Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Just over a week till Truss moves into Number 10 – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited September 2022 in General
imageJust over a week till Truss moves into Number 10 – politicalbetting.com

We have just gone through a leadership campaign in which the two contenders have made a series of extraordinary statements about their views and policies and what they would do if they actually entered number 10. They have, of course, been trying to appeal to a very specific audience – Tory members.

Read the full story here

«1345

Comments

  • Betfair next prime minister
    1.04 Liz Truss 96%
    23 Rishi Sunak 4%

    Next Conservative leader
    1.04 Liz Truss 96%
    22 Rishi Sunak 5%
  • OT the US Open tennis kicks off tomorrow. I've had to cancel my planned punt on course and distance winner Emma Raducanu since she still seems to be carrying an injury (although I might have a token fiver just to keep her honest). DYOR & GL.
  • On topic, I hope Liz Truss's premiership surprises on the upside. She is at least talking about economic growth, though how she achieves it is a bit vague beyond tax cuts and crossing her fingers. Even the more orthodox Rishi Sunak had a plan to use tax allowances to stimulate investment and R&D.
  • OT the US Open tennis kicks off tomorrow. I've had to cancel my planned punt on course and distance winner Emma Raducanu since she still seems to be carrying an injury (although I might have a token fiver just to keep her honest). DYOR & GL.

    Oops. Turns out it is tomorrow already so the tennis starts today.
  • The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Russian Defence Minister sidelined:

    https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1564117176474279937/photo/1

    Another way of looking at this is Putin getting ever more isolated. Makes it easier to blame him for the Ukraine fiasco when the Oligarchs make their move.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,569
    edited August 2022
    An analysis of Trump’s claims of executive privilege.
    (TLDR, he’s taking the piss, and should be handed his arse.)

    Assessing Trump’s Claim of ‘Executive Privilege’ on FBI Access to MAL Docs
    https://www.justsecurity.org/82873/assessing-trumps-claim-of-executive-privilege-on-fbi-access-to-mal-docs/
    … the notion that a former president can block his successor from accessing presidential records that the incumbent believes he needs for purposes of carrying out executive functions would be the most extreme manifestation of a doubtful legal theory, and one that has no support in any legal authority to date.…

    There is a lot more if you can be bothered to read.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,762
    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    An interesting take on the war in Ukraine: Ukraine is prudently slicing and dicing the Russians, patiently destroying supply lines and escape routes with minimal risk to its own troops, to deploy a siege. They are also using the model of the Finns against the Soviets:

    "Such tactics worked incredibly well for a far smaller Finnish force against two whole Soviet divisions at the battles of Suomussalmi and Raate Road from late November 1939 to early January 1940 during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War within World War II, a conflict I have noted at some length is rife with parallels and lessons for the current Russo-Ukrainian war.

    In this conjoined pair of battles, nimble Finnish ski troops were able to slice into the columns of Soviet forces that, because of the deep snow and thick woods in the remote wilderness of Finland, were forced to stay near the only roads in the area. The Finns would use the first waves of ski troops to cut the long, road-bound formations into pockets and would then immediately heavily fortify and reinforce where they penetrated the Soviet lines. Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, running out of ammunition and weakened from starvation in these pockets (mottis), two whole Soviet divisions comprising about 50,000 men were destroyed, suffering massive casualties, by just a few thousand Finns, who incurred just a tiny fraction of their foe’s casualties."

    https://realcontextnews.com/ukrainian-prudence-meets-russian-limitations-explaining-the-current-pace-and-nature-of-russias-war-on-ukraine/
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,762
    edited August 2022
    Nigelb said:

    An analysis of Trump’s claims of executive privilege.
    (TLDR, he’s taking the piss, and should be handed his arse.)

    Assessing Trump’s Claim of ‘Executive Privilege’ on FBI Access to MAL Docs
    https://www.justsecurity.org/82873/assessing-trumps-claim-of-executive-privilege-on-fbi-access-to-mal-docs/
    … the notion that a former president can block his successor from accessing presidential records that the incumbent believes he needs for purposes of carrying out executive functions would be the most extreme manifestation of a doubtful legal theory, and one that has no support in any legal authority to date.…

    There is a lot more if you can be bothered to read.

    Interesting precedent in that one when Eisenhower allegedly removed records of promises that he had made the French during Suez which the Kennedy administration wanted to see. The whole idea of executive privilege when you are no longer the executive is quite bizarre but I recall that we have a similar principle in this country which stops ministers from seeing the records of their predecessors unless there is a need to do so. The former ministers themselves, of course, have no say in this.
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,087
    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.
  • Why is the BBC now routinely reporting on music festivals?

    Every day recently I've seen a story on their News page about the Leeds festival - today it's considered important that I know that the Arctic Monkeys closed the festival with a huge singalong.

    Who cares about this that wasn't already there involved in the singalong - and so doesn't need to be told about it?
  • TazTaz Posts: 10,702

    Why is the BBC now routinely reporting on music festivals?

    Every day recently I've seen a story on their News page about the Leeds festival - today it's considered important that I know that the Arctic Monkeys closed the festival with a huge singalong.

    Who cares about this that wasn't already there involved in the singalong - and so doesn't need to be told about it?

    Middle,aged Beeb types feeling nostalgic for their youth.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,762
    pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.
    There is due to be a changing of the guard and it is to be hoped that some of the more spectacularly useless ministers will be weeded out, although the rumour mill has been somewhat mixed on that. There will also be some new policy announcements, not least in relation to fuel prices. We will of course have arguments about whether they are the right announcements, whether they go far enough etc but at least something will be happening.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,762

    An interesting take on the war in Ukraine: Ukraine is prudently slicing and dicing the Russians, patiently destroying supply lines and escape routes with minimal risk to its own troops, to deploy a siege. They are also using the model of the Finns against the Soviets:

    "Such tactics worked incredibly well for a far smaller Finnish force against two whole Soviet divisions at the battles of Suomussalmi and Raate Road from late November 1939 to early January 1940 during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War within World War II, a conflict I have noted at some length is rife with parallels and lessons for the current Russo-Ukrainian war.

