming inflationary storm will be France and Japan, both of whom have significant domestic nuclear energy. The UK has had 20 years to invest in renewable technology and install 10x the amount of generation we currently have from renewables yet we've done nothing. A dereliction of duty by every government. Labour disincentivised fossil fuels followed by the Tories who did nothing to fix private investment rules on domestic energy generation. We ended up with energy companies turning into brokerages and resellers while the actual generation was starved of investment as they funnelled cash to investors with mega dividends.

We're all going to pay the price in the UK.

And/or nuclear.
A decade or more's indecision on nuclear, and the failure to invest in tidal power, when the cost of long term debt to government was close to zero, is one of the great unremarked and unpunished errors of government.

I've never been convinced that nuclear was the right way forwards, I don't think Hinckley Point C will ever really produce significant electricity either. What we should have been doing is onshoring wind energy manufacturing, incentives for making the turbines in the UK and just putting huge, huge numbers out in the North Sea off the coast of North England and Scotland. Literally 10x as much as we have today.

Tidal lagoons are also an area where significant subsidy was required and could have been structured in a way that would allow for the research, development and manufacturing of them to be conducted mostly in the UK and then turning that into a export industry to other nations with lots of coastline.

As ever, the government seems to lack any concept of value creation so instead we've got a nuclear power station that might never turn on, tiny investments in 4th gen nuclear and keeping our fingers crossed that the winters are mild and windy for the next few years.

Reality however is that

sun only shines X hours and day and isn't much use in the UK where we need heat when dark rather than air-con when hot and sunny.

Wind is great when it's windy but not much use when it isn't - and we don't currently have any sane way to store enough power to get us through 2 to 3 days of zero wind when that happens (and will we ever have enough storage).

Tidal should work but for reasons has never been investigated.

So we end up needing a base line supply that keeps running come what may, and that is probably nuclear given that all the other options are fossil fuels with the resultant CO2 issues.

I suspect like most other things the issue comes down to the Treasury understanding the price of money and the value of absolutely nothing.

Theuniondivvie said:

HYUFD said:

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent

Isn't it the Johnson government's treating Unionists with contempt that led to the current situation?

No, it was the EU who demanded the border in the Irish Sea for a trade deal to spite the UK government and Unionists.

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

If it's the bad EU that have treated Unionists with contempt, why as alluded to up thread is BJ most despised in NI among the constituent UK nations?

Tbh I'm a bit confused by the Poots jiggerypokery. There was very evidently some sort of communication between the DUP and SCons beforehand, but I'm not sure what the obvious gains are aside from more lovely, distracting chaos.

HYUFD said:

Gary Sambrook, MP for Birmingham Northfield, has withdrawn his letter to the 1922.

Says he is now getting behind Boris and his programme for delivery

https://twitter.com/Mike_Fabricant/status/1489178561944637454?s=20&t=OqJCcHMa3yUj9M33fYOBVA

Malmesbury said:

eek said:

MaxPB said:

Nigelb said:

MaxPB said:

DavidL said:

Nigelb said:

DavidL said:

I am really struggling to see how changing CT is going to help with increased gas prices. Those most at risk of fuel poverty are those on benefits who already don't pay CT. Is he going to boost UC at the same time? The removal of the Covid uplift in UC looks ever more problematic....

While that's true, the number of household spending over 10% of their income on fuel costs is predicted to rise from 2m to 6m. The aim is more to shore up their vote than to help the hardest hit, I think.

If they wanted to make a direct difference to bills, they could also look at suspending the green levy. But the chancellor would likely veto that.

Indeed. The Atlantic article is quite timely on all this too. The massive reduction in capital investment in oil and gas (driven by "green" investement policies which are very in right now) means that the increase in prices is not stimulating additional production to the extent that it should. The pension fund I am one of the trustees of are getting a lot of information about this just now and some of the trustees are very keen to show their green credentials but not investing in Oil and gas. I am personally far from sure that this policy has been properly thought through.

It hasn't. We've got a massive energy gap coming over the next 5 years. The only countries that will escape the oncoming inflationary storm will be France and Japan, both of whom have significant domestic nuclear energy. The UK has had 20 years to invest in renewable technology and install 10x the amount of generation we currently have from renewables yet we've done nothing. A dereliction of duty by every government. Labour disincentivised fossil fuels followed by the Tories who did nothing to fix private investment rules on domestic energy generation. We ended up with energy companies turning into brokerages and resellers while the actual generation was starved of investment as they funnelled cash to investors with mega dividends.