    In this conjoined pair of battles, nimble Finnish ski troops were able to slice into the columns of Soviet forces that, because of the deep snow and thick woods in the remote wilderness of Finland, were forced to stay near the only roads in the area. The Finns would use the first waves of ski troops to cut the long, road-bound formations into pockets and would then immediately heavily fortify and reinforce where they penetrated the Soviet lines. Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, running out of ammunition and weakened from starvation in these pockets (mottis), two whole Soviet divisions comprising about 50,000 men were destroyed, suffering massive casualties, by just a few thousand Finns, who incurred just a tiny fraction of their foe’s casualties."

    https://realcontextnews.com/ukrainian-prudence-meets-russian-limitations-explaining-the-current-pace-and-nature-of-russias-war-on-ukraine/

    The problem with that piece is that it is so uniformly partisan that it is difficult to trust it. I hope it is right but I am not confident that the situation is as one sided as it implies.
  • DavidL said:

    Nigelb said:

    An analysis of Trump’s claims of executive privilege.
    (TLDR, he’s taking the piss, and should be handed his arse.)

    Assessing Trump’s Claim of ‘Executive Privilege’ on FBI Access to MAL Docs
    https://www.justsecurity.org/82873/assessing-trumps-claim-of-executive-privilege-on-fbi-access-to-mal-docs/
    … the notion that a former president can block his successor from accessing presidential records that the incumbent believes he needs for purposes of carrying out executive functions would be the most extreme manifestation of a doubtful legal theory, and one that has no support in any legal authority to date.…

    There is a lot more if you can be bothered to read.

    Interesting precedent in that one when Eisenhower allegedly removed records of promises that he had made the French during Suez which the Kennedy administration wanted to see. The whole idea of executive privilege when you are no longer the executive is quite bizarre but I recall that we have a similar principle in this country which stops ministers from seeing the records of their predecessors unless there is a need to do so. The former ministers themselves, of course, have no say in this.
    That was a plot in Yes, Minister iirc.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,009
    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    DavidL said:

    An interesting take on the war in Ukraine: Ukraine is prudently slicing and dicing the Russians, patiently destroying supply lines and escape routes with minimal risk to its own troops, to deploy a siege. They are also using the model of the Finns against the Soviets:

    "Such tactics worked incredibly well for a far smaller Finnish force against two whole Soviet divisions at the battles of Suomussalmi and Raate Road from late November 1939 to early January 1940 during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War within World War II, a conflict I have noted at some length is rife with parallels and lessons for the current Russo-Ukrainian war.

    In this conjoined pair of battles, nimble Finnish ski troops were able to slice into the columns of Soviet forces that, because of the deep snow and thick woods in the remote wilderness of Finland, were forced to stay near the only roads in the area. The Finns would use the first waves of ski troops to cut the long, road-bound formations into pockets and would then immediately heavily fortify and reinforce where they penetrated the Soviet lines. Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, running out of ammunition and weakened from starvation in these pockets (mottis), two whole Soviet divisions comprising about 50,000 men were destroyed, suffering massive casualties, by just a few thousand Finns, who incurred just a tiny fraction of their foe’s casualties."

    https://realcontextnews.com/ukrainian-prudence-meets-russian-limitations-explaining-the-current-pace-and-nature-of-russias-war-on-ukraine/

    The problem with that piece is that it is so uniformly partisan that it is difficult to trust it. I hope it is right but I am not confident that the situation is as one sided as it implies.
    Another problem with that piece is that, while the Finns caused considerable casualties to the Soviet army, eventually they lost!

    And good morning one and all
  • UnpopularUnpopular Posts: 775
    pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.
    Blair, displaying his talent for distillation of complex issues into easily understandable soundbites, referred to the general situation as the UK's relegation battle from the top tier of nations.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited August 2022

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,735
    Unpopular said:

    Blair, displaying his talent for distillation of complex issues into easily understandable soundbites, referred to the general situation as the UK's relegation battle from the top tier of nations.

    And Tory MPs think we are about to replace Sir Alex Ferguson with David Moyes...
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,087
    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
  • Unpopular said:

    pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.
    Blair, displaying his talent for distillation of complex issues into easily understandable soundbites, referred to the general situation as the UK's relegation battle from the top tier of nations.
    Relegation being the reality, whilst the most ardent Brexit rampers insist we've been promoted into a new super tier.

    The decline of the British passport if nothing else should worry them. Used to be that having one would get you access privileges not available to others. Now? We get to be fingerprinted next time we head into Europe.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    DavidL said:

    An interesting take on the war in Ukraine: Ukraine is prudently slicing and dicing the Russians, patiently destroying supply lines and escape routes with minimal risk to its own troops, to deploy a siege. They are also using the model of the Finns against the Soviets:

    "Such tactics worked incredibly well for a far smaller Finnish force against two whole Soviet divisions at the battles of Suomussalmi and Raate Road from late November 1939 to early January 1940 during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War within World War II, a conflict I have noted at some length is rife with parallels and lessons for the current Russo-Ukrainian war.

    In this conjoined pair of battles, nimble Finnish ski troops were able to slice into the columns of Soviet forces that, because of the deep snow and thick woods in the remote wilderness of Finland, were forced to stay near the only roads in the area. The Finns would use the first waves of ski troops to cut the long, road-bound formations into pockets and would then immediately heavily fortify and reinforce where they penetrated the Soviet lines. Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, running out of ammunition and weakened from starvation in these pockets (mottis), two whole Soviet divisions comprising about 50,000 men were destroyed, suffering massive casualties, by just a few thousand Finns, who incurred just a tiny fraction of their foe’s casualties."

    https://realcontextnews.com/ukrainian-prudence-meets-russian-limitations-explaining-the-current-pace-and-nature-of-russias-war-on-ukraine/

    The problem with that piece is that it is so uniformly partisan that it is difficult to trust it. I hope it is right but I am not confident that the situation is as one sided as it implies.
    Partisan or not, his previous pieces have shown a good understanding and predictions of how this war has panned out.
  • TinkyWinkyTinkyWinky Posts: 134
    pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.
    When Vesuvius exploded, I'm sure there were a number of clever men looking forward to the sky clearing so they could get back to the normal tittle tattle with their mates.
  • TinkyWinkyTinkyWinky Posts: 134
    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Have you not be reading pb? Fracking is the solution for those who struggle a bit with reality.
  • Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    Is it? If the racial divide persists even while overall times are reduced, then we will reach a point when times for White patients are acceptable but for Black and Asian patients are still unacceptable.

    And it might be that the racial divide is a clue to what is going on, since race is not equally spread throughout the country. It is possible that this is an urban/rural divide, for instance. Or a class divide. Even if this just points to where more facilities are needed, that is useful.

    It is also interesting that for lung cancer, the race divide is reversed, with diagnosis of White patients taking longest.

    But in any case, there is enough there for a new Health Secretary to grapple with.
  • This survey should alarm us all: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/29/almost-quarter-of-uk-plans-to-go-without-heating-this-winter-energy-price-cap

    27% of parents with children under 18 saying they plan to leave their heating off. And this was done BEFORE the price cap was announced. Some of the alt-right "well we froze when I was a kid and it never did me any harm" comments on Twitter are saying "kids will freeze so what". Not a good advert for the government whether they disagree on not.

    I remain clear that Truss will not be slamming the £100bn or so on the table that is needed. Whatever she announces will be too little, and its already too late. That government spokespeople are even today repeating the "we have already been very generous" spin beggars belief - are they mad?

    Being cruel and uncaring and incompetent is not an election-winning platform. Truss may be the first PM in history to have destroyed her reputation before even taking office.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,042
    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    I don't see how there's any law (enforceable anyway) to stop one burning either gathered wood, or old books. If there is, there should certainly not be.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    Russian Defence Minister sidelined:

    https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1564117176474279937/photo/1

    Another way of looking at this is Putin getting ever more isolated. Makes it easier to blame him for the Ukraine fiasco when the Oligarchs make their move.

    There is a certain irony in sidelining Shoygu because he lacks sufficient combat experience, 'having spent his military career in engineering,' and instead putting the military under the command of a man whose military career allegedly consisted of being a shoe salesman in Wellington, NZ.*

    It suggests, as much as anything, that Putin has gone out of his mind at his own imaginary brilliance, Cummings style. But then, we knew that already.

    *Selling shoes instead of boots in Wellington being one of those things which show the Russian laziness in coming up with cover stories.
  • Unpopular said:

    pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.
    Blair, displaying his talent for distillation of complex issues into easily understandable soundbites, referred to the general situation as the UK's relegation battle from the top tier of nations.
    Relegation being the reality, whilst the most ardent Brexit rampers insist we've been promoted into a new super tier.

    The decline of the British passport if nothing else should worry them. Used to be that having one would get you access privileges not available to others. Now? We get to be fingerprinted next time we head into Europe.
    What odds that this new EU database of British fingerprints gets sold back to our surveillance state?
  • Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    The secret plan for keeping warm this winter is move somewhere warm this winter.....
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,087
    DavidL said:

    pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.
    There is due to be a changing of the guard and it is to be hoped that some of the more spectacularly useless ministers will be weeded out, although the rumour mill has been somewhat mixed on that. There will also be some new policy announcements, not least in relation to fuel prices. We will of course have arguments about whether they are the right announcements, whether they go far enough etc but at least something will be happening.
    If Liz Truss paid a personal visit to my abode and proceeded to hack my head off with a rusty breadknife then this would constitute "something happening." Just because something is happening, it doesn't necessarily follow that the particular something happening is something to be welcomed.

    One is left to ponder whether the somethings hinted at by Truss are so spectacularly misdirected and inadequate to the task at hand that they are, in fact, part of a clever program of expectation management (whereby, if whatever action she does finally announce transpires to be merely pathetic, rather than completely useless, it is thought that they will be greeted with relief and will earn her credit?) Either that, or she's not announcing a credible plan because tax cuts skewed towards the wealthy are all that she's got.

    Regardless, one has no confidence in the likely agreeability of Liz Truss's somethings, and one suspects that one is far from alone in this suspicion.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    Is it? If the racial divide persists even while overall times are reduced, then we will reach a point when times for White patients are acceptable but for Black and Asian patients are still unacceptable.

    And it might be that the racial divide is a clue to what is going on, since race is not equally spread throughout the country. It is possible that this is an urban/rural divide, for instance. Or a class divide. Even if this just points to where more facilities are needed, that is useful.

    It is also interesting that for lung cancer, the race divide is reversed, with diagnosis of White patients taking longest.

    But in any case, there is enough there for a new Health Secretary to grapple with.
    I think around half of bowel cancers are diagnosed in Emergency Departments, at the time of obstruction.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
  • TinkyWinkyTinkyWinky Posts: 134
    edited August 2022

    Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.

    lol wtf?

    We are approaching economic catastrophe. That dew and chill will be on the inside of people's windows and in their homes in a few weeks.
  • I stand to win £66 if Jeremy Hunt pulls off an unlikely win in the Conservative leadership contest. Sixty six quid. Sick squid. Fingers, and tentacles, crossed.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,461

    OT the US Open tennis kicks off tomorrow. I've had to cancel my planned punt on course and distance winner Emma Raducanu since she still seems to be carrying an injury (although I might have a token fiver just to keep her honest). DYOR & GL.