We're all going to pay the price in the UK.

And/or nuclear.
A decade or more's indecision on nuclear, and the failure to invest in tidal power, when the cost of long term debt to government was close to zero, is one of the great unremarked and unpunished errors of government.

I've never been convinced that nuclear was the right way forwards, I don't think Hinckley Point C will ever really produce significant electricity either. What we should have been doing is onshoring wind energy manufacturing, incentives for making the turbines in the UK and just putting huge, huge numbers out in the North Sea off the coast of North England and Scotland. Literally 10x as much as we have today.

Tidal lagoons are also an area where significant subsidy was required and could have been structured in a way that would allow for the research, development and manufacturing of them to be conducted mostly in the UK and then turning that into a export industry to other nations with lots of coastline.

As ever, the government seems to lack any concept of value creation so instead we've got a nuclear power station that might never turn on, tiny investments in 4th gen nuclear and keeping our fingers crossed that the winters are mild and windy for the next few years.

Reality however is that

sun only shines X hours and day and isn't much use in the UK where we need heat when dark rather than air-con when hot and sunny.

Wind is great when it's windy but not much use when it isn't - and we don't currently have any sane way to store enough power to get us through 2 to 3 days of zero wind when that happens (and will we ever have enough storage).

Tidal should work but for reasons has never been investigated.

So we end up needing a base line supply that keeps running come what may, and that is probably nuclear given that all the other options are fossil fuels with the resultant CO2 issues.

I suspect like most other things the issue comes down to the Treasury understanding the price of money and the value of absolutely nothing.

Tidal has been investigated. Repeatedly.

It runs into various things - Big Project (planning, 20 years, blah), environmental concerns, and some strange ideas.

One report claimed that a modest tidal lagoon would need more concrete than the Channel Tunnel (CO2 from concrete is a big issue) which is simply bizarre. The reports authors had assumed that you build the whole thing out of concrete - which no-one has ever proposed. In reality it would be ring(s) of gravel/rocks/sand/mud, with concrete around the turbines.

Theuniondivvie said:

HYUFD said:

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent

Isn't it the Johnson government's treating Unionists with contempt that led to the current situation?

No, it was the EU who demanded the border in the Irish Sea for a trade deal to spite the UK government and Unionists.

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

If it's the bad EU that have treated Unionists with contempt, why as alluded to up thread is BJ most despised in NI among the constituent UK nations?

Tbh I'm a bit confused by the Poots jiggerypokery. There was very evidently some sort of communication or even coordination between the DUP and SCons beforehand, but I'm not sure what the obvious gains are aside from more lovely, distracting chaos.

mwjfrome17 said:

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

TheScreamingEagles said:

This is why Apple are awesome and you should move over to Apple ASAP, for the good of humanity.

Apple’s Privacy Measures to Cost Facebook $10 Billion in 2022

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/03/facebook-10-billion-in-2022-apple-measures/

IanB2 said:

Malmesbury said:

eek said:

MaxPB said:

Nigelb said:

MaxPB said:

DavidL said:

Nigelb said:

DavidL said:

I am really struggling to see how changing CT is going to help with increased gas prices. Those most at risk of fuel poverty are those on benefits who already don't pay CT. Is he going to boost UC at the same time? The removal of the Covid uplift in UC looks ever more problematic....

While that's true, the number of household spending over 10% of their income on fuel costs is predicted to rise from 2m to 6m. The aim is more to shore up their vote than to help the hardest hit, I think.

If they wanted to make a direct difference to bills, they could also look at suspending the green levy. But the chancellor would likely veto that.

Indeed. The Atlantic article is quite timely on all this too. The massive reduction in capital investment in oil and gas (driven by "green" investement policies which are very in right now) means that the increase in prices is not stimulating additional production to the extent that it should. The pension fund I am one of the trustees of are getting a lot of information about this just now and some of the trustees are very keen to show their green credentials but not investing in Oil and gas. I am personally far from sure that this policy has been properly thought through.