    Oops. Turns out it is tomorrow already so the tennis starts today.
    Emma is slight favourite for her first round match v Cornet. I'd have it the other way round. I've backed Cornet to win set 1 as I can see Emma retiring if she loses it so a bet on the match would be void. (Some bookies may pay out if a set has been played but not ones I have accounts with).
  • ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    There's a strand of politics that depends on "do this, it's easy" and it is easy if you ignore any practicalities or consequences.

    It isn't unique to the right- it's basically what populism does. But the British right is having a really bad infestation of it right now.
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,349
    Mr Ydoethur,

    You can't beat old pallets for wood-burners, but that means hard work with a saw, and a source of pallets. Even a neighbour's tree needs a year to season. And it's best to tell them first.
  • pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    pigeon said:

    DavidL said:

    Some countries seem to manage without a government for many months stretching into years but the period in which we have not had an operating government since 7th July has been deeply unsatisfactory and seems much longer. Of course Boris's own regime was paralysed for most of this year by the various allegations and inquiries against him.

    It will be good to have something approaching normal politics again.

    "Normal politics" nowadays consisting of a radical program of detachment from reality, an absence of almost any substantive action (save for that which has the effect of transferring more wealth from the poor to the rich,) and a Nelsonian insistence on refusing to see or acknowledge the progressive collapse of the nation and practically every organ of the state, even as they crumble and burn all about us.

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.
    There is due to be a changing of the guard and it is to be hoped that some of the more spectacularly useless ministers will be weeded out, although the rumour mill has been somewhat mixed on that. There will also be some new policy announcements, not least in relation to fuel prices. We will of course have arguments about whether they are the right announcements, whether they go far enough etc but at least something will be happening.
    If Liz Truss paid a personal visit to my abode and proceeded to hack my head off with a rusty breadknife then this would constitute "something happening." Just because something is happening, it doesn't necessarily follow that the particular something happening is something to be welcomed.

    One is left to ponder whether the somethings hinted at by Truss are so spectacularly misdirected and inadequate to the task at hand that they are, in fact, part of a clever program of expectation management (whereby, if whatever action she does finally announce transpires to be merely pathetic, rather than completely useless, it is thought that they will be greeted with relief and will earn her credit?) Either that, or she's not announcing a credible plan because tax cuts skewed towards the wealthy are all that she's got.

    Regardless, one has no confidence in the likely agreeability of Liz Truss's somethings, and one suspects that one is far from alone in this suspicion.
    "Yebbut look how quickly they rolled out furlough" say supporters of our new bondage queen. True - it was a big and expensive package created very quickly.

    But that was Boris Johnson PM. A man whose ideology is himself. So its easy to pivot towards something mega popular because thats what they expect from good old Boris.

    Truss is not Boris. Isn't flexible on ideology. Believes what she says when she repeats it eleventy times. Whatever else gets grudging bolted on top of tax cuts for the wealthy and green levies repealed in an emergency budget, what she has said she will do is what she is planning to do.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Incidentally just seen the three way barney last night between Leon, Horse and everyone's least favourite ex-army officer.

    Goodness gracious. I know it's a bank holiday weekend, but even so...
  • ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    CD13 said:

    Mr Ydoethur,

    You can't beat old pallets for wood-burners, but that means hard work with a saw, and a source of pallets. Even a neighbour's tree needs a year to season. And it's best to tell them first.

    I'm very relieved I managed to pick up enough old pallets to fill my wood store. So was the school very relieved I took them away!

    Actually I didn't find the sawing hard work so much as smashing them up in the first place.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    Good luck with it. Hope they can get something sooner, but if not look after yourself.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,038
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    I have a feeling I'm going to be very glad of my stove this winter, especially since I now work from home.

    Doesn't heat the office, but that's what the laptop's for!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

    Through the roof, I suspect.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    edited August 2022
    ydoethur said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    Good luck with it. Hope they can get something sooner, but if not look after yourself.
    Thank you, both. It's not just a stress on me, it's the stress on my wife. At least my computer is getting used to my accent; it's a Mac and therefore programmed to accept dictation in Californian!
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,038
    ydoethur said:

    Russian Defence Minister sidelined:

    https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1564117176474279937/photo/1

    Another way of looking at this is Putin getting ever more isolated. Makes it easier to blame him for the Ukraine fiasco when the Oligarchs make their move.

    There is a certain irony in sidelining Shoygu because he lacks sufficient combat experience, 'having spent his military career in engineering,' and instead putting the military under the command of a man whose military career allegedly consisted of being a shoe salesman in Wellington, NZ.*

    It suggests, as much as anything, that Putin has gone out of his mind at his own imaginary brilliance, Cummings style. But then, we knew that already.

    *Selling shoes instead of boots in Wellington being one of those things which show the Russian laziness in coming up with cover stories.
    Doesn't matter who reports to Putin really. The military problems are so systemic nothing much they come up will sort them out for this winter.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

    In Devon, the fact that one in six trees is ash and they are faring badly against the die-back means there is no shortage of wood to burn.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,880
    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    There is also some sort of Brexit fuelled chainsaw shortage. I had to wait 7 months for my MS881. I have ported the cylinder, fucked around with the ignition and fuelling on it so it's up to about 11hp. #hotsaw
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited August 2022

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    Is it? If the racial divide persists even while overall times are reduced, then we will reach a point when times for White patients are acceptable but for Black and Asian patients are still unacceptable.
    Yes because low overall performance could affect 68 million people while low performance amongst ethnic minorities affects 6 million people.

    So we should concentrate on the bigger picture and not needlessly sensationalize it as the Guardian did with its inflammatory headline. The easiest way to eliminate racial inequalities is simply to make everybody's cancer care terrible. That is the connclusion of all of this talk about racial inequality. But I'm sure even the Guardian wouldn't support the logical conclusion of its argument.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    One side effect of target culture in the NHS (introduced 20 year ago by New Labour) is its distorting effects.