It hasn't. We've got a massive energy gap coming over the next 5 years. The only countries that will escape the oncoming inflationary storm will be France and Japan, both of whom have significant domestic nuclear energy. The UK has had 20 years to invest in renewable technology and install 10x the amount of generation we currently have from renewables yet we've done nothing. A dereliction of duty by every government. Labour disincentivised fossil fuels followed by the Tories who did nothing to fix private investment rules on domestic energy generation. We ended up with energy companies turning into brokerages and resellers while the actual generation was starved of investment as they funnelled cash to investors with mega dividends.

We're all going to pay the price in the UK.

And/or nuclear.
A decade or more's indecision on nuclear, and the failure to invest in tidal power, when the cost of long term debt to government was close to zero, is one of the great unremarked and unpunished errors of government.

I've never been convinced that nuclear was the right way forwards, I don't think Hinckley Point C will ever really produce significant electricity either. What we should have been doing is onshoring wind energy manufacturing, incentives for making the turbines in the UK and just putting huge, huge numbers out in the North Sea off the coast of North England and Scotland. Literally 10x as much as we have today.

Tidal lagoons are also an area where significant subsidy was required and could have been structured in a way that would allow for the research, development and manufacturing of them to be conducted mostly in the UK and then turning that into a export industry to other nations with lots of coastline.

As ever, the government seems to lack any concept of value creation so instead we've got a nuclear power station that might never turn on, tiny investments in 4th gen nuclear and keeping our fingers crossed that the winters are mild and windy for the next few years.

Reality however is that

sun only shines X hours and day and isn't much use in the UK where we need heat when dark rather than air-con when hot and sunny.

Wind is great when it's windy but not much use when it isn't - and we don't currently have any sane way to store enough power to get us through 2 to 3 days of zero wind when that happens (and will we ever have enough storage).

Tidal should work but for reasons has never been investigated.

So we end up needing a base line supply that keeps running come what may, and that is probably nuclear given that all the other options are fossil fuels with the resultant CO2 issues.

I suspect like most other things the issue comes down to the Treasury understanding the price of money and the value of absolutely nothing.

Tidal has been investigated. Repeatedly.

It runs into various things - Big Project (planning, 20 years, blah), environmental concerns, and some strange ideas.

One report claimed that a modest tidal lagoon would need more concrete than the Channel Tunnel (CO2 from concrete is a big issue) which is simply bizarre. The reports authors had assumed that you build the whole thing out of concrete - which no-one has ever proposed. In reality it would be ring(s) of gravel/rocks/sand/mud, with concrete around the turbines.

We have coastal tidal scheme being put together for off the south coast of the island, currently, possibly targeted to go live 2025

Carnyx said:

Theuniondivvie said:

HYUFD said:

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent

Isn't it the Johnson government's treating Unionists with contempt that led to the current situation?

No, it was the EU who demanded the border in the Irish Sea for a trade deal to spite the UK government and Unionists.

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

If it's the bad EU that have treated Unionists with contempt, why as alluded to up thread is BJ most despised in NI among the constituent UK nations?

Tbh I'm a bit confused by the Poots jiggerypokery. There was very evidently some sort of communication between the DUP and SCons beforehand, but I'm not sure what the obvious gains are aside from more lovely, distracting chaos.

Well, the more extreme Unionists in Scotland do sometimes like to go on and on about the prospect of Ulsterization in Scotland with glee, and Carsonesque arms imports, but that can't be it can it??

FF43 said:

Cookie said:

Anabobazina said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

stodge said:

Anabobazina said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BREAKING: New Zealand says international border will gradually reopen from February 27, with a full reopening by October

Only have to wait until October to visit.....what's the betting they open a bit, get a spike and they reverse /delay this decision.

Does that mean people in NZ can leave this month but can’t go back until October?

I take all of @Gardenwalker ’s points about Jacinda OPT but this is getting beyond ridiculous now. I haven’t seen my mate for three years. He is imprisoned on the North Island!

In fact, most UK residents will be able to get to NZ in July - for a nice winter visit.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300509477/covid19-nz-border-reopening-to-begin-from-late-february-to-proceed-in-five-stages

I won't be booking a trip for then, I can well see a spike in cases and then down come the shutters again.

Indeed. Although it’s not at its best in July anyway - middle of winter there.

What has happened to the NZ economy this last 2 years? From what I recall, about 10% was based on international tourism?

Rather good according to this report. NZ has been very successful on health outcomes and near the top in terms of economic outcomes. The UK came last overall amongst the 20 countries surveyed, although you could slice and dice it differently:

https://www.adecco-jobs.com/-/media/project/adeccogroup/articles/article-doc/tag-covid-19-government-response-outcomes-comparison-january-2022.pdf/

MaxPB said:

Nigelb said:

MaxPB said:

DavidL said:

Nigelb said:

DavidL said:

I am really struggling to see how changing CT is going to help with increased gas prices. Those most at risk of fuel poverty are those on benefits who already don't pay CT. Is he going to boost UC at the same time? The removal of the Covid uplift in UC looks ever more problematic....

While that's true, the number of household spending over 10% of their income on fuel costs is predicted to rise from 2m to 6m. The aim is more to shore up their vote than to help the hardest hit, I think.

If they wanted to make a direct difference to bills, they could also look at suspending the green levy. But the chancellor would likely veto that.

Indeed. The Atlantic article is quite timely on all this too. The massive reduction in capital investment in oil and gas (driven by "green" investement policies which are very in right now) means that the increase in prices is not stimulating additional production to the extent that it should. The pension fund I am one of the trustees of are getting a lot of information about this just now and some of the trustees are very keen to show their green credentials but not investing in Oil and gas. I am personally far from sure that this policy has been properly thought through.

It hasn't. We've got a massive energy gap coming over the next 5 years. The only countries that will escape the oncoming inflationary storm will be France and Japan, both of whom have significant domestic nuclear energy. The UK has had 20 years to invest in renewable technology and install 10x the amount of generation we currently have from renewables yet we've done nothing. A dereliction of duty by every government. Labour disincentivised fossil fuels followed by the Tories who did nothing to fix private investment rules on domestic energy generation. We ended up with energy companies turning into brokerages and resellers while the actual generation was starved of investment as they funnelled cash to investors with mega dividends.

We're all going to pay the price in the UK.

And/or nuclear.
A decade or more's indecision on nuclear, and the failure to invest in tidal power, when the cost of long term debt to government was close to zero, is one of the great unremarked and unpunished errors of government.

I've never been convinced that nuclear was the right way forwards, I don't think Hinckley Point C will ever really produce significant electricity either. What we should have been doing is onshoring wind energy manufacturing, incentives for making the turbines in the UK and just putting huge, huge numbers out in the North Sea off the coast of North England and Scotland. Literally 10x as much as we have today.

Tidal lagoons are also an area where significant subsidy was required and could have been structured in a way that would allow for the research, development and manufacturing of them to be conducted mostly in the UK and then turning that into a export industry to other nations with lots of coastline.

As ever, the government seems to lack any concept of value creation so instead we've got a nuclear power station that might never turn on, tiny investments in 4th gen nuclear and keeping our fingers crossed that the winters are mild and windy for the next few years.

HYUFD said:

mwjfrome17 said:

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

Borders are funny things aren't they. Sometimes its about taking back control and have the Royal Navy keeping a few boats out and the next its about having no borders at all and a free for all.

Exactly, it is the EU demanding a border in the Irish Sea.

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland or the Irish Sea

TheScreamingEagles said:

This is why Apple are awesome and you should move over to Apple ASAP, for the good of humanity.

Apple’s Privacy Measures to Cost Facebook $10 Billion in 2022

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/03/facebook-10-billion-in-2022-apple-measures/

Theuniondivvie said:

Carnyx said:

Theuniondivvie said:

HYUFD said:

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent

Isn't it the Johnson government's treating Unionists with contempt that led to the current situation?

No, it was the EU who demanded the border in the Irish Sea for a trade deal to spite the UK government and Unionists.

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

If it's the bad EU that have treated Unionists with contempt, why as alluded to up thread is BJ most despised in NI among the constituent UK nations?

Tbh I'm a bit confused by the Poots jiggerypokery. There was very evidently some sort of communication between the DUP and SCons beforehand, but I'm not sure what the obvious gains are aside from more lovely, distracting chaos.

Well, the more extreme Unionists in Scotland do sometimes like to go on and on about the prospect of Ulsterization in Scotland with glee, and Carsonesque arms imports, but that can't be it can it??