    Numbers count more than urgency so easy things get priority, as do "long waiters" and "2 week waiters for suspected cancers" the vast majority of which turn out to be something else.

    A second effect is that waiting lists are controlled by management and individual specialists get little say in priority for patient suffering difficulties.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,933
    King Cole, I'm sorry to hear that and hope they can solve it quickly.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Dura_Ace said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    There is also some sort of Brexit fuelled chainsaw shortage. I had to wait 7 months for my MS881. I have ported the cylinder, fucked around with the ignition and fuelling on it so it's up to about 11hp. #hotsaw
    Are you suggesting Brexit hasn't cut it?
  • Fishing said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    Is it? If the racial divide persists even while overall times are reduced, then we will reach a point when times for White patients are acceptable but for Black and Asian patients are still unacceptable.
    Yes because low overall performance could affect 68 million people while low performance amongst ethnic minorities affects 6 million people.

    So we should concentrate on the bigger picture and not needlessly sensationalize it as the Guardian did with its inflammatory headline. The easiest way to eliminate racial inequalities is simply to make everybody's cancer care terrible. That is the connclusion of all of this talk about racial inequality. But I'm sure even the Guardian wouldn't support the logical conclusion of its argument.
    As I said in the bit you snipped, the racial divide might be a clue as to what resources are needed where. I do not suppose even the Guardian thinks there is a cadre of racist doctors not passing on test results.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited August 2022

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    Best of luck and get well soon.
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,571
    edited August 2022

    Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.

    I'd be more inclined to believe that Truss's recent comments could be disregarded if she hadn't continued with the same line long after the leadership contest was effectively over with the vast majority of Tory members having already voted.

    PS. Chill in the air? In more ways than one. Not the best time of year if you have to get cold without affordable heating.
  • Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

    I have a large tree's worth of wood to burn. Its not "kiln seasoned" but it has been sat drying in my garage all year. Already burned some - seems ok.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

    I have a large tree's worth of wood to burn. Its not "kiln seasoned" but it has been sat drying in my garage all year. Already burned some - seems ok.
    The mind boggles at somebody who found recent weather insufficiently warm to manage without a fire.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555

    Fishing said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    Is it? If the racial divide persists even while overall times are reduced, then we will reach a point when times for White patients are acceptable but for Black and Asian patients are still unacceptable.
    Yes because low overall performance could affect 68 million people while low performance amongst ethnic minorities affects 6 million people.

    So we should concentrate on the bigger picture and not needlessly sensationalize it as the Guardian did with its inflammatory headline. The easiest way to eliminate racial inequalities is simply to make everybody's cancer care terrible. That is the connclusion of all of this talk about racial inequality. But I'm sure even the Guardian wouldn't support the logical conclusion of its argument.
    As I said in the bit you snipped, the racial divide might be a clue as to what resources are needed where. I do not suppose even the Guardian thinks there is a cadre of racist doctors not passing on test results.
    And that is of course fine but it makes for a rather duller headline!
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    Foxy said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    One side effect of target culture in the NHS (introduced 20 year ago by New Labour) is its distorting effects.

    Numbers count more than urgency so easy things get priority, as do "long waiters" and "2 week waiters for suspected cancers" the vast majority of which turn out to be something else.

    A second effect is that waiting lists are controlled by management and individual specialists get little say in priority for patient suffering difficulties.
    It has been suggested to me that I actually have a fall and have to go to A&E. Once on the premises I might well get looked at and something done if only to prevent me returning!
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

    I have a large tree's worth of wood to burn. Its not "kiln seasoned" but it has been sat drying in my garage all year. Already burned some - seems ok.
    The mind boggles at somebody who found recent weather insufficiently warm to manage without a fire.
    Mr P. is a lot closer to the Arctic Circle than you are!
  • ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

    I have a large tree's worth of wood to burn. Its not "kiln seasoned" but it has been sat drying in my garage all year. Already burned some - seems ok.
    The mind boggles at somebody who found recent weather insufficiently warm to manage without a fire.
    Mr P. is a lot closer to the Arctic Circle than you are!
    I test burned some back in the spring. It was ok then, so after another half a year drying out it should be even better now.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,132
    ydoethur said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    There is also some sort of Brexit fuelled chainsaw shortage. I had to wait 7 months for my MS881. I have ported the cylinder, fucked around with the ignition and fuelling on it so it's up to about 11hp. #hotsaw
    Are you suggesting Brexit hasn't cut it?
    MInd, we'll know things are bad when DA is riding around on his MS881.
  • Foxy said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    One side effect of target culture in the NHS (introduced 20 year ago by New Labour) is its distorting effects.

    Numbers count more than urgency so easy things get priority, as do "long waiters" and "2 week waiters for suspected cancers" the vast majority of which turn out to be something else.

    A second effect is that waiting lists are controlled by management and individual specialists get little say in priority for patient suffering difficulties.
    It has been suggested to me that I actually have a fall and have to go to A&E. Once on the premises I might well get looked at and something done if only to prevent me returning!
    What a horrible dilemma. Such a mess the NHS is in - get well soon.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,132
    edited August 2022

    Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.

    I'd be more inclined to believe that Truss's recent comments could be disregarded if she hadn't continued with the same line long after the leadership contest was effectively over with the vast majority of Tory members having already voted.
    There is no big reveal of a "fooled you!" plan to do the exact opposite of what she has said eleventy times on the election tour. She sincerely believes that tax cuts and removing the green levy are the right approach and that handouts and "bungs" of large amounts of money is not the right approach.

    Unlike the Johnson government, the Truss government will be ideological, with an actual belief system. I have no doubt that her hand will be forced to do *something* but it won't be a £100bn bazooka and it won't be a windfall tax handed back to consumers.