When Unionists (Scots division) start going on about Ulsterization, I do tend to detect a note of excited hankering after that condition. Imagine, a Unionist politician in government able to unilaterally pull down the edifice of devolution when it's not going their way!

Cyclefree said:

It's getting very testy on here.

Shall we try to calm things down and talk about womens' rights instead? 😁

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent

Isn't it the Johnson government's treating Unionists with contempt that led to the current situation?

No, it was the EU who demanded the border in the Irish Sea for a trade deal to spite the UK government and Unionists.

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

The UK Gmt dam' well wanted a border in Ireland - it partitioned the place!!

As regards the Eu/UK border in the Irish Sea, that's what the UK Government also wanted as a quick and dirty solution to "Get Brexit Done".

It was obvious to me back in 1995 that the matter was insoluble, and insoluble it remains. But could I ever get any single Brexiter to see that? No, I couldn't.

Anyway, you seem to be stuck in Groundhog Day with sashes, so I'm off to do some work.

Foxy said:

Carnyx said:

kle4 said:

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent

Isn't it the Johnson government's treating Unionists with contempt that led to the current situation?

I believe he has a worse rating in NI than Scotland?

He did, certainly, in one poll recently. Minus 80 or something like that IIRC, compared to about -70 for Scotland? Obvious issue however is whether the bowler hat chaps think he is crap in the same way and for the same reasons as the Alliance middle of the roaders and those of Republican views. The Government is doing such an awful job of Brexit that it's quite plausible that they are picking from different parts of the turd buffet table.

Strangely, while the DUP are unhappy about the redirection of the NI economy to North South rather than East West trade, it has benefited the overall NI economy significantly, now showing the best recovery of any region in the UK. The West Midlands being the worst recovery, still 10% below 2019.

Its tough pleasing a Free Presbyterian though.

https://www.ft.com/content/3b5059c4-4ef1-44d1-ae1f-43a875efb7ca

Cyclefree said:

It's getting very testy on here.

Shall we try to calm things down and talk about womens' rights instead? 😁

Malmesbury said:

Cyclefree said:

It's getting very testy on here.

Shall we try to calm things down and talk about womens' rights instead? 😁

I think we need to discuss the implications of Brexit on Sindy Ref which in turn has implications for NI which in turn has implications for women's rights which in turn effects employment, which will in turn effect the price of pineapple topping pizza....

I tried to get Radiohead in there, but I haven't the skill. Sorry.

Foxy said:

Cyclefree said:

It's getting very testy on here.

Shall we try to calm things down and talk about womens' rights instead? 😁

Perhaps just the rights of Incels to have robo-sex...

turbotubbs said:

Malmesbury said:

eek said:

MaxPB said:

Nigelb said:

MaxPB said:

DavidL said:

Nigelb said:

DavidL said:

I am really struggling to see how changing CT is going to help with increased gas prices. Those most at risk of fuel poverty are those on benefits who already don't pay CT. Is he going to boost UC at the same time? The removal of the Covid uplift in UC looks ever more problematic....

While that's true, the number of household spending over 10% of their income on fuel costs is predicted to rise from 2m to 6m. The aim is more to shore up their vote than to help the hardest hit, I think.

If they wanted to make a direct difference to bills, they could also look at suspending the green levy. But the chancellor would likely veto that.

Indeed. The Atlantic article is quite timely on all this too. The massive reduction in capital investment in oil and gas (driven by "green" investement policies which are very in right now) means that the increase in prices is not stimulating additional production to the extent that it should. The pension fund I am one of the trustees of are getting a lot of information about this just now and some of the trustees are very keen to show their green credentials but not investing in Oil and gas. I am personally far from sure that this policy has been properly thought through.

It hasn't. We've got a massive energy gap coming over the next 5 years. The only countries that will escape the oncoming inflationary storm will be France and Japan, both of whom have significant domestic nuclear energy. The UK has had 20 years to invest in renewable technology and install 10x the amount of generation we currently have from renewables yet we've done nothing. A dereliction of duty by every government. Labour disincentivised fossil fuels followed by the Tories who did nothing to fix private investment rules on domestic energy generation. We ended up with energy companies turning into brokerages and resellers while the actual generation was starved of investment as they funnelled cash to investors with mega dividends.

We're all going to pay the price in the UK.