    So having let people suffer for months in the fear of what is coming, now having said "wait and see", and then with hugely inadequate and wrongly targeted small change coming her government will revert to her usual rhetoric. Workshy. Lazy. Get a better job. Because that is what she believes.
    The other point in this context is that Ms T will remain under ongoing threat from the party itself. This is certainly one conclusion to be drawn from the views reported today of the inestimable Rory the Tory:

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/aug/29/boris-johnson-wants-to-do-a-berlusconi-back-to-power-says-rory-stewart

    I'm not sure that she could even survive failing to ensure that Mr Johnson survived as a MP.

    So I'm not convinced either she will show a Pauline conversion on the road to Downing St.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    I'm hoping it was a spoof.

    (There isn't any ban afaik on burning any books that belong to you, but they're not good fuel because they actually burn very reluctantly. You would be better off tearing the pages out, but then we're back to a problem of bulk.)
    Anecdotage. We have an open fire - great fun for burny goodness though woefully inefficient. We're looking at replacing it with a stove in an opened-out fireplace. Went to see the local stoves showroom. Bloke was very helpful but was very clear that there was minimal chance of getting an installation this side of the spring.

    Their business - and their competitors - are drowning under a tidal wave of work. Mostly people wanting an old fire opened up and a stove installed. So as we have a fire already, not a priority. They see their job as literally keeping people warm this winter...
    I ordered my dual fuel stove a month ago, and being fitted at the end of September into an open fireplace, by a reputable local company. They did have a busy showroom for midsummer though.
    It's going be interesting to see where the price of seasoned and kiln dried logs goes in next three months.

    I have a large tree's worth of wood to burn. Its not "kiln seasoned" but it has been sat drying in my garage all year. Already burned some - seems ok.
    The mind boggles at somebody who found recent weather insufficiently warm to manage without a fire.
    Mr P. is a lot closer to the Arctic Circle than you are!
    I test burned some back in the spring. It was ok then, so after another half a year drying out it should be even better now.
    That makes more sense!
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,880
    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    There is also some sort of Brexit fuelled chainsaw shortage. I had to wait 7 months for my MS881. I have ported the cylinder, fucked around with the ignition and fuelling on it so it's up to about 11hp. #hotsaw
    Are you suggesting Brexit hasn't cut it?
    MInd, we'll know things are bad when DA is riding around on his MS881.
    25" bar and a full chisel tip chain. That thing fucking shreds dick. It'll go through a 60cm diameter walnut trunk in 10 seconds.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053

    Foxy said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    One side effect of target culture in the NHS (introduced 20 year ago by New Labour) is its distorting effects.

    Numbers count more than urgency so easy things get priority, as do "long waiters" and "2 week waiters for suspected cancers" the vast majority of which turn out to be something else.

    A second effect is that waiting lists are controlled by management and individual specialists get little say in priority for patient suffering difficulties.
    It has been suggested to me that I actually have a fall and have to go to A&E. Once on the premises I might well get looked at and something done if only to prevent me returning!
    Sad but true. Ideally fall over on something fairly soft immediately outside a good neurological unit with an emergency team!
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 7,160
    Fishing said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    Is it? If the racial divide persists even while overall times are reduced, then we will reach a point when times for White patients are acceptable but for Black and Asian patients are still unacceptable.
    Yes because low overall performance could affect 68 million people while low performance amongst ethnic minorities affects 6 million people.

    So we should concentrate on the bigger picture and not needlessly sensationalize it as the Guardian did with its inflammatory headline. The easiest way to eliminate racial inequalities is simply to make everybody's cancer care terrible. That is the connclusion of all of this talk about racial inequality. But I'm sure even the Guardian wouldn't support the logical conclusion of its argument.
    No. The conclusion of all this talk about racial inequality is that we move towards a fairer system. Is fairness not a basic British principle?
  • TazTaz Posts: 10,702
    Natural gas continues its rise, now 640 GBP a therm. Higher than when Russia first invaded Ukraine.

    Oof.

    https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/uk-natural-gas
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,132
    Dura_Ace said:

    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    There is also some sort of Brexit fuelled chainsaw shortage. I had to wait 7 months for my MS881. I have ported the cylinder, fucked around with the ignition and fuelling on it so it's up to about 11hp. #hotsaw
    Are you suggesting Brexit hasn't cut it?
    MInd, we'll know things are bad when DA is riding around on his MS881.
    25" bar and a full chisel tip chain. That thing fucking shreds dick. It'll go through a 60cm diameter walnut trunk in 10 seconds.
    I used to use a Stihl back in the 1970s, in a summer student forestry job ... happy memories.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 18,155
    edited August 2022

    Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.

    I'd be more inclined to believe that Truss's recent comments could be disregarded if she hadn't continued with the same line long after the leadership contest was effectively over with the vast majority of Tory members having already voted.
    There is no big reveal of a "fooled you!" plan to do the exact opposite of what she has said eleventy times on the election tour. She sincerely believes that tax cuts and removing the green levy are the right approach and that handouts and "bungs" of large amounts of money is not the right approach.

    Unlike the Johnson government, the Truss government will be ideological, with an actual belief system. I have no doubt that her hand will be forced to do *something* but it won't be a £100bn bazooka and it won't be a windfall tax handed back to consumers.

    So having let people suffer for months in the fear of what is coming, now having said "wait and see", and then with hugely inadequate and wrongly targeted small change coming her government will revert to her usual rhetoric. Workshy. Lazy. Get a better job. Because that is what she believes.
    Why should it be a £100bn bazooka?

    That you will determine whatever Truss does is insufficient is fairly inevitable, but to demand £100bn is just ridiculous.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957
    Dura_Ace said:

    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    There is also some sort of Brexit fuelled chainsaw shortage. I had to wait 7 months for my MS881. I have ported the cylinder, fucked around with the ignition and fuelling on it so it's up to about 11hp. #hotsaw
    Are you suggesting Brexit hasn't cut it?
    MInd, we'll know things are bad when DA is riding around on his MS881.
    25" bar and a full chisel tip chain. That thing fucking shreds dick. It'll go through a 60cm diameter walnut trunk in 10 seconds.
    Not sure why you would be doing that. Someone I know paid several hundred quid to have a walnut tree removed. They were rather pissed off to discover the person who had "agreed to take it away" had actually sold the trunk for 18 grand....
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Dura_Ace said:

    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    ydoethur said:

    pigeon said:

    Chris said:

    pigeon said:

    The Ancien Régime will simply carry on as before, only with the court fool having been replaced at its pinnacle by Marie Antoinette. This is not a particular cause for celebration.

    You're telling us the secret plan for keeping warm this Winter will be "Let them wear mink"?
    Probably, or at any rate something not too far off. Some demented Tory supporting economist apparently went so far the other day as to suggest that the real problem was red tape around air pollution, and that if only we let people burn what they liked then the elderly could stay warm this Winter by going out and gathering wood or setting fire to old books.

    Though, granted, I did see that on Twitter, so it might just have been satire. Or bollocks.
    Gathering wood? Seriously? Does he have any idea what that would (no pun intended) involve? How much is needed, and how it needs to be dried first?

    Moreover, it requires them to have some sort of fireplace.

    There are bans on gathering wood from some woodlands, but that really isn't the issue here.

    There is also some sort of Brexit fuelled chainsaw shortage. I had to wait 7 months for my MS881. I have ported the cylinder, fucked around with the ignition and fuelling on it so it's up to about 11hp. #hotsaw
    Are you suggesting Brexit hasn't cut it?
    MInd, we'll know things are bad when DA is riding around on his MS881.
    25" bar and a full chisel tip chain. That thing fucking shreds dick. It'll go through a 60cm diameter walnut trunk in 10 seconds.
    It's tempting to ask if I can borrow it to offer to the scrambler bikers who are tearing around Cannock at high speed usually on one wheel, frequently while texting.

    'Try this, it will be much more exciting!'
  • The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    ydoethur said:

    Incidentally just seen the three way barney last night between Leon, Horse and everyone's least favourite ex-army officer.

    Goodness gracious. I know it's a bank holiday weekend, but even so...

    Horse sadly, had to be put down.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Fishing said:

    The Guardian reports a stark race divide in cancer diagnosis times.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/28/black-asian-people-wait-longer-cancer-diagnosis-england-than-white-people

    Something else for the new Prime Minister to consider.

    Overall the waiting times are far too long. They are up to 50% longer than in comparable European countries. That is far more worrying than any racial divide.
    "My" GP is, she says moving heaven and earth to get me an appointment for the problems which are affecting me; my balance is appalling and I have virtually no use in my hands. I have an appointment in London in October and it seems impossible to get anything any sooner. What I am afraid of, of course, is falling and doing some severe damage!
    One side effect of target culture in the NHS (introduced 20 year ago by New Labour) is its distorting effects.

    Numbers count more than urgency so easy things get priority, as do "long waiters" and "2 week waiters for suspected cancers" the vast majority of which turn out to be something else.

    A second effect is that waiting lists are controlled by management and individual specialists get little say in priority for patient suffering difficulties.
    It has been suggested to me that I actually have a fall and have to go to A&E. Once on the premises I might well get looked at and something done if only to prevent me returning!
    Sad but true. Ideally fall over on something fairly soft immediately outside a good neurological unit with an emergency team!
    Such has been the subject of a semi serious discussion with the GP!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/

    Don't tell @Leon that Mark Drakeford is an embarrassment...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,053

    The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/

    I saw it Saturday passing Spithead Fort on one of its rare movements:


  • No place for a stove in my new build, but currently considering purchase of a bidirectional charger so I can charge the Leaf with cheap night time electricity for use during the day. They cost about 4 grand tho, so I don't think the sums add up.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    No place for a stove in my new build, but currently considering purchase of a bidirectional charger so I can charge the Leaf with cheap night time electricity for use during the day. They cost about 4 grand tho, so I don't think the sums add up.

    Give it about two months...
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,957

    The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/

    We probably shouldn't cast aspersions on Russian kit:

    PoW "spent just 87 days of her first two years of service at sea".

    PoS?
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited August 2022
    Finally.

    Gibraltar is now a city after 150 years.

    Whoever said the government is not focusing on the important issues of the day, shame on you.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/gibraltar-finally-granted-city-status-correct-19th-century-error/
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/

    We probably shouldn't cast aspersions on Russian kit:

    PoW "spent just 87 days of her first two years of service at sea".

    PoS?
    Indeed. Why the Russian flagship, the Moskva, never returns to port.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/

    We probably shouldn't cast aspersions on Russian kit:

    PoW "spent just 87 days of her first two years of service at sea".

    PoS?
    At least, unlike the Moskva, she’s not sitting at the bottom of the Black Sea.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 60,001
    edited August 2022

    This survey should alarm us all: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/29/almost-quarter-of-uk-plans-to-go-without-heating-this-winter-energy-price-cap

    27% of parents with children under 18 saying they plan to leave their heating off. And this was done BEFORE the price cap was announced. Some of the alt-right "well we froze when I was a kid and it never did me any harm" comments on Twitter are saying "kids will freeze so what". Not a good advert for the government whether they disagree on not.

    I remain clear that Truss will not be slamming the £100bn or so on the table that is needed. Whatever she announces will be too little, and its already too late. That government spokespeople are even today repeating the "we have already been very generous" spin beggars belief - are they mad?

    Being cruel and uncaring and incompetent is not an election-winning platform. Truss may be the first PM in history to have destroyed her reputation before even taking office.