And/or nuclear.
A decade or more's indecision on nuclear, and the failure to invest in tidal power, when the cost of long term debt to government was close to zero, is one of the great unremarked and unpunished errors of government.

I've never been convinced that nuclear was the right way forwards, I don't think Hinckley Point C will ever really produce significant electricity either. What we should have been doing is onshoring wind energy manufacturing, incentives for making the turbines in the UK and just putting huge, huge numbers out in the North Sea off the coast of North England and Scotland. Literally 10x as much as we have today.

Tidal lagoons are also an area where significant subsidy was required and could have been structured in a way that would allow for the research, development and manufacturing of them to be conducted mostly in the UK and then turning that into a export industry to other nations with lots of coastline.

As ever, the government seems to lack any concept of value creation so instead we've got a nuclear power station that might never turn on, tiny investments in 4th gen nuclear and keeping our fingers crossed that the winters are mild and windy for the next few years.

Reality however is that

sun only shines X hours and day and isn't much use in the UK where we need heat when dark rather than air-con when hot and sunny.

Wind is great when it's windy but not much use when it isn't - and we don't currently have any sane way to store enough power to get us through 2 to 3 days of zero wind when that happens (and will we ever have enough storage).

Tidal should work but for reasons has never been investigated.

So we end up needing a base line supply that keeps running come what may, and that is probably nuclear given that all the other options are fossil fuels with the resultant CO2 issues.

I suspect like most other things the issue comes down to the Treasury understanding the price of money and the value of absolutely nothing.

Tidal has been investigated. Repeatedly.

It runs into various things - Big Project (planning, 20 years, blah), environmental concerns, and some strange ideas.

One report claimed that a modest tidal lagoon would need more concrete than the Channel Tunnel (CO2 from concrete is a big issue) which is simply bizarre. The reports authors had assumed that you build the whole thing out of concrete - which no-one has ever proposed. In reality it would be ring(s) of gravel/rocks/sand/mud, with concrete around the turbines.

Almost as if the report authors were trying to make the case for not doing it...

Stuartinromford said:

HYUFD said:

moonshine said:

https://twitter.com/AlastairMeeks/status/1489163247081213955?s=20&t=x8shMhh60DzTEzIkYCEKSQ

“For those who have asked, my view remains that sooner or later, but not too much later, the 54 letter threshold will be reached. If it is, the PM is going to need an excellent operation to win a vote of no confidence.”

Edit - I see already posted sorry!

Boris would win a VONC at least 55% to 45% now.

Boris winning 55:45 would be about the worst possible result for everyone.

If a party leader and Prime Minister has that many of their MPs voting against them, their credibility is shot. In practice, they can't carry on (see Maggie, 1990- the first round was 57:43 in her favour... so close to the 15% margin). But does anyone imagine Boris seeing it that way, or Carrie talking some sense into him, or the Cabinet telling him that the game was up?

eek said:

HYUFD said:

mwjfrome17 said:

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland. A technical solution could have been found

Borders are funny things aren't they. Sometimes its about taking back control and have the Royal Navy keeping a few boats out and the next its about having no borders at all and a free for all.

Exactly, it is the EU demanding a border in the Irish Sea.

The UK government never wanted a border in Ireland or the Irish Sea

But the UK is asking for something that cannot exist given WTO rules and the way Bozo decided to implement Brexit.

The fact Bozo has promised the DUP something that is impossible is again why the DUP has it's current issues - they signed up for something that doesn't and cannot exist so the TUV are taking full advantage.

And the DUP quitting doesn't solve anything, in fact it means that the border checks will be running again tomorrow because direct rule means they will be restarted.

Malmesbury said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

This is why Apple are awesome and you should move over to Apple ASAP, for the good of humanity.

Apple’s Privacy Measures to Cost Facebook $10 Billion in 2022

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/03/facebook-10-billion-in-2022-apple-measures/

The flip side of that is this - Apple are using their profits and position in a related market to destroy a market space they don't make money off. Reducing the profits of several companies that are competitors to Apple.

I approve of the concept. But celebrating Apple for what is doing is... somewhat naive.

turbotubbs said:

Foxy said:

Cyclefree said:

It's getting very testy on here.

Shall we try to calm things down and talk about womens' rights instead? 😁

Perhaps just the rights of Incels to have robo-sex...

But what about robot rights? Its a tangled web...

Nigelb said:

Cyclefree said:

Nigelb said:

Cyclefree said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Innumerate Nick Robinson this morning asked James Cleverly;

"Do you with agree with your boss that Keir Starmer is to blame for Jimmy Savile's crimes?"

I think that Johnson bringing up Savile was wrong, but he never said anything even remotely close to that.

That is the point. He doesn't have to. The beauty of the smear is that it can be inferred. And if a top Oxford PPE man can make the wrong inference, think of the voter on the Clapham omnibus.

Which is why what the PM did was so repellent.

But the Speaker ruled it in order...

I don't care what he said.

It was a repellent smear. One reason I wrote my header yesterday was to point out that it is the Tories' inactions and failures over the last 11 and a half which have denied justice to many victims of sexual violence, whether women or children.

I hold no brief for Labour and they have had their own faults in this regard too. But I will not see someone like Starmer, who tried to do a decent job as a public servant as DPP, smeared by someone who views public service as an excuse to help himself to the fruits of power without undertaking any of its obligations.

To imply what the PM did about Starmer under cover of Parliamentary privilege, given Boris's own public statements about wasting money on child abuse cases - also referenced in my header - was a new low, even for him.

I completely agree.

My point about the Speaker is that the political system cannot deal with an utterly mendacious PM who is kept in place by his party. And he will be the person left in charge 'reforming' the Downing St. operation, which as a result of his behaviour is seen not to be fit for purpose.

Malmesbury said:

Finding a good lawyers seems as hard as finding an accountant who can add.

I recall spending an afternoon proof reading the conveyancing on a home purchase. Given it was all boiler plate, copy and pasta, the number of errors made was impressive. After finding the 3rd mistake, I binned the lawyer.

Roger said:

DougSeal said:

It’s pointless posting on here with HYUFD just disrupting proceedings with his trolling

Objection your honour! HYUFD is a polling encyclopedia. His poll for every occasion would be missed. (Why don't you just read the parts you don't find offensive?)

Cyclefree said:

Nigelb said:

Cyclefree said:

Nigelb said:

Cyclefree said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Innumerate Nick Robinson this morning asked James Cleverly;

"Do you with agree with your boss that Keir Starmer is to blame for Jimmy Savile's crimes?"

I think that Johnson bringing up Savile was wrong, but he never said anything even remotely close to that.

That is the point. He doesn't have to. The beauty of the smear is that it can be inferred. And if a top Oxford PPE man can make the wrong inference, think of the voter on the Clapham omnibus.

Which is why what the PM did was so repellent.

But the Speaker ruled it in order...

I don't care what he said.

It was a repellent smear. One reason I wrote my header yesterday was to point out that it is the Tories' inactions and failures over the last 11 and a half which have denied justice to many victims of sexual violence, whether women or children.

I hold no brief for Labour and they have had their own faults in this regard too. But I will not see someone like Starmer, who tried to do a decent job as a public servant as DPP, smeared by someone who views public service as an excuse to help himself to the fruits of power without undertaking any of its obligations.

To imply what the PM did about Starmer under cover of Parliamentary privilege, given Boris's own public statements about wasting money on child abuse cases - also referenced in my header - was a new low, even for him.

I completely agree.

My point about the Speaker is that the political system cannot deal with an utterly mendacious PM who is kept in place by his party. And he will be the person left in charge 'reforming' the Downing St. operation, which as a result of his behaviour is seen not to be fit for purpose.

And if Tory MPs had any understanding of how dangerous this is to our political system they would have booted him out already.

turbotubbs said:

Perhaps just the rights of Incels to have robo-sex...

Carnyx said:

Roger said:

DougSeal said:

It’s pointless posting on here with HYUFD just disrupting proceedings with his trolling

Objection your honour! HYUFD is a polling encyclopedia. His poll for every occasion would be missed. (Why don't you just read the parts you don't find offensive?)

Er, the practical side of my brain instantly asks: how do we know which is which until we read them? (A general issue, it must be said in fairness, rather than this one poster.)

IshmaelZ said:

TOPPING said:

Cyclefree said:

It's getting very testy on here.

Shall we try to calm things down and talk about womens' rights instead? 😁

What exactly is a woman.

Do you think colts/geldings should be allowed to identify as fillies/mares for racing purposes? Why not?