    Good morning

    It is a fact that the government have spent 37 billion so far, yes 37 billion, and many billions are coming in the next fortnight

    I fully accept the conservative party has gone awol this summer which is shocking, but the extent of this economic crisis is overwhelming governments and the idea we can just freeze the price for 6 months is simply not addressing how it is mitigated over the next 12 to 24 months or helping businesses at all

    The left think this magic money tree of a windfall tax is the answer to everything when in practice it is not, and unless undertaken carefully will scare of investment in the energy solutions we need

    The idea whatever is announced is too late is strange as the cap does not come in until October at which time everyone will receive the £400 over 6 months as already announced including further payments and a winter fuel payment of upto £600

    It does seem ironic that a report yesterday expects electric cars will be paying considerably more than petrol or diesel

    The BBC is leading with a report from Europe that frankly frightening and lays out just how bad things may be over the next 5 to 10 years, yes 5 to 10 years

    BBC News - EU faces awful winters without gas cap - minister
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62710522
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Sandpit said:

    The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/

    We probably shouldn't cast aspersions on Russian kit:

    PoW "spent just 87 days of her first two years of service at sea".

    PoS?
    At least, unlike the Moskva, she’s not sitting at the bottom of the Black Sea.
    AIUI that would be actually impossible.

    Because under the Montreux Convention she couldn't get into it.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,880

    The Prince of Wales is a national embarrassment, let’s get rid now.

    Mind you so is the other Prince of Wales.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/hms-prince-wales-breaks-shortly-leaving-portsmouth/

    Completely normal in the carrier game. The R09 Ark Royal spent 19 years of her 36 year service life in dock being repaired. And that was before the RN had contracted out anything more technically complex than changing a lightbulb.
  • Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.

    I'd be more inclined to believe that Truss's recent comments could be disregarded if she hadn't continued with the same line long after the leadership contest was effectively over with the vast majority of Tory members having already voted.
    There is no big reveal of a "fooled you!" plan to do the exact opposite of what she has said eleventy times on the election tour. She sincerely believes that tax cuts and removing the green levy are the right approach and that handouts and "bungs" of large amounts of money is not the right approach.

    Unlike the Johnson government, the Truss government will be ideological, with an actual belief system. I have no doubt that her hand will be forced to do *something* but it won't be a £100bn bazooka and it won't be a windfall tax handed back to consumers.

    So having let people suffer for months in the fear of what is coming, now having said "wait and see", and then with hugely inadequate and wrongly targeted small change coming her government will revert to her usual rhetoric. Workshy. Lazy. Get a better job. Because that is what she believes.
    Why should it be a £100bn bazooka?

    That you will determine whatever Truss does is insufficient is fairly inevitable, but to demand £100bn is just ridiculous.
    The £100 billion number comes from what the energy companies say is going to be required. Now that could just be ramping but it certainly isn't the case that RP has just picked a huge number out of the air. Indeed I used exactly the same number yesterday to point out how inadequate the Truss VAT plans were.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,136

    Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.

    I'd be more inclined to believe that Truss's recent comments could be disregarded if she hadn't continued with the same line long after the leadership contest was effectively over with the vast majority of Tory members having already voted.
    All we have to make us think it'll be a walkover is a little bit of polling, and this kind of race is hard to poll. For all anyone knows every last vote will count.
  • NHS Pension Scheme: proposed amendments to continue the suspension of restrictions on return to work
    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-pension-scheme-proposed-amendments-to-continue-the-suspension-of-restrictions-on-return-to-work

    Before you get too excited about the government having an actual plan to fix the NHS, this is only a consultation into continuing a short-term bodge job.

    Consultation description

    This consultation proposes to continue the ‘retire and return’ easements until 31 March 2023 via amendments to NHS Pension Scheme regulations.

    These easements allow retired and partially retired staff to return to work in the NHS or increase their working commitments without having their pension benefits suspended.

  • Truss does give off worrying indications of being woefully out of her depth. Johnson threw red meat at Tory neanderthals but was usually able to do it with a wink that suggested he wasn’t being entirely serious. Truss seems to believe what she says. Hopefully, she doesn’t.

    In happier news, there’s a definite whiff of autumn in the early morning air. The sun is softer, there’s a dewy sheen on the fields and a chill in the air. Summer is ending. The best time of year approaches.

    I'd be more inclined to believe that Truss's recent comments could be disregarded if she hadn't continued with the same line long after the leadership contest was effectively over with the vast majority of Tory members having already voted.
    There is no big reveal of a "fooled you!" plan to do the exact opposite of what she has said eleventy times on the election tour. She sincerely believes that tax cuts and removing the green levy are the right approach and that handouts and "bungs" of large amounts of money is not the right approach.

    Unlike the Johnson government, the Truss government will be ideological, with an actual belief system. I have no doubt that her hand will be forced to do *something* but it won't be a £100bn bazooka and it won't be a windfall tax handed back to consumers.

    So having let people suffer for months in the fear of what is coming, now having said "wait and see", and then with hugely inadequate and wrongly targeted small change coming her government will revert to her usual rhetoric. Workshy. Lazy. Get a better job. Because that is what she believes.
    Why should it be a £100bn bazooka?

    That you will determine whatever Truss does is insufficient is fairly inevitable, but to demand £100bn is just ridiculous.
    The £100 billion number comes from what the energy companies say is going to be required. Now that could just be ramping but it certainly isn't the case that RP has just picked a huge number out of the air. Indeed I used exactly the same number yesterday to point out how inadequate the Truss VAT plans were.
    It will be what is required if you think the taxpayer (or future taxpayers more likely) should 100% absorb the cost of what is coming rather than people absorbing some of it themselves via belt tightening and using less fuel.

    Personally I'm not completely sold on the idea that our children when they're taxpayers should be facing the bill for what people don't want to pay for today.

    Some support is essential, absolutely, but somewhere between "nothing" and "everything" is surely more appropriate. Where though, is an important thing to think about.
This discussion has been closed.