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. eek, if the EU implemented the trusted trader scheme they signed up to it would diminish the difficulties significantly.

theProle said:

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

Gallowgate said:

Are interest rates definitely going up again? I can hardly afford to pay my mortgage already ffs

Historically they are very low - anyone who mortgaged to the hilt over the last few years was taking a huge risk re affordability. Savers - who essentially fund all mortgages - have had very low rates for years. At some point that had to change.

Its only going to benefit the old property owning class (as usual) and hurt the millennials and younger who struggled to even get a foot on the ladder in the first place. “Had to change” my ass.

What it really does is muck around all the incentives to do "rational" things with money, in a way that worsens the housing situation.

My young lady and I (neither of us exactly old money, both more working class) presently have a similarly sized modest house each, both about 50% paid off.
She's moving up to mine after we get married, which means her house is surplus to requirements.

The problem is that as hers is worth about twice what mine is (she's Bath/Bristol commuter belt, I'm in the frozen northern wastelands), so if we sell hers, we can pay my mortgage off (great), then we will end up with a pile of cash in the bank. What problem - I hear you ask? Well, my house is ideal for a couple, or possibly a couple with one small child. It wouldn't be great for a family with say a couple of teenagers, which could well be us in 15 years time.

But if we leave our pile of cash left over from her house as savings, and want to up-size in 5-10 years time, it won't be worth anything like it is now, thanks to inflation working its wicked way, and saving rates being zero.

So the logical options we have are to either sit on her house and rent it out - the rent should about cover the mortgage, and of course the house should keep up with price inflation, or sell mine as well, and upsize now. We'll probably do better in the long-term if we rent it out, but it mostly depends on how soon we think we might want to cash in and upsize.

Both options aren't great for everyone not on the housing ladder - we either have someone else paying rent rather than owning, or we end occuying a house bigger than we need, thus jacking up the price of housing....

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. eek, if the EU implemented the trusted trader scheme they signed up to it would diminish the difficulties significantly.

JosiasJessop said:

turbotubbs said:

Perhaps just the rights of Incels to have robo-sex...

Nearly thirty years ago, I went to a VR conference at the Novotel in Hammersmith. It was brilliant - with really expensive SGI machines running all sorts of VR stuff that can probably be done on most home computers. At least one company could not take their best kit, as they couldn't get insurance to transport it.

Anyway, a buzz phrase (although not appearing in the literature) around the hall was 'teledildonics'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teledildonics

Incidentally, one of the big names in VR at the time was Virtuality, based in Leicester. I know someone who went there just before the company imploded...

Malmesbury said:

JosiasJessop said:

Malmesbury said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

This is why Apple are awesome and you should move over to Apple ASAP, for the good of humanity.

Apple’s Privacy Measures to Cost Facebook $10 Billion in 2022

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/03/facebook-10-billion-in-2022-apple-measures/

The flip side of that is this - Apple are using their profits and position in a related market to destroy a market space they don't make money off. Reducing the profits of several companies that are competitors to Apple.

I approve of the concept. But celebrating Apple for what is doing is... somewhat naive.

Apple are hideous towards smaller companies. They're predatory and nasty.

I can understand why TSE likes their products (especially if you are happy with walled gardens), but I don't understand why he likes the company as a whole, and their practices.

You can divorce the company from their products: e.g. "I think Apple makes great products, but they're not a good company." Ignoring bad practices and nasty behaviour because you like the company is a bit like supporting the current incarnation of the Conservatives Party.

I would say that their corporate level commitment to privacy is a good thing. But that they do bad stuff as well.

I would also say that they do less bad stuff than Facebook and Google, for example.

That doesn't make them a bunch of saints, though....

HYUFD said:

Mexicanpete said:

HYUFD said:

Andy_JS said:

"DUP: NI First Minister Paul Givan 'intends to resign'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60241608

If Stormont has to be collapsed to complete the process of removing the Irish Sea border, so be it

Sometimes you can see no further than your nose. Can you not see the dangerous ramifications of this?

Why do you think Mrs May and Johnson tiptoed around the Irish Brexit position for so long?

But it can all go to hell in a handcart so long as Big Dog is saved, eh?

If Unionists continue to be treated with contempt by the EU, then the Good Friday Agreement is dead anyway.

It only worked with Unionist as well as Nationalist consent